The Repair Shop: Episode 26 (S10EP3 BBC One Wed 25 May 2022)

Jay Blades and the team bring four treasured family heirlooms, and the memories they hold, back to life.

First to arrive at the barn is Jack Laugher with a pair of Olympic medals from the 2016 summer games in Rio de Janeiro, one silver and one gold, and both won by Jack in the diving pool. In the years since this double achievement, Jack has proudly taken his medals to schools to try to inspire the next generation to take up sports. Unfortunately, all that attention has taken its toll on the medals and their wooden cases. To restore them to their winning ways will be an Olympian challenge for the barn’s silversmith Brenton West and wood wizard Will Kirk.

Husband and wife Barry and Bernadette have brought in another memento from far off climes: a musical jewellery box that Barry bought for Bernadette while he was in Malaysia with the British Army over 50 years ago. Sadly, when he sent it back to Bernadette in the UK, it was damaged in transit and she has never seen it working. The responsibility for reviving the box falls to horologist Steve Fletcher.

The barn’s bear repair pair, Amanda Middleditch and Julie Tatchell, are next to be called into action, this time against a mythical monster in need of some TLC. Duncan the dragon arrives with Marisa and her 10-year-old son Jonah. Duncan was given to Marisa when she was just a little girl, and since then he has been a huge comfort through life’s challenges, first for Marisa and now for Jonah. But the years haven’t been kind to Duncan, and it’s down to Julie and Amanda to make sure he’s sturdy enough to carry on his important work keeping the family under his wing for years to come.

Finally, a complicated fix of a simple tool for metal worker Dominic Chinea. Originally owned by Naranji Patel and brought in by his grandson Paresh, this hammer was one of a set of tools bought by Naranji after moving to the UK from India in the 1960s. For Paresh the hammer evokes happy childhood memories of helping his grandfather fix things around the home, and is symbolic of the life lessons that Naranji instilled in him. However, the hammer is no longer fit for purpose – the handle is old and bent and no longer fits the head properly – but fixing it while preserving as much of the original as possible requires some creative thinking.

Airdate: Wed 25 May 2022 at 20:00 on BBC One

Season 10 Episode 3

The Repair Shop is a workshop of dreams, where broken or damaged cherished family heirlooms are brought back to life.

Furniture restorers, horologists, metal workers, ceramicists, upholsterers and all manner of skilled craftsmen and women have been brought together to work in one extraordinary space, restoring much-loved possessions to their former glory.

Many of these items have incredible stories behind them and a unique place in history: from an accordion played in the Blitz by a woman who is now in her 90s, to a beautifully crafted clock made by a father who was completely blind; a Pinball machine that is currently being used as a kitchen counter, and a Davenport desk with its trademark fake drawers which fooled burglars – and their crowbar.

The Repair Shop is an antidote to our throwaway culture and shines a light on the wonderful treasures to be found in homes across the country.