| Genre: | Reality |
| Presenter: | |
| Judges: |
|
| Opentheme: | "I Can't Explain" by The Who (2015) "Making Time" by The Creation (2017–) |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Num Series: | 7 |
| Num Episodes: | 64 |
| Location: | Middleport Pottery, Stoke-on-Trent, England (2015–20) Gladstone Pottery Museum, Stoke-on-Trent, England (2021–) |
| Runtime: | 60 minutes |
| Company: | Love Productions |
| Channel: | BBC Two (2015–17) More4 (2020) Channel 4 (2021–) |
| Related: | The Great British Sewing Bee |
The Great Pottery Throw Down is a British television competition programme that first aired on BBC Two from 3 November 2015 to 23 March 2017. It was then moved to More4 from 8 January to 11 March 2020, and has been broadcast by Channel 4 since 10 January 2021.
In each episode, a group of amateur potters compete to complete two pottery challenges. In the "main make" challenge, contestants undertake a substantial multi-stage creative task: subject to given specifications, they must design a ceramic creation, build it from clay body, and decorate it, and present it to the judges for evaluation after it is fired in the kiln. In between stages of the main make, potters are given a "second challenge", a smaller-scale task testing a specific pottery skill, on which they are ranked from worst to best by the judges. At the end of each episode, the judges designate the best-performing contestant as "potter of the week". The contestant with the worst results is dismissed, and all others return for the following episode; the winner of the final episode is the overall winner of the series.
| Series | Episodes | Premiere | Finale | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 3 November 2015 | 8 December 2015 | Matthew Wilcock | |
| 2 | 8 | 2 February 2017 | 23 March 2017 | Ryan Barrett | |
| 3 | 10 | 8 January 2020 | 11 March 2020 | Rosa Wiland Holmes | |
| 4 | 10 | 10 January 2021 | 14 March 2021 | Jodie Neale | |
| 5 | 10 | 2 January 2022 | 6 March 2022 | AJ Simpson | |
| 6 | 10 | 8 January 2023 | 12 March 2023 | Loïs Gunn | |
| 7 | 10 | 7 January 2024 | 10 March 2024 | Donna Bloye |
See main article: The Great Pottery Throw Down series 1.
See main article: The Great Pottery Throw Down series 2.
See main article: The Great Pottery Throw Down series 3.
See main article: The Great Pottery Throw Down series 4.
See main article: The Great Pottery Throw Down series 5.
See main article: The Great Pottery Throw Down series 6.
See main article: The Great Pottery Throw Down series 7.
In July 2020, HBO Max secured the rights to distribute the show in the United States, where it premiered on 17 September 2020. As of July 2024, HBO Max has not released season 6 (originally aired January 2023 in the UK with season 7 starting January 2024) and has made no mention of it being released in the future. Currently, HBO Max only indicates 5 seasons exist on their website.[1]
A Canadian version, The Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down, premiered on CBC Television on 8 February 2024.[2]
The Festive Pottery Throwdown is a series of one-off Christmas specials where celebrities participate instead of members of the public.
| Celebrity[3] | Known for | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jenny Eclair | Comedian | ||
| James Fleet | Actor | Winner | |
| Jamie Laing | Made in Chelsea | ||
| Sunetra Sarker | Actress and TV presenter |
| Celebrity | Known for | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hugh Dennis | Comedian and Actor | Winner | |
| Sophie Duker | Stand-up comedian | ||
| Alice Levine | Radio and TV presenter | ||
| Joe Swash | Former EastEnders actor |