BBC The Repair Shop expert left gobsmacked as guest unveils Hollywood connection to big repair: ‘No way?’
BBC The Repair Shop’s wood expert Will Kirk was left starstruck when guest Ben Ackland brought in his grandfather’s suit of armour – and revealed who his famous relative was.
As the silver pieces of bodywork laid across the table dismantled, Ackland began to explain: “This is Arthur. He belonged to my grandfather who was Joss Ackland.”
“Actor Joss Ackland?” Kirk interjected which left Ackland to laugh and continue: “Yeah, that’s him, he acted for years and years and he has done huge movies.
“A lot of them were made before I was born but the big ones that I really loved were things like Lethal Weapon 2, and The Hunt for Red October.”
Stunned, Kirk expressed: “Big movies! I mean Lethal Weapon, did he play the guy with the South African accent who got shot?”
Laughing, Ackland continued: “Yeah, that’s it! He was good at playing evil characters, so that was his best one I think, I loved it.
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“We believe it was given to him as a parting gift after The Three Musketeers which was a film that he was in in 1973. Joss passed away in November last year.
“My family said is there anything that you would like to keep that reminds you of Joss and the first thing I said was Arthur. My wife wasn’t happy but…
“I was very close to Joss, my father passed away when I was three, so that brought me close to Joss and my grandmother. I always had Joss there if I needed him.
“I used to go down to their house as often as I could. When I first met Arthur, he was standing in the guard room and I slept in the stone room, I was really scared of him and Joss told me that he was actually there to protect us.
“So, from then on, I started to like him, and it was just a lovely place to be. Later in life if I went to stay with him, we would go down to the study and watch all his old movies, all day we would watch them. It was that bond that always stuck.”
Pointing out the colour difference between the body armour and the helmet, Kirk said: “Was this shiny at some point? Because it seems quite dull.”
Ackland admitted: “Shiner yeah. That’s not Arthur’s original helmet. Somebody stole his head so they replaced it with this one, so if possible, get the helmet to look like it belongs.
“And all of the leather straps have disintegrated. It would mean everything to have this guy back together again.”
After saying goodbye to Ackland and enlisting the help of Suzie Fletcher, Brenton West began his work and said: “The suit of armour is made of steel and has been painted to stop it rusting. It is very very dirty and wants cleaning up.
“Unfortunately, this helmet has not got any paint on it and it has gone rusty. I will need to paint it and then dull it down to match the rest of the armour.
“This has a wooden handle which is in pretty poor condition, and I am going to ask Will to help me with that.
“I have to remove the leather straps from the armour so Suzie can make me some new ones with the original buckles.”
Returning to the barn to see the work that West, Kirk and Fletcher had all collaboratively done, Ackland was left stunned at the transformation.
He quipped: “Wow… That is phenomenal. It is just how I remember him. It is exactly how he was when I was three years old, that is how he was. The silver head has come back.
“That is what it is, unbelievable, it is completely back to life. It is a bit emotional because it is Joss really, he was such a great man and to have that with him.
“Yeah it is a lot of memories, and it really means a lot thank you.”