'The Great British Baking Show' Season 16 Heads “Back to School”

Rumor had it that this week would be Dairy Week on The Great British Baking Show Season 16, an understandable mistake. Since Mexican Week in Season 13 led the series to eliminate cultural theme weeks, the production has become rather strict about adhering to a particular order for themes. Cakes-Biscuits-Bread had already been a staple for the opening three challenges, and Patisserie has been the semi-final for basically the show's entire run. However, the mushy middle also became stricter, with Week 4 becoming a liquid-based challenge for two consecutive seasons (Chocolate and Caramel), which would lead most to assume that Dairy was the order of the day.

However, the production appears to have reconsidered that choice this season. There will still be Chocolate Week (currently listed as next week's episode, we'll see). However, Week 4 instead landed the "seasonal to when the show airs" challenge, which has thus far taken the form of Halloween and Autumn Weeks. For Season 16, we're getting Back to School week. It is a little late (especially in the States, where school tends to start in mid-to-late August), but even so, it makes sense that with the series returning to its early September debut berth, Back to School would go in the first open week available.

Once again, if there was a cold open, it has been cut for the American broadcast. However, Alison Hammond still does her best Mrs. Trunchbull impression, demanding the bakers use their honorifics and last names (Mr. Noel Fielding is not nearly as strict) before sending them off to work on their first assignments.