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00:00A workshop full of wonders.
00:03I heard the word watch.
00:05Home to experts and time-honoured crafts.
00:09There you go, that's a good sound.
00:11Together repairing treasured pieces of the past.
00:15Ooh, I like that. That is really good.
00:19Wow, look at that!
00:20Wow, look at that!
00:23Quite proud of that.
00:25And unlocking their stories.
00:27I'm completely blown away by this.
00:29Oh dear.
00:32Bringing the broken.
00:33I don't know where to start with this.
00:35Back to life.
00:36Wow.
00:38It's stunning.
00:40Wow, fantastic!
00:43I think it's just amazing.
00:46Yay!
00:47Welcome to the repair shop.
00:58Hi Brendan.
00:59Good to see you there with the camouflage on.
01:01I was hiding from you.
01:12First up, Heather Evans from Winchester.
01:16Who is hoping bike aficionado Tim Gunn will be able to restore balance to a tricky mode of transport.
01:27Hi there.
01:29Hi there.
01:29Hello.
01:30Look at this.
01:34I don't know why unicycles always make me chuckle.
01:37It's very nice.
01:38Whereabouts did you get it from?
01:39It was a gift I bought from my late husband when he turned 30.
01:42So that was over 30 years ago.
01:45What was your late husband's name?
01:46Perry.
01:47Was Perry really into bikes and unicycles?
01:49He was really into sort of having fun and being an entertainer.
01:52Quite a character then?
01:54Yeah, he was really into getting the best out of life.
01:57He liked to try and conquer things and learning how to ride a unicycle was one of those things.
02:02Yes.
02:02But he was also a haemophiliac so he shouldn't have been doing things like unicycling.
02:06You say haemophiliac.
02:08Is that where your...
02:09Yeah.
02:09It's where your blood doesn't clot properly.
02:11That must have been really risky.
02:12I know.
02:13It was an accident waiting to happen.
02:15We met through our local church.
02:17He'd moved to the area and I thought he had a really lovely smile.
02:21And then on our second date he said he'd also got something called HIV through infected blood.
02:26Which I didn't really know much about either then.
02:29Some haemophiliacs have to take some blood products and it turns out they were contaminated with HIV.
02:34So he was actually injecting himself with these products.
02:37Mmm.
02:37I'd read some leaflets and I said this is really serious this.
02:41And he said yeah I've been told I've got two to five years to live.
02:44Gosh. Oh my word.
02:45So he got really ill.
02:47We thought he was going to die.
02:49But then these new drug treatments came out and within a year he was back at work which is amazing.
02:55But we were also told we'd never have children and we shouldn't have children.
02:59Through the hospital they referred us to a program, a safe way for us to try to have children.
03:05And we were successful.
03:07Really?
03:07It was very early on and we had a son called Isaac.
03:12And then our daughter was born.
03:13We did not expect to have a second child.
03:16She's called Kerriann Rose.
03:17Oh.
03:18That's lovely.
03:20Am I right in thinking that it wasn't just Perry that was affected?
03:23There were at least 4,000 infected with HIV.
03:27Perry died in April 24 and we were married for 36 years.
03:32He never wanted the illness to define him.
03:35He always wanted to be Perry.
03:37He had the attitude of this.
03:39You know the determination that he showed.
03:41Yeah.
03:42That he would overcome.
03:44It's great to remember him like that.
03:47The fact he has actually gone is quite hard to believe because he was so strong for so long.
03:53Yeah.
03:53And 18 months after he's gone, what would sum him up?
03:58This is it.
03:59This is the thing.
04:00Yeah.
04:00This captures who Perry was.
04:02His sense of fun, sense of challenge.
04:04What happened to it?
04:06Well, as we were moving house and clearing out, it leaned against a wall.
04:10It had fallen over into the road and it got run over.
04:13No.
04:13No.
04:14What exactly would you like them to do with it?
04:16Well, if this could be straightened out and obviously the spokes are broken.
04:20It is very broken.
04:21I don't know if there's anything you could do with this because it's got ripped as well.
04:24We'll have a look at it.
04:25Done one before?
04:26I have done a couple of them before.
04:28Not one like this.
04:29No, I'm looking forward to the challenge.
04:31It's a big challenge.
04:32Thanks a lot.
04:33Bye.
04:34Bye.
04:50Perry sounded like such an amazing character.
04:53He was obviously a joker and the unicycle is a perfect gift for him, but it's been squashed.
05:01So these fork plates need to be straight, otherwise the wheel won't turn.
05:08Quite a lot of spokes have been ripped from the hub, but it would be really good to try
05:13and salvage some of those original spokes.
05:17So the seat has a big split down the side of it.
05:19So I might see if I can find someone in the barn who can help sort that out.
05:25But yeah, it's a very bent unicycle at the moment.
05:27And my job is to make it less bent.
05:48Mark, have you always been fixing things?
05:50Well, I've tried as a child, not very successfully.
05:53Let me guess, taking things apart, not quite getting them back together again.
05:56You too?
05:56Exactly.
06:00Here to put Mark's current electrical expertise to the test are Florence, along with her dad Adrian,
06:08and family friend Alex.
