Richard O'Brien Cash in the Celebrity Attic

Welcome to Cash In The Celebrity Attic, where we look around the homes of the well-known

and find items to take to auction to raise funds for charity.

Today I'm meeting a writer, actor and TV presenter.

He started out as a stunt man working on films and then ended up treading the boards himself.

In 1975 his genius created a fantastic musical

that also became a film from which there was the most amazing dance craze.

And if you're ever trapped in a Crystal Maze, he's your man.

Have you figured out who it is yet?

Today I'm in South London to meet the creator of the Rocky Horror Show

and presenter of The Crystal Maze.

He is, of course, Richard O'Brien.

'Richard is the man who introduced the world to the Time Warp,

'the popular dance craze that sprang from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

'Two decades later, he was the MC of the cult Channel 4 quiz The Crystal Maze.

'Twice married, he has three grown-up children to whom he is very close.

'Coming up, Richard jokes about the clutter in his home.'

Miss Havisham said the place was a tip!

'He's soon pulling Paul's leg.'

-You're not just a pretty face.

-Well, I'm not that either, but I know a bike when I see one!

'We find ourselves at one of the most exciting sales ever.'

1,800. There we are at 1,800. 1,900.

At 1,900. 2,000 the bid.

'It's an emotional ride right up until the hammer falls.

'Antiques expert Paul Hayes is with me today. We can't help wondering what's in store.'

-Be off with you!

-I hope you don't mean that!

-..Hello!

-It's us, Lorne and Paul.

-Hello. Gosh, you're good-looking. Come in.

He's talking about you, not me.

Nice to meet you.

'Richard's lived in this elegant townhouse in South London for years

'and today helping him look through his mementoes is his good friend, Rebecca Hardy.'

-Here's Rebecca.

-Hello!

-Hi!

-Helping out for the day?

-Yes.

-How long have you two known each other?

-Yonks.

-Ages.

-She's my special squeeze.

-Is she? Oh, right! What did you do to qualify for that role?

-I really don't know!

She's got this big house. She's a woman of substance.

-He tries to educate me.

-Does he?

-And the pupil is better than the master.

-Cryptic crosswords.

-Is that what you're into?

-"Lady in waiting - expectant mother."

-Oh, yes!

You've got a really lovely house and it's full of things. So much more interesting than minimalism.

-Would you describe yourself as a collector?

-Miss Havisham came round and said the place was a tip!

Well, it's a nice tip. There's loads to look at. Who are we raising money for?

The Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. They're in new premises

and this money will go directly towards the scanner.

-Have you got a figure in mind?

-I would like us to raise at least five grand

and hopefully get up somewhere near eight or ten. That'd be cool.

-Over to you, Paul.

-No pressure(!) That sounds great.

Have you been to an auction before?

-Yeah, I've got a house in the Cotswolds, so we go to auctions to get furniture for that.

-OK.

So it's open-ended, but several thousand.

-Are you happy to carry on looking down here?

-Yeah, I will. There's quite a bit of stuff!

-There certainly is. Richard, where will we start?

-Come on upstairs with me.

-OK.

'Almost all the rooms reflect his many and varied tastes.

'His musical loo is decorated from floor to ceiling with everything from ukuleles to violins.

'And let's not forget his beautiful Mercedes car.

'He's used to travelling in style, although I don't expect this will be heading to auction.'

This is my humble abode.

-Wow! I love the way this is decorated!

-It's hardly decorated. Thrown together.

-It's thrown together beautifully.

-We should find something. I do have this guitar.

I bought this guitar because Elvis Presley played a guitar this shape

in Loving You. I don't know if you remember it. He was dressed in cream and scarlet,

cowboy suits and silk shirts. He looked gorgeous.

I always remembered that and thought, "I want a guitar like that."

This is about 1980, I guess.

-Right.

-Flat top, Epiphone Jumbo.

-Well, you mentioned the key word there - Jumbo.

It's an over-sized guitar.

Elvis's nearly covered his body - possibly for censorship reasons!

But the idea is that the structure actually takes the steel strings and so it's a good resonance,

a good loud sound. This looks like satinwood, inlaid.

Epiphone, very famous name. It's a beautifully-made guitar.

Looking at the origins of bluegrass, rock'n'roll, this is the sort of guitar people started out with.

-Almost a busking guitar.

-So what about value, Paul?

If it was a general auction, I'd have said around the £150 mark,

-but with your sort of provenance...

-I would like to see that go for £1,000 or £1,500.

-That's what I'd like to see! I would expect we start at 300 quid.

-OK.

-Fine.

-Shall we say that?

-We should.

I'm happy with that as well.

'Richard has so much packed in here

'that we'd need more than a day for it. Luckily, he's already put a lot of thought into this

'in aid of a good cause.'

-So there it is.

-Wow.

-Gosh.

-That is amazing. How long have you had this for?

I have had that probably for about 12 years, I think.

I bought it at Christie's, but if it can save a child's life, I'll let that go.

-Do you remember what you paid for it, roughly?

-Oooh.

-I think I paid £500 for it. I think.

-I think that was a bargain, don't you?

Absolutely, but there was a time when you could buy big Victorian paintings relatively cheaply.

-People needed a large space. Do you know where it is?

-Mont Saint Michel,

-which is a tidal island off the coast of Normandy.

-Do you know the artist?

Well, it says down here George Clarkson Stanfield. He was obviously very capable.

The draughtsmanship is good, all the vanishing points are good, the application of paint.

I love the way you get all these different kinds of directions going on. They all work.

What I like about it, actually,

is the top of the church, the windows, are faded out. It gives that wonderful perspective.

It looks a lot further away. That's a clever artist.

They were a family of artists. The father was the most famous, a north-east marine painter.

This is the son, George, late Victorian. A household name.

-A very famous artist. It could do very well.

-What sort of price?

-I'd like to say a couple of thousand.

-Oh, wow. If we doubled it and got a grand, I'd be happy.

-Excellent.

-If you're happy with £1,000, we could put it in with the lowest estimate of £1,000.

-Generally speaking, that helps the bidding.

-It attracts buyers

and if two people take a shine to it, it can go for a lot more. Let's see how it goes.

-Shall we see if Rebecca's found anything?

-Yeah.

-Come on.

-Great.

'Rebecca is carefully sorting through the many and varied ornaments in the lounge.

'Could this small wooden trinket box be suitable for sale?

'It's Art Nouveau, decorated with mother of pearl shell and a pewter lid.

'An Australian film director presented it to Richard

'and at £30-£50 he's happy for it go to auction.

'Richard has another trinket box he'd like to put forward.

'This one's Mexican, in the shape of a cross, and made of metal and glass.

'He bought it in Malibu 10 years ago and filled it with dried flowers.'

I had fresh roses and when they went a bit droopy, I turned them upside down and dried them!

'Along with the cross, there's also a Mexican book. Richard has said he'll sign them both

'and Paul reckons they'll fetch £30-£50.

'But at the sale, the auctioneer forgets to mention the signature and it affects the value.'

I kill these people! I take them with my bare hands!

'It looks tense. I hope our star keeps his cool.

'The treasure hunt is still going strong. Going by Paul's lowest estimates,

'he stands to make £1,360 when the items go before the bidders.

'If only I could see into the future I could find out if he makes it.

'Pity, but we haven't found a crystal ball yet.'

Now we know you from The Crystal Maze and Rocky Horror Show,

but where did you start?

I got a job riding horses in movies in 1965.

I was born in Cheltenham during the war. 1942 I was born.

And my family emigrated in 1952. I was 10. And I was so pleased

to get away from the grey totalitarian kind of... And post-war rationing,

and all the rest of it, to New Zealand where the air was fresh and you ran around in shorts

and bare feet. You know, it was wonderful.

Then in '64, I got on a boat and came back to England for a year's working holiday.

And I found myself riding in Carry On Cowboy, The Fighting Prince of Donegal

and the original Casino Royale movie in 1965.

And I looked at the people on the set and thought, "I don't want to be a stunt man. I want to be an actor."

-So where did you make that break?

-Er, I suppose being cast in Gulliver's Travels.

I got into Hair, from Hair to Jesus Christ Superstar.

-Then I wrote Rocky Horror.

-But the whole concept of the Rocky Horror Show, the story, the music,

-how does that all come together?

-I love populist themes and Rocky is full of them - advertising,

rock and roll, B movies, science fiction movies, romance comics.

It's just a collection of all that kind of stuff that I grew up with.

So when you actually wrote this, did you want it to become what it did become?

No, we thought we'd have three weeks' fun and then do something else.

The weird thing is that nobody had to sell the idea.

We were allowed to make the movie about 18 months after we opened at a fringe theatre event.

We had 1.25 million given to us to go and make a movie which could star all of us!

And the director of the fringe theatre event could direct the movie. So unusual.

It's kept me alive in many ways. I don't have to apologise for it, don't have to explain myself.

It's allowed me to be my tranny self as well, which is very nice.

I was brought up in a much more repressed society than people are today.

I hope I've made the world a little warmer for people like myself.

What do your children make of it?

They just put up with me, frankly.

-I bet they're very proud of their dad.

-Well, they love me and I love them to distraction

and that's all that matters.

-I've very keen to find out what the others are up to. Shall we check it out?

-Let's go and see.

'Over the years, Richard has described himself in many ways,

'but I'd say he's one of the most generous celebrities we've ever met.

'There's no stopping the flow of precious mementoes he seems willing to part with.

'He knows exactly what's what and goes straight to this brooch with the monogram of Butler and Wilson.

'This company designs flamboyant costume jewellery and accessories.

'Paul gives it an estimated £30-£50.

'Confronted with all his years of keepsakes, it's difficult to decide what should go to auction.

'Rebecca spots the next object worthy of consideration.'

Paul?

-What about this?

-Oh, wow. Great.

-So where's this been hiding?

-This was in his sitting room upstairs.

-Do you know what it is?

-I think it's a tobacco jar.

-Exactly. It keeps your tobacco moist and damp,

away from the strong sunlight. It kept it at its best. Do you know who made it?

-Royal Doulton?

-Exactly. Well done.

-There's a mark on the bottom!

-Oh, right!

Doulton are famous for their porcelain figures, toby jugs, that sort of thing.

But in the Victorian period they were more famous for unglazed pottery.

They supplied lots of drainpipes, utilitarian stuff.

Then about 1880 they were approached by Lambeth School of Art and started to encourage local artists

and produced wonderful art pottery. So you got some fantastic, well-executed items

that were relatively cheap, so there's masses around.

-Is it unusual, the raised-ness of this?

-No.

It's done in relief, almost like Wedgwood does. Each section is placed on by hand afterwards.

-Very clever, very intricate. The end result is beautiful.

-Yeah.

It's one of my favourite pieces that we've found. I just like it.

-Really? Has he collected Doulton?

-He's got a few tobacco jars.

-I think this is the most beautiful.

-Right. Will he let it go?

-He's given it the nod.

-Great. He's generous. Remind me again of how much he paid for it.

-He paid £18. 18 quid, he said.

-Wow. An absolute bargain.

You have to check it's in good condition. If I said now

between £70 and £100, I think that's a bargain.

Do you think that's all right?

-I hope we get more for it, though! It's beautiful.

-Let's hope so.

Let's hope two people like it and it goes for more.

'Thankfully, the busy air traffic over Richard's South London home isn't spoiling our day here.

'I've decided to take a good look through a cabinet in the lounge

'and in the kitchen Richard has come across two small vases in the shape of hunting dogs.

'They're Victorian and he bought them about 15 years ago. They're estimated at £40-£60.

'Our host is really getting into the swing of sorting things now.'

Not Kissinger.

-Right!

-But this one here.

-Oh, right.

-That's interesting.

You've got quite a lot of ecclesiastical things.

I get a lot of comfort and pleasure from ecclesiastical works.

I bought him in a big cardboard box with lots of wooden saints.

He was the only one with paint on.

-Right, OK.

-And it's interesting, isn't it?

-He's got jug ears. Taxi door ears they call them in Australia.

-Right, OK.

-Which is interesting.

-But I do like the fact that he's still got all this rather garish paint on.

-It's polychrome paint.

A lot was done in the 18th century. I think this dates from that period.

The whole thing is carved from wood, hand carved. A naive charm to it.

Then the surface is a very thin plaster and that gives a good base for the paint.

It can look like a very thick sort of cloudy image. It's not too precise.

-Lots were done throughout Europe. My gut feeling is it's Italian.

-OK.

In Italy, this mustard yellow colour is quite prominent, on the tunic and robes.

-Do you know if it represents any particular saint?

-No idea.

-It would help if it was Francis of Assisi.

-He'd be in a brown habit because he was Franciscan.

-Exactly.

Hence the name.

Aptly, the society was named after him.

There is definitely a collectors' area. Usually a little bit smaller. This is quite large.

But they do turn up quite regularly. If I said £60-£100,

-we'll see how it goes.

