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The Repair Shop team bring their expertise to a host of cherished objects that have travelled the globe, from a camera that documented the French army in Vietnam to a suitcase from a small town in Northern Ireland.

On expert Dean Westmoreland’s to-do list is a sparkling restoration on a pair of light-up high heels. The glittery shoes, brought to the barn by Nathan from York, are the first pair he ever bought for his drag act alter ego ‘Bailey Bubbles’. Nathan, a support worker for adults with autism, was bullied at school and discovered drag was a lifeline that helped to build confidence and a community of friends.

The heels have been around the UK with Nathan as part of his costume and are in desperate need of rejuvenation. There are substantial rips to the sides of both shoes, the inner lining is coming away, and the sole is disconnected from the toe. With his cobbling expertise, Dean sets about repairing the battered heels with carefully selected new jewels to bring back the sparkle that made Nathan first fall in love with these show-stopping shoes!

Meanwhile Jamal's brought in a broken camera that belonged to his father, who served with the French army stationed in Vietnam. Jamal’s father, El Ghandour, joined the army at just 16 and was issued with the camera for the role he played in logistics and operations. The camera saw El Ghandour through some harrowing events, including getting shot seven times in the leg, and eventually came back with him to France, where he started a family and had nine children, one of them being Jamal.

Jamal remembers the camera coming out for family festivities when he was a child, and it reminds him of those happy events with his father. The fix falls to camera expert Pierro Pozella, who immediately notices the bellows have been damaged and will need repair. He also enlists Suzie Fletcher to restore the camera’s protective case which has damaged leather.

Next to arrive are Peter and Laura from Smethwick. The grandfather and granddaughter duo are hoping that expert woodworker Will Kirk can repair a precious toy that’s been in their family for generations. The wooden toucan mobile was originally given to Laura as a baby and stayed with her until she left home at 18. When Laura gave birth to son Rory, it was immediately decided that the toucan, affectionately known as Mr Toucs, should go to baby Rory’s room. But an accident during transportation saw Mr Toucs lost on a farm and part of him run over on a nearby A-road!

Laura and Grandfather Peter can’t bear to be without their beloved mobile and want Will to make a new wing, as well as the cloud that used to hang above the bird. The mobile will take pride of place in baby Rory’s bedroom. With new component parts to make, Will can see how the bird should go together. But it’s the flapping mechanism that he wants to demonstrate for Peter and Laura’s return to the barn.

The final restoration of the day is for master saddler Suzie Fletcher. She’s tasked with reconstructing a suitcase brought into the barn by Linda from Bangor in Northern Ireland. The suitcase once belonged to Linda’s father, George, who used it to store important documents just in case the family needed to flee their home in an emergency, like a bomb attack during the Troubles.

The family owned- and lived above a grocery store, and experienced numerous evacuations during this tumultuous period of conflict from the 1960s onward. George decided they needed all their important paperwork in one place, so it could be grabbed and taken with them at a moment’s notice if the worst were to happen and their home was bombed. But it wasn’t just administrative paperwork. George had also stashed a wedding photograph inside, along with bank papers and birth certificates.

For Linda, the case is an important memento of the loving family man who was determined to keep his family safe. She would like to use the suitcase again for the same purpose and store her own documents. But the leather interior is perishing fast, eaten away by years of damp. There’s discolouration where the exterior has worn away, and it’s in no fit state to store anything. There’s plenty for Suzie to get her teeth into before this treasured suitcase can be used by the next generation of Linda’s family.

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