Episode 1 Oxford Street Revealed

It's the most famous shopping street in the world in the heart

of Britain's capital city, 1.5 miles long with 30 million visitors

each year, with some of the world's most famous shops, biggest stars...

-Kate Moss!

-..and busiest stations.

-Sorry, guys. Stand back for me.

What does it take to keep it running 24 hours a day...

Busiest street in the world so it needs constant attention.

-..seven days a week?

-Clear off!

You're going to be arrested on suspicion of attempted theft.

-Are you ready, London?

-A street that never sleeps...

This sort of thing wouldn't happen anywhere else.

..Oxford Street.

-Coming up: Rogue rickshaw drivers on Oxford Street.

-Police. Move on.

The police set out to crush the problem.

Happy days! Woohoo!

There's a competition to design a shop window...

We have made our final choice.

-..but the installation doesn't run smoothly...

-I can see it there!

That's a curve. You'll never get flush on the curve.

..builders teeter on the edge...

Yeah, it's a very long way down, so it is.

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

..and there's a problem for an Oxford Street Tube driver.

I believe someone found themselves under a train.

Constable Andy Pescott is the ward officer for the ORB police team,

dedicated to Oxford Street.

It's his job to listen to the concerns of local residents

and businesses.

One of the most frequent complaints is the behaviour of some

-of the street's rickshaw drivers.

-Oi, what's that light? Red!

You're crossing a road and you've got children on board.

The trade is unlicensed but not illegal.

While some pedicab riders adhere to the rules, residents and businesses

complain that many others frequently break them, clogging up the roads...

-Whose is this one?

-..parking where they're not meant to...

You both know that you cannot park outside Selfridges.

..playing music too loud...

MUSIC BLARES

..and charging too much.

-£5 per minute per person?

-Yeah.

-It's extortion.

For the last two years,

Andy's waged a one-man war against those operating on his patch.

Oi! Clear off!

He's tried various schemes to make them obey the rules,

including signing them up to a code of practice...

You will not stop on Oxford Street.

-You will ride until your legs drop off.

-..issuing dispersal orders...

You will not return for 48 hours.

If you return within that time, you will be arrested.

-..and just plain telling them off.

-And get on your way. Keep going!

But the problem just keeps getting worse and worse...

You know the rules and regulations.

..so much so that things have now come to a head for Andy.

Tried working in partnership with them. They're not interested.

It's all about money and greed.

They are unlicensed, they're unregulated

and they're uncontrolled.

These guys think they can rule the streets. They can't.

I can because I'm the law.

But today, Andy thinks he's about to bring an end to the problem,

once and for all.

He's now got a new weapon with which to bring the riders to heel -

a criminal behaviour order, the modern equivalent of an ASBO.

The authorities can apply for one if they've evidence

all their other efforts at containing the problem have been ignored.

And today, Andy's doing just that.

He's taking one of his biggest problem drivers to court,

where he could face a hefty fine and even more serious sanctions.

Hopefully, I can get him banned from Westminster from riding

anything other than a two-wheeled bicycle.

Andy heads to court and he's already in a bad mood.

He's had to cancel a family holiday to attend

and there's a Tube strike on so he's having to walk.

It's expected by my local community that somebody deals with it

and represents them. If I can't succeed, then nobody can succeed.

A pedicab rider has never been prosecuted in this way before

and Andy isn't completely sure what the judge will decide.

Well, everything's riding on this case today

because it's going to set precedents.

If I don't get a good result,

it's going to send a message to them that they can flout the law, and

the message I've got to send is that they are banned from my footprint.

Nevertheless, he's confident of securing a conviction.

I am the sheriff so there's only one outcome, isn't there? Happy days!

The rider Andy's pursuing today is one of his serial problems.

Called Davis Kaminskis, he's due in court at midday.

Andy heads in to wait for him.

But three hours later, there's still no sign of him.

Most of the rickshaw riders know each other

so Andy rings round some of them to try and locate Davis Kaminskis.

So it's confirmed that Davis Kaminskis has left the country?

