Mary Berry

by A. S. Dagnell

  With the judging panel sorted, all the producers now needed before they launched the show to great fanfare was a presenter, or presenters. Sue Perkins was already being looked at as a possibility. Born in 1969 in East Dulwich, London, Sue was educated at the independent Croham Hurst School for Girls in Croydon before later winning a place to read English at New Hall at the University of Cambridge, graduating in 1990. It was while she was studying at Cambridge that Sue got her first taste of success as an entertainer. She was a member of Footlights, the amateur dramatics club with a prestigious reputation, responsible for launching the careers of stars such as Robert Webb, Sandi Toksvig, Gryff Rhys Jones and Eric Idle, to name but a few, who had all been members while at the university. Sue later became president of Footlights, and it was there that she met fellow student and actress Mel Giedroyc. Mel was born in 1968 in Epsom, Surrey; her father was a history writer of Polish-Lithuanian descent who had come to England in 1947. Perhaps due to her mixed heritage, Mel showed an aptitude for learning and speaking foreign languages, and after studying at Oxford High School for Girls, she too won a place at Cambridge to read Italian language and literature at New Hall. After performing together at Footlights, including at various festivals, and having established a solid friendship, the pair decided to try and make a go of being a duo once they graduated. After gigging at stand-up comedy events, they eventually got their breakthrough. They were picked to write material for the television series French and Saunders, the sketch show starring another female comedy duo, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. Mel and Sue would later go on to be compared to them as their partnership flourished. But the pair really started to make waves on TV with the launch of their own show. And as with both Mary and Paul, it was on daytime TV. Together they launched the popular Channel 4 show Light Lunch. The format was simple – and as the title suggested, it revolved around food. Celebrity chefs had to cook lunch for the duo’s celebrity guests. Unlike Mary and Paul, Mel and Sue did none of the cooking, but their irreverent, humorous style made the show a big hit. It was later moved to an early evening spot and renamed Late Lunch. To add to the banter, the studio audience were expected to bring in their own ‘lunch’ to eat during the show, and were each given £3 to cover the cost of this. They were encouraged to bring in unusual food, their own creations, or food that in some way related to that day’s celebrity guest – and the most creative ideas would be shown on camera. The series ran for two years, and soon TV producers were fighting to sign up Mel and Sue – as they had become known – for their next venture. In 1999, Channel 4’s rival network, ITV, signed them to front a new comedy panel show called Casting Couch. This was a great opportunity for the girls and exposed them to a wider, more adult audience, as the programme aired in a late evening slot. Unfortunately, though, the ratings did not meet expectations and the ITV bosses chose not to re-commission it after its first series. Other side projects included returning to where it all started, appearing together again in a Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders Mamma Mia! sketch for Comic Relief in March 2009, as well as performing together on various radio programmes, with them proving especially popular on BBC Radio 4.

  After a while, the duo decided they wanted to explore solo projects. While their friendship remained as solid as ever, they both wanted to try out new things. While Sue has since tried her hand at a range of different ventures, including a stint on Celebrity Big Brother and presenting on the now-defunct Channel 4 breakfast show RI:SE, she quickly found a niche presenting food shows. In April 2007, she took part in Edwardian Supersize Me for the BBC with food critic Giles Coren. The pair spent a week eating the equivalent of a wealthy Edwardian couple’s diet, while dressing in traditional clothes from the era. They decided it was a winning formula and the duo returned in May 2008 with a series called The Supersizers Go … The concept involved them spending a week eating food based on certain diets. The first instalment saw them survive for a week on Second World War rations. In the second episode, they moved back in time to the English Restoration period, followed by the Victorian era, the 1970s and the Elizabethan and Regency periods. Sue also appeared on Celebrity MasterChef in 2006.

  Meanwhile, Mel worked on a range of programmes including co-presenting a daytime chat show and starring in a BBC sitcom. She also appeared in three series of the twice BAFTA-nominated cult sketch show Sorry I’ve Got No Head, as well as the West End musical Eurobeat and the popular teen drama, Sadie J.

  But after working separately for four years, the opportunity arose to work together again. The producers behind the Great British Bake Off had already been talking to Sue about the possibility of her fronting the show and considering whom she could be paired with. Keen to make sure that a show about baking didn’t become too serious or staid, they wanted to make sure whoever presented it would keep things light and fluffy. It seemed like an obvious decision to reunite Mel and Sue. Sue first hinted at their reunion when she appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, saying that they would be working on something together in 2010. Although both were up for the challenge, Sue admitted in an interview with TV industry magazine Broadcast that she found the prospect daunting, adding: ‘We’d both changed hugely as individuals.’ Speaking ahead of the first series, Sue added that she wasn’t sure whether they would work together full-time, but that they were excited about the Great British Bake Off. ‘We’re keen to keep our new identities but the door’s definitely open,’ she said.

  So, with the judges and presenters in place, the filming was due to start over the summer months of 2010. For the first series, it was decided that the show would tour the UK, with each episode taking in a new location that had a particular link to the world of British baking. But before filming even got off the ground, potential problems arose that threatened to jeopardise the whole thing. One location the producers were keen to visit was Bourton-on-the-Water, in Gloucestershire. Set in the heart of the picturesque Cotswolds, the small village was its own slice of baking history, famed for its afternoon teas, scones and clotted cream. It would be the perfect place to film an episode, Love Productions felt. And Mary was keen to see what the bakers from that part of the country could cook up for her and Paul, later saying: ‘I love the South West, and my favourite episode of Bake Off was definitely Mousehole.’

  However, some Bourton locals were less than keen to see Bake Off pitch up in the town. The local newspaper, the Gloucestershire Echo, reported prominently in its pages: ‘Plans to film a new television series at Bourton-on-the-Water have cooked up a storm.’ The producers had planned to take over the village green, the report continued. On it they planned to set up a large marquee in which the filming would take place. But the parish council was up in arms at the plans. They said that their ‘cherished centrepiece’ would be ‘overwhelmed’ by the arrival of so many people, which would include a huge entourage of vehicles. Parish and district councillor Sheila Jeffery said: ‘They are trying to cash in because Bourton is known. We’re too small and too precious to have them trample all over us. It’s a massive amount to put in the village centre.’ Mrs Jeffery also questioned whether the BBC had thought through their reasoning for wanting to film in Bourton-on-the-Water in the first place: ‘And why do they want to come here? We’re not known for cakes; the Cotswolds is known for its wolds and sheep.’ According to the parish council’s minutes, Love Productions proposed to set up a 18m by 12m marquee on the green sward, a gazebo to store equipment, a generator on an 8m truck and also to bring some 15 other support vehicles. It would, the parish council claimed, destroy the quaint atmosphere of the local area by causing an influx of extra visitors and creating chaos, unless the filming was properly monitored and controlled. Councillor Tim Faulkner was one of the parish councillor who objected strongly. He said: ‘TV companies can be an absolute nightmare – they never do what they say they’re going to do.’ Colleagues also wondered if the green was even wide enough to accommodate the ambitious marquee, in which Mary and Paul would judge the would-be bakers’ results. C
ouncillor Alan Palmer was particularly worried about this point, asking: ‘Have they taken account of the trees?’ The council was also concerned that the BBC hadn’t made it clear whether or not they would pay for using the green. Parish council village green bookings committee chairman Gill Crippen said: ‘We only want to give permission if the marquee’s an acceptable size and lorries, equipment and other paraphernalia are not parked on the green or alongside it. If they abide by this, I think people will genuinely welcome something of this order in the village and it will enhance it. We should point out we have some anxieties and have an on-site meeting.’ There was one person, however, who agreed with the move to bring the Great British Bake Off to the area. Chairman Bryan Sumner said: ‘I feel the programme’s sufficiently relevant and good for Bourton if it doesn’t overwhelm us.’ After the meeting, parish clerk Sue Cretney said: ‘It’s a one-off series going around the country, with each programme showcasing baking of that area. They thought of the Cotswolds because we’re synonymous with tea rooms.’

  This was not the first time film crews were not welcomed with open arms to the Cotswolds. In 2006 Stow Town Council had snubbed movie-makers, fearing they would disrupt trade. They regretted it after discovering that the filming they’d blocked was for former Brockworth schoolboy Simon Pegg’s film Hot Fuzz, which went on to become a blockbuster. Nevertheless, the BBC didn’t want to cause upset. They understood that there was sufficient concern about filming the Great British Bake Off in Bourton-on-the-Water for it to be problematic, and withdrew. But while this may have been the first controversy in the programme’s history, it would by no means be the last.

  With that hurdle left behind, filming got into full swing. More than 1,000 hopefuls entered the audition process, before being whittled down to 10 finalists. But getting to that stage was no mean feat in itself. ‘Every person who makes it into the marquee has passed a rigorous series of tests,’ Anna Beattie, the executive producer and creator of the Great British Bake Off concept, said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph. Anna had come up with the idea for the show after talking to a friend who had seen ‘bake-offs’ in America, where they are hugely popular. The GBBO contestants all filled out long application forms and, if they met all the requirements, this allowed them through to the next stage. They were then quizzed by one of the show’s researchers in a 45-minute telephone interview. The next stage saw successful contestants invited to London, where they were asked to bring two of their most successful ‘bakes’, to see if their culinary skills were really up to scratch. Following that was a screen test and a further interview with a senior producer. All that might seem enough, but think again. If the would-be baking superstars succeeded at all those tests, they then had to go through to a second audition, baking two recipes for Mary and Paul, this time in front of rolling cameras, to see how they would interact with the two judges and how they would come across on screen. The final hurdle that all contestants had to pass was a forensic interview with one of the show’s psychologists. The producers have a duty of care to all contestants and they needed to make sure they would be able to cope with the stresses, strains and overall pressure of filming for up to 16 hours a day, potentially for weeks on end. It’s no wonder contestants on reality shows are often told they’re ‘all winners’ for even getting on to the show in the first place.

  Finally, after the lengthy audition process, Mary and Paul had their 10 contestants. They were Welsh bus driver Mark Withers, Scottish freelance food writer Lea Harris, Marks & Spencer commercial manager Miranda Gore Browne, Solihull housewife Jasminder Randhawa, David Chambers from Milton Keynes, Annetha Mills, Manchester police sergeant Louise Brimelow, shop owner Jonathan Shepherd, fourth-generation baker Ruth Clemens and debt collector Edd Kimber. Over the course of six episodes, they would battle it out, with Mary and Paul eventually finding a single winner. After the controversy surrounding Bourton, filming had moved elsewhere in the Cotswolds for the first episode. Later filming continued at Sandwich and Sarre Mill, in Thanet, Kent, with the aim of enabling the contestants to find out about a place where traditional bread-baking skills are still used. They would later cook puddings in Bakewell, pasties in Cornwall and scones at Scone Palace, in Perthshire, Scotland. The travelling alone seemed exhausting enough, but with filming now getting going, the set of the show was a hive of activity too. Both Mel and Sue kept the atmosphere jovial and lively with their witty asides and comic interludes, whether the cameras were rolling or switched off. In particular, they became adept at teasing Paul, gently poking fun at his hairstyle and patting him affectionately as they prepared to film their segments. Meanwhile, food producers were constantly on standby between takes. While the contestants were by and large left to their own devices, the food producers helped any who were in particularly sticky situations, giving tips on a recipe or providing new ingredients. ‘We help the bakers to a certain degree,’ Faenia Moore, the programme’s home economist, told the Daily Telegraph in an interview. ‘We do show the disasters, but you don’t want to set anyone up for a fall.’

  The first contestants to be thrown off the show were Mark and Lea, at the end of the first episode. After her exit from the show, Lea told the Scotsman: ‘Let’s just say cakes are very temperamental and every one of the cakes looked completely different from the other … There were some tears, but when you’re on camera and cooking to a time limit it is quite stressful. It’s just off camera, but I managed to drop my signature bake – pistachio and cranberry cake – on the floor. And I almost set my clothes on fire, which you can’t see on TV. With five minutes to spare, I managed to stick the five bits of my cake back together.’

  Mary has spoken of how impressive many of the contestants have been – despite their tears – given that it is a competition among amateurs: ‘I feel sorry for them,’ she told Stella magazine. ‘The emotion comes because they are cross with themselves. They think they can do it, then something goes wrong. But the lovely thing is the family atmosphere and the kindness; contestants lend each other ingredients, they offer each other space in their ovens.’ The producers don’t proactively seek out or have a hand in the crises sometimes caught on camera – the drama comes down to the fact that we’re watching normal people trying their best in a very high-pressure environment. Mary said on Desert Island Discs, ‘Well, they are all amateur bakers. Everything you see is absolutely genuine. No dramas, and you know, there isn’t a camera going, ah she’s crying, shall we put that in? They are very likely not to put it in. If people do things that don’t work and a sauce doesn’t set or something, the camera is on it, and then later on either Paul Hollywood or I will say, to avoid that we do such and such. So people really get the feel, it is a baking lesson in disguise.’

  But as the contestants continued to battle it out in that first series, it was the chemistry between Mary and Paul that most impressed the producers. They seemed to be a match made in heaven. Despite the age gap there seemed to be an instant connection. Mary regularly voiced her respect for Paul in pre-series interviews. Paul, for his part, seemed to be the only one who could get away with calling Mary by the nickname ‘Bezza’. No one had known quite how well things would go until the filming started. And as each episode was filmed, they appeared to settle in to a ‘good cop, bad cop’ routine – with Mary decidedly playing the good cop. Meanwhile, Paul was the ‘antidote’ – the harsher judge as often seen on other reality TV programmes, cultivating a firm-but-fair on-screen persona. He only judged the finished product, and never minced his words. Meanwhile, Mary was always measured in her criticism. The worst you would hear from her would be: ‘I’m really disappointed,’ or ‘I don’t like this at all.’ ‘It’s not about being beastly – we’re not a bit like MasterChef,’ she has said.

  Journalist Sarah Stephens from the Daily Telegraph was invited on to the set. She scrutinised the judging process, and wrote: ‘The judging itself is fascinating to watch. During a technical bake (the round in which contestants have no prior knowledge of the recipes),
the finished products are lined up on a table anonymously, while the bakers themselves sit on stools facing away from the bakes. It looks contrived, but it ensures no one can influence the judges. Meanwhile Berry and Hollywood make their way along the table, commenting and tasting as they go. “This is over-baked,” Hollywood complains. “Structure’s all wrong.” “Pastry’s lovely on this one,” Berry says, breaking through with her fork. Decisions are swift and definite.’

  But for all that Mary and Paul’s on-screen chemistry would cement the show’s reputation, Mary admits that they don’t always see eye to eye. For one, Mary has refused to be combative towards the contestants. ‘I wouldn’t have taken part if I had been expected to make nasty comments,’ she told the Daily Mail. She and Paul would often have to spend hours deliberating over who was to stay and who was to go. On one occasion, it took them five hours to work out who would be cut from the show prior to a semi-final in the first series. Their personal approaches to baking meant that they often clashed.