Tuesdays at 10:00 PM

Meet Britain's finest - and most tempermental - chef: Gareth Blackstock, chef de cuisine of the upscale restaurant Le Chateau Anglais. Gareth (played to high-strung perfection by comedian Lenny Henry) is prepared to let nothing, but nothing, interfere with producing the best cuisine in the world. And if others must suffer to meet that reasonable standard . . . well, that's quite all right by him.

Gareth dreams of being head chef and proprietor of his own restaurant, but a few obstacles (such as a complete lack of money) stand in his way. The path to ownership is fraught with problems that must be faced calmly: bank financing, personnel who expect salaries, his wickedly malicious father, 50 pounds of escaped crawfish, band-aids falling into the stew, the cheese police, and customers who have the nerve to ask for salt. But when has Gareth ever been able to face problems calmly?

Episode Descriptions:

1. Personnel
Gareth Blackstock is the executive chef at Le Chateau Anglais, and he is infuriated when management cuts his budget. He is one up on the budget when Everton shows up and volunteers his service as sous chef for no compensation in order that he can train in the most famous kitchen in England.

2. Beyond the Pass
Gareth and wife Janice are presented the opportunity to purchase Le Chateau Anglais. Unfortunately, to achieve this he must first face the bank manager. This is no easy task for someone with a pathological hatred of bank managers.

3. Subject to Contract
To raise the profile of his restaurant, Gareth opens his kitchen to the press. But Everton has lost track of something very personal and rather unpleasant in the veal stew. Or was it in the pies? Or the ravioli?

4. The Big Cheese
Gareth is thrown into a panic when revered French chef Albert Roux reserves a table for lunch. Gareth goes in search of the perfect unpasteurized English Stilton. But beware the Cheese Police!

5. Fame is the Spur
Janice arranges for Gareth and Le Chateau to be featured in the television food program Kitchens Live. The producer has a few surprises in store for Gareth, and Everton manages to release 50 pounds of live crayfish in the kitchen.

6. Rice and Peas
Gareth has promised his father a Caribbean evening at Le Chateau. The trouble is, he knows nothing of Caribbean cuisine. Gareth must endure the ultimate indignity of requesting Everton's assistance in the matter.

7. A River Runs Through It
The kitchen staff at Le Chateau are overwhelmed, and Gareth simply must find another chef as soon as possible. Gustave Laroche, a one-time culinary legend, is available, but why is he working at a third-rate dive?

8. Time Flies
Gareth is in for the shock of his life. Janice tells him there may soon be the pitter-patter of tiny feet around Le Chateau. Can he adjust to fatherhood when he has the all-consuming task of creating perfect food at the restaurant?

9. Do the Right Thing
In search of the best raw materials for preparation, Gareth and Everton go in search of a dodgy old geezer who offers partridge. But the long arm of the law is quickly in pursuit. Will Gareth land in the soup?

10. A Diploma of Miseries
Publicity shy Gareth is hounded by Janice to appear on a chat show, but she soon wishes she had never bothered. When Gareth bad-mouths Janice's cooking to the television audience, he might as well book in with Everton at the latter's new flat.

11. Masterchef
Everton has created his own signature dish, which provokes Gareth's anger. Everton is achieving some notoriety of his own, which provokes Gareth's anger even more. Perhaps Everton should consider leaving to avoid his boss's now considerable wrath.

12. Private Lives
All the staff seem to have brought their troubles to work, leaving Gareth in a stew. With the restaurant fully booked for lunch and dinner, he reluctantly plays social worker in order to get them all back on the job.

13. England Expects
Gareth will be flying the flag for Britain as he is invited to an international cookery exhibition. He, Everton and the staff morons (waiters) troop to Lyon where Gareth will settle for nothing short of being named the number one chef.

Episode 14
What changes at La Chateau Anglais! Gareth has to transfer ownership to a loudmouth named Cyril. Savanna is a new American chef in his kitchen. Janice really turns Gareth's life around when she decides Gareth loves the restaurant more than her and leaves him.

Episode 15
Cyril, new owner of La Chateau Anglais, has a horribly spoiled daughter, Rene. He forces Gareth to give her employment in the kitchen and disaster looms quickly. Everton is smitten by Rene and will do anything to keep her from being removed from her position.

Episode 16
Cyril has made a policy decision that Gareth should mingle and chat with the diners at La Chateau Anglais. This is decidedly not what Gareth would prefer. He is still trying to salvage his marriage with Janice but continues to find the going very tough.

Episode 17
Gareth only thought that things had been rough to this point. He now finds that his father is about to make a reappearance in his life. Cyril hires a private detective to seek out the "love interest" an older man is showing in Rene.

Episode 18
Gareth's life is about to undergo yet more change as school day flame, Rochelle, makes an appearance at La Chateau Anglais. A romantic evening between Gareth and Rochelle is interrupted by Janice, who has some very surprising news to share with them.

Episode 19
Gareth is at a cross road. He must decide whether to accept Rochelle's invitation to join her in Paris for the weekend or to fly off to Jamaica to try to patch things up with Janice. Another little problem exists in his trying to convince Savanna to take charge of the kitchen in his absence.