Cheese curls and Belgian chocolate: What to expect from Inside the Factory with new presenter Paddy McGuinness

Whether it’s visiting a factory that churns out five hundred million packets of cheese curls a year, or following a high-tech printing process that produces two whole books every second - the series is a celebration of manufacturing, shining a light on the skill and hard work of factory workers across the UK and beyond.

Paddy is joining fellow presenters Cherry Healey and historian Ruth Goodman for this ninth run of the series. They explore the science and innovation behind some of the products, and uncover some incredible hidden stories behind their invention.

Executive Producers Lucy Carter and Michael Rees tell us more.

Inside the Factory is back with a new face this year - it must have been exciting having Paddy present alongside Cherry Healey and Ruth Goodman?

Lucy Carter: It’s been fantastic having Paddy join the series. He’s brought an energy, warmth and of course humour to it, which has naturally allowed us to update the format. Because he worked in a few factories when he was young, he feels very authentic in his engagement with people on the factory floor, putting them at ease which is so important to the success of a series which celebrates the people who produce the foods and products we all love.

How do you come up with the different products to showcase in each episode?

Michael Rees: We always like to feature well-known brands and products that most people in the UK will have bought and experienced, but might not have thought how they’re made. Products with a hint of nostalgia that we’ve all grown up with are especially great for fun-packed programmes. We have regular brainstorms in the office for products that the team would like to see featured, and it certainly gives the weekend supermarket shop a whole new angle as you scour the shelves for inspiration.

What’s the most bizarre fact you’ve both learned about while making this series?

MR: The scale never ceases to amaze me – For example, in an age where we’re reading more e-books than ever, filming at a factory that still produces three million paper books a week is incredible.

LC: As well as the incredible mechanics of the factory processes, I love the sections with Cherry and Ruth too. Who knew that cheese curls are made from what’s left behind from the production of crisps… And, my particular favourite, that sausage skins were used to make zeppelins during the First World War.

Do you both have any favourite stories behind some of the inventions featured in this series?

MR: In the Cheese Curls episode, we learn how cheese flavouring for snacks wasn’t devised by the snack food industry, but instead came about by accident. During the Second World War, the American Military were experimenting with dehydrating cheese to take into battle. The result was a fine cheesey flavoured powder which would impact how we enjoy crisps and snacks.

LC: The Christmas episode features a chocolate factory in Belgium. Ruth uncovers the story of how a family of brewers found a way to transport liquid chocolate rather than chocolate powder, which revolutionised the way chocolate was made forever. And the factory in the little Belgian village where it began in the 1920s has since grown into the biggest chocolate factory in the whole world.

Inside the Factory, made by Voltage TV for BBC One, is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.