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First to arrive in the barn is John Wilson from London, with a battered survivor of heady days in the capital for upholsterer Sonnaz and paper conservator Angelina. The unique lamp belonged to John’s close friend Brian, who used to host lavish cocktail parties in the 1980s in his Soho flat in London. Everything in his bijou apartment was designed around the lamp. It was a period full of happy times, but then the Aids epidemic hit. Tragically, Brian was diagnosed as HIV-positive, and John became his carer and companion. Brian passed away in the mid-1990s, but not before gifting the lamp to John. However, sadly, over the years, it has become brittle and broken. Sonnaz and Angelina pair up to repair the cracks, sourcing a suitable material to fill in what has been lost, and get the lamp ready for the big switch-on.

Next comes Chris Gosling from Surrey, who brings in some shoes with a surprising past for the attention of cobbler Dean. Chris’s father, George, was a great athlete, being a training partner for Roger Bannister’s pace-setting runs when he broke the four-minute mile. He wore the shoes when running the mile, achieving an impressive time of four minutes and 12 seconds. But George kept his passion a secret, with Chris only finding out about his father’s talent after he died. Wear has brought the shoes to a standstill, but now a multiple marathon runner himself, Chris is determined to see the shoes right again. Dean turns his attention to fixing the tears and repairing the stitching before buffing these elite running shoes back to their very best.

Sisters Sara and Simone have travelled to the barn from Somerset, with an inherited gem that needs Richard Talman’s gift for salvaging sparkly things. The brooch belonged to their step-grandmother Jean Bull, but they sadly never met her. Jean, along with many other women from the local area of Somerset, took a shopping day trip to Switzerland in 1973, but the plane crashed and sadly Jean lost her life along with 107 other victims. The sisters each inherited a brooch from her – a red one for Simone and a green one for Sara. They wore them proudly when visiting Switzerland on the 50th anniversary of the crash. But when they returned, Sara accidentally put her brooch through the wash, leaving it bent and with gems missing. Richard works tirelessly to get the precious costume jewellery back into shape and to restore its sparkle ready to dazzle again.

Finally, of the many talents beneath the barn’s thatch, Michael Whitehead has come from Lancashire hoping electronics wizard Mark Stuckey can revive a retro audio device. The reel-to-reel recorder belonged to Michael’s father Alan, who sang in pubs and clubs across Greater Manchester, and who used the device to record songs and learn the words prior to his performances. When he died, the music, sadly, died too in the family. With his hopes set on hearing his dear dad’s voice again on the reels, it’s down to Mark to make things right. With broken belts, a melted transformer and motor, and a faulty circuit board, Mark has a major catastrophe on his hands. However, determined to get the reel-to-reel recorder working again, he pulls out all the stops for Michael to hear the precious sound of his crooner father once again.