Six potters remain, and this week they have got to step back
from the kilns as we turn back the clock some 30,000 years.
That's some winding.
Our potters go all BC on us - before ceramics -
in a 24-hour pit fire challenge.
Do you think they'll let me cook me sausage?
Last time -
it was round and round the garden...
Roses are red, your face is, too.
..as the potters constructed water features.
It's like the World's Strongest Man competition.
Freya turned on her waterworks to win Pot of the Week.
But Elaine's lack of tiers...
Nothing to see here, judges.
You ARE good, and that's what so frustrating.
..meant she had to leave the pottery.
Not good news, really.
Tonight, the competition catches fire
with a Main Make...
What's going on with this, then? It's massive.
..that's twice the work of anything the potters have attempted so far...
- Engineering and focus, and planning. - God, yeah.
..a throw-down that sees the potters go on the attack...
SARA GASPS
..and a Spot Test...
The grapes of wrath, as they say.
..that's good enough to eat.
But who will make it through an all-night firing...?
Who's going to wee on the campfire?
..and who will survive...
Listen. Listen. Listen carefully.
..the biggest shock of the competition so far?
That's a blow.
- ALL: - Oh!
It's like being in the Colosseum, this is -
the Colosseum of Clay.
# Making time
# Shooting lines
# People have their uses
# People have their uses... #
The six remaining potters are about to begin
the most extraordinary and ancient challenge
the competition has ever seen.
It's pit firing.
We make massive pots, we get to build bonfires -
what could be better?
It's really exciting.
You know, you're out in nature burning some pots.
I'm going to have a dance
round the campfire.
Last week was a bit of a dark week for me,
but I think the slump's over.
Let's get cracking.
- Morning, potters. ALL: - Morning.
For this week's Main Make, Kate and Keith
would like you to throw two vases.
You are pit-firing them.
After that, you will choose your absolute favourite
to present to the judges.
These vases are going to be thrown at the wheel.
They need to be strong and robust enough to withstand that pit-firing.
They need to be 60 centimetres high.
You won't actually be decorating your vases,
you will be choosing materials to burn in the pit with your pieces
that will affect the surface of your pots.
We want your vases to be beautiful.
You have 2.5 hours to throw your two vases,
and your time starts now.
Let's do it.
60...
even the biggest pot in my dad's workshop was 50,
and I thought I could sit in it. It's huge.
The potters have been tasked with throwing big and wide before,
but now they face throwing up.
This is definitely the biggest thing I've ever thrown.
Throwing big isn't really my strong point.
Creating tall, elegant yet sturdy structures requires strength,
subtlety and consummate skill at the wheel.
Having large hands, it does help.
Pit firing -
it's almost like we're going back to the dawn of time.
But it is the most magical process,
and it's been used for thousands of years -
putting a pot in a fire, getting smoke effects.
We are asking them to create something really quite large.
The width is their choice, but 60 centimetres, that's a big pot.
And it can't really be thrown in one.
So they're going to be throwing it in sections.
And each section is going to be joined together.
And those joins could quite easily open up.
The more pieces, the more zones for danger.
Throwing big objects is not what I'm best of.
That's why I break it down in three sections.
So, I'm going to do two tiers on this, hopefully.
Even though I'm officially Irish, I was actually born in Zimbabwe,
and I grew up there.
When I was a kid, I used to practise balancing water pots on our heads.
Cait's water pot inspired vases
will be constructed from more sections than anyone else's.
I've given myself the job of making ten parts.
- Ten? - Yeah.
I lacked confidence in my ability to throw tall,
so I made a design that would be made up of lots of wee parts.
In a way, that's kind of good.
But five pieces per case, ten pieces altogether, it's quite a bit.
It's a lot of joins.
A lot of joins, a lot of pieces.
I love throwing big stuff.
I don't do much, but when I do, it's a challenge.
And that challenge, you do always relish.
I am going for a bulbous shape called a moon jar.
Cage fighter Nam will wrestle two sections together
to form a moon jar -
a centuries-old traditional Korean pot used to store rice.
He is adding a ribbed neck to bring it up to height.
I love your little potter's nod that you've got there.
- Do I have a potter nod? - Yes.
Some go sideways...
The only reason why I do it is not because of a pottery thing,
it's because in boxing we sway.
- When you're sparring? - Yeah.
- You don't want to get hit in the face. - Where was your defence?
- I could have had you. - I know.
Ryan's constructing his vases
out of the least sections of all the potters - just two.
What's going on with this, then? It's massive.
- How are you approaching this Main Make, Ryan? - Wrestling it!
You're wrestling it?
Have you done it before where you make something big
- out of two big pieces? - Not this big.
- I've done if you double tiers before, but not 60cm. - OK.
That's pretty high for me.
Ryan's hoping to fire a sleek, straight-sided contemporary vase,
and another with a round-bellied base.
Really excited to be camping. Especially with Nam.
I think he's going to have some great camp stories.
Any opportunity to go camping, I will jump on it.
Apparently, Ryan said he's going to turn up in his onesie
with his little bears on it.
I'm looking forward to seeing that.
History buff Richard is going back to the present
with two modern-shaped vases, each comprising of three sections.
It's a fairly contemporary shape.
So the elegance is in the vase itself.
And have you thought about how you're joining these together, yeah?
I've had many a sleepless night
- thinking about joining them and making sure... - Yeah, he's only 22(!)
THEY LAUGH
To stiffen off their sections for this challenge,
the drying room is now as crucial as the wheel.
Sara, seeing as you're by the door, do you mind opening the door?
- Oh, yeah, course. - You're very kind. Thanks.
The sooner the potters can get their sections in there,
the drier they can become,
reducing the risk of them collapsing when they join together.
Keep it open, Sara. Thanks.
Oh! Ha-ha-ha!
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Under the bless of the throwing fairy,
I've made the tallest sculpture I've ever made,
which is in the drying room right now.
