Come Dine with Me Season 8: Episode Guide & Ratings

Five nights in Manchester begin with half-Belizean interior designer Carlos Buller, who uses his menu to reflect his heritage. Yet the episode had a far more significant destiny - the following year it was used to identify Carlos on CCTV.

Susan got drunk on the first night, irritating fellow diner Stuart as he found her overbearing. It's her turn to host, but she's hungover and upset over cooking disasters which she can't stop confessing to - will Stuart give her a chance?

Third to host in Manchester is performance artist Dan Cumberland, who prepares a vegetarian, Indian-inspired menu. Will his guests like sitting on the floor, combined with Dan's songs and chilled-out vibes?

The fourth night in Manchester is hosted by artist Karen. Although she's incredibly relaxed preparing her food, Carlos and Dan had been offended by her picky behaviour on their nights, and attend the dinner bearing something of a grudge.

After a week of underlying tensions, nightclub owner Stuart is still confident that he can win. But his fun night is derailed when Carlos and Karen have another turn at airing their grievances, and Stuart's forced to play peacemaker.

Obsessive cleaner Nicola is first host for a week in Birmingham, yet her continual tidying gets in the way of her doing any cooking. While her food is well regarded by her guests, having to wait over three hours for the main course isn't.

Host on night two of Birmingham is opinionated recruitment consultant and gym bunny, Ian Harvey "If someone doesn't hold my interest, I make it so obvious," warns Ian, "I pretty much ignore them."

Flying the flag for Birmingham on night three is garage manager, Amanda Kelman. Amanda doesn't suffer fools gladly and after the chaos of the first two nights, she reckons she's in with a chance at the prize fund.

Man of the world, Wayne, is used to living the high life, so there's a treat in store when his humble Come Dine With Me Birmingham rivals come to his crib Wayne's ideal dinner party would involve him and four ladies.

Sporty singleton, Suzie, has some secrets up her sleeve for her Come Dine With Me Birmingham guests. Demure divorcee, Suzie, is looking for love. Sadly, this week hasn't thrown up any Romeos.

Sri Lankan Tanya is the first host for a week in Kent, bringing 17 separate dishes to Tunbridge Wells. While some guests find the courses a little too spicy, generous servings of alcohol help her to win favour amongst the group.

Trevor is the second host of the week, but has to start his day with a hangover after indulging the previous night. With long delays and failed courses, Trevor doesn't impress his guests with his cooking, but does produce hysterics.

Giggly businessman Allen proves to be serious about his cooking, though a delay in his main course sees Trevor get his own back with the teasing. Meanwhile, the group have started to notice that Tanya is becoming increasingly isolated.

Zoe Mortlock used her psychological profiling powers to pitch for victory in Come Dine With Me Kent. Zoe Mortlock is qualitative research executive. Know what that means? Nope, neither do we.

Dental technician and wannabe DJ, Steven Parks think's his culinary class makes him the man to beat in Kent. Steven's been moaning about his rivals' efforts all week but thanks to Tanya's constant cob-on, no-one appears to have noticed.

Trout farmer Tim begins a week in Gloucester, and prepares most of his own ingredients, including catching his own fish and shooting rabbits. There's also the part of the evening that involves his guests cooking their own food.

Publishing company owner Richenda plans a barbecue party for her evening, but the English weather puts paid to her plans. Yet despite setbacks, including forgetting to cook her bread, Richenda proves to be unflappable.

Housewife and home-cooking expert Pat Shepherd is a seasoned dinner party hostess so her dinner party should all run smoothly, but things soon start to go wrong.

A celebrity special with Linda Barker, Lee Ryan, Michelle Heaton and Peter Stringfellow all competing to win £1000 for charity. The week was later shown as four separate episodes in July 2009.

Brewer Nick Cooper cooks a traditional menu from the 1950s, but will his guests be impressed?

It's the final dinner party in Gloucestershire and time to find out who has scooped the £1,000 prize, but not before Kat McLeod has her chance to wow the guests with her culinary skills.