Original subtitles

It's week three here at Gladstone,

as our ten remaining potters face

a feathery challenge that is often associated with some

other famous cobbles.

This week we're going all retro as our potters make a trio

of flying birds.

Welcome to The Great Pottery Throwdown.

Good morning. Sup.

Last time, the potters slab-built ornamental keepsake boxes...

Don't mind me, I'm just judging you.

..and felt their way...

Where? What?

..through a blind throwdown challenge.

Torture, pottery torture.

And while Caitlin's backpack secured her Potter Of The Week...

Caitlin.

..Fabiola's dancing daughters lost their heads.

So heads and a bit of arm...

But it was Fliss's wave that broke too soon...

Two cracks, yeah.

..as she became the second potter to leave the competition.

Oh, wow.

This time, Retro Week sees our potters face a trio...

I just have one bird, great.

..of hand-built birds...

Feel a bit unnerved by them and their beady eye.

..and things heat up with a vintage

hot water bottle throwdown.

Oh, God, it's just hard.

Who will soar...

They're almost, dare I say, perfect to the brief.

..and who will have to flee the nest?

Yeah, well done.

Making Time by The Creation

The Bird's The Word by The Rivingtons

Our fledging potters are back to take on a classic challenge.

Week three. I'm feeling very happy to be here today.

Another day in pottery paradise.

We are doing a trio of birds this week.

This is exciting.

I mean, I love birds, but I've never made any birds before.

As long as they've got an eye, two wings, beak, then it's a good day.

Welcome back, potters.

For your main challenge this week,

the judges would like you to hand build

a trio of flying birds.

Now, the birds should be inspired by some place you want to fly away to,

but not just yet. At least finish the challenge.

Rich, any advice for our potters?

The original flying ducks were made in the 1930s by Beswick Pottery

right here, in Stoke-on-Trent.

Your birds can be in your own style.

Keep them realistic and accurate.

Each of your birds needs to be of a different size,

so when it comes to judging, they gain perspective,

and ensure they can be secured on that judging wall,

so careful planning is definitely needed.

Potters, you have five and a half hours, and your time starts now.

This is a bit nerve-wracking.

This is a challenge that I wasn't looking forward to.

I mean, I have never done a bird.

I'm a little bit unnerved by them

and their beady eye.

I'm really excited about making these guys.

It's like a homage to Beswick, which is really cool.

In continuous production from 1938 to 1973, the Beswick flying ducks

are icons of 20th-century design and remain highly collectable.

So our potters have a lot to live up to.

Just getting the complexity in there, the detail through, making

it really look realistic...

Could quite easily look like they're just cartoons.

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

No.

Retro Week. Keith, I reckon it's got to be right up your street.

We all remember that iconic three ducks on the wall.

We're lucky to have one here.

It's just going to be fascinating to see our potters' take on it.

We want those three sizes -

further-away bird, nearer bird and even-nearer bird.

I want to see a fairly shallow profile, and yet real depth created.

This is a great example.

They've just used that low relief, which is just taking material away,

creating texture and using that very shallow depth to create

the illusion of much more depth.

But also, they've got to stick on the wall.

These guys have used a little nubbin on the inside.

This one on here, it's just got a shelf where the potter

has really thought about where that centre of gravity is.

They have to look spectacular because they're going

to be in your house, on your wall for a long period of time.

Who's going to be flying high in The Pottery this week?

Hello, Derek. Hi, Derek. Sorry, Siobhan, is that...

Blinded!

How many of those jackets do you have, then? I've got a few.

It hides the desperate dark inside.

So, tell us about your birds.

I'm doing three herring gulls cos I like seagulls.

And each one of them is stealing a different piece of food -

an ice-cream cone, a chip, and some candy floss.

I didn't realise, but seagulls, they salivate.

I'm salivating over this Flake.

Derek's penchant for this oft-maligned sea bird is born

out of childhood summers spent by the sea

in Portrush, Northern Ireland.

He'll depict his smooth-feathered gulls mid-theft,

making off with a selection of booty,

which he'll attach as separate sculptural forms.

It's quite a sleek bird and it's quite a grey bird,

so there's challenges there,

but there's quite a lot of colour in the beak,

things like the ice cream, and the pink candy floss.

Well, look, good luck with it all.

I hope all the appendages stick... Don't touch my ice cream!

Buy your own. Seagull, you see - seagull DNA!

Whilst Derek's gulls are mostly monochrome,

Helen's flying to the other side of the world

for something more colourful.

So I've chosen galahs.

But you have to say... ..galahs.

If you're in Australia, they are also

a phrase for someone who's a bit of a twit.

Ya flamin' galah!

Helen encountered her first galah on a year-long trip to Oz in 1987.

She'll use under-glazes to replicate their distinctive pink

and grey colouring, and add small spiky coils of clay

to form their crest.

Why do Australians say "flaming galah"?

It's probably when they barbecue them, don't you reckon?

Like Helen, Rebecca's also taken her inspiration

from down under.

My trio of birds are rainbow lorikeets.

So these three are flying to Australia.

Baby Bird, Mummy Bird, that's me.

This one's going to be looking back to England,

and then we've got Daddy Bird, which is my husband,

who's not really bothered about much.

He's just off on his way.

Rebecca, son Henry, and husband Laurence have just returned

after five years of living in Oz.

