Episode 4 Second Chance Summer: Tuscany

This programme contains some stong language.

Maurizio's farm in the southern Tuscan hills is up for sale.

Before he sells,

he's handing over the running of his business to ten strangers.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-Bottoms up.

-They all share the same dream...

I am too young to go in my rocking chair quite yet.

..of starting a new life in Italy.

Being a farmer, living in Tuscany, is what I should be doing.

But this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity comes with

-responsibility.

-What have you done all morning?

You will not get an answer from me.

By taking over the whole farm, they must tend the 13-acre vineyard...

It's just really, really hard work.

..and five acres of olive trees...

The little babies are starting to be made into oil.

..as well as breathe new life into the bed and breakfast...

I can't quite believe this is happening.

..and serve food to paying customers.

Come with us to our...ristorante.

SHE LAUGHS

This is their chance to put their dreams to the test.

-VOICE ON PHONE:

-Due, zero. Due...

We perhaps need someone who speaks Italian to know what that's saying.

After two months,

will any of the group decide to buy the farm together?

I'd never be able to afford to do this sort of thing on my own.

Or will they find other ways to make Tuscany their new home?

What could possibly go wrong?

I'm actually quite happy to be out walking.

-Maybe we should have done more walking...

-I think so.

-..before.

It's October.

The group have been in Tuscany for almost a month,

and autumn is on the horizon.

Although it's actually really hard physically living here,

I just love how amazing it is.

The best thing about Tuscany is the scenery.

The atmosphere, the feeling about the place.

It's spectacular and dramatic,

and the seasons are changing from one day to the next.

It's that time of year now, actually, to do all the autumn walks.

I know. I love the autumn.

-Oh, whoa, that is hot, isn't it?

-Oh, good morning.

Did you want some breakfast?

-No, I'm OK, I don't want anything at the minute. I'm not ready yet.

-Are you sure?

-Yes, thank you.

Over the last four weeks,

the group have been in charge of running the farm.

Ah, morning.

They've gathered the grapes,

opened a restaurant and welcomed guests to the bed and breakfast.

Do you want some yoghurt with your honey?

It is mm-mm-mm!

HE LAUGHS

Being here with the group, I feel good.

It is the rustic element.

ENGINE STARTS

Plus working on the farm, I have very much reconnected with the land.

I just love it.

But the arrival of autumn brings new challenges for Andy and the group.

The olives are ripe, so it's time to gather Maurizio's second-largest crop.

With La Banditaccia producing 2,000 litres of olive oil each year,

overseeing the harvest is a weighty responsibility.

On the agenda was the olive harvest manager.

The reality is, it's worth a lot of money to us at the farm.

So we have to have somebody responsible for looking at it

and understanding it thoroughly.

I have no experience of olive harvesting, of whatever,

but we are all here to learn.

-And somebody's got to stand up, so, yeah...

-I'll do it.

Can I just say, I think I speak for everyone in that everyone

-wants to give you 100% support.

-Oh, yes, we're all there to back you.

And delivering it effectively and efficiently and making it happen.

-Cool, thank you.

-I will do my best for you.

-You always do.

I've never worked on an olive harvest before.

Yeah, it's an adventure. This is an adventure.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

To actually pour olive oil, which I go, "I've made this,"

will be something special.

-Ciao.

-Ciao.

For ex-detective Andy, the first job as harvest manager is to

inspect the groves with Maurizio and local olive farmer Romain.

-So you're responsible of the olives.

-Si. It's landed on my head.

ANDY LAUGHS

Right, this is field number four.

Maurizio, I've estimated there's about 75, 80 trees here.

-So this, could you take it off and eat it?

-Please.

We don't say yes or no, just try. Just try. No, eat it all. Enjoy.

-Oh!

-So this is the answer.

-You can't eat olives from the tree.

-It's foul!

-Never, it's a no-no. It has to be, they have to be...

-Processed.

-We all...

-HE SPEAKS ITALIAN

This happen to all of us.

THEY LAUGH

Fruit from the 300 olive trees must be picked and processed into

olive oil at a local press.

Looking at these olives here, they don't look ready for harvesting.

If you really want the highest-quality oil,

you should harvest very early.

Even the oil you start this week and all you make in three

weeks is already not really the same, you see the difference.

-It change... It's very fast.

-Si.

So, don't lose the window. The quality window is now.

Well, it could be looked upon as one of two things.

It could be either dead man's shoes, you're going to get it wrong,

or you make it a success. It's a challenge. And I'm up for a challenge.

Why not jump in the deep end?

Bed and breakfast is another important responsibility at

the farm.

