The Repair Shop (2017–…): Season 8, Episode 12 - Episode #8.12 - full transcript

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

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

Things are going to get worse
before they get better.

..are restored
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.

..coming together
to work their magic.



Look at that! Tailormade.

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...

So that's the link between you,
your grandad... And now my son.

..and unlock the stories
that they hold.

I was just blown away!

I'm flying!



How are we doing?

In The Repair Shop today...

I'm using
quite a heavy-grade sandpaper

to sand the back of the velvet down.

..a masterclass
in ageing gracefully.

It is, actually, really making it
look like

it's a bit moth-eaten and quite old.

Mission impossible for Suzie...

I just need to dismantle everything.

..as she works on a wartime
code-breaker's keepsake.

I've got to take it right
back to...to bare bones.

And a beloved vintage toy
gets Steve in a spin.

Everything is very, very loose.
It's obvious

that Cathy has played with this
for years and years and years.

But first, Londoner Pablo Henderson
has a piece of musical heritage

to test the powers of
electronics expert Mark Stuckey.

Hello! Hi! How are you doing?

I'm good. How are you?

Very good. Cool.

I'm Jay. And you are? Pablo. Pablo.

Hello, Pablo, I'm Mark. Hi.
Nice to see you. Nice to meet you.

So I know what this is,
this is a record player, yeah? Yeah.

So, whose is it? It's mine.

I used to run a sound system
in London.

From the '80s to the '90s,
I used it on my sound system.

But I'd started sound-systemming
with my dad.

I was probably about two, three,

and Dad was tinkering around
with a turntable
and an old valve amplifier.

Two, three? That's young, innit?
He was probably in the bass unit.

THEY LAUGH

I grew up on sound systems.
It was basically a way...

When people came over
from the Caribbean,

cos they couldn't get into
parties or nightclubs,

they set up their own. That's right.

Where basically, you have speakers
and you just used to have a party.

Oh, really? Yeah.
Yeah. Have a proper knees-up. Yeah.

My dad came to England from Jamaica.
Right.

He came in the late '50s,
the early '60s.

He didn't have a lot of family
and stuff around at the time

cos they came, like,
at the end of the Windrush era.

Right. Do you know what I mean?
Yeah.

So it was, like, hard for Dad
and his community and stuff

to, like, socialise and stuff. Yeah.

Sound system was a good way
for people to socialise
and come together.

And then also, it was a way of us
hearing the music that we wanted
to hear.

Because we couldn't hear
reggae and calypso and soca

and certain things
on mainstream radio. Yeah.

So our sound system was
our radio station. Yeah. Yeah.

How old was you when Dad started
teaching you about the sound system?
Seven.

He would stand me on the stool,

I'd stand up in front of
the turntable,

which, you know, would be up there.
Yeah, yeah.

And I'd select the records, do the
microphone and everything like that.
Wow!

Love it. Always have, always will.

Like, I can't thank my dad enough
for, like, giving me his passion

and making me feel the same passion
that he had. Yeah.

Like, I love it.
Even in its current state?

Even in its...
That's why we've still got it.

Yeah? Even though it's not working,
it's part of our history.

We can't, you know,
can't part with it.

This was originally built
in 1957-65.

That's right. Right. Wow.

Yeah, they're very
highly collectable today.

Is your dad still with us?

No. Unfortunately,
he passed in 2018.

OK. I still have quite a few of my
dad's original records from Jamaica.

Yeah? And I know, like, if it was
up and running again,

I'm sure Dad would look down
and say, "Nice one, Pablo". Yeah.

"Nice one, P." You know?

So, what's actually wrong with it,
then? What's...?

So the motor kind of burnt out.

We was using it and I could smell
the motor burning out.

OK. It needs a new stylus. OK.

I think this is seized up, which is
the selector for the speed. Yeah.

A new plinth, obviously.

And, yeah, hopefully
get it up and running

and get the history going again.

We got to get this playing.

It's been lovely travelling down
this memory lane with you,

and I just can't wait to start
work on it. Thank you.

You take care, now. Yeah.
Yeah? Thank you so much.

Bye-bye. Thank you. Bye-bye.

Dad was like my superhero,
my mentor, my everything.

I'm really hoping that I can start
to play original vinyl

from my dad's original record
collection on the turntable again.

It would be, like, wonderful
for myself, my children

and my grandchildren to see it
working and up and running.

It would be amazing.

I tell you what, Mark,
I cannot wait to hear this playing.

It will be really good, won't it?

Because these are a piece
of history now. Yeah.

So, what you got to do to it?
A lot of things, really,

but I've got to sort of check
the motor, clean it all up.

A full service. All right.
If you're doing a full service,

I'm going to get Will
to sort out the plinth,

because that is not really
presented well, is it?

It deserves to be presented
in a much better way.

Definitely. Yeah.

All right. Well, Pablo wants
to get this playing, so do I.

I'd better get going with it.
Yes, please.

First thing I'm going to have to do
now I've got it on my bench

is to remove this, which is called
the platter.

Now, this particular turntable
has a spline

which locks it into place.

And this is a little coat hanger
I adapted.

The idea is,

while I pull up,

I hit down to release.

CLANG!

And it takes it off.

Newton's law of physics,
equal and opposite reaction,

and you get a result.

So now I've got access to all
the mechanical moving parts,

I'm going to start cleaning up,
take a lot of this apart.

And at the same time, I've also got
to check to see

if the motor is serviceable.

Cos without the motor working,
none of this will operate.

As Mark sets to work on
his audio antique,

outside, a stately heirloom
in a bit of a state.

Andy Matthews and his daughter Anna

need the skills of wood restorer
Will Kirk

and upholsterer Sonnaz Nooranvary.

Hi! Hello.

Welcome! Come in! Thank you.

I'm Sonnaz. Hello. Andy.

Hi, I'm Anna. Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet both. I'm Will.
A chair.

THEY LAUGH
A broken chair, by the looks of it.

A bit of a wobbly chair.

It's quite an elegant-looking chair.

What's the story behind it?

Well, my grandad was an usher
at King George VI's coronation.

Wow! Wow! In 1937. Right.

And as an usher, he was given the
chair he sat on during the service.

Wow! So that's where it
originates from. Lovely!

And so, my grandfather kept it,

and when he died,
my mum inherited it. Lovely.

And looked after it beautifully.
Yeah.

And then, when she died,
it came to me

and it's become a bit more tired.

Oh!

SONNAZ LAUGHS

Now, to be invited to the coronation
is quite a prestigious event.

Absolutely. Was there a specific
reason why he was there?

Well, the ushers were chosen
from people who'd fought

in the First World War,
which my grandad did.

He was in the Royal Artillery.

And he won the Military Cross
for bravery

and gallantry
in the First World War.

And how old would he have been then?

24, 25. Wow!

A brave man. Yeah.

Were you able to meet
your grandfather, or were you
quite young?

He died when I was seven, eight,

but I remember him being a grandad.

Yes. So it's difficult to think
of him being a war hero, as well.

Mm. Yeah.
It was only after my mum died

that I became aware
exactly what he'd done.

That must been such a proud moment,

not just for him, but for the rest
of the family,

to not only be awarded a medal,

but also, to go to the coronation,
as well. Huge. A huge thing.

I know. And that's why my mum
cherished the chair so much.

Yeah. Because it was a really big
memory of her dad.

It is a bit of a piece of history,
really, isn't it?

Yes, absolutely.

Which is why I feel horribly
miserable, sad and a bit guilty

that it's sort of worn and torn
to this state now. Yeah.

What would you like myself
and Sonnaz to do?

Um...I don't think I'm expecting
or want it necessarily to be

in the same state as it was in 1937,

but just so it keeps and stays.

I'm just very, very keen that
the chair is there for Anna

and her sister Frankie
in the years to come.

We will take very good care of it.

Thank you. Take care, won't you?
Bye! Bye!

My grandad was unbelievably brave
at a stupidly young age in the war,

and I don't think the chair,
as it is now, is what he deserves.

I would love it to be in a state
that respects what he did.

It's so important to start kind
of this restoration process together

because I'll be the fourth
generation of having the chair,

and it'll just be nice to know that
it's going to kind of carry on

the kind of history and the memory
that it serves, I suppose.

This is a really cool chair,
isn't it? It's a stunning chair.

Thankfully, all the wood is there,

it's just broken in all the joints,
by the looks of it.

I'm sure I can handle that.

What are you going to do
with the upholstery?

I'm not absolutely sure,
to be honest.

I really would love to be able
to keep the fabric if I can.

There's not enough braid
for the rest of the chair.

It'd be such a shame to get rid
of this embroidery, as well, so...

Yeah. Some considered thought,
I think.

I'll take the fabric off for you
and give you the frame to work on,

and I'll have a think about
the upholstery in between.

Lovely. Well, I'll leave it
with you. Thank you.

I really want to keep as much
of the original chair as I can.

Not just because of the provenance
of the item,

but what the chair means
to Andy and Anna.

The other thing that I need to think
about, of course, the braid.

We've got what it used to look like
here, some of the original,

but it's missing from
the bottom edge here

and all around this base.

One of the really worrying things
about this chair

is the fact that on this top edge,

there really isn't enough fabric
to pull round

to get a nice tensioned edge.

So I might have to think
about sourcing a new fabric,

ageing it and somehow making it
look part of this chair.

First things first,
I need to delicately

take all the fabric off.

Then that will enable Will
to work his magic on the frame.

But before he can get his hands
on the chair,

Will's skills are in demand on
the vintage sound-system turntable.

Well, this is an incredibly
unique turntable.

It needs a lot of love.

I mean, we have one sort of existing
panel here,

but everything else
is just the bare chipboard.

I'm going to start afresh.

We're going to go with some nice,
solid oak,

and I'm going to cut out a new top,
as well.

I'll polish up the sides.
It's going to look gorgeous.

Pablo mentioned that the motor
was smoking,

which was pretty horrific to hear.

It could just be the fact of lack
of maintenance. That's not uncommon.

If you don't give it some oil
occasionally,

the bearings will get dry,
they will run hot.

So I've lubricated it, I've turned
it by hand to slowly free it,

and I'm now going to turn
the power on.

And we'll wind up the Variac.

The shaft is now starting to show
signs of turning.

And it's now got full voltage.

And that is very healthy.

Excellent.

That means the heart of
this turntable is functional.

So that's a really good sign.
I'm really pleased about that.

Cos that was the most worrying
point, on that note.

I've stripped the turntable down

and it is so seized,
I've never seen one so bad.

This part, the speed selector,

at the moment, I can barely get it
to move.

What I'll do now is apply a little
bit more oil there,

and I've just literally got to
keep working at it,

allowing it to, um...get
the lubrication in there

so it will work free.

And it's just a matter of patience.

You just can't rush it.

I've spent a considerable amount
of time

rebuilding, recleaning
the speed selector.

So it's now going up in different
sizes and selections.

It means that's now working.
Happy with that.

I'm now going to start cleaning
the shaft of the motor itself.

First of all, just wire wool.
Very fine.

And that should make this shiny.

There's always something satisfying
when you actually clean something

from, like, a dirty or a rusty look
to a nice, shiny metal.

Like cleaning your car.

It always seems to go smoother
and better when you've washed it.

I'm going to replace the red fabric
on the top.

I got this red stick-on base.

This is really straightforward
to apply.

Wow, that looks really vibrant!

It's going to complement
the brown wood really well.

And once Mark has finished
with the turntable,

it's going to look smashing.

Next, a tale of wartime espionage.

This mission comes courtesy of
Wendy Bray from Bristol.

She's hoping the barn's
special agent Suzie Fletcher

can fix her treasured keepsake.

Hello! Hello.

Hello. Hi.

What's in the bag?

Well, this is my late mum's
writing case. OK.

I can remember it as a child
being opened and being bright red.

An abiding memory for me
is her sitting by the fire

with her head bowed
with this on her lap.

So when there was a letter to write
to the council

or letter to write to the school,
which was quite often...

THEY LAUGH

..in my mum's case,
out would come the blue paper,

out would come the blue envelopes,
out would come the fountain pen.

And she even took out a piece
of paper from it for me to draw.

Do you know who gave it to your mum?

I think it was her parents
before she left home at 17.

Just before she joined the WAAF. OK.

And then she was sent to
Bletchley Park.

And her job, really, was to take
half-decoded messages,

trying to reverse what the
Germans were sending through
their Enigma machines,

to find out what the message was.
Gosh!

Were you brought up being told
all these stories,

or was she still sworn to secrecy?

No, because of course, she signed
the Official Secrets Act. Yeah.

So it was only in 1977 or '78,

and we were sitting watching
BBC News,

and she just looked up and said,
"Oh, I was there".

"What?!"

And then, very, very slowly,
bits of information came out.

She had this writing case all the
way through her life from then on,

writing letters home.

Right. Writing letters to my dad.

They were going out, before the war.

There was a grocer's in the village
where they lived,

and they both worked there
for a short time,

while they were just waiting
to join up, really.

He went to Normandy,
and he was in Germany for a while.

So those, yes, those letters would
have flown backwards and forwards
quite frequently, I think.

And one of the things I found
in this writing case,

because towards the end of her life,

she used it
just to keep special letters,

was a receipt from the grocer's

given from my father to my mother

for the damages that she did
to his shirt and his trousers

when they had a flour
fight in the storeroom.

THEY LAUGH

She was a character.

THEY LAUGH

So much love has gone into that.

So many letters home
were written from that.

And it seems such a shame that
it's in this state now, really.

What would be your vision for it?

I mean, what would you like to see?

I think I'd like to see it as I
remember Mum using it a lot. Yeah.

To see that red and to see it
looking as if it could be used

without falling apart,
would be absolutely lovely.

I want to give this to my daughter
for my granddaughter. Yep.

And I need to do this fairly soon
because I've got stage-four cancer.

So although it's hard for me
to believe, sitting here,

it's probably as hard
for you to believe looking at me,

I've only got about four or five
months left.

Oh, I'm so sorry. So I want to do
this so that it's done for her.

Yes. To be something
that I've given my daughter

to give to...to my granddaughter

that reminds her of, not only of me,
but of her great-granny.

So there's a connection all the way
through. Yes, all the way through.
Yeah, yeah.

I can assure you,
I'm going to give all I have

to get this back into
a usable condition.

Thank you.
That would be delightful.

It's been an absolute pleasure
to meet you.

Pleasure to meet you, too.

Bye-bye now. Bye.

My mum's writing case
is very special.

It's the last thing I have of her.

And it's the one thing that I can
remember all through my life.

It's my history, as well as
her history, joined together.

And it's joined together
in the way that the contents

were letters to those that she loved
and letters from those she loved.

So it's just a perfect symbol

of her life and my life entwined,
really.

So Wendy has explained that she,

um...unfortunately,
has limited time.

And that is something that I feel

was very brave of her to tell us.

And with that, it gives me
a huge responsibility.

Through the years of use,

the surface finish
has actually flaked off.

So I, going to go very, very
cautiously

with building up that collar.

I just need to dismantle everything.

I've got to take it right back
to...to bare bones,

and then I can start to rebuild
these edges

and get it strengthened.

I'm going to start by removing
the lacing

and the thread
that's holding it together.

With his work on the turntable
done and dusted,

Will can turn his attention
to the wobbly frame

of the coronation chair.

If I look down the crack here...

..all of the wood
still seems to be there.

It's just the case that the glue
has really dried out,

and that has sort of loosened
everything.

You can see there's so much movement
in this chair.

I'm going to use this mallet here.
It's a rubber mallet.

I'll going to use this
to knock this apart.

I'm going to clean out
the old glue from all the joints

and the cracks and the grooves
and prepare it for regluing.

Hey, Sonnaz! Hello, Will!

Wow! All done.
Fantastic! Look at that!

It's really sturdy.
Thank you so much. It looks great!

How are you getting on with
the upholstery?

I'm just picking through it now
and taking all the old tacks off.

Now that you've brought this over,
I can start webbing it.

I'll let you get on. Yeah, thank you
very much. See you in a bit. Bye.

It feels so good to start getting
some webbing on this chair.

I'm using traditional tacks to
secure this webbing to the frame.

And really, this forms
the...the foundation.

On top of this webbing,

I'll then tack on a layer
of hessian.

And that basically stops
everything falling through the gaps.

I've got to the stage now

where I'm giving this original
fabric a bit of a clean.

But I've got a problem.

The very top of that inside back,

the fabric has completely
disintegrated.

And I won't be able to reattach that
back to the wooden frame.

So I'm just looking at some fabric
samples that I've ordered

that kind of sit within
the same hue as the faded fabric.

And I'm experimenting
to make it look old.

I'm using quite a
heavy-grade sandpaper

to sand the back of the velvet down.

And it is, actually, really
making it look like

it's a bit moth-eaten and quite old.

So now that I've done that,
I can start

trying to dye it down with some tea

to get it to blend in
with this original fabric.

This darkest colour,
now that I've aged it,

it really is looking
very similar to that old fabric.

I can't quite believe
it's worked so well, to be honest.

I really thought this was going
to be the sticking point

of the restoration of this chair,
but...

..luckily enough,
I think I've done it.

I'm now attaching my new,
old-looking fabric

to the back of the chair,
next to the original fabric,

in such a way that when the braid
is on top,

you're not going to see
where it's joined.

I've got that in position now
and I've tapped all the way along

that front inside edge.

Now I'm going to lift the chair up,

pull that fabric up and around

and tack it off on the outside.

And just...just looking at it there,

I really can't believe
what such a good match it is.

I am thrilled with the result.

I almost can't believe
that I'm upholstering a chair

that was made specifically for
the coronation of King George.

And I'm enjoying every second of it.

The record player that powered
parties in London during the '80s
and '90s

is almost ready
to drop a beat once again.

First of all, where's the holes?

There's one, there's two.

Look at that! Wow!

What I've got to do now
is do a test

to make sure it's actually
outputting from the cartridge,

it's turning correctly.

The exciting time.

So now I'm going to just turn
my power up.

We now turn it on.

INSTRUMENTAL

So it's got a healthy output,

which means it will drive
any amplifier, which is important.

So that is perfect.

I've now just got to do
a few little checks

and then it'll be ready to show it
to Pablo.

This turntable was a link
between a father and a son,

and the love for the sound-system
culture that they shared.

Got it working?
All ready to go, Jay.

Let's get it covered up, cos
he's going to be here in a minute.

Pablo's hoping its distinctive sound

will transport him back
to those halcyon days.

Today's very special for me.

Like, I've got so much anticipation,
excitement.

I can't wait to hear the turntable
that I grew up listening to,

and thinking about mum and dad
and all the wonderful times we had

with reggae music
and the sound system.

I can't wait, to be quite honest,
yeah.

Nice to see you back.
How are you doing, man?
I'm good. How is everyone?

Look, he's even brought a record.

Yeah, something from Dad's
collection. An original.
Oh, stop it. Have you? Yeah.

How are you feeling?
Very excited, to be quite honest.

I'm not even sure
about my expectations,

but I'm just hoping to hear
the beautiful tones

that we used to hear out of
the turntable, back in the day.

Oh, OK. Are you ready to see it?

Let's go.

Stop it!

No! Really?

Wow. And you've even put
the red felt back on.

Wow. And what a beautiful plinth.

Wow.

And an original cartridge
as well, with needles.

This is my dad. Yeah.
This is my dad all over. Yeah?

I'm shocked cos it's just
bringing back memories of Mum
and Dad and playing that and...

Yeah.

Sorry.

This really means a lot.
I can see that.

Wow.

I'm sure Mum and Dad
will be smiling now. Yeah.

It's amazing.

Thank you.

What your dad started with you,

like that whole introduction
to this beautiful, rich culture,

he's going to be super proud
up there now,

just knowing that you're
going to continue this legacy.

Thank you.
I'm so pleased it means so much.

It does. Yeah. So are you going
to do us the honours? Yes.

And bless the barn,
as we would say in the dance.

Unfortunately, we haven't
got big boom boxes here.

It's OK. It's OK.

Straight from Kingston JA
to London UK via Chichester.

Original.

MUSIC PLAYS

Blues dance style.

Yeah.

When you start dancing,
it's like... Yeah.

Like that.

Oh, right. OK.
And then you get the leg up.

I remember those days.

And it has still got the
original tones. Oh, that's good.

Fantastic.

Amazing.

Absolutely amazing.

How did that feel? I feel like
I've just gone in the TARDIS...

Yeah? ..and gone back in time.

You guys have brought it back
to life and it looks fabulous.

It sounds fabulous.

It's, like, beyond
all my expectations.

I'm like, overwhelmed, full of joy.
Thank you so much.

We're going to get this packed up
and bring it out to your car.

Thank you so much, guys. Take care.
You take care. Nice to see you.

Bye-bye.

From not hearing it
for over 20 years,

it was absolutely amazing,
to be honest.

Yeah, incredible.

It just brought back fond memories
of dad and mum.

To have an original piece of history
and our culture back up and running

in such good condition and sounding
so sweet, they would be amazed.

They'd be overjoyed,
as I am overjoyed.

The next arrival is Cathy Downie
from Edinburgh.

She's hoping Steve Fletcher
and Kirsten Ramsay can join forces

on a cherished childhood companion.

Hello. Hello. Hello, I'm Kirsten.
Hello, I'm Cathy.

And I'm Steve, hi.

And this is Jimmy.

Tell us about Jimmy.

Jimmy, I got for my fifth
birthday from my Uncle Jimmy.

And he does that.

Oh, he hooks his legs over.

Goodness. Over and over again.

Wow.

He's my special toy.

So I was an only child
and he was my wee brother!

Because of the name and my uncle,
it made it special.

So your relationship
with Uncle Jimmy,

that that sounds like
a very special...

It was very, very special.
We were just so close.

I used to go and visit him
after school and go and say hello.

He used to play cards.

He used to go to the wrestling.

He was just so special to me,
you know.

But, yeah, we were really close.

It was a big miss when he died.

He died when I was about 14, 15.

And it was a time
when I was doing exams,

so I couldn't get off
to go to the funeral

and I couldn't, you know, get to
say goodbye properly, if you like.

And I found I struggled with it for
a long while after that, you know.

I missed him an awful lot.

And that made Jimmy
even more precious, then.

So he's been through quite
a lot with you then, really.

Yes. He's never been out of my
presence in all the years.

70 years, 65 years.
He's always been there.

What are the things that are
actually wrong with Jimmy?

Well, the obvious one is
he's got a hole in his head.

I know there has to be allowance
for him swinging,

but I don't think it's meant
to wobble quite that much.

He's also needing
cleaned up and touched up.

If Jimmy is repaired...

It would bring my Uncle Jimmy
back to me.

It would make him feel close again.
It would be very...

..very emotional.

Yeah. Right.

It would be more than special.

What do you think, Steve?
Have you done something like that?

I've never worked on anything
that looks like this at all.

So yeah, I'm really looking
forward to seeing how it works
and how I can mend it.

Well, I'm sure he's in
perfectly good hands.

Thank you. Bye. Bye, now.

It took me a long while to get
over losing my Uncle Jimmy

because I didn't get to say goodbye.

And getting Jimmy repaired
was a gift to him

and a thank you to him for all
the happy times he gave me.

So this button here pushes down.

And this is attached to this rack
here, which is a toothed bar.

And so inside, attached to this
shaft here, there must be a pinion,

which is a tiny wheel which
actually runs into this toothed bar,

this rack.

So when you push it down,
it drives this round and round.

But everything is very, very loose.

It's obvious that Cathy
has played with this

for years and years and years.

Someone has had a go at trying

to fix on the counterweight
with some soft solder,

which obviously hasn't taken,

so I need to find a better,
stronger way of doing that.

So these struts
are actually quite loose.

I'm just going to put
this screwdriver in

and I'm just going
to force it out slightly.

I'm just basically
expanding it all over.

I'll just see whether
that makes a difference.

So that really is much firmer.

So I've just got to do the next one.

Now that she has removed
the old lacing from the
code breaker's writing case,

Suzie can focus on strengthening
the leather pieces.

The main pocket on the inside
of the writing case

was in particularly
bad condition on this edge.

Literally, every one of these holes
had split through.

So I've lined the back edges
with the zephyr,

which is a very thin leather,
almost like tissue paper,

and it's very, very strong.

But we still have quite
an unattractive look

on the front here.

So I feel in this instance,

I can add a strip of leather
all the way around

that will be complementary
to the design.

I need to push that down well.

I've got a lot of holes
to punch here,

but at least I can see from
the underside through the zephyr

exactly where those holes are.

So I'll be very accurate

with replacing the holes
that I'm going to be using.

I'm just going to start
the lacing process now.

It's a wonderful thing to be able
to fulfil people's dreams.

When they come in with
a special request like this,

I sometimes think I'm one
of the luckiest people on the planet

to have the skill to be able
to fulfil that dream.

The inside of this case has actually
got quite a bit of damage

at the top and the base
of the spine,

and it's all those years of folding
and being stood on edge, I expect.

So I've stained down
some pieces of leather,

cut to a nice shape
to be glued on top,

and that is going to cover up
all of that damage

and give a little bit more strength.

So I just get this in position.

It's all going to look rather tidy

if my plan comes together,
as I have in my head.

It's very clear that you've got the
new leather next to the old leather

and what I want to do is put some
coloured conditioning cream on.

I think it's just going to give
a really nice finish.

So already I can see that that's
a really good colour match there.

Now I can build up
those colours gently.

On her restoration
of the coronation chair,

Sonnaz is ready for some right
royal finishing touches

courtesy of a heritage specialist
who makes trimmings

for stately homes,
castles and palaces.

I've got this brand-new braiding
that we had made,

replicated the original,

and I cannot wait to see
what it looks like on the chair.

So this is the moment of truth.

That is absolutely perfect.

I'm going to pin the braid in place
and then once I've done that,

I'm going to stitch it in place
using a see-through thread.

I can't wait to see what Andy
and Anna think of the chair.

This chair, which graced
the coronation of King George VI,

was earned through valour
on the First World War battlefield

by Andy's grandfather.

Today, joined by his daughter,

he has come to see if the chair's
noble heritage has been restored.

I'm really excited about
being reunited with it.

I think I'm particularly excited
for you to get it back.

It's also made me think more
about my grandad, since we
came down last time.

I was eight when he died
and actually,

the chair sat in my mum's house
for years before I took it on.

And I wish I had asked her
far more about it, now.

So really looking forward
to seeing it again.

It's a bit scary, actually.
I'm a bit nervous, actually.

Yeah. My leg is shaking.

Hi. Hello. How are you both?
I'm excited. Are you?

Yeah, I'm excited to see
what you've done with it.

I wasn't expecting to miss the
chair, but I have missed the chair,

and I'm looking forward
to seeing it again.

Are you ready? I'm ready. Yeah.
Ready. Ready, ready, ready.

Oh, wow.

That's unbelievable.
It looks so smart, doesn't it?

I want to say something now, but
honestly, I'm not sure what to say.

That has blown me away.

How have you done all this
beading around here?

We had your braid specially remade
to replicate the original,

which is what you can see
around the chair.

Yeah, it looks amazing.
That is wonderful.

Thank you so much, both of you.
That is...

Wow. I think we can both be
really proud of it now.

It's weird that you actually
feel proud for something
that other people have done.

I mean, you for repairing it
for us so wonderfully.

But also, I mean, for the person
who sat on it in the first place

and for my mum, who's cherished it.

She would just be unbelievably proud
of what her dad did

and the fact that
it's now here again.

Thank you so much
for working so hard on it.

It's wonderful to see it like that.
Yeah, thank you.

Careful!

Thanks a lot. Thank you.
Bye-bye. Bye.

Lovely. Yeah, that was lovely.
Lovely chair.

I felt so proud because I think
it's such a nice memory,
obviously for my granny,

and then my great grandad who
got the chair in the first place.

It just felt really nice to see it
in a way that it should be, really.

I realised how important it was
as a way of passing on

an unbelievable amount
of history and bravery

that has been through generations
of my family.

And that bravery will still be seen
by Anna and people to come.

And that's a wonderful thing.

In his quest to get Jimmy the clown
back to his acrobatic best,

Steve must fix
the spinning mechanism.

I'm going to just try and build up
this metal with hard solder.

You can see at the moment,
it's very, very loose.

So I need to just build
this shaft thicker

so I can drive it into
the hole really tightly

and then just rivet over
the back end of that

to hold it all in rigid.

There we go.

You can see here, there's a blob
of hard solder now and that...

..should stop this from going all
the way through now, which it does.

I'm just going to form
a bit of a taper on this now

by just filing it up
so that I can push this in,

so I can then hammer over the end
of that and it should stay in OK.

Right. I think that's enough.

That's brilliant.

I've just got to do a bit of oiling

and then I can get it
over to Kirsten.

Fantastic.

Also playing for Team Jimmy, Julie.

She's attending
to his tattered costume.

Jimmy is such a fun little chap.

There's, like, a plastic coating
where his head is

and that's, for me,
where the problems are.

He's got quite a substantial
missing section there.

I've chosen a wood filler.

From my experience,
this just is slightly softer

and there's a flex
or movement to it.

And I think that that
will suit Jimmy very well,

the fact that he moves

and there's just a very thin skim
over the missing section.

That's the fill done on his head.

I'm now going to let that cure.

But I've got his little boots here.
I'm just going to retouch these now.

I'm just mixing up some colours here
to retouch the top of Jimmy's head,

where I filled that little hole
that was there.

It's quite matt, so I'm going to
use quite a lot of white in there

just to try and get
that opaque flesh colour.

I'm just going to leave him
to dry now.

Then he'll be ready
to have his clothes back.

The end is in sight for
Agent Fletcher's renovation

of the code breaker's case.

I've got all the new
red lacing put in place.

I have re-stitched
the closing tab back.

I can actually close
everything together.

You can just feel
that strength back.

So there are some areas here
that still need some attention.

So I've got a conditioning cream
here, and what I'm hoping

is that it's going to help
give it that lovely red back.

So just start with a...

..gentle dab, dab.

And just see how this
starts to look.

This is actually really good.
I'm very happy.

Once the entire case is conditioned,

I think those memories
of Wendy's mum using this case

will be so vibrant, and it will
match the vibrancy of this case.

This case was used
by a spirited young woman

to correspond with loved ones

during her secret wartime work
as a code breaker.

Back to collect it, Wendy,

who wanted the case restored
as a bequest to her daughter, Lois.

I think being reunited with the case
will be like being reunited
with my mum really,

and it'll be a bit of my mum
that I can pass on to Lois.

I feel really emotional
about it because I know
it's so special to Mum.

And it's a reminder of the
wonderful life of my nana.

And it's something that
I can pass down to my daughter.

Hello, Wendy. Hello, Suzie. How
are you? Lovely to see you again.

It's great to see you again.

What are you hoping to see?

I think I'm hoping to see something
that reminds me of it

as I knew it best.

My most vivid memories
were when I was a child,

before it started to fade.

Yeah. That's what I'm hoping
to see, I think. Right. OK.

Lois, if you would like
to do the honours?

Oh, wow. Gosh.

Oh, it's beautiful.
It's absolutely beautiful.

It's beautiful, isn't it?

Am I allowed to touch it?
Absolutely.

The stitching is just beautiful,
Suzie.

And it feels safe now.

It doesn't... You know, it's not
going to disintegrate in my hands.

Can I open it? Please do.

Oh, it's got blue paper!

It's got blue paper in it.

Oh, that's so lovely.

That's so lovely.

Oh, what a sweet thing to do.

That's really sweet because
it always had blue paper in it.

I just noticed that the part
in the leather

that was obviously used most,
with fingers going on it,

it's just that bit softer
than the rest.

Yes. So she did that each time.
Absolutely. It's astounding, really.

You've not just restored
a writing case,

you've restored memories, you know.

And memories are so important
to me at the moment.

It carries a great deal of history
for the family, doesn't it?

Absolutely. It's been brought
to life again. The red's back.

And the most special thing
is seeing my mum's reaction

and how much it means to her.

Thank you for sharing it with us.
I'm very, very grateful.

I'll take it away with us.
Thank you.

Bye. OK, bye-bye.

It's amazing having the opportunity
to think about my nana

and to think about
the wonderful woman that she was.

And also obviously it's something
that unites us as kind of four
women,

it's part of our family and
something that I can treasure.

I've so little of my mum
to leave my granddaughter,

and because I won't see
my granddaughter grow up,

and so I want her
to have something...

..which meant a lot to me
when I was a little girl,

so that when she wants to draw
and she wants to write things,

her mum can say this was your great
granny's and this was your granny's

and granny used to draw
with this pen.

And I know you said you'll
do that for her. Absolutely.

But I think it's just brought it
home a bit, really for me. Yeah.

It's been a team effort to get
Jimmy the clown back to his best.

But getting him circus ring ready
falls to Julia.

I am expecting him to be...

..quite agile following his rest
and recuperation.

Come on then, Jimmy, this is it.

All I've got to do now
is put his hat on.

It's so important that we get these
little finishing touches just right.

I think that's absolutely fine.

Right, Jimmy. Here we go.

Look at you.

When Jimmy came to the barn,
his acrobatic days were behind him

and he was looking his age.

But he was still a powerful link
to Cathy's adored Uncle Jimmy.

I've missed Jimmy an awful lot.

I've never been without Jimmy
for 66 years.

I'm excited because I want
to see the Jimmy that was.

The one I got from my Uncle Jimmy
when I was a five-year-old girl.

Because nobody's been able
to play with him for years.

So yeah, I just look forward
to him being a nice clown again.

Welcome, Cathy. Thank you.

Glad to be back and I just
can't wait to get that box off!

I could see you almost
dancing down the path!

Oh, yes, I just can't wait.

So it's been a lovely team effort.

Excellent. I can see you're
itching to see Jimmy.

I am. I really am.

Are you ready? Yes.

Oh, wow.

Oh, he's gorgeous.

Oh, he's lovely.

He's repaired.

Can I do this? Of course.

It's wonderful.

It means such a lot.

It brings my Uncle Jimmy back,

and it takes me back
to when I was young

and could play with him properly.

Wow.

Oh, he's beautiful.

When was the last time that you
saw Jimmy doing his acrobatics?

Maybe 40 years ago,
since he did them like that.

Oh, it's just amazing.
Absolutely amazing.

He's exactly how I remember him
before he was damaged.

Just perfect.

And his clothes are new and clean,
but they're not new.

He's still Jimmy.

Cathy, it's been a pleasure
for all of us to work on Jimmy,

and it's just delightful
to see your reaction to him.

Thank you very much
and thank everybody else.

I much appreciate it.
Thank you. Bye-bye. Bye.

I'm feeling very emotional because
of that bond between my uncle and me

and the clown that keeps it there,

especially because
he's called Jimmy.

It's just...

It's just Jimmy.

I definitely feel like I've got
a piece of my Uncle Jimmy back.

I feel like he's back with me,
which I think he always has been,

but it feels much closer today
than it has done for a while.

It's just good.

Join us next time for more
remarkable discoveries...

It's thrilling.
It's just so exciting.

..and beautiful reunions...

Wow!

..in The Repair Shop.