Dealing with Dickinson

Host

Co-hosts

Broadcast

Lion Television for BBC One, 17 July to 28 August 2005 (6 episodes in 1 series)

Synopsis

A kind of Bargain Hunt Goes Large. Over six weeks, the titular Mr Dickinson selects a team of enthusiastic amateurs and attempts to train them up into antique dealers. Over the course of the series they buy up antiques, and at the end flog them at a major international antiques fair at the Birmingham NEC. Just like Bargain Hunt, any profit they make, they keep, only this time the initial budget is fifty grand of David Dickinson's own personal fortune.

David Dickinson and his mob

If nohing else, it's good to see the Duke back doing what he does best, i.e. being knowledgeable about antiques, rather than the pointless skits and endless catchphrase-spouting of the primetime Bargain Hunt. Admittedly, he's the sort of person who can't get within 50 yards of a TV camera without playing up to it, which rather destroys the intended fly-on-the-wall effect, and he has a tendency to exaggerate his annoyance into comedy hissy-fits, which isn't fair on the participants. Also, since he's supposed to be teaching his charges about what to look for in antiques, it would be nice if a bit more of that knowledge could be shared with the viewer, too. Nevertheless, it's been a very watchable series.

Catchphrases

"From now on, you are dealing with Dickinson!" and "Print that!" - not really catchphrases because he only said them once, but the clips were hammered to death in the many recap sequences.

Of course, many of David Dickinson's personal stock phrases also got an airing - "I'm gonna say to you...", "Get it bought!" and "a load of tat" to name but three.

Flashback sequences are tagged as "auction replay" even if they don't take place at an auction. It took until the fourth episode for your reviewer to get that...

Trivia

As far as we can figure out, the contestant Angie Brown, a professional singer from South London who later appeared on The Voice UK, is indeed the same one who featured on Bizarre Inc.'s 1992 hit "I'm Gonna Get You". That makes her more famous than Fran Cosgrave, and this isn't even a celebrity show!

Theme music

By Simon May and Simon Lockyer.

Web links

Wheathills News - a short "behind the scenes" article.

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