01/05/2012 The One Show

Hello and welcome to the One Show with Matt Baker. And Alex Jones.

Tonight we're joined by a four-time Olympic gold medallist and current

world record holder for the 400 metres, Michael Johnson, and he's

going to show you how, with a simple online test, you can find

out how competitive you are. that's not all, we're also joined

by a man who hasn't got Olympic medals and no world records we

could find when we googled him, but on the plus side he is quite funny.

Good to see you, Ricky! This thing on competitiveness, you are a very

successful man, do you have that competitive drive? Over trivial

things, yeah. Tiddlywinks. Tiddlywinks, pub quiz, I am

heckling the present at the pub quiz. I will be pedantic, I will

try to get one extra point, I am a typical bloke, I cannot lose at

trivial pursuit, forget it. We will talk to Michael about that later.

Running? Carry on! Ricky is here to talk about his brand new series,

the third series of The Ricky Gervais Show. He appears as a

cartoon, it is not a bad likeness. No, it is not! But watch out,

because if the similarity get any closer, you might accidentally

It is one of the great puzzles of animation. You can create a big

green ochre that audiences love or make a fish talk, and people will

flock to see it. But make a realistic human character, and we

often do not like it, we find that sort of creepy. Why is it that the

more lifelike a human animation becomes, the less we seem to be

prepared to accept it? Polar Express, made in 2004, used the

then state-of-the-art CD-i to create human characters. But it

didn't do as well at the box office as expected. Some film experts

believed it was because the characters were too lifelike. Other

more recent films seem to show the same kind of effect. What is it

about these characters that bothers us? The skin is really smooth, no

texture, that gives it away. There is something that does not sit

quite right. It should be the real actor or somebody like Woody in Toy

Story. Representations are humans that move, like a ventriloquist's

dummies, have long been known to unnerve some of us. Sigmund Freud

wrote about the reaction and called it the uncanny valley. In the 1970s,

a Japanese robotics researcher came up with a way of illustrating this

and gave it the name. The uncanny valley. This phenomenon gets its

name from a graph that you can draw like this, where you have

increasing realism here and increasing empathy or friendly less

along there. At this end, you have a stick man, right? Completely

unrealistic, completely unfriendly. Up here, you have got me,

completely realistic and completely friendly. As you draw a graph, it

goes up like this and you hit a point which would represent a Snow

White, quite realistic and friendly. When you go a bit further, suddenly

you hit this big dip in the graph. Just before you get to 100% realism,

that might represent something like this character, Tom Hanks in Polar

Express. He is quite realistic, but really rather creaky. He would sit

down here in what has become known as the uncanny valley. But why do

we react badly to characters who look more like us? This doctor from

Bolton University has been carrying out work into the uncanny valley

for the games industry. Her research has found that people

react particularly badly when the upper facial movements in animated

characters are not realistic enough. It may be that one perceives a lack

of empathy in a character, due to the lack of upper facial movements,

in that the character may not be able to appreciate or share one's

feelings, understand how you are feeling, or express or shown the

social skills to show compassion towards you. A lot of animated

films will avoid the uncanny valley by making the character is

deliberately unrealistic. They would give them a big head and

exaggerated features. But a team of British animators have another idea.

This is image metrics in Manchester. They are at the cutting edge of

animation and have worked on video games and major Hollywood films.

This is our digital project. This is not real, this is computer-

generated. No! That is real, isn't it? Emily is based on a real person,

but her face has been replaced with a computer animated version. She is

being hailed as a breakthrough in believable computer graphics. What

is different here to what has been done before? The main thing was the

level of detail to which remodelled the actor. We took scans of their

fees in various facial expressions, and we have modelling her down to

the skin pores. That is significantly more detail than what

people traditionally do, and it enables us to create a result that

pulls the eye. I was certainly fooled by Emily, but strangely the

moment I was told she was not real, she fell straight back into the

uncanny valley for me. So will this level of realism catch on? I don't

know, what do you think question? do not know, that is creepy.

just cannot relate to that character at all, it is a bit weird.

What did you make are Emily? think the technology is amazing,

but when it is animation, it defeats the object, really. There

is less escapism. I don't know, you might as well get the actor. I

would rather have one of them to me so that I don't have to turn up.

The style of the characters in The Ricky Gervais Show... Well, I

wanted that to be really retro and cuddly, because the things we talk

about are quite challenging. I did not wanted to be trendy and spiky

and challenging in any way. I sort of designed the original sketches

and sent them off to the animators, who are amazing. So you drew them?

