0:00:02 > 0:00:04- Telly.- 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 > 0:00:13'In this series I'm going to journey through the fantastic
0:00:13 > 0:00:17'world of TV with some of our favourite celebrities.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21'They've chosen the precious TV moments that shed light...'
0:00:21 > 0:00:22Love this!
0:00:22 > 0:00:23'She's beaten the panel.'
0:00:23 > 0:00:24Look at that!
0:00:24 > 0:00:26'..on the stories of their lives.'
0:00:26 > 0:00:29Go on, Champion! Go on, Champion.
0:00:29 > 0:00:30You're like, "Oh! Argh!"
0:00:30 > 0:00:32'Some are funny...'
0:00:32 > 0:00:34Oh, quite amazing, unbelievable!
0:00:34 > 0:00:36No, no, no!
0:00:36 > 0:00:39'..some are surprising.'
0:00:39 > 0:00:40Paddington Bear.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42'Some are inspiring...'
0:00:42 > 0:00:43That's what kids should be doing now.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46Lay a ten-pence piece on a table with a bit of sticky tape.
0:00:46 > 0:00:48Look at that! Stonking!
0:00:48 > 0:00:49'..and many...'
0:00:49 > 0:00:53- Some turtles capsize... - '..are deeply moving.'
0:00:53 > 0:00:57I knew that we were in the presence of history.
0:00:57 > 0:00:58I'm crying.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00I broke down in tears at that.
0:01:00 > 0:01:05'So come watch with us as we hand-pick the vintage telly that
0:01:05 > 0:01:09'helped turn our much-loved stars into the people they are today.'
0:01:09 > 0:01:12Welcome to The TV That Made Me.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23My guest today is Birmingham's golden boy.
0:01:23 > 0:01:28A radio and TV presenter as well as an award-winning writer and actor.
0:01:28 > 0:01:33Adil Ray is best known as the loudmouthed Citizen Khan.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35What?! Do you know who I am?
0:01:35 > 0:01:38Hello! Mr Khan!
0:01:38 > 0:01:43'The TV that made him includes a truly bonkers sitcom...'
0:01:43 > 0:01:45Give us an easy one, Bambi!
0:01:45 > 0:01:47'..a courtroom drama...'
0:01:47 > 0:01:49I've paid for what I've done.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51'..and a family that sticks together.'
0:01:51 > 0:01:52We thank thee, oh Lord...
0:01:52 > 0:01:54LAUGHTER
0:01:54 > 0:01:57It can only be the one and only Adil Ray.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59I think you should have been a pop star.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02- IN AMERICAN ACCENT:- Ladies and gentleman, presenting Adil Ray.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04- Yeah, who knows, there's still time. - Yeah, plenty of time.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07- Could still be a pop star. - Because you ARE very young.
0:02:07 > 0:02:09Well, exactly! Only 19, yeah.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11I'm saying nothing.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13So, today is a celebration,
0:02:13 > 0:02:16- a collection of TV shows that you have chosen.- I know, it's great.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20Shall we go back now to the early, early, early, early...
0:02:20 > 0:02:23Such a long time ago.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26This was what it was like growing up for the lovely Adil Ray.
0:02:27 > 0:02:32'Adil Ray was born in Birmingham on 29th of April, 1974.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34'The youngest of two boys,
0:02:34 > 0:02:37'he shared his home with his dad, Abdul, a bus driver,
0:02:37 > 0:02:41'and his mum, Nargus, who worked at the Immigration Appeals Department,
0:02:41 > 0:02:45'assisting the city's ever-growing immigrant community.'
0:02:45 > 0:02:48Adil, I'm going to take you back to those early days.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52What are your earliest memories of TV, what is your first TV highlight?
0:02:52 > 0:02:57I think of the kids' TV shows, that was the thing, growing up.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01Anything from Grange Hill to Why Don't You? was great.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04I used to love watching that, getting up on a Saturday morning before...
0:03:04 > 0:03:07That's the thing, we used to get up really early as kids.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09Why did we get up so early?
0:03:09 > 0:03:10I was up at half six!
0:03:10 > 0:03:13It's like I had a job to go to or something!
0:03:13 > 0:03:15So, up at half six and breakfast is obviously not ready,
0:03:15 > 0:03:18because your parents make your breakfast for you,
0:03:18 > 0:03:20you're not allowed in the kitchen, right?
0:03:20 > 0:03:22So, just watching TV until Mum and Dad wake up.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25But it was great, it was that moment you had the house to yourself.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27So watching all those kids' TV shows on a Saturday morning
0:03:27 > 0:03:31was superb and I think Why Don't You? is the one for me that really
0:03:31 > 0:03:36sticks out as being something that was almost an institution, really.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39- Shall we have a look at it? - Yeah, let's have a look.- This is it.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46# Why don't you?
0:03:46 > 0:03:47# Why don't you? #
0:03:47 > 0:03:51- It's all about the theme tune, isn't it?- Do you know the words?
0:03:51 > 0:03:53It comes up now, anyway!
0:04:00 > 0:04:02Doesn't really make sense, does it?
0:04:02 > 0:04:05"Why don't you switch off your TV set, but come and watch us!"
0:04:05 > 0:04:09But it was great. And in a way, I think the theme was the best bit of the show.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11I think there were gangs, weren't there?
0:04:11 > 0:04:15- Wasn't there like the Cardiff gang and the Birmingham gang?- Yeah.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19I only remembered this recently, but Pauline Quirke was one of them.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22You know that? Birds Of A Feather. She was in Why Don't You?
0:04:22 > 0:04:25- She was one of the presenters. - Yeah, yeah.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29- Well, in this clip, we've got the Cardiff gang.- Oh, the Cardiff gang.
0:04:29 > 0:04:30Right, here you go.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35Oh, er, hello, and welcome to Why Don't You? from Cardiff.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38I'm Christian and here's the... Oh.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40- This is riveting stuff. - It is, isn't it?
0:04:40 > 0:04:42Why not put it on now? This would be great.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44- Oh, here they come! - Here comes the Cardiff gang.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46Here they come. And there's always someone in dungarees.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49There's got to be someone in dungarees somewhere...
0:04:49 > 0:04:50There you go, she's got dungarees on.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53'Why Don't You? was an adult-free zone
0:04:53 > 0:04:55'and each episode was presented by a different gang of kids.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59'It was packed with school holiday ideas to tear young viewers
0:04:59 > 0:05:00'away from their screens.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03'Some of them better than others.'
0:05:04 > 0:05:06I have to catch the coin between my thumbs.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08Well done!
0:05:08 > 0:05:11That's what kids should be doing now! Lay a ten-pence piece on a table
0:05:11 > 0:05:12with a bit of sticky tape!
0:05:12 > 0:05:14They don't know what they're missing, do they?
0:05:14 > 0:05:17- All these computers, honestly! - But you know you're going to
0:05:17 > 0:05:21- pull off all the table if you take that tape away.- Exactly.
0:05:21 > 0:05:27'The programme was the unlikely TV break for writer Russell T Davies,
0:05:27 > 0:05:31who cut his teeth on the show, weaving in the scripted comedy.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34After chasing us from our screens with Why Don't You?
0:05:34 > 0:05:39he went on to gluing us to them by reinventing Doctor Who.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43We seem to forget now, but the great thing about watching
0:05:43 > 0:05:47stuff like this is that now, you can watch retro shows up on iPlayer
0:05:47 > 0:05:49or you have it recorded, you can watch it again.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53But that would have been the only time you got to see that show.
