Inside The Baking Bubble
November 27, 2020 7:51 PM Subscribe
With the finale of The Great British Bake-Off Baking Show having been aired, one might wonder what it was like inside The Bubble that made the show possible? Vanity Fair has a lengthy article from September. Likewise The Guardian. Metro.co.uk has an article from just last week. No spoilers, but for me this was one of the best finales ever.
This link for the Guardian article just worked for me. I thought that is what I linked.
posted by hippybear at 7:59 PM on November 27, 2020
posted by hippybear at 7:59 PM on November 27, 2020
Haven't connected to the bakers this season as much as in the previous seasons, AND spoiled it for myself just trying to get a list of all of them...
Ugh.
At least the baker I didn't want to win, didn't win...
posted by Windopaene at 9:06 PM on November 27, 2020
Ugh.
At least the baker I didn't want to win, didn't win...
posted by Windopaene at 9:06 PM on November 27, 2020
I haven't seen the finale yet, but this season has been a bit of a soggy bottom, for me. It's been tough to find any baker to root for. It seems like they aren't all quite on the same creative and technical level of contestants from previous seasons.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:56 PM on November 27, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:56 PM on November 27, 2020 [4 favorites]
I’m really impressed that they managed to pull off the bake-off under these conditions really. It’s been a great stress reliever.
posted by Going To Maine at 12:05 AM on November 28, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by Going To Maine at 12:05 AM on November 28, 2020 [5 favorites]
The detail about flour being hard to get during the lockdown early filming is something I had not really considered. Ironically the shortage was, I suspect, largely caused by Bake-Off inspired members of the public, stuck at home and looking for projects.
posted by rongorongo at 2:50 AM on November 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by rongorongo at 2:50 AM on November 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
Last year’s show made me angry; I was constantly disagreeing with the judges and felt like nobody went home at the right time, and the editing really bothered me. But this year was great, everyone seemed to go home at the right time, the chemistry between the hosts and bakers was better, the pacing was nice and the judges only whiffed it a couple times. Also the person who won was who I was rooting for the whole time!
The concept of the bubble is nice and I’m glad they could pull it off. I totally get the importance of making the show seem as normal as possible with only a few nods to the oddity of 2020; GBBO is a soothing institution and there have been too many changes already in the past few series with the hosts and judges. Maybe this also influenced the editing - I felt last year like they kept trying to punch things up and make drama, which chaffed, whereas this year was like, victory garden normalcy.
You could totally tell how exhausted the bakers were though, with the compressed schedule and isolation, especially by the end of it. The top three had some deeply roomy eyebags going into that signature. I feel like once you take that into account, the creativity on display is even more impressive. Normally they get to go home and experience life and new things and have a while to try new ideas, get inspiration from different sources. This year not only did they have the same people and environment the whole time, it also seems like they had their ingredients locked in ahead of time, too. Maybe the decorating wasn’t quite up to previous years’ but as a non-baker even the messiest bake is amazing to me. I almost prefer it when things aren’t pristine because it makes it feel slightly more attainable, like I might eventually befriend someone who can just whack out a dozen slightly less than pristine custard tarts for fun, and they will share.
posted by Mizu at 2:56 AM on November 28, 2020 [12 favorites]
The concept of the bubble is nice and I’m glad they could pull it off. I totally get the importance of making the show seem as normal as possible with only a few nods to the oddity of 2020; GBBO is a soothing institution and there have been too many changes already in the past few series with the hosts and judges. Maybe this also influenced the editing - I felt last year like they kept trying to punch things up and make drama, which chaffed, whereas this year was like, victory garden normalcy.
You could totally tell how exhausted the bakers were though, with the compressed schedule and isolation, especially by the end of it. The top three had some deeply roomy eyebags going into that signature. I feel like once you take that into account, the creativity on display is even more impressive. Normally they get to go home and experience life and new things and have a while to try new ideas, get inspiration from different sources. This year not only did they have the same people and environment the whole time, it also seems like they had their ingredients locked in ahead of time, too. Maybe the decorating wasn’t quite up to previous years’ but as a non-baker even the messiest bake is amazing to me. I almost prefer it when things aren’t pristine because it makes it feel slightly more attainable, like I might eventually befriend someone who can just whack out a dozen slightly less than pristine custard tarts for fun, and they will share.
posted by Mizu at 2:56 AM on November 28, 2020 [12 favorites]
The one thing that bugs me about this show is that Paul and especially Prue keep being "surprised" by hot weather making their challenges extremely difficult. They need to not do this in a tent, or film during winter or something.
posted by Foosnark at 9:17 AM on November 28, 2020 [13 favorites]
posted by Foosnark at 9:17 AM on November 28, 2020 [13 favorites]
It's part of the story to put the bakers in difficult circumstances. Telling them to do stuff that can't stand high temperatures in the height of summer, outdoors, is from the same place as all those technicals where they don't give the bakers enough time to do it right.
