The Repair Shop has been wholesome, family-time appointment viewing in our home for some time.
But I find part of it VERY hard to believe.
No, not the show really being a set in a studio – it IS filmed in an actual barn out in the country with an excellent lighting system set up inside.
What I DON’T believe is the lack of swearing.
Yeah, sure, its a cozy, fuddly old BBC show, but the incredibly talented experts they use are craftspeople, workers.
They’re “Tradies“!
At no point in all the series we have watched has the expert, upon seeing the cherished family heirloom that found itself at some stage between a rock and a rhinoceros sucked a deep inhalation of breath through their teeth and said
“Yeah, it’s fucked, i’nnit?”
We have never heard a “SPROING!” “CRASH!“, or “CRACK!” in the background followed by a solid 15 minutes of foul language that leaves the neighboring farm owners questioning their real estate decisions.
We’ve never seen Kirsten muttering “shitshitshitshitSHIT!” when the glue hasn’t bonded properly on a Victorian vase.
Steve the horologist (clock/watchmaker) has never bellowed “Nobody bloody move!” after a spring has sprung off somewhere, or an irreplaceable, tiny screw was last seen rolling towards the Teddy Bear Ladies’ workstation.
Speaking of the Teddy Bear Ladies, they are lovely, but you can’t tell me that, in all their time making and fixing teddies and dollies, they haven’t at least TRIED making he occasional voodoo doll?
Has there ever been a passing shot of a small, fluffy replica of Jay (including felted flat cap) on a shelf, but the man himself is mysteriously absent?
All the experts are incredibly talented, skilled and professional.
But EVERYONE, from beginner to veteran, swears at some stage when they are doing intricate work and something goes sideways.
That’s what the show’s authenticity is missing.
Of course, this is all in jest. I do LOVE the Repair Shop.
They are not just repairing items, they are repairing memories.
They are repairing people.
It’s not an old radio they are hearing again, it’s their late father working in his shop.
The re-stuffed thread-bare teddy bear was someone’s only source of cuddles through hard times.
They’re not just craftspeople, they are therapists.
But can we PLEASE have some swearing, just for authenticity sake?
Even in the end-of-season outtakes?!
Will the chippy and Dom the metal worker, I’m looking at you out of sheer tradesperon stereotypes.
Even if it’s Pete, the brass and percussion instrument expert declaring in his deep London drawl “that sounds fuckin’ brilliant!” upon a cherished trombone or trumpet finding its voice again for the first time in decades.
