0:00:01 > 0:00:04of one of the most loveable fools in showbusiness.
0:00:04 > 0:00:08What separates him from the rest of his profession
0:00:08 > 0:00:12is that he is beloved while the rest are merely beliked.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Harry Secombe!
0:00:20 > 0:00:24# Take me to your heart again
0:00:24 > 0:00:27# Let's make a start again
0:00:27 > 0:00:32# Forgiving and forgetting... #
0:00:46 > 0:00:50This is the story of a man I was lucky enough to call a friend
0:00:50 > 0:00:55and mentor. As a comic, he was one of a small group of performers
0:00:55 > 0:00:57who changed the face of British comedy.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00As a singer, he captivated audiences worldwide,
0:01:00 > 0:01:04but it was as a man Harry Secombe touched the hearts of millions.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09Harry was born in Swansea in 1921,
0:01:09 > 0:01:11the son of a travelling salesman.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14His parents, Fred and Gladys Secombe,
0:01:14 > 0:01:18lived with their three children in rented rooms in the St Thomas area.
0:01:18 > 0:01:23Harry was a shy child but he still got up to his fair share of mischief
0:01:23 > 0:01:27What I want to know is was he a bit of a handful?
0:01:27 > 0:01:30Not really a handful. He was always larking about.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33He certainly was a problem child,
0:01:33 > 0:01:36but he was the best and loveliest problem I've ever had.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39Thank you, Mr and Mrs Secombe.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43When Harry was four, the Secombes moved to a brand new council house
0:01:43 > 0:01:45here on St Ledger Crescent.
0:01:45 > 0:01:47It seemed immense to the young Harry,
0:01:47 > 0:01:52who couldn't believe that a whole house could possible by theirs.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56The new house was just up the road from the parish church
0:01:56 > 0:01:59that gave the area of St Thomas its name.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03It was a solid working class neighbourhood.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06The church was at the centre of community life.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10Harry, who sang in the choir, used to go four times every Sunday.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14When he was singing in church, Harry used to lean forward
0:02:14 > 0:02:18so that he'd catch the sunbeams coming in through those windows.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21He liked to think of them as his personal spotlight.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25When it came to performing outside church, he was far shyer.
0:02:25 > 0:02:30Sometimes after school, they'd have a bit of a little party.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32Everybody did something.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35When they wanted me to sing, I was too embarrassed
0:02:35 > 0:02:38to sing in the room, in the house.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41So I used to go to the outside toilet,
0:02:41 > 0:02:44where I sat on the wooden throne
0:02:44 > 0:02:49with the cut out squares of the News of the World on a nail
0:02:49 > 0:02:53and I'd sit there and sing with the door open
0:02:53 > 0:02:55and they'd listen inside.
0:02:55 > 0:03:01Ridiculous really. I'd be... # Bless this house... #
0:03:01 > 0:03:03All the dogs and cats would set off.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05They'd applaud inside.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09A lunatic with trousers around my ankles!
0:03:09 > 0:03:13I didn't sit there with my trousers on. I thought I'd do it properly!
0:03:14 > 0:03:17What a... What a twit!
0:03:18 > 0:03:21Harry went to St Thomas Boys Elementary School.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24There, he did well in English and Art,
0:03:24 > 0:03:26if not in other subjects.
0:03:26 > 0:03:28I wasn't very bright, you know!
0:03:28 > 0:03:31LAUGHTER A bit of an idiot!
0:03:31 > 0:03:36I remember when the results of the triculation, a filthy habit...
0:03:36 > 0:03:38LAUGHTER
0:03:41 > 0:03:44When the results of the board examination came out,
0:03:44 > 0:03:49we were all sitting in class and Teddy Test Tube,
0:03:49 > 0:03:54who was the Maths master, also the Chemistry master, hence the name...
0:03:54 > 0:03:56Anyway... LAUGHTER
0:03:56 > 0:04:00He was reading out the results and he hadn't got to my name.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03He picked up a piece of paper off the desk and said...
0:04:03 > 0:04:07He waved it like this. "We are in the presence of history," he said.
0:04:07 > 0:04:12"History. There is a paper here, no marks out of a hundred for geometry.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16"Secombe, stand up." I stood up, took a call. "Thank you!"
