The Repair Shop

S07:E04 - Sign Writers Case, Magician's Top Hat, the Butcherman Automation

Today in the Repair Shop, Jay Blades and the team bring three treasured family heirlooms, and the memories they hold, back to life.The first visitor, seeking help from the barn's resident master hatter Jayesh Vaghela, is Mike Suffield. He's brought with him a magician's top hat that once belonged to his Uncle Ted who was a father figure to Mike growing up. Ted loved magic and passed on his passion to Mike along with a whole host of impressive illusions. Mike performed his own magic act for many years until his uncle's death in the late 80's after which Mike stopped practising. The collapsible hat has not seen the limelight for over thirty years but now Mike's young granddaughter has begun to show an interest in magic Mike would love to pass the hat on to her. But it's challenging fix for Jayesh – not only must he smarten up the faded, threadbare fabric but he must also mend the internal mechanism that makes the hat collapse and pop back up.Next to arrive is Katie Baldock with a metal case that used to hold the tools of two generations of sign writers in her family. Both Katie's grandfather and her father used this case throughout their notable careers as sign writers – each paint smear tells a story and safe inside is a tin of the original brushes her grandfather used. Metal restorer Dominic Chinea is hugely impressed by this artist's time capsule. Katie has inherited the family's creative gene and has started sign writing herself and she would love to begin using the case. However, for Dom to get this work horse back in action there's a lot to do - the latch is broken, a makeshift replacement handle is fraying and the internal shelf is failing but care is needed to preserve it's character.Finally, the barn's mechanical wizard, David Burville, along with bear ladies Julie and Amanda, are over the moon to be collaborating on an unusual project. Fiona Wright delivers a mechanical model of a butcher, who stood proudly in her family's butcher shop for years. Dressed in fitting attire, he appears to chop a joint of meat and entertained customers while they waited to be served. They no longer have the shop and he went on the blink years ago but that family can't bear to get rid of this cheerful fellow. Fiona hopes the team can help her fulfil her promise to her late father and get him working once again.