Original subtitles

Home of our show. And we're in week three.

The judges do seeketh the master of clay,

but with ten potters left, there is a lot to play... for.

This week they must make an ode to their hometown,

so welcome to The Great Pottery Throw Down.

- Yay! - Bravo! Bravo!

Thank you. Chill out, Rose.

- Last time... - I have no idea what I'm doing.

...the potters constructed slab-built wall clocks.

Would you want that on your wall?

Yes.

And while Cellan proved

it was his time to shine...

It's fantastic.

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

- - ...AJ... - Ooh, Jesus.

...battled with a breakage.

But it was Zahra...

I'm not gonna swear.

...who failed to beat the clock...

It doesn't hang on the wall, so not quite fit for purpose.

...and was sent home.

This time, the potters create

a sculptured homage to their hometowns.

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

Come on, Tenbury Wells.

And throw a tribute

to our home in Stoke.

- It's not perfect, but... - Whose rim is?

- Concentrate!

Who will be home and dry?

Should have thought about that.

And who will be homeward bound?

- It's falling apart. - Evil, evil clay.

We're back at the potteries in Stoke-on-Trent,

but for today's challenge our potters will be focused

on places far more familiar.

It's an ode to hometown challenge. Interesting one.

Quietly looking forward to it.

I'm definitely winging it again. But it worked last time.

I just wanna do it again, because here is somewhere

where if you put in that work, it is noticed,

and it all feels worthwhile at the end.

Hello, potters.

For your main make challenge this week,

the judges would like you to hand-build and sculpt

an inanimate object, an ode to your hometown, if you will.

Your hometown can be where you were born, raised,

where you live now,

or maybe just the place you were the happiest.

So, for me, Chelmsford Megabowl, 1997.

Your inanimate object can be a landmark, an invention,

or maybe even some produce,

but it must represent your hometown.

Keith, what's your advice?

This inanimate object has to look realistic.

These sculptures are gonna be placed on a plinth.

They wanna look impressive.

They wanna look like statement pieces of your hometown.

This is a once-fired challenge using a clay that fires white.

Now, you won't be using any color.

You'll only have black underglaze

to enhance your sculptures.

Think about how you're gonna use that black underglaze

to really accentuate

the surfaces and the textures you put in.

If you get that contrast of black and white right,

it could be spectacular.

So you've got one firing, two colors,

three hours.

Your time starts now.

I have to be super organized.

Love it. In the zone.

To create their hometown homage,

the potters have been given porcelain paper clay,

which contains paper, pulp, and paper fibers.

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

It's not like ordinary clay at all.

As the clay dries, the paper dries within it,

helping to hold its form and prevent cracking.

Mine's so wet.

But while in its raw stage,

the more you manipulate this clay,

the wetter it becomes.

When you start to move it around a lot,

it becomes a lot more liquid.

Better when it dries out.

It's a bit easier to work with.

So the potters have to decide

how best to prep their build.

Just gonna go for slabs first,

so they have time to dry out,

and then go and make all the finer details.

And the clay itself.

I'm not wedging it at all,

'cause for me it went too soft after I'd wedged it,

so I want to keep it quite firm.

- You're a noisy bugger, Tom.

I am. I'm sorry. Can't help it.

Is it entirely necessary?

So we've asked our wonderful potters

to make an ode to their hometown.

So this porcelain paper clay is just fantastic

for what we've asked them to do.

Once it's fired, it's incredibly strong,

but you've got to get to that stage, haven't you?

If you overwork this clay,

you are on a slippery slope.

In my mind, things like formers make perfect sense

because, actually, you can very quickly

manipulate that clay into shape without touching it too much,

'cause the moment you start overworking it,

all of that moisture comes out and it becomes very short,

almost like a shortcrust biscuit.

Yeah, and it's gonna be really, really interesting

to see how our potters apply that black underglaze

to their given sculptures.

This is a once-fired challenge.

They are glazing these pieces

at the point at which the clay is still raw.

But once it's out of the kiln

and this clay has gone pure, brilliant white,

you're gonna see every single speck of that black underglaze.

You are. There really is nowhere to hide.

But, I mean, this piece over here, it's wonderful, isn't it?

And the way they've decorated with just that black color,

and it's incredibly dramatic.

All of these intricate lines,

all of these beautiful leaves

just use that underglaze to enhance those surfaces.

All of that texture, it's gone in in the build.

And that's what we're really looking for,

those observational skills

from their sketches to their sculptures.

It's gonna be interesting, isn't it, to see what they choose

and the reasons behind why they've chosen it.

Yeah, but this whole challenge is all about the clay

and how they use this particular clay.

- Hi, Nick. - Hey, guys. OK, how are we?

What are you planning for your design?

So, where I'm from, Barry,

there's a beautiful old harbor,

and these ships come in and sometimes they don't leave.

People like drawing and painting 'em, they're good for wildlife,

but they slowly start decaying and breaking down.

I kind of get the impression you like that kind of urban decay.

Yeah, we saw that in your robot, didn't we?

It hides a lot of sins, doesn't it?

Whoa. That was a good throw.

Nick and his family love spending time on Barry beach,

and in order to replicate the eye-catching boats

dotted around the harbor,

he'll be using a former

for the shape of the hull

and adding plenty of detail.

And has your boat got a name?

Uh, not as yet.

Maybe Ellie, you know.

- An old, rotting boat. - That's right.

Thank you. I'd be honored.

While Nick focuses on modern decay,

Anna's goes back thousands of years.

Down Boa Island, which is where I'm from,

there is a little graveyard called Caldragh Cemetery,

and "Caldragh" means "pagan" in Gaelic.

And on it are two stone carvings

which have been there for over 2,000 years,

and it kind of looks like

they're keeping the secrets of the grave.

It's an incredible place.

Tea and cake.

Growing up on an isolated farm in Fermanagh,

to create the objects she feels best represent home,

Anna will be using a combination of coiling

and a suitably ancient pottery method of pinching.

I'm just using some wrapped-up paper.

I started with this, and I found it was a bit too big,

whereas I can pull these out a wee bit easier.

Or can I? That's... Well, let's see.

Oh, what you doing, Jenny?

While the majority of potters are using formers

to support their sculptures...

I'm coiling it. I'm coiling the whole sphere.

...Miles has chosen a different route.

I'm making a very large apple,

which is the, um, ode to my hometown of Tenbury Wells,

which is really famous for its beautiful apple orchards.

There's the mistletoe that grows in the apple tree,

so the two go together.

Is this for lunch?

Miles and husband Frank have been living

in Tenbury Wells for 20 years.

His homage is centered around their summer apple festivals

and winter mistletoe markets,

and he's planning on coiling his huge hollow apple

with no former for support.

It's not the easiest clay.

It's not the easiest one to work with.

But I know it's good once it's up.

It's about learning a different kind of language.

Quite fiddly at the moment, putting all this on.

As the clay contains paper,

any water added is sucked into the clay quickly,

so the temptation is to add more moisture.

And then when you put too much slip on,

it's the whole wet thing coming back again to haunt you.

Whereas adding too much can result

in the paper fibers becoming soggy,

causing the clay to collapse.

I think the point of this demon clay

is to just really take us out of our comfort zone

and give us the ultimate challenge,

which is exactly what it's doing.

But this clay appears to have found a friend...

It's actually quite nice. Quite like it.

...in Tom.

It just feels like,

I don't know, white stoneware.

What I do know is I'm making a postbox.

Keen festival-goer Tom...

...is recreating one of the two Victorian Penfold postboxes

he walks past on his way to work in Bath.

You know, Rich here likes a stamp or two, collects stamps.

- Yeah, I'm a big fan. - Oh, brilliant.

First penny black ever was sent from Bath.

- Really? - 1840.

The postmaster in Bath sent it

two days before anyone else in the country.

- Wow. - How exciting is that?

- Yeah, yeah. - I might have to get a letter.

Bring out one of my stamps.

I'm gonna make some letters too.

- Are you? - Well, they wouldn't be...

You're really excited Rich now.

- Nobody posts letters anymore. - No, they don't.

- Just not to you. - No. Maybe that's what it is.

There are still letters being posted.

I just don't receive any anymore.

So if anyone's watching, letters to Rich, please.

Yes, please. Yes, please.

From letters that mean a lot to Rich...

From Sydney and Dora Walker.

...to letters engraved in her hometown

that mean the world to Lucinda.

In our village, my great-grandparents

put a water pump in the middle of the village.

Oh, OK, OK.

And it's got this inscription on it.

It was because of their love

of the people in the village and community...

They thought they'd give something back.

...they gave something back.

What an incredible historical tie.

Oh, this is cool.

Lucinda's tribute to her rich family history in Picklescott

will feature three separate the water pump itself,

plus the surrounding wooden bench and old stone wall,

each with very different textures.

I wanna do them proud.

This was my grandmother's rolling pin,

so it's all part of the story.

Ah, so it's been lovely.

Potters, you're halfway through.

Jenny looks delighted by that.

I don't feel halfway yet.

And it does not look like an apple.

I'm extruding some mini coils,

because the Victorians loved putting piping on things.

As the potters are adding their details...

It's like silly string.

...they need to consider the best way

of decorating their sculptures once out of the drying room.

Packing in the wood texture, crevices and corners,

and bits that the black glaze can get into,

then rub it away again, it should just bring it all out.

I was fiddling about with wire last night in the hotel.

And AJ has come up with a time-saving method.

Brickwork just takes so long to draw, so I'm doing stamps,

and then I'm gonna fill them in later.

I'm doing the Brig o' Balgownie.

It was built in 1320. It's the oldest bridge in Scotland.

Hailing from Aberdeen, AJ loves taking walks with partner Kelda

across the historic Brig o' Balgownie,

which will also feature trees and the old lamp post

to capture the full essence of this majestic bridge.

Just sort of focusing on the main piece at the moment,

and then secure that after.

While AJ will assemble most of their bridge

out of the drying room,

Josh has decided to not join

any pieces at all until the decorating stage.

I'm making a cart, just from my hometown in Portugal.

The bits of wood at the front

which used to hold the horses in line,

that's gonna be tricky, 'cause it's gonna be up in the air,

so the cart is gonna be balancing on its back.

Quite a lot of it's gonna be standing up on the wheel.

Josh's family is from Alentejo in Portugal,

and to replicate the old horse trailers

dotted around the village,

Josh will need to use skills

he imparts on his students

in design technology class.

So there's a lot of engineering going on there.

There's going to be a coil on each side,

and that will go inside the hole on the wheel,

and it should just slip inside.

- What should it do, Josh? - Just slip inside.

Is that a technical term? Is that something you use in DT?

Definitely not, no. Definitely not.

Just make sure I put it on the right way and stuff like that.

Precision work.

And Josh isn't the only potter on the wagon.

Cardiff seems like the right place.

It's where I've spent most of my life.

So to me it is my hometown.

And the coal wagon just seemed like an interesting thing to do.

Really lovely to see you, bro.

A train line that runs past the family home

where Cellan lived with his three brothers

used to carry coal from the valleys

to the docks of Cardiff.

But unlike Josh, Cellan is planning to have

most of his wagon assembled before the drying room.

I'm gonna have this all bish, bash, bosh,

'cause in the second half, my main thing,

I really just wanna attach the wheels and paint it up.

And from the reigning potter of the week...

If you're at the top, you can only go down.

Ah. Classic.

A potter that really wants

to raise her game after last week...

I'm absolutely going for it. I've got to redeem myself.

...is Christine.

It's dedicated to the sewing industry.

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

Prestonians are fantastic people.

Yeah!

Inspired by Preston's history

as an important mill town,

Christine is using dishes and cardboard tubes as formers

to create a bobbin, spool, thimble, tape measure,

and swatch of cotton fabric.

This is the fabric, and hopefully this is gonna

pull everything together so I've got a contrast

between the hard lines of the other pieces,

especially the spool,

and then this flowing feeling of the cotton.

Another potter inspired by their hometown

trading history is Jenny.

I was born in South Yorkshire, home of Sheffield Steel.

I now live in North Lincolnshire,

home of Scunthorpe Steel,

so it was an obvious choice, really.

Jenny also went to university in Sheffield,

and her sculpture is a tribute to her region's proud history

as the center of British steelmaking,

like pottery, another magical process

where one substance is transformed into another.

So this piece of pouring steel,

it's intended to be a support for the tilting ladle.

But this clay, if you play with it too much,

it goes much more sort of slumpy,

so it'll sort of, you know, just collapse on itself.

It's definitely collapsing in on itself.

It's falling apart.

With no support for his apple...

It's not working. I can't show that.

...Miles has decided he's bitten off

more than he can chew.

I'm very stressed,

because I don't have enough time

to be starting again, really,

but it's better to try and make something

which looks like my drawing,

rather than something which looks like

something from The Muppet Show.

Guess how long you've got left.

- I reckon half hour. - 30 minutes, guys.

- You've got 30 minutes left. - You're joking, please.

For that, you win an extra ten minutes.

- Brilliant. Cashback. - Absolutely don't. You don't.

I need to get a shift on.

This is the biggest piece. This is the main piece.

If he doesn't work, then none of it works.

Not much time left.

Try and get together what I can, what's firm enough,

give myself a bit of a head start when I come to decorate.

I'm just trying to make this look

a bit more like sand at the moment.

I'm trying to think how the water would have washed away

and created all the little channels.

You can't have a Victorian postbox without a spike on top.

That's my coal.

Is that actual coal that you're using?

- Um, yeah, that is actual coal. - Where'd you get that from?

- I ran outside and nicked it. - Yeah, there's loads of it!

I'm just trying to put together the more tricky bits

before I run out of time.

Are you not putting your bits together, then?

No, not yet.

You're the only one who hasn't constructed.

- Is that OK? - Yeah.

These are not leading questions. I don't have a flipping clue.

This clay, I sort of went

from loving it to hating it pretty quickly.

I think I'm just beginning to understand it

now I'm coming to the end of it.

It's starting to look like an apple.

Ooh, nightmare. Think about all that time I wasted.

That's five minutes now, five minutes,

so we do need to start getting some things in the drying room,

'cause, remember, there will be a queue, because we're British.

It's just about adding as much finer detail as I can.

Thought I'd be all right for time, but I am flapping.

- Your tree's amazing. - Oh, thank you.

I might make a little bush as well.

- Why not? - I got it. I can do it.

This clay is, like, "I do not wanna be a cat."

It's gotta be a cat quite quickly as well.

Can't believe you're doing a cat.

- I'm an idiot. - Get in there.

Ker-ching. I've got an apple.

I'm not sure I'm quite back on track, but I am completing.

- Going in, Josh. - Yeah.

Off we go.

Yes. Anna's going in.

No pressure, but loads of pressure.

Oh, I've got the fear about that. The fear's ensuing.

OK, that's ten seconds.

- Ten... - OK.

- ...nine, eight... - OK.

Seven! Tom, you're about the only one who hasn't gone in.

- Six, five... - All right, I'm going in now.

- ...four, three, two... - There's a lot of you in here.

...one.

Nicely done.

Well done, guys. Well done.

- Evil, evil clay.

That was really difficult. Very challenging.

The hardest thing we've done so far.

Nothing seemed to go wrong yet, but the next bit,

'cause my design is so challenging in shape,

has a lot of pressure.

It took me an hour and a half

to build that first apple.

Second apple, about 25 minutes.

So I reckon, at that rate,

I could have made a whole basket of them.

As the potters await

their sculptures drying for decoration,

they face their second challenge.

- It's like the dentist. - It's worse than that.

And as usual, they have no idea what to expect.

Here we go.

Potters, as well as celebrating

your hometowns this week,

we're also paying tribute to ours,

Gladstone Pottery Museum here in Stoke.

Your second challenge this week is yet another throw down,

and you're going to be making,

in honor of Gladstone, bottle kilns.

Rich, would you like to demonstrate?

Ooh.

We're increasing the amount of clay

that you've got this week.

We've got six kilos of clay here.

Get it into the center.

You're gonna take that lump, pop it in the middle.

- Oh, it's huge. - It's massive.

Get it as central as possible before you start.

Lots of water on your hands, lots of water on the clay.

Lots of people say "I can't make big pots with big lumps of clay

'cause I'm small and I can't push it around."

I lock my left arm into my body more, which supports it.

When you're pushing that clay upwards and inwards,

I'm then just leaning my body weight onto the clay.

You're using the heel of your hand more,

rather than perhaps fingertips.

So once you've got that centered,

you're then gonna go in with your fingers,

straight down in the middle, to make your base.

OK.

So this width that I've started with,

I've set, and that's the width I want to end up with.

First push up is literally just about

starting to move that clay upwards.

Never let that clay move outwards,

because the moment you do, you're never gonna get it back.

And then I'm gonna literally collar this in.

All the way from the bottom,

right the way up to the top.

Having a good look there, Ellie?

It looks... It's just magic.

Look at Ellie's face.

At the rim, you only want to leave

enough space to get your hand in.

First lift, force your hand in, pick up a bit of clay.

Lift that from the base

all the way up to the top.

Second lift, pull all that clay up from the bottom.

- Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. - Oh, my God.

All the way up to the top.

Try and breathe as well when you do that.

So use your wooden template,

and just start to put a bit of shape in.

You're just gonna do this sort of action.

Collar that clay right in,

'cause you're now gonna form the neck.

We're surrounded by bottle kilns,

so you all know what they look like, hopefully.

Oh, God, that's big.

I'm looking for a good, strong rim,

so you know you need to keep a bit of meat up there

so you can form a nice strong top to your bottle.

Lift that off, and that, for all intents and purposes,

is your bottle kiln.

- And here's the blindfold.

So now you've seen how one's made, how are you all feeling?

- Sick. - Excellent!

Right, my friends, you can head back to your wheels.

You have 15 minutes for this challenge.

- I knew it.

I don't make the rules. Your time starts now.

- Hang on, so 15 minutes? - Yeah, get going.

- Don't panic. - Oh, my goodness me.

These are enormous.

I can't even lift it up.

I'm gonna be groaning a lot, 'cause it's such hard work.

It's so big.

Think of it like yoga.

- Yoga? - Yeah. Yeah, no, you know...

- Oh, in your zen place. - Centering, centering yourself.

Centering is so important, but I'm not in the center yet.

You're taking it slowly, taking your time?

Yeah, I think if I rush it,

it's just gonna go horribly, horribly wrong.

- Lean into the clay. - I'm leaning.

I think it's kind of working.

Christine, you know the wheel's going round the wrong way?

- Yeah. - Turn it round.

No, I'm a left-hander.

I always use it this way.

Do whatever's comfortable for you.

I'll try the other way.

Guys, we've got ten minutes left. Five minutes already gone.

I can't do it now.

Can you hear how much I'm out of breath?

Lean that left arm in, Miles.

Lock that left arm into the body.

My bat is not in the center,

which makes it a bit complicated,

but I'm gonna have to ignore that now,

because I just need to get some height on this baby.

Well done, Nick. That looks pretty good.

- Would you buy it? - I wouldn't buy it, no.

I had it just about centered and thought I'll just perfect it,

and then I knocked it off center,

and so now it's really not good at all.

How you feeling, Christine?

Not great, 'cause I'm trying to throw

a different way than I usually do,

so I'm throwing opposite.

Why did you switch it up?

I'm gonna go back to mine.

Nice work, AJ. Good lift.

A better height than I thought I'd get.

That's come on a treat. That looks like a bottle kiln.

It's a big base. I'd be well chuffed if that was me.

I'll just pull it up a little bit more.

- Lucinda's doing all right. - Got a good bit of height.

You have five minutes left, guys.

Ooh, ooh, ooh. Hold on.

- I'm all right. - Get that neck in, Josh.

Just gotta start collaring that top in.

Cellan really needs to start getting some form in.

I've gone quite wide at the base.

I've just gotta keep confident in my ability, that's all.

I'm trying to tidy my bottom because it was a bit big.

Concentrate!

Does it help when you're doing delicate work

when an angry man shouts out?

Yeah, yeah, it does.

Nice one, Nick.

I wouldn't mind a bit more height on that neck.

I'm trying to collar in the neck slowly but surely.

- AJ's is looking very nice. - Looks great.

Lucinda's. She's got a decent shape going on.

- Yeah, she has. - I'm happy with the rim.

- Yeah? - Yeah.

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

- Whose rim is? - Get that neck in, Josh.

Think about that shape, Josh.

Didn't quite get the height that I wanted.

- Get your dobber in. - Yeah, it's dobbed.

Make sure there's no water inside

and you've got a clean bottom, please.

- Take the water out. - That's me trying to be urgent.

Might be able to just shape now.

- You've got one minute to go. - I think it's too late.

Finish up your final pieces, and remember you need to be able

to pull your bat off and put it on your bench.

- Ooh. - Hey.

That is a flipping masterpiece!

I don't know how it happened.

Come on, guys, come on.

We've got gin and tonics after.

Yes, please, I'll have five.

I thought that was just us.

- It is. - I don't know how I did that.

I couldn't have done any better.

Time to take it off now, guys.

Don't ruin it at the last minute.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six,

five, four, three, two, one.

Well done, guys.

Should have thought about that.

Didn't think I was gonna get the bat off in the end.

Well done, everybody.

If you'd like to bring up your bottle kilns for judging.

Oh, that's fantastic.

Keith and Rich are looking for a well-proportioned bottle kiln

with a nice fluid form, narrow neck, and a good, sturdy rim.

Lucinda, I can see you've got a beautifully fluid curve

to the main body of your bottle,

and actually you've managed to collar that neck in.

And you've got a good upright vertical top to it.

Those proportions are fantastic, aren't they?

I mean, it's a really, really nice form.

Yeah, it's a great effort. Well done.

Cellan, perhaps if you'd have got

a bit more height pulling up that cylinder initially,

and got a slightly straighter side towards the base,

you maybe would have had a bit more fluidity to the curve.

You've managed to collar that clay right the way back in,

which is no mean feat.

Tom, it tucks in a little bit,

which makes it feel a bit more like a vase perhaps

than that sort of traditional bottle oven shape.

- Is it clean? - It is clean.

He's got a nice clean bottom inside.

- Good. Excellent. Well done. - That sounds dreadful.

- Thanks, Rich.

I'm sorry. Josh.

If I was a bottle kiln, it looks a bit like me.

Bit of a stumpy neck.

It's just a bit straight on the sides there.

It would have been really nice

to see that fluidity and that shape.

Moving on.

So, Jenny, yeah, it looks like

you've had a few issues with the forming of the shape.

Just sort of feels a bit bottom heavy.

AJ.

Well, I mean,

it's a beautifully fluid form,

got a great narrow neck,

very, very clean, pristine rim.

You've tidied the base.

- You've done a fantastic job. - Absolutely wonderful.

We've only gotta look out the window and see one of those.

- Anyway, moving on. - Moving on.

Looks like you've not made the most out of the clay.

You've got to the stage where you've narrowed the neck

but not quite had enough time to kind of give it that lift.

It's just getting your hands to manipulate that clay

to what you see in your head, isn't it?

- Yeah. - Anna.

The body of it is beautiful.

You know, it's quite voluptuous.

It just feels like the neck isn't quite there.

Just a bit more collaring in at the top,

slightly taller with that neck,

would have made the proportions feel right.

Really good effort. Really, really nice.

- Well done, Nick. - You've got a good strong rim.

I would say it just feels like

you've not quite made the most out of that six kilos.

because actually this form is quite nice and fluid.

A little bit more height and I think you would have been there.

- Last but not least... - Miles.

If I'm honest, you've probably got

the widest base of everybody,

and it looks like you've just struggled

to kind of get that clay back in.

It's really nicely finished off.

You've really thought about that.

It's just not quite the shape we were looking for.

- Can I have another go?

In your own time. In your own time.

The judges will now rank the bottle kilns

from worst to first.

In tenth place, we have... this one.

Miles, just a bit of a low, squat form

rather than that upright, strong bottle form with a narrow neck.

In ninth place, this one.

Christine. Could see where you were going with it.

You started to collar that in.

Just not quite made the most out of that six kilos of clay.

Jenny is eighth, Josh seventh, Tom is in sixth, Anna is fifth,

Nick is in fourth place, and Cellan is third.

In second place, we have this one.

Lucinda. Great effort.

Beautifully fluid form, nice, strong rim,

good straight-sided neck.

Really, really good going.

First place, AJ.

Fantastic use of the clay.

Great height. Good proportions. Beautifully pristine surface.

Really lovely bottle oven. Well done, AJ.

Second challenge can make or break a day,

so it's good to be even near the top, let alone top place.

It's really nice.

It was a stunning piece, my dear.

- Thank you. - Absolutely stunning.

I came ninth this week.

Slowly clawing my way up the ladder.

Slowly.

I feel judged. I want a recount.

The hometown homages are leather hard,

and it's time for the potters

to complete their transformation

- from 2 - D sketches - into 3 - D sculptures.

The decorating has to look like a drawing.

That's going to be challenging.

I'm quite good at decoration normally,

so maybe I can put lipstick on the pig.

The next two hours, I have to use every moment, definitely,

because I won't be able to build it otherwise.

It's gonna be stressful. I've just gotta try my best.

Potters, your hometown tributes are now leather hard

and ready for refining and decorating.

Really think about those refining tools you're gonna use.

Think about what effects and what surfaces

that you're going to cover,

because that will really affect

the next stage of the sculptures.

We're looking for really form-enhancing decoration,

so just don't rush it, concentrate, and take your time.

Take your time, as long as it's exactly two hours.

Potters, get decorating.

Focus, kids, focus.

- Sweet. - This is risky.

- Why did I do this? - So here's a little apple.

Everything's come out kind of as expected,

which is a miracle, basically.

Before the potters can begin decorating their sculptures...

I'm constructing the final parts of the water pump.

...they need to join their separate pieces

and complete any necessary refining.

My cat, he's not finished. He needs refining.

This sponge, AJ lent me the sponge,

is honestly one of the best things I've ever used,

so thank you, AJ, and it's just perfect for paper clay.

It'll be really good for removing

the black glaze later as well.

Busy in repair work here.

But before Anna can begin any of that,

she has a salvage job on her hands.

These came apart a wee bit.

It was when I was pulling out the former,

and he tore in a few places.

I'm in a world of pain.

Oh, no, what's going on?

It basically collapsed on me,

so now I'm trying to just get it

into a state where it can actually stand up.

So you're having to kind of reintroduce water.

Yes, which isn't a good thing.

No, not when you've got underglaze to go on.

And after his disaster in the first stage,

Miles is also concerned about too much moisture.

It's probably not best

that I start sloshing on

lots of black underglaze,

because that's just gonna make it wetter

and it might start to sag again,

so I'll have to just be

quite light with my brushwork.

I've gotta get things put together first,

and then I can start decorating.

Apparently this clay attaches quite well,

even at the drying stage, so... I'm hoping that's true.

Another potter who will be hoping that's true is Josh.

Everything the right consistency?

I think so. I just need to decorate it in the next hour.

And I'm planning to do that while it's still flat,

so I can actually get it on and just wipe it off properly.

- OK, yeah. - I'll join in the last hour.

- OK, that's your plan? - That's the plan.

This clay is a wonder.

You can join it fairly dry,

as long as you wet it sufficiently and finesse.

- Finesse. - And finesse. Finesse. Finesse.

- Do I need to say it again? - No, you don't. I've got it.

Never done anything like this before. It's a pure risk.

And with their thin slabs,

AJ looks to be taking on that very same risk.

The bridge is obviously the main piece of it,

and I want to get going with it,

but if I pick any of that up just now, it's just gonna crack.

I was gonna construct it and then paint it,

but I think what I'm gonna do is paint it flat,

so it has longer to dry, and then construct it.

The Marquess of Bute is the person

who developed most of Cardiff.

When I was doing my research, I saw images of coal wagons

with "Bute" written down the side of them.

So I'm just getting all these details done.

Then I'm gonna start taking it back with a wet sponge.

With just a black underglaze with which to decorate,

there is nowhere to hide with this challenge.

Because it's metal, it's industrial-looking,

I'm gonna let it stream down the edges.

You can sort of see it happening.

What I'm gonna do is let it dry out

before I get the majority off,

'cause otherwise you ruin the surface.

He says, like he knows what he's doing.

I have no idea what I'm doing.

When you take it away,

it reveals a little pattern.

But the potters have varying ideas

on how to make their sculptures look

as much like their sketches as possible.

You know, I think I'd rather not look round, if I'm honest.

There's a lot of people wiping back.

I'm literally trying to make my - drawing look like it's into 3 - D,

so all of the black that I'm painting

are the lines on my drawing.

That's my interpretation.

I'm gonna have just a little play with carving into it

until I kind of come up with something that I like.

I know a few people are doing, like, hard lines on it.

I can put hard lines on it,

so I think I will, just to cover myself,

in case that's what they're looking for as well.

I'm just putting the underglaze just on the very end,

and it's more sort of flicking it up and down.

And you get this flamey effect. It's weird.

I'm just gonna have to keep standing back

and just going, does that look like an apple?

These postboxes, they're very iconic within Bath.

The Victorians made the mundane things

really interesting to look at, which I think is great.

Gotta make sure I don't put it on too thick,

'cause then it's too much to wipe off.

This is based on your hometown in Portugal.

- Do you go there every year? - Try to.

Mum and Dad are actually out there now at the moment.

Mumsy. Mumsy loves being wound up. It's fun.

Mumsy, I guarantee, doesn't like the fact you call her Mumsy.

That's why it winds her up. That's why I do it.

You're so annoying. Have you got brothers and sisters?

A little brother. He's a good banter warrior.

- A good banter warrior. - I'm just joking.

- No, he's a good lad. - OK, please retract.

I'm glad you said that ironically. I wasn't sure.

- It was ironically, trust me. - Oh! Thanks, Josh.

- Bye, banter warrior.

One hour gone. You've got one hour left.

- Tom is laughing.

Laugh all you like, mate. Still true.

One hour left. Help.

Ah, well, I'm gonna leave him for another little while.

He's still quite fragile.

I'll get this quarter done here, and then I'll just go for it.

I'm just putting these pieces in to create sort of the axel,

and then that will go through there,

to stick the wheels onto the cart.

I mean, wood is very different to clay,

but I'm trying to see if it can act like it.

I am just putting the structure in.

Hopefully that will support it when it stands up,

but I just need to get it done

'cause I've only got an hour left,

and I haven't built my bridge yet.

I've gotta stick this on.

Josh and AJ aren't the only potters

with joining still to do.

I'm currently working on my wheels.

I need to get my springs done. I need to get the buffers put on.

I basically have got a lot to do,

essentially, is what I'm saying.

I've had a bit of a mishap.

I turned my bench over and it's all come apart,

and I'm hoping I'll be able to put it back together,

but it's actually very difficult to put it back together

when it's completely dry.

The potters must ensure

their joins are solid at this stage...

Pressure's on, lads. Pressure is on.

...as in the kiln, the paper fibers

which form the inner support are fired off,

so only the porcelain clay remains.

It's gonna be tricky, but we'll see.

Might potentially have bitten off more than I can chew.

It's probably a slightly rushed version of it.

You think 2,000 years ago, somebody carved this out.

And it still remains. It's almost mystical.

- This clay's so weird. - You OK, AJ?

It's still a little bendy because it's slightly wet,

which means that it absorbs the slip slower,

so it's harder to stick.

I'm getting the vibe that everyone's

really enjoyed working with this clay.

You know what? I'm actually gonna work with it again.

The more I work with it, the more I like it.

Does anyone else fancy working with this clay again?

- No. - No.

No, it's rancid. Never again.

- It's rancid. There you go. - It's good for certain things.

That is 15 minutes. 15 minutes, guys.

- Banter or true? - Absolute true.

15 minutes for all of you banter warriors.

That's our collective name now.

Really should have stuck this together earlier.

All I've got left to do is stick the front on,

tilt it up in the air, whack the wheels on,

and whack these two logs on, job done.

Bish, bash, bosh, my name's Josh.

Still got to scrape off from the cloth

and create some very white patches, and then crosshatch.

It's broke.

Maybe I should just walk away. I don't know.

I feel like I should keep going.

I'd say this has been left in the harbor for like... 15 years,

and if I kept hacking away at it,

I could make it look like 50 years.

I'm having too much fun.

I used this sort of circle

on the end of this pen lid

to create the rivets,

so that it's quicker and a bit more accurate

than drawing them myself.

Actually looks really good, Jenny.

Thank you. Yours looks great.

Everyone's is just epic.

Walking over it at home,

I just thought it was really pretty.

I never really appreciated

the historical significance of it.

It was a main highway

up into the Highlands and stuff for a long time,

coming through Aberdeen,

so it's been really nice to sort of find a little bit out

about my hometown during this brief.

Change of plan. It's tilting up anyway.

So instead of actually putting them on there,

which would just be too weak with this clay,

I'm just gonna attach the wheels directly onto the side,

which will hopefully make for a better join as well.

Stop tilting, you savage.

Now, I do worry

that as soon as Rose picks it up for the kiln,

it's gonna fall apart in her hands.

Five minutes. That's five minutes now.

Just to let you know, Nick has put his in the drying room.

I'm really happy with the lamppost.

If nothing else, the lamppost'll look nice.

- Another break. - Anna's going in.

Oh, Jesus. If Anna's stays alive, Anna's going in.

Over there.

- Nearly ready. - Nearly ready?

I'd prefer a kidney that's not serrated at the edge.

- Oh, just a plain one? - Yeah.

I can't offer you a plain kidney.

- You sure? - Sorry.

That is stunning, Miles.

Both of these are meant to be on the same side,

but I was in such a rush that I didn't do it right,

so they're on either side.

We can pass that off as just the design, I think.

- No one needs to know. - Right.

Happy for it to be fired upside down?

We'll fire it the way you put it in now.

- Huge sense of relief. - Just done.

- Done. - Done.

It's not your responsibility anymore.

- No, it's Rose's. - It's Rose's.

All right.

Right, take it in.

That was so hard.

- That was so tricky. - Ah...

Tom, you need to get a move on, mister.

It's coming, it's coming, yeah.

AJ's going in.

- Ah... - Ah... Sorry.

I'm just gonna sing to alert you of my presence.

Bloody hell. Oh!

Yes.

And that is time, everyone.

Well done.

The potters' tributes to their hometowns

will now dry for 48 hours

before Rose transports them to the kiln

for their one and only firing.

I'm quite worried about several potters

who have put their pieces on bases,

like Anna, and Jenny, and Nick.

Those bases seem like a really good idea,

but actually they're very fragile.

With one piece already falling down on Josh's crate,

it has me worried whether there'll be anything left.

All the weight is leaning

on these tiny little legs at the front,

so if they give out, the whole thing could collapse.

If it survives... mega, mega.

But it might not. But it might not. Probably won't.

That was dreadful.

Never, ever, ever going near paper clay again. Ever.

- I could be going home.

I fought hard to pull it back, but did I fight hard enough?

It's time for judging, and for the potters to discover

whether their sculptures have survived

the toast of their hometown.

It's judgment day again,

and I'm not holding out any hope

until I've seen my piece.

Lots of worries going through my head.

Is it still gonna be in one piece?

What's the decoration gonna look like?

A lot of the potters are worried today.

It's not been like this before, but no one's really sure

what they're gonna get out of that kiln.

Hello, potters.

Wow. Miles, you have an apple.

My wheels fell off. It's standing up, though.

Oh, my God, it's in one piece.

Oh, Rose, I could kiss you. Honestly.

I think you've all done your hometowns proud.

Ten hometown homages ready for judging.

Potters, your hometown sculptures

all look so brilliant.

Miles, would you like to bring up your sculpture, please?

Yes, I would.

I'm so, so glad that you scrapped the first attempt.

How you initially started using it

really wasn't how you should use paper porcelain.

And I think the scale of this piece works quite nicely.

I mean, I'd say there's no darker areas or lighter areas.

It feels like there's sort of

quite a lot of blending going on.

Yeah, and I probably would have wanted to see

a bit more definition on the leaves.

It would have made the apple more of a sort of centerpiece.

But, you know, I have to hand it to you,

sticking mistletoe into an apple,

it actually works as a sculptural piece.

- Who knew, eh? - Who knew?

I thought it was gonna be a disaster.

So did we.

My initial thoughts are the application of this material

is just brilliant.

And I think it's just a genius idea

to have that fabric at the center

that kind of draws all of the pieces together.

Even the design on the material is nice.

You've got a bit of warping on the top of this, but...

- I like that. - It kind of adds character.

Overall, I think the composition,

the way you've approached putting color on is great.

- Well done, Christine. - Thank you.

I'm really impressed, and I'm really... I'm...

I'm, you know... genuinely proud of you for coming through

and giving us something really worth looking at.

Great.

I've called it the Million Pound City.

The first million-pound check was signed

in the Cardiff coal exchange

because of the coal industry

based in Cardiff.

Well, look, as a structure,

as a concept for a plinth, hits the nail on the head.

I really like the texture of the wood,

the shading of the wood, the grading of the wood.

The construction looks almost faultless.

There's no stress cracks I can see.

Those super thin slabs and just the way they've moved,

it feels somehow like a knackered old wagon,

and the stance that it's got,

I don't know whether that's intended or whether it's warped,

but it just gives it real presence,

and actually it speaks of what it's about.

- Well done, Cellan. - Thank you very much.

The bench itself is beautifully observed.

I love the kind of linework between the planking,

and, actually, on your water pump, all of this text,

all of these kind of lines and the panels

and the way you've highlighted the edges, they're beautiful.

I just wonder whether perhaps we need this

as part of the composition?

Yeah, if you take that away,

for me, that's slightly stronger.

And, actually, the wall for me looks slightly unfinished.

I didn't expect you to look at the back.

Well, it's on a plinth, so we're gonna look

all the way round, you see.

But the observational detail that you've got on that bench

and on the water pump is brilliant.

The only other thing is that

they could have all been a bit bigger,

apart from the bloody wall.

I love the way you've used the black underglaze here,

and it does look like the cast-iron structure

that you get with a Penfold pillar box.

It would have been nice to see a little bit more definition

on the post office wording there.

But this is really sublime, really, really lovely.

And I'm loving these little two letters.

It's hollow in the bottom, so you can post them

and get them out again.

The construction is really sound.

It's really, really good.

Because there's a lot going on there.

I'm very impressed with kind of

the level of detail that you've built in

and how cleanly you've built it and applied that underglaze.

And I do like the cat.

It's a very, very clean build.

The way you've applied the decoration

is very, very precise.

I really like the rivets and the way you've kind of

put the underglaze on and then pushed in,

and it has that sort of sense

that it's all been bolted together.

The only slight drawback for me

is getting that fluidity of the steel.

I mean, the steel would have probably

sort of dropped more off the ladle.

It all looks a bit like a piece of material rather than steel.

One thing you've certainly got in bucketloads is atmosphere.

It's a real story of how you can bring a build back

with really effective decoration and really good understanding

of how that underglaze is gonna work on a surface.

Yeah, that swirling pattern that you've managed to get

with that ground, and the grass,

and these rocks coming out of the earth,

it's just really, really nice.

- You're as surprised as I am. - Totally.

I thought it was gonna be a load of tosh. But it isn't.

You've really pulled it together

with that decorating skill of yours.

We just need to see a bit more technical know-how

on the build and the clay itself.

Yeah.

I think there's something quite profound

about a bridge to nowhere.

It's so well observed.

The surface that you've got on the top here

has worked very well with the way you've stamped that out.

And I like the fact that, actually,

the underside, you've considered as well.

That's really, really nice.

That's beautiful, and so well put together.

Lovely thin slabs. You've thought about the finish.

It's a great construction. Really cool concept.

I don't know whether you need these.

I mean, you've got detail on the surface,

but you haven't really enhanced that with the black underglaze.

This, though...

it's... it's sublime.

It's absolutely brilliant.

You've got so much character and detail

in that lantern on the bridge,

and the way that you've accentuated the corners

and the edges with that underglaze really, really works.

That's amazing, that bit there.

That bit, not so much.

I mean, it's certainly seen some action, this one, hasn't it?

Crikey. Yeah, um...

I'm not sure it'll be getting pulled anywhere anytime soon.

No, not anymore.

We can see you've really tried

to get that wood effect in there,

but there's a few stress cracks.

This, for me, is a better wheel than that one.

And the fact that I can pick 'em up separately

shows me that they've obviously fallen off.

It would have been nice to see

a little bit more texture in there.

And dare I say that word "finesse"?

Yeah, I know.

But you decorated when they were all separate pieces.

And the problem with that is you then are fairly limited

as to how much kind of cleaning up of the joins you can do

because you've already got the underglaze on there,

so you're gonna be picking that underglaze up all the time.

In here, you can see

where you've wiped back the slip in the join

because it's covered over the underglaze,

whereas if you'd have done that the other way around,

it wouldn't have been an issue.

I think I underestimated the clay.

It's much trickier to work with than I thought.

Yeah.

Obviously, on first observation, it's incredibly detailed.

There's a lot going on there, even down to the sand.

I mean, I'm loving all these old tires

sort of stuck in the sand,

exactly how they were in your drawing.

It's beautiful. It almost looks like an etching.

I think you sort of understood

some of the qualities of the paper clay,

and you've really used that underglaze

to kind of enhance those, which is great.

I also like the fact that,

as a composition, when you walk around it,

there's something to see from every side.

Probably something different you would notice

every time you looked at it, and I love that.

The only thing that I have an issue with

is it's a bit on the small side.

Yeah, it shrunk a lot more than I thought it would.

But aside from that, all credit to you

for a really quality build.

Really, really competent execution.

- Thank you. - Great, Nick.

Yeah, nice work, Nick.

They said they liked it.

There was other pieces that had maybe more of an impact.

The wheels have fallen off. I totally agree with the judges.

If pieces fall off and pieces break,

that's my fault with the build.

I still think there's a high chance

I might be going home,

but I'm not ashamed

to be going home to Tenbury Wells.

Well, what a week.

We had a few pieces

that I think really stand out, but what about you?

Well, for me, one of the top potters has to be Nick.

That boat was just amazing.

The attention to detail of all those surface areas.

Yeah, you could have looked at it for hours

and still seen something different.

But I think Tom did very well this week.

The quality of his build was fantastic.

He got real definition with that black underglaze.

And also, for me, Cellan's up there as well.

The finesse of the slabs, and the joins were tight.

The subtlety of the surface. It had loads going for it.

And what about AJ? Now, their bottle kiln was amazing.

Spot on. And so was the lamppost on the bridge.

Oh, the lamppost.

Ah!

I loved it. I just thought it was fantastic.

Now, AJ did do very well in the second challenge.

Miles came last. What did you make of his apple?

- He pulled it back, really. - He did.

I mean, he had a major, major disaster.

He completely misinterpreted how to use the clay.

I think it was just lacking light and shade.

It was all a bit grey tones,

which kind of represented his drawing,

but it just didn't have the visual impact

that we were looking for.

And then there's Josh. The wheels literally fell off.

Yeah, and it was just all a bit slapdash.

We've been looking for finesse

and quality of finish in his builds,

and he just hasn't really delivered.

There was some nice qualities, actually, in the wood,

but you could just see where

all of the slip from the construction

oozed out over the black underglaze,

and it just made it look untidy.

Tricky decisions to be made.

- Yeah. - Yeah.

- Do you need any help from me? - No.

OK. As I thought.

The judges have made their decisions.

Shall we start with the nice bit?

This week's potter of the week

created a sculpture with mind-blowing detail.

The potter of the week is...

Nick. Congratulations, Nick.

- Well done, mate. - Can't believe that.

And now the yucky bit.

The person who'll be leaving the pottery this week is...

Josh.

- Sorry, Josh. - It's OK.

It's fine. It's all right.

This has been savagely rogue, entertaining,

but it is rancid that I'm leaving.

We're gonna miss your banter.

We're gonna miss you, we really are.

Thank you, thank you.

I'm feeling OK. I knew it was gonna happen.

Obviously I'm disappointed to leave,

but the judges made the right decision.

They definitely did.

I'm really proud of myself for even getting here.

Beast, well done. You deserved that, honestly.

Well played, mate. Well done.

And I've learned so much from the other potters.

They're all so good. Like, they're all amazing.

- So what you drinking first? - Gonna have a load of shots.

Brilliant. Can't wait.

The banter wheels did fall off the wagon,

but, hey, I've had a great time, it's been awesome, awesome.

As Josh's wheels take to the road,

Nick's hometown homage drops anchor

in the Throw Down gallery.

Porcelain paper clay is a difficult material to work with,

but Nick managed to bring the best out in it.

He just got exquisite levels of detail,

and the way he used that underglaze

just really enhanced all of those surfaces.

It was that eye-catching, plinth-worthy piece

that Keith and I were looking for.

I'm buzzing. I can't believe it. I did not expect that at all.

I honestly thought AJ had it. But, yeah, got one.

I really thought I was going home,

but, God, yeah, now I'm so excited

about getting on to do the next challenge.

Coming in hot.

Next time...

- Yes! - ...the competition heats up.

It does sound like a jet engine.

- - For raku week. - My goodness, this is madness.

As the potters make Japanese tea sets.

Where's my lid? Oh, you swine.

And temperatures rise.

That's it, get into a nice rhythm.

In a second challenge that's hard...

Then it gets longer and longer.

...to pull off.

Oh, Florian.

That's the usual reaction.