Paul Martin (TV presenter)

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Paul Martin
'Flog It!' Paul Martin, BBC TV presenter.jpg
Martin during a recording of Flog It! at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, 2014
Born (1959-01-05) 5 January 1959 (age 66)
Teddington, Middlesex, U.K.
Education Falmouth Grammar School
Alma mater Falmouth College of Arts
Occupation(s)Antiques dealer, session musician and television presenter
Years active1982–present
Known forBBC antiques presenter
Television Flog It!
Trust Me, I'm a Dealer
Paul Martin's Handmade Revolution
Street Auction
Make Me a Dealer
Curiosity
SpouseCharlotte Godfrey (m. 2007)
Children2

Paul Martin (born 5 January 1959) is a British antiques dealer and professional drummer, best known for being the presenter of various BBC television antiques programmes including Flog It! , Trust Me, I'm a Dealer [1] and Paul Martin's Handmade Revolution.

Contents

Biography

Martin was born in Teddington, Middlesex. His family subsequently moved to Cornwall, where he was educated at Falmouth Grammar School [2] and then studied art and woodworking at Falmouth College of Arts [3] (now Falmouth University).

He then developed parallel careers, as an antiques trader and dealer and as a session musician drummer. Martin worked with Average White Band, The Quireboys and The Dogs D'Amour in the 1990s. [3]

Martin during a recording of Flog It! in Birmingham, 2014 Flog It! Paul Martin at Birmingham recording.jpg
Martin during a recording of Flog It! in Birmingham, 2014

From the age of 25, he owned a pitch on London's Portobello Road. [3] He also worked as an antiques props stylist for magazines including Marie Claire and New Woman , whilst undertaking larger projects designing antique sets for television shoots for BBC One's The Clothes Show and Granada TV. [3] After Portobello Road, Martin ran The Table Gallery antiques shop on Kingsbury Street in Marlborough, Wiltshire. [4] [5] In 2020, the shop relocated to Corsham, Wiltshire, specialising in 17th- and 18th-century Welsh and English oak furniture and Victorian lavatories. [6]

Television presenting

Martin was discovered by a team from BBC Bristol when he was interviewed about his passion for oak furniture. He was then signed up in 2002 to present Flog It!, which has led to a series of television shows and spin-off books. [2]

In 2011 he presented To the Manor Reborn alongside Penelope Keith, covering the refurbishment of Avebury Manor in Wiltshire for the National Trust. [7] In 2014, he began hosting I Never Knew That About Britain for the ITV network. He presented the BBC Countryfile spin-offs Summer Diaries, Spring Diaries, Autumn Diaries and Winter Diaries in 2016 and 2017. [8]

On 2 October 2018, the BBC announced it would cancel Flog It!, but that Martin would return to host two new similar shows as part of its "modernised" new daytime schedule—one of which would use Martin's skills as a dealer to train members of the public, the second being an antiques-based game show. [9] The first of these programmes, Make Me a Dealer, began its inaugural series on 5 November 2018, followed by the antiques game show Curiosity in spring 2019. [10]

Books

Martin with pilot David Costello, Wiltshire Air Ambulance Paul Martin and pilot with Wiltshire Air Ambulance.jpg
Martin with pilot David Costello, Wiltshire Air Ambulance

Paul Martin has written a popular book on antiques, Paul Martin: My World of Antiques, subtitled ‘Collect, buy and sell everyday antiques like an expert’. [11] [12] The book draws on his experiences on ‘Flog It!’ and includes chapters on various types of antiques and interviews with a number of other experts.

Personal life

Martin married BBC production co-ordinator Charlotte Godfrey in 2007. [13] [1] They live in Seend, Wiltshire, on a smallholding with an arboretum. [14]

Martin is an ambassador for the Wiltshire and Bath Air Ambulance charity. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wiltshire</span> County of England

Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to the west. The largest settlement is Swindon, and Trowbridge is the county town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avebury (village)</span> Village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England

Avebury is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village is about 5.5 miles (9 km) west of Marlborough and 8 miles (13 km) northeast of Devizes. Much of the village is encircled by the prehistoric monument complex also known as Avebury. The parish also includes the small villages of Avebury Trusloe and Beckhampton, and the hamlet of West Kennett.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penelope Keith</span> British actress (born 1940)

Dame Penelope Anne Constance Keith, is an English actress and presenter, active in film, radio, stage and television and primarily known for her roles in the British sitcoms The Good Life and To the Manor Born. She succeeded Lord Olivier as president of the Actors' Benevolent Fund after his death in 1989, and was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to the arts and to charity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portobello Road</span> Street in the Notting Hill district of west London

Portobello Road is a street in the Notting Hill district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London. It runs almost the length of Notting Hill from South to North, roughly parallel with Ladbroke Grove. On Saturdays it is home to Portobello Road Market, one of London's notable street markets, known for its second-hand clothes, pastries and antiques. Every August since 1996, the Portobello Film Festival has been held in locations around Portobello Road and, in 2015, Portobello Radio was founded as the area's community radio station.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corsham</span> Town in Wiltshire, England

Corsham is a historic market town and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England. It is at the southwestern edge of the Cotswolds, just off the A4 national route. It is 28 miles (45 km) southwest of Swindon, 20 miles (32 km) east of Bristol, 8 miles (13 km) north-east of Bath, and 4 miles (6 km) southwest of Chippenham.

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Philip Martyn Serrell is an English auctioneer, antiques expert and television presenter who appears as regular presenter on BBC TV antiques programmes such as Bargain Hunt and Flog It!. He began his career as a livestock trade auctioneer, but he became a chartered surveyor in 1988 to analyse antiques. Serrell has also participated in musical charity events, performing as a singer with The Celebs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avebury Manor and Garden</span> Grade I listed manor house in England

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<i>Flog It!</i> British television series

Flog It! is a BBC television series presented by Paul Martin that was broadcast from 27 May 2002 to May 2020.

Michael "Hoggy" Hogben is an English auctioneer, antiques dealer, Author and TV personality who has appeared in the BBC series Bargain Hunt, ITV's Dickinson's Real Deal, and his own series Auction Man.

David Kingsley Harper is an antiques expert, artist, speaker and writer.

Kate Bliss is an English antiques expert and television presenter.

Mark Stacey is a Welsh valuer and auctioneer. He is also a TV personality and has made regular appearances on BBC programmes as an antique expert.

David John Barby, FRICS was an English antiques expert, known for his appearances on Bargain Hunt, Flog It! and similar BBC antiques television programmes.

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Natasha Raskin Sharp is a Scottish television presenter, and antiques and art expert, especially in Scottish contemporary art, best known for her appearances on television. The daughter of contemporary Scottish artist Philip Raskin, she has appeared in programmes in the UK and the US including Antiques Road Trip, Celebrity Antiques Road Trip, Flog It!, Bargain Hunt, For What It's Worth and Baggage Battles.

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References

  1. 1 2 Ajesh Patalay (21 August 2009). "Paul Martin Interview" . The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Paul Martin". Capel & Land. Archived from the original on 1 October 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Paul Martin". UKTV . Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  4. ↑ https://scottmedia.uk/speakers-list/paul-martin/
  5. ↑ https://www.bizseek.co.uk/paul-martin-antiques-01672-511188
  6. ↑ Robertson, Kirsten (29 October 2020). "New antique shop opens its doors in Corsham". Wiltshire Times. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
  7. ↑ "Penelope Keith hosts To The Manor Reborn at Avebury". BBC News. 6 August 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  8. ↑ "Countryfile Summer Diaries". BBC Media Centre. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  9. ↑ "Flog It! axed as part of BBC One daytime shake-up". BBC. 2 October 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  10. ↑ Chesters, Laura (5 November 2018). "Can wheeler dealers become antique dealers? Former Flog It! presenter Paul Martin launches new BBC show". Antiques Trade Gazette. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  11. ↑ Martin, Paul (2018). Paul Martin: My World of Antiques, 'Collect, buy and sell everyday antiques like an expert'. London: John Blake. ISBN   978-1-78606-475-2.
  12. ↑ Antiques Trade Gazette (2018). "Paul Martin: My World of Antiques, book launch". Antiques Trade Gazette.
  13. ↑ "BBC's Curiosity: Who is antiques expert Paul Martin's wife?". 28 September 2021.
  14. ↑ "TRADING PLACES: TV presenter Paul Martin and his family exchanged a high street home for a country smallholding and the lifestyle that went with it". The Scotsman. 28 February 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  15. ↑ "Paul Martin". Wiltshire and Bath Air Ambulance Charity. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
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