The Great British Bake Off, which is exactly the same as Netflix’s The Great British Baking Show, has more to worry about than judge Paul Hollywood’s insensitive diabetes joke. The usually non-controversial reality show now has to contend with a porn parody, and Channel 4 is not happy about it.
The X-rated version of The Great British Bake Off, titled The Great British Bonk Off, is currently available on the porn site, Zaucey. For a subscription fee, viewers can watch Mary Cherry and Paul Hardywood — the younger, X-rated counterparts of judges Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood — get down and dirty with competitors. While BBC has not commented on the porn parody, ITV plans to investigate to see what can possibly be done.
According to The Sunday Times (via The Sun) a Channel 4 spokesperson had this to say about the matter:
These films have not been made with our prior knowledge or approval.
However, Channel 4 might not have much luck despite the fact that The Great British Bonk Off didn’t get permission to make a porn parody. Simply put, the X-rated show is actually protected by copyright and intellectual property law because it isn’t an exact replica of the original.
The 2014 amendment to the UK’s Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998 guarantees that those who make anything “for the purposes of parody, caricature or pastiche does not infringe copyright in the work.” Therefore, even if Channel 4 and ITV were to file a claim against the X-rated series, they probably won’t be able to stop it from circulating due to these protections.
It’s understandable that Channel 4 is furious at the parody and Zaucey, which also has a porn parody of Poldark. After all, The Great British Bake Off is a family-friendly, non-toxic reality series that’s meant to make people feel good...in non-sexual ways. It’s completely wholesome. The same can’t be said for the X-rated version!
While it's a scandal for Channel 4, Zaucey co-founder Anna Kiernan doesn’t see anything wrong with The Great British Bonk Off, saying that the parody and others like it are “just a bit of fun.” It’s unclear how fans of The Great British Bake Off feel about that sentiment, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to look at this show the same way again.
Last year, Netflix acquired the American rights to The Great British Bake Off and renamed it The Great British Baking Show. The streaming service began airing Collection 7 (called Series 10 in the UK) in August. Prior to that, the series originally aired on BBC before it moved to Channel 4 in the UK. If you still want to watch the family-friendly version of the reality series, it’s currently available to stream on Netflix.