All right. I appreciate that. Thank you very much, my friend. All right.

I'll see you on the streets. All right. Cheers, mate.

It's not good news. Andy put his best suit on for nothing.

I've been stood at court all day like a complete muppet.

I've cancelled my leave with my family to be here today at court.

There'll be a warrant out for his arrest,

and if he returns to the country, then he'll be arrested.

I just wanted today's case to be the first one to send a clear

message to the other riders.

I'm just very angry that my day's been wasted. Very angry.

And the bad news for the pedicab riders of Oxford Street is

that Andy's got to walk down it to get back to the station.

Police. Move on.

If I see you again,

you will get a community protection notice next time you stop here.

Jog on, mate.

It's just relentless, isn't it? If it's not one thing, it's another.

Don't give him any money, mate. On your way.

And then, across the street, Andy spots something that really

makes his blood boil...

HE SIGHS

..an unattended pedicab parked up in the road, blocking the junction.

The guy's taking the mickey, isn't he?

Moments later, the rider appears, thinking he's got himself a fare.

-Good. Ready?

-Yeah, I'm ready, my friend.

-Oh, sorry, mate.

-Yeah, police. You're taking the mickey, aren't you?

-Huh?

-You're taking the mickey.

-No, no, sorry...

Yeah, the answer is, "Yes, officer, I am taking the mickey."

Why have you abandoned it, firstly?

Secondly, you actually parked at the junction on the lights.

It's just, er... Got a coffee...

If you want to stop and have coffee, me old mate,

-do it on somebody else's footprint, OK?

-Yeah.

You were about 20 seconds away from me getting this impounded

for left unattended so get on your horse, get out of Dodge.

Thoroughly chastened, the rider tries to make a quick getaway.

-A little too quick for Andy.

-Move off with the lights, please.

With the lights.

Green! Go! Hasta la vista!

As he continues his patrol,

Andy spots another of his worst offending rickshaw riders, Rudolph.

-Hello, Rudolph.

-Hi.

-He's someone that knows Davis Kaminskis well.

-Davis, he should have been in court today.

-Yeah?

-There's now going to be an arrest warrant out for him.

-I don't know.

I'm just very angry that my day's been spent in court and his wasn't.

-Hello, mate.

-And five minutes later, he comes across Mavis.

He's another major flouter of the rules governing rickshaws

and a fellow friend of Davis Kaminskis'.

So he went back to Latvia to get it done?

It's one of the better excuses Andy's heard.

What he should have done, though, is

because he was summoned to court, he should have let somebody know.

And it may well be that he's arrested at the port

-when he comes back in.

-OK. We have a receipt for the hospital.

-Make sure he has the emergency stuff on him.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

If he can prove a genuine medical emergency,

he won't be punished for missing the court date.

Either way, Andy's chance to set a legal precedent to bring

the rogue rickshaw riders to order has gone for today.

He puts paperwork together to get criminal behaviour

orders against two more of his major problem riders,

both of whom he met today - Rudolph and Mavis.

-Later, Andy's back at court but where are his riders?

-It's now 2:15.

He was supposed to have been there for 1:30.

I'm a bit worried he's not going to turn up.

Shop windows are the most important advertising space on Oxford Street.

Each one has just a few seconds to grab the eye of passers-by to

lure them in.

Getting it right can be the difference between success or

failure for a store.

Designing a window on Oxford Street is the pinnacle of a visual

merchandiser's career and usually takes years to reach.

But today, one leading high-street chain is launching

-a competition to give the job to a novice.

-OK, guys.

We've got quite a lot to get through today.

At the London College of Fashion,

part of the University of the Arts London,

these students, currently studying for degrees in fashion,

visual merchandising and branding,

are about to be given their shot at the big time.

One of them will win the chance to design a window display.

It's for the flagship Oxford Circus store

of British fashion chain, Warehouse.

So what I want you guys to do is a takeover on one of our stores.

This is one of our flagship stores.

For Warehouse, handing over the design for such a key shop

window to a novice is taking quite a risk

but visual merchandiser Laura Woods believes it's worth it.

