The Repair Shop guest’s delight at rejuvenated 128-year-old ventriloquist dummy
The Repair Shop team amazed guest by rejuvenating a 128-year-old ventriloquist’s dummy after it helped her overcome the trauma of being bullied for undiagnosed dyslexia
A guest from The Repair Shop has shared how her aunt’s 128-year-old ventriloquist dummy helped her overcome the trauma of being bullied at school.
Alison Gunn-Robson told how the doll, called George, was created in the 1890s and appeared in London’s music halls.
George came into the possession of Alison’s family when his owner died and her aunt inherited him.
Ahead of Alison and George’s appearance on BBC One’s The Repair Shop on Wednesday, according to the MirrorAlison explained, “She didn’t like him. He gave her the creeps. She asked my mom when I was 11, “Do you think Alison would like this?” George and I have been inseparable ever since.’
Alison said she was bullied and beaten at school because of her undiagnosed dyslexia.
Special: A guest from The Repair Shop shares how her aunt’s 128-year-old ventriloquist dummy helped her overcome the trauma of being bullied at school (L-R: Furniture restorer Jay Blades, guest Alison Gunn-Robson, and restorer David Burville)
She said, “I would get beaten up in the street after school.
‘When I was eleven I couldn’t read or write. The teachers gave me up, they thought I was stupid. I was so shy and had an inferiority complex. But George helped me come out of my shell’
She said she spent hours thinking about how to operate the doll and came up with a Cockney accent for him.
Alison talked about how she would later entertain her friends at school and bring him on stage as an interval act during plays.
Her classmates laughed as George amused them with jokes about the school teachers.
Over the years, however, George started to look a bit rough, with holes in his suit and fraying hair.
The doll’s shoes were also held in place by elastic bands and the strings connecting his eyelids and jaw wore down.
Alison brought George to The Repair Shop after struggling to find someone knowledgeable enough to fix him.
On air: The Repair Shop airs on BBC One on Wednesdays at 8pm (photo leather and saddle expert Suzie Fletcher)
Ceramics guru Kirsten Ramsay repainted his face while David Burville refurbished his mechanical parts.
Meanwhile, Julie Tatchell and Amanda Middleditch have made him new clothes and hair.
Alison described the moment she saw George after he’d been fixed up as an “out of body experience,” saying he now takes pride of place on her landing back home.
The Repair Shop airs Wednesdays at 8pm on BBC One.