14/12/2015 The One Show

Hello and Welcome to The One Show with Alex Jones.

Matt, let's have a brainstorm about tonight's show.

You say whatever pops into your mind, don't worry if it

doesn't make sense there's no such thing as a bad idea.

I'm thinking of a blue cat. Blue cat, hang on. Then there's a dummy,

it's a ventriloquist's dummy. Looks like Lord Alan Sugar. I'm thinking

sausages now. A piano made of sausages. I'm thinking of collars,

big white-collars and hilarious video clips. Funny video clips. Like

you've been framed, you mean, that sort of thing?

Tremendous. Who'd all of them add up to then? Only one way to find out!

Welcome to BBC One! Harry, welcome, welcome. How have --

now you've got your head through that board, you can see our wintry

set. Anything for publicity. The little robins are there and the

hedgehogs with ear muffs on. We have a job for you.

We need your help in injecting a bit of christmas spirit into a couple

of modern day Scrooges in the audience.

First impressions; is there any hope for them?

They look very mean spirited. Like they are chewing wasps and maybe

they look like the sort of people who'd push a younger boy down a wet

slide to dry it out for them first. The sort of bloke that keeps the

transit bolt off his washing machine on the off chance he moves house in

the lifetime of the machine. Ruby Turner and the Rhythm

and Blues Orchestra. They are outside for us now. Jools,

what will you be performing later on? I hope to be doing Peace in the

Valley with Ruby Turner. I wouldn't mind going inside and maybe Harry

could give us a cuddle to keep us warm!

We can arrange that! We'll move on from that.

Some parents go to extreme lengths to get their child into a good

school close to home, even moving house to be

But do any go as far as the couple in this next film,

who have decided the only solution to getting into a decent school

What do you do if there are not enough primary school places in your

area? If instead of a short walk your school run is across town

through rush hour traffic? We went through hell for a number of months

and sleepless nights. Under this Government, you can bid to start

your own free school. And pitch your plans to the Department for

Education. This is it isn't it, five minutes to go to the interview.

We've got to do it. Prove your need one and start a fund of ?250,000 of

Government cash is yours. Have you got what it takes? Breakfast time in

a suburb of Leeds. GP Lucy Clement and husband Chris live here with

three-year-old Max and Daisy who is five. Neighbour Elsa is joining them

for the school run. Wellies on... The family struggled to get Daisy

into a primary school near home. At first, offered a reception place

almost four miles away. After an appeal, they are closer, but it's

still a drive and then a walk. The area's a primary school black

hole with 500 families in the same boat. Our area's completely

disadvantaged and year on year on year, you've got families who,

despite choosing five local schools aren't getting into any of them. We

want to finally bring a school to the area that it deserves, a school

that they are prioritised for, so the ultimate aim is to sort the

problem for the future. Mums were galvanised into action

after officially being offered schools miles from home. We went

through hell, sleepless nights, not knowing what was going to happen,

thinking we were going to have to send our children to a struggling

school that had a really poor Ofsted inspection. After an appeal, their

kids are now closer to home, as this school converted its library into an

extra classroom. Some people might say this is middle class parents

making a bit of a fuss? We were not fussing about a first and second

choice, we have no choice. The school I was given was my 28th

nearest, that's ridiculous. But there are critics, including

Jonathan Savage. They are not free, it costs ?30,000 a year more per

student. Also they can employ anyone they want to be a teacher, you don't

have to have a professional teaching qualification, they can also teach

children whatever they want, they can make up their own curriculum.

Own ago free school isn't easy. There's lots of hoops to jump

through. You have got to get the backing of your local community,

gather hundreds of signatures from parents and write this 150-page

document. This is Hunsley Primary near Hull, a new free school that

opened in September. Lucy and fellow parent Mark will face the Department

for Education with their bid. Time for a fact-finding mission.

Lucy Hudson is the Head and wrote the school's application. Quite a

tough road ahead. I sat down to do what they were

doing now two years ago and put pen to paper and they've got the vision

there, but putting pen to paper is difficult, there's so much to think

aboutlet. It's exciting to see a purpose-built space for little ones

to learn in. Crunch time for the Leeds bid is

looming with a make or break meeting at the Department for Education. We

need to do go to the DFE and fight for the school. The community

depends on us. This is what we could create on our doorstep. So they have

seen what's possible, they are left motivated and inspired. Their big

meeting is next week. Can they pull it off?

It's D-Day and the big meeting with the Department for Education. Get

this right and their dreams of starting a school along with a

?250,000 launch fund will become a reality. A few minutes to go before

the meeting and they are here. How are you feeling? Lovely to see you

again? OK, bit nervous. This is it! How do you feel, Mark? It's the big

one, isn't it... 90 minutes to wait now. Everything

crossed for them. Here they come, the 90 minutes is

up. Guys, how did it go? All right. All right. Erm... You

look a bit shell-shocked? Yes, there's a lot riding on it. So you

kind of feel the tension. When do you find out? When are you going to

get a yes or no? We don't find out until spring. My goodness. That's

terrible. The Government wants another 500 free schools by 2020 to

add to the 400 it's already got. Will Roundhey Primary be one of

them? We'll catch up with Lucy

and Chris in April to see Harry, let's talk about the return

of the original nutty professor, Professor Branestawm.

This is a children's programme based on the books of the same name

about an inventor who is constantly Last Christmas he teamed up

with schoolgirl Connie to take on an evil businessman who wanted

to build a munitions factory Who is this year's enemy and what's

he doing that's so bad? We've got a clip of Professor

Branestawm in his lab, That is Professor Algaebrain. He

finds himself in debt. The Lady dies, leaving a certain amount of

money which is exactly the amount he needs to pay off his debts. Funny

that. But he has to enter an inventing competition to win the

money. But he's competing against his arch enemy, so that is the drama

on which we hang the excitement and the fun of basically this madcap

adventure. We are going to have a look at a clip that you have brought

with you. Here is an exclusive clip for Christmas Eve.

Professor Branestawm, Sir, we don't need...

BANG... Oh, my! Oh, dear.

Ah, Mrs... Whatever are you doing? I've been working on a new

invention. Must have touched a live wire. This is no time to be

inventing. We should have been at Connie's ages ago, if not sooner.

When it comes to inventing, you must strike while the iron's hot.

That hair took me ages to grow! So many family dramas with CGI all

over it but this is classic slapstick? Yes, Charlie Hikingson

wrote it and one of the things he wanted to do was to bring the

old-fashioned physical comedy back to the screens and kids love all

that, that kind of falling over and there's a bit where there's a penny

farthing chase at the end and I end up in the river. Did you do most of

your own stunts? I would like to say yes, but no, I didn't.

I'm on the back of a lorry there. There's a stunt guy and he goes over

into the river, then he gets up, walks out and I sit into the river

and go "ohh", like that. It's based on books written back in 1933 and

the illustrations are just fantastic in them aren't they, they really

bring them to life. You have literally gone for the exact same

look? Yes. That is Heath Robinson, he did the illustrations and I was a

big fan of the books as a kid. They were written in the '30s, there was

a big resurgence in them in the early '70s, so that's what I was

keen to do. Were you scientific as a child? Yes, I did medicine. I was

into chemistry and had a big chemistry set and I formed this

little company, making and selling fireworks and stink bombs with my

friends. How old were you? When I was about 11, yeah. These days, you

know, in those days it was a bit of fun playing with matches and making

explosions, these days I would probably be in Guantanamo Bay!

But yes, I was very much that kind of child. In the '70s, there was a

whole feeling that everything could be sold with strings and pullies and

boiling liquids and stuff and these days it's more about tablets and

computers. This is the thing. Have you continued with that inventingish

as you have got older? I have come up with an invention. Go on? I know

it looks like a duster, but what it actually is, is when you're walking

down the street, you get recognised a lot by members of the public, it's

very difficult for you, you know, when you get recognised by

civilians, like when you are Matt Baker. Not Alex Jones

What you do, I'll stand up for the cameraman. Tuck that into the top of

your trousers and when you're walking down the street... That is

ideal, yes. You just walk down the street and nobody will even... You

will find that people recognise you less.

APPLAUSE I might try that on the way home,

Harry. You can use it for dusting. Very handy thing to have. Professor

Branestawm is on Christmas Eve, BBC One at 5. 20. I'll try that! ?12.99.

Another fictional character Scrooge is miserable, mean and one of only

two men who can pull off a white nightie and matching cap. The other

one happens to be Arthur Smith. A sinner, hard and sharp as Flint

from which no steel had ever struck out a generous fire. These

marvellous words from Charles Dickens' novel, a Christmas Carol

described Ebenezer Scrooge, the man who came to personify meanness.

And it's widely believed he was based on an actual person. So who

was the real Scrooge? John of Suffolk was a notorious miser in the

18th century, buried here in the church next to his equally miserly

uncle. He became even better known after his death when a book came out

about his eccentric lifestyle. The book became a best-seller.

Tonight, I'm sleeping in his former home on the estate he inherited from

his uncle. Today it's a school for weekly borders.

I am meeting are five times great-granddaughter. We were brought

up on him, it is definitely family folklore. We all referred to him as

the miser. He would ride his horse on the grass verge so he didn't have

to have shoes on the horse. He ate meagre scraps. He just used to eat

the game he shot on his estate? In its last stages of beautification.

Do you think Charles Dickens based Scrooge on your ancestor? I dare say

he would have read one of those. It appeals to people that someone could

he so eccentric and so wealthy, yet he mean to himself. A Christmas

Carol was written by Charles Dickens in six weeks. Was his ghostly little

book inspired by the spirit of John? I am convinced Charles Dickens had

heard of him, he makes reference to him in Our Mutual Friend, which is

later publication. Just before Christmas Carol comes out, the

miser's daughter is published. The miser in that story, scarf, is

particularly similar to John. And the two authors were friends? I

believe so. It may have been the basis of the pictures in a Christmas

Carol, particularly the eyes and the long face. John served three terms

as an MP but when travelling, was often mistaken for a tram. To avoid

paying for board and lodgings, he would fill his pockets with

hard-boiled eggs so he had something to eat when he slept by the wayside.

I am hoping, now his former home is a school, more will be on offer for

my supper tonight. Lees, can I have some more? Wrong Charles Dickens,

must be nearly bedtime. I am sleeping in the former stables. John

sometime saved money on heating by sleeping next to his horses. He

would often get up in the middle of the night checking the gold coins he

had hidden hadn't been stolen while he was asleep. I might have a bit of

a look around myself, while I am here. Having spent a cold, windy and

austere night in his former residence, I thought about John, a

contradiction, a bit of an enigma, but one thing is for certain,

becoming the model for Scrooge, he brought a huge amount of pleasure to

the world. I wonder what he would have made up the story of Scrooge,

had he lived to read it. Perhaps, like the character, he might have

changed his ways before it was too late. As something of a grumpy old

man myself, I have been known to utter the words, are humbug, but in

the words of Dickens, may I say, a Merry Christmas, one and all.

Last week we asked you to nominate your family Scrooge.

And just like Arthur Smith, we've found a family

Meet brother Scrooges, Peter and John Shepherd.

Both Scrooges of the highest order. Peter, we will start with you.

Last year he did buy his wife Sue a present, his first in their now 28

Christmas decoratons are a banned topic,

But he does go in the loft to get the tree down.

Doesn't lift a finger to cook or clear up

Says his favourite thing about Christmas,

That is terrible. But John is even worse?

Wife, Steph, has decorated the house like a grotto,

all he's done is free up an extension lead.

One year he did so little to help, Steph took his name off

all the presents to the grandchildren, which just

He hasn't bought his wife a single Christmas present in 49

Next year it will be 50. You cannot be proud of that, John.

Only saving grace is he makes the mince pies, because he likes

Jools and Ruby and the Rythm Professor

but first let's meet another giant of the entertainment industry.

He's had an album in the charts every year for the last 28 years.

And he danced a mean waltz on Strictly.

It's the name on everyone's lips, he is of course, Daniel O'Donnell!

I am Daniel O'Donnell, although many people know me as a dancer, I have

been in the music business for over 30 years. All of the qualities I

have as a person I got here on the north-west coast of Ireland in

County Donegal. This is it. This is where I grew up. This is the house I

lived in from when I was born until I was about five and a half. Here we

are. It is a lot different to what it used to be like. There was no

water in the house, so there was no need for sinks. You went out to the

toilet. Now you go out to eat, and bring the toilet into the house.

From my earliest memory, there was music in this house. My mother came

from an island off the coast. A lot of people would be stranded because

of the bad weather and couldn't get back. People would ease sitting

there all night. Just singing. It was a great house. Just before I was

moved from there to here, we had no need for a removal van. We had

little to take and not far to go. Kathleen, my sister lives here and

the house is always open and welcoming for us. This is one of the

few pictures we have of my mother and father together. This is around

the time they got married. If you look, I even have the same crooked

nose he had. We moved in here in November and my father died the

following August. She never got over his death even up until the last

anniversary, she would cry. She always sat in this corner and her

phonebook is there. It was like her Bible and she would like in the back

of it when people were born and when somebody bought a fridge and when

they got their washing machine! She always wanted me to sing, everywhere

we went. Don't be a shrinking violet, put yourself forward. I was

born on December the 12th, so birthday time around now. Christmas

is one of my favourite times of the year.

There was five or six of Christmas mothers and we would go around

singing Christmas carols and we would have the soup after the mass

on Christmas Eve. We sit and chat. We still do it, because she passed

away a couple of years ago. This is the first place I sang in public.

Getting the opportunity to sing with every hand that came, the good

feeling I would get from singing was certainly set alight here.

Rocking around the Christmas tree... All around, people were great

dancers. We would stand back and watch them all quick stepping around

here. The Strictly pose. I have been very fortunate to have a great

following. The last 28 years, at some point e.g., I have had an album

in the charts in the UK and that is thanks to the people who have

supported what I have done. No matter where I go in the world, I

always return home. There is nowhere like it. You can take the boy out of

Donegal, but you will never take Donegal out of the boy.

If you have a piano or a keyboard at home, Matt has put this on Facebook,

an easy way to play Silent Night. Jools Holland and Ruby Turner are

here. Ruby has done so many good things but they are not in the one

place. She is the boogie will be queen. She is fantastic. Do you have

a Christmas song everybody should listen to over the period? I always

love Stevie Wonder, What Christmas Means To Me. Silent Night. On the

Facebook page. Jools and Ruby,

you get ready to play. Thank you to Harry

for joining us tonight. Professor Branestawm is on at 5.20pm

on Christmas Eve on BBC One. Tomorrow Dame Shirley Bassey will be

here with the boys from Blake. Now, with Peace in the Valley

from the new album "Jools and Ruby", here are Jools Holland,

Ruby Turner and the Rythm and Blues # Calls me away,

oh yes. # There will be peace

in the valley for me, some day. # There will be peace

in the valley for me, # There will be peace in the valley

for me, for me. # And the lion shall lay down

by the lamb, oh yes. # Changed from this

creature that I am, oh yes # There will be peace

in the valley for me, some day. # There will be peace

in the valley for me, # There will be peace

in the valley for me, # There will be peace

in the valley for me, # There will be peace

in the valley for me, # There will be peace

in the valley for me,