They've shown hardly any dishes being prepared. Are they being taught anything? Or are they not showing us?

It's all to do with the personalities. Cooking doesn't seem to have much to do with it.

They show a bit... I would like to see more though.

I'm not enjoying this year's format.

They haven't struck a good balance between drama and cooking.

Usually they show them cooking or being taught during the day, but they've shown zilch. Not even the mashing of the potatoes a la Barry McGuigan!

It should be more like HK USA, just with celebs. I think the live format doesnt work at all - she's only introducing VT's so i duno why they dont just pre-tape it all.

The reason we see no food prep is because service there is almost over by 9pm as they want to show people eating.

Agreed, I want to see Marco's cooking tutorials, they were good last year. Especially when it showed Marco shooting deer, and the faces of the celebs when he brought it back!

I used to enjoy the cookery demonstrations, too.
I'm getting a bit hacked off with the slebs saying that they're there to learn, and yet we only ever get to see them mopping their brows as they sweat over mountains of shredded fennel.

[Incidentally, have they varied the restaurant menu at all this year? It seems to be the same thing every night. And has MPW got a fennel farm somewhere which is currently enjoying bumper profits?]

I found it amusing when Marco was saying that all he was bothered about was feeding people and cooking skills after Jody had rejoined the sacking table. Since when!?

That is how I feel too. It might as well be Celebrity Big Brother. Marco takes ages to do his solemn sacking as if someone was going to the gallows. I watched last night and saw maybe ten minutes of actual cooking. Disappointing.

Me too. I want the recipes etc as well as the personalities.

Last nights show was absolute dire..........the last 30 mins could have been condensed into about 5 if they cut out Marcos sermon On the mount " I see myself in him" " I have walked his road" "my father said that to me".........Marcos monalogues are contrived, fake and extremely tedious now

Totally agree !

This year it appears to be all about him sacking people too and wastes so much airtime

I am getting a bit bored with all the philiosophy and the group around the table therapy meetings are cringeworthy, getting all a bit American in that sense.

I would definitely like to see somoe more prep as they tend to dive straight into the service each night and they all seem really competent most of the time I would just like to see how they are achieving this and progressing.

While we are on the subject of cooking can anyone enlighten me as to what is that strange cylindrical object that goes out with the crab, road works always come to mind.

Marco's homilies are beginning to irk, it's all getting a bit too naval gazing for me.

I was quite looking forward to Hells Kitchen as previous series have been good. This year though it is total rubbish. The cooking seems to have totaly dropped out of it. A few minutes of them fiddling around with the plates and the odd bit of tossing a bit of meat around in a frying pan.

The show has seriously been wrecked this year. Marco has lot the plot. Claudia is useless and with no cooking in the program quite whats the point

I prefer the new format to the old format but I do wish they'd show a little more cooking even if it was just Marco doing a masterclass at the start of each day

I'm enjoying this series, but yeah, BRING BACK COOKING!

I want to see Marco's masterclasses again, not Ade making sandwiches!

Grr! - This is bugging me so much - obviously we watch for the entertainment part, but I just love the cooking aspect of these shows and it is completely missing - all we get is clips of those oversized rolled up crisps for the crab and mushy mash - most annoying!

Does anyone have the viewing figures for this series? I would be interested to see how they compare to the last two series.

There seems to be great emphasis on Marco Pierre White pulling different expressions rather than his cooking:

1) The self-satisfied "i've just strangled a horse with my bare hands and now i am going to have it for brunch" smile

2) The perturbed "you smell like a brothel pillow" look he gives someone when they've annoyed him.

3) The "you've made me burn my fingers" look as he peers from under his Terracotta Rambo headband.

They did show Jody's fillet steak burning away nicely on the hob the other night

Viewing figures so far are up this series compared to the last one by about 0.5 million.

But yeah, I would like to see a bit more cooking in the show.

i havent really watched it i was put of by the first night and just glanced at it now and then

are they actually cooking anything at all

preperation and stuff like they showed on the old one which i liked

Ooh yes - let's have more gratuitous killing!