Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares

Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares
Premiere	April 27, 2004
Finale	December 18, 2007
Network/Provider	Channel 4 (UK) BBC America (USA)
Style	60-minute reality documentary
Company	Optomen Television
Seasons	5
Episodes	30 + 6 specials (List of episodes)
Origin	UK

This article is for the British series. For the American remake, see Kitchen Nightmares (USA) and Kitchen Nightmares (2023).

Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares is a British cooking documentary series starring notorious and critically acclaimed chef Gordon Ramsay. In each episode, Ramsay acts as a troubleshooter to failing restaurants and attempts to apply the necessary pressure to turn their fortunes around. The series was broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom and on BBC America in the United States.

In each episode, Ramsay gives himself a week to work with a restaurant to get it back on its feet. Typically, this involves reworking the dining room, changing the menu, performing stunts to garner interest from the public and, most importantly, working with the staff of the restaurant to whip them back into shape. After a week is up, he leaves the restaurant to work on its own. He typically returns after a month to see how it has faired. In some cases, the restaurant has flourished under the new direction and in others, it has collapsed into the old routine or failed outright. Occasionally, the restaurants will be revisited once again in later seasons to see if they've made any more improvement.

The series has been highly acclaimed and won a BAFTA award for Best Feature in 2005 and an International Emmy for best non-scripted entertainment in 2006. The program has been exported to several countries including Sweden and the Netherlands. In 2007, an American version was developed that relies heavily on the conventions created in the American Hell's Kitchen including the dramatic narrator (as opposed to Ramsay doing all of the narration) and the musical stings. Unlike the American show, the original tends to focus more on the food and upkeep of the restaurant than the personalities of the people involved in making it.

Troubleshooters

Troubleshooter		Duration
		1	2	3	4	5
Gordon Ramsay		*	*	*	*	*

Seasons

Season	Premiere	Finale				#
Channel 4
Season One	April 27, 2004	May 18, 2004				4
Season Two	May 24, 2005	July 12, 2005				8
Season Three	Feburary 21, 2006	March 14, 2006				4
Season Four	November 14, 2006	December 19, 2006				6
Season Five	October 30, 2007	December 18, 2007				8

In-Depth

• At a Glance: Additional information about the series

DVD Releases

Title			Release			Discs
Episode Collections  (Region 2)
Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares Revisited			February 6, 2006	purchase		1
Episode Collections  (Region 1)
Volume 1			October 16, 2007	purchase		2
Volume 2			October 7, 2008	purchase		2
Season Sets  (Region 1)
Complete Series One			March 3, 2009	purchase		2
Complete Series Two			September 1, 2009	purchase		—