Catch up TV

Series 9: Episode 16

Jay Blades and the team bring three treasured family heirlooms, and the memories they hold, back to life.\n\nSizing up the barn’s latest project, electronics whizz Mark Stuckey is hoping for the sweet sound of success as he fixes a 60-year-old sound system and cocktail cabinet. This vintage radiogram belongs to Clifton Smith and was once the pride and joy of his parents, providing the soundtrack to many happy family events. The last time Clifton heard it playing properly was at a party the night before he joined the army at the age of 16 over 40 years ago. Now he is pinning his hopes on Mark’s electrical know-how to get it spinning discs once again. \n\nLydia Lewis is the next arrival, with a tricky little trinket for horologist Steve Fletcher. It is a mid-20th-century treasure that used to grace her grandmother’s drinks trolley. It looks like a vintage telephone, but the base contains a hidden musical box that plays when the receiver is lifted, while the receiver itself cleverly conceals a lighter. Though her grandmother died before she was born, Lydia loves the telephone and would like to see it working again as it did when her grandmother was alive. Steve’s challenge is to fix the lighter mechanism and repair the broken mouthpiece.\n\nFinally, the perfect job for master saddlemaker Suzie Fletcher - a saddle. But Elana Beavis’s saddle is no ordinary saddle. It travelled around Canada with her great-grandparents after they quit farming in England for a new life across the Atlantic running a rodeo. After many adventures, the family eventually moved back to the UK, with the elaborate saddle being one of the few possessions they just couldn’t leave behind. Now Lydia would like to restore the worn-out leather work as a tribute to her intrepid ancestors.

Source: BBC 2