Great British Bake Off or Great British Switch Off?

In a multi-million pound transfer deal straight out of The Premier League, Great British Bake Off has left the BBC and will surface later this year on Channel 4.  As always in protracted transfer dealings, there were casualties along the way.  Mary Berry chose to remain with the BBC, no doubt with the lure of future baking shows being dangled in front of her.  Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc will also leave the show, although this is potentially no bad thing.  Seven series of increasing weak baking puns was starting to wear very thin indeed.

Paul Hollywood meanwhile, will take his perfectly teased and waxed hair to pastures new.  He will have competition for the title of ‘Channel Four Housewives Crumpet’, with First Dates’ Fred Sirieix already in a strong position.

So, what can we expect from C4?  One thing that will become clear very quickly, will be the level of (blatant) product-placement.  The BBC do this all the time (don’t kid yourselves that they don’t), but their techniques are way more subtle.  We might not have had the Kitchen Aid logo rammed down our throats, but we all knew the name of the mixer of choice.  In series 2, following viewer complaints, fridge manufacturer Smeg had to rein in their association with the show.  Expect no such reticence from C4.  They are a commercial broadcaster, so product-placement is almost essential.   Expect the aprons to be covered in emblems – think Homepride, Anchor, Tate & Lyle – and appliances to be very clearly labelled.

The choice of presenter(s) will be crucial.  Despite his persona of casual arrogance, Hollywood worked well with Mary Berry, her ‘little old lady’ façade concealing a more steely underbelly, particularly when faced with booting people off the show.

Rumours abound of the new presenters.  The Mel and Sue show needs freshening up and production company Love Productions will need to choose carefully.  Great British Bake Off is a hugely popular show and despite the move from the establishment to the cheeky upstart, many loyal followers will also defect.   Credibility will need to be established right from the off, so expect the new front-line to be knowledgeable, appealing and sometimes controversial.  Names in the frame so far include Irish TV chef Rachel Allan, Michelin star chef Frances Atkins, food writer Clare MacDonald and Michel Roux Jr.  Roux is perhaps the most interesting.  He was the host of the BBC show ‘Masterchef – the Professionals’, but was forced to quit following a disagreement over……… product placement.  How ironic.

Whatever happens, Love Productions know they have a tough act to follow.  Bake Off was massively popular, with Social Media often going into a frenzy, as a result of a collapsed soufflé or an uneven bake.  The most (in)famous of these (quite literal) meltdowns was on series five, when the preparation of a Baked Alaska led to allegations of sabotage.  More than 800 complaints were lodged with the BBC and a number of people also complained to TV Watchdog Ofcom.

The final series on the BBC provided nine of the ten most watched programmes of 2016, with the series finale drawing over 16 million viewers.

This demonstrates clearly that the formula works.  ‘If it aint broke, don’t fix it’ is the old adage and this holds true, but a bit of tinkering under the bonnet could deliver another winner to C4

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