Tomorrow's Food, BBC1 - TV review: It turns out high-tech greenhouses aren't that gripping
Dara O Briain was an engaging presenter but there was too much going on in this new science series
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Your support makes all the difference.At the beginning of Tomorrow's Food, Dara O Briain claimed that his busy new series would “change the way we think about food for ever”. That was a bit over-blown, but I will now for ever associate Thanet with a giant, soil-less farm rather than Ukip. So-called “Thanet Earth” was O Briain's patch for this four-hander. Though it was clearly an impressive set-up that turned out huge yields, not even an ethereal score and jazzy camera angles could make it look less like a battery farm for vegetables.
The comedian is an engaging presenter, but he is not a food science expert (he has a background in theoretical physics). To compensate for this, there were three other “experts” in the mix. Greengrocer-turned-presenter Chris Bevin was peddling seaweed pills that reduce the amount of fat bodies absorb to lardy truckers, vending-machine pizzas to teenagers and pizzas that last three years – developed for the US military – to UK shoppers. His down-to-earth style showed why he endeared himself to viewers on Eat Well for Less. Bevin was also in Australia looking at robotic farming machinery, and his excitement at the Ladybird, a solar-powered machine that could kill weeds and save a lot of time and money, made it feel like a real possibility. That was the opposite of, say, the robotic waiters that Dr Shini Somara met in China, which even she admitted felt gimmicky.
Angela Hartnett may not be the most natural presenter but the Michelin-starred chef earned respect from the futuristic pizza kitchen staff (if she says something tastes all right, it must do, right?). You felt you could take her gadget recommendations seriously. With that in mind, if I take nothing else away from this, I might put a sonic decanter on my Christmas list.
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