I think, if we're going to do the project, it has to be a big deal.

There's no point in doing, like, you know,

a small store that probably doesn't get as much footfall.

For the last 18 months,

designing the store's windows has been Laura's responsibility.

This time, she'll mentor the students as they come up

with their own plans before choosing a winner and building their window.

It's a great opportunity.

I mean, we're being able to put our work out there.

The general public getting to see it and it being for the brand,

it's an amazing opportunity.

They start with a visit to the store.

So basically, you will take over this entire space.

It's up to you to do exactly what you want.

One of the biggest challenges for the students will be to work out

how to turn their ideas into reality.

So when you come back with your designs,

we'll work with you guys with a supplier to actually build it.

You know, when we actually install it, you guys will be here,

installing it with us.

Course leader Sarah Bailey is overseeing the students.

The next stage will be to go off and research

and they will get some feedback on their sketches.

I think it's time to see what they come up with.

I hope we're going to see something completely different.

Think about something that's going to be amazing

and then work around how you can make that affordable.

And I think that's where the creativity also comes in.

A month later and things are moving fast.

Head of Warehouse visual merchandising Nathan King

is at the college to check on progress.

-Where are you taking it here?

-It's just kind of what came to my head.

I was just, like, right, how can I recreate this?

I was sort of, like, looking at textures and things

so I started to look up playgrounds.

We'll probably have kids coming in, you'll probably find,

to play on the window!

The students spend another three weeks finessing their designs

until Nathan and Laura are back at the college to

-review their final submissions.

-This looks fantastic.

I think that's a lovely execution.

I feel it might be a little youthful.

-There is a lot to take in.

-It's about refining it.

We're going to have to work with whoever

we choose to make it commercial, to make it cost-effective.

We've got a really tricky decision to make now.

And finally, eight weeks after the first briefing,

their three favourites are invited back.

Gillian's based her design on an urban chameleon theme

and uses industrial materials,

Emma was inspired by the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland

and has constructed a wave shape from wooden blocks,

while Molly has focused on innovative product display with mirrors

and glass globes, but only one will be crowned as the winner.

I just want to know!

I'm just waiting for, like, their decision.

-Really kind of shaky.

-Morning, guys.

Later, things go a bit X Factor as a winner is announced...

We have made our final choice.

..but turning a vision into cold reality isn't as easy as it seems.

The majority of them should be the small ones.

You said cut some of them down.

Building sites present many challenges

and Oxford Street can be trickier than most.

The narrow confines

and millions of shoppers passing by add to the complexities

faced by construction companies...

..all of which take safety very seriously.

That's certainly the case on the Oriana project.

This 220,000 square foot development at the east end of the street

is due for completion in late 2016

and will provide retail space, offices and flats.

Today, the builders have got a crucial job to do.

There's a two-storey basement underneath an existing

concrete floor.

It's currently held up by a number of concrete pillars but to make

this usable retail space, they want to remove the pillars altogether.

OK, Dave.

They've spent the last two days craning

and welding a huge metal crossbar into place,

supported by new steel struts to take the weight from the old pillars.

With the bar in place, they can now jackhammer them out.

And that's when things get challenging.

It's one of the biggest tasks on the job, actually.

Very tricky and very dangerous but with the health

and safety in place, everything should go well.

Making sure it does is Martin Kenefick

and his five-tonne excavator machine.

Within the next two days, I need to get this big lump of concrete,

this block of concrete, broke down safe and securely.

While Martin's knocking down the old support columns,

Warren needs to make sure the slab

and newly-installed metal beam above stay perfectly still.

So this beam is holding up this slab.

We're just taking levels now at this moment because,

if there's any movement at all, we've got to stop work

cos it's very dangerous underneath.

More than a centimetre's movement would mean the support was

unstable and risk the whole concrete floor

collapsing into the ten-metre hole beneath.

Martin picks up his jackhammer and gets to work on the column.

Here we go.

HAMMERING

Most of the steel is in my way.

