Episode 3

Design students compete for a six-month placement at Philippe Starck's design agency. Mike is desperately worried. After being thrown out last week and then saved in a rebellion by fellow students Ana and Ilsa, he knows he must now excel if he's to show he deserves his reprieve. But Mike's difficulties don't end there. Starck interrupts the students research for their next brief to send them to a circus. Starck considers selling an idea to be almost as important as the idea itself. He feels the students lack presentation skills and thinks making them perform on stage as clowns will help address this. But even as the students grapple with the fact they'll be judged on their presentation as much as their idea, they discover that with just 24hrs to go they've all seriously misunderstood Starck's brief. They have failed to turn their ideas and concepts into an actual product. This time it's not just Mike who panics: they all do. (R)