When Miranda Met Bruce

CHEERING

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome your hostess, Miss Miranda Hart.

APPLAUSE

Hello, and welcome to When Miranda Met Bruce. I am very excited.

I will be chatting to a true television legend.

I don't know if you can guess who it is - slight clue in the title

and in all the massive pictures I've got around.

I should point out, actually, this is a set.

OK, it's not my home, I'm not a stalker.

I don't have Brucie wallpaper all over my house.

Well, just in the bedroom.

LAUGHTER

Moving on. No, I hope you like it.

CHEERING

Thank you. And I even have a house band. Get ready. It's only McFly!

APPLAUSE

They are lovely. No wallpaper of them, though,

I've just got a duvet and pillowcase. Moving on.

-So, hello, boys. How are you? Are you all right?

-Very good.

-How are you doing? Are you well?

-Shush now, please.

It's not All About You!

LAUGHTER

Good joke. Right, it is time, ladies and gentlemen, to bring on my guest.

I'm so excited.

He really is one of the greats

and for those of you who don't know that, if you're a younger Strictly

viewer, perhaps, or for those who are stupid enough to have forgotten,

you are in for a real treat as we talk through his career

and celebrate his utter brilliance. So, without further ado,

please welcome the one, the only, Sir Bruce Forsyth.

APPLAUSE

# It's all about Bruce

# It's all about Bruce, baby

# It's all about Bruce

# It's all about

# Bruce! #

APPLAUSE

-Oh, that was beautiful, that was beautiful.

-I'm curtsying, Sir Bruce.

Wonderful. I didn't expect that, I really didn't,

but what a lovely audience.

-Aren't they fabulous?

-Wait till your fans get here.

LAUGHTER

But I tell you, before we do anything,

-you're much taller than I thought.

-Oh, really?

-Can we sit down?

-Let's sit instead.

-I feel very dominated. I do, I feel dominated.

-I'm going to get a crick in my neck.

-Do sit down.

-OK, lovely.

-And a nice set, as you were just saying.

-Do you like it?

-Yeah.

It's always important to have a flamingo, isn't it?

It reminds me of a basement flat in Fulham.

LAUGHTER

-Good. So I got you some nibbles.

-Oh, really? How lovely.

I didn't know whether you were a sweet or savoury man.

-I'm a savoury man, for certain things.

-Are you?

Well, what I did was I covered all bases.

So I've got here Battenberg with Twiglets on top.

-Battenberg with Twiglets?

-Yes, a Battelet, I'm calling it.

And here I've got some Jammy Dodgers with cocktail sausages.

-I've got some Jammy sausages.

-I think I'll pass on that.

I'm so excited to have the chance to talk about your 70 years

-in show business. 70 years.

-Oh, well.

LAUGHTER

Can't believe it. I actually can't believe it. Thank you. Thank you.

In case you weren't aware,

Sir Bruce is the longest-serving male TV entertainer

-of all time, so before...

-AUDIENCE MEMBER: Whoo!

-Yes.

APPLAUSE

And before we get stuck into the deets,

-which is youth speak for details, I believe.

-Oh, the deets.

I'll have to remember that.

Then here is a 70-second round-up of the last 70 years.

-Shall we?

-We certainly shall.

-Nice to see you, to see you...

-ALL: Nice!

..independent TV personality, Bruce Forsyth.

# There may be trouble ahead... #

Oh!

# ..But while there's moonlight... #

CYMBALS CRASH

# ..And music and love and romance... #

You're such a lovely audience.

# ..Let's face the music and dance. #

You are so much better than last week.

Now the minute you walked in the joint,

I knew you were a man of distinction.

Ker-thump!

Oh, I love working with professionals.

And you've won a Brucie bonus.

Let's have a look at the old scoreboard.

Didn't she do well? Yes.

-What do points make?

-ALL: Prizes!

You are my favourite...

You must feel incredibly proud, looking at that.

After seeing that, I feel tired.

I really do, because I went through all that. I can't believe it.

The time has gone, you know... Any young people here,

make all you can of today because it just rushes by.

-It doesn't seem like 70 years.

-Really?

-It really doesn't.

-You'll find out.

-I'd be so lucky, yeah.

Well, that is just a tiny taste of what Bruce has achieved

so far, so to help us truly understand his success,

what I've done is I've broken down his career into a series

of manageable bite-size chunks. I'm calling it Brucie Bullet Points.

-And what do points make?

-ALL: Prizes!

Well, no, actually they make very handy chapter

headings for the different eras of Brucie's career. OK.

So, let's start with Brucie Bullet Point One,

which I like to call Brucie, The Bright Young Thing.

Hit it, band.

BAND PLAYS "In The Mood" by Glenn Miller

APPLAUSE

Fabulous.

-Aren't they great?

-Yes, they're marvellous.

-My house band.

-Your...

I love it. So, er, we're off, we're off!

-My first question to you...

-Yes.

-..would be this.

Many performers, they often see or hear something

or meet someone who gets them

hooked into show business. Was there a particular moment for you?

Fred Astaire.

From the age of nine, when I first saw a Fred Astaire film

and he danced, it just did something to my brain, my whole body,

and all I wanted to do was dance.

Fred Astaire films, I'd go in

and see three or four times.

What was the first time you saw him, then, in a film?

-In a film, I think it was Top Hat.

-Top Hat, great.

Well, let's see the clip that inspired you from Top Hat.

Oh, really? Have you got that?

MUSIC: "Top Hat, White Tie And Tails"

APPLAUSE

Absolutely great. There you are, style.

-It makes your spine tingle, doesn't it?

-The best ever dancer was him.

But looking back, do you ever see that moment

of seeing Fred Astaire as almost

like a destiny moment, like you had to see it, that was your life plan.

Yes, and it was the start of show business after that,

but dancing was the thing that drove me mad.

And your parents must have been quite intrigued,

A, being told by their son that you wanted to be a dancer,

but also they must have suddenly thought, "Hang on, he can do this?"

Well, they were my inspiration.

They inspired me to do all that I ended up doing.

How amazing that they were supportive,

cos they could easily have said...

Oh, no, they wanted to me to...

-In fact, I think they had more ambition than I did.

-Really?

Especially my mother, because she used to make all the little

satin suits that I wore with sequins all over them.

She'd stay up till two or three o'clock in the morning

-making these little dancing suits.

-Oh, really?

-Yes.

Because I read that you got too good for your local school,

so you went to Brixton and it was a five-hour round trip.

Well, you see, yeah, she did.

She took me all the way to Brixton from where I lived.

This was during the war as well.

Bombs were falling down and all that sort of thing and it wasn't

the dancing I wanted to do, it was what I call English tap dancing,

-which is all... Can I show you?

-Yeah. Yes, please.

APPLAUSE

English tap dancing is all...

LAUGHTER

That looks a bit Riverdance, if you don't mind me saying.

Oh, wait a minute, no, it's carpet, I thought I'd gone deaf.

LAUGHTER

Why didn't she tell me, for goodness' sake?!

APPLAUSE

But you see that was all the English... It's all up on the toes.

Now, American tap dancing, which I loved on film was all bent knees...

# Da-buh-buh-da-buh-buh-boom-boom bah-bah

# Dah-doo-doo-dah-doo-dah

# Bah-biddly-biddly-bah-bah! #

-It's much more stylish.

-All that kind of dancing...

-Yeah.

-APPLAUSE

-..which I loved.

-Amazing.

-Thank you.

-Why didn't you tell me it was carpet?

-Sorry about that.

So that was the difference, so that's what I wanted to do,

because that's what Fred Astaire did.

So many other great dancers danced with the bent knees

and the loose arms, it was much more free and easy.

And when was your first TV appearance? When was that, then?

Oh, that was... That was before the war. Anybody could go along.

It was Jasmine Bligh. Anybody old enough to remember Jasmine Bligh?

ALL: No.

-Oh, I feel so old.

-Well, someone say yes.

Those are the times I feel so old, I really do.

No, I remember. It's coming back to me now.

LAUGHTER

Jas... Jasmine! I thought you meant Yasmine.

She had this show that came from Alexandra Palace, which was

the head of BBC then, and you could go along and she'd interview you

and then she'd say, "Well, it's been nice to talk to you. Now,

"if you want to get up and do your song and dance," which I did,

and her final question is,

"Well, what do you want to be, Bruce? What is your aim?"

I said, "Well, I want to be a star

-"and buy my mum a fur coat."

-ALL: Aww.

-A bigger one than that. Come on.

-ALL: Aww!

-Bigger than that.

-ALL: AWW!

That's more like it, a bit false, but never mind.

You're terrible with audiences, you are, aren't you?

-Yes, terrible, I don't know what I'd do without them.

-It's amazing.

LAUGHTER

That's such a sweet...

Because buying a fur coat would have been the sign of...

Oh, that was the... That was the thing.

If a woman had a fur coat, that was it, she was...

Well, she was either one thing or the other.

LAUGHTER

I didn't mean it like that. Get out.

I didn't mean it like that at all,

but...yes, and the other thing,

if you were a male professional in the business, in show business,

if you bought a Crombie overcoat,

-a Crombie overcoat was the signal that he was doing well.

-Right.

So they were the two things that meant a lot in those days.

So, in many ways,

-your first break was auditioning for the Windmill Theatre.

-Yes.

That just seemed like such an important place to be.

You had to be there to be spotted.

Yes, you had to be spotted and they were always very good,

because the girls in that show wore very, very little.

LAUGHTER

Yes, I was about to say, I wish I'd been around at that time because

of the people that were there, like Peter Sellers, Tony Hancock...

No, they had the sheerest of chiffon tops

that you could see right through.

Well, it would have suited me very well.

LAUGHTER

Especially being as tall as you are.

LAUGHTER

Wouldn't know where to look for the best.

Well, I'd know where to look for the best.

No, but you had to be careful, and I must say,

I was always very self-conscious about the girls being like that,

so you'd always look them, believe me, straight in the eye.

If you danced with them, you'd look them...

You didn't want to have them looking all over you

and all that, they didn't want that, but it was wonderful experience.

I mean, you can't buy that kind of experience.

I was going to say, but there isn't that kind of experience any more.

Do you find yourself watching television and you can tell

that someone hasn't had that sort of years of graft that you did?

-Yes, but, you see, you, if I may turn the tables...

-Please don't.

-No.

LAUGHTER

I've got to say this

because I've thought this from the first time I saw you,

you could have fitted in to my age of the start of the business.

In the '50s or '60s, you'd be just as popular

-and just as big then as you are now.

-Well, it's because of the chiffon.

I totally see that, Bruce.

APPLAUSE

-Fair enough. So, yes, so...

-But you would.

-Bruce, you're very kind.

You'd fit in to all those kind of people,

you've got something about you that is, shall we say, ageless?

Thank you.

-No, no, no.

-All right.

So, in 1958, after years of hard graft,

Bruce got his big break on television.

And earlier this week, we went on a little outing

and look where we ended up.

-Come on.

-After you.

-We'll go up the showbiz stairs. Thank you.

-Always ladies first.

-I love what they wear here.

-Don't you love what they wear?

-Oh, yes.

-No other West End show has that.

-That's George.

-That's George.

-Oh, you see, you know everyone.

-So here we are in the Palladium.

-We are.

What's it like looking at the stage now? Are you getting nostalgic?

Very much so. This theatre means... Well, it changed my life completely.

I went from a summer season in Eastbourne with just 200 people

maybe on a Saturday night,

and then travelling up to London to the Palladium with 2,500 people.

Extraordinary. So, how did it come about?

Here was Sunday Night At The Palladium

with Bob Hope, Bing Crosby... all those huge American stars

and you wangle yourself on the bill?

-Well, you see, there was no O2 in those days.

-No.

No stadiums and all that. This was the Mecca.

I did have 16 years' experience before I got the job,

-so I wasn't a fly-by-night person.

-Yeah.

But with me making such a hit on those first few weeks,

I finished up at Sunday Night At The Palladium every Sunday.

APPLAUSE

Thank you. You're very kind. Thank you.

Good evening!

# Ladies and gentlemen

# Welcome to Sunday Night At The London Palladium... #

-There were only two channels.

-Yeah, of course.

-So people didn't have a choice like they have today.

-No.

They used to get the church service over early

so that people could get home, and the pubs shut early

because Sunday Night At The Palladium was coming on.

-It was enormous.

-You must have so many memories,

but do you have any defining, favourite moments?

Norman - that was a wonderful show to do,

-but Norman was hard to rehearse with.

-Why?

Because he went through everything again and again and again.

A lot of the sketches that we did, he'd done for so many years.

He wanted it to work, he didn't want to do anything new.

The only thing new that we did on that show was the dance.

Lovely moment, lovely moment.

But Norman was...he was so meticulous, it was unbelievable.

A hugely anticipated part of it was the game Beat The Clock.

It's time for Beat The Clock.

We have a new jackpot which will start at £100

and we'll be seeing a little bit more of that later on.

So generally the contenders were all picked up on the night.

Just before the show,

I'd come out and I'd get two couples from the stalls, to make it fair,

you see, one couple from the dress circle

and another couple from the gods.

And what do you do for a living, John?

-Well, I cart London's rubbish.

-You're a dustman.

-A river dustman.

-Oh, you're the one they got from the top up there.

-Oh, good. You said you're a what?

-A river dustman.

-A river dustman.

Really I'm a lighterman, you see.

Oh, I see, but you collect the dustbins along the river.

Well, er...

Do you remember the Potters, with the shuttlecocks?

-With the shuttle... How they did that game!

-I know.

I mean, I was looking at the clip the other day

and I just couldn't believe that the woman throws the shuttlecock

and he catches it in his paper cup.

Lovely. Away with it. Good, good, good. That's one. Two...

Oh, look at this.

Oh, and those prizes you gave out to them was a very new

-thing on television.

-They were quite expensive in those days.

I loved it when the woman kissed you when you sent her to Paris.

She was so overexcited, she gave you this massive kiss on the cheek.

And you have won a weekend in Paris.

APPLAUSE

Well, I say.

Lily.

Wait until you get to Paris, dear, control yourself.

Wow!

-Wow!

-Isn't this a treat?

I have never stood on this stage before.

-Miranda, this is a treat, isn't it?

-How does it make you feel?

-Oh!

-Being back here?

-Brings back memories.

It's got that atmosphere that you...

you know, makes you feel good, makes you feel as though you're somebody

that they're all staring at you.

I'm just imagining you coming on here for the first time

when you hosted it. It must have been extraordinary.

It was terrifyingly beautiful, it really was,

from the terror you got from waiting to get it over with and do it...

Does it make you want to be back at that time,

-at that era now?

-Oh, I'd love to go back, because I'd enjoy it more.

-I'd just treat as, "Oh, isn't this...?" Sort of soak it up.

-Yeah.

-And we may be doing a little dance, I think.

-Might we?

Well, we've got a chorus line here

because they're doing Chorus Line at the moment. I can't...

-I've never danced. I love watching it.

-You just move.

Wow!

-Have you got it?

-Does it look as though I've got it?

I don't even know what it is, Bruce.

APPLAUSE

That was lovely, going there.

-Lovely. That was really fun.

-I enjoyed that.

Now, we were laughing about the Potters,

weren't we, who played Beat The Clock

-and the shuttlecock game?

-Yes, yes.

Cos we thought, "How did they get...?"

They managed to get three in that cup in 30 seconds.

How they did it, I don't know. That looked very difficult to me.

It looked very difficult

-and I think we should maybe play it and see.

-What?

-APPLAUSE

-Shall we have a go?

APPLAUSE

Look!

-Are you on for it?

-Oh, all right.

-Yes!

CHEERING

-All right.

-Right, let's go over here.

Now...

-..do you want to be the man, as it were, who did the thing?

-Yes.

-I'll be the woman. I'm dropping shuttlecocks.

-All I hope is...

-You stay there.

-All I hope is that this isn't a shuttlecock-up!

LAUGHTER

Yeah, still got it.

-Tom from McFly...

-Oh...

-He's at the peak of his career.

LAUGHTER

The peak of his career! Make the most of it.

And will you be my cock-boy, if you pardon?

-Yes, I will pick up your shuttlecocks.

-Thank you.

-Are you going to start us off?

-Yes, OK, now you've got...

What did I used to say?

I used to say you've got to get three in the cup

in under 30 seconds, starting from now.

Oh!

ALL: Aww!

Steady.

ALL: Aww!

-It's getting nearer, it's getting nearer.

-So frustrating.

ALL: Ohh!

CHEERING

Ten seconds!

Come on. Hold it.

-Keep going. Five...

-What?

-..four, three, two, one!

-Put the clock down.

-Stop that.

-We didn't do it.

-But that was fun. Difficult game.

-I got one in.

-What do you mean you got one in?

Here, McFly, deal with that!

-What do you mean? What do you mean you got one?

-I got one in.

APPLAUSE

-Right, I'm moving on.

-Moving on, yes.

So, with his reputation as a showbiz heavyweight secured,

it's time to move on to our next Brucie Bullet Point,

which I'm calling Brucie, The '60s Song And Dance Man.

BAND PLAYS: "You Really Got Me" by The Kinks

-Nice.

-That was '60s.

-Yeah.

-I felt the '60s there.

-Good.

During this time,

Bruce was working with not just the biggest names in Britain,

but the world, and to prove it,

here's the 1960 Royal Variety Performance

with the one and only Nat King Cole, Cheryl's dad...not really.

-Take a look at this.

-Cheryl's dad, I like that.

Ladies and gentlemen, the very, very wonderful, Nat King Cole.

APPLAUSE

-Very good luck to you and...

-Thank you.

-What's it going to be?

I'm going to sing...

-INTRO PLAYS: "When I Fall In Love"

-Oh, no!

-That's my favourite. I love that.

-It is?

# When I fall in love

# It will be for ever

# Or I'll never fall

# In love... #

APPLAUSE

-He was the best, wasn't he?

-Yes.

He'd already been on Sunday Night At The Palladium before that,

because that was the Royal Variety Performance

and they phoned me on the Sunday morning, they said,

"Bruce, Nat King Cole's here," because they knew I idolised him,

so they said, "If you get in quickly,

"you can get a number with Nat King Cole."

And he was one of the most gracious people I've ever met.

We met backstage, and, er, "What are we going to do?"

I said, "I think Paper Moon would be a nice number."

He said, "Now what key do I do Paper Moon?"

I said, "You do it in F,"

because I'd learnt it in F, I know you do it in F,

so he said, "I think I do, Bruce, I think I do,"

and that finished the rehearsal.

We did it in five minutes because

we both knew where we were going and do you know, we spent...?

The Palladium is empty, not a soul in the Palladium,

they'd all gone to lunch and he played and sang

all the numbers from his latest LP

just for me in an empty Palladium.

Now that is a special man to do that because he knew I was

so interested in him.

-That's extraordinary.

-Yeah, it was a wonderful moment.

And did your dad see you at the Royal Variety, did they come along?

Yes, my father... My mother never even saw me hit it big.

Was that tough for you?

Yes, it was, because she had more ambition for me than I did,

so I always feel very sad that she never saw, after all

the years of sewing those little sequins onto the thing, that she

never actually saw me be a big name in the business.

Always, today even, but I always say that she was up there and

I'm sure she met a couple of agents up there and she got me the jobs.

-She's been working for you.

-I still believe that...to this day.

And then you started doing films in the '60s as well.

-I did a couple of bits in films, yeah.

-Yeah, you did, er...

-You can't remember yourself.

-Bed... Bed...

It's because I didn't want to say it wrong. Bedknobs And Broomsticks.

-That can go wrong.

-Yes, it could be, yes.

-There, look, there you are.

-Oh, I played a spiv in that.

-Yeah.

-You look quite spivvy there.

-That's David Tomlinson, he's the guy there.

Was this you wanting to be in Hollywood to do films?

-Was this, "I've done telly"?

-I've missed so many, like Oliver!

Yes.

Cos I nearly got the part for Oliver! Lionel Bart phoned me

himself, he wrote the whole thing, he said, "We're not quite sure

"whether this is going to work with Ron Moody.

"There's a bit of a contractual thing going on,"

so for a whole week,

I just hung about there waiting for another phone call

and in the end, he phoned back at the end of the week

and he said, "Bruce, I know you'd love to play it,

"but Ron - they've come to some arrangement,

-"so he's going to do the part."

-Oh.

-And when you think of it, Ron Moody

-got... He was nominated for an Academy Award.

-Yeah.

-So that was a big disappointment.

-Yeah.

In fact, I think I'll have another cry now.

LAUGHTER

Where's the tissues?

-We've got no tissues.

-Oh, never mind. I'll be all right in a minute.

Carry on. Carry on without me.

You shouldn't have reminded me of that.

But we've been talking about you in the '60s, we haven't seen enough.

Let's have a look at a clip.

-This is a clip from Whitaker's World musical.

-Oh, yes, yes.

# I'm not one for preaching a sermon

# But I've got something to say

# What the world needs now

# Is love... #

-Miranda, will you stop it?

-You want me to stop it?

Miranda, stop it, please. I can't...

-I can't see any more of that.

-Why not?

-Well, look at me.

Look at that shirt.

It looks as though I've got the measles or something.

-Oh, come on, let's see more.

-No, no, no.

-Just...

-No, no, no, no, no. Look, I don't sound like that now.

-HIGH-PITCHED:

-# What the world needs now is love... #

And it's true, when people do an impression of me,

they still do an oppression of me as though I'm 30 years old.

They always go...

-HIGH-PITCHED:

-"Nice to see you, to see you nice."

I can't... Sorry.

-I shouldn't interrupt.

-No, that's absolutely fine.

It's amusing being opposite Bruce Forsyth

doing an impression of himself.

LAUGHTER

It's a bit...

APPLAUSE

-You try. You try. Nice to see you...

-No.

-Nice to see you...

-Go on.

-No, because you don't speak like that.

-I don't, there you are.

-That's not you.

-I know.

-Do you find it frustrating?

No, it makes me laugh, actually,

because I know I don't talk like that.

Well, if we can't see you singing then, can we see you

and hear you singing now maybe?

CHEERING

-All right. OK.

-Would you?

-Fine.

-I'll introduce you.

-Yeah, all right.

-Well, I don't want to walk across your shot.

-So...

What are you doing?

What on earth is going on? You could have gone round the back.

-You've got your camera there.

-Yes, but you could have walked round.

So with his interpretation of the Frankie Valli classic

Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You,

please go wild for Sir Bruce Forsyth.

APPLAUSE

# You're just too good to be true

# Can't take my eyes off of you

# You'd be like heaven to touch

# I want to hold you so much

# At long last love has arrived

# And I thank God I'm alive

# You're just too good to be true

# Can't take my eyes off of you

# Pardon the way that I stare

# There's nothing else to compare

# The sight of you leaves me weak

# There are no words left to speak

# But if you feel like I feel

# Please let me know that it's real

# You're just too good to be true

# Can't take my eyes off of you

# Doo doo, doo, doo

# Doo, doo-dat, doo-dat

# I love you, baby

# And if it's quite all right I need you, baby

# To warm the lonely night

# I love you, baby

# Trust in me when I say

# Oh, pretty baby

# Don't bring me down, I pray Pretty baby

# Now that I've found you, stay

# And let me love you, baby

# Let me love you, baby

# Let me love you. #

Can't take my eyes off of you! There we are.

Give me a bit of a whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Amazing. Sir Bruce Forsyth there -

-singing about me.

-LAUGHTER

Time to move on to the next big chapter in his career.

Yes, another Brucie Bullet Point

which I'm calling Talking About Your Generation...Game.

Thank you.

BAND PLAYS GENERATION GAME THEME

Now, Bruce is too modest to say this,

so I'm going to say it for him.

During the '70s, The Generation Game was getting

over 20 million viewers every single week,

and my family was one of them.

I loved it. It's one of the greatest game shows ever.

Here's why.

Take one.

-Oh, dear!

-Oh, don't!

Where do they get these people from?

DOG HOWLS

Ohh!

If anybody's switched on now, they'll think we've gone mad!

-Parrot goes like this.

-HE SQUAWKS

Starting from now.

Take four. Oh!

We'll cut that out afterwards.

You naughty boy!

Let's take a look at the old scoreboard.

I wouldn't even kick that about, if I were you.

I think I'm going to really like this part.

I like it, I like it!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Amazing.

Just...

I loved doing that show. I loved doing it

because I could fool around.

I had fun doing it.

You never knew what was going to happen.

I love being in shows that you don't know what's going on.

You must have felt at the top of your game.

Oh, yes, it was. And because it became hugely, hugely popular.

And you were seriously famous at this point.

Do you enjoy being famous? Did you enjoy then?

Oh, yes, although the Palladium was just as big, in a way.

Cos what I'm intrigued by is that a lot of your peers at this point -

so Tony Hancock, or Tommy Cooper, Eric Morecambe -

they all sort of suffered from stress from the fame

and the pressure of it,

whereas, you seem to sort of take it in your stride.

You're much more of a calm and controlled person...

Well, I'm a much more relaxed person when I'm not working.

People think that

I'm that mad sort of dashing-around character all the time.

-I couldn't stand living with him.

-Right.

-LAUGHTER

-I really couldn't stand it.

So I'm much more relaxed in my personal life.

-OK.

-And I like having the contrast between the two.

-So you can switch off?

-Oh, I can switch off,

-but then I can switch on!

-You can.

-Don't tempt me.

Do you have a favourite Generation Game clip?

Oh, it was this lady...

She had to play the part of the French maid who was called Phoebe.

-APPLAUSE

-Do you remember? Yes, let's have a look.

She was called Phoebe and...

You can't write stuff, the way she did this.

Phoebe, when you come in, your first line is at the back of the door.

When you get your cigarette, your line is written on the cigarette -

you read it off the cigarette.

And the last line you do, when I put you on the cupboard...

-Where's the cigarette?

-The cigarette's in the cigarette box.

-You need those.

-Does she need those?

LAUGHTER

A French maid with glasses on!

All right, wear your glasses, dear.

I can't put them on until I read!

-I can't see anything if I put them on now.

-Oh, I see, you've got a...

LAUGHTER

I mean, have we really got research people on this show?

A French maid who's called Daphne and blind as a bat! Anyway...

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

Come in, Fifi!

Have a cigarette.

IN FRENCH ACCENT: Oh, monsieur, you are very, very naughty!

LAUGHTER

-Oh, monsieur!

-I haven't done a thing yet!

Take the fag, for God's sake!

Oh, monsieur, you are very, very naughty!

LAUGHTER

Very, very naughty. Oh!

"I heard someone coming!

"Look!"

Hello there, Daphne darling.

I was just hanging my coat up in the cupboard!

But you always hang your coat up in the hall cupboard.

LAUGHTER

APPLAUSE

Oh, dear...

Sacre bleu!

Yes, that's it! Yes!

APPLAUSE

Oh, she was a dream.

-So good, isn't it?

-Absolutely marvellous.

So, next question, Bruce.

Next question. "Is it true..."

I've got the next question written on there.

"Is it true The Thinker pose came from The Generation Game?"

Yes, you're absolutely right. I did that for a bit of fun.

Before we started the show rehearsal,

just for the boys of the crew,

the spotlight hit me and I was standing.

I said, "I can't just stand there, that'll look a bit cheesy."

So, not telling them, I just went into my pose.

And then after, they said, "It was funny.

"You look funny that you're standing there thinking."

-And there again, it was born.

-And there it was born.

And The Sun newspaper at this point,

called you the most important man in television.

-Did they?

-You really were riding high.

-Yeah, well, who believes them?

LAUGHTER

Well, fair enough! But take that one, that's a nice one.

I'll take that one!

And you made a brilliant return to The Generation Game in the '90s.

-Yes.

-Would you ever do it again?

Well, it may be a bit old hat now.

There's been so much reality, you know, I don't know...

We need to get back to entertainment, Bruce!

-I love entertaining, yes.

-Me too.

-That's me. I love it.

APPLAUSE

So, at the top of his game and the height of his popularity,

Bruce quit The Generation Game and switched to ITV.

Well, we've all done it. Except my grandmother.

She'd rather die than watch something with adverts.

So, let's open another chapter and a brand-new Brucie Bullet Point

which I'm calling Commercial Break.

BAND PLAYS: Theme from "Bruce's Big Night"

So, The Generation Game, watched by millions, loved by millions,

the press adore you, you're riding high. What made you stop?

Well, I just felt as though I'd done the show.

I didn't think there was more to be got out of the show.

I wanted to do something maybe a bit different.

So, the offer from LWT for Bruce's Big Night was, therefore,

-an offer too good to refuse.

-Yes, exactly.

It was a different kind of show,

but I think it would even stand a bit of a chance now.

We did have wonderful guest stars.

Extraordinary. You had Elton John, Dolly Parton... Let's have look.

I've seen what he's done to some of my dear friends in the business.

Look what he did to Michael Parkinson!

Mind you, he deserved it, but I think...

LAUGHTER

Do you like more or less?

# It's a little bit funny... #

Certainly is!

# That shines in me

# Like the morning sun... #

-SQUEAKY VOICE:

-# Ever and ever

-NORMAL VOICE:

-# And ever and ever you'll be my spring... #

THEY SCAT

Hold it! Hold it! What's up with you, for goodness' sake?

APPLAUSE

I can't believe, looking at that clip of all the stars,

that critically, it didn't go down, did it?

No, the press had a real go at it, because I'd left The Generation Game.

And LWT at the time made it seem as though it was going to be...

And if you overemphasise that something is going to be so great,

-you can be a bit disappointed.

-And were you devastated?

Yes, they had a real go, and the ratings weren't all that good.

Then we persevered with the show

-and we finished with 14 million.

-Oh, that's amazing!

Which, you know, it was a wonderful thing to achieve at the end of it.

I never regret doing it because it was a lovely show to do.

You did something with Sammy Davis Jr on Bruce's Big Night.

Yes, he was a guest on that show.

Do you still say that the special you did with him

was your favourite thing ever?

The special I did with Sammy Davis, I often look back at it and think,

-"Yeah, that was the best show I've ever done."

-Let's have a look.

# Stole my heart away

# Oh-oh-oh-oh!

# Makes me dream a dream

# Dreams I know can never be true

# Seems as though I'll never be blue

-# Sometimes I'm happy

-I've got rhythm

-# Sometimes I'm blue

-I've got music

-# My disposition

-I got my gal

-# Depends on you

-Who can ask for anything more?

# Dancing in the dark

# Till the tune ends

# We're dancing in the dark

# And it soon ends

# And we will face the music together

# Dancing in the dark

# Yesterday...

# La-da-di... #

APPLAUSE

That is about a third of that medley.

We did every song that was ever written and put together...

-It was quite something.

-I love watching that clip.

You look the happiest you've ever looked. You look like, "I can't believe this is happening!"

I couldn't have been happier. It was wonderful.

We've seen that you can sing, you can dance, you can make us laugh.

-Next, you'll be telling us you can play the piano.

-That's what I am going to do.

-Oh, right. You're going to do that now?

-I'm going to play the piano.

-Oh, fabulous!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-With your permission?

-Permission granted.

You have a choice, you can either have Grieg's Piano Concerto,

or Misty.

Grieg's Piano Concerto.

LAUGHTER

-Well, you're going to get Misty.

-Right.

LAUGHTER

Playing Misty, because he evidently doesn't know how to play

Grieg's Piano Concerto, it's Bruce Forsyth.

APPLAUSE

Thank you very much.

HE PLAYS "MISTY"

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, gang. Thank you, boys.

Thanks a lot. Thank you very much.

Hold on a second, hold on.

Because, what people don't know is actually, I can hold a tune.

-You play the piano?

-Oh, yes.

Well, it must be the best kept secret in show business.

Yes, I have a little feeling that people might like it if we played something together.

LOUD CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-You think they WOULD?

-Yeah.

-Would you?

-ALL: Yes!

-Well, you've made me an offer I've got to put up with.

-Yeah!

-OK.

-There we go. I'll put the music there.

-You've got music as well.

-Oops! Sorry.

-That's all right, darling.

-Just a bit further down.

-OK.

-Sorry, just a bit further. A bit further down.

-There we go.

-What you're trying to say is, you want to play this bit.

-You want to be the main artist.

-Yes, please.

Yes, OK, fine.

If I get a little bit nearer?

-You all right?

-Fine.

-Are you ready?

-Yeah.

-I'll count us in.

Right.

A five, six, four, nine!

-I think I'd better count us in.

-OK.

Or you're going to count me out in a minute!

A one, two, three, four.

THEY PLAY JOLLY TUNE

I've got the giggles.

BOTH HUM ALONG, AUDIENCE CLAPS IN TIME

Big finish!

-There we are.

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-I told you!

-High five!

Quick, let's get back over there!

BAND PLAYS: Theme from "Play Your Cards Right"

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Time for the next stage into our forage into all things Forsyth,

it's another Brucie Bullet Point.

Bruce, The Game Show Golden Boy!

Oh, dear.

APPLAUSE

So, game shows. This was your big game show, we're talking...

We have so many. Play Your Cards Right.

Let's have a look at some Play Your Cards Right.

-We asked 100 taxidermists...

-LAUGHTER

We talk to everybody.

If you could practise your skills on people,

-would you like to stuff Bruce Forsyth?

-LAUGHTER

I should read these beforehand.

How many taxidermists said,

yes, if they could practise their skills on people,

they would like to stuff Bruce Forsyth? What do you think, Will?

Well, for me, I say no.

You'd say no. You'd say, if you were a taxidermist. Thank you, Will.

But, they might have other ideas.

If I had my way, I'd have him stuffed in my hall any time.

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

In your hall?!

-So when people came in, they'd see a stuffed Bruce Forsyth?

-Yes.

That's lovely to know, dear.

And I could say good morning and good night.

-And we could have a little dance as well.

-We really would.

So how many out of 100 do you think?

-37.

-38?

LAUGHTER

-Did you enjoy doing that?

-I enjoyed Play Your Cards Right,

because there, again, I could have fun.

All the way through with the questions, I could have fun.

You never knew what the contestants were going to be like,

which was always fun for me,

to pick on something that they did that was funny.

So, did you feel like you were getting away from your comedy roots a bit, at this time?

Yes, when I look back,

I do realise, and I know this for a fact,

I did too many game shows.

But you see, you could do them so quick, and the money was fantastic.

Was money often a decider for you? Was it hard to turn it down?

Yes, because it was so quick.

You could do a whole series of 16 shows in two weeks.

So, you would do two a day for four days a week

and you had done a whole series.

Do you love working? Do you find it hard to say no?

-Do people ever think you're a workaholic?

-No, because I do take a lot of time off.

I go to Puerto Rico for at least three months every year,

which keeps me fresh when I come back.

I'm ready to work and that's good.

-I do take it easy a lot of the time.

-Do you have that performer thing of,

"I'd better say yes because somebody else might take it and it might all end"?

No, because who else could they ask?

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

That's brilliant! Well, fair point!

BRUCE CHUCKLES

You joke, but did you genuinely feel that?

No, no, no!

Well, you might have done.

If a show feels good, and sounds good, and the format sounds right,

-OK, I'll do it.

-We're going to move on to our next era.

I think you'd better. I'm running out of eras!

LAUGHTER

Now, we've reached the part of Sir Bruce's career I'm calling the...

BAND PLAYS: Theme from "Strictly Come Dancing"

..yeah, era. That's the...

BAND PLAYS: Theme from "Strictly Come Dancing"

..era.

BAND PLAYS: Theme from "Strictly Come Dancing"

Will you shush! Just shush!

Really! Just... They've got enough confidence now!

Carried away.

So, I think we've gathered that I'm calling this the Strictly era.

Shush! The Strictly era.

So, you do an appearance on Have I Got News For You,

and suddenly, everyone goes, "Wow, he's brilliant.

"We've briefly, for about a year, forgotten how brilliant he is."

Because you always say, "The phone stopped ringing."

Then you look at your CV,

and it was nine months you didn't work in 2000,

and suddenly, you're offered Strictly. Did you jump at the chance? Were you worried?

I was getting a tour all ready

to do with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra,

who were all musicians under the age of 25.

And I thought, with a 75-year-old in front of them,

this could be quite interesting. It could develop into something else.

And then Strictly came along and, there again, I had the wrong idea about Strictly.

I thought it was going to be a comedy show with these contestants trying to dance.

They wouldn't be able to, people would be falling all over the place and I'd be amongst them,

almost like The Generation Game, picking up and doing the thing.

But I didn't realise that there's nobody more competitive than a ballroom dancer.

Ballroom dancers are as competitive as any athlete, believe me.

When they've got that number on their back in the old days,

when they were doing competitions, they wanted to win.

And they somehow got this into the celebrities.

The celebrities got a little bit good at it

and then we had a different show.

A show which had much more to it.

That the celebrities were also being competitive

and then it turned out to be such a wonderful, wonderful show.

And it just worked. How it works, I don't know.

They're so many different things in that show.

You think, on paper, "I don't think that could work." But it does.

Every little bit. And I'm on and off like a blue-tailed fly.

-Like a gazelle.

-Yes.

-Let's have a look at some of the fantastic Strictly moments.

# I just want you to dance with me tonight... #

Nice to twirl you, to twirl you...

ALL: NICE!

Flashdance with a quick-step,

and all I got was a quick flash!

LAUGHTER

Seven!

Fancy scoring so early in the evening!

Don't tell the others...

you're my favourite.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

One, two, a-one, two, three, four.

# That's why the lady is a tramp. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

I'm here every Saturday.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

See, suddenly you're sort of doing a different thing.

-You are sort of presenting, like you say.

-Yes, I'm a presenter.

-A presenter in that show, which is my job.

-Yeah.

But I can't get amongst it,

like The Generation Game or Play Your Cards Right. But it just works.

The whole thing works and it is a fabulous show in a way.

You do manage to put your comedy stamp on it as much as you can, I suppose.

-Yeah, as much as I can.

-And do you still love it?

-Do you still love the business?

-Oh, yes. I love the...

When I walk on, like when I came on tonight, I don't feel 85.

-I feel 30, 35. Maybe 40.

-LAUGHTER

-As old as me. I feel pretty old.

-But I don't feel that.

-APPLAUSE

-I don't feel it.

Tomorrow I might not even be able to get out of bed,

-but right now and when we started this evening, I felt 30 again.

-Yeah.

It's amazing that that happens but it does

because it is what performing is all about, how you feel.

-Do you think you need it?

-Oh, yes. I need it. It's a part of me.

I am a very relaxed person in many ways,

much more relaxed than people imagine.

But I do need it.

I need that fillip of walking on and feeling good

and if it's been a good night,

if it's been a good show, then you feel great.

There's no feeling in the world

-like pleasing an audience and knowing they've liked you.

-Yeah.

And that they've liked you,

like when I do the one-man show for two hours

and you know you've left them and they are still enthusiastic.

And you got the chance to then be knighted,

-be Sir Bruce, of course.

-Yes. That was quite something.

-Did that mean a lot?

-This is my little knight's badge, actually.

-Is it?

-That is my knight's badge.

-There you are, being knighted.

-APPLAUSE

That was the most wonderful day. That was...

Everything happened that year.

The show had done well, everything else had gone so good

and then to get that as well...

-And do you like being called Sir Bruce?

-Well...

to me, to be called Sir Bruce is a lot more friendly

than being called Mr Forsyth.

-I can see that.

-Mr Forsyth can be quite...

There's something friendly about Sir Bruce.

-I never say to people, "Call me..."

-Don't insist.

If they say it, it's very, very nice and you gave me a curtsy

when I came on, so that showed a bit of respect, but...

you haven't called me Sir Bruce yet, but maybe you will.

-I'm so sorry, Sir Bruce.

-LAUGHTER

It's come to the point of my final question.

There is so much I could still ask. I want to...

I was going to say, "Take you away and continue chatting to you,"

but that might sound wrong and unnerving to you.

-But we've got so much to talk about.

-And I'm not getting bored.

-I love people talking about me.

-Good.

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

If I have to ask one final question, I'll ask this.

Are there two character traits about you that you think

particularly endeared you to such a long and successful career?

I love to make contact with an audience.

Contact is vital to me because without them, I've got nothing.

I've got nothing to offer. I try to think that I'm grander than I am.

LAUGHTER

And when they know that I'm not grander than I think I am,

that's a funny thing for me to play on.

I love them to laugh when they shouldn't do.

Thank you for taking the time to talk to me.

It has been such an honour, honestly.

And a personal thank you for all your hard work

and all the joy you have certainly given me.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Thank you, dear.

I'm sure you'll all agree it has been an absolute honour

to go through Bruce's career and relive so many highlights.

No-one can dispute how hard he has worked,

how talented he is

and how much pleasure he has brought millions of people.

And to think, it all began as a small boy back in...

Actually, do you know what?

-I realised I never asked you, where are you from?

-Oh, I'm from London.

-Norf London.

-CHEERING

Norf London.

And as a matter of fact, my father had a garage there.

-Or a ga-rahge, you might say.

-LAUGHTER

Yeah. Maybe. Where are you from?

-Hampshire.

-Oh, Hampshire.

Is that where 'urricanes 'ardly ever 'appen?

LAUGHTER

Look, Miranda.

I know we are getting to the end of the show,

but there is no need to go all Queen Boadicea with me.

-Boudicca.

-LAUGHTER

-Pardon?

-Well, it's Queen Boudicca, isn't it?

-Oh, is it?

I suppose it is in the pro-noun-ciation, isn't it?

-Oh, dear. Pro-nun-ciation.

-LAUGHTER

Well, this is beginning to sound like the intro to a song.

-Isn't it? Yeah. Do you think the audience are ready for this?

-Well...

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-We'll soon find out.

-Won't we?

We'll soon find out. Here we go.

Boudicca!

-# I say eether

-Well I say either

-# I say neether

-And I say neither

-# Eether,

-either

-Neether,

-neither

# Let's call the whole thing off

# I love potatoes

# Well I like potah-toes

-# I like tomatoes

-And I like tomah-toes

-# Potato,

-potah-to

-# Tomato,

-tomah-to

# Let's call the whole thing off

# But oh, if we call the whole thing off

# Then we must part

# And oh, if we ever part

# Then that would break my heart

-# I like pyjamas

-And I like pyjahmas

# I'll still wear pyjamas

# Well I'll give up pyjahmas... #

Enough! Enough of these word games!

We'll just do the dance.

Love to dance.

LAUGHTER

You start over there. And I...

Hup two, three, four.

-Oh.

-LAUGHTER

Away you go.

BURLESQUE MUSIC

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-Keep 'em on! Keep 'em on!

-LAUGHTER

-Are you sure?

-Positive.

AUDIENCE CLAPS ALONG

# ..Let's call the whole thing off!

# Oh yeah! #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Lovely.

There we are. Lovely.

-We're the stars.

-Yey!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd