Great British Bake Off 2019

HeidiHeidi · 25-10-2019 12:56pm

Sunny Dayz wrote: »

I must go and binge watch the old episodes of Bake Off over the winter - I don't think I watched the first few series, I can't remember when I started watching it but certainly not from the start. Be interesting to see if/how the show has changed.

I've been thinking the same! I was a very late convert to the show.

Fairly scathing review today in the Irish Times, hard to disagree with her though.....

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/has-the-great-british-bake-off-finally-fallen-flat-1.4061534

It's all gone very formulaic (even in the relatively few series I've watched) - you get the impression they could all do it with their eyes closed, the same lines, the same tired jokes, then they try to "mix it up" a bit and it all falls fairly flat (pardon the pun!)

I remember the same with Big Brother - the first series nobody knew what would happen, it was all wildly unpredictable and really exciting to watch - by series 3 you could see the glint in their eyes, they were playing the producers every bit as much as the producers were playing them (probably better, in fact).

I'm sure it's much the same in every reality series - I just don't watch a lot of them. They have a shelf life where they're novel and exciting, and then the contestants start playing their own game.

I really, really wish they'd bring back the Pottery Throw-Down though

That was just lovely, gentle, entertaining good fun - not a cynical body among them (or maybe the series just wasn't around long enough to get that far!)

stargazer 68 · 25-10-2019 1:00pm

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

I really, really wish they'd bring back the Pottery Throw-Down though That was just lovely, gentle, entertaining good fun - not a cynical body among them (or maybe the series just wasn't long enough to get that far!)

You just like seeing a grown man cry over a 'beautiful vase'

:D
But I agree - loved it!

Think bake off is gone very 'rehearsed' - no one has ever heard of the technical yet they can miraculously turn out the right thing

HeidiHeidi · 25-10-2019 1:01pm

Dovies wrote: »

You just like seeing a grown man cry over a 'beautiful vase' :D
But I agree - loved it!

Think bake off is gone very 'rehearsed' - no one has ever heard of the technical yet they can miraculously turn out the right thing

Exactly! I just don't believe it much any more - and that takes all the good out of it.

TheIrishGrover · 25-10-2019 2:54pm

I have liked some of the participants this year but not as much as other years. But I'm not gonna write it off because of one group I wasn't gone on.

HeidiHeidi · 25-10-2019 8:47pm

Is the cameraman following Tom around the studio drunk tonight?

Some slightly alarming zooming in going on, it's very disconcerting!

Love Richard Osman, wish he could be on every week!

HeidiHeidi · 25-10-2019 8:49pm

Do they not bother making even the slightest nod towards the theme of the week's show any more?

stargazer 68 · 25-10-2019 8:54pm

Not even watching tbh. Dont find it entertaining anymore

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts · 26-10-2019 1:00am

Dovies wrote: »

Not even watching tbh. Dont find it entertaining anymore

I stopped watching the week Helena and Michelle went. I did catch the quarter final but only because I was visiting somebody who watched it. I don’t miss it at all and only look at this thread to see if there’s any talk of previous series. The show has alienated me this year for many reasons. The rot started to set in last year though.

AndrewJRenko · 26-10-2019 7:19am

Addle wrote: »

They forgot about Henry pretty quickly.
.

Apart from the on-screen tribute to their friend?

26-10-2019 2:43pm

Junior Bake Off is starting November 4th on Channel 4. Harry Hill, Prue and previous bake off contestant Liam are involved

iamwhoiam · 26-10-2019 3:01pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Junior Bake Off is starting November 4th on Channel 4. Harry Hill, Prue and previous bake off contestant Liam are involved

Harry Hill is enough to put me right off

26-10-2019 3:22pm

iamwhoiam wrote: »

Harry Hill is enough to put me right off

Same. Cannot look at him

.red. · 27-10-2019 10:45am

iamwhoiam wrote: »

Harry Hill is enough to put me right off

Liam would turn me off it. He over acts everything.
He's like a kid doing a drama class.

Rosie was very subdued in the extra slice. I'd grown to like more her as the bake off went on but she looked like a different person the other night.

