Episode 14 The Repair Shop

Welcome to The Repair Shop,

where cherished family heirlooms are brought back to life...

Anything can happen. This is the workshop of dreams.

..home to furniture restorer Jay Blades.

Nowadays, things are not built to last,

so we've become part of this throwaway culture.

It's all about preserving and restoring.

We bring the old back to new.

Working alongside Jay

will be some of the country's leading craftspeople...

I like making things with my hands.

I love to see how things work and I want to know how things work.

Whether it's a Rembrandt or somebody's family piece,

every painting deserves the same.

..each bringing their own unique set of skills.

You're about to witness some magic.

They will resurrect, revive...

Oh, yes!

..and rejuvenate treasured possessions

and irreplaceable pieces of family history...

Oh, my goodness me! It looks like it's new!

..bringing both the objects...

-SHE GASPS

-Oh, wow!

..and the memories that they hold back to life.

Oh, thank you. Oh!

In the Repair Shop today,

clockmaker Steve Fletcher feels the pressure,

as he gets to grips with a broken barometer.

This is the bit that I haven't been looking forward to.

When the glass breaks - if it does - it's a complete and utter disaster.

While furniture restorer Will Kirk

is entrusted with a pair of oars that could have a hidden past.

Is it going away or is it staying? To me, it looks like it's...

Hold on. You want to not rub too hard.

First in today is Rachael Dickens,

whose item has already been received

by Jay and electronics expert Geoff Harvey.

-Hello, how are we doing? You all right?

-I'm Geoff.

-Very nice to meet you.

-Hi, Geoff.

-Hi, there.

-This must be yours then.

-Yes, it is.

-It's a pinball machine. OK. It's in bits then.

Yes, so this bit's come off, but it's all there.

I don't know if it can be repaired, but it would be great if it could.

-OK.

-I got it in a junk shop in Margate.

-OK.

And I got it from a guy who said he'd bought loads from Dreamland.

-So, Dreamland, remind me.

-It's a big sort of arcade in Margate.

-OK.

So, I spent a lot of time in Margate on the arcades,

-when I should have been doing my A levels!

-OK.

So, it does have a big nostalgic quality for me.

-Did you pass the A levels?

-I did. Only just!

-So, that's all right, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Until now, Rachael from Herne Bay had managed to find an unusual use

for her poorly pinball machine.

So, here's my lovely pinball machine, now part of my kitchen.

It's really good as part of the kitchen, with this glass on top.

It's a nice cool surface, good for making pastry on, actually.

It works really well and I love having it here,

but the opportunity to get it fixed

is one I'd happily take the kitchen apart.

It's such a beautiful thing, it really should be restored.

I feel bad that it's sitting here, not working.

-How much did you pay for it?

-I paid £150 for it, yeah.

-Yeah.

-So, it wasn't very much.

-No.

But it just so happened my mum, who died last June,

had given me some money before she died in March,

and I was out shopping for stuff and I was meant to be buying,

-you know, sensible things.

-Yeah.

-So, I saw the pinball machine

and thought, "Well, I'm allowed to have it

"because Mum's given me this extra money,"

so, yeah, that's how I got to get it.

So, it's precious for me, from that point of view.

So, what do you reckon? Can you fix this?

I'll have to have a little look at its innards.

-Put my glasses on, makes me look more intelligent.

-Why not?

-Do you mind if I do a little operation?

-No.

-A little surgery, just to have a quick look.

-Yes.

-And inside...

-Ooh.

-It all lifts up, you see.

-Oh, wow!

Dusty and dirty. It looks all there to my professional eye.

-So, it's a good one?

-I like all this, in the shape of a...

-Do they light up?

-They light up

and go out as you hit them, your strikes.

So, the main thing is, can it be fixed?

A bit like Frankenstein's monster, once I've plugged in the electrics,

-we can see.

-Oh, I can't wait. I hope you can do it.

I hope so as well, actually.

-I tell you what, if you leave it with us...

-OK, brilliant.

-We'll get back to you.

-Cheers, thank you.

-Thank you.

-Very lovely to meet you and hope to see you soon. Bye-bye.

-Bye.

