The Great British Bake Off 2015

Another year; another trip to the tent. Yes, once again the one and only pure version (as opposed to Comic Relief and Sport Relief etc) of The Great British Bake Off returned to our telly boxes to once again prove to the nation just why we have all seemingly taken it so much to heart.
I've reviewed previous series of Bake Off and its sister special shows for a while now (see my BLOG ARCHIVE) so you and I both probably know by now the basic plots and formulas. Not to say it ain't good - its often great! But allow me if you will to skip a few scenes to the particular differences and highlights of this series in my view.


Firstly - huzzah! No "bin-gate"! The false drama and stunted scandal of last year's Baked Alaska meltdown really got on my wick last year, and thankfully the Bake Off team seem to have learnt from previous dips in performance (though probably not ratings) and we didn't see the like this year - just honest to good (and sometimes bad) baking.
We did however get the usual plethora of peeps hoping to be crowned Bake Off Champion. What's more we had the lows of the crop, or actually from my perspective not so much lows as non-entities. In many cases for me a lot of the competitors just faded instantly into obscurity, not even being memorable for all the wrong reasons. This lack of personality surprised me, and didn't really hit me until reflection following the conclusion of the series - the baking was there but for me some of the characters just didn't turn up. For me it is a case of 2 and 2. Two people that stood out in a negative and two in a positive light in my eyes. And that's it.
Despite her sometimes dour doom and gloom and tendency to over-complicate - I was really rooting for Scottish flower Flora to win - I thought she showed real flair and unusual charisma. Similarly I loved the odd, slightly loony lovable boffin vibe that finalist Ian gave off throughout.
The other two that caught my attention ended being the other two finalists. Tamal I thought was a very arrogant character, and though his bakes were very impressive in skill and execution, the delivery of himself as a person left a lot lacking in my view and did nothing but frustrate. Finalist and (SPOILER) eventual winner Nadiya also frustrated me a lot throughout - her constant neurotic mood swings and over-exaggerated facial expressions and reactions just struck me as attention-seeking (quite clever in a competition, though still shallow) and annoying. Yes she was a great baker, and she did sort of have a redeeming turn around in the final and thoroughly deserved to win, but I found the way she drew attention to herself left a sour aftertaste.

Other than that we had the usual class acts in judges Mary and Paul (though this year more than ever it was obvious that they edit Paul to seem nastier) and still the jewels in the Bake Off crown for me were the deliciously sassy, utterly hilarious and totally charming Mel and Sue - sheer joy to watch.
So, another Bake Off season gone; roll on the next time we hear the words - On Your Marks, Get Set - -BAKE!