The Great British Bake Off. Image shows from L to R: Mel Giedroyc, Sue Perkins. Copyright: BBC

Key details

Genre
Documentary
Broadcast
2017
Channel
Channel 5
Episodes
1
Features
Richard Burr, Jon Snow, Anna Walker, Caroline Frost, Tim Glanfield, Michael Hogan, Richard Osborne, Ciaran Murtagh and more
Producers
Chris Hill, Richard Ward, Nigel Alred, Wes Gallagher and John Quinn
Company

Documentary about gently irreverent comedy duo and Bake Off show-stealers, Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins.

They have become Britain's favourite female double act, famed for their beautifully pitched, raised-eyebrow humour and cheeky innuendo. But it is the pair's undeniable warmth for one another, which audiences can sense must come from years of genuine friendship, that really sets the twosome apart. But the journey to the top for Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins hasn't been a smooth one.

This is a story of two supremely down-to-earth people, who have earned adoration from a massive mainstream audience without ever trying to be something they're not. Both hailing from south London, Mel & Sue met at Cambridge in the comedy kingmaker that is the Footlights review. Like so many others, they honed their self-effacing double act on the stages of Edinburgh before getting a break appearing in sketches with their most famous forerunners, French & Saunders.

Their first show as main presenters was the fondly remembered daytime show, Light Lunch. The programme made the duo into household names, but just as it looked like their rise would be meteoric, things faltered.

For several years, Mel and Sue appeared - both together and as individuals - on various projects. While Mel at one point came close to bankruptcy, the ladies' luck was in when, in 2010, they were asked to host an unlikely sounding new show called The Great British Bake Off.

What happened next is the stuff of TV legend, culminating in genuinely astonishing audience numbers - an eye-watering 16 million armchair bakers tuned in for the last ever episode.

Widely admired for not going 'with the dough' when the show switched stations, Mel & Sue are now firmly established as top-of-the-game presenting talent, and the world of telly entertainment is truly their oyster.

Additional details

Part of

The Story Of... Documentaries

Also known as
  • Funny Women: The Mel & Sue Story (Billed title)
Production
Studio
Camera set-up
Single camera
Picture
Colour

Broadcast details

First broadcast
Sunday 27th August 2017 at 9pm on Channel 5
Episode length
120 minutes