The Repair Shop (2017–…): Season 8, Episode 7 - Episode #8.7 - 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
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! It's tailor-made.

Just got to keep calm
and carry on.

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

..employing heritage crafts 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'm just blown away.

I'm flying!

Morning, how are we doing?

In The Repair Shop today...

If you hear this...

STRING TWANGS

Ooh! A painful sound.

..an assault on the ears
for Julyan.

That's not how it's meant to sound.
Yeah.

I can see that there are quite
a few cracks running through.

Kirsten faces a big challenge.

It's going to be quite problematic.

And Steve's nimble fingers...

I've just...just learned
how to pick a lock, basically.

..mean case closed
for an antique explorer's trunk.

But first, Marcia Bryan
from Manchester

is making her way
to the barn,

carefully carrying
a very special companion.

She's hoping toy restorers
Julie Tatchell

and Amanda Middleditch

can save her faithful friend.

Hello. Hello.

Hi. I'm Jay.

Hi, nice to meet you.
Likewise. And you are?

Marcia. Marcia. So, you've
got something for us in the box.

The box has got a doll in it.

That's my doll,
and her name is Diana.

I can see some feet.

And unfortunately,
Diana's the worse for wear.

Oh, dear!

Oh.

Oh! Ooh! Oh.

Oh, Diana.

It was given to me
as a Christmas gift as a child

when I was in a children's home,

and I was four at the time.

And I loved it cos...
it was brown, like me. Yeah.

THEY LAUGH

You don't often get dolls

that are brown, I must say.
No, not at all.

How come you was
in the children's home?

My mum's West Indian
and she came to this country

working for a British diplomat.

OK. And unfortunately,
when she got here,

she found out that she was
expecting not one baby, but two.

So I have a twin brother, Graham.
Graham.

Because that family
wanted my mum to carry on

looking after THEIR children,
they were the ones that said,

"We can arrange for your children
to be cared for

"so you can look after ours
and get paid,"

because my mum then used to send
money back to the West Indies,

so we ended up being put in care.

So how old was both of you?

About six weeks old.
Six weeks old. Wow.

And what was it like living in the
children's home, if you remember?

It was a community. Yeah.

And a lot of the bigger children

helped the smaller children
to learn stuff. Yeah.

So our reading and writing skills
were excellent...

..very early on.

Yeah. Did you see Mum
during that time? Yes, we did.

OK. Yes.
And what was that like?

I remember her
wanting to comb my hair,

cos no-one knew
how to comb it.

Yeah. And I remember that being
a little bit difficult.

THEY LAUGH

So, yeah, but we did. They did...
She came down to see us.

Was it a happy time for you?
Did you enjoy it?

Yeah.
We've got some good memories...

Good. Yeah, that's lovely.
..of our time there.

We were always told to call
the adults Auntie and Uncle. OK.

And there's a couple that befriended
my brother and I,

or we attached ourselves
to them. Yeah.

Their names were Auntie Barbara
and Uncle Graham. OK.

They were there as care workers. OK.

Wow. And they'd take us out on trips
and... Yeah.

We were like their children
before they had children.

Oh, that's lovely.
Oh, that's nice.

They introduced us
to meet their family. OK.

And we met Auntie Dolly.
Auntie Dolly, OK.

Who was Uncle Graham's mum. OK.

And she knitted
all the dolly's clothes

and gave them to me as a gift.
I thought she was amazing.

Aw, bless her.

I feel like they took us in
even though we were still in care.

We felt cared for by their family.

That's lovely. Still do.

And we're still in touch
with them now.

You're still in touch with them?
Yeah, they're lovely people.

How long did you stay at the
children's home? About ten years.

Ten years?

And then was you reunited with Mum?
Yes. OK.

My mum got a house in Manchester

and then from that
children's home we moved.

We were taken home.

Back in Mum's arms.
Wow. Yeah.

So this doll,
you've had her all that time.

Why have you kept her that long?

Cos in children's homes,

nothing that you...
that was there for children

was your own personal item.

It was for everybody.
It was for everybody.

OK. So it's kind of a miracle that
I've actually even still got it.

Yeah, so this is very special,
really.

So, what would you like
the ladies to do to the doll?

Well, Diana's seen better days.

This has come off.

The elastic's as old
as the doll is. Yes. Yeah.

So, it's...as you can see,
it's a bit... Wow.

Yeah. Yeah.

She used to say Mama
when you turned her over.

I'm really looking forward
to working on Diana for you.

Yeah.
Bringing her back to life.

Oh, thank you very much.

You take care now.

All right? Bye-bye.

Bye. Bye. Bye.

The doll reminds me of my time
with Graham in the children's home

in a positive way,
and she's a nice memento

of a time in my life
when things were just different,

but good different.

What do you think of the clothes?

They are so sweet
and so beautifully made.

Then the body? Yeah.
I think Steve will be able to

help you out with the voice box.

I hope so. What do you reckon,
Steve? I can certainly have a look.

Nice one. Looks like you've got
a bit of work on. Always.

THEY CHUCKLE

I can get these now over to Steve

and then I can get on with
cleaning these.

I'm having a little look
at Diana Doll's clothes.

So, I've got a lot of work here.

Some of them have shrunk
and some need a little bit of TLC.

I've got to make her a new dress.

She's got to have new booties.

So I think, as Julie's doing
some washing over there,

I'm going to give all the bits
to her to wash

and I'm going to get on with
the needlework.

As the Bear Ladies busy themselves
bringing Diana back to life,

outside, another visitor is seeking
help with a cherished possession.

I can't wait for you
to see this one.

David Paynter from Surrey
is hoping his vintage treasure

will strike a chord
with guitar restorer Julyan Wallis.

Hello. How're we doing?
Hello! You all right?

Hello. Let's have a look.
Let's have a look.

Ooh.

Wow, that is stunning.

A great example
of a 1930s National... Yeah.

..which are made in America.

National Duolian.

That's mind-blowing
for someone like me to see.

I don't get to see a lot of them.
It looks like it's metal to me.

Is that right? It's steel, I think.

It makes a different kind of sound.
There's a sort of cone thing here...

Yeah. ..which magnifies the sound.

So it's sort of like an amplifier,
but it's not electric.

Resonates it. OK. Yeah.

Please, David, tell us the history.

Well, it goes back to my dad. Right.

It's my dad's guitar originally.

The first that I remember of it
was when I was a kid

and went to church and my dad
played the guitar in the church.

He also played the piano.
Your dad played the piano as well?

Yeah, he played the piano.
He was... He loved music.

So much so
that as he got a bit older,

he actually opened a music shop
and he gave up the guitar.

At that point I said,
"Well, I'm going to learn."

And then I met up with a guy
called Terry

and the sort of pinnacle
of our career was we got invited

to do a cabaret spot
at the Top Rank in Reading.

It was quite something.
We did a 20-minute cabaret spot.

We got paid a pound a minute each.
Wow.

1968. Each!
That was a lot of money then.

You two were a double act.
Did he stop, as well?

Terry was always... He was always
determined to make it.

He went to the States playing
around the country clubs, Nashville,

and he was quite well-known.

What's he up to now?
Sadly, Terry died last year.

Oh. It was tragic. Really tragic.
Yeah, yeah.

And that was the moment
that sort of prompted me

to go back and think about
this guitar,

cos this was memories with Terry,
memories of my dad.

I just couldn't stand by and just
let it sit there for any longer.

So I haven't been able to play this
for over 40 years. 40 years.

Yeah, the strings
don't play clearly.

When I try... If I try to strike
a chord, it rattles.

The strings just don't sit right.

I couldn't find anybody
who could help me.

What would you like Jules
to do to it?

If we could get it back to play,
that would be a huge thing. Yeah.

If we can hear that sound
that they used to make... Yeah.

..that would mean the world,
really, to hear that again. Yeah.

Jules? Challenge accepted.

David, thank you for
bringing this in.

Thank you. All right? Bye, guys.

You take care.
Cheers, mate. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.

If I can hear that guitar play again
or if I can play it again,

then it brings my dad back,
in a sense.

It brings those days
of playing with Terry back again.

I knew you'd like this one.
This is stunning.

So what've you got to do to this?

The main thing is to make
this play, because it's rattling.

It's buzzing.

Say, if you hear this...

STRING TWANGS

Ooh! A painful sound.

That's not how it's meant to sound.

So something's touching something
it shouldn't be. OK.

So what are you going to do?

Well, I think I have to
take it apart,

assess every single thing
to do with playability. Yeah.

And structurally. Yeah.

Just got to ascertain
what's going on.

We do have to look at the frets

and get everything back to normal
again as it is,

so it'll probably look much
the same, hopefully a bit shinier.

