Cake crusaders: how The Great British Bake Off took the world by storm | The Great British Cake
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THElast week, a visitor from Great british pastry shop was on the phone with his mother in South Africa. “She was having her hair done at the time, and she said to the hairdresser, my daughter is on the set of The Great British Cake», Explains its co-creator, Richard McKerrow. “And as fast as anything, the hairdresser said, ‘Does she know Paul Hollywood? I love him!'”
History is testament to the extraordinarily successful international reach of the program, which returns to UK screens this week. It is now authorized for in-house productions in no less than 35 countries, Morocco, Mexico and Uruguay being the last in the line-up; in Morocco, the first of the series reached 40% audience share. Denmark, France and Sweden are all celebrating their 10th season this year, and over 1,500 episodes have been made around the world, featuring 1,300 bakers.
The distinctive white tent was pitched in a castle (in the German version); by a lake (Poland); by the sea (Israel and Belgium) – and in Australia, completely abandoned in favor of a huge hangar. In Argentina and Mexico, it’s called The Grand Pastelero (The Grand Pastry Chef); in Denmark it is Den Store Bagedyst (The Big Baking Contest) and in Germany it is Das Grosse Backen (The great pastry shop). In Italy, where it is Dolci in Forno (Baked Candy), they have the oldest judge of any region, 83-year-old Clelia D’Onofrio; and the winner in 2015 was a male professional boxer. In Norway, the winner is offered a new cuisine; in Sweden, they are thrown into a lake.
The licensed productions, however, are only part of Cook in the oven story abroad: because on top of that, over 200 territories around the world are taking the UK show, these days very shortly after it airs in Britain. In the US, for example, it will air on Netflix just three days after it airs on Channel 4. Want to participate, âsays McKerrow, CEO of Pastry shop producer Love Productions.
Cook in the oven success is perhaps the best modern example of UK soft power, the nation’s ability to make a positive impression abroad. The licensing process ensures that each edition is true to the show’s original style: when overseas companies promote the franchise, they receive the âBake Off Bible,â and any format changes must be made. agreed with Love Productions.
This also explains why for some Pastry shop has the sickening scent of “soft empire”: all this Britishness twee, with a decor modeled on a tented village festival: and it is either exported directly, in its British version, or slightly adapted to adapt to a country and a different culture.
Philosopher Tom Whyman says it is “like an imaginary and idealized Britishness, consciously updated to accommodate multiculturalism.” It gives people the feeling that the concept of Britishness is still relevant today. ” He thinks Cook in the oven the appeal lies in its reinvention of the British idyll as distinct from the more dubious imperial connections that created it. He also finds it interesting that the program’s fame abroad coincided with both Brexit and the threatened end of the UK brought about by the Scottish independence referendum in 2014.
But the sense of britannicity around Pastry shop is, according to Whyman, highly organized. “If you’re not British and don’t know much about Britain, you might think it’s Great Britain. Pastry shop – but of course most people in this country don’t live in this world of chocolate boxes that we see on set, âhe says.
He concedes that the major positive act of the program was the launch into the limelight of a Muslim woman wearing the hijab, Nadiya Hussain: she was the winner of the 2015 series and, like most of the program’s other winners at the UK and elsewhere. , the Pastry shop crown has led to a whole host of other media opportunities. For McKerrow, this is why the show is “radical TV that doesn’t sound like radical … people think it’s twee, but just watch the bakers in the new series and watch Nadiya. They prove the absolute multiculturalism of Great Britain. I think people look at it and remember that deep down, despite all the noise about Trump and Brexit, we are open-minded and kind people.
For television screenwriter Scott Bryan, Cook in the oven The appeal to Americans in particular is that it gives them a different view of Britain. âOther reality shows can be quite cynical,â he says. “But I think in the United States in particular, they really like the supportive attitude they see in the British version of Pastry shop, and it’s something they may not have seen before. It’s this blend of forward-looking unconventional and tradition that explains its appeal, âhe says.
For him, Cook in the oven popularity abroad is as much a testament to the high quality of British television as anything – and, he says, it’s not something everyone enjoys in the UK. âBritain is one of the best countries in the world to make television, and itâs only when you go abroad that you realize how deeply loved our television,â he says. “I’m not just talking about Fawlty towers and Top speed, either: programs like that of Michaela Coel I can destroy you is also a huge success.
“So much investment has been put into making UK programs in recent years, and you just have to watch shows like Sherlock Where Dr Who to see how we get him out of the park.
âAt a time when there is a lot of talk about the privatization of Channel 4 and the future of the BBC, it should be emphasized: spoil the ecosystem at your own risk, because will we continue to make television such a success? If a change occurs, will the harmony we have be negatively affected? “
The strength of British television, says Bryan, lies in the close ties it has in the UK with theater and film. âThere are a lot of crossovers, with actors and writers moving between them; you have that culture with a lot of talented and highly skilled people, and the chance to try out what they are doing in different fields. And of course Britain has always been a nation of viewers: when you live in a country with bad weather six months a year, you tend to watch a lot of TV.
Bryan believes Pastry shop takes international viewers by surprise by appearing to offer them a stereotypical take on Britain, to bring something much more to the table than that.
âWhat you get is a great reflection of today’s Britain: you have the young college student versus the Yorkshire nan in her seventies, and you have so many different flavors inspired by so many backgrounds. different, âhe says.
An anomaly of international programs is that the British have only one Pastry shop – theirs – while in many other countries of the world there is both the UK version and the local production.
But that may all be about to change: McKerrow reveals talks are underway for Great Australian Pastry shop at Channel 4. If that happens, it will add a new flavor to a product that no one could have expected to be so good, for so long, in so many places.
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