As the world spins on the axis of political tension and uncertainty, a quaint tent in the English countryside prepares to reopen its flaps to a familiar cast of characters — Paul Hollywood, Prue Leith, Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond. And honestly, there’s never been a better time for the return of “The Great British Bake Off” to Netflix.

The new season of the show, which the streamer has dubbed “Collection 12,” will debut on Netflix on Sept. 27, three days after the series airs in the United Kingdom. It promises to not just be a celebration of British classics and good bakes — in the season preview, Leith classifies one cake as “the most interesting [she’s] ever eaten” — but also a safe harbor for viewers seeing solace amidst the tumultuous landscape of an election season underscored by mounting partisan tensions.

Of course I want to stay informed, but sometimes after a long day of absorbing the minutiae of the Mark Robinson controversy, which is evolving at a truly breakneck speed, or back-to-back clips of JD Vance lying about immigrants eating pets, sometimes you just want to decompress in a........

© Salon