Original subtitles

This week our eight remaining potters

face their most difficult challenge yet,

as they get up close and personal with creatures so ugly,

they could turn milk sour with just a glance.

Honestly, these guys are so grotesque

they could ward off evil spirits.

Just look there, see what I mean?

Oi! Charming.

No, not you guys!

I mean the gargoyles.

The potters are making gargoyles this week.

Why do you think I'm on the roof?

To get a better signal?

Oh, yeah.

Four bars.

Welcome to the Great Pottery Throw Down.

Last time...

You make me dance now.

..the potters faced the infamous Raku...

I love Raku week!

The smoke, the fire.

..and a frilling and flamboyant spot test.

Oh! Well, it's certainly more droopy than flamboyant.

Whilst James took the hot spot...

Oh, James, that's great.

That's really great.

..Fabiola's hopes were extinguished...

Fabiola.

It's OK.

..as she became the fourth person to leave the pottery.

I'm gonna miss you so, so much.

This time

our potters hit the tiles

for a monstrous hand-build.

It's genuinely

disgusting and scary.

And now the gargoyle?

Hey!

And face a throw down on another scale.

Oh, but it is a big boy.

The size of my head.

Who will be up there...

It's a really, really wonderful piece.

..and who will come crashing down?

Babe, don't worry.

It's just a lump of clay.

Making Time by The Creation

# Making time

# Shooting lines

# People have their uses

# People have their uses. #

It's the halfway point of the competition

and for our eight remaining potters,

the challenges are about to reach new heights.

# I climb way up to the top of the stairs... #

Halfway there, I mean, it's only week five

but it feels like a lot longer.

You know, in a good way.

Not in a, not in a bad, imprisoned way.

Gargoyles, who would have thought?

It's really hard because

my style is not that at all.

It's very light-hearted and fun and,

and childlike.

Gargoyles, they're so hideous because they scare away the demons,

so they need to be vicious.

I can't do it!

# Up on the roof...#

Good morning, potters, and welcome back to the pottery.

The theme this week is Up On The Roof,

because the judges would like you to hand build

a mythical and fantastical gargoyle.

The gargoyles will sit upon an apex ridge tile,

just like they would on a roof.

Now, you'll be building onto a former

and your finished pieces will be quite large.

So, your construction skills are really gonna be under the spotlight.

These are once fired.

So, you won't have the usual range of glazes to fall back on for decoration.

Give them character and expression to really bring them to life.

OK then, potters, you've been given three hours

to hand build your gargoyle and apex roof tile

and your time starts

now!

The potters have three hours

to make their roof tiles and gargoyles.

Then, after they have dried to leather-hard,

a further two and a half hours to add the decorative detail,

that will bring their monstrous creations

to life.

That seems like quite a long time to make this,

but the time goes quickly in the studio.

I'm feeling excited to be able to do something that's technical in the base,

but the rest of it, once you get onto the gargoyle should be a lot of fun. Should be.

Gargoyle. How difficult can it be?

So, week five - gargoyles.

We've gone a bit scary, haven't we?

We have. Do you feel like you're being watched? Cos I do.

We're giving them the challenge of making gargoyles on an apex tile...

Yeah. ..and it's a toughie this week.

There's difficulties in making the tile, alone.

There's gonna be a natural weak spot right at the top,

so those joins in those slabs have to be water tight...

Yeah. ..and then they're constructing on top of that.

They've gotta really consider

the weight of their gargoyle.

You know, it doesn't wanna be too heavy,

otherwise we're just gonna have a flat tile.

But, we want them to really think about the proportions, as well.

Everything about the way they look is exaggerated,

from their eyes, their mouths, I mean, if they've got wings.

They're all kind of bigger than you might ordinarily expect

and that's because, usually, they're at high level, they're on a roof,

so you're viewing them from a distance.

We want something formidable.

I'm looking for character.

Absolutely, but the whole structure is gonna be once fired,

our potters aren't decorating these

with glazes or colours or pigments.

So, that decoration really has to come from those

surface textures...

This one, for example, has got all of these lovely leaves applied

and when they catch the light they give a real sense of depth to the surface.

This is gonna lay bare all of our potters' skills.

They've really got to use those beautiful textures,

lovely surfaces to enhance their makes, cos that's all they've got.

They wanna be bold,

scary,

and fit for purpose.

I wanna be impressed.

The potters have been given sanded terracotta clay.

Look at that.

It's a nice fake tan, innit?

Its distinctive red colour comes from the addition of iron oxide.

Cor, this is evil stuff, you know.

We're two minutes in.

It's just, it's so messy.

I'm glad this isn't my equipment.

Traditionally used to make floor and roof tiles,

it's strong and hard-wearing.

It's actually really nice clay,

it holds itself together quite well.

So, perfectly suited to building the potters' formidable gargoyles

and the apex roof tiles they'll sit upon.

I was gonna get the tile done first so I don't have to worry about that.

I get stressed out by everyone else doing stuff.

I'm gonna go to my own pace today.

He says that. Give me ten minutes till the end and I'll be

running around like a headless chicken.

Hello, George. Hi. How are you? Hello, George.

Hello.Tell us about your design.

Gargoyles are always, sort of, something of the natural world that we've exaggerated,

so I went to think what's the most terrifying thing of the natural world

and I think deep sea and I think the Anglerfish just epitomises the deep sea.

It does. With that really sinister... Light, yeah. ..light bulb

and its great big open jaws and its, sort of, craggedy teeth all over the place.

And how was your childhood? Fun, yeah.

