0:00:02 > 0:00:05Heard the one about the ceramics expert and the go-go dancer?
0:00:05 > 0:00:08No? It's not a joke. It's just one of our stories coming up
0:00:08 > 0:00:10as we bring you another Priceless Antiques Roadshow.
0:00:33 > 0:00:37A classic edition of the Antiques Roadshow is a perfect triangle,
0:00:37 > 0:00:41a memorable meeting between wonderful objects, delighted experts
0:00:41 > 0:00:44and interesting owners, each with their own story to tell.
0:00:44 > 0:00:50Tonight we're reunited with some of the most colourful visitors to have stepped in front of our cameras.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53I think collectors need to be both mad and eccentric.
0:00:53 > 0:00:55I think all those qualities help.
0:00:55 > 0:01:00- Who made the jacket?- I made the Hutch jacket. It matches the Hutch doll.
0:01:00 > 0:01:05Oriental expert, David Battie, admits to a private passion.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08I'm a huge addict of the 50s and 60s.
0:01:08 > 0:01:13To many people watching this, I mean, this is the Antiques Roadshow,
0:01:13 > 0:01:14this is about antiques.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16Antiques have to be 100 years old.
0:01:16 > 0:01:21And Roadshow host for two decades, Hugh Scully, picks his most precious moments.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25Paul Storr was a remarkable goldsmith,
0:01:25 > 0:01:29probably the best native goldsmith this country ever produced.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31He made absolutely breathtaking things.
0:01:31 > 0:01:33To find items like that really...
0:01:33 > 0:01:38Well, it was one of those things that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40This is Kenwood House in North London,
0:01:40 > 0:01:45a place that's been home to some celebrated residents, like the inventor John Joseph Merlin.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48He was road testing a pair of roller skates he'd designed
0:01:48 > 0:01:51when he crashed into one of the fabulous mirrors here.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54Playing the violin at the time probably didn't help!
0:01:54 > 0:01:59Colourful characters are an essential ingredient for the Antiques Roadshow, too.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02As you'll see, we've met quite a cast of them over the years
0:02:02 > 0:02:05and these are some of our leading ladies.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11- £8,000. - £8,000! Oh, that's a nice thought.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14Another few cruises!
0:02:14 > 0:02:18- How old is it?- A couple of years. - Oh, no!
0:02:18 > 0:02:19You're joking! Are you joking?
0:02:19 > 0:02:22SHE GASPS
0:02:22 > 0:02:24He's not quite so sozzled, so he's singing.
0:02:24 > 0:02:26Yes.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28£3,000 to £5,000.
0:02:28 > 0:02:29I'll treat him with more respect.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32'A dream owner on the Antiques Roadshow is one that's
0:02:32 > 0:02:35'full of character and a little edge of eccentricity.'
0:02:35 > 0:02:39Somebody that's...vulnerable, perhaps,
0:02:39 > 0:02:42and the most vulnerable lady I ever met was in her 90s.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46Well, this is a beautiful brooch, a very old brooch. How long have you had it?
0:02:46 > 0:02:50Oh, I suppose about 25 to 26 years.
0:02:50 > 0:02:55I think I was round about 70 or odd then and I'm nearly 92 now.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57Fantastic! Isn't that marvellous?
0:02:57 > 0:03:03She had brought me an Art-Nouveau brooch designed by a jeweller called Aucoq in Paris in 1900.
0:03:03 > 0:03:08It had been given to her by the lady of the house in which she worked.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11My lady had gone out for the day.
0:03:11 > 0:03:16It was very strange because she had gone out to lunch with her friend
0:03:16 > 0:03:21and I thought, "Oh God, that gives me time to do a job in the house."
0:03:21 > 0:03:23We'd just lost our housekeeper.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26I was working away and came into the flat
0:03:26 > 0:03:31- just as she rang the bell to say she was coming home.- Mm?
