Min menu

Pages

The Great British Sewing Bee: Celebrity Christmas Special, review: Sara Pascoe sets out her stall



 The Great British Sewing Bee: Celebrity Christmas Special, audit: Sara Pascoe sets out her slow down

The joke artist took over from Joe Lycett in the principal VIP exceptional of the merry season

Albeit four VIPs gamely wore their thimbles during the current year's The Great British Sewing Bee: Celebrity Christmas Special (BBC One), it was jokester Sara Pascoe who was truly on show. Pascoe showed up on VIP Sewing Bee this time the year before. Also, however she didn't win, it would now be able to be viewed as something of a tryout. A year on, here she was pinging out of a Christmas present box and taking over from host of two years Joe Lycett (who himself took over from Claudia Winkleman in 2019).

A VIP Christmas love-in with nothing on the line allowed Pascoe a genuinely simple ride – the organization is very much furrowed, duplicating as it does both The Great British Bake Off and the big name form of that show. The adjudicators, Esme Young and Patrick Grant, seem as though they could slam out an episode or two while appliqueing a mohair sweater.


The hopefuls for this first of two specials (there's another on New Year's Eve) were the Rev Kate Bottley, Anneka Rice, Stath Lets Flats' Kiell Smith-Bynoe and Corrie's Antony Cotton, and even they appeared to know precisely what was required – they were all completely great at being waste (however on account of making a Christmas jumper, a freakishly awful occupation made for a pleasingly naff final result).


And afterward before the finish of the program they all in some way figured out how to turn out to be very competent, some way or another making four made-to-measures in four hours. Anneka Rice ("she loves a test!") even turned out an adequate jumpsuit.


Everything implied that Pascoe opened in fine and dandy, however without at any point especially making it her own. Sewing Bee has consistently assumed a supporting role to Bake Off and the moderators in both consistently need to work a lot harder with the novice specialists than the celebs: it removes more to draw them from themselves, while not eclipsing the competitors' characters with your own inner self and jokes.


On this appearance Pascoe is going to yin Lycett's high-camp yang with some shyness and warmth. Regardless of whether that actually works with genuine individuals is not yet clear, yet it would take some doing to wreck the Bee.


Talking TV Newsletter

Our manual for the week's top shows, each Monday

Enter your email address to join

Join

By making a Telegraph account, you consent to our Terms and Conditions and our Privacy Policy.

Related Topics

BBC

2

The Telegraph esteems your remarks yet generously demands all posts are on theme, valuable and aware. Kindly survey our remarking strategy.


Show remarks

Commercial

More stories

A half year in, GB News is challenging its Left-wing pundits – besides on one issue

Picture of a half year in, GB News is challenging its Left-wing pundits – besides on one issue

My horrendous Christmas separation showed me the force of expenditure the happy season alone

Picture of My awful Christmas separation showed me the force of expenditure the happy season alone

Laura Kuenssberg was no holy person – except for the Left transformed her into an emulate demon

Picture of Laura Kuenssberg was no holy person – except for the Left transformed her into an emulate demon

Ladies north of 50 dumped the work suit some time in the past, however Hobbs neglected to keep up

Picture of Women north of 50 dumped the work suit quite a while in the past, however Hobbs neglected to keep up

How drop culture came to characterize 2021 – and the setbacks it left behind

Picture of How drop culture came to characterize 2021 – and the losses it left behind

A Very British Scandal is the hottest, most jazzy TV of the year

More from TV

Madame Tussauds: The Full Wax, audit – substantially more than simply a buffoonery for a popular sham


Reactions

Comments