Clover is aiming for two lightweight and delicate vases,
despite making them from three sections each.
I've always wanted to throw in section, you know,
but I just didn't have a chance to practise
before this task actually happened.
- OK, so, this is going to be your debut? - Yes.
So, out of your six sections, how many have you done?
I have done four, I'm on the fifth one.
- OK. - So far, I think I'm on schedule right now.
Whilst Clover tries to stick to her plan, true to form,
last week's winner of Pot of the Week isn't quite so disciplined.
My initial idea was just to make it from two pieces,
but I might make it from one, two, three or four pieces.
Freya's making sections loosely based on African drums.
She'll make a feature of where they join,
but hasn't decided on a combination that will reach the required height.
60 centimetres, when you say it, doesn't sound that huge,
but I'm starting to realise the scale of this.
- Yeah, it's about that high. - I've never done one that big before.
- And have you joined stuff together before? - No, I haven't.
- I always get my maths wrong. - That's why you're making a feature.
Exactly.
But in this challenge, a little arithmetic is essential.
I took the shrinkage into calculation,
so I'm just going to add 5% more height.
Richard over there has told me it's 5% shrinkage on this clay,
so if anything happens, I'm blaming him.
That's it, blame me for the calculations.
If it's not right, Richard, I'll be after you.
We've got to take responsibility for ourselves.
Width is just as important as height,
as each section needs to align perfectly.
Potters, I know it's the pits,
but you're already halfway through your time.
One hour and 15 minutes remaining.
Ohhhhhhhh!
I've got quite a lot to do.
I'm not too sure that I'll be able to make all the cracks I need.
This is a tricky one.
- It's a lot about engineering and focus and planning. - Oh, gosh, yeah.
Engineering, focus or planning aren't your middle names, are they?
No, they're not in my name at all.
With just two sections per vase, Ryan's already finished throwing.
I wonder if I should just join mine up.
Joining them now could give him more time to finesse his vases later,
but it's a gamble as the clay could still be moist and unstable.
I'm not joining it, it's not hard enough. It won't take the weight.
I'm not risking it.
- I think it's too soft. - It's a bit on the soft side. - It's too soft.
Look at it go. Oh!
- No, Ryan! - It's too soft. - You're doing the right thing.
He did the right thing to save it.
- What happened? - I just put it on too early.
- I thought it was strong enough. - Is it fixable?
- If I'm quick, yeah. - OK.
Potters, you've got 15 minutes left. 15 minutes left.
If constructing the first perfectly-joined vase
wasn't hard enough,
the potters have to do it all over again for their second.
I'm just throwing another one, because that one's useless.
I'm just going to quickly try and throw another one
in less than 15 minutes.
Oh! Oh! Oh! Losing it, losing it, losing it, losing it.
With time running out...
I'm too short and we have about seven minutes left.
..Cait has only managed to throw eight of the ten pieces she needs.
Not really where I need to be.
Potters, you've got five minutes left.
At the end of the five minutes,
I need all your pieces in the drying room, please.
Rushing's not going to be good.
- Ooh, sorry. - I nearly locked you in there then.
- Ooh! - Thank you. - Steady, lady. - Sorry.
Four! Got to be stricter. Three! Two! One!
- That's a good one. - Well done! You can have a break, all right?
Go and get some fresh air,
we'll see you back here shortly for the Throw Down.
Well done.
I'd planned to join at least one of the pots together,
but they were too wet.
I saw what happened to Ryan's
and I thought discretion's the better part of valour on this one.
I was just trying to rush and get ahead of the game.
It backfired on me. Unlucky me.
I am a bit worried about the height.
That's why I've got a lot of components. Clever!
I knew it was going to be difficult.
I've not managed to make two vases.
Whilst the vase sections dry so they can be trimmed for a pit-firing,
Keith and Kate have raided ancient history once again,
with a Throw Down that involves a form that's thousands of years' old.
This week, Kate and Keith would like you to throw
as many goblets as you can.
Two pounds of clay.
Now, when you're making a goblet, get it nice and evenly centred.
And, then, in one fluid movement,
you're bringing it up and making your stem.
The best thing to do is to make the top
while the stem is still fairly strong.
So I'm just pulling out the bowl.
I'm really focusing on the rim.
We want to drink out of these, so the rim is incredibly important.
Just thin out that stem a bit.
It's all to do with the evenness of pressure on the stem.
Then I'm just going to rib up the side,
just to make it a nice fluent shape at the top.
You want that foot to be fairly substantial.
To be robust enough to be able to take it off the wheel
without distorting it.
Wire it off...
and take it off the wheel.
APPLAUSE
OK, the judges are looking for quantity as well as quality, OK?
They are after consistency of shape and size.
Any that don't measure up, they'll end up dumped in the Bin of Doom!
Head back to your workbenches, please, and get yourselves ready.
OK, potters, you have 15 minutes to throw as many goblets as you can.
Potters, Throw Down!
Oh, come on!
Spend a bit of time on that stem
because it will come back to bite you otherwise.
Feel that clay between your hands.
Nice fluent shape.
- Have you done one already, Nam? - Er... yep.
- Ooh! - Come on, Cait. - You can do it, come on.
They need to be consistent in shape and size. Think about that.
And she's popped out three already. Go, Clover!
- Come on, Nam, number four. - Have you made a goblet before?
I didn't even know what a goblet was until Keith made one!
Focus, peeps, focus.
Aaaaah!
- How come you're so good at this, Nam? - I'm not.
- I-I-I don't know what I'm doing. - What do you mean?
You're on your fifth one. That's incredible!
Five minutes left on the Throw Down.
Nam, you've got the speed there, have you got the quality?
I've got you, I've got you.
- Nice consistency, Cait. - But there are only two.
Yeah. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
Ohhhhhhh!
Ohhh! I didn't do anything!
