'The Great British Baking Show' Has Finally Started Filming A New Season

Since 2010, The Great British Baking Show has been one of the most comforting series on television. First overseas in its home in the U.K., then over here, first on PBS and then on Netflix, this kinder, gentler reality series about those who like to make cakes and cookies for fun has been a national pastime. And with the pandemic, the series has become even more popular, as U.K. fans turned to it in lockdown, while Netflix viewers did watch-alongs here in the States. It was such a staple even American TV shows like This Is Us showed their characters watching at home.

Filming the show in pandemic conditions last year was not easy. The show is usually taped over a ten-week span starting in April, giving the contestants plenty of time between bakes to practice at home. But COVID precautions, like the show's famous "Bake-off Bubble," scrapped contestants' abilities to go home. More importantly, filming was delayed by lockdowns, moving it from the gentle springlike temperatures in England to the heat of summer and a far shorter filming schedule of just five weeks over July and August. The result got fans the series only a few weeks later than usual, but with a much more stressful feel.

Viewers have been waiting to see how GBBO would fare in 2021, and things were not any kinder this year than last from a scheduling perspective, with yet another lockdown keeping filming on hold throughout the spring months again. When the lockdown lifted, filming for several series and films on hold jumped into action in June, like the Downton Abbey movie sequel. But GBBO did not. Fans have been keeping a sharp eye out ever since for evidence the show was coming back at all.

But now, in mid-July, Paul Hollywood has revealed the tent is back up and the bakers are in it.