0:00:06 > 0:00:10For more than half a century, the BBC has captured
0:00:10 > 0:00:14the changing face of everyday life in Londonderry and the NorthWest.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19In good times and bad times,
0:00:19 > 0:00:21this vibrant region has given us
0:00:21 > 0:00:24some of our finest singers and writers.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28These are the archives and those were the days.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32I think it's absolutely crucial,
0:00:32 > 0:00:35that we hold onto, um,
0:00:35 > 0:00:39really unique moments in time.
0:00:42 > 0:00:47I think that archive serves a very useful purpose
0:00:47 > 0:00:50in showing people how it was.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55It's good to be reminded of where things were.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59We all grab inspiration and influence from somewhere.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01And that happens to be, really,
0:01:01 > 0:01:03in most cases, our past and our present.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05That's how we get into the future.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20MUSIC: "The Town I Loved So Well" by Phil Coulter
0:01:26 > 0:01:30As BBC cameras swept across Derry's rural and urban landscape,
0:01:30 > 0:01:33one familiar melody underscored each scene.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37# In my memory
0:01:38 > 0:01:42# I will always see... #
0:01:43 > 0:01:46Composer Phil Coulter's homage to his childhood home,
0:01:46 > 0:01:48and the turbulent events that were to follow,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51has become the city's adopted anthem.
0:01:51 > 0:01:56Written in the '70s, the lyrics still resonate to this day.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58# ..By the gas yard wall... #
0:01:58 > 0:02:02The Town I Loved So Well is the kind of song
0:02:02 > 0:02:05that, if you're sitting in the middle of Africa or Australia,
0:02:05 > 0:02:07you will weep your heart out for home.
0:02:07 > 0:02:14# ..Going home in the rain Running up the dark lane... #
0:02:14 > 0:02:16On a big night out,
0:02:16 > 0:02:20particularly when there are visitors from abroad,
0:02:20 > 0:02:23what do they want to hear at the end of the night?
0:02:23 > 0:02:27And it would be one brave Derry man or woman who would say,
0:02:27 > 0:02:28when asked to sing,
0:02:28 > 0:02:33"Well, I don't actually know the words of The Town I Loved So Well."
0:02:33 > 0:02:36That would be social death.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40# ..In the early morning
0:02:42 > 0:02:45# The shirt factory horn... #
0:02:45 > 0:02:48In my continuing visits back home and seeing this pall of gloom
0:02:48 > 0:02:54descending on my town, and I thought, "This is a whole era
0:02:54 > 0:02:56"that should be captured in a song."
0:02:56 > 0:02:59# ..And a man on the dole.. #
0:02:59 > 0:03:02"And if anybody... If anybody
0:03:02 > 0:03:04"is going to do it, it should be you,"
0:03:04 > 0:03:07I said to myself because, you know, this is a song about Derry
0:03:07 > 0:03:11but it's about... Derry is the microcosm of what's happening in, er,
0:03:11 > 0:03:14in the rest of the North of Ireland.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17# ..While the men on the dole... #
0:03:17 > 0:03:21I think I wrote the melody
0:03:21 > 0:03:23maybe in a couple of weeks.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26Then the hard part came -
0:03:26 > 0:03:27to write the lyric.
0:03:27 > 0:03:33# ..In the town I loved so well... #
0:03:34 > 0:03:37I think I worked at the lyric for most of a year.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40The one thing I did not want it to be
0:03:40 > 0:03:43was a rebel song. I didn't want...
0:03:43 > 0:03:45This was to be a love song about my town
0:03:45 > 0:03:47that other people could relate to about their towns.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51# ..I remember the day... #
0:03:51 > 0:03:53I was due to record with The Dubliners in London,
0:03:53 > 0:03:57and I was in Sheffield, believe it or not.
0:03:57 > 0:04:03On a wet weekday in Sheffield in like a pretty grimy hotel in Sheffield.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06I'd said to Luke Kelly the night before,
0:04:06 > 0:04:09"Luke, um, hop over to my room tomorrow.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11"Um, I've a new song I want to play for you
0:04:11 > 0:04:15"because I think we might put it on the session, if you like it."
0:04:15 > 0:04:19# ..For what's done is done... #
0:04:19 > 0:04:21I was so protective of the song
0:04:21 > 0:04:25and aware of the fact that Kelly would not take prisoners.
