Nadiya

Back in 2015, Nadiya Hussain won us - and the Great British Bake Off judges - over with her Bangladeshi-inspired bakes, endlessly expressive face and a natural charm that even left the stoic Mary Berry reaching for a hanky. She’s since impressed TV bosses too, enough to secure a second TV series: Nadiya’s British Food Adventures (BBC2, 24 July, 8.30pm).

Exploring the roots and recipes of some of Britain’s most iconic regional foods, this wasn’t exactly high stakes TV - it made GBBO look like a high-speed car chase. But a little like the tray of steaming homemade Bakewell tarts Nadiya whipped up in the opening minutes, it was light, comforting and familiar. And the relative TV novice did a great job of charming producers up and down the Peak District.

We met Ian Barrett and his mum Eileen, hand-mixing and flipping up to 3,000 Derbyshire oatcakes each day, which Nadiya turned into dill and potato samosas. There was stallholder Jules Goddard - whose (slightly unhealthy) fixation with pickling has left her house stinking but her stall packed with premium pickles that Hussain used to make chunky tandoori cod sandwiches. And back in her very own TV studio kitchen, there was a recipe for dusty red sumac lamb chops to give Mary Berry a run for her money.

Nadiya might reportedly have turned down a far bigger pay cheque to front GBBO 2.0 on Channel 4, but her strengths are less in the edgy and agenda-setting camp - here she proves she’s a perfect match for the more homely and heartening BBC2 schedule.

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