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''The Great British Bake Off'' (often abbreviated to ''Bake Off'' or ''GBBO'') is a British television
baking competition, produced by
Love Productions
Love Productions is a UK-based television production company. Its cooking competition series ''The Great British Bake Off'' is among the most watched shows in the UK of its era.
History
Richard McKerrow and Anna Beattie formed Love Productions i ...
, in which a group of amateur bakers compete against each other in a series of rounds, attempting to impress two judges with their baking skills. One contestant is eliminated in each round, and the winner is selected from the contestants who reach the final. The first episode was aired on 17 August 2010, with its first four series broadcast on
BBC Two
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
, until its growing popularity led the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
to move it to
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
for the next three series. After its seventh series,
Love Productions
Love Productions is a UK-based television production company. Its cooking competition series ''The Great British Bake Off'' is among the most watched shows in the UK of its era.
History
Richard McKerrow and Anna Beattie formed Love Productions i ...
signed a three-year deal with
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
to produce the series for the broadcaster.
The programme was originally presented by
Sue Perkins and
Mel Giedroyc
Melanie Clare Sophie Giedroyc (; , born 5 June 1968) is a British actress, comedian and television presenter. With Sue Perkins, she has co-hosted series including ''Light Lunch'' for Channel 4, ''The Great British Bake Off'' for the BBC and c ...
, with judges
Mary Berry
Dame Mary Rosa Alleyne Hunnings (; born 24 March 1935), known professionally as Mary Berry, is an English food writer, chef, baker and television presenter. After being encouraged in domestic science classes at school, she studied catering at ...
and
Paul Hollywood
Paul John Hollywood (born 1 March 1966) is an English celebrity chef and television presenter, widely known as a judge on ''The Great British Bake Off'' since 2010.
Hollywood began his career at his father's bakery as a teenager and went on to ...
. Following its move to Channel 4,
Noel Fielding
Noel Fielding (; (born 21 May 1973) is an English actor and comedian. He is best known for his work with The Mighty Boosh comedy troupe alongside Julian Barratt in the 2000s, and more recently as a co-presenter of ''The Great British Bake Off'' ...
and
Sandi Toksvig
Sandra Birgitte Toksvig (; ; born 3 May 1958) is a Danish-British writer, comedian and broadcaster on British radio, stage and television. She is also a political activist, having co-founded the Women's Equality Party in 2015. She has written ...
took over as presenters, but Toksvig was later replaced by
Matt Lucas
Matthew Richard Lucas (born 5 March 1974) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series ''Little Britain'' (2003–2006, 2020) and '' Come Fl ...
. Hollywood and
Prue Leith
Dame Prudence Margaret Leith, (born 18 February 1940) is a South African restaurateur, chef, caterer, television presenter/broadcaster, journalist, cookery writer and novelist. She is Chancellor of Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. She wa ...
are the current judges.
In chronological order, the winners are
Edd Kimber
Edd, or EDD may refer to:
Fictional characters
* Dolorous Edd, a character from ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' and its adaptation, ''Game of Thrones''
* Edd (''Ed, Edd n Eddy''), a character of the ''Ed, Edd n Eddy'' cartoon
* Edd the Duck, a puppet ...
,
Joanne Wheatley Joanne may refer to:
Music
* ''Joanne'' (album), 2016 album by Lady Gaga
** "Joanne" (Lady Gaga song), a 2016 song from the album ''Joanne''
* "Joanne" (Michael Nesmith song), a 1970 song from the album ''Magnetic South''
* "Joanne", a song by C ...
,
John Whaite
John Whaite (born 23 May 1989) is an English baker who won the third series of ''The Great British Bake Off'' in 2012. He works as a chef, television presenter, and author.
Early life
John Whaite was born in Chorley, Lancashire, and grew up ...
,
Frances Quinn,
Nancy Birtwhistle
Nancy may refer to:
Places France
* Nancy, France, a city in the northeastern French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle and formerly the capital of the duchy of Lorraine
** Arrondissement of Nancy, surrounding and including the city of Nancy
...
,
Nadiya Hussain
Nadiya Jamir Hussain (''née'' Begum; born 25 December 1984) is a British television chef, author and television presenter. She rose to fame after winning the sixth series (Season 3 on PBS, or Collection 3 on Netflix in the US) of BBC's ''Th ...
,
Candice Brown Candice is a given name and a variant spelling of the name Candace.
People
Notable people with the name include:
*Candice Accola, American actress (''The Vampire Diaries'')
*Candice Carty-Williams, British writer
*Candice Bergen, American actr ...
,
Sophie Faldo
Sophie is a version of the female given name Sophia, meaning "wise".
People with the name Born in the Middle Ages
* Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson
* Sophie of Thuringia, Duchess of ...
,
Rahul Mandal
Rahul is a popular male name in India and has a variety of meanings. The earliest meaning found in the Upanishads is "conqueror of all miseries." Later use of the word is attributed to the Buddha, who named his son '' Rahula'' as he felt that fa ...
,
David Atherton
David Atherton (born 3 January 1944) is an English conductor and founder of the London Sinfonietta.
Background
Atherton was born in Blackpool, Lancashire into a musical family. He was educated at Blackpool Grammar
School. His father, Robert ...
,
Peter Sawkins
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
,
Giuseppe Dell'Anno
Giuseppe is the Italian form of the given name Joseph,
from Latin Iōsēphus from Ancient Greek Ἰωσήφ (Iōsḗph), from Hebrew יוסף.
It is the most common name in Italy and is unique (97%) to it.
The feminine form of the name is Giusep ...
and
Syabira Yusoff. The series is credited with reinvigorating interest in baking throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland, with shops in the UK reporting sharp rises in sales of baking ingredients and accessories.
Many of its participants, including winners, have gone on to start a career based on bakery, while the
BAFTA award-winning programme has spawned a number of specials and
spin-off shows: a celebrity charity series in aid of
Sport Relief
''Sport Relief'' was a biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, established in 2002.
It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Director of Educat ...
/
Comic Relief
Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.
Definition
Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic episo ...
or
Stand Up to Cancer
Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C) is a charitable program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF). SU2C aims to raise significant funds for translational cancer research through online and televised efforts. Central to the program is a telethon tha ...
; ''
Junior Bake Off
''Junior Bake Off'' is a British television baking competition in which young bakers aged 9 to 15 tackle a series of challenges involving baking cakes, biscuits, bread, and pastries, competing to be crowned ''Junior Bake Off'' Champion.
