On Your Marks, Get Set, Baaaaake! A Thread for Great British Baking Show / Bake Off & all of its sundry delights

Mary Berry: Angel
Paul Hollywood: silver gorilla fox

My knowledge only covers Netflix US-aired seasons which are the English Bake Off seasons 4/5/6 (it's confusing I know)

Let us now discuss Russet Gandalfs, bread lions, genoese sponges & why you dont throw your baked alaska in the bin

S1 - Nancy is a BOSS i love her
Scottish Norman is adorable
Russet Gandalf Ian <3

S2 - Ruby is my fave
Kimberly is a genius
Frances is lovely but her teeth scare me
Howard <3

s3 NADIYA FOREVER but seriously I have seem this season 3 times and i love it so much, they're all lovely esp Matt the Fireman

sue & mel are grate i love them

so weird seeing it called "baking show", it's like calling 30 rock "television building"

not thrilled about it either, trying not to dwell

soz

lol no its cool *rages-*

Great British Flour & Sugar Hour

gifs i have loved

King Luis

http://goodtoknow.media.ipcdigital.co.uk/111/000012e0d/6079/Luis.gif

Matt the Fireman <3

https://2982-presscdn-29-70-pagely.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Great-British-Bake-Off-Mel-and-Matt.gif

Norman the Scot & his adorable semaphore

http://tvdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/norman.gif

We have all been this Dorrett

http://i.imgur.com/kBUntMB.gif

The Dorrett thing is SO SAD

I always scream when people drop their food, or like a layer falls off the top off a cake - I don't know why, it makes me really nervous, like watching a small child on a really tall climbing frame.

Mr Veg found the first 3 seasons of Bake-Off for me on the t0rentz

Season 1 format is rather different! The tent travels round to different cities, they eliminate 2 bakers each episode, and Sue and Mel do a lot of 'history of the biscuit' 'history of the cake' interstitial stuff during challenges so it's not 100% baking heavy the way it is now. Which isn't great, cuts too much into the baking which is the best part. Also episode 1 inside the tent was shot very jumpily, and not very well light, so it wasn't nearly as colorful as it quickly became in the next episode. Thankfully they fixed that pretty quick.
Mary Berry's hair is very flat!
Bakers call out to the judges and ask how much time is left!
And there's some dude doing the voiceover which is v weird.

Favorite moment so far was Ep 1 with Sue sitting on a blanket inside a stone ring with an eccentric-voiced longhaired baking historian discussing bannocks and I have NO idea how she sat through that without bursting into gales of laughter. I wish I could find a photo of him.

oh and:
signature bakes are a little bit looser: bake any kind of cake, bake any kind of biscuit
technicals so far have been basics like victoria sponges or scones, but the bakers are given the ingredients only: no method at all

and there's a weird little canteen area in back where bakers can go up and ask for items, one lady ran over and asked for double cream.

it's kind of fun seeing how it's all evolved!

god the showstoppers are out of control on S1

SIX different types of bread rolls, half a dozen each! 3 savory, 3 sweet

SIX canapes, 3 savory, 3 sweet, half a dozen each!

Three puddings: suet, baked, crumble!

they must have drowned in leftovers, holy shit

i would have ptsd after these

it is crazy how good this show is at building flopsweat tension around some of the lowest stakes imaginable

Every week has the "are they going to complete this in time for the judges" montage before the end of the round, and ALMOST EVERY TIME it's completely fine, and yet it worries me every single episode

totally!! it's a very chill show compared to top chef etc but I still get stressed out

s1 almost done

- can't STAND ruth and it makes me feel bad bc shes a good baker etc. idk. buu her stupid "boy bait" pudding and making quiche for the finale "for the men" it's like she's pandering to paul and it drives me barmy

-they have clearly done some work reigning in paul bc he was a borderline WANKER in this season. key moment: dismissed ruth's cupcakes as too girly AS THE ONLY MAN ON A PANEL OF WOMEN!! and farting on about stuff looking commercial & professional ragh i love him now but i could slap him almost once every episode

- mary berry telling miranda she reminded her of hrself when she was young <3 that would make my life

S2 report:

Next to Tamal, Rob is the most beautiful creature I have seen in this show so far

*dies*

though I would have eloped with Keith in college imo

Hi! I'm watching the Netflix season now, and it's so refreshing watching a reality competition without any producer-mandated villains.

Also, I forget who said it, but when I heard somebody mention "roasted veg" I got a good chuckle.

Also also I have a crush on Kate.

Like she is more Captain Chaos than Jordan ever was.

Also also also I decided to put closed captions on because SO MANY ACCENTS, but even with the subtitles, I still have no clue what the contestants are talking about.

Kate is v cool but def has captain chaos tendencies

Though lets be real, the *true* Captain Chaos is Jordan Crazy Teeth

Maybe Jordan didn't last long enough to impress his chaos on me, but with Kate, she's up one week, then down the next, then oh noes her dough is still raw and yet she ends up in second place anyway! She is a roller coaster!

I dunno I just picture Jordan covered head to foot in flour with a saucepan burning in the background

Kate's hair fascinated me. Like this amazing curly braided amazingness. And she seemed like she'd be cool to hang out with

Speaking of hair, Chetna's haircut is soooo stylish, love it.

yes! also her grey is so good

Chetna was my baking crush

Russet Gandalf was p cute but I think I kiiiind of fancy Richard? Dimples + pencil behind the ear is a winning combo

and i have a girlcrush on Nancy. She's saucy

It's only natural that the Queen of Spices has pepper in her hair! xxxps

Very distracted by Deborah and those pictures of her husband and child which are just really hard to make sense of given her apparent age.

And why are there only photos to show? Did she steal someone else's photos like she steals ingredients??

dude that's pretty ageist & mean

I mean yeah, sorry...but...don't you wonder about people's lives? There's a story there.

there's a differemce between "wondering" & "side-eyeing"

I finished Season 2 of English bake off & it's pretty marvellous

Jo's such a love - bubbly but terrified, Essex mum finally doing "something for herself". I read online that her husband was doing 16 years in jail for money laundering at the time. Which just made me love her more. she seemed like she mightve had a hard life & that confirmed it

and MaryAnne!! What a treat. Rugby champion, baking historian, mum, wizard. Amazing. She has a book!

Janet was hilarious - mr veg said her facial expressions reminded him of Beaker from the muppets

lots of great women in this season.

As for the guys -

dreamboat Rod turned out to be a bit of a disaster, very disorganized, bit too cavalier. he definitely put the wind up Paul, I've never seen the silver fox come down on a baker like he did with Rod.

sweet baby Jason had sooooooo much potential, very talented for one so young but was just a tad too green for the big leagues. Definitely fun to watch though.

I just finished the Chetna season! I really admired Richard for his ability to laugh at himself, and it was sad to see him crumble in the last week, though I would've been fine with any of the final three winning. (When they showed a picture of a young Richard with a full head of hair, I can see why Veg might crush on him!)

One episode into the next season, and watching Ruby struggle with her lack of self-confidence is so painful (I empathize with her completely), I'm not sure I can handle a whole season's worth (I caught a random episode of this season on PBS and know she hangs around for at least a little while).

Rubes is one of my favorites, I love her so much.

She looks like the daughter of Saffron Burrows and Elizabeth Berkeley, plus her look of utter astonishment when she was Star Baker in bread week was lolz.

That aside, this cast is so much less likeable than the previous one! So many stubborn people and/or people whose insecurities are showing. :(

Yeah... it grew on me though. Francis is kind of a crazy sorcerer with her amazing showstoppers, i'm in awe of her creativity

Slight crush on Kimberley from that season. And Howard is all-time great.

Richard had a weird Martin Freeman vibe, I thought

(in a good way)

I wrote a tl:dr blog post about GBBO for my own amusement...

http://tourdefrump.blogspot.com/2017/03/perfection-failure-and-why-great.html

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/mar/16/noel-fielding-and-sandi-toksvig-to-host-new-great-british-bake-off

Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig to host new Great British Bake Off

New presenters will join new judge Prue Leith and Bake Off stalwart Paul Hollywood in the Channel 4 version of the show

That should kill it off then.

Yay! I love Noel

Veg, are there spoilers in your post?

Oh heavens, just watched the Great Custard Tart Massacre. Those bakers were just brutal to the poor custards!

Hearing that she is/was studying philosophy makes Ruby Ruby Ruby Ruby so hot. (Sorry.)

no spoilers (at least I'm pretty sure not)

I've seen Ruby IRL (just randomly crossing the road near where I live) and she is absolutely gorgeous.

ruby def has the most interesting post-show career / life

ruby's cookbooks are both really good - bf also swears by james from s3's brilliant bread

ruby is ofc ace on twitter

(this thread popping up is so bittersweet - love VG's enthusiasm but i still can't believe the greedy fucks at love productions headshotted it right at its peak and it'll never be the same again)

true

the schadenfreude lols that they paid millions of quid for a show and then three-quarters of the presenters told them to fuck off aren't enough to make up for it either

Third time 'round for "Everyone likes Sandi Toksvig, let's sneak her in to replace a irreplaceable beloved presenter"

ruby's cookbooks are both really good

― lex pretend

pvmnic!

i have always enjoyed and taken an interest in delicious food!

yeah after my excitement over Noel Fielding being announced I realized (stupidly) ohhhhh right this will be a totally different show now :/

i find it hard to imagine noel fielding and paul hollywood having much chemistry

what's the mary berry replacment like? i havent heard of her

a national treasure, basically

oh wait, you're talking about prue leith not sandi toksvig

prue leith is... okay i guess? she's always seemed a bit remote to me in a way that i'm not sure will be a great fit for the show

I glanced at the headlines about this and thought to myself "is there another Noel Fielding I don't know about?" Apparently the answer is no.

Mel and Sue are 50-75% of the show for me, so once they're gone, so is my interest. (Are they a comedy team? They have great timing.)

They are.

mel & sue have been a comedy team since the 90's <3

mel & sue also have a cameo as pet shop boys superfans in the (really really good) tour book "literally". iirc they follow the tour to Japan

Daily Mail have gone completely 'drugs, weird dress sense and friend of Russell Brand' apeshit!

Daily Mail have gone completely 'drugs, weird dress sense and friend of Russell Brand' apeshit!

for a moment i forgot which thread i was reading, but with this specific quote it doesn't even matter. it could be about richard ayoade's bin night and this would still be a believable daily mail reference.

Veg was right! The season 2/4 cast has uniformly grown on me.

I also read your blog, and your observation about the kindness of the judges is bang on. Like, on Project Runway, you'd have all the judges competing with each other to come up with the cruelest put-down.

And even though we definitely get to ogle the baking disasters, Paul and Mary aren't trying to be witty and "making good TV," they're simply giving the cast honest feedback! And this low-keyness gives the show its charms -- that and how the show doesn't overwhelm you with musical cues, especially during the judging, and like I said earlier, it's so refreshing.

(But of course, nothing ruins a good show like success.)

I can never not guffaw whenever someone mentions spotted dick.

Veggie, did you make it to the season with Scottish James with the fair isle tank tops etc? I think season three. He was my *hearts with eyes emoticon* and actually he lives locally, it seems, so I've seen him a few times around. So lovely.

Yeah I just finished that one! James was adorable & crazy talented but I wasn't a huge fan of him by the end...bit cocky? The five cakes for the finale had me rolling - ok Icaraus, sure go ahead LOOOOL

John was my heart-eyes emoji. Loved Brendan too. Big fan of dorky Sarah Jane, and was big into Kathryn - she was like a Spice Girl! She backsassed Paul Hollywood like no-one I've ever seen, str8 fire

Lotta good sorts in that season

Yay Lee, so glad you enjoyed s4! It's a slow burn but by the end it's hankies all over the place

Ha, I can't remember the details of the finale. A bit cocky indeed but I do love a highlander. Or an islander, was he? Yes Shetland, I think.

"Mel, I need a talking to..."

omg!!!!

lol

Starting to dread Ruby's self-deprecation/expectation-lowering prefaces tbh.

omg just watched the most recent season and am sobbing at nadiya winning. like, unhinged crazy person heaving sobs. i love her.

i love nadiya the most!!! i have watched that season like 3 times

it's the ultimate "you can do anything" storyline! even Mary Berry is bawling. it's so good

and her kids are 😍😍

i love all of her reactions & faces, and that line when she said she would rather give birth than bake (x) again was lololol

one of her kids cries when she wins!!! are you trying to destroy me, adorable bangladeshi british children?

i also love ruby she is like mesmerizingly beautiful yes this is shallow no i don't care

i was a little weirded out by nadiya's weirdo cream soda/bubble gum type flavors at times but i still love her.

yeah bubblegum would have made me barf

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/Food%20and%20drink/5oct/nadiafolder-large.jpg

http://40.media.tumblr.com/40583e1cdea51546c82938db5d743cb7/tumblr_nvn55eOr9Q1r2uyymo2_1280.png

also SHE BAKED A CAKE FOR THE QUEEN

http://i4.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article7805104.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/queen-nadiya-main.jpg

aw

let's not hold that against her tho

also I thought it was pretty adorable that Tamal was already telling the kids he'd be coming over to visit, it's so lovely to think of Tamal and Nadiya as friends irl

like all that loveliness under one roof could create a wormhole of kindness

tamal is a babe

otm

A lovely man.

A lovely gay man.

Suck it up!

Everybody's gay now. It's so weird.

idk how to express it but have u guys noticed the way they use "flavor" as a coded way of saying "you're not from around here"? Chetna, Tamal, Nadiya always get the "oh you with your flavors"

Reminds me of the way my mum talked about new foreign foods she had tried

That does jibe with the stereotype of the stodginess of British cuisine.

Oh, I wanted nothing more than to give Ruby a hug in that last Showstopper.

In happier postings, that gif of Luis double pouring is my favorite thing ever.

Started the next season, my impression is that Mat is actually a gentle, polite, perpetually confused giant.

It's so perfect that he's a fireman. he seems like a fireman from a kids show like Fireman Sam & Postman Pat

I have such a crush on him, he's lovely

I'm sad no one ever whacks their bakes into ovens or fridges anymore.

Mat and Flora are both characters from the same cartoon, the faces they pull are magical.

I loved looking at Ugne's arms, so glad the British summer got warm enough for her to actually show them off.

The week when Nadiya won star baker for the first time, such a sudden rush of THE TEARS!

At the beginning of this season, a lot of the bakers seemed shy, but it's nice that they're loosening up. Prison Man Paul has laughed I think two weeks in a row now!

Yeah Paul turns into quite a hoot after a while, I love that whole gang tbh

Not Paul the judge? I can't remember a contestant called Paul.

I think Paul Hollywood is awful. Certainly Ruby had a few choice words about his conduct.

Having said all of that Ruby did this shortly after. I'm not sure if it was connected

http://i3.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article9137448.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/Ruby-tandoh-main.jpg

No paul the prison warden, older gent with white hair & pink scar/birthmark on his forehead

http://i3.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article6501332.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/Paul-GBBO-Main.jpg

aka him of the amazing Lion Bread

I like Paul Hollywood as an inscrutable jerk, i dont find him completely hateable but i think maybe his flaws as a human being work in his favor as a tv judge

The first episode they did remark on how the Pauls were doppelgangers, so I'm sure it's easy to melt the contestant into the judge.

I'm not that caught up on Hollywood's life outside the show, apparently he's a homophobe? But I think on the show he keeps it clean and professional.

