Episode 3 The Great Pottery Throw Down

'Nope, it's still not the bit between the programmes in the 1960s.

'It's week three.'

Ooh!

'And I'm not getting any better.'

SHE LAUGHS

Previously, in The Great Pottery Throw Down...

Oh, my God!

..it was sink or swim for our potters.

HE LAUGHS

Jim made quite a splash...

..and was awarded Top Potter.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

But a broken basin sent Nigel's prospects down the plughole.

I came for the crack, and that's what, ultimately, I got.

Now our judges, master potter Keith Brymer Jones

and ceramic artist Kate Malone have set three more challenges...

I've just got to try and stop shaking.

..including a main make where sparks will fly...

Ooh, come on! Something work!

..a spot test to get them thinking...

Mind's gone a bit blank now.

..and a throw down to leave them gasping...

Do keep breathing!

-Oh, my lord!

-Take your time.

That's it, that's it.

Don't worry, you're fine, you're fine, you're fine.

SHE GASPS

-# 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 my soul, yeah

-Can't explain

# Can't explain

# I think it's love

# Try to say it to you

# When I feel blue

# But I can't explain. #

The potters are back for three more challenges

and five more days.

But, sadly, not everyone will be able to take part.

Joanna has decided not to continue for personal reasons.

I really wish Jo well.

She left on a real high because her basin was lovely.

She helped me a lot, she gave me a lot of advice, different skills,

different techniques, so I'm going to miss Joanna.

I know it's a really difficult decision for her to make.

I'm looking forward to today, new challenge ahead

and can't wait to get stuck in.

Top Potter for the week, that'll do for me.

It feels good, I'm not going to deny that. It feels good.

I'm looking for any way I can break Jim's arms.

Got to take him out of the competition now.

The enemy has definitely reared its head.

If we go into this and the nerves get the better of me, I've got no chance at all.

So, I need to keep cool. I need to stay calm.

My fear is the time, as usual.

Good morning, potters.

-ALL:

-Good morning.

Exciting times, cos we're about to unveil this week's main make,

and rumour has it that sparks are going to fly.

We want you to make 10 long-necked vases, all on the wheel,

they have to be identical in size and shape.

And remember a pot has character.

It has a foot and a lip, a shoulder and a belly.

You're going to choose five of your vases to carry through

to fire with the raku technique.

Sparks fly everywhere, it's earth, air, fire and water.

It's a crazy technique, breaking all the rules that

we've been following up till now.

And it's really exciting.

Making raku vases is the most technically demanding

and dangerous challenge so far.

I'm not feeling confident today, really.

In the next five days, they'll have to throw 10 identical vases,

dry and bisque fire them, choose the best five to decorate

and put through the risky raku firing process -

a centuries-old Japanese technique that'll see them putting their vases

directly into temperatures of 1,000 degrees C for a rapid firing,

removing them, still red hot,

and covering them with combustible material,

then plunge them into water.

And clean away the burnt surface to reveal the

incredible colours and textures that only the chaos of raku can create.

It's the funky, punky style of glazing, isn't it, and firing?

-HE LAUGHS

-Yeah.

Normally you have to heat gently and cool gently,

and everything has to reduce the shock.

And it's so volatile, you never really know what you're going to get.

This one's beautifully developed, isn't it?

It sort of speaks of the process, doesn't it?

This is really elemental, this is like fire,

this is like sort of under the ground in the magma of the Earth.

Yeah, I mean the decoration is still alive on the pot, isn't it?

You're looking at which areas to leave unglazed

because it's the body that turns black.

They've decided to have that line there, that is not accidental,

that's what I want to see the potters doing.

Deciding, executing, showing us how clever they are.

The throwing technique that we're asking them to do is also a challenge.

You're really working against the force of physics, really,

cos you're wanting to collar in this long neck,

and as you collar it in, you've got to keep it under control.

Some of the potters actually might do something with the necks,

they might bend the neck, they might distort it,

or they might make a feature out of it.

There's great scope for the shape and the form to be quite different.

The potters now have just two and a half hours

to throw 10 identical long-necked vases.

Using the same amount of clay, to kick off with,

is a very good starting point.

And because they'll eventually be plunged into the unforgiving

raku firing process, they're using a specially formulated clay.

God, this stuff's really soft.

It's soft, really soft.

It contains grog, clay that's been fired,

ground down to a powder and mixed back in.

It makes the clay more resilient to the massive

and immediate temperature changes in raku firing.

This task is probably my nemesis.

It's controlled, it's perfection.

Keith is going to be looking for 10, not five, not six.

He wants 10 vases on the table.

In the time allowance, that's going to be pretty tough.

I think we've got about 15 minutes on each form.

It's going to be tight.

I mean, Matt's already started throwing.

Yeah, there's no point waiting around is there?

It's a challenge to throw 10 identical.

I don't know if any of the others have had a practice,

but I've had a good practice at this.

The current Top Potter, Jim,

is making sure his clay is well-prepared.

I've never been top at anything, to tell you the truth.

I think I grew a palm tree once.

That was about 12 stone, and I won a trophy!

But raku could still result in a very familiar situation for Jim.

There's been a number of disasters with my pot making over the years.

Opening the kiln door and finding every piece broken or cracked.

I actually did cry, probably the only time I ever had,

I had tears in my eyes for the loss.

Not so much these days, obviously you learn as you go along.

Older and wiser.

To make a thin neck bottle you have to throw, obviously,

the base so you can get your hand in.

For the upper section, obviously you can't get your hand inside,

so you literally have to collar in,

and I think this is a bit of an exercise in collaring in.

Collaring with real throwing is about taking the clay in and up,

and the best way to collar is to create speed on the wheel,

so that as you gently go up the form, as you draw the clay in,

you're increasing the speed and that will draw it right in,

so we can create height and narrow forms with collaring.

Collaring can be difficult at first

because you go against your natural instincts to speed up the wheel to draw the clay in.

And things can start to go wobbling at the top,

but you've just to keep your courage

and carry on until you get to that lip.

I don't know if I've got time. So not good.

This is a tricky throwing task and for people that aren't strong at throwing,

you know, it's going to be that much more difficult really.

SHE GASPS AND SCREAMS

I screamed because I was finishing off a little bit,

something happened inside, it's caught and it just...

I'm not going to name names at this point, but there's one or two bods that are struggling.

HE CHUCKLES

Not that I find that amusing at all.

I just...

Messed up.

My least skilled area is throwing.

I mean it's OK, but, it's... It's not that good.

I want to be better at what I do.

But I'm not good enough, for me.

I want my work to be sought-after.

Is that vain?

It'll be fine, honestly, it'll be just fine.

To ensure their vases are the same size,

the potters are using throwing gauges,

pointers that can let them know at which height to stop collaring in.

But Matthew's making twice the effort

to ensure his vases are identical.

Have you noticed the double pointer?

So, it's a mark for its hip and a mark for its top of its lip.

Whatever their approach, throwing the first vase successfully...

I've just got to try and stop shaking, would be helpful.

..will have create a feel and rhythm for the remaining nine.

HE SIGHS

You've got to be pleased with that, are you?

I am chuffed, the first one done.

-Well, hopefully you'll get into it.

-I'm hoping.

-Yeah.

All right, good luck. Carry on, though, great start.

-Oh, God!

-We're going to go now!

I'm just using a credit card just to take a little bit

off the bottom to give it a bit of lift.

Why would you ever use a credit card for anything else?!

THEY LAUGH

I can't concentrate. I need to get into a rhythm,

and you can't do that...if you're constantly interrupted, actually.

That's the truth of it.

I have to be in absolutely the right frame of mind to be creative.

I quite like a quiet atmosphere when I'm potting,

but it's got to be calm,

and, actually, quite often, the best throwing I do is in total silence.

I'm pernickety about detail.

I love things to be finished properly.

I want every piece to be just right.

I feel like I just need to be able to get into a zone, and I'm not there.

I pot, in ideal circumstances, undisturbed.

I think I'm probably a bit of a primadonna potter.

-You're halfway through, guys. Halfway through.

-Oh, my...

-Jeez.

-What?

I'm not going to have five at this rate.

Shame, shame, shame.

James and Sandra have thrown just two vases.

Jane, Tom and Sally-Jo have managed three,

but none of them are able to keep up with Jim and Matthew.

I've done six.

I want to alter these towards the end,

and I'm hoping for a good bit of time to do that

because there are some features I'd love to add to these.

Yeah, we're rocking along now.

I'm in the zone, as they say.

# Keep on running

# Keep on hiding

# One fine day I'm gonna be the one

# To make you understand

# Oh, yeah, I'm gonna be your man. #

I'm up to number five now.

You can't rush art, it sort of naturally happens.

This is where I get a bit arty.

The shape that I've designed is a bit on the bottom-heavy side,

and I just wanted a bit more of a nice curve over, really,

which is why I'm altering the neck, the profile.

When they're together, they're going to look like little people talking to each other.

That's the look I'm going for.

Oh, shoot.

My neck is not working.

It's weak, and it wants to collapse.

I can't leave it like that, actually.

-BLEEP.

-Forget that.

I need to chill out a bit.

Just lacking in the right state of mind, I think.

30 minutes left, guys.

You've got 30 minutes left.

-SHE LAUGHS

-No way!

Is that a laugh of joy, Sandra?

SHE GIGGLES

30 minutes, yay! 30 minutes, that's loads of time!

This is definitely not going to be quite tall enough, but...

I think at this point, if it ends up as a vase, then...it's a result.

I'm just not really worrying too much about what they look like,

I'm just going for quantity.

They're very nice, though. I mean, they look like five sisters.

Some of them are more supermodel, and some of them are more...

-Personality!

-Personality.

This is not about other people, this is about your own mind-set

and your own battle with yourself.

Jim is the first to complete all 10 of his vases,

giving him plenty of time to add a little flourish.

Kate mentioned they want a bit of personality on these pots,

and I'm going to give it to them!

Well, Jim's happily decorating 10 bottles at the moment.

I'd love to be doing that.

You've got four minutes, girls and boys. Four minutes.

All your vases need to be in the drying room as well,

so I don't want to encourage a mad stampede.

Do you want to come up here?

Four...

three...

two...

one - time's up!

HE SIGHS

-Oh!

-Well done.

THEY CONGRATULATE EACH OTHER

Was that hard work, that?

-It was horrific.

-Horrific?

I know I've only done eight,

but I'm chuffed that I got eight out, to be honest.

Far too stressful for me!

I think if the seven I'd done were perfect, I'd be really happy,

but the seven I've done aren't even perfect.

Everyone was stressed, no-one spoke hardly, even Jim,

he didn't say anything at all and he talks a lot.

Did my 10.

I got a couple finished as I'd like and, er...

That was all right, that was good fun. I liked that.

I'm not a hugely proficient thrower, and I felt that today.

I felt I was really struggling.

I didn't enjoy it.