0:04:16 > 0:04:19Everybody clapped. "We've got a clown," he said.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23Clowning was something Harry did take seriously.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25He was a wireless fanatic
0:04:25 > 0:04:29and a keen admirer of comics like Max Miller and Tommy Handley.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32He and his sister Carol used to do a a double act
0:04:32 > 0:04:35at local social nights, and when Harry left school
0:04:35 > 0:04:37and started work as a junior pay clerk,
0:04:37 > 0:04:41his impersonation of his boss almost cost him his job.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43AIR RAID SIREN
0:04:43 > 0:04:46But in 1939, life was about to get far more series
0:04:46 > 0:04:49for him and everyone else in the country.
0:04:49 > 0:04:54With war looming, Harry decided to join the Territorials in Swansea.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58The only problem was that he was chronically short-sighted.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01He got a friend to copy out the army eye chart for him
0:05:01 > 0:05:04and Harry learned it all off by heart.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08In the army, Harry continued to play the clown.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11During his training as a gunner, he almost shot a postman
0:05:11 > 0:05:14on Margam dunes, but he survived that incident
0:05:14 > 0:05:18and was soon sailing for Africa with the Operation Torch invasion force.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21Once they'd landed at the port of Algiers,
0:05:21 > 0:05:25all that stood between them and their objective, Tunis,
0:05:25 > 0:05:29was 500 miles of desert and the German 10th Panzer Division.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33We went there in November 1942.
0:05:33 > 0:05:38And we had quite a touch time. 132 Field Regiment.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41Swansea Territorial regiment.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45We had a lot of... Lost a lot of lads out there.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48You can't share your experience with anybody else.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50You can't tell people what war is like.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54You can't tell them about what it is to see your pal dying,
0:05:54 > 0:05:59that sort of thing, but those people who'd been through it with you
0:05:59 > 0:06:02understand, even if they don't say anything.
0:06:02 > 0:06:07You hold hands now and again and shake hands and share memories.
0:06:07 > 0:06:12Harry wrote, "132 Field Regiment was home to me for four years
0:06:12 > 0:06:15"and I could not have grown up with a better bunch of lads."
0:06:15 > 0:06:20You realise that you just walk about with a sort of...
0:06:21 > 0:06:27frail...covering of flesh and the rest is all pretty vulnerable.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31And your mental attitude changes, I think.
0:06:31 > 0:06:36I remember thinking - I'm not going to call anyone "sir" again after this
0:06:37 > 0:06:39Harry was one of a generation of young men
0:06:39 > 0:06:44whose attitude to authority was fundamentally changed by war.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46In the deserts of North Africa,
0:06:46 > 0:06:49he had a fateful meeting with the biggest anti-authoritarian
0:06:49 > 0:06:51in the British army.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55- Did you meet any of the generals, or...?- I met a very famous person.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59His name escapes me... Wait a minute. Milligan. Spike Milligan.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02- No!- Yes, indeed. That's where we met.
0:07:02 > 0:07:08- When did you meet Spike?- He was washing his white flag for surrender.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:07:11 > 0:07:14There he is!
0:07:14 > 0:07:16APPLAUSE
0:07:19 > 0:07:24Can you enlighten us? Harry was telling us where you met. He said...
0:07:24 > 0:07:26- We were alive when we met. - LAUGHTER
0:07:30 > 0:07:34- He's got a point there! - Did you threw a large gun at him?
0:07:34 > 0:07:35Tell him the story.
0:07:35 > 0:07:40We were on a cliff and this huge gun of 7.4,
0:07:40 > 0:07:46and...we fired the gun and it rolled backwards over the cliff.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49When we looked back, it was gone.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51LAUGHTER
0:07:51 > 0:07:54The captain said, "Somebody must go down and look for it."
0:07:54 > 0:07:57"I'll go, sir. Anything to get out of the war!"
0:07:57 > 0:07:59LAUGHTER
0:07:59 > 0:08:02This regiment were parked out in tents.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05I went round and opened the tents and said,
0:08:05 > 0:08:09"Have you seen a gun?" This bloke said, "What colour?"
0:08:09 > 0:08:11LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:08:12 > 0:08:17After they'd taken Tunis, 132 Field Regiment were sent to Italy.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20There, Harry joined the divisional concert party.
0:08:20 > 0:08:25Performing sketches alongside female impersonators and comedy vicars,
0:08:25 > 0:08:28he realised he'd found his calling.
0:08:35 > 0:08:40In April 1946, Harry found himself back on Civvy Street
0:08:40 > 0:08:43with a one way ticket to Swansea in his hand.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47A few days after he'd been demobbed, Harry went for a night out
0:08:47 > 0:08:51at Mumbles Pier Dancehall. He was going through a Canadian phase,
0:08:51 > 0:08:54wearing a lumberjack shirt, putting an accent
0:08:54 > 0:08:56and pretending to chew gum.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58He must have been doing something right.
0:08:58 > 0:09:03He asked a pretty girl called Myra for a dance and she said yes.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06Do you remember the dancehall at the Mumbles near Swansea?
0:09:06 > 0:09:09Of course. I met my wife.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13Yes, that's where you met your wife to be. Come in, Mrs Myra Secombe.
0:09:13 > 0:09:15Myra! You didn't tell me!
0:09:15 > 0:09:17APPLAUSE
0:09:20 > 0:09:24- Right there, beside your husband. - There's lovely!
0:09:25 > 0:09:29I was at the Mumbles with a few of my girlfriends
0:09:29 > 0:09:32and I was just about to get my last bus home
0:09:32 > 0:09:36when this fellow comes up to me and says, "Can I have this dance?"
0:09:36 > 0:09:37It was Harry.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41I made a date to meet her the following day outside the Plaza.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45The following morning, I'd had a few more drinks than I should have had
0:09:45 > 0:09:48and I couldn't remember what she looked like.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51I thought, "I know what I'll do." LAUGHTER
0:09:53 > 0:09:57I got there early and there were pillars outside the Plaza,
0:09:57 > 0:09:59so I got behind one of the pillars
0:09:59 > 0:10:02and said, "I'll wait now till 6.00pm
0:10:02 > 0:10:06"and if I don't like her, I won't step out from behind the pillar."
0:10:06 > 0:10:10- A bit of a gentleman! - So I got there at five to six,
0:10:10 > 0:10:13got behind the pillar, didn't see her.
0:10:13 > 0:10:17When I stepped out from behind my pillar, she stepped out from hers.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19LAUGHTER That's true!
0:10:19 > 0:10:21Mutual mistrust!
0:10:21 > 0:10:27While they were courting, Harry took Myra to Swansea Empire every week.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30Watching the acts on stage, he found himself filled with a desire
0:10:30 > 0:10:33to get up and show them what he could do.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37He decided to take the plunge. He got in touch with a theatre critic
0:10:37 > 0:10:40he'd met in the army who suggested he tried the Windmill Theatre.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43The Windmill was famous as the only theatre in London
0:10:43 > 0:10:45with a live nude revue.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49The thing was I found I had more friends...
0:10:49 > 0:10:51'Harry Secombe joined in 1946.'
0:10:51 > 0:10:53..than I've had before or since.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56People would come and say, "Hello, Harry. Remember me?"
0:10:56 > 0:11:00You'd take them up the canteen for a cup of tea and a sandwich
0:11:00 > 0:11:04and all the girls would come up there between shows
0:11:04 > 0:11:07in very wispy negligees and things.
0:11:07 > 0:11:13Anyone from outside would sit there and go, "Cor! Look at...!"
0:11:13 > 0:11:17You couldn't have a conversation. They weren't listening.
0:11:17 > 0:11:18My brother's a vicar
0:11:18 > 0:11:22and four of his clerical friends came along to see me,
0:11:22 > 0:11:25they came about four times a week!
0:11:26 > 0:11:30With six shows a day and an audience that didn't come for the comedy,
0:11:30 > 0:11:34the Windmill was a tough training ground for a young comic.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37Harry got through it with a routine he'd dreamt up in Italy,
0:11:37 > 0:11:38the shaving act.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42First of all, a young boy shaving for the first time.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46LAUGHTER
0:11:59 > 0:12:01And then he finds there's no blade!
0:12:01 > 0:12:02LAUGHTER
0:12:02 > 0:12:06Those early years as a variety turn weren't glamorous.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10Harry often found himself kipping on friends' floors.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13But appearances on radio shows like Variety Band Box
0:12:13 > 0:12:16began to win him more live bookings.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20Harry learned his trade working in musichalls up and down the country.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24It was a tough apprenticeship for any young performer,
0:12:24 > 0:12:27as Harry found out one night in Bolton.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30I was in the bar having a drink, a large rum.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34The bar had cleared except for one fella with his back to me
0:12:34 > 0:12:37and a group of people around him, a big fat guy.
0:12:37 > 0:12:42He said, "I've seen 'owt like it in me life. By 'eavens!"
0:12:42 > 0:12:45I tapped him on the shoulder, emboldened by the rum.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49I said, "Excuse me," in a polite manner, cos I was drunk...
0:12:49 > 0:12:51LAUGHTER
0:12:51 > 0:12:53I said...
0:12:53 > 0:12:56I said, "Excuse me, but I'm the fella you're talking about."
0:12:56 > 0:13:00He said, "That's him! You should ashamed of yourself!"
0:13:00 > 0:13:06I said, "I haven't adjusted myself. I've been playing in the West End.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08"I haven't had time to adjust."
0:13:08 > 0:13:10He said, "You couldn't adjust your braces!"
0:13:10 > 0:13:12"Who do you think you're talking to?"
0:13:12 > 0:13:17He said, "Who do you think you're talking to? I own this theatre."
0:13:17 > 0:13:19I said, "Oh, do you...?"
0:13:19 > 0:13:22I said, "It's very draughty backstage."
0:13:22 > 0:13:27He took out his wallet and he said, "'Ere you are. 'Ere's your money.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31"Get 'train in 'morning. You're not shaving in my bloody time."
0:13:32 > 0:13:35In 1948, Harry and Myra got married.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38Their first child a year later.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40When he wasn't being a family man,
0:13:40 > 0:13:44Harry liked to hang out in Graftons, a pub owned by ex-serviceman
0:13:44 > 0:13:46and comedy writer Jimmy Grafton.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49There he'd meet up with his old mate Spike
0:13:49 > 0:13:52and a comic he knew from the Windmill called Michael Bentine.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55But it was when Harry met a comedian called Peter Sellers
0:13:55 > 0:13:58that the final piece of the puzzle fell into place.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02Together, these four men would revolutionise British comedy.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06We did a trial recording for Pat Dixon. It was pretty incoherent,
0:14:06 > 0:14:10but he thought there was something in it.
0:14:10 > 0:14:15The BBC, God bless 'em, gave us a trial - six or thirteen or something
0:14:15 > 0:14:18shows to start with and that's how it began.
0:14:18 > 0:14:23We did these first six and we began to get a bit clearer, you know.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26It was all... (VARIOUS SILLY NOISES) ..and all this terrible...
0:14:26 > 0:14:31But eventually, they settled to a sort of storyline.
0:14:31 > 0:14:36And it was discovered fairly early on the voices I did sounded like me.
0:14:36 > 0:14:40So I was told rather quietly that I should stick to one voice.
0:14:40 > 0:14:45They got me to do Neddie and everything happened round Neddie.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47Bloodnok and the other characters.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51- Who are you? - Me? I'm Lance Private Eccles.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55- Most people call me by nickname. - What's that?- Nick!
0:14:55 > 0:14:58That's a joke. I made a joke about...
0:14:58 > 0:15:00I inspected the man closely.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04He was the nearest thing I'd seen to a human being
0:15:04 > 0:15:06without actually being one. LAUGHTER
0:15:06 > 0:15:10I say, Seagoon, surely you don't suspect this man?
0:15:10 > 0:15:14Why, we were together in the same company during that disaster.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17- What company was that? - Desert Song 1933.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19LAUGHTER
0:15:19 > 0:15:22- Were you both in the doily cart? - Right in the doily cart!
0:15:22 > 0:15:23LAUGHTER
0:15:23 > 0:15:27For an audience that had grown up on traditional musichall humour,
0:15:27 > 0:15:30this was mind-blowing stuff.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32The show was a smash hit.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36Every Sunday, no matter where he was performing,
0:15:36 > 0:15:39Harry would rush back to London for the Goon Show.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43In fact, for all the Goons, Sunday was the highlight of the week.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46After rehearsal, they'd nip into the pub nextdoor
0:15:46 > 0:15:49for a bottle of brandy and a pint of milk,
0:15:49 > 0:15:52then back on the stage, they'd let rip.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57Thank you.
0:15:57 > 0:15:59LAUGHTER
0:15:59 > 0:16:03Hello, folks of the world. I am speaking to you
0:16:03 > 0:16:06using the new aluminium voice cone projector.
0:16:06 > 0:16:10I will start my comeback with a new trick
0:16:10 > 0:16:12taught to me by a one-legged sailor
0:16:12 > 0:16:15who did toffee-apple impressions for Noel Coward.
0:16:15 > 0:16:16LAUGHTER
0:16:17 > 0:16:19Pop!
0:16:19 > 0:16:21LAUGHTER Did you hear that?
0:16:21 > 0:16:24The show ran for nine years and made Harry a household name.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28During that time, he also continued his successful solo career
0:16:28 > 0:16:31as both a comedian and a gifted singer.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34For many years, he hadn't dared take his singing seriously,
0:16:34 > 0:16:37using it mainly for comic effect.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41# ..Everywhere, everywhere, everywhere, everywhere
0:16:41 > 0:16:44# Where e'er you walk
0:16:44 > 0:16:49# Cool gale shall fan the glen
0:16:49 > 0:16:54# Trees where you sit
0:16:54 > 0:16:58# In an English country garden
0:17:01 > 0:17:05- # Hear my song - # I've got a handful of songs to sing
0:17:05 > 0:17:09- # Your letter - # Sit right down and write myself a letter
0:17:09 > 0:17:12- # Hear my song - # I feel a song coming on
0:17:12 > 0:17:18# Give me the moonlight, give me the girl
0:17:18 > 0:17:22# In an English country garden. #
0:17:23 > 0:17:27It was singing teacher Manlio di Veroli
0:17:27 > 0:17:29who turned Harry into a serious singer.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32Harry said that Di Veroli took his voice apart
0:17:32 > 0:17:35the way a skilled mechanic dismantles an engine.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38When he put it back together, it was a thing of beauty.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41HARRY SINGS OPERA STYLE
0:18:05 > 0:18:09Harry's talent as a singer was to take him to the top of the charts.
0:18:09 > 0:18:14It was while he was holidaying in Barbados with Wolf Mankowitz
0:18:14 > 0:18:17that Harry mentioned an idea he had for a musical
0:18:17 > 0:18:20based on the Dickens novel The Pickwick Papers.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22Mankowitz liked it.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25He set about writing Pickwick and in the process,
0:18:25 > 0:18:27created a star role for Harry.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30Pickwick was a big challenge for Harry.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33For the first time, he had to step out of his musichall persona
0:18:33 > 0:18:35and really act.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38When the first night of the show's American tour
0:18:38 > 0:18:42was met with rapturous applause, Harry cried more than ever before.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46# If I ruled the world
0:18:46 > 0:18:51# Every day would be the first day of spring
0:18:51 > 0:18:56# Every heart would have a new song to sing
0:18:56 > 0:19:02# And we'd sing of the joy every morning would bring
0:19:04 > 0:19:07# If I ruled the world
0:19:07 > 0:19:12# Every man would be as free as a bird
0:19:12 > 0:19:17# Every voice would be a voice to be heard
0:19:17 > 0:19:23# Take my word, we would treasure each day that occurred... #
0:19:25 > 0:19:28If I Ruled The World was a number one hit for Harry.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31During the 1970s, he enjoyed one success after another,
0:19:31 > 0:19:36blending music and comedy in TV shows that attracted millions.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40MIMED SINGING DROWNED OUT BY LAUGHTER
0:19:47 > 0:19:50MIMES TO A WOMAN SINGING
0:19:53 > 0:19:56MIMES TO A DEEP MAN'S VOICE
0:20:00 > 0:20:03MIMES TO A DEEP MAN'S VOICE BY MISTAKE
0:20:05 > 0:20:08MIMES TO A HIGH WOMAN'S VOICE
0:20:08 > 0:20:11While his solo career went from strength to strength,
0:20:11 > 0:20:15Harry still found time for the odd reunion with old friends.
0:20:15 > 0:20:20..And in the year of 1883 that the monster whale
0:20:20 > 0:20:22came to Dundee,
0:20:23 > 0:20:27for a few days to sport and play.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32And devour the small wee fishes in the silvery Tay!
0:20:32 > 0:20:35ALL: Woooooaaaaah!
0:20:35 > 0:20:37LAUGHTER
0:20:39 > 0:20:42- So the monster... Thank you! - Slightly under-rehearsed!
0:20:42 > 0:20:46So the monster whale did sport and play...
0:20:46 > 0:20:48LAUGHTER
0:20:49 > 0:20:52- Amongst the decent... - Go on, keep going.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55..innocent little fishes in the beautiful Tay
0:20:55 > 0:20:57until he was seen by some men one day
0:20:57 > 0:21:02and they resolved to catch him without delay. Oooooohhhhhh!
0:21:02 > 0:21:04Camera Two!
0:21:04 > 0:21:06Aye, you're next!
0:21:07 > 0:21:09Oh, yes.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13Then the water did descend on the men in the boats...
0:21:13 > 0:21:15Hard night tonight. LAUGHTER
0:21:16 > 0:21:20In 1981, having entertained the nation for four decades,
0:21:20 > 0:21:22Harry was awarded a knighthood.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26I was practising yesterday and I split my trousers!
0:21:26 > 0:21:28So I thought...
0:21:28 > 0:21:31If it happens today... I had my trousers reinforced.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34Fortunately, it was a high stool and no bother.
0:21:34 > 0:21:39- You didn't need the...? - No. Thank Heavens, no.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42- Can you give us a...? - Show you? Yes, there we are.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46Harry and his friends had always joked about his weight.
0:21:46 > 0:21:51I'm sorry, sir, you cannot park that huge Welsh body there.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53LAUGHTER
0:21:53 > 0:21:57- Watch it, rozzer!- I have been watching it, sir.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59And it gives me no pleasure.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02But by the 1980s, it was no longer a laughing matter.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06Now weighing in around the 20 stone mark,
0:22:06 > 0:22:10Harry was experiencing problems with his health.
0:22:10 > 0:22:12Even after a near fatal bout of peritonitis,
0:22:12 > 0:22:16he didn't heed doctors' advice to change his behaviour.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20A couple of years later, the consequences caught up with him.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23In 1982, Harry was performing at Sydney Opera House
0:22:23 > 0:22:26when he almost passed out on stage.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29The doctor that examined him the next day
0:22:29 > 0:22:31told him if he didn't change his lifestyle,
0:22:31 > 0:22:34he'd be dead within two years.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38- I went on a diet and I haven't had a drink since that day.- Do you miss it?
0:22:38 > 0:22:41I'm thirsty! LAUGHTER
0:22:43 > 0:22:47No. I don't miss it. I missed it at the beginning.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50- Do you miss the drink?- No, I don't! LAUGHTER
0:22:51 > 0:22:54No, I don't miss it. APPLAUSE
0:22:55 > 0:22:59We do have, thanks to your permission,
0:22:59 > 0:23:02- your current passport photograph. - Have you seen it?
0:23:02 > 0:23:06Have a look at this. Harry Secombe's current passport photo.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08LAUGHTER
0:23:08 > 0:23:11How did you get back into the country?
0:23:11 > 0:23:13Honestly, they take a second look.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16It took a chorus of If I Ruled The World to get in!
0:23:16 > 0:23:18Then they kept me out!
0:23:18 > 0:23:23At the age of 62, when others might have been winding down their careers
0:23:23 > 0:23:26Harry was about to embark on a new one.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30In 1983, he was invited to present a new Sunday night show
0:23:30 > 0:23:33featuring hymns and real life stories from believers
0:23:33 > 0:23:38all over Britain. Though Harry claimed he wasn't heavily religious,
0:23:38 > 0:23:42his natural warmth made him the perfect presenter for Highway.
0:23:42 > 0:23:47When I was a teenager, I was lucky enough to sing with Harry in Rome
0:23:47 > 0:23:49for a special edition of Highway.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53It would have been very easy for him to treat me like a "little kid",
0:23:53 > 0:23:55but he actually took me under his wing.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58I have very fond memories of tasting my first glass of red wine
0:23:58 > 0:24:01sat next to Harry Secombe at the piano.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04As he used to say - it's nice to be big,
0:24:04 > 0:24:06you don't have to be big to be nice.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09Highway ran for ten years
0:24:09 > 0:24:11and when it ended, Harry was quickly headhunted
0:24:11 > 0:24:14by the producers of Songs of Praise.
0:24:23 > 0:24:28But in 1999, Harry suffered a double blow.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31Just weeks after he'd been diagnosed with prostate cancer,
0:24:31 > 0:24:34he had a serious stroke.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37In order to improve public awareness of the challenges
0:24:37 > 0:24:42faced by stroke sufferers, Harry and Myra allowed documentary makers
0:24:42 > 0:24:46to follow them through the long, slow process of recovery.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52'Myra has been at Harry's side throughout,
0:24:52 > 0:24:54'giving her encouragement and support
0:24:54 > 0:24:58'as she's done through the 52 years of their marriage.'
0:25:00 > 0:25:04They are wonderful, these two. They're really wonderful.
0:25:04 > 0:25:09Every flicker of a finger excites us, you know.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13But that is wonderful. That takes some determination
0:25:13 > 0:25:17cos he'd got to sort of... set himself up to do it.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20Yeah. It's sad on times.
0:25:20 > 0:25:25Good. Well done. Into a rhythm. Lovely. That's it. There we are.
0:25:30 > 0:25:31Well done!
0:25:31 > 0:25:34That's the first time.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37Yes, it is. Yes. It's a better...feeling, yes.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40It's worth the hard work, innit?
0:25:40 > 0:25:44- Yes.- But you've worked really hard.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48It's tissue time in the gym!
0:25:48 > 0:25:50Yes, Myra. You and I together.
0:25:53 > 0:25:58By the time Harry appeared as a guest on Songs of Praise in 2000,
0:25:58 > 0:26:00he was once again back on form.
0:26:02 > 0:26:06I've got...prostate cancer, diabetes and a stroke.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10The one thing to do...to forget about prostate cancer
0:26:10 > 0:26:12is to have a stroke!
0:26:12 > 0:26:14LAUGHTER
0:26:16 > 0:26:18APPLAUSE
0:26:23 > 0:26:26- It concentrates the mind! - I'm sure it does!
0:26:28 > 0:26:31There are things that are never going to be the same again.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35No. Once, I think, you get a stroke you say, "Well, that's it.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39"For now. That's the end of the Harry Secombe that was."
0:26:39 > 0:26:43- There's a new life opening up. - Do you grieve for what you've lost?
0:26:43 > 0:26:47Not really. If you wallow in self-pity, then...
0:26:48 > 0:26:50you don't get anywhere.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53You've got to accept what's happened and get on with life.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57Harry's positive attitude, his sense of humour
0:26:57 > 0:27:01and the love of family and friends all helped pull him through.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03LAUGHS HYSTERICALLY
0:27:06 > 0:27:10- There's no such thing as a horse called Doris!- One ran away.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12They were great days, Harry.
0:27:12 > 0:27:18- We actually saw the last days of... - The best of variety.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22- You must be one of my oldest friends.- Yeah.
0:27:22 > 0:27:24I'm 81,
0:27:24 > 0:27:28and I don't seem to be anywhere nearer death than if I was 100.
0:27:28 > 0:27:33I was actually wondering what my deathbed seemed to be like.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36I'd like to be there and all my children round me.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40I think you... When you've passed on, whatever,
0:27:40 > 0:27:43there's something in a poem...
0:27:44 > 0:27:47"And think this heart all evil shed away,
0:27:47 > 0:27:49"A pulse in the eternal mind,
0:27:49 > 0:27:53"No less gives somewhere back those thoughts by England given."
0:27:53 > 0:27:57The pulse in the eternal mind, to me, represents what happens to us
0:27:57 > 0:27:59after we die.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01Oh, I'll have to wait for that then!
0:28:02 > 0:28:04LAUGHS LOUDLY
0:28:07 > 0:28:11Harry passed away on the eleventh of April 2001.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17Harry's death didn't really sink in for me
0:28:17 > 0:28:20until his memorial service at Westminster Abbey.
0:28:20 > 0:28:24Sat there with friends and family, royalty,
0:28:24 > 0:28:27and some of the best broadcasters and comedians in the world,
0:28:27 > 0:28:30you got a real sense of the man's character.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33Yes, he rubbed shoulders with princes,
0:28:33 > 0:28:37but he was just as happy passing the time of day with people in Swansea.
0:28:37 > 0:28:39That's what made him great.
0:28:39 > 0:28:41Harry Secombe, This Is Your Life.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44Oh, thank you. APPLAUSE
0:28:59 > 0:29:01LAUGHTER
0:29:17 > 0:29:20Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd