Original subtitles

No, this isn't the bit between the programs,

in the 1960's, it's the final!

And I think I've nailed it.

Aaargh!

27 days ago, Middleport Pottery

opened its doors to ten of Britain's

most passionate home potters.

Oh, Nigel, you look quite at home there, I must say.

That's, ha!

It's taken 15 grueling challenges-

Don't worry, you're fine, you're fine.

Over 500 hand-crafted and beautiful items.

And you've just excelled yourself-

Don't start-

But now, the studio awaits four finalists.

Major Tom was out first top potter and no one's work

in the competition has shown more technical discipline.

Look at the inside. Absolutely beautiful.

I've made it as far as I can make it in this competition

and I'm looking forward to it enormously.

Can't wait to get my hands wet.

Matthew had a disastrous start-

You've got a bit of a problem here-

But has emerged as a natural.

Winning top potter, three times.

I wasn't quite sure that I'd be here.

I thought they'd be plenty of

opportunities for me to have left.

Jim's flair for beautiful form

and skill with the brush,

meant his place in the final was never in doubt.

I didn't have much sleep last night actually.

Lying awake, I'm thinking, what is it I've been doing

that's good and how can I bring that all together for the final?

And I've got no answers at all.

Sally-Jo's brilliant eye for color and gift

for abstract design has kept her in contention

in every single challenge of the competition.

I do feel like I'm the underdog,

I really haven't had much time to think about

how I'm gonna take the boys down.

Now they have 7 days left.

I'm doomed!

Three final challenges-

It's like surgery this-

To find one winner

of The Great Pottery Throw Down.

Time, to face the teapot.

In seven days time, either Sally-Jo,

Matthew, Tom or Jim will be declared the winner

of "The Great Pottery Throw Down."

There you are then chaps.

Well, good morning potters.

And a huge congratulations on reaching the Grand Final

of The Great Pottery Throw Down.

Judges, I imagine you've got something

pretty special in store for them.

We want you to make a 12-piece porcelain tea set.

A teapot, four cups, four saucers, a sugar bowl,

a milk jug and a cake stand.

Now, we specify porcelain because it's so unforgiving.

This clay holds no prisoners, so focus.

So, your grand final tea set starts now.

Tough stuff.

Making a tea set from porcelain

is the perfect challenge for the grand final.

I always wanted to make a tea set.

Because it requires

the skill and patience of a champion.

I am nervous. I'll admit that.

It will take a week to perfect.

First, they'll have to make the basic structure

of each of their 12 pieces.

Dry them overnight and then add spouts,

handles and any decorative trimming.

They'll be fired, glazed and fired again.

And finally, they'll be presented to the judges.

- So, a tea set. -Yeah.

We take it for granted really, don't we?

But actually, it's a really complicated thing to make.

It has all the elements.

Just alone, the tea pot itself

is a cacophony of a technical skill.

The lid has got to fit, the spout has got to pour,

the handle has to be not only the right size

but practically you're gonna have to be able

to pick the thing up, with the tea in it.

And of course the design of the tea set is key.

We want to see features working across the whole set

as if they're a family and at the same time I want

to see character in it.

And we've given them the trickiest of all clays.

We've given them porcelain.

It's such a contradiction, porcelain,

because when you're making with it,

it's so delicate but the minute it's fired,

it's very very strong.

It actually takes your fingerprint, doesn't it?

And you leave a mark,

so really, you have to be accurate and skillful.

Although I have dabbled, I'm, not overly familiar

but I'll try and tame the clay.

Porcelain originated in China.

The main ingredients where china stone and china clay,

both derived from decomposed granite

and when it decomposes you get a very soft, white clay.

It's got very fine particles in it.

It's like chewing gum, this stuff.

Do you see it?

It just stretches and stretches and stretches and stretches.

Porcelain can be pottered very thinly,

that makes it ideal for tea,

which of course was drank a lot in China.

It can actually withstand the thermal shock

of the very hot liquid coming in to it

but also you can really judge the color

and the quality of the tea very beautifully in that material.

And then, as it is very thin, it's beautiful

to hold it to your mouth and to drink from it.

Both these materials were imported into the West

from the 17th Century, so people encountered

for the first time tea but at the same time wares

came with it that enabled people to drink this special drink

that they hadn't encountered before.

And it was a symbol of sophistication

to have these exotic products in your house.

This is my first touch of the clay on the wheel.

I feel this sort of, butterflies of trepidation

and nerves, I'm about to start throwing!

So, this is my cake stand.

Tom's aiming for a tea set

that will follow the clean lines he's hoping

to achieve on his cake stand.

Quite a traditional look, with straight lines,

and I'm looking to create forms

that will hold an incised pattern.

Upright figures, but quite delicate.

It's not as responsive as most things,

because it's so plastic, it wants to hold its form.

And so, for centering, it takes longer.

For opening, it takes longer, you have to coax it

to get it open, 'cause if you try

and do it too fast it'll just wobble of center.

I wish you could feel this stuff, it's,

it's like silk in your hands, it's just wonderful stuff.

Throwing with porcelain, it's very smooth,

it's very plasticity, it collapses, it cracks,

it does everything you don't want it to do.

It's your worst nightmare as a potter.

Labor with it too long, it will start to get upset.

It's like visiting the Queen this, you know,

total reverence for the material.

Jim and Matthew have decided to get a feel

for the porcelain, by throwing the smallest items,

the cups, first.

- Hi Jim. -Hello.

Bit small that tea pot, mate.

Well, you know, start small, get bigger as you go along.

How are you enjoying this working with the porcelain?

I'm treating it with utter respect, I mean,

I've started off with the cups, I'm getting used

to the clay and I'm gonna move into the tricky stuff.

What kind of design are you going

to go for with your tea set?

I love rounded shapes and obviously, with this stuff,

it's a bit tricky to get those kind of rounded shapes,

so I've kind of set myself a task with the throwing side.

But, on top of this,

I'm going to create some quite organic handles,

all this kind of stuff.

Is this kind of down your road?

See Kate's face lit up then.

Well, it's you're so good at animating things aren't you?

You know, that's what you've done all the way through.

They're very finely thrown, they're very thin

and it is a challenging shape,

this sort of belly if you like, sticking up,

so you have set yourself a challenge.

It is the grand final, Jim,

do you feel like you're stepping up a little bit?

Yeah, there is a sort of funny little pressure

that's hanging around the place.

So, we'll throw a jug next.

Matthew is risking a decorative touch

at the throwing stage to bring his tea set together.

I'm just running like a sharp spiral up it,

and then I'm hoping that the glaze is going to sink into it

and then for the teapot I'm going to try

and have a traditional shape.

However I'm concerned that those

aren't quite a traditional shape.

So I'm going to try and have that contemporary,

traditional kind of contrast going on.

Does that sound like and all right plan?

Well, it's your, it's your tea set.

Sally-Jo is taking an even

bigger gamble with her tea set.

I've decided to hand build.

Just because I think, given the competition,

there's not much point throwing it at this point.

Also, I think I'm better at hand building.

I've rolled it out to about five mil, but I'm going

to just roll it a bit thin and try

and leave the impression of the lace,

so hopefully that'll be a really nice texture

on there and the glaze can pick up detail on it.

I've never hand built with porcelain.

I don't know, I think it's going to be really important

to catch it at the right time because if I leave it too long

to dry, then it'll just crack.

I'll match that straight sided form in the jug

and in the cups and in the teapot.

Anyone having fun yet? Probably not.

You're halfway through your time.

Two hours is gone, two hours remaining.

Hello?

Thanks!

They're in the zone.

Is it frightening? Yeah.

I really need to be getting on with the teapot.

But there's no point coming this far with the mugs

and not putting the bottom on them

so it's more important to do this bit first!

Tom's got a secret plan for his cups.

I find it a little bit difficult,

to work on a very small lump of clay.

He's making them from one large lump of clay,

by throwing them off the hump.

I quite like getting into the rhythm

that throwing off the hump allows you to do.

If you get too much thickness when it dries, it will crack.

So, you can avoid that by really compressing the base

and also turning it so that it is nice and thin.

The porcelain is so delicate at the wet stage,

putting the paper over the top to lift it off is a good idea.

The paper will just trap the air inside,

and that means that the rim won't distort,

it'll hold the body.

Oh, you prat.

Good start.

With every item they make,

porcelain takes a familiar potter's problem-

You've got to remember that

these little bad boys will shrink.

And makes it twice as hard.

Great.

Shrinkage when you fire porcelain can be very large.

An understanding of the shrinkage in three dimensions,

from the clay body to the fired piece is crucial.

So, if you're trying to make a tea cup

and the shrinkage is much greater than you expect,

you may end up with a thimble.

And it's not very useful for drinking tea.

The shrinkage of this clay is 17%.

And that's almost as bad as VAT.

Losing around a fifth of its size,

porcelain shrinks almost twice as much as any other clay.

Constantly finding out it has different limitations-

So you gotta remember than when you're building,

because you've gotta build that extra size in.

When it shrinks, it might tighten up

or it might pull away, I'm not sure.

I can't stand it when things are too precise.

Makes me rebel against it.

You all right Jim? Yeah.

What are you doing there?

This is going to be the top part of me cake stand.

Oh, keep going, don't let me stop ya.

- Really takes a lot of concentration, doesn't it?

Yeah, yeah.

We're all a bit quiet in the workshop today-

You wouldn't notice anything that was going on,

would you, while this was happening, anything else,

I'll let you get on with it, Jim.

Thank you, very kind.

Finalists! You have one hour left.

You sweating it Tom? -No.

I think I might go first.

The important thing with the saucer

is that it's got a nice curve in so it can hold the teaspoon.

Just needs to be, nicely bowed.

So, I'm starting off with a little bit of a bowl shape.

And then taking it out.

I've still got to finish off the handles

of the cups and the jugs.

The trickiest piece will be the tea pot.

I think the tea pot is the Achilles Heel.

Ordinarily, you could make a bulbous shape

like this quite easily, 'cause it kinda contains itself.

But with this material, you just don't know

when it's going to start going on you.

I'm pleased with the way the teapot is gone so far.

I'm actually going to try

and push that beyond the spherical.

I'm gonna make a more domey sort of shape.

The very difficult thing is getting the gallery here.

This is the gallery, where the lid's going to sit

and it's really tricky to get that in.

I'm in a sort of, mild state of terror

at this point in time, I'd say.

When you let your guard down,

that's when it all goes pear shaped.

Teapot now.

Yeah. It's time. It's time to face the teapot.

Just making my lid at the moment,

but I'm making it upside down.

I have a little trick, pop this on here

and take it off and now I've got the diameter.

I've measured the diameter and then what I'll do,

I'll throw this section and then I'll just line them up.

What I need to do is make my lid

so it's just a shade narrower.

Just taking my time. Refusing to panic.

At the moment I'm just

making the stem for the cake stand.

You've got two minutes guys, two minutes left!

I was not ready for this.

What are you doing, Jim?

Just knocking up a spout for the teapot.

Thank heavens for that!

I just thought he's just started something new!

He's just started his teapot, aargh!

Ah, it's just, I can't do that.

Your time is up for this section of your tea set making.

Well done, troops.

That's beautiful, isn't it? Doesn't that look nice?

Dunno. Good lid.

What a lovely texture on that.

Is that gorgeous or is that gorgeous?

My teapot is well behind.

Before the finalists can refine their tea sets-

Lovely.

The porcelain needs

to dry and become leather hard.

Whilst it does, Kate and Keith have set

a challenge involving a devilishly intricate technique

that only the most skilled potters

of Stoke were trusted with.

It's the final spot test from hell.

This week, the technique we're gonna ask you

to use is known as the Devil's work.

And it's cutting a design into an object.

It's what you leave behind that counts.

Remove the hessian.

You've all been supplied

with a leather hard cylindrical form.

We want you to cut your designs into it.

Not 10% of it, we want to see a bold design. Cut away.

Now, as usual, the judges are going to go off,

have a massage, finish their tattoos, judges,

if you'd like to go and relax.

So, to do this devil's work, you have 75 minutes.

The potters have all been given the same set

of cutting tools and identical leather hard cylinders.

Everything else is down to their skill and imagination.

The devil's work, is demanding them

to show us their hand skills.

I really want to see something intricate.

I'm looking for that craft element.

I'm looking for originality of design.

I want to see a seamless design.

I don't want to see where it begins and ends. And accuracy.

So the angle at which they hold that knife

and the angle at which they cut the clay away,

it will really tell me that they've decided on a design

and they're delivering it with skill and clarity.

I'm looking for a wow factor, this is the final!

We want to see something really quite spectacular.

But then, one slip, if you're doing a regular

and repeated pattern, and the whole thing will be spoiled.

Phew, God.

I thought I'd make a start on a border

and then something will come to my mind.

The devil's work.

I think they used to call rock and roll the devil's music,

years ago.

It might suit me. For that, for that reason.

I did some preliminary drawing on the pot just

to get my bearings.

Not quite sure what we're going to end up with.

So I bought myself a little bit of thinking time

by doing something definite on the rim round.

It's quite therapeutic, sit and have a, have a fiddle,

I've not, I've not done this sort of thing before.

I love those big ceramic lanterns

that have quite geometric design,

almost sort of bamboo-like.

This is gonna look better and quite precise.

That's not quite precise.

45 minutes to go in the final spot test.

The next bit is a bit tricky,

I'm trying to put a structure in that won't collapse.

I have done piercing ceramics,

I think in my first year of university,

but other than that, the only piercing I do

is on a teapot when I poke a hole through for the spout.

The judges are going to look for a fairly neat offering.

I think if you just slice it to hell it'll look scruffy.

No, I think they're gonna really like that, Jim.

I think they're looking for scruffy.

- Oh really? -Yeah.

Yeah, maybe.

- You have 30 minutes left to complete your devil's work!

Ha ha ha!

Looks like a bit of firework in there actually.

I quite like it. Rocket taking off, sparks flying.

Stars all the way and then they'll fit

in between each other and then I'll do something

in the spaces in between.

Probably not the easiest pattern I could have done, but-

- What design are you doing, Tom? -I'm doing flowers.

Oh, you big girl! -

I'm doing something precise and manly over here.

They'll probably think I've done that.

- 'Cause it's that bad. -Oh, thanks.

15 minutes left of your last ever spot test,

- I know you're gonna miss them! -Just keep going.

I'm starting to get worried for time.

I'm starting with the new cuts in the center,

so that if I don't get a chance to do it

all the way through,

at least it's in the centerpiece of the pot.

The fireworks are fireworking away, yeah.

Oh, it's getting wobbly.

It gets harder the more you cut out,

it starts to move as you push in.

Also, keep cutting.

I would like to take more away, but I may run out of time.

What time are, are we on?

Five minutes left, guys, you've got five minutes left.

Started shaking-

The top here now, is the limit,

I can tell as I'm cutting, can't really get away

with taking much more.

I'm just taking out some of the burrs that I've left in here.

How long have we got?

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six,

five, four, three, two, one,

okay potters, time is up!

That's a lot lighter now, isn't it?

Gather up your masterpieces and bring them

on your whirlers to the front please, ready for judging.

♪ If you could see through my eyes ♪

♪ You would get a big surprise ♪

Kate and Keith?

Four cut out cylinders for your delight and delectation.

Fantastic, people.

Shall we do this one first?

What we're seeing is the maximum cutaway out

of the four and actually a very original use of the top.

It's simple, but effective.

And wonderfully executed, apart from a couple of joins.

There's a lot cutaway here as well, isn't there?

Loving all these holes down the bottom and on the top.

There's a sense of symmetry to this design.

Whoever did this,

they held the knife at the correct angle,

they finished very precisely to the corners.

I particularly love all this detail on the top here.

There's a very nice dynamic in the pattern.

We really can't tell where it started and where it finished,

because it's very well-spaced.

I'd liked to have seen much neater ends.

And going to this one, there is a nice energy, isn't there?

Yeah.

And there's a good use of the rim again.

I'm finding the cutting a little clumsy,

little edges coming out, the tips coming out-

Well not quite defined, is it?

Don't know if it was a time thing,

but I find this least defined in its pattern.

But whose hands have mastered the devil's work?

- Fourth place, is this one. -Guilty, your honor.

We felt the design was a bit naive.

Third place is also at the back and it's this one here.

- That's mine. -The ends of those wiggles

could have been much more clearly cut.

Which obviously leaves these two.

Whose is this one? -It's mine.

- Whose is this one? -It's mine.

We decided that we wanted to award first place

to the one who had been the bravest

and had the most original design.

And that goes to-

Sally-Jo!

It was very very close.

But this really had the wow factor.

The originality of the design, absolutely brilliant.

♪ Come on ♪

That's great, well done.

Well done Sally. How about that?

Thank you, thank you.

Final's really where it really counts.

Not only have I beaten Matthew,

but I've also beaten Tom and Jim! It feels great!

Spot test went really well, considering

I didn't have a clue what I was doing until

about half way through.

If I'm gonna win this final, coming third in a spot test,

that's gonna put me under a bit more pressure.

- Fourth place.

♪ Where it's at ♪

♪ The name of the place is ♪

♪ I Like it Like That ♪

The finalists now have just three

and a half hours to finesse

all 12 pieces of their tea sets.

And add handles and spouts before the first firing.

I think coming into this,

my main concern is just not finishing.

I'm just getting the base attached to the cake stand

and then it'll be straight on to the teapot.

Because, it still needs a base, a top, a lid, a handle, a spout.

Feel like there's a mountain to climb this morning.

A heck of a lot to do today, in a short space of time.

Porcelain has this very short window,

of workable and then, not workable.

And it's not a very good clay to bring back from the brink.

It's very unforgiving for that.

This had actually dried out a little bit more than I'd like.

I'm keeping the pieces I'm not working on now covered up.

As Tom's cups were thrown off the hump,

there is more fragile porcelain clay to turn away

on the base than with and individually thrown cup.

There's a real danger that you get S-cracks,

where the base is very very thick.

So I've got to really get them nice and thin.

I listen to the tap, so I can hear from the sound

the clay makes how thin that is.

I don't always get it right, trial and error.

There's a bit of flaking going on because they are dry.

So the clay is not turning smoothly as it would normally.

Just by adding a tiny bit of water,

it just brings it back to life and you can turn it.

I may have to spray them before I put the handles on.

Attaching damp clay to dry clay,

it's gonna shrink at a different rate.

But I'm not going to do that, because I'm going

to leave these to dry out so it's the same consistency.

This is why you make spares.

After a disappointing spot test,

Jim's hoping to add a couple of winning touches to his tea set.

I'm pulling them out and creating some lines

on the actual pull and then twisting them.

That's really skillful.

It looks so simple but actually he's got

to be so gentle with his touch,

otherwise the whole thing will fall to bits in the air.

Tie a little knot. Oooh, beautiful.

Then we'll let you crack on.

- Thank you very much. -Focus Jim.

I'm focusing mate, I'm focusing.

Well I haven't got the luxury of practicing anymore,

all of the stuff has to go through.

I think I'm distracting myself from the teapot,

I'm like, scared of it.

I'm such a deadline person, I've got to wait

till I'm like really under pressure to do something

I don't want to do!

This is about 20 years old. I made it at school.

It's a maker's mark.

They're my initials actually. It hasn't changed since.

I'm putting a little design on. Stuck in.

It is harder when the clock's ticking,

'cause you wouldn't mind a little chance

to play around a little bit.

Maybe the curl is nice, 'cause of the lace,

it sort of like a ribbon. I think I'm gonna go with that.

It's not really the handle I just planned but,

No. God, this is horrible!

I think doing this challenge has actually

made me more relaxed.

Matthew, will you stop talking about being relaxed!

The truth is that inside you're churned up in turmoil!

Truth is I'm crumbling.

Half an hour to go.

Now head down 'cause I've got so much to do still.

Putting the stand together for this cake stand,

it's going to look like a beanstalk.

This teapot is not going to have a spout. Oh my God!

I'm not going to get this done.

Spout spout spout.

Spout needs to just be like a big fan, doesn't it?

It's like surgery this.

I hate putting spouts on teapots.

I'm not gonna put you off by spouting on anymore.

I'm gonna make this little baby fit, which, again,

it's such a tricky thing to do.

When you make a spout on the wheel, when you apply

that to the body of your teapot, you always put that

on at a slight angle, because in the kiln,

it remembers the way it was going on the wheel.

It sort of springs back a little bit.

But if you're hand building a spout,

you don't have to take that into account.

Oh, I'm really worried now.

It's got to pour well, it's got to be applied well

and aesthetically it's got to fit

with the main body of the tea pot.

Shape wise, the spout is not particularly friendly

to the overall feel of the pot.

Try and tidy it up before the final bell goes.

Ten, nine... Don't rush.

Eight, seven, six, five,

four, three, two, one.

- Oh, that was a shocker!

Guys, congratulations.

You've worked again really hard for this final

and we shall see you in a few days.

Well done.

You've got it on your face again!

I reckon that's your sign you were a bit stressed.

♪ Makin' time ♪

Even the slightest trace of moisture

can destroy porcelain when it's fired

and after 24 hours of drying,

it's Richard's job to take the tea sets to the kiln.

I've noticed on these handles cracks opening up.

It's just where the handles have been joined a bit wet.

It is more susceptible with porcelain.

As those handles are drying, they're shrinking

and the mug bodies have already started to shrink

and they're just starting to crack.

As their work is bisqued fired,

and cooled the finalists face an agonizing

48 hour wait at home with their families.

♪ No, I won't be afraid ♪

♪ No, I won't ♪

I am so proud that Jim has reached the final,

'cause it has been all-consuming,

but he's really really really wanted to make it a go of it,

he really has.

I've missed him a lot,

it's actually quite surprising how much you miss him

when he's always strumming on his guitar

or doing some pots or something.

How has he been over the last few weeks, Matt?

We weren't certain at one point I don't think

if he was actually still in the competition.

You know, it's like, "How is it going?"

- "Fine." -Yeah.

How's it going? "Okay."

Few words. We don't find out much.

Ready for this? Yeah.

Put the cheese inside.

Tom is really relieved I think.

He wasn't expecting to get into the final,

having had quite a rough time making the chandelier.

The night the judging happened,

we were up emailing him and he was showing us photos

saying that he'd got into the final.

We felt really proud of him.

He does think pots all the time.

Well, not all the time but most of the time.

There's a lot of pottery chat going on.

There was one time when she was thinking

of using the lace on her pajamas for the tea set.

It's been all-encompassing.

I just had no idea she was this talented.

I don't even dare to think if she'll win the final.

I'd love it if she did. She would love it.

She is brilliant at glazing and decoration, so why not?

He keeps telling us he's not expecting to win.

But I guess you know,

he has as much chance as everybody else.

I don't think he's bothered about results though, because-

- Oh no- -I think he's got out of it

what he really wants, what he wants to do.

♪ Well little darling ♪

Well, he wants to win the final

but he's not too bothered apparently, apparently.

There's 24 hours left in the competition

and the potters are back to discover

how their tea sets fared in the first firing.

- Best of luck. -And you, and you.

- Great reveal.

Any cracks at this stage may be impossible

to recover from.

Here goes nothing.

They're looking okay actually, I'm really pleased.

It's all right-

Oh, all the handles have split.

Ah. No.

Couple of little casualties here.

The glazing hopefully will be reasonably striking enough

to distract from the fact that there

are shortcomings with the make.

The finalists now have just two hours

to glaze their tea sets.

I think the glaze will fill a few

of the cracks that have appeared.

At least none of the bottoms have fallen out. Yet.

Before any glazing begins,

the potters are applying a wax coating.

The high temperature porcelain is fired at,

increases the risk of melting.

Fusing lids to tea pots and everything to the kiln shelf.

Yeah, that would be a bit useless.

Carefully applying a thin layer

of wax should ensure all the pieces remain separate.

That's my intention.

They've been given a range of traditional

Far Eastern glazes to work with,

as well as a selection of oxides.

We're really looking at natural colors, browns,

blacks, greens, turquoises-

Well you say that, all I've seen is like

a dusky pink like a sort of '80s bridesmaid dress.

They're not going to come out looking like that, are they?

No, they're not. The sort of pale pink becomes blue

and the black become green.

It's just a magical

transformation which is chemistry.

Jim's hoping to play to his strengths.

Hand painting a floral design with a blend of oxides.

The main ingredient in this is cobalt,

which give you quite a strong blue.

I've muted that down by adding iron oxide to it

and it just takes it down a few notches.

Tom has chosen a base glaze called celadon,

developed 2000 years ago in China to mimic jade,

it should fire to a glassy pale green.

I've just a single dip, very quick.

It's quite thick, the glaze.

Matthew has given his

celadon base a bit of a tweak.

I thinned mine down more than Tom's.

Hopefully after the firing it

will come out like a bluey color.

Even at the glazing stage, Sally-Jo's teapot

is still slowing her down.

My teapot lid doesn't fit my teapot, so with sandpaper

I'm able just to shave it down a bit.

I really want the lid to sit flush

with the top of the teapot.

30 minutes to go, 30 minutes left.

I'm just banding some glaze around this.

Matt's decorating his surfaces

with a glaze called temmoku which should fire

to a dark oil Coloured finish.

So hopefully the temmoku

will bleed into the celadon.

That's the plan.

Oh, it's like, like in a chemistry lab.

Cobalt carbonate, the red iron oxide

and that's the copper oxide.

I think if you just use one it can look a bit harsh.

Right, there' no going back after this bit.

I'm not sure what it's going to do.

As well as his flowers,

Jim's coating his finished work in a light celadon,

I think with that kinda classic blue design

under the celadon it should look quite tasty.

What color is it going to be, when it comes through?

It's gray blue finish on the floral stuff.

Jim's used his oxides, hasn't he?

And mixed his two oxides, whereas Tom simply

put tiny tods above each of his little lugs there on the side.

They looked a bit small to me,

I don't know if we're going to see them.

Yeah, it depends on what the glaze does to them.

I've made the solution too watery for the second batch.

I didn't make enough in the first batch.

So, it's different.

Seems very calm here, you all right?

You are aware this is the final, James?

Yeah, I know.

Are you done now? -Yeah, I've put my glaze on.

I'm hoping the judges are gonna let me stick that

- on top of there when we finish. -I'm sure.

'Cause I can't do it now. Yeah, you gonna do it, a bit of glue?

- I'll have a word. -Go on put a word in for me.

Smooth the path a bit, a couple of quid.

Ten minutes of titivation of the tea sets allowed.

Just wiping off the oxide. So it reveals the design.

'Cause otherwise it's a bit heavy.

But I am seriously running out of time.

Because I've got to get clear glaze on top of everything.

I've just got to wipe all rims.

Sally, then I'll give you a hand if you want?

Amazing!

- Can I be in your gang? -Yes.

What's going on here?

I've got no glaze on anything yet!

You've had the same amount of time as everybody,

what's been going on, Sally-Jo?

I've been, decorating.

- It'll all be fine. -It'll be fine in a minute.

- Have you all finished? -Yesterday.

Have you got a production line going here?

Do you want me to wipe some bases here?

If you win, there' gonna be some right ole trouble.

- Ten, nine, eight- -Right hand, there's no glaze.

- Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, potters,

your time's up, guys.

Just in the nick of time Sally-Jo, well done.

It's taken six days but the tea sets

are ready for their final firing.

Then they're done! Hurray!

The fragile porcelain is headed in

to the 1,280 degree heat of a gas fired reduction kiln.

You're reducing the oxygen in the kiln chamber.

So therefore, by reducing the oxygen,

the flame has to burn something.

So it attacks the pot, if you like,

it attacks the oxides within the pot and the glazes.

So we're talking about such high temperatures

here that the oxides and the minerals that are

in the glaze that give the color,

they melt and they're like flowers opening, the sort

of pale pink becomes blue and the black becomes green,

the glaze responds to the body, the body responds to the glaze.

It's rich and luscious and it moves

over the contours of the pot.

As the reduction firing begins,

the finalists will face one last challenge.

A test involving a master potter's control

that could help them become out first champion.

This is your final ever throw down.

Indeed, it's your final ever

task here, in this pottery studio.

What you're going to do today, is a classic shape,

one of the hardest shapes that I had to learn as an apprentice.

The high shouldered jug, with a nice neck on it

and a nice finished lip. So, here we go.

So the thing that makes this such a challenge

is that there are several changes in direction

of the clay, as you're going to see.

I'm throwing it slightly out.

My knuckle on the outside is below my hand on the inside,

but as I come up to the shoulder, my knuckle takes over

and that's now on the top of my hand on the inside.

You've been using the sponge on the stick before, haven't you?

I'm really pushing out the clay,

just to get me a nice generous belly.

And then up to the shoulder.

And then, you want enough clay at the top

to make a really nice, generous rim.

And now I need to pull up the lid, with the rim of the jug.

Because then I'm not distorting the rest of the rim.

And what you're really after here

is a nice curve to the jug lip.

So, the criteria that we're looking for,

is the junction between this shoulder here and this neck here

has got to be lovely and sharp.

And the inside shape has really got to correspond

to the outside so when we cut it in half,

we don't see a thinness on that point there.

We also want to see a lovely, generous rim,

from which you can pull a very nice lip.

It took Keith five minutes to throw his jug,

so the good news is you guys have got 20 minutes, okay?

The bad news is, you need to make three.

20 minutes, three jugs. Time starts now.

Here they go.

Remember, get that knuckle or hand, get it in.

You want that pot to have a nice uplift.

Think about that rim as well.

When I'm throwing in the studio,

usually the first one I do always takes a bit more time

and a bit more thought on it.

And then obviously you get into the rhythm.

Oh, Jim.

I've lost it, I've just thrown it too thin.

No, that's gone, mate.

Just throw really two decent ones.

Ah, fine specimen if ever there was one.

Five minutes gone, you've got 15 left.

Jim's is looking nicer now.

There needs to be more definition

between the pot and the shoulder.

I think he had a shock with that first loss.

Tom's is looking good. A nice poise.

I would have got my sponge in there

and just bellied out that bit more,

just to give it a fuller figure.

Usually at this point I go,

you enjoying this throw down?

But should I just not bother asking that after-

We've been through it, haven't we, with this?

Okay, half way through, guys, 10 minutes left.

Take my time with this one.

Has Matthew taken his time a little bit too much?

I'm a little bit concerned.

Yeah, I'm not sure if he's gonna have enough time.

What's Sally-Jo doing?

She's got the general concept right.

'Cause remember, they don't have to be like mine,

they don't have to look exactly the same,

it's just the technique.

Changing the direction of the clay, that's what we're after.

Sally-Jo got a huge width there.

It must be really thin,

'cause she's got quite a good height there.

I mean, do you know what?

We've seen here really come on with her throwing.

Okay guys, you got five minutes left. Five minutes left.

Oh!

- Look, Sally-Jo is losing hers.

I just gouged it out with the credit card.

Oooh, she caught it with her tool.

Mind your hair there Matthew,

can you get it over your shoulder?

I'll do your hair for you.

- Oh, thank you so much. -There.

Go Sally-Jo come on, center that clay.

Get that bloody arm in! Get that arm in!

Get your weight behind that!

Got one minute left, guys, one minute left.

One minute, Matthew!

Thank you for reminding me.

Yeah, no pressure then.

Come on Matthew! Come on Sally!

Coming-

Five... Sprinting to the end.

...four, three, two, one!

Time is up guys, time is up!

Has anyone mastered the changes

in direction a perfect set of jugs demands?

Starting up with you sir, Jim's jugs.

Obviously, it's gone a bit wrong here, isn't it?

- Jug number two. -Much improved.

Well obviously you've learned a bit.

Quite a nice transition between the shoulder

and the neck and a nice thick rim for that spout.

That's a really nice cross section there.

Jug number three, are things getting better?

Yeah, definitely on a positive path I think.

We've got quite a nice transition

between shoulder and neck.

Your rim's far more exaggerated which is lovely.

The base is a bit too thin.

You could have probably used a bit more

from the shoulder up into your rim really.

Number two, there's this cinching in here,

which it could have been fuller.

Really nice, definite thick rim,

just a bit more substantial there.

Jug number three then.

Well the profile isn't quite so cinched in,

it's beginning to get a bit fuller, isn't it?

And then the transition from shoulder

to neck is quite good.

The cross-section is far better on this actually.

There isn't a brilliant transition

from shoulder to neck.

That's probably the best lips I've seen so far,

and the rim is looking really really nice.

Jug number two?

The actual shoulder to the neck is better.

You've got quite a lot of clay there, base

is a bit on the thin side.

Jug number three? -This was my two minute jug.

I mean obviously the shoulder is looking a bit weak here.

There we go. The base is really really thin on this one.

Basically, this is an unfinished jug.

Matthew?

Nice width at the bottom, very generous rim,

- possibly too generous. -Yeah.

The base is a bit on the thin side, to say the least.

A nice taper there, to give it support.

Jug number two then Keith?

Much nicer base, really really thick on the sides here.

Jug number three?

So, really just unfinished in essence isn't it?

Yeah, again, just run out of time.

The base, a bit on the thin side,

bit too thick on the shoulder there.

So, who will win the final throw down?

Last but no means least, Jim.

You obviously lost it on the first one.

In third place, Sally-Jo.

Second place, really nice structure

between the shoulder and the neck, nice thick rims,

Matthew.

So, in first place, Tom.

Well done, Tom.

To go out on a win with the throw down,

was absolutely great.

Remarkably strange to have walked out of that last task

and realized actually now there's nothing else

that I can do to influence the outcome of this. It's all done!

I'll be sad not to do any more challenges again,

I think it'll take a while to readjust to reality.

It would have been nice to have gone out, you know,

with a flourish and, you know, all the rest of it.

I do feel I've let myself down in that respect.

I've got a first in the spot test and a third

in the throw down so I'm, you know, I'm not

in a bad position with my tea set, but,

I don't think I've done enough.

It's the final day of

The Great Pottery Throw Down.

It's been a long journey to get here though, what a pleasure.

- Excited? -Yeah, can't wait.

But the potters aren't heading in to the studio.

It's been transformed into an exhibition space.

To showcase everyone's work from the whole competition.

Oh wow.

And the finalists' family

and friends are all on the guest list.

- That looks lovely! -Aaah!

This is the most amazing display.

There's nothing like when ceramic is finished

and then put on show.

Just seeing it all together. We've been busy!

- Oh, that's Tom's, yeah. -That's Tom's.

It's amazing seeing what they've done and how much

they've done in such a really quite short period of time.

There's an overwhelming sense of group pride, I'd say.

- Oh the Raku! -Yeah, those are Raku.

Sally's chandelier's really lovely, isn't it?

It works as feathers, hanging in the air.

If I was a betting person, my money would be on Tom.

Or possibly Matthew.

My money was on Tom from day one.

I think it might be Sally or Jim,

or Tom, or Matt, I think.

I can't wait to see the tea sets.

I cannot wait to see the tea sets.

As we both know, when we open that kiln,

we'll have to see what happens.

Yeah, absolutely, take those bricks down.

I mean it's the gas kiln, isn't it,

and it does this magical work, we hope for all of them.

Let's get these out.

Jim's piece has got a bit oxidized, hasn't it there?

I mean that's essentially the same glaze.

You can see the variation in the color

and this is the difference the reduction atmosphere makes.

Yeah, so this one's been reduced and this one's been oxidized.

Sally-Jo's surfaces are just so beautiful.

Beautiful.

One thing I did notice as they were decorating

and glazing their tea sets, finish is everything.

Did they glaze them and wipe those bottoms,

finish those bottoms off properly?

- 'Cause these glazes can slip. -They shift.

Down the pots and they could glue

the pieces to the kiln shelves.

Aaaah!

The base on Tom's, If the glaze isn't wiped back

well enough, the slightest bit of residue can just fuse

that to the shelf ant then as it's cooled the pot shrunk,

where it stuck it just pulled itself to pieces.

That's such a pity, such a pity.

Sally-Jo's pieces are so thin, just become so fluid

in the kiln, appears this piece has stuck.

Gonna just see if we can just, gentle leverage, yeah,

it's gonna go, yes.

Things become so fluid at top temperature, the clay moves.

Such a pity.

This far! This far from being good.

Hello, Jim. -Hello there Matt.

How's it looking? You chuffed, pleased?

- All right, yeah. -How are yours?

They are not too unhappy actually.

Shaking head? No! Surely?

It's terrible, I'd rather just, maybe not show it.

- Wow, that looks amazing! -Mixed bag actually guys.

- Oh, yeowch, what's that from?

- The tea pot- -Oh no.

The whole idea of gluing

a pot together is rather strange.

Even if I glue it, you can't get a mug on it.

Do some shenanigans with the cake stand.

Doesn't look too bad!

Tea, anybody?

Judges, would you like to start with Sally-Jo please?

- Yeah.

Did you know, that the lace and the coloured oxides

were going to be quite so beautiful?

I hoped.

Because really, the surface of this, is absolutely exquisite.

It's quite incredible how you've got this effect.

Yeah. It really is.

But that is the best thing this service, don't we know?

You've got two cracked handles.

I take it this was done on the drying.

Yeah, I should have got them on sooner.

But do you know what?

I actually quite like the shape of that cup.

I think the weight is too heavy and I was concerned

when you were making, had you rolled

your slabs a little thinner, it would have been finer.

I mean, I haven't even picked this up yet.

It's heavy.

Now, I'm thinking that this might not actually hold tea.

I think there's a few crack issues in this.

Oh!

Oh, straight away. Okay.

It's not holding the tea.

It's not even useful as a watering can.

Your making's let you down.

A shame, because really,

the most beautiful thing is the delicate surface.

You have managed to use the glaze really really well

on your surface design and the temmoku works

really well with the celadon, the way it bleeds down.

I think you're very bold with your use of glaze.

I like the way it's moved, there's a sort of rawness to it.

It's definitely not a fine tea set.

No, no.

Looking at the whole set, you've got this great rhythm.

The pieces turn on the wheel and you've really shown

us that, by doing some spirals, by marking it.

Actually, I'm amazed that

the handle has actually stayed on.

It's got a freshness to it, it's got a spring

in the handle there, which is actually, it's a miracle.

It's not easy to do. Credit to your technical ability.

God, it holds a lot!

I'm quite amazed with that.

Yeah! It's like the Tardis!

Well he has got a bow tie on after all.

Is it dribbling?

- Yeah, there's a little dribble. -A tiny, tiny bit.

It does hold together.

It really does sit in front of us as a 12-piece tea set.

I love the tonal changes between the sort

of different firing positions in the kiln,

and the rich turquoise, to the more sagey green.

I do love the delicacy that you've got with the tea cup.

It's porcelain, and it looks like porcelain.

The saucer has got a really lovely spring in it,

it's really nice and fresh.

You put an iron Oxide rim on here, did you?

Yes, they seem to have burnt away,

so that was a little bit disappointing.

I think you're a little sparse.

When you put your little tiny dots

above these little tiny nibs here,

I thought they were a bit spare.

For me that's a lot of decoration on a pot,

so the subtlety I was quite pleased with.

But what happened here Tom?

Do you know, I was meticulous about cleaning the bases off.

Unfortunate that-

You can't be too careful, can you?

Absolutely not.

The lid fits nicely, you've put your maker's mark

on the middle of the lid.

It's a delight to see, isn't it?

Shall we do the honors?

It's pouring well, dripping slightly.

It's really nicely finished off,

but then I would expect that from Tom.

- How you feeling? -Nervous.

Well do you know what, Jim?

This is fantastic.

It's fantastic. -Really?

This detail, is absolutely brilliant.

Making my eyes water actually.

God, even Jim's got a tear in his eye.

The beautiful, gentle marks that you made

with the cog, the way you use that brush,

it's one of the most successful decorative surfaces

I've seen in reduced porcelain.

Some of these have changed color, it's obviously

all the same glaze, just in different parts of the kiln.

That's right.

So that's the drought coming across one piece

of ceramics and giving us two different colors.

- But Jim- -Beautiful.

- Yes.

You're doing a delicate handle here, it's porcelain.

You should have pre shaped your handles.

I'm used to stoneware where you can literally

pull a handle wet on a fairly leather hard pot.

You ain't gonna do that with porcelain.

No, you can't, I mean I realize that.

Your bottoms are the neatest that I've seen.

Very nicely finished.

Now, Jim... Is that putty, Jim?

It's clay actually. Okay, the plus is,

it looks very organic, doesn't it?

It looks like roots of a tree.

- But- -Yeah.

There' no way that was gonna sit on there.

Shame about this though isn't it?

Yeah, you've got a crack in there,

again it's an appendage on to the main body.

Kate, the honors.

Nice pour, isn't it?

Yeah, it's got the drip. It's got a slight drip.

Few structural issues, but that design, perfect.

I felt a certain degree of triumph to see Keith

getting a bit emotional, but to see Kate going down

that road as well, I found myself going

down the same street, so it was kind of like,

whoa, hold off a minute!

What's going on here!

I was genuinely surprised that they found

so many nice things to say about it.

If I have won, well, you know, I'll be delighted.

If I don't win I'll be really happy that I've made

a tea set and I'm pretty proud of that tea set.

You are your own worse critic so, I, you know,

I just see the faults in mine,

but you know I suppose yes there is a possible chance.

I don't know if I'm in with a chance, to be honest.

Would be great though, wouldn't it? Yeah.

Tom, excellent!

Quite and extreme sight, innit?

In just a few minutes, either Sally-Jo

Tom, Matthew or Jim will be crowned the winner

of The Great Pottery Throw Down.

Let's talk about Sally-Jo.

Look, her surface design, the color choices

she's made are absolutely fantastic,

but on her technical ability, it's really let her down.

The wow factor with Tom, is attention to detail.

We know he's technically proficient.

He's shown us a real delicacy with his cups and saucers.

He's high in our mind, because he's

produced a beautiful tea set.

Matthew has produced a really strong kind of boyish tea set.

It's got lovely coarseness,

a sort of slightly engineered look to it.

He's used the glazes perfectly on the rims

of his whole tea set.

He just has this great knowledge, this like,

sixth sense of how to use the glazes.

Jim's surface pattern, it's so fantastic.

He uses the brush like a magician.

It's just so simple and so, so effective.

Does that mean that you are willing to overlook any

of the construction issues?

Oh well, you know, this is something

that we're gonna have to discuss.

The three of them, all have been top potters,

all the way through.

Who's it gonna be?

Can you give us a few more minutes?

I think I'm going to have to.

It is so fantastic seeing so many family

and friends here and of course, all our potters,

past and present.

Welcome all. Will our four finalists please step forward.

The judges have made their decision and the winner

of The Great Potter Throw Down is-

Matthew.

Well done, mate.

- Well done. -Well done, mate!

- Collect your trophy! -Thank you.

- Congratulations -Cheers.

Fantastic. Really, really good. Well done, mate.

- Thank you -Well done.

What a pleasure, to present the trophy to young Matthew.

He's really been consistently there, hasn't he?

Top potter, top potter, top potter.

Really applied himself.

What Matthew did to win this contest,

was he married design with technical ability

and a real knowledge and a sense and a love of ceramics.

Really and truly he's got a soul for it.

I think emotions are difficult, words can't describe it really.

Amazing.

And thank my mother and father for introducing me to clay.

He's a natural.

I think it's like, he's got clay in the blood

and slip in his brains and you know,

just it's definitely gone to the right guy, yeah.

- Come here!

He's got that youthful thing in his work,

it's almost nonchalance, it's like yeah,

I knocked up that and I knocked up this.

Fantastic, you know.

Your father, is a great potter.

The thing I'm going to miss most,

is the most amazing people.

We come from such diverse backgrounds,

but we're completely bonded by the same thing.

This passion to create and work with clay,

that's what I'm going to miss.

Anyone deserved this and we all deserve it.

If I could break it up into 10 shards,

I would, but it would be a shame to ruin a pot, wouldn't it?

♪ Don't ever change ♪

♪ Don't ever change from that way that you are now ♪

♪ If you ever change ♪

♪ I will be sad ♪

♪ 'Cause I wanted you just as you are ♪

♪ Don't you ever change now ♪

♪ Always be the same now ♪

♪ No, don't ever change from the way that you were ♪

♪ Last night ♪

♪ Don't ever change ♪

♪ What can you prove ♪

♪ If you change in your ways to me ♪

♪ Please don't ever change ♪

♪ Please don't be blind ♪

♪ 'Cause I need you, can't you see ♪

♪ Don't you ever change now ♪

♪ Always be the same now ♪

♪ No, don't ever change from the way that you were ♪

♪ Last night ♪

♪ Don't ever change ♪

♪ Don't ever change ♪

♪ I'll be sad ♪

♪ And I would cry ♪

♪ If you leave me ♪

♪ Don't ever leave me ♪

♪ Don't ever change ♪

♪ Don't ever change from the way that you are now ♪

♪ If you ever change ♪

♪ I would be sad ♪

♪ 'Cause I wanted you just as you are ♪