VOICEOVER (VO): The nation's favorite antiques experts, £200 each and one big challenge.

Cuz I'm here to declare war.

Why?

VO: Who can make the most money, buying and selling antiques as they scour the UK?

Really is very good!

VO: The aim is to trade up and hope each antique turns a profit.

Oh!

(GAVEL) VO: But it's not as easy as you might think, and things don't always go to plan.

CHARLIE: (SHOUTS) Push!

VO: So will they race off with a huge profit or come to a grinding halt?

Do you think I'd believe that?

VO: This is the Antiques Road Trip!

VO: Today we're in the Republic of Ireland with the two Davids - David Harper and David Barby.

VO: Together, they're touring the Emerald Isle in a Triumph TR3.

DAVID HARPER (DH): Oh, David!

You're getting all fired up here!

DAVID BARBY (DB): I'm doing 15mph.

DH: Come on baby!

VO: David Harper is a dealer with an infinite knowledge of antiques.

DH: What on Earth is that?

VO: While co-driver David Barby is an auctioneer, well-known for his tact and charm.

DEALER: Is that collectible in England, no?

DB: (SQUEALS) DEALER: It is here.

VO: There's no doubt who's had the best start on this trip.

Yesterday's auction in Northern Ireland was a great success for David Barby.

DB: I'm getting rather anxious about these.

AUCTIONEER: We're all finished at £240...

Someone's got taste.

VO: But a calamity for David Harper.

No, don't.

Yes.

Come on!

VO: They began with £200 each, but David B goes into today with a whopping £417.10.

VO: While the other David has made just £6.80 to add to his starting cash.

VO: Both of these piles have been converted into euros today as the road trip heads south of the border and into new territory.

VO: This week, we're traveling from Northern Ireland, heading south towards the county of Meath, then across to the north coast of Wales and once again heading south, ending our road trip in Llanelli.

Today's show starts out in Athlone, and heads for an auction at Kells.

VO: Slap bang in the geographical center of Ireland, Athlone is famous for its castle, and its very strategic bridge over the River Shannon - reasons why, over 300 years ago, the city was besieged twice.

VO: Ireland is apparently also noted for its precipitation.

That's rain.

DB: I am wet!

DH: I think you should put the soft top up.

DB: You think so?

DH: Yeah, come on.

Let's not suffer too much, for goodness sake.

That's it.

Oh, now there you go!

DB: Isn't that nice?

DH: When you've got the facilities, you can use a vintage car all year round.

(LAUGHS) VO: Hmm, I'm not sure the Garda would necessarily agree with you, David.

VO: This warm and dry shop though is packed with top-quality stuff at prices that match.

Brianna and Thomas are keen to help, though.

DH: Who gives the best discounts?

I most certainly do.

Really?!

DB: You're with me!

DH: Oh!

OK, I'll have the good- looking one!

VO: Ah, the David Harper charm, tried before but with mixed results.

Do you want to come for a ride in my car?

VO: I'm sure I've heard that line too.

I wonder what she'll think when she discovers that after yesterday, he doesn't have much else to offer?

DH: That is a cracking Majolica thing, is it Majolica?

It's going to be out my price range that though, isn't it?

Bear in mind I've only got 200 and something euros.

OK... right... She's not very impressed with me now, is she?

Oh no, no, we're not fussy here!

DH: I'd love to pay 150 for it.

BRIANNA: Well I'll see if I would like to give it to you for 150.

DH: I bet you won't.

Ooh, no, I think I might be disowned if I did!

VO: Even David Barby, who has twice as much cash as his namesake, couldn't afford 750 euros.

THOMAS: There's an interesting piece here of some bog oak.

It's very difficult to put an age on it.

Oh!

VO: Now, there can be few things more typically Irish than bog oak, but the price of 295 euros makes David all shy.

DB: It's timber that's been in a peat bog, probably for thousands of years.

THOMAS: Absolutely.

And it's soaked in all the sort of peat preservatives, so it becomes quite hard and it can be carved, and this is a piece of bog oak.

What would be your discretion on that?

I'm sure we could do 10 or 15% if it was interesting.

Is that all?

Well, we could start at 10 or 15% and we could see what's the level of your interest, and it might be matched by the level of our discretion.

I think that is quite...

It rolls off your tongue!

It rolls off your tongue!

It's called blarney.

I know, it's called blarney, my goodness me!

DH: What's this here then?

A carved, signed wooden tray.

I've never seen anything like that before.

BRIANNA: No!

VO: Doesn't look terribly practical.

DH: It hasn't got a huge amount of age, I don't think, but it's a real quirky little number that, isn't it?

It is, yeah.

Would you have that in your house?

I don't think I would!

VO: Refreshingly honest.

Now what's David B up to?

DB: A Victorian... what's a pod-saw?

VO: No!

Pad-saw.

Well it's all the way through here.

That's a retractable blade that was the forerunner of the Stanley knife, perhaps.

DB: I'd like to know what it is before I buy it.

THOMAS: Finding out what it is after you've bought it would be even more fun.

VO: There's that blarney again, but David is a bit of a stickler.

THOMAS: Bryan, we've a query here from a customer.

VO: And perhaps the shop owner can shave a few of the 48 euros off the price?

Oh right, so in fact there's a hole in the actual handle itself, so you passed the blade all the way through, did you?

DB: So you could adjust it accordingly.

Can you do it at 20?

I'm not tough at all.

OK, that's very kind.

I'm going to put you back to Thomas just to confirm those prices in case he doesn't believe me Hello Bryan, is that really you that's there?

We're not just talking to a recording, is it?

DB: (LAUGHS) THOMAS: Oh, you drive such a hard bargain, I can't believe that he took so much off!

THOMAS: He said 20.

Yes, he said 20 alright.

VO: So, while David B reflects on his first purchase, David H, with plenty to prove, has finally found something which, at 40 euros, is in his bracket.

DH: That's an unusual thing.

I think it's alabaster.

Alabaster, yes.

Alabaster.

Three naked ladies climbing up a... Is it some sort of..?

A cliff or... What is it?

Is it like a... has it got a religious significance that, do you think?

DH: It's a very unusual thing.

BRIANNA: It is.

DH: I like that.

I'd love to know what's going on, because whoever carved it carved it for a reason, he didn't just think of this scene and just think 'I'm just gonna carve three women climbing up a mountainside'.

VO: Actually David, it's inspired by a detail from Rodin's huge unfinished masterpiece "The Gates of Hell".

The original measures six meters by four, and features 186 figures.

That, though, is in the Musée Rodin and is definitely not for sale.

DH: Now then - I'd take a chance on that at 20 euros.

20 euros... OK, let's make a deal.

Are you sure?

Yes.

Marvelous.

Marvelous!

VO: While David Barby dodges the Athlone showers...

Hold on, it's raining!

Just thinking of my perm.

VO: ..his friend - that's the one in the cap - has grabbed the keys to the Triumph, traveling from Athlone to Barley Harbor.

VO: David's making his way through the lowlands to visit the studio of bog- oak artist Michael Casey.

DH: Hello there, David Harper.

Nice to meet you.

Can I come in?

Oh my gosh, this is amazing!

DH: Tell me about bog oak.

How do we get to that?

MICHAEL: When we lift it out it's covered with clay and peat and everything.

And it's been buried under the earth for 6-7,000 years.

The forests were growing in the midlands at that time, they fell, and the bogs have grown on them now, 30 feet.

VO: When the wood first comes out of the ground, it's very soggy, and so needs to be seasoned for a few more years before Michael can begin his work.

DH: Oh my goodness me, Michael, what is that?!

This is absolutely as it comes out of the ground?

MICHAEL: More or less, yeah.

DH: So how long has this been weathering for?

Some of the pieces are here 10 or 15 years, you know.

DH: So you might get an inspiration that you want to make a sculpture based on a certain subject, and then you would root through looking for something to grab you.

MICHAEL: Yeah.

Now you can almost see the human head in that, and the shoulder.

DH: OK, I can see that.

MICHAEL: And then other pieces that's here, they're sitting for years and years, and you might come out with a drink at night or something, you know, and sit down with it, and then it suggests itself.

MICHAEL: I help it along, you know, the suggestion, just maybe the head and the arms.

DH: So when you say you help it along, it's got your direct input then, isn't it?

MICHAEL: Things dug out of the bog, you know, out of nature, and then the hand, the human hand, adds a little to it.

VO: Eventually, the supply of oak - and the rarer yew and pine - will run out, but not any day soon, because several thousand years ago, Ireland was one huge forest.

MICHAEL: The botanists tell me a monkey could swing from tree to tree, and this is the River Shannon out here, now he only had to swim the River Shannon... You're kidding!

..he could go the whole way to Galway.

Without touching the ground?

Yeah.

VO: David is fortunate enough to have a lesson in sculpture from the master himself.

DH: So you're not afraid of the wood at all, are you?

I mean, that is serious stuff, that'll take your skin off.

MICHAEL: Don't go back ways now.

Don't go backwards?

Forwards.

Always forwards?

Now tell me why.

Why would you always go forwards?

The teeth are facing that direction.

Yeah... (CLEARS THROAT) DH: Oh, I see, I'm getting with it now, Michael.

I think it might take me quite some time to become somebody like you, and I suppose if you were to make what you might think of as a mistake, and a chunk came off, you'd just work around that, would you?

MICHAEL: Yeah.

There's no mistakes in this.

DH: No mistakes.

