0:00:02 > 0:00:04Welcome to The One Show: The Best of Britain, with Angellica Bell.
0:00:04 > 0:00:07And Phil Tufnell, and another chance for you to see
0:00:07 > 0:00:09some of your favourite One Show films.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25Tonight, we're in an ancient seat of learning
0:00:25 > 0:00:27named after the river that runs through it,
0:00:27 > 0:00:31a magnet for visitors from all over the world - Cambridge.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34The university was formed in the early 13th century,
0:00:34 > 0:00:37when scholars taking refuge from hostile locals in Oxford
0:00:37 > 0:00:40migrated to Cambridge and settled here.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47Charles Darwin, Francis Bacon,
0:00:47 > 0:00:49David Attenborough and Stephen Fry
0:00:49 > 0:00:51are among the famous names who have studied here
0:00:51 > 0:00:54but you don't have to be an academic to achieve success.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58I took a trip to Scotland to talk to a top-selling artist
0:00:58 > 0:00:59who left school at 16.
0:01:03 > 0:01:08In 2004, 500 people queued up outside this stately home,
0:01:08 > 0:01:10Hopetoun House in Edinburgh.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13Those who made it inside would witness history being made.
0:01:15 > 0:01:17A picture entitled The Singing Butler
0:01:17 > 0:01:22was expected to sell for between £150,000 and £200,000 at auction
0:01:22 > 0:01:28but the hammer eventually went down on a whopping £744,800,
0:01:28 > 0:01:33a new world record for a Scottish painting sold at auction.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37It outsells the works of Vincent Van Gogh, Dali and Monet
0:01:37 > 0:01:42and has been reproduced on posters, cards, calendars and even umbrellas.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51The Singing Butler has sold over a million copies in Britain alone
0:01:51 > 0:01:55and it's easily one of the most recognisable pictures in the world,
0:01:55 > 0:01:58but its roots are firmly planted in Fife,
0:01:58 > 0:02:02the place where its painter, Jack Vettriano, began his career.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04How did The Singing Butler come about?
0:02:04 > 0:02:08It was inspired mainly by Leven beach, which is where I grew up,
0:02:08 > 0:02:10and there's a lovely part of it
0:02:10 > 0:02:13where the tide can go out for half a mile,
0:02:13 > 0:02:15sort of flat, with pools of water
0:02:15 > 0:02:19and you know, that's certainly what I tried to recreate.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22So what's actually going on in the picture?
0:02:22 > 0:02:25As I see it, here is this sort of eccentric guy
0:02:25 > 0:02:27and they've been out for dinner,
0:02:27 > 0:02:29he's got money, he's got a maid, he's got a butler,
0:02:29 > 0:02:32and he decides he just wants to go and dance on the beach.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36He realises, of course, too late, that there is no music,
0:02:36 > 0:02:39so he has to ask the butler to sing
0:02:39 > 0:02:42and so, they waltz while the butler sings
0:02:42 > 0:02:44and the two umbrellas shelter them.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48And it's just one of those paintings that I think,
0:02:48 > 0:02:52you know, on a rainy day, when life's not too good, you look at that
0:02:52 > 0:02:56and you think, "You know, life can get better than this."
0:02:56 > 0:02:58And have you ever danced on a beach yourself?
0:02:58 > 0:02:59Yeah, but not like that!
0:02:59 > 0:03:02PHIL LAUGHS
0:03:02 > 0:03:04Jack is the son of a miner.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08He took up painting at 21 and had no formal training.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10In 2005, it was revealed
0:03:10 > 0:03:13that Jack had used an artists' reference manual
0:03:13 > 0:03:15to form his figures.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20'At that time, I was relatively unknown.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22'I had no access to models'
0:03:22 > 0:03:25and I came across this manual in a bookshop and took it home
0:03:25 > 0:03:27and I thought, "This is great,"
0:03:27 > 0:03:30you know, "This is full of figures,"
0:03:30 > 0:03:33and of course, when that became known publicly,
0:03:33 > 0:03:35I did get a bit of flak for that
0:03:35 > 0:03:41but what I do know for a fact is that Francis Bacon used the very same book
0:03:41 > 0:03:44that I took The Singing Butler out of. Now,
0:03:44 > 0:03:47I don't think that's bad company to keep, you know?
