0:00:01 > 0:00:04So you think you know the Antiques Roadshow? Here's a trivia question.
0:00:04 > 0:00:08Which ceramics expert is the son of a famous actor?
0:00:08 > 0:00:13Just one of the things you'll learn on this edition of Priceless Antiques Roadshow.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39Hello again from the archive of the Antiques Roadshow.
0:00:39 > 0:00:45In today's show, stand by for surprises as we open our book of revelations.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49- So as a lad you never took these screws off and looked what was underneath?- No.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51- You're not serious?- I am serious.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55- You've had it all this time.- I have it... it must be 70 years now.
0:00:55 > 0:01:00Three Roadshow experts go on a mission to hunt down bargain buys.
0:01:00 > 0:01:05This just sums up everything you can think about 1950s and 1960 design.
0:01:05 > 0:01:07It's like a UFO landed.
0:01:07 > 0:01:12And Lars Tharp on his love-hate relationship with all things musical.
0:01:12 > 0:01:17There is a conspiracy to point strange, unfamiliar,
0:01:17 > 0:01:22unplayable, ridiculous musical instruments at me.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29Some of the best moments on the Antiques Roadshow are when our experts reveal
0:01:29 > 0:01:35things about an heirloom that the owner knew nothing about, and the bigger the surprise, the better.
0:01:35 > 0:01:36Look at that,
0:01:36 > 0:01:38isn't that amazing?
0:01:38 > 0:01:42In 2005, one couple sought Tim Wonnacott's advice
0:01:42 > 0:01:45about some inherited Oriental rugs.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49Well, you would think that Captain Birch, having been an Army officer
0:01:49 > 0:01:53and been in the Middle East, would have bought something in the Middle East
0:01:53 > 0:01:55that came from the Middle East.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58- Well, you would think so. - Well, you'd be wrong.
0:01:58 > 0:02:04One of the great joys, of course, is explaining something to someone
0:02:04 > 0:02:05which surprises them.
0:02:05 > 0:02:11This cannot be more Islamic looking as a cloth in all the wide world.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14This is machine made in Brussels.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17- Good heavens! - It's a Belgian machine-made cloth,
0:02:17 > 0:02:23made in Europe, sent to the Middle East and sold
0:02:23 > 0:02:30in some souk, bought by the Arabs, or the visiting British military, and brought back to Wales.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33I'm sorry about that, but that is the truth of the matter.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35Well, that is absolutely marvellous.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38This is what we have been trying to find out for years.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41Tim comes along
0:02:41 > 0:02:43and shatters all our dreams completely...
0:02:43 > 0:02:47- I'm sorry!- ..and says the ruddy thing's made in Belgium!
0:02:47 > 0:02:50It's wonderful when people bring things to the Roadshow, one of
0:02:50 > 0:02:53the first questions they want to know is where it was made.
0:02:53 > 0:02:58You look at it for two seconds and you say it was made in Germany, and they say, "How do you know?!"
0:02:58 > 0:03:00And you say, "Actually, it says 'Made in Germany'",
0:03:00 > 0:03:02and they think you're ever so clever.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05The fact is that people live with these things
0:03:05 > 0:03:10all their lives, and maybe all their parents' and grandparents' lives, and it has never been looked at.
0:03:11 > 0:03:18I received it when I was probably about four, and the judge of that is
0:03:18 > 0:03:23the fact that I could sit on it and with my little legs pedal along.
0:03:23 > 0:03:28A case in point was the P2 Alfa Romeo that came into the Oban Roadshow.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31A fabulous toy, a big toy, bright red.
0:03:31 > 0:03:38An important toy, except it had been pushed out of shape by the owner's bottom.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40It dates from the 1930s.
0:03:40 > 0:03:44Now, you've got it in its traditional Italian racing colours,
0:03:44 > 0:03:48the exhaust zipping out to the back here.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52The big filler cap so that you could put the petrol in.
0:03:52 > 0:03:57And it is extraordinary that he hadn't realised that it was, in fact, a clockwork toy.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00When I said, "That's where you stick the key in..."
0:04:00 > 0:04:06Here is the arbor where it would have been wound up with the key.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08I take it you don't have the key?
0:04:08 > 0:04:12Do you know, I never knew it had mechanical innards.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15- You are not serious?- I am serious.
0:04:15 > 0:04:20- You've had it all this time. - It must be about 70 years now.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22I was the engine always.
0:04:22 > 0:04:27- So as a lad you never took these screws off and looked and saw what was underneath?- No.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30It was a revelation to him.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34It was a great moment, and I hope that it has now given him
0:04:34 > 0:04:39years of enjoyment with it actually running around the living room.
0:04:39 > 0:04:44I would have thought we were talking around about £1,200 to maybe £1,500.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46When you get it home,
0:04:46 > 0:04:52see if you can find a clock key to fit this and you'll never have to sit on it again.
0:04:52 > 0:04:53Thank you.
0:04:55 > 0:05:00But the best revelation of all is when an owner simply has no idea what they have on their hands.
0:05:00 > 0:05:05David Battie will never forget a 17th century Delftware plate
0:05:05 > 0:05:09which had been dug up in pieces on a London building site.
0:05:09 > 0:05:17When I first saw the plate at the Mansion House my first reaction was, "oh, what a tragedy!"
0:05:17 > 0:05:23But it was immediately replaced by the thought of, "Thank God he saved the bits".
0:05:23 > 0:05:26Have you tracked down who this is?
0:05:26 > 0:05:27No.
0:05:27 > 0:05:31You don't know who it is? What did you think this was?
0:05:31 > 0:05:33Just a couple of letters.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35A couple of letters, OK.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38It was a fascinating plate.
0:05:38 > 0:05:46The thing about it was that not only is Delftware of that period quite uncommon,
0:05:46 > 0:05:48but it was a Royal portrait.
0:05:48 > 0:05:52That "I" stands for Iacobus - James.
0:05:52 > 0:05:58And that DV is actually "DU", and there should be an X on the end - dux, "Duke".
0:05:58 > 0:06:05This is when James II was Duke of York during the reign of Charles II.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08And it was a rare Royal portrait...
0:06:08 > 0:06:14he went on to become James II. You know, what more could you ask for?
0:06:14 > 0:06:17This is about 1665,
0:06:17 > 0:06:20so it's a very early plate.
0:06:20 > 0:06:25The nice thing about it is that the portrait is so good.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28Normally they are very cursory and really rather silly.
0:06:28 > 0:06:33But that is actually quite sensitively done, and very rare.
0:06:33 > 0:06:38The great thing about Delftware is that it can be restored
0:06:38 > 0:06:43pretty much so that you can't tell there was ever a problem. And he didn't know what I was going to say.
0:06:43 > 0:06:50He didn't know whether I was going to say put it back in another hole.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52He was quite quiet to start with,
0:06:52 > 0:06:57but the more I told him, you could see his excitement growing.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00Although it's damaged,
0:07:00 > 0:07:02this would be wanted desperately
0:07:02 > 0:07:09by a museum...a London museum would want it, collectors would want it,
0:07:09 > 0:07:13and I don't think...I mean, how much would you accept for it?
0:07:15 > 0:07:17I don't know.
0:07:17 > 0:07:19£20?
0:07:19 > 0:07:25- No, I...- £100? Come on, are you getting tempted?
0:07:25 > 0:07:28- After the information you've given me...- £500.
0:07:28 > 0:07:32£1,000, £2,000?
0:07:32 > 0:07:39I lay claim to being the first to do the mock auction method of pricing something.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45In that particular case, I think it did work actually rather well,
0:07:45 > 0:07:48better than other times I have done it.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51£10,000?
0:07:51 > 0:07:52Jeez.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54I think it could make £10,000.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58It's such a rare, desirable piece.
0:07:58 > 0:08:03And he was amazed all the way through by what I was telling him.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10David Battie certainly built up the tension with that valuation.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14Acting skills run deep in some parts of the Roadshow team.
0:08:14 > 0:08:18I can now reveal it is Fergus Gambon, part of our ceramics line-up,
0:08:18 > 0:08:20whose father is Sir Michael Gambon,
0:08:20 > 0:08:25and here is Fergus to tell us how he began collecting way back in his childhood.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29I'm afraid I was a bit of a weird child.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32I started buying porcelain at a very young age.
0:08:32 > 0:08:39One of the collections I formed was a collection of English porcelain figures made in the 18th century.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43This little chap reminds me of that collection.
0:08:43 > 0:08:51He's Bow, which is a porcelain factory in London, and he was made in about 1760 or 1765.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55He represents Pedrolino from the Commedia dell'Arte series.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59He is just a beautiful, charming little Cockney sparrow, really.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02I was born in London and I love him for the fact that he was made in London too.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06This particular model was a model that I always wanted
0:09:06 > 0:09:09and I spent years lusting after a Bow Pedrolino,
0:09:09 > 0:09:11and one hadn't come on the market for a long time.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14I saw it in the auction catalogue.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18I was broke, I was a child, and I said to my mum and dad,
0:09:18 > 0:09:23"If I don't have a birthday present and if I don't have a Christmas present,
0:09:23 > 0:09:25"will you buy me the Bow Pedrolino?"
0:09:25 > 0:09:28And they both looked kind of..."Hmmm..."
0:09:28 > 0:09:30But after a while they said yes.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33So I said to my mother, "How much can I bid up to, Mum?"
0:09:33 > 0:09:36She looked me in the eye and said, "Fergus, I trust you.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39"I trust you to be sensible".
0:09:40 > 0:09:47So I went along to the sale and I sat down in the sale room and I stuck my hand up and I started bidding,
0:09:47 > 0:09:50and I bid and I bid and I bid and I bid
0:09:50 > 0:09:56until I got it for three times the auction house's presale estimate.
0:09:56 > 0:10:01And I then went off, pre-mobile phone days, to a call box,
0:10:01 > 0:10:06and I phoned my mum and I said, "Mum, I've just bought this figure".
0:10:06 > 0:10:08There was a silence.
0:10:08 > 0:10:13A long, long silence. Basically she didn't speak to me for a month.
0:10:13 > 0:10:17And she didn't give me the figure, which she had to pay for, of course.
0:10:17 > 0:10:22She didn't give me the figure for my birthday, and she didn't give me the figure for Christmas.
0:10:22 > 0:10:28I got it a year later as a punishment for being such a greedy, unpleasant little child.
0:10:28 > 0:10:33But it is a measure of how bad it can get when you really, really want something.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38And do you know, Fergus still won't reveal what he paid for that first figure.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41It must be a heck of a lot of pocket money!
0:10:41 > 0:10:45Now, careful spending is very much a theme of our next feature.
0:10:45 > 0:10:50We're asking three of our Antiques Roadshow team members to demonstrate their canny buying skills.
0:10:50 > 0:10:56They have each got a budget of £75 to try and buy a collectable that has a useful function.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58So let's see how they got on.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05Let's meet the specialists, all of whom have a very distinctive style
0:11:05 > 0:11:11and equally strong ideas about how best to combine beauty and practicality in one object.
0:11:13 > 0:11:18First, there's the flamboyant Katherine Higgins, who loves anything with colour and texture.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22Next is Steven Moore, whose eclectic taste means he isn't
0:11:22 > 0:11:25afraid to experiment by mixing up different styles.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30And finally we have Mark Hill, who has a talent for reinventing
0:11:30 > 0:11:35items from overlooked eras to cut a thoroughly modern dash.
0:11:35 > 0:11:41It was the famous 19th century designer William Morris who said, "Have nothing in your house
0:11:41 > 0:11:45"that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful".
0:11:45 > 0:11:51Today our experts have £75 to spend on something that fulfils both those criteria.
0:11:51 > 0:11:57When you're thinking of buying something functional you might want to consider something electrical.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00It's very important to make sure that it's going to be safe to use.
0:12:00 > 0:12:07This lamp here, this 1950s lamp behind me, has been rewired and tested by a qualified electrician,
0:12:07 > 0:12:10whereas this lamp here, which isn't for sale,
0:12:10 > 0:12:14still carries its original two-core wiring, which hasn't got an earth.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16It's important you don't buy something like that
0:12:16 > 0:12:22because it's the responsibility of the dealer to make sure it has been rewired. You want to be safe.
0:12:23 > 0:12:28At antiques fairs dealers often remove the wiring from old electrical items altogether.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32This means an added cost to get them back in working order.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36This is fantastic.
0:12:36 > 0:12:41This just sums up everything you can think about 1950s and 1960s design.
0:12:41 > 0:12:46It's like a UFO landed. Think of all those B-movies and fantastic science fiction movies
0:12:46 > 0:12:49that were so popular in the 1950s and '60s.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53It is a heater, so you would have it in your living room or hallway,
0:12:53 > 0:12:58by a company called Sofono, and it was designed in 1959.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02I have seen them sell for a lot more than the £20 price tag on this.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06I'd love to buy it... I would love to own it and heat my house with it.
0:13:06 > 0:13:13The only problem are these little bits of damage here, and a large bit of damage on the back.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16I would like to see it in slightly better condition,
0:13:16 > 0:13:21so I think, with enormous regret, I am going to leave this one.
0:13:25 > 0:13:31Steven is always on the lookout for something that combines form with function.
0:13:31 > 0:13:35This fulfils everything I've been talking about with antiques.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37It's a 1950s Thermos flask.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41You would fill it with water and then just put the cork lid in
0:13:41 > 0:13:45to keep the water cold while you are having lunch or whatever.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47You know, it's very elegant.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50It could almost be based on the form of a Georgian coffee pot.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53It's in practically new condition and it is £11.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56It's not for me, but it's a bargain.
0:13:58 > 0:14:04After his disappointment over the space-age heater, has Mark found something else to tickle his fancy?
0:14:04 > 0:14:07This 1930s chandelier has really caught my eye.
0:14:07 > 0:14:14It's made of brass with a cast phenolic, which is an early type of plastic from the 1920s and '30s
0:14:14 > 0:14:19and effectively derived from Bakelite, I suppose, which was the first synthetic plastic.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23This bright orange colour is typical of what you find today,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26but originally it would have been much lighter, it would have been a creamy colour.
0:14:26 > 0:14:31I actually quite like it because it reminds me of the 1930s, the age of jazz.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35Adding a lighting feature like this is a fantastic way to add a period touch to a room.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39I think for £65 it's an absolute bargain.
0:14:39 > 0:14:44If this was in a design shop in central London, or somewhere like that,
0:14:44 > 0:14:47I could easily see the price being £150, £200.
0:14:47 > 0:14:52This is the sort of thing I mean... when you come to a fair like this, it's rainy, it is cold,
0:14:52 > 0:14:56but every now and then you find a little gem just like this Art Deco light fitting.
0:14:56 > 0:15:02Mark tells me that to have a 1930s light fitting rewired to present-day safety standards
0:15:02 > 0:15:04will cost him a maximum of £50.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08Not a bad price to pay for a working Art Deco design.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12Now, has Katherine found what she's looking for?
0:15:12 > 0:15:14This is what I have chosen as my functional item.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17It's a piece of fabric, but not just any piece of fabric.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20It's actually a curtain.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24Personally, I think the pattern itself is very striking.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28It's desperately post-war, 1950s, and the pattern title
0:15:28 > 0:15:33is called Nautilus by a great screen printer designer called Mary Warren.
0:15:33 > 0:15:38Fabric is something that's very underrated as a collectable and has tremendous potential.
0:15:38 > 0:15:43The more that is being discovered about post-war fabric and textile design,
0:15:43 > 0:15:46the more the price is set to increase.
0:15:46 > 0:15:51A little bit of damage here and there, a little bit of discoloration on the side here,
0:15:51 > 0:15:56but I am going to take that with a pinch of salt and anything that is left over I will turn into cushions.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00It's priced at £75, which is just within my price range,
0:16:00 > 0:16:04so I am going to go for it and watch it grow as a collectable.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08Katherine and Mark have fulfilled the brief of beauty and practicality.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11Can Steven make it a hat trick?
0:16:11 > 0:16:14This has just got to be my functional item.
0:16:14 > 0:16:21It has got great '60s styling, Regentone, brass Bakelite knobs, walnut veneer. I love it.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24I know it may not be functioning now and it may not get High Definition,
0:16:24 > 0:16:27but what a great wacky side table this is going to make.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30It's £50. It's a wonderful piece of early technology,
0:16:30 > 0:16:35and in a few years to come, these sort of things will be really sought after.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39A bit of cleaning and polishing on it, a wash down, I love it.
0:16:39 > 0:16:41It even comes with noddy dog.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44Hmm, interesting choice.
0:16:44 > 0:16:49Three very different approaches to the challenge from three very different specialists.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51With some attention from a qualified electrician,
0:16:51 > 0:16:55Mark's light fitting will make a splendid addition to any room.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59Katherine's 1950s print fabric was right on budget
0:16:59 > 0:17:02and is set to become a future classic.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06I think Steven cheated with his defunct 1960s TV as side table
0:17:06 > 0:17:08as he was supposed to find something functional,
0:17:08 > 0:17:11but he reckons it's a real talking point.
0:17:15 > 0:17:20Yes, a talking point. That's certainly one way of putting it.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23One of the guaranteed longest queues at the Antiques Roadshow is to see
0:17:23 > 0:17:27the picture team, and they must see hundreds of images every day.
0:17:27 > 0:17:33We asked our art specialist Grant Ford to pick one of his more memorable Roadshow finds.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39The Steeplechase by Sybil Andrews.
0:17:39 > 0:17:41- Tell me where you found it. - It was at a car boot.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44- A car boot sale? - A car boot sale, yes.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47I hadn't seen really anything in the morning, and then suddenly
0:17:47 > 0:17:53one of our reception staff turned up with this fantastic image by Sybil Andrews called The Steeplechase.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57The wonderful thing about Sybil Andrews was that she was
0:17:57 > 0:18:01particularly interested in Cubism and Futurism,
0:18:01 > 0:18:06and with this particular print you get a real sense of strength and speed with the horses.
0:18:06 > 0:18:12There was definitely a sense in this picture of machine-like movement,
0:18:12 > 0:18:15real dynamism and great colour, too.
0:18:15 > 0:18:19Three horses taking a hedge, but it was a stunning Modernist lino print,
0:18:19 > 0:18:26a print but hugely collectable and very, very rare to find.
0:18:26 > 0:18:31In 1918 she was working in a factory as a welder,
0:18:31 > 0:18:34so she really got the sense of the machine age.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37It was the most exciting thing to find this particular print,
0:18:37 > 0:18:40because the print wasn't produced in large numbers
0:18:40 > 0:18:45and the gentleman who had brought it in had bought it at a car boot sale for £4.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48What drew you to the picture at this car boot sale?
0:18:48 > 0:18:54Well, the simplicity and the colours and the movement that is depicted, and the subject as well.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57So do you visit many car boots?
0:18:57 > 0:18:59I did do at one time, yes. Not any more.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01- You think this could be valuable? - No, I just liked it.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05Well, it is marked 32 out of 50, so it is a limited edition.
0:19:05 > 0:19:09It is a well-known image, a rare image,
0:19:09 > 0:19:13and the sort of image that is very sought after at the moment.
0:19:13 > 0:19:18- It is worth about £5,000 to £8,000.- Blimey, you're joking!
0:19:19 > 0:19:21Not a bad boot buy, that, was it?
0:19:21 > 0:19:23Thank you very much.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27Yes, I'd be pretty happy if I'd picked that up at a car boot.
0:19:27 > 0:19:32If you are musically inclined, stand by to cover your ears!
0:19:32 > 0:19:36SHE PLAYS "AVE MARIA" BY GOUNOD
0:19:40 > 0:19:43Yes, I think definitely a bit more practice required.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46A lot of musical instruments turn up at our shows and there are
0:19:46 > 0:19:50one or two candidates on the team who always seem to end up with them,
0:19:50 > 0:19:55but perhaps that's because they have more than a passing interest in the subject.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03It's a shame that not more people bring in musical instruments.
0:20:03 > 0:20:08I would love to see somebody bring in a good old drum kit one day.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11That would be fun, because they are nearly an antique now.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14The other experts have to be pretty quick off the mark
0:20:14 > 0:20:18if they want to beat Lars Tharp to the valuation of a musical instrument,
0:20:18 > 0:20:20especially if it's something out of the ordinary.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23You tell me about this.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26He called it his musical glasses.
0:20:26 > 0:20:31I think he paid between £40 and £60 for them, which for a canny Scot
0:20:31 > 0:20:36and a farmer 30-35 years ago was quite a lot.
0:20:36 > 0:20:41The secret is not necessarily to have the glasses wet but to have your fingers wet.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44Well, we've got what looks like two octaves.
0:20:47 > 0:20:51HE PLAYS "AULD LANG SYNE"
0:20:57 > 0:20:59Wrong note.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02- Well, done, well done. - They recognised it!
0:21:02 > 0:21:05Even though he's a classically trained musician,
0:21:05 > 0:21:09Lars can't resist the challenge of anything that makes a noise.
0:21:09 > 0:21:14There is no doubt that there is a conspiracy at the reception
0:21:14 > 0:21:23to point strange, unfamiliar, unplayable, ridiculous musical instruments at me.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32At Chartwell a woman brings in an extraordinary Victorian multi-horned
0:21:32 > 0:21:39object, which I'm sure was put together by some Victorian plumber.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42It's a car horn, isn't it? That's what it is.
0:21:42 > 0:21:44It's obviously the German secret weapon in the Oompah Band.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46What do you call this?
0:21:46 > 0:21:48I don't know, that's what I came here to find out.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52That was quite fun. It took about half an hour to climb out of it.
0:21:55 > 0:22:02The greatest cruelty I have ever inflicted on the great British public was, I think, in Inverness.
0:22:06 > 0:22:11It was an interesting instance because the Scottish public who were around me,
0:22:11 > 0:22:15watching this Sassenach destroying their national instrument...
0:22:15 > 0:22:18BAGPIPES SCREECH
0:22:20 > 0:22:22APPLAUSE
0:22:22 > 0:22:28They actually started clapping before I had finished in order to stop me!
0:22:29 > 0:22:31BOOGIE-WOOGIE
0:22:36 > 0:22:42Music is rhythm, and rhythm is in everything we do.
0:22:43 > 0:22:48But it's been quite a while since John Bly has had a chance to show off his musical prowess.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58What a nice, evocative sight...
0:22:58 > 0:23:01you would really think it's coming from that big organ up there.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05It's a long time since I've tinkled the ivories on the programme.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09In fact it's 1981, and there were two harmoniums.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12It was great fun, actually. I played one, poor old wheezy thing.
0:23:12 > 0:23:17I'm amazed to see how young I was.
0:23:17 > 0:23:23They're still not very valuable, but for insurance, anywhere between £200 and £300.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26My playing keyboards
0:23:26 > 0:23:30was before Lars joined the show,
0:23:30 > 0:23:35and he's a better pianist than I am by far, so I think anything that
0:23:35 > 0:23:39comes in with a keyboard now he will play, and justifiably so, too.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46- It's not bellows, is it, it's a glockenspiel.- Is it?
0:23:46 > 0:23:49Yes, it's a xylophone.
0:23:49 > 0:23:55But it's with stringed instruments that Lars really excels.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58I have been playing the cello since I was eight years old.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01The cello is actually something that is quite close to my heart.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05You wouldn't think so if you heard me play it, but it is.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09So whenever a cello comes in I really am quite interested.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13The owners of this beautiful cello produced documentation
0:24:13 > 0:24:17which suggested it had been made for Queen Charlotte, wife of George III,
0:24:17 > 0:24:19at the end of the 18th century.
0:24:19 > 0:24:28"A trio of stringed instruments were made by Norris and Barnes around 1790 for the Queen of England."
0:24:28 > 0:24:30And the man writing this letter
0:24:30 > 0:24:35- thinks that this instrument is one of those three. - One of those three.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37I can't contain my excitement.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40Now hang on, just hang on.
0:24:40 > 0:24:47Stringed instruments of the violin family, potentially, are very, very valuable.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51It was a very special cello. You only had to look at it to realise that.
0:24:51 > 0:24:57I do travel in my car with my very poor second-rate cello bow.
0:25:00 > 0:25:01Will you let me have a go on it?
0:25:01 > 0:25:03Be my guest.
0:25:11 > 0:25:15I remember as soon the first notes were played,
0:25:15 > 0:25:18I recognised it straight away.
0:25:21 > 0:25:26John whispered to me and he said, "That's a piece that my mum used to play",
0:25:26 > 0:25:28and it meant so much more to me.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31I thought, "That's a wish granted".
0:25:37 > 0:25:42I'd waited 50 years to hear that instrument being played.
0:25:42 > 0:25:46I never thought I would. It was a beautiful sound.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54Well, it is a beautifully mellow tone.
0:25:54 > 0:26:00With a letter like that it would take weeks, if not months, of research to try to find out whether this was
0:26:00 > 0:26:05indeed an instrument made for the Royal family, so I can't give you an answer to that.
0:26:05 > 0:26:10But I can tell you that a late 18th century English cello of this calibre, this quality,
0:26:10 > 0:26:16will generally on the market today not sell for much less than £20,000.
0:26:16 > 0:26:21So that is a starting point. Now if we were to discover that that letter was right
0:26:21 > 0:26:26and this cello had a Royal association, then we start adding more and more value to it.
0:26:26 > 0:26:31I would like to verify that Royal connection if ever we can,
0:26:31 > 0:26:34but nobody really wants to know about that.
0:26:34 > 0:26:40They sort of dismiss it as a bit of fiction, as it were.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42We've met a rather a blank wall, really.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44So we're living in hope.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50He wasn't too shabby at the cello, was he, Lars?
0:26:50 > 0:26:54And he was responsible for introducing another musical interlude to the Antiques Roadshow.
0:26:54 > 0:26:59A bit less melodic. Yes, it's the curse of the mobile phone interrupting the action.
0:26:59 > 0:27:01Here's the first recorded incident.
0:27:05 > 0:27:11And Bunny comes over to me in her impressive raincoat and says, "Help me out, Lars, with this Latin."
0:27:11 > 0:27:15She'd got a lantern which had a Latin inscription on it.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18It's a long time ago since I did Latin O level,
0:27:18 > 0:27:21and then suddenly the cameraman said, "We've got to record this now".
0:27:21 > 0:27:24I teach...
0:27:24 > 0:27:25so teach or illuminate...
0:27:25 > 0:27:33And I start sort of hamming it up with what little Latin I had. In the middle of all of this suddenly...
0:27:33 > 0:27:36I illuminate the shadows.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38And I think,
0:27:38 > 0:27:42"Oh, no, I've left my mobile phone on! I'll just muddle through... they won't hear it".
0:27:42 > 0:27:46PINK PANTHER RINGTONE It's so simple, like everything when you know how.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48But of course the volume went up and up and up and up.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50Someone's got the Pink Panther...
0:27:50 > 0:27:53- It's not mine.- Not mine. - In the end I had to come clean.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55It must be mine.
0:27:57 > 0:27:58Oh, no!
0:27:58 > 0:28:01And it was all downhill from there.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04Stand by for the first performance of the Antiques Roadshow orchestra.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07Is that a cantata? More a cacophony. Goodbye.
0:28:09 > 0:28:11MOBILE RINGS I'm so sorry, that's my pocket.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13Is it?!
0:28:13 > 0:28:15I've got the Antiques Roadshow playing.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18It was my son who put it on. Yes, I believe you.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21RINGING How do I turn this thing off?
0:28:22 > 0:28:24- MOBILE RINGS - Sorry, that's my mobile phone.
0:28:24 > 0:28:26I can't believe that.
0:28:26 > 0:28:31- MOBILE RINGS I am so sorry!- That is so poor!
0:28:55 > 0:28:59Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:59 > 0:29:01E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk