A FOUND FAREWELL TO FLOYD.

IN an age when many TV shows seem to feature a chef waxing lyrical about the art of cooking, there's a good bet that without Keith Floyd, many of them would never have made it onto TV in the first place.

Here, Rick Stein, Marco Pierre White and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall pay tribute to the maverick chef who left an indelible mark on the minds and hearts of millions, before passing away on September 14.

Keith Floyd was born in Reading, Berkshire in 1943 and brought up in Somerset.

Following a private education, he was employed as a reporter at the Bristol Evening Post before joining the Army.

Three years later he realised a life in the Forces was not for him and found employment with assorted catering establishments.

The chef eventually caught the attention of TV producer David Pritchard, who thought he'd be perfect for his own series. His gamble paid off handsomely.

Floyd on Fish in 1985 helped turn him into a household name and paved the way for several more series.

While some chefs were happy to plod away in studios, Keith would set up his cooking stove just about anywhere.

Keith Allen's recent documentary, Keith Meets Keith, proved there was a lot of love for the flamboyant chef, garnering almost a million viewers when it was aired on the same evening of his death.

Allen tracked down his namesake to his home in France earlier this year, where he enjoyed no end of anecdotes from the culinary master.

Their final meal, in which Floyd proved more than a little difficult, was soon put into context when Allen revealed his hero was suffering from bowel cancer.

Minutes before the show was broadcast, Keith Floyd died of a heart attack in Dorset.

Unsurprisingly there was no shortage of celeb chefs lining up to pay tribute.

Marco Pierre White, one of Floyd's favourite chefs, told the BBC: "He was an individual, he was a maverick, he was mercurial, he was magical, he was special, he was rare."

Aside from being a great TV personality, Keith was also a fine writer with more than 20 books to his name, many of them selling in their thousands.

With his autobiography, Stirred But Not Shaken, due for publication in October, there's a good bet it will also be a bestseller.

For now, settle back and raise a glass to a true original. We'll never see his like again.

A FAREWELL TO FLOYD tonight, BBC2, 9.05pm