06/12/2011 The One Show

Hello, welcome to The One Show with Matt Baker and Alex Jones. Coming

up tonight, we are going to be finding out why a bus full of

Lottery millionaires, including Britain's biggest winner, is on a

magical trip across the country. First, a singer-songwriter that has

written many tunes you might # You make me feel like a Natural

As luck would have it, it is the very song and I am doing the waltz

took on Strictly on Saturday night. By sheer coincidence, the lovely

lady who wrote that song is with us tonight, Carole King. Lovely to see

you. Can you believe that? It is just a massive coincidence. I know,

I heard about it. I was thrilled. We haven't fully choreographed the

dance yet. What was going through your head when you wrote it? It

might inspire me to add a bit of a story. I don't know. I can't say

what was going through my head, but I know I have had many people come

up to me and say, you know, I conceived my little girl to that

song. Well, we won't go that far... You don't want to act that out?

you in the UK for a long time? a week. It would be lovely if you

wanted to come on Saturday and see us perform it. Alas, I am leaving

the day before your performance. You will be there in spirit.

Christmas spirit. I will be, it is so great that you're doing that.

will be speaking to Carroll later about her new Christmas album, A

Christmas Carole. I see what you did then! We are sure you know,

Carole, that gun laws are much tighter here than in the States.

But it might come as a surprise that children as young as 10 have

been granted shotgun licences in the UK. Lucy Siegle has been to

meet one young lad who feels strongly that it can be a safe

Strolling in the countryside, it is not uncommon these days to hear the

sound of gunshots in the distance. Over 1 million people enjoy

shooting in Britain. If you think you know the profile of them, you

might be surprised. The surprise is that there are nearly 5000 children

in England and Wales who possess shotgun licences. Now there is a

new Bill in Parliament that wants to make 14 the minimum age for

holding one. That would rule out 13-year-old Jordan stead. I thought

it was exciting. When you are a kid, you start shooting a gun, everybody

wants to try it and stuff. Did you have to learn about respect for the

gun? The first coaching lesson I had, they sat me in a room and they

told me the basics of the gun, how to use it and all of the safety.

They didn't just let me walk out and shoot it. Anti-gun campaigners

have already succeeded in getting many types of firearms banned for

shooting enthusiasts of all ages. Now they are turning their

attention to young shotgun licence holders. Jordan's dad is not happy.

Do you understand people who say that no children should be around

guns? I totally disagree with that. If you are at a gun club or

shooting School, it is totally safe. We are not running about the

streets with guns. We are in a safe place, proper environment. Jordan

is very level-headed and focused, but children of 10 have been

getting gun licences. Do you think that is OK? Yes, the sport is that

they get a licence. They cannot actually take the gun out. I have

got to get the gun out of the Cabinet and give it to him. Their

parents have to go with them. There is massive responsibility on the

parents. Anti-gun campaigner Lucy copes's 22-year-old son, Damian,

was shot and killed in London. She thinks giving kids any access to

guns is likely to result in more deaths. She has never visited a

shooting range. This is the first time she has come face-to-face with

gun enthusiasts. The Experience is proving more difficult than she

imagined. Have you got any pre- conceptions about the sort of

people that will be here? Whoever they may be, they are very

This is Charlie. How do you do? Sorry that it is a shock to the

system. It is a big shock. Pretty scary for you? You are completely

safe, there is no danger. There are no instances of guns being stolen

from clay shooting ranges. They are not weapons that are used in crime.

Guns are not used in crime? These sporting weapons. They can be

converted. Well, they can be. Only in the wrong hands. It is not the

weapon that kills, it is the person. It is the weapon, it is the bullets

that killed. You are flinching every time a bullet gets fired.

is horrible. What I am hearing is the last sound that my son heard.

Every time I hear the shot guns go off, I am counting the amount of

lives I now have been taken. Lucy is never going to be convinced. She

is opposed to the idea of shooting. Statistically, there is very little

evidence of sporting guns being used in crime. It is illegal

weapons being used in crime, not legally held once. I think people

have a misconception that people are being shot, these gang related

incidents are using legally held weapons. They are not, they are

using illegally obtained guns. It is an Olympic sport that children

participate in safely, and have done for years. It doesn't mean

that because you use a gun you are suddenly going to want to kill

someone. What is the connection between shooting as a sport and

leisure, as we are seeing here, and the tragic, tragic circumstances in

which your son was killed? This kind of thing hypes them up. They

hear about this kind of stuff and see it. They learn from it and it

doesn't matter if it is Grantham or if it is Nottingham or London. This

kind of thing just shows these boys that it is cool. Very interesting

to see what comes from that. We were just talking during the film,

it is a different situation in America, in the countryside, the

wilderness, with bears and what have you. There is a reason. If

people go hiking with their grandchildren, if a bear came along,

maybe the first response would be to shoot into the air and scare it.

I am a third and the leader in animal rights. But I am also a

believer in the right to protect yourself and your children. But I

do think that in America there is an excess of use of guns, a lack of

education about it. We have a lot of work to do, but we have to

counteract the National Rifle Association, the lobbying

association for the manufacturers. Do you have something like that

here? Yes, with this Bill going through, there's lots of...

complex! You don't have to give me the whole answer, but I understand.

For now for a musical mystery you might not have heard about. Rumour

has it that Carole's old friend Paul Simon was inspired to write

homeward-bound on his way from the town of Widnes in Cheshire. Carrie

Grant looks at the evidence. In 1965, a stranger came to stay on

this quiet suburban street, in a sleepy Cheshire town. He was an

American folk singer who hardly anyone had heard of. The stranger's

name was Paul Simon. That's right, the same Paul Sion and -- Paul

Simon who, in my opinion, has written some of the greatest songs

of the past 50 years. It is said that one of his biggest hits and

most enduring songs was inspired ride here in Widnes. Ben Bowden

plays in a Simon and Garfunkel tribute group and is something of

an expert on his hero. He told me that Paul came to Britain to live

after their first album flopped. The group split, and he went on a

tour around Britain. Was it just for the gigs? I think he was

writing as well. Being the artist he is, he was absorbing at the

In Widnes, he stayed at the House of a man who booked him to play at

a local club. Geoff Speed now has a folk music show on BBC Radio

Merseyside. How did he end up staying with him? It is the sort of

thing that happened. You booked him to sing and he would offer him

their accommodation. He would sit in this room, look through the

window. He had a note pad, which he would be writing songs in. His folk

club had not yet got a permanent base, so he hired rooms when he

could. Paul was paid �12 for each gate. I've got the receipt, they

made him sign for it. He played four or five, and one of them was

up there in the Windsor Rooms. Paul played here on September 13th, 1965.

The support act was the black diamonds. Their singer was Chris

Sherwin. Can you paint me a picture of what this place looked like?

home-made stage, a wooden box stage. We sang on it and introduced Paul

to the audience. Is there a particular song that stood out for

you? I think sound of silence was definitely a winner. The haunting

How does it feel, knowing that you have played on the same stage as

such a legend? It is a great story to tell the children and

grandchildren. The Windsor Rooms was where he played, but it is time

spent at Widnes station, as he prepared to leave the town, that

has gone down in folklore. It is said that he had quite a wait, so

Homeward Bound is an American sounding June, but it is set in and

inspired by the North of England. This plaque claims it was written

on the platform. Geoff Speed thinks differently. No. I dropped him off

before the train was due. We said our farewells, as he walked through

the door, the train came through the station. If he wrote it in that

time, he was a miracle worker. himself is vague about where it was

written, as he said when he appeared on Going Live in 1990.

played in Widnes, Warrington and Liverpool. It was on that trip that

I wrote the song Homeward Bound, about going back to London. I think

that is why they put the plaque up. He soon was Homeward Bound to New

York. In January 1966, do sound of Silence hit the charts and he

returned to form Simon and Garfunkel. One thing is clear, he

was a dedicated musician. That helped him to become one of popular

music's greatest ever songwriters. How brilliant that little old

Widnes had a part to play in that. Carole, enthusiastically nodding at

that. Dedicated musician? Absolutely. I saw him perform in

New York and he is as good, or better than ever. You said you were

going to e-mail him when you get back, to clarify? I will see if I

can get an answer! Let's talk about your Christmas album, A Christmas

Carole. Everybody has their favourite Christmas track. How did

you pick the 12? I worked with my daughter, Louise. She was my

producer. She brought me most of the tracks. Some of her favourites.

