Beeb axes The Great Pottery Throwdown in ‘revenge’ for producers taking Bake Off to C4
BBC bosses have thrown in the towel on The Great Pottery Throwdown after two series — despite its popularity with fans.
The TV contest, hosted by Sara Cox, drew audiences of up to 3.4million an episode when it last aired in March 2017 — becoming the most popular show on BBC2.
Made by Love Productions – the same team behind The Great British Bake Off – its axing has been viewed as a revenge tactic after the company took Bake Off from the Beeb to Channel 4 last year.
BBC executives kept show-makers waiting for almost two years before finally deciding to axe the show this week.
A source said: “They’re not thinking about the viewers in making this decision, it’s just a way to get revenge after what happened with Bake Off.
“And they have deliberately dragged their heels until the last possible moment and then told show bosses they are ending it.
“Nobody is in any doubt over why they’ve done it. It’s a real shame.”
The hour-long show made its debut on BBC2 in autumn 2015, with an average of 2.3million weekly viewers. By the final of the second series in spring of 2017, the show had gained a further one million viewers.
Following a similar format to Bake Off, competitors battled to create the most impressive pottery with a contestant eliminated each week.
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By the end of the last series The Great Pottery Throwdown had overtaken Top Gear as BBC2’s highest-rated show.
A BBC spokeswoman said: “Whilst we are proud of The Great Pottery Throwdown and very grateful to everyone involved in the two series, we sometimes have to take difficult decisions in order to make room for new shows.”
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