Original subtitles

I'm here. I'm here!

And over the last nine weeks, they've wowed us

with some spectacular ceramics.

I just think they're brilliant. Absolutely wonderful.

Everything from garden gnomes...

That is inspired.

...animal table lights...

Wow. It's beautiful.

- ...to urinals. - It's quite funny.

It looks like it's nibbling on the pipe.

They've run the blindfold gauntlet...

- Oh, my God. - Goggles!

...and survived trial by raku fire.

Oh, my goodness, this is madness.

But each week, someone had to leave the pottery.

- Now for Anna... - Ooh, no.

- George's head is coming off. - ...AJ...

Oh, man. I'm gonna run out of clay.

- ...and Christine... - It's just taking so long.

There's just so much, isn't there?

...just two challenges remain

before one of them is crowned

Britain's best home potter.

Welcome to the final of The Great Pottery Throw Down!

This year's Throw Down final features three potters

whose unique styles have set them apart from the pack.

I massively respect the fact that you've chosen

to give the fairy brown skin.

I just never saw anything like her in any of the books,

and it was important.

I think that is inspirational.

From the very beginning,

the emotional intensity of Christine's work...

That is the most beautiful thing.

- It's gorgeous. - ...has blown everyone away.

It's incredibly powerful, it's incredibly brave,

and I think it's incredibly poignant.

Despite this, she has struggled with a lack of confidence.

No, I can't.

Until the quarterfinal saw her

win potter of the week for the first time.

Up to self-sculpture week, I was quite nervous,

didn't believe in myself, and when I got potter of the week,

that's when I suddenly started to think,

gosh, yeah, I am on a par with these people

and have as much chance as they have.

Oh, Jesus.

After a shaky start, youngest potter AJ

has gone from strength to strength.

Your builds are getting better and better and better.

Impressing the judges with their exceptional technical skill

and distinctive style.

Just got your character written all over it.

AJ has been crowned potter of the week

no less than three times.

Having done well previously,

it does put the pressure on.

But I still wanna deliver and impress the judges.

This whole experience has been life-changing.

To win it would be absolutely wild and incredible.

You look like the most pottery potter here.

You've got clay on your face, a paintbrush in your hair.

- I'm just messy.

Despite her sometimes chaotic approach...

Rejected.

...Anna has consistently delighted the judges

with her innate sculpting ability...

Wow. So you've hand-built these?

- Yeah. - Oh, my God.

...and personality-packed creations.

The detail in the figurative work that you've done, it's brilliant.

However, she has never won a second challenge,

or potter of the week.

I'm definitely the underdog.

Last night, I had all these doubts and thoughts,

what am I doing here with two amazing potters?

But if I look at my work from the beginning

to where I'm at now, I have came on leaps and bounds.

And now it's the final. I'm here. I can't believe it.

It's mad, isn't it? Ah!

Good luck, Anna. Good luck, Christine.

Aw, to you as well.

It's the final!

- There goes the other leg.

- Promise me you're done. - Yeah, I'm done, I'm done.

We are all very excited, though.

Congratulations, finalists.

Now, for your final main make challenge,

the judges would like you to make a garden totem sculpture.

Now, the inspiration for this piece is you.

Now, each part can be

a different shape, style, and color,

and as Siobhán says, the inspiration is you.

We want you to tell us your history

from bottom to top of your totem.

You can use whichever technique you want to to make them,

throwing, hand-building, sculpting,

but, remember, this is the final.

We're looking for really impressive structures for the garden.

Potters, you have eight and a half hours,

and your time starts now.

Oh. Good luck, guys.

Oh, my gosh. Final. Final make.

It's just such a shock to be here.

When I first applied for the Throw Down,

I didn't even think I'd get a response back,

let alone sitting here on the final making a totem pole.

This is the biggest challenge ever set on the Throw Down.

Right, where to start?

The potters have been given eight and a half hours

and 50 kilos of tea material clay.

This is gonna be fun.

Specially designed to be robust enough

to construct their giant totems.

It's very short, isn't it?

It's like shortcrust pastry, isn't it?

As soon as you move it, it breaks.

- Yeah. - I don't know where to start.

There's so much to do, and I'm totally, like...

Here we are at the final. We've set them the ultimate task.

A garden totem. Brilliant.

You've only gotta look around us

to see what incredible impact...

Sorry, I don't know what you mean.

...you know, totems can have,

and that's what we're looking for,

something with bold, brave impact

that tells us a story.

A totem is almost like

a three-dimensional scrapbook of your life.

Definitely. Each element needs to be part of that story.

But it's gonna be interesting to see

how they piece those separate sections together as they go up.

Each individual piece is almost like

an individual challenge in itself, isn't it?

It's hand-building, it's coiling,

it's slabbing, it's throwing.

It's really exciting.

I'm genuinely really excited about this.

I'm completely with you.

I just wanna see our potters

give us the best,

totems worthy of the final.

Yeah, bring it on.

Hello, Christine. How you doing?

I'm doing OK, thanks, yeah.

How does it feel to be in the final?

Quite a shock.

Just never expected to be at this stage.

You deserve to be here. You showed us...

I'll start crying.

But you showed us with your self-sculpture

what you can actually do,

and how you can express yourself with it,

and it was, well, potter of the week.

So, tell us, what's your design looking like, then?

When I started designing it, I was just thinking

about elements of my life,

and I then saw a theme

family, people, and then education.

Christine will showcase her love of teaching

with a slab-built stack of books

and leather school satchel,

complete with stitching, rivets, and strap.

She'll top her totem

with an abstract sculpted finial of her parents,

while the base will celebrate

the large family close to her heart.

That's gonna be coiled,

and then I'm gonna press faces through it,

and that represents all my family members.

- It's such a big build. - It's huge.

Obviously all these pieces are individual in themselves,

and it's getting all those pieces

to work together aesthetically when they're finished.

I've thought about them individually,

but I've yet to do the drawing

where I see them stacked up.

Yeah, sure, OK.

Key to the potters' totem is a strong foundation.

This is gonna be my base.

This is the big one.

A big base provides stability.

That's a whole lot of clay.

Helping to prevent their structure toppling

under the weight of their assembled items.

This is really important, because this is the base

that everything else sits on.

But the larger their form, the greater the chance

of the wet clay collapsing,

or their base cracking as it dries.

So it needs to be structurally well engineered.

While AJ takes to the wheel...

I thought now that I've discovered

I like throwing big things,

I've got to throw something big

for the final challenge.

Whoa, well done, AJ.

That's incredible.

...Anna and Christine have both chosen

to hand-build theirs.

I'm coiling the base.

I was looking for a former.

My sister checked her cupboards and gave me the wok.

A former will help support their base

until the clay is dry enough to take its own weight.

I'm using a bin lid. It's a very nice bin lid. It's friendly.

It's got a big open mouth and big googly eyes.

Kind of wanting to talk to my bin lid. Is that weird?

You've definitely lost it.

Celebrating her zest for life,

Anna's totem will sit upon a giant base,

signifying the strong foundations

provided by her parents.

She'll slab-build a backpack,

complete with map and water bottle,

a nod to her travels and love of adventure,

and show off her sculpting skills

with a brightly decorated duck, dedicated to partner Skip.

There's a lot of different elements,

some difficult shapes to build.

I mean, spheres are notoriously difficult.

I was hoping to throw this in two parts.

- So two bowls. - OK.

You've gotta think of the precision

of each bit fitting together.

Yeah, I mean, throughout this whole process, Anna...

the way you work with the clay is fantastic.

And that is the reason why you're here.

Are you surprised to be here?

I am. I'm very surprised to be here in the final.

And I'm doing it with two exceptional people.

- Oh, thank you.

No, Siobhán, no. The other potters.

- The other potters. - Oh, yeah, them.

- - Ugh. Whoa. - Can I help?

Oh, yeah, could you just watch over me?

Yes. Watching over, watching over.

The potters have finished building their bases.

Oh, well done.

- Thank you. - Well done.

That's how big it is, is, is...

For those using a former...

Right, I think I'll put this in the drying room now.

...the clay must firm up before it can be safely removed.

It's going to plan so far. The base is drying.

But for our finalists, there's no time to relax.

My next stage is rolling slabs so that I can make two items.

One's a satchel, and the other's a pile of books.

While Christine and Anna have planned a seven-piece totem,

AJ's ambitious build...

I'm just putting in some roots,

so it looks a bit like a tree trunk.

...will be made up of no less than nine.

I'm making eight pieces, and then my finial for the top.

Yeah, it's gonna be a long one today.

Sat upon a tree-trunk base will be a double-sided teddy,

celebrating AJ's close bond with younger sister Rosanna.

AJ's well-worn university boots will be immortalized in clay,

as well as a dice, signifying their love of board games.

Atop their totem will be a signpost,

a nod to the roads AJ has yet to travel.

I mean, there is a lot of work in here, AJ.

A lot of stuff to do, yeah.

You have been seriously ambitious.

I mean, have you got time to get all of this done?

- - Perhaps. - Well, look, good luck.

Yeah, I'm gonna need that luck.

Let's leave them alone so they can do it.

- - Absolutely. - Thanks. See you later.

Potters, that's two hours gone.

- - No. - Yes, I know.

- - The look of shock on Anna. - Right, need to speed up a bit.

I'm now trying to throw two bowls.

Basically, these two bowls come together as a globe.

A globe is one of the most challenging forms in ceramics.

- How are you? - Stressed.

- I'm throwing my globe. - OK. Anything I can do?

- You could throw this. - I really couldn't.

Not only must the potters throw two matching bowls,

but to produce a perfect sphere,

the dimensions of each form must be identical.

That's exactly where I want it now, so happy enough with that.

Just a few millimeters out

could mean the end of the world.

You just hope that everything you've considered works.

But they won't know for sure

until they attempt to join their bowls

after they finish drying.

These are the legs for my teddy piece.

The teddy has the most pieces out of anything

because it's gonna be double-sided.

One side of the teddy's gonna be a lion,

which was my childhood toy,

and the other side is a rabbit, which was my sister's.

Me and my sister have always gotten on really well,

we're really close, so I think this is like a cool symbol

of us growing up together.

Cute.

- Oh, my goodness.

You just love being outdoors.

- - Is that me? - Yeah.

I look like an old man.

Oh. Oh, my God.

Your face!

AJ was always exploring,

always getting into dirt.

When they started university, they tried pottery

and just totally fell in love with the feel of the clay,

and what they could create with their clay.