So, maybe we can get someone to put that up there as well.

La Banditaccia has agriturismo status,

which means they can earn extra money by hosting guests.

So, it is just a loo seat and the tiles and then this is up and

running. And the painting. We'll get it up and running, fantastic.

Having already made use of one bed-and-breakfast room, the other

remains unfinished, despite renovation starting four weeks ago.

All right, that's good. That's really good.

-All ready to be dressed up.

-Yeah.

When I came out here, the main focus for me was the B&B.

I have always thought I'd like to do it.

And it's a perfect opportunity to see how easy it is,

how difficult it is, what you have to do to promote it.

I think it would be fun.

So, push back, push back, your fingers are there.

I think the B&B has been put on the back burner because we've had

so many other important things. Like, the main financial influence

on this farm was the harvest, the harvest of the grapes.

But actually, it's quite good money.

What are you trying to do?

Get all the rubbish out of the drain thing, because it's blocked.

There's stuff in it. It's like an outside shower.

The annexe plumbing has been fixed,

but there's work to complete before it's ready for guests.

We just need to do a bit of painting, a bit of grouting,

twiddle the furniture around and then just get the guests in.

So we can start really pushing it.

OK, ready.

Ah! Ah!

SHE LAUGHS

Stop!

SHE LAUGHS

Stop!

-SHE LAUGHS

-Look!

What are you doing?

Do you know, when I clear gutters, I have a bucket.

And I put the stuff in the bucket.

She clearly doesn't know how to use it.

Do you understand, this is making you three times the amount of work?

-Oh, but it's such fun.

-It's such fun!

The strangest thing I've found here is Karen.

Who would have thought that we would have been the ones who got on

so well?

SHE SCREAMS

LAUGHTER

Karen might have gone to a private school, and I went to probably

the roughest school in Cardiff, but we've still got the same values.

And we tend to say the same things,

only she says it a lot posher than me.

Oh, Tracy, wet T-shirt competition, I think you've won it.

THEY LAUGH

What I'm looking for in Italy is a fulfilment.

I've been really lucky, I've had a very privileged life.

I've been an Army wife, I've been a mother.

But we ended up, down the line, getting divorced.

Now my daughters are... They've grown up, they're independent,

my youngest is going off to university this year.

It's really sad.

It's something that you never think is going to happen.

And then suddenly it does happen one day.

I reckon we should have a cup of tea now.

And then I'll start on the painting.

Now's a good time to redefine myself.

It just seems like it's the time to do something now for me, really.

I spoke to a couple of people, who might be interested, about

coming to the B&B, because I just thought, well,

it would be nice to have a couple of days away in Tuscany.

It's not more posh people? I can't deal with any more posh people.

-Do they talk like you?

-They're worse.

-Shut up!

-We're all very normal.

-In your world you are, but to me...

It took me two weeks to understand what you were saying.

KAREN LAUGHS

Determined to start olive picking as soon as possible,

Andy and Gavin begin preparing the five acres of groves.

-It's a huge job, this, honestly.

-I know.

They all say, "Ah, it won't take you long, two men, it will take you

"a day, a day and a half, two days, tops."

Yeah, right.

Before the harvesting nets can be laid down on the ground

to collect the olives...

Oh, you bugger.

..grass must be cleared.

Being the manager of the olive harvest...

OK, I wouldn't be fully honest if I said I wasn't stressing

a little bit about it,

but I am confident because I've had far greater things in my life

to deal with, which was life-or-death decisions.

As a detective, I basically have seen the evil side of life.

So on the murder squad, going to the murder scenes,

going to the postmortems, picking up pieces of body,

also working with victims of human rights abuses,

listening to horrific accounts,

taking on board other people's misery

and basically being a sponge.

And that's most probably how I ended up having a heart attack.

OK.

The Tuscan dream, for me, is making a different life,

something with less stress and horror.

I would say this is important, it's most probably saving my sanity

and possibly saving my life.

Oh!

Ah, getting there.

Ironically, two days after my heart attack,

I heard the parish gardener strimming the grass

in the churchyard and I thought to myself,

I wish I had a job like that,

especially, like, no responsibilities, no pressure.

And here I am.

Strimming, doing exactly what I wanted,

wished for on that day and I'm actually doing it.

STRIMMER WHIRS LOUDLY

Gavin!

Gavin!

Gavin!

STRIMMER STOPS

I'm trying to extend mine and it's not going.

-Can you have a look?

-Yeah.

With regard to the olive harvest,

I would guess I am Andy's number two.

You could call me that, if you want to give me a title.

As I say, it's just support.

I think it's always better to have two heads looking at something

rather than one.

-Did you not get a tutorial on how to change it?

-Yes.

If you...

-What did they say to do?

-If you hold...

There's a...

On the back of my thing there's a pocket...

Andy and I have a real laugh, I don't know, it's just sometimes

you meet somebody and... We're different personalities.

Andy's a lot more... softer personality, perhaps,

but he just makes me laugh.

We just enjoy each other's company and it's nice.

Can you see a zip on the top here?

-Dig down.

-It's like GI Joe!

-ANDY LAUGHS

Family-wise, in the UK, there's nobody there.

Like everybody else, I had a plan of getting married,

having children. It just never happened.

I don't think either of us really know where next to go

or what to do next.

-There you are, look.

-There you go.

It's just a bit of muscle, that's all it is.

-You could train chimpanzees to do this quicker.

-You got a banana?

-GAVIN LAUGHS

-Are you laughing?

I've made you some lemonade.

-A bit of lemon juice, a bit of sugar.

-Are you enjoying it?

No, it's horrible.

GAVIN SIGHS

We'll get there, old lad, we'll get there.

It's going to take us quite a while.

-Here you go, hon.

-Mmm.

-Is that salt in there?

-No.

I definitely put sugar, I put them in both.

-Mmm!

-It is, isn't it?

SHE LAUGHS

Shit! Have that one. How did that happen?

I had the same thing.

After a long day's work, the annexe is shaping up,

but not quite habitable yet.

Which one's the hot anyway?

-That one. Have we got any hot water in here yet?

-I don't think so.

I'll be so glad when this is done. It will take such a pressure off me.

Waiting for the next bed-and-breakfast booking means all hands

will be free to pitch in for the start of tomorrow's olive harvest.

With the strimming complete,

harvest manager Andy gathers the group together.

We've just completed strimming the first of the three orchards.

We are actually ready to start picking them.

How many days do you think it will take?

-Maximum, I think, possibly 30 trees a day, we've got 300 so...

-Ten days.

-..ten days.

-Ten days is a nightmare.

-So therefore...

If it's ten days,

that's coming almost to, like, the end of our time here.

I hope you are all aware that I'm not picking a single olive.

The only olives, I've said it, are going to go from jar to mouth.

-Jar to mouth.

-Why? What have you got against olives?

What have I got against olives?

You pick the grapes so why won't you pick the olives?

No, I'm not necessarily interested in picking the olives.

But we've got to do it, it's part of the job.

The more people that participate, the harder they work,

the quicker it will be.

Whether you want to go cheesemaking or whatever it is you want to do,

it's got to be done. That's the end of it. There's no discussion.

There are things that I want to do, Gavin, you know what I mean?

And they are things that if I'm ten days in an olive field, right,

I can't then do that.

I'm just speaking simply for myself, to get everybody on board

with the same level of commitment or whatever to something. It's got

to be that everybody feels that they are equally invested in this interest.

-I'm sorry, I don't want to appear to be dismissive.

-OK, that's how...

I'm a bit frustrated because I'm the kind of guy,

-if I say I'm going to do something, you damn well do it.

-Yeah.

-End of.

And I'm just getting a bit fed up as people, you know...

All I'd like is for everybody to be able to walk from this with

some integrity and say, "You know what? We tried."

What I would suggest is, I've never done it before,

let's just give it a go and you might discover you like it.

And the more we put in, then hopefully, that ten days,

it won't be ten days,

it might be easier and therefore we could be doing five days.

-Let's try it.

-Yeah, course.

Shall we both not go to the hairdressers, then?

Cos what have you got to have done? And I can do my own.

-We will cancel the hairdressers.

-Yeah, we'll cancel the hairdressers.

-OK.

-Sorted.

-Thank you, that's fantastic.

-Will you do the cooking?

-Cooking of what?

-Of the food while we are...

-Yeah, I don't mind, yeah, I don't mind that.

-Doing lunches.

That's a very decent and important job. Brilliant.

Thank you very much indeed for the support, I'm really,

really, really appreciative.

I just don't want to take on a task that we can't reach.

'Absolutely furious.'

Everybody's now looking for a way out.

"I want to go and drive off and disappear and go wine-tasting and

"cheesemaking, or basket weaving" or whatever they want to do, you know?

You know, the same individuals who have done basically sweet

Fanny Adams during the whole of the process, right, are trying to

find any excuse possible not to do what they are here to do. OK?

I swear, my heart is beating ten to the dozen.

It took all my self-control not to blow there.

