Original subtitles

It's week two and we've already lost a potter,

leaving us with just 11.

Now it's all about secrets this week

and I have a few secrets of my own,

but I keep them pretty well hidden. Shh.

This is good telly, isn't it?

Wait till you see.

Has anyone seen my last custard cream?

Welcome to The Great Pottery Throw Down. Shh.

No!

Last time, the gates of Gladstone

welcomed a brand-new batch of potters...

Ooh. ..all eager to hit the wheel... I'm starting to panic now.

..and to throw a birthday tea set.

Jesus Christ.

And while Lois' cake stand, cups and cream pot...

It's quite a big ask, isn't it? ..secured her Potter of the Week...

It's absolutely wonderful. ..Caitlin struggled.

Oh, no! Definitely feeling like I'm under pressure.

But in the end, it was Vithu... It's gonna be really, really tight.

..who became the first potter to leave the competition. It's OK.

This week... Argh! BLEEP!

Ooh. ..the potters have their engineering skills put to the test.

This is a nightmare, isn't it? As they slab build keepsake boxes

with a hidden secret. So I'm just trying to listen.

Is that too much?

And face a blindfolded throw down challenge.

Torture, pottery torture.

Who will engineer a victory?

Yes! It worked. And who... I'm really shaking. ..will fall apart?

Don't mind me. No, I won't. I'm just judging you.

# Making time

# Shooting lines

# People have their uses

# People have their uses. #

It's week two and our potters are back.

Potter of the Week last week, oh, my God.

Yeah, it's given me a little boost for today.

I'm quite looking forward to getting in there and cracking on with the next thing.

First we go slab building. I've slab built one box in the last eight years,

so I'm not the biggest fan of slab building.

Slab building is very precise.

I'm not the best mathematician, but I've got a good eye.

I'm feeling a little bit more confident than last week.

I love my pottery family already.SHE GIGGLES

I know it's really cringe, but it's true.

# We're gonna rock this town

# Rock it inside out

# Whoo! #

Welcome back, potters.

For this week's main make challenge,

the judges would like you to slab build a personal keepsake box

that has a smaller, hidden, secret box inside.

Now we want the boxes to reflect a passion of yours,

so if you're really into '70s glam rock, then this should be your chosen passion.

We're really looking for a statement piece, so think about how you can bring your passion

into that form and decoration of your keepsake boxes.

But your smaller box needs to fit securely inside the larger box,

and your outer lid needs to be disguised, we don't want to see where it is.

OK then, potters, you have been given

six hours to make and refine your personal keepsake boxes

and your time starts...now.

The potters' boxes, along with their smaller secret siblings

and concealed lids, must be made using the slab building method.

No, I don't slab build. I've never slab built,

well, I made a little butter dish before but it's not my thing.

So that means task number one is rolling out their slabs.

It's hard to get a ball of clay

and make it as flat as possible.

Slab building's, like, very serious.

I think if I was really good at it, I would love it, but I'm not.

So hand-building challenge.

A keepsake box with a disguised lid

with another little secret box inside.

Yeah, I mean, we're gonna learn more about our potters' passions,

but we're also gonna find out whether they can slab build.

And people often think slab building is quite an easy process,

but it's really not. There's loads our potters are gonna have to get right

to make sure their lidded boxes are well constructed.

It's a civil engineering project, isn't it?

It is. I mean, our potters have to be super accurate

with all of those measurements

but they also need to be aware that that clay is gonna warp and move.

If they've got a complex mechanism

or a complex way in which that lid is fitting into the box,

that warping could cause real issues.

What I love about some of our examples here

is that the whole form and the structure

is incorporated into the lid. Yeah. I mean, this parrot here, for example,

you wouldn't know that it was a box,

but you lift the head, it's a box. I think that integration of the lid,

with the rest of the box, is going to be key to success in

this challenge. Dun-dun-dun-dun.

Hello, Fabiola. Oh, hi there. Hi, Fabiola. How are you?

I'm all right, how are you? Well, I'm very happy here.

Made it through the first week. I did it and I'm here

and I'm going to fight for it. Absolutely.

Tell us about your passions. OK, I'm going to make a box

that symbolises dancing.

Dancing? Ah. Because dancing is just a language of the world.

Anywhere you go, you just move your body and dance

and everyone will understand you.

Wherever Fabiola goes, she brings the Colombian carnival vibes.

Whoo! But she has never happier than when dancing with husband, Mauricio.

I love you. I love you more.

Her keepsake box will feature her daughters, Mariana and Daniela,

dancing at either end, and for extra movement,

she's aiming for a cylindrical base that will rock back and forth.

So, you don't have a flat bottom? It's all...curved?

Yeah. Right, OK. It's all... Believe me, it's all curved.

I love a curvy bottom. My husband asked too, "Ooh, is that too much?"

Also embracing a curvier design is Fliss.

So I am making a wave box

and it's going to be coming over like this. Wow. Just like this actually. OK.

And it's going to be representing my passion for the ocean.

When she's not down at the beach, carving up the waves,

Fliss loves to spend her weekends doing a spot of figurative sculpture.

This is an abstract hand.

She's hoping to use her sculpting skills to create a wave,

inside which will sit a treasure chest, beneath a lid,

topped with a very special dolphin.

So dolphins actually ride waves, and my sister found out

she was pregnant when she saw dolphins flying off waves so... Wow. Yeah.

Cute. Did the dolphin tell her? Yeah, the dolphin told her. "You're pregnant."

We both tried to do the noise, we can do it.

So you want another cup of tea, Siobhan?Yeah.

Also on the hunt for tea is Helen.

I go mudlarking on the Thames,

near the Cutty Sark, cos it's a tea clipper,

my story was that a tea caddy had fallen over the side

and sunk to the depths of the Thames

and had ended up with all the, sort of, detritus and

everything from the Thames all over it.

Mudlarking might be a relatively new hobby,

but Helen has already built up quite the collection of knick-knacks.

Look at the soldier. I'm going to try and put that in one of my pots.

Covered in seaweed, shells and mudlarking finds,

the lid of Helen's tea caddy will be completely disguised.

Hidden inside, a chest which contains Helen's first souvenir from the Thames.

It is amazing, the things that you find.

Nothing precious, nothing valuable, but it's still fun.

Helen may have had to dig through the mud of the Thames to find her treasures,

but Lois found hers a little closer to home.

So my design is, kind of, inspired by my gran.

I'd look around her house and really enjoyed seeing all her

things she'd collected over the years. Yeah.

I, kind of, got into antiques, so I've brought this Chinese fu dog.

That's, kind of, like my main inspiration.

OK. I made mine a French bulldog because I just think they're cute.

Lois' boys, Jacob and Samuel, love playing with their grandparents' dog, Oscar. Up.

Hooray.

An allergy to pets means they can't have a dog at home,

so Lois is making an allergen-free pooch today.

Her French bulldog box will be a culture clash of design inspiration,

with its antique, ceramic style body and its concealed lid,

which can only be opened with a secret key

disguised as a Peruvian style rug.

The rug itself is quite a good way of concealing a lid. Yeah.

With the tassels. No, no, no, absolutely.

But to have that added element, it's ambitious.

You've got a lot to do. Lots of technical elements. Yeah.

So we're gonna leave you to it. Yeah.

But with over 30 slabs making up his keepsake box...

I'm not panicking yet. I'll save that for later.

..Jon's ambitious design is out of this world.

My thing is science fiction. I love science fiction.

I've been reading science fiction for 30 years or so,

so it's a science fiction spaceship.

Used to designing bridges and buildings,

Jon's structural engineering background

should come in handy today

as there is no room for error with his precisely-engineered spacecraft,

which will be transporting a smaller box

carved to look like an alien artefact

in its hold, at the stern of the ship.

There's lots of engineering in this, lots of measurements and accuracy,

I've got a former to form it all in, so it's all very, very methodical and planned,

as long as all the dimensions are right, if I start going wrong, it's gonna be obvious

cos it's gonna look all warped and bent and I'll have to

pretend it's a crashed spaceship then, so...

As well as getting their calculations spot-on...

26 and a half, how did that happen?

That one's 26. This is a nightmare, isn't it?

..the potters need to handle their slabs with caution.

I'm really shaking, honestly.

And this is the main part of my box, so hopefully, I won't break it.

I'm trying to be really careful. If it's too wet and you move

and you cut it, and you whatever, you start distorting the clay,

and it's no longer going to be as lovely and precise as you hoped.

Just trying to minimise how much we move the slabs,

just trying to keep them completely flat,

so they don't bend and warp later on.

Yeah, I will be in... BLEEP!

I mean, whoops. Ooh.

Shall I help? Can I help?

It's all right, I'll do it. I'll be responsible for any

bends in it. Let's move it quickly.

I feel like the less time it's bending...

I might do that one again.

Thanks.

Oh, I knew that was gonna happen.

Potters, that's one hour gone.

Your first hour gone.

Ooh. Whether shaped over a former...

It's important to have a former, for this to dry properly,

in the position you want to have it. ..or laid out like flat-pack furniture...

A lot of template pieces to do, a lot.

..the potters have a multitude of slabs to dry

before they can start to construct, not one, but two boxes.

I'm really worried about time, really.

I mean, I have so many things to do.

But Jon has an even bigger to-do list.

I just dropped quite a few of the pieces on the floor,

I've rescued some of them, but some of them have gone,

so I'm just trying to make sure I know what I've broken and what I've got to make new,

so I don't miss anything out for the next stage.

As Jon tries to resurrect his spaceship...

I seem to have broken more than I thought I had.

..Derek is hoping to bring a childhood relic back to life.

So I am making a 1970s portable telly.

It's really about childhood memories... Right.

..and my passion for watching telly.

It doesn't get enough credit as a leisure activity.

In the days before the Internet, television was a

window to the world for young Derek.

He will be attempting to recreate the sharp angles

of his retro television and transistor radio,

which will be revealed by removing the TV screen.

There's a lot of construction, obviously. There is.

But there's a lot of elements that really need not to warp. Yeah.

Right, OK.

I'm looking at you, Derek. I know you are. I'm looking. Yeah. Yeah.

It's a risk doing something that isn't organic in form. Yes.

But there is something very organic growing over on Christophe's bench.

I have a passion for plants.

My house is a jungle.

I think I just counted out over 70 plants at my place.

When he's not watering his plethora of plants...

Here it is.

..Christophe and boyfriend, Seb, love feeding their friends.

That's yoghurt.

Today the only thing Christophe will be feeding

will be his carnivorous pitcher plant.

Its brightly coloured leaves will form a concealed lid

under which will sit his secret box, which has been ingested,

along with a few unlucky flies.

And it seems the pitcher plant

is already attracting another potential victim.

Talking about fly, and she's already interested about it.

Sorry, goodbye.

George, however, is making a much more insect-friendly habitat.

I keep bees, so it's going to be a beehive with honeycomb in.

Wow. Hives come flat-packed, which is perfect for slab building. Ahh.

Well, your bench does look like a hive of industry.

It looks like a mess. Nicely done. See what I did?

Nicely done. I'll give him that one.

George caught the beekeeping bug aged eight, after his mum, Clarissa,

took up the hobby. They're lovely and quiet.

So far. Famous last words, isn't it? SHE LAUGHS

His beehive will be constructed from flat, clay slats

and to continue the theme, his smaller box will be

imprinted with a honeycomb effect.

If the Pottery was a hive, who's the queen bee?

Oh, queen bee? I think Keith might be queen bee.

You can be queen, Siobhan.

Potters, I've got a secret for you. You're halfway through.

We're halfway, that's fine. Keeping my cool.

As Jon's replacement spaceship panels hit the drying room...

A bit of scoring and slipping.

..attention turns to the smaller keepsake boxes...

The little box is decorated with beeswax, you get a honeycomb pattern.

..which should complement the overall theme of their design.

This is the radio. Telly finished at midnight,

so after telly went off, then radio was your friend.

Now is also the opportune time... I'm gonna quickly make a dolphin.

..for the potters to make any sculptured or moulded decorative elements.

So these are sprigs of things that I've found in the Thames.

It's gonna be the dog's head. He's got his ears here.

But Lois' Frenchie isn't the only furry friend in the Pottery today.

My design is about snoozing in bed with my animals.

I had a lot of health problems, in the last few years,

so I found comfort in having my bed and just chilling

and having the pets with me and they, kind of, take over the bed.

Billy the cat, and Heidi the Jack Russell

also like to snuggle up on the sofa with Rebecca.

Although sometimes three's a crowd.

The duvet on Rebecca's bed will lift up to reveal wooden slats,

beneath which her alarm-clock shaped box will hide.

It's a bit disgusting really, innit? Having animals on your bed.

I didn't think of that.

Rebecca and her pets might enjoy a duvet day...

I mean, I just love my animals so much.

..but James prefers to pound the pavements.

In my spare time, I like to go running. You really like running though?

Yeah, I don't like to do it very often... Because it's awful?

I can see why people wouldn't like it. If evolution wanted us to run,

they wouldn't have given us the brain capacity to invent Uber.

James also likes to share his passion for kickboxing

with daughters, Poppy and Jasmine. Do I get a go, Jasmine?

From the cushion soles to the intricate stitching,

James is aiming to make his box

in the shape of his favourite running shoes.

I've gotta get it made so then I can actually do all the embellishments

and that, hopefully, will make it stand out. That's the idea.

While James is keen to keep up his step count,

Caitlin is collecting air miles. I'm inspired by, kind of,

my love for travelling. Oh, OK.

The thing that I always have, no matter what, is my backpack

with all my belongings in it, so it's inspired by my backpack.

And how are you constructing the lid? Is that the top

section where you'd open the backpack?

Well, that's what it would normally be like. - Ahhh.

But...

But no, the lid is somewhere else.

From the French Alps to Southeast Asia,

Caitlin's trusty backpack has travelled over 12,000 miles with her.

With its textured canvas surface design

and threadbare pockets, Caitlin's hoping to capture the essence

of her battered, old backpack.

Her concealed lid will be the front pocket, behind which her globe-inspired small box

will be locked securely away.

I've got this key, which is attached to my water bottle on the outside,

it's gonna slot into the side of the bag,

then when I try and take it out, I won't be able to take it

out without removing the water bottle

and then I'll be able to take the lid off.

And Lois is taking the same approach.

This is my key type locking mechanism thing.

We have spoken about it... Yeah. ..and we're egging each other on

and hoping that our pieces are successful.

With their larger slabs dried to leather hard...

It's a nice consistency now.

Like, it holds its shape still and you can refine it quite nicely

without it, like, slumping.

..the potters can start to bring their boxes to life.

I've got these 3D printed rollers to add some texture to the surface.

It's quick progress that, it feels like you've suddenly made

a big step with very little effort, I like doing that bit.

It's really difficult to make fabric out of clay,

so I used this hessian when I was rolling out the clay, so hopefully,

it'll have more of a textured look.

But while retaining texture is important...

Hopefully with the wood texture, it will add a little bit more character.

..it's crucial their intricately engineered jigsaw of slabs

fit together flawlessly.

What are you most worried about with this build?

Oh, gosh. I'm not a very good engineer, unlike some very good...

mathematicians in the room. Like some actual engineers here. Yeah.

I don't know, this looks pretty impressive.

Oh, gosh, it's the first thing I've ever made that's so structured.

Really? I'm just making supports inside,

so that it's a lot more stable.

If the slabs aren't supported adequately

during the construction stage...

This is the internal structure of the plants, it has to be something solid enough

to be sure that it's going to stand.

..or the joints are not strong enough...

Adding quite a few coils just to strengthen it further on the inside.

It's like sealant for a bathroom basically, but for clay.

Holding my breath.

..the slabs could start moving, causing structural issues.

And I've got some gaps here that I'm going to have to fill in.

We'll get there, we'll get there.

With a very wonky telly. Don't mind me.

No, I won't. I'm just judging you.

Oh, for KEEPSAKE!

You've an hour left. Did you roll your eyes?

No. Did you roll you eyes? Definitely didn't, Miss.

That was a top quality pun going on there. It was.

As the boxes take shape...

I am now putting in texture to represent some of the fabric.

..the potters can start to work on their concealed lids.

So this is the screen of the TV, which is also the lid,

so I'm just making these devices, which will stop it falling off.

But for some, this means the nerve-racking task

of cutting into their structure.

I'm really shaking.

This is a crucial moment, yeah.

Cutting blind through the external walls...

..runs the risk of damaging any internal support structures.

I'm just trying to listen...

So there's a bit of clay...

Oh, good.

Get off, get off, get off.

That's good.

Yeah, pleased with that.

Yeah, that was a big moment for me.

Potters, you've half an hour left. No, no, no, no, no. Half an hour left.

As well as concealing their lids... It's great to see it coming together.

I'll have lots of coral and seaweed going over the join,

so you won't see that join.

..Lois and Caitlin have key mechanisms to disguise.

Does it fit?

Whoo!

Phew.

And all the potters have to use every unforgiving minute...

I've got to get a move on. ..to ensure their boxes...

The shape is TV-esque. ..don't look like boxes.

Does it look like a backpack?

This is the aged beehive. It's been out in the elements a long time.

How are you getting on? Almost there.

I don't want you to tell us that we have ten minutes left because I need more than that.

I'm not going to say that you've ten minutes left.

OK, I lie, I would say that you have ten minutes left, potters.

If it's not in the drying room, it ain't getting fired.

My lid is hidden. The dolphin will be hiding it.

Ooh, look at these, look at all the creatures.

Made a bit of a mess. You've made a wonderful mess. It's fabulous. Thank you. I love it.

One minute left, potters, one minute left.

If it's not in the drying room...

It ain't getting fired! That's it. That's it.

I think this is going to have some bits coming off in the kiln.

I think I'm finished.

Ooh, we've got a fly-eating plant heading into the drying room.

That looks amazing, Christophe.

Five, four, three,

two...

..one.

You did it.

That was insane!

I can't believe I've just done that, to be honest.

The pin fit the hole and if it survives the firing,

I will be so relieved.

I found that really fun because I actually turned the slab building

into sculpture.

The two dancers, one is Daniela and one is Mariana,

which are my lovely daughters, so I just pray

that everything goes well in the kiln for my box.

The wheels are out, the wheels are out.

The potters' second challenge is, as ever, a mystery wrapped in hessian.

You look scared. Good.

Your second challenge this week is a throw down

and the judges would like you to make three stacking mixing bowls.

And, of course, to show us the way is our master, Keith Brymer Jones,

please take the wheel. OK.

So you've got three different sizes, small, medium and large,

so we're really looking for that difference in sizes.

- Hold on a second, Keith. Yeah. - No!

This does all look a bit straightforward,

it's almost like you could just do it with your eyes closed. Oh, no.

My kids are gonna love this. OK, so... That is cruel.

The moment that clay goes on the wheel, you'll have to have this down,

so before you start, really think about where everything is.

It's just incredible how your hands become far more sensitive

to the clay. I hope you're all still there.

I'm gonna do quite a generous rim on there cos it's a mixing bowl.

In with my knuckle and I'm just picking up that clay,

and I'm just stopping underneath the rim, well, I hope I am anyway.

And I'm using my fingers to really sense the contour of the pot.

I suppose this is the hardest part because you're literally trying

to rib up the side to make it nice and neat,

but the hand on the inside can feel whether you've made that bowl shape

and then, just tip that off.

Oh, no.

OK. Then feel for the next one.

What we're trying to, sort of, explore with you

is what your sense and feel and pressure and touch are like.

It's actually quite relaxing.

They don't look that relaxed. No.THEY CHUCKLE

And just wire it through.

Last but not least, the big lump.

In you go with your finger, making that base.

Collar up that clay, make a nice, generous rim,

don't forget to breathe and hey presto.

Wow.

So we're after a nice, defined rim

and we want that nice curve of a mixing bowl.

And they've got to look as though they can stack inside each other.

Small, medium and large.

OK, potters, back to your benches.

The judges have given you 25 minutes. Oh!

And your time starts...now!

God!

Right, blindfolds on now. I have no idea what's going on.

Ooh, my God. Make sure that clay's centred,

that's the most important thing. Oh!

I don't even know how deep I'm going. That's looking really good, Rebecca.

Thank you, I needed that.

How are you getting on? I'm just trying to think about what a bowl looks like.

They sort of look like this.

Oh, thank you, Siobhan. Does that help? That's perfect.

Well, it's definitely a bowl but what shape, is another thing.

Oh, God, what happened there?

Oh, nice, Helen. Got your first one off, that's great.

James, you won't be able to find your wheel again.

I'm going to do the medium one now.

Ooh!

That's it, Christophe. Don't wire through your pot, for God's sake.

Don't tell me that. That's it.

Lovely. Have a feel for the next size, great.

Oh, my gosh, do you know you're on your second one?

And it's looking good. Are you happy? Oh, yeah, it looked beautiful.

James is on his second one. Actually, it's not as bad as I thought it'd be,

well, for all I know.

I'm not really feeling the curve of the bowl. What are you feeling?

I'm feeling a lot of lumps. Bowls have lumps. We all have lumps.

Yeah. Can you just stay here cos you're making me feel more calm?

Oh, do I? Nobody has ever said that before.

Torture, pottery torture.

I'm just following what my body and muscle memory

is telling me to do.

It is a really good skill,

to be aware of your hands and where they are

and what the clay should feel like,

and you should respond to how the clay feels, I think.

You're halfway through, potters. Oh! OK.

Oh, my word! Lois, how many have you made?

One. Fabiola? Two.

James? On to three, third. Whoa! He's on his third.

Nice one, James. Should be all right, as long as I can find it.

Here it is. Derek, careful when you put it down. Oh.

Your guardian angel. Oh, thank you.

Do you know where your third ball is, Fliss? No.

Fliss has walked out of the Pottery. THEY LAUGH

I've had enough.

So tell me what you're doing there now.

So I'm gonna endeavour to find where my finger isn't moving.

This is somewhere close to centre.

Oh, it isn't, it's miles off. It's miles off.

Right, third, we're on to the third one. We have to make this

one big. This is the hardest one.

Oh, no. This is embarrassing.

I'm gonna have to rush the third one, I imagine.

How long have they got, Siobhan? Potters, you have five minutes left.

Where? What?

Right, come on, we can do this. I think we can. What can I do?

Just go away.

Speed of the wheel, Lois, think about it.

It's such a big lump.

It would help if I could see. It would help, wouldn't it?

I messed it up, the third one. I cut it with a nail,

hoping to pull up a new lip.

Lois, last couple of seconds.

Great! It's fat and then thin.

Five, four, three, two, one!

Down tools, well done. Well well done.

Blindfolds off.

Oh, my God.

Phew. I mean, that's terrible.

Mine's just full of water.

I've thrown three cylinders.

Keith and Rich are looking for three stackable mixing bowls,

with smooth, flared sides, beautifully defined rims

and a consistency of form across a set.

I can tell what you've been trying to do here. Make bowls.

How long have you been doing this? THEY LAUGH

But, you know, we can see here that you were really trying to

go for that bulbous kind of shape.

You were almost there. Yeah, they look like they would stack...

Yeah, absolutely. ..effectively, inside each other.

And it's, kind of, minor tweaks, to be spot-on. Yeah.

I was convinced, in my head,

I was flaring these bowls out like that. Yeah. Massive.

Bizarre, isn't it? And then you take the blindfold off

and it's a utensil holder. Yeah, you've made a flowerpot.

Yeah. On a positive note, they're consistently cylindrical,

so it is just a matter of... They're great cylinders, Derek.

You've thrown them well, it's just about readjusting that perception in your head. Yeah.

Let's just do that, shall we? I was hoping you'd spend a bit longer,

so it would have evaporated. Just dried out! Yeah. Let's just do that.

These two are not too bad at all. This one's lovely. Yeah.

They're just a little bit narrow.

Well...Well...Well.

They're really, really good.

You've really managed to get that bowl shape.

And actually, all of the rims are beautifully matching.

And I would say, they would stack really rather beautifully.

Really wonderful effort.

They're really well thrown.

They're just not quite that bowl shape.

But they are very consistent. I mean, all of the rims are the same width.

Well done, Fliss. Thank you so much.

What I can tell from these is that you made them exactly the same way.

You can tell by the marks and there's a certain style

running all the way through them.

I mean, they're definitely three different sizes,

just slightly different forms.

The impressive thing is you haven't gone through the base.

I usually go through if I've not...THEY LAUGH

They're not quite the shape we were after.

But I actually rather like the energy that that one's got.

Obviously completely the wrong form so...

The bases look quite thin. I mean, you know,

first time you've ever done it. Yeah. And there's three, kind of, bowls.

We can see what you've tried to do there. I was learning to do it on this one.

Right, on that one. Did a bit better. Pressure on that one.

I know what I'm capable of and I think I could have done

better than that. Don't beat yourself up. OK.

I won't. Really. But I might. No, don't!

The judges will now order the potters from worst to first.

In 11th place...Lois.

It's just that last one. OK. Just a bit unhinged.

In 10th place...Derek.

In ninth place...George.

Eighth is Jon, seventh is Fabiola,

Rebecca is sixth, Helen is fifth,

and Fliss is fourth.

In third place...Christophe.

Really lovely effort.

So in second place...

..Caitlin. Well done, Caitlin.

So that leaves first place, James. Fantastic, James.

Well done.Thank you.

It is comforting, really comforting actually,

to think, "Oh, actually, yes, I can do this."

It was all right, wasn't it?

That should be my new icebreaker. "Hi, I'm Caitlin,

I can make three bowls blindfolded."

That didn't go too great. I like...

I like to challenge myself

so when I get given challenges,

I just wanna do the best I can

and it's just my personality to be a little bit hard on myself.

# I'll keep on

# Holding on. #

It's decoration day for the keepsake boxes

and after a 24-hour bisque-firing, kiln technician, Rose,

is laying out the potters' boxes,

ready for glazing.

I am very nervous. I actually had a nightmare last night

that it exploded so...

I think anything's better than what I dreamt last night.

I'm hoping that there hasn't been too much warping

in the kiln because mine has a lot of straight sides,

so if those are warped a bit, then that could be a problem.

As long as it doesn't come in pieces,

I will...I will be quite happy, yeah.

Oh, there is utterly no confidence in my build whatsoever.

The hand building was a challenge for me.

I think I just want to rip off the hessian like ripping off a Band-Aid,

so I can just get it over and done with.

Welcome back, potters.

Your keepsake boxes have been bisque-fired

and are ready for decorating.

We really want to see you using those glazes and colours

to really enhance your theme.

Now, clever decoration at this point will really help you

to disguise those lids.

When you remove the hessian, you will see if your keepsake boxes have survived the kiln.

Don't worry if it's not exactly as you expected,

anything can happen in pottery, so just keep going.

OK, potters, you have a range of glazes and oxides

and three hours with which to decorate your keepsake boxes.

And your time starts...now!

Potters, get decorating.

Oh, my God, I don't want to look.

Oh, no.

There is a few cracks, yeah, going up my wave.

It worked.

Oh, yeah. But his head's massive.

But the bit that I was worried about was my pin,

so that comes out which, in my eyes, is a success.

No, no, no, no, no.

What's the problem? The box doesn't quite fit.

There's a piece I meant to cut out, so I just need to gently persuade it with a rolling pin.

Yes!It worked!

Pretty good. That should hopefully work now.

But not everybody is quite so happy.

Lost the two heads

and a pair of arms.

But...it's rocking.

I mean, I cannot be disappointed. I just carry on. I will work hard.

The potters have an array of glazes and oxides to help bring their boxes to life.

So I'm just doing a very, very light pink

on the duvet. I think my signature style is quite child-like.

So it will be quite...illustratative.

And while some are enjoying the predictability of underglazes...

Underglazes are a bit like paints, they do vary a bit as they go through the fire,

but they come out quite close to the colour you put them in.

..others are gambling with the volatility of oxides.

The oxides are good. These dark bits where it's thicker, it goes really dark.

It might even go quite black, but I, kind of, like that sort of organic,

the way it looks afterwards, so it will be a bit of a surprise

how it comes out.

But Fliss' broken wave will need more than just decoration.

Glaze, like, melts and it fuses together,

so I think I'm just going to go for it with the glazes

so that it seals really perfectly.

Fliss may have a plan to glaze her wave but Derek has a problem

no amount of decoration can fix.

So my lid is the screen, so it's a bit wibbly-wobbly,

but it's bowed out a bit, so it slides on and pops on there,

and then...

And then does that and doesn't fall forward at all, honest.

Potters, you're halfway through, halfway through. Ahhh.

Time's really creeping up, so I need to get a wriggle on.

I just want the instruments to pop,

but I'm shaking so much.

While all the potters are aiming to enhance their boxes with bold colours,

for some, it's an opportunity to further camouflage their lid.

So I'm hoping that the bits and pieces that I'm painting,

so they'll pop, I'm hoping that that will detract the eye,

so that the lid will be a little bit of a secret.

But as the layers build up, it's crucial they don't trample on their texture.

So we can see the texture on the clay,

and that's the fabric texture I want to have,

so if I sponge it, then I'm hoping it'll make it lighter

and it'll leave a more textured feel.

So you've done a lot of grey painting.

Are you going to...? Like, this will be, like, a flat grey-black colour?

I'm hoping. I've put some wash on the end and some manganese,

which might, hopefully, darken all of the detail. Oh.

Oh, you've made such, you know, intricate details... Yes, yes.

I want those to come out darker, so they stand out.

How did you do that again, you had a special little...?

A little 3D printed roller. Yeah, yeah.

I think it's my saviour really.

If this doesn't work, could you just, like, 3D print a new one? I did think about it.

Potters, that's half an hour left, half an hour left.

Yeah.

I'm using copper carbonate and white underglaze on my little dolphin.

They should, hopefully, come out like a metallically bluey-grey.

Yeah, I'm just trying to get all the extra glaze

from the slats, it's really important you get all those little details in.

I'm just making sure I don't forget about this wee box.

I know, I'm not a square earther but I only have flat sides,

so I'll try to wrap a world around it.

It's hard to know when to stop.

We don't want him to turn just completely black.

It's probably best just to stop where I am and get clear glaze on properly.

Transparent glaze gives the potters the option to add

a high-gloss sheen to their colours. Oh, God.

In it goes.

But not everyone is going for the full dunk.

So I'm putting transparent glaze in patches.

Yeah, I don't want the wood grain to have that glossy feel.

Five minutes left, potters.

These are the last little bits, just the last finishing touches.

OK. Three, two, one, dunk.

Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God.

One minute left.

I've glazed the inside, I've waxed that, waxed that, let's just go.

..seven, six, five, four, three, two, one!

Tools down. Well done, potters.

Mine is so messy.

The potters must now take their keepsake boxes to Rose

for one final firing.

Oh, yay, yay.

How did it go? Well...it's all right.

When they next see them, it'll be judgment time.

I think it went all right. I don't know what it's going to look like.

We'll see if everything comes out in one piece.

Aye, this one's been a good time.

I think there is the stress that it will just look like a blue brick,

to be honest, which we don't want.

But, yeah, it'll be exciting to see it and it's not long now.

It's judgment day

and after a 24-hour gloss firing,

the potters' keepsake boxes are ready to come out of the kiln.

I think I'm prepared a lot more for what's about to happen.

There we go. It's gorgeous. Oh, my gosh.

After the trouble I had making it,

I was really happy with the way decoration went,

so I'm just really looking forward to seeing it.

It's in one piece, well, it's in the pieces it should be in.

Here we go. It never enters my mind that I would be Potter of the Week,

I just want to be average, sail through in the middle,

and just get to enjoy the experience

and enjoy everyone else's achievements at the same time.

11 keepsake boxes now face the judgment of Keith and Rich.

Potters, I make no secret of the fact

that I think your keepsake boxes are beautiful,

but I'm not the one judging, these two are

so let's get on with it. Lois, would you please bring

your keepsake box up to the judges?

Here he is.

On first, sort of, approach, you wouldn't know it's a box

and that's what's so lovely about it.

It's just so sensible to use that Peruvian blanket to disguise the lid.

I've got to say as well, the application of copper is

incredible. Had you not used the oxide,

it wouldn't have enhanced that detail,

it's just a really well thought out approach.

Well, look, Lois, I know you really got upset in the second challenge,

didn't you? Mm. And you came 11th, right? Mm-hm.

Come on. You know, don't...

Don't give yourself such a hard time all the time,

because this is fantastic.

It just really works really well.

The thing actually that strikes me most

is that you've managed to use the key, if you like, to the lid,

in such a, sort of, decorative way

and you, literally, can't tell whether that would come off or not.

You've just thought about every aspect. Yeah. I love the way

you've got those four little lugs,

just to retain the keepsake box. What's your keepsake?

It's my late grandma's ring. Well, I'm already spoken for, so...

Oh, I know. I'm not. Siobhan, yeah.

Well done, Lois. Thank you.

The moment you started walking towards the bench,

you could tell what it was. It seems to have worked really, really well.

I'm just really impressed with that lid and the way it fits.

I love the fact that you haven't gone with a glossy glaze.

You've, kind of, retained so much texture, right down to the stitching

and the fact that you've put black underglaze into those, it's just really lovely.

You've got your keepsake box.

What is in there? When I did do a few local runs,

my daughters gave me some little medals.

Those objects that your children make for you because they care so much

are the most beautiful keepsakes.

Well, it's wonderful, I'm just really impressed with that lid. It's really good.

It's an amazing structure

and I don't think there's a crack in sight. I see, you've got the mechanism there

to get your lid off.

Yeah, the quality of the construction is outstanding.

And these edges are so nice and sharp.

So just tell us a little bit about the box itself.

Yes, the box is supposed to be an alien artefact. And what's in the scroll?

The scroll is just a list of science fiction books that I've

enjoyed reading, so... Oh, lovely.

That's it.It has docked.

If there was any slight comment about it,

it would have been just pare some of the colour back on this. Yeah.

You could have enhanced the texture of the surface of the spaceship

a little bit more.

It's great. Really, really wonderful.

And there's something about the use of colour, that pink,

it's so subtle and yet with the animals on the bedspread,

absolutely fantastic.

I love the fact that the whole top section lifts off

and, I mean, the slats, they're beautiful.

The fact that you haven't glazed the slats, you've really thought about

the texture of the material that you're trying to emulate.

And then we've got your little box here,

I mean, that is so crisp, you've just got that absolutely spot-on.

And what's your keepsake?

That's my aquamarine engagement ring

and I just love it.Yeah.

Last but not least, does it fit?

There we go.

Fantastic. Well done, Rebecca. Thank you. Thank you.

Well, I think it tells your story beautifully.

It really feels like it's just an object

that's fallen to the bottom of a river

and it's got all of that detritus and growth.

And the fact that you've overlaid all these different objects

to really conceal that lid works really, really well.

And then, of course, you've got your little box

and there's... So, what's that in there then?

That was my first find,

it's just a little clay pipe. Works really, really well.

Well done, Helen. It's great, thank you. Thank you. Well done.

Ooh. I mean, talk about an engineered lid.

And it's well concealed. Crikey, I mean, you wouldn't know that that was a lid.

For me, the decoration is a bit on the garish side.

I'm really drawn to the small box. I know, I know.

Because that is just exquisite.

And who's this little fellow in here then?

So when I was a kid, I'd been fostered

and this woman came to see me in the hospital when I was at the age of four,

and she alerted social services

about the urgency for me to be fostered. Right.

So she basically saved my life, she offered me this little teddy bear,

so since then I still have it.

Isn't it amazing how, you know, just a simple object like that

can carry so much meaning and emotion?

A really brave move. A really brave construction.

So well done, Christophe. Well done. Thank you.

Thank you. Well done. OK.

I was really concerned about you trying to emulate,

kind of, man-made materials... Yes.

So was I. ..something quite organic. Right.

But actually, overall, it's a beautiful quality of finish.

And obviously we can see here, your screen is a bit warped.

It has warped the wrong way. Yeah.

But I love that. Oh, thank you. The lines,

absolutely wonderfully executed.

Is there anything in it? Yeah, there is. It's a tie, my dad's.

He was on telly quite a bit in the '70s and '80s as a political analyst

and they gave him that tie from the local station.

Does the box fit in?

Ah, yes. It does fit.

On the whole, it's worked quite well,

but, yeah, love that.

What's wonderful, to start off with,

is that you've chosen a structure

that literally lends itself to having that secret lid.

You know, I love this texture of the honeycomb on the small box.

And then, of course, you've got all your bees in there. Wow.

I think I would want it to remain a secret, I'm not sure

I'd want to take it out any time soon.

I don't think we will.

And then we've got another little secret, underneath here. Ah.

So where does your box fit within? Wow.

So squidge her up, I don't think it's... Ooh, there she is.

Great idea, though, to conceal it within the lid.

Well done, George. Thanks so much.

It dances. It dances.

Yeah. Yes. Headless dancers but it dances. Exactly, yeah.

It's a real shame that you had these breakages...

Yes. ..but I just admire your ambitious approach to form.

In ceramics, it's always a bit of a daunting process

when you're creating something that moves around.

I particularly like those. My two daughters. Beautiful.

I'm curious, what's your keepsake?

My bag was stolen so my music and my phone disappeared

and my girls, they bought that little box for me to say,

"Mummy, don't worry, you will have a little bit of music on the bus."

Music wherever you go. Yeah.

I think it's Firestarter by The Prodigy.

I believe it is.

Well, on first observation, you've got a few stress cracks,

here, there and everywhere. That's a bit of a shame.

But what I'm really liking is this.

That colour, it looks fantastic, really, really lovely.

Is it a concealed lid? Erm...maybe not as concealed

as we would have hoped. What do you think, Rich?

I mean, I always think it's really difficult when you're emulating something as organic

as a wave, and I think, in your construction,

the one saving grace is this white area of foam

because it, kind of, makes it feel much more stylised.

Let's have a look at your box. What's the keepsake? Oh, sorry,

he's a little tortoise who's been handed down, generation by generation.

Aww, lovely. Wow, what a lovely thing. Yeah.

It's a backpack,

and, you know, it's travelling around the world, it works really, really well.

Not only has the clay taken on the impression of canvas,

you've got a softness to construction.

You've, kind of, softened the edges, so it feels like a backpack should feel.

And then we've got the concealed lid.

Wow. You would so obviously think that this would be the lid

and the fact that you've disguised it there, it's fantastic.

I love the fact that you've got that little water bottle in a pocket. This is wonderful.

It's just a really great idea. Really, the more I look at it,

the more I think it's a really wonderful object.

What's the red dot all about there?

They're the places that I would like to go, in future, if I can. Right.

And I'm loving the little bell. Where's that from then?

Anywhere I go, you will always find me at a craft market and this was one in Munich,

I decided to buy it as a memento.

You know, at the end of the day, it's all about what's in your head,

and how you interpret that with the clay,

and you've done it in such an incredible way.

Really well done. Thank you.

I'm happy they liked it, I'm really proud,

as the one I wanted was attention to detail

and I got that out, but I don't think I'll be Potter of the Week, no.

I don't know if they're going to take into account the heads.

That's my only worry, but I don't know what is going to happen.

A part of me obviously wants to stay,

but then, if I have to leave, I will leave happy

because I met so many people and I learned so much.

I definitely feel like I'm potentially one of the people

who might be going home, I don't know.

Er, yeah.

I've really enjoyed this week

with lots of secret passions and blindfold throw downs,

but I get the impression that it's actually quite a tough week to judge.

Yeah, I mean, the overall quality of the making has been outstanding.

It really has. And I think it's made all the more difficult

because all of the stories attached to them are that personal.

So let's go right, then, to the top,

who do you think is in contention for Potter of the Week?

Well, Lois has to be in contention. Yes.

My word. It is amazing.

The problem we have, with Lois, is that she came last in the second challenge. Ah, I see.

Another one up there for us is Caitlin.

That stylised, cartoon version of a backpack,

and that attention to detail, with that flask on the side,

acting as a key, was just fantastic.

And... She came second in the second challenge,

so, all in all, she's had a very, very good week.

Who do you think is in danger of going home this week?

One of them has got to be Fliss. There was quite a lot of cracks in the construction.

Was the lid disguised? I don't really think it was.

Fabiola had an interesting week as well.

I mean, it's an ambitious form, to make something that rocks... Yeah.

..it's no mean feat, but it's heartbreaking

when something so personal... Yeah. ..kind of, goes wrong.

Well, as usual, I don't envy you. I will be away drinking tea

and having custard creams, so good luck.

Potters, the judges have made their decision.

This is the bit I hate the most.

You have the sweet joy of announcing a winner,

coupled with the bitter fact that we have to say goodbye to one of you.

This week's Potter of the Week goes to...

..Caitlin. Well done!

Smile.

It's a good thing. Yeah, you look shocked.

Well done. OK.

Now the bit without the smiles.

This week, the person who is leaving the Pottery is...

..Fliss.

Oh, wow.

Thanks, guys. I'm so sorry.

So gutted. I think everyone here is so incredible

and the standards are just beyond me, I just couldn't keep up.

Thank you. You're just a star. Oh, I love you.

I am very proud of myself, yeah,

and I really understand clay a lot more.

See you, Fabs.

A little bit sad. She is, like, the same age as my daughter...

..so, you know, I wanted her to do good.

But she's amazing and she does beautiful things and I'm sure I'm not going to...

This is not the last time that I'm going to see her

and I wish her the best.

So as Fliss leaves the Pottery,

Caitlin's keepsake box takes second spot in the Throw Down Gallery.

Caitlin's design was incredible.

She'd put texture, a really beautiful, subtle texture

into every slab. I loved the way that concealed the lid

and her little keepsake box that slid inside was so well put together,

just really simple, really beautiful and effectively built.

I don't know what to say. Ah, man.

What...? Wow. Yeah. What has happened?

Well done. Thank you very much. It's fantastic.

Maybe it's just I need to have more confidence in myself,

and being Potter of the Week,

it's just chipping away at that, sort of, self-doubt.

I think that's what I feel right now.

I'm here and I'm, sort of, meant to be here, which is really nice.

Next time, Retro Week sees the potters take on a trio of birds...

I'm soaring, I'm flying, I'm winging it.

..and get thrown by an old-school hot water bottle.

Who has their knob off? I've got a knob off, but I'm doing it again.

I'm picky about my knobs. Whose feathers will be ruffled?

Don't drop it.

And who will reach new heights?

What's the difference between lorikeets and parakeets?

There's a LORRA lorikeets. A LORRA lorikeets.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media