What to watch
The Great British Bake Off CHANNEL 4, 8PM
It’s that time of the year again when a gradually diminishing brigade of amateur bakers somehow manages to beat, knead and whip millions of us into a frenzy of fresh-baked enthusiasm for stiff peaks and perfect pithiviers. This year’s dozen (standard, not baker’s) contestants make up a typical cross-section of personalities, from the inexperienced-buttouched-by-genius types to the recipe-respecters with decades of home baking experience and, of course, the compulsory thermometer-wielding cake-engineer (this year the aptly named Jurgen). Awaiting them with poised pastry forks are judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood, while hosts Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas are as adept as ever at bringing out the absurdities of life in the often-overheated bubble that is the Bake Off tent.
Week one is cake week, and if tonight’s opening signature bake (mini rolls) and technical challenge (malt loaf ) favour the traditionalists, the showstopper gives everyone ample opportunity to unleash their creativity with an “antigravity illusion cake” that brings out the flair in some and despair in others. On your marks… get set… bake! Gerard O’donovan