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Owner of Repair Shop doll says it is 'not creepy'

Rob Constantin/BBC A doll with a pink bonnet and dark brown curly hair.Rob Constantin/BBC
Annabelle was restored on BBC One show The Repair Shop after its head fell off

The owner of a 100-year-old doll that had its head reattached on the BBC show The Repair Shop said it was "not creepy" although others think it is.

Pip Martin, from Northamptonshire, took the toy, named Annabelle, to be repaired by restorers Julie Tatchell and Amanda Middleditch.

After she appeared on episode 13 of series 13, it led some viewers to comment on X, formerly known as Twitter, that it was a "creepy doll #The RepairShop". Another person wrote: "That doll is scary! #Annabelle#dolly#TheRepairShop".

But Ms Martin said: "She's not creepy to me, but everyone says that".

BBC/Ricochet Ltd Julie Tatchell (left) in blue dungarees and green cardigan, Amanda Middleditch (right) with pink dungarees and white top, and Pip Martin in a blue dress stood behind a work bench with a damaged doll.BBC/Ricochet Ltd
Julie Tatchell (left) and Amanda Middleditch (right) fixed Pip Martin's doll on the show

The doll belonged to her "Auntie Eileen", who was "born in the 1920s", which led her to believe the doll dated from then, which the restorers agreed with.

Ms Martin said she was given Annabelle when she was 13 after Eileen, who was her great-aunt, died.

The now 40-year-old said she was allowed to play with her, but "you had to be delicate, she'd seen quite a lot of activity by that point".

BBC/Ricochet Ltd A headless doll lying on a wooden surface wearing a pink knitted dress with a white ribbon with its head by its side.BBC/Ricochet Ltd
Annabelle's head fell off during a house move

The doll was damaged during a house move, and the head fell off.

Ms Martin said Annabelle had great sentimental value as Eileen fostered more than 50 babies and young children, many of whom played with the doll.

She added she had been "looking for ages" for somewhere to fix it, and it was her parents who suggested the Repair Shop as they were "avid watchers" of the show.

Rob Constantin/BBC Pip Martin in a pink top and blue jacket, with her dark hair tied back, holding Annabelle the doll, which is in a pink dress and pink bonnetRob Constantin/BBC
Pip Martin said the doll was important to her as it represented her great-aunt Eileen

The experts on the BBC One hit fixed the doll's neck, reattaching its head, improved her curly hair, and restored the paintwork.

It was also given a new pink dress and bonnet, which Julie and Amanda said was in keeping with what she would have worn back when Eileen was first given the doll as a toddler.

Ms Martin said she was pleased the doll had been restored and now "sits in the spare room".

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