Two famous faces will be making an appearance on a special live session of The Repair Shop at this year's Edinburgh TV Festival to mark five years of the popular programme. The BBC One show sees members of the public bring their family heirlooms in need of restoring to a team of experts led by furniture restorer and host Jay Blades.
But in this special edition, 87-year-old stage and screen actress Dame Judi Dench will be taking a treasured item into The Repair Shop to be mended and Strictly Come Dancing judge, choreographer and theatre director 57-year-old Craig Revel Horwood also has a cherished item in need of repair.
Dame Judi will be enlisting the help of horologist Steve Fletcher when she brings in a pocket watch that belonged to her late husband, actor Michael Williams. She gifted it to him one year after they married in in 1972 and as the watch is no longer working, the veteran actress would like to hear it tick again, as a reminder of the times they shared before his death in January 2001, aged 65.
Meanwhile Craig is asking for The Repair Shop team's help in restoring a life-like chimp from Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, Sunset Boulevard, which was given to him as an opening night present. Furniture restorer Will Kirk and Amanda Middleditch and Julie Tatchell, who specialise in stuffed toys will be taking on the task of restoring his beloved gift.
This isn't Judi's first trip to The Repair Shop as earlier this year she appeared in a sketch spoofing the show for Comic Relief alongside comedians Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. Dame Judi and Craig will both join Jay Blades on stage in Edinburgh this week to reveal their fixes live.
“The team, on and off screen, has done an extraordinary job and our heartfelt thanks to Dame Judi and to Craig for sharing their precious stories with us," Managing director of Ricochet, The Repair Shop's producers, Joanna Ball said: “As always we’re a little bit nervous sharing the finished fixes but we hope that they love the work our experts have delivered as much as we loved working on them.”
Creative director of the festival Stewart Clarke said: “This is the perfect opening entertainment piece and we would like to thank everyone involved for bringing a bit of The Repair Shop magic of the barn to the TV Festival, it’s going to be an absolute must-see.”
The live session will be available to watch via the Edinburgh TV Festival's YouTube channel.
