Keith Floyd (1943–2009) was an English broadcaster, restaurateur and food writer. He was brought up in Somerset, England, where his mother taught him to cook. He was educated at Wellington, a local public school, although he left at the age of sixteen. He joined the Bristol Evening Post as a cub reporter—where he worked alongside the future playwright Tom Stoppard. He was commissioned into the Royal Tank Regiment in 1963 as a second lieutenant, but his career there only lasted until 1966; he left military service and moved to London and then France, where he worked in several restaurants in various roles.

In 1971 he set up his first restaurant in Bristol—Floyd's Bistro—which proved popular enough for him to open three further outlets in the city. His burgeoning empire soon collapsed and he sailed around the Mediterranean for two years, from where he exported wine to the UK. He also opened a restaurant in the south of France, but this was also unsuccessful and it closed in 1979, when Floyd returned to the UK. He opened another Bristol-based restaurant and wrote a book—Floyd's Food—which was locally published in 1981; this led to a short recipe slot on the local Radio West station. In 1983 one of his customers—David Pritchard, a television producer—suggested to Floyd that he front a television series, which resulted in Floyd on Fish, broadcast on BBC Two in late 1985. Several series followed on the BBC before the Floyd-Pritchard partnership broke up in 1993; a corresponding book appeared with each series. There were no scripts for the programmes, and Floyd ad-libbed throughout; when he ran out of words, he would sip from an ever-present glass of wine to give him time to create the next line. Pritchard's directing style and Floyd's presentation technique produced what the food writer Tom Jaine considers as "cheerful mayhem", although viewers were educated in basic techniques. He went on to say that "Floyd's performances, on or near the stove, were a refreshing departure from the prissy, controlled style then in favour at the BBC, or the alternative mode of half an hour with a French chef whose incomprehensible English made the recipes a mystery."

Paul Levy, Floyd's obituarist, considered the broadcaster had "no outstanding talent, either as a cook or as a TV presenter, no great knowledge of his subject, or any apparent passion for anything but drink. This is not to say that his first TV programmes were bad – they were, indeed, highly diverting entertainment". The programmes were also highly popular both with the public and other cooks. Following his death of heart disease in September 2009 several fellow chefs voiced their opinions of him. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall considered that Floyd "cooked his ingredients with the love and passion of a gifted amateur", while Heston Blumenthal opined that "His enthusiasm, even when he was being a bit crotchety, jumped out of the screen. No one made TV food programmes quite like him. He had a wealth of knowledge but there was a no-nonsense approach to it all."

Bibliography Food and drink writing + Floyd's food and drink bibliography Title Year of firstpublication First edition publisher(All London) Floyd's Food Absolute Press Floyd on Fish BBC Books Floyd on Fire: Cooking Outdoors BBC Books Floyd on France BBC Books Floyd on Britain and Ireland BBC Books Bracken Books Floyd's American Pie BBC Books Floyd on Oz Michael Joseph Floyd on Hangovers Michael Joseph Floyd on Spain Michael Joseph Far Flung Floyd: Keith Floyd's Guide to Southeast-Asia Cooking Michael Joseph Floyd on Italy Michael Joseph Michael Joseph Hot and Spicy Floyd Penguin Books Floyd on Africa Michael Joseph Cognac Cookery Penguin Books Keith Floyd Cooks Barbies BBC Books Floyd Uncorked HarperCollins Floyds Fjord Fiesta Michael Joseph Floyd on Fibre Kellogg's Floyd Around the Med HarperCollins Floyd's India HarperCollins Flash Floyd Cassell Floyd's Great Curries Cassell Floyd's China HarperCollins Floyd's Thai Food HarperCollins Cassell

Other published works + Floyd's other publications Title Year of firstpublication First edition publisher(All London) Notes Boxtree Foreword only; work by Carol Payne Floyd in the Soup Pan Books Autobiography Out of the Frying Pan: Scenes from My Life HarperCollins Autobiography Stirred But Not Shaken Sidgwick & Jackson Autobiography

Television + Television appearances of Floyd Programme Date Channel Role Notes Floyd on Fish  – 20 December 1985 BBC Two Presenter Seven programmes Pebble Mill at One  – 16 May 1986 BBC One Presenter – Floyd on Food  – 28 October 1986 BBC Two Presenter Six programmes Food and Drink BBC Two Guest – Floyd on France  – 13 October 1987 BBC Two Presenter Seven programmes Vintage Floyd  – 17 December 1987 BBC Two Presenter Six programmes; selected episodes from the previous two series Aspel and Company ITV Interviewee – Open Space BBC Two Narrator – Floyd on Britain and Ireland  – 1 November 1988 BBC Two Presenter Nine programmes Floyd's American Pie  – 14 November 1989 BBC Two Presenter Six programmes BBC Two Presenter – Floyd on Oz  – 6 June 1991 BBC Two Presenter Nine programmes BBC One Guest – Floyd on Spain  – 29 September 1992 BBC Two Presenter Seven programmes Far Flung Floyd  – 17 August 1993 BBC Two Presenter Seven programmes Floyd on Italy  – 23 August 1994 BBC Two Presenter Seven programmes  – 9 November 1994 BBC Two Presenter Eight programmes; selected episodes from the previous series BBC One Presenter – Floyd on Africa  – 4 June 1996 BBC Two Presenter Seven programmes Noel's House Party BBC One Guest – Floyd Uncorked  – 21 December 1998 Channel 5 Presenter Eight programmes Floyd on GMTV  – 24 December 1998 ITV Presenter Twelve programmes Floyd Around the Med  – 23 February 2000 Channel 5 Presenter Nine programmes You Only Live Once BBC One Guest – Capital Floyd  – 22 January 2001 Channel 5 Presenter Seven programmes Floyd's India  – 17 December 2001 Channel 5 Presenter Eight programmes Open House with Gloria Hunniford Channel 5 Interviewee – Floyd's Fjord Fiesta  – Sveriges Television (Sweden) and DR TV (Denmark) Presenter Seven programmes Diners Interactive BBC Three Guest – Balamory BBC One Guest cameo – Public Opinion BBC One Panellist – Full On Food Christmas Special BBC Two Guest – Keith and Keith Channel 4 Interviewee Floyd interviewed by Keith Allen

Radio + Floyd's radio broadcasts Broadcast Date Channel Notes Woman's Hour BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 Some of These Days BBC Radio 2 Down Your Way  – 23 November 1987 BBC Radio 4 Four episodes Some of These Days BBC Radio 2 Desert Island Discs BBC Radio 4 Johnnie Walker's Countdown to Christmas BBC Radio 5 Live  – 5 March 1997 BBC Radio 4 Six-part series BBC Radio 4

Stage In 2006 and 2007, Floyd toured Britain with an unscripted, one-man show entitled Floyd Uncorked: The Life of a Bon Viveur.

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