The Repair Shop

[Sue Mackay]

Season 3 started this week on BBC2. I didn't realise until this evening (episode 3) but was able to download the first two episodes from the iPlayer. If you have never watched it, it is a programme where experts restore family heirlooms, and it is fascinating to watch the use of old traditional skills and the occasional use of modern technology, such as fine dentist's drills to repair very fiddly mechanisms. There are specialists brought in for certain jobs, but the regular experts such as Stephen Fletcher (a watchmaker who is a wizard at repairing all sorts of mechanisms) and William Kirk (woodworker and furniture restorer) are great. I marvel at Will in particular as he looks really young and yet has a wonderful knowledge of traditional woodworking skills. Most of the items restored have an interesting family history story, so all in all it is well worth watching if you are in the UK.

[Lesley Robertson]

It’s one of my favorites of the current tv offering...