I wish they'd admit it, myself. The Evil Paul Hollywood is requiring you to make ice cream in an oven! is also a perfectly cromulent story.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:30 AM on November 28, 2020 [7 favorites]
I wish they'd admit it, myself. The Evil Paul Hollywood is requiring you to make ice cream in an oven! is also a perfectly cromulent story.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:30 AM on November 28, 2020 [7 favorites]
The detail about flour being hard to get during the lockdown early filming is something I had not really considered. Ironically the shortage was, I suspect, largely caused by Bake-Off inspired members of the public, stuck at home and looking for projects.
Partly, probably. There was never really a shortage of flour per se (they ramped up production really quickly), the main problem was that almost all flour was normally destined for large bakeries, restaurants etc - one quote I saw was that only 4% of UK flour is sold via shops and supermarkets, so the real issue was getting and packaging enough small bags (rather than say, 10 kilo sacks) for the sudden retail demand spike, such as all those people that fancied making their own bread and cakes with everyone stuck at home and restaurants shut. Plus panic buyers*, which was arguably the biggest actual reason shelves were bare; they were being bulk stripped almost as soon as they were filled. Once the supermarkets introduced quotas on shortage items, the problems pretty quickly ended.
The bake-off tent was probably well supplied by wholesalers, but contestants getting supplies to practise with might have been a problem without help!
I actually ended up with some freshly milled flour from a nearby tourist attraction - a water mill museum that went into full time production due to the shortages! Did have to bring our own container though...
* by panic buying, I mean the people that were buying up like a year's worth of toilet paper, not the people buying an extra couple of packs of flour or pasta for their own nearterm use or helping out an elderly neighbour etc.
posted by Absolutely No You-Know-What at 10:06 AM on November 28, 2020 [3 favorites]
Partly, probably. There was never really a shortage of flour per se (they ramped up production really quickly), the main problem was that almost all flour was normally destined for large bakeries, restaurants etc - one quote I saw was that only 4% of UK flour is sold via shops and supermarkets, so the real issue was getting and packaging enough small bags (rather than say, 10 kilo sacks) for the sudden retail demand spike, such as all those people that fancied making their own bread and cakes with everyone stuck at home and restaurants shut. Plus panic buyers*, which was arguably the biggest actual reason shelves were bare; they were being bulk stripped almost as soon as they were filled. Once the supermarkets introduced quotas on shortage items, the problems pretty quickly ended.
The bake-off tent was probably well supplied by wholesalers, but contestants getting supplies to practise with might have been a problem without help!
I actually ended up with some freshly milled flour from a nearby tourist attraction - a water mill museum that went into full time production due to the shortages! Did have to bring our own container though...
* by panic buying, I mean the people that were buying up like a year's worth of toilet paper, not the people buying an extra couple of packs of flour or pasta for their own nearterm use or helping out an elderly neighbour etc.
posted by Absolutely No You-Know-What at 10:06 AM on November 28, 2020 [3 favorites]
I wish they'd admit it, myself. The Evil Paul Hollywood is requiring you to make ice cream in an oven! is also a perfectly cromulent story.
It's one of the (many) things that annoyed me enough that I stopped watching GBBO. You're getting a ton of free labor from the bakers (not to mention all the money they spend on ingredients for practice bakes). The least you could do is acknowledge that you're asking them to do things that most professional bakers/pastry chefs would not do, because it's nuts to expect a great result under those circumstances.
Great Australian Bake Off does a better job of acknowledging that what they're asking for is extremely difficult, and the bakers did a great job under tough circumstances.
posted by creepygirl at 10:57 AM on November 28, 2020
It's one of the (many) things that annoyed me enough that I stopped watching GBBO. You're getting a ton of free labor from the bakers (not to mention all the money they spend on ingredients for practice bakes). The least you could do is acknowledge that you're asking them to do things that most professional bakers/pastry chefs would not do, because it's nuts to expect a great result under those circumstances.
Great Australian Bake Off does a better job of acknowledging that what they're asking for is extremely difficult, and the bakers did a great job under tough circumstances.
posted by creepygirl at 10:57 AM on November 28, 2020
You could totally tell how exhausted the bakers were though, with the compressed schedule and isolation, especially by the end of it. The top three had some deeply roomy eyebags going into that signature.
The bakers did look beat, but I suspect there was a lot of fun drama off-camera that caused that. There was a week where every single baker was sunburned as hell. Historically, these bakers all went home after the weekend to their families. This season they were together all the time in a hotel. I'll bet there was a lot more drinking/partying/whatever going on than in past seasons.
And yes, it makes zero sense that they film the show in a tent in the summer every year, and then every year say "omg I had no idea it would be hot in the tent when I told them to make ice cream cakes."
posted by nushustu at 10:58 AM on November 28, 2020 [2 favorites]
The bakers did look beat, but I suspect there was a lot of fun drama off-camera that caused that. There was a week where every single baker was sunburned as hell. Historically, these bakers all went home after the weekend to their families. This season they were together all the time in a hotel. I'll bet there was a lot more drinking/partying/whatever going on than in past seasons.
And yes, it makes zero sense that they film the show in a tent in the summer every year, and then every year say "omg I had no idea it would be hot in the tent when I told them to make ice cream cakes."
posted by nushustu at 10:58 AM on November 28, 2020 [2 favorites]
Great Australian Bake Off does a better job of acknowledging that what they're asking for is extremely difficult, and the bakers did a great job under tough circumstances.
This is really true. I was watching an episode of GABO where they were asking the bakers to make meringues, and it was a super-humid day in the tent which was making everybody's meringues come out floppy or even melted, and everybody was making noises of consolation and sympathy, which of course the camaraderie amongst contestants is one of the most charming things about all the Bake-Offs. Then finally one contestant brought out the most beautiful perfect meringue, and everybody burst into spontaneous applause, which was very heartwarming of course but also surprised me quite a bit because my understanding had been that in Australia they were much more likely to boo meringue
posted by slappy_pinchbottom at 11:28 AM on November 28, 2020 [20 favorites]
This is really true. I was watching an episode of GABO where they were asking the bakers to make meringues, and it was a super-humid day in the tent which was making everybody's meringues come out floppy or even melted, and everybody was making noises of consolation and sympathy, which of course the camaraderie amongst contestants is one of the most charming things about all the Bake-Offs. Then finally one contestant brought out the most beautiful perfect meringue, and everybody burst into spontaneous applause, which was very heartwarming of course but also surprised me quite a bit because my understanding had been that in Australia they were much more likely to boo meringue
posted by slappy_pinchbottom at 11:28 AM on November 28, 2020 [20 favorites]
in Australia they were much more likely to boo meringue
Where’s the dislike button?
posted by Packed Lunch at 11:38 AM on November 28, 2020 [7 favorites]
Where’s the dislike button?
posted by Packed Lunch at 11:38 AM on November 28, 2020 [7 favorites]
I only watch the show occasionally, but goth-lite dude was a serious downgrade from Mel and Sue, and the new bald one was downright irritating. And I was seriously surprised that no one could do brownies successfully. Are they just not common in the UK? I'm only an occasional baker, but I can still knock off crispy chewy brownies in half an hour with only a single bowl and a measuring cup.
posted by tavella at 1:08 PM on November 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by tavella at 1:08 PM on November 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
While I too miss Mel and Sue, (and Mary), I think Noel and Sandi developed a pretty good rapport as last season went on. New guy, yeah, not so much.
posted by Windopaene at 1:31 PM on November 28, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by Windopaene at 1:31 PM on November 28, 2020 [3 favorites]
The editing really bothers me and makes it difficult to watch. For example there is a shot of a surprised Sura (I think) that they show constantly. Like a tenth of the show is repeated scenes used so often it’s like they copied an old Scooby-Doo cartoon.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:07 PM on November 28, 2020
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:07 PM on November 28, 2020
"New guy" is Matt Lucas who isn't really a comedian so much as a comic sketch actor. He came to prominence through the television series Little Britain, but since then has gone on to have a career that has involve stage and screen in various ways, including playing Thenardier in Les Miz.
He was a strange choice to replace Sandi, IMO, but the whole situation was strange to begin with.
posted by hippybear at 2:18 PM on November 28, 2020
He was a strange choice to replace Sandi, IMO, but the whole situation was strange to begin with.
posted by hippybear at 2:18 PM on November 28, 2020
The one thing that bugs me about this show is that Paul and especially Prue keep being "surprised" by hot weather making their challenges extremely difficult.
It’s kind of charming to me how much the GBBO audience seems to disapprove of this, since I assume it is done to put contestants through the wringer for our entertainment in conventional reality/competition-show style.
posted by atoxyl at 2:43 PM on November 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
It’s kind of charming to me how much the GBBO audience seems to disapprove of this, since I assume it is done to put contestants through the wringer for our entertainment in conventional reality/competition-show style.
posted by atoxyl at 2:43 PM on November 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
It’s kind of charming to me how much the GBBO audience seems to disapprove of this, since I assume it is done to put contestants through the wringer for our entertainment in conventional reality/competition-show style.
That's precisely why I hate it though. The whole concept of GBBO is that it rejects many of the usual reality/competition tropes in favor of something much more wholesome. That's something that goes back to the early days of the show, down to Mel and Sue walking off the set on day one because the producers were making a crueler show than they wanted and were making the bakers cry. They also talked about deliberately sabotaging footage of bakers crying so it couldn't be aired, because the show was supposed to be all about supporting the bakers:
posted by zachlipton at 3:53 PM on November 28, 2020 [27 favorites]
That's precisely why I hate it though. The whole concept of GBBO is that it rejects many of the usual reality/competition tropes in favor of something much more wholesome. That's something that goes back to the early days of the show, down to Mel and Sue walking off the set on day one because the producers were making a crueler show than they wanted and were making the bakers cry. They also talked about deliberately sabotaging footage of bakers crying so it couldn't be aired, because the show was supposed to be all about supporting the bakers:
Sue says. "If you are talking about a hierarchy, the bakers are at the top. Nobody is out to catch them out, but if we see them crying or something, Mel and I will go over there and put our coats over them or swear a lot because we know then that the film won't be able to be used."There's a kindness that's supposed to be built into the show. That's what makes it unique and not some sort of Big Brother But With Baking, and that's why it appeals to a lot of people who don't normally like most reality shows. "Oh gosh, we've set a challenge full of melting stuff on the hottest day of the year yet again. How does this keep happening to us every year?" is a cruelty that just so blatantly goes against that spirit, and it's so entirely unnecessary.
posted by zachlipton at 3:53 PM on November 28, 2020 [27 favorites]
That's precisely why I hate it though. The whole concept of GBBO is that it rejects many of the usual reality/competition tropes in favor of something much more wholesome.
That’s the observation I was making - having come to this show for the first time recently I don’t really think anything of it when I see them setting contestants up to fail, but I’ve noticed that the fanbase really doesn’t like it and I find the wholesomeness of that and the protective attitude towards the bakers endearing.
posted by atoxyl at 6:07 PM on November 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
That’s the observation I was making - having come to this show for the first time recently I don’t really think anything of it when I see them setting contestants up to fail, but I’ve noticed that the fanbase really doesn’t like it and I find the wholesomeness of that and the protective attitude towards the bakers endearing.
posted by atoxyl at 6:07 PM on November 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
It’s kind of charming to me how much the GBBO audience seems to disapprove of this, since I assume it is done to put contestants through the wringer for our entertainment in conventional reality/competition-show style.
There's a weird and bullshit thing on some subgenres of reality/competition shows where the production staff set things up to "make it difficult" for the competitors, and it's bullshit. GBBO (I stopped watching once Mel and Sue left) often had chilled/refrigerated/frozen elements, yet the most popular show in a major nation never seemed to be able to afford an ample supply of freezers - or even blast chillers, so people's ice cream melts. I see it a lot in cooking shows -- people trying to prepare something under substandard conditions somehow.
What's interesting is that the largest, most successful and most established subgenre of reality/competition show almost never does this sort of thing. Manchester United run out to play Chelsea and there's a big hole somewhere on the pitch, and a patch of three inch long grass. The 200m butterfly, but there's a barrel bobbing in each competitor's lane. The Wimbledon final, but -- surprise! -- everyone has to play with a squash ball and a badminton racket. Somehow, these competitions have the best maintained, most perfect fields in the world, everything to exacting standards, and everybody thinks it's interesting enough to see people who are very good at something try to do it better than other people who are also great at it.
posted by Superilla at 12:09 AM on November 29, 2020 [8 favorites]
There's a weird and bullshit thing on some subgenres of reality/competition shows where the production staff set things up to "make it difficult" for the competitors, and it's bullshit. GBBO (I stopped watching once Mel and Sue left) often had chilled/refrigerated/frozen elements, yet the most popular show in a major nation never seemed to be able to afford an ample supply of freezers - or even blast chillers, so people's ice cream melts. I see it a lot in cooking shows -- people trying to prepare something under substandard conditions somehow.
What's interesting is that the largest, most successful and most established subgenre of reality/competition show almost never does this sort of thing. Manchester United run out to play Chelsea and there's a big hole somewhere on the pitch, and a patch of three inch long grass. The 200m butterfly, but there's a barrel bobbing in each competitor's lane. The Wimbledon final, but -- surprise! -- everyone has to play with a squash ball and a badminton racket. Somehow, these competitions have the best maintained, most perfect fields in the world, everything to exacting standards, and everybody thinks it's interesting enough to see people who are very good at something try to do it better than other people who are also great at it.
posted by Superilla at 12:09 AM on November 29, 2020 [8 favorites]
Mel & Sue were almost the best thing about GBBO - their gentle teasing, the helping keep spirits up, giving out hugs freely, the 'dad jokes' - so losing them I think was a big part of why our interest in it just kind of petered out after the show moved to Channel 4. It just increasingly felt like a spinoff - the same trappings, riding on the same tropes, but just not as good. The best thing about the show of course was the kindness the bakers (mostly!) showed to each other, the camaraderie, and the show to them - I'm not at all surprised that Mel & Sue pushed back against making the show a more traditional bear pit competition early on, and it's thanks to them making crying footage unusable etc that it became what it was. Paul Hollywood was always uncompromising about poor effort, but would genuinely congratulate the bakers for good bakes, and could be supportive in his own way.
Toksvig seeming to be trying her best at carrying the torch on her own, but the highlight clips I've seen of the latest series without her either do seem that there's increasingly an intent to have more pressure, and thus filmable conflict and contestant breakdowns.
posted by Absolutely No You-Know-What at 1:44 AM on November 29, 2020 [3 favorites]
Toksvig seeming to be trying her best at carrying the torch on her own, but the highlight clips I've seen of the latest series without her either do seem that there's increasingly an intent to have more pressure, and thus filmable conflict and contestant breakdowns.
posted by Absolutely No You-Know-What at 1:44 AM on November 29, 2020 [3 favorites]
Article in Guardian about GBBO’s illustrator.
I loved this. Tom Hovey - the illustrator in question - is the true embodiment of the generous spirit that I think the show should have. He works with whatever story the bakers tell him - coupled with some photos they send him of any trial bakes - and he produces something that always looks like a beautifully rendered, delicious dream. He's been with the show from day 1 after happening to get the chance to suggest to the producers that they needed an illustrator. He seems to have good taste in the most interesting contestants too.
posted by rongorongo at 3:09 AM on November 29, 2020
I loved this. Tom Hovey - the illustrator in question - is the true embodiment of the generous spirit that I think the show should have. He works with whatever story the bakers tell him - coupled with some photos they send him of any trial bakes - and he produces something that always looks like a beautifully rendered, delicious dream. He's been with the show from day 1 after happening to get the chance to suggest to the producers that they needed an illustrator. He seems to have good taste in the most interesting contestants too.
posted by rongorongo at 3:09 AM on November 29, 2020
He came to prominence through the television series Little Britain
I prefer to remember him as giant drumming baby and keeper of the scores, George Dawes on Vic & Bobs surrealist light entertainment celebrity game show, Shooting Stars.
posted by inpHilltr8r at 8:15 AM on November 29, 2020 [3 favorites]
I prefer to remember him as giant drumming baby and keeper of the scores, George Dawes on Vic & Bobs surrealist light entertainment celebrity game show, Shooting Stars.
posted by inpHilltr8r at 8:15 AM on November 29, 2020 [3 favorites]
I prefer to remember him as giant drumming baby and keeper of the scores, George Dawes
I always thought it was George Doors, to rhyme with scores...
posted by trif at 8:03 AM on November 30, 2020
I always thought it was George Doors, to rhyme with scores...
posted by trif at 8:03 AM on November 30, 2020
Dawes does rhyme with Scores?
The name itself is most likely a joke on 70s UK quiz show The Generation Game catchphrase "The Scores on the Doors"
posted by inpHilltr8r at 10:18 AM on November 30, 2020
The name itself is most likely a joke on 70s UK quiz show The Generation Game catchphrase "The Scores on the Doors"
posted by inpHilltr8r at 10:18 AM on November 30, 2020
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