The Supersizers Go… and The Supersizers Eat… are BBC TV documentaries that focus on the food eaten in different periods of (usually British) history. Restaurant critic Giles Coren and comedian Sue Perkins spend one week living the life of a couple in different historical eras, primarily discussing and eating the menus and dishes of the day. Both have an incredibly dry sense of humor that, coupled with the fact that Sue is a sometime vegetarian, creates comedy gold.
The show started as a one-off episode as part of a series that the BBC produced on the Edwardian era in 2007 (Edwardian Supersize Me). It was so successful that it launched two seasons in 2008 (The Supersizers Go…) and 2009 (The Supersizers Eat…), with each episode focusing on a different era.
The “Supersizers” reference is to the documentary Supersize Me. Each show is book-ended by one or both of the hosts going to a doctor before and after a week of eating (and drinking) in various historical eras to see how the diet of the era affected their health. It’s actually quite surprising just how quickly things change in their bloodwork, etc., although I do question just how accurately they are eating and whether the fact that their diet changes so radically and so quickly affects anything.
The meals are prepared by chefs working from historical cookbooks and recipes, and there are various points at which food historians comment on (and sometimes eat) the food. Depending on the era, their diets tend to get really meat heavy, and not in a good way — we’re talking tongue or fish heads or coxcombs. They usually show you the food being cooked, although the emphasis is on the eating experience.
One thing I do wonder is whether they are actually being served accurate portions. For example, here’s one menu from the Elizabethan episode:
Dinner (taken between 11am and 2pm)
1st course:Â Pumpkin pie, meat pottage, stewed mutton steaks, manchet bread, small beer
2nd course:Â Capons with damsons, calf’s foot jelly, custard
I wonder whether any of these menus were intended to feed large families and/or dinner parties rather than a couple (sometimes Giles and Sue have guests join them, but they’ll be served a menu like that just for the two of them)?
I mentioned above that Sue is a sometime vegetarian, but she’s always game and willing to try all of the various foods. Both she and Giles give often hilarious commentary on what they’re eating (Sue, on sucking the eyeball out of a cooked fish head: “It was like an oily plug of snotty, tense material.”). You also get their thoughts on the experience, including how they’re feeling (often, not well). I think the most hilarious episode for me is the Restoration, in which they ONLY drink alcohol for a week. Let’s just say being drunk for a week is NOT as fun as it sounds.
To mix things up, both Giles and Sue will (separately or together) participate in various period-appropriate activities, like dance lessons or period games. Neither Giles nor Sue are historians, so both tend to approach these activities from a very modern viewpoint, and there’s a lot of “We’re so much more evolved now” and “Things were weird back then” that you have to put up with … but it’s usually entertaining, so I can let it slide. Sue has some choice commentary whenever she’s forced to sew or do embroidery (I like both activities, but I’m still amused by her modern feminist take on things).
And, of course, they wear historical costumes — which are (USUALLY) surprisingly decent! You have to accept that Sue is always going to wear her modern glasses (which I find funny) and sometimes her modern short hair, but if you can get past that, the clothes (while not the focus of things) are quite good. I’m sure they’re all rented from Cosprop or wherever (it’s probably much easier to get decently historically accurate costumes in the UK vs the US).
So, if you are interested in history, and you like documentaries and/or sardonic British humor, check out the Supersizers! You can watch most of the episodes on Hulu or YouTube.
The question is whether they are burning equivalent calories to what was expended in the periods they visit. Are they walking more, climbing more stairs, and taking activity breaks between courses? Or is it just about the food consumption and no other activities of the various periods?
At any rate, it looks like fun, and I adore Giles Coren, food, and costumes, so I’ll be watching.
Oops! Missed the bit about the activities. But will it be to the same extent as it was during the respective periods?
