Antiques Roadshow
Few would have predicted that Antiques Roadshow would
draw bigger audiences in some regions than Coronation Street - but
it did. The BBCs Sunday teatime show in which silver-haired Arthur
Negus was the main expert looking at ordinary people's treasures
was a slow but steady hit, and Arthur became a favourite uncle
until he retired from the show in 1983.
Negus once dropped someone's treasured clock. The 500-strong
audience and crew froze in shock as it shattered on the floor. The
owner forgave Arthur instantly: "Never mind Mr Negus. It'll
give me something to do in the evenings putting it together".
Arthur Negus finished hosting the show in 1983 and passed away in
April 1985.
There have been spectacular finds, including a Ming Dynasty
temple bell worth £30,000 and a Victorian painting dumped in a
garden shed but valued at £100,000. In 1988 an old teapot brought
on the show by a Merseyside grandmother ended up fetching £14,300
at auction and buying its owner a council house. But all the
experts were stumped by one wooden object which was finally
identified as a wooden leg made for a bull!
There has been one unfortunate mistake. In 1987 resident expert
David Mason told a Cambridge couple that their painting was by
Swedish artist Bruno Liljefors and worth £50,000. Sotheby's
confirmed it, but then realised that the genuine article was in a
collection in Sweden and this was a fake.
American public broadcaster PBS created a US version of the
show in 1997. The American version is produced by WGBH in Boston,
Massachusetts. Local versions have also been produced in Canada,
Sweden, Australia and the Netherlands.
Michael Aspel announced his retirement from the program in
2007, with newsreader Fiona Bruce replacing him.
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