It's just nature telling you exactly what she wants to be, yeah?

VO: Whilst David Harper goes with the grain, David Barby has carried on shopping... VO: ..making his way from Athlone to Mullingar.

VO: The biggest city in the Irish midlands, Mullingar was once a great cattle-trading center, and is still famous for its pewter.

James Joyce was once very fond of the place too, and it gets several mentions in Finnegans Wake and Ulysses.

And speaking of heroes... DB: Hello, I'm David Barby.

Dermot Holmes, pleased to meet you.

And you own this store?

Yes.

Delighted to bring you to Mullingar.

VO: If David was a bit taken aback by the prices in Athlone this morning, by Mullingar he's getting seriously worried.

DB: That's well over what I have to spend.

Well over.

How much is that?

Oh, it's coming round.

Oh!

DERMOT: 495.

DB: Oh!

DERMOT: Yes.

Oh!

Pay for the frame.

But it's on its original glass.

Oh!

See, you're in Ireland now, you're not in the UK where there's plenty of volume!

DB: I'm looking at the sort of prices they're asking in southern Ireland and thinking 'oh!

How much would that go for back home?'

And I realize the market back home has a long way to go before it gets to these prices.

VO: Luckily, shop owner Dermot has plenty of suggestions for what might sell well at the Kells auction, like an early Rudyard Kipling collection, various dishes and even some novelty tableware.

DERMOT: Is that collectible in England?

DB: (SQUEALS) DERMOT: It is here.

DERMOT: Isn't it extraordinary?

DB: Oh!

DERMOT: It's just a cabbage.

It's not actually the... DB: Do you like it?

I don't, but... DB: No, I think it's hideous.

There's people that are mad about 'em.

Collect them.

35 euro!

My God!

VO: Oh well, each to his own.

David, for example, really likes this barrel.

DB: I used to collect Doulton.

Ah, right.

This is a little Doulton piece.

Salt glaze.

Would have originally had corks in it.

Yeah, those are gone.

You'd have a spigot there.

DERMOT: Yes, yeah.

DB: But the very fact it is Doulton indicates that it's quality, and I love the barrel shape.

I think that's quite good.

I see you've got 35 on there.

What's the best you can do?

What's the best I can do?

What'd we on it already?

we had 45... 30?

25 then.

That's the best.

Cuz it's a piece of Doulton.

Hah!

But it hasn't got its spigot.

And it hasn't got its cork.

And it hasn't got its proper stand.

No, it hasn't got its proper stand.

You make me an offer.

DB: I'll say 15.

DERMOT: I'll say 20.

18.

Right, you're done.

What have I done?

What have you done?

Yes.

VO: Too late to change your mind now, David.

Now, what else is there to wax lyrical about?

DB: These are Georgian brass candlesticks.

They're out of fashion to a certain extent in England, because people don't like polishing brass.

DB: I remember seeing two of these up at that auction in the north.

I think they went for about £12.

DB: So those have got to be round about 10 euro.

I'd say 12 euro.

I'm matching £12 with 12 euro.

I can't do it.

You can't do it?

No.

Because I know how much the other ones went for.

At the moment, the euro is at parity with the pound.

DERMOT: Near enough.

DB: Yeah.

Not exactly though, when you're going to buy it's different, well here, we'll introduce you to these two... and let you make a decision.

Do we throw the cat among the pigeons?

You have.

DERMOT: Slightly smaller.

DB: I like those as well.

Right, so, if I bought those that would be 20 euro, the four.

For the four.

OK. Deal done.

Yes.

VO: A modest haul from Mullingar, but maybe David Barby as the leader doesn't have to try too hard.

VO: Day two, and the Davids still seem to be thoroughly enjoying their Gaelic gallivant.

DH: Oh you're very suave, aren't you, I think.

DB: No, no.

DH: You are, suave.

Don't you have a shell suit at home then?

DB: Oh I've got one of those, yes.

DH: Have you?

DB: Yes.

DB: I undo the zip halfway down to show my hairy chest.

DB: (LAUGHS) VO: Yesterday the hirsute David Barby bought three items at a cost of just 58 euros.

So, he still has 394 euros and 30 cents to spend today, while David Harper spent 20 euros on this.

I'd love to know what's going on, because there is a significance here.

VO: Unaware that it's after Rodin, I suppose.

Mwah, thank you!

VO: And so he has 204 euros and 25 cents.

Time to spend, surely?

DH: I need three or four items.

But of course, I would like to spend it all, but so far I've spent a tiny amount.

So I'm not gonna go out and just blow the money on things just for the sake of spending the money.

VO: No, quite!

Their triumphal trail will conclude today at an auction in Kells, but first stop for hot-to-shop Harper is the little town of Knockdrin.

VO: No mention yet of the prices, but where he finds this sort of eclectic mix, it behoves him to find a bargain, big or small.

DH: What is that?

It's a miniature drum, a metal miniature drum, hand-painted.

The Gordon Highlanders.

Now, anything to do with militaria there are collectors out there worldwide for things like this.

DH: Hand-painted, quality.

So let me find Mary and see what she can do on this one.

DH: Mary?

MARY: Yes, David?

DH: Can I just talk to you about this?

MARY: Yes.

The drum?

DH: What was it used for?

Do you think it's been a box?

Or is it just a novelty thing?

I think it's a novelty thing.

DH: What sort of money is it to me?

10 euros to you.

10?

10, 20.

Well, you don't say 10 then 20!

I'm not likely to give you 20, am I, if you start at 10!

MARY: No, 10 euros to you, right.

10 euros.

DH: It's a little buy.

It's a little buy, it's a good start.

I'll have it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

DH: Now these things are not quite what they used to be, but there's a pair of these, one there and one in there, so typical green glass, Victorian.

They're good, all hand-painted, nice bubbles in the glass, so let me see what she can do on this one.

MARY: On the vases there's 15 euros.

DH: 15 euros for a pair of 120 year old, or 130 year old glass vases.

Absolutely stonking bargains.

15 euros?!

15 euros.

DH: Goodness me.

Cheap enough mind, isn't it?

I mean, it's just crazy.

VO: Why tell her that?

I think he thinks they're cheap.

Do you want 10 euros for them?

VO: No.

Not cheap enough apparently.

Yes.

I'll take 10 euros.

It's absolutely pathetic.

I am ridiculous, thank you very much, there's another one.

VO: That's all very well, but come on David, you need to think bigger than that if you're gonna catch up with the great David Barby.

DH: Mary?

What on Earth is that?

It's a wool-winder.

And what do you do with a wool-winder?

You wind wool from the spinning wheel.

VO: You might have guessed that, David.

DH: I thought it was a light fitting at first.

DH: What would you do with it, Mary?

Could you make it into something?

I honestly don't know.

DH: That works just beautifully, look at that!

Small wooden items, hand-made, there's a market for it, isn't there?

DH: Oh I don't know, I've no idea how to value that.

What's that worth?

MARY: Make me an offer on it.

DH: 15 euros?

Go 20.

DH: Go 15.

Go 20.

Go 15.

MARY: Go 20.

Alright, I'll have it for 20.

Do I get another kiss?

You do indeed.

Marvelous.

VO: Oh, not again, you'll wear his lips out.

VO: While his rival accrues an increasingly strange collection, David Barby is heading back to Mullingar to visit Belvedere House - pretty - and investigate some dark doings in the country over 250 years ago.

DB: Now we really are in the depths of the Irish countryside.

This is wonderful, this overgrowth, and the trees, it makes you think of Arthur Rackham, and you expect to see little pixies jump out, or should I say little leprechauns?

VO: This 18th-century gem in the woods is now owned by the local council and open to the public all year round.

But David is here to meet the curator, and to learn more about Belvedere's history.

Welcome to Belvedere.

And you are?

Bartle D'Arcy.

Well that's very 18th-century, isn't it?

It is.

Joycean character.

Yes, lovely name!

VO: The house itself is lovingly preserved, with many of its original mid 18th-century features, Diocletian windows, and all intact.

But most people flock here for just one thing... DB: Oh my, just look at that ceiling!

Just look at that ceiling.

VO: ..the fabulous rococo ceilings.

BARTLE: We're looking at around 1760 for getting these ceilings done in the house.

The artist would have been lying on the flat of his back on a scaffold and would mold them as they were on the ceilings.

The only things that would have been made on the ground would have been the grapes.

DB: Very light style, isn't it?

What I like about it, it's not heavy.

It's absolutely fantastic.

VO: But behind the beautiful Georgian architecture... BARTLE: Now David, this is the drawing room.

VO: ..is the Gothic tale of Belvedere's builder.

BARTLE: This is Robert Rochfort, the wicked earl who built Belvedere House in 1740.

Did you say "wicked earl"?

BARTLE: The wicked earl.

What do you mean "wicked earl"?

He earned the title "the wicked earl" for locking up his wife, Mary Molesworth, on a spurious charge of infidelity, and he locked her up for 31 years.

VO: Before revealing more of the story, Bartle needs to show David the view from the master's bedroom.

BARTLE: David, I'm just gonna show you something out the window here.

DB: So what am I looking at?

BARTLE: You're looking at the Jealous Wall.

This is the largest folly in Ireland, and it's a reminder of the relationship where he fell out with his brother, who had built a much larger house on the far side of that wall.

Why was he so jealous of his brother that he had to build such a huge wall?

The jealousy worked on both sides of the wall, because George, the brother, was jealous of Robert, because he had married Mary Molesworth, who George had his eye on originally.

DB: Right.

And what happened to Mary Molesworth?

Well, Mary was accused of having an affair with the younger brother of Robert by letters written by George across the way, and then Robert ended up believing the allegation, and the poor lady was locked up for in total 31 years at Galstown, the family estate.

DB: That is beautiful, absolutely beautiful.

Terrible story, but quite beautiful.

VO: When poor Mary was freed, she was quite mad, spending her time talking to paintings.

Sounds like most of the people I know, actually.

DB: Oh, there's the Jealous Wall!

I can hear the rooks nesting, that's good!

VO: David is on his way to join David Harper, who's gone ahead to their final shop at Portlaoise.

VO: No, this isn't another Irish country house, but an out of town industrial unit with a modest exterior that's been fully furnished inside.

What a place.

VO: It seems to work for antiques and reproductions.

DH: I genuinely have not seen anything like this yet in the antiques business, because that dining table, as fantastic as it looks now, put it in a dusty antiques shop and actually it wouldn't look very much at all, it's very difficult to get your head around.

It's very good, he's very, very good.

VO: David didn't start this leg with much cash, but most of what he did have is still in his pocket.

DH: That seems surprisingly cheap.

Little desk set made out of papier mâché.

And if I'd seen this yesterday, I think I would have just put it into the kitty, but it's not gonna fly.

I really need a flier to catch up with David Barby.

VO: While he continues his desperate search, who should arrive but David Barby?

DB: Hello!

DAVID: Hello.

DB: What a fabulous place!

Thanks very much.

VO: Equally keen to get the bargain which will trump his rival.

DB: I can see immediately from here, that hat box down there.

DAVID: Certainly, yes.

DB: Can I have a little quick look?

DAVID: Absolutely.

DB: Have you polished this up?

DAVID: Yes, we have.

Just a little bit of cream.

DB: OK.

It's a Dublin retailer, which is good.

Charles McDonald, saddler.

So this is nice.

But people use these to decorate a bedroom, they use them as wastepaper, jardinières, a multiplicity of uses.

DB: What sort of price range are we looking at?

DAVID: 60.

(LAUGHS) Could you take less than 60?

Is that the very, very best you can do?

DAVID: No, probably not.

I can do it for 50.

If you really pressure me.

DB: Can I pressure you even more, to 40?

Meet you in the middle - 45?

DB: 42.

45 any good?

DB: 42.

DAVID: 42.

Thank you very much.

VO: Well, that was fast work.

Five minutes after entering the shop, he's the owner of a hat box.

That's lovely.

Lovely, lovely, lovely.

DB: I like that.

This is a late 19th-century oil lamp.

It's such a nice piece.

It's in onyx and gilt metal, and this would have been in an important house.

DB: This is not a cottage piece.

These would have gone out of fashion certainly by 1920, when they would have installed electric lights into the average home, but that is such a lovely example.

DB: This little lamp, missing so much of its originality.

It is, it is unfortunately.

Yes?

So we haven't got the shade, and we haven't got the chimney.

That's right.

So what sort of price are we looking at there?

It's probably pretty much intact after that.

DAVID: You can get the globes.

Is there a price on it?

DB: Not that I can see.

I suppose since you've bought the top-hat box, we could do it for 75 euros.

That the very best?

Close to it.

That the very, very best you can do, 75?

DAVID: 60 OK for you?

DB: 50 better.

Give me a little small bit.

DB: A little.

58.

Let's split the difference at 52.

DAVID: OK. DB: (WHISPERS) 52.

52.

VO: (WHISTLES) That was tense.

Now, with David B satisfied, David H has finally uncovered something to spend big on.

DH: A good marble carving can command several hundreds of pounds, even when new, and several thousands from a known artist.

DH: That is a flier, but all subject to price.

VO: It's not an antique - maybe only 20 years old - but it may sell well.

DAVID: Actually, she's not too badly priced.

DH: What sort of money?

180.

180?

DAVID: Euros.

DH: No, she's not dear.

Could she be a bit better?

DAVID: How much better?

She couldn't be 60 euros less?

Less.

Not 60 euros to buy.

Sorry!

You almost collapsed!

Yeah!

DH: Can she be 120?

DAVID: She could be 120, yeah.

DH: Done deal?

DAVID: Yep.

Good man.

Thanks, David.

VO: At last, those two have done with shopping.

Time to show off.

DB: Well David, how'd you get on today?

Very, very well.

DB: Did you really?

Mm, be very, very afraid.

Well no, I shall be very pleased for you.

VO: Liar.

First, the cut-price pad-saw.

DH: Very interesting.

DB: I think it's interesting.

I love it because it is a functional item.

DB: It's very tactile, it can be used.

DH: And very good quality too.

I think that's worth... 20 quid.

I paid 20 euro for it.

Well, I wasn't far away then, was I?

No.

I think that's so little.

Well it's a bit more than you paid!

So be pleased!

VO: Now, now, calm down.

Clap your eyes on that.

DB: Oh, that is lovely!

That is very, very nice.

I think the yellow's been painted on afterwards.

I think that's probably a little bit of restoration where the enamel's chipped off.

Because you can see where it's actually gone over some of the decoration underneath.

VO: Next, the barrel without spigot or stand.

DH: Well it's Doulton, obviously, isn't it?

Yep.

Why do you say obviously?

Because it screams Doulton.

DB: You saw the label.

Where is the label?

Hasn't got a label... Underneath.

DH: Do you not think I could spot a piece of Doulton?

How many times have I handled Doulton?

VO: Shirty.

Well I didn't recognize that immediately as Doulton.

Why not?

DB: It just didn't come over me as Doulton.

It's stone-glazed, it's got that color.

DB: Guess what I paid for it.

DH: I would want to pay £15 for that item.

VO: Blast.

Well you're bang on, I paid 18.

DH: Euros?

Yeah.

VO: The sculpture.

But after who?

DB: These relate to a certain thing.

DH: I know, but I don't know what that certain thing is.

DB: Ah.

DH: Do you know?

DB: Yes.

DH: What?

VO: Childish.

I'm not going to tell you.

You are priceless!

DH: OK, I'm going to test you now, how much did I pay for that?

DB: 40 euro?

DH: 20.

That's very good going.

DH: I think it's good going.

I think there's profit in that.

VO: Barby's brass bargain next - or is it?

Do you want me to take a guess?

DB: You're going to shock me and upset me by saying such a low price.

Do I really want to listen?

Do you want to listen?

Do you want my valuation?

VO: As long as you're nice about it.

DH: Well, I think in auction, £10-20.

That would be my instinct for the four.

That would be my instinct!

Ooh!

I hope they're gonna make more, David.

I really do.

VO: A little test for David Barby.

DH: Now please - marvel.

DB: Yes, that is superb!

DH: Do you know what it is?

Well, it's for fixing onto a wall, and it's for winding wool round.

Very clever!

I'm genuinely impressed, because I didn't know what it was at all.

I had no idea at all.

That's a very good hat box.

Isn't it nice?

So this would have been worn by a dandy, somebody in fashion of the period.

Yes.

You would have worn one of these, wouldn't you?

A very large one.

DB: Yes.

DH: Yes.

I'd like to see it do around about 80.

It has a chance, doesn't it?

80 euro.

Yeah, it does have a chance.

VO: The curiously cheap vases that David was so keen on... You love them, don't you?

DB: No.

DH: (GASPS) DH: You don't love them?!

Hand-blown, Victorian, hand-painted.

And cracked.

Yeah, I didn't notice that.

Whacking great crack.

DH: I know, stop it, don't.

All the way round.

DH: Stop it!

Stop it!

DB: Terrible crack.

VO: You're enjoying this, David Barby, aren't you?

Sadist.

DB: It's going all the way around.

DH: I know.

I know.

What'd you pay?

15 euro?

10 euros.

Well, even though one is absolutely shattered, they're nice!

They're nice!

(GROANS) VO: Careful, David - you could do yourself a damage.

DB: What do you think?

I like it.

I like it a lot.

DH: It would look fantastic electrified, and it would look even better with a flute and a shade, and lit with oil, because that would just sparkle, wouldn't it?

DB: I paid 52 euro.

DH: I think in a reasonable sale that would make £100-150.

VO: Finally, a flier, he hopes.

DB: Very, very nice indeed.

DH: Isn't she well-carved?

DB: Stop...stroking the back!

Yes, she's beautifully-carved, actually.

DB: So how much did you pay for that?

DH: I think you're going to be absolutely blown away here, in a very bad way.

Let's have a guess - 100 euro.

Bit more.

120.

Yeah, I think that's wonderful.

That is my star item.

DH: I think it's your star item.

I think you've got several, actually.

DH: The best piece I've bought in a very, very, very long time.

VO: Modest, too.

Now, let's find out what they really think.

I am recovering from shock.

I thought I'd done well, but I think David has done brilliantly.

The Corinthian column lamp is absolutely gorgeous, and that's a real antique.

What else did he buy?

Nothing, really, very memorable, as far as I'm concerned.

The piece I find fascinating is the little piece of alabaster that he bought from Auguste Rodin's "Gates of Hell".

I don't think it's particularly well-carved, but he paid so little for it it's bound to make a profit.

DB: I think he's the winner.

He's the winner on this round, and I think he'll overtake me.

Turn out the lights.

I'm going to sleep.

VO: After starting out in the rain at Athlone, this leg of our road trip will be decided at an auction in the historic town of Kells.

DB: Well, it'll be interesting to see whether that little Rodin-type alabaster piece... DH: Interesting what?

What did you call it?

You know what that's after, don't you?

DB: Yes.

DH: Who is it, Barby?

DH: I want the information so I can pass it on to the auctioneer.

DH: You little horror!

DB: Yes!

VO: Kells has several early Christian associations, like the abbey founded by St Columba, where the famous manuscript of the New Testament known as the Book of Kells was once kept.

The Gaelic translation of the town's name means "great chief abode", which makes sense when you consider that Jim Connell, the writer of The Red Flag, was born here.

DH: There you go, Mr Barbers.

Time to have a good look around, eh?

VO: So, while Kells folk take a closer look at the lots, let's hear what the auctioneer Oliver Usher makes of what the Davids have entered.

OLIVER: The marble sculpture should have great appeal to the gentlemen in the audience.

I would hope it would make a few hundred, maybe 200, but I don't know if the interest is going to be here for it this evening.

OLIVER: The candlesticks, last month I had a big box of them was sold for about 30, 40 euro.

They wouldn't be my favorite piece.

VO: David Barby has spent 152 euros on five lots, including a top-hat box and a Doulton drinks barrel.

What have you done?

Yes.

VO: While David Harper has spent 180 euros, also on five lots, including several carved naked ladies.

Good man.

Thanks, David.

VO: OK, eyes down everyone.

Oh here we go, you're on, you're on, you're on!

VO: First, the Victorian pad-saw.

OLIVER: But look at the way it's made, ladies and gentlemen...

It's a bit of wood.

20 bid straight off.

Oh that's good.

30 bid, 30 bid, 30 bid now, 40 over here, 40 bid, 40 bid, OLIVER: 45 in there, 45, 50 back here, 50 bid now, 55 out here.

DB: They know what they're buying.

55, 60 over there, 60 bid now.

70 bid now, that's 70.

All out now.

At 70 - 80, just in time.

80 bid now.

80 bid over here.

Stop it.

OLIVER: 90.

DH: No!

95, 100!

DH: No!

DB: Yes!

OLIVER: That's 100.

110.

Oh!

OLIVER: 110, 120 now.

120 on this side.

All out... All done.

(GAVEL) That was really good.

That was fantastic.

That was really good.

VO: Phew!

Pad-saw fever.

Who saw that coming?

Now, what do they make of David Harper's mini Rodin?

30 bid, 40 bid.

40 bid.

OLIVER: 40 in front, 50 back there.

50 bid now.

60.

DH: Come on.

Yes, yes!

70 now.

Don't get over-excited.

Don't touch.

80, 90 up here.

90 bid.

We have at 90, 100.

DB: Oh!

DH: Yes!

OLIVER: 110, 110?

At 110 now.

Selling at 120.

DH: Yes!

DB: (LAUGHS) OLIVER: 120, 130.

130, 140.

DH: Yes, baby!

DB: (GASPS) 150 here.

At 150.

Get a load of that.

Yes!

All out now at 160.

All out..?

All done.

(GAVEL) DB: Oh dear, oh dear!

DH: (LAUGHS) VO: This is shaping up nicely.

DH: Isn't that a cracking result?

Give me that pen.

Give me that pen!

VO: Now for all that brass.

OLIVER: 50 for the two pairs.

Start me off, 50 down here.

50 bid.

50 bid.

60 bid, 60 bid.

60 bid, 70 bid.

70 bid.

I'm in shock.

I'm in shock.

I'm in shock.

OLIVER: 80 bid, 80 straight down, 80 bid now, 80 bid now.

Selling at 80 now.

All out..?

All done.

(GAVEL) VO: That was way beyond the auctioneer's estimate.

DH: I sell those for 25 quid a pair.

Now you've got to up your price.

I do, I'm gonna double the price!

VO: Could the drum beat the sticks?

OLIVER: 40 bid.

50 bid.

60 bid.

70 bid.

70 bid at the end.

70 bid now.

All finished - 80, new blood.

OLIVER: 80 now.

80 on the right.

80 bid now.

Come on baby!

OLIVER: At 80, 90 on the other side, back to 90.

90 bid now.

At 90, all out now, at 90... Oh, that's very good.

Marvelous, thank you very much.

VO: Everything is making a profit, especially Harper's lots.

DH: That's fantastic, isn't it?

It's very good, that's 80!

We're on a roll, baby!

We're on a roll!

VO: Roll out Barby's barrel then.

OLIVER: 40 bid.

40 bid.

50 back there.

50 bid now.

60 we have.

60 bid now.

60 bid.

A unique piece, at 60, all out, all done... (GAVEL) Well done.

That's amazing!

VO: Will anything fail to make a profit here, I wonder?

This is a fantastic auction.

Fantastic auction.

It's our best so far.

VO: Next, the wall-mounted wool-winder.

OLIVER: I'm bid 50 with me.

60, 70, 70, 70 bid.

DB: That's enough.

No it isn't.

OLIVER: 80 bid.

90 bid.

DB: It's too much.

DH: Shh!

OLIVER: 90 bid, 90, 100 all the way.

100 we have.

110.

110.

At 110.

Are you coming in?

120 over here, 120 now.

120 back this side.

OLIVER: 130 we have.

130, 130, 140 here.

140 now.

140 back this way.

At 140.

All out?

All done...

Thank you.

Well done.

Well, congratulations.

Thank you very much!

Thank you very much!

VO: 120 euros profit.

I think he's catching up.

DH: Do you know what?

We should do this for a living.

DB: (CHUCKLES) DH: Don't you think?

I couldn't stand the strain.

VO: A very sumptuous box.

OLIVER: 100 bid straight away.

100 bid.

110.

120.

130.

140.

140 we have.

150 out here.

160 with me, a bid with me.

160.

170 over there.

OLIVER: 170.

180 now.

190 over here.

190.

I knew it was a good one.

One more go.

OLIVER: On the right-hand side now.

All out..?

All done.

(GAVEL) That was so cheap, wasn't it?

So cheap!

David, well done.

VO: David B's still ahead, and surely David H's vases can't hurt him?

50, 40, 30, 20?

Even 10 to start?

10 bid.

15 bid.

15 bid.

OLIVER: 20 bid.

At 20 seated here.

Selling at 20 now.

25.

30 bid.

30 bid now.

Oh, what have I done?!

At 30 bid over here.

Selling at 30 now, at 30.

Anybody at 30?

OLIVER: At 30 only, 35, 35, 40 here, 40 bid now.

40 back this way.

Shaking his head firmly there, at 40 bid up this way.

All out..?

All done.

(GAVEL) 40.

That was good going, wasn't it?

VO: Four times what he paid.

Now, a Barby favorite.

OLIVER: 150 for it.

120.

100 to get it going?

DB: Yes, come on!

WOMAN: 50.

Oh!

She's hard, this woman!

OLIVER: 50 bid, 50 bid, 60 bid, 70 bid now, 70 bid.

80 down here.

90 on the left.

Selling at 90.

100.

110.

120 on the phone.

120 now, a telephone bid.

DH: No.

DB: Yes!

DH: No.

DB: Yes!

All finished, all out.

I can't believe this!

All done now..?

(GAVEL) To the telephone bidder.

WOMAN: At least I started it for you!

Yeah, thanks for that, starting it off!

VO: Cor, strike a light!

Even with quite a bit missing.

You've got to be happy with that.

..Yes.

VO: It's neck and neck, but David Harper's biggest spend may well decide who's victorious today.

OLIVER: 300, 200.

Get away at 100, start me at 100, quickly.

WOMAN: 20.

20?!

Thank you!

100 I'm bid, 100 I'm offered.

I'll sell it at 120... No you won't, there's bidding over there!

OLIVER: 120, 140, 140, look, they're shy!

OLIVER: 160, 160... Get it going!

OLIVER: 180, 180 there.

200.

220, 220.

At 220.

DB: Bang!

OLIVER: 240.

DH: Yes!

CROWD: (LAUGHS) OLIVER: (LAUGHS) 240, 250, 260, 260 up here.

Come on, one more!

270, 270, 280, 280, 280 now, 280 now.

Don't sell it at 280.

OLIVER: 290.

DH: Yes!

OLIVER: 290.

Make it the three.

300 there.

CROWD: (CHEERS) OLIVER: (LAUGHS) 300, 300 in front.

At 300.

Thanks very much, lads... (GAVEL) Oh, well done.

Well done.

She's a beauty, she's a beauty!

VO: She certainly is, and she's made him 180 euros profit.

DH: David?

DB: Well done.

Thank you very much.

Well done.

Thank you very much, beautiful.

VO: A great day in Kells, and especially for David Harper, who's gained on his rival, winning the battle if not the war.

VO: He began today with 224.25 euros, and made 418.60 euros after auction costs.

So after conversion back to sterling, he has 592.82 euros to spend tomorrow.

VO: David Barby started this round with 452.30 euros, and made 315.40 euros after auction costs.

So, in sterling, he still leads, with £707.95 to spend tomorrow.

VO: There they go, no doubt for a well-earned pint of the dark stuff, before play resumes with round three in yet another country, this time Wales.

DB: Woah!

DH: (LAUGHS) VO: Join us tomorrow when David Barby gets a shock.

What have I done?

VO: David Harper's found a national treasure.

Is Cliff's jacket for sale?

VO: And the boys are trying a new tactic - star signs.

DB: My horoscope today said I should be fearless and brave!

subtitling@stv.tv