0:00:02 > 0:00:05- Hello, from West Wales. I'm Cerys Matthews.- And I'm Gyles Brandreth.
0:00:05 > 0:00:08This is the best of Britain as seen on The One Show.
0:00:10 > 0:00:11# One
0:00:11 > 0:00:13# One
0:00:13 > 0:00:15# One
0:00:17 > 0:00:19# One. #
0:00:20 > 0:00:25Croeso i rifyn arbennig o'r One Show o Ardd Fotaneg Genedlaethol Cymru, Sir Gar.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29Welcome to this special edition of The One Show, coming to you
0:00:29 > 0:00:33from the dazzling National Botanic Garden of Wales, near Carmarthen.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36We're going to be celebrating our favourite films,
0:00:36 > 0:00:38those fertile stories so lovingly tendered
0:00:38 > 0:00:41and deserving of a chance to bloom again.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43See what we have sprouting for you tonight.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47Hankies at the ready for the extraordinary
0:00:47 > 0:00:51story of Christian the lion, London's coolest cat.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53Here he is up in the flat, you see.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56- My gosh. I mean, he was a lion. - Yeah.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00- Were people right to be a bit wary? - They were right to be wary.
0:01:00 > 0:01:01Craig-y-Nos Castle.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05Welsh tuberculosis survivors return to the sanatorium which once
0:01:05 > 0:01:07chilled them to the bone...
0:01:07 > 0:01:10This is what the children lay in,
0:01:10 > 0:01:12not just for five minutes or ten minutes,
0:01:12 > 0:01:16but all day, every day, for a year at a time.
0:01:16 > 0:01:22Plus, Britain's new love affair with hot tubs. What's all the fuss about?
0:01:22 > 0:01:24It does involve men and certainly no football or cars.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27..and the day of aphids.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30George McGavin psychs out the gardener's enemy.
0:01:31 > 0:01:33It's one of these.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39But first, where better to introduce a film about The Green, Green Grass Of Home
0:01:39 > 0:01:45than in a Welsh garden that boasts 8,000 plant varieties?
0:01:45 > 0:01:46It's absolutely perfect.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49So, yeah, this next film is when I catch up with my friend,
0:01:49 > 0:01:52Tom Jones, and take a closer look at a country song which became
0:01:52 > 0:01:54a global hit for him.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58# The old home town looks the same... #
0:01:58 > 0:02:02In 1966, a fresh-faced lad from the Valleys released a quirky
0:02:02 > 0:02:06country song which went on to become a number one hit all over the world.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09Called The Green, Green Grass Of Home,
0:02:09 > 0:02:13people naturally assumed it was about his home town in Pontypridd.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16# Down the road I look
0:02:16 > 0:02:19# And there runs Mary... #
0:02:19 > 0:02:21"Down the road," he said, "and there comes Mary."
0:02:21 > 0:02:25Well, it might be a coincidence, but my wife's name was Mary.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28# Of that old oak tree... #
0:02:28 > 0:02:31The tree in the woods over there,
0:02:31 > 0:02:36and that's where, more or less, The Green, Green Grass came out of that tree.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40# The green, green grass of home. #
0:02:40 > 0:02:44So the definitive pop song about Wales? Well, not quite.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47Home, of course, depends on where the heart is.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50The song was actually written in Nashville, Tennessee,
0:02:50 > 0:02:55by Claude "Curly" Putman, and has been covered by over 100 artists.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59'To explain the song's worldwide popularity,
0:02:59 > 0:03:01'I've got a date with a musical legend.'
0:03:01 > 0:03:05- Good to see you.- Good to see you. - Come and have a seat right there.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09'It was a smash hit for Tom Jones, but I'm taking him back in time
0:03:09 > 0:03:13'to a version which inspired him to record the song in the first place.'
0:03:13 > 0:03:18- I bought this album, and I'm going to play you this song on it.- OK.
0:03:18 > 0:03:19And you're going to recognise it.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21I hope so. SHE LAUGHS
0:03:22 > 0:03:26- RECORD PLAYS - # They'll all come to meet me
0:03:26 > 0:03:29# Arms a-reaching
0:03:29 > 0:03:31# Smiling sweetly
0:03:31 > 0:03:34# It's good to touch... #
0:03:34 > 0:03:39- So, where were you when you first heard that song?- In New York.
0:03:39 > 0:03:44I was doing an Ed Sullivan Show in 1965.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48I went in this Colony record shop. It was a famous record shop.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50So I asked, did they have anything new by Jerry Lee Lewis?
0:03:50 > 0:03:54Because I had always been a Jerry Lee fan since Whole Lotta Shakin'.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57And they said, "Well, he's made a country album."
0:03:57 > 0:04:00- Which figures, because he's from Louisiana, isn't he?- Yeah, exactly.
0:04:00 > 0:04:05# Yes, they'll all come to meet me
0:04:06 > 0:04:09# Arms a-reaching
0:04:09 > 0:04:12# Smiling sweetly... #
0:04:12 > 0:04:14So I bought it and I took it back to the hotel,
0:04:14 > 0:04:17and I played it and thought, "This is great, this is great."
0:04:17 > 0:04:18And a lot of the songs I knew.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20But when the Green, Green Grass Of Home came up,
0:04:20 > 0:04:23I had never heard that song before.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26I thought, "My God, what a great song." It's different.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30- And new.- Why different? What made it so different?
0:04:30 > 0:04:34- A lot of songs, they say the names of cities.- Yeah.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36But the Green, Green Grass Of Home doesn't.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39The more I thought about it, I thought, you know,
0:04:39 > 0:04:42what a great idea, because we all have a green, green grass of home.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46# The green, green grass of home. #
0:04:46 > 0:04:49The thing that got me about it, because when you listen to it,
0:04:49 > 0:04:52you just think you're singing about the green, green grass of home.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54And then in the middle section, it says, "Then I awake
0:04:54 > 0:04:57"and look around me at four grey walls that surround me."
0:04:57 > 0:04:59- So he's in prison?- Yeah.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02- And people don't really clock that sometimes, do they?- No!
0:05:02 > 0:05:05I thought, my God, that's unbelievable, that this
0:05:05 > 0:05:08man was only thinking about it and he's going to get hung.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10So I did it on the TV show.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14I used to have a 30-minute TV show, and I did it on there,
0:05:14 > 0:05:16- you know, inside a jail.- Yeah.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18But you don't know I'm inside the jail until the camera pulls back.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20'And there I am.'
0:05:20 > 0:05:23# And there's a sad old padre Arm-in-arm... #
0:05:23 > 0:05:25'And it had a big effect.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28'People were asking, "What was that song when you were in jail?"'
0:05:28 > 0:05:30It makes it even deeper, though, doesn't it?
0:05:30 > 0:05:33People identify with it on a deep level
0:05:33 > 0:05:36not just as a sugary, sentimental song, it's much deeper.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39- The soldiers of the Vietnam War loved it as well, didn't they?- Yes.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42- Elvis loved it.- Elvis loved it.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45I think he was kicking himself that he didn't pick up on it earlier,
0:05:45 > 0:05:47so, thank God, it became my song.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51# Down the road I look
0:05:51 > 0:05:54# And there runs Mary... #
0:05:54 > 0:05:58'Happily for us, Tom's version did get there first, and when you're
0:05:58 > 0:06:02'in the same room as "The Voice" and a guitar, you've got to, really.'
0:06:02 > 0:06:04- BOTH:- # ..Grass of home
0:06:05 > 0:06:10# Yes, they'll all come to meet me
0:06:10 > 0:06:12# Arms a-reaching
0:06:12 > 0:06:14# Smiling sweetly
0:06:14 > 0:06:16# It's good to touch
0:06:16 > 0:06:25# The green, green grass of home. #
0:06:27 > 0:06:28Well, that's lovely.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33What a great song. Really unusual, that song. Did you like that?
