It's the semifinal!
Sinead. And our four remaining
potters are making twin sinks
and decorative tiles.
Hold on a second.
I do the introductions here.
Yeah, but it's not fair.
Yes, well,
it's not meant to be fair.
You're the good twin,
and I'm the evil twin.
That's how it is.
You get to lug clay about
and clean the aprons, and I get to
have fun with the potters
and drink cups of tea with Keith
and Rich.
So, go on - hop it!
Welcome to The Great Pottery Throw
Down!
Families, huh?
Last time...
Would you agree this is the hardest
challenge you've had? - Yes.
..our potters defied all odds by
overcoming a radical challenge.
Oh, my God!
And took on a speedy throw down...
Please don't die.
We're going to get through it.
..where the bucket of doom came out
to play.
Yeah, that one's pants as well.
Lois was top of the class
with her sublime coffee set.
All of the edges beautifully
finished. Beautifully smooth.
But Helen's colourful creation
failed to fulfil
the brief, and she became
the eighth potter to go back
to reality.
It's just been an absolute hoot.
This week... Come on in the drying
room!
..it's the semifinal.
I'm not panicking yet.
Oh! ..and the return of bathroom
week...
I've never made sinks before.
I've plumbed plenty of sinks.
..a delicate decoration spot test.
Mine looks like snail poo.
Who will clean up?
How have you managed it?!
They're absolutely fantastic.
And whose hopes of a place in
the final...
This is a bit nerve-racking.
..will go down the drain?
This is the semifinal!
I can't have you being sloppy.
I can be stroppy all I want.
# Making time
# sh**ting lines
# People have their uses
# People have their uses... #
# Splish-splash, I was taking a bath
# Long about a Saturday night... #
Our four remaining potters are back,
and just two challenges stand
between them and a place in
the final.
Coming in today, very excited to
be in the semifinals,
raring to go.
It feels a bit unbelievable.
You know, this is it.
It's time to go. Bring it on!
Good luck, everybody. Good luck to
you. Have fun.
I'm really pleased to be here.
It's going to be a challenge,
You know it's going to be a
challenge cos it's the semifinals.
I'm looking forward to it.
That was a fluke. Don't know how I
managed to make it to the semifinal.
I never expected to go more than a
week or two, so to still be hanging
on in there
is a matter of either poor judgment
by the judges,
or some level
of skill I wasn't aware of, so...
Getting past week one was, "Wow."
Getting past week two was,
"What's going on?"
And then for the semifinal
it's like,
"OK, something's not right,"
but, you know,
I'm rolling with it
and I'm ready to give it my all.
Welcome back, potters,
to the semifinal.
OK, then. For your main make
challenge this week,
the judges would like you
to make a pair of twin sinks
and ten stunning decorative tiles
to go with them.
Rich, any advice for our potters?
Well, your twin sinks
need to be bowl-shaped with
a small, flat base and a foot ring.
As this is sanitaryware,
they must be watertight
and functional.
We will be plumbing them in
and testing them during judging,
and I'll be taking
a very close look at your tiles.
Our tile king himself. Keith.
Now, your sinks should be
decorated differently,
but still work together as a pair.
We'd like you to be inspired by
the beautiful colours
and patterns found in
traditional Turkish baths,
but not directly copied.
We're looking for elegant,
timeless and unique interpretations.
No novelty sinks.
Elegant, timeless and unique.
Remind you of anyone?
Oh, OK.
Awkward. OK, then.
Potters, you have been given six
hours to make
and refine your sink and tiles,
and your time starts now!
If throwing two sinks
and making ten handmade tiles wasn't
a big enough challenge, all four
semifinalists have chosen
to decorate their tiles using
the tricky slip inlay method.
It's making me panic.
Which involves imprinting
a design into the surface of
the tiles, filling the recess
with coloured slip, before scraping
away the excess
to reveal the design.
So I'm starting with
the tiles cos I
want to ensure that they're going to
be dry enough for me to inlay them.
And with this process needing
to be complete before
the sinks and tiles have their
first firing,
the next six hours will be
a massive juggling act.
Never made tiles before,
so it's all very new.
Yeah, added pressure that
Rich is, uh, the king of tiles.
Rich. Yes, Keith.
It's the semifinal!
It is, and it's a big challenge
this week, isn't it?
Twin sinks and a set of ten tiles.
Well, obviously the tiles... I mean,
that's pretty easy, isn't it?
I mean, the most important bit,
quite frankly.
Well, I'd probably say
the hand-thrown sinks myself, yeah.
OK. Because it's all
very well throwing one sink.
Yeah. Anyone can do that.
Hmm. But they've got to throw two,
and they've got to be basically
identical in size and form.
Yeah. This bowl is nice and
wide,
but you can still tell there's
a flowing movement
to that centre, where that waste
pipe goes.
Yeah. We don't want kind
of recesses, where it's uneven,
where it might collect water.
No. And for me, that's the really
interesting part,
because it's their throwing skills
that will really come
to the fore on this. And then our
potters have
to really think about how they're
going to decorate their bowls.
You know, their bowls have to tie in
with the tiles.
Yeah. Talking of tiles, let's forget
the sinks for a bit.
I'm going to be keen... I'm going to
be keen to see
how they actually make the tiles. I
mean, if they go with inlay,
they want to be getting
the recesses into the tiles early,
they want to be getting them into
the drying room
to start the drying process as
quickly as possible,
because introducing more slip,
adding more water is just going to
cause problems.
And equally, if they're inlaying,
at some point they're going to have
to scrape that slip back
to reveal the design. Yeah.
If they scrape it back too early
and everything is wet,
it's just going to blur the image,
blur the lines.
It's going to be a really
distorted image.
And inlay is all about clarity,
crisp lines.
And we've asked our potters
to take that inspiration from
Turkish baths
and all that kind of calming
and elegant aesthetic.
Have you ever been to
a public bath? Yes.
No, I have been in a Turkish baths.
And do you know what I was doing
mostly in baths?
I don't... Do I want to know?
Yeah. Sitting in the water.
Yeah. Relaxing.
But looking at the wonderful,
wonderful tiles around me.
