David Dickinson

Last updated

David Dickinson
MBE
Dickinson's Real Deal 18.jpg
Dickinson filming Dickinson's Real Deal in 2010
Born
David Gulesserian

(1941-08-16) 16 August 1941 (age 82)
Cheadle Heath, Cheshire, England
Occupations
  • Broadcaster
  • antiques expert
Years active1998–present
Employers
  • BBC (1998–2005)
  • ITV (2006–)
Television
Spouse
Lorne Lesley
​
(m. 1968)​
Children2
Website David-Dickinson.net

David Dickinson MBE (born David Gulesserian; 16 August 1941) is an English antiques dealer and television presenter. Between 2000 and 2004, Dickinson hosted the BBC One antiques show Bargain Hunt , where he was succeeded by Tim Wonnacott. Dickinson left the BBC in 2005, and between 2006 and 2024, he hosted the ITV daytime show Dickinson's Real Deal . The show saw members of the public bringing antiques and collectables to sell to a dealer or take to the auction.

Contents

In April 2003, Dickinson hosted his own daytime chat show series The David Dickinson Show and in 2017, he presented David Dickinson's Name Your Price for ITV.

Origins

David Dickinson was born in Cheadle Heath, Stockport, Cheshire, the son of Eugenie Gulesserian (born 1919 in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Lancashire), a daughter of Hrant Gulesserian, an Armenian textile merchant who had moved from Constantinople to Manchester in 1904. Dickinson was placed for adoption as an infant and never again met his biological mother although he corresponded with her in later life when she was living in Jersey. Dickinson's biological father is unknown. [1] David was subsequently adopted by the Dickinsons, a local couple. Mr Dickinson died when David was 12, and as his mother worked hard to keep the family together, David was partly brought up by his adoptive paternal grandmother, Sarah.

Early life

Dickinson began an apprenticeship at an aircraft factory when he was 14, but quickly left to work in the cloth trade in central Manchester. At 19, Dickinson served three years of a four-year prison sentence for mail-order fraud. The majority of his sentence was spent at Strangeways in Manchester. [2]

Dickinson set up in Manchester with the assistance of an old customer as silent partner, and the business ran until 1991 when, in light of forthcoming recession, the shop was closed. Dickinson decided to concentrate on selling antiques at prestigious fairs, taking stands at Olympia and other major antiques fairs three or four times a year, dealing in 18th- and 19th-century furniture and works of art.

Personal life

Dickinson met his wife, Lorne Lesley, a cabaret performer, in a nightclub in the 1960s, and they married in 1968. As a wedding gift Lorne gave David an antique regency mourning ring, set with a rose cut diamond. Lorne is of African, Welsh and Scottish ancestry; she hails from Tiger Bay, Cardiff. The couple live in the village of Prestbury in Cheshire. They have two grown-up children, and four grandchildren, Aim'ee and Lauren, Miles and Finley. Finley appeared alongside Dickinson on the second series of Big Star's Little Star . Miles, who is now an entrepreneur, featured on Series 20 of BBC's Dragons' Den, becoming the youngest contestant to successfully secure investment from a Dragon. [3]

Dickinson's nickname is "The Duke", a reference to his wardrobe. For forty years he has used the same tailor, Chris Nicolaou, who appeared as a guest for Dickinson's This Is Your Life programme, when he was surprised by Michael Aspel at an auction house in Folkestone in November 2002.[ citation needed ]

Until May 2008, Dickinson drove a bright blue Bentley Continental GT. He owns two vehicles, the first being an eco-friendly electric Smart EV and the second a Reliant Regal van; this van was one of the famous yellow Trotters Independent Traders vans from the sitcom Only Fools and Horses , which Dickinson bought in 2007 for over £44,000.[ citation needed ]

TV career

Dickinson filming Real Deal in 2007 David Dickinson crop.jpg
Dickinson filming Real Deal in 2007

In 1998, a chance meeting with a TV producer at a barbecue led to Dickinson's TV appearance, a two-part documentary for the BBC made about him and his preparation for a show at Olympia. His dark complexion (often implied to be a fake tan, but he says that it is because of his Armenian ancestry) and numerous catchphrases quickly caught the viewers' attention.

Dickinson came to public attention as an antiques expert on This Morning and BBC Two's The Antiques Show. His career break as a television celebrity came from presenting Bargain Hunt on BBC One at lunchtimes which gained a keen following amongst daytime viewers including students.

A primetime evening version of Bargain Hunt was broadcast for a few years following the success of the daytime show. Dickinson left the daytime edition of Bargain Hunt in 2003 and was replaced by Tim Wonnacott on the daytime slot while Dickinson carried on presenting the primetime, celebrity and Christmas versions of the show. He went on to present a reality show, Dealing With Dickinson on BBC One in 2005 which was cancelled after only one series. Dickinson left the BBC once the primetime editions of Bargain Hunt were cancelled.

Dickinson moved to ITV in 2006 to present a new daytime antiques programme, Dickinson's Real Deal , which is broadcast on daytime weekday afternoons. Old episodes are frequently repeated. The show visits locations around the UK and asks people to come in and either sell their antiques and collectables for valuation by an antiques dealer who may offer to buy the item for cash. Alternatively, the participants can take a gamble and go to auction if the dealer's offer is refused or no offer is made to buy the object. The participant risks taking a lower price than offered by the dealer if the object fails to exceed the dealer's offer or fails to meet its reserve. Dickinson's job is to act as a mediator to help the sellers obtain the best prices from the dealers or to help them with the decision about whether to refuse the offer and to take the item to auction.

From 17 May 2010, The David Dickinson Show, a celebrity variety show, was broadcast on ITV for 10 episodes.[ citation needed ] In 2017, he presented David Dickinson's Name Your Price for ITV.

Catchphrases

Guest appearances

In 2002, Dickinson appeared as a guest on Shooting Stars joining Team B led by Ulrika Jonsson with Johnny Vegas.

In 2004, Dickinson was one of several celebrities to have their portraits painted in the BBC One television series Star Portraits with Rolf Harris , [6] and, also in 2004, he appeared in the first series of Strictly Come Dancing .

In 2005, Dickinson appeared on the ITV reality show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! , where he first announced that he had used heroin in his younger years. He also presented information slots for viewers on how to bid on satellite shopping channel Bid TV. He appeared in one episode of the ITV drama Heartbeat , playing an antiques dealer. [7]

Dickinson explored his family background in an episode of the third series of the BBC genealogical documentary series Who Do You Think You Are? [8] broadcast in the UK on 4 October 2006. He was able to trace relatives in both the UK and Istanbul.

On one radio episode of Dead Ringers , The Doctor (voiced by Jon Culshaw) telephoned Dickinson to ask him how much he could get for a magnetic core extractor that was believed to have been owned by the Doctor when he was played by Jon Pertwee. Dickinson described the extractor as "a bit of a bobby dazzler".

In March 2014, Dickinson appeared in the eleventh series of Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway . The duo disguised themselves with prosthetics and fake accents to dupe Dickinson into believing there was a live argument and subsequent car crash on the set of his new 'fake' show Long Lost Treasures. During the aftermath of the wind up and following the big reveal from Ant & Dec, Dickinson said "you two have done me up like a kipper!" [9]

He played the Emperor in the third episode of The Keith & Paddy Picture Show ("Return of the Jedi"). [10]

Related Research Articles

<i>Bargain Hunt</i> British television series

Bargain Hunt is a British television programme in which two pairs of contestants are challenged to buy antiques from shops or a fair and then sell them in an auction for a profit. It has aired on BBC One since 13 March 2000 in a daytime version, and from 22 August 2002 to 13 November 2004 in a primetime version.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip Serrell</span> English auctioneer, antiques expert and television presenter

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Timothy Wonnacott is an English chartered auctioneer, chartered surveyor, antiques expert, narrator, and a television presenter. He was previously a director of Sotheby's, one of the world's oldest auction houses.

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<i>Dickinsons Real Deal</i> UK TV programme

Dickinson's Real Deal is a British modern antiques and collectables television programme that is broadcast on ITV as part of the afternoon schedule with repeats on BLAZE, Yesterday and Challenge. It is presented by David Dickinson. A US version of the show, produced by Zodiak USA and titled simply Real Deal, was aired for one series on the History Channel. The format was the same except that the US show lacked the on-screen host for intervention on the deals.

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Real Deal is an American television series aired on the History channel which premiered in December 2011. The show brings together sellers of antiques, collectables, and historical artifacts with professional buyers. The show is based on the UK TV show Dickinson's Real Deal, except the US show lacks the independent sellers and an on-screen host.

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Anita Manning is a Scottish antiques expert and television personality from Glasgow. She is well known for her appearances since 2010 as an expert and presenter on the BBC's Bargain Hunt, Flog It! and the Antiques Road Trip. She is claimed to be the first female auctioneer in Scotland.

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References

  1. ↑ "BBC - Who Do You Think You Are? - Past Stories - David Dickinson". BBC.
  2. ↑ David Dickinson Bargain Hunt – Books by David Dickinson
  3. ↑ Doherty, Réiltín (3 February 2023). "Dragons' Den: David Dickinson's grandson sparks viewer confusion as he asks for £35k". Entertainment Daily. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  4. ↑ What A Bobby Dazzler Amazon UK; Accessed 5 May 2014
  5. 1 2 Dan Hear, "A Real Bobby dazzlers in Oxford" Oxford Mail, 28 October 2009; Accessed 5 May 2014
  6. ↑ "Star Portraits - Dickinson". Archived from the original on 4 February 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2007.
  7. ↑ "Bargain Hunt host joins Heartbeat". BBC News. 13 January 2004. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  8. ↑ "Autumn 2006". BBC One. 18 July 2006.
  9. ↑ McGeorge, Alistair (8 March 2014). "Not the real deal: Watch Ant & Dec fool David Dickinson in hilarious prank for Saturday Night Takeaway". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  10. ↑ Darvill, Josh (20 May 2017). "Keith & Paddy Picture Show does Star Wars' Return of the Jedi tonight on ITV". TellyMix. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
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