Another week in the pottery of The Great British Throw Down and another game of who will make Keith cry. This week's main challenge was an enormous garden sculpture, because the basin wasn't hard enough. As always, one competitor had to leave and multiple problems with the processes meant that only one person could go.
The Bake Off/Throw Down comparisons continued this week as the rolling pins came out to roll out massive slabs of clay, to then cut and shape into their enormous sculptures, and “meaty bottom” appears to have replaced “soggy bottom”.
7 and half hours to build a 5ft sculpture certainly put some of the show-stopper cake bakes to shame. The scale of the project – both in terms of the size and the construction meant that there was plenty of room for failure and triumph and of course there had to be top potter and another contestant being evicted from the pottery. There was a surprising amount of tension: would it be free-standing, would it fit together or would it all just collapse!
Which potter would rise to the challenge?
Last weeks top potter Matthew began the week on a high after all of his impressive creations and the skill he has shown across different challenges and he put his artistic mind to a tall, industrial structure.
Competitive Tom was again clawing at Matthew's heels with a couple of second place spots and dark horse Jim, making a fish in the background, shone with his 'spot test' strawberry planter.
It wasn't long until the front runners emerged as they hit the drying room, with the giant seed pod from Sally Jo on the verge of collapse, but it was worse once they came out again.
Sandra's 49 slabs appeared to be more about an exercise in clay-based torture than an artistic expression of sculpture but it still wasn't enough to create a large enough sculpture of much beauty. Jane meanwhile seemed to be lagging behind quietly with some dodgy glazing and a deep dish rather than a plate.
In the end, the judges had to make their decision, as Matthew turned out to be the one to make Keith cry, and there was a clear winner and a less-clear loser. This week's top potter was once again Matthew, due to his clever use of design of clay, and Sandra had to leave due to her “design insult”.
