Why ‘The Great Pottery Throw Down’ is the new Bake Off

The Great Pottery Throw Down is a new Bake-Off style show from the BBC. For the next six weeks, 10 talented potters will battle it out over their wheels to create masterpieces - before being judged and whittled down until a winner is declared.

Sound up your street? Here's what you need to know...

1. The contestants will be judged by British potters Katie Malone and Keith Brymer Jones. Which judge will be good cop/bad cop is yet to be seen.

2. Sara Cox will be playing the part of Mel AND Sue, as the sole presenter of the new show. She recently said filming had inspired her so much that she's looking into taking a GCSE in Art.
Of her presenting duties, she told The Mirror: "I'm very much like a slightly annoying sister or a friend with useless advice who means well." Sounds about right.

3. Each week the contestants will create a ‘Main Make' (think signature bake), a ‘Throw Down', which sees the potters square up against Keith Brymer Jones, and a ‘Spot Test', which trials individual skills and techniques.

4. According to host Sara Cox there were all sorts of disasters for the contestants to navigate - so expect few tears and tantrums.

5. The tasks will ‘throw up' (geddit?) all sorts of carnage - in the first episode the contestants are asked to make as many egg cups as they can in 20 minutes. Yes, you read that correctly.

6. The show was filmed at Middleport Pottery in Stoke-on-Trent - an area with a rich history of pottery and ceramics. You can visit the pottery and take a factory tour to learn more.

7. The 10 contestants range in age from 31 to 51, and hail from all over the UK. Some have completed courses in pottery and ceramics, but all are amateur potters with serious throwing skills.

8. The Great British Pottery Throw Down begins on Tuesday at 9pm on BBC Two.