06:10They're entrusting Mark with a classic piece of 80s technology.
06:16It's been a while since I've seen one of these.
06:18Goodness me.
06:19It's certainly bright, isn't it?
06:21You can't mistake it.
06:22This was my mum's.
06:23This was something that was constantly blasting music, playing her favourite tunes.
06:27What was mum's name?
06:28Mel.
06:29She was the wig mistress of Les Miserables.
06:31As in the West End musical?
06:33Yes.
06:34Over 25 years she worked for the show.
06:36Mel was the only original cast and crew for probably the last 20 years that she worked at.
06:43She made wigs, she made beards, moustaches, sideburns.
06:48Got any spare?
06:49What a career to have.
06:51Sounds fun.
06:51Yeah.
06:52So Mel was your mum.
06:53Mm-hmm.
06:54How did you both know her?
06:56I was her colleague, right from the first show, one of the hordes that adored her.
07:01I met Mel on my first day.
07:04I was a deputy stage manager, and ultimately she became my wife.
07:09Then two years later we had Florence.
07:11The show itself is a very complex machine, and this is how I got to know my good friend Alex,
07:16because he was the crew chief.
07:18Goodness me, so we've got crew chief, stage manager, wig mistress,
07:22We've got half the team here.
07:23Pretty much.
07:24She was such a character.
07:25She had a lot of energy.
07:27She was always making me laugh.
07:28If I ever had spare time on the weekends, I'd get to sit in the wig room and watch her
07:32make wigs and meet the actors.
07:34There's a wig room?
07:35Separate room just for the wigs.
07:37Wow.
07:37In theatre there's often a lot of waiting around, and where you could always guarantee
07:41a cup of tea and a gossip was the wig room.
07:43During the half, which is the 35 minutes before curtains up, that wig room was just a
07:48constant traffic of people coming in, sitting down.
07:51Hair back, pin curls, whack, wig, glue, glue, glue, right, you're good, go.
07:56And this would be the instrument whereby she set the tone of what was happening.
08:00She was a big fan of Michael Jackson, George Michael.
08:04Rhythmic's greatest hits.
08:06I have very clear memories of Sweet Dreams blasting out.
08:09Anything sort of like groovy with a bit of a beat to it, she would be dancing, singing away.
08:14I love it.
08:15So, may I ask what happened to Mel?
08:19In 2001, she very sadly got a breast cancer diagnosis.
08:23And over the next 12 years, she lived with that.
08:26She sadly passed away in 2013.
08:30I'm sorry.
08:31I'm just so proud of her.
08:32I'm just so proud of what she achieved, you know, in the time that we did have her.
08:37Have you tried to actually use it at the moment?
08:39Yes, I have.
08:40It's chewing tapes, the tapes all flying off the cassette itself.
08:44And if it does get working again, what do you intend to do with it?
08:47Do the exact same thing and blast all of her favourite music and keep her memory alive.
08:53Because one of the things I can remember from her at home is in the kitchen, cooking, dancing, singing.
08:59Like, those are some of my best memories of my mum.
09:01Yeah, a little bit of your mum's still in there, isn't it?
09:03Exactly.
09:03Yeah.
09:04I completely understand how important this is to all of you.
09:07Thank you so much.
09:08Thanks very much.
09:10Bye-bye.
09:13It's had a life, hasn't it?
09:15It has had a life, but an amazing one.
09:16Imagine what that's heard.
09:17Good luck with it.
09:31This is really an interesting cassette player.
09:35When this was purchased, I believe late 80s, this was quite a machine to have.
09:41What I think I need to do first of all is to open it up and see if I can
09:46see what could be causing it, chewing up the tapes.
09:50I would imagine the drive belts could well be stretched by now.
09:54There could be a break in one of the gears.
09:56So, few possibilities.
09:58Won't know any of them until I actually get it apart to have a look.
10:03So, what have we got?
10:04This is the main bed where the cassette will sit in.
10:08What I need to do is literally undo the main tape mechanism so I can look behind it.
10:14Now we can turn this little unit round.
10:19Everything seems to be turning as I'd expect it would do.
10:23What I need to do is look into it in a bit more detail just to see if I can
10:27establish exactly what I think may be causing the problem here.
10:39Tim's assignment is more clear-cut.
10:42Having fully dismantled the mangled unicycle, he now needs to begin the painstaking process of reconstruction.
10:50So, I've now got to the point where I'm rebuilding the wheel of Perry's unicycle.
10:54I've managed to salvage half of the spokes that were left in the wheel.
10:58So, I've cleaned them all. I've straightened them all out as best as I can.
11:01And I'm going to build one half of the wheel with the original spokes and the other half with brand
11:07-new spokes.
11:08And I'm going to alternate the spokes. It's going to make a nice pretty pattern.
11:12The spokes have to go into certain locations into the hub and the holes in the rim.
11:20This is what's known as a tangent wheel. So, basically, the spokes are at a tangent to each other.
11:25So, the old ones are pulling this way and the new ones are pulling that way.
11:29So, when it's all tight, it basically makes it a very, very strong wheel.
11:53So, with these last few spokes going back in Perry's unicycle wheel, I can see a nice sort of pattern
12:00starting to appear.
12:01We've got silver and dull and silver and dull.
12:20Hello, Susie. You all right? Yeah, not bad.
12:22I'm wondering if you can have a look at this saddle.
12:25OK. It's damaged.
12:26Yeah, no, it's massively damaged. I'll see what I can do.
12:30OK. Brilliant. Thanks, Susie.
12:36So, it would be really nice if I could just join these two edges back together, but they're very vulnerable
12:45to breaking apart.
12:46So, the next option is for me to keep the original seat in place, but to make a new cover
12:54to go over it.
12:56The first thing I need to do is to put some canvas on the inside that I can glue these
13:01layers to and hold it firmly in place.
13:17Next into the barn is Keith from Oxford. He's bringing in something contagious that most people would try to avoid.
13:26Hello. Come on in. Thank you very much.
13:30This one-of-a-kind item is a job for man of many talents, David Burville.
13:38Oh, my word. What is this wonder?
13:42Well, it's a model of an adenovirus.
13:44What is an adenovirus?
13:46It's a virus that infect us with all sorts of different diseases, such as the common cold.
13:50So, we all know more about this than we think we do. It relates to everybody.
13:55It does. It's something that my father had made. He was an electron microscopist.
14:00What is an electron microscopist?
14:03It's somebody that uses the electron microscope to image viruses.
14:07So, it's a huge amount of magnification so that they can understand how they infect us, find cures and ways
14:12around the infections.
14:14What was your father's name?
14:15Robin Valentine. He worked at a place called the National Institute of Medical Research.
14:20And they studied viruses and developed vaccines.
14:24This was the first time in the 60s when my father managed to photograph it.
14:28And apparently, it was a real kind of eureka moment.
14:30He kind of saw the image and went in to his fellow scientists and said,
14:35Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?
14:37Was he the first to discover this?
14:39As I understand it, yes.
14:40He'd obviously taken a 2D image of it, but wanted to make a 3D model to try and explain its
14:45shape and how it worked.
14:46How impactful was the image that your father took of this virus?
14:51Well, it certainly seemed to capture the imagination of the press.
14:55It got into various national newspapers and scientific newspapers.
14:58And I think he was seen as a leading electron microscopist in the world.
15:02So, very exciting times.
15:04Yeah, you must be incredibly proud.
15:06I am incredibly proud, yes.
15:08So, can you explain what all of the different parts, the antennas and that sort of thing are?
15:13My understanding is that these are all proteins and then these fibres have separate proteins on the end of them
15:19and that's what actually attaches themselves to your throat to make you feel unwell.
15:22Wow. So, what would you like us to do with it?
15:25Well, it just seems that quite a lot of the polystyrene balls have fallen off.
15:30Some of them have got damaged.
15:32At the moment, it's sitting on a chest that's at the top of our stairs.
15:35And, you know, I just don't want to end up with a big pile of balls underneath it.
15:40It's obviously something that we're proud of as a family and bringing it back to life,
15:44it would give it another generation of learning and understanding.
15:49Keith, if you are happy to leave this wonderful thing with us,
15:52David will do his very best to make it beautiful again.
15:55Oh, that would be fantastic. Many thanks.
15:57That's very good.
15:57I'm really looking forward to it.
15:59Take care.
16:02That's incredible.
16:03It really is.
16:17Well, Keith has brought me just the most interesting thing.
16:21I mean, this is such a groundbreaking step forward in ultimately the prevention
16:27and treatment of viruses that we know about.
16:31Unfortunately, there's quite a few of these polystyrene balls which are missing.
16:36I think the first thing I've got to do really is try and find some replacements.
16:40Some of them, as you can see, are actually quite loose.
16:43In actual fact, that one's fallen off.
16:45Anything which is a little bit loose, I'm going to pull off and then I can re-glue it.
16:51Polystyrene is a nice lightweight material.
16:53The only downside is that it's very delicate and I don't want to have to take away anything from the
17:01original model.
17:02So I think what I'm going to do is see whether I can actually fill the damaged balls.
17:09I'm going to give it a nice dust off and then I can just see what the general condition of
17:17the balls are and actually see how many of them are loose.
17:35Mark has started the process of elimination, trying to fathom what's causing the 80s boombox to chew up tapes.
17:44Now, when I press play, we've got this moving here.
17:50If you imagine the tape is in the mechanism, then it will go from here, pulled across the head, over
17:57the pinch wheel,
17:58and then that will come here to the driving wheel, which is meant to be rotating freely.
18:03In fact, it's just rather stiff.
18:08What does look noticeable is the drive belts themselves seem particularly weak.
18:13Now, if that's pretty poor, it's not going to be able to actually rotate some of these wheels which drive
18:18the tape mechanism.
18:20So what I propose to do is just change the belt and then I can then at least eliminate those.
18:28What I've got to do now is to literally take the cover off where all the gearing and the belts
18:34are.
18:43That's the first belt and that comes off.