0:05:53 > 0:05:54That was the thing about it,
0:05:54 > 0:05:58you are looking for a show that... This is OUR show!
0:05:58 > 0:06:00No-one else's, this is our show.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02It just felt quite like we owned it.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06But at the time, children presenting, I suppose that was quite a fresh idea.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09So, watching it you might have thought, "Do you know what? I can do this."
0:06:09 > 0:06:12I suppose, yes. I wonder whether that was the first thing that occurred to me?
0:06:12 > 0:06:15That actually, if they can do it, I can do it.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17So did you ever make anything from the show?
0:06:17 > 0:06:21Did anyone actually ever go, I tell you what I'm going to do now, I'm going to make that? No, they didn't!
0:06:21 > 0:06:23It is the posh kids that do it.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26- By the time you had emptied that bottle...- Exactly!
0:06:26 > 0:06:30- You know, you have lost the will to live!- Exactly.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33In our house, a fairy liquid bottle would last all year anyway!
0:06:33 > 0:06:36And dad would just put water in it anyway.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40So we would never get a new one so you would never have a spare one.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42So let's talk about your house. What was it like?
0:06:42 > 0:06:45We lived in a semidetached in a place called Yardley in Birmingham.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47It was an interesting time for us
0:06:47 > 0:06:51because we were like the only Asian family living in this very white area, you know.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53It was tough at the beginning, I remember.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57I think when we left the house 20 years later, all the neighbours were in tears, you know.
0:06:57 > 0:07:01It was great because we were very close to our neighbours.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04I like that! They're your neighbours!
0:07:04 > 0:07:07We were very close to our neighbours, yes! In a semidetached.
0:07:07 > 0:07:12But in our culture you never call anybody older than you by their name.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14You'd always have to call them auntie or uncle.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17So it turned out that because we were in this white area
0:07:17 > 0:07:20I had Auntie Gladys and Uncle John living next door
0:07:20 > 0:07:24and across the road was Auntie Betty and Uncle Arthur!
0:07:24 > 0:07:27I always wondered why I never got birthday presents from them
0:07:27 > 0:07:30because they were supposed to be my aunts and uncles!
0:07:30 > 0:07:34Some TV gems hit our screens in 1984 when Adil was just 10,
0:07:34 > 0:07:36including Ever Decreasing Circles,
0:07:36 > 0:07:40with Richard Briers as neighbourhood busybody Martin Bryce.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44Fresh from Not The Nine O'Clock News,
0:07:44 > 0:07:48Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones launched their seminal sketch show,
0:07:48 > 0:07:49Alas Smith and Jones.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53And Fridays would never be the same again
0:07:53 > 0:07:57as the fandabidozi Crackerjack closed its doors for the last time.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03So what was your lounge? I'm thinking of the television room where you used to watch.
0:08:03 > 0:08:08Yes, I mean in our house everything was governed by the TV.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10All the chairs faced the TV.
0:08:10 > 0:08:167:00pm or 7:30pm in the evening, mum would get us our food and we would just...
0:08:16 > 0:08:19On our laps in front of the telly.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22And I remember my chair... For some reason, I got the short straw.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25Everyone else was that we facing and my chair was a little bit...
0:08:25 > 0:08:29But I was kind of a bit like this. So I was like that watching telly.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32This is good, isn't it? This is great! I love this! Amazing!
0:08:32 > 0:08:35We have made an effort with the apartment today.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38- This is a classic David Shepler look.- Oh, my God!
0:08:38 > 0:08:40And I believe you had this in the lounge.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42Yes. That was on the wall above the telly.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46And what I love about that was that we found out, not found out,
0:08:46 > 0:08:48we watched Only Fools And Horses
0:08:48 > 0:08:51and Del Boy had one in his living room. There you go.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55We were aspiring in our family, mate, you know what I mean? Trendsetters!
0:09:01 > 0:09:04My mum and dad were mad for sitcoms on telly.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06They just absolutely loved it.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09I remember watching sitcoms with my family and going,
0:09:09 > 0:09:12"This is one of those few moments in this mad house,
0:09:12 > 0:09:14"at times, that we are,
0:09:14 > 0:09:17"that we sit down together and enjoy something together."
0:09:17 > 0:09:20Watching anything from Only Fools And Horses, Cheers,
0:09:20 > 0:09:24to even slightly mediocre sitcoms from Never The Twain with Windsor Davies.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26You know, great times.
0:09:26 > 0:09:32We have got a classic Ray family sitcom here. This is Bread.
0:09:35 > 0:09:37We thank Thee, oh Lord...
0:09:39 > 0:09:41..for leading us safely through the night
0:09:41 > 0:09:43and for the food we are about to belch.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48It's great. It's brilliant. It's Carla Lane, isn't it? She is legendary.
0:09:48 > 0:09:53Tremendous actors. Fantastic. However, it depresses me a little bit.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59- Why?- Because it came on on a Sunday and what does that mean?
0:09:59 > 0:10:01- School.- School the next day.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04Do you know what I mean? It was like, I love this, but any minute now,
0:10:04 > 0:10:07Mum's going to be like, "Get to bed and you haven't done your homework."
0:10:07 > 0:10:11You know, sort of... So, it was a bit of a weird one, this.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13Loved it but reminded me of a Sunday.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16Carla Lane first created a family called Boswell
0:10:16 > 0:10:20for Series 5 of the Liver Birds in the '70s.
0:10:20 > 0:10:21A decade later,
0:10:21 > 0:10:26she reinvented them as the ever-resourceful Boswells in Bread,
0:10:26 > 0:10:30with Jean Boht heading up the crafty clan as Mum, Nellie.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32Left me some, have you?
0:10:32 > 0:10:34- Here she is!- Hey.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37HE DOES AN IMPRESSION OF AVELINE AND LAUGHS
0:10:37 > 0:10:40- What do you want a bikini for? - I'm modelling, aren't I?
0:10:40 > 0:10:42- Look at that. What she's wearing. - Brilliant.
0:10:42 > 0:10:44The costume department had loads of fun on this..
0:10:44 > 0:10:47- All right, I'll miss me bus. - Have you seen her run for the bus?
0:10:47 > 0:10:50Her dress comes up around her chin and by the time she gets on the bus,
0:10:50 > 0:10:53she is all knickers and earrings.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56- I mean, every one was a character.- Well, that was it.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58- They could all have their own sitcom.- Exactly.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01That was the great thing about it, such strong characters.
0:11:01 > 0:11:02Great narrative as well.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06I think, if I'm right, most sitcoms at the time were self-contained,
0:11:06 > 0:11:10so you could watch an episode and you just followed one story
0:11:10 > 0:11:12and next week, you would start up again.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15Whereas this, I think it worked with cliff-hangers, it was almost
0:11:15 > 0:11:18a drama in a way so you had to watch the next episode to find out.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20So as well as being funny, it told a great story.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23Well it was kind of Thatcher's Britain at the time, wasn't it?
0:11:23 > 0:11:26And this sort of Liverpool family. That thing about...
0:11:26 > 0:11:29Before they sat for dinner, wouldn't they all come in and give
0:11:29 > 0:11:33Nellie the money they had earned and she would put it in the pot.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35Had they earned it? Let's be honest!
0:11:35 > 0:11:38Yeah, one or two of them, probably not!
0:11:38 > 0:11:42Each episode saw the family fight to make a bob or two,
0:11:42 > 0:11:47whether from slightly dodgy deals, the benefit system or even work.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49Don't talk about it, Jack, just check it, buy and sell it,
0:11:49 > 0:11:51put the money in the pot and shut your gob.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54And Joey with his leather pants.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56Oh, yeah, everyone's heart-throb was Joey.
0:11:56 > 0:12:01- Exactly. Did you have some of those leather pants?- No, I didn't.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05- No, no.- You only picked up the leather pants recently?- From him.
0:12:05 > 0:12:09It was at a party, I don't want to go into it.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12I think, looking back at Bread now, it has probably influenced what I do
0:12:12 > 0:12:17now because it was a Catholic family. A devout Catholic family but so much
0:12:17 > 0:12:22humour involved in that community within the family, I think in
0:12:22 > 0:12:26a way, it has probably inspired what I wanted to do with Citizen Khan.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31Religion has always been a rich source of television comedy.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35Derek Nimmo became famous for his clerical performances in
0:12:35 > 0:12:37All Gas And Gaiters.
0:12:38 > 0:12:39Oh, Brother!
0:12:41 > 0:12:42Oh, Father!
0:12:43 > 0:12:46And finally, Hell's Bells.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49Thank heavens for Dawn French who starred as Geraldine,
0:12:49 > 0:12:54the newly ordained Vicar of Dibley in 1994.
0:12:54 > 0:12:59Dermot Morgan and Ardal O'Hanlon were brilliant as the exiled
0:12:59 > 0:13:02priests of Craggy Island in Father Ted.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05And in 2010, the lovely Tom Hollander
0:13:05 > 0:13:10took on the role of the well-meaning Adam Smallbone in BBC Two's Rev.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19- So, we are now moving on to Parents' Choice.- Oh, yeah.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23- Something your mum and dad used to like watching, and yourself.- Yes.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26Well, the thing that kind of sticks in my mind is Sunday mornings
0:13:26 > 0:13:30and I can speak on behalf... I can be a community leader here
0:13:30 > 0:13:34and speak on behalf of all Asian people of my generation, without question.
0:13:34 > 0:13:39Sunday morning, the world stopped for British Asians because the BBC
0:13:39 > 0:13:43came up with this wonderful idea to give us an hour of our own TV.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45- Yes!- Get in, you know?
0:13:45 > 0:13:50And it was a show called Nai Zindagi, Naya Jeevan which means,
0:13:50 > 0:13:53new way, new life, so it was literally...
0:13:53 > 0:13:57It was-it was aimed at the immigrant community who had just
0:13:57 > 0:14:00arrived in the '50s and '60s and it was fantastic. And a Sunday
0:14:00 > 0:14:03morning memory for me is waking up in the morning and I can smell...
0:14:03 > 0:14:07Cos Sunday mornings is when my mum would go to town for breakfast.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09So we would really smell this gorgeous breakfast
0:14:09 > 0:14:13and she'd make these things called pronta, which is like a chapatti
0:14:13 > 0:14:14but with lots of butter on it.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17A double-layered chapatti with loads of butter on it
0:14:17 > 0:14:20and you have it with mango, pickle, with jam or something,
0:14:20 > 0:14:22or have it with a fried egg, it is amazing.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25So, Sunday mornings, I'd wake up and smell that,
0:14:25 > 0:14:28it's great and you all come downstairs in your pyjamas
0:14:28 > 0:14:31and you are just watching us on the telly, it was brilliant.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33It was like, there's no white people!
0:14:33 > 0:14:36There's no white people! That is us, that is my mum, that is my dad.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38It was just-it was brilliant.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41It was not as if I really was interested a lot myself.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43My mum and dad would be, but we were glued to it
0:14:43 > 0:14:46because it was literally Asian people on the telly, it was great.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49Let's have a little look at this, shall we? Here it is.
0:14:49 > 0:14:51Good morning.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56- I can smell my mum's breakfast. I can smell it.- Happy times?- Oh, yeah,
0:14:56 > 0:14:59- really happy times. - What time would this be on?
0:14:59 > 0:15:03Sunday morning maybe about 9.30, 10 o'clock in the morning, yeah.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07Prime Minister Mrs Thatcher... West Kensington, London...
0:15:07 > 0:15:11- Look at that tie, Rashid Ashraf, look at that.- And that hairdo.
0:15:11 > 0:15:16I reckon he has still got that. It's lovely, isn't it?
0:15:16 > 0:15:18No autocue in those days.
0:15:18 > 0:15:20No autocue, don't bother looking at the camera,
0:15:20 > 0:15:23just read it off the paper.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27The thing is, though, they could have been saying anything.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30OK, so bring all your family over, we are here for another 50 years,
0:15:30 > 0:15:32bed in, everybody, they haven't got a clue.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38So, do you think it had... gave you a sense of belonging?
0:15:38 > 0:15:42- I think so, yeah.- It being on British television, you being British.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46I think so. You can't underestimate the power of television, can you?
0:15:46 > 0:15:50Back then. For young kids now, they probably don't realise how TV...
0:15:50 > 0:15:54Because you can get it on your phone but TV for us was the thing,
0:15:54 > 0:15:56it was what everyone watched.
0:15:56 > 0:15:5917, 20 million viewers would watch the shows.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03So I think to see your own community on that TV was kind of...
0:16:03 > 0:16:07It was a big sort of endorsement and think, yeah, you've kind of arrived,
0:16:07 > 0:16:10you are now on TV, so I think it meant quite a lot.
0:16:10 > 0:16:11HE SPEAKS HIS OWN LANGUAGE
0:16:16 > 0:16:20The BBC Immigration Unit, which later developed into
0:16:20 > 0:16:21the BBC Asian Programmes Unit,
0:16:21 > 0:16:24which I worked for for many years, but I look back now,
0:16:24 > 0:16:29and you go, that sounds bizarre but it was probably right for the time.
0:16:29 > 0:16:34The BBC has got this public service, sort of...you know,
0:16:34 > 0:16:38requirement to broadcast to all communities
0:16:38 > 0:16:41and I guess immigration was a big, hot topic at the time,
0:16:41 > 0:16:45and it was a big new thing, so of course they needed something to watch on TV.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53We are going to move on to a thing we like to call Just Because.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57You used to watch it, just because.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59OK.
0:16:59 > 0:17:01GRANGE HILL THEME TUNE
0:17:01 > 0:17:02- Amazing.- Another classic.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05Where is the bit, the sausage on the fork, where is it?
0:17:05 > 0:17:07Oh, it's coming up, it's coming up.
0:17:07 > 0:17:08Great theme tune as well.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11THEY SING THE THEME TUNE
0:17:11 > 0:17:13Here we go. There you go, look at that.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15I used to have a radio show
0:17:15 > 0:17:17and I would play this theme tune just for a laugh.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19- I just loved it.- Yeah. - I just absolutely loved it.
0:17:19 > 0:17:21THEY SING THE THEME TUNE
0:17:21 > 0:17:23It is almost quite Indian, that last bit.
0:17:23 > 0:17:25THEY SING THE THEME TUNE Maybe that's why I liked it.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28- Come on, then.- Just a minute.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31- Tucker Jenkins.- Tucker.- Look at him.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34- ..and already you look a mess. - I don't like wearing a tie.
0:17:34 > 0:17:38- Can't help that.- Why do I have to wear one?- Because you do.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40They did touch on some really serious subjects.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43- Course they did, yeah.- Talked about drugs.- The whole Zammo...
