The Antiques Rogue Show

A compelling drama documentary about one of the world's prolific and most diverse art forgers. The Greenhalgh family lived by modest means on a council estate in Bolton but, tucked away in the garden shed, Shaun Greenhalgh was creating fake paintings, antiques and sculptures that would dupe the art world out of hundreds of thousands of pounds. He was aided by his octogenarian parents, George and Olive (played by Peter Vaughan and Liz Smith), who concocted elaborate back stories for each forgery. Their trump card came with a fake Egyptian statue, supposedly passed down from George's grandfather, which they sold to Bolton Museum for nearly half a million pounds. Despite the windfall the family continued to live a frugal lifestyle, revelling instead in the satisfaction derived at deceiving the art experts. Emboldened by their success, the family couldn't resist another audacious attempt - to pass off a fake Assyrian relief to the British Museum, a costly mistake that ultimately led the police to their door. But the real victim of the story is the son, Shaun Greenhalgh, touchingly portrayed by Jeremy Swift. Here was a man still living at home in his forties, who in a different family, in different circumstances could have been heralded as an artistic genius, but who instead languishes in prison on a four-and-a-half year stretch.