We started with 12... Brilliant, innit? Look at it.
Oh, wow! Let's go!
..and over the last nine weeks,
the potters have wowed us with stunning ceramics.
It's absolutely brilliant!
From scrumptious salad sets...
The energy and the life is extraordinary.
..to incredible Noah's arks.
It's absolutely wonderful.
Thank you.
They've built their own kilns
and played with fire.
Yeah! Aghhh!
Do you want to see me massive spout?
There's been laughter...
Oh! I'm blushing!
..triumph... That is just fabulous.
..and tears.
No! It exploded!
And, one-by-one, they said goodbye.
I'm so glad I met every single one of you.
Weee!
Now, for Steve...
Please, please work.
..James...
I've got cramp in my shoulder.
Come on.
..and Natalie...
No schoolboy errors. Not in the final.
..just two challenges remain
to decide who will be crowned Britain's best home potter.
Welcome to the final of The Great Pottery Throw Down!
# Making time
# Shooting lines
# People have their uses
# People have their uses. #
We're in the final. I know.
We're in the final. I know, I know, I know. We're in the final. Ha-ha!
Don't! I'm terrified enough.
This year's Throw Down final promises to be
the closest we've ever seen...
Natalie. Oh!
..featuring three potters,
each with three Potter Of The Week wins.
James.
A meticulous maker, with a distinctive decorative style...
It's bri... It's brilliant! Oh!
..James stood out from the very start.
Those beautiful illustrations. I just want to take it home.
Despite some build issues early on...
My bee hasn't survived. It's lost its wings.
..he's listened and learned...
I just don't want to risk any cracks.
..improving week by week.
It just looks incredibly realistic.
And last week's fantastic hellmouth fireplace...
The way you've worked with the clay, incredible.
Absolutely brilliant.
..saw him high kicked... Wooo! ..into the final
on the front foot.
It just feels so surreal, you know.
You sort of think, "I'd love to get through to the final."
And, um, and it's the final!
The competition is really tight,
but I got Potter Of The Week last week.
Yeah, I feel like I'm on a bit of a roll.
Just need to get one more win. I can win it.
A clock between two undercarriages.
That's a treat!
Never afraid to step outside her comfort zone...
I'm going for it in one.
That's what I like to hear.
..Natalie's pushed herself from the very beginning.
Come on, Nat.
..impressing the judges with her ambition...
If someone were to ask for an example of
a double gourd vase, this would be it.
..and sheer amount of work in her makes.
I mean, it's that level of observation.
You've just thought about every surface.
And while she's happiest hand building,
her skill at the wheel has grown every week.
I'm, like, chuffed.
It's the final! I'm still pinching myself.
I want to take everything in,
and I really wanna feel proud of myself more than anything else,
so come on.
Look at Steve. He's got his up already.
A talented thrower...
Just got to go for it now.
..Steve's natural affinity for clay has set him apart.
Whoa! What a mechanism!
Never one to shy away from a challenge,
he's sometimes the victim of his own ambition.
My deck has just shattered.
But when he gets it right...
The first thing you notice is
the detail. There is so much detail.
His incredible makes
and beautiful brushwork are unmatched.
It's brilliant.
Yeah. Special day.
I'm genuinely excited.
I'm also, you know, terrified.
There's no room for errors today.
We're all gonna be going for it,
fighting for that trophy.
Can I win it?
Um, I'll do my bloomin' best!
Welcome finalists. Wow, how cool is this?
Congratulations. OK then,
for your final main make challenge,
the judges would like you to make a Greek amphora.
They are looking for a striking,
ornate statement piece with the wow factor.
Judges, any pearls of wisdom?
Traditional amphoras are tall storage vessels
with expansive handles, a long neck and a pointed base.
We'd like you to recreate that traditional shape
but without the pointed base.
Your amphoras will have a flat, stable bottom.
Like me.
Now you can use whichever construction method you'd like,
but marrying that flat base with
the shape above is gonna be difficult,
so careful planning and design is required here.
OK, sounds like a challenge befitting the final. Keith?
We'd like your amphoras to tell us something about you.
Think of the amphora as a blank canvas
for that storytelling, and don't neglect the handles.
Great. All right, then, potters,
you have been given seven and a half hours to make
and refine your Greek amphora, and your time starts now.
Good luck, boys.
Good luck. Good luck, Nat.
Good luck, mate.
Yep, I'm off.
Just trying to stay calm and relaxed, like him.
Good to get started. I just need to try and stay focused,
you know, and be thorough and work at pace.
But I feel...I feel good. I feel good.
I never thought that I would make it to the final.
So "Just enjoy yourself" is
the message to myself today.
And I don't know if I'm ready,
but I'm doing it.
Rich, the final!
And we've got three fitting finalists.
We have, indeed.
And they are making Greek amphora jugs.
Traditionally, amphoras were storage jars, weren't they? Yeah.
And they'd have a very pointed,
angular base because they were designed to sit into sand.
And our potters can create their amphoras in any which way they want.
They can slab build, they can coil, they can throw,
they can do all three if they want. Yeah, yeah.
But they need to make sure that
those sections come together cleanly,
that there's a good fluidity through the lines.
It doesn't want to feel disjointed. No, absolutely.
And these vessels, they have handles as well.
But that main body is gonna dry at a different rate.
In the final, it would be devastating if pieces cracked.
They really need to make sure that
all of the fundamentals are carried out properly. Absolutely.
And then we want them to decorate them.
It's a statement piece about their life.
There's so much opportunity to create a rich,
beautifully decorated surface.
