For the last eight weeks, Middleport has been home
to ten of Britain's finest home potters.
SHE GASPS
There's been blood...
Quite disturbing, isn't it?
..sweat...
Come on!
..and tears...
I'm really, really impressed.
..as they turn lumps of clay into stunning ceramics.
This is fantastic!
- But those who floundered... - Ooh!
..were flushed away.
THEY YELL
Now, just Clover, Richard and Ryan remain...
Well, this is a total and utter failure.
..to face three stomach-churning challenges.
Calm down, Clover.
But who will be crowned winner...
The Titanic, I think, has hit an iceberg.
..of The Great Pottery Throw Down?
That isn't good.
# Makin' time
# Shootin' lines
# People have their uses
# People have their uses. #
Clover's journey to the final hasn't always been smooth.
She struggled on some of the larger builds.
But her exquisite eye for detail...
Can I just take it and run now?
..won her Pot Of The Week with a delicate set of Russian dolls.
Just cannot express what I am actually feeling now.
Now I've got this far, I start wanting a bit more, actually.
From the very start, pub landlord Richard
has brought his love of history to the pottery.
Canopic jars, which were laid next to Pharaohs.
His simple approach to design hasn't always impressed the judges...
You could have done a bit more to that.
But his pit-fired vases left them lost for words...
I'm speechless.
..as he claimed Pot Of The Week.
I really, really, really would love to win it.
There would be nothing better to say, "I'm Top Potter."
It doesn't matter what the judges give us - bring it on.
Ryan threw a perfect dinner set.
But he narrowly escaped being sent home after a COD-awful disaster...
This one has already been filleted, I think.
..but came back fighting to claim a second spot in the gallery
with his turtle toilet.
I had no idea that I would get this far and be in the final today.
I was up all night prepping and worrying and tossing and turning.
So, yeah, it's... Yeah, sleepless night.
- Good luck, guys. - Good luck. - Good luck. Cheers.
Three potters.
Three final challenges.
Wow! Potters, good morning.
And firstly, I mean, huge congratulations to you three
for making it through to the final.
You must be very, very proud of yourselves.
We're going to kick off, then, with the big challenge -
your grand-final Main Make.
Kate and Keith would like you to make
a pair of identical porcelain lights.
I've been working with porcelain for 25 years now.
In my view, it's one of the most amazing clays.
These are light features.
Think of the translucency.
We want to see that light coming through.
So we've got to see beauty, fine design,
great use of clay and beautiful use of light.
OK, potters, you've got four hours
for this first part of your Main Make.
It's your time to shine.
The bar is set so high. For the judges to ask us to do
two identical pendants with porcelain,
it's really challenging.
I had a little read-up and you need a lot of experience -
you need to work with it.
And, er, I haven't.
My experience of porcelain is zero.
The closest I come to porcelain is when I go to the loo.
Porcelain - its sensitivity is almost frightening, isn't it?
It's incredible. It's one of the most volatile and delicate clays
to work with. If it's too thin,
it's going to be too delicate to actually even handle.
But if it's too thick, you're not going to get that translucency,
which is what we're really looking for.
Whether they go simple or whether they go complicated,
we want to see perfection.
For the grand final, the potters can make their lights
using any technique they choose.
I chose a slab build for this challenge,
which I think Kate will be surprised to hear me say.
She's converted me over to the dark side.
Quite a big build, so, you know, I need some tall pieces,
and it's quite hard to throw that on a wheel.
While Ryan rolls out slabs, Clover's at the extruder...
- STRAINING: - Push!
..preparing coils of clay for a technique that won her
Pot Of The Week in the quarterfinal.
The coiling I did for the Russian doll
definitely gave me a good chance to practise coiling.
Ah.
Richard's gone for throwing!
It's what people feel comfortable with.
And this is what I feel comfortable with.
I'm hoping it's a good idea, throwing,
but we'll see very shortly.
It's really hard to handle it.
It's very putty-like.
Ooh, whoa, whoa, whoa. Sh!
HE SIGHS
Oh, I hate this clay already.
Look at that.
If Ryan can roll out a usable slab,
he'll make multiple porcelain pipes
and hang them to look like a church organ.
To create the shape he's looking for, he's using cardboard formers,
which he's wrapped in a familiar face.
I've put my grandma on here.
She gave me really good luck in the first episode,
so I brought her back in to give me some more luck for the final.
I'm going to wrap porcelain round them to get that shape.
Bye-bye, Grandma.
- Ryan. - Hello! - Congratulations on getting through to the final.
I know! I can't believe it. It's crazy.
Did you tell the main lady in your life, your lovely grandma?
I haven't told her yet. She's in here somewhere.
I've used her inside of the wrapping.
Have you used porcelain before?
No, never used porcelain before.
I'm learning the hard way.
- It's a weird one, isn't it? - It's insane.
It's something completely different.
I think it's going to be something grand - that's the idea -
so the thing that I come up with was church organs,
with these sort of metallic edges.
Rather than sound coming out of them, I'm going to have light coming out of them.
- Well done. - That's the idea.
Clover's also using a former to coil the main structure of her design.
I'm making a pendant light,
inspired by honeybee, beehive.
My design is two bowl shapes.
