:00:00. > :00:31.giant domino run. It snaked its way through the city and
:00:32. > :00:33.giant domino run. It snaked its way was there for us. This all happened
:00:34. > :00:39.at about 3pm today. I love how was there for us. This all happened
:00:40. > :00:45.fell off the windowsill to start with. We will be setting off our own
:00:46. > :00:51.domino run. Some are bits of wood and some of VHS tapes. It goes
:00:52. > :00:58.outside as well. These are all Alex's collection of DVDs. Our
:00:59. > :01:04.guests will be setting us off for us. He is a sharp-witted quizmaster
:01:05. > :01:08.and TV host who recently said he came close to death. Tonight he will
:01:09. > :01:15.talk about it for the very first time on television. Please welcome
:01:16. > :01:22.Chris Tarrant. It's nice to be here. It's nice to be anywhere! This is
:01:23. > :01:27.the point. I had a stroke. At 39,000 feet coming back from Bangkok, just
:01:28. > :01:34.about all the way home. That was the longest 12 hours of my life. Did you
:01:35. > :01:38.alert anyone on the plane. No, they all spoke Thai and not very good
:01:39. > :01:43.English. It sounds daft but once you've taken off, we were over
:01:44. > :01:50.places like Azerbaijan, Baghdad or Iran. I thought, I just wanted to
:01:51. > :01:54.get home. I know it sounds daft. At first, because the arm and leg were
:01:55. > :01:58.completely paralysed. Then it would start working again. So this
:01:59. > :02:04.happened whilst you were airborne? Did you feel unwell before you got
:02:05. > :02:08.on? Just a bit strange, I before I got on. I thought it was cramped.
:02:09. > :02:13.I'd been working stupid hours, filming in Burma and South America.
:02:14. > :02:18.It's been a long, silly life, really, and I was wrecked. When I
:02:19. > :02:21.got to Heathrow, and I must say the guys at Heathrow were fantastic,
:02:22. > :02:25.because I thought if I can just get up to passport and get through, I
:02:26. > :02:30.just keeled over. People came rushing up to me. I was lying there
:02:31. > :02:38.with all my bags. It was frightening. Were you on your own?
:02:39. > :02:44.Yeah, the crew were still in Bangkok. You look fantastic now.
:02:45. > :02:49.I've lost so much weight! It's not a great diet. I've lost tonnes. Have
:02:50. > :02:54.you reassessed your life, are you going to slow down a bit? Yes. I
:02:55. > :03:00.don't know how yet. At the moment I am publicising a book about my dad,
:03:01. > :03:05.so I'm doing that. Then I'm going to just think. There's lots of stuff
:03:06. > :03:09.around. I don't need to work this hard at all. I love it, I enjoy what
:03:10. > :03:14.I do and have always enjoyed it but A I've cut down some of the
:03:15. > :03:21.lifestyle has changed a lot. How are you feeling now? I'm doing lots of
:03:22. > :03:26.physio. I'm fit. I drink no whiskey. That was a bit of a breakthrough. I
:03:27. > :03:31.have the occasional glass of wine or beer. I haven't smoked for a long
:03:32. > :03:36.time. What did doctors tell you about why it happened? They couldn't
:03:37. > :03:40.believe I was in one piece. They were fantastic. This sounds daft, I
:03:41. > :03:47.remember, I was obviously really scared once I got off the plane, I'm
:03:48. > :03:51.having a stroke, I'm going to die. And you are supposed to get
:03:52. > :03:57.treatment really quickly. But I was lying in the ambulance thinking,
:03:58. > :04:01.this is so cool. The bell was ringing silly moment! But that night
:04:02. > :04:05.was really scary. I don't think I dead sleep. They pumped me full of
:04:06. > :04:10.all sorts of drugs but they were fantastic. Jane was there, she was
:04:11. > :04:15.there all night holding my hand. I was frightened. I. I thought I was
:04:16. > :04:20.going to die. The next day the arm lifted a bit and went down, the legs
:04:21. > :04:27.started to work. I was out within a fortnight. I'm very lucky. Someone
:04:28. > :04:35.like dear old Andrew Marr, he had it worse. It was a lottery, I was very
:04:36. > :04:41.lucky. Put your health first. You have been working on this book about
:04:42. > :04:46.your dad's wartime experience. It's taken two years, it's been a labour
:04:47. > :04:48.of love. My father was my best friend, my closest confidant. We
:04:49. > :04:53.talked about everything except the war. He would not talk about World
:04:54. > :04:59.War II at all. We will talk about it soon. You do look remarkably... I've
:05:00. > :05:08.got a picture of your dad, Bassil. We will have a little look at you.
:05:09. > :05:12.The likeness... He's got black hair. The family resemblance is
:05:13. > :05:16.incredible. Tonight, we want to see fathers and sons who look alike. It
:05:17. > :05:20.would be lovely if you could be around the same age when you send
:05:21. > :05:28.those photos. View in the photos, not when you the photos. Nigel
:05:29. > :05:33.Farage has been celebrating today after his party's wind in the
:05:34. > :05:36.European elections. One UKIP's policies is to reclaim power from
:05:37. > :05:40.Brussels over our national affairs, so I wonder what he will make of a
:05:41. > :05:46.new European ruling on beach pollution that Tony has been looking
:05:47. > :05:50.into. The sea at one in ten English beaches is on track to feel new EU
:05:51. > :05:54.standards when they come in next year. The new rules are twice as
:05:55. > :05:59.tough, having the current level of bacteria allowed in bathing water.
:06:00. > :06:05.One of the beaches that looks likely to fail this new test is ten, here
:06:06. > :06:28.in Devon. That, for this place, would be devastating. There are
:06:29. > :06:29.in Devon. That, for this place, standards when they come in next
:06:30. > :06:29.in Devon. That, for this place, tough, having the current level of
:06:30. > :07:34.bacteria allowed in Devon. That, for this place,
:07:35. > :07:38.would be devastating. There are If the council have to warn people not
:07:39. > :07:45.to swim, that goes against everything, doesn't it? It would be
:07:46. > :07:50.very seriously. The water sampled ghost to this lab in Exeter to be
:07:51. > :07:53.tested. Whilst the sample incubate overnight we can take a look at
:07:54. > :08:02.other samples from English beaches. overnight we can take a look at
:08:03. > :08:02.What have we got? Element we have got to match
:08:03. > :08:07.What have we got? Element we have bacteria we are looking for. We have
:08:08. > :08:13.got an intestinal bacteria here. And here we have E. Coli. E. Coli is
:08:14. > :08:24.found in intestine is. So we are talking excrement? Over ?2 billion
:08:25. > :08:35.has been invested to try to reduce pollution. But if beaches such as
:08:36. > :08:37.Hastings and three out of the four Blackpool beaches are declared no-go
:08:38. > :08:47.Zunes, how will it affect tourism? This beach is also at risk of
:08:48. > :08:53.failing. This lady runs a cafe which was devastated in the floods. We had
:08:54. > :09:02.sand in the sitting area. The inside of the cafe was two foot deep in
:09:03. > :09:06.water. Emotionally, how was it? It was devastating to seek ten years of
:09:07. > :09:15.our life washed away. Just was devastating to seek ten years of
:09:16. > :09:22.get back on your feet there is another but, isn't there? If the
:09:23. > :09:22.beach fails the bathing quality, people
:09:23. > :09:27.beach fails the bathing quality, down and using it for recreation.
:09:28. > :09:28.They will go to a beach which has been passed. Water companies have
:09:29. > :09:35.installed sensors been passed. Water companies have
:09:36. > :09:40.raise the alarm when sewage flows been passed. Water companies have
:09:41. > :09:40.into a river which begins been passed. Water companies have
:09:41. > :09:46.the beach. Is that enough? The been passed. Water companies have
:09:47. > :09:48.charity, Surfers Against Sewage have created an application to give
:09:49. > :09:54.real-time advice to bathers. What we have is a weekly sample which gives
:09:55. > :09:58.us an average view of what the water quality might be like. You can use
:09:59. > :10:06.us an average view of what the water it to decide where to go surfing. I
:10:07. > :10:06.can see which ones have no other, they have
:10:07. > :10:17.can see which ones have no other, they a green icon. But what about
:10:18. > :10:17.our sample? The results are in. E. Coli was present, but the levels
:10:18. > :10:21.were not significant for it Coli was present, but the levels
:10:22. > :10:38.the new EU test, for now. For Coli was present, but the levels
:10:39. > :10:39.had a sobering day full of distasteful
:10:40. > :10:43.can be an easy target but I guess in the long run it benefits us all if
:10:44. > :10:49.the seaside cleans up its act. We the long run it benefits us all if
:10:50. > :10:59.saw the app in that film there, but if we want to go to any beach
:11:00. > :11:03.saw the app in that film there, but sea, this is the sign?
:11:04. > :11:03.This needs to have information clearly visible
:11:04. > :11:06.This needs to have information water quality and any
:11:07. > :11:09.This needs to have information sources. Scotland also has a version
:11:10. > :11:26.This needs to have information which is updated digitally as well.
:11:27. > :11:28.We are looking at 30% of the seats going to what we call
:11:29. > :11:34.antiestablishment or anti-system parties. Will they all get together
:11:35. > :11:40.to form a block? That's very unlikely, they are highly disparate
:11:41. > :11:51.parties across Europe with different names and ideologies. They have a
:11:52. > :11:59.great deal of power to disrupt and get in there. You have access to the
:12:00. > :12:10.workings of it and for the vote. But the thing to remember is that 70% of
:12:11. > :12:11.the seats are still held by the pro-European mainstream, so that is
:12:12. > :12:18.the centre-right socialist parties. Can they defeat on the floor of the
:12:19. > :12:18.Parliament in Strasbourg Can they defeat on the floor of the
:12:19. > :12:27.Brussels, can they defeated the main votes? No. But what will
:12:28. > :12:33.Brussels, can they defeated the main happens in national politics because
:12:34. > :12:33.are the national government is going to be so wary
:12:34. > :12:33.are the national government is going anti-European sentiment that they
:12:34. > :12:38.will realign their policies? I anti-European sentiment that they
:12:39. > :12:43.people are just fed up with politics and politicians. We just
:12:44. > :12:43.people are just fed up with politics them. I don't think it's
:12:44. > :12:50.particularly about UKIP, them. I don't think it's
:12:51. > :12:55.sick and tired of the same old same old. I think it's that. It seems to
:12:56. > :13:00.happen right across Europe. In France they've got the National
:13:01. > :13:06.front. Shortly, we will be chatting to Chris about his father, Basil,
:13:07. > :13:14.who inspired him to write a book after he read his mum was from World
:13:15. > :13:20.War II. First, Arthur Smith has been spending the night
:13:21. > :13:20.War II. First, Arthur Smith has been purpose-built military hospital in
:13:21. > :13:29.War II. First, Arthur Smith has been Britain, the Royal Victoria
:13:30. > :13:29.Hospital. This is a nice walk in the park but if I had been here 50 years
:13:30. > :13:37.ago it would have been a walk in a park but if I had been here 50 years
:13:38. > :13:44.corridor a quarter of a mile end to end. This was the side of the
:13:45. > :13:44.corridor a quarter of a mile end to the instigation of Queen Victoria,
:13:45. > :14:01.it was Britain's the instigation of Queen Victoria,
:14:02. > :14:01.world. Now all that survives is the chapel and tower. Tonight I am
:14:02. > :14:08.sleeping in the chapel. Not with the ghost of one famous person,
:14:09. > :14:08.sleeping in the chapel. Not with the soldiers. It is huge. It was built
:14:09. > :14:16.to accommodate the whole of the soldiers. It is huge. It was built
:14:17. > :14:16.hospital's staff and patients, 1000 men. You had to be pretty much on
:14:17. > :14:20.your deathbed to be excused from men. You had to be pretty much on
:14:21. > :14:25.service. And Queen Victoria came here? Yes, it was because of her
:14:26. > :14:31.compassion but this hospital was built. From
:14:32. > :14:32.compassion but this hospital was chapel you get an impressive view of
:14:33. > :14:38.the site. water from Queen Victoria's summer
:14:39. > :14:43.home on the Isle of Wight. The water from Queen Victoria's summer
:14:44. > :14:43.Queen's surgeon was on his way to water from Queen Victoria's summer
:14:44. > :14:49.attend Her Majesty at water from Queen Victoria's summer
:14:50. > :14:49.and he spotted this and thought water from Queen Victoria's summer
:14:50. > :14:53.would be a good place to build water from Queen Victoria's summer
:14:54. > :14:57.military hospital. Was notable opposition? They showed the plans to
:14:58. > :15:02.Florence Nightingale, which was a opposition? They showed the plans to
:15:03. > :15:10.mistake. She hated it. The chorus had been built to create
:15:11. > :15:10.mistake. She hated it. The chorus facade but is cut off
:15:11. > :15:18.mistake. She hated it. The chorus the the effects of sea and sun.
:15:19. > :15:23.mistake. She hated it. The chorus Queen Victoria laid the foundation
:15:24. > :15:29.plan in 1856. Albert was always on the side putting in his thoughts.
:15:30. > :15:33.The Queen could see the hospital rising. Seven years later, at a
:15:34. > :15:34.total cost of ?350,000, the hospital rising. Seven years later, at a
:15:35. > :15:38.was finally treating patients. Those rising. Seven years later, at a
:15:39. > :15:45.who could get here, that is. The man who built Brighton Pier was
:15:46. > :15:52.commissioned and great expense to build on here
:15:53. > :15:52.commissioned and great expense to short and the ships full of troops
:15:53. > :15:59.ran aground. In short and the ships full of troops
:16:00. > :16:08.casualties arrived by train into the back of the hospital. Among them,
:16:09. > :16:09.with its padded cells and back of the hospital. Among them,
:16:10. > :16:16.horrors. So, with back of the hospital. Among them,
:16:17. > :16:22.going to spend tonight, on this original hospital
:16:23. > :16:32.going to spend tonight, on this caught short, I haven't got too far
:16:33. > :16:40.to go. I survived the night but I woke up
:16:41. > :16:44.at one point feeling small and lonely. I guess a lot of
:16:45. > :16:48.at one point feeling small and patients must have felt overawed by
:16:49. > :16:51.at one point feeling small and the almost absurd grandeur of this
:16:52. > :16:55.place. After the Second World War, the grandeur began to fade,
:16:56. > :16:58.place. After the Second World War, ?50,000 a year just to keep painted
:16:59. > :17:00.place. After the Second World War, it was finally demolished in 1956,
:17:01. > :17:08.unearthing Queen Victoria's foundation stone. Anita, the plans
:17:09. > :17:14.for the building and the first-ever Victoria come across. -- beneath it.
:17:15. > :17:14.It has been replaced by this beautiful park for
:17:15. > :17:18.It has been replaced by this beautiful park benefit of
:17:19. > :17:27.generations to come. The cemetery behind the park tells the story of
:17:28. > :17:33.young men from all over the Empire committed to home soil. It was the
:17:34. > :17:40.pioneer of a once famous men at goal metropolis. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
:17:41. > :17:46.chose it as a training ground for Doctor Watson. In its heyday, it was
:17:47. > :17:53.known the world over. He sleeps in some remarkable places!
:17:54. > :18:00.And original hospital bed? I do not think I would sleep very much. I am
:18:01. > :18:03.sure he will have a sleepover somewhere else. Chris, we have
:18:04. > :18:07.touched on the book, dad swore, all somewhere else. Chris, we have
:18:08. > :18:14.about your dad's wartime experiences. -- Dad's War. But you
:18:15. > :18:19.would not have the material you need it if it was not for a burglary?
:18:20. > :18:25.They were devoted. When mum died, the family was devastated. Between
:18:26. > :18:33.her death and the funeral, somebody blessed them, burgled the house.
:18:34. > :18:40.They broke in, smashed the house, did not steal much of value and when
:18:41. > :19:25.they came in I was raging. growing up. It is the thing I am
:19:26. > :19:35.most proud of. Slowly we put the pattern together of what he did. You
:19:36. > :19:41.were surprised? Amazed. He was a funny guy, the kids all loved him,
:19:42. > :19:48.he was a brilliant grandfather. The stuff you started to read, before
:19:49. > :19:54.the D-day he was at Dunkirk. D-day was horrific, bodies floating in the
:19:55. > :20:01.tide before even landed. My dad with a bayonet, ripping into somebody's
:20:02. > :20:05.entrails, you can't actually comprehend that, but he would have
:20:06. > :20:11.had to have done. Dad would have killed a lot of people. The odds
:20:12. > :20:14.against him surviving were something like one in three for an infantry
:20:15. > :20:16.against him surviving were something officer. Dad lasted very nearly the
:20:17. > :20:21.whole of the war and he was blown up officer. Dad lasted very nearly the
:20:22. > :20:25.three weeks before the end. He was very lucky to be alive at the end,
:20:26. > :20:34.he saved his arm, he was blown up by a landmine. He got two medals, he
:20:35. > :20:41.was an extraordinary heroic guy who, at the end, said, oh well, I
:20:42. > :20:48.have still got my arm, I had better get a job now. It would be great,
:20:49. > :20:55.Chris, if you could read an extract from the book. This is bad writing
:20:56. > :21:06.some time after D-day. He says, the site I saw, I will never forget to
:21:07. > :21:12.my dying day. I will never see so many ships again. We were some anime
:21:13. > :21:18.isles off the coast that I knew must be Normandy and the sea was covered
:21:19. > :21:23.by grey ships of all shapes and sizes. Our British fleet was the
:21:24. > :21:29.closest. As they began to lower the landing craft the sea looked really
:21:30. > :21:34.choppy. Sporting mines would have been very difficult and a beach
:21:35. > :21:39.landing even tougher. We work given seasickness pills and most of the
:21:40. > :21:44.men were throwing up. Surprisingly I was not sick at all, nor even
:21:45. > :21:52.frightened. I would have been terrified. If you go to the
:21:53. > :22:01.graveyards, which I have done, row after row of crosses, 19, 18, 17,
:22:02. > :22:06.20. My son is 22. The sad thing of course is that you found all of this
:22:07. > :22:11.out after your dad had passed away. You were telling us that sometimes
:22:12. > :22:17.you go to the grave and talk to him because you don't have the
:22:18. > :22:22.opportunity to do it. His death suddenly is going to hit the family
:22:23. > :22:29.very hard but you get over it and there is so much I want to say, dad,
:22:30. > :22:35.what about that bit? Just give me more detail. I talked to him at the
:22:36. > :22:44.grave and I find him quite -- find it quite therapeutic. All of my kids
:22:45. > :22:49.are ringing me up saying, dad, thanks for this, I'm crying my eyes
:22:50. > :22:54.out, I have only got to page three. He was an extraordinary man, so much
:22:55. > :23:03.more of a guide than I ever realised. It is all in there, two
:23:04. > :23:07.years of Chris's work, out now. Across the country people have been
:23:08. > :23:13.getting up to some very strange things across the Bank Holiday,
:23:14. > :23:19.including a mass domino run. Angelica Bell was there to
:23:20. > :23:22.including a mass domino run. go along. We will watch the film
:23:23. > :23:31.first and then you can set that away. This is Coventry, the city
:23:32. > :23:34.once described as having a nondescript concrete Centre.
:23:35. > :23:41.Today the people of this city are out to prove there is more to this
:23:42. > :23:48.place than a mass of brickwork. With the aid of over 4000 breeze blocks
:23:49. > :23:53.weaving their way through the city, revealing some of the city's
:23:54. > :24:00.historical landmarks and not so well-known parts as well. The domino
:24:01. > :24:04.run is one of the events closing the convent in mysteries Festival, a
:24:05. > :24:11.three day programme of artistic events and experiences. What is the
:24:12. > :24:15.idea behind the domino run? Setup a line of domino blocks
:24:16. > :24:23.through the city and push them all over. This is quite a logistical
:24:24. > :24:28.operation. You have any worries? Hundreds! What is the weather going
:24:29. > :24:39.to do, are all of the props in place? A bit of wit in the wrong
:24:40. > :24:44.direction sets them off course. The dominoes are being set out on a 1.5
:24:45. > :24:48.kilometre course. The course is avoided into sections headed by
:24:49. > :24:58.section managers like James who have the task of keeping the blocks are
:24:59. > :25:04.bright until the last minute. Every 10th block down in case
:25:05. > :25:12.somebody knocks them over walking past.
:25:13. > :25:27.CHEERING they leap off the car park, go
:25:28. > :25:36.around a fountain, cut through the city centre, nipped down between the
:25:37. > :25:55.two cathedrals and the big finale ends up in Coventry Cathedral's
:25:56. > :26:00.ruins. And they have done it! Angelica, you have been doing a bit
:26:01. > :26:05.of reading on dominoes. The first Britain evidence was in the 13th
:26:06. > :26:12.century in China but there has been debate about objects found in
:26:13. > :26:17.tooting Cardiff -- Tutankhamen's two about whether they were early
:26:18. > :26:21.versions of the game. It was first seen in Europe in the 18th-century
:26:22. > :26:26.in Italy and since then it has spread. I found out about dominoes
:26:27. > :26:31.from my grandad, from Dominique Aegerter who came over in the 1950s
:26:32. > :26:37.and always made me sit there when he played. I used to go to a home when
:26:38. > :26:43.he was older and dominoes brought his energy at. Visiting my dad in
:26:44. > :26:47.the Caribbean, he would take me out with all of his mates, slamming on
:26:48. > :26:52.the table, drinking their run. It went to the Caribbean with the slave
:26:53. > :26:58.trade. The idea of toppling dominoes, I think, is as old as the
:26:59. > :27:02.game. On the Internet you can see Sony people setting up cascading
:27:03. > :27:08.dominoes and I think it is extraordinary. We have a clip of a
:27:09. > :27:13.Canadian on you Tube and this is the map of the world. It is made out of
:27:14. > :27:18.14,000 tiles and the patience and precision you would need for that is
:27:19. > :27:32.incredible. Mesmerising. We have another clip, tribute to Vincent van
:27:33. > :27:40.Gogh's Starry Night. It is like are falling in front of you, incredible.
:27:41. > :27:54.You need the patience of a saint. Or no life. We have all of my VHSs
:27:55. > :28:00.outside, we set them up. They are out in the pouring rain. Chris, this
:28:01. > :28:08.is hilarious, three times it has gone off at the wrong time. We were
:28:09. > :28:17.like tiptoeing in here. Chris, would you like to do the honours? Three,
:28:18. > :28:29.two, one, go for it. It is still going! Yes! It has gone outside, it
:28:30. > :28:43.is outside now, it is happening. That looks incredible. Look at that!
:28:44. > :28:53.You are a genius domino expert. Well done, lads. Look at the relief. It
:28:54. > :28:57.was worth coming for that! Earlier we asked for your pitchers of
:28:58. > :29:03.fathers and sons who looked like the spitting image of each other. Merely
:29:04. > :29:16.sent in pictures of her brother and her father, both at 19. Charlie sent
:29:17. > :29:27.in a photo of himself and his son. Lee and Jesse, both aged eight. Best
:29:28. > :29:32.of luck with your book, out in the shops now. Goodbye!