Twice the Eliminations & Twice the Pies in 'The Great British Baking Show's "Pastry Week"

It's Pastry Week in the tent, and while that sounds like an easy week, it's not necessarily a picnic. However, the good vibes flow with Noel and Alison, and a mishap winds up with Prue wearing her own cake as a jaunty hat while reading in the sunshine. It is remarkable how little these opening sketches have changed -- pure is still the silent, obedient butt of jokes, and yet how much more good-natured they feel coming from Alison and Noel instead of three men picking on one tired-looking school marm figure.

As everyone will recall, last week, Chocolate Week was negated by Tasha going home ill partway through the Technical Challenge. (By the way, it was pointed out to me by a viewer that one reason they might have done Chocolate Week so early wasn't to screw with the contestants but to try and land cooler weather which failed. Climate Change Hates Chocolate Week.) The result was that no one went home, which means this time out, two people will be sent home over rough puff, cracked pastry crusts, and the dreaded soggy bottoms, just as the empire intended.

So, let us settle in the grass with a book and blanket, dig out the wine and fruit for this picnic, and see the challenges on the menu.