The Repair Shop (2017–…): Season 1, Episode 16 - ...At Christmas - full transcript

Welcome to
The Repair Shop At Christmas,

where cherished heirlooms are
brought back to life.

Oh!

Overseeing the festive repairs
is furniture restorer Jay Blades.

Nowadays, everybody spends a fortune
on stuff

and once it's broken,
they just bin it.

But everybody has something

that means too much
to be thrown away.

And that's where we come in.

Working on items
with Christmas spirit

are some of the country's
leading craftspeople.



Every piece has its own story.

It's amazing to think that some of
my work becomes part of that story.

There's a feeling of anticipation
when you take something to pieces,

because you never quite know
what you're going to find.

As I'm doing this, she's actually
really coming to life in my hands

and I'm getting this sort of
little fluster of excitement.

Each with their own unique
set of skills.

It's a real treat to be able to work
on a painting like this.

There are not that many of them
around.

They will resurrect,

revive...
Now, that's Christmas red, isn't it?

It is Christmas red.
..and rejuvenate... Oh, wow!

..bringing the objects
and their memories back to life...

Oh! Oh, my goodness!



..to make Christmas wishes
come true.

I'm going to cry!

# It's beginning to look a lot
like Christmas

# Everywhere you go... #

In the Repair Shop this Christmas...

..five rusty sleigh parts...

So, we have artistic licence to make
this look

like the best Santa's sleigh ever?

Yes! ..four brass cogs...

Put a disc on and let's see
what happens.

..three tissue patches...

It's like massage for paintings.
..two donkeys' ears...

This looks interesting.

I like the donkey, even though
his ears are missing.

..and a doll really needing TLC.

This is well and truly stuck.
My heart is going...

But, first, hoping to recapture the
magic of the family Christmases

of yesteryear, Catherine
Bridgwater from Leamington Spa.

Hello, you must be Catherine!
Yes.

She's hoping mechanical music
box expert Stephen Kember

will be able to restore
this treasured family heirloom -

a Polyphon,

a Victorian precursor
to the jukebox, invented in 1870.

Well, it's a beautiful thing.

What's the history?
How did you come by it?

Well, it belonged to
my step-grandfather.

And he apparently was given it
in lieu of a debt. Oh, right.

So we don't know any more than that.

And then it's come through
the family.

So handed down to my father
and mother.

And then when my mother died,
my sisters and I inherited it.

Well, these were very popular
in the late 1890s.

They were a very effective piece
of home entertainment.

But by 1910, this became
redundant technology.

When did it fail to function
as you would like it to?

Well, it's just gradually
got worse and worse.

Put a disc on,
let's see what happens.

We'll take that down.
Yes. What have you chosen?

That's Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.

Pretty good. That was one that was
always played at Christmas at home.

And then you... Give it a wind.

And sometimes it doesn't quite go.
Use some encouragement.

There we go. That's it. And then...

ONE NOTE PLAYS

Will it start?

TUNE PLAYS
CLANKING

The sprockets are slipping.

It's trying hard, though.
It's trying hard, yes.

It's like
a stuck record in there.

Oh, well, we're off! If I remove
the disc, then perhaps...

..the mechanism might continue.

So, there we are, look at that.
TWANG

I've never done that before!
It's quite safe, it's all right.

So, the penny's in each cradle
there.

Yes, and then as it goes through,
the penny drops,

and drops into the drawer.

So with an item like this, you must
have a lot of memories.

Oh, yes, wonderful memories,
especially of Christmas.

One thing my father always
used to do,

if we were a bit late getting up
in the morning on Christmas Day,

he'd put Christians Awake
on the Polyphon,

and that always got us up and going
out of bed. Yeah.

So who else other than yourself
is going to be happy

to see this restored?
Oh, my two sisters, definitely.

They'd love to see it restored,
especially in time for Christmas,

playing the Christmas carols.

I've always felt a bit guilty
about it being in such a state.

And so being able hopefully
to get it repaired for Christmas

will be just wonderful. And I'm
hoping that my sisters

will really enjoy hearing the
music again.

Phew, it's a big one, isn't it?
Yeah. Big and heavy.

So what have you got to do to this?
We've got to stop that jittering.

When you say jittering, you've got
to make this play?

And so you get continuous music
rather than a lot of chomping about.

OK. Let's get it to your bench then.
OK. No problem.

Right. Tilt it back.
One, two, three.

Cor blimey, it is heavy, isn't it?

The Polyphon is a large
disc-operated music box.

It produces a tune when a clockwork
mechanism rotates a perforated disc

that plucks notes on a cone.

It's this mechanism that
musical box maestro Stephen

is going to turn his attention
to first.

There'll probably be a few little
corpses in here as well,

the odd sort of spider and
goodness knows what.

It's remarkably clean, actually.
RINGING

And each tooth is ringing.

Now we can get to grips
with the motor.

A bit more unscrewing is required.

Despite the fact I've been doing
this for sort of quite a few years,

you have some feeling of excitement.

There's a feeling of anticipation
when you take something to pieces,

because you never know quite what
you're going to find.

And there's a sort of little link
between me and maybe

the last restorer or the
manufacturer.

We're a few years apart,
but we tread in the same path.

So I do get a bit excited.

There we go. Right, now,

removal of the biggest oily bit.

Out it comes.

Oh, yes, there we are.

Right, true to form.

We've got a little casualty there.

Yuck!

Next to arrive at the Repair Shop
this Christmas,

Merlin Evans and his cousin, Emily,

bringing with them a piece of family
history

with a distinctly holy theme.

All right, let's see what we've got.
Oh, now that's nice, isn't it?

Nice painting. Lucia, I've got
something here for you.

The Repair Shop's art historian
Lucia Scalisi

is keen to explore this
interpretation

of the Madonna and Child.

Oh, this is absolutely stunning.

Stunning. This is quite
a special piece.

Is it? I've worked on something like
this before in museums.

They are quite rare.
It's absolutely exquisite.

This damage is not so exquisite.

What happened? What happened?

What happened?

So, the thing to have when I was a
boy was these little light sabres.

Me and my brother, I think, we were
settling a score, and at one point,

one of the light sabres went through
the painting.

I just remember looking at my
brother just with wide eyes

and the fear of God in you. Right.

Ran away and didn't say a thing.

It was a few weeks before
my mum noticed.

Really?! Oh, my goodness me,
that is serious damage.

This is Spanish Colonial,

which means that it came from
Central or South America,

probably South American.

And it's the Madonna and Child
with angels in attendance.

And the child is wearing the same
fabric as his mum's dress.

It looks to me,
it looks quite early.

I mean, it definitely looks
sort of semi-Baroque.

Because what happened was the
painters down there were trained

by the Spanish colonialists,
usually the priests were artists,

and they would train the local
indigenous people, the Quechua.

So, how old is this thing,
do you reckon?

18th century. As old as that?

Yeah, mid-to-late 18th century.
Yeah, I think definitely 1700s.

Was it your painting
or was it the family's?

So I've got an older brother,
who I was fighting with,

and just before he was born,

my dad bought my mum this painting
for her first-born.

Oh, so the mother and child.

So what does Dad think about this,
then?

My uncle Matthew died last summer,

so I think it would be a nice symbol

for all of us to have it back in
its true splendour.

Oh, I'm really sorry to hear that.

That's a sad thing.
Yeah, we miss him.

So you're having this repaired...

Hopefully, yeah. ..or you want it
repaired for your mum?

Yeah, absolutely. She deserves it,
after this many years.

This has been a long time coming
to pay for our mistakes.

And then once it's done,
we can deny it ever happened!

Well, thank you for bringing it in.
Thank you. I appreciate it. Cheers.

It was a pleasure. I'll give it
my best. Thanks very much.

Thanks, guys. Take care.

His mum, you know, thinks the world
of him.

And just going to the effort of
getting something done like that,

I think she'll be really touched.

Ah, you know, my mum's my world,
you know,

she's forgiven me for everything
wrong I've done in life,

which is huge.

And then on top of that,

she's always very supportive
and very kind.

So it's the least I can do.

OK, you got the easel? Yes.

Cool. Once the painting is out of
its frame,

Lucia can begin to
repair the damage.

First, preparing the canvas around
the hole.

I'm applying acid-free tissue,
which is very fine tissue,

just to the edges of the tear
with isinglass,

which is a water-based adhesive,

which will make it easier
to remove later on.

And this will protect
the paint layer

when I'm working on it
from the back,

because we want to keep as much
of the original paint as possible.

So I think what I might do now is
work with a little bit of heat,

very gently, not much pressure.

The heat from Lucia's spatula
relaxes the torn fibres

in the canvas so the ragged edges
lie flat.

It's like massage for paintings!

The barn's already bustling
with festive assignments.

But a huge Christmas project has
just landed outside the workshop.

LAUGHTER
Oh, wow, brilliant!

How are we doing?
You all right? All good.

We're going to get it up on there
and have a proper look, yeah?

Joe and Emma are hoping metalworker
Dominic Chinea

and furniture restorer Will Kirk

can help spruce up
their traditional Swedish sleigh,

which they use to raise money
for charity in the Essex town

of Leigh-on-Sea.

So, tell me about this,
why have you got this?

It's like an age-old tradition
with local charity groups,

we go around the roads with
Santa on top, raising money,

knocking on the doors.
Whereabouts did you buy it from?

I mean, is it English...?
We bought it in England.

It was advertised as
a Scandinavian sleigh.

It's a beautiful thing, isn't it?
It is, a really nice thing.

And it looks like something
that probably

looked really nice when it was
actually made in the beginning.

A bit worse for wear. So, what do
you want it looking like?

Do you want it looking in this same
kind of green,

or do you want it vamped up a bit?

You're the experts!
So, we have, would you say,

artistic licence to make this look
like the best Santa's sleigh ever?

Yes! Yeah? Amazing.

During Christmas, what more could we
want apart from a sleigh to work on?

Take care. WOMAN: Thank you.

This sleigh dates from around 1900.

It would have been used as a family
vehicle in rural Sweden.

Although pulled, rather
disappointingly,

not by Rudolph, but by a horse.

This is all bent at the top there,
see.

That is metal.
But it's really tricky,

because lots of the metalwork's

actually been painted over
in that faux...wood paint.

There's lots of bits of filler
and old repairs.

What are we working with here?
We've got wood... Metal...

Paintwork. And the nice paint. Yeah.

Team effort! Team effort.
I don't know where to start!

Dom takes charge

and begins to strip the sleigh down
to its individual components.

I'm just working my way around now,

loosening all the nuts and bolts

that are holding all the steelwork
to the sleigh.

This is an old thing,
over 100 years old.

And over the years, it's been
all different bolt sizes,

thread sizes, even the heads
of the nuts did change.

Obviously, being made in Sweden,

I'm not entirely sure
what they used,

so I'm having to try and fit
the correct spanner to that,

which is quite time-consuming,

but it's just the only way
to do it properly.

Great.

The work is now split into
metal parts for Dom

and wooden pieces for Will.

But whatever the material,

they are both transformed
the same way -

hours and hours of sanding.

Only once the surfaces
are clean and smooth

can the festive paint job commence.

So, the paint that I'm
using is enamel paint.

It's quite good, because it is
really durable and hard-wearing,

which is what it needs,

because having some of the children
and Santa in here as well,

it gives it that extra piece
of protection.

