0:00:02 > 0:00:06Coming up... The stars of EastEnders become 12 again.
0:00:06 > 0:00:10I could polish off two bags of chips and two cans of Coke by myself.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13The idea of me doing ballet or tap, or something was, "Ooh, it's girly."
0:00:13 > 0:00:18We're going to discover what life was like for them when they were 12.
0:00:18 > 0:00:20Those feelings are so intense and so strong,
0:00:20 > 0:00:22there's nothing puppyish about them.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24As soon as you spot someone, you're "Pow!"
0:00:24 > 0:00:26I get it now.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28Oh... Do you know what? I didn't even get that!
0:00:28 > 0:00:30Want to know more? Well...
0:00:30 > 0:00:34Have you ever wondered what it would've been like
0:00:34 > 0:00:38to be best mates with your favourite celebs when they were your age?
0:00:39 > 0:00:42What did they get up to? What were their favourite songs?
0:00:42 > 0:00:45And what TV shows did they watch?
0:00:45 > 0:00:48Because, despite the glamorous lifestyles they now lead,
0:00:48 > 0:00:52once they were a 12-year-old kid just like you.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55This show lets go back in time with the stars of Albert Square
0:00:55 > 0:00:58as they become 12 Again.
0:01:01 > 0:01:02First up...
0:01:02 > 0:01:06She's known as Tanya, Albert Square's beautician.
0:01:06 > 0:01:08You said it.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11So, back in 1989, were looks as important to Jo?
0:01:11 > 0:01:15I was quite a frumpy country girl who was quite into horses.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19She's Whitney, Walford's gobby girl with a troubled past.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21Oh, that's all right.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24But, back in 2003, Shona's own life was a lot more carefree.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28I was really fun, really bubbly.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30And very talkative.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33Jay is the likeable and street-smart Walford kid,
0:01:33 > 0:01:35who's struggled to stay on the straight and narrow.
0:01:35 > 0:01:36That's right.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40But, back in 2006, he was, well, actually pretty similar.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43Don't get me wrong, I've done a bit of ducking and diving, as you do,
0:01:43 > 0:01:44to get out of a few things.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48But, on the whole, I thought I was a good lad.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52Next up, Masood, the much-loved Albert Square postie,
0:01:52 > 0:01:55who spends most of his time sorting out his family's dramas.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57Yeah, well, life goes on.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00But 12-year-old Nitin wasn't quite so confident.
0:02:00 > 0:02:01I could joke around.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05But, essentially, I was scared, and I was quite shy.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09And finally, an actor who's played the good-humoured charmer
0:02:09 > 0:02:12Patrick Truman since 2001.
0:02:12 > 0:02:13Well, you know me.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15And, back in 1951,
0:02:15 > 0:02:18Rudolph's childhood was just as happy-go-lucky.
0:02:18 > 0:02:20As a 12-year-old boy,
0:02:20 > 0:02:23I just enjoyed life.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25Today, they are massive soap stars.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29But we're going to rewind and find out what they were like
0:02:29 > 0:02:31back when they were 12.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36When I was 12, I remember I had a real freckly nose.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40Um, really fair hair, like, quite a little cheeky face.
0:02:40 > 0:02:45When I was 12, I discovered a bit of mascara and hair dyes.
0:02:45 > 0:02:47I was quite experimental.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50I used to wear a baseball jacket with leather sleeves,
0:02:50 > 0:02:55baggy dungarees, and builders' boots. In pink, of course.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58I was quite a fatty when I was 12.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01I mean, I could polish off two bags of chips
0:03:01 > 0:03:05and two cans of Coke by myself, in about 20 minutes.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09That doesn't sound very nutritious.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11So now we know what our celebs were like as kids.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14But what were they getting up to?
0:03:14 > 0:03:17At the age of 12, I played cricket for the school.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20The coach felt that I could have gone on
0:03:20 > 0:03:23and played cricket for Trinidad. But I just treated it as fun.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27When I was 12, all I ever did was draw.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30It was an obsession of mine, and I didn't have a sketch pad.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33But what would happen was that newspapers would come
0:03:33 > 0:03:37wrapped in white paper, and my dad would cut the string.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41I'd take the white paper, and that is what I would draw on.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43I used to ride my bike a lot when I was 12.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45Actually, this is quite embarrassing,
0:03:45 > 0:03:49I'd put like a boom box, like a big cassette player,
0:03:49 > 0:03:52I tied it with a shoelace, on to the front of my bike.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54I used to ride down the road in front of my friends
0:03:54 > 0:03:56and think I was really cool.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59All my friends would go, "Oh, here's Shona, look, you can hear her."
0:03:59 > 0:04:03- SHE LAUGHS - Quite embarrassing.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06And that boom box would come in handy for Shona's other hobby.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08# Check this out! #
0:04:09 > 0:04:11We'd have a dance-off.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13Dance-offs are competitions
0:04:13 > 0:04:15where two or more people bust their best moves
0:04:15 > 0:04:18until one is declared the winner.
0:04:18 > 0:04:19You won't see it on Strictly.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21We'd just be in a circle,
0:04:21 > 0:04:24then, all of a sudden, two people would come into the middle.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26Let battle commence!
0:04:29 > 0:04:31So what shapes did Shona throw?
0:04:31 > 0:04:35The kind of moves that were in were, like, the whole Beyonce one.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37Yeah, brilliant, yeah.
0:04:37 > 0:04:38The chicken.
0:04:38 > 0:04:39I'm not familiar.
0:04:39 > 0:04:40Oh, that's it, yeah.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42SHE GIGGLES
0:04:42 > 0:04:45Right. I don't fancy your chances against this lot, Shona.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48That's what our celebs were up to,
0:04:48 > 0:04:52but did they have any ambitions for future stardom?
0:04:52 > 0:04:57When I was 12, acting had never come into any of this.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59I was too shy to be an actor.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01I was very shy.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05But, put me on stage as a kid, and my whole personality changed.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08Everything became large and exciting.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10I didn't think about what I wanted to do.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12You know when you're young, you plod through life
0:05:12 > 0:05:14and you think everything will pan out all right.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17So I never used to worry about things like that.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19You don't, do you, when you're young.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21Not true, Jamie.
0:05:21 > 0:05:23Shona knew exactly what she wanted to do.
0:05:23 > 0:05:27Anyone that told me I won't achieve anything, I always said,
0:05:27 > 0:05:29"Well, I'm going to be an actress."
0:05:29 > 0:05:30I just said it like that.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33And that might have looked really arrogant of me,
0:05:33 > 0:05:36but I genuinely believed that that's what I wanted to do.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38I always wanted to be an actor, yeah.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41If you could make a living out of the thing you loved doing most,
0:05:41 > 0:05:44then you're the luckiest person alive, aren't you?
0:05:44 > 0:05:47And so that's what I set out to do.
0:05:49 > 0:05:50But it wasn't all dreams of stardom.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53And, for 12-year-old Nitin,
0:05:53 > 0:05:55the realities of everyday life could be tough.
0:05:55 > 0:05:59Being an Indian kid growing up in a white neighbourhood,
0:05:59 > 0:06:01racism was just always there.
0:06:01 > 0:06:02You didn't know it was wrong,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05you just know people were calling you these names
0:06:05 > 0:06:07and picking on you because of the colour of your skin.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10We came from a corner shop, which was targeted a lot.
0:06:10 > 0:06:15So, they were quite shaky times for a small kid to grow up.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20But life in Trinidad for 12-year-old Rudolph was much simpler.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23I would get up at about five o'clock in the morning.
0:06:23 > 0:06:28I had to walk a block with buckets, to fetch water.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31Trinidad is the fifth-largest country in the West Indies,
0:06:31 > 0:06:34a series of islands in the Caribbean Sea
0:06:34 > 0:06:37just off the northern coast of South America.
0:06:37 > 0:06:42My home, growing up, in today's standard, it was a shack.
0:06:42 > 0:06:48Literally, one bedroom in which my mother and three of us slept.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51I came from, I suppose one can say,
0:06:51 > 0:06:55a poor family, comparatively speaking.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58In a nutshell, I came from a single-parent family.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01In my days as a 12-year-old I got smacked.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04There's no question about that.
0:07:04 > 0:07:10But I have the greatest admiration for my mother as a single parent.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13And, as a kid growing up, it was just beautiful.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17Meanwhile, far, far away
0:07:17 > 0:07:20in the slightly less tropical climate of deepest Oxfordshire,
0:07:20 > 0:07:2412-year-old Jo was leading something of a double life.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27I grew up in a very sleepy little village.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29One minute I was wearing my wellies
0:07:29 > 0:07:33and a big baggy jumper that belonged to my dad, with my scruffy hair.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35And then I'd have this circle of friends at school
0:07:35 > 0:07:37that were much more worldly-wise, who'd grown up in town,
0:07:37 > 0:07:41who wore a lot of make-up and lots of mousse
0:07:41 > 0:07:43and their hair piled up high, in pineapples.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45And then I'd go back to the country.
0:07:45 > 0:07:47I, kind of, had these two different lives.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51And, while Jo was jumping from one group of friends to another,
0:07:51 > 0:07:56Jamie was about to pirouette into a whole new world.
0:07:56 > 0:08:01I came from just a normal school,
0:08:01 > 0:08:04to go into this big, famous stage school.
0:08:04 > 0:08:05I was not used to it.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08The idea of me doing ballet or tap or something was like,
0:08:08 > 0:08:09"Ugh, it's girly!"
0:08:09 > 0:08:14Well, brace yourself. Jamie, things are about to get a whole lot worse.
0:08:14 > 0:08:15I had to try out all the ballet stuff on,
0:08:15 > 0:08:18and I remember being a bit nervous.
0:08:18 > 0:08:20I remember actually crying. I looked in the mirror crying.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23My dad was laughing at me. I was going, "Oh, shut up!"
0:08:23 > 0:08:25I'm sure you looked lovely, Jamie.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28Once you go and you start wearing them for a little while,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31you, sort of, get used to it. It was all right, it was all right.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34So, now we know what our celebs were getting up to at 12.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38But what were they listening to?
0:08:38 > 0:08:40At 12, I grew up with lots of different styles of music.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43# You know that I loved you. #
0:08:43 > 0:08:45We had Motown.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47# Can't help myself
0:08:47 > 0:08:51# Cos I love you, and nobody else. #
0:08:51 > 0:08:52And disco.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56# D-I-S-C-O
0:08:56 > 0:08:59# D-I-S-C-O. #
0:08:59 > 0:09:04At the same time, we had this new scene kicking off.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07We'd gone from punk to Two Tone.
0:09:12 > 0:09:17Two Tone was a new type of music created in the UK in the late '70s
0:09:17 > 0:09:19by bands such as The Selecter.
0:09:19 > 0:09:24It mixed elements of Jamaican music and '70s punk.
0:09:24 > 0:09:29That music did move me in a different way to anything else.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31It made me want to jump, it made me want to dance.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37One of the most successful Two Tone bands were The Specials,
0:09:37 > 0:09:39from Nitin's home town of Coventry.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42And they didn't just play funky music,
0:09:42 > 0:09:44they wrote songs that spoke about the problems
0:09:44 > 0:09:48young people were facing growing up at that time.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50They went on to write Ghost Town
0:09:50 > 0:09:53which was about the unemployment in Coventry
0:09:53 > 0:09:57and what it had turned this thriving city into - a Ghost Town.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59# This town
0:09:59 > 0:10:01# Is coming like a ghost town. #
0:10:01 > 0:10:04It was just at the beginning of the last recession,
0:10:04 > 0:10:06unemployment was beginning to grow,
0:10:06 > 0:10:09a lot of kids were being told there's no point having an education
0:10:09 > 0:10:10because you're never going to get a job.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14# This place is coming like a ghost town. #
0:10:14 > 0:10:18Ghost Town brilliantly captured the mood of recession-hit Britain
0:10:18 > 0:10:22and topped the UK singles charts for three whole weeks.
0:10:22 > 0:10:27With that kind of music kicking off, it was a really good time to be 12.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31So, from '70s ska...
0:10:31 > 0:10:34into a noughties funk pop classic
0:10:34 > 0:10:37that got Shona shimmying on to the dance floor.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40- SHE SINGS - # Hey ya! #
0:10:40 > 0:10:44From Outkast was my favourite song when I was 12.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49Outkast are a hugely successful hip-hop act,
0:10:49 > 0:10:52and Hey Ya was a worldwide smash in 2003,
0:10:52 > 0:10:57partly due to this amazing video which saw band member Andre 3000,
0:10:57 > 0:11:02his actual name, playing all eight members of a fictional group.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07I remember the first time we saw it, and I just loved it.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09For weeks after, at school, we'd be like,
0:11:09 > 0:11:13# Shake it like a Polaroid picture... #
0:11:16 > 0:11:19To be honest, I don't really know what a Polaroid picture is.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22OK, quick lesson, Shona, Polaroids are instant photos
0:11:22 > 0:11:25where the image begins to develop straight away.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29Ah! The whole point is, I get it now. Oh...
0:11:30 > 0:11:34Do you know what? I didn't even get that!
0:11:34 > 0:11:36The whole point is that you shake them to dry them
0:11:36 > 0:11:38and then they develop. Oh!
0:11:38 > 0:11:40We got there, eventually.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44And, while Shona loved a bit of shaking...
0:11:44 > 0:11:46JIVE MUSIC
0:11:46 > 0:11:49..Rudolph was more into jiving!
0:11:50 > 0:11:54We youngsters, we loved the fast, jazzy music.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58One of the big songs that I remember was In The Mood.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02In The Mood was a song by legendary American big band leader
0:12:02 > 0:12:05Glenn Miller, who enjoyed huge success
0:12:05 > 0:12:09in the swing music era of the early 1940s.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11As a kid, I love dancing.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14Throwing the girls over our shoulders,
0:12:14 > 0:12:18throwing them between our legs. It was fantastic.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20Rudolph, calm yourself down!
0:12:22 > 0:12:23So, Jamie, next,
0:12:23 > 0:12:27and he raided his father's record collection for musical inspiration.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31I think I used to enjoy the old stuff more because my dad enjoyed it more.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34Really liked bands like The Police.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36# Guess you'd call it cowardice... #
0:12:36 > 0:12:40Formed in 1977, way before Jamie was even born,
0:12:40 > 0:12:45blond beat merchants The Police, led by frontman Sting, were huge.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49Can't Stand Losing You was their first top five hit.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52# Can't stand losing you! #
0:12:52 > 0:12:56But it was their biggest anthem that got Jamie's toes tapping.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59Every Breath You Take is probably one of their most famous.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03# Every breath you take. #
0:13:03 > 0:13:05HE SINGS # Every move you make. #
0:13:05 > 0:13:07Released in 1983,
0:13:07 > 0:13:10Every Breath You Take was a global smash
0:13:10 > 0:13:15and has since clocked up a staggering nine million radio plays.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19Listening to that type of music at 12 just made me feel,
0:13:19 > 0:13:22like, different from everyone else, which I like.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25We like it too, Jamie.
0:13:25 > 0:13:31Now, from '80s dad rock to a gang of funky feminine pharaohs.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35The Bangles were just cool.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38We loved the fact that they all played instruments.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40We just wanted to be The Bangles.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42The Bangles had previously charted
0:13:42 > 0:13:45with up-tempo tunes like Walk Like An Egyptian.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48# Walk like an Egyptian. #
0:13:48 > 0:13:51But it was a slushy ballad that made the biggest impact
0:13:51 > 0:13:54on romantic young Jo.
0:13:54 > 0:13:55We loved Eternal Flame.
0:13:55 > 0:14:00# Close your eyes Give me your hand, darling. #
0:14:00 > 0:14:02This lovey-dovey smash hit
0:14:02 > 0:14:07topped the UK charts for four weeks in 1989.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09Eternal Flame was a brilliant song
0:14:09 > 0:14:12for all the people you were falling with in love with at the age of 12.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15Because there was somebody different every week that you had a crush on.
0:14:15 > 0:14:21# Is this burning an eternal flame? #
0:14:22 > 0:14:25It was all about, "Is this the one?"
0:14:25 > 0:14:28# It's meant to be, darling. #
0:14:28 > 0:14:31Your feelings are so raw and so real when you're 12.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35That first falling for somebody is massive,
0:14:35 > 0:14:39and I hate it when, now, actually, people say it's puppy love
0:14:39 > 0:14:42because those feelings are so intense and so strong,
0:14:42 > 0:14:44there's nothing puppyish about them, you know.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46They're really quite fierce.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50We hear you, girlfriend, we hear you.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53- Still to come... - MORPH GIGGLES
0:14:53 > 0:14:57Shona remembers a little legend.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00Morph was strong. He'd carry Sellotape, no problem.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04Nitin recalls a now-controversial '70s sit com.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08The way it was written was that the Indians were the clever ones
0:15:08 > 0:15:10and it was the soldiers that were the idiots.
0:15:10 > 0:15:11You are too kind.
0:15:11 > 0:15:12And Rudolph?
0:15:12 > 0:15:15Well, Rudolph didn't have a TV, he just went to the cinema.
0:15:15 > 0:15:19It had real excitement. It had the goodies and baddies.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22But first, let's see which stories hit the headlines
0:15:22 > 0:15:25when our East End stars were kids.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28- NEWSREEL:- It's now 14 hours since John Lennon was shot here,
0:15:28 > 0:15:32at the entrance of the Dakota building on West 72nd Street,
0:15:32 > 0:15:34in the centre of New York.
0:15:34 > 0:15:35I remember watching on the news,
0:15:35 > 0:15:38my brother came in and switched the TV on.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42And said, really choked up, he said, "John Lennon's dead."
0:15:42 > 0:15:46There has been a crowd here standing in more or less silent vigil,
0:15:46 > 0:15:49and the flowers have been piling up at the gate.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52# Love, love, love. #
0:15:52 > 0:15:54John Lennon was a founding member of The Beatles,
0:15:54 > 0:15:57one of the most important bands in history,
0:15:57 > 0:16:00making him an icon and a hero to millions.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03At 12, I liked their music, I listened to it.
0:16:03 > 0:16:05But, of course,
0:16:05 > 0:16:10I didn't know the impact that The Beatles had had on the world.
0:16:10 > 0:16:12I did know that they had changed the music scene.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16I didn't know what an inspiration John Lennon was.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19After The Beatles split in 1970,
0:16:19 > 0:16:22John Lennon continued as a solo artist.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26He campaigned for peace and, in his most famous song Imagine,
0:16:26 > 0:16:29he expressed his hopes for a better world.
0:16:29 > 0:16:34# Imagine all the people
0:16:34 > 0:16:40# Living life in peace. #
0:16:40 > 0:16:43After he died, I was wondering why my brother was so upset.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45Wondering why other people were so upset.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49So I'm, kind of, going, this guy must be important.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51# But I'm not the only one. #
0:16:51 > 0:16:55The song was re-released in 1980 to commemorate his death,
0:16:55 > 0:16:58staying at the top of the charts for four whole weeks.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02Those words really did move me, in a very strange way,
0:17:02 > 0:17:06because it was the first time I connected emotionally to him dying.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10# Imagine no possessions... #
0:17:10 > 0:17:14Imagine became Lennon's best-selling solo single,
0:17:14 > 0:17:17and its thought-provoking lyrics continue to have an impact today.
0:17:17 > 0:17:23John Lennon's songs and words have become much, much more powerful now,
0:17:23 > 0:17:27because that's what people desire more than anything else now.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31And a quite different type of hero was making the news
0:17:31 > 0:17:33when Shona was 12.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36A campaigner for fathers' rights
0:17:36 > 0:17:39has managed to get past security at Buckingham Palace.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43Dressed as Batman, he has been staging a demonstration.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45I remember Fathers 4 Justice, watching it on the news.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47I wanted to know what was going on.
0:17:47 > 0:17:52"Mum, why are they on this building? Why are they dress like that?"
0:17:52 > 0:17:55Fathers 4 Justice was formed in 2001 by dads who'd found
0:17:55 > 0:17:59they had little or no access to their children after divorce.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03Members of the group often dressed up as superheroes
0:18:03 > 0:18:07and staged protests in famous locations
0:18:07 > 0:18:09to put pressure on the government to change the law.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13- TV:- Never has anyone dressed in a cape, mask and tights
0:18:13 > 0:18:16got so close to the royal apartments.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18What captured my imagination was the fact that
0:18:18 > 0:18:20they were in superhero outfits.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22My mum explained it to me.
0:18:22 > 0:18:29And she said, "It's because children look up to their dads as heroes."
0:18:29 > 0:18:32And I thought, yeah, I do. I thought, they're clever to do that
0:18:32 > 0:18:34because I related to that a lot.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38And, while dads protesting made a big impact on Shona...
0:18:40 > 0:18:43..12-year-old Jamie was worried about a deadly virus.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46First today, worries about bird flu.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48as politicians here have admitted
0:18:48 > 0:18:51it's now more likely to turn up in the UK.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53When I was 12, I remember bird flu.
0:18:53 > 0:18:55I used to think about it, worry about it, a lot.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59But the government is also saying, don't get in a flap,
0:18:59 > 0:19:02and British farmers insist they're ready for any outbreak.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05We heard about bird flu in 2003,
0:19:05 > 0:19:08when outbreaks were reported in south-east Asia.
0:19:10 > 0:19:11We were all on edge.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15"It's in China now, when is it going to come to Britain?"
0:19:15 > 0:19:20The virus kills birds and can prove fatal to humans.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22I was terrified. Honestly, I was so scared.
0:19:22 > 0:19:27I always used to think, how can it contract from bird to human?
0:19:27 > 0:19:31Like, who would run up and kiss a bird, in their right mind?
0:19:31 > 0:19:35Nobody, Jamie. Nobody's kissing birds.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38But the bird flu virus can be transmitted to humans
0:19:38 > 0:19:43who have close contact with live infected birds, like farmers.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46And strict measures were introduced to stop the virus spreading.
0:19:46 > 0:19:51- TV:- A three-kilometre protection zone has been set up at the farm.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55Birds inside will have to be tested and kept indoors.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57And, while bird flu remains a threat,
0:19:57 > 0:20:00the chances of people in the UK catching it
0:20:00 > 0:20:02are thankfully extremely small.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06And, while Jamie was fretting about our feathered friends,
0:20:06 > 0:20:11when Jo was 12, epic changes were happening in eastern Europe.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13Hello, again. A special Newsround today,
0:20:13 > 0:20:16here from one of the new gaps in the Berlin Wall.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18When I was 12, the big story,
0:20:18 > 0:20:21the big news story, was the fall of the Berlin Wall.
0:20:21 > 0:20:251989 will always be remembered for what happened here.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28The year when the barriers between east and west Europe
0:20:28 > 0:20:31finally started opening up.
0:20:31 > 0:20:32After the Second World War,
0:20:32 > 0:20:36East Germany was separated from the west and became Communist.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40The Berlin Wall was the biggest symbol of Communism.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43Communism is a political system
0:20:43 > 0:20:46in which the government controls the economy
0:20:46 > 0:20:48and runs things like shops, factories and farms.
0:20:49 > 0:20:54I don't think I had much of a concept, at 12, of Communism.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56In one way, I, kind of, respected and understood,
0:20:56 > 0:20:59in a kind of hippyish way, in terms of a country girl,
0:20:59 > 0:21:01you were all ploughing the same field
0:21:01 > 0:21:04And then you all shared the corn, right?
0:21:04 > 0:21:06That was my simple understanding of it.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10But whilst West Germany became rich, Communist East Germany stayed poor
0:21:10 > 0:21:14and the regime imprisoned anyone who disagreed with the system.
0:21:14 > 0:21:18Once you, kind of, looked into it, it was more of a regime.
0:21:18 > 0:21:23And far more oppressive than I had realised.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25Thousands tried to escape
0:21:25 > 0:21:29and the Berlin Wall was built by the Communists to keep people in.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34By the late '80s, people living in eastern Europe demanded freedom
0:21:34 > 0:21:35and an end to Communism.
0:21:35 > 0:21:39And, in 1989, when the East German government opened the border,
0:21:39 > 0:21:43the people celebrated and tore down the wall.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45Wonderful, what we have been waiting for.
0:21:45 > 0:21:46My friend had a German pen pal.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49She went over there when they were tearing the wall down,
0:21:49 > 0:21:52and she brought me back a bit of the Berlin Wall.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55So Jo had a little piece of history.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00And people in eastern Europe had the freedom to travel where they wanted.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05Still to come, we ask the all-important question...
0:22:05 > 0:22:08What would our EastEnders do if they were 12 again?
0:22:08 > 0:22:11I wouldn't change a thing about being 12. No.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14You're young, and you've got your whole life ahead of you.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17And you are in the midst of everything.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19Go to the park, have a dance-off.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21Do your things. Ride your bike.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25Maybe learn to swim. HE LAUGHS
0:22:25 > 0:22:27OK, back to business.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31Let's find out what top TV shows our soap stars tuned into
0:22:31 > 0:22:33when they were kids.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37My favourite kids' show was Smart.
0:22:37 > 0:22:43Smart was a kids' TV art show that ran from 1994 to 2009.
0:22:43 > 0:22:45I think my favourite part of the Smart show
0:22:45 > 0:22:48had to be my little friend Morph.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51Morph was a little Plasticene fella
0:22:51 > 0:22:54who talked gobbledegook with his friend Chas.
0:22:54 > 0:22:56MORPH SPEAKS GOBBLEDEGOOK
0:22:56 > 0:22:59You can, sort of, understand it, if you listen very carefully.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01By bay.
0:23:01 > 0:23:02"My plates."
0:23:02 > 0:23:03Die dan faw.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05"Knife and fork."
0:23:05 > 0:23:07- Dad-ol. - Candles.
0:23:07 > 0:23:09By bay.
0:23:09 > 0:23:10"My cake."
0:23:10 > 0:23:13- CHAS LAUGHS - Dat dot fuddy!
0:23:13 > 0:23:16Well, Chas thought it was. Oh!
0:23:16 > 0:23:18Morph was strong.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20He carried Sellotape, no problem.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23In every episode, Smart would show you
0:23:23 > 0:23:26how to turn everyday household items into works of art.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28I've got some kitchen roll here.
0:23:28 > 0:23:32Now, this is what I've done with the inside of my kitchen roll.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35I'd say, "Mum, have we any toilet roll?" She would be like, "Yes."
0:23:35 > 0:23:37I'd be like, "The cardboard bit."
0:23:37 > 0:23:40She'd say, "We can't use all the toilet roll for the cardboard bit."
0:23:40 > 0:23:42"Oh, please, Mum, I've got to make this!"
0:23:42 > 0:23:46What you need do is push them into each other, just like that.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48She was very good, my mum. She'd be like that...
0:23:49 > 0:23:51"All right, it's coming."
0:23:51 > 0:23:53Just again push them into each other.
0:23:53 > 0:23:55"Hurry up. They're doing it!"
0:23:55 > 0:24:00Don't panic, Shona's mum! All that paper wouldn't go to waste.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04This is what I'm going to be using, the outside of the kitchen roll.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06I've watered down some PVA.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09As if you're going to have PVA glue in your house.
0:24:09 > 0:24:10I had a Pritt stick, that's about it.
0:24:10 > 0:24:15And, while Shona was busy trying to stick bits of loo roll together,
0:24:15 > 0:24:2012-year-old Nitin was glued to a now-controversial '70s sitcom.
0:24:20 > 0:24:25We had It Ain't Half Hot, Mum, which was a big hit in an Asian household.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29It Ain't Half Hot, Mum was a comedy about an army entertainment troupe
0:24:29 > 0:24:34posted in India, who put on shows to entertain the soldiers.
0:24:34 > 0:24:40There was a character, a lead Indian character, who was brilliant.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46And left me shocked to the core to find out he was white.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50How dare you! Who do you think you are talking to?
0:24:50 > 0:24:54I am bearer to concert party which is top-hole job.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57Michael Bates was the actor who played Rangi Ram.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00He was actually born in India and spoke Hindi
0:25:00 > 0:25:04but was white and, on the show, he wore make-up to look Indian.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08His characterisation of an Indian was superb.
0:25:08 > 0:25:09You are too kind.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13Many families enjoyed watching the show on TV back the '70s,
0:25:13 > 0:25:17but these kind of racial stereotypes wouldn't be OK nowadays.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21You wait here, saab. I will report to Sergeant Major-saab.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24We never saw it as racist, at all.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26Wait outside!
0:25:26 > 0:25:29The way it was written was that the Indians were the clever ones,
0:25:29 > 0:25:32and it was the soldiers that were the idiots.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35Sergeant Major-saab kindly ask you to wait.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39In fact, we were in admiration of the detail of performance.
0:25:39 > 0:25:41It seems hard to believe now,
0:25:41 > 0:25:46but there was a time, not that long ago, when no-one had a telly.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49In those days, television just wasn't in existence.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53The only form of entertainment was going to the cinema.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57And Rudolph was especially fond of Western movies.
0:25:59 > 0:26:03Watching cowboys and Indians, it appealed to us as kids
0:26:03 > 0:26:05because it was adventurous.
0:26:07 > 0:26:11It had real excitement, it had the goodies and baddies.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15And young cowboy Rudolph didn't just watch the films, he lived them!
0:26:15 > 0:26:19We created our own form of cowboys and Indians.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23We made our guns and we would hide behind trees.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26And, as soon as you spotted somebody, you'd go, "Pow!"
0:26:26 > 0:26:28Ugh, you got me!
0:26:28 > 0:26:32So, those were the TV memories of our EastEnders stars.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35But what advice would they give to their 12-year-old selves?
0:26:35 > 0:26:39If I was 12 again, I wouldn't eat those two bags of chips
0:26:39 > 0:26:42and those two cans of Coke.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45I wouldn't change a thing about being 12, no.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49- Maybe learn to swim. - HE LAUGHS
0:26:49 > 0:26:51I would say to my 12-year-old self, be happy,
0:26:51 > 0:26:54go to the park, have a dance-off.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58Do your thing, ride your bike. Be fearless.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01Enjoy life. Be polite to your mum and dad.
0:27:01 > 0:27:02It's a great time to enjoy
0:27:02 > 0:27:05because you've got the rest of your life to be serious and sensible.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08You're young, and you've got your whole life ahead of you.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11And you're in the midst of everything.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13It's a glorious time.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16So, what have we learnt then?
0:27:16 > 0:27:20Those East Germans know how to party!
0:27:20 > 0:27:22Wonderful. It's what we've waited for.
0:27:22 > 0:27:23Dod-day.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25Don't ever invite Morph over for dinner.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28He's a mucky pup.
0:27:28 > 0:27:29CHAS LAUGHS
0:27:32 > 0:27:36And, if you're ever playing cowboys and Indians with Rudolph, duck!
0:27:36 > 0:27:37We would hide behind trees,
0:27:37 > 0:27:40and as soon as you'd spot someone, you'd go, "Pow!"
0:27:40 > 0:27:43Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd