It’s back then, and it’s probably just as well. Such is the comforting power of The Great British Bake Off (Channel 4); it seems unthinkable it would have been cancelled or postponed merely because the Queen had passed on. Indeed, that very fact, and the emotional trauma it has inflicted on a nation and a Commonwealth of about 2.5 billion people, makes it imperative that judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood and their sweetly charming contestants get the mixing bowl out to salve the collective hurt.
This they cheerfully attended to with lavish application of buttercream and lame jokes. In the GBBO tent, nestled in its warm, exquisitely verdant setting, the real world, and its horrors feel far, far away. No one ever asks aloud how much the gas bill will be for making 168 cakes, or remarks on how much the price of flour and raisins has gone up lately. There is no cost of living crisis in Bakeoffland, and that is how we like it. Even if we can’t afford to make an apple strudel or a Belgian bun, it’s nice to watch people who can indulge themselves. If you think about it, it’s also the basic attraction of most things the royal family gets up to.
