Or #Soggybottoms

Last year 12 bakers lined up at their work stations in the Great British Bake Off tent eager to sift, knead and mix their way to competition glory.

This year there are the same number of bakers but the names are different.

Gone are Laura, Mak, the one who said “Who doesn’t like chips mate?” and the others I’ve forgotten but might vaguely recognise if I saw them in the street.

They’ve been replaced by this year’s crop who all have the same goal and, so far, all seem similarly memorable.

I say similarly memorable because after approximately 20 minutes of the programme I changed channel to watch Manhunt.

I didn’t even get to the end of the first challenge to find out who had produced the best mini roll. I simply didn’t care.

In the interests of full disclosure, and a well-rounded piece, I can reveal I have since watched the rest of the show on catchup so I can give a full account of what happened.

I can but I’m not sure if I will because the problem I had with the programme last year is the same one as I have this year.

It is just people baking.

They are very good at baking, while having occasional baking disasters to make people at home feel less bad about themselves and also because things going wrong makes better TV than everyone doing well.

They are very good at baking, while the voiceover suggests not getting something right or overworking the dough could lead to a fate worse than death.

But it is just people baking and I’m really not sure if I care enough to watch the second episode.

Last year I stuck with it for the entire series but this was mainly so I’d be able to keep up with the conversations my colleagues were having at work.

A year on, while the number of bakers has stayed the same, the number of colleagues I have to talk about Bake Off has been slashed in half.

Cuts in my team came much heavier than a – insert name of heavy baked good here – so I sense knowing the ins and outs of how someone performs during patisserie week and who used too much salt in pastry week won’t be so relevant.

Maybe I will still watch the show or maybe I will flick past it from time to time and use it as a sign that winter is coming.

Recommend is the wrong word but whether or not you’re a Bake Off fan, I suggest you watch Manhunt on ITV. It’s about someone I used to report on a lot when I was in local news and what he did is absolutely horrific.

Stay safe for another week!