The Great Comic Relief Bake Off, BBC Two, review There's something very cheering about watching celebrities make a hash of things in the kitchen. Certainly anyone haunted by a baking disaster must have felt bolstered to see Jo Brand on The Great Comic Relief Bake Off, gleefully presenting a wonky doorstop of collapsing custard slice. And that's really the point of the show. Over four nights, the great and the good will brave the judgments of Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry in the hope of encouraging us to make cakes for charity (and to give us a good giggle at their expense). Last night's opening episode excelled at both. Joining Brand (who was actually quite competent) were comedy duo Lorna Watson and Ingrid Oliver, and technically-challenged stand-up comedian Stephen K Amos, whose look of utter bewilderment when Hollywood explained that shortbread mixture should be "short" was reason enough to stay tuned ("Short? What do you mean?!"). Presenter Mel Giedroyc was back at her punning best and used Sue Perkins's absence to form a double act with Brand. Unlike the usual competition, each of these charity episodes is self-contained, with a different winner crowned each night. There were the usual rounds - signature bake (shortbread), technical challenge (custard slices) and showstopper challenge (a novelty portrait chocolate cake) - but despite of a semblance of seriousness (even the odd furtive glance at the competition), for the most part baking took a back seat to what we all really wanted to see: high jinks and disasters. Brand was serenely clownish, sitting on her butter to warm it before shaking her greased behind at the camera, while Oliver sent Amos into a tailspin with the grave assertion that his shortbread (already in the oven) wouldn't work because he hadn't chilled it first. "Something to do with gluten strands" she mused sagely as he frantically started again. Watson, not to be outdone, set her ruff-puff pastry on fire. Less farcical but equally feel-good was a clip, presented by TV cook Lorraine Pascale, about The Virtuous Woman's Bakery. A Comic Relief initiative, the bakery provides jobs and childcare for Ghanaian women and was so inspiring that even Pascale's ever-wooden delivery couldn't dull its effect. But most satisfying was the total irreverence shown towards Hollywood. How perfect to watch the feared judge threatened with an icing assault should he criticise Brand, or being forced to cut into his own face thanks to star baker Oliver's showstopper cake. It was enough to make anyone stop taking baking (and themselves) so seriously and get back in the kitchen for a good cause.