One of those little hidden gems tucked away on BBC2 last year, The Supersizers was one of those shows that it was all too easy to get hooked on. The premise involved Giles Coren and Sue Perkins – a surprisingly engaging duo – basically eating their way through a string of different historical time periods and reliving life in those times according to what was on the menu. Often this made for quite compelling viewing, with the 70s and the Elizabethan episodes being particular highlights of the last series. But here we were, this time in the 1980s…

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Anyway, the good news that it’s back, and the opening programme in the new series was a nostalgic gem to behold for anybody who is having Ashes To Ashes withdrawal symptoms or just pining for their youth. It placed Coren and Perkins squarely in the 80s – and frankly I wouldn’t have thought the cuisine from that era would have changed much. Nonetheless they still found plenty to sample – to say nothing of their attempts to live the yuppie lifestyle complete with posh flat, frightful shoulder-padded outfits, brick like mobile phones and wine-drenched posh business lunches.

Coren got off lightly with this one, I think, having to simply don a selection of pinstriped suits and Miami Vice-esque attire (while Perkins was saddled with an unpleasant looking blonde wig for most of the show) – although he did end up having to down five espressos in a single sitting in order to really get into the mindset of the 1980s workaholic. She, meanwhile, got to experience Sloane Rangerdom, feasting on a replica of Charles and Diana’s wedding breakfast menu and knocking back Krug like it was going out of fashion, before donning aerobics gear and trying out the F-plan diet – baked bean cassoulet followed by stewed prunes. Er, yummy.

It all eventually descended into microwave meals (most of which looked suspiciously 21st Century) and Pot Noodledom, to a backdrop of almost continual 80s hits, although the duo did also get the chance to experience nouvelle cuisine, which basically consisted of a vast expanse of plate housing in some cases a tiny bit of quail and a single tomato. Or something.

The amount of alcohol consumed was also staggering, with a different wine accompanying every course (to say nothing of the pair’s cocktail evening which saw them downing a host of sickly 1980s Baileys-based drinks). And I shudder to think how much they got through when hosting an 80s style dinner party to a bunch of ‘celebrity’ guests, who included Ken Livingstone and Carol Decker from T’Pau. Although the champers, red, white, port and limoncello probably took away the taste of the pair’s less than appetising looking homemade tiramisu.

While it was a fun nostalgia trip I can’t help wondering whether doing a show on 80s eating was really a good idea – after all, most of the food hasn’t really changed that much. I have a lot of what they were eating sitting in my cupboard right now (with the possible exception of Viennetta and Ice Magic – let’s not go there, shall we?). OK so both had some interesting obstacles to face but is there really anything so challenging about going to Pret A Manger and buying a coffee or five? Nope,not really.

Next week however our intrepid duo get medieval, with the sneak preview at the end of this week’s suggesting some culinary oddities as well as big outfits and dodgy conical hats. Now that could be interesting…..