0:03:31 > 0:03:34This was a very strong lady indeed,
0:03:34 > 0:03:38and she was very articulate and fearless in everything that she did.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42Courageous is the right word for her, absolutely courageous.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45I opened the door
0:03:45 > 0:03:49and her friend and she moved in followed by two men.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52The one with the despatch case said to me,
0:03:52 > 0:03:55- "Lay down on the floor, this is real!"- No!
0:03:55 > 0:03:59- And produced a pistol or a gun in front of me, you know.- No!
0:03:59 > 0:04:03I looked at him and I said, "What?" He looked so, so surprised.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06- I should think so. - Then he turned round and said,
0:04:06 > 0:04:08"Don't be bloody stupid, this is real."
0:04:08 > 0:04:13- No!- So I said, "You get the hell out of it else I'll call the police."
0:04:13 > 0:04:18In which they both, he and his partner, turned round and rushed out of the house.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23She'd actually fought off some burglars from that house and driven them out into the street.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27I chased them part of the way down the road but lost them at the corner.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29You are absolutely fantastic!
0:04:29 > 0:04:34I came back, sat down on the doorstep and burst into tears.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36Oh, no! Oh, goodness.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38Well you were very brave, weren't you?
0:04:38 > 0:04:42I think your lady thought you were very brave to give you such a beautiful brooch.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46Yes, she gave me one or two very nice things in her life.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48She ranks enormously high, if not the top, really.
0:04:48 > 0:04:53Everybody fell in love with her. It was possible for millions of people to fall in love with her
0:04:53 > 0:04:56through the power of television. Wonderful stuff.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01Talking about interesting people,
0:05:01 > 0:05:06there were two sisters in Arundel in 2006 who were so delightful.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08Those were all my soft toys at the time,
0:05:08 > 0:05:12- so I was a very lucky little girl. - All of them? How many are there?
0:05:12 > 0:05:16I don't know but we've still got 35 of them out of that picture.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18Really?
0:05:18 > 0:05:21And they told me which was their favourite
0:05:21 > 0:05:25and I told them a bit about their toys and picked the odd one.
0:05:25 > 0:05:30When I was little, Flip and this one here, Lop,
0:05:30 > 0:05:33used to be with me constantly.
0:05:33 > 0:05:34Another one here intrigues me,
0:05:34 > 0:05:37I don't know if you found out about it, he's called Bingo.
0:05:37 > 0:05:41He's called Bingo because it says so on him. He's always been Bingo.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45- Yes.- He once got left on a bus and he was rescued.- Oh, he didn't!- He did.
0:05:45 > 0:05:51The women were laughing away about their favourite toy,
0:05:51 > 0:05:53"That's mine and that's hers."
0:05:53 > 0:05:58You could just see these two playing together when they were little girls
0:05:58 > 0:06:01and saying, "Well, you can have that one."
0:06:01 > 0:06:03"That one's mine." "No, that one's mine."
0:06:03 > 0:06:07They were doing it aged whatever they were, in their 80s.
0:06:07 > 0:06:08Absolutely heaven!
0:06:08 > 0:06:13- You've got a lovely photograph here. - Ghastly, really.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15And that's you, is it?
0:06:15 > 0:06:18That's me holding him.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21- Holding Mickey Mouse. - Yes, and that's our mother.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24That is her and that is our nanny.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27What are you holding there? Are you holding this one?
0:06:27 > 0:06:32I'm holding a doll which was known as Big Pam funnily enough
0:06:32 > 0:06:35and it was a Chad Valley doll and I've still got her,
0:06:35 > 0:06:37but sadly the puppy ate half her face.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41- As puppies do!- They do, yes.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43If this is just part of your collection...
0:06:43 > 0:06:48- It is.- 36 of them, I dread to think how much they're all worth.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50It's wonderful to know.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54- How lovely. I'm so glad you came in with them.- Thank you so much.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58'It's ladies like these that bring the programme to life.'
0:06:58 > 0:07:03'Our next owner brightened up a damp day in Scotland for Ian Pickford.'
