At a time of immense national uncertainty, where “great” and “British” are rarely uttered in the same sentence, we remain united by one common interest: the new season of Bake Off. 

The wholesome baking show may not possess the ability to halt the current political chaos but it has been known to unite indifferent office colleagues over the water cooler and inspire even the most kitchen adverse to start churning out loaves of banana bread.

It might even allow you to forget about Brexit for 60 minutes. 

Almost a decade after it first hit our screens, The Great British Bake Off is still clinging to its title as unlikely cultural cornerstone.

After a half-baked first season, the show came into its own and won over viewers’ hearts.
As far as the current climate of reality TV goes, Bake Off offers relatively low stakes.

The rules of the show are delightfully simple. Each week follows a loose theme – think bread, pastry, or desserts – and contestants complete in three rounds, after which the weakest is knocked out and the strongest is declared Star Baker. 

It sounds banal enough but each episode comes with a sprinkling of mild peril. Like when Diana mistakenly took Ian’s baked Alaska from the freezer, triggering an, erm, meltdown which saw him fling his creation in the bin before judging. And don’t forget #Custardgate, when Deborah accidentally picked up competitor Howard’s custard and used it in her own trifle.

Yet it is something more endearing that keeps viewers coming back for a second helping. Like, in the first season, when Mark Whithers was comforted by Sue Perkins over his sunken marmalade tea loaf. “You put your heart and soul into this,” said then-host Sue Perkins, as the lorry driver burst into tears.
There was series six winner Nadiya Hussain.

Known for her cartoon-like facial experiences and on-screen wisecracks, her victory speech moved the country to tears. “I’m never gonna say, ‘I don’t think I can’,” she said. “I can and I will.”

Most recently, Rahul Mandal won over fans’ hearts as he defied crippling shyness to be crowned last season’s winner. Sweeter than any of the show’s desserts, the research scientist confessed to taking up baking to “make friends”, with one particularly heart-melting series scene showing him walking into Rotherham Leisure Centre to deliver a cake to staff. 

The Great British Bake Off’s 10th series will be the third to air on Channel 4 after the show parted ways with the BBC. Cold hard ratings may have waned (last year’s finale had an average of 7.7 million, while the final BBC One series had an average of 14 million viewers), but enthusiasm certainly hasn’t.

The line-up for the new series is the youngest in the show’s history. It includes seven people in their 20s, with the oldest contestant aged 56, making an average age of 31 in the tent.

Henry Bird, a 20-year-old student who features in the upcoming series, said he was inspired to pursue baking when series two was filmed down the road from his house. 

And lorry driver Phil, 56, who made it on to the show after three years of applying, said Bake Off reignited his baking bug.

“I first got the baking bug in my last year of secondary school [in 1977],” he cheerfully explained. 

“I was extremely happy bringing home freshly baked bread to share with my family, then it all went quiet until GBBO started. 

“I didn’t take much notice at first, but as the series continued it caught my attention and I was hooked again.”

The new series, which starts tonight, will see a baker’s dozen of contestants tasked with creating a fruit cake and a showstopper based on their dream childhood birthday cakes (including a pop-up story book, a pirate island and a rocket) in its first episode.

The episode even opens with hosts Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig, as well as judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood, dressed up as characters from The Wizard Of Oz, with Fielding sporting bunches, red glittery shoes and a blue gingham dress as Dorothy, Toksvig dressed as the Scarecrow, Hollywood as the Tin Man “who doesn’t have a heart” and Leith as the Lion, joking: “I was late, it was the last costume.”

Marking the 10th series of the show, the episode includes a montage of previous winners, including Nadiya Hussain, Candice Brown and John Whaite, as Toskvig says: “It’s our 10th anniversary, but who will be our 10th Bake Off champion?”

While the country is staring down intense political turmoil, Bake Off provides relief when a bit of polite fuss over the density of a fruit cake is about all we can handle. Light and sweet, is it any wonder our appetite for TV’s answer to comfort food has endured for nearly a decade?

The Great British Bake-Off begins on Tuesday on Channel 4 at 8pm.