Voiceover (VO): It's the nation's favorite antiques experts with £200 each, a classic car... CHARLIE: (SCOTTISH ACCENT) We're going roond!

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

I want to spend lots of money.

VO: The aim - to make the biggest profit at auction but it's no mean feat.

Oh no!

VO: There'll be worthy winners...

Yes!

We've done it.

VO: ..and valiant losers.

You are kidding me on.

VO: So will it be the high road to glory or the slow road to disaster?

What am I doing?

Got a deal.

VO: This is the Antiques Road Trip.

VO: Yeah!

VO: It's another day out on the road trip for Thomas Plant and Anita Manning, and this time they're cruising round England's sunny south coast.

Thomas, here we are in Bournemouth.

The sea's over there, the sun's shining.

THOMAS: Maybe we could get some buckets.

Buckets and spades?

Buckets and spades, and "kiss me quick" hats.

Oh!

(LAUGHS) Don't tempt me, Thomas!

THOMAS: It is a real sort of holiday feeling, isn't it?

(SEAGULLS SQUAWK) VO: It certainly is.

VO: Thomas Plant is an antiques expert who never neglects the body beautiful.

VO: And experienced auctioneer Anita Manning is never surprised by something old.

(TRICERATOPS ROARS) ANITA: Ah!

(LAUGHS) VO: Both Thomas and Anita started the trip with £200, but after taking an early lead, Thomas' big spending has caused big losses, and he's starting today with only £154.98.

VO: Thrifty Anita has now taken the lead, with £255.94.

ANITA: Summertime and the living is easy.

THOMAS: The living is easy.

Well, you know, the living isn't easy for me cuz I'm so poor, but you're so rich!

I know.

I must say Thomas, I've surged ahead here.

I was going to say I crept ahead, but in actual fact I've surged ahead.

Surged ahead!

And I've sort of surged backwards.

We're on our fourth leg, and I don't know if you've got a leg to stand on.

VO: That's fighting talk, Anita.

So with a full tank in their 1968 Lotus Elan, let's see where our happy pair are off to.

VO: On this road trip, Thomas and Anita will travel over 550 miles from the village of Redbourn in Hertfordshire all the way to the town of Maidstone in Kent, but today they start in beautiful Bournemouth, before driving across southern England to end up at an auction 100 miles away in Dorking.

ANITA: Oh well, you were a wee bit casual in the way you spent your money the last time darling.

I was.

You were very careful.

That was the right approach.

THOMAS: My plan is to follow you again and to spend little.

ANITA: Oh right.

Yeah.

VO: So, now Thomas has a plan, he's off to Robin's Antiques, run by - no prizes for guessing - Robin.

ROBIN: What we do need to know before you do start is have you got a license?

THOMAS: A license for what?

ROBIN: Begging.

Um... No, I haven't got a begging license.

THOMAS: I won't be begging.

VO: And keeping up the family tradition is his grandson, Dan.

VO: This place is a feast for the eyes, and there's quite a few items catching Thomas' eye.

ROBIN: Very arts and crafts, Gothic-y, isn't it?

THOMAS: It is, isn't it?

ROBIN: Gothic-like.

Gothic coat hook.

THOMAS: Still, it's made out of silver plated brass with a planished, as in a hammer beaten, effect.

ROBIN: All hand beaten.

Yeah.

Planished, hand beaten.

ROBIN: I would think it's a coat hook and it would have had a couple of brushes hanging from it.

THOMAS: Certainly could have had that, yeah.

For brushing off your coat and what have you.

THOMAS: What a fun thing.

THOMAS: Can I think about that?

How much is that?

ROBIN: It's £35.

THOMAS: Is it?

ROBIN: Yes.

VO: That one is a definitely maybe for Thomas.

Ha!

Now, what's he found out the back?

ROBIN: That's a complete smoker's compendium.

THOMAS: It's lovely, isn't it?

Smoker's compendium.

So you've got your table light.

ROBIN: Yeah, your table light.

THOMAS: Your vesta.

ROBIN: That's right.

THOMAS: An ashtray.

ROBIN: Yep.

THOMAS: Or tobacco pot, or ashtray in there.

ROBIN: I would say that was for a drink.

THOMAS: A drink?

ROBIN: Have a whiskey.

ROBIN: But it's nice being complete, the style of it, that there's no damage, and the whole thing is £80.

THOMAS: I find it so cool.

It's just...

I love this Jugendstil style.

THOMAS: The cleanness of line.

VO: Jugendstil, or young style, was the German version of art nouveau from the turn of the century.

This was made by the W rttembergische Metallwarenfabrik, or more simply, WMF.

VO: Could Robin simplify the ticket price a bit perhaps?

The smoker's compendium, £65.

VO: So Robin's asking for £100 for the two items.

Any movement on that?

I wanted to come in here and sort of spend 50 quid on a couple of lots, and then 50 quid on another couple of lots somewhere else, and you know - don't look like that!

THOMAS: Don't look like that!

VO: He looks as if he's gonna throw you out the shop.

