0:00:01 > 0:00:04We're back! It's time to get our hands dirty once again,
0:00:04 > 0:00:07as ten of the nation's finest amateur potters do battle
0:00:07 > 0:00:09to become the next champion.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12Welcome to The Great Pottery Throw Down.
0:00:13 > 0:00:14During the day,
0:00:14 > 0:00:17I'm the mild-mannered person doing people's mortgages.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20In the evening, I'm the mad potter.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22Ten pottery-mad home potters have been selected
0:00:22 > 0:00:25to walk the hallowed cobbles of Middleport,
0:00:25 > 0:00:28right in the heart of British pottery's spiritual home,
0:00:28 > 0:00:30Stoke-on-Trent.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33I'm not sure whether it's real. Pinch myself. Maybe it's real.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35'I was feeling a bit nervous on the way here.'
0:00:35 > 0:00:38I was wondering if I'd forgotten how to throw pots.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40In Middleport's inspirational studio,
0:00:40 > 0:00:43they'll be let loose on wet clay to transform it into
0:00:43 > 0:00:47unique and beautiful items for the home.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49Pottery gives me a sense of achievement.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51You put a bit of your soul into it.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53The time constraint is the thing that I'm not used to,
0:00:53 > 0:00:55because I never, ever throw to a time limit.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58Everything they conjure up will be judged by world-renowned
0:00:58 > 0:01:01ceramic artist Kate Malone and maverick master potter
0:01:01 > 0:01:03Keith Brymer Jones.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06It's like meeting potting royalty, isn't it?
0:01:06 > 0:01:10Kate has been one of my heroines all my potting live.
0:01:10 > 0:01:11I'm a pottery addict.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14Because it's all the wonders of nature.
0:01:14 > 0:01:15Earth, air, fire, water.
0:01:15 > 0:01:20And you witness the transformation from clay to something of beauty.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23I'm really looking for that connection between the potter
0:01:23 > 0:01:24and what they've made.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26I want to see a lot of passion.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28As you know, I get a bit emotional.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30My main aim is to make Keith cry.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32If I do that, then I'll be happy.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36So, are these potters ready for 24 brand-new challenges?
0:01:36 > 0:01:39- I can do this.- You can feel the intensity in the room!
0:01:39 > 0:01:41SHE STRAINS
0:01:41 > 0:01:43'And who will go one to be named the champion...'
0:01:43 > 0:01:44You've got to make your decision, James,
0:01:44 > 0:01:46you've got to make your decision!
0:01:46 > 0:01:48'..of The Great Pottery Throw Down?'
0:01:48 > 0:01:49SHE YELPS
0:01:49 > 0:01:52Oh, I like James's. Nice.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54A bit busy, isn't it?
0:02:00 > 0:02:03# Making time
0:02:03 > 0:02:07# Shooting lines
0:02:07 > 0:02:10# People have their uses
0:02:10 > 0:02:12# People have their uses... #
0:02:25 > 0:02:27It's fantastic to be once again
0:02:27 > 0:02:31walking on the very same cobbles where our pottery forefathers trod.
0:02:31 > 0:02:33You can almost feel the history seeping up into your feet.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36Middleport is Britain's oldest surviving pottery,
0:02:36 > 0:02:39and it's still using traditional skills
0:02:39 > 0:02:41dating back to the 1700s.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44What better place to inspire our brand-new potters?
0:02:44 > 0:02:46And what better way to get things revved up
0:02:46 > 0:02:49than to get back behind the wheel?
0:02:49 > 0:02:51The potters have three long days ahead of them,
0:02:51 > 0:02:55involving three tests of their skill and creativity.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59But whose hands will craft the pot of the week,
0:02:59 > 0:03:01and who will Kate and Keith decide
0:03:01 > 0:03:04should be the first to leave the pottery?
0:03:04 > 0:03:07- Good morning, potters. ALL:- Good morning.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11Welcome to your very first day here in the pottery.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14Now your first challenge is your Main Make.
0:03:14 > 0:03:19Kate and Keith would like you to throw a 16-piece dinner set.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22Four dinner plates, four side plates,
0:03:22 > 0:03:24four bowls and four beakers.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26You can choose any design you fancy,
0:03:26 > 0:03:28but it must reflect you.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31And we're really looking for consistency here in the shapes.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33So they must be identical.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35OK, potters, so to throw your dinner service,
0:03:35 > 0:03:38you have four-and-a-half hours.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40Your time starts now. Potters, get potting.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44Oh! Heavy, heavy!
0:03:44 > 0:03:46What I'm mostly worried about is timing
0:03:46 > 0:03:49because I'm not an experienced thrower.
0:03:49 > 0:03:50I will move quite quick.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52I'm not designed to go quick, though,
0:03:52 > 0:03:55being 6' 6" and, like, 20st.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57I just want them to be perfect, that's all.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02So, Keith, here we are, the first Main Make.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04Yes, cups, plates, bowls.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06It's that consistency that we're really after.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08That's showing me the skill in their throwing.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11We're expecting the pieces to be fit for purpose.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13We don't want any peas rolling off the plate,
0:04:13 > 0:04:16we want this to fit the lip very beautifully.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18This is a very practical challenge.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20So the weight is very important.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22And if they're finished off well,
0:04:22 > 0:04:23that's what I'll be really looking for.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26They've got to be aware of the profile, the functionality,
0:04:26 > 0:04:29and at the same time, we want them to look beautiful.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31- We don't want much. - No, that's right.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33HE LAUGHS
0:04:33 > 0:04:34In this first stage,
0:04:34 > 0:04:36the potters have just four-and-a-half hours
0:04:36 > 0:04:40to throw all 16 pieces on the wheel
0:04:40 > 0:04:42and get them into the studio's drying room.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44I've never just sat down for four-and-a-half hours
0:04:44 > 0:04:46and churned out 16 things,
0:04:46 > 0:04:48so I actually don't know how it's going to go.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51- Have you weighed them out? - No, I'm doing it now.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53The only way to guarantee their pieces are of
0:04:53 > 0:04:56a consistent size is to carefully weigh out each lump
0:04:56 > 0:04:59of clay for each item they throw.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02I'm really not good at maths.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04These are going to be about 1.1 kilos.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06Then each lump needs to be kneaded,
0:05:06 > 0:05:08which potters call wedging...
0:05:08 > 0:05:10I'm doing it on the floor because it's just
0:05:10 > 0:05:13a lot easier to get your body weight on top of it.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16..and then slapped into a ball shape...
0:05:16 > 0:05:17Absolutely.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19..before it can be thrown.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22Preparation is key.
0:05:22 > 0:05:23You need to wedge the clay,
0:05:23 > 0:05:25to make sure there's no air bubbles,
0:05:25 > 0:05:26cos that will break the plates.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28While you've got dry hands, it's a lot easier
0:05:28 > 0:05:30to get your balls done now in preparation, ready.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33Ryan is from Ipswich and works as a model.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36His gran lets him do all his potting in her garden shed.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38Here you are, Grandma.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40I made them specially for you this morning.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43And it's staying with Gran that gave him the idea
0:05:43 > 0:05:46for the motif at the edges of his dinner set.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48You actually call it a pie crust edge, don't you?
0:05:48 > 0:05:50- Yeah.- Traditionally.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52Yeah, and that's my inspiration.
0:05:52 > 0:05:53From my grandma's apple pies.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55Does she make a special apple pie?
0:05:55 > 0:05:56She does, a mean apple pie.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58And a million women's hearts
0:05:58 > 0:06:00just swell at how lovely that is right now.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02Are you au fait with playing around with plates?
0:06:02 > 0:06:05No - literally, this week is my first week of making plates.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07You seem very calm, Ryan - is this normal?
0:06:07 > 0:06:08I'm just in my zone, which is really nice.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11I'm just getting my head down and try not to talk too much.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14That's his polite way of asking us to please leave now.
0:06:14 > 0:06:15But we can, actually, can't we?
0:06:17 > 0:06:19Right, start the wheel.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28Wibbly-wobbly clay. Oh!
0:06:28 > 0:06:31I hope I don't make funny faces when I'm throwing.
0:06:31 > 0:06:32SHE STRAINS
0:06:32 > 0:06:36It's on with the big plates first. Go big or go home.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39But wrestling large lumps of clay into flat dinner plates
0:06:39 > 0:06:41isn't just physically demanding.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44You can make a plate in a very simple way,
0:06:44 > 0:06:48but too thin and it warps, too thick, it's a heavy plate
0:06:48 > 0:06:51and the judges will be like, "Are you joking?"
0:06:51 > 0:06:54At 24, Freya is this year's youngest potter.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57She grew up surrounded by ceramics
0:06:57 > 0:06:58in her dad's London studio,
0:06:58 > 0:07:01but her passion took a while to emerge.
0:07:01 > 0:07:02I remember someone asking me once,
0:07:02 > 0:07:05"Do you think you'd want to be a potter?"
0:07:05 > 0:07:07My first reaction was like,
0:07:07 > 0:07:09"No way, I don't want to be poor."
0:07:09 > 0:07:10LAUGHTER
0:07:10 > 0:07:14She's practised her floral dinner set at her dad's wheel,
0:07:14 > 0:07:16but its design is thanks to her mum.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19I got the inspiration from this top that I'm wearing.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23It's my mother's top and basically I just liked
0:07:23 > 0:07:24the colours and the energy,
0:07:24 > 0:07:27and she used to wear it when she did her puppet shows,
0:07:27 > 0:07:29performing to lots of kids and stuff, so I thought,
0:07:29 > 0:07:32"Oh, that's something that will make me happy."
0:07:32 > 0:07:34I'm going to do a couple just to warm up, and then hopefully
0:07:34 > 0:07:37I'll get some that are actually worth keeping.
0:07:37 > 0:07:38Do I have clay on me?
0:07:41 > 0:07:43Let's leave it authentic.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45Clover is a qualified accountant
0:07:45 > 0:07:48and part-time illustrator living in London.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51Pottery became a passion whilst growing up in China.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54When I was 12 years old, there was one comic I read
0:07:54 > 0:07:58about a girl doing ceramic, and I decided to give it a try,
0:07:58 > 0:08:00and I fell in love with it straight away.
0:08:00 > 0:08:01Her first plate is the start
0:08:01 > 0:08:04of a Chinese-inspired minimalist dinner set.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07I'm trying to make the first plate,
0:08:07 > 0:08:09so this is going to be the benchmark plate.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13Even if they are happy with their first plate...
