The Best Episodes of Fake or Fortune?

Episode Rankings

1. #1 Fan Favorite
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   9.0/10(24 votes)

   #1 - Helen McNicoll

   S12:E210/3/2024

   Art dealer David Taylor bought a painting of women working in a field for £2,090, suspecting that it might be by Canadian Impressionist Helen McNicoll. With almost all identifying labels removed, Fiona and Philip trace its exhibition history across Britain and Canada in an effort to reconnect the neglected work with its original title and artist.

   Director:Matthew Smith

   Writer:Unknown

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   Director:Matthew Smith

   Writer:Unknown
2. 

   8.8/10(43 votes)

   #2 - Monet

   S1:E16/19/2011

   Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould investigate Bords de la Seine à Argenteuil, a riverside landscape believed by its owner to be an unrecognised work by Claude Monet. Scientific examination and provenance research build a compelling case, but the painting must still win acceptance from the authority responsible for Monet’s catalogue.

   Director:Nicky Illis

   Writer:Unknown

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   Director:Nicky Illis

   Writer:Unknown
3. 

   8.6/10(32 votes)

   #3 - Van Dyck: What Lies Beneath

   S2:E39/30/2012

   Philip Mould places one of his own discoveries under investigation: a heavily altered portrait that he believes conceals an unfinished work by Sir Anthony van Dyck. Restoration requires the irreversible removal of later additions, while Fiona insists upon independent authentication. As the underlying image emerges, both Philip’s judgment and the painting’s potential importance are put to the test.

   Director:Rachel Jardine

   Writer:Unknown

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   Director:Rachel Jardine

   Writer:Unknown
4. 

   8.6/10(15 votes)

   #4 - Portrait of a Lady - in Pittsburgh?

   S13:E48/11/2025

   An American couple bought a damaged painting of a grieving woman at a Pittsburgh estate sale for $200. Its composition and inscriptions suggest that it could be a lost work by Angelica Kauffman, one of the founding members of the Royal Academy. Technical examination and historical research produce encouraging evidence, but the picture’s fragile condition and extensive deterioration complicate its assessment.

   Director:Unknown

   Writer:Unknown

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   Director:Unknown

   Writer:Unknown
5. 

   8.6/10(8 votes)

   #5 - What Happened Next? Toulouse-Lautrec

   S14:E58/19/2026

   Will two charming sketchbooks found in a garden shed in France finally be recognised as authentic works by French master Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec?

   Director:Unknown

   Writer:Unknown

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   Director:Unknown

   Writer:Unknown
6. 

   8.5/10(39 votes)

   #6 - Homer

   S1:E26/26/2011

   A watercolour discovered beside a rubbish tip is identified as Children Under a Palm Tree, a lost work by American artist Winslow Homer. As the picture heads toward auction with a substantial valuation, the investigation shifts from attribution to provenance and the difficult question of who legally owns it.

   Directors:Alex Parkinson, Nicola Lafferty

   Writer:Unknown

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   Directors:Alex Parkinson, Nicola Lafferty

   Writer:Unknown
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7. 

   8.5/10(9 votes)

   #7 - What Happened Next? Helen McNicoll

   S13:E68/25/2025

   The team revisits The Bean Harvest, authenticated during Series 12 as a lost work by Canadian Impressionist Helen McNicoll. Newly discovered provenance fills an important gap in its ownership history, while owner David Taylor decides whether to accept a private offer or risk selling the painting at auction. The programme follows the eventual sale and reveals the identity and intentions of its new owner.

   Director:Unknown

   Writer:Unknown

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   Director:Unknown

   Writer:Unknown
8. 

   8.4/10(35 votes)

   #8 - Vuillard

   S3:E11/19/2014

   Writer Keith Tutt asks the team to investigate a painting he bought speculatively as a possible work by French post-impressionist Édouard Vuillard. Archival research uncovers a strong documentary trail, while the discovery of a companion picture helps reconstruct the work’s history and gives the owners a chance to secure formal recognition.

   Director:Nicky Illis

   Writer:Unknown

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   Director:Nicky Illis

   Writer:Unknown
9. 

   8.4/10(26 votes)

   #9 - Chagall

   S3:E32/2/2014

   A Leeds property developer believes that Nude, 1909–10 may be an unknown work by Marc Chagall. Fiona and Philip trace its provenance and submit it to scientific testing, but the discovery of pigments unavailable at the claimed date raises the possibility of a sophisticated modern forgery. The case ultimately reaches the committee responsible for authenticating Chagall’s work.

   Director:Robert Murphy

   Writer:Unknown

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   Director:Robert Murphy

   Writer:Unknown
10. 

    8.4/10(32 votes)

    #10 - Delaroche

    S5:E27/24/2016

    A painting bought for £500 is investigated as the possible lost royal commission Saint Amelia, Queen of Hungary by Paul Delaroche. Fiona and Philip trace it from the exiled French royal family to Britain and use archival and scientific evidence to distinguish the original work from the many contemporary copies made after it.

    Director:Nicky Illis

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Nicky Illis

    Writer:Unknown
11. 

    8.4/10(15 votes)

    #11 - A Tale of Two Renoirs

    S13:E27/28/2025

    Two separate owners believe their paintings may be unknown works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir: a landscape and a portrait of a young girl. Scientific examination produces a damaging discovery in one case, while the other presents more promising stylistic evidence but lacks the provenance required for formal acceptance. The investigation demonstrates the enormous gap between plausibility and authentication.

    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Unknown
12. 

    8.3/10(31 votes)

    #12 - Constable

    S6:E18/20/2017

    The team investigates a painting of Willy Lott’s Cottage that Philip Mould had previously bought and sold twice without securing its acceptance as a work by John Constable. A detailed chain of ownership, stylistic examination and comparison with Constable’s established work may finally determine whether the overlooked landscape is an alternative view related to The Hay Wain.

    Director:Nicky Illis

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Nicky Illis

    Writer:Unknown
13. 

    8.3/10(31 votes)

    #13 - Tom Roberts

    S6:E29/3/2017

    Fiona and Philip travel to Australia to investigate Rejected, a painting bought online for £7,500 and signed by Australian Impressionist Tom Roberts. Infrared examination reveals inscriptions on the reverse, while Roberts’s surviving sketchbooks and London addresses provide evidence that could connect the picture to his years at the Royal Academy.

    Director:Francis Welch

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Francis Welch

    Writer:Unknown
14. 

    8.3/10(25 votes)

    #14 - Elisabeth Frink

    S11:E19/26/2023

    Fiona and Philip investigate Small Warrior, a bronze sculpture bought for £90 at an Essex car-boot sale and believed to be by Dame Elisabeth Frink. Metallurgical analysis, foundry research and traces left by the casting process are used to determine whether it belongs to Frink’s limited 1956 edition or is a later reproduction.

    Director:Matthew Thomas

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Matthew Thomas

    Writer:Unknown
15. 

    8.3/10(21 votes)

    #15 - Mondrian

    S12:E19/26/2024

    American artist Jeffrey Kroll asks the team to investigate a small flower painting inherited from his father and signed “P. Mondrian.” Provenance research, handwriting analysis and scientific testing are used to determine whether the picture is an early figurative work by Piet Mondrian or an ingenious later imitation.

    Directors:Guy Arthur, Nicky Illis

    Writer:Unknown

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    Directors:Guy Arthur, Nicky Illis

    Writer:Unknown
16. 

    8.2/10(33 votes)

    #16 - Van Meegeren

    S1:E37/3/2011

    The team investigates The Procuress, a controversial painting at the Courtauld Institute associated with master forger Han van Meegeren. Technical analysis explores whether it was one of his final works and reveals how he deceived collectors and experts with paintings presented as newly discovered Old Masters.

    Director:Nicky Illis

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Nicky Illis

    Writer:Unknown
17. 

    8.2/10(43 votes)

    #17 - A Mystery Old Master

    S4:E37/19/2015

    A monumental depiction of the Lamentation of Christ hangs largely overlooked in St John the Baptist Church in Tunstall, Lancashire. The team travels through Britain and Italy to identify its artist, reconstruct how it reached the church and determine whether the neglected painting is an important surviving work from the Venetian Renaissance.

    Director:Francis Welch

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Francis Welch

    Writer:Unknown
18. 

    8.2/10(30 votes)

    #18 - Freud

    S5:E17/17/2016

    The team investigates a portrait believed to be an early work by Lucian Freud, despite the artist having denied painting it during his lifetime. Research leads back to Freud’s teenage years at the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing, while technical analysis examines whether he may have worked over an abandoned canvas begun by someone else.

    Director:Rachel Jardine

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Rachel Jardine

    Writer:Unknown
19. 

    8.2/10(37 votes)

    #19 - Nicholson

    S7:E18/12/2018

    A still life bought for £165,000 as a work by William Nicholson was later excluded from the latest catalogue raisonné. Fiona and Philip assemble provenance records, handwriting evidence, infrared imaging and pigment comparisons in an attempt to prove that the painting is genuine, despite resistance from the leading Nicholson authority.

    Director:Nicky Illis

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Nicky Illis

    Writer:Unknown
20. 

    8.2/10(29 votes)

    #20 - A King's Last Supper

    S9:E48/18/2021

    A sheep farmer who paid £50 for a small religious painting believes it may be a preparatory study by Benjamin West for his monumental The Last Supper, commissioned for George III. Scientific examination, restoration and comparison with West’s known materials help determine whether the modest purchase is the missing second sketch for the royal composition.

    Director:Claire Lewis

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Claire Lewis

    Writer:Unknown
21. 

    8.2/10(17 votes)

    #21 - Corot

    S12:E410/17/2024

    The team examines The Head of the Lake, a landscape signed by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and purchased largely for its ornate frame. Historical exhibition labels, a period canvas-supplier stamp and technical analysis appear promising, but the investigation must also confront repeated earlier rejections and evidence recorded by one of Corot’s contemporaries.

    Director:Sara Moralioglu

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Sara Moralioglu

    Writer:Unknown
22. 

    8.2/10(17 votes)

    #22 - A Modern Masterpiece for £35?

    S13:E38/4/2025

    Art blogger Robjn Cantus bought two unattributed paintings from a council collection for only £35. One abstracted landscape was formerly assigned to Vera Cunningham, but its distinctive handling leads him to suspect the New Zealand-born modernist Frances Hodgkins. Research in Britain and New Zealand, together with technical and stylistic analysis, seeks to reconnect the inexpensive picture with a missing work by a major artist.

    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Unknown
23. 

    8.1/10(29 votes)

    #23 - Rembrandt

    S1:E47/10/2011

    Philip and researcher Bendor Grosvenor spot a poorly catalogued painting in a South African auction, apparently connected to Rembrandt. Their investigation uncovers a darker history involving Nazi looting, a Jewish art-dealing family and a work once regarded as a German national treasure. Scientific examination then seeks to establish the painting’s true authorship.

    Director:Ben Southwell

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Ben Southwell

    Writer:Unknown
24. 

    8.1/10(29 votes)

    #24 - Turner: A Miscarriage of Justice?

    S2:E29/23/2012

    The team reopens the case of three landscapes—The Beacon Light, Off Margate and Margate Jetty—bequeathed to the National Museum of Wales as works by J. M. W. Turner. Dismissed as fakes during the 1950s, the paintings are subjected to fresh archival and technical investigation to establish whether a long-standing judgment deprived them of their true identity.

    Director:Nicky Illis

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Nicky Illis

    Writer:Unknown
25. 

    8.1/10(66 votes)

    #25 - Lowry

    S4:E17/5/2015

    The team investigates three paintings—Lady with Dogs, Darby and Joan and Crowd Scene—that were bought by Cheshire businessman Gerald Ames during the 1970s and attributed to L. S. Lowry. With no straightforward documentary history, Fiona and Philip use pigment analysis, archival film and comparisons with accepted works to determine whether the pictures are genuine or the products of one of Britain’s most frequently forged artists.

    Director:Rachel Jardine

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Rachel Jardine

    Writer:Unknown