It has been (all told) thirteen years in the making but finally it has hit the screens. On Easter Monday, Channel5 the new animated kids show, Shane the Chef hit the screens. After all this time and now that it is out there I thought I would write a few posts about the origins of the show. A lot can happen over thirteen years.
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2005. Myself, my wife and our two daughters were sitting round the dinner table at Easter.
We had just finished a nice Sunday dinner. It was around that time that I first started working in TV. Up to that point I had been a GRaphic Designer, a Comic Book artist, an Illustrator and a Concept Artist for the games industry. But at this point in my career the opportunity had come for me to work in TV designing characters for an animated kids show called Legend of The Dragon. While sitting around the dining table the girls were reminiscing about the shows that they had enjoyed as kids. All sorts were mentioned and one of their favourites was Postman Pat. The other significant thing is that on that day our son was not able to be with us. He had recently started an apprenticeship as a chef and was working over Easter. With all this in mind my wife Lesley said “Why doesn’t someone make one of those sort of kids shows but about a chef” ………………..
And that was it. The seed was sown. The idea was born. We all chatted about some of the things that could be in it. The character could have his own restaurant. He could have a friend who is an organic farmer to supply the vegetables. The following day I sat in my studio and formed it all into an outline. The town and some of the characters and the idea that at the heart of its intention it could help young people understand food. Good, healthy fresh food. Just as the context of the show and not in an overt didactic way. Back then the main character was called Jeff (the chef). He worked in a small seaside restaurant owned by his father, ‘Pop’. And his organic farmer friend was a woman called Lilly. I took the proposal to show the producer of the TV show I was working on telling him I had an idea for a kids show. “We all have an idea for a kids show” he said. And he was right. Most people in the industry do. But with good grace he took a look at the idea anyway. He got it. He really got it and put me in touch with a TV writer he knew who had worked on a lot of Bob the Builder episodes. A good fit, right? Turns out that I had worked with said writer before, back in the old UK Marvel comic book days, on a Doctor Who strip. Anyway, we bashed it around and he used his skills to properly format it into a TV pitch that we could present to some producers.
Next post I will let you know how those pitch meetings went. And just exactly who those people that gave it the push were 🙂
Brilliant show, my 2 year old boy adores it and asks for it by name now. Such a feel good show and brought to life with superb music. Shane reminded me a bit of Jamie Oliver, cockney on a moped, then I happened to see Russel Toveys write up about how he was based on mix of Jamie and Shane Ritchie, so certainly achieved what you set out to do. I’m most impressed with the interest in cooking that the programme has given my boy, we’ve bought him a kids ikea kitchen now and he loves it, so just wanted to let you know that the show has been an inspiration for my boy Luke and I’m sure many more too. Great work!
Hi Steve. Thanks for the kind words and great that it is doing what we set out to do; entertain children as well as help inform them about food. I love the idea of the IKEA kitchen. Maybe at some point when Shane becomes even more popular we will be able to look at creating some cool stuff for the kids to play with :-).
AW
Hi Steve. I shared your comments with the producer and they asked whether you would be willing to share the same on the Shane the Chef Facebook page. You can find it here And there is also a Shane the Chef YouTube channel where there are clips from the show as well as some of the recipes that you and your son might find interesting. Thanks, A
Yes ofcourse, will share to Facebook page. It’s refreshing to see a show that as well as entertainment value is actually subconsciously raising kids interest in cooking and eating healthy food. Will check out the you tube channel, Luke will love it. Thanks, Steve
Agree with previous comments. Found this when googling to see if there would be more! We now know most of them word for word. Our two year old boy loves the show, I’m hooked too.
Glad you like it. More episodes will be released soon. All in all there will be 52 but they don’t all get released in one go. Keep watching 🙂
Please could you explain what happened to shane’s Wife/partner. I’m meant to be away on a child free break and we are now talking about this . Please save my sanity and my relationship haha
Big fans eve and Phil
Hi Eve. Great question. It is left deliberately ambiguous so that it can be relevant to any single parent family.
The joke in the studio is that Maggie did her in and buried her round the back of the farm ?
I love this idea! I love the programme- always good to have new shows for the kids or else it drives the parents crazy ?
The three of us (aged 42, 36 & 3yrs ) love watching Shane the Chef. It’s great that there’s a healthy eating, cooking fresh and seasonal thread running through it. We live in the East Midlands but love the Fish village location as we got Married in Cornwall and love the UK coastline. Is Shane’s Village based on anywhere in particular? Thanks for creating this superb show, Phil, Jade and Maxim
Hi. Great that you love the show. We do too 🙂
Good question about the location. When designing the show we wanted somewhere that could cover land sea and air, so a small fishing harbour seemed like the best idea. It was originally smaller but as the show developed we wanted to make it more of a ‘town’ than a ‘village’. I looked at lots of things for reference as we needed it to be relevant to communities around the world. But the main references were Chipping Norton for the design of some of the specific buildings i.e. the Deli and Fresh (the restaurant). The other and more general main reference was Mevagissey in Cornwall. I am guessing you may have been there 🙂
Im trained as a chef and love it, my 5 year old and 2 year old girls love your show…2 year old as soon as she wakes up starts singing ‘shane chef’…tantrum curer, actually gets her to eat food which is a miracle in itself and we all enjoy them together and they don’t get annoying when played for the 100th time as we had to record them for her…deffo need more episodes x thank you and well done x
Hi Rosy. Glad you and your daughters like the show (and the song 🙂 ). Great that it helps with her eating. This was always the thing we most wanted to achieve; have little people grow up with a healthy understanding of food and its sources. It would be great if you could also make this comment on the Shane Facebook Page too. It all helps to spread the word 🙂
AW
My nearly 3 year old loves the show – I think we all know the words to each episode off by heart! He always asks for a ‘Shane the Chef’ story at bedtime so my husband and I are being creative! Any plans for some story books? Or maybe a Shane the Chef recipe book to get little ones involved in cooking healthy meals?!
Hi Helen. Glad you all love the show 🙂 There are all sorts of plans for the kind of thing you mention. But needless to say it takes a while to get those sort of things sorted. More episodes will be appearing very soon. Keep watching. A
My son has asked Santa for a Shane the Chef recipe book for Christmas! Shame it isn’t out yet. Hope to see it in production soon. Great job. My fussy eater son loves it and has eaten new foods because of your show, so thank you!
Great that he is trying new things 🙂 All sorts of product discussions are being had but won’t be available this Christmas. Let’s hope he is still a Shane fan this time next year
Hi,
I’m here after googling for shane the chef recipes, any news on that book? My litle one keeps asking for what Shane has cooked, for tea haha
Hi. No news on any books yet but it is likely to be one of the first things that appears. Oh, and more episodes coming soon ☺️??
Thank you for making such a great show. My 2 year old loves it!Looking forward to future episodes.
🙂 Mire episodes coming very soon Keep watching
Thanks for this great programme. Our 3 year old always helps with the cooking and just loves Shane the Chef. We’ve finally moved on from Paw Patrol!! Yay..
Where can we find the full lyrics written down? There been a “disagreement” in our house about some of them.. ?
Thanks for this great programme. Keep the episodes coming!
Our 3 year old is always involved in our home cooking and has finally moved on from Paw Patrol! Yay…!
Are the song lyrics written anywhere we can see? There’s been a “disagreement” about some of them ?
Hi Eilis. Glad you like the show and great that it is inspiring some home cooking with your 3 year old. That really is the intention of the show 🙂 As for the lyrics, you will have to let me know what the disagreement is. As for the real ones, as far as I can remember it goes like this…
Let’s get cooking… with Shane the Chef.
Shane the Chef lives by the sea. In his restaurant with Izzy.
Cooking up new recipes, come on in, try them and see.
Mixing and stirring, gadgets all a whiring,
Here he is, Shane the Chef.
Shane the Chef lives near Maggie. Grows her veg organically.
Field to fork’s the way to be. Fresh is best, Naturally.
Baking and grilling, filming in the kitchen,
Here he is, Shane the Chef.
Ready to serve, best to reserve,
Here he is, Shane the Chef
There was a huge disagreement in our house too ??? field to forks I was way out on that.
Make sure to read the other ‘Back of the Oven’ instalments. Link to Part2 is now at the bottom of the post above.
Came across this when googling for any toys related to the show, a very interesting read, I didn’t realise it would have been so long in the making.
Our 2yr old (3 in a week) has loved the show since it came out on Milkshake a few months back. He sings along, knows all the characters names… And is learning about all the different ingredients used. He often comes to help me make the dinner now, comes into the kitchen and announces ‘lets get cooking!’ which is so funny ? He will help chop veg (with my hand over his on the knife of course!), Put peelings in the bin, stir the sauce, squish together meatball mixtures and is head taster!
We have tried a few of Shane’s recipes and he has enjoyed eating them ‘because Shane the Chef makes these’ including his and my favourite – the corn flake fish fingers! Excellent recipe!
Please say there will be some toys/merchandise out soon, we are overloaded with the usual paw patrol and Peppa pig stuff at the minute, and it would be good to know the money was going to help fund more great, educational episodes of this rather than lining a mulit-millionaire company’s back pocket.
We’ve made a special Shane the Chef 3rd Birthday card for Theo, look out for it on Milkshake on 19th Oct ?
Wow! What a lovely message. It is so rewarding to know that the show is having the desired effect. Not just entertaining but informing and inspiring as well. As for toys; it is a long road to get merchandise created and in the shops. But rest assured we have some great people working hard to make this happen. Thanks again for your message Zoe and and say hi to the birthday boy for us ☺️
Such an amazing show! My little one is desperate for a shane the chef toy. he loves the show and it’s even made him eat vegetables lol Any updates on toys?
My 18 month old also loves it and wakes up shouting shane chef shane chef from his cot!!
Hi Andrew, I’m so glad I came across this page, after Googling ‘Shane The Chef Cornwall’ to answer a burning question. I grew up near Mevagissey and spent many summers walking around the harbour that I have been so convinced was the inspiration for Shane The Chef’s seaside town. Then we saw the episode with the Cornish Chough (which my Cornish, bird-loving husband is proud to have spotted in the wild), so we were even more sure that Cornwall was the location. I’m so pleased that my curiosity has been satisfied! Our son is about to turn 2 and he is obsessed with Shane, who he calls “Man”. He’s in that delightful Terrible Twos stage and will shout “Man now!” at the TV, demanding Shane be played! Gutted that there will not be any merchandise this Christmas, although totally understandable and we will be first in line to purchase when it’s on the shelves. Luckily he’s a huge Peppa fan, so he’s having a Peppa-themed party this year, Although I’m sure it will be Shane next year! I can’t wait to take him to Mevagissey next summer (even though he’s been as a baby) and tell him it’s Shane’s village. Even more exciting for him is the fact that Mummy has (kind of) worked in Shane’s restaurant – I’m a caricaturist and have drawn live caricatures at a party at The Sharksfin, a seafood restaurant in Mevagissey which bears a very similar placement to Shane’s restaurant in the harbour front (Although I now know from your post that the building itself was based on another establishment outside of The County). It was the placement and the cobbled street that were instantly recognisable to me from the show. Great to read all 6 ‘Back of the oven’ blog posts and I’d love to read more. Well done on making your dream a reality. Looking forward to all the exciting Shane things in the pipeline! Best Wishes.
Hi Cassie. Glad you found my posts. We visited Mevagissey a number of years ago and loved it. When I was designing the show we needed fishing harbour reference so there was a lot of looking at Google for that one. But we had to create our own layout so it is similar but not exactly the same. If you ever visit Chipping Norton you will see the other buildings reference.
Anyway, glad your done loves the show. Fingers crossed for merchandise next year. A
Can I buy the DVDs Shane the chef plz ??
Hi. No DVDs available yet but I am pretty sure they will come next year. In the meantime you can watch all current episodes on My5.tv More episodes appearing soon.
Hello my granddaughter who’s one loves the show pity no merchandise out for Christmas. Shane does remind me of Gary Rhodes the chef haha, not sure if its only me but his voice and mannerisms are very similar, anyway we love it hope more episodes are made also
Me too! I was sure he was going to be based on Garry Rhodes. I didnt think of Jamie Oliver at all lol
There is a Rhodes reference… the character was inspired by our son who at the time of thinking of the show was an apprentice chef. As a young child he was inspired by Gary Rhodes as it was before Jamie Oliver came on the scene. So, tenuous but there none the less 🙂
Thank you for making such a great show for the whole family! It teaches some brilliant morals. We don’t allow our 4 year old to watch much television however we’re all more than happy to watch Shane the Chef! I find it helps promote healthy eating and creates a real interest in cooking for the little ones.
Hi Abby. Glad you all like it. We are very proud of the show and always very rewarding to know that it is the entertainment and inspiration that we always intended. 🙂
Omg my 17 month old daughter loves this tv show after she has worn herself out running around I ask her if she wants to watch Shane the chef for a calm down 5mins she nods her head with a big smile on her face and sits down in the rug waiting. As soon as the theme song comes on she claps her hands and dances she will also sit there the whole time till the episode finishes. Well done for making such a great series you have given a busy mum time to have a cup of tea in peace ? I’m sure as she gets older she’ll understand the healthy options of eating
Fantastic! ☺️ great that she likes it just for the fun of it, and when she starts to understand the food aspect she will enjoy it even more. Enjoy your cup of tea ?
Both my children love this show. Really good that they are watching something educational and getting them enthused with healthy eating. My boy now comes out with comments like ‘I must make sure I wash my hands like Shane and Izzy’. So much better than many children’s TV shows like Peppa Pig and her whinging and characters who down even speak but make sounds only! Well done.
Thanks Ella 🙂
My daughter loves Shane the chef but constantly asks where is Issys mummy which now has us watching with anticipation that we may meet her in an episode
Hi Lorraine. Great that your daughter loves the show 🙂 We see a flashback of mum in an episode. ‘Missing mum’ Although it is not fully explained, the implication is that mum has passed away. But we leave it deliberately ambiguous so that the situation is relevant to all single parent families. Hope that helps.
My 2 year old daughter absolutely loves your show and has taken to it since the first episode! She prefers it over Peppa Pig (which is saying something).
