| 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 |
The first series of The Great Pottery Throw Down began on 3 November 2015 on BBC Two, and concluded on 8 December 2015.
| Potter | Age | Occupation | Hometown | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Greenwood | 31 | Vet | Bristol | |
| Jane Williams | 40 | College tutor | North Wales | |
| Jim Ranson | 52 | Part-time painter and decorator | Bognor Regis | |
| Joanna Morris | 42 | Parish Councillor | West Sussex | |
| Matthew Wilcock | 23 | Teacher | Giggleswick | |
| Nigel Matthews | 52 | Builder | Bakewell | |
| Rekha Sameer | 49 | Conceptual artist | Buckinghamshire | |
| Sally-Jo Bond | 33 | Interior designer | Petersfield | |
| Sandra Whyles | 52 | Project Manager | Leeds | |
| Tom Knowles Jackson | 41 | Retired Army Major | Gloucestershire |
| Elimination chart | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| Matthew | WIN | Winner | |||||
| Jim | WIN | Runner-Up | |||||
| Sally-Jo | Runner-Up | ||||||
| Tom | WIN | Runner-Up | |||||
| Jane | ELIM | ||||||
| Sandra | ELIM | ||||||
| James | ELIM | ||||||
| Joanna | EXIT | ||||||
| Nigel | ELIM | ||||||
| Rekha | ELIM | ||||||
Colour key:
Potter was eliminated
Potter won Pot of the Week
Potter walked from the series
Potter got through to the next round
Potter was one of the least favourite
Potter was one of the favourites
Potter was a series finalist
Potter was the series winner
| Episode no. | Airdate | Total viewers (millions)[1] | BBC Two weekly ranking | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 November 2015 | 2.29 | 8 | |
| 2 | 10 November 2015 | 2.47 | 10 | |
| 3 | 17 November 2015 | 2.49 | 7 | |
| 4 | 24 November 2015 | 2.16 | 11 | |
| 5 | 1 December 2015 | 2.37 | 7 | |
| 6 | 8 December 2015 | 2.55 | 7 |
The second series of The Great Pottery Throw Down began on 2 February 2017 on BBC Two, and concluded on 23 March 2017.
| Potter | Age | Occupation | Hometown | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cáit Gould | 31 | Quaker Meeting House worker | Reading | |
| Carole Sender | 63 | Pottery Teacher | Hertfordshire | |
| Clover Lee | 33 | Accountant and Part-time Illustrator | London | |
| Daniel Pratap | 55 | Mortgage adviser | Hampshire | |
| Elaine Wells | 55 | Banana import business owner | Buckinghamshire | |
| Freya Bramble-Carter | 24 | Student | London | |
| James Douglass | 25 | Tour guide in National Glass Centre | Newcastle upon Tyne | |
| Nam Tran | 27 | Cage fighter and Kick boxer | London | |
| Richard J Parker | 53 | Pub landlord | Banbury | |
| Ryan Barrett | 30 | Model | Ipswich |
| Elimination chart | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ||||
| Ryan | WIN | WIN | Winner | |||||||||
| Clover | WIN | Runner-Up | ||||||||||
| Richard | WIN | Runner-Up | ||||||||||
| Freya | WIN | ELIM | ||||||||||
| Cáit | ELIM | |||||||||||
| Nam | WIN | ELIM | ||||||||||
| Elaine | WIN | ELIM | ||||||||||
| James | ELIM | |||||||||||
| Daniel | ELIM | |||||||||||
| Carole | ELIM | |||||||||||
Because the judges were unable to agree, no-one was eliminated this week. As a result, two potters were eliminated the following week.
