It's business as usual over at The Great British Bake Off (BBC One, Wednesdays 9pm). Last night's first episode in the new series, "Cake Week" sees the introduction of 12 new sponge-obsessed home bakers who together form a perfectly PC line up.
There’s Northern Irish aerospace engineer Andrew, laid-back city boy Selasi, ditzy primary school head teacher Val, and this year’s Flora (ie the young baker everyone takes under their wing and coos at), 20-year-old Michael.
So a dozen new bakers, but everything else at Bake Off HQ in Berkshire stays exactly same. Mary Berry's hair is still set with gelatine; Paul Hollywood is still making come-to-bread-with-me eyes at the contestants. Presenters Mel and Sue have dry cleaned their extensive blazer collection and are ready with a basket full of puff pastry puns.
The unflagging GBBO appeal (almost 9 million people watched the 2015 finale) is somewhat baffling. Imagine if your mum or dad said “come into the kitchen and watch me make me make scones for an hour”; you might be tempted to touch the burning hot baking tray with no oven gloves just to remind yourself that you are alive. But put baking on the Beeb, cover it in Cath Kidston and millions are transfixed.
On Wednesday, it proves as popular as ever – Twitter goes into overdrive with people picking their early favourites and becoming couch cake critics.
Maybe in 100 years time our robotic great grandchildren will look back at GBBO with disbelief. Or maybe they'll still be watching Bake Off in the year 2050 because after seven series, it shows no signs of going stale.
