Channel 4 held nothing back to promote the return of The Great British Bake Off (21 September, 8pm). The broadcaster wrapped a building in Glasgow to create a 78-foot tall layer cake, complete with a giant fork installed on the pavement outside. Ads that responded to the local weather ran on digital screens in most major cities, while on Snapchat and Instagram an augmented reality lens let users turn themselves into baked goods.

Did it work? According to TV industry mag Broadcast, overnight viewing figures were down on last year, and the lowest since the show’s switch to Channel 4 in 2017.

But that data snippet doesn’t tell the whole story. Who watches TV live these days anyway? Plus viewership grows over the course of each series: last year’s finale was the channel’s most watched show in two decades.

The format has not yet grown stale, even without the ‘irreplacable’ former hosts and judges. In fact it’s fresh enough to dare opening with a mullet-wigged rendition of a Billy Ray Cyrus hit with Paul Hollywood singing: “Don’t bake my tart, my flaky pastry tart.”

Lockdowns last year saw many of us attempt to bake our way out of boredom. Despite the return to workplaces, it seems we’re still all on a cake-making vibe: thanks to a malt loaf round on this episode, Ocado reported a 7,600% increase in demand for malt extract, and a 667% spike in malt loaf purchases by double-screening Brits.

The show continues to make like a perfect soufflé, its soggy bottom a long way off yet.

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