|
Antiques Roadshow is a human interest
television show in which antique appraisers travel across the country. The
origin of the series was a 1977 BBC documentary about a
London Auction house doing a tour of the West Country in
England. The show has visited a number of other countries and has been copied in its
format by other TV production companies. In the BBC series, various towns or
famous places are advertised as venues. Local people bring along their possessions which are evaluated for authenticity, interest
(especially related to the venue) and an approximate valuation is given.
Often, the professional evaluators give a rather profound historical, craft, or artistic context to the antique, adding a very
strong cultural element to the show. This makes the show interesting for persons interested in the study of the past or some
particular crafts, or certain arts, regardless of the monetary value of the objects. At the core though the focus of the
production is on the interplay between the owner and the evaluator.
PBS has created a similar show in the United States and the United Kingdom (a spinoff called Antiques Roadshow UK to differentiate from the BBC
version).
The Roadshow is seen on PBS, and it is produced by WGBH, a broadcast station in Boston, Massachusetts.
The list of professional evaluators who have participated in these shows reads like a "Who's Who" of famous experts of the
antiques business in the UK and North America.
External links
|