I picked from those. They are not all of the usual ones. For example,

every day will be like a holiday. It is not specifically about

Christmas. This Christmas is another song. They were not the

usual ones. Christmas is a family time. You have three generations on

one of the tracks, Handicap Prayer? I wanted to include something from

my heritage. Louise said, singing to his microphone, I will put it

into my computer and build a song. She did. We both sing on that, and

had little boy, 8 at the time. I love the idea that the prayer that

my parents taught me is marching forwards through the generations.

Let's have a little look at New Year's Day, from the album. Louise

# In this time of your life. # Everything is going to turn out

all right. # It will be OK, in every way.

# Making it better. The relationship that you have with

your daughter, is it hard with her being like a boss or does it happen

relaxed around the kitchen table? It was as we say in New York, like

butter, talk amongst yourselves. It was so easy, she has a real gift

for producing and she co-wrote that song with one of your fellow

citizens, Guy chambers. Part of the reason why Louise has produced it

is because you are busy writing your memoirs. That's right, thank

you, lovely segue. Why has it taken you so long? I have been living my

life, supporting American presidential candidates and the

like and working to protect biodiversity and things like that.

But it's coming out in April. It's published in April. It was great

fun to write and I didn't have brain space for this, Louise took

it over. That's April, but Christmas Carole is out now.

Now, earlier we showed thu bus load of lottery winers who set off on

Monday from Loch Lomond with a road trip with a difference.

Anita has been to join them to find out what they're up to and why they

need wrapping paper. This Christmas for the first time

ever, lucky lottery winners will be playing at Santa and travelling to

ten children's hospices around Britain and making festive wishes

come true. How are they going to do it? On the Winner Wonderland bus,

of course. When was the last time you all travelled on a bus?

But before this London London routemaster bus can make its way

across the country it needs to be more Christmas-y.

# Everybody's having fun # Look to the future...

They said to the kids go and get the tickets, we might have won a

tenner. I said oh dear, she said what's wrong, have we won more than

a ten stpher. I said it could be. How many numbers have you got? I

said six. Helping wrap the presents is Europe's biggest ever lottery

winner, Chris who won �161 million. I am wrapping up some presents for

the children's hospice. These are presents for little girls.

Christmas is a time for children. It make it is so much more special.

Nobody wants to be in hospital at Christmas.

The bus arrives and the millionaires set to work,

delivering their gifts to the children in the hospice.

Shall we see what you have got? It's a nice thing for them to do

for all the kids, it's lovely. great being hands-on, rather than

donating some money. It's good to see what they're actually doing and

being hands-on. He is actually 18, the disease, they don't usually

live to 18. He loves it. They have a jacuzzi. One hospice done. Nine

more to go. Next stop Newcastle. 150 miles south. A new group of

lottery millionaires are waiting to deliver presents.

I know it's not Christmas, but we should open it.

OK. It is a Scalextric. Wow! can't think of a hospice as a sad

place. They're here to make whatever the children have got left

happy. This little girl is the most gorgeous little girl. She's happy.

You have won the lottery and you have been given this huge lump sum

of money. Anybody could do this, regardless of how much money

they've got. Yes, they need thousands to run the place and

millions, but they also need little things too and that's the most

important thing at this time of the year, the little things that make a

difference to those children. has been an incredible day and what

it's made me realise is that anyone can do this. You don't have to have

millions in the bank to buy a present and put a smile on a

child's face. What a nice thoeupbg do. -- thing

to do. The bus will continue to travel up and down the country for

the rest of the week. L Carole, as you are here to talk about

Christmas songs, we thought we would put your expertise to the

test. We have got some of the hopefuls for the number one slot

this year. We would like to know whether you think that they are a

Christmas cracker. Or a Christmas Turkey. The first is

from a reality show, we call it TOWIE, it's a bunch of people from

Essex and they have remade the Wham single... I recorded it, there may

be a version of it. I know the song. # Last Christmas I gave you my

heart # The very next day you gave it

away so, is it a cracker or a Turkey?

APPLAUSE. Gone for cracker. know what, it's the song. The song

choice. Great song. Next, it's the Wombles of Wimbledon. It's Wombling

Merry Christmas. P we wish you a Wombling merry

Christmas. Turkey or cracker? Turkey. They

don't have mouths! How can they be singing? The final one is a

tearjerker from a ten-year-old girl called Arrina Morgan.

# The songbirds keep singing # And I love you, I love you

#. Surely you can't say Turkey, can you? No. It's a cracker! APPLAUSE.

Lovely. See if your predictions come true. Dr George McGavin loves

travelling around the country examining curious beasts. Tonight

he is in Dumfriesshire to examine a creature that's not changed in

millions of years. It's a triops. Thank goodness, I thought you were

talking about Bruce. The British Isles, during the

triassic period. A land ruled by prehistoric giants. Now long gone.

But there is a species that's still here. For over 200 million years it

hasn't changed in size or appearance. These prehistoric

beasts are triops, the oldest creatures on earth. Recently, they

have been discovered off the west coast of Scotland. Dr Larry Griffin

monitors the numbers. Well, I am very excited because I haven't seen

these things in the wild. They should hopefully be sitting

newspaper the shallows, -- sitting up in the shallows. See, over there.

Just off that little ridge of mud there. I can see it. It's a large

one, actually. Are they quick? They're fairly nippy. That's

incredible. Look at that. That's the first time I have ever caught a

prehistoric monster. My goodness, that's a fair beast. Triops are are

crustaceans. They feed on anything from dead animal matter to cow dung.

The three eyes, you can see why they're called triops, they have

two at the front, and a tiny one in the middle, which is a single

little eye. What is really amazing to me is that here we are and we as

a species evolved only a fifth of a million years ago on the plains of

Africa. This thing, 200 million years old. I mean, what a survivor.

I guess that design is still suited to this sort of habitat. It's a

simple habitat. There is not a lot of other competitors in there.

There's been no tinkering particularly by evolution. It's

stayed as it is. If it it ain't bust, don't fix it. Living in

shallow pools they have a remarkable life cycle. An

individual triops is male and female, meaning you only need one

for a population of these beasts to develop. Their eggs can withstand

extreme weather conditions and even lie dormant in the mud for over ten

years, waiting for the conditions to be just right.

This has a -- as a species makes them pretty bombproof. It does look

prehistoric. Larry has been able to learn more about the specialised

existence that they lead using tive populations -- captive populations.

These are a week to ten days old, very small really. They're amazing

to watch. Larry is also hoping to find undiscovered triops

populations in other parts of the UK. We want to try and establish,

get to the bottom of whether they are more prevalent across the

country, whether they've a wider distribution than we are currently

seeing at these two points 400 miles apart, basically. You are

hoping it isn't simply a site in Scotland and a site in Hampshire,

that there are little sites all over England and Wales? That's it,

yes. We would like to get a firm hand on whether there really are a

few more populations that haven't been found yet T would be ease

tkwroeu overlook them, it really would. So the next time you are out

walking in a field that looks like this, keep your eyes peeled in the

puddles and pools because you might have walked past the UK's only

living fossil. 200 million years old. It's

incredible. George is here with some more living creatures with

prehistoric origins. And we are calling it this.

I am not afraid of them. I wouldn't be screaming normally. The first

one has a scary name. It's the vampire squid. It isn't the vampire

and a squid, it's in the same group of octopus. It has this amazing

cloak it can draw over itself which is black and hide itself from

enemies. That's an ancient animal. The next one is this amazing animal,

the horseshoe crab. Now it is probably unchanged in shape and

function for 300 million years. They would have looked like this.

There are now four species on earth and this one comes from the eastern

seaboard of the US and it's now under threat because they're hunted

for fish bait. Actually they're harmless. You found that one.

found this on the shore in New Jersey. They've been around 300

million years and now humans are... Under threat from us. The last one

is a very interesting shrimp. It has eyes that are ten times more

acute than ours. They're able to see ten times more of the spectrum

than we can and they hunt prey, here is sa crab hidden under a

glass, and they smash with these front legs that have the same

energy as a shell of a gun and that's been virtually unchanged for

about 350 million years. It's amazing they can smash glass.

That's like body armour. It is, in fact, it could be, like a cycling

helmet. Or a clock. We have had an e-mail from the Wombles, they can't

believe you gave them a Turkey, gutted! Thank you, George. You can

see George on BBC4 this evening at 9.00pm in Afterlife. What's that

about? The strange signs of decay. Don't miss it. That's all we have

time for tonight. Lovely having you here, Carole and good luck with A