The Great British Bake Off (abbreviated as Bake Off or GBBO) is a British television baking competition hosted by Love Productions in which a group of amateur bakers compete in a number of rounds to impress a panel of judges with their baking abilities. Each round sees one participant removed, and the winner is chosen from the contestants who make it to the finals. The first episode aired on August 17, 2010, and the first four seasons were broadcast on BBC Two before the BBC decided to transfer it to BBC One for the next three seasons due to its rising popularity. Love Productions secured a three-year agreement with Channel 4 to produce the programme after its seventh season.
Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc hosted the show, which included Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood as judges. Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig took over as hosts once the show was moved to Channel 4, however Toksvig was eventually replaced by Matt Lucas. The current judges are Hollywood and Prue Leith.
How The Great British Bake Off Works?
The show uses a weekly elimination procedure to identify the greatest all-around baker among the participants, all of whom are amateurs. For the first series, 10 participants were picked, then twelve for the next two, thirteen for the fourth and tenth,[26] and twelve for series five through nine, and series eleven forward.
Each week, the amateur bakers are given three challenges: a trademark bake, a technical challenge, and a show-stopper, all based on the week's theme.
The three tasks are spread out across two days, with up to 16 hours of shooting each day. The participants are judged by the judges, who pick a “Star Baker” for the week (introduced in series 2) and a contestant is eliminated, however two bakers may be dismissed if the contestant numbers in certain years are not even or if there is a non-elimination the week before. Three bakers remain in the final round, and one of them is picked as the winner.
Signature Challenge
This challenge is for amateur bakers to show off their tried-and-true recipes for baked goods that they could serve to their friends and family.
Technical Challenge
This task necessitates a sufficient level of technical expertise and experience in order to manufacture a certain completed product with just limited – or perhaps minimum – instructions. The bakers are all given the identical recipe and are unaware of the task ahead of time. The final goods are graded from worst to best and appraised blindly. They put their baked goods in front of the person's portrait.
Showstopper Challenge
The bakers will be able to demonstrate their abilities and talent in this task. The judges like a bake that not only looks professional but also tastes amazing.
The actors and crew travelled from town to town each week in the first series, but in the second season, the competition is held in one spot under a specially erected marquee. The participants' histories are interspersed throughout the show, as are video vignettes about the history of baking, which were included in previous seasons.
The Making of the Show
After speaking with a friend who had witnessed ‘bake-offs' in America, producer Anna Beattie came up with the idea for the baking competition. “I loved the concept of village fetes and an old-fashioned baking competition with folks who simply wanted to create a delicious cake,” Beattie said of the traditional English village fête baking competitions. For four years, however, Beattie was unable to pique the attention of any channel in the concept.
They proposed the idea to Janice Hadlow, then-controller of BBC Two, in early 2009. Hadlow and Commissioning Editor Charlotte Moore were successful in their proposal, and the show was commissioned over the next six months. The production team initially chose Mary Berry as a judge, and then Paul Hollywood was added after an audition. The show's hosts, Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc, were approached.
Wrapping Up
So what are your thoughts about the show? Frankly speaking, I just loved it. I am not sure about you, but if you loved this, then we have many other series and movies on our list that you would love to read about and then watch later.
