The Great British Bake Off needs to fix one big problem before it comes back
It's time for another Great British Bake Off finale, but the show could be toast if it doesn't change
The Great British Bake Off is cosy, lip-smacking British telly at its best – or it should be. Instead, it’s become beholden to a tiresome recipe that could be improved with two simple changes.
People were (rightly) sceptical of Bake Off’s move to Channel 4. After all, it lost three of its mainstays: hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins, and judge Mary Berry, who cited her loyalty to the BBC when she quit in 2016.
Channel 4 is also known for edgier shows like Virgin Island and Naked Attraction. Butchers and bakers are often on the same street, not in one shop – could it handle such a tame and twee phenomenon?
In short, for the most part, yes. With the exception of Mel and Sue’s axed vignettes about the history of baking, the series has gone to great effort to retain its aesthetic and kind vibe, and Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond are fun hosts. So, why does it feel like such a chore?
The Great British Bake Off has too many adverts
There are usually four ad breaks in each episode of The Great British Bake Off: one after they’ve plated up their signature bakes (but before they’ve been judged), one after the technical challenge, one after they’ve finished their signature bakes, and then another one before we find out the week’s star baker and departing contestant.
Sometimes there’s even more. Earlier episodes tend to be 15 minutes longer to accommodate the extra bakers, so there’s another space for adverts.
Now, it isn’t fair to expect Channel 4 to replicate BBC One’s ad-free viewing. It kneads (sorry) adverts to make money because it isn’t a publicly funded broadcaster.
That said, it has severely compromised the enjoyment of the show, reduced to annoyance over its stop-start viewing experience.
The worst offenders are the adverts in the back-half, dropped in after an entertaining, high-pressure segment of the show and then, after a few minutes of watching Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith eat cake, you get another one.
Who’s going to go make another cup of tea and grab another biscuit to watch the last five minutes? Nobody. You’ll either sit dead-eyed in front of the TV as you’re fed another batch of ads or scroll mindlessly on your phone, probably tutting and muttering, “More adverts”.
In an ideal world, most fans of the show would watch it live, lest they get winners and losers spoiled for them on social media. Now, it’s more tempting to catch up, especially if you have Sky and you can fast-forward past the ads. That brings us to the show’s other issue.
Why is The Great British Bake Off so long?
Excluding its opening three weeks, episodes of The Great British Bake Off usually last one hour and 15 minutes. That is an absolutely baffling runtime.
Think about it. If you look at today’s TV Guide, most shows are either 15, 30, 45, or 60 minutes long. There are exceptions to the rule: news blasts that last 10 minutes, movies scheduled for longer than their runtime because of ads. None are as misplaced as Bake Off’s length.
Let’s take tonight’s listings. The Bake Off finale occupies a desirable window: 8pm – 9:15pm, when millions of people are sitting down. It’s the primetime-watershed crossover, too, with kids being sent to bed so mums and dads can watch their own stuff.
Alas, those who’ve committed to Bake Off will miss the start of all sorts of other programmes. For example, Ambulance on BBC One, TikTok: Murder Gone Viral on ITV1, and Murder Before Evensong on Channel 5 all start at 9pm.
Other shows get away with the same offence. Last Saturday’s Strictly Come Dancing was scheduled from 6:35pm – 8:20pm, an awkward block as a result of clustered news and sport throughout the day.
There’s an important difference: it’s feasible that a high enough percentage of Strictly viewers will happily watch what’s next (Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel). Could you say the same about Tuesday night viewers on Channel 4?
Bake Off should change when it comes back
In Bake Off’s case, those last 15 minutes – which also happen to contain the most irritating ad breaks – need to go. They overstay the show’s welcome every week, needlessly extending what could be a tauter, more considerate series that never drew such ire in its original state on the BBC.
It could be trimmed. Do we really need Paul to hum and haw so much about his not-so-elusive handshakes? Does each episode need to open with a bit that rarely evokes more than a sharp nasal affirmation?
It should be an hour long; no more, no less. Adverts are a necessary nuisance, but even reducing it to two ad breaks per episode would make a big difference. It’s the yeast they could do (not sorry about that one).
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