The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice

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The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
Presented byJo Brand
StarringTom Allen
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series10
No. of episodes100
Production
Production locationsThe London Studios (2014–2018)
Television Centre (2018–)
Running time30 minutes (2014–2017)
45 minutes (2018–)
40 minutes (Comic Relief special)
Production companyLove Productions
Original release
NetworkBBC Two (2014–2016)
Channel 4 (2017–)
Release8 August 2014 (2014-08-08) –
present
Related
The Great British Bake Off

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice (sometimes shortened to An Extra Slice) is a British television after-show to follow the series The Great British Bake Off. Hosted by Jo Brand, the show features three celebrity panelists discussing the after-events of the week. Originally, the show began airing on BBC Two on 8 August 2014 two days after the premiere episode of the fifth series of the main show, and was filmed at The London Studios. In April 2017, it was announced that the series and Brand would follow The Great British Bake Off to Channel 4 in 2017. The sixth series of The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice returned on 30 August 2019 and concluded on 1 November 2019. The eighth series began airing on 24 September and concluded on 26 November 2021. In 2022 The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice has been renewed for a tenth series that began airing on 28 September 2023.[1][2]

History[edit]

The after show was announced in July 2014.[3][4] Comedian Jo Brand was later announced as the host of the series on 24 July 2014.[5][6] The show returned for a second run, beginning on 7 August 2015, and for a third series on 24 August 2016. A fourth series began on 31 August 2017 on Channel 4. A fifth series began on 31 August 2018, moving to Friday evenings.[7] In 2023 the show moved to Thursday evenings.

Format[edit]

Brand and three rotating panelists appear on each episode. The panelists are generally a chef or cooking expert, such as Michel Roux Jr. or Rosemary Shrager, a comedian such as Hal Cruttenden, and a well-known figure who is a fan of the show. The panel has also featured past bakers, including winners Nancy Birtwhistle and Nadiya Hussain. A typical episode begins with Brand reviewing the events of the previous episode while showing clips, including unseen footage from the tent, usually humorous outtakes. Afterwards, she interviews the panelists about the current episode and what happened in the tent that week. In the next segment, she presents images of bakes viewers have sent in, then talks about the bakes the audience have brought to the studio, at least one of which the panelists try. In the final segment, the most recently eliminated baker joins the panel and is interviewed again by Brand. In the earlier series, the baker is invited to bring one of their "less-successful bakes" which Brand and the panel sample, but this was eliminated in 2020 (most likely to follow COVID-19 regulations). The segment concludes with the baker being presented a cake that captures their time in the tent. Brand concludes the show by showing a preview of what will happen in the next episode of the main show.

Panelists[edit]

While on the BBC, the celebrity panel typically (though not always) consisted of a professional baker/chef, a celebrity who is a fan of the show, and a comedian. In the final episode of each series judges Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry normally made an appearance on the panel, along with a comedian. However, since the fourth series (tied to the 8th series of the main show), Prue Leith and Hollywood have appeared on episodes throughout the series.[8] In the Channel 4 version of the show, the panel consists of two comedians and an actor or other fan. In 2018, Tom Allen joined the series as a regular contributor, reviewing audience members' bakes. Sarah Millican hosted one edition of the second series in 2015, as regular host Jo Brand was unavailable.

Reception[edit]

Transmissions[edit]

Series Start date End date Episodes Timeslot Channel
1 8 August 2014 8 October 2014 10 Friday 9:00 pm BBC Two
2 7 August 2015 9 October 2015 10
3 26 August 2016 28 October 2016 10
4 31 August 2017 2 November 2017 10 Thursday 10:00 pm Channel 4
5 31 August 2018 2 November 2018 10 Friday 8:00 pm
6 30 August 2019 1 November 2019 10
7 25 September 2020 27 November 2020 10
8 24 September 2021 26 November 2021 10
9 16 September 2022 18 November 2022 10
10 28 September 2023 30 November 2023 10 Thursday 8:00 pm

References[edit]

  1. ^ Darvill, Josh (12 November 2021). "Great British Bake Off to stay on Channel 4 until at least 2024". TellyMix. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Jo Brand to return to host The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice" (Press release). Channel 4. 20 April 2017. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017.
  3. ^ Deen, Sarah (18 July 2014). "'Cake just got bigger': New Great British Bake Off teaser lands | Metro News". Metro. UK. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  4. ^ Hyland, Karen (6 July 2014). "The Great British Bake-off: BBC2 offers up An Extra Slice! - Mirror Online". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  5. ^ "Jo Brand to front Great British Bake Off BBC Two spinoff An Extra Slice - Great British Bake Off News - Reality TV". Digital Spy. 23 July 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  6. ^ Webb, Claire (23 July 2014). "The Great British Bake Off to get Apprentice-style spin-off An Extra Slice presented by Jo Brand". Radio Times. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  7. ^ "The Great British Bake off: An Extra Slice Season 9". Radio Times.
  8. ^ "Bake Off fans relieved Extra Slice is the same on C4". Digital Spy. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2017.

External links[edit]