0:07:03 > 0:07:05You realise they're shoe buckles.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08- Are they shoe buckles?- Oh, yes, yes. Silver buckles on your shoe.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11SHE GASPS
0:07:11 > 0:07:13I couldn't believe they were shoe buckles
0:07:13 > 0:07:15because they were far too big.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19I tried one on my head to see if I could turn it into a hat,
0:07:19 > 0:07:21it wasn't wide enough.
0:07:23 > 0:07:28I wondered if I could have a lovely, fancy buckle round my waist,
0:07:28 > 0:07:33when I was a bit younger, when I had a bit of a waist,
0:07:33 > 0:07:36but that didn't fit. So I hadn't a clue.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39Her son, who was there,
0:07:39 > 0:07:42had said to me, "You're gonna have fun!"
0:07:44 > 0:07:47I didn't realise quite how much until I got into it.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50What most people don't realise is that cut steel
0:07:50 > 0:07:56- was more expensive in 1780 than silver.- Was it?
0:07:56 > 0:07:59And so this was actually a cheaper version.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01THE AUDIENCE CHUCKLE
0:08:03 > 0:08:04No!
0:08:04 > 0:08:05'First she was asking me,'
0:08:05 > 0:08:09making rather unexpected comments every now and again.
0:08:09 > 0:08:14I think we're looking at a value of about £400.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16Oh, how lovely!
0:08:16 > 0:08:18Do you know anybody who'd buy them off me?
0:08:18 > 0:08:20LAUGHTER
0:08:20 > 0:08:23- Well, there are some avid buckle collectors.- Oh, wonderful.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26What about the spoons? What can you tell me?
0:08:26 > 0:08:28The spoons are my son's.
0:08:28 > 0:08:34But the finale, if you like, when it came to value...
0:08:34 > 0:08:38Most people react in a somewhat similar sort of manner.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41You can't exactly predict the reaction
0:08:41 > 0:08:45but you have a pretty good idea how they're going to react.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48Her reaction came absolutely out of left field.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50So how much are they worth?
0:08:53 > 0:08:57- I don't know.- I think you're looking at...- Half a crown each?
0:08:57 > 0:09:00I think a little more. A little more.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04I think we're looking at at least £500.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06- For four of them?- Each.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08Each!
0:09:08 > 0:09:09Each.
0:09:09 > 0:09:14I must get round my son to leave them to me in his will.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17What, wonderful!
0:09:19 > 0:09:22It's getting even better.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24They were lovely, a lovely crowd.
0:09:24 > 0:09:25Oh, marvellous.
0:09:25 > 0:09:30All smiling and joking. They just roared with laughter.
0:09:32 > 0:09:38Hilary came at a couple of more recent additions to the cast in Bexhill-on-Sea.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40It's Starsky and Hutch heaven, really, isn't it?
0:09:40 > 0:09:42It is for us.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44What was the first thing you bought?
0:09:44 > 0:09:47That would be the Starsky doll.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49And notice the cardigan.
0:09:49 > 0:09:53- I am noticing the cardigan. - It was knitted by my mother in 1975.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55THEY LAUGH
0:09:55 > 0:09:58It's sheer devotion. Did she knit you that one at the same time?
0:09:58 > 0:10:01No, my friend here knitted this one.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04- And who made the jacket? - I made the Hutch jacket, yes.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06It matches the Hutch doll.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10So you became friends...
0:10:10 > 0:10:11This is not your life.
0:10:11 > 0:10:15- No.- You have normal lives. - Yes, we do.
0:10:15 > 0:10:20- You share this extraordinary passion for Starsky and Hutch.- We do.
0:10:20 > 0:10:21'The two girls'
0:10:21 > 0:10:25with their Starsky and Hutch collection I thought were fantastic.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28The great thing was it was all fun for them.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30They didn't take it too seriously.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33And yet the nub of the show, the friendship between the two men,
0:10:33 > 0:10:35is what made it so long lasting.
