The Great British Baking Show (or Great British Bake Off in the U.K.) has become the ultimate comfort/escape series during the past two years of pandemic and quarantine.
It lacks the cutthroat competitiveness and the anxiety-riddled “must-win” nature of American food-based shows. It’s this wonderfully charming, breezy, funny, and inherently British series that makes it perfect for binge-watching.
No matter the season you watch, it’s a show that doesn’t change much about its formula, but it’s still as fresh and delectable as the warm batch of Christmas cookies your parent/partner/friend makes every single year. Sure, it tastes exactly the same, but it’s a wonderful thing you love to revisit.
The Great British Baking Show Holidays (Great British Bake Off Holidays in the U.K.) is a perfect, quick binge to put on during your (hopeful) week off between Christmas and New Year’s. The wonderful Christmas and New Year’s culinary traditions in the U.K. are just delicious and fascinatingly different from what we do in the States. It has this old-time tradition that feels more authentic to the season than the cake architecture and cupcakes competitions we see on American television—not that those shows aren’t fun and impressive but rarely do those creations feel edible.
One negative about the “new episodes” listed on Netflix is they aren’t exactly new. The latest additions are actually from 2020 heading into 2021. This is made evident when they announce presenter Noel Fielding wouldn’t be present due to the birth of his child (which happened in 2020). So, there’s no one from the latest seasons on the specials.
However, if you can look past that, you are treated to two very warm, happy, and humor-filled exhibitions of amateur baking in a wonderfully delightful setting. At the end, Paul Hollywood, the series’ head judge, talks about his hope that these episodes can bring a sense of relief and comfort to people during this time of COVID and quarantine. With the world back in the same situation we were in a year ago, these new episodes and the past episodes accomplish the same thing they did a year ago. It’s a lovely diversion from the heaviness and hurt of the world around us.
The Great British Baking Show Holidays is now streaming on Netflix.
