The Beeb are broadcasting a short series on the potteries. In "Whatever Happened to the Teapots?" Roger Law of Spitting Image fame goes back to Stoke where the team had their merchandising made (Margaret Thatcher teapots)...unfortunately it's not a podcast, but Law has written here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8350518.stm
Episode 3: "We started off by knocking off the Chinese. The original ceramics were copies of Chinese ware..."
"Until 1800ish, most people got their tableware from the Far East, then a 200-year hiccup in history when we did it, and now most people get their tableware from the Far East..."