For his nightmarish Anglerfish,

George will replace the light bulb with a bulging eyeball

and he'll cram over 50 razor-sharp teeth

into the cavernous mouth

he'll carefully cut into the body of his beast.

Well, as much as your animal, sort of, defies its natural habitat,

the construction sounds like it's gonna be defying physics.

Yeah. I mean, are there any elements of this you find concerning?

Well, apart from the long arm coming over the top.

Yeah. The giant mouth, the delicate teeth, no, not really.

Apart from that, nothing!

I'm starting to relax now and just have fun.

You're gonna go slower?

Right, how am I gonna join this?

With their slabs rolled,

the potters can cut and join their tiles to form the apex.

So, I've made one ridge tile a centimetre and a half bigger

and I'm gonna put just a coil along there, so when it sits down

hopefully the coil will strengthen that join.

And it's crucial their joins are secure.

This tile will be the foundation for the gargoyle.

Because you're gonna have that weight sitting on the apex tile

you want to make sure that your tile construction is really good,

because otherwise the weight will cause, potentially,

the planks to sink in.

Cos they won't be fired with any support underneath,

you'll literally just have your clay holding that.

The drying room will also play an important role,

helping to firm up the clay

while the potters make a start on their gargoyle body parts.

I've got the arms,

the necks and the wings.

That will be the head of my fish.

James, however, is taking a bit of a risk,

hoping to save himself some time.

I am doing what I probably shouldn't do,

is I am building the gargoyle on the top of these two tiles.

Scale-wise, I think there's not gonna be that much weight on the top in the end,

if I can make it thin enough

and not too big.

James will model his fearsome dragon

emerging from the body of an ancient stone monster,

but it appears he might have missed something important.

Where are you gonna let the air escape from the...

Thank you.

I am gonna cut bits in then. So, you hadn't really thought about that. I hadn't thought about it at all.

Yeah, well. Obviously, the mouth is gonna be open but I never thought about the rest of it.

What are you gonna call the dragon?

I've not, I've not thought, uh...

Ugh! That's the most important thing. I know, I know.

As James's anonymous gargoyle starts to take shape,

some potters are still wrestling with their tiles.

Ah!

Let's leave that there, for a minute.

Never mind, it's coming, it's coming.

They're just too wet to join.

We're under time pressure, so it's like,

"Yes, it's really nice to work with but could you please hurry up and dry a little bit?"

Derek's tile will need to be solid to support his gruesome gargoyle,

complete with forked tongue,

bat-like wings, a long scaly tail

and thin insect-like legs.

I notice you've got lots of delicate wingtips... Yeah.

..and tail tips and legs. There's things like those legs are a problem, yeah.

It's that balance of making sure it's scary and a wonderful thing,

but also that it's a technical engineering feat.

It's genuinely

disgusting and scary.

That's...Well, we were asked to be scary.

What would his face look like?

And now the gargoyle?

Hey!

Lois is also going for the fear factor,

but with a feminine twist.

My design is based on a mermaid or, like, a siren.

People think mermaid's are, like,

really nice and just, like, a thing that little kids like and stuff.

So, I'm quite excited to make

a fearsome mermaid.

Lois's siren of the sea will be ominously crouched astride her tile,

clutching a fish to represent the tortured souls of sailors

she's lured to a watery grave.

Is there gonna be much texture involved?

I've made some little stamps for her scales,

I've done, like, three different sizes. Oh!

Oh, fantastic. So, that'll be all over her skin.

The ridge tile's based on a book

because I felt like she's come out of this book.

It's like it might have been left at the bottom of the ocean, you know,

and all these barnacles and things are sort of growing up from the book

and onto her arms and things like that. OK.

It sounds great.

While Lois's siren celebrates fearsome femininity...

This looks scary already, like,

just no head.

Hi. Hi, Helen. Hello.

Helen's gargoyle is most definitely male.

He's a naked oboist.

Right.

Inspired by her oboe-playing past,

Helen's monstrous musician

features an ambitious amount of sculpted detail,

including horrible horns, clawed feet,

demonic eyes and scaly wings.

The wings are a little bit bigger than they are on there,

cos I want it to be really imposing.

That's what I'm a bit worried about.

OK, yeah. They're quite susceptible to warping, to cracking, to being...

Yeah. Course, yeah.

That's a nice bottom. Bit like mine, actually, Siobhan.

Your oboe's the same as well, isn't it?

Slightly less noisy.

I wish.

In contrast to Helen's complex build,

Jon's is a lot less labour intensive.

This is easy, I could do more of this.

He's just,

he's made a snaky gargoyle and he's just done it.

That's quite good fun, I've not used an extruder before.

It's very efficient, I think it's a good way of getting through,

getting through making things relatively quickly.

Jon's evil serpent will slither atop his roof tile,

which he'll make to look like an ancient book of mythology

using some very modern tools.

I've got loads of 3D printed kit, again.

Wow. Wey, yes!

3D printed my life away.

I've just got a 3D printer. So, what software do you use to model that?

Oh, my God, pottery, pottery!

Sorry, sorry, sorry, we'll chat later, Jon.

That's a very cute looking gargoyle,

what's his name? Cutie McCutie?

Syril the Snake, um...

Instilling fear into the hearts of anyone who hears the name.

Fear Syril!

I think, Jon, your main worry is making it, Syril, look scary.

So, good luck with it all, yeah. Thanks very much. Scary, Jon, scary.

I'll try, I'll try.

Potters, you're halfway through, halfway through.

You're halfway through. I thought you came to give me good news.

With the clock ticking, the potters must ensure

all their key components are made

so that they can dry, ready for the refine stage.

Fangs.

These are my legs.

They're not really structural, because they're so thin.

But the problem with those is, being very thin

there's a chance that they'll just be very brittle.

Do you still play your oboe?

Since I've been potting

I haven't played so much. My God.

I was principal oboist in the Bahamas Concert Orchestra.

What? I know, drop the mic.

But then I was the only oboist in the Bahamas, so...

# I'm sitting on top of the world. #

I want Lois to make my heads for me.

Look at that, it looks incredible, dunnit?

So, is this the scariest thing you could think of?

No, um, I quite like, uh, dragons.

You big old nerd.

Jon!

Found another geek for you!

How rude!

Those evenings will fly by.

Sorry guys, there's two of them now.

Really need to get on with this.

I'm trying to do a bloomin' head, but

it's just turning out like a dinosaur.

And Rebecca has given herself double the work,

a two-headed gargoyle based on the classic theme of good versus evil.

Perched on a tile representing heaven and hell.

I got the idea from aboriginal mythology,

they're called rainbow serpents.

So, I've got the aggressor and then one head that's the protector.

To kind of mirror us all.

What am I?

Just the annoying bit.

You know what? It looks quite slug-like.

I love that. Maybe that'll just be it, like, ah.

I have a, a bad looking slug

with a gargoyle head, at the moment.

I'm not too impressed.

In the Gothic tradition,

Caitlin's designed a formidable gargoyle to protect against evil

and she's equipped him to fight on land, sea and air.

And does your gargoyle have a name?

It does, because we battle all the different elements in Scotland,

it's gonna be called Gus.

Excellent. Sounds good. Is Gus a Scottish name?

Well, I'm taking it short form Angus.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Gus the Gargoyle.

Ah! Gus the Gargoyle.

It's almost like you cut off the heads

and like, like garroted artery and, like, it's pumping blood.

One hour left. Gee whiz.

The potters now face a race against the clock,

to finish making every element needed to construct their gargoyles.

I've not done wings this big before.

Little wings aren't gonna cut it.

These tubes are just very hard to work with, they're very thin.

They work great in straight lines,

but they're struggling when it comes to bending.

I'm hoping that even though my gargoyle looks like a slug,

when I get the arms on it will come together beautifully.

This is really hard,

I didn't anticipate this phase to be so hard, actually.

What kind of face is your gargoyle gonna have?

Kind of like...

While most of the potters forge ahead with the assembly of their creepy creations,

both Derek and George are yet to begin.

These are my Anglerfish teeth.

I can feel it's silly, cos these are delicate.

In a great big open hole, I mean it's, I,

I, just feel this is the thing that could go wrong.

I tried to put the body on.

No, too wet.

So, it's in the drying room.

I think what I might do is add tiles to the entire roof,

rather than just carving them in.

Just to get a little bit of more detail

and possibly a bit more structural integrity.

He's, he's looking like a slug at the moment.

What have you based Gus on?

The ugliest thing that my brain could conjure up, facial-wise.

Keith?

These heads, these are the most integral part of the build.

The body's a bit too big.

It's just a disaster, the whole thing.

Look at that arse.

Oh! I think I went out with him.

Potters, you've half an hour left.

I'm gonna go to the drying room

and slap the wings on, cos I'm realising I'm running out of time.

Yeah, I think it will work, I just need to get a move on, really.

In this time that I've got remaining, I need to finish

my arms and claws and, actually, my tail.

The master of evil himself.

The other symbol of utter terror and horror...

..a book. A book, yes, yes.

And what would be in the book? Evil?

How to write a really strongly worded letter, that really causes deep down angst.

Well, that's not gonna happen, is it?

It could do with being a little bit bigger,

but if I put horns on and everything, should be fine.

Oh, he's only got four fingers.

He's a Simpson.

One minute left, potters.

Oh, dear, his arm's dropped off.

Oh, my God, this weighs an absolute tonne.

Are they the wings? They're the wings,

they might get too hard if I leave them in.

I'm not putting anything in the drying room.

No, neither am I.

15 seconds.

Look as they scamper in fear and terror.

Ah-ha-ha, Syril!

Five,

four,

three,

two,

one, that's it.

Potters, well done.

Have a break, potters dismissed.

It just looks like a slug.

But I know in the refine time,

it's gonna be head down,

gonna get all those details in

and it's gonna be smashing.

Overall, I think it went quite well.

She needs a face and a head and that's make or break, I suppose.

She's gonna be frightful.

Well done. I know, it was really hard that.

I really struggled with trying to make mine look evil.

And looking round the room...

..never a good thing.

But I'm apprehensively positive,

going into the refine stage.

# It's a hard world to get a break in... #

As the potters wait for their gargoyles to dry

ahead of the refine stage,

they face a monstrous second challenge.

That looks rather large, as well, doesn't it?

There's a big lump under there, is that the clay?

And, as usual, it's a mystery hiding under Hessian.

Potters, welcome back to your second challenge.

Now this week we're keeping with the theme of On The Roof.

Oh! This week we are going to be making...

Oh, no.

..a chimney pot.

Oh, yeah.

That looks pretty amazing.

And here to give us a demo from William Blyth Tile Works,

is master potter, Gabriel Nichols.

Oh, I've seen Gabriel.

Hello. Hi. I've seen him.

Gabriel has attracted an avid online following,

who delight in watching him create chimneys and pots,

using the time-honoured and traditional methods

the William Blyth works have been using since 1840.

Oh, my God. Oh, dear. Bex!

This is about 30lbs of clay.

40 kilos.

The clay I'm using

is a wild clay.

It's as dug,

we don't clean it, this is as it comes out the ground.

Occasionally, you'll get bits of grit in

and the odd Viking's toenail.

Now, you need to give the clay a little bit of a slap and tickle just to wake it up.

When you're centring and working this clay,

bring it down, almost to the same width as your Bat

and, because it's a chimney pot, you're going straight down to the wheel head.

You know, there's no base on this

and then you start to collar up.

So, I tend to scoop the clay and pull it up like that.

Keep your wheel fairly slow,

don't work too fast.

You saw the original chimney, it's got a decoration,

which is formed out the rim.

So, you've gotta make sure that you bring up enough clay,

so that you can form the decoration.

So, my thumb is going in there

and pulling a ribbon of clay down

and bring the top rim up and out a little bit.

OK, so now

the decoration.

Oh, isn't that clever?

It's that part of the knuckle

and you're just rolling it.

And what would that design be called?

So, in the South it would've been a rope twist

and in the North, cos we like our pies, it would've been a pie crust.

Right, that's the pot finished

and then we do the, the moulding.

I'm just literally pressing the clay into this mould.

Don't press too hard.

There's three of these, try and get them equidistant,

but you've gotta do it all by eye.

Right, done.

If you imagine, it's right upon the roof,

so everything's almost gotta be exaggerated.

It doesn't wanna be subtle.

You want the rim to be a good strong rim,

you want straightness,

you wanna boss this clay, you've gotta really push it and work it.

OK, thank you.

Keith, Rich and Gabriel, I'm gonna send you off,

because this is going to be judged blind.

So, we'll see you later on.

Potters, back to your benches.

You have been given 30 minutes

to make and decorate your chimney pot.

And your time starts...

..now. Remove the Hessian.

Oh, my God.

Three times bigger than I've ever thrown before. Ah, I can't even pick it up.

We can only give it a go, can't we?

Uh!

This is like the size of my head.

I'm excited.

Look at that.

Oh! It's gonna be very formal, very tidy.

No flamboyance.

Is it really heavy? I haven't really...

..had a good go at it yet.

Oh, but it is a big boy.

Oh, all right, I'll leave you grunting.

You're doing great.

I think.

It's a bit gritty,

but it's quite nice. What could go wrong?

The Bat's not on.

I'm already tired.

My arms are already aching.

Bugger it, let's use the other one.

Good to get height, but it will get more

comments for being decorated.

Oh! Oh!

I keep forgetting to breathe.

Will you die doing this?

Well, hopefully I'll pass out onto the clay, so

that'll soften the blow as I go unconscious.

Oh, definitely found some of those Viking's toenails.

Oh, gosh, it's huge.

It's lovely clay.

It smells a bit.

Mm, clay does. Yeah.

It smells really earthy.

Does it smell? No.

You've got the good clay then? Yeah.

I need to try and get it up, should we try and go in?

He used his thumb, so I'm gonna try that.

I'm putting all my weight into it and it's not opening.

How'd you get your thumbs in, they only go that much?

You have to more like get your whole arm in there.

OK, I've got the wheel head.

It's like a flipping car tyre, it's huge.

Argh!

Oh!

Potters, you're halfway through.

Halfway through.

I'm getting a bit of height now, aren't I? Now I'm back in the room.

Hello, Siobhan. Oh, hey, hey.

Nice, calm, neat.

Could you pretend to be chaotic?

I don't wanna ruin it.

Maybe just facially?

Uh...

I don't wanna touch it! I don't...

That's all my strength!

It's not even fully down.

How did he get this up?

All the hard work to date could be lost if you make a mistake now.

Just going around in circles.

I don't want it to go out.

There we go, that's better.

Doing quite well before, but it's really starting to,

starting to go.

Ah, no..

What, what's the time?

So, you've ten minutes left.

Ten minutes left.

Oh, bugger!

Well, I've got some height, I'm just trying to split the rim.

I've never split a rim like this before.

We're gonna get that big accentuated rim that he was talking about.

We love a rim.

Oh, James has finished.

Oh, bugger off, James.

I love you all.

It's a bit...

..flamboyant, isn't it? Yeah, it is.

It's sort of gone that way again, hasn't it, I think

that's my excuse for gravity having an effect.

You just can't help your flamboyance.

Just trying to get another little tiny bit of height out of it,

before I then decorate it.

I think it's time to knuckle it.

How did he do that pinch-y bit?

The crimping's quite different to his.

Wasn't really sure of the movement.

My decoration.

Now I've just gotta tidy up the pot and

make it look nice.

That's a delicate one, isn't it?

Never mind.

I've still gotta do the roses, actually.

Oh, there's a lot to do in this.

God!

I don't even know, like, I can't even get the Bat off.

There's nothing to get the...

I can feel the tears again.

Can't get it off.

Don't worry, Bex.

Potters, you're on the last minute now.

Last minute.

Gosh, my walls are really thick.

I'm, I don't quite look like his, but they look like something

and they look consistent.

Is it level? I think I'm going lower down each time, but hey ho...

I will never look at a chimney in the same way again.

Ten, nine, eight,

seven, six, five,

four, three, two,

one, potters, finito.

Put down the clay.

I think you can buy chimneys, can't you?

Babe, don't worry, it's just a lump of clay.

Honestly.

And your gargoyle's gonna be amazing.

OK, if you could bring up your chimney pots

to you corresponding ware board.

Why did you put us at the back?

Oh, I'm good to go, just go.

Oh! Oh!

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

Gabriel will now blind judge the chimney pots.

Wow!

He's looking for clean, straight sides,

good solid rims,

with nicely defined and proportioned decoration.

Some amazing chimney pots.

Nice flower pot.

Love it!

Listen, Gabriel's been doing this for 40 years.

