Bright Spark

Mark Stuckey has repaired hundreds of treasured items and countless broken hearts as the mechanical maestro of the BBC’s much-loved The Repair Shop. But what the programme’s millions of viewers don’t know is that the enigmatic engineer has kept an incredible secret — even from his fellow experts on the show.

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For the first time, Mark reveals how he spent decades as a top magician, performing at iconic venues and on television, before going behind the scenes to work on classic shows including Red Dwarf and developing original projects for legendary producers Gerry Anderson and Peter Rogers. All of this was achieved under a different name — an alter ego he has kept private until now.

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From his gadget-filled garden workshop, Mark shares the skills he has learned from a lifetime of technological tinkering, explaining the intricacy involved in repairing vintage television sets, portable suitcase radios and cinema projection equipment. Each item he saves from the scrapheap transports him back to a defining moment in his own story.

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In this candid and deeply personal memoir, Mark reflects on a nomadic and rebellious childhood, his father’s gambling, his mother’s alcoholism, the collapse of his first marriage and the unusual circumstances in which he eventually met his soulmate — while building nuclear weapons systems.

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From family estrangement to a devastating house fire, Mark has faced life’s challenges with dogged pragmatism, humour and self-belief. His insatiable quest for knowledge has seen him master electronic circuitry, study martial arts, build a cinema and explore the stars.

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Injected with his trademark humour, honesty and humanity, Bright Spark is a compelling and inspiring memoir about curiosity, resilience and the belief that we can all learn to do anything and make the most of life — because, frankly, it’s too ruddy short.