23/01/2014 The One Show

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

Tonight's guest is an actress and former paid up member of the Young

Ornithologist's Club. AUDIENCE: Ooh! Ooh, indeed. We are

putting her to the test. Tony, can we have the first bird impression of

the show, please. He's good, isn't he. Caroline

Quentin, name that bird? It's tricky. I've got two, I'm swinging

between two. Between a robin and a blackbird. I will go robin. I'm

clapping early. Let us see if you are right? YES! I like that robin. I

couldn't contain my excitement. You get so excited. I love a bird call.

Nice to see you. Lovely to see you both. We will put Caroline

on-the-spot throughout the show. By the end of the programme you should

be able to recognise what these five familiar garden birds look like.

Look away. I'm not looking at. Caroline will also be talking about

her new play, Oh, What A Lovely War. First, Lucy has been to visit a

village that has become an Ireland. An island. Here we are in so

Somerset. I'm meeting a community who have suddenly become islanders.

It's causing them a lot of inconvenience. The village of

Muchelney was cut off from surrounding towns and villages by

floods three weeks ago. This is actually the main road into the

village. You can just see that object, that's actually a car.

That's its roof. Lies in what is effectively a large basin. Rainwater

from the surrounding higher ground runs down into it causing it to

flood. The 190 villages here are reliant on a boat provided by the

council. This is one of the first of the day. The boat is used to

transport, food, medical supplies and even animals. He doesn't like

the water. It takes an hour to get from home to the school. The kids

are getting cold, wet. After 4.00pm there is no boat. You are stranded.

# The village church is a collection point for food and post. Are there

postives that have come out of this? The community has come together on

Sunday we had a time in the service where people can write down the good

things that have happened. Friendship, met good neighbours. The

children enjoyed the tractor rides. It's beautiful, yet it's tragic.

Peter and his wife Liz had only just finished repairing damage from the

flood last year when they were hit finished repairing damage from the

again. This time it was even worse. The name Muchelney, means big or

great island in saxon. Isn't the clue in the name. Britain is an

island. You don't expect it to flood. An island is out of water.

Are you feeling now that you are knee deep in water again? The

Environment Agency should have dredged the river. They failed to do

it. This flood is going on much longer than is perhaps necessary

because they are enable to get rid of the water. No-one from the

Environment Agency has visited the village. It's hard to believe they

take it seriously. The Environment Agency agreed to talk to us about

the villagers' concerned, but declined to come to the village. I

took the villagers' concerns to them. Why aren't you dredging? It's

so flat. If you lower the wed bed you Inamoto crease storage and speed

up flow as bit. When we is have something like 85 million tonnes of

water coming past here, in a four week period, that will make little

difference, the problem is, if you accelerate it gets worse downstream.

It would have made no difference? No. There are many things that would

have a greater benefit. The point is, it hasn't been part of the

answer because you didn't do the dredging? They still would have

flooded if we'd done the drijing. -- dredging. . Seeing the roof of that

car going through the water. Extraordinary. You live in Devon...

I pass the Sommer set Levels on the train, to and from London, you can

see, my husband said, "I remember when all this was fields." Just a

huge lake. Those poor people, just done their house. Terrible.

Caroline, you are in the revival of the old musical, Oh, What A Lovely

War. The this surely is all part of the centenary of the Great War? It

is. It's 50 years since Joan Littlewood's production was produced

at Strafford East Centre where we are remounting it. We are sticking

pretty much to the original concept of the show and script. Tery

Johnson, our director, has put modern tweaks in. It has a modern

edge, it's very much in keeping with that original production. OK. For

those who then aren't familiar with it as a musical. Can you describe

what it is about? It's difficult to describe really because it's based

on a on a pier show and based around the world war one shows that people

will know, Pack Up Your Troubles and Goodbye, those beautiful songs. The

story is told of how the war started, what happened, who joined,

it's from a political and personal perspective. It's very much from the

soldiers' point of view. OK. As far as your role is concerned, or roles?

Yes. There is me, Tom, Olly, all the guys. I play lots of different

things. My main role is really a variety singer. A recruitment

officer in a very tight dress. We will talk about the satire side of

it in a moment. Talk about the corset in a moment. It was a West

End hit, global hit and a Hollywood film by Richard Attenborough. Let us

look at it now. # A third Sob Officer jumped right

over to other Sob Officer back... # They were only playing leapfrog

# They were only playing leapfrog # They were only playing leapfrog

# When one Sob Officer jumped right over another sub officers back...

#. I left a room full of boys bending

over and jumping over each other. That is showbusiness, I suppose. I

can't continue with this story. The image is wonderful. They were lined

up and bouncing over each other rehearsing that number. Used

traditional songs to be satirical? Yes. To lift the spirits. When you

are in a trench, up to your waist in mud, and there are rats everywhere

and you're frightened, and a lot of them untrained, I think those songs

were used to bolster their spirits. Back in the day when it came out in

the 60s, there wasn't much satire around about the Great War. It was a

real risk is It was. In that British way, it had been made very sacred.

One wasn't allowed to criticise ones superiors in those days. I think

Joan Littlewood's company really challenged some of that. The show

is, to this day, very funny. I mean, properly funny, and very moving. And

kind of sexy and... It's a show for the people. I mean, it's very

embracing. That is the twist you were saying that has been put on it

for today's modern audience? Yes. were saying that has been put on it

It's there in the original, but some of it has been tweaked a bit to make

it even more accessible for a whole new generation, some of whom, like

my children, will only know very little really about the First World

War. It's a way of educating them, but in a kind of gentle way. On that

topic of children going to see it and learning, Michael Gove spoke out

and said children shouldn't necessarily learn about the Great

War through satire? I would like to say, thank you Michael, our ticket

sales went through the roof! Really, I don't need to be here to sell it,

Michael Gove has done it for me. He is entitled to that opinion. He

voiced it. He is in the business of being heard and selling his version

of events. He is perfectly entitled to do that. I don't... I don't agree

with him. I think it's a beautiful piece of theatre. And, I think most

of us would struggle to say that there isn't a time to reflect on the

terrible carnage and waste of human life. That's my feeling about it.

Lovely, OK. Oh, What A Lovely War opens at the Theatre Royal,

Stratford East in London on 1st February. The songs from that play

began life in the musical halls that were hugely popular at the time of

the First World War. One of them, Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old

Kit Bag became such a huge global hit that even the German soldiers

Kit Bag became such a huge global started singing it on the other side

Kit Bag became such a huge global of no-man's land.

# Pack up your trouble in your old kit back and smile, smile... #

Pack Up Your Troubles is the song at the heart of the launch of the BBC's

World War I centenary. Written by two Welsh brothers in the early days

of the war, the words and tune are still familiar to us a century

later. Back then the writers did not expect it to catch on. The song

would have been performed in music halls like this one. During the

First World War musical halls thrived on the home front when

people headed out for entertainment and song. These were the days before

radio, people would have to turn to their own talents to share music.

The piece of kit that made this song accessible was this, the piano. The

60 years leading up to 1914 were a golden era for piano production.

These would have been in every pub, in every house, you could hire them

for a few shillings a week. Whereas today we download songs or buy CDs,

in those days sheet music was the most popular way to get hold of a

song. People gathered around a piano for a sing song would have been

familiar. This is an original copy of the sheet music of the song.

These sold in their thousands. Pack Up Your Troubles was a huge success.

# Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag... #

Popular on the home front, it was a firm favourite for soldiers on the

western front. It spread didn't stop there. The song went global and was

released on record in the UK and United States and featured in a

successful Broadway musical. But what was it that made this song

so popular? How did Pack Up Your Troubles become the viral hit of

World War I? To answer that very question is the man himself, Mr

Gareth Malone. Hello, how did it become so popular? It's an

immediately easy song I think for people of that era to recognise.

It's very... Musical. The two brothers wrote it in 6. 8 time. Had

a little. Put it in a drawer marked "duds" they dragged it out for a a

marching competition which won. It was then a huge hit. It was in a

different key? G Major. It's a nice simple key. One sharp. Anyone could

play it on frontline if you had a fiddle or a bango, nice easy key.

The words themselves actually resonated, didn't they, with the

soldiers? Very much. Everyone had a kit bag. The second line is "why you

have a Lucifer" a match would light under any circumstances. Probably

chemicals. We don't have them any more. Things that were familiar.

People would end up postcards saying "pack up your Troubles." Eliza

Dolittle did a version. Is is this an original? Be careful. If you slow

it down. It was sung in the darkest of times? It was. At the moment it

says, "with a is the use of worrying, it never was worthwhile",

like a sermon. The boat sank and they needed great need of it. Are

you having difficulty with your songs. Could Gareth at this point

help you out? Oh, gosh, yes. Shall we have a sing song? I'm not sure if

you know any of the songs we are doing inlet show. I only know Pack

Up Your Troubles. . The boys do this one. It's not really a girl's song,

is it? No. That film you made there, it was a cut down version of

something you made for iWonder a brilliant new learning tool? Started

for the 100 years since the First World War. The BBC created this

resource. There are videos. There is... It's a website that can work

on your tablet or phone or your desk top - Not just music. No, there is

stuff about plastic surgery. I'm doing one about the real war horses.

My great grandfather took all the artillery to the frontlines with the

mules. It's remarkable. We tap in? Go to the web address,

bbc.co.uk/ww1, then you will see all these pages come up. Like Gareth

says you have films there. So much information you can read. Great way

to watch a great new way to watch TV, I think. Films are there

indefinitely? It will build and build. If you don't want to watch

anything on there you can go to the theatre to see Oh, What A Lovely

War. There you are. That is the other option. Another idea. The web

address is bbc.co.uk/ww1. That is where you can find everything to do

with the BBC's four year season marking the Great War. Have a look.

Thank you very much to Gareth, you are playing later? Yes, the whole

song. I will join in. Try and stop me.

We are now going back to Tony for the second bird impression. Tony,

take it away. It was a remarkable performance.

Caroline, name that bird. That is one of my favourite birds but I

think it has had some cigarettes because it sounded a bit throaty. I

think it is a blackbird. Or a thrush. Let's see if you are right.

Well done! Plenty more to come where that came from. I couldn't contain

myself. He would be terrible spy. Not many people would complain about

hearing a blackbird in the morning. But the same cannot be said about

seagulls. Seagulls are controversial creatures.

Too many people, they are noisy hooligans, famous for nicking your

chips. But there is more to these scavengers to meet the eye. They

tend to get lumped together as seagulls but there are 11 different

species regularly recorded around the British Isles. One of them, the

black backed gull has been studied by an ornithologist. It used to have

20,000 pairs but today there are more like 400. They are doing well

20,000 pairs but today there are in urban areas but in rural areas

they are struggling. The study colony is on the Suffolk coast. As

an ex-military testing ground, with the odd unexploded mine knocking

about, they are not the easiest place to work. First of all, via la

has to get hold of them. The plan is the bird walks in but cannot get

out. We have caged all the nests in this area and we just need to wait

until a gull wanders in. 20 minutes later, we have bagged a bird. Look

at that, and adult lesser black backed gull. Fabulous. This was the

first 19 gulls that the owner's team court. They are weighed and

measured. It is their blade like weeks which make an impression on

me. Hopefully it should just take off back to the colony. Or run off!

And it is. No harm to the bird. Just a bit of damage to me. But there is

far more to Viola's research than simple measurements. She has been

using some state-of-the-art GPS tags to get to know this colony inside

out. We can get information every three seconds. What does that tell

you about where they are going? The most interesting aspect is the

bird's migrate rude behaviour. Some stay in East Anglia. Others go to

Africa. Some go to Africa in 15 days flat and hang out on the beach all

winter. Others take five months to reach their destination. I expect

the ones which take very fixed journeys and do not wander around a

lot are possibly older. The older ones like the package holiday, the

same location every year but the young ones are the intrepid

explorers getting off the beaten track? This is incredible data to

have uncovered that the data reveal something even more extraordinary.

This is a male bird which we tagged as part of a pair early in the

breeding season. He is not going very far to forage. These dots

represent GPS points. A typical day sees him visiting the nearest town,

Aldeburgh five miles away. He's probably scavenging fish and chips

or the odd ice cream. But later in the day his behaviour completely

changes. He's flying out to sea, go halfway to the Netherlands. We can

only assume he is foraging for fish. What is triggering this change? This

data is from early June, peak hatching time. Basically, he wants

the best food for his chicks. They are swapping battered fish for the

fresh stuff. He was not the only one to change. Leftovers in towns can

sustain fully grown birds but developing chicks need the best

possible nutrition. We did take them for granted but they are spectacular

birds with an undeserved reputation and incredible individual

characteristics. I think it is time that we paid them a bit more

attention. How was your arm? The thing is, they

have a massive hook on the bill. You do not want them to pull away

because the hook will break down your arm. Nice! Caroline likes

them, Matt likes them but that is to .521. So we have been testing your

knowledge, Caroline. We have not lost the plot completely. There is a

reason why we are doing this? A recent survey from gardeners world

magazine found astonishingly few of us knew the common songs of garden

birds. Five birds they tested. Only 25% knew the robin. 32% know the

beautiful iconic call of the blackbird which we will be hearing

in a couple of weeks. The most commonly recognised bird was the

wood pigeon. Astonishingly good! 55%. That is not a wood pigeon on

the screen, that is a London pigeon. Good spot! That is a feral

town pigeon. 30% knew the house sparrow, the cockney chippy. Tony,

take it away. That is brilliant. It is like there is one in the room

with us. That is the first one he learned as a five-year-old lad. And

the most common bird on bird tables is the blue tit. Only 11% knew it.

Tony, come and have a seat. That is fantastic. Goodlad, Tony. Really

nice! We have one last test. This is unusual, it is not a garden bird.

We ask you to name that bird. It is a corncrake. Yes! The celebrations

are remarkable. I promise you know one told me that. I am thrilled!

This is the perfect film for Alex and me. It involves sheepdogs. And

hairdos. Brilliant. Today I am in Warwickshire at the

International sheepdog championships. I could do with one

to round the kids up from the park when I leave. This is the lovely

Judith and she is the boss, I believe. Is that right? Presumably,

you have got a sheepdog. No, I do not have a dog. I do not have a

field. A border collie needs to work. It is a working dog. It is not

a pet. We have 60 competing in the singles competition. Then we have

eight competing in the brace or doubles competition when they run

two dogs. It is a fantastic thing to achieve to be supreme champion. Take

a look. That is fabulous, thank you very much! A pleasure. It looks

pretty straightforward to me. Maybe I shouldn't whistle. No, probably

not. This is Jenny and she is the health and is a steward here. I

believe you have got six dogs of your own. I have, four sheepdogs. Do

you train them from being a puppy. You start putting the commands on

them. Come by, means left. Clockwise. And go buys the other

way. I'm not sure they will recognise you. Take look. Very nice.

You from Zona? Relief? Guess. -- you are from Arizona. We do not have

sheep in Arizona. They would not last. This is Cornelius. I did the

doubles, the brace competition. Why is it called the brace? Because

there are two dogs. You have to tend sheep and you have to divide them

five and five. You put five in one pen with one dog and five in the

other pen with the other dog. Is it different sheep? Every competitor

gets different sheep. You have different commands for different

dogs. They will have different whistle commands. You blow the

whistle for one dog, the other dog doesn't respond. If you and your dog

wins, does the value of the dog increase? Of course. If it is world

champion they will be paying between five and ?10,000 probably. How was

that? That is fine. I weighed to me. That is it, that is it. Stay, down.

There you go, I have got the hang of this. Good cameraman!

I wonder how long he stayed there for! That is nearly it for tonight.

Oh, What A Lovely War is at the theatre Royal Stratford East. Now

Gareth will sing us out. # Pack Up Your Troubles in your old

kit-bag. # And smile, smile, smile.

# While you've a lucifer to light your fag.

# Smile, boys, that's the style. # What's the use of worrying?

# It never was worth while, so. # Pack Up Your Troubles in your old

kit-bag. # And smile, smile, smile. #.