The only thing that I can find and is a round shape is a barbecue.
Thank you, Tesco.
Clover's supermarket barbecue will help create
the basic shape of her beehive.
Wrapped around each globe will be a swirling porcelain ribbon,
from which a swarm of bees will hang.
The globes will be elaborately carved and decorated
to give a honey glow.
I wonder if you've ever seen light coming through from the honeycomb.
It gives this rich, gold colour, and the layers of honeycomb
just give the light a lot more interesting feature.
It's really beautiful.
Like Clover, Richard's also hoping to bring nature into his design.
My inspiration is autumn. You know, you get some lovely patterns
off autumnal leaves as they fall down.
That's what I'm going to hope to catch.
Richard's lights will feature 100 handmade autumnal glazed leaves,
drifting down from a canopy made from a giant ring of porcelain.
Obviously, you've got these leaves dangling down.
We don't want to end up with a mobile.
- OK? - No, I understand that.
What I'm very conscious of - that there is enough leaves for both.
You know they've got to be twin light features.
Are you going to have the lengths of the leaves exactly the same?
The brief were identical, and that's what they'll be.
- Wow! - Well done, Richard. - Sticking to the brief.
- OK. - He's a right swot.
He's good, isn't he? He's a finalist - he's got to be.
Whatever design the potters have chosen...
..they have one common aim...
I kind of want a little bit of translucency.
To make the porcelain as thin as possible.
If it's too thick, the light won't shine through it.
But the thinner it gets...
Sticking to the rolling pin.
..the more fragile it becomes.
Got a bit of a...
sag here, which needs sorting out.
Do not overwork it, Clover.
Do not overwork it.
Push and pull, Ryan. Push and pull.
Having finished coiling her barbecue-shaped globes,
Clover begins the most elaborate part of her design -
the twirling ribbon.
It's very scary, making such a delicate make in the final.
There is really no gap for mistake.
It's really fragile, as you can see - the edge is already breaking.
- Clover. - Hello. - Are you having fun with this porcelain?
This porcelain is really hard to use.
It's so different.
Are you making this into one piece?
Cos, you know, porcelain has this incredible fragility.
Yeah, I'm worrying about it now.
If this concept survives, it'll look quite stunning.
But you've obviously got to balance that with the practicalities
- of the actual making. - Did you do a bit of research, Clover,
on porcelain before you decided on this shape?
- No. - Right. - So...
You've just got to think about it.
- Ryan, so busy. - Busy, busy, busy.
Are you quite pleased you went for quite a simple...
It's quite a simple technique.
Mind you, I say that - is it not? But what I mean is, it's just...
You're just repeating, and then afterwards you can build it.
Repetitive, yeah. Yeah, it's very repetitive.
There's a lot of thought gone into it, but, yeah,
it is sort of simple but effective.
But one finalist's design is already proving far from simple,
and rather less than effective.
I want to give up my design, honestly.
There's nothing I can do.
Potters, you've got one hour left.
So I've firmed the canopies now.
They've got to dry, and then we can straighten them up.
Now, what we move to are the leaves.
So I shall be cutting quite a few of those.
With time running out, Clover's made a decision.
Instead of having the thin ribbon, I'm just having patches,
and I'm just pressing this honeycomb shape onto it.
It's always going to be a risk.
I mean, this is the first time I changed my designs halfway through.
But, again, this is the final.
It's a lot tougher than all the other challenges.
RICHARD HUMS, SARA JOINS IN
Oh, you do sing beautifully as you work, Richard.
- I've always said that. - That's very kind of you.
You could do an album of Richard Sings.
Good lord, no. The world's not ready for that, I can assure you.
I just need as many as possible, really,
just so it looks grand and big.
Production line.
As Ryan ploughs on,
Clover's back on track, and there's a hive of activity at her desk.
The bees are beginning.
Yeah, they are butterflies at the moment.
I'm chopping them and forcing them to become a bee.
Oh, it's against nature.
- Messing with evolution. - Sorry!
Potters, 30 minutes left.
I wish I have more time.
Poor bees. Sorry - Mummy can't make you any fancier.
Just deal with it.
Just giving my canopy a little bit of attention.
It's dried up quite a bit.
Getting it... level.
Straightening the sides up.
Potters, you've got ten minutes left, OK?
Crikey.
Before the potters can refine their light features,
the porcelain will need to dry.
So these formers are coming out.
Removing the formers will speed this process up.
But it's a gamble, as without the support,
the moist clay could collapse.
Boom!
It's too soft.
Still too soft - can't turn over just yet.
(Four, five, six, seven, eight.)
As porcelain is so delicate,
the potters leave their pieces away from the heat of the drying room
to prevent them from cracking.
Wrapping them in clingfilm will keep them moist
for the trimming stage.
Oh, sorry, Clover.
OK, my bright young things, two minutes left.
- Richard? - Oh.
Yeah, oh, absolutely.
Ten, nine, eight,
seven, six,
five, four,
three, two, one.
Well done. See you back here for the next challenge. Thank you.
MUSIC: House Of The Rising Sun by The Animals
As the light features stiffen off,
we're heading to the land of the rising sun for the final Throw Down.
The judges want the potters to throw a rather simple shape -
but it won't be as straightforward as it sounds.
Today, Kate and Keith would like you to throw Japanese lanterns.
Keith, are you going to do the honours and give us a quick demo?
Absolutely. Basically, a Japanese lantern is a simple...
cylinder.
So you want to centre your clay.
Get it nice and even.
And pull it up into a nice cylinder.
And then I want you to make sure that you rib off the throwing lines.
Sponge out the middle...
..making sure that you look after that rim.
And wire it off.
Nice and simple.
However, it's the final.
It seems almost too simple somehow.
Well, there's a twist.
Because it's a Japanese lantern...
In Japan, they throw the other way.
We're going to turn the direction of the wheel of the other way round,
so you're going to be throwing in reverse.
Ah.
And the reason for this challenge is that it's really, really hard.
THEY CHUCKLE
Everything that your body is telling you,
the memory of you throwing on the wheel,
it's completely and utterly different.
Imagine learning the guitar,
and then all of a sudden you wake up one day and you're Jimi Hendrix,
and you have to learn the other way round.
You really have to be very, very conscious of what you're doing.
- Make life interesting. - CLOVER: - Ah!
And when you come to use the rib, that's even stranger.
Very evil of you.
Look, you're finalists - you know what I mean?
We've got to put you through it.
This is probably the hardest challenge I think I've ever done.
Wow. Well done, Keith. OK.
Potters, you have ten minutes
to throw as many Japanese lanterns as you can
with the wheel moving in the opposite direction
to what you're used to. Good luck.
It's your final Throw Down.
Time starts now.
Aargh!
- The minute your hands hit that clay, it's weird, isn't it? - Yeah.
Really weird.
Looking good, Clover.
- How's it feeling? - Weird.
I have to slow the wheel down a lot more than usually.
Get control of that top rim there, Richard.
Yeah, we want a nice, clean rim.
Everything's so different with this.
It catches on different parts of your hand.
It's just bizarre.
Come on, Ryan, let's have that a bit taller, those cylinders.
- It's weird. - Go on, Clover, get it off the wheel.
- Well done. - Really think how you're applying the pressure to the clay.
- KATE: - Focus in on yourselves. Concentrate.
- Nice one, Ryan. - Come on, Richard, catch up with the others.
- Oh, you... - Oh, bad luck.
Clover, concentrate.
You're halfway through your time, potters. Five minutes left.
They're looking a bit wide, Clover.
If you can keep your head while all about you
- are losing theirs... - Is going in reverse.
Three minutes now, potters.
This is your final Throw Down.
Come on, push yourselves.
Come on, Clover, try and get another one out.
Richard's actually throwing from the inside.
I'm throwing from any side!
Is it getting easier with each one?
- No way. - Is it not?
Potters, one minute left.
Clover's on five.
Ryan's on six.
Richard's on...
two and a bit.
Focus. Focus.
- Come on. - Come on!
Ten, nine,
eight, seven, six...
- KEITH AND SARA: - Five, four, three,
two, one.
Time's up.
Step back from your wonky wheels.
Well done. That is your last ever Throw Down. Whoo!
- Well done. - That was horrid.
That was evil.
Lot of fun. Lot of fun!
Kate and Keith are looking for perfectly formed
cylindrical Japanese lanterns.
Any that fall short will be thrown into the bin of doom.
I would have liked to have seen them slightly thinner, slightly narrower.
Failure.
That one's no good, either.
You did say "quality", didn't you?
- I heard you say "quality". - Quality, yeah.
That's no good, either.
You've really managed to rib up the side of these ones.
- Four. Not bad at all. - Thank you. - Thanks, Clover.
JUDGES CHUCKLE
Judges, you mustn't giggle, OK?
It's very unprofessional.
Well, this is a total and utter failure.
My sacrificial lamb, that one.
I don't know what's going on with this rim here. That's going in.
- Oh! - Oh! - No more.
- No more! - Let's drag him away. Distract him with something shiny.
Move him away! OK, thanks very much, Richard.
- Got to look inside these eight. - Yeah, there's a dodgy one there.
- Oh, dear me! - Ryan!
There's no bottom on that one.
- That's really no good. - Can you peek through it?
- And what's this? - That was my last one.
That's going in, as well.
And that's really no good.
Look what's just happened.
- Did you do that? - No, it's too thin.
- We did say, a nice, even, good, flat bottom. - You did.
- Nicely done. Thank you very much. - Thank you.
So, has anyone managed to impress in a brutal Throw Down?
On the final Throw Down, the person in third place is...
- ..Richard! - I want a recount.
So, in second place...
..with four pots...
..was Clover.
And so the winner today is Ryan.
Whoo!
Ryan, congratulations. Well done, all of you.
You can go and get a quick breather now. We'll see you back here shortly,
when your light fittings will be ready to be finessed.
- Well done! - Congratulations!
Just won the final Throw Down.
It's sad to say we're not going to do another one but, yeah,
I managed to win it, so I was really happy.
Left-handed throwing didn't really do it for me.
I struggled all the way through and, basically, got what I deserved.
I'm bang in the middle!
I just started getting a grip of this.
Yeah, I would like to try that again at home.
I'm very worried about Main Make.
