The Repair Shop has confirmed some huge special guests for its upcoming Christmas special. Among them is Dame Helen Mirren, who will be bringing in a Second World War-era cello for repair.

The "magical" episode will also see appearances from The Gruffalo author Julia Donaldson and Gavin & Stacey 's Rob Brydon.

Oscar-winner Mirren's item is from care home Denville Hall, which looks after people who have worked in the entertainment industry, with the cello left by theatre director Martin Landau, who fled Germany on the Kindertransport just before World War Two.

However, the instrument was damaged by the Nazis before he boarded the train, and as such hasn't been played in over eight decades, with the care home hoping to restore it so it can be played to help perform Christmas songs fo

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