S08.E10: The Final

[Athena]

Quote

Twelve bakers started, just three remain. Who will succeed with the demanding final challenges, including a high-end patisserie showstopper, to be crowned winner of The Great British Bake Off 2017?

 

[halopub]

Official teaser:

[Occasional Hope]

A worthy winner, I think. 

[Ceindreadh]

1 hour ago, Occasional Hope said:

A worthy winner, I think. 

Agreed. 

[Athena]

Happy for Sophie! I did feel bad for Stephen as he did seem to miss the trick there. The initial idea for the show stopper didn't work out all. I am glad Kate didn't win though I don't think she is a bad baker, but I do feel she was lucky the last few weeks.

My favourite part had to be the end with the Sophie and Steve "BBFFs" moment about how they are meeting up and that they are also going on a trip. That is two years in a row that they featured two of the finalists as best friends beyond the show. It really made me tear up.

[Rinaldo]

I'm definitely happy with the winner. (I would not have been with Kate, though all credit to her for doing so well in the final -- but I think she kind of skated into the final 3.) I'll admit I had been pulling for Steven all through, but he plainly didn't earn top place this week; as with some super-skilled bakers in other seasons, he overreached himself in the Showstopper (the "go big or go home" mentality) and it didn't come off. Sophie has been strong all through, kept improving, surprised herself I think with the quality of her bread this week, and surprised the judges at the end with flavor combinations that apparently really worked. Well done.

[dippydee]

I’m glad Sophie won. She’s been amazing all season, just quietly getting it done, no fuss. It may not be the most exciting in TV terms but competence is awesome. Though I felt bad for Steven during that last bake, I wish he’d been able to make it as he wanted it to be.

Can we have a spin off with Sophie and Steven baking their way across Scandinavia and the rest of Europe? Also maybe a special of Yan, Julia and Flo singing in cars.

Edited November 1, 2017 by dippydee

[bunnyface]

Satisfied with that win.  Pulled for her all along.

That being said, Steven can bake in my kitchen any time.  Or anything else he chooses.   

[Rinaldo]

1 hour ago, dippydee said:

Can we have a spin off with Sophie and Steven baking their way across Scandinavia and the rest of Europe?

I'd go for that. Can Liam join them, once he gets his degree?

One thing I especially liked about this final was that almost all of the original 12 seemed to show up for the party. Some years there's only a sprinkling.

[GaT]

I can't believe it! Some stupid celebrity gossip show here in the US just did a story on the judge who accidentally tweeted out the winner, & they didn't give any warning or blocked the name, so now I know who won & they haven't even showed the show in the US yet.  

[justmehere]

That was a great series. I'm so pleased for Sophie -- she did deserve the win -- sad for Stephen's last-minute fall, and impressed that Kate did so well with 2 out of 3 bakes when it really counted. I haven't heard any more about whether Prue was signed for another series, but I hope so. I liked the dynamic between the hosts and judges, and the interactions with the bakers, very much.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

How I will miss Prue's giant necklaces!

After that intro about how Sophie's not good at bread, I was afraid she was going to end up with 12 terrible loaves. Aside from one being underproofed, she did really well. Her flavors sounded great too.

Steven's knotted chocolate bread looked so fancy!

Loved the shapes of Kate's breads. I also liked that she did so much research. Between the French shape and the Roman bread, I really appreciated how much thought she put into what she chose to bake.

Wow, the decorations on the ginger cookies was so fussy and detailed. I thought Sophie did the best overall with the decorating, but she and Steven were pretty close (I thought her lace ones were neater). Kate went about decorating her flower biscuits completely wrong. I couldn't believe that she piped the outline of the flower and then piped white around it.

I had to laugh when Prue said that whoever won the showstopper would win the competition. Let's be honest - that's true every week and every year.

I was excited about Sophie's honey entremet with honey custard, blackberry jelly, lavender mousse, orange blossom sponge, lemon curd, hazelnut, and white chocolate. But of course Paul spent the entire five hours bitching about her using lemon and lavender together, as if this is the first time this flavor combination has ever been done (despite the fact that the internet would beg to differ). The marbled white chocolate was beautiful and I loved seeing how she used bubble wrap to make the honeycomb.

Kate's lychee, yuzu, and coconut entremet looked a bit messy. The white chocolate was nice and shiny but the outside edge of the cake was a little lumpy and it was visible through the chocolate glaze. Weird that although both Paul and Prue discussed the flavors in her cake, none of them mentioned the lychee flavor of the jelly. The only mention of it at all was Paul saying that the texture of the jelly was good.

Steven, there's no G in yin. It's yin-yang, not ying-yang. His banana rum crème brûlée entremet with raspberry and hazelnut was an interesting idea but I thought the white velvet flocked side looked unfinished and lumpy, especially next to that shiny blue glaze. I get that he was going for contrast between the two sides, but I didn't like the finished look. Poor Steven knew he wasn't going to win after that critique, but he was so kind in his compliments of Sophie after she was crowned the winner.

So sweet to see Sandi choking up before she announced the winner. Sophie looked like she was in shock. Loved seeing Liam run up to hug Steven afterward. I've been rooting for Sophie, even though I was convinced that Steven was going to win from week 1. So happy for her!

I loooooove seeing the little updates of all the bakers, especially when it's something adorable like Julia and Yan road tripping to Liverpool to visit Flo. And Sophie and Steven are going to Scandinavia together? Like seriously, everyone is so freaking adorable.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

6 hours ago, justmehere said:

I haven't heard any more about whether Prue was signed for another series, but I hope so.

I just posted this in the media thread, but Prue confirmed that she and everyone else will be returning for S9:

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Sophie's exit interview
Steven's exit interview
Kate's exit interview

Recipes from the finale:
Sophie's plaited brioche
Kate's Roman spelt bread
Steven's sweet chocolate and cinnamon knots
Kate's coconut kala chala bread

Prue's iced ginger biscuits

Steven's Swedish sky at night entremet
Kate's white chocolate and yuzu entremet (note: this modified recipe leaves out the lychee jelly layer - this is only the yuzu genoise sponge and the white chocolate bavarois)

[Darian]

55 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

So sweet to see Sandi choking up before she announced the winner.

And I think both Noel and Sandi were choked up when time was called for the showstopper. After Noel said something about their kids being grown up and they hugged, I swear he's almost in tears  as he turns away. I love them both. 

[pfk505]

I have to say that after all the drama of the BBC exit and the skepticism before this season, all the credit in the world should go to Love Productions and Paul Hollywood. They somehow managed to make the show even better than it already was. I'm a mid 30s dude who's tastes do not typically include shows like this, but by God it is an absolutely wonderful dose of happiness that I look forward to every week. Glad to hear that the lot of them will be back for another series.

I've been happily pulling for Sophie since Julia's and then Liam's exit. My favourite thing about her is her reserved personality, which I can relate to. She nailed it this week and deserved the win!

[Athena]

36 minutes ago, Darian said:

And I think both Noel and Sandi were choked up when time was called for the showstopper. After Noel said something about their kids being grown up and they hugged, I swear he's almost in tears  as he turns away. I love them both. 

He definitely is. After they clap and look fondly at the contestants, Sandi says "I'm crying now." and Noel acknowledges, "It's quite beautiful."

Sandi cried a lot on this show which is wonderful and even Paul admits at the end her crying got him a little teary eyed too.

[2727]

Great finale for a great series. I wasn't pulling for anyone in particular once Liam and Yan left, but I'm happy for Sophie and for all the friendships made by the contestants.

I wonder if the outcome might have been different if Paul had cut into the white half of Steven's entremet, sparing us from seeing the purple color smeared through the layers. But Sophie's was so highly praised it probably didn't matter.

[3 is enough]

So happy Sophie won!  Well deserved.

Despite all the off-season drama, I think this series was a total success.  I love Sandi and Noel- they were excellent as presenters.

[Primetimer]

Listen to us overwork the details of the finale until we glaze over.

View the full article

[ElectricBoogaloo]

17 hours ago, 2727 said:

I wonder if the outcome might have been different if Paul had cut into the white half of Steven's entremet, sparing us from seeing the purple color smeared through the layers. But Sophie's was so highly praised it probably didn't matter.

Prue cut through the white half and the inner layers were still smearing together because they didn't have enough time to cool (I think Paul mentioned this after Prue sliced the white side). Even without that, the judges seemed much more enthused about the flavors of Sophie's and Kate's showstoppers so I don't think Steven had a chance.

[sum]

Channel 4 wins second biggest audience ever with Bake Off

Quote

The final of the Great British Bake Off attracted Channel 4’s second biggest audience ever and its biggest for 32 years. The latest episode of the baking show, which was won by Sophie Faldo, has been watched by 11 million people since it aired last Tuesday. This includes those who watched it live, via recordings, or through repeats. The audience means the Bake Off final was the biggest programme on Channel 4 since the 1985 drama series A Woman of Substance.
[snip]
The series as a whole was the most watched on Channel 4 since Big Fat Gypsy Weddings in 2011.
Bake Off has also been the most popular series among young audiences on TV in Britain so far this year. It averaged 2.6m 16- to 34-year-olds per episode.

[aradia22]

I just binge-watched the season. I've seen episodes before but it's not like X Factor or pub quiz shows that I make a serious effort to follow. I've caught episodes here and there on PBS and enjoyed them but not enough to hold all the contestants in my head. So watching the entire season in one or two sittings was an interesting experience. I only missed one episode because I couldn't track down episode 6. 

Anyway, there are a lot of reasons I prefer it over American competition shows, or even X Factor. And sometimes for the same reasons there are weaknesses in the format. I was happy that Sophie won. I think she showed a lot of technical skill throughout the season and especially in the finals and she deserved the win. At the same time, unlike other reality competition shows, GBBO doesn't make the effort to hammer in a strong narrative with fighting and rivals and villains and whatnot so I wouldn't have been that upset if any number of people had won. I can see now why watching sporadically or even week to week, it's hard for contestants to make an impression. They're not really "personalities." Liam had cute moments but I don't know why he'd inspire stans. To me Yan had the most personality because aside from Chris she was the most prone to quip with the hosts. But it was never overbearing like she was trying to get her own reality show like people on American competition shows. 

Speaking of a narrative, it was also tough because even though they break things down each episode you didn't get a strong edit. For example, in an American show you would have heard about Sophie's background in the military and ballet nonstop and they would mostly focus on her precision and lack of heart/creativity. Stephen would have a winner's edit before something happened to set you up for his downfall. Katie would either be made adorable so you rooted for her or else you'd be made to resent her incompetence. Instead, all of the bakers (throughout the show, not just the finalists) had things they were good at and things they were not so good at. And maybe just good days and bad days. It is bit harder to be enthusiastic without that. Like, if Sophie were to publish a cookbook now I don't know what I would expect to see in it or what I think her signature style or flavors are. 

I liked Sandi, not knowing about her before this series, and I've loved Noel for years. I plan to go back and watch the seasons on Netflix but I'll be curious if I can stick with it without them around. I mean, I also like Sue but it's not the same as having Noel around. 

I loved the end bit and knowing that some of the bakers have stayed friends.

[ShortyMac]

Sophie and Steven were my two favorites from the beginning; so awesome that they made the final, Sophie won, and that they're great friends. I knew Steven wouldn't win after he messed up on his showstopper. 

I LOVED that Yan and Julia traveled to see Flo and did their own car karaoke!! So cute! I also really enjoyed Liam and am glad that he got as far as he did for being 19. I also liked Yan.

I'm surprised how much I ended up liking our new judge and hosts. Noel is cool.

And now that I've seen all eight seasons, I have to wait like the rest of you for Season 9. :(

[rhys]

On 10/31/2017 at 8:28 PM, dippydee said:

? Also maybe a special of Yan, Julia and Flo singing in cars.

That was hilarious --especially using kitchen items like whisks & beaters as microphones!

[Sorry I just watched this season today]

[sharifa70]

I just finished binge-watching this season on Netflix. I actually loved Sandi and Noel. I miss Mary the most, but I’m hopeful that Prue will continue to grow on me.

The way the contestants support each other keeps me coming back time and again - it has pretty much ruined me for American competitive cooking shows. I like when people are respectful of each other and the judges are polite!

[MerBearHou]

On 9/3/2018 at 10:47 AM, sharifa70 said:

I just finished binge-watching this season on Netflix. I actually loved Sandi and Noel. I miss Mary the most, but I’m hopeful that Prue will continue to grow on me.

The way the contestants support each other keeps me coming back time and again - it has pretty much ruined me for American competitive cooking shows. I like when people are respectful of each other and the judges are polite!

I, too, spent the weekend binge-watching this season on Netflix.  Had begun the first episode with such trepidation because I was so sad when Mary, Sue and Mel left the show — well, I am here to say that I grew to love the new foursome, especially Noel.  He is one of the most delightful people and I hope he doesn’t change one whit for the upcoming season.  Noel’s balance of a little bit of quirk, wit, kindness, helpful encouragement, caring were just perfect.  Sandi is bright, funny (not as funny as Mel and Sue, but that’s ok) and dear.  I like Prue a lot and her voice reminds me a great deal of Mary’s.  She’s obviously very knowledgeable.  Paul is my least favorite of the four but I don’t actively dislike him.  He was much, much more enjoyable in this season and his spot on the show as the common thread from past seasons as well as the slightly scary judge is a must.  The genuine emotion from Noel and Sandi when they were sad to lose a baker and then their joy for the winner made me teary and made me grow even more fond of them.  I really, really liked the bakers and, with the exception of one who kept skating by all the way to the final, I agreed with the outcomes.  Loved Liam the most — he is a super talented baker and has so much going for him (“ticks all the boxes”) — I cheer him on in life.  

Edited September 6, 2018 by MerBearHou

[ABay]

After bingeing the season this weekend, I have the apparently unpopular opinion of having disliked Liam. Intensely. I cheered his departure because I dreaded him making it to the final.

I started out not liking Yan but ended up liking her very much, the same with Stacy but to a lesser degree. Kate's mid-season slump was so severe, I'd actually forgotten the fireworks cake and her her other early work until they showed them again in the finale. I thought Steven was a lock until the finale and he fell apart. I admired Sophie's grace under fire and am pleased she won.

Prue is the only non-contestant new to me. Sandi is familiar to me from more recent things but also from ages ago when she sometimes popped up on the original Whose Line Is It Anyway, and Noel is forever Vince Noir. Aside from the new faces, one of the changes from previous GBBOs--the amount of time Paul is on screen for things other than judging, like for little skits (I'm thinking of the thing with the child bakers, for example). 

Edited September 3, 2018 by ABay

[irisheyes]

I want to try that galaxy mirror glaze on my son’s birthday cake. That was amazing. 

[GaT]

This is my comment from further up in the thread:

On 10/31/2017 at 10:02 PM, GaT said:

I can't believe it! Some stupid celebrity gossip show here in the US just did a story on the judge who accidentally tweeted out the winner, & they didn't give any warning or blocked the name, so now I know who won & they haven't even showed the show in the US yet.  

Luckily for me, not only did I not remember posting this, I had no memory of hearing who won LOL. I could see it wasn't going to be Steven who won, he just wasn't as good as Sophie, so congratulations to her. I wonder who came in second, Steven or Kate?

I think I'm starting to get used to Noel, but I'm still not sure about Prue or Sandi. I think I'll wait a few weeks & watch this season again.

[Winter Rose]

So I'm glad to see not much had changed without Mary, Mel, and Sue, as this is far and away my favorite baking show/competition. Noel and Sandi work well together and they turned out to be a surprisingly good fit within the show, my natural skepticism wouldn't have expected so at the start. Prue's fine and I can respect her "firm but fair" but I haven't fully warmed up to her yet. I think if she had been there all along, instead of having to follow Mary, it wouldn't be a problem but I miss Mary's warmth.

The contestants were enjoyable enough, I wouldn't say I loved or hated anyone. The only thing, for me, is I think Steven and Sophie were always so far ahead of everybody else that it seemed like it was never not going to be them in the final, with the third spot for whoever managed not to be the worst. Though I was surprised that Steven struggled so much and just as surprised at how well Kate held her own. I actually thought the win could've gone either way between Kate and Sophie and I wonder what it actually was that decided it. Maybe that Kate picked the worst way to do her piping in the technical and ran out of time.

[Kohola3]

I just finished watching and I am so surprised at myself for fully embracing the new cast. I was prepared not to like any of them (I already disliked the male host) but I ended up liking them all.  The contestants are delightful and supportive of each other as we have come to expect.  Noel and Sandi seem to engage the bakers on a very peronal level which is lovely to see.

I was rooting for Sophie all along but it was a personal thing as I am in a number of military support groups and so the fact that she was ex-military made her an instant favorite for me.  I'm glad she showed some mad skills!  Loved her bee theme.

I did like Kate as well and she really almost pulled it off but the deserving person won.

[limecoke]

So the whole pearl-clutching thing about the BBC dumping the show and Mary, Mel and Sue quitting turned out to be a big fat nothing.  The series was excellent and perhaps even better than before due to Paul being a bit more human.  

As always, the best part of GBBO is the camaraderie between the contestants, hosts and judges.  Everyone seems to like each other!  Everyone gets along!  What a concept.  American TV, please take notice (though I know you never will).

I'm thrilled Sophie won.  She was the most consistent throughout and her showstopper was gorgeous.  I love her humility and sense of wonder at winning.  This was a bunch of lovely people and I wish them all well.  It would be fun to see a GBBO All Star series with some of the past contestants that didn't win.  I'd start with Liam.

[Mabinogia]

6 minutes ago, limecoke said:

 It would be fun to see a GBBO All Star series with some of the past contestants that didn't win.  I'd start with Liam.

I would actually love that because more than any other show I would love to know how much they have all grown as bakers. I'd love to see Martha, Liam, Selasi and Benjamina and many many more. Even if it wasn't a full season but a season of one off competition weekends with different all stars each week. I feel like most of them would love to go back to the tent with the probable exception of Ruby who is the only one I know of who has badmouthed the show at all, though most of her hate is directed at Paul). I think most of them would be willing to give up one weekend to compete again. 

[Kohola3]

A retrospective would really be fun.  I'd love to see so many of them again as they have been, almost universally, very pleasant people and so supportive of each other. No matter who won, the other finalists always seemed genuinely happy for the winner.  So refreshing.

[magdalene]

53 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

It would be fun to see a GBBO All Star series with some of the past contestants that didn't win.  I'd start with Liam.

Some of the popular contestants have appeared again - on the various GBBO holiday specials.  I remember seeing Selassi on a New Years Special.  I hope Netflix will air the various holiday and charity specials that exist.

[Rinaldo]

Yes, there have been some one-episode specials with non-winners returning to compete in the three challenges. I was so delighted to see James (Morton, the bread guru) and Chetna at neighboring stations, two of my favorites. Now if only Glenn (and yes, Liam) would return....

[limecoke]

I'll have to look for some of these on the Tube of You.  Hope I didn't break any rules there.  

[lilwhitelion]

Just finished binge watching this.  Am happy Sophie won, but also loved Steven, Liam, and Yan.  I didn't care for Stacie, and thought it was telling that her follow-up was only about her love of pink increasing.  God I hated her use of bubblegum colors.

Also, Sophie's boyfriend is a slightly shorter Nicholas Hoult.

[Ilovepie]

Well crud. Was rooting for Steven, but Sophie really earned it. She has been consistently excellent all season so I can’t be too mad. 

I really loved this season- all the bakers were well cast, and I am loving Noel and Sandi- they bring some of the heart that is missing without Mary Berry.

This season was also surprisingly funny- PruePaul’s Drag Race, the Fielding Fondle, and this week “All about the bake” with Paul quipping “no treble”. Ha!

My favorite part of the episode was all of the updates on the bakers. The car ride Karaoke was everything. The update with Steven and Sophie was such a sweet and fitting ending- the icing (mirror glaze?) on the “shear perfection”cake that was this season.

[Kohola3]

5 hours ago, Ilovepie said:

This season was also surprisingly funny...

Even stodgy old Paul had a chuckle or two!  I think he seems a lot looser without Mary.

[festivus]

I'm always happy for these people no matter who wins because most of them seem so lovely but I do like it when every once in a while my favorite wins. Yay Sophie! I enjoyed the new show, I like Noel and Sandi better as hosts, Paul actually seemed like a human and Prue was no nonsense and fair and I ended up liking her. The end was really sweet with the car karaoke and Steven and Sophie being BFF's.

On 9/18/2018 at 1:43 AM, lilwhitelion said:

Also, Sophie's boyfriend is a slightly shorter Nicholas Hoult.

No wonder I thought he was so cute then.

[chaifan]

Has the last episode always done the follow up bits at the end?  I don't remember seeing them before.  I loved all of them - someone in production has a snarky, but in a nice way, sense of humor.  Am I the only one who expected the last line about Sophie and Steven to be that they were engaged or married?  It seemed like it was heading that way, even though I was at the same time thinking, no, that can't be...   I loved the bit about Tom running a marathon, so he can finish something on time.  The road trip with Yan, Julia and Flo was fabulous! 

I thought Sophie was the right choice for the final winner.  Steven certainly was a contender, but in the final Sophie was clearly ahead in all challenges.  Steven's showstoppper, even if it had time to cool and set, just didn't scream "show stopper" to me.  It was a little too small. 

It took a long time for me to get used to Sandi and Noel, and I'll still say I like Mel and Sue better, but I'm ok with this bunch.  I really like Prue.  I liked Mary as well, but I think Prue was an excellent replacement for Mary.

[dleighg]

15 minutes ago, chaifan said:

Am I the only one who expected the last line about Sophie and Steven to be that they were engaged or married? 

I also thought it looked rather romantic; but I think they actually exaggerated how much time they've spent together.

[fib]

On 9/30/2018 at 6:30 PM, chaifan said:

Am I the only one who expected the last line about Sophie and Steven to be that they were engaged or married?  It seemed like it was heading that way, even though I was at the same time thinking, no, that can't be...  

Yes? Pretty sure Steven made it quite clear throughout that he is a gay man.  I cant remember anything explicit at this point, but he did make a rainbow themed meringue cake and referenced the song somewhere over the rainbow from the wizard of oz... which is the source of the phrase ‘friend of dorothy’, an old euphemism for gay people.   I swear he talked about his partner, too.  

As a female crafter and baker and person with a masters in occupational safety, I shipped Kate hard, but glad she didnt win... Sophie and Steven were better, more consistent bakers.  

[meep.meep]

I was happy with that win!  Interesting that Kate won the signature, Steve won the technical, and Sophie won the show stopper.  I was not rooting for Kate - seemed like she was in the bottom an awful lot at the beginning.

On 9/9/2018 at 2:47 PM, limecoke said:

So the whole pearl-clutching thing about the BBC dumping the show and Mary, Mel and Sue quitting turned out to be a big fat nothing.  The series was excellent and perhaps even better than before due to Paul being a bit more human.  

Unless you were one of the people employed by the previous production company.  That's why Mel and Sue quit - in support of the camera operators, production assistants, etc. who were losing their jobs.  

[Occasional Hope]

Are you sure?  It's the same production company making the show, just a different channel broadcasting it.

[sum]

That's how I understand it. The show always has been produced by the same people, Love Production and the broadcast companies buy the rights to air it on their channel. They most likely get to have some say in whom to hire and what to put in the show though, especially in the early years when the show went through some tweaks. Regardless, the judges and presenters were cast by the production team and have contracts with Love, not BBC or C4. 

[rab01]

On 10/11/2018 at 2:59 PM, meep.meep said:

Unless you were one of the people employed by the previous production company.  That's why Mel and Sue quit - in support of the camera operators, production assistants, etc. who were losing their jobs.  

They quit because of ties to the BBC, not the staff of GBBO.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/1831674/mary-berry-why-quit-great-british-bake-off-tv-shows/

Edited October 15, 2018 by rab01
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