I hadn't even approached you then.
This one's going to be amazing, all right?
- Oh, dear! - What are you on to now, your tenth, Nam?
- No! - Ha-ha-ha-ha!
Don't tell people that!
And she's on 32.
Well done, Freya, at the front there.
LAUGHTER
- What?! - 32! - Keep pushing.
Don't look at the clock, Cait, we know you can't tell the time(!)
CAIT LAUGHS
We are on three minutes, people. Keep going.
Should be able to get two out of your three minutes.
- That's pretty ambitious! - Come on, Richard!
Freya, you've got to take Nam down, do you hear me?
You're doing this for the whole of womanhood!
Oh! SARA LAUGHS
- Sorry. My bad, my bad. - Can Cait have another ten minutes?
CAIT LAUGHS
One minute left of your Throw Down.
You're catching up with Nam, Clover! Come on!
Ten... nine... eight...
..seven... Go on, Ryan!
..six... five...
KEITH LAUGHS ..four... three...
..two... one. Time's up!
Step back from the wheels.
Well done! That was awesome!
APPLAUSE
Wow!
The potters were asked to throw as many consistently-sized
and shaped goblets as they could in 15 minutes.
Any that fail to meet the judges' exacting standard
will be thrown into the Bin of Doom and not be counted.
- So, Mr Brymer Jones...? - Well, I reckon that one is nil points.
It's very clumsy.
And then the other one is that one.
That's like an hourglass, isn't it?
The only other one is this wavering rim. Sorry, Clover.
BOOING
You can imagine drinking out of these, can't you, Kate?
- Yeah, you can. I'm looking at this end one here, Keith. - Oh, OK.
- Its stem and its foot. - Yeah. So we're putting that one in.
Are you going to say it or shall I?
- I know, it's going in the bucket, isn't it? - It's going in the bucket.
- There's that one, isn't there, at the back? - Yeah.
Goes with the other ones. A pair!
- That's got a wobbly top. - No, I think we're going to go...
Yeah, it's going to go.
Boo!
LAUGHTER
I'm still thinking about this one on the end.
- I'm sorry, Ryan, but I have to be tough, you know. - Take it away.
- GASPS - Oh!
It's like being in the Coliseum, this is. The Coliseum of clay!
Let me count them. Ahem.
Won't take a while.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
16, judges. LAUGHTER
That one's a bit messy, but I think I might just let you off that one.
- Really? - You've basically gone for quality, rather than quantity.
Quite obviously.
I wouldn't want to drink
out of that one. There's no kind of logic to the rim at all.
That's got to go in the bin.
And then, that last one there, it's not very fluid, is it?
It's a shame cos the foot's the best of your feet, but no.
Look at all these!
You knocked up a fair few there, didn't you?
Trying to take Nam out.
There's some obvious wrong 'uns here, aren't there?
Certainly that one.
That looks like a column, with a bit of a...
Yeah, that's not very good either.
That stem, it has got this bulge that we've...
- LAUGHTER - Boo!
That was vicious, that one.
- Trying to get Nam, here. - All the rest are fine.
'After a punishing judging,
'which potter has managed to throw the most goblets?'
In sixth place, with four goblets, Cait.
In fifth place, with five goblets, is Ryan.
'Richard and Clover both made six goblets,
'putting them in joint third place.'
In joint first place, with eight goblets each, are Nam and Freya.
- Well done. - APPLAUSE
We came joint, so I don't mind sharing it.
But next time, I'm going to get him.
I was just absolutely devastated inside. I was raging with anger.
It was a hard one for Ryan to take, being so low down.
He's starting to feel the heat, shall we say?
'After three hours of drying,
'the potters collect the sections of their vases.'
Oh! Bloody heavy!
'They have 90 minutes to turn, trim, and join both of them together.
'But Cait has only enough sections to create just one.
'And if they aren't joined correctly,
'an explosion during pit firing will leave her vase-less...'
I'm hoping I'll have one that works and to the right height.
'..whereas everyone else has two chances to get it right.'
It's not perfect. It's a little bit off-centre at the top.
I'm trying to trim,
so that the top bit could join very nicely with the one I'm working on.
'By trimming and turning, the potters can shape their sections
'and crucially, cut out any surplus clay.'
It's a heavy, heavy pot.
I'm just taking some of the clay away,
so that when I put this on top, it won't collapse.
'Excess clay can also trap air and moisture,
'which will explode in the kiln or pit firing.'
I am possibly going to join them.
I'm just gauging how firm they are.
Still very soft.
Oh, my God!
The last one I tried to put on, it was still too wet, so when
the weight goes down, it collapsed, whereas this is a lot harder.
'Once they're hard enough,
'the potters can start putting their sections together.'
I'm just adding a bit of slip all the way round,
so it's just going to moisten the edges.
Just making the surface really rough,
so it creates a sort of clay Velcro.
It's going to distort a bit, but...
Get it on OK, quickly.
- Straight on? - Yeah, yeah.
Tap it. Tap it.
One's slightly thicker than the other one.
So what I'm going to do is just press all this down to get
a nice good seal on there as well.
Now it's just a case of making sure all the welds are nicely meshed in.
The join is really weak right now because the bottom section of
the clay is a little bit too soft.
I'm going to cut the top, at least it'll release some of the weight.
I can't cut it.
I don't really know what's happened to it. It keeps bulging out.
There's just too much weight.
This joining area, I'm going to try and blend it in with the light bulb
and try to press it down, as you can see here.
I don't want something showing up and looking ugly.
Lost quite a bit of the top, but don't worry,
I left enough so I could throw it a little bit more.
Ah, the clay is soft!
Or I'm pushing it around too much and what should be this
beautifully up and down the way thing is becoming a bit kind of...
a jaunty angle, shall we say?
'While construction is well under way for most of the potters...'
How many centimetres is it that we're making these?
63.
'..Freya has yet to join any of her sections...'
