Look, I voted remain. But if Junior Bake Off represents the sort of cultural rebirth we might enjoy in the post-Brexit era then let me be the first to admit it: I was wrong. Farage was right.
Making children bake cakes competitively for our entertainment is exactly the sort of thing Brussels bureaucrats would have eventually banned on human rights grounds. Just another example of Euro red tape eroding good British fun.
Well, we’re probably well rid of them, all things considered. Make our kids bake on telly until their little hands bleed, I say. Yep, Junior Bake Off is my new favourite TV show of all time.
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Why is this show so great? Well, first there is Harry Hill and his brilliant catchphrase. “Nice to see ’em, it’s Rav and Liam!” is the best TV catchphrase there has been in several generations. Certainly since Brucie passed. And, to be fair, even he hadn’t come up with any real classics since conjuring “Nothing for a pair – not in this game” for the launch of Play Your Cards Right in 1980.
“Liam is funny, passionate and animated. Rav is hypnotically charming, warm and smart.”
Like David Bowie – his pop music equivalent – Brucie’s best work came in the Seventies. After that, his work was either commercial compromise (the high-octane but intellectually lacklustre You Bet! was his Let’s Dance), self-indulgent over-reach (the failed BBC One reverse gameshow concept Takeover Bid was his Earthling) or problematic forays into acting (the short-lived ITV sitcom Slinger’s Day was his Labyrinth).