The Repair Shop (2017–…): Season 6, Episode 0 - At Christmas - full transcript
Christmas has arrived at The Repair Shop, where its team of passionate and skilled craftspeople set to work repairing and rescuing four beloved festive treasures. Vicar Steve Stewart and his wife Amanda have brought their cherished rocking horse to the barn. The toy was a Christmas gift for their daughter Tamsin when she was five years old. Tragically, just two years later, their little girl passed away. The horse is now being given a new lease of life to be gifted to their nine-year-old daughter Hetty to play on and remember the older sister she never met. Also arriving at the barn is a treasured but tired stereogram, once the centrepiece of a family's festive celebrations. Now broken and battered, it has stood silent for years. The team pull together to bring the memories back for two sisters, who delight in hearing 'the gram' playing their parents' favourite Christmas record for the first time in decades. Eighty-year-old Christopher Sugg brings his treasured toy truck into the barn. Made by a team of Second World War engineers led by Christopher's own father, this unique vehicle was gifted to him for Christmas in 1945. Now, 75 years later, he wants his young grandson to experience the same joy he felt all those years ago. Finally, a vintage musical Christmas ornament from the United States. Now faded and falling apart, the carousel originally belonged to wealthy New York couple Bill and Babe Paley. It was gifted to their pa. Robert Brown, who brought it back to his native Scotland in the 1970s, where it has taken pride of place at his family's festive celebrations for three generations. Jay also gets the team to do a "Secret Santa" for everyone.
at Christmas,
where precious
but faded treasures...
To be able to work on it,
it really does mean a lot to me.
..are returned
to their former glory.
I'm putting a lot of time
and a lot of love into it.
Furniture restorer Jay Blades...
We are very fortunate
that we're able to spend
this festive time together.
..and a dream team
of expert craftspeople...
It's a Christmas miracle!
Ready to be wrapped.
Brilliant.
..come together to sprinkle
some Christmas magic...
Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas!
It's really quite important.
Really exciting.
LAUGHTER
SHE GASPS
..preserving irreplaceable
heirlooms...
That looks so, so good!
I am starting to feel
quite Christmassy.
We want to create new memories
for the whole family.
..to make Christmas wishes
come true.
Oh!
Look at this! This is amazing.
ALL: Wow!
This is when everything starts
to really come together. Ooh!
THEY GASP
I've literally put
my heart and soul into this.
I'm just amazed how you've done
what you've done!
Tucked away in their
Winter Wonderland,
the team are poised,
with tools to hand.
How are we doing? Morning. Morning.
Julie and Amanda use
their needlework might
to ensure one Christmas wish
is kept shining bright.
I am SO excited.
Metal man Dom finds himself stuck,
with a huge restoration
of a mini wartime truck.
I'll tell you what, Dom,
this is a really big job, isn't it?
It is.
And Steve and Kirsten
together are thrown...
Christmas has begun.
..to bring Yuletide music
back to the heart of a home.
Christmas is all about
magic and sparkle.
The workshop bustles,
as they work through the night,
Christmas is coming
and the repairs must be right.
But first,
it's not Christmas
without music.
Sisters Donna and Sandra
have brought a piece
of their family history
for the attention of bright spark
Mark Stuckey.
Hello, I'm Jay. And you are?
Hello, Jay. I'm Sandra.
And I'm Donna. And I'm Mark.
Nice to see you. Hello. Hello.
So, this beautiful stereo takes me
right back to my childhood days.
So, whose is it?
It belonged to both
my mum and my dad.
Mum gave it to me
before she got ill.
Erm, she passed away last summer...
I'm sorry. ..so it means a lot to,
well, all of us,
though I'm the guardian
at the moment. OK.
It just represents so much
about the joy
that we had in our family
around music.
Music was so important
in our family, when my mum, my dad,
all of us coming up, we were
always dancing, always singing,
to lift spirits... Yes.
because, you know...
It was hard in those times.
Life was tough. Life was tough.
Coming over with nothing, they came
to this country with nothing.
Where was your dad originally
from, then? Guyana. Guyana.
Both Mum and Dad
from Guyana in South America.
So they would've had to
save up for this.
Cos this is not just a radiogram,
it's a stereogram.
Stereogram, so it has stereo to it?
Was your father involved in music,
in any form, or...? Oh, yes.
He opened the first record shop,
black-owned, in Brixton.
Really? So, Christmas time,
what kind of music, what kind of
music would be played at Christmas?
Nat King Cole. Nat King Cole?
# Chestnuts roasting on an open
fire... # Oh, stop it. Ooh...
So, Mum would be up at, like, crack
of dawn, to get everything ready,
and as soon, we know Christmas,
you could hear it.
Yeah. We said, "Oh, it's Christmas!
Christmas!"
And then in the afternoon,
we'd bust out the music,
people would come over again,
and it'd be ska,
and Blue Beat, and...
Yeah, ska. # Jamaican ska... #
..you know, all the latest tunes.
And I remember sitting on the
stairs, watching the adults dancing.
Ooh. My dad used to swirl my mum.
Look at you! When that record
went click, and you heard that...
SHE MAKES CRACKLING NOISE
Yeah. ..and it's coming,
it's coming.
Oh, yeah, the beat is coming.
IN GUYANESE ACCENT: Put on the gram.
Yeah. Just put on a record,
and everybody forgot everything,
you started dancing... Yeah.
