Opinion
With whimsical Noel Fielding flitting about, Paul Hollywood still fluttering his baby blues, and that enduring village fete vibe, does the beloved baking show deliver in its 16th season?
It can be hard to go home when home has changed so much. Many of us who fell in love with The Great British Bake Off back at the beginning, when Mary Berry bestrode the world like a Downton Abbey matriarch, and the show was presented by the electrifying gentility of Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins – who mixed dry wit, irreverence and infinite warmth in perfect proportions – felt it difficult to continue the attachment once Mel and Sue and Mary moved on.
Yet, coming back with some trepidation to see how the show is faring at the start of its 16th season, one is struck by how much hasn’t changed. The contest still takes place within the tent, with its village fete vibe, set amid the pastoral splendour of glorious green England. There is still the simple structure: a different theme each week, three rounds for “signature”, “technical” and “showstopper” bakes, and one contestant named star baker and one eliminated at the end of the episode.
And there is still Paul Hollywood, he of the piercing blue eyes and the trademark handshake and the vague sense that if given carte blanche he’d probably get a lot more abusive than he ever really does.
Of course, there are still the contestants themselves, who almost invariably radiate excitement and enthusiasm, and best of all, friendship and camaraderie for their rivals. GBBO shares with MasterChef a sense of community and atmosphere of support, but the Bake Off goes even harder in that direction, mostly eschewing emotional manipulation and manufactured tension in favour of unadorned sincerity and quirky humour. Moments of triumph and heartache are all the more affecting for the lack of obvious manipulation pushing us to respond.
The witty, down-to-earth personality of the show is no doubt why it has become such a British institution, continuing to keep the nation riveted to its highs and lows, the public taking standout contestants to their hearts, and becoming passionately invested in every plot twist and scandal (the Baked Alaska Bincident almost tore the country apart in season five).
Moments of triumph and heartache are all the more affecting for the lack of obvious manipulation pushing us to respond.
It has also become a global phenomenon. The original is popular around the world and myriad local versions have been spawned, including The Great Australian Bake Off. But nothing beats Britain’s Bake Off because the very concept is so very British: a peaceful field, an elegant marquee and a bunch of jolly folks making cakes. That the Bake Off showcases such a classically British setting and pastime, alongside a cast that is always strikingly diverse in race, gender, age and sexuality, gives weight to the theory that GBBO, more than any other current cultural artefact, gives us what is the very best about Britain.
It also gives us Noel Fielding, who has now presented more episodes of the show than anyone else, but still feels like the most left-field casting choice for any show ever. Fans of his previous comedy work, in which he inhabited a persona that was screamingly funny but who you also didn’t want to get too close to in case he dragged you to a hell dimension, could never have guessed that he would be so perfect on a sweet, innocent baking show.
But somehow he fits perfectly, dropping absurdist gags left and right, flitting about the tent like a glam rock vampire visiting his favourite grandchildren, and looking like the product of a mad experiment to combine the DNA of Elvis Presley and Alice Cooper, sponsored by a knitwear company. Fielding is so weird, and yet simultaneously so loveable and kind to the contestants, that you forgive the absence of Mel and Sue, and the presence of his co-host Alison Hammond.
Hammond isn’t bad exactly, she’s just sort of … irrelevant. Wisely knowing her limits, the serial reality TV star sticks to laughing at Noel’s jokes and saying, “I’m excited.”
Meanwhile, the judges – Hollywood these days partnered with Prue Leith, who is impossibly posh and quite possibly predates the invention of the cake – are suitably honest but compassionate.
The stars to watch among the contestants this season:
- Big-smiling Ukrainian Nataliia will be one to beat and also doubtless a fan favourite, her bashful exuberance coming with some serious kitchen chops.
- Tall, handsome Tom is also a major threat; movie star looks and ruthless efficiency.
- The artistic flair of Iain, a tiny mulleted imp from Belfast, could make him a breakout star – it is very easy to imagine him fronting his own show.
- And shiny-domed Jasmine could well be a dark horse, with an unassuming personality at odds with her instantly recognisable look.
It’s early days, though – it is likely all 12 of them will worm their way into our affections by the time the last oven is switched off. Because more than any other culinary program anywhere, The Great British Bake Off is about love. When Mel and Sue left, I wondered if I could ever love again, but now I know that love – of delicious pastries, of eccentric Britons, of weird semi-Goth comedians, and of the UK itself – never dies.
The Great British Bake Off
Watch it if: you like sweet buns, extravagant cakes, moreish pies and sheer joy, tinged with the ever-present fear of utter catastrophe
Don’t watch it if: you can’t stand reality TV in which nobody is ever an insufferable jerk
Sizzle rating: Five burners out of five − SIZZZZZZLE
Stream it: Binge, Foxtel