The se ...
'' for young children (broadcast on the
CBBC
CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...
channel, then on Channel 4 from 2019); after-show series ''
An Extra Slice
''The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice'' (sometimes shortened to ''An Extra Slice'') is a Television of the United Kingdom, British television series, television after-show to follow the series ''The Great British Bake Off''. Hosted by Jo ...
''; and ''
Bake Off: The Professionals'' for teams of
pastry chef
A pastry chef or pâtissier (; the French female version of the word is pâtissière ), is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods. They are employed in large hotels, bi ...
s. On 27 October, it was announced that the ''Great British Bake-Off'' has been renewed, with a twelfth series currently airing on Channel 4 in 2021. On 2 November 2021, the show was renewed for its thirteenth series that started airing on 13 September 2022. On 27 September 2022 it was confirmed that ''The Great British Bake Off'' will return in 2023 for its fourteenth series.
The series has been shown in other countries; in the United States and Canada, where "Bake-Off" is a trademark owned by
Pillsbury, it is called ''The Great British Baking Show''. Its format has been sold globally for production of localised versions and was used as the basis for two BBC Two series, ''
The Great British Sewing Bee
''The Great British Sewing Bee'' is a BBC reality show that began airing on BBC Two on 2 April 2013. In the show, talented amateur sewers compete to be named "Britain's best home sewer". A spin-off of the format of ''The Great British Bake Off ...
'' and ''
The Great Pottery Throw Down''.
Background
Development
![Victoria sponge (14287044448)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Victoria_sponge_%2814287044448%29.jpg)
The baking competition was conceived by producer Anna Beattie after she spoke to a friend who had seen 'bake-offs' in America.
Beattie was also inspired by the classic English village
fête baking competitions; she said: "I loved that idea of village fetes and an old-fashioned baking competition with people who only wanted to bake a good cake."
However, Beattie failed to interest any channel in the idea for four years.
In early 2009, they pitched the idea to
Janice Hadlow
Janice Vivienne Hadlow (born November 1957) in Lewisham is a former BBC television executive. She was the controller of the BBC television channel BBC Two, taking over this position in November 2008 having previously been controller of BBC Four. A ...
, then controller of BBC Two.
The pitch was successful, and Hadlow and Commissioning Editor
Charlotte Moore commissioned the programme,
which was then developed over the next six months. The development team first selected
Mary Berry
Dame Mary Rosa Alleyne Hunnings (; born 24 March 1935), known professionally as Mary Berry, is an English food writer, chef, baker and television presenter. After being encouraged in domestic science classes at school, she studied catering at ...
as a judge, and following an audition
Paul Hollywood
Paul John Hollywood (born 1 March 1966) is an English celebrity chef and television presenter, widely known as a judge on ''The Great British Bake Off'' since 2010.
Hollywood began his career at his father's bakery as a teenager and went on to ...
was also appointed.
Sue Perkins and
Mel Giedroyc
Melanie Clare Sophie Giedroyc (; , born 5 June 1968) is a British actress, comedian and television presenter. With Sue Perkins, she has co-hosted series including ''Light Lunch'' for Channel 4, ''The Great British Bake Off'' for the BBC and c ...
were approached to be presenters of the show.
Production
Reproducing the surroundings of the English village fête, the series is filmed in bunting-draped
marquees in scenic gardens. In the first series, the filming locations varied in different episodes, but only one location was used for each series from the second series onwards. The series is normally filmed over a 12 to 13 weeks period, and the filming usually takes place over the weekends with the exception of
series 11
Series may refer to:
People with the name
* Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series
* George Series (1920–1995), English physicist
Arts, entertainment, and media
Music
* Series, the ordered sets used in ...
when filming was shortened to six weeks due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
Amateur bakers who applied to appear in the show are first assessed by a researcher, followed by an audition in London with two of their bakes. They then undergo a screen test and an interview with a producer. A second audition involves the applicants baking two recipes for the judges in front of the cameras.
After a
psychological evaluation
Psychological evaluation is a method to assess an individual's behavior, personality, cognitive abilities, and several other domains. A common reason for a psychological evaluation is to identify psychological factors that may be inhibiting a pers ...
, between 10 and 13 applicants are selected for the show, with two further bakers on standby should any of those selected drop out. What the bakers intended to bake during a particular challenge is illustrated using animated graphics. These graphics have been created by illustrator Tom Hovey since the show's inception in 2010.
Broadcast and personnel changes
On 17 August 2010, the first episode of ''The Great British Bake Off'' was shown on
BBC Two
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
. It stayed on BBC Two for four years, grew in popularity and became the most popular programme on that channel. In its fifth series it was moved to
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
where it stayed for three years. It was the most-watched programme on British television in 2015 and 2016. Following extended negotiations, Love Productions announced that the seventh series of the show would be the last broadcast by the BBC. On 12 September 2016, Love agreed to a three-year deal to broadcast the show on
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
.
However,
BBC Studios
BBC Studios is a British content company. It is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC that was formed in April 2018 through the merger of the BBC's commercial production arm and the BBC's commercial international distribution arm, BBC Worldwide. ...
still owns the global distribution rights to the show, which are set for renewal in 2028. Giedroyc and Perkins subsequently announced that they would not be returning when the show moved to its new network. On 22 September 2016, Berry announced that she would also be leaving the show when it moved to Channel 4, while Hollywood later announced he would stay. In March 2017, it was announced that
Prue Leith
Dame Prudence Margaret Leith, (born 18 February 1940) is a South African restaurateur, chef, caterer, television presenter/broadcaster, journalist, cookery writer and novelist. She is Chancellor of Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. She wa ...
would join Hollywood as a judge, while
Noel Fielding
Noel Fielding (; (born 21 May 1973) is an English actor and comedian. He is best known for his work with The Mighty Boosh comedy troupe alongside Julian Barratt in the 2000s, and more recently as a co-presenter of ''The Great British Bake Off'' ...
and
Sandi Toksvig
Sandra Birgitte Toksvig (; ; born 3 May 1958) is a Danish-British writer, comedian and broadcaster on British radio, stage and television. She is also a political activist, having co-founded the Women's Equality Party in 2015. She has written ...
would take over as presenters. After 3 years presenting the show, Toksvig announced her departure in 2020, and was replaced by
Matt Lucas
Matthew Richard Lucas (born 5 March 1974) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series ''Little Britain'' (2003–2006, 2020) and '' Come Fl ...
