New The Great Pottery Throw Down

There’s no chance of a Hollywood handshake, a Prue pat, or even a tantalising glimpse of Patrick Grant’s facial hair, but there’s still no doubt that The Great Pottery Throw Down is from the same stable as the Bake Off and Sewing Bee.

It’s back for its sixth run this week, which will please fans no end.

Out of all the shows that share the same format, this one has perhaps endured the most changes over the years.

The first run was hosted by Sara Cox in 2015, was a success and inspired some viewers to give the craft a go via local classes. The second series in early 2017 was also a moderate hit but, when Bake Off moved to Channel 4, the Throw Down disappeared for three years and many thought it would never return.

However, More4 decided to pick it up, installing Melanie Sykes as presenter and replacing one of the judges, Kate Malone, with Sue Pryke. With the fourth run, it was a case of almost all change again, with Derry Girls star Siobhan McSweeney taking over as host and Richard Miller, aka ‘kiln man Rich’, who’d previously been the show’s technician, stepping up to take over as a judge from Pryke.

Unfortunately, during the last series, McSweeney had to temporarily hand over the reins to Ellie Taylor after breaking her leg. The comedian did a good job – perhaps the bosses at Channel 4 will regard her stint in charge as an audition for the vacancy alongside Noel Fielding on Bake Off, following Matt Lucas’s decision to step down. She certainly has a high enough profile now, following her recent appearance on Strictly Come Dancing.

During all this upheaval for the Throw Down, one man has remained constant – Keith Brymer Jones.

The ceramicist has been in place from the very beginning and, to be frank, it would be half the show without him. Every series needs a character, and Brymer Jones fills that brief for the Throw Down nicely. Not only is he kind to the contestants and witty too, he’s an emotional chap – something you probably wouldn’t imagine to be true at first glance.

But first impressions can be wrong or at least deceiving; as regular viewers will tell you, he cries whenever somebody produces a piece of work he admires – and that can happen several times an episode. Patrick Grant has shed the occasional tear when he and co-judge Esme Young have sent a contestant home, but we can’t imagine Paul Hollywood getting all emotional, no matter how scrumptious a cupcake or traybake may turn out to be.

So if you spy a spot of weeping (or ‘ocular seepage’ as Tom Read Wilson rather charmingly put it during a recent edition of Between the Covers) following the challenges in this week’s opening episode – which include making a birthday tea set and handleless milk jugs (as well as a fiendishly difficult technical challenge) – you’ll know that something very special indeed has happened.