Antiques Roadshow director Nicky Illis has died. The 53-year-old died of
cancer this week and was best known for being Fake or Fortune's long-term director. Nicky was also behind David Dimbleyby's A Picture of
Britain, as well as the drama documentary The Real Jane Austen. Nicky burst into the industry back in the 1990s and went on to produce shows such as One Foot in the Past as well as The House Detectives. But the show Fake or Fortune went on to become her biggest, with a whopping six million people tuning into an episode which was about a painting attributed to Renoir. Elsewhere, millions tuned into an episode about painter William Turner which saw several of his pieces of work reinstated to the National Museum of Wales. During her time behind the camera, she was also responsible for a documentary on Harry Potter to go alongside the release of the first movie, The Philosopher's Stone. Nicky was the mastermind behind the likes of Fake or Fortune and BBC's Antiques Roadshow Having spent years on other programmes, she moved to Antiques Roadshow in 2009 and after directing an episode of the hit programme, Nicky led her to Simon Shaw and art expert Phillip Mould with Fake or Fortune airing just two years later. During her career, she was also the producer behind the TV mini-series, Alan Carr's Adventures with Agatha Christie in 2022. Tributes from TV's most famous names have started to pour in, with Fiona Bruce saying: "Nicky is simply irreplaceable. Not just for her huge talent but also for her sheer exuberance, enthusiasm and sense of fun. Everyone on the team loved her and none more than me." Directors
UK said on X, formerly
Twitter : "We were deeply saddened to hear about the passing of factual director and our member Nicky Illis. Our thoughts are with her family and
Friends at this time." Fake or Fortune editor Robert Murphy said: "Nicky and I first worked together in 2001 on the
BBC series House Detectives, travelling to
India to film the crumbling ruins of a house once occupied by Robert Clive. In the baking heat of Kolkata, I was privileged to see one of the best TV directors of their generation at work. Throughout her career, Nicky had an incredible drive and curiosity as well as visual flair – she always brought the best out of the cast and crew she worked with and inspired fierce loyalty in her teams. "In 2012 we were reunited on the series Fake or Fortune and over the next decade we worked closely together as it grew into a hugely successful returning series. We were partners in art crime, united by our shared love of art, storytelling and the twists and turns of this addictive show. She was someone I respected immensely, not just as a director and peer but as an all-round good person, so kind and considerate, with a famous sense of humour. "I can picture her coming into the office, coffee in one hand, a bag slung over her arm bulging with art books, ready to solve another mystery. It’s quieter now and we’ve lost a precious font of knowledge, a trailblazer and a great friend. She will be very much missed." The late producer is survived by her husband Seb, whom she married in September 2012 and children, Luke and Eliza. Follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat ,
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