If you haven’t heard about the BBC’s new show ‘The Great Pottery Throwdown‘ in the last couple of weeks, then what rock are you living under?
Created by Love Productions, the makers of ‘Great British Bakeoff”, Pottery Throwdown has put together a diverse ensemble of part-time potters and ceramicists to duke it out in a process of elimination, by undertaking various challenges until one remains. Each week sees one contestant awarded ‘Potter of the Week’ and another leave the show. The contestants are a likeable bunch from diverse backgrounds, including a couple of teachers, an ex army officer, interior designer, a vet, a rockabilly part-time painter and decorator, a retired builder etc. The Independent has a good article including character profiles.
The show is presented by DJ Sarah Cox and two judges, Keith Brymer Jones and Katie Malone, both very successful in their fields and whose personal styles are very different.
There have been two episodes thus far, and though before the show began there were some dissenting views and opinions about how good the production would be, given the complexity and range of this medium, and would it be ‘dumbed down’ etc, the show has been exceptionally well received, with few critics.
The tasks that the contestants have had to undertake have been fairly exacting, including throwing off the hump, pulling handles, creating a wash basin including fittings, throwing whilst blindfolded and creating a set of nested bowls etc.
Included in the show are sections devoted to the skills and traditions of pottery, as it is shot from Middleport Pottery, located at the heart of traditional British Pottery in Stoke on Trent.
The show airs on Tuesday evenings on BBC 2 at 9.00. After only two shows I would say this has become compulsive viewing for the midweek. Check it out!
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