Pinball machines, in general, are just a beautiful, classic,

iconic piece of our seaside history

and I don't want it to be made brand-new,

like I don't want new repro bits and pieces.

I'd rather keep it as original as possible.

But, yeah, I'm feeling a little bit nervous, but mostly excited.

Geoff, what's the key thing you've got to do to get this running?

Initially, basically, plug it in, get the back box all plugged in,

-put it in the mains and see what goes.

-Yeah.

-Then we can see how ill the patient is.

-OK.

-All right.

First step, sort the legs out as well, but, yeah...

-What, the legs from wobbling like that?

-Well, it's got the wrong...

So, they've cut them down a bit to make it flat,

cos it was being used as a table,

-so I need to put new legs and reseat all these, where they fit.

-Ah, yeah.

That will make it look more like a pinball machine, so...

-OK, so we've got to get this over to your bench then.

-Yes, please.

-Come on then.

-Are you feeling strong?

-It's not that heavy, is it?

-It's not too bad.

-It's not too bad!

-It's character-building.

Let's have a... Oh, that's not too bad.

All looks there. Reasonably clean and tidy, a bit dusty.

But the thing I am worried about is this motor here,

which look a little bit burnt-out.

That's the only thing that would be difficult

cos that's the heart of the machine. It does all the controlling.

Geoff's first task is to install new legs,

which need to be longer at one end of the machine.

This will create a tilt,

which is needed for the ball to naturally roll towards the player.

Rachael had it flat, as a piece of furniture.

This is how God intended it, if God was going to make a pinball machine.

Hopefully, this darling will live to play again. I very much hope so.

From treasured toys in need of emergency surgery

to ceramics that have seen better days,

our experts in the Repair Shop are determined

to put the pieces back together.

Next to arrive is Ash Phelps from East Sussex,

with a much-loved family heirloom.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-How are you?

-Very good, how are you?

-I'm good, thank you.

-What have we got here then?

We've got a barometer in here.

He's hoping horologist Steve Fletcher will be able

to turn his hand to this antique weather instrument.

So, I inherited this from my grandparents.

It's the one item I've got that really symbolises them

and the relationship I had with them.

But for as long as myself and my mum remember,

-it's not been working. See, it always points to "Changeable".

-Yeah.

Which I guess isn't far from the truth in the UK.

-Maybe it IS working, I don't know, but...

-Yeah!

-Steve, this is one for you.

-Yeah.

-What do you reckon?

I think it's sort of 1920s, '30s.

More often than not, the mechanism is just seized up,

so that's completely seized up,

so if that's anything like the mechanism,

maybe that is the reason why it's stopped.

Leave it with me and I will do my best to get it working.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

-Take care.

'Even though it hasn't been working all these years,'

it's still a really important piece for me.

I was very close to my grandparents

and it's nice to have that to remember them by.

-Have you worked on one before?

-Yeah, loads of times.

-There you go. I trust you. It's all you then.

-OK.

-See you in a bit.

Early barometers from the 18th century

were symbols of affluence

and must-have items for the aristocracy.

Aneroid barometers, like Ash's, were invented in 1840.

They used a series of springs, chains and dials

attached to a vacuum and were a cheaper and safer alternative

to their predecessors that had used expensive and highly toxic mercury.

Everything looks as if it's working. It's not seized up.

I've got to check and see whether the movement is working

under pressure or not.

And Steve has a low-tech trick

to test whether it's the barometer's actual mechanism that's faulty.

I've put it into this bag so that I can force some pressure

onto the mechanism and see whether there's any movement in the hand.

What I'm actually doing is replicating

an increase in atmospheric pressure.

You can see there is some movement there if I put some pressure on.

It still doesn't explain

exactly why the hand has stayed still for decades.

Even though the mechanism seems to be working,

fastidious Steve is going to strip it down

and clean it thoroughly, just to make sure.

More difficult is going to be getting the setting nut moving.

This is really, really seized up and that worries me to death,

moving that, because they just break,

and that happens all the time.

At the Repair Shop,

the team has the tools and the talent

to deal with any restoration challenge,

no matter how big, how small, how old or how new.

Geoff's task today is to revive a retro gaming machine,

but sometimes, even a pinball wizard needs a helping hand.

-Will, just the man I want to see.

-How can I help?

-It's your woodworking skills I'd appreciate, actually.

-Ah, my skills.

-Your skills, which I know you have and I definitely haven't.

-Right.

Basically, the back box sits on top of here,

but when they turned it into a piece of furniture,

they removed a little wooden plinth which it sits on.

So, basically, I'm after a simple wooden construction around here.

-I'll make a deal with you.

-Yeah.

-Deal is, if I make that for you...

-Yeah.

-..I am the first person to play on this when it's fixed.

I'll have to have some test games on it to see if it works,

-but you can have the first proper game.

-I mean in the workshop,

cos I know Jay loves getting in there.

I'm going to avoid him. He's not allowed to go near it.

-I have first go.

-You'll have the first proper game.

Really helpful he's doing that.

Nice sense of comradeship here, which is good.

That's nice. There we go, like that. Oh, that's gorgeous!

-Oh, that's absolutely mwah!

-Yeah?

-Beautiful!

That's the most beautiful thing I've seen

-since I looked in the mirror this morning.

-Ah!

-Done.

-You are a genius, officially, thank you. Brilliant.

-Right, I'll see you for that first round.

-Yeah, absolutely. Before Jay.

-Beautiful.

-Jay's not allowed on.

I suppose my fascination with all things pinball since I was 13,

and it's become something's that part of my life

and something that is both something practical and real

and there's nothing like a first game

on a machine that hasn't worked for years.

It's actually incredibly exciting.

Even after 50 years, I still love it.

So, I'm going to plug this in. It might go bang, it might not.

Who knows what will happen?

Right, power and a plug.

Ooh, that's good. Motor works. Ah, beautiful. That is very good news.

I'm a happy little bunny.

MOTOR WHIRRS

That sounds cool. So, it's good, it's working then?

-It's on its way to working. It's...

-On its way? Look, it's got lights!

What does it need to happen now?

Lots of making things work properly,

-cos all we've got is that there's power, the motor works.

-Yeah.

Then start stripping it all down to make it look beautiful

-and play well.

-I'll leave you alone.

-Thank you very much.

-All right, no problem.

-Let's see what happens.

MACHINE WHIRRS AND CLICKS

Oh, there are some problems which will take a bit of sorting out.

Somewhere something's wrong.

Unfortunately, the discovery of a power failure has no quick fix,

and with the machine teeming with wires and connections,

it could leave Geoff

-with up to a mile's worth of cabling to check.

-Hmm...

The Repair Shop experts are accustomed to receiving objects

in all sorts of wonderful shapes and sizes.

The next is no exception,

and it's accompanied by Caroline Frances and her daughter Jo.

Wow, now, that is nice! So, what's the history behind all of this?

-My dad, Mum's husband, was a rower.

-Yes.

-That's him - J Nicholl.

He rowed for Queens' College, Cambridge,

and he was in the college first boat. It was the first time ever

-that Queens' College had won the Marlow Regatta.

-OK.

Afterwards, they're presented with these oars

-and we've had them ever since, haven't we?

-Yes.

So, where's your husband now? Where's Dad now?

-Well, unfortunately, he was ill and he died when he was 48.

-48?

So, how old was he when he was in these races then?

Well, university age.

But the really interesting thing about the fact he was a rower

-is that he was disabled.

-He was disabled?

-Yeah.

They found that he'd got a kind of muscular atrophy,

-so his hands were slightly clenched, like that.

-Closed.

-Yeah.

-Couldn't straighten his fingers out himself.

-OK.

-But he could do the rowing.

-So, he was in an able-bodied boat?

-Yes.

-Yeah, he was a normal rower.

-That's an achievement, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-It was wonderful for him that he could do the rowing.

-Yeah.

What can we do for you with regards to restoring them?

-Cos, obviously, that's the part of history that you do not want...

-No.

-No, not that.

-You don't want that touched at all.

-We're about to take some sandpaper.

-You can see from the shafts...

I don't know if you call them that on oars. I don't know what this is

that's on here, but that's obviously aged quite a lot.

-WILL:

-It's almost as if something's dripped on there

and something's reacted at some point.

-Then, as you turn the oars over, on the back of the blades.

-OK, yeah.

We can definitely get rid of the peeling

and looks like contaminated polish,

-but definitely not touch anything on here.

-No.

But what I will do is do something with the other side of the blade.

-The back of it.

-Definitely, yeah.

-CAROLINE:

-It will be lovely to be able to pass them on

in good condition to the grandchildren.

And they'll be like they were when they were presented to my dad

-in the first place.

-Right. So, if you leave these with us, OK?

-Yep.

-Yes.

-OK.

-Brilliant. Thank you very much. Thank you.

We've always been really proud of my dad,

knowing that he did this great thing when he was younger.

They are him, really, for us.

That's our main thing we've got of him that's carried on with us

through the years and it'll carry on for grandchildren as well.

So, out of all the things that have come in,

this one's got strict instructions not to touch that end.

-Not to touch that end.

-Simply because that's part of history.

-Yeah, exactly.

-Apart from the backside of it.

-You can touch the back, but not the front.

-Not even look at the front.

-Let's not even look at the front.

-No, you can't look at the front.

It's just this bit and then you've got to turn it over and that's it.

-I'll take this one.

-You leave me to take everything.

That's correct, but this is a bit of history,

so I'm going to help you out here.

-All right, you take that, I'll take this one.

-OK.

Look at that! It's longer than the bench.

Before Will embarks on the oars' refurbishment,

he makes a closer inspection.

I'm just having an overall look at the oars.

I can see how the varnish and the polish on the surface

has reacted with something at some point.

If you don't clean the surface off before you polish it,

you can have all sorts of problems with reactions and everything else,

so I think that is what's happened here.

There are areas like here, where...

You can't really see it too well right now,

but I presume that's maybe a maker's mark,

so I wouldn't want to lose any of that detail.

Across the Repair Shop, Pinball Geoff has almost finished.

So, what you going to do now?

-You going to change all of this or is it...?

-No, just give it a clean.

Everything comes off, a nice big polish,

and just the deluxe edition will be I've put flashing lights

in the title strip as well, like they used to do in the '70s.

The owner, Rachael, had purchased the rundown machine

with money gifted from her mother, who died last year.

Having been relegated to a surface for rolling pastry,

it's now close to springing back to life.

-So, once you've got it all up and running...

-Mm.

-I know I've got to get a go on this, haven't I?

-At some point.

-At some point?

-Well...

-Who's on first then? You?

-Oh, that is a secret.

-It's you, isn't it?

I'll be doing some test games,

-but the first public performance has already been promised.

-To who?

-Ooh, I'll have to kill you if I told you.

-Oh, is it? All right.

-Have you finally finished?

-Yeah.

-Right.

There we go. There was a bit of a ding, wasn't it?

-Oh!

-Oh, I forgot to use the other one.

I thought it was one button for both... OK, wait, OK. Hold on.

-All right?

-Oh, always having to compare to me!

What? Oh, shocking! Shocking!

Shocking! Ooh, ooh. Way!

-Right through the machine.

-ALL: Oh!

At least I got 200. Is it working then? That's the main thing.

Yeah, absolutely. A few little tweaks but, yeah, absolutely.

And given how it arrived, luck has been on my side.

And also, the machine sort of responded well to treatment.

Not all patients do, but I can't wait to see her set up

in the family home and not being used as a kitchen table.

-THEY LAUGH

-Well done, Geoff.

Having successfully powered up the pinball machine,

it's time for Geoff to return it to Rachael's kitchen,

where it will no longer be limited to pastry duties.

-Hello, Rachael, how are you?

-Hiya. How nice to see you again.

-Lovely to see you too.

-Hi.

-Take a look.

You pull that blanket and I'll pull this one. One, two, three.

Wow! The colour's come out so much better.

-It's never had lights on before.

-It looks lovely.

-It looks gorgeous.

And I've put proper flashing lights in it,

as it would have had in the '70s, which I had some left, luckily.

-It looks wonderful!

-And if you press the magic button...

THE MACHINE'S SOUND EFFECTS BEGIN

Oh, wow! Oh, wow!

-SHE LAUGHS

-Hey.

The sounds when I first played it, really nostalgic,

really reminded me of arcades when I was a kid and it was beautiful.

It's a beautiful, beautiful thing, and he's done such a good job.

It looks amazing. I love it!

I don't know what to say, Geoff. I'm so pleased. Thank you so much!

I really didn't know that it was going to come back

so beautiful, as it has. It's really, really nice.

It's really quite moving, actually.

I'm really pleased with the way it came out.

-It's lovely, yeah. It's a lovely machine.

-Are you a bit emotional?

I know. I love pinball machines, I really do!

I'm surprised at how moved I am, really,

but it's the last thing that my mum gave me, this pinball machine.

It's lovely, and I'll always remember. And it's such a fun thing.

She would have loved it. It's beautiful.

Back in the Repair Shop, Will is starting to cautiously clean

a test area on the 70-year-old Cambridge oars.

Awfully quiet. That must mean you're concentrating quite a lot.

Yeah, I was just trying to clean out my ears, Jay.

-Well done.

-Filthy ears, mate.

-THEY LAUGH

-How are you getting on?

-Not too bad. I have cleaned this patch here.

Come on!

That's the original surface, but not right back down to the wood.

-OK, right.

-I don't know if you can see the writing here.

-I think that writing is on top of the wood.

-But isn't this quite...?

It's quite dangerous, in a way,

if you go to clean it and it all comes off.

So, I've cleaned that with a cotton wool bud and some meths.

I'm going to do the same thing really lightly

-on maybe the letter "G"...

-Yeah.

-..and see if that cleans up well.

-Go on then, let's stop talking about it and see you do it.

-What?

-With you watching me?

-Yeah, course, man!

-I'm going to put the pressure on you.

-So...letter "G".

-Yes, please.

-OK.

-Go on, go on!

Is it going away or is staying? To me, it looks like it's...

Hold on. You want to not rub too hard.

That's staying, that's staying. Phew! That's staying!

-Now we can breathe, eh?

-Yeah.

-We're all done.

So, this stuff here what's crackling up, it's not on top of that.

-This cracking stuff is right at the top.

-Yeah.

So, I think I can take this off, like I just did there.

You're not going to do that with a cotton bud though, are you?

-No, no, no.

-Come on, man.

-I'd be there for months!

I'd probably use some soft wire wool, really soft steel wool.

-Take all that off.

-Yeah.

They've got a lot of history, haven't they?

A lot of history and a lot of cleaning.

MUSIC: Intro to Rule Britannia

Caroline's husband was presented with these prized oars

for his exceptional record in the Eights Challenge Cup

at Marlow Regatta in 1948 and 1950.

The fact that he was diagnosed with a muscle-wasting illness,

affecting both his legs and arms,

makes his achievements even more remarkable.

Woo-hoo! That looks good, doesn't it? What's all this then?

So much more information. What have we got here?

-"1938".

-Yeah, the 1938 Henley Regatta.

-Oh!

-So, there's actually more history to these...

-Yeah, there is.

..than just the races that...

-Well, you've unearthed more history just by cleaning it.

-There you go.

What else have you got to do now? What's next?

I think the best thing to do would be remove any loose pieces of paint

-on the back of this blade.

-Because that is still flaking off.

Cos you keep touching it.

Stop touching it and it won't carry on flaking off!

They're going to touch it! It's their oar, their blade!

-They're going to touch it.

-OK. Stop touching it.

You're going to make sure it doesn't peel off. Cos look at it.

It's just been turned over, look at all these bits coming off.

-We've only been here two minutes.

-Because you keep touching it.

How about you stop touching it and I'll start painting it?

-All right. I'll leave you to it.

-Thanks, Jay.

I'm just trying to mix up the paint by eye.

So, I think the colour I'm going for is sort of a British racing green,

sort of like a frog green.

I think it's just a case of making it a tiny bit lighter.

Then I should have that frog, racing car green I need.

So far, so good.

In the fight against disposable culture,

the Repair Shop experts are using their skills

to breathe new life into the nation's neglected possessions...

..and for Steve, it's make and hopefully not break

for the barometer that was left to owner Ash

by his loving grandparents.

This hand has not worked for years.

This is the bit that I haven't been looking forward to,

just in case it goes terribly wrong and the glass breaks.

And if it does, it's a complete and utter disaster.

-How we doing, Steve?

-I hope I can release this OK.

Ooh, I thought there would be a screw on the back.

No, no, it's just riveted over there.

So, basically, trying to get that out, you might break the glass.

You don't like to say it, but I know you might break the glass, isn't it?

There is an outside possibility. Keep my fingers crossed.

-I'm sure you will.

-I will do, I will do.

-Thank you.

Let's have a go.

Put a bit more force in.

It is really, really stuck, very, very fast.

I'm actually just going to put a little bit of oil on there.

Oh, it is moving.

Oh, thank goodness for that! That's easing up beautifully.

So, problem solved.

Good. Very, very happy.

With the hand loosened and the mechanism checked,

Steve can now reassemble the barometer,

just in time for Ash's return.

-Nice to see you again, Steve.

-You too.

-How are you?

-How are you?

-I'm good, thank you.

-Looking forward to seeing the barometer?

-Very, very excited. It's all I've been thinking about.

-Really?

Yeah, really excited to see what you've done to it.

-There we go.

-Oh, wow, fantastic!

The mechanism, I took out, I cleaned it through,

gave it a good service, and that wasn't causing it to not work.

-Right.

-What actually was causing the problem

-was that the dial was tight against the hand.

-OK.

-So, I've released that and it's working fine.

-Fantastic.

Knowing it's working again,

I'm overjoyed to have seen it working. Amazing!

My grandparents would be very proud of this, so I'm sure,

-if they were here today, they'd say thanks as well.

-Ah, bless.

Thank you. You've done a fantastic job.

It is like having a piece of them there at all times.

Every time I see it, it reminds me of them and the good times I had,

so to have it now, on the wall and working, it's going to be great.

Having meticulously hand-painted the back of the oar blades

with his very own bespoke frog green,

Will has just enough time to add the finishing touches.

-I think you've surpassed yourself, actually, son.

-Really?

-Well done.

No, you have surpassed yourself on this one.

Shipshape and Repair Shop fashion,

the oars are ready to be returned to Jo and Caroline.

-Hello, how are we doing?

-Fine, thank you. Very excited!

-Hi.

-WILL:

-You had a serious look on your face when you walked in, thinking,

-"My oars better be underneath there."

-Hi.

-Nice to see you again.

-Ah!

-Oh!

-Oh, that's lovely.

-Beautiful!

-That's how I remember them from when I was younger.

-WILL:

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Beautiful.

-Yeah, spot the difference.

-Really lovely.

-Yeah.

-WILL:

-As I was cleaning...

-CAROLINE:

-Oh, wording.

-WILL:

-You can see everything that's been written here.

-Oh, wow!

So, we've got the Henley Regatta, 1938, on there.

That's lovely and it's wonderful that it's come up clearly

-and you can actually read it now.

-WILL:

-Exactly.

-CAROLINE:

-It's really good.

-WILL:

-I'm pleased that you're pleased.

So, what are you going to do with these now?

They'll be up on the wall for everybody to look at

-and actually really cherish.

-So, we best get these wrapped up,

-cos you can't put them on your pushbike, can you?

-Not really, no.

-No.

-We'll get them shipped over to you.

-Lovely, thank you.

-Thank you.

Really nice to meet you.

Thank you for everything you've done.

When they were uncovered, it really brought back to me

how important they had been to my husband

and how important my husband had been to me.

And it's just wonderful to see these brought back to their former glory.

It just makes me feel really excited that we can take them back home,

put them up on display and they're like they were

when I was younger and when my dad was alive.

You was worried about this one really, weren't you?

I think, out of nearly all of the jobs that I've worked on here,

I was really worried about this.

Risk losing the writing underneath,

all of the races and everything else.

-Well done.

-Cheers, mate.

-All right.

There will be more incredible transformations

at the hands of our experts next time in The Repair Shop,

where treasured items are brought back to life.