God!
Too short.
'..as whatever combination she tries,
'she can't reach the required height.'
- 84. - Oh! All right. Thanks.
Oh, my God! I don't even know what the maths is.
- 57 and I haven't joined this yet. - 61.
'Even if they are the correct height now, during firing,
'the clay will shrink.'
I'm just trying to pull some of this clay up to give me
a few millimetres extra.
'As some of the potters move on to their second vases,
'Freya stumbles on a combination that works for her first.'
Actually, that's 66.
Actually, that's all right.
If I just turn this a bit more, it should sit lower on the pot.
And the other one... I don't even know.
It's becoming my leaning tower of... Stoke.
'Ryan's had to put his second vase back on the wheel
'to pull it up to height.
'But the pressure he's applying has buckled his join.'
It's pretty weak. It's still not set yet, so it just didn't work out.
There's nothing I can do. It's done.
This one's 61 and a bit.
- This is what you call slapdash. - Potters, your five minute call!
Five minutes!
Is this as good as I can get?
It's the wobbliest pot I've ever made.
- Argh! - I'm determined to get it done.
We're running out of time, so I'd rather sacrifice the shape
and have a vase.
Potters, you have one minute left now.
I've got no design on it!
Five, four, three, two, one.
- Well done. - I was improving. It's my throwing. I can't throw quickly.
Potters, well done, you guys.
Go home, have a little break, pack up your camping gear,
practise your campfire songs,
cos we'll see you back here for the pit firing campout.
Going camping!
Potters, dismissed.
That was a tough old day.
Oh!
That was a nightmare.
End of a tremendous day of making and building.
I think I just kind of gave myself a bit too much to do
in the time available.
Devastating. Yeah, I was absolutely so annoyed with myself.
Yeah, just failed miserably, deep inside.
'The vases have been drying for three days under the supervision of
'kiln man Rich.'
I'm now going to take these down to the electric kiln.
They're going to have a biscuit firing to 1,000 degrees and
that'll turn them from raw lay into ceramic and it'll just help them
deal with the rigours of the pit firing a little better.
'They'll be in the kiln for 24 hours.'
Fingers crossed, they all survive now, after all that!
'It's day five.
'The potters' vases have had their first firing
'and while they cool, Kate has set a Spot Test,
'unlike anything the competition has ever seen.'
This Spot Test is really close to my heart.
My technique is hand building and that means using these
and a really simple set of tools.
'Kate's stunning ceramics can be seen in galleries all over the world
'and this exhibition showcases her greatest passion.'
When I look at a blackberry, at a pineapple, at a pumpkin,
I see pots in front of my eyes.
My objective is to show the wonder of nature.
And I want the potters to show us their wonder.
Potters, I want you to hand coil and pinch a water jug,
using as your inspiration one of these.
- Wahey! - Yay!
Make the essence of the fruit your water jug.
'This week's Spot Test will be judged blind.
'Kate and Keith won't know who has decided to make what.'
Right, judges, please leave the pottery. Scram.
See you in a while. Roll up, roll up.
This is a first come, first served situation, and you've got two hours.
Time starts now.
Oh, look! She knew what she wanted!
You've got to make a water jug that looks like a strawberry now, Nam.
- No way! - Yes way.
- Who wanted the pumpkin? - I wanted the pumpkin. - I'm sorry.
I REALLY wanted the pumpkin!
This fennel evenly matches my face.
So I think it's fate.
I went for the pineapple because I love all the textures.
Also kind of spiky, like my hair.
I was aiming for the pineapple, but I went for this one.
I wanted the pineapple and Ryan snuck in there a bit quicker.
Basically left with the grapes of wrath, as they say.
'They have to hand roll these coils and actually, it looks easy,
'but to roll a good coil'
is a challenge to do.
'Hand coiling is the oldest pottery technique there is.'
When I was little, it was the first thing I started with, really.
'We've been making vessels out of rolled lengths of clay for
'over 15,000 years.'
They build a base and the coils will gradually go up,
like a brick wall increases in height.
Your hand skills are laid bare and if you don't judge your clay right,
the whole thing could collapse.
I'm looking for a functional jug, right weight, right handle,
right spout, right rim.
As the coils are layered, the walls need to be smoothed over
before the potters can be working on their jug's form.
Just thinking about what shape this pumpkin can be.
Um... I want this to be quite big actually.
It'll be one strawberry cos the strawberry is
a nice little shape here.
Nam, you can make a tiny jug!
Get it done in half an hour.
Very daunting to have Kate judge our work, yeah.
I mean these probably lend themselves quite nicely
to being a spouty bit.
But this, this is what... I don't know what to do with that bit.
Basically make the pot and add the grapes to the outside,
probably use the grapes as a handle. Coiling puts me to sleep.
- I find it very boring. - Richard! - You can't beat the dynamics of throwing!
'90 minutes left to hand coil an organic water jug.'
I'm just cutting it, so then I can fold like this
to create a shape.
I'm just going to create these sort of spikes.
This thing has these spikes.
I need to get going on getting these
frondy bits developed up the side.
So, I'm pushing out through there and then pushing back in around it.
Got to get this bit right, otherwise it's not a pumpkin.
'And Richard's jug has yet to become a grape.'
Where are the grapes going to come from?
Have you still to do put the...? Do the grapes?
They're not going to be the form, they're going to be the decoration.
You'd have an awfully small jug for a grape, wouldn't you?
That's true. Just a drop of water, Madam!
The easiest one is the pineapple.
Did you see Freya got the pumpkin, with speed and determination?
- It's got nothing to do with that Kate loves pumpkins. - Oh, please!
- I've always wanted to do a pumpkin. - What does Kate make? Pumpkins!
Yeah, but I just love them anyway, whether she makes them or not.
Whatever, Miss Pumpkin!
Is it the equivalent of an apple for the teacher,
but a pumpkin for the teacher, do you think?
