0:00:04 > 0:00:07Doris Hare is famous today as a star of one of the most iconic
0:00:07 > 0:00:09sitcoms of the seventies.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11Blimey, can't see...
0:00:11 > 0:00:12LAUGHTER
0:00:16 > 0:00:18What few realise is that On the Buses was just
0:00:18 > 0:00:20the tip of the iceberg for Doris.
0:00:20 > 0:00:24She was born into the theatre, had been a protege of Noel Coward's,
0:00:24 > 0:00:26and a pin-up of the Merchant Navy.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28Her life story is nothing less
0:00:28 > 0:00:31than a history of 20th Century entertainment,
0:00:31 > 0:00:34from travelling players to television stardom.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56Doris Hare was born in the Rhymney Valley in 1905.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59She was steeped in the traditions of the theatre from birth.
0:00:59 > 0:01:04Her parents had a travelling theatre and toured all around the Valleys.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08They were living in wagons, caravans,
0:01:08 > 0:01:11and my mother was born in a caravan in Bargoed.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16On their visits to Bargoed, Doris's family would erect
0:01:16 > 0:01:21the Braemer's Alexandra Theatre under this viaduct. Her parents,
0:01:21 > 0:01:24Bert and Kate Braemer-Hare, made their living carting their portable
0:01:24 > 0:01:28show and its troupe of actors from one pithead village to another.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31They were taking a very popular type of theatre
0:01:31 > 0:01:34right into the heart of the countryside,
0:01:34 > 0:01:37to villages where people couldn't easily get to the theatre.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41You have to remember, it was before the days of film, radio -
0:01:41 > 0:01:42let alone television.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45There was nothing - it was the entertainment.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49They travelled with flat-bed wagons, and the four flat-bed wagons
0:01:49 > 0:01:54made the stage, and then around that, they built the theatre,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57so when you arrived anywhere, the first thing for the actors was
0:01:57 > 0:02:01the hammer call, and all the actors travelled with your own hammer.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05We don't have any images of the Braemer's Alexandra Theatre,
0:02:05 > 0:02:10but it was very much along the lines of a touring theatre
0:02:10 > 0:02:12which we do have a photograph of -
0:02:12 > 0:02:16now in this case, it's a marionette theatre,
0:02:16 > 0:02:19but you can see that they've got a facade,
0:02:19 > 0:02:22which would have been built up.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26Um, the family lived on caravans.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29And here you've got canvas sides and a canvas top,
0:02:29 > 0:02:32so you don't have to worry about the British weather.
0:02:32 > 0:02:37The sides here, again material, but amusingly painted to look like brick.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41And then boards outside, to say what they were doing.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44The company performed six different plays a week,
0:02:44 > 0:02:48with a concert beforehand and a farce afterwards.
0:02:49 > 0:02:54The type of thing that they were producing would have been popular melodramas - Dick Turpin,
0:02:54 > 0:02:57things that the audiences could really get involved in.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01They could shout and cheer and clap, something that would take
0:03:01 > 0:03:06people out of their ordinary lives and into a new world of theatre.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11Doris made her stage debut when she was three weeks old,
0:03:11 > 0:03:13playing Eliza's baby in Uncle Tom's Cabin.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17People say to me, "Where did you train?" I say, "I didn't.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21- "I was born and I was on!"- So you started at three weeks?- Three weeks.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25- What was it like at the beginning? - I don't remember my first appearance!
0:03:25 > 0:03:27I had very few lines.
0:03:27 > 0:03:32Doris's first speaking part came at the age of three.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34She had one line to say,
0:03:34 > 0:03:37which was "My father never told you to do that!"
0:03:37 > 0:03:40Which she said, and then burst into floods of tears.