Obviously, they made them brilliant. They are lovely. They actually said,

with mine, between series two and three, they said, you have lost a

bit of weight and you have got a beard, to want to change it? I said

no, that would be too expensive, leave him fat and shiny. I like it

to be a time capsule. Even if Karl got it on their head and became

really smart, do you know what I mean, he is there for ever. My note

on him was, even rounder! He is rounder than a drawing in with a

compass. But the new show is back on Tuesday, and I mean, it looks

like you three friends in there having a chat. How much of it is at

Live? It is all I live. People say, is a scripted? As if we would

bother scripting that rubbish! We just... We went in, I did it as an

experiment, I love being in a room with Karl Pilkington, he is my best

mate. I call him all the time, I will call him after this show. And

I just thought, that is fun, I think that is what normal people do,

they chat, and we tried to do that. Then we are loaded it as a podcast,

it went crazy, and then this happened. It was just an experiment,

it was just fun, a labour of love, really, but it is totally Ablett,

yeah. Let's have a look at one of the shows. The tsar things that

really annoy you. So low it is, they cause more problems than good.

They eat cabbage. When they should not be. They get in boxes and mix

stamps. They don't make stamps. They like the blue on it, that is

why they are so slow. I think they are sweating blue. -- Blue. What do

It is great! He observed the world, but then he makes up his own facts.

He has obviously heard that they like the taste, so they are making

stamps, that quantum leap, and then they are sweating the gloom. I like

that. His knowledge of the animal kingdom is fantastic, I love to get

him on the big subjects, he is amazing. This is the third series,

and historically you do not do a third series. Yes, at two series,

but you have got to realise, with this, someone else is doing all our

hard work. I just chatted! I am selling is a third time now. It is

the third season, 39 episodes, which I think is more than the

Office and Extras put together! We are doing a special of An Idiot

Abroad, he is doing his travels now. You put him in extraordinary

situations, do you feel bad about that? No, he is my gift to the

world. I think he is the funniest guy in the world, he is my best

mate, and people who say I am volleying him, right in it he wants

to be bullied by me, because you get a series, a new house. Not a

bad deal! One of the big parts of the animation is your laugh, it is

brilliant. Brilliant for some! That howl at the end! Nothing makes

me laugh like him. People say, is the real? If he is not, he keeps

the Act Up 24-7. He is funny all the time. We were wondering if you

could guess other people's laughs, gets the laugh, this game is. They

are famous people. As opposed to the guy who works in the chip shop!

We have got three, RK, listen up. Sid James! That was very good,

straight away. This is the second I have no idea. Think about it, he

is a friend of yours. There he is, it is Jimmy Carr. OK, stop it!

is a bit creepy after a while. is like a ghost. This third one is

quite hard, isn't it? Good luck with this one. It is a female.

Female what?! Human? That is their actual laughter. Douet again! I

It is Adele. Really?! That is good. What a game! She has got a lovely

voice, but not when she laughs. That is funny. The third series of

The Ricky Gervais Show starts next Thursday at 11:30pm. Now, if

anybody follows you on Twitter, they will know you are a big cat

lover, you posed pictures of your cat quite often. Did you know that

as a cat lover in the 1960s, you could walk into Harrods and pick up

a Winnie The Pooh? It is ridiculous. Here is Gyles to explain more. The

60s were exciting times, the days before tedious stuff like the

dangerous Wild animals Act of 1976, and if you fancied by Neil self-pay

Klout, there was nothing to stop you. You simply popped out to the

shops. In 1969, Harrods was offering a lion cub as the ultimate

Christmas present. You could not resist it, you look at it and

thought, heavens, we have got to do something about this. Star moving

up the equivalent of �4,000, John bought the Harrods line, naming him

Christiane, they took him home to a London furniture shop. It is still

trading, but in new premises. Seriously, a shop like this amidst

all the furniture? New line, the sofa and the wardrobe. Exactly

right! This was his jungle, and used to sneak around between all

the chairs, stalking people. This is your gallery here. Sitting on

the stairs. What did the customers make of him? They loved it! He is

about eight months old here. Obviously, he looks like he was

happy to be handled. He had complete trust in us. It is

impossible to assess what he thought we were. All he knew was

that we loved him unconditionally. And here he is up in a flat, you

say. A My gosh! Were people write to be a bit wary? They were right

to be wary, but he never attacked anybody. This is before the age of

health and safety, so nobody was coming along and saying, you cannot

Christian became the focus of John's life, but the growing lion

needed space, which was in short supply on the King's Road. This is

where you would come? It is a graveyard. It is a graveyard and

the perfect safe walled garden for him to play football. He persuaded

the vicar to lead to bring a lion, in your car? He was a marvellous

man, he was animal lover, he said, he of course you can. Did you have

a pooper scooper? No, of course not. Standards were different. It was a

scooper shovel! It is amazing, a liar and running three in west

London. -- a lion running free. Despite their close bond, they knew

that Christian could not stay in London much longer. But putting him

back into captivity would be betrayal. It was distressing, what

was going to happen to him. I was quite pleased when Bill Travers

walked into the shop looking for a desk. I thought, I know who you are.

I have got something to show you. Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna,

stars of the hit film, born Free, instantly joined Christian boss fan

club. At that moment, it was absolutely wonderful. And I thought,

as I looked at him, he was one of the most beautiful young Lawrence I

had ever seen. There was something about him. With Bill's help, the

lion was given a chance of freedom. He was flown to Kenya where the

conservationists are tempted to integrating into the wild. I felt

confident that Christian would have a fulfilled life in the wild, for

however long or short that might be. Even if it was a year, it would be

better than a lifetime in a zoo. Christian had left a massive gap in

John's life. A year later, they flew to Kenya with a cameraman,

hoping to film them. But the lion was wild and potentially dangerous.

Had he forgotten his human friends? You can see him thinking it through.

Is it then? Is it then? That is when he started to run. -- is it

When he actually jumped into arms, and was rubbing against us, it was

an extraordinary feeling. This huge animal now. It was a unique

privilege to be there. The sheer excitement, that he hadn't

forgotten us. It is remarkable that a lion from Harrods should manage

to adapt to the wilds of Africa. John will never forget the cub he

released into freedom. What is more remarkable is that Christian didn't

forget them. It has given me goose pimples. Me

and Giles have got tears! It is an amazing story and it is not unique.

I have another bit of footage to show you about this gorilla. The

gorilla was brought up in captivity at the Aspinall family zoo in Kent.

Hand-reared for five years and then he became too big, they had to

release him into the wild. They went to West Africa, to the Gabon,

and they gave the guerrilla back- to-nature, as they rightly should.

Five years later, Damian Aspinall thought, I wonder what is happening.

The last time the group had been seen, he had twice attacked humans.

Damian went in a boat to try to find him. Came to the shore,

calling out his name, looking for this wild gorilla. And watch what

happened next. I go and see him, and he embraces me and he hugs me.

You know, you develop these incredibly strong emotional bonds,

because they are so closely related to us. Damia and the gorilla had

not met for five years but the guerrilla definitely did remember.

This is to do with imprinting. This was discovered about 100 years ago.

When baby animals are born, indeed when birds are hatched from eggs,

the first thing they see, even if it is an inanimate object, they

want to follow it. This has had some wonderful implications in

terms of conservation. Condors in California were buying up, there

were about nine left in the net -- early 1980s. They're only breed

when they are six years of age, they breed quite slowly, one egg

every two is. They had the idea of taking the a go away from the live

gundog, letting it hatch and showing the Condor a puppet of a

Condor. Here is a photograph. It is apparent the rearing a baby Condor.

This enabled the adult to give birth to another chicken, lay

another egg, and they were able to rear these baby condors with

puppets. And now, in California, there are about 178. Yeah, yeah. It

is that interesting argument of feed to allow the imprinting to

happen with humans. It happened with the lion cub. The problem is,

in general, you shouldn't keep wild animals. The fact that they are so

intelligent, it proves that they shouldn't be imprisoned for our

amusement. It is a privilege and it is a nice ending, but he shouldn't

have been in Harrods in the first place. People see things like this

and they think, how cute, I could have won, and you shouldn't keep a

wild animal. And it can't be done. Legislation followed that made it

impossible. It makes a contribution to conservation, so it is difficult.

Thank you. The Boeing 787, or Dreamliner, has landed in the UK

for the first time, and from next year will be transporting thousands

of us on our summer holidays. makers claim it is one of the

quietest and greenest airliners ever made. We sent Matt Allwright

to ask the question on everybody's lips. Is it just another plane?

There was a time when air travel was seen as a gateway to exotic

plants. But then again, have you been through passport control --

exotic plants. The 1950s are over. Even Concorde has gone. Air travel

is a bit every day, a bit humdrum, isn't it? Apparently this is the

aeroplane that is going to change all that. But is it just another

plane? Boeing certainly haven't been shy in the claims they are

making for their new 787 Dreamliner. They say it will make flying but

only more comfortable, but more ecologically friendly. Welcome

aboard. How are you? I am OK. Excellent, come and enjoy the 787

Dreamliner. They are only a few of these flying around the world at

the moment and the one show has secured a few places on an

exclusive test flight. It is not just the aerodynamics but the level

of style and comfort that Boeing are selling. Very high ceilings.

Large windows. Dinner at the touch To and cleaner air. Is it just

another plane? I don't think it is just another plane. I think it is a

step forward, much more fuel efficient, will produce a lot less

greenhouse gases, much more comfortable for the customers.

this your first time to get your hands on this plane? It is, my

first fight. That was my first take-off. The technology is very

different to other aeroplanes. It is lighter and more airy and the

atmosphere is much more similar to what you would encounter on the

ground. Is this just another plane? Absolutely not. This is not another

plane. This is going to change the way passenger's seat air travel.

Change the way airlines use their planes. It would change the

economic occasion -- equation. there a reduction in noise for

people in their gardens? Absolutely. This will be a very good neighbour

to the community. The advanced technology, plus the chevrons that

you see on the fans that on it as a ball from the ground, have created

a noise signature for this airplane which is contained within the

airport boundary -- that are noticeable from the ground. They

claim it is quiet on the inside. But does it make any difference for

people living near by? It feels like a movement in the right

direction. It would be brilliant if all of the planes are like that

tomorrow, but it will probably ensure it never quite a period of

time. I will commit, but how quickly you are going to see the

benefits, and would wake me up at five in the morning? -- it will

probably inch in over a period of time. It must be all your birthday

is at once? It depends how much less the noise is, and how much

less the emissions are. The emissions per plane are improving

by about 1% per year, but the growth is four or 5%, so we are

getting more and more emissions, more and more noise and

environmental damage as time goes on. Isn't it a bit like those diet

biscuits. You know they don't give you as many calories, so you end up

eating more. Are we going to have more and more air travel, which is

not really beneficial? People will continue to want to travel and we

continue to try to make the airplanes better, to make less

impact on the environment and cost. Is it just another plane? This more

comfortable, smoother, quieter Dreamliner is certainly making a

big noise in the aviation industry. But would you notice the difference

on a two-hour flight to Alicante? Possibly not.

Thank you, Matt. We are joined by Olympian and what record holder

-- world record holder Michael Johnson.

Launching a brand new BBC online experiment Lon -- looking into

sports psychology. Right, and it can help anyone. Anyone who goes

online can be helped in terms of the pressure they feel, whether it

is a job interview, speaking in front of people, sitting next to

Ricky Gervais. It can help you understand how you deal with

pressure. You like that? Yeah. will help scientists and

psychologists figure out what type of characteristics make people

better at handling pressure. The one thing that most people

understand is that you can improve, you don't have to stay where you

are. We did it this afternoon, to find out what conditions you what

Bastin. Yours was happiness, mine was excitement. -- you work best in.

Ricky Gervais was saying, pub quizzes and trivial pursuit, what

state are you in when you are playing that? I just want to win.

Are you angry? No, it is sort of tongue in cheek. Pressure... I go

from 0-60. I can be having the best day in the world and something goes

wrong and it is like... What?! I tried to rule stress out of my life.

I avoid stress by making sure things are OK. That doesn't

necessarily mean he is going to perform better when he is angry.

You would need to take the test to see. Some people feel more

comfortable when they are angry. I felt better and I competed better

when I didn't really like one of my competitors. But you can't rely on

that. Yours is explosive, it is physical. I don't want to be

running around trying to find somebody to be angry about before

going to a race. You can't rely on that. You want to make this the

biggest experiment of its kind? Competitive! I am doing a very good

one, it is on ITV tomorrow! Let me go on! We have just launched it

this morning. 18,000 people have signed on. We want to get over 1

million people. It helps people understand better how they deal

with pressure and how to improve themselves. We can see it here, in

outstanding form. This is you, 16 years ago, setting the 400 metres

world record. Look at the distance! It is remarkable. You have beaten

yourself and set that record more and more, but how secure do you

think it is? You never know. Somebody will break it one day. You

never know when somebody will come a long, some kid who is

tremendously talented, who takes the experiment and finds out he

performs really well under pressure and breaks my board record! The

special thing is breaking the world record -- and breaks my world

record. I am not doing anything out to hold it. When I broke it, it was

a great sense of accomplishment. is inspiring to talk to you, thanks

ever so much. If you want to get involved, the details are on our