Yeah. I need to visit. Yeah.
I should... You know, tiles. I
should be there. Come with me.
Now there's an invite!
Just getting the tiles cut first
to give them a chance
to dry a little bit before I
start on the sinks.
To help speed up the process,
Rich has given each
of our semifinalists
a handmade bow harp.
Woo! That's good, isn't it?
Best free gift I've ever had.
That's a bit sad, isn't it? A tile
cutter.
It's certainly more efficient than
rolling with a rolling pin, in terms
of getting some nice slabs out
really quickly, so that's quite
good.
I am more concerned about how
the tiles will turn out,
because it's such an unknown to me.
I've never made them before.
So that's one of my huge worries.
Hi, Caitlin. Hello, Caitlin.
How are you feeling?
Not too bad. Thank you very much for
your tile cutter.
You are most welcome. You're most
welcome. The harp, yeah.
Boing! Boing-boing! It's a C. C
flat. Is it? No, I don't know.
Brilliant. So, Caitlin,
tell us about your design.
I've been to hammam baths before,
and all the kind
of decorations were
absolutely beautiful.
I noticed that predominately they
were kind of more geometric shapes,
so that's what the inside
of my sinks are going to be like.
Ah. They're going to have like
a star pattern on one of them,
and then on the other side, it's
going to be more of a curved form,
so that's going to be the difference
between both of mine. OK.
It's overall inspired by my time in
New Zealand, really.
Oh, right, yeah. So my tiles are
sort of incorporating that.
Caitlin's abstract tiles will
feature individual scenes depicting
volcanoes and abalone shells.
She will tie her design together
with hand-built shells that
will decorate
the exterior of her two
thrown sinks.
Is this something that you're
comfortable doing?
Um...
I suppose that's a bit of
a loaded question, really, isn't it?
If I think of it simply, like it's a
big bowl with a hole in the bottom.
Yeah. And then if I think of the
tiles, I can make a slab.
But whether they'll stay a slab or
curl at the edges, that's another
thing.
Just keep an eye on the tiles,
that's the thing.
No, the bowls, the throwing.
Yeah. The throwing, the bowls.
Yeah, I mean, they all need
attention, but, yeah,
tiles more than anything. Yeah,
definitely.
I mean, I think they're always one
of those underestimated...
Absolutely, yeah. ..kind of aspects.
Yeah.
And if making tiles wasn't
tricky enough...
They're very wet, so it's
distorting. As you can see, I'm
messing these up a little bit.
..the potters must do it under
the watchful eye of Rich.
You can't really hide from Rich
for this one. This is his niche.
It gets you a little bit
stressed, really.
But Lois is taking
a more zen approach.
My design is based all around
the morning ritual of bathing
and being mindful. Yeah.
And just, like, be in the moment.
Yeah, you're in the moment,
and that moment is the semifinal.
Yes, it is.
With an upturned palm in
the centre of each bowl,
Lois' sinks will offer up
a mindful moment underneath matching
tiles, which will be inlayed in
a continuous design.
She will then print into
the clay with a hand-carved
lino stamp.
Love the lino. I mean, lino gives
such a beautiful
kind of texture to the clay.
Yeah.
And just this lovely quality
of lino will be really quite
beautiful. If it's dry enough.
I'm sure it wouldn't work if
I did it now - it's a bit too wet.
Lois might be aiming to remove
moisture from her tiles
before imprinting,
but James is slapping more on.
He's really going for it.
I'm not panicking yet.
So, tell me about your tiles.
You're putting more moisture
on them.
Yes. I'm worried about
the top layer being wet
and then it wanting to warp.
Like old sandwiches? Yes. They're
still very soft. Oh, I see.
But they've got to be soft cos
I've got to press into it with
a stamp. So, actually, there's
green underneath,
and then there's blue on top.
Oh! So there's loads of layers on
this?
Yeah. Sorry, Rich.
But, yeah, that's the idea.
Rich. I won't tell him,
don't worry. He'll never know.
James is hoping to showcase his
decoration skills today
with his delicately painted sinks
with fluted rims,
and his slip coloured tiles,
with which he is hoping he can
reproduce the style
of Moorish pottery.
When I scrape back, I'll hopefully
have the inlay with one colour.
Oh, I see. Mottled... Multi layers
of slip. Yeah. Yeah.
The background will be two colours,
and I can just take it back to
whatever looks good.
Just keep an eye on the tiles. I
mean, adding on moisture to the top
of an already wet tile,
it's going to have an effect on
the surface. Yeah.
You will need to be really careful.
Yeah.
As the tricky inlay process
begins...
This is a bit nerve-racking.
..the potters have one chance
to get the perfect imprint,
so applying the right amount
of pressure is crucial.
That hasn't come out too bad.
I am pressing as hard as
I feel that it should be.
But press too hard,
and they risk distorting the tiles.
This is where... Oh, it did work.
Yay! Oh! Yeah, it worked.
That's worked nicely. Oh, that's
worked really nicely!
That's very satisfying, isn't it?
But Caitlin's plaster stamps...
Oh! Hmm!
..are failing to make an impression.
I don't really know what
to do about these tiles.
I think my pattern's too shallow.
But you only need a little bit.
If I was you,
I would just tidy up the edges
with a knife.
Yeah. OK. Thank you so much, James.
Yeah, I'm concerned.
I really would like to get
the slip on them,
but to do that, I need to make sure
that my design is sound.
One hour gone, potters!
One hour gone!
Thank you, Wembley.
With the tiles needing
to dry further before
the slip design can be attempted...
Thank you.
..the potters can hit the wheels
and throw the first
of their two sinks.
I've never made sinks before.
I've plumbed plenty of sinks,
but I've never made a sink.
The riskiest part of throwing
a sink is creating the plug hole.
Having a hole in it,
it's a point of weakness.
You want to make sure that
the base is really compressed.
If they haven't thrown
a strong enough base,
the plug hole could weaken
the structure of the sinks
and they could crack in the kiln.
Just keep forgetting to breathe.
And if the holes aren't millimetre
perfect, their sinks could leak.
The hole needs to be at least this
wide, so with
the shrinkage of the clay,
which is always the worry,
it needs to be about
54mm.
There's a lot riding on this.
This is the semifinal,
and there's nothing that gets by
the judges.
Hi, Jon. Hi.
Hey, Jon. Whey, look at this!
Lovely flowerpot. Yeah, absolutely,
yeah.
So, how are you feeling,
Jon? Semifinals.
Yeah, feeling OK. Done a few big
things like this now, so I'm feeling
a bit more comfortable with the
sink. As long as I can get the shape
I'm looking for.
I'm not there
yet, I realise. OK. Yeah.
Well, tell us about your design
this week.
So, I've been inspired
for my decoration by
these pots that we saw in
Cyprus. Wow. Aren't they beautiful.
Amazing. They're 11th century BC.
The concentric circles and lines on
Jon's sinks
may be inspired by
11th-century BC ceramics,
but, true to form, he's been using
21st-century technology to create
the inlay design on his tiles.
Whey, look at these!
Next level 3D printing,
Jon. Crikey.
Shall we go, Siobhan? We'll just
fast forward.
We're not letting
the people at home...
What happens now is a 20-minute
discussion on the 3D printer.
I do love the idea of that. The pair
of them! They're at it again!
Now's not the time. Get on with it,
Jon.
See you later.
Potters, you're halfway through.
Halfway through.
With their plugholes formed,
the next task is to ensure
the sinks can drain effectively.
I'm quite pleased with this.
I'm just trying
to make sure that we're not going
to get water puddling,
so I need to make sure there's
a really good, smooth curve down to
the plughole.
But as well as making sure
the sinks are practical...
It's wide enough for the hands
to fit in.
It's going to be quite deep,
that's all.
..the potters mustn't forget about
the aesthetics.
So I am just creating this little
frill onto my rim.
This is me trying to up my game
because it's the semifinal.
Yeah, can you not stop
fiddling either?
I've got to move on,
but I can't stop fiddling with it.
Stop faffing. When you stop faffing,
I'll stop faffing.
Whilst the first
of their sinks is complete,
there's no let-up in
the pottery production line.
There's some tiles in the drying
room I need to go and check on.
Rather than getting onto throwing
the next one of these,
I'm going to
go and check on the tiles.
Oh! And with the tiles dried
to leather hard...
They're good. OK.
..the delicate process
of inlay can begin in earnest.
Just filling each of these divots
with the relevant colour now,
but because I've made such a
complicated pattern, I'm getting
really confused as
to which colour is going where.
And while most are using
the slip to fill in
the intricate grooves
of their imprints...
I'm already feeling like
I don't really know what I'm doing.
..Lois is using hers to colour
the negative space in her
simple design.
I'm hoping that the birds
and the flowers
and things really, like, shine
through the dark blue.
Could be risky, because they
might say,
"You know,
you've only used one colour."
But then, like, if I go out
for something like that,
you know, that's just my style,
so I'm not going to feel too bad
about that.
I've been making tiles for 20 years.
Yeah.
And I tend to avoid inlay at
all costs.
It is so difficult to get it right.
No, it is.
It's so difficult. It is. They're
all really going for it.
They've all been ambitious.
I mean, Lois...
She's doing a negative, isn't she?
Yeah.
That might be a better way of doing
it. I think it probably could be.
Yeah. I mean, you're covering larger
areas. Yeah, yeah.
And then that scraping back.
You're not relying on scraping back
to a very sort of... Fine detail.
James' tiles had
a very heavily loaded surface,
with lots and lots
and lots of slip. Yeah, yeah.
And that's just going to add
so much moisture.
You know, all that water going
onto the surface
will permeate
through and just cause problems.
What's going on here?
What are you icing?
Oh, I am icing my decoration.
Carefully, I see. Well, this one's
less careful.
A bit worried about Caitlin.
You know, if you're
going to use any kind of print,
you've got to make sure that
the clarity of it is really crisp.
You know, if you scrape
back and you,
and you pull some of that slip out,
you can't really go back
and fill it in.
No. Jon, for example,
has chosen to have, he's got
a very intricate design... Yeah.
..that he's meticulously filled
with all of those
different colour slips.
I don't know how
he's gonna keep that crisp
when he scrapes it back...
Keep it separate.
..you know,
without it smudging it all.
Um, I think now they just go in
the drying room till,
hopefully,
right at the last minute.
Potters,
that sinking feeling means
you've one hour to go.
What's done is done.
With the inlayed ties
needing to dry further,
the potters have a small window of
time to tackle their second sink...
Can get a lot done in an hour,
it's all right.
..and to ensure their
sinks form the perfect pair,
it's crucial this one
mirrors the first.
I can see it in the drying room
so I can replicate it exactly
with what I've got here,
hopefully, so, yeah.
As long as the rims are both
the same size,
I think that's OK.
Obviously the profile must
be pretty much the same.
Everyone's shape
of their bowls very different.
They're all looking really
interesting. It's nice to see.
Why's James's sink so high?
It is tall but it's something
different and I want,
I want to have all that
surface round the outside
cos I'm more confident decorating
the outside than the inside.
It's a decent size.
You only need to wash your hands
in there. It's pretty good. Yeah.
Do you think that is a good shape,
the depth and volume
to wash your hands in?
Yeah, I'm hoping it's big enough.
I mean, it's obviously,
they're a bit smaller than
the rest of the guys.
But, you know,
us small-handed people
need to wash our hands too.
Then they could feel like giants.
That's, when I have,
when I have an espresso,
I feel like I'm a giant.
Half an hour to go, potters.
Half an hour to go.
I've got to just go for this.
Adding carved or
three-dimensional elements
gives the potters the opportunity
to echo the design
of their tiles onto their sinks.
These are my abalone shells.
I need to get them on
the outside of my bowl.
It's so satisfying to see you
carve out all those things.
Is this the bit you like? Yes.
But the more time spent
on decorating the sinks,
the less time they have
to finish their tiles.
It's now gonna be
a decision about where to stop
and go back onto the tiles,
so I think I'm gonna stop
at this point. Tiles.
Only now...
It's gonna start getting messy,
isn't it?
..will the potters find out...
So long as I can get the ivory,
I'll be happy with that.
..if their inlay designs...
It's so wet.
..have worked.
You're smudging it.
It's bloody smeared now!
Yeah, well, I'll sort it out!
Don't get so bloody stroppy!
This is the semifinal!
You need to...
I can't have you being sloppy!
I can be stroppy all I want!
This is the middle so I'm hoping
it'll be the nicest bit of it.
If they don't scrape away
enough of the slip
then pattern won't be revealed.
Oh, I'm sure it's not gonna be
up to Rich's standards.
It's nice seeing it
appearing, though.
But scrape away too much
and they risk weakening
their tiles.
Yeah.
Oh!
Toolless now!
Five minutes left, potters.
Forget about the judges,
let's remember
what's really important here -
and that's impressing me.
I am scrapping four
of my inlayed tiles.
I've got four spare tiles.
I'm gonna carve into them
and then underglaze them instead
and we're gonna roll with it,
you know?
How are you doing, Jon?
Yeah, they're going quite well now.
Are you sure?
Well, relatively. They look really
smart, Lois. They look very good.
Ah, thanks, James.
How are yours going?
Well, the inlay's just not quite
as sharp as I'm wanting.
Bet it's brilliant.
One minute left.
Come on, in the drying room!
I knew you was gonna do it
and it still made me jump!
Good man. This is it?
Mm-hm. Yes.
Wonderful!
Last ten seconds!
Well done. Well done. Tools down,
step away from the bench.
Oh, my gosh, well done.
As usual it was
a bit stressful at the end there.
In terms of inlay, it worked.
In terms of whether the tiles are
gonna be bent like bananas,
I think it might be a high chance.
Was it the smoothest it
could've gone? Probably not.
Whether I can salvage it
through the decoration stage
we'll just have to see.
I'm pleased with the,
the shape of the sinks.
I'm pleased with the sizes
and when they get fired, hopefully
no cracks appear either.
I'm sure the judges will say my
sinks are a bit on the small side.
Time will tell if I live
to regret that or not.
Green Onions
by Booker T & The MGs
Ooh, it's covered.
Ooh. Big table, huh?
That looks quite wide. Oh!
It's the semifinal and the potters
are back at the pottery
to face their second challenge
and, as usual, they have no idea
what is waiting for them
underneath the hessian.
Welcome back, potters.
Your second challenge this week
is a spot test
and it involves
the iconic Moorcroft tube lining.
Wow!
We are very honoured
to have two guest judges this week.
Please welcome to the pottery
designer Emma
and tube liner Jill. Come on out.
Hi, guys.
Hello, hello, hello. Welcome!
Hi...Hi.
Hello. Hi.
Moorcroft was established here
in Stoke over 100 years ago
and is famous for its signature
decorative technique of tube lining.
Liquid clay or slip is piped by
hand, creating raised outlines
on the surface of the pot.
The Queens Choice range,
inspired by Shakespeare's
A Midsummer Night's Dream,
was designed by Emma
over 20 years ago.
So how long have you been working
at Moorcroft?
Been at Moorcroft about 26 years
now, but not as long as Jill.
Yeah, I've been there 37 years
this year, so a long time.
Oh, great. Well, you'll have
no problem doing this, then!
We're gonna give you
a five-minute demo.
OK, let's take it away.
What are the potters doing?
So your challenge today is to tube-
line on the pre-inked pattern.
On the reverse of that
you will do your own design
inspired by fruit and foliage
and then you're gonna be
painting the lid, as well.
Jill is gonna demonstrate
the tube lining first.
This is the first stage
of decoration.
It's very important
to use even pressure to get
a really smooth, defined line.
You will squeeze harder
to get a thicker line,
gentle squeeze for a thinner line.
And, Jill, what's the best advice
you can give them?
Remember to breathe.
Jon has a tendency to forget that!
Jon hasn't breathed for weeks!
Yeah, definitely remember
to breathe.
And then we also have a lid, and
we would like you to decorate that.
When you paint in
the Moorcroft way
it's called a floating technique,
so we get lots and lots of water
and you're scooping up as much
as possible into your brush,
dropping it onto the clay vase
and just guiding that
bubble of colour
around those areas.
So if you've got excess
on the top there,
dry out that brush
and then the excess liquid will just
be soaked back into the brush.
So under the leaf here,
I will do a little bit of shading,
so I can give that a little rub
with my finger
and that'll give just
a subtle, delicate shade.
All right, now this is going to be
judged blind,
so I'm going to ask you to leave.
Have a nice cup of tea...
Thank you very much. Thank you.
..and some biccies. Good luck.
Keep me some biccies!
Right, back to your benches.
OK, potters, you have been given
one hour...
Oh, I knew it.
..and your time starts
now!
This is insane.
I'm shaking so much!
This is not faring well
for future employment in surgery!
It's really very, very tricky.
Wow, that's not going straight.
Oh, my God,
that's not going straight.
No, it's really lumpy. It's coming
out like a snotty caterpillar.
This looks like,
see when snails poo?
That's what this looks like.
Mine looks like snail poo!
Does yours not look like that, Jon?
Yeah, lumpy, lumpy,
lumpy, lumpy, lumpy.
There's none of this
smooth line malarkey.
Hello! Hi.
How are you doing?
I don't want to move very much.
Oh, it's awful.
You not gonna talk about
snails' poo?
What do you think?
It looks a bit snotty, doesn't it?
OK, I'm barring the words "snot"...
Snot Poo!
..and snail poo. OK?
But do you know how much time
has gone? 20 minutes.
That's right. 20 minutes gone,
potters.
20 minutes-ah!
Gonna do a really big fat line
so that if I mess up
it's just part of my design.
I didn't,
I forgot I'd done this bit
and I've just scraped it off.
I'm doing Moorcroft a disservice
by having my hands on this.
Once they have tube-lined
the pre-drawn design,
the potters can turn their hands
to creating their own
freestyle fruity patterns.
I don't know. I don't know.
Let's go.
They wanted a design
inspired by this one
so I just chose a different fruit
and tried to do my own
version, basically,
so I have done some strawberries.
Hello. Have you, er, have you
ever seen me stressed out?
Now is not a good time!
Oh, I know why you're so stressed -
you've to do the pre-styling.
Yeah, yeah, can you see that?
Yeah, that's a bunch of grapes!
Oh, thank you!
Look at these wobbly lines.
What's that?
A pomegranate.
Yeah, it is! Nice.
I didn't breathe there!
Reminder, potters -
you need to breathe.
It's just drawing again, isn't it?
And there's not a computer in sight.
How the hell am I supposed to draw
something without a computer?!
What...What is that?
What's he drawn?
It's clearly a pineapple!
It's an angry carrot!
I haven't got anything to copy!
I copy stuff,
I don't draw it from mind, God!
OK, potters, you're halfway
through now. Halfway through.
Halfway through?! Is that enough
water on there? I don't know.
With time ticking, the potters
move on to painting their lids
using metallic oxides
and lots of water.
I'll tell you what,
she done this mad thing
and she was like, wa-ay!
Yeah, they're mopping it up. Ooh.
There we go. Yeah.
Oh, it worked. Yeah.
Who'd have known? Wow!
20 minutes left, potters.
20 minutes left.
Mop it mop it, it's going over!
Oh, God, oh, God, oh,
God, I forgot about mopping!
I forgot about mopping.
Oh, God, that is terrible.
I think that is a leaf.
I've got, it seems to be
a completely different
colour to what I've got.
I think it's got blue underneath
and green on top and I've gone for
brown underneath and green on top,
so I've got a different style of
leaf.
So, instead of dropping
pigments in, I'm starting
to actually more like paint it?
Which is not good.
Well, it's judged blind,
so they'll never know!
It's going a bit wrong now.
Just bit too much.
Potters,
that's your last five minutes left.
Five minutes remaining
and a reminder that your
beautiful Moorcroft ginger jars
have to be up here by
the end of the session.
Well, that's not bad, is it? Is it?
I'm going to just use my finger
to sort of mix the pigment,
that I've then put in.
I'm just trying to mop it
a little bit back.
Potters, one minute remaining.
One minute remaining.
That's worth a fortune, that is.
Ten seconds!
Nine! Oh, Oh, God, it's so awful.
Eight!
Seven, six, five,
four, three,
two, one. OK, we're going to have
to have words about obedience.
I'm sorry, miss!
After only one hour,
the potters have tried their hands
at tube lining,
designing and painting their
ginger jars the Moorcroft way...
Wow.
..and now it's time for their work
to be judged.
Now, the pips are brilliant on
this one. Right. Yeah, really good.
A little bit shaky on
the tube lining there, but...
Look at their design.
Very good pineapple there.
Fantastic idea. Yeah.
Yeah. There's quite
a lot of sort of stop marks.
You'd really want that slip training
to be a bit more fluent than that.
You would, yeah. And then let's have
a look at the colour.
The grapes are good. Little bit of
issue here on the apricot there,
where it could've been a little bit
smoother, but, yeah, good.
Good lines on there. Some of them
look really fluid, don't they? Yeah.
This is lovely. It's got great
energy. Let's have a look at
the other side. Oh, strawberry! Wow.
Good use there of the pips.
And the colour on the top.
Very well painted. Wow.
You can see the different shades
here of the blue and the pink. Yeah.
They're really coming through,
so when they're fired,
they would really come out
as beautiful grapes.
I mean, to get those two lines
so close together... Hmm.
..and not have them join up... Yeah.
..shows quite a lot of skill,
really.
I mean, it looks a little bit kind
of wobbly in areas. Yeah. Yeah.
The definition on the colour, the
depth, is really good, isn't it?
Yeah, very good. Maybe struggled
a little bit on the apricot.
And then the last one... I can
see... Done a double line there
where there shouldn't have been one,
so not quite... OK. ..followed
the pattern. And they haven't quite
finished off. Yeah, but what is
there is very neat. That's really
nice, isn't it? Beautiful.
We've got a fruit salad. Yeah,
pomegranate there, looks beautiful.
Very good. And the colour on
the top. Painted very well.
Not quite finished the grapes there,
but the apricot, painted very well.
Now the judges must rank
the potters' jars
from worst to first.
In fourth place was this one.
That's me.
We just felt that some of
the little join bits, they didn't
quite meet up as well as they
could do. OK.
Third place is this one.
Loved your own decoration of
the pineapple.
And second place...
..we have this one.
Well done, Caitlin. You didn't quite
complete as much tube lining as
the others, but what you did do
was really,
really good and very fine.
First place, we have this one.
Lois! Well done, Lois. Really good.
Your painting was beautiful
on the top,
lots of different lovely shades
and tones,
and your tube lining as well,
pips of the strawberry,
really, really good.
Well, well done, everyone.
All that's left for me to say is,
potters, dismissed.
Thank you so much. Thank you.
A really nice confidence boost
to come up the top,
especially cos it keeps shocking
me so much.
Third out of four
and James was last!
Unbelievable, really. All that grief
she gave me about my pineapple
and there it was, you know. It got
mentioned as a positive of my pot.
It's decoration day
and after a 24-hour bisque firing,
kiln technician Rose is laying out
the potters' tiles and sinks
ready for glazing.
I'm feeling really nervous today.
I've been having doubts about
the size of my sink,
so now I've got to really
decorate my little heart out
and try and save them.
The inlay just ruined me
and I had to adapt to that,
so, hopefully, everything else
has gone grand.
Welcome back, potters.
Your twin sinks and decorative tiles
have been bisque fired
and are ready for decoration.
Keith, any advice?
Your twin sinks should look fairly
identical at this point,
but that's where it ends.
We want you to decorate
them differently,
but think about all those pieces.
They all want to come together
as a set.
We also want to see your style
and personality coming through.
And remember,
this is functional sanitaryware,
so everything has to be glazed.
OK, then, potters, you've been given
a range of glazes and oxides
and four hours to use them.
And your time starts...
..now. Potters, get decorating.
Oh, no!
I've got a crack.
There's a few little...tiny little
cracks, but nothing to worry about.
Pleased with the look of my tiles,
just the execution's not so great.
Little crack, yeah.
But it doesn't go
all the way through,
so, hopefully, it won't go all
the way through when it's finished.
The good news is that
the tiles are really nice and flat
and they look really nice, I think.
I'm really pleased with them.
I'm really happy with the sinks.
They're very good. And the tiles
have all turned out pretty well,
with the inlay, so I'm just going to
get on with decorating the sinks
then. So, yeah, it's all gone
pretty well, I think. So, just
kind of looking at my piece,
there's, like, a very weird
surface crack.
I don't... I've never seen anything
like it before.
My tiles...
Oh, I didn't even scrape that one.
God, I've made a right mess
of these.
So, I'm contemplating on whether to
outline these in underglaze or not.
Now I've seen them, at least
I can decide on that.
But I'm going to go get some glazes.
With their tiles already inlayed,
the potters can now use
an array of glazes and oxides
to ensure their sinks complete
the perfect set.
Um, I'm making it up as
I go along, sort of.
Each brush stroke will grow from
the previous brush stroke,
so I don't have to think about it
too much,
as long as it looks organic.
All the stuff I do is planned,
so I've got a pattern I've drawn up
on the computer,
I'll create those primary curves
that go from the top down to
the central ring, and then start
infilling with more detail
from that point.
With yesterday's inlaying issues,
Caitlin isn't finished with her New
Zealand-inspired tiles just yet.
How are you? Yeah, not too bad.
Trying to make up
for my mistakes in the past.
OK, mistakes in the past.
The thing that I'm worried about is
that I've... Not all the inlay
worked for me, so now I'm filling
it in with underglaze.
So, you're going to be under glazing
some of these that haven't got slip.
Yeah. And then these will just be
transparent glaze?
Yes, that's the plan at the moment.
But apart from that, we're all
in good shape?
Yeah, there's some weird surface
cracks. On the sinks? On the sinks,
yeah. Do you want me to show you?
Yeah, I'd love to have a look.
See, just there.
Ah, OK.
It's weird, isn't it?
That is odd, yeah.
Maybe it's just a surface tension
thing. Yeah. Maybe the inside's
a bit more compressed than
the outside. Yeah. As long as these
don't open up more in the gloss
firing, then I'll be happy.
So will I, Caitlin. So will I!
Well, I will leave you to it.
Thank you very much.
Best of luck with it all. Thank you.
Caitlin's not the only potter
concerned about
a split in their sink.
Uh, I do have a couple of cracks,
but we're not going to talk
about that.
But I do feel quite calm now,
I don't know why.
I just feel like what will be,
will be, you know.
Maybe it's cos I'm doing it
all about being spiritual
and mindfulness and stuff,
maybe it's keeping me calm.
So, for those hairline cracks,
it won't really be underglaze
I'm going to put on.
So, it's going to be
the transparent glaze itself
which... I'll end up putting more of
that in to help it seal up.
Hopefully.
Halfway through. That's two hours
gone, two hours to go.
Mutter, mutter, mutter.
What are you muttering about?
If you didn't do the time calls,
we'd have as long as we wanted.
Yeah. I don't think I'm actually in
charge of timing quite like that.
With her tiles complete...
Bloody hell.
..Caitlin's making
a start on her sinks.
So, my provisional time was
two hours on one bowl,
two hours on the other bowl.
I then spent a lot of time
doing my tiles,
so time really is being
pushed today.
And while time management
is important,
ensuring their sinks tie in
with their tiles is crucial.
The decoration is growing across
the surface.
So, with the tiles, it sort of
starts in the middle
and blooms outwards, so that's why
I'm doing the other side of this.
Just using generic petals and leaves
shapes to make a pattern.
James, it's actually looking
pretty good. Is it? Yeah.
And I'm just really interested
to see how that sprig work interacts
with all that decoration
that he's doing.
I'm getting a little concerned
about Jon.
He's just got so much to do
and it's all very fine brushwork.
I want good, sharp concentric circle
lines and I'm not getting that.
I'm getting a line that goes
thicker and thinner
and thicker and thinner.
How's Lois getting on?
Cos she's got loads going on.
She looks like she's in
her happy place,
and it's really showing. You know,
they're looking beautiful.
It's just, like, go with the flow,
but you have to have a word
with yourself and be like,
"Just do it, be brave,
it'll be fine."
This is me just going for it,
to be honest.
Caitlin seems to be doing OK.
It'll just be really interesting
to see what she does
with that relief, those shells
on the side of her bowls. Yeah.
I get the impression she's sort of
winging it a bit now. Yeah.
We're just seeing whether we get
some abalone colours
through feathering.
Hello! Hello.
How are you getting on?
Time is worrying me.
It doesn't look enough for me...
Oh, right!
..um, so I need more detail.
Are your family delighted that
you're here in the semifinal?
Um...yes.
They're very surprised that
I'm still here in the semifinal.
Really?! But they're delighted
all the same.
My mum was very... She's just being
my mum. Yeah.
She's just worrying about me
taking too much on... Yeah.
..and not coping, which...
I am coping.
Half an hour left, lads.
Half an hour.
Yeah. Yeah,
there's definitely time.
Copper carbonate onto the rim.
I'm hoping it will dribble down
a little bit.
It's going to look quite nice.
Got a bit of copper carbonate here.
It should pool into
the areas that are recessed
and then go kind of green.
At least I've done abalone shells.
The rest of it looks quite sparse.
This is for the spirals, so this is
where it's all going to go
a bit ropey. I'm not sure I'm going
to get ALL my decoration done.
Do you know what? You need to hang
out more in the back.
They're a great crack. Well, they're
the decorators, aren't they?
They've got the skills.
You've got skills.
Just going to put a quick layer of
oxide on the other sprigs.
How can I make these less plain?
My answer is, just whack
a load of copper carbonate on it.
One minute remaining! Final minute.
All I've got left to do is
to dip my sinks in
the transparent, really.
To ensure a sanitary sheen,
all the sets of sinks and tiles
must be coated in transparent glaze.
Ah, not too shabby. Can we do this?
Five, four, three...
..two, one.
Brushes down, step away
from your benches.
Well done. Well, well done.
The potters must now take
their sinks and tiles
to Rose for one final firing.
It's quite heavy after a while.
The next time they see them,
it will be judgment time.
That was a journey and a half.
My inlay didn't really work so well.
Half of them are going to
be underglazed,
so will they look like a set?
So, yeah,
when you've got this many issues,
you do feel that you're at risk
of going home. I don't know if it's
got me a ticket to the final.
I think it's me and Caitlin to fight
that out. We know the two decorators
at the back, beautiful designs,
beautiful decorations,
so we'll see.
It's Judgment Day
and after a 24-hour gloss firing,
the potters are up early
to collect their sinks and tiles
from Rose.
Morning, potters. Morning!
How are you all feeling?
Ooh, little bit nervous.
The tiles have stayed nice
and flat.
Yeah, they have. Those have worked
really well, I thought they were
going to be like bananas.
Ooh! Oh, no! What?!
Oh, no, it has. Has it? Wait.
Gone all the way through?
Oh.
Before they're presented
to the judges,
the potters have been given an hour
to plumb in their sinks
and arrange their tiles.
I can't work out me pattern now.
I'm really confused.
This wasn't supposed to be
the hard part, was it?
One, two, three, four.
Ooh, it's going to be so messy.
I am pleased with the tiles.
My lino cut worked quite well
in the end.
I was slightly worried I might've
made two of the same. I got a bit
confused as to which I was doing,
but they all seem to have worked.
But not everyone is quite so happy.
The only issue -
I say the only issue -
is we've got a big crack,
which has opened up,
but unfortunately,
I think it goes all the way through.
I'm a little bit peeved.
It fits!
That seems all right.
So, it'll be the moment of truth
when the judges come.
Four sets of sinks and tiles
now face the judgment of
Keith and Rich.
Congratulations, potters.
Your sinks and decorative tiles
look amazing.
Let's start with the judging.
OK? And we're going to start
first with...
..Caitlin.
Yeah. Well, I mean,
where do I start?
There's so many elements.
I mean, in terms of the tiles,
I think you were brave
to take on inlay and,
ironically, I think, in your tiles,
the oxides and the underglazes
have worked actually far better,
really, than the slip inlay.
I think... Yeah. ..it's got
a lovely clarity,
a lovely crispness to it.
I mean, look, the first thing
I notice is the size of the sinks.
They're perfect.
They're absolutely wonderful.
You've got a crack in one of them.
That happened in the biscuit
firing, is that right?
Yeah, it was... It was
in the biscuit fire,
but it was a lot smaller. So, it's
opened up a bit in that gloss?
Yeah, and I think it's gone through
on the other side as well.
Oh, yeah. You can kind of feel it.
But, you know, the size
and getting that proportion right
for those two sinks was
absolutely spot on.
Love the idea of the rim.
Aesthetically, it just draws
your eye.
And, of course, those shells,
those lovely shells on the side,
they've worked really, really well.
So, Rich, shall we turn the taps on?
Yes.
Is it leaking? OK. Yeah. Oh, lovey!
Don't cry cos you'll get me crying!
It annoys me cos I gave... I know.
..you the leaky cup last time.
I just wanted to give you something
that hadn't leaked,
but I've given you one which is...
Exactly! ..50% of what I wanted
Look, I've been looking at these
tiles and they haven't leaked once
since I've sat down.
Honestly, there's some
wonderful elements in your make.
Yes. You know, some of those tiles
are really lovely.
Those shells are fantastic.
I know one's cracked, but
the proportion of those sinks is
just really, really lovely.
Well done, Caitlin.
Considering how much you scraped
away at those tiles...
..they look fantastic. Well done.
How have you managed it?!
They looked bloody awful before.
They looked terrible
and they look great now.
They're absolutely fantastic.
Yeah, I mean, the tiles are
glorious.
They've worked incredibly well.
The quality of the line that you've
achieved from that slip inlay...
Yeah. ..is nothing short of
a miracle.
No, it is a miracle!
Considering the way you were
scraping it back.
The one thing for me with this is
that that beautiful crisp line
that you've captured in
the tiles...
I know what he's going to say!
..slightly hasn't transferred to
Yeah. ..the basins. When I had to
start using a brush, it fell apart
a little.
I think, had you had a similar feel
to the decoration on the tiles,
perhaps it wouldn't feel so at odds.
Stark. Yes.
Yeah, the contrast in approach.
But it's just because
that is so pristine
and so precise, it makes you see
the kind of inaccuracies
in some of the brushwork. Yeah.
But I do love the rims.
I love the fact that you've got
this accent on the rim
and that works really, really well
for you.
So, shall we turn the taps on?
Let's do it.
So, they're holding
the water pretty well there, Jon.
There's a slight leak there, but
I think that's probably the fitting.
So, yeah, fit for purpose.
And fantastic tiles.
You've made me very happy on
the tile front.
The first thing I noticed was...
The shape of those sinks
is really rather wonderful.
Really practical, really usable
and the oxides that you've put
on the rims,
having that cobalt drip down
like that,
but not too much, has worked really,
really well for you.
Yeah, that's tasty, isn't it?
The other thing that
I really notice is...
..this. This is really wonderful.
We know that you're good
at throwing, but this,
coming from you, is just brilliant.
I'm with Keith. The quality of the
brushwork in the bowls is exquisite.
It's really beautiful, you know.
But the thing that strikes me
most is
the overall kind of
colour palette you've chosen,
like, they feel like
a really cohesive set.
Where you have rubbed back through
layers of slip
to reveal other layers,
they feel like they've got depth
and character and soul.
I'm a little less enamoured
by the quality of
the finish around the edges.
Had they been a bit cleaner
and a bit more finished, I think
that would've kind of given you
a more striking backdrop
to what are very beautiful tiles.
So, shall we put the taps on?
Yeah, let's see if they work.
Fingers crossed. Oh, hello.
Oh, it's leaking. Ah. Oh, no.
Yeah, it's where you've turned that
foot rim in there,
there's a slight hairline crack.
Beautiful forms.
One's leaking, but
the surfaces are wonderful.
What I notice first is those tiles.
They're brilliant.
Ah, thanks.
Just that one colour,
that simplicity, has worked really,
really well.
They're beautiful. I mean,
I love the way you've approached
that kind of inlay, just turning it
on its head, so you've filled
the big areas and you've got this
beautiful quality of line
with the white and that's just
from the clay.
And I think what's so striking is
you've thought about how
you're picking up elements
of your concept right
the way through the set of tiles
and the basins.
Yeah. I particularly like that bird.
We've come to see from you,
over the last few weeks,
you know, your decorative skills,
your skills with a brush,
and, lo and behold, here they are.
The shape of the bowl is lovely.
I would've just liked
to have seen that... Yeah.
..that same form
just slightly larger.
Shall we see if they work? Yeah.
Yeah, I can see a crack here. Yeah.
Oh, there's a bit coming out...
Oh, yeah. ..the bottom here.
Yeah, there is a bit of a leak.
Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's a shame
about the little crack, but it
shouldn't take away from what is
a beautiful tile freeze
and beautifully decorated sinks.
Well done. Thanks, guys.
I feel quite positive, you know.
It's great to come this far,
but I don't want to go yet.
So, to get to the final would be
nuts and amazing and brilliant.
Argh! Annoyed is...is my emotion.
I had doubts that I was going to
meet the decoration.
I was like, "Come on, the one thing
you can do is deliver a piece
"to Keith and Rich with no cracks,"
and that, yeah,
is a tough pill to swallow
when you set out something
and you don't quite meet that.
The semifinal and what a week!
We have them making functional ware
with our sinks
and our decorative tiles
and, of course, they had an amazing
second challenge with Moorcroft.
Yeah. That was so cool to have them
come in, wasn't it?
It was fantastic, yeah.
Do you know who's in line for
our Potter Of The Week?
I think it has to be between Lois...
And James. Despite the fact that
the tiles weren't particularly
well finished,
I think he was one of the potters
that had the most success with
the decorative techniques
he'd employed.
And those bowls were lovely.
They were quite large,
very deep, but he came last,
actually... He did.
..in that second challenge.
But his main make is
enough to save him.
It's whether he can overtake Lois
for that Potter Of The Week.
What I loved about Lois' was
that, you know,
you got her voice through the tiles
and on into the bowls, you know.
She's just got such
a strong decorative style
and we've seen it every week.
And she tied that sort of bird
into the bowl of the...
You liked the bird.
..of the sinks and, although
the two decorative techniques
were different... Yeah.
..they tied in... They married.
..really, really strongly
with the design concept. So, who do
you think is in danger of
going home then? For me,
it's between Caitlin and Jon,
and Caitlin's weakness,
really, was her tiles.
What about her bowls?
The size was fantastic... Yeah.
..the forms were great
and then those shells. Yeah.
And the way that she'd applied
that copper just
to get the right reaction
was really, really nice.
It's just unfortunate for Jon that
the quality in his tiles
slightly takes away from
the quality in the bowls. Yeah.
I have never seen a man look
so demented rubbing furiously
against some clay, but actually...
Wow! You were speechless.
I was speechless. And for that,
we are eternally grateful to Jon.
All right, then, guys.
Well, you need to make a decision
because I have four anxious
potters upstairs
and we need to find out
who's going to be in the final
of The Great Pottery Throw Down.
Wow. Yeah.
It's going to be all
right.
Potters, congratulations on
an extraordinary week.
You should be very,
very proud of yourselves.
Now, first of all, the easy bit.
This week's Potter Of The Week is...
..Lois. No! Ah, yes.
Oh! No, Potter Of The Week!
It's good news!
Good news! I can't believe that!
Well, well done.
Bloody brilliant.
OK, now the really, really
horrible bit
and this is the hardest
farewell so far.
Unfortunately,
the magnificent potter who is
leaving us this week is...
..Caitlin.
Ah, Caitlin! I'm so sorry.
To be there at the semifinal is
such a privilege
and to see those three succeed
on to the final is
something that I am...
..I've been able to watch
and I'm so thankful for that.
I'm so proud of you all.
I've enjoyed every single moment
of it
and I'm going to treasure it
for the rest of my life, 100%.
Lovey. Thank you for everything.
You've been so kind.
Honestly, you've been too kind.
It's going to be really sad
to see Caitlin go.
She's got such a bubbly personality,
such a can-do personality.
Caitlin gave it a really good go
and she showed us that ambition,
and I'm sure, you know,
going forward, she will be
an incredible potter.
She should leave the pottery
with her head held high.
It's no mean feat to get to
the semifinal.
So, as Caitlin says goodbye to
the pottery,
Lois' tiles and sinks take
the penultimate place in
the Throw Down Gallery.
Oh, what a way to go into
the final, huh?
It's unbelievable, really.
Lois, Potter Of The Week,
absolutely wonderful.
I'm so pleased for her.
We've seen every week
Lois' personality,
her own style and this week
was the epitome of that.
She was a fitting
Potter Of The Week.
I can't even breathe.
I'm just trying to breathe,
yeah. Keep breathing.
Before you start, you think about
where you might get to
and genuinely didn't think
I'd get to the final,
so it really is a surprise. Yay!
I never expected that,
never at all.
I never thought I'd get on
the flippin' show, let alone
get through to the final.
It's amazing.
You wonderful...
Wonderful chap, you. Well done.
Carry on. Sorry.
Next time...
The judges have reached
their decision.
We've got seven and a half hours
so we should be able to come up with
something decent. Well, it is the
final! Oh, it is, isn't it? Yeah.
Are you a bit grumpy?
Yeah, I've got the hump.
Ten minutes to go.
Just graffito your ba*ls.
Concentric circles, you nutter.
Oh, no, no, wrong way! Wrong way!
OK, I'm going, I'm going, I'm going.
Argh! Do you want to come out, Jon?
Not if I don't have to.
The winner of
The Great Pottery Throw Down is...
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06x09 - Turkish Bath Sinks and Moorcroft Ginger Jar
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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.