Pot luck: Interview with Antiques Roadshow's Eric Knowles

Eric Knowles is a wonderful mix of unabashed comedian and enthusiastic antiques expert. Which means that his upcoming show What’s It Worth? is perfectly placed to satisfy his split personality, and no doubt why he insists on treading the boards. “It’s all about my favourite subject: me,” he jokes.

Not that touring the provinces is something the Antiques Roadshow presenter needs to do. Perhaps the show panders to his theatrical side, his grandmother having been a variety show performer, or maybe it satisfies the entertainer unleashed after joining the BBC team back in 1981.

Either way Eric loves it: “I call it ‘infotainment’ — you learn while you laugh. And generally I’m a show-off, so while people are never sure what to expect it’s generally a bit of a hoot.”

Content-wise, Eric says that What’s It Worth? is “non-scripted and anecdotal so it’s a nice evening out for them and therapy for me”.

And yet Eric’s life story is almost as interesting as any yarn he can spin or joke he can crack. Born and bred in Lancashire, “the difference between us and Yorkshire men is that we will buy you a drink”, his was a working-class background.

“In the North East we didn’t have much, no one did. They certainly didn’t have oil paintings or silver.

“But we did have ceramics, pots and glassware, as well as some great museums. Take Towneley Hall where we filmed Antiques Master with Sandi Toksvig, it still gives me a buzz. I’ll never get tired of that place and always joke I’m an early victim of solvent abuse with my addiction to beeswax. So I was always surrounded by history like Pendle Hill. Lancashire is steeped in history,” he stresses.

It’s still unusual for a small boy to be more interested in pots than bows and arrows though? “I was certainly an oddball, you know: ‘That Eric is a bit weird, he likes old things, but he does support Burnley FC so he can’t be that bad,’” Eric mimics.

Not that it deterred him, despite his school careers advisor asking him what kind of engineer he wanted to be. “It was very narrow. I didn’t know you could have a career in the arts,” Eric remembers.

Instead he got a job in an antiques shop, spending his spare time at the local auction house where he loved the drama and theatricality of the sales. “It’s still amazing that you can buy history,” he says.

But when that closed he had to go into engineering and was considering radio when he got a call from Bonhams. Starting at the bottom of the world-class auction house as a porter and moving to London, Eric worked his way up through the ranks until 10 years later he was a director. He says it was all about being ‘in the right place at the right time’ and that he was ‘lucky’, but an unqualified schoolboy from Lancashire doesn’t just walk into a job like that.

“It was about having the passion and seeing windows of opportunity. The Gods smiled at me,” he shrugs, “although moving from Nelson to Knightsbridge was a bit of a culture shock, so I was very proud to work there, and when I see a crowd I still want to start shouting out numbers,” he jokes.

Working in the English and continental departments and specialising in Oriental ceramics, his Bonham bosses soon suggested their young protege when the BBC came looking for an expert in late 19th century and early 20th century art, back in 1981.

“The BBC told me to come along to an Antiques Road Show and hand out tickets, until this old man turned up with a tea chest no one knew about except me, so they filmed it and that was that — there I was along with my heroes.”

So did Eric have to give up the day job? “I didn’t need to. I just took a day’s holiday for the six out of 18 Road Shows I attended annually.” He adds that the secret to its longevity “is not knowing what you’re going to come across. Like fishing, you never know what you’re going to catch and now and then you get a bite. But there has to be a story as well.”

“So it’s lucky I’m a natural optimist and I like meeting people. Plus I never sit in judgement — people can collect what they want,” he says.

Headhunted from Bonhams, Eric is now a consultant living in High Wycombe, has two grown-up children, and a string of TV shows under his belt. Yes despite his experience, his What’s It Worth? show still gets the old adrenaline going.

“The first one was a bit tricky. It was in Staines and I drove the audience home in my car afterwards,” he jokes, but it’s better now and a three-parter really. He asks each of the audience to bring in an item each to be valued, chooses about 20 or 30, does the ‘him bit’, and fits in the valuations at the end.

“There is still so much to learn and I am very conscious of that. But mine is an enduring fascination, so I never look back because I’m still here living it. You just have to make your mistakes and learn from them.”

• Eric Knowles - What’s It Worth? comes to The Theatre, Chipping Norton on Tuesday 4th February at 7.45pm. Box office on 01608 642350.