0:06:33 > 0:06:35I do like that, and I like Tom Jones.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38And you, of course, have some sung a duet with the legendary Tom Jones.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42- What's the man really like? - He's gorgeous, a great singer,
0:06:42 > 0:06:44a great music collector, not such a keen gardener.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48Ah, that's the difference between him and Harry Secombe.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51Harry Secombe taught me all that I know about gardening,
0:06:51 > 0:06:52which isn't a great deal.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56- But he never gave me a gardening hat, and you've got one for me, haven't you?- I do.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58You promised me a gardening hat.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01- You call this a hat?! - SHE LAUGHS
0:07:01 > 0:07:06What is this, a druid's crown? I'm not surprised you're walking off!
0:07:06 > 0:07:08She's walking off because she's frightened of the aphids.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10Beware of the aphids.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13George McGavin, our colleague, will show you why.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18We don't associate Britain with plagues,
0:07:18 > 0:07:22but in living memory, we have been under attack...
0:07:22 > 0:07:25from massive swarms of marauding insects.
0:07:25 > 0:07:311979, the opening of an oil rig, and emergency services had to step in.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33But this wasn't a one-off.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37In 2011, even Wimbledon was besieged. FLIES BUZZ
0:07:37 > 0:07:39And what is this monster?
0:07:39 > 0:07:44Well, it's one of these - the common or garden greenfly, or aphid.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47Singularly, they aren't that frightening a prospect,
0:07:47 > 0:07:51but each one is a prodigious breeder, giving birth to young
0:07:51 > 0:07:57who are themselves already pregnant with another generation inside them.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00This sparks an exponential process that one scientist has
0:08:00 > 0:08:04calculated could, over the course of just one year,
0:08:04 > 0:08:10result in enough ravenous bugs to cover the earth 150 kilometres deep.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12Now you have cause for concern.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15Traditionally, the people you think of as most fearing
0:08:15 > 0:08:17the aphid would be rose gardeners.
0:08:17 > 0:08:23So just imagine being responsible for 14,000 individual plants.
0:08:23 > 0:08:28'Andy Godley is the head gardener at the Royal Rose Society.'
0:08:28 > 0:08:31Now I imagine you're not a great fan of aphids, are you?
0:08:31 > 0:08:35The trouble with aphids is, one day you can have one aphid, the next day you've two or three.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38Within a week, you can have a biblical population of aphids.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40What do they actually do to the rose?
0:08:40 > 0:08:42What injury can they cause a rose bush?
0:08:42 > 0:08:45They suck all the sap, they cause new buds to be deformed,
0:08:45 > 0:08:47they cause the leaves to be deformed.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49They can be bad news for roses.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51And not just roses.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54In a normal year, most gardeners will be troubled by aphids,
0:08:54 > 0:08:59but in a plague year, everyone has serious cause for concern.
0:08:59 > 0:09:04It's not just the fact that aphids suck sap that harms crops, is it?
0:09:04 > 0:09:08No, it isn't. In fact, much worse than that, they are extremely
0:09:08 > 0:09:10efficient at pumping viruses into plants
0:09:10 > 0:09:12that can be quite devastating.
0:09:12 > 0:09:13So, potentially,
0:09:13 > 0:09:18how much could you lose in this field through aphid-borne virus disease?
0:09:18 > 0:09:21In a worst-case scenario, you could lose 60% of it.
0:09:21 > 0:09:2360% of this yield could potentially go?
0:09:23 > 0:09:25In the worst case, it could potentially go.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29Dr Richard Harrington and has calculated that a bad aphid year
0:09:29 > 0:09:32could cost agriculture up to £100 million.
0:09:34 > 0:09:38Luckily, Richard and his team are on constant watch for aphid invasion and
0:09:38 > 0:09:44employ an early-warning system of 15 of these 12-metre vacuum traps
0:09:44 > 0:09:47that are whirring away across the country
0:09:47 > 0:09:50to protect our crops against this airborne threat.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53From Inverness to Exeter,
0:09:53 > 0:09:57this is Britain's last line of defence from airborne invasion.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00This is basically just an upside-down vacuum.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02- That's exactly what it is, yeah. - VACUUM WHIRS
0:10:02 > 0:10:04- That's better.- Whoo!
0:10:04 > 0:10:07So, all the insects get sucked down that tube and then end up in this...
0:10:07 > 0:10:09- They do, that's right.- ..in this bottle here?- Yes, that's right.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12Right, well, there's all sorts of stuff in there -
0:10:12 > 0:10:16midges, flies, beetles, spiders, and, of course, aphids -
0:10:16 > 0:10:17and somebody has the job
0:10:17 > 0:10:19of wading through all that
0:10:19 > 0:10:20and finding out exactly
0:10:20 > 0:10:21what's in there.
0:10:21 > 0:10:22That's correct. Great fun.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24- Rather you than me.- Thank you.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29Of the 600 native aphid species in Britain,
0:10:29 > 0:10:34only around 30 have the potential to carry dangerous crop viruses.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38And it's these that Richard and his team are counting
0:10:38 > 0:10:39and recording every day.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43Now, what is the real practical value of this work?
0:10:43 > 0:10:47By giving farmers warnings as to where and when they're likely
0:10:47 > 0:10:50to be a problem, then they only need to spray
0:10:50 > 0:10:53if there's likely to be a problem in their particular area.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56'Richard and his team's research also point to
0:10:56 > 0:11:03'when we might next expect an aphid plague like in 1979 and 2011.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06'Both those years were preceded by a cold winter...
0:11:09 > 0:11:11'..and followed by a dry summer.'
0:11:11 > 0:11:13So there we have it, the aphid -
0:11:13 > 0:11:16a prodigious breeder reviled by gardeners
0:11:16 > 0:11:20and likely to invade whenever next we have a long, hot summer.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23Unlike this year's exceptionally wet one.
0:11:25 > 0:11:26HE EXHALES SHARPLY
0:11:26 > 0:11:30And thankfully, continually monitored by a team of scientists and
0:11:30 > 0:11:34their early-warning system, keeping the nation safe from invasion.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40That film really bugged me, Gyles.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43I have a man who's good enough to deal with your problems.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46He's Simon Goodenough, and he's the head gardener
0:11:46 > 0:11:48here at the National Botanical Garden of Wales.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52- Aphids do bug you, don't they?- They do, and they are horrible things.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56If you have an infestation, you cannot get rid of them easily.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59But you've managed to. Not totally, cos there's some here, aren't there?
0:11:59 > 0:12:02Yes, there are few, but this isn't a bad year for aphids, luckily.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06But for every one of those aphids, within a week, you've got 50
0:12:06 > 0:12:10from one and then within a month, you've got six million.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14- Six million?!- In a month. - Oh, my goodness! That's incredible.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17- What a statistic! - They're worse than rabbits!
0:12:17 > 0:12:20And if there was an aphid infestation today,
0:12:20 > 0:12:22what would it do to a garden like this?
0:12:22 > 0:12:26Well, in the vegetable plot, it's a disaster because it reduces all of your productivity,
0:12:26 > 0:12:31it stops things from flowering properly, so fruits don't set and you've got to do something about it.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33What would you do? Would you turn to chemicals?
0:12:33 > 0:12:36I'd rather not, we believe in being as organic as possible,
0:12:36 > 0:12:40so we actually use the old washing-up-liquid method - spraying
0:12:40 > 0:12:43with soapy water is a really good way to cut down your numbers.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47That and actually getting the things between your fingers and squashing them.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51- You are an aphid murderer!- Oh, I am! Yes!- And are you proud of that?
0:12:51 > 0:12:56- Very!- Because it's necessary. - It's absolutely necessary if we want to eat.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58But as it is, you've just got a handful of aphids
0:12:58 > 0:13:02- and everything in the garden is looking lovely.- Thank you.
0:13:02 > 0:13:07People should come to Carmarthen to see it. Hurry down to Carmarthen while the stocks last!
0:13:07 > 0:13:10I saw some stocks in another of the gardens! That's rather good.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13- Truly wasted. Wasted. - It looks absolutely lovely.
0:13:13 > 0:13:15Thank you very much, Simon.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17My pleasure.
0:13:17 > 0:13:18Now, back in the 1950s,
0:13:18 > 0:13:22tuberculosis was still a serious problem here in the UK and the
0:13:22 > 0:13:26treatment administered to children was daunting to say the least.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28Here's Ruth Goodman to take up the story.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34Today, Craig-y-Nos Castle is a hotel in the picturesque
0:13:34 > 0:13:38Welsh Brecon Beacons, but it was once a tuberculosis sanatorium.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44Between 1922 and 1959, hundreds of children
0:13:44 > 0:13:49and teenagers were treated here and today, some of them have returned.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52And The One Show has invited them to share their memories
0:13:52 > 0:13:56and to discuss a time when the medical establishment was
0:13:56 > 0:14:01going to quite extreme measures to fight a truly terrible disease.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04'With no cure for TB at the time, centuries old
0:14:04 > 0:14:09'treatments like exposure to cold, fresh air were the only option.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12'At Craig Y Nos, many children were actually made to live
0:14:12 > 0:14:16'outdoors on a balcony, sometimes for years on end.'
0:14:16 > 0:14:19- This is where the balconies were, is it?- Girls were at the top.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22- Girls were along that window, there. - The second one up.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26- And the boys were here.- I was three years up there.- Three years?- Yes.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28I was told I was coming for a fortnight
0:14:28 > 0:14:30and I was here for 17 months.
0:14:30 > 0:14:34The idea of you being out in all weathers, rain and snow, wind,
0:14:34 > 0:14:39- the lot.- My mother came up one winter's day and made me
0:14:39 > 0:14:43put a vest on and Sister came out and gave her a row.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45And I had to take it off.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48Exposure to the cold wasn't the only treatment.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51Immobilisation was also common.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53And to ensure children didn't move,
0:14:53 > 0:14:56they were sometimes placed in plaster beds -
0:14:56 > 0:15:00rigid casts of their bodies that kept them still on their backs
0:15:00 > 0:15:01for years.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05This is the cast, or plaster bed, that many of the patients speak of.
0:15:05 > 0:15:10It was moulded from a child's body and once it had been moulded,
0:15:10 > 0:15:12this is what the children lay in.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15Not just for five minutes or ten minutes,
0:15:15 > 0:15:19but all day, every day, for a year at a time.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22This one was made for a three-year-old.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25'Not all of Craig Y Nos is open to the hotel's guests.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28'Some floors have been preserved almost
0:15:28 > 0:15:32'exactly as they were in the sanatorium days.'
0:15:32 > 0:15:35- So three along here? - Three there, one there.- I was here.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38- Right next to the window? - In front of the window, yes.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41Dr Hubbard used to come out of the lift,
0:15:41 > 0:15:47come up along the corridor and just stand there and say, "Lie down!"
0:15:47 > 0:15:50Separation from parents and siblings was often the most difficult
0:15:50 > 0:15:52part of being in the sanatorium.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55With parents only able to visit once a month,
0:15:55 > 0:15:57many of the children felt cut off.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00I missed the place I grew up because it was by the sea,
0:16:00 > 0:16:03so missed the sea. I missed my dog.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06So when I told my mother this, she was coming back up again,
0:16:06 > 0:16:09she told me to look out of the window, that window there.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13And standing by the fountain was my uncle, holding the dog
0:16:13 > 0:16:16and I had a whistle for him. I whistled and he recognised it.
0:16:16 > 0:16:20And then later on, she opened her bag and she took a bottle out
0:16:20 > 0:16:24and she said, "Smell that." She'd brought me a bottle of seawater.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26So she couldn't do anything else, really.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29That was the way, I suppose, she tried to help me.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33But the children weren't neglected here.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36Nurses like Glenys Jones became their surrogate family.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38Today, she's returned with them.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41- I was here for almost 40 years. - Good gracious!
0:16:41 > 0:16:45- What was it like, nursing these children?- Plenty of fun.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48It was hard, mind. Especially during visiting.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50They never had visitors, only once a month.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53And then, of course, they didn't know their relatives,
0:16:53 > 0:16:57- they didn't know their parents at all. - And how cold was it for the nurses?
0:16:57 > 0:17:01Oh, it was bitterly cold. But you weren't allowed to wear a cardigan in the ward,
0:17:01 > 0:17:02only on the veranda.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04Isolation from their families
0:17:04 > 0:17:09and the sometimes incredibly harsh treatments were difficult,
0:17:09 > 0:17:14but for many TB survivors, going home after years in the sanatorium
0:17:14 > 0:17:16was the biggest challenge of all.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20My friends had moved on and I hadn't. I was still seven, going home, after three years.
0:17:20 > 0:17:25I was seven coming in and seven going home. My friends were saying, "I don't want to play with that."
0:17:25 > 0:17:28I was playing with my dolls! "No, we don't play with dolls at our age!"
0:17:28 > 0:17:32My mother was more concerned about how the parents would take
0:17:32 > 0:17:38to me going back and playing with their children. She said to me, "Don't tell anyone you've had TB.
0:17:38 > 0:17:43"Just say it wasn't TB, it was a bad chest complaint."
0:17:43 > 0:17:48I tell people now I had TB because I'm quite proud of it now!
0:17:48 > 0:17:50My scars, isn't it? My medals!
0:17:52 > 0:17:57The story of tuberculosis is one of history's more harrowing tales,
0:17:57 > 0:18:02but I can honestly say that the children of Craig Y Nos are some
0:18:02 > 0:18:06of the bravest and most inspiring people that I have ever met.
0:18:08 > 0:18:12- What an incredible film that was.- Yeah, that's the reality of tuberculosis.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15Do you remember when you were at school, you had those BCG vaccinations?
0:18:15 > 0:18:19I do remember. I've still got the marks from mine.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22- We're so lucky now that it's been kept at bay.- We are. We're blessed.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25- I've got a film now that I hope will make you feel quite good.- OK.
0:18:25 > 0:18:31This is a film that when we first showed on the One Show, Alex Jones, in the studio, shed a tear or two?
0:18:31 > 0:18:33- Really?- Yes. Live on TV.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37So hankies at the ready, this is one of my films that may make you
0:18:37 > 0:18:41weep, but today, for the right reasons.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46The '60s were exciting times.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50The days before tedious stuff like the Dangerous Wild Animals Act
0:18:50 > 0:18:52of 1976.
0:18:52 > 0:18:57And if you fancied buying yourself a lion, there was nothing to stop you.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00You simply popped down to the shops.
0:19:00 > 0:19:06'In 1969, Harrods was offering a lion cub as the ultimate Christmas present.'
0:19:06 > 0:19:09You could not resist loving this animal.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12We just looked at it and thought, "My heavens! We've got to do something about this."
0:19:12 > 0:19:16'Stumping up the equivalent of £4,000, John Rendall
0:19:16 > 0:19:19'and Ace Bourke bought the Harrods lion.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22'Naming him Christian, they took him home to SophistoCat,
0:19:22 > 0:19:24'a London furniture shop.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27'It's still trading, but in new premises.'
0:19:27 > 0:19:32Seriously, it was in a shop like this, amidst all the furniture.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35Literally, the lion, the sofa and the wardrobe!
0:19:35 > 0:19:38That is exactly right. This was Christian's jungle.
0:19:38 > 0:19:42And he used to sneak around between all the chairs, stalking people.
0:19:42 > 0:19:47- There he is.- Here he was... - This is your Christian gallery here.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50- Sitting on the stairs. - What did the customers make of him?
0:19:50 > 0:19:52- They loved it. - How old is he in this picture?
0:19:52 > 0:19:57- He's about eight months old there. - And obviously, he looks as if he was happy to be handled.
0:19:57 > 0:19:59Yes, he had complete trust in us.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03It's impossible to assess what Christian thought we were.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06All he knew was that we just loved him unconditionally.
0:20:06 > 0:20:11- And here he is up in the flat. You see.- My gosh! He is a lion.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14Were people right to be a bit wary?
0:20:14 > 0:20:17They were right to be wary, but he never attacked anybody.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21How wonderful! And this is before the age of health and safety, so there was nobody
0:20:21 > 0:20:27- coming along to the shop and saying, "You can't do that, mate." - Absolutely not.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30'Christian became the focus of John and Ace's lives, but the
0:20:30 > 0:20:35'growing lion needed space, which was in short supply on the King's Road.'
0:20:35 > 0:20:37So this is where you would come. It's a graveyard.
0:20:37 > 0:20:42It's a graveyard and a perfect safe walled garden for him to come
0:20:42 > 0:20:43and play football.
0:20:43 > 0:20:48And you persuaded the vicar to let you bring a lion in your car.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51He was a marvellous man. He was an animal lover.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54He said, "Of course you can bring your lion here."
0:20:54 > 0:20:57And did you have a pooper scooper?
0:20:57 > 0:21:01- No! I'm afraid not.- Standards were different in the 1960s.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05Very different, yes. But it was a scooper shovel!
0:21:05 > 0:21:09- It's amazing, a lion running free in West London.- I know.
0:21:12 > 0:21:13Despite their close bond,
0:21:13 > 0:21:17John and Ace knew Christian couldn't stay in London much longer.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21But putting him back into captivity would be betrayal.
0:21:21 > 0:21:26It was quite distressing as to what was going to happen to him.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30And so I was quite please when Bill Travers walked into the shop,
0:21:30 > 0:21:35looking for a desk, and I thought, "Ah, I know who you are.
0:21:35 > 0:21:37"I've got something to show you!"
0:21:37 > 0:21:41Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna, stars of the hit film Born Free,
0:21:41 > 0:21:44instantly joined Christian's fan club.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47That moment was absolutely wonderful
0:21:47 > 0:21:51and I thought as I looked at him that he
0:21:51 > 0:21:55was one of the most beautiful young lions that I had ever seen.
0:21:55 > 0:21:57There was just something about him.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01With Bill's help, the Harrods lion was given a chance of freedom.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04He was flown to Kenya, where conservationist George Adamson
0:22:04 > 0:22:08attempted to integrate him into the wild.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11I felt confident that Christian would have a fulfilled life
0:22:11 > 0:22:17in the wild for however long or short that might be.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21Even if it was a year, it would be better than a lifetime in a zoo.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26Christian had left a massive gap in John and Ace's lives.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30A year later, they flew to Kenya with a cameraman, hoping to film him.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34But the lion was wild now and potentially dangerous.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36Had he forgotten his human friends?
0:22:38 > 0:22:41You can see him thinking it through. Is it them? Is it them?
0:22:41 > 0:22:44And that is when he started to run.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59When he actually jumped into our arms and was rubbing against us,
0:22:59 > 0:23:04that was an extraordinary feeling, this huge animal now.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08It was an unique privilege to be there.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12The sheer just excitement that he hadn't forgotten us.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17It's remarkable that a lion from Harrods should manage to
0:23:17 > 0:23:19adapt to the wilds of Africa.
0:23:19 > 0:23:24John and Ace will never forget the cub they released into freedom.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28But what's more remarkable is that Christian didn't forget them.
0:23:36 > 0:23:37What did you make of that, Cerys?
0:23:37 > 0:23:40I thought it was mad to think you could buy
0:23:40 > 0:23:43a lion in a shop in the 1960s. Absolutely mad.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46You could buy amazing things in shops in the 1960s.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49I bought this hat in 1967. It's my favourite.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53It's very dapper, but you're not going to need it cos we're going to look at hot tubs now.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57- Hot tubs?!- Yes, hot tubs. They used to be the domain of the international playboys
0:23:57 > 0:24:02and the footballers, but not any more. Did you know that over 150,000 people have bought themselves
0:24:02 > 0:24:06- a hot tub? - I'm going to watch this. My way.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11We purchased the hot tub two Christmases ago.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14We thought it would be a nice idea to have something that
0:24:14 > 0:24:15involved family and friends.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18My son does his studying in the hot tub for A-levels.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22He attempts to float his exercise books on the bodyboard.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24I don't think a lot of studying happens,
0:24:24 > 0:24:27but he's got a fabulous tan.
0:24:27 > 0:24:31I've a regular group that come on a Thursday, ladies only.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35We like to discuss things that happen in the village.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37And yes, generally, it does involve men
0:24:37 > 0:24:40and certainly no football or cars.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43My husband and I and the two children, 16 and 18,
0:24:43 > 0:24:47to watch a movie, we have to set it up onto the laptop.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50The most arguments happen as to what movie we're actually going to watch.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53What could be two hours sitting in the hot tub
0:24:53 > 0:24:58turns into five-hour arguments about whether it's action, adventure or a romcom.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02As all women, I am partial to a gadget and a novelty game.
0:25:02 > 0:25:07I bought a floating backgammon and numerous ducks. Ducks that light up.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11We've even started playing duck jenga cos we have that many.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18I first bought a hot tub six years ago.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22Sadly, two years ago, I lost my wife to breast cancer.
0:25:22 > 0:25:27And I kept the hot tub going, I got in it every day, like we used to.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30I get my little toys out.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34I've got a speedboat, a little electronic jetski.
0:25:34 > 0:25:35I have a submarine.
0:25:38 > 0:25:43Lovely. We first got in the habit of the hot tubs when we were skiing in America.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45She always wanted it to snow in this country
0:25:45 > 0:25:50while we were in the hot tub and it never really happened.
0:25:50 > 0:25:52Just before she passed away,
0:25:52 > 0:25:55I had this idea to go off and I bought a snow machine
0:25:55 > 0:25:59and I set it up the night before and this
0:25:59 > 0:26:02noise in the quiet of the night just started humming away
0:26:02 > 0:26:05and she woke me up and said, "What's that noise?"
0:26:05 > 0:26:10I said, "Why don't you go and have a look?"
0:26:10 > 0:26:14When she looked out of the window, all the garden was covered in snow.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16There was snow falling down.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19And needless to say, Christmas morning,
0:26:19 > 0:26:22we were sat in the hot tub, with snow falling.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33Got the hot tub about a year ago.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37No matter what the weather, we will be out here first thing
0:26:37 > 0:26:41in the morning before breakfast with a cup of tea.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44- We have the iPad in the hot tub. - Well, you use it.
0:26:44 > 0:26:49It's really good cos I have an app that tracks planes.
0:26:49 > 0:26:54- You can tell me what's going on and where they are.- He gets very excited.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57I also have another app that plots the night sky.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00We have increased our knowledge of the stars and the other night,
0:27:00 > 0:27:06we were sitting here and I saw what we can describe as a yellow
0:27:06 > 0:27:12- cylinder shape just hanging in the sky.- Your brain takes over. Ooh!
0:27:12 > 0:27:16We are being invaded by aliens. And we're in the hot tub
0:27:16 > 0:27:20and we're probably the only people on Earth that know we're doomed.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24What we thought was an alien was a street light.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28And once we'd realised what it was, we felt incredibly foolish.
0:27:30 > 0:27:34- Maybe that's what hot tubs do to your brain. I'm not quite sure. - Pickles them!
0:27:38 > 0:27:41Have you ever had a hot tub, Cerys?
0:27:41 > 0:27:45I have once, on top of a roof in LA, Sunset Boulevard.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48I often think that it's in the cold countries it's best, in the snow.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52Hark at you! I once actually enjoyed a cold shower in Swansea.
0:27:52 > 0:27:57- That's more my style. Hot tubs are not my scene.- Don't knock it, though, until you've tried it.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00I am not knocking anything. After a glorious day like today, how could you?
0:28:00 > 0:28:05You know what I'm going to say? Hats off to the National Botanic Garden of Wales.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07- It's absolutely blooming marvellous here.- It is.
0:28:07 > 0:28:13- How do I say goodbye in Welsh?- Hwyl fawr.- Who?- Hwyl fawr.- Hwyl.- Fawr.
0:28:13 > 0:28:18- Hwyl fawt, everybody. Hwyl fawt. I got it right, didn't I? Yay!- R-r-r.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21- Hwyl Fawr.- Hwyl fawr. Hwyl fawr. - Yes. Hwyl fawr.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24Goodbye, ladies and gentlemen. Goodbye.
0:28:24 > 0:28:26Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd