Inside the Factory

Inside the Factory is a television series produced by Voltage TV for BBC. Each episode explores how a specific product is made inside a factory. The series is presented by Gregg Wallace and Cherry Healey, with historian Ruth Goodman providing a look at how products came to exist as we know them today.

Inside the Factory
Genre	Documentary
Presented by	Gregg Wallace Cherry Healey Ruth Goodman
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	5
No. of episodes	35 (as of 21 April 2020) including Specials (list of episodes)
Production
Producer(s)	Amanda Lyon
Running time	60 minutes
Production company(s)	Voltage TV
Release
Original network	BBC Two
Picture format	16:9 1080i
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	5 May 2015 (2015-05-05) – present
External links
Website
Production website

Initially both Gregg and Cherry visited the factories together, but from the Christmas special of 2017 each of the three presenters were in separate locations, forming different segments of the programme.

Episodes

Series 1

Episode	Title	Original airdate	Viewers (millions)
1	Bread	5 May 2015	2.35
Gregg and Cherry visit the Kingsmill factory in West Bromwich to learn the secrets of how they make bread. Cherry looks at how to make your bread last longer and Ruth shows what hidden items used to be found in bread.
2	Chocolate	6 May 2015	2.45
Gregg visits the Nestlé factory in York and Cherry visits the Thornton's factory in Derbyshire to learn the secrets of how they make chocolate. Ruth meets some people who used to work on the first chocolate production lines.
3	Milk	7 May 2015	2.54
Gregg and Cherry visit the Arla factory in Aylesbury to learn the secrets of how they process milk, Cherry also learns how Cheese is produced and visits Unilever to learn how they make ice cream. Ruth investigates the history of milk.

Series 2

Episode	Title	Original airdate	Viewers (millions)
1	Cereal	26 July 2016	2.43
Gregg and Cherry visit the Kellogg's factory in Manchester to learn the secrets of how they make cereal, specifically Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes. Cherry also visits the Weetabix factory, looks at how wheat is grown and how they add additional vitamins and minerals to cereals. Ruth looks at what people used to eat for breakfast before cereal was invented.
2	Crisps	2 August 2016	3.07
Gregg and Cherry visit the Walkers factory in Leicester to learn the secrets of how they make crisps, specifically Cheese and Onion. Cherry looks at what makes a perfect potato for making crisps and how your brain can be tricked into thinking you are eating something different. Ruth looks at who invented crisps.
3	Baked Beans	9 August 2016	2.77
Gregg and Cherry visit the Heinz factory in Wigan to learn the secrets of how they make baked beans. Cherry looks at how cans are recycled and Ruth looks at the history behind canned food.
4	Bicycles	16 August 2016	1.83
Gregg and Cherry visit the Brompton factory in West London to learn the secrets of how they make folding bicycles. Cherry gets tips from Team GB to improve her cycling speed and she also learns how bicycles are painted to cope with adverse weather. Ruth looks at important moments in history that used bicycles including the D-Day landings.
5	Sweets	23 August 2016	3.22
Gregg and Cherry visit the Swizzels Matlow factory in Derbyshire to learn the secrets of how they make different sweets. Cherry learns how they put writing into rock and how different nations have different tastes in sweets. Ruth investigates how sweets were first invented.
6	Shoes	30 August 2016	2.80
Gregg and Cherry visit the New Balance factory in Cumbria to learn the secrets of how they make trainers. Cherry looks at how leather is processed as well how ballet shoes are produced. Ruth traces the origins of trainers, specifically to Reebok.
Special	Christmas 2016	20 December 2016	3.45
Gregg and Cherry visit the Mr Kipling factory in Barnsley to learn the secrets of how they make various Christmas treats like Mince pies and yule log. Cherry looks at how tinsel and wrapping paper are made, while Ruth looks at the history of Christmas crackers.

Series 3

Episode	Title	Original airdate	Viewers (millions)
1	Tea bags	18 July 2017	2.45
Gregg and Cherry visit the Typhoo factory on the Wirral, Merseyside to learn the secrets of how they make their teabags. Cherry looks at the process of how the tea leaves first start out before being shipped off to the factories.[1]
2	Pasta	25 July 2017	2.52
Gregg and Cherry are at Barilla, the world's largest dried pasta factory in Parma, Italy, where they produce 150,000 kilometres of spaghetti each day.[2]
3	Biscuits	1 August 2017	2.77
Gregg and Cherry visit the McVitie's factory to look at the production of chocolate digestive biscuits. Cherry looks at the preparation of the chocolate and the creation of the bronze moulds used to make biscuits.[3]
Special	Christmas 2017	18 December 2017	2.91
Gregg is at a cake factory in Oldham where they make two million Christmas cakes for Marks and Spencer. Cherry visits Britain's largest marzipan factory. Ruth investigates why Christmas tree lights are called fairy lights.[4]
4	Fish Fingers	2 January 2018	2.94
Gregg visits a Grimsby factory that makes 80,000 fish fingers daily. Cherry travels to Iceland where she follows fish through a processing factory. Ruth investigates the origins of cod fish fingers.[5]
5	Sauces	9 January 2018	2.70
Gregg visits a factory in the Netherlands that produces a quarter of a million tonnes of condiments per year. Cherry finds out how glass jars are made. Ruth investigates Britain's love of mayonnaise and tells the history of Worcestershire sauce.[6]
6	Soft Drinks	16 January 2018	3.10
Gregg is at the Ribena factory in Gloucestershire which produces three million bottles of the soft drink per week. Cherry discovers how berries are harvested and visits a plastic recycling plant that processes 2.5 million bottles per day. Ruth investigates the origins of fizzy drinks.[7]

Series 4

Episode	Title	Original airdate	Viewers (millions)
1	Coffee	17 July 2018	2.48
Gregg visits a coffee factory in Derbyshire that produces 175,000 jars of instant coffee per day. Cherry is in the lab where she discovers the chemical composition of coffee. Ruth investigates the origins of instant coffee.[8]
2	Toilet Roll	24 July 2018	2.56
Gregg is at a factory in Manchester that makes 700,000 toilet rolls a day. He follows the raw material from Sweden where it is harvested from a sustainable forest. Cherry finds out how they churn out 1,000 toilets a day at Britains oldest toilet factory and sees how waste water is treated at a plant in Brighton. Ruth discovers what items were used before the invention of toilet paper.[9]
3	Sausages	31 July 2018	2.82
Gregg is in North Yorkshire at a factory that makes 625,000 sausages a day. Cherry finds out the best way to cook your sausage. Ruth discovers how a German bratwurst created the hot dog.[10]
4	Curry	14 August 2018	3.19
Gregg visits a Nottinghamshire factory that makes 250,000 jars of curry sauce daily. Cherry heads to India to follow the harvestation of chillies on a farm. Ruth discovers the origins of curry in Britain may be as far back as 1747.[11]
Special	Christmas 2018	17 December 2018	2.83
Gregg visits a factory which makes 2,000,000 tins of festive chocolates per year. Cherry finds out how Christmas ornaments are made and discovers how festive postage stamps are printed at the Royal Mail. Ruth uncovers the tradition of the Christmas turkey.[12]
5	Potato waffle	26 February 2019	2.85
Gregg is in Lowestoft at a frozen food factory where they produce one million potato waffles a day. Cherry learns about the different types of potatoes. Ruth finds out how the potato was popularised and meets one of the inventors of the potato waffle.[13]
6	Pizza	5 March 2019	2.51
Gregg visits Italy where they make 400,000 frozen pizzas a day. Cherry discovers that not all cheeses are equal and which work best on pizza. Ruth finds out the history of freezer transport.[14]
7	Beer	12 March 2019	2.48
Gregg follows the production at Britain’s biggest brewery where they make 3,000,000 pints of beer a day. Cherry finds out how basic ingredients can make a wide variety of beers. Ruth discovers why Burton upon Trent became the heart of brewing in Britain in the 1800s.[15]
8	Pencils	19 March 2019	2.54
Gregg is in Germany at a factory which makes 600,000 pencils a day. Cherry uncovers the properties of graphite - the main material that makes up a pencil. Ruth tells of the earliest pencils used in Britain.[16]
9	Cheese	26 March 2019	2.62
Gregg visits a cheese factory in Gateshead where they make 3,000 tonnes of spreadable cheese each year. Cherry discovers what determines the smell, taste and appearance of different types of cheese. Ruth finds out how cheddar became the most popular hard cheese world wide.[17]

Series 5

Episode	Title	Original airdate	Viewers (millions)
1	Cherry Bakewells	30 July 2019	3.04
Gregg is in Stoke at a factory that produces 250,000 cherry bakewells every day. Cherry finds out how to avoid a soggy bottom when baking tarts and pies at home. Ruth discovers the origins of frangipane - one of the cherry bakewell's key ingredient.
2	Wax Jacket	6 August 2019	3.03
Gregg visits South Shields at a factory where they make 650 waxed jackets per day. Cherry discovers how they make waterproof breathable fabrics that keep the rain out while preventing sweat. Ruth finds out how seamen contributed to the origins of waxed jackets.
3	Croissants	13 August 2019	2.98
Gregg is at a factory in France where they make 336,000 croissants every day. Cherry discovers the best way to eat a croissant. Ruth travels outside of France to find the origin of the croissant.
4	Mattresses	20 August 2019	2.89
Gregg is in Leeds at a factory that produces 600 mattresses per day. Cherry finds out if having an afternoon nap is better than drinking coffee. Ruth discovers the materials people slept on in the middle ages, how steel transformed the mattress and finds the origin of the duvet.
Special	Christmas 2019	12 December 2019	2.54
6	Pasty	7 April 2020	TBA
7	Pots and Pans	14 April 2020	TBA
8	Soup	21 April 2020	TBA
9	Liqueurs	28 April 2020	TBA
10	Cereal Bars	5 May 2020	3.04
Greg visits a Cereal Bar Factory in Essex. While Cherry travels to Africa to find out how Macadamia nuts are harvested.

References

1. "Tea Bags, Series 3, Inside the Factory - BBC Two". BBC. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
2. "Pasta, Series 3, Inside the Factory - BBC Two". BBC. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
3. "Biscuits, Series 3, Inside the Factory - BBC Two". BBC. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
4. "Christmas 2017, Inside the Factory - BBC Two". BBC. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
5. "Fish Fingers, Series 3, Inside the Factory - BBC Two". BBC. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
6. "Sauces, Series 3, Inside the Factory - BBC Two". BBC. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
7. "Soft Drinks, Series 3, Inside the Factory - BBC Two". BBC. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
8. "Coffee, Series 4, Inside the Factory - BBC Two". BBC. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
9. "Toilet Roll, Series 4, Inside the Factory - BBC Two". BBC. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
10. "Sausages, Series 4, Inside the Factory - BBC Two". BBC. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
11. "Curry, Series 4, Inside the Factory - BBC Two". BBC. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
12. "Christmas 2018". Retrieved 12 May 2020.
13. "Potato Waffles". Retrieved 12 May 2020.
14. "Pizza". Retrieved 12 May 2020.
15. "Beer". Retrieved 12 May 2020.
16. "Pencils". Retrieved 12 May 2020.
17. "Cheese". Retrieved 12 May 2020.

External links

• Inside the Factory at BBC Programmes
• Inside the Factory on IMDb