What makes a treasure? Is it rarity, sentimentality, beauty? Or is it being a thick rubber dolphin with a working blowhole?
When my editor asked me to track down people who owned television treasure, my first thought was to try Nathaniel Metcalfe, the comedian and broadcaster, now starring in James Acaster’s podcast Springleaf. If anyone knew about strange and esoteric cultural artefacts, it would be him. His reply was exactly as I’d suspected: “After [TV star] Peter Wyngarde died, his estate sold all of his stuff at auction during Covid. I bid on his own home VHS recording of his appearance on the Lenny Henry Show because I loved the idea of having something so obscure. But I was outbid when even that sailed past the £30 limit I had earmarked for it.” I was disappointed. Then came a follow-up: “Do you know Tom Neenan? He bought one of the old Spitting Image puppets in an auction. He couldn’t afford any of the famous ones so ended up with a latex puppet head of a dolphin that is now decomposing.”
