Emotional Dame Judi Dench wiped away a tear after being given the full Repair Shop treatment by Jay Blades and his team, to mark the hit show’s fifth anniversary.
The actress, 87, was visibly moved after a pocket-watch she gave her late husband Michael Williams in 1972 was restored to full working order by horologist Steve Fletcher.
She told Blades that actor Michael had “treasured” the watch she gave him when they appeared on stage together in the play London Assurance, and that it reminded her of the happy times they’d shared.
“It seemed the perfect present,” she said. “We had some wonderful times, he was a brilliant actor.”
The couple were married for 30 years until his death, from lung cancer, in 2001.
Asked what she’d like to do with the watch if Steve could get it working, she said she’d like to pass it on to her daughter Finty or grandson Stanley.
Fletcher admitted the huge responsibility made him nervous. “Obviously she was so in love with Michael and misses him so much still,” he explained.
Steve is delighted to discover the watch is not damaged, just dirty and in need of “a very good service”.
When it was returned, Dame Judi declared: “Oh my! That’s sublime. And ticking! How brilliant.”
Asked if she felt a bit emotional, she confessed: “I’m a bit of everything. I’m very happy and full of admiration.”
The special session, available to watch on YouTube, also saw Craig Revel Horwood bring in a life-like chimp from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1992 musical, Sunset Boulevard, which he later directed in 2008.
This iconic piece of history, given to Craig, 57, as an opening night present, was in a terrible state, with most of its fingers and toes missing and with bald patches.
The chimp is key to the story of Sunset Boulevard, with some saying he is actually the mysterious third husband of main character Norma Desmond, who has been played by the likes of Elaine Paige and Glenn Close.
Craig said: “This is how he came to me darling. I know he’s meant to be dead but there’s dead, and there’s destroyed.”
Once the “teddy bear ladies” Amanda Middleditch and Julie Tatchell get to work, along with furniture expert Will Kirk, the chimp is soon restored to his former glory.
Reunited with his prized possession, Craig declared: “Wow- he is 100 times better than he would have looked in 1992. I love his fur. Thank you so much.”
He plans to display the chimp within a glass coffee table in his home before eventually donating it to a theatre museum.
