Copyrighted imageCredit: Indus Films Roger Barton, owner of Barton and Hart, and two of his staff Smithfield, Billingsgate and New Spitalfields are the great markets of Britain.

They supply everybody from the Prince of Wales to the high street grocers and inmates at Pentonville prison. They are the crucial link in the country’s food chain, with over a million tonnes of food passing through their doors every year. With access to their traders and clients – from the nation’s tastemakers to local housewives – The Market lifts the lid on this hidden world, whose actions determine how, and what, Britain eats each day.

Every morning £5m passes through the hands of the market traders. In a frantic atmosphere, Britain’s best salesmen wrestle over prices and prepare the menus for thousands of restaurants, primary schools and homes across the country. From sixth generation cockney barrow boys to freshly arrived Kurdish fishmongers and Halal meat traders, The Market features the colourful personalities on the frontline of the food industry, who do more to shape our national cuisine than anybody else.

The series features three London markets across three episodes:

• Billingsgate Fish Market
• Smithfield Meat Market
• Spitalfields Fruit & Vegetable Market

The Market is first broadcast on BBC Two and the BBC HD Channel on Thursday, 24th May 2012. For further broadcast details, and to watch online where available, please visit bbc.co.uk

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