It's very hard to break the concrete around it.

After three hours of jackhammering, Warren steps in.

If you stop breaking now.

We're going to check the level of the beam,

make sure it's not moving, yeah?

Now, the moment of truth.

Have a nice day.

-How we looking?

-It's nice.

-Nice, yeah? That's good news.

The beam is holding firm.

In the excavator, Martin's edging closer and closer to the entrance

to the pit, extending the machine to reach what's left of the column.

There's only a small bit left

but reaching it is the main problem at the minute.

He spins the digger around to get even closer.

He's now right on the edge of the pit.

It's getting very hairy, so it is. Very scary.

It's a very long way down.

This would probably be up there with sort of the riskier

stuff we're undertaking on this project.

There's a man for the job and they're doing it safely.

I've got all my good faith in him.

Just last bit of the block so I'm going to have to stretch

the machine now to its full capacity and see, can I push it over?

The back of the tracks are off the ground and Martin's

stretched as far as he possibly can but the pillars are still standing.

He's at full reach now. He's as close as he can get.

We need a rethink on how we're going to get the lower

part of the poles down.

After a moment's puzzling, Warren's come up with a plan.

What I want to try and do is try and lift the five-tonne machine

down into the basement, mate,

in through that hole we got in the slab.

Craning the excavator into the hole is the quickest and easiest solution.

The alternative, building a ramp, would take a lot more time

and manpower.

Getting it in there is the job of crane operator Dave,

150 foot above Oxford Street.

So, yeah, that would be the heaviest lift for today.

Dave's used to lifting anything and everything on this site

but this won't be simple. Warren's not even sure the machine will fit.

There's rebars sticking out, which is going to

extend the slab at a later date,

so I'm just hoping it will squeeze down in between the two.

Hopefully.

The digger is changed to the crane and Dave begins to lift it.

-Five tonnes is quite a lot.

-OK, whenever we're ready, yeah?

The crane will bend and twist.

And as you're lifting a heavy load,

you'll feel the crane just start leaning forward.

So then you bring your gib back to keep it central.

Yeah. But you learn quickly!

HE CHUCKLES

Later, digging a hole for themselves.

Can the Oriana team get the excavator in and the concrete pillars out?

Um, hopefully, we can... Ooh!

Every year, 30 million people visit Oxford Street.

The vast majority come by public transport

and that means riding the bus or taking the Tube.

And neither form of transport can get there without their drivers.

But just what's involved, being a driver of public transport,

on and under Europe's busiest shopping street?

There are 3,500 Tube drivers in London.

-Will Gillingham is one of them.

-Ta-da!

He's starting his day's work 15 miles from Oxford Street in West Ruislip.

Once we get a nice green signal, we can be out of here.

We're on the Central Line.

We've just left South Ruislip, heading east.

It takes around six months to train to be a Tube driver.

Today, Will's taking his Tube train right through Oxford Street's

four Tube stations.

Foremost among them, the busiest railway station in the UK -

Oxford Circus.

On the other side of London, Sharon is getting ready to make

the same journey in the opposite direction and above ground.

And I've taken my bus from Archway,

get all the lovely passengers on board.

She's one of 25,000 London bus drivers.

Today, she's driving the 390 right down Oxford Street.

I've been on the job, ooh, 16 years now.

It's been kind of a challenge but, yeah, I love the challenge.

Sharon will be driving the new Routemaster, modelled on its iconic

but now retired namesake.

Each bus costs around £350,000 -

more than the average price of a UK home.

Hello, Shez!

Today, Gary will be Sharon's conductor,

-now known as a customer assistant.

-You all right?

-All right?

-Yeah, good to see you again.

-Nice one.

-Nice working with you.

-All right?

-Yeah, you?

-Yeah.

-I ain't worked with you for a while.

-I know.

-It's been ages!

-That's nice. Well, I'm glad I'm with you.

Sharon and Gary have got a regular shift ahead of them

involving six journeys up and down Oxford Street.

They get going.

