Innovative format that sees 14 people with dementia tasked with running a professional restaurant.

In this extraordinary new social experiment, a group of people all living with dementia, spanning different ages and at various stages of the disease, are tasked with helping run a restaurant led by a successful chef.

Dementia is the UK’s biggest killer and around the world someone is diagnosed every three minutes. It’s a disease that doesn’t just affect older people and it doesn’t only impact on memory. Dementia can rob you of your speech, your mobility, your eyesight and if you are of working age it can cost you your job, and sometimes the roof over your head. This major new format sets out to change perceptions about the disease and demonstrate that a diagnosis doesn’t have to mean the end of a career.

Over a five-week period, and with a dementia expert on hand to advise, the group take on all the roles of a busy restaurant – including cooking, taking orders, serving and making drinks. Celebrity diners and members of the public visit the restaurant to put the newly trained staff to the test. At the beginning of the experiment all volunteers are tested for cognition, mood and memory. The tests are then repeated at the end with surprising results.

Poignant, informative and uplifting, the format challenges perceptions about dementia, and reveals the impact work has on a person’s sense of identity and purpose.

Highlights

  • From the creators of the award-winning format Old People’s Home for 4 Year Olds
  • Tackles one of the biggest health and social issues in an engaging and innovative way
  • Licensed to territories including the Netherlands and Belgium
  • The original UK production is led by Michelin-starred chef Josh Eggleton

Reality // 4 x 47′

Produced by CPL Productions and Motion Content Group for Channel 4 (UK)

Visit our catalog website