Netflix Is Removing This Fan-Favorite Season Of GBBO
Fans of "The Great British Bake Off," aka, "The Great British Baking Show," better act quickly. They only have a little while to watch, watch, and watch again in some of the earlier episodes of the show. As What's On Netflix announced last week, Netflix will continue its ongoing process of removing shows from streaming by taking away the 10 episodes of "The Great British Baking Show: The Beginnings."
What Netflix has listed as "The Beginnings" is a bit of a headache to explain. Per Grub Street, it is a repackaging of Season 5 of "The Great British Baking Show," which was broadcast in the United States by PBS in 2012. However, the show aired in the U.K. as the third season of "The Great British Bake Off." So the people listed as Season 5 contestants on PBS are named as Season 3 competitors by IMDb. In other words, it's the season that John Whaite won. Regardless, what Netflix calls "The Beginnings" will end its run on American Netflix on New Year's Day.
So if you are like fans who want to see Matt Lucas go because he represents how far the show has changed since Mary Berry was a judge and Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc hosted, then you had better enjoy the holiday season by rewatching the episodes that cemented the institution before they disappear. Why Netflix feels the need to obliterate traces of the show's older self is best left up to speculation.
Why would Netflix remove the season?
The 10 episodes of "The Great British Baking Show: The Beginnings" have IMDb ratings of 8.0 to 8.5 out of 10, so clearly people enjoyed them. Here, we ask the question that anyone who has enjoyed a canceled Netflix show is probably asking: Why bother removing something that viewers might like to keep watching? On its help page, Netflix explains, "Though we strive to keep the titles you want to watch, some titles do leave Netflix because of licensing agreements." The site gives three possible reasons: There is an issue with the rights to the show, the show is not popular enough to warrant the cost, or the company has decided there are some "seasonal or regional factors" at play.
In the case of "The Great British Baking Show: The Beginnings," the season was licensed from PBS in a deal covered by The New York Times. So it could be that a licensing issue makes keeping the episodes too costly or unfeasible.