Episode 5 12 Again

-On 12 Again:

-I looked like a demon child. And I was a demon child!

It took me four years to ever have a crush again!

I realised they were my sister Kate's big school...knicknacks!

Plus we download everything we can

about Friday Downloader Richard Wisker.

My friends were like, go on, we'll have a bet,

who can get the first kiss.

None of my friends had a first kiss, but I did on the night, so I won!

I was wearing me sister's knickers.

Need an explanation? I know I do! Well...

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

with your favourite celebs when they were your age?

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

And what TV shows did they watch?

Because despite the glamorous lifestyles they now lead,

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.

Good morning, campers!

This cheeky chap is one of the country's all-round entertainers,

but back in 1994

it was Joe Swash's mum who needed a break!

When I was 12, I think I was quite misunderstood,

I was quite naughty.

I was into everything. I was really mischievous.

She's the Sarah Jane Adventurer who truly takes aliens in her stride,

but back in 2002, Anjli Mohindra was very much down to earth.

When I was 12, I was a geek. A complete geek.

I did everything I was told to. It changed as I got older

and I got a bit naughtier. But at 12, I was an angel.

-Right, Mr Burgess!

-Ah!

-How do I look? It's showtime!

You may know him as the Guv'nor in the Slammer...

-Who's the Guv'nor?!

-CHEERING

But in 1967, Ted Robbins was all over the place.

Just before I turned 12, I went to 14 different schools.

My dad was in show business.

I never settled down and that made me anxious.

All are massive celebs today, and we're going to find out

everything you need to know about when they were 12.

So let's meet their 12-year-old selves.

When I was 12, I was a rather plump version of Harry Potter

with horn-rim glasses on.

They're quite trendy now, these frames. I see them now and I think,

why would you choose to wear them?! I HAD to wear them.

I was really cheeky looking,

red hair and it was curly, and I had freckles.

My look was perfect to my personality.

I looked like a demon child. And I WAS a demon child!

I can give you just one word, with three abbreviations, BFG.

I was like the Big Friendly Giant.

I looked amazing, for me, then, I thought I was amazing looking.

Clothing was always an issue.

I craved more than anything, a pair of sea dogs.

They were brushed denim and the bottoms went out like a bell.

I had those flares that everyone was wearing when I was 12.

Everything was flarey. Jeans, trousers, school trousers.

They hung off the floor so you could see a bit of my white sock.

I always had my button done up to the top.

Because I was a bit of a geek as well.

And then I had massive eyebrows. Like literally like caterpillars.

I don't think I even bothered with my clothes.

I was putting holes into things left, right and centre.

My shoes would last three days!

I'd have worn a sack! As long as I was allowed out to play football.

So, that's what our celebs looked like, but what do they get up to?

I was the oldest in a family of five. Four sisters.

And they played practical jokes on me.

Halloween came and one of them, I think it was Jane,

hid under my bed and then my sister Jane started going, "wooohh".

And I shot out of the bed! I went mad!

Bullying their big brother!

I got caught for mostly everything I'd done.

I've got one of those faces that you can read my mind.

Mum could always tell before I got into mischief.

She always said, you'd go a little bit quiet,

your eyes would scan around the room

and she'd be like, yeah, he's up to something.

And within ten minutes,

I was chucking eggs or something out of a window.

Or doing something silly.

I started off life in Nottingham.

And then moved to Germany when I was nine and came back

to exactly the same house and same friends when I was 12.

Anjli and her family spent three years in Germany whilst her dad

served in the armed forces.

I was relieved, but also I really missed my German friends.

But what we liked to do, wasn't quite the same.

We were still playing Knock Knock Ginger or whatever.

And Spider Spider In. And hide and seek, all these games.

But when I came back here, that was like, no, why are you doing that?

You should be listening to S Club 7 and looking at boys.

When I was just 12, something really fundamental happened to me.

I went to hospital for a long period

with an old-fashioned disease called rheumatic fever.

The treatment for rheumatic fever consisted of penicillin,

aspirin and bed rest.

Bed rest meant literally lying on your bed 24 hours a day.

I couldn't even get up to go to the lavatory.

I grew up in north London, near the Arsenal,

and I went to Highbury Grove School. Our school had big playgrounds,

and they used to rent the playgrounds out to the Arsenal on Saturday.

So in return, they'd give our school some tickets.

I worked out that if I got in detention on a Friday,

my head of year would give me a ticket to the Arsenal.

It was perfect! I had my little world sussed!

After a typical day of school, we'd go on MSN Messenger

and chat for about six hours with the same mates I'd been at school with all day.

I was really shy. I didn't really talk to anybody,

but I think moving to England and doing drama completely changed me.

Because it forced me to come out of my shell a bit and talk to people.

Then you couldn't shut me up!

I'd be sat on the back of buses talking to old grandmas.

I was quite good at crafts and making things.

And for myself, I liked to make forts.

I loved the American Civil War,

but my mum would say, make something for your sisters,

keep them occupied. So I was quite adept at doll's houses

and I made one or two quite good doll's houses.

And to this day, I still quite like a doll's house.

Like to look inside.

When I was 12, I didn't allow myself to have a crush on anyone,

because when I was 11, I was in love with this guy called Danny.

He didn't know. I got sent an e-mail to find out how compatible we were.

It asked all about who he was and who you were,

your favourite colour, his favourite colour,

which I obviously knew. It all got sent back to the girl who sent it me

and she was the big mouth at school, so she told EVERYONE.

It took me about four years to have a crush again.

I wouldn't let myself go there, because it was so humiliating!

The ultimate humiliation came for me,

from a family of one boy and four girls,

when one very busy morning,

my mother was trying to get us all clothed, and I was going,

"Mum! I haven't got any underpants!" She said, "Put these on."

She threw a pair of blue undies at me. I put them on.

Later, I realised they were

my sister Kate's big school knickknacks.

I was wearing me sister's knickers!

Mmm. OK!

That's what Joe, Anjli and Ted were getting up to

when they were kids. What kind of music were they listening to?

At 12, you're just developing your own tastes,

your likes and dislikes.

I started off liking... There was a neighbour next door to me,

his name was Lee, and he was into heavy metal.

And he was a bit older than me. He was 18, 19.

And he played his music outside the window.

And I remember he chucked me down a disc of Guns N' Roses.

# Whoa, sweet child o' mine. #

In the '80s and early '90s,

Guns N' Roses became one of the biggest hard rock bands of all time,

selling over 100 million albums worldwide. They were massive.

Knocking On Heaven's Door was one of my favourites.

I sang that at a talent show in primary school.

It didn't go down very well.

# Knock, knock knocking on heaven's door

# Hey, hey

# Hey, hey, yeah. #

When I was about 12, my dad bought me a Walkman,

and I remember listening to my Walkman for hours.

It's weird when you're 12, because you become obsessive about stuff.

I think as a 12-year-old, that's pretty cool,

having Guns N' Roses as my first band.

It could've been a lot worse. It could have been Aqua, Barbie Doll!

All them really embarrassing ones, but, yeah, Guns N' Roses I'm pleased with that.

Let's leave Joe knock, knock, knocking on Heaven's door.

Who's there? Doctor. Doctor Who? Oh, you've heard it.

-Let's see who Ted listened to.

-When I was 12, it was all happening.

That was a time when there was an explosion in music.

We'd play the records of the time that were sent to us or we bought.

The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, different artists at the time.

Gilbert O'Sullivan, I was hugely fond of.

He was around when I was 12, I think. James Taylor. Carole King.

You'd listen to anything and everything.

There seemed to be loads of bands in the '60s.

But who was Ted's favourite?

Because my mom and Paul McCartney were first cousins,

the Beatles were hugely part of our lives.

We got the albums sent from Apple Records.

And we'd listen to them.

And I genuinely loved them, as so many millions of others did.

In case you missed that,

Ted is ACTUALLY related to the legend that is Sir Paul McCartney.

Whether you like them or not,

the Beatles really are one of the most influential bands EVER. Their concerts were legendary,

and girls often screamed louder than the music.

And then fainted! A bit like a Justin Bieber concert.

That was the effect the Beatles had. It was incredible!

Even though Ted loved the music that was around in the '60s,

it doesn't mean that some songs didn't get on his nerves.

The most annoying song for me when I was 12 was Britain's entry

for Eurovision by Sandie Shaw. A good song, but it was

Puppet On A String, and it was in a loop in my head for three months!

# I

# Wonder if... #

As a matter of interest, Sandie Shaw was the first ever UK act

to win the Eurovision with this song.

# Like a puppet on a striiiiing

# Boo, boo, boo

# Like a puppet on a...

BOTH: # String. #

Drives me mad.

# I wonder... #

Let's leave Ted trying to get that out of his head

and find out what Anjli was listening to.

Music for me was all over TV. We had all the music channels.

Apart from being obsessed by MSN,

we used to watch music videos all the time.

So like Las Ketchup, Destiny's Child.

# Now that you're out of my life I'm so much better

# Thought I'd be weak without you but I'm stronger. #

It made me feel a bit like a woman.

Sounds so cliched, but Destiny's Child's song, I'm A Survivor.

# I'm a survivor I'm not gon' give up

# I'm not gon' stop I'm gon' work harder. #

I've never really had idols. But when I first saw Destiny's Child,

I was like, that's what I want to be like, that strong, sassy woman.

And they were gorgeous too. And you just wanted to be like Beyonce.

Even though Anjli was a massive fan of Destiny's Child,

she wasn't too cool to learn the dance moves

to The Ketchup Song by Las Ketchup.

# Bugui an de buididipi... #

It was really weird. That was the dance. And everybody learned it.

Me and my cousins, who were all much younger than me

so they didn't look as daft.

And I was the BFG in the back, doing that.

We used to do it at family parties.

Anjli wasn't the only person dancing to The Ketchup Song.

This song got to number one in practically every European country.

Still to come, we catch up with Richard Wisker

and find out what life was like when he was younger.

The best thing about being 12, you can get away with being cheeky.

Anjli discovers a brand-new TV channel.

You could watch it all day. Even when summer holidays weren't on.

Ted revisits one of his comic heroes.

What I loved about him was, he was a real old-fashioned type of comic,

-and I love old-fashioned comics.

-And Joe goes down the East End.

I was strangely drawn to EastEnders. I was a bit of a fan.

But first, Joe, Anjli and Ted tell us

what big moments happened when they were kids.

The Reverend Martin Luther King is dead, killed by an assassin's bullet.

To see Martin Luther King on your screen and the aftermath of him

being shot, was immensely moving and disturbing for a 12-year-old.

When Ted was 12, in some parts of America, black people

were racially discriminated against and separated from white people.

They were separated in schools, buses and even toilet facilities.

This led to the African-American Civil Rights Movement,

which aimed to give everyone in America equal rights.

I think looking at those pictures when I was 12,

especially when you saw scenes of the riots in the deep South,

and you saw what terrible scenes took place,

you realised it wasn't all just the Hollywood image of America

that was coming over, there was a whole experience going on.

Martin Luther King was one of the most prominent leaders

in the Civil Rights Movement.

And in 1963, he gave his famous I Have A Dream speech to

over 200,000 civil rights supporters calling for racial equality

and an end to discrimination.

It was a defining moment in the American Civil Rights Movement.

I was aware of some of the words that Martin Luther King used,

because I loved poetry and I loved drama

and those words really stuck out in my mind.

On 10th June 1968, Martin Luther King was shot

and killed by a man who disagreed with what he stood for.

After his death, the Civil Rights Movement continued

and 40 years later, America voted in

their first ever African-American president, Barack Obama.

Congratulations, Mr President. CHEERING

In 2001, just before Anjli turned 12,

one event changed the world for ever.

One of the biggest news stories when I was starting secondary school -

in fact, it was in my first week of secondary school,

was on 11th September 2001.

Hello. The story this afternoon: terror in America,

explosions devastate New York City.

Hello, and now to one of the most terrible events in American history.

Three and a half hours ago, two of the United States' biggest cities

were hit by massive terrorist explosions.

Two passenger planes flew into the World Trade Center in New York,

causing the entire building to collapse.

Everybody remembers that day.

Everybody was watching the news. It was everywhere.

On the morning of September 11th, 2001,

Islamic extremists killed nearly 3,000 people

in the worst terrorist attack ever on the USA.

How it affected me personally, was because

my dad was in the Army, and we lived in Germany on an army base,

everything got a lot more panicked.

It was less about how we felt about it,

and more about how all the grown-ups were really nervous.

The destruction of the Twin Towers had a huge impact on the world.

The American President declared a "war on terror"

and American and British forces led an invasion of Afghanistan

to try and hunt down the man behind the attacks, Osama bin Laden.

He was finally killed by American forces in 2011.

In one way or another, what happened on September 11th affected us all.

The site where the Twin Towers once stood

is now a memorial to those who lost their lives that day.

But for Joe, a big personal event changed his life for ever.

The biggest thing that happened to me when I was 12 -

my dad died when I was 12, which is really difficult when you're 12.

At 12, it's just too much information to try and work out,

too many feelings.

Being at the age where you need a little bit of direction,

you need that little bit of,

you need to be learning off your dad how to be a man and stuff.

Things changed completely from that day forever.

I didn't see myself as a child any more,

I wanted to help. My mum looked at me a little bit different.

Relied on me a little bit more.

Financially, from that point, we were really hard up.

-My mum had to go out and work.

-And with Joe starting his acting career,

he would give money that he earned to the family.

I'd do like The Bill, or EastEnders,

and you'd get £500, £600 for it. I was never asked to do it.

I just always didn't feel right when I earned money

and everyone else would be struggling.

I don't need money at that age, so I'd help out.

When something like that happens, you feel so much resentment.

Thinking why did it happen to us?

But I'm really proud of myself as a 12-year-old, coping with it.

And having to grow up, so I think with the help of my mum

and everyone, I've grown up quite level-headed.

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

what would our celebs do if they were 12 again?

It's funny that I can laugh back now at my really awkward,

self-conscious 12-year-old self.

In some ways, I felt I grew up a bit quick.

In other ways, I couldn't grow up quick enough.

Now I'm older and wiser, I have so many more things

I could have thought of doing as a kid.

First, we caught up with Richard Wisker who told us

what life was like at 12 in two minutes.

He's one of the UK's top up-and-coming actors

who loves giving you the top downloads on a Friday evening.

BOTH: TV Download complete.

But when he was 12, he knew exactly what he wanted to be.

I used to love just watching movies. I would sit and watch movies all day.

I thought, I'd love to do that.

I was doing The Bill, I think, around 12.

It was really good fun, because I'd never picked up a script in my life.

Hello!

We're from the local orphanage, and if we don't raise enough money,

they'll close us down and we'll be homeless.

So please, buy some pizza. It's only £1.

I always change my hair style. I used to have comb-overs

and try all different ones.

I used to do it in the bath, really weirdly,

try out new hairstyles and what could I have,

and what will look good.

At one point, I had highlights in my hair.

I done it cos my older brother did it.

I thought, oh, older brother, he's cool, and I want to be like him,

cos obviously, he's a role model, you look up to him.

I thought, yeah, why not?

With career and style in place, was there any time for girls?

There were some girlfriends.

I wouldn't say a crush, but you wouldn't go up to a girl at 12,

cos obviously, everyone's shy at 12.

There was one girl I used to dance with

and then had a first kiss, which was pretty cool.

But all my friends were like, oh, go on, we'll have a bet,

who can get the first kiss. And none of my friends had a first kiss,

but I did on the night, so, I won.

So getting a snog at the school disco is good,

but what was the best thing about being 12?

The best thing about being 12? You can get away with being cheeky.

Mostly getting spoilt as well.

If you wanted toys or clothes, you can get it.

When you get older, you have to get it yourself. Which is not cool.

That was our two minutes with Richard Wisker.

Now let's get back to our three celebs

and find out what they were watching on telly when they were 12.

There were nowhere near as many programmes or channels around

when I was 12, but the programmes I remember - Crackerjack...

Basil Brush. He was always there.

-You can sing?

-I've got a very powerful voice.

-You have?

-A powerful voice?

-Yes.

-What range?

-Oh, about 300 yards! Haha!

Believe it or not, Basil has been on TV for over 40 years!

He appeared on several TV shows in the '60s

before getting his own show in 1970.

-His catchphrase...

-Boom-boom!

Cheers, Ted! ..is known by practically everyone in the country.

And of course, it's still heard today.

Boom-boom!

What I loved about Basil Brush was he called everybody "Mister".

-Oh, hello, Mr Derek. And there was Mr Derek, Mr Roy.

-So, Mr Basil.

-Yes, Mr Derek.

-# Everybody sends their love to Basil Brush. #

My family called each other "Mister".

My sister would call me Mr Ted. And I would call her Mr Kate.

What I loved about him was, he was a real old-fashioned type of comic,

and I love an old-fashioned type of comic.

The comic who isn't afraid to get out and tell you a terrible joke.

What do you call a judge with no fingers? Justice Thumbs! Boom-boom!

Maybe leave the jokes to Basil, Ted!

Fast forward to 1994 and find out what Joe was watching on the box.

I was strangely drawn to EastEnders. I was a bit of a fan.

When I was in drama school, all my friends wanted to be in films

and this and that. I just wanted to be in EastEnders.

I knew people that was in the show too

and I was so desperate to be involved in it.

And Joe finally did get involved in his favourite soap

when he became a regular character called Mickey Miller in 2003.

Mickey! Mickey, mate! Wait!

What?

It's really strange, EastEnders.

You wouldn't think young kids would watch it

from the age of 12 and ten and stuff, but they do.

There's something in EastEnders that is adaptable

and liked by ages across the board.

It's quite strange to think of all the times

I talked about it and I watched it with my family,

and then to think four, five years down the line, I was there as well.

If only I'd known.

While Joe was living out his dreams,

in 2002, Anjli was watching the start of a brand-new channel.

You could only ever get kid's TV for two hours on BBC One or ITV.

And then that was it.

Then it was just watching videos or DVDs or whatever.

-But then came the CBBC Channel.

-Our top stories this afternoon.

On air, a new TV channel just for you.

CBBC got a complete new makeover when the channel launched

and featured presenters such as Radio One's Fearne Cotton,

BBC Sport's Jake Humphrey and of course, Dick and Dom.

This is the all-new CBBC, like you've never seen it before!

You could watch it all day, even when summer holidays weren't on.

If you were poorly, you could watch it all day.

One of my favourite shows was Stitch Up.

It was like a prank... a bit like Prank Patrol now,

but you couldn't set your mates up.

I really wanted to be on it.

HE COUGHS

# Night fever, night Fever

# We know how to do it. #

There were characters, one of them was remote controlled kid.

It was great. And he'd go into a sandwich shop

and ask for like an elaborately made sandwich.

As soon as they put it on, he'd be like, "it's wrong". So they'd start again.

The remote controlled kid went into loads of different types of shops

and had to say exactly what the older Stitch Up presenter told him.

OK, Simon, go into the dental surgery. Can you help me?

Can you help me? My mum told me something a few minutes ago.

-That the Tooth Fairy isn't real.

-It is real.

I wanted to be a prankster.

When me and Danny used to do Sarah Jane Adventures,

we always used to try and prank people.

I like practical jokes. I love things like that.

But they never work when you do them yourself.

You need a team of people behind you.

All you can do is like a Whoopee Cushion, which is a bit rubbish.

So, that's what they remember watching on TV.

But what do they remember most about being 12?

You sometimes think you're neither one thing nor the other.

You're not a child, not a baby.

Not even a teenager. You're sort of in-between.

You're just starting to become a man.

You hit puberty and muscles start to grow and hair starts growing.

You kind of have that crossover from being a boy to a teenager

and from being a kid to an adult.

It's a massive, massive time in any boy's life,

and a young girls life, 12 is a pinnacle age.

I felt like somebody had opened my eyes a bit

and it was no longer time to be a kid

and get away with slight cheeky things any more.

Suddenly you're more responsible for your own actions

and more aware of what's going on around you.

Just enjoy it. Enjoy being young. Enjoy having no responsibilities.

Your friends, you're never going to have friends like you did

when you were 12 years old.

Everything means so much more to you. Everything is so much more important.

It's funny that I can laugh back now at my really awkward,

self-conscious 12-year-old self.

And realise how scared I was of suddenly becoming a woman.

A lot of special times happen when you're 12.

And a lot of special things go on that you don't realise

until you get older.

By that time, you know, the moment's gone.

In some ways, I felt I grew up a bit quick.

And in other ways, I felt I couldn't grow up quick enough.

It's the first time you ever have your heart broken. It's the first time

you're going to kind of fall out with your mate in such a big way,

all those changes, because once they've happened, they've happened.

But that kind of transitional phase, I really miss.

Now I'm older and wiser, I've got so many more things

that I could have thought of doing when I was a kid.

I know so much more about how to get on people's nerves.

Oh, I'd have been a force to deal with, I'm telling you!

It would've been brilliant!

Thankfully, Joe can never be 12 again.

Right, so what have we learnt?

If you need some new dance moves, Anjli is the girl to go and see.

# Bugui an de buididipi... #

-If you ever need a bad gag, just ask Ted.

-Justice Thumbs! Boom-boom!

And if you're ever struck down with "knight" fever,

get yourself to the chemist.

HE COUGHS

# Night fever, night fever... #

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd