The Great British Bake Off 2016

[Arataniello]

Is it significant perhaps that in the pictures taken of the contestants at the start of the season, Candice is the only one not shown stirring a batch of icing?  I am starting to think that she may be the winner.  

Jane has only had one star baker, way back in the first episode.  Andrew and Candice have (I think) had three apiece since then.

[Mladen]

1 hour ago, HelenaExMachina said:

^I feel like the Showstoppers improved each year actually, and certainly feel like James' gingerbread house has been beaten in later seasons. My favourite has probably been Nadiya's in last year's show. I do have to admit I'm pretty clueless as to which batch of bakers comes from which season though. I remember the season with Mary-Ann, I had really liked her and the bakers in her season.

That would be Season 2. 

Well, it is only natural that these things progress and get better and better. It would make a poor TV programming if they never get any better. And yes, I suppose this year there were not as many disasters, but this group lacked something. I mean, they all seem rather nice, it is just that James, John and Brendan, with some others like Catheryn and Sarah-Jane made great interesting batch for a cooking show. And, yeah, even though that gingerbread house was cool on so many levels, I did expect at some point someone would (will) make something better. I mean, it's just the coolness factor... It was a mess compared to the others... And him saying it is a piece of modern art... Basically, some people are born for TV. He and John were truly great in bringing that aspect without resorting to nastiness on over-the-pond shows.

Season 4 contestants had some interesting challenges and even though Ruby was doing great, she was like on verge of complete meltdown. And seeing someone falling week after week into that sort of behavior isn't really appealing. 

Off to season 5... I have to say this was such a nice discovery and I am enjoying every bit of it...

[polishgenius]

8 hours ago, Arataniello said:

Is it significant perhaps that in the pictures taken of the contestants at the start of the season, Candice is the only one not shown stirring a batch of icing?  I am starting to think that she may be the winner. 

Candice is by a clear distance the best overall baker of the group, so her winning wouldn't exactly be a shock. Andrew's upped his game in the last few weeks though.

[Isis]

This finale is going to be so sad though. 

[Arataniello]

22 hours ago, Arataniello said:

Is it significant perhaps that in the pictures taken of the contestants at the start of the season, Candice is the only one not shown stirring a batch of icing?  I am starting to think that she may be the winner.  

Jane has only had one star baker, way back in the first episode.  Andrew and Candice have (I think) had three apiece since then.

Apparently there are pictures of all the contestants standing icing-less, with hands in apron pockets or arms crossed.  So that may have been a red herring.  The Radio Times (TV listing mag in UK) was, however, USING a different picture for Candice, which may be significant.

 

[Arataniello]

11 hours ago, Isis said:

This finale is going to be so sad though. 

Yep.  The end of GBBO as we know it.  Apparently Channel 4 are out whoring the program now for sponsors, to try to claw back some of the absurd sums they forked out to get the program from the BBC.  Allegedly they (Channel 4) want to get many more hours of programming from the franchise that the BBC showed, so expect lots of spinoffs and behind the scenes stuff to pad out the actual competition coverage.

[Isis]

I hate all that padding out crap. Although the BBC do that too. It's just like taking a good idea and diluting it...

Just have to keep watching the endless re runs on all the homey satellite channels. 

[HexMachina]

3 hours ago, Isis said:

I hate all that padding out crap. Although the BBC do that too. It's just like taking a good idea and diluting it...

Just have to keep watching the endless re runs on all the homey satellite channels. 

A bank holiday of tea and GoodFood with back-to-back Bake Off...I could live with that.

To contribute a little, my vote is going to Candice. Though I think this final is less clear than previous years right now. I would say Jane is the least likely to win

[Ser Quork]

I'm dreading what it will be like on C4 - loads of commercial breaks that cut down running time by a quarter, wasting time on voiceover recaps after each ad break, dragging out the false suspense and lots of product placement.

Still, back to this one.  I think Candice will win (although I'm firmly on Team Jane).  Andrew may pull it out of the bag.  It's a very open final, I think.

 

[Isis]

6 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

To contribute a little, my vote is going to Candice. Though I think this final is less clear than previous years right now. I would say Jane is the least likely to win

I've been a fan of Candice all along tbh. But I have to say that I was bemused by that episode where she made that ?gingerbread house (it was a pub scene) and everyone said it was AMAZING but I thought it looked terrible... it was like the Emperor's New Clothes.

[Mladen]

I have just watched the controversial Baked Alaska episode in Season 5. And in this episode, you can really see the power of the editor. While one has to leave some space and think of sabotage (especially since Diana left the next episode), I think it was more of editing (perhaps intentionally) that caused entire conundrum... That said, one can never know  

[HexMachina]

A Victoria sponge for the final technical challenge? Really? Even with no recipe that isn't especially difficult. I suppose it leaves them nowhere to hide if it goes wrong but it's a little simple for a final

 

Eta: pre-Mary and Paul deliberating I think Candice is going to win, but it's close between her and Andrew. Poor Jane with her Lacey collar! Andrew's certainly looked the most appealing as a whole but I think Candice is the better baker of the two.

Also, I am now very very hungry

Edited October 26, 2016 by HelenaExMachina

[Veltigar]

Well, you all know I was a fan of

Spoiler

Andrew, but I don't really think anyone could have decided differently based on this final episode. Candice and Jane tied in the first round, Andrew won the second by the breadth of a hair, but in the third round Candice just crushed everyone. The only thing that seemed to be better than her equivalent was Andrew's cake, but that alone just wasn't cutting it. A deserved winner all in all.

I shall miss you bake-off 

ETA: Also, I really loved those ending credits, summing up what everyone was up to after they survived bake-off

Spoiler

In particular, I liked the parts about Selasi (he's relaxed about it, British humour to a t) and the part about the Jane & Candice road trip. That road trip was a great way to end the series I think. It felt warm and cozy, like this series can be when it's really good  

 

[Isis]

Well, the winner was who I expected it to be. I think the technical challenge was a classic! Nowhere to hide with a Victoria sponge. 

Sad that it's over forever.

[Ser Quork]

28 minutes ago, Veltigar said:

Well, you all know I was a fan of

  Reveal hidden contents

Andrew, but I don't really think anyone could have decided differently based on this final episode. Candice and Jane tied in the first round, Andrew won the second by the breadth of a hair, but in the third round Candice just crushed everyone. The only thing that seemed to be better than her equivalent was Andrew's cake, but that alone just wasn't cutting it. A deserved winner all in all.

I shall miss you bake-off 

ETA: Also, I really loved those ending credits, summing up what everyone was up to after they survived bake-off

  Reveal hidden contents

In particular, I liked the parts about Selasi (he's relaxed about it, British humour to a t) and the part about the Jane & Candice road trip. That road trip was a great way to end the series I think. It felt warm and cozy, like this series can be when it's really good  

 

Yes, I'll miss it too.

Re. your second spoiler tag:

Spoiler

It's amusing because a lot of social media have tried to make out there's a lot of rivalry between the two.  Going on a baking road trip puts paid to that one.

 

[Isis]

I'm not really sure about the use of spoilers in here as it doesn't say either way in the title... I guess in the UK we're all up to date but people are not 'spoiling' people in other countries who are watching earlier series? Is there an official ruling?

 

I do try not to get caught up in the inevitable wave of emotion at the end of the series (saying that, I did feel pretty emotional for Nadiya last year, it just seemed, I don't know - like it was a much bigger deal for her? Maybe Candice is just cagey like me and plays her cards close to her chest) BUT anyway I was doing ok until Candice said in this surprised way, "I'm good enough..." - as if she hadn't quite known that before or maybe didn't believe it. That was very touching.

On the subject of spoilers, I was a bit narked that the BBC news literally announced the winner with footage at 10pm -  with no warning. In the good old days they used to say, e.g. about the football results 'look away now if you don't want to know the score'.

Edited October 27, 2016 by Isis
still cannot spell spoiler

[Ser Quork]

29 minutes ago, Isis said:

I'm not really sure about the use of spoilers in here as it doesn't say either way in the title... I guess in the UK we're all up to date but people are not 'spoiling' people in other countries who are watching earlier series? Is there an official ruling?

  Hide contents

I do try not to get caught up in the inevitable wave of emotion at the end of the series (saying that, I did feel pretty emotional for Nadiya last year, it just seemed, I don't know - like it was a much bigger deal for her? Maybe Candice is just cagey like me and plays her cards close to her chest) BUT anyway I was doing ok until Candice said in this surprised way, "I'm good enough..." - as if she hadn't quite known that before or maybe didn't believe it. That was very touching.

On the subject of spoilers, I was a bit narked that the BBC news literally announced the winner with footage at 10pm -  with no warning. In the good old days they used to say, e.g. about the football results 'look away now if you don't want to know the score'.

Spoiler

I have to say that I didn't find that very genuine - it felt like a re-hash of Nadiya's reaction last year.  I wasn't convinced by it, whereas I was very touched by Nadiya's reaction.   That said, she was definitely a worthy winner.

And, yes, that spoiler on the news was bad.  If it's good enough to be a news headline, they should have had a warning first.

 

[Isis]

4 hours ago, Ser Quork said:

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I have to say that I didn't find that very genuine - it felt like a re-hash of Nadiya's reaction last year.  I wasn't convinced by it, whereas I was very touched by Nadiya's reaction.   That said, she was definitely a worthy winner.

And, yes, that spoiler on the news was bad.  If it's good enough to be a news headline, they should have had a warning first.

 

Hmm. It felt completely genuine to me. Do you think she was just faking by being so affected by it?

[Ser Quork]

57 minutes ago, Isis said:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Hmm. It felt completely genuine to me. Do you think she was just faking by being so affected by it?

 

Spoiler

I think she was genuinely delighted to win, sure, but I wasn't convinced by the "good enough" stuff - not at all.

[Isis]

1 hour ago, Ser Quork said:

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I think she was genuinely delighted to win, sure, but I wasn't convinced by the "good enough" stuff - not at all.

I just read the report on the final in the Guardian and she says exactly that, 'I have low self belief'. She also said during the show, 'I always see the negatives'. So it all seems pretty straight-forward to me.