The Great British Bake Off

Season 7, Episode 1

"Cake Week"

In our media lessons we have recently been watching the British baking show 'The Great British Bake Off' hosted my Mary Berry, Paul Hollywood, Mel and Sue. 

In the first episode of season 7 "cake week', we are first of all presented with the new 12 contestants who will be taking part in the shows new season. Straight away we can see how the BBC was trying to show equality within its productions, as there is a mix of people from different ethnic groups such as; 9 white contestant, 2 black contestants and 1 Asia contestant. In addition to this, there is also an equal gender split of 6 males and 6 females. This has been also done in order to attract a wider audience, from a variety of ethic groups. Even though BBC has done this and so shown diversity within the GBBO, the fact that the judges and presenters are all white, implies the still existing imbalance.  

Furthermore, in the show there is a constant reference to Britain. The setting, such as the British flags being shown hanging around, does this, as well as, the repeated clips of pheasant walking on the field. Additionally, the idea that the whole setting is well kept, with freshly cut grass and flowers around connotes that Britain in a posh and well respected country.


The target audience for this show would be females ages 20-40. This is because, females are stereotypically related and said to be interested in baking and therefore, they would be interested in the concept of the show. Moreover, in the episodes there is a number of references to mature / page 3 jokes which, an audience of this age will be able to catch and understand and so, shows that a younger audience have not be targeted in particular.