The Bidding Room

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Factual: Antiques

Sellers come face to face with five dealers who battle it out to make the highest bid.

Nigel Havers presides as sellers come face to face with five dealers who battle it out to make the highest bid.

Nigel Havers presides as members of the public with interesting items to sell come face to face with five dealers who bid against each other to try to bag themselves a bargain.

Before facing the dealers, each seller has their item valued by auctioneer Simon Bower. Simon also gives them top tips on the history and key characteristics of their piece, so that when they enter the bidding room, they have all the information they need to try to haggle the best possible price from the dealers.

All the dealers are spending their own money but have no idea what the sellers have brought in.

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Nigel Havers

Claire Egerton-Jones

Rae Gilder Cooke

Dave Martin

Ricochet Ltd

The Bidding Room: Series 5: Spinning Top

Spinning Top

BBC One - The Bidding Room, Series 5, Spinning Top

Airline seats, a rickshaw and a spinning top turn heads in the Bidding Room.

Nigel Havers presides as five sellers aim to get the best price for their items, including a spinning top, a rickshaw, a 19th-century vase, airline seats and a religious carving.

Nigel Havers welcomes sellers of collectibles and curiosities to the Bidding Room's new home in Edinburgh, where they ply their wares to five dealers.  

First through the doors is Evelyn with some treasure from her husband's family loft. A once-cherished spinning top has been hidden away for years and is now ready to brighten more children’s lives. Evelyn is hoping to find the right buyer and raise some money for her husband’s 'big birthday'.  

Ringing his way in next is David with an unusual method of transport. He's rescued a dilapidated Indonesian rickshaw from a furniture yard in Cornwall, and after hours of restoration work it’s now back on the road and ready to impress the dealers.  

Third into the room is Margaret with a historic vase that needs to be taken into someone else's care. It’s been in the family for decades but has been living in a cupboard for years in fear of the vase being broken. Will any of the dealers see the value in the aesthetic piece and give it a good, and safe, home?

Landing in our Edinburgh HQ next is Simon from Cambridge with a pair of reclining aeroplane seats. They’ve been a novelty item in his restaurant, but now the chairs need to be moved on – which has really upset Simon’s son. Will the bidding for these chairs take off? 

Finally, it’s Paul who’s back in the room for a second time. He’s brought a wooden carving of Christ on the Cross, bought by accident in an online auction. He was meant to be shopping for a purple shirt, so will any of the dealers give him a good price for the carving – or will it be buttons? 

Today's dealers are Ian, Estelle, Moses, Lucy and new Glasgow-based dealer Mac, as well as Jacqui, Adi and Jo.

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