The return of the Great British Bake Off drew more than 10 million viewers on BBC1 on Wednesday evening, the biggest ever opening audience for the nation’s favourite TV show.
Nearly half the total viewing audience tuned in to watch the new batch of contestants demonstrate their baking skills under the watchful eyes of experts Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood. In a series billed as something of a return to basics, the first technical challenge saw the 12 bakers tasked with producing a plate of jaffa cakes.
At its peak the opener was watched by more than 11 million viewers, and the average audience of 10.4 million was well above last year’s launch which attracted 9.3 million viewers, itself a huge improvement on the preceding series which saw 7.2 million people tune in.
The series has grown in popularity since its debut on BBC2 in 2010 with 2 million viewers, and has proved a reliable ratings hit for the BBC. Last year’s finale in which Nadiya Hussain took the baking crown was the most-watched programme of the year with more than 13 million viewers.
Jane Beedle, a garden designer from Beckenham, earned this season’s first star baker accolade, but the heat proved too much for Rev Lee Banfield, a pastor and former builder from Bolton who was the first contestant to be eliminated.