You just merely having a go is just fantastic.

You're an inspiration, really.

Shall we start at this end? Yeah.

Decoration hasn't quite worked, a bit over-worked in a sense.

Looks kind of more upright than the... Yeah.

Yeah, you haven't really got the motion

of pulling it through.

The mouldings are all right. Could do with a bit more definition there. Yeah.

Someone obviously really struggled with that. Yeah, I mean it's a heavy weight.

Even for a normal apprentice, you wouldn't be approaching this weight for at least five years.

It looked like it was going in the right direction.

The width was right

and, in fact, the distribution of clay is right.

You just have to get that second pull.

That weight of clay will naturally want to spin out

and you've gotta keep it in.

This one's good, it's a bit heavy

but that's OK.

And the mouldings are quite good.

Your decoration, it's quite uniform.

Good strong rim, isn't it, on that one? Very strong rim.

That's a, that's a nice rim.

That does resemble a chimney pot.

OK. Excellent flower pot.

I suppose that's a good example of

losing that control of the speed of the wheel.

Yeah, so there you can obviously see

the weight of the clay and it's started to spin out

and they haven't been able to, sort of, pull it back in again.

Good decoration,

just needs to be a bit closer together.

The rim, it's a little bit peely-wally -

that's weak.

And, again, the decoration -

it's gone a bit too thin and then when you folded it, it's torn.

Quite a nice, straight-sided form... Yeah, no, it's a good pot.

Moving on. Superb.

Even decoration.

It's very well thrown, really, isn't it? It is.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The moulding's better than my one, I think.

It's a really well made pot.

The width has stopped you bringing and gathering the clay in to form that rim.

So, you haven't really got much of a rim.

Decoration's good.

Bit heavy, just needs a bit more, sort of, being a bit tidier,

but no, it's a good pot.

I like this, I quite like the rim.

I was just gonna say that, I quite like the flare on that. Yes.

Not what we asked for, but I like it.

I think I might have to copy that bit.

And it works quite well with the decoration.

So, yeah, I mean overall, I'm well impressed.

Now, Gabriel, Keith and Rich will rank the potters' chimneys

from bottom to top.

Gabriel, would you do the honours?

Well, number eight

is this one, who's number eight?

It's actually, it's quite a well made pot.

Certainly managed to pull up, to some degree,

you can see the height there.

Number seven. Jon.

A brilliant pot, just not a chimney pot.

Would you say it's flamboyant?

It is quite flamboyant, yeah, yeah.

You know, it's good, you've controlled the clay to some degree,

just not in the right way that we wanted you to.

In sixth place it's Derek.

Fifth place it's Lois.

In fourth, Helen

and third Caitlin.

Number two,

the one that I'm gonna copy. George.

I like that. It's not what we requested but

because it's so nice, we'll let you by on that one.

And the decoration, it's very bold. That's a decent chimney pot.

And then number one.

James.

Almost perfect.

Very good decoration.

The moulding's good, decent rim,

it's a straight pot, you know, that looks like a chimney pot.

Congratulations, James, you're Top of the Pots.

Bloody, James.

Trouble is

we'd hate him, but he's such a nice guy.

He's lovely.

He was very complimentary about my rim.

That's an honour that someone who's done it forty years

wants to copy my rim, so that's, that's really sweet.

It has put me in a vulnerable spot, but,

I feel like I'm growing.

So, even if it means crying through it all,

I am still learning.

Let's hope the gargoyle is still intact...

..or else there'll be more Timmy Tears coming along.

With chimney making behind them,

the potters are now back to their now leather-hard gargoyles...

Are they supposed to weigh this much?

..which they have to finish assembling and decorating.

I've got lots of bits.

It's gonna need quite a lot of putting together.

The more time you spend putting together, the less time you spend doing that lovely detail.

I think he will end up not looking quite as evil as maybe the, the aim was.

So, I think I'll try and get that a bit more, sort of, scary looking, so...

Yeah, I'll do what I can in that time.

It's not coming off, is it?

I'm really hoping my little oboist

will come to life, but in a really nasty way.

Welcome back, potters.

Your gargoyles and apex roof tiles have been drying

and are now leather-hard and ready to be decorated.

This is where you create all that intricate carving and surface detail

that we've asked you for.

But be careful,

because at this stage any mishaps can't always be easily undone.

So, take your time and think precision and perfection.

You only have two and a half hours to refine and decorate your pieces.

Your time starts

now.

My to-do list is get all the bits on,

decorate the body

and then decorate the tile.

Looks like a cow, doesn't it?

From this angle.

A large mythical cow.

I'm just texturing these wings.

I really wanted to go dramatic, so,

just tried the extra large.

That's what I'm worried about, these are so heavy

that they might pull off the back of the gargoyle.

James has also made a start on the scales of his dragon,

emerging from stone.

I'm gonna get all the texture on first. I'm tearing the bits of clay and sticking them on.

But once I've done this,

I'll feel better,

cos it'll feel like it's starting to come alive.

I do realise there's no face.

I'll worry about the face afterwards.

Before George can breathe life into his Anglerfish,

there's the small matter of assembly.

Some people have already got things that look like gargoyles.

I've got to put my whole gargoyle together.

Haven't even thought about all the teeth I need to put in, how long that's gonna take.

It'll all come together.

And stress is a great motivator, when it comes down to it.

So, I need to just refine this boy.

I'll try not to break anything.

I've got a tray of bits, that appear to be

coming together as a thing.

Derek also has some way to go in creating his nightmarish gargoyle.

I'm concentrating on scary, cos that's,

that's my thing.

I'm not sure about his legs, I need to refine these a bit.

The judges are looking for imposing and frightening forms.....

It's got a vicious looking face on it now, so I'm quite...

The eyes look quite scary.

..with plenty of character and detail.

She's coming to life now and she's looking scary.

Any detail that we want to show,

we've really gotta get that in now, so,

it's just going as fast as I can, I think.

I've really enjoyed, lately, trying to get better at

getting effect and creating things with as little

touching of the clay as I can.

To see it all coming together is really, really nice.

Can see that it's getting some texture and there's actually a gargoyle here now.

While Lois's siren takes shape,

Gus has some identity issues to resolve.

I wish my gargoyle didn't look like a slug.

This is what I'm really worried about, so because there's no decoration,

there's literally nowhere to hide.

What you see right now is what you're gonna get if I don't get a move on

and get it looking good.

Hopefully, once we've got the wings on then he goes from slug to gargoyle.

These faces need a bit of refining.

It's just balancing how much time you're spending on every element.

Because I don't wanna spend too much time, but the faces are crucial.

I mean, it just looks rubbish, dunnit?

How're you getting on, George? All right, um,

it's, uh... It's on. It's on.

And it's got one big hole in,

um... OK, OK.

You've got quite a lot of appendages here.

I've got a lot to get on before I start... You've got a lot do, haven't you?

Yeah. ..refining and... Being a dentist, as well.

Yeah. Wow. It's a bit, sort of, grouper-y at the moment, without any teeth.

And those eyes are gonna go here.

Isn't it incredible, though, how expressive clay can be?

Yeah. You know you just put a little indentation in there

and then all of a sudden you've... That's why modelling's brilliant, because it's just...

Yeah, it's lovely, and it's immediate, isn't it? Yeah.

Well, look, I mean, you loved last week,

you're loving this week.

Uh, well... I'm loving you loving it.

One hour left potters,

one hour left.

He looks like a little cherub angel.

Aw!

Put the wings on and he transformed from a slug into a gargoyle.

He's just a caterpillar evolving into his butterfly.

I'm so emotional.

This bit and that's me done,

that's it, done.

Wey!

How can I make it look scary, like that?

Don't have his whole eye open, like,

you want to see, like, a half semi-circle.

Yeah, yeah!

She's good, isn't she?

He looks a bit like...

Don't you think?

Hello, James. Hi, Rich, how are you?

I'm all right. More to the point, how are you? I'm, yeah, all right.

I would've liked it to be a little bigger, maybe, but...

Yeah, I was gonna say, you happy with

how the proportions are all coming together?

At one minute, at first I was gonna have it coming out more.

Well, hopefully, you know, you can build some terror into that

small but perfectly formed face. Yeah, exactly.

You want to be scared by those little features, James.

At the start I think I hid it well,

but I was a little bit doubtful

as to whether Syril would instil fear. Win the fear.

But actually he looks quite ferocious now.

Are these the things that made all the nice things? Yes.

Yeah, the texture comes out quite well from that.

Oh, that's cool.

That is cool. Thank you. Bye-bye, Syril.

Bye.

Yeah, that one didn't sound very good, did it?

Right, I'm happy with those.

I just need to stick them on.

Oh...

I can't do the scary faces.

Trying to make facial expressions with a dragon

I don't think would be easy to do, so I'm knocking that on the head.

It's gonna be lots of teeth.

More of a science-fiction feel to it, possibly?

I don't know!

Still the teeth are out of the mouth.

It's the old haste and speed thing, isn't it? Yeah.

See, that's your problem, George, you're always rushing.

What, is that a crack?

I think it is a crack.

You really have got to make just quick fire decisions.

Well done, Bex.

It's looking great.

Come on, we can do this.

Got some grotesque gargoyles on the go.

Look at Derek's. Yeah.

I'm doing me legs, I mean they look ridiculous, but

creepy and that's the plan.

Well, what I think will happen is those legs will dry very quickly

and that apex tile and the body will dry far more slowly. That's right.

It could have broken legs.

Come on, you bugger.

James's gargoyle is looking great.

Wha...?

What is this?

Nightmares.

I just wonder if it's a bit too small?

Helen's is looking great.

The moment she put those wings on...

Yeah. ..it really, sort of, came to life.

Bit susceptible to cracking, maybe?

Hello, Eve, good Lord almighty!

Lois is looking good.

Oh!

The proportions look like they're working well.

Oh, no!

I've never done this before, not on this scale.

Dipping the ends of each tooth into slip

and just hoping that a double slip will old them all in place.

I mean, George has got so much going on there.

George's mouth is quite clever

because it's kind of still got structure with the teeth

and it lets all the air in and out. Exactly.

I'm a bit concerned about, Rebecca's proportions are overall quite small.

I don't think it looks as scary as everybody else's.

Potters, you've ten minutes left.

Time is of the essence.

I'm really pleased with how these little stamps I've made are working.

It's a barnacle.

Wow, look at those teeth.

If I get time, I'll do a similar effect on the ridge tile,

just to try and link the gargoyle to the ridge tile a little bit more.

Oh, should I give him a scar down his eye?

Everybody's doing amazing things.

See, I've only just lifted my head and it's like, oh...

..sorry!

Potters, one and a half minutes left.

I can't be upset with that.

Start putting your gargoyles into the drying room, please.

Oh, wow, George.

Six. I can do it, I can do it.

Five.

Four.

Thought it was gonna fit. Here you go. Thanks.

OK, come on. Three.

Run, Forrest, run! Two.

One, well done.

Well done, what a day. You've done really, really well.

Potters dismissed.

Mine looks like me, doesn't she?

So, I focussed on the scary, so if he comes through,

I hope his scariness will

see me through.

Gus, hang in there, you've got this.

I've got this.

And we'll be back after the firing so, yeah.

It's judgement day...

Are we ready? Yeah.

..and the potters are about to discover

if their gargoyles have survived their 24-hour firing.

He's great. Oh, brilliant. Yes!

Oh, man. Look at that! Yeah!

Lois... Oh, God...

Yes!

It's all, it's all kept together.

Quite a big crack at the back.

But everyone's got a big crack at the back, haven't they?

The potters now have 30 minutes to prepare their beasts for judging.

It's come out nicely.

It has come out with cracks, everybody's' come out with cracks.

There's a few stress cracks.

A bit of his tail's come off

and one of his legs is broken.

They've been given black wash to create the lived-in look

you'd expect from a centuries-old gargoyle.

So, it's basically like a stain.

It makes it look, sort of, old and weathered.

Looking like it has been up there for a couple hundred years at least.

Oh, my God, it's really black.

It'll just, sort of, sit in all the crevices,

so when you sponge it back it will just enhance all those surface details.

I kinda want to just give him a shower, to be honest.

Trying not to get it on too thickly.

But I'm going to just sponge lightly at the front,

because I don't really wanna knock any teeth out.

Just trying to make sure I get enough

black into all the barnacle areas.

There's a creature coming out of a stone gargoyle,

so if I can wipe off as much as possible off the bottom

and keep this creature quite dark, hopefully you'll be able to see that.

It was really hard to get the teeth done, I had to shake into the mouth, kind of thing.

OK, I'm done.

He's a good boy, aren't you? Good boy!

Done as much as I can, I think, now, so it's down to what the judges feel.

By no means am I safe,

but I'm pleased with what I've made.

That's all the potters can do.

Now, their gargoyles must face the evil eye of the judges.

Caitlin, would you please bring your gargoyle up to be judged.

All right wee man?

Caitlin.

Your attention to detail is just absolutely brilliant.

We've seen your modelling skills before.

They're fantastic.

The face itself

is just amazing, I just love that scar.

I just love that scar across his eye.

It just really, sort of, brings the whole thing

extra character.

The ridge tile has spread

ever so slightly, that must be under the weight.

But I really love it.

The level of detail you've managed to build into it

is incredible.

There's just loads to see.

How did you feel about making it?

We had some ups and downs, me and Gus.

I thought it looked a lot like a slug for a long time

and then I started adding bits to it and it sort of brought together.

It's just a really, really nicely considered piece.

Lovely.

Thank you very much. Well done, thank you. Thank you.

The gargoyle itself is wonderfully constructed.

I love what you've done down here on the tile itself.

It's just really, really wonderfully executed.

All of the detail you've managed to put in is great.

It's the pellets, the little pellets of clay that you've smeared on.

It's genius, what a fantastic way of creating, kind of, a really beautifully rich surface

that feels like a scale.

It would've been nice to have seen it slightly larger. Yep.

More of a statement piece.

I know you had some

issues with the head.

You remodelled the head, didn't you? Yeah, I didn't know how to make it look scary,

so I just scrapped it completely and tried to produce something a bit more freaky.

Certainly done that.

Quite scary.

That's come from your imagination, which is...

..quite something really there, James.

He does look pretty terrifying.

You've got some real movement and some real depth in that face.

It's really quite demonic,

which is fantastic and that black pigment has only accentuated all that mark-making.

I love the energy that you've managed to put into the wings,

the scoring and the line-work you've put up the back

is absolutely beautiful.

It makes them really feel like they're being extended, almost ready for flight.

I'm amazed that the wings stayed on,

that's what I was really worried about.

I think you've been very brave

to, kind of, create such fine detail and fine elements in something that's

still, as an object, quite big and quite bold.

What I love most is

the way you've treated the clay,

because, actually, the way the, sort of, sausage has started to deform,

that tube that you've made has just given way and started to move.

It really feels like a snake leaving the ground... It's got, like, shape now.

..it feels really true and really accurate.

It just looks really effective.

I love the 3D printed roller, I think that's where...

Course you do, Rich.

You know, we will have a chat about the 3D printing later.

But I just think that's worked beautifully well,

it's a really simple texture,

but you've applied it really, really perfectly.

It's just lovely to see you, sort of, coming into this, kind of,

"Oh, I have got an imagination

"and I can put it into clay."

It's incredible, you've managed to get

a lot of energy in there.

A lot of life, a lot of definition on the scales and on the actual apex tile itself.

The general construction

looks really, really good.

The scale of it, you would notice that up on a roof.

Warding off evil spirits.

Well, warding off anyone, really. Yeah. She's pretty scary.

I think because she's, sort of, perched over

and she's, kind of, holding the lower aspects of the tile,

it's kind of holding the structure in, which is really wise.

I just have to admire the sheer volume of work.

The surfaces, the texture that you've created.

I love the little details, like the fact that you've just hollowed out the eyes,

so they create this, sort of, dark recess,

because it's really menacing

and it's just a great way to create character and depth.

It's a really, really wonderful piece.

It's a wonderful gargoyle.

I can't see any kind of apparent cracks or breakages,

apart from the tail.

Thank you, Keith.

Perhaps, just the overall scale...

Yeah. ..is maybe lacking slightly.

Whether it would provide that imposing silhouette up on the roof, I don't know... Yeah.

..whether you'd, kind of, lose some of the detail.

Yeah, the scale, but I just love this as a sculptural piece.

I mean just as a general question -

have you learnt much about yourself?

Gosh, yeah. I've learnt that putting my personality into my pieces is, actually,

everything.

Don't hold back, Rebecca.

Never hold back on your,

your character, cos it's fantastic,

it's really, really wonderful. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Yeah.

It's certainly substantial, Derek. Yeah.

And it's pretty scary, I would say.

It's completely bonkers.

I was nervous

about the legs and how thin and how fine they were.

There's a few snaps.

You have got a few stress problems here with the legs.

If you were to do it again maybe, possibly, you'd make those legs slightly thicker.

They do look as though they've just been, sort of, stuck on there.

Some bits are very obviously not as good as others.

But, I love the roof tile details.

That has just added so much, it really plants it on the ridge tile,

which is really quite lovely.

And what it does is it adds to the story.

You can see that the gargoyle is landed and perched on that roof

and it's broken those roof tiles and it's looking down into your bedroom,

um, when you were a kid.

And there is a real energy to it

and it's big and imposing.

You surprise me every week.

My God, this is...it's fantastic, George.

It's absolutely wonderful.

The concept is fantastic

and the execution isn't half bad either.

It's wonderfully expressive.

The texture you've used on the fish itself

just really, really comes to life and these wing like, sort of, fins that you've got on the side

hold the whole structure in place.

It's incredibly imposing

and to get all those teeth on there,

just show real tenacity and real, sort of, well, sheer hard work.

Did you run out of time for the tile, or...

Yeah. Yeah. It's a bit of a shame, but... Was those teeth that did it. Yeah, that's it.

Meticulously sticking in tooth after tooth. I was having too much fun.

Yeah, that tile is a little on the plain side,

but my God have you made up for it in the fish itself.

Brilliant. Thank you. Well done, George, thanks.

It's amazing what you achieve with

some determination, to do justice to some of these wicked animals.

I've actually had really good fun.

A gargoyle needs to be scary,

so I didn't hit the brief in that respect.

There were a few negatives.

My legs snapped.

But I would be hopeful I've done enough to stay in.

I mean, if I'm going, which I think I am,

um, I'm going on a high,

um, and that's,

that's enough for me.

It was fun, it was fun, wasn't it?

It was fun, it was the funniest one.

Yeah. It was really fun. It was, wasn't it?

Definitely the funniest thing we've done.

We're halfway through already, can you believe it?

And we're up on the roof with gargoyles and chimney pots.

Whose gargoyles really spoke to you today?

Well, Lois's.

I mean that was incredible.

Crikey!

It just had such energy, such life.

She just treated every single surface

and the quality of the build, overall, was just really on point.

Another one, though, was George.

All that expression... Yes. ..within that fish

and that demon, sort of, eye coming forward.

But why didn't he decorate the tile?

And Caitlin? I think her gargoyle showed a real confidence in the making.

The apex tile had spread a little bit

because of the, kind of, lopsided nature of the build

but that's a fairly minor thing, it was all well put together.

Caitlin does seem to be coming really into her own,

she seems to be really relaxing into her own talent.

Who do you think

could be in trouble?

Well, Rebecca. The overall proportions of the tile to the body of the gargoyle... Yeah.

..weren't quite there. Yeah.

I mean, she came eighth in the second challenge.

Yeah. It, it wasn't a great second challenge for her.

Who else do you think may be further down the list?

Derek's was scary

and it was imposing.

It just lacked that technical skill

of actually understanding what the clay is gonna be doing when it dries out.

Sounds like you have a difficult decision to make,

I will go and have a cuppa tea

and see you out on the tiles, huh?

He-he. On the, on the roof tiles?

I'll see you up on the roof,

where there are tiles...

Well done, potters, on another fantastic week.

And thank you for showing us what

dark and twisted people you are.

After a long deliberation

the judges have come to a decision.

This week's Potter of the Week is...

..Lois.

Well done.Well done.

Well done.

Really well done.

Thank you. Thanks, guys.

And now the really awful bit.

Unfortunately, we have to send somebody from the pottery today.

The person who will be leaving us is...

..Rebecca.

I'm so sorry Rebecca. Oh, why?

I knew, it's OK.

I think that second challenge probably had me

for the chopping block, because it, it was

the second time where I was bottom.

I've, it's just been the most incredible journey

and friends for life.

Oh. Aw.

But also I just think there's a natural

end to people's competition.

To get to week five is just incredible.

It really is.

I've loved what you've made, it's been wonderful to see, it really has.

Because clay is amazing and art is amazing.

So, pick it up and have a go.

Thank you.

Well done. Thank you. Well done.

Fantastic, brilliant.

It's actually really difficult to see her go, um...

She's been so supportive.

She was there, she was like my wee mum.

It's all right!

Yeah, I couldn't be prouder of her,

but I'm gonna miss her so much.

Potter of the Week.

Great, but

me and Beck have made really good friends so I'm really, really sad that she's going.

So, as Rebecca says goodbye to the pottery,

Lois's gargoyle takes its hard-earned position in the Throw Down Gallery.

I can't believe that I got Potter of the Week again,

my family are gonna be really happy.

My son said to me, "Yeah, I think if you apply for the Throw Down,

"you'll probably get to, like, episode five?"

So, I've got to episode six.

So, I've beaten his expectations.

Doing things I never would of.

Never. Maybe I should believe in myself.

Maybe, maybe I'm doing OK.

Next time... Oh!

..the potters tackle titanic table lamps...

I'm just trying to wrestle it.

Oh, deary!

..and flex their decorative dexterity...

..with a Venetian inspired spot test.

The only people who are gonna wear these,

are going to dodgy sex parties.

Who will light up the pottery?

This is how you paint in a panic. Ah!

And whose bulb is set to blow?

Oh!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media