The Repair Shop


The Repair Shop is a British daytime and primetime television show made by production company Ricochet that aired on BBC Two for series 1 to 3 and on BBC One for series 4 onwards, in which family heirlooms are restored for their owners by numerous experts with a broad range of specialisms. Furniture restorer Jay Blades acted as the foreman until 2024. Since 2024, Will Kirk and Dominic Chinea act as co-foremen.

Theme

Each episode follows professional craftspeople from around the country who restore family heirlooms that have sentimental value for their owners. The experts are found mostly through social media, and the heirlooms' owners are not charged for the restorations. Some items require the attention of two experts. For example, a clock in a wooden case. Steve Fletcher repairs the clock whilst Will Kirk restores the wooden case.

Episodes

Christmas specials

Several Christmas-themed special episodes have been produced and since the 2020s, they have been transmitted on Christmas Eve on some years and on Boxing Day on other years. The earliest transmission date on record was five days before Christmas Eve 2017 and the latest transmission date on record was three days after Boxing Day 2019.
YearTransmission date
201719 December 2017
2018Cancelled due to unfinished filming
201929 December 2019
202026 December 2020
202124 December 2021
202226 December 2022
202324 December 2023
202424 December 2024
202526 December 2025

Charity specials

The show has been included in Children in Need events, for example restoring a teddy in 2021, and a carved wooden chair in 2022. In 2022, the show's presenters were featured with French and Saunders and Judi Dench in a parody of the series for Comic Relief.

The Repair Shop Favourite Fixes

Following Jay Blades' being charged with controlling and coercive behaviour, in September 2024, he stepped back from his television work, and The Repair Shop introduced a spin-off series, showcasing the best and favourite repairs from previous episodes of regular series, introduced by Bill Paterson.

The Repair Shop on the Road

In 2025 following the success of The Repair Shop Favourite Fixes, another spin-off series of The Repair Shop was introduced and commissioned by Kirk and Chinea called The Repair Shop on the Road.

Notable artists

Episode 5 of series 1 featured a painted ceramic jug made by Picasso contemporary Jean Lurçat.
Episode 12 of series 1 featured a painting by British landscape artist Frederick Appleyard. Brought in by Appleyard's relative, the heavily damaged painting was restored by Lucia Scalisi.
In episode 16 of the same series, Scalisi restored an oil portrait by Cyril James Frost, at the request of its owner, the sitter's son.
In series 4, episode 22, a miniature by Sarah Biffin was restored, by Scalisi and paper conservator Louise Drover.

Notable guest

In October 2022, King Charles III appeared in an episode in which a piece of pottery made for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, and an 18th-century clock, were restored by the show's experts. Jay Blades, Steve Fletcher, his son Fred, Kirsten Ramsay and Will Kirk were featured.

Filming

The Repair Shop is filmed at the Weald and Downland Living Museum in Singleton, West Sussex. The Court Barn is the principal setting, though some repairs are carried out in the Victorian smithy and nearby wagon shed.

Experts

Regular

  • Jay Blades, furniture restorer and foreman
  • Dominic Chinea, metal worker, signs restorer and foreman
  • Steven Fletcher, clock restorer mechanical and toy restoration
  • Suzie Fletcher, leather worker, saddle maker
  • Will Kirk, carpenter, cabinet-maker, furniture restorer, model painter and foreman
  • Sonnaz Nooranvary, upholstery restorer
  • Amanda Middleditch and Julie Tatchell, soft toy and doll restorers, known as the "Bear Ladies"
  • Kirsten Ramsay, Sussex-based ceramics conservator
  • Lucia Scalisi, painting conservator
  • Brenton West, silversmith and antique photography specialist

    Guest and semi-regular experts

  • Angelina Bakalarou, paper and paintings conservator
  • Stuart Black, firefighting historian
  • George Blackman, antique typewriter restorer
  • Matthew Boultwood, blacksmith
  • David Burville, organ restorer, toy repairer
  • Sara Dennis, embroidery specialist
  • John Dilworth, violin restorer
  • Louise Drover, paper conservator
  • Neil Fairley, vintage electronics repairer
  • Catherine Guilder, butter churn restorer
  • Tim Gunn, bicycle restorer
  • Geoff Harvey, pinball and arcade machine restorer
  • Sarah Hatton, willow artist
  • Stephen Kember, music box specialist
  • David Kennett, luthier, guitar restorer
  • Kouresh Kouchakpour, luthier
  • Alasdair MacKay, Printmaker and gilder
  • Blue MacMurchie and John MacMurchie, bagpipes restorers, known as the "MacMurchie Bagpipe Brothers"
  • Graham Mancha, furniture restorer
  • Matthew Nickels, stained-glass worker
  • Guillaume Pons, ceramics restorer
  • Pierro Pozella, camera restorer
  • Laurence Richardson, jukebox restorer
  • Richard Rigby, antique projector specialist
  • Nigel Robinson, electronics engineer
  • Greg Rowland, wheelwright
  • Joujou Saad and Walid Saad, antique typewriter restorers, known as "Mr & Mrs Vintage Typewriters"
  • Christopher Shaw, book-binder
  • Alastair Simms, master cooper
  • Kaviraj Singh, sitar restorer
  • Rachael South, London-based furniture caner
  • Mark Stuckey, electronics, radio and electrical restorer
  • Richard Talman, master goldsmith
  • Roger Thomas, accordion specialist
  • Jayesh Vaghela, hatter
  • Tim Weeks, gramophone specialist
  • Julyan Wallis, luthier
  • Dean Westmoreland, cobbler, shoe repairer
  • Hannah Weston Smith, traditional upholsterer
  • Pete Woods, percussion and musical instrument repairer

    Merchandise

Home media

DVD releases of the series are released by Dazzler Media under license from Warner Bros.
On 25 June 2018, a DVD release of The Complete Series 1 and 2017 Christmas Special was released on a two-disc DVD set. A DVD release of Series Two was released on 7 October 2019. A DVD of Series 3 was released in March 2020, Series 4 was released as a two-disc set in March 2021, and Series 5 was released as a two-disc set in November 2021.

Books

On 25 July 2019, a do-it-yourself hardback book was released, entitled The Repair Shop: A Make Do and Mend Handbook, published by BBC Books.
The Repair Shop: Tales from the Workshop of Dreams was published by BBC Books on 5 November 2020.

Reception

In 2019, The Repair Shop received a nomination for a Rose d'Or in the Reality and Factual Entertainment category. After moving to prime time for Series 6 in March 2020, it was watched by 6.7 million people.
In 2023, the show won a National Television Award in the daytime programme category.
For the programme's 2025 Christmas episode, The Jewish Chronicle and the Jewish Telegraph Agency the criticised the omission of Jews when the episode explained the damage to Martin Landau’s cello during the Kindertransport. The Jewish Chronicle also alleged that the episode cut away the word "Jewish" from the beginning of a sentence spoken by Helen Mirren, which aired as: "…children were put on the Kindertransport". Ricochet claimed that they thought Landau's Jewish identity was "implicit" but promised to rectify the error. The BBC also apologised for the omission and the correction was eventually made.

International versions

An Australian version of the show, The Repair Shop Australia, debuted on Lifestyle on 3 May 2022. It is hosted by Dean Ipaviz, a builder and carpenter, and features six repairers.
A Dutch version of the show, The Repair Shop, debuted on RTL 4 on 2 September 2019. It was hosted by Humberto Tan, a radio and TV presenter, sports journalist and writer, and lasted one season.
A Dutch version of the show in Belgium, De Repair Shop, debuted on Eén on 4 September 2022. It is hosted by Danira Boukhriss Terkessidis, a newscaster and TV Presenter, and had its second season in 2023.