The Repair Shop

About this Broadcast

Season 11, Episode 20

In 1963 a chair, owned by Michael's parents, was used during a visit to Galway by John F Kennedy. The then US president, a man of Irish descent, was on a rare trip to receive the Freedom of Galway, which required some sitting and some signing. Now, with dry, cracked leather and a moth-eaten cushion, upholstery expert Sonnaz Nooranvary has her work cut out to restore this tiny bit of political history back to its former glory. A Navy hat box filled with romantic love letters dating back to the Second World War and a broken 1980s Walkman are also restored

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Handicraft Leisure Hobbies

Cast & Crew

Jay Blades (Presenter)

Bill Paterson (Narrator)

Sonnaz Nooranvary (Contributor)

Mark Stuckey (Contributor)

Brenton West (Contributor)

Ben Borland (Director)

Tanveer Bari (Series producer)

Claire Egerton-Jones (Series producer)

Hannah Lamb (Executive producer)

Paula Fasht (Executive producer)

Emma Walsh (Executive producer)

More Information

Did You Know..

Jay Blades (Presenter)

Bill Paterson (Narrator)

Born: June 03, 1945 in Glasgow

Best Known For: A number of small-screen TV roles.

Early-life: Bill Paterson was born on June 3, 1945, in Glasgow. He spent three years as a quantity surveyor before doing a teaching course at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. He was about to accept an educational role when he was offered a place with the Citizen's Theatre. His big break came at the Edinburgh Festival in The Great Northern Welly Boot Show, a satire by Billy Connolly about striking shipbuilders.

Career: Paterson's TV debut came in 1977's Bafta-winning Licking Hitler. A year later he appeared in The Vanishing Army and Smiley's People. He went on to feature in such films as The Killing Fields, A Private Function, Defence of the Realm, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Chaplin, Bright Young Things and Truly, Madly, Deeply. Other TV projects include The Singing Detective, Traffik, The Crow Road, Doctor Zhivago, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, and Law & Order: UK. He was also nominated for an Olivier Award for Bertolt Brecht's Schwekyk in the Second World War in 1982 and has done extensive voiceover work on TV and radio.

Quote: 'I don't think acting has ever been my passion, but it's a very nice way of making a living.'

Trivia: Paterson turned down one of the leads in Alien.