Yeah.

But it'll be playing
a whole lot better.

And that's what he wants.

So there's quite a bit to do here.
All right.

Best get back to your bench, then.
Nice one, Jules. Thanks, Jay.

HE TUNES GUITAR

My concern is
the fingerboard itself,

this part of wood, has shrunk.

When a piece of wood shrinks,

it shrinks more across its width
of the grain

than the length,

and the frets, which are metal,
they're not going to shrink.

They're going to stay in situ
and sort of poke out.

And a result, all the strings
have come down.

There's dead spots...

..here, there, so we need to get
the strings at the right height.

But I do need to take this plate off
and inspect the cone inside,

just ascertain that everything is
in the correct position and solid.

In an effort to get Diana
all dolled-up again,

Julie's on wardrobe duty.

Now all the little clothes are dry,

I'm just sorting through them,
because...

Just there's signs of age,
so I'm just going

to freshen them up a little bit.

I'm going to take off the bobbles,
tighten up the buttons,

replace any missing ones

and just generally
make them all look a little bit...

A bit nicer and a bit newer.

While Julie nips and tucks,

Steve's got some surgery
of his own to attend to

on Diana Doll's voice box.

Right, I do need to just set to
and cut the actual mechanism,

the sound mechanism, out.

DRILL WHIRS

I'm having to be really careful
that I don't slip

and put the burr
through the body itself.

I'm starting to make
a pair of booties for Diana Doll.

Dolls are always losing
their booties, as are real babies.

So when I put the drawstring
in my pair of booties,

I'm going to make sure
I do them up good and tight,

so they don't fall off her feet.

Oh, good.

Fantastic.

So that action there
should make the noise...

..which it's not doing.

So I'm sure that some seal
or something is come adrift

or has perished.

I don't know whether I can actually
blow it now and just make the noise.

SQUEAKY WHISTLING

So...

..it's going to make
that sort of noise.

So what I'm going to have to do now
is put a diaphragm on there,

make some form of seal
so that the air doesn't

rush round the side of it
instead of going through the hole

and making the sound.

I've got a piece of flexible rubber
here,

and I'm going to cut it out

and I'm going to glue it
to that piece there,

and see if it's right.

If it's not...

..I don't know what I'm going to do.

Think again.

There we go.

Perfect little rubber washer.

Just pop that in there now.

SQUEAKING

Just going to gently
put that on there.

SQUEAKING

Good. I'm going to put the sounder
back into the body.

Then I can get them all back to
Julie and Amanda.

Next into the barn, Max Shar.

He's brought a precious talisman

that has been by his side
for more than 20 years.

He's hoping the expert touch
of Kirsten Ramsay

can restore its beauty.

Hello. Hello.

How are you doing? I'm good.
How are you? Hello.

Let's have a look at this.

Wow.

This looks like David.

Yes, yes, it is.

There is a famous statue of David
in Italy.

OK. How have you got this
and where's it from?

Well, I bought this in America
a while ago.

I was living there.

So I walked into the shop

and it kind of stopped me in my
tracks and it reminded me of my dad.

And I can honestly say
it changed my life.

Really? Yes.

I was separated from my dad
at a young age.

We left Iran, came to England,

but my dad stayed in Iran
with my older sister,

while she was
finishing her studies.

In Iran, there was a war going on.

Iran-Iraq War. Yeah.

I couldn't go back
and visit my dad,

and my dad couldn't come and go
as he wanted to.

What I used to do
was save up coins -

my pocket money
or whatever I could get.

Whenever I made it to £20,

my friend used to come with
a box, go to the phone box,

call him... Wow.

..and we had to put
the, you know, the coins in.

And it was for two minutes.

It was so expensive. Wow.

So, just like a quick,
"Hi, how are you? Everything good?

"I'm good. I miss you." Beep-beep.
Finished.

And it was like that
back in the day.

It was so expensive to call
international. You forget that.

Would this happened weekly or...?
This happened once every

four months, three months.

He did make one trip, and that was
the last time I saw him.

The day that he passed away,
I was probably about 11.

Anyway, that's the story.

So since then,
I've been carrying that.

You know, not able to talk
about my dad

until I saw this. Yeah. Yeah.

I don't know how an object
can give you such emotions.

You know, it became my symbol
of my dad, in a way.

It's an amazing object
that has given me so much.

