0:00:02 > 0:00:03BBC Four Collections -
0:00:03 > 0:00:06archive programmes chosen by experts.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10For this collection, Simon Jenkins has selected programmes
0:00:10 > 0:00:13celebrating the people and places of London.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17More programmes on this theme and other BBC Four collections
0:00:17 > 0:00:19are available on BBC iPlayer.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25HARMONICA MUSIC PLAYS
0:00:37 > 0:00:41London is a great place to live in but a hell of a place to visit.
0:00:41 > 0:00:46New York is a great place to visit but a hell of a place to live in.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50I visited both, I've lived in both and I like both.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54These are skyscrapers.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57Skyscrapers start at the bottom and go up.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00I think that about covers that subject.
0:01:00 > 0:01:02There's the Empire State Building, the world's tallest.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05On a clear day, from the top of this building,
0:01:05 > 0:01:08you can see the people who came up in the lift with you.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34Look at those people way down there.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36Look mighty large, don't they?
0:01:57 > 0:02:00Those empty taxi cabs, and just when you don't happen to want one.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07This is the United Nations building where the delegates wear headphones
0:02:07 > 0:02:10so that they can be insulted in their own language.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15That's the Lever building. They sell soap.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19People who live in glass houses shouldn't sell soap. Or throw moss.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22Or have I got that wrong?
0:02:56 > 0:02:59The Brooklyn Bridge leading to Brooklyn.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07For those contemplating suicide,
0:03:07 > 0:03:09the Brooklyn Bridge is an absolute must.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16The House of Parliament, where the speeches, like the River Thames,
0:03:16 > 0:03:18just keep rolling along
0:03:18 > 0:03:22and where it all will end, pavane only knows.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28And I think your policemen are wonderful.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40I wish this was commercial TV,
0:03:40 > 0:03:43then I could plug the fact I wrote the music for...
0:03:43 > 0:03:46MUSIC: "Genevieve" by Larry Adler
0:04:24 > 0:04:27London has a reverence for age
0:04:27 > 0:04:30and yet is always on the lookout for new faces.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40A view from one of the Palace Guards.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49GUARDSMAN BARKS ORDER
0:04:54 > 0:04:57LARRY PLAYS A DIRGE
0:04:59 > 0:05:01Sorry, wrong band.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06Notice something about that band? They're all brunettes.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10I wonder if this is just coincidence.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24For the benefit of American audiences,
0:05:24 > 0:05:27these are London buskers, street entertainers.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30I thought that being a busker was easy
0:05:30 > 0:05:33and once, for a bet, I tried being one around 1937.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36I played to the queue at the old Holborn Empire
0:05:36 > 0:05:40and I regret to tell you I got no money whatsoever.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48What you've seen so far
0:05:48 > 0:05:51has been more or less a tourist view of London and New York.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56Now, this is more like the New York I remember.
0:05:59 > 0:06:01Anybody see that last play by Samuel Beckett?
0:06:57 > 0:06:59Here's the heart of New York's fashion world -
0:06:59 > 0:07:03glamorous, glittering, gay.
0:07:03 > 0:07:04Ladies, for you!
0:07:13 > 0:07:16But with all its faults, New York is a law-abiding city(!)
0:07:37 > 0:07:41There he stands, the inscrutable East.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45And here's some of the scrutable West - west London.
0:07:45 > 0:07:47Boy, are they scrutable.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50Big hands, too. Look at the way they're holding that camera.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53Even I wouldn't do that...I think.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10Now why does this shot remind me of the Beveridge Plan?
0:08:21 > 0:08:24This is real New York-type New York, Washington Square.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45A very rare shot showing Epstein at work.
0:08:45 > 0:08:50Not Sir Jacob Epstein, Sam Epstein. Nice kid.
0:08:50 > 0:08:55She's engaged, she's lovely, she uses bubblegum.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17Yes, New York is a law-abiding city(!)
0:09:33 > 0:09:36You, sir, take a card. Any card.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00This is London's Trafalgar Square,
0:10:00 > 0:10:03named after the famous Tube station that runs underneath.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08Here, pigeons come from all over the world to feed the people.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10No matter what the season,
0:10:10 > 0:10:15the pigeon will always find crowds of eager, hungry tourists.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18Some indeed so tame, they'll eat right out of your beak.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23Hey, Mac, any messages?
0:10:25 > 0:10:26Call me an outsider if you like
0:10:26 > 0:10:29but I can take my fountains or leave them alone.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32My feeling is, when you've seen one fountain...
0:10:32 > 0:10:34Not only that, if you happen to have hydrophobia,
0:10:34 > 0:10:36fountains are bad for you.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16I should play Autumn Leaves at this point, but the tune is copyright.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19That's why I'm making up all my own music.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55Through the magic of BBC Television,
0:11:55 > 0:11:58we were fortunate to get a shot of the Mayflower
0:11:58 > 0:12:01setting out on her heroic voyage across the Atlantic.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04Well done, o valiant vessel!
0:12:09 > 0:12:11Manhattan is an island.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13Gee, I wish I'd said that.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19To take a ferry boat ride to Staten Island is one of the few things -
0:12:19 > 0:12:20in fact, one of the last things -
0:12:20 > 0:12:23that can still be done in New York for a nickel.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33Oh, Lord, here come those damn skyscrapers again.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19This is the Statue of Liberty.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21It hasn't been fingerprinted...yet.
0:14:10 > 0:14:14That little fella's really got guts, eh? Come on, boy. Sic 'em!
0:14:19 > 0:14:22That's the Queen Mary. I was on the maiden voyage of that ship.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26You'd better stick around, I'm full of fascinating information like that.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39I was on the maiden voyage of... I know you heard it before.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41I just wanted to hear it again.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14Come on, have another skyscraper. Take two, they're small.
0:15:21 > 0:15:22At least in London they're small.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29We wanted to show you some of London's historic ruins,
0:15:29 > 0:15:32but we couldn't get just the people we wanted
0:15:32 > 0:15:35so we're showing some bomb sites, St Paul's.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37You know, that sort of thing.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00This is William Shakespeare,
0:16:00 > 0:16:03author of Kiss Me, Kate and many other hit shows.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13What secrets have we here?
0:16:13 > 0:16:15Could this be the new Budget?
0:16:39 > 0:16:41This is part of the old Roman wall of London.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44It is not for sale to Mike Todd.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46Here's the Portobello Road market,
0:16:46 > 0:16:49for sale to Mike Todd or anybody else.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57A typical British scene.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08This man calls his stall the Cheap and Nasty.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10That's what I like - truth in advertising.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27# Please sell no more drink
0:17:27 > 0:17:29# To my father. #
0:17:29 > 0:17:31Jamaica rum, eh?
0:18:11 > 0:18:14Hold that monocle. Hold it. Don't lose it!
0:18:14 > 0:18:16He's lost it.
0:18:20 > 0:18:21Spode...
0:18:21 > 0:18:25What are you giving me, Spode? Spode my eye.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00Do you know, for one moment,
0:19:00 > 0:19:02I honestly thought that dog was stuffed.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05This gentleman, who is now a picture restorer,
0:19:05 > 0:19:07used to call himself Rembrandt.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10He was a lightning sketch artist in music hall.
0:19:10 > 0:19:11Music hall?!
0:19:11 > 0:19:13Whatever became of that?
0:19:18 > 0:19:20I don't know anything about art, and what's more,
0:19:20 > 0:19:22I don't know what I like.
0:19:27 > 0:19:31Buffeted by wind, waves and the full fury of the elements,
0:19:31 > 0:19:35onward, ever onward, the valiant Mayflower sailed.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42There's something about getting behind the wheel of a car
0:19:42 > 0:19:45that can make a monster out of the meekest Mitty or milk toast.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48How do you like that for alliteration?
0:19:48 > 0:19:51But haven't you ever wanted to take all the other cars on the road
0:19:51 > 0:19:52and make them look like...
0:19:52 > 0:19:53this?
0:19:58 > 0:20:01This man has found true happiness.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23Please! Not while I'm eating.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38I'm sorry. I really shouldn't talk while his mouth is full.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53Do you realise that if all these cars were laid end to end
0:20:53 > 0:20:55they'd look like Piccadilly at 5.30? Do you?
0:20:55 > 0:20:58I don't know why it is, but I just don't like the expression
0:20:58 > 0:21:02on these cars' faces. I think they're snobs.
0:21:02 > 0:21:03This one for example.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05And you!
0:21:07 > 0:21:11Well, that's what you get for showing off and I'm glad.
0:21:11 > 0:21:12Glad, do you hear me?
0:21:12 > 0:21:14This is taken from one of the gravestones
0:21:14 > 0:21:16in London's Highgate Cemetery.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18I wonder why he wrote the music on a gravestone.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22I'd have used manuscript paper. But then I'm mad.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26You know what I'm going to have on my gravestone? "Here lies Larry Adler.
0:21:26 > 0:21:27"Who?"
0:21:49 > 0:21:52Got to hand it to these rich people, they really know how to live.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03My audience doesn't seem to be getting the message.
0:22:05 > 0:22:06Hmm.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11Taxi!
0:22:11 > 0:22:12Taxi!
0:22:13 > 0:22:16Oh, heck. Missed it.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20Fascination yet, 42nd Street.
0:22:26 > 0:22:28Here's where they have the striptease.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30On film anyway. The real stuff is verboten.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34I don't know what they mean about strip cos here it says only 70% off.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38"A nature film about violets. Bring the kiddies."
0:22:40 > 0:22:42Look! Living commercials.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48This man has a hole in the head.
0:22:50 > 0:22:52This man is carrying A Hole In The Head.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59Broadway. The gay, white way.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01Except that it ain't gay and it ain't white
0:23:01 > 0:23:04and there ain't no legitimate theatres on it.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09They're all here on 45th Street.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34"No ugly overhang." Whatever do they mean?
0:23:38 > 0:23:41Look! Those sailors walked right past those girls!
0:23:45 > 0:23:49I could understand it if the sailors walked right past THESE girls.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52Although let's be fair, I think what they're probably doing
0:23:52 > 0:23:55is being initiated into their college sorority.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11Honey, aren't you happy?
0:24:11 > 0:24:15And still she sailed onward, ever onward.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17Would she make Plymouth Rock?
0:24:17 > 0:24:20Would she make Brighton Rock?
0:24:22 > 0:24:25Piccadilly, which this is, and Times Square
0:24:25 > 0:24:26have something in common.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28Gaudy, not neat.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39See that sign over there, "This man is wanted"?
0:24:39 > 0:24:42In this neighbourhood, it also applies to girls.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11This cinema can't make up its mind.
0:25:11 > 0:25:15Is its main attraction Macmillan or Brigitte Bardot? Quel dilemma.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30Did you know that in sculpture a bust means a head?
0:25:33 > 0:25:36By the way, have you read any bad books lately?
0:25:40 > 0:25:42"Ole"?
0:25:42 > 0:25:43That's for a bull.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54Doesn't this take you back?
0:25:54 > 0:25:56Gay Vienna, the waltz,
0:25:56 > 0:25:58the grace.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01Man, dig that crazy gavotte.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23When he grows up, he's going to be a tic-tac man.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25# Did you ever get the feeling
0:26:25 > 0:26:26# That you wanted to go?
0:26:26 > 0:26:29# And then you got the feeling That you wanted to stay. #
0:26:35 > 0:26:37This girl has gone.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40This one hasn't arrived yet.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45Pity to hit the bottle at that age.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51This one is being sent by special delivery.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55Oh, I beg your pardon. I thought you'd gone.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57This is a fan.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08This is a cool cat.
0:27:08 > 0:27:09This is a fountain.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16And as the Mayflower slowly sinks in the west with all hands,
0:27:16 > 0:27:17we in London say,
0:27:17 > 0:27:19"Good night, New York."