VOICEOVER (VO): It's the nation's favorite antiques experts...

I've got it, I've got it.

VO: ..behind the wheel of a classic car... Ooh!

VO: ..and a goal to scour Britain for antiques.

Argh!

VO: The aim - to make the biggest profit at auction.

But it's no mean feat.

Doubled up there!

VO: There'll be worthy winners... £1,700.

SERHAT: Yeah!

VO: ..and valiant losers.

Oh, no!

VO: Will it be the high road to glory... Loving it, loving it, loving it.

VO: ..or the slow road to disaster?

This is the Antiques Road Trip.

Giddy-up!

VO: Today, we're simply made up to be heading towards Merseyside in the company of a pair of our coolest experts.

That's beanie-clad Ochuko Ojiri, and under the Panama, Charles Hanson.

The people, I find, are so friendly, are so easy-going.

Agreed.

So I'm really hoping it might be, "OK, it's priced at £100, "have it for 20".

Yeah.

VO: Friendly, Charles, not daft.

Musical, as well, I think they'd say.

OCHUKO: You can't go to Liverpool without a song.

Imagine, eh?

Just imagine!

(OCHUKO LAUGHS) Imagine all the people.

VO: Steady on.

That's about as much as we can get away with.

Ha-ha!

But, of course, there's also plenty of songs about cars, and their 1970s Triumph Spitfire is definitely worthy of a ditty.

Oh, oop!

You're driving's much better today, Charles.

Is it?

Well, you were a bit...

Sorry.

I won't mention it again!

VO: Er, good plan.

Charles, our football-crazy auctioneer from Derby County... Sugar?

VO: It's a ton-up antiques virtuoso, with a very fine Road Trip record, while Ochuko, the challenger... Look at that!

VO: ..a Londoner, dealer, and gallery owner, he's on his very first Road Trip, and giving every bit as good as he gets.

£55.

Thank you.

Whoa!

CHARLES: Really good.

OCHUKO: That's alright.

No, that is really good.

I lost money yesterday.

You made money.

As we go further, you're catching me up.

Are you a married man?

Am I married?

Yeah.

I think I love you!

Get out of here!

VO: Ochuko started out with £200, and after two trips to auction, he's currently in possession of £143.52.

While Charles, who began with the same sum, is just out ahead, with £211.56.

But there's still a long and almost certainly winding road to go.

Ha-ha!

Do you know, if we talked about The Beatles...

Yes.

..who would you be, and why?

I'd have to be John Lennon.

Little round glasses, staying in bed all day.

Yeah!

VO: Their "Ballad of Charles and Ochuko" began back in Yorkshire, before next crossing the Pennine Hills towards Manchester and the west.

Today sees them making for Merseyside, before they start slipping south, taking the back roads to end up at journey's end in the West Midlands.

I think I'd be Ringo Starr.

I'll be the one who wouldn't be so good!

VO: But today, they're very much going to be cool in the 'pool.

Famous for all things Mersey, like river, tunnel, ferry and beat.

Where our pair have decided to "walk alone" with Ochuko heading to Edge Hill, and Tunnel Furniture.

Both an antique shop and movie prop hire supplier of movie props, so it's not quite all for sale.

We're in Liverpool.

Look at that.

Has to be them.

John, Paul, George Harrison... VO: And...the other one!

I think our vintage guru is going to have some fun here.

OCHUKO: You know, I love stuff like this.

It's just so unusual, and for me, it's green.

Bottles, recycled, what's this, 1950s, 1940s?

And this is how you would have got your beer.

Belgium.

You know, there's a bottle missing, but I don't think that really matters, and what I really love about this is it's just so rustic, and it's so honest.

VO: No price ticket, though.

My point really is recycling was built into the culture.

So you'd have these bottles, you'd drink your beer, you wouldn't throw them away, and you'd get your deposit back when you took these back, so it ensured that you recycled them.

VO: Time to talk to shopkeeper, Paul.

So what's the ticket on these?

They're 25 quid, works out a pound apiece.

£25.

I've got another case as well.

OK, so there could be a deal to be done?

VO: Something's clearly brewing - ha-ha!

- and, meanwhile, elsewhere in the city, at 69A, to be precise, his chum's arrived at his first shop.

Another splendid affair, full of just the sort of things he likes.

And with a proprietor who looks the part.

I'm just admiring Trevor, behind me.

CHARLES: Hello there!

TREVOR: Hi.

What an amazing shop you have here.

To me, it's like walking around a great, almost Asian arts jungle.

I'm just admiring the look of almost antique-hunting?

Mm, possibly.

So I think I ought to really wear a hat as well.

What do you think?

Yeah, you put Tommy Cooper to shame.

That's it!

VO: I'm not sure that was exactly the look he was after, Trevor.

Ha-ha!

Not that genuine antiques can't be found "just like that!"

The reason I pick these up, it's a boy on a buffalo, Chinese, but what I like about it is it has a really rich patination, but importantly, we've got this nice silver wire work inlay inset into the body of the buffalo.

That one is priced at £27.50, and then the other one next door is similarly being sold on its own.

But look, voila, it's a boy on buffalo, and this one, £17.50 because it's got some damage, but not much more than that, but the simple reason I like them is they've got some real age, and of course, if I buy them both, you'd get a pair, and I might just put these two boys on their buffaloes back together, with me.

What do you think, lads?

Yeah?

Yeah, I agree, 140 years old, but I do like you.

VO: I think he'd happily move in.

It's that sort of place.

And something else for sir?

(DISH RINGS SOFTLY) So this is actually quite a large...it must be, it must be 10 inches, could be 12 inches.

It's a large, almost charger, or a large dish, and what we've got is a hand-painted blue and white porcelain plate, highly fired, so the Chinese created porcelain in around the Tang Dynasty, and it wasn't for 1,000 years later until the Europeans discovered the secrets of how to make this mix, and hence why porcelain was so highly prized.

And you'll see from this fenced pagoda type of pattern to the stylized Prunus, the chrysanthemums and the foliage, this oversized plate must be from the reign of Emperor Qianlong.

VO: Reigned for over 60 years.

No price.

This one's probably circa 1750.

It's got a good ring.

It hasn't been cracked.

(PLATE RINGS) It's alive, and I'm alive as well.

VO: Well, that's good to hear.

Back at Tunnel Antiques, Ochuko has his much more recent off-license collection standing by.

Oh!

This is interesting.

And what I love about objects like this and what draws me to them is the naivety.

I just love that kind of honest craftsmanship.

The design of it, the colors.

VO: A Victorian peat shovel.

You're gonna think I'm strange now, even these little bits of woodworm, I love.

There's a big collector's market in tools, and people will recognize and cherish this.

It's got £30 on the ticket.

That's slightly ambitious, I will say, erm, but there's a few items that I want, so if I group this with it, maybe I'll get a good deal.

VO: There's certainly plenty to choose from.

Ooh, I love this.

Birds are a really enduring trend.

I've seen everything from owls to peacocks to flamingos.

VO: I'm not sure what that is!

Ha!

And this can appeal to so many people, people that don't know anything about antiques.

And, look at this.

Does it wind up?

Listen to that.

(SOFT CUCKOO) It's a clock, some sort of alarm, and you've got your hours on here, and this is the little minute moving, and this is moving really slowly.

So I would say, 1930s, 1940s, what we'd call vintage.

Great, great item.

I'd have to get a good price on it.

I'd like to pay around £20 for that.

Look how elegant that is.

It's sweet, isn't it?

VO: Not to mention tweet!

I really like that.

I think I'll go and ask Paul.

VO: Here we go.

OCHUKO: Paul?

Hi, mate.

PAUL: You alright?

I found this little vintage bird cage clock.

What price can you do on that?

£30.

I like the bottles.

50 quid for the two cases.

And I've also found this peat shovel, Victorian.

Peat shovel's been here a while, could be a tenner.

OK, so what if I took everything?

What could you do me?

70 quid for the lot.

70?

Would you go 60, everything?

Yeah, fine.

OCHUKO: You would?

PAUL: Yeah.

Oh!

VO: So, 25 for the bottles, 25 for the clock, and just 10 for the peat shovel.

Oh, yes!

VO: Just over £83 left.

No crates, I see.

They did look rather heavy.

Back to 69A, where Charles has a more lightweight selection in mind.

Two boys with buffaloes, priced at £45, and a porcelain charger with no ticket.

Anything that might fit in with those?

And the old bamboo, don't forget.

So, almost in my jungle, I've found a bamboo.

Brush pot, probably 10 inches tall, but the reason I adore this object is, turn it round, and look at the artistry of what a Chinese carver has done, probably 140 years ago.

And he's carved beautifully these figures from the single piece, and, of course, would have probably have lived on a scholarly table, and, as a brush pot, was a very important work of art in its own right.

VO: Ticket price, £125.

CHARLES: There's a few signs of splits that comes with age, commensurate with us having wrinkles, really.

Objects have cracks or splits.

VO: Oh, Trevor!

CHARLES: Trevor, how are you?

TREVOR: Fine.

I've found three things, OK?

Three things that all have an Asian background and pedigree.

The first item is this bamboo brush pot.