0:03:40 > 0:03:44And she was a great little child actress.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47When Doris was a young girl, her baby brother fell ill.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49Their father rushed off stage to seek help.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54He set off to fetch the doctor, which meant running over the hill
0:03:54 > 0:03:55and into the next valley.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59He got a chill, it turned to pneumonia, and he died,
0:03:59 > 0:04:03leaving my grandmother with five children,
0:04:03 > 0:04:05the youngest only a small baby.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09There was a show scheduled that night and the show went on,
0:04:09 > 0:04:12but losing Bert was obviously a total disaster
0:04:12 > 0:04:15and they were extremely poor.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19Kate Braemer-Hare was left running the show and feeding her family on her own
0:04:19 > 0:04:22when tragedy struck a second time.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25Their theatre was destroyed in a violent storm.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29The family struggled on,
0:04:29 > 0:04:33but at the age of seven, Doris left to make her own way in the world,
0:04:33 > 0:04:38touring Britain as a member of juvenile Variety troupes like the Five Bing Kids.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41The world of Variety grew out of the world of Music Hall,
0:04:41 > 0:04:46and this was the great type of entertainment for the working man,
0:04:46 > 0:04:51and it consisted of a lot of different turns - song and dance,
0:04:51 > 0:04:56magic, ventriloquism - a huge range of different types of performance.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00Even things that we associate more with the circus.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03My mother, as a dancer, said it was awful
0:05:03 > 0:05:05if you were the next act on after the sea lions,
0:05:05 > 0:05:09because the stage was awash, and usually rather smelly.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13Doris was doing two or three shows a day, six days a week.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17Sundays were spent travelling to the next venue.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20They travelled around with the matron to look after them,
0:05:20 > 0:05:24living in theatre digs, which were always freezing cold.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27My mother in later life loved to be warm.
0:05:27 > 0:05:31Too much of her earlier years had been spent in theatre digs, freezing!
0:05:33 > 0:05:36Variety, with its different disciplines and array of stars,
0:05:36 > 0:05:39was a fantastic training ground for a young performer.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42She always stood on the side of the stage and she watched other people.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46She watched the dancers, watched actors, watched comedians.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49She was always learning.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53In her early teens, Doris put all that she'd learnt into practice
0:05:53 > 0:05:57when she began her solo career, as Little Doris Hare, accompanied
0:05:57 > 0:05:59by her sister Winnie on piano.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02There's a playbill here for the Alhambra, Leicester Square,
0:06:02 > 0:06:06and Doris Hare, here, is on the bill.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09She was an extraordinarily good all-round entertainer.
0:06:11 > 0:06:16In Variety, I did a twelve-minute act with three changes of costume,
0:06:16 > 0:06:21a dance, a splits - the lot, and my sister Win played the piano for me.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25Well, she wasn't a very good pianist! She played with two fingers.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29And when she got nervous, her lip used to go up like this!
0:06:29 > 0:06:30LAUGHTER
0:06:30 > 0:06:32And she'd be sitting there.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35She used to do this terrible thing, saying, "She's coming on now.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38"She won't be long. And when she comes, she'll sing you a sailor's song!
0:06:38 > 0:06:41"Here she is now, she won't be long, to sing a little sailor's song!"
0:06:41 > 0:06:44And I was at the side with a dresser - who never knew what to do -
0:06:44 > 0:06:49having this quick change into my sailor suit and shoes - tap shoes.
0:06:49 > 0:06:50And the skirt.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54She said, "You'll have to keep still, missus - I can't get it..."
0:06:54 > 0:07:00I'd say, "Come on! Hurry up! Get on with it!" Then... Ah! My poor sister.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02Lip had gone up to her head now!
0:07:02 > 0:07:05LAUGHTER
0:07:05 > 0:07:07With her two fingers!
0:07:07 > 0:07:10She said, "Ah! Here she comes, to sing a little's sailor's song..."
0:07:10 > 0:07:13And I came on, doing my sailor's song, and I went into my routine,
0:07:13 > 0:07:18which was daddle-di-um-pah, ba-pa la la, diddle-di duh, cha chum!
0:07:18 > 0:07:20And she'd got my shoes on the wrong feet!
0:07:20 > 0:07:22LAUGHTER
0:07:22 > 0:07:27During the 1920s, Doris toured Britain, Africa, and Australia,
0:07:27 > 0:07:30singing, dancing and doing impressions.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33But tastes were changing and Variety was giving way to a new,
0:07:33 > 0:07:37more sophisticated form of theatrical entertainment.
0:07:37 > 0:07:42What's really smart and new, are these wonderful revues.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50The revue was a Broadway creation - a musical show,
0:07:50 > 0:07:54with the cast performing song-and-dance numbers and sketches
0:07:54 > 0:07:56in an evening of glamorous entertainment.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58The master of the form was Noel Coward,
0:07:58 > 0:08:01one of the wittiest songwriters of the twentieth century.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05In 1932, he invited Doris to audition for his next production.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10So off I went, the Adelphi Theatre, 10 o'clock in the morning,
0:08:10 > 0:08:11and did the whole of my act.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13And when I'd finished, Noel said,
0:08:13 > 0:08:16"I'd like to see you down in the stalls, miss. Do come down in the stalls."
0:08:16 > 0:08:18So I said, "Yes, when I've changed."
0:08:18 > 0:08:20I changed, I went down in the stalls, he said,
0:08:20 > 0:08:22"I think you're very, very funny.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24"And I should like you to be in my new revue."
0:08:24 > 0:08:26I said, "Good!"
0:08:26 > 0:08:30And I dashed from the stage door of the Adelphi theatre
0:08:30 > 0:08:34to our flat in Long Acre quicker than any runner ever.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38I flew up the stairs to my mother and I said, "Kate! I've got it!"
0:08:38 > 0:08:41And she said, "Good! Let's have a drink!"
0:08:41 > 0:08:43LAUGHTER
0:08:43 > 0:08:46Coward, like Doris, grew up as a child actor.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49He was a singer and a dancer
0:08:49 > 0:08:56and he would have appreciated just how talented little Doris Hare was.
0:08:58 > 0:09:03In 1932, Doris appeared in Coward's new revue, Words And Music.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07And Noel wrote the most lovely song for me in that,
0:09:07 > 0:09:09called Three White Feathers.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14It's about an actress who's married into the peerage.
0:09:14 > 0:09:19And she's seated in the Mall, in a beautiful motor car,
0:09:19 > 0:09:21waiting to be presented at court.
0:09:21 > 0:09:27# We lived at Ealing, me and mother and father
0:09:27 > 0:09:29# I scaled the social ladder
0:09:29 > 0:09:32# and I've never had a head for heights
0:09:34 > 0:09:38# We had pawn shop at the corner of the street
0:09:38 > 0:09:42# And father did a roaring trade
0:09:42 > 0:09:47# I used to think those rings and necklaces were sweet
0:09:49 > 0:09:53# Now I wouldn't give them to my maid
0:09:55 > 0:09:59# I've travelled a long, long way
0:09:59 > 0:10:04# The journey hasn't been all jam
0:10:04 > 0:10:09# I must admit, the Rolls in which I sit
0:10:09 > 0:10:14# Is one up on the dear old tram
0:10:14 > 0:10:18# I say to myself each day
0:10:18 > 0:10:22# Indefinitely marble halls
0:10:23 > 0:10:28# Today it may be three white feathers
0:10:30 > 0:10:37# But yesterday, it was three brass balls. #
0:10:37 > 0:10:38APPLAUSE
0:10:41 > 0:10:43Doris not only sang in the revue,
0:10:43 > 0:10:46she also appeared in one of Coward's satirical sketches.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48The sketch was called Children's Hour,
0:10:48 > 0:10:54and in it, it had Doris Hare with the young John Mills, and they were
0:10:54 > 0:11:00playing children in nursery, who were aping what their parents did.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02So they were smoking and they were drinking cocktails,
0:11:02 > 0:11:07and there was a song called Let's Live Dangerously,
0:11:07 > 0:11:11and they did some wonderful dancing in Children's Hour.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17Words And Music was a roaring success.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20The Times declared it Coward's best musical work to date.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23At the end of the show, he brought John Mills
0:11:23 > 0:11:27and Doris to the front of the stage, and said, "These are my two
0:11:27 > 0:11:30"young stars, and you'll be seeing a lot more of them."
0:11:38 > 0:11:40In 1936, Doris appeared on Broadway,
0:11:40 > 0:11:44in Emlyn Williams's sensational play, Night Must Fall.
0:11:44 > 0:11:48Her sister Bettie was also performing in New York at the time.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51The Hare sisters were in their element among the bright lights of the city.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56It really was a marvellous time to be in New York,
0:11:56 > 0:11:59and of course in those days, everybody did party pieces, and so
0:11:59 > 0:12:05Betty and I decided we would do Jazz Baby, but sung like the English do.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14# My daddy was a ragtime trombone player
0:12:14 > 0:12:17# My mammy was a ragtime cabaret-er
0:12:17 > 0:12:19# The met one day at a tango tea
0:12:19 > 0:12:21# There was a syncopated wedding
0:12:21 > 0:12:24# And then came me
0:12:24 > 0:12:27# Folks say, the way I walk is a fad
0:12:27 > 0:12:33# But it's a birthday present from my mammy and dad
0:12:35 > 0:12:40# Cos I'm a jazz baby, a little jazz baby, that's me
0:12:40 > 0:12:42# There's something in the tone of a saxophone
0:12:42 > 0:12:45# That makes me want to do a wiggle all my own
0:12:45 > 0:12:49# Cos I'm a jazz baby, Full of jazz-bo harmony
0:12:49 > 0:12:51# That Walk The Dog and Ball The Jack that caused all the talk
0:12:51 > 0:12:54# Is just a copy of the way I naturally walk
0:12:54 > 0:12:58# Cos I'm a jazz baby, little jazz baby that's me! How's that? #
0:12:58 > 0:13:00APPLAUSE
0:13:06 > 0:13:10When war broke out, each branch of the British armed forces
0:13:10 > 0:13:13was given their own distinctive radio programme.
0:13:13 > 0:13:18However, the Merchant Navy, which was a civilian service, had none.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21Merchant seamen faced the same dangers as other
0:13:21 > 0:13:22members of the armed forces.
0:13:22 > 0:13:2730,000 of them died keeping vital supply lines open during the War.
0:13:28 > 0:13:34In 1942, producer Howard Thomas set out to create a show for them,
0:13:34 > 0:13:36called Shipmates Ashore.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39He called Doris, and asked if she'd like to present the show.
0:13:39 > 0:13:45He chose her because she had a wonderful warm, down-to-earth
0:13:45 > 0:13:49personality, rather than being an ultra-glamourous leading lady.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52Oh, hello, shipmates! Welcome to the party.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55Well, as you can see, this is a sort of reunion.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58I'm so happy to be here, because I've got so many of my old friends.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01I've got Scandinavians, Dutchmen,
0:14:01 > 0:14:04Aussies, some of the boys from Limpsfield, some from Springbok,
0:14:04 > 0:14:08and a Scotsman, because this is a free party, and I can promise you,
0:14:08 > 0:14:12there are always plenty of Scotsmen at a free party!
0:14:12 > 0:14:15- Isn't that so, John? - Aye, that's right, Doris!
0:14:15 > 0:14:18She had this song, Sailor, Who Are You Dreaming Of Tonight?
0:14:18 > 0:14:21which she sang at the beginning and end of each show.
0:14:21 > 0:14:25# Sailor, who are you dreaming of tonight? #
0:14:25 > 0:14:28The programme was broadcast from the Merchant Navy Club
0:14:28 > 0:14:29in London's West End,
0:14:29 > 0:14:35which was packed with scores of young sailors on leave from active service.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37I mean, this was the height of the battle of the Atlantic.
0:14:37 > 0:14:43And these people were coming back after horrendous experiences.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47I met some of the most wonderful men during the War in that programme.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50And I used to sit at a table writing postcards,
0:14:50 > 0:14:52and I'd write on them, signing things.
0:14:52 > 0:14:57Sailors said to me, "It's all right, Doris, I've got one of those pictures of you,"
0:14:57 > 0:15:00but he said, "D'you know the last time I saw that picture?
0:15:00 > 0:15:05I was in a terrible ship, right up at the tip of Iceland.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09It was freezing cold, it was a terrible ship,
0:15:09 > 0:15:14and you went down three stairs to the galley, which was ghastly,
0:15:14 > 0:15:17and over the top of the galley was written,
0:15:17 > 0:15:22'Abandon hope all ye who enter here', and underneath was your picture!"
0:15:22 > 0:15:23LAUGHTER
0:15:27 > 0:15:32If there are any Merchant seamen listening, I still love you all, and it's still love from Doris.
