PRECIOUS MOMENTS

From a rock star’s guitar to Beatrix Potter’s pictures and a rare urn used as a goal post, we celebrate some of Antiques Roadshow’s most memorable discoveries

We celebrate some of the most memorable treasures uncovered over 40 years on Antiques Roadshow

As Antiques Roadshow celebrates its 40th birthday, the value of the BBC’s Sunday evening favourite is beyond reckoning. For each of its 766 shows, thousands of hopefuls have queued round the block clutching objects, eager to discover whether they are priceless or worthless. Six million of us at home love to guess ‘What’s it worth?’ as we await the sharp intakes of breath and gentle whoops of delight, or a resigned groan, when they find out the truth.

The Roadshow started on 17 May 1977, when a group of antiques experts and a BBC production team came together in Hereford’s town hall to make a pilot programme. Now there are around 56 experts on the show plus the presenter, Fiona Bruce. Fiona, who’s been with the show since 2008, loves its unpredictability. ‘It has suspense, drama, the unexpected, the slightly bonkers and things that are sometimes very moving,’ she says. ‘Is this going to be a piece of priceless Fabergé or a Picasso as we had in one series, and could I have something like that mouldering on the mantelpiece?’

Now a new book celebrates some of the weird and wonderful finds, from rare items that languished forgotten in cupboards for decades to the poignant tapestry started by a teenager who was paralysed in a motorbike crash. A tribute to his favourite rock band, Status Quo, it was ‘completed’ by band members Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt when they added their signatures.