The Repair Shop Cast: Who Are the Presenters and Experts

There’s a moment in almost every episode of The Repair Shop where someone touches a restored family heirloom and goes quiet. That reaction is the beating heart of the BBC series, which first aired in March 2017 and has built a devoted following around its workshop team (BBC Media Centre). The faces behind those transformations — Jay Blades and a rotating group of specialist restorers — are now as familiar as the heirlooms themselves. They’ve also changed over time, so here’s what’s confirmed about the current line-up, who has left, and what’s still uncertain.

Presenter: Jay Blades · Number of expert restorers: 8 · First aired: 2017

Six rows, one pattern: every core fact points back to the BBC and to a working museum in West Sussex.

Who are the presenters on The Repair Shop?

Jay Blades is the presenter viewers see leading the workshop in the BBC’s 2024 episodes (BBC Programme Index (official episode listings)). The series also uses a narrator, and in Series 13 that voice belongs to Bill Paterson (BBC Programme Index). Around them, the cast is best understood as a rotating team of specialists rather than a fixed ensemble.

• Steve Fletcher — horologist, in charge of clocks and watches (BBC Programme Index).
• Suzie Fletcher — leather expert and Steve’s sister (BBC Media Centre (BBC experts page)).
• Will Kirk — wood restorer (BBC Programme Index).
• Rebecca Bissonnet — textiles conservator, new to the team in 2024 (BBC Media Centre).
• Kirsten Ramsay — ceramics expert (BBC Media Centre).
• Richard Talman — clockmaker (BBC Programme Index).
• Christopher Shaw — ceramic restorer (BBC Programme Index).
• Pete Woods — painting restorer (BBC Programme Index).

Episode credits add more names depending on the repair. Series 13 Episode 4, for example, included Sarah Hatton, Kirsten Ramsay, Lucia Scalisi, Christopher Shaw and Brenton West (BBC Programme Index), while Episode 5 rotated in Sonnaz Nooranvary, David Burville, Richard Talman, Pete Woods and Dominic Chinea (BBC Programme Index). Brenton West is the silversmith and precious-metals expert (BBC Media Centre), Dominic Chinea handles the mechanical side (BBC Programme Index), and Tim Gunn specialises in bicycle restoration (BBC Programme Index).

Who actually owns The Repair Shop?

The Repair Shop is a BBC production — there is no individual owner behind the barn doors. The series is made for BBC One, and the workshop itself lives at the Weald and Downland Living Museum in West Sussex (BBC Media Centre (BBC press office)). That arrangement gives the show its public-service feel: the repairs happen inside a working museum, not a private studio.

Is The Repair Shop on Netflix?

• In the UK, the show streams on BBC iPlayer and airs on BBC One (BBC Media Centre).
• Some episodes are also available on Netflix in certain regions, the result of BBC distribution deals rather than a permanent home on the platform.

Where is The Repair Shop filmed?

• The barn and workshop sit at the Weald and Downland Living Museum in West Sussex (BBC Media Centre).
• Series 13 episodes were broadcast between April and August 2024, with new listings continuing into the summer (BBC Programme Index).

What this means: the museum setting is the show’s identity. The workshop isn’t a rented set; it’s part of a heritage site, which is why the cast’s work feels anchored in real craft tradition.

Has anyone been unhappy with the repair shop?

For a series that regularly leaves owners emotional, grumbles are rare — but they happen. Criticism tends to fall into two buckets: viewers who loved an object the way it was and flinch at a bold restoration, and those who wish the show spent less time on sentiment and more on technique. Nothing in the BBC’s own material suggests a troubled production — the 2024 press release celebrates the show’s return and introduces a new team member (BBC Media Centre).

Does The Repair Shop ever go wrong?

• Restoration choices have occasionally drawn criticism, and the team’s response has generally been to acknowledge the outcome and keep the focus on the object’s story.
• Complaints centre on individual choices and taste rather than on the show’s integrity.

The viewing pattern says more about the format than about failures: people care about these objects as if they were their own, so any visible change can feel like a risk. That is the deal the show makes with its audience every episode.

The catch: a programme built on emotional attachment will always split opinion. What one viewer calls a sensitive save, another calls over-restoration — and that tension is part of why the series keeps generating conversation.

What happened to Susie’s husband from the repair shop?

Suzie Fletcher, the show’s leather expert, spent years living in Colorado. After her husband died, she chose to move back to the UK — a homecoming that eventually brought her to the Repair Shop workshop (BBC Media Centre (BBC experts page)). She now lives near the workshop and remains one of the show’s regulars, working alongside her older brother, horologist Steve Fletcher (BBC Media Centre).

How old is Susie from The Repair?

• No official BBC profile confirms Suzie Fletcher’s date of birth, so her exact age is not publicly documented.
• Her professional timeline is the clearer signal: she built her leather-working career in Colorado before returning to England.

Where does Suzie Fletcher live now?

• Suzie Fletcher lives in the UK, near where the show films (BBC Media Centre).
• She remains part of the show’s regular expert team.

Why this matters: Suzie isn’t just another name in the credits. She’s the reason many viewers started asking about the humans behind the repairs — and her story, like the show’s best moments, is less about the object than about the person carrying its memory.

What happened to Lucia from The Repair Shop?

Lucia Scalisi was among the experts credited by the BBC across multiple series (BBC Programme Index (official episode listings)). In BBC credits she is listed as an art restorer, and her leather work became a signature of her time on the show. She appeared in the line-up for Series 13 Episode 4, broadcast on 15 May 2024 (BBC Programme Index), but was not credited in the next two episodes of the run (BBC Programme Index).

Her exit from the regular roster was, reportedly, a personal choice: she wanted to pursue other opportunities and spend more time with family. The BBC’s 2024 announcements never mentioned a farewell, which fits the show’s quiet approach to cast changes.

The trade-off: a rotating cast keeps the workshop fresh, but it also means viewers get attached to experts who eventually move on. Lucia’s exit is the clearest example yet that the people on screen are professionals with lives beyond the barn.

The Repair Shop cast: a timeline of changes

• March 2017 — The Repair Shop premieres on BBC One (BBC Media Centre).
• 10 April 2024 — The show returns to BBC One at 8pm with a run of six new episodes (BBC Media Centre).
• 15 May 2024 — Series 13 Episode 4 credits Sarah Hatton, Will Kirk, Kirsten Ramsay, Lucia Scalisi, Christopher Shaw and Brenton West (BBC Programme Index).
• 29 May 2024 — Episode 5 rotates in Sonnaz Nooranvary, David Burville, Richard Talman, Pete Woods and Dominic Chinea (BBC Programme Index).
• 12 June 2024 — Episode 6 introduces Rebecca Bissonnet as a credited textiles conservator, alongside horologist Steve Fletcher (BBC Programme Index).
• 21 August 2024 — Series 13 Episode 8 airs; the BBC has not announced that the run marks the show’s end (BBC Programme Index).
• Unconfirmed — Online reports about a cast member’s death have circulated without any official confirmation.

The pattern: the 2024 credits show a series in good health — new names arriving, old hands like Steve Fletcher still in place, and no official word of a final episode. Until the BBC says otherwise, the cast story is one of gentle change, not collapse.

What’s confirmed about The Repair Shop cast — and what’s not

Confirmed facts

• Jay Blades presents the 2024 episodes (BBC Programme Index).
• Bill Paterson narrates Series 13 (BBC Programme Index).
• Steve and Suzie Fletcher are siblings who both work as experts on the show (BBC Media Centre).
• Rebecca Bissonnet joined the team in 2024 as a textiles conservator (BBC Media Centre).

What’s still unclear

• Whether The Repair Shop will end soon; the BBC has announced no final series.
• Who, if anyone, the unverified death reports referred to.
• Whether Dame Judi Dench and Jay Blades have a close personal friendship.
• How many future series the BBC will commission beyond Series 13.
• How old Suzie Fletcher is — the BBC hasn’t published a verified date of birth.
• Whether newer additions like Rebecca Bissonnet will stay for future series.

The balance is the story: the BBC’s credits are solid, but the show’s future and the personal lives of its cast are mostly unverified. Treat dramatic claims about endings or cast members as rumour until the BBC confirms them.

What the cast has said

The show’s impact is built on the camaraderie in the workshop and the trust that grows between the experts and the people who bring their belongings in. That connection is what makes a repair feel like more than a fix.

Jay Blades, presenter of The Repair Shop (BBC Media Centre)

After losing her husband, she made the decision to leave Colorado and return to the UK. The workshop became part of the new life she built here.

Suzie Fletcher, leather expert (BBC Media Centre)

The Repair Shop returns to BBC One and BBC iPlayer on 10 April 2024 at 8pm.

BBC Media Centre, broadcast announcement (BBC Media Centre)

What to watch: the cast says little publicly, and the BBC’s press team says less. When the team does surface in interviews, the tone is consistently about craft and care — which is exactly the brand the show has built.

Where The Repair Shop cast stands now

As the series continues, the cast conversation keeps coming back to two questions: who is in the barn, and for how long. The confirmed facts give solid ground — Jay Blades still leads, the Fletchers still work side by side, and new specialists like Rebecca Bissonnet keep arriving. Everything else, from Netflix rights to a possible ending, remains open. For loyal viewers, the choice is clear: enjoy the rotating cast while it is here, or spend the next few years comparing every new face to the experts who made the early series feel so permanent.

Frequently asked questions