The Great British Bake Off series 6

The sixth series (Season 3 on PBS, or Collection 3 on Netflix in the US) of The Great British Bake Off first aired on 5 August 2015, with twelve contestants competing to be the series 6 winner.[1] Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins presented the show, and Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood returned as judges.[citation needed] The competition was held in the ground of Welford Park, Berkshire for a second year.[2] The series was won by Nadiya Hussain, with Tamal Ray and Ian Cumming finishing as runners-up.[3]

The Great British Bake Off
Series 6
British digital release
Starring
No. of episodes10
Release
Original networkBBC One
Original release5 August (2015-08-05) –
7 October 2015 (2015-10-07)
Series chronology
← Previous
Series 5
Next →
Series 7

The sixth series was broadcast as the third season on PBS in the United States.

Bakers

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Baker[4] Age Occupation Hometown Links
Alvin Magallanes 37 Nurse Bracknell, Berkshire [5][6]
Dorret Conway 53 Accountant Penwortham, Lancashire [7][8]
Flora Shedden 19 Art gallery assistant Dunkeld, Perth and Kinross [9][10]
Ian Cumming 41 Travel photographer Great Wilbraham, Cambridgeshire [11][12]
Marie Campbell 66 Retired Auchterarder, Perthshire [citation needed]
Mat Riley 37 Fire fighter London [13]
Nadiya Hussain 30 Full-time mother Leeds / Luton [14]
Paul Jagger 49 Prison governor Swansea, Wales [15][16]
Sandy Docherty 49 Child welfare officer Yeadon, West Yorkshire [17][18]
Stu Henshall 35 Professional musician Guildford, Surrey [19][20][21]
Tamal Ray 29 Trainee anaesthetist Manchester [22]
Ugnė Bubnaityte 32 PA and administrator Woodford, London / Vilkaviškis, Lithuania [23][24][25][26]

Results summary

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Elimination chart
Baker 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Nadiya HIGH SAFE SAFE HIGH SB LOW HIGH SB SB WINNER
Ian SAFE SB SB SB SAFE SAFE HIGH SAFE LOW Runner-up
Tamal HIGH SAFE SAFE HIGH SAFE SAFE SB HIGH HIGH Runner-up
Flora HIGH SAFE SAFE SAFE LOW HIGH SAFE LOW OUT
Paul SAFE LOW HIGH LOW HIGH SAFE LOW OUT
Mat SAFE HIGH LOW SAFE SAFE SB OUT
Alvin SAFE SAFE HIGH LOW SAFE OUT
Ugnė LOW SAFE SAFE SAFE OUT
Sandy SAFE HIGH SAFE OUT
Dorret LOW LOW OUT
Marie SB OUT
Stu OUT

Colour key:

  Baker was one of the judges' least favourite bakers that week, but was not eliminated.
  Baker was one of the judges' favourite bakers that week, but was not the Star Baker.
  Baker got through to the next round.
  Baker was eliminated.
  Baker was the Star Baker.
  Baker was a series runner-up.
  Baker was the series winner.

Episodes

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Episode 1: Cakes

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For the first signature challenge, the bakers were given two hours to make a Madeira Cake, which was chosen as an "easy" challenge for the bakers. The cake should have a dome and a crack on top, though Mary stated the cake should not differ too far from the original. For the technical challenge, the bakers had 1+34 hours to make Mary Berry's recipe for a Walnut Cake, which should have three layers, a meringue coating, and caramelised walnuts. For the showstopper, challenge the bakers had 3+12 hours to make a Black Forest Gâteau. The bakers were tasked with making a cake that should be extravagant and should "impress" Mary and Paul.

Episode 2: Biscuits

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For the signature challenge, the bakers were given two hours to bake twenty-four identical biscotti of any shape, flavour or size. In the technical challenge, they were required to make eight arlettes, which are high-end light delicate cinnamon-flavoured biscuits, in 2+12 hours. For the show stopper, they were set the challenge of making thirty-six biscuits to be presented in a biscuit box made of a different kind of biscuit mix. They were given four hours in this challenge.

Episode 3: Bread

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In their signature challenge, the bakers were given 1+12 hour to make two quick bread to be made free-form (i.e. not in a tin). For the technical challenge, Paul set the bakers the challenge of baking four identical crusty baguettes in 2+12 hours. For the showstopper challenge, the bakers needed to make a 3D bread sculpture in 5 hours, using three types of dough, and one of them should be filled.

* Paul received the first ever special commendation for his showstopper King of the Jungle.[27]

Episode 4: Desserts

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For the signature challenge, the bakers had two hours to make twelve crème brûlées. The brief specified that the custard must be set and that the bakers were not allowed to use a blowtorch to caramelize the top. For the technical challenge, the bakers had four hours to make a Spanische Windtorte. This dessert had two types of meringue, Swiss and French, designed into a circular box and filled with cream and fruit. Three tiers of sweet cheesecakes were set as the showstopper. The structure must be self-standing, have unique flavors and be completed in 4+12 hours.

Episode 5: Alternative Ingredients

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This episode has a theme of using alternatives for ingredients usually used in baking. For the signature bake, the bakers were given the challenge of baking a cake, but without using sugar. They were given 2+12 hour for the bake. For the technical bake, the challenge was to make twelve identical gluten-free pita breads in two hours. In the showstopper, the bakers needed to make an ice-cream roll using dairy-free ice-cream. They were given 4+12 hours for the bake.

Episode 6: Pastry

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For this week's signature challenge, the bakers had to make a Frangipane tart in two hours with the brief being that it must be open-topped and must be shortcrust pastry. In the technical, the bakers had to make twelve Flaounes, a cheese filled pastry made in Cyprus. They had two hours. Vol-au-vents were set as the Showstopper – the bakers had to make two types, all using their own puff pastry – in three hours and forty-five minutes.

Episode 7: Victorian

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For the first challenge, the bakers had three hours to make a raised game pie. The pie must have thin hot water crust pastry and must be very ornate, as most game pies from the era were. For the technical challenge, a tennis fruit cake was set for the bakers. The bakers were given three hours to make a fruit cake, with royal icing, sugar paste, and gelatine. A Charlotte Russe was set as the showstopper. To be done in 5+12 hours, the bake usually has ladyfingers around jelly and a sponge – with flavour and decoration being key.

Episode 8: Pâtisserie (Quarterfinals)

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In the first quarter-final challenge, the bakers had to make twenty-four cream horns, twelve of each flavour, using either puff, rough puff or flaky pastry, in 3+12 hours. Mary Berry's recipe for nine mokatines was set as the technical challenge. They are small, delicate genoise sponges filled with a coffee buttercream that are meant to be attractive, as if "in a pâtisserie window", and only have two hours. Religieuse à l'ancienne were set as the showstopper challenge. They are large éclairs, stood upright with no dowelling, and decorated with buttercream. They were given four hours. Although the towers were left to stand for two hours after the challenge as traditional religieuse would have been left for such time, some of the towers began to collapse or lean upon being presented to Mary and Paul.

Episode 9: Chocolate (Semi-final)

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For the first challenge, the bakers had 2+12 hours to make a chocolate tart. The tart had to be ornate, intricate, and full of flavour. For the technical challenge, the bakers faced a staggered start, and were each given 1 hour and 15 minutes to make a chocolate soufflé – with Flora starting first, followed by Ian, Nadiya, and Tamal. A chocolate centrepiece was set as the showstopper. In 4 hours, the bakers had to create an ornate centrepiece using white chocolate in some form and including a biscuit element, the centrepiece having to be free-standing and attractive.

Flora's elimination meant that she was the first baker to have finished first in the technical challenge and be eliminated the same week.

Episode 10: Final

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In the final signature challenge, the bakers had to make sixteen iced buns, of which there must be two kinds, in three hours. In the technical challenge, the judges decided to use one of Paul Hollywood's recipes; the bakers had to bake six raspberry-flavoured mille-feuille with fondant icing in two hours. The recipe involved pastry – something all of the bakers had struggled with in Week Six. In the final showstopper, the bakers were given four hours to make a classic British cake in a minimum three-layered presentation.

Masterclasses

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Mary and Paul show how to bake some of their favourite recipes and technical challenges.

Episode 1

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Bake 1 Bake 2 Bake 3
Mary Madeira Cake Walnut Cake Black Forest Gâteau
Paul Hazelnut and Orange Biscotti Arlettes

Episode 2

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Bake 1 Bake 2 Bake 3
Mary Cappuccino Crème Brûlée Spanische Windtorte White Chocolate and Raspberry Cheesecake
Paul Soda Bread Baguettes

Episode 3

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Bake 1 Bake 2 Bake 3
Mary Sugarfee Carrot Cake Apricot Frangipane Tart
Paul Flaounes Raised Game Pie Lime and Passionfruit Charlotte Russe

Episode 4

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Bake 1 Bake 2
Mary Tennis Cake Mokatines
Paul Cream Horns Religious a l'Ancienne

Christmas special

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Bake 1 Bake 2 Bake 3
Mary Christmas Pavlova Christmas Trifle Rosace à l’Orange
Paul Christmas Chelsea Buns Turkey and Ham Pie Pandoro

Controversies

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Betting

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As the show was pre-recorded, the winner of the show would have been known by those involved in the show. Bookmaker Ladbrokes halted betting on the show after "a run of bets" was placed for one contestant, many at shops in the Ipswich area.[28]

It was also claimed that dozens of employees of BBC as well as the production company, Love Productions, had opened gambling accounts to place bets on the eventual winner.[29]

Spoilers

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In a BBC Radio 2 broadcast, judge Mary Berry accidentally revealed the eliminated contestant prior to the airing of episode three.[30]

Contestants

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Contestant Marie Campbell, who was the first Star Baker of the series, was criticised for being "semi-professional", after it emerged that she had been trained in Ecole Escoffier at the Ritz in Paris where she specialised in patisserie. A statement from the BBC said: "There are strict criteria to take part in the show and Marie met those criteria. She gained a certificate for one week’s training in Paris in 1984, more than 10 years ago. She has not worked professionally as a baker or chef."[31][32]

Post-show career

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Nadiya Hussain regularly appears on The One Show on BBC1. Her own cookery show, The Chronicles of Nadiya started on 24 August 2016 on BBC One. Hussain writes a weekly column for The Times Magazine, a part of the Saturday supplement of The Times,[33][34][35] as well as a monthly column in Essentials magazine.[36] Her recipes have also appeared in BBC's Good Food magazine.[37]

Hussain was signed by UK publisher Michael Joseph, part of Penguin Random House,[38] for her debut book Nadiya's Kitchen, which is a collection of the recipes that she cooks for friends and family.[39] Hussain has written a children's book of stories and recipes, Bake Me A Story, due to be published by Hodder Children's Books,[40] which blends updated versions of fairytales (poor "Sleepless Beauty" just needs a nice cup of cardamom-infused hot chocolate to break her curse; resourceful Jack wins the giant over with yummy bean patties) with colourful illustrations and child-friendly recipes.[41] She is also writing three contemporary women's fiction novels for Harlequin.[42]

Tamal Ray writes a monthly column for The Guardian.[43] He presented a television show on health on Channel 4 titled Be Your Own Doctor.[44]

Flora Shedden studied for a year at the University of Edinburgh but deferred on a course on art history at the University of St Andrews for a year to concentrate on writing a cookbook, Gatherings, published in January 2017.[45][46] She wrote a column on baking for The Scotsman.[47]

Ratings

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According to the overnight ratings, the opening episode of the series 6 of Bake Off was watched by 9.3 million viewers, a rise of over 2 million from the previous year.[48] The final was watched by an overnight audience of 13.4 million viewers peaking at 14.5, the highest overnight total of 2015.[49] The list of ten most-watched television programmes of 2015 was also dominated by The Great British Bake Off, with seven of the year's ten being episodes of The Great British Bake Off.[50] During the entire length of the series, no national programme on any of the episodes was higher rated than Bake Off.

Official episode viewing figures are from BARB.[51]

Episode
no.
Airdate 7 day viewers
(millions)
28 day viewers
(millions)
BBC One
weekly ranking
Weekly ranking
all channels[52]
BBC iPlayer requests
1 5 August 2015 (2015-08-05) 11.62 11.73 1 2,063,000[53]
2 12 August 2015 (2015-08-12) 11.59 11.84 1,977,000[53]
3 19 August 2015 (2015-08-19) 12.01 N/A 1,760,000[53]
4 26 August 2015 (2015-08-26) 12.36 12.67 1,539,000[53]
5 2 September 2015 (2015-09-02) 12.39 12.63 1,930,000[54]
6 9 September 2015 (2015-09-09) 12.00 12.26 1,869,000[54]
7 16 September 2015 (2015-09-16) 12.35 12.58 1,841,000[54]
8 23 September 2015 (2015-09-23) 11.09 11.35 1,748,000[54]
9 30 September 2015 (2015-09-30) 12.65 12.78 1,370,000[54]
10 7 October 2015 (2015-10-07) 15.05 15.16 1,619,000[54]

Specials

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The Great British Bake Off, Class of 2014
Episode
no.
Airdate 7 day Viewers
(millions)
BBC Two
weekly ranking
4 October 2015 (2015-10-04) N/A N/A
The Great British Bake Off Masterclass
Episode
no.
Airdate 7 day Viewers
(millions)
BBC Two
weekly ranking
1 12 October 2015 (2015-10-12) 2.55 2
2 16 October 2015 (2015-10-16) 1.74 18
3 19 October 2015 (2015-10-19) 1.83 12
4 23 October 2015 (2015-10-23) 1.41 29
The Great British Bake Off, Christmas Masterclass
Episode
no.
Airdate 7 day Viewers
(millions)
BBC Two
weekly ranking
17 December 2015 (2015-12-17) 2.21 11

References

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  1. ^ "When is The Great British Bake Off on?". Telegraph. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  2. ^ Alice Vincent (4 August 2015). "Welcome to Welford Park: home of The Great British Bake Off". Daily Telegraph.
  3. ^ "The Great British Bake Off 2015: the final – Nadiya crowned winner". Daily Telegraphl. 8 October 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  4. ^ "The Great British Bake Off 2015 baker biographies". BBC. 27 July 2015.
  5. ^ "Bracknell's Alvin Magallanes wows in first episode of BBC One's Great British Bake Off". Bracknell News. 6 August 2015.
  6. ^ "Alvin Magallanes".
  7. ^ "Lancashire mum on Great British Bake Off". Lancashire Evening Post. 29 July 2015.
  8. ^ "Dorret Conway".
  9. ^ Kirsty McIntosh (29 July 2015). "Teenager Flora will spread her love of baking to UK audience in The Great British Bake Off". The Courier.
  10. ^ "Flora Shedden".
  11. ^ Adam Care (28 July 2015). "Great British Bake Off 2015: Cambridgeshire dad Ian Cumming hopes his Christmas cake can impress". Cambridge News.
  12. ^ "Ian Cumming".
  13. ^ "Mat Riley Bakes".
  14. ^ "BegumNadiya".
  15. ^ "Meet the Swansea prison governor battling it out in Great British Bake Off". South Wales Evening Post. 5 August 2015.
  16. ^ "Paul Jagger".
  17. ^ Andrew Robinson (2 August 2015). "Sandy puts her skills to the test on the Great British Bake Of". Bradford Telegraph and Argus.
  18. ^ "Sandy Docherty".
  19. ^ Stu Henshall. "The Alternative Kitchen".
  20. ^ "Surrey musician competes in The Great British Bake Off 2015". Surrey Mirror. 28 July 2015.
  21. ^ "Stu Henshall".
  22. ^ "DrRayBakes".
  23. ^ "Ugne Bakes".
  24. ^ Laura Enfield (19 August 2015). "We chat to Woodford's Ugne Bubnaityte about competing in The Great British Bake Off". Epping Forest Guardian.
  25. ^ "Ugnė Bubnaityte".
  26. ^ "BBC kulinarinėje laidoje išgarsėjusi kūno rengybos profesionalė Ugnė Bubnaitytė: "Mano veidas buvo visur"". Žmonės.lt (in Lithuanian). 26 November 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  27. ^ Emma Daly (20 August 2015). "Paul's bread lion and the best Bake Off showstoppers". Radio Times.
  28. ^ Great British Bake Off bets halted by Ladbrokes – BBC News
  29. ^ Camilla Turner (6 October 2015). "Great British Bake Off rocked by £10,000 betting scandal allegations". Daily Telegraph.
  30. ^ Gayle, Damien (19 August 2015). "Dough! Mary Berry blurts out name of next Bake Off contestant to get chop". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  31. ^ Elizabeth Roberts (9 August 2015). "Great British Bake Off favourite 'has professional training'".
  32. ^ Deepika Rajani (9 August 2015). "Great British Bake Off hit by controversy as Marie Campbell has had 'professional training'". OK.
  33. ^ Louise Carpenter (15 November 2015). "What Nadiya did next". The Times. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  34. ^ Waring, Olivia (13 November 2015). "Great British Bake Off champ Nadiya Jamir Hussain lands her Berry own column". Metro. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  35. ^ Welsh, Daniel (13 November 2015). "'Great British Bake Off' Winner Nadiya Hussain Lands Weekly Cookery Role in the Times Magazine". Huffington Post. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  36. ^ "#NadiyaBakes". Essentials. 28 December 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  37. ^ Hussain, Nadiya (December 2015). "Christmas white chocolate traybake". Good Food. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  38. ^ Cowdrey, Katherine (17 December 2015). "GBBO winner Nadiya cuts deal with Michael Joseph". The Bookseller. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  39. ^ Godwin, Richard (19 June 2016). "Nadiya Hussain continues cooking up success post-Bake Off". Radio Times. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  40. ^ Eyre, Charlotte (14 January 2016). "GBBO's Nadiya Hussain to write children's book". The Bookseller. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  41. ^ Hawkes, Rebecca (24 August 2016). "11 inspiring things that Nadiya Hussain has done since winning the Great British Bake Off". The Telegraph. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  42. ^ Cowdrey, Katherine (11 April 2016). "GBBO's Nadiya Hussain to write women's fiction for HQ". The Bookseller. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  43. ^ Tamal Ray (7 February 2016). "Tamal Ray: 'Everyone expects three-tier eclair towers and immaculate millefeuille'". The Guardian.
  44. ^ Gee, Catherine (24 October 2016). "Tamal Ray on life after The Great British Bake Off and his new TV show Be Your Own Doctor". The Telegraph.
  45. ^ McKeown, Jack (6 May 2016). "The Great British Bake Off star Flora has the recipe for success". The Courier.
  46. ^ Cowdrey, Katherine (29 September 2016). "GBBO contestant Flora Shedden's debut snapped up". The Bookseller.
  47. ^ "Flora Snedden". The Scotsman.
  48. ^ "Great British Bake Off opener watched by 9.3m viewers". BBC. 6 August 2015.
  49. ^ Mark Sweney (8 October 2015). "The Great British Bake Off final gets biggest TV audience of the year". The Guardian.
  50. ^ Patrick Foster (17 December 2015). "Great British Bake Off dominates list of most-watched shows of 2015". The Daily Telegraph.
  51. ^ "Weekly Top 30 Programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  52. ^ "Weekly Top 10 Programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  53. ^ a b c d http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/iplayer/iplayer-performance-aug15.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  54. ^ a b c d e f http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/iplayer/iplayer-performance-oct15.pdf [bare URL PDF]
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