This is one of the biggest
challenges the Repair Shop

has ever faced.

And to create a sleigh
Father Christmas would be proud of,

Dom and Will have a huge amount
of work ahead.

There's a notable buzz
in the Repair Shop this morning.

Hello, guys, how are we doing?

Foreman Jay wants to make sure

the experts get their own little
piece of Christmas cheer.

So I know we are all busy people,

but I wanted to do something nice
for Christmas.

We've got Secret Santa going on.

So, in here,
I've got all your names.

What I want you to do
is pick a name out,

then you're going to make something
for that person.

You can't tell anybody
who it is you've got.

You know what I'm saying, Will?!

Yes. Right, Secret Santa!
So, in the spirit of Christmas,

I think it's ladies first.
Here you go, Will!

I'm only joking.

What are you doing?! What?!

I'm just seeing
where the bits of paper are!

Put your hand in there!

So, are we all happy
with who we've got?

All right, back to work, then!

Music box expert Stephen has
disassembled the Victorian Polyphon.

On closer inspection
of the mechanism,

he may have pinpointed why it's
having trouble starting.

This is a funny shaped gearwheel.

It's a bevelled gearwheel.

And that might account for the fact
that it's a bit of a slow starter.

So I'm used to seeing gearwheels
that look like this.

If I hold the two up,
they are a different shape.

It's a different profile.

I'd be more happy if this is
installed rather than this.

So, let's see if it works.

I'll pop it in there.
Put that in there.

We're on new territory here.

So, we'll put a bit of pressure
on the main spring,

and we'll see what happens.

And away it goes!

The motor may be whirring away
nicely,

but without attending to the
battered brass discs

that play the tunes,
the Polyphon will remain silent.

With his eye on the countdown
to Christmas,

it's Jay's job to make sure all
the repairs hit the deadline.

So, how are you getting on?
I'm very pleased. OK.

But we've got to create
some music now.

The position of each one of these
protrusions gives us a note.

OK. The protrusions have to be
upright, not bent forward a bit,

not bent sideways a bit,
because that'll jam the machine.

So, if I'm going to have to
straighten those,

I can't do it with my bare eyes,

I've got to have some
magnifying glasses?

I have the very things here.

You can have the J90 Dame Edna
power glasses,

and I've selected
a little tortoiseshell.

That's magnified, isn't it?!
Yes, they're special strong ones.

Oh! All right, cool. Yeah.

And then I'll need... Oh, wow!

Look at that! OK, here we go, then.

How about that one, what does that
look like from your direction?

Does it need a bit of a tweak?

Is it this one you've got
your finger on?

No, no, that one there. This one?

It's slightly bent, you see.
I see it, I see it.

That's it. We're getting there.

JAY MUMBLES

They're good on the close-up,
but not far away, are they?

No, hopeless. Twist it.

What do you reckon? I think we're
actually approaching perfection.

Restorations and covert Secret Santa
projects are underway

throughout the Repair Shop.

Lucia is getting to grips
with the Madonna and Child painting.

She is applying a patch to the back
of the canvas

to erase any trace of
the youthful misadventure.

So that's a very weak little patch.

It's going to hold that tear
together.

Now to carefully remove
the protective tissue

from the edges of the tear.

Now, because it was isinglass,
it's water-soluble,

so I should be able to get this
off with my favourite...

Spit, and just roll over.

No pulling, just roll it off
very gently.

And then we'll see the full extent
of the tear.

I'm very pleased.
It's lined up very nicely.

It's absolutely even.

With the painting in one piece
again, Lucia now cleans the surface,

which has accumulated years of dirt,

dulling the colours and obscuring
the detail.

And she's revealing
some fascinating history.

When you're cleaning, you actually

spend a lot of time looking very
closely at the surface,

and it gives you time to contemplate
what's going on there

and what the artist used
in terms of materials.

For example, we've got
Prussian blue,

which are elements of jewels
in the Madonna's dress.

And that is one of the very few
datable pigments.

It has an exact date of when
it was actually made - 1704.

And what we see in
this fantastic painting,

and why we know
it's Spanish Colonial

is because the Quechua artist has
actually introduced a Quechua person

in the face of the Madonna.

The angels aren't. The angels are
very European in their looks.

But the Madonna and the child

are definitely native people
of the South Americas.

It's wonderful. Every picture tells
a story. It's really great.

Now it's clean, Lucia can
fill the damaged area.

The next step is to
varnish the painting,

which will consolidate the surface
and reveal the colours

to their fullest.

And I do a cross,
take another dip of varnish,

and then I go out.

It's a bit like a Union Jack,
really.

But you can see just brushing
that out, it's fantastic.

It looks beautiful.

You start to see the radiating light
behind the Madonna.

You know, she's basically hovering
forwards in the air,

and you can really see the
Indian quality to her face.

It's a real treat to be able to work
on a painting like this.

There aren't that many of them
around.

The next customers to arrive
are Patricia Hall

and her daughter Alison...

Good morning.
Welcome to the Repair Shop.

You must be Patricia? Yes.

..here to consult
toy restoration duo

Julie Tatchell and
Amanda Middleditch.

This is Betty, my precious dolly.

Oh, she's beautiful.
I can see why you treasure her.

Can you tell us when you got her?
Christmas 1939.

I was a little evacuee from London
and this war broke out.

They said they'd got to get
all the children out of London.

We went off one morning and,
as I say, we didn't go back home.

The Government evacuation scheme
began in September 1939

after the outbreak
of the Second World War.

Children from British cities

were moved to rural areas to protect
them from bombing raids.

Over 800,000 children were torn away
from their families,

some not returning to their homes
and loved ones for six years.

We finished up being
sent off to Bedfordshire

and it was just coming up
to Christmas.

