0:00:17 > 0:00:19Hello and welcome to The One Show.
0:00:19 > 0:00:20With Matt Baker.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22And Michelle Ackerley.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24And a happy Chinese New Year's Eve to you all.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27Tomorrow marks the Year of the Dog.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29As a strange coincidence, both of our guests were born
0:00:29 > 0:00:32in the Year of the Dog.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34According to Chinese folklore, that makes them "stubborn,
0:00:34 > 0:00:35conservative and emotional".
0:00:35 > 0:00:38Let's find out if that's true.
0:00:38 > 0:00:39Please welcome Peter Egan and Alison Steadman!
0:00:39 > 0:00:44CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:00:44 > 0:00:53Welcome, both. Stubborn, Conservative, emotional?I am not
0:00:53 > 0:01:01emotional!Peter? I think I am stubborn. Certainly emotional. And I
0:01:01 > 0:01:09am also, because I am a wee brat and a dog, I am quite diplomatic.Good
0:01:09 > 0:01:12characteristics. And as actors come you have to be emotional, it comes
0:01:12 > 0:01:16with the territory.Yes, you have to bring a tear to the eye at the click
0:01:16 > 0:01:21of a finger.And you were telling us about a recent stubborn scenario.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25And rightly so, with the plastic at the latest screening of a comedy
0:01:25 > 0:01:34drama.Yes, you find wherever you go you get offered plastic cups to take
0:01:34 > 0:01:38into the cinema and theatre and I am so against it. I am afraid I have
0:01:38 > 0:01:44got to the point where I just go, no, I am not accepting that! I have
0:01:44 > 0:01:50just had it really. Good for you! The only reason you get offered
0:01:50 > 0:01:54these cups is because they do not want to pay anybody to wash glasses.
0:01:54 > 0:02:02It is terrible. Even at our West End theatres, they are giving out
0:02:02 > 0:02:08plastic by The Times. The National Theatre, even. It is terrible, it is
0:02:08 > 0:02:15really bad. So I saying no!You going for it! Good for you! We have
0:02:15 > 0:02:20a special on plastics next week you should watch. I will send you a
0:02:20 > 0:02:22text!
0:02:22 > 0:02:24First, we've all heard about the controversy surrounding
0:02:24 > 0:02:26stop and search over the years, but what about so-called
0:02:26 > 0:02:27'stop and scan'?
0:02:27 > 0:02:30The Home Office has announced - very quietly, critics say -
0:02:30 > 0:02:32that it's rolling out new smartphone technology which allows police
0:02:32 > 0:02:36to scan people's fingerprints on the streets.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39A time and money saver for police, or a dangerous new power?
0:02:39 > 0:02:41Anita has been asking for your thoughts.
0:02:41 > 0:02:49In Bristol.Fingerprints. A unique key to our identity. And now with
0:02:49 > 0:02:53new technology, police can stop suspected colonels and take their
0:02:53 > 0:02:56fingerprints right here on the streets. And all they need to do is
0:02:56 > 0:03:02a smartphone and a scanner.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06A trial by West Yorkshire Police has seen front-line officers equipped
0:03:06 > 0:03:09with the new scanners checking the finger prints of suspects against
0:03:09 > 0:03:14criminal and immigration databases. Because we only take the
0:03:14 > 0:03:17fingerprints of people suspected of offences and whose identity we don't
0:03:17 > 0:03:22know, by identifying them on the street, we would be able to use
0:03:22 > 0:03:25other disposals like a caution so we don't have to bring them into
0:03:25 > 0:03:30custody. The data we collect in order to search the national
0:03:30 > 0:03:34database is discarded as soon as the search takes place.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38West Yorkshire Police made 175 text with this technology in just 12 days
0:03:38 > 0:03:42this month and following the trial, it is expected another 20 police
0:03:42 > 0:03:45forces around the country would pick up the system by the end of the
0:03:45 > 0:03:47year. The police in Britain will be given
0:03:47 > 0:03:51the right to be able to take fingerprints on the street, what do
0:03:51 > 0:03:55you think?Good idea. There is just not enough done towards crime.I
0:03:55 > 0:04:00think that is outrageous. Intimidating. It might be to save
0:04:00 > 0:04:06time, what about how we feel?Do you agree? I don't know, it might be
0:04:06 > 0:04:09safer because there might be people who are criminals.It is tricky, it
0:04:09 > 0:04:16really is. If they are going to catch a lot of people, yes.I find
0:04:16 > 0:04:20that very embarrassing. Not so sure, actually. If they think you have
0:04:20 > 0:04:23done something wrong and to save time taking people to the station,
0:04:23 > 0:04:27why not do it there and then?We have had this issue, especially with
0:04:27 > 0:04:32young black men and Asian guys being stopped randomly searched.Police
0:04:32 > 0:04:37say this will save them time and in doing that, save the taxpayer money.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41You cannot put a price on people's freedom.And people here in Bristol
0:04:41 > 0:04:45are not alone because simple liberties groups also have concerns
0:04:45 > 0:04:48about this new technology and how it might be used.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52Giving your finger prints to the police is a uniquely identifying bit
0:04:52 > 0:04:57of information.It is like giving of your DNA. You need safeguards to
0:04:57 > 0:05:00make sure the police only take that information from people at times
0:05:00 > 0:05:05when it is right and appropriate to do so.We will not be going and
0:05:05 > 0:05:07stopping and scanning people, we will only use this when we have an
0:05:07 > 0:05:11offence and we doubt people's identity, that is what the
0:05:11 > 0:05:14legislation says and that is what we will use it for!I think if
0:05:14 > 0:05:18everybody knows their rights, it should not be a big issue. It is
0:05:18 > 0:05:23about letting the public know their rights.You cannot refuse? You can
0:05:23 > 0:05:29refuse, but if they insist... They can take you to the station.So they
0:05:29 > 0:05:33would arrest due to take you to the station?Yes, just to prove you have
0:05:33 > 0:05:39not done anything.So just say, OK, get it done and walk away.A mixed
0:05:39 > 0:05:42response to the new technology in Bristol today, although the one
0:05:42 > 0:05:49thing most people have in common is that they want more information.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51It is leading to an interesting discussion.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54Alison, the Home Office says this isn't giving the police new powers,
0:05:54 > 0:05:55it just brings the tech onto the streets.
0:05:55 > 0:05:59But what do you make of it?
0:05:59 > 0:06:05I have got mixed feelings. Yes, on the one hand, a great idea because
0:06:05 > 0:06:10it enables the police to do their jobs. Quickly and efficiently. On
0:06:10 > 0:06:13the other hand, I do find the world we live in now with cameras
0:06:13 > 0:06:18everywhere, it is like... I was talking to Peter earlier. I went to
0:06:18 > 0:06:23a party in a hotel about year ago. I went into the ladies toilet and
0:06:23 > 0:06:26there were these cubicles and I looked up and there was a camera in
0:06:26 > 0:06:32there! Of loosely set up by the hotel. And it was perhaps a place
0:06:32 > 0:06:36where people must have been using, taking drugs. There was definitely a
0:06:36 > 0:06:41camera in the corner which was a bit scary.Peter, the officer said you
0:06:41 > 0:06:47had to be a suspect.However loose that term may be. Do we all have to
0:06:47 > 0:06:50volunteer our finger prints to begin with?No, you have to be on the
0:06:50 > 0:06:53database to begin with.I see, you have to have a criminal record to
0:06:53 > 0:07:00begin with. I was hoping it was not like our phones when you put it in,
0:07:00 > 0:07:08but my phone never works anyway! I don't know really. If it helps solve
0:07:08 > 0:07:13crimes, it might be a good thing. But it is another restriction on
0:07:13 > 0:07:19privacy, but then if it works from a database which already exists, I
0:07:19 > 0:07:24can't see it is a huge problem.We are being watched, but if it helps
0:07:24 > 0:07:29to solve crime, the argument is that!Absolutely!The compensation
0:07:29 > 0:07:35will continue. National conversation.
0:07:35 > 0:07:3747 years ago, two GPs began using what little spare time
0:07:37 > 0:07:40they had to support ambulance workers when they were called out
0:07:40 > 0:07:41to serious emergencies.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43What started as just two volunteers has now grown
0:07:43 > 0:07:46into a major organisation, which regularly helps to save lives.
0:07:46 > 0:07:47Here's Sarah.
0:07:47 > 0:07:48Ambulance emergency.
0:07:57 > 0:08:02On the morning of the 9th of August 2016, emergency services were called
0:08:02 > 0:08:07to a serious collision on this road in Cambridgeshire. Adam Sheila was
0:08:07 > 0:08:13close to death.I was travelling to work on my motorbike. I then went
0:08:13 > 0:08:16full body into the front of a vehicle. I was swept underneath the
0:08:16 > 0:08:22passenger side wheels and spat out the side of the vehicle.Luckily for
0:08:22 > 0:08:25Adam, and emergency medical charity which provides critical care was on
0:08:25 > 0:08:32stand-by. The Air Ambulance or six miles from the scene of the crash.
0:08:32 > 0:08:38Daniel Reed was the critical care paramedic on duty that way.When we
0:08:38 > 0:08:42arrived, his lungs were collapsed, he had 18 retractions and a large
0:08:42 > 0:08:48laceration.Any artery bleeding is bad news, this was one of the
0:08:48 > 0:08:52biggest in the body.A huge artery bleeding a lot of fast.The first
0:08:52 > 0:08:57thing I said to my paramedic was, was I going to die?He became
0:08:57 > 0:09:01unconscious and we gave him medicine on the way to hospital which is not
0:09:01 > 0:09:04available time you and services to maintain his pressure to keep him
0:09:04 > 0:09:12alive.I was airlifted to the side of the road and that saved my life.
0:09:12 > 0:09:19Times of the essence with injuries and this
0:09:19 > 0:09:23and this is where this helicopter comes in, but they did not always
0:09:23 > 0:09:26have a helicopter. In 90s to one, Neville Silverstone
0:09:26 > 0:09:32and his partner -- and his friend heard of a service where people
0:09:32 > 0:09:37attended road accidents to support the Ambulance Service.I was so
0:09:37 > 0:09:41impressed, I contacted the GPs in and around the counties of
0:09:41 > 0:09:46Cambridgeshire and Huntingdon shire to see if other GPs might be
0:09:46 > 0:09:54interested. We had 300 GPs in the area. And 100 volunteers.What was
0:09:54 > 0:09:59Magpas like in nearly days?It started really with a blank sheet of
0:09:59 > 0:10:03paper. We had no money and no equipment. And the doctors were not
0:10:03 > 0:10:07trained.The doctors were also responsible for raising funds for
0:10:07 > 0:10:14the service. They even used their own vehicles to attend incidents.
0:10:14 > 0:10:181987, the medical team took to the skies. It began working with
0:10:18 > 0:10:23Cambridge police. Using the police helicopter alongside their own rapid
0:10:23 > 0:10:27response vehicles. The charity finally acquired its own Air
0:10:27 > 0:10:35Ambulance in 2013. After his accident, Adam was in a
0:10:35 > 0:10:40coma for 13 days. He then spent a difficult couple of months in
0:10:40 > 0:10:44hospital before being released in time for Christmas. Now, Adam is
0:10:44 > 0:10:48able to walk again and he has come to meet Neville and the medics who
0:10:48 > 0:10:55saved his life.It is great to see you. Your little invention, it is
0:10:55 > 0:10:59more than just saving my life, it returned me to my family. It is
0:10:59 > 0:11:03something I don't have words for!If it hadn't been for the work of you
0:11:03 > 0:11:07guys on that day, I would have lost my husband and these two would have
0:11:07 > 0:11:14not had a father. Yes!How do you feel now about what Magpas has
0:11:14 > 0:11:19achieved and your part in it?I planted and a great oak tree has
0:11:19 > 0:11:30grown! -- I planted an acorn, and a great oak tree has grown!So lovely!
0:11:30 > 0:11:33Thanks to Neville, who looks like he's enjoying a very
0:11:33 > 0:11:36satisfying retirement.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39Thank you to everybody looking after those!
0:11:39 > 0:11:42Which is something that proves rather elusive for the characters
0:11:42 > 0:11:43in the latest BBC comedy 'Hold the Sunset'.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46Alison's character is looking forward to moving on and making
0:11:46 > 0:11:47the most of later life.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49But then she gets an unexpected visitor, which puts
0:11:49 > 0:11:51a spanner in the works.
