Episode 5 The Great Pottery Throw Down

No, this isn't the bit they used to show between old programmes.

It's week five.

Check out my pot!

Welcome to the Great Pottery Throw Down

Previously...

I need to get 20 more inches.

It was super-sized sculpture for our potters.

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

Matthew scored another huge win...

Well done, Matthew. Second week in a row.

..while Sandra's piece failed to measure up...

Oh, no...!

..and she had to leave the pottery.

Now our judges, ceramic artist Kate Malone

and master potter Keith Brymer Jones,

have set three more challenges...

I don't know what I'm doing with it at all.

..including their most delicate build so far...

Did that make you jump, sir?

..a bone china chandelier...

..a mesmerising Spot Test...

I were going under there. I was going to be at your command.

..and a Throw Down that refuses to play ball.

Don't tickle it. You're the boss.

Oh, no...!

# I feel inside

# I can't explain

# A certain kind

# I can't explain

# I feel I'm cold

# I can't explain

# Yeah, down in my soul, yeah

# I can't explain

# I can't explain

# I think it's love

# Trying to say to you when I feel blue

# Cos I can't explain. #

There are a few people who really want to do well

and can get through to the final.

Everybody's going to raise their game today.

I think we're all sort of ecstatic to be here at the moment.

I can't wait to get on with the day.

I made it to the semifinals!

Miracles do happen.

I feel really excited,

but a bit nerve-racking, because I know the judges are stepping up their critique,

they don't take any prisoners.

I can sense the tension in everyone.

There's not anyone here that doesn't want to go all the way.

It's the semifinal of The Great Pottery Throw Down.

-Banished to the back.

-Yes.

Just five potters remain,

but only four can make it through to the final.

-Well, good morning, potters.

-Morning.

And here we are, a brand-new day in the pottery

and may I begin by saying a huge congratulations to you guys.

You have reached the semifinal.

All that stands between you and the winner's trophy, though,

are some pesky little tasks we're going to make you do.

The first of which is the Main Make.

And Keith and Kate are really hoping that your creativity

and skills are going to shine through with this one.

And here to enlighten us with more details are the judges.

We want you to produce a fine bone china chandelier.

You're going to be using fine bone china slip

and this has two beautiful qualities -

it fires very white and it's also translucent.

We want you to slip cast.

Now, slip casting is a process where you pour liquid clay, slip,

into a mould to create shapes or objects.

Use your imagination, be adventurous and experiment.

You have five hours to create and cast your chandelier pieces.

Your time starts now!

It will take five long days to create a stunning chandelier.

And if that isn't formidable enough,

making it out of bone china makes it the toughest Main Make yet.

First of all, they'll have to pour the bone china slip into plaster moulds,

where it's left to harden into a thin wall of clay.

The excess slip is tipped out, the moulds are cracked open

and then the thin wall of clay inside can be cut and shaped.

These pieces are then dried and fired for 24 hours.

They then need to be finessed, carefully hung

and the finished chandeliers will be judged by Kate and Keith.

Look at these wonderful pieces here.

This is what we really want to see, isn't it? Fine china.

It's not like any other clay that they'll be using throughout these challenges.

It's so extraordinary, isn't it?

Clay can be brick clay that we live in our houses and then it can be this.

-CHINA TINKLES

-I mean the sound, it's almost glass, actually.

It's sort of relatives of glass, isn't it?

We really want to see them use the wonderful quality that this clay gives,

which is obviously the translucency.

So if they use the clay at the correct thickness,

we're going to see the light coming through.

The first time we're going to see them casting

and not only casting, but casting fine china.

We really want to see them use the character of the material.

That's what's so exciting about this challenge.

The potters can choose from four shapes of mould.

My chandelier shape is based on jellyfish and seaweed.

I've gone for a cone,

a circular cylinder and two spheres,

which, apparently, was a bit of a crazy idea

because they're quite difficult to cast.

But I liked the shape.

I'm aiming for using just one cylindrical shape,

but modifying with a play on circles and a play on cylinders.

Well, the inspiration comes from sort of a church organ.

I can't even get the lid of the slip open,

so I'm probably not going to do very well on this.

These two moulds here are square section tubes, if you like.

I'm going to use each face to cut out some very long leaf designs.

And the idea is I'm going to try and make it as spiky as possible.

I've got three cylinders and one cone.

But I'm hoping to get three or four feathers out of each cylinder.

And perhaps, you know, twist them

and really use that warping which fine bone china does. Apparently.

We're at the semifinals and we're using something very difficult.

I kind of want, like, a quilt kind of effect.

Once I've got them, I'm going to cut them in half

and then I'm going to sort of push into them and just distort them.

I've never done this. I've never dreamt of doing this.

I've never wanted to do this.

So, erm, yeah, this is very new and quite frightening.

Tom's not the only novice.

In fact, none of the potters have slip cast with bone china before.

Nobody touches bone china.

It's kind of a nemesis for potters

or it's the monster in the castle.

The first stage in the process is filling the moulds with slip.

Casting slip is a liquid form of clay,

which you pour into plaster moulds.

When the slip touches the plaster,

it starts drawing the water out of the slip

and that starts forming a skin on the surface of the plaster.

How long they leave the slip inside the mould will determine the thickness of the cast.

The potters want to make the thinnest pieces possible,

so their chandeliers will be delicate and translucent.

