The Great Pottery Throw Down debuts to mixed reviews
BBC Two's The Great Pottery Throw Down premiered on Tuesday night.
Made by the team behind The Great British Bake Off, the six-part series aims to find pottery's hottest stars. It attracted an average audience of 1.9 million, a similar figure to the Bake Off's first ever episode. Sam Wollaston of the Guardian described the show as "beautiful and mesmerising - I could watch pot throwing all day," but The Times' Andrew Billen called it "cracked, half-baked and hollow." "The whole idea of turning pot-making into a competitive sport was potty," he continued. The Daily Telegraph's Gerard O'Donovan said the show was "tiresome in places" but "endearingly human," while the Express weighed in, "as for whether they have another Bake Off-style success on their hands, I'm guessing no but that's not to say this isn't fun to watch." Presented by Sara Cox, and judged by acclaimed potters Keith Brymer Jones and Kate Malone, the show mirrors Bake Off's format, taking a team of amateur potters through a series of technical test and challenges each week. Other attempts to replicate Bake Off's success have seen mixed results. The Great British Sewing Bee wove its way to audiences of more than two million but The Big Allotment Challenge was a ratings disappointment. More than 14 million people tuned in to watch Nadiya Hussain crowned the winner of this year's Bake-Off. BBC 2's The Great Pottery Throw Down airs at 21.00 on Tuesdays.