Bargain Hunt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Not to be confused with the American game show Bargain Hunters.
| Bargain Hunt | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Format | Game Show |
| Created by | BBC |
| Starring | David Dickinson Tim Wonnacott |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| Production | |
| Running time | approx. 30 minutes (per episode) some episodes have been approx. 45 minutes or 60 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC One |
| Original airing | 13 March 2000 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
Bargain Hunt is a daytime television programme on BBC One, which started in the year 2000.
Contents |
[edit] Format
"Bargain Hunt" has gone through a number of minor tweaks to its format since it first came on air in 2000 and was hosted by David Dickinson. Episodes have been 30 minutes or 45 minutes in length, and even 1 hour "live" editions on occasion, and the rules have been changed many times. On some occasions, phone-in competitions were opened to the audience at home.
There are two teams (the Reds and the Blues, who wear matching red T-shirts and/or fleeces), both made up of two people (usually members of the public, but sometimes celebrities), who are given a set amount of money each, to go out and spend on antiques and attempt to make a profit. Any money that they make, they get to keep. In order to help, each team is accompanied by an antiques trade expert, though it is up to the team whether they listen to their expert and take any advice on board.
In the early David Dickinson-era episodes, the teams were given £200 each, and could buy as many or as few items as they liked within the hour given to wander around a trade fair. This rule was later changed so they had to buy up to three items, and then again to three items only. After Tim Wonnacott took over the show, the money was increased to £300 and a "swap" item was introduced where the expert was given an unspecified amount of money to purchase an item of their own and the team could choose to swap it with an item of their own if they believed they had made a mistake - the question being, "Swap or No Swap?". Later the rule was changed so that the expert could only use whatever money was left over out of the original £300 (Wonnacott calls this "the left-over lolly"). If the team has spent all their £300, then there is no money for the expert to buy a possible swap item.
The "swap" rule was changed yet again in 2007, becoming the "bonus item". The expert is still given any "left-over lolly" to buy an extra item, but the team can choose until the auction of their original three items has taken place to see if they are up, or more usually, down, before they decide whether or not to take the bonus item which can either add to, or subtract from, any profits or losses at that point in the show.
If a team makes a profit on all three of their items they were at one point awarded a special wooden "golden gavel" trophy in the shape of an auctioneers gavel, though since this part of the show is no longer mentioned (2007), it must have been discontinued - hardly any were given away in any case - mostly the teams end up losing money and losing quite heavily. This is usually because the teams are paying retail at fairs - most items such as silver and ceremics have an existing "book price" and make the same amount of money at an auction all day long - so even if they get a small discount from the seller, they are still only "on the money" with most items and don't have much room for profit at an auction. A price for an item at auction is almost always less than you would pay retail, so the odds are stacked against the contestants from the beginning.
The primetime show, which ran from 2002 to 2005, was hosted by David Dickinson, with each team receiving £500.
[edit] History
Originally a daytime show when launched in 2000, it became staple viewing of students and gave host David Dickinson cult status.
A prime-time version was also made (2002-2005), which is similar to the daytime show except that which the teams' budget is increased to £500. It was on the prime time version of the show that a team led by Michael Hogben purchased a Royal Worcester box at Ardingly fair for £140, that made £800 in the live prime time auction - the largest profit ever made on "Bargain Hunt."
When host David Dickinson gave up the daytime show to concentrate on the primetime version, his place was taken by Tim Wonnacott, an antiques expert already well-known to UK viewers as a long-standing expert on The Antiques Roadshow.
In April 2005 it was announced that the primetime version of Bargain Hunt had been axed; however the daytime version is to continue. Reruns of the daytime version (from the Dickinson era) also appear on BBC Entertainment and BBC America.
The show occasionally features well known contestants, for example 'Allo 'Allo! stars Gorden Kaye and Sue Hodge have taken part.
The show also appears on the Australian Nine Network at 5:00pm weekdays and the Foxtel cable television channel, Lifestyle.
[edit] 500th Show
On 2007-10-15 the 500th show was broadcast. This show differed from a normal show in that both teams were made up of experts - the red team of David Barby and Philip Serrell (described as the "old" team) and the blue team of Kate Bliss and Charles Hanson (described as the "young" team) with the bonus buys being purchased by Tim Wonnacott himself. The teams were given £500 pounds to spend, rather than the usual £300, with any profits going to charities chosen by the team members. The red team made a profit of £245 which beat the blue team who only managed to break even.
The show also featured outtakes and memorable clips from previous shows.[1]
[edit] The Experts
- David Barby - Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, Fine Arts Division - Auctioneer before starting own valuation business.
- Kate Bliss (née Alcock) - consultant for Philip Serrell Auctioneers and Valuers in Herefordshire and Worcestershire
- James Braxton - owns Edgar Horns Auctioneers in Eastbourne and is executive director of Bracketts Fine Art Auctioneers in Royal Tunbridge Wells
- Pippa Deeley - sometimes credited as Philippa Deeley. Member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, Fine Arts Division (MRICS) Fellow and Diamond member of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain (FGA) (DGA). General valuer, specialising in jewellery. Has worked in various different provincial salerooms across the country. She now lives in East Sussex and runs her own fine art and antiques valuation and consultancy company - Philippa H Deeley Ltd.
- Charles Hanson - former Christies expert who runs his own auction house in Derbyshire
- Paul Hayes - operates as a trade dealer, travelling around the country buying items from the public and selling them to his contacts within the antiques trade. He also has a stall at the Sunday market at Charnock Richard near Preston
- Anita Manning - in 1989 she established Great Western Auctions in Glasgow and became Scotland’s first woman auctioneer
- Adam Partridge - principal auctioneer and valuer at Marshalls Auctioneers of Knutsford, Cheshire were he has worked since 1999
- Thomas Plant - work at Phillips in Bath, and is now an independent valuer and auctioneer at a sale room in Kent
- Philip Serrell - owns Philip Serrell Auctioneers and Valuers in Herefordshire and Worcestershire
- Nigel Smith - trained as a restorer of fine European and oriental ceramics, before starting work as a porter and cataloguer in Manchester, and then moved to Sotheby's as a trainee auctioneer, and then to Phillip's auctioneers in Bath. He now works at Tennant's in Harrogate
- Mark Stacey - senior valuer with Dreweatt Neate Fine Art Auctioneers in Godalming, Surrey
- Catherine Southon - Head of Scientific Instruments at Sotheby's, previously trained in Maritime Art
- Elizabeth Talbot - in 1995 she married and moved to East Anglia to take up the position of Senior Auctioneer and Valuer at the Diss Auction Rooms of Thos Wm Gaze & Son. She was made the firm's first female partner in 2000
- Colin Young - a qualified chartered arts and antiques surveyor, he joined the Grantham firm, Golding Young in 1989 and has been principal since 1994
[edit] Past Experts
- Dean Goodwin (2000)
- Michael Hogben
- Kevin Jackson (2000-5)
- Toby Moy (2000)
- Sally Stratton (2001-2)
- Louise Weir (2000)