0:08:13 > 0:08:15At the moment, we're just getting rid
0:08:15 > 0:08:17of the excess clay around the sides.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19..the potters' troubles are only just beginning.
0:08:19 > 0:08:20I'm just trying to get
0:08:20 > 0:08:22the right thickness for the base.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25Creating three more that match perfectly...
0:08:25 > 0:08:27I'm going to try and get a little bit more height from it.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30..requires an exacting eye for form.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32- I'm not happy with the base of this one.- Check.
0:08:32 > 0:08:36- ..and an obsession with size. - Get the old measuring tool out.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38And just to make life even harder,
0:08:38 > 0:08:41as it dries, clay shrinks.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44Just less than a quarter of a centimetre difference.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48You, you naughty little monkey, are going back on the wheel.
0:08:48 > 0:08:49Elaine lives in Buckinghamshire.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52She has two grown-up children, two dogs, seven cats
0:08:52 > 0:08:54and a family business
0:08:54 > 0:08:57with her husband and childhood sweetheart, Robert.
0:08:57 > 0:08:59It's their work together that's inspired
0:08:59 > 0:09:02her dinner set's fruit-based design.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04We import ripen bananas
0:09:04 > 0:09:07and that's what I've been doing with my husband for the last
0:09:07 > 0:09:09many, many, many, many years.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11My family don't take much notice of my pottering,
0:09:11 > 0:09:13I don't think, they just let me get on with it.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16I'm their mad mother, as far as they're concerned.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20My inspiration is a lake where I used to live
0:09:20 > 0:09:21and it was my place of peace.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24So my pieces are going to represent the whole lake.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28Carole is a yoga-obsessed mum-of-two from Hertfordshire.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31She's been hand-sculpting with clay for over 40 years.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34Recreating a lake with a thrown dinner service
0:09:34 > 0:09:37will involve more time at the wheel than she's used to.
0:09:37 > 0:09:38I'm getting more familiar with the wheel
0:09:38 > 0:09:40every second I'm doing it.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43I feel more at one, I'm quite pleased with my progress.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45Whether it's going to be good enough,
0:09:45 > 0:09:47I don't know, but I'm trying.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51Finding the consistency the judges are looking for
0:09:51 > 0:09:52isn't easy.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54No, this one's gone.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56Oh, don't do that, don't do that, don't do that.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58This one's a goner. It's wobbly.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00That's not saveable.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03Considerably further behind than where I should be,
0:10:03 > 0:10:05let's say that!
0:10:05 > 0:10:07But for some of this year's potters...
0:10:07 > 0:10:08We're about there.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10..knocking out identical dinner and side plates...
0:10:10 > 0:10:13They're going all right, actually, so I'm quite happy.
0:10:13 > 0:10:15..doesn't seem to be a problem.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17HE HUMS
0:10:19 > 0:10:21Richard is a pub landlord from Banbury,
0:10:21 > 0:10:23but when he's not pulling pints...
0:10:23 > 0:10:27For God! Liberty! And England!
0:10:27 > 0:10:31..he's re-enacting England's bloody Civil War.
0:10:31 > 0:10:32And his passion for history has led to
0:10:32 > 0:10:36a dinner set inspired by 500-year-old royalty.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39What I've taken is Richard III's Yorkist rose
0:10:39 > 0:10:41and broken it down into four elements.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43So we have the beaker, that's the centre,
0:10:43 > 0:10:46the bowl as the inner leaf,
0:10:46 > 0:10:48and then the two side plates are the outer leaves.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51So this scalloped edge, is this on every piece?
0:10:51 > 0:10:52It's the element of a rose,
0:10:52 > 0:10:54and that's what will give it its form.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56- So it's the War of the Roses? - War of the Roses.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58You're representing Yorkshire with it?
0:10:58 > 0:11:02We're representing Richard III, who was a white rose,
0:11:02 > 0:11:04against that usurper, Harry Tudor,
0:11:04 > 0:11:05who was a red rose.
0:11:05 > 0:11:06- Who was Lancashire.- Yeah.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09- Well, we don't like Lancashire, do we?- A bit awkward.
0:11:09 > 0:11:10KEITH LAUGHS
0:11:12 > 0:11:14Richard's not the only potter
0:11:14 > 0:11:17spending time giving his thrown plates a little more love.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21I've allowed 15 minutes per item. That's the plan.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24Second time lucky.
0:11:24 > 0:11:28For the supports, I'm using kitchen towel and clingfilm.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30I am the kitchen towel and clingfilm queen.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32But rather than supporting his plates...
0:11:32 > 0:11:34I'm not happy with the lip totally.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37..Daniel has started attacking his with a knife.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40What I'm trying to create is a petal shape.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44I've seen this before. I'd like to say, "Yeah, my own design."
0:11:44 > 0:11:45But I'd be lying.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48Daniel is a mortgage adviser from Hampshire.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50He's had to practise his dinner set in the garage,
0:11:50 > 0:11:52which he shares with his daughter's rabbits,
0:11:52 > 0:11:53Bella and Benny.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56For the design, he's drawn inspiration
0:11:56 > 0:11:58from his wife's love of flowers.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00There comes a point when you have to say to yourself,
0:12:00 > 0:12:03"Just stop - clay doesn't like to be overworked."
0:12:03 > 0:12:06I just need to get rid of that edge slightly.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08If they're happy with their finish,
0:12:08 > 0:12:10the potters face a nerve-racking final stage
0:12:10 > 0:12:12for everything they've thrown.
0:12:14 > 0:12:15Wiring off.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20Unless the clay is separated
0:12:20 > 0:12:24from the wooden bat that it was thrown on...
0:12:24 > 0:12:25HE EXHALES
0:12:25 > 0:12:28..it won't be able to move as it dries and shrinks,
0:12:28 > 0:12:29and it will crack.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33- Oh!- And if they don't keep the wire tight and steady,
0:12:33 > 0:12:37the bases of their dinner sets could be ruined.
0:12:37 > 0:12:39- Oh!- We've got to wire it off,
0:12:39 > 0:12:42and pray that we get a nice finish to the bottom.
0:12:42 > 0:12:44I have the wheel moving very slowly,
0:12:44 > 0:12:47and then I just wire through a couple of times.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50Oh, my God!
0:12:50 > 0:12:53- Oh!- It's like a birthing scene, isn't it?
0:12:53 > 0:12:56You've got a beautiful baby dinner plate.
0:12:56 > 0:12:57I'm nervous about this one.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04HE LAUGHS
0:13:04 > 0:13:05I've thrown them way too thin.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07I could race around and get frustrated,
0:13:07 > 0:13:10but if something doesn't go right, it doesn't go right.
0:13:12 > 0:13:1425-year-old James recently graduated
0:13:14 > 0:13:16with a degree in glass and ceramics.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18He now works as a tour guide
0:13:18 > 0:13:20in the National Glass Centre in Sunderland.
0:13:20 > 0:13:21Cool.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23His dinner set is a love letter
0:13:23 > 0:13:26to his hometown's proud manufacturing heritage.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29I'm all about clean angles and industrial shapes,
0:13:29 > 0:13:32straight edges.
0:13:32 > 0:13:33Sweet!
0:13:35 > 0:13:40Potters, we are approaching the halfway mark time-wise.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43I've made a plate! Yay!
0:13:43 > 0:13:45With their time at the wheel running out...
0:13:45 > 0:13:48Oh! Oh, there we are.
0:13:48 > 0:13:53..some potters have yet to get anything in the drying room.
0:13:53 > 0:13:54Oh, no.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56SHE LAUGHS
0:13:56 > 0:13:57You've done about ten plates.
0:13:57 > 0:13:59Have you got four that you're happy with yet?
0:13:59 > 0:14:01Not yet. I'll do one more.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05Because you have still got the four side plates, the four bowls...
0:14:05 > 0:14:07I know, don't remind me.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10- The quest for perfection has to end at some point.- Yeah.
0:14:11 > 0:14:12I've now started my first bowl,
0:14:12 > 0:14:14so this is going to set the ones for the other three,
0:14:14 > 0:14:17so I'm just trying to determine the shape and size of it at the moment.
0:14:17 > 0:14:19I'll just make them quite straight up and down,
0:14:19 > 0:14:21so a lot of people wouldn't consider them a bowl
0:14:21 > 0:14:23cos they're not that, sort of, traditional shape.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26But if they hold cereal and milk,
0:14:26 > 0:14:27then it's a bowl, right?
0:14:27 > 0:14:29Creating four identical bowls...
0:14:29 > 0:14:31I'm not sure that will be acceptable to the judges.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34..requires a whole new set of throwing skills.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36I'm having difficulty bringing the clay
0:14:36 > 0:14:38from the base up to the top.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40No, it's going.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43I'm measuring how tall and how wide it is
0:14:43 > 0:14:45before I curve the side of it.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48The sides of the bowls need to be pulled thin enough
0:14:48 > 0:14:51to create an attractive profile.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54But they still need to be thick enough to support themselves.
0:14:54 > 0:14:56I think I don't have enough clay at the bottom
0:14:56 > 0:14:57to support it, but we'll see.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59If it's too thick,
0:14:59 > 0:15:03it may crack, due to the clay not drying out evenly.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06It just takes a bit more time to focus.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10Nam lives in east London and is a trained cage fighter.
0:15:10 > 0:15:12He's developed a passion for using clay
0:15:12 > 0:15:14to recreate the forms and colours
0:15:14 > 0:15:16of the toys he had growing up.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19His dinner set has sprung from the first games console
0:15:19 > 0:15:21he was given when he was nine.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24I always wanted a Gameboy, and my father got me one.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26It took him a long time cos he was saving up for it.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28I always carried it around with me.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31I'm fiddling around with the clay a bit, trying to push it in a bit.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33I'm going for a Space Invader-shaped bowl.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36I'm going to try to convey it as much as I can.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39But not everyone's made a start on their bowls.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42The rims are all different thicknesses,
0:15:42 > 0:15:45and they're different sizes.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48Right, four bowls. Do you know how long we've got left?
0:15:48 > 0:15:51- We've got an hour-and-a-half left. - Argh!
0:15:51 > 0:15:55I'm going for soup and not a big dinner bowl.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57While Freya and Carole finally move on...
0:15:57 > 0:16:01We've got four dinner plates, and two side plates.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04Every single one of them looks different!
0:16:04 > 0:16:07Some are like this, some are like that.
