Antiques Road Show

The BBC's 'Antiques Roadshow' has been running for a whopping thirty years now, and is still going strong, largely because it is a format that never dates. Each week the show visits a different part of the UK, with local people qeueing up to get their various family heirlooms analysed and valued by the show's various antiques experts. The show is relaxing, varied and incredibly informative, and retains a hint of excitement too as there is always the possibility that someone will turn up with an old item that has been knocking about the house for generations and turns out to be worth an absolute fortune. There is a lot of emphasis placed on the exchange between ...  Read the complete review

The Antiques Roadshow is a BBC Television Programme where a host presenter and a varied group of Antiques Experts and Valuers roam around the country visiting various locations inviting members of the public to bring along their antiques and valuables to be assessed and valued. It is usually screened on a Sunday early evening slot and it is suitable for all of the family to view. There are very similar versions of the same show in the U.S.A., Canada, Australia and a few other European Countries. The show in the U.K. has been going since 1979 when Bruce Parker and Angela Rippon hosted it. Since then Arthur Negus (an antiques expert himself), Hugh ...  Read the complete review

WHAT IS IT ABOUT: Members of the public swarm on a famous property for the day to get their antiques valued by some of the country's leading experts. At the same time the host interjects with a tour of the location, often including interviews with important figures from that locality. IS IT ANY GOOD: If you've lived in the UK for twenty years or more, this show is part of your heritage, part of your psyche. It appeals to people on many levels, the main ones being: 1) Antiques: as I said in another review, there is something about antiques that appeals to people. Maybe it's the way we all wonder if we have some great valuable item hidden ...  Read the complete review

Ah the Antiques Roadshow, bit of an institution this. The antiques valuing programme has been running for 28 years. Very simple formaula, people queue up to be told what their antiques are worth by various experts. While not exactly a must watch, the programme always evokes in me a mixture of slight dread 'oh no it's Monday tomorrow' feelings and interest in what's being valued. The best critique I've seen of the programme is the Royle family's treatment in one episode, with the family taking bets on values and pointing out 'She thought it would be worth more'. You always do wonder if the people appearing are quite as naive as they let on. There ...  Read the complete review

Have the people of Britain gone antiques crazy? Looking at the television schedules these days you would certainly think so. We're forever being told to scour car boot sales for bargains or rummage around the attic in search of the family silver in the hope of making enough money to send the kids to Disneyworld or to pay for a conservatory. One programme even goes as far as trying to persuade YOU to part with your family heirlooms on the basis that some - often unreliable - "expert" thinks they're worth a bob or two. The "Antiques Roadshow" is where it all started in 1977 and it's still there, as typical of Sundays as roast beef and ...  Read the complete review