Meanwhile, underground, Will is approaching the first

and quietest of the four Oxford Street stations.

This is Marble Arch.

This is lunchtime.

Give it another three hours or so and it gets quite interesting.

Will's cab connects with the station's CCTV to help him

operate the doors.

So what you're looking at is all four at the same time

and making sure that, when you want close the doors,

there's no-one about to get caught in them.

Please stand clear.

Mind the closing doors now. Mind the doors.

Next up is the biggest challenge for any Tube driver -

the UK's busiest station.

Next station is Oxford Circus and this one gets really,

really busy and it doesn't disappoint!

HE LAUGHS

100 million passengers use Oxford Circus station every year.

Making sure the doors close safely is paramount for Will.

Ladies and gentlemen, please board the train quickly

and move right down inside the cars. Now stand clear of the doors.

The train is getting ready to depart. Stand clear now.

We should really be departing

but this is a typical example where we're likely to

be in the platform just a few seconds longer than would be ideal.

This train is now ready to depart. Stand clear now, please.

Mind the closing doors. Mind the doors.

With Oxford Circus passed, Will can begin to breathe a bit easier

but a little further along and a call comes through to his cab.

We are now at St Paul's and there we have...

The light control are calling through to us,

telling us that...on the eastbound, to hold.

He's forced to hold the train while he finds out what's going on.

Well, unfortunately, at Mile End on the eastbound,

I believe someone found themselves under a train.

The exact details of how that happened,

what it was all about, I don't know.

Someone on the tracks is the most difficult thing

London Underground staff face at any time.

Part and parcel of the job,

that people do find themselves under trains, for whatever reason.

Sometimes an accident, sometimes it isn't.

It's that feeling of helplessness where,

if someone is going to do that, you cannot do anything to avoid it.

Trains are held back along the line while staff deal with the incident.

Will and his passengers, meanwhile, sit patiently and wait.

Back above ground and things are getting busy for Sharon and Gary.

Just at the start of Oxford Street now.

Oh, he's waiting for the bus. Come down.

I'm waiting, I'm waiting, I'm waiting!

BEEPING

I wouldn't have left you. I saw you running.

SHE LAUGHS

BEEPING

Oxford Street is a journey many bus drivers dislike.

-Sharon has many obstacles to avoid...

-Some people aren't even looking.

They're just walking across and not even looking if the bus is moving.

..reckless pedicabs...

You just don't know when they're going to swing in front of you

-and turn around.

-..crazy cyclists...

-Didn't even look.

-He just jumped in the road.

-..foolhardy pedestrians.

-Uh-uh-uh!

We've got a Roadrunner! He didn't even look either.

Still keeping the good old wits about me. Wow!

But despite the other road users,

she makes it to the end of the street on time and in one piece.

Back underground and the Tube trains at Oxford Circus are at a standstill.

Further down the line, Will is still stuck in a station.

This is taking a little longer to put right than we would normally be.

This train is pretty full and, right now,

it's going to be hot back there.

In the height of summer,

temperatures on the Tube can reach as high as 35 degrees Celsius.

-With a man who wants to know what gives. Hello, buddy.

-How you doing?

Yeah, cool, mate.

Neither have we, if you want the truth!

No, the latest update I got was about five minutes ago,

-expecting it will be five minutes.

-Five minutes, yeah?

They've got traction current off because they want to reset

the section switch but it don't normally take this long.

-All right, then. Cheers.

-All right, buddy.

There we go.

Finally, after 20 minutes of waiting, a message comes through.

"Internal message for eastbound trains, drivers proceed..."

-We're good to go!

-"Eastbound trains, eastbound trains,

"Notting Hill Gate all the way to Bethnal Green..."

Good afternoon, ladies and gents, good news, we are now good to go,

that problem ahead of us has been resolved.

Please stand clear, mind the closing doors now, mind the closing doors.

Will and his passengers can get going again.

Above ground meanwhile, Sharon and Gary are done for the day.

Between them, London's buses and tubes

have carried ten million passengers today

and it's all thanks to their drivers

and of course, the customer assistants.

They've done their bit to keep Oxford Street moving.

And here we are right now, the light at the end of the tunnel.

Daylight is ahead of us.

Earlier, we saw PC Andy Pescott's one-man war

on the rogue rickshaw drivers of Oxford Street...

-Police. Move on.

-..reach the criminal courts.

On that occasion, the driver he was after, Davis Kaminskis,

didn't turn up.

I've been stood at court all day like a complete muppet.

I'm just very angry that my day's been wasted.

Very angry.

But six weeks later, and Andy's back at court

with another chance to establish a precedent.

He's brought a case against a second rider, Rudolph.

Hello, Rudolph.

He's one of a group of riders that are constantly breaking the rules.

Andy plans to get him slapped with a criminal behaviour order,

which could see him given a long-term ban from operating in the area.

It's going to be quite difficult,

because obviously pedicab riding is his livelihood

and I'm trying to get him banned from the entirety of the borough.

It's the first of its kind

and there's a lot of people going to be monitoring the outcome of that,

including all the pedicab riders,

so, fingers crossed, it goes our way.

Andy heads in.

But after half an hour inside, he's back out.

Once again, he's been left waiting for a rider to turn up to court.

It's not surprising, but then he has a lot riding on it himself,

so hopefully he's got an excuse for why he's late.

If he doesn't turn up in the next few minutes,

Andy will miss his spot in front of the judge

and the day will have been wasted again.

-Oh, there he is.

-Suddenly, Rudolph makes an appearance.

Rudolph, that way!

Andy knows him well and rushes him into court.

After an hour inside, they're out.

ANDY LAUGHS

The criminal behaviour order's been granted.

He's been banned from Oxford Street for two years

from riding a pedicab.

The two year ban is a massive personal triumph for Andy.

Not only is one of his worst offenders now off the streets,

but he's got a legal precedent he can use

to get the other riders into line.

They're going to realise we're not to be messed with

and every single one of them at some point is going to end up here,

in court and they're going to lose.

Rudolph, can I get a word? Give us a quick word, just...

They're my streets, I'm here to police them

and I'm going to carry on, day in, day out. Minus Rudolph.

Yeah. Pedicab riders, nil. Police, one.

And two weeks later, a third rider, Mavis, had his hearing...

and was banned from riding a pedicab on Oxford Street for even longer,

five years,

as well as a £705 fine.

Later, Andy's defeat of the rogue rickshaw drivers...

..is a crushing one.

Woohoo!

At the London College Of Fashion,

warehouse visual merchandisers, Laura and Nathan,

are about to announce which student will have the opportunity

to design their Oxford Circus store's autumn window.

-Yeah.

-I thought this would be the easy bit.

I don't want to be nervous, but I can't help it.

-All right, guys.

-Come on.

But which of the three finalists' designs will they pick?

Gillian's urban chameleon theme?

Emma's giant's causeway-inspired wooden wave?

Or Molly's mirrors and glass baubles?

There can be only one winner.

All of your work was of such a high calibre,

the way you presented it, er...was just outstanding.

It wasn't an easy decision to make at all,

but we have made our final choice.

We would like to ask...

-..Emma...

-CHEERING

..to exhibit your work in our London flagship.

-That's amazing, thank you.

-Well done.

Yeah, I'm really happy. Really, really happy.

Over the next few weeks, Emma and the team work on her designs

until they have something they're confident

they can build inside the shop window in a single night.

We're working to quite tight schedules in terms of getting this,

you know, produced and installed.

There might be some other way to kind of work around it,

-so you're not using so many materials.

-OK.

-Fantastic.

And ten weeks later, after the Oxford Circus store has closed,

Emma, Laura and the warehouse team

arrive to install her finished design.

So, Emma is the designer of our lovely Fashion Week window.

They'll be working through the night,

with the aim to have it ready

by the time the shop opens at 9am.

We spent a lot of time in the office trying to figure out

how to go about it, how to create the different shapes,

but the design is still very similar to what I originally proposed.

We've got about 12 hours,

but I think with the level of work involved,

we've really got to get cracking on.

We've GOT to be finished by the time the store opens.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-You all right?

To do that, they're employing Johnny and Josh

from a Leeds-based window installers.

Johnny has built a wave-shaped base. This will support

an irregular pattern of wooden blocks around plinths

for the mannequins to stand on.

These are the elements of the design,

basically, so it's giant's causeway-inspired,

all like little blocks, um...

..almost looks a bit like a deconstructed parquet floor,

so this is...it's a bit experimental.

It's now down to Johnny and Josh to assemble it for real,

but already there's a problem.

Some of the blocks they've prepared are too big and won't fit.

That's too long.

The majority of them should be...either small ones...

It's going to take a while if you want us to cut every piece down.

Because obviously...

You said cut SOME of them down.

Yeah, I said leave a few of the bigger pieces.

Despite the months of development,

there's still a lot to work out on the night.

We've had a few issues with the lengths of the wood.

I've asked the guys to go outside and cut it outside.

I think they're going to do it in their van.

After an unplanned extra hour, the team are behind schedule.

I think this is why we gave ourselves 12 hours,

which sounds like such a lot of time, but...

it's really not.

The wave-shaped base is continuing to cause problems.

The blocks have stuck easily to the lower part,

but are falling off on the vertical section because they can't lie flush.

With a curve,

you know we're going to have a full...

point of contact,

you've only got two real small points of contact.

So, the problem with glue is

you have to hold it and wait for it to set.

Emma's window hangs in the balance.

The team have to think fast to come up with a solution.

There's only a few hours before the shop opens.

You'd like to think you can control everything,

but gravity is not one of them.

Later - can Johnny's ingenuity save the day?

I think it's a good idea.

It's getting the initial "How's it going to work?"

At the Oriana site at the east end of Oxford Street,

a construction team are trying to remove the bottom half

of a group of concrete pillars,

to open up a brand-new retail space.

They need to get their excavator nearer to the pillars

so they've decided to try and crane it in through a hole in the ceiling -

all five tonnes of it.

Here we go. Nice and easy, mate. Nice and easy.

I hope so. I hope the steel's not in the way.

It's tight.

Might have to go down and in.

You know, give me a touch to your left. A touch to your left.

There is only an inch either side of the machine

and absolutely no room for error.

Whoa, whoa, whoa...

Oh.

But the alternative - building a ramp into the pit -

is time-consuming, and will stop work elsewhere on-site.

Bit precarious where it is,

so you want to come in nice and slow for the boys, like.

We're trying to just jostle it around as much as possible.

It's very, very close.

With the machine above the hole, it's becoming clear that

if it's going to go in at all, it's going to be very tight.

If we can, we can. If we can't, we can't.

-Give me a touch more down...

-OK.

No, we're going to have to abort, lads.

It was worth a shot, but it's unfortunately failed us.

Back to the drawing board.

Dave lifts it back up and away from the hole.

Unfortunately we have to organise a smaller machine now,

or a bigger hole,

so it is what it is, my friend.

That's the building game.

Martin's not going to let something like that keep him

from finishing his job on time, and he's got a plan.

With a bucket on the front, he moves to plan B -

building himself a slope he can drive the machine down and into the pit.

Martin digs away for nearly two hours

and then he's done.

Right, so now the machine's down there safely and securely,

we're going to put a temporary access in.

We'll build some temporary steps for him to get up out.

But, no, I'm happy now.

It's down, it's in there, and we've achieved our task.

It's taken a little longer than Warren hoped,

but with Dave lifting the jackhammer down to Martin,

deep in the cavern-like pit,

he gets to work on what remains of the old pillars.

MACHINE RATTLES

In just an hour and a half, he's finished.

Yeah, it's all done now. Thank God.

It took a while but it got there eventually.

In nine months, the project will be complete,

and the face of the street changed forever.

In the meantime, the crew of the Oriana project

will continue to enjoy building it.

I like what I do - that's why come to work every day.

