The Repair Shop
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Mandy
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You can find someone at The Repair Shop(BBC1) made the wise decision not to give us an estimate of the potential sale price for the restored heirlooms.
This is an important element of The Antiques Roadshow. We are eager to find out the value of each item and Fake Or Fortune. A genuine signature can add thousands to its price.
Jay Blades, Jay and the team at his Sussex workshop believe that money doesn’t matter. It is the sentimental value that matters.
A Vox Continental II electric organ, a classic keyboard for 1960s bands, could sell for more than £1,000 in pristine nick — and the model brought in by young dad Jonny was better than new by the time the restorers had finished with it.
Mike (back right) was a speedway rider who died in late 2012. His boots were brought to Dean by his cobbler Hayley (back right).
The four-figure price tag was never mentioned. Jonny, who was a psychedelic rocker and played in many bands, owned the organ. However, the electronic equipment had been packed away by his father. Jonny couldn’t bear the thought of parting with the instrument.
Jonny couldn’t stop talking as he took his wife and daughter along to inspect the keyboard. ‘Words can’t describe . . . ‘ “. ‘. He said that, and was choked up.
The Vox’s market value would not be known if we were to ask. This would ruin the moment and we should not know.
An interested fashion museum could purchase the boots, which were blue and white, that Mike speedway rider died while being restored.
They were brought in by Wendy, Mike’s wife, and Hayley, Hayley’s daughter. It was amazing to see the boots being dismantled and revived, then reconstructed.
The left sole’s metal footplate was taken off and treated with rust. Side zips weren’t picked. The leather had acrylic paint applied in a design and colour worthy of Ziggy Stardust.
They were reassembled by Cobbler Dean using a Singer machine that was 106 years old. It has a foot-operated treadle, hand-turned wheel and a foot-operated needle. He smiled and said “Proper boots,” in approval.
Wendy was overcome with joy and sadness when she first saw the two of them. Mike, she said in a mixture of delight and grief, “Oh Mike!” She sobbed. These moments are priceless.
That is a reality TV producers must be aware of, which comedian Diane Morgan made fun of in her latest series of compressed sitcoms Mandy (BBC2).
Mandy, the sulky, workhy chancer, was wearing knee-high boots from a fashion museum. She pretends she is a distant cousin of Deborah Meaden on Dragons Den, and is tracing her family’s tree through a genealogy series. Mandy will tell any lie and fake any emotion for £20, which made her ‘TV gold’ in the eyes of the director. If you’re feeling emotional,. . .’ He was a liar.
These episodes, which last 15 minutes each, are a kind of extended sketch comedy that’s almost not seen today. Morgan is the central character and writer of the series. He has done an amazing job of fixing and restoring it.
In the first instance, she was a guide dressed in period clothing at a stately house before being asked to help serve snacks at a satanic Mass.
The more absurd the jokes are, the better they will work. Mandy was funniest working as a cleaner in a posh house — ‘Ooh look, a hot tub!’ Her excuses for her benefits officer were worth many. Because her manager made reference to Rose West, she quit one job.
Due to the commute, she found it difficult to work from home. That meant getting up at dawn and walking down to the basement. It was a feeling that half the country felt this week.