0:11:51 > 0:11:59Hello, mum! Roger! Hello, do Diack, where are you going to?I have come
0:11:59 > 0:12:05home! I have left Wendy, that is it, it is over. What? I have left her!
0:12:05 > 0:12:11Left her, what about the children?I have especially loved them.
0:12:11 > 0:12:16Something must have happened. Stuff, and then some. We had kids and we
0:12:16 > 0:12:21spent nearly 20 years together. That cannot be it?! It is quite enough
0:12:21 > 0:12:26for me! That is a brilliant clip. That is
0:12:26 > 0:12:30when your son, played by Jason Watkins, unexpectedly returns home.
0:12:30 > 0:12:35timing couldn't be worse?
0:12:35 > 0:12:40No, there is a nice scene with my character who is a widow and John
0:12:40 > 0:12:44Cleese's his character lives opposite and he lives opposite and
0:12:44 > 0:12:47they form a lovely relationship and he pops over and she makes him his
0:12:47 > 0:12:51favourite biscuits every day and they have coffee and they go out
0:12:51 > 0:12:57together and they have lunch. And he is like, he keeps saying, come on,
0:12:57 > 0:13:01we can sell our houses and we can move somewhere nice. She is a bit
0:13:01 > 0:13:06reluctant and suddenly, she goes, OK, I am going to do it! She rushes
0:13:06 > 0:13:10out and gets champagne and a couple of glasses and there is a ring on
0:13:10 > 0:13:13the doorbell and he says, don't answer it and she says, they will
0:13:13 > 0:13:18see who it is and of course, it is her son! That sort of at the
0:13:18 > 0:13:23applecart.There is a wonderful community feeling to this comedy,
0:13:23 > 0:13:31Peter. Enlighten us as to where you come in.I am playing Mr Dugdale who
0:13:31 > 0:13:34walks up and down the street with his dog. One of the things that
0:13:34 > 0:13:41first attracted me to the part!He is mad about dogs!Am crazy about
0:13:41 > 0:13:48dogs!Were is the dog from and where do you form the bond?It was brought
0:13:48 > 0:13:53in by a dog carer, a labrador, absolutely beautiful. We immediately
0:13:53 > 0:13:58bonded. It was lovely. I am mad about dogs, I have five rescue dogs
0:13:58 > 0:14:05myself.So you turned up with the meat paste in the right places!No,
0:14:05 > 0:14:17not meet. My dog is a vegan. So it was that. Also, it is brilliantly
0:14:17 > 0:14:20written, I will try that word again, brilliantly written, with a great
0:14:20 > 0:14:24cast. When you get a series that has a wonderful marriage like you have
0:14:24 > 0:14:29in this between, not literally, but in terms of characters between
0:14:29 > 0:14:32Alison and John, that is such a wonderful chemistry to begin with.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36And from my point of view, I was thrilled about the idea of working
0:14:36 > 0:14:41with somebody who has made me laugh for 50 years or more, the legend
0:14:41 > 0:14:46that is John Cleese.He is fantastic. You have both got
0:14:46 > 0:14:53grown-up children.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56grown-up children. If they're not on your door and said, I am home, how
0:14:56 > 0:15:01would you feel?I would shut the door in their face!I love them to
0:15:01 > 0:15:07bits but those days are over, I have done all that! And Jason Watkins is
0:15:07 > 0:15:16so brilliant. He just brings another 50% of his character. Very funny. He
0:15:16 > 0:15:21just wants to go back to being a child again with his Matchbox toys
0:15:21 > 0:15:26and he just wants his little bed to snuggle down in! It is just sort of
0:15:26 > 0:15:30madness!
0:15:30 > 0:15:36They are insane characters. They are wonderfully eccentric.But it is
0:15:36 > 0:15:41that thing, mum can criticise him, but anybody else criticises him and
0:15:41 > 0:15:45she has every excuse under the sun for him. And we are all like that
0:15:45 > 0:15:52without children.Alison, you describe this as a gentle programme.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55It's not shocking or controversial but it's comfortable and I guess you
0:15:55 > 0:16:00feel there is a real thirst for that?Well, I think so. We have
0:16:00 > 0:16:04enough things on television with explosions and murders and dark
0:16:04 > 0:16:09places. Of course there is room for that, but it's just nice for an
0:16:09 > 0:16:12audience to be able to put the television on and go, I'm safe with
0:16:12 > 0:16:18this and I'm going to enjoy it and laugh and find it warm and amusing.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21It's pleasant, isn't it? There is a place for that, watching something
0:16:21 > 0:16:27that just makes you feel happy.It's comfortable viewing as well. I think
0:16:27 > 0:16:31there's a huge appetite for really good writing that isn't sensational
0:16:31 > 0:16:35but is full of really good acting and good comedy. It isn't really
0:16:35 > 0:16:39punching you in the face. It's allowing you to live with the
0:16:39 > 0:16:44characters, enjoy the characters and have a lot of locks along the way.
0:16:44 > 0:16:49I'm a great fan of this series.It's wonderful. I was lucky enough to see
0:16:49 > 0:16:52the first episode and I agree with you, Peter. It's well worth
0:16:52 > 0:17:02watching.And in Hold The Sunset, John Cleese wants to whisk Alison
0:17:02 > 0:17:06away to a sunny beach as quickly as possible.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08Our George has beaten them to it.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10He's on the Merseyside coast, on the search for a small,
0:17:10 > 0:17:15but speedy creature.
0:17:15 > 0:17:20Usain Bolt, the fastest man ever to have lived, clocked at running
0:17:20 > 0:17:25almost 28 mph. But even he has got nothing on a beetle that lives
0:17:25 > 0:17:30amongst the sand dunes here on the system posed in Merseyside. This
0:17:30 > 0:17:36dune area is a site of special scientific interest that covers more
0:17:36 > 0:17:40than 11,000 acres and it's the perfect habitat for the Northern
0:17:40 > 0:17:48June tiger beetle. These high octane insects are actually voracious
0:17:48 > 0:17:55predators who use their incredible turn of speed to hunt.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58turn of speed to hunt. Doctor Phil Smith has been studying these
0:17:58 > 0:18:05beetles for over 45 years.It's extremely rare. I mean, there are
0:18:05 > 0:18:09only two localities in Britain, here on the Sefton Coast and in Cumbria.
0:18:09 > 0:18:15They are supposedly the quickest of all the running insects.What gives
0:18:15 > 0:18:20them the ability to run so very fast?It's all a temperature
0:18:20 > 0:18:26question. The tiger beetle basks on the sand when it's very sunny then
0:18:26 > 0:18:31it reaches its critical temperature, which is between 35 and 36 degrees.
0:18:31 > 0:18:36About the same as us. It's really quite hot for an insect and as they
0:18:36 > 0:18:42reach their critical temperature, they are able to hunt.As the sun
0:18:42 > 0:18:46rises, the temperature of the sand soon becomes warm enough for them to
0:18:46 > 0:18:50come out of their burrows and start to hunt. The ideal time to track
0:18:50 > 0:18:56down one of these speedy predators. But getting close is harder than it
0:18:56 > 0:19:05looks. You can see them now because they've warmed up. But to get one to
0:19:05 > 0:19:11stay still long enough, ah, there is one. No, it's off again. They are so
0:19:11 > 0:19:19quick. After the midday heat dies down, these frenetic insects finally
0:19:19 > 0:19:29give me a chance to get a proper look at them.
0:19:29 > 0:19:36Well, I'm now face with one of the fastest hunting animals on earth.
0:19:36 > 0:19:42The tiger beetle can sprint up to five miles per hour, covering 120 of
0:19:42 > 0:19:47its own body lengths per second. Usain Bolt would have to run at 480
0:19:47 > 0:19:54mph to match this feat. But tiger beetles have a problem. When they
0:19:54 > 0:19:59move very, very fast and their prey is moving fast, their brains are
0:19:59 > 0:20:02almost incapable of processing the large amount of visual information
0:20:02 > 0:20:08which is coming in, so every so often they have to is stop and check
0:20:08 > 0:20:12where the prey is and then move off again. It's a very effective
0:20:12 > 0:20:19technique and means that they kill prey probably one time out of ten.
0:20:19 > 0:20:27I'm hoping to catch one of these high-speed predators in action.
0:20:33 > 0:20:42This parasitic wasp stands no chance. With a loss of more than 80%
0:20:42 > 0:20:47of the sand throughout this coast since 1945, this species has become
0:20:47 > 0:20:51threatened. But the work of many organisations maintaining these
0:20:51 > 0:20:57genes and encouraging Lord -- new gene formation should hopefully
0:20:57 > 0:21:01protect these turbo-charged tiger beetles.
0:21:01 > 0:21:07Quick as a flash, George has turned up.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11Alison was believed to that film like nothing I've ever seen before.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15I love it. I love beetles. I love all kinds of creatures but I had
0:21:15 > 0:21:23never even heard of this until now, George.It's a beauty.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25With records being broken in Pyeongchang, you're here to tell
0:21:25 > 0:21:30us that the Tiger Beetle's had its own speed record beaten?
0:21:30 > 0:21:35It still holds the fastest insect record but there's a tiny mite which
0:21:35 > 0:21:40goes at 300 times its own size in a second which is about the equivalent
0:21:40 > 0:21:45to somebody my size going at 1000 mph, which obviously wouldn't
0:21:45 > 0:21:49happen. Large animals can't run that fast. It only works when they're
0:21:49 > 0:21:55small. That is on land. But you don't have to be fast on your feet.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59That thing is the shrimp which has two massive clubs at the front which
0:21:59 > 0:22:06it fires into shelves and smashes them open and it can strike in
0:22:06 > 0:22:133000th of a second and that Shell has no chance. It is totalled.Have
0:22:13 > 0:22:18you always been fascinated by insects?Yes, since I was a kid. The
0:22:18 > 0:22:22only insect I've ever been scared off, I was once in the bath as a
0:22:22 > 0:22:28child and I had a liver, not a bake sponge, are properly far, and an
0:22:28 > 0:22:35earwig floated out and I was only about five and I can remember, they
0:22:35 > 0:22:40are pretty scary looking creatures. I remember leaping out of the bath
0:22:40 > 0:22:44and calling my mum. That's the only time I can remember being scared.
0:22:44 > 0:22:49Apart from that, I would just love... I used to spend most of my
0:22:49 > 0:22:53time at the garden just turning up stones and rummaging around as a
0:22:53 > 0:22:58kid.I used to love it. It's just understanding them all, isn't it,
0:22:58 > 0:23:02because they are fascinating creatures?You will adore this and
0:23:02 > 0:23:06if you think you were out of the bath fast, this is an ant whose
0:23:06 > 0:23:11Georges move faster than -- whose jaws move faster than anything on
0:23:11 > 0:23:19earth. It catches prey with its fast jaws but it can also buy them on the
0:23:19 > 0:23:24ground and escape enemies. Watch this. It's incredible. It keeps out
0:23:24 > 0:23:35of the way.It is still going. Look at their skills Arr!Look at the
0:23:35 > 0:23:42triple twist.That is a gold medal, that, isn't it?You are right,
0:23:42 > 0:23:50Peter.It holds them open and the second a hair is touched, it springs
0:23:50 > 0:24:00open like that.I'm a bit like that. It's amazing.You were saying to me
0:24:00 > 0:24:05earlier, George, that you have invited Alison.I have. I didn't
0:24:05 > 0:24:10know she was so keen on bugs. I have hatched a plan to take Alison off to
0:24:10 > 0:24:14the jungle and look at bugs for at least a couple of weeks.Alison, how
0:24:14 > 0:24:23do you feel about that?A couple of weeks. Amazing.That is further out
0:24:23 > 0:24:28of reach than I thought. I thought you were going to say Merseyside.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30From amazing natural designs, to striking man-made structures now.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32Marty is in Dundee, at one of the UK's longest bridges,
0:24:32 > 0:24:37investigating its dramatic past.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41This is the Tay Rail Bridge. It's over two miles long and carries
0:24:41 > 0:24:47trains from Edinburgh in the South over the river to here in Dundee.
0:24:47 > 0:24:56But it's not the first Tay Bridge. The original collapsed in a terrible
0:24:56 > 0:25:01storm in 1879, plunging a train and all its passengers into the river
0:25:01 > 0:25:08and their deaths. It was Britain's worst rail disaster. It's now
0:25:08 > 0:25:13thought 59 died and today, the peers of the fallen bridge still rise
0:25:13 > 0:25:18above the water. Everyone wanted to know why this had happened and it
0:25:18 > 0:25:24became the first disaster to be scientifically investigated. This
0:25:24 > 0:25:28needed a machine big and strong enough to test the giant iron
0:25:28 > 0:25:34girders that held up the bridge. Such a machine existed in Southwark
0:25:34 > 0:25:43in London and it still works, 150 years later. Run today by volunteer
0:25:43 > 0:25:48engineers, Lucy and roles. Wow, this is a beautiful piece of kit but more
0:25:48 > 0:25:53importantly than that, which is the machine?She starts over there,
0:25:53 > 0:25:58comes all the way to here, about 47 feet. So the whole of this is the
0:25:58 > 0:26:07machine.Fantastic. What made this machine unique?So, it was the first
0:26:07 > 0:26:12universal machine.It could stretch, compress, bend and bulge iron and
0:26:12 > 0:26:17steel. I have here a piece of genuine Victorian wrought iron, just
0:26:17 > 0:26:22like they would have used on the Tay Bridge. Can we tested to
0:26:22 > 0:26:31destruction? Can we break it? Absolutely.Yes, we can.In its day,
0:26:31 > 0:26:35this machine could test girders so big they step out of the door and
0:26:35 > 0:26:40stopped traffic. So it had to generate huge force.£1 million
0:26:40 > 0:26:45worth of load could go on a sample which is about 146 times.It is
0:26:45 > 0:26:49powered by water pumped into a huge cylinder attached to one end of my
0:26:49 > 0:27:00iron bar. So, I think we are ready to go.
0:27:00 > 0:27:05to go. Ros keeps an eye on the water pressure. Lucy whines a heavyweight
0:27:05 > 0:27:11along the beam. When the bar breaks, we will know the load this piece of
0:27:11 > 0:27:15iron can stand. The universal testing machine was built by
0:27:15 > 0:27:20Scottish engineer David Kirkaldy. His obituary called him the best
0:27:20 > 0:27:23hated man in London. I think he really didn't trust other people's
0:27:23 > 0:27:29results. He knew he was right.He didn't bend on that. The Tay Bridge
0:27:29 > 0:27:34had tall supports and those supports were made up of six vertical
0:27:34 > 0:27:38cast-iron columns and where the pasta is, they had iron cross
0:27:38 > 0:27:44braces. Where the cross braces met the columns, the iron failed and
0:27:44 > 0:27:50that meant that in the high winds blowing, the vertical supports
0:27:50 > 0:27:55snapped and the whole thing tumbled into the Tay. After the disaster,
0:27:55 > 0:27:59some of the pieces were brought here for testing. Tension is literally
0:27:59 > 0:28:09melting. -- is literally mountain. As mine extends, scale falls from
0:28:09 > 0:28:14the surface, a sign that the end is nigh. That was great. What did that
0:28:14 > 0:28:21go out?We can tell from the scale that the load was about £30,000 at
0:28:21 > 0:28:26breaking point, about 15 tonnes. Kirkaldy's tests found that the
0:28:26 > 0:28:30cross braces supporting the Tay Bridge were not strong enough. The
0:28:30 > 0:28:34enquiry found numerous design and manufacturing faults. Blame fell on
0:28:34 > 0:28:38the bridge designer, Sir Thomas Bouchier, who was disgraced. Thanks
0:28:38 > 0:28:44to David Kirkaldy, these days the materials and designs for bridges
0:28:44 > 0:28:51are tested before they are built. Thank you, Marty. Now, we
0:28:51 > 0:28:55accidentally touched on it earlier but you are a "Peter? How
0:28:55 > 0:29:01complicated is life in general?It's incredibly simple. It's creative and
0:29:01 > 0:29:07very easy. I find it the best diet I can think of. It's definitely the
0:29:07 > 0:29:11healthiest diet on the planet. I am happy vegetable curry tonight.I
0:29:11 > 0:29:17think will be round for that. Very tasty.
0:29:17 > 0:29:19That's your lot for tonight - thank you to Alison and Peter.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22Hold The Sunset starts Sunday evening, 7.30pm, BBC One.
0:29:22 > 0:29:23I'll be back tomorrow with Greg James.
0:29:23 > 0:29:26We'll be joined by Miles Jupp and we'll have a performance
0:29:26 > 0:29:27from Jessie Ware.