04x24 - Musical Wooden Bench

[bunniefuu]

Welcome to The Repair Shop, where
much-loved but broken treasures...

This is amazing.
It is absolutely brilliant.

..are brought back to life.
Welcome to my universe.

It's pretty marvellous.
Furniture restorer Jay Blades...

It's so nice that we can be part of
that kind of history to just keep
things going.

..and a dream team of some
of the country's most
skilled craftspeople...

I'm having a lot fun, and I'm
really liking the end result.

Sounds like teamwork.

..bring their talents to bear
on beloved pieces of family history.

Look at that.
I'm liking what I see. Yes.

It's working. You beauty!

Utilising expertise passed
down the generations...

I'm going to teach you how to do it
the old-fashioned way.

..transforming priceless pieces
of family history...

Oh, my goodness me!

..The Repair Shop team will
resurrect the items...

Oh, gosh! ..the memories...

I'm going to have to hug you now.
..and the stories behind them.

Oh, look at that.
Oh, thank you so much.

I can't see it because
of the tears in my eyes!

This is a very emotional job to do,
but incredibly worthwhile.

CHEERING

Absolutely massive.
It is massive, yeah.

I prefer working on the smaller
ones, though.
THEY LAUGH

Well, good for me, there's no
woodwork on there, so...
Oh, there is! There's loads!

I can't see any woodwork.

In The Repair Shop today, Steven...

Oh, rubbish. Oh, dear. Crikey!

..and Will join forces
on a music box with bite.

That's the first and the last time
I'll be putting my hand into a
bear's mouth.

While Steve shows
his true colours...

I've got to get my syringe.
OK. I don't like the look of that.

You be careful with that.
Right, Mr West. It's like
being back at school!

..restoring a Victorian kaleidoscope
back to Technicolor glory.

Yeah. I think we're nearly there
with that. I think you're right.
Spot-on.

First, a remarkable consignment
with a memoir to match.

Chris Adams from Middlesex
has brought some treasured items,

and the honour of renovating
them falls to leather

expert Suzie Fletcher.

I'm Chris. I'm Jay. I'm Suzie.
Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you, too.

So, what have we got here?
What we've got here is my

grandfather's First World w*r
helmet and his spurs

from the Second World w*r.

So he served in both wars?! Served
in both wars. Joined the First World
w*r at the age of 19. Right.

And then he remained
in the Territorial Army.

And at the outbreak of the Second
World w*r, because he was an

officer, they said, "I'm sorry, son,
but you've now got to go and do

"the Second World w*r." Survived
probably the three worst areas

of battle in the First World w*r -
Gallipoli, the Somme and Ypres -

and then was over in France
for the Second World w*r,

then survived Dunkirk, so...
Remarkable.

Very, very important pieces for me.

Whoa! Very important pieces for us
all, I think. I know. It's...

I can't really take all that in.

And what's even more amazing
is, throughout the w*r,

he kept a diary.

So... And I have his diaries
as well. No way!

And this is what he took,
actually, out to Gallipoli with him.

So, is it all right to hold it?
Yeah, you can, you can hold it.
Yeah.

Oh! Oh, wow! Look at his
handwriting! This is unbelievable.

And it's a remarkable piece of,
piece of social history.

The helmet itself is damaged. You'll
notice it's got a dent in the top.

Well... Yeah. ..that dent was from
a piece of shrapnel that hit him
when he was at Gallipoli, so...

And he mentions it
in the diary as well.

So it saved his life?
It saved his life, yeah.

He wrote in his diary, "On Friday,

"we, Franklin and I, got very close
to the firing line.

"Shells seemed to whiz within a few
inches of us and shrapnel burst

"close to where we were
several times.

"One hit my helmet. A fellow
suddenly said, 'Are you all right?'"

And obviously there, there's the
damage. There's the damage that was
caused.

For you to have this is remarkable.

It's amazing, and I was honoured
that it was passed on to me.

I mean, I was, I was lucky enough
to, to know my grandfather.

So, when I was a child, he was
an old man, but we still went

and played soldiers in the local
park, so...

He entrusted me with them,
and my son's called Guy.

We've named him
after my grandfather. Nice one.

And Guy's got a really good
interest in it.

So it's a really interesting piece
of our own family history

that will be passed. But the patina
of the outside of the helmet,

obviously, that's as it... As it is.
You want it left that way.

Yeah. Cos that's got some history
we don't want to get rid of.

OK.

So, personally speaking, I think
this is, it's unbelievable.
It really is.

Cos that with that and with
that, and I haven't even heard

about these. These items
were part of his cavalry uniform,

and I've got photographs of him
on a parade at the Silver Jubilee

of King George V
with the stirrups on. Wow!

So... He was just everywhere,
wasn't he? He was in amongst
everything.

He was very, very lucky to come
out of the end of both wars,

because so many people sadly
didn't, you know.

So, Chris, what would
you like me to do?

Well, the First World w*r helmet,
the thing that's always been
missing,

and I don't know why or where it
went, but it's to replace

the chin strap. OK.

And then with the spurs,
the leather's

perished, I think,
from being just hung out.

Yeah, this is just going
to be a phenomenal job for me to do.

Yeah. Thank you very, very much.
Yeah. Thank you as well.

Amazing story. Yeah. Thanks. Chris.

Can't thank you enough for bringing
this in. No, you're welcome. Thank
you. Yes, thank you so much.

I'm looking forward to seeing them.
I really am. Awww. Bye-bye. Cheers.

Wow! I've never heard a story
like this before.

It's just truly amazing.
It's... Yeah.

I am struggling with this one.
I can see it.

I don't want to do anything that's
going to take away what they are.

Yeah. But preserve them. Yeah.

The helmet's an amazing thing.

When I hold on to it and I look at
it and I see the dent in the top,

it fills me with a lot of pride.

I'm hoping Suzie will be able to
just bring them back to life,

bring the leather back to life,

make it look like it did
when he wore them.

These are Guy's cavalry spurs.

I really want to work hard
at keeping this leather

because it's such a big part
of the originality of these spurs.

It's been around since
the Second World w*r

and the leather dries out
and easily breaks,

so the key is not to cause
any more damage.

My best plan of attack is to put
some oil and grease on it

and try and get the leather to
become a little bit more supple

and I can move on to securing
the whole strap

and getting some backing on it, and
then I can breathe a sigh of relief.

Next, a very unusual item,
courtesy of Jill and Tim Hawkins

from Poole in Dorset.

They've brought something for
music box expert Stephen Kember

to get his claws into.

Excellent, right. Yes.

I can just see a little bear poking
out. Yes. I'm getting excited.

Shall we dive in?
Yes, please do. Yes.

This is a musical seat

with a music box within it.

Wow.

It's a bit different.
And substantial. Very.

And the bears look cheeky. I know.

So, tell me all about it.

They came from Switzerland

in about 1950.

My parents went
on a coach holiday.

Yes. They found it
in a nice Black Forest carving shop

and brought it home on the coach.

I was only about three at the time,
so I've no idea how they got home.

Show me how it all fits together.

Right. So, if you...

That's it. And then...

And that sits there.
That sits across. Yes.

How does the music come out?

As soon as anyone sits on the
bench... Yes.

..this presses it down onto
something in the music box

to make it work.

And when you sit up, it stops.

If you were a well-behaved 1950s
child,

you sat down and you got some
music,

but if you were naughty and
got up, it stopped. Exactly.

Is that right? And which category
did you fall into?

I'd like to think that
I just sat on it quietly.

In your quiet way,
listening to the music! Yes.

Did you stroke the bears?

Yes. That's why they're looking
so worn on the noses.

I just remember just sitting
on it so often and loving it.

Just sitting there with my comforter
and sucking my thumb probably.

Aren't they lovely? They've got
sort of naughty expressions.

They've got chubby little legs.
They have, they're beautiful.

We love them, and the whole family
love them. They mean so much to us.

Have you given them names?

No, they're always "the bears".
The bears. Yes.

So what's wrong with
the bears? Right.

Er, the musical box doesn't work.

Yeah. That's the main problem.
Yes.

They're looking a little bit worse
for wear,

and this poor chap has lost a tooth
as well.

So is it not working at all
or is it intermittent?

No, I mean, it was working
until recently.

It won't wind any more. Right.

So when it's all shiny
and working properly

and back to how it was when it came
back on the coach in the 1950s,

what will happen to it then?

Well, we shall still have it
in our home.

We've got five grandchildren.

They have loved it too,
so it will stay in the family.

They're 70 years old

and it would be nice to get them
in a condition

where we can enjoy them
for the next 70 years.

I'm feeling this sense
of responsibility

and now I'm slightly nervous
at this point.

Sorry about that!

We trust you. Well, I hope so.

THEY LAUGH

Leave it with us.

I think I'm going to enjoy this job.

Oh, good. And we'll be in touch.
Thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you very much.

Thanks for your trust.
Bye now. Bye.

The bears are so much a part
of our lives,

my life in particular.

They'll bring back all the memories
from many, many years ago,

with the children enjoying them.

They really remind me of
my parents and my childhood.

Just happy memories.

Jill's just left
this little conundrum with me.

And...

..it's making some rather
nasty mechanical noises

when I go to wind it.
CLICKING

We're going to try and
access the musical mechanism.

Goodness.

It is smaller than I would
have expected.

It hasn't been accessed for quite
a while, cos there's quite a bit

of debris in here.

Now, I can rotate the music by hand.
MUSIC BOX PLAYS

But obviously it's got
to work under its own steam.

So first job is to remove
the mechanism.

The winding key screws
onto a threaded shaft.

I'm applying a bit of pressure
to it right now.

And it's not unscrewing
and it's not budging.

Unless I can free the key,
I can't take the mechanism out

through the top of the music box
to work on it properly.

So at this stage...

..I don't know what to do.

Stephen may be stumped,
but over on her workbench

Suzie is galloping ahead with her
repair of the helmet and spurs.

She's creating a replacement
leather chin strap.

Whenever you cut leather,
you end up with a very sharp edge.

And that, particularly on a chin
strap, against their skin

could rub and be uncomfortable.

I'm just going to use my edge tool

to take this sharp cut edge off.

Beautiful.

Now, as I wrap my hand along it,

that edge is not cutting
into my hands.

To treat the edges of the freshly
cut leather,

Suzie applies a specialist stain.

So now that's covered,

I use my cloth and rub it through
my hands.

As I'm doing it, I can feel the
fibres are beginning to bed down.

It's getting smoother,

just indicating it's getting
shinier.

OK. So, what do we have?

There we go.

See? That's coming up beautiful.

Now I'm going to just
finish off the strap

by putting on an edge crease.

Get a nice decorative crease

along the edge.

But in order to do this
I actually have to heat it up.

And the key is not to get
the creasing iron too hot.

Otherwise it's going to burn
the leather.

Again, you want to do this in one...

..shot so you get a nice
even line all the way along.

With the new chin strap completed,

Suzie moves on to the interior

of the helmet.

It has a lining...

..that is Rexine, which is
a type of leather cloth.

Over the years the Rexine
has got very dry and brittle

and a little curled up.

So I'm going to clean it

and...

..see if I can maybe get it
a little bit more supple.

You think of all the years
that this has laid undisturbed,

who knows, it could be...

..it could be dust from
an action.

This is very, very dirty.

And I think this is going to
take quite a few pipe cleaners.

As the team toils away,
more items are being checked

into the Repair Shop.

91-year-old Francis Rutter
and his granddaughter Alice

have a family heirloom
with a colourful history.

Jay's called on mechanical
mastermind Steve Fletcher

to join him.

Hello. Hello. Hi.

