Bake Off’s legal bid to beat one year ban BBC may be duty bound’ to back series on C4
GREAT British Bake Off may rise again next year if all the right ingredients come together.
Fans currently face being starved of a full series in 2017 after Channel 4 poached it from the BBC with a sweet £75million deal.
Beeb bosses believe they can leave C4 in a pickle by legally blocking any production on a new series until at least October 2017. But an industry insider believes there is a tasty case to get it back on air before 2018. He said the BBC is “duty bound” to maximise its Bake Off merchandise and the new C4 series, featuring judge Paul Hollywood but not Mary Berry, may be the way to do that. He said: “Even though the BBC has lost the show, it still has commercial rights for several more years. They’re duty bound by their own policy to maximise the commercial return on their own intellectual property rights – which covers merchandise. Keeping Bake Off away from screens won’t help with that.
“That could form the basis of a strong legal argument to get it on air sooner.”
C4 has announced plans for a celebrity special Bake Off for its charity, Stand Up To Cancer, for next autumn.
Meanwhile the Beeb is stirring the pot and stealing a march on C4 by bringing out a new cookery show early 2017 starring Mary, called Mary Berry Every Day.
Mary, 81, said: “Bake Off was fantastic this year. I love being a judge.
“I’m very lucky to be asked to do what I do.
“But I only do the things that I really love. I love cooking – all sorts of cooking, not just baking.”