28/10/2013 The One Show

Piers Morgan. Not pretty, but that Now we can join the news

You are quite posh. Did you hope it would develop from the phrase,

fiver, darling? It was one of my first jobs out of drama school. I

think I was called Carmen. I faxed a note to the producer saying, my

surname should be Rollers. Talking of Eastenders, we have got some big

news. Team rickshaw will be riding into Albert Square at the end of

their 700 mile journey from Larne in Northern Ireland. In fact, the whole

of Children in Need night will be coming from the home of Eastenders

on November the 15th, including the One Show. We will be live from the

Queen Vic. Can you imagine how you will feel at the finish line? As

well as talking to Amanda tonight, we will be finding out what happened

to this lard. I set the room on fire. I went upstairs and set the

beds on fire. There was a person in the house. It was your dad that

time, was it? Back then he was an 11-year-old arsonist locked up in a

secure unit. He is here tonight to tell us how he turned his life

around, with the help of the man who made the original BBC documentary.

First, the storms overnight cost for macrolides, left over 600,000 homes

without power and played havoc with travel plans. Our storm Hunter,

Lucy, spent the day in the West Country. Overnight in Somerset,

hurricane force winds have been recorded and there's been a

significant amount of rain. But it's not just here that has taken a

battering. There's been widespread power cuts, disruption to travel.

This morning, the Isle of White recorded a wind speed of 99 mph.

Meanwhile, over 200,000 homes were left without electricity. During

1987's storm, 15 million trees were blown down. We don't yet know how

many this storm has claimed, but in storm affected areas there are teams

working around the clock to clear the debris. Somerset highways agency

is just one team that has had a long night. Simon White is in charge of

keeping the roads clear in this area. What is the extent of the

damage in Somerset? We've had about 75 trees down across the county in

the space of the last 12 hours. Tell me about the history of this brewer

fella. You'll a-macro this came down at around 5:30am. It has not rested

very well, so this is one of our most challenging trees to get down.

It shows the power of the wind we had last night. 65 of those 75 trees

are gone and the roads are opened. Once like this which are more

complex, we've got to bring specialists in an deal with things

like this. Something this big, once you cut it, give got to get it off

site, so you've got to have a digger. These guys are not just

moving the trees from across the highway. There are branches that

have been dislodged in the storm. They have to get up with a tree with

a chainsaw right at the top and they have to cut them all off to make

sure they are safe. It is incredible. As today has shown,

fallen trees and branches can have fatal consequences. We knew it was

coming and seemingly we were better prepared than in 1987. But when it

hits, the St Jude storm was highly localised, creating pockets of

destruction in certain parts of the country. Where the effects will be

felt for some time to come. John Hammond is here to talk a bit more

about this. It was predicted as the biggest storm since 19... Oh, my

poppy has blown off! The wind is still going! The biggest since 1987.

Was it what you expected, was it not as strong? Pretty much as we

expected. The Midlands and Wales got off lightly. But through that zone

from south-west England, southern England towards the London area,

East Anglia, we saw gusts that we were expecting. You've got all this

new technology now that helps you to be a lot more on the button and you

would have been back in 96 dashed back 1987. Does that mean there will

be no surprises from now on? Afraid not. The atmosphere is inherently

chaotic. Despite advances in understanding the atmosphere, we

occasionally are not going to get it right. But we've gone a quantum leap

since 1987 to how we are now in terms of the technology, the

computing power and knowledge of the atmosphere and how we get the

warnings out as well. We do a lot of liaising with emergency responders

to get those warnings out early. We had them out at the back end of last

week. Even though the storm hadn't formed, we were confident it was

going to. Nailing down exactly where the path of the worst destruction

was going to be is a more difficult job. It's remarkable when you look

at what the computers do. Tell us about the sting jet. One of the

advances in our understanding of the atmosphere is the sting jet, a

phenomenon. We got the storm forming, the torrential rain. At the

back-end of the storm we have this sting jet, air rushing down from the

stratosphere. It spreads out in the form of big gusts. Although the

coasts normally get hit by strong winds, inland the sting really

ploughs a path across southern England, including your patch at

home, and the London area and into East Anglia. Those sorts of speeds,

with trees fully laden with leaves, bound to cause problems. Amanda, you

were saying your friend's trampoline was there but now it's gone. Yes,

she woke up and it was gone. Someone has either nixed it for Christmas or

it has flown somewhere and done probably horrible damage. This storm

has whistled across the North Sea, gone through Scandinavia, it's

moving that fast. The gusts in Scandinavia were worse than here.

You were in a hotel last night right near to the weather studios so you

could get to work. We were. We had to be there for when it hit this

morning. But I've got to go home tonight. I don't know what the

damage will be like. You've got no electricity, have you? No, the power

is out at home. Fittingly, Mary Poppins said that she would stay

with the Banks family until the wind changed. A new story starring Emma

Thompson tells the story of the woman who created the world's host

famous nanny. # A spoonful of sugar helps the

medicine go down. Walt Disney's Mary Poppins has

charmed audiences for decades. Julie Andrews plays the most famous nanny

in cinema history. Disney gave her big-screen break in 1964. But you

might be surprised to know that a childminder with magical powers had

a lifelong before Hollywood came calling. Mary Poppins first appeared

in book form in 1934 a fictional creation of author PL Travers, who

was quite surprised to find her story being published at all. It

never occurred to me that anyone would want to publish it. I was

writing it really for myself. I thought, well, a publisher won't

want this, but apparently he did. A fiercely private woman, her

background was long shrouded in mystery, with the writer Brian

sibling knowing her well. He knew her secrets. She was born in new

south wales Australia. She grew up very much caught up in the world of

storytelling. How did she end up in England? She wanted to escape from

Australia. Her father died when she was seven, her mother tried to

commit suicide when she was ten. It was in London that she wrote the

first of the stories. The books were very successful, successful not just

in Britain but America. It captured the imagination of the daughter of a

Hollywood producer, none other than the king of animation, Walt Disney.

He became convinced a film version of the story would make a fortune.

Disney was used to getting his own way, but Pamela Travers was no

pushover when it came to negotiating the film rights. It took nearly 20

years to get those rights. She didn't like the idea of Mary Poppins

becoming an animated character. At that time, Disney only made animated

films. It was only when he persuaded her he could make a movie of Mary

Poppins that wasn't a cartoon. Was it the money that persuaded her?

That was part of the equation, and was away re-establishing the fact

you was the author of this well-known character. People knew

the character but didn't know who the author was anymore. Production

began in 1963. While the characters were having fun on screen, tensions

on the set were brewing right from the start between Travers and

Disney. The didn't really get on. It was very stormy. It really was a

head-on collision between two very charismatic, very powerful, very

independent people. She was somebody that wasn't going to be brushed

aside. She had long and very difficult consultations. A lot of

what she said founded into the film. The film premiered in 1964 and

received a rapturous five-minute standing ovation. Disney felt

vindicated. He had a huge hit on his hands. But there was one woman in

the auditorium who was not clapping. Far from it, she was in floods of

tears. Pamela Travers. She hated the cartoon elements of the film. And a

lovely thing she is too! Travers was so appalled, she vowed never to work

with Hollywood again. 50 years on, her story has been turned into a

film starring Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson. Well, Pamela Travers. You

can't imagine how excited I am to finally meet you. My name is Mrs

Travers. What do you think that PL Travers union would have made of

this new film? She would have been appalled, outrage and horrified. But

somewhere underneath, I think she would have been secretly quite

pleased. But she would definitely have notes for everybody about how

it should have been done! Let us begin. She has a lot of ideas. What

kind of ideas? No, that is not a word. We made it up. PL Travers

wrote another seven Mary Poppins novels but none of them match the

success of the first. The film version made her a multimillionaire

race, but it was a high price to pay for such a very private person. You

can find out more about PL Travers and Mary Poppins in a special on

November the 30th on BBC Two. I was never a fan of those cartoon bits.

We were a massive fan of Mary Poppins. Lexie, my daughter, is

learning a song from it as we speak. She's watching at home. You

dedicated your autobiography, No Holding Back, to Lexie and Holly.

It's interesting how things started for you. Your mum had a very

different experience to you, bringing up your daughters. It was

pretty tough for her. It was heroic. She was on her own a lot of the

time. She had to cope with so much. She gave us the most amazing

childhood. I always remember being happy. She used to let me and my

sister, Debbie, very cutlery and crockery in the garden to keep us

happy! Weeks later we would dig things up. I remember digging up a

stainless steel teapot and giving it to my grandad for his birthday. He

must have been thrilled! You say in the book that you wouldn't allow

your daughters to do that. My mum said, I did it to keep you quiet.

She had three jobs at one time. I don't blame her. There's no way my

daughters are allowed out of the house with crockery, no! What is

really obvious from the first chapter is you were surrounded by

lots of strong women. The one I Love is your gram. She's amazing. Tell us

about her. She is 93. She lives in Gloucestershire. She is completely

independent, she's at home is still on her own, stubborn to the point of

annoyance. But that generation don't want any help, they don't want to

make a fuss. My mum is fantastic with her and my mum's sister, always

visiting. She sends them away all the time and says, you've got your

own lives, dear. Is that the grandparent whose cat you named? My

mum keeps telling me off because she says it's not true. My Nan had a cat

called Mandy. Towards the end of its life it was just this mattered,

mangled creature. It was very sad. But I was due to be borne any minute

and my mum called me Amanda. Mandy and Amanda. My mum says it was from

a sitcom, which is probably true. But the fact is Chris calls me

Mandy, everyone does, just to annoy me. There are lots of funny bits in

the book, but there is a serious side as well because at the

beginning it tells us about the difficult childhood you had. Did

that play a part in how driven you were? I honestly think it did. Even

though we were so happy and had a great upbringing, I think it was

that matriarchal line that me and my sister had. We had a feistiness

installed in us to survive and keep moving forward, and I think that

came from my mother and her work ethic. She was incredible and did a

great job. When you got on stage it was not because you wanted any fame

celebrity. Yes, every celebrity says that but we did not have those

celebrity magazines when we were growing up. We did not have the same

culture as we had now where everybody wants to be famous. All I

wanted to do was be on stage so I would sing in the back garden and

annoyed the neighbours. I would charge people 5p to come and watch

my production! It was the production of Aladdin when you got turned down,

was it not? Angie, who has been on the show before, you threw her out,

I wanted the lead, and she did not give it to me. I was absolutely

mortified, and she gave me a sherry to calm my nerves. I will not say

how old I was! My grandma used to make me very weak martinis! My

mother did not even know, she was appalled. What have your friends and

family made the book, then? What did they say, what with their reaction?

Overall, it is OK. My family found it difficult because I am in the

public eye and they are in my life so they have to be dragged into it.

Overall, they are quite happy about it. They are a massive part of the

story, and I would not have survived if it had not been thanks to them.

There is a sense that you have written it all down to... It is

there for my daughters to read when they are older. I have not held back

and I have been very honest. No Holding Back is out in the shops

now. In 1975 the BBC aired a fly on the wall documentary featuring an

11-year-old arsonist whose future was being decided by psychologists

and social workers at the secure assessment centre in County Durham.

Mini and Me was directed by Franc Roddam and had an impact on the

public. It is being shown on BBC for tomorrow and in a moment we will

catch up with Franc Roddam and Mini. First a flavour of the

original documentary starting with an explanation of why he was locked

up. You are here following two offences of arson. It is a school

for maladjusted children. Michael set fire to his home while his

father was asleep upstairs. Two months later he returned to the

house and set fire to what remained. Michael and squandered 18 times. He

received regular psychiatric treatment through this period. There

was a box of matches their and I said, I will have them! There was

too much time to burn the down. It was lucky there was not a person in

the house. What do you think about it? You think it is a good thing to

do? To me, it is. To others, it is not. Do you understand what you are

saying? Yes. What if you set a fire to somebody's house? You think you

should be allowed to do that? No. Well, I can tell you what has not

happened. You are not going back home. We are not sending you to an

ordinary school. What is going to happen is that you going to be here

for the next three or four weeks. We will find out who is going to have

you. I will let you know myself, all right? I promise I will tell you

where you are going. I will tell you who is going to work with you, OK?

Yes. Well... As I said before, I do not think it would be right for you

to go back to an ordinary school. It would not be good for you, it would

not be good for other people. In view of the history of

anti-social behaviour and the serious risk that Michael presents

to himself and the community, he would require long-term treatments

under conditions of physical security.

Well, Mini and Franc Roddam are here. It is a powerful documentary.

The fact that it was about your life, it is quite upsetting. There

was a real public reaction after that, was there not? There was a

strong reaction towards him. I do not think much has happened since

then. The documentary had a big impact and I think it is because

Mini has a strong personality. You were thinking that this kid should

not be locked up. All of the letters that came in for Mini, he had no

idea, did he? No, it was Franc some years later who told me that there

were lots of letters at the BBC. My understanding was that the

authorities got rid of them. Were you not allowed to watch the

documentary interview 21? How did you feel the first time you saw the

documentary, especially the end bits that we saw there? It had an impact

on me. I was watching it as a 21-year-old man. Part of me wondered

where that boy had gone too. By that time, I felt like my psyche had been

fractured slightly. I was watching this young boy the speak with such

confidence. I was struggling myself at that time. What did happen to

you? You did not go down south, did you? No, the authorities did a

U-turn. There is that finale to the documentary where, unanimously, they

are saying that I need to be locked up. They did the complete opposite

and sent me to the other side of the campus with no bars on the windows

or locked doors. Franc, Mini spent his life in and out of prisons and

hospitals but you believed that it could have been so different. It is

interesting. If he had come from a middle-class family, he would not

have been locked away. I remember the psychiatrist in the film had

said that I should get rid of the romantic notion that people can be

cured. He said that some people should be managed and he put Mini in

that category. I disagreed with him and I think that is why we formed a

friendship. We finished the film and Mini said that this was a great

moment. He started jumping on trains and coming to London. In 18 months,

he ran away 18 times, I think. My wife and I gave him some supper and

we took him back. We formed a long friendship and the authorities told

me that I cannot see him any more because I am disrupting his

treatment. I said, OK. They did not tell Mini. He thought that I had

abandoned him. We got together ten years later, I think. They actually

told me that it was Franc's idea that we did not meet. You have

written it down in an autobiography. How cathartic was it for you to

write that? Hugely. It was an opportunity to have an expression,

vent some anger in a positive way. Obviously, as a child setting fires,

that was my expression. Franc came along and gave me a voice. He told

me to be myself. It was an invitation to good to refuse. It

reconnects you with what you were thinking of as a boy, I guess? Yes.

When I had written the book, I felt like I had got the strength back

that I had when I was ten years old. You talk to Fire Services and all

sorts now? Yes. Well, listen, we wish you the very best. The book,

Mini and Me by Michael Cooper is out now and you can see Alan Yentob's

Mini: A Life Revisited tomorrow night on BBC Four at 10pm. Thank you

to M No Holding Back is out now. We mentioned a trampoline that had

flown away. We have found the! No way! Somebody has contacted us. We

are a public service! Before we go, David Bowie has been paying tribute

to Lou Reed who died yesterday, aged 71. In 1997, the BBC elaborated with

the singer on a special version of the song, Perfect Day. It went to

number one. He said that he had never been more impressed with the

performance of one of his songs. # Just a perfect day. MUSIC: "Perfect

Day". # It's such a perfect day, I'm glad I spend it with you.

# Such a perfect day you just keep me hanging on. # You just keep me