By looking back, her Mummy Bird symbolises Rebecca's homesickness,

which brought them back to the UK.

I like the fact that you've got a nod to a story. Yeah.

What's the difference between lorikeets and parakeets?

There's a LORRA lorikeets. A LORRA Lorikeets?

Disgusted with me? Yeah.

Most of the potters have rolled slabs of clay...

They nearly all been built as slabs

which I'm forming over a light former...

..and are fleshing them out with formers to create the bodies of their birds.

That will stay in until it's quite dry.

So that's the smaller one. Just starting on the middle one.

Now, this is the big one.

They need to create a sense of perspective.

This is my former, just this one.

But Fabiola is taking a one-size-fits-all approach.

At the moment they look like sausages.

My inspiration is the macaw.

This one especially lives in the Amazon.

Originally from Colombia, I realised

how beautiful Colombia is with the mountains.

All the green around, all the beautiful animals.

With dreams of her homeland's Amazon in mind,

Fabiola will depict her blue-and-yellow macaw

in three different stages of flight,

and she has ambitious plans for its feathers.

I'm putting the feathers one by one. Right.

I'm going to put one on top of the other.

Will you have to sort of cross-hatch and slip each single?

Yes. Wow. Blimey. Yes.

It's a lot of work!

And Fabiola's isn't the only macaw in the house.

I chose a macaw.

They're colourful, got nice structure as well.

It also happens to be youngest daughter

Poppy's favourite feathered friend.

Rather than adding feathers,

James will form them by carving into the surface

and meticulously cutting away around the edges of the wings.

I'm starting with thick clay, and then as the time goes on,

it gets thinner and thinner, as I get more and more precise.

You're going to have to be ever so careful

working on this as it dries out.

Yeah, I suggest don't let Siobhan anywhere near it,

when you are doing that bit. I'm just saying.

With three different-sized birds to juggle...

I need to do a lot of carving. I need plenty of time.

..managing their drying times will be a tall order.

I'm starting to do detail on the biggest one because the tip

of this wing started to dry out faster than any other part.

Different thicknesses of clay dry at varying rates.

I'm going to put some cling-film over these sort of extremities

so that they don't dry out too much, too quickly.

Get it wrong, and they risk their birds

becoming brittle and breaking.

The wings are moving as I'm carving, so every time it moves,

it's going to get a little bit of weakness in it.

I'm putting them in a dry room and then adding

more depth sculpture to it, and then I'll put them back in again.

Whilst most of the potters are dreaming

of birds from sunnier climes,

Jon's thinking of his carbon footprint.

Climate change suggests we shouldn't fly anywhere,

so I'm not flying. I'm going to go on a boat.

So I'm going for puffins as the three birds.

Inspired by a family holiday to Skomer Island, west Wales,

Jon's puffin will emerge from the sea

with a beak full of eels, and water still dripping from its feet.

I love puffins.

They fly very funny, their little legs just dangling.

Yes, they take ages to take off in the water.

They do miles along the water till they eventually get airborne.

Hilarious. They're the Charlie Chaplin of the bird world.

So if you were a bird... I'd be a puffin.

You'd want to be a puffin? Yeah.

George has also opted for a bird with great potential for comedy.

The bird I've chosen to do has an unfortunately silly name.

It's a blue-footed booby.

And for me, they epitomise the Galapagos.

I've never been to the Galapagos.

My parents go on lovely holidays, and tell me about them afterwards.

And I'm green with envy.

Modelled on the birds in his father's holiday snaps,

George's boobies will be sculpted out of solid clay

and hollowed before firing.

He's depicting them mid-feeding frenzy.

So I want to capture that.

Just about to hit the water,

you know, really tight, sleek, smooth, BSSSSH!

One flapping about, one bulleting in, and one flying off.

Oh, sheesh!

You're halfway through.

Halfway through.

Oh, my gosh.

As Fabiola struggles with her mammoth feathering session...

I just have one bird. Great.

..Christophe has concerns of his own.

This is part of the feathers. It's a risky move

because every tip that gets, like, overhang can definitely break.

To commemorate a formative university field trip to Egypt...

One of the birds of the Egyptian mythology is the peregrine falcon,

which represents courage and strength.

..architect Christophe's peregrine falcon

is diving down and soaring away

with its prey - a mouse - between its claws.

But he's set himself a mighty task.

You've got a lot to do because they're quite big areas.

Exactly. And I've seen all the others,

which look more, like, confined, but...

Coming to blows! They do look fast coming over.

How are you thinking of applying it to the wall?

So there is a big slab underneath it.

Kind of a structural grid to be sure that it's not

going to tilt over and everything.

You want the weight to be sort of pulling down, don't you?

We'll leave you to it.

While Christophe has big ambitions,

I always think that good things come in small packages.

Last week's Potter Of The Week has gone for a little bird

that always puts a smile on her face.

My trio of birds is hummingbirds.

When you're worrying and you shouldn't worry,

then these are my three little birds that will hopefully

keep me not worrying.

Caitlin's love for the tiny hummingbird goes back to childhood.

She'll capture its imperceptible wing movements in three distinct

poses and will use under-glaze and detailed carving

to reproduce its iridescent breast.

Very long, delicate beaks.

I know, I know.

So susceptible to breaking.

If I give the illusion of it being long

and thin, but I still want it to be fairly sturdy to prevent it.

Right, OK.

And hopefully I can try and capture the kind of essence of their beak,

but not risk their breaking at the same time.

OK, well, look, good luck. Thank you very much. I'll see you later. Thank you.

And now I'm making sure that I do my joints properly.

Hopefully, this will hold it.

The more appendages the potters add...

I'm doing the feets,

which is very tricky to make it realistic. It's not easy.

..the greater the chance of breakages during firing.

My bird needs some feet...

Not too thin, otherwise it's going to crack, and not too thick,

or it will look unrealistic.

Derek, is that the ice-cream cone getting added? It is.

And if it stays on, it'll be a miracle,

But, you know, we believe in miracles.

But Lois isn't taking any chances.

I thought making them in one piece would be beneficial.

Hopefully, I'm not going to get breakages where there's joins.

As she's drawn to all things Japanese -

particularly its ceramic tradition -

Lois has decided to make a trio of Kawasemi,

the common Japanese kingfisher,

diving into the water for fish.

You've never been to Japan?

I haven't, no.

Have you travelled much?

A bit. I didn't go, like, travelling

and do the whole, like... Gap year.

Gap year. Me neither.

I sort of got to London and thought, "That's enough now. Thanks."

I was a bit scared of the escalators when I arrived.

They do go very quickly.

They're quite smooth birds, but even then you would still

have the individual feathers.

I'm just using this brush to give it a bit of a texture to it.

The potters have been tasked with

using low relief to make their birds look

as three-dimensional as possible.

It's very fine carving to try and generate a lot of depth

with very little actual physical depth.

So you've got some 3D-ness to that structure.

The glaze will run into any texture that I make now, and it will

just make it look a lot more realistic and interesting.

While the rest carve to give the impression of depth,

George is taking a more hands-on approach.

So I'm trying to get the proportion of a wing right.

They have lovely bones on their wings, raised bits

where the bones are, and I'm trying to keep some of that.

I did do some sculpture at school.

I did some really good sculptures, but I need to speed up a bit.

Potters! A little birdie told me you have one hour left.

Thanks. No?!

One, two, three.

For the potters who used formers...

Oh, everybody's flipping.

..they now face the unnerving task of removing them.

It's like a bird autopsy, isn't it?

When I remove the former,

it could result in fracture... Not fractures!

It's out. Whew!

Whew! Whew!

Well, OK.

But Christophe is facing his own challenge.

I'm carving out the birds

because there is a huge thickness of clay.

He's creating an elaborate support system for his large flat wings.

And I do try to leave a kind of sort of a grid to support the wings.

Potters!

I don't want to be...

..a bird-en.

Yes, nice.

But you've half an hour left.

Half an hour now.

Half an hour? When did that happen?

I missed one wing.

I need to make it so quick.

So I need to get the thing that's going to take the screw

to hold it on the wall, to try to get that fitted into the back.

To ensure their birds hang on the wall successfully...

I never made hanging ceramics in the past,

so it's a bit nerve-wracking.

..it's crucial the potters create a snug space for a single screw.

I've already got this bad boy installed.

Get it wrong, and their birds could fall off their perch.

Not particularly sophisticated,

but hopefully it'll work. I hope!

There's always a worry about if it's too heavy,

you know, it might not stay on the wall.

Oh, my God! You made me a Flake! Don't eat it! Don't, don't, don't.

Ten minutes left, potters! Ten minutes left! Yeah, yeah, yes, yes, yes.

I'm kind of rushing.

This is the time when I become kind of nervous.

This is my last one.

But, I mean, I haven't finished carving in my wings.

All right. They need a bit of attention, but that's OK.

I keep seeing bits I need to tidy up.

For me, a lot of mine is going to be in the painting

because it's quite a smooth bird.

I've tried to detail the feathers, scratched a little detail into here

so I can pick up the colours

when I paint them on to give them a little bit of depth.

Daddy Bird's looking very angry.

Oh, look, he's serious.

He's having no faffing about today.

I really like their fluffy chins.

Potters! Remember!

A bird in the hand is worth nothing.

You need to have everything in the drying room by the end of this session.

Thank you. Thank you, Rebecca.

I'm a tiny bit disappointed of the pattern,

but too late to change.

Come on, Christophe.

Good man, Christophe. Wonderful. Get it in the cupboard.

Well done.

Flapping away in there. George.

Oh, well done, Lois.

No, in, in! In, now!

Missed a bit, I missed a bit!

Oops.

I'm really worried.

Just a little movement, and then I will break him.

Come on, Derek.

Don't drop that ice cream.

Like chickens going home to roost.

OK. Who's left? Lois. Yeah. Are you ready?

It might make all the difference.

Just that...

I'm rushing it. I am stressing out a little bit.

Don't leave it too late.

Ten seconds left, George.

All right, if you take that one...

Eight, seven,

six, five, four,

three, two, one.

Well done.

OK, then. And that's it.

Potters, dismissed.

Well done. -Well done. Yeah, we did it.

I quite enjoyed it.

I got all the detail on that I wanted to do,

all the textures I wanted to do.

So, so far, so good.

My main concern would be for the large bird.

It can either be in one piece or into millions of pieces.

It's in the hand of the gods now.

As the potters wait for their flying birds to be bisque fired,

ready for decoration...

I'll stand in the middle today. Hello!

..they face a second challenge and, as usual,

they have no idea what it is.

Welcome to your second challenge.

And this week it's going to be a throwdown,

and you will be making

an old-fashioned hot water bottle.

Oh, my word.

To show us how it's done is master potter Rich Miller.

Well, thank you. OK.

You've got two kilos of clay,

and you're going to be throwing in slightly different weights,

because you've got to make one of the components first.

You've got to make that neck

that you're going to stick on to the bottle.

The clay is quite firm.

It's just going to cone up and down a couple of times,

and when you bring that clay up,

you're going to throw a spout off the hump.

So that's my spout, and I'll stick that onto the bottle in a minute.

You're then going to throw the body of your hot water bottle.

You've got the needle tool to check the depth of your base,

so you push the needle tool in, slide your finger down,

bring it out, and that that's left is the depth of your base.

You want to be around about 9mm.

So now you want to start collaring in the top.

Because this needs to be a knob,

I'm going to seal that top up.

And you want quite a generous knob.

Absolutely. These will have hot water in them, you know,

and this is the knob that you'll be using to hold it.

Offer up your spout.

So it's going to be kind of more of a slip and wiggle.

Is that a technical term?

Yeah, a bit of a slip and wiggle.

OK. That feels pretty firm.

And you need to cut the circular piece out from the inside

and bring the clay outwards,

which is quite tricky.

Once you're sort of happy, wire that off,

and that's your old fashioned hot water bottle.

Ohh!Excellent!That is great!

This is going to be blind judged, so we're going to ask you to leave.

Please be gone. Make me a cup of tea.

Good luck. Good luck.

You're going to need the luck, guys,

because the judges have given you...

..30 minutes... Oh! Wow!

..and your time starts now.

Remove the hessian.

And we're off!

That is a tough piece of clay!

I'm just trying to cone up and centre the clay a bit.

Just got to remember to make my little spout first.

God, it is hard!

Nowhere near centred.

Hello, Siobhan. Hello.

Look, you've done this already. Yeah.

Have you worked off the hump before?

Many, many years ago.

Don't do it very often.

Oh, God. I can feel palpitations.

Oh...

Oh...

Argh!

Oh, that's a little bit rubbish.

Potters, who has their knob off?

Yeah, I've got my knob off!

I've got a knob off, but I'm doing it again.

You didn't like that knob?

I'm picky about my knobs.

She's very finicky.

I don't think that was meant to come off like that.

I think that's the bottleneck.

And the knob is on top,

without having to correct your knob usage...

I suspect you know far more about knobs than I do.

I shan't comment.

I feel like there's so many parts to this,

I can't really get my brain around what I've got to do next.

I guess I've got to make the actual bottle now.

Achieving the right depth and width of base is critical

if the potters are to leave themselves enough clay

to achieve the height Rich and Keith are looking for.

We're trying to get up to 300mm or so,

about a foot high.

Helen, how are we doing?

I'm just going to check my base.

OK. Because it's all about the base.

What are you most...

The base is quite thick...

Now that's near enough to 9mm.

I'm all right with that.

I need big muscles!

This is not going well, is it?

Come on, come on, Fabiola, you can do it!

Nice height. That is definitely over the 300 millilitres.

That is a ruler. Millimetres.

That's what I said.

So much wobble on it.

I can't stop it wobbling.

Oh, God. It's just hard.

It's just getting more and more...

Potters, you're halfway through.

Halfway through!

Ooh, she scares me!

I need to gather me knob.

It's going to break.

Oh, come on. That's it.

I just need to dry it.

It's not really going to be enough, is it?

All right, we give up on that idea.

Small is beautiful, small is beautiful!

I put too much pressure on my knob.

I feel like my life here in the studio is just covering up stupid mistakes.

It's got a funny shape!

Oh, no.

Oh, God.

I leave it like that.

Better keep going on it.

Potters, you've five minutes left.

Five minutes left.

I don't know how to do this.

Right. OK, let's just get it on.

Let's see if I can get this bugger on.

I need to cut it a bit.

I think you're the first one who's done that.

That's not going to stick on, because I've got a top.

Oh, my God.

Fabiola, well done. You did it. Yes, I did it. I did it.

I love you. I love you.

You've one minute left. Oh, no.

One minute left, potters! One minute left.

Let's stick everything together and get it off the wheel.

Oh, my God. This is an embarrassment.

Eugh, that's really hard to get out!

I can't get it to fall out.

Perfect.

I did it. You did it.

I mean, I can't even show that.

Ten seconds left, potters.

Nine, eight, seven, six,

five, four, three, two, one!

Yes! Once again!

You've got your main make.

You've got your main make.

Come on, it's OK.

You can do it.

Yeah!

Well done, Rebecca, well done.

Keith and Rich will now judge the potters' retro hot water bottles.

Well, we're going to be lovely and toasty tonight

with all these hot water bottles. Yeah.

They are looking for nice fluid form,

around 30cm high,

with a well proportioned spout

and a sturdy knob.

And they have no idea whose belongs to whom.

OK, Rich, what do you reckon?

The rim on the side is beautifully thrown.

That's got a lovely profile.

Good, generous knob on the top.

You've got something in your pocket, haven't you?

Just have a look.

I knew it.

Oh, wow. Oh, very good. Well done.

Isn't it amazing when you cut something in half, you can see

exactly where you put that clay?

A good thickness to the base, 9-10mm

that follows reasonably well through the wall.

So really good. Moving on.

I'm liking the knob.

Maybe could have just done with a bit more sort of finger action

underneath just to define that a bit more.

That's not bad at all.

Not bad at all.

This is the Dalek version.

Insulate!

Thanks for that, Siobhan.

I like the knob on this one.

This one has a great knob.

It's just a little squat and wide.

It's a little thin at this spot,

but on the whole, not a bad profile.

This person has obviously just struggled to get that clay over.

But what this does have is a beautiful shoulder.

The rim looks a little like it's not been bonded on

and they haven't had time to cut the hole.

The whole clay has obviously come away and it hasn't left enough

to kind of complete the knob at the top,

but I love the shoulder profile.

You can kind of see why it hasn't fulfilled its full height destiny.

It's got a little bit of extra clay down at the bottom.

We've probably got sort of 15mm thickness there.

Well, this has got a nice form on it.

Beautiful. It's almost like a beehive.

It's a very definite knob.

It could have been slightly larger and a bit rounder.

I love the profile of that shoulder.

That is absolutely wonderful.

It's beautifully even both sides.

That's a great effort.

Managed to collar that in - almost in too far because we've got quite

a small knob on the top.

Hole's been cut through, reasonably neat.

Wow. Lovely.

This person has made good use of the clay.

Yeah. It's a good bit of height.

And the thickness of the base is really lovely, isn't it?

It's consistent with the walls, which is what we're looking for.

Last but not least...

This one really makes me laugh. It's really nice.

As the form suggests, just a lot of extra clay

at the base that hasn't been pulled up into the wall, a bit

more of a cone shape, but they all represent a really good attempt.

So really well done.

Keith and Rich will now rate the hot water bottles from worst to first.

In 10th place, We have this one.

Who is this?

Rebecca, you've struggled to get that clay collared in,

but it was well on its way.

It's a great effort. And we like the definition on the spout.

Thought that was great. Great spout. Great shoulder.

In ninth place, We have this one.

Fabiola! Wow.

OK. I make you laugh. It was great.

It has such character.

In eighth place is Derek.

Seventh place is Helen.

In sixth, George.

Fifth is Lois.

Fourth Christoph, and in third is Caitlin.

So in second place,

This one. Jon.

Lovely wall profile,

it was just that knob.

Little bit mean, but beautifully made.

Yeah, well done, Jon.

So in first place, we have this one.

James.Well done.

Really lovely straight sides,

really love the shape of the knob.

You flattened that top off beautifully.

Really good effort.

I settle my nerves now.

It means that when the judging comes for the birds,

I don't need to worry too much. As much.

It was so hard, that challenge.

My mum and dad, when they're watching

they say to me... "Bec, pull yourself together, get a grip."

I put a lot of effort

into getting a solid knob on the end of my part

and actually having a big knob.

Sorry... Having... Having a... Help!

It's day two at The Pottery,

and kiln technician Rose

is up with the larks

collecting the potters' bisque-fired birds

ready for decoration.

It's scary!

The biggest risk on my birds is the claws -

tiny little elements can be knocked off very easily.

If there's a big crack or anything else going on,

it might be a wingless bird.

We did get asked for different wing positions,

but I think on the floor

is probably not what they were intending.

Potters, your trio of flying birds have been bisque fired

and are now ready for decorating.

Keith, any advice?

We've asked you for low relief,

so we don't want to see all that lovely detail

be covered over by glaze.

Your bird should be realistic and accurate to their species,

your colour and glaze choice and the application will play

a massive role in that.

OK, then, potters, you have been given three hours

with which to decorate your birds.

Your time starts...

..now! Remove the hessian.

Ooh.

Are you all right? Yep.

I lost a foot.

Me Flake's still on, the ice cream's still attached,

so, yeah, I'm pretty happy.

I don't know exactly how I can repair that, but I will not

be beaten by this.

Bit of a bun fight, ladies.

I wouldn't waste a good bun on a fight.

You haven't seen my buns.

In order to bring their trio of birds to life,

the potters have a variety of coloured under-glazes

to choose from...

Jade and apple and forest...

..but whether they have opted for a bright or tropical bird...

My rainbow lorikeets do need a lot of colours.

..or one with more subdued colour, like Jon's puffins...

This is the white for the main body and onto some blacks and some browns next.

..they need to get the colours as realistic as possible.

It's important to look like seagulls.

I'm going to start with the white

because that's the kind of base colour,

and then the darker colours will start to go on top of that,

and the greys and then the blacks.

I start off just giving a very light coat of the red.

Once I've done this, I'll go back, adding bits of orange

so that it'll be hopefully as realistic as possible.

Blue-footed boobies are quite drab, but they do have a little bit

of subtlety to the colours.

So I'm going to do a King's Blue on the inside of the wings

and then a very thin layer of brown on top,

and then bright blue feet.

I'm actually really nervous.

I guess it's that, like, trying to get them realistic.

so I'm really, like, trying to look at the drawings.

Underglazes can change quite dramatically once fired.

I've gone for a blue underneath,

and then a purple on top,

but you never really know how it's going to come out.

So the more mixing of colours they do...

I hope this turns out purple.

..the more chance there is of birds veering off course.

Hello. Hello. How are things? You worried?

I just want to get as many shades of pink as possible.

But I'm really hoping my pinks don't come out too red.

Look at all your shades of grey.

How many do you think there are?

There are probably 50 of them, I reckon, don't you?

There we go. There you go.

Oh, I'm really procrastinating, painting my whole body.

I'd probably paint your birds first.

As well as adding the all-important colour.

The colours are going to make these birds or break these birds.

Carefully applied underglaze can enhance texture,

and should help bring depth to their low-relief detail...

Under-glaze will flood into fine marks, so it'll get lots of shadows.

The watery bits get caught in the crevices and add to that 3D effect.

..but add too much, and the marks could be lost.

I was starting losing the definition of it.

So I use the sponge to just suck it out.

So getting the thickness just right is critical.

I enjoy decorating with underglazes, and my favourite thing is doing them

quite watery, and how they pull into the texture you've put in.

Yeah, that's it. It's fantastic.

So that's what I'm trying to do, but without having it too washy.

Potters, you're halfway through.

Halfway through.

I'm going to go out with some yellow now.

My peregrine falcon is quite big compared to the others,

so might take a bit more time to decorate, especially

because I have a lot of feathers.

And Christophe isn't the only potter with size on the mind.

Hummingbirds are tiny.

They're like this size. Yeah, yeah.

To scale up is really quite difficult. Yes.

But I am thinking about the beak, because I've created quite a solid structure.

That means that it won't break. Yes, yes.

Yes, but I was thinking of painting on the beak.

But then the sides will be all white, so create that more illusion of delicate...

So you're hoping that the eye will be drawn by that very dark beak that you paint on.

Yeah. Well, I will leave you to it.

Good luck, Caitlin. Thank you very much.

Ah, jeez!

One hour left, potters.

One hour left.

No, no, no, no.

No good.

These feathers, I'm going crazy painting them.

There's so many.

Once the base colours are done, the potters can turn their attention

to any details unique to their chosen species.

The kingfishers have little highlights in the middle

of their feathers that were on their head and down their back.

So they're looking a bit more realistic now.

I'm trying to recreate that iridescent look, especially

on the crest of the hummingbird.

This is just the edges of the wings.

So just kind of going with the shape of the feathers.

But not every bird's colour comes from its feathers.

A lot of what I've done is around the face, the eyes, the beaks.

Hopefully they come to life with the food and that bright yellow

beak with the red spot that makes them really recognisable.

Hopefully it'll really pop blue on my feet.

Why are they blue-footed?

Their mating dance is showing off their feet and they're like,

"Hey, check out my blue feet!

"My feet are bluer than the chap next door,

"come and see me tonight." or whatever they say.

I don't speak Booby, unfortunately.

That's not a bad approximation, though.

So what I'm doing now is the pattern of the birds.

I need to put black lines on each feather,

which is time consuming.

Potters! You've half an hour left.

Half an hour left. Yai, yai, yai!

How are you getting on?

I'm feeling OK, but the way I apply the feathers on it, I think

it's a bit childish.

I don't know what type of child you were,

but I certainly wasn't making this when I was a child.

I'm doing now part of the face,

but I keep shaking,

so let's hope that the judges don't say anything

about the appearance because it looks...

I hate this, where you're using solid colour,

I don't like anything that's fiddly. This is a very fraught moment.

Hopefully this will give the illusion

of a thinner beak on top of my fat beak.

The eyes being painted with a little white dot to give

it just a little glint.

This face looks so funny.

Twins.

Think that works if it's on a white background?

Mm... Mm...

I'm a bit scared of how they will hang up.

The wings are quite heavy, and it's a high chance

that they will do like this.

Potters, you've ten minutes left.

Ten minutes left.

I better stop fiddling and start thinking about glazing.

Transparent glaze gives the potters the option to add a glossy finish.

I want to glaze it so that the colours become more vibrant.

I imagine it flying out of the water,

so it makes sense that they'd be shiny.

But not everyone's birds are getting a full coat.

So I'm thinking to just apply glaze on the beaks only.

I'm glazing the fish, the beak, the water on the smaller bird.

So just try to give more realism to it.

My plan is to glaze on the beak, and the eye,

and leave everything else not shiny - I like matte.

OK, then, guys. The last five minutes.

Oh, gosh, I thought I would have had more time.

Glaze the old chip.

Hopefully the transparent glaze will bring out the colours, but I do

want to keep it relatively thin so that the relief

will still come through.

Christophe, are you dunking?

It just looked like your falcon was like taking a little sip.

Hey, exactly! Two minutes left.

Make sure your bottoms are clean.

You done, done? Yeah.

Can you give me a hand? I need a sponge to my bottom,

and I haven't really looked at them.

How are my lovely puffins? It's almost there.

How are we doing here? I need help cleaning my bottom.

Anybody willing to help clean George's bottom?

First in the queue, me.

It's like a sewing circle, isn't it?

Team Booby. Booby, yay!

Five, four, three, two, one.

That's it.

Well, well done.

The Beswick tributes will now be glass-fired to 1,120 degrees...

This bit's like an escape room.

Hold the crate at the right angle...

..and when they're next reunited,

it'll be time to hang them up for judging.

I'm really pleased with my puffins.

I think I was quite proud of what I've made there.

The only slight risk is whether not glazing the whole body was the right call.

I've definitely taken a gamble with the beaks.

I'm going to be trying not to think of it, but it's just unnerved me a little bit.

I'm probably going to have an upside-down bird at the end.

It's going to be like a horror movie, you know?

The birds are turning around and...

It's judgement day.

I don't want to see them.

And after a 24-hour glass-firing, it's time to discover if the potters'

trio of birds have survived.

Please, pretty please, kiln gods.

If it comes out in one piece, I'll be happy.

I'm a bit nervous about it.

The main part now is how it will hang on the wall.

Wow.

They look amazing, guys.

These are all incredible.

All came out in one piece, and they all look pink and grey.

Job's a good 'un.

I don't know.

I don't think the colours really came out how I wanted them.

Maybe the judges will look at them differently to how I look at them.

Their flying birds now face the judgement of Keith and Rich.

Your trio of flying birds look fantastic.

So let's get started.

Derek, would you please bring up your trio of birds?

Watch your chip.

Oh, I forgot.

Got a pressie for you.

Ahh! You win.

I think the subtlety that you managed to build

into the surface is beautiful.

And then there's just these little pops of colour. It's all you need.

You had to get that grey right, and you've managed it.

They feel true to their species. Beautiful.

Now, let's see if they go on the wall.

Oh, hang on.

On the wall, actually,

you get a real sense of the perspective,

that kind of flying off into the distance.

The moment you put that large one on,

I could tell they were going to work.

Well done, Derek.

Thank you.

I'd say the low relief element has worked really well for you.

And you could have quite easily

have got that pink really wrong.

It could have gone red.

And I'm just amazed that you've kept all the plumage on the head.

So am I! It's incredible.

I've got to hand it to you on the level of detail,

the intricacy of the surface.

So why don't you give it a go?

No guts, no glory.

Chris.

Nobody breathe!

Oh, my goodness.

They cast quite a striking silhouette.

You know, you really get a sense of that movement.

They feel quite animated.

Well done, Helen.

Yeah, really well done.

Thank you.

You've got plenty of colour in there.

The subtlety of the grading of the colour.

I love this green, actually.

The black along here on the wing-tips really adds definition.

They feel like people. There's a real life and vibrancy to them.

¤64,000 question. Yes. Do they hang on the wall?

Oh, dear.

Wow.

They really come to life.

It does look like you're looking back.

It really works. Looks exactly like you.

You should be really proud of those.

Because they're wonderful.

They look fantastic.

You've made us smile.

So well done.

They're beautiful, Jon.

The way you've managed to build in that low relief,

you've really captured that essence of puffin.

I really like the fact that you haven't glazed them

and these little pops, just putting that bit of glaze

so that the beak catches the light.

It's inspired.

It may not have worked if your build hadn't have been so perfect.

You've got the proportions right and you've managed to get every

single aspect of the body absolutely anatomically correct.

So, do they hang on the wall?

They look great, Jon.

You should be so proud.

You've really, really observed it really well. The whole thing.

Thanks.

The obvious thing for me is that this beak could

have been slightly thinner and more finessed.

But the way you've applied that colour to each area

of the bird really works.

And I love the way the light catches that and enhances that.

I think that's worked really beautifully.

Let's have a look at them on the wall.

They actually look better, much, much better in situ.

And, actually, you do lose some of that beak to a degree

because your eye is so taken by the black.

And we definitely can't fault the ambition.

It's really, really tough.

I wanted a challenge, and I gave myself one.

That blue along with the yellow really pops.

And I love the fact you've only glazed the beak,

but the issue I have is that

they're all roughly the same kind of size.

The sheer volume of work you've managed to put

into the feathers is incredible.

It's just the bodies.

The proportions are slightly out,

doesn't feel like it's as well observed as the feathers.

Let's do it.

They look better on the wall than they did there. They do.

And you really start to appreciate how you've kind of created

those feathers individually,

because you kind of see them as a silhouette.

They're vibrant. Just a bit like your personality, really.

They look great. They're quite sculptural rather than low relief.

That gradient of colour and that flash of blue just really,

really works for you.

The glazing on those wings,

they catch the light in such a lovely way.

And the wing positions, they just give them such energy.

They feel like they're really in action, but they are very deep.

They are much more sculptural.

Do you want to see if they hang on the wall?

You can see that soaring high,

spotting the prey, coming down and coming away again.

I love how well observed it is.

Well done. Well done. Thank you.

They look fantastic.

They're wonderful.

The proportions are spot on, but the quality of the surface,

these little feathers, the mark making is beautiful,

given they're sort of so flat to the surface.

You've built in so much form,

it's the best possible example of low relief.

It really is. So let's see if they go on the wall.

Lovely. They've got a real energy about them.

And there's a timeless quality about them.

Works really, really well.

Oh, no. Come on, let's put him... Let's do that.

There you go. Yeah.

They are rather large.

And it's a testament, really,

that it hasn't actually cracked or split at all.

This is quite a complex structure.

I'm not sure whether you really needed to do all that.

And the other thing that I noticed straight away is the muted palette

colour that you've done, but the fact that these really pop -

that's really, really nice.

It would have been nice to see the finish on the surface.

Just a bit more finesse.

I love the mouse and the way you've just curled that tail

round onto the body.

Let's see how they look when you put them up on the wall.

Don't drop it.

Don't drop it.

All right.

If you put that shelf just behind that wing, all of a sudden

that gravity would have worked in your favour.

The colour palette works really beautifully on the wall. It does.

And actually that large one works really, really well.

That's really quite striking.

Thank you.

Well, James, they're brilliant.

We couldn't have asked for a better trio.

They're fantastic.

You've got this red just right.

I'm really liking this technique of cutting away at the edge

of the bird to accentuate those wings.

I love the level of detail you've managed to create.

Some of the lines are just so fine.

The quality of the glazing is just exquisite.

So let's see if they stick on the wall.

Yeah, yeah, they might... They might not work.

Who knows?

OK, that's fine.

Wonderful.

Your wing-positioning choice is sublime.

They just have such energy, such character.

Brilliant. Brilliant. Well done. Thank you.

Thank you much.

It's been a great week and lovely comments from the judges.

It feels like there wasn't any negatives at all.

So, as best I could do.

Yeah.

Yay! The judges had some nice things to say about my kingfishers.

It's good to get some positive comments, but it's just

been an emotional roller-coaster this week, so I'm really glad

that it's nearly finished.

Pottery can be soul destroying when it comes down to it.

It could fall short or it excels.

It can really influence your emotions.

I think I gave myself too much to do

in this challenge that actually

I didn't really focus into details.

I definitely would love to stay, but if it's my time to go,

it's my time, you know?

So...

Well, it was lovely flying away with our potters

this week here in Retro Week.

It was really extraordinary

how everybody sort of stepped up to the challenge.

I really enjoyed judging those.

Yeah, we're really starting to get to know

where our potters' strengths lie.

It's been really informative this week.

Who's in line for Potter Of The Week?

James has had a wonderful week.

The way he'd created feathers,

the surface pattern he'd managed to put in there,

they were extraordinary.

He was really on fire this week - first in the second challenge

and just sublime trio of birds.

I was really impressed with Jon.

I just... I loved the coming together

of the engineering Jon and actually

the freedom of the artist in Jon.

He's really starting to learn to let himself go a bit.

Anatomically, they were so well observed

and, actually, it was a really bold

and brave move not to glaze the whole bird and it really,

really worked for him.

But then Lois has had a great week.

It was unbelievable how she managed to use those under glazes and blend

them down into colours that were true to the species.

They just felt delicate and beautiful.

And the proportions were fantastic,

not only within each bird itself,

but in the set of birds.

I think, of any of them, those would be the ones

I would have on my wall at home.

Who's in danger?

For me, Fabiola. Those blue macaws, they had really fat bodies.

They were kind of all the same size.

She didn't do terribly well in the second challenge.

She was second from bottom.

Christophe had a...up-and-down week, shall we say.

I really felt for Christophe.

He'd obviously put so much work into the grid-work on the back.

What he was trying to do was trying to make the whole structure

stronger, but there were much, much better ways and more efficient ways

of being able to do that. It took a lot of time.

It was just lacking in a number of ways.

Proportions were slightly large.

One of his didn't hang up straight because the centre of gravity

was off, and he'd lost a foot.

So it wasn't ideal. It wasn't a great week. Bless him.

OK, then.

Well, you go off and decide that.

I'll FLY up to The Pottery

and entertain them, and stop them from getting in a FLAP.

Flap? See what you did there.

Thank you. I'll... I'll go now.

The judges have made their decisions.

Let's start with the good news first.

This week's Potter Of The Week is...

..James.

Thank you. Thank you, James.

Well done, James.

The potter who will be leaving us this week is...

..Christophe.

I'm so sorry, Christophe.

Don't worry, mate.

I had a lot of fun. A lot of stress, as well.

But I made some beautiful friends

that I'm just going to have forever.

I'm going to miss you so much. Friends for life.

Yeah. Friends for life. Definitely.

I'm leaving happy.

I would have loved to stay longer, but at least

what I experienced was great.

We can tell you gave it everything.

We've loved watching you work.

It's all about passion, and passion for clay.

And you've given it to us in bucket-loads,

so...brilliant.

It's hard to see a friend go, but then I'm here.

I'm still fighting and I'm going to do my best to continue.

I'm learning so much that I'm super happy.

So as Christophe leaves The Pottery,

James's flying birds take third spot

in the Throwdown Gallery.

What I loved about James becoming Potter Of The Week

is that he's been so close in previous weeks,

he's won every second challenge,

but he's never been Potter Of The Week,

and this week everything seemed to come together for him.

The level of detail and texture that he created in that low

relief was beautiful.

The colours just popped, but he'd used them in such

a sensitive way, and once they went onto the wall,

they just came to life.

They were incredible.

It couldn't get any better because, you never know,

anything could happen, and it's nice to have your work appreciated.

It's amazing. It's an amazing feeling, as well.

You never know what it's going to feel like, but when it happens...

Oh, yes! Yeah.

Thank you very much!

Next time... I have a lot of adrenaline.

..our potters are getting into their groove.

You make me dance now.

There's a blast from the past...

Hi, nice to see you!

..as an alumni potter pops in for a master-class.

OH! But things are heating up...

Oh, no.

..as they tackle the unpredictable art of Raku firing.

Too late. Oh, that's all right.

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