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 on a journey
0:00:12 > 0:00:14through the fantastic world of TV
0:00:14 > 0:00:16with some of our favourite celebrities.
0:00:16 > 0:00:17Good evening!
0:00:17 > 0:00:20They've chosen the precious TV moments that shed light...
0:00:20 > 0:00:22Oh, I love this!
0:00:22 > 0:00:23- BOTH:- Crackerjack!
0:00:23 > 0:00:25..on the stories of their lives.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28Ooh! Listen, this looks smashing, Johnny.
0:00:28 > 0:00:29- BOTH:- Right on time.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31- Some are funny... - THEY LAUGH
0:00:31 > 0:00:32I loved him!
0:00:32 > 0:00:34- BOTH:- # Delicious ice cream! #
0:00:34 > 0:00:35..some...
0:00:35 > 0:00:36Just like that.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38..are surprising.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40I'll let you into a secret I've never told anyone before.
0:00:40 > 0:00:41Some are inspiring...
0:00:41 > 0:00:44I've always wanted to be a Miss Something.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47The best TV transports you.
0:00:47 > 0:00:48..and many...
0:00:48 > 0:00:50Did George Orwell get his predictions right?
0:00:50 > 0:00:51It's all so dramatic!
0:00:51 > 0:00:53..are deeply moving.
0:00:53 > 0:00:54The death of John F Kennedy...
0:00:54 > 0:00:56It just takes me back.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58VOICE BREAKS: Oh, it makes me want to cry.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00- Oh, you can have a cry if you want. - Oh!
0:01:00 > 0:01:04So come watch with us as we hand-pick the vintage telly
0:01:04 > 0:01:06that helped turn our much-loved stars
0:01:06 > 0:01:08into the people they are today.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11Welcome to The TV That Made Me.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22My guest today is a national institution -
0:01:22 > 0:01:25a one-woman comedy powerhouse.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28Sandi Toksvig has fizzed through the radio waves
0:01:28 > 0:01:33as presenter of the Radio 4 News Quiz for nine years,
0:01:33 > 0:01:37and sparkled on TV in shows as diverse as Food & Drink,
0:01:37 > 0:01:41Call My Bluff and the sitcom Up The Women.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43The TV that made her
0:01:43 > 0:01:46includes an anarchic Saturday morning kids' show....
0:01:46 > 0:01:48Oh, morning. Did you see who that was?
0:01:48 > 0:01:53..and the Apollo 11 manned space exploration to the moon.
0:01:53 > 0:01:55Lift-off on Apollo 11.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59There's no doubt a strong spirit of adventure and an appetite for fun
0:01:59 > 0:02:04has helped Sandi rocket into the stratosphere of radio and TV comedy.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06Apollo 11...
0:02:06 > 0:02:09And she is now best known as the host of the quiz show
0:02:09 > 0:02:11Fifteen to One.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14It's with great pleasure that I introduce Sandi Toksvig.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17- Sandi... - Hello, lovely.- Hello, darling.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20- Hello, fellow thespian. - SHE LAUGHS
0:02:20 > 0:02:23I want to ask, what was your relationship with telly?
0:02:23 > 0:02:25It's been in my life always,
0:02:25 > 0:02:28because my father was THE most famous broadcaster
0:02:28 > 0:02:30- that Danish television had ever produced.- Mm-hm.
0:02:30 > 0:02:34In fact, he was the FIRST broadcaster that Danish television ever produced.
0:02:36 > 0:02:41Sandi Toksvig was born in Copenhagen in 1958 -
0:02:41 > 0:02:46a time when Danish TV only broadcast two programmes each day,
0:02:46 > 0:02:49and one of these was a daily news bulletin
0:02:49 > 0:02:54presented by the incredibly famous Claus Toksvig -
0:02:54 > 0:02:57or, as Sandi knew him, Dad.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01Claus Toksvig's broadcasting career began in 1951 in London,
0:03:01 > 0:03:04where he worked for the BBC World Service.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07Here, he met Sandi's mum, Julie Anne,
0:03:07 > 0:03:10who was one of the very first female studio managers.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15With two high-flying TV pioneers as parents,
0:03:15 > 0:03:17Sandi was surely destined
0:03:17 > 0:03:20for her own incredible career on the airwaves.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24Although there wasn't a lot of telly around in her early years.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28So when I was a child, television started at seven.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31- Do you remember you had to turn the telly on five minutes before, for it to warm up?- Yeah.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33So you'd turn it on at it on at five to seven,
0:03:33 > 0:03:35and then at seven o'clock my dad would read the news.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38They couldn't afford to have any filmed reports,
0:03:38 > 0:03:41so it was just Dad reading the news - although there was a phone on his desk,
0:03:41 > 0:03:43and occasionally that would ring, and he'd do an interview.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45- And that lasted for an hour.- OK.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47And then at eight o'clock there'd be a half-hour documentary
0:03:47 > 0:03:51about something gripping like the Queen's silver spoon collection...
0:03:51 > 0:03:54- Oh, yes.- ..and then at 8.30 the whole service closed down.- Yeah.
0:03:54 > 0:03:55So I thought that's what dads did.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58I thought that they just were on in the corner of the room,
0:03:58 > 0:03:59and then you went to bed.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02In 1967,
0:04:02 > 0:04:07Claus became Danish television's first foreign correspondent ever,
0:04:07 > 0:04:10and the family jetted off to the United States.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21We moved to New York, because the idea was the UN was there,
0:04:21 > 0:04:22so you could cover the whole world.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25Because if something happened in the world,
0:04:25 > 0:04:27he could talk to a person at the UN about it.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29So we lived most of my childhood in New York.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32Now, your first TV memory... it's enormous, really, you know?
0:04:32 > 0:04:36It's something that 600 million people got to watch.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40This, of course, was the rocket launch.
0:04:40 > 0:04:45Yeah, Apollo 11, which was 1969. The first manned mission to the moon.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49I knew that we were in the presence of history,
0:04:49 > 0:04:51and my dad couldn't have been clearer about it.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54Let me press the clicker. Just... Here we are.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57Leading up to the ignition sequence at 8.9 seconds.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00Back in Britain, we watched this through the night,
0:05:00 > 0:05:03thanks to the BBC and ITV's first ever
0:05:03 > 0:05:05all-night transmission.
0:05:05 > 0:05:10All around the world, man's greatest adventure was being watched
0:05:10 > 0:05:13on one of man's greatest inventions.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17But Claus Toksvig was actually there reporting live to Denmark,
0:05:17 > 0:05:20and he took 11-year-old daughter Sandi along with him.
0:05:20 > 0:05:2240 seconds away...
0:05:22 > 0:05:26- Can you see this crowd?- Mm-hm. - That's where I was standing.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28So I am somewhere in that crowd.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31Astronauts report it feels good. T minus 25 seconds.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34And this countdown...
0:05:34 > 0:05:3620 seconds and counting.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38..the thrill of it was unbelievable.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42What's extraordinary, as you stood in the crowd, was the tremor.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46Ten, nine - ignition sequence starts.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49It felt like your whole heart was going to come out of your chest.
0:05:49 > 0:05:54Six, five, four, three, two, one, zero.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57All engine running.
0:05:57 > 0:05:59Lift-off! We have a lift-off!
0:05:59 > 0:06:0132 minutes past the hour.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04People started clapping and crying -
0:06:04 > 0:06:06it was incredibly moving.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11Apollo 11, Houston. You're good at one minute.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13And as it disappeared up into the clouds,
0:06:13 > 0:06:17we absolutely knew we were seeing something extraordinary.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19You're good at one minute.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23And then of course we moved to Mission Control,
0:06:23 > 0:06:25- which was in Houston.- Mm-hm.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27And so I was standing next to a woman who was watching,
0:06:27 > 0:06:30and she looked rather nervous, and I said, "Are you all right?"
0:06:30 > 0:06:33And she said, "Actually, I'm a little nervous,
0:06:33 > 0:06:35"because that's my boss about to step out on to the moon."
0:06:35 > 0:06:38And I said, "Oh, don't worry, I'll hold your hand."
0:06:38 > 0:06:40And so, Neil Armstrong, as he stepped out on to the moon,
0:06:40 > 0:06:42I was holding his secretary's hand.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46That's one small step for man...
0:06:48 > 0:06:51..one giant leap for mankind.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55- "One giant leap."- Yes.- That's it.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57Great sentence, terrible grammar.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59Erm...but it was an extraordinary...
0:06:59 > 0:07:01Was it you who told the secretary that?
0:07:01 > 0:07:04I said, "Look, I don't who wrote that for him, but seriously..."
0:07:04 > 0:07:06The excitement in that room - I mean,
0:07:06 > 0:07:12watching grown men sobbing with the relief and excitement and so on.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14They've got the flag up now,
0:07:14 > 0:07:17and you can see the Stars and Stripes on the lunar surface.
0:07:20 > 0:07:21Beautiful. Just beautiful.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24- Now, we have a surprise for you. - Oh, Lord.- Yeah.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26- Because you've been talking about your father...- Yeah.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28..and, er...
0:07:28 > 0:07:29Well, have a little look at this.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39HE SPEAKS IN DANISH
0:07:39 > 0:07:40SHE GASPS: There he is!
0:07:53 > 0:07:56I can translate - he says, "I am sitting in the captain's seat
0:07:56 > 0:07:59"in the Apollo space capsule..."
0:08:05 > 0:08:07But look - that's how they controlled...
0:08:07 > 0:08:08That's extraordinary, isn't it?
0:08:08 > 0:08:10- Left, right! - Don't you think that's unbelievable?
0:08:10 > 0:08:12When we think about computers today -
0:08:12 > 0:08:14they're literally going "left" and "right"
0:08:14 > 0:08:16in the command module, it is sort of unbelievable.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19HE CONTINUES IN DANISH
0:08:23 > 0:08:25- And...- Have you seen this, Sandi?
0:08:25 > 0:08:26VOICE BREAKS: Oh, it makes me want to cry.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28- Oh, you can have a cry if you want. - Oh!
0:08:28 > 0:08:33He was the best live broadcaster. He...
0:08:33 > 0:08:36He brought the world to Denmark.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38That's what's really hard to imagine - he was it,
0:08:38 > 0:08:44and he became the idol for anybody who wanted to work in television.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50He was a very special guy.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55Moving on a few years, and that sweet little Danish child
0:08:55 > 0:08:59had turned into a rebellious American teenager.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02To save their 14-year-old daughter from herself,
0:09:02 > 0:09:06Mum and Dad sent Sandi to school in England,
0:09:06 > 0:09:09and two years later the whole family followed.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14I came... When I was 14, I came to boarding school,
0:09:14 > 0:09:16so I came two years before the rest of my family.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19I got thrown out of three American schools in a row.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23- Can I just say, the last one was a misunderstanding?- OK.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25I had no idea you were supposed to be there every day.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28And so, in order to contain me,
0:09:28 > 0:09:30- because I found school very boring...- Mm-hm.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32..my parents sent me to boarding school.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35So I came when I was 14, and my parents then...
0:09:35 > 0:09:38My dad got the posting to London when I was 16.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41So we didn't move here until quite late in my life.
0:09:43 > 0:09:48As the Toksvig family first gathered around a British TV in 1974,
0:09:48 > 0:09:52they were just in time to see Tom Baker become Doctor Who,
0:09:52 > 0:09:57a show called Angels rewrite the rules on television hospital drama,
0:09:57 > 0:10:03and a man called Norman Stanley Fletcher get porridge.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06There'd never been so much great TV to choose from,
0:10:06 > 0:10:09so what did the Toksvigs choose?
0:10:15 > 0:10:19So Family Favourites - what did the whole family sit down and watch?
0:10:19 > 0:10:22- Well, when we were in the UK? - Yes.- My dad loved That's Life.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25- That did make us cry with laughter. - Shall we have a look?
0:10:25 > 0:10:27- Yeah! Yeah, absolutely. - Let's have a look.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29Let's have a look. This is the opening of That's Life.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32THAT'S LIFE THEME
0:10:34 > 0:10:37They certainly don't make shows like That's Life any more.
0:10:37 > 0:10:39It was the hard-hitting campaigns
0:10:39 > 0:10:42mixed with the light-hearted slices of life
0:10:42 > 0:10:45that made it so ground-breaking and so popular.
0:10:45 > 0:10:50For 21 years it made us laugh and cry in equal measure,
0:10:50 > 0:10:54and it remains one of the very few shows in the history of TV
0:10:54 > 0:10:57that has truly changed the way we live.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00Thank you very much indeed. Welcome once again to That's Life,
0:11:00 > 0:11:02and thank you...
0:11:02 > 0:11:06For me, watching as a young person, I watched Esther be in charge,
0:11:06 > 0:11:09and I suddenly thought, cos I had never really seen that before,-
0:11:09 > 0:11:11and I thought, "Oh, wow, you can be a woman
0:11:11 > 0:11:13"and be in control of the show."
0:11:13 > 0:11:16While Esther held court, her jester,
0:11:16 > 0:11:19the brilliant Cyril Fletcher, kept us in stitches,
0:11:19 > 0:11:22especially with those clippings sent in by viewers.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25- Do you remember Cyril Fletcher? - Of course.- In the armchair.
0:11:25 > 0:11:26We loved Cyril Fletcher.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39LAUGHTER
0:11:39 > 0:11:42For anyone who might be thinking unchristian thoughts
0:11:42 > 0:11:44about our vicar, readers learned on Tuesday...
0:12:02 > 0:12:04LAUGHTER
0:12:05 > 0:12:07However, on Wednesday...
0:12:16 > 0:12:20"The Reverend AJ Agland has one television set for sale cheap.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23"Telephone 626 1313 after 7pm,
0:12:23 > 0:12:26"And ask for Mrs Jordan who loves with him."
0:12:26 > 0:12:27LAUGHTER
0:12:30 > 0:12:32How can you laugh?
0:12:32 > 0:12:34This blooming reverend is getting very annoyed.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37On Thursday, the Reverend AJ Agland comes out fighting.
0:12:53 > 0:12:54LAUGHTER
0:12:56 > 0:12:59Dear old Rev Agland doesn't give up easily.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01In Friday's paper, his advertisement read...
0:13:11 > 0:13:12LAUGHTER
0:13:12 > 0:13:15Let me press pause.
0:13:15 > 0:13:16Isn't he a legend?
0:13:16 > 0:13:19He was just wonderful. He had great delivery. And do you know what?
0:13:19 > 0:13:22I don't think you'd get somebody who looks like that on television today.
0:13:22 > 0:13:23It's absolutely fantastic.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26And I remember, because Dad had a wonderful sense of humour,
0:13:26 > 0:13:29I remember Cyril Fletcher reading one out, and I have never forgotten,
0:13:29 > 0:13:30and it said, "Messenger wanted.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32"Must have own bike and messages."
0:13:32 > 0:13:34And...
0:13:34 > 0:13:36And Dad couldn't stop laughing, and it was a nightmare.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38You couldn't pause the television in those days,
0:13:38 > 0:13:41and you couldn't record it, and we couldn't hear what the next bit was,
0:13:41 > 0:13:43- cos Dad was laughing so much.- Yeah!
0:13:43 > 0:13:46How television has changed. Absolutely fantastic.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48I loved the programme, I loved the variety of it,
0:13:48 > 0:13:51I loved the fact that it appealed to everybody - we could watch it
0:13:51 > 0:13:54from a young age, to the parents watching it and enjoying it.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56I thought it was a wonderful programme,
0:13:56 > 0:14:00and I think Esther as a campaigning journalist is an inspiration...
0:14:00 > 0:14:03- Yes.- ..and I would pay tribute to her, absolutely.
0:14:08 > 0:14:09Right, we're moving on to TV Taboos.
0:14:09 > 0:14:14Now, this is stuff that... Well, you can explain it. Top Of The Pops.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16OK, so, when I was at boarding school,
0:14:16 > 0:14:19- we pretty much were not allowed to watch television.- Right.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21We pretty much weren't allowed to do anything,
0:14:21 > 0:14:24but we were, on a Thursday night, allowed to watch Top Of The Pops.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27- Right.- And a parent, grateful for having their daughter locked up
0:14:27 > 0:14:31for so very long, donated a colour television to the school.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35So, the very first time we watched it -
0:14:35 > 0:14:37- it was glam rock in those days.- Yes.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41It was thrilling, and we were all highly overexcited,
0:14:41 > 0:14:44and the next morning, the headmistress, bless her,
0:14:44 > 0:14:46called an engineer to the school,
0:14:46 > 0:14:48and the television was retuned to black and white,
0:14:48 > 0:14:51because it had been too exciting.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54And we never saw the colour television in colour again.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57That was the end of it - from then on, for the rest of my schooldays,
0:14:57 > 0:14:59television appeared in black and white.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02Oh, well, let me give you a little catch-up of glam rock.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04- Is it in colour? - Of course it is.- Thank goodness.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07Top Of The Pops. Can you cope?
0:15:07 > 0:15:10MUSIC: Block Buster! by The Sweet
0:15:10 > 0:15:15Top Of The Pops arrived on our screens on New Year's Day 1964,
0:15:15 > 0:15:17and stayed for 42 years.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21In the process, it became the biggest music show in the world.
0:15:21 > 0:15:26At its height, the show was screened in over 100 different countries.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32Luckily, they didn't stick to the original title -
0:15:32 > 0:15:38I don't think Teen & 20 Record Club would have done quite so well.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40The hair is fantastic.
0:15:40 > 0:15:42# Does anyone know the way?
0:15:42 > 0:15:45# Did we hear someone say
0:15:45 > 0:15:48# We just haven't got a clue what to do!
0:15:48 > 0:15:50# Does anyone know the way?
0:15:50 > 0:15:51# There's got to be a way
0:15:51 > 0:15:53# To Block Buster! #
0:15:53 > 0:15:56So is it making you feel wild and racy?
0:15:56 > 0:15:58Yeah. I'm crazy now, I'm completely crazy now.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00That's it - I'm going to go completely bonkers
0:16:00 > 0:16:02- and have an extra sugar in my tea. - I know!
0:16:02 > 0:16:04Quick, get it back to black and white.
0:16:04 > 0:16:06We're freaking out here.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09So what were the other rules for television?
0:16:09 > 0:16:12We were occasionally allowed to watch on a Saturday night,
0:16:12 > 0:16:13if Matron decided,
0:16:13 > 0:16:15but we were allowed to watch something on BBC One,
0:16:15 > 0:16:18because it was the family channel, possibly something on BBC Two,
0:16:18 > 0:16:21but that was really for people who'd read a book.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23And nothing on ITV, because that was cheap and tawdry.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26So it pleased me, usually, when I started on television,
0:16:26 > 0:16:29that I worked for ITV, cos I knew it would have upset Matron.
0:16:34 > 0:16:35Parents' Choice.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38This, I believe, is Tomorrow's World.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41Yeah. My dad was obsessed with new technology.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44We've already seen that he was obsessed with Saturn V rockets,
0:16:44 > 0:16:47and Apollo and so on, so anything that was an advance,
0:16:47 > 0:16:50technologically, my dad was fascinated by.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54TOMORROW'S WORLD THEME
0:16:54 > 0:16:58The BBC introduced us to Tomorrow's World in 1965,
0:16:58 > 0:17:00and for 38 years
0:17:00 > 0:17:03we were totally amazed, and often confused,
0:17:03 > 0:17:07by the inventions that were seemingly just around the corner.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10In 1972, ten million people tuned in
0:17:10 > 0:17:13to hear about a barely believable prospect
0:17:13 > 0:17:16of something called the Channel Tunnel...
0:17:16 > 0:17:17A large area of western
0:17:17 > 0:17:20and central Europe will come within a comfortable day's
0:17:20 > 0:17:22driving from London, and that mighty ditch, the Channel,
0:17:22 > 0:17:25will have been reduced to an average day's journey to work.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29..and to watch demonstrations of the first water bikes
0:17:29 > 0:17:31and helicopter cars.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33Mine still hasn't been delivered.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37Telecommunications have intruded into our lives,
0:17:37 > 0:17:40but not for political purposes, like Orwell's telescreen.
0:17:40 > 0:17:41And ironically,
0:17:41 > 0:17:44the ingredients aren't futuristic technological wonders,
0:17:44 > 0:17:47they're basically just our old friends
0:17:47 > 0:17:51the telephone and the television linking with a computer database.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53Even the way she speaks, nobody talks like that.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55CLIPPED ACCENT: They talk like this.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58There's the telephone, and things you're entirely used to.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01This is a breakthrough that will affect all our everyday lives.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04You can already use it to do your shopping.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09Now, a list of wines to stock up again after Christmas.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13Now, I can put in a credit card to pay for it,
0:18:13 > 0:18:14and the orders are on the way.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17That was incredible - the idea that you could order something
0:18:17 > 0:18:20- through your television was unbelievable.- Mm.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22computers join the mass communication market
0:18:22 > 0:18:23for the first time.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26This is a sign of how fast we've come along.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28My dad died - where are we now? -
0:18:28 > 0:18:3226 years ago, and he never saw a mobile phone.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34- Really?- And he would have loved it! - Yeah, yeah.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36All that computerised stuff.
0:18:37 > 0:18:38I sometimes have some trouble with my hands,
0:18:38 > 0:18:42- and I dictate to my computers, I have a voice recognition programme. - Mm-hm.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44And I remember my son coming in, and I was dictating a book.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47He said, "What are you doing?" I said, "I'm talking to my computer."
0:18:47 > 0:18:49He went, "Oh, yeah." And you just think,
0:18:49 > 0:18:52"Oh, you don't think it's extraordinary and amazing."
0:18:56 > 0:19:01We've got a clip from a show that I think you'll really enjoy.
0:19:01 > 0:19:02Dan...da-da!
0:19:02 > 0:19:04Good God!
0:19:04 > 0:19:06Yes, none of your shop-bought rubbish.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08Now, there's a trick with these, all right?
0:19:08 > 0:19:10They're perfectly all right, they're perfectly sound,
0:19:10 > 0:19:12except they do not go bang. So...
0:19:12 > 0:19:14- And... - BOTH: Bang!
0:19:14 > 0:19:16- Richard Briers... - Yeah, I know, what a legend.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20And Felicity Kendal, but, for me, the show was about Penny Keith.
0:19:20 > 0:19:25The show was about the timing of that genius comic woman.
0:19:25 > 0:19:26One, two, three...
0:19:26 > 0:19:28Crack.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30LAUGHTER
0:19:30 > 0:19:31Not "bang"?
0:19:31 > 0:19:34No, I see "crack" as a more pertinent word.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37It is, after all, the stem of "cracker", isn't it?
0:19:37 > 0:19:38You can't argue with that.
0:19:38 > 0:19:45Of course, because I'd been brought up so far in Denmark, and in America,
0:19:45 > 0:19:47I didn't know about the class system in Britain.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51We don't really have a class system in Denmark at all.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53And it seemed extraordinary to me
0:19:53 > 0:19:56that these two women could not get on, couldn't understand each other.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58Oh, look at her!
0:19:58 > 0:20:00Come on, Margot, get your hat on!
0:20:00 > 0:20:01This is the Daily Mirror.
0:20:03 > 0:20:08I am terribly sorry, Margot. Please, have the Telegraph.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14- So, of course, he's got the Financial Times on...- Yes!
0:20:14 > 0:20:16..and she's got the Daily Telegraph on,
0:20:16 > 0:20:19and that tells you so much about British society, doesn't it?
0:20:19 > 0:20:20- Yes. - But I didn't know it at the time.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23But look at it - it's all happening in one room...
0:20:23 > 0:20:27There's no great fantastic television thing happening here,
0:20:27 > 0:20:29- apart from people sitting, chatting and being funny.- Yeah.
0:20:29 > 0:20:30Bit like us.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32SHE CHUCKLES
0:20:32 > 0:20:35We should have had hats. We should have had hats!
0:20:35 > 0:20:37Now, then, my motto.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42"The 'ooh-aah' bird is so called because it lays square eggs."
0:20:52 > 0:20:53I don't understand that.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55So you'd watch that at home, with your family?
0:20:55 > 0:20:58Yeah. Yeah, that was a good one for the family.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01And I miss it. It always used to be on at half past seven,
0:21:01 > 0:21:03we'll all sit together at half past seven.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05- Of course, it doesn't work that way now.- No.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07You would have 12 million people might watch one thing,
0:21:07 > 0:21:10and the chances are somebody else at work had seen the same thing.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13- It doesn't happen any more. - 12 million people watched one thing,
0:21:13 > 0:21:15because there was only what, three channels?
0:21:15 > 0:21:17Yeah, and one of them was cheap and tawdry, so...
0:21:17 > 0:21:18- Yeah, which you never watched. - No.
0:21:18 > 0:21:20Watching Penelope, watching The Good Life,
0:21:20 > 0:21:22did it influence your comedy?
0:21:22 > 0:21:24Yeah, there's no question
0:21:24 > 0:21:26that there's a lot of very strong women that I've watched
0:21:26 > 0:21:28- over the years, and admired their timing.- Mm.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30I mean, what do you think of people that say that,
0:21:30 > 0:21:34"Oh, women can't be funny"?
0:21:34 > 0:21:36- Ridiculous, isn't it?- Here's a little test I would do for you, OK?
0:21:36 > 0:21:38Try and do this without getting arrested.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40- If you're ever at a big function, OK?- Mm.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42Go and stand outside the gents' toilets -
0:21:42 > 0:21:44you don't need to go in, just stand outside -
0:21:44 > 0:21:46the door will open and close, and all you'll hear is...
0:21:46 > 0:21:49SHE MURMURS ..and water running.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51Stand outside the ladies'. As the door opens and closes,
0:21:51 > 0:21:53you will hear nothing but laughter.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55Women are funny all the time.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58We still have a problem in this country -
0:21:58 > 0:22:02if there's a show on, you hardly ever have more than one woman on the show.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05If there's four panellists, it'll be three boys and a girl.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08- And they'll say, "Ooh, women - we've already got one of those."- Mm.
0:22:08 > 0:22:10So, we still have work to do. There's stuff to do.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18But Sandi's big TV break came in 1982,
0:22:18 > 0:22:22when ITV started making a brand-new, completely live
0:22:22 > 0:22:26Saturday morning kids' TV show, No. 73.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29It was to be bigger and messier than anything on the BBC,
0:22:29 > 0:22:32but she got started on the road to stardom
0:22:32 > 0:22:35not because of what she did right, but what she did wrong.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37- So, you know The Stage newspaper... - Yes.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39..the newspaper for the profession.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41I was reading it, and there was an advert in the back,
0:22:41 > 0:22:44"Would you like to have breakfast with a gorilla?"
0:22:44 > 0:22:45And I though, "Well, I don't mind."
0:22:45 > 0:22:49So it said to send off your CV and a photograph of yourself,
0:22:49 > 0:22:51and I didn't realise, because I didn't know much about show
0:22:51 > 0:22:54business, that they meant one of those posh photographs.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57I went to Victoria Station in London to a photo booth,
0:22:57 > 0:22:59and I couldn't get the chair to go all the way up,
0:22:59 > 0:23:02so I sent a photo that, honestly, it was three-quarters of my head
0:23:02 > 0:23:04in a little tiny picture like this,
0:23:04 > 0:23:06and the producers thought it was a joke.
0:23:06 > 0:23:07Oh, right! Oh, right.
0:23:07 > 0:23:12It was the only photo that I had of myself, and I auditioned,
0:23:12 > 0:23:14and I got the job.
0:23:14 > 0:23:19So here we are. This is No. 73, with Sandi Toksvig.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25Morning. Did you see who that was?
0:23:25 > 0:23:27I bet it was the milkman.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29- That's not you!- It is me!
0:23:29 > 0:23:30No, that's you!
0:23:31 > 0:23:34- Have you seen this before? - No. Cos it was live!
0:23:34 > 0:23:35Well, let's have a look.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38That's how the day started. What does the horoscope say?
0:23:38 > 0:23:40Er...Taurus.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43It was live telly, hour and three-quarters.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45Still only three channels.
0:23:45 > 0:23:47Millions of people watching,
0:23:47 > 0:23:50and you knew there was a lot of work ahead of you.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53Your heart would be absolutely coming out of your chest.
0:23:53 > 0:23:55So the first six years of my television career.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58- So wonderful TV training, surely? - Oh, it's the best.
0:23:58 > 0:24:00There's nothing that went wrong that couldn't have gone wrong.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04First he had the whole house rewired, then he had me wired for sound.
0:24:04 > 0:24:05It's wonderful.
0:24:05 > 0:24:06KNOCK AT DOOR
0:24:08 > 0:24:09Oh, it can't be the milkman, can it?
0:24:09 > 0:24:12- I can't tell you...- A lot of acting. - There was a lot of acting,
0:24:12 > 0:24:14and I can't tell you how many things went wrong.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18We did a whole show with Spike Milligan, hour and three-quarters.
0:24:18 > 0:24:19The last five minutes,
0:24:19 > 0:24:22Spike and me are meant to do the whole big scene
0:24:22 > 0:24:23to wrap up everything.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26I go into that bit of the set,
0:24:26 > 0:24:29and the floor manager's behind the camera going, "Spike's gone home."
0:24:30 > 0:24:33To do the last five minutes, I played both parts.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35HONKY TONK MUSIC So the daring, dazzling,
0:24:35 > 0:24:37death-defyingly dull, devastatingly dangerous,
0:24:37 > 0:24:40delectable, divinely decadent Sandwich Quiz!
0:24:40 > 0:24:42- ALL:- Heeeeeere's Ethel!
0:24:42 > 0:24:45The reason we did the Sandwich Quiz was, because the show was live,
0:24:45 > 0:24:47sometimes at the end we had two minutes left,
0:24:47 > 0:24:48and sometimes we had 22 minutes left,
0:24:48 > 0:24:51and we could never work out how to time it exactly,
0:24:51 > 0:24:53and the Sandwich Quiz, and my job,
0:24:53 > 0:24:55was to make sure we came out exactly on time.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57Prince Charles has saved a 59-year-old man
0:24:57 > 0:24:59who was in a car crash this morning.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01- Quite a hero, old Charles. - Is he? Going to make your sandwich?
0:25:01 > 0:25:04- Here's your currants.- Thanks. - Piece of bread. How are we doing?
0:25:04 > 0:25:05That's very nice.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08Pour them down here, and make them disappear or turn into sugar.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12- Talking of the Sandwich Quiz, I've got something...- Oh, no.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16..in the hall, that I'm just about to get.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20- I've got here...- Oh, for goodness' sake.- ..the very item.
0:25:20 > 0:25:21SHE CHUCKLES
0:25:21 > 0:25:24Ladies and gentlemen, we are presenting, for the first time...
0:25:24 > 0:25:27Oh, we had currants! It was for current affairs, we had currants.
0:25:27 > 0:25:31..in many years, we are going to perform the Sandwich Quiz.
0:25:31 > 0:25:33- These are your questions.- OK.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36- Cos we're going to play. I haven't seen them.- So, the idea was...
0:25:36 > 0:25:39Well, first up, can you do the tongue twister?
0:25:39 > 0:25:41Oh, my goodness, it must be 30 years.
0:25:41 > 0:25:43- I've got it here. - No, no, let me try.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45So I used to bang the table, and the music would start.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47HONKY-TONK MUSIC And I would say...
0:25:47 > 0:25:49So, the daring, dazzling, death-defyingly dull,
0:25:49 > 0:25:51devastatingly dangerous, delectable,
0:25:51 > 0:25:53divinely decadent Sandwich Quiz.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55In the bag, ladies and gentlemen. A Blue Peter badge.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57So I'm going to ask you a question.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59- Right.- If you get it right, you make a sandwich.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02You've got to do this quickly, we have a lot of people to feed.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04- Mm-hm.- OK, are you ready? KLAXON
0:26:04 > 0:26:06Sandwiches were invented by a famous earl, the Earl of...?
0:26:06 > 0:26:08- Of Sandwich.- Absolutely right. Make a sandwich.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11- So I make a sandwich. - I'll ask you the next question -
0:26:11 > 0:26:12you've got to be quick.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14- Which country has a nut named after it?- Oh, gawd.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17- Um...- What is that? - I don't know what sandwich it is.
0:26:17 > 0:26:18Looks like salad cream.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20- No, don't do jam with it! It looks horrible.- I'm sorry.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23- Have I got to eat it? - Yes. Is it coronation chicken?
0:26:23 > 0:26:25- It is...brazil nuts.- Brazil nuts! Make another sandwich.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28Do you drink fizzy pop from a can or a cannot?
0:26:28 > 0:26:31- Er...from a can. - Oh, you're good. You're good!- Ah!
0:26:31 > 0:26:33- But you're not fast at the sandwiches.- No, I'm not.
0:26:33 > 0:26:35Normally there would have been two people.
0:26:35 > 0:26:36We'd have Elton John against Suzi Quatro.
0:26:36 > 0:26:38Oh, where's Elton when you need him?
0:26:38 > 0:26:41If you put bread in a bread bin, what do you put in a toaster?
0:26:41 > 0:26:44- Er... Oh, good - bread, bread. - Hey!- That was good!
0:26:44 > 0:26:46- I see where you were going there. - Another sandwich, please.
0:26:46 > 0:26:47Thank you very much.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49- Why did the chicken cross the road? - Er...
0:26:49 > 0:26:51To get to the other side.
0:26:51 > 0:26:52Ah, you see, a comic.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54We should ask some currant ones.
0:26:54 > 0:26:55Why did the tomato blush?
0:26:55 > 0:26:58Er, because it was...
0:26:58 > 0:27:00- sun-dried? - Because it saw the salad dressing.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02KLAXON Oh, you were doing so well!
0:27:02 > 0:27:04You should come on Fifteen To One.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06I'm telling you, the physics questions were next.
0:27:06 > 0:27:07Would have been great.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09Do you think that this would work well on Fifteen To One,
0:27:09 > 0:27:11- making sandwiches?- Yeah, why not?
0:27:11 > 0:27:13I love the fact that this is your idea.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15This is something that you thought of.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18Well, it's a long time ago, but maybe it's ripe for a comeback.
0:27:18 > 0:27:19Shall we see what we can do?
0:27:19 > 0:27:22- You said we should work together.- I'm ready.
0:27:22 > 0:27:23- Ready when you are.- Yeah?- Mm.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25Does it seem weird, watching yourself?
0:27:25 > 0:27:26Yeah, it is very strange.
0:27:26 > 0:27:28Because it was live, I never really watched it.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31So it is very odd and dear Lord, I look young.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34- Mm, you still do, though.- You are gorgeous.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36I may be on the turn, Brian, I'm just saying. I really like you.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38God bless you.
0:27:38 > 0:27:39So, Sandi, to bring us up to date,
0:27:39 > 0:27:41what do you enjoy watching now on TV?
0:27:41 > 0:27:43I've loved all the Danish dramas that have done so well -
0:27:43 > 0:27:46The Killing, Borgen, The Legacy - I love the international element.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48So, as a guest on the show, you get a choice, now,
0:27:48 > 0:27:50to pick a theme tune...
0:27:50 > 0:27:53- OK.- ..that we're going to play out on.
0:27:53 > 0:27:54- There's only one.- Mm-hm.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58It's got to be Cagney & Lacey. I love those feisty ladies.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01I dreamt of striding down a street like that.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04- It reminds me of my American childhood.- Mm-hm.
0:28:04 > 0:28:06Ladies and gentlemen, this wonderful lady,
0:28:06 > 0:28:08Sandi Toksvig, God bless you.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11And here is Cagney & Lacey to play us out.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13We'll see you soon. Bye-bye.