:00:17. > :00:24.Hello, welcome to The One Show with Alex Jones... And Matt Baker.
:00:24. > :00:31.Today's guest is airing their hopefully clean laundry on The One
:00:31. > :00:34.Show washing line. Unless they are yours? I quite like that
:00:34. > :00:43.Show washing line. Unless they are There are some bloomers, a penny. Is
:00:43. > :00:52.that a tea towel? Keep going, keep going. A wig. Who is underneath
:00:52. > :01:01.there? It is Brendan O'Carroll, otherwise known as Mrs Brown!
:01:01. > :01:09.Hello, how are you? Good to see you. It is actually strange seeing
:01:09. > :01:15.you there, when you see somebody coming out of somebody else's face?
:01:15. > :01:21.It seems weird being an TV like this. A lot of people will not know
:01:21. > :01:27.that Mrs Brown's family is actually your family. Well, many of them. You
:01:27. > :01:52.brought the Klan with you. We have a cardigan and an apron.
:01:52. > :02:03.You do love a cardigan. You are a good boy. That is nice. It is so
:02:03. > :02:07.weird to see you in men's clothes. The one place we have never seen
:02:07. > :02:18.weird to see you in men's clothes. Mrs Brown is Church.
:02:18. > :02:23.But even if you don't go to church, in some parishes, you could still
:02:23. > :02:26.be charged for its repairs. Tony Livesey has been to meet the
:02:26. > :02:29.homeowners who have been told they are legally obliged to contribute
:02:29. > :02:30.if the church chancel needs fixing. The next time you pass your local
:02:30. > :02:33.church, take a good look at it. The next time you pass your local
:02:33. > :02:40.There is a chance that you might have to stump up some cash. It is
:02:40. > :02:45.called chancer repair liability. Thanks to a 500-year-old law it
:02:45. > :02:48.could be inextricably linked to your property. The law dates back
:02:48. > :02:52.could be inextricably linked to to the Middle Ages when people who
:02:52. > :02:59.own land near churches were responsible for funding the upkeep
:02:59. > :03:05.of the chancel. Over the years, as that land has been bought, sold and
:03:05. > :03:10.divided, it has become harder to define who has that responsibility.
:03:10. > :03:16.The only way to check is to cross reference old maps and documents
:03:16. > :03:20.against me ones. That is not straightforward. -- new ones. The
:03:20. > :03:25.Government has set a deadline of this coming Sunday for churches to
:03:25. > :03:34.register formally any property they believe is affected by this law.
:03:34. > :03:39.Two of those properties belong to a couple from Yorkshire. They have
:03:39. > :03:43.been assured there are no immediate plans for repairs was a bit could
:03:43. > :03:54.mean trouble if they want to sell their properties. -- repairs. This
:03:54. > :04:00.letter, as far as you are concerned, has come out of the blade.
:04:01. > :04:07.Absolutely. I was not aware of this. -- out of the blue. I want to pass
:04:07. > :04:12.my property down to my children. In this instance, in this village, not
:04:12. > :04:16.everyone has been opposed, have they? There are another 32 houses
:04:16. > :04:23.that are potentially liable. They they? There are another 32 houses
:04:23. > :04:32.have only said it on four of us. Engine rules say not everyone is
:04:32. > :04:35.equal. -- ancient rules. We asked the Church when it was up
:04:35. > :04:38.registering all the houses. They said the amount the others would be
:04:38. > :04:48.liable to bear the be so miniscule they're not worth pursuing. --
:04:48. > :04:52.liable to pay would be so miniscule. Many parish councils feel they have
:04:52. > :04:54.no choice but to enforce the law. There have been cases where they
:04:54. > :04:58.have applied to charitable There have been cases where they
:04:58. > :05:05.organisations for funding only to be told they must explore all
:05:05. > :05:10.avenues. They must enforce this. In reality, they may never have to put
:05:10. > :05:19.their hands in their pockets. You cannot completely rule it out. Tell
:05:19. > :05:24.us what happened to you? In 1990, we received a letter asking for
:05:24. > :05:29.help repairing the chancel. They were looking at the window repairs.
:05:29. > :05:33.I think they were talking about £2,000 a window. We said we would
:05:33. > :05:39.be cleared to help provided you can be sure as it is not a legal
:05:39. > :05:45.obligation. They claimed it was a legal obligation. After 20 years,
:05:45. > :05:52.the courts ruled against Andrew ENG bail. The repair bill had risen at
:05:52. > :06:01.a bit. I have never really dead to editor. Something like 250,004
:06:01. > :06:10.repairs to the chancel. -- dared to add it up. Not all churches want to
:06:10. > :06:15.enforce liability. This Reverend has successfully argued that his
:06:15. > :06:19.parish should not have to impose it on local landowners. The principal
:06:19. > :06:25.basis of my argument was reputational damage to the church.
:06:26. > :06:31.Now you are free to apply to other charities for money, as opposed to
:06:31. > :06:38.other landowners. We will be free. There will be no obligation for us
:06:38. > :06:44.to pursue it. That, for you, is a satisfactory solution? It is
:06:44. > :06:48.satisfactory for us. As for Mick and Cindy, unless they can reach
:06:48. > :06:56.agreement with the Church, this is liable to remain on their deeds for
:06:56. > :07:07.ever. I have not even been into the grounds. It upsets me. To think
:07:07. > :07:09.that it could ruin us. There are going to be a lot of worried people
:07:09. > :07:15.out there. Tony Livesey joins us now. What has
:07:15. > :07:21.the Church of England got to say about all this? I should put some
:07:21. > :07:26.context on this. A lot of churches do not want to pursue this but kind
:07:26. > :07:28.of feel they have to. The Church of England has financial
:07:28. > :07:31.responsibility for 45% of the nation's Grade 1 listed buildings.
:07:31. > :07:33.70% of repair bills are met by local fund raising, with only a
:07:33. > :07:40.minority coming from English Heritage, Lottery funds and other
:07:40. > :07:47.non-church sources. They say they cannot be expected to forgo sources
:07:47. > :08:01.of funding, which is what is called tonsil repair liability. Our
:08:01. > :08:05.solicitor told us about this problem when we bought our house. A
:08:05. > :08:11.round of applause for your solicitor. What do people say it
:08:11. > :08:17.was appointed. It dates back to the aid age of Hennig VII. It was not
:08:17. > :08:22.expected to be put back on the Land Registry. -- to the age of Henry
:08:22. > :08:29.the eighth. Parish councils are having such difficulty finding out
:08:29. > :08:31.who is responsible. The National Archive - if you go to the website
:08:31. > :08:38.- viewers can have a look on that. Archive - if you go to the website
:08:38. > :08:44.It is about the land to house is on. You do not have to be near a church.
:08:44. > :08:48.If you do not get a letter by tomorrow or the day after, does
:08:48. > :08:53.that mean everything is all right? Not really. You are not registered
:08:53. > :09:00.at the moment. If you decide to sell your house in the future, the
:09:00. > :09:05.Church can come and register liability. It is an interesting
:09:05. > :09:09.thing to call it - a source of income. It is really blackmail.
:09:09. > :09:14.Lots of funding bodies so they will not give taxpayers' money because
:09:14. > :09:18.they can get money from other sources. You have to feel sorry for
:09:18. > :09:23.the couples in the film. What happens if you cannot afford it?
:09:23. > :09:28.You need to get into dialogues with the church council. Many of them
:09:28. > :09:35.say, nothing might happen. It might be 100, 200 years before we need to
:09:35. > :09:42.put a new roof on the chancel. You can buy your way out of these
:09:42. > :09:46.things. You can offer a son, but added together with everyone else
:09:46. > :09:52.in the village who is responsible, could buy you out of the whole
:09:52. > :09:58.liability. If you own a house on these lads, is there any legal
:09:58. > :10:11.obligation to tell the future buyers? -- these lands. This is
:10:11. > :10:19.where everybody stops drinking their cups of tea. If you own a
:10:19. > :10:24.property, you imagine you own everything it stands on. You own
:10:24. > :10:29.the surface and somebody else can only everything underneath. How far
:10:29. > :10:34.the surface and somebody else can do you dig damage your planting?
