Boyd’s TV Land
BBC1, Thursdays, 8pm
Iwas lucky enough to host the press launch last week of this new culinary competition, clearly designed to fill the Bake Off-sized hole in BBC1’S prime-time spring/summer schedule, and it was clear from the first minute I met host Claudia Winkleman and head judge Mary Berry that their bond is deep. The two icons had only previously met across a crowded TV studio corridor, so whichever production bigwig decided to bring them together deserves major kudos. What they have in common is a brilliant no-nonsense approach to being on TV. They’re transparently exactly the same in this show as they are in real life. Claud and Maz-bez keeping it real is of massive benefit to a show that is sometimes in danger of feeling overly-formatted. Like Bake Off and Masterchef, there are three specific cooking challenges per episode, but also a slightly superfluous “reality” element in which the contestants live together in a house à la The Apprentice (or even Fame Academy – Google it!), and chat about their recipes. Weirdly, this means there’s no time to even hear what Mary makes of one concoction in next week’s episode, while key screen time is taken up by some slightly cringey bantz in the house. Luckily, Mary’s fellow judges Chris Bavin and Dan Doherty are both likeable and informative, and their little disagreements – like over how to pronounce “scone” – are fun. But really, the show is all about Claudia’s unvarnished reactions to such shocking developments as a butternut squash tarte tatin and Mary Berry’s admonishments when the cooks get too fancy. Hell, it’s just all about Winkle-berry.