Not bad for a first effort.
Welcome to "The Great Pottery Throw Down".
I got into pottery when I was doing GCSEs,
they were like, oh you have to pick a subject,
I went cool, what's ceramics? Oh, it's clay.
Yeah, all right, I'll have a bit of that
and there I am, I'm here.
In the biggest pottery throw down yet,
12 of the nation's finest home potters have been selected
to walk the hallowed cobbles of Middleport,
right in the heart of British pottery's spiritual home,
Stoke-on-Trent.
I've been wanting to see this place for a long time.
This is a mecca for potters
because so many beautiful pieces have been made here.
In our throw down studio,
they'll be let loose
on wet clay to transform it into unique
and beautiful items for the home.
I can lose days, fully immerse myself
in my pottery and get lost.
Everything they conjure up will
be judged by maverick master potter, Keith Brymer Jones
and world-renowned ceramic designer, Sue Pryke.
The majority of homes in the UK
have something that I've designed in their cupboards.
I've been designing for high street retailers
like Marks and Spencers and Ikea for over 20 years.
If you haven't drunk a cup of tea
from a mug that I've designed
then you clearly don't drink enough tea.
Functionality is a large part of what I do
but over the 35 years I've been doing it,
it's just not about function, it's about the emotional
connection you're trying to convey with what you make.
For me, pottery is incredibly emotional.
Fantastic, mate, it's fantastic.
I'm an emotional person as well, so I'd quite like to meet
Keith and we can get emotional together.
So are these potters ready
Ah!
for 20 brand new challenges?
The last time I was this nervous was probably before labor.
And who will go on to be named champion
My secret weapon's these bad boys.
of "The Great Pottery Throw Down"?
- Don't drop 'em! -Bit fraught at the minute.
- Ah. -I am sweating full-on.
Get your hand nice and wet for some lubrication.
Don't look me in the eye when you do that.
Are you joining 'em?
- I knew this would happen to me. -Okay good.
It's the first day for our new pottery crews
and what a northern welcome we've laid on.
Time to don their overalls, straddle their wheels
and get ready for the pottery ride of their lives.
Let the game of pots begin.
The potting battle will commence here at Middleport,
one of the oldest surviving potteries in Britain,
where skills dating back over 300 years
are still being used.
Over three days our potters
will face two challenging tests
to determine their skills and creativity.
Who will be the first potter of the week
and who will judges Keith and Sue send home?
Good morning, potters. -Hello.
Welcome to your first day in the pottery.
Now, for your main make challenge this week,
Sue and Keith have set the perfect start to your morning
'cause they'd like you to build a six piece breakfast set.
This must compromise of a cafetiere,
we've provided the plungers, aren't we kind,
two espresso cups and two saucers and a toast rack.
You've got four hours and your time starts now.
Potters, get potting.
Okay.
Throwing on the wheel is my preferred style,
so I'm gonna enjoy doing this task, yeah.
Throwing's not really my thing,
I'm a sculptor but gotta pull it out the bag
and make something respectable.
But before the potters can throw
their six piece breakfast sets on the wheel,
they have to prepare the clay.
Forgotten what I'm doing like,
I'm worried my weights are all off.
I think we're all in the same boat, mate, don't worry.
After carefully weighing the clay,
Gotta be exact.
each lump must be kneaded,
a process called wedging.
This is more like it,
it's not flopping around any more.
I've never thrown a breakfast set before,
I didn't even know you could throw a cafetiere.
Have you ever seen a ceramic cafetiere?
I haven't.
So this is the first main make challenge,
a breakfast set and it's right up my street,
it's a throwing challenge, it's pretty exciting isn't it?
It is, it's a really tough challenge too.
There's a lot of things for the potters to consider,
these items need to be fit for purpose,
it's a functional range, so I want to see that the plunger
really fits well into the cylinder of the cafetiere.
The espresso cups have to be small,
I don't want to see mugs.
And then we've got the toast rack,
there is a myriad of ways they could construct this
but we don't want sweaty toast.
No, not nice.
So I really want to see the potters working
on the wheel, work with the clay.
It's all about the breakfast set having that design
follow all the way through the pieces.
Just go for it.
Soft, soft, soft, soft.
I'm just centering the clay at the moment,
so that I'm able to pull it up nice and easy
without it wobbling around.
I'm trying not to make it look
like something.
This is the bit that everyone gets very excited about,
that takes out all the air bubbles.
Oh hello.
You start with the difficult one don't you?
The cafetiere's definitely the main concern,
I've only managed that once so far, out of like 10 attempts.
- Hiya, Tom. -Hello.
Can you tell me about your breakfast set, Tom?
My theme for the challenge is song.
So, I'm a musician and I wake up singing
and I go to bed singing, just to myself, I don't sing,
I don't sing properly.
Tom lives in Sheffield
where he composes and teaches music.
It's hard when you're laughing, isn't it?
His love of music will inspire
a toast rack of notes and a cafetiere handle
pulled into the shape of a treble clef.
I'm looking forward to seeing this,
I'm quite musical, I play a brass instrument.
- Oh so do I, what do you play? -I play a baritone.
Oh, you're a real brass bander then are you?
Proper brass band, yeah.
I'm a French horn player you see.
We don't have those in brass bands.
But I do love a French horn, I love the sound.
Shall we just leave them to it, Sue?
It sounds like we should do.
The biggest challenge is actually lifting this
to the height that I want it to come to.
The potters must pull up enough clay
to get the cafetieres to the required height.
But I'm not used to doing big throwing things.
But if they pull up too much,
they risk their walls becoming too thin,
There is absolutely zero room for error.
and their cafetieres could collapse.
No, all gone, too much pressure.
Get out you naughty boy.
Should stop talking to the clay,
this is what happens 'cause I'm on my own all the time
so I just talk to myself or the dog.
One, two, three, ugh.
27 year old Rainna lives in Dover
and pots whilst caring
full-time for her mum Traleana.
Cheers.
Rainna's breakfast set will be decorated
with cogs and rivets in her design mash-up
of steam punk meets recycling.
But first she's got to throw the pieces.
Look at you, you're the messiest potter in the pottery.
- Is it really, really bad? -You have it, everywhere.
- You're covered.
Well I'm not really good at throwing.
Oh okay.
I've only sort of started in the last yearso I've been like just
practicing and practicing
and practicing, but you know I'm getting there,
it's not collapsed.
All my training really has been in throwing,
so prefer throwing large lumps of clay on the wheels.
This is where the muscles come in.
Claire's bodybuilder from
Northern Ireland.
When she's not lifting weights with her former Mr Universe
boyfriend Paul, she likes throwing big pots.
Claire's hoping to show off her throwing skills
with a simple design and muted colors
across her breakfast set, enhanced by shaping the cups,
saucers and cafetiere to look like lily pads.
My granny's also called Lily,
so there's a bit of a family element in there as well.
As long as the clay plays ball with me, should be okay.
Gone. So annoying.
I do it a thousand times at home.
Flea's from London
and mum to five year old Iris and two year old Jimmy,
and it was her own artist mum,
who first introduced her to pottery.
Much better, well done.
Her blue and white set is inspired
by the Moroccan plates that her mum
would serve the family breakfast on.
Breakfast was definitely quite a thing for us
and it was always a pleasure eating off beautiful things.
That's a better attempt, so I'm happy with that.
To throw tall and precise is a real test
for even the most experienced potter.
I'll be glad when I've done this big one,
it's up there now, let's keep it up there.
But it's not just the height that matters here,
It's gonna have to be so precise,
getting that diameter just perfect, otherwijse just
gonna have a cafetiere that doesn't work.
Width is crucial if the plungers are to fit,
and if that's not challenging enough,
once it's fired the clay will shrink,
which the potters need to
factor into their measurements.
This clay shrinks by 12%,
luckily I've got a shrinkage ruler, which is something
that probably every man should have.
- Hello. -Hi Rosalind.
- Hello. -Hello lovey.
It's so lovely to meet you.
Aw. -How are you getting on?
I've enjoyed doing the measurements,
something I haven't used before, because it actually works.
Oh, yeah.
When you measure and weigh things tend to match up.
Funny that, isn't it?
I wished I'd done it years ago.
Retired antiques show owner,
Rosalind from Essex, pots in the garden shed
next to her husband Ken's pigeons.
Aw, look it's still got his fluff on.
Her bird themed breakfast set is inspired
by the chicken she remembers from her childhood.
- My dad was a farmer,
it's good to see the hens coming in the kitchen,
mum always made pets of all our animals.
I try not to get too attached
because sometimes they'd end up being for Sunday dinner.
Ronaldo's also looking back to his childhood.
My work is inspired by where I grew up which is Barbados.
Even for my measuring system, I'm using the coconut limb
from a coconut tree, broken them down
just to the measurements I need. Bit too narrow.
Ronaldo's an art technician at a college
and lives in London with his girlfriend Eleanor
and their four year old daughter Renelle,
who's already following in his footsteps.
Beautiful.
Ronaldo's decorating his set with hand-painted
coconut trees, to capture memories of Barbados
but his usual style of throwing is at odds
with the precision required.
I freestyle a lot, I say let's my subconscious
take over and do whatever it feels like.
Yeah. You're so involved in the making
and your mind is left to just wander, yeah.
- Just don't wander too far, -Yeah.
'cause you'll get lost.
Don't want that to happen.
At this stage of the challenge,
the potters are allowed to throw as many pieces
as they can.
I think this is gonna be the one that I keep.
But while some are making progress,
Oh, one for the drying room.
Bloody shaky hands.
others are still struggling.
Trying to get a smooth Scandinavian sleek line to it
and at the moment you can see it's going a bit like this.
That's what I'm not happy about.
Originally from Denmark,
Rosa is a former fashion designer,
who now lives in Buckinghamshire.
Her Scandinavian roots
and love of the British countryside
inspire her designs.
What do you think of my pot?
Rosa's breakfast set will have a carousel
for a toast rack and will be decorated with hand-painted
flora and fauna to reflect her love of nature and all
that grows, yet things aren't growing so well at the wheel.
I'm definitely not getting the height that I was hoping for.
I have to do something about these shaking hands I think.
No, I just have to crack on with it, of course,
otherwise I'll never get anything done.
So I made three cafetieres, I'm going to start making cups.
Having gone big with their cafetieres,
Big hands, tiny little cups.
the potters now have to think small.
The cups I've made aren't that small.
He's made really small ones, I think they're more like eggcups.
Egg cups, how dare you, Leonard.
I'm really happy with the cups,
I'm indenting it kind of like a lily pad.
But the more elaborate the design,
They look really nice.
I don't know if they're the same size.
the harder it'll be to make their cups
and saucers identical.
Let's see if we can get rid of that ridge.
Let's hope it matches the one over there.
I'm really interested in clean forms,
so my inspirations are traditional Chinese teacups.
- Yes, yeah, oh okay. -So I'm half Chinese
and half English and that's culinary.
- And 100% Scouse. -Yes, 100% Scouse.
Yeah, yeah.
23 year old Jacob soaks up his heritage
when he visits Liverpool's historic China Town
with his dad, John.
His decoration will celebrate the city's skyline.
Sitting aloft his toast rack will be a liver bird
and his set will be signed off with his own maker's mark.
I use my little Chinese stamp to mark everything,
my mum and dad brought this back from China.
It's my name in Chinese, kind of just finishes it off a bit.
Guys, you've got one hour left.
Ah! -Ah!
Rosa, you alright for 60 minutes?
I hope so, I've finally moved on to the espresso cups
but my hands are still shaking like I don't know what.
But before anyone's breakfast sets are complete,
I'm getting pretty tired.
Oh man, it's tough isn't it?
there's still one more piece
to throw on the wheel.
Never done a toast rack so this'll be interesting.
So the toast rack is going to be shaped as a boat
and then I'm gonna have little people
on each end of the boat, so it's almost like a 3D version
of some of my illustration work.
Born in Nepal London based Sampada
is a part-time illustrator who likes to express her emotions
through her art and ceramics.
Her breakfast set will show off her illustrative style
but the notion of using a toast rack
is something new to Sampada.
I think when I heard about it,
I just thought who uses toast rack?
I'm Asian and we don't eat toast.
Don't expect too much.
Oh we do. -Oh we are, yeah.
We definitely are.
Leonard will also be serving his toast in a boat.
There are two sails on the end of my toast rack.
We're done.
Now retired and living in Cornwall,
70 year old Leonard, spends his days potting in his garage,
much to the delight of his wife Suzi.
- Len, coffee, cakes. -Ah, excellent.
His love of sailing on the Cornish coastline
will be reflected in his breakfast set design.
So this is the yacht that I sail with,
belongs to my buddy Anthony, the design is actually the sail
and on the end will be the Cornish flag.
Leonard might have some local rivalry.
I've got my eye on Leonard, Cornish competition.
The younger generation booting the older generation out.
Our youngest potter Kit, still lives
at home
on his mum and dad's turkey farm in Cornwall.
He's been potting since he was nine years old.
His set is inspired by the iconic blue and white striped
Cornish crockery that he's grown up with.
- How old are you? -19.
Does that feel like a n added pressure?
No, no. -Nah.
You're very chilled aren't you?
You're very calming to be around actually.
Well, thank you. -Not like these two.
All right potters, you've got half an hour left.
That's an hour and a half.
I'm the boss round here, Leonard.
- Do as you're told. -Yes, ma'am.
Crack on, keep potting.
Everybody's pulling handles aren't they?
So talk to me about pulling
'cause I don't really know what this term means.
It's difficult to do without
sort of innuendos flying to mind.
Get your hand nice and wet for some lubrication.
- Okay, yeah. -And then you just start to
- Oh yeah. -pull things down.
Don't look me in the eye when you do that.
- You enjoying that Mel? -No, you asked me to do it.
She's gone into five-year-old mode.
Thanks for that.
Matt from Manchester, was a professional cyclist
for 10 years, he started potting when he retired
from the sport, to focus his mind on a new challenge.
Matt's hoping his minimalist designs, simple decoration
and sleek handles will win over the judges.
Are they thick enough for that size cafetiere, do you think.
I'm gonna make them quite close to the form,
so hopefully that should be strength enough.
- Good luck, Matt. -Thank you.
You've only got a bit more time to go now.
With the cafetieres and espresso cups
requiring handles,
It's an interesting process to look at.
Why would I be self-conscious about this?
and dividers needed for the toast racks,
I'm gonna cut that off,
stick it on the bench and start a new one.
the potters still
have plenty of pulling to do.
You've been busy, bless you.
I'm pulling a very large handle
in the shape of a treble clef.
Most of the time I pull 'em off too hard.
Am I going red yet?
Okay guys, you've got five minutes.
- Ooh dear. -Oh I am gonna cry.
Have some people just finished?
Blimey, stop drinking tea.
Everything's done now, just don't drop it.
I think this one's too short,
so I might just do that one anyway.
I do not have any spares,
hopefully the ones I've got are really good.
I've got one spare cafetiere, one spare lid,
two spare cups and two spare saucers.
Everybody you've got one minute left,
everything has to go into the drying room, don't run.
Oh, hang on I'm door monitor.
Alright, thank you very much.
Rosa's doing a butterfly and she's got a minute to go.
This is a butterfly or a moth.
I think she's in a bit of a flap, don't you?
See what you did there, yeah.
And that will do.
- You've got so much. -Do you need help?
There's one more board on there if you're free.
She's running.
- Thank you so much. -Come on, come on.
Come on, Ronaldo, you've got seconds left.
Come on, shift yourself.
- Five, four, -Ah.
- three, two, one, time up. -Ah!
Well done, everybody.
- You good? -Yeah.
Well done.
- They look relieved. -Yeah.
I'm quite pleased with what I've produced
but looking round at other people's,
there were some very, very good stuff there.
I think it was an easy challenge
because I throw and that's all I do really.
At first I was like, oh my God I'm panicking,
then I thought just be calm, Rainna. So I channeled it in.
I haven't had any spare at all,
so I really hope it's going to work well.
You never know with pottery and maybe that's the beauty
or maybe that's the awful thing, let's see later on.
In between the stages of their main make,
each week the potters will face a second challenge,
testing a different pottery skill
and today they'll need to demonstrate the speed
and precision of the master potters that made
Stoke the center of the ceramic world.
Your challenge this week is a throw down
and we're sticking with the breakfast theme,
as Keith would like you to throw eggcups off the hump.
Some of you had an idea.
Now you're gonna start off with a big lump of clay,
so centering it you might find quite hard
but with throwing off the hump, you only have to center
the bit you're actually working on.
Just wanna press down, you don't actually wanna take
too much clay, it's all about pressure
and then you just gently squeeze the clay to make your stem
and then you squeeze the clay again to make your foot
and we wanna see a nice fluent shape through the bowl
of the eggcup, through the stem to the foot.
Think about what you're making it's an eggcup,
it's not a salad bowl.
Get your knife and just keep it slightly upwards
so when you make your base, it'll sit nicely.
All right?
Potters, you have got 15 minutes to throw as many eggcups
off the hump as you can and your time starts now.
Oh my goodness, look at the size of that.
- Here they go. -Okay.
Oh god, this is really hard to center.
- Fuck me. -It's a big old lump of clay.
God's sake.
- Well I just love any big lump of clay,
I could center at this all day long.
Matt's already getting in there, lovely.
I've not really worked off the hump before.
So throwing off the hump is something I've done before,
I tried to do it with espresso cups, it didn't work out.
I don't do any production pottery, so it's
a big struggle. -It is, innit?
I like to throw miniatures off the hump,
for my daughter's doll's house.
I wanna see that nice fluid shape as well.
I don't want much.
I don't think I'm getting that curve
but as long as it looks like a eggcup.
What's an eggcup look like again?
Matt's got his first one off.
- Flea's got one off. -Tom's just got one as well.
- Well done, Tom. -Bloody hell.
Ten minutes left.
Just keep throwing them out.
Oh man. -Oh it's.
This is horrendous.
Come on, Rainna, sort your life out.
Still on my first one.
They're a bit wobbly, aren't they?
Wobbly hands and wobbly heart.
Okay, there's quite a few of you on three.
Oh my god, what is that?
Come on, potters, remember it's not just about quantity.
Is that you shouting? That's the quietest shout I've ever heard.
Perhaps if I put my glasses on.
Do it again, shout. -Potters.
- That's it, yeah, that's it. -Get a wiggle on.
- Is that a reject? -No.
Okay, sorry I wasn't judging it.
The wheel's wobbling, everything's shaking.
- Flea's going for it. -Flea's got loads on
her bench there, look.
Matt's very industrious.
There's a nice flow to it, when you're working fast.
- It's ugly. -It's not ugly, it's manly.
Does it matter what size it is?
I am sweating full-on.
Don't get the hump, you've got five minutes left.
- What? -Ah!
- Oh. -Come on, guys.
- Oh god. -Oh my word.
I'm squeezing so hard with my legs.
Give me another hour I might master it.
Oopsie.
How many have you got, Tom?
Can't talk sorry, busy doing eggcups.
One minute, gang.
Come on, at least another two.
You can get one more out.
I can feel the concentration in the room.
Bit fraught at the minute.
Watch it with the knife, watch it, watch it.
If in doubt just pull it off.
- Ah. -Five, four,
- One more, Ronaldo, -three,
- one more, come on, come on. -two, one,
...and breathe.
Step away from the clay.
Yay.
Well done, guys, well done, that's brilliant.
Ooh, I got it all my hair again.
The potters will now face
the judges for the very first time.
- Oh, oh... -I'm sweating.
Any eggcups that don't measure up,
will be rejected and won't be counted.
- Rainna, hello. -Hi, you all right?
- They're not too bad at all. -Shall we try an egg?
- Go for it, see that look. -Yeah that's spot on isn't it?
You could've seen a bit more fluidity with them,
a bit more refinement on the rim.
Which one did you start with?
- That one. -So the shapes have got curvier.
- Yes. -If we did that.
Oh yeah, that fits.
That would be better. Yeah no, that's going in there.
- Oh right. -That's the first one.
- That is not a good sound. -Ah, killer.
- Which one? -I think this would be
- a good one? -The little one here.
Oh look how gorgeous it looks.
This one could've been finished off a bit better.
Isn't it amazing how much better it looks
with the egg in it. - It does, it does.
It just makes more sense.
There's some waists on them isn't there?
That's very messy, that's gotta go in.
- Wow. -You were fast and furious.
- Look at those. -There's quite a few here.
In terms of consistency, they're a little varied but
- really impressed with the size. -Thank you.
The ones that don't work for me are this one.
Yes, that's a bit more conical isn't it?
These ones that are just a bit shorter.
You don't pretend do you?
You could spare a few, you did so many.
This one's a bit wonky. That's a goner.
There's a good balance between that depth of the foot
and the cup on them, isn't there?
The base could've been slightly wider.
Could've been, so that's gonna have to go in.
That's a little bit big, isn't it?
- Get rid of that one. -Yeah, I think that's fair.
I didn't like that going in the bin.
No, never mind.
- Never mind. -You'll get over it.
I'm aware there's gonna be a certain amount of quality
control going on, but I was going fast, fast, fast.
This one's kind of a
Leaning Tower of Pisa of eggcups isn't it?
That'll have to go.
- That'll have to go. -Sorry, Tom.
No, it's fair enough.
Are you done with it?
Oh. - Ooh.
- He's mean isn't he? -That has to go.
Not that one.
There are variations within them
but essentially they've got that little nipped in waist
at the base.
You've never thrown anything like that before?
- No, no. -Brilliant.
Very consistent, the shape's the same.
- It's a nice curve on there. -Quite nice.
I don't actually wanna throw any of them in the bin.
I don't want you to either.
- Too big? -They are a little bit,
aren't they?
Definitely a goose egg for that one.
Yeah, or turkey egg.
So what were you thinking of then?
- Goblets? -But they are small eggs.
I've never seen an egg so small.
See, is that right really?
- Yeah. -No, that's going in.
No, that's not very good either.
Well done, they're really a lovely shape
for a medieval banquet.
Very much the same, aren't they?
They're all really nice and stable.
They're all upright. -Except for that one in there.
- I was hoping you wouldn't see. -Yeah.
No, Matt, just, just, just no, that's gotta go in.
That's brutal.
Keith and Sue will now reveal
who had the technical skills to throw the largest number
of usable eggcups.
In twelfth place, with eight eggcups, is...
Kit.
In joint tenth place, with ten eggcups,
it's Rosalind and Sampada.
Jacob and Leonard threw 12,
Ronaldo, Rainna, Rosa and Claire threw 13
and Matt came third in the throw down with 14.
In second place, with 15 eggcups...
is Tom.
So that leaves first place, with 20 eggcups, Flea.
Well done, well done, everyone.
Yeah, well done Tom, well done, mate.
I thought Matt was gonna win it because his were beautiful.
Saying it's downhill from here.
It's the first challenge and so it meant a lot to me
but I'm also very aware
that I really can't go uphill from here.
I thought all my eggcups looked like a little
kind of dysfunctional family which I thought was nice.
At Middleport world-renowned pottery
is being produced round the clock.
And for our potters their shift is not over yet.
Their six-piece breakfast sets have been drying
in the drying room for three hours.
Okay what have we got?
Now leather hard, they have an hour and a half
to turn and trim and add their handles.
This is the best part for sure,
it's where all the finesse really is.
This is the last stage before firing
and crucial if they want to achieve
the finish the judges are looking for.
Obviously don't want a heavy old jug,
we want some nice light jugs.
The better the potters
threw each of their pieces in the first stage
will mean less finessing work now.
It'll be hopefully a lot more refined
than this lump at the minute.
So I've got to be really careful not to over-trim
and go all the way through.
How do you know when to stop?
Trial and error, but you can also tap it
- and you can feel it. -Oh, right.
Yeah, cut through so many pots so many times.
Phew, I forget to breathe.
- Pressure. -Focus.
You can really feel the concentration in the room.
I'm feeling like I've got so little time
to make them look, the way I like them to look.
Under quite a bit of pressure.
For Rosa, the pressure is even greater.
No shaking, not shaking.
One mistake means she won't have a complete set.
I'm just surviving at the moment.
There's no spare so it'll have to work.
Think it's fine, it's only clay.
This is the last chance
to check their measurements.
Little bit on the tight side.
And the potters must now attach
their handles, knobs and spouts.
I just hope it pours well and not pours over the judges.
I've cut a section out the spout that I threw earlier,
so it's got the right flare for pouring.
I've never made anything that doesn't drip, it all drips.
It's a nice little knob.
You've got loads of knobs down there.
They're all different though.
It's tighter than I've ever had it,
all the way down the shaft fits very well, yeah.
So I'm putting on my stamp at the moment,
it's just getting everything on now.
I don't think I've ever worked this quick.
All right potters, you've got half an hour left.
Whoa.
You can only put one of your sets in the drying room.
Right, panic.
My handles are just a touch dry but I might get away with it.
If I have it up there, I think it's gonna just be too much
weight but I'm not a pro at this.
- Ooh. -Is it not playing ball?
Just got to press it on the pot without breaking it
or fainting.
I'm here to catch you if you go.
Oh thank, just the handle would be good actually.
That would be lovely.
I'm working on the toast rack, really rushing now.
Is this your toast rack? Gonna be for tiny toast.
I think I'm gonna cut the toast in triangles.
- I think you're gonna have to. -I've got just enough time.
Still mustn't count my chickens till they hatch.
And I'm doing like a little gear system.
- Oh it looks like an owl now. -Oh no, don't say that to me
No, but it does, look at that.
- It's a bloody owl. -It's an owl.
Almost finished, just neaten up a few corners,
being neat is not my strong point.
- How long we got left? -You got one minute left.
Sweating.
- Remember, finish is everything. -Not at this point.
- Ooh. -Ooh sorry.
- Watch out, watch your backs. -Rush, rush, rush.
- Rainna, Kit, I think you're the only two
that haven't got your stuff in the drying room.
Come on, Rainna.
Do you want these ones taken to the drying room?
- Oh yes please. -Why are you so cool?
There's like seconds left, you're stressing me out man.
Finish is everything.
- Ten, nine, -Oh, ah!
- eight, -Don't drop 'em.
seven, six, five,
For god's sake.
- four, three, two, one. -Oh my God.
Your time is up, well done.
Woo!
- Well done. -Well done, everybody.
Oh man.
And breathe. -Ah!
The turn and trim was really stressful.
Could've been a disaster but I think I rescued it.
- How did you do? -Yeah, I turned something out
It's been a really good day,
but I do feel I'm up against some really stiff competition.
I'm feeling awesome, I'm just glad it's over
and I can go home and get some sleep.
While the potters take a well earned
two day rest, their breakfast sets will be in the safe hands
of our very own kiln guy Rich,
who'll be keeping a close eye on them as they dry.
Tom's choose to do these really ornate decorative handles
but all of these curves could potentially crack
as they dry out and I'm slightly concerned
about Sampada's cafetiere, this rim, it's incredibly thick.
There is the risk that it could explode in the firing,
we need these pieces to be bone dry
before they go in the kiln.
Sending my pieces into the kiln is like sending your kids
off to school I suppose but, less tears.
If things don't go my way I'm going back to Cornwall,
back to my shed, back to the turkeys.
Our potters are back at Middleport,
where their breakfast sets
have had 24 hours bisque firing
and kiln guy Rich is bringing them out ready for decoration.
This stage will be the last chance for the potters
to impress the judges.
Good morning, potters.
- Morning. -Good morning.
Your breakfast sets are out of the kiln
and are lurking beneath the hessian.
We've got a variety of glazes for you to use,
ready for your decoration.
This is where your breakfast sets really come to life.
I want to see that your range sits cohesively together
and works perfectly as a set.
Now if you've got your measurements right,
the plunger should fit the cafetiere
and hopefully all your handles
will still be on all your pieces.
You've got three hours to decorate your breakfast sets
and your time starts now.
- Ooh. -Yes.
You beauty.
Hello, well done little plate, you did it.
If I didn't have lipstick on I would kiss it.
Uh-oh, and why did that crack?
I'm happy the handle stayed on, there's a hairline crack
right there so I need to be careful.
Even if their sets are in once piece,
I'm screwed if this doesn't fit.
there's still one final check to make,
Whoa, mine's huge, it falls right in.
Oh God, it's absolutely enormous.
There's about a centimeter,
which is almost the exact shrinkage rate,
so I think this should fit perfectly when I glaze.
I'm really looking forward to having a beautiful
breakfast set.
The execution has to be fantastic.
And I think you can easily see that on one or two of these.
What I really like about this in particular,
is the simplicity, but if you're gonna do something
that's that simple, it's got to be absolutely spot on.
It's a perfect opportunity to really let their
personalities come through.
At the end of this process, I really want to know something
a bit more about the potters.
Before applying any glazes,
the potters are smoothing out any rough edges,
- You look like a ninja. -Safety first.
which will help perfect how their pieces
fit together.
That one's got a tiny wobble but not if I sand it,
it'll fit really well.
Claire, can I have a little bit of the rougher stuff?
You're a star.
But sanding might not be enough for Tom.
Nothing's really fitting.
The cups do not sit exactly on the saucers,
there's about a millimeter too much clay,
I'm gonna have to spend a lot more time on this
than I wanted to, so there might be compromises
later on in the process.
Once the pots are finally up to scratch,
decoration can begin.
Steady hand, steady hand, let's get on with it.
Rosa's hoping she's over her first day
nerves
but just in case she's brought along some moral support.
My grandmother was a porcelain painter,
so I'm going to use her inspiration.
My grandma was called Rosa, like me,
so she'd be sitting up there thinking of me I think.
Kit's not relying on a steady hand
to perfect his Cornish stripes.
Are you gonna use a banding wheel for this?
I'm going to use tape.
Tape, okay.
I'm gonna tape the lines and then paint
- and then peel them off. -Right okay.
- Well if you're confident, -Yeah.
I'll sort of be confident,
Yeah, all right. -Cheers.
- If you're confident, I'll be confident,
whatever that means.
But I have to beat Leonard, he's the other Cornish guy.
The yellow bird is the yellow bird in the middle
of the sail and I should put my glasses on.
My wife Suzi always tells me put your glasses on
so you can see what you're doing.
Each chicken's gonna be hand painted,
so each one will be unique.
I've had hens at home for a long time and I've named mine.
What's the name of yours?
Well my hen's called Henrietta.
How very appropriate.
- You couldn't wish for a better name could you for a hen.
- No.
I love painting,
there's a little bit of a Picasso influence.
It was said that he was at his most happiest
when he was doing his ceramics.
They're playful, they're fun, they're full of life
and that's what I'm trying to do.
This is outside my dad's house in Barbados.
Loads of vegetation all around,
so why just not just put my culture into the piece.
To be honest illustration isn't my strong point
but I wanted to show the judges I'm not afraid
of going outside my comfort zone.
My background is illustration, so a lot of the times
I make a simple shape first and then the main highlight
is my decoration, but I was a bit too ambitious
with my design, I should've focused more on the actual
function, so I'm just going to do little sad faces crying
because that's how I feel
looking at the state of my cafetiere.
Okay guys, don't panic but we're halfway through.
- Ooh. -Don't panic.
- I'm panicking, I'm panicking -It's alright you got this.
It's getting there.
So I've gotta stop dithering now and focus and get
on with it.
While those painting by hand are making
slow progress,
Keep going.
Matt's minimalist design is a much quicker
technique.
So it's not really painting is it? What would you call it?
- Splattering? -Yeah, just going for it.
h, that's worked out alright. -Oh that's amazing,
and not one bit on me so thanks for that.
Flecking, got my template, which is the
Liverpool skyline.
Then I'm building up layers using different shades of blue
and then I'll peel that off.
So we'll really see a crisp skyline.
- Hopefully. -That's the idea.
- That's the idea yeah. -Okay.
I wish I could paint nice like that.
Claire's avoiding the paintbrush altogether.
It's 100 grams, 300 grams,
- Mental maths? -Mental maths, yes.
She's making her own black glaze,
out of iron oxide to create her deceptively simple
two-tone decoration.
Glazing really is my thing, I use quite a lot of technical
kind of glazes like I'm quite into the chemistry.
But while she can start to dip in
her freshly made black glaze,
It's quite messy, so I have to keep this away
from everybody else.
she's going to have to be patient to use
the communal white glaze.
I'm waiting for everybody to finish using the white
so I can dip in it,
so I don't wanna contaminate it using the white.
Is that 'cause you're using the darkest color
in the room?
Will it be absolutely black when it comes out?
Well I'm not 100% sure because I don't know
the base recipe, so I've had to guess.
Oh really?
Oh God, so there'll be a bit of luck involved.
Fingers crossed.
Claire's not the only one
experimenting with oxides.
Never used oxides in my life.
I'm winging it, bita powder, bita water.
It's like Art Attack. This could go two ways.
Woo, that's bloody amazing
or what the hell has this girl done to her pot.
Okay potters, you've got one hour left, just one hour left.
I think I'm in a bit of trouble currently,
it's too much to sand down.
Tom still hasn't started his decoration.
Pissed off, 'cause nothing fits.
Sorry, I'm just having a mini meltdown at the back.
Come on, mate.
You've got me crying. -Sorry, sorry.
Shall we just go and cry in the drying room for a bit.
Yeah, let's go and cry in the drying room.
I need to just crack on don't I?
- Yeah. -Okay, cheers.
- You're doing well. -Thank you, Keith.
But Tom's not the only one yet
to touch his glazes.
Even these are not even, oh my God.
Just spent an hour just pissing around with tape,
I might have a cry in a minute.
I have nothing to do, do you want my help?
Oh yeah, is that straight, that straight?
The bottom one's straight, isn't it.
- It's this one. That ain't straight.
- Oh my God, okay.
- We'll have a look. -How many people
does it take to make a straight line?
Maybe I'll have to do vertical stripes instead.
Yeah, why don't you do vertical?
I just need to get it done now.
While Tom and Kit have finally started
decorating,
You're not white, you're clear?
- I'm clear. -Okay, no problem.
- Clear. -Clear.
Claire can finally dip her pots in the
white glaze.
Hopefully get this a nice gradient.
50/50 at the minute whether it's gonna work.
So much to do.
I should move on but it's so difficult to stop.
Yeah, I've finished, little bit weird,
everyone's still working, it took me a long time
after cycling to get out of the mindset
that doing something quick was the best way to do it.
Bit nervous, I'm struggling to breathe a bit.
Just trying to not flake anything.
I'm just being clumsy, I've managed to break
my toast rack.
Oh no.
I'm having a bit of a one today.
Three rounds of toast, that's alright.
That's one for each judge, that's okay, that's enough.
I changed the direction of the stripes.
Don't know how the Cornish people are gonna react,
pitchforks and torches.
Got the skyline on there So yeah I'm happy, yeah.
Once their under glazes and oxides
have been applied,
The last stage now, yay.
the breakfast sets are ready for a dip
in a final glaze, which when fired will become transparent
and reveal the colors of their designs.
Ah, I don't know what I'm doing.
And now I'm gonna clean them up on the bottom
so that they don't stick to the kiln shelf.
That would ruin the whole thing.
Oh man, what a mess.
Guys, are you alright? You've literally got less
than a minute.
- Yeah. -I've gotta do the handle.
- Hurry up. -Do you want me to help you?
Oh God, -Don't touch the handle.
don't do that, I can't look.
Glaze it, thank you, you're a star, thank you.
Okay, potters, five, four, three,
Just put it there.
two, one, no more cleaning your bottoms, it's all over.
Congratulations.
Now all you have to do is get your breakfast pots
on the board and get them down to the kiln.
Lots of things went wrong.
Not sure the judges are gonna like it,
I think they're more for precisely finished things.
I'm just hoping that the judges are distracted
by the design and not the actual shape.
I was pleased with my chickens.
I guess I was in my zone today.
Feel really positive about it.
Now I have to like wait and see how the results are
when they come out the kiln.
I'm not 100% on what way this glaze is gonna come out,
obviously because I winged the recipe.
It could either come out quite nice
or it could come out a complete disaster.
In the extreme heat of the kiln,
there's always a risk that their carefully crafted pots
could crack or explode,
and if that's not nerve wracking enough.
the next time our potters see their breakfast sets
will be in front of the judges.
It's judgment day.
The potters will now see their breakfast sets
for the first time, in front of Sue and Keith.
First up, Ronaldo would you like to bring up your
breakfast set to be judged?
- Are you ready, Ronaldo? -Yeah.
Okay, not too bad.
Your decoration, it's got a really nice touch to it
and it works across all of the pieces.
The spacing's really nice, the color application
is really good.
I think the handle could've been slightly more delicate
but it's not a bad weight
and I'm liking the cafetiere itself.
Let's have a look before we put the coffee in.
Yeah, it does go up and down. I mean it, it's tight.
Right the moment of truth, Ronaldo.
- Ooh, you've got a dribble. -And the toast, perfect.
- Well done, Ronaldo. -Thank you.
- Absolutely brilliant. -Good stuff.
Rosalind, would you like to bring up your breakfast set?
You ready, Rosalind?
Don't know what to expect.
Ah!
- Happy with Henrietta? -Yes, yeah!
It seems to have all worked out.
Well, I entirely agree with you.
- Thank you. -I entirely agree with you.
Don't start, I'm off again.
It's fantastic, mate, it's fantastic.
It's not my cup of tea or coffee but the execution
of your illustration
of your hen, it's fantastic, really, really, really good.
Aw. -Well done.
For me, what you've really achieved is a functional set
and your style is very country kitchen, isn't it?
There is certainly a market for this.
- It's charming. -Like you.
- Oh thank you. -Charming, yeah.
- What's the weight like Sue? -I must say it's really heavy.
I love your illustrations on here, they're really strong
and the little face on the top, look at that.
I love that, I love the simplicity of it.
And the handle, that's another pleasing thing,
it's a pity you've got a massive crack there.
- Do you eat much toast? -No
I think I can tell really.
I think it's for people who don't know
- what a toast rack is. -Well, quite clearly.
I tell you what though, that's a little bit heavy
and I'm not quite sure where to hold that actually.
Okay, cups now.
You might find a little problem when they sit in the saucers.
Yeah, so they're the eyes, aren't they?
If you look from overhead, is a kind of like...
What, shall I just do that?
That's an improvement.
The concept's very interesting, so the creativity's there,
it's just the final execution.
We lost a couple of notes.
We lost a handle, that's just my clumsiness.
The finish though, mate. The finish.
- Are you ready? -Yeah.
- Ooh. -What, what does that mean?
It's bubbled.
The bubbles, I think it's the quickness of the firing.
It did go up really, really quickly
and the gases escape the clay body
and that's why you've got the bubbling effect
but I'm liking the decoration on the inside.
That's really lovely, look at that,
that's exactly what I was looking for, a little surprise.
I'm liking this toast rack, it's really, really simple
but really effective.
- Bit like me. -Just like you.
- You ready, Matt? -Never will be.
There's more bubbling, it looks good though, right?
It looks actually part of the design.
That's lovely, it's a really nice weight, Matt.
That really shows skill in the throwing.
For me though, the handle is a bit too thin.
It feels like it's about to snap.
It's not very smooth is it?
No and you're getting loads and loads of drips down there.
You could've been a lot more generous with the lip.
- So we just need a bit more lip from you
believe it or not. -You don't want that.
- Lovely. -You ready?
As ready as I get.
It's absolutely lovely.
My grandmother was a porcelain painter
and she did loads of lovely flowers
and I wanted so to credit her.
Well, I don't think you've let your grandmother down,
the execution of the painting is really, really nice.
And very autumnal. It's got a lovely feel to it.
As a construction it's a bit on the heavy side,
the handle though is nice proportion.
- Let's have a look at these. -This is really, really nice.
- The illustration's beautiful -Absolutely lovely, lovey.
Thank you.
Well, we both thought that this was gonna look huge
but actually it's not too bad.
I really like the way that you've put these handles on.
They've got an energy, I think it's really exciting.
It's a centerpiece for sure.
I would've liked to have seen a slightly smaller handle,
I think, the lid could've been different.
It's a bit flat, it's a bit boring,
with such a simple design like this,
the execution has to be immaculate,
you've got a few hand marks here, a bit of a
residue of blue there.
When you're using cobalt it is an incredibly strong oxide
and it gets everywhere.
What about these cups and saucers then?
That's light isn't it?
They are light and one of the reasons why they're so light
is 'cause they're really small.
My inspiration was the spinnaker of a sailing yacht.
It's quite striking, isn't it?
I think there could've perhaps been a little bit more detail
on your painting but a lovely handle, very expressive.
They look like they're a set, don't they?
And actually I really like your pulled handles.
That's really nice to hold.
For me they're a bit on the large side.
Yeah, little bit.
All right, shall we look at the toast rack?
There's the obvious flaw, it's got a crack in the bottom.
You can tell there's a lot of work in here
and you've done that rather nicely.
- You ready? -I'm ready.
You were born ready, weren't you?
Go on.
Okay, it's not what I was expecting.
I've never used oxides before.
What I like about this and you, is that you really go for it,
you're not afraid of trying a different approach.
It's quite heavy, but I really like the feel
of the handle.
- Is the positioning right? -Probably not.
You need to find the center of gravity on your piece,
so just a little bit higher up, would've given it
a bit more balance when you're pouring it over.
Alright, toast rack.
Well, we did say we only wanted two pieces of toast
and you've kind of done that.
- Well done. -Yay!
Are you ready?
Ooh wow.
Yeah, I'm happy. -Good.
Just a bit relieved that it's come out in one piece.
I'm loving this, this skyline has really worked for you.
But what I really love is the energy.
Those layers and layers of blue are really successful.
Toast rack next.
I mean that's nice, it's a nice weight.
I really like this shape too.
- Your liver bird, -Yeah.
- bit crude. -Yeah.
That seems to glide in though, doesn't it?
Yeah, it's good.
Nice little point on the spout, look at that.
- Lovely pourer, great effort. -Thank you.
Confident strides.
- You ready? -As I'll ever be.
Wow.
What do you think?
- It's okay. -Okay, is that it?
The overall look it's fantastic, and I'm off again.
It's fantastic.
The pieces all really work together.
You made one of these glazes up yourself, is that right?
- I did. -It's fantastic.
I thought it was a massive risk.
It is a massive risk but it's really paid off for you.
To have a decoration that's purely on glazing,
the pieces themselves have to really work, the shapes,
the form, the proportion has to really work together
and you've really, really pulled it off.
The only criticism I would have is the handle
is a bit on the generous side.
I was thinking of you Keith.
I love these, they're really nice and round.
It sits with your idea of the lily pad
and what a lovely handle, that's so nice to hold.
There's very, very little I can say that's wrong about these.
You've done an amazing job.
Crikey, you can't get better than that, can you?
- You've nailed it, Claire. -Brilliant.
Well done.
Better than I expected, I certainly didn't expect
Keith to cry, it was a shocker.
I would love to win it but I don't think it's gonna happen.
Absolutely gobsmacked, that honor, that great honor,
Keith cried for my work.
Oh my goodness I'm gonna treasure that forever.
Henrietta's done me proud.
I'm really happy with the outcome,
it was in one piece, all the glaze had come out.
After working for days, it's just such a relief.
I thought the judges were very fair
and I looked at everybody else's
and there was such refinement there.
I sit close to the bottom but hopefully not the first to go.
I cannot believe it's week one,
it was so emotional in there and Keith you cried twice,
I mean it was tears galore.
It's always tough on the first week
and one of the reasons why I get so emotional
is because you see them working their guts out.
So potter of the week, who are the front runners?
I think there's quite a few actually,
we were really surprised with Rosalind.
There was a cohesiveness to all of her design
and I just think that that's a really commercial idea.
And also I really liked Rosa's, there was a really lovely
creative nature to what she was doing.
For me Claire is up there, very, very strong.
You could go into a shop and just buy that.
It looks absolutely spot on.
Another one for me was Jacob.
His Liverpool skyline, absolutely lovely.
I can't believe we're having this discussion already
but somebody's got to go, who's in trouble?
For me, Kit, I liked his design concept.
Blue and white stripes, I mean what could go wrong
but it was very messy, it was poorly executed.
And he came last in the throw down challenge.
Let's not forget,
his eggcups did look rather like wine goblets.
Well for me, it was Tom.
I really liked the idea of the concept
but I just don't think he executed it well enough.
The handle on that cafetiere, that treble clef doesn't work.
But he came second in the throw down challenge.
I know, you know we do have to acknowledge that.
It's a tough one that's for sure.
Potters, our judges have made a decision, let's start
with the good news.
Our very first potter of the week is...
Claire.
Well done, Claire.
Unfortunately, we've got to the horrible bit
and one of you will be leaving us.
Sadly that person is...
is Tom.
- So sorry, Tom. -It's all right, I knew it.
- Thank you. -We're gonna miss you, Tom.
Thank you, thank you.
Oh, I'm so sorry, I did not want to give you that news.
No, I'll stay if you like I mean, I don't mind.
- Thank you so much. -Tom, it's been a pleasure.
- Thank you. -Indeed, you need one.
The last few days have been full of ups and downs,
I've had some really, really high, highs
and I've had some real quite lows.
After the decorating stage, I knew I was in a little
bit of trouble,
so even though I did well on the throw down,
then actually I was still in line to go.
In the end, it's just an amazing experience
and one I'll never forget.
I think for Tom, he's got the ideas,
it's just that practical ability to follow them through.
We ended up with a breakfast set
that quite frankly, really wasn't fit for purpose.
I'm really sad to be losing Tom and I'm genuinely really shocked
that I was picked as the potter of the week.
Claire's six piece breakfast set
will take the first place in our throw down gallery.
I think the whole challenge has been a workout,
particularly like dealing with all the emotions.
I always say big girls don't cry but hey they do.
I'm absolutely thrilled for her, she's a brilliant potter,
she's got the throwing skills,
she's got the in-depth knowledge of glaze
and she's absolutely nailed it this week.
I think I did scrape through,
Keith will be on my case if I don't pick my game up.