In the cabinet over there, I saw two very nice boys on buffalo, and finally the very nice blue and white plate.

Mm-hm.

So I just wonder if I buy all three, what the price might be altogether, please?

150.

They think it's all over... it is now!

Trevor, I'll take all three.

VO: Thanks, Trevor.

So 80 for the bamboo - wow, look at that - 40 for the buffalo boys, and 30 for the porcelain.

Have a good day.

Thanks for the memories.

Good luck.

CHARLES: Thank you.

TREVOR: Thanks.

VO: That's very good, very good.

Just over 60 left.

VO: Now, Ochuko seems like a clubbable sort of chap, so he's taking the opportunity to visit the Athenaeum, a Liverpool institution for well over two centuries.

Club curator, Ian Cubbin.

Hi, Ochuko!

Lovely to meet you.

And you.

Welcome to the Athenaeum.

Thank you.

VO: This private members' club, founded in 1797, for the mutual exchange of information, was the first of many throughout the world to take the name of the Greek goddess of wisdom.

IAN: The club was founded at a time when Liverpool was a rising city.

The population had increased by 50,000 in less than 50 years, and we were then handling almost 17% of the total port trade of the whole of the country.

So Liverpool was full of merchants, and movers and shakers, and entrepreneurs who wanted somewhere where they could meet.

George Case was the first president, and he was mayor of Liverpool at the time.

Subscription was limited to 300 members at 10 guineas a head, and that subscription was full within the first six months.

VO: The Liverpool merchants left the coffee houses to head here, a gentlemen's club with a difference, one that put knowledge and education before games and hospitality.

IAN: At the time we were founded, we took 14 London daily newspapers, by post chaise.

OCHUKO: Wow.

IAN: Incredible.

The founding was on the basis of the need for information.

Snooker rooms, they were banned early on, so it's been a place where people met to discuss, and that isn't very common in the world of clubs.

VO: One of the Athenaeum's creators was the Liverpudlian author and collector, William Roscoe, and from the beginning, this library was at the heart of the institution.

Over the years, more and more works have been added, so that now it holds a fascinating collection of over 60,000 books, prints and maps.

IAN: The library represents the interests of Liverpool merchants, but they were men of culture.

So obviously we have a section of folios of the classics.

We also have scientific books, from a very early book on the making of fireworks from the 1600s, to some other volumes that we've put out here for you.

This really appeals to me.

That's Mrs Berry's Hexandrian of Plants.

This volume was hand-colored by her and her friends.

So what maps do you have here?

This is a really interesting two-volume set.

It's called The Atlantic Neptune, and it's a set of Admiralty charts.

So these would have been on one of the Admiralty warships, and this is the coast of North America, from Canada all the way down.

VO: Of course, when the Athenaeum began, the city was the British capital of the slave trade, its ships responsible for carrying one in five captured Africans across the Atlantic.

The first president, George Case, was even a prominent slave trader.

But others, including Roscoe, supported William Wilberforce's abolition campaign.

The club holds one of the most extensive collections of anti-slavery literature, and when it was founded, the club had both parties.

We had slavers, and we had abolitionists as members, and there's no doubt at all that people like William Roscoe, who was responsible for bringing Wilberforce here, were agents for change, and by the time his life ended, abolition had been complete.

We've been a progressive club for a long time, and it's always been a home for lively conversation.

VO: Meanwhile, on the other side of the magnificent River Mersey, Charles has carried on shopping.

Just a ferry ride away, in Birkenhead.

It should be... Ah!

Here it is!

VO: Although he's clearly come through the tunnel... Hello!

VO: ..to find the Amorini Antiques Centre.

Bit of a sale going on, by the looks of it as well.

Ha!

These are great.

These are a fabulous vintage pair of children's football boots.

They're £58, and they actually are a style of boot which go back to the '50s, because on the bottom you'll see they're signed by a footballer.

Really, they've been marketed by him, and his great brand, which was Stanley Matthews.

VO: The man they called "the Wizard of the Dribble".

A soccer star of the '50s, scored in that iconic Blackpool final, and an amazing player from Stoke-on-Trent.

And they're great.

These are probably a child size 10.

I'm a man size 11, so a bit too small for me, but great fun.

VO: He could afford them, though.

Just over £60 left.

Lovely dresser.

I mean, look at that.

And it's sold as well, so business is good.

I once went to a house, and just like this dresser, they were all blue and white dishes, but one blue and white dish I found in the corner was from Emperor Yongzheng, and the vendor dismissed it, and I sold that small blue and white plate for £100,000.

VO: Crikey!

CHARLES: There's not one here, sadly, but there's a real mishmash of styles.

