All Episodes Talk: Under The Tent

[Mabinogia]

I watched about half of the first season. I actually quite liked it with the exception of one person who just worked my last nerve so much that I spoiled myself to see if it was worth finishing. But I thought it was charming and sweet. I loved the frequent history lessons. The bakes were simpler, which makes sense since it was originally true home bakers who weren't necessarily looking to write cookbooks and start TV presenter careers. And I kind of like how they moved around. The worst thing, for me, was that the drawings were black and white and not those beautiful color drawings we get later on. Everything else was pretty much what I love about the show. Except that one person. GRRRRR lol There are enough people in my real life I have to spend time with that annoy me that I just can't electively spend time with someone who bugged me that much. I mistakingly did that with Ruby. Never again!

[illdoc]

On 8/26/2018 at 4:59 PM, Mabinogia said:

not those beautiful color drawings

Color drawings? I don't recall any color drawings (maybe some spot color here or there)--just black and white.

[AZChristian]

3 minutes ago, illdoc said:

Color drawings? I don't recall any color drawings (maybe some spot color here or there)--just black and white.

Check these out.

[Mabinogia]

46 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

50 minutes ago, illdoc said:

Color drawings? I don't recall any color drawings (maybe some spot color here or there)--just black and white.

Check these out.

Yep, those ones. I love seeing the drawings as much as I love seeing the finished product. It's such a clever idea, really, having the drawing of what the baker plans. Gets one all excited to see how it turns out. 

[limecoke]

Ok, I'm rewatching some of the old seasons before indulging myself in the new one.  I really, really need to sound off on something that happens in EVERY SINGLE EPIODE of EVERY SINGLE SEASON and it bugs the living crap out of me.  In every challenge that involves the proving drawer or oven (which is pretty much all of them) these people sit on the floor, kneel on the floor and sometimes lay on the floor in order to keep an eye on their bakes.  While doing this, their hands always come in contact with the carpet - over and over and over again.  Then they grab their bake, pop it on the counter and proceed to put those SAME hands all over it, kneading it, cutting it, decorating it or whatever.  Are we to just assume they wash their grotty hands or just plunge them back into he dough, bread, cake, biscuit, or dessert???  It drives me nuts, I tell you and if I ever got the chance, I'd ask one of them.  

[Rinaldo]

On November 16, 2018 at 3:13 PM, limecoke said:

Are we to just assume they wash their grotty hands

I do. Considering that they have to edit perhaps 10 hours of baking by multiple bakers into less than an hour of airtime, the more mundane stuff has to go. And I would include hand-washing in that category.

[RealityCheck]

After watching the post-BBC seasons of the Great British Bake Off, I miss the Masterclass episodes BBC produced for seasons 2 through 6 and the Class Of ... episodes where they looked at what the bakers of the previous season were doing after the show ended. In the masterclasses, Mary and Paul provided detailed explanations on how to get the best results for each product they chose to demonstrate.  I enjoyed the camaraderie between Mary and Paul and were excellent instructors.

[rhys]

There was a special showing Mary & Paul making some of the most recent bakes on tonight 12/16.

[MorganSte]

19 hours ago, rhys said:

There was a special showing Mary & Paul making some of the most recent bakes on tonight 12/16.

Do you mean from this season with Prue?

[rhys]

Gosh maybe I spoke out of turn. Paul did the 8 strand plaited bread, Mary made a tart with lattice, etc. But Prue wouldn't have been in it if Mary was. Paul's hair had more black also.

Edited December 17, 2018 by rhys

[Sew Sumi]

Sounds like the Masterclass series. I don't know whether Paul has done any of these with Prue, but he did several seasons with Mary.

[ABay]

The local PBS station here is running one Masterclass Saturday afternoon and "Season 4" all day Christmas. If, that is, they actually stick to their announced schedule.

[Sew Sumi]

No such luck in the Bay Area. 😢

[GaT]

The Masterclasses are on Netflix. I don't know why they don't put all the different episodes into one group instead of having multiple listings for GBBO.

[Occasional Hope]

This might be a spoiler regarding who gets fairly close to the final...

Spoiler

Alice and Henry are now dating https://www.msn.com/en-gb/entertainment/tv/bake-off-stars-alice-and-henry-dating-after-finding-love-on-the-show/ar-AAHENVo?ocid=spartandhp

[Mabinogia]

That is interesting. I had noticed...

Spoiler

Alice tended to give Henry a LOT of hugs at the end of each ep. Thing is, I was writing it off as him reminding her of her male students. Yikes!

[Writing Wrongs]

I've been re-watching the "collections" on Netflix and am up to the last season. Has there always been cursing on this show or is it uncensored because it's Netflix? I noticed God damn and shit said in some episodes and a drawing of a cat saying "fuck". I don't remember that on PBS.

[peacheslatour]

I just saw the gingerbread structures. Talk about heart breaking.

[GaT]

On 9/22/2019 at 8:44 AM, Occasional Hope said:

This might be a spoiler regarding who gets fairly close to the final...

  Hide contents

Alice and Henry are now dating https://www.msn.com/en-gb/entertainment/tv/bake-off-stars-alice-and-henry-dating-after-finding-love-on-the-show/ar-AAHENVo?ocid=spartandhp

On 9/22/2019 at 9:07 AM, Mabinogia said:

That is interesting. I had noticed...

  Hide contents

Alice tended to give Henry a LOT of hugs at the end of each ep. Thing is, I was writing it off as him reminding her of her male students. Yikes!

Alice & Henry are definitely NOT dating, it's Michael & Henry who are dating

[Mondrianyone]

Henry says he's not dating Michael either.

[Adiba]

11 hours ago, Mondrianyone said:

Henry says he's not dating Michael either.

Welp, that’s a pretty cozy photo ^ above for two people who are not dating, imo.

[Mondrianyone]

"Dating" clearly means different things to different people.  🤷‍♀️

[AZChristian]

4 hours ago, Mondrianyone said:

"Dating" clearly means different things to different people.  🤷‍♀️

For sure.  On "Judge Judy" they use the term, "we was talkin'."  This apparently causes pregnancy for people "talkin'" without precautions.

[djlynch]

On 11/7/2019 at 9:38 AM, Adiba said:

Welp, that’s a pretty cozy photo ^ above for two people who are not dating, imo.

I can’t help but notice that the quote in the other link doesn’t actually say that they aren’t dating, just that you shouldn’t conclude that they are dating based on a single hug.
 

However, he does seem to show a lot of platonic affection physically. There was a moment between the baking and the judging at one point during the season where he and David were sitting on a bench outside the tent together and he had one arm around David and was resting his head on his shoulder.

[akr]

1 hour ago, djlynch said:

I can’t help but notice that the quote in the other link doesn’t actually say that they aren’t dating, just that you shouldn’t conclude that they are dating based on a single hug.
 

However, he does seem to show a lot of platonic affection physically. There was a moment between the baking and the judging at one point during the season where he and David were sitting on a bench outside the tent together and he had one arm around David and was resting his head on his shoulder.

I'd like to think both Alice & David would put him more in the category of younger brother than love interest.

[LeDucDiableBleu]

I was watching the holiday special that had Benjamina, Rav, the guy who dropped his cake in Season 1(?) and the older lady named Sandy. The signature was to make six individual ice cream meringue desserts. They were running out of time and they kept running their desserts one by one to the freezers. There was a counter/table next to one of the fridges and I kept thinking it would have been better if they could prepare at a counter and then just pop them in right there. But they probably can't turn their backs on the cameras for too long. It just seemed like a really bad design to have them make ice cream and then have the freezers so far away. Only Sandy's firmed up enough.

[laurakaye]

On 8/25/2018 at 1:02 AM, magdalene said:

Maybe there is a reason the first two seasons were never shown in the US?  It looks like the show didn't come into its own until the third season.

I am relatively new to GBBO so I think this answers my question as to why I cannot find the first two seasons on Netflix!  It was driving me crazy.  I've binged every season and now I'm sad that I'm all caught up on my happy, feel-good show.

So is Youtube the only way to go to find the first two seasons?  Are they worth a watch?

[Crs97]

I have now seen a season with Prue and a season with Mary along with the Masterclass with Paul and Mary.  I love Paul and Mary together.  He is adorable and mischievous when he is with her, and you can tell he wants to please her when he bakes.  It’s just not the same with Prue.

In the Masterclass series, I keep swearing that Martin Freeman is narrating.  I can’t unhear him.

[limecoke]

Spoiler

So is Youtube the only way to go to find the first two seasons?  Are they worth a watch?

I watched the first two seasons on YouTube a few years ago. Not sure they’re available anymore.

I’m rewatching the Netflix seasons (while self-isolating) and again am fascinated by the meringue desserts, pavlovas, Spanish Windtorte and the like.  Never had one and they don’t seem all that appealing to me.  Must be good though because they do enough of them.

[kittykat]

I just checked YouTube and there are clips but not full episodes.

It's a shame, I'm doing a rewatch but going in the original order.  So on American Netflix that would be: Beginnings, GBBS 2, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6.  Would love to have access to original one and two.  If only Netflix could release them as another Beginning season since production is delayed.

On 2/21/2020 at 10:32 AM, Crs97 said:

I have now seen a season with Prue and a season with Mary along with the Masterclass with Paul and Mary.  I love Paul and Mary together.  He is adorable and mischievous when he is with her, and you can tell he wants to please her when he bakes.  It’s just not the same with Prue.

In the Masterclass series, I keep swearing that Martin Freeman is narrating.  I can’t unhear him.

Rupert Penry-Jones is the narrator.  He's pretty scrummy.

[aradia22]

I'm in the middle of Series 5 (Collection 1) on Netflix. I'm watching in the order each series aired, not the order Netflix has them. 

Anyway, I quite like the bakers this season. Among this group, I'm pretty confident in their skills. I've looked up Luis, Martha, Nancy, and Chetna and happily they all either have books out or active blogs/social media accounts with recipes.

I'm realizing in hindsight that I didn't like Series 4 that much besides Kimberley. 

I've also been enjoying Masterclass. Even though I prefer Mary on the show, I'm more interested in Paul's simple bread recipes. I might try his cracker or breadstick recipe instead of continuing to throw money at Whole Foods.

[laredhead]

Aradia22, I like your comment about attempting to try one of Paul's simple bread recipes.  I used to buy the rustic bread at Whole Foods once in a while, but found a no knead yeast bread recipe that is wonderful.  Easy to make, almost a mix and forget recipe, and I now make it about every 2 weeks.  Makes 2 loaves, and I haven't bought store bread in almost 2 years.  Go ahead and try your hand at bread making.  It's rewarding, and cheaper than buying.

[cynicat]

My PBS station had a mini-marathon of GBBO with only bread week from multiple different seasons.  It was such a treat to re-watch Paul make his bread lion!  I like this concept and hope it wasn't a one-time thing.  

(It was likely on all PBS stations but it's always hard to tell if what I'm seeing is only my station, or everywhere.)

[ZenMoonPi]

On 3/11/2015 at 3:53 PM, AltLivia said:

I like Catherine fine. Perhaps the best of all the contestants in the season. She's a great baker and very humble, but everyone treats her like she's fragile. I am the same way, a bit.  While a confidence boost and/or sympathy is okay, simpering is not. It's condescending and bothersome.

Just finished that season. 
Catherine got worse as the series went on.  It felt like she was encouraged to be a character instead of herself. Sad to say, I went from rooting for her to being relieved when she was eliminated. 

[magdalene]

I am trying to zoom through the early seasons before they are all going bye-bye from Netflix. I just finished episode 2 from collection 2 - the one where the first Ruby baked the beautiful peacock bread and Kimberly did another of her many yummy bakes.  There is this baker named Lucy who seemed determined to leave early while looking extra smug the entire episode. And she did exit this very episode.  While everybody else was coming up with the most amazing and ambitious shaped breads Lucy presented a very basic loaf with tomatoes on top as a show stopper. The judges had been trying to tell her the entire episode that all her bakes were too simple. She didn't even try to pick up her game. It was very odd.

[TimothyQ]

2 hours ago, magdalene said:

The judges had been trying to tell her the entire episode that all her bakes were too simple. She didn't even try to pick up her game. It was very odd.

I literally just watched that episode today too! I think maybe she just had both weekend bakes planned and when she got criticsm of being too simple on her breadsticks, she just couldn’t adjust her showstopper in time. You could see in that one scene how she was trying to rationalize such a simple loaf. I wonder if she would’ve even been able to change plans and practice another bake in time.

[ombre]

I, too, have been rewatching early eps. I'd forgotten how Paul used to be genuinely eager when he said things like "I can't wait to try that!" rather than a sort of implied threat. And the moments when Mary and Paul start riffing on useful information in the tent are delightful. I... I think it's time for Paul to retire. It looks like he used to enjoy this, enjoy sharing expertise and in comparison to current eps it looks like he's no longer having fun, and just being a caricature and the villain.  And I don't think this show needs a villain. The pottery throw down shows how lovely a show can be without a villain (and how nice it can be to have an ongoing mix of judges and presenters). The clock is villain enough, and who among us can't empathize with the constant race against the clock - pretty much the fundamental principle of human nature, that! 

[PrincessPurrsALot]

I was rewatching some earlier episodes.  What stood out to me was how often contestants interacted with and mentioned they didn't want to disappoint Mary Berry.  Mary and Paul were more of equals whereas Prue has not been given the same level of respect.  After all, as Cathryn said, "I can't feed green carpet to Mary Berry!" (She was trying the slapping technique on her bread dough and accidentally threw it on the floor). 

I also loved seeing Mel and Sue in action when a baker was upset.  They would quietly encourage them to finish their work, often helping them plate.  Also, when bakers would get negative feedback, Mary always found a way to soften it.  Also, Mel or, most often, Sue would take a bite and compliment it. It feels like Prue and Paul often pile on while snickering to themselves.  

I'm not giving up on the new version, but I really miss the original recipe. 

[AZChristian]

31 minutes ago, PrincessPurrsALot said:

I also loved seeing Mel and Sue in action when a baker was upset.  They would quietly encourage them to finish their work, often helping them plate. 

I've read articles saying that if a baker was REALLY upset (like crying), Mel or Sue would walk into the area and start swearing profusely so that the scene would have to be cut and the upset baker wasn't shown on TV.

Class act, those two.  

[MartyQui]

Funny, I was watching those episodes and was kind of annoyed by how many times Mel and Sue actually touched what the bakers were making, and a couple of times ruined something (patting bread, I think).  They were fine, but I like Noel and Matt too (blasphemy, I know).  I did like the little bits that they used to do to explain some of the history behind some of the bakes (like eel pie, ugh).

[Adiba]

1 hour ago, PrincessPurrsALot said:

I was rewatching some earlier episodes.  What stood out to me was how often contestants interacted with and mentioned they didn't want to disappoint Mary Berry.  Mary and Paul were more of equals whereas Prue has not been given the same level of respect.  After all, as Cathryn said, "I can't feed green carpet to Mary Berry!" (She was trying the slapping technique on her bread dough and accidentally threw it on the floor). 

I also loved seeing Mel and Sue in action when a baker was upset.  They would quietly encourage them to finish their work, often helping them plate.  Also, when bakers would get negative feedback, Mary always found a way to soften it.  Also, Mel or, most often, Sue would take a bite and compliment it. It feels like Prue and Paul often pile on while snickering to themselves.  

I'm not giving up on the new version, but I really miss the original recipe. 

Also rewatching the earlier season with Cathryn and her comments about Mary Berry struck me because you don’t hear recent contestants fretting about Prue’s reactions to their bakes as much as they do about Paul’s. Mary would openly disagree with Paul more. It did seem as if they were on a more equal footing.

[Crs97]

 Many times Paul himself acted like he didn’t want to disappoint Mary, or he was like a naughty kid causing mischief to make her laugh and scold him.  It was a nice chemistry that is very much missing from his relationship with Prue.

[ombre]

Ach, I agree with every one of these comments. I'm in 2011 tart week right now and am just struck time and again by how the comments are so *helpful*. You might not have been spot-on this time, but for next time try this tweak. There's a sense of this is just one day in the overall life and development of this baker and there will be many more bakes to come, rather than Judgement Day. It's a collaborative process - they're all in it together.  I vastly prefer that to the current tone but, ah, whatcha gonna do? 

That said, I think the current state of the show is also a real testament to the impact of the show. I truly cannot imagine someone coming onto the show now and not knowing how to make a simple lattice for a pie, but a lot of these guys truly struggled with it! So the increasing demands of the show (particularly the highly-engineered tasks) are just an attempt to stay ahead of an ever-more-knowledgable generation of home bakers...who are knowledgeable because they've watched the show for years. 

[Athena]

On 12/7/2021 at 12:28 PM, Crs97 said:

 Many times Paul himself acted like he didn’t want to disappoint Mary, or he was like a naughty kid causing mischief to make her laugh and scold him.  It was a nice chemistry that is very much missing from his relationship with Prue.

Paul would tease Mary a lot about her age but he admitted in an interview that he respected her a lot and that she reminded him of his mum. Like most people who have watched Mary Berry over the years, he took to her maternal side. It's the same with the contestants who constantly worried about disappointing her.

A few reports during early seasons said that the producers frequently had to tell Mary to stop giving hints and tips to the contestants when they baked. 

[Rickster]

My perception (in total ignorance of what might be reality on British TV), is that Mary Berry was a much bigger “name” than Paul when the show started, and he was naturally more deferential and played a more equal role. He became a much bigger celebrity as the show went on, and when it left the BBC with Paul as the only cast member staying with it, the dynamics changed considerably. I think the producers (and Paul) shifted the emphasis to him as almost the lead judge, hence the emphasis on handshakes, for example.

I like Paul, but the show needs some rebalancing. I think they need a judge with a stronger personality and more authority, either as a replacement for Prue, or as a third judge.

 

[Crs97]

Hasn’t Prue publicly said that she doesn’t love to bake?  Or was it just that she prefers cooking to baking?  I don’t know how popular she was in Britain prior to being hired on GBBO, but I have to think there might have been a better option.

[ombre]

On 12/7/2021 at 11:40 AM, MartyQui said:

I did like the little bits that they used to do to explain some of the history behind some of the bakes (like eel pie, ugh).

I'm watching the eel pie recipe over lunch and reliving my brief but immense disappointment that they didn't go from the eel pie segment to a technical challenge of... Eel pies!  Now *that* would have been some exciting TV - buckets of wriggling live eels, a board, hammer, and nail in the equipment for killing and skinning (they remain wriggling and seemingly live even after decapitation)... And some brilliant young baker figuring out a vegan workaround. 

 

I *don't* actually wish they had done this - eels are a threatened species and having a lot of unskilled butchers trying to butcher live creatures would be horrible on every level - but I was amused to realize how strong the impulse was - ah yes, eel pie history surely leads to eel pie baking! 

 

(and yes, I utterly agree that the history segments were amazing. If anybody wants more cool stuff along those lines, I heartily recommend looking up the great series that Ruth Goodman, Peter gunn and Alexander... Blast, I'm forgetting his last name. Anyway they've done a great "experimental archeology" series on life in various periods of British history.) 

[SuprSuprElevated]

6 hours ago, Crs97 said:

Hasn’t Prue publicly said that she doesn’t love to bake?  Or was it just that she prefers cooking to baking?  I don’t know how popular she was in Britain prior to being hired on GBBO, but I have to think there might have been a better option.

If we were going off credentials, it would seem that Prue has it over Paul.  I can see where his popularity could advance, based on his looks/presence etc.  I like them both, but would agree that a better judge chemistry has to be out there somewhere.  When push comes to shove, I believe that Prue would lose out, Dame or no Dame.

[Ceindreadh]

23 hours ago, SuprSuprElevated said:

If we were going off credentials, it would seem that Prue has it over Paul.  I can see where his popularity could advance, based on his looks/presence etc.  I like them both, but would agree that a better judge chemistry has to be out there somewhere.  When push comes to shove, I believe that Prue would lose out, Dame or no Dame.

 

In terms of Bake-off credentials, Paul was the one who had been doing the Bake-off for years before Prue was hired, which gives him the edge.

Now if somebody was casting a brand new show, then that might be different, but when it comes to presenting this specific reality show, Paul is by far the more experienced presenter.

[RoxiP]

16 minutes ago, Ceindreadh said:

 

In terms of Bake-off credentials, Paul was the one who had been doing the Bake-off for years before Prue was hired, which gives him the edge.

Now if somebody was casting a brand new show, then that might be different, but when it comes to presenting this specific reality show, Paul is by far the more experienced presenter.

Apparently Prue was a judge on another show for years before she was on Bake Off (somebody on another thread posted a link to an article comparing Mary and Prue) so apparently she also has a lot of experience.  I really have no preference, although I think the two male hosts have gotten a little out of hand ... perhaps being in quarantine brings out their worst?