Episode 8 Oxford Street Revealed

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

of Britain's capital city.

A mile and a half 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...

The busiest street in the world, so it needs constant attention.

-..seven days a week?

-Oi! 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.

Coming up, it's switch-on time for the Oxford Street Christmas lights.

-The pressure is on.

-But will everything be ready for Kylie?

-Prfff!

-Police are on the trail of bike snatchers and shoplifters.

Why would you need a completely empty bag?

There's a row going on about mosaics underground.

It's incredible actually how dirty it has got.

The high-tech future of advertising...

It's going to start off with nonsense but over time, hopefully,

it will make more and more sense.

..and the department store is having

a video shoot for their Christmas windows.

Our dress is not going down very well.

Oxford Street has its own dedicated police team known as ORB.

Keeping the street a safe shopping destination is their job

and they are known for making the right judgement calls when it counts.

Tonight, PC Amy Campion and a colleague from the team

are undercover on Oxford Street.

It's coming up to Christmas when levels of street crime rise because

crowds of extra shoppers provide opportunities for thieves.

People target tourists, people with open bags. They will basically

just pop in there and with a bit of light-fingered magic, have it away.

You will never see it again.

Before long, the officers spot a large group of boys who Amy thinks

are acting suspiciously.

I just... I'd like to just observe them at the moment

and see what happens.

There have recently been a spate of snatched thefts by youths

on bicycles in the West End. One particularly brazen example

was captured by a department store's CCTV.

The cyclist grabs the victim's phone

and vanishes instantly into the traffic.

As a result, officers are paying particular attention to groups

that include cyclists.

That lad seems intent on riding his bike in a busy street.

Amy has spotted one such group but after following them,

she becomes worried she has been spotted herself.

Down here. Yeah, I know.

Down here, round the back...and they might have gone up Oxford Street.

Thinking her cover's blown, Amy and the other officer duck into a side

street to drop back before trying to follow at more of a distance.

As soon as they became aware, they were gone and away across the street

so we are trying to find them now cos I have a very genuinely

honestly held belief they are probably involved in crime.

They have timed their re-emergence onto Oxford Street perfectly

as the boys are just ahead of them.

Steph, got him. Yes, yellow coat.

They follow the group as far as a large shop on Oxford Circus

which the youths enter.

Amy now thinks they might be out to shoplift.

The youths are all inside. Amy alerts security as well as two fellow

officers who keep watch on the exit.

This is one of them. I'm just waiting to see what the rest do.

The boy with the bike is waiting right in the shop's doorway.

I believe they put a person outside the store on a bike in order

to take any stolen property they may have had in the store out of it.

There's nothing to do but wait for the youths to make a move.

I love the game. It is my very favourite game.

Suddenly, the group of boys all leave the shop but they split up

and head in different directions.

Luckily, there are now enough officers to follow each of them.

-Amy makes her move.

-Put the phone down, put the phone down.

At the moment you are detained under Section 1 of PACE, all right,

cos I want to search you.

I've been observing you in the store, OK?

I believe your behaviour is suspicious. Out of respect for you,

I'm going to ask the male officer to search you, OK?

The boy isn't pleased to have been stopped.

-Wait. Can you not record this, please?

-OK. Take your hand down,

don't touch the camera.

-Excuse me, excuse me...

-He can record what he wants.

The search doesn't turn up any stolen goods but Amy is still suspicious.

Why would you need a completely empty bag?

Would you just not carry a bag then?

With nothing in your bag?

With nothing on him, Amy is forced to let this boy go.

But later, she catches up with another of the same group of youths,

who isn't so lucky.

To retain its position as THE place for festive shopping, every year

Oxford Street is illuminated with thousands of Christmas lights.

To make this happen, the road is closed in sections over the course

of a month while the lights are erected.

Once in place, the lights will be lit up by a celebrity as part

of a huge switch-on show.

And this year the job of pushing the button will fall to antipodean

pop princess Kylie Minogue.

It's 1am on the morning of the big switch-on but before anyone can

push anything, a team led by Dean Parker needs to get the stage

up and ready for Kylie to stand on.

Mark out where the stage is going to go now. Quite crucial to get it

in the right place. It's a bit of a challenge cos we've obviously

got live traffic running next to us

so we've got to make sure we've got a safe area so that they can

build it without getting run over or being accosted by the public.

This year is going to be the street's most ambitious switch-on show ever.

They are shutting most of the street to traffic and erecting

a giant screen so people can watch.

By 6am the stage is built and ready to be dressed and lit.

The job of lighting Kylie and the rest of the stage show

falls to a lighting team led by Paul de Villiers.

My role during the show is to operate the lights

and sort of make sure everything happens on the cues of the show

because CO2 cannons coming out the sides with strobes firing up those.

And yeah, one like the big bang.

HE LAUGHS

I'm very excited, I'm very scared and I hope it all works out well.

The lighting will be controlled by a computer program Paul will operate

from his laptop.

This year he has had a cutting-edge rig of LED lights built

especially for the occasion. It's the first time they've been used.

Concept is lots and lots and lots of lights in a tiny, tiny stage.

So hopefully they look very nice and twinkly for Ms Minogue

but the main key is always to light the performers, which a lot

of people don't sort of remember to do.

The giant screen is another first for the show and Dean is getting

things in place for its erection.

We're getting to the point now where we are going to close

the rest of Oxford Street.

OK, the road is closed now so you can come down and swing straight in.

SFM know that they are expecting you.

It comes as a shock to some drivers.

Disgusting!

With the road closed, the mega-fans begin to queue up.

I arrived at 8.30 this morning to try and get a good place

in the queue, and I am number two.

I am just so looking forward to seeing Kylie cos I'm a massive fan.

I have loved her since 1987. I love all her music.

And got my tattoo done this year. Kylie signed a CD for me.

I've been here since 8 o'clock. I was first to arrive and I'm first

in the queue so I'm really excited.

Really pleased cos I will be right at the front

and I hope to see my beloved Kylie.

They have got their front row seats booked but thousands of fans

won't see anything without the giant screen.

It's the biggest in Europe and is housed in this lorry.

It extends on poles from inside the truck to about the same height

as the 3,000 lights strung across the road.

-Are you concerned about hitting?

-Yeah. Very.

I think if one light goes out, it puts them all out,

-it's that kind of system.

-Do you want to bring it forward?

Is that what you're going to say, have to bring it forward?

-Wherever it needs to be, put it, OK?

-As far back as possible.

But as far back as possible, yeah.

I'm not really sure the total height that goes out.

I reckon...if it goes to the height of them three windows,

the third window up...

That is high enough, isn't it?

The lorry with the screen is manoeuvred into place

but then comes the hazardous bit.

The screen comes up from the truck but now needs to be rotated round.

And that's when the team worry it could get a little too close

to the suspended globes.

I'll give him the nod now and he'll spin it.

-Are you ready?

-We are ready to go.

The pressure is on.

Literally millimetres.

It passes clear but just a whisker away.

It was just perfect. Perfect. Not a kiss in sight.

Later, I Should Be So Lucky.

The crowds arrive, the nerves are beginning to show.

If we miss that moment, I probably won't be booked again.

And here comes Kylie.

London's underground network is the oldest of its kind in the world,

having recently celebrated its 150th anniversary.

Responsible for preserving its history is

Transport for London's Design and Heritage Manager Mike Ashworth.

And this morning he has come to Oxford Street for a very

particular inspection.

Tottenham Court Road station at the east end of the street is

currently undergoing a half a billion pound rebuild.

And right in the middle of it is a major series of public artworks -

a set of mosaics by British pop artist Eduardo Paolozzi.

I'm on an inspection visit today to make sure, in fact, that the plans

that we have involve the restoration and relocation

of over 95% of the mosaics is going according to plan.

Born in Edinburgh, Eduardo Paolozzi

is one of Britain's most famous pop artists whose work sells

for hundreds of thousands of pounds.

He designed and installed the Tottenham Court Road mosaics in 1984.

The eye-catching multicoloured murals have always drawn mixed opinions

but love them or hate them, few pass by without noticing them.

They are made just like Romans made mosaics. These are made out of

little tessera.

In fact, a lot of these were actually made in Italy.

