The Repair Shop
Wednesday, 8pm, BBC1 Factual
Jay Blades and his team have the honour of meeting the then Prince Charles, who picks out two pieces for them to restore – an 18th-century bracket clock and a vase made for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. Filmed at Dumfries House in Scotland, some students from The Prince’s Foundation Building
Craft Programme help the team repair the items.
THE REPAIR SHOP: A ROYAL VISIT Wednesday, 8pm, BBC1 Factual
The Repair Shop team take on a royal request when they’re tasked with repairing two items selected by our new King in a special programme marking the BBC’S centenary. Filmed before the King’s accession to the throne, cameras follow Jay Blades, ceramics expert Kirsten Ramsay, horologist
Steve Fletcher and furniture restorer Will
Kirk as they travel to
Dumfries House in
Scotland to meet His
Majesty and learn about The Prince’s Foundation’s work training the next generation of craftspeople. In a lovely surprise, Jay discovers that he and the monarch share a passion for preserving heritage craft skills! ‘You have someone from a council estate and someone from a royal estate that have the same interests about apprenticeships and
heritage crafts,’ says Jay. ‘It’s unbelievable to see that two people from different ends of the spectrum actually have the same interests!’
Royal restoration
Back at the barn, the team get to work on the daunting task of restoring two very special pieces on behalf of His Majesty – an 18th-century bracket clock that won’t chime, and a Wemyss Ware commemorative vase made for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, which is broken in half!
Meanwhile, metal expert Dom Chinea is joined by Jeremy, a graduate from The Prince’s Foundation Building Craft Programme, to help renovate a very special fire set in the shape of a solider with a poignant story behind its existence.
But what will His Majesty think of the team’s hard graft when he arrives at the barn to be reunited with his items?
‘It was an honour for the team to meet the former Prince of Wales. I don’t think it’s sunk in, to tell you the truth,’ says Jay. ‘I don’t know if he watches The Repair Shop regularly, but we all believe he’s a fan!’