On Watching The Great British Bake Off

I’ve always enjoyed cooking and baking, and I like watching cooking videos. But I don’t normally watch reality TV shows featuring cooking. Because of this, I’ve kinda avoided the Great British Bake Off for a long time. Turns out, that’s a mistake of mine, I’ve been missing out on a lot of fun.

What first dragged me in was a clip from the show, featuring the comedian Alex Horne, the guy who created and stars in Taskmaster as the Taskmaster’s assistant. I watched a bunch of other clips and decided that, maybe, it was worth having a look at. Most of the clips featured celebrities, but also featured various ‘show stoppers’ from the main series. I became hooked after finding a charity episode on Youtube, where the contestants were celebrities raising money for a charity called Stand Up To Cancer. It seemed like such a sweet show, so I set off to find more.

Eventually, I found some whole episodes of the Great British Bake Off, and I found it oddly alluring, but also very calming. There are emotions shown but nothing is overblown and there aren’t many fits of range or mean outbursts. Everyone is very polite.

The show is very simple and formulaic. Starting off with 12 or 13 bakers, each episode features the bakers doing three tasks. The first task is a signature task, where the bakers bake their own unique items, generally what they’d make at home. The second challenge is a technical challenge, where the judges go in blind, but so are the bakers. They have to bake a recipe written by one of the judges, but the recipe is rather basic and the bakers have to fill in the blanks, and they all make the same thing. And the final challenge, the show stopper, the bakers must create something amazing but within certain parameters, like having to make a 3-tiered cake or creating a unique pavlova or something like that.

It’s the interactions though that make it. One of the judges, Paul Hollywood, is the sternest person on the show, but even he is polite with his honesty. The hosts, which change throughout the series, are all wholesome people, and mostly comedians, and they help lighten up the show, especially when people start stressing out. It brings a bit of warmth to the show. The series ends with three bakers and a massive garden party, with all the former contestants coming back, as well as the bakers’ families. The winner doesn’t get a massive prize, generally flowers and a cake stand or something similar.

The most wholesome thing though is what happens when someone has been voted out by the judges. The first thing anyone does is that the hosts go up and hug the loser, everyone gets up and hugs the loser, and they all say how proud of them they are. There’s almost no anger, just a few tears, but everyone is treated really well. It’s so sweet and also very refreshing. The friendliness is intense, and the show is just so delicate all the way round.

So yeah, after initially not really caring, I’m hooked on the Great British Bake Off. At least there’s over ten series to watch, so I’ve got plenty to see.