Dame Judi Dench will have a sentimental pocketwatch belonging to her late husband mended as part of a special live session of the hit BBC show The Repair Shop.
The BBC One show sees members of the public bringing in worn-out family heirlooms to be fixed by a team of experts led by furniture restorer and host Jay Blades.
As part of this year’s Edinburgh TV Festival, the show will mark five years of the programme with a special appearance by 87-year-old acting legend Dame Judi alongside Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood, 57.
Dame Judi will bring in a pocketwatch she gifted to her late husband, actor Michael Williams, in 1972, one year after they married, but now no longer works.
The veteran actress would like the pocketwatch to tick again as a reminder of the times they shared before his death in 2001, aged 65.
Horologist Steve Fletcher will be on hand to help Dame Judi, while the Strictly judge’s item will be a lifelike chimp from Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Sunset Boulevard, which was given to him as an opening night gift.
Craig will need the assistance of furniture restorer Will Kirk and the so-called The Teddy Bear Ladies, Amanda Middleditch and Julie Tatchell, who specialise in stuffed toys.
Both Dame Judi and Craig will join host Jay Blades on stage in Edinburgh to reveal their fixes live.
Managing director of production company Ricochet Joanna Ball said: “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.
“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.”
Earlier this year, Dame Judi appeared in a sketch spoofing The Repair Shop for Comic Relief, in which she played a character struggling with her memory.
In the skit, her character wanted her old doll from her childhood repaired to help bring back her memories from her youth, but saw it smashed by Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.