How do you do?
I'm very good sir. Very good.

So what do we have in the box, then?

You've got a kaleidoscope
and a stand.

As you see, it's seen better days.

So that stands...

..on there.

There.

Voila, yes.

It's a lovely-looking piece.

Well, you look down the eyepiece
and you twiddle those.

Yes. And that end piece contains
various glass globules

filled with some rather viscous
highly coloured fluid.

As you leave the picture,

so the fluid sinks down in the
little glass globule.

Fantastic. That's really lovely.

Who was it that gave you the
kaleidoscope?

Well, when I was six or seven,

I had diphtheria,

and this was produced.

And so this kept me
largely out of mischief.

But it certainly has happy memories,
because it was the happiest time,

in many ways, in my childhood.

I had Mother to myself.

ALL CHUCKLE

I think once I was up and about,

it was probably put away.

When I had a home of my own

I produced it whenever we had
small children who'd turn up.

Alice used to play with it
when she was a little girl

when she came to visit,

and then a couple of years ago
she begged it off me.

I was sort of rooting through your
wardrobe a couple of years ago.

I was like, "This is
an amazing toy."

The way your grandchildren will!
"Grandpa, um...

"I think it'd look nice
in my house."

I just had a little boy
six months ago and we thought

it'd be really nice to keep it
and preserve it and make sure

that he can play with it.

I thought I'd try
and clean it up inside.

I think I damaged or lost

a few of the little glass globules
that were there. Yeah.

The result was that I think
it was in a worse state

when I'd mended it than
it had been before I tried to!

Which I've no doubt is a fairly
common experience of yours.

Oh, yes!

Well, I'd be delighted to think
that my new great-grandson, Zach,

will be able to enjoy it in
the way that these children did

whenever they came to visit me.

Right. This is going to be
a very enjoyable project.

I hope so. Thank you so much for
bringing it in.

It's going to be lovely.
Thank you very much. You're welcome.

Hopefully it's going to be back
to the condition that it was,

looking really bright
and colourful again.

I'm really excited, having it
preserved for Zach too,

knowing that his great-grandpa
played with it

and it's been in the family for
so long. It looks its age.

Mind you, I don't blame it,
because I think I look my age too!

When I looked inside it,
it seems to be working fine.

The glass that's in there,

it's got to be much more full
than it is.

So I need to put some more glass
pieces in there.

You've worked on one of these
before? Oh. Loads?

No. I said "no", not "loads"!

No.

I haven't played with
a kaleidoscope since I was a kid.

Certainly not as old as this one.

This is a Victorian one.

I can see the body of this
is actually made of cardboard.

And then you've got the
two main mirrors.

They're very, very dusty.

So I need to clean those up.

All right.

There's all sorts of shapes and...

Oh, here we go. That's...came off
a lot easier

than I thought it would.

There's some very, very fine
pieces of glass here.

All different sort of
twisted shapes.

Some lovely, lovely pieces of glass,

and there's some tubes
with what I think is an oil in them.

When Francis took it apart,
he lost a lot of the glass bits.

So I think I'm going to have
to make some new bits of glass.

That's something I've never done
before, so that's quite exciting.

Music box specialist Stephen

is working to get a stubborn
Swiss instrument singing again.

Will, are you available?
I'm available. Good.

But when it comes to
the two guardians of the bench,

he needs to call upon Will's
craftsmanship.

That's it. OK.

I've got that. There we are.

What shall I do with these now,
then?

You're going to take them away
and do some dentistry. Dentistry?

Yeah. He's missing a tooth!
Missing a tooth.

I think a sympathetic spruce up.

I think I can bear doing that.

I think you can!
Oh, that's a good one. OK.

Meanwhile, unable to remove
the music box from its housing

due to the stuck key,

Stephen is having to come
up with a plan B.

Ideally, I'd like to fully
service the mechanism.

I'd like to take every piece out,

I'd like to correct every
small and minor deficiency -

but I'm really quite hamstrung,

because I can't get this key off.

