0:00:02 > 0:00:03BBC Four Collections -
0:00:03 > 0:00:06specially chosen programmes from the BBC Archive.
0:00:06 > 0:00:07For this Collection,
0:00:07 > 0:00:08Sir Michael Parkinson
0:00:08 > 0:00:10has selected BBC interviews
0:00:10 > 0:00:12with influential figures
0:00:12 > 0:00:13of the 20th century.
0:00:13 > 0:00:15More programmes on this theme
0:00:15 > 0:00:16and other BBC Four Collections
0:00:16 > 0:00:18are available on BBC iPlayer.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34TRAIN SCREAMS ALONG TRACK
0:00:37 > 0:00:41HORN BLARES
0:00:42 > 0:00:47ENGINE ROARS
0:00:50 > 0:00:53CHATTER AND FRANTIC TRAFFIC
0:00:55 > 0:00:58MAN SHOUTS
0:01:01 > 0:01:02MAN: Stop!
0:01:03 > 0:01:07Well, once again we stop the mighty roar of London's traffic,
0:01:07 > 0:01:10and from the great crowds we bring to you some of the interesting people
0:01:10 > 0:01:13who've come by land, sea and air to be In Town Tonight.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28'A well-known Italian opera and film star is visiting London.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32'Tomorrow, he is to give a recital at the Royal Albert Hall
0:01:32 > 0:01:36'and here he is talking to John Ellison. Tito Gobbi.'
0:01:36 > 0:01:39Very nice to see you again, Mr Gobbi.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42Thank you, it's good to be back in London again, and you know,
0:01:42 > 0:01:47I am having such a wonderful time on my unexpected holiday.
0:01:47 > 0:01:48Oh, yes.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50Have you got your family with you?
0:01:50 > 0:01:55Oh, yes, as usual, and my daughter is riding every morning in Hyde Park.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57- Are you riding with her too? - Oh, yes.
0:01:57 > 0:02:02I think it's a wonderful exercise, this riding,
0:02:02 > 0:02:07and every morning I ride behind her in a taxi.
0:02:07 > 0:02:08- In a taxi? - Oh, yes, in a taxi,
0:02:08 > 0:02:10- but with open window. - Ah!
0:02:10 > 0:02:15And I catch such a lot of fresh air, and I feel so well now,
0:02:15 > 0:02:18I'd like to sing for you this aria
0:02:18 > 0:02:21I left on the piano there, it's the Marriage Of Figaro.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24It looks very old now, poor thing,
0:02:24 > 0:02:27but it's the first piece of music I bought in my life.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30- A long time ago? - Not very long!
0:02:30 > 0:02:33I was just a little nipper!
0:02:33 > 0:02:34So, I like it very much
0:02:34 > 0:02:39and I hope Winifred Taylor will be able to read it.
0:02:39 > 0:02:40MUSIC STARTS
0:02:41 > 0:02:44# Non piu andrai, farfallone amoroso
0:02:44 > 0:02:47# Notte e giorno d'intorno girando
0:02:47 > 0:02:51# Delle belle turbando il riposo
0:02:51 > 0:02:54# Narcisetto, Adoncino d'amor
0:02:54 > 0:02:58# Delle belle turbando il riposo
0:02:58 > 0:03:01# Narcisetto, Adoncino d'amor
0:03:05 > 0:03:09# Non piu avrai questi bei penacchini
0:03:11 > 0:03:15# Quel cappello leggiero e galante
0:03:15 > 0:03:18# Quella chioma, quell'aria brillante
0:03:18 > 0:03:21# Quel vermiglio donnesco color
0:03:21 > 0:03:25# Quel vermiglio donnesco color!
0:03:25 > 0:03:28# Non piu avrai quei penacchini
0:03:28 > 0:03:32# Quel cappello, quella chioma
0:03:32 > 0:03:37# Quell'aria brillante
0:03:37 > 0:03:41# Non piu andrai, farfallone amoroso
0:03:41 > 0:03:44# Notte e giorno d'intorno girando
0:03:44 > 0:03:48# Delle belle turbando il riposo
0:03:48 > 0:03:52# Narcisetto, Adoncino d'amor
0:03:52 > 0:03:56# Delle belle turbando il riposo
0:03:56 > 0:03:59# Narcisetto, Adoncino d'amor
0:04:00 > 0:04:03# Fra guerrieri, poffar Bacco!
0:04:03 > 0:04:06# Gran mustacchi, stretto sacco
0:04:06 > 0:04:10# Schioppo in spalla, sciabla al fianco
0:04:10 > 0:04:14# Collo dritto, muso franco
0:04:14 > 0:04:18# Un gran casco, o un gran turbante
0:04:18 > 0:04:21# Molto onor, poco contante
0:04:21 > 0:04:28# Poco contante, poco contante
0:04:28 > 0:04:32# Ed in vece del fandango
0:04:32 > 0:04:37# Una marcia per il fango
0:04:37 > 0:04:40# Per montagne, per valloni
0:04:41 > 0:04:44# Con le nevi, e i solioni Al concerto di tromboni
0:04:44 > 0:04:46# Di bombarde, di cannoni
0:04:46 > 0:04:51# Che le palle in tutti i tuoni All'orecchio fan fischiar
0:04:51 > 0:04:54# Non piu avrai quei penacchini
0:04:54 > 0:04:58# Non piu avrai quel cappello
0:04:58 > 0:05:02# Non piu avrai quella chioma
0:05:02 > 0:05:10# Non piu avrai quell'aria brillante
0:05:10 > 0:05:14# Non piu andrai, farfallone amoroso
0:05:14 > 0:05:17# Notte e giorno d'intorno girando
0:05:17 > 0:05:21# Delle belle turbando il riposo
0:05:21 > 0:05:25# Narcisetto, Adoncino d'amor
0:05:25 > 0:05:29# Delle belle turbando il riposo
0:05:29 > 0:05:32# Narcisetto, Adoncino d'amor
0:05:34 > 0:05:36# Cherubino, alla vittoria!
0:05:36 > 0:05:40# Alla gloria militar!
0:05:40 > 0:05:44# Cherubino, alla vittoria!
0:05:44 > 0:05:51# Alla gloria militar! Alla gloria militar!
0:05:51 > 0:05:59# Alla gloria militar! #
0:05:59 > 0:06:02JOHN: Thank you very much indeed, Tito Gobbi. What's the hurry?
0:06:02 > 0:06:05Thank you! I'm in a hurry because I have to sing
0:06:05 > 0:06:08tomorrow at the Royal Albert Hall for a concert,
0:06:08 > 0:06:10then I have to fly back to America
0:06:10 > 0:06:12for the opening night for the opera season
0:06:12 > 0:06:16in Chicago and then, you know, I don't like to be late.
0:06:16 > 0:06:18- No, I'm sure you don't. Goodbye. - Goodbye, thank you.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36'Four months ago, two English girls in Australia
0:06:36 > 0:06:41'set out from Townsville, Queensland on a hitchhike to London.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43'They've arrived in the In Town Tonight studio
0:06:43 > 0:06:46'and here they are - Diana Williams, who's a nurse,
0:06:46 > 0:06:49'and Eunice Royston-Gardner, who's a hairdresser.'
0:06:49 > 0:06:50JOHN: Well, it sounds quite a trip.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53Did you have to do some work on the way, Miss Royston-Gardner?
0:06:53 > 0:06:54Yes, of course we had to, to make the trip.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57First of all, I was a barmaid for a few days
0:06:57 > 0:06:59and then later on I helped Diana
0:06:59 > 0:07:02in a bush hospital nursing for a month
0:07:02 > 0:07:03in Mount Isa in Queensland.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05And what other jobs did you do, Miss Williams?
0:07:05 > 0:07:08I did some apple-picking in Tasmania
0:07:08 > 0:07:11and in Sydney I worked as a waitress in a hotel
0:07:11 > 0:07:13and in Darwin I kept house for truck drivers.
0:07:13 > 0:07:14JOHN: Where did you go when you left Australia?
0:07:14 > 0:07:19Um, we went to Colombo by ship, calling at Indonesia on the way
0:07:19 > 0:07:22and at Jakarta a young native gentleman
0:07:22 > 0:07:24offered to buy us from our English escort
0:07:24 > 0:07:26for a couple of calves' heads.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29JOHN: What a sense of economic value, I would say, that he had(!)
0:07:29 > 0:07:30Did you cross India?
0:07:30 > 0:07:34Yes, mostly by train, third class, sleeping in the luggage racks
0:07:34 > 0:07:36and staying up there most of the day.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39- How did you get on with the people? - Oh, they were very kind indeed.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41We had a chance to meet Mr Nehru in Delhi
0:07:41 > 0:07:43and he was very charming and kind.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45He'd just returned from his European trip
0:07:45 > 0:07:47and he was feeling the heat more than we did at the time.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50JOHN: Did you get into any tight corners over there?
0:07:50 > 0:07:52Um, no not really, but we thought we had once.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55We were passing through the Khyber Pass by local bus one night
0:07:55 > 0:07:58and suddenly we were pulled up in the bus
0:07:58 > 0:08:01by the local tribesman carrying a lantern
0:08:01 > 0:08:04and taken to a nearby village and ushered through a hole in the wall,
0:08:04 > 0:08:06and we began to wonder what was coming next.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10Well, evidently, they'd never had any English women in their village before
0:08:10 > 0:08:11and they just wanted to be hospitable
0:08:11 > 0:08:13and see how we were and what we looked like.
0:08:13 > 0:08:14JOHN: Did they show you back to the bus?
0:08:14 > 0:08:17Yes, after about an hour and a half, the bus was still waiting
0:08:17 > 0:08:20packed with chicken and people and goats, et cetera.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22JOHN: Oh, fine. Was that the end of your adventures, Miss Williams?
0:08:22 > 0:08:24Well, not quite, no.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27In Baghdad, we nearly caused a riot by swimming in the Tigris.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29JOHN: What was the matter with that?
0:08:29 > 0:08:32English women in bathing costumes in Baghdad
0:08:32 > 0:08:33was enough to nearly cause the riot,
0:08:33 > 0:08:37and then we went on to Istanbul just after the riots there,
0:08:37 > 0:08:41and in Greece we had many proposals of marriage on sight,
0:08:41 > 0:08:45and then in France, in Marseilles, Eunice was offered the job
0:08:45 > 0:08:48of a striptease artist in a nightclub for £5 a night.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52I, of course, said no. I wonder now whether I should have said yes!
0:08:52 > 0:08:54JOHN: Well, I should think you had your fill of adventures anyway
0:08:54 > 0:08:56and thank you both for being so lucid about them.
0:08:56 > 0:08:57Thank you.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21'And now we come to our new feature, A Woman Wonders Why.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25'In it, the interviewer seeks the feminine point of view.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28'Seeking the point of view of a woman driver tonight
0:09:28 > 0:09:30'is Yolande Turner from South Africa.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32'She's talking to the organiser of the Motor Show
0:09:32 > 0:09:36'which opened at Earls Court on Wednesday - Stanley Clark.'
0:09:36 > 0:09:37- Good evening, Mr Clark. - Good evening.
0:09:37 > 0:09:38I'm very pleased to meet you
0:09:38 > 0:09:41and also I'm delighted to have you here this evening.
0:09:41 > 0:09:42STANLEY: That's very nice of you.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44I'm also pleased to see that this year
0:09:44 > 0:09:46the Motor Show is a very feminine one,
0:09:46 > 0:09:47and why is that?
0:09:47 > 0:09:50Well, I think that a man is very brave today
0:09:50 > 0:09:53if he doesn't buy a car without consulting his wife.
0:09:53 > 0:09:58That's why the manufacturers have gone in more for the nicer colours
0:09:58 > 0:10:02and more elegant lines, and, of course, also there are many gadgets
0:10:02 > 0:10:04and accessories which we hope will appeal to the women.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06Which is very nice. Of course,
0:10:06 > 0:10:07- colour's so important, isn't it? - It is.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10And I think the world today is more colour-conscious
0:10:10 > 0:10:11than it's ever been before.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13Eye appeal is certainly more important
0:10:13 > 0:10:15- to a woman than speed. - Certainly.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19Another thing I want to know from you is why is it that manufacturers
0:10:19 > 0:10:23find it so important to make a car that goes 100mph?
0:10:23 > 0:10:27Well, that does helps us tremendously in the export drive overseas
0:10:27 > 0:10:28because they have roads over there
0:10:28 > 0:10:31where those speeds can really be maintained with safety.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35In this country, of course, the roads, at least very few of them,
0:10:35 > 0:10:36will allow that sort of speed
0:10:36 > 0:10:38- in comfort. - - No.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41But it does create a fine reserve of power in an emergency.
0:10:41 > 0:10:46Um, I know that everyone listening to me, at least all the women will agree
0:10:46 > 0:10:49and I certainly find it, that getting into some of these small cars,
0:10:49 > 0:10:52and even out of them is quite impossible in a tight skirt
0:10:52 > 0:10:55and also sometimes quite embarrassing.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59Well, we have to make small cars now through purchase tax,
0:10:59 > 0:11:02of course, at the outset, and also the very high cost of petrol.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06But the manufacturers make the doors as wide as they possibly can,
0:11:06 > 0:11:09bearing your point in mind, and most doors are now...
0:11:09 > 0:11:11There's an attachment on them
0:11:11 > 0:11:14which prevents the door from banging against you
0:11:14 > 0:11:15either while you're getting in
0:11:15 > 0:11:17- or getting out. - Yes.
0:11:17 > 0:11:22I suppose really, you should have come into the old, spacious days
0:11:22 > 0:11:25when the limousines drove up to the mansions
0:11:25 > 0:11:28and the guests stepped out with their hand outstretched!
0:11:28 > 0:11:30Whereas today, of course,
0:11:30 > 0:11:32I agree, there's a certain amount of wriggling backwards
0:11:32 > 0:11:34and you don't know who's arrived.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37I think the men possibly enjoy that, don't they?
0:11:37 > 0:11:39- Well... - Personally, Mr Clark,
0:11:39 > 0:11:43I'd like you to know that I do prefer to be driven by a man but I also
0:11:43 > 0:11:47think women drivers are more cautious and careful, don't you agree?
0:11:47 > 0:11:50Well, if you say cautious, they drive more slowly than men,
0:11:50 > 0:11:52but I do think they lack concentration rather.
0:11:52 > 0:11:53- Oh? - Mmm.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56I think a man's able to put his business worries on one side
0:11:56 > 0:12:00and concentrate on his driving, whereas very few women can do that -
0:12:00 > 0:12:03they're always thinking of what they've got to get for dinner
0:12:03 > 0:12:05and the little number they're having built for Ascot
0:12:05 > 0:12:07or something like that.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11- Of course, I can't agree with you! - They're most unpredictable.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14Um, well, thank you very much. I'm afraid we've arrived at the point
0:12:14 > 0:12:16where it's the masculine point of view
0:12:16 > 0:12:17- and not the feminine one... - Oh, well, that's fine.
0:12:17 > 0:12:18..as this interview started off,
0:12:18 > 0:12:20but thank you for answering my questions, Mr Clark,
0:12:20 > 0:12:23and thank you for coming along this evening.
0:12:23 > 0:12:24I wish you every success
0:12:24 > 0:12:25- for the Motor Show... - Thank you.
0:12:25 > 0:12:30..and I do hope most sincerely that the car tax doesn't go up next week.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32Oh, I hope that a million times more than you do!
0:12:32 > 0:12:34- Thank you. - Good night.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48'An international cabaret singer arrived by sea
0:12:48 > 0:12:50'on Wednesday from New York
0:12:50 > 0:12:52'to appear at the Astor on Monday.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54'She's making her first broadcast
0:12:54 > 0:12:57'in this country tonight - Cindy Parker.'
0:12:57 > 0:12:59JOHN: I believe it's your first visit to this country too.
0:12:59 > 0:13:00- Yes, it is. - Is there anything
0:13:00 > 0:13:02you're wanting to do, particularly, while you're over here?
0:13:02 > 0:13:03I would really like
0:13:03 > 0:13:05- to see a cricket match. - You would?
0:13:05 > 0:13:06You've arrived at the wrong time of the year for that,
0:13:06 > 0:13:09you should have come in the summer. Why do you want to see cricket?
0:13:09 > 0:13:12Well, I come from Boston and we have a cricket club there
0:13:12 > 0:13:14but all I've ever seen is tennis matches.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16JOHN: You'll have to come back in the summer, won't you?
0:13:16 > 0:13:17Have you always been a singer?
0:13:17 > 0:13:19Well, I started out as a dancer
0:13:19 > 0:13:23which I took up after having polio when I was very young,
0:13:23 > 0:13:24but then I switched to singing in high school.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26- And you like singing? - Very much.
0:13:26 > 0:13:27JOHN: You're going to sing tonight.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30I am, I really like to sing on radio and television
0:13:30 > 0:13:32because I can get comfortable.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34- Oh, why, in what way? - I like to take my shoes off.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37JOHN: Do you? Well, just take your shoes off if you feel like it.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40Thank you, and I'd like to do You Go To My Head.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42MUSIC STARTS
0:13:44 > 0:13:48# You go to my head
0:13:48 > 0:13:53# And you linger like a haunting refrain
0:13:53 > 0:13:59# And I find you spinning round in my brain
0:13:59 > 0:14:04# Like the bubbles in a glass of champagne
0:14:05 > 0:14:10# You go to my head
0:14:10 > 0:14:15# With a sip of sparkling burgundy brew
0:14:15 > 0:14:20# And I find the very mention of you
0:14:20 > 0:14:27# Like the kicker in a julep or two
0:14:27 > 0:14:33# The thrill of the thought you might give a thought
0:14:33 > 0:14:38# To my plea, casts a spell over me
0:14:38 > 0:14:45# Still I say to myself Get a hold of yourself
0:14:45 > 0:14:51# Can't you see that it never could be?
0:14:51 > 0:14:55# You go to my head
0:14:55 > 0:15:01# With a smile that makes my temperature rise
0:15:01 > 0:15:07# Like a summer with a thousand Julys
0:15:07 > 0:15:15# You intoxicate my soul with your eyes
0:15:15 > 0:15:21# Though I'm certain that this heart of mine
0:15:21 > 0:15:25# Hasn't a ghost of a chance
0:15:25 > 0:15:30# In this crazy romance
0:15:30 > 0:15:36# You go to my head
0:15:38 > 0:15:46# You go to my head. #
0:15:51 > 0:15:52JOHN: Thank you so much, Cindy Parker,
0:15:52 > 0:15:55come back and see some cricket and don't forget your shoes.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09'Last week, we heard a girl from Syria describe how,
0:16:09 > 0:16:10'in her own country,
0:16:10 > 0:16:12'a man may have many wives.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16'Two young Oxford undergraduates who returned on Thursday
0:16:16 > 0:16:19'from Portuguese Guinea on the west coast of Africa
0:16:19 > 0:16:23'will tell you about a society where a woman may have many husbands.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26'Michael Teague and Michael Crowder.'
0:16:26 > 0:16:28JOHN: Where is this place, exactly, Mr Teague?
0:16:28 > 0:16:30In the Bissagos Islands.
0:16:30 > 0:16:32JOHN: And how does the system work, Mr Crowder?
0:16:32 > 0:16:34Well, the women propose to the men
0:16:34 > 0:16:36and the men have no option but to accept.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39Once the woman has proposed to the man,
0:16:39 > 0:16:41she takes him to her house, which she has built,
0:16:41 > 0:16:43and he becomes her official husband.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46However, in the meantime, she's allowed to have
0:16:46 > 0:16:48as many unofficial husbands as she likes,
0:16:48 > 0:16:51but if he starts doing the same with the other women of the tribe,
0:16:51 > 0:16:53- he gets into a lot of trouble. - Yes.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56But the woman, as soon as she tires of him,
0:16:56 > 0:17:00just bundles out all his clothes and belongings outside the front door,
0:17:00 > 0:17:02and when he comes back in the evening from the fields
0:17:02 > 0:17:06and finds his possessions out there, he knows he's been divorced.
0:17:06 > 0:17:07- Simple as that, eh? - Yes.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10JOHN: Would you say the system works well, Mr Teague?
0:17:10 > 0:17:13- Oh, it seems to! - Did anybody propose to you?
0:17:13 > 0:17:16Oh, not to us, worse luck.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19The very early accounts of the islands emphasise
0:17:19 > 0:17:22that the Bissagos people looked upon white people
0:17:22 > 0:17:24as objects of disgust rather than desire.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26JOHN: Oh. What's the place like?
0:17:26 > 0:17:29Rather like a South Sea island paradise -
0:17:29 > 0:17:32golden sands, waving palm trees, hula-hula skirts.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35The men lead a rather idle life.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39They go in for a lot of carving, though, very good carvers.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42In fact, their work is of a very high standard in West Africa.
0:17:42 > 0:17:43JOHN: What else do they do?
0:17:43 > 0:17:49Dancing, a lot of dancing, um, using animals as their main characters.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51The bull is one of their popular characters
0:17:51 > 0:17:55and they wear vast, big masks on their heads
0:17:55 > 0:17:58of, er...carved wood with horns.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02- Only a bull's head, Mr Crowder? - No, well, they have sharks' heads
0:18:02 > 0:18:05and sometimes they dress up as snakes
0:18:05 > 0:18:09but the bull's the most significant costume they wear.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12Is that the only place you went to in Portuguese Guinea?
0:18:12 > 0:18:14No, no, we went to the north of the colony as well
0:18:14 > 0:18:16to photograph another unusual tribe
0:18:16 > 0:18:18where the tribal sport there is wrestling,
0:18:18 > 0:18:20but it's not wrestling amongst the men,
0:18:20 > 0:18:22- it's wrestling amongst the women. - Oh.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25Um, one grapples with the other,
0:18:25 > 0:18:28seizes her, lifts her up, throws her on her back on the ground and then
0:18:28 > 0:18:31- she's considered the winner. - Oh, the other one's had it!
0:18:31 > 0:18:34May I ask, Mr Crowder, what the object of this trip was?
0:18:34 > 0:18:36Well, um, nowadays, as everyone knows,
0:18:36 > 0:18:39most undergraduates have to earn a bit of money
0:18:39 > 0:18:42during the summer vacation to keep them during the following year.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45Well, we tired of the idea of having to wait in Brighton
0:18:45 > 0:18:48or take beach photographs in Southport,
0:18:48 > 0:18:52and decided we'd go to Africa, and Michael did a lot of photography
0:18:52 > 0:18:57and took about 1,500 photographs and I did some writing
0:18:57 > 0:18:59and from that we hope to make some money
0:18:59 > 0:19:01from selling them to various magazines.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03I think it's a splendid idea, Mr Crowder, Mr Teague.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05Was it a profitable trip?
0:19:05 > 0:19:06Well, I don't think we shall starve!
0:19:14 > 0:19:18'This week, the weather has given us some cause for complaint,
0:19:18 > 0:19:21'but for our next visitor it's a welcome change
0:19:21 > 0:19:23'and she's arrived home by sea
0:19:23 > 0:19:25'from the Windward Islands in the West Indies,
0:19:25 > 0:19:28'recently swept by the hurricane Janet.
0:19:28 > 0:19:29'Mrs Betty Ross.'
0:19:29 > 0:19:31JOHN: I should think you're very glad, Mrs Ross,
0:19:31 > 0:19:32to be safely back home, aren't you?
0:19:32 > 0:19:34I'm very glad indeed, the only thing is I've had to leave
0:19:34 > 0:19:36- my husband behind. - Oh.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38I've brought home the two children to school.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41Never realised before what a wonderful asset a husband is
0:19:41 > 0:19:43until I was coping with luggage
0:19:43 > 0:19:44and trying to find somewhere for us to live.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47- And did you find somewhere to live? - Temporarily, yes.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49JOHN: Where were you living in the Windward Islands?
0:19:49 > 0:19:50We were in Kingstown, St Vincent.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52We had a house quite close to the sea.
0:19:52 > 0:19:54JOHN: What about this hurricane, did you get much warning of it?
0:19:54 > 0:19:59My husband telephoned in the morning to say there was a hurricane warning
0:19:59 > 0:20:03but we knew from the sea and the sky that something was brewing.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06It was all so still and terribly hot and breathless.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09And the sky had a yellow look, like a London fog.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12And then it started to rain and the wind started to blow
0:20:12 > 0:20:14and we put up storm shutters,
0:20:14 > 0:20:19and I suppose about seven o'clock at night it really started to build up,
0:20:19 > 0:20:21the rain came down almost like a waterfall.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24- How long did it last, Mrs Ross? - About seven hours.
0:20:24 > 0:20:26And your children, were they frightened?
0:20:26 > 0:20:28- No, they were quite indifferent. - Ha, just like children!
0:20:28 > 0:20:30How did your house stand up to it?
0:20:30 > 0:20:32It stood up to it very well,
0:20:32 > 0:20:35it just sort of moved when the wind buffeted it,
0:20:35 > 0:20:37it moved like concussion with bombs.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39JOHN: What was the surrounding countryside like
0:20:39 > 0:20:40when it was all over?
0:20:40 > 0:20:42Well, such a lot of it was absolutely devastated,
0:20:42 > 0:20:46banana plantations were destroyed, coconut trees uprooted
0:20:46 > 0:20:50and the little peasants had their crops washed out of the ground.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52They were quite homeless, it was quite frightening.
0:20:52 > 0:20:54JOHN: Had you been in a hurricane like that before?
0:20:54 > 0:20:57Yes, we were in the Jamaica hurricane in 1951.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00That was worse for us because although the house was on piles,
0:21:00 > 0:21:02the house was still flooded
0:21:02 > 0:21:05and we were without food for about three days
0:21:05 > 0:21:06until they had lorries come through.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08Anyway, there was one bright spot
0:21:08 > 0:21:10because a man waded through all the water
0:21:10 > 0:21:12and asked my husband to cash a dud cheque for him.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14My husband works in a bank.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16Oh, that's a way of getting rid of a dud cheque, isn't it?
0:21:16 > 0:21:19- Yes, it didn't work, though. - Well, I'm sure you'll find it
0:21:19 > 0:21:20peaceful here in spite of the wind outside.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23- I hope our weather... - Well, I really began to think
0:21:23 > 0:21:25that we were in for another hurricane now I was home.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28- Yes, well, thank you, Mrs Ross. - Thank you. Good night.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51'We have received a letter from a Mr Angus McKechnie,
0:21:51 > 0:21:54'an ornithologist who lives near Fort William, Scotland,
0:21:54 > 0:21:58'criticising all the interviewing programmes he's heard and seen.
0:21:58 > 0:22:02'The letter is so important and raises so many points of interest
0:22:02 > 0:22:06'that our producer, Peter Duncan, is going to tell you about it.'
0:22:06 > 0:22:10Mr McKechnie has sent the BBC a very long letter.
0:22:10 > 0:22:12I'm sorry I haven't got time to read it all,
0:22:12 > 0:22:14but the gist of it is that he says
0:22:14 > 0:22:17he can do far better than any radio or television interviewer.
0:22:17 > 0:22:22And that interviewers seldom, if ever, put people at ease.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24Mr McKechnie goes on to tell us
0:22:24 > 0:22:26that in his spare time he's a bagpipe instructor.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29He also thinks that 20 years of teaching the bagpipes
0:22:29 > 0:22:31will get rid of anybody's inhibitions.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34He also wants to conduct a completely uninhibited interview.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37Well, we've accepted Mr McKechnie's challenge,
0:22:37 > 0:22:39and I'd like to introduce Mr Angus McKechnie.
0:22:42 > 0:22:43How do you do?
0:22:43 > 0:22:45Well, now I'd like to introduce Bill Travers.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48Hello, Bill, nice to see you and thank you very much for coming along.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50- It's a pleasure. - Well, Bill Travers
0:22:50 > 0:22:53is one of the stars of the new Launder and Gilliat film, Geordie.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57And he's very kindly consented to come along
0:22:57 > 0:22:59and be a guinea pig in this experiment.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02Perhaps it's just because in a couple of hours' time,
0:23:02 > 0:23:04he'll be flying off to Hollywood.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07Mr McKechnie, he's all yours.
0:23:07 > 0:23:09- Right. - Good luck, Bill, you'll need it.
0:23:11 > 0:23:16Well, Mr Travers, you've heard what I think of these interviews.
0:23:16 > 0:23:18You see, I believe that the interviewer
0:23:18 > 0:23:19and the person who's interviewed
0:23:19 > 0:23:21ought to behave just exactly as they would behave
0:23:21 > 0:23:23in their own sitting room in their own house.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27Or, if you like, having a wee chat together in a bar, hmm?
0:23:27 > 0:23:28- Yes. - Right, in that case,
0:23:28 > 0:23:31have a wee drink, Mr Travers.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33- No, thanks, I don't drink. - Eh?
0:23:33 > 0:23:35No, thank you very much, I don't drink.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38Come on, come on, come on, come on, have a wee drink.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40No, thank you very much, I really don't drink.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43Mr Travers, Mr Travers, please have a wee drink.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45I'm awfully sorry, but I don't drink.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51Well, hold it in your hand, then, or something, hold it in your hand.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57ANGUS LAUGHS
0:23:57 > 0:24:00Well, Bill, I think it would be less formal
0:24:00 > 0:24:03if you and I were to call each other by our Christian names,
0:24:03 > 0:24:06- don't you agree? - Yes. Yes, why not?
0:24:06 > 0:24:10Why not? You see the main thing is for us to appear absolutely at ease,
0:24:10 > 0:24:14you know, just to look absolutely natural and to relax.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17To relax completely.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22Cross your legs, Bill, cross your legs.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26Yes, that's quite good. Well now, Bill,
0:24:26 > 0:24:30much as I disagree with the well-worn approach in these programmes,
0:24:30 > 0:24:35I suppose I am compelled to ask you, what brings you into town tonight?
0:24:35 > 0:24:37Oh, I haven't come into town tonight, Angus.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40- Eh? - No, I've been here all the time,
0:24:40 > 0:24:41I live here.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44I see. Well, anyway, Bill, I'm glad you got here in time
0:24:44 > 0:24:47and I'm sure you're glad to be back in London
0:24:47 > 0:24:50and have a good rest after all that filming you've been doing
0:24:50 > 0:24:52- up in the Highlands? - Oh, I finished all that filming
0:24:52 > 0:24:55- many months ago. - Eh?
0:24:55 > 0:24:58Yes, I've had a holiday in Italy and I've done another film
0:24:58 > 0:25:01- since I did Geordie. - Well, anyway, Bill,
0:25:01 > 0:25:04I'm quite sure that you're glad to be back.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06- Yes, but I just said... - Mr Travers...
0:25:06 > 0:25:08Bill...
0:25:08 > 0:25:10I'm sure you'll admit this is neither the time or the place
0:25:10 > 0:25:12just to win a little argument.
0:25:12 > 0:25:14After all, I've just said that you're glad to be back
0:25:14 > 0:25:16and personally I'm quite sure that you are glad to be back.
0:25:16 > 0:25:17That's all there is to it.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19- Now, where were we? - Back.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25Well, Bill, I've seen that film of yours, Geordie,
0:25:25 > 0:25:28and I must say I liked, I liked the wee girl.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30- Yes, yes, I liked her too. - And I liked the scenery.
0:25:30 > 0:25:31Yes, I liked it very much.
0:25:31 > 0:25:33Mind you, to be quite honest, Bill,
0:25:33 > 0:25:34I thought it was a pity you were so tall.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36You kept blotting out the view of Ben Lomond
0:25:36 > 0:25:39a bit too much for my liking in the background.
0:25:39 > 0:25:40Sorry if I got in the way
0:25:40 > 0:25:44- of the view of the Highlands. - No, no, don't apologise, Bill.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47After all, you had to play your part, I suppose,
0:25:47 > 0:25:49but speaking as a fellow Scot...
0:25:49 > 0:25:52Well, I'm not really a Scot, Angus. I'm a Geordie.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57Yes, yes, we all know that you are Geordie, Bill.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59No, no, that's where I come from.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02Geordie came from Perthshire which is in Scotland.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05- In the film, yes. - Isn't that what we've come here
0:26:05 > 0:26:08- to discuss, Bill? - Yes, but I simply said
0:26:08 > 0:26:10- I am not a Scot. - Look, Mr Travers...
0:26:11 > 0:26:14..I've come all the way down from Fort William to interview you.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16- I know this is unrehearsed... - I'm just pointing out
0:26:16 > 0:26:17that I'm a Geordie.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21Mr Duncan, how can I carry on if he keeps repeating the same
0:26:21 > 0:26:24- meaningless things over and over... - I was born in Northumberland.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27- I was born in Northumberland. - I don't... I don't give a...!
0:26:27 > 0:26:30- I don't care where you were born... - PETER: Mr McKechnie?
0:26:30 > 0:26:32- What is it, what is it? I'm busy. - I'm sorry,
0:26:32 > 0:26:33- but your time is nearly up. - Eh?
0:26:33 > 0:26:35- Your time is nearly up. - Oh, no.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37You'll have to hurry, yes.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40- Now see what you've done. - Well, it's just that, er,
0:26:40 > 0:26:43Northumberland is the Geordie country.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45Northumberland. Just as I was about to strike
0:26:45 > 0:26:49a revolutionary note in radio and television interviews,
0:26:49 > 0:26:51he has to go gallivanting off at a tangent
0:26:51 > 0:26:52into Northumberland, Northumberland.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54Why Northumberland, why not Timbuktu?
0:26:54 > 0:26:56Well, I wasn't born in Timbuktu.
0:26:56 > 0:26:58No, well, I wish you were there now, young man.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00To think that I came all the way down from Fort William
0:27:00 > 0:27:03to discuss his film and say how much I liked the wee girl.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06I was even prepared at the start of this interview
0:27:06 > 0:27:07to tell everybody I like you.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09I hope to be forgiven.
0:27:09 > 0:27:11I was even going to advise people to see the film
0:27:11 > 0:27:14and I would have told them where they could see it.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17If I could have got away with it.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19But you, Mr Travers, you have deliberately, deliberately,
0:27:19 > 0:27:23and I think maliciously, sabotaged this entire interview.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26All right, all right, all right, I only hope that your film company,
0:27:26 > 0:27:28Jaundice and Bilious or whatever you call them,
0:27:28 > 0:27:30have taken note of the cavalier way
0:27:30 > 0:27:32in which you have flouted their interests.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35There's only one consolation about all this for me.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37I never let on to anybody up in Fort William
0:27:37 > 0:27:39that I was coming here tonight. Oh, no.
0:27:39 > 0:27:43Anyway, up there, there are darn few television sets. Where's that bottle?
0:27:45 > 0:27:47Well, Mr Travers, your time really is up now.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51Thank you very much indeed, and thank you, Mr Angus...
0:27:51 > 0:27:52Well, give him his real name,
0:27:52 > 0:27:55he's Alastair Sim, as I'm sure you've all guessed,
0:27:55 > 0:27:58and these two gentlemen are the stars of the film Geordie,
0:27:58 > 0:28:00produced by Launder and Gilliat.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03A most interesting interview, Mr Sim.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06I think I'll have to learn the bagpipes by next week, won't I?
0:28:25 > 0:28:27Well, so ends this week's In Town Tonight,
0:28:27 > 0:28:29edited and produced by Peter Duncan.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31We hope to bring you something interesting every week.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34MAN: Carry on, London!
0:28:40 > 0:28:44CHATTER AND RUMBLE OF TRAFFIC