BBC Antiques Roadshow expert gives 'really valuable' James Bond item huge valuation
Antiques Roadshow expert Stephen Lane was left stunned when he saw a rare James Bond item on Sunday
Antiques Roadshow made its return on Sunday evening, with expert Stephen Lane left stunned by an extraordinary James Bond artefact.
Host Fiona Bruce explained: "In the early 1960s, former RAF officer and aviation innovator Ken Wallis designed and piloted a compact, highly manoeuvrable gyrocopter.
"Little Nellie became known for its unique role in aviation and cinematic history. Movie memorabilia expert, Stephen Lane, was thrilled to see it up close."
Addressing the pair of guests who had brought along the piece, Stephen remarked: "So when you think about James Bond, you think about the guns, the gadgets and the vehicles.
"And what a vehicle this is. You Only Live Twice, 1967, starring Sean Connery as James Bond. And this custom gyrocopter that features so heavily in the film.", reports the Express.
"So I know that this is an autogyro, but what exactly is an autogyro?" prompting the guest to clarify: "An autogyro is essentially, it's sort of in between an aeroplane and a helicopter.
"It's an aeroplane, you have fixed wings. And in a helicopter, you've got driven rotors. With an autogyro, the actual rotor blades aren't driven in any form.
"So essentially, it's powered by this engine, which pushes forward through the air and then the lift's created by the rotors spinning in the air."
Stephen was keen to discover more about the machine and how it had come into the guest's ownership, with them revealing: "Well, my father designed and partly built it back in 1962.
"He did a trial at Pinewood [Studios]. And the next thing is, they were rewriting the script. And my father was filming in Rio, actually, for another film.
"And went straight from there to Japan. All in all, about 45 hours of flying for the 7.5 minutes of film", she added, speaking about the two crafts built for the film: "One of them, Sean Connery sat in, and it was known for the blue screen".
Meanwhile her father piloted the second one for all the aerial footage in the film, including the view from Little Nellie of the volcano and of the helicopters.
Expert Stephen remarked: "Well, I think it's a beautiful vehicle, it's a wonderful thing. I know that we're not valuing it today because it's part of a collection, a charitable collection. I think it's an amazing thing that should be treasured. It should remain on display as much as possible, as well, for the general public to see.
"Along with Little Nellie today, you've brought in some cases, haven't you? So we've got four cases dotted around us today", he added: "So what we're actually seeing here in these cases is the components.
"So if I remember rightly, Bond calls for Little Nellie to come in with Q. They turn up, and Q has four of his technicians come into the room carrying these cases.
"So it's these actual cases that come into shot for that, isn't it? I love one of the details on it, actually. You've got the Universal Exports label that just sits there within the cases and is attached to some of the other cases."
Delivering his assessment, Stephen declared: "But I think if you were to bring the four cases together at auction, I would certainly, not hesitating, put an estimate of somewhere in the region of £50,000 to £100,000 for them.
"So really, really valuable, really exciting, and very significant. I've been really excited to see these here today.
"I just want to thank you for the effort that you must have gone to, to bring these into the show today. They're absolutely fantastic" to which the guests said it was their pleasure.
Antiques Roadshow continues on Sunday evenings on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.