Recap: The Great British Bake Off Season 6

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]t’s official: Britain loves baking. If there was ever any doubt of that fact, the viewing figures for The Great British Bake Off Season 6 final have put an end to it.

According to The Guardian, Nadiya’s win on BBC One was watched by an average of 13.4 million viewers, with a peak of 14.5 million. This makes it the most-watched show of 2015 so far; compare that to the measly 2.5 million who watched the final of the first season in 2010, and it’s clear that Bake Off’s success has risen more quickly than dough in a proving drawer.

The final was also streamed on the Big Screen in the Piazza for Warwick students to watch, and Curiositea ran Bake Off specials all day

Eleanor Dawson, an English Literature finalist, has only recently been won over by the show. She said: “Before this Summer I was a Bake Off sceptic. But now I’ve seen the light. And it smells like shortcrust pastry.”

So what is it about Season 6 that has caused so many new viewers to tune in?

Paul Hollywood. Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Tim Fields

For starters, this season seemed to have the closest final to date, with Nadiya, Ian, and Tamal all performing exceptionally, especially in the ‘showstopper’ round. Nadiya won over the judges (Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry) with her “big fat British wedding cake”, but with the incredible sugar work on Tamal’s bake, and the perfect flavour in Ian’s, it must have been an impossible decision to make.

While there were no dramatic disasters this year – in comparison to the custard theft of 2013, and ‘bingate’ in 2014 – it was still an emotionally charged ten weeks.

The technical challenges were far more vicious this time around. Gone are the halcyon days of a brandy snap technical; this year saw obscure challenges such as a Victorian tennis cake, mokatines, and flaounes.

At the start of the season, Nadiya struggled with these, consistently placing towards the bottom. However, we’ve since seen her become a four-time technical winner. I think it’s this progression that has made her so popular with the public: it’s been a real joy to watch her grow as a baker.

“I’m never going to say ‘maybe,’” a tearful Nadiya told the camera after learning of her victory, “I’m never going to say ‘I don’t think I can.’ I can and I will.”

There were tears all round after the announcement, with even the stolid Mary Berry getting misty eyed.

By the show’s sixth season, it’s not only established itself in the hearts of the nation, but has managed to find its optimal format

This year saw a drastic reduction to the informational segments which took up a large amount of screen time previously, choosing to focus instead on the contestants and their baking. Whilst I’m a ‘trifle’ sad to see these go, it’s true that the show has felt more cohesive thanks to their absence; it’s now much harder to find a break for a quick cuppa!

Now that the summer’s over and the tent collapsed, we’ll have to wait another year for Bake Off’s return, but hopefully the memories of this season will give us enough food for thought until then.