Amazon

Monday 21 October 2013

Britsh Bake Off bonanza! The final. Are you watching?

Tomorrow is the final of the latest series of the television cooking competition. The previous Great British Bake Off  final drew in a fantastic 6.7 million viewers. I wonder how many viewers tomorrow's BBC2 final will attract as the three lady bakers, Beca, Ruby, Kimberely and Frances go head to head?!

Host Paul Hollywood says work has already started on a fifth series for next year and in the Radio Times he says that "This year's bakers are almost professional. Let's hope that the level continues to get higher but we could have reached our pinnacle. May the best woman win!"

Paul Hollywood believes that baking is more of a treat, whereas cooking is more of a chore, and the show's success has led to communities having bake offs all over the country even down to staff in offices having a 'bake off Friday' and supermarket chains like Tesco having inter store bake offs. In fact you can't move in bookshops across the UK for baking related books. Baking is blooming big.



Mary Berry explains that the Great British Bake Off is 'great family entertainment' and that she feels there aren't many programmes where the whole family can sit and watch from beginning to end. Everything is educational without viewers realising it. Plus, the show has caught Britain in a time of recession and it is lovely and easy and less expensive to do than other activities with children. She also credits the fact that the bakers support each other and become friends.

The Great British Bake Off first aired in 2010 and it took the team four years to get anybody at any television channel to take any notice. Anna Beattie, creator of the show says that "Nobody liked it but we just kept on because we thought it was such a great idea." Beattie simply loved the idea of village fetes and an old fashioned baking competition with enthusiastic, ordinary people, who just wanted to bake a good cake. The viewing figures have risen from 2.2 million in the first series nearly 7 million for the latest series Not so bad for an apparent no hoper! The show has been awarded two consecutive Baftas and it has been bought and copied in 13 countries including the famous tent and décor.

The last in this series of The Great British Bake Off airs at 8pm (Tuesday 22nd October) on BBC2.Will there be tears in The Tent Of Dreams as each contestant tries to make a perfect savoury picnic pie - the final signature challenge? Go bakers!!!

For more info on the show visit http://thegreatbritishbakeoff.co.uk/

3 comments:

Dean said...

Cant wait for it, Not sure who I want to root for although I think Ruby is very naturally talented she hasn't had time to put the practice in.
If she had practised more instead of winging so much I believe she would of won easily.
Frances I cant see winning as her eye for design wins over taste and that leaves Kimberley to grab the throne.
I suppose it all depends on the days bakes though as I thought James Morton would win last year.

C'est la vie

Jean said...

It is indeed refreshingly lacking in the nasty stuff you see in most TV these days.
We will be glued to the box tomorrow and rooting for....that would be telling.......!!
It is educational, I have picked up quite a few baking tips from the shows myself.
It's also good that people get the idea that home baking is worthwhile and if people are baking more at home, that's great. So much better than buying ready made stuff with such a long shelf life that goodness only knows what's in it!
I once bought a pack of two microwavable steamed sponge puddings(from Tesco) to find that they had been made in New Zealand. They had a shelf life of several months and they tasted little better than I imagine the cardboard pack containing them would taste - horrible.

Judith said...

Love this programme, and I don't even bake! Mary and paul are so knowledgeable, and Mel and Sue are a riot. I hope we don't have to wait too long to see it here in New Zealand. Series 3 secreened here earlier this year and was a huge hit.