'Handmade: Britain’s Best Woodworker' Heading To Discovery+
In another move that takes Discovery+ one step closer to being a service anglophiles need to add to their lineup, the streamer has snapped up the North American rights to Channel 4's newest reality series hit, Handmade: Britain's Best Woodworker. The series, from Plimsoll Productions (best known for Hostile Planet), launched on Channel 4 back in October 2021 and was an instant hit. Channel 4 claims it drew in the most significant debut audience in four years to the network, partially due to the not-exactly-a-Great British Baking Show clone being hosted by one of GBBO's original and beloved hosts, Mel Giedroyc.
The series also stars British architect Alex de Rijke and London-based West-end/Broadway performer Helen Welch as judges. The first series brought nine amateur carpenters to an open-air woodworking space on the edge of a forest to show off and challenge these crafting enthusiasts to create ambitious builds. The series is a little more in The Great Pottery Throwdown vein in that it is only two challenges an episode, centered around a "Big Build" turned in at the end of the hour for judging, rather than GBBO's usual three. Giedroyc also noted that, unlike GBBO, which pre-pandemic filmed on weekends so bakers could go home and rest and practice between rounds, this series does not take breaks between filming episodes.
The series was such a hit that Channel 4 has made the rare move to greenlight two seasons to follow, in 2022 and 2023, a move that was, up until now, reserved only for flagship series GBBO. But Plimsoll is already eyeing the success to move the series to other countries, franchising it the same way Love Productions did with The Great Australian Bake Off, The Great Canadian Bake Off, and the (failed) Great American Baking Show.
Even though the current series, starring the British cast, has been picked up by Discovery+ and will be making its way to the states on streaming soon, Plimsoll is also looking to sell an Americanized version to those looking to fill their endless hours with hit programming. The production studio is currently running under Handmade: Good With Wood and plans to pitch the series to broadcast, premium cable, and streaming platforms. It is unlikely to land on premium cable, and HBO would rather put such a thing under HBO Max, and Showtime would probably pass it to Paramount+. However, broadcast is not out of the question — The Great American Baking Show did not last, but ABC had done very well with Dancing with the Stars.
It is too early to say if the show would come over here to compete alongside its British cousin under an Americanized format. But fans should note that this is Discovery+'s second British acquisition in a short period, having recently snapped up all seasons of the beloved British series The Repair Shop. Discovery Networks is taking over WarnerMedia and HBO Max from AT&T; the merger is expected to complete this summer. The more shows the network picks up that slot well alongside HBO Max shows like GPTD suggests the two streaming services banding together into a single entity may be in the cards.
All six episodes of Handmade: Britain's Best Woodworker Season 1 have finished airing in the U.K. and are expected to arrive in the U.S. on Discovery+ in the coming months. Fans will have to keep an eye on Handmade: Good With Wood to see if and where it lands in the U.S. market later this year.
