The Vintage French Farmhouse 

Original version

BBC One North West

The Vintage French Farmhouse

Factual: Antiques

Entertainment

Three dealers head to French markets in an antique-buying and online-selling adventure.

Antiques en France. On a buying trip to Provence, dealers are on the hunt for hidden treasures in its fabulous markets. Can they turn a profit from their purchases?

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Nigel Havers

Melissa Drabble

Lucy Ryder Richardson

Jon Swanston

Rob Butterfield

Rae Gilder Cooke

Dave Martin

Hayley Smith

The Vintage French Farmhouse: Series 1: Episode 3

Episode 3

BBC One - The Vintage French Farmhouse, Series 1, Episode 3

Three dealers head to Carpentras in an antique-buying, online-selling adventure.

Three antiques dealers head to a French farmhouse on a buying trip to the region’s best antiques markets and compete to sell their finds. This time, they’re in Carpentras.

Antiques dealers Melissa Drabble, Lucy Ryder Richardson and Jon Swanston are on a buying trip to the south of France. Their base is a historic farmhouse in Provence - perfectly located close to some of the country’s best antiques markets, or 'brocantes' as they’re locally known.

This time, the trio are heading to Carpentras, a hub for trade since the time of ancient Greece and now host to a market that attracts dealers from all over the region looking for new stock. Here, they compete to find two hidden treasures each to buy and then sell online for the most profit. The trio’s first challenge is to find something they know will appeal to their loyal customers and social media followers.

Scrapyard owner Mel is no stranger to lumps of metal, and she soon finds two intriguing ones: a pair of vintage compasses. They are in need of a good clean, but if she can do a good deal on both and find out more about their background, she may just be able to sell them on to a collector of militaria for a significant profit.

Art lover Jon sees potential in a set of vintage French educational posters. They’re inexpensive but give him a dilemma - should he try to move them on quickly, hoping his clients embrace the rough and ready charm that first attracted him, or spend time framing them up, which might make them more attractive to retail buyers but will give him less time to work on sales?

Mid-century chair expert Lucy soon zeros in on an exciting find: a 'Suzy' stool by designer Adrian Reed – but it’s in questionable condition. She takes the plunge, but will her discerning clients be able to see past its less-than-perfect presentation and bag a flea market bargain?

The dealers don’t only have to contend with the language barrier and a short selling period, as each day one gets the chance to turn up the pressure and set them all a challenge to shop to a specific brief. It’s Magpie Mel’s turn, and she challenges them to search this bustling weekly market for something shiny.

With six items bought between them, it’s back to the farmhouse to size up the competition. The 17th-century farmhouse, set amongst vineyards and olive groves, provides the ideal backdrop for our dealers to take the photographs and videos they hope will make their Provençal pieces stand out when they come to post their objects online.

With just a day to secure a sale and the battle on to make the most profit, which of our trio will come out on top?

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