17/04/2014 The One Show

Hello and welcome to the One Show with me, Alex Jones, and my

co-pilot, the lovely Vernon Kay! I hope it is not a bumpy ride. I have

heard you are good! It is a super-sized show, a giant of a

co-presenter, how tall? Six foot four. Super rats invading our towns

and cities. And a whopping great Easter party in South Shields

involving shipping containers. And here on the sofa a colossus of

everything historical, even though she is only five foot three, Lucy

Worsley. Well,! Not many of our guests have a palace at their

disposal, let alone five. Let's kick this off, what is this about you

being stood up by Johnny Depp? I cannot believe how good your

research is! I did it all myself! Well, he was doing some filming at

Hampden for one of the feature films he has been in, and I was called in

by his location manager who said, will you stay late tonight? Johnny

Depp would like a tour of the palace with you. I called and said, what

should I do? You might want to stay. I waited and waited, time went on,

the phone didn't ring, and finally he called back and said, sorry,

Johnny was tired. But who better to be stood up by? It does make quite a

good story now. The weird thing is, Lucy, Vernon used to be a

curator... Well, more of a caretaker. I used to work with a big

bunch of keys, I used to be a mobile caretaker for several schools in the

Bolton area. I know what it is like to look after important buildings!

Is that on a par with palaces?! He used to fall asleep in a warm room

with all the pipes. Do you have one of those? We have got one of those.

I hope you do not mind me asking, how old are you, Vernon? Not showbiz

age? I am 39. According to research, that is the age that men turn into

their dad. Oh, really?! Yes! What are the signs? We have been to your

birthplace, Bolton, to find out. I noticed I started turning into my

dad when I started turning the thermostat down and I had my own

place on the sofa. Men start getting like their dad when they are dancing

or buying questionable shirts, the Hawaiian number, or getting their

chest hair out. I do stuff around the house and then look and say, oh,

God, I have turned into my dad. Driving in the first lane on the

motorway. Genuinely DIY things around the house. I noticed when you

decided that you would sit in your boxer shorts on the floor,

scratching your head. We were at a wedding, he was doing his best dad

dancing. Good dancing! It was dad dancing.

My son is turning into me, because he started listening to my kind of

music, which he would never do. And also, he has become very restless,

like I used to be. He cannot just sit around, he has to be doing

something. That is actually my dad! Is it?! Really?! Is it?! That is

actually... Yeah, that is my dad. My mum does the cooking, my dad sits on

the bench in the back garden. And you have started listening to his

music. Oh, wow, that is unbelievable. We have conversations

about fuel consumption in the cars, that is turning into your dad. And

you have got a man draw, you were saying. It is happening! Let me

introduce you, let's move on, away from my father! Let me introduce you

to a personal hero of mine, this is Max, a Jack Russell from Tunbridge

Wells, definitely not afraid of super rats. Look at that, good lad!

If you do not like wild rats - who does? - you might be pleased to hear

authorities are considering allowing stronger poison to be used to deal

with them. Britain has a problem, rats, but it

is not just about numbers. The rats in this country are getting harder

and harder to deal with. Scientists say the number of rats which are

resistant to poisons is increasing, and the problem is much more

widespread than previously thought. Some of the highest levels of

resistance in the world have been found in southern England, and

what's more it's proving almost impossible to tackle. Rob is a pest

controller, and his job is getting progressively harder. So, Rob, with

the rat population on the entries, I suppose you are busier than ever. We

are always busy. What is the job today? A farmer says he has seen

more activity, running down the side of the barns, I will put some stuff

down, we will monitor it and see what we have got going on. Rob is

worried that the growing resistance is our fault because when ordinary

people like you and me put down poisons, we don't put down enough,

and that adds to the problem, rather than solving it. I believe a lot of

it is down to bad baiting, they are putting it down in situations where

they should be using more. If you have got a party and you do not know

how many people are going to turn up, you have got a bottle of beer or

a case. If you are only trying to feed a tiny little bit of rat bait

amongst too many, they don't get enough of it, and if you continue to

do it over time, they build resistance. The Government estimates

they could be 10 million rats in Britain. With a gestation period of

21 days, the female is capable of producing 14 pups in a letter.

Numbers could be even higher. Scientists from Reading and

Huddersfield universities are mapping the problem, and they say

some of the highest levels of rat resistance are found in southern

England, where more than 70% of animals tested could survive being

poisoned. Doctor Colin Prescott and his in Reading have been collecting

samples of rats tails and droppings from all over the country. By

analysing the DNA, they can put the problem areas on a map. We are

looking at a map of south-east England, this is mapping resistance

of the rodent poisons. We started to find this kind of resistance was

widespread. We thought initially it was restricted to a small area

around Berkshire, but it is surprisingly, spreading right across

to Bath, Oxford, Southampton. That is Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and

even Kent. And the list of counties is still growing. So any animal that

is resistant is presumably going to survive and pass on its genes to the

next generation. Exactly, yes. Stronger poisons are already

permitted, but the rules say they can only be used indoors to protect

the environment. Dr Prescott thinks the rules need to change. If it were

possible to allow outdoor use of these rodent decides, I would argue

that we would be able to get control of most of these infestations in

four to six weeks, then you remove the poisons and no longer have the

problem. The Health and Safety Executive is now giving this serious

consideration, and the rules could change later this year. But the risk

is that it could kill more than just rats. So, Colin, what are the

implications of using stronger poisons normally used indoors, out

of doors on wildlife? There is a great risk of contamination with

birds of prey, particularly the red kite, barn owl, buzzard. They feed

in the situation, accumulate the poisons within the rodents. What

safeguards would you like to see put in place? We do need greater

controls, and one of those controls should be annual monitoring. The

fact of the matter is these poisons do indeed pose a threat to the

environment, the well-being of a huge range of animals. And not many

people want to see the rat population get any bigger than it is

already. So it is a dilemma. If we deal with this, it means endangering

these. That is what the authorities will be weighing up over the summer.

It is nearly an impossible decision, isn't it? A tricky one, wildlife or

rat, but what is in the poison that would harm the other animals? In

essence, the poison they want to use is currently only allowed indoors.

It is much more toxic. The one they are using indoors is a

second-generation poison, like the one used in the film, where we are

seen resistance. The first generation are warfarin drugs. There

is widespread resistance to those, people use that against blood

clotting. But the new one is much more poisonous, it is a single bait

poison. You put it outside, the rat has one meal, and three or four days

later it dies of internal haemorrhaging. Whereas with the

other poison which is currently being used, they have to eat several

times. If you are using a more toxic bait, the issue is that anything

that eats the rats that might have died, or rats that are looking

poorly, scavengers like red kites or barn owls of foxes, they are

ingesting a whole lot more poison. Unleashing this kind of chemical

into the countryside has to be carefully thought out and should be

used by professionals who know exactly what they are doing. Is it

true the rats are getting bigger? Or is that just a tabloid scare?

Monster rats! They are definitely getting bigger, Vernon. We go out on

Saturday night, we are terribly wasteful as a society, Peters,

kebabs chips, we'll either them there... Let me stop you there, I

have never wasted pizza, kebabs or chips after a night out! Who does

that?! Some people do, believe it or not, and they are getting more

obese. A doctor from the University of Leicester has an evolutionary

theory that we are clearing out a niche for animals to get bigger.

Being big is successful, and the largest current rat in the world is

a capybara, in South America, 80 kilograms. That is probably the same

weight as you. No, there are people out there was scared of rats

already! We have just made the problem worse! Think of my sister!

They could be getting bigger! Let's move on, that is quite a scary

prospect! Lucy, apart from being on television and writing books, you

have an amazing job where you are the curator of five historic Royal

palaces. What does that entail? Well, basically, we opened them up

and welcome visitors in. We try to give them a good time and show them

really interesting objects, we acquire things for the collections.

We have exhibitions, we have live interpreters, you can meet Henry

VIII, he comes out every morning and terrifies the kids! You look after

Hampton Court Palace, Kensington Palace, but where are you based? My

main office is up a spiral staircase in Hampton Court Palace, and it is

the world's best of this. It is a beautiful building. You tempted to

have a late-night party there? I am not sure I can answer this question!

Your latest project sees you getting to grips with the Georgians, let's

see you in action. In 1743, King George II became the

last British king ever to lead his troops in person on the battlefield.

Now, boys, he said, fire and be brave, and the French will soon run!

Very good, yes! You looked like you were enjoying yourself with that

musket. But who were the Georgians? The problem that most people have is

that they think they are German, grumpy, indistinguishable from each

other. If people know anything, they know the Horrible Histories express

and, a bad one, a sad one, the mad one, George III, and George IV,

whose waist was 54 inches, the fat one. Where did they come... I know

they came from Germany, but why did they pick them? In 1714, 300 years

ago, that is why everyone is Georgian mad at the moment, Queen

Anne died and had no surviving children, and this is despite the

fact that she had had 17 pregnancies, poor woman, a desperate

attempt to reproduce. Now the Protestant aristocracy decided that

they have still have a Protestant king, so they passed over 50

relatives of Queen Anne's, and they finally found this obscure branch of

the German Royal Family, Protestants, who are invited over.

