Antiques Roadshow has trundled on for 41 series and 803 episodes to date. Over the years, its various spin-off shows have included Bargain Hunt, Cash in the Attic, Flog It, 20th Century Roadshow, Dickinson's Real Deal, Antiques Road Trip and Fake or Fortune.
Since the show's original pilot programme, the format has proved so successful that it has remained virtually unchanged. The roadshow has also travelled overseas, to Australia and Canada, for special episodes and has broadcast several children's Christmas specials.
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Documentary
Back in May 1977, the BBC broadcast a documentary about a London auction house touring England's West Country to value antiques belonging to the general public.
The programme was presented by Bruce Parker, host of the current affairs programme Nationwide, alongside TV personality and antiques expert Arthur Negas, who previously presented a similar show, Going for a Song, in 1965.
The pilot show for Antiques Roadshow was such a big hit that it was made into a series. Negus continued to appear until 1983. Other presenters have included Angela Rippon, Hugh Scully and Michael Aspel.
Currently hosted by Fiona Bruce, each episode is one hour long and often ends with one lucky member of the public being amazed when their antique item turns out to be worth much more than they realised.
While celebrating its 40th birthday in 2017, the programme hosted guests with some very special antiques that were valued as high as £1 million!
Most expensive finds
Two antiques have been valued at £1 million during the show's history, one of which was a six-inch tall Fabergé flower, one of only 80 such items in the world. It was taken to an Antiques Roadshow event in Birmingham in 2017 by two British Army officers. It had been owned by an Army regiment for more than a century.
Depicting a delicate sprig of pear blossom sitting in a pretty crystal vase, it contained the inscription, "QOWH South Africa 1900", engraved across the side. Tatiana Fabergé, the Swiss great-grand-daughter of the brand's founder, Peter Fabergé, explained that the ornament had been a gift from an aristocrat to the British Army.
She said it was one piece from a botanical study created in Imperial Russia by Fabergé. Georgina Ward, a well-known society aristocrat and the Countess of Dudley, had presented it, in the early 20th century, to the Queen’s Own Worcestershire Hussars.
The second £1 million find was a maquette (the sculptor's preliminary model) of the famous Angel of the North - the contemporary 66ft-high sculpture, designed by Antony Gormley. The actual sculpture of an angel towers over the A1 and A167 roads in Low Eighton, Gateshead. It has been described as Britain's most "successful contemporary" sculpture.
Owned by Gateshead Council, the maquette taken to the Antiques Roadshow was the final one before it was approved for the actual sculpture itself to be made. An employee took it along to the roadshow event at Gateshead in 2008.
A vase used for flowers in the owner's living room turned out to be a rare French Christofle jardiniere that was later sold at auction for an amazing £560,000 in 2012. Dating from 1874, the Parisian bronze jardiniere was cast in gilt and bronze, and was originally valued at Cleethorpes' Antiques Roadshow in 1991.
Historic venues
In keeping with the premise of the series, Antiques Roadshow is filmed at some of the UK's most breathtaking historic venues. A recently-aired episode was filmed at Wrest Park, the majestic 19th-century country house in Bedfordshire.
The English Heritage property, at Silsoe, features 92 acres of award-winning gardens. The country estate won the gold award in the 2017 Anglia in Bloom Awards and contains treasures of its own, such as an ornate marble fountain, a Chinese bridge and temple and the 18th century Bowling Green House.
When Antiques Roadshow was broadcast from Wrest House, eagle-eyed viewers might have spotted that Solent Plastics' high-quality storage products were being used for archiving by English Heritage - we’re really glad they find our products so useful!
Please contact us for further information on our wide range of storage solutions, for all sorts of items.