Would it work with John S presenting the program alongside somebody who *is* an expert ...? almost in a 'teach the celeb about ...' scenario. John S gets to ask questions about it, introduce a few stories about it, gets shown around it, but the expert is the one with all the knowledge and stories.
It doesn't really matter what the *it* is - it could be a corporation dustcart, a steam engine, a Sea King, a nuclear submarine. We all know that the star of the show is the _thing_, but I'd rather have the story told by an expert.
When you think back to the program about the last days of the Shackleton (was that really 20 years ago?!), the Shack was the star, and the RAF personnel telling their stories were the experts, and the commentator was not seen on screen.