I just want to go straight back there to refine them right now.
The components of their light features
have been drying for four hours.
I'm quite happy the way the leaves are at the moment.
I only have a mere 101.
The potters have two hours to finesse.
This is a crucial moment to refine the edges,
to thin it to the correct thickness so the translucency works later on.
It really has to be done carefully.
They're all still standing up, which is quite good.
I didn't want any of them to slump because I took the formers out.
They're all in one piece.
I'm now just going to clean up all the edges.
The clay is at its most delicate.
It's still quite pliable but it'll remember any stresses or strains
it's put under when it's being worked on.
I'm just scared. It still feels so fragile.
Unlike Ryan, Clover left her pieces to dry inside their formers...
Wow, super-soft.
..so the clay is still moist and very delicate,
and Clover has to cut her intricate design
into its incredibly soft surface.
I need to carve out the shape of the honeycomb -
some cut through, some just scratched through -
to make it really translucent.
I don't know how much I can do, given that it's so wet.
I'm just trying to be as careful as I can.
No dramas, Ryan?
- Yeah, all OK, mate, thank you. - Excellent.
- What about you, Richard? You got any mishaps? - Well, we're looking...
not too bad. Got a fair bit to do in pressing the pattern on the leaves.
It really is head down and crack on.
Let's give it a try.
I've got a lot to do.
I haven't got all day.
The judges have tasked the potters with making the porcelain
as translucent as it can be.
I'm scratching the shape of the honeycomb.
I want this area to be as thin as it can, really,
for the light to come through.
Wow! This is so soft.
I don't want to do any more.
It's a case of, how thin do you dare go on the leaf?
They may say it's not thin enough, which it quite possibly could be.
But, you know, at this present second in time,
it's as thin as I dare go.
Ryan's hoping his organ pipes will play with the light even further.
I'm using the slit off the former to cut the slit in the back.
Just having that beam of light coming through, that crack,
so you get light from all angles.
Clover's also aiming to maximise the light.
I'm going to pin holes into it, instead of scratching,
because that's the top of the light.
And I want it to come out...
..as pinholes.
Potters, you're halfway through your time now. You've got one hour left.
It's always a race against time.
They're not going to hang without any holes,
so we've got to make sure everything's got a hole in it
before it becomes brittle.
I'm putting quite big holes in for wire.
After abandoning her ribbon at the building stage,
Clover's new design has left her with even more sections to perfect.
I've still got a lot to do.
I still have to sort out the 50 bees
and make sure they have the holes in it, so they can be hung over.
But Richard has more than just holes to worry about.
His huge canopies need to be wired off
to prevent them from cracking in the kiln.
He should have wired off when he was throwing.
He really should have done.
And he's only got two.
They've dried a bit. It always makes it harder to wire anything off.
- Keep that wire down on the back, mate. - Yeah.
Here we come.
Next time, may I make a suggestion?
- Yeah! - Wire it off when you're throwing it.
- THEY CHUCKLE - Yeah, I might take you up on that.
All right.
Dryness isn't just an issue for Richard.
SHE GASPS
Oh, no! It's just crumbled.
Well, my bees will not have holes in it now,
cos they've gone past the stage to manipulate.
Luckily, they have the wings, which I can just tie the string over.
Yeah, they're going to be more freestyle now.
Potters, you've got just five minutes left now.
You need to start thinking about getting stuff in the drying room.
So if you've got loads of pieces, like 100 leaves...
I hope that wasn't aimed at me!
One minute left now.
Ten, nine,
eight, seven,
six, five,
four, three,
two, one.
Time is up! Finalists, well done!
The nightmare's over!
THEY CHEER
Well done, guys!
I am happy to say I know nothing about what happens to porcelain,
so I'm going to be able to sleep well while it fires.
Wow, this task is crazy!
But human beings are there to make the impossible possible,
so there's no excuse not to try.
They look quite good, I think.
All the right shape and standing up tall.
So let's see how the next stage goes.
I shall go home.
I've got a pub to look after.
I'll go back and see what disasters have befallen it while I'm there.
I believe it's still standing.
The potters' work will be dried for 24 hours
under the watchful eye of Rich, but he has some big concerns.
Really, really disappointed that Richard has chosen
to leave his big pieces on these wooden bats.
The problem is that this porcelain just shrinks so dramatically
while it's drying and particularly while it's in the kiln.
So if this doesn't crack under the stress of that contorting
while it's drying, it certainly will do during the firing.
As their work is bisque fired and cooled,
the potters face a nail-biting 48-hour wait at home
with their family and friends.
I'm very proud of Richard getting to the final.
I think it's a dream come true for him.
There's nothing, really, he can't do.
He can put the cellar right, he can put the kegs right.
But this would be his biggest achievement ever.
I would be absolutely delighted if he won The Great Pottery Throw Down
because it will prove to him that,
actually, he is as good as he is. I think he's probably
the one person who doesn't really believe it.
It would be lovely to be able to say, "Look, there you go.
"Everybody else thinks you're great, too."
With Clover's family being so far away,
I can only imagine how proud they are.
To come to a new country and start a new hobby,
which is quite traditional for her country, in a way...
MUSIC: Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks
I bet it's been hard work.
- Yeah, yeah. - And long hours.
I'm very proud of Ryan.
If Ryan does win,
I'd be very excited and, of course,
all the old ladies at the club that I go to would be excited, too!
After a 24-hour bisque firing,
the light features are ready for the returning potters to decorate.
- I've got an awful lot to do. - You've got 100 leaves, haven't you? - Yeah.
Well, I might have predominantly less, depending...
You might have 200 - they've broken in half!
THEY CHUCKLE
How they fared could be the difference between
disappointment and being crowned champion.
Ooh!
Everything's come out in one piece.
There's slight distortion in a few pieces but it's quite minimal.
So I'm fairly happy.
How's yours come up, Clover? All good?
No breaks, crackings?
Just small, small things on the small pieces, but it's all right.
HE SIGHS HEAVILY
Oh, dear!
HE BLOWS RASPBERRIES
I've got massive cracks in both pieces.
Probably about the worst time it could happen, but...
- What's happened? - They've all gone. - Oh, no!
- Oh, mate! - Titanic, I think, has hit an iceberg.
Oh! It's such a shame.
- Sheesh! - Yeah.
See what we can salvage, but it's not good.
I'm not quite sure what to do at the moment.
Some of them have come out really thin, which is quite nice.
Hopefully, there's going to be a bit of translucency there in the clay.
Clover, if you keep sanding, you can make it thinner.
But I can't see any light through.
Did you see a light through? Maybe you're doing...
Yeah, I can see yours.
I think I've come up with a plan of action.
Carry on glazing the canopy as I would normally,
and then after it's fired,
put a bat here and glue it together that way.
We will overcome our endeavours.
So, Kate, decorating. Quite a few examples here
where they haven't used any glaze at all but the finish is perfect.
I want to see a bold use of glaze.
I don't mind whether it's got lots of colour, whether it's transparent,
but it's got to be sure and positive and it's got to bring something to
the whole piece.
They can't just do a little band of transparent, can they?
If that little band of transparent has been executed
to the best possible way, then I'm OK with that.
Right, I'm going to go get some glazing.
Get glazing!
Obviously, I don't want it to be too boring
cos, when the lights switch off, if you see something white like that,
it's just boring, isn't it?
So definitely a bit of colour.
But when making a light, it's not just colour that's important.
- Are you having a glossy finish or a mattone? - Bit of both.
Their choice of finish can have a huge impact on how the light plays
on the surface of their pieces.
The inside has got to reflect light,
so, obviously, if you put a nice, shiny glaze on the inside,
it going to reflect the light.
It's going to be this way up
and each cylinder's going to have a light bulb in it
and there's going to be metallic glazes on here
which is going to bounce out the light, hopefully.
- Hello, Ryan. - Hiya! I've made another tool, you might be happy to see.
Oh, a tool. I love your tools.
It sort of goes in and helps me glaze a nice, neat line.
Wow! So that slides up and down to make it bigger and tighter.
- Bigger and smaller, yeah. - What's that a bit of? A windscreen wiper?
Windscreen wiper round some wire, yeah.
Wow! That's ingenious.
Yeah, I'll have that one.
And you're just going to glaze just a section...
Just the tips. Yeah.
- ..of the inside? You've got a great plan, haven't you? - I've got a plan.
- And we know that ceramics never... - Ah! - Oh!
- That wasn't meant to happen! - No, Ryan!
Porcelain's so delicate when it's biscuit fired.
- That's what happens when I talk. - Oh, no!
Stop talking and get on with your glaze plan.
- I hope it all works out... - Comes out. - ..how you think it's going to.
- Thanks, Ryan. - Thanks, Kate.
Whilst Ryan is hoping less is more, Clover is leaving nothing untouched.
I'm just oxide washing to enhance the texture
and make them look more like a honey beehive.
Potters, you're halfway through your time now.
You've got one hour left.
- SHE GASPS - Oh, my God!
- Hey, Ryan. - Hello.
Didn't Kate come over and smash summat before in a fit of fury?
- That's the rumour going round. - Shall we say that?
Yeah, it's Kate's fault.
- Are you going to fix it? - I'm going to fix it. - Excellent.
I'm hoping to add some of the coppery colours to give it
that hint of the autumn leaves.
As Richard gets on with his 100 leaves...
- Can I get some gold? - Yeah, go for it, babe.
..Clover moves on to her swarm of bees.
One side will be, like, honey colour and the other side will be metallic,
like, golden. So it'll bounce the light
a little bit after I hang them.
Potters, you've got ten minutes to tools down, OK?
Do not waste time, Clover.
SHE MUTTERS
This is a transparent glaze.
It will make it look more like the honey dripping out.
Clover, are they going to match?
You never know how they're going to drip but they should be all right.
- Got to get them as matching as you can, though. - Yeah.
I'm just cleaning up any of the glaze.
Bits might be falling off and stuff.
One minute left now, potters. One minute left.
Ten, nine,
eight, seven,
six, five,
four, three,
two, one.
Tools down. Well done.
And breathe!
It's all finished now! We've finished it!
Yay! I decorated it with the best knowledge I have,
as close to the original design I have.
So hopefully they'll shine.
Yeah, I actually noticed Richard and Clover applying quite a lot of glaze.
For me, my design's quite slick and minimal, really,
so I'm trying to make the glaze complement it, rather than fight it.
But you don't know until it comes out of the kiln.
You just don't know.
Lovely.
Could have been a lot worse.
Could have been a lot better!
But, hey, I'm not a quitter. I'm not going to give up.
I could rise to the occasion - the phoenix out of the flames -
who knows? These guys have got to earn the right to win that trophy.
I'm not going to lie down.
As the light features have their final firing,
the finalists face a Spot Test
that's has been challenging potters for millennia.
And all their skills will be laid bare.
Potters, welcome to your final-ever Spot Test.
Now, Kate and Keith would like you to sculpt a torso.
But not any old dad bod - we want the perfect torso.
So to help you to do that,
please welcome our very special guest today,
ice skater and personal trainer Sylvain Longchambon.
Welcome, Sylvain. APPLAUSE
- Bonjour. - Bonjour. Ca va? - Ah, oui, ca va.
Please would you reveal your perfect torso for us, Sylvain?
- RICHARD: - Calm down, Clover!
Now, Sylvain here is going to be your life model today
because under here you each have...
..one of these!
And you need to sculpt this into the perfect image of Sylvain here, OK?
We want to see an an anatomical copy.
We're not looking for artistic rendition here.
You will be manipulating this cylinder to create that muscle tone
and what we're really looking for is that really good, fine detail.
OK, Sylvain, would you like to go on the plinth?
Get yourself comfy and in position. Thank you.
'The final Spot Test will be judged blind.'
Right, judges, please leave the pottery.
'Kate and Keith won't know whose torso is whose.'
Potters, you have 90 minutes to sculpt your torso.
Time starts now.
We're looking for an anatomically correct torso.
Proportion, size is key to this challenge.
We've been making the human form out of clay for over 25,000 years.
I've never worked with this consistency of clay before.
But it was the ancient Greeks around 4,500 years ago
who were the first to represent the body in an exact way.
I've done still life drawing before
but I've never sculpted a human figure before, no.
I actually quite like it.
Sculpting is something I've never done.
I've seen quite a variety of torsos come through the pub.
Especially if it's hot, they tend not to want to put their clothes on.
IN FRENCH:
Make sure you warm up your hands first, Richard.
RICHARD LAUGHS
They've got to really look at Sylvain's shape, right up close,
measuring height, width,
checking where the chest definition is
and translating the proportions to the cylinder.
His body's quite symmetrical, so I'm measuring
with a tool from the pecs down,
working on the chest and sort of dividing up the central line.
I actually quite like it. I actually enjoy pushing the clay around.
For me, it's a bit more like being on the wheel, in that
you've got something to start with and manipulate straightaway, so you see the results instantly.
There is a lot of detail in the muscle.
I don't want it to look too still.
I want to put a bit of life into it.
You know you are supposed to be modelling it on Sylvain, not yourself, you know?
Well... mirror image.
Clearly works out, doesn't he?
Yeah, but nothing you ain't seen when Ryan's posing about.
- Really? - When he's got his top off, you know?
How are you approaching it?
Well, I thought I would have a hands-on approach.
On Sylvain or on the clay?
I prefer the clay, really.
There may be a few who'd prefer to have a hands-on approach on Sylvain.
- THEY CLEAR THROATS Clover! - Yes!
Now, now, come on.
Potters, you're halfway through your time now.
Just 45 minutes to complete your bodies beautiful.
- Does it hurt? - Nah!
The potters have been given an additional 5kg of terracotta clay
to bulk out their torso and add the anatomical detail.
I really do want to get the neck muscle.
- It's so beautiful, this neck muscle. - And the collarbone...
But the more clay they add, the more fragile the torso will become.
See, it's already sagging if I don't support here.
Stop sagging!
No!
Do you want me to do a few push-ups?
It's not you, it's the stupid clay!
Look, it's dripping, because it keeps sagging.
Too much clay at the top.
There is one way to save it - to cut off the arms.
Oh, dear. I'm glad you're not my surgeon -
straight in there with a scalpel.
Gosh!
You poor thing!
All right, let's have a look at these nipples.
How are you approaching the nipples?
Just trying to practise them, really, and get them in there.
Look at those nipples!
It makes me want to go and have a game of tiddlywinks.
Look at those beauties!
It's nice to see a bit of hair, isn't it, instead of all waxed?
- A bit more manly, isn't it? - A bit more manly, a bit better,
a bit more au naturale. A bit of French there for you, Sylvain.
Ten minutes left to sculpt their torsos.
And Clover has done some reconstructive surgery.
- I've made a comeback. - Yeah, you've rescued it. Well done.
Gosh, that was terrible but you've actually pulled it back.
It was really bad, wasn't it?
It was really bad! It was like, "No!"
Just one minute left to titivate your torsos.
Final touch.
Ten, nine,
eight, seven,
six, five,
four, three,
two, one.
Tools down.
Well done.
OK, potters, bring up your bodies for judging, please.
Put them on the front.
Kate and Keith are looking for an exact replica of Sylvain's torso.
- Hello! - Hi, Sylvain.
Well, what a great set of torsos, you three.
They really are fantastic.
And they don't know whose body is whose.
- Shall we take this one first? - Yeah.
The proportion is good.
Yeah, I think the size of the chest in relation to the stomach muscles
is very, very good, indeed.
And I'm really liking the belly button, as well.
That's gorgeous, isn't it? And the way the hair has been
- scratched onto the surface - it really works. - Mm.
And so the middle one, the one without arms...
You've got very strong lines on this one, very, very strong muscle tone.
- It seems to be a bit squashed. - Well, interestingly enough,
I think whoever's done this one may have cut something off.
If you notice, it's actually shorter than the other two torsos, isn't it?
So, this one - it has good height.
I think it's kind of lacking in width on the shoulder,
going into the waist.
I would to have liked to have seen more chest coming out.
Sylvain's pecs are very, very well accentuated.
As for stature, it's really good, isn't it?
- It's standing the straightest, and this one has the best posture. - Mm.
They really are fantastic.
They're too good in a way,
aren't they? It's made your job very difficult.
- Very, very hard. - Yeah.
The judges will now rank the torsos from worst to best.
In third place, it's this one here.
- Whose is that? - That's mine.
That's yours, Clover.
It just seems to have lost height.
It has lost a lot of height.
So, in second place is...
- ..this one. - Mine. - Richard! We love the way it was standing up.
You've got the muscle tone right there and the stature was
- really, really good. - And so the winner -
and I think I know whose that is - is this one here.
Well done! It's alive and the muscle definition
was the best of the three.
- Yeah, well done, Ryan. - Thank you.
I won it, so super, super-happy.
It's the last one, so it's nice to go out with a bang.
I... finished...
second! Yaargh!
So gutted I lost half of it! Oh!
It's the final day of The Great Pottery Throw Down.
For Richard, Clover and Ryan,
everything rests on how their light features have fared in the kiln.
- RICH: Hello! - Hello! - How's it going?
I'm feeling excited.
It's the last time we're going to touch our make and assemble it.
- Some of the bits are still a bit warm. - OK.
So be tentative about how you touch them.
I've got a lot of pendants to hang, so if any of them fall on the floor,
it's going to be like shattered glass in, just, a million pieces.
So, no dropping.
Today, for me, is going to be like putting a jigsaw puzzle together.
It's like playing poker.
I've been dealt a dead man's hand
and I've got to turn it into a straight.
The glaze has turned out
a lot different than I thought it would be.
Ta-da! How lovely they are!
I think this was meant to be a copper, but it's not very coppery.
It's metallic, so halfway there.
Well, the leaves have come out beautifully.
Everything I expected and a little bit more.
The canopies, er...
They're not in good shape.
- Hi, Rich. - Hello there. Excellent. - Will they do the job?
Well, we can but hope.
SARA: The potters must assemble their lights, ready for judging.
I'm doing the same knot as what you'd do for a fishing hook.
Twist, twist, twist.
Hives must be hung, canopies fixed and porcelain pipes suspended.
Please, don't drop!
RICHARD SIGHS WITH RELIEF Whoa!
That wasn't good.
Luckily, it didn't hit anything else.
We'll try and glue it but...
Let's see what we can do.
As the potters struggle with their light features,
their friends and family are gathering canal-side.
- THEY CHANT: - Clover! Clover!
And there's a few familiar faces.
It's so lovely to be back and see everybody.
It's really nice. And the sun's shining!
I'm thinking about how all the contestants feel.
They must be really stressed out right now.
I want Richard to win. I'd like to see Richard do it.
Clover, from the very beginning, has been saying,
"Oh, I can't hand-build."
And she can.
My money's on Ryan.
The good thing about the porcelain breaking, I think,
is that they're all clean breaks, real crisp breaks,
so it's actually quite easy to glue back together. Which is a bonus.
- BLEEP - sake.
HE SIGHS
Gluing one together and another one's breaking.
I'm going to put this bee here.
We are nearly there.
It just shows - a bit of willpower, you CAN create summat.
Well, potters, this is it.
This is the very last time Kate and Keith are going to judge your work,
so best of luck.
Clover, we're going to come to you first.
You managed to pull it together.
Well done, cos you had a tricky time too, didn't you?
It is, yeah. I had to change my design halfway through
because it just wouldn't work with the ribbon.
I think it's a lot better than I expected it to be.
What you always give us is a very, very strong narrative
to your design concept, and you've pulled it off.
- For me, there is a bit too much wire going on. - Yeah.
But you've given us this lovely soft honey colour,
which works really, really well with the porcelain.
Also, there is a bit of translucency.
It's really showing off that nice honey glow concept.
Your texture on the surface is very lovely.
I'm really glad you pierced them,
- because the light is coming out. - Yes.
And I do love the way you've glazed your bees.
There's this dripping sense.
It's a sense that it's shiny, it's wet with honey,
and the whole thing's got a great movement and energy.
You've really shown us great tenacity.
You know, quite often you do have to think on your feet
- and you've done that perfectly, so well done. - Thank you.
Oh, Richard, I'm gambolling through an autumnal forest immediately here.
Well, we got there in the end.
We soldiered on, we battled it and, you know,
we managed to get two lights, which, at one point,
I didn't think we were going to do.
- Obviously, we have to mention the cracks and everything. - Yeah.
With porcelain, you have to wire things off straightaway
and I think that was a major mistake, obviously,
when you were throwing these.
Credit to you for persevering and having them hang in front of us.
They do downlight the leaves, the leaves are well glazed,
you're quite well hung, Richard, with these two,
and you've used the porcelain on the leaves very nicely.
You know, it does play with the light.
Your process of creating your leaves,
using the consistency of the clay at the optimum time to get
that definition, was really, really masterful.
The colours are really autumnal colours.
You've really managed to capture that.
Throughout this whole process...
..I have to say, you know, it's inspirational how you've...
Don't! You'll get me going.
How you've managed to pull it through and, you know,
- you've got two lights hanging here. It's fantastic. - Thank you.
- Well done. - Thanks, Richard. - Thank you, Richard.
So, you managed not to smash ALL of your pieces, at least.
- Yeah, just about. - We do have two identical lamps hanging here.
I can't see the breakages that have happened along the way
and they are effective. You know, the light is radiating from them
in different ways.
I'm going to have a look from below.
The metallic glazes are really reflecting the light.
There's a sense of the organ in the church, you know,
talking about the tubes.
They're simple but effective.
Just the simple slit in there shows us the delicacy
of these elongated tubes.
I would probably like to have seen the metallic glazes
working a little bit better,
but I kind of like the difference that you've got between
the pure white outside and how the light works with that.
I must say, Ryan, you've come in with your tools and, you know,
you can have a brilliant idea but it's how you carry that forward
and you've really shown us that and I'm just really pleased.
- Thank you. - Fantastic, Ryan.
Kind of relieved it's over but also sad.
I'm feeling absolutely exhausted.
I am shattered. I think, no matter what the results are today,
I've learned so much and met some amazing friends.
We're all going to stay in touch and keep potting.
I literally feel proud of myself
but "proud" is not a word to say in Chinese culture.
I'll say I'm very delighted!
You get great comments from Keith and then he starts,
and the tears start and, you know,
cos you're so emotional, it sets you off.
And, er, yeah, I had to walk away there,
otherwise I'd have been joining in, I think.
In a few minutes' time, the judges are going to announce the winner
and that's going to be very emotional.
I'm going to put waterproof mascara on now.
Well, judges, I can hear a slight hullabaloo from outside.
All the friends and family are here to cheer on the finalists
and you've got to decide who the winner is.
So, if there were extras points for coping
and battling against adversity,
then Richard would be right up there, wouldn't he?
Absolutely. You know, he really showed great tenacity
in just getting those up there, really.
And really the strongest part of the whole thing
was his leaves and the glazing. It was absolutely lovely to see that.
Let's talk about Ryan and his light feature.
It was a very simple design concept and I love that.
This was a big ask - two identical lights of this scale.
You had to have a plan, you had to have a build plan,
and the way that he's used the porcelain,
there are actually areas where the porcelain glows.
It was really well done.
Let's talk about Clover.
Every time she's come up with a problem,
in whatever challenge it has been, she's managed to, sort of,
think on her feet and come up with something equally as good.
It's brilliant to see.
We've got these beautiful, glowing beehives.
The bees were beautifully glazed.
She's got it. You know, when it comes to surface, Clover's got it.
Well, judges, it's almost time. You've got to choose a winner.
Have you got a lot to talk about?
Yeah, I think we've got a fair idea.
Yeah, just a few more things to discuss, just to make sure.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Ladies and gentlemen, let's give
a huge round of applause to the three people who have worked so hard
to get this far.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
So, then, potters, here we go.
The winner of The Great Pottery Throw Down...
..is...
..Ryan. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Well done!
MUSIC: For Your Love by The Yardbirds
- Congratulations. - 'I'm so incredibly proud of Ryan.'
It just shows hard work and determination
can get you to grow and really flourish.
Well done, Ryan.
It's such an achievement.
Ryan has been doing this just for a few years.
That's why we're here -
to see people like Ryan develop
and learn and just watch the whole process. Gorgeous!
It's so lovely.
This is a magical moment for me.
I'm ecstatic that I actually managed to win a Pottery Throw Down.
It's going to be a memory for the rest of my life.
- Just so happy. - HE CHUCKLES
Brilliant. Brilliant.
SPECTATORS CHEER
The right man won. He did well all the way through
and I'm pleased for him.
I would sum up this whole experience with one British word I know -
marvellous!
I'm holding the trophy in my hand.
- 'Are you?' - Yeah, I won!
- 'Oh, lovely, darling.' - Yeah.
- 'But you don't get any money or anything? - No, no.
You get a really nice trophy, Grandma!
THEY CHEER
MUSIC: Till The End Of The Day by The Kinks
# Baby, I feel good
# From the moment I arise
# Feel good from morning
# Till the end of the day
# Yeah, you and me
# We live this life
# From when we get up
# Till we go sleep at night
# You and me, we're free
# We do as we please, yeah
# From morning
# Till the end of the day
# Yeah, I get up
# And I see the sun up
# And I feel good, yeah
# Cos my life has begun
# You and me, we're free
# We do as we please, yeah
# From morning
# Till the end of the day
# You and me, we're free... #