Episode 4

First up is Dennis Seaton from the West Midlands, who has a treasured Ampex Golden Reel trophy awarded to his band Musical Youth for selling over a million copies of their 1982 global hit Pass the Dutchie. The award, once proudly displayed, was badly damaged after a fall during a house move, leaving its plastic reel broken, gold disc dulled and name plaque scratched beyond recognition. Silversmith Brenton West takes on the challenge, carefully dismantling the award, polishing the aluminium disc and navigating the notoriously tricky process of gold plating. He rebuilds the broken tape curve using a handmade wooden former, replaces the damaged plaque with a newly printed replica and stabilises the central mount. Finally, Brenton travels to London to visit Dennis with his restored award - now gleaming once again and ready to take pride of place among his other music accolades.

Next to arrive is Ruth Dalton from Rochester, bringing her late grandfather Stan’s well-worn garden secateurs. Stan was a devoted gardener, and Ruth spent her childhood learning from him among the flowers and archways of his garden. Now, she hopes the restored secateurs will help her son Samuel, who has Bainbridge Roper’s syndrome, experience the joy and independence of gardening. Scissor restorer Jonathan Reid, one of the country’s few scissor specialists, dismantles the rusted tool, removes years of corrosion, regrinds the worn blades and strips away the thick, flaking paint. After carefully repainting the handles, Jonathan adds a deeply personal finishing touch: adding Stan’s name inside the handle using a laser engraver. Dom later visits Ruth and Samuel in their garden, where Samuel is using the secateurs, now transformed into a meaningful link between generations.

The third repair belongs to Eve Morris from Windsor, who brings her extraordinary scrapbook documenting Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation. Eve worked in Norman Hartnell’s embroidery department in the early 1950s and contributed to the creation of the Queen’s coronation gown. Her scrapbook contains rare fabric samples, personal photographs and handwritten accounts of her experience inside Westminster Abbey on Coronation Day. Years of sharing the scrapbook with schools and clubs left it torn, creased and held together with failing plastic sleeves and tape. Bookbinder Chris Shaw undertakes a complete rebuild, removing the fragile contents, selecting new textured paper and constructing a bespoke scrapbook large enough to properly display the Queen’s embroidery sample. With help from textile conservator Rebecca, the creased fabric sample is gently relaxed, cleaned and stitched onto card. Chris sews the new scrapbook and mounts each item with care, before paying a visit to Eve, who is delighted to see her memories preserved for future generations.

Finally, goldsmith Richard Talman’s mission is to repair an 80-year-old ruby ring broken into three pieces. The ring, which belonged to Sandra Lafferty’s great-aunt and survived World War II, was hidden beneath the floorboards of a Yugoslav farmhouse when her grandparents were taken to Dachau and Auschwitz. Sandra’s grandfather later entrusted the broken ring to her, asking her to promise she would one day have it repaired. Richard tests the gold to confirm its 18-carat purity, then painstakingly recreates the missing bow motif and rebuilds the band. In a nerve-racking moment, he must solder near the ruby, risking temporary blackening as the stone withstands intense heat. Once cooled, the ruby’s deep red returns, confirming its resilience. Richard completes the reconstruction, and Will Kirk visits Sandra in Scotland to see her finally wearing the heirloom with pride, and surprise her with a little extra gift courtesy of the experts.