03/02/2014 The One Show

Hello and welcome to the Monday one Show with Mat Baker and Alex Jones.

With more bad weather on the way, we giving a flood victim may birds eye

view of the situation by taking him up in a helicopter. We will also

meet the teenager who woke up yesterday to discover her car had

been swallowed by her driveway. She will be telling us the whole story.

It is remarkable. Zoe Smith is with us tonight, and we are joined in the

studio by an actor who used to be Brassed Off and Wild At Heart, but

now he has cheered up and calmed down. It is Stephen Tompkinson. Very

nice to see you. So, DCI Banks, back on the telly this evening. Come on,

get to the question you want to ask. Last time we saw you win Truckers,

and we did see a bit more Stephen Tompkinson than we were used to.

Indeed. None will defeat me! Ecce homo!

Yes, we are joining in with the applause as well. Was that quite

liberating experience? It's all behind me now. We did film it in the

main square in Nottingham, on a Sunday. It was Father's Day. From

3pm until 6pm, I had to do that eight times in front of about 2000

people, most of them who had just come out of the pub. How do you

prepare yourself for a scene like that? You stand on top of a truck

and take your clothes off. It's all you can do. You are probably glad it

was in January. Absolutely. I wouldn't God have around applause

then. -- got a round of applause. On that point, our friends in the

weather centre tell us we are about to be battered by more rain and

gales over the next few days. That those communities who have suffered

weeks of flooding, this is looking like a never ending nightmare. Mike

Dilger has given one flood victim a new perspective on his plight -- for

those communities. It's been like this here for nearly a month,

pouring with rain by never before and these beautiful green plains are

under three feet of water. The Somerset Levels by nature is a wet

place and areas of flooding in winter are not unusual. But now

climate change is occurring, with wetter winters and springs, there

might be trouble ahead. I am spending the weekend here to see

what it is really like and how the people here can begin to get out of

this mess. I've been talking to a lot of them, and one word keeps

cropping up, why? The environmental people are supposed to look after

the environment. The floods have been here now for four weeks. It's

not just water, it is septic tanks flowing into the fields. That

sewage, that effluent is poisoning the land. The purpose of the wetter

lands is to store water. Not to affect the community. On the ground,

everyday life is pretty bleak and dismal at the moment, but I want to

get a view of the bigger picture. This is Doctor Chris Parker from the

University of the West of England who studies how rivers flow and

connect with the sea. Together we are taking to the skies. Here we go!

You suddenly can see a whole lot more water appear. Look at that!

Basically the river is full, the banks are out of the water, but

everything else is inundated. The roads are just the same level as all

of the fields. Work could be done to raise the level of the roads, so

people could get in and out, which would reduce the impact. The locals

were want to know how the problem will be solved for them. There are

three ways. There is the hydrology, how much is coming in, and then the

river channel, how much is going through. Finally, there are the

consequences of the damages associated. Last week we met Peter

and Liz Nightingale whose home farm affected. Peter is coming up for

view of the. His village, much only, has been cut off and we had to fly

into Bill -- pick him up -- much only -- Muchelney. You have lived in

Muchelney for 30 years. Tell me what you feel, seeing this? We are used

to a bit of flooding every winter, but this is far worse than it has

ever been in 90 years. The 2000 years it has been a managed

landscape, and that needs to carry on. This degree of flooding needs to

be controlled. It just needs dredging. What you are doing in

dredging is you try to increase the amount of water going through, that

there is nowhere on the Somerset Levels for it to drain to stop

people who have lived here all their lives work on their river will stop

-- on the river. It used to be drenched adequately but not any

more. You can't consign this to a watery grave. This country can't

afford to give up land. We look at a time when you say enough is enough,

I am moving to the Mendips, or the high lands. I might have to move

upstairs. Time to get our feet on the ground again. Peter takes me to

meet the locals back in the village, who have all gathered for lunch in

the church. But how are they bearing up? They are tired and weary but

they have decided that they will make the best of a bad job. If only

people would take note of the old voices that have been here four

years and know exactly how the river flows and how the fields flood, that

would help. There seems a strong spirit, lots of laughter and

chattering. People are not beaten. No, of course not. Slightly more

miserable than usual. From what I have seen and heard the arguments

about how to prevent this from happening again complex, and

opinions are divided. Irrespective of when the water comes and goes,

they will be staying put. Now, where is my helicopter? Good community

spirit there. My hopes and thoughts are with them over the next few days

with all the bad weather coming. It does seem the bad weather is causing

all sorts of quirks. Imagine this, waking up and finding this is where

your car used to be. That is exactly what happened to Zoe Smith

yesterday, and she is here with us now. Nice to see you have a smile on

your face. Tell us, what on earth happened? What did you see when you

went outside? I didn't see anything, that was the problem. I woke up, I

got dressed, open the door, and I thought, I swore I bought -- parked

there. I walked round to the window and thought, the ground is a bit

dark. Then I realised that the ground was 30 feet down. Yes, my car

has turned on its side and it is the other way up. And it is still in the

hole at the moment? What are the thoughts, are you going to keep it

there? It's a bit more difficult. We would like to try and get it out,

but at the moment it is stuck. You gave your car a name, Bruce. Now

he's buried alive. Maybe he is trying to get to Australia. How

worried are your parents? The neighbours, everybody? Everybody is

worried but it's one of those freak things. The sort of thing that would

only happen to me, really. Are your family still in the house? We are in

and out. We have very nice neighbours, Suzanne and Mark, who

wanted a mention. They put us up last night and cooked dinner, and it

was lovely. Toad in the hole? It is too early for jokes, Stephen. After

that it is looking for places to stay. We might be able to shed some

light on this. One man who knows all about the perils of a sinkhole is

Professor Iain Stewart who joins us from Plymouth University. What on

earth has caused this sinkhole? Can you explain? The whole of high

Wycombe sits on a layer of clay that is ten feet thick. Underneath that

is chalk. The trouble with chalk is that it dissolves, so if you get the

rainfall trickling through and a little bit of acid, it eats away at

the chalk. So you get sinkhole is -- a sinkhole all over England. The

average whole is there, but then it sits there and it will collapse into

the hole. It can happen really suddenly. Coincidentally you are

presenting a Horizon programme on BBC Two about this. Remarkable it

came around tonight. You are looking at this globally, what can people

learn? One of the big things is it could have tragic consequences. In

Florida, which is the sinkhole capital of the world, about a year

ago, a sinkhole opened up under the bedroom of a guy called Jeff Bush

and he disappeared down and there was a frantic effort. They just did

not find him. The key thing is, what seems to be one of the triggers of

these things is dramatic changes in the water table. Sometimes it can be

too little water, but in a lot of places it is too much. Professor

Iain Stewart, thank you for your time. If that footage is anything to

go by, a lot of people will be watching. That woman, going down. I

hope not, it clashes with DCI Banks! You've seen all the best bits

now! Well, we can joke about it, but Zoe, thanks for coming in. And RIP

Bruce. If it's any consolation, we had one develop, and we filled with

rubble and the land is secure. I'm sure you will be all right. We have

booked your car home. If you like your mysteries to be criminal rather

than geological, tonight sees the return of Yorkshire's finest

copper, DCI Banks. Coincidentally it is on just the same time as the

Horizon special. Here is a look at how well his two female colleagues

are getting along. If it's a false alarm we can be escalate, and if not

we are looking at a suspected child abduction. With your circumstances,

I understand if you don't want to be thrown in at the deep end. She is

not the first police officer to have a baby in history, you know. DI

Morton, we need the child abduction specialist. She is right. I am fine.

DCI Banks is back on ITV, 9pm this evening. And you are obviously

caught between two very strong female colleagues. We have seen him

working alongside them individually, but then Annie Cabot had to go away

and have a baby, so now they are both back. And DCI Banks is stuck in

the middle. Trying to keep a happy ship. He is very deadpan. Yes, he is

quite dour, but it is a dour job he is doing. Is that what distinguishes

him? Peter Robinson, who wrote the series of books, he did a lot of

interviews with policemen and he said what makes DCI Banks is his

ordinariness. His dogged determination. Peter said he keeps a

quote with him, written by John Don mother poet. Any man's Minish is me,

because I am involved in mankind -- John Donne. He is very married to

the job, but he's the sort of policemen you want. As an actor, how

hard is it to play somebody who has been previously bought to live in

the books of Peter Robinson? Do you stick to it, or is it your own

version of Alan Banks? It's sort of has to be. It is difficult

truncating the novel into a two-hour episode and you will never be

pleasing to the people who have read their books because they have their

own character in their head and I always fail to meet up with. I am

five inches taller than the DCI Banks that was created. The first

thing I did when we did the pilot four years ago was flying out to

meet Peter in Florida and assure him that I was going to get as near to

the spirit of the character as possible. He keeps in touch

regularly. I really enjoyed Wild at Heart which finished in 2012. Do you

miss it? Very much. I dream about the animals. Could that comeback? It

was a popular series. Absolutely. There were postcard visions of South

Africa. I have never been anywhere where you are so aware of nature. It

is nice to be part of the food chain! Very much! You love animals.

He was petrified. He could not go near the animals! He was like the

character Mark Williams played in the Fast Show. He was examining

animals from 50 yards away! When he got there, he was petrified, bless

him. Tree news, and after a three month consultation, Scotland finally

has it's own national tree. Can we guess what it is? It's the Scots

Pine. Of course it is! Miranda has been to meet those on the front line

in saving our forests. Across the country, our native trees are

suffering. The recent arrival of a fungus from Europe is causing

disease. There is hope. Since it officially opened in 2000, Kew

Gardens's millennium seed bank has collected seeds from 50 countries

around the world, replanting forests from as far away as Madagascar. The

recent spate of diseases has turned their attentions much closer to

home. Most of continental Europe has 35% tree cover while Britain has

15%. We cannot afford to lose more of this habitat. Claire is

coordinating the project to help save our native trees. We need to

make sure we have seed collections from right across the country, every

part of the UK in which these species occur. Saving seeds for the

future is complex. Ian Parkinson, the Woodlands manager here, it is

collecting seeds. We throw one up into the canopy and it comes down

the other side. We grabbed it and shaking vigorously. Seeds needs to

be collected when the -- when they are ripe. Shaking the tree should

guarantee prime seeds. We are looking for a little white seed in

there and for it to be full. That is a seed and looking around, I think

we have a pretty good collection. Different trees need different

collection techniques. This large beech tree needs to be climbed. I

have to say, it has been awhile since I climbed like this. It is

hard work. Ian needs to collect 300 different seeds from the tree. You

can see how different they are. They are individually placed on the

branch and if I give it a poll, there is no amount of shaking that

would have got that on the ground. -- April. The seeds are then taken

to the laboratories. After they are dried and clean, they are x-rayed to

reveal imperfections. Be healthy ones are the ones which are solid

and white. -- the healthy ones... These look like they have been

partially eaten. Before the seeds are put into final storage, they are

packed into airtight glass containers to prepare them for a

long stint in the big freeze. It is -20 degrees and I only have 20

minutes. At this temperature, I would get hypothermia quite quickly

but it preserves many of the seeds for hundreds of years. The coolest

thing is that this is the most bio diverse place on the planet. There

are 33,000 species kept here. There are challenges. They have discovered

that some of our native seeds die if they are dried too much, so they

need even colder solutions. We are starting some research now to look

at conservation for acorns. We take at the embryo from the seeds, and

the embryo is plunged into liquid nitrogen and we are carrying out

various experiments to see the best procedure to use. It is really

reassuring to know that we have the technology to ensure the survival of

our native tree species, whatever the future throws at us. Christine

Walkden is here. You used to work in the same place we saw Miranda.

Absolutely, 37 years ago. You are the perfect person to talk us

through what we have. This is one of the largest seeds in the world and

can get up to 17 kilograms. You can model it. That is the biggest. That

is not made of plastic, it is real. Absolutely, it is real. Let's look

at it in its glory. It is a big tree and has a foot canopy. If that hit

you on the head, it will cause a headache. It is the Coco De Mare

plant. You would not believe if you sneeze, you would lose the seeds.

They are begonias. They are the smallest seeds we deal with. Then

you have unusual seeds like the banksias. DCI Banksia? Very good!

How long can these seeds survive in this state? One of the oldest seeds

to have germinated and produced a plant which is about two metres high

is the Methuselah palm tree. Records to show that the Arctic Lupin have

germinated after 32,000 years! They can grow. The seeds, if you keep

them cool, dark and dry, they will last. It is not dry at the moment.

We've just had the wettest January since records began - what one piece

of advice would you give to anyone who's garden is underwater? Do

absolutely nothing. Keep off the ground. The worst thing you can do

is squeeze the soil. Let it rain and then you can talk about doing

things. You will do more damage now if you go on it. We will have you

back in a few weeks. Absolutely. Nowadays we expect to see news

pictures from around the world within minutes. But early

photographers had a far harder job getting their shots - especially on

the battlefield. Here's a modern photojournalist's tribute to a

pioneer of his trade. My name is Charles Dooley and I am a

photographer. I have come to Lancashire to find out more about a

man who lived in this village. This is a photograph that inspired me

when I started my career. It was taken by Roger Fenton in the Crimean

War a years ago. He was a pioneer of photography and one of the first on

the battlefield. When I first saw this image, I was drawn to it,

wondering how something so deceptively simple can create so

much emotion and say so much about war. His work in the Crimea startled

the public. Many had never even seen photographs before, let alone a

war. It was devastating. 25,000 British people died, mostly from

disease. Since I started working as a documentary photographer ten years

ago, I have been to many conflict areas around the world. I am trying

to tell the stories of those caught up in terrible circumstances. I was

injured two years ago in Afghanistan and during my recovery, I realised

the similarities between myself and Roger Fenton. What I tried to do was

revealed the strength and resilience of people in overcoming adversity,

rather than succumbing to it. Like the children in Afghanistan who have

only known war. I think Roger Fenton offered the same ideals. It was a

big, logistical exercise. He had to take several cameras, horses, a

wagon, and lenses. The wagon is a converted wine merchant's one. I

know, following my accident, I have restrictions. Was it similar with

Roger Fenton? Absolutely right. It was a long process, photography. The

war lasted more than two years. The British and French were fighting the

Russians over who control the Ottoman Empire. It was the victims

who went in front of the lens. I think their expressions and their

faces are telling you what they have been through. It was a man who is

deeply traumatised. I do not know what he lost but he is deeply

exhausted. These portraits say more about war than any picture of a

soldier firing a gun. I have come to Stonyhurst College because I wanted

to see another side of Roger Fenton's work. There is an

incredible archive of his work. The curator said the images of the local

landscape are among some of her favourite images. This is where you

live, this is his roots. It is after the trauma of the Crimean War when

he returned home. When you look there is a lot of affection and

emotion in some of these images. Even took his camera around the

college. This was just down the corridor. An incredible photograph

and I have not seen before. Although it is different, it reminds me of

the photograph of the Crimea. The sense of space and the light

streaming through, a beautiful image. It is very monumental. So

much is being told. Would you like to see some more? Absolutely. What I

find fascinating, looking at his work, is that his inspiration came

from painting. There were no photographers before him. This is a

classic example. It is an 18th-century landscape. It reminds

me of the work from the Crimea. It is simple but tells a lot.

Absolutely. At a time when technology made it easier to take

photographs, the important thing we can take from Roger Fenton is the

time and consideration before he took a photograph. It is that time

and consideration that makes his photographs so powerful. You could

stare at that for hours. Joe Crowley is here. Joe, Roger Fenton wasn't

just a war and landscape photographer, was he? This is the

sort of camera that he would have used. I have been learning how it

works. You can see some of the pictures here. You put this liquid

over a glass plate and drain it off to leave a sticky gum. You put it

into a silver nitrate bath and when it comes out, there is no daylight.

Remarkable to think he was doing that in a war zone. Incredible. It

is technically difficult and I may have brushed your face out, Alex

wrote I am so sorry. I am a headless person! This is the bit where you

have ten seconds to get the development over the glass plate and

I did not manage to do it. That's all for tonight. Thanks, Stephen.

DCI Banks starts tonight 9pm on ITV1. Tomorrow - the undisputed

ruler of the rom-com - Richard Curtis will be here. See you at

seven, bye.