And since then, they've been coming home covered in clay.

Yeah, and you could just see

the enthusiasm in their face, just, yeah, pure joy.

We're very close, and I'm so proud

that their love for ceramics,

and making things with their hand,

and making mud pies, has brought them this far.

They've made it to the final. I'm just incredibly proud.

Um, couldn't be prouder.

Making me tear up.

- You OK? - Yeah. Sorry.

I'm gonna give you a hug after this.

- Do you like it?

I love it. It's really cool.

- It's very AJ. - Thank you.

Done the throwing. Now I've got this mad bird.

I use my hands a lot in the making,

so I sort of can feel what's happening with it.

This bird, it symbolizes Skip and my relationship.

It's fun, it's silly, but it's freeing.

And it's supportive and it's... it's uplifting.

She's very loving, very caring.

And she is happily unorganized.

Drops something on the floor, and that's where it'll stay

until she either trips over it or picks it up.

And that's Anna to a tee, you know, just chaos.

Oh, my goodness.

Oh. Oh, Zimbabwe.

After first meeting in Africa,

Anna and Skip have been together for over 20 years.

Ah, but now that, no eyebrows and no hair.

That's your chemo time, yeah.

In 2009, Skip was diagnosed with stage four lymphoma.

I was totally reliant on her. Totally reliant on her.

But she never made me feel that I was any weaker,

or any less of a person,

because I was going through some troubled times.

She was always there, always kind.

Always positive.

She is very, very talented, the painting she does, the pottery,

and every day is a learning curve for her, she says.

Every day you're learning something.

So, to be in the final, I mean, it's... it's brilliant.

Very, very, very proud of her. I couldn't be more, really.

- Who's your friend? - Ah.

- This is George. - Hello, George.

George is freedom, joy, contentment.

Did George take a while? What... What's happening?

I just get cramp. I just hit my arm, and it goes away.

You've got cramp.

Is that because you're working so hard?

This is it. There's not a lot of time, and there's so much to do.

I'm very worried about time.

I've got a globe to join. I've got a satchel to make.

There's a lot of this to do. Faces of family.

They're not gonna look like family,

but it's just gonna be a representation

that, you know, it starts with my family.

Look at your little face.

Growing up, it was very much the three of us.

I always remember going out skateboarding,

and she'd always jump on the skateboard with me.

She was great as a mum.

Oh, wow. Granddad there.

My dad. He was a larger-than-life character.

He was immensely proud of his family,

and I think I've inherited that from him.

"Enough love."

Whenever I hear somebody go, "much love" or "one love"

or "enough love," I always think of him now.

My dad got ill in November,

just at the start of the second wave of Covid,

and we got called in and we spent, you know...

we were lucky, we spent the last few days with him,

but it wasn't a nice thing to see.

When my granddad passed, Mum did stop pottering completely,

which is totally unlike her.

Pottery is my mum's happy place,

so seeing her lose that was difficult.

I think I was shell-shocked

from everything that had gone on, you know.

I'd lost that joy of making for me.

And I think going on the Throw Down

has given me some of that joy back.

Now, reaching the final, I couldn't be prouder of her.

My granddad, he'd be screaming.

I think he would have loved seeing his daughter...

...his daughter...

...on the Throw Down.

Yeah, I think he would.

I think he'd have been very proud.

Potters, I don't want to be so final about it...

but you've two hours left.

Oh, my gosh.

Oh, I'm annoying.

Putting the rucksack together.

This is the satchel. I'm working as fast as I can.

I've got to at least try and make it

look like a satchel at the moment,

because I can't leave myself with too much to do

at the decorating stage.

I'm trying to make the front of my boots.

I'll be glad when this is finished.

This is probably the most time-consuming piece.

They're really heavy, actually. They're not made for walking.

I'm thinking of taking this off the mold

'cause it's beginning to crack.

- - Be careful, Anna. - Um...

- - It's beginning to crack. - Do you want me to take it out?

- Yes, please. - Oh, jeez.

- - Ah. - Oh, there we go, there we go.

- - Have you got hold of it? - A great big crack at the side.

- - OK, we can fix that. - Yeah.

It needs support.

- - Ooh. - Right, that's it.

Does it look OK?

It just needs some support.

Oh, Jesus.

- AJ, you legend. - You did it.

- That's not too bad. - It's salvageable.

That's patchable, absolutely.

Thank you, AJ. We can fix this.

Potters, just one hour left.

- How you getting on? - It's just taking so long.

There's just so much, isn't there?

Oh, man. I'm gonna run out of clay.

I've made the tree stump, the house, the boots, toy,

and I'm just working on the plant pot.

Next, I'm going to cut holes in everything.

This is the size of the pole that all these things sit on.

I'm just marking sort of where the hole is.

I'm going bigger than the pole

because I've got to allow for shrinkage.

I'm a little worried about putting holes in everything,

'cause it sort of makes the structure a lot weaker.

How you getting on?

I've still got quite a lot to do.

What can I do to help?

Some moral support would be much appreciated.

You can only do what you can do.

- - That's very true. - Um...

A bird in the hand

is worth two in the bush.

- - What does that mean? - I don't know.

- I think it's rude. - Thank you.

For Christine, Anna, and their globes...

Ooh. The scary bit.

...it's the moment of truth.

This is gonna be the world.

That's a hell of a globe, isn't it?

That's got to be trimmed down. I'm trying to make it rounder.

At the moment it looks more plant pot shaped.

It's extremely difficult to get the seal right, the join right,

and then I've got to make it nice and rounded.

I wish I was a flat-earther.

Potters, that's ten minutes left.

- Ah! - Last ten minutes.

Oh, my goodness. These are rocks.

Yeah, I'm hoping this will give it a bit of support.

The rings represent how many years I've been alive.

I'm hacking away at that.

The plan was I was gonna put a wee bottle in there.

This is the finial for the top.

It's a sculptural piece of my parents.

I'm gonna mold the figures first,

put the heads on, and then just a quick hollow out.

This is the top piece.

It's based on the signpost at John O'Groats.

It represents where I'm going next in life.

Ooh, that's a hell of a flame, isn't it?

Slightly larger than anticipated.

It's the fastest thing I've ever made.

And remember, potters, everything has to be

in the drying room at the end.

- Ah. - Ooh, no.

George's head is coming off. Ooh. This is not good.

Great, Christine. You're doing brilliantly.

- Oh, my gosh. - Wait up for me. Hold on.

OK. It's fine. It's fine.

I'll catch you on the way up.

OK, George, you baby.

- Come on, Georgie.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

That's ten seconds left. Is everything in?

Five, six, and the finial. Yeah, we're in.

Back at your desk. Four, three, two...

one...

And there we have it! Well done.

- Oh, my gosh. - Whoo!

You certainly deserve a break after that. Potters dismissed.

- Can I lie down? - No.

- Well done, guys. - That was epic.

It's now going into the kiln,

I am worried about the dome cracking.

I'm worried about the bird as well,

because he started to crack.

I'm worried about everything, really.

I can't believe that I've made

all those things in one day.

The earth is quite dodgy.

So I need to bring my A game when I decorate.

I've done the basics of what I set out to do.

It was brilliant, last day making.

Still got to decorate all of that.

It's the final of The Great Pottery Throw Down.

And lurking under the hessian is the second challenge

that'll help decide who's crowned our winner.

Oh. Now I'm scared.

Hello, potters,

and welcome to your very final second challenge.

Whoever wins this will reign supreme.

You will be creating... a crown.

A crown? Oh.

And who better to tell us how to do it

than our very own Rich Miller?

- - Take it away, King Richard. - Right. Right.

You are going to be piercing a crown.

Oh.

You've got a slip cast porcelain dome.

Initially, I'm just gonna measure out

all of the angles, just separate it up into a grid, essentially.

This is one of the trickiest challenges we've given you.

With piercing, sometimes called the devil's work,

because it's a bit of a devil to do,

it's all about being precise,

and tidy, and accurate with everything.

- Well, it is the final. - No pressure.

The idea with piercing is to create something intensely ornate,

and that's what makes a crown the perfect subject.

I've roughed out that design.

I'm now gonna start cutting away,

and this is where it starts to get interesting,

because once you start cutting that clay,

you can't put it back.

You all look sort of a bit terrified.

No second chances.

And you'll notice I'm leaving the pieces in.

It just supports the structure.

Now I've cut that out, I'm just gonna start removing pieces.

This is where you have to be really careful,

because you're taking away

the structural integrity of that dome.

You'll be in trouble if you remove too much material,

because the dome will start collapsing.

To fettle it off, just use a damp sponge.

I would urge serious caution.

If the sponge is too wet, it will just collapse.

Also you have slabs of porcelain.

You can create gems if you want to, and stick them on.

We're looking for nice, precise cutting,

a good geometric design that works right the way round the form,

and something really decorative and fitting of the final.

This will be judged blind,

so, judges, please, have a cup of tea.

Potters, you have one hour

for your very final second challenge.

- OK. - And your time starts... now.

Ooh.

OK, what do we do?

What a bizarre challenge.

Completely unexpected.

The pressure's on for this one,

to come up with something special.

It's throwing me off.

- - For sure. - Bit shaky.

I'm just trying to calm myself down while I'm gridding.

So I did plan. That's my plan.

I'm kind of going for tears, they're my tears,

dripping all over the crown.

I'm not gonna do any planning on paper,

because it's not crown-shaped.

I'll plan on the piece itself.

Christine, have you got your design all done?

I'm just drawing it on now.

Oh, dear. My lines aren't even good.

But while Anna and Christine

are busy applying their designs...

They've already started. Help.

...AJ's are yet to leave the page.

I actually don't know if I'm spending my time wisely,

but I just can't start something without having a plan first.

It's just not in my nature. Come back to me in a week.

Ooh. You're cutting already. Do you like it?

- Not my thing, really. - No, isn't it?

Symmetry and precision doesn't really play

to any of my strengths.

Are you beginning to enjoy it while you're doing it?

I'm enjoying the cutting. That's good fun.

I like using a sharp knife.

I don't think you should be given a scalpel.

I don't think I should be.

Did we get a note about that?

They're very foolish, aren't they? Yeah.

I've gone for it with the knife, but I can't hang around.

I've got half of a plan at the moment,

so I just knew I needed to get carving.

Just need to decide on something.

Right, I can start marking it out now.

There's maybe large cutout sections with the knife,

and then a lot of small holes.

How are we doing here?

I've started cutting.

I need to stop my hand from shaking.

- Do you want me to shout at it? - No.

Do you like this sort of challenge?

Yeah, but, you know, it has made me nervous. I don't know why.

Could it be because you want to win?

Um, I'd like to win at least one of these second challenges,

Have you won any of them before?

- No, I haven't won any. - Oh.

Yeah, so that would be quite nice.

- OK, well, the pressure is on. - Yeah.

Potters, you're halfway through. 30 minutes gone.

- - 30 minutes left. - Halfway through is concerning.

This is not looking very good at the moment.

I've got most of the top design cut out now,

so the plan is, complete that,

do the bottom one, and then clean it all up.

Next stage is to start poking pieces out

and seeing what I've got.

OK.

This is actually the nice part of it.

I'm still thinking, oh, good God, what am I doing?

But I'm actually quite enjoying the process of it now.

You've gotta keep your eye on if the rest of the crown's moving.

If it's not, then I know I'm OK to push it out.

But it is a bit scary.

Time to push into it.

Um... Ugh.

Darling potters of the pottery, you have ten minutes left.

There's quite a lot to do.

I've got to get these out and then tidy up.

If there's any time at all after that,

maybe put, like, something on there.

Gonna put a knobbly thing on the top.

Three little teardrops all sort of in one.

Like tears of a crown.

I kind of like it. Very messy, but I like the shape.

Can definitely get it smoothed down.

Whether or not I can get the gems I wanted

stuck to the bottom is the question.

I'm making jewels.

When I was a small child, I just dreamed

of being a princess and wearing a crown,

and these are my tears for never owning one.

I can feel it getting softer.

I'm trying really hard not to push into it too much,

'cause I might collapse it.

- Ugh. - Potters, last minute.

Last minute remaining.

This is the final part,

so I'm sticking these gems on.

I don't know how important the topper is to the piece.

I think it definitely does make it look more crown-like.

Just trying to keep myself calm.

If I panic, my hands will shake even more.

I'm gonna stick with it. I want my topper.

There. Almost done.

I've actually enjoyed it, despite myself.

We've gotta get some gems on.

Oh, no. It's not staying on.

Do we get a pillow to present it on?

Potters, that's the end of the challenge.

Step away. Down tools. Stop it. Put down the crown!

Time just goes so fast.

I didn't quite finish putting on my gems, but at least I tried.

The judges are looking for beautifully ornate crowns,

pierced to perfection.

It's like holding a newborn baby, isn't it?

But who will be crowned the winner

of the final second challenge?

Ooh.

- - OK. We start over here? - Yeah.

This potter's chosen to leave the top quite enclosed.

I don't know whether that's just a time thing, or a conscious decision,

but it makes it feel kind of quite top heavy.

But I love the symmetry about it.

- - It's incredibly regular... - Yeah.

...in its pattern.

There's a few splits at the top of the teardrop.

But nothing really to write home about.

It's nice and regular, and it's still standing up.

OK. Wow. It's clever.

It looks like there's been a lot taken away,

and yet, actually, these main structures here

really hold the form up, don't they?

I love the way this has been taken out

at the bottom here.

It feels like it's just balancing

on the top of that base rim.

There are a couple of adornments missing.

Oh, dear, yes. I don't think that's a design feature.

I think they obviously ran out of time.

Shame, though, 'cause, you know, on the whole,

that's got loads going for it.

Absolutely. Wow.

- Whoa. - There's a lot going on here.

There is. That is an incredibly complex geometric design.

Love the way that this central star

feels like it's being suspended by those small points.

The cutting is very tidy, very consistent.

The curves have a nice fluidity to them.

Really, really good.

Shame there's not something on top.

The judges will now rank the finalists' crowns

from bottom to top.

In third place...

- - This one. Whose is this? - Mine.

Anna. It just feels slightly like this top is unfinished.

You've cut so much away around the side,

it just makes that top look a bit heavy.

So, in second place, we have...

this one.

AJ.

I just love the way you've cut away from that rim at the base

so that all of those arms coming over just have real lift.

Just a shame you couldn't finish off.

So, in first place, we have this one.

I just applaud your ambition. Beautiful.

- Well done, Christine. - Thank you.

And that's the first time you've won a second challenge.

Ah! Oh, well done!

- And what a time to do it. - Fantastic.

Really well done.

- Well done.

I won the second challenge. Finally.

That is so cool. Well done. I'm so pleased for you.

It's gonna give me a lot of confidence for tomorrow. I feel great.

I was a bit annoyed at myself,

not managing to get those last pieces on.

Maybe if I'd spent a little less time at the start planning.

But, yeah, I feel like I did the best I could do.

I did what I could with the challenge.

It's not my strength. I'm third out of three.

But I'm gonna do everything I can tomorrow.

The totem is such a big build, and there's so many things

that can go right or wrong with it.

It's gonna be a huge task ahead.

It's day two of the final make, and after a 24-hour firing,

the potters' totem pieces are ready for decoration.

I'm a little bit worried about decoration.

There's lots of little pieces to glaze.

There's lots of smaller details on those pieces.

It's gonna be intense.

But whether there's anything to decorate

is a hessian-shrouded secret.

Everything's coming out of the kiln today.

Concerned about my base because it could have a few cracks.

I've a few worries.

This is the last way I can show them

that I deserve to be here in the final,

so, yeah, I want to do well today.

Just wanna rip the sheet off.

Potters, your garden totems have been bisque fired

and are now ready for decorating.

The decoration on each section could match,

coordinate, or even clash, it's completely up to you,

but what's really important is that every element

of your build and decoration

come together as a complete totem

that tell us your distinct story.

Now, these are designed to withstand the elements,

so your totems must be fully glazed.

We want you to really show off all those decorative techniques.

Show us what you can do.

OK, potters, you have five hours,

and your time starts now!

Eee... Ooh.

Hoo-hoo! Intact pieces. Yay!

This was what I was most worried about,

but all of the joins have stayed on.

- Nothing's cracked off. - Everything's intact.

I was extremely worried about the base.

And there's not a single crack on it. Yes!

- But Christine... - Oh, my poor mother.

...hasn't made it through unscathed.

My mum's head's come off.

- And that's not all. - The base.

That's a bit smaller than I remember it.

I wanted it to be bigger. I wanted more of an impact.

And the world has come out how I remembered it,

which is not a good thing 'cause I didn't remember it well.

I'm going to fix my mum's head on

by putting glaze underneath where the join should be.

Hopefully the head'll just stay with it.

- Good luck, guys. - Let's go. Let's do this.

To bring their pieces to life,

they have a large selection of metal oxides and glazes.

I tried to get every color I could in there,

to hopefully give it some contrast.

So I've got the tree trunk base.

I'm mixing some brown and black together,

and I'm just gonna do a quick wash,

sort of dirty it up a little bit.

I'm gonna put on some black lines

to look a little bit like bark.

While AJ is throwing

every contrasting color they can at their totem,

Christine is planning a more harmonious design.

These two pieces are getting

a stone denim glaze on there,

and then I'll probably use that glaze

to do parts of the different pieces.

It starts off this rusty sort of color,

but when it gets to a certain temperature goes blue.

They'll need three coats of that for it to pool,

and if I can get it to pool well,

I think it'll be quite impressive.

But before Anna can begin...

This is going to be blues and greens,

and then the little figures are gonna be brightly colored.

...she's taking the time

to plan out every brushstroke

of her illustration-rich design.

Just get all of the pencil work done, the drawings on them.

It's about childhood. I've got a sister and two brothers.

So I've got my brother sleeping, and my sister reading,

and then there's me sort of just, you know, doodly-doo.

Is that how you're going to be walking

out of the pottery?

Is this figure a winner?

We're all winners in this room.

Jeepers. They can't hear you.

- Close your ears!

- Do you wanna win? - I have.

- I'm here in the final. - God Almighty.

You know, we've got to the end.

- This is a competition. - No.

There can only be one winner. We need tension, drama.

Not nice people who are just happy

because they... they got clay.

Potters, damn you for being so weird and nice.

That's one hour gone.

- You're lying. - One hour gone.

I've done the satchel

because it represents school.

And the school I went to,

you had to have a satchel or a briefcase.

My mum spent money, which often we didn't have,

to get that satchel for me.

I'm just trying to age it a little bit

by adding some black underglaze.

This is the biggest surface area,

and it's probably the most complex as well.

So gotta nail it,

but I've also not got to spend too much time on it,

because I've got six other pieces.

- Hey, AJ. - Hello.

The last glaze that will go on to bisque.

- - It's such a strange feeling. - And is this what you're doing?

They're all quite different in terms of color.

I was trying to sort of get a contrast between everything.

Have you thought about where you're applying the glaze?

Obviously it's kind of visible from every angle and every side.

Yeah, I was thinking about that, actually, because I thought,

oh, I could save some time by not glazing the bottoms of them,

but you're gonna see all of that,

so there's nowhere to hide on this make.

Yeah.

Hello, two-headed teddy bear that isn't at all terrifying.

- Yeah, it's my Franken-bear. - Your Franken-bear.

What color are you going to color the inside of the ears?

Sunset-y yellows and oranges.

Does your sister, like, use the ears

as sort of a comforting thingy?

Oh, well, she did when she was little.

- - Yeah, definitely little. - She's 17 now.

Yeah.

I'm onto the rucksack now.

This really symbolizes

when I offloaded everything I had and went to Africa,

and ended up making a life there for ten years,

and it was absolutely a life-changing experience.

The judges are looking for beautiful decoration

that not only brings to life the potters' pieces,

but their stories too.

I was thinking about my school days.

The books symbolize teaching

and gaining knowledge myself through education.

I went fishing with my mum and dad, and my mum had a go,

but she's really allergic to fish,

and she couldn't get it off the line

'cause she couldn't touch it, so she swung it around all excited,

and she slapped me in the face with the fish.

That was a great day.

It's flowers with dancing people on it.

These are all representations of friends.

We would have done part of our nurse training in Derry,

so these are that group from well over 30 years ago.

And we still meet up a few times a year. Mad nights out.

- Hello, Christine. - Hello, Keith.

So how's your bottom?

The base is underwhelming

in that it's not the size I wanted it to be.

But the build was really good.

There's no cracks at all, so I'm quite happy with that.

And what have you placed on that?

A stone denim glaze. I really liked that.

So I've made that run through each piece somewhere.

You've thought about the color scheme all the way through.

- Yeah, yeah. - It's fantastic.

Potters, last hour. One hour left.

