The Repair Shop

Original version

BBC One North West HD

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.

Series 12

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

BBC One HD

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 Oxfordshire HD

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 HD

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

BBC One South HD

BBC One West Midlands

BBC One Oxfordshire

BBC One Yorkshire

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 Yorkshire HD

BBC One London

London

BBC One North West

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 South West

BBC One Channel Islands

BBC One West

BBC One West Midlands HD

BBC One Yorks & Lincs

BBC One region covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

BBC One East Midlands

BBC One North East & Cumbria 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 Yorks & Lincs HD

BBC One South East

BBC One East HD

BBC One Cambridgeshire

BBC One East Midlands HD

BBC One Channel Islands HD

BBC One Cambridgeshire 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

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

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

BBC One Wales HD

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

BBC One Scotland HD

Jay Blades

Bill Paterson

Dominic Chinea

Louise Drover

Steven Fletcher

William Kirk

Kirsten Ramsay

Matt Baker

Ingo Nyakairu 

James Bainbridge

Hannah Lamb

Emma Walsh

Paula Fasht

Jade Kitson

The Repair Shop: Series 12: Episode 14

Episode 14

BBC One - The Repair Shop, Series 12, Episode 14

The team restore a 1950s hot towel machine used by generations of Cypriot barbers.

The experts rejuvenate a 1950s hot towel machine for a family of Cypriot barbers, and a ceramic poppy created for the WW1 centenary art installation at the Tower of London.

The team restores four precious heirlooms, including a shattered ceramic poppy for a war veteran, which was created for the art installation at the Tower of London to commemorate the centenary of WW1, and a 1950s hot towel machine passed down a Cypriot family of barbers. Also on the job sheet is a portrait in pastels of a much-missed sister.

The first arrival is for ceramics conservator Kirsten Ramsay. Steph and her stepmother Alex are entrusting Kirsten with a shattered ceramic poppy that reminds the women of a loved father and husband. The red poppy was created for the momentous 2014 art installation at the Tower of London to commemorate the centenary of WW1. Each of the 888,246 poppies that filled the moat surrounding the Tower represented the lost lives of British soldiers. Thousands of visitors went to gaze at the dramatic sight, and among them were Steph and her late father, Pete. He was extremely proud of his daughter who served in the Royal Artillery, and he bought one of the poppies as a reminder of their day together. Tragically, Pete died of a rare blood disease in 2017 and, just a few months after, Alex decided to move it inside from her garden for safe keeping when it broke into pieces in her hands. Alex knows Pete would want his daughter to have it. That is, however, if Kirsten can piece it back together.

Barber Panos Adamou is the next to arrive, with a vintage tool of the trade for metal master Dom Chinea to spark back to life. The hot towel machine was bought in the 1950s by Panos’ Cypriot father, Peter. He settled in the UK, along with many other Commonwealth citizens, to work hard and achieve his ambitions. He trained to be a barber and opened a successful shop where this machine was installed to produce hot towels and water for the wet shaves. Panos and his brother both followed in their father’s footsteps and worked alongside him for years, with the hot towel machine loyally steaming away. Eventually, in the 1980s, the machine gave up and was banished to the basement. The Adamou brothers lost their dad recently, and Panos would love to get the machine back in service at his own barber shop in Peter’s memory. Dom has a lot of limescale to contend with, which has clogged up all the fixings and has caused it to spring several leaks. Time to showcase his soldering skills. 

Next, it’s horologist Steve Fletcher's time to shine when Jasvinder comes to call with the clock that was her father, Darshan’s, pride and joy. He bought the distinctive wall clock in the 1960s. These timepieces are known as 30 day clocks as they only need winding once a month, a task that Darshan took very seriously. Jasvinder and her brother clearly remember its resonating chime. It’s a sound she dreams of hearing again, knowing it will remind her of her father who she lost when she was just eight years old. Steve tackles the enormous main springs which are gummed up with oil, and does his best to make Jasvinder’s dream come true.

Lastly, sisters Tiffany and Sarah arrive with a precious reminder of their elder sister Tracy, who died as teenager. The sweet portrait of Tracy, done in pastels when she was 13 years old, is terribly stained, and they are banking on paper conservator Louise Drover being able to improve and preserve it. Louise uses various ingenious tricks of the trade to transform the picture and wow the sisters.

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

Episode 14

Contributors

Genres

Brand

Series

BBC One North West HD

About BBC One