0:04:25 > 0:04:26If he thought the song didn't cut it,
0:04:26 > 0:04:29or had fallen short of my expectations,
0:04:29 > 0:04:31my aspirations for the song,
0:04:31 > 0:04:34he would have been the first one to say, "No, this doesn't work."
0:04:34 > 0:04:37So I sang the whole song with my eyes closed.
0:04:37 > 0:04:42# ..I can only pray
0:04:42 > 0:04:45# For a bright, brand-new day... #
0:04:45 > 0:04:46When I finished,
0:04:46 > 0:04:50"I can only pray for a bright, brand-new day
0:04:50 > 0:04:51"in the town I loved so well,"
0:04:51 > 0:04:54then I opened my eyes and I looked across at Kelly.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57And there were tears in his eyes.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01At that moment in time, right specifically right then,
0:05:01 > 0:05:05I knew that this song was something special.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10MUSIC: " Life Would Be A Dream" by The Crew Cuts
0:05:12 > 0:05:14Rewind to 1954,
0:05:14 > 0:05:17and the BBC witnessed what surely must have been
0:05:17 > 0:05:20Derry's first venture into tourism.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22As a pioneering group of globetrotters
0:05:22 > 0:05:25explored the city's historic walls.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28# Hello, hello again, shaboom and hoping to meet again... #
0:05:28 > 0:05:331954, you see this group of tourists come to Derry,
0:05:33 > 0:05:35and I'm sitting watching. And you're saying,
0:05:35 > 0:05:38"What are they here for?"
0:05:39 > 0:05:41We didn't have
0:05:41 > 0:05:44a tourist industry active in the 1950s.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46And insofar as there was a tourist industry,
0:05:46 > 0:05:49Derry certainly wasn't part of it.
0:05:49 > 0:05:55So the sight of foreigners was a truly strange and exotic thing.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00You wouldn't have seen any Black people.
0:06:00 > 0:06:04So in 1954, I'm sure a lot of heads were turning in Derry,
0:06:04 > 0:06:06you know what I mean?
0:06:06 > 0:06:08"Who are they?" "What Doherty are they?"
0:06:08 > 0:06:11"Who are they related to." You know?
0:06:13 > 0:06:15The city walls were very intimate to us.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17We used to walk the city walls
0:06:17 > 0:06:21and when others came and looked upon the walls
0:06:21 > 0:06:23with a sort of reverential eye,
0:06:23 > 0:06:25that seemed to us to be very strange,
0:06:25 > 0:06:29and, in a vague way, it made us very proud.
0:06:29 > 0:06:30Whoever sold them that deal,
0:06:30 > 0:06:32that package deal, fair play to them
0:06:32 > 0:06:35because they walked round the walls,
0:06:35 > 0:06:39which takes about 15 minutes, you know what I mean?
0:06:39 > 0:06:42And they visit some... I think it's maybe Magee College,
0:06:42 > 0:06:45and they bring on some dancers out in the field.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48And you can see them looking at one another
0:06:48 > 0:06:50and saying, "What's this about?
0:06:50 > 0:06:52"What's this about?" Do you know what I mean? But fair play
0:06:52 > 0:06:54to the person who sold the package.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56Wow! What a bargain(!)
0:06:56 > 0:06:59MUSIC: "You Should Be Dancing" by the Bee Gees
0:06:59 > 0:07:03Today, tourism is embedded in Derry's DNA.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07But back in the '70s, festivals and events were thin on the ground.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13So the arrival in 1976 of the City of Song
0:07:13 > 0:07:15brought the BBC cameras
0:07:15 > 0:07:18and the culture-hungry crowd to Guildhall Square,
0:07:18 > 0:07:22to enjoy the best of the region's talent.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25# You should be dancing, yeah
0:07:27 > 0:07:30# Dancing, yeah... #
0:07:30 > 0:07:34Derry, mid-1970s, very, very difficult time.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36And this civic week was an attempt, I think,
0:07:36 > 0:07:39for people to escape into some other world.
0:07:41 > 0:07:47Albeit for a temporary reprieve. But nonetheless it really empowered.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51The city had been in the doldrums for a number of years.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58Community activity had virtually stopped and, er,
0:07:58 > 0:08:00it was about getting things going again.
0:08:03 > 0:08:04# ..Get up off your back
0:08:04 > 0:08:07# Ah
0:08:07 > 0:08:10# You should be dancing, yeah... #
0:08:10 > 0:08:14Dancing has a strong tradition in the city, and that was
0:08:14 > 0:08:16an excellent example of it, you know, really.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19And getting the setting in front of the Guildhall
0:08:19 > 0:08:22and the Guildhall being closed up, but that activity and that energy
0:08:22 > 0:08:25was still happening in the square. It was a beautiful scene.
0:08:28 > 0:08:29The Guildhall Square
0:08:29 > 0:08:32looked curiously old-fashioned in that archive film.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34But what was also curiously old-fashioned
0:08:34 > 0:08:36was the way the dancers were dressed.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42Simple green dresses, a bit of Celtic embroidery,
0:08:42 > 0:08:45the lace doily kind of collars
0:08:45 > 0:08:49and their own hair bouncing in natural ringlets.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52And something that has never changed,
0:08:52 > 0:08:55and it's a terrible pity, cos even
0:08:55 > 0:08:57the young girls with the most elegant legs,
0:08:57 > 0:09:00with those big, thick, turned-down ankle socks
0:09:00 > 0:09:02they've all got cankles!
0:09:04 > 0:09:06MUSIC: "The Boys Are Back In Town" by Thin Lizzy
0:09:06 > 0:09:10Apparently Shipquay Street is one of the steepest streets in Europe.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13Going up it is tough enough, but coming down it
0:09:13 > 0:09:15behind two shire horses in an open carriage
0:09:15 > 0:09:21is something that deserves a leather medal for absolute bravery.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23- NEWSREEL:- 'For these greys were no pair.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26'One came from Falcarragh in Donegal and the other from Carrickfergus,
0:09:26 > 0:09:30'which had led to speculation as to their power-sharing capabilities.'
0:09:30 > 0:09:34But you could see, they were PULLING together.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36Or rather SKIDDING together.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39Literally digging their heels in halfway down
0:09:39 > 0:09:42as they gathered a terrible momentum coming down the street.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44I do remember actually seeing that.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47'In the parade, Derry's son and daughter of song -
0:09:47 > 0:09:48'Josef Locke and Dana.'
0:09:48 > 0:09:52It was a lovely day and I was with Josef Locke. We were on,
0:09:52 > 0:09:53I think, a vintage car.
0:09:53 > 0:09:57And coming through the streets and seeing the happy faces
0:09:57 > 0:10:00on the children. There was always a little...
0:10:00 > 0:10:03a little feeling of, "I hope nothing happens.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05"I hope nothing happens to ruin this."
0:10:05 > 0:10:08# The boys are back in town The boys are back in town... #
0:10:08 > 0:10:11Though big name visitors were few and far between,
0:10:11 > 0:10:14Dana and Josef Locke had no problem
0:10:14 > 0:10:16coming to a city in the grip of the Troubles.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18In those dark days,
0:10:18 > 0:10:23when few entertainers would dare to come here,
0:10:23 > 0:10:26we made our own fun. We called in favours,
0:10:26 > 0:10:31and we knew enough famous people who could invite their friends.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35And by and large, I think we put on a magnificent show
0:10:35 > 0:10:37for the times that we were in then.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40# ..The boys are back in town The boys are back in town... #
0:10:40 > 0:10:43Determined that the Troubles wouldn't stop the show,
0:10:43 > 0:10:46a bold and brash Billy Connolly arrived at
0:10:46 > 0:10:48the City of Song with his steely determination
0:10:48 > 0:10:50to have the last laugh.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53You weren't at all nervous about coming to Derry?
0:10:53 > 0:10:55I was nervous of coming. But decisions like that,
0:10:55 > 0:10:57you have to come to your conclusions rapidly.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00If you say, "Well, give me a week to think about it,"
0:11:00 > 0:11:01you won't come at all.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05You'll start to think about all the news broadcasts you've seen
0:11:05 > 0:11:08and the sort of evil bits and you won't bother coming.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10But if you're going to come,
0:11:10 > 0:11:12you need to say, "Yeah," and prepare yourself to come.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14There's no other way, I think.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17'At that stage, very few major acts would have done that'
0:11:17 > 0:11:19because of the security risk.