. On 6 December 2022, Lucas announced that he would leaving the show after three series.
Format
The programme operates on a weekly elimination process to find the best all-around baker from the contestants, who are all amateurs. Ten contestants were chosen for the first series, twelve for the following two series, thirteen for the fourth and tenth, and twelve from series five to series nine, and series eleven onward.
In each episode, the amateur bakers are given three challenges based on that week's theme: a signature bake, a technical challenge, and a show-stopper.
The three challenges take place over two days, and the filming takes up to 16 hours a day. Except for Series 9, the first week of the competition was usually "Cake Week". The contestants are assessed by the judges who then choose a "
Star Baker" for the week (introduced in series 2), and a contestant is also eliminated although if the contestant numbers in certain years are not even or there is a non-elimination a week before, then two bakers may be eliminated. In the final round, three bakers are left and a winner is chosen from the three.
; Signature Challenge: This challenge is for the amateur bakers to show off their tried-and-tested recipes for bakes they might make for their friends and family.
; Technical Challenge: This challenge requires enough technical knowledge and experience to produce a certain finished product when given only limited – or even minimal – instructions. The bakers are all given the same recipe and are not told beforehand what the challenge will be. The finished products are judged blind and ranked from worst to best. They place their bakes behind the person's photo.
; Showstopper Challenge: This challenge is for the bakers to show off their skills and talent. The judges favour a bake that has a professional appearance but is also outstanding in flavours.
In the first series, the location of the cast and crew moved from town to town each week, but from the second series, the competition is held in one location in a specially constructed marquee. Interspersed in the programme are the backgrounds of the contestants as well as, in the earlier series, video vignettes on the history of baking.
Series overview
Presenters and judges
Series 1 (2010)
Series 1 of ''The Great British Bake Off'' saw ten home bakers take part in a bake-off to test their baking skills as they battled to be crowned the Great British Bake Off's best amateur baker. Each week the nationwide tour saw the bakers put through three challenges in a particular discipline. The rounds took place in various locations across the UK, with the final round being held at
Fulham Palace
Fulham Palace, in Fulham, London, previously in the former English county of Middlesex, is a Grade I listed building with medieval origins and was formerly the principal residence of the Bishop of London. The site was the country home of the ...
, London.
The three finalists were Ruth Clemens, Miranda Gore Browne, and
Edd Kimber
Edd, or EDD may refer to:
Fictional characters
* Dolorous Edd, a character from ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' and its adaptation, ''Game of Thrones''
* Edd (''Ed, Edd n Eddy''), a character of the ''Ed, Edd n Eddy'' cartoon
* Edd the Duck, a puppet ...
. On 21 September 2010, Kimber was crowned the best amateur baker.
Series 2 (2011)
The number of amateur baker contestants increased to twelve for the second series. Unlike Series 1, this year ''The Great British Bake Off'' stayed in one location –
Valentines Mansion
Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...
, a 17th-century mansion house in
Redbridge, London.
The finalists were Holly Bell, Mary-Anne Boermans, and the winning contestant
Joanne Wheatley Joanne may refer to:
Music
* ''Joanne'' (album), 2016 album by Lady Gaga
** "Joanne" (Lady Gaga song), a 2016 song from the album ''Joanne''
* "Joanne" (Michael Nesmith song), a 1970 song from the album ''Magnetic South''
* "Joanne", a song by C ...
.
Series 3 (2012)
The third series of ''The Great British Bake Off'' began on 14 August 2012. The series was filmed at
Harptree Court in
East Harptree
East Harptree is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is situated north of Wells and south of Bristol, on the northern slope of the Mendip Hills overlooking the Chew Valley. The parish has a population of 644. The parish include ...
, Somerset.
The finalists were Brendan Lynch,
James Morton and
John Whaite
John Whaite (born 23 May 1989) is an English baker who won the third series of ''The Great British Bake Off'' in 2012. He works as a chef, television presenter, and author.
Early life
John Whaite was born in Chorley, Lancashire, and grew up ...
, the last of whom won the final in a surprise result.
In the US, the third series was broadcast as season 5 on PBS, and on Netflix as ''The Great British Baking Show: The Beginnings''.
Series 4 (2013)
The fourth series of ''The Great British Bake Off'' started on 20 August 2013 on BBC Two. The series was again filmed at Harptree Court in East Harptree, Somerset. The final was won by
Frances Quinn, with
Ruby Tandoh
Ruby Alice Tandoh (born 1992) is a British baker, columnist, author, and former model. She was runner-up on series four of BBC's ''The Great British Bake Off'' in 2013 and has written four cookbooks. Her 2021 ''Cook as You Are'' was named to se ...
and Kimberley Wilson as runners up.
In the US, the fourth series was broadcast as season 2 on
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
, and on
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
as Collection 2.
Series 5 (2014)
The fifth series of ''The Great British Bake Off'' began airing on 6 August 2014 on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
. This series was filmed at
Welford Park Welford may refer to:
Places
;Australia
* Welford National Park
;England
*Welford, Berkshire
**RAF Welford
** Welford Park
*Welford, Northamptonshire
**Welford Reservoir
**Welford Road Stadium
Welford Road (currently known as Mattioli Woods ...
in
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
. There were twelve bakers taking part. Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood returned as judges, whilst Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc continued to present the series. Richard Burr was awarded the largest number of star baker designations of any series so far but was beaten by
Nancy Birtwhistle
Nancy may refer to:
Places France
* Nancy, France, a city in the northeastern French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle and formerly the capital of the duchy of Lorraine
** Arrondissement of Nancy, surrounding and including the city of Nancy
...
in the final.
A spin-off show ''
The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice'', hosted by comedian
Jo Brand
Josephine Grace Brand (born 23 July 1957) is an English comedian, writer, presenter and actress. Starting her entertainment career with a move from psychiatric nursing to the alternative comedy stand-up scene and early performances on '' Satu ...
on
BBC Two
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
, was also launched as a companion series in the same year. Each episode was broadcast two days after the main show but later moved to the same night. The show includes interviews with eliminated contestants.
In the US, the fifth series was broadcast as season 1 on PBS, and on
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
as Collection 1.
