The Repair Shop: is King Charles III in BBC centenary episode - what is getting restored and release date

The Repair Shop will feature a very special guest this month when the UK’s new monarch King Charles III takes part in the show. The show was filmed some time between late 2021 and March 2022, before the death of Queen Elizabeth II, when Charles was the Prince of Wales.

The king will join Repair Shop presenter Jay Blades, ceramics expert Kirsten Ramsay, horologist Steve Fletcher, and furniture restorer Will Kirk as they share their interest in restoration and put their skills to the test on valuable royal objects.

Why will King Charles III be on The Repair Shop?

The King is taking part in the show as part of a series of special BBC episodes to mark the broadcaster’s centenary. BBC was launched as The British Broadcasting Company on 18 October 1922 as a radio broadcaster.

The BBC began television broadcasts from London in 1936, and has expanded massively in the decades since. In 1953 the BBC broadcast the coronation of King Charles III’s mother, Queen Elizabeth II, around the world - more than 20 million people in the UK watched the event on TV.

18 October this year will therefore mark 100 years since the company first formed, and the broadcaster is pulling out all the stops to celebrate. As well as a special episode of The Repair Shop, other shows including Doctor Who, Top Gear, MasterChef, and The Apprentice will have centenary specials.

What is being restored on the King Charles Repair Shop episode?

The king, who was the Prince of Wales at the time that the episode was filmed, will choose a piece of pottery made for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897 to be restored. Queen Victoria was the king’s great-great-great grandmother. He will also take an 18th Century clock into the repair shop for the experts to work their magic on.

The special episode will explore the team and the king’s shared passion for preserving heritage objects. Regular episodes of the show feature ordinary members of the public bringing in family heirlooms for the team to restore.

Jay Blades and the other repair shop experts will meet the king at Dumfries House, an 18th century property in a 2,000 acre estate in Scotland, owned by The Prince’s Foundation. Charles will give Blades a tour of the grand estate and meet some of the Foundation students who are learning skills important to the heritage industry such as blacksmithing, wood carving and stonemasonry.

Blades, who received an MBE for services to craft from Charles in May this year, said: “You’ve got someone from a council estate and someone from a royal estate that have the same interests about apprenticeships and heritage crafts and it is unbelievable to see that two people from so far apart, from different ends of the spectrum, actually have the same interests.”

When is King Charles III on The Repair Shop?

The special royal episode of The Repair Shop will air on BBC One on Wednesday 26 October at 8pm. Regular episodes of The Repair Shop are currently airing weekly at the same time every Wednesday. You can watch episodes on BBC iPlayer shortly after they are first broadcast.