:10:34. > :10:39.The Church of England owns a lot of this type of land Foster they are
:10:39. > :10:58.registering their interest in us. If someone owns everything under my
:10:58. > :11:01.house, they might frack nearby. Do not let her read it! Thank you for
:11:01. > :11:14.coming in. He is trouble. This is the thing
:11:14. > :11:22.was that he is looking very well dressed, well groomed, well spoken.
:11:22. > :11:34.Almost unrecognisable to you know who.
:11:34. > :11:48.Some petits fours? Yes, please. It took grandad a whole day to suck
:11:48. > :11:56.the chocolate up of berm. We are very lucky to have that clip. --
:11:56. > :12:03.the chocolate off them. Was that all right? It looked great. These
:12:03. > :12:08.two Christmas specials I think of the best episodes we have done yet.
:12:08. > :12:15.Last year, 15 million people watched it across all platforms.
:12:15. > :12:20.There is nothing on the television. Mrs Brown's boys has become an
:12:20. > :12:24.astonishing hit. It started when he just made up the character on the
:12:24. > :12:32.spot. I was having a cup of coffee with a radio presenter. I was
:12:32. > :12:38.invited in to do a couple of comedy pieces on the radio. It was like an
:12:38. > :12:44.Irish version of Steve Wright in the afternoon. They were having a
:12:45. > :12:51.cup of coffee and Rory, my agent, was having a cup of coffee with me.
:12:51. > :12:56.We were having a cup of coffee. The DJs said, I am looking for
:12:56. > :13:03.something quirky for the afternoon. I said, I am writing something
:13:04. > :13:12.quirky. He said, what is it? I said, Mrs Brown's boys. Louise Brown, the
:13:12. > :13:17.first test-tube baby. It was the 21st anniversary of her birth and
:13:17. > :13:24.that name stuck in my mind. He said, I would love to see it. Rory said,
:13:24. > :13:30.so would I! I wrote the first five episodes and gave them to him. I
:13:30. > :13:34.got everyone I knew to put in the voices. I could not afford to pay
:13:34. > :13:41.anybody. That is have a family ended up in it? Pepsi, who played
:13:41. > :13:50.Mark, was my ready. The person who played grandad, he did a bit on my
:13:50. > :13:57.Stand Up Show. I booked an actress to play Mrs Brown and she did not
:13:57. > :14:04.turn up. I read her lines. I said, when she is well, I will dub them
:14:04. > :14:12.over. I just did the boys. Hello, it is nice to see you. That is
:14:12. > :14:18.incredible. When I got to the end, he said, who was the actress
:14:18. > :14:28.playing Mrs Brand? He said, do not lose that boys and that was it.
:14:28. > :14:36.Do you know what it is like to live with a man that is a complete bore
:14:36. > :14:42.and has no personality? Tell them! Maybe this could do with a lick of
:14:42. > :14:48.paint. It needs more than a lick of paint, it needs a face-lift. It was
:14:48. > :14:58.made to last. What is that, it wouldn't be my new kitchen, would
:14:58. > :15:02.it? No. Mrs Brown's family are actually Brendan's family. Just for
:15:02. > :15:06.everybody at home, introduce yourselves and let us know what your
:15:06. > :15:12.real relationship to Brendan is and what your relationship is to Mrs
:15:12. > :15:22.Brown. I am Fiona, Brendan's daughter in real life. I play the
:15:22. > :15:37.part of Agnes's daughter-in-law. Danny, I play Brendan's Sun. I am
:15:37. > :15:45.married to Brendan in real life and I am Mrs Brown's daughter. That must
:15:45. > :15:54.be so weird? You have no idea. You want to see what it is like when we
:15:54. > :16:04.get home. Who is your mammy? You are playing your husband's daughter,
:16:04. > :16:07.dressed as a woman? She is married to Trevor, who plays the priest.
:16:07. > :16:16.Danny is married to Amanda, who plays Betty. What were you doing
:16:16. > :16:20.before this? You were in acting and what have you beforehand? I was in
:16:20. > :16:27.the film college when I got the call. I have filled in a couple of
:16:27. > :16:31.times. I love that, got the call? I filled in the odd couple of times
:16:31. > :16:37.when the actress could not do the show. Then when she decided to
:16:37. > :16:40.leave, did not want it to any more, he literally called me and said,
:16:40. > :16:47.well, you have done it before, you were very good, do you want to come
:16:47. > :16:54.onto? Did you have any experience? I did a bit of acting in movies when I
:16:54. > :17:00.was a kid, but I went straight from school to working backstage.
:17:00. > :17:06.Building the sets, doing the lights. Everybody has worked back on the
:17:06. > :17:11.set, they all understand. I'm very proud of them when we do shoots.
:17:11. > :17:19.Everybody knows what everybody else has to do to make us look good. It's
:17:19. > :17:26.not an easy job, it's a hard job. We are like a posh circus. Danny was
:17:26. > :17:31.diagnosed as dyslexic at a very late age, 16. I am dyslexic, he is
:17:31. > :17:34.dyslexic. When I went to school to try to get supplementary teaching,
:17:34. > :17:40.they said, we can't do that. He said, dad, I can't read a script and
:17:40. > :17:45.I want to be an actor. I said, I'm telling you now, I am going to get
:17:45. > :17:51.your head shot and send it to every casting agency I know. You are going
:17:51. > :17:54.to do auditions, see what it is like to be humiliated, be told, we want
:17:54. > :18:00.to see you being a washing machine and then be told no. That is what an
:18:00. > :18:03.actor's life is. And he got everything he went for. They are
:18:03. > :18:10.going to stay with us to help us with some of Mrs Brown's domestic
:18:10. > :18:14.advice. As we heard earlier, Brendan encouraged his family onto the
:18:14. > :18:18.stage. It turns out that pushy parents are not limited just to
:18:19. > :18:22.humans. Mike Dell Jazz got up close and personal to some incredible
:18:22. > :18:27.guillemots, whose mothers are giving them a shove in the right direction.
:18:27. > :18:31.Just a couple of miles off the Northumberland coast, shaped like a
:18:31. > :18:36.giant molars, the pinnacles rise Northumberland coast, shaped like a
:18:36. > :18:40.majestically out of the North Sea. Part of the Farne Islands, the cliff
:18:40. > :18:47.face offers the perfect opportunity to see our vast array of sea birds.
:18:47. > :18:52.From eight glance around, I can see a kittiwake in the air, puffins in
:18:52. > :19:04.the water, razorbills whizzing past and sharks whizzing past. -- shocks.
:19:04. > :19:10.It is at this time of the year that the guillemots chicks make a huge
:19:10. > :19:14.leap of faith. They are massed ranks now, but in the 70s the numbers were
:19:14. > :19:18.low, in part because people used to collect eggs for food. Thanks to
:19:19. > :19:23.protection, numbers have increased massively. David steel from The
:19:23. > :19:28.National Trust is the head warden. 30 years ago there was 1500, and
:19:28. > :19:34.then they skyrocketed. Every year we see record numbers coming back. How
:19:34. > :19:41.many birds are we talking about? We are looking at 50,000 individuals on
:19:41. > :19:47.the Farne Islands. They are so packed together, it must have tiny
:19:47. > :19:52.territory? They really do. They are the Penguins of the northern
:19:52. > :19:57.hemisphere. They lay one egg and keep it on their feet. To prevent
:19:57. > :20:02.the eggs falling, evolution has come up with an amazing design. Take a
:20:02. > :20:07.chicken egg. Quite rounded. If I put it on this slope, watch it go, all
:20:07. > :20:13.of the way down and into the water. If I take a guillemots egg, and this
:20:13. > :20:18.has come from a museum, see how pointed it is. Put it at the top of
:20:18. > :20:21.the slope and watch it roll around in a nice, tight circle. Preserved.
:20:21. > :20:32.Isn't that amazing? The eggs hatch at around 30 days.
:20:32. > :20:36.Once the chicks are three weeks old, they will have to leave the nest and
:20:36. > :20:41.learn to fish for themselves. As their wings are not fully formed,
:20:41. > :20:46.the only way is down. From below is the best place to get a view of this
:20:46. > :20:50.annual spectacle. It is getting close to dusk. That is the time the
:20:50. > :20:56.chicks will make their leap of faith. All they have known since
:20:56. > :21:01.they hatched is a tiny piece of rock and the love and attention of their
:21:01. > :21:04.parents. Their dance or already in the water and they will have a
:21:04. > :21:11.recognisable call, encouraging their own cheque to jump. -- check.
:21:11. > :21:16.Hopefully they will go to the edge and open their wings, bearing in
:21:16. > :21:19.mind they cannot yet fly. They will half flutter and even possibly
:21:19. > :21:26.bounce their way down to the water. I can't wait to see it. For the
:21:26. > :21:32.chicks, it is a daunting moment. For some, it is a jump of 20 metres.
:21:32. > :21:34.Away we go, there is one on the edge. It doesn't know if it wants to
:21:34. > :21:37.go or not. It is right on the edge. edge. It doesn't know if it wants to
:21:37. > :21:52.It's a way! If they don't jump, sometimes mum
:21:52. > :21:54.will give them a gentleman. -- gentle nudge. There are also hazards
:21:54. > :22:05.on the way down. I've just seen one hitting the rocks
:22:05. > :22:09.on the way in. Really, it doesn't matter. Their bones are still not
:22:09. > :22:16.fully formed and are quite soft. Really, they bounce. I think,
:22:16. > :22:20.actually, it looks fine. As soon as the chicks are reunited with their
:22:20. > :22:25.fathers, they are let out into the North Sea. For the next two months,
:22:25. > :22:29.dad will look after them and teach them to fish. It is such a beautiful
:22:29. > :22:35.evening. Such a phenomenal spectacle. It makes me feel quite
:22:35. > :22:38.emotional, seeing those chicks taking their first tiny steps. Let's
:22:38. > :22:42.hope they will come back for the next 25 or 30 years, and teach their
:22:42. > :22:47.kids how to make that amazing leap of faith.
:22:47. > :23:00.You couldn't believe what you were seeing, covering your eyes? A long
:23:00. > :23:04.way down. Get rid of the offspring. Today is Super Thursday. It is the
:23:04. > :23:10.day when 1500 authors released their books for Christmas. Your alter
:23:10. > :23:13.ego, Mrs Brown, has a family Handbook which has gems of domestic
:23:13. > :23:20.advice for all of us. It's brilliant. We will start with the
:23:20. > :23:28.tea bags, on the washing line. In the books, they will tell you there
:23:28. > :23:35.is a perfect cup of tea. It is just tea. Anything that says infused, it
:23:35. > :23:40.is not tea. If it has a flower on the box, not tea. If it says it is
:23:40. > :23:44.blueberry, not tea. The teapot is very important. You never wash the
:23:44. > :23:50.teapot. Mrs Brown says she has used it for 15 years and never washes it.
:23:50. > :23:54.She has rinsed it out. You see, the more you use it, the less you have
:23:54. > :24:07.to use tea bags because it builds up. You get a good elder's cup of
:24:07. > :24:12.tea. -- builder's. There is a great chapter on tea towels. But my
:24:12. > :24:13.mother, her tea towel was hurt tool box. It opened bottles, held doors
:24:13. > :24:21.open, she would flick it behind my box. It opened bottles, held doors
:24:21. > :24:28.ear. She could take a fully of the top of my ear. All the different
:24:28. > :24:31.things Mrs Brown can do with her tea towel, some of them are pretty
:24:31. > :24:38.outrageous, which I will not go into. A good tea towel should not
:24:38. > :24:44.show the light. Hold it up to the light, if it shines through, it is
:24:44. > :24:50.Mickey Mouse. I am surprised you have still got ears. If you would
:24:50. > :24:55.like similar housekeeping advice from the family book, it is Super
:24:55. > :25:00.Thursday, it is out today. And it is a superb book. The Commitments has
:25:00. > :25:09.been voted the best Irish film of all time. So far! The euphoria is
:25:09. > :25:16.back and this time it is on stage, in the West End.
:25:16. > :25:21.Back in 1991, the film The Commitments, a story of a group of
:25:21. > :25:26.working-class Dubliners who form a soul band became an overnight
:25:26. > :25:31.success. It is based on the bestselling novel. Now, some 25
:25:31. > :25:36.years after the author wrote the book, he is bringing it to the stage
:25:36. > :25:37.in a show that has been six years in the making. Tonight is opening
:25:37. > :25:52.night. The band's manager is played by
:25:52. > :25:55.22-year-old Dennis Grindle. Despite only just finishing drama school, he
:25:55. > :26:04.grabbed a lead role in what will be his West End debut. So, first job
:26:04. > :26:08.out of theatre school. Luck or talent? Definitely lucky. The
:26:08. > :26:11.opportunity came for this, they were still looking for the character. I
:26:11. > :26:13.opportunity came for this, they were thought it would be a great
:26:13. > :26:17.opportunity to be seen, I didn't think anything would come of it.
:26:17. > :26:20.Opening nights are notorious for being the make or break moment. Is
:26:20. > :26:27.the cast feeling the pressure of that? Definitely more so now. Me
:26:28. > :26:31.personally, on the opening night of previews, knowing that there will be
:26:31. > :26:40.a lot of critics and press, it has been building up, how good the show
:26:40. > :26:44.can be. 26 stagehands, 20 set changes and 39 actors on stage at
:26:44. > :26:49.any given moment. Its opening night and anything could go wrong. Fingers
:26:49. > :26:53.crossed it won't. With only hours to go, the team put the final touches
:26:53. > :26:57.in. For the script writer, Roddy Doyle, just how important are good
:26:57. > :26:59.in. For the script writer, Roddy reviews and a strong world premiere
:26:59. > :27:03.in. For the script writer, Roddy to the success? How different is the
:27:03. > :27:07.stage play from the film? It is very different. I have not seen the film
:27:07. > :27:13.for a long time. I deliberately stayed away while I was working. It
:27:13. > :27:19.is based on the novel. The stage presentation is very different. What
:27:19. > :27:23.kind of pressure you under to work? My work, I feel, is done. You are
:27:23. > :27:28.going to see what I have done, what you see is what you get. In a
:27:28. > :27:35.nutshell, can you tell me what it is about? It is about a young man in
:27:35. > :27:42.the north side of Dublin, who forms a soul band. It's about the band,
:27:42. > :27:49.and then the break-up of the band. Opening night, how do you feel? Very
:27:49. > :27:53.excited, a great buzz backstage. It's a young cast, you have that
:27:53. > :27:58.youthful enthusiasm that is really infectious. Is this make or break
:27:58. > :28:03.night? You can get bad reviews, but if the show is good it tends to find
:28:03. > :28:08.an audience. And this is a very good show. We would like the critics to
:28:08. > :28:12.like the show, it would make the job easier, but I think it is good
:28:12. > :28:19.anyway. The stage is set, the show is about to begin.
:28:19. > :28:19.# Freedom! #
:28:19. > :28:33.As a first night, absolutely brilliant. Everybody has come out
:28:33. > :28:42.with smiling faces. I haven't been to such a good show for ages. That
:28:42. > :28:46.was a very exciting premiere. These shows stand or fall by the
:28:46. > :28:49.all-important first night. It is a strong brand, it has a great
:28:49. > :28:53.storyteller behind it and it has some superb songs. If it is a
:28:53. > :28:59.success or not, we will have to wait and see.
:28:59. > :29:03.You were just saying, great story? When it came out as a movie, I was
:29:03. > :29:10.in America and they had subtitles on it. For the Irish accidents. Thank
:29:10. > :29:14.God we don't have that on Mrs Brown. I know you don't have long left, can
:29:14. > :29:25.I just say to Danny, that he is adopted. Anyway, that is all we have
:29:25. > :29:30.time for today. Thanks to Brendan, Danny and Fiona. We will be back
:29:30. > :29:31.tomorrow with Johnny Vegas. Goodbye.