ROBIN: (LAUGHS) Well listen, I'm gonna let you have both bits, right, that's the smoker's compendium and the coat hook, for 70 quid.

Oh, really?

ROBIN: Deal's done.

THOMAS: You're a very good man.

ROBIN: There we are.

THOMAS: You're a very good man.

VO: Well, that was a good bit of business Tom - £50 for the smoker's set and £20 for the coat hook.

VO: Anita has traveled nine miles east from Bournemouth to New Milton, and across the county line from Dorset into Hampshire.

VO: She's here to shop in Serendipity One.

TRICERATOPS: (ROARS) ANITA: Ah!

(LAUGHS) VO: Aha!

Must be a do-you-think-he-saurus, and he certainly did Anita.

Here to help us is Nick.

ANITA: Hello, hello.

NICK: Nice to meet you.

ANITA: Oh, I love your reception committee.

Well yes, he's there to let me know somebody's in the door.

ANITA: (LAUGHS) He's not a watchdog or anything?

NICK: Not really, no.

NICK: Did he tell you to spend all your money?

I'm not telling you!

Well we'll get some out of you.

ANITA: There's a bit of everything in here, and it's just the sort of wonderful shop where you never know what you're going to buy.

VO: Indeed.

Now, how about this little fella?

ANITA: This type of thing I find fascinating.

I find the simplicity of the carving very very attractive.

ANITA: And at the turn of the century it was this type of carving and African tribal masks that inspired artists like Picasso.

ANITA: It's carved in some sort of hardwood and there are little mother of pearl insets here.

There's no price on it, so I wonder how much it is.

If I can get that really quite cheaply, I'm going to have a go at him.

VO: But first, what else can she sniff out?

Ha!

A sign like this is like a red rag to a bull in this game.

ANITA: Nick!

(LAUGHS) NICK: Yes Anita.

Staff only?

We don't let everybody out here, but only because it's you.

ANITA: Aw, thank you.

NICK: You carry on.

Thank you.

So these are all boxes that you've brought in from- NICK: Bags and boxes, yeah.

China, bits and pieces.

ANITA: Oh, I can't wait to have a rummage!

Get in there and have a good old rummage.

ANITA: (LAUGHS) This is like access all areas.

This is like backstage, and this is where sometimes you can find the really nice bits and pieces.

(PLATES CLATTER) Ah - now I love this stuff.

This is a piece of Poole pottery, made in the 60s, 70s.

ANITA: It's from the Aegean and Delphis range.

It was the time of psychedelic colors.

It was the time of Carnaby Street.

It was the time of hippies.

It was absolutely, it was colorful, and Poole reflected the mood of the times in the designs for this range.

VO: Yes.

Poole pottery comes from nearby Poole, and is collectable, but what can Anita get it for?

ANITA: It would be lovely to get it for under 20.

ANITA: It reflected the age.

NICK: Yes.

ANITA: And this sort of... NICK: Nice and local as well.

Well that's what I was thinking!

That's what I was thinking.

So hopefully if you're selling locally, you know, it could be a good thing.

Yeah.

It's the type of thing that I would have in my house.

And of course you don't know how much it is.

No, well that's the rub.

NICK: It's cheap.

ANITA: Is it?

It's cheap.

£10 to you.

£10?

£10.

That's a bargain, one-off.

No more to be said on that.

No more to be said.

ANITA: Now, there was something... VO: OK, one deal done.

But what about our little friend?

NICK: It's nearly as tall as you.

It nearly is!

(LAUGHS) He could be my wee pal!

NICK: Yup, that's it!

ANITA: (LAUGHS) NICK: He was £75, but we want you to win, and as you say he is a bit damaged.

NICK: What about if we did 40 for you?

ANITA: 40.

Still a wee bit dear at 40.

Could we go 30?

Shall we, shall we do that?

Shall we shake our hands at 30?

ANITA: 30's fine.

NICK: Brilliant.

ANITA: Thank you very much Nick.

NICK: Brilliant.

VO: There you go Anita, another low spending shopping trip: £10 for the pottery and £30 for the sculpture means plenty of cash left.

VO: Watch out for the door dinosaur.

VO: Thomas meanwhile has also gone west, to Hampshire, traveling nearly 42 miles from Bournemouth to Wickham for his next spot of shopping.

VO: This historic conservation village has been a settlement since Roman times.

Thomas is off to Warwick Lane shopping center to meet Steve.

THOMAS: Hi, I'm Thomas.

Hi Tom, it's Steve.

I'm the manager at Warwick Lane in Wickham.

VO: Hello Steve.

Warwick Lane has about 40 dealers and is packed with goodies.

THOMAS: I found some vintage skipping ropes.

My new found fitness.

VO: Now what's that saying about a bull in a china shop?

VO: What's your age Thomas?

Three!

VO: (LAUGHS) And barely that, some might say.

VO: A pair of glass salt dishes.

Handle with care, for goodness sake.

They're cut glass with cut glass rims in the boat shape.