Middleport Pottery, lying in the heart of Stoke-on-Trent,

has been a working factory for over 150 years.

By the mid 19th century, the ceramics industry employed

over half the city's population.

A huge army of craftsmen and women

delivering British tableware to the entire world.

The skills used then are still in use today,

and our potters are about to be tested on one technique

that's endured not just for centuries, but millennia.

This is your spot test.

It's where the judges like to put you through your paces

with a particular pottery technique.

This week we're going to put your slip decoration skills to the test,

and what we want you to do is take this ancient technique

and apply it with a contemporary style.

I'm sure you're all desperate to see what it is you're going to be

putting this slip on.

You can remove your cloths now.

Gorgeous, a little family of jugs!

They need to relate to each other, they need to be part of a group, a set.

You're going to have 75 minutes

and because it is the spot test, you do it without the judges watching.

So, off you go.

Potters, get decorating.

Before glazes, there was slip.

-HE SIGHS

-Well...

Slip is clay that has been watered down and coloured.

Thousands of years ago, it emerged as the first means

by which potters could add colour to their work.

Mind's gone a bit blank now.

Kate and Keith will want to see decoration that can only be

achieved with the unique way slip is applied.

Dipping.

Pouring.

Brushing.

And trailing, which is using one of these.

I could practise on the bench, I suppose.

To decorate a pot isn't just putting a pattern flat onto a pot,

it's considering the shape of it.

If you imagine someone wearing a tight lace dress,

the pattern is stretched over wide bits

and it's looser over a narrow bit.

So, there's this lovely play between surface and form.

I'm looking for continuity through the three jugs,

and there's quite a bit of spontaneity in there.

So often with slip you only get one chance

because of the very nature of the application.

That's it, it starts drying on the surface of the pot straightaway.

I'm just incising some lines.

This is going to give me almost like an outline to fill in.

Get a theme going and then something comes from that.

I love dancing, I'm just thinking dancing feet.

I'm going to try and draw with slips and create a little bit of a...

I'm going to start with the middle size, so then I can scale it up and scale it down,

and they'll probably feel more like a family after that.

I'm trying to think about different slipping techniques

that I haven't done for ages.

I might blob stuff on.

You've got to try something.

It might work, it might not work.

Sandra is painting with the slip to create transfers

she can later apply.

I'll put it on top, somewhere round the side, and the top.

That's the idea.

I haven't done this for a while, so I'm not sure.

Tom has decided to use dipping to create his slip design.

I'm planning to create two panels, one on either side.

I do like minimalism.

I quite like traditional slip decoration,

so my risk is of reverting back to what I'm used to

and they don't want traditional, they want contemporary.

Yeah, I'm going to try a bit of sgraffito.

So, sgraffito means "to scratch into",

which, I believe, is where the word graffiti comes from,

from where they used to scratch into cave walls.

I don't know, you might have to check that one.

I don't know if it's right or wrong, but I'm going to try and blend it.

So, it's going to go black, up to red, up to white,

and I'll put some paper on,

which I'm going to peel back cos I'd love a black stripe going down it.

-Oh, that's very clever!

-What do you think of that?

-You're dead clever, you, and everything.

-Yeah, thanks.

45 minutes, guys. You've got 45 minutes left.

There's no way.

I just need to dry the wax off before I put the next layer on top,

otherwise it'll just drag everywhere.

What's your plan, Jane?

I'm going for fresh, yeah. I'm so fresh!

Do you know, I can't actually hear what you're saying cos I've got the gun on!

It's probably a good thing.

You get a slip trailer like this, a ribbon one generally,

then you blob, it's called "le blob".

Do it in a very blobby kind of way

and you enjoy it as you're doing it, it's really satisfying.

Tom's minimalist approach is about to get a little more involved.

I've done this before and gone straight onto the pot behind.

I'm just trying to make sure I don't do that.

-Well, I'm a bit unfamiliar with the old slips, I must say.

-Oh, really?

There's lots of movement in it, though. I like that.

Well, that's the general idea,

sort of frenetic dance movement all around it,

-but can you see the potential and hopefully the judges will pick up on that.

-Yes.

I need this layer to dry,

then I'm going to apply another layer of wax, and then I'm going to brush it over with the black,

then I'm going to go back and do some sgraffito,

and hopefully I'll have time to do some slip trailing on top.

My idea is use as many techniques as possible, and one might be right.

That's my theory.

15 minutes to go.

It seems to go a bit weird in this room - time.

75 minutes sounds like a long time, but it's not very.

I'm making a big deal of it.

It shouldn't be such a big deal.

Just get on with it.

There's a massive danger of overdoing it.

You just need to know when to stop, really.

This isn't going to work, actually. It's too wet.

Please work, just work.

Please work.

I wish I'd done these a little bit better, actually.

I've done the best I can here,

but I think I'm going to get crucified!

Yay!

Kind of what I wanted.

You've got one minute, guys. One minute left.

It's enough time to do something else,

and I just, I need to know when to stop.

I think I've finished.

30 seconds, potters.

You've got 30 seconds left.

Any final little dabs, any final touches,

any final bits of "le blobbing", Sandra?

Four...

three...

two...

one!

Potters, time is up!

# Went to college, studied art. #

Because they haven't seen who has decorated what,

Kate and Keith have no idea whose jugs are whose.

# But no-one seemed to notice me. #

So, looking at this one,

I'm not clear on the message that it's giving me.

And it's quite a simplistic application of the slip, isn't it?

And looking at this one, whoever it was,

a whole ground upon which to work,

and it's really bringing out the painterly nature of the slip.

There's sgraffito going on there, there's wax resist going on there.

There's a level of success to the design.

So, this is like an abstract painting.

We asked for something contemporary,

and it's actually as if there's a painting on the side of a pot.

Very nicely executed.

And what they've done with the design is that they've really

thought about the shape they're putting it on.

And this, to me, it's truly illustrating the way the slip is.

I'd love to have been there when they were pouring it,

cos there's a great pleasure in pouring slip.

You can really see the energy in that.

Yeah, and I think these are really strong.

Because in complete contrast,

you've got this one which is obviously a very controlled design.

It's more of an illustration really, isn't it?

Drawing a figure on a pot,

which is a really difficult thing to do, whoever did it.

But I'm asking myself if there is a sense of the painterly nature,

the gift the slip gives?

Whereas this one, they've used the medium of slip completely.

I mean, you could say whoever it was has thrown everything at it,

including the kitchen sink.

They're very, very vibrant, aren't they?

And then, again, we've got something completely different.

Is this something that we feel that could have been done with another medium?

Could they have been more generous?

Could there have been a sense of action that the slip gives?

So, really, I'm personally looking at who has used the slip

in the most illustrative and expressive way.

It's really hard, they set us such a hard job.

Kate and Keith will now reveal whose jugs have impressed

and whose haven't.

Well, in joint sixth, there isn't a seventh,

is between this board, whose is that?

It's mine.

-And this board.

-This one here.

This showed better illustration of slip application,

but this one had a better design.

But we felt that it didn't really show what you could really do with slip.

Jim is fifth,

James is fourth,

and Matthew's eclectic pattern earns him third place.

So we've got two sets of jugs left, then.

We've got these ones here.

-Whose are those?

-They're mine.

-And we've got these ones here.

-Great.

This one, very complex,

lots of things going on there as in terms of technique.

This one, very simple, really fluent,

but we love the freshness and we love the energy in it.

So, in second place, we've gone for yours, Sally-Jo.

Well done, Sally-Jo.

And in first place, well done, Tom.

Well done, guys.

It's been a big old day today, so go and rest.

-Well done.

-Well done.

Oh, well done, you!

I've put myself under stupid pressure this morning,

slip trailing like that you've got to be relaxed,

and you've got to enjoy it,

cos if you don't enjoy it, the love doesn't come out onto the pot.

I thought it would be my chance to beat Tom once and for all.

Or just once.

You know, you can only be strong at certain things and rubbish at others,

and I think I've just met my...

met my least favourite activity so far this afternoon.

I consider myself to have come joint sixth, rather than joint last.

I'm looking forward to doing the raku, yes.

After drying the long-necked vases for two days,

our kiln man, Rich, takes them to be bisque fired for a further 24 hours.

With all their vases fired,

the potters will now have to select their best five to decorate.

They look better than I remember!

Covered up.

The judges have asked for a set of identical vases.

Oh, hello.

So the five they choose need to be as similar as possible.

They're reasonably consistent, but they look cool.

Oh, that's terrible, that one!

Consistency, what does that mean?

Well, they're consistently terrible.

-Hi, Sally-Jo.

-Hi.

We are choosing of the five most consistent!

It didn't take very long!

I've gone for these five, I like the surface decoration on these.

You look like you've chosen your five there.

Well, when you say choose, it was kind of a more of a...

necessity.

Should I rephrase it?

Not saying you've been forced into plumping for those!

The potters now have 90 minutes to decorate their five vases

with any glazes or oxides they choose.

This is all wax with oxide, which is a good idea.

So I can wax and oxide at the same time.

Oxides are metals and they're used to colour glazes.

On this bottle here, you can see there are

patches of blue-y green-y colour, and that's copper oxide.

You can use gold chloride, you can use silver nitrate.

There are all kinds of effects you can get from these metal oxides.

Can I put clear over this?

-Yes, you can. It's not particularly good, though.

-Why?

You'll just get, um, flossings of pale brown.

I did some yesterday and I got exactly that.

-What, with this?

-Yeah.

-Under clear?

-Under clear, yeah.

D'you know what, I've done quite a bit of raku,

I have been giving my words of wisdom!

Not that they want them, particularly, but...

After a disappointing spot test,

Jim's raku experience might be about to pay off.

The secret of raku is not to be too contrived,

you've just got to dollop it on. It's one of those spontaneous,

splash it on kind of approaches that really works.

Some potters are planning to leave areas unglazed...

Just getting my wax on.

..covering sections with wax or masking tape.

Cos I'm putting wax resist on, when I dip it into the glaze,

they won't be glazed, so that once you fire them,

they'll carbonise and become black.

The difference between the wax resist and the masking is

obviously you've got more control, and you can get more sort of curves

and stuff with the wax, whereas the masking tape is quite linear.

Just trying to make them look a little bit more elegant,

something that I struggle with.

People have described my pots as being quite characterful.

Rather than handles I use dimples in the forms.

They're quite jolly pots,

and I tend to use quite bright colours to decorate the pots.

I have trouble with decoration and glazing, that's when I can get

really frustrated, and it's never quite as good as I imagine it to be.

You've got to get them on really thick, with glazes with raku,

that's the one tip that I kept reading,

make sure your glaze is on thick enough.

I'm just waxing the bases of a couple of them

that are going to be dipped.

Tom won the spot test with a minimalist approach,

and he isn't about to change strategy.

I like the simple black and white, and I like the contrast

between the two, so heavy reduction on black and white crackle.

And then this one I'm... this one I'm still...

