Antiques Roadshow guest stunned at huge valuation for 'creepy' original Teletubbies sketches

A woman who went on Antiques Roadshow with original sketches of the Teletubbies was stunned to learn just how much they were worth.

We all dream of taking an old trinket that we found lying around the house or for pennies at a charity shop to the BBC One show and being told, Only Fools and Horses style, that it's worth a fortune.

Well, that was exactly what happened when the wife of late designer and illustrator, Jonathan Hills appeared on a episode last year.

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Jonathan Hills drew the figures that became childhood icons, the Teletubbies. He also worked in visual effects, designing digital art for a number of TV programmes, including Poirot (1989) and Eleventh Hour (2006).

The talented artist passed away in 2020. He was 66 years old.

His wife, Lucy, brought some of his old drawings along for the show’s 'Toys and Childhood Special' episode, giving antiques expert Mark Hill and viewers at home an insight into what Tinky-Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa, and Po looked like in their early days.

Mark said: "We’re looking here at a selection of drawings of what look like the Teletubbies, but there’s a sort of slight difference in some of them.

"They’re original drawings - how on Earth did you come to get these?"

Lucy then shared: "My husband was asked to develop some characters for a programme they were making, which was directed at children that were at home watching TV without an adult.

"Jonathan sadly died two years ago. And this is his legacy."

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Of course, the Teletubbies in the sketches are pretty far removed from the colourful characters the world came to know and love, with some almost resembling bears.

Lucy then revealed that the show was originally going to be called 'Teleteddies'.

Another sketch featured the programme's famous sun, which features a baby's face at its centre.

Mark joked that it was somewhat ‘creepy’, but Lucy insisted that the character was well-loved because young children could see themselves in it.

Then it was time to find out how much Lucy would pocket for selling the sketches.

The valuer pointed out that nostalgia and childhood memories made it a particularly interesting valuation.

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"At some point, you want what made you feel warm and happy and cosy as a child. And I think when that age group matures, I think they’re going to want to buy things like this," he explained.

"They’re going to want to own these and display them. When it comes to value, we have to ask what they might pay. What would you pay for a Teletubbies original drawing?

"£500? I think so. £1,000? Highly possible.

"And for some of the very best that really capture that Teletubbies magic, I don’t really see £2,000 as being out of the question."

When Lucy stated that she had around 80 drawings in her collection, she was stunned to learn that the entire thing could be worth as much as £80,000.

Speaking of her late husband, she said: "He would be so thrilled. It’s great."