Paul Hollywood is an evangelical Christian.

i don't know why that surprises me, but it does

Veggie, did you make it to the season with Scottish James with the fair isle tank tops etc? I think season three. He was my *hearts with eyes emoticon* and actually he lives locally, it seems, so I've seen him a few times around. So lovely.

― Heavy Doors (jed_), Sunday, March 19, 2017 8:32 PM (one week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i am watching this season right now and yesssss. which makes me a dirty old woman because he is like five years old.

Paul Hollywood is an evangelical Christian.

― syzygy stardust (suzy), Friday, 31 March 2017 05:36 (seven hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i don't know why that surprises me, but it does

― horseshoe, Friday, 31 March 2017 12:48 (five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i don't know why that doesn't surprise me, but it doesn't

maybe it's the smarm

OMG Tamal's life-changing sandwich.

<3

Tamal is a lifechanging sandwich imo

Since I don't know anything about baking, a little game I like to pay when they're talking about creme pats is to guess what the contestants' accents are. Flora sounded like Kelly Macdonald once, she must be Scottish! Paul Jagger doesn't sound Irish, so... Welsh? Ian is from London, he could be on the BBC.

LOL Welsh people do not sound Irish.

Never seen a reference to him being religious, let alone evangelical - where does that come from?

Anyway - I like Paul. Away from Bakeoff, he's certainly the least interesting of the four hosts, but he's very watchable on the show, and to label him as the "nasty judge" of course underrates Mary's considerable expertise (and, often, relish) at driving the knife in.

The best was when Nancy called him "the male judge" lol.

That was hilarious

LOL Welsh people do not sound Irish.

For me, Welsh is just the box of "other accents" that encompasses anything that I can't otherwise pin down (not that I'm good at it in any case). Although I do try to apply the "Does this person sound like Gwen from Torchwood?" test, too.

lol that is exactly my litmus test

The Christianity thing was mentioned on Who Do You Think You Are? when he did an episode.

Although I do try to apply the "Does this person sound like Gwen from Torchwood?" test, too.

John Cale on "The Gift" is even better.

Flora's wee scottish accent was so adorable. her terrible time management made me want to shake her <3

That first episode where Flora forgot to preheat hey oven, I was all, "Martha wouldn't have made that mistake," but now she's definitely won me over with her silly faces.

Haha

We referred to Matt the Fireman as Matt the Mod throughout.

Paul being evangelical makes perfect sense given the arrogance and rock-solid conviction of his own rightness (and righteousness, apparently) but I would never have guessed. I actually assumed he was gay, idk why.

he's british

Ik why. He's a man that bakes cakes.

he gay lol

good thing he didn't let his committed christianity get in the way of extra-maritally pumping his co-host on some american baking show or we'd have no surefire way of assessing his sexuality

the first time i saw paul hollywood i knew he was a hairy handed horn dog of the hetero variety

"I'm a Believer", claims Randy Scouse Git.

He's the OTHER bad Bootle meff.

'you'll never sleep alone' promises flour-handed lover from liverpool

why is this picture making me giggle:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/9a/39/65/9a3965e746697c27690929da55607a01.jpg

It's British Cake, the UK reboot of American Pie.

He is soooooooo provincial.

paul hollywood, taker of cherries

Pass the brain-bleach!

paul hollywood, giver of nightmares

When Scottish Norman referred to Paul as "Mr. Hollywood," I thought he was remarking on Paul's fake tan and the likelihood of selling out, not that his actual last name was Hollywood.

the first time i saw paul hollywood i knew he was a hairy handed horn dog of the hetero variety

Yeah, yr gaydar must be in need of serious tweaking if you had any doubts about the Wolf of Wallasey.

xpost yeah I thought it was some show-offy stage name from the get go, I ended up looking him up online to find out if that was REALLY his actual name

Growing up with a name like that, no wonder he's kind of a wanker imo

I mean there's worse names but still, it's so dumb

However he has now poisoned any household discussion of bread in our house

We bought a loaf of crappy french bread from the supermarket and Mr Veg inspected a slice, pointed at a big airbubble and said 'it's overwehhhked'

and he doesn't even sit down and watch the show - he's just picked that up from wandering in and out while I'm bingewatching

as long as he doesn't start overgelling his hair and tucking shirts into dad jeans you should be okay

._.

http://www.newsbiscuit.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Paul-Hollywood-British-Baking.jpg

The internet is just too small to contain every awkward Paul Hollywood photo, but this might be my favourite

http://images.mcn.bauercdn.com/pagefiles/532919/hollywoodh21215.jpg

http://media.ticketmaster.co.uk/tm/en-gb/dbimages/43212a.jpg

http://www4.pictures.zimbio.com/bg/Paul+Hollywood+Celebrity+Social+Networking+aElLg6Sj0aEl.jpg

just everything that he does with his hands and upper body is like a weirdly posed mannequin

like what are you doing STOP IT IT'S WEIRD

https://www.driving.co.uk/s3/st-driving-prod/uploads/2015/06/Paul-Hollywood.jpg

wait

guys

are you ready

MY NAME IS PAUL HOLLYWOOD AND i'M HERE TO SAY

http://keyassets-p2.timeincuk.net/wp/prod/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2015/10/paul-hollywood.jpg

amazing

It's like when you look at someone's dating profile and you think "of all the profile photos he could have chosen.... THIS ONE?"

also

http://images.radiotimes.com/uploads/images/original/26994.jpg

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/6e/d2/4f/6ed24f835fa75405102fbd6321b05e9e.jpg

hahaha xpost

oh god

facepalm

Thanks everyone, the show is ruined for me now.

And you couldn't have waited until I watched the Nadiya finale?

Nadiya finale makes everything ok, even weird Paul & his awkward-dad mannequin ways

I promise

sk8r boi paul hollywood is cracking me up, thx veg

We bought a loaf of crappy french bread from the supermarket and Mr Veg inspected a slice, pointed at a big airbubble and said 'it's overwehhhked'

― Yoni Loves Chocha (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, April 4, 2017 8:50 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

#truthlols

i don't get macaroons. why?

i agree! especially as an *added* decoration. Like flora putting them on her tart - idgi

Omg where did these tears come from?? ^____TT

😭😭😭😭

Tamal overall my favorite, he's so lovely and charming, but wow Nadiya's arc is some inspirational stuff.

Yeah she's so uplifing

Oh and sounds you brought it up before I began the season, I was on the look out for any Orientalizing of Tamal and Nadiya with regards to "flavor." She did bring in South Asian spices on a few occasions, but he largely stuck with ingredients and/or spices that I reckon would be familiar or traditional to western European baking. Dates, figs, cardamom, star anise (bleh) were probably the most exotic things he used.

I also remember the judges calling Ian the season's king of flavor.

That said, there's definitely something quietly uncomfortable about using flavor to signal otherness, especially with the bakers of Asian descent.

I love Mary Berry. There was a programme on TV about her life and she's so adorable. There was a bit where she talked about the death of her son though, which was just devastating. It made me love he even more. It's Called The Mary Berry Story. You may be able to find a torrent of it. If you can't then try tvchaos and if that isn't open for sign up then give me a shout as I have invites (it's for uk to torrents).

U.K. Tv torrents rather.

ooh I'll look for it. I'd love to learn about her life story

The A.V. Club interviews Martha

http://www.avclub.com/article/great-british-bake-s-martha-collison-polite-shows--254110

that's pretty cool about Mel & Sue running interference on shots for them <3

Has anyone watched the Master Classes? Are they any good?

idk i get kinda bored unless they're making something i really want to learn about

Sidenote about Mary Berry - her cookbooks are *really* good. The ideas are pretty trad but the recipes *always* work. I've made flavourless monstrosities from Nigella/Jamie/Bittman/etc and can usually anticipate when to changeup a recipe to improve it. But MB's are flawless, almost uncannily so.

otm

and ftr I made Paul Hollywood's fruit mince pies last Christmas and they turned out beautifully

The flavors were spoat-own iirc.

