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 > 0:00:16world of TV with 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 > 0:00:22I 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, come! Listen, this looks smashing, Johnny!
0:00:28 > 0:00:29- BOTH:- # Right on time... #
0:00:29 > 0:00:31Some are funny.
0:00:31 > 0:00:32Oh, I loved him!
0:00:32 > 0:00:34# ..became of the people... #
0:00:34 > 0:00:37Some are surprising.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40I'll let you into a secret I've never told anyone before.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42Some are inspiring.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45I've always wanted to be a Miss something.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47The best TV transports you.
0:00:47 > 0:00:48And 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 > 0:00:52..are deeply moving.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54- Oh!- 'The death of John F Kennedy...'
0:00:54 > 0:00:57This takes me back.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00- Makes me want to cry. - Oh, you've never cried.
0:01:00 > 0:01:02So come watch with us as we
0:01:02 > 0:01:04hand-pick the vintage telly that helped
0:01:04 > 0:01:07turn our much-loved stars into the people they are today.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11Welcome to The TV That Made Me.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22My guest today started out his illustrious
0:01:22 > 0:01:27career at Cambridge University comedy hothouse Footlights.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31His first gig was writing gags for his hero, Frankie Howerd,
0:01:31 > 0:01:34but he soon ended up on the other side of the camera.
0:01:34 > 0:01:39Yes, comedian Rory McGrath is on my couch and the TV that made him
0:01:39 > 0:01:41includes an ageless man in a box...
0:01:43 > 0:01:44Well? What do you think?
0:01:44 > 0:01:47..a healthy dose of, "Ooh, ah, missus..."
0:01:47 > 0:01:49I wish I'd put my waterproof knickers on.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52..and then, of course, there's this guy.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56MUSIC PLAYS
0:01:56 > 0:02:00Yes, a love of all things offbeat has inspired Rory McGrath to
0:02:00 > 0:02:05make us all laugh, both in front of and behind the camera.
0:02:05 > 0:02:07- The one and only Rory McGrath is here!- Thank you.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10- Great to meet you, Brian. - Great to meet you, too.
0:02:10 > 0:02:11Been a fan of yours for many years.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14So today is a celebration, a collection of shows,
0:02:14 > 0:02:17TV shows, that have made you what you are.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20- Very old!- Do you feel old?
0:02:20 > 0:02:24When I was trying to recall what I watch, it does make me feel very old.
0:02:24 > 0:02:29In 1956, Patrick Rory McGrath entered the world - or,
0:02:29 > 0:02:31to be more precise, Cornwall.
0:02:31 > 0:02:3518 years later, while studying modern languages at Cambridge,
0:02:35 > 0:02:38he joined the Footlights Drama Club which was
0:02:38 > 0:02:41the beginning of his sparkling career in comedy.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43So your earliest TV memory, now?
0:02:43 > 0:02:45It's got to be - and this is going to sound predictable -
0:02:45 > 0:02:46Watch With Mother.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50And what's surprising about thinking about Watch With Mother is very early
0:02:50 > 0:02:53on, you get a sense of what you like and what you don't like, you know.
0:02:53 > 0:02:54As children, you expect...
0:02:54 > 0:02:57It's a different programme every day, five days a week, but you think,
0:02:57 > 0:03:00"Oh, Tuesday, it's Andy Pandy. Don't like that very much."
0:03:00 > 0:03:02Why did you not like Andy Pandy?
0:03:02 > 0:03:04They didn't do much.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07I don't know whether I'm being revisionist in looking
0:03:07 > 0:03:14back at a man and a girl and a teddy bear living in a basket for all
0:03:14 > 0:03:18but 20 minutes a week when they come out to entertain us, you know.
0:03:18 > 0:03:20Nothing much happened. It was a bit...
0:03:20 > 0:03:23Namby-pamby is almost the right word for Andy Pandy.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26Shall we have a little look and take you back to round about 1957?
0:03:26 > 0:03:28- Oh, no!- Here we go.- Look at this!
0:03:29 > 0:03:33Watch With Mother was with us for 20 years and was so called
0:03:33 > 0:03:36because of fears that television might become a nursemaid to
0:03:36 > 0:03:39children and encourage bad mothering.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43# Andy Pandy's coming to play... #
0:03:43 > 0:03:47Amongst this daily line-up were the likes of Bill and Ben,
0:03:47 > 0:03:51the Woodentops and Rory's old favourite.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54Andy Pandy's somewhere in the garden today.
0:03:54 > 0:03:55Let's go and find him, shall we?
0:03:55 > 0:03:57RORY CHUCKLES
0:03:57 > 0:03:59POSH ACCENT: I'd forgotten they all talk very posh
0:03:59 > 0:04:01- in children's television, don't they? - Frightfully.- Yes.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05While the puppetry and storytelling is crude by today's standards,
0:04:05 > 0:04:10Andy Pandy was an instant hit amongst the 300,000 households
0:04:10 > 0:04:14that actually had a television set when it first screened.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17That's right, Andy Pandy. Wheel it along.
0:04:17 > 0:04:22- Are we excited by the animation? - I quite like it.- What does Ted do?
0:04:22 > 0:04:24He's just getting in the way or being run over!
0:04:24 > 0:04:26Ted is being run over! Ted hasn't thought this through.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29While Andy Pandy and Ted handled the action sequences,
0:04:29 > 0:04:33it's fair to say Looby Lou did little for women's lib.
0:04:33 > 0:04:35It IS a nice pram.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37And is that Looby Lou in...or is that a corpse?
0:04:37 > 0:04:40BRIAN LAUGHS
0:04:40 > 0:04:42That's rather worrying, that, isn't it?
0:04:42 > 0:04:45Careful, Andy! Don't tip her out.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47It's quite clever cos it's all done by strings, isn't it?
0:04:47 > 0:04:50Oh, yeah, yeah. Well done there. Spot on(!)
0:04:50 > 0:04:52- I understand!- You're cutting-edge.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55Poor Looby Lou. I wonder if she likes it.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58Did you watch this with your mother?
0:04:58 > 0:05:00No, I don't think she was ever there, funnily enough.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02I think she just put us in front...
0:05:02 > 0:05:04Early form of electronic baby-sitting.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08Was it electronic, our television? Possibly.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11It took about 20 minutes to warm up and 20 minutes to close down.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14- Do you remember the dot? You turned the telly off...- Oh, yeah!
0:05:14 > 0:05:17..and the whole picture would compress into the dot and we just
0:05:17 > 0:05:19said, "I can't go to bed yet! I want to see the dot disappear!"
0:05:19 > 0:05:21And then, at 12 o'clock, you used to get the...
0:05:21 > 0:05:22HE HUMS
0:05:22 > 0:05:25- That humming noise.- We never had that.- We had a little humming noise.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27- That was the neighbours.- Oh, right.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30So what did your dad...what was his occupation?
0:05:30 > 0:05:32I'm not allowed to tell you that, unfortunately.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36- Shut up!- Actually, he worked for the Ministry of Defence.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39- He was in fact a research scientist. - Oh, wow!
0:05:39 > 0:05:42In fact, it's only recently that I've been allowed to tell you that.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46- Isn't that interesting?- We used to have to pretend he was a dustman!
0:05:46 > 0:05:48This was genuine. He was a scientist, yeah.
0:05:48 > 0:05:52And you wasn't allowed to sort of disclose that as a young child?
0:05:52 > 0:05:54He would never talk about, you know...
0:05:54 > 0:05:58I said, "What did you do today, Daddy?" "I'm not allowed to tell you!
0:05:58 > 0:05:59"If I tell you, I'll have to kill you."
0:05:59 > 0:06:01It was one of those sort of things.
0:06:01 > 0:06:02One of four children,
0:06:02 > 0:06:07Rory grew up on a council estate in the small town of Redruth, Cornwall,
0:06:07 > 0:06:10in what he describes as a series of grotty houses.
0:06:12 > 0:06:13- So you had a telly.- We had a telly.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16We were the first people to have a telly.
0:06:16 > 0:06:18We lived on this very remote council...
0:06:18 > 0:06:20- The first people ever? - This is it.
0:06:20 > 0:06:26Council estate on the outskirts of a rather remote town in Cornwall.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28We're talking...not quite the middle of nowhere.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31Well, the outskirts of nowhere, maybe.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33And we were the first people to have a telly in the estate
0:06:33 > 0:06:36- and people used to come round to look at it.- Oh, right. Not watch it?
0:06:36 > 0:06:39- Just to look at it?- Just to look at it and say, "Is that it?"
0:06:39 > 0:06:41"Yeah, yeah. It's great, you know."
0:06:41 > 0:06:43"And does it do anything?" "We don't know yet!"
0:06:44 > 0:06:48Telly first arrived in McGrath's household in 1960,
0:06:48 > 0:06:50when Rory was four.
0:06:50 > 0:06:51In those days,
0:06:51 > 0:06:53the most popular children's shows included
0:06:53 > 0:06:55the enduring Blue Peter,
0:06:55 > 0:06:57Captain Pugwash,
0:06:57 > 0:07:02and the children's variety show Crackerjack.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10Rory, we're moving on to must-see TV now.
0:07:10 > 0:07:15Something you would never miss... even to this day?
0:07:15 > 0:07:17I think the first must-see I can remember was Doctor Who,
0:07:17 > 0:07:21because I'm old enough to remember when Doctor Who first started.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23I remember the first episode of Doctor Who.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26The first adventure he went on, I seem to recall,
0:07:26 > 0:07:29- he went back to Stone Age times before fire.- Yeah.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33I think it was one of the nice, little plot quirks -
0:07:33 > 0:07:35it was the Doctor who gave them fire.
0:07:35 > 0:07:36Oh, the cavemen?
0:07:36 > 0:07:39- Yeah, he gave the cavemen fire. - How did he give them fire?
0:07:39 > 0:07:42- A cigarette lighter.- No!- Yeah.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44You don't give the cavemen... How come we've never seen that?
0:07:44 > 0:07:48Why is it never mentioned in any history programme
0:07:48 > 0:07:49about prehistoric times?
0:07:49 > 0:07:52"Then fire was brought by a strange, crabby, old, white-haired bloke
0:07:52 > 0:07:54"in a police box."
0:07:54 > 0:07:56And the wheel as well.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59"I've given you fire. Don't go away, I've got a wheel in here."
0:07:59 > 0:08:01"Oh, God, look at that! It's a wheel!"
0:08:01 > 0:08:03"Don't go away. Telephone."
0:08:05 > 0:08:08Shall we hide behind the sofa and watch a little bit of the Doctor?
0:08:08 > 0:08:10- I am not looking forward to this one. - OK.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14Rory and I are hiding behind the sofa to watch a little bit...
0:08:14 > 0:08:17This is where we watched the first episode of the Daleks from.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19And you would have been, what, about six or seven?
0:08:19 > 0:08:21That sort of age, yeah, I suppose.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23Let's have a look.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29Having celebrated its 50th birthday
0:08:29 > 0:08:32and broadcast more than 800 episodes,
0:08:32 > 0:08:35Doctor Who is officially the longest-running sci-fi show
0:08:35 > 0:08:36in history.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39Oh, my favourite Doctor - Patrick Troughton.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42'Though the idea of children hiding behind the sofa to watch it
0:08:42 > 0:08:44'was created by the media in the 1970s.'
0:08:46 > 0:08:49I didn't actually start behind the sofa.
0:08:49 > 0:08:50My little brother, Michael, he started -
0:08:50 > 0:08:52"Doctor Who's on, I'm going to go like this."
0:08:52 > 0:08:56Whereas I was a bit more of a man. I said, "Come on, get over it."
0:08:57 > 0:09:00Well, what do you think?
0:09:00 > 0:09:02Black and white makes all the difference.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04- That's much scarier, isn't it? - Yeah.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07- Where are we? - Well, it's the Tardis. It's my home.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11At least it has been for a considerable number of years.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13What are all these knobs?
0:09:13 > 0:09:15It's not that scary. Shall we go and sit down?
0:09:15 > 0:09:17No. I thought we might see the Daleks.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20Oh! The Cybermen?
0:09:20 > 0:09:23Cybermen didn't do it for me.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25It's the Daleks.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28A Cyberman looks like it could be a bloke in a silver suit, doesn't it?
0:09:28 > 0:09:29Yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33You could do the London Marathon as a Cyberman, couldn't you?
0:09:33 > 0:09:34Mm-hmm.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36Part human, part machine,
0:09:36 > 0:09:39the Cybermen first appeared in the same year
0:09:39 > 0:09:43Patrick Troughton took on the role, in 1966.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46Back then, the costumes were a tad more basic.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50Look at that, they're not hanging well round the bottom, those suits.
0:09:52 > 0:09:57They look like a load of frogmen with vacuum cleaners on their heads.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59What is it?
0:09:59 > 0:10:03He's their leader, their controller, Jamie.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05While the Cybermen are now household names,
0:10:05 > 0:10:09here's my personal guide to five Doctor Who baddies
0:10:09 > 0:10:11you may not be so familiar with.
0:10:13 > 0:10:17At five, it's Jagaroth who, despite having great dress sense,
0:10:17 > 0:10:19look a lot like an onion bhaji.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25Number four is the Axons, because while they may look fabulous,
0:10:25 > 0:10:29they will suck the life out of any planet they invade...literally.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33In at number three, who else but Morbius?
0:10:33 > 0:10:37Proving that assembling a flat-pack Doctor Who baddie in the dark
0:10:37 > 0:10:40is probably not a great idea.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42At two it's Abzorbaloff.
0:10:42 > 0:10:47Played by Peter Kay, an alien who absorbs his victims,
0:10:47 > 0:10:50but was terribly troubled with loose skin.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53In the number one spot, it's Kandy Man -
0:10:53 > 0:10:56a monster that helped make a generation of children
0:10:56 > 0:10:59terrified of Liquorice Allsorts.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03- You are a fan.- I'm a huge fan.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05I should be Doctor Who.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08I've been telling my agent, "Look, Doctor Who, look at me."
0:11:13 > 0:11:15My first job, which is ironic in a way
0:11:15 > 0:11:17because I was a huge fan of his,
0:11:17 > 0:11:21was writing comedy links for the Frankie Howerd Variety Show,
0:11:21 > 0:11:24which involved writing Frankie's opening monologue.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26Frankie Howerd's showbiz career spanned six decades
0:11:26 > 0:11:29and has been famously described by fellow comedian
0:11:29 > 0:11:32Barry Cryer as "a series of comebacks."
0:11:32 > 0:11:36After performing to great acclaim on stage, screen and radio
0:11:36 > 0:11:39in the '50s, he went slightly out of fashion in the early '60s.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43But his career took off again with the Carry On films,
0:11:43 > 0:11:46a comedy recording of Je T'aime with June Whitfield,
0:11:46 > 0:11:49and a rather saucy Up Pompeii,
0:11:49 > 0:11:52which was also made into a successful film.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58For someone who'd just come down from Cambridge about 18 months earlier
0:11:58 > 0:12:02having spent 18 months being a builder's labourer in Cambridge.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06- it was such a baptism of fire. - Yeah.- It was terrifying.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10I was so scared on the first day. He didn't make it any easier for me.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14Very big, pompous, very nervous about new people, you know.
0:12:14 > 0:12:19- Very nervous and suspicious of Cambridge people.- Oh, really?
0:12:19 > 0:12:22- Oxbridge people.- You thought that or you were very worried?
0:12:22 > 0:12:25No, he wouldn't talk to me. He said to the producer,
0:12:25 > 0:12:27"Who's that? Who's he?"
0:12:27 > 0:12:29That is the worst Frankie Howerd impression.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32- That's what he spoke like backstage. - "Who's he?"
0:12:32 > 0:12:35Yeah, that's what he spoke like.
0:12:37 > 0:12:38HE IMITATES FRANKIE
0:12:38 > 0:12:40He doesn't do that in real life.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42He doesn't do anything in real life now.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47So he went, "Who's he?"
0:12:47 > 0:12:49"He's the new writer." "He's too young."
0:12:49 > 0:12:52He turned to me and he said, "You're not Oxbridge, are you?"
0:12:52 > 0:12:54I said, "Well, I'm Cambridge."
0:12:54 > 0:12:57"Well, Cambridge or Oxbridge, they're the same, aren't they?"
0:12:57 > 0:12:59Well, Frankie, you know...
0:12:59 > 0:13:01So how did you prove yourself?
0:13:01 > 0:13:07We got on really well and he turned out to be extremely generous and fun.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11Once he got over the initial paranoia about having new people around,
0:13:11 > 0:13:15once he trusted you, you were his best friend.
0:13:15 > 0:13:16He'd do anything for you.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19He'd take us out for dinner, lavish stuff on us.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22He was a very generous man. Very funny, very funny.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26- Oh, mate.- But he's funnier... It's strange.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29He's funnier privately, because he wasn't inhibited
0:13:29 > 0:13:32by what you could and could not say on television or radio.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34He was hilarious. Very, very funny.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36So I'm going to show you a little clip now
0:13:36 > 0:13:39of one of your great comedy heroes.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41Here he is - Frankie Howerd.
0:13:41 > 0:13:42Oh, Frankie.
0:13:44 > 0:13:45- What is it?- Up Pompeii!
0:13:45 > 0:13:47You see, a girl in a short skirt,
0:13:47 > 0:13:51that what you want from your period comedy, isn't it?
0:13:51 > 0:13:54'While Up Pompeii wasn't big on plot or historical accuracy,
0:13:54 > 0:13:57there was plenty of double entendres,
0:13:57 > 0:14:00mostly delivered by the man himself,
0:14:00 > 0:14:02who played a slave by the name of Lurcio.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06Great gag to kick off with, eh? Is he having a wee or is he filling...?
0:14:06 > 0:14:08Oh, no.
0:14:08 > 0:14:09What are you laughing for?
0:14:09 > 0:14:12Have you never seen a man getting water before?
0:14:12 > 0:14:16He's good. That face. He's that sort of, "What?" That sort of innocence.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20I like the way he's always teetering on corpsing himself, isn't he?
0:14:20 > 0:14:24Oh, dear, I wish I'd put my waterproof knickers on now!
0:14:24 > 0:14:26- Did he struggle with his lines? - He was terrible at learning lines.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29It was radio we wrote for him, he was struggling...
0:14:29 > 0:14:31He wasn't a great reader, to be honest.
0:14:31 > 0:14:37Now...Samson, known to all the wrestling fans as Sam the Ram, he...
0:14:37 > 0:14:38LAUGHTER
0:14:38 > 0:14:40Please, please, you're tittering now.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43- That was all his own hair as well, you know?- Oh, really?
0:14:43 > 0:14:46I think it looks like a burst sofa on his head.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50We used to call it Wiggy the Squirrel.
0:14:50 > 0:14:51It looked like a dead squirrel on his head.
0:14:51 > 0:14:56- Bless him. If I walked up, I would have gone, "It's a puppet."- Yeah.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58- I have been in communication with the stars.- Have you?
0:14:58 > 0:15:01- I have had intercourse with Venus. - I beg your pardon!
0:15:01 > 0:15:03LAUGHTER
0:15:03 > 0:15:05Say it again.
0:15:05 > 0:15:07I have had intercourse with Venus.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10Oh, the things! I wouldn't dare say that.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13I wouldn't get away with things like that.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16Was it a great honour at the time? Did you see it as an honour?
0:15:16 > 0:15:17Absolutely.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20I mean, my first paid job out of university,
0:15:20 > 0:15:21other than building site stuff,
0:15:21 > 0:15:26was writing for a BBC, well, a television icon, in a way.
0:15:26 > 0:15:30Cos he was. I think that's why I was so frightened at first, meeting him.
0:15:30 > 0:15:31It was just...
0:15:31 > 0:15:34This is too much to be writing for him as my first job,
0:15:34 > 0:15:36but, you know, it worked out really well.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39We had a great few series together.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42In the late '70s and '80s, Frankie followed his previous success
0:15:42 > 0:15:47with programmes including the Frankie Howerd Show, and Superfrank.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49He never stopped working.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51In fact, just two hours before his death,
0:15:51 > 0:15:53the comic legend was talking to his producer
0:15:53 > 0:15:56about ideas for his next show.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59Strangely enough, there was actually a next show -
0:15:59 > 0:16:02a sitcom entitled Then Churchill Said To Me,
0:16:02 > 0:16:06which finally went to air in 1993, a year after Frankie's death.
0:16:08 > 0:16:13Frankie Howerd was easy to write for, because you have a sort of template
0:16:13 > 0:16:16of very bad impressions of him that people do.
0:16:16 > 0:16:18"Oh, titter ye not, missus", and all this.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21You knew the structure of how he would do a monologue.
0:16:21 > 0:16:25He'd come on, he wouldn't talk about the thing, go, "Oh, no...
0:16:25 > 0:16:27"No, anyway, where was I?"
0:16:27 > 0:16:30There's a lot of verbal garbage you have to plough through.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34You had to write it all in for him, cos he wouldn't improvise it.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38Do you think it was easier to write for someone else than yourself?
0:16:38 > 0:16:40No, it's much easier to write for myself. I know...
0:16:40 > 0:16:42You know, it's in my head already.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46The thing about Frankie Howerd was he was so definite a personality,
0:16:46 > 0:16:47he was easy to write for.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50Most of my writing has been done for Griff Rhys Jones
0:16:50 > 0:16:53and Mel Smith in their Smith And Jones series.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57Mel was a joy to write for, because he knew exactly...
0:16:57 > 0:16:58Uncannily, he's never...
0:16:58 > 0:17:01You'd give him a script and he'd sight-read it first time perfectly.
0:17:01 > 0:17:03You'd never give him a note.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06He'd never get anything wrong - the comedy, the timing, you know,
0:17:06 > 0:17:08the weight to give words.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12- Where Griff Rhys Jones... - I can't talk about Griff, I'm afraid.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15One of my best friends. Let's say, different from Mel.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17Bless.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25Rory, your next choice is something we can't actually define,
0:17:25 > 0:17:27it's just...because.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31That's what we call this segment - Just Because.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34RORY LAUGHS
0:17:34 > 0:17:35I know what this is.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38It's Mule Train, isn't it?
0:17:38 > 0:17:39Yeah, look at the old legs.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42# Mule train... #
0:17:42 > 0:17:44Yes!
0:17:44 > 0:17:45I loved him.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48That's fantastic. I remember this the first time...
0:17:48 > 0:17:49Honestly, first time.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56Appearing here on the Generation Game, Bob Blackman,
0:17:56 > 0:17:59more affectionately known as Bob the Train, was -
0:17:59 > 0:18:05surprise, surprise - a novelty act who hit the big time in the 1970s.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09You could say he was something of a one-hit wonder.
0:18:09 > 0:18:10Look, here he goes, here he goes.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14# Mule train
0:18:14 > 0:18:16# Clippety-cloppin' through the wind and the rain... #
0:18:20 > 0:18:21It's classic!
0:18:21 > 0:18:24That's why people want to be in showbiz, isn't it?
0:18:24 > 0:18:27I know. Forget Britain's Got Talent,
0:18:27 > 0:18:29this was the old days when people were talented.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32You could sing a song and bang yourself on the head with a tin tray.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34That's entertainment.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37He certainly must have had a stinking headache. Can you imagine?
0:18:37 > 0:18:38Look at the state of the tray.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42# Mule train
0:18:42 > 0:18:45# Clippety-cloppin' through the wind and the rain... #
0:18:45 > 0:18:48The question we have to ask, Brian, is would it be allowed
0:18:48 > 0:18:52- nowadays in the health and safety climate of today?- Of course not.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55People would imitate it and it's very wrong.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58Nowadays he'd have to wear a crash helmet to do that, wouldn't he?
0:18:58 > 0:19:01- It's not the same.- I tell you what - fantastic to see that again.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03I remember the very first time that came on television.
0:19:03 > 0:19:04Seeing it back again now,
0:19:04 > 0:19:06he's actually doing it tongue-in-cheek, isn't he?
0:19:06 > 0:19:09When I first saw it, it looked like he was being totally earnest,
0:19:09 > 0:19:12but the more you watch, he's having a laugh, he's actually playing with it.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14- That's quite nice. - But, I mean...
0:19:14 > 0:19:17Is tongue-in-cheek the right expression for someone who's
0:19:17 > 0:19:19banging himself on the head with a tray?
0:19:24 > 0:19:25We're going on to family favourites now,
0:19:25 > 0:19:27cos your family were a family of...
0:19:27 > 0:19:30Well, not was, still. A family of quizzers.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32We like quizzes in our family, yes.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34Must-sees for the family together were
0:19:34 > 0:19:38Top Of The Form, Ask The Family, in fact.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41That was a programme which had three or four members of a family,
0:19:41 > 0:19:44parents, children. That was quite a nice one,
0:19:44 > 0:19:48because then the questions would have been at varying levels of difficulty.
0:19:48 > 0:19:50But they had the very innovative -
0:19:50 > 0:19:54what is this household object seen from a strange angle?
0:19:54 > 0:19:57- I mean, now we take that for granted.- We do.- Then, that was...
0:19:57 > 0:19:59In those days it was quite...
0:19:59 > 0:20:01It was usually a can opener.
0:20:01 > 0:20:02Yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05Here we go. Let's have a look and see if it's a can opener.
0:20:05 > 0:20:06Oh, blimey, what's this?
0:20:06 > 0:20:11Hello. This is the first of our two semifinal competitions.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13Very first comb-over.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17Kicking off in 1967, Ask The Family ran for 17 years
0:20:17 > 0:20:20and was revived twice after that.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24The rules were simple - two families competing in general knowledge
0:20:24 > 0:20:29to win fabulous prizes, and your host - the dynamic Robert Robinson.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33Right, an anagram. The clue...
0:20:33 > 0:20:35Well, wait till you get the anagram, I'll give you the clue.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38Here comes the anagram. Slick Rime. The clue might be
0:20:38 > 0:20:41"Well, indeed. And possibly from Ireland."
0:20:41 > 0:20:44- Slick Rime anagram. What is that, Rory?- Oh, my God, what's that?
0:20:44 > 0:20:46BUZZER
0:20:46 > 0:20:48Limericks.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50Ho-ho, you see the connection. Limericks.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52- Limericks. Well done. - Oh, limericks.
0:20:52 > 0:20:54What five-letter word applies to a dog,
0:20:54 > 0:20:57a sportsman and a Chinese revolution?
0:20:57 > 0:20:58Boxer.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01- BUZZER - Boxer.- Yes.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04Yes, boxer dog, boxer the sport. Well, allegedly a sport.
0:21:04 > 0:21:06And the Boxer Rebellion.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10The Boxers being, I believe, a nationalist sect.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12- I'm enjoying this. - Are you quite competitive?
0:21:12 > 0:21:17I used to watch University Challenge, and my son who was at university,
0:21:17 > 0:21:22we text each other all the way through University Challenge.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26He's a doctor now. We text, "Did you get that question about so and so?"
0:21:26 > 0:21:28We make rude comments about the contestants.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30In Ask The Family, they used to do a little moment
0:21:30 > 0:21:32when they used to do a close-up of something.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34That's right, yeah.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37- Which, as you've already pointed out, was invariably...- Can opener.
0:21:37 > 0:21:39- We're going to play that game. - Oh, wow.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41But we've got game show hosts.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43We've taken game show quizmaster hosts,
0:21:43 > 0:21:47we've taken quizmaster hosts and we're doing close-ups.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50If you can name the quizmaster, one point.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53Extra point if you can name the programme that they actually...
0:21:53 > 0:21:55Wow, this has got suddenly very serious.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58We're going to play each other. I haven't seen it.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00- You haven't seen this? - I haven't seen these either.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02So here is the Conleys V McGraths.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07That's Robert Robinson, Ask The Family.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09- Wow. - I think we've just seen that.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13Let's see. No, it's him. "Oh, quite amazing. Unbelievable."
0:22:13 > 0:22:16- David Coleman?- Yeah, it's got to be. Yeah, David Coleman.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18Oh, I thought it was Rob Robinson with his famous comb-over.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21- He did Question Of Sport. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24Here's another one.
0:22:24 > 0:22:25That's Magnus Magnusson.
0:22:25 > 0:22:26- No.- Yes.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29The quiz is Mastermind.
0:22:29 > 0:22:30Icelandic arms, he's got.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34Quiz is Mastermind, so I get a point, you get a point.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36- BOTH:- Bob Monkhouse!
0:22:36 > 0:22:37Draw. What was the quiz?
0:22:39 > 0:22:40Bob's Full House.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42Bob's Full House, that's the one.
0:22:42 > 0:22:43Point for that.
0:22:43 > 0:22:45Is that Hughie Green?
0:22:45 > 0:22:47It looks like Tommy Cooper.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51- I have no... - I don't know. That's not...
0:22:51 > 0:22:53It's a man. It's Paul Daniels.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55Name of the show, Every Second Counts.
0:22:55 > 0:22:56We didn't get that.
0:22:58 > 0:22:59Ooh, who's that?
0:22:59 > 0:23:00Is that Robert Robinson?
0:23:02 > 0:23:03I'm going to... Yeah...
0:23:03 > 0:23:06- That might be Robert Robinson from a different angle.- Yeah.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09- I can't think... Yes, I think you're right.- Ah, excellent.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12There he is. Of course Ask The Family.
0:23:12 > 0:23:16- Sneaky, yeah.- Which makes Rory McGrath today's winner.
0:23:16 > 0:23:18Oh, I think you were very generous, there. Very generous.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20Thank you very much indeed. Well done indeed.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23- Do I get a crystal vase or something? - No, you get nothing.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25Pineapple ice bucket. Thank you very much.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27I'd like to thank everybody involved in the show.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29It's not just for me, this.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32All the people who worked on it and, of course, the good Lord above.
0:23:32 > 0:23:34- Yeah. - Will that do?- Give us it back.
0:23:39 > 0:23:45Rory, you've been a writer, comedian, entrepreneur.
0:23:45 > 0:23:46LAUGHING: Yes.
0:23:46 > 0:23:51Yes. But this is the programme that we all know and love you for.
0:23:51 > 0:23:52Here it is.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54Have a little look at this.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56'Oh, blimey. I recognise this.'
0:23:56 > 0:23:59Hello, and welcome to They Think It's All Over,
0:23:59 > 0:24:01the sports quiz that bites your legs.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04Using the very catchphrase that summed up Britain's
0:24:04 > 0:24:07entry into World Cup history, They Think It's All Over
0:24:07 > 0:24:12ran for 20 series on the Beeb with comedian Nick Hancock as the host.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16- Nick! Look at him - so young. - I know, I know.
0:24:17 > 0:24:18Stoke's finest.
0:24:18 > 0:24:20Wait until you see yourself, Rory.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23And with Gary, a comedian so hairy that he doesn't shower,
0:24:23 > 0:24:25he hoovers - Rory McGrath.
0:24:27 > 0:24:32- That's Gary Lineker there. - World international crisp salesman.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37- So this, of course, was Feel The Sportsman.- Yes, great fun.