You've got Japanese Imari from Arita, here you've got Chinese blue and white.

On the bottom, though, lots of round dishes, but then, finally, in the middle, looking a bit lost, is this.

I love this dish, because it could be a tureen stand, it's a canted rectangular dish, and the combed back, to me, unglazed, highly fired, with a firing tear there.

But that's Chinese Qianlong.

Q-I-A-N-L-O-N-G. VO: Got it.

Like that big charger he bought earlier.

No price, though.

And it's Chinese export market porcelain.

Not worth a lot, but I like it.

But when you think, 200 years ago, this may have come in to Liverpool on an East Indies ship.

It's circa 1780.

If it could talk on those high seas.

VO: It's all going to be Chinese today then, is it?

That sticks out a bit.

We're going to an auction house who do thrive on selling what we might call art deco pottery, and this here, it says Charlotte Rhead, Crown Ducal, 1930.

Charlotte Rhead was an amazingly important female potter in design in the 1930s, alongside Clarice Cliff and Susie Cooper, and what we've got is a ribbed body, concentric bands, with this gorgeous red and green blossom radiating out with a green interior.

VO: Ticket price, £15.

Oh, it's got a crack.

It's got a crack.

(TAPS POT) You've got a crack extending down the rim there.

But as a picture-perfect 1930s garish vase, it is a pretty piece.

I do quite like that.

Lucy?

VO: She's the woman in charge.

On the shelf over here of the dresser, there's a Chinese square dish, how much could it be?

That dish is 48.

How much?

LUCY: But because it's you... CHARLES: Go on.

..I can do that one for 30 for you.

CHARLES: So £30 on that.

LUCY: Yes.

Over here is this nice vase I saw.

The plate and the vase together, could you give me one further small discount?

For the two pieces... Give me a teeny weeny.

..I'll do them for 40 for you.

I'm going to say going, going, going... Gone!

VO: That's very kind, Lucy.

25 for the plate, and just 15 for the vase.

He doesn't seem to actually have them about his person, though.

Never mind.

At least he's remembered to pick up Ochuko.

CHARLES: What's all this?

OCHUKO: Is that snow?!

Get out of here!

Check that out!

The weather's changed!

I cannot believe.

I'm going to park my car here.

Is it snow?

Now, I can't believe we've got snow.

Are you ready?

Yes, it is snow!

Ow!

VO: Good shot!

I'm going to get you!

Oh!

VO: Nighty night, children.

VO: The next morning that snow has melted without trace.

CHARLES: Look at that sun!

OCHUKO: Gorgeous, isn't it?

Just kiss the sun.

(BLOWS KISS) VO: Yesterday, Charles started off with a flurry of buys, acquiring a bamboo brush pot, not one, but two pieces of Chinese porcelain, a Charlotte Rhead vase, and two boys with buffalo... You're 140 years old, but I do like you.

VO: ..leaving him with just over £20 in his wallet.

Ochuko spent quite a lot less on some bottles and crates, a peat shovel, and a bird cage alarm clock, as you do.

Birds are a really enduring trend.

VO: Which means he still has over £80 for today's purchases.

CHARLES: And you slept OK?

OCHUKO: I did.

You didn't have a dream at all?

What did I dream about?

Winning.

Women?

What women?

Winning!

Oh sorry, winning!

Sorry.

VO: Ha-ha!

Charles!

Today's dream county is Cheshire, starting out in the county town... Now a city.

Well, since 1541, actually.

Black and white birthplace of the legendary conductor Sir Adrian Boult, where, at the eponymously named antique shop, Ochuko takes a bit of a solo.

Ooh!

Hi, buddy, can I have a look around?

VO: Feel free!

There's no show without punch, after all.

Still, he has over 80 left in his piggy bank, of course.

That's a weird-looking creature, isn't it?

Is that a sloth?

VO: No, certainly not.

I've been called a sloth at times, but I don't think I am, I think I've got good energy!

Look at that, what a cute animal.

It could be a hedgehog, could be a dog, I'm going to call it a sloth.

VO: I think it's a mid-century, mythical money box.

That's quite interesting, isn't it?

Is it lazy?

Resemblance.

That reminds me of someone.

I'm not sure who.

VO: Well, imagine a Charles Hanson money box.

It's a really unusual little thing, and it's studio pottery, and what that means is that it's a unique item, it's out of the studio, it's not been mass-produced.

And it's got a mark on there, Brigelin.

I think they're out of London, post-war.

Got a bit of age, really good condition.

You'd save a pretty penny in there, wouldn't you?

I'm not sure how you would get your money out of there, though.

Tricky.

Mm.

VO: You know, he's "sloth" to put it back.

Anything a bit more substantial?

How about a pewter mug?

No.

Oh!

Ho, ha-ha, ha!

When I see something like this, look at the colors!

Look how bright that is!

That is singing to me.

Enamel signs are incredibly collectable, and this is a beauty.

The colors, look at these shapes.

And let's have a look at the back.

I mean, look, the back is as beautiful as the front.

I mean, look at that.

And what you find is a lot of these enamel signs are reproduction, so it's really good to find something like that.

You can see that dates it precisely, really, to the 1950s.

VO: No ticket on it.

Could be pricey.

Imagine that in your kitchen.

What a fantastic piece!

And do you know what?

Who doesn't love cake?

VO: Good point.

I've got to have a go at buying that, I think.

VO: That was quick work.

Good fun, eh?

OCHUKO: Peter?

PETER:Yes.

OCHUKO: Hello, sir.

PETER: Hi.

You've got a fantastic sign.

Yeah.

OCHUKO: What can you do on that?

PETER: 120 Do you know what?

I've got... You haven't got 120?

I haven't got 120.

Do you know what, I saw the sloth there as well.

Or hedgehog, or a dog.

Could you do the two for 70?

Buy that at 80, and you can have the, erm... VO: Money box?

..you can have that, I'll throw it in.

You're a gentleman.

That's a deal.

I'm going to pay you before you run off.

VO: So, let's call it 75 for the sign and a fiver for the, erm...money box.

Whoa!

VO: Leaving Ochuko with a mere £3.52.

So, while he lugs his lots towards the motor... ..we'll head elsewhere in Cheshire, beside the Mersey estuary, where Charles is about to float into the industrial past at Ellesmere Port... ..which, during the late 18th-century, was transformed into Britain's largest inland dock complex, and is now the National Waterways Museum.

Good morning.

You must be Graham.

I am indeed, Charles.

Graham Boxer, I'm the head of collections and archives for the Canal and River Trust.

VO: Once the tiny village of Netherpool, this site was to be the northern end of a navigation to connect the Mersey with the Severn.

But although the Ellesmere canal was never completed, the port, designed by Thomas Telford, flourished.

GRAHAM: Ellesmere Port was a transhipment dock, and it meant that cargoes could come into this place from Liverpool, which was the big, oceangoing docks across the River Mersey, and then put into the narrow boats to go to those industrial heartlands, to Birmingham, to the Midlands, to Stoke for pottery.

And that meant also that with the canal network, the finished goods could come out.

And what we see now is only a small proportion, it was in fact twice the size, and there would have been people bustling around, there would have been boats coming and going, cargo being lifted up into warehouses.

It would have been an extremely busy, active site, up until round about the end of the 19th century.

VO: The port became a small community, with cottages for dock workers and for merchants.

It even had its own gasworks.

As well as all the facilities required to support and maintain boats and barges, such as stables and a blacksmith's forge.

GRAHAM: We are on the slipway, Charles, and this is where the boats were pulled out of the water so that they could be repaired and worked on.

If you look across here, Charles, you can see Liverpool in the distance.

In front of that, you can see some water, and that's the river Mersey.

Got you.

And then you've got, like, a ridge of land before the water immediately in front of us.

Yes, I see.

And that's because in the 1890s, they built the Manchester Ship Canal, and the purpose of that was really so that the Manchester merchants could get cargo into Manchester without having to pay the dues at Liverpool.

Isn't that interesting?

But it gave a bit of extra life to Ellesmere Port as well, because it led to new development and new buildings on this site.

VO: During the 20th century, new industries were attracted to the south bank of the ship canal, such as the Stanlow oil refinery.

Developments which somewhat masked the inevitable decline of the canals in the face of competition from first rail and then roads.

GRAHAM: By the 1960s, this site here was pretty run-down and redundant, and it was only in the early 1970s, when a group of volunteers were looking for a place to establish a museum about the canals, that the future of the docks at Ellesmere Port was guaranteed.

VO: The National Waterways Museum includes all that has survived of the original port, as well as some 15,000 objects and over 50 boats.

GRAHAM: Come aboard.

CHARLES: OK. VO: I just hope they don't live to regret handing Charles the tiller.

Stand by.

How are you finding it, Charles?

Do you know, Graham, it's nerve-racking, because it's a long vehicle, and here's my steering wheel behind me here, and the odd thing is, if I take it, pull it that way, it's going to go that way, and that way will go that way.

VO: See what I mean?

CHARLES: We're just going up now, because the water's rising.

I'm doing quite well, I'm quite impressed with myself, actually.

Honestly.

The water's rising, so my rudder is straight, we're going straight ahead, I'm in neutral.

It's all good.

VO: Yeah.

While Charles has been barging about a bit - ha-ha!

- Ochuko's been enjoying their new-fangled motor car, whilst also thinking of his chum, of course.

I would have loved to have been at school with Charles, I think we would have been really good mates.

We complement each other.

I mean, that linen suit, the one thing that lets him down is his socks.

And he's got the hairiest legs I've ever seen of any person.

VO: Oh, Lord!

Ochuko's en route to his last shop of the day, just outside the town of Frodsham.

At Cheshire Vintage & Antiques.

Ooh!

VO: And there's old hairy legs himself to greet him.

How are you?

Hey, you're cruising.

How are you, sir?

There's no time for cruising.

It's time to bruise, OK?

Big question.

Big question now.

How much have you spent?

You won't believe this.

£3.50, I've got left.

CHARLES: You're joking.

OCHUKO: I know.

VO: Charles has only got 21, by the way.

I think it's got to be spend all, and let's go home big, with empty wallets.

I can relate to that.

Come on, let's do it.

Come on.

VO: Golly!

Watch out, Frodsham!

Couple of big spenders are heading your way.

Oh, look at that.

Straight away.

£3.50.

VO: I wouldn't "rule" it out!

Ha!

Charles?

Ah.

The hokey cokey!

"Put your right leg in, your right leg out, in, out, in out, shake it all about, you do the hokey cokey and you turn around.

That's what it's all about - yeah!"

Now, for some more tit-for-tat appreciation, hey?

Not sure that's quite you.

Wait.

Wait!

VO: Oh, on second thoughts...

But can we please be serious from now on?

I'm determined to find one more item, and what's caught my eye is just over here, in the corner, almost buried, this really attractive, mid-century, probably early-'60s, coffee set.

If I take the pot out, we'll see...

There we are.

It's inscribed "Wedgwood Woodbury coffee set".

And the shape is so iconic of the early '60s, this sphere top.

VO: Complete with cups, saucers and jug.

It's priced at £28.

If I could buy it for 21... VO: All he has left, apart from the pennies.

CHARLES: Cash is here.

VO: Well, that's a start.

Hello there.

How are you?

Hello, Charles.

CHARLES: Your name is?

DAVE: Dave.

Dave, great to see you.

Now, I've seen one treasure I quite like, I might buy.

It's in the far corner over there, it's a very nice... are you a coffee man, by the way?

Very much so.

With that lemon drizzle jumper, even better!

It's priced at £28.

I'll be frank with you, I've got £21 in my till pocket.

There's 20, there's one, that's what I've got left over.

Could you do the set for £21?

We could do it at that, yeah, we could do 21.

CHARLES: Are you sure?

DAVE: Yes.

There's 20.

VO: Thanks, Dave.

There's one.

And I'll take the coffee set, thank you so much.

VO: Back to Ochuko, with even less, remember.

OCHUKO: I love West German pottery.

This could be a possible...excuse the hat, it's styled now.

Let me just go with it, please trust me.

And what I love about this is, West German pottery, they made one-off items, beautiful, exquisite little items, and it became a generic name, really.

Started from 1949, but really hit hard in the '50s.

And I think it's back now.

But you know, the name really refers to this almost, like, bubbly glaze.

VO: Sometimes referred to as fat lava.

And look at those lovely minty colors, minty greens and browns and design, and it puts me in mind of my studio pottery.

A one-off.

This would make a lovely little lot.

Like I said, forget the hat, look at the pot.

It's got £8.50 on it.

I think that's smart, I really love that.

VO: Poor Dave.

OCHUKO: Do you like my hat?

DAVE: It suits you.

That's exactly it.

What I say is, you have to believe it, and I believe it.

West German pottery, I love this.

Yeah.

I'm putting it at 1950.

It's going to be around that period.

Right, this is the thing.

I've got £3.52.

I'm sure we could go to that, yeah, go on, £3.52.

And the crowd roars!

Yes!

VO: Don't spend it all at once, Dave!

Thank you, sir.

Can I keep the hat?

DAVE: No.

OCHUKO: No!

VO: The cheek!

Ha!

Now, with almost every single penny spent... Bye!

VO: ..it's time to get those wares off to the auction.

Well, after a bit of in-car disco dancing, anyway.

CHARLES: I have in the past been called "Snake Hips Hanson."

No, they called me Snake Hips.

Look at that, look.

I can do a worm as well.

I can do a worm.

OCHUKO: Can you?

CHARLES: Oh yeah.

OCHUKO: A proper worm?

CHARLES: Yeah.

OK.

I've got to see that.

Send the worm over my way, look, alright?

Right, here I am.

(BOTH LAUGH) VO: Hey!

Shuteye, please.

Sweet dreams!

VO: Auction viewing day dawns in the Cheshire countryside, down on Riverside organic farm.

Charles.

How are you?

Listen, we're just feeding the baby, OK?

Isn't that great?

This is Tulip.

Tulip.

Tulip the lamb here, within this amazing location.

You look very comfortable.

We are.

Look, it's going down quite quick.

VO: No sale room collywobbles for our Tulip at least.

VO: After loving Liverpool, and then heading south down the Wirral peninsula, our duo have rendezvous-ed close to the village of Davenham, while their purchases have been dispatched towards Fieldings of Stourbridge, for sale on the phone, on the net, and left with the auctioneer, Rachel Holland.

Charles parted with £211 for his five lots.

RACHEL: Pair of water buffalo.

They have inlay in them, which appears to be silver.

Decorative, but they were produced for the mass-market, so there's huge amounts of them out there.

VO: Ah.

While Ochuko spent all of his £143 and 52p also on five auction lots.

RACHEL: Love this sign, this is great.

Enamel signage, advertising items, I mean we just can't get enough of them at the moment, so I think this should do really well.

VO: Crikey!

Mixed was the verdict, there, I'd say.

OCHUKO: Ready?

CHARLES: I'm ready.

Hold on, glasses down.

They're down.

VO: First up, Charles' Chinese items the auctioneer wasn't awfully hopeful about.

They're decorative, £20?

£20, can I tempt you?

£20 only for them.

10... Oh, I don't believe it!

OCHUKO: Oh!

RACHEL: £10, if it helps.

Come on.

CHARLES: Hello!

Hello!

15, 20, there we go.

There you go!

20.

You're off.

CHARLES: Come on!

£20, online bidders, at £20 and selling.

OCHUKO: Sorry, Charles.

CHARLES: Do you know...

Silence.

VO: They all look a bit disappointed, don't they?

There was no stampede.

VO: By way of contrast, Ochuko's bottles and crates.

RACHEL: £10 only.

CHARLES: Come on!

RACHEL: £10 for them.

OCHUKO: More than that!

CHARLES: Come on!

15.

CHARLES: Come on, pull the pint, pull the pint!

We're off, 15.

At £15, and selling, then, all done.

CHARLES: She's quick.

OCHUKO: What?!

Whoa!

You know what, that was down in one.

VO: Yes, a wee bit flat, certainly.

I'm not happy with that.

VO: Brush pot time.

More from Charles' Oriental collection.

CHARLES: Ching-ching.

OCHUKO: Ching-ching?

CHARLES: Qing.

OCHUKO: Ching?

Qing dynasty.

Wow, I bet you're hoping for ker-ching.

Let's start this one at 50.

CHARLES: Come on!

OCHUKO: Good start.

RACHEL: At £55.

OCHUKO: Come on!

Come on!

Brush pot then at 55... That's not fair.

From ching-ching to cheap cheap.

VO: Ha-ha!

Exactly!

An awful lot of exquisite craftsmanship for not very much money.

(DUCK QUACKS) Hear, that's a duck?

(MIMICKS DUCK) It's almost... (DUCK QUACKS) Get outta here!

Don't rub it in!

VO: Now for Ochuko's studio pottery pairing, the one on the right is West German, right?

£10 only for the lot.

£10.

CHARLES: Come on.

BOTH: Come on!

CHARLES: Look at me!

£5 if it helps, then, at five, I have.

Call it 500...pence.

Come on!

Are we all done?

Are we selling, then, at £5?

OK, so you lost £3.52.

Not the end of the world.

VO: Certainly not.

Best result of the day so far, though.

There's no West Germany.

Do you think that affected it?

It's unified, like you and I. OCHUKO: Unified.

CHARLES: We walk on together.

VO: More Charles now, the Charlotte Rhead vase and the Wedgwood coffee set.

CHARLES: Think jazz.

OCHUKO: Miles Davis?

No, no, think 1930s.

Very stylish.

£20 for the lot.

10 then if it helps.

At £10, if it helps.

OCHUKO: Come on.

RACHEL: £5 if it helps.

At £5.

I can't get a bid at £5 unfortunately.

We're all done, then, at £5.

10, just at the last minute.

OCHUKO: 10!

CHARLES: Come on, Hanson!

Come on!

At £10, and we'll sell it.

£10.

Do you know, it's a funny old game.

Tricky.

VO: Aw.

I'm sure their luck will turn soon, though.

Perhaps for Ochuko's birdy alarm clock.

I love cages, and I love birds.

CHARLES: Were you a dancer?

OCHUKO: No.

CHARLES: Cage dancer?

OCHUKO: No.

CHARLES: No, OK, on a serious note... Get out of here!

(BOTH LAUGH) £10!

At £10.

She's laughing.

Come on!

At £25, then.

Come on!

Wash its face.

One more.

RACHEL: 25.

OCHUKO: One more.

CHARLES: One more.

RACHEL: At £30.

CHARLES: Yes!

You've done it!

RACHEL: At £30.

OCHUKO: Oh, I love that.

At £30, and selling.

That's amazing.

How do you feel?

I feel good because I really liked that cage.

VO: This could be the magic moment.

Finally, a profit!

Tick-tock!

CHARLES: It wasn't cheap-cheap.

OCHUKO: It wasn't cheap-cheap.

VO: Next up is Charles' Qianlong number one.

More profits, please.

It's a big charger, and when you imagine, if you close your eyes and think it was made in the reign of King George III, could be King George II, it is a cracker.

And let's start it at £40 only for this lot.

£20, then, if it helps.

£20, thank you, £20.

Oh, you're off.

Come on!

OCHUKO: This is tricky.

Let's keep going.

25, 30.

OCHUKO: There you go!

CHARLES: Broken even.

At 35.

At £35.

You get lots of small ones, this is a big one.

35, 40 now.

CHARLES: Come on!

Oh, at last.

At £40, then.

Last chance.

£40, and selling.

That's OK. Humble steps.

VO: Well, a profit is a profit.

On we go.

Not that their profits require a shovel just yet, just one of Ochuko's.

OCHUKO: It's old history!

CHARLES: Yes.

OCHUKO: History.

RACHEL: Who needs a peat spade?

£10.

Surely someone needs a peat spade?

Digging for victory.

£10.

15.

OCHUKO: Come on!

CHARLES: Come on.

All done, then, at 15.

CHARLES: Come on!

OCHUKO: Not all done!

Dig, dig, dig.

Dig deeper!

OCHUKO: Didn't lose.

CHARLES: No!

VO: No!

Those days are over.

It's profits all the way now.

CHARLES: A fiver is no bad thing.

We're in it together.

Well done, partner.

VO: More Charles.

We'll let him do the honors.

CHARLES: It's blue and white... OCHUKO: OK. ..and it's from the reign of Emperor Qianlong.

£20 only.

CHARLES: Come on!

OCHUKO: What did you pay?

RACHEL: At £25.

CHARLES: Come on!

At 25.

30 now.

OCHUKO: Look.

CHARLES: Come on!

RACHEL: At £30.

OCHUKO: There you go.

RACHEL: At £35.

CHARLES: Come on!

OCHUKO: You're off!

CHARLES: Double up me timbers!

RACHEL: £40.

CHARLES: Come on!

Well done, Charles.

RACHEL: Online bidder, then.

Hello, China!

Selling, then, at 45.

CHARLES: Hello, China!

At £45, selling, the gavel is up, at 45... OCHUKO: Well done, Charles.

Delivery.

Delivery!

You deserved that!

VO: Yes, well done, my old china!

Ha-ha!

Finally, Ochuko's enamel sign.

The auctioneer predicts sweet things.

And when you turn it on its reverse, it's got this original 1950s wallpaper.

CHARLES: Lovely.

OCHUKO: So good.

£50 for it, 50 I have, at 50 straight in.

CHARLES: Come on!

OCHUKO: Straight in.

RACHEL: 55, 65... CHARLES: Get in!

RACHEL: 70, 85... CHARLES: Get in!

RACHEL: ..95, 110, 120.

CHARLES: Yes!

OCHUKO: Oh!

At 120 now, 120, at 130 I have.

CHARLES: Oh my goodness me!

RACHEL: At £130.

OCHUKO: Come on!

RACHEL: At 130, we're all out, then, we're selling it, then, at £130... CHARLES: Oh, my goodness me!

OCHUKO: I'm happy with that.

CHARLES: Get outta here!

OCHUKO: Yeah.

That's brilliant!

VO: A very nice finish.

Icing on the cake, eh?

(CLUCKS) Shut up, I lost!

I don't want to hear it!

I'll talk to you later.

They were your friends earlier.

Exactly!

This is you and I now, my friend, and you are well and truly in the lead, and I salute you.

VO: Well said, that man!

Charles started out with £211.56, and after auction costs, made quite a loss.

So, he now has £139.96.

While Ochuko, who began with a £143.52, made, also after costs, a small profit.

Which puts him out in the lead, with £159.90.

Another day.

CHARLES: Exactly.

Come on.

OCHUKO: Let's go.

VO: Time to get back in the saddle, chaps.

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