Yeah, I wouldn't got that far, but you're right.
Freya's like, "Shut up!"
Everything that I've done, I've kind of leaned towards making a pumpkin.
To make something that Kate makes is an absolute dream.
Potters, you're halfway through your time now. One hour left.
- Nervous? - Just time really.
If I hurry up, I've probably got enough time.
'If they're settled on form, for their jug to function,
'the potters need a spout...' SHE HARRUMPHS
'..and a handle.'
I was thinking of having a traditional roundy handle.
I'm actually going to use one of the leaves as sort of a spout.
I'm going to sort of flute it a little bit.
And then use another leaf, a big one, as a handle.
Because this is just straight,
I was wondering if I should have just a straight handle.
That you kind of...
I'm making a spout for the water to come out
because that would work with the shape.
I've designed my spout to be fairly open, so it's more welcoming.
That's not a handle, mate.
Too dry now, too hard.
My handle is work in progress.
Like, not much work and bugger all progress.
LAUGHTER
So, I want to get a bit more of this going on on the outside,
so I need to hurry up!
It's just a bog-standard run of the mill handle.
There's nothing significant about it.
I might rethink my handle, make it look a little bit more feminine.
I think most of the stuff I do is really masculine and Keith
always says I'm a bit heavy-handed.
And do you think your strawberry lends itself to, like, ladies?
Yeah, it does!
You know, it's a very kind of feminine form in general, you know?
- Yeah. - Nice curvatures, you know, smells nice.
- Smells nice. - There you go. - Seeds. - Yeah, seeds, there you go.
- Go and tell Kate that. - Popular at Wimbledon.
Starting to put something on and a few ideas down.
Don't want to put a cat amongst the pumpkins here,
but you do know it's got to be lifted by a human...?
They're going to lift it? No, they're not going to lift it.
- ..by a human being to pour water out of it. - It will break.
And I just chopped one bit of stem, one bit of stem and the ends.
Cait's making a giant teapot.
- I don't know what's going on over there. - Oh, dear.
Bloody hell, everybody is so good.
Potters, you have two minutes left.
- Two minutes! - Two minutes!
Argh!
- Not much pressure, but this is what Kate Malone does. - I know!
You don't want to be too good or she might get threatened.
Yeah, she's definitely in danger of being threatened
by my hand building skills.
Because she is so familiar with this technique,
- I'm very nervous right now. - Kate will just eat you alive.
Eat you like a fruit.
It may not be Kate's cup of tea.
OK, here we go, potters.
Three, two,
one,
tools down.
Please, bring the fruits and vegetables of your labour to
the front for judging.
Kate and Keith are looking for a functional jug that's
a unique interpretation of the potter's fruit or vegetable.
- Feast your eyes. Doesn't it look gorgeous? - Fantastic, guys.
- Wow. - And they won't know whose jug is whose.
So, shall we start with the artichoke?
I'm loving the idea of the jug spout being one of the
leaves of the artichoke. That's really wonderful.
The handle, whoever has made it has observed the stem.
Look at that lovely end there
and the lines on the stem are echoed.
And, actually, the overall best bit is the form.
You've captured, whoever it is, the form of the artichoke.
- The fennel. - I was really intrigued on whoever got this one,
how they would interpret this into a jug.
And I think I'm loving the spout.
I think whoever was coiling lost control.
They were coiling up and it started to sag out.
Because it started to sag.
If you look at the original, there's great poise in this.
The lift underneath and the form.
It seems to have started to melt.
Number three, Kate. What do you think?
We did ask for the whole fruit to be considered as a whole.
I'm going to eat one of those.
It is embellished with grapes.
It is not a grape piece.
Onto the pineapple. Now, I love it as a form.
- It's fantastic. - Whoever made it is in control of their shape.
You had to have a thickness to create this pinching.
So, I think it's a good version of coiling.
And I'm really loving this use of the pineapple leaf flopping over,
becoming the handle. Practicality-wise?
Nil points. I don't think that's going to work.
Quite hard to tell where the actual spout is.
It would have liked to see a little bit of an accent on there.
Strawberries.
Strange, strange lip.
It's as if it's had a bite out of it.
- It's almost like brutalist, isn't it? - Yeah, it is.
- It's a very strong thing. - It's a brutalist strawberry.
It's a brutalist strawberry.
Of course, you could only fill this jug up to the level of the spout,
otherwise it would overflow.
So, it indicates you can't really hold more water than that.
It's heavy as well.
So, last but not least, the pumpkin.
A symbol of fertility and fecundity.
- What do you think of the jug? - Well, I'd like to feel the weight of the jug. - Right, OK.
Cos, actually, it's a really good example of coiling
and then pinching and pushing out.
It's very, very heavy.
That handle ain't never going to lift this pumpkin, I'm just saying.
But then I think it just has this character about it
and it's a fabulous thing.
Kate and Keith will now rank the jugs from worst to best.
Sixth-place is...
The grape jug. Whose is that?
It's grapes on a jug, not a grape jug.
Fifth place, the strawberry.
It is heavy and the spout just seems to be so strange.
Fourth-place is...
the pineapple.
Amazing attention to detail, the handle probably not too practical.
And in third place...
is Mr Fennel.
It's got such character, but it's lost control of the coiling.
So, in second place...
..the pumpkin. You've really captured the essence of the pumpkin.
The handle was just a little bit weak for the whole form.
So, that means there is a first place
and it's the artichoke and that's Cait.
Well done, Cait. Really, you've captured the form brilliantly.
The handle is great design.
So, for Kate to have put me in first place is quite flattering.
So, yeah, won last week and this week's spot test.
- Quite nice. - When they picked up my jug, it was hilarious.
Keith was like...
I'm crestfallen.
It's like being trodden into wine.
I know how a grape feels now.
The vases have been in the electric kiln for 24 hours.
I've got everything crossed.
And it's Rich's job to safely reunite them with the potters
for a final pit firing that will ultimately decide who will be
awarded Potter of the Week and who will be leaving the competition.
Both the pots and the potters have a long way to go.
For an authentic pit firing,
we're heading deep into the Staffordshire countryside.
It's really nice to come out of the countryside and have hills around.
Everyone is really happy and jolly today.
You know, we're outside in the sun. You know, at one with nature.
It's like we are entering the jungle.
Beautiful scenery, countryside, fresh air.
You couldn't want for more.
This ancient, unpredictable process will take all day and all night.
Each potter has their own pit
and they'll be solely responsible for the firing.
To remain in the competition, they must ensure that one of their
vases survives and can be presented to the judges.
THEY GASP
- That one totally went down. - Good grief. - It's still in one piece.
- SHE KNOCKS ON VASE - Ah, nice sound.
One of the vases came out perfectly fine. I'm happy with it.
One of them, had a fairly big explosion on the bottom
and lost the base. So, there was still moisture within the bottom
- and it exploded. - This is what I was hoping to show to the judges,
but the base has exploded. I've still got a base,
but it's a bit wobbly. Mm.
It's in one piece, which is good.
Considerably less than 60 centimetres.
I'm not too sure if that join's going to last on fire.
Before lighting their fires...
I feel like I'm digging my own grave.
..the potters can customise their pit.
I'm conscious of needing to get the temperature up,
but also keep the temperature as well.
I was thinking about digging a channel in the middle,
- to, kind of, help the air flow around a bit. - OK.
The only way the potters will be able to create colour and
decoration is to add combustible materials to the surface of
their vases and their pit.
What combustibles are you going to use?
- Blood, fish and bones. - Blood, fish and bone.
Trying to find my wire wool.
Did you just go under your kitchen sink and do this, basically?
- Just grabbed it from your kitchen. - Yeah, that's what I do.
I've put on some chards of stainless steel here.
This is to deflect the flame, so it doesn't carbonate
so much in one area. I've got loads of hardwoods,
which burn a lot slower. I've got mahogany and oak here,
so I'm going to actually strap some of these on the pot.
And then I've got some hessian that I left in some salt.
So, hopefully, this will create a nice effect.
I'm going to put some cobalt carbonate around as well,
to give it some bluey colours.
I'm really quite excited about Ryan's decorative techniques that
he's putting on the side of his vase.
I mean, he really is throwing everything at it.
Clover's got some really interesting combustibles
and she's also masking off with these ferns.
It would be lovely to see a shadow of the fern.
But she's trying to use it as a resist.
I'm not convinced that the fern is actually going to withstand
the heat enough at the right temperature.
I'm throwing in banana skin and citrus peel.
I'm going to put copper carbonate around here.
I'm going to poor ferric chloride on it.
It gives wonderful pink colours.
Ferris is iron, isn't it? And it's very exciting to see.
It was very strong. He did it on both of them.
He's not hedging his bets.
Having committed to covering both vases with ferric chloride...
Around this one I shall be putting steel wool.
..when it comes to the pit,
Richard will be giving one of them a unique firing.
A little bit of copper carbonate and then we wrap this up in tinfoil.
Should be two totally different pots.
The one not wrapped in foil,
the hops and the peel should affect it colour-wise.
The one wrapped in foil is already cocooned in its own little furnace
and we will see how we do.
But when it comes to a unique firing,
Freya might just have the edge.
Here she is,
at one with her cabbage leaves.
It gives off like a smouldering greeny colour, which is what I want.
Is that going to be whiffy, that cabbage, when it burns?
It stinks, yeah. It stinks already.
- You know you're sleeping nearby? - Yeah, I know.
I plan to keep all the potters up with the smell.
Finally, the vases need to be covered with wood,
sawdust and paper.
Do you want to get your safety gear on before you start your fires?
Gloves and goggles and arm things.
Cait, if you want to start off, please. Light your fire.
If the potters have prepared their pits correctly,
the fires will reach 1,100 degrees centigrade...
Watch your bum.
..the optimum temperature to create reactions from their combustibles
and deliver the organic colours that Kate and Keith will be looking for.
It's mostly about a well orchestrated fire.
You've got your combustible materials in the bottom,
which is usually something like sawdust,
and that's going to give a slow burn and lots of carbon.
You've then got paper or something intensely combustible
and that goes up like a rocket.
And then you've got the bulk of your combustible material on top,
which is going to burn down and create heavy embers.
It's going to give you sustained heat,
to allow all of those combustible materials,
the potassium in the banana skins, the things they've added in,
to really get hot and work their magic.
Once the fires have burned for an hour, there is more work to be done.
I'm going to put my tin on, hopefully,
to get some reduction in there.
It's important to get a good seal,
so the flames die down.
You know, the oxygen is used up.
Some of the potters decided to put a very heavy seal around the tin,
which is going to create a very intense reduction atmosphere.
And generally,
reduction is associated with blacks and darker colours. So, it's going
to be interesting to see how these atmospheres fume
and what the materials do inside that kiln
when the pots are out in the morning.
Oh, well, we shall soon find out.
Just as their ancient potting ancestors would have done,
the potters will stay with their precious work all night.
- This would be a good combustible, no? - Yeah!
- I wonder if we did marshmallows. - Sticky sugar.
After 17 hours of hard at it today, I think we've earnt an early night.
- I'm absolutely knackered. - Who's going to wee on the campfire?
- Goodnight, everybody. Goodnight. - Let's go to sleep. Goodnight!
- Night-night, everybody. - Night, Cait. - Night, Cait.
Goodnight! Sleep well.
Morning, guys.
It's Judgment Day.
Morning.
Everything now rests on how the
vases have faired in the pits overnight.
Their work now needs to be cooled enough to be cleaned and presented.
But any sudden change in temperature will lead to thermal shock,
cracking and destroying five days work.
Can't believe yours, Nam. It's still smoking.
Yeah, let's cook breakfast on there, mate.
So, I guess it's going to be an issue, potentially,
because we've got to get these pots out for judging.
So, we're going to have to take some drastic action at some
point, I guess. The biggest concern would be cooling it.
- Too hot. - Yeah.
I think we need to maybe just remove the tin a bit more,
- so the fire can burn its way out. - Yeah.
Scraping some of the embers away from the pot,
- so the pot can start to cool. - Mine is stone-cold.
Cait, are you ready to do it?
Wow.
Oh, there are some nice reds going on.
A bit of black, which is nice.
- She's got so much pink there. - Yeah. - I'm just hoping it's in one piece.
Oh!
Wa-hey it's in one piece. That's good.
Whoo!
THEY APPLAUD AND CHEER
Nice.
Wow.
Wow, that's beautiful.
Yellow colour, I got yellow! Orange.
- Oh, my God, I've got orange. - Well done.
That's from the cabbage.
- You see all this red? - Yeah.
That was red iron and it looks like it hasn't cooked onto
the pot, which means it's coming off in my hands,
which means it probably didn't reach temperature.
But there's even worse news for Ryan.
Was that not meant to happen?
It broke at the join I think.
I think it was already broken, so as I just pulled it out,
it was in two halves.
- Oh! - Oh, no!
Obviously, the weakness is in the joint.
That's a blow.
Wow.
- That's amazing, Clover. - I'm sure it's a happy accident.
I can't even remember what I put in. All this colour.
- Wow. - Whoa!
To make the most of the colours that the pit firing has created,
each vase need to be cleaned and waxed.
Nice interesting bits in some areas.
And then I don't how hot it got really at all, cos, I mean,
that's still the same colour it was when it went in.
I never expected this orange.
Hopefully, some of it has sunk into the actual pot.
But for some, cleaning will have to wait.
So, this one, are you going to go at it both ends
and just go really steady?
- I shall leave it in there. - You're going to leave it in there
- for a bit? - Yeah, forever. - I don't want to get mine out either.
You can't go on strike, potters, and refuse to get them out,
cos you're scared of damaging them.
Ryan, Richard and Nam have only one surviving vase.
I was trying to touch it a few minutes ago.
- How hot is it? - Pretty hot.
- Ooh. Got it. - Gentle. Slow, slow, slow.
Up.
There's not as much colour as I'd have hoped,
but there's some really nice effects around the top and around this side.
Oh, my goodness. How beautiful!
Totally made up. I think it's wonderful.
Four days, 13 hours later...
HE LAUGHS
- Are you ready to get your vase out? - Yeah, yeah.
- Are you sure you're happy? - Yeah, I'm happy with it.
OK. Slowly, gently, gently.
I'm just going to take it to the table.
- Still in one piece? - Still in one piece.
There's a bit of streaks, a bit of copper, flaring.
Right then, guys. It's time to get these pots wrapped up,
take them up to Middleport for judging.
Very pleased with the intact vase.
The colours, I think, are marvellous.
I've managed to avoid all that horrible dark carbon.
I knew I put these combustible materials to get these colours,
but I didn't expect that the colour would be so dramatic.
I'd like to see some more reds and orangey colours in there.
I just feel like it doesn't stand out compared to the others.
I don't feel confident about them at all.
I'm feeling uncertain.
Potters, welcome back to the pottery
and before we started the judging process,
what exactly were you looking for with these vases, please?
We wanted two vases, robust enough to withstand a pit firing.
We wanted you then to choose one of them to bring us for judging.
We also wanted to see that your decoration is showing pit firing to
its very best on the surface of your vase.
OK, so choose your favourite vase, please.
Clover, you're up first.
- I don't know which one to bring. - Decision time.
You don't know which one to pick? KATE GASPS
Gut feeling.
THEY LAUGH
You should've picked that one. No, no, I'm joking.
- No, no, no, you chose. - I've chosen it.
- You chose. - This one is not as well-made as the other,
but it shows what pit firing could do for you.
It's a brilliant weight.
A pot, a vase, has a weight that suits it.
You know, you have a feeling of how it should be
and it was right when you picked it up. You're right, Keith.
I like the fluency and I like the fact that it springs up.
I would have liked to have seen more finish on the rim.
The rim just looks like it sort of stops.
It's got a sort of night and day side, hasn't it?
It's like there is the moon shining in the night and as we turn it,
we've got gingers from irons, we've got all sorts of coppers and greens.
The surface is brilliant.
Beautiful use of pit firing materials.
Well done.
Freya.
OK.
I'm having a really hard time deciding,
but I think I'm going to go for this one.
What is your heart saying, Freya? What's your instinct saying?
Well, that's my favourite one, but it's too short. Oh, no.
I feel like I'm walking to my grave.
Walk to your grave.
You can see that you're very, very competent at throwing.
These accents that you got here, which are the points of where you've
joined it together, brilliant.
Really, really, really good.
I don't think the surface is brilliant,
as far as pit firing is concerned.
There is a consistency of it,
but I'm trying to find the depth that you can find in pit firing.
So, I'm not as thrilled with the surface as I'd like to be.
That...
- I knew he'd look at your bottom. - It was too heavy and it exploded.
- Yeah. - It was too thick and untrimmed. - Yeah.
You know, if that was dry enough,
I would have turned it upside down and trimmed that.
You needed to trim that off, didn't you?
I'm being harsh on you, Freya, because you are really good,
but, you know, that's why that is a really silly mistake.
Why did you choose this one over your other one?
My other one, sadly, exploded from the bottom.
Also the curvature on the other one wasn't exactly flowing either.
I would have probably liked to have seen a bit more reaction with the
combustibles, but I really like the shape and the form.
I love the way that you change the accent at the top.
There's a sense of modernity about this.
The bold lines are like some kind of modern, abstract painting,
- a Ruscha painting or something. - Yeah.
And I like it for that. I think it was very bold.
In my eyes, the make lets you down.
And I think the surface, kind of, brings it up again.
You're the only one who actually tried
to use a geometric pattern.
I mean, there are areas here that are quite bland, but,
at the same time, there is this gorgeous heart.
- The black heart here. - I usually like consistency and uniformity.
As a make, the fact that it's, for another word, wonky,
it kind of works for me.
But it's wonky because of the bad making, not because it was intended.
- But is there still a bit of beauty in the wonk? - There is.
- Why did you choose this one, Richard? - This was always going to
be my main pot, but my second pot decided to hate me and broke.
- Let's have a feel. - It's great, great, Richard. Really good.
It feels nice in your hands when you pick it up.
The structure of it is really nice.
In fact, for a rim that isn't a rim, it just sort of stops.
It's quite abrupt. It actually works quite well,
because this proportion here actually works with the rest of the
body of the pot.
The join is more or less invisible and I think the surface...
- I'm speechless. - That's never happened before.
Because it is lighter in colour, it's lifted the pot up as well
and it's made the pot less heavy to look at.
Well, it was a conscious effort not to have it too dark.
Well, you've succeeded, lovey.
Is this is where the tinfoil, do you think, touched the surfaces?
- Yes, yes. - It's almost like a marble effect, isn't it? - It is, yes.
It is, yes. This is...
- extraordinary surface. - Thank you.
Ryan, you're up next, please.
Oh, sorry, wrong one.
So, I like the top half. I'm not so keen on the bottom half.
It, sort of, loses its shape for me.
It looks like that, for me. And it doesn't really flow.
- It's got a bit of a dad bod, hasn't it? - Yeah, yeah.
It's very, very heavy. It is very heavy, isn't it?
Do you feel that you could have turned and trimmed
- a bit more off it? - Definitely. Yeah, definitely.
I completely rushed with the joining process and turning process, yeah.
I really like this top bit.
I mean, it's quite black.
I quite like this shadowing here of these blocks of wood
- that you've applied on there. - And there's this shiny area here.
- I love that bit. That's my favourite bit. - What was that?
Probably just that hardwood really burning into the piece.
It's heavy and that's a lack of good meeting at the day.
I don't think you were on form on the day.
And I would have liked to have seen a bit more colour
and a bit more reaction.
Who has caught your eye for Potter of the Week?
The minute I picked up Clover's vase... I'm getting emotional now,
but she's made this vase and it was quite incredible
in its weight and size.
And the surface. The greens and the honeys and the mustards,
very beautiful.
Richard's left me speechless. I mean, really.
That is such a unique surface.
He set out to do a fairly contemporary vase and, as we know,
Richard is stuck in the 17th century.
And it was fantastic.
Somebody has to leave the pottery.
Who's in the danger zone for you?
Annoyingly, it's Freya.
She's such a good thrower, but the bottom of her pot blew out.
She was just not totally on the ball.
Ryan's make, he had such a heavy bottom.
He didn't turn and trim that away.
And then he did all this combustibles.
I was thinking, "Wow, this is going to be fantastic.
"He's throwing everything at this thing," and we end up with
- a black and white vase. - And who else are you worried about?
- Cait. - Cait.
She's got this great ambition and great vision,
but she just can't carry it through.
Normally, by this point,
I can, kind of, have a feeling for who's going to be leaving the pottery,
but, I've got to be honest, I can't work it out with you two this week.
Oh! Very hard.
Very hard today.
Well, potters, your performance this week has really fanned the flames of
discussion with the judges
and we are going to start with the happy bit.
So, Pot of the Week, please.
So, Pot of the Week this week is...
..Richard.
- THEY CHEER - Wow!
- Go, Richard. - Well done.
- Thank you.
So, now to the less happy job,
because somebody does have to leave the pottery.
And the person leaving the pottery this week...
is...
It's no-one.
- Really? - It was really, really hard.
It was such a dilemma. You've got positives and you've got negatives.
Now, listen, listen, listen carefully.
Freya, I'm really frustrated. You had this blowout. And, frankly,
the decoration is really boring.
Cait, you're way short of the 60 centimetres.
Your joins were really poor and the fact that it's leaning to one
side wasn't purposeful, it was accidental.
Ryan, you've had a pretty bad week.
The decorative surface on your vase is really lacking.
And the weight of the vase is extremely heavy.
Next week, we want you to really focus on all points, please.
Really listen to what the judges have got to say, guys,
because next week two of you will be leaving the pottery.
Kate and I just really couldn't agree on the one potter that was
going to leave this week.
Keith and I were at loggerheads, almost,
about what was going to happen.
They all had such strengths and weaknesses.
They've got so much talent there.
They've just got to really show it to us. Well done, mate.
- Thank you. - Mwah!
Keith kissed me.
I've got to live that one down yet.
Richard's vase is the fifth piece to make it into our gallery.
There really are some really good potters here
and it's quite an honour, really, isn't it, to be on display.
Just sort yourselves out.
I'm relieved that I'm not going home,
but I'm not particularly happy about this situation.
I don't want to be on the cusp of being kicked out.
It's nervy.
I didn't expect that.
Although Clover told me that that's exactly what she predicted.
So, I think she's got a career in fortune-telling perhaps.
No-one wants to leave.
We're all excited to stay and be a part of this competition,
so I will be disappointed if I go next week.
Next time...
This will be the last time the six of us will be together.
- ..it's the quarterfinal... - They have to get this right.
..and with four Russian dolls to make...
I need to start again.
- ..the cracks are beginning to show... - Argh!
- ..but there's no way to hide... - I'm getting worried now.
..as two potters must leave.
I have my suitcase packed.
But who will survive and make it to the semifinals?
I think I'm going home.
Just sort yourselves out.
GASPING