I LOVE the Supersizers!!!! They’re so funny, and it’s a really fun, witty look at food and life in ‘ye olde tymes’. I think it would be slightly less entertaining if they were history buffs, honestly. I think their modern perspectives, unfiltered by historical knowledge or a “Serious Professor” mentality, also underscores just how vast the changes that have occurred in the ways we looked at food and the ways we thought about food, and how we ate food in any of those time periods to the way we do now. Despite the fact that their historical personae’s lifestyles were not remotely like what their real-life counterparts would have experienced (aside from the menus), I really would love to see more from this series.
And as to the portions, I always looked at it from the basis of: they’re portraying wealthy or upwardly mobile people who would have wanted to show off their wealth, so they may actually have had all those dishes on offer, even when dining amongst themselves and not entertaining. The individual portions of each dish may have been smaller than depicted. And perhaps leftovers recycled for other meals or for the servants. I don’t really know, but that’s the thinking I brought to viewing the portrayals.
Anyway, LOOOOOOVE the Supersizers.
So pleased to have found your blog. Was already enjoying your FB posts, which are reflected in my ever-growing Netflix queue! This show looks like great fun. Will check it out on Amazon. Thank you!
Kendra, I’ve not seen this show, but it has been discussed several times on various historical cooking lists I’m on. The general consensus on those lists is that the representations of, at least, the early modern and medieval food is not particularly accurate. I know your focus is on the clothes, not the food, but I thought I’d point that out.
I know this is a super-old post, but I loved watching Supersizers when it came on ABC in Australia – it was hi-larious, & given I’m an amatuer history buff, I loved 95% of this series, partly because it was split equally between history, food & humour- for the most part, it’s the Roman & Middle Ages ones where inaccurate costumes really stand out & cliches abound; Giles’ main surcoat looks like it came from the ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ costumes’ warehouse & all bar Sue’s ‘ale woman’ costume were decades, if not centuries out in style & fabric choices- & the ‘Egyptian’ look is as trite & played out as it gets, with the two $5 wigs (one for Cleopatra, one for Boudicca) & the other clearly out-of-place headwear.
I think I would die of shock if a production ever elected to do Hellenistic Egypt right (‘Agora’ is the only one who’s gotten close).
The minus 5% comes from a couple of things; much as I love Sue, it did get a little repetitive when she’s ‘bored’ by things like sewing (I learnt embroidery from my late grandma, so it has a special place in my heart- but I do get it’s not for everyone)- it reminded me of that ‘Regency House Party’ series; I was so cranky at some of those women ( they all volunteered to be there)- real Regency women didn’t spend days complaining & just sitting in the parlour, going out of their heads- anyone who knows a thing (cracking any Austen or Gaskell could tell you at least some of that, or a good biography of Austen- even the Firth ‘P&P’ shows a scene of the girls dyeing ribbons & trimming hats, for Pete’s sake) would appreciate that their days were occupied with many a hobby (& there were many to choose from), letter-writing (yes, once upon a time there was no such thing as email, texting or Snapchat), reading, music, housekeeping (fair enough, they’re guests in this particular house, but still…)- it felt somewhat deliberate to not at least give the option of stuff to do, as if to show some kind of modern superiority – & there was one guy who kept complaining about missing tv & football.
I digress – I sometimes think they deliberately picked some of the grossest dishes available (the ‘Pigeon Pye’ & ‘Lambs’ Head with Purtenance’… you genuinely couldn’t pay me enough) – & lastly, for a very particular reason… the ’80’s episode, somewhat ironically, I think (I was born in ’84), as it was the only episode where I almost threw up… it was when they were doing the cocktails (the ‘Cement Mixer’ one, to be precise), but I liked the Aussie references- as soon as they mentioned box-wine, I thought, ‘We called it goon!’ (that’s old slang, there)- & thought about the rinsed out bags that were blown up to serve as free travel pillows on long road trips in my childhood.
Sorry for such a long post… I grovel at the FrockFlick altar for forgiveness.
Major fan of the series. Major fan. In the case of some of their heavy meals, they don’t affect their health much, due to the food being fresh and that the era from which they came required a great deal of activity. It was pointed out in the episode about the 1970s that many citizens were more active than they are in the early 21st century.