The New Trailer for The Great British Bake Off Is Delightfully Weird

Ariel Knutson
Ariel Knutson
Arie was the Features Director at Kitchn. She lives in Los Angeles.
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published Aug 4, 2017
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When it was announced earlier this year that everyone’s favorite cooking show, The Great British Bake Off, was leaving BBC and that the hosts and judges — besides Paul Hollywood — would all be different, I was resolved to not liking what came next. I mean, honestly, what’s The Great British Bake Off without Mary Berry? How could the show survive without its spirit? It seemed so wrong, and mean, and just antithetical to the whole point of the show to begin with.

But the new trailer for the show on Channel 4 was just released yesterday, and guys, it’s good. It’s really good.

My first impression of the trailer is that it’s seriously creepy. The pastries seem evil at first — spewing custard-like things — and the song seemed more doomsday than cheery. It reminded me more of The Nightmare Before Christmas than any cooking show I’ve ever seen.

But it grew on me. Upon a third and fourth (and fifth) viewing, I think the trailer becomes quirkier and delightful, even. If you listen to the lyrics, the song is actually quite upbeat and in line with everything I love about the original BBC show to begin with. And I’m happy that it looks so different from previous trailers of the show, which highlighted the contestants and the judges, because it’s not going to be the same show and it shouldn’t try to be.

The YouTube comments on the video itself are a battleground of opinion: “The Great British Bake Off is back would imply that this is going to be the same show, having a tent and Paul does not make it the same show,” says one commenter. “It isn’t a great British bakeoff without the people who made it great. Now it’s just the so-so British bakeoff,” says another. There are some positive comments, however: “What a lovely trailer. Quirky but British! I know a lot of people are eager to pull this show apart due to the move from BBC, but I am willing to give it a chance and I can’t wait for the new series!” says a commenter.

I feel like a total traitor for saying this, but I think I stand with the positive YouTube commenters by saying that I’m actually excited about the new season of The Great British Bake Off (whenever that will be.) I’ll be watching it with a serious side-eye to begin with, but if it’s anything like the trailer suggests, then there’s a good chance I’ll enjoy it.

What do you think of the new trailer? Let us know in the comments!

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