VOICEOVER (VO): It's the nation's favorite antiques experts...

Which way are the bargains?

VO: ..behind the wheel of a classic car... Do you know where we are?

No.

VO: ..and a goal, to scour Britain for antiques.

Act one, scene one.

VO: The aim, to make the biggest profit at auction.

Ta-da!

VO: But it's no mean feat.

There'll be worthy winners...

Woo!

Happy dance!

VO: ..and valiant losers.

Heartbroken.

Close your ears.

VO: Will it be the high road to glory...

It's just delightful, isn't it?

VO: ..or the slow road to disaster?

VO: This is Antiques Road Trip.

VO: Yeah!

MARK: Look.

IZZIE: What?

(GASPS) MARK: Obviously, keep your eyes on the road, but look, look, isn't that beautiful?

Oh, wow!

VO: Let's get this trip back on the road.

That's stunning.

MARK: Soaring birds, gentle hills.

IZZIE: It just sort of appeared out of nowhere.

Oh, wow.

It's absolutely beautiful.

IZZIE: I wonder where that is, then.

VO: Jewelry expert with geography degree Izzie Balmer should know.

That's the Cotswolds, 800 square miles of lovely landscape.

20th century design expert Mark Hill appreciates it.

I love Cotswold stone.

It's that warmth.

MARK: I mean, look, it's a fantastic morning.

It's a bright blue sky, the sun is shining.

Yeah.

VO: Ha!

And it looks particularly ravishing set off, as it is, by their 1987 Lotus Eclat.

There's probably a law - you cannot have an ugly house built in the Cotswolds.

If you do, it has to be flattened and rebuilt.

Preferably with people not in it.

IZZIE: Oh, yes!

MARK: They should give people... ..warnings, just a little bit of notice before the house gets flattened.

VO: Last time, Mark and Izzie did quite a bit of messing about.

What are you doing?

You know, there's always time for vintage fashion, darling.

VO: But, despite all the frivolity... Deborah, what have you been up to?

IZZIE: Jeff, really!

VO: ..it was Izzie that came out on top at auction.

MARK: Izzie...I think so.

IZZIE: I'm pleased with that.

VO: She's winning two to one on the auction front, but there are two more to come.

Mark, you are a very intelligent chap.

That's very sweet of you to say.

I don't believe a word of it, but... IZZIE: No, you are.

MARK: Thank you.

You are super-intelligent.

VO: She's been playing him like this all trip.

VO: Not only is Izzie up on auctions, she's up on the money, too.

She has £727... ..while Mark has £485 left.

MARK: Basically, real-life road trip.

Same thing.

Give me money - flows through my fingers like water.

But you have great taste.

Champagne taste but, unfortunately...

Lemonade lifestyle?

That's it, I'm afraid, yes.

VO: Having drained Wales of antiques, Mark and Izzie are soaking up the Cotswolds and Midlands before dipping down to Hampshire for their final showdown.

IZZIE: What are you hoping to do today?

I need something that moves me.

Like a wheelbarrow?

That would move you.

Actually, no, I'd quite like a Sedan chair, actually.

IZZIE: That's...

Yes.

Yeah.

MARK: That's more my style.

VO: Well, they're wheeling their way to Brackley in Northamptonshire later, but first to Burford in Oxfordshire.

VO: This medieval town sits near the meandering river Windrush.

VO: Famous for its Georgian townhouses and tearooms, Mark and Izzie are stepping into an old coaching inn that now serves up antiques across three floors.

MARK: After you, my dear.

VO: Amanda's in charge of antiques at The George today.

With pottery, porcelain and postcards, there are lots of inviting items on display.

(CHUCKLES) Fancy a steak?

How do you take your steak?

Rare?

VO: Well, certainly not rubber, like that advertising prop.

A nice T-bone steak.

I could not eat all of that.

IZZIE: Imagine if I tried to eat all of that.

Don't think it'd even fit in.

VO: Bit of salt and pepper?

Delicious.

IZZIE: On a serious note, the reason I like it is shop advertising sells really well.

Early to mid-20th century, that's good.

It's totally random and bonkers.

Imagine if you're really mad with your other half and you could pretend.

You could sit down with your delicious steak and then you could just give them this.

£39.

Oh.

VO: Izzie's not prepared to "steak" her claim today.

Ha-ha!

I think I recognize this fellow.

I think that's Davy Crockett, the American frontiersman and folk hero.

He probably dates, what, at earliest, 1920s, 1930s.

On the bottom it says Made in Scotland, Milton of Campsie, which I presume is where it was made.

I bet an American collector of Davy Crockett or an American would love to own a piece like this, and he is £30.

Sorry, Mr Crockett.

VO: Davy Crockett's not going in Mark's pocket on this occasion.

IZZIE: I like a bit of novelty.

I am presuming that this is an inkwell.

He puts me very much in mind of Martin Brothers, who are probably the most famous people for the grotesque.

They were working in the late 19th century into the early 20th century and they were brothers.

And they made ceramic items and they're known for their Wally Birds and for their grotesque faces and grotesque figures.

VO: Izzie's not being unkind.

Based in Southall in the 19th century, the Martin Brothers were well known for creating eccentric one-offs.

£18.

Hm... People like grotesque.

I like grotesque.

Actually, what I have just seen as well, out the corner of my eye, is this receipt spike.

It's very simply made.

It's wood, I imagine steel or iron or similar.

I mean, something like that would still be usable today for receipts, whether it's, again, a shop owner or an individual.

VO: There's no accounting for taste.

IZZIE: So I'm wondering, do I put the two together?

£18 on the inkwell, 14 on the death spike.

I think they're contenders.

I do quite like them.

VO: Annual income £20.

Annual expenditure, £19.19 and sixpence.

Result, happiness, as Mr Micawber might say.

Ha!

Lost for something to buy, are we?

MARK: Mapping your way to success?

I like that a lot more.

That's far more positive.

What are you looking at?

Well, I was actually mapping our journey for the car because, as I've discovered, you are a terrible navigator.

VO: Great fashion sense, no idea where he is.

It's 90 years old, dear.

MARK: I mean, you know, it's gonna have changed.

1833.

OK. 190 years old.

You keep the map, judging my failure in navigation, my failure in arithmetic.

I'm think I'm just gonna leave you to it.

MARK: Take the map.

Don't forget the map!

VO: Might be for the best.

Ha!

VO: Time for Izzie to navigate a deal.

VO: Amanda?

IZZIE: Hello.

AMANDA: Hello.

Now, I have found two items.

OK. And one is the grotesque inkwell, and that's priced at £18.

Right.

Trying to get, get it straight in my head.

And the other one - I'm thinking of putting the two together - is the 1930s receipt hook.

And that one's priced at a grand total of £14 for that one.

So the two together, what is that?

Your math might be better than mine.

That's going to be 32.

£32.

Okey-dokes.

VO: That was straightforward.

IZZIE: Thank you very much for having me.

IZZIE: See you soon.

Bye bye.

AMANDA: Bye.

VO: Good work.

Izzie now has £695 remaining.

VO: Meanwhile, Mark's still scanning.

Now, that's smart.

And clever.

I know people say that decanters are out of style, out of fashion.

This one's got rather a nifty catch.

And the catch is precisely a catch.

It's a lock.

And looking at the lock, there's a name on it that I expected to see.

Betjeman.

And George Betjeman was a Victorian inventor of great renown for producing all sorts of complex boxes.

VO: As well as being the great-uncle of former Poet Laureate John Betjeman.

It has a lock attached to a collar here, and then you would slide this catch in to trap the stopper in the top.

VO: What a mean-spirited thing to do!

But there is a major problem.

Where is the key?

I'm loath to see whether the lock mechanism still works, because I don't want to lock it.

And keys for these are not so easy to find.

VO: The sheer terror of a fine whiskey forever trapped!

(CHOKED UP) I can't bear it!

MARK: What do I do?

Normally, I'd pour myself a stiff drink.

(LAUGHS) Unless the lock was in.

It's £65.

I think I might have to bring this with me and see whether we might be able to do something with it.

MARK: Amanda.

Hello.

AMANDA: Hello.

Sparkly, beautifully displayed, and full of treasures.

Right.

MARK: One of which I found.

On the good side, it's a Betjeman's patent lockable decanter.

On the negative side, it is missing a key.

I know you'll never get a key for that lock.

Aah!

AMANDA: I understand the problems.

I would normally say 59 would be our best.

MARK: Very precise.

AMANDA: Mm-hm.

But normally say, usually say, in a unique circumstance to help someone out, you would say...?

I would say 55.

And I would say we have a deal.

Great.

VO: Cheers to that.

Thank you very much, Amanda.

MARK: Thank you.

Bye bye.

AMANDA: You're welcome.

VO: Mark now has £430 left for the rest of the trip.

VO: Time for Mark to catch up with Izzie at Bourton-on-the-Water model village.

It's a slice of local history.

I'm sure I was meant to meet Mark here.

VO: You could get lost in there.

Izzie.

Are you playing hide and seek?

I am.

I'm just a big kid, basically, although I feel sort of huge adult in front of this.

MARK: It's incredible.

VO: It certainly is.

Commissioned by a local pub landlord to encourage trade, Bourton-on-the-Water model village was completed in 1937 to the exact specifications of the town as it then was.

I love how everything is made out of Cotswold stone.

It is literally the houses in miniature... IZZIE: Yeah.

Yeah!

MARK: ..made out of the same material.

One small step, do we feel?

MARK: No, I can't.

Go on!

IZZIE: No!

(LAUGHS) MARK: (LAUGHS) MARK: You were very near.

IZZIE: I'm not a long jumper!

VO: You'd be better off on more familiar ground.

MARK: Hartwells, what is it?

IZZIE: That looks antiquey!

MARK: That's it, we've found the antique shop.

IZZIE: That's our shop.

Right, who can fit through the door?

VO: Now, now, no fighting, please.

MARK: Oh, look at that bird.

IZZIE: Oh, yeah, it's a big one.

MARK: What do you think...?

IZZIE: There are two!

MARK: It's got a friend.

Competition!

IZZIE: I thought they're normally buzzards, but I'm not too sure.

You see, both of them are hunting for their prey, hunting for their treasure just like we are.

They're on the same patch.

IZZIE: They're like us.

MARK: They are.

IZZIE: They're having to battle it out.

VO: Izzie's chauffeuring Mark to the village of Bampton in Oxfordshire.

He's preparing for battle at Arthur's Attic.

VO: Although it's Lynn holding the fort today.

Hello.

Oh, hello, Mark.

How nice to see you.

It's lovely to see you too.

LYNN: Welcome to Arthur's Attic.

MARK: Thank you very much.

I wonder what Arthur's got for me.

I think I'm gonna... LYNN: Well, I'm sure Arthur has something.

VO: Looks to me like you'll be spoiled for choice.

VO: On we browse.

Ooh!

Immediately recognizable from the incredibly bright colors, and also this sort of dripping glaze here.

What we're looking at is a tea or coffee set by a company called Shelley.

Now, this drip pattern here is known as Harmony Dripware, that's the name of the range.

You've got this lovely ring handle, which is echoed with the ring handle up here and then this sort of tapering form.

Now, what have we got?

We've got the teapot, which is the most valuable bit.

We've got a milk jug and we've got... Oh, dear me.

There's the sugar bowl.

But it looks like someone's taken a massive lump out of it.

And we've also got coffee cups.

Difficult, because condition is all-important for these pieces.

What am I gonna do about that?

Look at the price first of all.

£30.

MARK: You know what?

That's not bad.

Always catches my eye, and always catches the eye of collectors.

VO: Catching the eye is what it's all about.

VO: Izzie's hoping something will stand out in Stow-on-the-Wold, a cute country manor kind of place.

Tara's Antiques is handil-ily situated on the village square.

VO: There's a treat or two on offer at Tara's, presided over by Susannah.

Confusing.

As you can see, I'm trying really hard - really hard - not to look at jewelry in cabinets.

It's going well for me.

VO: Oh, don't torture yourself, then.

IZZIE: Poor Richard's Maxims.

Plow deep while shepherds sleep, and you shall have corn to sell and to keep .

I quite like this plate, though.

What's it?

It's £28.

So it's Victorian.

It's not a particularly expensively made plate, mass produced.

You've got a transfer print here, you've got this, well, I say pressed flowers, they're actually in relief.

It's all quite chunky, quite thick.

I suppose we'd probably call this motto ware, cuz it's got a motto on it.

VO: Often display pottery created for special occasions like weddings or christenings.

I quite like it.

I'm gonna pop it there because I haven't been looking for very long, but that is certainly a contender.

VO: And there's a lot of those in here.

IZZIE: Oh, what have we got here?

I really like display pieces and display pieces can be really popular.

Ideally, you would want them to be Victorian.

Now, this one looks more like mid-20th century.

VO: Possibly French, and probably shop display blocks.

It would make a fantastic shop display.

IZZIE: When I was jumping, I couldn't see any ticket price, so I'll have to enquire.

If it can be cheap, I think that could be a bit of fun.

IZZIE: But there's something about it.

It's got that je ne sais quoi.

VO: Oui, c'est bon.

Mais continuons a chercher, Mark.

I love wood and I love wooden utensils.

Things that have been used for decades, if not centuries.

And that...rings a bell.

MARK: And I don't mean a dumbbell.

Although it looks like a dumbbell, it's actually something that was used for separating cotton, the threads of cotton, before they were woven together.

MARK: It's known as a carder.

And I think this is Indian.

VO: As used by traditional cotton beaters.

Toil, work, and sculptural form.

For £25.

I'm having that.

VO: Hm...let's see what Lynn has to say.

MARK: Hello.

Oh, hello, Mark.

You found something?

Well, actually I found a couple of things which I'd like to chat to you about.

Oh, good.

One of them is a group of things.

It's the Shelley part tea or coffee service.

LYNN: Oh, yes.

Very nice.

But broken sugar bowl.

Yes, I do realize that.

It's got £30 on it.

And then the second piece I found with this wonderful, tactile, carding tool.

This has got 25 on it.

Right.

Are you interested in having both?

Because I can probably do a deal then.

Mm-hm.

Well, let's go 26 for the Shelley, and 22 for the carding tool.

Always love a deal, and we have a deal.

LYNN: Wonderful.

Thank you.

MARK: Thank you so much.

VO: Making a total of £48.

VO: Thank you, Lynn.

LYNN: Thank you for coming.

We've really enjoyed having you.

VO: That means Mark now has £382 to spend.

VO: Back in Stow-on-the-Wold, Izzie's been impressed by motto plates and French display blocks so far.

Has she stumbled upon anything else?

IZZIE: Oh, that's such a shame.

Minton, big tick.

Majolica, big tick.

Strawberry plate, big tick.

IZZIE: Nice big crack.

Big fat cross.

It's Victorian.

It's Minton Majolica.

Its roots stem from Italian ceramics.

And it was Minton brought it over to the UK in the mid-19th century.

VO: Made at the Minton factory in Staffordshire.

So it's priced at £44, and it does say A/F, so that is reflecting the damage.

At the right price, I think that's a contender.

VO: Time to talk to Susannah.

IZZIE: Hey, Susannah.

Oh, hello, Izzie.

How are you today?

Very well, thank you.

And Susannah, I've seen a few bits I might be interested in.

OK.

So there is the Victorian motto plate, £28.

SUSANNAH: Yeah.

There are the really rather fabulous mid-20th century perfume stands.

SUSANNAH: Oh, yes.

Of course.

IZZIE: They haven't got a ticket price on.

OK. And there's also the majolica Minton strawberry plate.

I was so disappointed when I discovered there was damage on it, but that's £44.

What would be your absolute best prices?

All of it together comes to 83.

Can I make you a cheeky offer?

Like, if I took all of it, what about £70?

SUSANNAH: 75, would 75 do?

IZZIE: Do you know what?

That seems really fair.

Let's meet in the middle, 75.

SUSANNAH: Alright.

IZZIE: Thank you very much.

Great.

Thank you very much.

VO: Breaking down as £20 for the display block, 27 for the Minton strawberry plate, and 28 for the motto plate.

SUSANNAH: Thank you very much indeed.

IZZIE: Thank you for having me.

SUSANNAH: Hope you do well with those.

IZZIE: I hope so!

See you later.

SUSANNAH: Thank you so much.

Bye!

VO: Izzie now has £620 to play with.

MARK: What would you say you learned, the most useful life lesson at school that might help you on our lovely road trip?

I did get away with an awful lot from smiling sweetly and being very polite and chatty.

MARK: (CHUCKLES) IZZIE: An awful lot.

VO: Why doesn't that surprise us?

(LAUGHS) Nighty night.

VO: Come morning, it's another beautiful day en route to Oxford.

Do you suppose that London has always been the capital of England?

Well, I would have said yes, but I have a funny feeling... Mwah-ha-ha.

..the answer's no.

For a short time, Oxford was the capital.

Really?

VO: Full of facts today, aren't we?

'Twas at the start of the English Civil War, of course.

MARK: But did you know, as we're throwing facts at each other, there are more pigs than people in Oxfordshire?

And maybe that's why it was the capital.

It's all those clever pigs, because pigs are clever.

VO: I'm not sure if that's a porky, actually, but Mark was happy as a pig in clover after purchasing three items yesterday - the 19th century cotton beater, the Shelley dripware...

Always catches my eye and always catches the eye of collectors.

VO: ..and that Betjeman decanter.

He now has £382 remaining.

MARK: We both know how to talk.

Come on.

What?

I don't know what you're talking about.

I'm great at sitting silently and listening.

IZZIE & MARK: (LAUGH) That's how people describe me.

"You're a listener, Izzie!"

VO: Trusting her instincts yesterday, Izzie bought the motto plate, French shop display blocks, the Minton plate, Grotesque inkwell, and 1930s receipt spike.

Eclectic.

People like grotesque.

I like grotesque.

VO: She has £620 left.

MARK: We've talked over each other, we've talked on top of each other.

We've talked at each other.

IZZIE: I want to be heard!

"I want to be heard!"

MARK: Exactly!

VO: Izzie's dropped Mark in the center of Oxford.

He's come to investigate the role that the women and men of the William Dunn School of Pathology played in developing the most important medicine in the world.

Everyone knows Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin.

Not everyone knows it was this place that cemented the drug's success.

On goes the lab coat.

I don't think I've ever worn one of these.

Amazing.

VO: At this state-of-the-art science lab, Dr Georgia Isom builds on the work of pioneering pathologists from the past.

MARK: Georgia, hello.

Oh, hello.

What a hive of industry it feels like.

What sort of research do you do here?

We're interested in antibiotics, especially how bacteria become resistant to antibiotics.

And the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology has a really long history in antibiotics, especially around penicillin.

VO: Penicillin.

It saved the lives of millions upon millions of people.

VO: Bacteriologist Dr Alexander Fleming first discovered it after he noticed mold fighting back against bacteria in a petri dish.

GEORGIA: These dots are colonies of bacteria... MARK: Uh-huh.

GEORGIA: ..and so you can see they're successfully growing on this petri dish.

These are the same kind of things that Alexander Fleming used.

VO: What most people don't know is that Fleming struggled for 10 years to make the scientific community take note of his discovery, until scientists at the Dunn school realized its potential.

Back then, Fleming did not have the laboratory equipment or the chemical expertise to actually be able to isolate that compound and understand which bacteria does it kill and also use it to treat humans.

And so that's what we did here at the Dunn school.

VO: Professor Howard Florey was head of department at the Dunn School when Professor Ernst Chain, one of his scientists, rediscovered the paper Fleming had written a decade earlier.

CHRIS: Hello there.

MARK: Chris, hello.

CHRIS: Pleased to meet you.

VO: Professor of Cellular Pathology, Chris Tang, is waiting for Mark in the very room that Florey and Chain first discussed unraveling the science behind penicillin.

It's within these four walls where the team got together to discuss working on penicillin and first started the work, which was historic.

So the action happened here?

VO: All at a time during the Second World War when people could die of what we'd consider very curable ailments today.

People were dying from simple wounds, simple infections.

Every hospital had a sepsis ward where people would essentially go to die.

So Florey assembles his team and he has Fleming's document.

What happens next?

Well, they have to find a way to purify penicillin, so it required them to grow large volumes of the fungus, the mold, Penicillium.

CHRIS: They had to develop ways to purify the mold from the juice in which the liquid on which it was growing.

VO: To do that, another ingenious member of the penicillin team, Norman Heatley, tweaked the design of a rather rudimentary receptacle.

This is an original bedpan which was designed by Norman Heatley for growing the mold in.

CHRIS: It might look very simple to you, but actually it's quite an ingenious design because the mold grows on the surface of liquid.

And so by having a flat bottom, you can have a large surface area of liquid and have a large amount of mold.

CHRIS: And this spout here was used as an exit to get the fluid out and leave the mold in there, and then seed it with fresh liquid.

VO: Norman Heatley commissioned Stoke-on-Trent's J Macintyre & Co to make 170 of these pans to produce more penicillin.

CHRIS: Six ladies inoculated the bedpans on Christmas Day because they were in such a desperate rush to get penicillin made, inoculated with enough fluid to make the drug.

VO: The penicillin girls farmed enough of the drug to enable the first patients to be successfully treated.

VO: It went on to play such a vital role in World War II that Florey, Chain, and Alexander Fleming were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1945.

It made a massive impact in the war effort.

Remember, most of the deaths among soldiers were not directly from injuries, but from infections which were secondary to injuries.

And now penicillin could treat the major pathogens which were causing those infections.

VO: In his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize, however, Alexander Fleming warned that the overuse of penicillin could lead to bacterial resistance, a prediction that has come true today.

There were almost 54,000 antibiotic-resistant infections in the UK in 2021.

But Georgia and her team are battling the bacteria again.

Chris's story of the development of penicillin was just fascinating, absolutely incredible.

But can you help me bring it up-to-date?

Specifically, what we're interested in is a class of bacteria that were actually never sensitive to penicillin to begin with.

VO: Penicillin-resistant bacteria have an outer membrane that stops the antibiotic penetrating them.

Luckily, Georgia and her team have a cunning plan.

GEORGIA: Break it.

MARK: Smash it down.

GEORGIA: We mutate it and break it.

Exactly.

This is one where the membrane barrier is intact... MARK: Can I hold that?

GEORGIA: ..and you can actually see the bacteria have grown.

That's why it's cloudy.

MARK: OK, so what bacteria am I holding here?

GEORGIA: E coli.

MARK: This is E coli?

GEORGIA: Yeah.

And E coli are really challenging to treat with antibiotics.

It's a big problem worldwide.

GEORGIA: And this is an example of one where we've broken down that barrier and you can see that they can't grow in the presence of the antibiotics.

We have to keep researching this to stay ahead of antibiotic resistance and to be able to treat infections.

Well, you know what?

I'm going to leave you to smashing down the barriers of bacteria.

Thank you so much, Georgia.

GEORGIA: Thank you.

MARK: That's been wonderful.

VO: The penicillin guys and girls continue to inspire scientists battling to ensure we never return to our pre-penicillin world.

VO: Izzie seems rather inspired too.

I've been really spoiled.

I've had this stunning car.

I've had the best company with Mark.

We've been having a great time buying antiques, having a laugh along the way, and all driving around bonny Wales and England under this glorious sunshine and blue skies.

VO: She's also heading into Oxford to explore Antiques On High, where there are 3,000 square feet of arts and crafts, pictures and more.

VO: Lovely.

(CHUCKLES) On we browse.

It's really exhausting having to find antiques.

VO: Just don't let owner Vinnie catch you napping.

There's a violin, but with no strings and no bridge.

IZZIE: We've got no fingerboard.

We've got no tailpiece.

This poor fiddle is in poor condition.

IZZIE: However... (KNOCKS) ..it doesn't sound like the seams have opened up.

I mean, if they had, it's still quite an easy repair for a violin repair shop.

There's no price on it.

Who's gonna buy that?

Probably no one.

Unfortunately, this poor violin is probably destined to remain unloved.

IZZIE: But in its current state, it is not going to be making sweet music.

VO: So, Izzie's tuned out.

And I am not going to be buying it.

VO: Will Mark find anything of note in Brackley, a market town in West Northamptonshire?

He's found Brackley Antiques Cellar.

Boy, oh, boy, this really is a cellar!

VO: There's a floor's worth of jewelry, china, furniture, even an instrument or two.

(TOOTS HORN) That's why I don't like to toot my own horn.

VO: But you play it so well.

What an apt place to find this rather unusual object.

Absolutely correct for being on a desk.

It's a weird-looking thing.

It's not a vase or a bowl.

It's actually an inkwell.

And it's known as an Isobath.

And this particular piece was produced by Dalton, so it's made out of stoneware.

And I think this is siliconware, with this sort of matte finish.

MARK: So first of all, the body would have been hand potted, but then each one, each element of these decoration, these banded decoration here, is a separate piece of clay.

So that would have been put into a mold, scraped out, and then applied to the body.

And the technique is known as sprigging or sprigware.

They were produced from about 1888 onwards.

MARK: So then the most important thing about these, apart from the decoration and the style is... And there it is, look.

We have this little what looks like a sort of disc, but it's actually a black hard rubber.

And this moved as you inserted your pen into this part here, and that forced the ink to go into the little well there.

The price tag says £112.

For me, as it's siliconware, it's not one of the high glossy glazed one, we need to do a little bit better on the price, but I love it.

VO: Now, how's Izzie getting on in Oxford?

VO: This looks like a most interesting emporium.

I almost don't dare touch this.

I have no idea what it is, other than I would say African and tribal.

But fortunately, this sign seems to know a bit about it.

IZZIE: So it's a hood that protects Mangbetu babies while they are carried on their mother's backs.

The little knob on top is reminiscent of the hair knot worn by Mangbetu women and often seen on Mangbetu figural sculpture.

VO: The Mangbetu are a people of Central Africa.

VINCE: Interesting, isn't it?

IZZIE: Yeah!

Vince, I've never seen one of these before.

VINCE: No.

IZZIE: How old do you reckon it is?

Is it early 20th or difficult to date?

VINCE: No, I think it's earlier than that.

IZZIE: You think it's earlier?

VINCE: Yeah, I think it's 18th century.

IZZIE: So 1700s?

VINCE: Quite possibly.

Yeah.

IZZIE: Wow.

I'm trying to figure how this would work.

You've got a baby on your back.

Does that cover the whole baby?

VINCE: Yeah.

Yeah.

The headrest sat at the back of the head and sat over the baby, so it protected it from the sun.

Definitely interested.

VINCE: Yeah.

IZZIE: Perhaps not so much at that price.

VO: The tag does say you get a free book included.

How low can you go, Vince?

Cuz I honestly, honestly, have absolutely no idea.

VINCE: OK. 150.

IZZIE: Wow.

Really?

VINCE: Yeah.

VINCE: If that'll help you win.

IZZIE: Absolutely!

Deal!

VINCE: Alright!

IZZIE: (LAUGHS) Not a problem.

VO: Very generous indeed.

You are a top, top gent.

Thank you very, very much.

Not a problem.

Thank you very much.

Thank you for having me.

VINCE: Alright.

Take care.

IZZIE: See you soon.

VINCE: Bye.

IZZIE: Bye bye.

VO: That means Izzie has £470 left.

VO: Now, what's Mark up to in Brackley?

He's shown interest in the inkwell so far.

MARK: I recognize this straight off.

Cylindrical teapot with this black pattern, sort of almost folk arty, in a way.

And it's instantly recognizable to me to be a design by an outsider artist called Scottie Wilson.

VO: Outside decorated ceramics normally relate to decoration applied to artists not in the factory.

And in the 1960s, the esteemed factory Royal Worcester commissioned him to produce a design.

Looking on the bottom just to check, there we have his name, Scottie Wilson, and Royal Worcester.

Looking at the price, we have £58.

I think it's an absolutely charming teapot.

And for me, if anything could be an antique of the future, it's this.

Denise, hello.

Hi, Mark.

I have wandered and wandered for what seems like hours and... DENISE: You have.

MARK: ..it's been brilliant.

And I'm wondering about two particular pieces that I found.

MARK: So I found this wonderful example of Victorian ingenuity and ceramic decorative ware, and this Scottie Wilson teapot.

MARK: We have 112... Yeah.

MARK: ..on this.

And 58... DENISE: Right.

OK. MARK: ..on this.

Just... MARK: And this.

What could we...?

DENISE: On that one, I could do for 90.

90.

OK. MARK: If I were to buy the two, what could you do for me?

I could do that for 46.

So 136 for the pair.

136.

Thank you.

Could I be cheeky and say 130 for the two?

I could probably go down only a pound on that one.

MARK: Alright.

DENISE: Say 45.

Er... And, yeah, a fiver on that.

MARK: Yes!

Excellent.

DENISE: So 130.

OK. MARK: We have a deal.

DENISE: Thank you, Mark.

MARK: I really, really appreciate it.

DENISE: Thank you.

MARK: Thank you.

VO: So that's £45 for the Scottie Wilson teapot and 85 for the Doulton Lambeth Isobath.

MARK: £130.

DENISE: Thank you.

VO: Mark has £252 to play with.

MARK: Happy with today?

IZZIE: Yes.

MARK: Yes?

I've had, I've had a fun day.

I've enjoyed today.

Lovely, lovely shop owners.

IZZIE: How about you?

MARK: Alright.

Well, I do feel excited about my buys.

I try to buy things I love, things that sort of twang a little heartstring, you know?

Ooh!

Twang!

Twang!

Shall I get the violin out?

Yeah.

VO: Ah, what a lovely lullaby.

Just in time for shuteye.

VO: Mark and Izzie have dipped down to Hampshire in anticipation of the penultimate auction of their trip.

IZZIE: How are you feeling?

MARK: Zhh!

Oh.

Weak and wibbly-wobbly knees, I'm afraid.

After you.

IZZIE: Oh, we'd better get you a seat quickly, then.

MARK: I think I need it.

VO: They're in Swanmore, near Southampton at Pump House Auctions, where they're selling to shoppers in the saleroom and the wider world online.

Auctioneer James Jones is keeping his eye on events.

VO: Izzie spent £257 on five items.

Anything caught your eye, Jim?

JAMES: Grotesque always sells, always bring a smile to people's face.

And it's a useful little item.

You know, you don't put ink in it so much anymore, but, you know, you will find a use for it.

VO: Mark paid £233 for his five lots.

Here we have a great piece of Shelley.

Always a good seller.

Always popular.

Yeah, very good item.

VO: Time to take your seats.

VO: Hoping to shine bright is Izzie's Victorian motto plate.

What's the theme?

The theme is about getting up early and making the most of the day, working really hard, because you don't know what the next day will bring.

£28 left bid.

IZZIE: £28 JAMES: Selling.

Oh, no, no, no, no.

Keep going!

I know, I'm trying my best!

MARK: Oi!

(LAUGHTER) JAMES: 30 in the room's here.

JAMES: It worked!

IZZIE: Oh, thank you!

See?

30, and the room's gonna win it.

JAMES: Sold and away.

MARK: Well done.

I thought that was a loss all of a sudden.

I was like, you can't have that.

VO: Profit is Izzie's only motto here.

That's great!

VO: Catch your breath, Mark.

Time to see how that Betjeman decanter does.

Great quality thing, bit of a punt.

IZZIE: Yes.

I'm a bit worried about this one.

Here with me on the books standing at £10 note to start.

12 here.

14.

16?

18, 20.

22, 24, 26, 28.

Is there 30 anywhere else?

IZZIE: It's a rare thing.

MARK: Very rare thing.

IZZIE: It's a good item.

It was a good quality thing.

VO: It's the quality that counts.

And someone will be happy with their purchase.

Definitely.

At that price.

VO: Next, how will Izzie's French 20th century shop display blocks fare?

Smart, attractive.

Rustic.

In need of a little TLC!

Straight in with me on the books and a £10 left bid.

And 12.

14, 16, 18.

20, 22, 24, 26, 28.

30, 32, 34.

32 then.

36 online.

JAMES: 38.

38 now back in the room.

Is there 40?

42, 44 now I'm looking for online.

44 online.

Is there 46?

46 there.

46 there.

Is there 48 online?

48 there then.

Looking for 50 anywhere else.

Go on then.

50, back in.

Lady of taste.

55 just sneaking in.

JAMES: Would you like 60?

BIDDER: No.

JAMES: Are you sure?

BIDDER: Yes.

JAMES: 55, then.

Sold and away.

VO: They look even more attractive now!

I am surprised but delighted.

VO: Mark's teapot by Scottie Wilson next.

I just think it's a fab thing, and it's a teapot.

And it's kind of modern.

Yeah.

Straight in with me on the books at £20.

JAMES: 22.

I've got 24.

Is there 26?

I've got 28.

Is there 30?

32 there with me.

I need 34 online.

34 online, I'm out.

36 there online.

JAMES: 38, 40.

42.

44 there online.

46 there online.

MARK: Yes!

Profit!

Hooray!

IZZIE: Profit!

48 there.

We aim to please!

JAMES: Sold and away.

That's enough for a box of teabags.

VO: It sure was someone's cup of tea.

Ha!

They'll probably got one teabag out of that.

I could always hang it up to dry afterwards and use it again.

VO: Moving on to Izzie's Mangbetu straw hood.

It's a real piece of social history... IZZIE: ..of African tribal life.

MARK: Absolutely.

Straight in with a £10 left bid.

IZZIE: Oh, no!

MARK: Oh!

JAMES: And 12.

And 14, 16, 18, 20.

22, 24, 26, 28.

30, 32, 34, 36, 38.

40, 42, 44, 46, 48.

And 50, 55, 60.

65?

JAMES: 60 then, standing.

Surely there's another fiver anywhere else?

65, 70, 75.

80, 85?

80 then, standing.

80 and away.

IZZIE: Oh!

Oh, Izzie, I'm sorry.

VO: Quite the beautiful bargain there.

I think it was a fabulous thing.

Thank you.

I'd have bought it, honestly.

Thank you.

VO: Well, time to find out if Mark was right to splash out on that Doulton Lambeth inkwell.

It's Doulton, it's siliconware, it's an inkwell, and it's really rare and it's called an Isobath.

Ooh!

Now you've captured me!

MARK: Excited?

IZZIE: Yes!

20 with me.

Is there 22?

I've got 24.

Is there 26?

JAMES: I've got 28.

Is there 30?

I've got 32.

Is there 34?

JAMES: 32 back in the room.

Last call for it.

IZZIE: You've just broken his heart.

(LAUGHTER) MARK: I'm broken!

VO: (TEARFULLY) 'Tis better to have loved and lost than never loved at all!

Well done.

You've got a really good thing.

I've not seen one like that before.

MARK: Good buy.

VO: Next, Izzie's put the Grotesque inkwell and receipt spike into one lot.

All it needs to say on the base and if you look really, really, really hard and squint, Martin Brothers, of course.

In your dreams.

In your dreams.

With me straight in a left bid of £20.

20 with me and 22, 24, 26, 28.

And 30, 32 and 34.

34 and I'm out, in the room.

34.

You get two items in the lot.

Anywhere else?

(LAUGHTER) MARK: It didn't work.

IZZIE: No, it didn't!

You still made a profit.

Don't be greedy.

I mean, come on.

VO: Greedy, and in this case, Grotesque.

The inkwell, that is.

You made a profit.

Yeah, yeah.

Yes, you're right.

I shouldn't be greedy, you're right.

VO: We need moral fiber.

Mark's Indian cotton beater now.

Somebody would have used this, tools of the trade, on a daily basis.

I love it.

Straight in with me at a £20 left bid.

JAMES: 22.

I've got 24.

Do you want 26?

Got 28.

JAMES: And 30?

Seated in the rear... IZZIE: It's a profit.

MARK: I'm in profit already!

30 then in the room, and away.

32.

Do you want 34?

It is an auction, you're allowed to bid.

34 then now.

Is there 36?

34 then in the room.

JAMES: 36 surely?

I'll wait.

34 then to the room.

IZZIE: Well done, you.

Thank you very much.

VO: That's one way to weave a profit.

Ha.

I'm jolly happy with that.

VO: Time for Izzie's final lot - the 19th century Minton strawberry plate.

Now, it does have a little bit of damage to it.

Well, damage is often found on those things.

(WHISPERS) Shh!

Don't tell everyone about the damage.

(WHISPERS) OK. Shh.

It's a bit late now, anyway.

I've got 30, 32.

34, 36, 38 and 40.

JAMES: 42, 44, 46, 48 and 50 with me.

50 with me then, is there 55?

JAMES: I've got 60.

Is there 65?

I've got 70, is there 75?

JAMES: I've got 80, is there 85?

85 then, and selling and away.

Thank you!

Just in time for Wimbledon, you see.

VO: Cream of the crop so far!

Well done.

That's fantastic.

For a broken plate, that's not bad going.

VO: Last up for Mark now, the 1930s Shelley dripware.

You've got Shelley, great name in ceramics.

You've got art deco, you've got bright colors of the Jazz Age.

36 there.

38 there.

40 there.

42, 44, 46, 48.

50, 55, 60.

65.

70, 75, 80, 85.

Yes!

Now, this is what I call a result.

100, 110.

120.

130, 140, 150.

Oh, my goodness!

JAMES: 160, 170.

180, 190, 200.

210, 220, 230, 240.

250.

JAMES: 250 there then online.

Is there 260 now anywhere else?

JAMES: 250.

Oh, my goodness gracious.

Well done, you.

(APPLAUSE) MARK: Thank you.

VO: A well-deserved ripple of applause there.

And there we go.

Yeah, another one down.

MARK: Another one down.

One to go.

VO: Now, despite some good sellers, Izzie has lost £24.12 after fees.

VO: Mark is the winner of this auction with a whopping profit of £88.44.

VO: That makes it two auctions each.

So it's all to play for in the next leg.

Yes!

The sweet smell of success on a sunny day!

Oh, congratulations, Mark.

You deserved that.

A valiant effort, though.

You had some fabulous things.

But that Shelley, I couldn't compete with the Shelley.

I know.

I know what I'm looking for next time!

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