Antiques Roadshow, the beloved BBC1 Sunday evening programme, marks its 40th anniversary this year, still drawing millions of viewers who marvel at the hidden treasures brought in for appraisal. The show, now hosted by Fiona Bruce, regularly attracts six million viewers and up to 5,000 attendees at each location across Britain.
The first episode aired on February 18, 1979, from Hereford Town Hall, with presenter Bruce Parker, now 77, recalling the uncertainty of its debut. “We didn’t know if anyone would turn up. We didn’t have a clue if it would work,” he said. To their surprise, hundreds queued, and the format has remained largely unchanged ever since.
Among the most memorable discoveries is a Fabergé flower valued at £1 million last year, which left jewellery expert Geoffrey Munn speechless. He described it as “the rarest, most poetic manifestation of Fabergé’s work.” In 2008, a model of Antony Gormley’s Angel of the North became the first item valued at £1 million on the show, exceeding the cost of the full-sized statue.
Another standout was a Parisian bronze jardiniere by Christofle, which Terry Nurrish brought in 1991 after his children used it as a goal post. Valued at £100,000 then, it sold for £668,000 in 2014. Bruce Parker fondly remembers a man arriving with a Sainsbury’s plastic bag full of porcelain teapots, each valued highly.
Fiona Bruce attributes the show’s enduring success to its unchanged format. “The only difference is people turn up in their Sunday best knowing they might get on TV,” she said. “We’re all waiting for that gobsmacking moment when someone comes in with an item worth a huge amount.”
