Tom O'Connor Cash in the Celebrity Attic

Hello and welcome to

the show that searches the homes of the famous for collectibles,

then we take them to auction and raise money for truly good causes.

Today, I'm meeting one of Britain's best-loved comedians and entertainers.

He was born in Liverpool and originally he was a schoolteacher,

but he swapped teaching for showbiz back in 1974.

Now, during the 80's, he used to present many quiz and game shows like Name That Tune.

He presented a show that involved crosswords, so here's one for you,

he's an entertaining golfer, 3 across, 7 down.

Have you guessed who it is yet?

Today I'm in Berkshire to meet all-round entertainer and a really good bloke, Tom O'Connor.

Tom has been a regular face on our TV screens for over 30 years.

He hit the big time when he won the prestigious 70's talent show Opportunity Knocks,

but it was as a game show host that Tom made his mark on the nation -

Crosswits, Gambit and, of course, Name That Tune all being huge hits for the funny man from Merseyside.

Today, Tom spends as much time as he can playing golf. In fact, he actually lives on a golf course.

I just don't know how his good wife, Pat, puts up with it all,

but at least she knows where to find him and where he is at any time,

and that's precisely what antique's expert John Cameron and I need to do right now.

Coming up on Cash In The Celebrity Attic,

a giant drinking vessel from the '60s reminds Tom of his old routine.

It's a bit early for a nightcap, Tom, isn't it?

This is the new Liverpool brandy, it's called a back to school drink.

Two glasses of this and you're in a class of your own, mate.

We reminisce about his rise to fame on Opportunity Knocks.

-Benny Hill took his shoes off and gave them to me.

-And so you walked on.

-Yes.

Hughie Green said, "It's a sign, pal," and it was.

And Tom offers the bidders an alternate use for one of his lots at auction.

It is brass, so scrap wise it should be worth at least 1,000.

You've done me a great favour there, thanks. We're trying to sell these things, Tom.

But will they buy it? Find out with the final fall of the gavel.

Gone.

-Tom O'Connor, how did I know I'd find you on a golf course? How are you?

-I'm fine.

My goodness. This is John.

-Pleased to meet you.

-So having such a gorgeous house right in the middle of a golf course,

I assume this is how you spend your days every day?

Yes, of course. The daily grind, isn't it, awful?

-What handicap are you?

-Nine.

-Nine, that's good.

-That's fantastic.

I'm useless on the golf course, Tom, but I play off scratch where my rummaging is concerned.

-You're the man.

-On that note,

-we're going to meet Pat, and you're going to do some rummaging, John.

-Come on then.

-OK.

Well, I'm really pleased that John's eager to get started so let's hope his rummaging skills are on par.

It is the lovely Mrs O'Connor.

-Pat, how are you? It's lovely to see you again.

-Lovely to see you.

-Will you say hello and goodbye to John because he's going to work?

-Hi, John.

-I've going to rummage.

See you later. I was just saying, this is like paradise in here.

-So how long have you lived here?

-30 years.

How did you find it, because it's right off the beaten track in a way?

-Pat found it, didn't you?

-I did. You were in Torquay, I think, at the time and I got an estate agent

to find a list of houses, and he found 10 and this was the first one I saw.

She said, "It's a wonderful house, it has six bedrooms, duh duh duh duh, and a golf course." "Buy it!"

He said that's the one.

So let's establish then what you're charity is going to be today.

It's a local charity called Children With Special Needs Foundation, and we literally have children in our area.

We buy wheelchairs, lifts for them to go up and down in their own houses,

I take them dream flights to places like Florida, get them rides on Formula One cars.

-We make dreams come true.

-Fantastic. So it's something you feel really passionate about.

-Yes, yes.

How much to you reckon you might be able to raise today?

-Fingers crossed on £700, we'll see.

-That's pretty good, that's healthy.

-That'd be nice.

-As you know, John went that a-way

in order to start rummaging, so I think we should follow, hey?

-OK, fine.

-Lead on, dear.

I can't wait to have a good look around Tom's stunning home,

which at first glance looks like it might hide some fascinating pieces.

John's already set to work and may just have found evidence of another of Tom's pastimes.

Hey, spot on cue, if I may say, John.

-It's one big break.

-Don't tell me you've time to play snooker as well.

-I used to until the table went.

What do you mean, the table went?

What happened, we used to have the table in a room below our bedroom,

and at 3 o'clock one morning, I heard these balls going, "Duh duh duh duh,"

so I got up and said to my son, "You and the other two, scoot,"

and threw them out. I don't know they were Wham.

-You mean George Michael?

-Yes.

I got rid of the table anyway and we put it in storage,

and they said it's so many pounds a week, and we never paid anything.

Eventually, we ended up owing them the table, so they kept the table and I kept the cues and all the bits.

-Are you being serious, that's the story?

-It's true, yes.

You've got some interesting bits,

a couple of good Liverpool makers I see on there, Tom, Ashcrofts.

Interestingly, the origins of the modern game are accredited to

a Colonel Sir Neville Francis Fitzgerald Chamberlain.

-Rather you than us.

-It's still a very popular sport.

After the heyday of Joe Davies and his brother Fred in the early 20th century,

snooker nearly died out and it was only the commissioning of the famous TV programme Pot Black

-that revived the sport, and do you know who commissioned that programme?

-No.

-David Attenborough.

-No.

-Did he really? Gosh. I tell you what I love, I just love the stand.

I think it looks terrific with all the cues that go round it.

It is a lovely thing, isn't it?

-Does have a bit of damage, some of the clips are missing, but...

-That'd be easy to replace, wouldn't it?

You could get some for that, and the scoreboard's OK.

-The triangle is coming apart at the joint, but could be fixed.

-Aren't we all?

I was just going to say that myself.

-Some of these cues are straight.

-They are?

-Ruins my game completely.

How much do you reckon we might get for it at auction?

I think, conservatively, I would put an estimate of £100 to £200,

but be very confident that it should hit my top estimate, if not more.

I think that's a very healthy start, a great amount for the charity if it comes true.

-So shall we go this way and see what else we can find?

-OK.

Whilst we've been hearing all about Tom's disappearing snooker table,

Pat's been busy searching for valuables upstairs and comes across a lace funeral bonnet,

once an essential item, I'm told, for ladies in Victorian England.

There's still a big market for quality vintage clothing in the UK,

and who knows, it may end up appearing in a period costume drama.

John thinks it could fetch as much as £30 to £40 at auction.

-I've something here that might interest you. Dad brought that back from the war.

-Where was he serving?

On the Western Front, so he ended up in Hamburg. He was an anti-aircraft gunner.

-Really? So how come he ended up with all these?

-Well, he did a deal.

He never smoked in his life and he had a pile of fags and he swapped these with some German guy.

It's an interesting collection and I think provenance is the key to it.

Ever since the Second World War there's been an instant fascination and demand

for World War 2 German medals, badges, insignias, and so on.

So much so that it's generated a lot of reproductions, outright forgeries,

so there are a lot of auctioneers that won't even make a statement

as to the authenticity of items because they're just so unsure.

But we've got good provenance, you're saying they came back from World War 2.

-Let's have a look at what we've got. There's an interesting one, a great one to start, close combat.

-Yes.

-Do you know what that is?

-It was given to ladies who had five or more children.

This is the basic one, which is five kids, so you have to have nine to get the gold medal.

-That's why they did silver and gold bars.

-The things I did for you in the war.

-That's a First World War wound badge.

-The shape of the helmet.

Exactly. This one, the Narvik, this is a maritime badge,

that was from 1940, we've got the anchor crossed with the prop, that's a popular one.

-So it's a nice collection here.

-It's tremendous.

Certainly an interesting thing at auction, I'd say at least £200 or £300's worth.

But what I'd like to do, if I can take these to a specialist militaria collector and dealer that I know,

and get him to cast his eye over them to confirm these are period pieces

that have come back from the War, then my estimate might prove a bit conservative.

And the medals prove to be a big hit with the crowd at auction, but how much will they raise?

Any advance on 210? 220? 220. 230?

230 I have. 240?

240. 250?

We'll find out how high the bidding goes later.

Thanks very much indeed, bless you.

But as our rummage continues, we've already found effects with a potential auction value of £330,

which is almost half of our target already.

Tom continues the search in the study where he finds this collection of model Ferraris.

Now, he gave these to his Italian son-in-law for Christmas,

but he left them behind by mistake and he's never picked them up.

It's too late now because Tom's packing them off to auction,

and John values them at £30 to £40.

I'll be making sure I don't leave anything behind when I leave!

Outside, Pat's keen to show John that it's not just the house that's brimming with collectibles.

-Here we go, here he is.

-Is this it?

-Little beauty.

-So what's the story with it, Pat?

-Well, the story is it belonged to two of my grandchildren,

their other nana bought it for them, but it was too big to keep in their house.

So we took it to a nursery that they used to go to

and it was there for two years and the children really enjoyed it.

But then all the new rules came in with Health and Safety, so we were asked to take it back.

So it came back and it's been in the garage ever since so it might as well give somebody else some pleasure.

