In and Out of the Kitchen - 1 ª Season

In between addressing the audience and giving recipes celebrity chef Damien Trench prepares a birthday cake for his builder Mr Mullaney and argues with his boyfriend Anthony over the foul smelling courgette soup Anthony has made. He meets his agent Ian in a café to discuss writing for Waitbury supermarket magazine and has an awkward encounter with another food writer whom he has criticized in print. Legal action is threatened unless a retraction is made and, to make matters worse, Mr Mullaney admits to a gluten allergy.

On Valentine's day Damien is banished from the kitchen as Anthony is cooking a special meal though Damien keeps finding excuses to see what it is. After a visit from his mother and a call regarding a TV appearance he accompanies Mr Mullaney to the builders' merchants where he learns a new phrase but on returning to the house he receives a panic call from his mother which ruins the cosy dinner Anthony prepared for them both.

Damien dismisses Anthony's view that they should take a lodger to pay for the building work and instead reluctantly agrees to write a restaurant review though, thanks to his mother, whom he takes with him, the review is somewhat bland. Eventually he agrees to see prospective tenants but the most suitable, Helen, actually works at the restaurant he criticized and turns him down, damning his review. However his agent, Iain, whose marriage is on the rocks, moves in instead, proving to be a rather dominant presence.