Timing is crucial here.

Leave the slip in the mould for too long

and the pieces will be too thick.

But remove them too soon and they'll be too fragile to work with.

It's important to pour it all in one go because, otherwise,

if you only pour half of it,

then the plaster mould is going to suck moisture out of that half.

And then, when you continue to pour it,

the thickness of the walls are going to be different.

You've got to try and pour quite gently and quite evenly, really.

But unfortunately, I'm not feeling brave enough just to handle the whole bucket,

so I'm just going to try and do it gently with this.

That was a bit messy.

I want them quite thin, as well, for the translucency,

so that you do get, like, some light just shining through it.

So I think... Because, otherwise, there's no point in using bone china.

And I think that, for what I want to achieve,

it should be just over three minutes.

The period of time that I'm allowing the clay to soak into the mould is five minutes.

It's very important that you end up with,

essentially, a creme egg inside your mould.

You end up with the chocolate is the part you're going to keep.

It's a thin film of drier clay on the inside of the mould

and then the liquid in the centre, you're going to pour out.

That's the excess.

Just emptying the excess slip out of the mould,

but you have to try and sort of twist the mould...

..according to what I've seen on the internet.

And now we just have to leave them to dry in there.

After the potters have poured out the excess,

how long they leave the remaining clay in the mould

will dictate how hard the cast becomes.

You need to catch it at the time when it's still malleable,

to be able to twist and cut and make your shapes from it,

but not so soft that, when you break open the mould, it just completely collapses.

So it's quite a fine balance.

Right, what's next after we've poured it out?

-Wait.

-Wait for it to dry.

Matt, what are you doing?

He's got a knife and stuff going on.

They put me at the front of the room so I can't copy.

I need to be looking at everybody else, seeing what they're doing.

Jim... Look at him.

He's all right, Jack.

Sure, I look relaxed now cos I'm waiting for these to dry out.

Once they're out,

I've got to set up the casting for the next lot.

So you're doing that at the same time as you're making

and then, hopefully, you get this little routine in place

to create as much stuff as you can, actually.

This particular process really transformed pottery into a real ceramics industry.

Because once you've got the mould,

you can make as many of them as you want.

So you can just repeat the process again and again and again

-and produce thousands of things.

-Of the identical same shape.

In the 18th century, the finest tableware was made from Chinese porcelain.

But importing plates and bowls from China was expensive.

In 1748, in his quest to produce English porcelain,

Thomas Fry started adding cattle bone ash

to clay found in Cornwall

and bone china was born.

40 years later, the recipe was perfected by Josiah Spode

and his white, light and strong alternative to porcelain became a huge success

and was produced almost exclusively in the UK for the next 200 years.

Today, having gone full circle,

the world's biggest producer of bone china...

is China.

The potters' first casts have now firmed up enough to be removed from their moulds.

Yeah, I'm fettling, apparently.

It's a great word, actually, fettle. To fettle.

They must work fast to cut them into shapes

before the clay becomes too hard.

I've taken the first one apart.

It's a little bit thin, so it's a bit of a learning process.

But they are still a bit sticky.

I should have left this in a little bit longer.

But I actually want them to be flexible to actually use.

So what's the key to getting this slip casting spot on?

Well, the key to the whole task, for me, is all about time and motion.

It's getting those moulds working, it's getting them out,

getting more slip in them and that continual process

to maybe build up your chandelier.

There's a lovely rhythm, really, to filling the moulds,

emptying them, filling them, emptying, cutting.

But, you know, the sense of repetition and rhythm is a lovely thing to do.

I'm staggering the casting, cos while I'm fiddling with this,

the others are casting.

If you do them all at once, you've got to deal with them all at once

and, by the time I've emptied this one

and gone back to that one, then these are too thick.

You see what I mean?

So it's a kind of a... There is a plan of action there.

Three hours remaining.

The potters must use the brief time they have between refilling their moulds and casting

to cut their shapes.

Matthew's advantage is that he's only producing one shape,

but he still needs a lot of them.

These are the first ones

and these are starting to become leather hard now.

Just in the tops here, just put a small hole on each side

and then some wire will go through and they'll all hang down.

These are the feathers that are going to form the chandelier,

but I need so many of them to make it work.

But I'm tying to get some feather detail on them before they harden up too much,

cos I don't want them looking like leaves, they've got to look like feathers.

You've got a really short window of opportunity to work with it,

because it's ever so thin and ever so soft and it dries out really fast.

And if you want to play with it,

you've got to play with it at the right moment.

Otherwise you lose that opportunity.

That was fun.

Potters, you're halfway through your time.

Two-and-a-half hours left.

Have you finished yet, Matt?

Even Matt's broken into a sweat for this one!

I just, er...

I just need to relax a little bit, that's what I need to do.

-Take a coffee break.

-Relax a bit and you'll go to sleep, mate, honestly.

Despite casting and finessing over 20 pieces,

Matthew's now had a change of plan.

It's taken me until, literally, these three

to understand the best way to work with it

and I think, if I work with it when it's still in a cylinder,

cos I started chopping them up at first...

And then working on them then?

Yeah. This way, it kind of keeps its strength and I can wiggle that into it

and it creates some nice curves.

And where the cracks are, as well, I'm hoping that you get some light just shining through.

Absolutely. It will be a fine line between cracks and falling apart

-and light and no light. So...

-Yeah.

If it gets too hard, the clay, then it's...

I'm just trying to do it and it just splits it.

Which is a little bit tiresome.

How are you finding this process?

Erm, I have to be honest, I was absolutely dreading it this morning.

But, actually, once I got into it, I don't want to tempt fate too much,

but it's not as hideous as I anticipated it was going to be.

And as you were marking the surfaces with the shell,

you're now scratching a pattern

and you're hoping that pattern will show more light through it?

Exactly that.

With just over an hour to go,

Tom's having second thoughts about his organ design.

I'm probably going to shelve that idea and move on to having some more discs hanging down.

I'm just worried that it's going to look like a sort of a kid's mobile,

or a wind chime or something, rather than a chandelier, but...

I'm trying to get a circular cut.

Oh, what do I want to do?

It's probably going to fail, but let's do it again.

This is not going to work.

That's a waste of a whole piece.

I was trying to be clever.

I know, it's a forlorn hope.

The air of positivity in the air...

Oh, it's just awful.

Eek!

Go with it.

And the thing with this task, as well, is there's no decorating,

there's no glazing,

there's no colour, no pattern.

It's all done in the shapes we make today.

Apart... Oh, there you go.

Next!

# Bend it, bend it

# Just a little bit of take it easy

# Show you're liking it... #

It's behaving badly.

You obviously can't manoeuvre this clay too much when it's damp,

because it's very jelly-like.

It's been carved and that should be kind of drying off now,

but it doesn't want to.

I'm going to stop playing with this one. I'm wasting a lot of time.

Oh, it looks like a goose down pillow has exploded.

I know, remnants of a pillow fight.

Beautiful feathers everywhere.

I was going to be casting while I did this bit,

but if I don't catch this quickly enough, then it doesn't work.

They all just dry out and crumble.

They look a bit like insoles. I mean, I know that's not the plan.

That's not helping, is it?

They're beautiful feathers, though.

I'm just going to just... I'm sorry.

Insoles!

Oh, man...

Before firing, the potters need to pack their pieces in aluminium oxide or alumina,

as bone china can warp and become sticky

at temperatures of over 1,200 degrees C.

Alumina has a very high melting point,

which is over 2,000 degrees,

so you can use it in conjunction with firing your bone china,

because it's not going to melt or flux or become hard.

It can be used in quantities to support a free-flowing shape.

If it wasn't there, the bone china would probably just collapse on itself.

The alumina prevents the clay from sticking,

so it's the best stuff to put between your pot and the shelf.

Think about these discs that you're doing.

Think about how you're going to stack them with the alumina in between them, OK?

Right.

All right?

I don't know what I'm doing here at all. So I'm doing... Yeah.

Just think alumina. Just always think alumina.

Also, I would put a bit more alumina on the shelf.

You cannot underestimate the way this stuff is fluid in the kiln.

Oh, I can.

We'll let you get on, Tom.

He's so intense when he works, isn't he?

I don't like to see him getting so uptight.

Well, you haven't seen me work, have you?

-Yeah. I'm a bit the same, really.

-Are you?

You have to give yourself a bit of a hard time to get the best out of yourself.

-No-one else is going to give you a hard time.

-Oh, I don't know.

Guys, the alumina.

You just pile it up to support it, support the shape.

Are you going to do that, Matt?

What, the alumina?

Matt's won't slump cos they're Matt's!

Ooooh!

My porcelain's perfect.

You're a star potter. It doesn't happen to you.

Jane's design is made up of strands of hanging seaweed

and she's come up with a plan to make them look as authentic as they would in the sea.

The material's completely bonkers, so it's just drying so quickly

that I'm not getting the curve I was sort of hoping for and it's...

Whoa! You see, it's so difficult.

Whoop... It's so fragile.

So I've sort of undulated the alumina.

I've just put really loads on

and then I've used a rolling pin to create contours on the surface

and I'm hoping, as the clay sort of becomes more malleable in the heat of the kiln,

it will sort of follow those contours.

When it's in the kiln, it's probably going to warp a bit more and change and alter

but, you know, that's down to the kiln gods, really.

As well as the inherent fragility of bone china,

the alterations Matthew has applied could create further problems in the kiln.

The only concern is, like, the cracks developing, which could happen.

I think ceramics prepares you for disappointment, you know? It's...

Yeah.

I'm doing the final cast now.

But they've only been drying for ten minutes

and I thought I could get away with that one a bit sooner than I can.

I just have to wait.

-Well, I better open this.

-Oh, good.

You're going to crack a... What's it called? Crack a...

Crack a mould.

My God...

Did that make you jump, Sarah?

It's always exciting with you, Jim.

Ladies and gentlemen, five minutes left.

If you want to get your chandelier pieces in the drying room, please?

-I've just got to keep going.

-Exciting.

I'm probably loading this one up a little bit too much, but...

And off she goes, like a gazelle!

Do be careful!

I have no idea what I've got.

No idea.

Some have got one hole, some have got two holes.

It'll be all right. We'll be all right.

Five, four,

three, two, one.

Time's up!

Ay! Ay! Ay!

Stage one of the potters' Main Make is over.

-You all right?

-Yeah, baby!

-Well done.

Their chandelier pieces cannot be altered any more.

They will now dry for two days and then fire for a further 24 hours.

You've worked very hard.

You can now go and have a bit of a breather and enjoy

the Stoke-on-Trent glorious sunshine.

But do come back here, because I know you've toiled for a good five hours,

but we think you want to do a bit more work.

So more surprises in store when you come back up. Thank you very much.

Another hurdle.

Well, it was a long time we were in there.

I'm pretty exhausted. In fact, I'm shattered after the Main Make.

You sort of finish and think, "Oh, God, I wish I could do it again, you know, tomorrow,

"cos I could do it much better."

Maybe, you know, I should have chosen a different design which was a bit more challenging.

I think now the success of my chandelier, it'll be on the hanging.

Whilst their chandelier elements dry,

Kate and Keith have set a Spot Test to challenge the potters.

The skilled workers of Stoke would have needed a steady hand and keen eye

to provide the distinctive finish associated with such names as Shelley's, Wedgewood and Minton.

But can our potters match this standard?

Now, then, welcome along to your semifinal Spot Test.

Oh, and it's a goody.

If you look underneath your hessian, you will see six plates.

We are testing your skills of banding.

Banding is the process of putting a fine line on the body of an object.

It must be consistently straight and we don't want any wobbles.

We want you to put two bands on these plates,

one on the outer rim and one on the inner rim of each plate.

You'll be banding with an enamel pigment.

Because you're using enamels, you'll be able to wipe it off and redo it.

Now, as usual, the judges won't be in here for this Spot Test.

We shall see you in a little while.

You have 30 minutes.

Best of luck to you. Potters, get banding!

So the first thing they've got to do is centre the plate on the wheel.

If it's not centred,

then obviously their line's going to be completely wonky.

It stands to reason.

Can you see that's moving on and off my finger there?

Oh, yes. So there's a little bit of a wiggle in it.

The potters have been given their own colour with which to band their plates.

This will help the judges distinguish between each set of six.

The secret of banding successfully

is to get the consistency of the enamel perfectly correct.

If it's too thick, it will sit in this lovely, big, fat long-haired brush.

If it's too thin, it will just run out.

I just dribbled it.

Argh!

Cor, it's a tricky one this, isn't it?

Yeah, it's all about the consistency.

I've watered it... I've thinned it down too much,

cos it's just dribbling.

-Is that Jim off?

-Mm.

It's all right, he's swanning it.

-I've got to give him that look.

-It's a bit boring.

-Yeah.

God, Jim, have you done one already?!

Ah, cor...!

Every time somebody walks past me, my paintbrush wobbles!

They need to charge the brush up with enough enamel

to get a full circular rim.

If they don't have enough, you'll get something called chattering,

where you'll run out of colour

and you'll get this sort of juddery effect all the way around the plate.

A loaded brush, a steady hand, and a calm demeanour.

For Matthew, this should be a doddle.

Is it harder than you thought or...?

Yeah, I've never, ever, ever even thought about banding.

It's like a dance, you have to be so graceful.

You actually have to go down very gently

and you have to let the enamel flow out of the brush

and just come back up.

Like a bird or a swan taking off from a lake.

It's got to be so gentle and so graceful.

If you're heavy-handed and you go down hard and fast,

you're going to get a splodge or a wobble.

I think I'm drawn to yours,

because it's like there's a bit of gravy left on a plate.

Are you breathing?

Are you breathing? I'm not really.

I were going under then. I was going to be at your command.

Yeah. Back in the room.

It's quite hypnotisiling, isn't it?

With 12 minutes still remaining, Jim has finished.

But should he have made use of all the allotted time?

Jim, well done. That's your sixth plate complete.

That's my best one yet. Getting better.

Oh, Jane...

Oh!

I want to marry that plate.

It's a beauty.

I could eat me dinner off it.

Look at that...

And Matthew has six plates at the front of the room.

Thank you very much, Matthew.

Go ahead, then, Jim.

Do you want to run round with the Hoover or something while you're hanging about?

I don't want to disturb anybody, actually.

They're concentrating over there.

Jane's got six up at the front there. Everybody has, actually. Well done.

Apart from Sally-Jo.

Two minutes left. And Sally-Jo has finished her final plate.

Well done.

# Painter man, painter man... #

Has anyone achieved the precise banding Kate and Keith demanded?

-Shall we start at the end?

-Yeah, absolutely.

The strength of colour is there,

but there is a bit of inconsistency with the application, don't you think?

Yes, further up, it looks like there's a bit of chattering.

Or some of the colour is slightly spreading.

This end one, there's quite a bit of chattering on it.

Shall we move to these darker blue?

We're actually seeing a tonal change through all the colour.

Yeah, and we're also seeing the start of the band there.

-Or a blip.

-Yeah, this kind of blip here.

Mm. Move along?

Yeah.

It looks well-centred.

It looks as though the outer one is nicely on the edge.

-Not bad, actually. Quite consistent in colour.

-Yes.

So let's look at the yellows.

I'm loving the delicacy of the banding on this.

-It's superb, actually.

-It's really nice.

-That, to me, is almost a set of plates.

-It's dead on.

And now to the orange.

Yeah, last but not least.

I think there's a bit too much of the white rim of the plate showing here for my liking.

It's not right on the rim.

-But a pretty good effort, actually.

-Yeah.

But who served up a winning set of plates?

The person who goes into fifth place... Whose are these?

-Oh, right.

-Matthew.

Just a bit inconsistent with your application.

There's a lot of blobs on the lines

and the colour is inconsistent throughout the whole set.

In fourth place, the green row at the end here...

Whose are those? Sally-Jo.

Yes, there was chattering on the brush, Sally-Jo, wasn't there?

And it was... There are thicker and thinner lines.

In third place... Who's done the orange ones?

Tom.

Really nice thickness of line.

Just the placing of the outside line

could have been just a bit further on that edge.

The colour consistency is slightly out, as well.

So we've obviously got two sets of plates left,

belonging to Jim and to Jane.

So in first place is these...

Ah, well done, Jim!

Really nice, concise lining there,

a consistency throughout the whole set.

So, very good. Yeah, really good.

Well done, Jim. And, of course, Jane, well done - second place.

Awesome.

Now, then, you've had a really busy day

and we appreciate all your hard work, so you are free to leave the pottery

and we will see you back here when we have a look at your chandelier pieces.

Thank you very much.

Well done, you! Very good!

I never imagined it's that difficult.

It makes me want to run out, get home and do it again straight away,

but it's definitely something I'm going to do again.

Zam!

Yeah, I'm very chuffed about coming second in the Spot Test.

I needed that for my confidence.

It has been mentioned that I need to sort of up my game a little bit,

so that's what I'm endeavouring to do.

I'd have loved it if I'd have beaten him.

That would have been amazing.

Power to the Jimbo!

The potters now face an anxious wait for their chandelier pieces

to dry and be given their one and only firing.

# Woke up this morning feeling fine... #

The five remaining potters return to Middleport

for the last day of the challenge.

At the end of today, only four will make it through to the final.

So, as we approach semifinal judging,

who is looking really strong for the final?

We're looking at Matthew and we're looking at Jim, really,

as being the ones riding at the front of the wave.

You know, obviously, we haven't seen their chandeliers yet,

so anything could happen.

With fine bone china, it's a very different kind of firing process.

They could've all stuck together.

And who's in danger

from leaving the pottery and not making it to the final?

Well, there's Tom. He was third in the Spot Test.

What are you hoping to see from Tom's chandelier, Kate?

He came in with one idea and he seemed to steer off it.

So whether he's added to the original idea

and added some dynamism, which is what we want to see from Tom,

or whether it's really taken it

a step too far away from what he wanted to show us,

I don't know.

Who else is looking like they can't quite keep up?

Jane and Sally-Jo are.

Such a shame. Let's start off with Sally-Jo.

I'm just hoping that her chandelier design is just going to pull her right to the top of this.

So let's talk about Jane.

All throughout this contest, she's been pretty consistent.

She's had a couple of hiccups. What's going on with her now?

She's trying so hard and she's so focused.

I just don't know whether she's done enough for this Main Make.

I don't know whether she's done enough actual pieces

to make her chandelier look so dramatic.

Before the potters are judged on their chandeliers,

they have one last chance to impress Kate and Keith...

-Hello!

-Hello.

..and secure their place in the final.

Welcome back to the pottery.

We've got the little matter of a Throw Down.

This is the bit where you go up against each other, you go up against the clock

and you go up against this man.

Keith, king of the wheel.

What delights do you have in store

for our five fabulous semifinalists, please, Keith?

Well, we've got a goodie this week, peeps.

Today, you're going to throw a perfectly closed sphere.

And we want that sphere to be as large as you can make it,

but we don't want to see any evidence of that closed top.

We want a smooth top hemisphere.

-This...

-Not easy.

-..is not easy.

Beautifully put, Tom. It's quite a tricky one.

No, we're not just going to set you off to do it all by yourselves.

Of course, first, you can watch the master at work.

-So, Keith...

-Yep.

..sit at the wheel, sunshine.

Here we go...

The great discipline with this is, obviously, the speed of the wheel

when you're closing it up.

And it's the control of the wheel

throughout the whole process, really.

The speed of the wheel is always altering,

depending on what you're doing.

So...

close it up.

Could you just do that bit again?

So you really need to come in at the base.

Get that knuckle hurting.

I'm now using the sponge to throw with,

because I can't really get my hand in there.

The old sponge on the stick trick.

This is the tricky bit.

Yeah, this is the crucial bit, closing it in.

Nice work, sir. Nice work.

So it really is bringing it together bit by bit.

Can you see him closing... Ah, there it goes.

Not quite there yet.

That'll do. That'll do, won't it?

-Yeah, that'll do.

-Not bad, mate. Not bad.

Let's see what it is.

Well, that's 17.5 centimetres, that one.

Nice.

And make sure that the inside is like a bowl shape.

There. So look, you've got a nice even thickness

and then, when you come down,

you would turn that, so it would be a complete sphere.

You're going to have 12 minutes to make your sphere, OK?

So go and get yourselves settled at the wheels, please.

-Good luck, guys.

-Good luck, dudes.

Yeah, and you.

OK, semifinalists, this is your Throw Down.

12 minutes, one sphere.

Time starts now!

Keith made throwing a sphere look almost too simple.

So what could possibly go wrong?

That's it, just relax.

You've got plenty of time to get it centred.

Looking good, Jim. Looking good.

-How's it going, Jane?

-Yeah, it's going fine.

Yeah, it's going fine.

-Jim's trying to close his in now.

-Wow.

Yeah.

-How's it going, Jim?

-Trying to take it easy.

I hope I've left enough there to do that join at the top.

But it's kind of roughly the shape, so...

-It's looking...

-We're kind of getting there.

-Yeah.

Don't let that collapse, Jim.

Cheers, mate. No pressure, then!

Sally-Jo's taking it really slowly.

-Hey, Sally-Jo...

-Hiya.

You're literally shaking. Are you enjoying it?

Loving it, yeah.

He's getting the height now, isn't he?

He's getting a decent bit of height.

-Matthew's got great height at the back there.

-Yeah.

One minute to go.

Don't tickle it.

You're the boss.

-Look at the horizon.

-Ten, nine,

eight, seven, six,

five, four, three,

two, one.

Time's up, guys!

I made an egg...

On the upside, for one of you, that's your last ever Throw Down.

Whooo!

-OK, guys, shall we come and have a look?

-Yeah.

We're going to come and check out your spheres.

Right, then, let's have a look here, Jane.

It looks a bit like a head.

Oh, 17.5.

Got it.

It's a really nice shape.

It's not quite a sphere.

It's got a square bottom, hasn't it? Square inside.

It's got a flat bottom, but it's definitely closed up.

-A really good effort there, Jane. Brilliant.

-Good effort, Jane.

-Oh, Sally-Jo...!

-I know.

As a sphere, it's absolutely hopeless.

But...you actually finished it off incredibly well.

If there's a mark for dignity, I think that would win.

Hi, Matthew.

Looking good.

I want to wolf-whistle it, it's so good.

So that's 18cm.

-The northern hemisphere looks really good, doesn't it?

-Yeah.

Lovely finish on the top of it there.

The bottom part could have come out a bit more.

Let's have a look at the cross section here...

It's a really nice profile, isn't it?

And look at that top seal. That's really good. Yeah, it's great.

-Excellent. Well done, Matthew. Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Good.

-Hi, Jim.

-Hello.

Let's have a look at yours, shall we?

Just over 18cm.

It's a really, really good shape.

-That is...

-Look at that base, that's really not too flat.

That is pretty good. You've got a lovely curve in there.

Beautiful closing up. The profile is absolutely dead on.

Yeah, well done, Jim. That's a really good one.

Last, but not least...

The southern hemisphere is not so bad

up to about a third of the way

and then it just goes up into a bit of a beehive shape there.

I mean, it's definitely closed up.

Great, Tom.

-Great work, Tom.

-Thank you.

So, who's thrown the most impressive sphere?

In glorious fifth place, which is special, in a way, is...

Sally-Jo.

-Best bowl in the room, though.

-Best bowl.

Fourth place goes to Jane.

It was very close, wasn't it?

It was close, yeah.

Jane, you finished it off really, really nicely.

It was just a bit too straight at the base.

Third place, please, judges.

Third place today goes to...Tom.

What we liked about Tom's was he'd actually made the bowl shape

at the beginning of his sphere.

Who have you put into first place, please?

So first place today is...

Jim.

Well deserved.

And really, Jim, you had a great curve on the inside of your base,

you had a good overall shape.

It could have been turned into a really lovely sphere.

Second place goes to Matthew.

Really nicely finished, really nicely closed in.

Just could have bellied out the bottom a bit more.

That was the semifinal Throw Down.

Still to come, we're going to have a look at your bone china chandeliers.

So we'll see you in a little while.

Two out of three.

I mean, my luck is holding up.

A place in the final now rests on what emerges from the kiln.

Fourth in the Spot Test, last in the Throw Down...

Yeah, I am a bit concerned now about my place in the final.

I'm really hoping to get through to the final.

No-one wants to go out at this stage.

Not to go all the way, you know, would be a real shame.

Hopefully, yeah, you know, the chandelier will carry on in the same vein.

You know, I'll be very pleased. I might even celebrate.

Yeah.

I'm not too concerned about winning.

It's the taking part that's important, I think you'll find.

The bone china pieces are out of the kiln.

Once the potters have dusted off the alumina and tidied them up,

they can begin hanging their chandeliers.

I put the alumina on the kiln shelf

and I'd sort of run a rolling pin

just to create some soft undulations,

hoping that the tentacles would sort of slump into it.

But they haven't.

I'm slightly worried about some of these holes, actually,

because they have shrunk quite considerably.

Yeah.

So these little holes here, if they're too small,

then, obviously, I'm not going to be able to thread our lines through to hang them.

I thought they were going to be more translucent.

Yeah, that might just be our process.

Maybe because I've just made them too thick.

I really just wasn't sure what thickness I was aiming for. Were you?

No.

Look at that. I've made myself a little needle.

Wow! You should have some more alumina on your face, it's a good look.

Have I got alumina on my face?

Could you add a bit more?

-That's lovely.

-Good.

-Can I pick one up?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah. Pick one up. That's fine.

Oh, you've got the light coming through. That looks really good.

It should be all right, I think.

Not surprised to see Matt's come out exactly as he'd hoped.

He clearly understands the material really well, which is great.

With their bone china pieces now prepared,

the potters have two-and-a-half hours to bring their vision to life and light.

The judges are looking for skilfully-shaped, well-designed

and full chandeliers.

I can't even get my wire open. That's a good start.

Now, how do we go about this?

I've got 80-odd pieces.

Quite literally, 80-odd pieces, as well.

The only problem that I've got is time, really,

because I've got to hang every one of them,

pretty much to make it look less mobiley and more chandeliery.

-Cor, this isn't easy, is it?

-It's a little bit fiddly.

A third hand would come in useful, wouldn't it?

I envisioned it as a sort of longer column

with more feathers, sort of a bit more dramatic.

But within the time that we've got, that's pretty much what I thought.

I'd like to say it was my week for Top Potter,

but I don't think that would be the case.

But it would be nice. It would be nice.

It's Sally's week for Top Potter.

Come on, girls, it's about time.

-Yeah.

-Oh, Jim!

-That's fighting talk.

-Steady on.

Maybe they could be a tiny bit thinner.

But, no, I think the translucency's quite good.

You can definitely see, when I held them up, I could see my hand through it.

Oh!

-Ooop...

-You all right?

-Yeah.

Look at that. Actually stuck into the floor.

Death by chandelier!

Quite a lot still to do, then.

Could have done with it being a bit more busy.

I would have done a lot more of these.

But as an overall effect, I'm quite chuffed with that. I think it works.

Sounds great.

-CHANDELIER RINGS

-I could dingle that all day long.

Oh!

That sound is like music to my...

We know that I don't mean that.

It's all right, you've got plenty extra.

Let's go for a couple more...

It's all right, is it?

-Oh, look at that!

-Wow, the dome's OK.

Oh, the dome's OK.

Jim, would you mind just cupping my jellyfish?

-Cupping your jellyfish?

-Cupping it.

-Cupping it, of course.

-There we go. Thanks, dude.

-You've found your vocation in life.

-Yeah.

Five minutes to go before the chandeliers need to be ready for the final judging.

Yeah, I don't think I can do this in time.

I didn't appreciate quite how long this assembly was going to take.

If I did it again, I'd hang the flowers so they were angled,

just to get more of the effect of the flower.

But other then that, it was on the right tracks.

And that's good enough for me.

I'm all right with that. I could live with it.

I think small fiddly stuff just doesn't look so good.

And I think larger, larger shapes that have repetition

to allow you to see that shape in different angles,

because these are all twisting

and with the light and the glint and, you know,

that's the way I think to really impress with these chandeliers.

Looking a little bit like a wind chime,

which is not really what I was going for.

Bit concerned now. Everyone's done a really nice job.

Five days, five bone china chandeliers,

but Kate and Keith can only send four potters through to the final.

Potters, talk about all things bright and beautiful.

They look gorgeous!

Five days ago, the judges asked you to design and create

a bone china chandelier, which you have done.

And they look great. It's time now for the judging.

I think it's really successful, a really lovely shape.

Well, what's interesting, I think, for me,

is that the whole thing is very compact

and it's very full, isn't it?

It's a very full design.

I'm a bit disappointed by the flowers.

I would have liked to have seen marks on those flowers.

You could have done better with the flowers.

I was really excited to see what these were going to do.

And, actually, they're not as impressive

as, actually, your leaves.

And I'm loving this double leaf.

I think it's a really, really good idea.

The leaves and the fluidity that you've got,

they are very, very nice flowing forms.

Great, Jim.

To me, it's lost its direction.

Really, you should have been thinking about your original design and strengthening it.

And I was very worried that you were weakening it.

And that's how I feel with this.

It's interesting, because it's slightly diluted as you go down the chandelier, hasn't it?

I can see the strong message around the top.

And as we come down, it gets more and more sparse.

I really think you have salvaged the design quite a lot

by hanging it so well.

Yeah, it's very, very symmetrical, isn't it?

It's very nicely balanced on the whole surround of the chandelier.

-Thank you, Tom.

-Thank you very much.

-Thanks, Tom.

Well, this is quite a departure for you

because, usually, you're quite free and slip-flinging all over the place.

And here, you've gone for a really repetitive design.

I absolutely love it.

I think you've chosen this quilt effect really, really well.

I think, as the sun goes down and the light comes through,

that would really, really show up, really, really nicely.

I even like the way that the repetitive forms

actually slightly curl under because of the weight.

I think the sense of volume is really interesting,

that you've managed to do that.

I also think you've threaded them really cleverly.

There's these double loops that work well.

You're so good at showing us how the clay really is.

You're showing us the soft, beautiful silkiness of the slip

-as it comes out of the mould.

-Thank you very much.

You could have done far more on this top ring, I think.

And also, the other thing is that the bottom ring

does seem a bit one dimensional.

They're all sort of roughly the same length.

I don't know whether that's intentional or not,

but it does look a bit sparse. on the top half of your chandelier.

The textures that you've done,

I can actually see the light coming through, and that's very successful.

I'm loving all this texture round the bottom ring here.

It could be better.

I'm just looking at things like this articulated piece here with the threading.

What does that actually add to the whole design,

if it had been a long piece?

-They are a bit too straight.

-Yeah.

You know, there could have been a bit more fluidity in there.

I just think it's a really sweet design, very thoughtful,

-could have been done better.

-Thank you.

I absolutely love the concept.

I think it's fantastic.

I love the whole overall effect.

Obviously, making the thing is one thing,

it's then placing these particular pieces

and arranging them in the chandelier is another, isn't it, really?

You could have maybe done with a few more feathers there,

but I really like the way it sort of cascades down.

I love the movement.

I was a bit concerned about how the wings would hang,

because there's a sort of sense of fallen wings

and we don't want wings falling like an Icarus or something,

we actually wanted flight.

And I think the level at which you've got the wings is really good

and the way the feathers catch the light is exquisite.

I think it's a really successful design.

I love the way the light's shining through the wings.

What the light is doing

is actually accentuating the delicacy of the feathers.

It's giving this really delicate feel to the whole thing, really good.

-Thank you very much.

-Really nice.

So, potters, that's the semifinal judging done.

You guys can go and have a well-earned breather now,

because Kate and Keith have got a lot to discuss.

There's big decisions to be made. See you in a little while.

Well, judges, like a moth to a flame,

I'm just drawn to the glorious glow of these chandeliers,

especially now that we've dimmed the lights a little bit.

They look beautiful. What do you think?

-They're just gorgeous.

-Incredible.

They'd never touched bone china slip before and look what they've done.

So, let's start with your favourites, then.

It's definitely Matthew.

I think it's absolutely fantastic, the way that he's used that repeating shape,

the quilting effect that he's got on there.

We wanted to see this lush and precious, lit up cascade.

-And we've got it.

-Well, Jim's, you see, for me,

he's really captured the fluidity of fine bone china.

He's really used the light so beautifully.

He has a great sense of composition and volume made of smaller pieces.

It's really lush and dense. We can't see the light bulb there.

It's really good.

So Jim came top in the Spot Test, top in the Throw Down

and he's made a lovely chandelier.

Surely, he's got to be up there for Top Potter?

He is up there, but is it really hanging,

is it a great cascade of objects?

I'm loving Sally-Jo's. What do you think, Kate?

She's showing us light coming through cuts and marks

and I just think there's a great sense of light and movement. Super.

I think it's a great, great concept and she's actually pulled it off.

In the Throw Down, Sally-Jo came last

because throwing is just not her thing.

Has she pulled it back with her gorgeous design and this chandelier?

Could she be our first female Top Potter?

I think it's a toss up between Matthew and Jim for Top Potter.

No, I'm not so sure.

I'd really like to keep Sally-Jo right in contention.

It's the most delicate use of fine bone china

out of the whole five of them.

Sally-Jo is up there with those two gentlemen there.

And another one you've got to thrash out, as well,

is who is not going to make it through to the grand final.

We've got Tom and we've got Jane.

Tom's is, conceptually, horrendous.

He started off with a really precise design

and he's changed it, which is great,

but he's absolutely done nothing.

It doesn't tell me anything.

It's just a few objects hanging from a frame.

If he hadn't hung it so well with this circle of discs

and this circle of twists

and then the circle of cheese gratery things,

I just think it would have been floundering even more.

I'm really annoyed with Tom.

We know he's technically brilliant at most things,

but where's the message?

It's hopeless. Absolutely hopeless.

Whereas, if we turn to Jane's,

she always has these great ideas with depth and meaning.

And she's the one who made these gorgeous patterns

and we're seeing through the patterns to the light.

But she hasn't hung it as well as Tom did.

It just looks really, really boring the way she's hung it.

But I have to agree with Kate.

The concept of it, absolutely brilliant.

It just looks really, really immature the way it's been hung.

One has great ideas.

Could have possibly done better with the hanging.

And Tom, the idea just dissolved to nothing and he's hung it very well.

It's always a big decision who's going to leave the pottery,

but this week it's huge, because you've got to get it right,

because it decides who leaves the pottery and also who goes through to the grand final.

We can't look back, we can't look forward.

We have to take this week into account.

After much discussion between Kate and Keith,

they did eventually decide who is going to be semifinal Top Potter.

They've shown a really good use of the material

and they've shown a really good design concept.

So Top Potter this week goes to...

..Matthew.

Again!

Congratulations on getting a hat trick with Top Potter, as well.

A huge well done.

Now to the trickier decision.

And I've got to say, a lot of heartfelt debate,

discussion, negotiation,

wrangling went on to decide who was going to leave the pottery.

The judges have made their decision, though.

The person not making it through to the grand final

and leaving the pottery is...

..Jane.

Oh, Jane!

Sweet.

It's all right. I knew it was coming.

It's fine.

Jane had a lovely idea,

she just didn't really carry it through

and the hanging of the chandelier was not up to speed.

I knew a slip cast bone china chandelier

wasn't one of my strong points.

I shan't probably be doing it again.

I'm chuffed that I got this far.

Staggeringly, I've made it through.

Great to have been saved from the chop.

But very disappointed that I got such a, erm...

rightly harsh criticism for the chandelier.

You were up with Top Potter, actually.

What you did with that...

Brilliant.

We knew you had it in you. It was brilliant.

Really, really good.

Fantastic concept.

I haven't yet managed to knock one of those boys off the top spot.

There's a lot of talented potters left in the final.

I'll absolutely give it my best shot.

Top Potter for a third time.

I'm trying not to think about it too much because

I don't want to go into the final feeling a bit too confident

and, yeah, making a fool of myself.

Down to the final four.

My wife whooped for joy this evening when I told her I was in the final.

This is a real contest of four great makers,

who have great skills and I can't wait to see what they do.

I'm hoping to sort of come through with my head held high.

It is literally anyone's challenge for the taking.

This week was the hardest so far.

But I've earnt my place in the final

and I'm going to go out to win it.

Next time...

..the final.

-Here goes nothing.

-It's your worst nightmare as a potter.

No!