The alternative is to operate
on the mechanism

while it stays safely within
the confines of the bench.

I'm going to remove the governor,

because, although sluggish
at the moment,

it looks as though the service
is going to sort it out.

So, I'm going to clean that,
lubricate it,

pop it back see what we got -

and Bob's your uncle.

All right.

There we are. Governor's out,

and I can set about making it
as good as it was when he was.

OK.

So, here's the... Here's the
governor, we'll pop him in there.

The governor regulates the speed
at which the mechanism turns,

and Steve's using an ultrasonic
tank to get it clean again.

This is a really lovely, gentle way

of shaking all of the debris out
of the governor,

all the congealed oil
out of the bearings,

and it's going to do a lovely job.

No abrasion, no risk from cleaning
or scrubbing.

It's just going to do its job.

Meanwhile Will's tackling the wear
on the bears

caused by decades
of love and affection.

You can imagine someone sitting
in the chair, rubbing away,

so they can sort of be coloured
in a bit more.

Just mixing up some polish
mixed with some pigments.

Most of this is sort of blacks,
brown umbers,

little hints of orange in places -
nothing too heavy.

The polish that I'm putting
on looks quite shiny.

Everything I'm doing now will be
sealed with a protective wax,

and it'll get a really nice
uniform sheen.

The governor mechanism is now
out of the cleaning tank

and ready for a once over.

We've got a beautifully sparkly,
clean governor

so if I put a little bit of pressure
on that wheel,

it's running quite nicely.

So now I'm going to put it back
in the musical box.

I'm going to put a couple of clicks
of power on the mainspring.

Let's see what we've got.

It should burst into life...

..and it does.

With the driving force of
the music box running smoothly,

attention turns to the parts
that produce the tune.

I want to check the positions
of the pins on the cylinder.

If they're pointing too far forward
or too far back

then the timing will be wrong,

and if they're pointing
to the right or to the left

then they'll be playing
in the wrong tune.

In the end of there
I've got a piece of tubing,

so I can slide it over

and put it back where it should be.

So, excuse me for a moment.

On the neighbouring bench,

Will needs to attend
to that gummy bear.

There's a fragmented bit on there

which sort of shows roughly how
thick and how long that tooth was.

I got a little bit of wood here,

and I'm going to start whittling
it into a tooth shape.

It's in such a tricky place,

it's going to be really hard
to clamp it,

so I'm putting the glue on

and I'm going to have to
hold it in place whilst it dries.

Well, that's a pretty good match.

That's the first and the last time

I'll be putting my hand
into a bear's mouth!

I've actually got to relocate
the comb in the right position -

to the left or to the right,

then it'll play the wrong notes
at the wrong time,

so there's a little bit of sort of
trial and error here.

Now...

Ooh, rubbish.

Ooh, dear...

Crikey.

Nearly did it all wrong.

Agh...

MUSIC BOX PLAYS

We've got something.

Let's have some more power
on the thing...

IT PLAYS MORE RAPIDLY

If Gill were a fly on the wall now

then she'd be quite pleased,

because there is a sort of a light
at the end of the tunnel.

So, I'm quietly confident that we're
going to get a successful result.

Also striving for
an accomplished restoration, Suzie.

So, I hope I've done justice
to Chris's helmet, here,

and that...

..is ready to be handed back to him.

It's really rather lovely.

She can now begin work on
the Second World w*r spurs.

Her first task is to give the middle
a rub down with some fine wire wool.

Now, as I'm cleaning this,
and I'm seeing it's revealing...

..more the name of the manufacturer,

which is a very well known,
very established shop

called Moss Bros & Co Ltd
of Covent Garden.

Metal now gleaming,

Suzie turns her attention
to the leather straps.

Basically,
I'm creating a wedge shape,

feathering it down to the cut...

..edge. Nice and gently does it.

I can feel that even though
this leather is really old

it's still got some strength.

I can feel it
through the knife blade -

so I'm expecting quite
a good result.

So now the two parts
are going to overlap, like this...

..and this is going to be ready
for me to apply some glue

and get the backing put on.

With the leather straps
now strong enough,

they can be rethreaded
onto the spurs.

This is the one that has the damage
where the splice was,

and so the splice area always
remains an area of weakness.

You just have to feed it
through with a little bit more care.

Here we come. Crucial point here.

There we go.

There's a little bit...

..of drag going in,
but we got it through.

That's a huge relief.

I'm pleased
with how they've come out.

There have been some challenges
along the way,

and the main thing is they're
in one piece,

and Chris and his family
can have them

for many, many more years to come.

So, I've achieved what I wanted to.

Owner Chris' grandfather wore
this helmet and spurs

as he served in both world wars,

and now Chris has returned to
collect the precious mementos.

I'm hoping Suzie's
achieved miracles.

I mean, they're... The items
are really important to me,

and to see the helmet
with a chin strap on

would be just amazing.

Just the thought of what my
grandfather would have looked like

wearing that as it was,

so that generations
can look at the items

and appreciate what
my grandfather did

for my country and for my family.

Hello, Chris, it's great
to see you again. Hi, Suzie.

Hiya. How you doing, Chris?
How are you? OK? Very good.

So... How are you feeling?

Oh, I'm really excited.

I've had, almost, sleepless nights.

Uh-oh. Oh...
Not - no, no... In a good way?

In a really good way. OK.
In a really good way -

it's just I'm so excited
about what's...

What you've done with the items.

OK!

Well, Suzie's done a
very sympathetic restoration

and hopefully... Mm-hm.

..it's what you like.

That's exactly what I wanted, so...

OK. I'll let you do the honours.

You get that side,
I'll get this side. OK.

Oh, wow.

They look fantastic. Can I...?

Absolutely, go ahead.

Please, help yourself.

Oh, it's beautiful.

Wow.

Cor, it's made me feel a bit...
a bit emotional, actually.

That's all right.

That's amazing.

Absolutely amazing -

it made the hair on the back of my
neck stand up. It really has.

That's a good feeling. Yeah.
Well done.

Really, it genuinely has.
I'm just...

I've never seen the helmet
with a strap on it. It's just...

It's amazing - and the stirrups
just look...

I can't believe it.
They just look so good.

Oh, I've got the shakes.

And it's the original leather,
which is so important.

It's just... You know, it's just
a piece of my grandfather. Mm-hm.

You know, it's a hundred years...
Yeah.

..a hundred years ago my
grandfather was wearing this -

and this saved his life
on more than one occasion.

It's such an important piece.
If this hadn't...

If he wasn't wearing this
then I wouldn't be here.

You wouldn't be here. Yeah.

You know, so - and my kids wouldn't
be here, so it's fantastic,

and my mum will be thrilled
when she sees this. Yeah.

But it's just the most amazing story

and I feel very, very honoured
to have been a part of it.

Well, I really,
really appreciate it.

I really, genuinely do.
Thank you so much. Thank you.

Cheers. Thank you. You take care
now. And you. OK. Bye. Bye.

Oh!

Well done you.
Oh! That's a good feeling.

That was just the most
amazing experience.

When I picked the helmet up

I kind of got an electricity
through it.

It literally felt alive.

I thought I was going to break
down and cry then, cos it is so...

It's just such a beautiful thing
that she's done with it.

It's just amazing.

With the military accoutrements
safely back in the hands

of their custodian,
Steve can march ahead

on the restoration of the
Victorian kaleidoscope,

addressing the internal elements
which create the colourful patterns.

I'm just making small twiddly
bits of glass.

Francis said that he'd lost
a lot of the bits,

and I'd like to make them
slightly interesting

because each one, it's reflected -

I think it's 12 times
on the mirrors.

I work in metal all the time.

To work in another medium,
it's great fun.

It all moves in a different way,

it all acts in a different way.

I'm really enjoying this.

What are you up to?

I'm making some little glass ba*ls.

Now, you told me you'd made
a thermometer before.

When I was 14 in physics at
school we made a thermometer.

I remember it being quite easy...

That's what you said.

..but the physics teacher
was really good,

and he might have done it for us -
it was a long time ago!

I am relying upon you. OK.

Doesn't that work well?
It's brilliant.

It's absolutely fantastic.

You're going to
melt one end for me. Yeah.

Then the plan is that I'm going
to cut this off... Yep.

..put the oil in... Yeah.

..put the glass ba*ls in... And
because I showed you how to do it,

you can do the other end yourself
when it's got the oil in it.

We are going to have a go at
doing that, right?!

Absolutely. Let's give it a go. OK.

OK...

Are you ready? Yes, please.

So, I'm going to pop that
in there...

..just to heat this up.

As soon as it goes red
it starts to get soft,

and I just give it a gentle
pull and a twist... Yeah.

..and that will seal it.

So, can we put the glass ba*ls in,
yeah?

OK. Go on, then.

Don't drop them.

Right, OK, now put some oil in.

I've got to get my syringe. OK.

I don't like the look oft that!

You be careful with that.

All right, Mr West...!

Like being back at school!

Right...

Just cover them, I think.

About there? Yep. Right.

Right, we ready? Yeah, let's go
for it. You sure? Yeah, why not?

Very slippery...

Well, it's got oil in it.
It's got the ba*ls in it. Yeah.

Let's make another couple of tubes

so we've just got the oil going...
OK. Yeah? OK.

There you go. All right. OK.
Oil in there, then? Yes, please.

I'm glad you did it.

We'll see if it works.

Yeah.

I think we're nearly there
with that -

a bit of tweaking and it will be...
I think you're right. ..spot on.

With the glasswork completed,

Steve moves on to the kaleidoscope's
worn and faded cardboard casing.

I've just been over to Suzie,

and she's given me some
of this renovating cream

to get it back to almost
how it was when it was new.

I'll just use a little bit
on a cotton bud

and see how it takes.

That's incredible.

On this paper, it seems to be
working absolutely superbly.

After hours of cleaning,
tweaking and tuning,

music box expert Stephen has given
the bear bench back its song -

now the reassembled woodwork is
ready for some finishing touches

courtesy of Will.

The bench was quite worn out.

A lot of that colour's disappeared.

I'm just using some stain
and some polish

to get that colour back into it.

I'm going to finish everything off,
now, with a nice dark wax polish.

After it's dried I'll buff it up,
and I'll get it back over to Steve.

It will be Stephen's job

to present the bears
back to owners Gill and Tim.

The bears are very important to me,

because they were a big part
of my childhood.

It's been very sad not having
the bears with us this week.

We've missed them,

and I'm quite excited to be seeing
them again.

Hello. Hello, Steve.

Hello, Steve. Hello. Hello.
Lovely to see you.

How are you? Yes, we're fine. Yes.
Excited.

Can you bear the suspense? Oh, no!

No? No. May we see, please?

All right, then. We're ready.
OK. Yes.

Oh, wow. Oh, my goodness.

Oh...

It makes you realise
the state they WERE in. Yes.

Incredible. Oh, my goodness.

Aren't they lovely? It's wonderful.

Trip to the dentist...

Yes. Can you spot which one?
I noticed that first of all.

Oh, yes - the first thing
you looked at, was it? Yes, yes!

I can't believe it.

You asked what we called them,
and we called them just "the bears".

Well, Gill thinks
they should be named now.

How did you get on
with the musical box, first?!

Is that before...? So, you're not
going to declare the names

until you find out
what sort of job I've... Yeah!

Is that...? Oh blimey.
OK, all right.

Well, we'll give it a wind.

Here we are.

Who's going to be the first...?

Oh, Gill must be the first. Yes.

Right... Madam, please.

MUSIC BOX PLAYS

That's how they were! Right!

That's... That's just how they were.

Oh, that's fantastic. Oh!

SHE SNIFFLES

That's wonderful, Steve.
It's good, isn't it?

Oh...

Do you think they you adopt
an extra sort of pleased expression

when the music goes off?
I think they have. Yes, definitely.

Would you like a sit, Timmy?

Ready? It's still active, is it?

It's still active. OK.

Oh, that is so wonderful.

Can you remember the girls
when they sat on it, now?

Well, it transports you back through
time. It really does. Wonderful.

I would love to call this one Steve.

Yes, you've done a sufficiently
good job! And this one Will.

Ah! There you go.

Will, thank you so much.

Thank you.
We're very grateful to you.

Thank you.

Mum and Dad, if they were here now,
they would be thrilled to bits.

Thank you. Pleasure. Yeah.

Good man.

Would you like a lift out with them?

Yes, that would be great.

Thank you. OK. Away we go, then.

When I first sat on the bear, I...

Well, it did take me back,
immediately.

I really was a little bit overcome.

There is nothing quite so evocative
as music.

The tinkling sound
of the musical box

transports me straight back to those
early days of fatherhood.

I'm just delighted.

I'm almost speechless now,

because I'm just so thrilled
that the result is so wonderful.

Steve is also on the final stages
of his assignment -

the Victorian kaleidoscope.

The lustre of the stand
is revitalised with some polish,

and now comes the moment
he's been working towards -

filling the gadget
with its sparkling contents.

I've made a lot of new bits to fill
it up with,

including the new ones

that have got the little ba*ls
that move up and down the tubes.

So, when you turn the front
of the kaleidoscope

you get a bit of movement in it,
as well.

So, I'm going to fill the front up.

Just put this glass panel in...

Right.

As it turns round,
all of those bits and pieces fall...

..and, er...

..makes pretty patterns.

Look at that.
That looks absolutely fantastic.

It really works well,
and the little ba*ls are fantastic.

HE CHUCKLES

It really is really good.

I'm absolutely chuffed to bits.

Oh, I love this so much!

It really is so good.

Francis is going to really love
this piece, absolutely love it.

I can't wait to see his reaction.

And that moment has arrived.

91-year-old Francis has returned
to The Repair Shop

to claim his childhood prize
once more,

his granddaughter Alice by his side.

It's probably a hundred years old.

It had gotten rather dusty inside.

I tried, myself, to repair it
25 years ago,

and I think I made it worse
rather than better.

It was in need of a bit of love,
wasn't it?

It needed a bit of TLC, yes.

Hello. Hello, Steve.

Nice to see you again. You, too.
Hello again. Hi. Hi.

Hello. Hiya.
How you doing, you all right?

Francis. Hello. You all right?

I've had the greatest of fun
repairing it.

I should be very interested to hear

exactly what you have been able
to do to it! Yeah!

I will let you have a look.
Thank you.

Oh, wow. The outside looks gleaming.

It's great!

Looks marvellous.

The great thing is to have
a look down it. Yeah!

Oh, that looks lovely.

Thank you very much indeed.
Yeah, thank you. It looks great.

He's done a great job.
You, you have!

Have a look, Alice.

It looks a lot like
a fuller picture now.

Absolutely, yes.

That's great.

I've had some fun with
melting glass, twisting glass.

It looks like you'd put a new outing
on it, as well. No, not at all.

Oh, OK. It's all original.

I think it looks lovely.
Thank you very much indeed.

I think it's at least five
generations of family so far.

With any luck, it'll carry on
for another five generations...

Absolutely. ..and then we shall
have to look for another Steve.

It's lovely to have it back
in the family,

and knowing that it's that much more
sturdy for the next few generations

and to be able to pass it down. Yes.

Quite simply delighted.

It's lovely.

Join us next time...

..as once neglected treasures...

I can already tell this
is going to be a big job.

..are restored back to glory...

My word. That is extraordinary.

..in The Repair Shop.