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 > 0:00:12In this series, I'm going to journey
0:00:12 > 0:00:14through the fantastic world of TV
0:00:14 > 0:00:17with some of our favourite celebrities.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21- They've chosen the precious TV moments that shed light...- Proper.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24- She seems like a nice girl though.- Look at that.
0:00:24 > 0:00:26..on the stories of their lives.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30# Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble, Grubb. #
0:00:30 > 0:00:31Some are funny...
0:00:31 > 0:00:33- Could you do the chanting? - I could do...
0:00:33 > 0:00:35HE CHANTS GIBBERISH
0:00:35 > 0:00:38- Some...- Amazing! - ..are surprising.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42- I was mortified. - Some are inspiring...
0:00:42 > 0:00:46- I am not a number. I'm a free man. - ..and many...
0:00:46 > 0:00:48Did George Orwell get his predictions right?
0:00:48 > 0:00:50- It's all so dramatic! - ..are deeply moving.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52- Oh!- Oh, no!
0:00:52 > 0:00:55..and heads down the beach towards almost certain death.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57All of us, weeping.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00So come watch with us, as we hand-pick the vintage telly
0:01:00 > 0:01:03that helped turn our much-loved stars
0:01:03 > 0:01:05into the people they are today.
0:01:05 > 0:01:06Welcome to The TV That Made Me.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19My guest today is one of the hardest working broadcasters I know.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23Her first TV appearance was on This Morning as a guest.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26She moved swiftly onto her own talk show on ITV.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30Yes, it's the extraordinary Vanessa Feltz,
0:01:30 > 0:01:32the celebrity we can't get enough of.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36Her talk shows have made her the nation's agony aunt,
0:01:36 > 0:01:39she's appeared on everything from Celebrity Big Brother
0:01:39 > 0:01:42to Strictly Come Dancing and, if that's not enough,
0:01:42 > 0:01:47she's one of the best radio broadcasters in the land.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51The TV that made her includes windswept men with big whiskers
0:01:51 > 0:01:55- romancing the high seas... - A useful present, General.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59..and a trip down memory lane, with the musical mayhem that was
0:01:59 > 0:02:00The Good Old Days.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03Nice to city varieties, to city varieties...
0:02:03 > 0:02:05AUDIENCE: Nice!
0:02:05 > 0:02:08It can only be the one and only Vanessa Feltz.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11- Here you are.- Hello. - Do you feel one and only?- Oh, yes.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14I don't think there are many others. I've never met another one.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17- Are you excited about today? - I really, really am looking forward
0:02:17 > 0:02:19to this cos I'm secretly hoping
0:02:19 > 0:02:21to get to watch some of the things that my parents would never let me
0:02:21 > 0:02:26- and I don't know if you're going to let me.- Oh, we will. I think you're old enough now.- I do hope so.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28We're going to let you watch a lot of stuff
0:02:28 > 0:02:30because this is a collection of your classic clips
0:02:30 > 0:02:35that we feel made you into the person you are today.
0:02:35 > 0:02:36I'm sure you're right, actually.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39I'm sure TV was a really massive influence in my life.
0:02:39 > 0:02:40We watched tonnes of it.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42Well, we are going to rewind the clock now
0:02:42 > 0:02:45- and have a look at a very young Vanessa Feltz.- OK.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51Vanessa Feltz is the eldest of two daughters
0:02:51 > 0:02:54born to mum Valerie and dad Norman.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58Norman ran a lingerie business, supplying fine undergarments
0:02:58 > 0:03:02to discerning ladies, whilst Valerie brought up the girls,
0:03:02 > 0:03:04worked on arts and crafts projects
0:03:04 > 0:03:07and attended the London School of Economics.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12Vanessa lived in the little village of Totteridge,
0:03:12 > 0:03:15a place that hung onto its idyllic leafiness, despite being
0:03:15 > 0:03:19only a cab-ride away from the centre of London town.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29Vanessa, we're going to start with your earliest TV memory.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33It's Friday, it's five to five, it could only be...
0:03:33 > 0:03:35Crackerjack!
0:03:35 > 0:03:37- CHILDREN SCREAM:- Crackerjack!
0:03:39 > 0:03:43You always knew the weekend was here when Crackerjack came on.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45The concept was simple.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48Every week, Britain's youngsters were invited
0:03:48 > 0:03:50to the best kids' party ever...
0:03:53 > 0:03:58..with the messiest games, the best prizes and the funniest performers.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01- It's called a tele-bone. - LAUGHTER
0:04:01 > 0:04:06And the party went on for an amazing 29 years
0:04:06 > 0:04:09between 1955 and 1984.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11Well, if you think that was a mess, let's see what we can do
0:04:11 > 0:04:14with our next victims as we play another Crackerjack game.
0:04:14 > 0:04:16Crackerjack Friday, five to five...
0:04:16 > 0:04:19Crackerjack, and you could legitimately shriek the name.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21Every time the word "Crackerjack" was said,
0:04:21 > 0:04:22you had to say, "Crackerjack!"
0:04:22 > 0:04:24and my mother didn't like us shouting that much.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27- Should we do it together? - Yes. BOTH:- Crackerjack!
0:04:27 > 0:04:29- CHILDREN SCREAM:- Crackerjack!
0:04:29 > 0:04:31So, this was religious viewing for you?
0:04:31 > 0:04:33Oh, this was just fantastic.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36I was absolutely desperate for a Crackerjack pencil.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38I didn't know how you would get one.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40I couldn't really imagine what it was cos it sounded so special,
0:04:40 > 0:04:43I couldn't think it was just an ordinary pencil.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45It must have done something magic.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48- It's time now once again to play Double Or Drop.- Ooh!
0:04:48 > 0:04:49I remember this.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52- They were the cabbages!- Yes. - Fantastic game.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54- What a great game, actually.- It is.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56Here's the first question, then, going to our champion Crispin.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58We try and start off with a nice easy one.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02- Ed "Stewpot" Stewart. - Ed Stewart.- Great hair!
0:05:02 > 0:05:05In My Fair Lady, what was the name of a flower girl
0:05:05 > 0:05:09who was taught to speak properly by Professor Higgins?
0:05:09 > 0:05:10Eliza Doolittle!
0:05:10 > 0:05:16- My Fair Lady.- Come on. Eliza Doolittle. Anyone knows that.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18All right, Vanessa, calm down. We're only having a laugh.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21- Anybody out there know? - BOTH: Eliza Doolittle!
0:05:21 > 0:05:23Give me a Crackerjack pencil, right now.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26Eliza Doolittle. First cabbage, then.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28First cabbage and then you had to really hope
0:05:28 > 0:05:29your neck was long enough.
0:05:29 > 0:05:31People with a long neck succeeded in this game.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33- So, if they dropped, they were out? - Yeah, yeah.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35Two more cabbages, there. Have you got it?
0:05:35 > 0:05:38So, how upset were you that you never got this magical Crackerjack pen?
0:05:38 > 0:05:41- I'm still really upset. - Do you think this is the early Vanessa thinking,
0:05:41 > 0:05:44"Hey, I would love to present. I would love to be..."?
0:05:44 > 0:05:46I'd love to be on it, in it.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48I'd love to be introducing it, give me a pencil.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50Just let me have a piece of it, please.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53Why am I just sitting in Totteridge on an armchair
0:05:53 > 0:05:55staring at this thing? I want to be there!
0:05:57 > 0:06:00The first presenter to encourage us to scream, "Crackerjack"
0:06:00 > 0:06:03was Eamonn Andrews, who went on to become famous
0:06:03 > 0:06:06for his big red book on This Is Your Life.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10But he wasn't the only Crackerjack inmate to break out
0:06:10 > 0:06:12of children's TV. Oh, no.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17Ronnie Corbett appeared on the show in the '50s, before going on to
0:06:17 > 0:06:21team up with the other Ronnie and become a national treasure.
0:06:23 > 0:06:27Michael Aspel was the straight man to Don McLean and Peter Glaze
0:06:27 > 0:06:31in the '60s and '70s, and then took over the red book
0:06:31 > 0:06:32from Eammon Andrews.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37And in the '80s, well, Crackerjack belonged to Jannette and Ian
0:06:37 > 0:06:42AKA The Krankies. Fan-dabi-dozi.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46So, what was early life like for the Vanessa Feltz?
0:06:46 > 0:06:48I mean, where was your telly in your lounge?
0:06:48 > 0:06:51Our telly was in... Well, it was quite funny really
0:06:51 > 0:06:56cos we had this very small room, which was called the study,
0:06:56 > 0:06:59and it was book-lined and it was called the study cos my parents
0:06:59 > 0:07:01had genuinely read the books, they're very literary...
0:07:01 > 0:07:04They were very intellectual and very concerned
0:07:04 > 0:07:06that we should study and read and not watch telly.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08And there we were, watching the telly,
0:07:08 > 0:07:10ignoring the books but somehow pretending
0:07:10 > 0:07:11that cos it was called "study",
0:07:11 > 0:07:13we were secretly reading, but we weren't.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16My father used to have a copy of the New Statesman on his lap,
0:07:16 > 0:07:18while really avidly watching The Golden Shot.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20- Did he have ambitions for you? - My dad?
0:07:20 > 0:07:24I suppose... I think they wanted me to be a celebrated female author,
0:07:24 > 0:07:26or something like that, or someone of a very...
0:07:26 > 0:07:27Well, you've achieved that.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30- Not really.- Yeah, you're celebrated. - I'm not sure about that, no.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32I think when I ended up on daytime telly,
0:07:32 > 0:07:34they were a bit shocked, really.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36- Were they disappointed? - I think, yes.- Really?
0:07:36 > 0:07:38I think they struggled to pretend to be proud.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40I think they felt that I had sold myself terribly short
0:07:40 > 0:07:43and should be doing something much, much more brainy, really.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45I think they thought I should have been
0:07:45 > 0:07:48a professor of English literature at Cambridge or something like that.
0:07:48 > 0:07:49Cos you did go to college?
0:07:49 > 0:07:52I went off to Cambridge but, really, my heart was still in the telly.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00So, as a family now, this is your family favourite,
0:08:00 > 0:08:04something you've chosen that ran for 91 episodes, would you believe?
0:08:04 > 0:08:09- Wow.- I'm not going to say any more but The Onedin Line.- Oh.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16Look at that. I mean, we loved it!
0:08:18 > 0:08:21The Onedin Line followed the shipping business fortunes
0:08:21 > 0:08:27of Captain James Onedin from 1971 to 1980.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30After a slow start, it was nominated for a BAFTA
0:08:30 > 0:08:34and rather appropriately became the BBC's flagship drama.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38And, like Onedin's ships, the show circumnavigated the globe,
0:08:38 > 0:08:42selling to 70 countries worldwide.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44He dies unless you come forward!
0:08:44 > 0:08:47- Captain James Onedin, look at him! - Yeah.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49He was sort of grumpy but sexy.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52I might have been too young to know he was sexy, but I liked him.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54- Yes.- Yes, he was formidable,
0:08:54 > 0:08:57he was northern, he had a bluff accent.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00He was just all man, wasn't he?
0:09:00 > 0:09:02- James!- Get below, Anne!
0:09:02 > 0:09:07- That's his wife. She was plain but true, steadfast, honest...- Strong.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11..strong, long-suffering, and all that type of thing.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14- Oh, look at those sideburns! - Look at him there. Rugged!
0:09:14 > 0:09:18- He looks like he's on a mobile phone.- Sexy, very sexy, very rugged.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20- Those beards!- There's a lot of facial hair going on. A lot.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24So, religiously as a family, you would watch this while your mother pumped out eight doilies?
0:09:24 > 0:09:29We really loved it. Mum was knitting doilies and we really loved it.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32I'm not quite sure why we liked it so much. I think...
0:09:32 > 0:09:35- It's from a different era, isn't it? - Yeah, we like the clothes a lot,
0:09:35 > 0:09:37we quite liked the foreign travel bit of it all.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41My father was importing knickers and bras from the Far East and we felt
0:09:41 > 0:09:44a certain affinity for things coming over on a boat, I suppose.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47Fabulously dramatic, though, wasn't it, for a Sunday evening?
0:09:47 > 0:09:50What sort of thing would you eat when you were watching something like this?
0:09:50 > 0:09:53Well, Sunday night, my mother... She doesn't cook on a Sunday night,
0:09:53 > 0:09:55so it always had to be something on toast.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58- Do you remember the days when it was always something on toast?- Oh, yeah.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00Is it true that, when you were young,
0:10:00 > 0:10:02you used to like a plate of oranges?
0:10:02 > 0:10:05My mum did not wish me to be a little podge girl,
0:10:05 > 0:10:09a little podgy sort of a girl, she wanted to keep me nice and slim,
0:10:09 > 0:10:11so to that end she would do this thing about,
0:10:11 > 0:10:16"We don't eat in-between meals and, no, you must not have a snack."
0:10:16 > 0:10:20My sister was really, really skinny, so I used to either bribe,
0:10:20 > 0:10:24pay or force my sister to go and ask my mother for an orange.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26My sister was allowed to have one.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29I was supposed to wait for the next meal, so I didn't get fat.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33So my sister, at a price, would sell me an orange
0:10:33 > 0:10:36from my own parents' fruit bowl
0:10:36 > 0:10:39and I was always peckish, like I always am now.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42- I could always just murder an orange...- Wait, one sec.- Oh, yeah?
0:10:42 > 0:10:45Oh, yeah. I've got to go back. I'm off to the kitchen.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48- Oh, yes.- Where's he gone? What are you doing?
0:10:48 > 0:10:50Vanessa Feltz, we have some oranges for you.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53Am I allowed to just eat as many oranges as I want?
0:10:53 > 0:10:55- You don't have to bribe me. - Oh, thank you.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57We can leave them there if you so wish.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00I used to hide the peel behind the books in the...
0:11:06 > 0:11:10My dad instilled a real healthy ironic response to things.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13So, when it was advert and it said, whatever it was,
0:11:13 > 0:11:15I don't know, K Skips are lighter,
0:11:15 > 0:11:18so if you wore K Shoes, you somehow jumped in a light way
0:11:18 > 0:11:21and bounded through the traffic, my father would say,
0:11:21 > 0:11:24"Do you really think so? Do you think she really jumps
0:11:24 > 0:11:26"two feet in the air cos she's wearing those shoes?"
0:11:26 > 0:11:29We had a little perspective. We didn't believe everything just cos it was on telly.
0:11:29 > 0:11:34I think it very nicely dovetails us into a commercial break now
0:11:34 > 0:11:38because this is something that maybe got your father's goat.
0:11:38 > 0:11:39Have a little look at this.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42# The choice you want
0:11:42 > 0:11:44# At the prices you want... #
0:11:44 > 0:11:46Look at the goods, though.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51Amid the recession and strikes of the late '70s,
0:11:51 > 0:11:53sales at Woolworths slumped.
0:11:53 > 0:11:58The series of ads called the Wonder of Woolworths aimed to boost sales
0:11:58 > 0:12:00and bring a little more glamour to our lives.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03They succeeded on both counts.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06The Woolworths ads became national events.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08They were the most expensive,
0:12:08 > 0:12:11most star-studded spectaculars of their time.
0:12:13 > 0:12:14- That's Anita Harris!- Yeah.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16# On our Christmas tree... #
0:12:16 > 0:12:19- Kenny Everett!- Oh, Kenny Everett. God bless him.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21# High fidelity... #
0:12:21 > 0:12:25- Look at this. Where else would you want to go shopping?- Look at that.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27There's nowhere else you'd ever want to go.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29Everything you could possibly want on earth in one shop.
0:12:29 > 0:12:30# Whoo, whoo... #
0:12:30 > 0:12:34My dad used to supply Woolworths with really cheap ladies' knickers
0:12:34 > 0:12:36and things. The wonder of Woolworths.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39We liked coupling the word "wonder" with the word "Woolworths"
0:12:39 > 0:12:41because we had a really local Woolworths
0:12:41 > 0:12:43in Whetstone, London, N20.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46And I wouldn't say that, when you walked through the door,
0:12:46 > 0:12:47the first thing you felt was wonder.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50- Not really.- That's probably why they're not there now.
0:12:50 > 0:12:51No, that's why they're not.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54Although, people were so devastated when Woolworths bit the dust
0:12:54 > 0:12:57and everyone nostalgically remembered the pic'n'mix,
0:12:57 > 0:12:58the records, of course...
0:12:58 > 0:13:01- And the underwear.- Well, I don't that was much to write home about,
0:13:01 > 0:13:02to tell you the truth.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05It probably put us through a couple of weeks of school,
0:13:05 > 0:13:08I suppose. But I think we watched it with a bit of irony
0:13:08 > 0:13:11and thought it was really hilarious, and it was, wasn't it?
0:13:15 > 0:13:17What did your parents enjoy watching?
0:13:17 > 0:13:20Well, you see, there were various things they pretended
0:13:20 > 0:13:24they enjoyed watching, like Panorama and serious documentaries
0:13:24 > 0:13:28and things on BBC Two, but I just remember them
0:13:28 > 0:13:30watching all sorts of variety programmes.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32Morecambe & Wise, everyone absolutely adored,
0:13:32 > 0:13:33The Two Ronnies,
0:13:33 > 0:13:35The Brothers. Do you remember,
0:13:35 > 0:13:37about the Hammond brothers in the haulage business?
0:13:37 > 0:13:39- If I'm honest, no. - Oh, we used to love that.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41That was really terrific. So I think they used to watch
0:13:41 > 0:13:45a hell of a lot of TV, but my mum was a little bit snooty.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48I think it would be fair to say, a little bit snooty, and every time
0:13:48 > 0:13:50Bruce Forsyth came onto the television,
0:13:50 > 0:13:54- which, of course, he always did... - And still does.- ..and still does.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57- Bless him.- And, you know, I did Strictly in 2013
0:13:57 > 0:14:01and to work with him was one of the absolute joys of my entire life,
0:14:01 > 0:14:05but I just remember my mother saying, "Talentless.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08"Can't sing, can't dance, not funny, not good-looking."
0:14:08 > 0:14:10To Bruce Forsyth!
0:14:10 > 0:14:13Well, what do you think your mother would have said to this clip
0:14:13 > 0:14:15of Bruce on The Good Old Days?
0:14:15 > 0:14:19FANFARE
0:14:20 > 0:14:23CHEERING
0:14:23 > 0:14:25- That's Leonard Sachs.- Yes.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28And he used to use those wonderful long words - I adored them.
0:14:28 > 0:14:35Avuncular harbinger of uninhibited hilarity,
0:14:35 > 0:14:38none other than Mr Bruce Forsyth!
0:14:38 > 0:14:40CHEERING
0:14:44 > 0:14:45Oh, look at Brucie.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49Nice to City Varieties, to City Varieties...
0:14:49 > 0:14:51- AUDIENCE:- Nice! - Yes. Oh...
0:14:51 > 0:14:54The Good Old Days was a national institution,
0:14:54 > 0:14:57broadcasting on the BBC for 30 years.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00It celebrated the spirit of Great British
0:15:00 > 0:15:04music hall entertainment that inspired so much of our TV.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06- I love the hat, dear.- Thank you.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09- Yes, like a blancmange gone wrong. - LAUGHTER
0:15:09 > 0:15:12And amazingly, the moustachioed host Leonard Sachs
0:15:12 > 0:15:15was there from the first year to the last,
0:15:15 > 0:15:18from 1954 right up to '83.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21- Leonard, there you are!- Yes. - I've been looking all over for you.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23Well, I'm always here.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26- We will now sing hymn number 605. - LAUGHTER
0:15:26 > 0:15:29- And look how the audience got to dress up.- Oh, I miss this show.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33I think my mother would just be saying, "Turn over.
0:15:33 > 0:15:34"Go and do your Latin homework.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38"He'll never succeed in this business. He's just not funny."
0:15:38 > 0:15:40What do you think of Bruce?
0:15:40 > 0:15:42- I think Bruce is absolutely fantastic.- Yeah, he's a legend.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44I think he's incredibly quick-witted,
0:15:44 > 0:15:46amazingly quick-thinking,
0:15:46 > 0:15:49- I think he's a really good dancer. - Yeah.- And I think he's funny.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52I think he's brilliant, but my mother just didn't get him at all.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55- So Bruce obviously hosted the show when you were doing Strictly.- Yes.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58Your experience of that, what did you take from that?
0:15:58 > 0:16:00I was honoured to even be on the same stage as him.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03In fact, so much so that on the very first night, when you just come down
0:16:03 > 0:16:07and all you're going to do is be is introduced, that's it. You don't have to dance or anything,
0:16:07 > 0:16:09you should have to stand. As I got down the stairs,
0:16:09 > 0:16:11I could literally hardly breathe from the nerves
0:16:11 > 0:16:14of knowing that I was going to do that thing with Bruce
0:16:14 > 0:16:15because we've all grown up with him.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17It was absolutely extraordinary.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21I used to worry that I would veer totally out of control
0:16:21 > 0:16:24and go skidding across the floor, knocking Brucie over,
0:16:24 > 0:16:27and I'd be known forever as the woman who felled Brucie.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30The whole thing was very nerve-racking but also very lovely.
0:16:30 > 0:16:31I was very lucky to do it.
0:16:35 > 0:16:41- So I want to move on now to taboo television.- Oh.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43Something that... Your parents would have died
0:16:43 > 0:16:45if they knew you were watching this.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48- I wasn't allowed to watch it! - Oh, really?
0:16:48 > 0:16:50So this is the first time...
0:16:50 > 0:16:51Oh, come on.
0:16:51 > 0:16:56This is a seminal experience in my life, right?
0:16:56 > 0:16:59The show was called Bouquet of Barbed Wire.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02It was the sexiest thing ever
0:17:02 > 0:17:05because the mother-in-law had an affair with the son-in-law....
0:17:05 > 0:17:09- Relationships.- ..and the father, played by Frank Finlay,
0:17:09 > 0:17:13really seemed, I don't know if I'm allowed to even say this on television,
0:17:13 > 0:17:16but seemed to have a bit of a thing for his own daughter...
0:17:16 > 0:17:18- Really?- ..played by Susan Penhaligon.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20And I'll never forget it.
0:17:20 > 0:17:25And mostly I won't forget it because every time the going got saucy,
0:17:25 > 0:17:28my parents made me leave the room, just when it got great!
0:17:28 > 0:17:30- Just when it was really happening! - You had to go to bed?
0:17:30 > 0:17:33They made me go and stand in the hall, which had no central heating.
0:17:33 > 0:17:38And I'd stand in the hall, freezing to death, with my ear
0:17:38 > 0:17:41stuck against the door of the study, where the TV was,
0:17:41 > 0:17:44just straining to hear, "What is he doing to her?
0:17:44 > 0:17:48"And how is he doing it? And is that his mother-in-law? Is that his...?
0:17:48 > 0:17:50"What? What?" And then, when the sexy bit was finished,
0:17:50 > 0:17:53- they let me come back in.- Shall we have a little look?- Oh, yes.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56- Here's a little clip.- Yes, please.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00ITV's adaptation of Andrea Newman's novel Bouquet of Barbed Wire
0:18:00 > 0:18:04didn't hold back from saucy scenes of secret hanky-panky
0:18:04 > 0:18:06in a middle-class family.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09In fact, it was difficult to keep up
0:18:09 > 0:18:12with who was doing what with whom.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15What we did know was that this was seriously good drama
0:18:15 > 0:18:19and that for its time, Bouquet was way ahead
0:18:19 > 0:18:21of any other programme on the box.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24- 1976.- 1976?- Yes. - No wonder I wanted to watch it!
0:18:24 > 0:18:27- The long, hot summer of '76.- Yeah.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30I was 14, desperate to know about this kind of thing.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33I wrote an extra long letter to the twins.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36I suppose I hoped the gods wouldn't punish me.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38That's the mother-in-law, there.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41- Let me come to the house.- No.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43Look what's happening. She's got her eyes closed,
0:18:43 > 0:18:46she's leaning against a silver birch tree, as we all did in those days.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49Look at that! There was always a silver birch tree you could lean against.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52I'm in love with her but I don't understand her.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55I'm 14 at this point. I want to know what happens next.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57- I don't want to stand in the hall. - Get out, get out.
0:18:57 > 0:18:58Oh, please, don't make me.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00OK.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05- Oh! Press pause! Don't, don't! No! - Look, that's his mother-in-law!
0:19:05 > 0:19:06You should be in the hall.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09- Do I have to do go and stand in the hall?- Get out now.- Really?
0:19:09 > 0:19:12- Can't I just watch five minutes more?- No.- Just two minutes more?
0:19:12 > 0:19:15- Oh, please! Please, please. I'll be on my best behaviour.- Out.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17- Go.- But I've done my Latin homework. I've done it.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19- HE SIGHS Please.- I'm upset.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21- I'm upset with you now. - Do I have to stand in the hall?
0:19:21 > 0:19:24Yes, go and stand in the hall while we watch the kiss.
0:19:24 > 0:19:25While we watch the kiss.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27Thank you, Vanessa. We're watching the kiss.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30- Tell me when I can come back in! - OK. One moment.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38All right, you can come back in. You can come back in!
0:19:38 > 0:19:41God, I always come back in when it's all over.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44I'm sorry about that, but it had to be.
0:19:44 > 0:19:46You're not allowed to watch passionate moments.
0:19:50 > 0:19:51Smouldering, wasn't it?
0:19:51 > 0:19:54There were hormones just fizzing through the TV.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57The series was a catalyst for...
0:19:58 > 0:20:00- ..sex, let's be honest. - SHE LAUGHS
0:20:00 > 0:20:04Don't say that word to me, a woman of my respectable age and standing.
0:20:04 > 0:20:11- Sex?- Do you think it provoked many other series, spin-offs?
0:20:11 > 0:20:13- I do. I think it was really a... - That was the start of it?
0:20:13 > 0:20:16Yeah, springboard for as much sexy broadcasting as anybody
0:20:16 > 0:20:18could ever manage to get on the television, yeah.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24Susan Penhaligon and Trevor Eve really did spice up TV
0:20:24 > 0:20:27with Bouquet of Barbed Wire,
0:20:27 > 0:20:31but here is my guide to some other piping hot dramas.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35At four, in the '80s,
0:20:35 > 0:20:36we got hot under the collar
0:20:36 > 0:20:38watching Joanne Whalley in
0:20:38 > 0:20:39The Singing Detective.
0:20:41 > 0:20:42At three, in the '90s,
0:20:42 > 0:20:45a young and gorgeous Ewan McGregor
0:20:45 > 0:20:47and Rachel Weisz steamed up our
0:20:47 > 0:20:49screens in The Scarlett & the Black.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53At two, Alex Kingston unnerved us
0:20:53 > 0:20:58with her highly physical Fortunes & Misfortunes of Moll Flanders.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05But at number one, it's Zoe Lucker and co in Footballers' Wives,
0:21:05 > 0:21:09the show where everyone played very dirty.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18So, we're going to move onto another show
0:21:18 > 0:21:21- that's about relationships - your show.- Oh!- Yeah.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23So, here we are. This is you, Vanessa.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28Wedding days - they're supposed to be the best day of your life.
0:21:28 > 0:21:29Oh, gosh.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32Today, we'll be meeting two happy couples who can't wait
0:21:32 > 0:21:33to walk down the aisle
0:21:33 > 0:21:37and their angry relatives who are determined to stop the wedding.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42Let's not forget how much of a ground-breaking show this was.
0:21:42 > 0:21:47This was the forerunner to so many other similar shows these days.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50It was the first ever Oprah-style British show
0:21:50 > 0:21:54and the critics said it couldn't possibly work because they said,
0:21:54 > 0:21:56"British people are reserved, stiff upper lip,
0:21:56 > 0:21:58"they won't want to talk about their relationships
0:21:58 > 0:22:02"and their problems in public. They'll never do it. It will be a total failure."
0:22:02 > 0:22:05And within two weeks of it starting to be broadcast,
0:22:05 > 0:22:09we had knocked Oprah absolutely off the chart in this country,
0:22:09 > 0:22:10obviously not in the whole world,
0:22:10 > 0:22:13and the show went from two afternoons to three afternoons,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16then to five mornings a week because British people, it seemed,
0:22:16 > 0:22:18just couldn't wait to get on the television and talk about
0:22:18 > 0:22:22- whatever it was they were getting up to or their problems.- What were your favourite stories on there?
0:22:22 > 0:22:25I liked, do you prefer a British bulldog to a Italian stallion?
0:22:25 > 0:22:30That was marvellous. I really like the funny ones the best, really,
0:22:30 > 0:22:32but there were very lots of very, very emotional ones
0:22:32 > 0:22:34and very, very sad ones.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36He's always standing way back behind her
0:22:36 > 0:22:38and she's always sorting out the hassles.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41Once again, it's that link with relationships
0:22:41 > 0:22:44and that's pretty much... That was the success of The Vanessa.
0:22:44 > 0:22:46I think it was cos it was genuine.
0:22:46 > 0:22:48It was real people telling their real stories.
0:22:48 > 0:22:52These were people who'd never been on TV, sometimes people who had never left their home town.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55Often there were people who had never stayed in a hotel
0:22:55 > 0:22:57and they stayed in a hotel the night before the show,
0:22:57 > 0:22:59and there they were, telling a very intimate story
0:22:59 > 0:23:01about their real life, and there I was,
0:23:01 > 0:23:03obviously trying to get them to tell the story
0:23:03 > 0:23:06but at the same time, not to be like a headmistress, bossing them around.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09Kevin and Samantha have been listening backstage.
0:23:09 > 0:23:11It's about time they had their say.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15Let's welcome the blushing bride and groom, Kevin and Samantha.
0:23:15 > 0:23:16APPLAUSE
0:23:19 > 0:23:23Do think it opened us up as British people to talk about relationships?
0:23:23 > 0:23:26- Cos we can be tight-lipped, being British.- Yeah.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30I thought it was a good idea that British people would feel OK
0:23:30 > 0:23:32to talk about something very personal and intimate
0:23:32 > 0:23:35and not feel embarrassed or ashamed, and the studio audience would
0:23:35 > 0:23:38understand and they would go home feeling better about themselves.
0:23:38 > 0:23:42And they did it because they felt that television was an appropriate place to do it.
0:23:42 > 0:23:44Now, some very snooty people thought it wasn't.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47They thought, "Why on earth would you air your dirty linen in public?
0:23:47 > 0:23:50"Why on the television?" and the answers is, cos people love TV.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53Just in the way I'm talking about it to you, how much, as a family,
0:23:53 > 0:23:56my family loved it and we bonded over it,
0:23:56 > 0:23:58we shared experiences watching TV,
0:23:58 > 0:24:00it felt to people who were on the Vanessa show,
0:24:00 > 0:24:02the right place to talk about their problems.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05Do you think that he should marry Samantha?
0:24:05 > 0:24:06No. No.
0:24:06 > 0:24:08Why not, Marie?
0:24:08 > 0:24:11Because, like Joe said, he's a liar, he's in debt
0:24:11 > 0:24:13and Samantha deserves better.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15I loved doing it, I really did.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17It was really great fun and very, very interesting.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20- And a lovely part of your life? - A wonderful part of my life.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23I'm so glad that I got the chance to do it. It was really, really good.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25Before we go, there's something that has been
0:24:25 > 0:24:29preying on my mind that Vanessa said earlier.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32I was absolutely desperate for a Crackerjack pencil.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34'How could I deny her?'
0:24:34 > 0:24:36I've got a little something for you in here.
0:24:36 > 0:24:38This is it.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40This is a Crackerjack...
0:24:40 > 0:24:43- Crackerjack!- ..pencil. Yes.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46- Ah, ah, ah! You've got to earn it first.- I've waited my whole life.
0:24:46 > 0:24:48- I'm going to keep that in my pocket, here...- OK.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51..because we're going to play the cabbage game.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54- Double Or Drop?- Double Or Drop. Come and join me over here.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56- A lifelong ambition.- If you'd like to stand there, please.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59- I would love to.- I shall read out the rules for you now.- Yes.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01Now, the rules are clear. I shall ask you a question
0:25:01 > 0:25:03about Crackerjack. If you get it right, you get a toy.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06But if you get it wrong, you are given a cabbage.
0:25:06 > 0:25:11This keeps going until you either drop a toy or get three cabbages.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13- Are you ready?- Yes, I'm ready.
0:25:13 > 0:25:14Here is your first question.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17What did you have to shout out whenever the host said Crackerjack?
0:25:17 > 0:25:19Crackerjack!
0:25:19 > 0:25:21Yes, correct. There you go, there is a toy.
0:25:21 > 0:25:26Name the presenter who served from 1964 to 1968.
0:25:26 > 0:25:27Leslie Crowther.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29Leslie Crowther.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32Which Crackerjack host liked to tell the viewers
0:25:32 > 0:25:35he could crush a grape or jump off a doll's house?
0:25:35 > 0:25:38Ooh, I could crush a grape... Stu...
0:25:38 > 0:25:40Stuart... Hen... Henry?
0:25:40 > 0:25:42- No, I'm afraid...- Stu... Oh, no!
0:25:42 > 0:25:45- Stu Francis.- Stu Francis. - There you go.
0:25:45 > 0:25:46Hang on, wait, wait.
0:25:46 > 0:25:51What was the magical alter ego of Geoffrey Durham?
0:25:51 > 0:25:52The Great Soprendo!
0:25:52 > 0:25:55The Great Soprendo. Absolutely right. There you go.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57You're not arranging them in a very...
0:25:57 > 0:26:00- Well, I want to make it difficult for you.- ..acceptable manner.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04What year did Crackerjack FINALLY get the boot from the screens?
0:26:04 > 0:26:05No idea. '83?
0:26:05 > 0:26:08- 1984.- Oh, come on. That was close! Let me have that. I said '83.
0:26:08 > 0:26:12Um... No, it's wrong. You're going to have a cabbage.
0:26:12 > 0:26:13OK, there you go. Here's the next one.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16Which well-known British phrase was apparently
0:26:16 > 0:26:21coined on Crackerjack by Don McLean and Peter Glaze?
0:26:21 > 0:26:24I think it was, "Don't get your knickers in a twist."
0:26:24 > 0:26:28You are absolutely right. There you go.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31- Now, this is it. - I'm getting a good whiff of cabbage.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35- It's quite odiferous, this cabbage. - This is the last question.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38The shows were filmed at BBC Television Theatre,
0:26:38 > 0:26:41which is now known by what name?
0:26:41 > 0:26:43I think... Could it be the Shepherd's Bush Empire?
0:26:43 > 0:26:45- Yes, you're absolutely right.- Am I?
0:26:45 > 0:26:48Yeah, the Shepherd's Bush Empire. Correct. Well done indeed.
0:26:48 > 0:26:49- Hooray!- Vanessa Feltz, you have won.
0:26:49 > 0:26:54I am so chuffed and so honoured to give you your own,
0:26:54 > 0:26:57very personal Crackerjack pencil.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00Oh, thank you! Mwah.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03- I'm a bit surprised that it is just a pencil.- Come and sit down.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06- Well, what more did you want? - Well, I thought it might...
0:27:06 > 0:27:10- It's not magical.- ..squirt water or be propelled
0:27:10 > 0:27:12or have different colours. It's just a pencil.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15I mean, you've won many coveted awards over the years...
0:27:15 > 0:27:1753 years I've waited and it's just a pencil.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21- I'm sorry, but that's what they said it was.- I'm a bit shocked.
0:27:21 > 0:27:22I know.
0:27:26 > 0:27:28- Let's move onto what you like watching now.- OK.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31- What do you like watching now?- Well, it's so funny, I love Modern Family
0:27:31 > 0:27:32and what's that about?
0:27:32 > 0:27:34- Relationships.- Yeah.- Isn't it?- Yeah.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36And it's great cos they actually all really love each other
0:27:36 > 0:27:38and they're incredibly funny,
0:27:38 > 0:27:40and it's very moving in a very funny way.
0:27:40 > 0:27:41It's one of the only programmes
0:27:41 > 0:27:43I've ever watched in my life that I always think is too short.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45Every time it ends, I think,
0:27:45 > 0:27:47"I could do with another ten minutes of that."
0:27:47 > 0:27:48I love Modern Family.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50And you get a chance now to choose a theme tune,
0:27:50 > 0:27:52a theme tune from something we've possibly seen today
0:27:52 > 0:27:53that will play us out.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57SHE SINGS AN EXPRESSIVE THEME TUNE
0:27:57 > 0:27:59- Crackerjack?- Yes.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02- No, The Onedin Line. - The Onedin Line, by Khachaturian.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05Many thanks to the lovely Vanessa.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07Thank you for watching The TV That Made Me.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10This is The Onedin Line and we'll see you soon.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12- It's a pencil! - I know, but I thought it would be
0:28:12 > 0:28:15a bit more interesting than this. HE SIGHS
0:28:15 > 0:28:19MUSIC: Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia by Aram Khachaturian