User Reviews

This show was so good. Please bring it back. Sara Cox was so good presenting and the judges were great too

I adore this show. The BBC were silly for letting it go. Thank you C4 for bringing it back. Its wonderful seeing modest people create beautiful things. I still find the crying a little odd though :)

Love this programme. There's something wonderful about people creating things. It's just magic!

The BBC are churning out rubbish after rubbish. Well done C4 for firstly saving the Bake Off and now my favourite The Pottery Throw Down. Mel Sykes is worth the admission fee alone.

A wholesome show with beautiful art, interesting contestants and great hosts. I love pottery and this really puts it on display in a great way. Also, please keep Ellie! She adds the right amount and style of humor the show needs.

There aren't too many tv shows that celebrate craft and skill, but this one definitely does!

Unlike most of competition-based reality tv, this show has no infighting or manufactured drama. Instead what we get is a lovely bunch of people who help and support each other through fascinating creative challenges. What really elevates this contest is the judging - always constructive and positive, with even the negatives delivered with genuine kindness.

The mellow, calm pace allows us to admire the competitors' skillful work. I know next to nothing about pottery, but that doesn't disturb my enjoyment of the show!

Overall I love this show! It is very much in the vein of British Baking Show, it has a homey, comforting feel, like a warm sweater on a cold day. As an amateur potter myself, I find all the different techniques and methods fascinating to watch. But I think anyone would enjoy this. The production has gotten better with each season as far as camera work and sound quality.

Wish I could rate each season separately, cause 1 and 2 are great. Season 3 seems to be succumbing to the industry push to have younger, more attractive contestants, rather than focusing on talent. Leonard, one of the oldest contestants in S03 was sent off by episode 4, even though he was clearly better than several of the other contestants. And the challenges of season 3 seem to be getting more outlandish, choosing to focus on comical moments and goofy outtakes, instead of the actual process and craft of the contestants.

Hoping this doesn't end up just another cutesy reality show. Producers should stay true to what people liked in seasons 1 and 2.

This show is just so much fun and enjoyable on all levels - from the joy of seeing creativity take shape from lumps of clay to amazing works of art, to seeing the potters form meaningful connections with each other, to having the pleasure of watching the potters grow in their expertise. What would make this show a perfect 10 would be having Ellie as a permanent host. Such a fun and delightful personality. She will be missed!

I was really enjoying season 5 up until Siobhan returned as host in ep 7. Ugh! Her loud, abrasive personality doesn't fit the tone of the show at all. Please bring back Ellie or I won't be returning for season 6. Rated it a 6 with Siobhan but would happily upgrade it to a 10 with Ellie as permanent host.

Why has Ellie left far better presenter than Siobhan. It is a real shame. We do not need sombody being stupid/funny. The best supporters, have been Mel Sykes. Shara Cox , Ellie Taylor. So please let us enjoy the show not distracted by silliness.6 /10 With out the stupidity 10/10

Thank you .

In the middle of season 2 . Too much chatting. Kate & Keith are great, true ceramicists. Very talented, knowledgeable & skilled so I can enjoy & respect their opinion. I pretty much agree. there is a lot of science & technique.

sometimes, they don't show details on the pieces enough, or a chance to really see the result- 5 foot sculpture for instance. Mostly, I agree/ in shared studio, we candled up the heat,12 hours, can be up to 24 hours firing, and candled down, slowly cooled 12 hours. and the piece has to be dry before firing. they showed a "ceramics engineer" -there's a lot of science in glazes. and a kiln tech, also needed. position in kiln, how you load it, fire it u & down, can affect your piece. Me I don't throw, only hand build. You can get very secure, well built pieces with hand building. limitless.

Altho I really respect Kate's work, I don't a;ways, like her commentary. I know she is a true expert. Keith is very direct, knows what he is looking at.

I love Raku. the technique we used, is a bit different in final stages. Most of these guys don't understand Raku, the essence &the glazing. if well made with the right clay it rarely cracks. & some cracking is acceptable in Raku- Crazing, there is a white glaze designed to crack.

but I have to say, there is too much chatting. Cathy Cox, an Actress, there as host, and for color. Tries too hard, & is not that charming or funny, as she thinks.It's the producers fault

Trowing takes skill and 1,000s of hours of practice. It's a great skill done by a Master, but for me hand building is more creative, You can do a lot with coils and it's not just plain slabs.

What I'm about to say is going to make me sound like an angry 90-year-old Christian lady but I'm extremely cool I swear! Season 3 really really got it wrong.

First they dropped the history aspect and that was always my favorite part and I don't understand why the bake off did the same thing. It was so cool to learn something while watching the show about the things that they're making.