Got a tiny bit of wear to them around there.

THOMAS: Just got to work out how old they are.

THOMAS: I think they're early 19th century.

£6 each.

£6 each for a pair of early 19th-century salts.

VO: Oof!

£6 for an item that would have sat on the dining table around the time of Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo?

Incredible.

VO: Now back to something sweet.

It's a sugar bowl.

This is rather stylish.

Got a lovely shape to it.

And I love the finial.

It's art deco, so round about 1920s, with a planished interior, hammer beaten planished effect, been made by hand.

THOMAS: This finial, this handle here, that is polished ivory.

VO: Well, it's a controversial material, but if formed before 1947, it's legal to buy and sell.

THOMAS: Quite a nice thing, so that's something I'm going to think about.

I shall ask Steve about these two things I've picked up.

THOMAS: So yes, what can be done on those if anything at all, please?

OK, well I'll ring up the sellers and we'll find out.

VO: The pair of glass salts is priced at £12.

Steve checks with dealer Mandy for the best price.

STEVE: Would, would you accept £8?

THOMAS: Yes!

Perfect.

Done.

THOMAS: And then what about that one there?

VO: The sugar bowl is priced at £15.

Steve checks with dealer Sue.

STEVE: Would £9 be more acceptable?

THOMAS: Perfect.

Thank you very much.

Why didn't I come here first?

STEVE: (LAUGHS) Brilliant.

THOMAS: This is brilliant.

Thank you.

VO: So that's the glass salts for £8, the sugar bowl for £9 and nothing broken.

Very bullish of you Thomas.

VO: Anita has now made her way 45 miles east to Gosport, a town with a proud naval history.

VO: And home to the Royal Navy Submarine Museum.

Submarines are now huge high-tech craft, vital for the defense of our island nation, but it didn't start out that way, and Anita is here to find out about the sacrifices made to develop this deadly technology.

VO: Here to meet her is archivist George Malcolmson.

You know, from Glasgow, I've always had a fascination for the sea and for ships.

But submarines are something really quite different.

ANITA: This looks like a strange creature from the deep.

ANITA: Can you tell me a bit about it?

Well we're looking at the Holland 1, or to give it its proper name, His Majesty's Submarine Torpedo Boat No 1, and was launched in October 1901.

VO: The Holland 1 was the Royal Navy's first ever submarine, named after John Philip Holland, an Irish American engineer.

VO: Previous attempts at building subs date back to 1620, but Holland's design, made for the US Navy in 1900, is regarded as the mother of modern submarines.

Countries including Britain all began to build subs after the Americans allowed the design to be sold.

ANITA: Can we go inside?

GEORGE: Yes.

We can go in, have a look through.

GEORGE: Just mind your head.

Are submariners usually wee?

GEORGE: (LAUGHS) Strangely enough no, I know many who are over six foot.

VO: The Holland would have had a crew of eight men squeezed into this small space with no contact with the outside world.

VO: It was hot, uncomfortable, dangerous work for the crews, not to mention the smell.

Pfft!

GEORGE: The smell of the petrol engine, the fumes coming up from the batteries, and there would have been a very distinct odor in the submarines.

And they always said, you could smell a submariner before you saw him.

ANITA: It's difficult to imagine eight or nine men working in here, but I believe you have something even smaller to show me?

VO: By the start of World War I, the Royal Navy had more subs than any other nation, and by the Second World War its engineers were getting ever more inventive.

VO: The X-class - midget submarines - were even smaller than the Holland and were involved in some of the war's most daring raids as they could sneak in undetected to enemy harbors to lay mines.

These were very hazardous missions, but this one is the great survivor because she went on two operations to Norway, attacking the U-boat facilities in Bergen, and came back.

One of the few that come back.

VO: Success came at a price though - in the raids on Bergen and in the mission to sink the battleship Tirpitz, eight midget submarines were used.

Only three completed the mission.

How many men would be in here?

GEORGE: Three crew and a diver.

VO: Of the 12 X-class subs that saw service during World War II, only five survived, and nearly half of the crewmen were killed.

ANITA: George, I imagine that this tiny submarine must have been even more dangerous than the big submarines.

ANITA: Were submariners a special type of man?

Well, the volunteers for this type of hazardous service, they were culled from the navy and people volunteered, and they had to go through fairly rigorous training.

The very nature of being in a submarine, it just means that you're relying on other members of the crew for your safety.

GEORGE: And the more difficult the conditions, it seems to bind the people together much more strongly.

VO: The submariner's life has always been difficult, and over 5,000 of them have died serving their country, but the submarine's qualities of stealth and surprise, so vital in the past, are what keeps it at the forefront of defending Britain today.

VO: That somber note brings us to the end of day one.

VO: Night night.

VO: It's the start of another sunny day on the road trip.

Well, not quite, but our duo are in Southsea and are in good spirits.

Thomas, how do you feel being in Southsea, sitting beside a beautiful woman in a lovely yellow sports car?

THOMAS: Well, do you know, I have to say, I enjoy the British seaside.

And I love things like these gorgeous huts.

Yeah, they're great, aren't they?

THOMAS: With their lovely pastel colors.

THOMAS: It's sweet, isn't it?

They are, there is something magical about the British seaside.

Yeah.

And people all muffled up against the wind.

THOMAS: Yeah.

ANITA: (LAUGHS) Yeah, there's no such thing as bad weather.

ANITA: No.

THOMAS: It's poor clothing.

ANITA: That's right.

VO: A very British attitude.

Now Thomas had a trying day yesterday.

He tried not to spend too much but still managed to pay out £87 on four items: the smoking set, the coat hook, the glass salts and the art deco bowl.

That leaves him with £67.98 for the day ahead.

VO: Low spending Anita played it sensible and canny again, spending only £40 on two items: a tribal sculpture and a Poole pottery plate, giving her £215.94 to spend today.

VO: Anita is starting her day in Southsea with a trip to Parmiters Antiques, run by the very charming Ian.

VO: Standby.

Can I leave my bunnet here?

IAN: Of course you can.

I'll put it on the dog.

ANITA: (LAUGHS) Don't sell it!

VO: Ha!

VO: So with her hat off and her buying head on, Anita has a bit of a rummage.

These are boots that certainly weren't made for walking!

These boots were made for showing off.

They don't fit me.

ANITA: They don't fit you.

I don't think they'd fit me either!

ANITA: (LAUGHS) VO: She's given the boots the boot, but time is marching on.

What's going to be worth a punt?

ANITA: Little wall plaque with photograph in the middle commemorating HMS Vengeance.

Ian?

IAN: Yeah?

ANITA: This little HMS Vengeance.

That's sweet, isn't it?

It is.

You know, it's very...

I suppose evocative, where you've got... ANITA: And it's typical of what you might find in a town like this that was based on ships and Navy and so on.

ANITA: And you've got these two sort of serious little children, who have all been scrunched into their best clothes.

Had to sit there for five minutes and everything.

ANITA: (LAUGHS) Sit there for five minutes.

ANITA: Do we know anything about the HMS Vengeance?

IAN: No, I haven't even looked it up, but I'm guessing 1900, maybe a dreadnought, one of the old dreadnoughts, something like that, maybe.

VO: Ian is very nearly right.

HMS Vengeance was built in 1899 and was one of the last of the battleships made prior to the massive dreadnoughts.

What sort of price is...?

Bargain, bargain to you, 20 quid.

20 quid?

Yeah, so that's an absolute bargain.

I like that for 20.

I think I'll take that.

VO: That's one down.

Now, what else has Ian got?

IAN: I've got one for you.

ANITA: Mm-hm.

See all this 18th century pottery?

ANITA: Uh-huh?

IAN: All that, 25 quid the lot.

ANITA: 25 quid for the lot?

IAN: It's all damaged.

Guaranteed.

VO: There's a lot of stuff there, and it might well sell, but it's a gamble, particularly if it's damaged.

ANITA: How many bits have I got?

ANITA: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven bits.

VO: No rush, Anita.

You just take your time darling.

Of 18th century ceramic?

Yeah.

18th and early 19th.

You can't go wrong, can you?

VO: She's thinking about it.

VO: How about a double deal, Ian?

IAN: £40 for that and the frame.

Let's go for it.

Alright?

Let's go for it, 40 quid?

If you don't make money, I'll give you a tenner.

ANITA: Aw!

(LAUGHS) IAN: Alright.

VO: Another brace of budget buys for Anita: a varied lot of pottery for £20 and the HMS Vengeance lifesaver portrait also for £20.

VO: Tom's starting his day in Southsea with a trip to hear the story of D-Day, the invasion of France, told from a local perspective, and showing him round is Andrew.

ANDREW: Hello, I'm Andrew.

So windy here, isn't it?

It is, yes.

Was it windy when we went to France on D-Day?

The weather wasn't very good anyway.

I think it was worse than today though.

THOMAS: So much has been talked about and concentrated on, the actual events in Normandy, D-Day itself, but what happened in Portsmouth and to the people of Portsmouth, the civilian population?

How did they survive?

How did they cope?

Yeah, I think the preparations for D-Day that took place in Portsmouth, and also all the way along the south coast, are often forgotten about but they were just as important to the success of D-Day.

VO: 6 June 1944, or D-Day as we now know it, was the start of the Allied invasion of Normandy and the beginning of the liberation of Europe from Hitler's Nazis, but it was a long time in the planning and, as the Allies prepared to go to France, changes began to appear around Portsmouth and the south coast in early 1944.

ANDREW: As D-Day approached, there would be more and more troops building up and gathering into the area.

There were restrictions.

There was a 10 mile deep sort of band running along the south coast where you had to have a special pass to get into it in the lead up to D-Day.

ANDREW: So there were special security restrictions.

You had camps, troop camps, which were probably a few miles inland, often hidden away in a wood, and in a wood so that if there were enemy aircraft flying overhead or spies around it was a lot harder to see them.

