The Great British Bake Off was a TV juggernaut before it moved to BBC One – but no one would have predicted what happened when its fifth series debuted on the flagship channel.

The Great British Bake Off

Ratings grew throughout the run: initial overnights of around 7 million were impressive, but by the final, the Love Productions show had exploded – a consolidated audience of 13.5 million tuned in to see Nancy Birtwhistle crowned the winner. Bake Off was the most popular original commission of 2014 on any channel.

Great British Bake Off final is year’s biggest show

Behind the ratings is a show that viewers genuinely love. Mel and Sue gently tease the contestants while offering support, and their enthusiasm complements the expertise of Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry. Bake Off is a high-stakes elimination format, but not one that takes itself too seriously.

The contestants’ culinary creations are masterful, as is the show’s casting. Participants are of every age and ethnicity and come from every walk of life, but share one thing: they are more passionate about baking than being on TV, to the extent that one of this year’s bakers unceremoniously binned his ruined baked Alaska.

Any inclination to tinker with a winning formula was resisted for the move to BBC One and there were just a few subtle tweaks. That bravery paid off as Bake Off exceeded the ambitions of both producer and broadcaster. It was a triumph.

Award sponsored by The Hospital Club Studios

Shortlisted

Child Genius
Wall to Wall for Channel 4

Child Genius combined the tension of an elimination competition with elements of documentary about family life and parenting techniques. The series was a celebration of intelligence and delivered close to 2 million viewers. Plus there was the thrill of occasionally answering a question that an eightyear- old couldn’t…

Gogglebox
Studio Lambert for Channel 4

The innovative factual format rumbled on in 2014, building momentum thanks to even sharper editing and some clever scheduling. Moving the show to Friday nights was a risk that paid off - its extended 60-minute episodes delivered 4 million-plus viewers. Gogglebox is now an established part of the TV furniture.

Karl Pilkington: The Moaning Of Life
Me & You Productions and Rounded Productions for Sky 1

Beyond the moments of deadpan humour and Karl Pilkington’s unique presenting style lurks one of Sky 1’s smartest shows - an anthropology series dressed up as a comic travelogue. It wasn’t afraid to tackle major issues such as children, marriage and death, and was a significant step forward from Pilkington’s previous series An Idiot Abroad.

Pound Shop Wars
Nine Lives Media for BBC One

The BBC’s flagship channel took a clever look at austerity Britain with this funny, fast-paced doc series. The half-hour episodes flew by as the show offered an insight into emerging retailing techniques and the characters behind them. A fresh take on 8pm consumer programming.

The Island With Bear Grylls
Shine TV and Bear Grylls Ventures for Channel 4

Adventure series are well-trodden territory for TV, so would there really be audience appetite for yet another survival series? Absolutely. The Island’s broad mix of everyman castaways and an embedded camera and sound crew helped it become a ratings smash for Channel 4.

Topics