Anyway, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but they seem to only make dumb sex jokes through the whole season 3 and it's extremely weird to watch adults giggling when someone says, "I made a perfect hole" which really isn't funny, it giggling at anything all phallic in shape.

I'm not offended, just bored by it and I feel a little cringe for them when they act like 7 years olds. Which is often.

Also, it's hard to care when you can't see what they are making. You only need to look up from your phone at the judging, because you only see them talking while they work, but not enough to really care what's going on.

And season 3 judging seems to be completely arbitrary. They should explain more pottery stuff, even though I don't really care about pottery, it's just hard to know why someone wins.

Finally, the crying isn't working out for me every time the host cries, it feels gimmicky, like it's their version of the handshake.

Love this show but agree with other reviewer, please go on talent, not pretty people, we watch it for the pottery. Find Sara Cox very patronising, love the experts, especially Keith

Thanks Ellie for your handling of this brilliant series, carefully crafted presenting !

The program itself has well chosen craftspeople, perhaps a pre-series program to see the selection process would add interest .

Looking forward to the new series .

1st 2 seasons, Sara's commentary is awful. Irritating. Couldn't they get someone who understands ceramics & can comment.

KEITH I'd a master Potter, look at his demonstration. KATE is a fabulous Ceramicist & artist. RICH from comments, knows his stuff.

Master Potter My left foot. Take ceramics classes at Los Angeles Community College, & you'll know more than most of the contestants. Some have talent, not enough knowledge.

They make comments, but on the level of 1st graders.

Like glaze goes on gray, becomes blue (or green) hard to know Not true. It's chemistry, one knows what color any glaze becomes. Electric kiln different than gas, with fire. Clay b oldies are n ot unpredictable. We pugged our own clay. Also they don't differentiate between high & low fire clay & glazes.

Do watching amateurs with half knowledgeable not master potters.

I only handbuild & sculpt Master potters throw & handbuild These judges are Masters. Loading a kiln, understanding firing is a skill. Knowing glazes, understanding clay bodies, is a skill. Basic hand building, basic clay facts limited knowledge. Throwing takes 10,000 hours to master. I had back injury & couldn't do it. I know all basic techniques of handbuilding, & still have a lot to learn.

Take classes in any DoCal Community College. Competition to teach Art is so strong, they get The Best in Arts.

I won't continue to watch. I wish the contestants were better. I love ceramics!

But. Somehow they passed up the best two builds in season 4 episode 2 and gave the award to the 3rd best build. Does anyone else agree???

"The Great Pottery Throw Down" is a British TV show obviously inspired by "The Great British Bake Off". In fact, it's pretty much the exact same formula...but instead of baking the show is about amateur potters all competing to see if they can take home the prize. While this sounds very boring, like its cousin, it's an enjoyable show...and will likely keep your interest.

Now this is not to say the show is great...it's very good...but not great. Much of it is because unlike "The Great British Bake Off", "The Great Pottery Throw Down" lacks humor...which it really could use. It also goes through quicker cast changes than the other show...and this makes the show a bit less endearing. Still, despite these shortcomings, the show manages to impress and can be seen on HBO Max here in the States.

In early seasons there is much more innuendo, and shots of handle pulling etc designed to make the viewer think about smut... but in more recent seasons they've veered away from that - dunno why, silly double entendre, whether a soggy bottom or a moist rim make these reality shows particularly and peculiarly British - so feel this is a loss.

Another way the show is a little different to GBBO is that you get to see mastercraftspeople (judges and the occasional guest) demonstrate their considerable skill every ep and watching proper potters make objects we use daily outta mud with a wee bit of slap and tickle in a coupla minutes is bloody amazing.

It is also much easier to guess which contestants are likely to win/do well very early. You can't really quickly skill up or play with ceramics under pressure (like baking) and its much more expensive/impossible to practice, so many newbies and weekend amateurs won't have ever tried raku, some ways of decorating, made something entirely watertight (beyond a mug) until they're on TV.

Finally the new presenter Siobhan - sure she's a lovely woman and great actor but whether its the script or her off the cuff, its not really working. Sorry. Also docked a star coz of it. Sorry.

This used to be a passable handicraft show in the 'Masterchef' mould, but since the move to C4 it has become too woke to watch - with contestants carefully selected to represent the liberal ideal of society, and realising their neuroses in the form of ceramic; an excruciatingly breezy maiden-aunt type presenter; and judges who are bursting into tears every five minutes because it is all so flipping moving. It was improved slightly last year when the presenter got injured and they had to bring in a replacement, but I won't be watching it again while this woman is at the wheel. Bring back Melanie Sykes!