The Repair Shop viewers in tears over "wholesome" Christmas show

Susannah Alexander
·4-min read
Photo credit: BBC
Photo credit: BBC

From Digital Spy

The Repair Shop's Christmas special got those festive tears flowing for viewers and host Jay Blades as a pair of sisters had their beloved family Stereogram restored to its former glory.

The 2020 festive edition of The Repair Shop saw the BBC show's resident experts fix items their visitors had brought in which reminded them of their Christmases past, including a rocking horse and a toy truck.

But it was the Stereogram's repair that had viewers sobbing into their turkey sandwiches on Boxing Day, as sisters Sandra and Donna brought in their parents' beloved old record player to be fixed.

Photo credit: BBC
Photo credit: BBC

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"It belonged to both my mum and my dad," Sandra explained. "Mum gave it to me before she got ill. She passed away last summer so it means a lot to all of us, although I'm the guardian at the moment.

"It just represents so much about the joy that we had in our family around music. Music was so important in our family, for my mum, my dad, all of us growing up. We were always dancing, always singing to lift spirits because it was hard, life was tough. They came to this country with nothing."

After Mark Stuckey noted that their parents would have had to save for the music player, the sisters revealed that their father had been the first Black person to own a record shop in Brixton, London.

Donna explained just what a huge role music had played in their childhood Christmases, saying that their mum would get up "at the crack of dawn" and put some music on.

Photo credit: BBC
Photo credit: BBC

Related: Coronation Street wins most viewers in Christmas Day soap battle

"In the afternoon we would bust out the moves and people would come over and it would be Ska and Bluebeat and you know, all the latest tunes," she said. "I remember sitting on the stairs watching the adults dancing. My dad used to swirl my mum."

Jay and Mark certainly had a job on their hands as the sisters revealed that not only had the Stereogram not been used since the "late sixties, early seventies", but the turntable no longer worked, there was a huge hole in the object and it also had no legs.

But the pair were determined to get the Stereogram working again, especially as Donna said that her "mother's heart would sing" if it could be repaired.

After some hard work in the repair shop, Jay and Mark were delighted to present Donna and Sandra with their restored family Stereogram and they were forced to fight back tears during the emotional moment.

Photo credit: BBC
Photo credit: BBC

Related: The Queen's speech tops Christmas Day ratings

The sisters cried as they began dancing and singing with each other, reminiscing about their childhood and enjoying the music.

"Thank you with all my heart, I can't thank you enough for this," Sandra said, adding that having the Stereogram back will make them feel a greater connection to their parents.

"Our parents would be dancing," Donna said. "They would be so happy to have music coming out of that gram again."

It wasn't just Jay and Mark battling their emotions during the sweet moment, as viewers were also experiencing a lot of feelings:

The Repair Shop at Christmas is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

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