Rocking horses have been around for literally centuries and centuries,

but they were produced in any major quantity in the 19th century after the Industrial Revolution.

They come in three basic types, this type here on the rockers, you have a similar type, but on ironwork,

on a fixed stand with ironwork which swings backwards and forwards

like the old cheese cutters, do you remember in the swing parks?

-I do, yes.

-Then there's a third type, which is rare, where you have a stand, a thick spring,

and that fixes underneath the tail so the horse bounces up and down.

-Those are quite rare. Does look like it wants a bit of work to it, you've lost the handles there.

-Yes.

-It's got a split here. How did this happen?

-I took it out one lovely summer's day

and put it on the lawn, forgot about it, and the kids tried to lift it back in here,

and it was so heavy, it tippled over and he nearly broke his neck.

-What a shame.

-And these two pieces here, but I'm sure it can be mended.

-You say it went on the lawn?

-I bet it made less damage than Tom with his clubs.

-It did.

-We can certainly send it to auction.

-OK.

I think, even in that condition, we'll be looking at £200 to £400.

-Wow, that's good.

-Are you happy with that?

-I am.

-Hopefully, it won't fall at the first fence and will gallop all the way to our top estimate.

-OK.

-Come on, that's enough of this outside business, let's see what the others are doing.

-OK, thank you.

Well, what a terrific addition to our ever-growing fund

which gets a further boost when Tom adds this acrylic painting to the list of goodies for sale.

It was painted by Surrey-based artist Sue Jelley, a patron of Tom's charity.

He's very kindly donated it to the cause.

John's impressed and it heads off to the auction

with a very tempting £100 to £200 estimate.

I have to say we're having such a successful day here with Tom and Pat,

and I know with his busy work schedule and love of golf, it's a privilege to find him at home.

It strikes me you've two lives going on here because you have the complete tranquillity of this house,

steeped in acres of land, yet you're on the road on that busy motorway a lot.

I always think driving home, "Where would I want to be but here?"

-How often do you play golf?

-Every day.

-Every single day?

Yes, even if it's only on a driving range hitting balls.

It's a great hobby because, a) you choose your own company, b) you choose your own time of the day.

And you just ring all your mates and see who's available that day?

Yes, you find out who's in town, and if they can't play, they'll send somebody.

-So you always have a showbiz friend to play with?

-That's right.

You didn't go into comedy originally, you went into teaching.

So was that a given from your family, did they encourage you to do that?

Yes. My dad wanted me to be a priest, my mother wanted me to be a doctor,

I didn't fancy either so I said, "Will you settle for teaching?"

Teaching in those days was a highly-respected profession.

Absolutely. It's funny with Irish families - if you have a priest in the family...

-That's right.

-..that is special.

-First one had to be a priest, first girl had to be a nun.

-Yes.

-Then they slackened that for the others.

-A teacher, a doctor.

-I enjoyed teaching, it was good. I enjoyed the response from children.

I used to love the first half hour, whizzing in and doing quick-fire questions with them.

Did you use some of your funny lines in school as well?

I burnished my act on school.

So how did you transfer humour in the classroom to the stage?

Well, Pat kept having babies, we had three before we realised.

What was causing it?

Then she couldn't teach any more so I decided to go into the pubs and clubs and workingmen's.

I played the guitar and sang, did a couple of gags,

and they were great days because the workingmen's clubs were on every corner.

-Everywhere.

-In Liverpool, there must have been a dozen nightclubs.

Every big city had at least one nightclub, we thought it would last forever.

But then I went on Opportunity Knocks and that was the big one.

Would you say Opportunity Knocks changed your life overnight?

Without doubt, it absolutely did.

The story that happened to me was, when I went down to do the very first ever Opp Knocks,

Pat packed my bag and she put two left shoes in the bag.

When they used to announce you, you had to come down some steps.

I said to Hughie Green, "Mr Green, I can't come down the stairs in the shoes,"

and this was the dress rehearsal, all the camera crew sitting there.

I said, "I literally cannot walk," and a voice in the dark said, "What size shoes are they?" I said, "9."

-He said, "Put these on." Benny Hill.

-No.

-Benny Hill took his shoes off and gave them to me.

-So you walked on?

-Yes. Hughie Green said, "It's a sign," and it was.

-A true story, that.

-I have to tell you, Tom,

we're enjoying ourselves too much here, we'd better get back to work.

-Get something sold.

-Get more things for our £700 target, OK?

To be honest, I could listen to Tom's stories all day,

and I think if Tom had his way, I probably would.

Whilst we've been chatting, John has been having a good look upstairs,

and he spots a framed picture of the Queen Mary II.

It's part of a collection of limited edition memorabilia,

which Tom was given by a friend who was on the ship's maiden voyage back in 2004.

Now there are two china cups to go along with it, and John thinks

this historic lot could fetch upwards of £75 at auction.

That's what we like to hear.

Now, to get us in the mood for his next find,

young Tom has slipped into something a little more comfortable.

Oh, my goodness!

It's a bit early in the day for a nightcap, Tom, isn't it?

This is the new Liverpool brandy, it's called a back to school drink.

Two glasses of this and you're in a class of your own, mate.

Are you trying to tell us that you're a drinker here, Tom?

No, I don't drink at all actually.

-That was presented to me by a pub, you know.

-Was it?

-A Merseyside pub gave me that.

-For what reason?

I won Opportunity Knocks and they sent a lot of votes in for me,

so it's to cheer me on my way. The first week I won, they sent me that.

-Isn't that phenomenal?

-So this has got to be late 60's, early 70's.

-That's right, yes.

Known as a brandy glass or snifter, although it's a rather...

-Large one.

-..big brandy glass.

You can swish the brandy round in the bottom and that shape

will funnel it up to one's nose, get the aroma.

It's so heavy you need a brandy to be able to lift it, don't you?

It's a nice thing with a good provenance and certainly something we can send to auction today.

So, John, big question for a big glass, how much do you reckon at auction?

Ordinarily, if that came in, I'd say £30 to £50, something like that,

but with star provenance who knows where we might end up?

In the meantime though, this one is going.

I think so. A nice item, I'd be glad to see it taken to auction.

-Are you going to carry it out and look after it carefully?

-I think I ought to.

-You go first.

We're really finding a great mix of collectibles and memorabilia to take with us to auction,

so hopefully there'll be something for everybody come sale day.

However, will there be any takers for this sporran?

That's enough now, John, thank you very much indeed. Enough, enough.

Tom won it, I'm told, together with the hip flask,

after beating his great friend and fellow comedian Russ Abbott at a round of golf many years ago.

Tom hasn't found too many opportunities to wear it,

surprise, surprise, so he's happy to let it go along with the flask.

And John thinks they could add another £30 to £50

to the ever-increasing kitty.

Well, this is like rogues gallery,

it's like the long gallery with all your family and career and everything. It's fantastic.

It reminds me of the family, starting with our four children and going through to 13 grandchildren now.

And is this the very young Tom O'Connor with the guitar?

It is. He's 25 years old, I was never that old.

The guitar was amazing, it's a pre-war Gretsch guitar.

I sold it for £12 when we had absolutely no money,

the kids were starving and we needed money, and it's probably worth several thousand now.

-It was worth hundreds when I sold it.

-Isn't that amazing?

-Are you being serious that you had no money?

-No money at all.

-Do you remember that period, Pat?

-Oh, I do, very well.

-So you were glad of the 12 quid?

-I was.

As teachers, it was one and a half month's wages.

-It was an amazing amount of money.

-Actually, that's a very good point.

The pair of you were teachers in the early part of your relationship, where was that?

Well, we met in Richmond and when we got married, we went to live in Liverpool.

Then I started having children

-and we couldn't manage without two wages.

-So hence the guitar had to go?

-So hence the guitar had to go.

Then I got a cheap guitar and went on the clubs and pubs round Liverpool singing.

It was a hard time. What was good for me was I was teaching maths,

she would mark the papers for me while I was out working in the clubs.

What's it like living with somebody so steeped in comedy?

It's great fun, you know, every day is different, but you have fun all the time.

Pat sets a test me.

If I wake her up with a story and she listens, then it's a good story,

if she laughs, that's just to shut me up. If she actually listens, I put it in the act.

Well, we've a few more things to look out so why don't we head in that direction?

-I love these photographs, they're great.

-Thank you.

As we commence one final search of the house, Tome decides that the time has come

to part with a possession he holds very close to his heart, it's his Top Shirt Wearer of 1989 award.

I'd like to know who Tom was up against if he won it!

It's fun, and John thinks that with a bit of luck and hopefully some Tom O'Connor fans in the room,

it might fetch £30 to £40 on sale day.

And it would seem that Tom is not done yet as he may just have been saving the best to last.

-I have to tell you, he's got quite a fine leg there.

-He has.

-He's ready for dancing.

-We're talking about your legs.

-I'm staggering under the weight of this.

-What have you got there?

-Hang on to them.

-What an imposing looking book.

So what's the story with this, Tom?

-Where did you get this?

-The charity gave me this particular copy.

I've got two other books of Princess Di, which will be part of the lot.

Was this when all the dresses were auctioned off at Christies?

-That's right.

-So it was a very special event, wasn't it?

It was a fantastic book, a huge sell, it made worldwide news,

-and do you know the sale was suggested by her son, William?

-I didn't know that.

-Yes,

and the sale took place in New York to huge demand for the catalogues,

so much so they printed this very fine, glossy hardback version here,

which is now almost a collector's item in its own right.

-I think 80 dresses in total, which made around 3 million.

-Really?

I'm sure you'll remember when she visited the White House

-and danced the very famous dance with a certain John Travolta.

-Yes.

-John Travolta, yes.

That was the dress she wore, there we are, dark blue velvet designed by Victor Edelstein.

When this dress came under the hammer, it raised nearly 0.25 million,

breaking the auction house's previous record for an item of clothing,

-which coincidentally was the suit worn by John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.

-Isn't that amazing?

-Wow.

-You met Diana, didn't you?

-On a couple of occasions, yes.

I did a show at her behest and the joke she fell about laughing at was, I said,

"We've got a 14-year-old grandchild who's on a student exchange in Paris. She's learning to sulk in French."

-But she had a great sense of humour, didn't she?

-A great girl.

All right, so it brings us to what you might expect of a book like this?

Well, at auction today, I'd expect this to make no less

than about £80 to £120 because they are collector's items now.

That's a nice note to end on, and I've been doing a bit of mental arithmetic -

at the beginning of the day you were hoping for £700. Well, I'm really pleased to tell you

if everything goes according to plan and the right people turn up on the day, you have £905.

That'll do.

That's pretty good, hey? 905.

So we might get well above 1,000. Well, thank you so much,

I can't tell you how much we've both enjoyed coming to see your fabulous house,

and if we never need a break, we'll know where to come.

-You know where we are.

-You know where we are.

I hear that Pat does a very good Irish breakfast.

Now, I'm sure this unusual collection,

ranging from a Victorian lace veil to a giant 1960's brandy glass, will have quirky appeal on sale day.

Also going to auction, the amazing collection of German medals.

His father swapped them for a packet of cigarettes at the end of the war,

but we're hoping the next owner will pay upwards of £200 for them.

The very collectable assortment of memorabilia

from the maiden voyage of Queen Mary II.

Together it could all fetch £75 to £150,

and of course the wonderful family rocking horse

that's been relegated to the garage,

but it's off to pastures new and could bring in £200 to £400.

Still to come on Cash In The Celebrity Attic, there's a message to the bidders from a pop legend.

George Michael thanks you.

And Tom shows that he's not overly attached to all of his lots.

If this goes, I can get my bike in the garage.

But will we be laughing at the end of the day? All will be revealed.

I have to admit we had such a laugh when we visited Tom and Pat at their home in Berkshire.

As well as Tom's endless stream of jokes,

we also found some great items and we've brought them here to auction.

Just to remind you, Tom wants to raise about £700 for his favourite charity

so let's hope everyone here's in really high spirits when his items go under the hammer.

We've come to expect a good crowd over the years here at Chiswick Auctions in West London,

so let's hope that today is no exception.

John was one of the first through the doors this morning,

and I'm pleased to learn that all of Tom's items have arrived in one piece and in their entirety,

including the brandy glass and the fabulous collection of medals.

Was it your father who brought them back?

My dad brought them back from Germany.

This is exactly the way, someone had put them on the card and everything,

you can see the way the 7 is a German 7, and he always said these are real,

and I was thinking, "Blimey, they can't be that important, but apparently they are."

-Are they, John?

-They're certainly all right, that was the main concern.

There's nothing rare, but what was in doubt was their authenticity.

Had a second opinion, it is the most heavily faked area in militaria.

They all seem OK and they've got good provenance so interesting to see how well they do today.

-The podium over there, I would guess it will take a lot to keep you off it today.

-I'm ready now.

I didn't think Tom would take too much persuading to perform in front of a crowd.

He'll have to wait though so that he can see just how it should be done.

With the official auctioneer in place,

it's time for our first lot of the day to go in front of the room.

It's a giant brandy glass, and it would seem it didn't come from the boys in the local after all.

I thought we got it from a pub when I won Opportunity Knocks as a souvenir,

but I was wrong, Pat corrected me.

-We got this from my mother on our Ruby Wedding.

-So how much do you think it might go for?

Well, I put 30 to 50, and I like it.

I like the kitschness about it and I'm hoping somebody in the room also loves the '60s.

An oversized Venetian red glass goblet, provenance Tom O'Connor.

There you are, an offer of money here, £30 for it.

-Straight in.

-At £30. Take 2. At £30. 32...

35, 35... 38, 40?

42? At £40. At £40 selling... All done.

£40, first lot goes. £40.

-Middle estimate, good.

-Not bad, happy with that?

-Yes, happy.

Tom may have forgotten where the vase came from,

but there were several bidders who were certain

that they wanted to take it home,

and as a result we have our first contribution to the charity pot.

I'm going to be really interested to see what the room makes of our second lot,

I'm still finding it funny that Tom and Pat had that hat in their house,

it's a Victorian funeral bonnet.

So, John, will it sell at all?

We want £30 to £40 for it, so it's a great thing for dress up,

-and some of these period costume hire companies, they buy this sort of thing.

-It is authentic.

It might sell very well?

-It might sell very well.

-£30 for it?

£20 for it?

-£10 for it?

-Nobody wants a funeral bonnet.

At 10. I've got 12 now. 14?

16, 18, 20, 22?

Bid upstairs at £20. £22? At £20. Are we done for the bonnet?

Going for £20 then. Sold at £20.

-That's all right.

-I think that's OK,

I can't think of many people who come to the auction who'd want a funeral bonnet.

Not the sort of thing you'd buy as a gift for someone, is it?

You wouldn't go to a funeral in it!

I'm so pleased to hear you wouldn't, Tom.

With two lots down, we've so far raised £60 towards our £700 target.

And following the sale of the bonnet, we're all equally intrigued to see how our next lot will fare.

It's what you might call an unknown entity,

and I'm sorry I'm laughing, but it's Tom's Top Shirt Wearer award.

So, John, I'm going to leave it to you to describe this award.

I don't think there's much to say, it's an engraved brass dish.

We've got the provenance there and we want £30 for it,

so hopefully there's someone here that may give this to somebody that perhaps wears bad shirts.

Top Shirt Wearer.

It is brass, so scrap wise it should be worth at least 1,000.

You've done me a great favour there, thanks(!)

We're trying to sell these things, Tom. Right,

£10 for it. £5 for it.

Thank you, bid at £5. At 5, I'm bid at 5... 6? £5...

At £5... 6 I'm bid. At 6, thank you. 7? 7. 8?

8, 9, 10, 11? I'll come back to you at 12,

12. 13, 14?

At £13. Selling at £13,

all finished for charity at £13? 14, I'm bid. 15, 16, 17?

Started getting exciting then.

At £16, 16... Take 17? £16, all done. At £16.

Well, it went. £16.

It may not have reached John's estimate, but when it comes

to valuing one-off items like this there's really no knowing what the bidders might be willing to pay.

Hopefully, our next lot will have a much, much wider appeal.

We're all hoping so because it's the fabulous collection of Diana books,

including the rare hardback catalogue from her famous dress sale,

one of the most prestigious auctions of all time,

this one excluded of course.

-They're going to waste in our house, somebody should have them on display or where people can read them.

-Yes.

-Some beautiful photographs in there.

-The dresses.

-And the dresses are superb.

Shall we start, £50 for it?

All gone quiet, no-one's hand moved. £50 for it?

-Oh, no.

-Bid at £50, £50, take 5 for it?

£50?

Come and see me after, worth a bit more than that.

I mean, it's only going at £50. Are you happy to sell it for that, Pat?

No, no, I'd rather keep it than take that.

-Are you in agreement, Tom?

-Yes.

-I don't want to.

I'm truly surprised there was so little interest for the Diana books,

and the auctioneer agrees

they're worth more than the bidders were willing to pay.

So rightly so, they remain unsold,

but we won't let the disappointment take the wind out of our sails yet

because we have plenty of items to sell.

Let's hope our next lot proves to be more to the bidders' taste,

it's a collection of memorabilia

from the maiden voyage of Queen Mary II.

I've always loved Cunard ships

and my friend went on the maiden voyage of Queen Mary II

and bought all he could as memorabilia from it.

It's superb and I would love to keep it, but I think it should be shared.

We've got a speculative estimate on it, 75 to 150.

-I must say, that's a wide berth.

-Oh!

Well, hopefully it'll sell otherwise Tom will be giving me a wide berth.

80a in your catalogue, a photograph of Queen Mary II.

We took some towels as well, but you can't have them.

Right.

80a, a photograph of Queen Mary, it's a good lot, £50?

£40? Must be £40 somewhere. £40, £30, here we go...

Bid at £30. Take 2.

A bid at 32, thank you, 35?

35, 38, 40...

42, 45...

48, 50,

52, 55? At £52, bid at £52. Take five.

It should make more. Bid at £52. All done?

Only £52. I'm selling at £52. Are we done?

£52.

-£52.

-A bit short of our estimate. Went down with that one, didn't I?

Well, after a promising start with our giant brandy glass,

the rest of our sales have failed to get the bidders

digging deep into their pockets.

Not good news if we're going to achieve that £700 target.

Hopefully, our next lot will make them all sit up and pay attention.

Calling all petrol heads, it's time for Tom's collection of models

dedicated to Italy's favourite supercar.

Why the Ferraris, Tom, were you ever a Ferrari driver?

Not myself, but my son-in-law, who is Italian, loves Ferraris.

Still has one, he has a Testarossa, so we decided one Christmas to treat him to some Ferraris.

He came all the way from Italy, he was thrilled to bits, and he went home and forgot them.

So if he's watching now, too bad.

-So we've got them in here today, £30 to £40?

-I was surprised we still had them in the boxes.

£20, start me please. £20? £10?

10 bid. Give me 12. At £10, bidder at 10. I'll take 12. At £10.

Not getting much.

15, 18... 18, 20, 22...

25, 28...

A bid at £25, 28 here... Do you want 30?

-30, 32, 35, 38, 40...

-That's all right. That's fine.

45, 48, 50...

52, 55...

58, 60...

One more, 62...

65, thank you, 68...

70...

-That's good.

-Yes.

-75...

78, £80...

-82.

-Wow.

£100. I'm bid £100. At 105?

-At £100.

-Serious bidder.

-At £100 then...

Bid's on my right at £100. £100 and going. Gone.

-Yes!

-Well done, thank you.

-Fantastic, well done. Yeah!

Jubilation. It may have been a slow start to the bidding,

but the allure of the prancing horse proved too much to resist

and the models leave their estimates for dust.

And, you know, not before time.

We had a pretty tough first start to our sale, so just how are we doing coming up to that half time stage?

You want £700 for your total,

but so far we have only got £228, so a bit of a way to go.

-Anyway, big items still to come.

-Fantastic.

-So do you want to have a look around the auction as well?

-Shall we?

-OK.

Yes, not quite where we'd like to be, but the rocking horse and Tom's father's medal collection

are amongst the lots yet to sell, and there's still plenty to get excited about.

Now, where has Tom disappeared to?

Very interesting lot here, it's got some wonderful people on show.

We've got Benny Hill there, my good friend Bob Monkhouse, and the all-time legend Vera Lynn.

One of the greatest moments of my life,

I was at a function at Grosvenor House and they said, "Vera Lynn's one of our guests

"and she hasn't brought anyone with her, she's not accompanied, would you take her in on your arm?"

Would I do that? If my dad could see me with Vera Lynn on my arm, that would have made his day.

Vera Lynn was the heroine really to anyone who fought in the war.

My dad was a soldier a long, long way from home, Vera Lynn's songs kept him in touch with everybody.

She was like the girl next door, which was wonderful.

She still is, 90 plus, still going. Yes, what a lot that is.

What a poignant story, and a marvellous lady who, even recently, still hit number one in the charts.

If like Tom and Pat you're thinking of heading to auction,

then do remember that fees like commission will be added to your bill.

It's a good idea to check the details with the auction house first to avoid any surprise surprise.

Having regained our composure, it's time for the next of our lots to try its luck with the bidders,

who we're hoping will be cue-ing up to get their hands on them.

-There's a story about it and you should tell it.

-Very quick story.

The reason we have all these items and we don't have the table is,

I got rid of the table in a fit of pique, and I'll tell you why.

It used to be placed in our snooker room underneath our bedroom,

and one morning about 3 o'clock all I could hear was snooker balls, so I came down.

My son, who was in the music business, had two pals with him

and I threw all three of them out, and two of them were Wham,

and they never came back and the table followed them.

Now you've got the cues that they held in their hands, if you're a Wham fan.

Number 90a, the cues, stand, scoreboard et cetera.

Number 90a.

£100 for it.

£80 for it, bid £80.

£80, take 5... At £80. 85...

90, 95, 100, 110...

120, 130...

140, 150, 160?

At 150. 160, 170, 180,

190...

-200, 210?

-210?

At £200. I want 210, at £200 selling all done.

£200 the bid's there, at £200 all out and gone.

-Gone at £200.

-George Michael thanks you!

God bless him, that's what we like,

just the way we wanted to kick off the second half of our auction.

Let's see if we can keep the momentum going

with the sale of Tom's sporran and hip flask.

As we've come to expect, there's provenance thrown in for nothing.

I won it playing a game of golf against my best pal Russ Abbott.

Anyone who remembers Russ at his height, with, "See you, Jimmy,"

the big Scottish fellow with the red hair, "There's you..."

This is a minor tribute to a great character.

What's it worth, charity, want £30 for it, £20 for it...

Thank you, bid at £20, at £20...give me 22.

At £20. Give me 22, 25 over there... 28?

-At 25... 28 down there?

-I'm happy with that.

-Yes.

30, 32, 35, 38? At £35...

At £35 for the sporran, £35 it goes...

All done. All out. £35.

That's another very respectable result,

and I'm please to say our charity fund is looking healthier by minute.

Now it's the turn of the acrylic painting, which is called Morning Sun, to be offered to the room.

This was kindly donated to Tom by the artist Sue Jelley

to help him do all he can for his chosen good cause.

It's nice and colourful, I've put £100 to £200 on it.

I certainly think it's worth houseroom at that price.

£50 for it?

I'm bid £50, 55 there...65,

-70...5, 80...5.

-That's OK.

-90...5...

100...110, 120...

130, 140? Coming down. The bid's at 130, at 130.

130, are we done? Last chance at 130. All out at 130, and going. 130.

-You're a happy boy with that, aren't you?

-I'm delighted, yes.

-Yes.

Well done, that's a really impressive result,

but will our next lot be able to reach the top estimate?

Tom's determined it will,

so much so he's volunteered to try and auction the medals himself.

On behalf of my dad and a lot of old soldiers, we have these genuine medals.

They genuinely are German medals, they're not fakes.

So who'll start me with £50 for these? £50 for these medals.

50 I have. 75?

100? I've got 75. I'll take 85,

85 I've got. 95? 95...

100, 110...

120, thank you very much, 130...

140, 150, 160,

170, 180, 200...

200 I have. 210?

200 I have, any advance on...? 210.

210, 220. 230?

230 I have. 240?

235 then? 235 I've got...

240, 250...

260, 270...

270 we have. 280?

280. 290?

285? 290 I have.

Who'll make it 300? Thank you, sir. 300, 310... 320?

Is that 315? 315. 320?

315 then.

315 once, and twice. Thanks very much indeed, bless you.

APPLAUSE

-Wasn't he good?

-Yes.

-£310, didn't he do well?

He did, he did, he did, he did.

After all, he was a schoolteacher before becoming a comedian,

so I don't see why auctioneer shouldn't be added to his CV after that performance.

With the charity pot filling up very nicely, we have just one lot left to sell

and it's the rocking horse, which has languished in the garage for several years.

Let's hope we can gallop over the finishing line with another fabulous result.

The story is, the rocking horse belonged to two of our grandkids,

but it was always in the garage because it was so big you can't put it anywhere,

and they used to drag it out onto the lawn, and then back again.

So it really needs to go,

and they've got their own horse now so they're not bothered.

So how do you think it will do, John?

-Not a huge amount of age, but it is nice quality.

-If this goes, I can get my bike in the garage.

Who'll give £200 for it? Good provenance as well - Tom O'Connor.

£200 start me, rocking horse. £100 for it? £50 for it?

I'm bid at £50. 55 there, 60...5,

70...5, 80...

5, 90...5,

100, 110, 120, 130,

-140, 150, 160, 170...

-Good, good, good.

Thanks for bidding, £170. We want 180, somebody else...

170 I am bid, 170... At 170 are we done? Going to sell for 170...

-Going for 170.

-That's good, thank you.

-Thank you.

-That's all right, isn't it?

You know, for something that's been in the garage for years and years, that is brilliant.

The rocking horse may have fallen a little short of the estimate,

but at least not before the final fence.

So with the horse off to a new home and hopefully not a new garage,

just how have we done at the end of a somewhat turbulent day at auction?

Just to refresh everybody's memory, you wanted £700 towards helping children with very special needs,

and you were hoping for the £700 all out.

I am thrilled out of my brains to tell you that you got £1,078.

-Wow, I can't believe that, that's really good.

-Brilliant.

Wait till our children hear that, that's great.

-£1,078, I think it's brilliant.

-Great.

The money that Tom raised at auction is going to the Children With Special Needs Foundation,

which helps provide schools in and around Surrey with essentials from computers to sporting equipment.

It's been a great day for me, the first real auction I've ever been to,

50% more than we thought we were going to get in our wildest dreams for our charity.

So all in all a great day.

Well, with Tom and Pat O'Connor you can always say happiness all round,

so that was a really good result for Tom's favourite charity.

Now if you would like to raise money for something special in your life,

and you've got some collectibles or antiques around your home, then I hope you'll call in our team.

It's very easy to get in touch - bbc.co.uk.

I hope one day I'll be welcoming you to Cash In The Attic.

Meantime, thanks for your company and from all our team, bye-bye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd