The Great British Baking Show

Anglophiles and baking enthusiasts received their own Christmas gift from PBS. (Public Broadcasting Corporation).
The network is now broadcasting the wildly popular U.K. series The Great British Bake-Off (albeit under the name The Great British Baking Show).

PBS is currently airing the fifth season, which originally appeared on BBC One this fall. The October finale was 2014’s second most watched TV program in the U.K.
Follow the trials and tribulations of passionate amateur bakers whose goal is to be named the U.K.’s best. Each week, the bakers tackle a different skill, the difficulty of which increases as the competition unfolds.

The Great British Baking Show is a cooking show high on charm, skill, and eccentricity. Hosted by the serene 79-year-old cookbook author Mary Berry and master baker Paul Hollywood, it’s filmed under a tent decorated with British flag pendants and pastel colored mugs. Sheep graze and brooks bubble on the bucolic grounds outside the tent, where mild but engaging drama ensues as contestants attempt to assemble crack-free Swiss rolls and perfect their powdered sugar glazes. And—quaint alert!—each contestant’s dish is introduced via an illustration.

The BBC had the great foresight to hire Berry, the mild mannered cookbook author who has become an overnight sensation. In 2012, Queen Elizabeth appointed her a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and she’s since had a big hand in forming British food trends


Watch full episodes of “The Great British Baking Show” online, and be sure to check your local listings to see when the show will be airing in your area.