This rates pretty high up there,

hanging over the edge of a ten-foot, ten-metre drop is...

pretty intense, so it is.

-Terrible...

-Back at Warehouse,

and shop fitter Johnny is trying to work out how

he can construct fashion student Emma's window.

They've been having trouble gluing square blocks to a rounded surface.

No, it's not flush. I can see it there.

-That's a curve. You'll never get flush on a curve.

-No, I know...

Johnny's one of the most experienced fitters for his Leeds-based company.

They fit windows all over the UK,

and major Oxford Street installations are their bread and butter.

He knows only too well the challenges of the industry.

I've seen people break in this job,

and I mean, breakdown, tears...

It's not a pretty sight.

Fortunately, he's got a solution to the glue problem.

So what we've got is some double-sided Velcro,

and it allows us to just stick a block on and work around that.

It'll support enough weight.

It's getting the initial "How's it going to work?"

-That's what's going to take the time.

-Yeah.

Once it starts, we have a set rhythm.

Is it meant to look like that?

The installation's back on track,

but by midnight, the team are starting to flag.

Right, what do you want? Pepperoni and jalapenos?

'We'll get a bit of tucker in us...'

Ah, pizza! Yay!

..and then, in maybe about 20 minutes,

half an hour,

recharge the batteries and hit it hard.

Reinvigorated by pizza, they get back to work,

and the window finally starts to take shape.

Obviously, we could be gluing this down,

but, like, Johnny's quite protective over his gun.

I just don't want to waste any.

Emma was using it and she was very sparing.

I didn't say I didn't trust Emma.

At 5am, after nearly 11 hours' hard work,

Laura can step back and admire what they've achieved.

'I'm really pleased with it.

'I think Emma's really happy with it.'

I think she's kind of learned a lot.

That's your name.

I know.

It doesn't feel real.

I feel like somebody's going to come and say, "Ha-ha, only joking."

I like it.

It's got the seal of approval.

There are just a few finishing touches.

Mannequins, lighting, tidy up,

fix replacement, done.

Her head, like, spin it back round the right way?

-All right.

-Thank you. That's perfect, thank you.

And then that's us.

For Johnny and Josh, it's just another day at the office.

Gone really well tonight.

-Erm...

-A bit later than we expected.

It's such an amazing thing having my name on the window on Oxford Street.

I'm really, really happy.

And a few days later, Emma's tutor Sarah has come with Nathan and Laura

to check out Oxford Circus's newest window in the daylight.

It's really good.

It's fantastic to see Emma's designs finally in-store,

and she's worked very, very hard,

and I think the results have been fantastic.

In South London, the self-styled Sheriff of Oxford Street,

Andy Pescott, has come to a council lock-up for a very special event.

Today is a beautiful day.

In the two years he's been battling rogue rickshaw riders,

Westminster Council has seized a number of pedicabs.

We've got 14 pedicabs.

They've all committed offences in one way or another.

Today, Andy's got plans for them.

Happy days.

I think we've had them in storage long enough

and we're getting them destroyed. Happy days.

He's arranged for a scrap metal firm to recycle the pedicabs.

You want to commit crime in my area?

This is what's going to happen.

I'm going to see you in court

and I'm going to make representations to have

your pedicab seized and destroyed.

Wave goodbye to your pedicab.

METAL CRUNCHES

It's taken Andy two years to get to this point

and he's relishing the taste of victory.

Happy days! Woohoo!

No more "£5 per minute per person" for that pedicab, is it?

METAL CRUNCHES

If only I had a cup of tea and a deckchair,

I'd be over the moon right now.

I could sit here all day and watch this.

METAL CRUNCHES

# Swing low sweet chariot

# Coming for to carry me home... #

And with one final crunch, the last of the pedicabs is gone.

Andy hopes that's 14 riders he'll never see on Oxford Street again.

Beautiful. Thanks, Roy.

Beautiful job. Beautiful.

Andy's won the battle but he knows the war continues

and he's not giving up in a hurry.

I'm off back to Oxford Street now to start all over again.