Episode 2 The Street

This programme contains very strong language.

Sauchiehall Street is one of the most famous streets in Scotland.

By day, thousands are employed in its shops and offices. By night,

it attracts hordes of visitors to its restaurants, bars and clubs.

And at the weekend, the street

has a reputation as one of the most buzzing places to go out in Glasgow.

Ah!

If you've not got a number by now, you shouldn't be getting one

in the taxi queue. Let's go down.

The Street follows the lives of a number of people

over the course of a year, as they try to earn their crust...

There was a couple of wee fucking wanks scratching their fucking dick

for eight hours this morning. Look at this, man.

Hey! Guys!

..protect the public...

Well, you feel worried about what's going to happen.

It could have killed him.

..make sweet music...

Another pound. I can buy some... A loaf of bread.

I'm not a great person but a pound counts.

-..and struggle to make a living.

-I don't have a problem

with closing your business down, but I don't want to do it.

On one of Scotland's most iconic streets.

So, basically, they're all spineless bastards, in my view.

Previously on The Street...

# Or even let them school ya... #

Melo, who makes his living busking, found himself homeless

and had to turn to his old friend Craig for a place to stay.

It's not going to be an open-ended thing,

but eventually I'm sure he'll get something.

You're sitting here, milking our country for thousands,

you fucking black bastard, you.

Playing late into the night, to earn money,

he had a run-in with two passers-by.

Fuck you!

All right.

And when he also fell out with Craig...

-He don't want to talk.

-Well, why should he?

..Melo finally had to accept he was homeless again.

If he ever touched me again, this is it - I'm going to batter him.

Three weeks on, and Melo is still living in a cheap hotel

while he tries to save money for a place of his own.

Do you know one of the things I like around here? Is this.

When you open... Ha-ha.

A load of trees, and you can...

I like it, to be honest. I don't mind it.

Cos at the end of the day you just need somewhere to lie your head.

But...

I cannot really do much, just come down here and just relax my mind.

That's it.

He's just had some good news, though.

He's been offered a free place to stay while he gets back on his feet.

-How you doing, all right?

-What's up, brother?

He's arrived at takeaway restaurant Taste to pick up his things that

fellow Sauchiehall Street regular Nick has been storing for him.

Nick, thanks very much, man, yeah?

Thanks a lot, man. This makes a big difference, man.

-Got everything, yeah?

-Yeah, yeah. If there's anything, I'll let you know.

Cheers.

Today is also Melo's birthday, and later tonight,

one of Sauchiehall Street's bars is letting him host his own gig.

Are you ready for a birthday party? My birthday party?

In Brunswick Cellars?

I'm not really, like, going out partying anymore the now -

-I'm sorry.

-Oh, it's my birthday, man.

Yeah, yeah - my birthday's going to be in Brunswick Cellars,

but also I'm going to be hosting a night there on Tuesday.

Yeah. And we're trying to arrange so I don't lose money from being

outside and stuff and, yeah, it's going to be a good night.

I'm just heavy-duty sometimes.

Waiting for Melo to arrive in the East End of the city is Chris.

Well, I've kind of always...

The first time I met him was quite a few...

A think about a year back or so.

I'd just always see him playing in the streets and stuff.

He's basically had to leave where he was staying, so I just said,

"Here, man, if you want, I've got a place you can stay."

He's not paying any rent or anything.

It's just to help him kind of get on his feet and stuff.

He's just a really sound guy.

Right.

'He just wants to be settled down. Every time he tries to move about,'

something seems to pop up.

Like he'll stay at someone's and then he can only stay so long,

so he's a bit kind of nomadic.

So it's hard work, you know.

I'm drinking water. I don't like it.

Too much salt. It's making me sick.

I think if you got enough time,

I think I'm going to have something to drink.

-What, beers or something?

-Yeah.

Do you want some beers?

Melo will be back on Sauchiehall Street tonight

for his birthday gig in a bar.

If it goes well, it could lead to something regular that pays.

Previously on The Street...

Get these sinks filled up

with hot, soapy water for this fucking moron coming in.

Ex-addict Nick was trying everything he could

to make his new takeaway business work.

Cannabis was a major problem for us.

OK, it was a fucking monumental problem.

He was short-staffed, so took on school-leaver Kevin.

I see something and I can't explain it when I see something in somebody.

I just see it, do you know what I mean?

See maybe a wee bit of myself in them or something like that.

-Nick tried to give Kevin every chance.

-Just fucking do it.

Do it better than they done it,

and fucking get it done and get it to fuck.

But eventually he gave up and sacked him.

To be honest,

is there any difference with him not being here to him being here?

I think he was just acting like a pure arsehole some of the times.

Where's that tarragon, mate?

All the herbs that I've got in this one.

In the last month, Taste's profits have started to drop,

so Nick has made the decision to diversify

and offer buffets for corporate clients.

We're bouncing off each other like fucking Dodgems here, man,

looking for these. Where the fuck have they been put?

Tonight's buffet is for 100 people,

and has to be out of the door in an hour.

I'm just a wee bit stressed out. I'm tired, I'm fucking...

My head's a bit up my arse, but it's a good gig to get this,

start getting buffets like this,

because it's feeding more money into the business.

Ideally, this place would just fucking make enough money

and we didn't need to worry about doing stuff like this.

It's almost like soliciting yourself out. It's tarragon I'm looking for.

Where the fuck is it?!

While Nick heads up the buffet side of the business,

he's left the day-to-day running of Taste to his right-hand man

and head chef, Kiddie.

Things are really tough at the moment and it's hard, hard work.

Especially we've got all these buffets with it being Christmas

and... It's starting to take its toll a bit on everybody.

Everybody's starting to get grumpy and just - "Oh, I want to go home."

