Another year gone by, and its that time again - yes the majesty, hilarity and heart warming moments have been piling up thick and fast for Comic Relief 2015. And as part of proceedings, we were treated to another celebrity influx of the now iconic BBC show - Bake Off.
As we all can plainly see, this is not normal Bake Off. We know it is all in aid of fun; all in aid of charity; all in aid of Comic Relief. We do not get that many instances of "tent politics", scandal or heated competition. Just a bunch of celebs larking about whilst attempting to bake.
Like other celeb Bake Offs (including last year's Sport Relief - see my BLOG ARCHIVE) the caliber of the show greatly depends on the caliber of the people on it.
For some reason, though some of the names were recognizably big, there seemed to be a distinct run-of-the-mill feel in which they all trouped in turn to the famed tent. Whether or not this is indicative of the spirit of Comic Relief or that we are simply getting so used to Bake Off as a nation, I don't know. This time around there just was not that same sense of occasion for me.
Lets start with the baking peeps that got on my wick. Abbey Clancy was her usual airheaded, smile-and-the-crap-that-comes-out-of-me-mouth-will-be fine self. Gok Wan's style of being terribly aloof, falsely modest and horribly cavalier has never sat well with me, and Bake Off did not change that. And finally the "actor" Kayvan Novak struck me as the most terrible, smarmy, arrogant little jump start I have seen on TV for a while.
Happily however, there were oodles of familiar, fresh and fabulously funny faces to enjoy too. Highlights for me included the indomitable Dame Edna, the wry and witty David Mitchell, the sublime and superb Jennifer Saunders, the delicious and dotty Joanna Lumley, the magnificent Michael Sheen and the brilliant Victoria Wood.
Aside from the celeb bakers, the fact that they seem to need to alter the format radically for special Bake Offs has begun to irk me. Mel and Sue are simply stunningly superb presenters, as a pairing, together and united on normal Bake Off. So why they feel the need to split them up and also occasionally write them out all together for Comic Relief is a mystery to me. Keep Jo Brand on Extra Slice and get Mel & Sue back in! Also the fact that they announced "the grand winner" on a lame, drawn-out Extra Slice show and not in the tent like all the others was a bit disappointing too.
In the end however, whatever quibbles, however many pros and cons - we cannot get away that the Comic Relief Bake Off is a noble hearted and very entertaining programme and a great extension of a great British TV institution, and for that we can only be grateful.
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