The Repair Shop (2017–…): Season 8, Episode 10 - Episode #8.10 - full transcript

Welcome to The Repair Shop, where
precious but faded treasures...

There's an awful lot of work
to do here.

Things are definitely going
to have to get worse

before they get better.

..are returned to their former
glory.

Look at that.

Furniture restorer Jay Blades...

Bringing history back to life
is what makes The Repair Shop

so special. ..and a dream team of
expert craftspeople...

Solid as a rock.

It's actually quite miraculous,
to be honest.



..come together
to work their magic...

Look at that, tailor-made.

Just got to keep calm and carry on.

OK, here we go.
It's going to look great.

..employing heritage craft skills
passed down the generations...

This is how it was, so this
is how it will be again.

..preserving irreplaceable
heirlooms.

Some objects can have so much
emotional attachment to the family,

and that's what pushes me
to want to get it right.

The team will restore the items...

Oh!

..the memories... That's the link
between you and your grandad.

And now my son.

..and unlock the stories
that they hold.



I'm just blown away!

I'm flying!

In The Repair Shop today...

What I've got to do now is cut it
off and hope I get it right.

..a musical dream team restores
an ancient instrument from Persia.

And I thought putting strings
on was very straightforward.

Not on the tar.

A weather-beaten fairground
attraction...

There's a few worrying areas
where the wood seems

like it's starting to go
a little bit rotten.

..takes Dom and Will for a ride.

Oh!

And Geoff's luck runs out with a
German coin machine that's kaput.

Ooh!

Absolutely nil.

Back to the drawing board.

But first, a double challenge
for metal maestro Dom...

Hello, hello. Hello, Dom.

..and upholstery expert Sonnaz.

Look at that! I know. This is going
to be a good one. Yeah.

Father and daughter Joe
and Sophie Davies, from

Newcastle-under-Lyme, hope their
chair can honour

a traditional skill passed
down the family.

Hello. Hi. Hello. Hi. Hi.
Come in.

Nice to meet you both.
This must be yours.

Tell me you're barbers. We are.
You are, good. Good. OK.

This was my father's chair.

He was a barber as well.

And he opened his own shop
in 1949.

He bought this chair brand-new in
1962, '63 for a brand-new shop

in the Market Arcade in
Newcastle-under-Lyme.

It's been with us ever since.

Were you the Saturday boy, helping
your dad out? I was.

I was about 13, used
to go and sweep up.

One of my first jobs was to polish
this, to get a bit of pocket money.

It wasn't always easy, when you work
with your dad, but as time went on,

well, we became, you know, really
like best mates, really, yeah.

Sophie, did you get to meet Bill?
Yes, I did. Did you work with Bill

as well, or...? I didn't. I was too
young. Ah. Sophie was about six when

my dad passed away. Oh, OK. Yeah.
But she remembers him.

You can't forget him. He was a
character, he was well-known.

Was he? He was indeed, yeah. You've
got to be, haven't you, running

a barbershop? Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.

What memories do you have of
this chair, growing up?

Well, I learnt to cut hair
around it.

Yeah, I couldn't reach
and had to stand on the Yellow Pages

to cut hair and... Really?
..shuffle around. Yeah.

She was a natural, actually.
Really? Yeah, yeah. Lovely.

Sophie's got her own shop
now, so I.. Have you?

I went to join her about two,
two and a half years ago.

Ah, so you're the apprentice now.
Yeah, that's right. Yeah.

She bosses me about. I do boss him
about a little bit.

I've got to have payback, haven't I?
Oh, for sure.

And how has this chair found
itself in two pieces?

When I transferred it from one shop
to Sophie's shop, on the way

it came apart. It broke.

That must have been tough, opening
the back of that removals van

and then seeing this.
Yeah, it was a heartbreaking moment.

There was definitely a few tears.
Yeah.

Have you ever had anything
fixed or reupholstered on it?

Yes, the seat, about ten years
ago that was redone.

With the splits,
we'd put tape over them.

How about mechanically?
The hydraulics in it

have never worked. So how'd you get
it up and down, then?

We don't. You don't? No. Right.
It's never done it.

So now, you know, third generation
down, your shop is the legacy

that Bill created. Yeah. Yes. Yeah.

And this is why we'd love this chair
to take pride and place... Mm.

..and he can watch over
and see as she takes it on.

Yeah. Yeah, he'd be proud, wouldn't
he? Yeah.

It means the world to me,
cos I learned on the chair

and it's been with me throughout
most of my career, so it

just means everything.

Well, I guess all we can say
is we will do our best. OK.

We'll try and get it up and running
again for you. We hope so.

Thank you very much indeed. Thank
you. Our pleasure. Thank you.

Thank you very much for bringing
it in. See you later.

Thank you. Bye-bye.
Nice to meet you. See you.

When I see that barber's chair,

it does remind me of my dad.

He was very proud of the chair.

So, great memories of my father.

To see the chair repaired
would just mean everything.

Obviously, my grandad
had his career on it.

Dad learned on it.

I learned on it.

I mean, it's been so emotional
seeing it broken.

It'd just mean everything
to bring it back to life.

It's going to be so nice to work
on something that is just built

so well. It's all big nuts
and bolts and... It's got your name

on it, basically. It's right up my
street, yeah. And I think, looking

at the upholstery, I need to replace
the foam on the back.

And, of course, new vinyl covers.

I really hope I'm going to be able
to get it pumping up and down.

It's part of sitting in a barber's
chair. Absolute, quintessential

barber's chair experience. I'll take
it outside, take it all apart,

all those big brackets and stuff
underneath. What do you need?

The backrest and the...? The back
and the base would be lovely.

The back and the base.
Thank you. Fine.

Oh, this poor chair has definitely
seen better days.

That's just going to come
straight out, look.

Oh! Oh...

This chair is absolutely
full of hair!

Oh, my goodness!

I'm just going to be quite
methodical now and unbolt

all of the bits that I need to,
to get these upholstered pieces

off and run them over to Sonnaz,

so I can get greasy and dirty
with all the rest of it.

Next to arrive at the barn,
Sima Oskoui from Cambridgeshire.

She's hoping stringed instrument
restorer Julyan Wallis...

Hi there. Hi, lovely to meet you.

..can help save a very precious
musical relic.

Wow! What is this?!

This looks absolutely beautiful.

Mm. Stunning, isn't it?

It is a Persian musical instrument.

Yeah. And it is called tar.

Tar? T-A-R.

And this is what you play, then?
No, I don't play that.

This actually belonged to my father.

My father passed away in 1996,

and he had it since he was
a young man.

Music was his hobby. Right.

It was part of our lives.

He played the tar.
He played the violin.

He played that little drum on the
floor, all the time,

and one of the biggest memory of him
is being behind the piano.

He was always playing and he would
ask me to sing with him.

It just... I just want to go
back to that time.

It was magical.
And where was this?

It was all in Tehran. In Tehran.
Because that's where I come from.

I come from Iran, actually. Right.

What was your father like, then?

My father was an amazing man.

Unfortunately... Yeah.

..like all children, I did not
really appreciate them.

I just took them for granted.

But as I have grown older
myself, I'm realising

what a great man he was.

You know, you come to realise
things when they're a bit too late.

I did tell him when he was passing
away that I loved him.

That's my last memory.

Sorry. Well... You OK?
It's OK.

What would he think of you wanting
to get this repaired, then?

My father looked after everything
brilliantly. Right.

He was such an organised,
meticulous person. Yeah.

It only started going downhill
after he passed away.

Yeah, you're doing him proud.

It's been through a lot of
transition, country to country...

Yeah.

..home to home, and exposure to air,

because it never had a cover...
All that damage?

..and I put it in my lounge.
And that would have a skin

over the top of it, then? Is that
what's broken there, the skin?

This has gone very thin. Right.

Nobody has actually gone
and make a hole in it.

It's happened naturally.

Jules, have you ever seen anything
like this?

Because I've never seen
anything looking like that.

Genuinely, I've never in my 30
years of doing this ever met

a tar before. Right. No.

So it's a nice first for me.

What would you like me to do?

I would like you to use your magic
fingers and put a spell on it.

THEY LAUGH

OK.

The sound of it is beautiful,
it's calming.

It would be like telling my dad,
"Here I am. I love you.

"I care about you, and I care
about your belongings."

That's lovely.

Thank you for bringing this in.
And thank you very much.

It's lovely to see you. Take care.
Lovely to see. You too. Bye-bye.

Bye-bye. Bye-bye.

I just miss my father, and I hope

that if he's watching, he realises

that I love him so much and I want

to look after his belongings.

Wow, what a beautiful instrument.

The craftsmanship that's gone
into making this is amazing,

and it really is the unknown.

I have no reference to how this
looked from Sima's childhood, so...

What I do know, these are tied on,

because back in the day, frets
weren't made of metal.

They weren't invented.

These were simply tied on to act
as the right place a note lives.

The ones up here are actually
in the right position.

And, ingeniously,

they're held on with these little
nails.

And these ones I have to replace
because they're worn

and they're...they're broken.

So what I have to do is sort these
frets out, replace the skin,

replace the strings and immerse
myself in research.

I'm looking forward to this one.

It's going to be an absolute
cracker.

In the outdoor workshop, the chrome
parts of the 1960s barber's chair

are getting a much-needed spruce-up
from Dom,

while Sonnaz embarks on replacing
its tattered upholstery.

I have searched high and low
for the right colour vinyl

for this barber's chair, but I think
I finally have got there.

What's great about vinyl is,
unlike leather, it doesn't

really require much care.

Not only is it wipe-clean,

it can really take heavy, heavy use.

And only having to change the foam
and vinyl for this barber's chair

is a real testament to the quality
of the craftsmanship that went

into making these chairs
in the first place.

That is perfect.

So now everything's cut,
I can get sewing.

I have now finished the cleaning -
thank goodness for that!

Now I've just got the task
of putting it all back together,

but I'm going to have to start
with this hydraulic mechanism

because I've got to get
this chair working for Sophie.

There's no real reason I can see why
this chair wouldn't work, other

than, obviously, it's been dry for a
very long time and it was full

of dirt and full of hair.

I just need to make sure this all
goes back together right,

so that I stand every chance
possible to get

this chair working again.

So that's one side done, and now
I'm going to offer the cover

up to the base, just to make
sure it fits right.

So what I'm looking for is
for this cover to really hug

the shape, not be too tight
and not be too loose.

Perfect.

I'm really pleased
with how this is looking.

All I need to do is just do
the other side and back,

and then I can staple it off.

Now, I'm going to put a little bit
of hydraulic fluid in there,

in the bottom.

Right.

Here we go.

That's a good sign.

All that I need to do now is crank
that handle and see if it works.

Oh.

Ah, yes.

I couldn't be happier.

That must have been about 50 years
since this chair has gone

up and down like this,
and it's working so well.

When Sonnaz has finished working her
magic on the upholstery,

we're going to have a barber's
chair. This is brilliant.

Arriving just in time for the next
item is vintage arcade machine

restorer Geoff Harvey.

Look what I've got for you, Geoff.
Oh!

This is fabulous!

Sian Salkeld, from Birmingham,
is betting on Geoff being the one

who can give her treasured
game another chance.

Hello, how are you doing?
Hi, lovely to meet you. Likewise.

So this lovely machine is
obviously yours.

Please tell us about it.
So it's a roulette machine. Yeah.

And there's buttons at the bottom,
so you can change the colour

and change the number... Right.
..for what your guess is,

and then where the ball lands,

you know, just like a normal
roulette. And then the ball spins

around and that's it? Yeah, spins
around and makes a massive

whirring noise. Right. Then when it
stops, it goes, "Ker-chung!"

Yeah. And then if you win, it
machine-guns out

a load of sixpences out its...
THEY LAUGH

It's really fun. So you remember
winning on this, then?

Yeah, absolutely! Can see that smile
on your face.

We just used to play with
this for hours. Yeah, yeah.

Every holiday, we went to Norfolk,
my mum and dad and me

and my sister. OK. Family cottage.
Yeah. Really, like, great holidays.

Yeah. And this was a big part of it.

It's always been a little bit
broken. OK. Just about working.

Yeah. But my dad's always,
you know, been able to fix

it so it would work, but with
a dodgy electrical connection

and the springs
would sort of spring off.

Has he tried to repair
it now? Um, not recently.

So, about ten years ago,
he had a car crash.

Oh. Oh.

He had a traumatic brain injury,

and he's made, like, an amazing
recovery... Yeah. ..but in the years

since the accident, he hasn't tried
to fix it.

I'm not sure the electrics
are that safe, if I'm honest.

So where does it live now?
Is it still in...a holiday home?

So my sister had it at home,
behind the sofa,

and she was just using the top as a
shelf for her drinks. Sacrilege.

THEY LAUGH

Yeah, I can see that.

I thought I needed to rescue it.

So it lives with me. With you, OK.

Pride of place in the living room,
even though it doesn't work.

So when was the last time
this was working?

It would have been years ago,

at our last holiday at the cottage,

so it's been definitely 15 years.

Could be 20. Wow! Wow! Yeah.
But you've seen these before, Geoff.

You must have. I have. They're from
Germany, and I bought one of these

about 30 years ago and took it apart
and haven't quite got it back

together. You haven't got it
working? Not as yet. Yeah.

Work in progress, I think they say.
Yeah, this will encourage

me, actually, I feel...
Encourage you! ..to be honest.

Yeah. Yeah, OK.

Why do you want to get
this repaired now?

My son's just turned three.

Yeah. He would love this.

Yeah. The whirring noise,
the fact that he can win.

THEY LAUGH

You know, it's ideal.

I've got fantastic memories
of it, playing with my sister,

you know, my dad fixing it,

and I just... I'd really love
for my son to, you know, play

with it as well. Yeah, yeah.

So, cosmetically, how would
you like it all to look?

It would be better without the marks
from my sister's drinks. Right.

It's really the inside that needs
the main amount of work.

Yeah. Yeah.

Sian, thank you for bringing
this in, and he's not going to take

as long to get it done for you, all
right? Seriously, Geoff.

Thank you so much. Really appreciate
this. Cheers. Take care now.

Bye-bye. Bye. Bye-bye.

The roulette machine has such happy
memories, like, it reminds me

of fantastic holidays with my
family, and I'm just really keen

that me and my dad and my son
can all sort of play

with it together and sort of bring
those generations together.

Having a close look at Sian's lovely
roulette machine, all seems

to be there, which is amazing,
because often bits are missing,

and hopefully, my plan is to get
this machine looking as beautiful

and dynamic as it is. The exciting
effect of the modest casino, coins

clicking and the pay-outs
belting out,

it's going to look fantastic.

The things that strike me
from a repair point of view

is it's been converted from German
currency to 6d pieces.

The coin mechs are quite complicated
and often stop it working.

Then it's looking at the mechanics.

So, getting this spring tension
right, so all the wheels rotate.

Little bit of wear on the cabinet,
or a little bit of woodwork

will need doing at some point.

The first thing is to replace this
very thin, old wiring with some

nice new, safe cable, because until
I get mains electricity to it,

nothing's going to work.

Right.

Now it's time to plug
her in and see what happens.

Now, there'll be nothing
until I press this button

where the coin would go in, and
let's see what happens.

Ooh!

Absolutely nil.

Back to the drawing board.

Equally as mystified
over the Persian tar's tie-on frets,

Julyan has been doing his homework
on its musical scale.

My research has led me
to this lovely sort of point

of where I have to put the frets.

It was like, "I'm cracking a code."

And when the penny drops, it's like
the light bulb moment happened.

Their tie-on positions
are completely different

than the positions I know,
but the same scale length.

So I've made a couple
of little sticks to help

look at the difference,
really, between an eastern

and a western fretting system.

If I switch to the scale I've worked
out, which is more of an eastern

origin, these are the actual

positions the frets have to live
in to produce the notes

I've learnt are in that scale.

And these frets where the nails
have set their position...

Oh, look at that. Pretty much
bang-on to this template.

So I now know that all of these
fret positions are correct.

All this means now I can crack
right on,

I can take the strings off
and I can start to replace

these tie-on frets.

Here's the tie-on fret material,
which apparently is animal gut.

During my research, I found out
it's probably a good idea

to wet it,

and this will enable me
just to make it a bit more pliable,

and once it's tightly wrapped
around the neck, then, as the water

dries, this will shrink a little bit
more and make it really nice

and tight, so it doesn't move
when the player's playing on it.

I am going to go for this one here.
Number one.

So there's two wraps.

Here's the third, and they've all
got to line up next to each other.

It's a little slot cut,
and I can just feed this through.

And that's the first one.

Just another 14 or so to go!

Now that the tar's fretted up,

Julyan is calling on the barn's drum
expert, Pete Woods, to fit

a replacement skin, which vibrates
during playing to provide

the perfect volume and tone.

This skin is so...

Whoa! It's just so delicate.

It's ultra-thin. It's...

I tell you what, it's like tracing
paper, isn't it?

Yeah, I've never seen anything
like it.

It's beautiful stuff.

We've got to bite the bullet
and cut the head.

When I've seen them done,
they've been done in two parts.

Yeah. So what I've got to do now
is just cut it off

and hope I get it right.

I'm getting a bit nervous
here, Pete.

I don't blame you. So am I, mate.

Make sure we just get
that a bit wet. Yeah.

And then I'll start
putting the glue on.

I mean, I don't know
how old tars are.

How old are they?

Early 18th century?

I mean, we're using all
the glues and the materials

that they would've used then.

So it must have been passed
down, all this knowledge,

but just by word of mouth, I think.
Exactly the same, isn't it?

You know, it's just you passing your
skills on to your son, George...

Yeah. ..you know?
And my son as well.

I mean, here I am now,
learning from you.

You know, this is something
I've never done.

I'm going to put it under as little
tension as possible. Yeah, OK.

Simply because I know that
that has got to go

up and down a bit, and as it dries,
it's going to tighten, isn't it?

Yeah. Like a banjo head,
that's like...

I think that's going quite well.
I'm pleased with that. Brilliant.

We'll do the second one. Yeah. A cup
of tea would be nice, please.

Any sugars? Three, please.
I need them. Three sugars?!

PETE LAUGHS

In the outdoor workshop,

Sonnaz and Dom have completed
repairs to their respective parts

of the barber's chair.

Dom? Sonnaz? I think I'm finished
with the base and the back. Amazing.

Do you want to have a look? Bring
them over, bring them over, yeah,

so we can actually have a look at...
How it's going to look together.

Yeah. Yeah. Incredible. They're so
nice. You've done so well, matching

that colour. But we made it, we're
there. Joe and Sophie are going to

be over the moon. They're going to
be thrilled, aren't they?

It was quite tricky getting
this thing apart.

It's going to be even trickier
putting it back together.

Since Joe's dad, Bill, bought
this chair for his barber shop

in 1963, it's played an enduring
part in the family business,

but fell badly into disrepair.

Joe and daughter Sophie are hoping
the chair that reminds them of Bill

is ready to honour him again
in Sophie's shop.

There's never a day goes by when
I don't think about my dad.

I worked with him most of my life,

and so it's a big thing,
really is a big thing.

And that Sophie now will take it on,

that's going to be marvellous.

I've got a mad mixture of emotions.

I just don't know how I'm going
to feel when I see it.

Hello. Hello. Hi. You OK?
How are you doing? Fine. You?

Very good.
How are you both feeling?

Very excited.

I'm hoping to see it in almost
pristine condition?

DOM EXHALES, LAUGHS

If that's not asking too much. OK.
OK. Right.

So when you brought it in, it had,
like, tape on the seat and it wasn't

working as well. The hydraulics
never worked, actually.

You've got a space for it
in the shop? Yes. Yeah?

Ready and waiting.

THEY LAUGH

Do you want to see? Yes.
Yes, we do. OK. Come on, then.

Oh! Oh!

That's incredible.

Fantastic. Chrome's all shiny.

I'm going to have to get back
to polishing it! Yes, you will.

I can't believe you've done it.
Incredible.

Who's going to be the first one to
sit in it? Sophie, go on.

Go on, Soph.

Pump that forward again. Again?

Go on. Go back and forwards.

Dad, the hydraulics work!

Wow! No!

Oh, look at that!

Oh... Oh, you kept that quiet!

DOM LAUGHS

Oh, no way!

Amazing.

That's insane. You going to try out
the hydraulics? Go on, Dad.

Go on.

That's it.

Going up in the world, Dad!
Going up in the world!

I can't believe it.

How do you feel, Joe?

I feel very proud.

Proud of my dad.
Yeah. Proud of my daughter.

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

You know, this takes me back,

because when we would have a quiet
time, my dad, he'd sit

perched on this arm.

And when you do...when you do things
like this, it's fantastic,

because it brings the chair
back to life,

but it also brings people
back to life, doesn't it?

It's a lot.
It's a lot to take in.

Bless you.

No, it's amazing. Thank you.

It's your turn to enjoy it now.
Oh, yes, yes. Thank you so much.

Hey, honestly, it's been my
pleasure. You guys take care now.

Enjoy it. All right? Thank you.

See you later. See you soon.

I'm flabbergasted, really.

I didn't expect it to be anything,
anything like...like...like that,

as good as that.

Marvellous.

The second the chair's back up at
the shop,

I'll be working on it immediately.

Pride of place.

That chair, it brings everything
back for me.

I can look at that chair now

and my dad will be with us forever.

Outside, the barn's next item
has already made himself at home.

And it looks like Dom will
need to get straight back

in the saddle.

What do you think, Dom?

Jay, honestly. It's all right, isn't
it? It's brilliant.

Really, really cool.

Jennie Horncastle, from London,
is hoping her equine friend

will be able to continue
performing a very special role.

Hello. Hi. Lovely to see you.

Whose is this fabulous horse, then?

His name's Edward and he belongs
to my daughter Kate. OK.

How old is Kate?

Kate's 41, but she's having a very
extended happy childhood.

She was born with a learning
disability, and later on we realised

she had autism and epilepsy as well.

So, what's Kate like?

She's a really happy soul.

She's young at heart.

She's a very generous, very kind,
very loving person.

She has her moments, like we all do.

Yes, we all do. She can be grumpy.
She can be... Don't look at me!

THEY LAUGH

But on the whole, she's great.

I mean, she's just a little
blessing.

She sounds special.
She's very special. Yeah.

So when did you get Edward, then?

Last year, I went on a business trip
to America, and I saw him

in the warehouse of one
of my customers.

They're art collectors, but they
didn't have space for him. OK.

Right. So I immediately thought
that he would be lovely

in Kate's special garden.
What is this special garden?

What is that? Kate has what we call
her therapy garden. OK.

It's very important to keep her calm
and keep her happy, for the epilepsy

and for the autism.

So I built a garden for her five
years ago, where she can feed birds

and talk to squirrels and grow
vegetables and things like that.

Yeah. And he was the crowning
feature of the garden... Right.

..and Edward's become her very
precious companion. Wow.

She loved him straight away. She
just hugged him and kissed him,

and she said, "He has to have a
name. He has to have a name.

"I think his name is Edward."
That's really nice.

So has he always been in this kind
of condition? He's lived outside,

obviously. This is the sad thing,
because when I first saw him, none

of this paint was peeling. Right.

I thought that because he'd been on
a carousel all his life

that he should be fine... Outside.
..outside, and then we realised

we shouldn't have put him outside.
OK.

I'm hoping you'll be able
to weatherproof him.

So how does she feel about Edward
being here now?

She's not very happy about him not
being there. OK.

Big empty patch in the garden now.
Yes. I bet that's not

going down well. There's a space
that looks very empty.

She believes he's here having
surgery. That's about right, though,

isn't it? OK, yeah. Yeah.

I think she'll be really happy
if he just looks at least

as good as he did when he first
arrived. Yeah. That's why I'm just

so grateful that you're going to do
it. It's wonderful.

He's in safe hands. Don't worry.
Thank you both so much.

Hey, no problem. Lovely to meet you.
Bye. Bye-bye. Thank you. Bye.

Kate has bonded with him,
and he's the central focus

of our garden, so he's the person
that she goes down to see every

morning, and she greets him
and she talks to him

and he makes her happy.

So it was very important to Kate
and to me.

I can't wait to get started,

but look.

His legs and his tail
are made of metal,

but then his body is made of wood.

There's a few worrying areas where
the wood seems like it's starting to

go a little bit rotten, like the
water's really got in there. OK.

It's quite an interesting problem
to have Edward live outside.

We need to paint him in a suitable
paint... Yeah. ..that's going to

stick to metal and wood...
Yeah. ..and last outside.

So basically, what you want
to do is clear this all

off and then repaint it again?

However sad that is. If I get him
on the bench, start the initial

surgery of removing the limbs...
THEY LAUGH

Yes. So take all the bits apart...
I'll get all the metal parts off.

So once you've got all the legs, the
head, the tail off, give

this over to Will, then? Yeah, I'll
take all the metalwork off...

OK. ..and give him
just the wooden body.

OK, so who's going to paint it all,
though? I think that's my job.

Well, that sounds like a plan.
I'll got and let Will know what's

coming his way. Thanks.

I've got Jennie's beautiful
carousel horse on the bench.

It's an incredible thing.

All things fairground, carousel
horses, all the fairground rides,

they've got a certain romance
about them, and I would absolutely

love to have one of these
in my garden.

I hate to have to remove
this old paintwork, but the fact

that it's going back in Kate's
sensory garden, I've got to preserve

this horse to be living outside.

So the first thing I need to do
is get his legs and his head off.

Oh, there we go.
The last leg is removed.

I can take the body into Will now,
and he can work his magic

on that, and I can tackle the metal.

And make a coffee. My God.

As Dom takes a well-earned break,

games restorer Geoff has been
delving into the inner workings

of the roulette machine that's

refusing to play ball.

He has a strong suspicion
that the coin mechanism

could be the guilty party.

Here is the culprit.

This is a microswitch.

It's a switch, a bit like the main
switch for your light bulb.

The coin falling in will turn on the
microswitch, and the weight

of the coin makes it work.

Looks innocent enough, but I can see
there's a burn mark inside.

It's burnt out at some point.

Also, one of the problems with this
machine is this actuator,

which makes the coin mech work, and

I don't think it's the original
part. Someone's done a clever bodge.

When you put a sixpenny piece
into the slot, it drops down,

hits this little actuator.

That moves, that makes a
microswitch come on,

which puts power to the machine
and it all starts happening.

Luckily, about 35 years ago, I
bought a load of derelict machines

for parts, including some
of these made by the same make.

So I was very lucky, found this
actuator. I'm going to stick it in

and, fingers crossed,
it will work beautifully.

I'm now going to put
in the new microswitch.

These have to be lined up very,
very carefully, because the weight

of those sixpences isn't very much.

But this is beautiful.

This is how the German designer
would have made it.

That's lovely.

Got the actuator in, I've got my
microswitch in,

but before I turn it on,

I notice that these drive belts
look pretty old and sad.

They look very worn out and a bit
old. In fact, look at that.

I just touched it and it
fell apart!

The drive belt is like a very thin
metal spring.

So basically you want it to grip
so that things turn,

but also if something jams,

you don't want it to then have it
rip everything apart.

They slip as well, especially
when they're this old,

so it might take a little bit of
time to get

everything going smoothly.

When I start the machine, hopefully
everything will start spinning

around in a wild frenzy
of excitement, and this wheel

will spin, and that will make
all the lights flash, which is both

the lights for the colours
and the lights for the numbers.

And if you win, you'll get
this lovely noise.

CLUNKING

The moment of truth has come.

I'm going to put a coin
in and see what happens.

Hooray! That's something.

Very exciting, actually.

I'm very impressed with that.

Now that the machine is up
and running, and Geoff's personal

victory won, the careworn cabinet
can get some attention.

Hi, Geoff. I could barely see you
above the machine there!

I think the machine
is dominating my life.

I wonder if you could do some
of your wonderful casework

on this machine, which had
an alternative life as a shelf.

Has a few scratches, a few coffee
marks and stuff. A bit of TLC?

Yes, please. Bit of wax and a
polish? That would be lovely,

if you would. I'd be more than happy
to. Thank you very much. Cheers.

I'm not going to strip this back.

I'm going to keep as much
of the original finish as I can.

I'm going to start off by sanding
this with a fine sandpaper to clean

off any surface dirt, and clean
the surface, ready for polishing.

I'm just applying a really thin coat
of polish on to the surface now.

It's sitting absolutely beautifully.

You can see a really nice
shine coming off of it.

It's the same type of polish that's
used in French polishing,

and it's going to give it
just enough protection to be used

again, but not as a shelf!

In its final stages
is the restoration

of the Persian tar.

Julyan has asked fellow expert
and Iranian musician,

Kourosh Kouchakpour,
to help him restring it.

Why has the cotton thread got
to be there?

On guitars, we never use cotton.

It makes the sound softer

and much clearer.

This is such a big learning
curve for me.

OK, all sounds good.

Why don't you try doing
the next one, then? Great.

I've got to create a loop

on the other end of the string
to connect

that to this cotton.
Yeah, absolutely.

And this will then make sure
that the metal string... Yeah.

..doesn't come off the cotton.
Is that right? Yeah, yeah.

And I thought putting strings
on was very straightforward.

Not on the tar.

Lovely. I just need to get that one
string on and then get it tuned

up and it's ready to hand
back to Sima.

I can't wait to see her reaction.
Perfect. Lovely.

When the tar arrived at the barn,

it hadn't been played in decades.

Sima's returned in the hope
that her late father's beloved

instrument has been faithfully
restored.

I have been thinking of my father.

Last night I was very emotional.

Oh, my God, today I'm going to
bring part of him back,

you know, part of him back home.

Hi, Julyan. Hello.

How are you?
I'm very well, thanks.

I'm so excited, I really am
so excited.

I actually didn't sleep last night
with excitement and going back

to the memories of the past.
Is that right?

So what are you expecting to see?

I'm expecting to see the tar
as it was in my father's time.

So just like when he played it? Yes.

I never remember my house without
the sound of music in it.

Are you ready? Yeah.

SHE GASPS

Oh, my God!

Oh, my goodness!

Oh, my goodness!

SHE PLUCKS NOTES

Oh, my goodness! That's
brilliant! Thank you!

It's just brilliant!
It's so brilliant!

I'm so happy for you.

From what it was, to what it is...
Just amazing.

Totally amazing.

Just to see your face and your
lovely, happy tears

has made it all worthwhile.

It's absolutely gorgeous.

I never thought it would look
like that again.

Wouldn't it be nice
if you heard it played? Yeah,

but I don't know how to play. Well,
I don't know how to play... Yeah.

..but I know a man who does.

This is Kourosh.

Oh, my goodness! Hello.

Are you Iranian? Yes, I am.

THEY SPEAK PERSIAN

OK.

When was the last time, then, Sima,
that you heard the tar sing?

Like, 50 years ago? 50 years?
At least? Yeah.

Wow.

KOUROSH TUNES TAR

HE PLAYS MELODY

Merci!
THEY SPEAK PERSIAN

That was lovely. Amazing.

SHE SPEAKS PERSIAN

Thank you very much.

And now it is like a dream
has come true,

so I'm ever so grateful.

Thank you so much to make
it possible. Thank you.

You're so welcome.

It's all yours, Sima.
You've got the tar back.

Oh, my gosh.

So lovely to see you.
My pride and joy.

Thank you. Take care. You too.
Bye-bye now. Bye-bye. Bye.

For many, many years, the tar
has been sitting in the corner

of the room, and then all
of a sudden it has come to life.

And when it comes to life,
it is when you make that connection

again, you know, "Oh, this belonged
to my father and he played it,

"you know,
and I danced to his music."

I have got a piece of my dad back.

While Dom tackles Edward
the carousel horse's metal parts,

wood expert Will has got his hands
on his rotten timber trunk.

This has been left outside,

water's got into the wood,
and it's not in a good state.

It needs a lot of love
and a lot of work.

But before I can really work out
what the real damage is,

I'm going to have
to take off that paint.

Lovely.

Poor old Edward has got a little bit
of damage around his neck

where it bolts on, so I'm just
re-welding in that little bit

of damage and just sort of replacing
the missing part. Once I've finished

this, I'll grind it all down and
then all of these metal

parts are going to be sent
off to get them sandblasted,

and then I can start on the fun
bit - the nice paint job.

Now I've taken that paint off,
it's actually revealed this area

where the head sits
is in a real bad state.

It's really rotten and this wood
is super soft.

This needs to be solid.

So I'm going to remove this whole
collar and replace it with a nice

new bit of solid wood,

so it can last outside
for many more years to come.

Oh, gosh!

But there we have it.

I'm going to use this to help me
make a template

for the new piece of wood.

Will, what have you
done with Edward?!

THEY LAUGH
All stripped and ready to go.

My goodness.
Lots and lots and lots of sanding.

It looks brilliant. Over to you.
Nice one. That looks lovely.

Thank you. Watch how you go. Oh!

Don't worry, this pink is just
a primer.

All of the cast aluminium parts have
been sandblasted and re-primed,

and it's actually time
to put them in place.

This modern adhesive is going to
bridge that gap between the metal

and the wood. I can paint over the
top, no problem.

All of these small steps that
I'm taking now are going to ensure

that Kate can enjoy Edward
for many years to come.

I think I'm going to just work my
way around, get all the legs on,

finish with the head,
and then I can start thinking

about the nice paint job.

That's it.

Inside the barn, the roulette
machine is almost ready

to be reunited with its owner.

Geoff. Look at that case. Will's
done a grand job on it, hasn't he?

This looks fabulous. And he's got
rid of all the marks and stuff.

That's lovely. Yeah.

But have you got this working?
I have, indeed.

OK, well, let me have a go now.
Yeah. Plug it in, will you?

And if you put a tanner, as they
call it, the old sixpenny piece...

All right. ..in the slot,
you'll be very excited.

Oh, wow! Look at that. You see?

Whoa! Fabulous, isn't it?

It stops on a colour and a number,

then everything freezes
and it's then up to Lady Luck.

I didn't win, Geoff.
It's quite normal not to win.

All right. Yeah. Let's get this
ready for Sian now... Brilliant.

..seeing as I'm not winning.

OK, let's look for the barn.

Sian's brought her son Max
to try his luck with her favourite

childhood game, which she hasn't
seen in action for decades.

I brought Max because I really
wanted to hand over the machine

to the, you know, next generation.

I remember really fond memories
of playing with it as a kid.

Because my dad used to repair
it, and obviously he can't

since the accident,
I would love to see it working.

Actually, working and
electrical-safe is the dream.

We've got a little one.
Hiya, how are you?

Very good, very good,
and who have we got? This is Max.

You all right, Max?
Oh, he's going to go shy.

I don't blame him. So how are you
feeling, Sian?

I'm excited, looking forward
to seeing it.

Because last time you left it, it
was a bit... It had loads of

memories, but it was broken. Yes.
He's never seen it working.

He doesn't actually know
what it does. Yeah.

I want him to see it, Geoff.
Can we let him see it?

I think we can let him.
You can help Mummy take it off.

Ready? Pull!

That's it.

Wow! See the coins that are in front
of you?

There's a slot just above.

One of the coins goes in there.

One.

Do you know, it's just how I
remember.

Looks brilliant, thank you.

Remember how I said it would go
round and round?

Love it.

Wahey! You've won!

Max is a winner!
Well done, Max, well done.

So does it bring back good
memories, Sian, yeah?

Yeah, it just brings back loads of
memories of being a little kid

and having such fun on it.
Yeah.

SHE GASPS

You won!

We're going to have words,
because it never paid out for me.

It's a very good judge of character.
THEY LAUGH

It looks fantastic.

So, no more coffee cups on top.
Yeah, no, absolutely!

It looks better on top as well,
doesn't it? Thank you.

The only thing we've got to do is
stop him from playing it.

He keeps on winning! How come?
I know! I just love it.

I'm so pleased to see it. It'll be
just so nice to show it to my mum

and dad and my sister,
and they'll love to see

it working again.

SHE GASPS

Look at all those you won!

Well done, Max. Well done.
Double thumbs up. Cool.

Well, we're going to wrap this up
and bring it out to you.

That's fantastic. And he can keep
playing it at home, all right?

Yeah. All right. Thank you.
You take care now. You too.

To see Max enjoying it like I did,
it's just fantastic.

It's wonderful. To have the roulette
machine back and have it in our

living room and we can all play
with it, it'll be great.

My dad is going to absolutely
love it, and my mum will,

so it'll be great for all
the family.

Max, what do you think
of the roulette machine?

Yeah!

With the exquisite painted details
appearing on the carousel horse,

its restoration is almost complete.

I'm at the point now where I've got
all of the different areas blocked

in with the solid colour,
and I'm starting to work now on top

with another coat of paint, blending
the different colours together

to give a bit of texture. This is
exactly how he would have been

painted the first time around.

These oil-based enamel paints
are going to be perfect

for protecting Edward from the
elements, and they'll stay

shiny for years.

I can't wait for Edward to stand
proudly in Kate's garden again.

The elements hadn't been kind
to Edward,

the centrepiece of a sensory garden

created by Jennie to help with
daughter Kate's

autism and epilepsy.

Now they've come to see if Kate's
faithful friend has made

a full recovery.

How do you feel about seeing
Edward again?

I'm very excited to see him.

He's a very special horse.

She's not really had someone
to talk to in the garden

since we've been waiting for him.

Do you feel excited when you think
about seeing his new paint?

Yes.

Hello. You OK? Hello. Hi, Jennie.
You OK? Yes. You must be Kate. Yes.

Nice to meet you. How are you
feeling? Happy.

What are you hoping
is behind this blanket?

Edward. Have you been missing him?
Yes.

So what are you hoping Edward
looks like now?

Do you have any...? Handsome.
Handsome?

He looked handsome before,
though, didn't he?

He did when he came to the garden

the first time, he was lovely,
but then he was peeling.

Aw! I won't hold you any longer.

JENNIE GASPS

Wow! Yes, he's wonderful.

What a job! Do you like him? Yes.

I'm glad you're happy.
It's a relief.

I've been very worried that you...
Very, very happy. Because he's been

through quite a lot.
We'll make friends again, Edward.

Hope you didn't miss me too much.
What's your favourite? His face.

A clean nose! Yeah?

His tail's not falling off any more.
Yeah, it's had some major surgery.

And he's weatherproof now, isn't he?
Yeah. Oh, thank you. Much more...

Much more than before, anyway, yeah.
Thank you so much. Thank you.

You're welcome.

I'm glad you're happy, though.

Early birthday present.
Yes. There you go. Happy birthday!

It's going to be nice to have him
back in your garden. Yes.

Jennie, Kate, it has been an
absolute pleasure meeting you both.

Thank you so much for bringing
Edward in. Thank you.

You're welcome. We'll see you later,
then. Bye, Dom. Bye. Thank you.

Bye-bye.

He looks much better
and more healthier.

I think it's a bit unreal seeing him
in there at the moment,

but when he gets home, I think
she'll be like fireworks

in the garden.

SHE LAUGHS

"Ooh, he's home!" You know,
that sort of thing.

You love him, don't you?
Yes. Yeah.

Join us again...

Very satisfying.

..for more marvellous metamorphoses.

Ha! Steve, you're a genius!

..in The Repair Shop.