The Great British Bake Off 2017 best moments: Triple-handshakes, stroopwafels and Liam

When The Great British Bake Off left the BBC following its big money move to Channel 4, fans expected an unrecognisable show and the end of Bake Off as they knew it. That wasn't the case. In fact, if anything the new series has been far too familiar.

It had new faces, with Prue Leith joining as a new judge alongside Paul Hollywood and the unlikely but charming pair of Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding presenting, but otherwise the show was pretty much identical.

Tonight (31 October) the grand final takes place with Steven Carter-Bailey, Sophie Faldo and Kate Lyon the final trio of bakers hoping to win.

Ahead of the finale, we're taking a look at back at the series' best moments.

Sure, it won't rank among the best in the show's history, but series 8 still had plenty of memorable moments and characters.

Liam

Every series of Bake Off has its share of favourites, but there's never been one as universally loved as 19-year-old Liam Charles, who won the country over in his role as the traditional 'youngster who shows promise but gets booted and it's really sad'.

He was never likely to win the series, but his departure was made even harder to bear thanks to who stayed on in his place. In week eight Liam was eliminated, just one week shy of the semi final, when it appeared that Kate was a shoo-in to leave.

After a terrible week, she appeared a dead-cert for the boot. Stacey also remained after a terrible time in week seven when she could well have left the tent. She recovered to claim Star Baker however, making Liam's elimination even harder to take.

A stroopwafel fiasco

Someone always struggles with the technical challenge, but it isn't often that EVERYONE does. In week two, Paul and Pru set the nine remaining bakers the challenge of baking a dutch stroopwafel. It didn't go well.

"This is pretty tricky judging this lot," said Paul. Usually a hard call comes down to quality, not a lack thereof, and certainly not across the board. The stroopwafel challenge did nobody any favours, and was best left forgotten.

The impossible triple handshake

When it comes to Bake Off accolades, a handshake from Paul is second only to winning the entire series. They're a rarity to say the least, so viewers were stunned when Paul shook not just Steven's hand, but Yan and Stacey's too.

This would be surprising enough within one episode, but the Hollywood Handshakes all occurred during a single challenge. When contestants were tasked with conjuring a schooltime steamed pud during Pudding Week, it was a technical to instantly wipe the stroopwafel fiasco from the judge's mind.

Sophie's perfect cake

Impressing a judge as experienced and knowledgeable as Prue is one thing, but presenting her with a dish she describes as "the best cake I've ever tasted" is something else entirely. That's what Sophie achieved in week four.

Prue was blown clean out of the tent by Sophie's bake, which was described as a Bonfire Night favourite with her family. It's the kind of bake that made her an early favourite.

"PruPaul's Drag Race"

It's just a really good pun.