
This Morning's resident chef Phil Vickery will undertake a new mission this October as he travels the length and breadth of the nation to discover Britains Best Tart in a brand new four-part strand of the same name.
Throughout the new series Phil - a firm favourite on This Morning for 21 years - will also discover the history behind some of the best traditional tarts that Britain has to offer including the Bakewell tart, the Manchester tart, the Gypsy tart and finally the Yorkshire curd tart.
Each week Phil will visit the birthplace of these sweet treats and take viewers on a historic journey to the Derbyshire Dales, Manchester, Kent and Yorkshire, where he will meet those in the know who will share the secret recipes that date back hundreds of years. Once equipped with the local knowledge, an inspired Phil will return to the kitchen to create his own version of each tasty tart.
Phil Vickery - Press Pack interview
Phil, tell us about this new series and how it came about
Well, a couple of weeks ago on This Morning I did an almond tart and I hadn't done a lot of baking on the show for a while, but Phillip [Schofield] and Holly [Willoughby] loved it and said it was really lovely, and on the back of that I was asked by my bosses We'd like you to do a thing on Britains traditional tarts' to which I laughed at first and then they explained further the culinary version'. I did a bit of research and narrowed it down to the Manchester Tart, Bakewell Tart, Yorkshire Curd Tart and the Gypsy Tart - which I remember at school! And then we went off and filmed up and down the country, all within Covid guidelines.
What can This Morning viewers expect to see?
So I do a bit of research, and we go to the place where we believe they do one of the best or the best tart in the area, and it's not so much as judging it, it's going there, looking at what they do, and coming back and making my own version in the studio. I mean some of these tarts have such old recipes, I think the Bakewell Tart one for instance is from around 1870 so you have to modernise things a bit. And for the show I like to be careful with calories and things, so if I can lighten them and make them a lot less heavy then that's what I'll try and do. But also, a lot of the old' ingredients you can't get, for example, the Yorkshire Curd tart, to get fresh curds is quite difficult so my version on that tart I used cottage cheese. But also, I am kind of going on a history tour as well, I've definitely learnt things - there's a Bakewell pudding and a Bakewell Tart and I now know the history of both of them now! I'm still learning as I go on these trips for This Morning. Never too old!
You are a master of a pudding, is this what makes you the best person for this series?
When I was a young chef I trained in pastry and I had a flair for it. I remember making so much by hand back then; brioche, croissants, danish pastries everything. And I ended up working for about twelve years mainly doing pastry, and actually a lot of chefs around - I won't name names - but they can't do it. They hate pastry! It's such a finite thing an extra half an ounce of yeast can destroy bread for instance and 0.5g of salt can make a big difference, so it's very very specific and a lot of chefs don't have the patience!
Did you have in mind what your favourite tart might be before filming?
Not really but I have always liked Bakewell Tart even though I don't really like almond essence, but I make mine without that because I think the natural flavour of almonds is there, you don't need to enhance it. So Bakewell is pretty high up on my list, if I'm being honest.
Do you think the humble tart is underrated or being slightly forgotten about in the UK?
It is perhaps underrated, but because a lot of them are now so old, I guess people don't see them as fashionable anymore. For instance, in Bakewell they make a small Bakewell tart probably about 5cm across and 2cm deep and because it only had butter, sugar, egg and almonds in it, it was around 2,000 calories! So some are hugely calorific and so for a lot of people they find them too heavy. I tried one and I struggled to sleep that night!
What kind of tart is your personal favourite to cook and why?
Well, my personal favourite of all time is an egg custard tart. My mum used to do it for me when I was little and it was a staple in my restaurant too I used to have a guy that came to my restaurant every Monday for lunch and he once said to me, Mr Vickery, if you ever take that egg custard tart off the menu, I'm never coming here again!' and it was always on the menu, so for me, that's my favourite go to. Although my mum still tells me hers is better!
You are celebrating 21 years on This Morning, how does that make you feel?
Yes, I am! Do you think I'll get a gold watch?... I'm not sure how it makes me feel because when Denise [Robertson] was alive, she, together with Dr Chris Steele are the longest serving contributors on the show, then I think its me and Alison and actually that's rather nice that I've done it for that amount of time and that they still want me! I'm getting on a bit now so I'm very lucky and I'm very appreciative of it. I think I've travelled to 37 countries in total so far for the show how amazing is that? I've got to do so many amazing things during that time.
What have been your most memorable moments?
There are hundreds! Just things like closing the Sydney Harbour Bridge early so we could film on top of it was incredible. Then in a catamaran moored outside the Sydney Opera House where I cooked burgers that was quite special. We also went flying in a seaplane and landed on the Great Barrier Reef. Another time I went flying aroun
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
27/07/2026
New app turns vocal percussion into polished loops
Vochlea, the company behind the voice-to-MIDI instrument Dubler 2, have just announced the launch of a ne...
27/07/2026
Latest MPE-capable instrument completes Pure Trilogy line-up
Sonora Cinematic have just released the third and final instalment in their series of acoustic ...
27/07/2026
Emulates four varieties of optical compression
The latest addition to the fedDSP line-up has just been announced, and packs four distinct optical compressor...
27/07/2026
Optical & FET compressors join 500-series line-up
At our recent GearExpo UK show, we heard from Drawmer that they would soon be launching a pair of new 500-...
27/07/2026
All episodes available Thursday 6 August on Sky and streaming service NOWMonday ...
27/07/2026
Apple today announced AppleCare One - a new way for customers to protect multipl...
27/07/2026
Yesterday witnessed truly memorable scenes in Croke Park, bringing the curtain d...
27/07/2026
Luxembourg, July 27, 2026 - SES, a leading space solutions company, issued the following statement following the U.S. Federal Communications Commission approval...
25/07/2026
New app turns vocal percussion into polished loops
Vochlea, the company behind the voice-to-MIDI instrument Dubler 2, have just announced the launch of a ne...
25/07/2026
Saturday 25 July 2026
First look revealed for YAGA, a seductive mystery thrille...
24/07/2026
First string library captured at Studio Richter Mahr
The latest sample library to be created at Max Richter's Studio Richter Mahr facility captures the ...
24/07/2026
Official emulation of Blackbird Studios reverb chamber
In their latest collaboration with Blackbird Studios, KIT Plugins have captured the sound of the Stud...
24/07/2026
Angela Gomez brings over 14 years of experience in broadcast communications and audio engineering, specialising in live outside broadcasts, live sports and larg...
24/07/2026
Article courtesy of postPerspective
Read the article
While Toy Story 5 maintai...
24/07/2026
Kerry and Mayo fans Up For The Match as excitement builds in Croke Park on the e...
23/07/2026
Staines-upon-Thames, UK, 23rd, JULY, 2026 - Yospace, the trusted leader in Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI), stitched 11.57 billion one-to-one addressable advertisem...
23/07/2026
Quickly creates reverse reverb effects
Low End Candy have recently released a new plug-in that offers a quick and simple way to create reverse reverb effect...
23/07/2026
New engines, resonators, effects & more
Expressive E's versatile soft synth has just been treated to an update that greatly expands its sonic range. Noi...
23/07/2026
SGL Carbon has further expanded its photovoltaic capacity at its Ort im Innkreis site in Austria. With the commissioning of new PV carports, the sites solar sys...
23/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents new software for three-phase power analysis on MXO seri...
23/07/2026
In our latest blog, Laura Rognoni explores how the launch of Play Snooker reflects a wider shift in sports economics - from monetising peak broadcast audiences ...
23/07/2026
Download Now!
To receive a short case study showcasing Vivid Broadcast's audio setup, please enter the following details:
--
First Name* First Name ...
23/07/2026
X-Rite Pantone and Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) Partner to Advance Digi...
23/07/2026
Thursday 23 July 2026
New Samsung Galaxy Foldable range available now to pre-order on Sky Mobile
Sky Mobile, the award-winning network voted this year by Expe...
23/07/2026
Thursday 23 July 2026
Jason Statham leads Sky Original action thriller MUTINY in explosive new trailerTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy optio...
23/07/2026
Wuppertal July 23, 2026
Riedel Implements RefCam and Easy5G for the First Time...
23/07/2026
RT Commercial has today announced Centra as the official food partner once again of The Traitors Ireland, coming to RT One and RT Player later this year.
Ce...
23/07/2026
RT Commercial today announced Honda as sponsor of Today with David McCullagh RT Radio 1, weekdays 9am 11am.
Broadcasting directly after Morning Ireland in ...
23/07/2026
RT News is pleased to announce Barry Gallagher has been assigned as the new journalist covering news from Cork, Kerry and the wider Southern region
Working al...
22/07/2026
Library now available in Engine Player
Another of Eduardo Tarilonte's popular sample libraries has just been moved over to Engine Audio's Engine Pla...
22/07/2026
All-in-one mic & DSP interface overhauled
Cloudvocal have just refreshed the design of their all-in-one mic, audio interface and DSP processor, introducing ...
22/07/2026
The final boss of the lost dual-op-amp circuit
Electro-Harmonix have just introduced the Deluxe Big Muff Pi 2, which they say offers their latest take on t...
22/07/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
22/07/2026
A poisoned spy, a secret war, and a small English city contaminated by a deadly chemical weapon. Available on Sky Documentaries from 4 AugustWednesday 22 July 2...
22/07/2026
Audio at Parity: Comscore Launches Transcript-Level Targeting and Measurement wi...
22/07/2026
Arvato Systems and Lobster Enter into a Partnership and Combine the Integration Platform and Managed Services
Flexible integration solutions for cloud, hybrid...
22/07/2026
RT REPORTS NET SURPLUS OF 22.5 MILLION IN 2025...
22/07/2026
In the Opinion of the Censor airs Monday 27 July at 9.35pm on RT One and RT Player
In the Opinion of the Censor looks at how films for theatrical release wer...
21/07/2026
New research involving a cross-section of Mongolias independent media landscape finds enthusiasm for AI as a tool to improve efficiency, sustainability and resi...
21/07/2026
High-end analogue channel strip boasts plug-in recall
Originally revealed as a prototype back at NAMM 2024, the Channex Studio channel strip represented a b...
21/07/2026
Relies on same DSP as plug-in range
Musik Hack's line-up has been influenced heavily by founder Stan Greene's work as a mixing engineer, and their M...
21/07/2026
Official collaboration with boutique builder Dirty Boy Pedals
Warm Audio have just announced the launch of a new guitar pedal range created in collaboration...
21/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz showcases broad range of EMC test solutions at EMC SIPI 2026 in ...
21/07/2026
X-Rite Pantone and NIFT Partner to Build Color Management Skills for India's...
21/07/2026
Harmonics cOS Virtualized Broadband Platform and Pearl Remote OLTs Enable Flexible PON Migration, While SeaStar Optical Node Powers Cost-Effective Multi-Gigabit...