A Christmas rehearsal in London

Cradock has taken a London hall for her Christmas cookery demonstration and has invited a small party to the rehearsal dinner afterward. Robert Carrier, whose own television career is flourishing, and Clement Freud, who reviews restaurants for a living, have come to watch her work and to eat what is left over.

The pudding has been hanging since the summer and is flamed at the table; the brandy snaps are rolled around spoon handles in front of the guests. Carrier's beef Wellington arrives as a rival centrepiece and holds its own. Freud says little and eats a great deal, which Cradock chooses to interpret as approval. The question of whether cooking should instruct or entertain runs all evening and is never settled.