Episode 1 The Great Pottery Throw Down

No, this isn't the bit between the programmes in the 1960s,

this is The Great Pottery Throw Down.

Pottery is all around us. Irreplaceable in our daily lives

and none of us can live without stuff made from clay.

And these are clay's masters - ceramic artist Kate Malone

and master potter Keith Brymer Jones,

have championed great British pottery for decades.

Pottery is almost as good as sex! It's so physical and so fantastic,

on a good moment, it's up there.

Is pottery better than sex? Er, no.

Keith has been at the wheel for over 30 years.

His contemporary tableware sells all over the world and with Madonna

and Brangelina as clients, he is now one of our most successful

potters ever.

I find, the simpler the design, the more impact it has.

There's quite often times when I have looked at a certain shape

and it will move me to tears.

Kate's stunning work can be seen in museums

and public spaces all over the world

and in the homes of renowned art collectors and rock stars.

I'm chasing that next glaze,

that next colour that I haven't invented yet.

I'm chasing that next interpretation of nature.

Now, they are both chasing a new dream - to find

the next champion of British pottery.

Hooar!

And it's going to take 1,600 kilograms of clay...

Ohhh...

..1,200 degrees centigrade...

It's completely in the lap of the pottery gods now.

..500 unique and beautiful items for the home...

They'll be small ones.

..35 gruelling days...

Exhausting and moreish.

..with ten passionate home potters.

You look quite at home there, I must say.

-LAUGHING:

-That's good!

But will a champion emerge...

You ain't finished the task!

..in the Great Pottery Throw Down?

-Come on!

-Has that one shrunk really quickly?

This is where the panic kicks in.

Don't try and touch it up. Just dip and pray.

-SHE GASPS

-That's not supposed to happen.

SHE BLOWS RASPBERRY

Oh, my God, this is going to be a disaster.

-# Got a feeling inside

-Can't explain

-# It's a certain kind

-Can't explain

-# I feel hot and cold

-Can't explain

-# Yeah, down in my soul

-Can't explain

# I can't explain I think it's love

# Trying to say to you, when I feel blue

# But I can't explain. #

It's day one of the first-ever search for Britain's best home potter

and we are in the spiritual home of potting.

This is where it all began, in Stoke-on-Trent.

And what better place than the longest continuously-running pottery

in the whole of Stoke-on-Trent?

Who knows how many thousands of beautiful crocks that served

the British dinner table passed over these cobbles?

There's a bottle oven out the back there.

Stoke was covered in bottle ovens in the old days.

There was so much smoke from them, you could hardly see your hand

in front of your face.

Middleport is living now. It is still making and it's using

all the great techniques, piled one upon the other.

If this location doesn't inspire the potters, nothing will.

Our home potters have all come disguised as ordinary people.

Jim is a painter and decorator from Bognor Regis.

I think there used to be stereotypes in pottery -

older fellows, bearded...

Sally-Jo is a interior designer from Hampshire.

I'm probably not what people think is a typical potter.

James is a vet from Bristol.

It is quite primal.

It's a very sexual feeling when you are working with clay.

Retired major, Tom, feels exactly the same way.

I can tell you, it takes me a lot longer to throw a pot.

Mum of two, Jane, from North Wales

is just as keen to get her hands dirty.

I'm a farmer's daughter. Generally,

quite a mucky kid.

Sandra's a community project manager from Leeds.

I sew, I knit, I got into pottery. It's normal, isn't it?

Mum of one Joanna is a parish councillor from West Sussex.

I make pots for myself. It's almost, kind of, spiritual.

Matthew's a teacher from the Yorkshire Dales.

Pottery, you definitely don't do it for money.

You will never be a rich potter.

Rekha is a former fine arts student from Chalfont St Peter.

I just fell in love with something which is MESSY and so earthy!

And Nigel is a builder from Bakewell.

My work colleagues, most don't believe that I actually make pots.

So that's our ten potters.

But what will they be making first?

Look at you all! You all look gorgeous. It's so exciting.

Welcome, then, to Middleport Pottery.

I can't wait to see what incredible creations are going to be birthed

in this very room by your hands.

Big moment now, we've got to meet the judges.

Morning, people.

-Hello, everybody!

-Hiya!

Potters of the world unite!

I'm actually tingling with excitement.

I'm so passionate about ceramics and I know you all are.

-I'm feeling emotional actually, now.

-SHE LAUGHS

I've got hankies today.

This is how it's going to work, OK?

Each week, one of you will be named Top Potter.

One of you, sadly, will be going home,

so it's going to be pretty tough, OK?

So, we'll begin with the first-ever main make. This is your mammoth task.

It's going to take four days to create this.

Keith and Kate, what have you got in store?

Right, the first main task is to throw a set of five bowls.

The finished bowls have got to fit inside each other and they need to

be fired, decorated and presented to us at the end of the week.

Woooar!

-I'm excited.

-Good luck!

-Have good one.

-You too.

Creating five stackable kitchen bowls from scratch is

an epic task that will take four long days.

First, the potters need to throw the bowls on the wheel,

then the bowls will have to harden in the studio's drying room

and be put back on the wheel to be trimmed into shape.

Then they will be fired in the kiln for 24 hours,

decorated with glaze and fired again for another 24 hours.

And then, they will have to present all five bowls to the judges.

Look at these beautiful examples on the table.

This one here, with the beautiful rhythm, the space between the bowls

is almost as important as the bowls themselves.

And these, the continuity of the size.

It looks like one has been born out of the other one.

Are the nest of bowls going to sit up, like an ordnance survey map?

Are some of them going to apply a lip?

Are some of them going to distort them in some way?

It'll be very interesting to see if any of our potters

just give us something that little bit more.

But they've got to have that continuity.

And then, of course, there's the glazing.

Look at this one, really, really subtle on the inside.

Lovely texture on the outside.

Sometimes, less is more, in which case,

they'll be showing us the fact that they're designing with clarity.

But on the other hand, you can cover every surface, if you want.

This is a great challenge. They can show us minimal design skills

or they can show us everything they've got.

In this first stage, the potters have just two-and-a-half hours

to throw five kitchen bowls on the wheel

and get them into the studio's drying room.