Yeah, I kind of figured that Masterclass would be a little too much Paul Hollywood for the ILX crowd.

New season on PBS last night

Gingerbread collapse-athon was hilarious and sad and beautiful. Pro-tip: never make your doomed from the beginning hail mary showstopper a recreation of your upcoming wedding day D:

Rewatching S1 (Bin-Gate, Nancy, King Luis)

why bcz my dvr had them all there, i had to

season 1 still has some of the craziest technical challenges. Surely that fkn 50-layer broiler torte has to be the peak of baking insanity

i've kinda fallen for this show and boy am i embarrassed

no shame in that

it's a lovable show!

new s4 is v enjoyable, loving salessi (?sp) & benjamina & the woman with the perfect lipstick

just finished season 1. up to date on s4, will likely start s2 tonight. will return to thread once i got em all finished.

Sorely miss having this show in my life.

OTOH, just found out that Sue had a (benign) brain tumor!!! OMG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vZ9Lz81fKY

what wow :O

i just finished the new season on PBS and predictably bawled during the finale

I'm going to have to wait for them re-air the season. :\

for some reason they didn't air the last few episodes in NYC as far as i could see. i'm sure they did but i missed it. thank god for the torrentz.

the last 2 were aired back to back on my local PBS affiliate

Caved in and found someplace to watch the latest season. I'm glad about the first eliminee, I would've felt obliged to root for him despite everything else about him.

Also, a moment when one baker cuts himself gave me the idea that some day, Paul & Mary will be so impressed with a bake that its creator tells them, "The secret ingredient is BLOOD."

that's a different season than the one they just aired here! but it's still good - poor John & his terrifying blood glove D:

the one they aired here was GBBO season 7 from 2016

Oh and I hope Candice goes far because I can't stop admiring her lipstick. xp

I'm pretty sure M&S said that the season was to see who 2016's best baker was.

And Sue and Mary doing the Brownie's Promise Oath with Paul in the background was too cute.

well candice is the right season so idk how you ended up with John as well! shrug :D

I dunno who John is, I was talking about Rav! lol

ok ok ok sorry confused myself totally

What's with all the chili peppers/powders this season? And why doesn't anybody whack their bakes into ovens/fridges anymore?

AND WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SIGNATURE BAKES AND SHOWSTOPPERS?

showstoppers appear to be 60% of your grade. plus they seem to request and require more showy technique, size and glamor.

still need to watch the last remaining US season (s3/netflix) before reading this thread but this:

it is crazy how good this show is at building flopsweat tension around some of the lowest stakes imaginable
― frankie r. failson (bizarro gazzara), Monday, March 6, 2017 11:47 AM

yeah definitely

The week where Candice wears a nude lipstick is one of the most disappointing things of this season.

lol

still reckon her gingerbread pub was one of the coolest things i've seen

Her pub was impressive indeed!

Is the Tudor week technical the most diabolical challenge ever? I THINK SO.

so crazy

it was stressful to watch!!

BTW, I always giggle a little when Andrew adds ginger into his bakes, because I am easily amused.

lol

is it just me or does he remind you of Jade Jolie?

omg a little! Because a bunch of times when he's doing voiceover I keep thinking it's Jane talking.

OMG <3 Jane for bringing the whacking back!

The quarterfinals was already pulling out the tears -- I'll just say that I admired the way that week's baker going home took the elimination. Going in they were kind of like Rocky Balboa, but they never gave up and put in 100% effort and kept things in perspective (it's a ~baking show~).

I will say that among this season's bakers, you could easily tell which of them were in the back of the pack, and some of them only got as far as they did because Paul and Mary had so many other candidates to send packing.

I keep forgetting to mention that it's kind of remarkable that the show hasn't highlighted Andrew's engineering background that much! He's a lot more expressive than the stereotypical engineer, so his personality helps make him seem "normal."

Of course right after I post that he breaks out the spreadsheet.

haha yeah that was something

Collection of wankers

Remember when you had to be able to fucking work an oven to get on this?

Keen amateur blacksmith my hole

(talking C4 one)

I fairly enjoyed this show when it was still the Beeb version, not paid attention to the C4 one. Has it changed a lot changing networks?

Keen amateur blacksmith my hole

i'd rather not, cheers

A refusal often offends

LBI- it's pretty much exactly as was but with ads. Mary Berry replacement is good, fielding is decent value.

Ads suck balls though. I haven't watched a show or film with ads for what, ten years?

Idk

Bakeoff calls for cuppas yknow

There's only been one episode so far. Noel & Sandi seem to be trying to hard to be Mel & Sue by, well, basically being Mel & Sue. It's not really fucking with the formula much, and a couple of the show-stoppers looked brilliant.

That was basically fine. I'm missing Mary more than Mel & Sue. Noel was good in the Mel "nice, anarchic one" role. Sandi seems a bit too slick. Didn't get much of a bead on Prue. I like Paul a lot but he's starting to act a bit like it's "his" show. Contestants a decent pick this year.

Apart from that did the pacing seem faster and more stuffed than usual, or is it always like this for the first couple eps?

thanks for the heads up here... and thanks for whoever was kind enough on here to get me on chaosuk!

idk when i'm ever going to see these new eps ;_;

veg, r u into the way of the t0rr3ntz or no?

oh shit of course! ... yes mr veg has a+ connex on the torrentz
i will hit him up :D

Cool. It's out there! And as noted above, all the hullaballoo aside, more or less the same show indeed.
New guy comedian is a bit off his game tho.

That bread/sandwich cake was badass

Dude who can't peel a mango is on my shitlist. He was lucky yesterday

They should've dropped three yesterday. This 'only one can fail' approach means we have to watch terrible bakers on a baking show for weeks longer than necessary

So, the show is 1hr 15 mins to allow for the extra time the ads take up.

Genuinely think it may have been that the bakers needed that extra 15 mins tbph

I genuinely can't imagine anything more delightful than a Canadian Baking Show hosted by Daniel Levy, now I just need to figure out some workaround to watch CBC online.

this has been fine

How the hell is Stacey still even in this thing? (UK version)?

I know *everyone* loves Liam, but I absolutely love Liam. Also Noel Fielding was a total genius appointment to the cast. I'd learn to bake just to have him give comedy encouragement to my failed profiteroles.

Yeah, Noel is a revelation.

I really hope some broadcaster in the UK/Ireland picks up the Canadian one. I just love Dan Levy.

i need to get this torrentzed asap, i love noel so much already i can hardly wait

i saw a little clip & it all still seems v lovely despite all the changes

It's been pretty good! Better than the last season, I think - the contestants are more relaxed, and seem less edgy about doing a good job on camera. Noel is indeed great.

I like Stacey 'cause she's such a Jew. (NB so am I.) Obviously she shouldn't win, though.

french bake-off contestants required to fake an obscure regional speciality:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DODsBSmW4AAwYbs.jpg

ooo, je t'aime les jaffas

I really want to see the Canadian version. I hope it makes it over here somehow.

Daniel......Levy?

...yes?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Levy_(businessman)

(I know I know)

I don't understand what's happening here.

fiiiinally am watching the new Noel Fielding season

1. in love w Noel, obv. but that’s been true for going on 20 years now <3. i giggle like a teenager every time he’s on screen sigh hearteyes emoji

2. Pru is good! Maybe not quite as warm as Mez, but every bit as knowledgeable & her championing of Liam has been delightful to watch

3. Sandi def a little more unknowable, but a nice foil for Noel & she’s growing on me

4 Gawd these contestants are badasses, some of these bakes have been insanely hard & they all seem to step up pretty well.

