Posted in: Movies, TV | Tagged: Comics, entertainment

The Great Pottery Throwdown Returns On BBC2, Thursday 2nd February, 7pm

British television has been through some strange twists and turns of late. I blame the return of Doctor Who twelve years ago, no one thought that would succeed, let alone transform the look of BBC 1's evening schedules. Strictly Come Dancing was a benefactor of that, as it brought a classier reality TV show/talent show, and spun off across the world as "Dancing With The Stars". And in more recent times, a baking talent TV show, The Great British Bake Off gripped a nation in a frankly inexplicable fashion as the cult comedy pair Mel & Sue finally found the fame and recognition long due them, but in a fashion neither could have predicted.

But then tragedy struck, as the production company Love asked the BBC for more money than they were willing to pay for a format with a couple of ovens and a big tent, and Channel 4's bid to buy the show rather then let it go to Sky, Netflix or Amazon Prime and keep it free-to-air, plummeted when it turned out what the British viewers liked was for it to stay on the BBC where it was without ads. The BBC have graciously just waived their contractual rights to stop Channel 4 broadcasting the show until 2018, are already working on another cooking show with Mary Berry and Mel & Sue, and have finally scheduled the second series of Love's own Bake Off wannabe, The Great Pottery Throwdown.

Which is just like The Great British Bake Off. But with clay. It was meant to air last year, but all the fuss seems to have kept it at bay.

But no fear, the schedule has been revealed and The Great Pottery Throwdown will finally air on Thursday 2nd February at 7pm on BBC2. Here's the run down…

For the brand-new series of The Great Pottery Throw Down, hosted by Sara Cox, ten home potters return to Stoke-on-Trent and compete to become the new champion of British pottery.

The judges, master-potter Keith Brymer Jones and ceramic-artist Kate Malone scrutinise their work over three gruelling challenges. For their Main Make, the potters throw and decorate an identical sixteen-piece dinner set.

Testing their technical prowess in the Spot Test, the potters must sponge decorate a coherent design across a pair of jugs. Hardly easy at the best of times, they must also do it in front of a special guest judge, one of the UK's most popular ceramic designers – Emma Bridgewater.

Their final challenge is the Throw Down, where the judges examine the potters' skill at the wheel, and they must throw the tallest cone they can in just 15 minutes.

On the final day, kiln man Rich Miller will remove the potters' dinner sets from the flames. The heat is on as they all want to win Pot of The Week and get their ceramics into The Great Pottery Throw Down gallery. But whose dinnerware will be the first to be displayed and who will be leaving?

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!