Fake or Fortune? - Season 13

A mysterious inscription, a famous name and a colossal price tag. The team embark on a high-stakes quest to authenticate a 'lost' Churchill. Is it genuine or a clever fake?

The team investigate an early portrait and a charming little landscape, both believed to be by one of the biggest names in art. Could two new Renoir works have surfaced in the UK?

When a keen art blogger picked up a £35 bargain at auction, he started to suspect he'd found a missing work by Frances Hodgkins. Can the team prove his hunch was right?

An American couple think their $200 portrait could be a long-lost work by artist Angelica Kauffman. The evidence is promising, but its condition raises alarming questions.

Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould revisit their 2017 investigation into two rare portraits of Black British women from the 18th and 19th centuries. Huge cultural shifts have happened since the original broadcast, with both paintings seeing their historical and commercial value soar and one of them finding a prestigious new home.

The original episode focuses on two remarkable paintings steeped in mystery – in both cases, the identity of the artist is unknown. The first artwork is a double portrait of Lady Elizabeth Murray and her cousin, Dido Belle, who was born into slavery and eventually became a member of the aristocratic Mansfield family. The painting is on display at Scone Palace in Scotland and was commissioned by the first Lord Mansfield, Dido Belle's guardian, in the late 1770s or early 1780s, at the height of the transatlantic slave trade. In recent years, Belle's incredible story has inspired books and a feature film about her life. Now, the current Lady Mansfield is determined to discover the name of the artist who painted her.

The second painting is even more unusual – two beautifully dressed girls holding a book in what appears to be a depiction of a tropical landscape. Early clues suggest this could be a political painting that is somehow connected to the campaign to abolish slavery in Britain's colonies. Could the sitters themselves be enslaved? If so, why are they wearing such fine clothes?

The quest to solve both mysteries leads to renowned Scottish painter David Martin and pioneering artist Emma Jones, a child prodigy who made her name painting people on the margins of society. Demonstrating extraordinary skill and sophistication, both pictures are highly unusual in their positive depiction of Black women at a time when Britain was still heavily engaged in the transatlantic slave trade.

In the years since the episode was first broadcast, huge cultural shifts have taken place, inspired in part by the Black Lives Matter movement. Museums and galleries have raced to broaden the scope of the artworks in their collections, buying up the work of women artists and pictures that better reflect Britain's multicultural history.

Philip and Fiona return to both paintings to find out what impact these changes have had on the value of the artworks and how they have enhanced their historical importance. They discover that the portrait of Dido Belle has become a star exhibit in multiple important exhibitions, while Two Girls with a Book, by Emma Jones, has found a new home, on loan to the Tate Gallery in London.

Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould return to the story of a beautiful painting by Canadian impressionist Helen McNicoll and find out what happens when owner David decides to offer the picture for sale. Could a life-changing windfall be on the cards?

In the original episode, first broadcast in 2024, Fiona and Philip investigated a picturesque outdoor scene of women in a field. It was sold at auction in England as ‘in the style of' Helen Galloway McNicoll, one of Canada's most important impressionist painters. The painting was bought at auction by artist and small-time art dealer David Taylor for £2,000 – but it could be worth as much as £300,000.

Helen McNicoll is one of Canada's most celebrated artists of the early 20th century. As a child, she caught scarlet fever, which resulted in a loss of hearing, and she was tutored at home. Her wealthy upbringing allowed her to travel extensively, and she left Canada to study at the Slade School of Fine Art in London.

McNicoll based herself in London for the rest of her life, travelling with British artist Dorothea Sharp, painting in France and Europe, where she adopted the impressionist style she became known for. Tragically, in 1915, she died of complications from diabetes. Despite receiving critical acclaim during her lifetime, McNicoll has until now remained relatively unknown outside Canada, where her work regularly sells for record-breaking, six-figure sums.

The painting was catalogued as unsigned, but David's interest was piqued when he noticed what appeared to be a signature hidden beneath the frame. The artwork had the title Women of the Fields but an incorrect date and was listed with provenance from the Pine-Coffin family of Canada.

Philip travels to Canada to compare David's painting with known McNicoll works and notes some promising stylistic similarities. He meets McNicoll scholar Julie Nash at the Grand Château Frontenac hotel in Quebec City. Julie trawls through McNicoll's exhibition history, but she finds no reference to a painting with the title on David's painting.

Fiona, meanwhile, delves into McNicoll's career, discovering she had a penchant for travel and adventure. With the provenance proving elusive, Fiona looks for clues in McNicoll's career and the subject of the painting. Her investigation leads to the Royal Horticultural Society Garden Wisley and an important clue about the activity the painting depicts – harvesting beans.

As if the stakes weren't high enough already, it comes to a critical point when McNicoll's biggest collector, billionaire Canadian businessman Pierre Lassonde, flies over to see the painting. With a life-changing sum of money at stake, will the team be able to find enough evidence to prove David's saleroom gamble paid off?