# Come Dine with Me (2005)

> Amateur cooks host dinner parties for rival guests who secretly score them, with a sarcastic narrator skewering every course.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/2505

## Facts

- Seasons: 51
- Episodes: 1444
- Episode runtime: 30 min
- Status: Returning Series
- Genres: reality
- Network: Channel 4
- Cast: Dave Lamb, Linda Robson, Darren Day, Nancy Sorrell, Michael Barrymore, Samantha Fox, Danielle O'Hara, John Fashanu
- TMDB rating: 6.5/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0820392/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: breezy, sarcastic, mischievous, cozy, witty

## Synopsis

Come Dine with Me (2005-present) is a British reality competition series created for Channel 4 and produced by LWT and ITV Studios. Amateur cooks take turns hosting dinner parties in their own homes for the other contestants, who then score each host's food, table and hospitality, with the winner taking a £1,000 cash prize. The engine is social rivalry: every host wants to impress guests who are also their competitors, and the awkward small talk and quiet resentment unfold over a single evening per episode. Dave Lamb (as narrator) supplies dry, bitingly sarcastic commentary that turns each dinner into comedy. The format is a long-running, episodic reality show rather than a scripted drama, with a 30-minute runtime and a self-contained competition in each installment. Its tone is breezy and mischievous, with a warm, cozy domestic atmosphere undercut by cutting narration. Fans of The Great British Bake Off, MasterChef and Gogglebox will find similar kinship in its amateur hosts, home settings and wry, affectionate teasing of ordinary people.

## Shows like Come Dine with Me

- [Million Dollar Secret (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/191031)
- [Hell's Kitchen (2004)](https://ember.film/tv/771)
- [Chef (1993)](https://ember.film/tv/1436)
- [Would I Lie to You? (2007)](https://ember.film/tv/4540)
- [MasterChef Australia (2009)](https://ember.film/tv/15239)
- [Dating Naked UK (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/176566)
- [MasterChef (2005)](https://ember.film/tv/23941)
- [Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (2004)](https://ember.film/tv/2066)
- [Whites (2010)](https://ember.film/tv/31293)
- [Gogglebox (2013)](https://ember.film/tv/50046)

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