When I first started it was a bit hard going.

I'd been out of work for seven months,

but I've always had a good work ethic,

I've always worked hard, and it's paying off now,

because I'm getting a lot more responsibility. I'm getting to

sort of look after the place on my own and things like that.

It is, it's good.

Excuse me, guys! I've found it!

-Where?

-Right in front of your face, here.

Oh, I put that there. HE LAUGHS

Nick and Kiddie have got one hour to get the buffet there on time.

Tonight I'm going to get all the...

You know, the universities, their music and that?

Get them PR'd, and see if we can

get some of those music students coming in as well.

-Just have a massive jam session every Tuesday.

-Yeah.

That's... That's what my idea was, anyway.

Melo's back on the street, and preparing for his gig tonight.

How much is this?

Give us £1.50, man.

Oh, this is like happy hours?

No, staff drink.

Oh. Cheers, man.

-Happy birthday, Melo.

-Yeah, man. It's my day. Celebrate.

You know, I woke up drunk from last night. This is the cure, innit?

If it goes well, it could mean the start of Melo's own weekly gig.

Yeah, if it's popular, then we can make it a regular thing.

If tonight kicks off well, then we'll keep it going.

They'll all try to play better than me, but... Ha-ha!

This is going to be fun!

Expect the worst and good things maybe happen.

Patty! Patty, do you want to go with them now, please?

Go with them upstairs.

Back in Taste, Nick's rushing to get the buffet delivered on time.

The last year and opening Taste has meant a big change for Nick.

What happened there with Taste, I wouldn't be able to do that

if I was fucking still carrying on the way I was. No way I'd be able to.

I wouldn't be taking any money home or anything like that.

I would be fucking... I'd be a joke.

I'd be upstairs sleeping all the time, do you know what I mean?

I'm healthy and all that now, do you know what I mean? And I'm happy.

I'm content with myself.

I'm taking all my... Projecting all my stress out on work,

and when I finish at night, I'm quite happy, know what I mean?

Just do two ham and cheese, do two cheese and just do two pastrami.

Then at least we've got something to get started.

The last year has not been as positive for everyone in Taste.

A really shit year last year, to be honest.

I was unemployed for a while and I was a bit...

Didn't know what I was doing with myself for a while.

I don't know, just lost the plot a couple of times.

Just a lot of problems in my head, a wee bit of depression and stuff

and that, which isn't nice.

I've had it before and it never really goes away.

One day you feel great and the next you just don't want to get out of your bed.

A couple of days even when I was off I just wanted to lie in my bed all day.

I didn't want to do anything. Just like, "What's the point?"

He's a wee bit sad today, so I'm just going to lay off him.

-RESEARCHER:

-Why is he a wee bit sad?

-I don't know. He's having problems.

Having relationship problems. We'll leave it at that.

Um... Aye, it's quite sad for him. It's a shame.

But he bottles things up and then he is a right bastard.

Whereas you've just got to be a consistent cunt, as I like to say it.

You've just got to make the best of it you can, just do the best

you can, and hopefully everything's all right this year.

I'm hoping it will be, for fuck's sake.

I don't think I could go through another year like that.

I see him working for me to the day the two of us stop working, aye.

But the only thing is,

I know that guys like Kiddie, you don't fucking leave sitting.

Sauchiehall Street has a new resident,

who's just arrived after living and working in Spain.

About six years ago, I was on Talk 107,

I was on the radio every Saturday.

From there, we went and toured around the world.

Went to Spain, we went to Dublin, went to Turkey, and I woke up one day

and a little voice said, "It's time for you to go and work in Glasgow,"

and everything seems to be like a little jigsaw, fitting to pieces.

I still wish it was a bit sunnier.

Chris may have only just arrived,

but he already has work, later tonight.

Apparently it's the oldest pub in Glasgow,

and the entities that are in there, we're going to try and talk to

and link up to, and see - is anybody haunting the pub?

Anybody stuck in the pub?

We might find some interesting characters.

Chris is a clairvoyant psychic and hypnotist.

He's moved lock, stock and barrel to Glasgow,

after receiving instructions from the spirit world.

Anybody that goes into this type of field, they should know

exactly what they're doing, or they shouldn't be messing with it at all.

Don't mess with things that you don't understand, because it's very

dangerous and very real if you don't know who you're dealing with.

It looks like quite an ancient place, stuck in the middle

of some of the modern buildings.

But let's go and have some fun.

That's you now.

Up on Sauchiehall Street...

Wahey!

..Melo's not on his usual pitch.

# Hey, Joe

# Where you goin' with that gun in your hand? Yeah, baby... #

It is nearing the end of his birthday gig,

and he's packed the place out.

# Yes, I did, I shot her... #

Melo's been brilliant. A fair amount of publicity.

We're making a lot of money.

Putting a lot of money in the till, so happy about that.

# Hey, Joe

INDISTINCT

# Shooting me down... #

Judging what happens tonight, once a month, I reckon.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

We jammin'! We jammin'!

Melo's birthday party is going well,

and he's having a great time, bonding with his new housemates.

Fuck it. I need a pee. I'm not going downstairs again.

HE LAUGHS

Yeah, man.

It's my birthday - I can fucking do what I want!

Fuck it. Fuck off!

THEY GRUNT AND GROAN

You fucking homos, motherfuckers.

Previously on The Street, a Christian group, the Street Pastors,

were out, looking after the inebriated and the vulnerable.

WOMAN SHRIEKS

People are going to drink to excess.

It's not my call to judge people in that,

but what I can do is help people.

Every weekend,

they hand out flip-flops to the barefoot partygoers...

Absolutely brilliant. You're a life-saver.

It's marvellous what a wee pair of flip-flops does, isn't it?

-..and comfort the homeless.

-We pray that in Jesus' name, Amen.

Thank you very much.

A month on, and the pastors are out again.

Whoo!

This is Street Pastor 2 on Sauchiehall Street.

Gary is heading up one of tonight's teams.

OK, we'll head on that direction, see if we can see him. Thank you.

Over.

The guy is down here by the Campus,

but he evidently has four friends with him, evidently quite drunk,

and they're going to try to get him home in a taxi,

but we'll go and see what... If there's something we can do further.

This may be him here. I don't know.

-Hiya.

-Hi.

Anything we can do to help? Is he OK?

FRIENDS ALL SPEAK AT ONCE

-That would be great, by the way.

-How are you going to get him home?

-Taxi.

Well, is he OK?

So you guys are going to be sure you get him home safely?

-Oh, yeah.

-OK. We just want to be sure he's safe.

-Yeah, no, he's fine.

-OK.

-Thanks, though.

There's not much we can do.

At least he had some mates there, so...

'I feel like the Church is pretty insular,'

locked into kind of their churches, sitting in their pews,

doing their religious thing, inside a building, and really not knowing

what's going on in the real world, on the streets like this,

and I feel like if we can get some of those people out here,

doing, really, what they need to be doing...

The Gospel, really, for us is all about caring for people,

loving them, supporting them - it's just our message.

As Gary and his team continue on, they're stopped in their tracks.

-..sleeping bags.

-He said he'd give me a sleeping bag at one o'clock.

-Did you speak to the other Street Pastors?

-Yes.

One o'clock at the running legs.

-I think they've only got one bag.

-Yeah, and it's for me.

The pastors hand out free hats, scarves

and sleeping bags to the homeless.

-He better be there.

-Yeah.

He's spoken with one of our team.

At one o'clock, after the break, they're going to meet him at the

running legs, up by the bus station, and give him a sleeping bag.

We're sleeping rough, right...

I'm waiting there... I've got to go up to the running legs

at one o'clock to get a sleeping bag.

And the Street Pastors are going to give me a sleeping bag.

The other Street Pastor, usually they give you, like,

gloves and scarves and that, hats and that, you know?

What if they have, on any given night...

Say we give them a sleeping bag, they may bin it

or get it stolen the next night, so it's...

It's just very difficult to know what to do.

And these bags are costing us about £10 or £12 apiece at best,

and... But we think if we can get them through a night

then that's OK. We'll do what we can do to help them.

# If you love me... #

Back at Melo's party, it's just past last orders

and he's been asked to stop playing by the staff.

I said, "Half eleven, maybe you could think about

"playing your last song and then tidying up your stuff,

"because we do have homes to go to, believe it or not!"

# ..stand up...

# Don't give up Don't give up

# Stand up for your rights... #

But Melo seems to have no intention of stopping.

# Oh! Come on, baby... #

How about this?

The bar staff have had enough,

and finally have to pull the plug.

He's going to kill me, man.

All right, but, the thing is...

HE PLAYS HARMONICA

I'm going to go home! HE LAUGHS

Missed our last bus now.

Whoa - it's, like, quarter past. Totally missed it.

We're going to be here for a while, by the looks of things.

The master's come up.

Is that yours?

Cannae do it every week though, cos the stress is too much.

At one point, I was close to breaking point,

I'm not going to lie to you.

You hear that, man?

By the end of the night, Melo is happy,

but it hasn't been fun for everyone.

-Ladies' toilet there, gents' toilet there.

-OK.

Psychic Chris is being shown about the Scotia Bar,

one of the oldest - and thought to be most haunted - pubs in Glasgow.

Do you know, it feels colder,

but this is actually telling us it is slightly warmer.

Tony, have you ever put any equipment in here before?

Chris is working with a group of amateur ghost chasers.

Where would you put your voice-activated stuff?

They're not...

voice activated. They're probably just...

-Turn them on and leave them running.

-OK.

-Because I feel round here...

-Landlady Mary has seen it all before.

OK. There's been a lot of old presences here, yeah?

I had a very extraordinary evening with the very first group

that came in here. They had a seance, and they had a woman

who came through to them.

They had one of those voice-activated things that you were

talking about, and they actually played that back at the time,

and you could quite clearly hear a voice saying, "Get out of my pub"!

Chris has gravitated to one corner of the bar,

and has managed to make contact.

I feel a little girl here, OK?

And I feel very sick, and as though she passed away quite young,

because I'm feeling like I'm rocking and I'm feeling lost.

I'm feeling trapped. I'm searching for my mother.

I'm going back a long time ago, here,

but I feel as though the girl is moving on to a...

Going to take her to a proper spiritual resting place.

-Is that OK with yourself, I do that?

-Yes.

-And OK with, um...

HE BREATHES DEEPLY

Do you know what, you're going to find the energy changes in here.

Get back to me in a week or two if you can, or I'll call you,

and find out if the energy changes in here.

Chris may have made a connection with Glaswegian spirits...

Thank you. Very interesting, thank you.

..but tomorrow, his psychic ability will be tested

by Sauchiehall Street's paying public.

There's got to be one...

Gary's team have been waiting with a sleeping bag for the two homeless men to collect.

We're going to meet this fella here to give him a sleeping bag, at 1:00,

but he hasn't shown so we'll have to see.

Are you going to wait a bit to see if he's...?

-I've got to wait on Joy and Janice anyway.

-OK.

He was so confident that he was going to get this...

I don't mind carrying the bag...

I think let's move on. We'll see you guys later.

If you carried the weight of the city it would just drive you nuts

but we do what we can, that's all we know.

We just do what we can, and then you have to go to sleep

and uh...and leave it where it is, you know.

Because if you carried that weight of everybody you speak to

it would just be overwhelming, because

the needs on this...at least on this street is just gigantic.

..Would they not tell you, even...?

INDISTINCT

Previously on The Street, Jim and Neil,

managers of the Savoy Centre, the home of over 60 small retailers,

started Sunday trading to boost revenue.

It's not great. The Sunday opening's been an uphill battle from day one.

I don't have a problem with closing your business down....

But the increase in rent left some of the shop owners frustrated.

The centre should have been open 20 years ago, not now, on a Sunday.

They're too late with it.

After an early attempt at communal resistance...

He's paid. He's paid. She's paid. He's paid. They've paid...

..only Ian's shoe shop held out.

They've all caved in, agreed to do it. So basically they're all spineless bastards, in my view.

But eventually, after threatening to shut down his business,

-Ian caved.

-I have reservations about what will happen.

Sunday openings didn't start well,

and the pressure on Jim to perform was increasing.

As much as it pains me to say it, I'm seriously considering other options.

And the stress of the job got to breaking point.

I'm genuinely at a loss as to what to do at the moment. A genuine loss.

Three weeks on, and Ian's opened every Sunday.

But now, other traders haven't.

So he's gone to see Neil to voice his concerns.

Neil, if everywhere's open in two weeks, I'm not opening.

Well, if we're staying open it's a case of every single person.

-It's 100 per cent or not at all.

-Yeah.

And if it's not 100 per cent I will not open.

If they'd all stuck together when I suggested at the time,

and they all friggin' didn't...

-They all caved in. "Oh, we're not going to open." And they all bloody opened.

-Yeah.

-Apart from us.

I'm giving yous a fortnight, then I'm going to take action as well.

-Yeah.

-OK. Right.

Ian basically was one of the retailers who as you may have heard

we kind of made an example of back at the start of Sunday trading.

He's opened on time, he's closed on time,

but it's just not working for him,

and now there's other people who aren't opening who... They're not getting away with it,

but we need to very, very quickly now make a decision.

The decisions that we make are made for the right reasons,

and sometimes that can have a negative effect and sometimes that can have a positive effect,

but, you know, you asked about pressure...

To be honest with you, I'm 43 years old now,

I don't think I've ever experienced pressure like I have in the last year, 18 months.

It changes daily, you're right on the edge morning, noon and night.

You can feel as though you're having a good day, then bang.

People cannot afford to just keep paying out

an extra percentage on the rent every single week,

giving up a day of the week as well

to come in and not make any money.

It's just the usual shit on a different day.

On the far end of Sauchiehall Street, psychic Chris is heading out to work.

He's not only the street's newest resident,

he also has set up the hub of his business in the Savoy Centre.

And today, Jim's moving him into a new unit,

where he'll specialise in psychic readings, Tantric massage and tarot cards.

I'm going to have my chairs on here. Get sorted.

Going to put a hypnosis table in there.

Doing the hypnotherapy, doing my readings, it's more private...

I'm pleased. Be pleased when they get in.

But Chris isn't the only psychic in the Savoy.

Kizzy the clairvoyant, who's... I feel as though I'm Kizzy's receptionist.

When working in the office the phone goes 10, 15 times a day,

for people just looking for Kizzy.

She's the person that people actually queue in the street

from seven o'clock in the morning. She's possibly the best-known clairvoyant in Scotland.

Certainly in Glasgow, possibly in Scotland.

She's really, really well known.

A stick for when I'm casting the spells, you know...?

Warding off evil around the shop, you know?

Keep away the evil.

There's, like, an evil sign!

Brush it away.

Very difficult to compete against.

That's like my team Motherwell competing against Barcelona, Chris competing against Kizzy.

That's the best way I can describe that.

I've seen all types of psychics.

I've seen them reading out of books, all sorts.

A lot of psychics kind of go... I'm in Savoy Centre -

a lot of people say,

"We've had that many different psychics," but do you know what?

I might be crazy, people might laugh at me - but I get what I want.

Does everybody get what they want?

Come on, idiot! Stop fuckin' hidin' through the back, come on. I need you. Red onions done.

In Taste, Nick's preparing for service.

-The team, though, is one man down.

-Kiddie's disappeared.

I dropped him off last night.

He's going through a lot of shit the noo.

I phoned him - his phone was off. Went round to his mum and dad's and he wasn't there.

He's been postin' fuckin' shit in his Facebook from 4:00am.

It's leading me to assume the worst, which don't worry me, but

he's my fuckin' mate and I'm worried about him.

It's pretty scary to be honest with you.

Nick, he's tried this before and his mum and dad found him.

I sort of fear the worst, you know what I mean?

He could be fuckin' hangin' from a tree.

Either that or he could be in jail, he's...

Kiddie can be quite unpredictable at times.

When he's here he does his fuckin' work and he gives it his all, but...

he's got a lot of issues in his fuckin' head.

It's actually quite sad cos he's messaging Facebook - I've sent him a message saying

-"If you want to talk..."

-Last night?

He says, "I've lost the love of my life. What to do...?"

God. I hope he's not done anything.

Cos I mean, he does get down...

See, that's the thing, I'm not going, "That's it, whatever he's done" -

I'm going by the evidence I've got over the last couple of days, what I know about him. It's no good.

What, has he not been right the last couple of days?

-Bevvyin' heavy.

-Oh, is he?

I would have seen him at least phoning me and saying "I'm fuckin' no' coming in," wrecked or something,

and I'd have been, "Right, I'll leave your fuckin' doing till the morrow, when I see you." As long as I know.

It's like my mum always tried to get hold of me when I was out,

and she used to go through every situation you can think of, but it's like a fuckin' son.

He's my guy, I fuckin' love him to bits. I've known him for ever. We've got fuckin' good history together.

'And now this has fuckin' happened, do you know what I mean?'

No, I don't, and he never fuckin' answers either, mate, so...

Back at the Savoy, with no customers so far,

Chris has decided to go into the centre and drum up business.

Hi, love. Are you interested in readings?

Yeah? Why don't you make a donation...

-A donation?

-..for cancer research,

and I'll do a quick five-minute meeting?

Chris has got a lot to prove, being Glasgow's newest psychic.

So every prediction today will have to be spot on.

-Do you get headaches?

-Recently.

-Because I'm seeing here...

-Yeah. Only recently.

-Do you see auras?

-Pardon?

-Do you see colours, or auras?

-I have thought I had done.

-Aye, because something's telling me yes.

There's a bit of black here which is causing a bit of headache.

-You've also got a problem here at the base...

-Ooh, yeah.

-Yeah. Aye.

-And towards the disc as well.

-Yeah.

-How do you know that?

-It was a lucky guess, huh?

But that situation will address itself.

Outside, Chris has two more customers waiting.

-Perfect. Thank you.

-OK, thank you.

-Thank you very much.

-Bye.

It was very good, he said things that I could relate to, and er...I believe him.

-I've not got any change.

-OK.

In now is the first of two sisters.

You've actually, recently...

in your house, jumped,

because you felt somebody behind you.

-Mm-hm, last night.

-Yeah.

-Mm-hm.

OK, there is a woman.

There is a woman.

You're not ready to talk to her and see her yet,

and she said, why would she be angry with you?

She loves you.

So far, so good with sister number one.

But outside waits a tougher customer.

Kimberly's a bit..

No, she's not really been before, so she's kind of -

I think she's a bit...

Doesn't know whether to believe it or not.

There's a few people that are in the spirit world,

and I'm hoping that they come through.

-Thanks very much.

-Watch that neighbour.

I bloody hope not!

Aye, some of it was all right.

It was not bad.

Pick me three cards, then.

I do believe there's something...

out there. But I don't know,

sometimes they do make things up.

She didn't... She didn't have a dog, did she?

There's quite a lot of dogs that's been around.

Was it a nippy little thing?

Was it a big thing? Know what I mean?

What's... Feel round your ankles.

She's been to a few, so she knows what it's all about.

So she'll know if he's good or not.

Like, she'll probably come out and just say, "Shite."

Has he been behaving?

It was all right. Certain things were all right.

And then it was other things that was a wee bit...

It was OK, it wasn't the best. It was a bit tough.

A tough day at the office today!

Fuck off, man!

I just heard my phone going there, man, but there's no...

Cunt.

With no word from Kiddie, Nick is starting to fear the worst.

PHONE RINGS

Hello?

Yeah.

Have you got any news for me?

You know what's going on with this fucking moron, no?

This is getting fucking scary, by the way.

I'm not joking, man.

Aye, you've been fucking right,

and he'll be, "I've lost the best thing in my life," and all that.

I know. I know, mate. I know.

OK, mate. Cheers, bye.

You can tell he's totally worried.

He's totally stressed out his box cos

he disnae know what's going on, and it's just not like Kiddie to

turn his phone off, that's the thing.

Can I get some more tortillas down here, somebody?

Nick, he's been chasing him all day.

He's really, really worried about him.

Come on, can I see a wee bit of movement out of somebody?

Fuck's sake.

He's been his friend frae when he was 11 years old,

it's not just somebody that he's just met or whatever,

it's somebody that he's known for a long, long time.

Have you got more tortillas for me?

No, you're just fucking leaving it, aye?

Workshy dicks.

-Why are you going for him, Nick?

-Why's it no' working?

Cos it's too low, look.

I swear to God, man, this isnae fucking good,

I cannae deal with this, man. It's getting a bit scary now.

The later it's getting,

the more fucking depressed I'm getting about it, man.

I'm going to go out and... If nothing's surfaced

by the time I've done this,

I'm going to look until I find him, you know what I mean?

Back at the Savoy...

What you need to do is you need to get those e-mails out.

And I need to get these leaflets done today.

Chris has finished up for the day, and his wife Kes

has popped by to see how he's settled into his new unit.

I do the promotion side of the work,

and I bring him all the business in that way.

And, um... But Chris is really good himself.

He's a top TV psychic,

and I think what attracted Chris was love at first sight.

We were married in past lives more than twice.

Actually...three or four times.

And I didn't know this. Of course, Chris told me this!

I did not tell you this!

How am I supposed to know this?

You asked about your past lives. And we did it, and we sorted it.

But that doesn't really mean that you have to marry somebody

because you married them in a past life,

it just means you have that connection.

And it also - there's soul mates and there's twin flames,

and twin flames are much closer than soul mates.

If you find your soul mate then you get along really well,

and you're like the best of friends, but twin flames are even closer.

And apparently we're twin flames.

Which...

I still find it hard to believe, but...!

It's been a slow start for Chris,

but he's hoping for an upturn in fortune.

He's been booked for private tarot readings at a house party tonight.

I see you! They're over there, hiding themselves.

A week after Melo's party,

he's meeting up with friends to see if his weekly gig is still on,

only to be just told that he's actually barred.

I'm barred.

-From here?

-Yeah.

HE LAUGHS

I've done nothing wrong.

-What do you mean, barred?

-What was...?

I'm not allowed to go there.

A pint of Fosters and a Strongbow.

Fosters and Strongbow.

Martin was working the night of Melo's birthday.

It wasn't his decision to bar him,

but from what he saw that night, he's not surprised.

He thought he was going to be able to do that every Tuesday,

and that's what he thought, and I think that's what his mindset was,

like, he could come in and do what he wanted,

which is out of the question, the way he was acting as well.

'He would butt in, shout you over, "Give me this," like -'

and there was no pleasantries about it, if you want to call it that.

No, no, I didn't want to play down there, anyway.

I didn't want to play down there anyway.

What they do here is like - I call it...

like we said, they take advantage of musicians.

Do you know what I mean? Like they took advantage of me, like...

Not even a pint, they gave me.

So I just don't understand these people.

You know what I mean?

Jealousy and stuff.

Melo's behaviour has cost him the chance of a regular gig.

And back at home, things aren't any better.

I just think he's being selfish, really. So...

He's started to fall out with Chris and the other housemates.

I think he's a talented musician, and I think he's a nice guy,

and he's got a good heart in him,

but I think he's a bit haywire at times, with some things,

and I think maybe the booze and stuff like that does affect him

in that way, but sometimes he's fine,

and sometimes he's just a bit incoherent.

But, I mean, to be fair, he's hammered quite a lot

and I get hammered quite a lot as well, and ...

He does a lot more than everybody,

but sometimes he's just a bit too out of control in that way.

You know, like, just a bit wild.

-Forget about it.

-Yeah, let's just forget about it.

Chris has arrived at the tarot reading party

in the Knightswood area of Glasgow.

-Hiya!

-Hiya. Hiya.

-Hi!

He's working in one of the bedrooms, and expecting a good night.

I said I'm going to sit on there and do my readings.

You know - is this not a tough job I have?!

Guys, eat your heart out. And I get paid for this.

Chris is in high spirits, but in first is Natalie,

who's had some bad experiences with psychics.

It was a woman that was in the Savoy before.

-It wisnae really...

-She never told you...

She never got anything as accurate as what I would have preferred.

I gave her too much information, and do you know what?

It was due to obviously having a drink before,

so I'm not going to be doing that.

That's how I'm having a Wicked.

With eight readings for Chris to do tonight, they make a start.

HE CHUCKLES Oh!

-Are you OK? Are you sure?

-Aye, that's me. I'm in.

But Natalie doesn't plan on giving Chris an easy time.

And neither does her mum Angie.

You're actually looking for a lot of detail,

but you don't want to give a lot away,

but you're actually looking for him to know something about you.

And see if you don't get that from the word go,

you feel as if you're getting cracked on, really.

I'm feeling... Were you looked after by somebody when you were younger?

-Uh-huh, uh-huh! Mm-hm.

-Do you know where I'm going here?

Uh-huh.

I feel problems here, round my throat,

and - did they bring a lot of stuff up?

Is it a she or a he?

OK...

-I'm with a female.

-Mm-hm.

-It's a female.

-Mm-hm.

-OK?

He told me about the person that I wanted to hear about.

She choked on her sick when she was 21, and died.

He says, "I've got a lot of... like, choking," or...

It wisnae choking, like, "I've got a lot of stuff here."

And that was the only thing, and I wanted - she was the most

person that I wanted to come through, out of anybody.

But...

It wisnae enough, if you know what I mean.

Just as Chris receives a lukewarm review,

Natalie's friend Aileen is next out.

-I feel pure stupid, greetin', but...

-Silly!

If he was that bang on with me, I'd be greetin'!

It was basically...

He didn't even put the cards out, he didn't even put cards out,

he just read it, and that was it.

-Nae cards.

-You're joking!

-Nae cards put out.

My da was there all the time, and... And then Joanne.

He's just spot on, he's good.

Really, really good, but it's...

Och, it's OK.

If I come to a place and I get one person that's extremely happy

then I feel I've done my job, because she wanted that reading,

and I think that was an exceptional reading.

I excelled myself there, and she's well happy.

Wee Jo just made my life -

that was my wee brother's girlfriend that died, and...

A couple of times I've been in and her photo's been turned down,

or turned to the side, and he said that's her.

That's her saying that she's there.

Chris has pulled it out of the bag,

but in now is his biggest challenge, mum Angie.

It's six o'clock and Nick has just heard news about Kiddie.

Kiddie's surfaced.

He's, er...

His girlfriend phoned me a few hours ago, and said that he'd

phoned her, he was ranting a lot of shite, he was really drunk, and...

then he hung up on her.

He phoned me.

I was nice -

I was like, "Mate, how you doing, are you all right, mate?

"Are you OK, aye? How are you doing?"

Fucking patronising myself, but then he started - "Fucking..."

All that, "Every cunt, fuck yous all.

"Fuck you!"

So, he was having a shite time,

there's been problems with him and his girlfriend the day,

but overall there's problems with him, you know what I mean?

And all I can see that's going to happen

is there's going to be more problems.

Kiddie may be safe for now,

but Nick knows how dangerous drink and depression can be.

I just don't know whether he wants to go to rehab -

I'll fucking help him go.

I don't know what we can do to help him, know what I mean?

If he wants me to start taking him to places that he can help himself,

I'll start taking him to places he can help himself,

but he fucking needs to know, he needs to understand.

He has to want to help himself first, and at this stage, at this stage...

This is where you can normally get people

where they want to help themselves,

this is where I wanted to help myself.

I went and done something about it, you know what I mean?

Tomorrow morning, Nick will see if today's events

have had an effect on Kiddie,

and if his best friend can still be trusted to stay in Taste.

He can fucking clean it up in the morning.

That's his first job!

Right, can we get this chocolate to fuck, mate. Come on. Let's go.

Look at you, you're a fucking singer.

Back at the house party...

She wants to hug you so badly.

..Chris is on his last reading of the night...

-I feel that you were brought here...

-Uh-huh.

..to let you know that she's OK.

Because she knows that you constantly think of her.

..and has managed to reduce another client to tears.

-Tell me I'm wrong.

-No, you're right. You are.

But not everyone has been happy with Chris's reading.

I want my fucking money back.

Cos I think he's a liar.

And I think he's out here to con whoever he can.

He's an old man, and he's conning us.

I don't think he's conning people, because your pal got a good reading.

Aye, but did you?

All the lassies I've spoke to - he's constantly clock-watching,

cos he's on £30 every half an hour.

See, if I was on £30 every half hour, I'd be clock-watching. Hello!

Hmm.

Chris has packed up,

but has no idea that he's about to face his toughest critic.

Some were OK, some not.

-I think you done shite, to be honest.

-OK.

And I'm not here to put you down or anything,

I'm just telling you straight.

I think you have not got a clue.

And I think you totally came in here the night

and you actually robbed us bare-arsed.

Because everybody that came back the night from your readings

-were not happy.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

So I don't think you're real, I think you're a charlatan,

and you're making 30 quid a head out of us the night,

-and I think you ought to be ashamed of yourself.

-OK.

Because I don't think you can read nobody.

I think you're doing this to get a living,

and I'm telling you right now, you have studied nothing.

And I'm telling you,

my psychic ability on you is that you're full of shit.

-Thank you for that, anyway.

-Thank you?!

No, I mean...

You're walking away with our money the night, and we are...

The economy's shite, and you're walking away with all our money.

-OK...

-And you're feeling happy about that?

-I'm sorry you feel like that.

-How do you sleep at night?

Sorry you feel like that.

Oh, I feel like that. How do you sleep at night?

When you're walking away with people's money.

At £30 a fucking head.

-That's what I'm angry about.

-I'm sorry you feel like that.

-Because you're full of shit.

-OK.

-Yes. Exactly.

Oh, I just had to leave, I had to get out of there!

I thought they were going to hit me or something, you know?

Just didn't expect that. I don't know what happens when...

people drink and get angry, or what, I don't know.

Don't see why I should be treated like that.

I've just been slagged off in there by the woman of the house,

screamed at me in the kitchen.

-Sorry, I wasn't there.

-You weren't there?

-No.

Can I ask - she said everybody said the readings were crap...

-No, mine was spot on.

-Was it?

-Spot on, mine was spot on.

You don't have a problem with my reading? No, no.

I just told the driver, you were spot on.

-I'm well over the moon with your reading.

-Are you going to Partick?

Cos I'm going down to town.

But this is only going to Partick, and the town is more - further.

I can jump in with you, then, if you want.

-I told you that myself.

-Can I jump in then?

-If you go my way, cos I've got...

-I'll go round.

Right, thanks.

OK, talk to you soon.

See?

See you later, mate.

Chris has had a tough introduction to Scotland,

and it's perhaps not the fresh start he was looking for.

MUSIC: "An Eagle In Your Mind" by Boards of Canada

The next morning, after his disappearance yesterday,

Nick's on his way to pick up Kiddie for work.

I texted him at six and he said he was up sitting drinking a coffee,

so I've let him sit for fucking an hour and 20 minutes,

thinking about what he's done.

Whether his fucking hangover's kicking his back door in.

And, er... We'll just see what he's got to say for himself this morning.

-Morning.

-Morning!

-How are you?

All right, mate, how are you?

Er...not good, man.

You're all right, you're fucking here, man. Time to go to work.

Let's do it.

Busy yesterday?

Busiest day Simon's ever seen, he said.

Were YOU busy yesterday?!

Lost the plot a bit, yesterday.

Know what I mean? It's scary, mate.

Scary shit.

-HE SHUDDERS

-Morning, guys.

-Augh!

-Go upstairs and get changed next to the heater.

Give yoursel' a warm up.

I think I need to go to the doctor's, man.

Definitely got a bit of depression going on.

I've had it before. It's no' nice.

Pick a phone up. Problem solved.

A problem halved is a problem solved, mate. You know what I mean?

Don't worry - I was getting all this last night off my mum and dad.

My mum, especially my mum.

She got up when I got up this morning,

just fucking followed me about the house, man.

"Are you OK? Anything you need to talk about?

"Talk to me. Don't keep everything bottled up."

Don't this, don't that. Fucking - "You know we're here to help.

"Everybody's just fucking worried about you, come, tell us."

Fuck it, man.

I think it's still fucking - the drink talking the now.

I dunno.

Seriously don't think it's over.

Not by a fucking long shot.

What was he saying he was doing yesterday?

Hitting the old fucking nose candy.

Drinking all day.

It's just - how do you help somebody like that?

In the Savoy, after getting his confidence knocked

at the house party, the last few days for Chris haven't been good...

..and he's thinking about leaving.

I'm going to pop and see Jim and find out what's...

See this, if I want to go for a pee or anything...

Chris has been losing business because music and loud noise

from a nearby hair salon is drowning out his readings,

and his customers have started walking out.

Hope the elevator's working.

He's going to see Jim and Neil to let them know he's had enough.

All right, OK, pal. Cheers.

-Is Jim in?

-He's just in with somebody just now, Chris.

I'm prepared to move out, move and work somewhere else. It's horrendous.

Is it still going? I thought it was...

-No, it's been worse every day, mate.

-Right, I'll go down just now.

I'm just half in the middle of something just now,

I need to finish quickly, and I'll come down and see them again.

-Give me two minutes and I'll come down.

-All right.

Cheers, thanks.

That's what you get.

Is it that bad? Is the noise that bad?

I wouldn't have said it was terrible, but obviously,

if it's affecting his business, fair enough.

We'll deal with it.

I'd like to stay, but...it's noisy.

I can't do my healing and my therapy work down there.

The door doesn't lock, which is not their fault, if the door went,

but it's two days to change it...

And maybe the universe is saying to leave it.

OK, I want to nip it in the bud, Neil.

Yeah, I don't want to lose a retailer.

Not in a position to lose the retail,

we cannae lose a retailer over something we can do.

We can do something about it,

but I certainly don't want to lose him, he's a good guy.

Er, I've spoken to Neil, and I didn't...

I didn't realise you had a problem with the noise.

Because you've not come back to Neil,

he's thought that you were happy with it.

I've told him more that once or twice!

-Don't give me that crap.

-Well, what I'll do...

I've told him about three times. Look, I lost a client, I told Neil...

I'm not having you losing any forms of money whatsoever.

I told Neil, if it didn't get sorted in a week,

next week I'll be moving out. If I can have quiet, I'm very happy.

Right, OK, and I'll get him to call Martin about your door handle.

-OK?

-Cheers, mate.

I think he's giving them that, and you can hear...

I'd like to stay, but I can only stay if there's not noise.

In the East End of Glasgow, Melo's housemates have left for the day,

after more arguing.

You know why things happen like this, right?

Why this has happened like this, there we go.

If you think you've got all the right to be upset at me,

there we go, my life, it's because I've been mistreated.

That's why I'm going through things, it's not my fault.

Maybe my fault is trusting these people.

Do you think you drink more than a lot of people?

Yeah, I do drink more than most people.

Yeah, my mind is always thinking about music,

I'm always out there playing, and my body's always under demand,

so it requires drink and food, both.

Let's not blame alcohol or drugs, because this doesn't think, does it?

This just doesn't think. You are the one that thinks.

So if you are the one that thinks,

why don't you do things in the right way?

You know what I mean?

In Scotland, in UK,

I don't got real friends.

Yeah.

Come on, you're still under a minute, Kiddie, let's go.

In Taste, it's been a month since Kiddie went off the rails.

Remember, inside the bag, yeah?

Tea towel or napkin on it. That's a boy.

Nick was worried that this was the start of a downward spiral,

but a month on and Kiddie's turned up to work every day.

Got another ten seconds or he loses his job.

And he loses all his privileges.

I'm glad to be back at my work.

It's amazing when you do something like that,

you realise how many friends you have,

how many people run about after you...

to find out where you are. So, that's...

It was silly, but it's done now.

Time will tell, but if I start noticing things in him,

then I'll just...

Jobcentre. Know what I mean? Apply for something.

Er... But no, I think he'll be all right, he'll be cool.

Don't want to fucking lose him, he's one of my best mates,

you know what I mean?

-Can I help you?

-No.

-I hate your guts.

-Cheers, pal.

-So much.

At the Savoy,

it's been a month since Chris was threatening to leave.

Do you want to do, Charlene,

a general reading or do you want me to target at specific things,

like career, health, relationships...?

-Oh...

-Anything specific?

Chris wasn't sure if the move to Glasgow was the right choice,

but in the last month, his business has taken off.

He's slowly made a name for himself in the Savoy,

and his customers have been queuing outside the door.

I did dream that, yeah.

Aye, these cards are Spanish.

Jim and Neil have moved him into a better unit upstairs,

and his clients are happy.

-Brilliant, thank you very much.

-Cheers, love.

It was a very, very different reading.

I've never, ever experienced a reading like that in my entire life.

Very different. I'm glad he said what he said. It was good.

Just got two people, just as I'm moving in,

and I know they're going to come back and see me, so - I'm happy!

So...

Yeah, it feels good up here.

The last month hasn't been good for everyone in the Savoy.

My keep fit starts tonight.

That's my nephew - it was supposed to start months ago.

"Have you got your cycling shorts looked at?"

So, it's off to the gym today, a new start today.

Unfortunately, I've come to the conclusion

that I need to move on in my working life, so at the moment, I'm...

drafting an e-mail to my operations manager in Liverpool,

with a resignation letter that's basically...

I'm handing my notice in, so...

The time has come that I really need to be honest with myself,

and be honest with the company as well, because it's not any good

for the company if they've got an employee who's struggling, as I am.

I liken it to - it's like a boxer.

You go in every morning and you get punch after punch after punch,

and you get up and you go down, you're up, you're down...

And there's only so long your body can take that.

And maybe that's just where it is.

It's maybe just a three-year life span, I don't know.

I don't know, I just feel as though, now, that I'm in a corner,

I'm on the ropes, and I've nowhere to go.

Good. Good man, good man.

What do you think the future is for the Savoy?

You know, we've tried the Sunday opening,

which clearly has not worked.

I don't know what the future is for the Savoy.

I'd like to think the future's really good.

It's been through tough times in the past,

and I daresay it'll come out the other end, you know, fine.

Since filming, Chris has left the Savoy,

and is planning to move his business abroad,

to Belize.

So, this is us - we're going to fly away to the sun.

Chris, not on TV!

You see!

He's split up from his wife and twin flame Kes,

so this time he'll be moving on alone.

And Jim left the Savoy to go into business for himself once more.

Next time on The Street...

Can you get it?

Can we get some fucking help?! Come on!

Nick has a plan to turn Taste around...

Hope I'm right. Hope this is the fucking thing that I'm right about,

you know what I mean?

..by risking thousands of pounds on a new idea...

Ordered too much pig. There you go, I've ordered too much pig.

What the fuck do you want me to do?

Sauchiehall Street's own secretive artist called Bullet Beard

tries to avoid the attention of the police...

but his identity is finally revealed.

MAN SHOUTS If you ever want to threaten me, I'll batter you.

Melo has a run in with another busker...

You got a big mouth, that's your problem.

You've got a big mouth.

..and it looks like he might be moving on again...

but this time, to prison.

THEY SHOUT

And the pastors are out, as Sauchiehall Street kicks off.

-These are going five against one!

-Oi, oi!

Control, we need an ambulance, a boy's been knocked out. Over.