Andy's in there, Andy's a nice guy, but they are walking all over him.

He's there trying to be the peacemaker,

saying to Chi, "Oh, it's all right, Chi,

"you make a sandwich during the day and that's your contribution."

What?!

-You need to get tougher.

-I know.

-They're taking the fucking piss.

When I was a police officer, in a situation where you've got two

people who hate each other and you are being the diplomat...

..that's the methods I've used.

Sod it.

HE SIGHS

It might not be out of management school but that comes from the

school of hard knocks and out of police diplomacy.

Compromise. Stick a compromise right up...

It's Sunday morning.

Chi is taking time out from farm life to attend church

at Castel del Piano.

CHURCH BELLS RING

Across Italy, Sunday is a day of reflection,

with the tradition of worship still a key part of community life.

I really love the sound of the bells,

it's just like music in the background, very loud, but...

I love the way that it welcomes people to church.

I love it.

CONGREGATION SINGS

Coming to church, doing this, just gives me a framework,

in order to kind of refocus

and rejig and just remind myself of who I am and what I am

and what I want, and I need to get something out of this for me.

CONGREGATION SINGS

For Chi, it's not the first time she's attempted a move abroad.

I had gone in search of a new life prior to this,

in Lagos, and that was in 2011.

Obviously I'd lived in Lagos when I was a child.

I wanted to set up a creative community.

It didn't quite work out the way that I had hoped.

So leaving that was very, very tough.

It was actually somewhat heartbreaking,

because it was...

It's a place that I still consider home,

even just by family connections.

And I really wanted it to work.

It broke me down.

But it made me determined to make any other opportunity like that work.

This really is a chance, a second chance, really,

to pursue that dream again.

This one, I hope, will turn out much better than the last.

Completely resolute about the fact that I need to now just pursue

my own creative stuff.

Just excited to...

to get my hands kind of, you know, dirty, creatively.

CHURCH BELLS RING

All across the region,

farmers are beginning the production of the new season's

extra virgin olive oil.

-I'm going to go up, Gill.

-All right, I'll be two seconds.

-OK...

At the farm, the group are beginning their first day of olive picking.

Allora...

-So... Today...

-Today.

-..big day. Big day.

-A big day, no?

-Big, big...

-We start, we start to get olives.

-I hope so.

-OK.

Owner Maurizio is helping Andy and Gavin with the harvesting machinery.

Andy, can you pull that back?

Tonight, they have to deliver a minimum of 15 crates of olives

to the press.

This one?

But there's a problem.

Hmm...

No?

Do you have any WD-40 or...?

SHE LAUGHS

What are you laughing at? Mare!

The piece of machinery is not long enough...

so Gavin said, "Have you got any WD-40?"

SHE LAUGHS

It's something people say when you haven't got a clue

what you're doing.

-ANDY:

-So you need to go and take it to get it unstuck?

Every year I see the same thing.

-Every year.

-12 months.

-Something is not working.

-There's always something.

It's getting... Time's getting on.

-This is a disaster.

-It's only ten o'clock, mate.

Can I pull a little bit more this side?

Yes, yes, pull it.

With the mechanical harvester out of action...

-I've got a present, Karen.

-Oh, thank you.

..they have to resort to picking by hand.

All we need is 15 crates for the minimum.

Yep, that's brilliant.

So I think we should start on two trees, all of us.

To clean two trees, we know they're clean and then we move on.

Local olive farmer Romain is showing them the ropes.

-So we're just pulling these off?

-Yes, you take a branch...

-Yep.

..and without too much pressure,

-otherwise you'll take too many leaves...

-Yep.

..and then you go down.

You brush them like...

like hairs.

-Gill.

-Yeah?

-It's like milking a cow.

SHE LAUGHS

-You just have to get...

-You just have to stroke it gently

-until the milk comes.

-SHE LAUGHS

I really prefer picking it by hand.

Listening to the birds talk to each other.

Romain, you were sent here to charm the ladies, weren't you?

To make us work.

Yes, that was my goal.

Well, do your charming, then, cos I'm going to stop otherwise.

Nice that everybody's showed up, isn't it, virtually?

-It's beautiful. No, it's great.

-A nice surprise for you.

It's a beautiful day, the sun's shining.

We've started and it's quite cool.

Chi has decided not to get involved.

But...those who want to get involved are here.

I'm making lunch because I told Andy that I would make lunch

and so I'm not going to...

-starve...

-SHE LAUGHS

..starve them just to make a point, absolutely not.

And Chi then can go about her merry business, not picking olives.

LAUGHTER

Everybody's laughing, working together.

Yeah, it's a nice feeling.

Hopefully this will give us a lift to get through the last two weeks

without killing each other.

See if I can get that monkey out of the tree with my rake.

HE LAUGHS

Oh, Tarzan, I knew you'd come if I waited long enough up the tree.

I think...

This is just perfect, it's like going back to childhood,

you can climb trees, hang on branches.

I'm feeling like this is very lovely and gentle

and I can see the romance in it.

Yeah, I'm loving it, and the view is sensational from up here.

Raining olives now.

Who has got the most olives down their cleavage?

Me.

THEY LAUGH

This is...

the stew, the beef stew that Lesley wonderfully made the other day.

I'm just warming up leftovers.

Better get in there quickly before the hordes have eaten everything.

-Yeah.

-Hello.

-Hey, Chi, look at this!

Oh, wow. This is like a farmhouse lunch.

-Like a farmhouse lunch!

-Thank you so much.

-Not quite.

-Hello.

-What is this?

What do you mean by "what is this"?

-Food.

-Yeah, but what?

Help yourself, please.

-Thank you, Chi. It's very nice, love. Lovely.

-Salute.

I think we're a good team.

We've just come back and Chi's, bless her,

she actually cooked a very, very nice lunch for us.

Yeah, it's a bit of a surprise.

A glass of wine. I'm not going to make a habit of this.

But why not?

-Chi, well done, darling.

-That's OK.

I said I'll make you lunch and so I keep my word.

You certainly have, you have done us very, very proud.

You did very well, in fairness, you did some lovely food.

Was that Lesley's stuff from the other day?

-CHI LAUGHS

-It was, wasn't it?

I knew it!

The farm's first 15 crates of olives are due at the press

in three hours' time.

Romain, possibly we net this lot up and maybe move down?

-And then just pick the trees rather than doing a mass?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

-Yeah.

What time does it get dark?

If they miss the deadline,

the olives won't be processed within 24 hours of picking,

reducing the quality and value of the oil.

It's going to be a close-run thing.

So we have two, four, six, eight, ten, 11.

So, four to go to reach 15. Not much time left.

Let's run.

-Oi.

-What?

-Stop throwing olives at me.

OK, guys, we should hurry up a little bit.

We won't make it otherwise.

Gavin, you know your point when you were doing the briefing

about us filling up 15 crates in a morning...

..can you just take me through that?

THEY LAUGH

I couldn't help it if you lot were so slow.

Ooh!

Tell me, Gav, did you used to have high staff turnover?

THEY LAUGH

I'm going to miss you lot so much(!)

THEY LAUGH

The reason I came in the first place was to kick myself up

the backside and get out of a rut.

I possibly was depressed, yeah. Erm...

Yeah. Yeah, it wasn't a good place, put it that way.

I was very close with my mother.

I think with the situation with looking after my mum and everything,

obviously your time is filled because you're doing that.

My mum passed away, it was obviously devastating

and then you find yourself sitting there thinking, "Well, now what?"

It was like a bit of an emptiness there and, erm...

just sometimes you need more in your life than you have.

I think that's what I need to find,

I'm just talking about being able to do something, achieve something

that's maybe a bit more important than just making a living.

-OK.

-And the satisfaction of seeing...

-Go.

So, we be very careful here,

-so try to go on the left from the tree now.

-That way?

-Yep.

OK.

Move a little forward.

Keep rolling, guys.

We wait for Roberto, there, he has a lot of olives.

You see, eh?

-This is more than two crates, yes?

-Oh, yeah.

Oh, excellent.

Andy, hold the net here, OK? And come to me.

OK, perfect.

Whoa.

-OK.

-Oh, my gosh.

-Wow.

-Look at this.

-Fantastic.

-Bravo.

Oh, my God, this actually is quite amazing.

I'm so happy to see this.

I actually feel quite a sense of achievement seeing them here, yeah.

It's great. I love it.

-There's four full crates down there.

-Four?

Hey, we haven't done bad, guys.

Bloody hell, that's all right, isn't it?

Last one.

5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15!

-Excellent.

-Excellent.

-Well done, everyone.

Good! I mean, that's a very good first day of work.

Don't waste any!

Easy, tiger.

I am feeling totally tired.

When I have targets set,

I do like to achieve them, even if it's a last-gasp.

OK.

Good.

Getting everybody taking part, that was an achievement on its own.

But it's just the first day and I can't see people lasting ten days.

As dawn breaks over the valley...

I've just heard the strimmers going so they've already started.

..the group begin their second day of olive picking.

I'm just going to have to bob back to my room

and put some underwear on.

Because I didn't have any, I didn't have any dry underwear this morning.

-Oh.

-And it's... It doesn't feel...

-You could be commando for the day.

No, it's not good.

It's not just the harvest that needs the group's attention.

IN ITALIAN:

Lesley's chasing up on a bed-and-breakfast booking

for a potential three-night stay.

Er, my name is Lesley,

I'm calling you from the bed and breakfast Bandi...

Banditaccia.

How do you call it?

-Hello.

-'Hi.'

-Oh, I'm so glad you speak English!

-'How are you?'

Right...

My pleasure. Right, I'm just phoning up really to find out

what requirements you have.

All right.

-Erm... All right.

-'And we will be OK.'

That is lovely.

-We're charging 50 euros per room so...

-'Yeah, that's fine.'

All right, then, thank you so much. Bye now.

-'Thank you so much indeed. Bye, Lesley.'

-Bye-bye.

I'm going to cry, now we've got to sort out the second room!

Oh, at least we've doubled our profits.

Yeah, I mean, that's a good little money earner for us.

I mean, that's three lots of 50 euros, is that right?

Three lots. Yeah.

No, three lots of 100 euros.

That's 300 euros, is that right? That's a lot of money.

Gosh, 300 euros for that and we've also got probably 25 euros per head

so that's an extra 50 for the restaurant.

So, yeah, we're onto a really good little earner with this one so...

And we also might get some olives picked by her as well!

So I think it could be a win-win all round, this one.

Yeah.

Are you going to do your thing today?

I'm going to finish the annexe and then, like I say,

tomorrow, then, it's all day up at the olives.

-And do you think that will be ready, that annexe, by then?

-Oh, yes.

-Definitely?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

-Oh, great.

I'm out and I'm going to Castel del Piano. I'll be back early evening.

-What time you going?

-Now. Well, seven minutes ago.

-Are you taking the car, are you?

-Mm.

So hopefully they've left me a car key as well.

Chi heads out for the day in search of creative inspiration.

Chi is on her way!

I'm so excited.

Tuscany, baby! Love this place already.

Yes. Yes.

Robert and Karen stock up on food for the guests' arrival.

With the pressure now on to complete the annexe once and for all...

Does that look perfect to you?

Oh, look at that, that's just perfection itself, isn't it?

..Lesley, Tracy and Gill focus on getting

both bed-and-breakfast rooms ready.

-Oh, God.

-SHE LAUGHS

You know...

I didn't know these were artificial

and so the first time I cleaned this room out, I actually watered them.

SHE LAUGHS

I think we have got rather a lot of tasks on at the moment

in this house.

We've got an olive harvest under way

and I'm not sure if somebody else has gone on a day trip

to find themselves.

I think I can find them, but anyway.

Erm, but...

as there's nobody else here and we're fast running out of time,

erm, here I find myself.

The annexe the way it is, it needs to be finished off

so it will be all hands to the deck trying to get that sorted

for when they arrive.

Do you know, honest to God, I really think if ever I was going to do

another job change, it would be plumbing.

I've got to sit on it now just to make sure everything's all right.

Oh, I could just read a book now.

CHUCKLING

Oh, bliss.

-That's number two done, buddy.

-Well done, geezer.

Yeah, if we just get about six...

If we can get five, six crates.

Yeah, we'll do the best we can.

In the olive groves, there are still 250 trees to pick,

with a much depleted workforce.

We're down to Gavin, Rob and I,

we're still soldiering on.

-And we've been here how long?

-In Tuscany?

-Yeah, how long?

-Four and a half weeks.

How many days off have we had in that time?

We haven't had one day off. Not one.

I have been worried about Andy, to be honest.

He's recently recovered from his heart attack.

There have been times when I've looked and thought, "Hmm."

He just looked a bit tired, you know, and stressed

and I thought, "Well, that can't be good."

I'm... I-I... I'm...

-You can't even speak.

-I'm worn out.

That's the kind of man he is,

he responds well to success and not quitting.

And that's why he's been knocking his pan out

in those fields every day.

Do you reckon there's only like a quarter of a bucket in there?

-Look at that, it's pathetic, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Let's go and add it to the others and see how much we've done today.

Andy is now at risk of falling behind his target

of 15 crates a day.

Add it in here.

So that might just make three. Complete.

The longer the olives stay on the trees,

the lower the quality of oil they produce.

You know, I'll never look at an olive in the same light again.

As Tracy and Chi push on to complete the second guest room...

They're never going to be warm enough in here, are they?

Well, Karen said about blankets or something.

..Maurizio arrives at the farm

to check on the progress of the olive harvest.

We are basically working our way through one tree at a time.

Because unfortunately we lost some force.

We're really, really sorry.

We feel bad. We are trying.

It's just that the group,

a lot of them have got other things they're concentrating on.

Maurizio, we feel very, very bad.

You know, personally, Andy and I, we're very ashamed, really.

Let's go and get started.

'It's heartbreaking, especially for me.

'I feel like I'm just letting him down.

'I cannot see us completing the olive harvest.'

I'm angry because I feel like I'm failing but other people are

in some ways looking at me and just thinking, "What an idiot."

I don't give in and I just keep pushing on to the end.

I can remember my dad doing that. My father worked hard.

He used to come home from a night shift, he'd have a bite to eat,

maybe a half-hour kip and he'd go back out and do his daytime job.

He used to hold two jobs.

You know, you don't surrender, you don't stop, you continue to the end.

That's my attitude towards the olive harvest, you know,

I'm going to succeed.

I guess that's where I inherited it from. My dad.

HE SOBS

Where did that come from?

Oh, sorry about that.

I guess that's stuck with me, you know, because I've never given in.

Do you wish you hadn't said, "I'm going to do the olives"?

No. It's a challenge...

-..but somebody had to.

-OK, that's fair enough.

-Let's not fail.

-No. Failure's not an option.

I don't like failing. Let's not do that.

No. But do you understand where I'm coming from?

-Your attitude is admirable. However...

-Maybe stupid!

A little bit stupid.

-Naive.

-Maybe.

-Yeah, maybe stupid.

-God!

-I've got your back.

-Oh, bloody hell.

-I've got your back.

It's ten o'clock in the morning.

I guess we'll do this one.

-You made it!

-Hey!

-Hurrah!

The bed-and-breakfast guests arrive from Rome.

OK, so I'll just pop them on this step for the moment and then

I'll show you round. So...

Lesley begins by showing them the newly renovated room.

-If you'd like to come and have a look.

-Amazing. Very nice.

-And again, we have obviously the bathroom here.

-Huge!

-THEY LAUGH

-So is the other room, really.

-Wow, look at this.

-It is very authentic, isn't it?

Very special.

Would you like milk and sugar with your tea?

-No, no, for me it's fine.

-You're OK.

Guests are often in search of an authentic Tuscan experience

when staying in an agriturismo.

So, today is going to be an exciting day because it is olive harvest.

Oh, my God.

This will be a perfect opportunity, if you'd like,

to have a go at olive picking. Have you ever done olive picking before?

-Not really.

-If the weather's like this, it's beautiful.

-I can take a picture if you want.

-Yeah.

-How are you?

-'Good, how are you?'

Yeah, very well, thank you, very well.

With time running out to get the olive trees picked,

Robert looks into finding extra help.

We talked about being able to get some workers that would work on

a piecemeal basis from the actual olive mill

that we're sending our olives to.

What I'm looking to do is just support the guys.

You know, they've done a lot of ground work

and they know what's going on.

I just want to support them in bringing some external workers in.

The reality is we want to get it done and we want to support Maurizio

but we also have other things to do here at the farm.

Thanks a lot. Cheers, bye-bye.

Brilliant. We're going to get the olives picked!

That's the important thing.

I have some news.

-Greetings.

-How are you doing?

-I hope it's good news.

We've got an opportunity to have some workers here.

We could have a team of up to four guys.

That is a relief, because what small team we have is now spread

-so thinly on the ground.

-Yeah, yeah.

-And we can have this cracked.

-Right, let's crack on.

-I'll see you at two o'clock, guys.

That will be a relief. I'll get my life back.

-Cool, the cavalry is coming.

-It doesn't matter, mate,

if it gets us off the fucking hook.

As the professional pickers arrive with mechanical equipment to hand,

the speed of the harvest increases dramatically.

Nice to meet you. Go ahead.

What a delight!

And they are all like lightning,

like a locust going through an olive grove.

The pickers have been here maybe 45 minutes.

We've done one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine...

12 trees, which would have taken us...

Well, Gavin and I was working,

this would have taken a day to get this far so far.

Excuse me, I have to go because I'm being called. Si!

And it's not the only help Andy's got.

The bed-and-breakfast guests arrive at the olive grove

to help out too.

-Ciao!

-Andy.

-So, are you ready for some work?

-It's just that handle.

-OK.

-OK? Have a go.

It's lovely. It's great to have two young lovely ladies come long.

However, the downside is that the male workforce

tended to virtually stop.

-So, you want them on your team?

-Yeah, why not? Why not?

Leave it to the professionals.

As the day draws to a close, the end is in sight for Andy.

I'm feeling younger.

It's actually making me feel more alive and I've lost weight.

I'm physically fitter.

Like today, at one point I found myself running

down to the tractor to jump in it.

I haven't run like that for quite some time.

I don't feel like I had a heart attack three months ago.

I just feel reborn.

This is the last tree, yeah?

You guys, coming here, you basically saved my sanity.

-No way!

-Yes!

-Thank you very much.

-No, thank you.

-We just finished.

-That's finished! Thank you, wrap up.

It's mid-morning at the end of the group's fourth week on the farm.

You stay there, boy. Stay there.

With the harvest finally complete, Andy and Gavin

are visiting the mill to see their crop

transformed into extra virgin olive oil.

Oh, thank God for that.

-I'm excited now.

-It's starting.

The little babies are starting to be made into oil.

They go on this ramp and they're going to be starting to be cleaned.

So you'll see it coming here. Only olives now.

The olives are crushed in a cold press,

as any heat would affect the quality of the oil.

In here, smashed.

But this is a very important process, the way the pressure,

the way you smash and everything,

this is controlled with the computer.

But this is very important.

So, here you have the paste, all together, going this way.

The paste is then kneaded

to separate the oil from the crushed olives.

So now, in a few minutes, the oil is going to get out from here.

This is like being an expectant father!

There we go!

THEY CHEER

It's a boy!

-It's a boy.

-It's a boy!

Congrats. Congrats to the dads!

-Can we get a cigar?

-Maybe we have a little try. Danny!

Straight off the press, an indication of a good-quality oil

is an intense peppery flavour that hits the back of the throat.

Wait for it...

HE COUGHS AND SPLUTTERS

Woo!

Argh!

It tastes like almonds.

It's a little bitter, like almond juice.

Wahey! Yes!

This was ours and therefore it tasted extra special.

Even now, yeah, it's exciting.

To be part of that is just, you know, indescribable.

I'll tell you something, I could do this for a job.

You're taking a load of little things out of a field...

I know, and making that.

-Two hours later, you've got that.

-Beautiful.

And then you put it in a bottle,

you roll a label on it and then sell it. I mean...

That's doing something real, isn't it?

-You know what I mean?

-Yeah. Definitely get into this.

We've just got to figure out a slightly easier way of

getting the little buggers off the trees.

That's quite heavy.

-Liquid gold, geezer.

-Liquid gold.

'He's a fun guy to work with, Andy, I like him a lot.

'And it's kind of surprising me,'

because I'm already thinking about doing something business-wise

with him and I never thought I would say that.

-It's quite emotional.

-It is nice, isn't it?

He's having a tear here, look.

He's crying!

Aye, I'm so pleased!

Come here, you tosser.

'Andy's a totally different character to me.

'He's a really nice guy but he's not necessarily business-minded.'

But together we seem to make it...

He makes me whole.

Well done.

Doesn't mean I'm falling in love with him.

-Ciao, guys.

-Ciao.

-Thanks.

For those of you who didn't know and have been on a different planet,

-the olive harvest has finished.

-Hooray!

-That's it, we won!

-Drink to that.

-Well done, Andy.

-It's been really hard.

-A job well done, yeah.

-I am so relieved it's over.

I've never seen you so tired as yesterday when you couldn't even...

Like, you just didn't know what to do with yourself.

The Tuscan dream is slightly different to how I imagined it.

I just feel like the mood has changed a bit because it's done,

the olives are done, we've got some great oil.

Right, I'm going to pour...

Just pass the bowl down, we'll have a sniff...

-And then we dip...?

-You dip a piece of bread in.

Just put some bread in and just dip it in, the bread, and just...

OK, would you like some?

-Mmm.

-Mmm!

There we go. We're there, aren't we?

-Oh, my gosh.

-That one's Claire's.

But it's quite punchy.

There's a fly in there.

THEY LAUGH

I think I've caught the olive bug.

It's infectious. I've caught it.

I can go back to the UK doing exactly what I was doing before

and have another heart attack.

Yeah, maybe it's time to make a change.

Why not? You know, I've done all the stuff I've done in the past.

Maybe it's time to start something new.

THEY CHEER

The group host an Italian wedding at La Banditaccia.

I really want it to be the most amazing day.

I want them to talk about it and say it was their dream come true.

Oh!

This is not our finest hour, it has to be said.

And Andy takes a step closer to his dreams.

This has given me a second chance to change my life path.

I'm at the junction now and I'll be an idiot not to change direction.