Overview
- Dame Helen Mirren will bring a Second World War–era cello from Denville Hall to the workshop, seeking to return it to use for residents’ Christmas music.
- The instrument was left to the care home by theatre director Martin Landau, who escaped Germany on the Kindertransport after the cello was broken by the Nazis and has not been played in more than 80 years.
- Author Julia Donaldson appears with actor Rob Brydon to revive her childhood toy farmhouse, which will be donated to Chestnut Tree House children’s hospice after restoration by Will Kirk and Kirsten Ramsay.
- The team will also restore a life-size mechanical Rudolph used by Leicestershire Fire Service, an 80-year-old family sledge from Northern Ireland, and a well-worn Sheffield carol book tied to a local tradition.
- BBC Factual’s Julie Shaw and producer Ricochet’s Joanna Ball confirm the special for the Christmas schedule, with no specific broadcast date beyond the festive period reported.