0:03:49 > 0:03:51In actual fact, Jack prefers
0:03:51 > 0:03:53a different version of the famous picture
0:03:53 > 0:03:56where the woman's wearing a green dress instead of a red one
0:03:56 > 0:04:00and it hangs here in the Kirkcaldy Museum and Art Gallery.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04Well, The Dancer In Emerald was a study for the finished version,
0:04:04 > 0:04:06and I was playing around with colours
0:04:06 > 0:04:09because I was trying to get what I thought would be the right colour
0:04:09 > 0:04:12and I did the green, and then I did the red,
0:04:12 > 0:04:15and I looked back at the green and I think,
0:04:15 > 0:04:17"I actually like the green."
0:04:17 > 0:04:20Whilst the buying public have always embraced Jack's work,
0:04:20 > 0:04:23the art world has been less welcoming.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25I often get drawn into this debate
0:04:25 > 0:04:27about, you know, me and the establishment,
0:04:27 > 0:04:29and the truth is that it's completely out of my hands.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32There's nothing I can do, you know,
0:04:32 > 0:04:34if they don't like my work, they don't like my work.
0:04:34 > 0:04:39I would far rather be enjoyed by millions of people than a handful.
0:04:39 > 0:04:41It may not be critically acclaimed,
0:04:41 > 0:04:45but this painting has definitely captured the hearts and minds
0:04:45 > 0:04:48of the public more than any other contemporary painting.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53'How does it feel to have created a piece of work
0:04:53 > 0:04:56'that so many people love?'
0:04:56 > 0:04:59The overall feeling is one of immense pride
0:04:59 > 0:05:03that I was able to, from a manual, construct this painting
0:05:03 > 0:05:06and it's gone out there and been such a success.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14It's such a shame Jack doesn't get the credit he deserves for his work.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17As he said in the film, he doesn't worry about it.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20So long as the public love his work, which they do, he's happy.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24I found him a real inspiration, a real talent and a top bloke.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26- It's nice when you meet people like that.- It is.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29Now, this is the River Cam and since the Middle Ages,
0:05:29 > 0:05:32barges have used it to bring heavy goods into Cambridge,
0:05:32 > 0:05:35including most of the stone used to build the colleges.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38Dating back to the 13th century,
0:05:38 > 0:05:41the university is one of the oldest in the world.
0:05:41 > 0:05:46Cambridge is now made up of 31 colleges and 150 departments
0:05:46 > 0:05:49and is at the forefront of scientific research.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52It's a far cry from the city's roots as a trading centre
0:05:52 > 0:05:55and route to Europe via the Cam.
0:05:55 > 0:05:56Nowadays, it's the famous punts
0:05:56 > 0:05:59which create most of the river traffic
0:05:59 > 0:06:02and the river has become one of the city's main attractions
0:06:02 > 0:06:07- and also a fantastic place for all types of wildlife.- Found anything?
0:06:07 > 0:06:10- No, not yet, but I'll keep looking. - You do that.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14Now, one species you'd be very hard to find a glimpse of
0:06:14 > 0:06:16is the small and elusive vole.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19Here's One Show wildlife expert Miranda Krestovnikoff.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25One of my biggest wildlife inspirations as a child
0:06:25 > 0:06:29was Wind In The Willows, with the adventures of Toad, Mole and Ratty.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32But the biggest revelation as an adult
0:06:32 > 0:06:34was the fact that Ratty wasn't actually a rat.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37He was, in fact, a water vole.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40There used to be millions of water voles in the UK, but now
0:06:40 > 0:06:44they have the unenviable title of our fastest-declining mammal.
0:06:44 > 0:06:50In the last 45 years, the population has decreased by more than 95%.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53Because while stoats and weasels
0:06:53 > 0:06:55are the villains in The Wind In The Willows,
0:06:55 > 0:06:59in the real wild wood, Ratty has a much more deadly predator.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03The mink is a non-native species to Britain
0:07:03 > 0:07:04and it's the only predator
0:07:04 > 0:07:07that can fit into the water vole's underground tunnels,
0:07:07 > 0:07:10so for the poor water vole, there's no escape.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20But here in Seaton in East Devon, Ratty is making a comeback.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25The Environment Agency has been working for the last ten years
0:07:25 > 0:07:27to get water voles back in rivers.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31So far, a couple of thousand have been reintroduced around the country
0:07:31 > 0:07:33and on this part of the River Axe,
0:07:33 > 0:07:35150 are due to be released.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39But it's taken years to get the habitat just right.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45This is such a beautiful and tranquil spot. Was it always like this?
0:07:45 > 0:07:50No. Ten years ago, this was a steep-sided, boring borrow pit
0:07:50 > 0:07:53but the East Devon District Council and other partners locally
0:07:53 > 0:07:55have transformed it into this wonderful wildlife haven.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58You can see all these fantastic reed beds around the side,
0:07:58 > 0:08:03lots of tree growth. It's a great site for all sorts of wildlife.
0:08:03 > 0:08:05And also, a great place for the water voles.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07Well, that's the key thing, you see.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10We need to be creating these kind of habitats
0:08:10 > 0:08:13to enable water voles to survive and to spread out.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20OK, we've got one coming out now, right on cue.
0:08:20 > 0:08:21Fabulous! Look at that!
0:08:21 > 0:08:25I will let you, cos I know they bite. I've handled them before,
0:08:25 > 0:08:27and I know they could take a chunk out of your hand.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29- You have to be a bit careful with them.- That's Ratty.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31There's this urge, I just want to stroke it.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34- You want to stroke it, don't you? - But I know it'll take my finger off
0:08:34 > 0:08:38- if I do that. They are so cute. - They're a smashing-looking animal,
0:08:38 > 0:08:39got to admit. Very different to a rat.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43- You notice the nose is quite snubby, rather than pointy.- Yes.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46The tail is furry, dark,
0:08:46 > 0:08:49rather than sort of pink and fleshy, which a rat's tail is like,
0:08:49 > 0:08:52so they're quite a handsome-looking animal, I think.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54Look at those teeth as well! They're ready for food.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57Most of this vegetation you see around here, they will eat,
0:08:57 > 0:08:59even the bark and leaves of trees,
0:08:59 > 0:09:01they'll climb up in winter months for nourishment,
0:09:01 > 0:09:03so they're not too fussy.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08But before the water voles can be released,
0:09:08 > 0:09:11it's essential that the neighbourhood is cleared of mink.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14Dotted around the area are 80 of these rafts.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16Any animal setting foot on them
0:09:16 > 0:09:19will leave evidence of their presence in the soft clay.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24We've got some very convincing footprints on these ones.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26Can you talk me through what we've got?
0:09:26 > 0:09:28Well, the large ones appear to be otter
0:09:28 > 0:09:33and to help, we made this tracks overlay.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36That makes it so much clearer, because it's quite hard,
0:09:36 > 0:09:39when you're looking at just this bit of clay with a print in it
0:09:39 > 0:09:42to identify exactly what it is, but that's definite confirmation.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44And have you got anything else on that one?
0:09:44 > 0:09:48A bit less clear is what I think is a mink track here.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51- That's a pretty good match for the mink.- For the mink there.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53The mink print there.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55The rafts are checked regularly
0:09:55 > 0:09:58and, fortunately, these mink prints were found miles away,
0:09:58 > 0:10:02so the coast is clear for the water voles to be rehoused,
0:10:02 > 0:10:04firstly in temporary accommodation.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07Now, inside is a bit of straw
0:10:07 > 0:10:09and bits of carrot and apple,
0:10:09 > 0:10:12just to keep them fed for the first couple of days,
0:10:12 > 0:10:15and after that, they will actually gnaw through the bottom of the box,
0:10:15 > 0:10:17which is just cardboard, and then work their way
0:10:17 > 0:10:21through the mud of the riverbank and then just out into the water
0:10:21 > 0:10:22but after that, they're on their own.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28The water voles due for release today were all bred in captivity.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30There's a mix of family groups,
0:10:30 > 0:10:32brothers and sisters, old and young,
0:10:32 > 0:10:36but each water vole is micro-chipped so their movements can be monitored.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38So I'm just going to let him go now.
0:10:38 > 0:10:40There you go, chap. And they're gone.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45Now that the threat from the mink has begun to subside
0:10:45 > 0:10:47and the habitat has been restored to suit the water voles,
0:10:47 > 0:10:51numbers are increasing across the country.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54And I'm sure Toad and Mole will be very happy
0:10:54 > 0:10:57to have Ratty back on the riverbank again.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03Well, after seeing the teeth on them voles, I'm glad we didn't catch any.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06But they are cute, you have to admit that, Tuffers.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09Religion has always played a part in the story of Cambridge.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12The university originally was a cluster of monasteries
0:11:12 > 0:11:14and there are over 13 churches within the city boundaries.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17And behind us is Great St Mary's
0:11:17 > 0:11:20and it's been part of Cambridge for over 800 years.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23Cambridge legend has it that during the Black Death,
0:11:23 > 0:11:25there weren't enough priests to bury the dead,
0:11:25 > 0:11:29so one of the reasons they founded a new college was to boost numbers
0:11:29 > 0:11:33and they called it Corpus Christi, which means "the body of Christ",
0:11:33 > 0:11:35and it still exists today.
0:11:35 > 0:11:36You're a fountain of knowledge.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40But Britain hasn't always welcomed priests with open arms.
0:11:40 > 0:11:41Here's Dan Snow.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44Today, Britain is home to hundreds of faiths.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47In the last census, done in 2001,
0:11:47 > 0:11:50they recorded more than 170 religions
0:11:50 > 0:11:52rubbing shoulders on our little island.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55Excuse me, madam, can I ask you a quick question? What's your religion?
0:11:55 > 0:11:57- Church of England. - Church of England?
0:11:57 > 0:11:59- We're Sikh.- Pentecostal Church.
0:11:59 > 0:12:01- Um, Jewish.- I'm Catholic.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04- Muslim.- I'm Buddhist.- Hindu.
0:12:04 > 0:12:05Nowadays, we take it for granted
0:12:05 > 0:12:08that we're free to worship whichever religion we please,
0:12:08 > 0:12:10but it hasn't always been that way.
0:12:12 > 0:12:13During the reign of Elizabeth I,
0:12:13 > 0:12:16being a Catholic priest was a treasonable offence
0:12:16 > 0:12:19and even hiding one was a risky business.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22The penalty if you were caught was the most grisly death -
0:12:22 > 0:12:24you were hanged, drawn and quartered.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28Defiant priests had to keep on the move to evade capture.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34They'd travel from safe house to safe house around the country
0:12:34 > 0:12:37with the Queen's priest hunters hot on their tail.
0:12:37 > 0:12:39The Catholic families that gave them shelter
0:12:39 > 0:12:42had to think of more and more ingenious ways to keep them hidden.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50I'm off to Baddesley Clinton, a stately home in Warwickshire.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54In the late 1500s, two Catholic sisters lived here.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57They turned it into a secret meeting place for priests,
0:12:57 > 0:13:00complete with its own collection of priest hiding places
0:13:00 > 0:13:01or priest holes.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05- Hello.- Dan.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08'Alice Hogge, an expert on the period, is going to show me around.'
0:13:08 > 0:13:11- Excellent moat.- Oh, I love a moat.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14'One of the priest holes is in the attic.'
0:13:14 > 0:13:16Why go to such extraordinary lengths?
0:13:16 > 0:13:18Why not hide in a cupboard or under the bed or something?
0:13:18 > 0:13:21We know the lengths the searchers themselves went to find priest.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23They'd come in with carpenters and builders,
0:13:23 > 0:13:25go through the house and measure it
0:13:25 > 0:13:27and work out if a space seemed to be false, and if so,
0:13:27 > 0:13:30they'd just break the wall through, so you really need a safe place.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33- We've got one up here that you might want to have a look at.- Oh, yeah.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36- If you just want to get up the ladder up there.- Look at this.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39- It's right up in the roof of the house.- Absolutely.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43'In the 1500s, this hole would have been completely sealed up
0:13:43 > 0:13:46'and only accessible from another part of the eaves.'
0:13:46 > 0:13:48Who would have built somewhere like this?
0:13:48 > 0:13:51We think these ones were built by a carpenter called Nicholas Owen.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53By day, he'd come into your house and he'd, I don't know,
0:13:53 > 0:13:56build you a new staircase or put in a bathroom or something,
0:13:56 > 0:13:58and then by night, he'd be building places like this.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00There's another one you might want to come and see,
0:14:00 > 0:14:03which is actually right down in the kitchen of the house.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06OK, so this is the most famous hiding place within this house.
0:14:06 > 0:14:11On the 19th October 1591, so that's 14 years before the Gunpowder Plot,
0:14:11 > 0:14:13the house was raided
0:14:13 > 0:14:15and seven priests had to go down there and hide.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18'One of them, Father Gerard, wrote an account of the experience.'
0:14:18 > 0:14:20Late mediaeval autobiography.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23- That'll keep me from getting bored down there.- Good luck.- Thank you.
0:14:23 > 0:14:24It's quite narrow.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26I'm going holing, priest holing.
0:14:28 > 0:14:30Yeah.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32So here I am, squashed in here.
0:14:32 > 0:14:33It's about two foot high.
0:14:33 > 0:14:38The floor is pretty wet and minging.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41OK, here's the passage from the book.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43"It was about five o'clock the following morning.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47"Suddenly, I heard a great uproar outside the main door.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49"It was the priest hunters.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52"With swords drawn, they were battering at the door
0:14:52 > 0:14:54"to force an entrance.
0:14:54 > 0:14:56"Father Southwell guessed what it was all about
0:14:56 > 0:14:59"and slipped off his vestments and stripped the altar bare.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02"Nothing was left to betray the presence of a priest.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04"Outside, the ruffians were bawling and yelling
0:15:04 > 0:15:07"but the servants held the door fast.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10"This gave us enough time to stow ourselves and all our belongings
0:15:10 > 0:15:12"into a very cleverly built sort of cave.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15"At last, these leopards were let in.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18"They tore madly through the whole house, searched everywhere.
0:15:18 > 0:15:20"They took four hours over the work,
0:15:20 > 0:15:23"but fortunately, they chanced on nothing.
0:15:23 > 0:15:24"So we were saved that day."
0:15:24 > 0:15:27DOOR SLAMS
0:15:27 > 0:15:31It's quite chilling reading that account written hundreds of years ago
0:15:31 > 0:15:36about their experiences hiding down in this exact tunnel here,
0:15:36 > 0:15:38in this priest hole here. It's extraordinary.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45Well, Cambridge knows all about the power of words.
0:15:45 > 0:15:46The university library holds
0:15:46 > 0:15:50one of the greatest collections of books and manuscripts in the world
0:15:50 > 0:15:53and some of the great literary figures, such as Tennyson
0:15:53 > 0:15:56and Wordsworth, have pored over them whilst studying here.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00But there's another city which rivals Cambridge's literary status
0:16:00 > 0:16:02and you have to whisper its name around these parts.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05The One Show's renaissance man, Gyles Brandreth,
0:16:05 > 0:16:08and Oxford graduate, explains all.
0:16:11 > 0:16:12This city has generated
0:16:12 > 0:16:15some exquisite examples of the English language.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19Welcome to Oxford, the City of Dreaming Spires.
0:16:19 > 0:16:20BUZZING
0:16:20 > 0:16:24That's my cliche alarm going off again! 23rd cliche of the day.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26Another turn-up for the books.
0:16:26 > 0:16:27BUZZING Oh, goodness!
0:16:29 > 0:16:32There are around half a million words in the Oxford English Dictionary -
0:16:32 > 0:16:35enough, you'd have thought, for every single one of us
0:16:35 > 0:16:39to find original ways to express ourselves, but no.
0:16:39 > 0:16:40To be honest... BUZZ
0:16:40 > 0:16:42..at this point of time... BUZZ
0:16:42 > 0:16:44..we're all guilty of resorting to cliches,
0:16:44 > 0:16:49those infuriatingly irritating, overused turns of phrase
0:16:49 > 0:16:51that pollute our conversation like a rash.
0:16:51 > 0:16:52BUZZ Like wildfire.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54BUZZ Oh, kill the buzz!
0:16:54 > 0:16:55BEEPING
0:16:56 > 0:17:01So which cliches most get up Oxford's well-educated nose?
0:17:01 > 0:17:03"To be fair". I just hate it.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06- Touch base.- Someone asking to go for a bite to eat.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08Dumb blondes.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11- Yeah.- It's just not true.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14This is where the cliche was born,
0:17:14 > 0:17:16on the printing press.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19In the early 19th century,
0:17:19 > 0:17:24there was a new type of printing that came in which was much faster,
0:17:24 > 0:17:27much more efficient than the old style.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30The English called it "stereotype".
0:17:30 > 0:17:35The French called it "cliche" from the sound of the printing press
0:17:35 > 0:17:39producing these innumerable copies of newspapers and things.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43- So it made a sort of "cliche, cliche, cliche" sound?- Yes.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47No-one keeps a closer eye on our language
0:17:47 > 0:17:49than the Oxford University Press.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53They patrol our verbal landscape 24 hours a day
0:17:53 > 0:17:56thanks to a mighty computer known as Corpus.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00The Oxford English Corpus is a huge electronic database
0:18:00 > 0:18:02of English from around the world.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05It contains more than two billion words
0:18:05 > 0:18:08and we can search that to find out how common a word or a phrase is.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11If there's one example of a particular expression on there,
0:18:11 > 0:18:13that's not terribly significant.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17If there's tens of thousands of examples of a phrase,
0:18:17 > 0:18:19maybe that phrase is a bit of a cliche.
0:18:19 > 0:18:23How do you decide when a useful phrase turns into a well-worn cliche?
0:18:23 > 0:18:26I think, really, that's something of a personal judgement.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29For example, the Dreaming Spires of Oxford,
0:18:29 > 0:18:32which I very much hope you're not going to use in this piece...
0:18:32 > 0:18:34We've already done so! We've already done so!
0:18:34 > 0:18:36Guilty, guilty! Oh, dearie me!
0:18:36 > 0:18:39BUZZING We opened with the Dreaming Spires of Oxford.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41This is a film full of cliches.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44Look! You're a dictionary man. You actually work on a computer
0:18:44 > 0:18:47but we've actually put out first editions of Dr Johnson on the table.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51- We can't escape cliches. That's what we're all about!- That's right.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53So, pop pickers, we asked Corpus
0:18:53 > 0:18:57to compute this year's chart-topping cliches especially for The One Show.
0:18:57 > 0:18:58And here they are.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00MUSIC: "Pick Of The Pops" theme
0:19:02 > 0:19:03At five...
0:19:03 > 0:19:05"A level playing field."
0:19:05 > 0:19:06At four...
0:19:06 > 0:19:08"Few and far between."
0:19:08 > 0:19:09At three...
0:19:09 > 0:19:11"The fact of the matter."
0:19:11 > 0:19:12At two...
0:19:12 > 0:19:13"Back on track."
0:19:13 > 0:19:17And still at number one for the third year running...
0:19:17 > 0:19:19"At the end of the day."
0:19:20 > 0:19:22But with all due respect... BUZZ
0:19:22 > 0:19:24..and when all's said and done... BUZZ
0:19:24 > 0:19:27..some cliches do have an ancient and distinguished pedigree.
0:19:27 > 0:19:32Shakespeare, our greatest ever English writer, he gave us cliches.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36We've got so many cliches that have come from Shakespeare.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38"In my mind's eye",
0:19:38 > 0:19:41"more things in heaven and earth",
0:19:41 > 0:19:45"the rest is history", you can just go on for ever.
0:19:45 > 0:19:50There's the old joke that Hamlet is just made up of quotations.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53What's your verdict on the cliche? Good, bad, or indifferent?
0:19:53 > 0:19:55Well, they're fine in the right place.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58In everyday speech, they're very useful.
0:19:58 > 0:20:02They add to the efficiency of communication.
0:20:02 > 0:20:07If you're on a beach with a tsunami rolling up the sand,
0:20:07 > 0:20:09you want to yell, "Run for your life".
0:20:09 > 0:20:13But if you put it in a film script, it's going to sound dreadful.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16Of course, not all cliches are verbal ones.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21If this is Oxford, then Brandreth had better be filmed in a punt.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23At the end of the day... BUZZ
0:20:23 > 0:20:25..don't cliches add something
0:20:25 > 0:20:28to the ebb and flow of our rich and complex language?
0:20:28 > 0:20:30Know what I mean?
0:20:30 > 0:20:32BUZZ Oh, there it goes again!
0:20:33 > 0:20:35All's well that ends well.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43- Does Gyles know everything, Angellica?- Yes, everything.
0:20:43 > 0:20:45- Who told you?- Gyles did!
0:20:45 > 0:20:47Anyway, he's not going to be very happy with us
0:20:47 > 0:20:49because we've used every cliche under the sun.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52No, I'm always riding me bike, wearing me boater,
0:20:52 > 0:20:54it's got nothing to do with being in Cambridge.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57When it comes to discovering great ideas,
0:20:57 > 0:21:00this city has generated more than its fair share.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02Crick and Watson discovered the secret of life
0:21:02 > 0:21:05by sketching out the structure of DNA in a local pub.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08Their double helix formation
0:21:08 > 0:21:12is arguably the most iconic scientific symbol of our time.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15Building on work by Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins,
0:21:15 > 0:21:17their discovery in 1953
0:21:17 > 0:21:20enabled scientists to understand how DNA replicates
0:21:20 > 0:21:23and how hereditary information is coded on it.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27This set the stage for the rapid advances in molecular biology,
0:21:27 > 0:21:29which continue to this day.
0:21:29 > 0:21:30Along with Wilkins,
0:21:30 > 0:21:34Crick and Watson were awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1962,
0:21:34 > 0:21:38a prize another Cambridge graduate surely deserves.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41Isaac Newton studied at Trinity College,
0:21:41 > 0:21:45where he discovered the fundamentals of light and gravity.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48And more importantly, on a common called Parker's Piece,
0:21:48 > 0:21:50a bunch of lads got together in 1848
0:21:50 > 0:21:52and laid down the set of rules
0:21:52 > 0:21:56which would later form the basis of a sport called football.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59Some of the best ideas, however, come from nature.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03Mike Dilger went to see how scientists have been getting inspiration
0:22:03 > 0:22:05from some very clever birds.
0:22:06 > 0:22:10Owls - some of nature's greatest hunters.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13Their hearing is ten times more sensitive than ours,
0:22:13 > 0:22:17so they can hear a scuttling mouse from 30 feet away
0:22:17 > 0:22:20and they can catch it unawares in pitch darkness,
0:22:20 > 0:22:23all because of a very quiet weapon.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26And like the Harris hawk, the barn owl that Jimmy's holding
0:22:26 > 0:22:29is designed to fly as silently as possible
0:22:29 > 0:22:31so it can creep up on its prey,
0:22:31 > 0:22:33but to find out just how quiet,
0:22:33 > 0:22:36we're going to put them both to a flight test.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38Let's go, Jimmy.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41Jimmy promises he can fly a Harris hawk and a barn owl
0:22:41 > 0:22:43just inches above my head
0:22:43 > 0:22:45and I've got to guess which is which
0:22:45 > 0:22:48just from the sound of their wing beats.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50OK, Jimmy, ready for the first bird.
0:22:50 > 0:22:52OK, here we go.
0:22:57 > 0:22:58HE LAUGHS
0:22:58 > 0:23:00I definitely heard wings flying overhead.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03I reckon that's the Harris hawk
0:23:03 > 0:23:06and if I were a mouse or a vole, I'd be running for cover
0:23:06 > 0:23:10but I'm going to wait for the second bird to be absolutely sure.
0:23:12 > 0:23:13OK.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19- Has it gone yet?- Yep.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22I didn't hear a flipping thing!
0:23:22 > 0:23:25I'm presuming it flew over my head.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27If it did, that's the barn owl.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31This silent flight got engineers thinking,
0:23:31 > 0:23:35"Could owl technology help aeroplanes fly more quietly too?"
0:23:35 > 0:23:37At the University of Southampton,
0:23:37 > 0:23:41Dr Kenji Takeda is part of an aeronautical team investigating this.
0:23:41 > 0:23:46The owl's amazing. Basically, it's the only animal that has evolved
0:23:46 > 0:23:48to be completely silent to its prey
0:23:48 > 0:23:50and it's looking at those aspects
0:23:50 > 0:23:53that allows us to see how we can apply that on an airliner.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57Apart from the engines, most of the noise aeroplanes make
0:23:57 > 0:24:00is caused by wind rushing over the wings.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03This is the speed a barn owl would fly through the air
0:24:03 > 0:24:07while it's quartering a field, looking for mice and voles.
0:24:07 > 0:24:12And look at the wind resistance it has to cope with whilst it's hunting!
0:24:12 > 0:24:14'Because planes fly much quicker,
0:24:14 > 0:24:17'there is even more wind and turbulence.'
0:24:19 > 0:24:21You're at 30 miles an hour now
0:24:21 > 0:24:25and an aeroplane's probably coming in at about four times that speed.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34You can see what effect the turbulence
0:24:34 > 0:24:39has at the back of the wings - the ribbons are totally snarled up.
0:24:39 > 0:24:41'It's turbulent air that creates noise
0:24:41 > 0:24:44'and in a smaller wind tunnel Kenji and the team realise that
0:24:44 > 0:24:48'the shape of the plane's wing makes it even noisier.'
0:24:48 > 0:24:51As that noise crosses this sharp edge at the back,
0:24:51 > 0:24:55it gets louder and is radiated towards the ground.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58OK, so how does that compare to a barn owl's wing,
0:24:58 > 0:25:00which we've got here?
0:25:00 > 0:25:03If we look at the trailing edge, it's subtly different.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05You can see these little fringes
0:25:05 > 0:25:07where it's got these very fine feathers.
0:25:07 > 0:25:12When the noise passes over that, it doesn't get radiated to the ground.
0:25:12 > 0:25:14So the voles don't hear the barn owl coming?
0:25:14 > 0:25:16That's right, it's almost silent.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19'So these frilly feathers are one of the secrets
0:25:19 > 0:25:22'to the owl's incredibly quiet flight
0:25:22 > 0:25:26'and, amazingly, by putting owl-like frills on model plane wings,
0:25:26 > 0:25:29'the team have found they can significantly reduce landing noise,
0:25:29 > 0:25:33'so in the next five years we should see similar
0:25:33 > 0:25:35'bristles on commercial airlines.'
0:25:35 > 0:25:37Hopefully people near airports
0:25:37 > 0:25:39will sleep easier as a result of these bristles.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42That's right, they'll appreciate the owl's technology.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44'But owls have one more trick
0:25:44 > 0:25:47'that could help reduce noise close to airports
0:25:47 > 0:25:50'and Kenji and the team are testing this in a flight simulator.
0:25:50 > 0:25:55'Owls land on their prey very steeply, at about 25 degrees,
0:25:55 > 0:25:59'so the voles can't hear them until the very last second.'
0:25:59 > 0:26:02It probably comes in a lot more smoothly than I'm doing right now!
0:26:02 > 0:26:06- Er, yeah!- I'm hopeless at this!- The owls have had a bit more practice.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10'Planes, by comparison, come in to land at a very shallow three degrees,
0:26:10 > 0:26:13'meaning they're very low and noisy when approaching the airport.'
0:26:13 > 0:26:17The idea is if we could come in as steeply as an owl, we'd be further
0:26:17 > 0:26:21away from the houses underneath us so we'd be a lot quieter.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23In fact, we'd almost be silent.
0:26:24 > 0:26:28'But can Captain Dilger achieve a smooth owl-like landing?'
0:26:29 > 0:26:33That's it, so just aim for the runway, that's looking pretty good.
0:26:33 > 0:26:35TYRES SCREECH Boing!
0:26:35 > 0:26:38- Now put the brakes on. - Yeah, welcome to Heathrow.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41Thank you very much! God, that was hopeless!
0:26:41 > 0:26:44THEY LAUGH
0:26:44 > 0:26:48- Well, I wouldn't have Mike Dilger fly me anywhere after that.- I agree!
0:26:48 > 0:26:51That's the end of our Cambridge tour and I think it's been a hoot!
0:26:51 > 0:26:56- Get it? Owls? Hoot?- No! - No?- Bye.- Bye.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59'Next week on The One Show Best Of Britain, I head to the stunning
0:26:59 > 0:27:02'landscape of the Lake District for a picnic with John Sergeant.'
0:27:02 > 0:27:05I love this spread you've put on, John!
0:27:05 > 0:27:08It's a very typical Lake District picnic and how do we know that?
0:27:08 > 0:27:11We know that because it's raining. ANGELINA LAUGHS
0:27:11 > 0:27:14'Miranda Krestovnikoff dives into the Northumberland seas
0:27:14 > 0:27:18'to get up close and personal with our favourite underwater mammals.'
0:27:18 > 0:27:22- Ooh, I can feel something tugging at my fins! - SHE LAUGHS
0:27:22 > 0:27:24'Phil and I take a tour around Blenheim Palace,
0:27:24 > 0:27:28'birthplace of Winston Churchill, and you'll get another chance to see
0:27:28 > 0:27:31'how The One Show put my senses to the test when they made me
0:27:31 > 0:27:33'spend the night in a haunted mansion.'
0:27:34 > 0:27:36- Are you OK? - I heard something in there.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38(I think something's here with me.)
0:27:38 > 0:27:41Have I gone the right way?
0:27:41 > 0:27:44I've gone the wrong way.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46'And find out why Dan Snow stepped back in time
0:27:46 > 0:27:48'and took to horseback to...
0:27:48 > 0:27:51'slice a cabbage?! You'll have to watch to find out.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53'Join us on Monday.'