Yep, a great rating there. Channel 5 have a big hit with this show.

I don't think we should read too much into the talks. Mary's agent has the obligation to at least go to her with every offer Channel 4 makes until such time as Mary instructs them not to. Mary's been with Mel and Sue today, apparently, so maybe she's getting their guidance (from what has transpired, I don't think Paul or Mary knew just how out of the loop Mel and Sue were. Paul and Mary knew there were talks ongoing at least, but Mel and Sue had no clue at all. All of the focus in the talks was - can we get Paul and Mary? The backstabbing of Mel and Sue may swing it towards the BBC for Mary, who have always been very loyal and supporting of her.)

Mary also doesn't want to announce she's not doing it, so as not to force Paul's hand, apparently. She wants to let Paul come to his own decision that isn't influenced by her choice. She has apparently spoken to Paul to see what he's thinking. I imagine he's very conflicted.

What Paul decides is up to him. I don't see how Mary saying she won't do it will make Paul decide one way or another. But, again, thanks for such an informative post. Eloquently put as usual.

So, are we saying M&S are blacklisted by C4 or not? I've seen it both ways at various sites.

I *think* I get her thinking. If she comes out straight away and says "I'm not going" and Paul does, it could come off looking like Paul is going straight for the money, and as they're close friends she doesn't want that, and she doesn't want to influence what he chooses (i.e. if Mary stays with the BBC, Paul might feel forced to stay as well). If she waits for Paul to announce he's going to Channel 4 and Mary doesn't go, at least she can stick with her reasoning of "I always said Mel and Sue were a huge factor but I have taken the opportunity to reduce my workload as well as support my friends." and knowing she had no influence over Paul's decision.

It's a difficult one really, I wouldn't want to be their agents.

I don't think they're actually on a list, so to speak, but the feeling and rumours are that a show featuring them won't get on Channel 4, at least while Jay Hunt is there.

The more I read about Jay Hunt the more her rhyming-slang name seems deserved.

Jeremy must be grateful she's taken the pressure off him.

She does seem to be the big factor in all of this. I think there's a bit of psychology going on. Apparently Jay never really rated Mel and Sue that much when she was at the BBC, thinking they were too niche to do any primetime shows. Having said that, she also apparently thinks Mel and Sue should be loyal to her, not the BBC, as it was under her tenure (despite her being in charge of BBC1 and not BBC2) that Bake Off was commissioned.

Hunt already has form in this area though, so it's no surprise. When at Five, the day after she started she poached Natasha Kaplinsky and ruined her career after about 3 months. When she started on Channel 4 she poached Matt Frei and Michael Crick from the BBC. And let's not forget them outbidding everyone else to snatch the Paralympics. Now that actually worked out well for them and their coverage was good, but the BBC weren't happy about it.

I'd love to get inside her head!

in terms of C4 talking to Mary and Paul, its a shame that neither party has shut C4 down yet, HOWEVER it is fair to say that it would be at least professional to let C4 talk to their agents and reject any formal request, rather than let their professional careers play out on Twitter.

And now I have another reason to loathe her. Frei's Berlin series for the Beeb was superb stuff and perhaps we could've had more of that from him if he wasn't busy being Jon Snow's carer these days. His Trump programmes for C4 are a partial return to that form but not up to the level of the aformentioned Berlin series. Crick enlivened Newsnight no end and bounced off Paxo well and although he's good on C4 News he deserves a little more scope than just being a roving quirky reporter for Cathy Newman to smirk at.

I thought that was true right from the start of this all - that Mary wouldn't make her statement, and leave Paul being targeted as the final hold-out. I think she and Paul are good friends, enough that she feels completely split between her commitment to M&S, and her enjoyment of continuing to work with Paul.

If you're right (and I'm sure you are!) about Mary spending some time with M&S today, there's two outcomes. The pair state their reasons for not going to her again, and Mary agrees with them, and she simply waits for Paul to make his decision independently, before announcing herself. Or, M&S give Mary their blessing to change her mind about staying with the BBC show, and she is entirely free to accept the offers coming across her desk from C4. I would imagine if the latter happens that M&S will make sure there's clear word in the media that they have no problem with Mary choosing to stay with the show.

It seems one complicating factor is Hollywood is actually employed by Love Productions and the others aren't. We don't know how long his contract has to run but probably not into 2018 when C4 can air Bakeoff.

I know it's been said but thanks for your insight Nakatomi, I don't know about anybody else but I feel well in the loop with your posts

Or #bakeoffinnit? as it will have been renamed by then.

If that soft-blacklisting of M&S is accurate then surely that would be a clincher for Mary? Could she work (even indirectly) for a channel that's preventing her pals from getting jobs on the same channel? Seems a bridge too far for someone like her I would've thought?

I'm not sure if he really is. His Bake Off contract is up after this series, same with Mary's and Mel and Sue's. He might have a different contract with them for his non Bake-Off shows like Bread or Pies and Puds though.

Yes, I would think it might be. I'm certain it's accurate because before that RadioTimes article, there was no mention about them being blacklisted in the media, so it comes off like a suspiciously specific denial to me.

Just goes to show how big the ripples are. Our company doesn't even produce the same type of program and yet we're being kept in the loop by our parent company about what's going on (well as much as they know anyway). Most of it is 3rd hand sources but this is one of those situations where most of what's being said is true. The wonders of being a satellite of the media industry in a city 300 miles away from the action!

I never knew anything about what was going on with Top Gear, but all this is playing out in the media which means there are more leaks and anonymous sources coming out with information all the time.

A very good number last night. I also predicted 10.3m on the RPG although I nearly changed it to 10.5m. To be honest with all the coverage over the last few days, I'm surprised it didn't push it further up. Surely an 11m overnight was possible. I wouldn't be surprised to see it get even higher as the series progresses and I'm definitely expecting it to beat last years final rating.

It's current overnight series average is 10.1m. At the same stage last year it was 9.5m.

As for Batter Week. I thought it was a bit rubbish!

Is that true? How is his contract different from the other three? I'd read that all four technically were in contract renegotiation with Love Productions, as all of their contracts expired at the end of this last contract, the same as the BBC's. Mel and Sue chose not to enter into negotiations, but none of them have a contract with LP right now - so anyone claiming Paul is tied to a current contract is surely trying to make excuses why his answer is going to be to stay with the show on C4.

they've not made those shows for a few years, right? I don't think they have any bearing on the contract status - only that Paul got those shows, similar to Mary's solo cooking shows, which I'm betting all got tied into the original contract renewal 3 years ago.

It's possible they were tied into that, but I think Pies and Puds was a separate contract because Paul signed a 2 series deal for that, but we only got one series. That could force his hand but I'd doubt it.

Or they could show the two parts back-to-back on the same night to create a two hour drama like Midsomer Murders, Foyle's War and the rest.

Yep, spot on. They were all due to start negotiations in the next week for another three year contract. Then the news broke on Monday and Mel and Sue chose not to enter negotiations. Mary and Paul aren't in contract with Love Productions, at least not for Bake Off.

Paul saying he's "an employee of Love Productions, not the BBC" is technically true, in the same way that Graham Norton works for So TV and not the BBC, but really they do. Most presenters are just subcontracted through production companies for taxation purposes and also gets around the loopholes about revealing the pay of actual BBC employees earning over a certain amount. As an employee of an outside company, there is no obligation to reveal the salary of those people, which conveniently means they don't need to say how much stars like Graham Norton, Stephen Fry and Miranda Hart are paid.

Having said all that, Paul's protestation comes off as spin to me, like he's trying to make out his hand is being forced and he has to go to Channel 4, when he doesn't.

And an interesting tidbit:

https://www.skymedia.co.uk/wp-conten...kes-online.pdf

Paul's got an upcoming show produced by Sky on Food Network UK. They make specific mention about that network having more facebook likes than the BBC and make a big deal of sponsorship opportunities.

I think it's pretty clear Paul will be the easiest to nab.