Aulty

Interior Design Maestros - haha, that was one of Alan's better ones. They almost completely ignored Charlotte's musical contribution. She gota bit defensive during the judging round. Especially after Joanne had the textbook responses during her interview. I understand why Buse had to go, but I was rooting for Charlotte to get the boot. In general, not as crafty as I thought it would be. A lot of stuff looked usable and sturdy enough. (I remember the school make-over from last season with the artificial grass walls and cardboard chairs). Tom, Temi. Ry. Peter and Jack did really well. And the builders of course. I really like the one with the beard who supported Charlotte this week. I need more cold opening with the building crew again, we got a couple last year.

No surprises there, but well deserved considering all the final pieces. I still think this season wasn't great due to the weird assortment of challenges.

Yay! its back. And this year I am watching very closely because I will have a new home to decorate in a few months and could do with a few ideas. Of course the thing that I was looking forward to the most are those gorgeous builders. Good to see the old faves back, and a couple of new faces aswell. I still love Michelle, I follow her on social and she seems really authentic, and she has that great rapport with her guest judges. Good first round, wasn't it? I am glad goth lady Monika is able to dial the dark back, the first bedroom was fab. The day bed room seemed really impractical though. Ibiza lad (funny that the programme acouncer on BBC NI is openly routing for him - are other regional channels doing that too?) really missed the point of the exercise - there are always a couple who overthink what the judges want to see. Plus, I am not keen on the Ibiza-vibe. On its own, the rooms where ok imho, I liked the rusty artwork. Karl, I don't know what he was thinking with that sofa - leave the sofa building to the professionals. I've watched a lot of interior design shows and never have I seen a scratch built sofa I liked. The design of the room divider, with the shelfs at an angle was a decent idea, I thought. Everyone else, well done.

I watched it and although it was way better than last year, I still don't get the hype around that show. If you watch the races on a channel with well informed commentators who can give you some BTS stuff, its so much better/ I think my main issue is, that it is very selective in what gets air time, and its over-edited. They left quite a few stories out. Are you guys able to follow what was going on in the WC or the races based on what they showed? Very little about the actual races in those episodes, I though. At least they gave the rest of the Real Housewives of the pitlane (the team principals) a bit more air time this time round. I can't stand the Toto vs. Christian stuff.

Oh wow, I didn't know that. Basically the same as this season's guest judge and season 2 contestant Freya, whose father is a well known pottery artist. But tbh I think at this stage it's level between the remaining potter. Lowes is probably the favourite. Interesting challenge but the results were too Clarice Cliff on the colours for me.

Set your alarms, new series starts March 7th!

That wasn't half bad considering the desastrous modelling challenges of the past. Some animals were a bit squat and what a shame they chose this week to go with bronze-metallic finishing instead of something that allowed for more colour. The top 3 were pretty neat.

I'll be more suprised if there is another season than I am of Emma not being in it.

I assume what you get on Netflix are the Channel 4 seasons. There were 2 seasons on the BBC before that and the guys who won series 2 were the fan favourites in the first season - a group of chefs from the armed forces. I liked them too, very nice lads, but thought their performance in series 2 was not as win-worthy and that it was obvious the producers wanted them to win.

Of course, last week I thought 'George seems nice and he could go far in this' this week he is out. I enjoy the chemistry between the potters and between the judges. Still not keen on the challenges. Again, 'make it realistic' nudges them towars a specific deisgn corner. Still needs more Rose!

Looking forward to read what you thought about series 2. A few things that stood out to me for different reasons: When the vet suggested JC could use his media weight to get the laws around badger protection changed When they found out they used the wrong oil/potatoe combo for their crisps - his signature 'can do attitude' without the slightest bit of research. I remember that potato crisp thing being a huge issue in the early 00s. When he calls everything the 'police'. Especially the bird police regarding bird flu measures because what they are doing is exactly to prevent issues he wants prevented with TB. Can't have it both ways. The issue with the planning permission has gotten very petty by the end. Why did he never entertain the thought of getting premises in a nearby village where access and security are less of an issue. Doing what he wants on his land does not mean problems are limited to his land, as seen by the severe inconvenience (according to media reports) the run to his farm shop caused for the locals. The traffic jams alone would melt my head if I had to use that road. I don't know whether JC's team tried to coordinate with local council and police back then, if they haven't I can see why some people might have a bee in their bonnets about him. Can't wait to see the fallout of him putting this into his show so prominently, even naming and showing the guy who hired the lawyer. Also, the money spent on things on this show, prep-kitchen, crisps-kitchen, new cultivator (the kitchens were probably rentals, did they mention whether he had to pay for the machine he drove into the pole with), new roof, new cattle-barn, barn-refurb. What was nice is him hosting the hedge competition on his land.