0:10:35 > 0:10:36And they were good looking!
0:10:38 > 0:10:41- I know that's a minor point. - Not for me it wasn't!
0:10:41 > 0:10:45- I have to say, he was my favourite.- Oh, yes!
0:10:47 > 0:10:49It's about 50-50, yes.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52I think collectors need to be both mad and eccentric.
0:10:52 > 0:10:54I think all those qualities help.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57I don't suppose you remember the theme tune.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59- The theme tune, let me see. - Do you want to go?
0:10:59 > 0:11:01THEY SING THE THEME TUNE
0:11:06 > 0:11:09Well, surely an Oscar-winning performance!
0:11:13 > 0:11:16Some truly unforgettable ladies there.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19It's harder than it looks to come along to the Roadshow
0:11:19 > 0:11:21with your object and just be yourself on camera.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24It's not always easy for the experts, either.
0:11:24 > 0:11:29One of the new additions to the team is ceramics expert, Stephen Moore.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32My first recording was a bit like the first day at school.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34I knew some of the experts
0:11:34 > 0:11:38but like everything I was a little bit nervous.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42I grew up watching the Roadshow, so I knew how it worked
0:11:42 > 0:11:43from a public point of view,
0:11:43 > 0:11:47but I'd never been in amongst it so, as I say,
0:11:47 > 0:11:50like the first day at school you knew some of the bigger boys
0:11:50 > 0:11:52and some of the head girls
0:11:52 > 0:11:55but you weren't really sure where you'd fit in.
0:11:55 > 0:12:01Then out of the corner of my eye I saw a tea set made in Newcastle.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05I thought, "Why isn't it coming to me? That's just what I'd love to do."
0:12:05 > 0:12:09Then, lo and behold, it was brought over to me and they said,
0:12:09 > 0:12:13"This is made in Newcastle. You know about Newcastle pottery.
0:12:13 > 0:12:14"You should do this record."
0:12:14 > 0:12:16And I thought, "Oh!"
0:12:16 > 0:12:19So if you were in bed, imagine your 1930s house,
0:12:19 > 0:12:24you'd have your cup and saucer, you'd have the milk jug and sugar.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27You'd have dainty biscuits or a piece of toast
0:12:27 > 0:12:29just to wake you up in the morning.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32Then you'd probably have the maid come in and try and pour and dribble
0:12:32 > 0:12:35all over your nice, white tablecloth. Do you have...
0:12:35 > 0:12:38'It was comforting for me to have something'
0:12:38 > 0:12:41which I was so familiar with, that I knew inside out,
0:12:41 > 0:12:42that I'd be able to talk about.
0:12:42 > 0:12:47I think the people who owned it had an idea it was something interesting.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50'That's the great thing about Roadshow, they bring it to you
0:12:50 > 0:12:52'and you can tell them about it.'
0:12:52 > 0:12:55It's Maling, who are perhaps the most famous Newcastle pottery.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59Really for many, many collectors this is something of an icon for them.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02A Maling collector would give their eye teeth for it.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05- They would get very little change out of £3,000.- Oh!
0:13:05 > 0:13:07That's more than I expected.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10- No more playing dollies' tea sets with it.- I won't.
0:13:10 > 0:13:11'Somehow, this tea set'
0:13:11 > 0:13:15coming to me was like a nice, warm welcome from the Roadshow family.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19It set me on the right road and never look back, I hope.
0:13:22 > 0:13:23I know what he means,
0:13:23 > 0:13:26having been warmly welcomed by the team myself recently.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29Over the last year, I've got to know the specialists a lot better
0:13:29 > 0:13:32and I can tell you we've got some characters.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35None more so than ceramics expert, David Battie.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37Having watched the show at home,
0:13:37 > 0:13:39I knew about his enthusiasm for all things Eastern.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42But I didn't know he harboured a secret passion
0:13:42 > 0:13:45for the vibrant and colourful designs of pots
0:13:45 > 0:13:47produced in the late 50s and early 60s.
0:13:47 > 0:13:52His confession slipped out in the presence of an unforgettable visitor to the Roadshow.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55AUSTIN POWERS THEME MUSIC PLAYS
0:13:57 > 0:14:03I'm a huge addict of the 50s and 60s. To be sitting here surrounded
0:14:03 > 0:14:07by all these wonderful textiles and ceramics is to me great fun.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11I have a house full of it at home and you, presumably, do too.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15Yes, I do. This is only a fraction of what I have.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18My flat is actually chock-a-block with stuff.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21Many of the ceramics I know all too well
0:14:21 > 0:14:23because they're up in my roof at home.
0:14:23 > 0:14:30'Ormskirk has embarrassingly faded from my mind completely.'
0:14:31 > 0:14:33'I can only remember'
0:14:33 > 0:14:38glancing round to one side and there is Jo
0:14:38 > 0:14:45in her 1960s kit
0:14:45 > 0:14:48and I looked at her and I thought,
0:14:48 > 0:14:51"This is extraordinary, I'm not here.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53"I'm back in the 60s!"
0:14:53 > 0:14:57The kit you're in reminds me so much of my youth I can't bear it.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01I was a teenager in the 50s.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06And at art school in the 60s.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10That's a very formative period for somebody.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14What I've got is a sort of folk memory
0:15:14 > 0:15:19somewhere drifting around in here, of that time.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23It's that, really, which has driven me.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26It's not actually the objects themselves,
0:15:26 > 0:15:29it's what the period was about.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33The striving for something better.
0:15:33 > 0:15:35BIG BAND MUSIC PLAYS
0:15:40 > 0:15:46Those things sort of insidiously got into my mind
0:15:46 > 0:15:51but they didn't come out again until about 20 years ago
0:15:51 > 0:15:56when I suddenly started looking at 1950s things and thinking,
0:15:56 > 0:15:58"It's really quite interesting."
0:16:02 > 0:16:05Some of the recent fruits of David's 50s enthusiasm
0:16:05 > 0:16:09now sit alongside his ancient Japanese treasures.
0:16:12 > 0:16:17I find objects fascinating.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20Whatever they are, I'm interested.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24Those are three things I bought in the last six months.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26Less than that, three months.
0:16:26 > 0:16:33They are German and they're of a group called Fat Lava.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35The middle one, the large one,
0:16:35 > 0:16:39really I thought that was a staggering bit of shape making
0:16:39 > 0:16:43and the colouring worked perfectly, very intense red.
0:16:43 > 0:16:48That kind of sort of links to the lacquer layer.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50And they were not expensive.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54So I started buying them. Didn't cost anything.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57My wife absolutely hated them.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01Still does. They weren't allowed to be out anywhere. This is...
0:17:03 > 0:17:05This is only cos it's hidden away.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08Everything else has been up in the attic.
0:17:09 > 0:17:11We decided to give David the chance
0:17:11 > 0:17:15to dust off a few select pieces to show his old 60s pal, Jo.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19# I remember you...#
0:17:19 > 0:17:21We've turned the tables on him
0:17:21 > 0:17:24and invited her to take a look at his collection, ten years on.
0:17:24 > 0:17:31It would be fascinating to see Jo I don't know how many years on.
0:17:31 > 0:17:36I'm hoping she's gonna come in her kit.
0:17:36 > 0:17:41I hope that the spark will be there and that she hasn't lost interest
0:17:41 > 0:17:46in the 50s and gone back to the Rococo period or something.
0:17:46 > 0:17:47MUSIC: 'Shout' by Lulu
0:17:47 > 0:17:50There's no danger of that
0:17:50 > 0:17:53because Jo's still very much in the swinging 60s.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58So much so, she's recently taken up go-go dancing.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03I'm really looking forward to it, it should be great fun.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07I think it's a very clever thing to have done to have got her down here.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10- Jo! Good to see you. - Great to see you again.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14- How are you?- Very well, thank you. - Fantastic. You haven't changed.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17Thank you very much, neither have you.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19Are you still collecting?
0:18:19 > 0:18:21I am collecting. The passion never dies.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24It doesn't, does it? Absolutely not.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26What do you think of these bits and bobs?
0:18:26 > 0:18:28You've got some nice Homemaker.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32I've got quite a lot of Homemaker which was made by Ridgway
0:18:32 > 0:18:36from 1955 to 1965.
0:18:36 > 0:18:42It was exclusive to Woolworths and they made 6 million pieces.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45I think it's wonderful. That's a coffee pot. I haven't got a teapot.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47- Haven't you?- Have you? - No, I haven't.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51- They're terribly rare.- They are. - Anything here tempt you?
0:18:51 > 0:18:52This.
0:18:53 > 0:18:54Casson.
0:18:54 > 0:18:56- It's gorgeous, isn't it?- It is good.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59He was a very good watercolour artist.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02He taught Prince Charles to paint.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06You could buy a piece of Casson for £15 or something.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10Yes, I would think so if you're looking for a small sugar bowl.
0:19:10 > 0:19:11Exactly.
0:19:11 > 0:19:12The baby blue colour
0:19:12 > 0:19:16- just comes through beautifully. - It works, doesn't it? Yes, yes.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18Actually, that sort of powder blue,
0:19:18 > 0:19:22- which you were allowed during the war.- Oh, really?- Yeah.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25In 1953 the colour restrictions come off
0:19:25 > 0:19:28and the whole thing goes completely bonkers.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30- It just exploded. - It exploded in colour.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33Has your collection moved in a particular direction?
0:19:33 > 0:19:40I'm still very much collecting everyday household things,
0:19:40 > 0:19:42still collecting clothes.
0:19:42 > 0:19:47I try to be a bit more elegant now as I move into my dotage.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50Oh! I think that clip of us, however long ago it was,
0:19:50 > 0:19:54you were fantastic with your white stockings.
0:19:54 > 0:19:56Quite a swinging style, wasn't it?
0:19:56 > 0:19:58It really was, yes.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01- You do turn heads if you walk into a room like that.- I can imagine.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10Next time you see David entranced by a piece of Ming porcelain
0:20:10 > 0:20:14think of him at home, equally besotted with a 1950s tea set.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17You see? Now you know the real David Battie.
0:20:17 > 0:20:22And one man knew the real Antiques Roadshow, behind the scenes as well as on camera.
0:20:22 > 0:20:28Hugh Scully hosted the show for 19 years, and we asked him to pick his most priceless moments.
0:20:28 > 0:20:34Not surprisingly, some of his fondest memories are of Roadshow legend Arthur Negus.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39Now what's this?
0:20:39 > 0:20:40I'm curious to know what it is.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42It's been in the family for years.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44We often wonder just what it's for.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46It's lovely, isn't it?
0:20:46 > 0:20:47Well!
0:20:48 > 0:20:51This is very interesting because that's a door handle!
0:20:51 > 0:20:53THEY LAUGH
0:20:53 > 0:20:58That's a door handle, and this is a brass vase for a little posy.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00What do you mean it's always been like that?
0:21:00 > 0:21:03It's always been like that, for years and years!
0:21:03 > 0:21:04Go on with you!
0:21:04 > 0:21:09It's been a pleasure looking at old clips from the Antiques Roadshow,
0:21:09 > 0:21:13and in particular seeing, in those early editions, Arthur Negus again.
0:21:13 > 0:21:19I always reflect on the fact that if it weren't for Arthur, I don't think any of us would be here
0:21:19 > 0:21:23because Arthur was the first person to make antiques a popular subject on television.
0:21:23 > 0:21:28That certainly is just an ordinary door handle.
0:21:28 > 0:21:29- Oh, dear.- Which opens any door.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32That would look pretty, with a rose or little posy.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34- It does look nice with a rose. - There you are.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37Shall I put it back in? They're no relation.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43In the introduction to the Plymouth programme,
0:21:43 > 0:21:48I told the story of Napoleon Bonaparte coming to Plymouth in 1815.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52What had happened was he was then a hunted man in France.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55After the Battle of Waterloo, if the French had caught him
0:21:55 > 0:21:57they would have strung him up from the nearest tree.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59He was extremely unpopular in France.
0:21:59 > 0:22:04He made his way to the west coast of Brittany, where there were two ships.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07One was a ship heading for America, with a French crew,
0:22:07 > 0:22:11and the other was a Royal Naval ship called HMS Bellerophon.
0:22:11 > 0:22:13He thought he'd be safer
0:22:13 > 0:22:16surrendering to the British Royal Navy
0:22:16 > 0:22:20than he would be going to America with a French crew.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23So he surrendered to Captain Maitland of the Navy,
0:22:23 > 0:22:27and he was brought over to Devon, first of all to Brixham and then to Plymouth,
0:22:27 > 0:22:29on board HMS Bellerophon.
0:22:29 > 0:22:34But that led to something else later in the programme,
0:22:34 > 0:22:37and when I saw it I could hardly believe it.
0:22:37 > 0:22:42I told you the story of how Napoleon Bonaparte came to be in Plymouth
0:22:42 > 0:22:44in 1815, after the Battle of Waterloo.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47Look at what's just come in, this green Morocco leather case.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49It's actually French imperial green.
0:22:49 > 0:22:54And inside is this superb miniature of the former emperor.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58He's actually still wearing the green uniform that he had at that time.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02This is exactly the sort of thing he might have presented to someone
0:23:02 > 0:23:04in gratitude for a service received.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07It is therefore not beyond the realms of possibility
0:23:07 > 0:23:09this could have been presented to someone in Plymouth,
0:23:09 > 0:23:13perhaps even Captain Maitland of HMS Bellerophon,
0:23:13 > 0:23:17before Napoleon set out on his final journey to St Helena.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20A romantic story, but it could just be true.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23It was a particularly exciting find for me
0:23:23 > 0:23:27because history has always been perhaps my greatest interest,
0:23:27 > 0:23:30and that particular period of history, too,
0:23:30 > 0:23:34from the time of the French Revolution, through the Napoleonic wars.
0:23:34 > 0:23:39And so to find items like that, it was one of those things
0:23:39 > 0:23:42that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47I remember, in 1991, we were in Salisbury,
0:23:47 > 0:23:49in the magnificent setting of the cathedral.
0:23:49 > 0:23:54A man went to the reception area... Everyone has to go through reception.
0:23:54 > 0:23:59He went to the reception area and he had what he thought was a piece of brass.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03The woman who saw him first was Penny Brittain,
0:24:03 > 0:24:06one of our experts with great knowledge of all sorts of things,
0:24:06 > 0:24:09and Penny knew immediately, when she looked at this,
0:24:09 > 0:24:11that it wasn't made of brass.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14And he let slip in this first conversation
0:24:14 > 0:24:17that he had another three at home.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19So Penny said to him, "If we got you a taxi
0:24:19 > 0:24:23"do you think you could go home and fetch the other three?"
0:24:23 > 0:24:25That was all agreed, the taxi came, he went away.
0:24:25 > 0:24:30An hour later he came back with four of these salts, as they're known.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33Salt cellars, really, but known in the trade as salts.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36They certainly weren't made of brass,
0:24:36 > 0:24:38and the expert who recorded the item with him,
0:24:38 > 0:24:42Brand Ingles, I remember, couldn't believe his luck.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45These were made by this very famous
0:24:45 > 0:24:47goldsmith called Paul Storr.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51Paul Storr was a remarkable goldsmith,
0:24:51 > 0:24:55probably the best native goldsmith this country ever produced.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57Where did you get them?
0:24:57 > 0:25:02My father gave them to me about a year, 18 months, before he died.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07The gilding on them is so wonderful, it's so thick and heavy.
0:25:07 > 0:25:12Just the quality of the work, everything is absolutely brilliant.
0:25:12 > 0:25:13They're not worn,
0:25:13 > 0:25:18all the chiselling on the little mermen here is absolutely brilliant.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21They are really tremendous, tremendous salt cellars.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25Have you any idea what you think they're worth?
0:25:25 > 0:25:28I haven't any idea whatsoever, no.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32Well! Yes!
0:25:32 > 0:25:35I think, on balance,
0:25:35 > 0:25:38if I had to buy these,
0:25:38 > 0:25:40I think I'd have to be looking...
0:25:40 > 0:25:42..at £40,000.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44Good lord!
0:25:45 > 0:25:46You do surprise me!
0:25:46 > 0:25:48THEY LAUGH
0:25:48 > 0:25:51So Brand valued it at more or less £40,000,
0:25:51 > 0:25:55but, eventually, it sold to The Salters' Company,
0:25:55 > 0:25:59which is one of the great City companies, it sold to The Salters' Company,
0:25:59 > 0:26:01because they regarded it as so important,
0:26:01 > 0:26:03for £66,000.
0:26:06 > 0:26:11Hugh Scully, with some precious moments, which brings us to the close of another show.
0:26:11 > 0:26:13Tomorrow, arms and militaria expert Graham Lay
0:26:13 > 0:26:18recalls some moving encounters as he meets the descendants of prisoners of war.
0:26:18 > 0:26:23I feel the Roadshow is terribly important from one aspect in particular.
0:26:23 > 0:26:28It helps to uncover, to show to the general public,
0:26:28 > 0:26:33those stories people could tell that are mainly kept within the family.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37Marc Allum confesses to a mania for collecting.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41There are many objects in the house that were acquired in that way,
0:26:41 > 0:26:47through patience and waiting, and after many years, coming across one in the right situation,
0:26:47 > 0:26:50and knowing that it was just an absolute bargain.
0:26:50 > 0:26:55Ceramics expert Henry Sandon tells us about the one that got away.
0:26:55 > 0:27:00I didn't do the Whitney Court Roadshow. Son John did it. Curse him!
0:27:00 > 0:27:03And he got, I suppose, the most magnificent slipware tyg
0:27:03 > 0:27:05that's ever turned up on the Roadshow.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08If I'd been there, I'd have fought him tooth and nail for it.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11You'll agree Henry's become a bit of an institution.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13He recently received his MBE.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16But the first time he was singled out for an award, in 1992,
0:27:16 > 0:27:18it was a bit more stressful,
0:27:18 > 0:27:21because it was the one that strikes fear into the hearts
0:27:21 > 0:27:25of TV professionals everywhere - the Noel Edmonds Gotcha.
0:27:25 > 0:27:26He was set up.
0:27:26 > 0:27:31An unlikely-looking man turned up with a very valuable vase.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34Henry was tipped off by a pretend police officer
0:27:34 > 0:27:36that they were interested in his client.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40Remember, Henry thinks it's all for real. The rest is priceless!
0:27:40 > 0:27:43I'll leave you to enjoy it. Bye bye.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45- We'd like to...- Just a minute, sir.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47BREAKING CERAMICS
0:27:47 > 0:27:50It's all right. Is it broken?
0:27:50 > 0:27:52CERAMICS RATTLE
0:27:52 > 0:27:54STUDIO LAUGHTER DROWNS SPEECH
0:27:58 > 0:28:00Oh, look.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02It's all in little pieces here.
0:28:03 > 0:28:04Oh, dear.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08Now, Mr Sandon...
0:28:08 > 0:28:10I might have guessed.
0:28:10 > 0:28:15Henry, you are the recipient of a Noel Edmonds Gotcha Oscar!
0:28:19 > 0:28:21I shan't recover from this ever!
0:28:21 > 0:28:23This will be the last Roadshow I ever do!
0:28:44 > 0:28:46Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:46 > 0:28:48E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk