The Repair Shop (2017–…): Season 8, Episode 6 - Episode #8.6 - full transcript

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

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

Things will have
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.

..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 good 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.

A sole object 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
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...

Let's see what it looks like.

..Pete is seeing his name
up in lights...

Oh, that's what I wanted,
just that little glow in there.

..terror in terracotta.

Oh, I can't... I can't watch.

..as Kirsten is entrusted with
the oldest ever item

to grace the barn.

Oh, I hardly dare let go.

And Lucia goes to work on an egg...

I'm going to use this as the medium
in which to mix my pigments.

..creating her own
paint from an ancient recipe.

I've got to work quite quickly

because the egg will dry off very
rapidly.

The first visitors of the day
are Jess Hiles and her mum Joan,

from Shropshire.

Ready to welcome them

are toy restoration duo

Amanda Middleditch
and Julie Tatchell.

Hello. Hello.

Welcome. Lovely to be here.

I do love it when someone makes an
effort, wearing a hat similar to me.

I'm telling you, that's the one.
It's fabulous.

So what have you got for us?

I'm intrigued.

I've got David.

David. David, right.

And this is Amy. Amy, Amy and David.

Tell us about them.
my nan bought me David

when I was five years old.
Right.

And he wanted a brother or sister...
Yeah. ..and I got Amy.

Ah. And I don't think they've really
left your side... No.

..for 31 years-ish. Wow.

Yes, I used to take them

down to my nan's with me.

You used to put them
in the chairs for Nan. Yes.

And used to sit as if you were in
the cinema when you were little.
Yes.

So there's a real strong connection
with yourself, Jess,

and Amy and David? Yep.

They really are part of the family.

Yeah.

And I can remember when Nan did die

you saying, "I've got David
and Amy."

And you were cuddling them because
it was a tough time, wasn't it? Yes.

What was her name? Irene.

Irene.

She was so lovely,

I stayed a lot with her,

I loved her to pieces.

Yes, she was my saviour
when Jess was so poorly.

Jess had heart surgery at
12 days old.

12 days? Yes. Yes.

They said if she hadn't had the op

when she did she would have died
within hours.

Wow.

She came through that, we were
then told 50-50 she would

maybe not survive the year.

OK.

But Jess being Jess

has just
gone from strength to strength,

so we are very lucky

to actually
have this young lady. Aw!

My inspiration this one is.

She's achieved so much.

Wow. Tell us about the achievements.

Special Olympics.

Wow.

I do a bocce tournament
sitting down.

It's a bit like bowls

but everybody sits down so that you
are all equal.

Wow, and what have you won?

Gold medal. No way! Really?

So you really are an inspirational
young lady, aren't you?

JAY: That's brilliant.

So what would you like the ladies to
do to Amy and David?

Shall we show what happened to
David? Yeah.

Let's have a look.

Oh, dear. OK.

Can you remember what happened? No.

Or don't you want to remember?

I think it was a crack appeared
so I just bandaged it up

and then one day Jess said,

"Mum, David's disabled like me..."

No way. ..and that was quite
an emotional sort of moment.

What would you like us
to do with David's leg?

She's very keen
very keen on the Paralympics.

Right. She loves the prosthetic legs
that the runners have.

Like the blade? The blade?

And Jonnie Peacock is the one
you watch, isn't it, yeah?

And poor old Amy, she's got some
very bad mending. OK. Right.
Which is mine.

You're owning up to that one, are
you? Oh, yes. That's OK.

So do you want anything doing
with the clothing?

A new outfit for them both.

And what's the outfit going to
look like?

OK, what you're wearing? Yeah.

And what does this jacket represent?

Special Olympics,
when I go to a National games.

So they're going to become athletes
just like you? Yeah?

And David said he wants a...

He wants a hat. Oh, does he?

He wants a flat cap.

Jess, have you ever been
apart from David and Amy before? No.

No, so this will be the first time?
Yes.

They are going to be well
looked after.

We will do our best, our best, to
get them back to you... Thank you.

..as soon as we possibly can,
all right?

Bye-bye.

SHE SOBS

Thank you, Jess. Thank you.

You take care now. See you soon,
bye-bye.

Bye.

First they were her babies,
her toys,

but I think now they are,
they're her friends,

her companions now she's living
independently on her own

and it's just lovely to think that
they're there keeping her company.

David and Amy are lovely
like my nan.

They...

In my heart, my nan is in my heart.

Now I've got hold of David I can see
there's more going on here

than I initially saw.

I need to get
this leg over to Dom... Yes.

And there is some damage
actually to this body.

I'd like to replace this body.

Amy definitely needs the body
replacing.

So are you all right doing
doll bodies

and I'll get on
and do all the clothing?

Absolutely, perfect, let's go.

The next repair has really caught
the eye of instrument restorer

Pete Woods.

It's got me name on the front.
Pete and his Stardusters.

I was going to say, are you bringing
in your own instruments now?
Yeah!

It's actually the treasured
possession of Mark Windsor
from Liverpool.

Hey. Hi there, I'm Dom. Lovely to
meet you. And I'm Pete. Hiya, Pete.

Not the Pete, though.

No, not that Pete, no.

You are going to have to explain,
who is Pete first of all?

Pete was my grandad AKA Pappy,

so we used to call him Pappy. OK.

And it was his drum
kit from the jazz band he was in.

Hence the jazzy paint job.
Absolutely.

I completely understand now.

And they used to wear very funky
outfits as well.

Matching this I imagine.
Yes, absolutely.

Tell us a bit more about it.

So in the '50s, '60s, my grandad
set up a band with his brother,

so my uncle Ron. OK.

And my dad, Reg, and the three of
them used to

play in pubs and clubs in the
West Country

and Dad was like the lead of
it, so he would do the singing.

Pappy would play the drums
and uncle Ron would be on the organ.

Wow, so you're grandad was
musical. Yeah. Your uncle. Yeah.

Your dad. Yeah.

My goodness.

It's a bit like the Osmonds,
isn't it?

My earliest memory was it was late
'70s

that we'd go down as a family,
watch dad.

Was just great, great times.

And I used to be like the fourth
member

so I used to dress up... In the
jazzy outfit. In the outfit.

So red shirt, black dicky bow
tie, and my grandad used to

bring me up on stage,

sit on his knee and play along with
him.

What was he like?

He was a really jolly, happy person

and born to be an entertainer.
He was a drummer.

All drummers are like him.

That's it.

He sounds like some character
actually.

He was a larger-than-life character.

Sadly he passed away in '83

and, um, he left them to
me because I was

supposed to be the only one who
showed any sort of interest.

Then by the kind of mid
'90s I stopped using them.

Mum and dad kept them in the garage,

you move out, life moved on. Yeah.

And then fairly recently I pulled
them out and I saw them

and it's just that moment where you
are like, just the smile came back.

And I brought them home
and my partner Carly,

she's got two boys, Harry and Rory,

and their reaction was just amazing.

Drums out,
banging the hell out of them.

Brilliant. And I'm thinking I've got
to do something with this.

I can see cosmetically Pete has
got his work cut out here,

the cobwebs and the rust.

But what are you hoping the drum
kit will look like?

I hope we can ultimately use them
and the boys can play them,

but I suppose just the centrepiece.

Keep hold of that.

I just look at it
and it brings back all the memories.

That says everything.

Because Pete and the Stardusters
were Pete and the family.

The family, that's it.

This is just more than
a musical instrument.

This is part of what
they were about and as a bond

they were together and music was
their focus, music was their thing.

Dad is still into his music
and I think he would love it.

My Pappy and my dad would love
nothing more than the boys actually
using them.

Yeah, brilliant.

Thank you for bringing this drum
kit in, I can't wait to see it

and hear it.

Thank you so much, thanks for
everything. Thanks a lot, see you
later, take care. Cheers. Bye then.

The story of the drums
is about the family playing

and being together
and I suppose the future of it

I want it to be the family
being together.

They symbolise so much more than
a set of drums, so much more.

Looks like I've got a little
bit of work to do here.

All the metal has got a bit rusty

so it's just got to go away and be
re-chromed.

The covering, the nice glitter

is not glittering any more.

It's a bit dull and lifeless,

so we need to give that a polish up,

but really structurally I can't tell

until I've started taking it apart

whether we've got any problems.

I'm just undoing the tension rods.

Take them off, then we can take the
hoop off

and then take the head off.

Let's see whether we've got any
problems inside.

We've got a light bulb.

It simply just shines in there

and you see Pete and his Stardusters
all enhanced.

So it would be quite nice,

the pink head would have gone with
the red

and most probably the shirts as
well.

We'll get the rest of it apart,

get it working for him.

You can actually see what the nice
red glitter

should look like where it's been
protected.

So it needs a good clean-up,

so when it's back to looking nice

and sparkly
and like it used to on stage.

BUZZING

Toy team Julie
and Amanda are transforming

a pair of childhood dolls into
champion athletes

just like their owner,

and to ensure a win they're
recruiting Dom to the squad.

Dom.

Hey, how is it going?

Very well, thank you. I've got
something different for you.

Two dolls belonging to

this fabulous
young lady called Jess.

OK. But...

This is where it gets tricky.
Of course there is a but. Yeah.

Oh, no.

It's not about mending the leg.

She's a huge,
huge fan of Jonnie Peacock,

the Paralympian.

I know where this
is going. You know where I am going?

Oh, you're smiling, you are smiling.

Yes, I can see, so we are going to
make... Could we please have a
running blade?

Yes, perfect. Really?

Yeah, yeah, of course.
Leave it with me. Fabulous.

Nice one, thank you. Thanks, Dom.

I've made all my pattern pieces now

and I'm actually transferring them
onto the fabric to make

two tracksuits, one for David,
and one for Amy.

I'm specifically having to follow
what Jess was wearing

and is quite hard getting it exactly
right and getting it to scale.

Now that I've finished
David's little body

I have to do exactly the same
again for a little Amy.

So, this is cotton fibre.

It's almost like a fabric.

I've got all the strips
cut that will just fit perfectly

over my little pattern.

And then I mix that with a resin

that's going to set and go hard and
that gives it the strength that
it needs.

And what I'll be doing, basically,
is making like a little lasagne

with carbon fibre sheets, resin,
a sheet of carbon fibre,

then resin, a bit of white sauce,

a bit of salt and pepper
and we're ready to go.

Next layer, here we go.

I want to make sure that
what I'm making

is as authentic as possible,
and this is as close as I can get

to a recreation of one of those
original Paralympian's blades.

Jess definitely had
a bit of a soft spot for Jay,

so very important that we get
the cap made.

I think I've got a good basic
flat cap shape going on here.

A little peak to put on the front.

I'll just have to keep going
and see how it turns out.

The resin has now gone
nice and hard.

TAPPING

Sounding good.

Hopefully I'll be able to now
remove the wooden part

and that should hold its shape
nice and tight.

CRACKING

These cracking noises are either
very good, releasing...

Oh, yes. Ah!

A-hah! Yes!

Perfect. Look at that.

I mean, that is really, really firm.
I just need to trim this up now.

A coat of clear lacquer
and then it's ready

to give back to the bear ladies.

Inside the barn there are more
broken limbs needing attention.

What is this?
It looks like it's terracotta

but if it is what I think it might
be, it's very exciting.

Is it? Mm. OK.

Melanie Wells from Surrey
is the custodian

of a remarkable family heirloom.

Hello. Hi.

And Kirsten Ramsay's experience
working at the British Museum

will come in very handy
restoring it.

Kirsten seems to be quite
excited about this.

Can you tell me, what is this?

So, this is a statue from the
Han Dynasty, China.

It is the dynasty that ruled over
2,000 years ago.

Hold on a minute.

You're saying this is over 2,000
years old? Yes, yeah. Wow. That's...

That's unbelievable, yeah. It's the
oldest we've ever had in the barn.

Absolutely. Yeah, most definitely.
It is mind-blowing.

These types of statues would
typically be placed

outside of tombs or graves to
protect the spirit

of the person who passed. Right.

So, how come you've got this?

This actually belonged
to my great-grandmother.

She lived in Shanghai for most of
her early life. Yeah.

Until the Communist Party
came to power.

So they had to flee to Hong Kong
with absolutely nothing.

She always missed China
when she was in Hong Kong.

So my grandfather recommended that
she try to collect some antiques,

so she had a bit of China with her

when she couldn't
physically be there. Yeah.

So she started building this
collection and eventually,

when she passed,

she was able to leave an antique
for each of her grandchildren.

This clearly has historical
importance.

But what does it actually
mean to you, Melanie?

Well, for me, I've never really
grown-up

in a very Asian environment.

I lived in Connecticut
for most of my life

and then we moved to England
in 2016. OK.

I've always loved it,
even when I was young and to me

it's just kind of a way of holding
on to my culture

and that led me to
learning about ancient China

and learning about where I was from.

It made me quite proud
to be half Chinese.

I know it's broken at the moment,

but where is it normally
living in the house?

Well, we haven't actually had it out
since we moved to England

because it broke on the cargo here.

We were just devastated.

This leg has completely come off...
OK. ..and the foot.

And when it stands normally,

it stands on this kind of
black platform? Yeah.

So, there are these plastic rods
that go in the legs

and they screw into the base.

And that's all that holds this up?
Yeah.

I'm kind of blown away.
This is proper old, man.

I know you've worked on old
stuff before but this is like, wow!

I feel totally honoured
to have this in here, so thank you.

Yeah, thank you so much. It's going
to be a really interesting project.

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

The statue is really important to me

because it's a way of being able to
keep a hold of my cultural identity.

I'm hoping once it's restored,
then I will be able to hold on to

that connection that I have with my
grandparents and great grandparents.

I'm going to make a start with just
dusting, very carefully,

these breakages,

just to remove any sort of loose
bits of soil or terracotta.

It's always quite remarkable

when you think how long these
things have been around.

And I do get the most incredible
thrill when you can see...

..the tool marks and the hand marks
of the person that made it.

It's just extraordinary,

that connection that you have
with the person that created this.

Unfortunately, this leg has
completely broken away

and if I'm going to get a good
strong join,

I have to stabilise the breakages.

To do that I'm going to consolidate
them with an adhesive and a solvent.

This will stop
the crumbling from happening

and you get a good strong bond.

Instrument expert Pete is jazzing
up a 1950s drum kit,

but he's uncovered a problem.

I've just cut this piece of wood
because when they originally

put the light in, they cut a slot
down there and then of course,

it's ruining the integrity
of the drum.

So what I'm going to do is
I'm going to glue that

inside of the shell to reinforce it.

It's important
we get this drum right

because this is the main drum
that you see the front head,

Pete And His Stardusters,

with the light coming through
to highlight it.

So we've just got to get it
nice and solid

and it will make it
last for years then.

I've had a look at these hoops.

These ones are pretty had it.

The hoops were important because
it's what tightens the head up.

Obviously with a drum,
you want a tight head.

So what I've decided to do
is get some new hoops.

Luckily enough they are
what's called a standard size.

I could buy them off the shelf.

They just fit on there.

So what I've got to do now, make
sure the top is rounded the same...

..going to router them out,
spray them black.

They'll look exactly the same,
then, as the originals.

Well, that's the hoops done.
They are all sprayed.

I've put the nice red inlay back,
given it a bit of a clean

so it's looking good,
so I'm quite happy with that.

Now I've got to get on
with finishing the bass drum.

That is not particularly safe any
more,

so what I've decided to do is put a
battery powered LED light in,

which is quite nice.

The lights are not something
that's done nowadays,

but from, say, the 1920s onwards,
when they actually had

electric in a pit, it was quite
normal to have a light inside.

In fact, larger bass drums would
have a scene hand painted on them.

It's a nice effect on stage,
so let's get it back to what it was

and make it look exactly as it was.

The bear ladies are almost
across the finishing line,

with new outfits for Jessie's dolls
complete, and little David

all set for action with his new
carbon fibre running blade.

Amanda.

That is amazing!
Isn't that brilliant?

Hasn't Dom done a good job?
Absolutely fantastic.

These little tracksuits are replicas
of what Jess wears when she

plays boccia, and every time she
looks at David and Amy now,

she will be reminded
of the achievements

of her medals
and how well she's done.

I think Jess is going to be just
over the moon.

Just... I love it.

David and Amy were given
to Jess by her nan

when she was five years old, and
have been by her side ever since.

Now Jess and her mum are back to
collect them, hoping they've been

transformed into fitting companions
for a gold medal-winning champion.

Are you feeling excited?

Because I am feeling very excited
and very nervous,

and I think I've got butterflies
in my tummy. Yeah, same. Yeah.

I hope Amy and David look like me.

I'm proud about my Special Olympics
then I will be proud of them

doing it too.

Hello. Hi, hello. Welcome back.
Great to be here again.

How are you both doing? Good?

Yes. Have you missed them, Jess?
Yes. Yeah.

And Mum has, haven't you, Mum? It's
like having two children go away.

I'm really excited.
I just want to show you.

Are we ready? Shall we? Go on.
Are you ready? Sure?

Aw!

Goodness!

Thank you.

There's your David.

Oh, my goodness.

That's just...

That's just amazing.
I can't thank you enough.

That's just absolutely stunning.

It really is.

Even though they look
quite grown-up now,

do they still remind you of your
grandmother? Yeah. Yeah?

Nan would just love this. Yeah.
Absolutely love it. Yeah.

Jess, what do you like best?
His blade and I like his hat.

That's my favourite. The hat.
Absolutely.

I can't thank you enough for making
this one's dream come true,

I think, is what it is, isn't it?
Yeah. You guys take care now.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so
much. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.

I was gobsmacked when I seen them,
and emotional.

Thinking of Nan.
Thinking of Nan. Yeah? Yeah.

And she would have loved it, cos she
loved these dolls, didn't she? Yeah.

Yeah. I think she'd be very
proud of you. Yeah.

I am too. Thanks, Mum.

As two restored items
make their way home,

new assignments are arriving
at a very blustery barn.

Come inside, it's so windy.
Don't get blown away.

Emily Ellis from London
is here to see

painting conservator Lucia Scalisi.

Hello. Hello, welcome.

What delight have you
brought in today?

So, this is my grandfather's
toy chest,

which he had when he was growing up
in Germany.

He lived there until 1937.

At that point, obviously, Hitler
was in power and life was getting

a little bit tricky
for my grandfather and his family.

Because although they weren't
practising Jews,

they had Jewish heritage. Yeah.

So at that point
they had to wear the yellow star

when they went outside.

GASPS

So my grandfather's parents
decided to try

and make their way to England.

So they packed up just a few
things, just one suitcase,

and bought a return train ticket
to pretend they were coming back

and made their way to England.
Wow. Yeah.

It's making me shiver just
thinking about it, to be honest.

And then the box came later? Yeah.

My grandfather's father managed to
get a few bits of furniture

coming across from Germany,
one of which was this chest.

And it was a box that I think was
personalised for them

because his name, Rolf,
is on the top here

and his brother's name, John,
which is Jobst in German.

It's very faded but they are both
inscribed on the top of the box.

There's also a very faded
inscription at the bottom here

which my godmother,
who speaks German,

she thinks she's worked
out that it is a quote

from the Bible about brothers,
so that would make sense,

I think, in the context of the box
and its purpose. Yeah.

My mother remembers it being her
dressing up box when she was growing

up so my grandfather kind of held
on to it throughout his entire life.

When my son was born last year,
who is called Ivo,

his middle name is Rolf
after my grandfather.

My mother then gave me this box
so I could pass it down to Ivo

and tell him the story.
What a beautiful gift.

You were obviously quite close
to your grandfather.

What kind of memories do
you have of him?

He was incredibly kind,
always telling stories.

Even as a child if he was
speaking to you, you felt like

you were the only
person in the room.

Yeah, I completely adored him.

To have an item that
kind of represents my grandfather

growing up in Germany and his story
and our family history,

I just think it's really special
and if it can be restored

and look a bit like how it used to,
it would just be amazing. Yeah.

I'm absolutely thrilled that you
have brought this in

and I'm really honoured to be able
to work on it for you.

Thank you so much. Pleasure.
See you soon. See you. Bye.

I was very close to my grandfather
growing up, and he loved

telling stories, and this was just
kind of one of the great stories,

was kind of his own story of his
childhood and how he came to England

so hopefully I can honour that
by getting the box restored for him.

Taking a close look at the surface
of this beautiful toy box,

I'm very excited about it.

It's really a very special object

and I'm just looking at it
structurally and it's quite stable.

There's a few dings in the
woodwork but nothing serious.

It's the paintwork that's
the main problem,

so I'm going to do a cleaning test.

I'm going to use water with 1%
ammonia in it

and that just breaks
the surface tension,

allowing the water to do its job.

That's nice. That is nice.

I'm seeing lots of dirt and you can
see that...

..just wetting this paint surface
out already makes it look better.

I'm really thrilled with this.

This is going to be a real
meaty clean.

The toy box may be robust enough for
some thorough cleaning but Kirsten

must be rather more careful with
the 2,000-year-old Chinese statue.

The moment has come to reattach
the leg back onto the Han figure.

I'm going to bond the leg
in position, lying down,

but using some supports to try
and hold it in place.

And I'm also going to use some
bandage material.

That will help me pull the piece
into place.

It's a fairly slow-acting adhesive,
so I have got time for adjustments.

It's not going to suddenly just sort
of bond in the wrong place.

I won't lie, it is quite tricky.

Perfect. I'm very, very happy
with the way that's gone together.

Once that's cured,
I'll then make a start on filling.

Once the piece is intact,
he'll need a safe and robust stand.

So Kirsten has asked Steve
to help get the statue

back on his feet again.

I'm using the original base
that came with it,

but the base did have
these Perspex rods

that didn't really do the job, so
I've made these much stronger rods.

I've braced them here
so that they just don't move,

and into the body, I'm going
to feed this block of wood,

which should fit
the insides of the sides.

And then pop this
piece of wood here,

so that I can feed that in as well,
and that should hold it front

to back and stop that tension
between the body and the legs.

This is the moment of truth.

I've done all that I can with
the bonding and the filling,

both of which should have given
the figure strength.

But there was always going to come
a moment where I would have to

put the figure upright

and check that it was going to
support its own weight.

I have to say I'm quite
apprehensive.

Anyway, I can't put it off any
longer. I'm going to give it a go.

I feel confident that that is
going to be self-supporting now.

I'm going to quickly put it
back on the table.

That's an enormous relief.

I'm by no means
over the worst of it.

I've still got the retouching to do.

Yeah, there's still a way to go.

I don't want any of
the paint to actually go

onto the original surface.

I'm just going to keep
it on the fills

and try and blend it in
as best I can.

Can't help but think about the age
of a piece like this.

You just wish that these things
could speak,

they could talk to you
about their story, their journey.

Which I guess chimes with Melanie,
really.

It's about her story
and her heritage

and the journey that she is going
on to find out about her history.

It's going to take a few more layers
just building up the paint,

just camouflaging the fills.

But it's lovely to see that
white disappearing.

Pete has nearly finished
reassembling the 1950s drum kit,

and he is ensuring the embossed
bass drum will once again

be star of the show. Right.

We are now going to fit the head,
so we can see how the light

comes through
and make sure it works properly.

This is Mark's grandad's
original head.

I haven't mucked it about,
all I've done is I've cleaned it up

because this is what he used to see
when he was a kid.

Obviously made by his grandad, these
letters, I think. Just stuck on.

So let's give him back the full
feeling that he used to have

when he was out there enjoying
himself with his grandad's band.

And then we'll just put the battery
powered LED light in.

So, let's see what it looks like.

Oh, that's what I wanted.
Just that little glow in there.

Nice red glow.

Now we've just got to fix it in
and make it permanent.

Ready for Mark to come
and collect it.

Along with boys Harry and Rory,

Mark's back with high hopes his
grandad's drums

will go on creating as much joy as
they did for previous generations.

My grandad was in a
jazz band in the '50s

and I have images of my mum and dad
dancing around the dance floor

when my grandad was on the drums
and it was just happy, happy times.

They deserve to be
an instrument that is played

and I can't wait to see them.
If the drums are looking good,

me and my brother
will have a go on them.

Mark, hi. Hi. Lovely to see you
again. And you. Hi, Mark. Hi, Pete.

I'll tell you what, seeing you three
standing there like that

it's kind of a band in the making.
Yeah, absolutely. Brilliant.

Are you excited? I genuinely
can't explain how excited.

I just hope it's something these
guys and Louis can enjoy
in the future.

Have as much fun as we've had
with them as a family.

Are you looking forward to seeing
them now? Yes. Very excited. Yeah?

Ah. Go on, Pete. Come on.
Should we do it? Do it!

VOICE BREAKS: Bonkers.

Go and have a look, boys.

Oh, my God.

They are amazing.

They're absolutely
exactly how Pappy had them.

I'd say, from an early part of
my life, Friday, Saturday night

was about following the band -
and that meant being with family.

VOICE BREAKS: But Pappy's not here,
my mum's not here, and suddenly...

..the people we shared
those times with aren't around.

But you quickly swing to these guys,
and that's the future,

and they're the ones who will
enjoy it as much as I did.

What do you think? They're cool.
They're pretty smart, aren't they?

Yeah. They do look brand-new again,
which is amazing.

When you were a little kid,
looking at that kit onstage,

anything you remember
about the bass drum?

No, you've got me.

Let's see if we can jog your
memory a little bit.

Oh, my God.

Do you know what?
I completely forgot. Yeah.

Pappy put a light in it.

It's a real homage to him,
it's about who he was as a person.

You know, he wanted to be slightly
different and stand out.

Well, this certainly stands out.
It does. It's beautiful.

Absolutely beautiful.

Do you want to hear them?
Absolutely. Yeah.

Pete, will you do the honours?

APPLAUSE

Come on, boys. Go on, then.
Show me what you can do.

Go on!

Give it some!

HE LAUGHS

The neighbours are going
to love you!

There's no stopping 'em now!

Well done, boys.

That was brilliant.

We just need the jazzy outfits -
I was hoping for the jazzy suits.

Are you two looking forward
to playing it at home? Yeah. Yeah?

I'm really excited.

It's been lovely meeting you all.
Thank you so much.

Thank you. Thank you so much.
It's amazing. You're welcome.

Take care. Cheers. Thanks very much.
Take care. That's all right.

Did you see the smile on his face?

It brought back all those memories,
yeah, of family and everything.

Yeah. It was great.

They were better than me!
Better than you, yeah.

The drums are special
because they belonged to Pappy,

and it makes Mark think
of happy things.

The fact he left them to me
in the first place meant that,

obviously, he felt I was
worthy to have them.

Now they've got new life,
and I'm enormously proud he gave

them to me, and now we've got
them back, and I can get them

being used as they should be.

In a quieter corner of the barn,

Lucia has removed decades of grime
from the German toy box.

All that dirt has revealed
this electric blue colour.

It's absolutely fantastic.

The next stage is to try and cut,
and shape a piece of balsa

to fit into this actual loss.

Balsa's a fantastic material.

It's very strong, given the fact
that it's such a light wood.

I think that will do.

Then I can actually start
putting some filling in,

just to bring it up to
the paint surface level.

I think when I'm working on objects,
you know, you have time to reflect

on the stories that
you've been told about it.

Somebody selected this to be sent
during a time of danger.

And it's seen a lot,
in getting back to the UK

to join the children, John and Rolf.

It's glorious to have something
like this with such a history.

I'm nearly done with the filling.

I'll rub them down, and then,
I'll start with the retouching.

Egg tempera is something
that's been used since prehistory.

This is the medium in which
to mix my pigments.

It's a very nice drying medium and
it gets very tough when it dries,

and I also want the thickness of it
- will help me to build up

the paint layer where there are tiny
losses that are too shallow to fill.

That's the blue I'll start off with.

It really looks quite purple there,
but when it's on the box,

it sort of changes with
the colours that surround it.

I've got to work quite quickly,

because the egg will
dry off very rapidly.

I've got a lot to do,
so I'll just keep going.

I'm at the really fun stage of
retouching the lettering,

and now, the children's names -
we've got Jobst and Rolf.

And this has been a little bit
of detective work because,

when Emily brought the box in,

this particular side of the
lettering was really

quite damaged, and she told me
that it actually read as "Jobst" -

which is the German name for John.

For the life of me, I could not make
the name "Jobst" out from the text.

It just did not work from what
remains from the original lettering.

Anyway, long story short,

it turns out that
it's actually old German.

So, what we've got here is J-O-B,
and then, this beautiful piece of

lettering here is the old German
letter for a double-S.

And interestingly, that also informs
the inscription at the bottom,

which is a psalm.

There are two words here next
to each other, "das bruder".

So, we have two letters
that look like letter Bs.

One is a B for bruder, "brother".

And the other is das -
so it's pronounced with an S,

but it looks like a B.

I think, to be able to have
the names put back on...

..so that they are readable,

really brings it into
the present moment.

So, I just need to let this dry now,
and then, I'll come back and start

modifying the surface so it looks
a little bit more distressed,

but it'll still remain readable.

Steve and Kirsten's work on the
oldest item ever brought to the barn

has reached a critical stage.

Nerves of steel are needed,
as the terracotta statue is fixed

to its redesigned plinth.

This last bit is what stops it
from rocking forward and back.

Oh... Don't worry. I can't watch!

NERVOUS LAUGHTER

I reckon that's OK. Right.

Go on. I love your confidence.

All right, on it goes.

Oh! I hardly dare let go.

OK. Amazing.

Doesn't he look lovely?
It looks absolutely great.

Just seeing him upright
for the first time, I'm blown away.

Thank you so much, Steve.

I can't wait to see Melanie's face,

seeing him for probably
the first time in years, actually.

Absolutely, yeah.

Great. Good. Thank you.

This statue was made
2,000 years ago,

created during an imperial
dynasty of ancient China.

For Melanie, it represents a
connection to her great-grandmother

and her Chinese heritage.

Today's a really big deal for me,
personally, to have the statue back.

I think it means more to me
than I really knew,

and I can't wait to have him
back in the family.

JAY: Hello. Hey.
How are you doing?

I'm good, how are you? Very good.

Hi, Melanie,
lovely to see you again.

Yeah, it's really nice to
see you guys again.

How are you feeling?
I'm really nervous.

Hopefully I'll see a statue
that I remember from my childhood.

OK. Do you want to see it?

Yes. Yeah? OK.

Oh...

SHE GIGGLES

Yeah, it's exactly how I remember.

Wow, it doesn't even look like
there was any accident at all. Yeah.

It's incredible.

I honestly can't see anything,
any repair...

It's quite amazing.
You're very welcome.

So, we've used the base
that he came with.

Steve helped me engineer a base
that gives support right the way

through into the inside
of his body. Wow.

He's now secure,
and you can take him home

and display him safely.

Thank you so much for that.

He's just got the sweetest face.

Yeah, he has the sweetest smile.

Even though a lot of his features
are worn, you can tell that he has

quite a personality. Yeah. Yeah.

We don't have very much in our home
right now that can remind us of

our Chinese ancestry,
and having this will be good

for everyone in my family, I bet.

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

It's been an absolute pleasure,
and I shall miss him.

Thank you very much, Kirsten.

You take care now. Bye. Bye-bye.

I am so relieved.

And I'm honestly just so amazed
about the work that Kirsten's done.

It's incredible.

The Han dynasty statue will continue
to be a symbol of where I'm from

and my cultural background.

It feels really special that,
you know,

we own this piece of history.

Lucia has been working on
the painted toy box that followed

a family fleeing Nazi Germany.

I've finished the retouching,

and it's now the time for
the final varnish, which will seal

the retouching and provide
the final coating for the toy box.

I'm happy with that.

It's got to just a little bit,
but, to all intents and purposes,

it's ready to go.

It really is a family treasure.

It's beautiful. I wish I had one.

Decades of dirt had robbed
the chest of its charm.

But to Emily, it was still
an important link to her

beloved grandfather, Rolf.

I'm excited to see the toy chest
because it represents my family's

history, and I wouldn't be here
today if my grandfather

hadn't made it out of Germany.

Hopefully, if it's brought to life
today, that story can be passed on

to my son, and he can tell
future generations about it.

JAY: Hello. Hello.
How are you doing?

Good, thank you, how are you?
I'm very good.

Hi, Emily, lovely to see you again.
Nice to see you again.

So, how are you feeling? Excited.

I don't know what to expect,
but I'm hoping to see the paintwork

and the colours, particularly
with the names on the top.

Yeah, it'll be amazing to see that.

I'm really thrilled to be
able to show you this,

because it is so beautiful.

Oh, my gosh.

Wow. That is amazing.

Oh, my gosh, Lucia, it's perfect.
It's absolutely perfect.

It just looks, I think,
how it would've looked.

My gosh, you've done
the inscription, as well.

That took a bit of detective work.

It means, "See how lovely
and beautiful it is

"when brothers..." "Play together."

Well, it's "live together,"
but it's the same sentiment,

and it's from a psalm.

It's amazing, cos it just looks
completely authentic, like,

how it would've looked,
which is what I hoped for.

But the colours are all so vibrant,
and the detail's just amazing.

I love it, thank you so much.

It's been great to work on,
thanks for bringing it in.

And the story, as well,
is very powerful. Yeah.

A very powerful symbol, isn't it?

You know, holding all of my
grandfather and his brother's toys,

all of their childhood memories from
Germany which they were leaving

behind, it's a hugely important part
of our history, and something that

I would like to honour and remember.

And it's a very important story
to pass on to the next generation.

Emily, thank you for
bringing this in.

Well, no, thank you so much.

I will be forever grateful
for everything you've done.

Thank you. You take care now.

Thanks, Lucia. Bye. Bye-bye.

It's amazing to see it
fully restored, I can't believe

what Lucia has done with it.

The paintwork looks incredible,
the colours are so vibrant,

it reflects my grandfather
and his history, and everything

he achieved when he came over here.

It's just amazing to bring it back
to life and bring the story back.

Join us next time...

Wow.

..as beautiful items
from around the world...

I've got this malachite stone,
which is so vibrant.

..are restored beneath
the thatched roof...

Gosh!

..of the Repair Shop.