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The Bake Off should be a league

The Great British Bake Off should not be an elimination show. It should be a league.

• The cut throat process of elimination is out of keeping with the traditional British values that the show has at its heart.
• A strong contender but with a weakness in, say, pies gets eliminated early if that skill comes up early in the series.
• The later shows are very padded because there isn't an hour's worth of viewing when we are down to five or fewer bakers. And the tent looks empty.
• The early shows have too many contestants, so the time spent with each contestant is minimal, and judging time per dish is edited to a few seconds.
• That nonsensical and annoying few seconds pause as the elimination is announced itself should be eliminated.
• The elimination format is associated with tacky shows that need to add interest to something that is otherwise boring or pointless.

However ill conceived and mythical they may be, the Bake Off resonates with traditional British values like "fair play" and "it's taking part that counts". Elimination is at odds with these.

So make it a league. Eight or so contestants, all there throughout. Everyone is scored every week, but they all stay. That way someone who starts out weak might have a late run, just like in a football league. It would still be exciting towards the end to see who is going to win. There might be further interest as people try not to come bottom of the league. The show would never need padding. That huge tent wouldn't look strangely empty towards the end. The format of the show would match the values in which it is rooted.