Why is the great british baking show in a tent
Here’s The Truth Behind Why The Great British Baking Show Takes Place In A Tent..Watch !
yes
[Applause]
the great British baking show is a
beloved fixture of British TV pulling in
an audience of millions each week just
as iconic is the famous tent that hosts
the baking competition however
conditions inside the marquee can be
intense and a lot of that has to do with
the structure itself and yet producers
keep it as the backdrop for the show
regardless and their reason why may
surprise you now American viewers have
taken to the great british baking show
especially since it was added to netflix
in august 2018 indeed many US fence told
the BBC in 2019 that they love the show
because it's an escape from reality
for instance they find it soothing to
watch the contestants fake their
confections in the midst of a seemingly
endless news cycle however those who
have watched the Great British baking
show from the beginning know that the
series has changed over time yes the
first seven series had bakers presenting
their creations to judges Mary Barry and
Paul Hollywood while host sue Perkins
and Mel Joe joycie kept the laughs going
but when channel 4 bought the rights to
the BBC show the series saw some changes
for you see while Hollywood stuck around
the famous veteran Barrie quit and new
judge crew leaf stepped in next to him
instead of the Perkins and Jude Royce II
hosting team Sandi Toksvig and Noel
Fielding now bring the humour however
both versions of the Great British
baking show have charmed viewers in
America and beyond that's because the
core of the show has remained the same
contestants simply baked for glory not
for prizes and they do it all from a
tent built on an English estate for one
very surprising reason on that note
let's first go back to the start of this
popular program so Anna Beattie created
the Great British baking show called the
Great British Bake Off across the pond
and it first aired in the UK in 2010 she
told the Guardian three years later that
she initially imagined her show as an
old
and baking competition with people who
only wanted to bake a good cake it was
as simple as that but the jovial nature
of BT's vision didn't speak to
television executives at least not at
first
she recalled it took us four years to
get anybody at any channel to take any
notice nobody wanted it nobody liked it
but she persevered she said because she
knew it was a good idea eventually the
BBC caught on to the genius that was the
great british baking show and they aired
the first ever episode on august 17 2010
and the rest as they say is history but
where the series was originally based
differs greatly from what viewers see
today as we'll find out you see the
first season saw the show's contestants
shuttling around the UK to cities linked
to the confection they bake so bread we
took them to the Kent town of Sandwich
while they baked scones and cookies at
Perth Cheers scone palace for the final
the contestants still standing prepared
their last confection in London's Fulham
Palace after the first season though the
show put down roots at least for each
year's production yes rather than
shuttling contestants around the UK they
started baking in tents built on the
grounds of beautiful British estates for
example season 2 was based at
Valentine's mansion in red bridge while
series 3 and 4 were at harp tree court
in Somerset however from the fifth
season onward Welford Park in Berkshire
has painted a stunning backdrop for the
show's famous tent indeed the private
residence quickly transforms into the
set for the series and Deborah Huxley
who lives there told the Sun in 2019
that it only takes three days to build
the marquee regardless of location every
series of the Great British baking show
has followed the same format as far as
the challenges go
that's correct each episode presents
contestants with a trio of hurdles a
signature bake a technical challenge in
a showstopper furthermore all of these
will fall in line with a different
weekly theme in the signature challenge
Baker's present judges with their
personal go-to recipes the ones they'd
make at home for loved ones next they
complete the technical challenge in
which they receive a new recipe and have
to bake it as best they can
crucially the judges evaluate and rank
each confection without knowing who made
it finally
the contestants have to complete the
showstopper challenge which is just as
it sounds you see they are briefed over
what they have to bake but must do their
best to infuse it with
professional-grade flavors and
decorations and once that's done the
judges decide who's that week's star
Baker before eliminating one person from
the contest as mentioned briefly earlier
although these challenges have stayed
the same
those presenting and judging them have
changed over the years when the BBC
produced the original show it had hosts
sue Perkins and Mel Qi joycie to narrate
the scenes meanwhile when Baker's
completed their confections they
presented them to judges Mary berry and
call Hollywood as you may know the
foursome earned rave reviews from fans
and critics alike as Meredith Blake of
the Los Angeles Times put it like a
souffl the great british baking show
relies on the very precise chemistry
between its personalities the firm but
kind very often clad in flour jackets
and pearls is the undisputed heart and
soul of the show then Blake came on to
Hollywood saying a master bread baker
with stiffly gelled hair and a goatee so
he clearly sees himself as the show's
bad cop Hollywood is not quite as tough
as he initially seems and the hosts
rounded off the great british baking
shows perfectly gelled cast
you see Blake wrote Perkins and Jude
Royce er the show say me but
sharp-witted every women providing
frazzled contestants with much-needed
moral support while making lots of body
puns about frosted buns together the
hosts Hollywood and very along with the
contestants would make a hit out of the
Great British baking show in fact it
first aired on BBC two and remained
there for four years eventually becoming
the channel's most popular program then
the BBC moved it to their Lane channel
BBC one by 2015 and into 2016 the baking
program searched to the number one spot
in British television
what's more the viewing figures were
enough to stun anyone yes to put its
popularity into perspective the finale
of its sixth season roped in 15 million
viewers now that was more than double
the amount of Brits who watched the
series finale of Downton Abbey and the
same number of people tuned in to the
2014 World Cup finale in the UK too but
the Great British baking show in its
most popular iteration wouldn't last
forever
instead channel 4 bought the rights to
air the show for a reportedly hefty 32
million dollar price tag given that
season 7 of the series would be the last
to air on the BBC and with this came
several personnel changes on the show
for one thing Barry decided not to make
the move with the programme from the BBC
to channel 4 and she explained her
decision in a statement via the BBC
saying my decision to stay with the BBC
is out of loyalty to them
as they have nurtured me in the show
that was a unique and brilliant format
from day one soon Perkins and Jude Royce
II followed suit
sticking with the BBC instead of the
show itself
so only Hollywood remained as the series
premiered its eighth season in 2017 this
time on channel 4 that wasn't the only
difference of course the show had a new
judge and two new hosts now the new
judge was proved who played the same
role on the Great British menu on BBC
two actually that show has been going
for 11 years on British TV and was a hit
in its own right as for the hosts
comedian Noel Fielding and broadcaster
Sandi Toksvig signed on to the newest
iteration of the baking series
surprisingly the great british baking
show didn't quite take off in the u.s.
as quickly as it did in the UK firstly
there was the question of what name to
give the series you see the UK version
is called the Great British Bake Off but
the American version couldn't use this
title why
well the Pillsbury company has a
trademark on the phrase Bake Off after
its own famous competition in the US so
the program took on a new name the great
British baking show but even that didn't
solidify success instead the series
aired on PBS and the network played the
show out of sequence
obviously episodes of an elimination
centric competition viewed in random
order wouldn't appeal to viewers to
boost interest in the series TV
producers kicked off the great American
baking show too however US audiences
soon made it clear which version they
liked better yes they preferred the
original baking show from Britain and
more and more people got on board when
the kroger
had Netflix in August 2018 nowadays
Americans love the Great British baking
show just as much as British audiences
the BBC revealed in 2019 that US
audiences appreciated the show's
politically neutral entertainment value
and they said they decompress while
watching the baking competition without
thinking about the non-stop cycle of
sensational news headlines as Kristine
Wang Dixon wrote for fan sighted in 2018
nobody shared their views on briefs it
or gave their opinion on Theresa May
hardly anyone even mentioned personal
hardships all that outside noise is left
where it belongs outside the great
british baking show became the perfect
set of arms to run into Plus as Blake
wrote for the Los Angeles Times the show
turns everything we know about reality
TV on its ear namely the contestants
don't fight against each other for a
massive cash prize instead they engage
in friendly competition with the top
faker taking home an engraved cake stand
as you might expect though the winner
usually succeeds in going on to greater
things having been declared the best
furthermore the low stakes atmosphere
means that the show's contestants don't
typically plot against or argue with one
another instead they become friends as
well as competitors even helping one
another during their challenges viewer
Christina Capello cited this as her
reason for loving the program as will
now find out yes Capello a Philadelphia
native explained to the BBC the
producers focus on the moments that the
team are working together when someone
helps someone take something out of a
pen when someone has a suggestion on how
to fix something or just gives a
much-needed hug
it's endearing and it's exactly what the
world needs right now more feel-good
television as such the great british
baking show has continued through its
tenth season which kicked off in august
2000 and nineteen even with nine seasons
in its wake this go-round marked a first
in the show's history that's right David
Atherton a contestant who had never been
named star Baker throughout the series
won the competition and Atherton was
presented with his trophy just outside
of the famous great british baking show
10th in october interestingly watching
the Baker's toil away in the marquee has
lead viewers to wonder why they work in
such a space instead of say a proper
indoor kitchen well the main reason the
show's competitors work in a tent goes
back to series creator biddies original
vision yes she told the Guardian that
she imagines the baking competition to
be akin to a faith in rural parts of the
UK
therefore the great british baking shows
tent is designed to invoke the feeling
of a traditional british village fete a
faith is a type of fair with activities
such as food and commodities stalls
raffles skill games morris dancing in of
course baking contests on top of that
although the show's location has changed
over the seasons it's maintained
familiarity with the iconic tent plus as
a great british baking show fan noted by
Acorah the tent represents the UK way of
life - they wrote it's really all part
of the production design the idea is to
reflect the typically quintessential
British tradition of taking afternoon
tea on the lawns of some great country
house over the years baking in an
outdoor tent has posed problems for the
contestants so for instance Frances
Quinn who won the show in 2013 explained
that the unpredictable weather outside
of the tent had a huge effect on what
was baked inside of it
yes Quinn explained to cosmopolitan in
2019 the temperature fluctuates you'd be
making a meringue and it would start
raining or we'd try and make pastry and
it would be 27 degrees Celsius outside
the technical challenges in lack of time
and lack of fridge and workspace are the
enemy on that show and don't expect the
production crew to add air conditioners
to help with this either for the great
british baking show's production team
adding air conditioning would create too
much background noise for filming so
contestants have to deal with the heat
of the show's famous tent put in place
because it evokes the feeling of a
traditional British competition and now
so does the sight of the white marquee
on the lung for those who watch the
series mission accomplished
[Music]