Series 6 (2015)
The sixth series began on 5 August 2015 on BBC One, again from Welford Park in Berkshire. The spin-off show ''
The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice'' returned for a second series, with
Jo Brand
Josephine Grace Brand (born 23 July 1957) is an English comedian, writer, presenter and actress. Starting her entertainment career with a move from psychiatric nursing to the alternative comedy stand-up scene and early performances on '' Satu ...
as host. This series was won by
Nadiya Hussain
Nadiya Jamir Hussain (''née'' Begum; born 25 December 1984) is a British television chef, author and television presenter. She rose to fame after winning the sixth series (Season 3 on PBS, or Collection 3 on Netflix in the US) of BBC's ''Th ...
, with Ian Cumming and
Tamal Ray
A tamale, in Spanish language, Spanish tamal, is a traditional Mesoamerican dish made of masa, a dough made from nixtamalization, nixtamalized maize, corn, which is steaming, steamed in a corn husk or banana leaf. The wrapping can either be d ...
as runners up.
In the US, the sixth series was broadcast as season 3 on PBS, and on
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
as Collection 3.
Series 7 (2016)
The seventh series began on 24 August 2016 on BBC One, once again from Welford Park in Berkshire, a later than usual start following the BBC's coverage of the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
. This series was won by
Candice Brown Candice is a given name and a variant spelling of the name Candace.
People
Notable people with the name include:
*Candice Accola, American actress (''The Vampire Diaries'')
*Candice Carty-Williams, British writer
*Candice Bergen, American actr ...
, with Jane Beedle and
Andrew Smyth as runners up.
In the US, the seventh series was broadcast as season 4 on PBS, and on
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
as Collection 4.
Series 8 (2017)
The eighth series of ''The Great British Bake Off'' began airing on 29 August 2017.
This is the first series of ''The Great British Bake Off'' to be broadcast on
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
following its move from the BBC. The series features new hosts
Noel Fielding
Noel Fielding (; (born 21 May 1973) is an English actor and comedian. He is best known for his work with The Mighty Boosh comedy troupe alongside Julian Barratt in the 2000s, and more recently as a co-presenter of ''The Great British Bake Off'' ...
and
Sandi Toksvig
Sandra Birgitte Toksvig (; ; born 3 May 1958) is a Danish-British writer, comedian and broadcaster on British radio, stage and television. She is also a political activist, having co-founded the Women's Equality Party in 2015. She has written ...
, and new judge
Prue Leith
Dame Prudence Margaret Leith, (born 18 February 1940) is a South African restaurateur, chef, caterer, television presenter/broadcaster, journalist, cookery writer and novelist. She is Chancellor of Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. She wa ...
along with returning judge
Paul Hollywood
Paul John Hollywood (born 1 March 1966) is an English celebrity chef and television presenter, widely known as a judge on ''The Great British Bake Off'' since 2010.
Hollywood began his career at his father's bakery as a teenager and went on to ...
. This series was won by
Sophie Faldo
Sophie is a version of the female given name Sophia, meaning "wise".
People with the name Born in the Middle Ages
* Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson
* Sophie of Thuringia, Duchess of ...
, with Kate Lyon and Steven Carter-Bailey finishing as runners-up.
The eighth series is broadcast on
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
as Collection 5.
Series 9 (2018)
The ninth series of ''The Great British Bake Off'' began airing on 28 August 2018.
On 30 October 2018,
Sheffield University
, mottoeng = To discover the causes of things
, established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions:
– Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield
, type = Pu ...
researcher
Rahul Mandal
Rahul is a popular male name in India and has a variety of meanings. The earliest meaning found in the Upanishads is "conqueror of all miseries." Later use of the word is attributed to the Buddha, who named his son '' Rahula'' as he felt that fa ...
, from
Rotherham
Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...
,
was announced as the winner of ''The Great British Bake Off'' 2018.
The runners-up were
Ruby Bhogal
A ruby is a pinkish red to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called s ...
and
Kim-Joy Hewlett.
The ninth series is broadcast on
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
as Collection 6.
Series 10 (2019)
The tenth series of ''The Great British Bake Off'' began airing on 27 August 2019. On 29 October 2019,
David Atherton
David Atherton (born 3 January 1944) is an English conductor and founder of the London Sinfonietta.
Background
Atherton was born in Blackpool, Lancashire into a musical family. He was educated at Blackpool Grammar
School. His father, Robert ...
was announced as the winner of ''The Great British Bake Off'' 2019, becoming the first winner never to have won Star Baker during the competition. The runners-up were Steph Blackwell and Alice Fevronia.
The tenth series is broadcast on
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
as Collection 7.
Series 11 (2020)
The eleventh series of ''The Great British Bake Off'' began airing on 22 September 2020.
Matt Lucas
Matthew Richard Lucas (born 5 March 1974) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series ''Little Britain'' (2003–2006, 2020) and '' Come Fl ...
replaced Sandi Toksvig as host, alongside returning host Noel Fielding and judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood. The first three episodes ran for 90 minutes rather than the previous 75 minutes. Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, filming was shortened to six weeks. The cast and crew had to live in a "self-contained biosphere",
which was
Down Hall
Down Hall is a Victorian country house and estate near Hatfield Heath in the English county of Essex, close to its border with Hertfordshire. It is surrounded by of woodland, parkland and landscaped gardens, some of which is protected by the ...
Hotel in
Bishop's Stortford
Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated po ...
where a marquee was put up in its garden for the competition. On 24 November 2020, it was announced that this series was won by Peter Sawkins, with Laura Adlington and Dave Friday finishing as the runners-up.
The eleventh series was broadcast on Netflix as Collection 8, released weekly three days after the UK air date.
Series 12 (2021)
The twelfth series began airing on Tuesday 21 September 2021. The twelfth series was broadcast on Netflix as Collection 9, released weekly three days after the UK air date.
On 23 November 2021,
Giuseppe Dell'Anno
Giuseppe is the Italian form of the given name Joseph,
from Latin Iōsēphus from Ancient Greek Ἰωσήφ (Iōsḗph), from Hebrew יוסף.
It is the most common name in Italy and is unique (97%) to it.
The feminine form of the name is Giusep ...
was announced as the winner, becoming the first Italian to win the programme. The runners-up were Chigs Parmar and Crystelle Pereira.
Series 13 (2022)
The thirteenth series of ''the Great British Bake Off'' began airing on Tuesday 13 September 2022 on
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
. The thirteenth series was broadcast on Netflix as Collection 10, released weekly three days after the UK air date.
On 15 November 2022,
Syabira Yusoff was announced as the winner of the programme. The runners-up were Sandro Farmhouse and Abdul Rehman.
Incomplete bakes and other incidents
Periodically, accidents and other errors have influenced the results of a round of judging. Several have had a significant impact on what a baker presents, notably:
* Presenters
Mel Giedroyc
Melanie Clare Sophie Giedroyc (; , born 5 June 1968) is a British actress, comedian and television presenter. With Sue Perkins, she has co-hosted series including ''Light Lunch'' for Channel 4, ''The Great British Bake Off'' for the BBC and c ...
and
Sue Perkins accidentally interfered with several bakes. In Series 4, Sue leaned on Howard Middleton's
English muffins in the technical challenge and in Series 6, she broke
Nadiya Hussain
Nadiya Jamir Hussain (''née'' Begum; born 25 December 1984) is a British television chef, author and television presenter. She rose to fame after winning the sixth series (Season 3 on PBS, or Collection 3 on Netflix in the US) of BBC's ''Th ...
's biscuit lid in the showstopper challenge.
* In Series 2, Robert Billington accidentally dropped his tiered showstopper while applying finishing touches to the cake. Both judges and presenters came to his aid to salvage the bottom tier of his cake. He was able to present the incomplete showstopper as a single-tiered cake.
* In Series 3,
John Whaite
John Whaite (born 23 May 1989) is an English baker who won the third series of ''The Great British Bake Off'' in 2012. He works as a chef, television presenter, and author.
Early life
John Whaite was born in Chorley, Lancashire, and grew up ...
was unable to complete his bake after he suffered a severe cut to his finger on the food processor. He tried to continue working on his strudel wearing a rubber glove, but the bleeding required medical attention, including assistance from Danny, who left her bake to help him. As a result, John had to abandon the last bake, and no one was eliminated that week.
* In Series 4, contestant Deborah Manger accidentally used Howard Middleton's custard instead of her own. As a result, Howard was forced to use Deborah's custard, and this was taken into account by the judges, who judged the trifles and custards individually.
* In Series 5, during the
Baked Alaska
Baked Alaska, also known as Bombe Alaska, ''omelette norvégienne, omelette surprise,'' or ''omelette sibérienne'' depending on the country, is a dessert consisting of ice cream and cake topped with browned meringue. The dish is made of ice cre ...
challenge, contestant Diana Beard removed Iain Watters's ice cream from a freezer in order to make room for her dessert. Upon discovering his melted ice cream on the counter, Watters threw it into the bin in frustration and left the tent. He returned shortly after, and as he had no cake for judging; he produced his bin instead, leading to his elimination. The event provoked anger from many viewers, who believed Diana Beard had interfered with his ice cream, causing it to melt.
*In Series 9, one of contestant Rahul Mandal's empty storage jars burst from the heat within the tent and glass covered the workbench and potentially contaminated the mixtures. The production team had to dispose of all of his mixtures and clear his station. He was then given an extra fifteen minutes after the other finalists had finished to make up for the time he had lost.
*In Series 11, during the technical challenge of the first episode, contestant Sura Selvarajah accidentally knocked over four of David Friday's
pineapple upside down cakes as he was putting them on the gingham table. Paul and Prue were informed of the incident and judged the cakes based on the two which remained intact.
''The Great Christmas/Festive Bake Off''
Since 2016, two-holiday specials have been transmitted between each series. The special will typically feature four returning bakers from the previous series to compete in three holiday-themed challenges (excluding the second 2019 special, in which the cast of the
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
sitcom ''
Derry Girls
''Derry Girls'' is a British teen sitcom created and written by Lisa McGee that premiered on 4 January 2018 on Channel 4. The channel's most successful comedy since ''Father Ted'', the series was inspired by McGee's own experiences growing up ...
'' featured as the contestants). Since 2017 (following the move from BBC), one special is broadcast on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and the other on New Year's Day on Channel 4.
Reception
Critical reception
The early reviews for the first series were mixed.
Lucy Mangan
Lucy Katherine Mangan''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007'' (born 1974) is a British journalist and author. She is a columnist, features writer and TV critic for ''The Guardian''. A major part of her writing is related t ...
of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' wondered if "competitive baking
sa contradiction in terms" and found the proceedings humourless.
Iain Hollingshead
Iain Hollingshead (born 1980) is a British freelance journalist and novelist.
Iain writes feature articles for a range of publications, ''The Daily Telegraph'' in particular. Until recently, he also wrote a regular column called Loose Ends in Sat ...
of ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'' was scathing, describing the presenters as "annoying", the judge Paul Hollywood as looking "sinister without being interesting", and that the audience would be so bored that they "could certainly forgive the cameraman if he were to commit
hara-kiri
, sometimes referred to as hara-kiri (, , a native Japanese kun reading), is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honour but was also practised by other Japanese people ...
in a giant pool of egg and flour."
However, reviews from the later series were more positive.
Andrew Collins of ''The Guardian'' called it "the nicest show on television" and judged it the best TV programme of 2012. Rachel Ward of ''The Daily Telegraph'' thought the programme "had just the right consistency of mouth-watering morsels, good humour, and fascinating history", while
Tom Sutcliffe of ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' considered the contest "perfectly baked". Meredith Blake of ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' wrote that the show is "Escapist entertainment at its sweetest."
''Bake Off'' was moved to Channel 4 in 2017, and reviews of the programme on the channel were largely positive, although a few felt that it did not compare well to the BBC version.
Mark Lawson of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' described the programme on Channel 4 as "both exactly the same but also just subtly different enough", and that "only someone desperate to dislike the re-plated show could argued that
thas soured, spoiled or binned its recipe". Michael Hogan of ''
The Telegraph
''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include:
Australia
* ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...
'' thought that "Mary, Mel and Sue might be gone but the show's recipe remains as winning as ever. The four Cs – chemistry, camaraderie, comedy, cakes – were all present and correct." Anna Leszkiewicz of the ''
New Statesman
The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...
'' however considered that while the format had been left largely unchanged and the contestants "irresistibly likeable", "every single change to the show has been for the worse".
Its American broadcast has a
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
rating of 88, indicating "universal acclaim".
Cultural impact
''Bake Off'' is credited with spurring an interest in home baking, with supermarkets and department stores in the UK reporting sharp rises in sales of baking ingredients and accessories.
The show is also credited with reviving
Women's Institutes
The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organisation for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being t ...
, whose membership reached its highest level since the 1970s. Between 2010 and 2013, the ''Bake Off effect'' had seen membership grow by a quarter to over 211,000.
It was the largest impact on membership since the release of the 2003 British comedy film ''
Calendar Girls
''Calendar Girls'' is a 2003 British comedy film directed by Nigel Cole. Produced by Touchstone Pictures, it features a screenplay by Tim Firth and Juliette Towhidi, based on a true story of a group of middle-aged Yorkshire women who produ ...
'', starring
Helen Mirren
Dame Helen Mirren (born Helen Lydia Mironoff; born 26 July 1945) is an English actor. The recipient of numerous accolades, she is the only performer to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting in both the United States and the United Kingdom. ...
and
Julie Walters
Dame Julia Mary Walters (born 22 February 1950), known professionally as Julie Walters, is an English actress. She is the recipient of four British Academy Television Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two International Emmy Awards, a B ...
, where a group of middle-aged Yorkshire women produced a nude calendar to raise money for Leukaemia Research under the auspices of the Women's Institutes.
Ruth Bond, chairwoman of the National Federation of Women's Institutes, said ''Bake Off'' has inspired women to take up baking by ‘taking away the fear factor’ and making it look fun.
The show also boosted the sales of bakery books and the number of baking clubs, and independent bakeries also showed an increase. According to one analyst, more than three-fifths of adults baked at home at least once in 2013 compared with only a third in 2011. A
stage musical
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...
written by
Jake Brunger and Pippa Cleary
Jake Brunger and Pippa Cleary are a London-based musical theatre writing partnership. They met at Bristol University, where they were studying Drama and Music respectively.
Musicals
Their first musical '' Jet Set Go!'' ran at the 2008 Edinburg ...
based on the series and endorsed by
Love Productions
Love Productions is a UK-based television production company. Its cooking competition series ''The Great British Bake Off'' is among the most watched shows in the UK of its era.
History
Richard McKerrow and Anna Beattie formed Love Productions i ...
opened in
Cheltenham in July 2022. In addition, a whole host of similar shows started getting commissioned on TV including ''
The Great British Sewing Bee
''The Great British Sewing Bee'' is a BBC reality show that began airing on BBC Two on 2 April 2013. In the show, talented amateur sewers compete to be named "Britain's best home sewer". A spin-off of the format of ''The Great British Bake Off ...
'', ''
Forged in Fire'', ''
Lego Masters
''Lego Masters'' is an international reality television show in which teams compete to build the best Lego project, based on the original British show of that name, which premiered in 2017. Many other countries adapted the format and began a ...
'' and ''
The Great Pottery Throw Down''.
TV ratings
The first series of ''The Great British Bake Off'' premiered in August 2010 with moderate ratings of just over 2 million viewers for its first episode. This was enough to place it in BBC Two's top ten for that week, and over the series the audience grew to over 3 million, with the semi-final and final both achieving first place in BBC Two's weekly ratings. During the second series, the ratings gradually increased, and it became a surprise hit with nearly 4 million watching each episode. Week two was the last time that the show was out-rated by another BBC Two programme in the same week (it came second to the drama ''
Page Eight
''Page Eight'' is a 2011 British political thriller, written and directed for the BBC by the British dramatist David Hare, his first film as director since the 1989 film ''Strapless''. The cast includes Bill Nighy, Rachel Weisz, Michael Gambo ...
''); from then until the show's move to BBC One, every competition episode would be the channel's number one rated programme of the week. By its final episode it had averaged 4.56 million viewers, peaking at 5.1 million in its last 15 minutes.
The ratings continued to strengthen in the third series, and the show began to beat its competition in its timeslot. The final of the series where
John Whaite
John Whaite (born 23 May 1989) is an English baker who won the third series of ''The Great British Bake Off'' in 2012. He works as a chef, television presenter, and author.
Early life
John Whaite was born in Chorley, Lancashire, and grew up ...
was crowned the winner saw its highest rating yet, with an average of 6.5 million viewers that peaked at 7.2 million, which made it the second highest-rated
BBC Two
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
-originated show after ''
Top Gear
Top Gear may refer to:
* "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission
Television
* ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme
* ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...
'' since at least 2006. The fourth series achieved some of the highest ratings seen on BBC Two. The viewer count for its premiere episode was more than two million higher than that of the previous series, while the final episode was seen by 9.1 million viewers at its peak, more than twice the number of viewers on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
and ITV. The final episode is the most-watched show on BBC Two since the present ratings system was introduced in 2002, beating the previous record set by ''Top Gear''. As a result of its high ratings, the show was moved to
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
.
After its move to BBC One, the opening episode was watched by over 7 million viewers according to overnight figures, beating the figure of 5.6 million for the opening episode of the previous year. The Bingate controversy surrounding episode four helped the show gain its biggest ever audience of 10.3 million viewers, with 2 million people who watched it on
BBC iPlayer. The final of the show gained an overnight viewing figure of 12.29 million, then the highest viewing figure of the year for a non-sporting event on British TV. In the following year, the top ten ratings for 2015 was also dominated by ''The Great British Bake Off'', with seven of the year's ten most-watched television programmes being episodes of the show, topped by the final episode with 15.05 million viewers. In the last series on the BBC in 2016, nine of the top ten most-watched programmes of the year were episodes of the show, with 16.03 million viewers watching the finale.
The first series broadcast by Channel 4 opened with average viewing figures of 5.8 million, rising to 6.5 million to include those watching on
Channel 4+1, and 9.46 million for the 7-day rating. Although the overnight figure was the lowest for an opening episode since
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
, it was Channel 4's biggest audience since the
Opening Ceremony of the
2012 Paralympics. This series attracted an average audience of 9 million viewers on Channel 4.
The eleventh series in 2020 received the highest audience for a TV series ever seen on Channel 4 in 35 years, after the miniseries ''
A Woman of Substance'' which was watched by 13.9 million viewers in 1985. Its opening and final episodes were watched by 11.2 and 11.5 million viewers respectively, with a consolidated audience figure averaging at 10.6 million for the series. The series, which was available on
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
in the US, was also the fifth most-streamed show among American audience in October 2020 according to
Nielsen.
Controversies
Product placement sanction
In September 2012, production company Love Productions was sanctioned by the BBC for
product placement of
Smeg fridges. The issue came to light after a viewer wrote to the ''
Radio Times
''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...
'' complaining of "blatant product promotion". After an investigation, the BBC said Love Production's loan agreement with Smeg did not meet editorial guidelines and was being revised for the third series, and that appropriate retrospective hire payments would be made. The BBC asked Smeg to remove a notice from its website promoting its association with the show, which it did.
Favouritism
During the fourth series allegations arose regarding Paul Hollywood's favouritism toward
Ruby Tandoh
Ruby Alice Tandoh (born 1992) is a British baker, columnist, author, and former model. She was runner-up on series four of BBC's ''The Great British Bake Off'' in 2013 and has written four cookbooks. Her 2021 ''Cook as You Are'' was named to se ...
, resulting in personal attacks against Tandoh including by the chef
Raymond Blanc
Raymond Blanc OBE (born 19 November 1949) is a French chef. Blanc is the chef patron at Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, a hotel-restaurant in Great Milton, Oxfordshire, England. The restaurant has two Michelin stars and scored 9/10 in the '' Good ...
. Both Hollywood and Tandoh denied the accusation.
Late in the ninth series, allegations of judges' favouritism toward
Rahul Mandal
Rahul is a popular male name in India and has a variety of meanings. The earliest meaning found in the Upanishads is "conqueror of all miseries." Later use of the word is attributed to the Buddha, who named his son '' Rahula'' as he felt that fa ...
arose among a small group of fans loyal to another baker, after judges gave Mandal compensatory time to complete his task. A shattered glass jug forced Mandal to stop and rendered his bake in progress unsafe. The producers awarded Mandal the time (15 minutes) he lost while his station was cleaned, after which he started his bake again from the beginning.
Baked Alaska controversy ("Bingate")
In the fourth episode of the fifth series, there was controversy around the elimination of contestant Iain Watters. During the final showstopper round contestants were tasked with producing a
Baked Alaska
Baked Alaska, also known as Bombe Alaska, ''omelette norvégienne, omelette surprise,'' or ''omelette sibérienne'' depending on the country, is a dessert consisting of ice cream and cake topped with browned meringue. The dish is made of ice cre ...
. Iain's ice cream was shown as having not set and in a show of frustration he threw his bake in the bin. The editing of the show suggested that another contestant, Diana Beard, had caused the failure by removing the ice cream from a freezer, and the perceived "sabotage" resulted in an uproar on social media networks. However, unseen footage broadcast in the accompanying programme ''
An Extra Slice
''The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice'' (sometimes shortened to ''An Extra Slice'') is a Television of the United Kingdom, British television series, television after-show to follow the series ''The Great British Bake Off''. Hosted by Jo ...
'' shows Luis holding the large floor freezer that contained Iain's ice cream open as he piped the sides of his own baked Alaska, while Mel warns him to pipe quickly and close the freezer. Later in the episode, when Iain removes his ice cream to begin the next step of his dish, it is still quite soft, indicating it went into the freezer he shared with Diana without being completely frozen. Various members of the cast posted comments in support of Diana and a BBC spokesman later issued a statement that "Diana removing Iain's ice cream from the freezer for less than a minute was in no way responsible for Iain's departure."
More than 800 complaints were lodged with the BBC over the incident and some also complained to the communication watchdog
Ofcom
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom.
Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...
.
Use of innuendo
A number of viewers complained to the BBC feedback show ''
Points of View'' in the fifth series about the "constant smutty remarks" from the presenters Mel and Sue. This series was seen as having more innuendos than previous ones; some reviewers noted the "extra pinch of saucy spice" and "the increasingly filthy-minded hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins". The series 3 winner
John Whaite
John Whaite (born 23 May 1989) is an English baker who won the third series of ''The Great British Bake Off'' in 2012. He works as a chef, television presenter, and author.
Early life
John Whaite was born in Chorley, Lancashire, and grew up ...
however argued that innuendo is part of what made the show a success, whilst judge Paul Hollywood described the innuendos as banter in the spirit of the ''
Carry On
Carry On may refer to:
* ''Carry On'' (franchise), a British comedy media franchise
*Carry-on luggage or hand luggage, luggage that is carried into the passenger compartment
* ''Carry On'' (film), a 1927 British silent film
* ''Carry On'' (novel), ...
'' films and is a part of British culture, a view shared by others.
Clones, legal challenges and move to Channel 4
The success of ''The Great British Bake Off'' led to the BBC commissioning many other series closely following the format from Love Productions for example ''
The Great British Sewing Bee
''The Great British Sewing Bee'' is a BBC reality show that began airing on BBC Two on 2 April 2013. In the show, talented amateur sewers compete to be named "Britain's best home sewer". A spin-off of the format of ''The Great British Bake Off ...
'' and ''
The Great Pottery Throw Down''. However, when the 2014 series ''
Hair
Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals.
The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...
'' using the same format was produced in house by the BBC, Love Productions responded by making preparations to sue the BBC for infringing their copyright.
Although the matter was kept quiet, with the BBC settling out of court and compensating Love Productions,
the matter soured relations between the BBC and Love Productions.
In September 2016, it was announced that the BBC had lost the broadcast rights of the show to
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
.
Channel 4 offered £25 million for the show outbidding the £15 million offered by the BBC.
In January 2017 the BBC waived its rights to keep the programme off the air until 2018, and wished it "well for the future".
Accidental revelation of Series 8 winner
On 31 October 2017, judge
Prue Leith
Dame Prudence Margaret Leith, (born 18 February 1940) is a South African restaurateur, chef, caterer, television presenter/broadcaster, journalist, cookery writer and novelist. She is Chancellor of Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. She wa ...
accidentally revealed that
Sophie Faldo
Sophie is a version of the female given name Sophia, meaning "wise".
People with the name Born in the Middle Ages
* Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson
* Sophie of Thuringia, Duchess of ...
was the winner of Series 8 on her
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
account, twelve hours before the finale was due to air. This caused uproar among many fans of the show. She quickly deleted the tweet and apologised to the fans who saw it. The first episode of Series 9 poked fun at the incident by having hosts Toksvig and Fielding dress as Marty McFly and Doc Brown from ''
Back to the Future
''Back to the Future'' is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis, and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985, ...
'' and travel back in time via a
DeLorean time machine
In the ''Back to the Future'' franchise, the DeLorean time machine is a time travel device made by retrofitting a DMC DeLorean vehicle with a flux capacitor. The car requires 1.21 gigawatts ("jigawatts/jigowatts") of power and needs to travel 8 ...
to stop Leith from tweeting out the season's winner.
Japan Week
Season 11 Episode 6 "Japan Week" was widely and heavily criticised for not having any actual Japanese pastries. Most contestants chose to do Chinese or Indian flavours, resulting in the show being called out for assuming "all Asians are Japanese".
German Week
After the airing of the "German Week" episode in series 12, Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas were criticised on social media for mocking a German accent during the show. It was widely described as 'irritating and inappropriate'. It raised the question if this would be allowed if it were another nationality. Matt Lucas in particular was criticised by many viewers for his "casual racism." In the same episode, Paul Hollywood apologised to German contestant Jurgen because the week's showstopper challenge wasn't something German because he "anglicised" the challenge.
Mexican Week
Series 13, episode 4, broadcast on 4 October 2022, was Mexican week. Like many previous weeks celebrating foreign cuisine, the show was branded with allegations of cultural appropriation. Additionally, criticism was directed at the incorrect pronunciation, inaccurate labelling of Mexican dishes, and a sketch where Matt and Noel dressed in sombreros and ponchos, which was deemed disrespectful.
Awards and nominations
''The Great British Bake Off'' was nominated for a
Rose d'Or
The Rose d'Or ('Golden Rose') is an international awards festival in entertainment broadcasting and programming. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) first acquired the Rose d’Or in 1961, when it was created by Swiss Television in the lakes ...
in the Lifestyle section of the 2012 competition and won. The programme has been nominated a number of times in various categories for the
BAFTA awards and won in 2012, 2013, and 2016.
It also won two
2015 National Television Award for Skills Challenge Show.
International
The British version of ''The Great British Bake Off'' is broadcast in many countries and it has been sold to 196 territories as of 2015. The format has also been sold to 20 territories by 2015, making it the third most successful BBC format after ''
Strictly Come Dancing'' and ''
The Weakest Link
''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...
''. Many of these shows have been successful.
The ''
Junior Bake Off
''Junior Bake Off'' is a British television baking competition in which young bakers aged 9 to 15 tackle a series of challenges involving baking cakes, biscuits, bread, and pastries, competing to be crowned ''Junior Bake Off'' Champion.
The se ...
'' format has also been sold to Thailand.
Broadcast
Canada
CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...
began broadcasting ''The Great British Bake Off'' in Canada in August 2016, starting with the sixth series under the title ''The Great British Baking Show''. Subsequent seasons have aired the summer following their British airings, with Series 9 debuting in July 2019.
The CBC also produces a Canadian version called ''
The Great Canadian Baking Show
''The Great Canadian Baking Show'' is a Canadian cooking competition television series which premiered on CBC Television on November 1, 2017. It is an adaptation of the U.K. series ''The Great British Bake Off'', which is aired in Canada under t ...
'' with an identical format.
United States
''The Great British Bake Off'' airs in the United States under the name ''The Great British Baking Show'' because "Bake-Off" is a registered trademark of
Pillsbury in the U.S. As of October 2022, the British series 1-7 were available in the United States on
The Roku Channel
The Roku Channel is an American over-the-top video streaming service owned and operated by Roku, Inc., which launched in September 2017.
History
In September 2017, Roku, Inc. launched a free, ad-supported streaming channel for its digital med ...
, labeled as Seasons 1-7, and the British series 8-13 were available in the United States on
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
, labeled as Collections 5-10.
From 2014-2018, the US broadcaster
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
aired five series of the show. PBS broadcast the fifth British series as Season 1 in winter 2014–2015, shortly after it aired in the UK, and in autumn 2015 PBS broadcast the fourth British series as Season 2 because the new British series was not ready.
The sixth series was broadcast as Season 3 in summer 2016, and the seventh series was broadcast as Season 4 in summer 2017. After the show moved to Channel 4, PBS purchased the BBC's third series and broadcast it as Season 5 instead of licensing the eighth series from Channel 4.
PBS chose not to license the Channel 4 series.
In 2018, Netflix acquired the rights to stream the eighth British series, which was the first from Channel 4, and debuted it as a "Netflix Original Production" labeled as Collection 5; the service already had PBS's Seasons 1-4 available for streaming, labeled as Collections 1-4.
Netflix added the third British series as a separate show, ''The Great British Baking Show: The Beginnings'', later in 2018.
In January 2022, Collections 1-4 and ''The Great British Baking Show: The Beginnings'' left Netflix. Netflix also added the Holiday and Masterclass episodes as separate shows from the individual seasons they were originally part of. ''The Great British Baking Show: Holidays'' includes the holiday episodes that have aired since 2018. The Masterclass episodes were added to Netflix in April 2017 as ''The Great British Baking Show: Masterclass'', but were removed in April 2021.
In 2022, The Roku Channel began streaming the seven British series that originally aired on the BBC, including the first and second series that had not previously been available in the U.S.
The following table shows the analogous series numbers between the major distributors; the series in italics are no longer available from that distributor:
''
The Great American Baking Show
''The Great American Baking Show'' is an American cooking competition television series and an adaptation of ''The Great British Bake Off'' (which is aired in the United States under the title ''The Great British Baking Show''). Its first season a ...
'', an American adaptation of ''The Great British Bake Off,'' aired on
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
for five seasons from 2015-2020. Its sixth season will air on The Roku Channel starting in 2023.
International versions
Current
Former
''The Great Sport Relief Bake Off''
Episode viewing figures from
BARB
Barb or the BARBs or ''variation'' may refer to:
People
* Barb (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname
* Barb, a term used by fans of Nicki Minaj to refer to themselves
* The Barbs, a band
Places
* Barb, ...
.
Series 1 (2012)
Series 2 (2014)
Series 3 (2016)
''The Great Comic Relief Bake Off''
Series 1 (2013)
Series 2 (2015)
: Star Baker
''The Great Stand Up to Cancer Bake Off''
Series overview
Series 1 (2018)
Series 2 (2019)
Series 3 (2020)
Series 4 (2021)
Series 5 (2022)
See also
*
List of ''The Great British Bake Off'' contestants
*
List of ''The Great British Bake Off'' finalists (series 1–7)
*
List of ''The Great British Bake Off'' finalists (series 8–present)
*
List of ''The Great British Bake Off'' Star Bakers
References
External links
*
*
''The Great British Wedding Cake''''The Great Sport Relief Bake Off''''The Great Comic Relief Bake Off''*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Great British Bake Off, The
2010 British television series debuts
2010s British reality television series
2020s British reality television series
BBC Television shows
British cooking television shows
Channel 4 original programming
English-language television shows
2010s British cooking television series
2020s British cooking television series
Television series by BBC Studios