Aulty

Uff, for a moment I thought Carole would reverse Houndini it again, but it was her time to go. Not terribly good with social cues is our Paul? He could've clocked right away that Dawn wasn't that keen on being compared to his Mom instead of rubbing it in a bit more. Speaking of Dawn, how gutting for her that she messed up the Lemon meringue pie (if you think British pronounciationa are a bit of a head scratcher sometimes, you should hear the German Bake Off contestants say 'meringue'), something she knows inside out. Artificial flavours are always a herald of doom on this show, aren't they?

I checked. Season 1, episode 6 when Mary is collecting darks for the washing she asks Sarah 'so, if I go next door and open that washing basket of yours ...' and I am sure there was a hint on Joe living with them at some point. For houses like those, 2-3 upstairs rooms (one probably a box room with a bed) plus a bathroom would be the standard layout.

LOL, I was thinking the same. That female judge and her limited vocabulary are melting my head. I like the new presenter though.

if I remember correctly Orla, Sarah and Joe live next door.

Do I remember correctly that the instructions only said 'make the refried beans', 'make the picco' etc. Do they expect the contestants to be familiar with every possible dish in international week? As for the missing taco press, my first choice would have been a rolling pin. Or maybe that's a chance to finally put those odious trouser presses of yesteryear to good use 😅

I think it most of that was the actor's work and chemistry and it would be refreshing to see them lean into it more instead of actively baiting like the Sherlock team did post Reichenbach. It can be romantic without getting sexual and as going with the times immortal beings it doesn't need to stick with that gentlemen/Frodo/Sam way of understanding. I saw MS asked about the queer fan fiction in an interview and he was very sweet about it. Freeman and Cumberbatch always sounded mildly annoyed, but maybe that was because they didn't like each other that much.

Agree! Also, is it just me who didn't understand the point of that time machine? After a couple of days that is just a wooden box with some dials on top. Both, the potion cabinet and ice cream cart, as a concept, seemed more like sturdy things for a kindergarden or day care centre (I say that as someone who had a wooden play kitchen). The Ferris wheel is more decorative storage than toy, a cute thing for soft toys instead of prams or miniature chairs.

That Balrog needs a good prescription of melatonin if it can be woken by a falling leaf. It isn't the shuddering tale of waking a monster from the bowels of the earth I though it would be. I hope that this means the stranger isn't a balrog, not because it isn't consistent with JRR, but I feel it would be a big thing for a layman audience to accept. The Mystic Dawn trio though, I am curious to learn what they are about. I enjoyed to mood change with Elendil thinking he's lost his son. The scene were he set the horse free was very Aragorn and Brego. Halbrand on the other hand ... one moment he is on his death bed with a festering wound, next he is galloping away with Galadriel?

How did Carole manage to cling on again? She and her gung-ho approach to the first 2 challenges are starting to grate on me.

I'd say it also has a good deal to do with supermarkets being the head sponsor of the show now (it used to be Aldi, now it's Sainsbury's). They want to sell decorating stuff that surely has a better margin than flour and cream. That, in my opinion, is how we end up with cake houses and biscuit masks. From a retailer's view, even pizza seems a good earner. Sure enough, Sainsbury has a Bake Off themed section on their website. That they still never had a proper sourdough challenge in bread week is a criminal oversight imho.

I remember that, it was a good show, but rather slowly paced. It is currently on repeat on BBC Two. I never understood the guy with the abstract art, who used the toxic paints in his custom made studio. There was a good show called 'Art School' in the mid 00s that focused on teaching the contestants the techniques and a critical eye.

Shirley picked the bold necklace that was bound to show up well on camera, but I preferred the others tbh. They looked well made. Something about this show needs to be tweaked. Katherine and the male jude are good TV material but I really struggle to connect with the show. Jewellery making is very specific and expensive, and not something that you can just have a go at, unlike sewing or baking or make up. Project Runway had a Project Accessories spin-off, that only got 1 season. I don't know why it works with pottery and I am curious about the hair show that starts on Monday. Can any of youse think about another craft that would work in this format?

Someone go and toss an Omeprazole into Mt. Doom, to help with that sudden case of heartburn 🙃

My father is a professional furniture maker and has his own business so this a bit more relateable to me than the jewellery show. As impressive as the big structures are, sometimes (I watched the first season too) I wonder if it would be more appropriate to see them do something like apprentice pieces, which are smaller or miniature versions of furniture with a focus on proper joins or other techniques. Or some upcycling like they do on Money for Nothing. I think that would be a realistic for a DIY wood worker to do. I don't know how I feel about giving them immunity in the short challenge. Last season too there were a couple of people sent home because others with a worse built had immunity. Tom Dyckhoff, for those who remember this show, was the presenter on the OG Great Interior Design Challenge with Daniel Hopwood and Sophie Robinson (I miss that show) They get to work with some nice woods on that show

I liked Bonnie's (?) pearl necklace, but very few other things. It doesn't help that Katherine wears quite nice jewellery that makes the jewelers' output look a bit crafty in comparison. We did Sepia casting in school. I think there is even a brief glimpse of it in LOTR. Its quite versatile, but the pieces need a good polishing. I wonder why the Pottery Throwdown works so well, but All That Glitters struggles to draw me in. I miss the Great Allotment Challenge, and the Painting Challenge. At least the second season of the woodworking show with Mel just started again.

Its funny that I like the updates but everyone else hates it 😄 In my defense, I was in hospital when I watched the first 4. The judges just aren't very verbose, are they? Peter Gordon is ok, but Jordan in particular doesn't bring much original commentary and that unexcitable, half-asleep expression that I associate with the Billie Eilish generation. The show needs a Maggie Breer (Matt and Maggie will not be back for the next Australian Bake Off btw.)

Are the producers running their challenge ideas through a 'what would Francis do with that' filter nowadays? Asking them to produce something that looks like something else in 2 of the 3 challenges is a bit much. I prefer flavour driven tasks. Macarons inspired by classic (fruit or nut) pies for example.

Thx, I was wondering what he did to lose weight. He doesn't have that haggard look people get when the've had gastric band or bypasses fitted. Good for him.

I watched the first few episodes and imho the show is vastly improved. It was already a step up when they switched to the proper 3 challenges format last (?) year. The new presenter is very likable and the duo already feels like a better match. The comedy bits feel less exaggerated. And they've finally added more Maori expressions to the standard Bake Off platitude catalogue. The new judges are alright and give good feedback - they feel a lot warmer, much more like the Canadian duo.

I thought this was one of the better ones. Their specials have become very formulaic, especially the predictable 'lets build somewhere to sleep' or 'we've camped in the middle of a road, track, exhibit' bits, but when they package it right, it is still entertaining. Because I worked in motorsport for a bit, I've actually driven all 3 cars (my boss had the Audi as his private car and he often sent me out in it to run errands). I always liked the Evo (8+9) best. James was very lucky to walk away from that crash with just a couple of bruises. How were they allowed to do this without helmets??

The makers of GBBO have a new show starting on E4 and All 4 next Monday: a hair styling show called The Big Blowout I remember the BBC's short-lived show 'Hair' that they were sued over by Love Production (=GBBO's studio). Wonder if it's similar to that or if they've found a more interesting angle. Styling without cutting or colouring became a bit repetitive. They also have some piano talent scouting show coming, but that sounds like a whole different kettle of fish

This is the first episode that made me bemoan the weekly release schedule. Thats a good thing, the story telling is finally getting somewhere. I find it a bit odd that the last episode was titled 'Adar' when we really really didn't get much beyond the orcs chanting the name and only met him this week. I did enjoy that small glimpse of orc culture. I still think some of the dialogues in Numenor are a bit too ... modern? I do like Arondir, Ismael did a good job there. Didn't miss the Harfoots this week but I think they might become more interesting once their story gets merged with the others'. The scene between Durin the elder and Durin the younger was the opposite of what I expected. Love Disa. That scene between Theo and the old guy has me on tenterhooks now.

Didn't love this one either. The dialogues in Numenor were terrible. When the queen regent handed over the sword it felt very snow white and the huntsman. The orc tunnel scenes could've been a lot more menacing and longer. And that warg ... FFS The hobbit scenes were just ok, very Bilbo's party and speech. I hope the time they spend on that tribe pays off.

If only it was that easy. What Amazon bought for 250 million (outbidding Netflix) limits them to stories of the second age (Gandalf isn't in Middle Earth in the second age) and they mustn't show events from the LOTR or the Hobbit (those rights are with Warner iirc). The Tolkien estate is quite protective of their stuff and who can do what is a bit complicated. My money is still on him being one on the Blues.