Original subtitles

Time, the ever pulsing heartbeat of existence,

the rhythm of the universe.

Every day, hours, minutes, seconds pass us by

like autumn leaves on a breeze,

but when was the last time you properly pondered,

what is time, hmm?

Speaking of time, you're already late. You've missed breakfast.

What?! Basically, it's week two, 11 potters are left.

Welcome to The Great Pottery Throw Down.

Save me a sausage!

Last time, Gladstone welcomed

a brand-new pack of potters

- - eager to hit the wheel... - Oh!

...and create a children's crockery set.

Absolutely deadly.

Zahra's childhood dreams...

I'm panic painting.

...turned to nightmares.

Oh, no.

But it was Bill...

It's a little bit on the heavy side.

...who was the first to leave.

I'm gonna miss you all.

While Lucinda's party animals...

Oh, my pretty one.

...put her top of the class...

It's absolutely brilliant.

...earning first spot in the Throw Down gallery.

- This week... - Oh, Jesus.

...the potters face a slab-building challenge...

I've no idea what I'm doing.

...transforming slabs of clay into decorative wall clocks.

- Here we go. We're going on. - We're going on, going in.

- - And feel their way... - That's gone horribly wrong.

...through a blind throw down challenge.

Don't go too quickly with the wheel, Zahra.

Who will be crowned king of the clocks?

This is fantastic.

- - And whose time... - I forgot the pendulum.

...has finally run out?

Would you want that on your wall?

Yes.

It's week two, and our potters are back.

I was both relieved and surprised

to get through to week two.

I'm looking forward to today.

It's a new day, it's a new challenge.

It's slab building today, which is not really my favorite.

I haven't done much of it really, I mainly throw,

so it's gonna be a bit of a challenge for me today.

I'm not confident with slab building,

so I was tossing and turning last night,

thinking about all the ways that my piece could go wrong.

Hello, everyone. Is it any less terrifying standing in here now?

- No. - No.

No? Good. Our work is done.

For your main make challenge this week,

the judges would like you to slab build

- a 3 - D pendulum wall clock.

This should be based on one of your hobbies, but not pottery.

We've already got the gist you're quite into clay.

We really wanna see your personality come through

on these wall clocks,

so think about the form and the decoration

to create that statement piece that really tells us about you.

We've given you a clock mechanism with hands,

and a pendulum that swings underneath.

And we'd also like you to make an adornment for that pendulum,

but think about the weight,

because that pendulum has to swing.

You have three and a half hours

- to make your 3 - D pendulum wall clock,

and then a further two and a half hours

to refine your pieces.

Your time starts now. Potters, get potting!

The potters' wall clocks must be at least 30 centimeters high

and made using the slab-building method.

Stressed about slab building. Um, it's not my favorite thing.

With such a structural build,

getting the thickness of their slabs just right is crucial.

- What's it set at, Tom? - One centimeter, I think.

Oh, yeah, one centimeter will be fine.

- I've no idea what I'm doing.

If it's too thick, the inside of it won't dry,

so when it goes into the kiln, pcchhw!

But too thin and their wall clocks could collapse.

I've rolled it out thin. I don't want a heavy clock.

It's gotta hang on a wall. It could be a terrible plan.

I've never made a clock before. I've never been a clock person.

I don't own a watch, for example.

I don't really care what time it is.

So, Rich, wall clocks, what a great challenge.

It is, and we are upping the ante.

This is a fairly substantial build,

and building with slabs is tough going.

Yeah, you're making all these individual appendages.

They've gotta be the right consistency

when they stick them all together,

and for me that shows knowledge and experience

to see if they can do it without any cracking whatsoever.

Some of our potters might choose to construct sort of box forms,

like this clock here.

And, actually, that kind of lends itself perfectly

to a slab-building technique.

But what they need to be mindful of

is that these are quite big pieces,

and there's every opportunity for these surfaces

to warp and distort during the drying and the firing.

They need to think about how they're gonna get

enough structure in there

that it holds itself together perfectly.

And also we want to see some elaborate designs,

we wanna see some really lovely clocks,

but they've gotta think about the weight.

These things are gonna be stuck on the wall.

Yeah, and let's face it, we've asked for wall clocks.

If they don't hang on the wall...

- Yeah, I know. - ...is it what we've asked for?

No, and it could be their time to leave the pottery.

- Hi there, lovey. - You OK?

How are you feeling after the first week?

It was good fun. I'm chilled out and really enjoying it.

Ah, good, excellent. Tell us about your design.

So my design is a robot, because I'm a big nerd, I think.

So I'm calling him TD21, which is Throw Down 21.

But with this little guy, he does look old,

he's tired, and beat up, and rusty.

You're confident it'll look pitted and old,

and not just badly... badly made?

Bit like me. I look pitted and old.

A big kid at heart, Nick can often be found

carving up the promenade

with his kids Polly, Jess, Freya, and Leo.

Ah!

Inspired by the sci-fi films he loved to watch as a child,

Nick's rusty robot will have a retro orange and blue paint job

and a wheel-shaped pendulum.

- Do you do the robot? - Do the robot?

I'll do the robot if you do the robot.

Mmm. That's awful.

Lucinda, do you like this dance?

She's absolutely mugged me off there.

While Nick enjoys popping the occasional robot,

Lucinda has a few more styles at her disposal.

So, when I was really little, my granny bought me a little tutu

which I just loved dancing round the sitting room in.

Then I did ballet at school.

And then as I grew up, I learned, uh, ceroc,

which is a kind of modern jive.

Anyway, I've done ceroc for, oh, at least 20 years,

and so I thought, oh, it's gotta be a dance-related clock.

10 years ago, Lucinda met partner Mike at a ceroc class,

and they've been rocking round the clock ever since.

A Fender guitar pendulum will swing beneath her wall clock,

which will feature Lucinda and Mike jiving away

surrounded by sprig-molded instruments,

musical notes, and almost 100 piano keys.

I've actually made these piano keys,

and then all I've got to do is roll it along,

and what I love about them is they're all higgledy-piggledy.

It's almost like they're having a dance themselves.

Also relying on homemade stamps...

It actually vaguely looks like a chicken head now.

...is Tom.

So I'm making a chicken clock, 'cause I used to keep chickens.

I loved keeping chickens, but they just kept getting eaten,

and they were just hard work, so replaced it with pottery.

Tom's empty chicken coop has now been replaced

with a second pottery shed dedicated to glazing.

The hens might be gone, but they're certainly not forgotten.

I love chickens.

His whimsical clock will see a startled hen

laying a fried egg pendulum,

in remembrance of his much missed brood.

- Did your chickens have names? - They did have names.

We got ex-battery chickens,

really battered, really beaten up, no feathers.

When their feathers grew back,

they all looked absolutely identical,

so we called them all Barbara.

One of them was slightly bigger, so that was Big Barbara.

Don't fat-shame Big Barbara.

Tom's not the only potter planning on keeping time

with his fine feathered friends.

So I've got a long-tailed tit, a barn owl, wren, swallow,

some of my favorite birds.

They're gonna mark 12, three, six and nine.

Self-confessed twitcher Jenny

loves to spend time bird-watching with son Joe.

Why is there no birds?

Her avian clockface will be framed

with relief-work branches and leaves,

and a dramatic carved sky design.

I want it to be a swirly sky,

like a bit reminiscent of Van Gogh's kind of work.

And it would seem the great Dutch painter

has made an impression on more than one potter today.

I used to paint a lot growing up,

so my favorite artist was Van Gogh.

I used to do origami as well, so I've incorporated that in,

and also hiking, as I grew up near the Peak District.

- You've got loads of hobbies. - I like to be busy.

Zahra only recently discovered

her passion for gardening during lockdown.

She loves to tend to her vegetable patch

and her beloved cat Neo.

Hi. What you doing?

Neo's face will decorate the pendulum on Zahra's clock,

which will feature her Van Gogh-inspired landscape,

and delicate origami birds

which will perch on her clockface.

I'm aware that sort of origami is really crisp.

- Yes. - And very fine folds.

I'm curious, how are you gonna make that out of clay?

So, I've got these for the origami birds.

I'm gonna try and get the rough shape out,

and if I have time at the end,

I will sculpt them instead of using those.

- Right. - Thanks, guys.

- Good luck. Cheers, Zahra. - Thanks. Cheers, guys.

While Zahra is attempting to create

a flock of delicate origami birds,

AJ has a considerably larger

winged creature to contend with.

I'm making a treasure chest with a little dragon on it

who's munching on some gold coins

that he's stolen out of the side.

So that's... that's my design,

so hopefully the story carries through once I've finished.

AJ's inspiration comes from their weekly

fantasy board game meetings with friends.

I'm gonna run up to 'em and swing my great ax.

AJ's treasure chest will have

an intricate embossed wood grain pattern,

and if the dice are on their side,

then their dragon will perch on top,

standing guard over the gold coins within.

This is quite a large sort of sculptural piece here.

- That's gonna support it? - Hope so.

I'm hoping the arch shape will be quite strong

once it's dried out a little bit.

So I'm just paying special attention to this bit,

and spending, you know, quite a lot of time getting it right,

'cause if that goes wrong, then everything goes wrong, you know.

- This is lovely. - Yeah.

I, um, rolled out a slab

and carved some wood grain into it, and then cast it.

It's quite cartoonish, which I thought would go with my vibe.

Well, yeah, it's looking good so far.

- Thank you, yeah. - Good luck, AJ.

- See you later. - See you later.

Building a wooden treasure chest

out of slabs of clay is one thing.

Right. Whoo.

But Cellan is attempting something a little flimsier.

I'm making a tent. I'm basing it off the old Scout tents.

- Oh, right. - I used to be a Scout myself.

And I really enjoy camping still.

So I wanted to base my clock off of that.

Cellan started dib-dib dob-dobbing at age eight

when he joined the Beavers.

He's hoping to get his hand-building badge today

with a canvas Scout tent just like the ones

he spent many a windy night sleeping in

during his time in the Scouts.

I want it to look like it's in the wind,

so the wind has blown the doors open.

I'm trying to get it so it all looks

like it's coming from one direction.

I can see your slabs are quite thin,

but I guess that's kind of to emulate the canvas.

I don't want it to be too thick. It's going on a wall.

I don't want it to be too heavy either.

I don't want it to fall off on any of you guys's toes

when you're looking at it.

- Good luck. - Thank you very much, guys. Ta.

Cellan might be a happy camper.

OK, right.

But Miles prefers holidaying somewhere a little more exotic.

I love travelling in India.

I like to kind of go round old temples.

I always find it really inspiring,

and when this brief came through,

I thought, "I'm gonna do that."

Back home in England, Miles likes to get back to nature

with a spot of wild swimming in his local river.

Whoo!

Miles's temple will be

a multi-tiered riot of surface design,

with elephant-clad columns,

a lotus-flower inspired clockface

and a troop of monkeys which will clamber

all over his construction.

So it doesn't sound like you're being ambitious

with the construction and the engineering.

- I know. - Just playing it safe.

This isn't really my normal thing.

There's gonna be time to construct it all?

- Is there? I'm not sure. - Is there?

- Is there? - That was a question.

There is going to be time.

Is there going to be enough time? I will...

Yes, there will be enough time.

Don't know what your clocks are saying, guys,

but my clock is saying you are halfway through.

The drying room is open, my friends.

- Whoo! - Whoo. Someone whoo'd.

And why not? Let's get things dry.

With the slabs needing to reach a leather-hard consistency

before construction can begin...

- Come on, chicken. - Chicken, he's going in.

...the potters can now move on to the decorative adornments...

Hand building, I've just started to enjoy it.

It's like Play-Doh. It's like being a kid again.

...that will bring their clocks to life.

It's not gonna be a dragon clock without a dragon on it,

so I've started that now.

They're pretty ugly, chicken feet.

Have you ever seen a real chicken's feet?

I've eaten them before. Ugh. Horrible.

But Christine will be serving up something

a little bit more palatable.

I'm making a cake.

You know this is pottery? You know that?

It's not the other one. It's based on my hobbies.

I'm a baker, and my sisters always say

that my Victoria sponge is the best one,

so I'm making a Victoria sponge.

OK.

Christine's other hobby is crocheting,

which she loves to do in front of her favorite zombie box set.

She'll be covering half of her cake clock

with a colorful crochet blanket,

below which will hang a yarn ball pendant.

So what's that for?

That's for my crochet squares for the blanket.

I'm gonna make lots of squares and then arrange them.

When I decorate, I want the color

to come through on the crochet.

- I'm all about the color. - Right.

- So, you know, fingers crossed. - OK, yeah.

Also looking forward to getting her paintbrushes out is Anna.

My hobby is painting, and, uh, this should be my strength.

So I'm making, basically, an art box.

So I'm carving out the pencils and the paint tubes,

so the box is going to be full of, you know, arty things,

sitting on top of a sketch pad, sitting on top of a palette.

Shortly after meeting her partner Skip in South Africa,

Anna painted a portrait of him on Abu the elephant.

20 years on and Skip is still her favorite muse.

Yeah, he's a good man.

Anna's trusty box - of 3 - D pencils and brushes

will form the face of her wall clock,

which will also feature a paint-splattered pendulum,

a pencil sharpener and a half-squeezed tube of paint,

all sculpted entirely by hand.

I mean, we saw your sculptural work in your children's set,

and that was really, really lovely,

and if you can bring us that character in this clock,

I think you're on a winner.

- If you can. - If I can.

That's the big thing. If I can.

Whilst Anna now has to tackle a hand-sculpting marathon...

Yeah, there's quite a lot to do.

...most of the other potters have saved themselves time...

I'm just gonna make the origami birds. Watch my hands shake.

...by making sprig molds to create detail.

This is my barn owl.

Sprig molds are molds made out of plaster.

You get your wet clay, put it in,

squeeze it down, and take it out,

and it looks like the bottle, or whatever you have.

I'm trying to show myself, so I'm trying to show

everything I like doing and everything I do

within one main thing.

Josh likes to keep fit by playing tennis

with girlfriend Polly.

Oh!

His wall clock will be a wooden cabinet

showcasing sprig-molded items

that symbolize his many hobbies,

including a tennis ball, woodworking tools,

racehorses, and a bottle of fine wine.

I haven't got any hobbies.

- Have you not? - No.

You probably should pick one up.

I just... I don't understand

how people have time to do anything.

Why don't you try pottery, now that you're here?

- Oh, don't be ridiculous. - Why? You might be quite good.

I've got much better things to do with my time.

The potters must also fashion a pendulum for their wall clocks...

As you can see, I'm a really neat worker.

...which must be in keeping with their theme...

It's that sort of 1950s vibe, with the Fender.

- I'm making a fried egg now. - ...and fit for purpose.

The thing with the pendulum is, it needs to be quite light,

so a lot of people are doing thin, flat ones,

which is a very smart move.

I, on the other hand, am doing

- a nice little 3 - D backpack for my camper,

which will probably weigh too...

It will not weigh too much,

it'll weigh the perfect amount,

and it will still swing beautifully.

Right, let's have it.

With the slabs that make up their main structure

- - dried to leather hard... - You got it? Yeah?

...construction can finally commence.

We're attaching with slip and score.

You sort of open up all the fibers of the clay,

bit of slip, so it kind of gets on there.

Then I can literally just stick that back together again then.

If you don't put enough on,

and if you don't score it well enough, it won't stick,

so I kind of go for the "more is more" in this situation.

Oh, man, I hate this bit.

With dozens of individual pieces

all needing to be flawlessly fused...

Oh, look at that, perfect fit. Chicken boy's ready to rock.

...any mistakes here could be costly.

It says "inside" here.

I'll probably mess it up if I don't write

what side is inside and what side is outside.

- - But Zahra's birdhouse... - Oh, shoot.

...has an issue with its roof.

Realize I've decorated the wrong side of this.

So this was meant to be the underside of the roof, so...

'Cause those two bits were meant to join like that.

What I can do is flip it round and shorten it a bit,

just to save me redecorating again.

While Zahra attempts to reshape her roof,

Miles has been distracted by his decoration

and is in danger of falling behind.

I'm making a second little monkey,

'cause I wasn't that pleased with my first one.

I know that I am really seriously running out of time.

I'm panicking.

One hour to go. You've got one hour to go.

With time ticking down to their first firing,

the potters' slab-built wall clocks

are starting to take shape.

We've got the door on. We've got all the sides on now.

Everything's sort of what I was thinking it was gonna look like,

which is... which is good news.

I am giving the little fella some arms.

Keep on trucking, as they say, isn't it?

It's off center at a 45-degree angle,

'cause it just looks weird looking at a chicken straight on.

Why does it look weird looking at a chicken straight on?

Well, come round here and have a look.

Would you want that on your wall?

Yes.

And despite a slow start...

I'm building my way up.

...Miles's temple is taking shape.

It's gonna have three layers.

Why didn't I just do two?

Miles might be lamenting his third layer,

but Zahra is still struggling with just one.

Unfortunately, that's not fit properly.

So the danger with this is, um,

weak structures in the support and cracking.

If I'm very, very lucky, I'll get away with it.

Zahra isn't the only potter

stressing about their structure.

I'm worried about the weight of the dragon,

because it's quite thick,

so it could very well explode in the kiln.

But hopefully it won't explode.

Important as a sturdy structure is...

Right, OK.

...it's crucial the potters ensure their clocks

can hang freely on the wall.

So I've gone for an open back.

You've got the two little hanging lugs,

so if they fail, the whole clock's gonna go.

This bit here has got to be 10 centimeters,

and according to my shrinkage ruler,

I think that's about right.

So, basically, if I've got 10% shrinkage,

my centimeters on here are...

- 10% bigger. - ...10% bigger.

No wonder she's potter of the week and I'm not, eh?

Aw.

Half an hour, guys.

- 30 minutes to go. - Ouch, ouch.

Right, chicken egg done. Next, wings. Go.

Just trying to get it stuck on,

and then I'll get all of the legs and such.

- Here we go. We're going on. - We're going on, going in.

No time to waste.

Everything's in, stuck in.

Let's see how long it lasts.

I've got tubes of paint to put on.

I've still... I've got quite a bit to do.

I'm just attaching my origami birds at the moment.

I've knocked a bit of a wing off, uh, one of them,

but I think it's still all right.

Need to get my clockface on,

need to get it stood up, the elephant head.

I'm liking the wing. It's better than it was before.

This is the most precarious bit, and it could completely slump.

It's the big moment where one part meets another part.

Hopefully all is good.

10 minutes to go.

You know when you've only got 10 minutes.

Almost done. Praying the stuff isn't gonna fall off.

- In we go. - Yeah...

- We're rocking... - We're rocking.

...to the drying room.

One minute! That's come around quickly.

- One minute to go. - Oh, I love it.

One minute to get it in the drying room.

Are you all right, Miles? Elephants are on.

- Elephants are on. - Monkey's up there.

Five, four... Temple's going in.

- Namaste. Good luck to you. - Namaste.

And one.

Smashed it.

That was good. That was good. Yeah, I had fun.

I managed to keep all the textures that I wanted to keep.

Come glazing, that's what I really want to enhance.

It's been a tough day.

The joints are as strong as I could have made them,

given everything that went wrong.

Just thinking about all the things that I didn't do,

rather than congratulating myself

for all the things that I did do.

After their intense first day of hand building...

I've gone nervous again.

...the potters' second challenge will test

their sense of touch even more.

Potters, your second challenge this week is a throw down,

and you're going to be making pet bowls.

Dr. Dolittle himself, Keith, can you show us how it's done?

We've got your wheel and your clay.

Oh, I think I might be missing something.

Oh, I forgot to say. You're doing it blindfolded.

- Got ya.

The potters will be making two dog bowls,

one large and one small.

Before you put the blindfold on,

really think about where everything is,

because you won't be able to take the blindfold off

until you finish the second one.

On it goes. Get the first pad. Place it down.

With your hands fixed on the wheel tray,

you can feel when it's on the center.

- That's clever. - This is the bit I can't do.

Shove the clay down.

Your faces are amazing.

I thought you'd all disappeared, you'd all gone home.

I've got my fingers on my right hand

right down on the wheel tray,

and my fingers of my left hand are inside,

and I can feel the difference in height between the two fingers.

The minute you close your eyes,

your fingers just become so much more sensitive.

Draw that clay out.

- Make a nice flat bottom. - Oh, my gosh.

What sort of shape are you looking for?

We're looking for that sort of conical shape.

Then find your sponge. You want to take all the water out.

Rib up the side. It wants to have a nice clean side.

Now, in some ways, this is the hardest part,

so really contain that wire.

Wire it through, put your wire down,

lift it off, get your other bat.

And now this one you wanna make slightly smaller.

You really wanna think about

the size differentiation between the two.

And what height are you looking for?

On the large one, about seven centimeters high,

and on the small one, about five or six centimeters high.

Wire it through, and you can keep this one on the wheel head.

And then there you go,

you've got your small one and your large one.

So it's a simple shape, so I'm looking for real quality here.

There you go. You've seen how it's done.

You are gonna have 10 minutes.

Right, head back to your benches.

- Are you ready, potters? - No.

- Excellent! Blindfolds on!

Your time starts... now!

- Oh, they really work. - Yeah, they really do.

Picture the shape in your head.

As important as the ability to visualize is,

blind throwing requires mastery of the wheel.

Don't go too quickly with the wheel, Zahra.

- Just keep that in check. - Uh, it's wonky.

- Looking good, Miles. - Is it?

- Yeah. - I have no idea.

Nice, Jenny. Remember, the speed of the wheel is important.

Stay nice and controlled, everyone.

It's a really interesting challenge.

It's not about what it looks like.

It's about what it feels like.

It feels really big.

It is quite big.

So now you've gotta get that inward shape.

Yeah, which is a tricky one when it's...

I can feel it's gone too big.

It's not awful, that's what I'd say.

- Very useful. Thank you. - Oh, my gosh, it's so hard.

I'm not happy with it. I was just trying to collar it in.

I think I rely on my vision a lot more when I'm throwing.

Jenny, you're doing all right there.

Oh, thank you.

It's a really nice jardiniere that you've made there.

- Oh! - No, I'm joking.

How are you doing, AJ?

It's going outwards instead of inwards.

- Anna, have you got one off? - Got one off.

- Nice work. - Oh, God, really?

- I don't know how big that is. - Halfway, my friends.

Five more minutes to go, so if you haven't taken one off...

Oh, my God.

...you probably should be thinking about that.

We want that classic dog bowl shape.

I'm trying so hard not to touch it.

Yeah, ooh, that's... that's the water.

Are you on the next one, Cellan?

- He's in the zone. - He's in the zone.

I'm just trying to feel the clay.

I've only got one shot. The pressure is on.

That's better already, Zahra.

- What? - It looks better already.

Oh. Thanks.

- This is quite fun. - It's way off center.

Oh, good God, this is shocking.

So I'm on the little one.

I know my first one's pretty wonky, though.

Ooh. Oh, my gosh, no, this is horrendous.

Oh. Where's my rib?

- Two minutes, guys. - Plenty of time.

- Says Master Potter. - Yeah.

I can do this in two minutes.

It does feel like I've got that shape, but I can't tell.

Looking good, Cellan. Nice one, Nick.

- Looking good-ish.

- Nice one, Anna. - Is Anna done?

I probably should have spent more time on them.

One minute.

Hey, Tom, what's been the trickiest bit about doing this?

- You. - Thank you.

OK, you should be wiring off, guys.

- You've got ten, nine... - Bloody hell.

- Wire it through, Tom. - It's wired through already.

- Oh, right. - Four, three, two...

- One. - ...one.

Well done.

That was so hard.

A huge dog can have food in that one.

Keith and Rich are looking for two matching dog bowls,

one large, one small, and both tapered to the rim.

But who will lap up the honors?

- Hi, Anna. - Hi.

Is it something you've done before?

No, it's not sort of a thing you do, really, is it?

Well, you say that. When Rich and I do it together...

- It must be lovely. - He's Demi, I'm Patrick.

- Oh, lovely. - And then we swap.

I don't really know what to ask. My mind's gone blank.

Bowls. Dog bowls. There we go. Come on.

You've got a good height.

You've definitely got a big one and a small one.

They're perhaps a little bit messy around the edges.

Just a bit more of a tidy-up, I think.

It's pretty competent, isn't it?

We've got that taper. The sides of the walls are nice and even.

The forms make them look like a pair.

They look like they're meant to be together.

Well done.

They're pretty good, Miles.

To get your hands to do that thing that's in your head,

it's pretty good.

- Did you throw this one first? - Yeah.

You managed to get a slight cone shape in there.

This one not so much, um, but really not a bad effort.

What can I say? They're fantastic.

They look really, really good. We've got a large and a small.

The angle of both is roughly the same.

Yeah, I think what's so nice is

they both look like they've been made by you.

Same rim on both. You've got the same undercut on both.

You've treated both pieces in exactly the same way.

- Really nice. - Thank you.

I'm really glad you like 'em.

Lucinda, you don't look happy.

They're not quite a pair.

They've got a base, and sides.

Not quite the shape we were looking for.

- Not quite. - Not a bad effort.

I couldn't work out quite how wide or how high anything is.

If this one hadn't been so distorted,

that wouldn't have been a bad shape, would it?

Actually, the top sections of both of them are quite nice.

Those sides could have been tapered, let's face it.

But you finished them off nicely with the rib.

Just looking a bit more for that shape that we were asking for.

You've tried to taper it in.

The smaller one is a bit on the high side.

You can see that you've got the weight of clay in the height

rather than on the width.

- How was that for you, then? - Yeah, like... great.

I found I can't collar in with my eyes covered.

It is tricky, because often you rely on your eyes

to kind of recover situations.

The bases aren't too bad.

It would have been great to see a bit more of a conical shape.

I think I'm a bit heavy-handed, like, I was trying to go bigger.

In my head it was a lot smaller than it was.

When you've got the blindfold on,

you're more cack-handed than you think, or more forceful.

Yeah. I won't do it again, though.

- No, I think you should. - Yeah, you should, yeah.

- Cheers, Christine. - Thank you.

- Well done. - Thanks.

Now the judges will order the potters' pet bowls

from worst to best.

In 11th place, we have... Christine.

Honestly, Christine, it's a really great effort,

so, well done, thanks.

In tenth place, Zahra.

Just lost a little bit of control at the end there,

but not a bad effort.

AJ is ninth, Tom comes eighth,

Lucinda seventh, Nick sixth,

Josh fifth, Miles fourth,

and Anna takes third.

So in second place...

is Jenny.

So, Cellan, fantastic.

Really, really nice. Exactly what we wanted to see.

Thank you.

I won.

It's a cool feeling. It's nice.

I sort of feel like, you know,

I feel like I'm meant to be here.

- Well done, you. - You don't need to stress.

You're too good to worry.

The judges are really kind, you know, they're very positive,

but it was horrendous.

It's really hard to throw blindfolded.

It was actually quite fun, but, yeah,

there's more riding on my clock turning out in one piece,

so we'll see what happens.

It's decoration day for the slab-built wall clocks,

and after a 24-hour bisque firing,

studio technician Rose is laying out

the potters' timepieces ready for glazing.

I'm a bit nervous, yeah.

I've been thinking about all the ways that my piece can explode.

Quite looking forward to see if my joints held up in the kiln.

If it's a pile of rubble,

it will be a beautifully decorated pile of rubble

by the end of today, so it's OK.

- Potters, your 3 - D wall clocks are now out of the kiln.

Let's hope they're all still in one timepiece.

Well, you're about to find out

whether your clocks have survived the kiln firing.

If they're not quite what you're expecting, don't panic.

I've seen some wonderful turnarounds at this stage,

not to worry you in any way.

You have a range of glazes and oxides,

and two and a half hours to use them.

So, your time starts now. Potters, get decorating.

- Yay! - Oh, Jesus.

I accidentally knocked off

a tusk of one of my elephants,

but, you know, like, some elephants, they only have one.

There are a few cracks in places,

slight bit of bending inwards of the front,

and there's a small crack on the base as well.

Just a few little hairline cracks, and the rest is intact.

And that is in one piece still. Magic.

You all right, AJ? How's it looking?

The box is fine.

OK.

Yeah, not... not ideal,

but, um, well, at least the box is still intact,

but it'll be a clock at the end of the day,

whether it's got a dragon on it or not.

This is exciting!

- Yay. - Red iron oxide.

The potters have an array of glazes and oxides

to help bring their builds to life.

Just sort of playing around with the browns,

'cause that box has two wooden elements as such,

so I'm trying to just get a bit of depth of different colors,

just so it's not a solid block color.

I don't really want that.

But glazing isn't an exact science.

So I'm gonna go for orange and blue,

and then get some black, rub it in all the joints,

but I just need to get the basics down.

Most of the colors they apply now

will change drastically in the final firing.

At the moment it looks like I'm painting everything orange.

This glaze will actually go sort of a bluey, greeny color.

But AJ's damaged dragon will need more than just decoration.

So what's happened?

Basically, the dragon's cracked and it's fallen off.

So how are you gonna rescue it? How you gonna salvage it?

Yeah, like, because it's getting fired on its back,

I can't really stick it on with glaze where it was before,

but, I don't know, I might be able to get it, on the side.

But that's the big concern right now, I think,

is whether or not I'm gonna manage to get it on.

- I wish you luck with it all. - Thank you.

- Happy repairing. - Yeah, thank you.

AJ's not alone.

Christine's crochet cake is also in need of a patch-up.

Part of one of my crochet squares cracked off.

I'll probably cover the top with quite a thick layer of glaze

so that if it does slightly move, I may get some going in,

into the... into the gap.

Glazing's not just handy

for fixing cracks and adding color.

Probably about two, three layers on the cabinet.

I want it quite thick. I want it to look like woodwork.

Deftly applied, it can create an enhanced texture.

You just get a bit of paint on it,

and then you get most of it off.

And then when you pop it on top, it just catches the edges.

There's a lot of fine texture on the tent

that I've spent a lot of time trying not to destroy

while I was making it, so hoping that the iron oxide

will come through the green glaze that I'm using.

While Cellan relies on a layer of oxide

to retain the texture in his tent,

Miles is taking a different tack with his temple.

So are you using mainly kind of underglazes?

Or are you bringing any oxides in?

Because the natural oxides are quite in keeping

with the detritus of an old building and things.

I know. It's not going to be a stony-looking temple.

My color palette is a beautiful sort of turquoise color,

but then because of the texture,

some parts of that color will disappear,

and some parts will sink into it and, you know,

so that's what I want, in the end, is an irregularity,

but it's kind of all over.

Yeah. Sounds interesting.

Halfway through now. That's one hour to go.

Time waits for no potter.

That went quick. I need to, uh, get a wiggle on.

I'm happy with the way it's looking at the moment.

I'm trying to just give it a lot of different colors

and a wee bit of black, so hopefully that'll sort of

give a bit of depth on it.

Scary, and I'm taking a risk

on a glaze I have never used before.

I want my dance-related clock to be blues and greens.

I just hope it doesn't backfire on me.

How are you feeling about being able to hang it on the wall?

Are you confident this will hold Barbara's weight?

Yeah, I'm 100% confident.

Yes, I like it.

Tom might be convinced his chicken will hold firm,

but when it comes to the dragon...

I can still do this.

...AJ's not quite so confident.

I've decided that my... my dragon's a slug now.

He had one leg left, so I've snapped that off,

so instead of painting scales on,

I'm gonna paint, like, some goop, and then just gonna whack

loads of transparent glaze underneath it

and hope that it sticks,

which is, uh, the theme of today.

It's just taking risks, and then I'll just see

how it turns out at the end.

15 minutes, my friends.

15 minutes to finish your clocks.

Time is flying by.

Pendulum. I forgot the pendulum.

- Don't forget the pendulum. - Pendulum.

So the pendulum is the drongo bird.

There's something about fine detail and shaky hands.

They don't go so well.

I'm really happy with my pendulum, but still winging it.

I'm running out of time.

I just need to do a blackout line

so that my guitar can have the limelight.

I've got a bit of tidying up to do,

and then to paint

all of the transparent glaze on everything.

Transparent glaze gives the potters the option

to add a high-gloss sheen to their colors.

So I'm highlighting with some of the colors,

but the paper itself I'm leaving unglazed.

- But for AJ... - I'm putting this guy on.

...it's doing a different job entirely.

I think I'm gonna try and stick this on now.

I've just gotta go for it. Just gotta go.

Just a bit like PVA glue.

Yeah, yeah, literally, this stuff is so thick,

so I'm just gonna, like, blob it on like that.

Oh, come on, little sluggy, stick nice and fast.

Yeah.

One minute! One minute! Make your parents proud.

I'm just sort of going back over some bits.

I'm hoping that in the magic of the kiln,

it sort of evens itself out.

He's glued on.

As long as I don't shake it around,

it'll be all right.

That's five seconds!

Four, three, two,

and that is time!

Well done, everyone.

- How you feeling? - It'll be OK.

- It's still a stunning piece. - Thank you.

All it is, it's not on the top.

It's on the side. It's stunning.

Yeah, I've done the best with what I can do, so...

- You all right? - Yeah, I'm all right, mate.

Look at the detail you've put in.

Really well constructed. They can't... It's stunning.

- Thanks, mate. - Come here. Come here.

Come here. Have a hug. Have a hug.

It's all right. It's all right.

The potters must now take their finished clocks to Rose

for one final firing.

Look at the time. It's kiln o'clock.

When they next see them, it will be judgment time.

Bit nervous for the judging.

I mean, hopefully they can see the work I've put in

to try and, like, claim it back.

Not that sure about the colors.

I mean, there's so much texture on the piece

that maybe that's just gonna help emphasize it even more.

It's judgment day, and after a 24-hour gloss firing,

Rose is up early to recover the clocks from the kiln.

It is judgment day, very ominous,

but, then, that's part of the joy of pottery,

you never actually know

what you're gonna find when you open the kiln.

It would be a bit disappointing if it fell apart,

or it didn't go on the wall properly,

or something happened at this stage.

- Morning, potters. - Oh, wow.

- It stayed on. - Yeah, look at that.

The potters won't be able to see

if their timepieces hang on the wall ahead of judging.

I am proper happy with that.

But they have been given time to fit the clock mechanisms.

I'm just so glad it stuck.

It swings.

I'm not gonna swear.

11 slab-built wall clocks

now face the judgment of Keith and Rich.

- Potters, your 3 - D wall clocks look amazing.

I can't wait to see them in action.

Let's kick off the judging with Tom.

Can you please bring up - your 3 - D wall clock?

It has a real sense of style.

It's really, really wonderful, actually,

and I'm really liking your pendulum here.

This fried egg, absolutely brilliant.

In terms of the decoration, I like the fact

that you've embossed all the way round,

and then sort of put the underglaze in,

and wiped that back, it kind of gives it depth.

I think if I was splitting hairs, the only thing for me

is just this piece around the clock,

I just wonder whether that feels a little bit scrappy

compared to everything else.

- Shall we see if it hangs up? - Yep.

The moment of truth.

Oh, yes!

Here you go, Barbs.

- Be gentle. - There we go.

I mean, as it's on the wall there,

and that fried egg swinging, it's really comical.

It's got a lovely, lovely character to it.

- Really, really good, Tom. - Thank you.

The way you've approached the build,

you've got lots of different elements,

like you've got sprigged elements, hand-built elements.

- No sprigged element. - Are these not sprigs?

- Nothing's sprigged. - So you've hand-built these?

- Yeah. - Oh, my God.

I mean, even better, you know.

That makes me like it even more.

And your pendulum as well, it really ties in

with the drips of paint from this.

- It's fantastic. - But does it hang up?

This is the scary bit.

OK.

The minute you bung it on the wall,

it just says so much about you.

- Excellent. - Thank you so much.

- Well done, Anna. - Thank you.

The main thing I have difficulty with

is kind of the level of observation.

I mean, the bottle of wine, you know,

a black line around here, for example,

could have made that label pop.

Maybe it would have been better

if you'd gone for a matt finish on that wood.

It doesn't look like wood to me.

It looks like a glazed piece of clay.

Would you like to try and put it on the wall?

Yep. Let's give it a go.

There you go. Just wonky.

- Oh, OK. - But it's on.

It's on the wall at least.

Yeah... it is on the wall.

That's what I always say when I buy a clock.

- At least it's on the wall. - At least it's on the wall.

Doesn't matter if I can't tell the time.

If I was gonna be really, really frank about it,

it's a shame this is actually on there,

because the treasure chest for me is just brilliant.

It's beautiful. It perfectly emulates wood grain.

And it's instantly recognizable.

And then these beautiful kind of straps.

I mean, it just works incredibly well.

So, AJ, let's have a look at it on the wall.

OK.

- There we are. - Isn't it incredible?

The minute it starts swinging,

the whole thing just comes to life, doesn't it?

Just leave the slug off it next time.

Yeah.

I was a little bit concerned

about the approach to the build,

only in the sense that you were kind of messing up the surface,

and making it look a bit aged and beaten up,

but, you know, when it catches the light,

you just see some of those indents,

and it's kind of true to that beaten-up kind of metal feel.

I think it's worked very well.

Right, then, does he hang on the wall?

Perfect. When it's up on the wall, it just looks right.

And that pendulum really marries up to the main make.

- It looks really great. - Brill.

Yeah, well done.

It's wonderful. It really, really is wonderful.

The construction is almost wonderful.

Unfortunately, it's slumped a bit there.

But, you know, your attention to detail,

with the texture of the dress,

his top, even the jeans, are just fantastic.

It's just got such great energy about it, you know.

It really feels like the figures are dancing.

And the pendulum, I mean, my God. It is incredible.

So, will it hang on the wall?

I love the measurement of that pendulum,

and the way it just almost meets the base of the clock.

And you're lucky that that sag

hasn't stopped the pendulum from swinging.

So rock and roll lives on for another day.

Rock and roll.

It feels like a bit of a clock of two halves for me.

You know, I just feel like the cake is so well observed,

but all of that work you put in to kind of making the crochet

has been a bit lost by the thickness

and the opacity of the glaze.

Shall we do the honors and see if it hangs on the wall?

Yeah.

So we've got a slight friction there

with the pendulum on the main body of the clock.

That ball of wool on the pendulum

works really, really well, I like that.

- I just wish it was swinging. - I do.

I like the relief work here.

That kind of works quite well with the glaze.

It would have been really nice to have more detail on here.

- The zircon white glaze... - It didn't work.

...really hasn't worked, has it?

It's sort of taken away that detail from each bird.

Let's see if it hangs on the wall.

One thing that comes to mind seeing it on the wall,

I wonder whether if the branches

were perhaps more three-dimensional,

maybe they'd soften the sort of hard edges of the joined slabs.

But, you know, that's down to personal taste, perhaps.

I love the origami.

Bit tighter on the execution would have been nice,

just a bit more of a clean line.

Origami is all about the kind of beautiful, precise folded paper,

and I think if you're sort of going to emulate something,

it's about observing those qualities

and then kind of transitioning those into what you're making.

You can see you've had a few issues

with your slab construction.

You've had a bit of slumping on this front end here.

And around these edges, you can kind of see

there's a few cracks sort of opened up.

And I'm a bit wary of these lugs,

whether it's gonna fit on the wall or not.

Don't think this is gonna happen. Uh, let's have a look.

I think the holes are a bit small for those screws.

I don't think it's gonna fit.

So, yeah, some lovely elements there,

but it doesn't hang on the wall,

so we can't see that pendulum swinging,

so not quite fit for purpose.

You've got quite a lot going on.

You've got these fingerprints running through here,

and then kind of gouges here,

and then you've got embossed areas down at the bottom,

and then you've put this very, very opaque glaze over the top.

It consequently makes everything feel perhaps a little flat.

What I really love is the little monkey.

Yeah, and all of the subtlety

that we would love to have seen through here,

you've actually got in the monkey, you know,

that lovely incising, with the underglaze coming through,

and then a slightly sort of thinner application

of that glaze over the top

so you don't lose that sense of depth.

So, Miles, does it hang on the wall?

- Let's see, shall we?

Oh, my God, it's like a millimeter off.

It's like... It's just on the edge.

- Would you let go of it? - No, I would not.

So it's not quite there, not quite there.

- No. - OK, all right. OK.

It's a bit disappointing.

I have to say, the quality of the build is fantastic.

I mean, I was really, really worried, really worried,

about the thickness of your slabs, 'cause they were so thin.

And actually all of your joins are together.

And the way you've kind of created this flowing fabric,

it's just genius.

- Thank you. - And this is fantastic.

And you've even managed to get the stitching on there.

It doesn't go unnoticed. Absolutely wonderful.

- But does it hang up? - I don't know.

It's up.

That knapsack just... just fits perfectly.

It's just absolutely brilliant. I'm really...

Honestly, I'm really proud of you for doing that.

It's fantastic.

You know... you've gone into it,

completely eyes wide open,

you've really enjoyed it, and you've done a wonderful thing,

and, you know, we're all smiling because of it.

Keith got a little bit, um... got a little bit welled up.

That's probably the biggest compliment

you can get on this show.

Thank you.

That was kind of cool.

Yeah, it didn't go great, did it? No.

It's a shame, but it would have been nice

to have seen it on the wall at least,

but it's clay, it's what happens.

I'm feeling a bit disappointed.

Um, it could be my week to go home,

which, you know, is sad,

but, you know... it'll be what it'll be.

Well, what a week. Pet bowls, chicken clocks.

I've seen it all now.

Who really stood out for you this week?

Well, I mean, for me, Tom did.

It was just such a fun piece,

just made me laugh, made me smile.

- It was very Tom, wasn't it? - It was.

I mean, it had such character.

Did anyone else really stand out to you?

I mean, Cellan, for me, really stood out.

The quality of his build was just exquisite.

And that relationship between the backpack pendulum

with the tent, absolutely brilliant.

We also had a couple of good turnarounds this week.

Yeah, AJ managed to sort of claw back the actual build itself,

but, my God, the surface detail on that wood

is absolutely brilliant.

Who do you think is in a little bit of trouble this week?

Well, sorry to say, Zahra.

Yeah, there were some fundamental issues

with the quality of the build, you know.

Te roof element started peeling up

because the slabs weren't joined properly,

parts of it had slumped,

and, of course, Zahra came fairly low down,

second from bottom, in the second challenge.

What about Miles? You weren't too sure about his design.

Yeah, I think he just left us a bit wanting.

The elephants' faces were very flat.

There wasn't an awful lot of detail that could be seen.

It just lacked that finesse that we're really looking for.

Hmm. Sounds like you've got some tricky decisions to make.

I'll leave you to it, 'cause time is ticking.

So the judges have made their decision,

and this is the bit I find so tricky,

because I get all the joy

of revealing who was the potter of the week

but then have to swallow the bitter pill

of announcing who will be leaving us.

But let's start with the good news.

This week's potter of the week is...

Cellan.

Congratulations, Cellan.

- Well done. - Thank you. Ta.

And now to the sadder farewell.

The person leaving the pottery this week is...

- Zahra. - That's OK.

- So sorry, Zahra. - Thank you. It's OK.

It's been amazing.

I learned, I think, more in this short space of time

than, like, in what, three years of pottering.

Honestly, you're such a great bunch.

It's just hard to split you up.

I've met some amazing people,

and just wishing everyone luck,

and, yeah, it's been... it's been great, so...

Thanks, mate.

Is it terrible to say that I feel really guilty?

You can hear it in my voice, can't you?

I just feel really shaky and a bit emotional.

Um, I do really feel like

I've been given a massive second chance,

and I'm really sad that Zahra's going, 'cause she's lovely.

I should have gone first. Then I wouldn't have had to see anyone go.

So as Zahra leaves the pottery,

Cellan's wall clock takes second spot

in the Throw Down gallery.

It just goes to show you don't have to bombard a piece

with loads and loads of different techniques

for it to really, really sing, and Cellan just...

It was a perfect example of how to do simple beautifully.

It hasn't quite sunk in yet.

The turnaround from last week has been quite dramatic.

I was really nervous, really anxious to come back,

but I've managed to turn it around somehow.

Yeah, maybe I need to start doing hand building more.

Next time...

the potters create an homage to their hometowns.

There's a lot of mills round my hometown of Preston.

Come on, Tenbury Wells.

With a clay that's somewhat less familiar.

I've never used it before. This clay is really weird.

And throw a tribute to our home in Stoke-on-Trent.

It's not perfect, but, you know...

- Whose rim is?

Concentrate!