ANDREW: Troops would had been waiting in there for a couple of weeks, maybe a month or more before D-Day, and about a week or so before D-Day, the camps were sealed, which meant that no one could go in or out.

VO: By the end of May, over a million troops from the Wash to Land's End waited expectantly, but none of them knew the top-secret time and date of D-Day.

Surely the Germans had an inkling that we were coming?

Well, yeah, that's definitely true.

It wasn't a secret that D-Day or that an Allied landing somewhere on the coast of Europe was coming soon.

ANDREW: I mean, the Allies had made no secret of that.

ANDREW: But the two key bits of information that the Germans really needed to find out but fortunately didn't were when and where it would be happening.

VO: Just as well the Germans never got their hands on one of these then.

It's a step-by-step guide on how to invade occupied France.

THOMAS: So when were they given these?

ANDREW: They would have been given them maybe a week or more before D-Day, but until the last minute they were sealed up, so in a sealed envelope, which they weren't allowed to open, and then just days before D-Day the order went out they could open their orders and actually find out where they were going.

Didn't people open them immediately and thought 'oh, what's going on?'

ANDREW: People knew that it was really important to preserve secrecy and to make sure that the enemy didn't get wind of what was coming.

VO: On 4th of June, the troops due to invade Normandy began to move into place to embark from Portsmouth docks, filling the streets with trucks and troops.

THOMAS: How did the civilian population of Portsmouth react to this huge influx of military personnel?

Yeah, so there were, as you say, huge numbers of troops in the area in the lead up to D-Day, and troops would have been just sleeping in or under their vehicles, so local people often did things like invited them into the house for a bath or to share some food, and obviously food was rationed so that was quite a big thing, so quite often you had friendship, friendships struck up, just in, you know, a day or two between people, between civilians living along the south coast and these troops.

VO: But as the troops from various countries waited at the docks to board their landing craft, one local five year old girl called Betty White and some of her chums saw the opportunity for a spot of memento collecting.

ANDREW: They asked the troops to give them badges from their uniforms, and that's where all these badges come from, and her mother later sewed them on to this coat to hold the whole collection together, but those badges, it's a cross-section of different units and different nationalities, so it's a great summary of many of those troops who went from Gosport.

ANDREW: And no doubt the troops weren't meant to do this... THOMAS: No, no.

(LAUGHS) But this coat really is a good example, isn't it, of how the troops and the local people did get talking, did exchange gifts and things like that, despite the official regulations.

VO: Overnight on the 5th of June, the thousands of troops and boats disappeared, leaving an eerie calm.

VO: The story of what happened next has been well told but the towns of the south coast can be proud of their vital role.

VO: And our Anita has hit the road again, this time 18 miles east to Chichester.

VO: Now Chichester is the county town of West Sussex.

Its cathedral is almost 1,000 years old and is the final resting place of the composer Gustav Holst, but Anita is hoping there'll be something going for a song in Hancock Antiques, run by Peter.

ANITA: Lovely to meet you.

VO: More crockery Anita?

VO: And loads of it too.

ANITA: (LAUGHS) There's a lot of pottery here, and most of it is in good condition so it's probably no use to me.

Oh!

Heard a wee chink there.

I'll have to be careful.

VO: You might feel more at home with Peter's jewellery.

ANITA: (GASP) I love rummaging through all this lovely, you know, wee bits and pieces of jewellery.

ANITA: That's a rather pretty piece of agate, Peter.

VO: Agate is a popular stone with beautiful striping.

This brooch has a ticket price of £40.

ANITA: Can that one be bought for 20?

ANITA: It's not gold but the stone's in good condition and it's the type of thing that a private lady might fancy at auction.

PETER: I can do it for 20.

You can do it for 20?

Let's do it for 20 then.

ANITA: That's lovely.

PETER: (LAUGHS) Thank you very much Peter, that's great.

VO: So Anita has rounded off her shopping with an attractive agate brooch for £20.

VO: But no more porcelain.

VO: Meanwhile Thomas has made the journey... ..10 miles east to Emsworth.

VO: He's heading to Emsworth Antiques and the very obliging Hilary.

THOMAS: Hello.

HILARY: Hello.

THOMAS: I'm Thomas.

Oh, I'm Hilary.

Pleased to meet you.

VO: He's already after the sympathy vote.

HILARY: You've run out of money.

No, I haven't necessarily, I'd be lying if I said I'd run out of money, but I'm desperate to claw back the money I lost last auction, so one is being, as one says in Somerset, "careful".

Right.

VO: Less of the sob story and more shopping please, Thomas.

VO: He's looking.

THOMAS: Come on Plant, find something.

VO: And still looking.

VO: Some time today might be nice, Thomas.

You're struggling, aren't you?

THOMAS: No, no I'm not struggling, no, I'm just sort of picking myself up to sort of find something.

VO: I beg your pardon?

VO: More small shiny things?

How about something large and not shiny for a change, Thomas?

Something like... them.

THOMAS: Two garden ornaments, one in terracotta of a Grecian girl, and another in composite in a sort of like a concrete, which has been weathered.

They're both quite nice really, aren't they?

The frost has been at this, being the terracotta.

HILARY: But that shows that she's been places, doesn't it?

THOMAS: It does, it does.

How much for these two?

HILARY: How do you feel about 80?

Oh, I haven't got £80!

You didn't tell me that!

I haven't got £80.

HILARY: What do you have?

THOMAS: Well not very much at all.

HILARY: Well make me a suggestion.

THOMAS: Oh, I don't think they're worth...

I don't think they're worth a huge amount.

35 on those.

THOMAS: Mm-hm.

That's the death, is it?

Well, they look as though they've died already.

(LAUGHS) THOMAS: What, like they've been decapitated, yeah!

HILARY: What could you go to?

I think they're great fun.

30 and we've got a deal.

Or is that not going to happen?

Go on then.

30.

£30.

Brilliant.

We've got a deal.

Oh, that was hard work!

I can't shake your hand, because I'm busy.

Have a head.

THOMAS AND HILARY: (LAUGHS) VO: £80 to £30?

Now that's a great discount.

The deal is done with a great discount and neither of them lost their heads.

Ha!

So Thomas is finished for the day.

VO: Let's just have a little reminder of what he's bought for auction.

Thomas spent just £117 on five lots: the smoking set, the coat hook, the glass salts, an art deco bowl and a pair of stone heads.

VO: As you do.

VO: Anita had another great day of shopping carefully.

She also bought five lots: the tribal sculpture, the Poole pottery, the ceramic mix, the naval photo frame and the agate brooch, costing her a reasonable £100.

VO: So let's hear what they think about each other's treasures.

My favorite item of Thomas' is that wonderful art nouveau coat hook, and if I was going to swap that, I think I would swap it with my tribal figure, not because I don't love it, but because I think I might have paid a little bit too much for it.

With Anita's items, my favorite has to be the mixed lot of broken ceramics.

THOMAS: I think she's got real potential there, cuz some restorer could do a real job, but it only cost her £20.

VO: Our dealing duo are ready for auction, so off to Dorking, 40 miles north.

Avanti!

ANITA: Thomas, we're heading for our fourth auction and, darling, I hate to say it, but I'm a wee bit ahead of you.

THOMAS: You are!

(LAUGHS) ANITA: A wee bit ahead.

THOMAS: Just a wee... A wee hundred pounds.

VO: A wee hundred pounds indeed.

Today's auction house is Crow's Auction Gallery.

It's been here in Dorking for over 100 years, so it's like an old antique itself.

There it is Anita.

ANITA: Oh, here we are Thomas.

Are you excited?

THOMAS: I am, because I fancy crawling back.

Whacking me today?

(LAUGHS) THOMAS: Not whacking you.

I never want to whack you Anita.

ANITA: (LAUGHS) VO: Our auctioneer is Tom Loftus.

Has anything caught his eye?

TOM: The African figure would be a challenging lot.

I'm lost for words but we'll give it a good.. ..give it a go.

TOM: The collection of pottery and the porcelain, I hope that somewhere somebody has found a piece that they can get out of jail with, but it could be a struggle.

VO: It's not a packed room but there's a lot of interest on the telephone and over the internet.

Let the auction begin.

VO: First off is the psychedelic Poole pottery dish.

£10.

Should double my money.

Yes!

Who'll start me here please?

20 straight in.

I've got it.

ANITA: 20 straight in.

TOM: And two, and five, and eight.

And 30 and two and five and eight and 40... ANITA: Yes!

TOM: And 45?

ANITA: Yes!

TOM: £45.

48 bid.

50 the bid.

50 bid... THOMAS: C'mon.

ANITA: Oh!

He's pushing them on.

At £50 now.

All out online as well.

TOM: In the room has it, at £50.

THOMAS: Depends... TOM: For the floor.

I like this... £40 profit.

TOM: All done then?

It's all away.

TOM: All done then at £50.

(GAVEL) Yes!

Brilliant!

VO: Yeah, baby.

That's £40 of profit.

I knew that I had a good one there.

The rest of it has still to come.

VO: Next up, it's Thomas's smoking set.

Will it set the auction alight though?

TOM: We like this a lot.

ANITA: Yes.

TOM: What are we saying now?

40?

30?

20?

TOM: Bid, 30 bid, 40 bid, quickly coming in now.

Yep, yep, yep... TOM: 42, 45... At £45, 48 bid, 50 bid, 55, 60 bid...

Yes!

60 I'm bid, selling at 60, all out online at 60.

60.

TOM: Thought we'd make a lot more on this than 60.

Wahh... 60.

I'm trading.

All done then at £60.

£60.

Profit, Thomas, profit.

Got out of it.

Yeah.

VO: Ooh!

Just.

But a profit is a profit.

VO: It's Anita's next item.

The tribal sculpture.

He didn't look that tall in the shop.

This is where I might fall down Thomas.

20?

30?

40 bid.

Whoa, whoa!

There you are, you're into profit.

TOM: At £40 it'll be sold at £40.

I do not believe this.

At £40, 40 bid... You can't believe it, can you?

45 and 50 and five and 60 bid...

There you are, doubling your money.

TOM: 60 in the room.

Selling at 60, selling at 60, where are we now?

At £60, it'll be sold at 60, at 60, the lines are all out.

THOMAS: This is it.

TOM: Selling it at £60 all done, trading then at £60.

(GAVEL) Oh, well done, well done.

£60.

My objet trouve!

VO: Double the money.

Another excellent buy from Anita.

Do you want a hankie for that wee tear?

VO: Come on Thomas - you need the coat hook to get you off the hook.

Ha!

Telephone interest I believe here and commissions with me.

Right in here, we start with this at 40.

TOM: Five.

ANITA: Yes, yes!

Five, 60, five, 70.

TOM: Can I say 70 bid on the telephone now?

Telephone bid 70.

ANITA: Come on, come on.

85 bid, £85, £85, £85, £85.

With me then.

TOM: Sold and done, sold at £85.

(GAVEL) ANITA: Yes!

THOMAS: Yes!

Made up.

Made up.

That's great.

VO: Outstanding.

That's got him right back in the running.

You're snapping at my heels!

No I'm not!

Not when you buy African figures which double their money.

Aw.

(LAUGHS) VO: Now, will Anita's lifebelt portrait sink or swim?

And we've got commissions with me I'm pleased to say, but a very low start at 20.

THOMAS: Oh.

ANITA: Oh right.

TOM: 22, 25.

Don't get too excited.

28 bid.

TOM: At £28, 30 bid.

32, 35.

£35, liking this.

There you are, you see?

TOM: At £35, at £35, liking this a lot.

At £35.

Out online.

I thought there'd be more interest away.

THOMAS: I thought there would be.

Eight bid.

40 with me.

40 I have, at £40.

It'll be sold, selling at 40.

Still like this a lot.

At £40 it'll be sold, selling at 40.

Doubled your money!

Again.

TOM: Sold at 40.

All done at £40.

(GAVEL) ANITA: Yes!

VO: That profit has got Anita's head above the water.

THOMAS: Anita's doubled up.

ANITA: I'm a happy girl today.

I bet you are.

Look at you.

(SINGSONG) "I'm a happy girl today!"

It's just luck!

"I'm a happy girl today!"

ANITA: It's just luck.

"I'm a happy girl today!"

You behave yourself.

VO: Thomas' glass salts next.

Small, but perfectly formed.

How will they do?

Away we go, with me at 15.

18.

20.

Two.

We're away.

We're away.

TOM: 22, £22 the salts.

At £22, at 22, 25, bid is £25.

25, good, good, come on, come on.

TOM: At £28 the salts, at £28, all out online.

30 I've got, £30 bid, £30 bid, £30, selling it then, selling at 30.

32, 35.

ANITA: Yes, yes!

TOM: 38 bid, 40.

THOMAS: 40.

ANITA: Yes Thomas!

Proper antiques.

Proper antiques selling!

Selling at £40, make no mistake, all done, selling at 40 the salts, all done, sold at £40.

(GAVEL) ANITA: Yes!

THOMAS: Proper antiques.

Aw, that's great.

VO: Another profit for the Planter.

That puts him in the lead.

You are a good boy.

Ooh!

I'd like to be a good boy.

Well you're a clever boy.

VO: Is Anita's agate brooch going to push her ahead of Thomas?

Commissions with me are low, start again at 10, 12, TOM: 15, 18, 20, 22.

Yes, you're there.

You should double it again, like all your other things.

THOMAS: Triple?

TOM: At 22, 25 bid, 25, 25, 28 bid, 28, the lines are out.

TOM: At £28 the brooch, at £28, £30 bid, £30 gone, £30 to be sold, selling at 30, two, three to the five, 35 bid, TOM: £35, £35, £35 the brooch.

At £35, £35.

THOMAS: There you are.

38 bid.

40 bid.

40 I've got.

40, selling at 40.

£40.

THOMAS: Great, stop now.

ANITA: (LAUGHS) TOM: £40 and sold, selling at 40, all done.

He likes you.

Double your money.

(GAVEL) Well done sir.

VO: Another healthy profit, but she still needs more.

VO: Next for Thomas it's the stone heads.

Your starter's with me, at 20 I have.

20.

Yeah.

TOM: I'm at £20.

At £20, this is value at £20 mate.

22.

She feels sorry for you.

THOMAS: Go on.

TOM: At £22.

ANITA: Go on!

TOM: 25 bid, £25.

TOM: Come on, you can do another.

28 bid.

THOMAS: Go on, there's another one.

£28 in the room, 28 the room, 28.

TOM: At £28, all of the lines all out.

At 28.

THOMAS: One more.

ANITA: Come on!

TOM: Going to be sold.

THOMAS: One more.

Make no mistake, £28.

Telephones out as well.