It is funny to think that the British monarchy was made in

Germany. That is what we were saying, why were they all called

George, then? It is a good brand, isn't it, you give your name to an

era, we will probably live in another Georgian era. Good point! To

what do we owe the Georgians, then? Well, the things that happened in

the 18th century that catch our imagination is the sort of the

development of this middle group of people with cash to burn. They have

got leisure time, and they invent a good brand, isn't it, you give your

name to an era, we will probably live in another Georgian era. Good

point! To what do we owe the Georgians, then? Well, the things

that happened in the 18th century that catch our imagination is the

sort of the development of this middle group of people with cash to

burn. They have got leisure time, and they invent wonderful, and the

pleasure gardens, wonderful dresses, architecture and gin. Quite

extravagant, then. They sounds like great fun! They used to think, as

beer comes by the pint, so should this new drink, and there were

terrifying consequences of this. You can see the programme on the 1st of

May at nine o'clock on BBC Four. Time to find out what our resident

extreme sport enthusiasts, or nutter, has been up to. He fancied

some whitewater kayaking, so we found the biggest bat the good and

got them to pull the plug out. North Wales, and this is one of 486

reservoirs in the UK that supply households and industry with water.

It stories 70,000 million litres of rainwater and the people who run it

manage it carefully. Getting water to where it needs to be. Titles like

these are the key. Much of the time, the outflow from the reservoir

is a trickle. It makes the river downstream tame and shallow. But at

the click of a mouse, valves open and the flow increases. Today, from

4000 litres per second to 16,000 litres per second. It turns the

river into a different beast, wild, dangerous and perfect for thrill

seekers in search of Whitewater. When the release happens, river

becomes a torrent. It makes the rapids some of the fastest and most

exhilarating Whitewater anywhere in the country. Rafters benefit from

the lease of water but it is not the primary purpose. Why else do you use

the water? To produce hydropower, generating up to four megawatts. And

also, during pollution events, we release water to flush the river.

There is no danger that you are going to flood people? At all times,

consideration is given to the conditions downstream. This water is

on its way to 3 million people, who will get their supply mainly from

the reservoir. But with the river in motion, cannot resist the

opportunity. Why have my dry suit on and underneath that, and under suit.

And my helmet. It is just as well, because that water is just freezing.

Although the water is fast, it remains shallow. I have done plenty

of kayaking but hardly any Whitewater rafting. Duncan is

teaching me the techniques. We're going to float on our backs, feet

first. We have to float on the surface of the water. So that we

avoid the rocks. With the valves from the dam open, almost 1 million

litres of water a minute is flowing downriver. Tom from the British

Whitewater rafting team leads me into the first rapids. Good line.

The trick is to paddle faster than the flow of the water. For the

Heinz, and you are just a passenger, at the mercy of the

river. This water will get to Chester, 40 miles by road, but

longer by the river system. We do not have a national grid for water

distribution of electricity, but rivers are used like giant natural

pipelines to meet the demand for water from urban areas. The next

obstacle is a standing wave. A wave that remains stationary, caused by

the shape of the riverbed and the flow of the water. For rafters, they

are a hazard, with a suction effect that holds the boat in a position

that is tricky to escape from. First-time, I get through the waves

and out the other side. I'm feeling confident now. My fancy a race. -- I

fancy. Water is released 200 days a year from the dam. It makes this

river the ideal training ground for the British rafting team. Tom's

experience shows. Despite an early lead, after a bit of argy-bargy, he

beats me easily. More practice needed. I'm going to

get back out there. It looks like fun.

Now it's time to catch up with our Joe in South Shields where they are

What has been happening? It has been sounding absolutely

fantastic. As soon as you come here, it has gone quiet. What they are

rehearsing for is the Great North Passion, being broadcast live on BBC

One tomorrow at midday. It is a reinterpretation of the passion,

which is essentially the story of the end of the life of Jesus Christ.

It has been narrated by Fern Britton and Alexandra Burke is singing.

There are so many people taking part. Choirs, break dancers,

sculptors, all different kinds of artists. What is really intriguing

is that if you were behind me, there are shipping containers. 64 of them,

laid out in the shape of a cross. Essentially, it is a pop-up

cathedral. And the shipping containers represent the North East.

These are things that people see every day here going in and out of

the ports. The red ones, there are 12, representing the 12 stations of

the cross. They have been given to local artists to work on, to come up

with installation pieces. And here we have Kate Fox, the stand-up poet.

He will been working on one of these and the theme was kindness. We

decided to make a performance poem, so I've got the kids to think about

what kindness means to them in their lives. What is it like? They were

saying it was like ice cream because there are many different flavours,

like the number eight because it is a handshake, and like Ocean Road

behind us on the seafront. What is unkind? He said seagulls and other

things, my thoughts. We have a poem and we are performing it tomorrow.

Also, we will be performing random Acts of kindness to see -- random

acts of kindness to strangers. I love it. And look who else I have

got me. She is disguised, but I'm sure you will recognise her.

Alexandra Burke. How are you? I am really good. What is your

involvement? I am singing tomorrow, singing three songs. One in

particular is taken from the new album and it is called we do hearts

goal. I'm donating the proceeds to charity, to Prince Harry's charity

for which I am in ambassador. It is great to be here. Different to songs

of praise. Very different! But you know what, the setting is beautiful

and everyone has been so amazing. I am in eager to get started, because

tomorrow is going to be a spiritual, magical performance. Fantastic.

Hopefully, they will keep the sunshine for tomorrow. 3000 tickets

for tomorrow have all gone. You have to watch it on the BBC. But if you

want to come down and check out the performances in the containers, you

can do that between 12pm and 4pm. What a bundle of fun Kate was. So

enthusiastic! Now one of the bits of the One Show

you rarely get to see is our production gallery,

probably a good thing looking at them, which incidentally is two

floors underground and Fingers crossed everything is going

to be fine behind the scenes tonight but imagine the panic on the night

the BBC was about to launch a new In the early 1960s, there were only

two television stations broadcasting in the UK. BBC One and ITV. A

government committee wanted to offer the audience something different. A

third station. The BBC was set to launch a channel of cultural

distinction, focusing on drama, comedy, science and the arts. The

channel was to be called BBC Two and was set to be launched from here at

television centre on the 20th of April, 1964, with a night that

promised music, laughter and celebratory fire is. But the launch

was an unprecedented disaster. Broadcaster Dennis Tuohy was the man

chosen to be the face of BBC Two and watch it live on here. This was

history. And so when we had rehearsed it so many times, the

editor said, let's go and have a drink in the BBC club. But all the

rehearsing would be in vain. I'll left the bar and went back to the

studio area. And I was the only one there. And went into the gallery and

eye sat there. And they looked at the monitor screens. And suddenly,

they all went dark. Half an hour before the launch, a massive fire at

Battersea Power Station caused and delicacy blackout, plunging this is

very -- plunging the city into darkness. The countdown to launch

was about to turn into a countdown to disaster. The BBC studios across

London were thrown into chaos. At lime Grove, the power had also

failed. BBC Two had its own mascot come up hullabaloo the kangaroo. To

mark the launch, the BBC had borrowed a real kangaroo. When the

lights went out, he got jumpy and had to be shut in the scenery left.

With five minutes to go, there was still no power. A phone call was

made to the BBC news headquarters here at Alexandra Palace in North

London. Unaffected by the power failure, the News team was going to

have to step into the breach to launch the brand-new channel.

And then, there was silence. Things were about to get even worse. No

recording of that fateful night was made at television centre equals of

the power cut, and the events became part of industry folklore. Until a

mysterious tape was discovered. This man was working at the BBC archives

in Kingswood in Surrey in 2003. Good to see you. You are the man who laid

your hands on a piece of history. How did it happen? A colleague came

to me to show me what tapes looked like in the 60s. He showed me this

very tape. Immediately realise the significance of the random tape. A

production report said simply, the opening of BBC Two. Who would have

recorded it? This tape, there was an engineer at Kingswood who actually

stayed up to record it. One of the few video recorders in the country

at the time. And how did it feel to be holding and rediscovering a piece

of lost television history? Absolutely amazing. This was the

launch of the new channel. Gerald Priestland, for the first three

minutes of its broadcasting live, mute. When the viewers finally heard

him, the problems did not stop. Excuse me. Hello. Unlike Channel

one, there is nobody there. The plans line-up was replaced with an

evening of instrumental music and apologetic announcements.

Anything else? That is all we have are for the moment. But we will be

keeping in touch. However, BBC Two's failure to launch turned into

a publicity triumph. It hit the headlines in the morning with a big

announcement that the channel would relaunch that very night.

The BBC could not ignore the previous night's blackout. Our team

met to decide what we would do that evening. Something to do with

candles. But probably a single candle. Good evening. This is BBC

Two. The birth of BBC Two was a landmark

in British broadcasting. On that opening night, the channel that

promised excellence in comedy certainly managed to deliver.

Anybody there? Bless the young lad in the Argyle

sweater desperately seeking help from his colleagues. Hello? I'm

live, help me! I'm live on TV! And a telephone on the desk? Who is going

to call him live on television tonight and it is all over. That is

it for this evening. Thank you to Lucy Worsley.

The First Georgians is on 1st May on BBC Four.

Vernon and I will be back tomorrow night with Chris Addison and