The Great British Baking Show, 8 Collections
Reality Cooking TV-14, Netflix
Bakeoff is back, and my Friday afternoons are now filled with tea and biscuits. I love this show. While it is a reality TV competition show, Bakeoff isn’t akin to its peers. Other food competition shows, such as Top Chef or Master Chef, are cutthroat. If a fellow competitor is lagging or having trouble with a particular element of their dish, no one is going to ask if they’re all right – let alone offer to help in some way. Bakeoff is the exact opposite of this. Contestants are comprised of home bakers from all over the UK and are often great emotional supports for one another. That gives Bakeoff two ticks in the positive column for me. A show about baking – check. A show where people don’t give in to their baser instincts – check.
Network and Talent Changes
American audiences were first introduced to the show in 2014 via PBS as the rebranded The Great British Baking Show. The first season to air on PBS is actually the fifth of the series. And it is listed as Collection 1 on Netflix. I found the show the old-fashioned way while flipping through channels. And I was immediately taken by this quaint show set in a tent in the English Countryside. Bakers spend the workweek in their hometowns and return on the weekend to join the two judges and the two hosts as they make three different bakes.
The show has had several homes. It debuted in the UK on the BBC. However, renegotiation talks led to Love Productions moving the show to Channel 4 in 2017. At that point, original judge Mary Berry and presenters Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc bowed out. The only on-camera talent to remain is judge Paul Hollywood. New judge Prue Leith has joined him. And Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig took over presenting duties.
The Bakeoff Format
Each week has a theme: Cake, Biscuits, Bread, etc. The two-day weekly affair consists of a Signature Bake, a Technical Bake, and a Showstopper. Bakers are given the briefs for the Signature and Showstopper in advance. So, they can practice at home. Instructions for the Technical Bake are not given until the moment they begin to bake. They have no prior idea of what they will be asked to bake.
The Signature Bake
The Signature is where contestants bake their tried and true bakes that fit the theme of the week. There are a few additional guidelines. For instance, the judges would like 24 savory biscuits and 24 sweet biscuits. But mainly, the point here is to give the judges a preview of what these bakers have to offer in terms of creative flavor combinations and precision of execution.
The Technical Challenge
The Technical is when the judges test the basic knowledge and practical skills of the bakers. Each baker is given the same recipe and ingredients needed to complete the challenge within the designated time. Well, that sounds easy enough, but often the recipes are not fully detailed. Can you fill in the gaps in a recipe? For instance, one line in the given recipe may say: make a crème pat for the filling. And that’s it. Either you know how to make a crème pat, or you have enough basic knowledge to figure it out. Some Technical challenges are very obscure, and no example of the completed bake is available. The judges then are asked to view and taste each contestant bake without knowing who made it. So the Technical is also a way to avoid favoritism.
The Showstopper Challenge
Day two is devoted to the Showstopper. The judges want bakers to provide both style and substance – a complete bake. And they often advise, be mindful of your time. Don’t promise more than you can deliver. A Showstopper is just that, the wow centerpiece. An example of a Showstopper brief is to make a chocolate collar cake. The cake must be at least two tiers and any flavor you like. But they must be surrounded by a chocolate collar. And with that, bakers have 4 hours to create a masterpiece. Something that gives importance to flavor and texture, but also that has an eye-catching style.
Best of Bakeoff
If you are new to the show, I would recommend starting with Collection 1 on Netflix. In the UK, this is Series 4, and the show is just beginning to hit its stride. The bakers are all kind and determined, but they have distinct backgrounds and personalities. They really make the show. And the casting of this season is excellent. It’s a joy to watch them all, from the young and bright-eyed Martha to the builder Richard.
From there, you can move on to Collection 3 and see how the stakes are beginning to increase. This group continues the tradition of ingenuity by placing importance on engineering as much as baking. And yes, that’s a good thing. Standout bakers include Tamal and Nadiya.
And then there is Collection 6, peak Bakeoff. It’s hard to believe these are amateur bakers. There is so much experimentation in this collection and so many lively personalities. The backgrounds of the bakers are the most diverse in this season, from career to homelife. So we really get an appreciation for these hobbyists. Day jobs include an engineering researcher (Rahul), a software project manager (Manon), and a retired air steward (Terry). There is a kitchen injury that leads to a question of fairness regarding elimination. And a final that involves a rudimentary barbecue pit outside the tent. There is high drama, high tension, and a high payoff in collection 6.