..and we had fun. I like that.
The last time this was played?
I think around late '60s,
early '70s.
OK. What's wrong with it?
Well, the turntable
doesn't work any more.
OK, turntable doesn't work.
There's a big hole in it.
I'm going to ask you, it never
has a hole in the middle.
You know what that was?
I vaguely remember... Right. ..there
being an incident with a candle...
OK. ..I think, because I remember,
there was a, literally burnt...
Oh, in the middle? Yeah.
And then somebody cut it out
to get rid of the burn. Yeah.
Legs?
We don't know what happened to them.
They didn't fall out.
Oh, do you know what?
This is a, this is just...
I had left home by then!
This is... I didn't know this was
going to be so humiliating.
I'm not surprised! What would what
would Mum and Dad think of you guys,
bringing this in here?
I think they would be extremely
proud and extremely happy.
Yeah. My mother's heart would sing,
hearing this play music. Yeah.
Definitely.
We want to get her heart
singing again. Yeah.
Ladies, thank you for the trip
down memory lane,
and bringing this in, as well.
It's going to be a privilege,
and it'll be an honour to get
the old lady working again for you.
Thank you so much. Thanks so much.
Thank you. Thank you.
Take care, now. Safe journey.
Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
To have the gram play music again,
so that we can all hear it,
I think will be magical.
It made Christmas, basically,
having that...
That noise. It just made Christmas.
Here it comes.
Right, here we go.
I'm trying to feel
if there's something else...
No, it's just a wire in the way.
Right, here we go.
The operation begins.
Nurse!
As Mark starts to bring the
stereogram back to health,
Jay is working on an operation
of his own.
Come on then, guys. OK.
This way, come on. Yep.
There we go.
Look at that!
We're out here to do Secret Santa.
Now, what you're going to do is
come up to the tree, pick a ball,
and inside the ball is a name,
and that's who you've got to
make it for.
So, as per usual, ladies first.
Suzie... Oh!
If you don't mind doing us
the honour? Thank you so much.
Pick a good one. Oh, yes.
Oh, it's beautiful.
Julie, if you don't mind
doing me the honours? Oh!
Any one you want. Oh! OK.
Oh, matches your jumper.
Oh, matches your j...
What colour? I'm going to go for
this nice raspberry colour.
Oh! Are you sure?
Lovely. Remember,
this is Secret Santa.
I don't want anybody knowing
who you've got.
That's it. Go on.
Ah-ha-ha! Who've you got, Julie?
Don't try and trick me, Will!
Yay! Oh, oh!
LAUGHTER
Oh, crikey!
Oh, no, it's a nice one!
Interesting.
Who is it? I'm joking,
it's not Julie.
Or is it? Ah!
You know who you're making it for?
ALL: Yes. Let's go back to work,
then. Cool.
Thanks, Jay. All right. No problem.
But Secret Santa plans
will have to be kept on ice.
A very special visitor
has been delivered to the barn.
Vicar Steve Stewart
and his wife Amanda
are hoping soft toy specialists
Julie and Amanda
could sprinkle
some Christmas sparkle.
Hello.
Hello. Hi.
Welcome. Thank you.
Nice to meet you.
Now, you both seem a bit too old
to have a rocking horse this size.
Please tell us, whose is it?
So this belongs to our daughter,
Tamsin. Right.
As she was growing up,
she always loved horses,
and just before she was six,
leading up to Christmas,
she was saying, "I want a rocking
horse, I want a rocking horse",
And I knew we just couldn't afford,
you know,
a brand-new rocking horse,
so my mum suddenly called, and said,
"I've seen one in the charity shop.
Would you like it?"
We knew it was a little bit
of a dream come true for her,
to have a rocking horse.
So, yeah, it was great to get it,
just in time before Christmas.
You must have been as excited...
Oh, hugely.
..as she was
on Christmas morning? Yeah, yeah.
She just ran in and grabbed it,
said, "My beauty, my beauty,
"my love, love, love!" Oh!
And just unbelievably
excited to see it,
and leapt, of course, leapt
straight on it. Oh, that's lovely.
And did she name him/her?
Yes. Gallopina. Gallopina, yeah.
She absolutely loved it,
and Shona and her are always
in there, riding it, and, you know,
making up little stories.
So, then, Christmas morning,
and a brilliant one. Yeah.
You've made the dreams come true.
Then, what happened after?
In 2008
around April, Tamsin started
to get a little bit unwell,
and the GP sent us off
to the hospital,
and to cut a long story short,
Tamsin was diagnosed that day
with a brain tumour,
which was inoperable,
and we knew from that day
she wasn't going to live.
Oh, my goodness.
She was going to die,
and it would be
in a matter of months,
there's no question about it.
Oh, no. I can't imagine.
Yeah, and she just got gradually,
gradually worse and worse and worse.
Two weeks before Christmas,
she was taken to the hospice,
and I just remember
Christmas morning,
that was the last time,
you know, she smiled at me,
and she died two days later,
on the 27th... Yeah. ..of December.
It is awful that she died
on the 27th December,
but it did mean that
that 25th of December day,
we did get to be a family,
you know, the four of us,
that that one last time... We did.
..which was incredibly special.
And how did Shona manage
through this?
Shona was amazing, wasn't she?
She was wonderful.
We've got another daughter, Hetty,
as well, who's now nine.
Oh, OK. Yeah, so she came along,
two years after Tamsin died,
and she loves Gallopina as well.
That's what I was just going to say,
does she love Gallopina?
She loves, you know, plaiting,
or trying to plait the tail,
and play with the mane.
We know she's all a bit, you know,
raggedy, and from a charity shop,
but when Tamsin, at five years old,
on that Christmas morning,
came in, she wouldn't have seen
any of that... No.
..and so, really, you can do
whatever you like.
To see Gallopina
as Tamsin would have seen her...
On that Christmas morning.
..on that Christmas morning,
would just be wonderful.
That would be very, very special,
because, actually,
this will be our last Christmas
in the home that
Tamsin grew up in.
So that would be very special.
Yeah. Have her for Christmas,
that one last time.
We're going to make it look amazing.
Thank you. Thank you.
That's wonderful. Thanks so much.
Thank you for bringing her in.
Lovely to meet you all.
Goodbye, take care. Bye-bye. Bye.
Gallopina is such
a special horse to us,
because Tamsin just treasured it,
and loved it for the time
that she was with us.
Gallopina is a very solid
sort of symbol
of really, really happy times,
and so having her restored
in time for Christmas
will be a wonderful,
wonderful thing. Yeah.
I really admire his family.
That was hard.
I can't even imagine going
through something on that.
But we've got to come together
to make this special again.
We will. So what have you got to do?
Wow. There's quite a bit to do,
isn't there? There is quite a bit.
So we're going to have to stabilise
all of this first.
You know, the child sits there,
holds on here. Yeah.
So it's all the typical places
that would go,
and then we can do all the pretty
bits! She's going to look gorgeous!
Can we give her a lovely new
tail and mane?
That would be brilliant.
And I think a nice pair
of really lovely glass eyes.
It's got to have a saddle.
You've got to speak to Suzie. Yeah.
Yeah, definitely. You know?
It's got to be a saddle.
I've got an idea for this base. I'm
not going to tell you what it is.
OK. Thank you. Great stuff.
Perfect. Yeah. Yes.
How are you getting on?
Yeah, good, yeah.
I've got the felt all cut out.
I'm just feeding it in to strengthen
these weak areas on her back.
Once I've got it in place,
on both sides,
I can add a bit more stuffing...
Get some stuffing in there.
..and start to bulk her out
a little bit.
I know you're very eager
for me to make sure
this is all nice and smooth. We need
to get rid of the baggy leg look.
We do. It's not good, is it?
No. A bit Nora Batty! Yes!
So Gallopina will gallop once again.
In his quest to spark some life
into the stereogram,
Mark is testing
all the electrical components.
That's fine.
So, I'm very happy so far.
The magic of Christmas is already
working around this chassis,
I tell you.
I can't be too complacent.
I've got to go and check
everything else,
just to make sure that the day
I go click, we don't get kaboom,
Christmas is over before we start,
cos that would be a disaster.
So I'm going to continue with these
and see how we get on.
With Mark plugging away
at the electrics,
wood whizz Will Kirk
can begin work on the casing.
Lovely. Well, that's the top off.
That is a huge hole.
In an ideal world, I could patch
this with a new piece of wood
and some veneer.
However, with the direction
of the veneer on the surface,
and the grain of the wood,
it'll be really tricky to do,
so it'd be a lot tidier,
and it would look prettier,
if I just replaced this entire panel
and make it look really beautiful,
and in keeping with
the rest of the piece.
That fits like a glove.
Amazing. My next step
is to veneer this panel.
I have the perfect
veneer for the job.
It has an adhesive
on the other side.
You can use an iron
over the surface,
it heats up the glue underneath
and it sticks onto any surface.
I'm just marking this out
with a pencil now.
It's always best to measure
5,000 times and cut once!
With the electrics now safe, Mark
can move on to the mechanical
elements.
Got to get on now
with the turntable.
This wheel drives onto this.
Now, the wheel feels
a little bit smooth,
which means that it's going
to have a tendency to slip.
You just can't buy these any more.
I can only work with what I got,
and if this doesn't work,
we don't have a record player.
I'm just literally rubbing very
carefully across the surface,
not to damage it, but hopefully just
to give it a little bit more grip.
Next thing to do is to put a 45
on there, and I can then test
if all the mechanism itself is fully
functional, that is, it's got
to place the cartridge
on the correct position
to start the record.
I will now activate -
I expect this to rise,
that to drop, that to go across
and to lay down in the
correct starting position...
..which I'm glad to say it is.
Sandra and Donna, the thing
which is going to invoke
their memory is the...
HE MAKES SCRATCHING SOUND
..noise.
And it's going to be amazing
to see how they feel
when they hear it for the
very first time after decades.
There we are, all four legs done.
All I need to do now is give
them a light coat of polish and
screw them onto the
bottom of the stereogram.
Next, an incredible Christmas
present with an intriguing history.
Chris Sugg from East Sussex is
hoping Dominic Chinea's
time working on classic cars
will come in useful,
albeit in miniature.
Hello. Good afternoon.
Now, me and Dom was just admiring
this. It looks amazing.
What can you tell us about
this beautiful machine?
Well, it's a truck which copies
those used in the war and was given
to me at Christmas
in 1945 by my father.
My father was a lighting engineer.
