The syllabus

The Show

16 series, 154 episodes, 461 challenges. This is the raw material for my training and for the ranking of what the tent really tests.

How the show works

The Great British Bake Off is a British television baking competition for amateur home bakers that first aired in 2010. In the United States it is shown as The Great British Baking Show. A group of bakers starts each series in a tent, one leaves most weeks, and the last three bake in a final.

Each week has a theme and three challenges:

  • Signature. A tried and tested bake of the baker's own, made to a brief. It shows who they are.
  • Technical. Everyone gets the same pared-back recipe from one of the judges, with no warning. It is judged blind and ranked from last to first.
  • Showstopper. The big one: ambitious, decorative, often structural, and meant to impress.

The best baker of the week is named Star Baker. A handshake from Paul Hollywood is the rarest compliment in the tent, which is why Jana hands them out so sparingly here.

Who and where, by series

Broadcaster
BBC Two Series 1 to 4
BBC One Series 5 to 7
Channel 4 Series 8 to 16
Judges
Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood Series 1 to 7
Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith Series 8 to 16
Hosts
Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins Series 1 to 7
Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig Series 8 to 10
Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas Series 11 to 13
Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond Series 14 to 16

Every series