Original subtitles

Hello?

Hello?

Where is everyone?

Ah, hello again, Gladstone. Ah, it's good to be back.

Hmm. I've missed you.

Where is everyone?

Hello?

Anyone here? Hello?!

Oh, there you are, come on. Wake up.

Rich, Keith come on, we've a show to do.

Oh, don't forget your bucket of doom.

You're gonna need that.

Sorry about that, potters.

Come on! Come on, guys.

Right.

Who else? Ah, yes. I know.

There she is.

Yes, I've definitely remembered everything now.

We have Rose in the kilns,

we have our two lovely judges

and we have 12 new fantastic potters

and a whole load of exciting new challenges.

Welcome to the new series

of the Great Pottery Throw Down.

Yeah, yeah, I think I remembered everything. Ooh!

Whoa!

Remember, Siobhan, you never touch the pots.

I forgot.

We've dusted off the wheels,

ready to welcome 12 of the nation's best home potters

to the historic Gladstone pottery museum in Stoke on Trent.

This is the absolute mecca of pottery,

and, ah, I just can't believe I'm here.

It's an iconic scene, isn't it?

You know, stepping in there, up the steep stairs.

Round the corner, up some more stairs.

The pottery's there.

Oh, wow.

It's great, isn't it?

Each week, they'll be tasked with transforming lumps of raw clay

into stunning ceramics.

When we walked into the pottery, my heart was racing.

That might have been the two flights of stairs to get up there,

but it was racing all the same.

I keep having to remind myself that, you know,

to get here is an accomplishment in itself,

but I'm bricking it, absolutely bricking it.

And their creations will be judged

by master potter Keith Brymer Jones...

I want to see our potters bring things up to us

that shows their own story through what they make.

Are you ready?

It's one of the reasons why I get so emotional.

It's the best illustrated work I've ever seen in the pottery.

I love that man, Keith Brymer Jones.

He is the master potter.

...and ceramics expert Rich Miller.

Above all else, I get far more out of this than the potters.

Because seeing them develop and grow is so inspiring.

You know the positive energy that's generated around it,

you can't put a price on that. It's just such a wonderful thing.

There you are, Hero, you've got hair now.

The potters will face 20 brand-new challenges...

So every year you watch it on the sofa and you think,

"I could do that,"

and then you actually start practising you realise you can't.

You are a strange man. I like you.

...designed to push them...

Come on! Woohoo.

...to their limits...

Oh, no.

If I goes wrong, what's the worst gonna happen?

That's going.

No, uh, trauma like a shared trauma.

Yeah, that's no good. Oh.

...after which one will be named champion...

Stressful.

...Of the Great Pottery Throw Down.

We're going to need more clay here for Shani!

You underestimated my potters!

.

We're back for a brand-new series.

And our 12 new potters are all keen to get their hands on the clay

and show us what they're made of.

After two challenges, our judges, Keith and Rich,

will decide who is Potter of the Week

and who will leave the pottery.

Welcome, potters.

It is so good to see you all.

A very, very warm welcome.

Now, for your very first challenge

the judges would like you to make a roast dinner set.

A dinner plate, a gravy boat and saucer,

a condiment pot with sculpted knob

and a pair of salt and pepper shakers

based on your perfect Sunday memories.

We're super excited to get to know you through your work,

so really consider how you bring your perfect Sunday memories

into your roast dinner set.

And as this is a set, really think about how that construction

and decoration will bring all of the pieces together cohesively.

Now, whether you prefer throwing,

sculpting or hand building,

this is a chance for you to really shine.

So play to your strengths and show us what you can do.

Wonderful, OK, potters, you have six hours

to make and refine your roast dinner set.

And you time starts... now.

It's really good to get started.

Get my hands on the clay, get muddy.

Before the potters can make a start on their roast dinner set,

they need to wedge the clay.

What this does, it does two things, it kind of homogenises the clay,

so that it's kind of even particles throughout

and then also helps you get air bubbles out.

If you have air bubbles in it when you fire it,

it might blow up in the kiln.

Thinking about that is making me a little bit nervous.

That's the wonderful thing about clay, the jeopardy.

So here we are.

Back at Gladstone. I'm really, really excited.

Yeah, we've got 12 wonderful new potters,

and I just can't wait to see what they're gonna do in the pottery.

I know. And this first make, a dinner plate,

a gravy boat with saucer,

a condiment pot with sculpted knob and salt and pepper shakers.

What I love about this challenge is that there"s just bags in it.

Yeah. There's so many different skills that are gonna be on display.

You've got sculptural elements,

you've got elements that could be hand built or thrown

or thrown and distorted.

It's gonna be a mismatch of forms and shapes

which have to be brought together as a set,

whether that's through the decoration

or whether it's through the form that it takes.

And not only that they have to kind of tell a story.

Their favourite Sunday roast or who they'd like to spend it with,

and it's just such a wonderful challenge

to really get to know our potters, isn't it?

Yeah, we're gonna get a real sense of who our potters are

and where their strengths lie.

Hi, Jan. Oh, hi. Hello, Jan. How are you?

Oh, I'm excited. Yeah? And I'm always up for a challenge.

OK. Yeah. well, tell us about your design then.

So my favourite Sundays are when the kids come home.

When they were little, we'd have a big family dinner together.

We'd play board games, but now the kids are older

and they've all left home, it's even more special.

Back home in Llanelli, South Wales,

Jan keeps herself busy with belly-dancing classes...

Yeah!

...and potting in her shed where her dog, Hero, loves to get involved.

No, you're not helping mummy at all, are you? No.

Jan'll be using dice counters

and cards as motifs across her set.

And sitting atop her condiment pot, Hero the dog.

Hero seems to think that he's on the team.

As soon as somebody stands up,

a vacant chair is filled and Hero's in the game.

So my plate will have footprints all over it

to represent his interference.

Hi, Shani. Hello. Hello, Shani.

Hi, Shani how are you? Hello, I'm very well.

Lovely to meet you. Lovely to meet you.

Now, tell us about your design.

Well, my design is based on my Sri Lankan upbringing.

Brilliant. And I love to spend my Sunday

with my children in the temple.

After a kick-about with husband Martin

and their four energetic boys,

Shani likes to dial things down with a visit

to her local Buddhist temple.

She will celebrate her Sunday ritual

with her roast dinner set,

which will be festooned with sculpted and painted lotus flowers.

And so is it this sort of the colours and the design

that's kind of bringing the set together

more than the form, you would say or? Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Well, look, good luck. Thank you very much.

Lovely to meet you. My dream come true. Really. Wow.

I couldn't believe it when I saw you. Oh, my God.

Prepare to be disappointed.

Well, my design is based on the walkies

that used to come after a Sunday lunch.

I just love that day of the week when you all just

get wrapped up in whatever clothes you need

and just head out onto the downs and go for a big stomp.

When she isn't getting wrapped up warm for a Sunday stomp...

Come on, womenfolk, let's go.

Cadi likes to brave the cold waters of Brighton's seafront.

THEY LAUGH

Her set will feature white acorn salt and pepper shakers

and a condiment pot in the shape of the fire beacons

that line the South Downs.

We should do a sort of little competition of, like,

who has the cleanest apron by the end of this,

and, uh, I don't know, Cadi, I think...

If I'd have known that was a criteria,

I might have paid more attention.

Maybe we'll do it the other way. Who is the dirtiest one?

Whose apron can stand up by itself at the end?

That's right. Yes, whose apron is 97% clay.

Yeah, that would be me.

Hello, lovely. Hi, Dave.

Hello. Pleased to meet you. You all right? Good to meet you too.

Tell us about your design, Dave.

I was walking the dog by the river and,

uh, somebody came by in a canoe with a dog aboard,

and thought I quite fancy that, so I've built a canoe.

Built a canoe? Yeah.

what? wow.

So my theme is, you know, perfect Sunday,

me and my wife and the dog.

Ah. Set off in the canoe, you can go upstream

to the beautiful pubs up there for lunch. Wow. Right, yeah.

You can go downstream to the beautiful pubs there for lunch.

In your own canoe that you built. I can't get over that.

That's lovely, yeah. That's so cool.

Self-confessed tinkerer Dave has built himself a car and a bike.

But it's the canoe that holds a special place in his heart.

Hey, Iz, what you seen?

Dave's aquatic set will feature pet dog Izzy swimming across his saucer

and perched in her favourite spot

at the front of his canoe-shaped salt and pepper holder.

So you're making a tray for the salt and pepper shakers then.

Yeah. It's a slab built... Oh, OK nice.

...off centre cuboid salt, salt and pepper shakers. Right.

With me and my wife canoeing furiously.

Hurry, it's closing time.

Think my first plate here is pretty close to done.

Um, so I'm gonna move on to the gravy boat next.

Gravy boat.

The most complex form in the challenge today...

Gonna go cross-eyed.

...the gravy boat, starts life as a bowl.

Oh, another centimetre.

...which needs to be thrown to exactly the right diameter...

There's a lot of gravy there.

Yes, I've got six people in my house.

So it's size able one. Oh, I see.

...before it can be squashed and elongated

to form its characteristic oval shape.

Once you start pulling it, you've gotta make sure

you pull in the right place,

otherwise you can end up with something that's a bit lopsided.

I don't know where...

I don't know if we can...

You all right? All right.

You been there the whole time?

Yeah.

Drying room's open.

I think.

With the gravy boats manipulated into their basic shape...

I'm a bit worried that it is too big.

...they're ready for the drying room.

Need it sort of leather hard so I can start adding in the decoration.

Because this in theory is a bowl of chips,

cos I live in Weymouth, so it's like a seaside town resort.

There's like a fish and chip shop every 100 metres down there.

Morning.

Dan moved to Weymouth on England's south coast two years ago

where he took on the role as local flood warden.

When he's not gorging himself on fish and chips,

Dan likes to invite friends and family over for a seafood barbie.

I'm gonna need a bigger barbecue.

Alongside his sand castle salt and pepper shakers

will be his gravy boat full of chips,

wrapped in newspaper that he'll emboss using something

guaranteed to get Rich excited.

So I've got some 3D printer tools.

Ah. Yes. Oh, God. Said the magic words.

3D printing again.

Wow. Yes. I like the font. Yeah. No!

Step away from the 3D printers.

Take it away from him. How wonderful. Yeah, yeah.

Thank you, that's lovely. we'll be here for hours otherwise.

And the decorating.

Yeah. Would that be a skill of yours?

No, no. OK. Well, good luck.

But before the potters can think about decorating their gravy boats,

they need to pull the handles.

Handle alert. Nobody touch the handle.

And whilst their primary function is practical...

It's gonna hold a jug with gravy in style.

...Edward is using his to enhance his design.

The idea is these handles will be the stalk of

the foxglove gravy boat,

and then if it all goes well,

hopefully glaze it,

and the inside will sort of have all the spots of a foxglove.

Back home in Plymouth, Edward spends his Sundays pottering about

in the greenhouse his partner Nick built for him.

This is a greenhouse for one person.

Should've made it, should've made it bigger.

His decorative floral set will celebrate all

the flowers he's grown from seed in his beloved garden.

See I would say this very strongly aligns with my perfect Sunday.

Yeah, that's it. It sounds lovely.

So you work with clay all week,

and then on your day off you put your hands in the earth,

in more clay. In mud, yeah, more mud. Sounds about right.

I need to take you out.

So I'm moving on to the salt and pepper shakers.

My granny who the set is based on was like one of these people

that had salt with absolutely everything.

Hi, lovely. Hello, Donna.

Hi. How are you?

We're good. Good how are you doing? I'm good, I've gotta stop.

I don't think... I'm too nervous to pot

and chat to you for just a minute. Not gonna chat and work.

Yeah, no, no. I'd come and talk to you's here.

OK, well tell us about your design, Donna.

So my design is based on my granny.

When I was a kid... Aw. ..I would go to her house

on a Sunday and she would make me champ

with a nice big volcano of butter on my Sundays. Oh!

Yeah, divine. You know, Siobhan. You understand.

My mouth's watering right now. Yes.

Hailing from the picturesque Bangor in Northern Ireland,

former art teacher Donna has a passion for painting.

This is Matilda,

and this is her wee side eye that she does she's mischievous.

She's hoping to impress the judges with her brushwork today,

which is inspired by the pattern on granny Fisher's

favourite Wedgwood plate.

There's lots of red going on here.

Yes. Maybe it's taking a slight risk just doing one colour.

There is lots of different tone and depth in it.

Brilliant, yeah, yeah. So, you know,

it's not gonna look like a flat. No, no, absolutely.

It's not gonna look flat. There will be some depth to the drawings.

Well, look good luck with it all. Thank you.

Yeah, if they look anything like that it's going to be beautiful.

Fingers crossed.

Steven is also dedicating his roast dinner set

to time spent at his nan's house.

We would quite often go round there as kids on a Sunday.

It just used to smell like roast.

Do you know what I mean?

Like roast meat and like Yorkshire puddings.

So the actual kind of like make-up of the set is based on

the set that she had.

Steven works as an art teacher in Oxfordshire,

but his favourite pupil is three-year-old daughter, Bonnie.

Now put your finger in it.

Steven's ode to his nan will feature stylised dream-like

illustrations across the whole set

and salt and pepper shakers shaped like miniature cans of fizzy pop.

My nan used to have these little mixer cans in her cupboard

and we used to call them Nan cans.

It was just like little cans of Lilt and stuff like that that.

So we wouldn't go like nuts from having a, you know a full can.

And then I mentioned it to a friend and he was like, yeah, nan can.

He knew exactly what I was talking about.

If the salt and pepper shakers are to form the perfect pair,

they need to be identical in shape and size.

I'm making a pair of acorns.

I'm really regretting the shape choice now.

What's this?

That is my pepper pot.

Right. Which is based on an Austrian themed fancy dress party.

Austrian themed. Yes, and a mate of mine came

as the famous Austrian downhill skier Franz Klammer.

So he spent the whole of the lunch dressed in red Lycra.

Will you please invite me to your next lunch?

As long as you dress in red Lycra.

Not a problem.

As a theatre and television actor,

Andrew likes to start his Sundays by going over his lines.

It would not expose your weaknesses or highlight your flaws.

Before welcoming his friends and their dogs over for lunch

and their favourite party game, splash.

THEY CHEER

Every time!

His splash game salt shaker will

accompany his Austrian skier pepper pot

and be joined by an eclectic mix of Sunday afternoon activities.

So what is it that's sort of really bringing the seat together,

is it the illustrative style or is it the form?

The illustrative style is all quite graphic.

So would you consider yourself an illustrator or?

I'm definitely not an illustrator.

I had to buy a book on,

teach yourself to draw for children.

Oh, that's good gravy. That's gonna go well with my, uh...

Where's that gravy boat made?

Oh, I don't know. SHE GASPS

Oh, it's made in Stoke.

Ah.

Halfway through potters, you're, you're halfway through.

Oh, my God.

The final piece in the set is the condiment jar.

Yes, my condiment pot is an Easter basket.

So it's gonna have a lid with a handle,

and it's gonna have woven sort of basket texture

in the side as well.

I always used to do Easter egg hunts as a kid,

so just those like lovely memories of Easter Sunday,

being with the family. Mum still does them now.

After taking up ceramics at university,

Sophie returned home to Warwickshire,

where her family still enjoy a get together

with plenty of sweet treats.

Oh, yummy.

Her cheery Easter Sunday set features spring flowers,

Easter chick and rabbit salt and pepper shakers

and her intricately patterned Easter basket condiment pot.

Are you enjoying being here? Yes.

Cause the first day is the worst day.

Yeah. Nervous this morning, but now I'm into it,

I just want to enjoy every minute so.

Oh, you will. Really. Yeah. You will. I will, T will.

Potters, that's four hours gone, two hours left.

That goes so fast.

With the clay now leather hard,

the potters can start to refine their pieces.

Now's the scary bit.

The clay might have firmed up.

But it still needs to be handled with care

to avoid creating tension that could put excess strain on the form.

Hopefully that will not crack.

And the condiment pot and lid require precision trimming

in order to ensure they fit perfectly.

It's one of the worst feelings when it just doesn't fit.

Ah.

What would be your perfect Sunday? Do you go and visit family or?

Well I live with all my family, so. Oh, do you, oh, nice.

Yeah, so there's no need to visit. Is it nice?

Yeah, it is nice. Yeah. It is.

It's a rowdy house, but it's a nice house,

How many are in the house?

Ten. I told you it was rowdy.

Jeepers.

When her seven siblings drive her up the wall,

Princess escapes to her local climbing centre.

Superhero landing.

Decorated with simple sun and wave motifs,

Princess's set is inspired by a boat ride

she took one Sunday whilst visiting her grandparents in France.

They live right by the beach,

so the first thing I'd see when I'd wake up would be the beach.

And it was just really, really beautiful.

With this set, you'll sort of feel the joy that I felt

when I was over there.

To further enhance their designs,

the potters can use this refine stage

to add any surface decoration to their pieces.

It's a very precise, uh, carving job this.

To make it look like newspaper,

I've gotta print all the lettering into it.

This is the rounders ball,

and now I'm gonna put the stitching on.

My condiment jar is going to be a little fiddly,

I have a lot of details I need to carve in.

I grew up in London, but my family is from Hong Kong.

A traditional thing to do on Sundays is to go

to something called Yum Cha,

and so it's kind of like a Cantonese brunch.

After 11 years of living in the US,

Daniel has moved back to London where he and his family

can once again enjoy Sunday afternoons

having dim sum brunch together.

Oh, look Dan, that's your favourite.

Oh, yeah let's get one of those. Yeah.

His intricately patterned steamer basket,

complete with sculpted chicken foot,

will be joined by dumpling shaped salt and pepper shakers.

This looks so nice. Thank you.

I spent a lot of time on it so far so, yeah. Did you?

Hope I have enough time for the rest of everything else. Yeah.

Do you need me to shout at you while you're still doing this?

Yeah, that'd be... Yeah, no problem. I'm here to help.

Appreciate that.

Potters you've half an hour left.

Ooh, half an hour left.

Ooh, ah. Gonna be close.

This is Hero,

and he's the one that won't miss a board game.

So he's gotta be on the table with us.

There you go, sit there like a good boy now.

I think everyone's doing lots and lots of detail

and I'm just sort of refining.

While Princess pushes to perfect her final forms...

Yeah. OK.

...Shani is struggling to level off the bottom of her dinner plate.

As you can see it's not even,

so what I'm doing is I'm just trying to attach this

just to save it, otherwise, I think I might not have a plate.

Potters you've ten minutes left. Ten minutes left.

Oh, my gosh.

A reminder that all your items need to be

in the drying room at the end of this session.

Just need to add the daffodils to my two plates.

There you are Hero,

you've got hair now. There's a good boy.

Almost done, hopefully.

My little chicken. Got his hair.

Yeah, so these can gonna go in the drying room.

Ooh. There you go, would you eat your dinner off that?

Do you want me to get anything in the drying room for you?

Um, would you be able to? Yeah.

That would be amazing.

Five minutes left potters. OK, five minutes, five minutes.

I'm fine, I'm fine.

I've got some of Sophie.

Oh, it's Sophie's. Your stuff is in there already. Yeah.

Throw the dice, you've won.

Thank you.

Beautiful. My darling, Sophie, I think we're just waiting on you.

Stressful.

Sophie! Yes.

Come here, look! That looks amazing.

Three, two, one.

Well done. Well done.

Ooh!

With their first main make session under their belts...

Hey, we got through it though. We all got through it.

...the potters can take a well-earned breather.

Oh, I did not need that stress.

Once completely dry, kiln technician Rose

will take the sets for their first bisque firing.

So Shani really bashed her plates around quite a lot.

I'm worried we might see some cracks.

Well, my main concern is, that my plates will be cracking

when it is in the bisque fire.

Other than that, everything else went as planned.

Obviously, like all the pots had a bit of excitement in them

to try and make them more interesting,

and a lot of those turned out to be quite fragile

especially my very, very thin flagpoles.

I'm really happy to leave the set, I know it's in safe hands.

I am so excited about painting it

and getting it glazed, and hopefully I manage to do that justice.

The potters now face an anxious wait as their sets hit

the thousand degree heat of the bisque firing.

Some things worked brilliantly. Some things worked OK.

And I'm ready for a gin and tonic.

Each week the potters will face a second mystery challenge.

And this one will come in handy for those

who love a few extra Yorkshire puds with their Sunday roast.

Welcome, potters, to your first second challenge,

and it is a throw down,

and this week we'll be asking you to make as many side plates as you can.

And to show you how to do it, we have our own in-house master potter

Keith Brymer Jones. Please take to the wheel.

Officially, I'll just tell you now, I hate making plates.

Because they're so simple in their form there's nowhere to hide.

You've really gotta make sure that that clay is centred

and you really stretch that clay out.

All in one continuous movement.

Now we're gonna make a plate with a mustard well, with a rim.

Hmm. Where they used to put the mustard on the side of the plate.

I'm taking that clay quite high

because that will determine the width of my rim.

So I'm now just gonna get my rubber kidney.

Make a nice smooth surface on the face.

And then just support it underneath pushing that down.

Ooh.

To make my rim, and what we're looking for is a nice defined rim

and a nice clean surface.

Great. Easy peasy.

OK, so, potters, back to your benches.

You have been given 20 minutes

to make as many side plates as you can.

And your time starts now.

Oh, no. No. I've never thrown against the clock.

How many could you make in 20 minutes?

None because he hates making them.

The first one's gonna be the hardest.

I'm pretty comfortable with this challenge.

I like doing one thing consistently.

Jan are you a fan of the plate?

Unless there's food on 'em, I don't wanna know.

Love making plates. I've just gotta not panic.

Oh, dear me.

Just take your time. Don't forget,

nice defined rims is what we're looking for.

Princess has got a nice flat rim on hers.

Yeah. Looking good.

Well done, Princess.

Dan's looks very controlled too.

Yeah, nice one Dan.

Shani's got one off, has she?

Shani rim plates is what we're looking for, don't forget.

Yes.

I'm going for as many as I can get out.

Quality over quantity that's my strategy.

Quality and quantity. I say.

It's going OK, we've got one off.

Now it's just consistency, isn't it?

These are a bit small. Can't have everything, can we?

Well done, Jan, just remember is it a plate or is it a dish?

Donna how are you getting on my love?

Don't let the side down. We're on number two.

Do you make plates often? No.

Just imagine it with a big pile of champ on it.

Big pie of champ.

Potters you're halfway through,

ten minutes gone, ten minutes to go.

We can't be halfway through, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

You should be on your 14th plate at this point.

On my third. Beautiful.

An easy peasy challenge for our beautiful potters.

Daniel's doing so well, they're now taking over the floor area.

Oh, my God other people are really blasting through them.

Princess are you a person who likes making plates?

Uh, I'll like it by the end of this challenge.

And do you normally make plates?

I do normally make plates. I'm hoping I'll make ten.

I might try for six. We'll see.

But I can't tell how many I'm gonna make.

How much time do we have left right now?

Potters you've five minutes left.

Judges we're going to need more clay here for Shani.

You underestimated my potters. In your face.

Can I get some more clay, please?

Oh, and Daniel needs more clay, I love it.

Rose, quickly over there, over there. Thank you.

Oh, I have to do everything around here. Absolutely shattered.

It's all very industrious, but it's the quality,

we're looking for that quality.

Two, four, six, eight.

I think most of them look quite consistent, yes.

So I need to speed up a bit. You're happy, aren't you?

Yeah, I quite like throwing plates.

He's having the time of his life. You are a strange man. I like you.

One minute left, one minute left.

I can do one in a minute. Can I have some more clay?

More clay. Come on! Ah!

Woohoo. That's all I need.

Come on, Dave, you can do it.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six...

.five, four... Go on, Dave. ..three, two, one. Go on, Dave.

Go on, Dave. Yes! Yay. Woo.

That was intense. Well done, well done.

The potters will now face the judges for the very first time.

Keith and Rich are looking for identical side plates

consistent in shape and size with a nicely finished rim.

Any that don't pass muster

will end up at the bottom of Keith's bucket of doom.

Which is the one that you did with like ten seconds?

This was the one that you helped me with.

You threw it across the... Oh.

Yeah. That's going straight away.

These look really great.

The rim could've been slightly more defined.

I'm reluctant to throw any more out.

Brilliant. Time's up, oh!

No that, no that, that one. I'm so sorry, Dave.

That one's no good. That's seven, Siobhan. Thank you.

Really, really good effort.

They are a bit dish like.

Hmm. Cos that one's pants.

Oh.

But they are very consistent.

Yeah, six. Thank you. Well done.

How did you find that?

Probably a little bit more stress than I like to bring into my life.

That one's very good. You've got a lovely defined rim there.

Yeah. So, they're all safe?

Uh, yeah I'm gonna leave 'em... six.

Oh! Well done, Donna.

Well, you've certainly been industrious. Tried my best.

It would've been nice just to see a bit more defined rim.

Yeah. That's gotta go.

That's no good. Oh.

Yeah, that's no good. Oh!

Oh, gosh. Do you need throw any more away?

Well. Oh!

Oh, my God.

So we've got five.

Thank you. Sorry.

Well done.

You've really tried to make them all the same,

you haven't gone for quantity. You've gone for quality. Six.

OK. Six. Thank you. Yeah.

Well done, Sophie.

Take him away, take him away. Thank you.

Some of them are a bit on the deep side. That's going.

Yeah, most of them have nice clean rims.

Yeah, I'm reluctant to throw any more away.

Five left on the bench, wonderful. Thank you well done.

Wow. Hi, Shani wow. Hello.

A table full. 11.

Well, hold on a minute, Siobhan. I mean, that's lovely.

It's just hasn't got a rim.

Hmm. Overall they're actually quite beautifully made,

it's just a very different shaped plate to what Keith asked for.

I'm so sorry. OK, so how many is that Keith?

Uh, that's eight.

Go. Thank you very much. Thank you, well done.

Some of these are the most defined rims that we've seen.

And the thickness of them is really nice. This one, though.

Yeah. If only the rim hadn't sagged.

Yeah, just gone a bit far.

I know which one you're looking at, don't look at it. Yeah.

Oh. Ay. But I mean these.

Yeah, really good strong repetitive throwing.

Great so that makes eight. Well done, Princess.

Thank you. Well done. Yeah, that's fantastic. Brilliant.

Got a couple with slightly thinner rims

and a couple with slightly thicker rims. Yeah.

But overall they're the same width. Yeah, yeah,

except that one's no good. We'll get rid of that one. Yeah.

Fair. Um, I'm gonna leave it. That's six, Siobhan.

Thank you. Brilliant.

They are a bit on the deep side. That one's pants.

Yes, that one is pants.

What is impressive despite them being slightly small

and a little tall, there is actually consistency between them.

Well done, Jan. Thank you very much.

There is a consistency to the widths overall

and actually to the rims. Yeah, it's reasonably good going.

There's room for improvement.

But we can see the logic in the way you've tried to make them.

Yeah. I think that's just the one, we've got nine there, Siobhan.

Fantastic. Well done.

They're all pretty good, aren't they?

They're all pretty good. They have a real style about them.

I agree. It really feels like they're of one potter.

They are, yeah. They're from your hands.

Really an amazing effort. Really, really good. Thank you.

Yeah, reluctant to throw any in. That's ten. Hey.

Yeah. Amazing. Well done, Dan.

Really well done. Fantastic.

Keith and Rich will now rank the plates from worst to first.

In joint 11th place we have...

...Shani and Jan.

Daniel is 10th, Andrew is ninth, Cadi eighth,

Steven seventh, Donna sixth,

Dave fifth, Sophie is fourth and Edward third.

So in second place...

...Princess.

Well done, Princess. Thank you.

So that leaves first place to Dan.

Congratulations to Dan and your superior side plates.

Potters dismissed.

I'm so happy for you.

Very happy, yeah, very good. Didn't get any thrown away.

They said you could tell they'd been made by the same potter,

which is really nice. You know as a pottery geek,

it's that feeling of who makes the pots that's very important.

I came second place, so I'm really proud of myself.

I'm just relieved all that tension and pressure that I was feeling.

Very worried, cos if my dinner set come out

tomorrow not as expected, then I think I might be

the one who is going home.

The Sunday dinner sets have undergone

their thousand degree bisque firing

and are being laid out ready for decoration.

But the potters won't know if they've survived

the heat of the kiln until they lift the hessian.

That's always a scary bit.

How many pieces went in and how many pieces are gonna come out?

I'm feeling really nervous, so I am.

I'm hoping that everything has come out of

the kiln in one piece, that there's no cracks.

So just a little bit anxious.

Welcome back, potters.

Your roast dinner sets are lying under the hessian

ready to be decorated.

The decoration stage is where you'll bring all of your pieces together

to really showcase your theme.

Think about how you're going to utilise your artistic skills

to get the most out of your decoration.

Right, potters, you have three hours

to decorate your pieces. Your time starts... now.

Oh, thank goodness.

Thank goodness, thank goodness.

Who's happy? Oh, me.

Oh, good. Yay.

Happy Dan?

Yeah, I think so, pretty much.

But not everyone is quite so pleased.

Hey, Shani. Hello. How are we looking after the bisque?

Uh, well I got, bit of a crack on my plate.

OK. Ah. So, yeah, that's your classic S crack, isn't it?

Yeah, classic crack. Bit of tension in the face.

Tension here. The gravy boat has a bit of a crack as well, yeah.

Wow, yeah. Am I OK to pick this up?

Yeah, yeah, of course. You haven't started doing anything?

Of course. Just, you can go with your plan, can't you?

And hopefully that glaze will fill up the little hairlines.

Yeah, but if I pray... I pray for that crack

to not widen up, you know? Yeah. Yeah.

So an orange. Dragon red.

The potters have been given a array of glazes and oxides...

Lush. Look at that, gorgeous.

...to help bring their sets to life.

So my plan is Easter theme,

so I'm gonna have lots of lovely pastels, bright colours.

So I'm filling the incise lines with copper carbonate.

So that I get like a variegated leaf effect.

But glazing isn't an exact science.

Many of the colours they apply now will change in the kiln.

Say hello to Hero. Hello, Hero.

Oh, Hero. You've got the colouring right and everything.

Not a clue. I've mixed the underglazes.

I'll do my best to keep him white and tan,

but we could end up with a purple dog. Yeah.

So, when it comes out of the firing, it's going to be like a...

Going to be a massive surprise. ..Hero the psychedelic dog.

He could come out any colour, you never know.

While this final stage is a chance for the potters

to showcase their decorative flair.

My theme is, uh, river, river scene.

So, uh, I've done black underglaze fish.

I'm now using a sgraffito technique to remove

the underglaze in very fine lines

and it gives them surface texture.

Make 'em look mo a bit more fishy

and a bit less like a child's drawn 'em... Um, I hope.

It's also their last chance

to bring sense of cohesion to their sets.

It really is the make or break stage,

cos you can always make a very lovely set,

but then get it wrong in the glazing,

and then the whole set just kind of falls apart.

But while most are embellishing forms

that possess a natural harmony...

So I've put I quite a lot of the black underglaze into the text.

And let it fill up and then just wipe off the top.

...Andrew is having to use decoration to bring his eclectic set

of friends, dogs and games together.

So on the plate and the saucer, there are quite a lot of paw prints

and on the salt and pepper, it's continuing the paw print theme

because that's what dogs do, they jump up.

Or at least mine does cos I haven't trained him properly.

While Andrew's hoping his paw prints bring

a sense of unity to his set,

Donna's banking on a single colour to do the same.

So, I have added, a couple of layers

of different kind of tones of the red,

so I am now going back in with my slip trailer

and try and pull out all of the texture and all of the tones.

I'm really, really enjoying this part of it,

but I think I've got a bit lost in the decoration,

and I really need to kind of pick up my pace now.

Potters you're halfway through.

I am painting some white underglaze,

so that it will hopefully fix the crack.

So this is the fire basket condiment pot,

it needs to look like flames. Think that's quite nice.

Um, so I'm doing some line work with the blue underglaze.

Hardest thing is getting a straight line freehand,

but it's coming along.

Do you have much left to do? Uh, I've got a little bit of work.

OK. I'll get some little blue eyes for the seagulls,

they have those like piercing blue eyes.

You know when they're watching you.

You all right there?

Seagulls have piercing blue yes. They do.

OK. Yeah. Um... I think they do,

they might be orange actually. I've got no idea.

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

Last bits to glaze.

Yeah, it's manic.

Dog swimming in the river and the view from underneath.

I have never witnessed the dog from underneath,

I can only assure you it's totally accurate.

Foxglove gravy boat.

I need to add some copper carbonate onto the handle,

just to get into the texture.

We're on to the tiny little bits with my smallest brush.

One has to question what I was thinking at the time.

It's really, really easy to look at what other people are doing

and kind of feel a little bit nervous, like,

"Am I doing enough?" But I'm gonna stick with this

and just keep my fingers crossed that it's enough

to get me through to next week.

Potters the glaze is out, so start thinking about glazing

your roast dinner sets.

To ensure their dinner sets are fit to grace the table

on any given Sunday,

each piece must be dipped in transparent glaze

to ensure a sanitary sheen.

I was just gonna dip it in and see what happens.

I'm holding on to this for dear life here.

I'm, um, struggling,.

Time -I haven't been able to paint as many dogs as I was planning.

In you go, chicken face.

Blub-blub-blub-blub-blub-blub.

One minute left potters.

Can I go in? Go, go.

Going good, yeah, I'm just cleaning my bottoms.

Making sure that the bottoms have no glaze on them,

otherwise they'll stick in the kiln.

Jan how are you getting on?

There's too many bottoms.

Too many bottoms, not enough time.

Dan are you nearly finished?

Yeah, nearly done. Wonderful. Andrew?

Andrew's ignoring me.

Five, four...

...three, two, one.

Step away from your pieces, well, well done.

Oh, it's heavier than I had anticipated.

The potters must now take their Sunday dinner sets

to Rose for one final firing.

Hi. Hello, potters. How'd it go?

I've got a slight, um, wobbly knobbly. Yes.

When they next see them it will be judgment time.

Think it went really well.

I managed to do everything that I wanted to do,

so just need to see how it goes in the firing.

It's difficult to know whether it'll work

until you see it come out the kiln.

It's like what's in your head and in your heart

is never going to be there. But it's decorated,

there's colour on it, we'll see.

After a 24 hour gloss firing,

Rose is laying out the Sunday dinner sets ahead of judging.

The potters won't see what is under the hessian

until their pieces are revealed in front of Keith and Rich.

Congratulations potters on your first main make challenge.

Your roast dinner sets are under the hessian.

I hope you haven't taken a peek and I cannot wait to see them.

Dave, will you please bring your set up to the judges, be careful.

So are you ready?

Go on, do it.

OK.

It's about canoeing on the river.

Well, Dave it's brilliant mate.

It's brilliant.

I really, really...

Don't get me started, please.

Honestly, it's brilliant. You know what the best bit,

you haven't even seen the best bit.

That.

I absolutely love that.

It's small, it's so effective,

it's just really well executed.

I love the way you've just created

a narrative that's run through all of the pieces.

You've really mixed up different processes.

Sgraffito, incising,

and I've definitely been inspired to build a canoe.

It's gonna be on my list.

That's all he's been talking about.

That's on my bucket list. Respect. I think it's great.

Well, the first thing that strikes me,

apart from the size of the gravy jug, is this,

it's really lovely. So well executed.

Yeah, I think it very obviously feels like a set.

And it feels all very much of you,

and it's got a wonderful energy about it.

Some of the making is a little bit questionable.

You've got a few cracks here and there.

And I think the scales overall perhaps the salt and pepper shakers

are a little bit big.

And the gravy boat feels a little at odds

to the scales of some of the other pieces.

I love the incising on your acorns,

and the way you've rubbed all of that underglaze back,

particularly on something that's sort of meant

to be in the hand, and it feels really tactile.

It's lovely to the touch.

Yeah, I think, quite frankly, your weakest point

is probably your fire beacon.

It's that thing of trying to emulate

something really organic, like fire... Hmm.

...in such a sort of stiff material like, like clay.

The first thing that I kind of really notice is this handle.

This handle's wonderful.

It's a lovely detail.

I think could've gone a bit more with the copper perhaps.

Um, it's somehow a little bit lost under those layers of underglaze.

But I love the overall concept,

and I love how it's immediately recognisable

as being something of the garden,

of the earth, and that carries through the entire set.

So, are you ready?

How do you feel?

Hero's come out the right colour.

My perfect Sunday is when my daughters come home,

we have dinner and then after dinner we play board games.

Yeah. But Hero the dog always wants to join in.

It's absolutely wonderful.

I love this, and it never ceases to amaze me

that you can do a very simple form,

and you've just given it well two colours and it makes it come alive.

Yeah, I mean your approach to the decoration is really spectacular.

It's just a really playful set,

and it's exactly what you wanted to emulate

through the whole design.

Ready?

Yes, I've waited a while.

Ooh.

So remind us, Dan, of your design.

Yeah, so I live in Weymouth, and it's sort of a day by the beach.

It certainly pops, and it certainly sort of shouts seaside.

It's brilliant.

And I love the decorative technique that you've used on the gravy boat

to emulate that kind of newspaper wrapping.

It works really, really well.

I mean I'd say in terms of your overall design, it's super strong.

The bucket and spade and the sand castle are such a great idea

for the salt and pepper,

the same form essentially but turned the other way up.

It is very vibrant,

very in your face, but that's kind of what the beach

and all of that kind of culture is about, really.

It's great, Dan. Thank you, thanks.

Well, it's certainly very spring like.

These flowers here on the top really nicely detailed

and yet quite simple.

You know I'd question perhaps how practical having

a relief daffodil in the middle of your plate is,

but I kind of overlook that.

It feels like a plate for special occasions.

You just kind of get the sense that there's

so much work gone into every stage of this make.

No, a really lovely colourful spring like set.

I don't know why I just have the urge to shout nan cans.

Just.. just and over.

Do it. Nan cans! It's nan cans!

Well, I'm gonna pick up the plate first.

It's a lovely shape. It's somewhat better

than your second challenge plates.

Yeah, yeah. You've actually got a rim there.

Yeah, I just like the overall strength of the design.

Everything feels like it works well together,

and it feels like it's of the same set.

I really think it's paid off.

I mean even just picking that up,

I can tell that the quality of the throwing is outstanding.

Thank you. They're so light. So beautifully thrown.

They just... they just feel so well put together.

The only concern I would have is the lack of decoration.

It would just be great to see a bit more flamboyance.

A little bit more energy in the design.

There is kind of a simplicity to it.

Yeah. But at the same time when you look at it closely,

there's a complexity to the decoration and the overall finish.

And what you've managed to do is emulate that traditional

Chinese crockery, but you've done it in a kind of a

stylised characterful way.

Yeah, really well made set. It carries your theme beautifully.

Well done, Daniel. Thanks, Daniel. Thank you.

Are you ready? Born ready.

So just remind us about your design.

It was about friends, their dogs and playing games.

OK.

Well, the first thing that strikes me is this.

Love this. This is great.

It's worked really, really well.

If I were to comment in a negative way,

it would've just been nice to see a little bit more on the plate.

Yeah, I love the narrative about friends and sharing,

that's entirely what domestic ware should be about,

but unless I'd spoken to you about your story,

I don't know if I would necessarily understand what your theme was.

Thank you.

Are you ready Donna? No.

That's definitely better than what I thought it was gonna be.

The colour is inspired by a plate that my grandma used

to serve me my champ Sunday dinner.

Well, Donna...

...it's the best illustrated work with a brush

I've ever seen in the pottery.

Thank you.

It's absolutely fantastic.

It was a real massive risk just doing one colour,

and my God have you pulled it off.

The level of depth and subtlety that you've got with that underglaze

is literally sublime.

It's absolutely brilliant.

Yeah, I mean the quality of the making is exquisite.

It just has a lovely softness to it,

and the quality of the brushwork is just unbelievable.

Thank you.

Yeah, I just, I can't even put it into words how I'm feeling.

I-I don't think it's quite sunk in yet just how...

...how incredible it was getting that feedback.

Yeah, the size of the gravy boat was quite big,

uh, yeah, I am concerned.

The standard is astonishing,

there are some amazing pieces of work,

and I think I didn't think through the fact that

it was a set of pieces.

What a lovely new bunch of potters.

And they've done wonderfully this week.

I mean, that wasn't an easy challenge.

Are there anyone's in particular that you think really stood out?

We're both in agreement that Donna's was just absolutely fantastic.

Yeah, I mean, for Donna to come out with the bravery to choose

a single colour, but she knew what she was doing.

And she created a really lovely roast dinner set.

You really liked the design concept for Dave's.

Oh! Canoeing. Dave's attention to detail was just brilliant.

To get those fish as a border is one thing,

but then to scribe through to really accentuate those fish tails

and the gills was just a really, really inspired way of doing it.

Wonderful. So he did really well.

And, of course, we can't ignore the second challenge

and who came first in the second challenge but Dan.

Yeah. How did he do in the Main Make?

Brilliant! Yeah. It just felt like a really cohesive set.

He'd used colour in a really effective way

to draw all the separate elements together.

Is there anyone who may not have done as well

as you would have liked?

Probably Andrew. Right.

Yeah, I just felt a bit disappointed,

cos his concept was lovely. Yeah.

The idea of friends coming together and playing games,

but you just didn't get that from what he'd made.

So, anybody else?

Well, Shani. Yeah. She's kind of at risk of going,

because her plate had massive "s" cracks in it,

and so did her gravy boat. Gravy ship.

Well, you've said it yourself, gravy ship.

I mean, my God. How much gravy do you need?

OK, then, well, I don't envy you.

It's always really, really difficult

getting rid of the first person just as we are trying

to get to know them.

Congratulations, potters, on your very first week.

You are roast dinner sets were absolutely wonderful.

This week's Potter of the Week

created work which was described as "sublime" and "exquisite".

The potter is...

...Donna.

Well done. Well done!

Well done!

Thank you.

Well done.

And now the really hard bit.

Even though it's the first week, it's been a real, real pleasure

to see you all at work,

and it's really hard to say goodbye to someone.

But, unfortunately, the potter who is leaving us today is...

...Andrew.

Aw.

It's OK.

Aw.

Oh, no.

It's all right.

Yeah, it's bittersweet, isn't it?

I mean, I'm sad that, you know,

I want to be here for another week having fun, learning,

but I don't feel a failure because just looking around those rooms,

people were making great stuff.

And I feel inspired by that.

Honestly, potters, the bar was set so high.

I've never known a first week like it.

You should be really proud of yourself, Andrew.

You did a great job.

Proud of myself is a weird thing for me to say.

That's not my natural disposition,

but I'm absolutely content just to be given the opportunity

to come and compete with potters

who have been doing it for tens of years.

It's brilliant.

It was me. It was supposed to be me. Not you. No!

I think it's mixed feelings, happiness and sadness

at the same time.

Happy that I'm staying, but sad that my friend is leaving, you know?

So, as Andrew bids farewell to the pottery...

Donna, well done. Amazing.

Stunning.

...Donna's Sunday dinner set is the first work

to take its place in the Throw Down Gallery.

Yeah, it's really...

I feel really, really proud of myself. So I do.

Never, ever thought in a million years

I would get Potter of the Week the first week.

It feels... unbelievable.

It's absolutely unbelievable.

I think I'm panicking a little bit

cos you set a bar for yourself and that is the top.

And I was trying to reach that,

and I'm hoping that it doesn't go all downhill from here.

Fingers crossed.

Next time...

No, no, no, no.

...the potters fashion fishy Gluggle Jugs.

I don't know if it looks like a fish.

Does it look a bit wonky?

And the blindfolds are back...

It's dark.

...for a Thow Down challenge.

I'm realising how much I use my eyes when I throw.

Who will net catch of the day?

It's really, really wonderful.

And who will be a fish out of water?

I've got absolutely enormous jugs compared to anybody else.

Well, let's stay on the challenge, please.