And the day that I came home and I
saw this on the floor, cracked,

because of an earthquake...
Oh, wow. Where was the...?

California. California.
Orange County. OK, right.

You know, it happens all the time
in California.

And it fell on the floor
and then it cracked.

Ever since that, I haven't been
communicating my thoughts

and feelings as much.

It's a real connection
you have with this

and a real connection
you have with your father.

That's kind of something
I've always admired

and always wanted,
growing up without a father.

Oh, thank you.

Very powerful.

If you can do anything,
I would be forever grateful.

Well, I think if you
leave it with us,

I'll certainly do
everything that I can.

I really appreciate it.

OK. You take care, now.

Thank you very much. OK.
Bye-bye. Bye-bye.

It's almost like meditation for me
to talk to the sculpture,

to have it around me,
the feeling that it gives me.

Even though it's an object,
it gives me great emotions,

good emotions, good feelings.

If I'm honest, I'm feeling
the weight of responsibility

that's tied up with this head.

Seeing it closely, now,

I can see that there are
quite a few cracks running through.

So I'm going to have to try
and fill those.

It's going to be quite problematic.

I just want to see if I can
manoeuvre this edge at all.

It's plastic.

And with age, plastic
tends to become quite brittle.

And I can see that
where it's broken,

it's gone out of alignment.

My hope is that if I can move
that, the crack will realign.

The worry is if I force this,

the crack is just going to continue
across the face,

which, obviously,
I don't want it to happen.

I'm going to keep working my way
along here and just levering.

But I think I'm definitely going
to have to think of a plan B

just in case this this doesn't work.

Things are going more harmoniously
over on Julian's bench

as he continues to investigate
what's causing the vintage guitar

to rattle and hum.

Off with the plate, here goes.

He's turned his attention
to the unique resonator cone

which sits below the strings.

I was worried that the cone
was collapsed.

And this is the saddle which
the strings are slotted through.

It's been really worn down,

so I'm replacing that.

So there's a few things
I need to do.

Properly replace the first five
frets that are really worn

where David has played
over the years.

They're actually buzzing against
the ones in front,

so I've got to replace them.

I'm just going to remove
the first one.

I'm just going to run my solder iron

along the whole fret's length,

and then the frets,
I'll remove quicker.

And these are called nippers.

We always let it go
underneath.

Yank it out, you're going to
rip up wood either side

and we don't want that to happen.

Now a little gentle persuasion.

There, that's...

That's nice.

The fret slots
are all prepped.

This fret wire's the same gauge
as the existing -

same width, same height.

I'll just walk the fret hammer
along the fret itself...

..until it's all seated.

All I need to do is trim the ends
down, get them all level.

I've got to clean this, just to get
all the surface dirt off.

I think I'm going to try
some methylated spirits,

a very refined type called
denatured alcohol.

Oh, wow! It's certainly
making a difference.

I think it's good old-fashioned
elbow grease.

Wow, this really is
coming up a treat.

I mean, to say I'm pleased
is almost an understatement.

I didn't expect it to look
cleaner than that.

You know, remember, I'm not
trying to make it glossy.

It wasn't like that
when it was made.

So really happy with the progress,

just the sides and back
and rest of the body to do.

I'm trying to remove the saddle
from the biscuit bridge.

Its job is to set the height
of the strings

and also the strings' spacing
so they're all consistent.

Once I have fashioned a new one
and put that in,

I can set the height of the slots

and the strings will then be
at the correct height for playing

and they won't be buzzing, either.
So that's the plan.

Here goes.

That's one clean slot.

So I've got the colour
matched up there nicely.

I need just to attach this
to the cone now.

Lovely.

Time to string up.

Also on the home straight,
Amanda and Julie,

who have spent hours... It's lovely.

..restoring and creating
beautiful handmade outfits

for a much-loved doll.

How are we doing, ladies?
Oh, hi. Hello.

Look what I got for the clothes.
That's lovely. That's lovely.

It's all right, isn't it? And just
picked this up from Steve. Yeah.

SQUEAKING

Ah!

I love it. Bless her.
It's cool, isn't it?

All right, good luck. Thanks, Jay.

I'm really looking forward to
putting Diana back together again.

Once I'm happy with the tension...

..I need to...

..using a pair of locking
forceps, just clamp...

..the elastic, there,

and take a deep breath...

..because now I've got to do
the head.

Diana, we can do this.
We can do this, girl.

Release the locking forceps.

I'm really pleased with the tension
on her, actually.

She's just ready for dressing.

Diana arrived at the barn
with loose limbs, a broken voice

and a whole wardrobe of
worn-out clothes.

But for Marcia, who was given her
as a four-year-old,

the doll is hugely meaningful.

Diana is sort of like the last
memory of being a child in care

and what that was like.

She's a link to the past.

I'm hoping to have her back

and feel whole again.

Hello. Hello, Marcia. Welcome back.

Hi. Lovely to see you.
How are you feeling?

A bit nervous. Nervous?

You shouldn't be.
Have you missed Diana?

Yes. Yeah?

There's been a space
where she should be.

Yeah. Yeah. You want her back home,
don't you? Yeah.

She's been with me
for a very long time.

Are you ready?

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Oh.

Oh, wow.

Oh, she's got booties on!

LAUGHTER

Oh, thank you very much.

You're welcome.

How does it feel holding her?

Very nice. Yeah?

I feel like I'm four years old
again.

Aw! That's the one.

That's lovely. That is.

Thank you very much.

I don't know what else to say.

You don't have to say anything.
I think your reaction says it all.

You've just made our day.

If you pick her up
and tip her forward...

SQUEAKING

LAUGHTER

Aw, thank you.

I'm going to enjoy playing.

I shouldn't say that at my age.
No, you should, you should.

Thank you so much. You're so
welcome. You're very welcome.

Thank you. It's been a pleasure.
You're more than welcome.

When you brought her to us,

you brought a plastic bag full of

all her other bits of clothes.
I did.

And we didn't want to hand you back
the clothes just in a plastic bag.

Oh!

SHE LAUGHS

THEY LAUGH

Oh, thank you.

That is so cute, oh, my goodness!

It must have taken ages
to knit all of that.

Yeah. Took her a long time. Yeah.

A lot of love
went into those clothes. Yeah.

Oh, dear.

Are you happy?

Absolutely.
Yes, thank you very much.

I feel we've brought out
your inner child...

I think so, yes!

..which is lovely.

Thank you very much. Let me get the
door, you've got your hands full.

Yeah. Thank you. Bye, Marcia.

Bye, Diana. Bye.

Thank you!

Thank you.

Bless her.

Well done. Well done, eh?

Got my doll back!

I've got Diana back.

She's been a part of my life
for a very long time.

She's just, erm... I'm happy.

I'm really happy.

This doll just reminds me of
mine and my brother's time

in the children's home,
and it was a lovely time.

We were well looked after
and we met some lovely people,

including doll. Diana doll.

Next into the Repair Shop,

Rodney from Eastbourne
has brought a hefty load

of adventure for the attention

of savvy siblings
Steve and Suzie Fletcher.

Hello, there.

Hello. Hello.

What have you brought in for us?

Well, I brought
my father's leather trunk,

which he had when he was in Africa

immediately after
the Second World War.

And what was he doing in Africa?

He was part of a peacekeeping role,
essentially.

The Italian army
had occupied that part of Africa.

And when the Italian army left,

the British army's responsibility
was to keep the peace.

He went to Kenya, to Nairobi,
and travelled through to Mombasa,

having spent some time in Kenya,

and then by ship from Mombasa
north to Mogadishu.

But then his posting was
to the Ethiopian border

and most of his time, he was living
in tents and things like that.

Oh, wow. So, did he tell you
lots of stories about his time?

He did. He always was talking about
his time in Mogadishu.

It was actually a bit of a family
joke because we could not

get through a day without Mogadishu
being mentioned at some point.

So what exactly is wrong with it?

Well, the locks don't work.

And actually, I don't
ever remember seeing a key.

OK, OK. I remember trying keys
when I was much younger

but never found one. Right.
Sadly, we've got a tear here.

Right. I think
it's important to preserve

the evident history
of his travels. Sure.

But actually it's worrying
to see the tears in the leather.

I can't tell you what it will mean,

because it did contain his life.

It lets us think about his time
in East Africa.

So it is a really important part
of our family history, actually.

I love cases, and I'm really going
to forward to working on it.

So thank you so much for
bringing it in. Thank you, Suzie.

We'll be in touch. Take care.
Thank you. Bye. Bye. Bye.

Wow. Amazing.

I'm hoping that Suzie will be able
to bring the case back to life,

but by still maintaining
the character

that it has through the marks.

They tell us all about its journey

and how it was part
of my father's life.

What do you think the hardest bit
of this is going to be?

It is an old case... Yeah.
..and with leather, it's organic,

you don't know
how it's going to behave.

Yeah. It's going to take a bit
of work, but really maintaining

the essence of its age... Yes.
..but making it usable as well.

Yeah, absolutely. It's that
fine balance, isn't it? Yeah.

Well, let me know when you need me
to help you out with the locks.

OK, sounds great.
OK. All right. Cheers.

First thing I need to do
is to start with the cleaning

and conditioning process.

So I'm going to use
my go-to product,

and that is glycerine saddle soap.

While you're cleaning something,
it gives you an opportunity

to see every inch of the article

and areas that need attention.

It's just as well
I like cleaning leather

because this is going
to take a lot of cleaning.

In an effort to restore
the cracked face of David,

Kirsten has been trying to persuade
the pieces back into alignment,

but the ageing, brittle plastic
has other ideas.

Unfortunately, I've come
to the conclusion that

I'm going to have to have
a little bit of a compromise.

Um, there's no point trying to
force these bits back into place

because they're just not
going to fit.

So I'm going to bond the bits
that I've got where they are,

and then I'm going to step fill
where it's slightly misaligned.

I've decided to use a quite
fast-setting epoxy resin.

And I'm adding to the adhesive
some glass bubbles,

which are just like an inert bulking
agent, and that's to thicken up

the adhesive so that it will
actually just sit in the gap.

I'm finding that I'm working

more and more with
plastic materials.

I mean, plastics have been around
for a long time,

from the sort of 1890s.

They do have a limited lifespan.

They start to degrade,
they become brittle, they break.

And certainly in the work
that I do, I'm starting to have

more and more plastic items
coming...coming to me.

DENSE KNOCK

Oh, my goodness.

HOLLOW KNOCK FOLLOWED BY
DENSE KNOCK

That is sounding
so much better already

with the adhesive in place.

It's by no means completed,
but it's already starting to feel

a lot more solid and actually
sounds a lot more solid.

It's amazing.

I'm now going to fill
all the cracks.

I've chosen a two-part epoxy filler

because it is really nice
to work with

while it's still soft.
You can model with it,

you can smooth it with a little bit
of water on a spatula.

I need the fill to be as good

and as smooth and as flat
as possible

to give me a really good surface
to retouch.

The crack on the face is really
misaligned, really stepped,

and it's such a shame because
it's obviously the focal point.

So I'm going to have to
build that up

to try and smooth off that step.

The next stage is to try and
block out these white fills now.

I think I'm just going to start off
with an acrylic paint.

It's got quite a lot of brown
and ochre in it.

I can't help but think of Max

and his connection with his father

and this face and how it helped him.

It sounded like finding peace
around the loss of his...his father.

And as this starts to come back
together and become whole...

..I very much hope that
he will be able to reconnect

in the way that he did
before it broke.

Striving for some strong
connections of his own,

Julyan has been carefully
restringing David's steel guitar.

It's aligned exactly
where I want the strings.

She's ready to
hand back to David.

I really hope he likes it.

After an unfortunate accident,

David's 1930s guitar
was left unplayable,

locking away cherished memories
of his late father

and teenage gigging partner Terry
for 40 years.

Today, David is hoping to hear
its distinctive sound once again.

I'm very excited.

When I see the guitar again,
I'm just hoping

that it's...it looks a bit
like it was when I first saw it,

when my dad first played it.

To be able to play it again
is going to be really wonderful.

There he is.
How are you doing, sir?

Excited!

Just the excitement of thinking,

"I'm going to get this thing
in my hands again."

Are you ready, yeah?
I'm ready.

WHISPERS: Oh.

HE SIGHS SOFTLY

Wow.

Wow.

That's how I remember seeing it
when my dad played it,

looking that...really,
really lovely

but not looking like brand-new.
The character of it is... Oh!

That's beautiful.
Can I? Am I allowed to?

Of course you can, it's yours!

THEY LAUGH

Ohh-hoo-hoo-hoo!

Oh, this is tremendous.

It was really dull, it looked
really dull, didn't it, before?

But, you know, you can see
all that beautiful marking.

This is amazing.
Jule, you are so clever.

This is... You know, my dad,

I mean, if he was here, he'd give
you a big slap on the back for this.

You haven't heard it yet.

No, no.

Can I? Would you like a chair?

Can I... If I can sit down
somewhere? I'll get you a stool.

There you go, mate.

Ooh!

HE STRUMS

Yeah! Ooh!

Well done. Lovely. Great sound.

40 years.

She's come back to life, buddy.

Well, I came back to life, too.
That's amazing.

Wow. That sound is exactly
what my dad would have, you know,

originally, that was it.
Yeah. Wow.

My fingers hurt already.

What are you going to do with it
now? Are you going gigging again?

I... I don't think so somehow,
Jay, no.

In fact, I'll be remembering
the times when I played with Terry

around the pubs in Reading.
Yeah. And, you know,

those happy memories will come back
again. Yeah, of course they will.

Let's let you get it home then.

Enjoy. I will, thank you.
Good to see you. You take care.

Bye, thank you.
Bye now.

He's happy, I'm happy.

When I actually got hold
of the guitar

and started to play it,

the guitar sounded fantastic,

sounded just like I remembered.

I'm going to have to do
a bit of work

to pay tribute to the guitar now.

Making friends again
with my old friend.

It's a family affair on the repair
of the well-travelled trunk.

While Suzie gets clever
with leather,

Steve's task
is getting the case closed.

You all right? Yeah, yeah.
How are you doing?

So, can I take the case
so I can fit some keys to it?

Oh, um, if you could
just take these off? Yeah.

Then that would make my life
a lot easier. I really need

to take the whole case to work out
some way of making a key,

but without seeing the inside
of the lock -

I've not done that before.
Seriously? OK.

Well, I was hoping that you
wouldn't have to take it. Yeah.

OK, what I'll focus on then is
I've got to make a lot of keepers.

So if I get on and do that...
Yeah.

..please don't cause
any more damage.

Please! I'll try.

OK, brilliant. Thank you.

The first thing I'm going to do
is try all of my spare keys.

If I ever see any keys
in a junk shop, a pot of keys,

I'll always buy them.

Just can't have too many keys.

Meanwhile, Suzie is creating
12 new keepers,

the strips of leather
that hold the straps in place.

I've use the old keeper
as a template

and I've got
a super sharp knife here

that will give me
a really clean cut.

None of those fit.

These are the nearest ones.

First of all, I'm going to just
explore the actual inside

of the lock with my lockpick.

This is something that I've learnt
over the years

because there are so many
clock cases come in to my workshop

that people have lost the key,
and I've just learned

how to pick a lock, basically.

It's really rather lovely
that Steve is not only down here,

but we get to work on items
together.

I have to say, he is clever
and he does like a challenge

and he certainly
doesn't like to be beaten.

So he will give it his all.

I don't think he's ever said
he can't do something.

Good.

I've actually managed to pick
this lock, which is good news

for making a key for this.

So what I'm going to do now
is to just go through these keys

that I've got here
and try and reshape some of them

to actually go right into the lock.

Right. That is actually turning
the lock,

although it's quite a strain
to turn it.

That is very, very close
to being the right shape.

The danger now is that I file off
the wrong part

and have to start again.

Good. Done it.

There we go. Are you finished?

Well, I found a key
and altered it to fit. Brilliant.

Oh, thank you so much, superstar.

Now I've got the keepers made up,

they all need to be replaced
on the case.

I'm going to remove the lining.

You're not going to see
that it was repaired.

This case has gone through
many, many miles of travel,

and it's very typical over the years
that it gets weakened,

so they've split
along the corner here.

I'm starting by removing
these stitches

that are holding
these leather caps on.

I can see the holes that were used
to sew these two sides together.

What I need to do is go in
with some heavy thread,

bind that all back together.

This is a very important part
of making sure

that this case gets its
structural strength back.

And then I'm going to glue on top of
that some really strong pigskin,

and that'll make that corner nice
and strong and then I'll be able

to glue these caps back in place.

Lovely.

I'll let that dry and then it'll be
ready for me to sew back in place.

I'm really quite happy with that.

Thanks to Kirsten's rock-solid
skills, the ruinous effects

of an earthquake
are barely apparent on this tribute

to Michelangelo's David.

Having retouched
some of these fills by hand,

I've sort of basically
blocked in the base colour,

but to get this really lovely,
smooth surface,

the only way that I'm going to
achieve that is to airbrush it,

just to give it
that finishing touch.

So the knack with spraying
something like this

is that you just want
very, very fine coats

so that it's not actually covering
too much of the original.

The colour is very almost there,
so I'm going to put that to one side

just to dry.

I'm nearly there.

For Max, this beloved sculpture
provided a focus

as he grieved for his father.

I feel really excited and anxious.

I realise how much it means to me
so anything there is a positive.

I just want it to be what it is,
you know, for me in my arms again.

I am really looking forward to this.

How are you feeling?

I just hope that I've done justice.

You will have.

Here he is. Hello.

How are you doing, Max?

Very good. How are you?

Very good. Nice to see you.
Good to see you.

It was weird not having it with me.
Last night I didn't sleep much.

Oh.

So I guess I'm more anxious
about getting the feeling back.

And the feeling is?
It's just comfort, warmth, love

all put together.

Well, I hope and wish
that you get that feeling back.

OK, lovely. You ready?

Yes, I am. OK.

Wow.

Wow.

Wow.

Thank you. Thank you.

That's amazing.

So...how did you do that?

This is beautiful,
and I really want to thank you

from the bottom of my heart.
It means a lot.

Thank you so much.

I'm sure a lot of love went into it.

I feel it.

You've really helped me get
something back that I can't explain.

Thank you so much.

It's been a great pleasure.

Wow, that's fantastic.

I can't tell you how excited I am.
Honestly, I can't tell you.

You just want to get it home,
don't you?

I just want to get it home.

Is it... Can I? It's yours, Max.

Absolutely. It's yours. Yeah.

I'll get the door for you.
Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Max.

Bye-bye, take care. Thank you.
No problem, you take care.

Took me back to all the times
I've had with this face,

all the conversations, all the
feelings. All that came back.

I'm going to put it up on the wall
and touching it and feeling it

and talking to it and all the stuff
that comes with it.

I'm forever grateful.

Suzie is also homeward bound
on her restoration

of the 1940s leather trunk.

Her repairs will all be covered up
by glueing back the lining

she carefully peeled back earlier.

We've got this wonderful
smooth piece of glass

and it's completely rounded.

And what this does is it
just irons everything out,

so that it's nice and flat.

I'm hoping by the time
it's all dried and sewn in place,

Rodney won't be able to tell
the difference.

This antique trunk was showing
its age with busted corners,

fragile fittings, and locks
that hadn't worked for decades.

But to owner Rodney,
it's a reminder of his father

who journeyed across Mombasa,
Mogadishu and beyond.

This is a very big day.

It is the day which reunites me
with my father's memory

and the stories
that he used to tell.

Yes, it's a very special day today.

How we doing? Hello.

Hi, Rodney, nice to see you again.

Hello, Suzie. And you.

Are you looking forward
to seeing the case again?

Yes, it's hard to describe
the excitement.

I've missed it a lot. Yes.

And actually, what it's done

is to make me think
even more about it.

Really? I want him to see it.

You ready? I'm ready.

OK.

HE GASPS

That is amazing.

Extraordinary.

I'm astonished
at what you've been able to do.

This is exactly as I remembered it.

As you can see, I'm almost
lost for words by this.

What I love is the depth of colour.

The... And at the same time,
the marks that show

what it's been through,

the history is preserved,
but the leather...

..looks as though someone
has cared for it.

Oh, may I have a look?

Yes, please.

Steve was able to make the key.

Wow, that's astonishing.

Locks that actually work.

Oh, isn't that wonderful?

And to see these repairs
to the corners, it's...

I mean, I find that extraordinary.

That is truly amazing.

Yeah.

What wonderful workmanship

that you and Steve have both
managed to do here.

Thank you. Oh, thank you so much.

I think I'll make a run for it.

Because I think we all want to keep
the case, actually.

You'd best make a run for it.

Thank you. Take care now.
Enjoy.

Thank you very much.

Goodbye. Bye-bye. Bye.

Well done, you. Eh?

I'm so happy to see the work,
the care that has been taken,

the thought that has enabled it
to preserve the history.

My father would love the fact
that it has been restored,

but I know he will be pleased
and proud that we've taken care

of something that mattered
very much to him.

I'm so excited.

It's a great day.

Join us next time as the nation's
favourite craftsmen and women...

I'm the muscle, you're the brain.

..carry out that incredible
handiwork...

Oh, my goodness!

..in the Repair Shop.