Bakers attempt three challenges each week trying to impress the judges enough to go through to the next round and eventually are crowned Britain's best amateur baker.
Critics Of "The Great British Bake Off - Season 7"
Independent (UK)
April 24, 2019
Fans will be happy, because the rest of the world might be going to hell in a handcart, but in a tent in the grounds of a stately home in Berkshire, the status quo has not changed, going on this first episode at least.
If all reality TV were like The Great British Baking Show, I would watch more reality TV. It's warm, friendly, comforting, and it allows you to appreciate the work of regular, hard-working people divorced from ego and self-doubt
There's something very comforting about tradition...the first three weeks of the Great British Baking Show have followed the same pattern: Cakes, Biscuits, Bread.
Another 12 quivering little lambs gambol up to the Tent of Dreams, borne aloft by the joy of being a contestant in the mighty The Great British Bake Off. And then they meet Paul Hollywood...
While it remains every inch the cozy affair you remember from past seasons, it sometimes has the feel of a wildly popular spectator sport desperately clinging to amateur status.
Bake Off's format is a well-oiled (well-buttered?) machine and it would be foolish to change a winning recipe. If this opening episode was a cake, it would have earned the coveted "Hollywood handshake".
We feel very strongly about preserving the integrity of Bake Off like a particularly good jam, so maybe it's all for the best that this was just a classic finale, keeping the spotlight quite rightly on the three bakers.
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.
The timing is also perfect in that it offers a respite from the constant headlines and tweets, and is the epitome of a summer show. Above all, it's nice.