Yeah. I want...I want to...
These three potters have worked...have worked really hard
to get here. Yeah.
I want to be able to look at their amphoras
and know exactly what their life is all about.
It wants to feel like the pinnacle
of what they've achieved in the pottery, doesn't it?
Yeah, absolutely. And I'm with you.
Give me a hug. Let's give you a hug.
Yeah. Cheers. Cheers, Rich.
Hello, lovey. Hey, folks. Hi, James. How are you doing?
Excited, nervous, you know... Yeah. ..terrified. All of those emotions.
Jolly good. And that's just looking at you, Keith. I know. I know.
Well, look, tell us about your design. Yeah.
Your final design. Yeah. I know, I know.
Wow!
The title is The Little Things We Carry.
I just think as you go through life,
you maybe hold on to certain memories of loved ones. Yeah.
So I've got a UFO here
cos my sister, Dawn, she just loves stories of aliens.
Oh, my gosh! I thought this was gonna go a different way!
The time I was abducted.
When I was seven, the time I was... And what would we do?
I know. I am actually an alien.
James will pay homage
to his sister's extra-terrestrial obsession with
a flying saucer crashing into his amphora.
And he'll model ghosts and giant popcorn
to celebrate son Art's favourite food and love of horror movies.
How are you approaching the core construction?
So I'm throwing pretty much the bottom,
you know, third or so.
And then I'm gonna coil the rest, then.
Ah! Um, and I've got a template here that I'm gonna try and keep to.
Well, look, good luck with it all.
Enjoy yourself, it's the last challenge. Yeah, cheers.
The potters have been tasked with producing
an amphora approximately half a metre tall.
It's so big!
So I'm gonna be throwing everyone on a wheel in three different sections.
I'm just starting with the base.
The foundation of their form,
the base, is key to achieving
the shape Keith and Rich are expecting.
I'll be flaring out the bottom,
so it'll look a bit like a big bowl.
Just getting the initial shape's quite tricky.
I just want to make sure that I get that accurate
so that then I can just continue that form.
And whilst Steve and James have opted for the wheel...
Happy with that.
Natalie's decided to build hers by hand.
I've made a former here,
so I'm gonna slab build up to the top of my former,
and then I'm gonna coil on top.
Even though my throwing has definitely improved,
I still feel more confident hand building.
Natalie will narrate her life story through
an ambitious amphora celebrating both the dark and light.
Packed full of decoration,
it will tell of her time
travelling the world as a dancer,
and the relationships she forged along the way,
while her handles are dedicated
to those she holds closest -
her wife and daughter.
From the side,
I want it almost to look like a heart.
I mean, that's quite ambitious, isn't it? I know.
They're coming all the way down that pot.
They're coming all the way down the pot, yeah. Amazing.
It's a bit of a risk for cracks and things, isn't it?
But it is the final.
Yeah, go for it.
These are just some coils that I've extruded.
As James starts the next phase of his make,
coiling up from his thrown base,
and Steve moves onto the middle section of his amphora...
I'm throwing it upside down,
so the bottom bit's gonna be quite wide and it's gonna match the base.
..it's time for Nat to remove her former.
But I'm a little bit scared
because I don't want it to fall apart.
Done it.
With her former successfully extracted,
Natalie can begin coiling her amphora's top section.
I need to make sure they're blended really well.
I don't want there to be a single crack.
BLEEP!
No schoolboy errors, not in the final.
It's just got off-centre for some reason.
I don't know whether my back moved or something moved,
but it's just off-centre,
so just had to throw another one.
It's not going too well really.
Thrown in three, Steve plans to join
each section seamlessly
to create his amphora's fluid form,
a form that will provide the blank canvas
for his life story.
And with the trophy within touching distance,
he'll use his years of animation experience
to bring his illustration-rich design to life.
I'll be spinning it around on the wheel
and it should all animate up the pot.
Oh, wow! Ah, yeah!
As if decorating an amphora isn't enough,
it needs to be a piece of animation as well. Wow!
But I just can't seem to throw very well today.
I think I'm just a bit nervous.
Just walk away from the wheel. Walk away. Yeah, yeah.
Go and make some tea.
And try and enjoy the making. I know it's... Yeah, yeah, definitely.
I know it's the final and there's a lot of pressure,
but, you know, you're all...you're all here
cos you're brilliant, so... Yeah.
..just enjoy yourself.
Yeah. I'll reboot myself and I'll be back on it, so... Yeah.
Yeah, fantastic. Yeah.
All right. Well, we look forward to seeing it. Great, thank you.
Potters, that's two hours gone.
Thank you. Welcome.
Just doing the middle piece still. Yeah, just got to soldier on.
I'm now coiling the nice shoulder and the neck.
Of all the construction methods,
coiling offers the most control over the amphora's shape.
However, it does have a drawback.
This is very time-consuming.
To ensure their structure's sound,
it's crucial the clay is allowed to firm up before
a new layer is added.
So long as you take a moment
to dry it, it should hold its shape.
But time isn't Natalie's friend.
For the handles, I want to spend a bit of time on them,
so I need to move as quickly as I can.
Just slow and steady.
The base is dry so I'm just going to attach
the middle section.
Just one more piece now.
As Steve and James's amphoras slowly take shape...
Damn it!
Come on.
..Natalie's hasty construction is causing problems.
It's just the weight of the clay because it's so wet,
it's making it sink in the middle.
And I should've gone slower.
I was just going too quick.
Come on, Nat.
I can hear my wife's words in my ear.
"You've got this. You can do this."
So I need to get it right.
She's incredible.
Fun and spontaneous and sparkly.
She's the best mum and the best wife.
I said in our wedding
I was a little bit smug that she chose me.
And I still am.
Natalie was still dancing when we met,
and she's a very beautiful and very talented dancer.
I know I'm biased, but she is.
I think creatively she's been stifled since she stopped dancing.
Oh, definitely. There was definitely a void.
Do you know what,
pottery was my saviour when I had Albie
and stopped dancing, pottery was there for me.
To be a mum,
it's the most wonderful thing in the world.
My mum's actually quite inspirational.
My mum raised four kids and she's... I'm gonna...
Like, she's probably the strongest woman that I know.
If I can be half as strong
for Albie as my mum was for us - epic.
Albie doesn't know a great deal.
She knows that mummy is going away
and doing pottery work.
But I know that when Albie sees this,
she's going to be so proud of her mum.
So I'm thinking I'm just going try and throw a top.
Right, let's sort this beast out. Come on.
Flip it up, whack it on, and then make it look beautiful.
Please, please work.
But Natalie's not the only one forced to throw another neck.
I was gonna do it in three
but it's a bit short,
so I'm going to do it in four pieces, I think,
to get to the height I'm after.
It's going to be tight for time now, really right.
What was Steve like as a lad?
Lovely. Brilliant little lad.
He's very creative.
Always painting or drawing, wasn't he? Yeah.
His bedroom door was covered -
Dennis the Menace and Desperate Dan, all painted.
Beautiful, it was.
Remember this one, eh?
That's... Was that back in art college days?
It...it's his hands, isn't it? His...his painting,
his animation, the pottery.
It's always related to his hands.
And he's just worked hard.
He'll never cut corners on something.
It's gotta be right.
This pottery show,
it's been the best thing that's ever happened to him.
He has loved it. Very proud of him.
I don't think we realise how talented he is really.
Mm.
I'm gonna get a bit emotional now.
Oh.
Yeah.
Yeah, we don't realise.
Right, that, is it? I'm happy with the neck.
Yeah, not bad.
That's the last coil.
I've done enough coiling for one day.
Next, I can move onto the decoration.
That's going to be the most amazing
flying saucer you've ever seen.
My sister loves stories about
aliens, so they remind me of her.
Yeah. Look at me.
Look at my hair in that!
Lego head.
There's something very special about James.
He's a great brother. We've always been really close.
He's always been really deep and quiet.
But when he starts to do something artistic,
more of the child of him comes out.
Is that your hairy chest? I see you've unbuttoned...
No, I have a T-shirt. It's just quite low.
That's me and Duane on our first date about 14 years ago.
As long as I've known him, he's always been creative.
He used to run his own cake business.
The cakes that he made were just out of the world,
I couldn't believe that you could do
the things that he did with cakes.
When we were thinking about a mortgage, buying a house,
he moved into a more corporate career,
and he just doesn't have a creative output there.
So I think pottery has been really,
really good for James.
Incredibly proud of him.
I've missed him because he hasn't been here.
It's been me and Buster living on our own.
But I'm just really proud
because I know how hard he's worked for it.
He's a great dad and I've just been so proud of him.
But, yeah, I mean, James,
I don't think he realises how good he is.
Give us a hug, sis. Yeah.
Love you. So proud of you.
So, the handles now.
They're going to be strap handles.
These are pulled handles.
These are my coils that I had left over
and I'm twisting them
to make the handles.
I'm really hoping these work.
Do you like making handles?
Yeah, I do actually. I make a lot of mugs.
Do you ever have a giggle to yourself,
like everybody watching this right now is doing?
No, because I'm very mature.
Yes.
All right, so grow up, maybe.
Yeah, grow up, everyone. Grow up, everyone.
Grow up. Please, this is the final.
No matter how the potters have chosen to make them,
the handles are key to the success of their amphoras.
So that's going down there and that's going up there.
Not only must they complement the form...
I'm just making sure that I'm happy
with the shape and positioning.
..but every aspect of their construction
must be on point, too.
I'm going to slip and score lots
to ensure the handles stay exactly
where I want them.
The smallest slip-up could be
the difference between
winning or losing.
Got to do this right.
Yeah, that's OK. That's OK.
Oh, damn it!
It's quite messy applying these.
I want it to be a heart shape.
I feel like that's a bit adventurous right now.
Just two hours remain.
That's the handles finished.
So, yeah, I can move onto the decoration.
The handles, I just need
to clean them up a little bit.
Looks amazing.
You've pulled it out of the bag, Nat.
Well, I don't know about that,
but not finished yet.
I need my decoration to smash it.
So these are the lights
in the bottom of the UFO.
I'm just starting to add one of
the grapevines. I brew my own wine.
It doesn't taste great,
but it's...it's quite strong.
This is the Moulin Rouge,
the famous red windmill in Paris,
that I spent many years performing the cancan.
Just putting some grapes on.
But they are taking a long time.
What's the thing people wouldn't know about the cancan?
Well, I mean, how heavy the skirts are to begin with. Really?
Yeah, I have got one in my bag.
Do you want to see?
Yeah. Oh, my gosh!
So, look. Look.
We can be twins, look.
You have two of them.
I feel like my mother is looking down on me...
We can shake, look.
Galop Infernal by Offenbach
Exactly! Yay!
Potters, you've half an hour left.
That's it. That was the last leaf.
I'll be painting it with the underglaze now.
I'm sticking my cancan sprigs on.
There's a lot of things I still kind of want to get on,
so I need to work really, really fast.
This is a ghost plaster mould that I made,
just to tie in that spooky element,
and I'm going to do popcorn tumbling from the top.
Time for the fiddly bit.
Paint around all the grapes.
I'm slightly worried
I might not get the popcorn on.
She needs a head.
Can't have a girl without a head?
Potters, you've ten minutes left.
I'm doing a bit of sgraffito.
Once you get in the flow,
you can work quite quickly with it.
It's going to be the quickest popcorn I have ever made.
I've got cramp in my shoulder!
Just the last bits to go on
and then I am going to tidy up.
I want it to look spot-on,
perfect, no straggly bits.
Popcorn looks weird doesn't it, when you think about it?
Maybe just my popcorn.
No, I think that looks really
like popcorn, but popcorn is weird. Yeah, it is.
Imagine a big popcorn like that.
Like a giant popcorn.
Yeah.
Guys, one minute left.
And remember, it has to be in the drying room.
How am I gonna carry that?
And it should be on paper.
Oh, God!
Pfff!
I mean, they're quite large, aren't they?
They are. I think yours is
the largest as well.
Pfff! Do you want a hand?
Can you just hold the board?
Ah, great. I'm terrified about carrying this.
30 seconds.
Is anything behind me?
My heart!
Oh, my God!
How is that even fitting?
That is tight. Wow! Ten!
Nine, eight...
..three, two, one.
Well done!
Aghhh!
Potters, your amphora will be dried and fired
and we'll see you soon. Well done. Potters, dismissed.
Ah, well done.
Well done, you two!
Amazing!
A little bit relieved,
a little bit sad.
It's the last one. It's the last build.
I didn't think I was gonna have anything at one point.
But I think I retrieved it.
Hopefully, it will fire fine.
Anything can happen in the next stage now,
the bisque firing. I mean it is a big pot.
You know, I've put those handles on,
all the embellishments. Any of that could crack.
I've just gotta pray that, you know,
the kiln gods are on my side on this.
We can never have enough time.
I could've done with probably another hour or two there.
I absolutely rushed making these wee mini pinch pots
to look like popcorn but I think it looks great.
Just have to hope it all
stays on now in the firing.
It's the final of The Great Pottery Throw Down.
This is it? Let's do it.
And hidden under hessian is
the second challenge that'll help decide our winner.
Steve, you need to give me a fighting chance.
I'm going for it, I'm sorry.
I know, and me.
Here we go, here we go.
Welcome back, potters, to your very last second challenge,
and it is a throw down.
You will be throwing the widest bowl you can
and the tallest, thinnest vase you can.
Yeah.
Look at their faces!
And to show us how it's done,
thankfully we've Keith Brymer-Jones here with us.
Keith, take to the wheel.
OK. So you've got two balls of clay.
One ball of clay is two kilos,
and the other one is three.
The two kilo is for the tall, thin form,
and you've only got one chance.
Yeah.
So you've got your clay centred.
You now just go down and make your hole.
Pull it out, but don't pull it out too much
because you want to make it as tall
and as thin as possible.
Slow the wheel down,
and then just start collaring in
that clay in one, continuous movement.
You really want to grab that clay
between your knuckle on the outside
and your fingers on the inside.
This is the stage where you get your...
Sponge on a stick.
..and you're just gonna smooth off
those ribbing lines,
getting that nice, thin, long stem.
Probably need to remember to breathe during that bit.
I think I just held my breath at the same time.
Yeah, yeah.
So there you go. That's the first form.
Get your other ball of clay to make the bowl.
Oh, he just chucks it on.
And it's almost exactly the opposite of
the previous form. We want a nice, wide,
open bowl. So, I'm bringing it out.
Just compressing that clay a bit,
and then collaring it up,
seeing how far I can stretch it out.
It's all about knowing when to stop because it could collapse.
And if it collapsed, can they restart again?
No. Ha-ha!
It's the final.
With my wooden template,
splay it out a bit more.
Constantly looking at the profile.
I'm gonna stop there.
What Rich and I are looking for is perfection.
Great. Thank you very much Keith.
Potters, back to your benches.
OK, now this is going to be judged blind,
so guys, get outta here.
Good luck. Good luck, everyone. Thank you.
OK, potters, you have been given...
..20 minutes to make your two items.
And your time starts now. Remove the hessian.
It's quite a big piece of clay.
My last throwing session didn't go that well
so I'm gonna try and prove myself here.
Didn't want it to be a throwing challenge. But do you know what?
It's the last throwing challenge I'm ever gonna do here.
I'm just gonna try my best.
Are you all doing the tall, thin one first?
Yes. Yes. Yeah.
Correct.
Getting it centred, consistent pulls.
Keeping the sides straight.
The whole thing is tricky.
Right, push at the base to lift as much clay up.
Don't stop until you get to the top.
Ah.
Why, is it...?
Because I pushed a little bit too hard,
so then I got a little twist.
But I've managed to fix that a little bit.
I need to try and get the height
and then I'll start to narrow it in.
I think the hardest thing is to try
and get it up without the walls collapsing.
It's not very straight.
Keith wants a thin neck
so I'm just gonna try and thin this slightly.
Ten minutes gone, potters. Ten minutes gone.
Oh. You're halfway through already.
I don't want to spend too much longer on this,
cos I think the bowl's gonna take longer.
I'm being too tentative with the clay
and I'm gonna give myself like three minutes
to throw my second pot if I'm not careful.
Struggling a bit with pushing this out.
How are you getting on?
OK, I think.
I'm going to try and start the bowl now.
Oh, you're done with
your tall, thin? Yeah.
I'm still trying to get it up.
I really need to be moving onto my wide bowl.
Right, I think that'll have to do.
It's no good if I've only got one, is it?
Eugghhh!
Oh, my God!
Right. I think I wonked it a bit
trying to get it off the wheel.
I can't get her off.
Oh, crumbs.
Pfff!
Oh! BLEEP!
I can't believe it!
Aghhh! Um, I took it off
and it just dropped off. Oh!
So, yeah.
Not my fault.
I can't believe I just did that.
So bad!
Go!
Potters, you've five minutes left.
Agh!
You've got to focus on your very wide bowl.
Gonna have to work quickly.
I've gotta try and prove myself
with the bowl now.
I'm just trying to keep
the balance on the inside and the outside.
Just making sure everything's even,
and don't make a hash
of taking it off the bat.
The wider I throw it,
the more risk it has of collapse.
I feel like it's going out
but it's not moving, is it?
Potters, that's one minute remaining.
Oh, crumbs.
That doesn't sound good, Natalie.
I feel like I'm taking it out,
but it's just not going out.
Get it out!
I'm not gonna do anything more
to it. I think it's wide enough.
You've gotta be careful
you don't push it too much.
30 seconds left, potters.
Stop shaking.
Steve, you haven't got time...
Just trying to do a bit of a fix.
But I don't think it's gonna work.
Ten, nine, eight...
It's out. I'm not going any more.
..five, four... Just terrible.
..three, two, one.
I'm happy with that.
Step away from your tall, skinny and wide bowls.
Pfff!
Well done. That was fun.
Ah! BLEEP!
All right, bring them up to your ware board, please.
Short and squat.
Keith and Rich will now judge the potters' widest
and tallest thrown pieces.
Oh, lovely.
Look at this! Ooh!
And they have no idea whose is whose.
Right, OK. This one here,
it's nicely finished off on the sides, don't you think?
Very clean.
Could've been slightly taller
and slightly thinner at the top.
The bowl, it's not a bad shape.
You could have maybe pushed a bit more out,
just underneath the belly of the bowl.
Maybe a touch more of a clean at the bottom.
But, yeah, really nice effort.
Wow, this one's tall.
It is. And very narrow.
Really good use of the clay.
Nice, clean surface.
Really lovely. The bowl's really nice.
Slightly different shape to yours.
Yeah, but really nicely finished off, though.
OK. Nice height on it,
just lost the centre of it.
It looks like the clay's folded slightly
and they've had to recover it.
Yeah. But you know, you can see
the intent on really trying to clean it up.
The bowl, nice and wide.
They've really splayed out that form, haven't they? I like that.
The judges will now rank the finalists from bottom to top.
In third place is this one.
Yeah. Natalie.
Really nicely finished off but a bit on the short side
and your bowl, a bit narrow.
Could have been slightly wider.
So in second place...
..this one.
Steve, really lovely bowl.
It's the widest out of all three of them,
just lost a bit of control on that.
I was taking it off and it flopped over, so...
Oh! I know. In the final as well.
I mean, a pot isn't finished until you take it off the wheel.
So James, first.
Yeah. Yay! Well done. Thank you.
I am happy about that. Potter Of The Week last week,
I won the second challenge. I'm seeing a pattern here.
Maybe that'll continue.
Um, that would be great.
If your thing hadn't have fallen over,
I think you'd have won that Steve.
Yeah, I'll never forgive myself for that one.
Schoolboy error. I need to really prove myself now,
so, yeah, bit of pressure here.
James kind of smashed it didn't he? He totally did,
yeah.
Last in the second challenge.
I need my amphora decoration to be epic.
It's day two of the final make. The potters' amphoras,
having cooled down after their fierce bisque firing, are now ready
to be decorated.
Right, let's do it.
This is it. This is it. Good luck to the two of you, honestly.
I feel quite excited.
I can't wait to get in, do what I enjoy.
It's the last time we're gonna be decorating
and I want to make my last make the nicest one yet.
But whether the potters have something to decorate is
a surprise shrouded in hessian.
That moment revealing
the bisque firing never gets any better really.
You know, you're still really anxious.
And this is the final, so it's gotta be perfect so...
I feel like I need to give you both a cuddle.
Good luck.
I am nervous. Anything could happen in the kiln.
Good luck darling. You'll do great.
My handles, did I stick them on well enough?
Did I twizzle them all right?
No cracks would be delightful.
Just in one piece, please.
Welcome back, potters.
Your amphoras have been bisque-fired
and are ready for decoration. For the very last time, judges...
You have created some delicate,
ornate detail, so use those glazes
and oxides wisely to ensure that you make
the most of all that hard work.
Just take time to step back
and look at your amphora as a whole.
That'll help ensure that the decoration remains coherent
and it brings all of the separate elements together effectively.
OK, potters,
this is your very last chance to impress the judges
with your decoration.
You have been given four and a half hours
and your time starts now.
Potters, get decorating.
Eek!
Oh, cool!
Wow!
Oh, no.
How's it looking, Natalie?
Um, a tiny piece has fallen off from the bottom.
Right. But I'm thrilled
the handle's relatively in one piece.
How are you going, boys?
Happy. No grapes lost, no leaves. So,
yeah, it's all still intact, thankfully.
But not everyone has made it out in one piece.
I've lost a handle.
I'm sorry, mate.
Yeah. There's not much I can do about that.
But you know, I'm hoping maybe, yeah,
maybe by some miracle I can pull it back with the decoration.
So I just need to do that to the best of my ability.
To help them breathe life into their amphoras,
the potters have a table packed full of colourful glazes and oxides.
I'm just gonna put some yellow underglaze.
It's gonna be like the background colour of the pot.
I'm gonna for kind of a quite traditional look
but with contemporary animation on it.
I've got a lot of little illustrations that'll make up
the animation so there's going to be a lot of work to do on it.
I'll be going at quite a pace on this.
I'm using mainly underglazes to paint all of the relief,
all of the sprigs.
It's going to take a while, I reckon.
There's a lot of decoration.
I'm beginning with the side that I'm doing black and white,
the dark side, and then move onto the light.
And while Natalie and Steve put paintbrush to pot,
James has opted to pick up a pencil.
So I've just got some sketches here of the skyline of Belfast
and I've got cake elements that I want to put on there.
Once everything's sketched out then the fun starts
with the different glazes and the actual sort of decorating
and playing with colour.
Hello, James.
Hey, Rich. You all right? How are you?
I'm OK... I can see... ..apart from the obvious.
Yeah, you've lost a handle, but... Yeah.
..on the whole, everything bar the handle looks lovely.
And, I mean, the thing is, the handle is one element.
It's about the shape, the adornments,
the decoration, and I mean, we know you've got it
in you to create an extraordinary surface.
Yeah.
Create something beautiful, yeah? Thank you.
I've got every faith.
Cheers, I appreciate that. Yeah.
Good luck with it James, yeah. Thanks, Rich.
Potters, that's one hour gone, one hour gone.
I'm just drawing some lines on my pot using a laser.
It just makes sure that I get nice, vertical lines.
In each section, there'll be an animation.
What I'm hoping will happen is when I spin it on the wheel,
all the animation then moves around.
I've had to kind of prepare quite a lot for this.
I am going onto the colourful side.
For the light side of the amphora, I'm sticking to sunset colours -
reds, yellows, oranges.
My amphora represents two sides of my life, opposites.
So meeting my wife, we're very opposite,
opposites attract.
And theatre is a massive part of my life.
So the theatre faces, one's happy, one's sad.
But then also, I'm completely deaf in my left ear.
I don't talk about it much, it's not a thing but it's there.
And so I just wanted to put that on.
I'm just painting the red stripes.
Typically, you would eat popcorn out of a red and white cup.
It's got a lot of meaning for me, popcorn.
My son, Art, one of his favourite foods is popcorn.
Family is very important to me.
They're the only thing that matter, really.
I didn't really understand when you were saying about
the light and the dark - I get it now.
I think it looks great. You're going to win?
I'd...I'd love it. I'd love it.
But these boys are pretty amazing, aren't they?
They are. But so, are you.
I've just finished drawing out a bouncing ball.
The first initial thing you'll learn in animation,
the bouncing ball.
So I'm doing the chicken now.
Chickens are quite close to my heart, really,
cos I've animated quite a few and I used to own chickens
many years ago, as well.
Have you got to get all of those in the right order?
Oh, yeah. Yeah, and also the same height
and exactly the same line, as well.
Wow. No pressure...!
Potters, you've one hour left.
Ey.
It's the trophy, is it?
Huh, huh? Yeah, aha.
Very nice. Tempting, tempting.
Be lovely to be holding that at the end.
I'm going to try and stay positive.
I want to put oxides into some of the textures
and I would like to make the handles black and white,
which is going to take an awfully long time.
I want to see the chicken jump up and down.
I do too. Yeah.
Pressure's on a little bit with this.
Poor Buster's getting abducted by aliens, God love him.
The sponges are out.
I want to create a sort of dotted ombre effect.
I don't want thick colour.
Looks great. Uh, slow... Bit worried about the time.
Potters, half an hour left.
No, you're kidding?
There's still some feathers that I need to finish
and get my handles done.
So, this is black manganese oxide.
I'm just ageing it slightly with some red iron oxide.
I think it's working quite well.
Could do better.
It's what I used to get on my school reports back in the day.
I'm just using the slip trailer to add detail to
the illustrations.
The only thing that might help me win this is the decoration.
How long have we got? Ten minutes.
I really, really need you to start thinking about glazing.
Right.
Transparent glaze, while milky in appearance when applied,
will create a glossy finish and add pop
to the potters' decoration once fired.
I've decided to brush on, cos I want areas of matt,
areas of slight gloss - to sort of maintain
that aged sort of effect.
Oh, God, this is heavy.
I mean this is really light, this pot.
This is my handle. I'm just going to go ahead and decorate it
and then hopefully I can just glue the pieces
when they come out of the kiln.
Oh, you're going to do the lace? I'm going to put a bit on.
This is just a bit of fabric that I have.
Actually, it makes quite a nice pattern.
Yeah!
Are you pleased with that? Yeah, yeah.
Good, because you've only one minute left.
Oh, I can just do one more, then.
I just need to make sure there's nothing on the base.
I can't see it. Any glaze on there?
No, I can't see any.
Ten seconds. Oh!
Three, two, one,
put down the lace.
THEY LAUGH
Well done everybody. Congratulations!
That is the end of your final challenge.
God, that's it. I've got sweaty hands.
It was a bit of a blur, to be honest. Pretty chaotic.
I spent quite a lot of time on the chicken and the animation.
The animation is a major part.
I don't know whether it will work.
If it doesn't, yeah, I'm trying not to think about it,
cos there's a lot of things that can go wrong.
Hey.
There's a lot of things that I'm really happy with.
I think it's quite eye catching. But I just don't know.
The competition's so strong,
it might just come down to the construction
and that's where I kind of fall short a wee bit.
So, I have your handle. OK, great.
I just have to hope the decoration is enough.
I'm really happy with what I achieved.
Ohh. Love the colours.
Even though the little bit had fallen off,
it's not a handle, it's not half of the handle,
so it's possible I could be the winner.
I'm hoping, anyway!
It's judgment day.
The amphoras have undergone their final firing
and for the potters, there's nothing more they can do.
Yeah, I'm feeling anxious today, as always.
There's a lot of heart and soul gone into that piece
but, you know, you never know what it's going to look like.
I took a few risks.
I can't wait to see yours spinning.
Talk about pressure.
The animation, I hope it works.
Obviously, I had a couple of issues with my make,
you know, so that's just in the back of my mind.
I don't know if that's taken me out of the running
but the handle aside,
yeah, I'm sad that it's coming to an end now.
Knowing that it's the last time I'm going to walk those stairs,
there's quite a few emotions going on.
Of course, there's things that I know I could've done better
but I just want to be proud of my amphora.
Oh, look.
HE GASPS
Oh, wow.
Well, well, well, look who we have here,
our three finalists with their three magnificent amphoras.
Will we start the judging? Yeah.
Steve, bring your Greek amphora up to the judges, please.
Well, Steve... HE EXHALES HEAVILY
..it's really rather wonderful.
The form, oh!
I just want to hug it. It's so voluptuous.
Make love to it. THEY LAUGH
The joins between the sections are seamless. Mm.
You've retained that fluidity right the way through the form.
I love this, the vines.
The handles are really sturdy, there's no cracks at all.
And what we've seen from you over the last ten weeks
is amazing illustration.
You've just got the most wonderful detail in the decoration.
I mean, I don't know how you got that much done.
I'm desperate to see if it does actually work.
Well, let's spin it. I want to see this chicken.
Ho-ho-ho-ho-ho.
You ready? Let's go. Good luck.
OK. I'm going to start it up.
I don't know if I've ever felt so tense.
No, I know.
It needs to go a bit faster I think. Yeah.
I'm going to keep going.
Yeah, yeah, we're really close.
Yeah, there we go, we've got it. The kangaroos,
the ball and the chicken are all working perfectly.
HE EXHALES SHARPLY Oh, God. That was tense.
Fantastic. Well done, Rich.
Sssh-aah.
I need to go and have a lie down somewhere for a minute.
Well done.
Thank you.
Great job, Steve.
Pfff.
I'm shaking.
Natalie, if you would please bring your amphora up to the judges.
Well, the first thing I notice, Natalie, is it's quite big.
THEY LAUGH
It says ambition all over it,
which is what we've seen from you throughout...
Ha!
..this whole ten weeks.
And what a fitting vessel to leave us with.
It's bright, it's gregarious, it's fun.
Just the volume of work you've got into this amphora is incredible.
You've been very ambitious.
I mean, the handles, my goodness.
I don't think I would have been brave enough to tackle
a handle in that way.
But the moment you started twisting those handles onto that form,
it just created the line of the pot.
You've got the odd hairline crack.
Yeah. But considering they're twisted, they leave the pot,
they're joined on in multiple areas,
it's a miracle you've only got those two minor cracks.
But you've got a big crack there where this
throwing piece was attached to the coil.
It was tough to save that.
You did so well. Yeah. You did.
So well to retrieve that situation.
Quite frankly, that's...
..you know, that's the mark of a good maker.
You press on, you plough on.
And it's only finished when you open that kiln door.
So, well done. An amazing build, really. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Thanks, Natalie.
Thank you. Thank you. Cheers, lovey. Thank you.
James, would you please bring your Greek amphora up to the judges?
It's absolutely wonderful, lovey.
The depth and character is just incredible.
These bits of popcorn, they're wonderful. Yeah.
I want to lick and eat clay... Steady.
..ceramics, at the best of times.
But the popcorn! Yeah.
It's, like, mind-blowing.
The bravery to scale it up.
Yeah. With the confidence that it will still look
so immediately recognisable.
James, you are so, so talented.
I'm in massive admiration of you.
It looks like a piece of pop art.
You've managed to marry a classic shape,
thousands of years old,
with your life but in a pop art style.
It's wonderful.
What happened here, though? I know.
How did you attach the handle?
Yeah, I...I did slip and score. I think.
Stop shouting at him. No, I know, cos I'm annoyed.
Ahh! I'm annoyed. I'm annoyed. I'm stressed.
Because it's just a wonderful, wonderful piece.
Yeah. Yeah. And that bloody handle.
I know, yeah.
But you can't let it take away from the fact that it is
an extraordinary pot.
You should be really proud of it.
Thanks.
Well done, James. Thank you, darling.
Well done, mate. Cheers.
HE SIGHS
I probably couldn't have asked for better feedback, I think,
all things considered.
Yeah, I feel...I feel good. I feel good after that.
It's really nice to hear.
Apart from the handles, they absolutely loved it.
So, it does feel like there is a possibility that I could win.
So... I think any of us could win.
I wanted to get all of the elements of me in
and I do think I did that.
But whether I've actually done enough today, I'm not sure.
It worked. Gosh, that was a relief.
I put my heart and soul into this so I'm hoping I've done enough.
Just got to see now. I mean, it's...it's going to be close.
Really close.
Have we got a three-sided coin?
HE CHUCKLES
It might come to that. Mm.
Don't envy you.
Mm. Pfff.
Your faces by the end.
They're not much better now, lads.
It's meant to be a celebration but I feel so stressed.
I caught you crying in the loo just now. I know, I know.
I'm being flippant but you're... ..you're in trouble, aren't you?
I don't think we've ever had a year where we've had
such an even playing field.
I know. I mean, James' was extraordinary.
Incredible. His observational skills with that popcorn and the UFO.
He had lovely slip trailing,
brushwork that he'd pared back.
He integrates all of those different techniques so well.
Except for that bloody handle.
The handle is the proverbial spanner in the works.
He came first in the second challenge.
He did. He did. He did.
Natalie doesn't have giant popcorn
but I think that's probably the only thing she doesn't have!
Yes. Natalie's amphora felt like a joyous celebration
of everything meaningful in her life.
There was just areas where it felt a bit untidy,
the cracks through the handles, there was a big stress crack
around the inside.
And then you've got Steve, but... No cracks.
It's a glorious amphora.
And he's given us amazing illustrations.
And that added element of the animation was reliant on
the fluidity of that form and he did a fantastic job.
OK, so we...we've concluded nothing by talking about Steve.
I mean, Steve came second in the second challenge, so.
He came second in the second challenge. You know?
Oh. Yeah.
I think I feel more confused now than when we started.
Yeah. But I guess it just comes down -
what hits you in the heart? What hits you in the heart?
Yeah, a-absolutely.
That's...that's a really good way of putting it.
That's what we look at, isn't it? Yeah.
That's what gets me emotional it's that,
looking at what, what gets you in the heart.
I think I know now. Yeah? Do you?
I think I... I think I'm with you. I do think I'm with you, yeah.
GLEEFUL CHEERS
Ah, there they are.
As our finalists await the judges' decision,
their family, friends and the past potters are here to cheer them on.
Oh, it's amazing. It's amazing.
It's a absolute whirlwind and it looks gorgeous as well. Yeah.
Brilliant. What an atmosphere.
And you've trimmed up. All your fancy lights.
Ah, it's lovely to be back and, yeah, wait to see who's won.
Ohh!
I've been Team Steve since week one.
He's a master craftsman.
Natalie, I had my eye on her from when we were throwing the raku,
it was just so beautiful.
My money's on James winning. James is formidable, in't he?
They're all phenomenal.
I can't call it. I feel sorry for the judges.
THEY CHEER
Hello, everyone and a very, very warm welcome to you all,
to our final, can you believe it?
OK then, the moment we've all been waiting for.
Please give a very warm welcome to our three finalists -
James, Natalie and Steve!
THEY CHEER
Go on, love!
JUDGES LAUGH
Hello, potters, and congratulations on making it to the final.
Your work has been extraordinary,
you should be so proud of yourselves.
Now, the results are in.
The judges have made their decision.
They did not enjoy making this decision
and that's a testament to your extraordinary ability,
so well done, potters.
This year's winner of The Great Pottery Throw Down is...
..James.
THEY CHEER
Well done, mate. Yeah!
CHEERS AND APPLAUSE
Well done, mate. I can't believe it. Well done.
Yeah! I can't believe it.
You did it mate, you did it.
Oh...Oh, my God.
Well done, James. Well done, lovey. Well done.
Keith, thank you so much.
Oh, Siobhan, I can't believe it.
Congratulations, you marvellous man.
Thank you so much.
I can't believe it. I won.
Ah!
I am not surprised, not a bit surprised.
THEY CRY
Seems like a fairy tale.
And seeing my family there as well, for them to experience that moment
with me, you know, was just really, really special.
We're so proud of you.
I've met some incredible people.
Met some amazing potters and we're going to be in touch
for a long time, you know, it's just lovely.
Oh, well done. Yours was amazing. Love it! Thank you.
It would be fantastic to have won it but, you know,
the best potter won and that was James.
Well deserved. So happy for him.
They deserved it. I knew it.
I'm super-proud of myself.
Having the family here, making them proud, you know,
I didn't ever think that I would get to the final.
James absolutely deserves the win.
He makes his pieces from the heart, you know?
I am utterly thrilled for him.
Rich, thank you so much. So well deserved man, honestly.
Amazing, amazing work.
Wow, that was a toughie.
It was so incredibly close.
So ultimately, we went with our heart
and James' amphora was incredible.
We had to see past that handle
because what he presented to us was just extraordinary
and he is a fitting winter.
When you get touched like that, in the heart,
cracks go out of the window.
It was just such a wonderful, expressive,
honest, heartfelt message coming through his work
and we love him for it.
It's just an absolutely dream come true to win.
It's just the perfect ending to this sort of chapter in my life now,
you know, and just move forward with pottery.
You're amazing. Thank you, Keith, honestly.
It's just been life-changing.
Yeah, it's been life-changing being on the show. It really has.
You're all I Need To Get by by Aretha Franklin
Three, two, one.
I can't.
If you'd like to apply for the next series
of The Great Pottery Throw Down,
visit channel4.com/takepart.
Meanwhile, Keith and Marj are back...
Ah-argh!
Brilliant.
..taking on the next chapter of their audacious build...
This will take a bit of jiggery and pokery, I think.
..with a new series of Our Welsh Chapel Dream...
It doesn't have to be conventional, it doesn't have to be for everyone.
We've got a bathroom with a drinks trolley in it.
HE LAUGHS
..coming soon on Channel 4.
Subtitles by Red Bee Media