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A look behind the velvet rope at the UK's most beautiful and historic homes with the people saving Britain's priceless heritage.
2024
An exquisite gallery made of seashells needs shoring up, a priceless Rubens is saved from falling down and an ancient Egyptian obelisk is cracking up.
The portraits of two high-society grandes dames give up their secrets, an Edwardian clock tower is running out of time, and a Renaissance balustrade needs an intervention.
A missing masterpiece returns to its stately home after two centuries; plus the search for a buried castle and the scrapbooks revealing one man’s mission to save English country houses.
A showstopping clock needs restarting, a unique 1920s house frozen in time is under threat, and a child’s fancy dress costume reveals the life of its original Victorian owner.
Benjamin Disraeli’s grand estate gates are given a golden upgrade, the most important carpet in the National Trust gets a re-weave, and a Reynolds masterpiece is revamped.
A mysterious portrait of a servant reveals its secrets, and two rare hidden treasures are brought back into the light.
2026
From a fragile silk robe and a wartime wall painting to a writer’s handmade timepiece, the hidden treasures in these two houses reveal the stories of two of Britain’s most celebrated authors – and the expert teams racing to preserve them.
From scandalous society portraits to glittering royal furniture and the restoration of lost landscapes, this episode reveals how the legacy of the Grand Tour continues to shape Britain’s great houses – and the work being done today to protect their remarkable stories for the future.
Preserving the legacy of St Cuthbert and a colony of breeding seabirds, on the remote Farne Islands. And in Wales, experts race to save a fragile bible that shaped Welsh culture.
Caring for the curious collections at two of the National’s Trust’s most unusual houses, from a boy’s suit of Samurai armour to stuffed birds and a living collection of rare sheep
Exploring workers’ lives in the Industrial Revolution: a rare contract of a boy tied to a cotton mill is conserved and final touches are made to Kinver Edge’s rock houses.
Preserving garden designer Getrude Jekyll’s legacy at one of the National Trust’s newest properties and at Nymans, celebrating the flamboyant set designer Oliver Messel
2023
A painting’s hidden story is revealed, a beautiful Chinese bridge is painstakingly rebuilt, and a 450-year-old table must be saved from collapse and made ready to go on tour.
A collapsed ceiling means restoring writer Vita Sackville-West’s study from scratch, while Rudyard Kipling’s family history is revealed in a precious possession.
Paul McCartney’s childhood home is lovingly restored; uncovering a unique collection of photos in Liverpool; and an intriguing modern art installation is saved from collapse.
A unique Victorian clock is brought back to life, a portrait damaged by Georgian partying is restored, and an unusual handmade puppet reveals a hidden World War II story.
At Chartwell in Kent, a model of the floating harbours from D-Day in 1944 is being conserved to make it stable for the future. The Beetle Wing dress and velvet cloak from Smallhythe's collection in Kent, worn by Victorian actress Dame Ellen Terry in 1888 as Lady Macbeth, require over 450 hours of needlework. At Ightham Mote, Kent, some hand-painted Chinese wallpaper needs saving from an infestation of silverfish, and an investigation into the history of a curious advertising sign is underway.
In the final episode, expert conservators at Mount Stewart, County Down, help to fix some unusual concrete sculptures which have been damaged by falling debris in a storm. A blacksmith works to restore a Victorian cast iron bench at The Argory in County Armagh and a painting conservator studies a portrait from Castle Ward in County Down to uncover more about the relationships of its subject.
2025
Beatrix Potter’s dolls’ house undergoes major renovation at Hill Top, and in Clouds Hill, a mysterious painting belonging to Lawrence of Arabia reveals its secrets.
The revealing statue of a Georgian high-society mistress has her beauty restored at Knole House in Kent, and Townend, a traditional Lake District farmhouse, undergoes a makeover.
Kedleston Hall’s Peacock Dress, a symbol of the British Raj in India, gets a makeover, and a rare but damaged painting from Dyrham Park reveals a controversial colonial past.
The battle to save the homes and treasures left by two Royalist women who refused to submit during the English Civil War - Ham House and Corfe Castle.
A moving work of art from the modernist home of architect Erno Goldfinger undergoes conservation work, and hidden messages from an old master are discovered at Upton House.
At Lanhydrock in Cornwall, a huge, 35-metre-long decorated ceiling needs saving, while in Warwickshire, the Tudor mansion Coughton Court gets an entire new roof.
Toby Jones
Self - Narrator
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