0:11:19 > 0:11:23Jim Aiken, the late promoter, I remember him talking about
0:11:23 > 0:11:27travelling out to America to meet acts,
0:11:27 > 0:11:29you know, face-to-face,
0:11:29 > 0:11:31to make a strong plea, to petition to them,
0:11:31 > 0:11:33"Please? I guarantee your safety. Come over.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37"You know, I'm going to look after you. It's going to be fine.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39"We could do with you in Belfast."
0:11:39 > 0:11:42And it would've been very much the same up in Derry.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44MUSIC: "Shang-A-Lang" by Bay City Rollers
0:11:44 > 0:11:48Meanwhile, the 1974 documentary, Getting It Together
0:11:48 > 0:11:50followed Phil Coulter in London
0:11:50 > 0:11:52and at home in Ireland,
0:11:52 > 0:11:55as he rolled with a starry cast of contemporaries and collaborators.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01With his sharp gear and well-tuned ear,
0:12:01 > 0:12:03this Derry legend had hit the big time.
0:12:03 > 0:12:04# We were breaking it
0:12:04 > 0:12:08# We were rocking to the shang-a-lang sound of the music... #
0:12:08 > 0:12:10'Getting It Together is a real insight'
0:12:10 > 0:12:13into the life and times of Phil Coulter.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15It's like a little, historical capsule.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18It just captures Phil probably at the very peak of his powers.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21# ..We sang shang-a-lang and we ran with the gang... #
0:12:21 > 0:12:23It was 1974.
0:12:23 > 0:12:27I was approached by the BBC about making a documentary.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29Morning, campers.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31Got a pink day.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34'I seemed to have a great confidence'
0:12:34 > 0:12:38about, you know, not only what was happening right then,
0:12:38 > 0:12:41but that this was going to, like, keep continuing and why would it not?
0:12:41 > 0:12:44'I didn't really have any idea what I was letting myself in for
0:12:44 > 0:12:47'because they followed me about for weeks.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49'It happened to be at a time in my career'
0:12:49 > 0:12:51when I was particularly busy.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53Which I suppose was good for the documentary
0:12:53 > 0:12:56but maybe not necessarily terribly good for me.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02Working with Bill Martin. He was clocking up hit after hit.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04He was a Eurovision winner.
0:13:04 > 0:13:05He'd written a song with Bill
0:13:05 > 0:13:08that had been performed by Elvis Presley.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10Now, that alone is reason why we should hold
0:13:10 > 0:13:12Phil Coulter up as a legend, I think.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14So the man was at the absolute peak of his powers, I think.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16The documentary sort of captures that.
0:13:18 > 0:13:23# ..Rocking every night and day Hey! Hey!
0:13:23 > 0:13:24# We sang shang-a-lang... #
0:13:24 > 0:13:26'That's the kind of life it was.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28'Phil was making great pop singles.'
0:13:28 > 0:13:30He had a totally open mind about music,
0:13:30 > 0:13:32which I think is really refreshing.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35And he would work with folk acts, he would work with pop acts
0:13:35 > 0:13:36in the same breath.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39And you see that in the documentary.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41IRISH FOLK MUSIC PLAYS
0:13:44 > 0:13:46'There was a terrific band called Pumpkinhead.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50'They were intriguing - two couples from the west coast
0:13:50 > 0:13:53'who had a passion for Irish music'
0:13:53 > 0:13:56and they were BRILLIANT players - absolutely brilliant players.
0:13:56 > 0:14:01'So I produced an album with them and really enjoyed the band Pumpkinhead.'
0:14:05 > 0:14:08'I always had this parallel interest
0:14:08 > 0:14:12'and passion for Irish music. So with the Bay City Rollers,
0:14:12 > 0:14:17'um, you knew that the object was to get records in the charts.'
0:14:17 > 0:14:19Working with The Dubliners, or Pumpkinhead, or Planxty,
0:14:19 > 0:14:21or the Furey Brothers, or whatever,
0:14:21 > 0:14:26that was more kind of me keeping faith with myself
0:14:26 > 0:14:28and my own passion for Irish music.
0:14:28 > 0:14:30And, um, I think I've said in the past
0:14:30 > 0:14:34that the commercial stuff was, um,
0:14:34 > 0:14:38was for the bank balance, but the other stuff was really for my soul.
0:14:44 > 0:14:45- LAUGHTER - No!
0:14:45 > 0:14:47# Ring a-ring a rosie... #
0:14:47 > 0:14:50'Some of the most powerful footage is when you see Phil
0:14:50 > 0:14:52backstage in the Royal Albert Hall'
0:14:52 > 0:14:53with The Dubliners.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56Now, Phil had long-term relationship with The Dubliners
0:14:56 > 0:14:57and you see that they're pals.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59I might get my big break into show business
0:14:59 > 0:15:01if I keep hanging about you stars.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04'So you can see that there's a real sense of camaraderie'
0:15:04 > 0:15:06as he's messing about with the guys backstage
0:15:06 > 0:15:09and joshing and joking with the various members of the band.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12- Is there room for another Dubliner, Ronnie?- Take over from me.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14I have... I have...
0:15:14 > 0:15:18'I think it must've been quite a contrast for Phil Coulter,
0:15:18 > 0:15:22'who had done Bay City Rollers at that stage
0:15:22 > 0:15:25'and was, you know, had done Eurovision,'
0:15:25 > 0:15:28then to meet this kind of
0:15:28 > 0:15:31force field called The Dubliners.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34And I would say it was a terrific learning curve for him.
0:15:34 > 0:15:39Just to learn to speak in different ways and to, you know...
0:15:39 > 0:15:45Cos those guys were completely a law unto themselves.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48IRISH FOLK MUSIC PLAYS
0:15:50 > 0:15:51MAN SHOUTS
0:15:51 > 0:15:54Come on. We can't be sitting around like this. Will you get up?
0:15:54 > 0:15:56We've got to go on stage in two minutes.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59'You could never predict with The Dubliners.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01'When I started producing with The Dubliners,'
0:16:01 > 0:16:04it was a nightmare to try and get them to start work in the morning,
0:16:04 > 0:16:05you know, for a start.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08And to try and get them to stay there through lunchtime
0:16:08 > 0:16:11when the pub was like three doors away.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14But for all of that, there were moments with The Dubliners
0:16:14 > 0:16:16that were just unforgettable
0:16:16 > 0:16:19and I wouldn't swap them for all the tea in China.
0:16:19 > 0:16:27# In the early morning the shirt factory horn... #
0:16:27 > 0:16:30'There's an incredible piece of footage,'
0:16:30 > 0:16:33where you see Phil and you see the late, great Luke Kelly
0:16:33 > 0:16:35singing The Town I Loved So Well.
0:16:35 > 0:16:41# Tended the children and then trained the dog. #
0:16:41 > 0:16:44'In the middle of the chaos is Kelly, the eyes half-closed,
0:16:44 > 0:16:47'singing a song that has a bit of substance,
0:16:47 > 0:16:49'and a lyric and has a bit of weight.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51'And then, when the camera pans down,
0:16:51 > 0:16:53'you see that Kelly has no trousers on.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56'That's just... That is... That's absolute, pure,'
0:16:56 > 0:16:59classic Dubliners.
0:16:59 > 0:17:00He's singing The Town I Loved So Well,
0:17:00 > 0:17:02in his underpants, to Phil Coulter.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04It's something I never thought I'd see.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07It's something I'll probably never be able to erase from my memory,
0:17:07 > 0:17:10but it's an incredible moment in a great documentary.
0:17:10 > 0:17:12# North is north and south is south
0:17:12 > 0:17:14# And the right one I have chose
0:17:14 > 0:17:15# Take me where... #
0:17:15 > 0:17:19As BBC cameras scanned the banks of the Foyle and its city surroundings
0:17:19 > 0:17:22in search of new stories,
0:17:22 > 0:17:23a fledgling television presenter
0:17:23 > 0:17:25was inviting viewers
0:17:25 > 0:17:26to take a sideways view
0:17:26 > 0:17:28of his native/city.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31# ..Let me see the menfolk walking those animals at the break of dawn
0:17:31 > 0:17:34# With heavy coats and water boots on
0:17:35 > 0:17:39# I love Derry City with its baps and Paris buns
0:17:39 > 0:17:45# But I'd love it longer, stronger if the men weren't toting guns... #
0:17:45 > 0:17:49'My Derry was the first thing I ever did on television.'
0:17:49 > 0:17:51Funnily enough, I look back on it and I say to myself,
0:17:51 > 0:17:53"That's not bad."
0:17:53 > 0:17:55But it was kind of weird at the same time.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57But the idea was OK.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01'The idea was that I... You see I'm kind of ambivalent
0:18:01 > 0:18:03'about Derry in many ways.'
0:18:03 > 0:18:06I love Derry, but sometimes I don't, that kind of thing.
0:18:06 > 0:18:08And sometimes I look at it with an eye
0:18:08 > 0:18:11that other people maybe think is a wee bit kind of odd.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14So I thought it'd be a good idea to just kind of look at Derry
0:18:14 > 0:18:16in a way - my Derry - and look at it
0:18:16 > 0:18:19in such a way that wouldn't be the normal look.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21MEN CHANT
0:18:21 > 0:18:24But Gerry and his trusty sidekick, Sean Coyle,
0:18:24 > 0:18:28spun a yarn that the city's diehard soccer fans
0:18:28 > 0:18:32enjoyed nothing better than a bout of table football between seasons.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36'Gerry made out that everyone in Derry is playing Subbuteo.'
0:18:36 > 0:18:40When the football season ends, everyone turns to Subbuteo.
0:18:40 > 0:18:42What a lie! What a lie!
0:18:42 > 0:18:45It was four guys in a garage somewhere playing it,
0:18:45 > 0:18:47and they brought me along to make up the crowd.
0:18:47 > 0:18:48It was Sean Coyle's idea.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51I know you've talked to him, and he'll probably deny it
0:18:51 > 0:18:54but it was his idea. I fought it tooth and nail
0:18:54 > 0:18:58but it got in. I didn't, um... I didn't fight hard enough.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01I didn't want it because it was stupid.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04Does it require a high degree of fitness?
0:19:04 > 0:19:07Well, from the waist up, yes.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09Most of them are dead from the neck up.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12'It's so boring, that when I went into that garage,'
0:19:12 > 0:19:15I was clean-shaven. And if you look, there's a shot of me,
0:19:15 > 0:19:16and I have a full-grown beard.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18Subbuteo?!
0:19:18 > 0:19:20Jeepers!
0:19:20 > 0:19:22I must say I'm impressed by the state of the ground.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24Can you explain how you keep it in such pristine nick?
0:19:24 > 0:19:28That pitch is in such good condition because of the very kind attentions
0:19:28 > 0:19:32of our ground ladies. We don't have groundsmen, we have ground ladies.
0:19:32 > 0:19:33What is their function?
0:19:33 > 0:19:37Their function is actually to iron the pitch whenever we need it.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39'It's not funny'
0:19:39 > 0:19:41and it's Sean Coyle's idea.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47Some Derry people are normal and lead ordinary lives,
0:19:47 > 0:19:48like me.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54Others are, well, a bit special.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57PLAYS CLASSICAL PIANO
0:19:57 > 0:20:00'Ruth McGinley, major star.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03'Great, talented, brilliant, brilliant pianist.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07'And I sort of had a chuckle when they put up
0:20:07 > 0:20:09'on the caption, on the screen,'
0:20:09 > 0:20:13"Ruth McGinley aged eight and three-quarters."
0:20:13 > 0:20:15Now, wouldn't it have been much simpler to put up
0:20:15 > 0:20:17"Ruth McGinley, nearly nine"?
0:20:20 > 0:20:25'Ruth McGinley, somebody had told me about her, and I heard her playing'
0:20:25 > 0:20:27and I just went, "Oh, my God, listen to THAT!"
0:20:27 > 0:20:30There is a tradition here in Derry/Londonderry
0:20:30 > 0:20:34of young people becoming very, very good very, very quickly.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37And it's a lot to do with the finish, the Derry finish.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39A lot of people say that people from Derry
0:20:39 > 0:20:42are more musically talented than those from other places.
0:20:42 > 0:20:43It's not true.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46They are just found earlier.
0:20:50 > 0:20:55'I was quite shocked at how small I look beside the piano. I was quite'
0:20:55 > 0:20:56self-critical. And then I thought,
0:20:56 > 0:20:59"No, take a look at it." And I thought, "God bless."
0:21:03 > 0:21:07'I remember just the importance of getting my puffy, pink dress,'
0:21:07 > 0:21:10which was part of the uniform whenever I did concerts
0:21:10 > 0:21:14in those days. And the pink bow in my hair being placed -
0:21:14 > 0:21:16I think it was slightly lopsided.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23'The difficult part for me was not playing the piano,'
0:21:23 > 0:21:27but at the end where I had to stand up and try and take a curtsey.
0:21:27 > 0:21:29APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
0:21:29 > 0:21:30'I remember back to the day
0:21:30 > 0:21:32'in which they were teaching me how to curtsey,
0:21:32 > 0:21:36'which was not the most natural thing in the world to me, at all.
0:21:36 > 0:21:37'And the smile is very unnatural.'
0:21:37 > 0:21:39I remember just wanting that part to be over.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42But, um, yeah, it was...it was nice to see it again.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45George, you're a very famous man, not only in Ulster
0:21:45 > 0:21:47but all over the world. How did this start?
0:21:47 > 0:21:49It all started when I was going to school
0:21:49 > 0:21:51and I used to speak very fast.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53The teacher said, "Slow down, you're too fast."
0:21:53 > 0:21:55'George's claim to fame was that Peter Sellers thought he was'
0:21:55 > 0:21:58wonderful, and I know that for a fact.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00Peter Sellers used to follow him around
0:22:00 > 0:22:02and just listen to him.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04Of course Peter Sellers was an expert in dialects, accents,
0:22:04 > 0:22:06and he thought George was the greatest guy.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09George believed he was the fastest talker in the world.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11- Is this the way you normally speak? - Yes, I always have.
0:22:11 > 0:22:12The teacher told me. She said,
0:22:12 > 0:22:15"George, you have to slow down, you're speaking very fast."
0:22:15 > 0:22:16I said, "I can't..."
0:22:16 > 0:22:19'As you know, I would do the odd impersonation,'
0:22:19 > 0:22:23but you could NEVER impersonate that guy. It's a one-off thing.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26SPEAKS SO FAST AS TO BE UNINTELLIGIBLE
0:22:26 > 0:22:29He's unique, and sadly missed.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31MUSIC: "The Hustler Theme: Stop & Go" by Kenyon Hopkins
0:22:31 > 0:22:34That's about it, folks. I've showed you my neck of the woods
0:22:34 > 0:22:36and some of the people who live there.
0:22:36 > 0:22:37I'm going back to radio.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42'The end part of my journey -
0:22:42 > 0:22:45'I have no idea how that happened, or why it happened.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48'I do believe it was Sean Coyle's fault. I do believe'
0:22:48 > 0:22:52that he suggested to the director, who said, "What are we going to do?
0:22:52 > 0:22:54"How are we going to end this?" He said,
0:22:54 > 0:22:57"Why don't we get him to jump in the pool." I went, "What?"
0:22:57 > 0:22:59"Gerry, will you do that?" I said, "OK." So I jumped in the pool.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09'Whoever came up with this idea of getting Gerry Anderson'
0:23:09 > 0:23:12up onto a slide and a swimming pool,
0:23:12 > 0:23:15although it did prove one thing - that he is miserable - because you do
0:23:15 > 0:23:18hear him squeaking when he's trying to move, you know?
0:23:21 > 0:23:23'I didn't know anything about television at the time.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25'And I didn't know how to do it.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27'So that's my very amateur stab at it.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29'And when I look at it now, first of all'
0:23:29 > 0:23:31I say, "How dare you show me that!"
0:23:31 > 0:23:35And secondly I say, "That wasn't too bad for a first crack."
0:23:40 > 0:23:44In 1995, BBC News crews captured Derry's first ever visit
0:23:44 > 0:23:48by a serving president of the United States of America.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54When Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, touched down,
0:23:54 > 0:23:58they brought with them an undeniable touch of stardust
0:23:58 > 0:24:02and a sense of hope to a city emerging from darker days.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08When President Clinton came in 1995, it was, I think,
0:24:08 > 0:24:13the best day I've ever had in this city because he was so glamorous.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18Nobody had ever even got near a president of the United States,
0:24:18 > 0:24:21never mind that he looked like a movie star, for God's sake!
0:24:22 > 0:24:25The security guys came over weeks in advance,
0:24:25 > 0:24:28there was a team,
0:24:28 > 0:24:30and they were for ever talking down their sleeves
0:24:30 > 0:24:34or, you know, down the manholes and outside the Guildhall,
0:24:34 > 0:24:37everywhere! Everywhere had to be hermetically sealed.
0:24:39 > 0:24:45Derry ones were just so loving the... the madness of it.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50And I just loved the fact that it was
0:24:50 > 0:24:52just like a world-famous pop star
0:24:52 > 0:24:54coming to town. And, you know,
0:24:54 > 0:24:59there was a huge sense of freedom and peace, you know,
0:24:59 > 0:25:00amongst people, and hope.
0:25:00 > 0:25:05Let us show the world how this city welcomes its guests,
0:25:05 > 0:25:07as we invite to the platform,
0:25:07 > 0:25:09the President of the United Sates of America -
0:25:09 > 0:25:13Bill and Hillary Clinton.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17President Clinton coming to Derry
0:25:17 > 0:25:20just gave people that hope that there was a future for
0:25:20 > 0:25:23peace in Derry and that, you know,
0:25:23 > 0:25:26the youth didn't have to grow up with the same troubles, I suppose,
0:25:26 > 0:25:28that we grew up with.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31CHEERING AND CHANTING
0:25:31 > 0:25:35Well, my father was the Mayor of Derry, so for me when Clinton came,
0:25:35 > 0:25:37it was such pride.
0:25:37 > 0:25:42WELCOMES THE PRESIDENT IN GAELIC
0:25:42 > 0:25:46My dad's no longer with us but he got them all to quieten down,
0:25:46 > 0:25:50and he said, um, "Welcome, Bill Clinton.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54"Welcome, the President of the United States."
0:25:54 > 0:25:59And I remember feeling such pride for him because there he was,
0:25:59 > 0:26:04in his home city, um... welcoming this guy, you know.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06So it was... It's a very happy memory
0:26:06 > 0:26:09but a very bittersweet memory, as well,
0:26:09 > 0:26:11because of everything that was going on.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15Um, but I was so proud of him that day.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19# In my memory
0:26:20 > 0:26:22# I will always see
0:26:25 > 0:26:31# The town that I have loved so well... #
0:26:31 > 0:26:36PHIL COULTER: 'Looking back on a career of 45 years,
0:26:36 > 0:26:38'I've had so many wonderful moments.
0:26:38 > 0:26:40'But the one that stands out in my mind'
0:26:40 > 0:26:44was singing The Town I Loved So Well
0:26:44 > 0:26:47in the town I love so well
0:26:47 > 0:26:49for the President of the United States.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53# ..While the men on the dole
0:26:53 > 0:26:57# Played a mother's role... #
0:26:57 > 0:26:58'I would never, ever have thought
0:26:58 > 0:27:01'when I was a kid growing up in a terraced house in Derry,
0:27:01 > 0:27:03'I never thought that I would meet
0:27:03 > 0:27:05'the President of the United States, number one.'
0:27:05 > 0:27:09I never thought that he would be calling me "Phil", number two.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12And I certainly never thought that it'd be in Derry, number three.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16And most definitely never thought that, um, at his request -
0:27:16 > 0:27:18it was his specific request -
0:27:18 > 0:27:21that I'd be there in the Guildhall to do The Town I Loved So Well.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25That was President Clinton's specific request.
0:27:25 > 0:27:26Sing it with me.
0:27:26 > 0:27:30# For what's done is done
0:27:30 > 0:27:34PEOPLE JOIN IN # And what's won is won
0:27:34 > 0:27:40# And what's lost is lost and gone for ever
0:27:42 > 0:27:47PHIL'S VOICE DOMINATES # I can only pray
0:27:47 > 0:27:50# For a bright, brand-new day
0:27:51 > 0:27:58# In the town I love so well. #
0:28:01 > 0:28:05CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:28:05 > 0:28:07# Once upon a time there was a tavern... #
0:28:07 > 0:28:11From Coulter to Clinton, and some surprises along the way,
0:28:11 > 0:28:14the story of the North-West's music and culture
0:28:14 > 0:28:16is the story of how we used to live.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19And thanks to a rich archive and the magic of film,
0:28:19 > 0:28:23we can bring those bygone days back to life.
0:28:23 > 0:28:25# ..Those were the days, my friend
0:28:25 > 0:28:27# We thought they'd never end
0:28:27 > 0:28:32# We'd sing and dance for ever and a day
0:28:32 > 0:28:34# We'd live the life we choose
0:28:34 > 0:28:36# We'd fight and never lose
0:28:36 > 0:28:40# For we were young and sure to have our way
0:28:40 > 0:28:42# La-la la-la la-la
0:28:42 > 0:28:44# La-la la-la la
0:28:44 > 0:28:46# La-la la la la-la... #
0:28:46 > 0:28:49Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd