The Repair Shop: NHS Special

Original version

BBC One Yorks & Lincs HD

The Repair Shop

Factual: Antiques

Shining a light on the wonderful treasures to be found in homes across the country.

Enter a workshop filled with expert craftspeople, bringing loved pieces of family history and the memories they hold back to life. A heartwarming antidote to throwaway culture.

NHS Special

BBC Two

BBC One Nightlight

The BBC South West region started on 20th April 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South West.

BBC One South West

BBC One South West HD

BBC One Yorks & Lincs

Formerly part of a wider BBC One South East region that included London and part of the South region. Separated from BBC One London 2001-09-03 following reorganisation of the South East region.

BBC One South East HD

The BBC North East & Cumbria region started in 1959 (tbc) as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One North East & Cumbria.

BBC One North East & Cumbria

The BBC East region started on 1st May 1959 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One East.

BBC One East

BBC One London

London

The BBC West region started on 1st September 1957 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One West.

BBC One West HD

BBC One West Midlands HD

BBC One region covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

BBC One East Midlands

BBC One South East

BBC One North East & Cumbria HD

BBC One Yorkshire HD

Simulcast of network BBC One in high definition. From 03/11/2010

BBC One HD

Formerly part of a wider BBC One South East region. Separated as BBC One London 2001-09-03 following reorganisation of the South East region.

BBC One London HD

BBC One Channel Islands

BBC One West

BBC One West Midlands

BBC One East Midlands HD

BBC One Oxfordshire

The BBC South region started on 5th January 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South.

BBC One South

BBC One Cambridgeshire

BBC One Oxfordshire HD

BBC One Channel Islands HD

BBC One South HD

BBC One Cambridgeshire HD

BBC One East HD

BBC One Yorkshire

BBC One North West

BBC One North West HD

Simulcast of BBC One Scotland in high definition. From 14/01/2013

BBC One Scotland HD

Simulcast of BBC One Wales in high definition. From 29/01/2013

BBC One Wales HD

BBC One Wales

Wales

BBC One Scotland

Scotland

Simulcast of BBC One Northern Ireland in high definition. From 24/10/2012

BBC One Northern Ireland HD

BBC Northern Ireland region started on 19th April 1955 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One Northern Ireland.

BBC One Northern Ireland

Simulcast of network BBC Two in high definition.

BBC Two HD

BBC Two England

England

Simulcast of BBC Two Northern Ireland in high definition

BBC Two Northern Ireland HD

BBC Two Northern Ireland

Until 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales (analogue) was known simply as BBC Two Wales. BBC Two Wales (digital) was BBC 2W. From 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales schedules on both analogue and digital became identical

BBC Two Wales

Simulcast of BBC Two Wales in high definition

BBC Two Wales HD

Jay Blades

Bill Paterson

William Kirk

Dominic Chinea

Christopher Shaw

Suzie Fletcher

Brenton West

Paula Fasht

Hannah Lamb

Emma Walsh

Matt Baker

Kim Boursnell

Rachael Pagett

James Bainbridge

Ricochet Ltd

The Repair Shop: Series 12: NHS Special

Series 12

BBC One - The Repair Shop, Series 12, NHS Special

The team celebrates 75 years of the NHS by reviving items that include a hospital food trolley and a patient diary belonging to writer Michael Rosen.

To celebrate 75 years of the NHS, the team revives four precious items chronicling the evolution of the publicly funded healthcare system founded in 1948.

First to arrive are two nurses who have devoted their working lives to the NHS. Approaching retirement, Catherine is the longest-standing staff member on a children’s ward at Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey, while Katie is the senior sister on the same ward. They need the expertise of metal man Dominic Chinea to get their hospital food trolley back on track. The Thomas the Tank Engine trolley provides light relief for sick children as it’s wheeled into the ward three times a day to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s been a feature on the ward for more than 30 years, but it is starting to show its age. It’s full steam ahead for Dom who needs to get the trolley back to the hospital as soon as possible for the children to enjoy.

Next, the barn team welcomes a very important visitor who owes his life to the NHS, children’s author and poet Michael Rosen. He’s hoping bookbinder Chris Shaw can repair the daily diary kept by nurses and carers whilst he was in a 40-day induced coma at the start of the pandemic. The modern spiral notebook is Michael’s record of this time when family members were unable to visit. The hospital staff were the only people in close contact with him and used the diary to relay what was happening to Michael day by day. The patient diary was gifted to him when he was finally discharged from the critical care unit. Along with the notebook, Michael has brought the many letters, drawings and notes that his young fans sent to him while he was in hospital. Currently being stored in a messy bundle, Chris gets to work to create a more fitting tribute for the thoughtful artwork, leaving the usually eloquent Michael momentarily lost for words.

Next into the barn are Dr Adrian and his daughter Lydia with a 1960s GP’s bag holding memories of Adrian’s late father Noel. Born in Burma, Noel attended medical school in the 1950s but came to the UK in the 1960s to escape the military regime. Once here, Noel found work as a GP and spent his entire career dedicating himself to the NHS. His son also became a GP, and his granddaughter Lydia is currently training to be a dentist, meaning his lifetime dedication to healthcare lives on in his family. Leather expert Suzie Fletcher joins forces with silversmith Brenton West, who needs to get Noel’s old medical instruments back in working order.

The barn’s final visitors are another NHS family. Husband and wife Bill and Kate and their daughter Fiona have all worked for the NHS. They’ve brought along an old wooden desk that Bill saved from being thrown away when he was a student at nursing school in 1987. Bill went on to do all his studying at the desk and subsequently spent 37 years specialising in mental health. His wife Kate has worked for many years as an NHS administrator, also using the desk to study for her own qualifications. Now daughter Fiona is working as an occupational therapist in an NHS community mental health team, something that makes her parents very proud. Woodwork whizz Will Kirk is tasked with revamping this important little desk in tribute to their hard work.

The Repair Shop: Series 12

BBC One

Damaged treasures are brought back to life by some of the country's best craftspeople.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Repair Shop

Series 12

NHS Special

Contributors

Genres

Brand

Series

BBC One Yorks & Lincs HD

About BBC One