📺 The Great British Baking Show Series 16 had fewer anxiety attacks and temper tantrums, and was more enjoyable to watch than last year’s. Still, the sheen is beginning to wear off, the artifice of it is becoming more and more apparent, and am I being a horrible person just for liking that a contestant doesn’t get all teary-eyed when kicked out?

Want to introduce some drama? Have people make madelains — a desert that needs at least four hours for the batter to chill to achieve its characteristic “hump” — in 2 hours 15 minutes total and then stress about not doing it correctly. Or, come judging time, be a bit more circumspect about the clear favorite and heap praise on the also-rans so that you can hem and haw about your very difficult choice. Also, is it just my middle age performing mind tricks or are the contestants getting ever-younger? Will there be a point in a decade’s time when Junior Bakeoff and the main attraction meld?

It is still by far the best “reality TV” one would come across, and following it from beginning does make one more interested in baking. As its cultural relevance grows, however, so does the amount of pressure it puts on the bakers, to the point of unpleasantness. Luckily, the finalists this year were wise beyond their years, but how many more people are left in Britain with that kind of mental fortitude?