The Repair Shop

S04:E19 - Carousel Horse, Cat Teapot, Boat Puzzle

Dominic Chinea takes on the restoration of a once brightly coloured wooden carousel horse, a poignant reminder for owner Niki Burns of her father and grandfather, and of the fairground amusement business they ran together. The passing decades haven't been kind to the little horse: the colours have faded almost to obscurity, the wood is severely rotten in places, and the shiny brass pole on which it once stood proud is nowhere to be seen. Undaunted, Dom sets to work, knowing it will take all his skills and experience to get this gaudy galloper looking gorgeous once again.Ceramics conservator Kirsten Ramsay is charged with the task of repairing a little cat teapot with an extraordinary wartime story behind it. The teapot was given to its current owner Matthew by next-door neighbour and lifelong friend Gladys. As Matthew understands it, during the Second World War Gladys spent time in France and Germany, working as a spy behind enemy lines. She was given the teapot by a grateful member of the Resistance, only for it to end up smashed when German forces boarded and ransacked the train she was travelling on. With the weight of history upon her, Kirsten first has to undo a botched repair before painstakingly tackling the job of making the cat teapot seamlessly whole again.And Will Kirk takes on the emotional repair of a 3D wooden boat puzzle, the only reminder owner Keith has of his much-loved late father.