I'm going to play with a little bit.

Raku's traditionally Japanese, so I've gone for, you know,

slightly Japanese theme, and I'm going to put Japanese

character in here to symbolise a Japanese tea ceremony.

I really love minimal aesthetics, I love minimal use of colour,

but the right colour at the right time, and so I think considered,

careful, modern approach is something I love to create.

But on the other side, I love organic forms, I love things

that are asymmetric and are inspired by nature, and I think this complete

diversity in the styles that I like probably does reflect a bit in me.

I find it very hard to pinpoint one thing that I like,

I love...I love everything.

I think the key to raku is to keep it really simple, actually.

It's all about the firing and the lustre you get from that,

so I don't think it pays to be too fussy.

I've got a few different things that I'm going to try with the glazes.

Hopefully that will cover some of the fact that the pots aren't

quite so perfect themselves, I might be able to claw back some points.

Hi, Tom. Are you feeling quite confident

with taking this forward now?

Raku is entering into the unknown so,

for me, so, yeah, I'm really excited about it.

It sounds really, like, tribal and wild, like, flames!

I've seen it on TV and I've read books, but we both know

that that's not good enough, so we'll see,

I mean I'm looking forward to it.

Halfway through, potters, halfway through.

Oh, my God.

I don't actually know how the detail is going to come out in the firing.

It may just run and turn into nothing or it may stay

and be quite a nice little symbol.

Good time to try.

Despite his experience, Jim's now struggling with

the spontaneity that great raku glazing demands.

I mean, I'm quite tight with my design work anyway,

and this is an area where I can't be neat and tidy and tight with

the design, so...

But even these are a little bit tight, actually, I should

be splashing it and really going for it, but I can't help myself.

With raku, you never really know what you're going to get

so you can plan it all out absolutely perfectly, you put

it through the kiln and it will never come out how you expect it to.

Well, I'm sure there's, like, raku masters that can get

fantastic control and stuff but I'm not one of them.

10 minutes left, guys! 10 minutes left.

I'm so behind, as usual.

Yeah, I've put a clear glaze over

some of the glazes that I've dripped on.

Hopefully the glazes will just keep layering up over each other

and create some interesting effects,

but they might just make a mess, so we'll see.

It's going to run and it's just not going to leave a thick enough coating of glaze.

For his final vase, Tom's hoping to repeat another technique that

helped him win the Spot Test.

I'm going to try and dry out some glaze so that I can thicken up.

I really don't know if this is going to work.

As long as I can get it nice and thick.

I've only got a little bit, though, so I haven't got much to play with.

There you go, that's better.

Having messed around with it, I'm now going to mess up the pot.

If you can imagine that, where the clay is there, it'll be black,

and where you've got the glaze it'll be white.

All that fuss for just a few drizzles.

I tend to be a bit heavy-handed with the decorating,

so keep your fingers crossed.

I'm always last at this, I don't know what's wrong with me.

20 seconds left, guys.

I'm done when the bell goes.

Five, four, three, two, one. Time's up, guys!

Time is up.

I'm done now!

While their glazes dry,

Kate and Keith have one final challenge for the potters.

The master potters of Stoke needed a sharp eye for form and profile to

ensure they could turn out beautiful, identical pots over and over again.

But do any of our potters have the eyes of a master?

I know you were praying that we'd forgotten about this bit,

but we haven't, cos it is time now for a throw down.

The challenge today is about observation and profiling.

Keith is going to throw two candlesticks

and you are going to copy them.

Once I've thrown them, they will be covered over.

I'll do the smaller one first.

It's about tuning in your eye and looking at the real detail,

the character and the accent of the profile.

I would make sure that you've got plenty of water on your hands

because you need that water to actually control

the stem of the candlestick. And you want a nice fluent shape.

So this one's a fairly simple one.

Now make sure you centre the clay really well.

It'll be a good 20 centimetres, probably.

Wow, it's looking gorgeous.

OK, guys, complete your sketches of both candlesticks

and write any notes you need to write.

Conceal the candlesticks. There, I've found my catchphrase at last.

OK, guys, back to your workstations, please.

Two candlesticks, 15 minutes.

Starting from now.

BELL RINGS

So they're all starting with the small one first.

-Yeah, the easy one.

-Getting warmed up, yeah.

-Centring it.

-Kneading the clay,

getting a nice consistency throughout the stem

so they can profile it.

Who seems to be going OK, then?

Jane's started modelling hers, she's really looking at her book.

Matthew's got a lovely cup shape at the top of his.

Yeah.

It's always best to do the delicate bit at the top first,

so you've got all that support underneath it.

They really need nice, even pressure on all sides of the stem.

Now, time-wise, do they need to leave a bit of extra bit

of time for the big candlestick?

I would if I were them, yeah.

Oh, Tom's finished up, well done, Tom. Matthew's finished there.

Oh, well done, James.

Halfway through, guys, halfway through your time!

-Oh!

-Oh, my giddy aunt.

I've totally made mine little.

It's a great challenge, actually, tuning in their eyes.

Matthew seems to be getting a nice bit of height on that one already.

Tom's got a good shape, it's looking fairly similar to mine.

It's not quite like that but it'll do.

Do keep breathing,

it feels like you've all held your breath for this one.

You've got one minute left, guys.

One minute to finish these candlesticks.

30 seconds left, guys, then these wheels need to screech to a halt.

Five, four, three, two, one. Time is up!

Lift your boards off the wheel, please.

That was really hard.

-It looks so easy when he's doing it, doesn't it?