We finished up with
this delightful family.

This was your Christmas present?
Yes, yes. Oh, wow.

Obviously I was thrilled to bits
with her.

She was all dressed up in this
beautiful little red cape,

little white socks and
plastic black shoes.

I think she's pretty.
Absolutely. No, I totally agree.

So she holds some very special
memories. Oh, yes, yeah.

They welcomed me in,
made such a fuss of me.

It was lovely, actually.
I was part of a family again.

That's lovely.
She's the only thing I've ever kept.

She's never been away from me.
She sits in a chair in the bedroom.

So you're used to seeing Betty
all the time as well.

Yes, she is always sat in the chair,

because by the time I was old enough
to even go on it,

she was already damaged a bit.

So I knew I was never allowed
to touch.

She's obviously got
some damage here.

This is just... I mean, after 78
years, it's amazing it's not worse.

It'd be amazing if she could even
look a little bit better.

Bless her. Will you let Alison
cuddle her, then, maybe?

Oh, yes! Oh, yes!

Well done. Thank you.

Having Betty back at Christmas time,
well, I'd be thrilled to bits.

My mum's my hero.

For her to have gone through
everything she's gone through

and to be who she is,
it's just outstanding.

What a lovely lady.

We've got our work cut out here.

My main concern at this stage,
we've got to get the head off,

cos obviously we don't want to
do any more damage

than there already is.

But I think once we've done that,
I'll take the head and arms

and you will have the body and legs.

Yeah. We have a plan.

Before Betty Doll can get better,
she's going to look a lot worse.

Julie and Amanda have got
to take her apart

so they can work on her
individual components.

The last little stitch.

There she is. Betty minus her legs.

That includes removing
the 78-year-old stuffing.

There we go! I can't believe all
that went inside her.

I think I've got the more
nerve-racking job,

because I'm not 100% sure
at this point

how easy it's going to be
to get her head off.

I think it's a combination
of glue and stitching.

It's quite tough.
This is well and truly stuck.

That sounds promising.

Oh, it does, but...
My heart's going!

While Amanda and Julie have
their hands full with Betty,

Jay's got a project of his own
on the go.

What I'm doing is I'm making
my Secret Santa.

I've got to wait for
the paint to dry.

The reason why I'm whispering is

because it's for someone
in the workshop.

They're just over there. Shh.

In the metalwork shed,

Dom and Will are toiling away
on the Scandinavian sleigh.

How are we doing, lads?

Mind your head on that.

That's all wet up there. That's all
of the steel parts for the sleigh.

It's wet, Will!

So, Will, how are you getting on,
mate?

Not bad. So the inside of the
sleigh's been sanded and painted.

Yes. Green.
Green, which is this green here.

Nice. Is that dry, yeah?
Yeah, yeah, go on.

But the outside, Dom and I have
decided to paint that red.

Oh, that's nice. A bit Christmassy,
a bit festive.

Yeah, yeah, cool.

Whilst you are here,
maybe you'd like to, er...

Get on the tools!
..get on the tools.

OK, cool. So, we've got this
wonderful, vibrant...

Wow. That's Christmas red, isn't it?
That is Christmas red. Nice.

WHISTLING

So, guys, do you reckon we should
give this sleigh a name?

What do you reckon?
What, like a boat?

Yeah, that's it.
What would we call it, though?

That's a good question.

Help me out. I don't know.

It's from Leigh-on-Sea,
so what about Leigh?

Leigh? Leigh-on-Sea
is spelt L-E-I-G-H.

L-E-I-G-H. Actually, if you put an
S in front of...

The first initial... Leigh...
Yeah, clever!

It's... Sleigh. ..sleigh.
So what, S-Leigh?

S. Leigh. I like it.

Next into the Christmas Repair Shop,

a trio bearing gifts for ceramic
conservator Kirsten Ramsay.

Hello. Come in.

This looks interesting.

Baby Jesus.

We've got a rather
sad-looking donkey.

What a lovely nativity set.

Where are these from?

They're from our school,

which is Cardinal Newman
Catholic School in Hove.

OK. We can see that they've been
slightly damaged over the years.

What's the actual history
of these pieces?

The school became a school in 1971.

Prior to that, it was a convent
for about 100 years,

until the nuns left Brighton because
they thought it was too racy.

OK. So we understand it's part of...

We think it's part of
the original set from the convent.

So, looking at them, they look to me
like they are made of plaster.

They're painted plaster.

OK. Which I would have thought
was sort of 1920s,

'30s, that sort of era.

So maybe that does fit in, ties in.

Yeah, date-wise.

Do you have any favourite pieces,
or...?

I like the donkey. Do you?

Even though his ears are missing.
I still like him.

And yours is?
I like Mary and Jesus.

Jesus has got no hands, though,
has he?

See that? Goodness.

I don't suppose you have the arms
or the hands, do you?

Unfortunately, no.
No, we don't know what happened.

Well, I mean, this will be an
absolute pleasure to work on

and get ready for your nativity.

So, thank you for bringing them.
BOY: Thank you. GIRL: Thank you.

Thanks very much.

That's nice, isn't it?
It's absolutely lovely.

Look at this.

I feel proud of our nativity set.

It is the centre of our Advent
celebrations and our fundraising.

We raise a lot of money,

we do a lot of good for
the local homeless charity

and having it back looking its best

will just make us feel
even that bit prouder.

Making it new will make it a memory
for the next generations

that come to the school and it's
something that makes everyone happy.

So what are you going to do
to these guys, then?

So I think the main thing, actually,

which is going to transform them is
to give them a really good clean.

They've got quite a lot of chips
and things.

I think the main things that I see
really are the ears on the donkey

and obviously little baby Jesus,
some new...

He needs some hands, doesn't he?
Yes, hands and arms.

It's going to be an absolute
pleasure to work on.

It's going to be a joy? I can't
wait! Do you want to give me a hand?

There's nothing I like more than
sitting cleaning objects.

You get an opportunity to really
look at how the pieces are made.

You get to see all
the sort of tiny details

that normally just would be missed.

You know, the faces
are quite exquisite.

The colouring is absolutely
beautiful as well.

So this is lovely.

With the Polyphon nearly
playing again,

Stephen just needs to make
a few finishing touches.

And Will is on hand to lend his
woodwork expertise

to the lock in the coin box.

It would have had a nice little
finished area there, a little disc.

But it would have
been a light wood,

made of the same materials
as the other embellishments,

but stained to look walnut.

The clever bit is putting the
keyhole in the middle.

Now, I've worked on
a few of these before

and I know that they can be
really tricky to drill into.

They have a tendency
just to split out.

Why do you think I'm giving you
the job?

If you give me the key and I'll get
started on this. Thank you.

Excellent. Thanks a lot. See you.
See you later.

It's quite tricky.

Now, I'm just going to
slide that into there.

Stephen, meanwhile,
rebuilds the mechanism.

A bit of a crunch moment, this.

We're going to see if the coin chute

is going to switch the motor
on and off. So fingers crossed.

Ha-ha! There you go.
It started first time,

which it didn't do before.

As finishing touches are applied...

..Catherine arrives with
her sister Anne,

who shares the fond memories
of the Polyphon

being played at Christmas
in the family home.

Hello, Catherine. How are you doing?
I'm fine, thank you. All right?

Hello again. This is my sister Anne.

Hello, how are you?
I'm fine, thanks.

Hello, Anne, I'm Steve.
Nice to meet you. Are you Steve?

Are you the repairman? I am, yeah.

So, are you ready to see this?

Yes. Excited. Excited.

Do the honours, Steve, go on.

OK, here we go, then. Right.

There we are. Oh!

And of course the main purpose
of this is to produce music.

Yes. Who's going to do it?

I brought some pennies with me
in case you didn't have one!

Oh, no, this is a penny.
Would you like to do the honours?

Shall I do the honours?

I haven't done this for
a long, long time.

I'm so excited. You ready? Yes.

Oh, here it goes.

IT PLAYS:
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Oh... I'm going to cry.

You've done well. Well done.

THEY HUM ALONG

LIGHT CLATTER
There goes the penny!

# Glory to the newborn king. #

Absolutely brilliant. Good,
wasn't it? Absolutely brilliant.

Oh, yes. It's just moved me so much.

Because the last time I heard it
playing, I think, was about 1985.

As long as that? Yes. Yes.

So...it just brought so many
memories back of my dad playing it.

It sounded more beautiful
than I remembered.

Yes, absolutely. Yeah? Oh, yes.

I've still got tears in my eyes!

Yes, same here. Same here.

Well, it's a special sound,
isn't it? It is, yes.

And everyone who hears it always
remembers it and asks about it,

and if we've still got it
and if it's still working.

And if it's still working, yes.

Well, it is now. It's wonderful.
Thank you ever so much.

It's been an absolute joy
to work on this one.

Would you agree, Steve? I would.
It's a privilege, thank you.

Well, thank you so much.

Merry Christmas. And to you.

And a happy New Year. OK?

Yeah, Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas, Steve.

Thank you ever so much. Thanks.
It's wonderful.

Being able to play it
all the way through

without having to wind it halfway
and hearing that penny drop. Yes.

I haven't heard that properly

for a long, long time,
so I was overwhelmed.

Yes, I was, too. Very emotional.

It's very precious to us, isn't it,
the Polyphon?

I think it's going to be a really
magical Christmas this year.

Yes. And the grandchildren
will be able to hear it as well,

which is marvellous.

It'll be lovely, won't it?
Really good.

The next stage of the sleigh repair
requires some serious heat,

so it's over to
the Repair Shop forge.

So this is the front grab rail
from the sleigh.

And I think it's really important
that this is symmetrical.

At the moment, it's not. It should
be nice and curved like that,

and there's quite a bit
of damage here.

So I've brought it into the forge,

and we're going to heat it up and
try and wrangle it back into shape.

Dom draws a chalk outline of how
the grab rail should look

with the help of blacksmith Martin.

And then turn it right over.

Um... It's way off, isn't it?

Right back to here. And it's got
bent from right back here.

In my head, I would start
in the middle and work out.

You're absolutely right.
So we start from what we know,

and then we work along and file it
all the way down. Exactly.

So the grab rail's in the fire now,
it's heating up.

So we have to act quite quickly.

Once this comes out the fire,
it's going to be cooling instantly,

the cold anvil, the cold air,
it's all...

And then it becomes harder
to move, so...we need to act quick.

That's really good.
I'm really pleased.

I honestly didn't think we'd get it
looking that symmetrical again.

And it's straight.

While Dom's feeling the heat...

..Will concentrates on the finer
work of the sleigh.

So what I'm doing now is pinstriping
the front of the sleigh.

It's really tricky, because
this brush here is so delicate.

It's really good for getting
the nice pinstripe lines,

but you almost have to hold your
breath whilst painting it,

because it takes...

Takes a lot of patience and...

..a very steady hand.

With Will suitably occupied,

Dom's starting work on his
Secret Santa project.

So, I picked out Will,
which is great.

I'm really looking forward
to making him his present.

I thought I'd do
something different.

Instead of making something
out of metal,

which is what
he's probably expecting,

I'm going to knit him a scarf.

He's always saying he's really cold
and always moaning,

so I thought this would be
a really good present.

Practical as well, he can use it.
It's just going to take a long time,

and I'm definitely
not the fastest knitter.

Meanwhile, a delivery
for Amanda and Julie.

It's a bit early for presents,
but this is in a good cause.

Hi.

Ooh! I believe it is for you.

So, what is this for?
Is this for the sleigh?

Maybe. Maybe.

They have their own little
contribution plan.

Oh! Ooh!

That's looking good. Look at that.

It's quite big, so don't drop it
on the floor. My gosh.

It's like a poncho!

That's lovely. Perfect.

Across the barn, Jay has also pulled
the Repair Shop's clockmaker

Steve Fletcher onto Team Sleigh.

Having fun? Yeah, real good fun.

These are the bells for the sleigh,
then, yeah? Yeah.

Let's see? That's right. That sounds
right, doesn't it?

That does sound right. They're
going to hang on the side. Right.

And they sound like jingle bells?

They do sound like
jingle bells. Yeah. All right.

How did you do them, then?
So I've got these discs,

drilling a hole in them. OK. And
then punching them in this former,

and that's what comes out.

That to that? Yeah.
That's quite cool, isn't it? Yeah.

While Steve is focused
on his jingle bells,

Kirsten is working
on her secret Santa.

WHISPERING: I've got Steve.

So he's quite tricky.

I wasn't sure whether to do
something ceramic-y, but actually,

I've decided to go with something
Scandinavian

because of my Norwegian background.

So in Scandinavia,

there's quite a lot of little
Christmas people

which are called Nisse.

You find them all over people's
houses tucked in corners.

And I thought
I'd make a little Nisse.

Do you want to have a go? Of course!
So I can just bash away, yeah?

Yeah. Don't hit your fingers.

Never. I'd laugh...

If it went!

OK. And then...? That's it, yeah.

I do like this.

This is therapeutic, isn't it?
It is really therapeutic.

So, when do you know when to stop?

Because I could just
do this forever.

Shall I leave you to it?
You can have a break now.

I'll take over. OK. See you later!

I'll be back in a mo.
Take your time.

Don't worry about it.
I've got this covered.

Over on Lucia's workbench,

having closed the tear on the
Madonna and Child picture,

she must now flex her skill
as an artist

to blend in the missing area
of the repair.

After carefully mixing colour to
match, it's time to take the plunge.

So you can see it's actually quite
transparent, this,

it's not knocking the white
out very much, but it's the tonality

of the colour is quite good.

I just want my greenish raw umber,
that's it.

My favourite pigment.
I'm dotting it on

because I don't want
one flat coverage.

I actually want quite
a broken surface.

I want the light to reflect
off it in a broken way.

Not one solid colour.

So that's starting to disappear.

So, how's it going?
Yeah, good, nearly ready.

Nearly ready to go. Merlin's mum's
painting is finished, then, yeah?

Yeah, it is. It's got to be refitted
in the frame,

which maybe you can help me with.

Now, that looks beautiful.
You can see orange in there.

Now, the other thing I can see is
these rays coming out the back.

Yeah, these rays have become
much more prominent now

because the dirt has gone.
But, you see, what happens is,

when there's a damage
like there was here,

your eye is always
attracted to that.

The damage, yeah. The focus now
is what is meant to be the focus.

Madonna and the Child.

Yes. It's proper special, but we
have to put it back in its frame,

don't we? Yeah, we do.

Merlin brought his mum's painting
to the Repair Shop

on a Yuletide mercy mission.

He needed to fix the damage he
and his brother caused decades ago

in time to present it to
his mum at Christmas.

So Lucia worked her magic, repairing
the tear and restoring the painting,

revealing the Madonna and Child
in their full glory again.

Hi. Nice to see you again.

Ooh! Hi, Lucia. OK, Merlin, you're
going to have to help me with this,

because I want you to help me
lift the cloth up

and away from the surface.

SHE GASPS
Look!

That's amazing.
Wow. Look, it's completely gone.

So much brighter as well.

My brother's back in town in
a few weeks, so for her sake,

hopefully we'll get along.
Any sharp objects around?

No light sabres!
No light sabres, yeah.

But there's so much more detail.
Do you agree?

I don't think I even noticed

that there was the stuff
down there before.

There was a lot of dirt on there,

but it's had a surface clean
and a re-varnish as well.

And, also, the hole is invisible,
which is incredible.

It's great to see it back in good
condition, but I'm sure, yeah,

my mum will be over the moon and
I can put this chapter behind me

and I'll be a good son again.

That's good. I mean, it's a fitting
subject for Christmas anyway.

Absolutely.
So that's an extra treat.

Everyone will have Christmas lunch
sitting right next to it.

So just no more sharp objects
next to it.

No more fighting!
No more fighting. Is that cool?

No promises!

Yes, exactly.

So, thank you for bringing it in.

Thanks, Jay. OK? We appreciate it.
Yeah, no problem. Thank you, Lucia.

A pleasure. Amazing, thank you.
For saving my bacon.

The Repair Shop team pull together

as toy restoration experts
Julie and Amanda

give a 78-year-old doll
called Betty a new lease of life.

I have managed to clean Betty

and I'm really pleased with the way
that she's come up.

Now I'm able to address this crack,

which is the big concern.

So I'm making a composite
of fine sawdust and glue,

which is what the original mould
would have been made of.

It would have been formed
in the mould,

a two-part mould, then when dry,
a bit like an Easter egg,

put together and glued in place.

At the moment when I squeeze her
head together around that crack,

there's movement
and that's what we must stop.

Until we've completely filled this
hole and the glue has dried firm,

I'm not going to know for sure.

Meanwhile, clockmaker Steve
has a plan for his Secret Santa.

Basically, I've been given Julie...

..to make a Secret Santa
present for,

and I've got an idea
what I'm going to do.

I've got a box of wheels and what
I plan on doing is taking...

Taking a few of them, polishing them
up and making a necklace,

and I've looked on the internet...

..at teddies, and I never thought
I'd hear myself say that!

And I'm going to -
on the string of wheels -

I'm going to have a little teddy
hanging from the middle one

even though I've never made
a brass teddy before.

I'm quite excited
about this as well.

I'm going to make Betty
all-new body parts.

This is the better of the two legs.

Patricia had covered them
in stocking fabric,

which had preserved enough
of her legs

for me to be able to use them as
a template, which is really good.

I'm now just filling with
a really fine acrylic filler.

Fortunately, I was able to
use some of Lucia's.

Once I've got that smooth,
I'll be able to start

matching the paint colours, which
I'm quite looking forward to.

Here I have Betty's
original body parts.

Patricia, she has such
an attachment to Betty,

we thought it would be really nice
to keep these original pieces,

so I've made this little pouch here.

When we eventually get to put
Betty doll back together,

we're going to put this inside her
tummy and Patricia will know

that she's still got all the
original parts inside there.

She's coming along really well.

It's amazing,
just with that first coat,

how much better this is looking.

Little girls of this era
would have only had one doll.

You know, she loved her,
she had to look after her,

otherwise she wouldn't
have got another one.

She was lucky to have this one.

And now we live in this sort of
throwaway society

that the children have so many toys,
so many toys,

which makes these all
the more special, doesn't it?

Betty was originally stuffed
with wood wool.

All the early toys,
they used wood wool.

It's going to get a bit messy.
I get covered.

I'll look like Worzel Gummidge
by the end of this.

Just every time you pull a bit out,
it goes everywhere.

You can feel when it's right
because it starts to get firm.

There's no point putting
wood wool in it

and just leaving it all
soft and squishy.

She wouldn't have been
soft and squishy.

She was a firm, good firm dolly.

As I'm doing this, she's actually
really coming to life in my hands

and I'm getting this sort
of little fluster of excitement.

Because I'm just imagining what
Patricia must have seen

on that Christmas morning
when this doll was brand-new.

I just... I'm a little bit
emotional, actually.

Over on Kirsten's workbench,

she has her hands full with
a very important Christmas visitor.

So I've been really looking forward
to working on little Jesus here.

He's in a rather sorry state
at the moment.

The obvious thing is that
he's missing his hands,

so I'm going to try
and make up some new hands.

Before I start modelling
anything on a piece,

I sort of have a look and see
if I can find helpful references,

and in this case, I haven't got
any hands, but I have got feet.

And as you would expect on a baby,

they're rather sort of
sweet and podgy,

so I'm going to have a look at those
and sort of try and make hands

that match the feet, really.

The modelling material that I've
used has now gone completely hard

and I'm able to start sort of
improving on the shape.

The other sort of quite major repair

is to make up the
broken donkey's ears,

so I've made up some
modelling paste.

It's just a really nice
part of the job, this.

It is quite challenging,
but it's one that I really enjoy.

It's just the sweetest donkey.

It's got such a gentle face.

It's really lovely.

While Kirsten labours to
get her repair finished...

..things are rather more boisterous
in the metalwork shed.

Dom is piecing the newly painted
metalwork of the sleigh

back together
with a little help from Will.

Next are the skis. Ah.
One of these? Yes. Whoa!

In there? Yeah, that's it.
Are you lined up?

Look down there, is it?

No, a bit more. That should be it.
It's not!

How's that? Yeah. Yeah.
Perfect. OK.

As the reassembly
of the sleigh continues,

Julie and Amanda have put
Betty the doll to one side

while they whip up
some cosy seat covers.

It reminds me of like an
Arctic sort of look about it.

It's got that Lapland sort of...

Yeah. Those boys have been doing
all that grafting and sanding

and doing what they do and we've
got is this lovely cosy job.

I've got the heavy end, haven't I?

I don't think you have. I've got all
the seats and chairs on my end.

Yeah? Yeah.

THEY EXHALE

BREATHLESS: Quite a thing, isn't it?

When the sleigh arrived
at the Repair Shop,

it was decidedly lacking
in Christmas cheer.

Dull, bent, rusted and chipped.

But the whole team
has transformed it

into a sleigh that Father Christmas
can be proud of.

Hi. Hi. How you doing?

Joe and Emma are hoping it will be
the prize attraction

during their festive fundraising.

This has been a massive
team effort here.

And we just want to say that
we've enjoyed this thoroughly.

So thank you for bring it along.

And if you don't mind,
you're going to grab one side

and we'll grab the other side and
unveil it. Yeah? Yeah. You ready?

I don't think you're ready yet.
Are you ready?

Very ready. This is killing me.

Is it? OK, cool.

Let's go for it.

Oh, wow.
It does look amazing, doesn't it?

It's so cool. Oh, look, you've got
little bells on the back. Yeah.

This is going to be so cool going
through the streets of Leigh,

it really is. It's going to really
make a lot of difference

to a lot of people. I'm actually...

I'm a little bit speechless.
So, yeah.

Oh, look, it's even got
Leigh here, Joe.

That's such a nice touch, isn't it?

And it's nice to have the red
down here with the green as well.

It'll look good with Santa's suit.

It's not what I expected,
is it, yeah?

No, it really isn't. It's good.
It's good, though.

It's good, yeah? In a good way,
yeah. You've not done bad.

So, do you want to give it a go?
Yeah. Go on, then.

I think it might... If it can
hold up to my weight,

I think it can hold up
to Santa's weight. Yeah.

That's quite comfy, actually.

Oh, yeah. The big man's going
to love this.

You've done an absolutely fantastic
job. I'm well chuffed with this.

It's been a pleasure to be working
on. Brilliant. Thank you.

A good Christmas present, yeah?
Thank you for bringing it in.

Thank you very much, guys.
Thank you.

Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas, guys.

The sleigh is set to make a lot of
children in Leigh-on-Sea

very happy this Christmas.

But hoping to rekindle some past
magical memories

are Julie and Amanda.

They're carrying out surgery on
a very important wartime present.

We need another pair of
hands, don't we?

I think we do actually, yeah.
We do, yeah.

We're only going to get that
one go at this.

We've got to get it in the right
place before the glue goes off.

If you could hold, support her head?
Yeah, I've got her head.

And I'll just line it up like that.
And you're going... Right.

I'll just hold it till
the glue goes off.

OK. She's going to have a little bit
on her chest there, Amanda.

Is there any way we can get rid of
that before it sets?

Oh, Betty, come on.

We did it. Good or not good?
I'm thinking positive.

Good. Yeah.
That's good. Looks good from here.

Well done. I'm glad
I could be of help.

Yeah, you came in just
at the right time.

It was Christmas morning in 1939
when four-year-old evacuee Patricia

unwrapped Betty for the first time.

Betty's always been there.

A part of my life.
I'm quite worried about her.

I'm wondering what she is going
to look like when I get her back.

I'm really excited
to see Betty again,

so I'm like the five-year-old
at Christmas

waiting to see what's
under the tree, basically.

Hello, Patricia. Hello.

Take a seat.
So how're you both feeling?

Apprehensive. Excited.

A mixture of feelings.

If it's any consolation,
we're feeling similar.

So are you ready?
Go on, then. Go on, then.

Oh, my... Oh, my goodness.

Oh, my goodness.

Oh, wow. Oh, wow.

She's fab. She's beautiful.

Oh, thank you.

Hold her.

Oh, wow. God.

Just look at her. She's got legs
again. I know, she's amazing.

That's her original dress.

Oh, thank you so much.

Did you try and keep as much
as original as you can?

All the pieces of her that were
torn and worn over the years,

they're all in a little pouch
inside her tummy.

Oh, wow. So every bit of her
is here. It's still here.

Thank you. Thank you both so much.

Thank you. Absolutely fantastic.

She looks amazing. Does she look
like how you remember her?

The face is identical.

There's nothing different
about that face.

Oh... Which is beautiful.

Well done. Yeah, I never thought
she'd look like that again.

Yeah. It's a wonderful
Christmas present

and more than I'd ever expected.

Look at that.
Oh, my God. Can I cuddle her?

I was going to say, Alison,
you can cuddle her now.

No! I'll cuddle you, then, instead.
Oh, she's beautiful.

She was always beautiful
in my eyes anyway.

JAY: So, Merry Christmas.

And I hope you enjoy her
for many more years to come.

She's lovely.

Betty will be in pride of place
this Christmas

when all the children come.

She's always part
of the family, anyway,

but she'll be taken where she can
join in a little more this year.

With Betty on her way home
for Christmas...

..it's up to Kirsten
to complete the last item

in the Christmas Repair Shop.

So, just putting the
final touches here

on the nativity set for
the Cardinal Newman School.

I know that they're going to be
needing these pieces back

soon for Christmas,
so I'm almost there.

Just a few more little bits to do
and then I'm finished.

Here we go. Is that the last one,
yeah? It is, yeah.

They're looking good.
Thank you, Jay.

Everyone, come round
and grab a glass of mulled wine.

They look really good.
So Jesus has got some hands.

He has, yes. And the donkey
has some ears. Yes, yeah.

Which is your favourite, Kirsten?

I'm... Easily the donkey.
I absolutely love the donkey.

Well done. Well done. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Well done.

I prefer this one here. He's got,
like, the same chiselled jaw.

The final repair complete,

the experts can at last down tools

and unwrap some handmade
gifts of their own.

Ooh! Oh, my word.

There's something on the end.
Hang on, hang on. Oh, look at that.

Oh, wow. Look at that.

It's lovely. I think it
was either Jay or Will.

It was me, actually. Yeah.
Oh, thank you. You're welcome.

Well, I love it.

Oh, wow. Oh, look at the spanner!

Oh, that's really nice. Thank you.

Ooh. Handmade box. Tissue paper.

Lots and lots of...
Oh, my goodness! Oh, wow.

That is amazing.
I absolutely love it.

Thank you.

MUSIC BOX PLAYS

Oh, look.

Oh, my goodness.

God, I'm absolutely blown away.

Oh, wow. That's a winner.

Oh, no. Who's it from, Steve?

Have a guess. I suppose
I have to own up to it.

Well, if I work it out.

Process of elimination.
I've worked it out.

I think I've worked it out.
But it's... But it's soft.

It's suspiciously soft. Oh, my God.
Come on, let's see it.

Ooh! I'm really confused.

I've got no idea.

It can't be one of the... No.

Who's done that, then?
Don't look at us. We've done ours.

There's only one person... Dom.

You didn't make this,
did you? I did, yeah. Yeah.

Really? Honestly, yeah.
Are you being serious? Yeah.

You're such a liar!
Did you? Honestly?

Yes. Did you really? Yeah.

Did you really? Honestly,
it's taken ages. It's taken so long.

Thanks, Dom. Dom, how do
you know how to knit?

My mum taught me years ago.

I'm completely shocked.

Dom... Oh, no, don't start,
because you'll start me off.

Well, I am speechless.
Thank you, Dom. Good.

Let's make a toast. Yeah.

First of all, to Dom's knitting.

ALL: To Dom's knitting.
Cheers. Thank you.

Well done. Everybody, well done.
Yeah. Been a brilliant Christmas.

Thank you. Thank you all.
Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas. And to many more.
Absolutely! Yeah, many more.

Cheers.