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Every new season of The Great British Baking Show opens with a “comedy” sketch forcing the hosts and judges to dress up in some ridiculous get up for kicks. Past editions have channeled The Wizard of Oz, Barbie, and even a COVID era press conference outside 10 Downing Street, but the Netflix hit might have finally outdone itself in 2025.
**Spoilers for The Great British Baking Show Season 13 cold open, now streaming on Netflix**
The Great British Baking Show Season 13 cold open is a bonkers Jurassic Park sketch that features the Netflix show’s best costume efforts yet. No, I’m not talking about the Paul Hollywood-inspired T. Rex, but Dame Prue Leith looking unrecognizable as the skit’s version of Richard Attenborough’s John Hammond. Like, Prue Leith really committed to the bit harder than she needed to and it’s going to stick with me for a while.
I mean…come on!
The 2025 season of The Great British Baking Show opens with Prue Leith, Noel Fielding, and Alison Hammond driving through the “Jurassic Bake” theme park, looking for a nice place to picnic. Alison is dressed up like Laura Dern’s Ellie Sattler, Noel is channeling Jeff Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm, but Prue’s John Hammond is simply on another level. The hair and make up team not only swapped Prue’s technicolored style for Hammond’s crisp white linens, but gave the South African chef a faux beard.
Prue’s Herculean commitment to the bit is wild to behold. She honestly conveys shock and horror when the “Tyranno-Paul-us Rex” marches towards the Jeep. Even as the sketch gets sillier and sillier — with Noel Fielding getting eaten by the dino and Paul revealing himself dressed in a far less flashy dino costume — Prue remains locked in.
Now, did I find this Great British Baking Show cold open funny? No, not really. Did I shake my head and chuckle softly at its absurdity, though? Yeah. I was kind of flummoxed by what I was watching. Where else can I see a world-famous culinary maestro in Attenborough drag? Only on The Great British Baking Show, baby!
The Great British Baking Show Season 13 Episode 1 “Cake Week” is now streaming on Netflix.