And this is the first time really in nearly 30 years we have been

able to see the mosaics with everything stripped off.

And you can see, there's quite a lot of historic damage here.

The murals run throughout the station and experts consider them

one of the most important examples of British pop art on public display.

In the middle of a huge building site,

the risk of damage to them is real.

The rotunda area contains some of the largest and most famous pieces.

-What do you want pulled off first?

-I think we'll have a look...

Let's have a look at this bottom corner here.

It's incredible, actually how dirty

it has got during 30 years of service life.

But no, structurally, that looks fine, really.

It's difficult working round these things, isn't it?

-Yeah, definitely.

-In the middle of a building site finding works of art.

You know, it's not exactly Pompeii

but, you know, a fair amount of work needs to be done to keep these safe.

I'm into art but I've looked at it, it's very different.

I'd say that much.

I'm more than satisfied, obviously, at this stage in the works,

you know, the mosaics seem in good condition.

You know, there's no obvious sign of damage.

So far, so good down here at Tottenham Court Road.

Mike might be happy with the state of the mosaics but plenty of other

people are not.

As part of the redevelopment, much of the old station is being demolished.

And news has emerged that that includes some of the murals.

In particular, the famous three-arch scene above the old escalators.

Henrietta Billings, from the Twentieth Century Society,

is fighting to save them.

Just about to have a meeting with TFL and Hawkins Brown,

their architects, to discuss the possibility of either retaining

these two really important parts of the Paolozzi mural - the arches

and the entrance panel - either within the new station

or the possibility of them being relocated to another site.

Hopefully, a museum or somewhere that they can still be seen

on public display.

A petition has been put together to save them with over 7,000 signatures.

A lot of it is still in really, really good condition

and the idea that we lose it because it doesn't fit in with

the new plans of the station is a major, major loss for us.

You know, it would be a tragic loss.

Later, the station is demolished but what will happen to the mosaics?

Dismantling that part of the building was never going to allow us

to take these out in a meaningful way.

PC Amy Campion has stopped a number of youths seen acting

suspiciously on Oxford Street.

She thinks they might have shoplifted from a major store.

One male she stopped had nothing on him and has been let go.

But across the street, another officer caught up with

a different member of the group.

Some trainers. He tried to take some trainers.

In the shop's back room, one of the youths Amy spotted earlier

is now in handcuffs having been found with a pair of trainers

that hadn't been paid for.

The boy, who has admitted shoplifting, is visibly upset.

I know, I understand.

It emerges the boy is only 13. None of the others who were stopped

were found to have any stolen goods on them.

After discussions with the shop manager, Amy decides not to take

the boy back to custody where he would be charged with shoplifting.

Instead, the store agree that on this occasion he should be returned home

to face the wrath of his parents.

On this occasion, the boy wasn't charged

and won't get a criminal record.

But his details will be noted and any further brushes with the law

will be taken more seriously.

Dealing with such a young boy means

difficult judgement calls for the ORB team.

No joy in arresting a 13-year-old.

I think everyone deserves to be treated reasonably

and proportionately.

And is it proportionate to drag into custody a crying 13-year-old?

Is it really?

It's not being soft, it's being fair and that's what you've got to be,

you've got to be fair.

Sometimes the officers capture hardened professional criminals

but today Amy is happy the boy has seen the error of his ways.

He was very upset. He said he was sorry on numerous occasions.

We took him home and his family were very concerned,

especially his mum and his sister.

For Amy, it's vindication for her instinctive feeling that something

wasn't right about the group.

And a few days later, out on plain-clothes patrol is another

officer known for his instinct for spotting criminality -

PC Paul Penrose.

As part of the ORB team, it's the undercover officer's job to

keep the West End safe for shoppers

and that means being on patrol in all weathers.

As you can see, it's horrible.

It's rainy, it's a bit windy, it's cold.

It's not dampening our spirits. We're out still looking for thieves.

At Oxford Circus, one man hanging around outside a shop immediately

captures Paul's attention.

The man seems to be watching people around him.

It's only because Paul is primed to spot this sort of behaviour

after years of experience that he notices at all.

Many criminals carry cheap pay-as-you-go phones rather than

smartphones so they can dispose of them easily.

And on closer inspection,

the cheap one that man is using matches this profile.

It's the slightest clue but Paul thinks it is enough to make it

worthwhile following when the man heads south.

There he is.

Moments later, he does just that.

He is now headed back up Regent Street.

He's having a good look around.

The double-back manoeuvre makes Paul doubt the man is a regular shopper.

Paul has observed suspicious movements but nothing illegal.

With the man about to leave on a bus,

he's got to make a big judgement call.

With only a second to make the decision, he moves in.

Later, Paul gets his man and more than he bargained for.

Where is your visa?

At Debenhams head office in London, Ian and Amanda from the visual

merchandising team are working on a festive window design

for the chain's flagship Oxford Street store.

We have a modern building so we need

to come up with something that's very modern.

It needs to be theatrical,

it needs to be something that's eye-catching, show-stopping.

Quite embryonic yet so we have got a lot of work to do on it.

It's one of the most important jobs in the company.

Each window has just a few seconds to grab a passers-by's attention.

And the competition

between Oxford Street's department stores is massive.

You have got Selfridge's there, John Lewis.

Everyone is there so we have got to do something really spectacular.

We've got to really pull something out of the hat.

Colleague Ian has been working on the concept. The plan is to build

a display of mannequins and stars

around a video installation of a real-life model.

She is a gorgeous sky goddess or a snow queen and she's got a box.

And she opens this box, pulls the ribbon and the sides fall open.

As she blows...the stars start to break up and they burst into

a thousand stars which travel throughout the window.

It carries with her breath.

It feels like we've got plenty of time to get this together

but we really haven't, so the race is on.

And firing the starting gun, Ian and Amanda arrive at a film studio

to put the all-important video together.

The company is investing a lot of money in the windows

and has exacting standards.

Their video must be perfect.

It's quite scary, really. I think neither of us slept much last night.

We are making a bit of an outfit for the model.

You're not going to see any of it except for when the wind blows it

into the shop, so hopefully you'll just get bits of ribbon

that are flying through.

The film will be shot against a green screen so images can be

superimposed by a computer later.

But some of the shoot will involve more traditional real-world props,

including the gift box itself.

The dreaded boxes.

The model will open the box...

..and then the sides fall open.

HE BLOWS

And there you have it. But, yeah...hopefully it will work.

-With the model made up and ready...

-Yeah, it is good.

I just wish I had a party to go to.

..the shoot can begin.

Let's get you upstairs.

What are we looking for with the movement of the fabric?

Kind of ethereal. As kind of like slow and billowing as possible.

-So nothing too crazy.

-OK.

So maybe if you try with the fan on.

But the fan is not having the desired effect.

-Her dress is not going down very well.

-Well, we had to try.

HE SNIGGERS

The dress might not be billowing

but the bigger concern right now is that box.

How is that coming along?

-And will we be able to slow that movement down?

-Yeah.

Let me go and add some thread. I'll be back in five minutes.

-So it'll just open to that point.

-Yes.

-Good, great.

We want it to look really, really elegant so we don't want it

to fall open too fast.

At the moment it's just dropping.

Ian adds some threat to slow down the opening.

Meanwhile, in front of the cameras,

the team are getting ready for action.

I am on the number-one priority, which is the chair swivel.

-Very important job.

-Very, very important job.

-Action!

And cut. OK, that was nice.

Seemed to go really well.

But the box still isn't opening smoothly enough.

Would you be better having a CGI box? Can you do that?

With the real box it would be much, much easier.

Let's just refine the ribbon then.

Ian works on the box once more,

this time concentrating on the ribbon.

Right, this is lovely.

Is that better?

OK, I really hope the new box is going to work.

The simplest thing has also caused a lot of problems.

And action.

-That's a nice take overall.

-Yeah.

-Great, I think we got it.

-Phew!

-That's a wrap.

Nailed it.

Later, its installation time for the Debenhams windows.

I am so excited, I can't even sleep.

Oxford Street sees millions of visitors a year

and putting adverts in front of them is big business.

But how do advertisers know that anyone is paying attention?

Oxford Street is about to find out

with the latest in technological evolution for the advertising poster.

We got a special that is going into Oxford Street, an artificial

intelligent poster.

Ryan is due to install an experimental new type of poster,

designed by a team from ad company M&C Saatchi led by Dave Cox.

What we are doing is making a poster that writes its own ads.

It's kind of the first artificial intelligent poster, we think.

The poster has a camera with a sensor that can read and recognise

people's faces and interpret their reactions to what it's displaying

as being positive or negative.

It looks like it's doing something. Is it picking me up?

It's going a bit wild at the moment, isn't it? It's happy? No.

They are preparing the equipment for a special experiment the next day

on Oxford Street.

To see how the equipment works,

they are going to trial an advert for a made-up brand of coffee.

The computer will randomly show different images and slogans and will

judge from people's reactions which elements they respond to best.

It will then adapt the advert accordingly

or at least, that's the plan.

The idea is that it will gradually get better and better

at being an ad and making people look at it.

After two weeks, they will find out which combination worked best.

It should evolve to be the best ad for that spot on Oxford Street.

Next day, Ryan and Joseph set about making it happen.

A normal poster takes seconds to install. This is going to take

about a good hour and a half.

If it starts to rain, it makes it a little bit more difficult.

Obviously, we are installing electric equipment.

We don't really want to get it wet.

We will prevail. We will get the job done.

-Dave is on the street to supervise installation.

-Today is our big day.

We have never seen it out in the wild before.

It's pouring down with rain.

Hopefully that won't be too big an issue, I don't know, really.

At least we are in a bus shelter.

Out with the old and in with the new.

-Yeah, here it comes.

-One PC with content.

It should all just...

It should all just start up and look after itself, we hope.

-Would you like to do the honours and switch it on?

-All right then.

Here goes.

The fan is not spinning up.

It's not ideal to install it in the rain.

The plug-it trick. It went on and off.

-But eventually...

-Here goes.

Whoa. We're on.

..the computer starts by randomly selecting an image and a slogan

for Dave's imaginary coffee brand.

Hey! There you go. Janis Joplin.

"Assemble a silly angry stunning bottle every dusk."

Depending on how people react to it, it will adapt both the imagery

and the wording.

It's going to start off with nonsense, basically.

But over time the idea is it will gradually sort of, hopefully,

make more and more sense.

But we'll see. You know, it's an experiment.

It is actually looking fabulous.

The advert is in place for two weeks, catching the eye of the public

and collecting its data.

And a fortnight later, what does the machine think is the most effective

way of advertising coffee on Oxford Street?

It started off with around 20 images

and then I think whittled it down to maybe eight or so.

It seems to be converging on black-and-white images,

which is interesting because you don't see many black-and-white ads

on Oxford Street.

And what were the photo and slogan that emerged as the most popular?

The most popular line was - "The boss of both reasons."

That sort of implies, I don't know. That's a really confusing sentence!

So it's quite weird but then, people are looking at it.

And maybe they're looking at it cos they're weird.

It's not just coming out with stuff at random, it is

starting to converge on certain things that seem to be working,

so it's coming up with some sort of strategy.

Perhaps the advertising copywriters' jobs are safe for the time being.

Either way, Dave is sure the technology has a big future.

And whenever it is finally ready,

Oxford Street will be the first to see it.

Ian and Amanda from Debenhams are in charge of designing

and installing the festive windows at the Oxford Street flagship store.

They have already shot a video installation which will form

the centrepiece of the display.

Nailed it.

And today Ian is on to the next step of the journey.

He is in Leeds to see the prototypes for the rest of the installation.

Jason works for the shop fitting company that has been building them.

We are waiting with bated breath and anticipation. It's going to be

exciting, who knows what's going to happen.

-How's it going?

-All right. You? Are you ready for this?

-I'm ready. Come on, let's go. We've got to see it.

-Let's go, let's go.

-Oh, my God!

-Now, that's the reaction we wanted.

-Oh, my God.

Can it not be bigger?

The windows are only so big.

Ian gets to work and the constructive criticism is soon flowing.

You're going have to move that back but we're going to need it deeper.

This I don't think is big enough.

And we also don't have the ones with the neon yet.

But we need to decide what colour and what material

-each fascia is going to be.

-Yes.

-So is that working for you?

-Yeah. 100%.

Let me take a picture. Well, I'm really, really pleased.

-Like, it is gorgeous.

-His reaction could have gone either way.

So this is the one we wanted, so, yeah, definitely happy.

Over the next three months, Jason and Ian refine the design

until, by the end of October, it is ready to go into the store.

Over the course of three nights, new lighting is installed,

decorations added and the mannequins go in.

Right, she is going up here.

I'm so excited, I can't even sleep.

The TV screen that will host the all-important video installation

is also up and running.

So it's just a question of pressing a couple of buttons now.

I think we are there.

I think it's one of those high-five moments.

The work continues until it is just a case of a few finishing touches.

Just one final push and I just need a coffee.

They are opening the doors.

The final nail just to get this mannequin in place

and then we can say we are done.

Just time to head outside to Oxford Street itself to inspect the

culmination of all their hard work.

Oh, my God.

These, these are my favourite things, the infinity stars.

-It's great, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-It's all come together.

-I know.

I'm so relieved that it looks amazing.

Earlier, we saw the battle going on to preserve Eduardo Paolozzi's

love-them-or-hate-them mosaics deep under Oxford Street.

The platform murals will be preserved in situ but after we filmed,

the mosaic arches above the escalators were dismantled.

However, Transport For London decided to preserve the removed sections

and they have now arranged for them to be restored.

Eventually, they will go on display in Paolozzi's home town of Edinburgh.

And on a crisp morning, Neil Lebeter,

curator at Edinburgh University's Art Collection

is ready to greet them.

Today we have the arrival of the Eduardo Paolozzi murals

from Tottenham Court Road Station. This is amazing.

Like, stuff like this does not come around very often.

This is a unique project.

The team get to work unloading the mosaics,

which had sat for over 30 years deep under Oxford Street.

Not only was Paolozzi born in Edinburgh, but he studied and taught

at this very art school.

Neil gets his first look at the mosaics.

So this is one of the kind of medium...medium sections.

You can see that the actual tiles themselves are mostly intact.

This is the type of size and material that

we are going to be working with.

It's looking not too bad, considering, you know, it has been

removed from a building having spent 30 years in a very busy

underground station where, you know...

You can just tell by my hands

just how much dust has built up over that time.

The team will spend the next few weeks cleaning and cataloguing

the individual fragments.

I have no idea which part this was on so it's going to be quite

a challenge, I think, to puzzle these all back together and see

how it all works.

Once catalogued, the pieces will be photographed and a computer program

will virtually reassemble them in the right places.

Some new individual tesserae will be ordered from the same Italian

suppliers that Paolozzi originally used.

This project is going to take so long!

Because it's essentially a massive jigsaw.

The final result is to physically rebuild this in a publicly

accessible space where everyone can see it.

It's going to be a challenge.

But that day for now is some years away.

Meanwhile, deep under Oxford Street,

the mosaics that remain have been preserved.

They have been given a clean and a buff up

ahead of being reopened to the public.

Undercover PC Paul Penrose has been trailing a suspect onto a bus.

He has made the decision to stop and search him.

He has not seen him commit an offence but Paul's instinct tells him

something about the man's behaviour isn't right.

Mate, police officer.

I just need to take someone off the bus a second.

Sir, police officer. Can I just have a quick chat?

Can you just come and stand over here?

-Where are you from?

-Albania.

-Albania, yeah?

We're just wondering what you're doing in the area,

why you were waiting around up there

and then coming all the way down to catch a bus here?

Paul's colleague catches up and calls base to check out the man's ID.

I've got a male stopped. Could you run him through the box, please?

A quick search reveals no suspicious items but it looks like Paul's

instinct was correct - the man's documents are not in order.

They take cover from the rain to investigate further.

All right, where's your visa?

Where is your visa?

You've got no visa. Have you entered the country illegally?

Hello, Immigration. They are saying he hasn't got a visa.

While they wait for confirmation of the man status, Sergeant Skinner,

who was patrolling separately, arrives and gets out the handcuffs.

We don't want you to go for a run until we work out this.

I suspect at this moment in time you are in the country illegally,

do you understand that?

It was a gut feeling that prompted

Paul to follow the man in the first place and his decision

to stop the bus to remove him has been vindicated.

Transport arrives and the man is taken back

to Charing Cross Police Station.

As an Albanian national without a visa, he has no legal right

to be in the UK.

Although ORB officers aren't specifically looking for

immigration offenders, they find that those who are in the country

illegally sometimes turn to crime.

In this case, it is a successful result.

The man will be passed to immigration authorities with

the likelihood that he will be deported.

At the switch-on of the Oxford Street lights

the teams behind the scenes are getting ready to make sure

that the biggest event in the street's year goes without a hitch.

Already, they have built a stage from scratch, rigged it with lights

and installed Europe's biggest TV screen.

But if everything is going to work out, they have got to be sure

that when pop princess Kylie presses this button...

Don't tell anybody this is the button.

..the 3,000 illuminated balls

that stretch the length of the street will light up.

Nick Maclaren is responsible for them and opts for a trial run.

I'm here to switch on this block just beside around the switch-on is

just to make sure we are not going to have any issues.

Whoo.

Lights checked, road closed and stage set, the crowds are allowed in.

Backstage, Del Brown is overseeing the filming of the event.

TV news shows and other networks all want a feed of Kylie's big moment.

And everything the crowd sees on those giant screens will be

controlled by him.

I'm a little bit nervous.

They've given me... I think it's five cameras, including a jib.

And they've basically said, "Cover the event."

So between me and the camera operators,

we are going to be trying to get the best angles.

And I have got the responsibility of making sure that when all

of the broadcasters take that shot of Kylie pressing the button,

I've got to make sure we've got Kylie, everyone on stage and all

of the sponsors' logos all in the same shot.

Cos if we miss that moment, I probably won't be booked again.

So, Ross, shall we just rehearse your move? So if we go

from there into the stage.

And, Nick, you will be on a 2 shot.

On the other side of the crowd, Paul is waiting nervously with his lights.

Oh, if you don't get nervous, you are not doing it right.

This is the running order.

Otherwise known as the book of lies.

Finally, at 5.50...

Yes, everyone well to record? Thank you.

CROWD CHEERS

Presenters Lisa Snowdon and Dave Berry take to the stage.

-Dave Berry.

-Hello.

Welcome to one of the best things

that's ever going to happen in our lives.

1 to 1 next. Cut 1.

And Kylie is here, everybody.

And Del swings into action.

Pull back out, jib, high and wide. Come 3 next and 3 for a cutaway.

Come to jib next. And jib.

Oh, well. Face is covered up by the mic, brilliant.

But once the Lord Mayor of Westminster is out of the way,

it's time for the moment the crowd has been waiting for all day.

Kylie is here, everyone!

CROWD CHEERS

Hi, Kylie!

-You look so good.

-How are you?

Hello, puppet. Hello, everyone!

2. Have a squeeze in 2.

How are you feeling?

For everyone involved, and particularly Del and Paul,

everything rests on the next few seconds.

OK. So, everybody, you know what you have to do.

Let's count down now.

Ten, nine...

2 next. 2, come to 1.

..eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two...

-Holding on this shot cos they want it.

-..one. Do it, Kylie!

Come to Ross. Ross stands up. Ross, it's all yours. Up on the wide.

I think that's it.

-'Ladies and gentlemen...'

-Yeah, that's it.

-'..the show is now over.'

-Oh, the show's over.

'Please get home safely.'

Ah! Thank God that's over!

Pfrrr!

The lights went on, everything worked. Um, all is good.

-I need a cup of tea now.

-We'll see how it looks to the papers.

So I just saw Kylie Minogue. It was so good.

-We queued up for a good couple of hours and it was worth it.

-Yeah.

-It was absolutely amazing!

-Yeah.

And with that, the 45-minute show is over

and the 17.5-hour stage preparation comes to an end.

Get it all broken down and go home.

With a bit of luck, we will be out by 10 o'clock. Maybe 11.

Time to de-rig and reopen the street

for people to do their Christmas shopping.