0:15:32 > 0:15:37- Oh, I had a wonderful time during the War, you know.- How many did you love?
0:15:37 > 0:15:39Oh, all of them!
0:15:39 > 0:15:41Ha-ha! I was the sweetheart of the Merchant Navy, dear!
0:15:41 > 0:15:45And, baby, when I go on a ship now, they say, "Doris!"
0:15:45 > 0:15:48- Well, they're all a bit older. - But still...
0:15:48 > 0:15:50- Many a good tune played on an old fiddle.- Oh, my darling.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53You can do anything with those sailors!
0:15:53 > 0:15:54LAUGHTER
0:15:57 > 0:16:00I used to be introduced at that time to various dinners
0:16:00 > 0:16:04and lunches that I used to do, and they said,
0:16:04 > 0:16:08"And now we have Doris Hare, who's here to entertain us
0:16:08 > 0:16:12"and to open the bazaar for us, who has done so much to sailors!"
0:16:12 > 0:16:13LAUGHTER
0:16:15 > 0:16:18It should have been 'for sailors'!
0:16:21 > 0:16:24During one recording session for Shipmates Ashore,
0:16:24 > 0:16:28war suddenly came to the Merchant Navy Club.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31"Let's turn the telescope on Claude Hulbert,
0:16:31 > 0:16:34"now appearing in Panama Hattie, and Enid Trevor!"
0:16:37 > 0:16:42- "Claude! - "Oh, here I am. I've just made the most amazing discovery."
0:16:42 > 0:16:45"They're absolutely necessary in all wars."
0:16:45 > 0:16:49And that was when the bomb dropped on the Merchant Navy Club.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51It was the most terrifying moment,
0:16:51 > 0:16:54because all the ceiling started to come down,
0:16:54 > 0:16:56and Bill Debroy Somers didn't know what to do,
0:16:56 > 0:16:59and Howard Thomas came out of the control room, and said,
0:17:01 > 0:17:03"Keep it going, keep it going, we are still on the air."
0:17:03 > 0:17:06Shipmates Ashore made Doris a household name.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10She now had friends in the very highest circles.
0:17:10 > 0:17:12Now, I had a great chum who was in the government,
0:17:12 > 0:17:14called George Tomlinson.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16And when the King and Queen came,
0:17:16 > 0:17:19George took them all over the Merchant Navy Club.
0:17:19 > 0:17:21So afterwards, I said to him,
0:17:21 > 0:17:23"George, you talked to the King and Queen so much,
0:17:23 > 0:17:24"what did they said you?"
0:17:24 > 0:17:27So, he said, "Well, Doris, love, it was like this, you see...
0:17:27 > 0:17:29"The Queen was standing there and, of course,
0:17:29 > 0:17:32"Wynott was supposed to come and look after her.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35"And he wasn't there, he didn't come. So I went over to her, and I said,
0:17:35 > 0:17:38"Here, your Majesty, nobody seems to be looking after you."
0:17:38 > 0:17:40LAUGHTER
0:17:40 > 0:17:42"And she said, "Nay, they doesn't, does they?"
0:17:42 > 0:17:44LAUGHTER
0:17:44 > 0:17:47"So, I took her in hand, and I took her up the stairs,
0:17:47 > 0:17:49"and when we got to the top of the stairs,
0:17:49 > 0:17:50"there were all those lovely flowers,
0:17:50 > 0:17:53"and she got the top of the stairs and she said,
0:17:53 > 0:17:54" 'Ee, what lovely flowers.' "
0:17:54 > 0:17:56LAUGHTER
0:17:56 > 0:17:58And I said, "Aye, your Majesty.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00"They wouldn't have been there if you hadn't been coming."
0:18:00 > 0:18:02LAUGHTER
0:18:02 > 0:18:04And she said, "Nay, I thought not."
0:18:04 > 0:18:06LAUGHTER
0:18:06 > 0:18:11Because of the war, the BBC's light entertainment department
0:18:11 > 0:18:14had been moved out of London to Bristol.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17There, Doris met a research scientist from Denbighshire
0:18:17 > 0:18:19working at the naval hospital.
0:18:19 > 0:18:23Sparks flew, and on 15th March 1941,
0:18:23 > 0:18:26Doris Hare and John Fraser Roberts were married.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29He absolutely adored the theatre.
0:18:29 > 0:18:31I think he also adored actresses,
0:18:31 > 0:18:35and he was quite a sort of reserved man, but he...
0:18:35 > 0:18:37he loved the sort of...
0:18:38 > 0:18:41..the fun and the laughter and...
0:18:41 > 0:18:43the exuberance of my mother.
0:18:45 > 0:18:50In 1942, Doris and John had their first child, Susan.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53The family moved from Bristol to Wimbledon and it was there,
0:18:53 > 0:18:57after the end of the war, that their second daughter, Kate, was born.
0:18:57 > 0:19:02Doris was by now a well-known and much-loved public figure.
0:19:02 > 0:19:03But with peacetime,
0:19:03 > 0:19:08her role as the sweetheart of the Merchant Navy came to an end.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10Doris didn't take this lying down.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13She bombarded the BBC with ideas for new programmes
0:19:13 > 0:19:15that would showcase her talents.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19"8th of April 1949. Dear Miss Hare..."
0:19:24 > 0:19:27"March 1950. Thank you for your letter.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29"I'm sorry the idea didn't work out.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32"However, I'm sure I'll be back soon with something wonderful...
0:19:32 > 0:19:37"September 1952. Thank you for your memo of the 27th of August.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40"I'm afraid that there is no foreseeable prospect
0:19:40 > 0:19:42"of any such programme being accepted..."
0:19:44 > 0:19:45To make matters worse,
0:19:45 > 0:19:50Doris found that opportunities in the theatre were also drying up.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52During the 1950s...
0:19:52 > 0:19:56Well, she hit her own... sort of late 40s, 50s,
0:19:56 > 0:19:59often a difficult time for actresses...
0:19:59 > 0:20:05Variety was disappearing and the theatre was beginning to change.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09There was a revolution afoot in British theatre,
0:20:09 > 0:20:12spearheaded by modern, passionate plays
0:20:12 > 0:20:15like John Osborne's Look Back In Anger.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19Suddenly, traditional drawing-room farces were out of style.
0:20:19 > 0:20:21Doris was still appearing in plays,
0:20:21 > 0:20:25three acts, one set, and a French window at the back.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29And they would take a play out on tour, try it round the provinces,
0:20:29 > 0:20:31hope that it would come into the West End
0:20:31 > 0:20:35and either it never did or, on one memorable occasion,
0:20:35 > 0:20:37it came in and lasted one night.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40Erm...and that was a very difficult time.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45Doris's career took a decisive turn when she appeared in a musical
0:20:45 > 0:20:49about a bunch of eccentric Edwardians at a seaside spa.
0:20:49 > 0:20:55She appeared in Sandy Wilson's musical version of Valmouth
0:20:55 > 0:20:59and she played Granny Tooke, who's 120,
0:20:59 > 0:21:01and suddenly, people realised
0:21:01 > 0:21:04that she was a very good character actress.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09Also appearing in Valmouth was a young singer called Cleo Laine.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12Eamonn Andrews reunited the pair a few years later.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23We used to sing to each other.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25And I used to sing all the old Cockney songs
0:21:25 > 0:21:26and you used to jazz them up.
0:21:26 > 0:21:27- That's right.- Do you remember?
0:21:27 > 0:21:29And you remember one I used to sing to you?
0:21:29 > 0:21:33# 'Arry, 'Arry, 'Arry, 'Arry
0:21:33 > 0:21:36# Now you've got a chance to marry
0:21:36 > 0:21:40# A nice little widow with a nice little pub
0:21:40 > 0:21:45# Plenty of bacca, beer and plenty of grub. #
0:21:48 > 0:21:52Doris's performance as Granny Tooke opened new doors for her.
0:21:52 > 0:21:57She found herself swept up in a new wave of gritty British cinema.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59In the kitchen-sink drama A Place To Go,
0:21:59 > 0:22:01Doris showed her range as an actress.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06No, you don't, Matt. You don't sit there no more.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10- How do you mean? - It's the head of the table.
0:22:10 > 0:22:11Well, this is where I sit.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14It's the head of the table. Ricky sits there now.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16He's paying for the food, so he sits there.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18Look, this is my place.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21Not any more, it ain't. You sit where I tell you.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25As Lil Flint, Doris revealed a harder edge to her performance.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28Since when have you told me what to do? Since when, eh?
0:22:28 > 0:22:30- Oh, Mum, I...- You keep out of this!
0:22:30 > 0:22:33Now listen, Lil, you keep your mouth shut, I'm telling you.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36You don't tell me nothing no more, Matt Flint.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38Chuck up your job, you just fling away your job...
0:22:38 > 0:22:39What rights have you got any more?
0:22:41 > 0:22:43That same year, Doris joined Peter Hall's
0:22:43 > 0:22:46new Shakespeare Company, the RSC.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49That period with the Royal Shakespeare Company
0:22:49 > 0:22:50was quite remarkable.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53There were very-well known people like Michael Hordern,
0:22:53 > 0:22:55Dorothy Tutin and Paul Scofield.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59But the youngsters in the cast were Diana Rigg, Judi Dench,
0:22:59 > 0:23:06Mike Williams, Ian Holm, Ian Richardson, Timothy West...
0:23:06 > 0:23:08It was a quite fantastic time
0:23:08 > 0:23:11and she did some wonderful stuff with them.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15Doris Hare was able to bring years of experience
0:23:15 > 0:23:17to the Royal Shakespeare Company.
0:23:17 > 0:23:22One of her roles, for example, was the nurse in Romeo And Juliet.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26And again, that's the kind of character
0:23:26 > 0:23:29she would have done extremely well.
0:23:29 > 0:23:34Because she had such a range of types of performance
0:23:34 > 0:23:36that she'd worked in.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39But the role for which Doris would be remembered longest
0:23:39 > 0:23:44came in 1969, when she was offered the part of Mum in On The Buses.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51She wasn't available for the first series,
0:23:51 > 0:23:55but Reg Varney very much wanted her to play the part.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58Doris came on board for the second series
0:23:58 > 0:24:00of one of Britain's most popular sitcoms,
0:24:00 > 0:24:03joining a cast that included Anna Karen as Olive.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07She was amazing. She worked so hard.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09She was very, very good with handling Reg,
0:24:09 > 0:24:11and I don't mean he was difficult, but, you know,
0:24:11 > 0:24:14he was insecure because he was top of the bill
0:24:14 > 0:24:17and she was very, very kind and gentle with him, you know?
0:24:17 > 0:24:19Teased him, made him laugh...
0:24:21 > 0:24:24What you got on there? Dad's old Army coat?
0:24:24 > 0:24:26No, it's my new maxi.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28It's a present Wilfred thought would suit me.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30You mean to say he bought it for you?
0:24:30 > 0:24:32No, it's a present to myself.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34It's cavalry style. Do you like it?
0:24:34 > 0:24:37Yeah, there's room for the horse under there an' all!
0:24:37 > 0:24:40Well, I did take it up a bit. It was a bit on the long side.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42Yeah, are you frightened of tripping over?
0:24:42 > 0:24:45No, love, I was afraid it wouldn't show my new boots!
0:24:45 > 0:24:47AUDIENCE SCREAM
0:24:48 > 0:24:51She was great to act with, because she helped you,
0:24:51 > 0:24:54she gave you everything and she had spot-on timing.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58She was a great company player. Great company player.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03What have you done to your hair? You've dyed it!
0:25:03 > 0:25:07No, I haven't, it's a wig. It's what they call a fan wig.
0:25:07 > 0:25:08Oh, blimey!
0:25:08 > 0:25:12Fancy you... You can't afford things like that, fancy wasting your money!
0:25:12 > 0:25:14I got it with green stamps.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18During filming, Doris always had a helpful word of advice
0:25:18 > 0:25:20for the younger members of the cast.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23I remember one day I was sitting there moaning, and she said,
0:25:23 > 0:25:25"Oh, do you know what you need, love?"
0:25:25 > 0:25:28And I thought she was going to say "a cup of tea," or something.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32I said, "Yes?" She said, "A good period out of work."
0:25:32 > 0:25:33And I thought, "Yes!"
0:25:33 > 0:25:37Oh, she loved On The Buses, she really did.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40It was an immensely popular show and, of course,
0:25:40 > 0:25:43it gave her a whole new audience
0:25:43 > 0:25:46and she was recognised everywhere she went.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50She took her two sisters and they went off on holiday to Yugoslavia.
0:25:50 > 0:25:52And they went on a coach trip one day,
0:25:52 > 0:25:55and at the top of some mountain, out of a little cafe,
0:25:55 > 0:25:58a woman appeared, rushed up to my mother, shrieking,
0:25:58 > 0:26:01"Mammy, mammy, autobus, autobus!"
0:26:01 > 0:26:04And apparently it was a big success in Yugoslavia.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10On The Buses attracted audiences of over seven million viewers.
0:26:10 > 0:26:15It spawned three films and was sold to 38 countries worldwide.
0:26:15 > 0:26:17Doris followed up that success
0:26:17 > 0:26:20with appearances in the Confessions films,
0:26:20 > 0:26:22which centred on the sexual escapades
0:26:22 > 0:26:24of ladies' man Robin Asquith.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26This was always a family joke,
0:26:26 > 0:26:29because she always insisted that she never knew
0:26:29 > 0:26:30they were going to be like that.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33Because, of course, she'd only been in the family scenes.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36Now, my son said to her, very firmly,
0:26:36 > 0:26:38"Come on, darling, we'll accept that for the first one,"
0:26:38 > 0:26:40but she did four more after that!
0:26:42 > 0:26:44But she thought it was great fun.
0:26:44 > 0:26:46You know, she enjoyed doing those.
0:26:48 > 0:26:53Even as she approached 80, Doris's comic talents were still in demand.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56In 1984, she appeared with George Cole in a sitcom
0:26:56 > 0:26:59about life in Britain after a Russian invasion.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05Reg, have you thought what your wife and that man
0:27:05 > 0:27:11might be doing in Milton Keynes, alone and together?
0:27:11 > 0:27:12What do you mean?
0:27:12 > 0:27:14What's the worst thing you can think of?
0:27:14 > 0:27:15Forming a union.
0:27:15 > 0:27:17LAUGHTER
0:27:17 > 0:27:18It's not a union you want to form!
0:27:18 > 0:27:20All unions are illegal,
0:27:20 > 0:27:23as is bubblegum, long hair, meetings of more than one person...
0:27:23 > 0:27:24Reg...
0:27:24 > 0:27:29What is it that men and women do together sometimes?
0:27:29 > 0:27:33You did it on your honeymoon...
0:27:33 > 0:27:34Collecting tram numbers.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37No! She's being unfaithful.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40To the principles of Marxist Leninism?
0:27:40 > 0:27:43No, you great pillock, to you! Oh, I give up.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45'She was always working.'
0:27:45 > 0:27:48I think she liked the money, apart from anything else.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52I think when you've been brought up in very hard circumstances,
0:27:52 > 0:27:53very hard circumstances,
0:27:53 > 0:27:57and my grandmother was left extremely hard-up...
0:27:57 > 0:28:00you don't take things for granted.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03But also, she loved it.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05Comedy is the thing.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07The greatest joy in my life is a full house,
0:28:07 > 0:28:10go on and hear them laugh
0:28:10 > 0:28:14and know you have got them in the hollow of your hand
0:28:14 > 0:28:17and you can do what you like with them.
0:28:17 > 0:28:18It's a wonderful feeling.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23After a lifetime in the theatre,
0:28:23 > 0:28:27Doris Hare died on the 30th of May 2000.
0:28:27 > 0:28:29She was aged 95.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34May I just say, to all the sailors everywhere,
0:28:34 > 0:28:37I shall never forget you, ever.
0:28:37 > 0:28:39God bless you, good sailing,
0:28:39 > 0:28:42and love from Doris!
0:28:42 > 0:28:46# Sailor, who're you dreaming of tonight?
0:28:46 > 0:28:49# As you're swinging to and fro
0:28:49 > 0:28:51# In your hammock down below?
0:28:51 > 0:28:54# Sailor, who're you dreaming of tonight?
0:28:54 > 0:28:59# I'll wager that you're dreaming of a lady... #
0:29:05 > 0:29:10Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd