TV Greats: Our Favourites from the North


TV Greats: Our Favourites from the North

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This is Salford Quays, the brand-new home of BBC North.

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Match Of The Day, Breakfast News, 5 Live, they are all coming here.

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Oh, and Corrie's moved in just around the corner.

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I can't wait to see Gary Lineker rubbing shoulders with Ken Barlow

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in the Rover's Return over a pint of best bitter. Love it.

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Some of the very best of British TV has been made right here, up North.

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Remember these?

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UPROARIOUS LAUGHTER

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Live on the show, Take That!

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The only way now is up, up, up!

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I'll be looking back at some of the great BBC TV shows which have been made in the Northwest

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and finding out what it is about this part of the world

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that's created some of the best telly of the last 50 years.

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I don't know what you guys drink up in Manchester

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but there seems to be something in the water

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that says that little spark of creativity.

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What about Salford? Any of you Salford lads, then?

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CHEERING

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Is there a process to becoming a Northerner?

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Probably 16 pints of bitter...and 40 Embassy Regal.

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What's going on?!

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That is lovely.

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UPROARIOUS LAUGHTER

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I prefer to be spellbound.

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One of my favourite TV shows as a kid was Top Of The Pops.

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I loved the music and I LOVED the dancing.

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I mean, I wanted to be one of Pan's People, for goodness' sake.

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And hard to imagine, I know, but for the first three years

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the show was actually broadcast from a converted church in Manchester.

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This is BBC One.

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Yes, it's number one! It's Top Of The Pops!

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MUSIC: "The Last Time" by the Rolling Stones

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Top Of The Pops was launched on New Year's Day 1964

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by none other than the late King of Pop, Jimmy Savile.

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Wednesday January 1st 1964,

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7:30 in the evening, live, black and white TV,

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first group the Hollies, Rolling Stones and people like that,

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and it was...tremendous.

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Who does anything on New Year's Day?

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So the Beatles and the Rolling Stones... New Year's Day?!

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So when they've been at Marianne Faithfull's penthouse flat the night before doing God knows what

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they had to be on a train at 6am to Manchester to a disused church.

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They must have said to Brian Epstein and Andrew Loog Oldham, "Are you serious about this?

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"For some new pop programme? We're the biggest groups in the world."

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"You're still going doing it. You can have a sandwich on the train."

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# Well, I'm sorry, girl, but I can't stay... #

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They decided to put Top Of The Pops in Manchester because they couldn't bear it in London.

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London was very hoity-toity and Manchester... Where is Manchester?

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Anything that they didn't want to do in London

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they slung up to the old church in Manchester.

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They didn't want anything to do with pop music, so that was our place.

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To appear in the audience of Top Of The Pops was a dream come true,

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and not surprisingly a few famous faces turned up at the studios.

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Yes, that really is George Best strutting his stuff.

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# Oooh, oooh Baby love, my baby love... #

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The Supremes even made their world television debut on the programme.

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There was absolutely no problem getting artists to come.

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Top Of The Pops was THE number-one pop show in the whole WORLD.

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# To make you stay away for long

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# Cos baby love, my baby love... #

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Jimmy Savile was so different.

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He had a completely different voice, his total presentation was not...

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I wanted to say not normal, but that sounds unkind.

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It was just so entertaining and he was such a character.

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# I got the blues in the morning

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# I got the greens at night... #

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Except I'm a tee-totaller. Oh, I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen. Yes...

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Jimmy Savile, obviously, he's not got it QUITE right.

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I've never seen anyone at a rock gig looking quite like Jimmy Savile.

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But he's worked out that the suits and ties of the squares has gone

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and the kids are going to do something else.

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# You've lost that lovin' feeling... #

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By the end of '67, the show was so successful it had outgrown the old church and was moved to London.

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# You've lost that lovin' feeling... #

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Everybody that comes up to the North is affected by the North

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and Northern people and things like that.

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And it just... It was a magic mix, the North and Top Of The Pops.

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Magic mix.

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# Bring back that lovin' feeling

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# Whoa, that lovin' feeling... #

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In the early '70s, the BBC decided it needed more space.

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The old church was demolished

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and work began on new studios on Oxford Road in Manchester.

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Now, on the fringe of the city centre, it's all down to New Broadcasting House.

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Not so characterful, perhaps, as a collection of old churches,

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but more appropriate to broadcasting in the '70s and the '80s.

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Now, that's what I've been looking for.

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Jeux Sans Frontieres, or It's A Knockout to me and you.

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Unforgettable Saturday-night telly.

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Stuart Hall's laugh, Eddie Waring's scoreboard,

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those ridiculous giants' costumes.

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You just could not beat it.

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It was absolute genius. Absolute genius.

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Everybody had to make a date with It's A Knockout.

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It was just a seminal programme of our time.

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All these people dressed up, not just in a costume,

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but characters that were, like, six or eight feet tall.

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Meanwhile, shambling up are St Albans!

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STUART HALL LAUGHS UPROARIOUSLY

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STUART HALL TRIES TO SPEAK BUT BREAKS DOWN LAUGHING

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I think it's Stuart Hall's unbridled enthusiasm for everything that he does.

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But now, equally divine, equally delectable,

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is your actual uncle Eddie Waring. Ed.

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You very rarely hear a grown man nearly wetting himself these days

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on the television, and the simple joyousness of that conveys it.

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It still works. When you hear it, you still can't help...

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I think people of all ages... Because he's really having a good time.

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UPROARIOUS LAUGHTER

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We've got a pool, you can see behind,

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and one of the very good games that's been in Knockout

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through the few years we've been doing it is the pillow fight.

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Bonkers decision with Eddie Waring.

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From sport, from rugby league, to bring him into that!

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So then to get a commentator who sounds just as bemused by what's going on...

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"Errrrr..."

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It may be a little wet above, but the crowd are really enjoying this.

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Don't know whether the competitors are. Hey, no holding.

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CHEERING

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It really looked grim. You were kind of glad to be indoors watching it

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rather than there, I think.

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And yet there was something kind of...that lifted the spirits

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about people dressed as celery sticks

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kind of rolling about in pools of murky rainwater and things.

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Pauline Cooper can't count. Shall we ask what the Ely score there was?

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-She can't count. Go on.

-I make it 24.

-Your mother will be very pleased. Right, hop it, then.

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And that other fella, Arthur, in his striped blazer.

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15. Two points to Ely.

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Two more points to Ely. Get them on the scoreboard, Bev.

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And then of course they went very international

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with Jeux Sans Frontieres.

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Where they used to...used to go abroad to places like Belgium,

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and they'd do it at night and it looked all colourful

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and the water would look like a swimming pool,

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and then they'd cut back to Warrington...

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-HE CHUCKLES

-..filming in February, in the mud.

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We had 80 million viewers, every Friday night.

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IMITATING THEME TUNE: # Ba-ba bom-bom-bom, bom-be-bom-bom-bom... #

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THEME TUNE PLAYS

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Yes, 80 million viewers across Europe would tune in every week

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to watch the European version of the show.

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When it went abroad, you know, it all looked very glamorous.

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It was Champions League It's A Knockout, wasn't it?

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It did look much more glamorous. We thought, "Wow. It's very sophisticated abroad, isn't it?"

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The penguin game, which is shown on YouTube non-stop, from Aix-les-Bains,

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featuring the eight penguins collecting water on a carousel.

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Go on, get in!

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Why it works is everyone, except possibly Stuart Hall,

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is taking this incredibly seriously.

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You know those men in those penguin suits and their assistants,

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that national pride is at work here.

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The national pride of the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Latvia, wherever, is at stake.

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And so that's what makes it so touching and so funny.

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Now, Dougie, a dustbin man from Skegness, was our penguin,

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and he gave us some of the greatest fun I've ever had in my life.

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Because he completely destroyed it.

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When they speeded up the carousel, he went quicker.

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He took out the German, the took out the French. He took out the Dutch!

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But he kept running, had nothing in his bucket!

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HE TRIES TO SPEAK BUT BREAKS DOWN LAUGHING

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STUART HALL LAUGHS UPROARIOUSLY

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In there, Dougie!

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STUART HALL SCREAMS WITH LAUGHTER

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And there's been no shortage of laughter from up here.

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Some of our best-loved comedians are from this part of the world.

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Peter Kay, Johnny Vegas, John Bishop, Steve Coogan,

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they all began right here.

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You can see that the warm air is moving out of the way

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and the cool air is coming back in, so that makes more sense...

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Hi! It's roasting, Dianne!

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My name's Paul Calf.

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Er, support Man City, er, like drinkin'...

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Scrap, fight, punch-up, break some bloke's nose. I like life!

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Revolts me how some people live.

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-Eddie, I think you need to wear a mask.

-Why, do you think I'm going to get recognised?

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No, I just don't like looking at your face. Ha-ha-ha-ha!

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Now is what counts, Rimmer, living for today.

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Who knows what'll happen tomorrow? Or in the next five minutes? That's what makes life so excitin'.

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Some of the best comedy shows of the last 30 years

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have originated from Manchester.

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My first job here, in this very studio,

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was, I was an usher for Red Dwarf.

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Erm, I just used to show people to their seats and make sure everyone had their tickets.

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And I used to watch the show and watch Craig,

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and I've since worked with Craig, just worked with Danny John-Jules.

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I'd sit here and watch and go, "Oh, I'd love to be in something like this one day."

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-We'll catch you up.

-Are you sure you've got everything?

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Just the bare essentials, food and medical supplies.

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I'm just taking the bare essentials too. 36 change of clothing and ten full-length dress mirrors.

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Cat, we're going to be away for 12 hours.

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You think I need more mirrors?

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A lot of the time Red Dwarf was on, I was working in the evenings,

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and one of the times I remember most fondly was the canteen,

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before it was modernised, it was still very stark, just postwar...

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The furniture looked like it could have come from Churchill's bunker or something in the canteen.

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But I remember Red Dwarf being filmed

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and the guys in the make-up, it was too expensive to strip it off and strip it back on,

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so they'd be trying to have a salad with all that funny make-up on, or egg and chips or whatever it was.

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There probably wasn't a salad bar in those days!

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And that's it, there's nothing else?

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Just a Pot Noodle.

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Oh, and I found a tin of dog food in the tool cupboard.

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It's obvious what's getting eaten last, then.

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I can't stand Pot Noodles.

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And the buzz that we got in the building, because there was

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a network, big show being done here,

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you saw those Chris Barries and people walking around, you know, they were very much part...

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And I think that that's what the BBC in Manchester has always thrived on, really,

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the fact that there are big productions coming out of here.

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I haven't eaten for six days, I'm going to eat the dog food.

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I'm sure the dog food will be lovely.

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Rimmer, this isn't dog food.

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This is a piece of prime fillet steak in blue-cheese sauce.

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It's been charcoal-broiled in garlic butter

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and is going to taste delicious.

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Delicious. Delicious.

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My sociological theory about why people up North have a better sense of humour

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and all the best stand-up comedians are Northerners

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is the fact that we've had it harder. Do you know what I mean? We've...

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We're poorer and we've had tougher times.

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And what do you do in a time when you're struggling?

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You have a laugh about it.

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-H-hello. I'm Bob.

-Fat Bob.

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Fat Bob. Paul's best mate.

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For me, for my first TV job, Paul Calf,

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it's a video diary about real people from Salford.

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It's not me doing an act.

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I've got to think, people at home have to think that Fat Bob

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lives on an estate near the Flemish Weaver.

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See the way she were looking at me? It's obvious, in't it?

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She wants me body.

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Let's face it, Bob, having a body that drives women wild

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is a bit like having a green Ford Cortina Mk. 4.

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You've either got one or you haven't. And I've got one.

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-I haven't.

-Exactly.

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Working-class communities produce people

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who learn to laugh in the face of adversity.

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And that notion of, something that would otherwise destroy you,

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turn it into a gag, and disarm it, dismantle it, make something from it.

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And Johnny Vegas plays a small-time drug dealer in the comedy sitcom Ideal.

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Over the years, many famous faces have made guest appearances on the show,

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most recently Paul Weller and Kara Tointon.

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'I put the success of Ideal down to a really strong cast.'

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Everyone genuinely loved working on the show and believed in it,

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and it was just quirky enough,

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'it was one of those shows that people just really got into.'

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Anyone fancy cheese on toast?

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You read me like a book.

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-Could you cut the crusts off mine, please, Paul?

-No problem, love.

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Ooh, and me.

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Tell you what, I'll cut the crusts off the whole loaf.

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Cheers, Paul. You're a mate.

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Again, it's testament to the show

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that everyone came in and didn't have a problem sending themselves up.

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I thought the whole exhibition related a liminal anxiety.

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It wasn't as mesmerising as I expected. I like to be mesmerised.

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-I like to be mesmerised.

-I like to be mesmerised.

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I prefer to be spellbound.

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'I was kind of...honoured, you know.'

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And Johnny loved it, he kept telling me he loved it,

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and I wasn't really conscious of doing anything.

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I remember I had to come into the frame and raise an eye.

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To be honest, I didn't really know what was going on!

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'I had my little scene, and I didn't really know what was going on.'

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I came here straight from my philosophy evening class.

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Right. And what did you learn about this week?

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-Foucault.

-Come on, you must have learnt something!

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Caroline Aherne turned the traditional chat show format on its head in the '90s.

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With her sharp wit and special blend of Northern humour,

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Mrs Merton was a smash hit with audiences.

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The genius of it is making it an old lady - a rather pleasant,

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twinkly old lady - disarms everyone straight away.

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Now, every woman's dream is to marry Paul Daniels.

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This dream came true for the lovely Debbie McGee,

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and she'll be popping up later.

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Debbie McGee was on the very first show.

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All I knew about the Mrs Merton Show was it was some sort of comedy chat show.

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I walked on, and then her first question was...

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What first, Debbie, attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?

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LAUGHTER

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APPLAUSE

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Well...

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"What attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?"

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Well, that, you know, that humour there,

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because humour can be used as a weapon, and you feel that around Manchester and Liverpool,

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anybody who's getting a little bit - and it's happened to me! -

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who's getting a little bit above themselves.

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Debbie McGee is disarmed by it so she can't object to it,

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and that is a stroke of genius.

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Caroline Aherne is brilliant at it, because she plays the old lady

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'with both utter sweetness and a real naughtiness as well.'

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Say you wake up of a night, and you're in your bed,

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and you wake up, and you just put your hand out to stroke Paul's little head,

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and he's not there - do you look up, and he's at the end of the bed,

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pulling doves out of his pyjamas?

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LAUGHTER

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Do you find that happens?

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'I never felt uncomfortable for a minute'

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on the Mrs Merton programme, I laughed from beginning to end,

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I laughed every time I watched her interviewing other people afterwards,

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cos mine was the first one to ever be recorded.

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I thought she was hysterical,

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and my experience of it was just fun and laughter.

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In the late '90s, Caroline Aherne returned to our screens in The Royle Family,

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this time alongside co-writer Craig Cash.

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We were like a real family.

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It was beautiful, it turned into a lovely, lovely job.

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I don't drink at all, me.

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Just a bottle of stout of a night, and a sherry at Christmas.

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What about a whisky at New Year, Nana?

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Oh, aye, whisky at New Year!

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Sherry at Christmas and a bottle of stout.

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Sitting on that sofa, as I am now,

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and the rest of the family were down here, I was squashed in together,

0:19:240:19:30

it was lovely. I could fall asleep between takes, it was lovely.

0:19:300:19:35

I remember ringing home and saying to my mum and dad,

0:19:350:19:38

you have got to watch this, because it's like being sat at home!

0:19:380:19:43

How many Northern families must have thought,

0:19:430:19:46

"This is like our house, exactly like our house."

0:19:460:19:48

And of course they didn't see that.

0:19:480:19:50

"Nothing happens, all they're doing is sitting there watching telly!"

0:19:500:19:55

DOORBELL Get that, will you?

0:19:550:19:58

'The Royle Family is genius.'

0:19:580:19:59

Very, very funny, but very, very moving,

0:19:590:20:03

in particular the sequence where Barbara is doing her mother's hair,

0:20:030:20:09

and they're singing to each other.

0:20:090:20:11

That is not just comedy, that's some of the greatest drama you'll ever see.

0:20:110:20:16

-Barbara.

-Yes?

0:20:160:20:18

Do you think you could get on with me toenails next?

0:20:180:20:22

Yeah.

0:20:220:20:24

Barbara?

0:20:260:20:27

Yes?

0:20:270:20:29

Barbara.

0:20:290:20:30

Come here.

0:20:320:20:34

Thank you.

0:20:350:20:37

Thank you, Barbara.

0:20:370:20:39

What for?

0:20:390:20:40

Everything.

0:20:400:20:41

And what the Royle Family is is a celebration of the ties that bind in Northwest families.

0:20:430:20:49

It's a family, a Northwestern family, under the microscope.

0:20:490:20:55

Beautiful television.

0:20:550:20:57

So many people are just dismissed into care homes -

0:20:570:21:03

get rid of them.

0:21:030:21:06

And years ago, they would remain in the family.

0:21:060:21:12

'And Barbara kept me in the middle of everything.

0:21:120:21:17

'It was wonderful, wonderful.

0:21:180:21:21

'A wonderful way to end your life, in the middle of it all.'

0:21:210:21:25

# Que sera sera

0:21:250:21:29

# Whatever will be will be

0:21:290:21:33

# The future's not ours to see

0:21:330:21:37

# Que sera sera

0:21:370:21:41

# What will be will be

0:21:410:21:45

# When I grew up and fell in love

0:21:450:21:49

# I asked my sweetheart... #

0:21:490:21:52

The old BBC Manchester building has never won any prizes for its architecture,

0:21:540:21:58

but then you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

0:21:580:22:01

Some of the most original and creative TV shows of the last three decades

0:22:010:22:05

have come out of this place.

0:22:050:22:07

And one or two of them have revolutionised the way television is made.

0:22:070:22:11

In 1987, Janet Street-Porter moved here from Channel 4,

0:22:150:22:19

and made radical changes to youth programming.

0:22:190:22:22

'When I arrived at the BBC, I could see that using the offices in Manchester'

0:22:220:22:26

as our base, instead of being in a studio,

0:22:260:22:30

with reporters popping up and sitting behind desks,

0:22:300:22:33

the people that made the programme would be part of the programme.

0:22:330:22:37

We want to know what you think about rescue outreach.

0:22:400:22:44

You'd see the office, and it was all part of the same thing.

0:22:440:22:48

They'd tell you how the story was going, and how they put it together.

0:22:480:22:52

The programme that I'm probably most proud of that I made in Manchester

0:23:000:23:05

was Rough Guides, because before that, travel shows were so drab!

0:23:050:23:09

You'd have Judith Chalmers standing on the beach,

0:23:090:23:12

they'd be talking about value for money, it was always about beaches,

0:23:120:23:16

hotel rooms, and it was never about what the locals got up to.

0:23:160:23:20

We start looking for company in Anchorage,

0:23:200:23:23

home to half the population.

0:23:230:23:25

Where drillers turn to killers, lonely hearts are melting, and the ice men cometh.

0:23:250:23:30

'We wanted to recreate what would happen'

0:23:300:23:33

if you did actually go as a backpacker to these places,

0:23:330:23:37

and took a wrong turn.

0:23:370:23:39

With contract killings in Russia now numbering 500 a year,

0:23:410:23:45

the police have decided to fight fire with fire, by forming an elite squad.

0:23:450:23:49

'For me, the most frightening people'

0:23:490:23:51

I ever met in my life were the police in Moscow.

0:23:510:23:57

Moscow itself, at the time, when we did Rough Guide to Russia, was absolutely terrifying.

0:23:570:24:03

The whole place had just opened up,

0:24:030:24:06

but it seemed like no-one was in charge.

0:24:060:24:08

'And we went out for the day with the police, chasing gangsters.

0:24:080:24:11

'In actual fact, it wasn't the gangsters that terrified me,

0:24:110:24:14

'these police were running round, brandishing guns around.'

0:24:140:24:18

Raids take place almost daily.

0:24:180:24:20

The fast cars and big guns may conjure up images of the latest Die Hard film,

0:24:200:24:24

but in reality, dying is all too easy.

0:24:240:24:26

There have been over 100 police deaths on such missions in the last few years.

0:24:260:24:30

And on the way back, we got stopped by police,

0:24:320:24:34

and they...we had machine guns in the car,

0:24:340:24:38

pointing in your face, saying, "Where are you going? What are you doing here?"

0:24:380:24:42

And we'd say, "We're just a little travel programme!"

0:24:420:24:45

Down the corridor, The Travel Show was also doing things differently.

0:24:500:24:54

But for a more mainstream audience.

0:24:540:24:57

I think what set The Travel Show apart from other travel programmes

0:24:580:25:02

that were on air at the time was that we were given the brief

0:25:020:25:06

to tell it as it is.

0:25:060:25:08

So we were sent to a particular location, and basically,

0:25:080:25:13

'had to tell the viewers back home what it was that we found.'

0:25:130:25:16

I've come to the Greek Orthodox Saint Gerasimus monastery,

0:25:160:25:20

home to guess who - Gerasimus. He's the patron saint of Cephalonia,

0:25:200:25:24

and apparently is taken very seriously by a lot of the islanders.

0:25:240:25:28

I have to put on... Cover myself up.

0:25:280:25:31

'In Cephalonia,'

0:25:330:25:35

we went to the shrine of St Gerasimus,

0:25:350:25:37

and basically, I had to squeeze through this tiny little hole.

0:25:370:25:43

Apparently anyone of any shape or size

0:25:430:25:46

is supposed to be able to get through this hole.

0:25:460:25:50

It's an interesting front door!

0:25:500:25:52

Hurrah!

0:25:540:25:55

Once through this hole,

0:25:580:26:00

you're supposed to be cleansed of all your sins,

0:26:000:26:02

but if you're very, very bad, you'll come in here clean,

0:26:020:26:07

and you'll go out there dirty.

0:26:070:26:10

Right, now I've got to try and get out of this place.

0:26:100:26:13

'I ended up in this chamber, and then we had all the subsequent problems of trying to get out again.

0:26:130:26:19

'It was fine.'

0:26:190:26:20

I'm not quite sure whether or not I was cleansed,

0:26:200:26:23

I'll leave that to everyone else to decide.

0:26:230:26:26

Hi, we are live from Manchester for ORS '84, let's go!

0:26:260:26:31

In the '80s, the BBC in Manchester was once again at the cutting edge at music.

0:26:330:26:38

Some of the biggest bands of the day made their TV debuts on the Oxford Road Show.

0:26:380:26:43

Broadcast live from the studios every Friday evening.

0:26:430:26:47

Well, Oxford Road Show, presumably most people thought it was coming from Oxford,

0:26:480:26:53

but it had a ring to it,

0:26:530:26:55

and it was a brand, that, for the BBC, for a while.

0:26:550:26:58

And in fact, the BBC in Manchester

0:26:580:27:02

and the Oxford Road building did have a kind of reputation for music.

0:27:020:27:06

MUSIC: "What Difference Does It Make?" by the Smiths

0:27:060:27:09

# All men have secrets and here is mine, so let it be known

0:27:190:27:25

# For we have been through hell and high tide

0:27:250:27:27

# I think I can rely on you

0:27:270:27:31

# And yet you start to recoil, petty words... #

0:27:310:27:35

Because it has always been such a great music town, and such a small city centre,

0:27:350:27:40

you could feel the buzz of creativity,

0:27:400:27:43

you had Factory Records just behind the BBC on Oxford Road,

0:27:430:27:46

so if you wanted to see if New Order were up to anything, you could nip next door and see Tony Wilson,

0:27:460:27:52

and it was that kind of town, really, Manchester.

0:27:520:27:55

You a fan of the Smiths?

0:27:550:27:57

-CROWD:

-Yes!

0:27:570:27:58

You'd better say yes!

0:27:580:28:00

Yeah, yeah, I am(!)

0:28:000:28:02

They were on the show three weeks ago, and we asked Morrissey

0:28:020:28:05

if he'd take us out to show us round his home town.

0:28:050:28:08

He doesn't normally do this type of thing, but he said for us, he would do.

0:28:080:28:11

He's showing us around Stratford and Salford.

0:28:110:28:14

The show produced some remarkable firsts,

0:28:140:28:16

like this rarely-seen film about Morrissey's angst-ridden youth.

0:28:160:28:21

The only way that I could find any mental relaxation

0:28:210:28:25

is to simply go out and walk.

0:28:250:28:27

And to walk around these streets.

0:28:290:28:31

Which can seem quite depressing to most people.

0:28:320:28:36

That film, now it seems like someone doing an impression of Morrissey, doesn't it?

0:28:360:28:40

"Oh, I was so misunderstood..."

0:28:400:28:42

I was always struck when he started out, the way Morrissey spoke.

0:28:420:28:46

He didn't speak like other people in bands.

0:28:460:28:48

Although I've always lived in Manchester,

0:28:480:28:51

and relatively close to here, to this part of Manchester,

0:28:510:28:56

now, when I pass through here, or even being here today,

0:28:560:29:00

it's just so foreign to me.

0:29:000:29:01

He looks like he'd been watching The Naked Civil Servant before he came out.

0:29:010:29:06

He was very enunciated. He was his own creation, even then.

0:29:060:29:10

"Nobody understood me, I just stayed in my room, reading Proust,"

0:29:100:29:14

or whatever he said he was doing.

0:29:140:29:16

I never had a social life, I never left the house,

0:29:160:29:19

I just simply sat in and read and watched television,

0:29:190:29:22

and done all the things that in life are considered to be quite negative and soul-destroying.

0:29:220:29:27

Joy Division made their one and only network TV appearance at the studios.

0:29:330:29:39

I think that's probably most people's

0:29:430:29:47

first experience of Joy Division on the telly.

0:29:470:29:50

You know, nationally. People must have thought, "What on Earth?

0:29:500:29:56

"What on Earth is this?"

0:29:560:29:57

# Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance to the radio

0:29:570:30:01

# Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance to the radio

0:30:030:30:08

# Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance to the radio... #

0:30:090:30:14

'In front of it you've got Ian Curtis, who still remains

0:30:150:30:18

'one of the unique presences in front of a band, I think.

0:30:180:30:21

'Just kind of lost in the music,'

0:30:210:30:23

in a trance, really, and doing that peculiar dance and dressed in these very utilitarian clothes.

0:30:230:30:30

It was very anti-showbiz. It was very stark,

0:30:300:30:33

but it was arresting.

0:30:330:30:34

# Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance to the radio

0:30:340:30:39

# Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance to the radio... #

0:30:400:30:45

Children's television has launched a lot of TV careers.

0:30:540:30:57

I got my big break on SMTV in 2002.

0:30:570:31:00

See if you recognise these faces.

0:31:000:31:03

# 8-15 from Manchester, 8-15 from Manchester

0:31:030:31:08

# 8-15 from Manchester... #

0:31:080:31:11

Joining us in the studio all morning are the latest teenage heart-throb.

0:31:110:31:15

They're with us today, live on the 8-15, Take That!

0:31:150:31:18

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:31:180:31:22

'People were queuing around the block,'

0:31:220:31:24

-and that was before Take That were even anything.

-I know,

0:31:240:31:27

I wish I'd known then how big they were going to be.

0:31:270:31:29

We'd have been a lot nicer to them.

0:31:290:31:32

Perhaps you'd like to introduce yourselves to the nation.

0:31:320:31:36

-I'm Robbie.

-I'm Gary.

-I'm Mark.

-I'm Howard.

-I'm Jason.

0:31:360:31:40

-And we are...

-ALL: Take that!

0:31:400:31:42

-I thought you were going to say good morning as well.

-ALL: Good morning!

0:31:420:31:45

'I remember seeing a video of them the day before,

0:31:450:31:48

'when we were in rehearsals.'

0:31:480:31:50

They were being very much marketed toward a gay audience.

0:31:500:31:54

-Were they?

-Yeah! And there was a lot of, you know,

0:31:540:31:57

Lycra shorts and back-flipping and puffed up and, yeah...

0:31:570:32:00

I remember thinking, are they right for us?

0:32:000:32:03

But when they came in

0:32:030:32:05

'they knew exactly how to play it. They knew what we wanted.

0:32:050:32:09

'I just thought they were pros from the word go.'

0:32:090:32:12

I hear you've all got party pieces that you do.

0:32:120:32:14

Entertain your friends and impress people.

0:32:140:32:17

-What about the splits, Howard?

-ALL: Go on, Howard!

-Go on!

0:32:170:32:21

He's been rehearsing this all afternoon!

0:32:210:32:23

I don't believe you can do the splits!

0:32:230:32:26

-ALL: Whooooa!

-Oh, wow!

0:32:260:32:28

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:32:280:32:32

-Robbie was doing his impressions.

-Yeah.

0:32:320:32:34

HE LAUGHS Well, I don't know about that!

0:32:340:32:37

HE PUTS ON STRANGE VOICE

0:32:370:32:40

It's Jimmy Savile!

0:32:400:32:43

I just remember Robbie being absolutely bags of fun and charming.

0:32:430:32:46

He just had it. From an early age,

0:32:460:32:50

he knew what we he was doing.

0:32:500:32:52

I don't suppose it's a disadvantage that you're very, very good-looking boys, is it?

0:32:520:32:57

-How do you feel about the fact...

-She's a smooth talker, isn't she?!

0:32:570:33:00

-Are you being promoted?

-Thank you, we didn't know!

0:33:000:33:04

I found him really irritating, actually.

0:33:040:33:06

I thought, "Oh, he's full of himself, isn't he?"

0:33:060:33:09

That's what it takes to be in a band.

0:33:090:33:11

I know, Dianne's much more charitable than I am.

0:33:110:33:14

Another famous face also made his debut

0:33:190:33:22

on the children's TV show Why Don't You?

0:33:220:33:25

This is the last letter,

0:33:290:33:31

and it's been stuck in its box for months and months and months.

0:33:310:33:34

'Yes, long before he became one half of Ant and Dec,

0:33:340:33:37

'a very young Anthony McPartlin revealed he was a natural on camera.'

0:33:370:33:41

-Dollop that on, like that.

-'Ah, bless him.'

0:33:410:33:45

Put your cream on... This is my best bet, this.

0:33:450:33:48

Just go mad with it!

0:33:480:33:50

Don't worry if it goes in a big lump,

0:33:500:33:53

cos you just spread it around with the knife.

0:33:530:33:56

And, oh, yes, Manchester is responsible for the Chuckle Brothers.

0:33:560:34:00

To me. To you. Ahem!

0:34:000:34:02

-To me.

-To you.

-To me.

-To you.

0:34:030:34:06

They're amazing, aren't they, the Chuckle Brothers?

0:34:060:34:09

That they've lasted this long, and they are still as popular today.

0:34:090:34:13

-I'd say THAT is amazing rather than THEY are amazing.

-Well, yeah.

0:34:130:34:17

Oh, dear. Oh!

0:34:170:34:18

SHE LAUGHS

0:34:200:34:21

But they are really popular with kids, still.

0:34:210:34:24

It just goes to show that you can never tell, really,

0:34:240:34:27

what the audience is going to like.

0:34:270:34:30

Let go, Barry. Oh, hang on!

0:34:310:34:32

That was close. Give yourself a clap.

0:34:360:34:39

-Have you seen the goldfish?

-All safe and sound.

0:34:390:34:42

BBC Manchester is home to some of the longest-running TV shows -

0:34:520:34:57

A Question Of Sport, Songs Of Praise, Mastermind...

0:34:570:35:00

I wonder what my specialist subject would be?

0:35:000:35:04

The thing about Mastermind, I believe,

0:35:040:35:08

it's intelligent. It doesn't make any concessions.

0:35:080:35:12

It doesn't assume that the general public

0:35:120:35:15

are thick as two short planks, because they're not.

0:35:150:35:18

As a family, I always used to sit down, usually with my mother,

0:35:180:35:23

and watch Mastermind. I think she wanted to find out if I was learning anything at school.

0:35:230:35:27

But it was that music, you know, "Duh-duh-duh-duuuuh...dah!"

0:35:270:35:31

In the spotlight tonight is the Strictly dancer Darren Bennett.

0:35:310:35:36

His subject is the sci-fi films that became a force to be reckoned with.

0:35:360:35:40

The writer and DJ Stuart Maconie takes on a century of works by Britain's greatest poets.

0:35:400:35:45

It is absolutely terrifying. When he says, "Our next contender, please,"

0:35:450:35:49

you feel a band of steel around your stomach -

0:35:490:35:52

it's like Narnia or Poltergeist, "I've fallen into the television."

0:35:520:35:55

It's both really exhilarating and really frightening.

0:35:550:35:58

What is the title of Laurence Binyon's poem that contains the line,

0:35:580:36:01

"They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old"?

0:36:010:36:05

-The Fallen?

-Yes.

0:36:050:36:07

I thought, "I'm not going to do pop music or pies, or any of the things people think I'll do.

0:36:070:36:12

"I'll do 20th-century British poetry, because that's what I'm interested in."

0:36:120:36:16

In the green room, the lad from The Bill said, "What are you doing?

0:36:160:36:21

I said, "20th-century British poetry. What are you doing?"

0:36:210:36:25

He said, "I'm doing Star Wars." I said, "Right."

0:36:250:36:28

And then the nice girl from Big Brother said,

0:36:280:36:32

"I'm doing Nirvana, the band," and I thought, "Why have I done this?

0:36:320:36:35

"What was I thinking of?

0:36:350:36:37

"Out of sheer, hubristic showing off, I've picked this.

0:36:370:36:40

"I'm not going to know any of the answers!"

0:36:400:36:42

What if you did get 0?

0:36:420:36:45

You'd look a fool, wouldn't you?

0:36:450:36:47

Never be able to walk the streets again.

0:36:470:36:49

"There's that Gene Hunt. He's thick, isn't he? Stupid."

0:36:490:36:53

I watch the contenders walking out from their chairs and...

0:36:530:36:59

their eyes fixed on the black chair, and however experienced as quizzers they are,

0:36:590:37:04

however clever they are, you know they're scared. Everybody's scared

0:37:040:37:08

'when they go and sit in that Mastermind chair.'

0:37:080:37:10

Now then, you are...

0:37:100:37:12

..I'll probably offend you by saying this -

0:37:150:37:18

a professional Northerner?

0:37:180:37:19

-Oh, John, I regard myself as a gifted amateur.

-LAUGHTER

0:37:190:37:25

We had some good-natured banter about me being a professional Northerner.

0:37:250:37:29

Oh, you've got coffee bars up there, now?

0:37:290:37:32

Oh, we've got everything. Running water, electricity...

0:37:320:37:35

I threw the chair at him, but I think that's edited out of the transmitted version.

0:37:350:37:41

And A Question Of Sport's been putting sports stars to the test for an incredible 40 years.

0:37:450:37:50

All three of us say,

0:37:520:37:54

when we come to work to do A Question Of Sport,

0:37:540:37:57

it feels like a hobby, not a job. We thoroughly enjoy it.

0:37:570:38:00

'For me, it's the best thing I do on TV.'

0:38:000:38:04

LAUGHTER

0:38:040:38:07

'For me, growing up, it was one of the things I always watched.'

0:38:070:38:10

Also, when I was asked to come on it as a player,

0:38:100:38:13

'it was a rubber stamp that you've done quite well in your sport.

0:38:130:38:17

'I was very proud the first time I appeared as a guest as well.'

0:38:170:38:20

There are four, altogether.

0:38:200:38:23

I wouldn't know, no...don't know.

0:38:240:38:26

-Take a look over there.

-Oh!

0:38:260:38:29

The Princess Anne moment, I think, would probably be,

0:38:310:38:36

if there was a top ten iconic Question Of Sport moments,

0:38:360:38:39

I think that would probably have to be up there.

0:38:390:38:43

-I would love to put my arm round you!

-My handbag is heavier than it looks!

0:38:430:38:47

I would love to put my arm round you!

0:38:470:38:50

Whenever someone talks about Question Of Sport and a guest,

0:38:500:38:52

it was that. Not only the coup to get her on the show, but then

0:38:520:38:55

the way she was loving being on the show and having a laugh and a giggle

0:38:550:38:59

and for him just to think it was absolutely fine to give her a hug!

0:38:590:39:03

It was magic. It was Question Of Sport magic.

0:39:030:39:08

Emlyn's been giggling in the background as if he knows exactly who it is.

0:39:080:39:13

-No, we think it's Alan Lamb.

-It's Alan Lamb.

-Yes!

0:39:130:39:16

-APPLAUSE

-Good stuff! Good stuff!

0:39:160:39:20

There was that amazing moment when Emlyn Hughes was the team captain

0:39:200:39:24

and you have Princess Anne...

0:39:240:39:26

'I can't imagine if I had Princess Anne here now, I'd say,'

0:39:260:39:31

"Do you fancy singing Love Divine, mate?"

0:39:310:39:33

It just wouldn't happen!

0:39:330:39:35

I can see you're with the right captain!

0:39:350:39:37

Well done, mate!

0:39:370:39:39

Good stuff, you can come back again!

0:39:390:39:42

And it's ladies' night on Matt's team.

0:39:420:39:44

He's joined by two stars who have jumped their way to glory.

0:39:440:39:47

It was another story two decades later when Princess Anne's daughter Zara Phillips

0:39:470:39:52

appeared on the show opposite husband-to-be Mike Tindall.

0:39:520:39:56

'I suppose it was a bit different when I had Zara Phillips on the show,'

0:39:560:40:00

because I look at her as a friend rather than

0:40:000:40:03

part of the Royal Family. That was the difference with Emlyn. You could sense...

0:40:030:40:08

it wasn't that he was bowing, but it was all very, "Everything OK, ma'am?"

0:40:080:40:13

'Whereas with Zara, she will give as good as she gets,

0:40:130:40:18

'which is a fantastic trait for someone who is under pressure so much.'

0:40:180:40:22

She doesn't care. She will be giving out plenty of banter,

0:40:220:40:26

which is, again,

0:40:260:40:27

'a great dynamic for the show.'

0:40:270:40:29

Gonna tell me the truth?

0:40:290:40:32

Always!

0:40:330:40:35

Ah, that's lovely!

0:40:350:40:37

I love that!

0:40:370:40:40

Whatever you like, you're in charge.

0:40:400:40:43

So Mike tells me.

0:40:430:40:45

The appeal of Question Of Sport is the...interplay.

0:40:470:40:50

Move on! Move on! What's this?! The horses!

0:40:500:40:54

The posh stuff!

0:40:540:40:56

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

0:40:560:40:59

-Dressage!

-Yes!

0:40:590:41:01

-If you're not first, just...!

-WHISTLE BLOWS

0:41:010:41:05

Oh!

0:41:050:41:07

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

0:41:070:41:09

'It's very English,'

0:41:090:41:11

Question Of Sport.

0:41:110:41:13

Quite self-deprecating and not taken too seriously.

0:41:130:41:17

When it comes to fear factor,

0:41:250:41:26

there's nothing more terrifying than entering the Dragons' Den.

0:41:260:41:30

It's taken you 14 years to send an e-mail?

0:41:300:41:33

Doesn't that worry you?

0:41:330:41:35

I wouldn't for one second consider investing in you.

0:41:350:41:38

You're what? You're going to sell your house

0:41:380:41:42

to back this?

0:41:420:41:43

Yes.

0:41:430:41:44

Do not

0:41:440:41:46

sell your house for this.

0:41:460:41:48

When you see individuals come up the stairs,

0:41:480:41:51

you can sometimes physically see an individual shake.

0:41:510:41:55

When you see their nervousness

0:41:550:41:57

and then all of a sudden you get engaged in a conversation with them,

0:41:570:42:01

and especially when you see that the individual has got it - and when I say "got it",

0:42:010:42:05

you know they've got that entrepreneurial spirit and drive and coupled with a great product -

0:42:050:42:10

you're sitting there thinking, "Now I'm starting to shake."

0:42:100:42:13

I find it really, really difficult

0:42:130:42:16

to actually take on board what you've achieved.

0:42:160:42:22

It's phenomenal.

0:42:250:42:26

Absolutely phenomenal.

0:42:270:42:29

I'm totally blown away by it.

0:42:290:42:31

That is all I can say.

0:42:310:42:33

And I'm going to make you an offer.

0:42:340:42:37

But every now and then

0:42:370:42:40

the show throws up some disastrous pitches, like the famous chair multi-gym.

0:42:400:42:44

It's a walking machine, not a running machine.

0:42:440:42:47

What made it even more hilarious for me was that Duncan,

0:42:500:42:54

being the gym expert, went up and tried to use some of these things.

0:42:540:42:59

I tell you, I cried my eyes... I mean,

0:42:590:43:02

'it was hilarious.'

0:43:020:43:03

You're frightening the life out of me!

0:43:030:43:06

You're like two old codgers!

0:43:060:43:07

Two old codgers in their living room trying to get fit!

0:43:070:43:11

'I couldn't have summed it up better than that. Duncan was out of breath, giggling away,

0:43:110:43:17

'it was like Laurel and Hardy. If there's one thing'

0:43:170:43:19

in television that I've learned, it's that when your show becomes really successful,

0:43:190:43:25

on occasions, you have your show parodied,

0:43:250:43:30

so other people try to emulate it. One of the great things I remember is Harry and Paul,

0:43:300:43:34

where they would actually mirror the Dragons.

0:43:340:43:37

Here's the bit that we think will really excite you about Augcember.

0:43:370:43:41

We intend to relocate Christmas Day to the 15th of Augcember.

0:43:410:43:46

Over to you, Ken.

0:43:480:43:49

So there are two... Thanks, bro.

0:43:490:43:52

LAUGHTER

0:43:520:43:54

'It was weird,'

0:43:540:43:55

because they'd do things you don't realise you're doing yourself.

0:43:550:43:58

So, Harry would turn around and say, "Hello. I'm Peter."

0:43:580:44:03

That's a lot of Christmas shopping time. Good USP.

0:44:030:44:07

Thank you.

0:44:070:44:09

I like the sound of this, I sell a jolly lot of calendars

0:44:120:44:16

in my shops and I can hear the cash registers ring-a-ding-a-dinging,

0:44:160:44:21

a-sing-a-ding-a-dingaling, a-ting-ting-tinging.

0:44:210:44:24

I feel very sorry for Deborah Meaden, because I think she got the short straw on that one.

0:44:250:44:30

I mean, she really was...

0:44:300:44:33

I think Harry Enfield really, really...

0:44:330:44:35

I don't think they're ever going to speak, Deborah and Harry Enfield.

0:44:350:44:38

'It's all down to the grumpy one. But she doesn't look impressed, either.

0:44:380:44:43

'See how she looks at them with loathing and contempt.

0:44:430:44:46

'Hating every fibre of Brian and Ken's perspiring bodies.'

0:44:460:44:51

Ken, I'm out.

0:44:530:44:56

But it just shows the success of the programme

0:44:590:45:01

and I can't tell you how great it is to hear and see other people

0:45:010:45:05

almost taking the mickey out of us, it just shows we've made it.

0:45:050:45:09

# Be still for the glory of the lord

0:45:090:45:14

# Is shining... #

0:45:140:45:16

Another long-running favourite made here is Songs Of Praise,

0:45:160:45:20

recently celebrating its 50th anniversary.

0:45:200:45:24

Aled Jones was already famous for his angelic voice

0:45:240:45:27

when he first appeared on Songs Of Praise as a choirboy.

0:45:270:45:30

But his singing wasn't always appreciated

0:45:300:45:33

when he joined in the hymns while watching the show at home.

0:45:330:45:36

As a child I always used to, sort of, be told off for singing along, you know, too loudly,

0:45:360:45:40

and spoiling it for my gran!

0:45:400:45:42

And in 2001, Aled presented his very first

0:45:420:45:45

Songs Of Praise from his home city in Wales.

0:45:450:45:48

Welcome to Bangor and the oldest diocese in Britain.

0:45:480:45:52

Yeah, I was petrified going back to Bangor.

0:45:550:45:58

I knew all the people in the congregation and to this day, I'll let you into a little secret,

0:45:580:46:02

I don't like doing the pieces to camera in front of the congregation

0:46:020:46:05

because if there are kids there, they're invariably going...

0:46:050:46:09

Or... looking at their watches.

0:46:090:46:10

And I'm saying, "The next hymn is..." I'll have to do it, usually, about 13 times.

0:46:100:46:14

We begin with a hymn dedicated to all the saints in Wales

0:46:140:46:18

sung to this very familiar Welsh tune.

0:46:180:46:21

I've always thought we should be wearing a T-shirt saying

0:46:210:46:24

"Songs Of Praise, the world's greatest karaoke."

0:46:240:46:27

Because nowadays I think it's watched by 13 million, or something like that, worldwide.

0:46:270:46:31

And I would say that maybe half of them even maybe don't go to church,

0:46:310:46:35

but they minute they launch into "Praise My Soul, The King Of Heaven,"

0:46:350:46:38

it takes them back to school assemblies or maybe a comfortable, happy time in their lives.

0:46:380:46:43

'When Songs Of Praise turns up in a parish, it causes bedlam.'

0:46:470:46:53

It's a massive deal within the church itself

0:46:530:46:55

and then suddenly there's people going, "She doesn't come here, she goes to St Bernadette's.

0:46:550:47:00

"Oh, the cheek of her!"

0:47:000:47:02

I love the whole idea that the church is only full when Songs Of Praise is there.

0:47:020:47:06

I'm not sure if that's the case. Maybe there are a few more in the congregation

0:47:060:47:10

than there would be on a Sunday morning. I think the big difference Songs Of Praise makes to a community

0:47:100:47:15

is that the hairdressers make a lot of money.

0:47:150:47:17

One of his proudest moments was when the show was featured on The Vicar Of Dibley.

0:47:170:47:21

Well, I've had a letter from BBC Religious Programmes,

0:47:210:47:24

chap called Tristan Campbell,

0:47:240:47:26

he says that he wants to film Songs Of Praise here at St Barnabas.

0:47:260:47:30

Heaven preserve us.

0:47:300:47:32

I loved the fact that they thought it was Tom Jones.

0:47:320:47:35

It was like, "No, Aled Jones, you know, ooh!" I get that a lot.

0:47:350:47:38

And the Northwest has produced some of the most memorable dramas of the past 50 years.

0:47:390:47:45

Three words - Life On Mars.

0:47:450:47:49

(Loved it!)

0:47:490:47:50

-'I've got a reported stabbing.'

-Stabbing? Where?

0:47:500:47:53

'Christie's Textiles, Queen Mary Road, uniform's already on the scene.'

0:47:530:47:57

-Queen Mary Road?

-Alpha-One, we're all over it.

0:47:570:48:01

'Life On Mars re-created 1970s Manchester, with scenes filmed all over the city.'

0:48:010:48:05

It's a one-way street so take a left, and then...

0:48:050:48:08

# Oh, yeah!

0:48:080:48:10

# It's like lightning

0:48:100:48:12

# Everybody was frightening

0:48:120:48:14

# And the music was soothing

0:48:140:48:15

# And they all started grooving

0:48:150:48:17

# Yeah! Yeah, yeah, yeah!

0:48:170:48:21

# The man at the back said everyone attacked

0:48:210:48:23

# And it turned into a ballroom blitz. #

0:48:230:48:24

Life On Mars, I'm not going to speak about

0:48:240:48:27

cos they should have given me a role in it, all right.

0:48:270:48:29

Life On Mars was Glenister and John Simm.

0:48:290:48:31

Do you know what?

0:48:310:48:33

I think you're trying to show me up.

0:48:330:48:35

You don't scare me, Hunt.

0:48:380:48:40

It's an interesting point you raise, allow me to retort.

0:48:420:48:45

Better?

0:48:510:48:53

Fantastic performances, a great drama.

0:48:530:48:56

Every copper has to be whiter than white or the whole thing falls apart.

0:48:560:49:00

No, you're living in cloud-cuckoo-land, Sam.

0:49:000:49:02

Once I'd got the script, I...

0:49:020:49:05

And I'm not just saying it, as people sometimes do, I couldn't put it down.

0:49:050:49:10

'They sent me the first episode of it, and I thought, "It's never going to work,"'

0:49:100:49:15

and I don't even think I finished reading it.

0:49:150:49:18

And then my agent told me to finish reading it and I did.

0:49:180:49:20

The first 15 pages, you know,

0:49:200:49:22

it just seemed like another ordinary cop show.

0:49:220:49:26

Modern day, et cetera, and then suddenly, that moment, bam!

0:49:260:49:29

Where Sam gets run over,

0:49:290:49:32

suddenly wakes up in 1973.

0:49:320:49:33

# It's the freakiest show

0:49:330:49:37

# Take a look at the law man Beating up the wrong guy... #

0:49:370:49:44

The scripts describing we pan back and we see, "The Mancunian Way, coming soon."

0:49:440:49:49

# ..Cos I wrote it ten times or more

0:49:490:49:52

# It's about to be writ again

0:49:520:49:56

# As I ask you to focus on Sailors, fighting in the dance hall

0:49:560:50:03

# Oh, man, look at those cavemen go... #

0:50:030:50:09

And it was one of those things where you just thought

0:50:090:50:11

this is either going to go, you know, straight down the swanny or it's going to be a massive hit.

0:50:110:50:16

And luckily, it was a massive hit.

0:50:160:50:19

I just watched it, it blew me away because they knew how to do that

0:50:190:50:23

with total respect for an audience who like watching telly

0:50:230:50:26

these days with all its technical... Yeah, they just did it so smartly.

0:50:260:50:31

And so credibly.

0:50:310:50:34

'It lit me up and, yeah, five-star, world-class product.'

0:50:340:50:40

Don't ever waltz into my kingdom acting king of the jungle.

0:50:400:50:44

Who the hell are you?

0:50:440:50:45

Gene Hunt, your DCI, and it's 1973, almost dinner time. I'm having hoops.

0:50:450:50:50

They were such... such different characters

0:50:500:50:53

and they clashed every time.

0:50:530:50:55

But then there was a begrudging respect

0:50:550:50:58

and they came to love one another by the end.

0:50:580:51:01

And it was quite a touching relationship, I thought.

0:51:010:51:05

I mean, there's some scenes in it, which usually end up in the pub,

0:51:050:51:08

and it's usually at the end of the episode.

0:51:080:51:11

And they're usually quite moving, I find, when I see them.

0:51:110:51:14

There was a wonderful scene where we start hearing Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Elton John, playing.

0:51:140:51:20

-Do you want my appraisal of you?

-No.

0:51:200:51:23

# ..to my old man

0:51:230:51:27

# You know you can't hold me for ever... #

0:51:270:51:30

It's your round, then.

0:51:300:51:32

'And I still watch that scene and I get quite choked watching it.'

0:51:320:51:35

I think it's a lovely scene.

0:51:350:51:37

# ..to open

0:51:370:51:38

# This boy's too young to be singing the blues... #

0:51:380:51:41

Thank you.

0:51:410:51:43

Gis a job. Go on, gis it. Gis a go, go on.

0:51:560:52:01

Over the years,

0:52:010:52:02

the Northwest has produced some of the very best television drama.

0:52:020:52:05

-Am I right!?

-Yes!

-Am I right?!!

-Yes!!

0:52:050:52:09

Tony?

0:52:130:52:14

-You should never chain-smoke alone, you know.

-Do you want one?

0:52:140:52:19

-Mate, what are you doing here?

-I've got a couple of things on.

-Business or pleasure?

0:52:190:52:23

Ahh!

0:52:230:52:25

He's alive.

0:52:280:52:30

And the North is blessed by some of the best drama writers in the UK.

0:52:300:52:34

Paul Abbott, Alan Bleasdale and Jimmy McGovern, to name but a few.

0:52:340:52:39

-Glaswegian?

-Yeah.

-45 years old?

0:52:390:52:44

About, yeah, I didn't really see his face, he was driving.

0:52:440:52:47

Billy Rafferty.

0:52:470:52:48

He's dead, Willy.

0:52:480:52:51

'There's a great love of language'

0:52:510:52:54

in and around Manchester and Liverpool pubs,

0:52:540:53:01

a great joy in language and a great joy in storytelling.

0:53:010:53:05

In conversation, actually, in the sense of a community,

0:53:050:53:09

and I think writers have tapped into that

0:53:090:53:12

and brought it, you know, to a national audience.

0:53:120:53:15

-What's your name?

-Otto.

-What?

0:53:160:53:18

Otto.

0:53:180:53:20

And it's this love of language and storytelling

0:53:200:53:22

that Jimmy McGovern has used to such dramatic affect in The Street.

0:53:220:53:26

Otto? Why Otto?

0:53:260:53:29

Well, look, I'm no good to you. I can't even look after myself, never mind someone like you.

0:53:320:53:37

What's distinctive about The Street, and any great writing, is you feel

0:53:370:53:41

like the writer listens to how people actually speak.

0:53:410:53:46

And we all know that in Manchester and Liverpool it's very idiosyncratic.

0:53:460:53:50

'There's a joy in language and I think Jimmy has a very acute ear

0:53:500:53:55

'for the way people in the Northwest talk and think.'

0:53:550:53:58

Don't read anything into this, yeah?

0:53:580:54:01

Another writer who's made his mark is none other than Paul Abbott.

0:54:010:54:05

PHONE RINGS

0:54:050:54:06

Tricks like this get round. He'll be a very lonely guy, he'll need somebody to write to from prison.

0:54:060:54:11

Can I answer the phone?

0:54:110:54:13

He started out writing on Coronation Street and Cracker,

0:54:130:54:17

before BBC's Clocking Off.

0:54:170:54:18

Mackintosh Textiles, Trudy speaking, how can I help you?

0:54:180:54:21

I remember Paul talking about the demise of the single play,

0:54:210:54:27

you know, The Play For Today, the Wednesday Play, whatever it was.

0:54:270:54:30

And how he wanted to reinvent that.

0:54:300:54:33

And the only way that he could do that, or to get a commission,

0:54:330:54:37

was to sort of basically link six different stories

0:54:370:54:44

around this setting which was the factory.

0:54:440:54:46

-Trudy's out of her kennel.

-You what?

-Trudy.

0:54:490:54:54

Big day, she's washed her hair!

0:54:540:54:55

When I look at the amount of work that must have gone into six single films for one series

0:54:570:55:04

that can't fail, and I wrote them like a train.

0:55:040:55:08

Very hard work to make that much work to fit into one hour in cost terms, but we did.

0:55:100:55:15

Jesus.

0:55:150:55:16

-Stuart.

-What's happening?

-Where's Sue?

-She won't talk to me.

0:55:180:55:24

-Where's Eddie?

-Upstairs.

-Get him out, he's scaring us.

0:55:240:55:30

'It was great fun to do.'

0:55:300:55:32

I love working in Manchester.

0:55:320:55:35

It was a great job to do and also quality, quality writing, you know.

0:55:350:55:40

Paul Abbott teamed up with John Simm again this year with Exile.

0:55:400:55:44

Dad, lie down, it's 10. Nancy said if you don't go to bed at 10 O'clock you get cranky and then...

0:55:440:55:49

A psychological thriller set in Lancashire about a tabloid hack

0:55:510:55:54

who's forced to take care of a father with dementia.

0:55:540:55:58

Nothing changes, does it?

0:55:580:56:00

I want Nancy!

0:56:000:56:02

Don't we all?

0:56:030:56:04

Exile was a fantastic script, you know, an idea by Paul Abbott written by Danny Brocklehurst

0:56:040:56:10

staring Jim Broadbent, which, you know, it's going to be good.

0:56:100:56:16

I thought, "That's going to be good, as long as I don't mess it up."

0:56:160:56:19

Yeah, great part, great part, and I was lucky enough,

0:56:190:56:24

I think Danny had me in mind when he wrote it, which was a lovely thing for me.

0:56:240:56:30

I mean, I'm humbled by that. So I hope I did it justice.

0:56:300:56:35

-Do you remember the planes crashing into the Twin Towers?

-9/11/2001.

0:56:350:56:41

-Do you remember Margaret Thatcher?

-Bitch.

-I'll take that as a yes.

0:56:410:56:47

What about...Liverpool winning the Champions League?

0:56:490:56:55

What?!

0:56:550:56:56

Dementia's not all bad, then.

0:56:590:57:01

John Simm does things so excellently, they're nearly invisible,

0:57:010:57:04

and it's proper acting, and yeah, I loved his respect for the technique of Jim Broadbent,

0:57:040:57:12

and that's what John can do, he's like a chameleon and he can just hop in like you're meant to be able to.

0:57:120:57:19

'And he dovetailed really beautifully with Jim Broadbent.

0:57:190:57:24

'And they got the best performances out of each other.'

0:57:240:57:27

And I know it's still in there.

0:57:270:57:29

And believe me, I'm going to get it out.

0:57:320:57:37

So the BBC has come a long way since its days of studios in converted churches.

0:57:490:57:55

It's now starting a whole new chapter here at Media City on a bigger scale than ever before.

0:57:550:58:00

The BBC in the Northwest launched the careers of some of our best-loved stars

0:58:010:58:06

and left us with some classic TV gold.

0:58:060:58:09

Tyler!

0:58:090:58:11

Put that soppy bloke down and get in. Going to Archer Lane,

0:58:110:58:14

shots fired, lovely. You two tarts, get in.

0:58:140:58:17

Oh. Tom! Oh! Good to see ya.

0:58:260:58:32

Come on, Jack.

0:58:320:58:34

Let's be naughty, I know you want to.

0:58:340:58:37

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

0:58:480:58:50

E-mail [email protected]

0:58:500:58:52

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