Looking forward to purchasing the merchandise. I keep looking every month in hope of at least finding a release date.
Glad she loves the show 🙂 Hopefully some merchandise soon
My little boy is 2 and he is absolutely in love with shane the chef first thing in the morning he gets up and comes down stairs hands me the remote and says Shane shane shane (which apart from mam and dad is his only other word at the moment) we then sit there and watch back to back episodes where he enjoys copying them all he even gets he cooking spoon out of the kitchen draw to wave in the air when shane gets cooking. I would love to be able to get him some merchandise of some kind mayeb a doll of Shane he would love it. I also seen on your Facebook page that there was a little girl with a signed photo of Shane and izzy is this something I would be able to purchase for him at all.
Hi Liz. That’s fantastic ☺️ Lots if people asking for merch and in time it will come, but it will take time. Email me with your address and I will get a print sent to you
Omg that would be amazing thank you so much for that I have email my address over to you thank you again he is going to love it
My 2 yr old daughter absolutely loves Shane the Chef (so does her 40 something father) and even though she can’t talk yet she is saying ‘shaychef’ all the time! Keep up the good work and I look forward to buying some merchandise very soon
My 1 year old daughter adores Shane the Chef! She bounces up and down to the theme tune and I swear she tries to “sing” when the cooking music comes on! Such a fabulous show, thank you very much for making a little girl very happy.
My Granddaughter adores the show. She watches each episode over and over again. As soon as she hears the title music she gets so excited.
She was one two weeks ago and we searched for merchandise for her Birthday.
It is wonderful to watch a children’s programme that is so informative.
Congratulations
Thanks for this brilliant show. My daughter aliyyah who is 9 absolutely loves the show. We have been inspired to cook our very own minestrone soup. And I’m hoping to try the beetroot cupcakes next.keep up the great stories. ?
Hi Annie. Glad you and Aliyyaha love the show. Let us know how the cupcakes turn out ☺️
Shane the chef is the best! I find myself watching it when my girls aren’t. Although I got it completely wrong I thought it was based in an Italian setting… my husband especially like the reference to the Italian football kit!!
Keep the episodes coming you have done an amazing job x
Thanks 🙂 We tried to make the setting quite global, a typical harbour town. The Italian thing is just Mama Polenta and Mario. Did you notice that even the front of Mama Polenta’s shop is Green White and Red? Hope your girls enjoy it too. AW
My 2 year old son loves this show as do I really hope there will be more episodes in the pipeline 🙂
I Louise. Yes. More episodes coming very soon 🙂
My 15 month old son loves shane the chef i have looked for toys and stuff to do with shane the chef and their isnt any anywhere which is a shame as wanted to buy some for him for christmas so think would be a great idea to make some. i know my little boy would love some
Hi Kelly. Great that your son loves it. We do too 🙂 Getting Roy’s our is a very long process so nothing this year. Good news is that there is a Shane cookbook coming out in November. You can preorder on Amazon or look out for it in your local book shop in November ??
Hi, my daughter wife and I love the show. Nearly all the names you have chosen for the characters have the same name as people in our family, we are dying to know if Shane’s wife had a name?. Looking forward to more episodes. Jay&Penny.
Hi Jay. Glad you all like the show 🙂
Shane’s wife’s name was Annie.
By the way, if you are anywhere near Chipping Norton on Saturday I am doing a short talk about the show in the theatre. Details on cnarts.org
Best,
Andrew
Hi there, both my kids love your show. My girl is 3.5 and my boy is 1.5, as soon as the music starts in the mornings that’s them up and dancing around (instead of getting ready for nursery) 🙂 they love playing with their toy kitchen pretending to be the chef
great show
Hi Donna. Fantastic to hear that they love it and hopefully all hat fun and info about food is going in. BTW there is a Shane recipe book coming out next month.
Well what a superb children’s TV programme ,innocent but educational my 3month old grandson was actually transfixed for 5 back to back episodes ,when I paused it he went ballistic,resumed play he actually interacted with the TV …I grew up with the Flumps ,trumpton ,magic roundabout etc …..and I’m so glad you have brought back that style of kids TV …as the rubbish I’ve seen over the years has worried me for future generations …..I really would purchase any franchise for him
Fantastic 🙂 We love it too and I grew up with those old shows too.
There is now a Shane Cook Book. Available on Amazon. Do a search for Shane the Chef and you will find it
Wheres shane the chef.. my little girl loved watching every morning on milkshake…. but it’s not on anymore?
Hi. Glad your little girl loves the show. Shane is only appearing on Milkshake on Saturday and Sunday mornings at the moment. You can still watch the episodes on My5.tv
Hope that helps and all being well, more episodes at some point.
Oh. And great first name by the way ?
Thank you…will have a look at that.
Obviously a good choice you made with the name haha