An Antiques Roadshow visitor was delighted to learn that her collection of Teletubbies drawings might be worth up to £80,000.
The Toys & Childhood special showcased many precious nostalgic artefacts, but nothing prepared viewers for expert Mark Hill’s huge assessment.
Beloved toy rabbits, a rare Action Man set, and a Subbuteo collection were among the things appraised during the programme.
The final item presented to Mark was a collection of original Teletubbies drawings owned by Lucy, the wife of BBC designer Jonathan Hills.
The Teletubbies, one of the BBC’s hallmark children’s series of the 1990s, and its four eponymous characters became one of the most recognisable shows of their time.
Hills died in 2020 at the age of 66, leaving the collection of drawings to Lucy and the couple’s two children.
Lucy was asked how much she would pay for one of Hills’ drawings, and she felt that £500 to £2,000 was a fair price.
When Mark asked how many drawings she owned, Lucy revealed she had 80 of them. Mark said: ‘Let’s just take a median price of £1,000 each. That’s £80,000.’
The huge total left Lucy smiling as she thought of her late husband, saying: ‘That’s a lot. He’d be so thrilled. It’s great.’
While analysing the drawings, Lucy gave viewers some insight into how her husband came up with the characters, and also revealed their original name.
‘My husband was asked to develop some characters for a programme they were making, which was directed at children at home watching TV without an adult.’
Lucy continued: ‘He was asked to visualise these creatures. They started off almost mouse-like. As a group, they developed into the Teletubbies.’
She went on to reveal that the Teletubbies were once called ‘the Teleteddies’ during an early stage of their development.
As Mark described the Teletubbies as ‘magic’, Lucy agreed and celebrated her late husband’s work: ‘This is his legacy. This is what he’s left.’
Earlier this month, Jess Smith, the child who played the sun-baby that rose every morning in Teletubbyland, revealed behind the scenes details of how Teletubbies creators captured those iconic shots.
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