Every week, around 3 to 4 million people tune in to The Repair Shop on BBC One to find out who has brought the next treasure in, why it means so much to them and to witness how the expert team of craftspeople will tenderly bring it back to its former glory. The magic ingredients of this show, from its engaging presenter Jay Blades to the emotional stories woven into each item, to the incredible skill of the specialists make it appealing to all - including royalty!
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Back in autumn 2021, the former Prince of Wales welcomed members of The Repair Shop team to Dumfries House in Scotland to learn about The Prince's Foundation's work to train the next generation of craftspeople. Preserving heritage craft skills is hugely important to both Jay and King Charles, which you'll see when you watch this special episode on BBC iPlayer (it was first broadcast on 26th October at 8pm).
You’ve got someone from a council estate and someone from a royal estate who have the same interests about apprenticeships and heritage crafts and it is unbelievable to see that two people from so far apart, from different ends of the spectrum, actually have the same interests.
Jay Blades
During this episode, King Charles gives Jay a tour, and introduces him to some of the current students on The Prince's Foundation Building Craft Programme, where they are learning traditional skills of blacksmithing, stonemasonry and woodcarving, amongst other heritage crafts.
Meanwhile, collections manager at Dumfries House, Satinder Kaur, gives Will Kirk, Kirsten Ramsay and Steve Fletcher a tour of the collection of 18th-century furniture and decorative arts. Following this, two items are selected by the monarch to be restored by Jay, Will, Kirsten and Steve - an 18th-century bracket clock and a piece of Wemyss Ware made for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. While graduate from the Building Craft Programme, Jeremy Cash, is lent to Repair Shop HQ to work with metalwork expert Dominic Chinea on a third item - a fire set in the shape of a soldier with a poignant story behind its very existence…
This is an incredibly special programme which has the magic that Repair Shop viewers have come to know and love. People will see the former Prince of Wales as you rarely see him – and he is as captivated by the skills of the team who work on his items as any of our Repair Shop visitors. The episode is a real treat and we hope that people enjoy it as much as we do.
BBC commissioning editor Julie Shaw