Antiques Road Trip

NARRATOR: The nation's favorite antiques experts, �200 each, and one big challenge.

Testing!

Testing!

VO: Who can make the most money buying and selling antiques as they scour the UK?

Can I see 80?

75?

VO: The aim is trade up and hope each antique turns a profit.

But it's not as easy as it sounds and there can only be one winner.

Come on, let's go!

VO: So will it be the highway to success or the B road to bankruptcy?

Job done.

I'm now broke.

VO: This is the Antiques Road Trip.

VO: Our two antiques experts this week are Charles Hanson and Jonathan Pratt.

Charles Hanson began his career at Christie's and is passionate about early English porcelain.

CHARLES: That's a nice little piece of Crown Devon.

Crown Devon, luster, you think of Wedgwood, Daisy Makeig-Jones.

Same sort of period.

�12.

You know, it's such a bargain.

(CRASHING) VO: Lordy!

CHARLES: It was a bargain.

VO: Auctioneer and gemologist Jonathan Pratt doesn't mind getting dirty in the pursuit of hidden treasures.

He likes a laugh... and he's also extremely thin.

JONATHAN (JP): There we go.

Soot.

VO: Both experts started this week with �200, and the competition's still too close to call after the auction in Omagh on yesterday's show.

Charles made a profit on every single one of his items... 130.

Hanson is in that car, he's cruising into fifth gear.

VO: ..and starts today with a very respectable �259.17.

Go on, then.

VO: Jonathan, however, came a right cropper when he radically changed tactics.

I can't just go around and buy everything I think Charlie might buy!

VO: So, Jonathan starts today just behind Charles with �249.07.

This week's Road Trip is around spectacular Northern Ireland and northwest England.

On today's show, Charles and Jonathan are back in Blighty, starting at Liverpool and heading for auction in Runcorn.

Today, Liverpool is better known as the birthplace of...

Yes, you've guessed it, those four lovable mop tops, the Beatles.

But during the 19th century, it was the second-most important city of the British Empire, after London.

40% of the world's trade passed through its docks.

So our two chaps have come along to its most famous, Albert Dock.

A World Heritage Site with the largest single collection of Grade 1 listed buildings anywhere in Britain.

But our boys seem more interested in mucking about than in Liverpool's rich heritage.

You OK?

Mate.

Dude.

VO: Enough mucking about, chaps, time to work.

Like girls.

First stop for Charles is aptly-named Tunnel Antiques.

This is like the golden age of the antiques market, 30 years ago.

Things are stacked really high, it's dark, you can't quite make out what you're buying, but all the better to find the real bargains.

It's called the Tunnel.

We can see why.

VO: Across town, Jonathan is wondering where he should start.

Is everything for sale, even like bits of metalware and things like that?

Yes.

All these items.

If I saw like a really good-looking door knocker or something...

Yes, they're there...

They're there to be sold.

JP: Circa 1900, mahogany with checkered banding on the edges.

Could be used for a piano stool.

Although the auctioneer has said that... best not to buy furniture.

Anyway.

VO: Good thinking, Jonathan, for planning ahead and finding out from the auctioneer at Runcorn what sells and what doesn't.

I'm not going to go and buy three things in the first shop this time.

I'm going to be more savvy.

A little bit more thinking involved.

Thinking's dangerous.

VO: Certainly is, Batman.

Now, speaking of dangerous thinking, back in the Tunnel, something polished catches Charles' eye.

CHARLES: I like this, Paul.

Great color, love the dish-top, Paul, and of course, it's a snap top, isn't it?

Snap top.

So what you do, snap top table, like that, up it goes.

Look at that.

VO: The snap top table is on a latch, allowing it to be tilted up after the tea ceremony and the table put away until the following day.

And it's a snip, or a snap, at �150.

CHARLES: So we're talking 1775.

We're going back to mad King George III.

It just oozes quality and age, doesn't it?

PAUL: I'll take �100.

Not even a pound a year.

Paul, I'm very tempted with that table because I like it.

And my taste, sometimes, has to outweigh commercial gain.

VO: Isn't this a competition, Charles?

Paul, you know the Ashanti table?

PAUL: The Ashanti stool can be �50.

