Although I seldom sit down with the express intention of watching television, I recently found myself engrossed in an episode of The Repair Shop on BBC One, having chanced upon it one evening. Now in its 8th series, the programme has proven surprisingly popular, being watched by 6.7 million people at the height of its popularity. Indeed, in 2019 the series received a well-deserved nomination for a Rose d’Or in the Reality and Factual Entertainment category. Fronted by the charismatic Jay Blades and based in a large, thatched barn, the series follows the fortunes of craftspeople as they restore objects as diverse as an old carousel horse, a teapot with an unexpected wartime history, a one-armed bandit and even a village war memorial! It was difficult not to become mesmerised by the extraordinary attention to detail and the care given to restoring each item to its former glory, a much-needed antidote to our pervasive throw-away culture.
But what I had not anticipated was the depth of emotion captured by the programme. Inevitably, each treasured object that was lovingly restored had a backstory, frequently serving as a tangible connection with events and loved ones from the past. Few owners were not moved to tears as the restored object was revealed to them, the removal of a well-placed dust sheet with something of a flourish providing an appropriate theatrical climax. I was struck by the way that restoring objects that carried so much significance helped resurrect people from the past and unleash a flood of memories whilst, at the same time, bringing much-needed healing and closure. I was reminded of how important physical items had been for some clients I had worked with who had struggled to reach an acceptance of the past: somehow a specific object had come to embody a critical period in their life or to symbolise something that a loved one had stood for, suggesting it may hold the key to making peace with the past.
The psychologist, Carl Rogers, who pioneered the person-centred approach to counselling, was sometimes dismissive about the important role played by the past in people’s lives, preferring to focus instead on the here-and-now. Indeed, he once famously declared that ‘while the past has its charms, nothing new ever happens there’! While in one sense he was, of course, correct, The Repair Shop powerfully illustrates just how important it is to make peace with the past: by painstakingly restoring each object for its owners, it seemed as though the past itself had been lovingly repaired.
(Image courtesy of Yasamine June and Unsplash)