I died laughing when Kate tried to get her pizza off the peel into the oven and the cheese shot off to the back of the tray & the rest sort of all slid down blobby like a sea creature. And Stacey gorblimey she is a whirling dervish of a mess of a cook, she’s like Iain on crack but somehow not a total failure always

Love Sophie & Steve, killing it. Steve’s sandwich was UGH mazing. So wanted his glitter cranberry pie to be good, why u braek heart Steve whyyyyy

3 eps to go : D

ok just watched semi final

i would have flipped every table on earth if they had sent steven home, i mean i know that meringue was pants but overall theres no contest imo

bye Stacey you technicolor nutter

Done!!

Sophie - badass queen of everything, i want to eat her final cake & I am so glad to see her take the prize
Kate - creativity pouring out of her pores, i want to live inside her final cake, she was adorable
Steve - so many great bakes this season & sucj a creative guy. I was so bummed abt his final challenge, he shouldve been in the mix, it would have been amazing to have 3 incredible final bakes instead of 2!! but he faffed the timing, silly goose

Lovely cast this year all round

Everyone here thought Sophie was a Tory.

explain what that means to an ignorant american?

Like a Republican but more evil.

^^^

She had me at “Former ballerina, soldier & stuntperson-in-training”

I thought she was annoying, then I loved her, then I hated her, then I decided I didn't care because it's a fucking baking show and she was pretty good at baking. I had the same reactions to Steve as well, so I'm kind of heartened that they're BFFs now. Also love that Julia, Yan and Flo are mates. Because this is the loveliest show, and it's lovely to see lovely people being lovely. (I am never usually this charitable about telly folk, but GBBO melts my heart and I love everything about it and everyone who sails in her. Except Paul Hollywood. He's a dick.)

Yeah the Yan & Julia & Flo roadtrip looked ace, super cute

My husband had this look on his face every time Flo spoke: O_O
I think the combination of either new veneers or dentures & that thick Liverpudlian accent rendered her nigh on incomprehensible for him, lol

I loved Noel’s jokes abt Pauls spray tan

OK it sounds like I should watch it, VG?

Paul? Do you mean The Male Judge?

xpost um YES you should! obv

It was a *great* contestant cast this year - better than last year I think - which made the other changes a lot more bearable.

Personally I enjoy watching Paul being Paul, and found Sophie very likeable, esp her disinclination for playing up to the camera when she won. Kinda the whole point of the show for me is uncritically enjoying it and getting wrapped up in the silliness.

Also I've never taken to Noel before but he was adorable in this

I'm two episodes into the nu-GBBO, and I can hardly understand anyone, especially Flo! The accents are off the charts. However, I do like the exoticness of Scouse.

The first episode where they slice into the watermelon cake is such a visceral moment!

agreed on all points

Flo’s accent is a trip

However, I do like the exoticness of Scouse.

Have the Beatles been forgotten at last?

lol fair zing.

Naughtiest bread week ever!

right!?

Julia, sigh. <3

<3

Christmas feast with Prue , Paul and my Danish wife Sandi x x x https://t.co/bNPhDSxqlE

— noel fielding (@noelfielding11) December 17, 2017

They keep making jokes about Kate being single, and I'm like how is that possible? Even if she is this year's Captain Chaos.

Anyway, the semifinal! So heartbreaking.

http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/great-british-bake-off/news/a846147/mary-berry-mel-and-sue-big-christmas-reactions/

aw <3

Christmas Bake-off was a treat - love Selasi and Val so much.

<3 Selasi

Now that I've puttered in the kitchen a bit more, I'm wondering if GBBO is useful at all for regular home bakers?

I think it is good at inspiring confidence to try new things!

mary or pauls own shows prob more useful for actual tips/recipes

Whoa new season on Netflix! There's a Ruby 2.0!

I am sad at the first elimination because it means one less charming accent.

And I'm not wholly on board with the new hosts but Noel's method acting but was hilarious.

That season has just finished over here (if by Ruby 2.0 you mean another contestant called Ruby). Hurry up and watch the whole thing so I have someone to talk about it with, apart from everyone I've already talked to about it.

Yes, another contestant named a Ruby.

The first Showstopper had some damned impressive likenesses!

I’ve almost finished, 2 more to go...barely geld it together through the gruelling Danish week, so emotional!!

*held

Danish week was a travesty :-(

paul & pru made kim-joy cry >:(

Kim Joy and her cats <3

she is nyan cat in human form, I enjoy her very much.
Also my GOD her piping skills are next-level, she blows me away every time. Piping is fkng hard.

semi final kind of annoyed me

FIVE hour technical then a full-on 3 hour showstopper ...all four of them looked beside themselves at the end. I think the baking suffered a but just because they were so exhausted!
I do enjoy these new seasons & I love Noel and Sandy, but at times I really do miss Mary’s kindness as the patron saint of amatuer homebakers in the judging. Pru & Paul can be an awfully cold tag-team when they start sticking the boot in.

and a massive dickpunch to paul for that campfire pita technical

i need a wiki on Rahul’s entire life story. I would like a sitcom of Rahul & Noel living together odd-couple style.

and i want to bottle the moment when Sandy kisses Rahul on the cheek & the forehead after the glass exploded <3

everyone in the top three was aces in my book though.

stroppy ruby.
whimsical kim joy.
depressing rahul.

Yeah, great group of finalists this year, love Noel and Sandi, Bryony too.

You're right, I think the last 3-4 weeks they amped up the pressure and the wacky bakes too much, and I missed Bakeoff's basic of pleasure of watching nice, smart people do a good job at something you might want to try yourself. Wtf is a baked landscape?

I also miss Mary. Prue doesn't even very empathic, and Paul can be a dick but he still seems to *care* (and offer better advice).

A little too much camera perving on Ruby too, which I didn't not appreciate, but there are a million other shows than Bakeoff to appeal to my horrible base thoughts

Overall great season though

Finale basically came down to who made the best dips, which was a ridiculous state of affairs.

rahul's eeyoreishness was wearing a bit thin by the end of the series tbh

I kind of enjoyed that he didn't have a narrative or "journey" and essentially stayed the same throughout the season - he's kind of the anti-Nadiya - if only because you have to assume it bugged the hell out of the producers.

And it felt real - I like anything that challenges the idea that depressed people just need external success to Snap Themselves Out Of It

(NB I love Nadiya obvs)

as a committed sad-sack myself despite having a pretty good life it was kinda educational to see someone else maintain their downcastness despite continued success, i guess

nadiya remains the best thing to have come out of the bake off by quite some distance imo (ruby 1.0 probably second-place)

nadiya's cooking shows is heinously BBC but the recipes are really good (she's a good un-smug host too)

I got the cooking book for that and she has some bold ideas - fish finger lasagna!

I got a bit fed up with Rahul's schtick round about the time he claimed to have no idea what Star Wars was. Though him failing to fist-bump Noel was all-time. He should really have been out in Danish week. Poor Manon. I'm sure she'd have killed it on patisserie week as well.

I really need a Kim-Joy in my life. Space turtles! I spent most of the frankly stupid pitta and dips technical terrified she was going to set her skirt on fire.

Would absolutely kick it with Ruby 2.0, btw.

Don't forget, there is a Ruby 3.0 (I think Luke's dog)!

Just saw Terry's elimination and while it was obviously a long time coming, the unexpected background he gives us was awfully heartbreaking.

Also noticed that the older seasons (the ones not aired in the US) are also on Netflix. Yay!

That's a shame to hear that Rahul's crippling self doubt us sticking around. I wish that his verbosity was good defining characteristic instead.

Am I the only one who didn’t notice Bryony’s hand for a long time? I think it’s so great that she didn’t want to call it out

https://m.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/great-british-bake-off-briony-williams_uk_5be7f3a5e4b0e8438898b301

Terry’s elimination was so moving. I really quite like the way they handle those kinds of details. Much more subtle & sympathetic than the usual reality show method of excavating every human emotion

I felt a little skeptical of Kim Joy at first because she was so twee but i just love her to death now that it’s all over. And her animals & decorating is so gooood!

I liked Rahul, because his self-doubt wasn’t self-aware enough that he was trying to get pity or to get ppl to make him feel good, it was just sort of, factual. I dunno. Plus his reactions to judging were beyond any normal sadsack behaviour. I found him oddly fascinating/endearing.

Rahul was probably my favorite Bake Off contestant ever.

his eye for design is really impressive

wanna eat some of those bakes too

God yeah some of his cakes were so *beautiful*

I love this photo of him, he looks weirdly like a young Roger Ebert

https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/NINTCHDBPICT000427771877.jpg

Or, er,

https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/NINTCHDBPICT000427771877.jpg

But against that he put buttercream on doughnuts.

"Buttercream?" "Buttercream?"

Funeral donuts <3

I didn't notice Briony's little hand till the second episode I think, and even then I wasn't sure because the shots rarely lingered on it.

Forgot to mention that when Kim Joy removing hey turtle galaxy hemisphere from its mold to reveal the smart of starts, I got real chills. One of the coolest reveals, right up there with the opening of the watermelon cake.

Terry’s elimination was so moving. I really quite like the way they handle those kinds of details. Much more subtle & sympathetic than the usual reality show method of excavating every human emotion

Yeah! And even when he was leaving, he never said flat out that the love of his life had just died and he was still grieving. It's all very British but super affecting, and something I like about this show that other reality programs don't do.

Ruby puts the bee in her name with all the buzzing that does. (I still miss the whacking, though, as far as weird idioms go.)

Dan: Tres Butch. Wish we could've gotten our resident Frenchie to translate that one.

Speaking of, is Manon the first French person on the program?

i think so

I love how everything she made was a variation on French baking...and then she goes out right before the patisserie showstopper!

Just finished vegan week, and I would kill to have tasted all of the showstoppers.

Noel's vegan week song was great too.

Finished! I have to say that the finale was underwhelming, at least design wise. The judges specifically mention that Kim Joy's (?) didn't look appetizing, and I thought that could have applied to all three. But then I am an ignorant fool.

I liked that Rahul went for naturalistic look rather than playing up the cake-ness of everything.

I felt sad for Kim-Joy but I think that because she didn't build up the surface very much, with it being an expanse of flat ground with the ruins on top, it didn't look quite as landscapey as it did architechtural. It was a cool idea that could have done with a bit more tweaking in the design phase.

I think they'd decided a while back that Rahul should win, hence him escaping Danish week despite doing nothing right, them allowing him extra time in the final when they'd said they weren't going to, and singling others out for a criticism they weren't levelling at him. Ostensibly the final was judged entirely on the showstopper alone because Kim-Joy won the other two tasks.

I've got absolutely no issue with him winning overall, he was mostly excellent throughout, but I feel like they jumped through hoops and did a wee bit of rule-fudging to facilitate it.

It seemed fair that he got extra time, given that it didn't (appear to be) his fault that the jar exploded!

yeah that seemed reasonable to me

Aye, it was just the way they were saying they weren't going to it then changed their mind, seemed to tie in with some Rahul bad luck redemption arc. Telly, innit.

I think he should've rolled with the exploding jar. That's not a glass shard in your cake, it's a prize!

I can buy in to the producers being in the tank for Rahul, though it's not super objectionable because he has the chops.

I think Ruby really was stroppy for stealing Kim Joy's mojo; but seriously KJ, did she even have a single animal in the last bake?

have you watched Liam Bakes? he's quite a natural but i do wonder how he isn't 20+ stone given the stuff he's been baking on that. they've also urbaned it up somewhat, graffiti everywhere, public enemy soundtrack...

https://www.instagram.com/liamcbakes/

https://www.vulture.com/2018/11/the-great-british-baking-show-recipe-illustrator.html

this show needs to have less impossibly beautiful people as contestants. I cant focus on anything.

https://www.vulture.com/2018/12/great-british-baking-show-ruby-bhogal-interview.html

Charming interview with our favorite stroppy contestant.

the Paul Hollywood handshake is like a scratching needle in this show.

paul hollywood should be banned from touching anyone tbh

went to guaridan to look for the article on kim joy that ailsa originally posted:
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/nov/12/i-was-preety-much-mute-at-school-the-bake-offs-kim-joy - the one which does away with my notion that she's too whimiscal to survive in the world

and found this

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2018/dec/11/kim-joy-bake-off-guide-to-a-very-edible-christmas-baking-recipes

which includes the sentence "My partner, Nabil, wanted to eat it straight away, but I had to take it outside and hold it over a hedge to photograph it"

elsewhere, nadiya's just back from thailand and nepal and cambodia for a two-part bbc thing, which was interesting and nothing i could see raoul doing.

nadiya is the fucking best

Nadiya has impressive racist-fu on Twitter as well.

xxpost *cough* RAHUL

(yeah, i noticed the correct spelling about 4 seconds after posting. Apologies)

Liam continues to make eye-wateringly sweet things on his ch4 show. Who puts chocolate on nachos?

ew

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/jul/28/liam-charles-recipe-dessert-nachos-popcorn-sugar-lime-dip

I am going to make my first ganache today!

:D good luck!!

Won’t be getting onto the show with this but it’s pretty tasty!

https://imgur.com/gallery/UL9i0dF

nice!! tasting good is the most important part

https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/581578/

Cute!

oh my heart ❤️❤️❤️ that is awesome

My favorite bit:

Val: Of course, it may be difficult this year because it was a very intensive course, wasn't it, Selasi? You didn't have much time to come home. Last year we met twice. And we all did Candice [Brown]’s wedding in the summer, in France, who won [our season of Bake Off]. Selasi, because he was already in Europe, came on his motorbike. You made chocolates, and we all made wedding cakes.

Beck: You all made wedding cakes?

Val: Yes.
Selasi and Val (left) at the wedding of their fellow contestant. Courtesy of Val Stones.

Beck: That's a lot of wedding cakes.

Val: She had 11 wedding cakes.

so lovely

Thanks for sharing that, very rad

Aw, that's lovely.

man bun

🦇 🚨 GOTH BAKER ALERT 🚨 🦇

Paul Hollywood saying "simplistic" when he means "simple" is already getting on my bloody nerves. He's said it three times this episode.

dan bun gone

dan bun turned out, about 20 seconds after i mocked him, to be a good human being and not the hipster i took him for so was i sad to see him go.

Also Jamie was utterly terrible and should have gone, but he's clearly the Liam so we have to keep him.

Why's there no lovable granny figure this year? It's all very youthful.

we got a goth instead tbf

show still works

furry garden

totally rigged that the frosted tip guy did not go home.

I really liked Dan bun.

frosted tip guy having an identical twin with equally egregious hair blew my mind - how do you look at someone who looks just like you resembling the least popular member of o-town and not rethink your entire life

yeah, I was trying to figure out which c-tier boyband fanbase they were appealing to with keeping him on. O-Town it is!

He could play a young version of Paul Hollywood.

plot twist in season finale as frosted tip guy revealed as the fruit of paul hollywood’s loins

I’m watching the repeat and Frosted Jamie did manage a good first bake, but Dan Bun didn’t.

does the goth baker have a spanish accent going on as well, i cant quite place it

already strongly disslike David the HealthNut who goes trampolining & puts squash in his fruitcakes

lol’d at the Faraway Tree convo & Noel’s “my whole career has been inspired by Moonface” or something to that effect

They made a mistake casting younger all around.

I didn't mind the youthiness as much as I expected, but one black contestant in two seasons (I think) is ridic

otm: re: health guy

Goth baker is greek iirc

ahhhhh thank you!

This series will be the first I've watched since I started baking, so I'm definitely excited for that!

I was calling Jamie N*Sync, but that may be giving him too much credit.

I'm here for the goth jokes AND Noel's baking doppelganger. (That both Michelle and Helena have jet black hair probably explains why I initially thought that Helena speaks with a regional British accent.)

I winced/cringed/looked away a lot when the one guy kept cutting himself. Gore is not what I expect on GBBO!

Michelle is Fleabag’s sister (albeit in a Welsh accent).

Ha, and Priya has the Fleabag sister’s nightmare haircut (except good)

Except for the frosted tips, Jamie immediately gave me Slow-Witted Farm Boy crossed with Apprentice to the Krays ... but by the end of the episode I thought he was a sweet lad & i liked his Schnauzer Cake <3

Oh and I like the young lad Henry? Harry? Who made the Faraway Tree cake & seems like a bit of a young baking prodigy.

Quite like the younguns, imo

The highly strung lass with the long red hair seems like she could fall apart at any moment

OH and I like the woman with the ombre-dyed frizzy hair, she seems like she is a good one to watch

what the hell is the "fairy garden" joke? that it sounded like "furry garden"? what the hell is a furry garden? is this a britisher thing?

never mind, i said it out loud. I thought he meant like, a garden where furrys hang out.

I was looking up the name of frosted tips and came across a Telegraph article titled "Please don't turn the Great British Bake Off into a Love Island clone".

the only good telegraph article

My friend got into the final round of contestant selection for the newest season of the american version of the show. He is very sad he didn't make it. He did all this studying and prep for the technical challenge in LA. It ended up being "birthday cake".

Goth baker is Spanish, or at least they mentioned something about Lanzarote in her intro.

I like Henry. I also like that he's basically the oldest one there, despite being about twelve irl.

It is missing a batty old granny who will mother everyone then go out in week five.

I manage someone at work who might have been this year’s batty old person, but she didn’t make it through the auditions to the very end because of a chocolate tempering error :(

She was HIGHLY dismissive of the 2nd round challenge failures last week (“not a single one of them could make a fucking sponge!”)

now i very much wish she had gotten on

rosie must go

is she the posh vet?

Goth rallies! The design of her witch fingers was pretty clumsy, I think she could have at least made them more presentable if she'd gone for a more minimalist/abstracted graphic design, like a clean green bar with the almond as the finger nail.

I would not be surprised if Henry turns out to be Frankie Muniz pretending to be English.

Frosted Tips Jamie seems to be the least qualified / least capable / most in over his head contestant I've *ever* seen on this show, no?

He's also either a lunkhead or just young ... but at least he seems sweet, and he had a great attitude about all his failures.

I love the goth baker's accent and am rooting for the Welsh woman and Priya.

Has there ever been an overview or supercut or even ranking of the short videos of the contestants home lives throughout the seasons? They have a very specific ironic style to them and incredibly genius editing. My wife and I couldn't stop laughing at the one of the Scottish guy playing the piano with his parents playing strings. Priya's yoga was very funny too.

So "baps" only sounds dirty?

Michael's been consistently ingenious with his designs, no? The red swirl of his Signature this week is jaw-dropping.

is she the posh vet?

she must go

my mother in law remarked this weekend that she sounds like a Minion when she talks

lol, otm

rosie the vet def sounds like a minion

Alice “DID I TELL YOU I WENT TO NEW ZEALAND” has a v highly strung vibe, like the psycho roommate who would cut up all your clothes because you didnt screw the lid down far enough on the mayonaise jar

i noticed that jamie’s head is perfectly cube shaped

michael annoys the christ out of me

lol my Miketakes seem to be unpopular here but maybe this will put me back in y'all's stead: https://jacobinmag.com/2019/09/great-british-bake-off-baking-show-socialism

That’s nice but a bit odd, considering the impact she’s had since, to not mention Nadiya?

I started watching the old season that's on Netflix and only just realized how much I miss hearing Mary Berry say "Scrummy."

I can't unhear the minion.

RIGHT

otm, it’s extremely distracting

weird choices for ejection in this week’s episode imo

I can only understand 20% of what she is saying.

I think Michael also annoys me because of his eyeglasses.

he looks like Where’s Wally

that technical challenge seemed quite dastardly
pru is evil

loved paul bemused by the emotion & noel saying to paul its because he’s never experienced emotion XD

I will miss Goth Lady - her decorating skills are fkn mindblowing (and v in my wheelhouse) but I am not ~stunned~ that she went home.

Kinda hoped Priya or Rosie might get the chop oh well

goth lady maybe a bit one dimensional, i thought. as was welsh lady. (as was kim joy last year). but, yes, will be missed.

do you watch the companion programme where they interview the ejectees? ('extra slice') she was good on that, with the mariachi band...

(also, she won the technical and still went home? was gibst?)

From time to time Prue goes to a farmer’s market I’ve been using for c. 15 years. She voted for Brexit; her son is currently working for Boris Johnson.

Priya should've gone home the last two episodes in place of who did.

Ugh, about Prue.

They were not sending Priya home on Indian sweets week.

wouldn't have minded one or two more older contestants - this season's group feels a bit too samey in the age department.

i want to know what the story is with Michael and Michelle's oddly devoted friendship. It seemed like they were holding hands from episode 1, like long lost friends or something.

is = was, now that michelle's gone

spoiler alert

https://66.media.tumblr.com/c5900767be2bd8dbc4585bf197273772/tumblr_oypj8odxti1rqbl96o1_1280.png

lol

it does suck that they got rid of one of the more charismatic people.

Does winning the Technical mean nothing?! Gutted.

yeah but they hated the taste of her lavender tart & her signature was dry & pru hated the decoration ( i thought it looked rad)

no enjoying this season very much tbh, the judging feels weirdly aggressive

the whole mood is completely off.

i am not digging the oddball challenges ("dairy sweets"?) and the dearth of older contestants is a bummer.
i really dislike paul as a personality; it's unpleasant to have to see so much of him.

it's like, the show worked despite him.

yeah, though he clearly thinks it's "because of"
i kind of agree with "it's off" but it's mostly the last two episodes or so that have been most off.
kinda like succession.

no goth baker, no credibility

My partner was not into the vibe this season either, so we bailed on it early. :( She thought there was more of a tense, competitive, and generally American feel to it.

yeah, that is kind of how I feel too. Most are obv. angling for their aftershow career.

For all that they keep talking about how good everyone is this year, I was shocked (you know, in context) by the number of them who didn't know how to make choux pastry for one of the technical challenges. Surely that's something you should be able to do in your sleep if you're applying to Bake Off? There seems to be a weird dearth of basic baking skills. Maybe it just seems that way to me because of the offness of the whole thing this year.

Well, I'm enjoying it! We've had a testing few weeks, and Bake Off provides an oasis of comfort, where nothing bad can happen. Bread and circuses etc, but I'm no much into circuses, so.

Also enjoying the Henry/David touchy feely stuff. It all looks so relaxed and unselfconscious.

michael as well as rosie must go

(I like steph and david)

We just assumed making choux must now be an American Thing and that it doesn’t pop up much in British baking anymore.

terrible news for henry fans

I very rarely care about the dating lives of literally anyone including my own but I will be up all night angrily smoking cigarettes like in a 1940’s movie because of reading this pic.twitter.com/7l6MLCxR34

— Millie De Chirico (@milliedechirico) October 2, 2019

Well, I'm enjoying it! We've had a testing few weeks, and Bake Off provides an oasis of comfort, where nothing bad can happen. Bread and circuses etc, but I'm no much into circuses, so.

Oh, it's still very pleasant. But, perhaps weirdly, Celebrity Masterchef is actually delivering the feel-good factor far more than Bake Off this year. And The Dog House is my absolute go-to for comfort telly at the moment.

Did someone mix up white powdery ingredients because this thread's gotten salty!

yeah i’m not so mad at this season

Contestants this year are overly adorkable + less interesting bakers. But it’s still pretty enjoyable.

Paul is great btw, y’all silly. It’s his weird wrongness that makes him great, too

http://awalkingstereotype.weebly.com/uploads/3/2/1/0/32100343/8877677_orig.gif

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/38/a6/59/38a659e47f51a5bf7361008e3f36416b.jpg

WHY IS SHE STILL HERE

fyi there is a v good recap podcast for the current series called Bake Down & includes as regular cohosts former GBBO contestants lovely Howard Middleton & Jane Beedle
it’s quite enjoyable

who doesnt want to listen to Howard on the reg

My friend who is a food PR operating Oop North works with Howard a lot.

apparently he does baling demo’s for Hen’s Parties! how cute is that

baking

i am rewatching Nadya’s season

I still find Flora to be a delightful insane person with the way she always covers her cakes in biscuits & tuilles & utter nonsense. it’s adorable & so bloody weird.

the cheesecakes had macarons AND a flag lol

that didn't go as planned.

perfect end to this show’s worst season tbh

Season wasn't bad, just some underwhelming contestants. The format and the presenters are still v strong. Also, Noel's Dinosaur Jr jumper.

Who doesn't know how to make a roux? Also, who doesn't know that a white sauce and a roux are not the same thing? Very annoying. Those chocolate cakes did look delicious, though.

Also, the final had altogether too much drama and no actual tension. Poor Steph just went to pieces immediately, and Alice's freaking out over her folks possibly missing the party was just irritating to me. Maybe I am heartless.

"alice has received an upsetting phone call" - I thought someone had died

Neither me or my partner had a favourite in the final this season! Usually there's at least a "least bad" candidate but we were both a bit mehhh about all three this year. I woulda repped Henry or Rosie if they'd made it.

Rosie's parents were both very loving so it's wrong to criticise that, but by God they were a little much.

Rosie? Do you mean Alice?

yes! i mean alice

"good management alice!" etc

It seemed like none of the contestants this year actually liked...baking. Every week it was 'ugh, I hate bread, I never bake it' or 'Ugh, pastry' etc etc etc. David really grew on me with his unflappable precision, but he seemed like kind of...hated food and eating, and it was just a project of time management and task execution for him? He did seem to have a passion for decoration and design, and I guess that showed through.

Having good management means you don't need to have baking fairies.

i started scolding the parents for bad management when they were having flight problems.

def had some eye-rolling for alice’s indulgent parents.

steff’s nerves def did a number on her...she was SUCH a mess.

honestly the final didnt quite feel finalsy bc it seemed like her & alice were off their game.

glad david won tho. he was a cool cucumber all the way through.

Guess who:

Not at all. “I’m not that clean and tidy. I don’t like showering. I never wear shoes. I’ve not washed my hair in more than 15 years. I didn’t go to a hairdresser until I was about 28. I think these things are healthy.

“I’m very hippy and outdoorsy. I love talking about my bowels and anything disgusting and medical.”

Rosie?

Hollywood

The Junior bake off that's on at the moment is reassuring TV. The kids are impressive, there's very little criticism of anything, It's nice to see Liam again and Harry Hill is amusing.

(The kids age from 10 to 15 which is a massive range. And such a display of bad teeth...)

Quotation comes from David!

wow. unexpected

wash yr hair u savage

Full article: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/nov/06/bake-off-winner-david-atherton-i-enjoy-the-buns-innuendos

Choice pull (his parents are Evangelical):

Atherton came out seven years ago by writing to his parents. He chose this method, he says, to give them time to process the news. “The reaction that someone might have from it being sprung on them might not be the reaction they’d want to have if they’d considered it. You’ve been thinking about it for ages, but it’s new for them. I told my parents in a letter and said: ‘Speak to my twin brother before you speak to me because he wants to be able to answer certain questions first that might seem offensive to me.’ They took it very well.”

wow

lol i swear i am not a wow-bot

that’s kinda fascinating. impressively methodical

Forgive the thread spam, but I wanted to note that this show's 2019 season is nominated in the 2019 ILX TV poll:

ILX's Best Television of 2019 Poll / VOTING AND CAMPAIGNING THREAD / Voting Ends January 31

If you like this show and you'd like to see it have a good showing in the poll (running in February) all you need to do is submit a ballot including it and your other favorites (4 minimum, 25 maximum, organized by your favorite to least favorite) to forksclovetofu at gmail by end of day today. It'll take five minutes; get to it!

https://deadline.com/2020/03/matt-lucas-host-the-great-british-bake-off-1202879260/

Great, more Nardwaur or whatever his character was on Who.

otoh no more “sandi is short” joeks

I think he'll be ok. He's very jolly.

yeah i am good w this
will miss wee sandi though

on a rewatch kick this weekend

rewatching the Rahul season

There was news of a new series, specifically how they would have to all quarantine together for a while beforehand because prue is high risk and they can't get insurance otherwise.

(Most links for this news are the Mail or the Express so I won't link them)

This year's Sewing Bee is better than last year's Bake Off

I’ve never seen Sewing Bee!

Ahh you would love it I'm sure, and the current season is great

Unlike Bakeoff it took a few seasons and presenter changes to work itself out tho

Figuring out Sandy's nationality was like watching Inception.

Have you heard her Apollo 11 story?

I have not!

New season starts on Netflix US this Friday 9/25 😃

From Wikipedia

"In 1969, her father covered the landing of the first man on the moon from mission control. Toksvig was holding the hand of Neil Armstrong's secretary during the landing."

(She recounted this, and a bunch of other stuff you wouldn't think would happen to one person, on various QI episodes)

Hooray, actual likeable contestants this year instead of Innocent Smoothie labels in human form

Interesting/edgy that the woman who enjoys scandi metal chose to commit a hate crime with her Louis Theroux cake

the technical accident and the result of that round was good tv.

they must've been quarantined with the presenters and tv people for, what, 2 weeks beforehand. i wonder how much mingling there was. and if they got to go straight home afterwards or faced another fortnight in isolation.

Laura's resemblance to Theodora from I May Destroy You was unnerving.

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/09/22/23/33477066-8761361-Digital_manager_Laura_31_looked_to_be_feeling_the_heat_in_the_ki-a-30_1600814097535.jpg
https://tvarchive2020.bradfordzone.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/26/2020/05/Harriet-Webb.jpg

Anything else would just make it a holiday rather than a bubble, surely? Also bits of the 'journey'/'kids are my life' narrative ring a bit hollow if you leave them at home alone in the middle of a pandemic; I noticed this when they said one of the guys was "part-time carer, full time dad" to two daughters. Does that mean they/he were shielding? If so then leaving them is a big deal.

Interesting to see how this will change the production of the show - if we assume 10 episodes, filming is normally at the weekends so it's 2 1/2 months. Now, assuming back to back filming, it's done and dusted under 3 weeks.

This week I'm not sure anybody's baking stood out so this may be a personality-driven series. Also lol we are old, one of the entrants remembers John Whaite inspiring him "when I was just a kid".

Hats off to the one who said she never wanted to eat baking again, before the first cake was out of the oven.

It was filmed over six weeks: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/sep/20/pizza-by-paul-flowers-by-prue-how-great-british-bake-off-built-its-covid-bubble

Yeah, that Guardian article pretty much agrees with my assumptions and clears up discomfort over home Vs TV bubbling.

Really enjoyed the new episode

The cake busts challenge was v good tv!

poor Freddy Mercury & David Bowie
https://townsquare.media/site/295/files/2020/09/Mercury-Bowie-GBBO.jpg

Tom DeLonge cake was a) lol and b) terrifying
https://www.nme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/TD-and-cake-696x442.jpg

Marie Antoinette came out surprisingly awesome tho!