<i>The Great British Bake Off</i> Keeps the Dream Alive
After a much-lamented shake-up, the beloved contest returned on Tuesday night with new stars but the same ethos.
It’s hard to accurately convey how well-lovedis in the U.K., just as it’s difficult to explain the appeal of the somewhat eccentric televised baking contest—in which a contestant once fashioned a cake re-creation of his near-death experience—to someone who’s never seen it. When news broke last year that the series had been purchased by a rival network, after airing on the BBC for all of its seven seasons, a fit of something akin to national hysteria broke out. The show’s two hosts, Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc, quit in high dudgeon, as did one of the judges, Mary Berry. (The
