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Not only has The Great British Bake Off become an increasingly popular show with every series, but it is also doing its part for cooking shows; the number of television cooking shows has shot up in recent times but rarely, if at all, do cooking shows make their way onto primetime television because they do not appeal to a wide audience – The Great British Bake Off seems to be changing this. Being a self-proclaimed foodie and cooking show enthusiast I like to keep up with what’s new on the market and television cooking competitions started for me with Ready, Steady, Cook, but I remember it being all too cheesy and Ainsley Harriott would always get a little too involved…“back off Ainsley!”
The newly revived series of Masterchef hit televisions screens in 2008 with judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace, it was not only popular with the older generation, young people were watching and enjoying it too – mainly to see how much John and Gregg would try and fit in their mouths every episode (we’ve all seen the “buttery biscuit base” video right?) With a more serious take on a television cooking show that sparked an enthusiasm with a larger audience, BBC had found a successful formula, one they would use again in 2010 launching The Great British Bake Off.
BBC widened their target audience by representing far more groups of people in The Great British Bake Off. Mary Berry a.k.a the Queen of baking is the most respected on the show – what Mary says is gospel and many contestants have fallen at the last hurdle as they disregard a piece of her advice, rookie mistake. Mary is not only ‘doing it for the girls’ but she’s doing it for the older generation, she brings experience and a warmth to the show that quite frankly wouldn’t be the same without her. Paul Hollywood the silver fox, is representing the boys and proving baking can be manly too, just look at that beard! And now for my favourites Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc, they bring the comedy relief that Masterchef lacked and excuse the pun, they’re the icing on the cake making horrifically funny puns like “nice buns”. It seems that the BBC have paved the way for future television cooking competitions and this year’s series was one of the best, winner Nancy Birtwhistle is surely set for big things after the series final has been announced as the most watched non-sporting event this year has seen so far, a massive feat for a cooking show. So what can we expect from Nancy? Personally I’m hoping A Nancy spin-off, with Sue and Mel hosting of course! “I would like to share some of what I know. You learn all these skills through your life and you have to pass them on. I have never stood in front of big crowds but I think I could be good at that.”
By Talia Maguire