Clarkson's Farm has been confirmed for release on February 10 (aka tomorrow) if anyone is still interested.

This week, I thought, the group really started to gel on telly. But I am still a bit underwhelmed with the challenges this year so far. Sure, the gargoyles were fun, but overall the show is really into their 3D designs and figurines this season. Shows like this always tend to give more restrictive or outlined challenges once they hit the 4-5 seasons mark, if you know what I mean. Everything needs a story.

Yes, this isn't the most photogenic branch of Raku. Most of the pots will look great with a vibrant green plant in it. I loved the one with the dragon heads. The chickens were executed well, but once the pots are hung, the upside down chicks are weird. I only vaguely remember Freya, the guest judge, because her father is a well respected ceramics artist and back when she was on the show I thought it was odd that she was chosen for to be a contestant with provenance like that.

In an interview Sophie Robinson mentioned that she did her own make-up for the Interior Design challenge show, and as Siobhan's make up doesn't look very professional I wouldn't be surprised if she did it herself (or maybe Keith did hers ;-). I wonder if she gets some allowance for clothes or if she has an extensive collection of boiler suits herself. How did Fabiola survive another week? There is one every season, its melting my head. Another challenge where there wasn't any wriggle room on design style as they asked for realistic. Yeah, Raku week next week!

I occasionally check the F1 and F1 Wags threads on Tattler where they follow drivers' and girlfriends' social media (the dating pool seems very narrow and moving between drivers is perfectly normal) and by the looks of it they all get on reasonably well. Granted, Lewis and Max will never go on holiday together but it doesn't seem as its portrayed on Netflix and some TV stations during the season, and Pierre and Esteban being team mates in 2023 will be interesting. A lot of drivers feature on each other's insta, are visiting each other during off season, meet up or at least attend the same sponsor events. Most of them have known each other for years, driving in the same junior series. And quite a few live within a square mile in Monaco. They will probably have another Wolff vs. Horner episode where they adress the budget gap issue at Red Bull, an episode dedicated to Seb, at least one about the Alonso/Piastri/Ricciardo fiasco, at least one about Ferrari being Ferrari, the Checo vs. Max issue at the second to last race, a Haas episode featuring Kevin's pole and Gunther pondering over whether to keep Schumacher for 2023, one about Joe and his massive crash.

Well, week two was very much like last week. Maybe not as childish in design but with a side of sob stories. I really hope we're not in for a whole series of 'make a biscuit selfie' type challenges.

I am not surprised, although I think is down to money, maybe age, not just his controversial remarks. 3 seasons for the farming show is plenty, I can't see how he thinks he can sustain that for much longer. TGT must be a nightmare to insure by now.

Only for the first 2 seasons though. I love the episode where he chugs cooking sherry from a measuring jug. GCBS is worth a watch anyway, by Primetimer consent ist has the best Bake Off judges at the moment and the challenges are overall more reasonable than GBBO.

Almost forgot this was on. I wasn't keen on those first offerings, everything was so majolica and there were so many childish, crude or busy designs. It just isn't what I like (aka Scandi style). With that said, the PotW did a proper job. I agree, Keith getting the old tear ducts overworked in the first episode already. Nice that they get Rose in on the comedy bits now, I want to see more of her.

I think visually it was very very good (minus some CGI, I agree with you there @snickers , especially the Hyde - maybe they didn't want to risk getting a higher PG rating?) but the story wasn't on the same level. I was almost disappointed how 'by the way' some issues got resolved, like the shape shifting headmistress. The uncle Fester episode was a highlight.

Edd Kimbers tray bakes book - I've tried quite a few recipes and nothing has turned out right. I also have the very first GBBO book (got it as a gift) and never used it because for the bakes that interest me, I have better recipes in other books. I will say though, that I have done a few things from Nadiya's BBC shows, and those were quite good. And I have Chetna's book, which I like, but it is about Indian streeet food, not baking.

Have we mentioned yet that Giuseppe has a book out: Giuseppe's Italian Bakes: Over 60 Classic Cakes, Desserts & Savory Bakes I just stumbled over it, looks a bit old fashioned (judging by the cover and some pictures). If anyone gets hold of it, let us know if its worth buying. I've been burnt with former Bake Off contestant's book before.

I'm going to leave this nugget of information here: I always assumed Esme was head-hunted for the Sewing Bee, but she auditioned for the job with 17 others (she mentioned that on the Antiques Roadtrip episode she did with Keith. I wonder what they had to do at auditions and if there was a chemistry test with Patrick) - the producers chose right. Also, in the UK Aldi sells Patrick Grant sewing kits, which are quite neat.

Julien is all of us collectively rolling our eyes when Emily swoops in again to save the day, I love it. That agency could fire half their staff now they have Emily back.