0:17:43 > 0:17:45Underage sex, you know, things like that.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48The Zammo thing and the Just Say No was great,
0:17:48 > 0:17:51but it was brilliant. But I always remembered little stories like...
0:17:51 > 0:17:54Do you remember Roland? He was bullied a lot
0:17:54 > 0:17:58- and there was this young black girl at the school...- He was quite large?
0:17:58 > 0:18:01Yeah, he was quite large and she was lovely,
0:18:01 > 0:18:03but she'd just be like, "Roland, Roland,
0:18:03 > 0:18:05"Why don't you talk to me, Roland?"
0:18:05 > 0:18:06Oh, it was brilliant.
0:18:06 > 0:18:11Such great characters and it really drew you in, and I think...
0:18:11 > 0:18:14Phil Redmond, it's no wonder he went on to do things like Brookside,
0:18:14 > 0:18:16absolutely brilliant storytelling.
0:18:16 > 0:18:21For 30 years, Grange Hill was the most famous school on TV.
0:18:21 > 0:18:26Its most controversial storyline came in 1986 with class clown
0:18:26 > 0:18:28Zammo's heroin addiction.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31It led to the top ten single Just Say No,
0:18:31 > 0:18:35which proved they were much better actors than singers.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38MUSIC: Just Say No by the cast of Grange Hill
0:18:38 > 0:18:39# Just say no. #
0:18:39 > 0:18:45Again, it's that show that you own as a kid, it is one of those...
0:18:45 > 0:18:48It is meant for us, no-one else, parents can't watch this,
0:18:48 > 0:18:50this is for us, this is our world.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54You would get home from school and you would wait for Grange Hill.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57I was always disappointed that it always felt really short.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01I don't know why, I don't know whether it was 30 minutes, whether it was only 20...
0:19:01 > 0:19:03And the fact...I think it was only on once a week.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05- Was it only on once a week, yeah. - "Another week!"- Yeah.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08Now then, shall I come along to school with you?
0:19:12 > 0:19:16Enrolling at Grange Hill could lead to a glistening TV career as it
0:19:16 > 0:19:21did for Todd Carty, who graduated to become Mark Fowler in EastEnders.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25Michelle Gayle played Fiona Wilson,
0:19:25 > 0:19:27and she too joined EastEnders as Hattie.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31And Amanda Mealing, who played Tracey Edwards,
0:19:31 > 0:19:35became Casualty's headstrong clinical lead Connie.
0:19:36 > 0:19:41Now, some of the teachers in Grange Hill had bizarre nicknames,
0:19:41 > 0:19:43- would you agree?- Yes, if I can remember any of them.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45I think you know what is coming,
0:19:45 > 0:19:48- cos that is exactly what we are going to do.- Oh, really?
0:19:48 > 0:19:51Some of the names here are real and some of them are not.
0:19:51 > 0:19:57Just answer true or false. Mr Stuart "Hoppy" Hopwood. True or false?
0:19:57 > 0:20:00That is true, he was one of the earlier ones, Hopwood.
0:20:00 > 0:20:02- The earlier days. - You're an expert on Grange Hill.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06- Mr Geoff "Bullet" Baxter. - Ah, Geoff Baxter, the Bullet.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09I know this because Michael Cronin who played him...
0:20:09 > 0:20:11And this is sort of a bit of a homage,
0:20:11 > 0:20:14Michael Cronin was a guest on Citizen Khan.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17He played the mother-in-law's boyfriend who turned out to be
0:20:17 > 0:20:20- gay in Series 2.- So, that is how much you love Grange Hill.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24- You were getting in actors... - That is how much... That is what I do for people.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27But it was a real buzz working on something. "Oh, my God, that's Mr Baxter."
0:20:27 > 0:20:29"Where's your gym kit?"
0:20:29 > 0:20:32- So was he The Bullet? - He was The Bullet.- Course he was.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34Mr Keith "Crazy" Paving.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38- Crazy paving.- True or false? - I think that is false.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40- Is it?- Hooray.- OK.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43Mrs Bridget "The Midget" McCluskey.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47- Yeah, Bridget The Midget, that's true. McCluskey.- Correct.- Yeah.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50Miss Terri "The Loony" Mooney.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53- True or false? - Terri "The Loony" Mooney.
0:20:53 > 0:20:54I'm going to say false on that one.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57- It's true.- Is it true? I don't remember that one.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59Mr Bill "Scruffy" McGuffey.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01- Yeah, that's true. - True, absolutely true.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04Mr Dave "Pedigree" Chumford.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07No, that's not true.
0:21:07 > 0:21:08You are right, it's false.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11Mr Nick "Smartarse" Smart.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13No, that's not true.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17- No, it is true.- What?- Yeah.- Oh, OK.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19BRIAN LAUGHS
0:21:19 > 0:21:22Mr Maurice "Bronco" Bronson, true or false?
0:21:22 > 0:21:23- That's definitely true.- True?
0:21:23 > 0:21:27- Yeah, definitely.- OK. - How strict was he, Bronco?- Yeah.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30With the 'tache. I wonder which historical figure he was based on?
0:21:30 > 0:21:32You really know your stuff about Grange Hill.
0:21:32 > 0:21:37- Or I didn't do any of my homework! And just watched TV instead.- Exactly.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45Talking of TV and never going to school,
0:21:45 > 0:21:49when you were ill, this was the programme used to watch.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51Oh, God, don't do this to me.
0:21:52 > 0:21:56The Crown, represented by Mr Stephen Harvesty, alleged that Lannigan
0:21:56 > 0:22:00bribed Ager to smuggle forbidden goods into the prison.
0:22:00 > 0:22:05Crown Court could have been seen as an early form of reality TV.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09The cases were fictional but the jurors were members of the public
0:22:09 > 0:22:13deciding if the actor defendant was guilty or not.
0:22:13 > 0:22:15Two outcomes had to be rehearsed for when the jury
0:22:15 > 0:22:17delivered their verdict.
0:22:17 > 0:22:18Oh.
0:22:18 > 0:22:20Oh, no. HE COUGHS
0:22:20 > 0:22:24I feel a bit ill. I'm just going to lie down here.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26Oh, bless.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29- What would you... - Crown Court, my God.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32This is supposed to make me feel better but it didn't.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36I remember, whenever I was ill, and I am sure it is perfectly illegal,
0:22:36 > 0:22:38but my mum would leave me at home on my own.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40You are not supposed to do that, were you?
0:22:40 > 0:22:43- It was a different era, wasn't it? - Exactly, all different then.
0:22:43 > 0:22:47So, she would leave me at home in front of the telly.
0:22:47 > 0:22:52Now there's no kids' TV in the day, there's no CBeebies, no DVDs.
0:22:52 > 0:22:54You were lucky if you had a VHS.
0:22:54 > 0:22:56We had none of that, so you had to watch what was on.
0:22:56 > 0:23:01And for some reason, Crown Court was the best thing for me at the time.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04There is nothing about this that says, "Kids, watch this show."
0:23:04 > 0:23:06But I'm going, "Yeah, I'll watch it."
0:23:06 > 0:23:09Do you know why, because you were meant to be at school!
0:23:09 > 0:23:13Exactly, everything was good as long as you were not at school.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16- You are at present detained in her Majesty's Prison Parkmore.- Yes, guv.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20Course, everyone in the box always had a southern accent.
0:23:20 > 0:23:22IN A COCKNEY ACCENT: Nothing but the truth, yeah.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25- But look who it is, it's Bob Hoskins.- Is it?
0:23:25 > 0:23:28- What sort of things did you run?- We used to run the book and we also...
0:23:28 > 0:23:30- The book? - Bookmaking, you know.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34It is incredible how many distinguished actors came
0:23:34 > 0:23:37- through Crown Court.- Brilliant, brilliant.- It really was...
0:23:37 > 0:23:40- It was a learning ground for many of them.- Yeah.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42Do you know the two defendants in the dock?
0:23:42 > 0:23:45- Well, one's a screw at Parkmore and the other one...- Erm...
0:23:45 > 0:23:46What did you say?
0:23:46 > 0:23:49A screw, Your Lordship, a prison officer.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53Crown Court wasn't exactly Hollywood but it did manage to attract
0:23:53 > 0:23:56some names who became pretty huge stars
0:23:56 > 0:23:59including the 12th Doctor Who, Peter Capaldi...
0:24:00 > 0:24:04..Harry Potter star Zoe Wanamaker,
0:24:04 > 0:24:06as well as Oscar winners Colin Firth
0:24:06 > 0:24:10and the star of Gandhi and Iron Man 3, Ben Kingsley.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15- Went straight, Mr D, or went soft? - Leave off.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19For me, it was either this, or my mum would leave a Bollywood movie on.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22The great thing about Bollywood movies, they are about
0:24:22 > 0:24:26four hours long, so my mum could leave for work at nine o'clock...
0:24:26 > 0:24:30So you are telling me you had a VHS recorder.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32Yeah, later in life, we did, we had a VHS...
0:24:32 > 0:24:34She would put this Bollywood film on for four hours,
0:24:34 > 0:24:36then she would go to work,
0:24:36 > 0:24:40then she would come home at lunchtime to give me some beans on toast and
0:24:40 > 0:24:43then put another Bollywood film on for four hours and come back at five.
0:24:43 > 0:24:49So every time I watch a Bollywood film now, I start getting a bit sick.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52You are like me, if you came home from school,
0:24:52 > 0:24:54- Mum and Dad weren't there, I had that.- Yeah.
0:24:54 > 0:24:55What happened if you forgot your key?
0:24:55 > 0:24:57Yeah, that would happen a lot, really.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59That exactly happened to me.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02Forgotten my key or Mum is not home, she is running late,
0:25:02 > 0:25:06so I would have to go and knock on Auntie Betty's door.
0:25:06 > 0:25:11They were called Auntie Betty and Uncle Arthur.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13You know that thing of going to someone else's house.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16"Oh, look, they've got carpet. Look, they've got...
0:25:16 > 0:25:19"What TV have they got? Ours is better than theirs."
0:25:19 > 0:25:22You have come round my house, I want to make you feel at home.
0:25:22 > 0:25:23What you going to do?
0:25:23 > 0:25:26This is something we found out, Uncle Brian's.
0:25:27 > 0:25:31- Brilliant. Oh, my God, this is... - Is it weak enough?
0:25:31 > 0:25:34I haven't met Auntie Betty in many years and Auntie Betty,
0:25:34 > 0:25:35if you are watching, I'm sorry.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39But this is exactly what she would do, in a plastic cup
0:25:39 > 0:25:42because I wasn't trusted with a glass so you have gone one better.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45I would take the glass home or something, do you know what I mean.
0:25:45 > 0:25:50- In those days, you got glasses for free from petrol stations.- Yeah.
0:25:50 > 0:25:52So I get this.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57Mmm! BRIAN LAUGHS
0:25:57 > 0:26:01What is it? It's not juice and it isn't water.
0:26:01 > 0:26:06It's like she has put just a drop of orange in it, what is that about?
0:26:06 > 0:26:10Tell me, is this a white English thing?
0:26:10 > 0:26:13I mean, what is it? In our house is like, "Have it, come on,
0:26:13 > 0:26:17"have some Coke, have another glass of Coke, one Vimto, Tango,
0:26:17 > 0:26:19"have it all, blackcurrant Ribena."
0:26:19 > 0:26:23Go to Auntie Betty's - "There you go, love, there you are.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27"Another digestive as well, but can you share that with Stuart?"
0:26:27 > 0:26:30What about this, what have we got here, we have got some crisps.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34This is brilliant, this isn't an Auntie Betty thing, this is my thing.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36- This is great.- This is you?- Yeah, this is what we would do.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39This is you as a young kid or possibly a student?
0:26:39 > 0:26:42Coming home from school, you are waiting for Mum to come home
0:26:42 > 0:26:45and it is something I took to university with me as well.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48This is a crisp sandwich, you cannot beat a crisp sandwich.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52And you have to get these because what you have to do first is
0:26:52 > 0:26:57put your fingers all over the crisps and find...
0:26:57 > 0:26:58..that.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00So, could you please tell our viewers
0:27:00 > 0:27:02how to make a good crisp sarnie.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05I don't know the logic of it because I don't know why you just
0:27:05 > 0:27:09wouldn't buy ready salted crisps but there is something about it,
0:27:09 > 0:27:11I guess it makes you feel creative, I don't know.
0:27:11 > 0:27:16You can decide how much salt you want on. The first thing you do...
0:27:16 > 0:27:20- The first thing you do... - This is like Why Don't You, isn't it?
0:27:20 > 0:27:22So, kids, what we're going to do... This is the Birmingham gang.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26And what we are going to do is show you how to make a crisp sandwich.
0:27:26 > 0:27:27What are we doing, Brian?
0:27:27 > 0:27:31That's right, we are going to show you how to make a crisp sandwich.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33- How to make a crisp sandwich. - You are going to need crisps.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36We need some crisps. And you need some salt.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40And then what you do, you sprinkle the salt into the bag.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42- Enjoy the moment.- Enjoy that.
0:27:42 > 0:27:43- Is that enough? BOTH:- No.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46Is that enough?
0:27:46 > 0:27:47- BOTH:- No.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49- That's enough.- Because it's empty.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52Because it is empty now. And then you get the bag...
0:27:52 > 0:27:54- This is very important. - People forget this bit.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56What you are going to say now?
0:27:56 > 0:27:58They get this bit and they go, "Oh, why..."
0:27:58 > 0:28:01You've got to do this, you've got to keep the top closed...
0:28:02 > 0:28:06A bit of a shake, yeah, a bit of a shake and then,
0:28:06 > 0:28:10- simply take out some crisps...- Ah, so you are not actually pouring...
0:28:10 > 0:28:11You take them out individually.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14Take them out individually because the mess will get everywhere.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16This is better than Bake Off, forget the Bake Off,
0:28:16 > 0:28:18- this is where it is at. - The mess will get everywhere.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21- The great British Crisp Off. - Important to arrange them?
0:28:21 > 0:28:24- Arrange them, arrange them. - And keep little ones underneath?
0:28:24 > 0:28:25Just go for it, just go for it.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28You've got to let yourself... Got to be a bit Jamie,
0:28:28 > 0:28:31got to go a bit pukka, know what I mean?
0:28:31 > 0:28:34- Give it some. Go a bit like that. - Bit creative.
0:28:34 > 0:28:36Like that. Then you do that and you do that, pucker.
0:28:36 > 0:28:39I see what you are doing there, you are flattening it.
0:28:39 > 0:28:41You've got to flatten and kind of give it a...
0:28:41 > 0:28:44- Can I have a little feel?- No, no, no, this is the rule, you see.- Sorry.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47You've got to make your own sandwich because you don't want
0:28:47 > 0:28:51somebody else's fingers on your crisp sandwich. That's not right.
0:28:51 > 0:28:54- Thank you very much.- Do you cut it? - Yes, of course you cut it, yeah.
0:28:54 > 0:28:56Of course you cut it.
0:28:56 > 0:29:00I know people like to do the triangle thing. I think that is how the
0:29:00 > 0:29:04Queen has it but I like to do proper Birmingham-style, there you go.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09There you go, you do that, there you go, that's it, perfect.
0:29:09 > 0:29:12- You can have one of those. - I'll have that.- Lovely.
0:29:12 > 0:29:13Cheers, everyone.
0:29:13 > 0:29:17Now, while we are eating this, let's have a look at the Young Ones.
0:29:23 > 0:29:28Hello and welcome to another edition of University Challenge.
0:29:28 > 0:29:30University Challenge.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33So, starter for ten, fingers on the buzzers.
0:29:33 > 0:29:35Who is the richest person in the world?
0:29:35 > 0:29:38- BUZZER - Scumbag, Vyvyan.
0:29:38 > 0:29:39What?
0:29:39 > 0:29:42Look at this cast, though, it is the whole Footlights crew, isn't it?
0:29:42 > 0:29:46This is brilliant. I love it when they start kicking it down.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49I am completely bloody sick of this.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55Give us some easy ones, Bambi, you big bottom boil!
0:29:57 > 0:29:59Relax, we can handle this. Vyvyan.
0:30:00 > 0:30:02Achtung!
0:30:02 > 0:30:04- BUZZER - It's not an automatic?
0:30:04 > 0:30:05EXPLOSION
0:30:05 > 0:30:07My mum knew that I liked this show called The Young Ones.
0:30:07 > 0:30:11I think to this day, she probably thinks it's a nice little Muppet Show
0:30:11 > 0:30:13or something cartoony.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15But she let me have my own portable TV in my room
0:30:15 > 0:30:17so I could watch The Young Ones.
0:30:17 > 0:30:19Cos I used to say to her, "I want to watch The Young Ones."
0:30:19 > 0:30:21She'd say, "No, you can't, I'm watching this.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24- But she gave me my own TV. - So you'd have been about...
0:30:24 > 0:30:25- About 10 years old? - I suspect so, yeah.
0:30:25 > 0:30:27Ten years old and allowed...
0:30:27 > 0:30:30- So for a ten-year-old, this was...- It was just mad.
0:30:30 > 0:30:33You look back at it now and I understand more of the story,
0:30:33 > 0:30:34if there was a story.
0:30:34 > 0:30:38I didn't get a lot of the Thatcher jokes and the political jokes.
0:30:38 > 0:30:40But it was a thing that you had to watch because if you went to
0:30:40 > 0:30:43school the next day, me and my mates, we were all talking about it.
0:30:43 > 0:30:47You'd have had to have... if you hadn't watched The Young Ones, then you're not part of our gang.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50- Did you have a favourite character? - Vyvyan all the time.
0:30:50 > 0:30:53I told you that, Mike, you bloody cheat!
0:30:53 > 0:30:55- Could you do a Neil? - Oh, God! Erm...
0:30:55 > 0:30:58AS NEIL: Oh, come on, Vyvyan!
0:30:58 > 0:31:02- And Rick? Everyone done Rick. - AS RICK: Neil! Neil!
0:31:02 > 0:31:03Neil!
0:31:03 > 0:31:06- BUZZER - It was me... It was me!
0:31:06 > 0:31:08- AUDIENCE BOOS - Stop! Stop!
0:31:08 > 0:31:10It was quite weird and surreal.
0:31:12 > 0:31:13LAUGHTER
0:31:13 > 0:31:16To get their money, it came through the light entertainment way.
0:31:16 > 0:31:20- That's the reason the band would just appear at one point. - OK, yeah, yeah.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23You know, and they would have Madness or something in the lounge.
0:31:23 > 0:31:25Yeah. No...it's a great show.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29Again, one of the shows that probably made me think that
0:31:29 > 0:31:32if these guys can do comedy, why can't I, you know?
0:31:32 > 0:31:34I remember watching these shows going,
0:31:34 > 0:31:36- how much fun they seem to be having.- Yeah.
0:31:36 > 0:31:40You think, this is fun. This is a great way to earn a living.
0:31:42 > 0:31:46Those ever-so-charming boys went on to create more anarchic telly.
0:31:46 > 0:31:50Rik Mayall, Ade Edmonson and Nigel Planer starred in slapstick
0:31:50 > 0:31:53showbiz satire, Filthy Rich and Catflap,
0:31:53 > 0:31:58about a desperate actor, his useless minder and his dodgy agent.
0:31:59 > 0:32:04It was a warm-up for Rik and Ade's self-penned bonkers sitcom, Bottom,
0:32:04 > 0:32:06which occasionally featured their old Young Ones chum,
0:32:06 > 0:32:08Christopher Ryan.
0:32:09 > 0:32:12So did you have any other comedy heroes at the time?
0:32:12 > 0:32:14The one for me, this is a weird one in a way,
0:32:14 > 0:32:17because I was quite young again watching him,
0:32:17 > 0:32:21but I think Dave Allen, for me, was just a true genius.
0:32:21 > 0:32:25And the biggest memory for me is watching Dave Allen with my dad.
0:32:25 > 0:32:28And watching this guy who is incredibly cool, you know,
0:32:28 > 0:32:33he looked cool, always wore this perfectly tailored three-piece suit.
0:32:33 > 0:32:37You know, sitting there, with his whisky, having a cigarette.
0:32:37 > 0:32:39Telling jokes and stories.
0:32:39 > 0:32:41He was a guy from a Catholic background,
0:32:41 > 0:32:44Irish background, that wasn't afraid to tackle, you know,
0:32:44 > 0:32:47comedy within that Catholic faith or within his culture.
0:32:47 > 0:32:51But did it with tremendous warmth and heart.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54That lovely thing he would say at the end of every episode, you know,
0:32:54 > 0:32:56"May your God go with you."
0:32:56 > 0:33:00After all of that, after he's done... he's ridiculed Catholicism.
0:33:00 > 0:33:02But at the end he'd go, "You know what, that was just comedy.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05"May your God go with you." And that's just beautiful.
0:33:10 > 0:33:14I want to talk now about the next generation of viewers
0:33:14 > 0:33:16- that you have helped shape. - Oh! Really?
0:33:16 > 0:33:19- We've got a clip now from Desi DNA.- OK, yeah.
0:33:22 > 0:33:24The first thing that strikes me about this place
0:33:24 > 0:33:27is the enormity of it, it is absolutely huge.
0:33:27 > 0:33:31Adil's first big TV break arrived in 2003
0:33:31 > 0:33:35when he presented the Asian arts and entertainment show, Desi DNA.
0:33:35 > 0:33:40The series explored the changing face of Asian culture, both here and abroad.
0:33:40 > 0:33:43..is that back in the UK, we're so used to going to the end of the street
0:33:43 > 0:33:45and praying in that converted terraced house.
0:33:45 > 0:33:47There was a group of presenters
0:33:47 > 0:33:49and I was the longest running presenter over five series.
0:33:49 > 0:33:53And it was great. It was a BBC Two thing, fantastic.
0:33:53 > 0:33:57This mosque says as much about Pakistan's history as it does
0:33:57 > 0:34:00is religion. Right in the middle of the courtyard, there is
0:34:00 > 0:34:04this beautiful pavilion built by the ruler of Punjab, Ranjit Singh.
0:34:04 > 0:34:06You know, Desi DNA, it was such a great series.
0:34:06 > 0:34:10Desi means, it's a Punjabi word which means "authentic, real".
0:34:10 > 0:34:13You know to be real and authentic.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16And, you know, for people like us to be able to shout about
0:34:16 > 0:34:18Asian culture, Asian art, you know,
0:34:18 > 0:34:23architecture, to a mainstream BBC Two audience, was just fantastic.
0:34:23 > 0:34:27- This was your first big break, really?- It was really. Yeah.
0:34:27 > 0:34:30It really was. I was working on the radio here and I sort of...
0:34:30 > 0:34:34used to harass the people in the TV departments, saying, "I want to do something."
0:34:34 > 0:34:40And eventually they gave me a chance here working on this and I did a few short pieces in series one,
0:34:40 > 0:34:43but then ended up being the main presenter when it came back in series five.
0:34:43 > 0:34:46You know, it was a real, real honour to do it, actually.
0:34:46 > 0:34:50It felt... It didn't feel like work, but it felt quite important.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53No, it felt very important. We touched on your radio show.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56You used to have your own radio show.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59I played a lot of music to begin with, but it was quite strange.
0:34:59 > 0:35:01In that time I'd played music and then ended up doing a...
0:35:01 > 0:35:03from there to a news journalism show.
0:35:03 > 0:35:05I moved into a journalist kind of show.
0:35:05 > 0:35:08But in all the shows, I was always doing a bit of comedy.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11I would try and find some time in the format to do a sketch or do
0:35:11 > 0:35:13a parody or something.
0:35:13 > 0:35:17My first major break was with Paul Whitehouse
0:35:17 > 0:35:20and Charlie Higson on a TV show called Bellamy's People.
0:35:20 > 0:35:24That's where I got my first break for playing Mr Khan.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27Look at that. That's my MC Raa character. Yeah.
0:35:27 > 0:35:31A sort of a confused... confused British Asian.
0:35:31 > 0:35:35- Why was he confused? - Well, you know, he was very confused.
0:35:35 > 0:35:39- Could you give me a bit of...? - He was confused about his identity.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42You know, someone would ask him, Gary Bellamy, who was
0:35:42 > 0:35:45the sort of documentary maker going round interviewing all these
0:35:45 > 0:35:47characters and he'd say to me, "What you think of Britain?"
0:35:47 > 0:35:51And this guy would be like, "Well, you know, so what about Britain, yeah?
0:35:51 > 0:35:53"We don't even want to be here. So what if you get free NHS?
0:35:53 > 0:35:57"So what if you get like free homes? So what if you can get a Nintendo? So what if I can drive a BMW?
0:35:57 > 0:35:59"So what if I can go to hospital for free?
0:35:59 > 0:36:03"So what if I can get dental appointment free? I don't even want to be here."
0:36:03 > 0:36:06And Gary Bellamy'd be like, "OK, so where do you want to be?"
0:36:06 > 0:36:08He's like, "Er, Pakistan, innit?" "Well, why?"
0:36:08 > 0:36:10"Because it's hotter!"
0:36:10 > 0:36:12THEY LAUGH You know!
0:36:12 > 0:36:15But it was a satirical sort of comment
0:36:15 > 0:36:20of these guys who have sort of got this confusion about their identity, want to be angry about something
0:36:20 > 0:36:23but aren't quite sure what they're angry about.
0:36:23 > 0:36:26But the thing is what I learnt a lot from working with Paul and Charlie as well.
0:36:26 > 0:36:32I'd like to think all the characters I have tried so far, and there's not many of them, they've all got
0:36:32 > 0:36:35- a bit of a vulnerability and a bit of a heart to them.- They are real.
0:36:35 > 0:36:40- They're real.- They are people you know and I think that is what Paul Whitehouse does.
0:36:40 > 0:36:44- Exactly.- Your characters. They are definitely people you know.
0:36:44 > 0:36:47And quite often the people that... we think they are sort of saying
0:36:47 > 0:36:51the most ridiculous things, we know that comes from somewhere.
0:36:51 > 0:36:54They're human beings, really. And that's what really attracts me
0:36:54 > 0:36:55about doing these sort of characters, really.
0:36:55 > 0:37:00How is it for you that no-one knows you are...
0:37:01 > 0:37:02..Citizen Khan?
0:37:02 > 0:37:05- Even when you look at the photos, you don't...- I know.
0:37:05 > 0:37:10- It's amazing, the transformation. - Yeah, I quite like that, actually.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14Have you had people comment on it and not know that it's actually you?
0:37:14 > 0:37:16Yeah, I've been in a restaurant in Birmingham,
0:37:16 > 0:37:17out with a friend.
0:37:17 > 0:37:19Literally a table next to us,
0:37:19 > 0:37:22we've heard them talking about Citizen Khan.
0:37:22 > 0:37:24And they've not realised that it's me.
0:37:24 > 0:37:27Luckily for me they like the show, because had they criticised it,
0:37:27 > 0:37:29I tell you what, that suit was going to go somewhere.
0:37:29 > 0:37:33But no, that was quite sweet. And there's a great story about my aunt, series one.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36Because for my family, they just couldn't believe that I was on TV.
0:37:36 > 0:37:40"What, you're doing a sitcom? This doesn't make sense."
0:37:40 > 0:37:42Let's not underestimate you, you wrote the sitcom.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45Yeah, co-wrote the sitcom with Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48So my aunt came round once the show had been on and,
0:37:48 > 0:37:52she came round for dinner and I said, "Did you like this show?"
0:37:52 > 0:37:54She said, "Yeah, it was OK." I was like, "Oh."
0:37:54 > 0:37:57So I said, "Auntie, what is it about the show?"
0:37:57 > 0:38:00"Well, I really enjoyed the show, I loved it, it's really funny.
0:38:00 > 0:38:04"Well, what's your problem?" She goes, "But you're not in it?" You know?
0:38:04 > 0:38:07Bless her. She'd watched like three or four episodes and hadn't realised that I was Mr Khan.
0:38:07 > 0:38:10So it is quite nice in that way, really.
0:38:10 > 0:38:13So we had to sit down and put the DVD on
0:38:13 > 0:38:17and get her to compare my nose... "Look, nose, same, same nose."
0:38:17 > 0:38:24- Shall we have a little look at the first Asian sitcom on British television?- Why not. Well done you.
0:38:24 > 0:38:27Testing, testing, one, two.
0:38:27 > 0:38:29This is President Khan speaking.
0:38:29 > 0:38:34- That is you, that is great! - That is me!
0:38:34 > 0:38:36My fellow business leaders.
0:38:36 > 0:38:39Ask not what your association can do for you.
0:38:39 > 0:38:42But what have you done for me, lately?
0:38:42 > 0:38:46- I am a big fan of this. I think it's really great.- Thanks.
0:38:46 > 0:38:49- You know you can drop in any time and use the facilities here.- Yes.
0:38:49 > 0:38:53- This is the house of God open to everyone.- Yes, that is very nice.
0:38:53 > 0:38:56- Can I just ask one thing? - Shoot.- Who the hell are you?
0:38:56 > 0:39:00The thing with everything that I've done, even when I was on the BBC Asian network.
0:39:00 > 0:39:03I used to say to my production team at the time, let's not think...
0:39:03 > 0:39:06Let's not make programmes for Asian people,
0:39:06 > 0:39:09because I don't know what that means. We are making programmes.
0:39:09 > 0:39:11We are making programmes for people.
0:39:11 > 0:39:14You know, not all Asian people are the same. And the same rules apply.
0:39:14 > 0:39:19And I've always done that - when I've done my work on BBC Two, on magazine shows, presenting,
0:39:19 > 0:39:21always thought about the audience, the channel.
0:39:21 > 0:39:23And that was the same with BBC One.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26But often with my writers, Richard Pinto and Anil Gupta have got such pedigree,
0:39:26 > 0:39:30they worked on Goodness Gracious Me, The Kumars at 42, and written
0:39:30 > 0:39:33those great things for Sanjeev Bhaskar and Meera Syal.
0:39:33 > 0:39:36So they'd had this sort of experience of how you take
0:39:36 > 0:39:39Asian sort of material to a more mainstream audience.
0:39:39 > 0:39:41And I'd sometimes sit with my writer Richard,
0:39:41 > 0:39:43"I will tell you what my dad used to do."
0:39:43 > 0:39:44Or "I'll tell you what Asians do."
0:39:44 > 0:39:47And he'd go, "Well everyone does that. Everyone is a bit tight."
0:39:47 > 0:39:50Everyone's got their stories of how they'd add water
0:39:50 > 0:39:53to the ketchup bottle or something like that.
0:39:53 > 0:39:57And so it made me realise that actually, that the things happening in my house
0:39:57 > 0:40:00are just like everyone else's house. But that is what we want to see in comedy, I think.
0:40:00 > 0:40:03I think what we sometimes laugh at is familiarity.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06You know, it's not just necessarily something that's very funny.
0:40:06 > 0:40:08You laugh at, "That's just like me." You love that.
0:40:08 > 0:40:12It's that warm feeling you get from sitcom, and British sitcom is really good at that.
0:40:12 > 0:40:14- A nod, a recognition, that is what it is.- Yeah, exactly.
0:40:14 > 0:40:17- And you are?- Mr Khan. Community leader.
0:40:17 > 0:40:21- Mr Qureshi must have mentioned me? - Oh, yes! You're Mr Khan.
0:40:23 > 0:40:27That's me! Now, I need to talk about booking the mosque for my daughter's wedding.
0:40:27 > 0:40:30- Oh, your daughter's getting married, congratulations.- Thank you.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33- You must be very proud?- Hmm...
0:40:33 > 0:40:36How do you feel about watching yourself?
0:40:36 > 0:40:39It feels like such a long time ago now doing this scene, but it reminds
0:40:39 > 0:40:43me when we did it for the very first time, performing on stage.
0:40:43 > 0:40:45I feel the nerves sometimes. You must get this.
0:40:45 > 0:40:49- "He's going to get a line wrong in a minute."- Yeah.- It's that thing.
0:40:49 > 0:40:52But, no, it's great. It's great. And having the chance
0:40:52 > 0:40:54to work with someone like Kris Marshall is brilliant.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57What is the biggest buzz you get from writing Citizen Khan?
0:40:57 > 0:41:00Is it writing, is it the performance, is it reaction?
0:41:00 > 0:41:02I... I feel performance, obviously.
0:41:02 > 0:41:05It is a great buzz with all the nerves that happen beforehand.
0:41:05 > 0:41:09As soon as you're on stage, I am sure you have felt this, it is like, "Wow, this is great."
0:41:09 > 0:41:13You feel like this is what I want to do. But in terms of the reaction, I've always said, you know,
0:41:13 > 0:41:16writing this comedy, if it can go and television, go on to BBC One
0:41:16 > 0:41:19and a white family are watching it
0:41:19 > 0:41:21and the wife is sat next to the husband
0:41:21 > 0:41:23and Mr Khan does something quite ridiculous,
0:41:23 > 0:41:27and bear in mind this is a Pakistani Muslim guy with a beard that has
0:41:27 > 0:41:29so many connotations and stereotypes that go with that image,
0:41:29 > 0:41:31but suddenly you know the wife nudges the husband
0:41:31 > 0:41:35while they're sat down having their fish and chips or their curry and goes,
0:41:35 > 0:41:37"That Mr Khan, that's a bit of you, that is."
0:41:37 > 0:41:39- Yeah.- That... That gives me the greatest satisfaction.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42That tells me that we are doing our job, we are
0:41:42 > 0:41:47taking characters that have never been seen before on television
0:41:47 > 0:41:49but people are relating to them and you have this sort
0:41:49 > 0:41:51of universality that people go,
0:41:51 > 0:41:53"Actually I connect so much with that."
0:41:53 > 0:41:57Especially for young kids now, I kind of worried myself as a British Muslim
0:41:57 > 0:42:00that the only time we see a Muslim guy with a beard on the telly is
0:42:00 > 0:42:02when they've either been a terrorist or they are suspected
0:42:02 > 0:42:05of being a terrorist, or they are on talking about terrorism.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08And suddenly we have this bearded Muslim called Mr Khan who
0:42:08 > 0:42:11is just a lovable guy, for young kids to go, "I like this guy.
0:42:11 > 0:42:14"I think he is funny, I love him." You know, it's a great...
0:42:14 > 0:42:17It's a great feeling, I have to say and it's credit to all the writers that I work with
0:42:17 > 0:42:19and everyone on the show that makes that happen
0:42:19 > 0:42:22- and I am glad it has all been embraced by our audience. - And credit to you.
0:42:22 > 0:42:26Now we always give our guests a chance to pick a theme tune
0:42:26 > 0:42:29- to go out with.- OK.- What have you got in your head?- Oh, God.
0:42:29 > 0:42:30I think the ultimate for me,
0:42:30 > 0:42:33and he's not with us any more, is John Sullivan, I think.
0:42:33 > 0:42:35The fact that he wrote
0:42:35 > 0:42:38and sang the theme tune to Only Fools And Horses, is just tremendous.
0:42:38 > 0:42:42I don't think any sitcom has ever matched how big that theme
0:42:42 > 0:42:46tune was and I don't think anyone ever will. It's just brilliant.
0:42:46 > 0:42:49Just from the moment, the beginning of that drumroll, "du-du-du".
0:42:49 > 0:42:50Oh, it's just fantastic!
0:42:50 > 0:42:53And you have got to sing along to it.
0:42:53 > 0:42:56- Just great, so Only Fools And Horses for me, I think.- Thanks, Adil.
0:42:56 > 0:42:58- Brian, thanks very much. - God bless you.- Thank you.
0:42:58 > 0:43:03And thanks to you for watching The TV That Made Me. We will see you next time. Bye-bye.
0:43:07 > 0:43:09# We've got some half price cracked ice
0:43:09 > 0:43:10# And miles and miles of carpet tiles
0:43:10 > 0:43:13# TVs, deep freeze and David Bowie LPs
0:43:13 > 0:43:16# Ball games, gold chains, whatshisnames
0:43:16 > 0:43:19# And Trevor Francis track suits from a mush in Shepherds Bush
0:43:19 > 0:43:22# Bush, bush, bush, bush, bush, bush, bush...
0:43:22 > 0:43:25# No income tax, no VAT
0:43:25 > 0:43:28# No money back, no guarantee
0:43:28 > 0:43:31# Black or white, rich or poor... #