0:24:37 > 0:24:38Oh, my God.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40I just hope it's Sharron Davies.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46It was so worrying because you never knew what it was going to be.
0:24:46 > 0:24:48The audience start laughing, and that makes you really worried.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51You think, "Oh, my God. What are they laughing at now?"
0:24:51 > 0:24:54Can we have our next mystery personality, please?
0:24:55 > 0:24:57LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:25:00 > 0:25:02'He's actually hairier than you.'
0:25:02 > 0:25:04'Yeah.'
0:25:04 > 0:25:08He's been eating too many sweets - three-piece suites.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11OK, your 90 seconds starts now.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20Does this bring back happy memories?
0:25:20 > 0:25:22It does. It was a fantastically good fun show to do.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24It's not Sharron Davies.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27'Of course, to get... David Gower'
0:25:27 > 0:25:30and Gary Lineker are just magic to work with, considering what huge
0:25:30 > 0:25:35icons of sport and sportsmanship and squeaky clean, they were great fun.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39Great fun. They were both willing to have a laugh.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42- GARY:- Is it that, em...? It sounds a bit corny, but Giant Haystacks?
0:25:42 > 0:25:44CHEERING
0:25:47 > 0:25:50- So you were originally on it, right from the off.- Yeah, I was.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54I was in the original radio pilot, the second radio pilot,
0:25:54 > 0:25:56the first radio series, the second radio series,
0:25:56 > 0:25:58and then they took it to television.
0:25:58 > 0:26:00Did you audition a lot of presenters before you came up with Nick?
0:26:00 > 0:26:02- Nick's superb.- Why did you not...?
0:26:02 > 0:26:05Well, I would have loved to have done it, I would have really loved to.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08One of my ambitions is to be a quiz... That's what I want to be.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10- All I want to do... - I thought it was Doctor Who!
0:26:10 > 0:26:13- Well, if that doesn't come up. - You just want to do everything.
0:26:13 > 0:26:15You'd love to be a host of a good quiz.
0:26:15 > 0:26:17Yeah, if the Doctor Who thing doesn't happen,
0:26:17 > 0:26:18I'd like to take over
0:26:18 > 0:26:20from Jeremy Paxman on University Challenge.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22So what do you watch now, Rory?
0:26:22 > 0:26:25What are you keen on? Obviously your sport, your quizzes.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27Yeah, but I have a guilty secret...
0:26:27 > 0:26:29- Go on. - ..when it comes to watching,
0:26:29 > 0:26:33which I don't think I've ever actually aired publicly.
0:26:33 > 0:26:34One of my favourite programmes,
0:26:34 > 0:26:38though admittedly I did think it was a comedy programme, Midsomer Murders.
0:26:38 > 0:26:40Really?
0:26:40 > 0:26:44- I just think it's hilarious. It's just compellingly daft.- Funny?
0:26:44 > 0:26:45Well, it just makes me laugh.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47Is it the plots that make you laugh
0:26:47 > 0:26:51or is it the fact that they're in this village and everyone's dying?
0:26:51 > 0:26:55One of the 5,000 different villages in the county of Midsomer, you know.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58Badger's Drift or Midsomer Norton or whatever.
0:26:59 > 0:27:03There are at least five gruesome murders, you know,
0:27:03 > 0:27:07people being stuck in a combine harvester, people being crossbowed
0:27:07 > 0:27:11during a flower show, and yet there's never any national press there.
0:27:14 > 0:27:15How do they keep the lid?
0:27:15 > 0:27:20- How does the Lord Mayor of Midsomer keep the lid on it?- That is good.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22Oh, bless you.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25There should be a new city of journalists built
0:27:25 > 0:27:27up around the county of Midsomer.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29I just think, "Another week!"
0:27:29 > 0:27:32Someone's drowned in a vat of cider again.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36- Oh, listen, I hope you've enjoyed it.- It's been fun, Brian.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38- Oh, bless you, mate. - Thanks for having me.
0:27:38 > 0:27:39Thank you.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42We let our guests choose a theme tune to go out on.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47Oh, well, there are so many. Obvious ones - Coronation Street,
0:27:47 > 0:27:49Mission: Impossible, The Avengers -
0:27:49 > 0:27:52but one I remember of all those shows,
0:27:52 > 0:27:55the tune that stays with me as being frightening and
0:27:55 > 0:27:59this is the beginning of great science fiction telly, is Doctor Who.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02All right, then, we're going out with that. My thanks to Rory
0:28:02 > 0:28:05and my thanks to you for watching The TV That Made Me. Bye-bye.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07DOCTOR WHO THEME PLAYS