CHARLES: Is that period?

PAUL: That's a period one.

So, Paul, tell me about it.

PAUL: It's an Ashanti stool.

From?

Africa.

VO: Yes.

Allow me to enlighten you.

Geography lesson number one.

The Ashanti are a major ethnic group in Ghana.

By the 18th century, their kingdom covered most of the country.

To them, a stool was spiritual as well as practical.

Literally, the seat of the owner's soul.

CHARLES: The sale room we're going to, I don't know if their sale's online.

If the sale is online, this is going to appeal to your London tribal buyers.

If it's not online, this stool, which is a real find, could go to auction, make a huge loss.

Best price?

50 quid.

VO: While Charles ponders, Jonathan sets his sights high.

JP: Chimney pots are always quite fun.

Architectural, flowers on, perhaps a little clean.

Old chimney pots, you can see all the soot in there.

There we go.

Soot.

VO: Thanks to a building boom, an astonishing variety of chimney pots were manufactured during the Victorian era.

It led to a new pastime... ..pot spotting.

Yeah, that's right, like train spotting but with chimneys.

JP: They're quite pretty and they make good planters.

You just plonk them in the flowerbed and grow stuff.

And they've got flowers on the side so you can put margaritas, ox eye daisies, something like that.

VO: Ooh-ar, you've gone all horticultural on me, Jonathan.

Across town, Charles spots something else to tempt him.

CHARLES: That's a good chair, isn't it?

From 1830.

CHARLES: �25, is that right?

PAUL: It can be 20 quid.

�20?

For a William IV chair.

CHARLES: It's nothing, is it?

PAUL: It's nothing.

You say a leg's been...?

PAUL: A leg's been glued on.

Goodness gracious me, Paul.

See, I think that's a fairly safe bet, but I want to buy something bigger.

Something chancy and not safe?

Exactly.

I want to, Paul, either go out in a blaze of glory or go out...in a blaze of glory.

VO: But Jonathan isn't quite ready to throw caution to the wind.

I've honed in on this because it sells where I am quite well.

It's a small, functional piece of furniture.

It's got some age.

It's about 100 years old, thereabouts.

VO: Furniture made out of bamboo first became fashionable in the 18th century.

It appeals because it's exotic.

Westerners have long had a passion for all things oriental.

This could be one of those that some people say, "What a load of junk".

But the price label on that says �22.

This, down in my saleroom, would make �50 to �60.

"Don't buy furniture, don't buy furniture.

Don't buy furniture."

VO: That's right, Jonathan, that's exactly what the auctioneer said.

But Charles doesn't seem to know that because what he's doing is... CHARLES: So if I bought the mahogany table and the stool... PAUL: I'll do you the two for �120.

CHARLES: OK...

He's my friend.

Paul, you're a mate.

I'll think about it.

Bye.

VO: Oh, it's not like you to dither, Charles.

I do like the stool, I like the table.

They're two lovely items, and they'll stand well in the saleroom, but in Runcorn, who knows?

I will give the auctioneer a call next and just get his line of thought on what sells well.

VO: Good idea, Charles.

A few streets away, Jonathan is being decisive.

JP: I quite like these two chimney pots.

Very decorative, flowers on the side.

This is going to hurt you, because I'm afraid they have been saved for ages and I've got a use for them.

You wouldn't even take �40 for them?

I'm afraid I would not take �40.

Oh, what a pain.

JP: So this chap here, this is my next one.

DEALER: I'm happy to sell that.

Your price on there is �22, and so your very best price...?

18.

18... 15.

I think 18 is quite reasonable, considering I started off at 22.

I think 15's even more reasonable.

You're bound to say that, aren't you?

15 cuz I let you down.

Brilliant, thank you very much.

Before you change your mind.

Great, thank you very much.

VO: Well done, Jonathan, the first purchase of the day.

Now it's time for our two chaps to swap shops, if you know what I mean.

JP: Are you alright?

I've just been to an amazing shop.

Unbelievable shop.

You will love it.

It is just stacked high, it is rolling back to the '70s.

You will go wild.

I think you'll enjoy this place.

I can't wait.

VO: But it's not quite the antiques shop that Charles was expecting.

It's actually quite eerie.

It's remarkably quiet.

There's no whispers to come and get me.

Nothing's jumping out and saying, "Come on, handsome, look at me now."

Where are you?

VO: And Jonathan's having exactly the same problem.

JP: In a place like this, you'll find they're not that bothered about presentation.

If you give the person... ..who's looking around the shop or the saleroom the feeling that they might unearth something, you'll get a lot more people wanting to go through and look in the little boxes and things.

It's that sort of thing, there might be something in it.

VO: But when a shop's as crammed as this one... ..you do spend longer unearthing those gems.

Sometimes you find things.

I mean, what can you do with a giant figure of Popeye The Sailor Man?

I was hoping there would be a head attached to it.

VO: Isn't there anything to tempt you to part with your �234.70, Jonathan?

PAUL: There's a fertility mask up there.

JP: Hmm?

PAUL: That's a fertility mask.

I don't really need that, I've got four children already.

VO: Bragging.

Across town, Charles is still looking for his first purchase.

A late Victorian examination couch.

Isn't it great?

120 years old and if you had to be examined, for whatever reason... ..you might be on this.

And you dread to think what would have happened.

VO: Oh, Lord.

Actually, Charles, it's early 19th century.

But you're right about one thing, it wasn't a good time to be sick back then.

Medicines were often preparations of mercury, arsenic and iron, while bleeding and leeches were routinely prescribed.

Not much fun, eh?

CHARLES: It's period, it's mahogany.

For �125... ..it isn't bad really, is it?

VO: Are you actually thinking of buying something, Charles?

DEALER: What have I got on it?

CHARLES: 125.

What's the best price on it?

DEALER: I'll take 100.

The woodwork's in good nick.

It's not loose, it's not broken.

There are no tears in the material.

Yes, yes.

So if you're going to try any harder, no, sorry, that's it.

That the death.

And when a man says the death, that's the death, isn't it?

DEALER: It is.

I was hoping for a figure nearer 60, and I'd love to buy it... ..but I've got to hold out for a bit less.

DEALER: It has been here for a year.

If we can settle at 90, you will have squeezed me like very few people ever manage to do.

CHARLES: �90 is a very good offer.

I'm likely, tomorrow, to give you a call and inquire, OK?

VO: So, the Young Pretender still can't make up his mind.

CHARLES: Come on, Hanson, where's your hardened edge in buying antiques?

Where is your decisiveness?

VO: Yes, Carlos, that's exactly what I was thinking.

Down the road, Jonathan's not having much luck either.

I'd like to see some, I don't know, a lot more small stuff.

You know, you just can't make money out of this sort of thing at auction, so... (SUCKS TEETH) VO: Unable to come to a decision over four potential buys, Charles takes some time out to visit one of Liverpool's more sophisticated venues.

Whilst Jonathan is hopefully panic buying, hopefully spending freely, hopefully buying really, really unwisely, I'm going to check out some refined company.

VO: This is the Philharmonic Dining Rooms, or, as it's known locally, the Phil.

It opened in 1898 opposite Liverpool's Philharmonic Hall and quickly became a popular venue for concert-goers.

John Lennon once complained that not being able to drink here was one of the prices of fame.

Today, it's still a restaurant and bar and Charles has managed to sneak in before it opens to have a quick look.

But there's no one here except Ruth Roberts, the cleaner.

And she offers to show him around and give him a quick polish up while Charles gives her a history lesson.

The adornment is unbelievable.

It's beautiful.

To think that these have been, I suppose, hand-touched and polished over the last 110 years, and they're all hand embossed with the fish here.

The design is all so evocative of a return to nature.

VO: As art nouveau designers adapted motifs from the natural world, nature and modernity came to mean almost the same thing.

And there's more to see.

And these names on here?

They're composers names, but I'm not sure.

There's Liszt and Brahms but I'm not sure what the connection is, to be honest with you.

VO: Brahms and Liszt?

Isn't that cockney rhyming slang for... having one too many?

(HICCUPS) I suppose when the building was built in the late 19th century, you can see the grandeur, can't you?

No expense spared.

Look at the floor here.

RUTH: I love this floor.

CHARLES: Mosaic, I suppose, really encapsulating great Roman taste.

VO: But the most spectacular thing about the dining rooms is not its chandeliers or its sumptuous bar, but an altogether more modest little room.

In fact, the smallest room in the Phil.

These are the listed toilets you were talking about.

I can smell it.

The urinals really are something, aren't they?

VO: These are Grade 1 listed loos.

You might think that only a stately home could be considered to have loos of exceptional architectural and historic interest, but in fact, any element in a building can be listed, even these...bogs.

You look at the marble, it really is... ..quite different.

It's of that late Victorian art nouveau grandeur.

Look at the cistern!

I know, yeah.

Look at that.

And you've also got the original... Oops, almost fell in then, crikey!

It's a bit slippy down here.

And if I was an Edwardian gent...

..I would want to come in here all the time.

VO: As interesting as the loos are, Charles, it's time for Ruth to get back to work.

I think she's a bit flushed.

It's now the end of a rather long and emotional day and time for our two young chaps to reflect on their purchases.

Or should I say it lack of them?

VO: The boys awake to blue skies and can't wait to get started.

So far, Jonathan has spent a trifling �15 on a bamboo bookcase.

Ha.

This could be one of those that some people say, "What a load of junk."

VO: So he's left with a substantial �234.07 to spend.

Even though a few objects piqued his interest, Charles has spent absolutely nothing.

So he still has the princely sum of �259.17.

Today, Jonathan's leaving Charles behind in Liverpool and heading towards the pretty seaside town of Southport.

Yesterday morning, I was nervous because I was nervous about coming in, Charlie �10 ahead of me.

Now, I'm...

..I'm more nervous because I don't like the pressure of actually having to commit myself to objects that I don't necessarily want to buy!

VO: Antiques dealer John Nolan has been in the business for 46 years, which makes him half an antique himself.

Hello.

Hello there.

Are you alright?

Very good.

You've got some old stuff in here, apparently.

Yes, in the antique department.

Thank you very much.

Ah, here we are.

Yeah, yeah.

Have a wander round, see what you think.

VO: Almost immediately, Jonathan spots something.

What I want to look at, what catches my eye, is that there.

This is 18th century, John Pitt of Leeds.

VO: It's an etui, or small case, as it's more commonly known.

JP: This is shagreen, which is believed to be green-stained sharkskin but they used various different things like catfish and ray, whatever, just to produce it.

VO: It probably belonged to a draughtsman.

Mm, very nice.

In here you've got a compass and... ..a little ivory ruler.

It's a pretty little thing.

I bet you that's... Crikey, I bet he's asking over �300 for that.

These things are really quite collectible.

What would I get for that at auction?

I'd probably get... Well, �200-�300, I suppose.

How much is it?

Normally I'd ask like 125 for that.

Oh, right, OK.

But I'd probably do a deal with you, around what, say �80?

VO: �80?!

And you thought he thought he'd want �300 for it, Jonathan!

70, you've got a deal?

You've got yourself a deal.

There we go.

Let's hope you do well with it.

Thank you very much.

I like that, actually.

Yeah, it's beautiful.

VO: Cor!

No wonder you're smiling, matey.

Back in Liverpool, Charles's first stop is dealer Trevor Duswell.

Let's hope he does well for Charles.

Wow!

What an antiques center, there's great balls of light.

There's a growing plantation down there.

It has a great Far Eastern theme, which is my area of interest, oriental, Japanese, Chinese artefacts, ceramics, glassware...

Very nice.

It's a jug.

It's made by Maling, who were an important factory.

After you.

Nice jug, like it?

WOMAN: Yeah!

CHARLES: Good.

It's a nice art deco Maling ware jug.

It's �32, but look, a nibble here, a chip there, two chips and it's going to affect market value.

So I'm leaving it.

VO: Jonathan, who's still in Southport, is on the hunt for another bargain.

They may interest you, these perfume bottles.

They always do well in auction.

Oh, I didn't see those.

Coty.

So it's Chypre de Coty.

VO: The French company Coty has been in business for more than 100 years and built its success on offering perfume, then considered a luxury product, to the mass market.

JP: Because these would be around the '30s.

Yes, I would imagine the '30s.

Still smells nice.

It does, actually.

How much is this?

I could let you have that for �40.

I think it's certainly... You can see there was one in the middle.

Yes.

They most definitely would've had three bottles the same height.

But then you'd be asking like �150 for something like that.

Yeah.

VO: Time to put those haggling skills into practice, Jonathan.

Unless you'll do the etui and the bottles for �100, I'll just take the etui.

OK, we'll do it for �100.

Why not?

Yeah, that makes it nice and simple, there you go.

VO: Great, Jonathan's now bought the draftsman's case and the bottles.

Charles has yet to buy anything.

CHARLES: What we've got here is a tiny...

I think it's a spoon tray, isn't it?

It is a spoon tray.

Part of the tea ceremony when you'd obviously take your expensive, exotic, mystical, magical cup of tea or tea ball of tea, and of course you'd rest your silver spoon in here once you've obviously stirred the magical formula.

VO: This spoon tray is Chinese and was made around 1700.

We in England didn't discover making porcelain until about 1745 at Bow and at Chelsea in London and this secret had been the secret of the Chinese for 1,000 years previous.

There we go, that's history, isn't it?

Manufactured probably only 30 years after the Great Fire of London.

VO: Is that your favorite date, Charles?

We're talking 10 years after the Great Fire of London, for example.

To think that this was... manufactured 50 or so years before the Great Fire of London.

Manufactured probably only 30 years after the Great Fire of London.

If this could talk, what could it tell us?

VO: It would tell you, Carlos, to get a move on and start spending.

CHARLES: What's the best price on him, please?

What price on there?

�25 is the asking price.

Very best for you today, �18.

�18, it's history.

And you know what, I'll buy it.

Thanks for the memories.

VO: Well done!

You finally made up your mind about something.

But you still have �241.17 left to spend.

Walk tall.

Jonathan, who still has �134.07 left, has abandoned shopping in favor of some sightseeing.

He's off to Speke Hall in Liverpool and Lisa Downes is going to show him round.

Good morning.

Good morning, welcome to Speke Hall.

Thank you very much.

What a wonderful place this is.

VO: This rare Tudor manor house now belongs to the National Trust.

It was built by the Norris family in the 16th century, devout Catholics who wanted to impress visitors with the grandeur of their home.

William Norris made his fortune as a soldier and built Speke Hall with money accrued from the spoils of war.

LISA: So this is the oak parlor.

And you can see the plasterwork ceiling.

This is the section that has pomegranates and we also have grapes.

JP: Yes.

LISA: It's from approximately 1612.

It's very impressive, actually.

I like the way that some of these are hanging down.

I know.

It makes you want to touch them.

VO: The genealogical over mantle, dating from around 1567, is the only representation there is of the Norris family.

LISA: In the center is William Norris.

JP: He seems to be surrounded by an enormous amount of what look like children.

Yes.

He had 19 children.

His first wife died...

I'm not surprised!

..after giving birth to 11 children, which I don't blame her, for giving up the ghost.

No, I suppose.

And then his second wife had a further eight children, so he had 19 children.

Blimey!

So we like to joke that's why they had to build extra sections onto the house.

VO: It wasn't just extensions they were building.

LISA: The family who lived here remained Catholic during the reign of Elizabeth I. VO: It was a dangerous time to be a Catholic then.

Elizabeth had inherited a nation divided by religion.

She protected herself against Catholic radicals, who doubted her claim to the throne, by persecuting all Catholics.

If discovered, priests and those who sheltered them were found guilty of treason.

So they had to hide their Catholicism and the priest hole was where the priest would hide.

Luckily, this house was built during that period so they incorporated it into the original building of the house, it's not an add-on.

We've just added this so that people can see.

VO: The entrance was originally through a wardrobe in the bedroom.

There's a ladder in here so if you want to go in, you're quite welcome.

This is the entrance.

So this would've been a completely solid wall, paneled.

And they would have accessed it from this side, not where I've come in here.

So you'd go up here?

LISA: You go up the ladder.

JP: Right.

And then around the chimney piece.

On the other side of the chimney piece is a small room.

VO: This is just one of the many priest holes in Speke Hall.

It retains so many of its original features because the family couldn't afford to modernize it.

So that's good news for us.

Thank you very much.

Absolutely beautiful place.

I'll show you the way.

Thank you.

Stunning place.

As Jonathan takes it easy, Charles makes one final dash before the shops shut.

But he still hasn't phoned the auctioneer.

My time is now quite critical, I am panicking, I'm running...

I literally have half an hour to find...

I want three objects and I'm going back to where it all began, in the Tunnel.

Ah, Paul.

What I like in your boutique is the mahogany table.

Nice table, isn't it?

Sorry.

That's the table there, Paul, one sec.

I also like that small chair.

Paul, that's the chair there.

Alright.

That's a chair.

And the other thing I like is the stool, of course.

PAUL: 140 quid.

CHARLES: �140.

Nice lots, would you do it all in for 120?

PAUL: Sold.

Sold, done, deal.

120.

Sold.

VO: And he's not done yet.

Keep trotting.

The plan now is coming together.

I've bought three items for �120.

I spent �18 on my Chinese spoon tray, 148.

My last purchase will be the �90 examination table.

Hi, Selwyn.

Oh, hiya.

Here's �90.

Marvelous.

Make sure it's all here.

OK, marvelous.

And you've saved me.

Hopefully... Hopefully you'll do well with it.

VO: Isn't there something that you've forgotten to do, Charles?

I'm going to give the auctioneer a call, just to find out obviously what's going to sell well in Runcorn.

So whatever I do, don't bring furniture?

Absolutely not.

Right.

And the only other thing is don't buy oriental ceramics.

Fine.

So buy anything apart from oriental ceramics or furniture.

Great.

I can't wait.

Mr Bain, the auctioneer, said, "Charles, one thing you must stay away from, which don't sell at all well, there's two things, only two things - oriental ceramics and furniture."

And what have I bought?

Four items of furniture and an oriental dish.

I could be in trouble.

I can't believe it.

VO: Oh, I can't bear it, Charles!

Talk about shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.

Now the buying's over, it's time for our chaps to show off their purchases.

But have they spent wisely or are they heading for disaster?

JP: How many bits have you got?

CHARLES: Five.

No way!

Don't... Five pieces.

Don't look.

Who's going to need it?

You may as well start, then.

JP, sometimes you need to think about things, sit back, relax and have a cure.

Look at that.

What do you think?

Very nice.

CHARLES: What we've got is a very nice, I believe, early Victorian examination mahogany and leather upholstered table.

It's a niche market.

You know, I've gone beyond now just buying the mundane.

I'm now going to beat you, OK?

What's it worth?

If you've spent more than 100 on it you're going to struggle.

CHARLES: JP, it cost me �90.

JP: OK. You're the high risk investment, aren't you?

So you like it?

No, I think it's dreadful!

Get over there, show me yours.

It's dreadful.

JP: Wonderful, artistic bamboo bookcase.

CHARLES: You know what, I really, really don't like it.

JP: Early 20th century, it cost me 15 quid.

�15.

I reckon there's at least �25 in that straight away.

You've been had.

Just look at this.

JP: George III, 1765, 1770.

CHARLES: Spot on.

You've got a dished top.

This is very nice.

The downside, likely is it's had a repair.

Correct.

But I reckon that the legs downward are off a different table.

CHARLES: Do you really?

JP: Yeah.

It cost me �60.

I think it's a great table.

Alright, your turn.

I'm going to take your table, OK, and I'm going to put the wind up your sails here.

CHARLES: Oh, God.

That's too good.

Oh, you... You're a plonker, that's what you are.

You're a plonker, JP.

It's shagreen, isn't it?

It's around 1790, 1780.

Yep, 1790, I reckon.

Is it an etui inside?

Oh, don't you dare.

JP: Draughtsman's tools.

CHARLES: Oh, dear, dear, dear.

It's too good.

What did it cost you?

�70.

Oh, you're joking.

You've done it with that.

Look at that nice chair.

The auctioneer said, "OK, best to avoid furniture."

This chair is 1830.

This chair's 180 years old.

And OK, you'll pick up the leg being broken.

JP: You might get 25 quid for it.

It cost me �20.

I'm speculating.

That's nice, isn't it?

Period, what?

1925?

JP: I just love those little tops.

It's just so Lalique with that sort of bramble pattern, residue of a bit of a colored paste on it.

I quite like it because these are highly popular.

I reckon it cost you �25.

JP: 30.

CHARLES: Good.

So, you know, to compound your abuse of my furniture, I phoned the auctioneer, I just thought I'd get ahead, have a little chat, see what he was telling me.

Really I should have called him the day before, but I forgot.

"Charles, stay away from two things."

He said, "We have no furniture buyers".

I said, "Well, hopefully my commercial eye "will outweigh your furniture buyers".

He then said, "Charles, stay away from Chinese porcelain.

"We have no buyers."

Oriental.

So just to add on interest...

I bought a very, very nice Chinese porcelain spoon bowl.

Look at that.

That, JP, is Chinese and dates to around anything from 1690 to about 1730.

JP: It does amaze me, I must say.

It is big money.

It can be really big money now.

CHARLES: It cost me �18.

JP: 18?

CHARLES: 18.

OK.

I think that's alright, actually.

CHARLES: I just rate it, JP.

JP: This is the thing that may redeem all your purchases.

It could make you money on the end of this one.

It's got that sort of regional, tribal feel.

It's an Ashanti table, African.

It's circa 1900, so we're going back to the Boer War days and all of that.

What did it cost me?

It cost you �35.

You're not far off, plus five pounds makes 40.

Cost me �40.

The race is between these two.

These are the two.

CHARLES: Absolutely.

VO: But how honest have our chaps actually been with one another?

Charlie's purchases, crikey...

I think with regard to the bamboo cabinet, I wouldn't touch it.

I'm just hoping up here it won't do very well.

I think that bench is going to crash and burn, I really do.

My goodness me.

Jonathan Pratt has bought one beauty.

That's the etui.

He's blown me away.

That's life.

You win some, you lose some.

VO: But has he blown you away?

Only time will tell.

It's been a most enjoyable Road Trip.

Our two chaps started off in bustling Liverpool and stopped off in scenic Southport.

Today Charles and Jonathan are rolling into Runcorn for auction day.

CHARLES: OK. JP: Well done.

This is where it happens, OK?

This is where the theater of dreams begin.

VO: Where does he get these lines from?

Lloyd Cameron And Partners are one of Cheshire's leading auction houses.

Auctioneer Michael Bain dabbled in antiques before he set up the business just four years ago.

He firmly believes that quality sells, so how well does he think our chaps will fare?

It's described as a Chinese Kangxi spoon rest.

It's not the sort of thing that I can see doing very well at our auction.

The next item is one of my favorites, actually.

It's shagreen covered, silver mounted, it's in very good condition.

This is probably a really good purchase and should do well.

Now we come to Charles' star lot.

I did look at past auction results for doctors' examination couches.

They tend to fetch something like �10-20 on a good day.

VO: Oh, dear, Charles.

Let's hope he's wrong.

The auction is about to begin and the tension is palpable.

First up is Charles' William IV mahogany chair, which cost a trifling �20.

Up she goes.

That's the one there.

Start me at 20.

20 I'm bid, thank you.

22 over there.

25, 28, 30, 32, 35, are we all done at 35?

Selling at 35... 35 quid, Charlie.

VO: Not bad, Charles.

Not bad at all.

Who says furniture doesn't sell?

I have confidence, as I said.

VO: Next is the bamboo bookcase.

Charles didn't like it, but what will the bidders think?

�30 to start me.

Steady.

Steady.

Come on.

Start me at 20, then.

10.

JP: Oh, come on!

A tenner I've got.

�12 next.

12 over there.

15.

18.

20.

�20.

Anyone else joining in?

Selling at 20... VO: And that's one up to you, Jonathan.

A small profit after commission, but a profit nevertheless.

That's a �1.50 profit for me.

That's OK. VO: Can Charles prove the auctioneer wrong once again with his George III tripod table?

�50, it's got to be worth �50.

55, 60, 65, 70 with the lady.

70 with the lady.

75 at the back, thank you, sir.

80.

85, keep it going.

90.

Selling at 90, then.

CHARLES: Good auctioneer.

JP: Well done, Charlie.

I'm pleased.

VO: And that's another handsome profit for you, Mr Hanson.

Will this be third time lucky for Charles with his �90 couch?

Or will he, as Jonathan thinks, crash and burn?

AUCTIONEER: This is a star lot, I suppose.

CHARLES: Quite right, well said.

Start me at �80.

80 anywhere?

Start me at 50, then.

Come on, it's worth 50.

No, it's not.

30, if you wish.

30 I've got, 30 I've got.

Oh, dear.

They're all looking at the floor.

I'm going to lie down.

I need a lie down.

30 I've got.

Last chance.

Please.

AUCTIONEER: 32.

CHARLES: Thank you.

40, 42, 45, 48.

What do you mean, "No"?

Let's keep it going.

CHARLES: One more, sir.

AUCTIONEER: 50 with the lady.

55, 60, 60 I've got.

There, you see, 60.

It's yours, madam.

VO: Ouch!

Charles, that's completely wiped out your profit on the tea table.

Quick, take some tablets.

I don't think I should've bought it.

Shouldn't have bought it.

VO: After Charles' poor showing, Jonathan's hoping for the sweet smell of success with his Coty perfume bottles.

20 I'm bid.

Thank you, madam.

20 I've got.

We're away.

22 in the corner.

AUCTIONEER: 25.

28.

JP: Surely two.

Surely two.

30.

32.

35.

38.

That was a bid, yes.

40.

I'm on a roll.

40 I've got.

Are you sure, at �40, all done?

CHARLES: That's �10.

JP: It is �10.

VO: And that's another small profit for Jonathan.

Next up, Charles' Ashanti stool, which he's counting on.

And even Jonathan thinks it could do well.

My African stool.

What do you think?

MAN: No chance.

CHARLES: He says no chance.

CHARLES: Interesting thing.

30?

Start me at 20, then.

Don't all rush at once.

CHARLES: Can't believe this.

Start me at 10, then.

10 I'm bid over here.

12 here.

15 over there.

18 there.

He'll carry it to the car for you.

I'll carry it to the car for you.

Yes.

�18.

Last chance, to sell at 18... Oh, no.

�18.

VO: And that's Charles' second loss of the day.

But can Charles redeem himself with his rare Kangxi spoon rest, despite the auctioneer telling him not to buy Chinese porcelain?

Start me at 30, then.

Yes!

30 bid.

30 I have.

Come on!

32 there, 35.

38.

40.

42 over there.

45.

You have competition.

48.

50.

50 at the front, then.

Are we all done at �50?

CHARLES: That's OK.

Selling at 50...

Thank you very much.

Well played.

VO: And there's nothing wrong with that profit.

Now it's Jonathan's etui case.

He bought it for �70 and thinks it's worth four times that.

But is that just wishful thinking?

JP: Here we go.

CHARLES: Are you nervous?

I'm very, very nervous now.

You'll be OK. 110.

120.

130.

140.

150.

160.

Well done.

170.

180.

190.

200.

210.

200... Keep going, keep going, keep going.

Who's not bid yet today?

Stick your hand up, someone!

(LAUGHTER) 200 over here.

210, new bidder.

220.

230.

240.

250.

260.

All done at 260?

Get in there!

Well played.

Brilliant.

Well played.

VO: And that's a staggering profit of �190, the biggest of the week so far, propelling Jonathan into the lead.

30.

32.

35.

38... VO: A jubilant Jonathan started today's show with �249.07.

After paying the auctioneer's commission, he's made a substantial profit of �148.61 and takes �397.68 forward to tomorrow's show.

35.

VO: Charles certainly paid for not calling the auctioneer earlier.

He started today's show with �259.17.

He made a loss of �19.59 after commission and takes �239.58 forward to tomorrow's show.

But your etui completely ruined my day for the right reasons.

VO: Jonathan has now taken a commanding lead.

But with two more days to go, there's still everything to play for.

Tomorrow, for Jonathan, it's no more Mr Nice Guy.

I'm going to put it back in unless you say �75.

VO: While Charles tries out some new moves.

It's hands around like that.

I may just, say... WOMAN: Oh!

VO: And they both find time for a bit of R&R.

And that's a goal!

And that's Hanson one, Pratt nil.

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