The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Timeline to the new series
September 12, 2016: The BBC announces it has lost its contract to broadcast the show because it can no longer afford it. Later that day it is revealed that Channel 4 has won the contract.
September 13: Presenters Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins confirm they will bow out after this series, making no secret of their disappointment at the move.
September 22: Judge Mary Berry announces that she too will be leaving the programme before its move due to her “loyalty” to the BBC. Shortly afterwards, Paul Hollywood says he will be sticking with the series.
October 26: Bake Off airs its official series for the last time on the BBC with the final episode of series seven, with Candice Brown winning the title. December 25 and 26: The show finally bows out with two Christmas specials. March 16, 2017: Former Great British Menu judge Prue Leith is confirmed to be the new judge, along with new presenters Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding. April 20: Channel 4 says the new series will broadcast in 75-minute episodes when it returns to screens, and it is also confirmed that comedian Jo Brand will return to host spin-off programme An Extra Slice, which formerly aired on BBC Two.
April 26: The BBC denies that its newly announced show The Big Family Cooking Showdown, starring former winner Hussain, has been designed to compete with The Great British Bake Off.
August 3: The first trailer for Channel 4’s The Great British Bake Off is released, a quirky clip featuring an assortment of pastries and cakes singing along to Paul McCartney and the Frog Chorus’s We All Stand Together.
August 16: Channel 4 confirms that the new series of The Great British Bake Off will debut on Tuesday August 29 at 8pm.
August 22: Channel 4 publicly introduces the 12 contestants of the new series, following a media screening of the first episode that received rave reviews.
August 24: BBC content director Charlotte Moore says at the Edinburgh Festival that the decision to let GBBO go was a difficult one, but she could not “put all my eggs in one basket”.