-OK.

-Does that sound right?

-Cool.

-Very generous of you.

'I don't think I've ever seen a home that reflects the personality of its owner quite as much as Richard's.'

We were talking earlier about the Rocky Horror Show,

but you had then a completely separate career with The Crystal Maze, a cult in its own right.

It became very popular, didn't it? Strangely, it was doing that show that got me interested

in raising funds for children with cancer. I had the shaved head

and I was getting letters from nurses and families whose children were undergoing chemotherapy

and they'd say, "We like the guy on The Crystal Maze," so would I send them a card?

You were quite unique. At the time, there weren't any people who had the character you had

and the unique bald head.

When I first shaved my head, in 1975, 1976,

the only two people in the world that we knew were Yul Brynner and Telly Savalas.

And I used to get jip in the streets. People would kind of avoid me.

I liked it. Getting in the shower and feeling water drumming on your head

is wonderful. Brrrrr!

So what was it like meeting these children and their families?

It's the strength of the parents. They have to sit on the bed and hope that their child will get better.

And they can't show how scared they are or how emotionally upset they are.

They have to be absolutely resolute.

And they've got other children who need their love and affection.

The whole balance in the family is pulled apart by this

and if we can send a child back to the loving embrace of its family, I can't think of anything better.

Tell me what this money is towards.

They built a new hospital and the charity I was with decided we were going to donate a scanner.

-So any contribution goes towards this?

-Anything we make from what I sell

will go directly to help pay for that scanner.

'Clearly Richard is incredibly passionate about his charities,

'so it's vital we keep up the good work. Now then, what has he found in the wardrobe?'

That's from the Kings Road. 1968, '69. Something like that.

-It should be in the V&A, actually.

-I think it's fantastic.

Girls would like it as well, with some leggings and long boots. It would look quite stunning.

'He bought it for £40 from a famous Kings Road boutique called Granny Takes A Trip.

'Paul thinks it could bring in £100-£150 from the bidders.

'Ever the showman, our host has saved the best item for last.

'And he's parked it outside.

'Surely he's not had a change of heart about the Mercedes?'

Come on. The piece de resistance.

-Wow!

-Look.

-Goodness.

I bought this when I was doing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to get me to the theatre.

I'd be in the West End in 10 minutes. It's only eight years old.

It cost me £3,500, it's a Honda limited edition, dual exhaust pipes,

cafe racer style petrol tank,

little bucket seat, stubby handlebars. It's a beautiful little motorcycle.

-I reckon if we get £2,000 I'll be very happy.

-You bought it new. It looks old.

Retro styling.

I used to get stopped by the police to ask me about the bike.

-It does look like a racing bike.

-It's fab.

It's a fab little bike.

I could start it up.

ENGINE REVS

I think that's worth about...

Well, three and a half grand when I bought it new.

-OK.

-It's only had one owner and who was that? Oh! Me!

-Why do you want to part with it?

-Because I can save a child's life.

What would I give if it was my child? My life. I think it's beautiful.

I can imagine there will be a demand for it because it is a limited edition, the racing history,

Honda are associated with racing.

Their main emphasis was power to weight ratio. They made small engines to be light and powerful.

-You're not just a pretty face.

-Well, not that either!

-So, Paul, what are we going to do with this one?

-It's quite difficult.

We wouldn't do it justice in a general sale. We need to do our homework, find a specialist auction.

Someone that really appreciates bikes.

Reserve of two grand, I think.

Otherwise it's silly, isn't it?

So a £2,000 reserve. You'll be delighted to know then that totting up all the items,

all the bottom line figures, it comes to £3,660.

-At the bottom end?

-Yes.

-We're going to do better than that, aren't we?

-Before, we've doubled the amount.

-We're going to triple it!

-We are.

-I love your enthusiasm!

'Thanks to Richard's generosity, we're looking forward to some delightful times ahead.

'There's the Jumbo Epiphone guitar which he signed specially.

'We hope it'll make something to the tune of £300.

'And what about the Victorian oil painting by George Clarkson Stanfield?

'That's got to be worth at least £1,000, surely?

'And Richard's limited edition Honda motorcycle.

'That's going to a specialist sale where, all being well, it should make £2,000 or a bit more.

'Still to come, Paul asks Richard for tips on some fancy footwork.'

-Can you teach me that Time Warp?

-I don't think I could, actually.

'Who can blame him? Will it be a Rocky Horror Picture Show or one of the most exciting auctions yet?'

1,800. At 1,800. 1,900.

2,000 the bid.

-'Find out when the hammer falls.'

-Your bike, sir.

It's just over a month since we visited Richard O'Brien

and he had some fantastic items for auction.

He's looking to raise £5,000 for the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital.

His limited edition Dream 50 motorbike has been brought here to Bonham's for a specialist sale.

We're here in Oxfordshire and it really looks at home among all these beautiful bikes.

All of Richard's other items were sent to John Nicholson, Auctioneer, in Surrey.

Paul was there to help Richard sell them.

-Good morning, Richard.

-Hello, Paul!

-Good to see you.

-We're selling this.

-Exactly, yes.

-We want big biccies for this.

-I was hoping that you would auction that one yourself.

I was a born entertainer. I love talking about myself and singing!

If I can squeeze another five quid out of anybody, I'll be happy.

-You're looking amazing.

-Am I cool?

-Amazing, but where's Rebecca?

-She's in the United States.

-She flew out and left me a Dear John letter.

-Just the two us today.

-Yes.

-Well, it's all looking good. The auction starts any minute.

-My heart is pounding.

-Shall we take our places?

-Yes.

'All auction houses make charges such as commission, so if you're thinking of buying or selling,

'check the small print to avoid any unexpected surprises.'

-So here we are, Richard. In the garden of tranquillity.

-Oh, yes!

-The auction's already started. Quite exciting, isn't it?

-It is, relatively so, yes.

-Can you feel the tension?

-Er...

Well, yes. Yes, yes.

-I think it's very much like going onstage.

-Well, no, not really.

I don't have to learn any lines today, so it's a lot easier.

But we need to learn what we're selling. The first item is the carved wooden figure of a saint.

It's in at £60-£100. Where did this come from?

I bought a job lot, a big cardboard box full of saints, wooden saints.

That happened to be amongst them.

The others weren't as interesting as that. This one has still got all the paint on.

-The auctioneer likes it and he, like you, thinks it's Spanish.

-OK.

-I like his thinking.

-I like his thinking, too. Let's hope the buyers agree.

We'll start here at £60 bid.

-£60 already.

-Goodness.

It's for a really good cause. £60 bid. 70 anywhere? 70.

Here we go.

Do I see 80 now? At £70 at the back of the room. A little below estimate. 80 anywhere?

-Selling at £70.

-It's gone for £70.

-That's excellent.

-Pleased?

-Yes, very pleased.

-It's in the ballpark.

-Yeah. Between £60 and £100. Excellent.

'That's a great start. Richard's an imposing figure in those glasses.

'Let's hope the bidders aren't daunted - we want them to part with stacks of cash!'

OK, we have a very unusual Mexican cross now, with the dried flowers. And a book of Mexican girls!

Yes, calendar girls. I bought it in Malibu, Los Angeles.

I put the book with it just to jolly the idea of having it.

I've signed inside the book and on the cross.

That gives it a provenance, a little bit more interest.

Start me. 10 bid. 15. 20. 5 anywhere?

At £20. 5. 30. And 5.

35. 40 anywhere? Remember, this is a charity lot.

At £35. 40 anywhere now?

At 35.

40 anywhere? Selling at 35.

-There you go. All right?

-Fine. £5 over. He should have mentioned they were both signed.

-Right. We did say they were property of yourself.

-But he should have said it.

-That's essential information, isn't it?

-OK.

-Was. Too late now.

-Too late.

I kill these people! I take them with my bare hands!

'I'm not sure Paul's used to dealing with larger-than-life theatricals!

'I could have held his hand.

'Two reasonable results. Let's hope the next sale pleases us, too.

'It's the Art Nouveau-style trinket box with a pewter lid.'

I can start here at 10 bid. 15. 20. 5.

At £25. 30. 5 anywhere now?

At £30. Nice little Art Nouveau box. At £30.

5 anywhere?

35. 40. At 40.

5 anywhere else? Selling, then, at £40.

-That's good!

-40 quid, yeah. It's worth £40.

A lovely little box.

'That's another good sale. Richard must be quite happy so far.

'I can tell because he hasn't turned into a creature of the night, yet.'

Now I do remember this was one of Rebecca's favourite items. It's that Doulton Lambeth piece.

We said it was a tobacco jar. It could be a biscuit barrel.

I was collecting tobacco jars at the time. It was one area

where they wouldn't cost very much. I kind of like that, a bargain.

Start here at £20. 25.

-30. 35. 40. At £40.

-40, we're in.

5 anywhere else? At £40. Do I see 5 now?

At £40. 45. 50 with me. One more?

At 50. 5 anywhere else? It's had its time. On commission.

Selling at £50.

-£50. There we go. Is that all right?

-Excellent.

-There were no biscuits left in there?

-No.

-No, OK.

'Richard does like a bargain, but he draws the line at Custard Creams.

'Next, a small pair of posy vases in the shape of hunting dogs. They were in his kitchen.

'Now we're all hoping they'll sell for between £40 and £60.'

15 bid. 20. 5.

30 anywhere? At £25.

30 anywhere now? 30. 5 anywhere?

Selling, then, at £30.

There we go. £30.

-Phew! Just.

-That a relief?

I thought they were going to go for 25!

'They didn't quite reach their estimate, but Richard's pleased.

'Next for sale is a fantastic brooch by the makers Butler and Wilson.'

I knew Butler and Wilson, the two chaps, when they first started out in the early '70s.

They were finally allowed to open a little stall in Harrods.

And they sent this brooch out with the invitation.

So they're very unique, a very limited edition. I think it's rather beautiful.

I can start here at £10. 15. 20.

5 anywhere? At £20. A rare little thing.

At £20. 5. 30.

And 5, madam. At £35.

40 anywhere? At 35. 40 anywhere?

It's the lady's bid. I'm selling at £35.

-There we go. £35. Is that...?

-A bargain.

'Oh, dear. Richard clearly wanted that piece to have gone for more.

'We have another one-off next. The jacket he bought in a chi-chi London boutique in the late 1960s.'

-I know Rebecca's in America.

-Yes.

-But this jacket is called Granny Takes A Trip?

-Yes, it is.

-That's the manufacturer?

-It was a very important store at the bottom of the Kings Road.

It was very hip and groovy to have clothes from Granny's.

This jacket dates back to that period.

It really is a vintage collector's item. Should be in the V&A.

'To give it its best chance, Richard has stuck to his word.

'He's now available for modelling.'

Let's see what we can get. This lovely jacket, as modelled by Richard there.

Who'll start me at £100 for it? I'll start at 50, then.

60. 70. Do I see 80?

Start at 50? The cheapskates!

Do I see 80 anywhere?

At £70. I thought this would make a lot more. All for a good cause.

80 anywhere? It's had its time.

Unfortunately, it didn't sell. It didn't realise its potential today, so the auctioneer has withdrawn it.

Oh, I didn't know. I wish Zandra Rhodes had been here. She'd buy it.

'At least Richard can take it home. Who knows? Maybe we'll see him wearing it on another day.'

I think maybe we'll take it down to the motorbike fair and see if we can sell it there.

Motorcycle enthusiasts do like a little bit of rock and roll.

'Well, we'll find out soon and so we come to the final lot of this particular sale.

'A real trouper, Richard is going to have another crack at wowing the people.'

Ladies and gentlemen, a flat-top Jumbo Epiphone acoustic guitar.

I bought it because it was pretty. And this is the guitar.

# Let's do the Time warp again

# Let's do the Time Warp again Doo-da-dooby-doo-doop! #

'I bet those bidders never thought they'd be entertained by a rendition of the Time Warp today.'

Please, dig deep because whoever buys this

you'll be responsible for sending a child home to their loving family. Back to you, sir.

I can start bidding here at £100.

Do I see 120? 120. 140.

160. 180. 200. At £200, then.

-£200.

-Remember, it's for a really good cause. £200.

Do I see £220 for the signed guitar?

At £200. Do I see 220?

-220!

-At 220. 240.

Can I say 260? 260.

And 280. And 300, sir? At £280. Well done. You've bid well.

At 280. Do I see 300? Going to sell.

First time, second time. At £280. Well done, sir.

-Wow.

-Excellent.

-That's great. Congratulations, Richard. Are you pleased with that?

-I am.

I think your rendition helped.

It does need new strings!

I didn't tell them that!

'I'm sure whoever bought it won't mind replacing a few strings. They should be delighted. Now, Paul,

'time to check up on our guest's running total so far.'

-OK, Richard, that's all our items today. That was the general sale.

-It was, that's true.

One item's going back with you, which is the jacket.

-That, unfortunately, didn't have the audience today.

-Weird.

-You keep that for another day.

But I can tell you that all the other items today have sold for a total of £540.

Oh, that's cool. It didn't seem as much as that. There were 30s and 20s and 40s, you know.

-But it's all mounted up.

-That's a very reasonable target.

And the motorcycle yet to come.

-Can you teach me that Time Warp?

-I don't think I could, actually.

All right. Let's get a cup of tea.

'I'll teach you one day!

'We mustn't forget the painting.

'The auction house suggested it should go in their fine art sale.

'Their expert, Aubrey, reminded Paul why it is so special.'

Victorian oils in general are struggling, but quality shines through. It's all about the detail.

You see nice groups of figures,

the lovely towers, just a really nice quality picture.

When I originally saw it, I put it at £1,000-£1,500. About right?

-That's fair to start with. Hopefully more.

-Excellent.

'And when it went under the hammer...'

Selling at £1,600.

'It made a tremendous price. Along with the £540 from the general sale, that brings Richard's tally

'to £2,140. And still we've got his motorbike to sell.'

'Time for the specialist auction we've all been waiting for.

'200 different bikes are under the hammer.

'Richard's retro-style Honda model from 2002 could be about to make a breathtaking sale here.'

-What have the auction house told you?

-They really like it.

There's only a few around, it belongs to Richard O'Brien. They're quite excited.

They've done a lot of press advertising. And it's among friends.

It's a great place here. We've done the best we can.

OK, let's go and see how Richard feels about it selling, shall we?

-Morning, Richard.

-Hello!

-Have you found one you want to buy?

The Sunbeam, yes. Jesus wants me for a sunbeam.

-It looks very nice, my bike.

-It's very nice in the catalogue.

-Wow!

-That's impressive.

-It looks nice.

Well, it's time to sell it Come on.

'If we're to make Richard's target of £5,000, it'll need to make a good deal more than that.

'We're keeping everything crossed.'

£1,200 for an opening bid.

1,300. 1,400. 1,500. 1,600. 1,700.

The bid's at 1,700 against you in the back row.

1,800. There we are.

1,900. At 1,900. 2,000, the bid.

At 2,000, the bid. 2,200.

2,400. 2,600.

Any more? 2,800. Thank you, sir.

Most generous. 3,000, the bid. At 3,000.

At 3,000. The bid is at £3,000.

I'll take 100 if it helps. You will? 3,100. Sir?

3,100. The bid is on my right. At £3,100 are you all done?

Fair warning. At £3,100. Last call. Your bike, sir.

Thank you very much indeed.

Thank you!

-Thank you very much.

-Richard had to take a little break. As he said when we met him at home,

this charity is particularly close to his heart. He's off now!

Get the tissues!

'It's not often that we see such enthusiastic bidding and we all feel a little emotional.

'I'll see if Richard's all right.'

Once it went past the two grand,

I was absolutely thrilled.

When it hit three, you know, I was over the moon.

Would you like to know the total?

-Altogether, yes, please.

-You wanted £5,000, didn't you?

-I was looking in that area.

£5,240.

-Ain't that cool?

-That's really good!

And, be fair, be honest, you never thought we'd do that.

-No, I didn't.

-It did seem quite a lot.

-Oh, ye of little faith.

I think it's outstanding!

-It's fantastic. And I've been entertaining.

-You have.

-Gorgeous, glamorous. It's a win/win/win situation!

-Modest is the key word.

-Above all!

The Royal Manchester Children's Hospital charity is the beneficiary of Richard's auction earnings.

£5,000 is always welcome.

I don't think there's many people who are not aware of how upsetting it is

when a loved one or a friend gets a death-threatening illness.

I'm so pleased we raised this much.

'This new children's hospital is one of the biggest in the country and helps 150,000 children a year.

'David Kane is its director of charities and is delighted.'

Richard's money is really important to us. It's contributed to the cost of our new MRI scanner.

It will be used for 12-14 patients a day in our hospital.

To be a parent and have a child on a cancer ward is one of the most terrifying things in the world.

And one of the greatest things we can do is provide hope.

And if we can go further than that and send children back home, then we're really winning.

If you've got antiques and collectables you'd like to sell to raise money for good causes,

or for a project, why not apply to come on the show. You'll find more details and an application form

at our website:

I'll see you again next time.

Subtitles by Subtext for Red Bee Media Ltd - 2010

Email [email protected]