The Repair Shop on the Road: Season 1, Episode 14 - ProjectFreeTV

1 - 14: North East - Victorian Stage Machinery Gets an Update

In this episode, the experts lend their skills to a community project, hear the story behind a new treasure to be repaired, and visit a local crafting hero.

We head off to the North East, where Will and Suzie unearth a true hidden gem, one of the few theatres in the country to have retained its original Victorian stage machinery. After a devastating fire, this decades-long restoration project is nearing completion, so our resident master carpenter is going to lend a hand getting the various traps and lifts under the stage ready for their big debut.

In Northumberland, Suzie is meeting Anoop to pick up a backpack she'll take down to the barn to restore. It's not just any bag though - it's an emotionally charged reminder of his mother, who sent it as a gift after he had to flee apartheid South Africa. Anoop has travelled the world with this special bag, and it's starting to show its age, so will Suzie's repairs to the lining and new straps make it fit to travel once again?

While in the north, woodworker Will stops by to get some tips and training from marquetry artist and restorer Victoria Walpole. It's delicate and sometimes dangerous work, involving small slivers of wood and an extremely sharp saw or scalpel, but in the hands of a master like Victoria, can yield stunning results.