The Repair Shop expert 'daunted' over Mastermind chair renovation

The chair belonged to late Mastermind star Magnus Magnusson

The Repair Shop s13,16-10-2024,16,Sonnaz Nooranvary,Mastermind Chair process,Ricochet Ltd,Ricochet Ltd
Expert Sonnaz Nooranvary took on the project. (BBC)

The Repair Shop viewers were served up a healthy dose of nostalgia as the original Mastermind chair was taken to the workshop.

The iconic chair from 1972 was taken on the BBC programme by Sally Magnusson, the daughter of Mastermind’s host Magnus Magnusson, who died in 2007 at the age of 77. Broadcaster Sally said the black chair had been in her home since her father died but that it wasn't in great shape.

She hoped it could be patched up and preserved for their family and future generations and took it to expert Sonnaz Nooranvary, who admitted the renovation job felt “extraordinarily daunting”.

The chair featured on the Wednesday 16 October episode of the show, with Sally explaining that it was “not in the best of nick any longer”.

“This is an iconic chair isn’t it?” said Nooranvary. “This is what people will remember watching that programme.”

Magnus Magnusson mastermind presenter TV presenter arms out behing chair
Magnus Magnusson on Mastermind. (PA Images/Alamy)

Sally said she had been “wildly proud” of her dad and that the chair was a huge part of his legacy.

“Mastermind gradually turned him into a celebrity,” she said. “Suddenly when he walked down the street it was, ‘Magnus I’ve started so I’ll finish’.”

“Mastermind had and continued to have in his heart a very special place,” she went on.

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“This has played its part, this chair, frankly in the life of the nation and yet here it is doing what my father would have loved to see it doing, which is to be a place where the great grandchildren he’ll never meet can crawl around over it and where it can be a part of our family life. Objects are so important for telling stories that can then be passed on down the generations, that continuity is precious to me.”

Mastermind was known for its big black chair. (BBC screengrab)
Mastermind was known for its big black chair. (BBC screengrab)

Nooranvary went to work on the seat and the arms, admitting that it felt “momentous” and “extraordinarily daunting”.

However, viewers were confident that she would get it right.

“Repairing the original Mastermind chair must be incredibly daunting,” one said on X. “But Sonnaz will do it justice.”

“How great to have Sally Magnusson bring the Mastermind chair in,” said another. “I loved Magnus Magnusson doing Mastermind back in the day.”

Someone else wrote: “Legend has it that Orson Welles also sat in the Mastermind chair for his appearance on the Parkinson show. Apparently, he was too big for the normal chairs, and they had to borrow the 'Big Black Chair' from Mastermind.”

Sally Magnusson said her father would approve of the work done on the chair. (BBC screengrab)
Sally Magnusson said her father would approve of the work done on the chair. (BBC screengrab)

When Nooranvary had finished Sally returned to the barn to see the repaired chair. She was thrilled, saying the experts had done a great job and that her dad would “so approve”.

“He would be touched,” she said. “He would be moved that we’ve all gone to the trouble of conserving this piece of his history and the nation’s history.”

The Repair Shop airs on BBC One on Wednesday evenings.