18:47The belts I'm using here are new enough for me to be able to at least try this and to
18:53see how this goes.
19:11That's it.
19:12The belt's now fitted.
19:14Press the play button.
19:17The belts are driving really well now. I'm happy with that.
19:20If I now just turn it over for a minute, that's still not rotating around.
19:27There is definitely a problem I've got to sort out.
19:32This drive here, that is the key to this issue.
19:36I need to strip this out and examine why this is having a problem.
19:48Susie's saddle repair is proving less problematic.
19:52So I've glued the split together and I've gone ahead, made a new cover to put over the old seat.
20:00So I'm just putting the final couple of stitches in.
20:06What I've used is a similar type of vinyl.
20:09Very hard wearing and it looks gorgeous.
20:13The key is, does it fit?
20:16This is a moment of truth.
20:20It's great. This fits absolutely beautifully.
20:24Now I need to just staple it into position so that it's nice and tidy and I can give it
20:28back to Tim.
20:37I've stripped part of this down and this is actually a clutch here which drives the two main principal wheels,
20:44which makes the tape pull through the machine.
20:46This here should rotate and it isn't.
20:49And this clutch mechanism, due to age, is seized up a bit.
20:53You've got a spring which is creating tension.
20:55There's another one underneath and that should move freely when it's actually a little bit stuck.
21:00Now, what I'm going to try is to put some penetrating oil into this shaft here.
21:09There we go.
21:10A little bit in there.
21:11And that should be able to get in and then the clutch should move more easily.
21:16And it should then be able to pull the tape through the machine.
21:20Let's just get this to go in.
21:24Right, okay.
21:26Now what I'm going to do, put this on.
21:32Then I locate this part.
21:35I'll press the play button.
21:38And you can actually see that this now is rotating quite well.
21:43It's actually got a good grip and it's rotating.
21:45I've got a spare cassette.
21:47I'm going to plug it in here.
21:49Press play.
21:50And then you can see that now it is actually doing exactly what it should be doing.
21:54So I'm really happy the way that now seems to be working.
21:57But of course, until I put it all together, I won't really know if it's going to actually deliver any
22:01sound.
22:12With the unicycle wheel now true, it's time for Tim to set the rest of the cycle straight.
22:19So now that I've rebuilt the wheel, I'm turning my attention to the forks.
22:23They're just so badly bent, which means that any wheel that's in the forks basically isn't going to turn.
22:30So this bit here needs to be straight and the whole wheel can be pushed over and in line with
22:36the forks.
22:36So my task is now to heat them up and get them straight.
22:50So I need a very high temperature flame to basically get this material as hard as possible so as I
22:59can then strain more.
23:06So it's starting to go cherry red, so I need to gently apply pressure on the arm.
23:23And it's slowly coming round to be straight again.
23:33I'm really pleased with the way that that's come out.
23:35It's a long process of working my way up the fork blade now to get them all straight.
24:05That's actually quite amazing.
24:08I never thought that they could ever come back.
24:11I know it's burnt all the paint off, but I'm going to repaint these anyway.
24:15So getting this straight is a massive milestone to getting the unicycle back on its wheel again.
24:35So the forks are now straight, they're primed, and now I'm at a point where I've got to put the
24:39red back on, which I'm incredibly excited about.
24:42So it's now the point of no return.
25:05So that's the first coat applied, another couple of coats, and once it's dried I can then reassemble the unicycle.
25:25Back inside the barn, David has a strategy to contain elements of the virus and to prevent the damage from
25:33spreading.
25:33So I've now cleaned everything, and it's certainly removed years and years of dust.
25:40But unfortunately, some of the original paint surface has deteriorated as well.
25:46So I've mixed up a powdered filler and a little bit of paint in with it, and that will actually
25:53re-surface the balls basically.
25:56I'm going to use it to fill in the little cracks, dents, which are all over the place really.
26:02It gives a nice smooth surface to paint on eventually.
26:07It's quick drying, and it's easily sandable afterwards, so you can get a really nice finish.
26:13There's a lot to do here, so yeah, it's going to be a little bit time consuming, I think.
26:35What are these, mate? These polystyrene?
26:37Yeah, yeah, but you can see I'm actually missing a few.
26:40And the way they all fit together, they've got to be exactly right, haven't they?
26:43Yeah.
26:43What a job.
26:45Interesting though.
26:45Yeah.
26:55That's all nice and smooth now.
26:57The next stage is to glue back the balls that fell off.
27:02I have found a special two-part plastics glue, which uses an activator pen,
27:09which are put over both surfaces, and this basically chemically activates the glue once it comes together.
27:32I've sourced some other polystyrene balls, so they're actually ready to be glued on,
27:38and then that should actually complete it, which is quite scary because then it's a complete virus
27:43and we don't know what it's capable of.
27:55Oh, that's cool.
27:57This belongs to somebody who works in the theatre, a mistress looking after hair and all the rest of it.
28:02Oh, I've got a friend who's a wig mistress.
28:04Really?
28:04Yeah, known as a wiggy.
28:06A wiggy?
28:06Yeah, yeah.
28:07She works in the theatre.
