The week in TV: The Great British Bake Off; the death of Queen Elizabeth II; Frozen Planet II; The Serpent Queen

‘The effect is of an unusually congenial Question Time audience’: this year’s Great British Bake Off contenders. Photograph: Mark Bourdillon/Channel 4

The Great British Bake Off Channel 4 | All 4
The death of Queen Elizabeth II coverage Various
Frozen Planet II BBC One | iPlayer
The Serpent Queen Starzplay

When times are unsettling, let them eat red velvet cake. With the launch of the 13th series of The Great British Bake Off, the tent of many colours had a big job to do: to momentarily distract the British public from the trouble and sadness of the world – queens dying, wars continuing, living costs escalating – and provide a parallel reality where the very worst thing that could happen to a person is your cake being “claggy”.