With just
four potters remaining.
Now, traditionally,
this is bathroom week.
We've had toilets
and pedestal sinks.
I wonder what it's gonna be
this year.
Rose?
Oh.
- You're taking the...
- Siobhán.
Welcome to
the Great Pottery Throw Down.
Really? Well.
Last time...
- Oh, sorry.
...the potters constructed
their very own kilns.
Come on, baby. Burn, baby, burn.
To fire their abstract
self-sculptures.
It looks terrifying.
While Christine secured
an emotional
potter of the week...
It's incredibly powerful,
and I think it's the best thing
you've bloody made, anyway.
- - ...it was Jenny...
- I've got some big cracks.
...who finally succumbed
to the pressure of the pottery.
You don't want a journey
like this to ever end.
- This time...
- Ooh.
This is the semifinal.
We're pushing the envelope here.
It's bathroom week.
Welcome to the disaster corner.
Our four potters now face
their biggest challenge.
Have you not made
a urinal before?
- Funnily enough, no.
- Oh, you haven't lived.
And will attempt to impress
a titan of the ceramic world.
Even if you're not into pottery,
you know Wedgwood.
Who will feel
the flush of success?
I think it's
absolutely brilliant. I love it.
And whose chance
of making the final...
If it had been week one, I might
have been in tears by now.
...will be sucked
down the Swanee?
- Would you pee on a lobster?
- Yeah, I would.
What else would you pee on?
Anything that's fun
and colorful.
So, clowns, beware.
The final four potters
are up early
and are just
two challenges away
from securing
a place in the final.
Agh! It's the semifinal.
This is one of your last
chances to impress the judges.
It's gonna be tough competition.
I've lacked
self-belief throughout.
Always second-guessing myself
and thinking
that was my time to go home,
but I'm now one of four,
I'm in the semifinal,
and I'm not too stressed
by that.
But maybe ask me
in a few hours' time.
I'll be pulling my hair out.
I think I'm gonna
really enjoy this make.
I might try and go
for potter of the week.
It's about time I had...
had one.
Now, after being
potter of the week,
I think that's adding
to my confidence.
I just keep picturing
these images
of my build in my head now,
you know.
It's like, right,
I wanna get started.
Hello, potters.
Welcome to the semifinal.
Congratulations,
each and every one of you.
You've done a marvelous job
to get this far.
Now, for this week, the judges
would like you to make...
a urinal.
Yeah, you heard me.
- Rich, explain.
Well, we'd like your urinals to
be an exclusive one-off design.
The kind of statement piece
you'd expect to find
in a bar or a restaurant,
or even a garden centre,
so let your imaginations
run wild.
Now, we've given you a drain
plug and a flush mechanism,
as we will be plumbing in
these urinals
and testing them in judging.
Potters, you have seven hours
to make and refine your urinal.
And your time starts now.
Semifinal, I mean business.
I have diagrams.
I'm feeling excited,
but it's also kind of scary,
'cause, you know,
the stakes are a lot higher.
I can't believe it.
There's just four of us in here.
Making urinals in the pottery
in the semifinal.
Semifinal, Keith,
and we've gone big.
I know. Urinals.
This is the largest make
we've given our potters so far.
It's a challenge more than
worthy of a semifinal, isn't it?
Not only have they got
the scale of the build,
they've also got
the engineering,
making sure the plug fits,
making sure that all
of the water kind of comes in
and sort of works its way
around the bowl properly.
And then there's
the sort of concept, you know.
We don't want
a bog-standard urinal, do we?
Absolutely.
I love this one here.
Peas in a pod.
It's a play on words.
It's a play on the concept
as well. And it looks good.
I love the fact that, you know,
the pipework is concealed,
as is the fixing.
It just looks like this pea
that's hanging on a wall.
Yeah, you know, our potters
really have to think about
how they're assembling
their urinals together.
You know, they have to think
about that clay.
It's a very, very big structure,
and this clay is very fragile
when it's bone dry.
I mean, usually we talk about
cracks opening up on joins
when two slabs are put together.
I don't think
that's gonna be the major issue.
I think it's gonna be cracks
through slabs
that haven't been
compressed properly.
I think you're right.
It's not just about the joins.
It's about the actual structure
and the shape of that urinal.
This is the semifinal.
Our potters really need
to aim high for this one.
They do, but not too high.
This clay is so weird.
It feels so much firmer
than I'm used to.
I'm, like, hitting it
and, like, nothing's happening.
The potters have been given
tandoor clay,
so called for its use in the
construction of tandoori ovens.
There's a lot of grit
in this clay,
so it can really hold its shape.
Robust and incredibly stable,
thanks to its heavy
grog content,
it's perfect for the potters'
vast sculptural urinals.
Look how it stands up as a slab.
It's wonderful.
How can you get excited
about clay? But it is amazing.
- Hello, Christine.
- Hello, hello.
- So what are you making?
- I'm making a lobster urinal.
Of course. A urinal.
The first thing you think about
is a lobster, yeah.
- I know.
- Look at your headband.
Yeah, yeah, very nice.
That was what basically did it.
I was searching for ideas
and thinking, "What can I do?"
Were you sitting there just
peeing on your headband and...?
- Definitely not.
Christine's stylized take
on her favorite crustacean
will feature the necessary
legs, tail and claws,
but with so many elements
making her urinal,
it will also be
a feat of engineering.
I kind of
honed it in a little bit.
Rather than having
those as all separate entities,
they're gonna be
more joined than that.
Joined together
and more sculptural. Yeah, OK.
And I guess that'll give those
sort of extremities strength,
'cause they're kind of gonna be
a bit susceptible
to snapping, breaking, cracking.
Well, it sounds
well thought out.
- Let's see if I can do it.
- As long as the legs stay on.
Just make sure
they're good and sturdy.
- Yeah, yeah.
- Well, good luck.
- We'll see you later.
- Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Christine's crustacean might be
more at home under the waves,
but Lucinda's decided to plant
her feet firmly in the sand
with some classic
seaside entertainment.
My design is all about
the Punch and Judy booth.
And I have these, which
I've had for about 35 years.
- Wow.
- And I thought, do you know,
that'd be...
it'd be really fun to do,
because the booth is this
perfect opening for the urinal.
- I just wanna do this, you see.
Hello, hello.
Ah! Where's my sausages?
Sorry. I just needed to do that.
You can't take him anywhere.
For the centerpiece
of her homage
to the seaside puppet show,
she's painting
the infamous squabble
over a string of sausages
between Punch and Crocodile.
There's a lot of pieces here,
isn't there?
There's a lot of pieces
to put together.
It is
a little bit of a worry.
I've got all my pieces prepared,
you know, cutouts and things.
Once I've got
the main build done,
I can just really enjoy
all the decorative stuff then.
Yeah. Well, look, good luck
with getting it all together.
- Thank you.
- Yeah, good luck, Lucinda.
Thank you.
So while Lucinda sets about
constructing her booth
from multiple slabs,
those with
more curvaceous designs
turn to molds and formers
for assistance.
So this is
kind of the template,
but it's just so much clay,
ridiculously big.
This is the former
for the bowl of my urinal.
The former's in, so I'm now
gonna put the base in,
and then let it firm up a bit
and work on the tail.
- Hello, Anna.
- Hello. How are youse?
- Happy to be here?
- Delighted to be here.
And just really want to enjoy
making a urinal.
Have you not
made a urinal before?
Funnily enough, no.
You haven't lived, Anna.
You haven't lived.
So, come on, then,
tell us about your design.
- I'm doing a steam punk design.
- OK.
It's gonna be
sort of on a plate.
- Oh, wow.
- So how big is this?
That looks like
a very big sheet of clay.
That's gonna be
the big stress factor, really.
Anna's sheet
will provide the mount
for her funnel-shaped urinal.
The steam punk look she's
going for takes inspiration
from 19th-century
industrial machinery,
and Anna's creation
will be embellished
with pipes, bolts and spanners.
I'm just loving
the ambition.
I just think
it's such an ambitious build.
I just hope all of the elements
work for you.
- Good luck with your rivets.
- Yeah.
And your pipes.
We'll see you later.
Thanks very much.
Anna might be
taking inspiration
from 19th-century metalwork.
- - But AJ...
- Hyah!
...is traveling
slightly further back in time.
I really like museums, and I
went through all my photographs
that I had in museums, and, you
know, what looks urinal-like.
And then I saw a picture
of a knight's helmet
with the thing up,
and I was like, it's perfect.
But, yeah, I think the stuff
from that sort of medieval era
is really quite beautiful.
I'm a total nerd.
AJ is hoping
their medieval-style helmet,
complete with rivets,
a visor and a red feather,
will stand victorious
in the semifinal battle.
In lots of ways
it's quite a sensible form,
because, by their very nature,
the structural integrity
is all there in that helmet.
It's designed not to crumple
and sort of fall to bits.
Do you have the visor come down
halfway through,
just to add
a little air of danger
to the entire proceedings?
Try and get it in
through the slats, yeah.
Potters,
you are halfway through.
I think I'm doing
OK. I've made the basin.
And the legs are all made.
I've not counted how many pieces
I'm attaching together,
just because
it would frighten me.
Now,
let's see what happens
when I do this, shall we?
I'm happy enough with this.
- Hi, Anna.
- Hello, Rich.
Have I caught you
at a good time?
Well... Is it ever a good time
when you're building urinals?
I don't know.
So what's going on?
I want to get this on, so
I know exactly where it's going.
So this has gotta be
firm enough to hold up.
Wow. On, what,
three rods, or...?
Yeah, I'm thinking three,
plus the back of this, yeah.
- Not much to do, then.
No, no. All I can do is wish you
all the luck in the world, Anna.
I think I'm gonna need
all the luck in the world.
You really need
to sort of dig in to this clay
to get any sort of stick to it,
'cause otherwise you're not
getting into the grog,
and then it doesn't really
stick together.
By scratching the surface
and applying slip,
a watered-down clay mix,
the potters can join
component pieces.
I'm going to use
lots and lots and lots
and lots and lots of slip
and compression,
and I'm just gonna really,
really hope that it works.
A process
known as slip and scoring,
which, if done correctly,
will bond the pieces together
and prevent them from
coming apart during the firing.
It's gonna be far too thin.
But of course their clay pieces
must be the right sizes.
I should have put the panels
on the inside,
but if I'd done that,
it wouldn't have been neat
on the outside.
It's just this sort of thing's
wasting my time.
It really is
a classic stupid mistake.
This is the first
big mama join.
The judges were talking
about it being the semifinal,
a lot of pressure on you.
Yeah, there is
a lot of pressure.
Are you now plotting
against your previous friends?
Previous friends. Yeah,
we're not friends anymore.
Did you hear that? AJ doesn't
think you're friends anymore.
w*r. It's w*r now.
Everybody watch their back.
Oh, there is a danger,
with all this pulling and
pushing, I could undo something.
This here
is solid as a house brick.
Many joins to go.
I've got a lot to attach,
lots to do.
Potters,
that's two hours left.
Oh, I've really
messed up on the measurements.
Oh, oh, oh, oh.
I wanna get off the ride.
If I get my joins good,
it should be enough.
I love watching Anna
use the clay
when she's manipulating it,
it's so intuitive,
but, to be honest,
I'm really worried
about the overall
structure, really.
This is the semifinal.
We're pushing the envelope here.
Yeah, you know, there's
engineering, there's design.
The constructions
have to be sound.
It's a tough, tough challenge.
I don't know
if it's gonna work or not,
but, hey, gotta try it.
I've made two pairs of claws
that I'm joining now
to the main body of the lobster.
Christine,
it looks amazing so far.
I was really worried
about the kind of extremities,
because as that clay
moves and shrinks back,
there's every risk they could
sort of move and snap off.
I'm really worried about the
appendages dangling off, yeah.
And then you've got AJ.
Looking good.
I think it's
a really sensible construction.
That kind of dome structure.
There's natural strength
in that kind of form.
Well, there's a reason
why you have an arch bridge.
It's the strongest
structure going.
And then of course,
in complete contrast,
you've got Lucinda with all
these really massive flat slabs.
Oh, let's sort out
this little problem.
Looks like she's having
a bit of trouble
joining something
at the back there.
I do need
to keep these walls together.
I'm just putting
this support thing on now.
Oh, God, this might not work.
Potters, you have
one hour remaining.
The potters
must not only ensure
their urinals
are ready to be plumbed in.
This is where
the inlet for the water will go.
Not that I've made anything with
plumbing. I get a plumber in.
They also need to consider
how the water
will flush the bowl clean.
That's my deflector
going in there.
Water goes that way.
Making it up as I'm going along.
And despite
her earlier problems...
Just worried about the time.
...this is one element Lucinda
is determined to get right.
This is just
an idea I had
about getting the water
to go through little holes
so that I could manage more
the direction of the flow.
But my confidence in this
working is probably about 20%.
- Hello, hello.
- Hello, hello.
Oh, are you doing
your Punch and Judy voice?
- That's the way to do it!
- That's the way you do it!
- To do it!
- Is it?
- Yes. That's the way to do it!
I think that's brilliant.
Potters, that's 15 minutes left.
- 15 minutes.
- Oh, dear.
Time is quickly
running away from me now.
These tubes
are just decorative.
I'd say they're plumbing,
old-fashioned plumbing.
I want to add in
some rivets,
just to make it look
a bit more metal-like.
This is white slip.
It makes it more sanitary,
and it also makes it brighter
to paint onto.
I want the inside
to be white,
and this slip adds a bit
of smoothness to it as well.
I want it to look
quite clinical and clean.
I've got to get slip
over all of it,
but we are running out of time.
Five minutes left, potters.
Five minutes left.
It's not perfect,
but at least with this design
I can get away with that sort of
slightly archaic finish to it.
Once it's got its eyes,
it does look like a lobster.
I think I'm getting there.
Perhaps a toilet's easier.
Oh, God.
Guys, we're gonna
have to ask you to hurry up.
You've to help each other
to bring it in.
Oh, looks fantastic. Well done.
One minute left.
One minute left.
And back to your desks.
Back to your desks, quickly.
Quickly, quickly, quickly.
- Done.
- Well done.
- Come on.
- Ah!
Group hug.
I've just made a urinal.
I've just made a urinal
that will be functioning.
I'm really pleased
with the actual shape of it,
but the kiln
is where the potential lies
for things to go majorly wrong.
My concern
with the firing is
that something
completely drops off.
I didn't join it well enough.
Because I had to
fill in a lot of gaps,
they might be weak, might crack,
but it needs
some really lovely decoration,
and I will fight
to the bitter end.
- - It's the semifinal.
- Oh, good, no wheel involved.
And the potters are facing
a second challenge
with some legendary status.
Potters, your second challenge
this week is a spot test.
And we are very excited
to welcome
some very special guests
from Wedgwood.
Oh, my gosh.
Please welcome Olivia,
Suzanne and Julie.
- Hello. Come on in.
Thank you so much
for joining us.
Now, potters, this week
your spot test involves
the iconic
Wedgwood Jasperware collection,
and a precise decorating process
known as ornamenting.
Josiah Wedgwood is
one of the founding fathers
of British ceramics.
Considered by many
to be the epitome
of Wedgwood design and quality,
his Jasperware vase has been
made and sold worldwide
for almost 250 years.
And it's still being made
in the Stoke-on-Trent factory
just down the road.
Olivia, please talk us
through the process.
Thank you.
- Oh.
- Oh, so exciting.
So, potters,
you're going to be ornamenting
one of our iconic pieces
of Jasperware,
and that is the Bountiful vase.
There are two processes
that happen with this.
The first one is figure making,
and that is the relief work
which sits on top
of the surface of the vase.
So we've got the clay here,
and you've also got the molds.
Get a piece of your clay,
and you roll it
into a sausage shape.
Make sure you've got enough
to really fill your mold full.
And then this is called
the pressing-up knife.
Scrape that knife so that clay
is really well and truly
within the mold there.
So then you'll knock the clay.
You've gotta use enough force
that the clay
is well and truly in there,
but not too much so
the mold doesn't actually break.
You can always tell
when the ladies are angry
on the factory floor.
So what you're gonna be using
now is the cutting-off knife,
and you're scraping off the
excess clay that you don't need.
And then this is called
the waggler.
So you want that nice and wet,
and that water acts as a bit
of an adhesive to the clay,
so it sticks, and then
you're slowly releasing it off.
And then you can tip it up.
Ah.
So once your figures are made,
you'll need to work on borders.
You've got large,
and you've got littler ones.
You're then working
onto the ornamenting.
So you wet
the surface of the clay,
and that creates
a slip surface on there.
Start with the biggest figure,
and that sits on the seam line
of the belly of the vase.
And then work your way
around that.
You saw Julie there, she just
overlaid it, that second one,
and then she'll just
smooth that together,
making sure
that it has no gaps in,
'cause if it fires,
that ornament's gonna fall off.
So we're looking
at the precision
of where it's been placed,
but also
that it's been placed well.
If I wanted to buy
one of these
or, you know,
be given one as a gift,
how much would that gift
have been worth?
It depends
on the prestige of the piece.
Well, I'm pretty prestigious.
- This is around about £150.
- And this one?
That one in the middle
there is about 15,000.
- 15,000.
So this is designed
by somebody called Hitomi.
She's a Japanese ceramicist,
and she worked with Wedgwood
in the Jasperware department,
learning all the skills,
and then what she did
is she put a contemporary spin
onto a classical piece
of Wedgwood.
OK, potters, not only
are you going to be doing
this classical design,
we want you
to decorate two vases,
the second one
with a more contemporary design.
So on each of your benches
you'll have a gray box
with a series of ornaments
in them.
So, go wild,
but just don't break that.
Now, this challenge
is going to be judged blind,
so if I could ask you
to leave, please, ladies.
Keith will make you
a cup of tea.
Make me one too
while you're at it.
Right, potters,
back to your benches, please.
You have one hour and a half,
and your time starts now.
Remove the hessian, gently.
This is the first time
in Throw Down history
that the potters
have been given a task
with such historic prestige
in British pottery.
This is exciting.
They've just 90 minutes
to do it justice.
It's a great challenge.
Wedgwood is massively iconic.
Even if you're not into pottery,
you know Wedgwood.
To be using these molds
and to be, you know,
shown the technique
from those ladies, it's huge.
They made that look way easier
than it actually is.
At first I was like, oh, yeah,
I'll probably be good at this,
because I'm good
with, like, detailed stuff,
and then immediately
clay touches plaster,
I'm like, I'm not good at this.
OK.
I don't do delicate things
like this very often.
I don't think
I'm going to do very well.
I don't think
I've ever done
anything as delicate as this.
It's so fine, and I've got
big sausage fingers.
Ooh.
There we go. One.
Waggle. It's not waggling.
The, like, slightly damp metal
sticks to the clay,
or at least it's supposed to.
It's not wanting to do it.
Oh, oh.
Maybe my waggler
wasn't wet enough.
I need to wet my waggler.
Oh, come on.
That's better.
Oh, thank goodness for that.
Ooh. Come, my precious.
Ooh, that came off nicely.
The potters need to create
enough high-quality
ornaments and borders
to place around their vase.
God, I'm just finding it
really hard to get them out.
But trying to achieve that
Wedgwood standard of precision
is not so straightforward.
Oh, he's got a crease
in his face. That's no good.
Just staying focused, I think,
is the key to winning this one,
trying not to lose
any of the detail,
and placing it accurately
on the pot.
I've chucked more
than I've made.
I've got to get
the small border done.
After this, I'm just gonna start
putting them on.
Please work.
Think I'm getting
the hang of this now.
Oh, my God.
Potters, you're halfway through.
- Halfway through.
- Ah.
You should be thinking about
putting your ornaments
on your vase.
And we start
with the big one first. OK.
Anna has started...
- Oh, no.
- ...putting on her ornaments.
- Christine, have you started?
I have.
Oh. It's so hard to place.
OK, Christine, how's it going?
Um, well, I don't think they'll
be employing me any time soon.
- They're looking for precision.
- I know.
- Oh, right.
This is my precision.
Sure look, your man's
sleeping against a wheel.
Sure he's lopsided too.
Potters, that's half an hour
to go.
Lucinda and AJ
are starting to put them on.
I need to at least
get something on.
That's the spirit.
Just gotta put them on
really carefully.
It's just so fiddly.
They're very dry, and they don't
want to bend. It's not easy.
The big pieces are on.
I'm doing the borders now.
This seems to be curving
in the wrong direction.
Does it go that way or that way?
That will just have to do.
I'm gonna start doing
the freestyle one.
The potters have been given
a range of premade ornaments
to decorate their second vase.
Lots of figures.
This will be a test
of their creativity.
Oh, my gosh, these are lovely.
I just have to get
a quick design going on
in my head here,
and maybe the border
could be these, coming this way.
That's what I'll do.
Can't say what I'm designing,
because I'm just winging it.
Whoa. Oops.
Let's get rid of all that.
- - With time ticking along...
- Oh, God, come on.
...Lucinda and AJ are only just
starting their second vase.
It doesn't matter
what it is.
I've just got to get it
on the piece,
'cause I don't think
we've got that much time left.
Potters, you've 15 minutes left.
15 minutes left.
I want everything to
look as symmetrical as possible.
If I could just have everything
on the shoulder of the pot,
if nothing else,
that would be lovely.
I'm gonna do
the same pattern twice
and then bring them
to the middle
to create something both sides.
This is just
really instinct
of where I'm going with this,
and I'm not actually sure
where I'm going with it.
The design is whatever
I haven't broken already
I'm putting on the pot.
Potters,
that's five minutes left.
Five minutes left.
AJ, how are you getting on?
- Um, OK.
- Is this a bit more fun?
- No.
- All right, OK, good.
My design's evolving.
I think I'm doing OK.
When I started, I thought
it was a bit of a nightmare,
but it's actually turned out OK.
That's not gonna work.
Got to do this beautifully.
I've decided to do something
that requires
precision and measuring
when I don't have the time
or implements to do so.
One minute left, potters.
One minute left.
I'm just wanting to do
a few finishing touches.
It's so sweet.
Welcome to the disaster corner.
- Wedgwood has broken me.
- I know that feeling.
Five, four,
three, two, one.
- Potters, well done.
That is your spot test finished.
Could you please bring up
your two vases
to the trestle table
behind your name?
After an hour and a half,
the potters have managed
to decorate two iconic
Wedgwood Jasperware vases
using the traditional
ornamenting technique.
Now it's time
for their pieces to be judged.
Let's have a look.
The gap's a bit too big
going round there.
Yeah, it's kind of
working its way up to the top.
The arm's broken here
a little bit.
I think possibly
the reliefs have dried out a bit
as they've been trying
to put them on.
OK. The bottom's
not too bad, is it?
The bottom's really good.
It looks like they got better
as they went down.
What do you think
about the contemporary one?
That is lovely.
There's nice symmetry
between the sides.
Good use
of the borders,
but kept it all as one style.
Really thought about
the composition of it, yeah.
So we're just missing
a slight arm.
So they dried out
a little bit here.
Bit of a gap there,
isn't there?
Slight gappage on the top.
And also it's a little bit wonky
around the top.
And let's have a look
at the contemporary one.
Look at that perfect circle.
- That's fantastic.
- Wow.
This has been
carefully measured.
I think
there's quite a bit going on
in terms of different styles
of relief work,
but, all in all, the application
of it, absolutely fantastic.
So this one here, the border
has been placed upside down.
That border should be aligned
with this nook
in the vase there.
Right.
At the top,
it's missing a little bit
of its tip there.
We've got a bit of overlaying
here that shouldn't be there.
There should be a gap between
the fruit basket and the lady.
And then
the contemporary one.
It's really complex.
They've really thought
about the pattern
and how it goes around.
Very similar to the magnolia one
that we had on display earlier.
There's only a little bit
of lifting here.
If it was lifted like that
and it would go into the kiln,
would it lift it off any more?
Yeah, sometimes
they'll just totally blow off.
Sometimes it will still
sort of half fire on.
But that would become
really sharp
if it wasn't
fully stuck down, yeah.
- Those joins, quite good.
- OK.
Has the wheel got
all its...? Yeah, fantastic.
- Can you see all the detail?
- Oh, I see, yes.
They've really got
the molding well there.
- Just a slight gap.
- Little bit of a gap.
But it's nicely up
at the top edge, isn't it?
There's nothing coming away
on this one,
so they've really paid attention
to getting it precisely
stuck to the vase.
And I can tell that
a tool's been dragged along.
- To finish it off.
- Ah.
And let's have a look
at the contemporary one. Wow.
Looks very symmetrical.
It's well measured out.
Yeah, I'm really liking the use
of all the ornaments.
They've really thought about
how each one sits
with each other.
It kind of works
with the form, doesn't it?
Really thought about
the shape of the vase.
Yeah, fantastic.
The judges must now rank
the potters' Jasperware vases
from worst to best.
- That's one of the best.
- That's the best application.
OK.
In fourth place
is this one here.
Ah, Anna.
Your border is upside down
on the bottom.
And this one,
really good use of the vase,
but it's perhaps
not using the freestyle element
as well as the other pieces.
In third place...
- This one here.
- AJ.
Good application
of affixing the reliefs.
Little bit wonky
on the top border here.
This one technically really good
to get that circle,
but perhaps you could have
thought a little bit more
about the bottom half
of the vase.
In second place is... this one.
- Christine.
- So I absolutely love this.
I think it's beautiful. I think
that front section is stunning.
The only thing was just
some of these reliefs,
particularly on the bottom here,
little bit wonky.
Yeah, little bit.
That's the only thing that
really let you down on that one.
- So in first place is...
- Lucinda.
...these ones.
Fantastically applied.
There's a little bit of gapping
sort of on the top borders here,
but in terms of being
really close to those edges,
really, really good,
and the application on this
is fantastic,
and the detail
and symmetry of it,
really, really well thought out.
Well done.
Ah! I can't believe it!
Do you know,
I really needed that.
Might help keep me in.
You never know.
Depends on the other pieces.
But it certainly hasn't
done me any harm.
Thought I'd actually done better
than I had, but obviously not.
So I'm in fourth place. Well,
fourth place, that's last place.
I really have to have
a very good urinal, basically.
Everything needs to be
just spot on.
I've got nowhere to hide
with it.
It's day two in the pottery,
and having been bisque fired
for 24 hours,
their urinals are ready
for decoration.
I really don't know
how well it will have fared.
If it's all in one piece,
I'm just gonna really enjoy
decorating it.
If it's in several pieces,
then I'll decorate
the bits and pieces.
I never in my life
thought I'd be decorating,
let alone making, a urinal.
It's gonna be quite a day.
Decorating a urinal.
This is definitely
the biggest piece
I've ever had to decorate.
Just gotta be careful with it,
and take it slow,
but not take it too slow, 'cause
we haven't got a lot of time.
I've got loads of
worries and concerns about it.
It's probably got cracks
all over it,
and pincers dropped off
and everything,
so I'm preparing myself
for the worst.
The potters are yet to discover
if the urinals are intact
and whether they actually
have something to decorate.
Hello, potters.
Your urinals
have been bisque fired
and are now ready
for decorating.
Rich, do you have any advice?
Well, this is
a big decoration job.
It's where you bring together
all of the elements
of your conceptual design,
so really make
every second of your time count.
This is sanitary ware. It wants
to be completely glazed.
We want nice smooth finishes.
Potters,
you have a range of glazes
and three and a half hours
to decorate your urinals,
and your time starts... now!
Potters, get decorating.
Ooh. Oh, no.
Oh.
Oh, my God.
It's been in the wars.
Lobster, anyone?
You know, I'm shocked
that so many of them are off,
I'll be honest with you.
They've come away quite cleanly,
so, I mean,
it perhaps looks like
a join that hasn't
sort of completely sort of set,
but, I mean,
those appendages, I guess,
were always gonna be
susceptible to coming off.
There's loads
and loads of very big cracks.
If it had been week one, I might
have been in tears by now.
It's not as bad
as I imagined in my head.
I've got a very large crack
on this side of it.
So I'm gonna pack that
full of glaze.
Hopefully that will
sort of weld it together.
I've got, like,
Joker-style cracks up the side.
It's not
in the, like, bottom bowl,
which would have been
the worst-case scenario.
- Oops.
- Hi, Lucinda.
- Hello!
- How you doing?
I've never had to fill
cracks in like this before.
Why do you think
they've cracked anyway?
Do you know,
I just did a foolish mistake.
- These side pieces...
- Yeah.
...were meant to be on the base.
And I put them
at the side of the base,
which meant
everything else didn't fit.
So once I've filled these,
I'm ready to go.
Good luck.
The potters must ensure
every crack is filled
if they are to avoid leaks
once the urinals are plumbed in
and flushed during judging.
I've got some clear glaze
mixed with
some sort of clay dust,
and I'm just sort of stuffing it
in the cracks
before I do any sort of glazing.
This is gonna take
a bit of time away
from my decorating, for sure,
but, at the end of the day,
this has gotta be watertight.
And as Lucinda
continues to waterproof
her Punch and Judy urinal,
it's decoration time for Anna's
steam punk inspired design.
I've more or less
attended to all the cracks now.
This is white underglaze,
so that's going to be the base.
I'm just now putting
the first layer on of color.
I'm doing the inside black,
and then the outside will be
a sort of metally gray.
And then I'm excited
for the feather.
- That's gonna be bright red.
- Oh, really?
Oh, I'm excited for the feather
now as well.
Do you think three and a half
hours is enough to get it done?
- Um...
- 'Cause that's al you have!
I hope so.
Potters,
you're halfway through.
One hour, 45 minutes left.
I also did some maths there.
- You got that for free.
- Quick maths.
I've filled in the cracks.
OK, let's start
drawing some things on.
With Lucinda, there was
a lot of work just repairing,
and that obviously takes time
away from the decoration.
The ceramic pencil will stay,
and then
I've just got to fill it in.
She made a good call, because
she's put on that white slip
before biscuit firing,
so hopefully those colors
should really, really pop.
I've got a long way to go.
I'm gonna put
the claw pincers back on
after I've decorated.
I'll probably panic about
half an hour towards the end.
It's gonna be difficult
to get those legs and pincers
to stay on during the firing.
I want to get
sort of a distressed effect,
lots of browny, blacky colors,
I suppose.
Anna, not too many
kind of cracks.
I guess it's got that sort of
shabby chic element to it.
- It's kind of a bit worn.
- A bit like yourself, Rich.
Well, you know, I like to be
a bit rough around the edges.
I've got
different layers to apply,
so it's how I apply
those layers,
that I don't actually
make it too dark
but I still get light
coming through it.
I'm hoping that it'll look like
it's been in a battle or two.
AJ's seems to be
the cleanest build.
Is that helmet opening
wide enough for your aim?
- I've got great aim.
- OK, good.
Well, I'm a kind of
sit-down kind of guy.
Are you? I'd like to see you
try and sit down on that.
Well, no...
It's a weird thing to say that
I've done, I've made a urinal.
Why did we make urinals?
It's kind of weird
that you want somebody
to pee on your work, isn't it?
The highest compliment. Oh, God.
I'm doing Punch
at the moment.
Where people want to aim
is completely up to them,
but, you know, if he does get a
bit of a splash, won't harm him.
Potters,
that's one hour left.
You'd better hurry up,
or... you're in trouble.
You're in... trouble. Thank you.
I've still got a lot, lot, lot,
lot, lot, lot to do.
Just put a little bit
of green, little bit of brown,
wipe that back,
and then I've been doing
sort of dabs of red and yellow,
just to lift the color
a wee bit.
The sponging I'm just doing
to give it a bit of depth.
So that'll hopefully lift it up
a little bit.
I'm layering color
with a sponge,
just so that it's a bit more
diluted than a flat paintbrush.
It's a lobster.
Would you pee on a lobster?
- Yeah, I would.
- You'd pee on a lobster?
- Yeah.
- What else would you pee on?
Uh, just anything
that's fun and colorful.
- So, clowns, beware.
Potters, you've 15 minutes left.
I don't know
if I'm going to finish.
I've got three layers
on the feather.
I'm just doing
finishing touches,
and then I can get
the whole thing clear glazed.
I've applied the color.
Now I'm putting on
transparent glaze
over the top of it.
That gives it the shiny finish
which makes it easier to clean
and wipe down
and that kind of stuff.
I'm using the glaze
like glue.
Hopefully it will fuse,
you know,
keep the claws
attached to the body.
But, yeah, it's gonna be glazed
within an inch of its life.
I've got to put all
the transparent over the top.
I'm really, really pushing it.
I have been far too ambitious.
Potters,
that's five minutes left.
We're all having fun, but
there's only five minutes left
to glaze your urinals.
This is the most
pushed for time I've been.
It started off a wee bit
disastery, but now it's grand.
I'm free if anybody needs help
with glazing.
We're helping with glazing now.
Do you see that?
She's done two layers,
and now she's going off
to help other people.
Oh, bless you.
No greater love
hath one person for another
than the love
for sanitary urinals.
Potters, 30 seconds left.
30 seconds.
Very last finishing touches now.
I'm hoping
next time I see it,
it's all gonna be in one piece.
That's the way to do it.
Potters, paintbrushes down.
Step away from your urinals.
Congratulations. Well done.
That's the way to do it!
The potters must now haul
their urinals to the kiln
for one final firing.
Ooh!
In just 24 hours, they'll know
if their decoration
matches the ambition
of their build.
I really enjoyed
the decoration.
Slapping paint on
and wiping it off again.
There we go.
It's still very weird
to be doing urinals,
and I think
when it's up on the wall
and there's water
going everywhere,
and Keith's standing there
with a hose or whatever,
it's still gonna be weird.
I just did the best
I could in filling the cracks.
If they open up, a leaky urinal,
yeah, that's not good.
The biggest issue
is the pincers.
If they don't stay on,
yes, I'll be going home.
It's judgment day, and
after a 24-hour gloss firing,
the potters' urinals are ready
to come out of the kiln.
- Morning, potters.
- Morning.
Slightly anxious
about how my lobster
has come out of the kiln.
Christine, your one first.
I'm hoping
that I've put enough glaze on
to reattach the top four legs.
Oh.
Oh, my gosh, another one's off.
It's got worse.
The criteria for judging has
to be that it's fit for purpose.
Oh, my God.
It might be
the most colorful in the room,
with the most decoration.
Oh, my God.
It's still got cracks in it.
But that's not gonna
cut the mustard if it's leaking.
I'm happy
with the colors.
It actually turned out
better than I'd hoped for.
Right,
let's get it on.
Their urinals won't be tested
until the judges flush
for the very first time.
There's no way
they're gonna stay on.
Well,
let's just glue it.
There are things
to celebrate with it,
but also obviously
I should have attached them
a lot better than I did.
Could take half an hour
for this thing to dry.
Who'd have thought
we'd be doing this?
Four urinals plumbed in
and ready for judging.
At stake, a place in the final.
Congratulations, potters.
Did you ever think
you would be standing
beside your own bespoke
handmade urinals?
- No.
Well, judges, shall we go round
and have a look at them?
Yeah, absolutely.
It's a really, really bold
and in some ways simple design,
and you can tell what it is
from 20 paces away.
I think
it's absolutely brilliant.
I love it. I think it's great.
It is super, super cool.
It's just so bold. I love
the feather against the back.
You've got a really simple
color palette,
but it's just got
such visual impact.
I could completely see this
in a museum or a theme park.
It's just packed with character.
And although
it's a very simple design,
you've really thought about
the definition and the detail,
which just accentuates
the helmet,
and it works
really, really well.
And that structure is
really, really clever,
because, as we know, arches are
a very, very strong structure.
- Shall we see how it flushes?
- Yeah.
Ooh.
I actually like the way
that that water actually fans
out across the back of the bowl.
It's obviously
a bit more hygienic,
'cause it's gonna wash away
that waste far more efficiently.
It's a really bold, simple,
well-built design.
- Thank you.
- Yeah, well done, AJ.
So, how you feeling
about your urinal?
- Disappointed about the cracks.
- Yeah.
But generally,
you know, it's a bit of fun.
- Yeah, I think it's great.
- You know that saying.
- That's the way to do it.
- That's the way to do it.
The kind of, yeah, the sausages.
- It's great.
- Classically trained.
No, I just think
it's great. It's so playful.
I'm loving that
illustration on the back wall.
Obviously you can see
that crack there,
and there's a few stress cracks
that you've got on the side.
You've tried
to sort of fill them in,
but that's the thing, each clay
has a different personality,
and you have to treat it
in a certain way
to achieve that look
that you wanna get.
I'm not entirely convinced
about the underglaze pencil,
whether that kind of adds to it,
or whether it feels like
a little unintended.
I mean, it seems to work
on this text here.
I'm just not so sure
about sort of around here,
whether it's a little bit lost.
- I was a bit in a hurry.
- OK.
- OK.
- At the end.
- 'Cause, actually, the sheer...
- There's a lot.
...amount of decoration there is
on here is incredible, really.
It's just a question of
how that water is going to work
with the
whole sort of structure.
I spent quite a bit of time
on the water deflector.
So I hope it works.
Oh, wow. OK, yes.
You've gone for
completely enclosed,
with lots of little holes.
Ooh, yeah. It'll be interesting
to see if that works.
Well, Rich,
do you wanna do the honors?
Yeah!
It is. It's going down the back.
Yeah, you've got water
right the way across there.
- Yes, that's what I wanted.
- No splashing.
- There's a bit of a leak.
- That's the silicon.
I didn't put it in properly.
You've got
a bit of water pooling there
in the bottom of the urinal,
which isn't ideal, you know.
And that's possibly because
the clay has warped and bent.
But I'm loving the way
the water works.
- The water worked.
- Down the back of the urinal.
Yeah. It's a shame
about the cracks.
But otherwise it's
a really playful, joyous design.
- Thanks, Lucinda.
- OK, thank you.
We thought this was
the most ambitious build.
I mean, it's miraculous.
It's miraculous.
It's miraculous that
that is in one piece.
Because if I was a betting man,
I would have bet on that
being in probably three pieces.
And the way it feels like
it's just bolted onto the wall
and you've got
all of this exposed pipework,
I think it's great, you know,
it's just a lovely, lovely idea.
And you've ex*cuted it
beautifully. The build is great.
You've got
one slight stress crack there,
but apart from that,
I mean, it looks pretty good.
I actually really love it.
I think it's great.
I don't know, for me,
it lacks perhaps
a bit of light and shade,
but I was just wondering
whether I was expecting
sort of a bit more, um,
tonal variation, I guess.
So shall we try it out?
Shall we flush it?
I'm desperate to give it a go.
Look at that.
It's all contained in the bowl.
- And it all drains away.
- There's no leakage there.
I mean, it would have been nice
to see the water
run a bit more around the back
of the side of the bowl.
But that funnel shape has
really, really worked for you.
I think that was
a very clever design.
- Hello, lobster.
- Hello.
Oh, I thought
you were talking to me.
So, Christine, how do you feel
about your lobster urinal?
Um, I like the way it looks,
but it's been in the wars.
Yeah, but, you know what, the
first thing I notice about it
is that you've covered
the waste pipe,
and the uniformity
of the whole construction.
What do you think, Rich?
Yeah, I'd agree.
It's a really interesting shape.
It's got visual impact,
'cause you've got
that very plain backdrop
and then this bold,
punchy color.
From that perspective,
there's something even better
about that mouth and the eyes.
It's really sort of,
um, yeah, quite funny.
It looks like it's sort of
nibbling on the pipe.
Obviously, the elephant
in the room,
those pincers and the legs
have come off.
You don't appear to have
any major cracks
in the actual bowl
of the urinal.
The surface is really smooth.
So shall we see how it flushes?
Yeah.
- OK.
- Bit of an issue.
Oh, I see. So it's just
the angle of the deflector.
It's picking up the water
and sending it round
onto the rim
and down onto the floor.
The bowl's emptying reasonably
well. It's all draining.
And the entire surface
of that inside
is very smooth, very clean,
you know.
It'd be very easy to keep clean.
It's a lovely bowl design, and
it's a lovely smooth surface.
- So, well done, Christine.
- Thank you.
I'm glad it's over, you know.
But, um, yeah, I think
it may be my turn to go home.
I am fully expecting
to go home,
and that would be
absolutely fair, you know.
It's not fit for purpose.
Before the button
was pressed to flush it,
I was suddenly,
like, really nervous.
I was thinking, oh, God,
what if it, like, sprays them
in the face or something?
But it went...
it went all right.
I would love to get
potter of the week
at some point.
I've been close
a couple of times,
but I just never quite seem
to get there.
So I'm just not pinning too many
hopes on this one either.
Um, we'll see.
What a week. Thank you, judges.
I don't think
I've ever been so close
and so involved
in so many urinals.
Well, I mean, you know,
it's the semifinal.
We've given them a big build.
It had to work aesthetically,
and it had to work practically.
And for some of them
it kind of has,
and some of them
it hasn't at all.
Well, why don't we start
with the people
for whom it hasn't worked?
Well, Lucinda had real problems
with her structure
of her urinal.
Yeah,
I think it's unfortunate.
Some of the technical aspects
worked really beautifully,
and others not so much.
I mean, the deflector,
of all of the potters,
hers worked the best, you know.
It really cleaned that back wall
in a lovely way.
She did come first
in the second challenge.
But it was really, really close
between her and Christine.
And, again, Christine
had a bit of a bad make
when it came to the urinal.
Christine went for a very bold,
very fun, simple concept.
And I think the fact that
those pincers were detached,
they were just
very poorly joined, you know.
So it's a very big aspect
of her build,
because if
you're gonna do simple,
you've gotta get those seams
and those joins perfect.
AJ also had a very, um, simple
but effective design.
Which is always sometimes
a bit risky to do, you know.
Yeah, nowhere to hide.
There is literally
nowhere to hide.
But really pulled it off.
Yeah, I think
of all of the potters,
AJ's was the only one
that had that sort of marrying
of the function and the form.
The quality of the build
was just exquisite.
The way they've managed to get
that almost metallic surface.
I was a bit worried
it might appear a bit flat,
but, you know, just simple
details, picking out rivets,
the openings in the helmet,
and that red feather.
Oh, that lovely red feather.
- Sort of flourish.
- A lovely flourish.
So well thought out
and really well built.
- And then Anna.
- Out of all the makes...
- It's a miracle!
- Well, it is a miracle.
I mean, you know,
both Rich and I thought
that she was gonna have
the biggest problem
going into that biscuit kiln.
That big back slab of clay
that she'd got there,
the funnel urinal, there was
a lot of things going on.
But, you know, on paper
that just shouldn't have worked,
and it's testament
to Anna's construction methods
that it did, you know,
and, actually, you can't deny
the surfaces were beautiful.
They had such depth,
the texture she'd created,
and the way she'd used
the underglazes and wiped back.
It was flawless.
It was a great build.
Well, I don't envy
your decision.
We're talking about a place
in the final.
- Uh-huh.
- So we've gotta get it right.
Good luck.
Hello, potters.
The judges have made
their decision.
And it's been a very, very
difficult decision to make.
This week's
potter of the week is...
AJ.
I'm in shock.
- Congratulations.
- Thank you.
Now for the really horrible bit,
the bit that I don't want to do.
The potter who is leaving us...
is...
Lucinda.
- I'm so sorry.
- That's OK.
Congratulations, though. You've
been absolutely wonderful.
And we've loved having you here.
I am feeling sad
that it's ended,
but I'm also
kind of elated as well.
Oh, it's just been amazing.
Thank you very much.
It's been so lovely
having you here.
Yeah,
it's been life-changing.
It's kind of almost
given me permission to get on
and... and be
a proper potter now.
So, as Lucinda
leaves the pottery,
AJ's urinal is their third
to take a place
in the Throw Down gallery.
So, how wonderful.
AJ, potter of the week.
It was really well constructed,
really well conceived,
and really well ex*cuted.
I'm going into the final.
I'm so pleased.
I'm so excited.
It's gonna be so fun.
I'm gonna go big.
I'm gonna go big for the final.
- Final.
- I know.
Yeah, yeah.
I'm quite overwhelmed by it,
you know.
It's not just that
you're not going home this week.
It's that I'm in the final.
Yeah, I can't believe it.
Oh, my God. How did that happen?
I kind of think I've just fallen
into it in many respects.
It's a bit mad, isn't it?
Oh, my God, I'm in the final.
Next time...
The judges have made
their decision.
- Here we are.
- The pressure's on.
Anybody else panicking?
I can't risk
taking any shortcuts.
You can almost cut the
atmosphere with a knife in here.
I don't feel like
I'm gonna get everything done.
It's the fastest thing
I've ever made.
- Ooh, no.
- Panic stations.
I'm just literally,
like, throwing it on.
Oh, my goodness.
The winner of this year's
Great Pottery Throw Down is...
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05x09 - Urinals and Wedgwood Jasperware
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In each episode, a group of amateur potters compete to complete two pottery challenges.
In each episode, a group of amateur potters compete to complete two pottery challenges.