Greggs: More than Meats the Pie

Series one, episode one
Less than the bun of its tarts, more like. This amiable but limited eight-part (!) docusoap follows the early stages of a company-wide rebranding exercise at high-street bakery Greggs. Which means wraps, focaccia and bicycles hanging on the walls.

Focusing on a couple of stores in north-east England, it finds excited staff, sceptical customers and, remarkably, senior managers on at least nodding terms with the real world. Each person gets their own clunkily obvious soundtrack (‘Daddy Cool’ for the trendy architect, ‘The Sopranos’ theme for the big boss) and very gentle narrative arc.

It’s all pretty underwhelming. Product quality manager John does raise a few smiles as he talks fondly of his rejected chicken-and-egg sandwich or opines that Paul Hollywood’s name is ‘like saying I’m John Essex’, but ‘More than Meats the Pie’ lacks both the characters to make it work as comedy and the insight to adequately illustrate a business in transition.