30 on the telephone now.

ANITA: Yes!

TOM: At 3-2 bid, 3-2, at 3-2.

Telephone at 35 bid, telephone bid.

TOM: 38 can I say?

Come again.

You can do it.

You can do it.

THOMAS: There's another one!

ANITA: (LAUGHS) TOM: £35, £35, £35, yes or no?

One more.

THOMAS: One more.

TOM: Yes.

THOMAS: Go on!

TOM: Come on!

THOMAS: Yes!

TOM: At £38, £38, go on, £38, got it in the room.

Selling at 38, selling at 38.

To the room I sell then at £38.

(GAVEL) ANITA: Yes!

Well done Thomas!

Profit!

VO: A profit, just.

Will that put him in the lead?

VO: Another big profit could put Thomas on to easy street here.

I'll start it with me, it's a low start at 20.

22.

25, 28.

30.

32, 35.

38.

This is a nice piece.

40.

At £40 only, at £40, at £40, still room to move here, at 40 bid, 42.

TOM: 42, 45.

At 45 bid, 48.

48 now, can I say 50?

THOMAS: Go on.

ANITA: Yes!

TOM: 50 on the telephone.

50 telephone bid, 50 telephone bid, 50 telephone bid.

TOM: Still liking this.

Disappointing for this.

The lines are going quiet.

£50 on the telephone, 50 the telephone, selling at 50.

I'm selling, all done.

Trading then at £50.

(GAVEL) THOMAS: Yes.

ANITA: Oh, well done.

ANITA: That's a beauty.

THOMAS: It's good.

VO: Brilliant stuff.

That could be the lot that wins it for him.

VO: A lack of hands means we can only see two of the 11 items being held up.

No one had high hopes for this, even Anita.

She needs a whopping profit here to beat Thomas.

And would you believe, commissions with me.

THOMAS: See?

TOM: Telephone interest as well.

THOMAS: See?

TOM: Now what can I say, away we go.

Here we go.

THOMAS: 150.

(LAUGHS) Five, eight, 10.

12.

15.

18.

20.

Two and five and eight.

TOM: 30 in the room.

30 online.

30 online now, 30 online.

30 bid, 30 I've got, 35 with me, 35.

There you are.

Look at that!

TOM: 35 bid, £35, you're out.

40 can I say?

40 can I say?

Come again, the telephone.

40 I'm bid.

THOMAS: Doubled your money.

You've doubled your money.

Doubled it - 45.

TOM: Come on Tina.

45 bid.

Go on, Tina!

TOM: At 45 bid, £45.

THOMAS: Come on Tina.

TOM: Well come on Tina!

ANITA: (LAUGHS) TOM: £48.

50 can I say?

50 bid.

THOMAS: 50 Tina.

I'm bid 50 on the telephone, 50 telephone bid.

50, 55.

55!

TOM: Come on!

Triple your money Anita!

THOMAS: Triple your money!

TOM: 60, telephone bid, 65.

£65, £65.

Right, you can stop now.

TOM: At 70 bid, at £70 bid, ANITA: (LAUGHS) TOM: £70 bid, £70 bid, £70, 75 bid.

VO: I feel I'm at the races here!

80 the bid.

£80 bid, £80 bid, telephone bid.

TOM: 80 on the telephone, 80 tele- 85.

THOMAS: What?!

Anita!

ANITA: That is a good lot.

TOM: 90 on the telephone, 95.

At 9-5, come on, at 9-5, 9-5.

THOMAS: Anita.

VO: Come on Tina.

Say please.

All done.

95.

VO: Please.

TOM: 9... 100 bid.

THOMAS: £100!

TOM: £100 bid, £100 bid.

110.

TOM: At 110 bid, at 110 bid, at 110, 110, 110.

At 110, line one.

I'll do 15.

No, no, no.

Can we say please nicely?

Say please nicely.

ANITA: (LAUGHS) She's done well enough.

It's fine, put the hammer down.

TOM: one at 110, selling at 110, selling at 110, to line one, sold at 110.

(GAVEL) THOMAS: Aw, Anita!

ANITA: 110!

Anita!

Kiss me there.

VO: Amazing.

A perfect profit of £90 on the imperfect pottery.

VO: That means every item has made a profit today.

Well done to our duo.

VO: But who has won the day and taken the lead?

VO: After paying auction costs, Thomas is finally back in the black with a profit of £106.86, leaving him with a total of £261.84.

VO: But Anita has not only won the day again with a great profit of £146, but she's kept her nose in front in the overall lead with a total of £401.94.

ANITA: Well Thomas, we both did well but I'm still ahead of you here!

THOMAS: (LAUGHS) You're ahead about £150 now.

I know.

But you are snapping at my heels.

Well Anita, we started poorly, surging ahead now.

VO: There's only one more chance now for Thomas to take the lead.

Oh, the tension!

VO: Next time on Antiques Road Trip - Thomas reflects on past glories.

And Anita knows how to compliment a dealer's collection.

I had a little luck with some broken pottery before.

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