0:16:07 > 0:16:08I need to find my zen.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12..Cait works at the Quaker Meeting House in Reading, where she spends
0:16:12 > 0:16:15an hour a week worshipping in complete silence.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18Her dinner set design came to her whilst meditating,
0:16:18 > 0:16:21and is based on an old print she created at art school.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23I put lavender on myself this morning
0:16:23 > 0:16:24to try and calm myself down.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27I think I've calmed myself down too much.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30I need more adrenaline. Lavender was a bad idea!
0:16:32 > 0:16:35Potters, you have one hour left.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39That is...plum!
0:16:39 > 0:16:42James is just flying. He's knocking 'em all out.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45Don't forget, by the end, got to have everything in the drying room.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49Ooh! I can make bowls!
0:16:53 > 0:16:55This is actually, like, my sixth bowl.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57I think I've thrown three bowls away now.
0:16:57 > 0:17:02I have eight things to make. Bowls and beakers. Good to go.
0:17:02 > 0:17:03Leave it alone, Elaine.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06So tempted to fiddle all the time, keep fiddling.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10You've got to bite the bullet
0:17:10 > 0:17:12and say, "Yeah, we'll go with it."
0:17:12 > 0:17:14Beakers aren't too tricky to do -
0:17:14 > 0:17:17if it's clean and crisp, it can look a bit mass-produced,
0:17:17 > 0:17:19so the beauty is with this,
0:17:19 > 0:17:21when you're wiring it off the wheel head,
0:17:21 > 0:17:23you're always going to slightly knock it off-centre.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26I'm slowing it down a bit cos it's beginning to feel a bit wobbly.
0:17:26 > 0:17:28I can control it. I can.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30Four beakers. Trying to be arty-farty
0:17:30 > 0:17:33cos I'm a wobbly sort of dude.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37Is the battle being won?
0:17:37 > 0:17:42- Well, we are nearly there. - Good. Daniel?- Two more to do.
0:17:42 > 0:17:46- Like the little dent. - It's the artist in me...darling.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53This is your ten-minute call. You've got ten minutes left.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00Sorry, darling, I've still got two beakers to do.
0:18:09 > 0:18:10- Oh,- BLEEP!
0:18:12 > 0:18:15Two minutes, guys. Two minutes.
0:18:15 > 0:18:16Two minutes.
0:18:16 > 0:18:17I can do this.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19What's happening with this?
0:18:19 > 0:18:21You can squish that one.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25Lovely!
0:18:25 > 0:18:27Where's my shelf?
0:18:27 > 0:18:31- Come on, James - make your decision. - Make a decision, James.- I know.
0:18:31 > 0:18:32You've got to make your decision.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34Carole's still on her beaker. Come on, Carole!
0:18:34 > 0:18:36I'm going to do it.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38- Come on, Cait. - Do you want me to help you?
0:18:38 > 0:18:42Oh, Clover, you're a star. Thank you so much!
0:18:42 > 0:18:43Have you got everything in, Carole?
0:18:43 > 0:18:45I've got two more of these to do.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47Carole, what's happening?
0:18:47 > 0:18:49I've just got two more beakers to do.
0:18:49 > 0:18:50It ain't going to happen.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52Sweetheart, you've got about a minute now, OK?
0:18:52 > 0:18:54So you've got to make a call
0:18:54 > 0:18:56- if you're going to get that in the drying room or not.- OK.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59- Is your bowl going in? - Just Carole and Cait's, then.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03Look at the state of that!
0:19:06 > 0:19:0930 seconds, guys. 30 seconds!
0:19:09 > 0:19:12You can feel the intensity in the room!
0:19:12 > 0:19:14Don't throw another one!
0:19:14 > 0:19:18- I've got to make four! - She's going to the end!
0:19:19 > 0:19:22Ten, nine, eight,
0:19:22 > 0:19:26seven, six, five,
0:19:26 > 0:19:28four, three,
0:19:28 > 0:19:32two, one.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34Time's up. Well done!
0:19:36 > 0:19:39Burnt some calories, then, that last couple of minutes.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41Oh, my word!
0:19:41 > 0:19:44- Not broken 'em yet, have we? - I hope not.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47Four-and-a-half hours.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49BOTH TALK AT ONCE
0:19:49 > 0:19:50Well done, guys.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53I had James right behind me, and he was really, really fast,
0:19:53 > 0:19:56and he was knocking out plates like nobody's business.
0:19:56 > 0:19:57Well done, mate.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01I never sit that long and throw. I'm really easily distracted.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04And it was worse than I expected, to be honest.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08Throwing a plate under those conditions was a lot harder.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10Normally, three or four pulls and you're done.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13I would have liked the clay to have been a bit firmer.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16Obviously, on the day, you can't control what comes out the bag.
0:20:16 > 0:20:20It was a nice way to end that I actually did get them in.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22They were shocking! Oh, my word!
0:20:24 > 0:20:28Dinner services at Middleport are being crafted around the clock,
0:20:28 > 0:20:31and to look after our potters' sets while they dry...
0:20:32 > 0:20:35..we've got our very own kilnman, Rich.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39Everyone's work needs to dry completely before it can be fired,
0:20:39 > 0:20:42and it's Rich's job to make sure that it does.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44Cait might have problems with her beakers.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47I'm surprised the wire hasn't gone through the base of that.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49The base just looks so thin.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52Carole decided to leave these plates on these.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55There is the potential for it to dry onto those and just crack.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57James just hasn't finished his bases.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59It's the attention to detail.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03I mean, this one, he's just gone right the way through the base.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06During the long process of their Main Make,
0:21:06 > 0:21:09each week, the potters will face two further challenges.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13They'll have no idea what pottery skills they'll be tested on,
0:21:13 > 0:21:16and for the first in this year's competition,
0:21:16 > 0:21:18that's not the only surprise.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22Hello, potters. Welcome along to your very first Spot Test.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25Now, this is the challenge where the judges want to test you
0:21:25 > 0:21:28on a particular pottery technique,
0:21:28 > 0:21:31and this week, it is - drumroll, please...
0:21:31 > 0:21:33IMITATES DRUMROLL
0:21:33 > 0:21:34..sponge decorating!
0:21:34 > 0:21:37You are going to be sponge decorating
0:21:37 > 0:21:40in front of one of the best in the business,
0:21:40 > 0:21:43as we have got a very special guest.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46Give a big Pottery welcome to Emma Bridgewater.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55- Welcome to the Pottery. - Really exciting to be here!
0:21:55 > 0:21:59Emma Bridgewater is the first lady of British homeware.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02Back in 1985, she couldn't find a fun piece of crockery
0:22:02 > 0:22:04to give her mum for her birthday,
0:22:04 > 0:22:07so she started her own business.
0:22:07 > 0:22:0830 years later,
0:22:08 > 0:22:13she's producing 25,000 sponge decorated items every week.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16So the potters each have a small jug and a large jug.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18What are you hoping to see?
0:22:18 > 0:22:20They've got to relate to each other nicely,
0:22:20 > 0:22:22and I want you to express yourselves.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26I really want to see what surface design is to you.
0:22:26 > 0:22:27You can be innovative.
0:22:27 > 0:22:32You can rip and tear if you want to make some more abstract shapes.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34The point is to make something that really says,
0:22:34 > 0:22:35"This is what I like about pattern."
0:22:35 > 0:22:38OK, potters, best of luck with your very first Spot Test,
0:22:38 > 0:22:40in front of Emma Bridgewater - no pressure!
0:22:40 > 0:22:44You have 90 minutes to sponge decorate your two jugs.
0:22:44 > 0:22:46Best of luck. Time starts now.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53To have Emma Bridgewater here is just inspirational for me.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56So exciting! That was amazing!
0:22:56 > 0:22:58Emma Bridgewater, man. That was a treat.
0:22:58 > 0:23:03I saw spongeware as a way of making colourful, mismatched,
0:23:03 > 0:23:06relaxed pottery for an everyday life.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08I haven't done this before.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11Probably did this at school, with potatoes.
0:23:11 > 0:23:12This is tougher than it looks.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15People think, "Oh, you know, cut sponge, blob it on."
0:23:15 > 0:23:17It's harder than that.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20I want to see some really lovely, original surface decoration.
0:23:20 > 0:23:25I love trying new things and this is amazing.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29We've got a nice plate here that we can practise on.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38Got to put it on there, though!
0:23:38 > 0:23:40I've just got to go for it, haven't I?
0:23:40 > 0:23:42If there's too little glaze on the potters' sponges,
0:23:42 > 0:23:44the design will lack definition,
0:23:44 > 0:23:48but overloaded sponges will run.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50No!
0:23:54 > 0:23:57Oh, that's so effective. Look at that!
0:23:58 > 0:24:01Well, I'm going to be basing it on sea themes
0:24:01 > 0:24:03and underwater themes.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06The trick I've got is to try and get this sort of graffiti technique
0:24:06 > 0:24:10that I would normally use with brushes, but instead,
0:24:10 > 0:24:11doing it with a sponge.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13Just trying to get this to run a bit.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16I just saw North African-style tiling.
0:24:16 > 0:24:20My theme at the moment is '70s, '80s video games.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22I might want to use a rabbit,
0:24:22 > 0:24:24cos my daughters have rabbits at home.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27I'm not a big fan of hearts or bunnies.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30I'm trying to keep it quite geometric and quite simple.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33When I decorate, I tend to go full-on,
0:24:33 > 0:24:35so that less-more thing is rubbish.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41I've used this organic sponge, so less pressure here,
0:24:41 > 0:24:44and more pressure up at the top here for emphasis.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47I am going for a galaxy theme. On the small pot,
0:24:47 > 0:24:51I'll have more abstract galaxy from a distance,
0:24:51 > 0:24:55and for the big pot, I hope to get a bit of detail on the planet.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58Potters, you're halfway through your time.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01You've got 45 minutes left.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03- How're you finding the technique?- Loving it.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06I've cut loads of sponges up to adapt designs.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08- You've got busy with the scissors.- Oh, absolutely.
0:25:08 > 0:25:10- You've taken on Emma's advice, there.- Absolutely.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13Well, you've got an expert there - you've got to use it.
0:25:13 > 0:25:15When I look at what you've done here,
0:25:15 > 0:25:19I love the fact that it isn't at all what I expected,
0:25:19 > 0:25:21and I think isn't that the great thing about ceramics?
0:25:21 > 0:25:24What are you after? What's the theme here?
0:25:24 > 0:25:25I'm missing home today,
0:25:25 > 0:25:29so I'm doing a little bit of black and white, cos I'm from Newcastle.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31- Hence the black, the bold... - Yeah.- Yeah.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34I'm just blending the colours in a little bit,
0:25:34 > 0:25:36just blending, blending.
0:25:36 > 0:25:37I like blending.
0:25:39 > 0:25:40I'm trying to use the sponge
0:25:40 > 0:25:42to create this change of colour gradually,
0:25:42 > 0:25:47so then I can carry on a bit more precise on the large jug.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50It was very bold, taking up the black straightaway.
0:25:50 > 0:25:52I couldn't get it off my mind
0:25:52 > 0:25:54to start with a strong black background.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57- That is incredibly bold. - Yes, I know!
0:25:57 > 0:26:02Lovely potters, you've got ten minutes left of this Spot Test.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05I'm getting into this, now. This is good.
0:26:05 > 0:26:06Put a little dot on there.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08Scratched off, sort of Japanese-esque.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10A line going through the red dot.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14I think it's called sgraffito. I've never done sgraffito before.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16How's the timing going for you, Cait?
0:26:16 > 0:26:17So much better. Look.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19Almost there, rather than,
0:26:19 > 0:26:22"Oh, my word, I've got half of it left to do!"
0:26:22 > 0:26:24She's grasped the concept of time.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29It's pretty. It's a bit like your top.
0:26:29 > 0:26:34- Ms Bridgewater did say she wants to see you in jugs.- Yeah.
0:26:34 > 0:26:35Not literally.
0:26:37 > 0:26:38I don't want to overdo it.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42The thing you've got to be really careful of is not overdoing it.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44Sometimes less is a lot more.
0:26:44 > 0:26:46Less is more.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48Can you stop saying less is more?
0:26:48 > 0:26:50Oh, that's lovely, Freya.
0:26:50 > 0:26:51Sometimes more is more.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56Just trying to get a few brownie points,
0:26:56 > 0:26:59I've done underneath and on the inside as well.
0:26:59 > 0:27:01Love it when a plan comes together.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04- Oh, I like James'. - Bit busy, isn't it?
0:27:04 > 0:27:06There's 30 seconds left now, guys,
0:27:06 > 0:27:10so get your jugs to the front, please, ready to be judged.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16Five, four,
0:27:16 > 0:27:18three, two,
0:27:18 > 0:27:19one.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26Emma, Keith and Kate will be looking for a bold concept,
0:27:26 > 0:27:30controlled spongework and a design that reflects the potter.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33- They're absolutely wonderful. - Yeah.
0:27:33 > 0:27:38- And so different.- James. - Absolutely love those two.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41- It's definitely modern.- It felt as if you were enjoying it,
0:27:41 > 0:27:44and exploring with it, rather than struggling with it.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48- Richard.- There's quite a lot of wide open space in it.
0:27:48 > 0:27:51- I feel that there could have been something more.- Possibly.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54- Carole.- Sea scenes.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57- Yeah.- They've got a lovely energetic feeling to them.
0:27:57 > 0:27:58- So this is Ryan's, isn't it? - Yeah.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02It absolutely, completely owns the piece. It's very delicate,
0:28:02 > 0:28:05and yet quite mysterious, and I love that sponging.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07And you've decorated on the inside,
0:28:07 > 0:28:08you've done the base as well.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10Elaine.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13For me, it's a bit conventional. The design is a bit flat.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16You've definitely used one technique of sponging.
0:28:16 > 0:28:17Right, then we've got Freya.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20- Beautiful.- It's very theatrical, isn't it?
0:28:20 > 0:28:22There's a great sense of depth.
0:28:22 > 0:28:24It's as if there's a foreground and a background.
0:28:24 > 0:28:26Yeah. Really, really lovely piece of work.
0:28:26 > 0:28:27Moving along to Daniel's.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30Well, he's made a very nice textured background.
0:28:30 > 0:28:34I think the small jug is more successful than the big jug.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37- This feels as if it's still got a bit more to go.- Yeah.
0:28:37 > 0:28:39- Did you run out of time?- No. - OK.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42You should have said yes, Daniel! You should have said yes!
0:28:42 > 0:28:43Cait's.
0:28:43 > 0:28:44Isn't that splendid?
0:28:44 > 0:28:47There's something so simple and pure.
0:28:47 > 0:28:51- This one's a little bit more hazy, isn't it?- Yes.
0:28:51 > 0:28:54- The sponging's not really coming off here.- No.
0:28:54 > 0:28:56We've got Nam. Yeah.
0:28:56 > 0:28:58- Strong.- It's a fun concept.
0:28:58 > 0:29:00It works slightly better from a distance
0:29:00 > 0:29:02- than close up. - It does, yeah.
0:29:02 > 0:29:04But Nam, what's going on?
0:29:04 > 0:29:06- Clean your hands! - Oh, yes, the mess.
0:29:06 > 0:29:08Right, last but not least, Clover.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11- Wow.- I think what you've done is completely lovely.
0:29:11 > 0:29:13- I especially love that... - I like that.
0:29:13 > 0:29:16..where the white comes through, that's such a beautiful effect.
0:29:16 > 0:29:21Really, probably the only one where the two things are different
0:29:21 > 0:29:23but they completely hold together.
0:29:23 > 0:29:25Thank you!
0:29:25 > 0:29:27The Spot Test is ranked,
0:29:27 > 0:29:30and Emma will now reveal who she feels has shown
0:29:30 > 0:29:32the most skill with the sponge.
0:29:32 > 0:29:36In tenth place, it's Daniel.
0:29:36 > 0:29:37Ninth place, Richard.
0:29:37 > 0:29:40You could've done a bit more to that.
0:29:40 > 0:29:42Elaine is eighth, Cait's seventh,
0:29:42 > 0:29:45Nam is sixth, Carole, fifth,
0:29:45 > 0:29:46and James is fourth.
0:29:46 > 0:29:48OK. Number three,
0:29:48 > 0:29:49Ryan.
0:29:49 > 0:29:53Lovely. It incorporates in, out, under, round.
0:29:53 > 0:29:55Number two...
0:29:59 > 0:30:01..is Clover.
0:30:01 > 0:30:02It was the universe.
0:30:02 > 0:30:04It was the universe!
0:30:04 > 0:30:06Such a beautiful effect.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09And that means Freya is number one.
0:30:14 > 0:30:18You just totally, completely ruled it. Really great.
0:30:18 > 0:30:20All praise to the seahorse, then, isn't it?
0:30:20 > 0:30:21THEY LAUGH
0:30:21 > 0:30:24Emma, thank you so much for coming to our little pottery.
0:30:24 > 0:30:26- Loved it.- It's been a real joy having you.
0:30:26 > 0:30:28You've been great. Thank you so much.
0:30:28 > 0:30:30OK, so, potters, I've got good news.
0:30:30 > 0:30:32You've survived your first day in the pottery.
0:30:32 > 0:30:34You did it. Yes!
0:30:34 > 0:30:37So you can all go home, get some rest,
0:30:37 > 0:30:40and we'll see you back here in the pottery in a few days.
0:30:40 > 0:30:41Well done.
0:30:41 > 0:30:43I'm quite surprised, actually.
0:30:43 > 0:30:45I just kept pushing until the last second,
0:30:45 > 0:30:48just to get every stroke out.
0:30:48 > 0:30:49I was in top three,
0:30:49 > 0:30:53maybe because I went for something that no-one had thought of.
0:30:53 > 0:30:57Clover, I mean, I liked her jug tremendously.
0:30:57 > 0:30:59You know, it's different challenges, we'll see.
0:30:59 > 0:31:02I mean, if we're here next week, it's all totally different.
0:31:02 > 0:31:06Coming last, yeah, it does...does hurt a bit.
0:31:16 > 0:31:18Rich is on the early shift.
0:31:18 > 0:31:20The dinner sets have been drying for two days,
0:31:20 > 0:31:22and whilst the potters are back at home,
0:31:22 > 0:31:24he's headed for the kiln.
0:31:24 > 0:31:25So the fire is going to be going
0:31:25 > 0:31:28over a period of around 12 to 14 hours,
0:31:28 > 0:31:29to a temperature of 1,000 degrees.
0:31:29 > 0:31:31That's called the bisque firing,
0:31:31 > 0:31:33which is the first firing the pots will go through,
0:31:33 > 0:31:35and it will turn them from clay into ceramic.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37It's a fairly aggressive firing process.
0:31:37 > 0:31:42I just hope we see ten happy potters when they're back in the workshop.
0:31:42 > 0:31:4414 hours of firing,
0:31:44 > 0:31:4512 more cooling,
0:31:45 > 0:31:48and all the potters have been able to do is wait.
0:31:48 > 0:31:50Nervous to see what the bisqueware will be like,
0:31:50 > 0:31:52if it's got a crack or not.
0:31:52 > 0:31:54Hopefully, my plates are all in one piece.
0:31:54 > 0:31:56I was a bit nervous when I left last night,
0:31:56 > 0:31:58but since have had a conversation with my partner,
0:31:58 > 0:32:01she's told me to be the Nam, calm down.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04Hopefully, the beakers will hold some form of liquid,
0:32:04 > 0:32:06and the plates will hold some sort of food.
0:32:06 > 0:32:07I am really nervous.
0:32:09 > 0:32:10I...
0:32:10 > 0:32:11I can't!
0:32:12 > 0:32:14Good morning, potters.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17Your dinner sets are out of the kiln and under the cloths.
0:32:17 > 0:32:19I know you're desperate to look at them.
0:32:19 > 0:32:23You have a dazzling array of colours and glazes to decorate them with.
0:32:23 > 0:32:27Well, as you know, in pottery, you reap what you sow.
0:32:27 > 0:32:29If you compressed properly, you won't get cracks.
0:32:29 > 0:32:31If you've wired through properly,
0:32:31 > 0:32:33you won't get holes through your bottom.
0:32:33 > 0:32:34We will see!
0:32:34 > 0:32:36We've got our fingers crossed for you, OK?
0:32:36 > 0:32:38You have two hours to decorate your dinner sets,
0:32:38 > 0:32:40your time starts now.
0:32:43 > 0:32:44- CAIT:- Oh, no!
0:32:45 > 0:32:47That's going to be great(!)
0:32:47 > 0:32:48Oh, just one crack.
0:32:48 > 0:32:50Good, good, good.
0:32:50 > 0:32:51Ah!
0:32:51 > 0:32:53I guess what I did when I was throwing it,
0:32:53 > 0:32:56is the base is too thin, so when I wired through...
0:32:56 > 0:32:57I wired through the base.
0:32:57 > 0:33:02Not the same sizes, but let's blame it on shrinkage.
0:33:02 > 0:33:03How they looking, Ryan?
0:33:03 > 0:33:05- Yeah, happy, mate.- Yeah, me too.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08The decoration is where these dinner services come alive.
0:33:08 > 0:33:10Through all four pieces,
0:33:10 > 0:33:13we want to see the design carry right across,
0:33:13 > 0:33:14from the beaker to the bowl to the plate.
0:33:14 > 0:33:16Much like this one, with the different stripes.
0:33:16 > 0:33:18They work separately, but at the same time,
0:33:18 > 0:33:20there's a sense of great fun amongst them.
0:33:20 > 0:33:23We've asked them to create a dinner set
0:33:23 > 0:33:25that reflects their own personality.
0:33:25 > 0:33:29So all the plates here, they say something about the maker.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32They're communicating about what it is that they love to do.
0:33:32 > 0:33:33That's what we're after.
0:33:33 > 0:33:35We want to see their dinner sets,
0:33:35 > 0:33:38and know instinctively who made it.
0:33:38 > 0:33:42Decorating dinnerware is a craft that the men and women of Stoke
0:33:42 > 0:33:45have mastered over the past 300 years.
0:33:45 > 0:33:47'Good pots will always need good workers.'
0:33:47 > 0:33:48'It's nice, clean work,
0:33:48 > 0:33:52'and we can always pass the time away with a song.'
0:33:52 > 0:33:55But the first decorated plates on British dining tables
0:33:55 > 0:33:58weren't painted in Stoke.
0:33:58 > 0:34:00'A fine, white, translucent body,
0:34:00 > 0:34:03'which has never been surpassed, even to this day.'
0:34:03 > 0:34:07Chinese porcelain, beautifully hand-glazed,
0:34:07 > 0:34:10began to be imported in the early 17th century.
0:34:10 > 0:34:13It cost a fortune, and a Chinese dinner set
0:34:13 > 0:34:17soon became the ultimate status symbol for the aristocracy.
0:34:17 > 0:34:19Once Chinese porcelain starts to be seen
0:34:19 > 0:34:21at the tables of the very wealthy,
0:34:21 > 0:34:23it's seen as something extremely desirable,
0:34:23 > 0:34:25and the middle classes aspire to it.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28Staffordshire potters realise there's a whole market there for them,
0:34:28 > 0:34:29if they can just take advantage of it.
0:34:29 > 0:34:32The potters knew that to give the average British family
0:34:32 > 0:34:34dinner sets they could be proud of,
0:34:34 > 0:34:37they had to find a way to drive down its cost.
0:34:37 > 0:34:39The Staffordshire potters' great innovation
0:34:39 > 0:34:41was the use of plaster of Paris for moulds,
0:34:41 > 0:34:43because then you can produce all the plates matching
0:34:43 > 0:34:45and in large numbers.
0:34:45 > 0:34:47'It's a lovely shape, isn't it?'
0:34:47 > 0:34:49By the end of the 19th century,
0:34:49 > 0:34:52mass production saw Stoke's skyline transformed
0:34:52 > 0:34:54with over 2,000 bottle kilns,
0:34:54 > 0:34:57firing millions of pieces of dinnerware
0:34:57 > 0:34:59which were exported all over the world.
0:34:59 > 0:35:02'Of course, if it's going abroad, it'll want a bit of decoration.
0:35:02 > 0:35:04'And that's where Anita comes in.'
0:35:04 > 0:35:06But when it came to finishing plates and bowls,
0:35:06 > 0:35:08mass production had no answer
0:35:08 > 0:35:12to the centuries-old skill of glazing by hand.
0:35:12 > 0:35:14'Of course, the very greatest perfection of decoration
0:35:14 > 0:35:16'is achieved in freehand painting,
0:35:16 > 0:35:18'where the artist works directly onto the ware.'
0:35:20 > 0:35:24So, can our potters do justice to Stoke's hand glazing heritage
0:35:24 > 0:35:25in just two hours?
0:35:26 > 0:35:30It's a really short amount of time for 16 things.
0:35:30 > 0:35:34Before any glaze is applied, some potters are scraping back
0:35:34 > 0:35:37any rough edges left after the first filing.
0:35:38 > 0:35:40What's happening here? What's over here?
0:35:40 > 0:35:41Oh, sorry, I've covered it back up,
0:35:41 > 0:35:43cos I don't want to be distracted by it.
0:35:43 > 0:35:45It's the cloth of shame.
0:35:45 > 0:35:47- (It's the cloth of shame.)- Oh, look.
0:35:47 > 0:35:48Oh, gosh, that's...
0:35:48 > 0:35:51- I thought that dark bit was paint.- I wish it was!
0:35:51 > 0:35:53I'm like, "Oh, I like that paint, there." But that's...
0:35:53 > 0:35:55- No, no...- That's the actual... - Yeah.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58- Shall we cover back over, again?- Yeah, can you?
0:35:59 > 0:36:01Begone!
0:36:01 > 0:36:02Manganese...
0:36:02 > 0:36:05After struggling with throwing, for the glazing,
0:36:05 > 0:36:07Carole has come well prepared.
0:36:07 > 0:36:10I've made up all these textural sponges.
0:36:10 > 0:36:12That's reeds.
0:36:12 > 0:36:14This is foliage.
0:36:14 > 0:36:15Reed.
0:36:15 > 0:36:17A leaf.
0:36:17 > 0:36:18Rock.
0:36:18 > 0:36:19This is underglaze colours.
0:36:19 > 0:36:22They'll come out brighter when it's fired.
0:36:22 > 0:36:24Carole's look very similar to mine.
0:36:24 > 0:36:26She's got a bit of a bigger wave on them, I think.
0:36:26 > 0:36:29I've just noticed me and Nam are doing a very similar technique
0:36:29 > 0:36:31for the glaze, as well.
0:36:31 > 0:36:32It's called bubble blowing.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35And my set is all about play and games,
0:36:35 > 0:36:38and part of this method is all about having fun.
0:36:41 > 0:36:44- You just leave it, then, and then it just pops away?- Yeah.
0:36:44 > 0:36:46I've practised this technique for a while now.
0:36:46 > 0:36:48I don't how you lot have got time for chitchat!
0:36:48 > 0:36:50THEY LAUGH
0:36:50 > 0:36:51Why not?
0:36:51 > 0:36:52Pfft!
0:36:52 > 0:36:54Stressed old lady, here!
0:36:54 > 0:36:58This is an interpretation of leaves and bananas.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01I did have the impression that I'd do big banana leaves,
0:37:01 > 0:37:03but my painting skills are minimal,
0:37:03 > 0:37:05so that went out the window.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08I'm just brushing the oxide mixed with water.
0:37:08 > 0:37:12Once applied, oxides will change colour in the heat of the kiln.
0:37:12 > 0:37:14It will come out greenish.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17This is what I'll try to achieve, with different depth of colour.
0:37:17 > 0:37:19Copper oxide is a very strong colour,
0:37:19 > 0:37:23so it will come out a lot darker than I would anticipate,
0:37:23 > 0:37:27and that's why I'm mixing it with lots of water.
0:37:27 > 0:37:30I'm a little bit concerned that everyone is putting colour down
0:37:30 > 0:37:31and rushing on with things,
0:37:31 > 0:37:34but I'm taking my time, smoothing off the edges.
0:37:34 > 0:37:36Oh, Daniel, it's like skipping through a meadow!
0:37:36 > 0:37:37I know, I know.
0:37:37 > 0:37:39- All these flowers.- Flowers, yes.
0:37:39 > 0:37:41- Is this actually from your garden?- They are, yes.
0:37:41 > 0:37:42That's impressive.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45But you seem like a different Daniel to the throwing Daniel.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48I'm not a decorator. This is not my comfort zone.
0:37:50 > 0:37:52Way too slow.
0:37:52 > 0:37:54After the panic to finish throwing her dinner set...
0:37:54 > 0:37:58I'm just painting the orange underglaze on at the moment.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01..Cait's aiming to make decorating a little less completed.
0:38:01 > 0:38:06As a Quaker, I'm into simplicity. I like clean, simple things.
0:38:08 > 0:38:10Smart, man. Proper smart.
0:38:10 > 0:38:12After perfecting straight lines with his throwing,
0:38:12 > 0:38:15James is now being a little less restrained.
0:38:15 > 0:38:17It's the whole idea of, like, graffiti and stuff.
0:38:17 > 0:38:19No rhyme, no reason.
0:38:19 > 0:38:21Just see what I'm feeling, and leave it at that.
0:38:21 > 0:38:24James has been splashing glaze everywhere, Jackson Pollock style.
0:38:24 > 0:38:27And he's got a big bit of red oxide on my plate, here.
0:38:27 > 0:38:28It's got my foot.
0:38:28 > 0:38:30He doesn't know yet, but I'm going to get revenge.
0:38:30 > 0:38:31Sorry, sorry.
0:38:31 > 0:38:32Playing by ear with this.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35We got to keep layering, and I'm just thinking of the tones,
0:38:35 > 0:38:38cos I wanted them to, like, fade into each other like a rainbow.
0:38:38 > 0:38:40Starting to put the textures on.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43What should I do? Do some weeds and things.
0:38:43 > 0:38:44It's fun, isn't it?
0:38:44 > 0:38:46- It's like being a little kid again! - SHE LAUGHS
0:38:48 > 0:38:50- Richard, your lettering... - Yeah?
0:38:50 > 0:38:52- ..which I am really impressed by.- Thank you.
0:38:52 > 0:38:54- It's a fine and steady hand that you have to have.- Yeah.
0:38:54 > 0:38:56It's an old English typeface.
0:38:56 > 0:38:58And the writing is...?
0:38:58 > 0:38:59Loyaulte me lie.
0:38:59 > 0:39:00"Loyalty binds me."
0:39:00 > 0:39:01Loyalty binds me.
0:39:01 > 0:39:04So all the pieces together, they'll have that motto.
0:39:04 > 0:39:05They're all bound to it.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08Are we going to eat medieval battle food off it?
0:39:08 > 0:39:11Well...yeah, why not?
0:39:11 > 0:39:13You are halfway through your time.
0:39:13 > 0:39:15You have one hour left.
0:39:15 > 0:39:17Ryan has finally started decorating.
0:39:17 > 0:39:19So I'll just use the copper oxide.
0:39:19 > 0:39:23Hopefully, it's going to come out a nice blue.
0:39:23 > 0:39:24And one of Cait's bowls...
0:39:24 > 0:39:25SOMETHING CRACKS
0:39:25 > 0:39:26..is finished.
0:39:26 > 0:39:28What are you doing, Cait?
0:39:28 > 0:39:30I just threw it at the table!
0:39:30 > 0:39:32I'd just finished decorating it, as well.
0:39:32 > 0:39:34I'm not going to do too much more.
0:39:34 > 0:39:36Less is more, as they say.
0:39:36 > 0:39:39I want to do something on the rim, to work with the shape a bit more.
0:39:39 > 0:39:40Maybe a band.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43Do this and the glaze, and I'm done, aren't I?
0:39:43 > 0:39:46Once they've applied their underglazes and oxides...
0:39:47 > 0:39:49..the potters can dip their dinner sets
0:39:49 > 0:39:51in a white-looking final glaze.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55Once fired, it will become transparent...
0:39:56 > 0:39:58..revealing and protecting their design.
0:39:58 > 0:40:01- BANG FREYA:- Oh, my God!
0:40:01 > 0:40:03Oh, well.
0:40:03 > 0:40:04Clumsy, clumsy, clumsy.
0:40:04 > 0:40:07Freya and Cait, they're rushing,
0:40:07 > 0:40:09and they're dropping things.
0:40:09 > 0:40:11It's easily done, under the stress of things,
0:40:11 > 0:40:13but it's not what you want, is it?
0:40:13 > 0:40:14No, not really.
0:40:14 > 0:40:16We're after, how many pieces? 16 pieces?
0:40:16 > 0:40:17Yes, we are after 16 pieces.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21- CAROLE:- Just wiping the bottoms and I'm done.
0:40:21 > 0:40:22Would you believe I'm done?
0:40:22 > 0:40:24Keith's a bit obsessed with bottoms.
0:40:24 > 0:40:25He is obsessed with bottoms.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28He's obsessed with cracked bottoms, messy bottoms...
0:40:28 > 0:40:30The slightest drop of glaze on a base
0:40:30 > 0:40:33has the potential to destroy a dinner set.
0:40:33 > 0:40:36The smallest little bit of glaze on the bottom of the plate
0:40:36 > 0:40:38will just stick to the kiln shelf, and then, as it cools down,
0:40:38 > 0:40:41the plate will shrink and the glaze will just stick and crack.
0:40:41 > 0:40:43- Have you finished yours? - Pretty much.
0:40:43 > 0:40:46- Don't do mine unless you've done yours.- No, it's all right.
0:40:46 > 0:40:48Is it allowed? We're allowed to help each other, aren't we?
0:40:48 > 0:40:50Five minutes left.
0:40:50 > 0:40:52Oh, my God, there's loads on there!
0:40:52 > 0:40:54I know! Ah!
0:40:54 > 0:40:56We need one of Nam's sponges.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59- Do you want my sponges?- Have you got any spare sponges, Nam?
0:40:59 > 0:41:01- Take one of my sponges. - Oh, you're a star, you're a star!
0:41:01 > 0:41:04Don't worry, don't worry. Put it down. Put it down. Get another one.
0:41:04 > 0:41:06One more here. Just pile it on top.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08Get everything on your ware boards,
0:41:08 > 0:41:10what isn't on a ware board won't be going in the kiln.
0:41:12 > 0:41:13Five.
0:41:13 > 0:41:14One minute!
0:41:14 > 0:41:15Four.
0:41:15 > 0:41:17I'm not watching this, Cait. Three...
0:41:17 > 0:41:18Don't watch!
0:41:18 > 0:41:20Two...
0:41:20 > 0:41:21One.
0:41:21 > 0:41:23Potters, time is up.
0:41:23 > 0:41:26Stop decorating, step back from your dinner sets, please.
0:41:26 > 0:41:27And breathe.
0:41:31 > 0:41:34There's nothing more the potters can do for their dinner sets...
0:41:35 > 0:41:39..except take them down to Rich for their final firing.
0:41:39 > 0:41:41The dinner sets are decorated.
0:41:41 > 0:41:45Very excitingly, this year, we've got Pot Of The Week.
0:41:45 > 0:41:47So have you got your eye on any particular pot?
0:41:47 > 0:41:50Well, I liked Nam's from the moment he finished throwing it.
0:41:50 > 0:41:52Ryan's got to be up there, hasn't he?
0:41:52 > 0:41:55He's been very consistent and very focused, hasn't he?
0:41:55 > 0:41:56And then we've got one more.
0:41:56 > 0:41:57- Clover.- Yeah, that's right.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00Liked her throwing. Liked her attitude.
0:42:00 > 0:42:02It's so harsh, because it's week one,
0:42:02 > 0:42:04and we've got to say goodbye to somebody.
0:42:04 > 0:42:08It's either Cait, Carole or Daniel.
0:42:08 > 0:42:13Cait is two pieces down on her 16-piece dinner set.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16Carole's throwing skills, for me, are severely lacking, bless her.
0:42:16 > 0:42:18And Daniel, I'm worried about his decoration.
0:42:18 > 0:42:20His heart didn't seem to be in it.
0:42:20 > 0:42:22I hope the kiln will lift it out.
0:42:22 > 0:42:24You just never know until the kiln's out.
0:42:24 > 0:42:27After 30 years, I don't know, of my own work,
0:42:27 > 0:42:28how things are going to turn out.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31Whilst Rich prepares for the final firing,
0:42:31 > 0:42:35the potters have one last chance to impress the judges.
0:42:35 > 0:42:37They're about to be tested on a traditional skill
0:42:37 > 0:42:41that helped Stoke become the pottery capital of the world.
0:42:41 > 0:42:43Now, here's a craftsman, if you like.
0:42:43 > 0:42:45Charlie Bryan, great-grandson
0:42:45 > 0:42:47of the 18th-century thrower.
0:42:47 > 0:42:50Requiring a steady hand and a sharp eye, this Throw Down
0:42:50 > 0:42:54will reveal how our Potters match up to their pottery forefathers.
0:42:54 > 0:42:58This man here, Keith, AKA king of the wheel,
0:42:58 > 0:43:01would like you to please throw a cone.
0:43:01 > 0:43:05But not any old cone. We want the tallest cone you can.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08Watch carefully, cos he's going to show you exactly how to do it.
0:43:08 > 0:43:105lbs of clay.
0:43:10 > 0:43:13Now, a cone, as you know, is sealed at the top.
0:43:13 > 0:43:15Because if it's not sealed at the top,
0:43:15 > 0:43:17- it will be more like a drainpipe. - THEY LAUGH
0:43:17 > 0:43:19You don't want a drainpipe.
0:43:19 > 0:43:22You want to give it a really good workout before you actually start.
0:43:22 > 0:43:25The whole reason for doing this challenge
0:43:25 > 0:43:28is because Kate and I both want to see your skills
0:43:28 > 0:43:31at controlling the clay on the wheel.
0:43:31 > 0:43:33What's so brilliant about a cone
0:43:33 > 0:43:36is that you're basically working against the force of the wheel.
0:43:36 > 0:43:39The wheel is always trying to take everything off the wheel,
0:43:39 > 0:43:41and you're bringing this thing in.
0:43:41 > 0:43:42Up I go...
0:43:42 > 0:43:46The most common mistake is to make it too wide, too early.
0:43:48 > 0:43:51When I rib up the side of the pot now,
0:43:51 > 0:43:53I can follow that horizon of the pot.
0:43:53 > 0:43:55- It's gorgeous, isn't it? - Gorgeous.
0:43:55 > 0:43:58I want the seal completely invisible.
0:44:00 > 0:44:01All right?
0:44:01 > 0:44:05Potters, you've got 15 minutes to make the tallest cone you can.
0:44:06 > 0:44:08Back to your benches.
0:44:08 > 0:44:09And potters, get potting!
0:44:15 > 0:44:18I'm already impressed with Carole,
0:44:18 > 0:44:21- because she's centred that really well.- Yeah.
0:44:23 > 0:44:26(It's very quiet, isn't it, in here? I keep whispering, cos it's like...
0:44:26 > 0:44:27(It's like a library!)
0:44:27 > 0:44:30Actually, when you talk normally, it's fine to talk normally,
0:44:30 > 0:44:31it's just everybody's concentrating.
0:44:31 > 0:44:32Creating a winning cone
0:44:32 > 0:44:36requires perfect judgment and careful technique.
0:44:36 > 0:44:38The potters need to start with a base
0:44:38 > 0:44:40wide enough to provide support,
0:44:40 > 0:44:43then pull up the clay thick enough to keep its shape,
0:44:43 > 0:44:46whilst gaining as much height as possible.
0:44:46 > 0:44:48Richard's is flowering out at the top.
0:44:48 > 0:44:49He's got to bring that in, now.
0:44:53 > 0:44:56- It's looking grand! Lovely height, lovely shape.- Oh, good.
0:44:56 > 0:44:58- Enough about me.- Yes.
0:44:58 > 0:45:00As long as this doesn't break on me now, it should be all right.
0:45:00 > 0:45:04- Freya's is on the verge of collapse.- Yeah.
0:45:04 > 0:45:08I'm pretty pleased with that so far, but this is the critical point.
0:45:08 > 0:45:10Closing the top over, and not ruining the whole thing.
0:45:10 > 0:45:13This is not a cone at all.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16We'll tell in the next minute or two whether it's going to work.
0:45:18 > 0:45:20God, I can visibly see my hands shaking.
0:45:20 > 0:45:22How's it going?
0:45:22 > 0:45:24Well, it's the tallest pot I've thrown in my life.
0:45:24 > 0:45:25I've sacrificed a bit of height,
0:45:25 > 0:45:27but I've gone for a bit better shape.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30Five minutes left. Just five minutes.
0:45:31 > 0:45:33All that effort to create height
0:45:33 > 0:45:35can be undone when closing the top.
0:45:35 > 0:45:37The clay can buckle, collapsing the cone.
0:45:37 > 0:45:39Focus, guys. Come on.
0:45:39 > 0:45:41It's the first time I've thrown this shape,
0:45:41 > 0:45:44so I'm just taking in like the demonstration done by Keith, now.
0:45:44 > 0:45:46Go easy, Freya, just go easy.
0:45:48 > 0:45:50James is doing well, straightening off.
0:45:50 > 0:45:52Look at your profiles.
0:45:52 > 0:45:54Come on, Cait, close it up, mate.
0:45:54 > 0:45:56Richard at the back, sat cosy.
0:45:56 > 0:45:58OK, ten, nine,
0:45:58 > 0:46:00eight, seven,
0:46:00 > 0:46:02- six, five... - Freya...
0:46:02 > 0:46:04- ..four, three... - Oh, gently, gently!
0:46:04 > 0:46:06..two, one,
0:46:06 > 0:46:07time's up!
0:46:07 > 0:46:09Step away from your cones.
0:46:09 > 0:46:12I don't know who was more stressed, us or them!
0:46:13 > 0:46:16But what will Kate and Keith make of the cones
0:46:16 > 0:46:18in the potters' first Throw Down?
0:46:18 > 0:46:21James. Impressive width.
0:46:21 > 0:46:22Thank you.
0:46:22 > 0:46:24The seal at the top looks pretty good, doesn't it?
0:46:24 > 0:46:26Yeah. It could have been more pointed.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31I should have gone for a narrower base to get the height.
0:46:31 > 0:46:32Right. Well, you're right. Yes.
0:46:32 > 0:46:35Does he get any extra points for knowing where he went wrong?
0:46:35 > 0:46:36Unfortunately not, no.
0:46:38 > 0:46:40It's like half as sausage, isn't it?
0:46:40 > 0:46:41It's making me peckish.
0:46:41 > 0:46:43It's more of a torpedo, isn't it, than a cone?
0:46:45 > 0:46:47You've got a slight kink there, and a slight kink here.
0:46:47 > 0:46:49Are you quite pleased with yourself, Clover?
0:46:49 > 0:46:51Um... No.
0:46:51 > 0:46:52Aww!
0:46:52 > 0:46:54I think it's the same as the last throwing.
0:46:54 > 0:46:57I felt in control of it, I think it was just the time.
0:46:57 > 0:47:00- Yeah.- Time's been in issue, hasn't it, for you?
0:47:00 > 0:47:01A little bit!
0:47:02 > 0:47:04Look at this beauty!
0:47:04 > 0:47:05It's really nice.
0:47:05 > 0:47:07The seal at the top is really fluent.
0:47:07 > 0:47:08Thank you.
0:47:08 > 0:47:10- It's huggable.- It's huggable, yeah.
0:47:12 > 0:47:15Ryan, it's a thing of beauty. What do you reckon, judges?
0:47:15 > 0:47:17I think it's very nicely finished off.
0:47:17 > 0:47:18Nice and smooth, isn't it, as well?
0:47:18 > 0:47:20Yes, it's smooth. Brilliant tip.
0:47:22 > 0:47:23So it's a bit wide at the bottom.
0:47:23 > 0:47:25If you'd brought it up a bit more,
0:47:25 > 0:47:27the whole proportion would have stretched itself out a bit.
0:47:29 > 0:47:32You, out of everyone, was really, really struggling with that.
0:47:32 > 0:47:35I was thinking, "Oh, God, it's going to go, it's going to go."
0:47:35 > 0:47:36- Yeah.- But you really pulled it back!
0:47:36 > 0:47:39- Nil points for profile, at the bottom.- Yeah.
0:47:39 > 0:47:41Ten out of ten for tenacity.
0:47:43 > 0:47:45That's the first time I've made anything tall.
0:47:45 > 0:47:48The fact that you've managed to close it up and make a cone
0:47:48 > 0:47:50when throwing really isn't your skill,
0:47:50 > 0:47:53I'm really...really impressed.
0:47:53 > 0:47:55I'm trying to build my skills.
0:47:55 > 0:47:57Yeah, and it's obviously working.
0:47:57 > 0:47:59A little bit of pressure pushes you that bit further.
0:47:59 > 0:48:01Yes, it's making me work harder.
0:48:01 > 0:48:03And you've done a tremendous job, lovie, really.
0:48:05 > 0:48:08So who's thrown the tallest perfectly shaped
0:48:08 > 0:48:10and perfectly sealed cone?
0:48:10 > 0:48:13So in tenth place is Cait.
0:48:13 > 0:48:15In ninth place, Carole.
0:48:15 > 0:48:18And in eighth place is Daniel.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21Clover is seventh, Nam is sixth,
0:48:21 > 0:48:24Freya is fifth, James is fourth.
0:48:24 > 0:48:29In third place, with a height of 26.5 centimetres,
0:48:29 > 0:48:30Richard.
0:48:30 > 0:48:31Awesome work, Richard, well done!
0:48:31 > 0:48:36So in second place, with 30.5 centimetres,
0:48:36 > 0:48:38it's Elaine.
0:48:38 > 0:48:39Well done, Elaine!
0:48:41 > 0:48:47So in first place, with 31 centimetres,
0:48:47 > 0:48:48well done, Ryan! Well done!
0:48:48 > 0:48:50Well done!
0:48:50 > 0:48:54OK, so potters, the next time we see you will be in the judging room,
0:48:54 > 0:48:58when the judges will be judging your Main Make.
0:48:58 > 0:48:59So we'll see you then.
0:49:01 > 0:49:03I've just won the best Throw Down.
0:49:03 > 0:49:04I really wasn't expecting it at all.
0:49:04 > 0:49:07- Well done! - You won't get me next time!
0:49:07 > 0:49:09THEY LAUGH
0:49:09 > 0:49:12Half a centimetre, that's all it was.
0:49:18 > 0:49:19It's the final day.
0:49:19 > 0:49:23The dinner sets are about to be unloaded from the kiln.
0:49:23 > 0:49:24But there's a problem.
0:49:24 > 0:49:27It looks like we've got a fair amount of carbon trapping.
0:49:27 > 0:49:30It was a very low bisque firing,
0:49:30 > 0:49:32and then a reasonably quick glaze firing.
0:49:32 > 0:49:34The glaze has started to seal,
0:49:34 > 0:49:38and as all of the carbon's been burning off the clay body,
0:49:38 > 0:49:40it's got trapped under the gaze,
0:49:40 > 0:49:43giving it a really dark feel to it.
0:49:43 > 0:49:46The carbon trapped under the glaze appears black.
0:49:46 > 0:49:49It's created unpredictable but amazing effects for some...
0:49:49 > 0:49:52The way it's worked with this decoration is amazing!
0:49:52 > 0:49:56..but others have been left with grey and colourless pieces.
0:49:56 > 0:49:58Above all, I'm disappointed for the potters.
0:49:58 > 0:50:00They put a lot of work into these pieces.
0:50:00 > 0:50:02This is pottery, it's what happens.
0:50:06 > 0:50:09The first time the potters will see their finished dinner sets
0:50:09 > 0:50:12will be when they have to reveal them to the judges.
0:50:20 > 0:50:22Potters, your dinner services
0:50:22 > 0:50:24are nestling underneath the hessian, there.
0:50:24 > 0:50:28I'm sure you're desperate to have a sneaky peek at them,
0:50:28 > 0:50:31but before we do, we need news from the kiln, please, judges.
0:50:31 > 0:50:34Your pots were all fired in the gas kiln outside.
0:50:34 > 0:50:37We had lovely, British weather. Horrendous.
0:50:37 > 0:50:40And basically, we were getting a backdraught down the flue
0:50:40 > 0:50:43and some of the carbon was left inside your pieces.
0:50:43 > 0:50:46So, we have carbon trapping.
0:50:46 > 0:50:49But we're not going to be judging against you on this.
0:50:49 > 0:50:50Do not worry about that.
0:50:50 > 0:50:52So without further ado,
0:50:52 > 0:50:53it's judgment time.
0:50:53 > 0:50:55And I think, Carole, you're first.
0:51:03 > 0:51:04Right.
0:51:04 > 0:51:06So we've got 15 pieces, haven't we?
0:51:06 > 0:51:08I'm short of one. Sorry about that.
0:51:08 > 0:51:09And that's because
0:51:09 > 0:51:11you didn't have time to make one?
0:51:11 > 0:51:13- I just ran out of time, basically.- Right, OK.
0:51:13 > 0:51:16I think what you've done is something called double wiring.
0:51:16 > 0:51:17I did do that.
0:51:17 > 0:51:18That's a mistake.
0:51:18 > 0:51:21You wire once. You wire twice, either slightly below or above it,
0:51:21 > 0:51:24and you're left with a sliver that's just got stuck in some places.
0:51:24 > 0:51:25OK. I didn't know that.
0:51:25 > 0:51:27- They are consistent in size. - Yes.
0:51:27 > 0:51:31- But the weight could have been a little lighter than this.- Yes.
0:51:38 > 0:51:40Oh, gosh.
0:51:43 > 0:51:45Having the carbon's awesome!
0:51:45 > 0:51:46THEY LAUGH
0:51:46 > 0:51:49- It's wicked!- It is. It's incredible,
0:51:49 > 0:51:50- the different reactions you get. - Wow.
0:51:50 > 0:51:52If you went to a stranger
0:51:52 > 0:51:54and asked what they thought the inspiration for this was,
0:51:54 > 0:51:57I don't think they'd say computer games, and that's absolutely fine,
0:51:57 > 0:52:00that it's rather an invisible inspiration. This is gorgeous.
0:52:00 > 0:52:02They're in really good shape.
0:52:02 > 0:52:04You fingers can rest on the different facets.
0:52:04 > 0:52:06It doesn't only look good, but it functions well.
0:52:06 > 0:52:09The weight is good, and it's consistent across the board.
0:52:14 > 0:52:15Hmm.
0:52:15 > 0:52:17This here, it's just a bit naive.
0:52:17 > 0:52:19It's not my strong point.
0:52:19 > 0:52:20But what is wonderful
0:52:20 > 0:52:23is you are really, really good at throwing.
0:52:23 > 0:52:24Seriously.
0:52:25 > 0:52:27Wahey!
0:52:27 > 0:52:28Hmm.
0:52:28 > 0:52:30I don't think it has the rose.
0:52:30 > 0:52:32You could have developed that, with the shape.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35But then it is so difficult to write on a curved surface,
0:52:35 > 0:52:37- and I'm really impressed by that.- Thank you.
0:52:39 > 0:52:41Cor, get your sunglasses on!
0:52:41 > 0:52:42It's nice and bright.
0:52:42 > 0:52:44Using these oxides here,
0:52:44 > 0:52:46it would've been better if they'd been stronger.
0:52:46 > 0:52:48- I've never used oxide before. - Oh.
0:52:48 > 0:52:50This is the first time I do it.
0:52:50 > 0:52:51Yeah, that's commendable, that.
0:52:51 > 0:52:54Quite a nice rhythm between all the sets.
0:52:54 > 0:52:59- The consistency of shape and size is very good.- Thank you.
0:53:05 > 0:53:06Hey!
0:53:06 > 0:53:07- Wow!- Not too bad.
0:53:07 > 0:53:10I think that's a very interesting and strong design.
0:53:10 > 0:53:12- Very characterful.- Thank you.
0:53:12 > 0:53:15And you've managed to use these oxides in a free and easy way.
0:53:15 > 0:53:17It's quite an impact.
0:53:17 > 0:53:19But let's just talk about the elephant in the room.
0:53:19 > 0:53:21- Or the elephant on the table. - Please do, please do.
0:53:21 > 0:53:23Now, I don't know about you, Kate,
0:53:23 > 0:53:26but I don't reckon that's going to hold any gravy. Or peas.
0:53:32 > 0:53:33Oh, look at this.
0:53:34 > 0:53:36The rims, mate.
0:53:36 > 0:53:37Square rims? Really?
0:53:37 > 0:53:40I haven't made that many functional thrown pieces, I think.
0:53:40 > 0:53:43Yeah. The plate is a nice weight. It's not too heavy.
0:53:43 > 0:53:46- I could eat off that, yeah. - It's quite consistent, isn't it?
0:53:46 > 0:53:48Yeah, no. And then of course, we've got the breakage, haven't we?
0:53:48 > 0:53:50I think that let you down a bit.
0:53:53 > 0:53:54Oh, right, OK.
0:53:54 > 0:53:55That's different.
0:53:55 > 0:53:59Very nice, the way this fold is almost a sort of origami fold,
0:53:59 > 0:54:01which gives it a sharpness.
0:54:01 > 0:54:03- It's not what I expected you to do as a flower.- Yeah.
0:54:03 > 0:54:06You've actually used rather an abstract sense of it.
0:54:06 > 0:54:08So there's a great sense of joy in the decoration,
0:54:08 > 0:54:10and I'm really impressed by your decoration.
0:54:10 > 0:54:12I didn't think I was going to be, for some reason,
0:54:12 > 0:54:15- cos you said you didn't quite know what to do.- Thank you.
0:54:17 > 0:54:20Actually, the colour is better than I thought it would be,
0:54:20 > 0:54:22because of the carbon.
0:54:22 > 0:54:24I'm really liking the weight of these.
0:54:24 > 0:54:26I mean, for a dinner plate that size, with a rim that high,
0:54:26 > 0:54:28it's actually a very good weight.
0:54:28 > 0:54:31I think it's a really successful set.
0:54:31 > 0:54:33Consistent, creative, concise.
0:54:33 > 0:54:34Thank you so much.
0:54:34 > 0:54:35- The loss...- Don't break stuff.
0:54:35 > 0:54:36I know. I flicked it off the table.
0:54:36 > 0:54:38Yeah, I know you did.
0:54:44 > 0:54:47- Wow.- Blue is not as intense as I thought, the cobalt,
0:54:47 > 0:54:48I thought it would be a bit more stronger.
0:54:48 > 0:54:52I'm really impressed with the control of the bubbles.
0:54:52 > 0:54:55- Was it literally poured around? - Just keep it moving.- Kept it moving.
0:54:55 > 0:54:58This accent on the edge, here, it's really consistent,
0:54:58 > 0:55:01really fluent throughout the whole design.
0:55:01 > 0:55:03And also, the whole weight of the whole set,
0:55:03 > 0:55:05it's not that heavy at all.
0:55:05 > 0:55:07- That's very impressive.- Thank you.
0:55:07 > 0:55:09I can imagine a bit of your grandma's apple pie...
0:55:09 > 0:55:11- Apple pie, yeah, yeah. - ..in one of the bowls.
0:55:13 > 0:55:15Potters, I think you deserve a little break.
0:55:15 > 0:55:17Judges have got some decisions to make,
0:55:17 > 0:55:19and when we welcome you back into the room,
0:55:19 > 0:55:22you'll find out who is going to take Pot Of The Week,
0:55:22 > 0:55:25and who, sadly, is going to be leaving the pottery.
0:55:25 > 0:55:26See you in a bit.
0:55:27 > 0:55:30I've just started throwing plates this week,
0:55:30 > 0:55:31I've got that 16-piece dinner set
0:55:31 > 0:55:34that the judges seemed to like, so...fingers crossed.
0:55:34 > 0:55:37When I uncovered my pot, frankly, I was not impressed.
0:55:37 > 0:55:40Disappointed, but I've learned my lesson.
0:55:40 > 0:55:42I'm feeling pretty humble, at the moment.
0:55:42 > 0:55:44I think there is a bit of luck on my side.
0:55:44 > 0:55:47I think the family will be extremely surprised by this decoration.
0:55:47 > 0:55:49I play it safe. When they see that,
0:55:49 > 0:55:52"That's not Dad's pots, that's someone else's pots!"
0:55:52 > 0:55:54I'm pretty sure that everybody on this competition
0:55:54 > 0:55:56is a better thrower than I am.
0:55:56 > 0:55:59Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.
0:56:01 > 0:56:02Can I just take a second? Sorry.
0:56:06 > 0:56:08So, you've had a chance to have a proper, good look
0:56:08 > 0:56:10at all these dinner sets, now.
0:56:10 > 0:56:13Is the sort of standard as a whole impressive?
0:56:13 > 0:56:16- Look at the variety. It's extraordinary, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:56:16 > 0:56:17You know, from James's punky
0:56:17 > 0:56:19to Daniel's lovely, fresh colour.
0:56:19 > 0:56:21And Daniel's really pulled it out of the bag.
0:56:21 > 0:56:24His sense of decoration's really worked well, hasn't it?
0:56:24 > 0:56:26Has he pulled it out of the bag enough
0:56:26 > 0:56:28to be able to win Pot Of The Week?
0:56:28 > 0:56:30Ah, well, that's a different thing.
0:56:30 > 0:56:32I'm loving Nam's set,
0:56:32 > 0:56:33Clover's set...
0:56:33 > 0:56:35- And Ryan's.- Yeah, and Ryan's.
0:56:35 > 0:56:37Who really is in trouble, having seen these dinner sets?
0:56:37 > 0:56:39Who might be going home this week?
0:56:39 > 0:56:41Well, before the firing,
0:56:41 > 0:56:44we thought Dan, Cait or Carole.
0:56:44 > 0:56:45And I have to say,
0:56:45 > 0:56:49it's a toss-up between Cait and Carole, isn't it?
0:56:49 > 0:56:50Yes, it is.
0:56:57 > 0:57:00So, potters, the judges have made their decision.
0:57:00 > 0:57:02So let's start with the good stuff.
0:57:02 > 0:57:04The Pot Of The Week.
0:57:04 > 0:57:07Well, the Pot Of The Week is...
0:57:09 > 0:57:10This one. Well done, Ryan.
0:57:10 > 0:57:11Thank you.
0:57:13 > 0:57:14The reason why this is Pot Of The Week
0:57:14 > 0:57:17is the weight of the plate is great,
0:57:17 > 0:57:20and the decoration was very true to your original concept.
0:57:22 > 0:57:25Now, for the slightly sadder part.
0:57:25 > 0:57:29The person leaving the pottery this week is...
0:57:32 > 0:57:34- ..Carole.- Oh.
0:57:34 > 0:57:37- Come on, you've done so great. - Thank you.
0:57:37 > 0:57:39- You really should be proud. - Thank you.
0:57:39 > 0:57:41We'll miss you.
0:57:41 > 0:57:43Group hug, come on, everybody.
0:57:46 > 0:57:50- CLOVER:- OK, I'll just do the outside!
0:57:50 > 0:57:51I'll miss the people, of course.
0:57:51 > 0:57:54We were starting to bond, I was getting to know people.
0:57:54 > 0:57:55This has been a wonderful experience,
0:57:55 > 0:57:58and it's an achievement to have got onto it.
0:57:58 > 0:58:00Very honoured, and it just so happened
0:58:00 > 0:58:02it was the luck of the draw that this was a throwing project.
0:58:02 > 0:58:04I'm really sad that Carole's leaving.
0:58:04 > 0:58:07I think she was looking forward to another challenge of hand building.
0:58:07 > 0:58:10But unfortunately, she's gone, so she hasn't had that chance.
0:58:10 > 0:58:11Ryan's plate is the first item
0:58:11 > 0:58:14to make it into the Pot Of The Week gallery.
0:58:14 > 0:58:16There were some really good throwers today,
0:58:16 > 0:58:17and saw some really nice pieces,
0:58:17 > 0:58:19so, yeah, it wasn't expected, but really happy.
0:58:19 > 0:58:21I was that close to going.
0:58:21 > 0:58:24Surprised I'm still here, to be honest.
0:58:24 > 0:58:26Yeah, I mean, it's...
0:58:26 > 0:58:27As we've all been saying,
0:58:27 > 0:58:31it's strange when people start getting knocked out,
0:58:31 > 0:58:32it starts becoming real.
0:58:33 > 0:58:34Yeah.
0:58:34 > 0:58:36Next time...
0:58:36 > 0:58:38- Ah!- It's panic.
0:58:38 > 0:58:40..a massive hand building challenge...
0:58:40 > 0:58:42Look at the cracks! Ah!
0:58:42 > 0:58:45..gets the potters working round the clock.
0:58:45 > 0:58:46Tick-tock.
0:58:46 > 0:58:48A steamy Spot Test...
0:58:48 > 0:58:50Ryan's on the pull!
0:58:50 > 0:58:52..and a formidable Throw Down.
0:58:52 > 0:58:53Not happy with this at all!
0:58:53 > 0:58:56But whose pot will be heading to the gallery?
0:58:56 > 0:58:57SHE LAUGHS
0:58:57 > 0:58:59And who will be heading home?
0:58:59 > 0:59:00- I'm angry.- Oh..!
0:59:00 > 0:59:01Don't do that, mate.
0:59:01 > 0:59:03I've probably done something bad in my previous life.