The permanently tangoed TV presenter (Dickinson's Real Deal)

Member Name: pmcds

Product:	Dickinson's Real Deal
Date:	26/08/09 (47 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Passes the time, satisifies part of my curiosity

Disadvantages: A bit mundane and the same every day

Dickinson's Real Deal is a programme presented by the orange man of daytime TV, David Dickinson, as he patrold the country in search of people willing to put up some of their dusty household items for sale in front of a dealer. If they don't want to make the deal with the dealer, they can then put the item up for auction to see if they made a good decision or not.

This, essentially, is the show, although there is naturally a bit more excitement involved. We are all nosy in some way, and I personally like a good old look at what people are hording in their attics. Some items are sold to a dealer who snaps up a complete bargain, but it's always good when you see someone refuse what appears to be a very good offer from a dealer, and then to see it fetch twice as much at auction.

Dickinson is quite a charismatic presenter, and spends his time cleverly between talking to the people whose items are up, to us on screen, and also at the auctions themselves. He seems to know quite a bit, although not an expert himself. I could be wrong, or he may just err on the side of presenter as opposed to antiques expert.

The show is, however, lost in the mire of daytime TV, where this sort of programme is all to common, in its various guises, whether it be Cash in the Attic or something else. I'll quite happily sit there and flick, and like having the option to watch bits and parts of Dickinson's Real Deal without actually feeling like I've missed out on something if I disappear for 5 or 10 minutes. The show often features other 'resident' experts, allowing Dickinson to do the presenter bit while they rattle on about such and such a century and what that curious device is actually supposed to be for.

The show airs on ITV, and has been running since 2006. There is also a competition where we at home can win prizes, which runs on a daily basis. The programme itself runs for an hour, including the ad breaks you get on ITV, and as I said before, is quite easy to flick in and out of depending on whether you want to sit through an hour of watching other people selling their antiques or not.

I enjoy watching this when it's on but it's really nothing special. I suppose it must draw in enough curious viewers. While it's nice to see what some things can fetch at an auction, I still find a whole hour a bit too much for what can be a mundane experience, and so I watch this in bits and bobs throughout its duration.

Summary: ITV auction show presented by David Dickinson