And over the whole of the war time,
he was asked to help with decoy work
and had a whole team of brilliant
engineers working with him to invent
places for the bombers from
Germany to drop their bombs
rather than on the targets
that they wanted, using lights
moving along wires to fool
the German bombers.
So, his team would
make loads of things... Yep.
They made lots of things, yes.
.. to fool the bombers
coming in and say,
"This is what you're
going to bomb." Yeah.
So, take them away from where
we was living. That's right.
And these became
known as "Q sites",
and hundreds of them
were made all over the country.
Wow. His team, they were all a bit
like super Repair Shop people.
Right. They would have fitted
in here! Yes, absolutely. Bless!
They were able to turn their hand
to anything and everything.
OK. And at the end of the war,
after the specialists had finished
doing their decoy work and me
being five, I think, my father,
who was the squadron leader, asked
the team if they could make
a half-sized model Jeep.
And this was my Christmas present.
That's all right, isn't it?
It certainly was!
I can remember it to this day,
as you might imagine. Yeah.
There's the Christmas tree
in the corner... Yeah.
..and standing in front of it, this.
Oh! And I leapt in and I pedalled it
straight into the Christmas tree.
Chris, this sounds like this was the
best Christmas present you've had.
Oh, without doubt. Yes.
This is very much a symbol of both
my father and what he did in the war
and a remarkable reminder of him.
Yeah, bless. So, if Dom's able to
get it back to how you remember it,
what are you going to do
with it? Our youngest grandson,
who is Felix, he is really
enthusiastic about getting
this and driving it around.
But no driving into
a Christmas tree. Preferably not.
Chris, thank you for bringing it.
Thank you. Nice to meet you.
Thanks so much. Likewise.
Bye-bye. You take care now.
It's going to mean a great deal
to me, as an extraordinary
remembrance of my father,
and with a bit of luck, it'll bring
back all those memories again and
add to them with my own grandson.
I actually feel like a
five-year-old Chris,
on that Christmas morning.
I absolutely love it.
Where to start?! Looking at it now,
I'm just kind of trying to get
myself into the mind-set of the team
of engineers and Chris's father
that built this in the first place.
Those guys were so clever,
and to be trusted to be able to work
on it and try and repair it now,
it really does mean a lot to me.
Makes the hairs on the back
of my neck stick up a little bit.
I can't wait any longer.
I'm going to start dismantling
the truck.
My Secret Santa...is Dom.
Basically he's always working
outside and I wanted to make
him a cushion for what he sits on.
At The Repair Shop, we are very
fortunate that we're able to spend
this festive time together.
So it's nice to just do
something for each other.
As repairs on Gallopina
the Rocking Horse continue,
she's getting some equine finery,
courtesy of master saddler Suzie.
Love, love, making saddles and
bridles for rocking horses.
So, I just need to finish
cutting out all these pieces
and then I can go ahead
and start preparing them.
At times like this, when I'm
sewing, I really get to think
about not only what I'm making,
but also who I'm making it for.
Just need to
finish doing the sewing,
then I can move on to the bridal.
I am so excited at this moment.
When I start to
put the features back
on any item that we do,
it brings them to life.
First one going in.
She is going to look beautiful.
Hey! Gallopina!
So, I must get on now
to the other eye, and then
we'll be ready for Suzie
to bring us the saddle.
And hopefully Jay's got
that rocker sorted.
I can't wait to
see what he's done with it.
Also working in perfect harmony,
Mark and Will
have been collaborating
on the stereogram that once kept
the Christmas hits
playing all day long.
Hi, Will, how are you doing?
Hey, Mark.
Have you finished?
It's all ready to be put back in.
It sounds good to me. Let's go.
This 60-year-old stereogram
provided the soundtrack to sisters
Sandra and Donna's family Christmas.
I am really nervous.
I'm really excited.
To see the gram working again
would be like a Christmas miracle.
It would just be amazing.
Hello.
Hi. Well, hello, Sandra.
Hello, Donna.
Hello. Hello.
How are you both doing?
Very well, thank you.
Really well, thank you.
Now, this is a big part
of Christmas.
Now, if Mark's been able
to do his magic on this,
what's it going to mean to you?
Every time the gram is playing,
I'll be able to see my sisters
dancing on my father's shoes. Yeah.
Just having a good time.
And it would just be fantastic.
My heart is beating so fast
at the moment.
I just want to show you this.
Really.
I just want to show it to you.
You're ready to be reunited?
I think so.
Let's see what we've done for you.
SHE EXCLAIMS
Oh, it's got...
It's got its legs back.
And the colour, the colour.
It's just beautiful.
Thank you. Thank you.
We haven't finished yet.
If you could press phono for me.
As your mum would have
undoubtedly told you many a time.
Not to do.
Oh, right, OK. That's it.
Light's on. And light's come on?
Light's come on.
Just turn that little lever
to your left.
And let's see what happens.
SHE GASPS
Oh, my goodness.
MUSIC: The Christmas Song
(Merry Christmas To You)
by Nat King Cole
# Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
# Jack Frost nipping at your nose
# Yuletide carols
being sung by a choir
# And folks dressed up like Eskimos
# Everybody knows
a turkey and some mistletoe
# To kids from one to ninety-two
THEY SING ALONG
# Although it's been said
many times, many ways
# Merry Christmas to you. #
Now I know where that takes me back.
But where does it
take you guys back to?
SHE SIGHS
Christmas morning after church.
And Dad would start playing records
and then he would call Mum to dance
and she'd be saying,
"I'm cooking, I'm cooking, I
can't..." And, "I'm busy. I'm busy."
"Stop your nonsense."
"Do you want to eat?"
"Stop your nonsense.
What's wrong with you?"
Yeah.
But eventually she would come
and do a few steps with him.
Oh, thank you.
Thank you, with all my heart.
I just. I can't, I can't thank you
enough for this.
It was a great team effort. Yes.
We all enjoyed the process
of getting this
all working again for you.
I know you guys are going
to have the best Christmas.
I'm going to make sure
that this gets shipped up to you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much. OK. Thank you.
It's been a great pleasure.
It really has.
This Christmas is just going to be
brilliant because with the gram
now, we'll have that reconnection
with our mum and dad.
Our parents would be dancing.
They would be so happy to have music
coming out of that gram again
that it would give them
the greatest pleasure.
I mean, the gram has always
been the centre of our Christmases
when it was working.
And now it can be
the centre of our Christmases again.
MUSIC: Jingle Bell Rock
by Bobby Helms
# Jingle bell, jingle bell,
jingle bell rock
# Jingle bells swing
and jingle bells ring... #
Next, more hopeful visitors eager
to hear another festive favourite,
playing sweet music once again.
From Glasgow, Virginia Smith
and her daughters, Kirsty and Kate,
have brought something to test
the mechanical mind
of Steve Fletcher.
Hiya. Hello. Hi.
How are you doing?
Good, thanks. Good, yeah. Bless you.
Oh, I do love a box. Look at that,
eh? What have we got in there?
It's a beautiful Christmas carousel.
Oh, wow.
Right. That is pretty, isn't it?
Yeah. Yeah, it is.
We've got these little bits
that have fallen off as well.
Yeah, she's quite an old lady,
so she's falling to bits a little.
Where's this from?
It was a gift given to my mother
from her Uncle Robert, who worked
for William Paley. OK.
And Robert was his valet and worked
with him for many, many years.
Who are the Paleys?
So William Paley was the founder
of CBS Network in America,
and he had a really, really
glamorous lifestyle jet-setting
around the world.
Obviously as Paley's valet,
Robert was his right-hand man...
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
..and had to go everywhere he went.
Yeah.
And every Christmas, William Paley
would give Robert lots of gifts
to send back home to Scotland. OK.
And Uncle Robert,
he loved my mum so much.
She was kind of like sort of
a daughter to him. Right.
And this was one of the gifts
that was sent back home to my mum
when she was about
10 or 11 years old.
So she had it as a child growing up
and then myself and my two sisters
had it growing up.
It was gifted to me
about 20 years ago.
And now my girls
have this growing up.
And was it working 20 years ago?
Jingle Bells was working.
The wee bits were all still a bit...
Yeah, we've not seen
the horse's head.
When you say Jingle Bells,
where's Jingle Bells on it?
So you would twist her
and it would wind up. OK. Right.
And you would just let it go
and it would just slowly turn
and Jingle Bells would play. OK.
So the children would
just be allowed to just turn it
and have a go? Yes. Yes.
I can see why it's been broken.
Yes, me too! Yeah!
THEY LAUGH
I remember as children,
it was the most special
of all the Christmas decorations.
We would all sort of kneel round
the wee carousel and play it.
And of course, it had to be turned
so the oldest would go first,
then the middle, then me.
So I had to wait...
Wait for your turn.
..till everybody else had
had their shot
and I would get a shot.
Just that excitement of Christmas
coming with your sisters
and you're just... Yeah. Yeah.
Ready for Christmas.
It's like this was the mark of
Christmas beginning. Yeah.
Yeah, it was.
Are your sisters just as excited
as you to see this restored?
Well, sadly,
I lost one of my sisters.
I lost my elder sister
nearly ten years ago. Ah.
She passed away very, very suddenly.
Sorry to hear that.
And it's coming up to
her ten-year anniversary soon.
So this would just be...amazing.
This seems like it has a big role
to play in your family Christmases.
Oh, absolutely. I feel like it's
more important than the tree.
Yeah. Oh, is it?
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
We always hear the stories about
how it came to our possession,
how it came to Mum and her
three sisters and now us
three sisters as well.
It genuinely does mean
so much to us.
Well, if it's more important
than the tree... No pressure!
Did you see him go red just there?
And that's not
the Christmas spirit!
THEY LAUGH
I can see how important
this is to you and your family.
Thank you for bringing this in.
Thank you for having us.
We will try our very, very best.
Thank you. Excited.
Yes! Bye-bye. Bye.
Take care now.
It really embodies Christmas for us
as a family and remembering family,
that are no longer with us
any more and how special
it was to them as well.
And it'll just bring that magic back
and will just remind us
of all the wonderful people
that have played Jingle Bells
on it in the past.
I'm absolutely terrified
because, I don't know,
it could be a complete mess
in there.
I'm sure you could do something
to it. Yeah. Yeah?
And I'm thinking,
to bring back that Christmas glow,
get Kirs on this a bit.
That would be perfect.
Yeah? What do you reckon, Kirsten?
Love to. Cool.
Sounds like you've got to
get it open, then, haven't you?
Absolutely. OK.
Just going to get stuck into it now
and take it all apart.
I was expecting something
a lot bigger than this.
That's a big carousel to be moved
by that little tiny movement.
I'm amazed, actually.
Just going to
take the mechanism out now.
Right, so I need to
take it all apart.
Hopefully, there's
not too much damage.
Meanwhile, I can take all the rest
over to Kirsten to work her magic.
This year, I have Amanda
for my Secret Santa.
I've got to keep my voice down
because she's just sitting there.
I thought it would be really nice
to carve a wooden teddy bear.
I've already made a start.
I really hope that she likes it.
In the outdoor workshop,
Dom's almost finished dismantling
the handmade army vehicle,
engineered by a secret squadron of
wartime geniuses 75 years ago.
Dom. Hello, Jay. You winning?
HE SIGHS
Cos that doesn't look like
you're winning.
It's OK. It's a big job.
There's a lot. I've separated
everything, basically, into piles.
That pile is all to be sent off
to be stripped, sandblast,
strip all of that. OK.
The table over there
is all of the woodwork
that I've sort of pieced back
together and taped it all together.
So Will has now got some really nice
templates that he can use
to make the new pieces. Right.
I'm going to take that stuff in to
Will and tell him what he needs to
do. No stress. All right.
All the veneer is delaminating,
so it's coming apart.
I have some nice brand-new
pieces of ply here.
I'm going to draw these out
and then I can start cutting.
Believe it or not, this is
the chassis for Chris's truck.
Literally, everything bolts to this.
This really is the heart
of the whole truck.
I'm not painting it pink.
This is purely just a primer.
Hey, Dom. Will. Hey!
I've cut all those pieces.
They look amazing. Brilliant.
Nice one. No worries.
Thanks for your help.
Oh, that's such a nice colour.
This gorgeous green is
a perfect match to British Standard
Olive Drab green,
which is what these trucks
would have been painted.
So I've got all the metal parts on
the bench here, all the wooden parts
on the bench over there.
This top coat can go over both
surfaces, so I'm ready to go.
This is quite an exciting but
nerve-racking time for me now.
Every bracket and piece of wood,
and lever and nob
is completely now painted
and ready to go,
and it's time to
put it all together.
At this stage, rebuilding the truck
almost becomes a kind of,
like a kit,
nuts and bolts, panels.
It really, really makes me
appreciate how clever that team
of engineers were.
I'm trying to work out how they put
it together, but they had to design
all of this in the first place.
And it's just so impressive
and it's all so beautifully made
and so accurate
to the original car.
Ooh.
All right, Dom?
Jay, you all right? Hi there.
How are you getting on?
OK. My done pile is getting
smaller. OK. Yeah.
So, what can we do?
OK, Mark would be perfect, actually.
I've just started on the wiring
up the front there.
OK. Yeah, that's my little drawing.
That's for the lights, innit?
Headlights. We've got a horn.
Oh, look, sat nav. Yeah!
So Mark can get on with that.
What about me? What you got?
You know what, the screen,
that would be helpful.
All right. I tell you what, Dom,
this is a really big job, innit?
It is. I think we're going to be
here for a little while.
Yeah, we've definitely got
some work to do.
You didn't tell me that, did you?
Don't worry, I've got some
mince pies. We'll be OK.
THEY CHUCKLE
Thank you!
Into the final furlong, Gallopina,
the horse that helped
one little girl's
Christmas wish come true.
Is she ready for her clothes?
Yes, absolutely. Come over.
I'm so excited.
Oh, my goodness, she looks amazing.
You girls have done a wonderful job.
Teamwork.
And now seeing it all come together,
and that is just
absolutely beautiful.
I'm getting all goosebumpy,
actually.
Let's hope Steven and Amanda get
that feeling when they see her.
Yeah.
Steve and Amanda brought their
rocking horse to The Repair Shop,
hoping it could be restored
in memory of their daughter Tamsin.
With them are Tamsin's sisters,
Hetty and Shona.
I remember how special Gallopina
was to Tamsin.
So it's a bittersweet memory,
I suppose, of Gallopina.
But I'm excited to see
what they've done to her.
I keep getting pictures in my head
of what she might look like,
and I keep trying to think,
"Oh, I wonder what Tamsin would make
of Gallopina if they've done this,
or they've done that."
I'm also very excited to see her.
Hello. Hello. Hi.
Welcome back. Thank you.
Who have you brought with you?
This is our daughter, Hetty.
Hi, Hetty.
And our other daughter, Shona.
Hi, Shona. Hi. Lovely to meet you.
How are you both doing?
Good. We're really well, thank you.
Yeah. Very excited aren't we?
Very. Very. Very, very. Very!
I'm eager to see what you've done.
Well, we're eager to show you.
We are. Lovely. Are you ready? Yeah.
Yeah. I think so.
THEY GASP
Wow. Oh, wow.
Oh, she's amazing.
Oh, and you've put the words
at the bottom.
Ooh!
"My beauty my beauty,
my love love love".
Oh, she's beautiful.
Oh, I feel quite overwhelmed.
That is just an amazing
touch you've put on there.
She's just fabulous.
She looks absolutely brand-new.
I want to give her a cuddle. Go on.
Can we? Go for it.
Oh, look at her.
And I love her muzzle as well.
This is amazing.
Look at her eyes.
Look at her ears.
And, oh, she's got eyes.
Yeah!
THEY LAUGH
She has eyes! She can see!
And I love it cos she's still
Gallopina. Just a wonderful gift.
Yeah, she's still gorgeous.
She's still our horse. Yeah.
Ah.
It's like Tamsin's legacy
is just going to
live on for generations.
And it will be so wonderful
for us all to come in
on Christmas morning,
and we'll see what Tamsin would
have seen as a five-year-old.
Yeah.
I shall enjoy on Christmas Day,
spending a few minutes
with Gallopina, just me and
Gallopina, and thinking of Tamsin.
That's lovely.
Perfect. It's going to be
an amazing Christmas.
Yeah, it will.
It will be a great Christmas.
It's been a pleasure having you here
as a family and Gallopina.
Take care now.
Thank you. Thank you.
Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas.
Bye, everyone.
Merry Christmas.
Bye-bye. Bye. Bye-bye.
Gallopina is very much part of
our special memories
of our lovely little girl.
Every time I pass Gallopina,
I'm going to think of Tamsin.
Just to have the words that
Tamsin said when she saw Gallopina
written on her,
it just reminds us of that moment
every time we see her now.
That's OK.
Determined to bring the Jingle Bells
back to the musical carousel,
Steve has been examining
the broken mechanism.
I've found out what the problem
is with this, the actual ratchet
and spring,
they're one and the same.
The carousel, instead of being wound
the correct way, has been forced
the other way, which has broken it.
So what I do need to do is make
a new one of these springs.
Take this clock mainspring, soften
it up by putting some heat on it.
Good. That's a really nice snug fit.
On the carousel, there is a pair
of horses and they are pulling
the tiger in the carriage.
These are really damaged.
So I'm going to try and make some
new legs and replace the head here.
That's the muzzle of
one of the horses made.
I now just have to make three legs,
a head, and some tails here
for the other horse.
Right, let's file that one up.
Almost finished one of the arms.
I just need to do the other two.
Soon as I've done that, I can
pop it in and see whether it works.
Looking closely at this,
there are a few really obvious areas
that are standing out that need
some colour and a little bit
of retouching, and I'm hoping
that this is the point
where this kind of
really pops back to life.
Three generations have grown up
with this music box now
and I know hearing the Jingle Bells
again is just going to take
them right back to their childhoods.
It's really quite important,
really exciting.
So I'm doing my Secret Santa.
I've got...
I'm going to make him his very own
Christmas tree with the things
that he likes on it.
I'm putting a lot of time
and a lot of love into it.
So hopefully this'll
put a smile on his face.
It's been the assignment
of a lifetime for Dom,
matching the mind set of the wartime
engineers who crafted this ultimate
boy's toy from scratch.
Right, that's it.
So, hopefully, now...
Yeah.
That is brilliant.
That chain was the last link
in the whole drivetrain.
So now I've linked to the pedals,
the drive bars up to this
main gearbox section,
and now finally the rear wheels
are spinning.
Brilliant.
How're we doing, Dom? Oh, Jay!
Are you all right? Nearly there.
Look at this. This is amazing.
It's a bit of an emotional time,
if I'm honest.
I've literally put my heart and soul
into this. I know.
Everything I've got.
And it's been an absolute
pleasure working on it.
Lights working? Yeah. Yeah.
Give them a flick. Look.
That's it. Oh, quality.
And the other one.
HORN BEEPS
Oh, leave it out!
THEY LAUGH
HORN BEEPS
Now, that... That's made...
HORN BEEPS
That's made my Christmas, man.
Good on you.
Eager to recreate that Christmas
morning feeling of 75 years ago
for Chris and the truck's new owner,
his nine-year-old grandson, Felix,
Dom's making
a very special delivery.
Must be all of 60 years since
I last saw it actually function
and probably drove it.
When I first se it, I suspect
I shall feel just the same
as I did all those years ago.
I'm really excited to see the truck
because it's a replica of a truck
that was in the wartime.
That's amazing.
Hey, Chris. Hello. Hello.
How's it going?
Hi. This is Felix, my grandson.
Of course. Hi.
Felix, nice to see you.
Come on over.
Merry Christmas. Whoa!
My word. Wow, that's amazing.
So you know what's
underneath this box?
Yes, I do.
Felix, have you ever seen it?
I've never seen it before.
I've only seen it in pictures.
So I'm really excited to see it
and, yeah, drive it.
Oh, good. I genuinely am
so excited to show you.
I can't wait to see what
you think of it. Are you ready?
Let's go. Let's do it.
Mm.
Well done.
Look at that, Felix.
Doesn't that look wonderful?
Yeah. I love it.
I can't believe
you actually did this.
THEY LAUGH
It looks just like it did
when I first saw it.
And you've done a wonderful job.
I just really hope
I've done your father justice.
He would be absolutely amazed,
to be honest.
Oh. And I think we ought to see
whether we can get Felix
to get inside it, don't you?
I think you're absolutely right.
I'm so jealous that
you're small enough to fit inside.
and you actually get to have a go.
Go on, jump in.
That's it. Yeah.
And you get a foot on each pedal.
That's it.
HORN BEEPS
Oh!
And then that one's your headlights.
Oh, look, and the sidelight as well.
Yeah. Wonderful.
OK, young man.
Ready to go? Are you ready?
Yeah.
Yeah. You've got it already.
Yeah. Look at that! Beep-beep!
HORN BEEPS
Riding the truck,
it feels amazing, and I think, yeah,
I will use it for a long time,
just like Grandpa did.
Seeing the truck brings back
my parents and, of course,
Dad especially.
And what a wonderful man
and a wonderful engineer he was.
It was definitely the best
Christmas present ever.
Back at The Repair Shop, Kirsten
and Steve have been racing to get
the miniature carousel ready
for the start of Christmas.
Glitter alert, Steve.
Cor, wow, that looks so, so good.
You've transformed it.
That's amazing.
I'm just hoping that the motor's
got enough power to drive
the carousel around.
Fantastic. I can't wait to see it.
Thank you. OK.
It's raring to go.
This is almost like putting a clock
back together again, trying to get
all the little pivots into
the plate of the clock.
HE CHUCKLES
That one's fallen out,
so that's no good.
I think I'd prefer to
put a clock back together again.
HE CHUCKLES
Well, Christmas has begun.
For Virginia and her daughters,
this little vintage carousel signals
the start of Christmas,
and has done for three generations
of their family.
Thinking about the carousel while
it's been here has just really
brought so many memories of my
sister and childhood Christmases.
And I've really been thinking about
her a lot and how much she loved
the carousel as well.
Really excited about who it was,
what they, hopefully,
have managed to do to it.
Hello. Hiya. Hi.
How are you doing, ladies? Good.
Excited. Yeah, we're really excited.
Well, do you know what,
the pressure on me to get this
going, because I know
this was more important
than the Christmas tree,
so let's have a look, shall we?
OK. Yes, definitely.
Oh, my God.
THEY GASP
That's crazy.
Oh, my God!
The horses have heads!
Wait, I can't even see
round that bit.
Can I turn?
Oh, my gosh, turn it, turn it.
Oldest first.
THEY LAUGH
Ooh.
That's crazy.
Oh, my God. That looks fantastic.
It's amazing. It's...
CAROUSEL PLAYS JINGLE BELLS
I want to dance!
That's so crazy.
It is amazing.
It's so beautiful.
That just looks fantastic.
Thank you so much. I...
I don't know what to say,
I'm a bit speechless.
Thank you.
Don't cry!
He's fixed it!
Oh. It's so heart-warming to think
that that's how you and your sisters
saw it, and how Granny saw it.
Uh-huh.
And now I'm looking at it
the way she saw it as well.
Oh, I'm just so amazed, and
impressed, and grateful.
And...happy Christmas to you all.
Thank you. Happy Christmas
to you and your family.
Happy Christmas to all your family.
Thank you.
Thank you so, so, so much.
Oh, you're very, very well.
It's singing a wee song as we go.
THEY LAUGH
Thank you. Thank you.
Take care now. Thank you! Bye-bye.
Nice one. Yeah, really nice.
Seeing the carousel just sparks
up so many memories of people
that we can't share Christmas
with any more,
and just remembering loved ones
at Christmas. Yeah.
It's definitely
start of Christmas for us.
What a kick-start, eh?
Yeah.
With the hard work over,
it's time for Jay and the team
to enjoy their own Christmas
celebration together.
Come on, Dom. Secret Santa time.
How're we doing, guys?
You know what time it is -
it's Secret Santa.
THEY CHEER
That's what I like to hear.
Here we go.
All right.
Everyone, if you can
all gather round, please.
Are we ready?
ALL: Yes.
OK, we're going to go for, Kirsten.
I need to see what's in that box.
Right.
SHE GASPS
Oh, that's beautiful.
Show us. It's a wreath, look.
Oh, it's gorgeous.
Oh, wow. That is lovely.
Who done that? Very nice.
Dom?
Yeah, it's me. It's beautiful.
Wow. Thank you so much.
You're welcome.
Wow.
ALL: Aww.
There's only one man in this barn
that can make something
so beautiful out of wood.
Hey.
THEY LAUGH
That's it. Come on. Sorry, bear.
Oh, wow. That's fantastic.
Ooh.
Is it you? Jay?
Yeah, it is. Come on. No!
Come on, Jay. Come on, Jay.
Come on. Here we go.
THEY DRUM ROLL ON THE TABLES
Oh, wow. Look at that.
Now that...
HE LAUGHS
What is it? What is it?
It is from you, isn't it?
It is from me.
It is...
Oh, what? Oh, my gosh.
Look at the inside.
Wow. Thank you, Suzie.
I'm glad you like it. Thank you.
You've all made some brilliant gifts
for each other.
I've got something for you outside.
Follow me.
Wow!
Oh, ho, ho, ho! What's this?
This is amazing.
You've got mulled wine
over there, mince pies.
Come on out.
Oh, wow. Oh, bless you. Bless you.
This is amazing.
I'm going to sit here by the fire.
Oh, that's lovely.
Absolutely amazing.
What?! This is incredible!
THEY LAUGH
MUSIC: Have Yourself
a Merry Little Christmas
by Judy Garland
# Have yourself
a merry little Christmas... #
Thank you to all of you for all
the hard work you've done this year.
You've been really,
seriously amazing.
Merry Christmas to you.
And here's to friends and family
that we can't be with this year.
Yeah.
ALL: Merry Christmas.
# Some day soon
we all will be together
# If the fates allow
# Until then,
we'll have to muddle through somehow
# So have yourself
a merry little Christmas now. #
Merry Christmas.
ALL: Merry Christmas!
To everybody! Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas