Last night on television Michael Hogan Channel 4’s first Bake Off rises to the challenge
On your marks. Get set. Remake! The £75m question with The Great British Bake Off (Channel 4) and its much-lamented move to a new broadcaster was whether the marquee magic would remain intact. A nation had their fingers firmly crossed.
Well, they needn’t have worried. Despite losing three-quarters of its stars when it “followed the dough” away from the BBC, Bake Off still tastes as sweet.
The opening episode was the same flavoursome confection, lent added spice by one new recruit in particular. Presenting duo Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding arrived in a hot-air balloon and struck up instant rapport. Fielding stole the show with his impish wit, even eating a marigold in one surreal sequence.
The giddiness seemed infectious. Judge Paul Hollywood, the only one of the show’s four founding figureheads to make the switch (as Fielding told the bakers: “We’re all newbies here, apart from Ol’ Blue Eyes”) issued not one but two of his coveted “Hollywood handshakes”. At his side, where Mary Berry once stood, was Prue Leith, who fulfilled her vow to be “firm but fair”.
The other ingredients, reassuringly, remained the same. The white marquee was still pitched in the grounds of Welford Park. Bakers battled it out over the three familiar rounds. The running time was extended to 75 minutes to allow for ad breaks, so we still got a full hour of in-tent action.
Despite the departure of punflinging pair Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins, the innuendo count remained high. “Exposed bottoms” replaced soggy ones, while one baker grappled with an unfortunate phallic creation.
The contest kicked off, as always, with Cake Week. First came the task of making a family-sized fruitcake for the Signature Bake round. There was tension, tears and one nervous hopeful forgot to turn her oven on. Next up, Leith set her debut Technical challenge: a dozen chocolate mini-rolls. Trembling fingers and fiddly assembly proved a messy combination.
Finally came the Showstopper round of an “illusion cake”. Cunning designs and clever construction led to some simply stunning results: a watermelon, a champagne bottle in an ice bucket and a bowl of ramen were just a few of the bakes that deceived the eye. The standard of this year’s field looks like its highest yet. Steven, from Watford, won Star Baker and already seems to be a strong contender for the title. Out-ofhis-depth Peter from Southend got the wooden spoon and was sent home.
And what a relief: Mary, Mel and Sue might be gone but the show’s recipe remains as winning as ever. The four Cs – chemistry, camaraderie, comedy, cakes – were all present and correct.
Princess Diana has been getting almost as much media coverage recently as she infamously did when she was alive. Diana: The Day Britain Cried (ITV) told the story of her funeral from the perspective of those who participated in that extraordinary event 20 years ago.
Their testimonies were full of telling detail. We heard how 12-year-old Prince Harry personally chose his mother’s favourite white roses to sit atop her coffin, accompanied by that heart-rending card to “Mummy”. How the lead-lined coffin weighed a quarter of a ton and rubbed the pallbearers’ shoulders red-raw. How the crowd outside’s applause in reaction to Earl Spencer’s impassioned eulogy rippled into Westminster Abbey through the open doors.
Sir Malcolm Ross, the most senior member of the Royal household to have ever spoken about Diana’s death, gently raised an eyebrow at formal protocols being broken. This was the day when the nation’s stiff upper lip softened and our relationship with the monarchy shifted forever.
Most powerful of all were the reflections of the big, tough men: the soldiers, security officers and police. Pallbearer Corporal Philip Bartlett spoke of his “heart getting heavy” and a desire to pay Diana back for her charity work. Royal Protection Officer Graham Craker had lost his own wife, leaving him behind with their two sons, so felt deeply for the princes. When he drove the hearse back to Althorp, there was “silence, like when it snows” and “a cloud over the whole nation”.
Narrated by actress Kate Winslet, this was a solid production but one that suffered from some oversentimentality, a reliance on stock footage and the over-familiarity of its material, exacerbated by it airing two evenings after the BBC’S similar and more authoritative film, Diana: 7 Days. As a portrait of strong men surprised by their own emotions, though, it was rather affecting.
The Great British Bake Off ★★★★★ Diana: The Day Britain Cried ★★★