The Repair Shop 2024 sees Jay Blades and his trusty crew of craft experts back for a thirteenth season - and kickstarting this year's series are six new springtime episodes.
The BAFTA-award-winning programme has become a weeknight favourite around the country as we watch members of the public bring in their sentimental items, often with a special and unique backstory behind them, that need major restoration work.
Along with presenter Jay, each of the experts specialises in different items and materials and all help transform the public’s treasures to their former glory. This series we will see the team bring a fire station painting back to its former glory, as well as restoring a Roald Dahl gate, a World War II code-breaking cookbook, and a pair of cowboy boots connected to Elton John.
Here's everything you need to know about The Repair Shop 2024...
The Repair Shop 2024 release date
The Repair Shop 2024 returned with season 13 on Wednesday, April 10 on BBC One.
The next episode is on Wednesday, April 24 at 8 pm on BBC One. Episodes air weekly and there are six in total.
You can catch up on any missed episodes on BBC iPlayer.
The Repair Shop 2024 episode guide
Episode 1 - Wednesday, April 10
A tiny pair of cowboy boots bring some rock ’n’ roll to the Workshop of Dreams in week one. "It’s incredible to be back – we always miss it when we have a break," says shoemaker Dean Westmoreland, 34, who’s been the barn’s resident cobbler since 2021 and discovers a fascinating music connection involving legendary artistes Elton John and Rod Stewart while restoring the treasured footwear to their former glory. "I always think it’s a shame that shoes can’t talk – think of the stories they could tell. Luckily, these cowboy boots have a rich history, a great story that’s being passed down the generations of a family. It’s a privilege to hear it on this show."
Other repairs in the opening episode see the team working their restoration magic on a smashed Murano lamp, broken weighing scales and a cracked Saz – a traditional musical instrument from Turkey.
Episode 2 - Wednesday, April 17
The second episode sees the team tackle a miner's lamp that saved its owner's life, a mysterious rug-covered armchair, and an antique music machine that has not played in years.
Episode 3 - Wednesday, April 24
Experts restore the garden gate of the home that belonged to Roald Dahl's mother, a homemade model of a prawn trawler, a silver-framed mirror from Iraq that has been passed through a family for generations and a child's Irish dancing dress from the 1950s.
What's new for The Repair Shop 2024?
This new series is packed full of heartwarming restorations as always, but the BBC has promised that our latest visit to the repair barn will see one of the biggest fixes in the show's history, as the experts attempt to save an armchair that tells a poignant story from the 1980's AIDS crisis.
But, that's not all - there is also a new face joining the repair Shop team, as textiles conservator Rebecca Bissonnet, who has worked on restoring priceless items including Queen Elizabeth II's coronation dress, will join the team to repair precious clothing.
"I’m such a fan of The Repair Shop and was nervous for weeks before walking into the barn. I couldn’t believe I was actually going to work there!" says Rebecca, who spent seven years working on tapestries and furnishings at the Historic Royal Palaces before setting up her own textile business.
Her first on-screen repair sees her fixing a 70-year-old lace collar and cuffs on a red Irish dancing dress. "It was a fiddly fix but seeing the joy it brought the owner was special,’ smiles Rebecca. ‘The barn really is the best place to work."
The Repair Shop 2024 interview with expert shoemaker Dean Westmoreland
Here, in an exclusive interview, Bradford-born dad-of-two Dean tells us more about his challenge in the first episode and why he loves being a cobbler…
Sounds like your repair rocks, Dean!
"It was right up my street. A lady called Diane brings a pair of tiny cowboy boots into the barn that were brought for her son by her brother, Roger Pope, a talented drummer and session musician. He was in various bands back in the day and had Elton John and Rod Stewart as his support acts."
His support acts? Wow!
"I know, what an incredible story to come from a tiny pair of boots! Roger was touring in America with his rock band, Hookfoot, in 1971, when he bought them for his nephew, whom he adored. Sadly, they’re Diane’s last link to her brother as Roger died of throat cancer in 2013."
Is it true that the night after Roger died, Elton John dedicated a song to him while performing in Las Vegas?
"Yes, which is such an accolade and shows how well-regarded he was by Elton. He was obviously a talented, lovely man and I could see by the way Diane spoke about him how much the boots meant to her. I felt a weight on my shoulders, wondering if my repair would do them justice."
You’ve been repairing and making shoes for 17 years, so why the nerves for this project?
"I’ve worked on cowboy boots before, but not a pair this small! The main challenge was getting my hands into them so I could do the intricate work. The soles were brittle and I had to unpick the stitching, replace the sole and bring the worn leather back to life by massaging polish into it with my fingers. I’ve always used my fingers to make leather supple – I need to feel the leather and you don’t over-apply polish like you do with a cloth."
Diane promised not to cry at the reveal. Was she pleased with the finished boots?
"I didn’t make her cry, it was the boots! Hopefully, they were happy tears. Reveals are always nerve-wracking and it’s such a relief when people like what you’ve done."
You clearly love what you do, Dean…
"Shoes tell a story. Every pair is unique to the person wearing them and everyone goes through different things in life, don’t they? It’s that story that fascinates me when a pair comes in for repair."
How did you become a shoemaker?
"I’d always liked decent footwear and enjoyed buying and polishing shoes as a kid. You should have seen the shine on my football boots – I think I looked forward to cleaning them more than playing the match! I worked in a shoe repair shop, which was just a job, but the more I learned, the more I realised I had to learn about the craft. I won a national shoe repair competition, then trained as an apprentice shoemaker and opened my own shop in 2017 in Yorkshire."
And how did you come to join The Repair Shop team?
"That was thanks to [the show’s metalwork expert] Dominic Chinea! Dom posted on Instagram that his Red Wing boots were ruined and he was thinking of throwing them away, so I messaged him saying, ‘Don’t! Send them to me’. I mended them and, a few weeks later, I got a phone call from production asking me to repair some running spikes on the show. I thought it was a prank call! I never thought I’d end up on the telly."
The Repair Shop won the Daytime category gong at the 2023 National Television Awards. Did you go?
"Yes, it was my first awards show and I felt like a fish out of water surrounded by people on TV! I talked to Louis Theroux, who said he was a fan of the show, and I met Ant and Dec, so my kids were happy!"
Is there a trailer for The Repair Shop 2024?
No, sadly there isn't a trailer yet, but if one is released by the BBC we will add it to his guide.
And if that's not enough from The Repair Shop, you can now watch The Repair Shop Australia in the UK...
Viewers in Oz have been enjoying an Australian version of The Repair Shop since 2022, and British fans are now able to watch the action, too, as the first series got its UK premiere on Quest on Wednesday, April 3.
The Repair Shop Australia is filmed in Sydney and is hosted by builder Dean Ipaviz, who leads a team of six repairers.
"I was a fan of the UK show first and foremost, so when the opportunity came around I leaped at it," says Dean, who hopes viewers here will enjoy the deep-dive into Antipodean history. "There’s a bit more Australiana in our items, with the stories tied to immigration and pieces that have built Australia."