28:08Oh, how interesting.
28:09Yeah.
28:09And does she have music when she's working away?
28:12I would imagine so.
28:13Yeah.
28:13Keep the vibe going.
28:15Perhaps we could do with one in here.
28:16We could do, but I normally get told off making a noise.
28:18Oh, yeah.
28:19Exactly.
28:24With every component given a new lease of life, it's no time for Tim to bring pericycle back together.
28:33I'm just about to reassemble the unicycle.
28:35The forks have come out really well.
28:37I'm very pleased with the colour.
28:39So the grease is there just to help the wheel turn in the forks.
28:43And then the first fork blade goes on over the top.
28:48Flip it over and then do exactly the same on the other side.
28:53So that's the forks now loosely assembled.
28:56I can now fit Susie's saddle top.
28:59It's the cherry on the top of the unicycle.
29:05So that's the last of the bolts.
29:07I'm really pleased that it's actually a unicycle shape now.
29:10It's superb.
29:11So all I've got to do now is fit the cranks and the pedals.
29:14And I really can't wait to see what Heather thinks of it.
29:21When Perry's unicycle arrived, it was bent, buckled and bruised.
29:27A much loved reminder of happier times, left motionless and unridden.
29:41Tim.
29:43Do you like it?
29:44How did you straighten that out?
29:45A lot of effort.
29:46A lot of effort?
29:47A lot of effort.
29:48Great job.
29:49Where's the rest of the bike?
29:50Oh.
29:51Come on.
29:52Doesn't get old, does it?
29:53No, it doesn't.
29:56Now Heather's returning with son Isaac,
29:59hoping to see the fun and spirit restored to something
30:03that's come to symbolise their late husband and father.
30:08Hi there, welcome back.
30:09Hello, Heather.
30:11Lovely to see you again.
30:12It's great to be here.
30:13Isaac.
30:14Hello.
30:15Nice to meet you.
30:16Yeah.
30:16Now, when you brought this into the barn, it looked quite sad looking.
30:20Yeah.
30:20Yeah.
30:21But actually, there's a lot of positive feelings behind this.
30:24Yeah.
30:24It was something that just sort of characterised who he was.
30:27His dad all over.
30:28Always choosing to have fun.
30:30No matter what.
30:30Live his life.
30:31Don't let him hold him back.
30:33Okay, Tim.
30:33Okay.
30:34You ready?
30:34Yeah.
30:35You ready?
30:41Wow.
30:42Wow.
30:44That looks brand new.
30:45And it was all ripped there.
30:47Flippin' heck.
30:48Yeah, the saddle.
30:48Susie helped with that.
30:49That's amazing.
30:51Well done.
30:52Wow.
30:55You know, since he's gone, I think we're holding on to things that remind us of him more.
30:59Yeah.
31:00You know, we want to make sure we don't forget him.
31:04And I think this is, you know, something that really reminds us of him.
31:07It's silly.
31:08It's fun.
31:09It's difficult.
31:10It's difficult.
31:10Yeah.
31:11But, you know, he's...
31:13It's him.
31:14I think there'd be pressure on you now.
31:16Yeah, I'll give it a go.
31:17If I got you a helmet, would you actually give this a go?
31:20Yeah.
31:22That's a nice fetching helmet for you there.
31:24Oh, lovely.
31:25Right, if you come in here, put your arm around me.
31:32Yeah.
31:32Yeah, you got it.
31:33Whoa.
31:34There we go.
31:34Oh, my word.
31:37You're really fast on this, aren't you?
31:39That's it.
31:40Go round.
31:41There we go.
31:41Oh, it's very easy.
31:42Whoa.
31:43Good job.
31:47I'm sure it'll ride better once I've practiced a bit more.
31:49I think you've done a great job, Tim.
31:51Yeah.
31:51Thank you very much.
31:52You really have.
31:53It's been a pleasure.
31:54My dad would be so, so proud that it's been restored
31:58and that it's rideable again.
32:00It's a lovely way to celebrate him, the way he conducted himself,
32:03what he tried to overcome, how he tried to be with other people.
32:07So it's a lovely thing to have to remember Perry.
32:23Next up, Paul from Barnsley, who has brought a piece of Edwardian gadgetry for Brendan to focus on.
32:32Hello.
32:33Hello.
32:34Hi.
32:37What have you got there?
32:39It's a Houghton's Field Camera.
32:42It was built somewhere between 1900 and 1914.
32:47Wowzers.
32:49So it's not a camera, it's a camera.
32:51It's very much, it's like the old photographs and the Charlie Chaplin movies where they get under a cape.
32:57Why is it in so many pieces?
33:01It's all to do with my elder brother, Ian.
33:04Ian was four years older.
33:06Yeah.
33:07He got various cameras.
33:09We were incredibly close growing up, taking photographs when we were out hiking and climbing.
33:15Did you?
33:16Yeah.
33:17Ian was a firefighter and would come in off nights and say,
33:20I'll take Paul to school, Mum.
33:23But then we got all the climbing gear in the back of the Land Rover.
33:26Your parents never knew?
33:27No.
33:28Did you feel like that was your relationship, that you had each other's back all the time?
33:32Yes.
33:33He was the perfect big brother.
33:35We did everything together.
33:38The big brother that everybody would want.
33:41Oh, wow.
33:43Were you and your brother into photography?
33:45Yes.
33:46It had always been a hankering of mine to own something like this.
33:49And I bought it at auction, knowing full well that the shutter wasn't functioning.
33:54And Ian could turn his hand to anything.
33:56He was very, very confident at being able to fix it.
34:00And then one day, he turned up with it and said, I'm sorry, I can't do it.
34:05He was disappointed.
34:08He felt guilty because it was a promise and something he said he'd do.
34:12But, you know, unfortunately, a relatively short time later, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's with Alzheimer's.
34:20Oh, goodness.
34:21And, of course, Ian just got worse and worse and we lost him at the end of August in 2019.
34:36We had the greatest respect for each other.
34:40Yeah.
34:41To get it working for Ian's legacy.
34:45Yeah.
34:50It would be fantastic.
34:53It really would.
34:55And there's no pressure, Brent.
34:58So, what is actually wrong with the camera?
35:02The big thing, of course, is the shutter.
35:06The shutter.
35:06The shutter.
35:06Yeah.
35:07OK.
35:07Do you think all the parts are here?
35:10I would love to say yes, Brent, but I have no idea.
35:13OK.
35:13In all honesty.
35:14OK.
35:16Thank you so much for bringing this in.
35:18It's absolutely fascinating.
35:21Yes, and I will do my best to get it working for you.
35:24Thank you very, very much.
35:25OK.
35:25We'll be in touch when it's ready.
35:32Have you seen a camera like this in so many bits before?
35:35I've had them in so many bits when I've taken them apart, but this is going to be difficult.
35:39Yeah.
35:52This camera that Paul's brought in is my sort of thing.
35:56I do love a wood and brass camera.
35:59These cameras work like any camera.
36:02The light comes through the lens and focuses onto a photographic light-sensitive paper at the back.
36:09The light is allowed onto that film for a period of time to expose it correctly.
36:15That film is then developed and you've got a picture.
36:18And the bit that really worries me is the shutter.
36:23I need to spend some time looking at this and seeing if I can get it working again.
36:28Because without it, the camera won't work.
36:31On the back of the camera, there is meant to be a piece of frosted glass.
36:38So I need to make a new ground glass screen for it.
36:41But the first thing I'm going to do, though, is to check the bellows to see if they're light-tight.
36:48So this involves stretching the bellows out as far as they'll go.
37:00One tiny little hole in this, the light will get in and ruin the picture.
37:04So I have to be meticulous, making sure they don't leak any light.
37:15That appears these bellows are light-tight, which is really, really good,
37:20because they're over 100 years old.
37:21So these get to stay and we can use them again.
37:34Mark has got the wheels turning on the cassette player.
37:37Now he needs to ensure it can deliver the sound of the 80s.
37:42The next issue I need to address here is to demagnetise the actual head itself.
37:48This tape has effectively metal in it.
37:51That metal, as it goes across the head, eventually will magnetise.
37:55So when you're playing it, you'll hear background noise, a bit mushy,
37:59lots of the high-frequency sounds.
38:00It can have all these weird and wonderful effects.
38:02The fact that Melanie used these tapes so much and enjoyed the music from them,
38:07undoubtedly the head will now be magnetised and therefore needs to be cleaned.
38:12To do that, I have this electromagnet, and we call it a degausser.
38:16In essence, a magnetic field is like two poles, a north and a south,
38:20and they create lines, lines of flux.
38:23This disrupts that flux, breaks them randomly.
38:27I place it against the head here, turn it on,
38:29and then I just move it slowly away, like that,
38:34as I diminish the level of magnetic field, turn that off,
38:38and now the head should now be demagnetised.
38:40It's as simple as that.
38:51Outside, David has a plan to ensure the model virus can stand the test of time.
38:57Keith mentioned that he stands this on a tabletop.
39:01The problem is these polystyrene balls are really soft.
39:06I've decided I'm going to make some wooden balls on the lathe.
39:09These will be nice, solid feet that the virus can actually sit on,
39:14and it won't do any damage.
39:17I've got a piece of beech dowel, a nice, solid, hard wood,
39:21and this is going to be perfect for turning the balls.
39:25So I'm using a woodturning lathe.
39:27I do use these a little bit in my normal work in organ building.
39:52So that's the right diameter, so I can actually start to shape them now.
40:01I must admit, I really enjoy using the lathe,
40:04and seeing the wood taking shape, it's quite a satisfying thing to be doing.
40:12You've still got to be careful of getting the shape right.
40:17It wants to be a perfect sphere.
40:20A little technique that I use is I don't actually look at where the tool is cutting the wood.
40:27I look at the opposite side because that gives me a clear indication of the shape that I'm cutting.
40:35Whereas immediately where the tool is, the wood is flying off and getting in the way,
40:40and you can't clearly see what you're doing.
40:50Great. It does actually match in size-wise with the originals.
40:54So I've cut that off, and then I've got two more to make,
40:57and then I can actually paint them, fit them onto the legs.
41:11Having made sure the bellows are light tight,
41:15Brendan has shifted his sights to the vintage camera's missing screen.
41:21OK. I've just measured a piece of glass to make the ground glass screen
41:26that's going to go into the back of this camera,
41:29and it enables you to see the picture that the lens is projecting.
41:34If the glass was clear, the picture would just go straight through it.
41:38This is a greasy paste that has a very fine grit in it.
41:43So I now need to grind this piece of glass so it has a frosted finish.
41:50So I've got an engineer's block which is made of steel.
41:54When I put the block on the paste and start to move it round on the glass,
42:00it will scratch the glass and hopefully the whole thing will become frosted.
42:10There's no shortcuts doing this, just lots and lots of effort,
42:14so it'll be worth it in the end.
42:24So what sort of photography did you do then?
42:26Planetary principally.
42:28Jupiter and its four bright moons, Saturn, Mercury, Venus.
42:33Wow. Excellent.
42:35I'll show you some.
42:36OK.
42:49This shutter works by being between two rollers.
42:53When you're ready to take your picture, you press the button,
42:56that slides across very quickly and closes again,
43:00letting a certain amount of light to the film.
43:04And that's why this shutter is so important.
43:07This shutter blind is made of a material that is coated in a light proof paint.
43:12This paint has broken down over the years and cracked.
43:16So I'm going to scrape all this old paint off and recoat it with the rubberised paint.
43:23It would be great to keep this shutter blind.
43:26It's over a hundred years old and it's always better to keep something original if you can.
43:57The rubberised paint that I've put on the
44:00the material of the shutter blind has made it light proof and it still remains really flexible.
44:09Now I've got the difficult job of making head or tail of all these pieces and putting the shutter back
44:16together.
44:17So Ian has put all of the parts in bags and he's named what they are.
44:25This is the shutter speed setting knob so this must be the correct bag.
44:41Now that that spring is attached I've got to glue the shutter onto this axle.
44:49Once I've got the shutter reassembled I can test it and see if it works.
45:05It's the moment of truth for Mark's repair of the 80s boombox.
45:11I've just literally finished cleaning and polishing the guides where the tape runs through to make sure they're absolutely spotless.
45:18Everything's clean. It's now time to place a tape in and take us back to the 80s.
45:36That takes me back. Sounds good.
45:40It does. It sounds really nice.
45:41I'm really pleased with that. I'd like to think that Florence will play this just like her mum used to
45:47and enjoy those fantastic sounds of the past again.
45:59This retro cassette player, owned by wig mistress Mel, had developed a habit of chewing tapes rather than playing them.
46:10Hoping to honour Mel's West End legacy and keep her memory alive,
46:15daughter Florence, husband Adrian and close friend Alex have all returned.
46:22Eager to hear her signature tunes once again.
46:26Hi. So how have you been keeping? Good, yeah.
46:30A lot of excitement. It's going to be a big moment to be able to listen to some music on
46:33air.
46:33Do you keep looking at it? Yeah.
46:36Should we have a look what's underneath? Please.
46:38Yes, please.
46:43Goodness.
46:45She's in the room with us. It's good.
46:49I'm blown away.
46:54There it is.
46:57That is amazing.
47:25Really good.
47:27It's a physical manifestation of who she was, what she was.
47:30This is a celebration of exactly what she brought to the party.
47:35That's a very fond memory for me, of going up to the wig department for a cup of tea and
47:39a gossip.
47:39Yeah.
47:40And blasting the music out.
47:41And I'm very grateful for those times.
47:43Even more grateful to see it working again now.
47:46Her memory is alive and well.
47:49Florence, what's going to be the plan?
47:51I have cleared a space on my shelf in my lounge and I'm planning to play my mum's cassette tapes
47:57and just blast music as much as I can and just enjoy it.
48:00Boom, boom, boom.
48:02Yes.
48:03Exactly.
48:04You take it safely home.
48:07Yes.
48:07Enjoy it.
48:08Thank you so much.
48:09And sorry to any of the neighbours who will be listening.
48:12Bye.
48:13Thanks, bye-bye.
48:16That sounded great, Mark.
48:19Nice machine.
48:20Really nice.
48:22It's a really big moment to actually be able to have this in my hands, working, and it will just
48:27be really nice to imagine her singing to those songs.
48:30The memories that I remember from when I was younger.
48:39Mmm.
48:43I don't really want to do that, but I have to.
48:45I have to.
48:46That's all I can do.
48:48For Brenton, the brass plate camera has thrown up a new complication.
48:54I was just practising with the shutter and trying to get the shutter speed correct, and the spring is now
49:04broken.
49:05I've looked through my collection of little camera bits, and I'm clean out of springs, unfortunately, so I've got to
49:12come up with a way of making a new one out of brass.
49:27I put the original broken spring on a piece of brass that's the same thickness and sprayed some black paint
49:34on it, but left a silhouette of the shape of the brass, which I can now cut around and hopefully
49:41recreate that spring.
49:44Because this is very fine work, I'm going to put on my magnifying glasses.
49:48I'm going to use my jewellery piercing saw.
49:53These saws are really accurate, as long as you can keep to the line.
50:15The spring that I made, which helps the shutter speed mechanism to work, is fitted.
50:26And it appears to work correctly.
50:29Now I need to reassemble the camera.
50:40The shutter is on, the lens is on, and the camera is now ready to test.
50:51As David ensures the model virus has a firm footing, the restoration is almost complete.
50:58So the wooden balls are all turned. I've put a coat of paint on them to match them in.
51:04I don't think they're too distinguishable from the originals, but they will give a nice solid foot for the virus
51:13to actually stand on.
51:14I've drilled the balls to a certain depth so that the rod will sit actually on the bottom of the
51:21hole.
51:21I'm pleased with that.
51:23So I've just got two more balls to put on, and then that can stand proudly in Keith's house as
51:29a tribute to Keith's dad and his achievements.
51:34The model adenovirus helped advance our understanding of the common cold and commemorates a scientific breakthrough.
51:43But key elements were either missing or damaged.
51:48Now Keith has returned, hoping to see this extraordinary piece of family and medical history restored.
51:58Hello, Keith.
52:00Hello.
52:00Welcome back.
52:01How are you doing?
52:02Very good, thank you.
52:03Very excited to see it.
52:05Seeing the sort of space where it was has been a strange presence, sort of not being there.
52:10It's quite a dominant thing in a house, isn't it?
52:13It's not a small thing you can have on your desktop, is it?
52:16Right.
52:18Here we go.
52:31That is extraordinary.
52:33What a fantastic job you've done.
52:36Honestly, that's brilliant.
52:37I never thought you'd be able to bring it back to that sort of state.
52:40It's a beautifully made thing.
52:43It's fantastic that you've managed to match, you know, all the ones that were missing.
52:46I mean, I thought that was going to be the bit that was going to be tricky, and even with
52:50the sort of proteins on the end.
52:51Is this how you had it in your mind's eye?
52:53Yes, absolutely.
52:55I mean, it was looking sad, and it's now looking beautiful again.
52:58It's lovely to be able to explain what he did and the enormity of it, and that that will continue
53:03for many years is lovely.
53:05I'll let you pick it up, and I'll get the door for you, and then you can take it home.
53:10Brilliant.
53:12It's a really lasting legacy of my father's work.
53:15He was obviously a groundbreaking scientist, and it's great that his work is still being acknowledged, you know, 60 years
53:22on.
53:22So that's marvellous.
53:28Renton's repair of the vintage camera is coming to a close, but first he needs to be sure it can
53:34still capture the moment.
53:36Now, this is the big test to see if this camera takes a picture.
53:41So the first thing I'm going to do is to focus the camera on the barn.
53:45You can actually see the picture projected onto that ground glass screen upside down.
53:52So the camera is in focus.
53:56You put one of these dark slides, which has got film in it, into the back.
54:01You close the shutter.
54:04I set the camera off.
54:07I can now take this out and go and develop it.
54:16This Edwardian camera embodied a brotherly bond and the dream of recapturing long-lost adventures.
54:24But big brother Ian's illness left the camera stripped down, shutterless and out of service.
54:32Today, Paul is hoping the camera can help him reconnect with cherished memories of his brother.
54:38Hi, Paul.
54:40Hi.
54:41How have you been?
54:42Very well, thank you.
54:43Yes.
54:43Yes.
54:45Full of...
54:46I don't know what my feelings are.
54:49Because it'll be the first time I've seen it in one piece.
54:53For me to go back to the places that we used to climb with this is going to be immense.
55:03It'll be on my shoulder.
55:06And I know he is anyway.
55:09Yeah.
55:10Do you feel ready to see it?
55:11I absolutely do.
55:14I've thought of nothing else for a long, long time.
55:17Yeah.
55:18Do you want to do the honours?
55:33I...
55:34I...
55:35It...
55:38It's...
55:39It's a thing of beauty.
55:41it's what I dreamt of it's what I would have wished for yeah when Ian and I discussed buying
55:47it yeah that is fabulous and the original bellows I think the original bellows I think you got the
55:55tripod oh the tripod is one out of my collection which uh I can let you have oh wow I'm
56:04even more
56:04full of anticipation to to get out there with it I did I did have a little go with the
56:10camera to see
56:11it in the shutter worked and it focused and stuff so I've got a picture which I took with it
56:16which
56:18is for you oh and that's from this camera that's from that camera yeah oh Brenta that's amazing I
56:29can't tell you how grateful I am so it's all yours now to take away and cherish for forevermore thank
56:34you so much pleasure I like the legs springing lovely well done I'll get the door excellent cheerio
56:51well done Brenton I think he liked that yeah he loved it didn't he yeah that was really good fun
56:55to do good I could not be happier and I know my brother Ian when I go out there we'll
57:03be on my
57:04shoulder watching me every inch of the way as I take photographs of me if you have a treasured
57:17possession that's seen better days and you think the team can help please get in touch at bbc.co.uk
57:24slash take part and join us in the repair shop
57:28you
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