I'm free-handing this lettering to save time.

Hopefully it'll pay off.

How could you not love that face?

- And George's isn't bad either.

I'm highlighting the UK,

and then Jamaica round the other side,

and that represents Dad coming over

during the Windrush generation and meeting my mum.

I've got a blue reactive glaze on my dice piece,

so hopefully that'll be nice and shiny.

It's blue, but you can sort of see the clay underneath,

so I'm hoping that you'll be able

to see the numbers underneath the glaze.

I was gonna try and scratch the clay to create brickwork.

Do you know how much time you have left?

I don't.

If I tell you,

will you give me

this granola bar?

You can have my granola bar.

Ten minutes left!

Ten minutes left, potters,

to impress...

- There you go. - Thank you.

...the judges for the very last time.

Funky nonbinary socks,

which I kind of wish I had in real life.

To ensure the garden totems are weatherproof,

a second transparent glaze must also be applied.

Takes longer than you think,

putting transparent glaze over everything.

I'm just literally throwing it on.

Just slap it on, Anna. Just slap it on.

- - Slapping it on. - Give it that last extra push.

And remember to clean your bottoms.

Ooh.

Ten seconds.

Three, two, one.

Brushes down, lovely, lovely, potters.

- Well done. - Oh!

Well, well done.

Well done. Come on, AJ.

- - Oh, my gosh. - Aw.

- Well done, everyone. - We did it.

We did it. Huzzah!

Huzzah!

- Congratulations, pirates.

I felt I gave it everything, and in the make as well, you know.

I mean, really, when you think about it,

we spent 13 and a half hours on these totems.

There's an awful lot of work gone into it,

and there still wasn't enough hours in the day.

Oh, I feel exhausted.

It feels a bit surreal, to be honest,

because I can't do anything else at all before judging.

That's it. Yeah.

Just be careful with my mum's head.

Yes.

I honestly don't think I could have put any more into that.

I was focused from start to finish.

It's a weird bittersweet feeling.

I'm glad that we're finished, but I'm also sad

that that's the last make that we'll ever do in the pottery.

It's judgment day.

The potters' totem pieces have had their 24-hour firing,

and for our three finalists,

there's nothing more they can do.

I'm a little on edge this morning, actually.

It's always nerve-racking, getting stuff out of the kiln,

with the uncertainty of how it's gonna come out.

I'm hoping it comes out as I imagine it,

that it's vibrant, the colors are crisp and clean.

Good luck.

- Good luck, guys, yeah. - You too.

It feels pretty scary, actually.

All the ten weeks has led to this.

Everything I've done has led to this moment today.

So it's a big thing.

Whoo.

- - Oh, look at this. - Oh, my gosh.

Wow, Anna. Look at that.

Oh, my goodness.

My mum's head's on.

- Yes.

Ooh, that's nice. Look at that.

I love the duck.

I really wanna see it all together now.

Potters, your garden totems look absolutely brilliant.

Massive congratulations to you all.

So let's start the judging,

and we're going to begin with Christine.

On first appearance, the thing that leaps out to me

education, family.

You can see all of those themes coming through immediately.

The way you've stylized those books

and the way you've stylized that satchel

is just absolutely amazing.

The way that binding goes through the leather,

through the material, and joins on,

and all of these rivets and the stitches,

there's a level of detail that's just exquisite.

This has worked really, really well for you.

This glaze has really seeped into those indentations.

Would have been nice to have that slightly bigger, I think.

A base of a totem, it symbolizes stability, foundation.

But this is just wonderful.

Again, as we've seen with your self-sculpture,

that simplicity of line and form,

and yet really, really bold and brave.

And I just... I just love that. I just think it's great.

I just think it's really good.

- This, not so much. - No, I know.

If that had just had a bit more volume,

it would have created that variety going up.

And in terms of the profile, you get a sense

of where those two pieces have been joined together.

But aside from the proportions of this,

we couldn't have asked for much more.

And would it look good in a garden?

Yes, it bloody would. It would look fantastic in a garden.

- Thank you. - It's wonderful.

Brilliant. Well done, Christine.

Thank you.

- - Hello, Anna. - Hello.

- Hi, Anna. - Hi.

Hello, George.

I feel like I'm being stared at.

What I just feel overwhelmingly is

it's got your voice, your spirit, written all over it.

You've just got such a specific way

of working with the material.

It's quite beautiful to watch.

Chaotic at times, but not in a bad way. It's just incredible.

I can't believe this isn't canvas.

And this map, you know, there's so much to see.

It's really beautiful.

The illustrations,

your skill with a brush, is just fantastic.

There's not one bubble or slip of the brush,

and down here, really, really characterful.

I, for one, am just so grateful

we've got a dome that everything's sitting on.

Putting those rocks around it just to add that stability...

Yeah, that was a very, very good call.

There are sort of things that I'm not entirely sure about.

Like this edge. That feels very exposed and very raw.

You've got a few stress cracks here in the duck,

but apart from that, it's absolutely wonderful.

Definitely. I'm still being stared at.

- - It's fantastic. - Thanks. Appreciate it.

Anna, you happy?

- - Hey, AJ. - Hello.

- Hello. - Hi.

Wow.

The first thing that really leaps out

is how successful that random collection of objects

works as a composition.

The way you move up the garden totem,

you've got that lovely solidity of the stump at the bottom,

and then this kind of hotchpotch

of all sorts of different shapes and forms, but...

They seem to work together, don't they?

They do, and they're so clearly you, AJ.

And your hand-building skills are just brilliant.

I just love that teddy with the house on top of it.

In terms of the construction, everything is on point.

The seams are all smoothed.

All of the right surfaces have been finished.

You've got black underglaze underneath the boots, you know,

so if you were sitting on the ground and looking up at it,

after a heavy day, heavy night, who knows,

no surface has been left untreated.

But that dice, losing the numbers on there,

that's a slight drawback.

I mean, that glaze itself, though,

is just incredible.

Oh, it's just gorgeous.

But above it, that sign is just fantastic.

I don't think there's ever been a final

where we literally haven't got anything in between you.

Honestly, and the way you just come in here

and you just hit the ball out of the park,

and it's just amazing to see.

It was overall really positive.

I'm really glad that they liked the forms,

and how they worked together.

I do feel on the edge. It's all sort of coming to a head.

The judges aren't giving anything away.

And I don't think they know.

The feedback was brilliant.

It was much better than I expected.

They feel I do have a really good connection with the clay.

It's actually lovely to hear that.

If I did win, I would be blown away.

It would be total shock, and I would be...

yeah, I'd be absolutely delighted.

Judging went really well, so I'm feeling really excited

about going into the announcement.

It feels just unreal. One of us is gonna win.

And that could be me.

What a final. We've had garden totems. We've had crowns.

I mean, they've literally given us their life story

through the medium of clay.

What more do you want from them?

Yeah, I mean, they've all brought

intensely personal stories

that have blown both of us away.

Yeah, the bravery they've shown, that's the thing for me.

And when they, when they...

when they come up to that judging table,

and they show us what they've made, and it connects,

that's just mind-blowing, it's incredible.

Who is worthy to be this year's winner?

Our three potters all have very different strengths, actually,

so it makes it very difficult to pick between them.

You know, you've got AJ, who is reliable, incredible builds,

the quality is always there, you rarely see any cracks.

You've got Anna, who's just got this energy about her,

and that kind of intuitive way of working with the clay.

- - Far more organic. - Yeah.

And then you've got Christine,

who can carry these beautiful stories with what she makes.

So it makes it really difficult to pick between them.

Well, how on earth are you ever going to decide?

I think we just need to discuss it a little bit further.

Oh, right. Will I head away, so then?

Yeah, you go and get another cup of hot chocolate.

I will.

It's decision time.

As our finalists await the announcement,

past potters, friends, family, and a very special guest...

Oh, it's so nice to be back and see everyone.

...are here to cheer them on.

It's so lovely to be back.

It's like being back at school.

You have all the butterflies, and excitement,

'cause you're gonna see all your friends again.

AJ should win, because they are absolutely amazing,

and just everything they make is so unique.

Anna could win it

just because she's got a way with clay.

You can see the movement in the pieces she's made.

It's rare, I think, that somebody has a quality

that means you can automatically recognize their work.

I would love Christine to win.

She really had kind of fallen out of love with clay,

and the process of being on this, she's got that back.

Thank you, and welcome to our past potters,

and our finalists' families.

I would also like to extend a very warm welcome

to our lovely Ellie, who held the fort while I was away.

OK, then, the moment you've all been waiting for.

May I present to you your finalists.

AJ, Anna, and Christine.

Ah!

Potters, thank you so much

for making this an absolutely incredible final.

The judges have made their decision.

The winner of this year's Great Pottery Throw Down is...

- AJ.

Yes! I knew it!

Oh, my God.

- Seriously, congratulations. - Thank you.

Don't cry.

Oh, my God, I'm so proud of you.

You guys are absolutely brilliant.

- Oh, I'm so pleased. - Well done.

This is yours. Well done.

- Thank you so much. Thank you. - Congratulations.

I'm feeling totally overwhelmed. I'm so happy.

It's a dream come true, and, like, a dream

that I never thought would ever happen.

Congratulations. So well done. So well done.

My darling, I'm so proud of you!

- Well done! Well done. - Thank you so much.

Just a wonderful worthy winner.

AJ just has a real sense of style.

The hand-building is just sublime.

Absolutely marvelous.

Thank you so much for having me.

AJ won three potters of the week,

and five second challenges.

That's gotta be a record.

From the very outset, they've just had consistency.

The quality of the makes has been incredible.

- Well done. - That's amazing.

I had AJ as my winner, so, yeah,

I'm just over the moon for them.

- Aw. - Proud of you, Mum.

- Thank you. - I'm so proud of you.

We've come to the end of it,

but this is very much the start of something.

I've got my love of pottery back big time,

and I couldn't be more happy.

We're full of celebration and joy,

and I love that we started as 12 potters,

and we've ended as 12 potters.

And I'm delighted AJ won.

I'm so, so proud of you. I love you so much.

They're young and just starting out in their career,

and this is just gonna be so game-changing for them.

I just can't wait to get making again.

I can't wait to make more things.

And I can't wait to discover,

like, where my pottery's going from here.

I hope that I've at least inspired

one person to try pottery, and one person to be themselves.

That would be wonderful.

And everyone's names is on it.

- There's AJ. - And there's my name.

It's brilliant, yeah.

Tears of happy.