Hopefully Alice wins it, don't think she will but she's the most likable of the 3.

siblers · 27-10-2019 4:32pm

.red. wrote: »

Liam would turn me off it. He over acts everything.
He's like a kid doing a drama class.

Rosie was very subdued in the extra slice. I'd grown to like more her as the bake off went on but she looked like a different person the other night.

Hopefully Alice wins it, don't think she will but she's the most likable of the 3.

I really don't get the appeal with Liam. He's a nice fella and all but he's a pretty bad presenter. He's very poor on the Professional Bake Off

Even as a contestant on Bake Off, I never really understood why so many fawned over him

tea and coffee · 27-10-2019 4:36pm

And his diction is terrible, I find him hard to understand. I like him but he's like a drawling teenager

29-10-2019 12:04am

.red. wrote: »

Liam would turn me off it. He over acts everything.
He's like a kid doing a drama class.

Rosie was very subdued in the extra slice. I'd grown to like more her as the bake off went on but she looked like a different person the other night.

Hopefully Alice wins it, don't think she will but she's the most likable of the 3.

I actually disliked how they just went on the "oh you're a vet, let's make jokes about sticking hands up animals over and over again". Also thought she was treated poorly by Jo Brand who dismissed and slagged off her bake.

.red. · 29-10-2019 10:09am

Dónal wrote: »

I actually disliked how they just went on the "oh you're a vet, let's make jokes about sticking hands up animals over and over again". Also thought she was treated poorly by Jo Brand who dismissed and slagged off her bake.

Even at the intro, before the opening credits she seemed off. She really didn't want to be there.

HeidiHeidi · 29-10-2019 10:10am

.red. wrote: »

Even at the intro, before the opening credits she seemed off. She really didn't want to be there.

She did seem to be incredibly uncomfortable, and forced. And she had been so natural and bubbly throughout the show. I wonder was there something more behind it, or just she didn't want to do it??

Addle · 29-10-2019 10:13am

I think she’s probably just not comfortable in front of a camera/audience.
It was probably easier when she was doing something she loves-baking. Then it was about the bake, not her.
She seems like a lovely, modest lady.
She dressed very simply compared to some of the other contestants. She wasn’t looking for the same attention.

RhubarbCrumble · 29-10-2019 10:44am

Tonight's final is the first time I've ever been so undwrwhelmed about a bake off final.
I'd prefer to see Steph win as I think she's the best of the three, but have an awful feeling it will be David.

Sunny Dayz · 29-10-2019 11:56am

RhubarbCrumble wrote: »

Tonight's final is the first time I've ever been so undwrwhelmed about a bake off final.

Same. I actually forgot it was on tonight until I seen it mentioned on facebook earlier this morning.

siblers · 29-10-2019 12:50pm

RhubarbCrumble wrote: »

Tonight's final is the first time I've ever been so undwrwhelmed about a bake off final.
I'd prefer to see Steph win as I think she's the best of the three, but have an awful feeling it will be David.

I think the only way Steph won't win is if she has a major implosion. I reckon Alice has a better chance than David.

Guess it depends if the judge solely off the bakes from the final or if they judge using the whole series. I think that even if the judge it soley based off the final, they will still be influenced by previous weeks performances which would give Steph a better chance of winning

cruizer101 · 29-10-2019 12:55pm

I like the three that are left so happy enough for whoever wins.
Once it's not a bleedin campfire like last year, they try to overcomplicate it too much these days. I don't see why the final can't just be something like a wedding cake, you could have that year after year and it wouldn't matter, you don't have to reinvent the wheel.

Scarinae · 29-10-2019 8:38pm

I think Steph will probably win, but who knows? But yeah that campfire last year was absolutely ridiculous!

I think if it isn't Steph, it will probably be Alice because I get the feeling Paul Hollywood likes her and doesn't like David.

Addle · 29-10-2019 9:07pm

Did they not do Black Forest gateaux before this series?

borderlinemeath · 29-10-2019 9:12pm

As smug as he has been portrayed all series, I'd actually like David to win.

HeidiHeidi · 29-10-2019 9:15pm

Addle wrote: »

Did they not do Black Forest gateaux before this series?

There was definitely a Black Forest Gateau theme to something someone did (possibly Steph!) - but omg that sounds fabulous, I ADORE bfg!!!

HeidiHeidi · 29-10-2019 9:16pm

borderlinemeath wrote: »

As smug as he has been portrayed all series, I'd actually like David to win.

Nope, cannot even contemplate that!

iamwhoiam · 29-10-2019 9:17pm

I like David I didn’t find him smug at all
I think Steph will win it unless she drops her cake on the floor

Scarinae · 29-10-2019 9:19pm

Alice doesn’t seem to be doing well, there’s no way the judges won’t pick up on a wonky cake!

HeidiHeidi · 29-10-2019 9:21pm

I'm feeling a bit tipsy just listening to David planning his cake :eek:

(bit behind, hoping to catch up during the ads!)

Scarinae · 29-10-2019 9:28pm

Stilton soufflé, ugh!

Alice has never made a roux?

HeidiHeidi · 29-10-2019 9:29pm

I would put David and Steph equally ahead after round 1.....

David overdid the booze, Steph overdid the baking.

Ooooh, stilton souffles..... yummmmmmmmmm......

Scarinae · 29-10-2019 9:33pm

Poor Steph is very upset from that technical

HeidiHeidi · 29-10-2019 9:35pm

Why did she keep turning them out when it was blindingly obvious they weren't cooked? Surely better to have 5 cooked than 6 egg pizzas? (admittedly she may not have had time)

HeidiHeidi · 29-10-2019 9:37pm

OK, David has streaked into the lead after that technical :eek:

iamwhoiam · 29-10-2019 9:38pm

David might just take it now

HeidiHeidi · 29-10-2019 9:40pm

Aha, now THIS is a showstopper worthy of a final that I approve of!!!

Scarinae · 29-10-2019 9:42pm

If they all do equally well in the showstopper, I think David will have it after all.

I wonder if being so upset will make Alice lose her focus, I would be really surprised if she wins now.

HeidiHeidi · 29-10-2019 9:43pm

Why are they all pouring drinks at the start of the bake?

Did Alice say the wedding was cancelled??? :eek:

Scarinae · 29-10-2019 9:46pm

I didn’t hear anything about a wedding, her parents’ flight back from Ireland was cancelled so they may not be there for the announcement of the winner (was it a Ryanair strike?)

HeidiHeidi · 29-10-2019 9:50pm

Scarinae wrote: »

I didn’t hear anything about a wedding, her parents’ flight back from Ireland was cancelled so they may not be there for the announcement of the winner (was it a Ryanair strike?)

Oh! They were at a wedding in Ireland, I just heard "cancelled" and I thought she meant the wedding!!!

Scarinae · 29-10-2019 9:50pm

Steph seems stressed and really off form for this showstopper, has doing badly in the technical really put her off?

David seems the calmest. Decoration is so important for this challenge though and the other two are usually better at that.

stargazer 68 · 29-10-2019 9:52pm

Flight was cancelled. Think Steph has lost it now.

Love to know how none of this gets out. If I was at a wedding and my daughter was in the final of bake off I couldnt keep it a secret!

Addle · 29-10-2019 9:55pm

If David’s tastes as good as it looks, he must be the winner.

Steph has had a meltdown before and gone on to win (a technical I think).

HeidiHeidi · 29-10-2019 9:56pm

Christ that is a whopper of a burger that Steph is making :eek:

My head is completely melted looking at all this stuff!!!

Scarinae · 29-10-2019 9:57pm

I think the showstopper counts for more overall than the technical, so if her showstopper is good (and David’s isn’t) Steph could still win it I think

Addle · 29-10-2019 9:57pm

Dovies wrote: »

Love to know how none of this gets out. If I was at a wedding and my daughter was in the final of bake off I couldnt keep it a secret!

Big crowd there. Lots can keep a secret!

HeidiHeidi · 29-10-2019 10:01pm

David's blue cheese is very clunky looking.

Other than that, his basket and picnic looked amazing!

iamwhoiam · 29-10-2019 10:02pm

It was Stephs to loose and looks like she lost it

Great British Bake Off 2019

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