UK Television and Film

While keeping ourselves busy looking after and serving the needs of our much valued clients in and around Swindon and the South West of England, UK-based television production companies have featured catering appliances that were either serviced or supplied by RCM for use in mainstream television programs.

Doc Martin - Series Three

When British actor Martin Clunes - best known for his roles in the massively successful TV series Men Behaving Badly and William and Mary - needed an entire commercial catering kitchen putting together to feature in series three of his popular Doc Martin TV series, we came up with the goods - right on budget and right on time.

As well as enjoying a very successful acting career, Clunes is also a director of an independent production company. Together with Elise Menghini, props buyer for Doc Martin, we came up with a fully working, completely authentic catering kitchen which was promptly shipped down to the set location in Cornwall when filming began during the summer.

The working kitchen appliances for Doc Martin series three included a six-burner gas cooking range, stainless steel fridges and freezers, stainless steel benches and prep tables, dry store racking, char grill, a potato peeler and a chipper, a falcon steakhouse grill, a Maidaid Halcyon Dishwasher and a huge amount of single film-set feature items such as bowls, cups, plates, cooking utensils and condiments - all used to dress the set prior to filming the series.

Gas Appliance Specialists

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Click the You Tube logo to view a Doc Martin episode

Restaurant - (BBC)

Catering equipment serviced and repaired by RCM also featured in series one of Raymond Blancs Restaurant TV series, first screened in 2007.

Allium, based in Fairford, is owned and run by husband and wife team James and Erica Graham. Prior to the arrival of Blanc and his film crew we carried out essential maintenance and repairs on James and Erica’s kitchen appliances and also provided gas certification on their Falcon Chieftain solid top ranges.

Like many other service companies, we make a habit of placing service stickers on all appliances we’ve worked on as they prominently feature our company name and phone numbers and they also generate repeat business. That habit paid off handsomely for us when Allium was temporarily transformed into The Ostrich for Blancs’ first foray into the world of UK reality TV

Every episode featuring the Ostrich restaurant showed shots of our name and logo standing out loud and clear on the service stickers placed a couple of months prior to filming. We even picked up several new clients who contacted us and placed orders with us during the broadcast period, having seen our service stickers displayed on kitchen equipment used in the show.

We’re glad to report that Allium is now safely back in the hands of owners James and Erica, and has since picked up several prestigious awards for both top-quality seasonal food and exceptional service.

‘With a daily changing lunch  menu and a seasonal evening menu, there is food to suit the occasion, be it a  business lunch, a family get together, or meeting friends to catch up’ - it says here.

Doc Martin -  Series Four

Wednesday April 6th 2009 saw another complete commercial catering kitchen leave Swindon destined for Cornwall, home of the Doc Martin TV series location.

Filming of Doc Martin series began just after Easter 09 and we were happy to provide another catering kitchen for the forthcoming series. 

The kitchen featured all the usual appliances such as a six burner range, stainless steel dishwasher, microwave oven, under counter fridge and a stainless steel extraction canopy together with a wall mounted electronic gas safety interlock system.

 In a press release, RCM’s  Jo Ratcliffe said:

‘We’re delighted to have been able to help the Doc Martin props team by providing another commercial catering kitchen and the accompanying catering appliances to go in it. As in 2007, Doc Martin gave us plenty of notice that series four was scheduled to begin filming in April 09, so we had more than enough time to hand-select both the kitchen and the appropriate appliances that will be shown in the new series.’

‘TV producers need an awful lot of props for a series that will take around 16 weeks to film and the catering kitchen has to look right and be authentic in every detail as it features quite regularly. Cooking appliances that are the heartbeat of any catering kitchen need to look right on screen. For example, if a script calls for a cast member to be boiling up a stock pot on the cooker in a scene, the producers will want the cooker flames to be visible and steam to be seen rising from the pot as it would in real life.

Little details count for a lot and even something simple like an insect zapper - a common sight in most food kitchens nowadays - adds to the feeling of authenticity and realism when the scene is broadcast. For that level of realism to happen the equipment and appliances have to work properly where appropriate and be set up correctly to look right for the cameras. Our engineers are dedicated experts in the field of catering equipment and worked diligently to get everything looking good, working well and ready for shipment to the set location.

As well as catering equipment and appliances, we once again provided plenty of set dressing items such as crockery, cutlery, linen, glassware and general kitchenalia.

‘Continuity is also very important and we made sure that the equipment supplied this year matched the series three consignment as closely as possible by using our tailored digital stock system. If we’re fortunate enough to supply Doc Martin again in the future, we’ll know exactly what items went on set this year which will make life easy for us to match them up again.

‘We specialize in the supply and repair of catering appliances and installations as our core business anyway, so finding the right equipment that looks good on-screen was a fairly straight forward task and most items were already in stock. The couple of items that we didn’t have in stock were easily sourced via trusted and established trade partners.’

Program synopsis:

Martin Ellingham (Martin Clunes) used to be a successful London surgeon until  he developed a phobia of blood. He retrains as a GP and manages to find a  practice in the sleepy Cornish village of Portwenn.

Although he's an excellent doctor, his total lack of interpersonal skills makes  it difficult for him to deal effectively with patients.

He gets some support from his Aunt Joan (Stephanie Cole) and develops a  fondness for local schoolteacher Louisa Glasson (Caroline Catz).

Other main characters include: plumber/restauranteur Bert Large (Ian McNeice);  his son Al (Joe Absolom); receptionist Elaine Denham (Lucy Punch) and her  replacement Pauline Lamb (Katherine Parkinson).

The programme is filmed in the real Cornish village of Port Isaac.