What Does it Mean to be British? The Great British Bake Off!

August 11, 2015

• Topical

The question, “What does it mean to be British?” could produce an almost unlimited number of responses. A love of queueing and barely-audible tutting if somebody breaks the unwritten queueing rules? A love/hate relationship with the temperamental British weather and an innate compulsion to discuss it with anybody? The stiff upper lip? A full breakfast, roast dinner and afternoon tea? Tea itself? These are all common answers to the question of what “Britishness” is. But, in this blog post  we are voicing our love for a relatively new staple of Great Britishness; the unstoppable Great British Bake Off.

Since the first series aired in 2010, GBBO has whipped the nation into a baking frenzy. The first episode of the show’s sixth series on 8th August attracted over 9 million viewers. The season final last year attracted more viewers than the World Cup final; 12.1 million tuned in for the football, compared to 12.3 million who saw Mary crowned the 2014 Queen of Baking. So, just why have so many people been bitten by the baking bug?

• It makes viewers nostalgic for a simpler time. Watching GBBO, according to judges Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry, is like stepping back into your Granny’s kitchen and watching as she bakes the perfect Victoria sponge.
• Similarly, Paul Hollywood thinks that the variety of contestants is appealing to viewers. Contestants could be your grandmother, your sister, your best friend; the show has a perfect sense of relatability.
• Everything looks amazing. Whether it’s sweet or savoury, pastry or cake, GBBO offers an hour per week of truly mouthwatering television. What’s more, every recipe is available right here!
• Mary Berry is a style icon. No, really. Viewers seem to be watching for Mary’s flair for fashion as much as for her Black Forrest gateau. Items worn by Mary on the show regularly sell out before the end of an episode, and we love her array of vibrant jackets, cardigans and blazers!
• The show is the perfect balance of the straight-laced and the comic. GBBO is a competition of the best kind; as exciting as it is tongue-in-cheek. GBBO gets its’ viewers to be dismayed when a contestant’s cake is cursed with a soggy bottom, whilst also encouraging us to laugh at the words ‘soggy bottom’.
• For a show about a dozen bakers (not a baker’s dozen) judged on their sugarwork and sponge skills, the show could very easily be over-the-top. But, somehow, it isn’t! Perhaps presenters Mel and Sue are to thank for this. Always lurking in the background with an array of puns to lighten the mood when a contestant breaks down under the stress, the duo ensure the programme steers clear of the overly-dramatised competition show. In this season’s first episode, Sue uttered the unutterable (but true) to contestant Dorrett as unset chocolate mousse oozed onto the worktop: “It’s just a cake.”There’s never any doubt that GBBO is a very British show. The contestants aren’t baking to the death in an intimidating, steely kitchen, but in a large white marquee in the grounds of a Berkshire mansion; though they are subjected to the steely stares of Paul Hollywood, of course. The tent is battered by the British elements, and the Union Jack bunting hangs proudly over the hopeful contestants as they aim to bake their way to the final. We will definitely be watching with bated breath and rumbling stomachs every week!

  Do you watch The Great British Bake Off? What keeps you watching?

  Websites Consulted

  Article on GBBO and 21st Century Britishness

  Image Source: BBC/Love Production, on The Telegraph

  Telegraph Article: GBBO and nostalgia

  Independent Article: Preview of GBBO Series 6

  Radio Times: Mary Berry on GBBO’s popularity

  Huffington Post: Review of GBBO

  Telegraph Article: GBBO viewing figures

  Guardian: Mary Berry style icon

Let us know at Kings Tutors what you think it takes to be British.