0:00:02 > 0:00:04Telly, that magic box in the corner.
0:00:04 > 0:00:07It gives us access to a million different worlds,
0:00:07 > 0:00:10all from the comfort of our sofa.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13In this series, I'm going to journey through the fantastic
0:00:13 > 0:00:17world of TV with some of our favourite celebrities.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21They've chosen the precious TV moments that shed light...
0:00:21 > 0:00:22Love this!
0:00:22 > 0:00:25- 'She's beaten the panel...' - Look at that!
0:00:25 > 0:00:26..on the stories of their lives.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29Go on, Champion! Go on, Champion.
0:00:29 > 0:00:30..like, "Argh!" "Ooh!"
0:00:30 > 0:00:32Some are funny...
0:00:32 > 0:00:34Oh, quite amazing! Unbelievable.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36No, no, no...
0:00:36 > 0:00:38..some are surprising...
0:00:38 > 0:00:40Paddington Bear.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42..some are inspiring...
0:00:42 > 0:00:44- That's what kids should be doing now!- Yeah!
0:00:44 > 0:00:46Lay a ten-pence piece on a table with a bit of sticky tape.
0:00:46 > 0:00:48Look at that! Stonking.
0:00:48 > 0:00:49..and many...
0:00:49 > 0:00:51..some turtles capsize.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53..are deeply moving.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57I knew that we were in the presence of history.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01I am crying. I actually broke down into tears after that.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03So come watch with us, as we hand-pick
0:01:03 > 0:01:05the vintage telly that helped
0:01:05 > 0:01:09turn our much-loved stars into the people they are today.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12Welcome to The TV That Made Me.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25My guest today is a TV and radio presenter, journalist,
0:01:25 > 0:01:29newspaper columnist and she has also written a few novels, too.
0:01:29 > 0:01:33Penny Smith spent 17 years as the face we woke up to
0:01:33 > 0:01:35on breakfast TV.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39The TV that made her includes a handsome army officer...
0:01:39 > 0:01:41You can't stay here.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43What?
0:01:43 > 0:01:45..and a fairytale ending.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48"Must horses get their feet wet?" she said.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52The beautiful, the delectable, the gorgeous Penny Smith is with us.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55- Penny, are you excited about this? - I am!- Yeah?
0:01:55 > 0:01:56I am because...
0:01:56 > 0:02:01Well, I'm very excited about one particular clip
0:02:01 > 0:02:04because it's one of those things that I remember being
0:02:04 > 0:02:08so scared of, and yet utterly riveted by.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11Today is a selection of shows that we are going to show you,
0:02:11 > 0:02:14that you chose, that possibly made you into the person,
0:02:14 > 0:02:16shaped you into the person you are today.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18But first we're going to go back to the beginning
0:02:18 > 0:02:22and see a little bit more of the young Penny Smith.
0:02:24 > 0:02:29Penny Smith was born in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire in 1958,
0:02:29 > 0:02:33but grew up in rural Rutland in Lincolnshire.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36Dad Graham was a salesman, whilst mum Christine
0:02:36 > 0:02:40looked after Penny and her three siblings.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42So, does it take you back, looking at that?
0:02:42 > 0:02:45- Oh, I had such a happy childhood. - Yeah?
0:02:45 > 0:02:49I loved it, growing up in the countryside in Rutland and
0:02:49 > 0:02:53lots of cow parsley, lots of cows, sheep...
0:02:53 > 0:02:55Grew up on a bicycle, virtually.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58Bicycle, Wellingtons... I think I had three pairs of shoes,
0:02:58 > 0:03:00we had the Wellingtons, you had your school shoes
0:03:00 > 0:03:03and you had your sandals, and that was pretty much it.
0:03:05 > 0:03:10In 1965, seven-year-old Penny could have been watching the future unfold
0:03:10 > 0:03:13in Tomorrow's World,
0:03:13 > 0:03:16Warren Mitchell airing his views as Alf Garnett
0:03:16 > 0:03:19in Till Death Us Do Part
0:03:19 > 0:03:21and Dudley Moore and Peter Cook's
0:03:21 > 0:03:23surreal sketch show
0:03:23 > 0:03:24Not Only... But Also.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34So, we're going to have a look at a very early Jackanory now.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37- Are you excited about it?- Oh, yeah. Who's going to be on it?
0:03:37 > 0:03:40- Some people were not quite as good as others, let's be honest.- Let's be honest.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43- You know, some people are better at reading out loud than others.- Mmm.
0:03:43 > 0:03:48Let's have a little look if this person's any good at reading out loud.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51At present, their road lay across a huge brown bog
0:03:51 > 0:03:54which was called Black Feacal's Bog.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56- Oh, Bernard Cribbins!- Oh, I know.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58My goodness.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01Brilliant Jackanory reader, though, don't you think?
0:04:01 > 0:04:02Oh, lovely Bernard Cribbins.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04Arabel had wanted to come this way
0:04:04 > 0:04:07because she'd heard that there was a dinosaur's footprint
0:04:07 > 0:04:09on a small hill, right in the middle of the bog.
0:04:09 > 0:04:14What do you think the secret was to being a good Jackanory presenter?
0:04:14 > 0:04:16Looking like you weren't reading it
0:04:16 > 0:04:18and doing different voices.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21If you didn't do enough different voices, it's always confusing.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23You know, I wish we had a laser beam...
0:04:23 > 0:04:26Jackanory was originally developed for a six-week run,
0:04:26 > 0:04:30but became a continuous fixture for over 30 years.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33During that time, a galaxy of famous faces
0:04:33 > 0:04:36read us 650 different stories.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39Many of them would return again and again.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42A firm Jackanory favourite was Kenneth Williams,
0:04:42 > 0:04:45who appeared in 69 episodes.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48But that's nowhere near Bernard Cribbins' record -
0:04:48 > 0:04:51he notched up 111 appearances.
0:04:53 > 0:04:54Arabel was surprised.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57"Must horses get their feet wet?" she said.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00"Well, no, but sometimes they drop their shoes in the road."
0:05:00 > 0:05:04"Oh, well, Mortimer will keep a look out for that, won't you, Mortimer?"
0:05:04 > 0:05:06"Aaaaaak!" said Mortimer.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09Probably that's what the really good storytellers did then,
0:05:09 > 0:05:13- that they made the women different enough but without being silly. - Yeah.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17As long as they made it different enough and the accents different enough, it was always brilliant.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19So, here the Jones were,
0:05:19 > 0:05:22travelling at 2mph towards Great Aunt Rosie in Castle Coffee.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26They had phoned her and said they might be a few days later than expected.
0:05:26 > 0:05:31- It's just all those little asides that sound like he's actually saying it rather than reading it.- Yeah.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33And they were the ones who were brilliant
0:05:33 > 0:05:36and I loved fairy tales,
0:05:36 > 0:05:41that mixture of scary and...
0:05:41 > 0:05:44incredible castles and things turning into something else.
0:05:44 > 0:05:49Quite a lot of people turning into frogs and all sorts of other things,
0:05:49 > 0:05:53and talking dogs and snakes and all that sort of stuff, loved all that.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55"I'll do the brushing!" said Arabel, eagerly.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57"I'd like to do it!"
0:05:57 > 0:06:01"Supposing its shoes need changing," said Mr Jones.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03Oh, I would have loved to have done Jackanory.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05- I'm the producer of Jackanory.- Mmm.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08I want you to come on and I want you to tell a little story for us.
0:06:08 > 0:06:09What would it be?
0:06:09 > 0:06:12Well, it it's the one that I can't quite remember what happens,
0:06:12 > 0:06:15but it's the one where he goes down, I think there's a soldier
0:06:15 > 0:06:17and he goes down and then there are three doors,
0:06:17 > 0:06:22and he opens the first one and it's a dog with eyes like saucers.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24- And then the next... - So, slightly spooky?
0:06:24 > 0:06:26Yeah, and then the next one, he goes down
0:06:26 > 0:06:28and it's the dog with eyes like plates,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31and then the third one is the dog with eyes like dinner plates.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34Can't remember any of the rest of it, but it was really spooky
0:06:34 > 0:06:36and I seem to remember there were deaths.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39- That would be your choice, would it? - Yeah, probably.
0:06:39 > 0:06:40I quite liked the rather gruesome ones!
0:06:40 > 0:06:43I quite liked the Princess and the Pea as well.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46Yeah, why? What in that appeals to you?
0:06:46 > 0:06:47Because I always feel that I...
0:06:47 > 0:06:50I always used to think that I was that Princess
0:06:50 > 0:06:51and I'd be able to feel the pea.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54- I want to take you back to that first decade, so...- Yeah?
0:06:54 > 0:06:58Tell us what your living room was like, your telly, your first telly experience...
0:06:58 > 0:07:00Well, the house... The house was a bit boxy,
0:07:00 > 0:07:05but there was a lot of garden and trees that I used to hang around in,
0:07:05 > 0:07:09- and there was an apple tree where... - So, very rural?- Very rural.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13The apple tree, I used to be able to hang upside down and put the book on the floor,
0:07:13 > 0:07:16and then just swing gently whilst reading my book.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20Until eventually my knees gave out and I'd just collapse off,
0:07:20 > 0:07:23and then spend the rest of the time under the apple tree reading the book.
0:07:23 > 0:07:28The house itself, we had a hatch, which was very exciting...
0:07:28 > 0:07:30- ..between the kitchen and the dining room.- That was very plush.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32A serving hatch.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35- And then the sitting room was... It had a big...- Where was your telly?
0:07:35 > 0:07:39The telly...Dad put the telly so far up the wall that you...
0:07:39 > 0:07:42cos he didn't really want us sitting in front of the television.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44He thought we should be going doing things,
0:07:44 > 0:07:49like either helping him mend the car or bicycles or whatever else,
0:07:49 > 0:07:53so the television was really... We all watched the television like that,
0:07:53 > 0:07:56although actually when we were really little, like that,
0:07:56 > 0:07:58and you could only poke it on with a stick.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01- PENNY LAUGHS - It was that high up?
0:08:01 > 0:08:03- Well, when you're little it was. - Of course, yeah, yeah.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07So we're there like that watching the telly. BRIAN LAUGHS
0:08:07 > 0:08:10And, yeah, that was where the television was.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14So, it wasn't really a particularly comfortable experience, really.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17It was much better when there were loads of you on the sofa
0:08:17 > 0:08:20- because you were bolstered by other people.- Yeah.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22And so it was a bit more comfy somehow.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30So, let's move on to your next choice.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34Something that terrified you, terrified me, The Singing...
0:08:34 > 0:08:35Ringing Tree.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39And it was, I genuinely was very, very scared of this.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43- I don't know if it was because I couldn't follow it in any way. - Surreal.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45When I look back... At the time,
0:08:45 > 0:08:49I probably didn't even know the word "surreal" when we were watching it,
0:08:49 > 0:08:50but it was quite surreal.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52People... All sorts of things happening.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54I had no idea what... I had no idea...
0:08:54 > 0:08:58- at any stage.- This is plot, yeah, yeah.- Yeah. No idea.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00At that age, I just thought I didn't get it,
0:09:00 > 0:09:05- but looking at it again, I realise that it was...- Mmm.- ..weird.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07PENNY CHUCKLES
0:09:10 > 0:09:14The Singing Ringing Tree was an East German children's drama serial
0:09:14 > 0:09:16made in the style of the Brothers Grimm
0:09:16 > 0:09:18and dubbed into English.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21It's a story of the prince who was turned into a bear
0:09:21 > 0:09:25as he attempts to deliver The Singing Ringing Tree to his princess.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29- Oh.- He's turned into a bear. - He's been...made into a bear.
0:09:29 > 0:09:30Look at him, poor thing.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34Look at that. How awful to go out one day and be a prince
0:09:34 > 0:09:38and then the next moment, you're a really bad-looking bear with a very funny face...
0:09:38 > 0:09:42- BRIAN LAUGHS - I know! I think they were sacked, they sacked the make-up department!
0:09:42 > 0:09:45..and a tree! What on earth...what on earth was going on?! PENNY LAUGHS
0:09:46 > 0:09:49What scared you so much about this? I know what you're going to say.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51It's the troll that lives under the bridge.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54- Oh!- Oh...- And there he is.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56Yeah, he was scary.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04I think we all look back and laugh and go, "Really?" but...
0:10:04 > 0:10:07Yeah, but he was, he was a really scary... What's he going to do?
0:10:16 > 0:10:18I mean, do you still find it scary?
0:10:21 > 0:10:22- No.- No, no!- No.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24No, but why did we find it so scary?
0:10:24 > 0:10:27- It was awful, though.- I think it's cos I couldn't follow it.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30PENNY LAUGHS I don't think so!
0:10:30 > 0:10:34See, I seem to remember it being everybody who came into contact.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38As soon as you went onto the bridge, maybe that was the point, it was that bridge, wasn't it?
0:10:38 > 0:10:40So, the bridge loomed large and it was about approaching it,
0:10:40 > 0:10:44- and you just knew that something... - I'm pleased you've cleared that up.
0:10:44 > 0:10:46- ..horrible was going to happen.- Yeah.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48So, the bridge and... And in my head it was a troll
0:10:48 > 0:10:52and, of course, loving fairy stories so much,
0:10:52 > 0:10:55- it didn't really matter that things didn't make sense.- Yeah.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58It was just about a general feeling, wasn't it?
0:10:58 > 0:11:02I mean, you look at that and you go, "Oh, bless 'em." Look at it.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06- TRANSLATION:- Why do you threaten me?
0:11:06 > 0:11:08It's not my fault the tree didn't sing.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11You should have known the princess is bad-tempered and arrogant.
0:11:12 > 0:11:13And don't forget, you know,
0:11:13 > 0:11:16- we were a much more innocent bunch then, weren't we?- Mmm.
0:11:16 > 0:11:18It was a much more innocent era
0:11:18 > 0:11:20and those sort of things were clever.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22- And most of the... - Yeah, yeah, you're right.
0:11:22 > 0:11:27Anything transformation or where you became something else
0:11:27 > 0:11:29- was always incredible.- Yeah.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32You look back at things like Doctor Who, for example,
0:11:32 > 0:11:34and the Daleks, you know, not even remotely scary.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38- Then, hugely scary.- Oh, terrifying, yeah.- Absolutely terrifying.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42With a show like this, did you enjoy it scaring you?
0:11:44 > 0:11:46- I think I probably did.- Mm-hmm.
0:11:46 > 0:11:47It was one of the highlights of my week.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50I really looked forward to The Singing Ringing Tree -
0:11:50 > 0:11:53- it was an absolute treat. - Really? A moment of escapism..
0:11:53 > 0:11:57- It was a huge treat.- ..that opened a window on the world.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01It meant you could sit down for a minute and do something else, and just sit there and enjoy.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08I'm moving on to your next choice now,
0:12:08 > 0:12:12- something that possibly showed off your artistic flair...- Ooh.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15- ..or something you were interested in.- Oh. I loved... - This is of course Vision On.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19- Yeah, I loved Vision On.- Yeah. - I loved Vision On.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21It was the most brilliant, brilliant programme.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23You loved Vision On or you loved Tony Hart?
0:12:23 > 0:12:26- I... Yeah, indistinguishable.- Tony Hart was Vision On.- Tony Hart was Vision On
0:12:26 > 0:12:29and Morph and all those other sort of things,
0:12:29 > 0:12:31and making things and the way he painted,
0:12:31 > 0:12:33and all those other sort of things.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36And then, of course, there was the Painting Wall.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40With its mix of art, mime, sketches and animation,
0:12:40 > 0:12:45Vision On was designed mainly but not exclusively for deaf children.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48Tony Hart joined Pat Keysell for the second series
0:12:48 > 0:12:52and his artwork caught the imagination of the young audience,
0:12:52 > 0:12:56inspiring them to send their own work in to The Gallery.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58Now, The Gallery.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04Hold on a second.
0:13:04 > 0:13:06How old's the person who did that painting?
0:13:06 > 0:13:08Six? I don't think so.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12That's about right, age-wise.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14Oh, now that is good.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19Now, kids will be going, "Yeah, move on, move on," whereas I'm actually glued.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21I'm still glued. Look at that.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23I could look at these forever.
0:13:23 > 0:13:25There's a bit of glue on that one.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31So, what sort of stuff did the young Penny Smith make?
0:13:31 > 0:13:32Everything, really.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35- Were you into all that? - I liked that sort of thing.
0:13:35 > 0:13:40Vision On and Blue Peter, I was the person who desperately craved sticky back plastic,
0:13:40 > 0:13:42but we didn't really have that sort of thing,
0:13:42 > 0:13:45so I'd have to make do with masking tape
0:13:45 > 0:13:47and drawing on the top of masking tape and everything else.
0:13:47 > 0:13:52But I did cross stitch and sewed and I made things.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54I was always busy making something.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58- So, did you ever have ambitions to send something in to Tony Hart? - Oh, yeah.- Really?
0:13:58 > 0:14:00Never did, though.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02You were quite annoyed with some of those pictures, weren't you?
0:14:02 > 0:14:04Well, I thought some of those pictures...
0:14:04 > 0:14:07- I thought that they looked like they had had help from adults.- Ah!
0:14:07 > 0:14:10And I am quite fair-minded
0:14:10 > 0:14:12and I don't think you should get help.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16If it says how old you are then it should be all your own work,
0:14:16 > 0:14:17and some of those...
0:14:17 > 0:14:22There's no way that some of those six and eight-year-olds had done those paintings. No way.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26But, there's no doubt about who made Vision On's artwork.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29The show's quirky logo was designed by Tony himself,
0:14:29 > 0:14:32who also created the iconic Blue Peter ship.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36When Vision On came to an end in 1976,
0:14:36 > 0:14:38Tony went on to host Take Hart.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43And, in 1984, the show was refreshed once again
0:14:43 > 0:14:46with new graphics as Hartbeat.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50At its peak, it received up to 8,000 drawings every week
0:14:50 > 0:14:53from budding young artists.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55Penny, what we've got now for you is,
0:14:55 > 0:14:56I can honestly say, hand on heart,
0:14:56 > 0:15:00some children's pictures of famous celebrities.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02None of them had any help.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06They are from Glazebury C of E Primary School
0:15:06 > 0:15:09and they did them especially for us.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11This one is from William, aged ten.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13Who do you think that is?
0:15:13 > 0:15:14Famous celebrity.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17- William, marvellous. I'm liking the teeth.- Mm-hmm.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20- They're particularly good.- But you have no idea what it is?
0:15:20 > 0:15:24No, and it is quite scary. There is quite a scary stare going on.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27I'm sort of slightly confused about the hat business going on.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29So, it's a little boy,
0:15:29 > 0:15:31but it's really a little lady.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34A little... A little boy who's really a little lady.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37- Jimmy Krankie. - Oh! Jim... Jimmy Krankie.
0:15:37 > 0:15:38You see, I don't really...
0:15:38 > 0:15:41- Ah!- I wouldn't really know what you mean.- All right.
0:15:41 > 0:15:43- I bet you'll get this one.- OK.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46- Oh, Dame Edna.- We've got Lila.- That is brilliant!- She's nine years old.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48Here's your next one. This is Thomas, aged ten.
0:15:48 > 0:15:49He's done this one here.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52- Right, is that Bette Midler?- No.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55- Ah... Oh, that's quite a... - It's a TV star.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57- Quite famous for... - Is it Judy Finnigan?
0:15:57 > 0:16:01- No.- Well, lovely, smiley, smiley face.- Shall I give you an impression of her? Go on, then.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03- CILLA BLACK VOICE:- Yes!
0:16:03 > 0:16:05Is it? Oh, bless!
0:16:05 > 0:16:07I wouldn't have said that Cilla's nose was quite
0:16:07 > 0:16:09- that sort of...- Off tilt.- Yeah.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12- Well, she's probably had some work done...there. - PENNY LAUGHS
0:16:12 > 0:16:18Here's the next one. This one's from Will, aged eight years old.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20Oh, look at that. Is that...?
0:16:20 > 0:16:23I like the tie, I think there's a lot of effort gone into that.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25- We've got his glasses on.- Really? Is that Trevor McDonald?
0:16:25 > 0:16:28- You are absolutely on the money. Congratulations.- Look at that.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31He's very smiley there. Look at him.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34- I know, I know, well, he's retired in that photo.- Yes, is he. He's having a lovely time.
0:16:34 > 0:16:39- And finally, this one here is Finlay, who's aged 12.- OK.
0:16:39 > 0:16:44Now, the blue and the lanes behind give it a clue. Is it Tom Daley?
0:16:44 > 0:16:47No. I think that's a bit of a red herring. That is just the backdrop.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50- That is just the backdrop? - Let's say he's sitting at a desk.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54Sitting...at a desk.
0:16:54 > 0:16:59- White T-shirt on there.- A white T-shirt, is that normal attire?- Mmm.
0:16:59 > 0:17:01- Hmm.- Quite high trousers.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04- Is it Simon Cowell?- Yes.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06- It is.- Do you know what?
0:17:06 > 0:17:09I quite like that smirk that's going on there.
0:17:09 > 0:17:11That's not bad at all.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15- Did you enjoy that?- Oh, they were lovely. I think there was...
0:17:15 > 0:17:18Children done well, that's Glazebury C of E Primary School.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20Thank you very much.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24And well done to you. I can confirm that you got 4/5.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26Yeah, so you only got one wrong.
0:17:26 > 0:17:28- Yeah, well done.- Yeah, yeah, well...
0:17:28 > 0:17:31- Oh, well, you had some help there, didn't you?- Yeah.- Yeah.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39Oh!
0:17:39 > 0:17:41- Poldark.- Oh, the original!- Really...
0:17:41 > 0:17:43Look at him
0:17:45 > 0:17:48And there she is, Demelza.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50- Come inside.- I see.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53- "Come inside."- Mmm.- Ooh, yes, look.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56- Very manly, the way he said that. - Yes, very manly.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58- Look, she's got her... - Oh, she's wiped her hands!
0:17:58 > 0:18:00And do you know what I like? I like an apron.
0:18:03 > 0:18:05He's very much up your street?
0:18:05 > 0:18:08Do you know what? Still...yeah.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13- You can't stay here.- I don't understand, are you sending me away?
0:18:13 > 0:18:16- Yes, it's better.- But why? What have I done?- Nothing, nothing.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18"But why? What have I done? My goodness..."
0:18:18 > 0:18:20Why must I go?
0:18:22 > 0:18:24Is it cos of last night? I didn't mean anything...
0:18:24 > 0:18:26- Oh, look and he's got a bow in his hair.- Mmm.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28- Oh, I like a man with a ribbon. - Really?
0:18:28 > 0:18:31Oh, there's something about a man in a ribbon. BRIAN LAUGHS
0:18:31 > 0:18:35I'm to be sent away like I've done something wrong, like I stole something?
0:18:36 > 0:18:39- I'm doing this for you. Don't you see?- No!
0:18:39 > 0:18:42So, this is obviously the original Poldark we're looking at.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45Oh, the original Poldark, yes, that was good.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48But that's yours? I mean, we've only recently just seen this on TV, but for you...
0:18:48 > 0:18:52Yeah, no, I watched the one recently. Far too slow. People doing slow-mo and all that sort of stuff
0:18:52 > 0:18:56- and actually, Poldark himself, not beefy enough for me.- Oh.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59A bit too lean, a bit too...
0:18:59 > 0:19:00No, you need a proper bloke,
0:19:00 > 0:19:02who looks like he could actually carry you
0:19:02 > 0:19:05across the marshes for quite some
0:19:05 > 0:19:07considerable period of time without needing a horse.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11I so wanted to go and live in Cornwall, stride around clifftops...
0:19:11 > 0:19:15- Really?- ..wearing that kind of outfit, like Demelza there, Angharad Rees.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18- Had you read the books? - No. No, no, no.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21- Oh, really?- No, no, no. Funnily enough, it wasn't the sort of...
0:19:21 > 0:19:24No, I can't remember what books I was reading by then.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27I went through a very, very pompous phase,
0:19:27 > 0:19:32- where I read only very, very... - Highbrow.- ..highbrow books.- Mm-hmm.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34Most of them probably I didn't...
0:19:34 > 0:19:37Most of them, probably, I just read without taking in a word
0:19:37 > 0:19:39but no, I didn't read the Poldark books.
0:19:39 > 0:19:40I was too busy watching them
0:19:40 > 0:19:44and that was just such a pleasure.
0:19:44 > 0:19:46Look at her great hair.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50- What is it about the Poldark story that you enjoy so much?- Well, its...
0:19:50 > 0:19:54Well, again, I can't really remember what on earth went on - no idea -
0:19:54 > 0:19:56- except that there were love stories. - Uh-huh.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58There was love stories, there was intrigue.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00It had everything I loved.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03So, it sounds to me as if you wanted to be one of these characters.
0:20:03 > 0:20:05- Oh, Demelza!- Yes.- Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07- Swept off your feet...- Yeah!
0:20:07 > 0:20:09- ..carried across...- Yeah!
0:20:09 > 0:20:12Yeah, if anybody... Of course, if a bloke ever had tried to carry me anywhere,
0:20:12 > 0:20:15I'd have said, "Put me down immediately. Stop it. Stop it now."
0:20:15 > 0:20:17- "On your bike." - PENNY LAUGHS
0:20:23 > 0:20:26Your next choice is a series you enjoyed watching
0:20:26 > 0:20:29but didn't let too many people know about this.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31- Do you know what I'm on about? - I do.- Go on.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34Now, it might seem odd that I didn't want to tell people that
0:20:34 > 0:20:36- I liked this show...- Yeah.
0:20:36 > 0:20:41..but at school, I was seriously poor at science.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44And so if I'd have confessed to loving this programme,
0:20:44 > 0:20:47they'd have said, "Well, how come you're not better at school?"
0:20:47 > 0:20:50- There we go.- Let's take a look.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55The tunnel that's now proposed enters France 160f feet
0:20:55 > 0:20:58below the inviting beach of Sangatte to the...
0:20:58 > 0:21:02Horizon launched over 50 years ago with the mission to bring
0:21:02 > 0:21:05the world's greatest scientists and philosophers to our screens.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09How could such a tunnel be built in a given time for a given cost?
0:21:09 > 0:21:11- Roget Massey.- We hope so.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14Ah, they're talking about the Channel Tunnel.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16- Look at this, the Euro Tunnel.- Yeah.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19- This is when it was just a thought...- Yeah, look at that.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21..and let's get you on the beach in your suits.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23And then, look, we'll just dig a hole here
0:21:23 > 0:21:25and then we'll keep on tunnelling.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27It was here that the prototype tunnelling machine
0:21:27 > 0:21:30of Colonel Frederick Beaumont was assembled underground...
0:21:30 > 0:21:31Oh, look at this, big machinery.
0:21:31 > 0:21:33..and began to advance into the chalk.
0:21:33 > 0:21:35- Are you still gripped by it now?- Shh!
0:21:35 > 0:21:37Says it all.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42PENNY: And then, I think, there was lots more of that boring machine
0:21:42 > 0:21:44and it was huge.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47And it's just... There's something about huge whopping
0:21:47 > 0:21:48great bits of machinery.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52My dad, as I mentioned, an engineer and he'd got this company
0:21:52 > 0:21:56and got these whopping great bits of machinery, and the smell of oil
0:21:56 > 0:22:00and Swarfega and hot metal,
0:22:00 > 0:22:03and men with goggles on...
0:22:03 > 0:22:06Sweat dripping from their bodies.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08Hmm, yeah. Muscly. Yeah, dirty.
0:22:08 > 0:22:10Dirty with just those small vests.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13Yeah, with their hair tied back in a ribbon. Oh, hold on!
0:22:13 > 0:22:16Straying into Poldark.
0:22:16 > 0:22:21No, there is something about huge bits of machinery. I love...
0:22:21 > 0:22:23- That you find interesting. - I do, I can't help it.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26I love all that sort of thing and all these moving parts
0:22:26 > 0:22:29- and teeth and cogs and, oh!- Ooof!
0:22:29 > 0:22:32Oh, screws and left-hand facing things.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36Would you watch Horizon, you know, every week?
0:22:36 > 0:22:38- Erm, not necessarily every week.- No.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41I think I was a bit older by that time, so I probably had
0:22:41 > 0:22:44quite a lot of homework and various other things that I was doing.
0:22:44 > 0:22:46But I loved going with Dad
0:22:46 > 0:22:48and Dad, in fact, liked taking me around.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50Before he had...
0:22:50 > 0:22:54He had a big company making pylons and derricks
0:22:54 > 0:22:56and various other things, huge great structures.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00Before he did that, he used to take me around...
0:23:00 > 0:23:02When he was a salesman, I used to go
0:23:02 > 0:23:06and look at great big tractors and massive great bits of machinery.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08And I was always there, just looking at them
0:23:08 > 0:23:11and imagining what they were getting up to.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15But there's something about that...
0:23:15 > 0:23:16The creative element of it.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19I think with creative it comes back to Vision On and Blue Peter
0:23:19 > 0:23:21and making things.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24Making things that worked and making things that did things.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27It's all about being constructive, isn't it?
0:23:27 > 0:23:30- I like things that have a purpose. - Mm-hmm.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34And you can't think of anything with much more purpose, for example,
0:23:34 > 0:23:39than that huge great boring machine.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41One of the very good things about Horizon,
0:23:41 > 0:23:45they explained very complicated things in a simple form.
0:23:45 > 0:23:47You know, visually...
0:23:47 > 0:23:51This is something that you have to do, you know, in your job.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53In the job, yes, I suppose you do.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56Well, you have to talk as though nobody knows what you're talking about.
0:23:56 > 0:23:58I mean, that's the whole point about news,
0:23:58 > 0:24:00you're explaining something,
0:24:00 > 0:24:02or you're getting somebody else to explain,
0:24:02 > 0:24:03and having to ask the questions.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06And I think that's another reason why I love being a journalist
0:24:06 > 0:24:08because you're actually saying, constantly,
0:24:08 > 0:24:10"I don't understand, tell me.
0:24:10 > 0:24:12"I don't understand how this works, explain."
0:24:12 > 0:24:14- Yeah.- And I love that.
0:24:19 > 0:24:24Penny Smith, can I take you back to your first broadcasting experience?
0:24:24 > 0:24:28I want you to have a little look at a picture of you now at Thames News.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32- There you are.- Yeah, look at me having a lovely time
0:24:32 > 0:24:35with Andrew Gardner, who was such a gentleman,
0:24:35 > 0:24:37such a lovely, lovely man.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40And I did love working at Thames News.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43I used to go out in the morning and I used to do a story,
0:24:43 > 0:24:47and then I had to come home, throw the editing notes into the editor
0:24:47 > 0:24:52and then go and do the afternoon news at 3.30, and then I'd go and finish
0:24:52 > 0:24:53off the item that I was doing,
0:24:53 > 0:24:56and then co-host the six o'clock with Andrew.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59And it was the most blissful, blissful job.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01It was a really good time.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05I did that for, I think it was a year I was at Thames News.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07Did you come from radio to television?
0:25:07 > 0:25:11- No, I went from newspapers first... - Journalist.
0:25:11 > 0:25:15A journalist on a newspaper first of all, the Peterborough Evening Telegraph, and then I went
0:25:15 > 0:25:17accidently backpacking for two and a half years
0:25:17 > 0:25:20- and worked in Radio Hong Kong in the middle...- Wow.
0:25:20 > 0:25:21..to get a bit more money to carry on.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25And when I came home it was Radio Trent and then Border Television,
0:25:25 > 0:25:29and then Thames News and then Sky and GMTV.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31The lovely thing about Thames was
0:25:31 > 0:25:34that it was a lot more newsy then Border.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36Border Television, you had to...
0:25:36 > 0:25:40We all got in earlier and earlier because there was only, generally,
0:25:40 > 0:25:43one big real news story of the day. The rest of them were features,
0:25:43 > 0:25:45and I loved doing features,
0:25:45 > 0:25:49but it was always quite nice to do a newsy piece.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51So at Thames News, of course,
0:25:51 > 0:25:57we were talking about pretty meaty issues every day, which was good,
0:25:57 > 0:26:00and it was also a much bigger news organisation.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08What do you watch now on TV?
0:26:08 > 0:26:12Erm, I suppose, it tends to be...
0:26:12 > 0:26:14- I like comedy shows.- Yep.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17Erm, so, for example, Toast
0:26:17 > 0:26:21and anything with Julia Davis in.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24Perhaps more left of field ones,
0:26:24 > 0:26:27Inside No 9, I enjoyed the first series of Inside No 9.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30I've got the second series of Inside No 9 to watch,
0:26:30 > 0:26:32those sort of programmes.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34I love a good drama series,
0:26:34 > 0:26:37Cranford, for example.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39If I'm going through and I can't find anything,
0:26:39 > 0:26:41there's usually something on BBC Four, there's usually
0:26:41 > 0:26:45a series about something that I didn't even know I was interested in...
0:26:45 > 0:26:48- Yeah, yeah.- ..that I'll suddenly go, "Oh, look at that."
0:26:48 > 0:26:50Like, do you remember that one with the bloke
0:26:50 > 0:26:53swinging around on the outside of buildings, where he was
0:26:53 > 0:26:56looking at how buildings were made from way back when to now?
0:26:56 > 0:26:59He went down The Lloyd's Building, inside and out,
0:26:59 > 0:27:02looking at how they were made, how it all fitted together and those things.
0:27:02 > 0:27:06- Engineering again, you see? - And Guy Martin.- Uh-huh.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08When he did that series about huge great machinery,
0:27:08 > 0:27:10I loved that series.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14And when he was doing the thing about being fast, I loved all those.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17And, of course, I'm a news junkie, goes without saying.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20News... News looms large.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24- I watch it, I read it, I listen to it.- Yeah.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26It's just one of those things.
0:27:26 > 0:27:28It will be with me forever because, of course,
0:27:28 > 0:27:30I loved watching the news when I was a kid, as well.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33Penny, thank you so much for being on. I hope you've enjoyed it.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36- Loved it.- God bless you and we'd like to thank you.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40At this point, we'd like you to choose a theme tune.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43Out of all the shows that we've seen today, I think
0:27:43 > 0:27:47the one that I love the most still...
0:27:47 > 0:27:50And the music will stay with me, Vision On.
0:27:50 > 0:27:52Fair enough. My thanks to Penny
0:27:52 > 0:27:55and my thanks to you for watching The TV That Made Me.
0:27:55 > 0:27:56Here's a bit of Vision On.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59MUSIC: Vision On Theme Tune by Claude Vasori