First off props where they are do. Series six was much better than series five. Joe has reigned a little of his more cringe inducing behavior that was a massive distraction for me with series five, becoming an overly annoying clown (see photo) less often. He's still not in the same league as Claudia Winkleman, but at least he is less horrific.
That said, the quality of sewing, just as the previous two seasons, has continued to degrade. As has the quality of the judging. This was evident in the very first episode when a garment with horrific pattern matching errors (that wasn't commented on by the judges) was selected as Garment of the Week.
It was stitched passably well, but there were other garments made during the episode that were constructed much better.
It wasn't an isolated case of overlooking obvious flaws while heaping undeserved praise on garments. The very next week the judges gushed over this one with a massive error on the seam lengths.
At least they didn't name it garment of the week. But in some ways it was more egregious because the show edited the segment to in a way that made it look to me like they were trying to hide the sewing mistake. All the other shirts they did a slow pan from shoulders to waist so you could see the entire shirt. This one they cut the pan at the chest. It actually wasn't until I watched it again that I saw the problem during two very quick cuts. This shot with the error was only on screen for about half a second. Not good BBC, not good at all.
Fortunately though, this year they didn't torpedo the best sewist. After about three episodes it was obvious who the most skilled was. And she won, handily according to the judges. Which isn't surprising because really out of the twelve they started out with there were maybe three that were anywhere near the quality of the first three series. Two of them made it into the finals. The third went down in flames, spectacularly, in quarter finals. So spectacularly that I wondered if maybe something else was in play to, umm... give her reason not to perform to her usual standards. The eventual winner was head and shoulders better than anyone else, though I still doubt she would have made it into the finals in any of the first three seasons.
As far as the judges; Patrick is still Patrick. Still best at giving observations about overall styling and trying to cover for Esme's complete lack skill in judging a sewing competition. And Esme still comes off a a gross incompetent who stumbled into a gig where she has no place participating.
I really have no idea why Esme Young is on this show. She adds absolutely nothing other than the odd aside about her drunken escapades back in the olden days. She still demonstrates a lack of functional knowledge regarding garment construction and her fashion acumen is limited to a range that was popular for three or four years half a century ago that she has been milking without progressing ever since. Even one of the competitors joked that when it became obvious that her garment was going to be a substandard she just tied a big bow on it knowing that Esme would give it a good review.
Com'on BBC when your contestants have so little respect for your judges knowledge that they openly joke on camera about her incompetence it's time to get rid of her. Bring back May Martin, or any one of dozens at her skill level, in the UK alone, for the seventh series and actually look around for some quality contestants. Please.
But what's the use begging. It's still the only show with actual sewing on television. Until someone else comes up with something to pull the audience away the BBC has me hooked and I'll still watch. But one can always hope.
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