Oh, gosh!

They're all working with the most common clay on the planet -

earthenware.

Either a common red, like you'll find beneath your garden,

or a manufactured white earthenware...

..depending on the final look they're hoping to achieve for their bowls.

When this clay fires, it should end up as a classic creamware colour.

It should be stunning.

It's different in here.

I'm hot. I normally pot in a garage and it's freezing.

Potting is a complete escape.

I love the feel in my hands, even in the winter,

when it's bitterly cold in the pottery.

I just love the idea that you're taking this piece of mud

and you're creating something that could last thousands of years.

Before I left home, my kids said, "Daddy, just one thing -

"don't embarrass us."

If any of Major Tom's kids are watching...

Now, I need to wet some clay.

..this next bit is a bit odd.

He's wedging the clay,

a potter's trick for getting rid of any air bubbles.

Air often will be wet. There's a certain relative humidity,

so a certain amount of moisture associated with it.

And if you heat that ware and you have trapped some moisture in it,

it will generate steam and you'll get massive expansion

and the ware will simply explode in the kiln.

Even if they think they've wedged enough,

the clay still isn't ready to be thrown.

All I can hear in this room is...

-Yeah.

-What's going on with the slapping?

Well, they're preparing the clay, they're balling up the clay,

ready to throw on the wheel. Slapping is quite necessary.

-Is "slapping" the technical terminology for it, Jane?

-It is.

Yeah, it's a technical term, yes.

It's actually wedging the clay and getting it even.

You don't want hard lumps and soft lumps within the same piece of clay.

It does get quite rhythmic. You can hear potters doing that, yeah.

Ever see your neighbours' net curtains twitch?

"What's happening at Jane's house?"

I've got cows as my next-door neighbours,

so they don't mind so much. They quite like that.

COWS MOOING

My dad and my brother work on the farm together

and this empty little shed, my brother had had his eyes on it

and I just got in there first, basically.

Dad bought me my wheel for my 30th birthday.

He hadn't got a clue what to buy me.

He's a fan of online shopping.

He's always been quietly supportive.

I was just proud of her ploughing her own furrow, as they'd say.

-How're you feeling about this task?

-Um, a little bit nervous.

-Right.

-Yeah.

-Right.

-What are you most worried about?

I think it's just that the quantity of clay, really, to centre that

-first bit of clay.

-It looks like your head is really busy.

-Yeah.

-We're going to leave you in peace.

-Thank you.

-Good luck.

-Thanks.

Nice to meet you both. Three!

They've wedged, they've slapped,

but now potting starts to get really mucky.

I'm just trying to centre the clay,

which can be the trickiest bit, under pressure.

Clay that isn't properly centred will form lopsided bowls.

Ohhh.

So you bring the clay up, it's centring,

and it helps the particles to be in the same direction.

Agh!

Once centred, the clay can be shaped into a bowl-like form

in a process known as throwing.

Why's it called throwing?

I used to think it was about throwing down

the clay on the wheel, cos often the thrower would have an assistant

who would throw the clay down.

It's actually derived from an Old English word, "throwen".

And throwen meant to twist or turn.

As the wheel turns, the potters can start

pulling up the walls of their bowls.

Thick walls will make heavy, unattractive bowls,

but pull too thin and the walls will collapse.

Start with the small ones first, and then work my way up,

just to, kind of, settle myself in, really. I'm a little bit nervous,

so I thought it was the wrong time to start with a big one.

And I'm going to start that one again, too!

I thought I need to do the big one first, because I do big pots,

and then I can, sort of, train myself to do the smaller ones.

I'm still undecided whether to go small to large or large to small.

The theory behind that is I can work myself up to the big one.

Nigel has brought a bit of the builder's yard to the studio.

That has been cut to a shape.

That shape will go round the bottom of the pot.

He's made his own tool

to cut a decorative foot in his bowl, as he throws it.

It came off the wheel. I didn't get it secured well enough.

-This is where the panic kicks in.

-HE LAUGHS

That's the easy one gone wrong!

Good to get the first one under the belt. Lovely.

My first pot is a bit bottom-heavy, but it's only going to get better.

90 minutes left to throw five kitchen bowls

and get them into the drying room.

SHE WOLF WHISTLES

I want to whistle those pots are so good, Tom.

-'With every bowl thrown...'

-Needs to be bit wider.

-'..size matters.'

27-and-a-half.

Unless the potters measure as they throw, the bowls won't be

the right size to stack inside each other.

It's working to exact measurements is the difficult bit.

16-and-a-half by 8-and-a-half...

But it's not just a case of getting the tape measure out.

They're the same height. They're not meant to be the same height.

Has that one shrunk really quickly?

As clay dries, it shrinks.

Obviously, you've got to take into account shrinkage.

Normally, it's about 10%.

With everything with pottery, there's always a theory,

but reality's never quite the same.

I need to throw to at least 17, to allow for all the shrinkage.

This is nowhere near what I want it to be.

But some potters have given themselves even more to worry about.

I'm making a set of mixing bowls. So good sturdy rims and spouts.

It gives the bowl a bit of character, but it's also functional.

When the bowls are inside each other

they should line up and they all smile. So, it's a nice part.

Matthew is also making a few additions.

I would say that's a lovely, wavy line. Has it got an official name?

-It's called slip trailing. So, slip trailer.

-Slip trailing?

-Yep.

It's not an underskirt, is it? That's a slip to me.

Matthew isn't uncomfortable with his underskirt! What is slip?

Slip is a liquid clay. It's watered down.

It's so simple a technique and it's used all around the world.

In country pottery, they've always used the fact

-that you get red and white clay.

-And you like doing this, Matthew?

It is something that... It appeals to me.

It's kind of like traditional Mediterranean style and, like,

medieval English. I think it's good to source inspiration

-from lots of different places.

-I wish you luck with it, Matthew.

-Wonderful, thank you.

-Yeah, we wish you luck. Well done.

At the throwing stage,

Jim's inspiration is a little more straightforward.

I haven't chosen anything that's going to be

super complicated or testing.

I've, kind of, let myself in gently. Potting is a quiet zone.

I have a, kind of, mixed existence, if you like.

There's times where I'm quite loud...

I'm the lead singer in a band called Slim Jim And The Wild Cards.

# Shake, rattle and roll... #

It's the opposite of my potting.

It's the noisy part of my personality.

-Jim, give us a song.

-I will do, at some point.

It's nice and warm in here. Nice shapes.

-Getting there!

-That's nice.

-Relax.

Half an hour to go.

Oh, that is really annoying.

They are completely different shapes!

One of Sally-Jo's bowls doesn't boast the curvy look

she was hoping for.

It's too straight-sided. Argh! OK.

The two big ones to go. Oooh!

Whilst Matthew tackles his smallest bowl...

The larger the bowl, the more intimidated I'm getting.

..most of the other potters have left their biggest until last.

Ah, take a deep breath, see what happens.

They involve wrestling 3-kilogram lumps of clay.

Right now the clay's dominant. It does not want to get in line.

Just like my kids!

Even if they manage to centre the clay,

pulling thin walls for a larger bowl is even harder.

The difficulty with throwing big bowls

is that, when you've got the force of the wheel spinning round,

the further out you get, the centrifugal force gets even higher

and your bowl just automatically wants to spin off the wheel.

Come on.

Ooh! Flip!

It must have just got too dry.

Ridiculous.

So, the clay needs to stay nice

and moist, as it moves around on the wheel.

I let it get too dry and I pulled it too fast and...

Try not to panic too much...

and just do another one.

Great view of Tom.

SHE LAUGHS

-Am I giving you a good view?

-Thanks.

Tom's not the only one struggling.

It's not quite big enough

so it's probably going to shrink to slightly undersize and,

if it's not good enough, then there's no point handing it in.

Oh, God! That breaks my heart.

There's a bit of time left, so I'm going to try and do another one.

You've got about ten minutes. You can do this bowl in ten minutes. OK?

I can't. I have to give up.

No, don't give up. Just keep going.

The clay for Rekha's largest ball still isn't centred.

I feel like I just want to rub your shoulders or do some

-sort of reiki on Rekha.

-I'm fine.

I'm sending you my sisterly love and strength, OK?

-Oh, that's so sweet. Thank you.

-Keep going, keep going.

I've done the five bowls.

Put my feet up. Watch everybody else panicking.

This is the last one.

It is what it is now. It's done.

It's going to be...

it's going to be all right.

That's it finished.

Last one done.

Come on!

I'm leaving, going into the room.

OK, everybody, you've got two minutes, two minutes left.

-Not really everybody. Just Rekha.

-You can do it!

Got to shut that drying room door.

Stop her now, actually. It could collapse, anyway.

Rekha, get it off the wheel.

Well done.

APPLAUSE

-Oh, bless her. I can't even hug you.

-Please!

-Well done, well done.

-Sorry.

I have seen some beautiful bowls go past me this morning.

I think I might have to get out of here. It's too intimidating.

Slightly worried about a couple, actually.

I think, from here, you can be quite pleased with yourself.

We're halfway through the first day.

Middleport's been working around the clock for 150 years.

And whilst their bowls dry, there's no rest for our potters.

They're about to be tested on a traditional technique

that's older than Stoke itself.

So, then, potters, this is your first-ever spot test.

Each week, as your work is drying, you're going to be tested on

a particular potting technique

and, this week, I've heard it's a really tricky one.

It's handles. And it's a technique particularly specific, it's pulling.

If you'd like to carefully pull off the hessian cloth.

So, you have two different types of mug in front of you.

One is a contemporary type and the other is a traditional type.

We want to see two sets of ten identical handles.

These guys aren't going to be in the room whilst you're doing this, OK?

Afterwards, they'll come back

and judge them, without knowing whose handles they're looking at. OK?

-Judges, you can leave.

-Thank you.

-See you in a little while.

Potters, we need 20 handles, two different styles

and you've got 90 minutes.

CLEARS THROAT

This is tough. This is deep-end.

The technique I'm going for is

try and get 20 handles on 20 mugs. That's it.

Handles are a really important element of pottery.

They're aesthetic and functional. When you look at a handle...

even if they've been made hundreds of years ago, you connect really

with that potter's hand.

You can see that maker's thumb mark, of somebody who lived

maybe 300 years ago.

It's quite a traditional technique, the pulling of a handle

and it'll show real control and consistency with someone's hand.

Pulling handles is the ultimate test of a potter's

instinctive feel for clay.

Now, I know what you're all thinking and you're not alone.

There are similarities between pottery and sex.

Oh, yes. You try pulling a handle!

SHE LAUGHS

It's very rude!

I wouldn't describe it as a sensual feeling, necessarily.

A very pleasurable feeling. I love the feel of cool clay in my hands.

Sensual or not, pulling is the best way to encourage the clay

to form a fluent, naturally curved handle.

I'm holding the clay at the top

and then I'm wetting the clay with my right hand and just gently,

hardly any pressure, just pulling it in a very downward motion.

The key with this is just confident draws.

During pulling, potters can create ridges in the clay with their thumb.

Just adding the traditional flattop.

The ridges can add shape and texture to the surface of their handles.

-Hard on the arm.

-You're doing it too quickly, that's why.

Oh, Nigel, you look quite at home there, I must say.

HE LAUGHS

-That's...

-You do. You're, like, in your own world.

-What a handle.

-This is what I do on a regular basis.

THEY LAUGH

That's very good. Does your wife ever...?

-Do pottery with you?

-No, she doesn't.

-Does she not?

-No.

Doesn't know what she's missing! Look, you're going great guns here.

My wife enrolled me in a pottery course,

just so I'd be home for one night a week on time.

Now, I think pottery is taking over from work

so I'm not sure whether she's actually got what she wanted.

Is this preferable to the wheel work?

It's as difficult, if not more difficult.

Cos you need to keep them all the same.

When you're throwing, you can alter.

Once you've taken them off, they are what they are.

There's a few that look similar-ish.

There's a few that look like the BFG's ears.

One hour to go and Jane's nerves are making her cautious.

I just thought I'd try and dry them with a bit of a curve.