Colour key:
Potter was eliminated
Potter won Pot of the Week
Potter walked from the series
Potter got through to the next round
Potter was one of the least favourite
Potter was one of the favourites
Potter was a series finalist
Potter was the series winner
| Episode no. | Airdate | Total viewers (millions) | BBC Two weekly ranking | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 February 2017 | 2.38 | 5 | |
| 2 | 9 February 2017 | 2.60 | 5 | |
| 3 | 16 February 2017 | 2.60 | 4 | |
| 4 | 23 February 2017 | 2.78 | 3 | |
| 5 | 2 March 2017 | 2.77 | 4 | |
| 6 | 9 March 2017 | 2.85 | 4 | |
| 7 | 16 March 2017 | 3.34 | 1 | |
| 8 | 23 March 2017 | 3.44 | 1 |
The third series of The Great Pottery Throw Down began on 8 January 2020 on More4, and concluded on 11 March 2020.[2]
| Potter | Age | Occupation | Hometown | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claire Murdock | 29 | Warehouse operative | County Antrim, Northern Ireland | |
| Flea Brudenell-Bruce | 33 | Full-time mother | London | |
| Jacob Chan | 23 | Studio potter | Liverpool | |
| Kit Andrews | 19 | Home potter | Cornwall | |
| Leonard Young | 70 | Retired company director | Cornwall | |
| Matt Cronshaw | 30 | Professional cycling manager | Greater Manchester | |
| Rainna Erbas | 27 | Full-time carer | Kent | |
| Ronaldo Wiltshire | 31 | Art college technician and part time tutor | London | |
| Rosa Wiland Holmes | 43 | Full-time mother and former fashion designer | Buckinghamshire | |
| Rosalind Worland | 59 | Retired antique shop owner | Essex | |
| Sampada Gurung | 26 | Craft assistant and illustrator | London | |
| Tom James | 39 | Composer and music teacher | Sheffield |
| Elimination chart | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ||||||||
| Rosa | WIN | Winner | ||||||||||||||||
| Jacob | WIN | WIN | WIN | Runner-Up | ||||||||||||||
| Matt | WIN | Runner-Up | ||||||||||||||||
| Claire | WIN | WIN | WIN | ELIM | ||||||||||||||
| Rosalind | WIN | ELIM | ||||||||||||||||
| Ronaldo | ELIM | |||||||||||||||||
| Rainna | WIN | ELIM | ||||||||||||||||
| Flea | ELIM | |||||||||||||||||
| Leonard | ELIM | |||||||||||||||||
| Kit | ELIM | |||||||||||||||||
| Sampada | ELIM | |||||||||||||||||
| Tom | ELIM | |||||||||||||||||
Colour key:
Potter was eliminated
Potter won Pot of the Week
Potter walked from the series
Potter got through to the next round
Potter was one of the least favourite
Potter was one of the favourites
Potter was a series finalist
Potter was the series winner
The fourth series of The Great Pottery Throw Down began on 10 January 2021 on Channel 4, and concluded on 14 March 2021.[3]
| Potter | Age | Occupation | Hometown | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adam Johnson | 36 | Support worker | Brighton | |
| Alon Shahar | 20 | Architecture student | London | |
| Ara Moradian | 57 | Retired theatre wardrobe manager | Folkestone | |
| Hannah Ruth Walker | 30 | Housing project manager | Bristol | |
| Henry Moore | 25 | Retirement home activities organiser | Suffolk | |
| Irina | 43 | Executive ground staff | Essex | |
| Jodie Neale | 35 | NHS scrub nurse | Rhondda Valley | |
| Lee Pollard | 44 | Community nurse | Huddersfield | |
| Peter White | 70 | Design and technology teacher | Milton Keynes | |
| Sally ‘Sal’ Tully | 58 | Art and design teacher | Cornwall | |
| Shenyue Ding | 28 | Model | London | |
| Susan ‘Suz’ MacInnes | 55 | Library assistant | Aberdeenshire |
| Elimination chart | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ||||||||
| Jodie | WIN | WIN | Winner | |||||||||||||||
| Adam | WIN | Runner-Up | ||||||||||||||||
| Peter | WIN | Runner-Up | ||||||||||||||||
| Hannah | WIN | ELIM | ||||||||||||||||
| Alon | WIN | ELIM | ||||||||||||||||
| Sal | WIN | WIN | ELIM | |||||||||||||||
| Henry | ELIM | |||||||||||||||||
| Shenyue | WIN | ELIM | ||||||||||||||||
| Lee | ELIM | |||||||||||||||||
| Suz | ELIM | |||||||||||||||||
| Irina | ELIM | |||||||||||||||||
| Ara | ELIM | |||||||||||||||||
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, filming ceased for 7 days to ensure the safety of the potters and crew. As a result, the judges decided not to eliminate anyone.
Colour key:
Potter was eliminated
Potter won Pot of the Week
Potter walked from the series
Potter got through to the next round
Potter was one of the least favourite
Potter was one of the favourites
Potter was a series finalist
Potter was the series winner
The fifth series of The Great Pottery Throw Down began on 2 January 2022 on Channel 4, and concluded on 6 March 2022. The series was co-hosted by Ellie Taylor, while Siobhán McSweeney was recovering from a broken leg. It was judged by Keith Brymer Jones and Richard Miller. Also appearing was Rose Schmits, who acted as behind-the-scenes technician.[4]
| Potter | Age | Occupation | Hometown | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AJ Simpson | 21 | Design graduate | Aberdeen | |
| Anna McGurn | 57 | Social care facilitator | Fermanagh, Northern Ireland | |
| Bill Thomas | 63 | Museum learning assistant | Scarborough | |
| Cellan Cox | 23 | 3D design and craft graduate | Brighton | |
| Christine Cherry | 57 | Art youth worker | Preston | |
| Jenny Cobb | 43 | Full time mum | North Lincolnshire | |
| Josh Duarte | 27 | Design and technology teacher | Berkshire | |
| Lucinda Lovesey | 58 | Retired NHS therapist | Shropshire | |
| Miles Johnson | 50 | Denim designer | Worcestershire | |
| Nick Robatto | 43 | Prop Maker | Barry | |
| Tom Demeranville | 44 | Product director | Bath | |
| Zahra Jabir | 32 | Hospital doctor | Manchester |
| Elimination Chart | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| AJ | WIN | WIN | WIN | Winner | |||||||
| Anna | style=background:lightblue;" | Runner-Up | |||||||||
| Christine | WIN | Runner-Up | |||||||||
| Lucinda | WIN | ELIM | |||||||||
| Jenny | WIN | style=background:cornflowerblue;" | ELIM | ||||||||
| Tom | WIN | ELIM | |||||||||
| Nick | style=background:lemonchiffon;" | WIN | ELIM | ||||||||
| Cellan | WIN | ELIM | |||||||||
| Miles | ELIM | ||||||||||
| Josh | ELIM | ||||||||||
| Zahra | ELIM | ||||||||||
| Bill | ELIM | ||||||||||
Colour Key
Potter won Pot of the Week.
Potter was one of the judges' favourites of the week.
Potter was safe and was through to the next week.
Potter was one of the judges' least favourites of the week.
Potter was eliminated.
Potter was a finalist.
Potter won the series.
| Episode no. | Airdate | Total viewers (millions)[5] | Weekly ranking all channels | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 January 2022 | |||
| 2 | 9 January 2022 | |||
| 3 | 16 January 2022 | |||
| 4 | 23 January 2022 | |||
| 5 | 30 January 2022 | |||
| 6 | 6 February 2022 | |||
| 7 | 13 February 2022 | |||
| 8 | 20 February 2022 | |||
| 9 | 27 February 2022 | |||
| 10 | 6 March 2022 | 3.07 | 47 |
The sixth series of The Great Pottery Throw Down began on 8 January 2023 on Channel 4, and concluded on 12 March 2023.[6]
| Potter | Age | Occupation | Hometown | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caitlin Foulds | 23 | Medical Student | Glasgow | |
| Christophe Donot | 36 | Architect | London | |
| Derek Harbinson | 57 | Journalist, Editor | Tunbridge Wells | |
| Fabiola Ladino | 52 | Nanny | London | |
| Fliss Rowbotham | 24 | Oil Painter | London | |
| George Lodge | 27 | Junior Doctor | Hampshire | |
| Helen Baxter | 65 | Retired Headteacher | Kent | |
| James Stead | 44 | Art Teacher | Banbury | |
| Jon Roynon | 46 | Chartered Structural Engineer | Corsham | |
| Loïs Gunn | 36 | Jewellery Designer | Ramsgate | |
| Rebecca Norris | 32 | Teacher | Scarborough | |
| Vithu Karunakaran | 29 | Bartender, Waiter | Manchester |
| Elimination Chart | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| Loïs | WIN | WIN | WIN | Winner | |||||||
| James | WIN | Runner-Up | |||||||||
| Jon | WIN | Runner-Up | |||||||||
| Caitlin | WIN | ELIM | |||||||||
| Helen | ELIM | ||||||||||
| Derek | ELIM | ||||||||||
| George | ELIM | ||||||||||
| Rebecca | ELIM | ||||||||||
| Fabiola | ELIM | ||||||||||
| Christophe | ELIM | ||||||||||
| Fliss | ELIM | ||||||||||
| Vithu | ELIM | ||||||||||
Colour Key
Potter won Pot of the Week.
Potter was one of the judges' favourites of the week.
Potter was safe and was through to the next week.
Potter was one of the judges' least favourites of the week.
Potter was eliminated.
Potter was a finalist.
Potter won the series.
| Episode no. | Airdate | Total viewers (millions) | Weekly ranking all channels | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 January 2023 | |||
| 2 | 15 January 2023 | |||
| 3 | 22 January 2023 | |||
| 4 | 29 January 2023 | |||
| 5 | 5 February 2023 | |||
| 6 | 12 February 2023 | |||
| 7 | 19 February 2023 | 2.85 | 45 | |
| 8 | 26 February 2023 | |||
| 9 | 5 March 2023 | |||
| 10 | 12 March 2023 | 3.05 | 45 |
The seventh series of The Great Pottery Throw Down began on 7 January 2024 on Channel 4, and concluded on 10 March 2024.[7]
| Potter | Age | Occupation | Hometown | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Macbean | 67 | Actor | London | |
| Cadi Froehlich | 50 | Admin Assistant | Brighton | |
| Dan Sandham | 41 | Systems Engineer | Weymouth | |
| Daniel | 30 | Data Scientist | London | |
| Dave Short | 58 | Retired Teacher | Evesham | |
| Donna Bloye | 44 | Former Art Teacher | Bangor | |
| Edward King | 33 | Housing Officer | Plymouth | |
| Jan | 61 | Science Lecturer | Llanelli | |
| Princess | 24 | Studio Technician | London | |
| Shani | 38 | Small Business | Bristol | |
| Sophie Wootton | 24 | Graduate Student | Warwickshire | |
| Steven Broughton | 33 | Art Teacher | Oxfordshire |
| Elimination Chart | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| Donna | WIN | WIN | WIN | WIN | WIN | Winner | |||||
| Dan | WIN | Runner-Up | |||||||||
| Dave | WIN | Runner-Up | |||||||||
| Steven | WIN | ELIM | |||||||||
| Jan | ELIM | ||||||||||
| Sophie | ELIM | ||||||||||
| Cadi | WIN | ELIM | |||||||||
| Princess | ELIM | ||||||||||
| Daniel | ELIM | ||||||||||
| Shani | ELIM | ||||||||||
| Edward | ELIM | ||||||||||
| Andrew | ELIM | ||||||||||
Colour Key
Potter won Pot of the Week.
Potter was one of the judges' favourites of the week.
Potter was safe and was through to the next week.
Potter was one of the judges' least favourites of the week.
Potter was eliminated.
Potter was a finalist.
Potter won the series.
| Episode no. | Airdate | Total viewers (millions) | Weekly ranking all channels | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 January 2024 | |||
| 2 | 14 January 2024 | |||
| 3 | 21 January 2024 | |||
| 4 | 28 January 2024 | |||
| 5 | 4 February 2024 | |||
| 6 | 11 February 2024 | |||
| 7 | 18 February 2024 | |||
| 8 | 25 February 2024 | |||
| 9 | 3 March 2024 | |||
| 10 | 10 March 2024 | 2.90 | 43 |
The Festive Pottery Throwdown is a series of one-off Christmas specials where celebrities participate instead of members of the public.
| Celebrity[8] | 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 |
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.[9]
A Canadian version, The Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down, premiered on CBC Television on 8 February 2024.[10]