antiques experts... Let the Road Trip begin!

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

IZZIE: Ooh!

DAVID: You hit the roof then!

VO: And a goal - to scour Britain for antiques.

Pump yourself up... with antiques.

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

But it's no mean feat.

That's a top job, isn't it?

VO: There'll be worthy winners... AUCTIONEER: £400.

RAJ: Fantastic!

VO: ..and valiant losers.

I'm screaming on the inside.

VO: Will it be the high road to glory...

The gloves are off.

VO: ..or the slow road to disaster?

The gearbox has gone!

VO: This is the Antiques Road Trip!

Yeah!

VO: Ah, harvest time in the beautiful golden fields of East Anglia.

And here's the pick of the Antiques Road Trip crop, gathered in and off to market.

Ms Irita Marriott and Mr Philip Serrell.

Dealer Irita brings with her good-humored Latvian flair, an expertise in ceramics...

Spare teeth, anyone?

VO: ..and an eye on the main chance.

It's a bargain!

VO: Her traveling companion, auctioneer Phil Serrell, is expert in all things antique...

It's the story that this thing tells that I love.

VO: ..and a farm boy himself with an interest in the agricultural.

Have you ever felt that your rhubarb needs forcing?

VO: Yeah, all the time, me.

If you would have to describe yourself as an animal... Yeah.

..what animal would you be?

I think I'd be a gazelle.

Gazelle?!

VO: Hang on.

Maybe a rhino?

I'm more of a gorilla.

PHIL: Really?

IRITA: Yeah.

No, you're... No, you're not!

IRITA: Ooh-ooh-ooh!

PHIL: That's very... VO: Ha-ha!

A good impersonation!

Our wild beasts are traveling in a fabulous 1976 Aston Martin.

It is just phenomenal.

A 5.4 liter V8.

IRITA: I know.

PHIL: How cool is that?

So I hope you've got some money to pay for petrol because I haven't.

And those are the rules.

The driver pays the fuel.

What?!

No, no, no, no... Yeah, yeah.

You wanted to drive.

PHIL: You wanted to drive.

IRITA: You're making this up.

No...well, yeah.

Why not?

Well, do you want to take over?

No, no, no, no, no.

I can't afford it.

Well, neither can I!

No, but you've got £200.

VO: So do you, Phil.

£200 is the budget as they set out from Suffolk on a trip which will meander north to a final auction reckoning in the Scottish Borders.

This is kind of an Indian summer, isn't it?

IRITA: Oh, I am so pleased to see that sunshine.

And I have to say, I'm actually dressed appropriately for the weather.

Yeah, yeah.

Did you not get the memo?

No, no, these are the only clothes I've got.

VO: The sartorially mismatched ones are heading to Lincolnshire on this trip, but begin their shopping today in the village of Sproughton.

And the first emporium of the trip for Irita and Phil is The Shed, which is chock-a-block with potential and presided over today by Berty.

Here we are.

Look at this.

The Shed!

Off we go.

Up and at 'um.

See you later!

VO: Let's get down to business.

Hen laying eggs.

You know, we all need a metal hen laying eggs in our lives.

Why not?

VO: Looks like a fine bit of vintage to me.

Talking of which - ha-ha!

- how's Phil getting on?

I think these are really fun.

You know, if you'd have told me, when I first started out in this business, Philip Serrell, you're going to be looking at plastic bloomin' shop signs that say tongue, beef, sardine and cucumber, tomato and cheese roll... Just like a Road Trip lunch because we've got fresh made cheese and tomato roll, followed by a flake cake.

I mean, how good is that?

I mean, I just think they're really cool.

They're "vintage".

Now, there's a term.

I'm vintage.

VO: I know.

I just said that.

£10 each.

So there's one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

Eight of them.

I wonder what I could buy the lot for.

Oh, there's a question to ask Berty when the time comes.

VO: One possibility there, then.

Plenty more to see.

I think I'm hallucinating.

Or he is.

What is he doing?

I reckon I could carry this off, you know.

VO: Carry on, Demis Roussos.

Ha!

What do you think?

Er, it looks fabulous.

Really?

Yeah, we match now.

I chose it for that reason.

IRITA: Aw.

PHIL: Yeah.

It...

It makes you look, er, very... Don't go any further.

Shall I leave you to it?

Absolutely.

I might try another on in a minute.

VO: Let's draw a veil and move on.

My lord!

Oh, these are beautiful!

So what is it?

Let's start with that.

It's a church kneeler.

You would have had this to simply rest your knees upon.

Look at that.

They are absolutely beautiful.

And there's three of them.

I reckon these date to about 1880s, 1900s, and they've got that really nice Gothical church look.

But my favorite thing about them are the little Gothical-looking cut-outs.

I love these.

Can you tell?

Let's have a look at what the tag says.

"Local church kneelers.

Oak.

£65 each."

VO: Marvelous.

The Lord be praised!

Phil's back in his strides.

Ooh.

That's a bit of fun, isn't it?

I mean, I think that's first class.

Ha-ha!

See, first... Oh, it doesn't matter.

Erm, so we've got what purports to be a child's postbox or pillar box, but I think, in the words of the great Tim Wonnacott, this is what you would call shed art.

VO: Those are my words.

With the emphasis on the E and the D. So it's sh-ED art, right?

And I think this is something that someone's knocked up, probably for their son or daughter, as a Christmas present.

I don't think it's ever intended life as a pillar box.

I think it's quite possibly some sort of old drainpipe or bit of guttering, but someone has turned it into a pillar box.

And the hours of fun and excitement that this has created that no bought toy could ever do.

So I think that's really, really lovely.

So this is priced up, look, at £55.

I'm going to go and see Berty and see if he can do me a first-class deal.

VO: Fingers crossed, Phil.

Berty, how are you doing?

Morning, Phil.

How are you?

It's like the Tardis, this place, isn't it?

It is.

It's very extreme.

You come in, you're not sure.

Yeah.

Then it just expands.

Abso... Well, I know just how it feels.

I've seen a couple of things that I really like.

There's the, erm, little sandwich... Oh, the vintage signs on the shelf... PHIL: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

BERTY: Yeah.

And then you've got a postbox.

I love that sort of stuff.

VO: First, the sandwich signs.

I think my best would be 40 on those.

VO: And the postbox?

Best on the postbox, 30.

So if I bid you 60 quid for the two that'd probably take them, wouldn't it?

BERTY: Ooh.

You're a hard man.

PHIL: I thought it would.

I know.

But I'm a softie, really.

You're a hard man.

You are a softie.

Is that a deal?

BERTY: Deal.

PHIL: You're a gentleman.

I'm gonna leave you 60 quid just here.

BERTY: Marvelous.

PHIL: Thank you so much.

BERTY: No problem.

PHIL: And I'm gonna pick my signs up on the way out.

PHIL: Thank you.

BERTY: Thank you very much.

VO: 60 down, 140 left.

Mr Serrell, your work here is done.

But Irita is still on the hunt.

IRITA: Oh, look at this!

VO: I'm looking, and it's scaring me!

IRITA: Now that's what I call a diorama.

If it wasn't day one, shop one, and I had more money in my pocket, this might be in my league.

But as it stands, I know it's not.

There is no chance this would come for less than £500, £600.

VO: Crikey!

And as much as I love it, I'm just going to have to leave it.

VO: Do you know, I think that is the right thing to do.

Now, what about those kneelers?

Hello, Berty.

Hello, Irita.

You're doing a glorious job down there... Mm, got to keep things clean.

You have three little church kneelers down at the far side... Oh, yes, down the left-hand side.

They're priced at £65 each.

I could do them at, er, 50 each if you only wanted one.

OK. Um, if you wanted a pair, I'd do a pair for 90.

Right, what I'm going to do is I'm going to have one.

BERTY: No problem.

IRITA: Yeah?

Right, so, £50 it is.

Let me settle my debt.

There's the money.

BERTY: Lovely.

IRITA: I shall grab my change and my kneeler and be off on my good ways.

BERTY: Thank you very much.

IRITA: See you later.

BERTY: Bye-bye.

Thank you!

IRITA: Thank you.

VO: And with 150 still in her pocket, time to fire up the Aston Martin.

Phil's away east now to the Suffolk coast, where the tiny village of Bawdsey looks the perfect spot for a sleepy summer's day by the sea.

But 80 years ago, as war raged in Europe and Britain geared up for invasion, quiet Bawdsey became central to the defense of the nation.

And Phil's meeting Graham Murchie, trustee of this historic site.

Hi, Graham.

Hi, Phil.

Welcome to Bawdsey Radar.

Lead the way.

VO: During the 1930s, there were increasing concerns about the threat from Germany's Luftwaffe and how to deal with enemy aerial warfare.

One proposition was to use radio waves weaponized in the form of a death ray.

The Air Ministry offered a prize of £1,000 - quite a lot of money in the 1930s - to the first person who would demonstrate that they could kill a sheep at 100 yards.

And the problem was the amount of power that was required was huge.

PHIL: It all sounds a bit kind of Dan Dare and comic book stuff, doesn't it?

It...

It was.

It was.

Robert Watson Watt and Arnold Wilkins very rapidly worked out that you needed more power than the whole of the UK could generate at the time to kill a sheep at 100 yards.

So no sheep were harmed in the course of the experiment... Oh, I'm very pleased to hear that.

VO: The next thought was that radio waves might not be able to shoot down planes, but they might have a defensive function in detecting them.

So they set up an experiment near Daventry, using the BBC transmitter at Daventry, and they had Arnold Wilkins in the van with a very basic receiver and an oscilloscope, and they flew a Heyford bomber backwards and forwards, and each time the...

He pinged it.

..the bomber went through the beam, you could see it on the oscilloscope, and out of that came radar.

What does the word radar mean?

That stands for ra... radio detection and ranging.

So a pulsed beam is sent out and it determines the distance, the bearing and the height of the aircraft, and that's what they eventually were able to prove.

Surely it needs someone on the ground quite skilled to interpret all this information.

It doesn't just tell you all this, does it?

No, it doesn't.

And, intriguingly, nearly all the operators that were used to interpret this information were women.

Watson Watt had decided that women had got a much better ability to concentrate, focus and interpret the information.

And, by the way, the Treasury supported that because women were cheaper than men.

VO: Facing the Continent and elevated on a clifftop, the Bawdsey site was strategically perfect.

And as war loomed in 1937, the world's first top secret radar station and training school was set up.

What was kind of the range?

Eventually, they could see the bombers forming up over Belgium and Holland, so they could see as far out as that.

VO: Bawdsey was the start of Chain Home - a string of radar stations, 23 of them, stretching from Weymouth to Orkney.

This was crucial, sometimes dangerous work, and some of the women who enlisted were recognized for their heroism.

GRAHAM: Avis Parsons was on duty down on the south coast when a series of Stuka bombers attacked the radar station she was in.

And, as a result of how she continued to operate and feed back the information, she was eventually awarded the Military Medal.

And when she went to collect it from the King at Buckingham Palace, the King said to her, "And what do you do?"

She replied, "I operate a telephone, Your Majesty."

She'd signed the Official Secrets Act.

She was told she mustn't tell anybody, and anybody included the King.

There were some 7,500 radar operators had been trained, virtually all of them here, by 1943.

PHIL: Really?

GRAHAM: Yeah.

That is incredible, isn't it?

It is.

VO: And radar technology developed at Bawdsey has affected our lives ever since.

Radar is used on land, on sea, in the air.

It's used for detecting weather.

It's used for detecting earthquakes.

It's used out in space.

It's used for medical purposes.

The uses of radar in the modern world are absolutely legion.

VO: And with a salute to those brave men and women who pioneered radar at Bawdsey, it's Roger and out.

VO: Now, the Antiques Road Trip radar is indicating that Irita is on the move and approximately 12 miles away.

Her next stop today is just outside Woodbridge, where Martlesham Antiques has nine showrooms in a beautiful thatched cottage.

The shop specializes in 18th and 19th century furniture.

Hello, Bob.

Hi, how are you today?

I'm good.

Are you jumping up here, excited?

I am excited.

A customer!

Yeah!

They're few and far between nowadays.

Well, let's hope I can spend some money.

Let's hope so.

It's looking very, very nice.

Thank you.

VO: Oh, it is.

Looks like quality.

4,850.

1,280.

How much do I have?

VO: 150.

150.

VO: Keep looking.

Let's go and see what I can find outside.

VO: We'll leave no stone unturned.

IRITA: (SIGHS) BOB: Hello.

IRITA: I need your help.

BOB: I'm always here for you.

IRITA: (CHUCKLES) You've got a few garden bits and bobs.

Yeah.

Is there anything I can afford?

What about this?

What about this?

The fountain is plumbed in, working.

Oh!

There's a little fountain there.

Yes, I looked at that.

Um... BOB: £25?

IRITA: £25?

BOB: Yeah.

That could be... (YELLS) I bought something!

Woohoo!

VO: Hallelujah!

She's getting more for her £25 than she bargained for.

I can't believe that it's three pieces.

It looks fantastic.

VO: It certainly does.

Wow, what a thing.

It's a water feature or mini fountain, probably postwar, and nicely made from reconstituted stone.

I'm getting this money out and giving it to you and running off before you change your mind.

VO: I think you're onto a winner there, Irita.

Now, time to collect Phil and head home.

Are we happy?

Look at that!

You... You're actually smiling.

Yeah.

I mean, I do sometimes.

IRITA: Som... Not sometimes... PHIL: Back in '73 was the last time, 1973.

VO: Ha-ha!

Nighty-night.

And soon enough they're bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and back on the road.

What do you think of when you... when someone mentions Norfolk to you?

IRITA: Flat.

PHIL: Broads.

Broads.

Flat as a pancake.

Yeah, just like Latvia.

So this is like coming home for you, isn't it?

In a way, yeah.

Your English is a lot better than my Latvian.

(CHUCKLES) Go on.

Shall I teach you something in Latvian?

Yeah, go on.

"How much is that?"

Cik tas maksa?

Tic Tacs maxa?

Not... Not Tic Tac!

What was it?

I couldn't hear you.

Cik.

Cik.

Tick.

IRITA: Tas.

PHIL: Tas.

IRITA: Maksa.

PHIL: Tick tack maxa.

I think I'm...

I think I'm getting closer to Klingon than I am Latvian.

VO: And how did Mr Spock prosper yesterday?

Well, have a look.

I bought something, I put some in there to show you.

Ugh!

Sardine and cucumber?

VO: As well as the vintage signs, Phil also bought a toy postbox.

The hours of fun and excitement that this has created.

VO: So he starts out today with £140.

Irita bought an Italian water feature...

It looks fantastic.

VO: ..and a Victorian kneeler, and is left with £125 in her pocket.

They're meandering north to Norwich this morning and crossing the River Yare at Reedham, where the Archer family has been running a ferry crossing for three generations.

IRITA: Well, I have to say, this is a first for me.

PHIL: How cool is this?

Thank you!

VO: This is a chain ferry, purpose built in 1984, but there's been a crossing here since the 17th century.

What fun!

I want a go!

I'm liking this day already.

We'll follow Phil to Norwich, where his destination is All Saints Antique Centre... ..a former church packed out to the rafters with the wares of 25 dealers.

And the man in charge today is Paul.

Hi, Paul!

Hi, Phil.

I tell you what, that'd go down a bomb in the auction.

(CHUCKLES) VO: He's a blast, isn't he, that boy?

And check out the shorts and the scarf combo.

He's a trendsetter, I can tell you.

PHIL: That's a nice little thing, isn't it?

So this is an 18th century tankard.

And it's got a coin in the top, which is George II.

So it's probably mid-18th century.

And I think George II was, I don't know, 1750s, something like that.

VO: 1727-1760.

Sheffield Plate is really an 18th century thing, and it's where sheets of silver were laid out on sheets of copper and beaten into them.

And then they made hollowares out of them.

And hollowares are like a tankard.

So one sure-fire way of telling Sheffield Plate as opposed to electroplate is that Sheffield Plate might just have the copper showing through, which is that golden color.

Whereas EPNS, it's much more of a yellow color.

VO: There's no ticket price.

Is it salable?

No.

Do I like it?

Yes.

And I'm going to try and buy it because I think it's a cool thing.

VO: Cheers.

Anything else?

Oh, these are nice.

So these are first quarter, thereabouts, of the 19th century.

And they're like children's nursery rhyme and other plates.

So initially they would have had a scene on them.

Transfer printed scene.

This one, I think it's called The Beekeeper.

You can see the little bees here buzzing around, as bees do.

And there's the girl holding the honeycomb, and this is the beekeeper scene, and I think that's really, really lovely.

Do you know, I really like this one.

And there's a reason.

I'm a mad keen cricket nut.

You can see the boy with the bat and there's the ball, and there's the girl throwing the ball to him.

So I think that's really, really lovely.

And this one's really sweet, look.

This is almost like a Sunderland luster, this color around here.

And it's got this motif in here, which is, "Ladies all, I pray make free, "And tell me how you like your tea."

I don't know how much they are.

Time to go find our friendly dealer.

VO: Paul's your man.

Paul, how are you?

Alright?

I'm very well, thank you, Phil.

It's very nice to see you.

Yeah, you too.

You've got a good antiques center here.

Thank you.

I've seen two things I'd like to have a go at.

There's a little Sheffield plated tankard up the top.

Oh, yes... Kind of about this big, with a coin in the top.

I know.

What's your ticket price on that?

35.

OK. And also you've got children's plates, and what have you got on those each?

I've got 15 on each.

And if I bought three and the tankard, could you do £40, do you think?

I've got the folding in my pocket, burning a hole.

PAUL: Can't we stick at 45?

PHIL: Yep, done.

I'll do that.

PAUL: Alright, done.

PHIL: You're a gentleman.

PHIL: Thank you very much.

PAUL: Not at all.

PAUL: Thank you very much.

PHIL: I'll get some money out.

Hold on just a second.

VO: £30 for the three plates and 15 for the tankard.

Seems like a bargain to me.

Pick up thy wares and go!

VO: In the meanwhile, Irita has drifted on an easterly and washed up at Great Yarmouth, where Nor-folk and Suf-folk have been enjoying their seaside holidays since 1760.

And what goes with beaches, amusements and ice cream?

The circus, of course!

And Irita is here to find out about Pablo Fanque - a local boy who became one of the greatest Victorian showmen.

At the historic Hippodrome, owner Peter Jay is waiting to usher her in.

Welcome to Britain's last stand-alone circus building, the wonderful Hippodrome.

Come and have a look.

VO: Ta-da!

Peter, this is fantastic!

Welcome to the amazing Hippodrome.

It is amazing, isn't it?

From 1903.

Now I'm going to talk to you today about the amazing life of Pablo Fanque.

Who was Pablo?

Well he was the first Black circus proprietor in the world and Britain's first Black circus owner.

VO: Born in 1810 in a Norwich poorhouse, Pablo Fanque's story is one of rags to riches.

His name, real name, was William Darby.

And then he changed it to Pablo Fanque - much more exotic and circus-like.

And then when he was 11, he managed to get an apprenticeship with a guy called William Batty, who was a big circus proprietor at the time, who taught him all the basics of tightrope walking, tumbling and, most of all, horsemanship.

He became the most incredible horseman, and one of his sort of specialties was a thing we call in circus called high school, which is where the horse appears to be dancing to the music.

It's a very difficult thing to do.

You see it now in the Olympics a few times, but that was the thing.

And then, later on, he added great stunts in where he used to leap over a carriage, four horses, and go through a drum at the same time, which the public obviously loved.

VO: And Pablo Fanque had a moment of fame again a century later when he featured in The Beatles' Sgt Pepper album.

Peter had a band in the '60s and toured with The Beatles.

Well, what happened was that John Lennon bought this poster, not this actual one, and used all the words off it.

And the whole lyrics of For The Benefit Of Mr Kite are on this poster, and turned it into the most amazing track on Sgt Pepper.

I think that's all, word for word, what is on the poster.

VO: In his own day though, Pablo Fanque was as big as The Beatles.

His circus was one of the most popular, and so he played at Astley's Amphitheater, Britain's first circus building.

He toured everywhere.

He was a big star.

VO: At the Hippodrome, the show goes on, and the ringmaster is Peter's son, Jack.

Hello and welcome to the historic Hippodrome Circus.

VO: And what of Pablo Fanque - a Black superstar against all the odds?

Aha!

Wow!

What was the highlight of his career and what happened to him?

Well, I think he kept playing all the big venues like Astley's Amphitheater.

Obviously, he had royal connections, like buying a horse from Queen Victoria, riding out with the Duke of Wellington in the park.

He was right at the top, a superstar.

VO: But the popularity of the circus waned as Victorians flocked instead to the new music halls.

Fanque slipped back into poverty and died in 1871.

On his funeral, thousands of people came out and lined the roads.

It was like a kind of Princess Diana moment.

How would you describe the circus these days?

Do you think his... Pablo's legacy has lived on?

Yeah, I think his legacy does live on in the diversity of it all, which has always been the same.

And it's still the one art form where everybody is sort of accepted for what they are.

The circus has never been a discrimination type of place.

It doesn't matter what color you are, what race you are, what religion you are.

Whether you're big, small.

It's always equal.

It's always been the same, and it's the same now.

Peter, you might call me crazy, but I feel quite inspired and I feel like I need to try my luck with something in the circus... Are you... Are you really sure about this?

Are you 100% sure?

I am not, but I will... Cuz me and Jack are a pretty tough audience, you know, for auditions.

And we might be able to fit you in at Christmas if you're really good.

VO: This is her chance to run away to the circus.

The amazing Irita!

VO: Oh, my gosh!

Well, she looks the part.

Now, look out.

Steady.

IRITA: Ooh!

VO: Very fancy footwork.

Wow!

Good, good!

(APPLAUSE) Really good!

Oh, that's so hard!

VO: In the footsteps of local legend Pablo Fanque.

Bravo, girl!

Meanwhile, our strongman is on his way to the town of Holt, to his next shop.

Let's hope the sight of those muscular legs isn't too much for the natives, eh?

He's headed for Shirehall Plain Antiques Centre, with £95 in his shorts.

Do you know what?

All my working life, I have wanted one of these chairs.

But here's two of these chairs - a pair - and that is as rare as rocking horse manure.

I mean, they are absolutely beautiful.

VO: Windsor chairs.

I love them too.

And the price of these... Ah.

£1,685.

Keep looking, Philip.

VO: Yeah.

And while he does, we can check in with Irita, who's headed a few miles to the south east to North Walsham, where her last shop of the trip is Timeline Antiques Centre, with a large stock of fine wares for her to rummage in.

IRITA: I've just seen something.

(MELODY CHIMES) And the bells are ringing.

I reckon that's a sign.

This makes me really excited because champleve enamel is another way of enameling.

And I don't know what it is, but it just has that Gothic revival look to it.

And I just get so excited!

And it even has the original liner.

I mean, look at the detail.

That often is just a plain pot or glass liner.

But this has a beautiful brass edging.

I mean, there's no mention on the label.

All it says is ornate brass and enamel.

Champleve, oval inkwell.

£45.

£45 but loving it!

(CLOCK STRIKES) I think that was a strike of luck.

VO: And you may choose to believe it.

This is a baby's rattle, and these would have been given as christening presents, as presents when the babies were born.

Victoria Hayes, born 3 June, 1848.

I mean, the wear on the handle is fantastic.

Even on this middle part, you can see originally it was all engraved.

But in some part of it, it is that rubbed that it's completely smooth.

I would say I've never seen a rattle quite like it... ..cuz it's got two faces on either side.

VO: While she considers her options, how's Phil's quest progressing?

You know, back in the annals of time, all the Serrells before me were butchers.

And many people would argue that what I've done to antique furniture qualifies me in the same vein.

But I love this, and the reason why I love this is that I can remember my dad and my grandfather.

You know, these were pickling dishes, so all the wealthy people used to buy meat off my father and we got left with the dross that no-one else would eat.

So they used to pickle things in jars like this, and you'd have pickled tongue, pickled this, pickled the other.

And it just reminds me of that.

And I think that's quite a cool thing, actually.

VO: And it's priced at a meaty £110.

Time to talk to the dealer.

John, how are you?

You alright?

Yeah, very well, Phil.

I think you've got some interesting things in here.

Thank you.

The thing that I like the most... ..is this kind of salt glaze pot.

JOHN: Pickling.

PHIL: Yeah, that's what PHIL: I think it is.

JOHN: Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

So I'm going to dive into that at 60 quid, if I might.

I really love that.

And I love it cuz my old man used to be a butcher.

Did he?

Yeah.

And I can remember him pickling things.

JOHN: Yeah?

PHIL: Pickled tongue.

Well, you've just butchered me, haven't you, at that price.

Hark at that, eh?

What a thing to say!

No, you've been really, really kind.

JOHN: OK. PHIL: And I love that.

Thank you very much indeed.

JOHN: Alright, yeah.

PHIL: Thank you very much.

Now I'm gonna leave your money here.

JOHN: You OK with that, Phil?

PHIL: Yeah.

Lovely job.

JOHN: As they say in Norfolk.

PHIL: You haven't got any trusses, have you?

VO: No men of a certain age were harmed in the making of this show!

Ha-ha!

Back to Irita now, and time is marching on.

Does it look much to you?

Well, it's just a great-looking thing.

Proper Victorian sewing box.

Silk-lined, gold and silver thread.

It's hand-done, all of it.

And this is what they call bullion wire.

Originating from France.

They...

It's silver or gold.

In this particular case, there's both of them.

And some beads in the middle.

I mean, it's just so pretty.

I don't think £15 is a lot of money for it.

And to be honest, I can't really afford much else.

This is a definite yes.

I think what I'm going to do now is I'm going to go and find that rattle... ..and I'm going to go and do some haggling.

VO: Oh, good.

Sorry to interrupt you, Judy.

Can I show you the goodies that I have found?

Yeah.

Now, I've got three things.

Let's start with the box.

It is priced at 15 and I'm happy to pay that.

Yeah.

Um, we have an inkwell at 45.

Is there any trade on that at all?

I can do that for 35.

IRITA: OK, that's fine.

JUDY: Yeah.

I'll have that, please.

And then we have baby's rattle at 75, and I think on the back it says trade 10.

I can do that for 65.

IRITA: OK. JUDY: Yeah?

Right, so what do... what do we add up to?

VO: 115.

I'm over the moon with every single one of these bits.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

See you later.

VO: That's the shopping spree over.

Time to hit the road in the dream machine.

This is a great big muscle car, isn't it?

I absolutely love it.

You look like a gangster.

Do I?

With his moll.

(CHUCKLES) Oh!

You could be my moll.

Irita the moll.

VO: Nighty-night.

No sign of the sun this morning as they head north into Lincolnshire, bound for Langrick near Boston.

Hope the rain isn't dampening their spirits.

Well, here we are.

Do you know what?

I had my shorts on the other day.

I'm glad I haven't got them on today.

I know.

Gone from a summery dress.

It's gone from cabriole legs and hairy paws... Oh!

VO: They'll be home and dry at the Bubble Car Museum this morning, watching their auction on their tablets from this fun collection of micro cars with engines smaller than 700 cc, which were popular from the '50s to the '80s.

Quick!

Inside!

Grab a seat.

PHIL: Whoa!

VO: What fun.

There we go.

My car's bigger than your car.

Well, mine's longer than yours.

VO: While the children play - ha-ha!

- their purchases have been dispatched to Lancashire and are ready to go under the hammer at Bolton Auction Rooms.

There will be bidding in the room, by phone and online, and the man with the gavel is Harry Howcroft.

Phil spent £165 on five lots.

What does Harry fancy will do well?

The early silver-plated tankard.

Shame it's not silver, but it's a nice early example.

VO: Irita splashed out £190 on her five lots.

Harry?

The large water feature - very heavy, a very nice thing.

Will look really well in someone's garden.

VO: Are you ready in the bubble cars?

I've just got one question.

Go on.

Who's that?

Who is it?

I didn't invite him, did you?

I thought he was a new expert.

Hasn't got much to say, has he?

No?

VO: First up is Phil's fine 18th century tankard.

HARRY: I've got 18, 20, 22... IRITA: Oh!

HARRY: Four, six... IRITA: You're in a profit!

28, 28 bid.

£28 bid.

At £28 bid.

30, is there?

That's it.

I'll take £30.

At £28.

HARRY: Last call then.

IRITA: Come on.

HARRY: The gavel's up at 28.

IRITA: Anybody?

Anybody?

HARRY: Thank you.

IRITA: That was short and sweet!

Well, it's a modest profit, isn't it?

VO: Cheap at half the price.

You nearly doubled your money.

Yeah, nearly.

VO: Let's see if Irita can fashion a profit next with her embroidered sewing box.

I've got 12, 14 only bid.

14 only bid.

16, is there?

At 14 only bid.

16 bid.

16 bid.

Oh, well, I'm in profit.

18 now.

£20 bid.

22 bid now.

Someone else is liking this.

..four is there?

At £22 bid, I'll take four.

24 bid.

Six, is there?

At 24 bid.

Six I'll take.

Slowly and steady, Phil.

HARRY: 26 now.

IRITA: Slowly and steady.

HARRY: 28 anywhere?

PHIL: Yeah.

At £26 bid.

28 bid.

£30 bid.

Five anywhere?

35 bid.

Are we all done and finished at £35?

Last call then, at 35.

That's a good profit, isn't it?

35.

It's a little bit more than double my money.

Can't grumble.

VO: I should think not.

I didn't even haggle.

It was priced at £15.

I like your style.

VO: Time for Phil's nursery plates.

Will they dish up a profit?

I've got bids with me on commission.

He's got bids!

At £28 only bid.

At 28 only bid.

IRITA: Hey!

Nearly there.

HARRY: Do I see £10 each?

At £28 bid.

At £28 bid.

Is there 30?

At £30 bid on the internet.

At £30 bid.

Five anywhere else... Come on.

At £30 bid, I'll take five.

Give Phil-boy a profit.

Really disappointed with that.

On the internet then, at £30.

Last call then, at £30.

IRITA: I feel gutted for you.

It's...

In a way, it's kind of what I expected.

VO: Oh, dear.

That's a loss after auction costs.

That probably puts me back to where I started almost.

VO: Well, it's not over till it's over.

Say a little prayer for Irita's kneeler now.

It's next.

At £26 bid only.

At 26 only bid.

At 26 only bid.

IRITA: Knees up!

28 anywhere?

At £26 bid.

Solid oak.

Oh, we've got a long way to go.

At 28.

At £28 bid, I'll take 30.

In the room at £30 bid, I'll take five.

£30 bid, I'll take five.

It's in the room then.

Nobody has faith in my kneeler.

The moment I bought it, I knew I bought it with my heart, not my head.

VO: Yeah, and it's still a loss.

As we're going forward on this trip, if you could buy a lot more things with your heart, not your head, I, for one, would be eternally grateful.

(CHUCKLES) VO: Ha-ha!

I think Phil bought with his heart too, with the postbox.

Let's see.

Well, I've got bids with me at 28.

28, 30, 35.

£35 bid.

At £35 bid.

HARRY: 40 is there?

IRITA: Is that 35?

That's a profit, isn't it?

Yay, it is... £35 bid.

Are we all done at £35?

Last call then, at 35.

Hey!

We can do all the jokes about that was a recorded delivery, it was first class - all of them.

But, you know, that was alright, really, wasn't it?

Yeah, you can't complain.

VO: A fiver to Phil then.

I want some child to have that and really play with it and enjoy it.

PHIL: That's what I really want.

IRITA: Mm.

VO: Aww, he's sweet, really!

And here's another one for the kiddies - Irita's rattle.

I've got 22 only bid.

It's a start.

24 bid.

24.

26 bid now.

HARRY: £26 bid.

IRITA: That's a slow climber.

35 bid.

35 now.

Well, I'm halfway there, Phil.

40 anywhere else?

At £35 bid.

I'll take 40.

No.

On the internet, at £40 bid.

Five anywhere?

Last call then, at £40.

Oh, no!

Humpty Dumpty IRITA: had a great fall.

PHIL: And all the king's horses PHIL: and all the king's men.

IRITA: Humpty Dumpty lost me money.

None of them could put him back together again.

VO: Bad rattle!

You remaining positive, are you?

IRITA: Yeah!

PHIL: Really?

IRITA: Yeah.

PHIL: I like that positivity.

(CHUCKLES) Hey, there's the smile!

(CHUCKLES) VO: We'll see if he's still laughing after his sandwich signs go under the hammer.

We've got £50 bid straight in.

IRITA: What?

HARRY: At £50 bid.

PHIL: I'm staggered.

HARRY: 80 anywhere?

Are you?

I am not.

At £75 bid.

90 bid now.

At £90 bid, I'll take five.

For the last time at £90.

Oh, 90 quid!

Yeah, but you think about it.

90 quid for eight plastic signs is a bit bonkers, really, isn't it?

VO: Maybe, but Phil's in the money.

I'm going to spend some of the money on an umbrella.

Can you hear the rain?

I can.

I can.

PHIL: Think it's gonna come in?

IRITA: But, you know...

If it does rain in, you're in an open-top car.

(CHUCKLES) VO: Next up, it's Irita's inkwell.

Can she make up some lost ground?

I've got 26, 28, £30 bid.

HARRY: 35 bid.

IRITA: Oh!

35 now.

£40 bid.

£40 bid.

Oh, I'm in profit.

£40 bid.

45 now.

New bidder in the room.

At £50 bid.

Lady's bid in the room.

At £50 bid.

Five.

60?

HARRY: 60 in the room now.

IRITA: Come on.

At £60 bid.

Lady's bid in the room.

At £60 bid.

£65 bid.

Are we all done at 65?

For the last time then, at £65.

PHIL: Well that's a profit.

And I know you said you'd be happy with a profit.

IRITA: Yeah.

PHIL: But I kind of think it deserved more than that.

Yeah, same.

VO: That's the way the cookie crumbles.

Well done, you.

Well, 30 quid in pocket.

I ain't grumbling.

No.

VO: Phil's last chance to stay ahead now with his glazed bowl.

Do you know, I'm really nervous about this, cuz I think, if I can come out of this with what I started, I shall be quite happy.

Yeah, same here.

I really will be quite happy.

Where do we want to be?

£22.

£24 bid.

Oh, you've got a bid.

At 24, 26 bid.

£26 bid.

IRITA: Come on.

HARRY: 28 is there?

At £26 bid.

28 is there?

Don't stop there.

28 in the room now.

30 anywhere else?

At 30 bid.

New bidder.

35?

£30 bid.

Lady's bid, back row.

All done and finished at £30.

Put that hammer down.

Bid in the room at £30.

That's half price.

(CHUCKLES) VO: At least it brought him happy memories VO: of pickled tongue.

PHIL: Oh.

Well, it could have been worse.

How?

VO: Irita's final lot now - the water feature.

I've got £70 only bid.

PHIL: 70!

HARRY: At £70 only bid.

75.

80 bid now.

I'll take it!

85 in the room.

At £85 bid.

Is there 90 anywhere?

Oh, and there's no more flashing.

In the room, at £85 bid.

Are we all done and finished at 85?

Gent's bid in the room at £85.

Well, I ain't going to grumble with that.

No.

That... That's a good profit, isn't it?

VO: I should say so.

I have to say though, I still think that was very cheap for what it was.

VO: The going was good for Phil.

And at the finish line, his £200 after saleroom fees increased to £209.66.

Ha!

VO: But after auction costs, Irita pipped him at the post by a tenner to cross the line in first place with £219.10.

VO: And still it rained.

By the Lord, it's damp, isn't it?

IRITA: Ugh!

PHIL: Ugh!

Feeling like I have a need of some retail therapy after that.

Oh, I think I need drying off.

IRITA: (GROANS) PHIL: Ready, steady, go.

Onward!

Another day, another deal.

VO: Bye!

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