Episode 13 12 Again

Coming up, three celebs become 12 again.

He always spoke in this, sort of, "Stop taw-king!"

Mmm-mmm. Nngg-nngg.

The only thing I ever got told off for was asking difficult questions.

"You ask too many questions. Shut up!"

Plus we caught up with Mz Bratt and found out what she was like at 12.

I was very cheeky, but kind of cool at the same time.

Excited?

-Eh?

-He is!

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to be best mates

with celebs when they were your age?

What did they get up to? What were their favourite songs?

What TV shows did they watch?

Despite their glamorous lifestyles now,

once they were a kid with a dream, just like you.

This show lets you look back in time with your favourite celebs

as they become 12 again.

Hello!

She's a Blue Peter presenter who redefined the word "daring".

No idea how people do this. Honestly! Argh!

But in 1995, Helen Skelton was more farm girl than Antarctic hero.

I didn't think I was a bumpkin.

I just remember thinking, "I've got to win over some friends."

The only way to do that was by being cool.

Well, that is complete and utter nonsense.

-He's the star of The Impressions Show.

-Affirmative.

He can turn himself into almost any celebrity there is.

I'm Louis Walsh. I'm a judge on the X Factor.

Back in 1980, everything was making an impression on Jon Culshaw.

I was fascinated by everything.

I did find the world a place of wonder.

I never missed a trick.

Aye, aye. Here comes trouble.

-He is one of the UK's loved acting legends.

-God bless her!

He's even travelled through time with Doctor Who.

But back in 1941, Bernard Cribbins' home was no TARDIS.

It was a two up, two down house.

In that house were my mother and father, myself and my two sisters.

So it was quite cramped.

It may all be bright lights and adventures today,

but it wasn't always that way.

Let's find out what our celebs were like when they were kids.

I was really short when I was 12.

Skinny blond haired kid.

I was as fit as a butcher's dog.

Swimming and running about and generally being daft.

I wore glasses from the age of three. Big thick rimmed glasses.

I broke them more than once and had to put sellotape round them.

That's what led to me getting contacts.

I'd wear T-shirts or an American air force sort of a shirt,

with pockets here and little things on the shoulders.

I couldn't imagine what use they were.

I used to wear shorts and jerseys. I had lots of jerseys.

I wore clogs with a wooden sole and irons on the bottom.

You could kick sparks with them. Tup-aw!

It was cool to have a shell suit.

And I had a onesy, which are making a comeback,

and my friend bought the same one and we thought we were slick.

Seems to me like they all had their own look going on.

Let's see what else they got up to.

I grew up on a farm and although I thought that was awful

cos I used to be jealous that my mates could walk to primary school.

I lived in the middle of nowhere.

When I look back, it was the best childhood ever.

That time, I'd begun to get very interested in birdwatching.

I remember one occasion which was very painful.

Coming down the tree, there was one thorn, the wrong way up

and it went into a part of me I can't mention.

And I'd gone, "Mmm-mmm. Nngg-nngg!"

And then I examined myself and I was erm...bleeding.

Ah, I certainly do not recommend you try that at home.

40 years later in Ormskirk, Jon was making a big impression at school.

Mr Platford always spoke in this sort of,

"Stop taw-king! Stop taw-king!"

There was the geography teacher who spoke in this sort of tone.

I was fascinated by his lesson.

The first few weeks were all about the solar system.

I'd always do all the drawings.

Later, we regressed onto hectares and farms. I switched off then.

VICKY POLLARD: It's not about space no more, it's like rubb-ush!"

When I went to secondary school,

I was the only girl to go from my primary school.

I didn't have any mates. I had to make friends.

My brother gave me this list of "don'ts".

Don't put your hands together when you pray.

You're not gonna make friends that way.

While Helen was following her brother's rules, in the '40s,

Bernard was about to get his big break.

During the war,

I had been in a play from my school.

The producer at the theatre saw the play.

I was offered a job at the local repertory theatre.

On the fourth of January 1943, I was just 14,

that's when I became a professional actor.

I was definitely a good kid when I went to secondary school.

I was constantly, "Me, me. I know! I've got something to add!"

The only thing I ever got told off for was asking difficult questions.

"You ask too many questions. Shut up!"

Back in the '40s, in Oldham, Bernard's home

was very different to what you and I have now.

We didn't have a bath at our house. The tin bath used to hang outside.

The loo was down the yard. If it was raining, it was a quick sprint.

Yes, Bernard lived in a house that had no bath or toilet.

These houses were known as two up, two downs.

They had two rooms upstairs and two downstairs. They were pretty small.

The houses had no electricity, no heating and no toilet,

which was sometimes in the backyard or even at the end of the street!

I used to build Airfix model dinosaurs and paint them.

I would find corners of the garden that had Prehistoric looking

foliage and have this epic battle between a Triceratops and Allosaurus.

They lived quite a few million years apart from each other!

No-one had a mobile phone.

If you wanted to speak to a boy, you gave the number of the phone box.

You never wanted them to ring your house.

I once remember getting a Valentine's card at school

and the poor boy by the end of the day couldn't look at me

because my brother's mates had said, "Don't go near her again!"

So whether they were running for the toilet or playing

with their model dinosaurs, life was very different for our celebs.

What kind of music were they listening to?

When I was 12, there was a massive chart battle between Oasis and Blur.

The battle of the bands is on.

Blur and Oasis are locked in a battle for the number one slot.

# You gotta roll with it... #

In the mid '90s, Britpop was massive.

The biggest band of all was Oasis, with Liam Gallagher,

and Blur, whose lead singer was Damon Albarn.

And they hated each other!

Liam likes to be more in your face than I do.

But I'm harder.

People think you're arrogant, but it's just self-confident.

It you can't be self-confident, then what can you be?

In 1995, they went head to head

in one of the biggest chart battles of all time.

New music coming live from London's Oxford Street.

One of many new releases today, alongside Oasis,

it's Blur's Country House.

The battle divided the country.

Oasis represented the north and Blur stood for the south.

It was obvious what choice Helen made.

Most people in my school were Oasis.

They were northern and people liked the fact they were a bit mean

and a bit childish and they bickered.

Blur just seemed a bit too kooky, a bit too quirky for us.

Despite Blur being a bit too kooky for Helen, they won the battle.

They did have Matt Lucas from Little Britain in their video.

Blur appeared on Top of the Pops wearing an Oasis T-shirt.

Talk about bad winners!

Whether it was Oasis or Blur, the real winner was Britpop.

I ended up listening to more Britpop.

The difference with Britpop was there was a band

and a guitarist and a drummer. It seemed a bit cooler.

Yeah, so long as your definition of cool is wearing clothes

like your history teacher!

Or donning needlessly big coats on stage, no matter hot it got.

He is not going to feel the benefit.

So that's what Helen was listening to,

but what was Bernard listening to over 50 years earlier?

The only contact we had with music was on the radio.

When I joined the theatre at 14, I discovered classical music.

And because the guy who ran the theatre used to select

all the records for interval music, I was absolutely enchanted

by Daphnis and Chloe, all sorts of classics I'd never heard of.

Daphnis and Chloe was composed by this guy, Maurice Ravel.

The most famous piece he wrote was called Bolero,

which Dancing On Ice stars Torvill and Dean skated to

when they won their Olympic gold medal in 1984.

But while the music may be smooth,

the story behind the pair using it certainly isn't.

The original piece is over 17 minutes long.

They cut it down but it was still 18 seconds over the rules.

They were allowed to use the piece, so long as their skates

did not touch the ice during those 18 seconds.

So that's what they did. Genius! If a bit odd.

Whilst Bernard was discovering the classics,

Jon was listening to music that was totally groundbreaking.

I put music into two categories.

There was the sort of music that would be played on The Two Ronnies.

Things like the Nolan Sisters and Barbara Dickson.

# January, February... #

And then there was the music that I liked. I liked all the ska stuff.

Baggy Trousers by Madness. Ghost Town by the Specials.

# This town is coming like a ghost town... #

It wasn't just your chirpy pop. They seemed to be saying something.

It seemed to have an attitude.

# Do you remember the good old days before the ghost town? #

The type of ska Jon's talking about is a type of music

that can be found in many different forms.

It was also known as two tone, a mix of reggae and punk.

There were loads of ska bands in the late '70s and '80s.

There was a fashion that went with it,

the tight suits and pork pie hats.

Of course, looking good is only part of it.

Ska even had its own dance move.

When ska came on to Top of the Pops,

to dance to it, all you had to do was... Easy and good fun.

You've got the dance and the look,

but there's always one band that takes it too far.

# For the first time in my life... #

That's Bad Manners, that is. No, really. Oh, forget it!

-# Why are you laughing at me? #

-Have a guess!

Still to come, we catch up with the super cool MC rapper Mz Bratt

and find out what she remembers about being 12.

Guys started showing interest in stuff.

And that was awkward.

Helen takes a trip to the barbers.

Parents went nuts over it.

Find out what film made Bernard do this.

The whole place would go, "Wooh!"

Jon takes a look into the future.

I'm not too sure how many things they actually predicted correctly.

Let's see what big news stories happened

when our celebs were kids.

And Bernard witnessed one of the biggest events of the 20th century.

'I have to tell you now, this country is at war with Germany.'

The most important thing when I was 12 would have been the war.

Britain fought the toughest war it had ever experienced.

'We shall fight on beaches. We shall never surrender.'

The Second World War lasted between 1939 and 1945

and affected everyone in Britain.

It started when Adolf Hitler's Germany invaded Poland.

Britain and France declared war on Germany

and countries were drawn in on both sides.

Air raids, I remember. You'd get the siren.

My poor mum, she used to be terrified of hearing that,

used turn her over completely. If we were in bed,

she would bring us down and we'd be put under the kitchen table.

And almost immediately, we'd hear "boomph, boomph"

and that was Manchester or Salford Docks being attacked.

You would then pray that the all clear would go as soon as possible.

You'd go back to bed, basically.

The year before Bernard turned 12,

Hitler ordered his air force to attack Britain

dropping bombs onto towns and cities across the country.

This attack was known as the Battle of Britain.

With help from their allies, Britain managed to keep the enemy out,

until Winston Churchill announced Victory in Europe.

Hostilities will end officially at one minute after midnight tonight.

The German War is therefore at an end.

World War II ended in 1945 and thankfully,

there's not been a world war since.

Over 50 years later, in 1996, when Helen was 12,

an event in Manchester changed the city for ever.

One of the big things that happened was a bomb went off in Manchester.

A huge clear up operation is under way in Manchester

after a bomb ripped through the city centre.

An organisation called the IRA carried out the attacks.

Their aim was for Ireland to be one country and they used violence

to try and get rid of British rule in Northern Ireland.

The bomb caused £1 billion worth of damage in today's money.

No-one died. However, over 200 people were injured

and the blast affected a lot of people in the area.

I started to think, "This could really affect me."

When a bomb goes off in a place that you've visited, I think

it becomes a lot more real, if you can picture how somewhere's changed.

After the bomb, Manchester rebuilt the Arndale Centre and regenerated

the surrounding areas and now the city is better than ever.

In 1981, a protest opened a 12-year-old Jon's eyes

to the threat of nuclear weapons.

At 12, I remember the protesters on Greenham Common.

'33 women demonstrators were arrested at Greenham Common Air Base

'in Berkshire during their protest against nuclear weapons.'

'I feel that I'm making the greatest contribution for the safety

'of my family that I possibly can by being here'

to really try and stop nuclear weapons killing everybody.

I remember thinking first of all, "They seem rather nice protesters."

They seemed like the school dinner ladies.

The protesters at Greenham Common were mainly women

who were demonstrating against American nuclear missiles

being stored in Berkshire.

They were different sorts of protesters.

You'd think, "If people like this are protesting

"and if they're concerned, this must be a serious issue."

# And you just can't take my dreams away... #

Nuclear weapons caused real fear in the '80s,

as there were serious tensions between the two great powers

of the time, the USA and the Soviet Union, led by Russia.

There were concerns that if a war broke out,

the weapons would be used.

It was chilling actually.

Nuclear weapons, and all of this technology that seemed to be

exceeding human beings' wisdom at handling it.

And it was left up to these women to speak up about it.

The protest continued for years, until 1991,

when the missiles were removed and the USA and Russia agreed

to reduce the amount of nuclear weapons they both had.

Still to come, we ask the all-important question,

what would our celebs do if they were 12 again?

My friends that I made when I was 12 are my best friends today.

I wouldn't mind having a look at myself being 12.

It were better in them days. Gentler, better times.

Before that, we've got two minutes

with Mz Bratt to find out what she was like at 12.

She's an MC rapping star

who when not releasing her own material has released songs

with Dionne Bromfield and was part

of Gary Barlow's all star collective for Children In Need.

# Tear it all down, to the roof falls... #

That's now, but what was Mz Bratt like when she was 12?

All in all, I was a good kid.

Was very cheeky and mischievous, but kind of cool at the same time.

She may have been kind of cool, but her home life was quite different.

My dad got me into MCing.

He was in a collective called Spiral Tribe, which was acid house music.

My childhood was very colourful. My dad used to squat.

He never had his own house.

So at an early age, I got to see the homeless lifestyle.

It was difficult to connect with young people my age.

With Mz Bratt's growing interest in music,

who was her favourite pop star?

-I was a huge Ms Dynamite fan.

-# I'm Ms Dy-na-mi-tee... #

My mum used to play that as well.

Her music had no boundaries, in terms of generations.

# Negativity that you impose on me... #

She kind of taught through her music how a man should treat a woman,

so it was nice to have that voice.

If you was too embarrassed to go to your mum,

it's like Ms Dynamite was your kind of surrogate mum.

# Happiness, that's my target

# But right now, I feel like... #

But did Ms Dynamite's words of wisdom about the boys help?

At that age, guys started showing interest and stuff.

And that was really awkward cos you don't know how to deal with that.

I remember the first boy I went out with in high school.

We went out for a day

and we spent the whole time running away from each other.

We were so embarrassed and shy. It's such an awkward feeling.

I'm glad that's over!

# Time flies, focus, what's the point if you don't enjoy the moments? #

The best thing about being 12

is just being able to get away with everything.

I wouldn't really want to change anything

cos I guess that was all part of the learning curve of life

and I learned a lot,

when I was 12, going from a young kid to a teenager.

# Yeah! #

Time to get back to our three celebs.

And find out what Helen,

Jon and Bernard were watching when they were kids.

When I was 12, Ant and Dec were massive.

They had been in Byker Grove, they'd released a single.

# You will never need to fear, just as long as I am here.. #

And then they got given their own show.

And it was sort of a game show with different sections in,

so they'd have various kids on.

And one of the things they did was a section called Beat The Barber.

Beat The Barber was one of Ant and Dec's most controversial

TV moments ever.

Everyone, do you think Rob should still go through with it?

-ALL: Yeah!

-The aim of the game was to try and identify a picture

of a celebrity with a bald head.

If you guessed right, you'd win a prize.

-Robbie off Take That.

-It's not.

-It's not.

If you got it wrong, then you'd have your head shaved.

ANT AND DEC: Do your stuff! CHEERING

Gutted.

I remember watching it and thinking, "Oh, no, that's awful."

But parents went nuts over it.

They certainly did.

And everyone kicked off when this girl took to the barber's chair.

Oh!

It was all over the newspapers, it was on Points On View.

And what about Laurie, is she distraught?

I wasn't unhappy at all, I thought it was really funny

being on the programme and getting my hair cut off.

I don't know...

Nobody could justify why they did it.

No, I still don't think that's acceptable. No.

DEC: Laurie Slater did not Beat The Barber.

Apart from totally enraging parents across the land,

The Ant And Dec Show was the start of a very successful TV career.

Let's rewind to the 1940s and find out what Bernard was watching

instead of the telly.

I suppose the one thing that would have been nice, as a 12-year-old,

would have been to have TV.

We couldn't afford it, and there was no electricity

and that would have been magical.

Well, even if he did have a TV, he still wouldn't be able to watch it,

because during the war, television was shut down.

So the only on-screen entertainment for people was the local cinema.

And the first film I remember was something called The Clutching Hand.

And nobody sat and watched and listened and laughed.

There was sort of comments and all the rest of it.

But then The Clutching Hand comes on and the whole place would go, "Ooh."

Don't touch anything if you don't want to be blown to pieces.

CACKLING

The Clutching Hand, or The Amazing Exploits Of The Clutching Hand,

to give it its full title, was a murder mystery story

about a scientist who found the formula for making gold.

I've done it, it works, Duncan, it works!

But before he could pass on the secret,

the scientist mysteriously disappeared.

Ooohhh...

Help! >

-What was that?

-I don't know.

Follow that car!

The story was told in 15 parts,

a detective tried to track down the villain known as The Clutching Hand.

"I warn you.

"Drop this case if you value your life.

"The Clutching Hand."

SHE SCREAMS

For the kids in the audience in the '30s and '40s...

CACKLING

..it was super spooky stuff.

Is it over yet?

Yeah, like I'm not even scared, so...

Right, let's go 40 years in the future to the 1980s

and find out what Jon was watching on the box.

The TV in 1980 I used to love,

I always used to watch Tomorrow's World.

The 1980s' Tomorrow's Worlds are the most '80s programmes.

Tomorrow's World was a science show

that was all about the technology of tomorrow, hence the title.

This machine is capable of playing a video disc.

And it was on the TV for nearly 40 years.

If you don't feel like all this energetic walking

on your way to work, read your newspaper.

The show tried out new inventions and technology in the studio.

And the latest way to find just which of the rainbow colours

the plant uses to grow is, believe it or not, to...

listen to it.

They often correctly predicted what gadgets we'd be using in the future.

Eugh!

But sometimes they were well off the mark.

It doesn't have a chain from the pedals to the back wheel.

I'm not too sure how many things

that they actually predicted correctly.

The squash ball warming machine.

The talking trash can.

Thank you. Thank you.

Table-sized boards with clocks all over them.

And one of them's a toaster and one's... I don't know...

None of that sort of stuff happened.

It's so simple that even I can do it.

Maybe not, but with inventions like a robot that can make a cup of tea,

it's not such a bad thing. Milk, no sugar, please.

Mind your fingers, mate. Oh.

So those were the TV memories of our three celebs.

But what do they remember most about being 12?

I had no restraints as far as I could remember at all,

except to behave myself and not break windows and be...

absolutely stupid.

Being a 12-year-old girl is awful.

Girls have to deal with much more things than boys do.

All these things happen to you that you don't understand,

and they're pretty scary and pretty embarrassing.

It was all about going out, getting on your bike

and just living in the world and having fun.

Climbing up trees, being sort of tired from playing out.

Lots of things happened that stress you out,

but you just have to take a step back and think,

"before long, these confusing bits of the jigsaw

"will make a picture, and you'll be fine."

I had a very happy time.

I wouldn't mind going back and having a look at myself being 12.

It would be great.

Oh, I'm getting recollections now, aren't I?

Oh, it were better in them days. Gentler, better times.

I don't think I'd do that much differently, because...

although I say I had a stressful time,

I actually had quite a good time,

and my friends that I made when I was 12 are my best friends today.

If I was granted 30 seconds with my 12-year-old self,

I'd probably said, "Right, I'm you from the future.

"Trust me, it's all right. Trust your instincts.

"Two, don't let anybody tell you that you can't do something.

"If you really believe you can do it, stick to your guns

"and you jolly well do it."

I remember getting so stressed out about shoes and hair cuts

and it all becomes a bit irrelevant.

Just do the things that you enjoy doing and then you'll be happy.

Ultimately, if you're happy, you're ticking all the right boxes.

HE MOUTHS

And my 12-year-old self will be going...

"Eh?"

So, what have we learnt?

If you ever discover the formula for making gold, don't tell anyone.

Help! CACKLING

If you're insecure, don't go on TV dressed as Henry VIII.

# Why are you laughing at me? #

And if you get your lovely auburn hair hacked off on TV,

make sure you can take a joke.

It was really funny being on the programme

and getting my hair cut off.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd