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 world
0:00:13 > 0:00:16of TV with some of our favourite celebrities.
0:00:16 > 0:00:20They've chosen the precious TV moments that shed light...
0:00:20 > 0:00:22- Proper. - She seems like a nice girl, though.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24Look at that!
0:00:24 > 0:00:26..on the stories of their lives.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28# Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew
0:00:28 > 0:00:29# Cuthbert, Dibble, Grub! #
0:00:29 > 0:00:31Some are funny...
0:00:31 > 0:00:33- Could you do the chanting? - I could do...
0:00:33 > 0:00:34Nyow, nyow, nyow...
0:00:34 > 0:00:36- Some...- Amazing!
0:00:36 > 0:00:38- ..are surprising. - SHE LAUGHS
0:00:38 > 0:00:39I was mortified.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42Some are inspiring.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44I am not a number, I am a free man!
0:00:44 > 0:00:46And many...
0:00:46 > 0:00:48Did George Orwell get his predictions right?
0:00:48 > 0:00:49It's all so dramatic!
0:00:49 > 0:00:51..are deeply moving.
0:00:51 > 0:00:52Oh, no!
0:00:52 > 0:00:54'And heads down the beach towards almost certain death.'
0:00:54 > 0:00:56All of us, weeping!
0:00:56 > 0:01:00So come watch with us as we hand-pick the vintage telly that
0:01:00 > 0:01:05helped turn our much-loved stars into the people they are today.
0:01:05 > 0:01:07Welcome to The TV That Made Me.
0:01:15 > 0:01:16My guest today has done it all.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19She is a novelist, documentary maker,
0:01:19 > 0:01:22agony aunt and a former government minister.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25In fact, she has pulled off the impossible.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27Because the truly awesome
0:01:27 > 0:01:31Ann Widdecombe is a politician we are actually very fond of.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34The TV that made her includes...
0:01:34 > 0:01:39Power dressing and bed hopping in the boat-building saga Howards' Way.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42Why? Mark's not coming back till later.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44You mean he SAID he wasn't coming back till later.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48The mother of all raucous rock and roll shows.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51# Old King Cole was a merry old soul
0:01:51 > 0:01:53# And a merry old soul was he. #
0:01:53 > 0:01:57And the crime busting adventures of a sleuth...
0:01:57 > 0:01:58in a surplice.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01- Has anything been taken? - No, nothing has been taken.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03How can you be so sure?!
0:02:03 > 0:02:07It can only be the one and only, the legend - Ann Widdecombe -
0:02:07 > 0:02:09- with us today.- Hello. - Are you happy to be here?
0:02:09 > 0:02:11I am very happy to be here.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13- We are happy you are here.- Good.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15Because you are formidable.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18- I must say, I am a bit nervous to be in your company.- Yes, you should be.
0:02:18 > 0:02:20HE LAUGHS
0:02:20 > 0:02:24So, was the young Widdecombe too busy to watch TV?
0:02:24 > 0:02:28Well, interestingly, I didn't see any television until I was nine
0:02:28 > 0:02:30because my father was with the Admiralty
0:02:30 > 0:02:33and so we used to move around every two to three years.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35When I was five, we moved to Singapore.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38And when I came back from Singapore,
0:02:38 > 0:02:40that was the first time I saw television.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43And I was nearly nine.
0:02:43 > 0:02:48So what did you think of TV when you first saw it at the age of nine?
0:02:48 > 0:02:50I was very excited by it because, of course, the only thing
0:02:50 > 0:02:53I had seen that was remotely similar was the cinema, you know,
0:02:53 > 0:02:55film on the big screen.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59And so it seemed to me that here I had my own little cinema almost,
0:02:59 > 0:03:01in this little box in the corner.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03I was vastly excited by it.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05- Yeah? We want to go back to the beginning now...- Right.
0:03:05 > 0:03:07..and just see a little bit more,
0:03:07 > 0:03:11and find out a little bit more about the young Ann Widdecombe.
0:03:12 > 0:03:17Ann Widdecombe is the daughter of Rita and James Widdecombe, MBE.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22And sister of devoted older brother Malcolm,
0:03:22 > 0:03:26who would later study theology and become a priest.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29She enjoyed a well-travelled childhood,
0:03:29 > 0:03:33as Dad's took the family as far afield as Singapore.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37But home was always England.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41And in 1956, the family returned, living first
0:03:41 > 0:03:45in rural Sussex before finally settling in Bath,
0:03:45 > 0:03:49where Ann attended a strict convent school.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52Ann, what was life like back then?
0:03:52 > 0:03:55The young Ann, at home, your lounge?
0:03:55 > 0:03:59It was a very safe, very secure and totally free life.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01Children could go off, and they did.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03They could go off all day, playing.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07We had no mobile phones. We had no means of contacting our parents.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10- Parents never worried. It was a very, very safe life.- Mm-hm.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12And I used to go off with friends.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15We used to go into the woods and have Enid Blyton-style
0:04:15 > 0:04:17adventures. In our imagination, course.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20And we used to take picnics.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23Providing we came back at the time specified by our parents,
0:04:23 > 0:04:25which was likely to be six o'clock at night, nobody worried.
0:04:25 > 0:04:27Nobody wondered where we were.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35- So, Ann, you're nine years old.- Yes.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38- We are going on to your first clip now.- Yes.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41I believe it is quite biblical?
0:04:41 > 0:04:44Yes. There was a lot of religious television watched in my household.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47My brother was training for the priesthood.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49And so we were very interested.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51But I remember particularly,
0:04:51 > 0:04:54we used to get a lot of religious dramatisations.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56And there was a phenomenal one -
0:04:56 > 0:04:59Patrick Troughton as Paul of Tarsus.
0:04:59 > 0:05:04And, oh, do I wish they would bring that out on DVD.
0:05:04 > 0:05:05Shall we have a little peek?
0:05:05 > 0:05:07- Oh, can we?- Of course we can. Here we go.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12A man from Galilee who followed Jesus of Nazareth.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15Oh, yes. They have quite a following, haven't they?
0:05:15 > 0:05:16Well, from all that I hear,
0:05:16 > 0:05:18they are doing much good in the city -
0:05:18 > 0:05:22feeding the poor, caring for widows and fatherless children
0:05:22 > 0:05:25and teaching people to lead godly lives.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28So you are saying it was very true to the Bible.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31It stuck entirely with the Bible.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33I mean, in those days, you didn't mess about.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36HE LAUGHS
0:05:36 > 0:05:39Will you give us your opinion of the sect known as the Nazarenes?
0:05:39 > 0:05:41How does it feel going back to that?
0:05:41 > 0:05:46Well, it is just amazing seeing it again cos I haven't seen it since.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50I was given a very grainy recording
0:05:50 > 0:05:53of it by somebody on one occasion.
0:05:53 > 0:05:59But I haven't seen it in that quality since I first saw it.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03Paul Of Tarsus stayed true to the Bible in its storytelling.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06Exterior scenes were shot on location in Crete,
0:06:06 > 0:06:10which brought a naturalism to the series that TV audiences had
0:06:10 > 0:06:13seldom seen in a biblical drama before.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17This is a very serious subject...
0:06:17 > 0:06:19- Yes.- ..for someone so young.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23I mean, was it a very religious upbringing you had?
0:06:23 > 0:06:25- Well... - Did the whole family sit and watch?
0:06:25 > 0:06:27Well, Paul Of Tarsus we all watched.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30Or certainly, my mother and I would have watched.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33But I think it was on a Sunday, which would have likely meant that we
0:06:33 > 0:06:37were all glued, and my brother when he was home from theological college.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40So I can see again the lounge
0:06:40 > 0:06:42and the television
0:06:42 > 0:06:45and the family gathered round, watching.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47Was it a big telly?
0:06:47 > 0:06:51Oh, good heavens, no. It was a very modest little thing. It stood...
0:06:51 > 0:06:52It was wooden.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54- Yeah.- It stood up on four legs.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57And, of course, again, what people don't generally realise
0:06:57 > 0:06:59is there were only two channels in those days.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02- Where we were, out in the country, we only got one.- Yeah.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05- So I had the BBC or nothing. - I like the fact that telly just...
0:07:05 > 0:07:08- You'd turn it on and it had to warm up.- Oh, it had to warm up.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10You would turn on the set, it will be two minutes
0:07:10 > 0:07:12if you were going to see Paul of Taurus.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15And of course, the Paul Of Tarsus story is so exciting,
0:07:15 > 0:07:17cos it begins off persecuting the Christians.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20And you have this massive incident on the road to Damascus.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22And then he is blind, and then he is healed...
0:07:22 > 0:07:25And then he goes off on his journeys, and he gets shipwrecked.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28And he gets chased away from things, and he has narrow escapes.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31And in the end, he has to appeal to Caesar. And that's it.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35- It sounds like we should remake it. - I think...
0:07:35 > 0:07:38Well, I don't think anybody could do it as well as Patrick Troughton.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41So, shall I just leave you to watch this?
0:07:41 > 0:07:43Yes, absolutely, you go away and I'll watch this.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45You're just happy to watch that, yeah.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49Paul Of Tarsus had a huge impact on the biblical dramas
0:07:49 > 0:07:51that were to follow.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55After Patrick Troughton's realistic portrayal of St Paul,
0:07:55 > 0:07:59TV tried to make characters from the Bible as authentic
0:07:59 > 0:08:00as they possibly could be.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03They teach that this...this criminal rose from the dead
0:08:03 > 0:08:05and now sits at the right hand of God!
0:08:07 > 0:08:09In 1969, Colin Blakely's
0:08:09 > 0:08:11tormented performance as Jesus
0:08:11 > 0:08:13in Dennis Potter's stark
0:08:13 > 0:08:15Son Of Man may have drawn
0:08:15 > 0:08:17complaints from Mary Whitehouse,
0:08:17 > 0:08:19but it was hailed as a masterpiece.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23In 1977, Robert Powell took this
0:08:23 > 0:08:26one step further with his powerful
0:08:26 > 0:08:28and moving performance
0:08:28 > 0:08:29in Jesus Of Nazareth.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35James Nesbitt's portrayal
0:08:35 > 0:08:37of Pontius Pilate as a world-weary
0:08:37 > 0:08:40soldier was incredibly powerful
0:08:40 > 0:08:42in The Passion in 2008.
0:08:44 > 0:08:45And Andrew Buchan gave us
0:08:45 > 0:08:47the troubled, angry and exhausted
0:08:47 > 0:08:49new father, Joseph,
0:08:49 > 0:08:52in The Nativity in 2010.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03Was there anything else weekly that you would religiously watch?
0:09:03 > 0:09:04There was the weekly play.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07And then on a Saturday, of course, there was Six-Five Special.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10So The Six-Five Special, that was something very special for you?
0:09:10 > 0:09:12- Believe it or not, at 6.05.- Yeah.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15Well, why was it called that?
0:09:15 > 0:09:16It would start at five past six.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19And it was the first, I suppose,
0:09:19 > 0:09:23of the pop programmes that went on to Juke Box Jury and things like that.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26Would you like to see a little moment from The Six-Five Special?
0:09:26 > 0:09:28- With Pete Murray, yes, I would.- Yeah.- Yeah.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31This, ladies and gentlemen,
0:09:31 > 0:09:33is The Six-Five Special.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35# The Six-Five Special Steaming down the line
0:09:35 > 0:09:37- # Down the line... # - Go on, Ann.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40# The Six-Five Special Right on time... #
0:09:40 > 0:09:41# Everybody do the rock!
0:09:41 > 0:09:46The Six-Five Special isn't referring to a train full of cool musicians
0:09:46 > 0:09:48steaming into our living rooms.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50It refers to the start time.
0:09:50 > 0:09:55In 1957, it was the very first show to fill the hour-long gap
0:09:55 > 0:09:58the BBC placed in the schedule between six and seven
0:09:58 > 0:10:01so parents could get their kids to bed.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04It was also Britain's first live music show,
0:10:04 > 0:10:08pointing the way to the '60s three years before they happen.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10# Everybody do the roll. #
0:10:10 > 0:10:14- So this was your Top Of The Pops, really.- Yes.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16In those days, indeed, yes.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18I can remember skiffle was a very big thing.
0:10:18 > 0:10:19You know, with washboards.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22So, in those days, you wouldn't get up and have a little jig?
0:10:22 > 0:10:24Oh, no, absolutely not. No.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27- No. It wouldn't appeal. Just wouldn't appeal.- No?- No.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29So it was much later on, obviously...
0:10:29 > 0:10:32Yeah, I think we were in the '60s with the twist before I found much
0:10:32 > 0:10:34appeal in dancing.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37In any way, what would it take
0:10:37 > 0:10:40for you to dance now?
0:10:40 > 0:10:43- Oh, pretty well nothing.- Really?
0:10:43 > 0:10:45- I couldn't get you up to have a little jig?- No.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47- You absolutely couldn't. Good.- Fair enough.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50That's clear, is it? Good.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54- Well, I tried.- You've tried. - I tried, you know.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57- The Six-Five Special...- Yes.
0:10:57 > 0:11:02- ..had many, many guest appearances from many stars.- Yes, it did.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04We wanted to put you to the test now and see
0:11:04 > 0:11:07- if you could name some of the people...- I wouldn't be able to.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10- Well, who knows? You don't know.- I know.- Have a look at these pictures.
0:11:10 > 0:11:16- Who do we think that is?- I think that is either a very young...
0:11:16 > 0:11:19- Dusty Springfield. - Mm-hm, possibly. Or?
0:11:19 > 0:11:23- Or a very young...- Go on.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28Well, it's not Kathy Kirby. I don't know, no.
0:11:28 > 0:11:29You'll kick yourself.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31- Go on, tell me.- Petula Clark.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34- Strewth! Is that Pet Clark?- Yeah.
0:11:34 > 0:11:35Let's try the next one now.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38Have a look at this one, tell me who you think this might be.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40You'll get this.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44No idea.
0:11:44 > 0:11:45Tommy Steele.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49Almost before my time, yep.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51Oh, that has got to be Helen Shapiro.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54You will be absolutely amazed when I tell you that is a very,
0:11:54 > 0:11:57- very young Shirley Bassey.- Oh, no!
0:11:57 > 0:11:58It is, isn't it? Isn't it amazing?
0:11:58 > 0:12:00Good heavens! I wouldn't have got that.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02I would've got that as Helen Shapiro. Yeah, right. OK.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05- Well, there you are, you see? I got them all wrong.- Well,
0:12:05 > 0:12:07- you proved a point.- Yes, right.
0:12:07 > 0:12:09# Everybody do the rock and roll. #
0:12:09 > 0:12:11With ground-breaking live performances,
0:12:11 > 0:12:16The Six-Five Special ushered in a new era of pop shows that kids
0:12:16 > 0:12:20thought were great but some adults thought would end the world.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22ITV jumped on the pop bandwagon
0:12:22 > 0:12:25in 1958 with Oh Boy!
0:12:25 > 0:12:27It made the careers of bands
0:12:27 > 0:12:28like The Drifters
0:12:28 > 0:12:30and featured acts including
0:12:30 > 0:12:33Shirley Bassey and Lonnie Donegan.
0:12:33 > 0:12:34In 1963, Friday nights saw
0:12:34 > 0:12:36the start of a brand-new pop series
0:12:36 > 0:12:38on ITV.
0:12:38 > 0:12:39Early shows were presented
0:12:39 > 0:12:41by the brilliant Dusty Springfield,
0:12:41 > 0:12:44who made sure the weekend started
0:12:44 > 0:12:45with Ready Steady Go!
0:12:46 > 0:12:50Not to be outdone, the BBC launched a new music show
0:12:50 > 0:12:53live from a converted church in Manchester -
0:12:53 > 0:12:56Top Of The Pops.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58Among the acts on the first episode
0:12:58 > 0:12:59were The Dave Clark Five
0:12:59 > 0:13:01performing Glad All Over,
0:13:01 > 0:13:04which is exactly how we all felt.
0:13:09 > 0:13:10Now, you were at boarding school,
0:13:10 > 0:13:12- in Bath.- Yes, I went to boarding school.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15What was it you used to watch there?
0:13:15 > 0:13:19Well, there was a great innovation when we were in the third form.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22We were given a common room with a television in it.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24HE GASPS
0:13:24 > 0:13:28And we were allowed to watch a very restricted amount of television.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30There were two things that we loved.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33One was one of the very earliest soaps. It was called Compact.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37It was the story of a magazine and the staff who worked on it.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40The other was Dr Kildare.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42And we all used to come down
0:13:42 > 0:13:45from the dormitories to watch Dr Kildare.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49So we had to go up to the dormitories and get into our pyjamas
0:13:49 > 0:13:50and dressing gowns.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52And then we were allowed down to watch Dr Kildare
0:13:52 > 0:13:54so that we could go straight to bed afterwards.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57We all adored Dr Kildare.
0:13:57 > 0:13:59- Shall we have a little look?- Yeah.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02See if it is still... See if you still feel that way.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05- Hi.- Huh?
0:14:05 > 0:14:06Oh, hi, Lana.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09I hear it's hand flapping time, daddy.
0:14:09 > 0:14:10Yeah, uh...
0:14:12 > 0:14:13Come on in here.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16- Very handsome man.- Hm.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21Dr Kildare was one of the first big American drama
0:14:21 > 0:14:24series to play on the BBC.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27With cinema standard production values,
0:14:27 > 0:14:29universal storylines
0:14:29 > 0:14:32and an impossibly handsome star
0:14:32 > 0:14:34in Richard Chamberlain,
0:14:34 > 0:14:36British audiences immediately
0:14:36 > 0:14:38took to this foreign import.
0:14:38 > 0:14:39No...
0:14:39 > 0:14:42- Lana, if there were any other way... - (Please don't tell me.)
0:14:42 > 0:14:45- Lana, you have got to listen to me. - I don't want to hear it!- Lana!
0:14:45 > 0:14:47It's audience figures
0:14:47 > 0:14:48soared to 15 million,
0:14:48 > 0:14:50and it kept Chamber fans'
0:14:50 > 0:14:53hearts beating until 1966.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02- I'm surprised you could sleep at the end of one of those.- Yes.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06I don't remember that particular episode, but, as I say,
0:15:06 > 0:15:08we used to watch Dr Kildare every single week.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12I mean, it was very dramatic. Is that typical?
0:15:12 > 0:15:14Oh, it was always very dramatic.
0:15:14 > 0:15:19There was always some very big central drama to every episode.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23So either somebody was dying or he was in a moral dilemma as to
0:15:23 > 0:15:25whether he should do X or Y.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27Or he had made some big mistake. Whatever it was.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30Every week, there was some crucial drama.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34Mm-hm. Was he a renegade? Bending the rules, do you think?
0:15:34 > 0:15:36Um...
0:15:36 > 0:15:38Actually, very often he wasn't.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41And I remember there was one episode,
0:15:41 > 0:15:44quite a long way into Dr Kildare,
0:15:44 > 0:15:47so I think I was much older when I saw it,
0:15:47 > 0:15:50but there was one episode where he had to make a choice
0:15:50 > 0:15:53that if he gave evidence in a particular way,
0:15:53 > 0:15:56it was going to deny a child compensation.
0:15:56 > 0:15:58But if he told the absolute,
0:15:58 > 0:16:00rigid truth,
0:16:00 > 0:16:04he would have to do that.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07So it was an interesting dilemma.
0:16:07 > 0:16:09- Did it make you want to become a doctor?- No.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12I was useless at science. I really was.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16I was always good at classics - Latin and Greek. I was good at English.
0:16:16 > 0:16:18I was good at history.
0:16:18 > 0:16:23But I was useless, useless, useless at maths and science.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25And if I had said I wanted to be a doctor,
0:16:25 > 0:16:27the nuns would still be laughing now.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29You expect the two men to comfort each other?
0:16:29 > 0:16:32Dr Kildare proved that there is no moral dilemma too big
0:16:32 > 0:16:35to be faced by TV medics.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39And actors love to play them as much as we love to watch them.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45The BBC's home-grown answer to Kildare came in 1962
0:16:45 > 0:16:46in the form of Bill Simpson's
0:16:46 > 0:16:49Dr Finlay and his casebook.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51He faced weekly dramas
0:16:51 > 0:16:53in the fictional Scottish town
0:16:53 > 0:16:54of Tannochbrae.
0:16:56 > 0:16:57The homeliness of Dr Finlay
0:16:57 > 0:16:59was left far behind
0:16:59 > 0:17:00when the nurses of Angels
0:17:00 > 0:17:04appeared on our screens in 1975.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06Fiona Fullerton and her team dealt
0:17:06 > 0:17:08with hard-hitting dramas
0:17:08 > 0:17:10in and out of hospital.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13In 1986, a medical series
0:17:13 > 0:17:15came along that proved
0:17:15 > 0:17:17the possibilities of a drama set
0:17:17 > 0:17:20in a medical community are endless.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23From the early days of Charlie Fairhead
0:17:23 > 0:17:25and Megan Roche to today's
0:17:25 > 0:17:27medical team led by Connie Beauchamp,
0:17:27 > 0:17:30Casualty is the longest running
0:17:30 > 0:17:32emergency medical drama in the world.
0:17:34 > 0:17:35And after 29 years,
0:17:35 > 0:17:38Derek Thompson's Charlie Fairhead
0:17:38 > 0:17:40is still going strong.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45What was boarding school like in the '60s?
0:17:45 > 0:17:48Were you a fan of it? Do you approve of it?
0:17:48 > 0:17:51The one I went to was very strict, even by the standards of the age.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54And so most of the other boarders -
0:17:54 > 0:17:56not all of them but most of them -
0:17:56 > 0:17:57were Forces.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00And it was an age...
0:18:00 > 0:18:03I think this would shock people to realise,
0:18:03 > 0:18:05but the girls in my dormitory whose
0:18:05 > 0:18:09parents were RAF used to see them
0:18:09 > 0:18:12once a year if they were posted abroad.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16- They used to be...- Were you more fortunate than that?- I was.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19I was with my parents throughout when we were on foreign postings.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21But my brother wasn't so fortunate.
0:18:21 > 0:18:23And indeed, it was worse in his time.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26He remained behind while we were in Singapore.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29But they didn't even allow them out once a year then.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32- How long did you not see your brother for?- Three years.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34It was a three-year tour. So... And that was standard.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38- And was your brother much older than you?- He was ten years older than me.
0:18:38 > 0:18:39We were pre-war and post-war,
0:18:39 > 0:18:42or as he always says - quality and utility.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44HE LAUGHS
0:18:49 > 0:18:51And, this is now your must-see TV.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55This is when you had to get your homework done
0:18:55 > 0:18:56quickly enough to watch.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00- This is of course Hans... - Hans and Lotte Hass.
0:19:03 > 0:19:08Scarcely a day goes by without one or other of us going over the side
0:19:08 > 0:19:10with a still or a movie camera
0:19:10 > 0:19:12to check up all the rare fish
0:19:12 > 0:19:13we come across.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17We carry, of course, a good library of reference books.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19So what was this about, then?
0:19:19 > 0:19:22This was underwater exploration.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25So we would have all the fish and the sea life.
0:19:26 > 0:19:31Lotte first met Hans Hass when she applied for a job as his secretary.
0:19:32 > 0:19:37By 1956, Lotte and Hans were on our screens in the first
0:19:37 > 0:19:41underwater natural history film ever broadcast on the BBC.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46This six-part series Diving To Adventure
0:19:46 > 0:19:47took our breath away.
0:19:47 > 0:19:52Lotte and Hans went on to win an Oscar for their work in 1959.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59We take it for granted now, but to be having cameras underwater...
0:19:59 > 0:20:01This was extraordinary to us at the time.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05I mean, now there is no corner of the earth that hasn't been visited.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09Everybody goes on safari, so the wonders of Attenborough,
0:20:09 > 0:20:11people experience it first-hand now.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14But this to us, in those days, it was just extraordinary.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16Nobody did this, you know? This wasn't...
0:20:16 > 0:20:19I was especially interested in diving because,
0:20:19 > 0:20:21of course, I had grown up a lot in Singapore.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24- So you had done a lot...? - Everything was water sports.
0:20:24 > 0:20:26Everything was swimming, diving, sailing.
0:20:26 > 0:20:28Everything was based on the water.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32And so diving itself had no particular fascination for me.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34Well, I knew so many people who did it.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38But then suddenly to see this sort of stuff under the sea
0:20:38 > 0:20:42and the wonders of nature... Just amazing.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50I mean, even in black and white, it still seems...
0:20:50 > 0:20:53- wonderful.- Oh, yeah.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56- And to have a woman in such a strong, central role.- Yes.
0:20:58 > 0:21:03What I think is quite hard to describe to people now is that then
0:21:03 > 0:21:07very few people had seen much of the world.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10The sort of stuff that Attenborough
0:21:10 > 0:21:14used to show us - you know, tribes in Africa -
0:21:14 > 0:21:19nobody had gone and seen the Massai dancing, as they do now.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21That was something you only saw on television.
0:21:21 > 0:21:26Nobody had even seen even, say, Pompeii or the Acropolis.
0:21:26 > 0:21:28People didn't go abroad for their holidays.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30They largely stayed in this country.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32The only people who had seen all that
0:21:32 > 0:21:34were those who had come back from the wars
0:21:34 > 0:21:36and, frankly, never wanted to see most of it again.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40But the ordinary Brit did not go
0:21:40 > 0:21:43travelling vast distances to
0:21:43 > 0:21:45exotic places every summer like they do now.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48We went to see family in Cornwall or something.
0:21:48 > 0:21:53So this was amazing stuff because it was the only way we could see it.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55- Obviously, later we had Jacques Cousteau.- Yes.
0:21:55 > 0:21:56But he was the first.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58Absolutely.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01Him and Attenborough, I can remember for bringing
0:22:01 > 0:22:04things into our sitting rooms that most of us had not seen.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06Lotte and Hans not only
0:22:06 > 0:22:08introduced us to brand-new worlds,
0:22:08 > 0:22:11they created a whole new type
0:22:11 > 0:22:13of danger-loving TV explorer.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17And here are three of the toughest.
0:22:17 > 0:22:18Yummy mummies' favourite
0:22:18 > 0:22:20Steve Backshall proved
0:22:20 > 0:22:22with his deadly series of shows
0:22:22 > 0:22:24for CBBC that he can track down any
0:22:24 > 0:22:26animal on our earth and then catch
0:22:26 > 0:22:29it, often with his bare hands.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32Ray Mears is the man
0:22:32 > 0:22:33who takes the idea of being
0:22:33 > 0:22:35a lover of the great outdoors
0:22:35 > 0:22:38to the extreme.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40And former children's TV presenter
0:22:40 > 0:22:42Helen Skelton has crisscrossed
0:22:42 > 0:22:43the globe on a series
0:22:43 > 0:22:45of epic adventures, in the process
0:22:45 > 0:22:49breaking two Guinness World Records.
0:22:55 > 0:22:57Now, your next choice is Cadfael.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00- Yes.- Can you tell us a little bit about that?
0:23:00 > 0:23:03Yes. Cadfael is a detective monk
0:23:03 > 0:23:04in medieval times.
0:23:04 > 0:23:09So a great deal of the action is actually set in the monastery,
0:23:09 > 0:23:12but he is investigating crimes - murders of course -
0:23:12 > 0:23:16from the perspective of somebody
0:23:16 > 0:23:19who didn't have today's fingerprints
0:23:19 > 0:23:21and DNA and all the rest of it.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24What he did have was a great knowledge of herbs.
0:23:24 > 0:23:25He was a herbalist.
0:23:25 > 0:23:30And much of his detective work was done through his herbalism.
0:23:30 > 0:23:35So it is a wonderful story. I love Derek Jacobi as an actor.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37He is one of my favourite actors.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40And he really brings Cadfael to life.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43Well, let's have a little look at this, then.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45Mr Jacobi in Cadfael.
0:23:45 > 0:23:47He is superb.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50Brother Cadfael, Uncle died without absolution.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53So do many. You mustn't let it fret you, child.
0:23:53 > 0:23:54Penitence is in the heart.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57Brother Cadfael first appeared in the medieval murder mystery
0:23:57 > 0:24:01by author Ellis Peters in 1977.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03He is a Benedictine monk,
0:24:03 > 0:24:07but he's also a bit of a dark horse. As well as being a herbalist,
0:24:07 > 0:24:09he has also been a soldier and a sailor.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11It is this worldly knowingness
0:24:11 > 0:24:14that Jacobi captures so perfectly.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18It was a superb series. I have got the box set.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21I have to give it a few years in between viewing,
0:24:21 > 0:24:23because otherwise I remember too much who did it.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26But there is always some new thing
0:24:26 > 0:24:29that I spot whenever I watch Cadfael.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32Now, how many times have you watched it, then?
0:24:32 > 0:24:35- Your box set.- My box set, I would think about three.- Really?
0:24:35 > 0:24:38- Well, has anything been taken? - No, nothing has been taken.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40How can you be so sure?!
0:24:40 > 0:24:45So Derek Jacobi is the very definition of a class act.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48And he shines in roles that need both brains
0:24:48 > 0:24:51and a proper copper-bottomed pedigree.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54He is, of course, the emperor
0:24:54 > 0:24:56Claudius in the now legendary
0:24:56 > 0:24:58adaptation of I, Claudius
0:24:58 > 0:25:00in the 1970s.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02He regaled us with King Richard II
0:25:02 > 0:25:04in 1978,
0:25:04 > 0:25:05before giving us his Hamlet,
0:25:05 > 0:25:08Prince of Denmark, in 1980,
0:25:08 > 0:25:11both in the BBC's equally legendary
0:25:11 > 0:25:13television Shakespeare series.
0:25:13 > 0:25:15In 2007, came Dr Who,
0:25:15 > 0:25:17where he finally revealed his true
0:25:17 > 0:25:21identity as, of course, The Master.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25But even after all that, for many of us, he'll always be...Cadfael.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29Search thoroughly before we report this to Hugh Beringar.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31Report it? But there is no harm.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34Master killed, the booth robbed, and now your caravan.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38A very modern detective for a medieval time.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40Um... No.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43I think if you watch the series, he comes over as medieval,
0:25:43 > 0:25:44with medieval values,
0:25:44 > 0:25:50but a very moral man to whom faith means more than doctrine.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54The treatment of human beings is supremely important to Cadfael.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57As, as you saw in that clip, is justice.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00You know, you don't want a solution, you want the right solution.
0:26:00 > 0:26:01A common thief?!
0:26:04 > 0:26:05Who steals nothing?
0:26:05 > 0:26:08Your sense of justice, I think, comes through.
0:26:08 > 0:26:14A lot of programmes in those days were about moral dilemmas, yeah.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16Do you miss that?
0:26:16 > 0:26:18Um, yes. I think, in a way, I do.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21I think modern television is essentially trivial now.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24I'm not saying all of it, I'm not so stupid as to say that,
0:26:24 > 0:26:26but a lot of it is essentially trivial.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28I don't watch soaps, for example,
0:26:28 > 0:26:32with the possible exception of Heartbeat. I don't watch soaps.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35Because it is effectively people
0:26:35 > 0:26:40shouting at each other, swearing at each other, leading irregular lives.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44And some of the very big dilemmas that face humanity,
0:26:44 > 0:26:45they don't get a look in.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47So, when you were younger,
0:26:47 > 0:26:50was it always a career in politics or did you fancy other things?
0:26:50 > 0:26:55I think when I was 11, Yuri Gagarin went into space.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58And I think for a while every other child wanted to be an astronaut.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02And I was inspired for some while to be a missionary,
0:27:02 > 0:27:05because you used to get the heroic missionary tales.
0:27:05 > 0:27:09And then, after that, I think an ornithologist because there was
0:27:09 > 0:27:12somebody with Blyton's books who wanted to be an ornithologist.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15And then, as I settled down into reality, for many, many years,
0:27:15 > 0:27:18- I wanted to be a teacher.- And so, eventually, you got into politics.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22Eventually, I both aspired to and became a politician, yes.
0:27:22 > 0:27:24Eventually.
0:27:24 > 0:27:29Do you think in politics there is a considerable amount of acting
0:27:29 > 0:27:30involved?
0:27:30 > 0:27:31No.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35In fact, I would be very worried if I thought there was a lot of acting.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38Well, I mean, standing up there, performing...
0:27:38 > 0:27:40- Well...- To a degree.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42You said it's performing, but what you are doing
0:27:42 > 0:27:45when you are standing up there is trying to persuade people.
0:27:45 > 0:27:46Mm-hm.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49And therefore, if you believe what you are trying to persuade them
0:27:49 > 0:27:52to believe, it is not acting, it's selling.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55It is an act of selling, all the time.
0:27:55 > 0:27:59And you're trying to persuade people to see things your way or to
0:27:59 > 0:28:02persuade them that you've done something for a particular reason
0:28:02 > 0:28:05or whatever it may be, or that the cause is a good one.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09So, you are selling rather than performing.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16Right, well, we're moving on now
0:28:16 > 0:28:19to something that is very different,
0:28:19 > 0:28:23with a different standard, and this is one of your guilty pleasures.
0:28:23 > 0:28:28- Right.- And it is a programme called Howards' Way.- Oh, yes.
0:28:28 > 0:28:33- Now, Howards' Way... We must now be talking '80s or '90s.- Yeah.
0:28:33 > 0:28:38And I only saw it... Cos I didn't have a television.
0:28:38 > 0:28:41From the moment that I left home until the moment
0:28:41 > 0:28:44that my mother came to live with me after my father's death...
0:28:44 > 0:28:46So we're talking from probably the '70s to the '90s?
0:28:46 > 0:28:48We are talking from the mid-'70s
0:28:48 > 0:28:49right through...
0:28:49 > 0:28:52And my mother came to live with me in 1999.
0:28:52 > 0:28:55- I did not have a television in the house.- Wow.
0:28:56 > 0:28:58- Did you miss it?- No, not at all. - Not at all?
0:28:58 > 0:29:00The only time I saw television
0:29:00 > 0:29:03was when I went home at weekends.
0:29:03 > 0:29:06Or on visits.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09And Howards' Way was a great parental favourite.
0:29:09 > 0:29:12When I was at home, we all watched this programme.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15And I quite enjoyed Howards' Way.
0:29:15 > 0:29:17But of course, I wasn't going home every weekend,
0:29:17 > 0:29:19so I would miss sort of vast tranches of it.
0:29:19 > 0:29:23And not very long ago, it came out as a box set.
0:29:23 > 0:29:26And I thought, "I'll see the whole thing through,"
0:29:26 > 0:29:28which of course, I had never done.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31And so I got Howards' way, and I watched it.
0:29:31 > 0:29:33And I managed to fill in all the bits I hadn't seen.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36But it was a great favourite of my father's.
0:29:36 > 0:29:40Of course, ships, boats, you know, the things he loved.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43And it was a huge favourite of his.
0:29:43 > 0:29:45And so we used to watch it.
0:29:45 > 0:29:46And it was certainly must-see TV.
0:29:46 > 0:29:48A bit raunchy?
0:29:48 > 0:29:49Um...
0:29:49 > 0:29:52When I saw it on the box set, I thought,
0:29:52 > 0:29:53"Oh, I don't remember those bits."
0:29:53 > 0:29:58But the bits I saw were largely sailing and that sort of stuff.
0:29:58 > 0:30:02But, yes, there was a lot of THAT in it. Yep.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05Well, um, hopefully, there is not a lot of THAT
0:30:05 > 0:30:08in this little moment from Howards' Way.
0:30:08 > 0:30:09Will we be partners?
0:30:09 > 0:30:11Well, maybe...
0:30:11 > 0:30:13I don't want a partner.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15Maybe you got one.
0:30:15 > 0:30:17- Since when?- Since I first saw you.
0:30:22 > 0:30:24And they're kissing.
0:30:24 > 0:30:25Well, that's all right.
0:30:25 > 0:30:27- People do.- Hm...
0:30:28 > 0:30:30And people speak to each other quietly.
0:30:32 > 0:30:35You know, there is none of this awful confrontational shouting that
0:30:35 > 0:30:37you get in modern drama.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40And you can hear what they say, the diction is good.
0:30:40 > 0:30:42So they are speaking quietly and they have good diction.
0:30:42 > 0:30:45- Oh, how do I wish that were universal today!- Yes.
0:30:47 > 0:30:49Howards' Way launched in 1985
0:30:49 > 0:30:51and was seen as the BBC's answer
0:30:51 > 0:30:53to Dynasty or Dallas.
0:30:53 > 0:30:55It may not have been as glossy,
0:30:55 > 0:30:57but it did have characters who loved
0:30:57 > 0:31:00money, schemed and slept around.
0:31:01 > 0:31:04They just did it very near to,
0:31:04 > 0:31:05or actually on,
0:31:05 > 0:31:08not very big boats.
0:31:08 > 0:31:13Howards' Way was on, I believe, when you first became a politician.
0:31:13 > 0:31:14Was it a bit of light relief?
0:31:14 > 0:31:18I think it almost certainly was round about that time, yes.
0:31:18 > 0:31:20I imagine it was light relief.
0:31:20 > 0:31:24I just remember it as when I went home,
0:31:24 > 0:31:25when I visited my parents.
0:31:27 > 0:31:31Which, once I became a politician, I did less and less often.
0:31:31 > 0:31:35So maybe that is why major incidents in the series passed me by.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37I think I'd better go.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40Why? Mark is not coming back till later.
0:31:40 > 0:31:44- I'm not sure what that is all about. - No, nor am I. You needn't watch.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47- Shall I advert my eyes? - Yeah, you can look up to the ceiling.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50HE LAUGHS
0:31:50 > 0:31:53Maybe you can be sure the coast is clear.
0:31:53 > 0:31:57- More kissing!- Well, I'm not watching, so I wouldn't know.- Really?
0:31:57 > 0:31:58Shall I pressed pause then?
0:31:58 > 0:32:00I thought you were going to press delete.
0:32:00 > 0:32:02THEY LAUGH
0:32:02 > 0:32:06- Well...- Or fast-forward. - Well, you've got the box set.
0:32:06 > 0:32:07I have indeed got the box set.
0:32:08 > 0:32:11When Howards' Way launched in 1985,
0:32:11 > 0:32:13it was one of the many series
0:32:13 > 0:32:15that made the '80s a vintage decade
0:32:15 > 0:32:16for British television,
0:32:16 > 0:32:18with a mass of classics
0:32:18 > 0:32:20hitting our screens.
0:32:20 > 0:32:22As the decade began,
0:32:22 > 0:32:23Stephanie Beacham and chums
0:32:23 > 0:32:25were just starting their long period
0:32:25 > 0:32:27of suffering in the Japanese
0:32:27 > 0:32:30prisoner of war series Tenko.
0:32:30 > 0:32:311981 also give us
0:32:31 > 0:32:33one of our best-loved comedies
0:32:33 > 0:32:35as Del and Rodney's
0:32:35 > 0:32:36wheeler dealing began
0:32:36 > 0:32:38on Only Fools And Horses.
0:32:41 > 0:32:43By 1983, we were able to enjoy
0:32:43 > 0:32:44Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
0:32:44 > 0:32:45for the first time.
0:32:47 > 0:32:49Not to mention the first instalment
0:32:49 > 0:32:51of the genius of The Black Adder.
0:32:53 > 0:32:561985 saw the launch of a whole new
0:32:56 > 0:32:57soap - EastEnders.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00Doubters thought it would never work,
0:33:00 > 0:33:03but it is now one of the cornerstones of British TV.
0:33:04 > 0:33:06As the decade drew to a close,
0:33:06 > 0:33:07two of Black Adder's brilliant
0:33:07 > 0:33:09co-stars brought us another
0:33:09 > 0:33:11barnstormer in the shape
0:33:11 > 0:33:13of A Bit Of Fry And Laurie.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24So if I could bring you on to Strictly, Strictly Come Dancing...
0:33:24 > 0:33:25Yes?
0:33:25 > 0:33:27- It was hugely successful for you. - SHE LAUGHS
0:33:27 > 0:33:29- Of course it was, yes.- You...
0:33:29 > 0:33:32I want to know how they approached you.
0:33:32 > 0:33:34You got a phone call? You asked them?
0:33:34 > 0:33:37They came to me every year
0:33:37 > 0:33:40for five years, from 2004 till 2009.
0:33:40 > 0:33:42Every year, Strictly came to me.
0:33:42 > 0:33:45And every year, I said "No, go away. I'm not doing it."
0:33:45 > 0:33:47But then two things happened.
0:33:47 > 0:33:49The first was I saw John Sergeant doing it.
0:33:49 > 0:33:52And the second thing that happened was I retired.
0:33:52 > 0:33:57And suddenly, I no longer owed anybody any duty of time or dignity.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00And I thought, "I can do it this year. I can actually do it."
0:34:00 > 0:34:01So I did.
0:34:01 > 0:34:05Were you nervous? You know, we already spoke about dancing.
0:34:05 > 0:34:08I mean, was it something you were worried about?
0:34:08 > 0:34:09Nervous is the wrong word
0:34:09 > 0:34:12because I never expected to perform with any real credibility,
0:34:12 > 0:34:17so it wasn't as if I went in there nervously wanting to win every week.
0:34:17 > 0:34:19I didn't.
0:34:19 > 0:34:22I thought, genuinely, that I would last about three weeks.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25Suddenly, the whole thing took off because Anton had devised
0:34:25 > 0:34:27these wonderful comic pieces for us.
0:34:27 > 0:34:31And I was really enjoying it because it was a complete
0:34:31 > 0:34:33release from responsibility.
0:34:33 > 0:34:35I mean, nothing I did on that programme
0:34:35 > 0:34:38could cause any ill to anybody else
0:34:38 > 0:34:40apart from Anton's shins.
0:34:40 > 0:34:43Strictly Come Dancing, other than Anton's legs and knees which
0:34:43 > 0:34:47were bruised to goodness knows how much, I couldn't affect anything.
0:34:47 > 0:34:51- Why, you kept kicking him? - Well, accidentally. Accidentally.
0:34:51 > 0:34:53But I hadn't a clue what I was doing.
0:34:53 > 0:34:57- Obviously, you have fond memories from it.- Yes. Yeah.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00And you agreed. And thank God, it was such wonderful television.
0:35:00 > 0:35:01And you know,
0:35:01 > 0:35:04everybody who called themselves my friends said, "Don't do it.
0:35:04 > 0:35:05"Don't do it."
0:35:05 > 0:35:07They all said the same thing.
0:35:07 > 0:35:09They all said, "You will lose your dig...
0:35:09 > 0:35:12"You'll lose your gravitas." Well, actually, it was gravity
0:35:12 > 0:35:14I had most of the problems with on Strictly.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17But I suggest, "I will lose my gravitas, but what do I want it for?"
0:35:17 > 0:35:21And I had understood that the day and the hour that Parliament was
0:35:21 > 0:35:22dissolved that year
0:35:22 > 0:35:25was the day and the hour that I ceased to be an MP.
0:35:25 > 0:35:29I wasn't going to be some sort of honorary MP or an MP
0:35:29 > 0:35:31but a retired one, just wasn't going to be an MP.
0:35:31 > 0:35:32And therefore,
0:35:32 > 0:35:37I had no obligation to take decisions as though I were still an MP.
0:35:37 > 0:35:39And you know, I think that comes from my childhood
0:35:39 > 0:35:44because one of the lessons of moving around so much was that one day
0:35:44 > 0:35:46you'd be living in a house you'd lived in for three years,
0:35:46 > 0:35:48having friends you'd known for that time,
0:35:48 > 0:35:50going to a particular school,
0:35:50 > 0:35:52belonging to a particular Brownie pack,
0:35:52 > 0:35:55and the very next day, no staged transition,
0:35:55 > 0:35:57no cosy preparation,
0:35:57 > 0:36:00you'd be in a completely different part of the country
0:36:00 > 0:36:03or on your way to a completely different part of the globe.
0:36:03 > 0:36:07You'd be living in a new house, joining a new school,
0:36:07 > 0:36:11joining a new Brownie pack and making friends again from scratch.
0:36:11 > 0:36:14And I think the subconscious lesson of that is - when you have left
0:36:14 > 0:36:16something, it's gone.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19And I knew in 2010 I'd left Westminster, and it was gone.
0:36:19 > 0:36:22But there is no denying that it took courage.
0:36:22 > 0:36:27You are going out live to well in the region of 12 million people.
0:36:27 > 0:36:29And I think it was a huge decision
0:36:29 > 0:36:31and I think you made a lot of people happy.
0:36:31 > 0:36:33- Well, I am glad I did. - Oh, you did.- I'm glad I did.
0:36:33 > 0:36:35You made me and my family very happy.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38This is Ann Widdecombe on Strictly Come Dancing.
0:36:38 > 0:36:42Oh, that is the paso doble. That's the one where I get dragged.
0:36:42 > 0:36:46MUSIC: Wild Thing by The Troggs
0:36:54 > 0:36:56# Wild thing
0:36:57 > 0:37:00# You make my heart sing
0:37:02 > 0:37:04# You make everything
0:37:04 > 0:37:06# Groovy... #
0:37:07 > 0:37:10SHE LAUGHS
0:37:19 > 0:37:23- Wonderful dancer, isn't he? - He's brilliant.- Great charisma.
0:37:25 > 0:37:29# You make everything groovy
0:37:30 > 0:37:32# Wild thing... #
0:37:33 > 0:37:37Look at him, he's pulling me, yeah? Only way you can do it.
0:37:37 > 0:37:39Look at him, he is actually turning me.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45# Wild thing I think you move me... #
0:37:47 > 0:37:48Oh!
0:37:48 > 0:37:50Ann Widdecombe, that is...
0:37:51 > 0:37:53That's movement.
0:37:53 > 0:37:55SHE LAUGHS
0:37:56 > 0:38:01# So come on and hold me tight... #
0:38:01 > 0:38:03Oh, isn't that wonderful?
0:38:03 > 0:38:06SHE LAUGHS
0:38:06 > 0:38:08# You move me! #
0:38:08 > 0:38:10That poor guy, look what he is having to move.
0:38:10 > 0:38:14Is he cleaning the floor with you? I mean, what is he doing there?
0:38:14 > 0:38:17I think he is just hoovering up.
0:38:17 > 0:38:19Oh, bless you.
0:38:19 > 0:38:22Does it... Do you... Did you enjoy the freedom?
0:38:22 > 0:38:26I loved it. I loved it. As I say, I loved the absence of responsibility.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29I loved the fun. I loved the audience's reaction.
0:38:29 > 0:38:32As I say, I didn't expect it to last more than three weeks
0:38:32 > 0:38:33when I agreed to do it.
0:38:33 > 0:38:36I really didn't. And it all took off and...
0:38:36 > 0:38:39Round about week five, I was thinking to myself,
0:38:39 > 0:38:42- "Actually, I want to stay in this." - Yeah, yeah.
0:38:42 > 0:38:45And then week seven was the only week that we didn't get a standing
0:38:45 > 0:38:48ovation, and I thought, "This is it, they're tired of us."
0:38:48 > 0:38:49But they weren't.
0:38:49 > 0:38:51We went on another three weeks after that.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54And it was tremendous. I loved it.
0:38:54 > 0:38:56Did you have an issue with the dress?
0:38:56 > 0:39:01Um, I had an issue with the cape that they originally provided,
0:39:01 > 0:39:03which was long and black.
0:39:03 > 0:39:05Made me look like an advertisement for Scottish widows.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08So I said, "I am not wearing that." You had a veto.
0:39:08 > 0:39:10And I said, "I'm not wearing that."
0:39:10 > 0:39:12So they came up with this little red thing instead.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15But, I mean, the dress that I really remember was the one
0:39:15 > 0:39:18I christened Big Bird. It was the one we used at Blackpool.
0:39:18 > 0:39:19It was bright yellow!
0:39:19 > 0:39:22And it was covered with all these yellow feathers.
0:39:22 > 0:39:24And as soon as I saw it, I thought, "Big Bird!"
0:39:24 > 0:39:27But no, certainly wouldn't want to wear any of them.
0:39:27 > 0:39:29- No? You haven't got any in the wardrobe?- No.
0:39:29 > 0:39:31They all get sold in the United States.
0:39:31 > 0:39:33- We don't get to keep them. - Oh, really?- Yeah.
0:39:33 > 0:39:35- I wouldn't want to keep them. - Still friends with Anton?
0:39:35 > 0:39:38Still friends with Anton. Still friends with Craig, actually,
0:39:38 > 0:39:39cos, of course, I went on to do
0:39:39 > 0:39:40the live tour with Craig
0:39:40 > 0:39:41and then two pantomimes.
0:39:41 > 0:39:43And in between the pantomimes,
0:39:43 > 0:39:45I was actually on at the Royal Opera House.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48I mean, I can't believe what came out of Strictly Come Dancing!
0:39:48 > 0:39:52- I mean, it is all pantomime with Craig Revel Horwood.- Yeah.
0:39:52 > 0:39:53I think he is... He is just a wonderful man.
0:39:53 > 0:39:56- I've worked with him.- He has got a huge sense of humour.- Yeah.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59But do you think for you possibly a career on stage would have
0:39:59 > 0:40:00been an option?
0:40:00 > 0:40:01I don't think so.
0:40:01 > 0:40:05I had huge fun following Strictly, and I really enjoyed it,
0:40:05 > 0:40:07and I enjoyed appearing on stage.
0:40:07 > 0:40:09And I only ever once forgot a line.
0:40:09 > 0:40:13But on the other hand, I often reminded Craig about his lines.
0:40:13 > 0:40:15Of course, the great joy of pantomime is it is not Shakespeare.
0:40:15 > 0:40:19- No, no.- And if something goes wrong, you can quickly recover from it.
0:40:19 > 0:40:25And so I did enjoy it. But I don't fool myself that I am an actor.
0:40:25 > 0:40:27I am a performer, I am not an actor. There's a difference.
0:40:27 > 0:40:29There is a difference.
0:40:33 > 0:40:35What do you watch now? Going full circle.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38What sort of things do you enjoy watching on TV?
0:40:38 > 0:40:40I don't watch that much. I love Foyle's War.
0:40:40 > 0:40:44And having had to watch the repeats,
0:40:44 > 0:40:46I was delighted when they updated
0:40:46 > 0:40:48Foyle's War and they introduced
0:40:48 > 0:40:49some post-war stuff.
0:40:49 > 0:40:50And that was great fun.
0:40:50 > 0:40:52But if you are up for a little bit of escapism,
0:40:52 > 0:40:55what might you watch that might cheer you up?
0:40:55 > 0:40:58Oh, if I was in total escapism mode, then I watch Heartbeat.
0:40:58 > 0:41:00I actually quite like it
0:41:00 > 0:41:01as the end of the working day.
0:41:01 > 0:41:04It comes on at 5.45.
0:41:04 > 0:41:06And sometimes,
0:41:06 > 0:41:07if I have been working all day, I think,
0:41:07 > 0:41:10"Well now, why not a gin and tonic and Heartbeat?"
0:41:10 > 0:41:13- Don't watch the news? - I watch one news a day.
0:41:13 > 0:41:15I used to have to keep up with the news every two hours.
0:41:15 > 0:41:18I watch one news day, and I see the ten o'clock always.
0:41:18 > 0:41:21- Because I think, "Well, that is going to have everything."- Yeah.
0:41:21 > 0:41:25And unless something happens during the night, you have got everything.
0:41:25 > 0:41:27So certainly, I always do that.
0:41:27 > 0:41:29I watch the ten o'clock news, yes.
0:41:29 > 0:41:32And sometimes there is some remarkably good stuff on.
0:41:32 > 0:41:36I mean, sometimes I actually will record if I'm not there.
0:41:36 > 0:41:40And one such thing was The Lost Honour Of Christopher Jeffries,
0:41:40 > 0:41:45who was a man who was falsely suspected of murdering Joanna Yeates.
0:41:45 > 0:41:49Brilliantly acted, brilliant two-part piece.
0:41:49 > 0:41:51And I really enjoyed that
0:41:51 > 0:41:52and thought, "Yes, that is
0:41:52 > 0:41:55"the sort of television I wish they would do more of."
0:41:55 > 0:41:58But those things these days are few and far between.
0:41:58 > 0:42:01But I am always on the watch out for them, always.
0:42:01 > 0:42:04And if I want to be really light-hearted, well,
0:42:04 > 0:42:07Back In Time For Dinner was quite good fun, for example.
0:42:07 > 0:42:10And there is usually some...
0:42:10 > 0:42:13some historical thing somewhere.
0:42:13 > 0:42:15I don't like the big dramas like Wolf Hall.
0:42:15 > 0:42:17I don't bother with that at all.
0:42:17 > 0:42:22But actual history, very often on BBC 4, for example.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25You have been so incisive,
0:42:25 > 0:42:29so interesting. Have you enjoyed it?
0:42:29 > 0:42:31I have thoroughly enjoyed it. And I...
0:42:31 > 0:42:34Any time you show me Paul Of Tarsus, I will come.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36I will come to the set any time
0:42:36 > 0:42:38you're going to show me Paul Of Tarsus.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41What we do want is to give you the choice to give a theme tune
0:42:41 > 0:42:45for us to go out with this afternoon. So what would it be?
0:42:45 > 0:42:47Well, it is one that we haven't discussed,
0:42:47 > 0:42:48but we really must have it.
0:42:48 > 0:42:50Dixon Of Dock Green.
0:42:50 > 0:42:53Dixon Of Dock Green it is. Thank you.
0:42:53 > 0:42:54SHE HUMS
0:42:54 > 0:42:57You see, if I only had the ability to hear music.
0:42:57 > 0:43:00THEY HUM
0:43:00 > 0:43:03- That's it. That's the one. - Something like that.- That's the one.
0:43:03 > 0:43:04You'll hear it for real now.
0:43:04 > 0:43:07- My many thanks to Ann Widdecombe. - Thank you.- Thank you for watching.
0:43:07 > 0:43:09We'll see you next time on TV That Made Me.
0:43:09 > 0:43:11This is Dixon Of Dock Green.
0:43:11 > 0:43:15MUSIC: Dixon Of Dock Green Theme