Laid them over the rolling pin

so it's a slightly more symmetrical handle.

I leave them like that, just hanging over

so the clay just finds its own natural curve.

I'm going to have a little dip in the middle

because it's the easiest thing to do right now. Oh!

That's not supposed to happen!

You are halfway through.

Oh! Gasps of horror!

Just 45 minutes left.

Sally Jo has just moved from pulling to joining.

The handles are quite soft.

In an ideal world, I would firm up the handles a little bit.

Talking of firming up...

I'm just drying my handles.

Some people just put them straight on to the mug

and leave it soft, but I always work with mine quite dry.

Scratching the surface

and adding slip gives the handle a sticky area to bond to.

To be honest, I am struggling.

And Tom and Joanna are trying to give themselves an advantage.

Despite being attached, they're on the pull again.

I'll add the ridges again, once I've attached them.

It is a little bit of messing around.

Quite a hard technique to get them attached.

SHE GROANS

Ten minutes.

Ten minutes and then your mugs have to be at the front for judging.

I think the key to winning this task is seeing

whether you can replicate the same thing over and over again.

Well, the thing is, I never do anything consistently.

Everything I do is very unique.

I've never done this shape before.

Sure the small ones are really quick.

Five minutes remaining.

Steady, girl.

Normally on these I'd put, like, a little pit for your thumb,

just as a little decoration.

Heads down on this one, not looking up.

OK, guys, we need to start getting our boards to the front.

You've got one minute.

I'm doing the traditional ones now.

-Can we help, can we help each other?

-No.

I was too slow in the beginning.

I've got seven left to do and a minute. No problem.

SHE GASPS

-Do you want a hand?

-No, I'm good, thank you.

Oh, my God, this is going to be a disaster.

It's not going to be finished.

Come on, you've just got a few seconds. Get them up there.

Chop, chop.

-Well done. Have they all got handles on?

-No!

They're the worst handles I've ever done in my life.

I tell you what, they're going to rip us to shreds here.

They are. They're going to tell us...yeah, yeah.

This is where it happens!

# I'll take afternoon tea

# Afternoon tea... #

The potters will now have their work judged for the very first time

and Kate and Keith will have no idea whose handles are whose.

-Hope you enjoyed this challenge. Tight on time.

-Yeah.

It's about rhythm and consistency.

And board number one, I can see a true sense of consistency there.

And there's a clear difference

-between the contemporary and the traditional.

-I agree. Absolutely.

They look pretty well-joined. Oh, no, the bottom.

The bottom hasn't been scratched.

-What do you think of number two?

-I think that's quite high.

Yeah, the proportion's a bit too big for the actual mug itself.

And as far as the contemporary ones are,

I wouldn't say they were that different.

Well, these are looking pretty good. I love the fluidity of the handle.

I'm loving the proportion of the handle to the mug. That's great.

-Lovely ridges on the pulling.

-Really lovely.

-Lovely little curl.

-And again, I'm loving this knot.

-That's lovely, that little gesture.

-Yeah, absolutely.

-Number four. Lovely smudge.

This tells a story, doesn't it, of the finger.

And it describes the material. It was once soft.

They're quite thick, quite heavy.

Yeah, that would be my only comment, really.

-They're a bit on the thick side.

-So, on to the next one. A nice pull.

The thickness of the handle very much in proportion with

the mug itself. The contemporary shape...

I would struggle with a handle that low on a mug.

Number six.

Proportion of what they've tried to do with the handle shape

and the thickness of the handle is way off.

And there it is again on the traditional.

OK, next one. This actually has a sense of animation to it.

It's quite a bold statement to do this

and what about the traditional ones?

Well, I think they've got a lovely lug at the top.

-That's very generous.

-The handle is slightly on the thick side.

Someone's shown a real spark of imagination here.

The thickness of the handle, in proportion to the mug body,

-is fantastic.

-We've talked about the ridges when you're pulling.

The ridges are there, but as an extra thing, the ridges are twisted.

Again, the traditional ones - nice proportion to the mug body.

Lovely ridges, again.

Number nine. The person that's done that is fairly confident.

And a very lovely curved, fat ridge.

I've got a slight problem with the contemporary shape.

They have been brave with their proportions.

That's really brave, Kate. That's really brave, that one.

-Last but not least.

-Well, what a shame.

This is the only one of the ten boards where whoever it was

hasn't managed to finish, although the work is good.

The pulling is good.

They've really wanted to try and get a sense of fluidity in the handle.

-Yeah, lovely sprig.

-And I'm liking the contemporary ones as well.

I'm liking this heavy, thick trench down the middle of it

but you ain't finished the task.

Kate and Keith will now reveal who's mastered pulling

and whose touch has let them down.

-Number ten, I'm afraid is this one.

-That's mine.

-Obviously, you didn't finish the task.

-I understand.

Ninth place was this board here.

The proportions of the handle to the mug shape was just a little out.

Nigel is eighth, Jane is seventh, James sixth,

Matthew fifth, and Joanna is fourth.

Third place is these ones here.

-Mine.

-We love the boldness of the contemporary shape.

So, is it going to be Tom or is it going to be Jim?

Who is your winner?

-Tom.

-Ah, well done!

THEY APPLAUD

-Well done, Tom.

-And how did Tom just edge it?

It was the beautiful, clean pulling and the ridges.

-It was the cheeky curl. It's just a winner.

-Absolutely.

You can actually go and have a breather now,

a well-deserved rest for a few minutes.

When you come back, you can get your bowls out of the drying room.

See you in a little bit. Go and have a rest.

-Well done! You too. Well done!

-Tom, well done, mate.

-Well-played, mate.

You did good.

# Making time... #

It's 8pm and it's taken seven hours

for the bowls to dry.

They're now leather-hard and ready

for what potters call turning and trimming.

So, if some of the potters put their pots in the drying room

and they were sad about them and worried, can you rescue

a badly-thrown pot with a good bit of turning and trimming?

-Yes.

-Yeah, you can.

The potters have an hour and a quarter to trim

all five of their bowls.

When the clay is slightly dry, it changes.

The water's leaving it,

it becomes stiffer, more like chocolate, and you turn and trim it.

It's one of the favourite parts of the process, for me,

because you really are getting to the crispness of the pot

and showing it come alive.

A bit like giving it a bit of an uplift before it goes into the kiln.

Really good potters hardly have to turn anything off their pots.

So, clearly I've got a lot to turn off these pots.

You can see the line of the bowl there.

I want that line to continue and I want to trim off the excess.

In the making of ceramics, there's a certain continuity

in the tools that are used.

Very simple, basic forms are used

time and time again from the earliest times to the present day.

A small, simple tool out of wood

or a piece of gourd, perhaps.

The earliest ceramic objects, in fact, were made 27,000 years ago.

The earliest wheel-thrown pottery appears to have been made

in Mesopotamia, in the 4th millennium BC.

To participate in the making of ceramic objects

is really to participate in a tradition that's really been

part and parcel of almost every civilisation on Earth.

During throwing, James had to rush to finish his largest bowl.

If you've got some wobbles on the outside, you can just wait

until it's a little bit dry and then just trim it off.

I enjoy the process of turning a lump of clay into a usable form.

I feel completely taken away into a different headspace, basically.

Day to day, I'm a veterinary surgeon.

A typical day will be a mixture of consulting and operating.

So, with a stressful job,

going on the wheel and just letting it all flow out of you,

it's a pure therapy. It's my version of meditation.

I think the turning appeals to me

because this is when it really comes together and you really see

the shape that you're going to have at the end of it.

When she threw it, one of Sally-Jo's bowls didn't match her set.

It's slightly flat-sided, but I've managed to turn a curve in it,

which will mirror the inside of this one.

And this one does actually fit inside it.

So, that's a nice surprise!

-Matthew has also had a surprise.

-You've got a bit of a problem here.

This happened after it had gone into the drying room.

Because Matthew applied too much slip to wet clay,

it weakened the rim of his largest bowl.

There is moisture there.

The shape is trying to sort of split itself open

-and it had a slight weakness. Work with it.

-Yeah.

-It's a rather beautiful crack, actually.

-Mm.

-Congratulations!

Yeah, you're going to have to do something with that.

Just go bold with it.

Matthew doesn't normally have an issue with large pots.

If I was a pot, I think I would be

a very large Ali Baba jar.

They are the pots I find most challenging to make.

I got into pottery from a very young age.

Both my parents were potters,

so, I never really touched Play-Doh, in fact,

because there was always clay.

I'm just going to think about it, stay calm and see what happens.

Just take a little out of it...

Most of the potters have waited until their bowls have dried

and been trimmed, before they added slip.

Adding to my time.

And Sandra needs to impress more than most.

Coming last in the Spot Test... Yeah, that was a bit of a bummer.

# Didn't turn away when the sky was grey. #

I sing at the wheel!

Yeah, some call it singing, some call it, "Don't sing."

My friends are very supportive, actually. They think I'm great.

My work, I mean! Not so much me, but they love my work.

If you go to my friends' houses, you'll see my work everywhere.

I make them buy it!

Confidence is a little bit gone, so I'm trying to make up for that.

What time is it?

15 minutes left, guys, of turnin' and a-trimmin'!

Trying to, kind of, give it all a soft, rocky bottom,

so they all are together.

Turning off large amounts of clay,

which I need to do on the two biggest bowls.

The clay in the largest bowls will be softer, making trimming risky.

Having to be really controlled and taking your time with it

isn't something that comes naturally to me.

I've got to be careful. If I press too hard, it will dip,

slightly, cos it's very soft.

The other thing that could happen is

I am too zealous going down inside, to get that foot ring,

and if I do that and go too far, the bowl's finished.

Too soft, you won't touch it with a turning tool.

Too hard, you'll push it down and in.

That's how it is. It is a balancing act.

He's managed to trim it, but Matthew's biggest bowl

still has a crack problem.

Maybe I should disguise it with a handle.

In the kiln, the crack might open up a bit more.

But in theory, the handle might just hold it together.

What I'm doing here is just trying to create some texture,

to give myself an interesting slip line.

-Jim!

-I'm repairing a crack.

-You know what? You're not alone.

Join the crack club, yeah. Dry clay and slip,

-that's the trouble.

-It's only a little crack.

-It is.

-I'm filling that baby up, as quick as we can.

-OK. Get cracking.

A couple of minutes and they've got to be in there.

You don't want them getting locked out.

-Joanna, doing a bit of juggling.

-Doing a bit of juggling.

SHE HUMS CIRCUS MUSIC

There you go. Get them in there, girl. They look gorgeous.

30 seconds, guys. 30 seconds. Get them in there, please.

-Can I give you a hand?

-You can do, my darling, that would be great.

-They feel beautiful.

-Get those in the drying room, please. Chop, chop!

Get in there!

Five, four, three...

You need to get your pot in there quickly, please, Jim!

Two...

One...

I was nice, cos it's the first day!

Well done!

APPLAUSE

Wow! A full-on day, guys. But you've been amazing.

The next time you clap eyes on your babies,

they will have had their first firing.

So, we will see you in a couple of days.

Day one of the competition lasted 13 hours.

What a day! I am truly fatigued.

It's the longest I've ever spent at the wheel.

The longest I've ever spent using clay.

I somehow survived it.

You know, I've got no cracks.

You're going to have ups and downs, aren't you?

Exhausting, exhilarating and, erm, moreish!

Day two is a frustrating down day for the potters.

There is nothing they can do,

as their bowls are dried completely and go into the kiln.

Middleport had a whole army to get this job done

and they are known as kiln men.

And here's ours. His name's Rich.

This process is slightly nerve-racking.

Because it's somebody else's work.

It's Rich's job to take the dried kitchen bowls to our kiln room

and fire them.

We make sure that it makes it to the kiln safely as possible,

for that biscuit firing.

A pot's first trip to the kiln is known as a biscuit firing

and it permanently transforms the clay.

That process of going from the clay to the final ceramic

involves a whole host of rather complicated and different steps.

Initially, you just boil off the water that's not held in the clay.

And then as you increase temperature, you start

to lose the water that is held in the crystal structure of the clay.

As you increase temperature up to about 800 degrees C,

you start to get vitrification or melting or fuse of the pot

and the body and you form that solid ceramic body that is permanent.

That is going to be there for thousands of years.

Well, that's what kiln men hope.

But at temperatures over 1,000 degrees C, moisture, poor throwing,

careless trimming, can all spell disaster.

They're in one piece now.

Will they be in one piece at the end of the firing?

It might be nerve-racking, but Rich actually has it pretty easy.

The old bottle kilns, of years ago,

being in coal, being in wood,

it must have been terrible.

The poor guys working in that gap between the bottle that you see

as the outside of the kiln

and the chamber of the kiln within would have been stoking coal

for hour after hour after hour, in unbearable temperatures.

And in fact, a lot of the workers would be paid on what came out

of the kiln, so if it didn't come out of the kiln,

they didn't get paid for it.

You'd put a piece of rag, soaked in water, run in with a hook,

and you'd pull it out,

while the kiln was going because you'd start losing money.

Day three and the potters are back

to discover how their bowls fared during the first firing.

Who, for you, is really shining?

So far, Tom is technically confident

but maybe he lacks a bit of imagination. Rockabilly Jim.

He said when he was making, "Well, I haven't stretched myself too far,"

but he actually has.

Sally-Jo is really a bit of a dark horse in this.

Kate, who do you think is struggling a bit?

It's Matthew. His shape was really top-heavy.

-He's just not showing us what he can do.

-And then we've got Jane.

I noticed her right at the start. She was panicked.

Another worry for me is probably Sandra.

Rekha's hand skills don't seem up to the mark.

We've actually been shuffling our opinions through different stages.

Absolutely, and you never know what comes out of that kiln.

Our kiln man Rich has brought the biscuit-fired bowls

back to the studio.

Deep breath.

Everything now rests on what lies believe the hessian.

SHE EXHALES LOUDLY

It's not bad.

OK. This looks good.

Oh, I've got a crack in my base on the large one.

-I'm quite glad it hasn't split in half really.

-Not cracked.

-All five present and correct. A bit heavy but...

-Not cracked.

Really pleased.

-Not cracked.

-That's a good start. Phew.

Oh, my gosh.

Oh, that's a relief.

Oh! Cool.

Ooh, ooh.

I've got some rather lovely additions to my pieces here.

It's a fact of pottery. You can't get too upset.

The potters now have two and a half hours to decorate their bowls.

Earthenware glazes are commonly a mixture of clay, silica and lead.

Once fired, the blend melts, to form a glass-like decoration.

But the potters can't be sure of how it will look

until after the final firing.

I'm planning to do some pretty simple decoration.

Decorating, it's not really my thing.

I'm not proficient at it, frankly.

Normally, I'd decorate with slip before it goes in the kiln,

but I've got two hours.

It's difficult to glaze it, because your heart's not in it really.

I have a plan. It's formulating in my head.

Sally-Jo has set her heart on an abstract design with layered colours.

I'm just putting on a base layer of a slip, which you don't

conventionally put on at this stage, but I find if I put it on now,

then the colour on top flows much better.

Colour is such an emotive thing.

I work as an interior designer and the colours you surround

yourself with can make such a difference to how you feel.

I don't go around creating bright pink houses or anything

but I like to take colour combinations for my pottery.

It's a really careful choice and it's got to come from within.

For me, it's really important that it feels quite fresh

and I want it to feel quite painterly.

At the end, I want the paint strokes to be seen.

I am not being literal, but I just want to try and get the sand

and what we actually see on the horizon.

Rekha's very simple design is meant to reflect the colours of her

favourite beach in Dorset.

Clay can be anything you want it to be.

I'm a conceptual artist, you know,

so I build a lot of natural organic forms

and I feel the need to, kind of, make it not just a pot,

but something else about it.

I just made some stamps from make-up sponges.

I made some geometrical shapes.

Quite simple, quite basic.

The green, the cream ends up as classic creamware colours,

but with a contemporary shape.

The indentations in the base, when you scrape away,

the upper pieces will go cream.

I was up in Whitby when the inspiration came through.

Being by the sea, it came to me straight away.

There has to be a sea theme, so blues, whites, terracottas.

I thought that would be a nice combination.

Jane's inspiration comes from a little closer to home.

These pots are an ode to my grannies.

So the design is from my grandmother's dress from the '60s

and my other granny lived in Portugal.

As regards the crack,

I can't see it, so I'm just going to focus on the decoration.

It's nice to get this far, really.

I'm glad the throwing is out of the way.

I'm certainly not going to try

and disguise the cracks by painting over them.

That would just look dreadful, so I'm going to ignore them

and, maybe, they'll go away.

Jim's hoping to bring what is left of his set of bowls together

with a vintage woodland theme.

I'm roughly painting a background colour and I will refine it with

a fine brush and a darker colour, to make a more finished leaf design.

One hour to go before the potters' bowls need to be ready

for their final firing.

I'm going to try and use bold colours, one colour per bowl,

and I'm thinking about a way of introducing the colours

I use on each of the bowls into every bowl.

Matthew's finally found some enthusiasm for decorating.

This is an iron oxide, so I'm trying to reflect what

I did originally on the outside of my bowls.

Oxides change colour in the heat of the kiln.

I'm surface decorating with cobalt oxide.

The thinnest of layers has the potential to produce richer,

more organic-looking hues than a premixed glaze.

Although it doesn't look like anything at the moment,

this comes out the most brilliant, beautiful blue on white.

I did have a plan, but we have also got some oxides, so thinking

on my feet a little bit more.

I think I might change the plan a little bit,

do something different.

30 minutes, guys. You've got half an hour to go.

I've got to finish on time.

I don't want to decorate too much, in case it just looks like a mess.

Rekha's decoration has become even more conceptual.

Because this one has a wobbly base, I've written "wobbly base" on it.

I think this is perfect, so I did "perfect" on this.

I keep adding more to it.

I think I've overdone it now and I've really got to stop.

Five minutes, guys, then we are going to get these babies down to the kiln.

Fliberldy-deedledy, biddledy-bee.

For their final preparation for the kiln...

..the potters' decorated bowls

should be coated in transparent glaze.

The secret is, don't play with it. Don't try and touch it up.

Just dip and pray.

It contains silica, which, when fired, will turn into a thin,

clear layer of glass.

Deep breath.

I run a serious risk of losing this part of the pot in the glaze.

I don't want the judges peering through the hole.

Drumroll, please.

Easy as we go.

Oh, look at that. It stayed in.

After 72 hours,

the potters' kitchen bowls are, at last, ready for their final firing.

Bring all your pots over.

As I handed the bowls over to Rich,

I felt like these are my babies, you know, and I will see you tomorrow.

Once you've done as much as you have control over, it is quite nice.

You can feel relieved. How I'm going to be feeling

when the kiln is opened is a different matter altogether.

And it is completely in the lap of the pottery gods now.

-If you were Richie, how would you be feeling now?

-Nervous.

-Yeah, frightened.

-50 bowls to fire.

Slightly glad it's out of our hands now.

We can just leave it to Richie and just wait. I can't wait though.

I can't wait that long!

The potters' day isn't over

and, during the glaze firing,

Kate and Keith have set one final challenge.

Each week, we're going to test your skills at the wheel.

You're going to be up against each other. You're going to be up against

the clock. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Throw Down.

This week, you're making egg cups and it's about numbers.

You're going to throw off the hump

and you're going to throw for 20 minutes.

If you've not thrown off the hump before,

watch Keith very closely, cos he is the master.

Throwing off the hump has been with us for centuries and it's

the first-ever pottery technique that enabled mass production.

It's done all around the world by people who want to

throw small pieces.

Instead of centring each little tiny little ball of clay,

there's one big hump from which the tip is taken.

Now, I have a rule. I never stop the wheel when I throw off the hump.

You just want to get into a rhythm.

If I make a little groove at the bottom, that will

determine where I cut the base.

The biggest danger - you slice off the base

and you make a hole in the egg cup, which is not what we're after.

You've got five kilos of clay and you've got 20 minutes.

So, which potter can throw the most egg cups?

Three, two, one, go.

SHE GASPS

Just one little mistake and the whole thing goes.

Don't cut through the bottom.

Oh! Doesn't count. Holes in the bottom.

Focus, focus.

I lost another one with holes at the bottom.

I've got a special tool here, it's called a throwing spear.

Take a groove out the base...

..keep the wheel going, clean the wire, spin it round.

Rekha, she's chosen a different style and I kind of like it.

Rekha's first one, well done.

-Well done, Rekha.

-Tom's on three.

-Matthew's got three over here.

You want to slow down there, Matt.

Jim's got four. Come on, Jim!

Jim is overtaking Tom.

Keep going, make everything economical with movement.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

Tom, come on, he's on seven, you're on six.

Seven?! Oh, my God. I've got one.

15 minutes left. Seventh one from Sandra and it's a beauty.

I can't do it, I've cut my fingers about 15 times.

We're into double figures over here, people. We've got ten from Tom.

-Jim's on his 12th.

-Yeah, we're rock and rolling.

-I've lost my clay.

-Come on, get it in.

-You've got big shoulders, get it in.

-Do it for your family.

Look at their faces. Don't let them down.

-Ten minutes.

-Who's winning?

-17 over here.

20 over here, guys, with Jim.

20?!

Show off.

Five minutes left of this Throw Down.

-Some quick ones at the end.

-Tom's on 28.

-What? 28?

-Jim's done 29.

-Brilliant.

-Come on, potters, one minute left.

Come on.

Lost that one.

-85 from James(!)

-Yes, thank you, everybody, thank you.

Come on, Nigel.

Final finale egg cup.

-Three...

-Come on, last one.

..two...one.

BELL RINGS That's it.

How'd you do, my darling?

Disaster.

Our kiln man, Rich,

will now count how many egg cups each potter has thrown from their hump.

18 altogether. 19 good.

20. 23.

23. 28. 28.

Either Tom, Sally-Jo or Jim will be the first Throw Down winner.

31.

36.

-32.

-And the winner of our first-ever Throw Down is Tom. Well done.

APPLAUSE

Time for you to go home, guys. OK, tomorrow's a big day.

Your bowls will be judged and, sadly, one of you will be going home.

Escape while you can.

I mean, it's great to win, but... creeps in every time.

Two thirds now, you know...Jim. It could go anywhere.

I've thrown off the hump before, so I thought I could do it.

It was a real shock.

Somebody pipped me to the last post, so I'm like... Oh, so I'm happy.

It's taken four days, but after 24 hours in the kiln,

the potters' bowls are finished.

-That's us.

-Oh, I can't bear it.

-Goose bumps again. Let's see.

You never really know what you're going to get. Which is the beauty...

30 years I've been doing it and I'm still so excited.

This is all about what they visualised,

what they've executed and what they're getting out of the kiln.

And is what they visualised and what they're getting

out of the kiln roughly the same as what they planned?

All potteries in Stoke would have a display room

where they'd show off their work to their customers.

Now, Middleport's old display room

is where the potters' first completed work

will be presented to Kate and Keith.

Joanna, bring your bowls up to the front, please.

The weight of the bowls is good,

there's a bit too much meat in the bottom here

and it's interesting, because this one's got lots of stress cracks.

-They don't go all the way through. Your bases.

-These little nicks.

Come on, get them cleaner. The base is just as important as the rim.

Don't do it again.

So, I was really concerned that the cobalt was going to be overloaded.

Cobalt oxide, it's really difficult to control.

There's a little bit of texture here.

You can just feel it and so, your cobalt, it was too thick.

Really nice, Tom.

You pick it up, you're expecting a certain weight in your hand

and that's what you're getting.

I was a little concerned that it was a little minimalist on the outside,

but look at the inside.

Look at that. Absolutely beautiful.

I think the way the slip relates to the lines that you made

while you were carving works very well.

The bright colours work with the dark clay.

-That really is my kind of look.

-Thank you.

-Is that on purpose? Leans this way.

-If you like it, it's on purpose.

KATE CHUCKLES

You need to make sure that the strength of the colour

is sufficient on the sponge.

I like the blue and white. I think that's a really good idea.

Yes, it's nice, in that, you've done the painting

and you've also scratched back through to the white slip.

I really like the fact that you've decorated the base.

-It's quite a simple design.

-Yeah.

Would one class that as a bowl?

I would, yes.

Jim, would you like to bring your bowls to the front, please?

Deep breath.

How are you feeling about them, Jim?

I'm happy with the bowls that were left to decorate.

The first two, obviously, were a bit of a catastrophe.

Very slightly-nostalgic feel to the way some wallpapers

and textiles have that...off-colour.

Very nice different leaf shapes and different use of colour.

I think you've got a real talent for this brush decoration.

-It's good.

-Really, this crack, it's down to preparation of clay.

-It wasn't wedged properly.

-This was stupid.

-Schoolboy error.

-Don't do it again.

-Schoolboy error.

"Perfect," "Wobbly base,"

-"Off centre," "Bottom-heavy," "Top-heavy."

-Yeah.

You said it all for us, Rekha.

You've got your black, green, blue, yellow, yellow.

-You've got your pebbles...

-What's going on there?

I do want them to be good, cos I like your fine-art attitude.

How are you feeling about the way the decoration's worked?

Erm, I prefer a simple decoration.

But we've given you two hours to do your decoration and I don't

really feel that you are showing us as much as you might have done.

I feel as though you need to know when to stop.

We feel that you stopped too early.

Sally-Jo, will you bring your bowls forward, please?

You've put this lip in them, which follows through the whole thing,

which just accentuates the whole set.

-Look at the lovely patterns inside.

-Used a bit of copper, have you?

Yes, bit of cobalt, as well.

Sometimes ceramics can be like paintings and have

the sensitivity of someone who has the skill of doing a painting

and I really feel the sensitivity

and the depth of colour is really successful.

-Did you plan a flat line across the top?

-I did plan a flat line.

I hoped for a flat line.

Well, congratulations, because that's not a simple thing to do.

-It's really, really good.

-Thank you.

-The crack is a tough one, isn't it?

Yes, my base is undulating a little bit.

There's an area of thickness and thinness.

I made the mistake because I was so nervous.

-I'm actually really impressed, Jane.

-Thank you very much.

-They're really good.

-KEITH CHUCKLES

Can you tell us about the pattern?

-Don't start.

-Why does it make you cry?

I think because... because out of the ten of you...

HE LAUGHS

Go on.

..out of the ten of you, you could see...

HIS VOICE BREAKS

Out of the ten of you, I could see that you were so nervous,

-you were so nervous.

-Yes.

And you've just excelled yourself.

We've had everything from tough love to tears, but now we need

the judges to have a little pow-wow, so, in the meantime, if you

wouldn't mind leaving us and we'll see you back here in a little bit.

I really enjoyed making those bowls.

I really like the way that they acknowledged the use of colour

and it was meant to be quite free in the brushstrokes...

I hadn't wedged the clay enough. I'll take that onboard.

Is it a bowl if it's cracked?

Then, I have done enough to stay, because my bowls were solid, sturdy.

Do I think I'll leave? I think there's every chance.

Like they say, I didn't spend enough time on decoration.

That's definitely a fault.

It would be nice not to.

We've got two decisions to make. Shall we start with the happy one?

We're looking for our first-ever Top Potter, please.

Tom fills all the points for you, doesn't he?

He does, yeah, yeah.

And, really, Sally-Jo is really filling them for me.

I like the, sort of, move into fine art, because each one looks like

a painting in the bottom of a bowl

and she used the colour so sensitively.

-But in the mix there, we've got Jane.

-You going to cry again?

I'm going to try and hold it together.

It's a tough call between the three of them, isn't it?

Now onto the really sad business cos it feels so soon.

Who is going to be leaving the pottery today?

It's a toss up between Matthew and Rekha.

Rekha doesn't have the skill but she's just got this attitude.

She's bringing in a bigger picture, really. Matthew was slightly lazy.

I'm completely divided because I'm annoyed with him,

he was born to clay. He was sort of probably eating it.

We have got to tell them, somebody's got to leave the pottery, OK?

We're going to bring the potters back in.

Each week the judges are going to choose who is Top Potter.

So, judges, what did this person do to earn this glorious accolade?

They showed a great connection between the concept of their design

through to fruition and, throughout all the tasks,

they showed great discipline and great finish.

The Top Potter for this week goes to...

..Tom.

-APPLAUSE

-Well done, Tom.

-Congratulations, Tom, well done.

-Thank you.

Now to the less happy task, because one of you has to go.

And the judges have made their decision.

The person leaving the pottery today is...

..Rekha.

That's fine.

No, it's fine.

-You did so great.

-We're very sad for you to go.

It's really sad.

Her craft skills just weren't there and it was so upsetting,

because Rekha has this great spirit, this great sense of endeavour

and this bravery.

-If it was down to attitude, Rekha wins hands down.

-Yes!

I do feel disappointed, but I think it was the right decision.

I could only push the conceptual bit to some extent but,

ultimately, it's a skills test.

It's fine.

Matthew's card is definitely marked. You know what?

I really don't think he realises it.

It's going be really interesting to see how he reacts to future tasks.

As soon as there is that elimination process,

it makes the whole thing a bit more real.

Great to win Best Potter. I mean, that's brilliant.

But, I'll be honest with you, when everything came out of the kiln,

I just recognised... there's so many styles

and these people are amazing

and you're really critical of your own work and I thought,

"Actually, they're pretty ordinary."

If all I take from this competition is that I made Keith Brymer Jones

cry with happiness for me, on my behalf, that's good enough for me.

This is sustained physical exercise.

'An epic Main Make...'

Bath one of me kids in that.

'..for the smallest room...'

Doesn't work.

'..a Spot Test...'

That tile has been disqualified.

'..that's nine times as hard...'

Who wants to be normal?

'..and a Throw Down that has to be seen...

This looks so bizarre.

-'..to be believed.'

-Argh!'

'But who will be the next Top Potter?'

Too upset now.

'And whose competition will come to an end?'

I feel like a six-year-old in an art lesson.

It'll be playtime soon.