09/10/2013 The One Show

# All by myself... # Don't want to be all by myself any

more! #

What are you doing? You are not Bridget Jones, you are Alex Jones

and you are certainly not alone. There is a whole studio waiting for

the show. I'm just waiting for my Mr Right. Nice jumper! Wait until you

see my granny pants. What a start. Hello, welcome to The

One Show. 119 pounds, 300 calories, zero alcohol units. 182 pounds,

eight alcohol units, Matt Baker. Not very good. She was a

weight-obsessed, calorie counting thirtysomething who drank too much.

She is now a weight-obsessed calorie counting fiftysomething who drank

too much. We are joined by the woman that brought her to life, Helen

Fielding. I think we have to cut to the chase. All women will be

shouting at the television screen, why did you kill off Mark Darcy? I

know, I find the reaction quite touching. That people care so much

about a fictional character. We loved Mark Darcy. I know, because

nobody has actually died. But a piece of us has died. That is very

true. We were surprised by the reaction, you were reading endless

tweets. I turned on news, was in my pyjamas, and everybody was talking

about him being dead. I had to tell Colin, and that was hard. How did he

take it? Like the gentleman that he and Mark Darcy are. I had to ask if

he was sitting down and had somebody with him. And we were both upset,

but we were half laughing because nobody had actually died. It is

about Bridget, later in life. Things do happen. It is much better that

Mark Darcy should remain as a magnificent memory in the book and

that his memory will also always be shiny. But not in a reindeer

sweater. We have an hour to get to the bottom of this. You are not

alone tonight. Also with those is a man whose early life sounds like it

was straight out of Bridget Jones's Diary. Listen to this from his

autobiography. Place after placed Diary. Listen to this from his

hand-me-down. I don't know what possessed me, but I went into an

American dinette on the piazza in Covent Garden 's. I announced in a

strange accident that I was Canadian and my name was David Villapando. It

is David Villapando himself, Graham Norton is with us tonight. Hello.

Hi. Graham, Helen. David Villapando? Did you get the job? I did. It was

in the early 80s, in London. Not the best time to have an Irish accent.

When did you tell them you were not Canadian? I thought I would be a

Canadian. I knew an American called David Villapando. I thought they

would be softer on the working Visa. I thought, go Canadian, they

will never guess. You are back on BBC One on Friday. Very exciting.

You said you are a bit rusty on your radio show. Feel free to ask the

question is, if you want a warm up. We are happy. Do the legwork for us.

Go for your life. Have you got an hour? Tied for the first surprise.

We will also be hearing a lot more about this over the next few weeks.

This will be making its way around the Commonwealth head of the games

in Glasgow next year. Later, Alex Salmond will come in to collect it.

I will handed round so you can touch it. There is only one. Is there not

a stand-by in case somebody makes it... Steals it? Security was high

with the Olympic torches. But, with this one. We are opening the one

show voting lines. You have had your say on Royal Mail shares and beauty

pageants for children. Tonight we are going to be talking about these.

E-cigarettes. They are very much in the news. You know how these work,

you use them sometimes. They split into two parts. A capsule of liquid

nicotine and a battery that produces the vapour. You put it together and

you have your cigarette. But there is no tobacco or tar in them, so it

is a move in the right direction. This is like the Olympic torch

version of an e-cigarette. The market for e-cigarettes looks like

it is about to explode. With adverts cropping up all over the country

that look like this one, here are two views for you. One is from the

BMA and the other is from smoker Rod Liddle.

Proper, nice cigarettes have been banned in most public places, so

people are trying to give up smoking. Increasingly, they are

turning to these. This is the e-cigarette. It has an exciting blue

tip. Everybody has agreed that these things are much less damaging to the

person using them than normal cigarettes. They are an invaluable

aid to giving up smoking. 1.5 million are trying to do that with

them right now. So, why on earth are the doctors of the BMA trying to ban

them from public places? I don't understand. Eggs Benedict, please.

He seems pretty sure of himself, but determining how safe and effective

they are is a problem that countries determining how safe and effective

all over the world are wrestling with. While it is legal to buy and

use them here, some restaurants ban them. The BMA wants to take that

even further. We think the smoke-free legislation should be

extended to cover e-cigarettes for a number of reasons. The current ban

in public places has been extremely effective. It has meant it is

considered unacceptable to be seen smoking in restaurants and bars. The

use of e-cigarettes, where they do look like normal cigarettes and they

are used to mimic the effects of normal cigarettes, it may allow

smoking behaviour to be considered normal again. They say that these

undermine existing legislation, but normal again. They say that these

that is an absurdity. The existing legislation is there to stop some

people breeding in my second-hand smoke. These produce no smoke. --

breathing. They do produce a vapour. We know it contains, amongst other

things, nicotine. It can be harmful to people that are exposed to it.

E-cigarette vapour also contains a number of other compounds. What we

do not know is how safe these compounds are. Tobacco companies

have muscled in on the e-cigarettes as well. Many have launched their

own ranges or have bought up companies that sell them. Do you

want to know what the BMA is worried about? It is worried that these

might make smoking glamorous. Have you ever seen anything less

glamorous than this? Some studies from America have shown

there is a greater awareness of e-cigarettes amongst high school

students and greater use. Our concern is that it is creating a

market amongst teenagers and other lessons which, potentially, could

act as a gateway into developing a tobacco habit in later years. I can

see the glamour of proper cigarettes. It suggests say certain

devil may care recklessness and that sort of thing. But e-cigarettes? It

just tells people you are an addict, a loser who needs this ludicrous

contraption to wander around with its glowing blue tip. Anything that

can help reduce the impact that smoking has on our public is to be

welcomed. I know that smoking is very bad for you and it leads to

horrible diseases and I should give it up. My best chance of giving it

up is using one of these. Far better than patches or chewing gum. Why on

earth would the BMA want to dissuade me from doing that? We do need more

research and data to show that they are both safe and effective as a way

of getting people to stop smoking. At the moment there are no laws to

cover where you can smoke e-cigarettes. Although there are

some local bands, for instance on trains. Our vote is this. Should

smoking e-cigarettes be banned in public places?

Alternatively, you can vote online. The vote ends at 7:35 sharp. What do

you two reckon? As somebody who has occasionally used them, do you think

you two reckon? As somebody who has they should be banned in public

places? I am not sure how you would enforce it. Do you think it sets a

good example? You would have to check closely to see if it was a

pen. Day to light up. A lot of peering policeman would be going

around looking at what people are doing. Well, if some was in a

restaurant, then you would know... The thing that confuses me is why

they are banned in toilets on aeroplanes. You cannot smoke them on

a plane? Why? It is a stupid idea to ban them, then. I have never smoked

in my life. But Rod Liddle is such a great advert for smoking that I

might take it up. That is your opinion, Graham! Do you think it

confuses people? If you don't smoke, you are in a restaurant and somebody

starts using one of these e-cigarettes, does it turn into

anti-social behaviour? That does not smell, make a noise, it is not

anti-social behaviour. It is very elegant. I do wonder what I should

feel about this, I see people with vapour pouring out of them. Is it

good or bad? You should not care. I try not to, it makes me feel weird.

Put it in your smoking balloon and let it go. You may remember last

week that we introduced you to the staff of a recruitment firm called

Total Jobs. Yes, and their mums. This is a light-hearted experiment

to see if mums can improve their child's's performance at work. A

very scary thought for many of us. We tried it last week and I was a

bag of nerves. Tonight, we get to the nitty-gritty.

On any given day in Britain, 29 million people go to work. But not

many would take their mums with them. Boss John Salt has decided

that mum sends might make perfect business sense for his company,

Total Jobs. I am really excited to see if mums know best. Three of his

employees are going to have their three mums with them at work for a

week. It is morning, and while everyone else is eating breakfast at

their desks, the mums are having a mother 's meeting. They are shown

evidence of what their offspring are really like at work. For Maggie,

Ryan's moment, all is not well. Because he is so hands-on, he likes

everything being done in a particular way. I saw that you have

requested more holiday? You are hard particular way. I saw that you have

work, you are. He can get a bit hot-headed, throw his toys out of

the pram. Bbc.co.uk/queensbatonrelay you can wait for someone else to do

it for you, or do it. But hold on, he's only 27 and living at home. He

is so professional and driven that he wants everybody else to be like

that as well. But not everybody is. He can be quite blunt. He can be

quite brush. As a new manager, it is something he needs to work on.

Maggie is not just a moment, she's something he needs to work on.

had teaching assistant at a school for with additional needs. For that

role you need to be calm, unique to be nonjudgemental. These attributes

that I feel I could share with Ryan, which could help him in his role.

So, how will Maggie play it? Parenting skill, at or tender?

Dashed tough or tender? How are you? Not bad, you? Not bad. We had a

meeting, and I saw some interesting footage. Do you remember being

filmed in the office? What you might have got up to? No. I thought there

were certain things you could improve on. That would be how you

interact with staff. improve on. That would be how you

times, when you speak to them, you do not think before you speak. Just

think about your tone. Quiet, slow, nice and relaxed. Rather than sort

of... Barking at them? Which maybe you do at times. It is not just

tough talk. She has a plan to make a better manager. With a blindfold

on, you learn how to depend on other people. This team-building exercise

is to do with trust and taking instruction. Trust is essential to

being a good Li -- good leader. You are walking at a funny angle. You

have to be clearer with instructions. Everybody is saying he

is so slow, so you have to trust her. I don't trust her. That is the

problem so you need to take a deep breath and listen to Gwen. In some

ways I do still see Ryan as being a bit of a child. Particularly if he

doesn't want to do something, if he is upset. At times like that I see

him as the little boy he once was. It is time mummy's little boy gave

the directions. Keep walking in a straight line, forward. That's it.

Nice, calm, gentle tones. Ryan was actually quite bossy and bullish and

his instructions were not as clear. It was like, move over. I have a

feeling she can bring some stuff to the areas I am struggling in, to

have trust in my team and hopefully earning their trust as a leader.

Thanks, mum. Coming up, customer care director Jill gets candy coated

feedback on a presentation from her mum, Sheila. It is OK having a joke

with the people you work with but it could be senior management. You need

to know your audience. Sorry. It is funny, having that voice in

the back of your head the whole time, but she is actually there. It

was strange lastly, we had all mothers here. Was quite off-putting.

Mary looking at me daggers! Parts two of that coming up. Graham's show

is back on Friday, can we reveal the guests? Yes, because we have done

it, they have all showed up. I guests? Yes, because we have done

checked last night, I am sure they are all there. Harrison Ford,

Benedict Cumberbatch, Jack Whitehall. It was quite scary

because Benedict Cumberbatch was finishing filming and he was on his

way to the studio. At the other end, Harrison Ford had a plane he

had to catch. The show was getting shorter and shorter! Where is this

going to meet? We got there in the end, and it all happened. Harrison

Ford, he is not known as God 's gift to chat and actually he was charming

and lovely and nice. Benedict Cumberbatch was on the last Cirrus,

he is brilliant, he did a very good impression of you -- last series. He

does the laugh. I can't do it, you will recognise it. If you said

something funny, Alex... Quick, put it on.

HE IMPERSONATES GRAHAM. It is so good! Jonathan Ross was

complaining he could not get the guests because you manage to get

them all. He is being disingenuous because if there was only one chat

show in the world, you would still struggle to get guests. You're

looking for very rich, famous people and why would they leave the house?

They have a very nice life, flatscreen televisions, room

service, probably! It is kind of swings and roundabouts. If we get

the best guests this week, you will get the best ones next week. Is it

hard to fit them into the schedule? It is tough because you think, so

and so is in town but you can't get the studio that night. Someone has

got to talk to them. But it won't be me. It is very seat of your pants

stuff, it can be last-minute, something is concerned, you have

kept the studio and it is all hands something is concerned, you have

on deck. You always manage to get your guests up off the sofa, we have

things planned for you later by the way. There is that laugh again! A

really good example was Will Smith, you did a little dance with him and

Carlton and Jade on. Did you rehearse this? I had seen them do it

but you could tell I had not rehearse this? I had seen them do it

rehearsed it. I am older and whiter! It is so bad. Did it get 5 million

hits? I think it is now over 20 million. It was all down to Will

Smith. He had been on with Gary Barlow and they did the fresh Prince

wrap Addicott about 78 -- and it got about 7 million hits. He thought, I

can do well with this show, get it out there. He dreamt all that up. He

flew in Carlton, it wasn't down to us. He gave us this gift. It was so

exciting. The audience went hysterical. I felt like Oprah

Winfrey saying, you get a car, you get a car! Really exciting. Have you

got the red chair? It is back, it is not in the first show. It will be in

the second show, don't worry. Do you watch the show? Sometimes...

And I have read bits of your book! Piers Morgan controversially said he

is the best in the business. Graham is much better than Piers Morgan. He

said that for effect but if you read what he actually said, he said we do

different jobs. He sits there for an hour and he really picks apart

someone's life. Would you like to do that? If their life was interesting

enough. There are not many people who warrants that, I don't think. In

a way I think, this is a waste, there are loads of stories we are

not getting. But that is someone else's job. I really like the job

that I do and sometimes I don't get to do that. You do it brilliantly

and it is the dynamics between your guests that works so well. You can

keep inviting the guests back, this is your fourth time on The One Show!

You can see the Graham Norton show on BBC One this Friday. Much as we

admire and sometimes envy your roster of celebrities, we have

something that your team can only dream of. Guests may open their

hearts are you but are Christine go straight for their potting shed.

Now, this is the way to arrive at a celebrity's garden, courtesy of

their own transport. You are going celebrity's garden, courtesy of

to like this garden. Not a lot, but you are going to like it. That was

very good, but go up when you say not a lot. You were close. Yes, of

course. The catchphrase and the garden along to the magical couple,

Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee. They have lived here on the Thames for 15

years. It is a fabulous spot, a garden full of established trees and

natural colour. But it can be prone to the odd British flood. This part

of the garden, sometimes in the winter, gets covered in river water.

I would quite like to pebble this lot. But it would get full of silt.

It would look a right mess. And it is not in keeping with the

surroundings. This is a thug, do you know about

this? This seeds itself down and you will have it absolutely everywhere.

Thereof are a few plants I take against but this is a real pain in

the posterior. -- there are very few plants. You like that effect, you

like a Grossi thing. There is another plant which is very magical.

Why don't you just call them Fred or Mary? If we put it in we will call

it Christine. There is animal magic in the household, too. This nesting

swan returns every year. Over time the two weeks have turned into

trees. -- over time the two weeks -- twigs have turned into trees. There

used to be rabbits in the act but they retired this year. This is

hopper, named after the Beckham baby come born at the same time as Harper

seven so I called her hopper seven. I love roses and for my birthday

about five years ago, Mum and dad came over and planted all these

roses. This is heaven for me. My dad has always been a keen gardener, a

surprise chrysanthemum grower. I suppose he got my interest going.

Every year he has planted in pots and the hanging baskets. A

phenomenal undertaking. It is not just a case of here you are, have a

pot plant. He is pretty fit, my dad. With Paul, it was a very different

story in his childhood. I come from the most polluted town in the

country at one time, a place called South bank near Middlesbrough. A

great community but no gardens at all. I never saw a tree until I was

about 11. There were not any. It was just rows of terraced houses, toilet

about 11. There were not any. It was down the backyard. Do you consider

yourself lucky to be able to afford something like this? I have worked

like hell for it, why should I be lucky question for a long time I

only slept four hours a night, writing, thinking, inventing,

changing. Will you ever retire and have time to enjoy this and time

with Debbie? We are two lucky people in that we work together. We have

been together 33, 34 years, married to 25 we are very relaxed and

happy. It upsets some journalists but that's OK, I don't care. I will

retire when the work stops. Probably one day they will put me in my box.

Make you disappear? No, I will escape!

Apparently, a certain somebody has been in that garden, Graham? Here is

the hurly-burly of my showbiz life. I know I have been in that garden, I

have no recollection why. I was in it and I met Debbie and Paul and

they brought me tea. It will shortly after some flooding had taken place.

Can you confirm or deny if this is you. It was more after the flooding

than that! You have no clue as to why? I don't really know. It is a

lovely place. Finding your card earns money. We ask you this

question, should smoking e-cigarettes be banned in public

places? Here is what smoker Rod Liddle has to say about them.

Everybody agrees that these are much less damaging than normal cigarettes

and an invaluable way to give up smoking. 1.5 million of us are

trying to do that with them right now. So why are the doctors of the

BMA trying to ban them from public places?

And this is Doctor representative Ram Moorthy. They do produce a

vapour, which contains, amongst other things, nicotine. We need more

data to show that they are both safe and effective as a way of getting

people to stop smoking. We want to know what you think. The question

is, should smoking e-cigarettes be banned in public places? We are

getting a lot of response on this. You still have some time and we will

reveal the results later. In about ten minutes. Onto Bridget Jones. She

was a poster girl for a generation of women growing up in the 90s,

including me. Her cooking skills are no better than mine. And the celery,

mix together and strain. Straining, strain, strain... Perfect. Slice the

oranges and great the zest. That was Renee Zellweger, playing

Bridget Jones. 14 years on, what has become of you? Real-life Bridgets,

did you finally find your Mr Darcy? My name is Chloe and I am a

real-life Bridget is. I am Lindsey and I was a real-life Bridget Joe

is. Jones was my maiden name and I was a real-life Bridget Jones.

People said I looked just like her. There is a certain face I can poll

where I look a lot like her. Do you know where the toilets are? She is a

very down-to-earth person, very real. When I first realised I had

the same birthday, that really made me feel like I had a strong link

with her. My friends used to refer to me as Bridget Jones, because of

my initials and personal circumstances. Resolution number

one. Lose 20 pounds. Number two, always put the pants in the laundry

basket. Equally important, find nice, sensible boyfriend to go out

with. I would do a lot of diet, and I would write down what I had eaten

every day. I think all women approach scales with a sense of fear

and loathing. I created my own diet, where you can eat anything that is

and loathing. I created my own diet, white or see-through. I scream,

vodka, gin. You don't put any weight on. Della why are so many women in

their 30s not married, Bridget? When your friends have husbands and

boyfriends, as the only single person, you feel alone. When you see

it on screen it it must be a common theme. My grandmother would keep

asking, are you courting? No. The chances of reaching a crucial moment

greatly increase by wearing these. Reid I've had these since 1990. You

always go for the big knickers. You need to suck it in or you will not

attract them in the first place. I think all women have problems with

what they are going to wear, going through 1 million outfits before you

what they are going to wear, going can go out. Eventually, I gave up

hope. I was convinced I would be a spinster for the rest of my life.

One particular ex-boyfriend, he was very much like that, a bad boy, he

cheated on me and I would always go back to him, in the same way that

Bridget always goes back to Daniel. You have to meet a feud Daniels to

know when a Mr Darcy comes along, you have to have something to

compare it to. I would like to kiss you goodbye. Do you mind? I do have

a Mr Darcy. I feel like he is my prize for being on the Bridget

mentoring scheme for so long. My Mr Darcy is Stuart, and we have two

boys. My husband is a Royal Marine, he is also ten years younger than

me. Bridget Jones did good. It just goes to show that waiting for the

right man to come along, it is worth it.

A massive thank you to the three girls who took part. And thank you

to everybody that wrote in. It really makes us happy to hear your

stories. I like the sound of the white diet. The detail, the way that

girl squeezed herself into those pants, it was quite remarkable. I

find it really moving, watching that. It is so funny. I just started

writing Bridget because I was broke, and a newspaper offered me a column

as a dating girl in London. Because I am quite private, I thought, I'll

make somebody up. I thought they would stop it for being too silly.

You must be massively surprised that Bridget has become this phenomenon.

She made us feel, girls of a certain age that were single, that we

weren't on our own. When I was writing that, I wrote it anonymously

because I thought, this is just me that is like this. To satisfy you?

Just because I had been offered a column, I was trying to write

another novel and I was broke. I just thought it was me being asked,

why are you not married, how is your love life, thinking I was a tragic

spinster that was going to end up being eaten by a dog. All of those

agonising things that you go through. Taking your watch off to

get weighed. Silly things. To find out that other people felt the same

way, it is quite moving. How scary out that other people felt the same

was it, 14 years later, dipping, right, it is time to bring her back?

Were you surprised yourself that you put pen to paper? I was, it wasn't

actually a pen, it was a computer. What triggered it? I always keep a

diary on my computer. I still have the note from 18 months ago, I

wonder if I could write a story about so and so? I kind of lost my

voice after the success of Bridget. I started writing it without telling

voice after the success of Bridget. anyone. I just wrote it secretly.

With the first one, if I had known so many people would read it, I

wouldn't have dared write it. With this one, I would not dare write it

if I thought it was going to be a big thing. So I just wrote it in the

armchair I usually write in, and just expressed what I wanted to

express. I had been collecting stuff. The world has moved on a

lot. My daughter was born by see section. I did a group e-mail saying

when she was going to be born, what her name was. And then I sent it to

everybody. I have to send another her name was. And then I sent it to

e-mail saying, I haven't really had the baby, I'm sorry. So then I

couldn't say, actually, I have had the baby now. I started to think

that technology, kids, I just collected little files on my laptop.

A very honest representation, when he wrote this down. Were you

bothered about what the critics, viewers, anybody like that would

say, or are you just thinking that is how it is, I am putting it out

there? You have to right from the inside out. A lot of people have

said the classic tales should be left, happy ending, leave it there?

The thing about a happy ending, as you know, it depends on when you

stop. As we know, life moves through waves. No, I really wanted, you

know, the people that were the fans of registered were in their 30s when

they read it. And now they have grown older. People do grow older. A

lovely thing is that Bridget's voice still sounds the same. Somebody that

may or may not read this weekend is Richard Curtis. He has a message for

may or may not read this weekend is you. I remember you writing the

first Richard Jones article. Who would have thought 18 years later it

would get you on The One Show? I would have thought 18 years later it

remember you meeting Colin Firth for the first time. Who would have

thought, 18 years later, you would kill him? I'm trying to decide what

classic novel to pick up and read this weekend. I think I'll go for

this one. Of course. Of course. Used to do a show called this is

your life, with all sorts of unexpected people. Who will come

next? We have to ask, because he did the first two films, will there be a

third for this one? One of the most thrilling moments was the one day I

went to the set come in because I am quite frightened of film sets. I

remember seeing Colin Firth who, in my mind, remains completely mixed up

with Mr Darcy. I cannot distinguish my mind, remains completely mixed up

between them. He was saying, my lines that I have written, for the

hybrid mixture of the three men, it was a thrilling and confusing moment

at the same time. There are new love interest. There is? There is a

younger man. And there is a new hero, and I read somewhere the other

day, somebody said no English surname is not improved by putting

the word Spanker in front of it. So, I thought I would like to take

them, see them take life. We hope to see a third film. Lines are closed

for the vote. We give you the results shortly. Don't vote, because

you may still be charged. We saw Alex at the beginning of the

programme, Bridget Jones's Diary, in her PJs. If you are watching us in

your pyjamas, do let us know. We want to see the evidence. Send your

picture to the usual address. Why are you laughing, Graham? We will be

inundated, you watch. Here is our next instalment of the Mums At Work.

Website boss John Salt has brought in the mothers of three employees in

an effort to help give them a fresh perspective on their work. It would

also give him a new insight into the business. John invited each of them

in for what seems very like a school parents evening. For Sheila, it was

the first time she had been given her daughter Jill's report card. She

is customer care director. When I think about Jill, I have worked with

her for a long time, the words I would come off with our open,

honest, down-to-earth. That comes from me, I am totally open. What you

see is what you get. Less confident communicating to her peer group,

people on the same level as her or above her. Managing upwards, you

often have to to manage the people you work for. She will learn that.

The more experience you get of managing upwards, the easier it

gets. I agree. With his comments ringing in her years, today, Sheila

gets. I agree. With his comments is sitting in on a presentation by

Jill to her team. Can she resist giving her daughter advice? Work out

how to use my computer. Contra member my password. How do I move it

forward is? -- cannot remember my password. A public speaker on her

own right, her 67-year-old mother has managed large teams through her

career. I started on the factory floor. I worked my way up to being a

shift supervisor. My present role is monitoring and measuring performance

for my department. Today, she is monitoring and measuring performance

doing her best not to interfere too obviously. Over the next couple of

weeks it will make it easier for you as well. Any questions? Have you got

any questions, Man? When you first started, I can't remember my

password, these lot do not need to know that. It's OK having a little

joke with the people you work with. But it could be senior management.

And you need to know your audience. It doesn't work every time. Sorry,

Man. Reid how long did you have to prepare for this? About five

minutes. Would you not know a week before, so why did you not practice

it bastion Mark I did write it myself. Sorry. Tough love? Well,

here comes the nice bit. When is your next presentation? Tomorrow.

Who with? The big bosses. Tonight, we will do a bit of training. We

will get it spot on. Thanks, Mum. It is the end of the working day. But

not for Jill. With hours to go before her presentation, it is back

for home work with Mum. Thanks for coming to the presentation today. I

just wanted to talk to you about a project we will be undertaking in

October. You look a bit more confident because you are stirred

up. It is body language. I am conscious of my arms. If you don't

know what to do, hold them together. Looking in error, I am surprised I

looked quite confident when I was doing it. I'll try it with a brush,

looked quite confident when I was next time. Next week, Jill faces up

to the bosses. John reveals home truths about Tory to her mum,

Jackie. Can him and get her back on track? And the mums introduce a

radical new policy to kick-start the day at work.

It seems to work. Have you ever thought about including your mum

around The Graham Norton Show? I think it is a good idea because

mothers know a lot, they have run households and brought up children.

When I am cooking in front of my households and brought up children.

mother, she will be quiet, quiet, and then say, is that how you

chopped tomatoes? Yes, it is! Maybe it would be easier to take to Radio

2. I don't think she would be that keen, she is not showbiz struck at

all. I say that now, she will be on the phone! You have just never

asked! According to a new report, young people in England and Northern

Ireland have some of the worst reading, writing and maths

skills... LAUGHTER

Queen 's English. If you had walked into a school in the 1960s you might

have been utterly baffled by what you saw up on the wall. Somewhat

completely unrecognisable. That is because children were being taught

ITA, the initial teaching alphabet. Retired school teacher Sue Lloyd

used to teach ITA. Every time they Retired school teacher Sue Lloyd

see that, this is an oo sound, and this is an a sound. This one looks a

bit strange. The N and the GR put together. -- and the G are put

together. Every word is made up of the 44 sounds. Devised by Sir James

Pitman, the ITA alphabet had 44 symbols covering every sound in the

English-language. Jordan would learn to read and write using this

alphabet and then move over to our standard alphabet when they were

older. This attempt to simplify our complex language also meant

eliminating capital letters. The A looks like a tent whereas the lower

case character looks like a snake and the bond which the teacher

writes on the ward and -- on the board and expects the child to write

looks different again. Children quickly took to reading and writing

in ITA and outperformed their peers using the conventional of the bed.

By 1966, more than a thousand schools were teaching ITA to 100,000

children. One ITA pupil still has his school books. Written in

excellent ITA. Here is a house and a rainbow and a racing car track.

Rainbow, that is a difficult one. More, good boy. The teacher always

wrote back in ITA so you could read the comments. Outside the classroom,

ITA remained unfamiliar. Parents struggled with children's schoolwork

and only a few book publishers caught on. How would adults there

today? We took to Barking to find out. There was a table set out under

a tree in front of the house and the March Hare and the hats were having

tea at it. A dormouse was sitting between them fast asleep. And the

other two were using it as a... Using it as a cushion, resting their

elbows on it. And talking over its head. Very uncomfortable for the

dormouse, that. For Matt, life after ITA was not easy. The problem came

with the transition to actual language and you had a bit of an

uphill struggle learning for a second time. I always have problems

with words and it has knocked us back by learning a system that

wasn't English. The system fell out of favour with teachers and people's

alike. -- and pupils alike. We realised that it was perhaps the

method of teaching that was not giving the desired results. Sue

Lloyd abandoned the unusual symbols but continued to teach children the

sounds of the letters, going on to devise Jolly phonics. Now phonics is

a key part of the national curriculum. The ITA story with its

halfling symbols and letters didn't have a happy ever after ending but

the idea of introducing English through sounds wasn't quite as crazy

as it looked. It is quite similar to the way we learn the boss alphabet.

Did you struggle with that transition? We saw that early on,

let's not go back. Lucy is here with the results of the vote. The results

are now in and I am pleased to confirm that 57% of you said yes,

e-cigarettes should be banned from public places. People thought that

e-cigarettes could be a gateway into conventional smoking and that they

normalise smoking. We have become quite successful at becoming

smoke-free in places. The figures in England were showing that smoking in

England was at its lowest level since smoking began, so why fix

something that is not broken? Some people felt that e-cigarettes are an

regulated and untested so they were not too sure, but it was a very

narrow victory. 43% thought they not too sure, but it was a very

were harmless and a good substitute for smoking, could help people stop

smoking and ultimately save lives. Regardless of what we think, some

companies have a ready banned them. Wetherspoon 's, Starbucks and

several airlines have said no to vaping, it already has its own verb.

Some people will say that if people vaping, it already has its own verb.

switched to e-cigarettes, surely the NHS will save billions because there

is no tobacco and tar in them. Cancer research say they are almost

certainly the safest way to consume nicotine and we have 100,000 people

in the UK a year dying from smoking-related illness, so there is

a good oddments. But do they need more testing -- there is a good

argument? Do we know what they do in the long term? The Commonwealth

Games baton has been at Buckingham Palace today. It is about to travel

to Glasgow via Heathrow to start its 118,000 mile journey around the

Commonwealth. Scotland's first Minister Alex Salmond has kindly

agreed to drop in on his way to terminal five. Welcome. I have

passed the baton over, good to see you, welcome back. First of all,

before we get onto the baton, we have to ask the question on

everybody's lips, whether you live in Scotland or not. Should Helen

have killed off Mr Darcy? I didn't kill him! Initially I thought,

great, and opening for me. Then I thought I cannot compete with Colin

Firth. I think, how could you kill of Darcy? We have already asked her.

What about your fans? He would never leave so now his memory will live on

untarnished. It is about to go on this epic journey. 100,000 miles, 70

countries, setting off from Glasgow tomorrow and doesn't get active

Scotland until next June. Mark Beaumont will be guarding it as it

goes. There is only one, there is no back-up. It is like Thailand, there

is only one -- it is like Highlander.

That is the granite you were talking about. It is fabulous. When you

watch the golf at Turnberry, every curling stone in the world is made

their and the granite gem on top of the Commonwealth baton. And the

Queen 's message lit up? You can actually see it. If you hold it to a

mirror, you could probably make it out but you're not allowed to until

the Queen reads it out next July in Glasgow. Do you know the scene? I

think she will say something about opening the games! Is it a message

to you? It says, dear Graham. Let's move on, Glasgow will be home to 70

nations and territories. We are sure they are going to be brushing up on

Scottish history and additions. What we -- traditions. We want to know,

what do you know of the Commonwealth? How deep is your

knowledge? I have a Commonwealth knowledge badge. We have gold,

silver and bronze questions, gold is the hardest, bronze is the easiest,

the answer is always a Commonwealth country. Alex, first. We will go for

gold. Your question is this. This country's highest mountain, standing

at 8,598 metres is Kanchenjunga. What is the bronze question? It is

the Himalayas, it is India. You have got it right, he has got a gold!

There you are, congratulations. Your turn, Graham, gold, silver or

bronze. Ireland is not in the Commonwealth. I will go with bronze.

Which country has a 12 pointed star on its flag and is said to represent

the Republic's original plans. It is very small. If you get this, I will

be amazed. Why is this a bronze question? You have been slightly

stitched, it is Nauru. You have ruined Christmas!

Which country has a national Rugby side known as New Zealand. New

Zealand, I knew that! I was going to say New Zealand whatever the

question was! That was my plan. I was going to give you another option

but we haven't got time. We asked you to send us photos... Thank you

for coming in. Watching the show in pyjamas.

This one with a glass of wine, very Bridget Jones! This one is Tom. This

is Margaret from Dundee. Thank you to our guests, lovely to have you,

thank you for taking part in The One Show vote. All of our very best with

Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy and Graham is back on Friday night. We

will be back doing it all again tomorrow joined by Brendan O