The Repair Shop S2018E17 - Episode 17

Today in the Repair Shop, Jay Blades and the team bring three treasured family heirlooms, and the memories they hold, back to life.

Painting conservator Lucia Scalisi must draw on all her 30 years of experience to mend a serious tear in a portrait. The damage was accidentally inflicted many years ago by the owner's son with his dart gun. Repairing the hole and cleaning the canvas takes many hours and painstaking care but eventually the portrait of the society beauty is picture perfect once again. Wood restorer William Kirk and horologist Steven Fletcher join forces to mend an intriguing walking stick, which features a monkey head. Its mouth and ears should move like a ventriloquists dummy. The walking stick was a gift to the owner's uncle from an Indian Maharaja. The monkey is missing an ear and the operating mechanism no longer works but getting inside the head to mend it is the first challenge. Will and Steve work together to revive the cheeky monkey and return the walking stick to the owner, who is moved to see it working once more.

And antique photography specialist Brenton West tackles a defunct seaside telescope. It reminds owner Julian of the family seaside holidays of his childhood. Brenton, along with assistance from Steve Fletcher, manages to get the telescope up and running and give the metal work a new lease of life.