-Fun and games.

Has anyone been able to replicate the profile

and form of Keith's original candlesticks?

You've got the general concept on the smaller one.

You haven't left enough meat down in your base.

-The big one?

-Haven't quite got the height.

You've squeezed too hard

and created those flat flanges rather than the soft bumps.

Initial observations - very, very good.

Well, I think in essence he's got it,

but I was really looking at the difference between the cups

at the top, and he's actually captured that.

I'm impressed.

You've got the height there, that's pretty good.

Your stems are slightly on the thick side.

We've got the character of it, but it's just missing that detail.

I think it's a good copy.

A bit too thick on the rim, but I'm liking all this detail here.

It's obviously not tall enough, but overall not a bad shape at all.

You know, the general concept of the first one, you've got it there.

The cup is not quite accentuated enough.

And on the larger one, I would say the pot on the top is excellent.

-If you'd just added a bit more pressure...

-Yes.

..just underneath it, it would have given it that bit more finesse.

The smaller one, really, really nice.

I'm amazed, actually, that he didn't have this in front of him.

It is really good.

It's a really good effort.

Well, we've got a little friend, haven't we, to the little one?

And I think you're missing that lovely cupness of the bowl.

The large one there, the height's not quite there.

We were testing those powers of observation,

and it's that essence there which is missing on both of these.

So, who do Kate and Keith feel has shown a master potter's eye

for profile and form?

Seventh place is you, Sally-Jo.

You pulled up too much at the beginning, and then you also

squeezed too hard when you were trying to make the lumps.

In sixth place is James, fifth place is Jane

and fourth is Sandra.

We're going now to third place...

is Jim.

APPLAUSE

So we couldn't really decide between first and second.

Matthew, you got the cups absolutely right.

Tom, your bases were a bit more defined.

But we couldn't really decide between the two of you.

So there is two first place winners.

Tom and Matthew.

Well done.

APPLAUSE

It's good to know that I'm doing something right.

Well done, boys. Another good one, another good one!

I've never made candlesticks before.

Not sure I will again, but we'll see.

I may well be in jeopardy of my... of my Top Potter position.

I think the problem is the competition is just so high

and the challenges are really tough, so, you know,

at the end of the day, if the others are better which, to be honest,

they are well then that, you've just got to be OK with that.

Finally, the long-necked vases are ready for the raku firing.

An extreme process that, for safety, has required our kiln man Rich to

set up specially adapted gas-fired kilns outside the pottery walls.

Almost everything can go wrong with raku.

The pots are usually heated up fairly quickly compared to

most kiln firings, and then you take them out

and they're cooling down in a few minutes.

That's a lot to ask of the piece of clay.

Right, so who's coming next?

Matt's up.

The first thing that's most likely to happen is that they'll crack.

If they're not completely dry they can explode during the firing,

that's quite dramatic.

So it is quite a dangerous occupation.

Who's next?

Sally-Jo, right. D'you want to grab your pots?

See you, pots.

In the raku process, you fire the material till it's red-hot,

and then you take it out and put it in a container that contains

sawdust, let's say, it reacts with the sawdust, burns it,

generates carbon, so you have this wonderfully aesthetically

pleasing surface material, generated in a very haphazard way.

Fire her up. Let's go.

Each potter has picked their own combustible materials in which

to plunge their vases.

What they choose will affect their final look.

I'm going to make a bed of this sawdust, which is oak.

Oh, you are very high-end with your oak shavings.

I love it.

I've got some gorse, some bladderwrack seaweed and some silage

and some manure, yeah.

So we should get some interesting smells off that, then?

And is this a concoction that you've used before?

No, it's just my countryside.

How lovely to bring your home to...

-Well, that's what I thought.

-..the contest.

The potters must judge

when to remove their red-hot vases from the kiln - take them

out too soon and the effect of the glaze will be minimal.

It's quite nerve-wracking.

But leave them in for too long and the glaze will melt and run.

D'you want to check your time?

-I'm all right, I know when it's time.

-You're all right?

You're a bit too confident, mate.

OK, are we ready? Here we go.

# Dun-dun-dun! #

Oh, no!

I meant to do that.

Boom. Dancing about a bit. I struggle with these tongs.

Yeah! Whoo! Whoo!

That's how you do it, don't throw them around like that, though.

-Nice work.

-Cheers, thank you very much.

-Job well done, well done.

-Thank you.

-Yeah, it's great.

OK, let's get these bad boys out.

Am I sweeping up after this?

-Quite possibly.

-Can we get some clay?

Yeah, there's a bag of clay just over there.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, sweet.

He's getting ready to seal the dustbin lid,

to trap all the air in there.

By closing the lid, the fire around the vases is starved of air.

It's a process called reduction.

As the air is reduced,

the fire feeds on any remaining oxygen it can find in the clay

or glazes, producing wild and varied colours and textures.

I'm going to put the clay around the top of the lid

so I can seal it off from oxygen.

By making a tighter seal,

Matt hopes to achieve an even more intense decoration.

-Ooh, very dramatic, that is.

-Thank you.

-They're glowing, they are.

-They are glowing.

Oh!

I think James is going to have a bit of a squirt with water,

which we haven't seen yet.

Spray that.

Oh, no!

I can't do it.

Matthew and James are leaving their vases in the open air

before the reduction process.

The rapid cooling should force the surface glazes

to contract and crackle.

Well done, Matthew!

Yeah! Whoo!

Well done! Whoo! Whoo!

That's it, that's it, there you go.

-I can't grip it.

-You can do it, you can do it.

Gosh, flipping 'eck.

-He's not steady of hands with the tongs.

-No, not really.

-Oh!

-You're OK, you're OK, you're OK, take your time.

Oh, my Lord.

Take your time, that's it, that's it, don't worry, you're fine,

you're fine, you're fine.

Ah-h! Pick it up, pick it up, Sandra.

Pick it up, it's not lost.

There you go, missus. Right, you got it?

Perfect.

You just took the end of the bottom off.

-Amazing.

-It's broken, though.

-It's all right.

-It's just the base.

-Oh, no.

-It's just the base.

Away from the heat of the kiln, some of the potters are planning

to dunk their pots in water whilst they're still hot.

This should bring out the colours in the glazes,

but it does come with its own risks.

-Shall we do this?

-Yeah, are you just going to lower it in?

Is there going to be some sizzling and cracking?

Not a great deal, but I'm going to have to find the pots first of all.

OK. Here we go.

-Are you going to submerge it completely?

-I am, yeah.

Oh, easy goes it. Look at all that black on there.

I know, I've gotta be careful or I'm going to lose that. Whey!

Oh!

THEY LAUGH

I'll get a grip round the belly for that one.

-Whoa!

-HE LAUGHS

It's all right, it bounced!

They're all cracked. There's a great big crack on that one.

-That's a shame.

-There's only that one that's cracked, isn't there?

Yeah. Oh, no, they're all cracked, look. Oh blimey!

I'm going to have to live with that now. Just clean up time.

What do you reckon, mate, are you happy?

It's all right, yeah, that's good.

-Are you going to put them in the water?

-No.

-Why not?

Because...they'll probably crack.

-Yeah, do you think?

-Yeah, I do.

Finally, the vases need to be cleaned to reveal the full

effects of the raku firing.

A lot of the pots have been coming out quite black, so...

-Absolutely.

-..it's obviously all in the scrubbing and the scouring.

Yeah, and we still don't know what lies under that sheen.

And that's the wonderful thing.

So you immerse them in the water, you start scrubbing away at them,

and all of a sudden this whole thing emerges.

A lot of the black comes off and it just kind of reveals colour.

It's a bit better than I expected, actually.

Overall, I just wish I'd made nicer pots to start with.

Well, that has a pretty terminal crack on the base of that pot,

and that is from curing too quickly.

We'll have to see what the judges think, won't we?

Regardless of whether they like it or not,

I'm so proud of myself, cos I've never got a pot all the way

through to raku like this, so it's a real achievement.

With the vases buffed up, all that remains is for Kate

and Keith to decide whose will keep them in the competition,

and whose will send them home.

I'm a bit nervous about the judging this afternoon.

I only made seven out of the ten vases. Last in the throw down.

Not great, but hopefully my second place in the spot test will help.

I've come joint-last. I dropped a vessel. I've come fourth.

It's not good is it?

I suppose I'm a bit worried. I don't really want to go home yet,

that's the thing. I think the judges' comments

have all been fair, but I'm just not quite ready to go.

Well, potters, that raku firing was a bit exciting, wasn't it?

LAUGHTER

Now all the smoke has cleared,

let's have a look at your long-necked vases, please.

Tom, you're up first for judging.

What I'm seeing here is a nice concept in shape.

They're all looking pretty consistent in shape and form,

and I'm really loving the crackle.

And I've picked up my favourite one of the five, immediately it

sprang to me, but I remember you really composing yourself

into this sort of spring, and then doing this simple, which can

look affected, but it is effective, and it's a really beautiful piece.

The crackle has gone off really nicely on this,

and I think what you've done with the base is really nice,

because we asked you to finish them off on the wheel.

We know you were asked to make ten vases,

and you didn't manage to fulfil that challenge at the beginning,

so you had less to choose from.

What I'm sort of frustrated about is that

I'm looking at the back of the room, and I'm seeing one of the forms

that would have sat better with these four than this one.

-OK.

-And not only that, but you've coincidentally decorated this

one the most different from all the others, so it stands out even

-more, it really is like the black sheep of the family.

-OK.

What I think these four are lacking is a clarity of the message

that you're trying to put over.

So, when you were throwing, you should have been

thinking about the edges that you wanted and the finish.

And it's the same with the decoration -

did you want the glaze to end here or did you want it to stagger up?

I think it's an incredible achievement that you've

managed to do this with your first ever raku,

but brief was for five very similar forms.

They're all very consistent.

We have an unfortunate mishap here. We saw this, didn't we, in the raku?

I have to say...

-TEARFUL:

-..considering you found this a real challenge...

they are quite remarkably similar.

I'm increasingly amazed by...your resolve.

This is a good sign, by the way, when he reacts like this.

Form's really strong. You did well on the forms, on the original task,

and the glazes are illustrating all sorts of different

crazing, different colour, but there's a clarity between the set.

-I'm really pleasantly surprised.

-Yeah, I'd like to congratulate you.

-Yeah.

-Jane, will you bring your vases forward, please?

What a lovely communicative set, and I love the way that your pattern has

continued from the outside inside, there's a great sense of energy.

I'm loving the shape. The only thing I would mention is, I'm not sure

if the blue fleck really adds anything to it.

In fact, if anything, it probably hides the crackle glaze.

It looks like you've finished it, and then you've gone,

"Oh, my God, what else should I do? Quick, do a bit of fleck on it."

Very definite shape and form.

And it's interesting actually

because the surface design of all these is quite sparing, actually,

there's a lot of black going on here.

I probably would have wanted to see more of the raku glaze really giving

its own characteristics to the pot. You haven't let the glaze let loose.

-And I think each one has bits that work...

-Yeah.

..but I'm really looking for one where all the bits work,

and you, I think, have a big experience with raku.

Thanks very much, Jim.

We know that you didn't complete the ten that you made,

-and you selected five.

-Mm-hm.

Although they're quite different and we're missing some long necks

here, very clearly, I think you've done really well with the glazing.

-We know you struggle with your throwing...

-Mm-hm.

-..if that's OK to say?

-Yep. Lack of experience.

But, you know, in this task you sort of pulled them altogether.

Despite the fact of the lack of long necks, I think

you've pulled them up with your surfaces.

You were the only one that used two pointers on your wheel

-to get your...

-Yes.

-..width and also the height.

Obviously, it's kept you in good stead

because they are very uniformed, there's a very definite shape to

them, and they do look like a set of five, which is really, really good.

Beautiful texturing on the surface, that sense of raku,

there's so much life in that.

-And the copper has reduced so well, hasn't it?

-Yeah.

This sort of speaks of raku even at its best.

And, you know, it really does look alive,

it looks like something out of the barrier reef.

-I think I'll take this one home.

-Thank you.

OK, potters, you can go and have a well-earned breather now

and recover from that judging session, cos Kate

and Keith have got to collect their thoughts and decide who is

going to be Top Potter and who is going to be leaving the pottery.

Off you go.

I'm really pleased they liked the vases, but I didn't throw ten and

I haven't done well in some of the other challenges, so I still think

there's a high chance that it's going to be me leaving the pottery.

The judges kind of went to town on those, didn't they,

those vases in there? But that's their job here,

to compare and contrast us all, so...yeah.

But they weren't good enough.

I didn't want to cry on camera. But I didn't quite cry,

I just kind of...some tears rolled down, didn't they?

-It's just Keith, he makes me cry!

-SHE CHUCKLES

Who's looking good this week?

Well, I'd start with Tom. A concise set.

He was joint top, wasn't he, with the throw down,

the candlesticks as well?

He was, and his spot test with the slip decoration was, well, spot-on.

But we have to have a look at Matthew, don't we?

We certainly do.

Matthew's shapes are brilliant,

and also consistent throughout the spot test and the throw down.

We've really seen him sort of come on a good path.

Who do you think has had a tough time?

There's Jim. He was the most confident one.

-Kind of let me down.

-He really scrimped on the glazes.

Now for the much tougher decision, who's going to leave the pottery?

That is a toss-up between James and Sally-Jo.

They both find it hard with their throwing,

probably Sally-Jo more than James.

Really, it was down to the fact that they hadn't

completed their ten vases at the beginning.

And why, oh, why did James just go for that black sheep of the family?

Why didn't he choose one of his other bottles?

Any one of the other bottles would have been better.

It's really tough to decide between these two, actually.

Well, guys, as always you've got tough decisions to make.

-Yeah, we have, haven't we?

-Yeah, yeah.

The judges have had a really good look at your raku-fired

long-necked vases, and they've also taken into consideration

your achievements in both the spot test and the throw down.

And so they've come to their decisions,

and first we'll have Top Potter, please.

Yes, well, Top Potter this week has shown us

a very good, consistent ten long-necked vases, they showed us

a very good technique in the firing skills needed for raku firing,

and they've shown us a real boldness and bravery with their decoration.

So, Top Potter this week goes to...

..Matthew.

-APPLAUSE

-Well done, Matthew.

Well done, mate. Brilliant.

And now I'm left with the much tougher task.

The judges have made their decision,

and the person leaving the pottery is...

..James.

'The competition is just so high.'

Ultimately, I've got way further than I thought I was going to get,

so I'm feeling fine about it.

It was a tough call between James and Sally-Jo.

His decoration really wasn't up to it,

and we know he struggles with his throwing.

Basically, Sally-Jo got through with the skin of her teeth,

because of her surface design.

I was worried all day that it was going to be me

leaving the pottery, but I think the slip decoration

and also the decoration on the raku bottles have saved the day.

Oh, my little James, I'm going to miss you so much.

There were several damaged bits on the pots and all that,

and I just thought, "They may well come down on me for this,"

cos I'd already bigged myself up so much.

I'm grateful to have scraped through to next week.

It was such a tough decision for Potter Of The Week,

and what really did it was that Matthew took risks and it paid off.

If Kate wants one of my vases,

then it'll be nice to swap and have one of hers!

It would... I think that'd be a fair trade!

It's been absolutely incredible. It's been the best thing I've

ever done in my entire life, and I would do it all again tomorrow.

-You can feel the tension in the room.

-The potters...

I'm never going to finish. I love you.

..have to try and become sculptors...

-It's just decisions.

-Scary, scary, scary.

..and build the largest clay creations they've ever attempted.

Are you sure they didn't say five inch?

A spot test...

-It's going on.

-..that keeps on growing.

I was hoping they would look like strawberries, but they don't.

And one of the fastest throw down challenges

that Kate and Keith have ever set.

-You have ten minutes.

-(Shut up.)

But who's emerging as a potential champion potter?

I actually trained making flowerpots.

I imagine you've got a nice outdoor area?

'And who's about to miss out on a place in the semifinal?'

Why've I burst out into a sweat? It's ridiculous.

It's not a good look, is it? Trying to stay cool.

Is it because you're not fit that you're sweating so much?

-You're still quite hot, aren't you?

-You noticed?

Should have brought a mankini for this challenge.

LAUGHTER