Inside every museum is a hidden world, and now, cameras have been allowed behind the scenes at the world-famous Victoria and Albert Museum in London. 
Only a small part of the two million wonders in the collection are on display to the public. But in this new series we go behind closed doors to explore all the treasures of art, design and performance the museum has to offer. 
We follow experts and conservators at work in this treasure trove of the nation's favourite objects, as they breathe new life into fragile marvels, uncover hidden stories, and battle to keep the past alive.
In this week's episode we follow the charming story of a hand-made children's toy - Pumpie the elephant. Pumpie was made a hundred years ago by the Cattley family in west London. The children whose beloved stuffed toy he was made special outfits for him, painted his portrait, and took him with them on holiday. But Pumpie has suffered major moth damage over the years, and now needs urgent restoration. 
Curator Will takes the treasured toy to head textile conservator Jo, who dyes new felt to patch up Pumpie's moth-eaten trunk, darns his miniature admiral's outfit and restores his original brass buttons so that he's shipshape to go out on loan for a special exhibition. 
But before Pumpie packs his trunk, a relative of the family who once owned him is invited into the conservation workshop to meet him for the first time.
Meanwhile curator Charlotte is on the case of a missing woman. The face of a beautiful 18th-century aristocrat has been meticulously painted in enamel on an ornate gold and enamel snuffbox. But nobody knows for certain who this mysterious woman might be. 
Charlotte is determined to get to the bottom of this question with a visit to historic Ham House. She compares large-scale portraits and other miniatures with the snuffbox to establish the identity of Lady Frances Carteret.
Behind the scenes of the spectacular Christian Dior exhibition, we uncover the expert skill involved in creating bespoke mannequins to display the gowns. Each mannequin is sculpted by textile conservators Lillia and Lara to exactly fit the dimensions of each dress's original owners. Pamela Mann, the original owner of a spectacular raspberry-pink cocktail dress, comes in to the Museum to see the results of the team's labours, and tells us the story of how her husband - a former physician to the Royal Household - bought Pamela the dress from Harrods in the 1950s.
In the performance galleries, rock and pop curator Vicky and conservator Susana take us inside Kylie Minogue's dressing room, which is on display as a time capsule of the star's 2007 tour. As they check the condition of the dresses, shoes and make-up, we discover the significance of the objects from this moment in Kylie's life - after her treatment for breast cancer. 
Finally, paper conservator Anne gets to grips with a colourful Victorian curiosity called a paper peep-show. This folding paper marvel was made as a souvenir of the Great Exhibition in 1851, and is made up of a series of hand-painted cardboard plates that magically open like an accordion. 
But the 170-year-old paper object is so delicate that it's in danger of falling apart. We follow the careful surgery required, using tiny pieces of Japanese paper and wheat starch to restore the beautiful piece so that visitors will be able to take a peep into the past and see the Great Exhibition for themselves.

Inside every museum is a hidden world, and now, cameras have been allowed behind the scenes at the world-famous Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Only a small part of the two million wonders in the collection are on display to the public. But in this new series we go behind closed doors to explore all the treasures of art, design and performance the museum has to offer.

We follow experts and conservators at work in this treasure trove of the nation's favourite objects, as they breathe new life into fragile marvels, uncover hidden stories, and battle to keep the past alive.

This week, we join curators Steph and Jenny as they plan a major new exhibition celebrating the work of innovative British fashion designer Mary Quant. They want to illustrate how the designer shook up women's fashion in the 1960s with clothing that liberated women from decades of corsetry. Although the museum has a big archive of Quant dresses already, Steph has a critical gap in the collection. After an appeal to the public, a woman from Yorkshire comes forward with a dress that could be perfect to show how off exactly how Quant hiked hemlines higher than ever before.

Jenny Fenwick was 17 years old when she bought her mustard-coloured Mary Quant mini-dress from the Sheffield branch of Topshop. But after years of hard partying, the dress will need all the love and skill that conservator Frances can muster in order to make it exhibition-ready.

When the Quant exhibition opens, Jenny arrives to see her dress in pride of place - and is moved to think that these dresses meant freedom for her, and a whole generation of women.

Meanwhile, curator Julius is delving deep into the stores to uncover some of the very first objects ever given to the museum. He tracks down a hand-painted writing case, made in Kashmir in the 1850s, that once belonged to Queen Victoria, who donated it to the museum. We'll see inside the beautiful handmade piece, including the original knife and scissors the Queen used to cut and sharpen her quill pens. The writing case will join a spectacular serving dish, or salver, made from fine silver and gold filigree, in a special display to mark 200 years since Victoria and Albert were born.

The museum also receives donations today, just as it did when it first started. A woman from west London, Shalaleh, has offered the V&A her treasured family collection of rare saris, dating back to the 1930s. Shalaleh's grandmother was part of the Indian aristocracy in the days of the Raj, and travelled to Paris in order to buy fabrics from the top fashion houses of the day for her saris.

These beautiful chiffons and silks are a welcome addition to curator Divia's collection. With no daughters to give the saris to, Shalaleh knows her grandmother would be delighted to see the saris join the museum for the public to enjoy.

But modern-day objects are just as important as historic items to the museum's collection. We'll see Rapid Response curator Corinna hit the streets as she gather the most significant designs of today - that could become the treasures of tomorrow. The team have are hoping to acquire the flags and logo of climate change activists Extinction Rebellion. When they join the collection, these contemporary pieces will sit alongside other emblems of social change now - such as an umbrella from the Hong Kong protest movement, and a burqini.

We'll also follow conservators as they prepare for the return of a huge Victorian masterpiece to the galleries. ‘The Pilgrim Outside the Garden of Idleness', by renowned Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones, is from 1898. But the heavy and extremely valuable artwork is in its delicate original frame and calls for careful conservation to preserve the fragile gilt construction. For 100 years the museum has kept the painting safe, but it's now down to tech services Allen and a team specialists to manhandle the artwork up several flights of stairs to its original place on the gallery wall.