0:00:02 > 0:00:04Telly - that magic box in the corner.
0:00:04 > 0:00:07It gives us access to a million different worlds,
0:00:07 > 0:00:10all from the comfort of our sofa.
0:00:10 > 0:00:12In this series, I'm going on a journey
0:00:12 > 0:00:14through the fantastic world of TV
0:00:14 > 0:00:16with some of our favourite celebrities.
0:00:16 > 0:00:17Good evening!
0:00:17 > 0:00:20They've chosen the precious TV moments that shed light...
0:00:20 > 0:00:22Oh, I love this!
0:00:22 > 0:00:23- BOTH:- Crackerjack!
0:00:23 > 0:00:25..on the stories of their lives.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28Ooh! Listen, this looks smashing, Johnny.
0:00:28 > 0:00:29- BOTH:- Right on time.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31- Some are funny... - THEY LAUGH
0:00:31 > 0:00:32I loved him!
0:00:32 > 0:00:34- BOTH:- # Delicious ice cream! #
0:00:34 > 0:00:35..some...
0:00:35 > 0:00:36Just like that.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38..are surprising.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40I'll let you into a secret I've never told anyone before.
0:00:40 > 0:00:41Some are inspiring...
0:00:41 > 0:00:44I've always wanted to be a Miss Something.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47The best TV transports you.
0:00:47 > 0:00:48..and many...
0:00:48 > 0:00:50Did George Orwell get his predictions right?
0:00:50 > 0:00:51It's all so dramatic!
0:00:51 > 0:00:53..are deeply moving.
0:00:53 > 0:00:54The death of John F Kennedy...
0:00:54 > 0:00:56It just takes me back.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58VOICE BREAKS: Oh, it makes me want to cry.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00- Oh, you can have a cry if you want. - Oh!
0:01:00 > 0:01:04So, come watch with us as we hand-pick the vintage telly
0:01:04 > 0:01:06that helped turn our much-loved stars
0:01:06 > 0:01:08into the people they are today.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11Welcome to The TV That Made Me.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22My guest today is a national institution -
0:01:22 > 0:01:25a one-woman comedy powerhouse.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28Sandi Toksvig has fizzed through the radio waves
0:01:28 > 0:01:33as presenter of the Radio 4 News Quiz for nine years,
0:01:33 > 0:01:37and sparkled on TV in shows as diverse as Food & Drink,
0:01:37 > 0:01:41Call My Bluff and the sitcom Up The Women.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43The TV that made her
0:01:43 > 0:01:46includes an anarchic Saturday morning kid's show....
0:01:46 > 0:01:48Oh, morning. Did you see who that was?
0:01:48 > 0:01:51..shameless '70s smut...
0:01:51 > 0:01:54You know, this sort of thing just isn't fair on my pussy.
0:01:54 > 0:01:59..and the Apollo 11 manned space exploration to the moon.
0:01:59 > 0:02:00Lift-off on Apollo 11.
0:02:00 > 0:02:05There's no doubt a strong spirit of adventure and an appetite for fun
0:02:05 > 0:02:10has helped Sandi rocket into the stratosphere of radio and TV comedy.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12Apollo 11...
0:02:12 > 0:02:15And she is now best known as the host of the quiz show
0:02:15 > 0:02:16Fifteen to One.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20It's with great pleasure that I introduce Sandi Toksvig.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23- Sandi... - Hello, lovely.- Hello, darling.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25- Hello, fellow thespian. - SHE LAUGHS
0:02:25 > 0:02:29I want to ask, what was your relationship with telly?
0:02:29 > 0:02:30It's been in my life always,
0:02:30 > 0:02:33because my father was THE most famous broadcaster
0:02:33 > 0:02:36- that Danish television had ever produced.- Mm-hm.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40In fact, he was the FIRST broadcaster that Danish television ever produced.
0:02:42 > 0:02:47Sandi Toksvig was born in Copenhagen in 1958 -
0:02:47 > 0:02:52a time when Danish TV only broadcast two programmes each day,
0:02:52 > 0:02:55and one of these was a daily news bulletin
0:02:55 > 0:02:59presented by the incredibly famous Claus Toksvig -
0:02:59 > 0:03:02or, as Sandi knew him, Dad.
0:03:02 > 0:03:07Claus Toksvig's broadcasting career began in 1951 in London,
0:03:07 > 0:03:10where he worked for the BBC World Service.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13Here, he met Sandi's mum Julie Anne,
0:03:13 > 0:03:16who was one of the very first female studio managers.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20With two high-flying TV pioneers as parents,
0:03:20 > 0:03:22Sandi was surely destined
0:03:22 > 0:03:26for her own incredible career on the airwaves.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30Although there wasn't a lot of telly around in her early years.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33So, when I was a child, television started at seven.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37- Do you remember you had to turn the telly on five minutes before, for it to warm up?- Yeah.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39So, you'd turn it on at it on at five to seven,
0:03:39 > 0:03:41and then at seven o'clock my dad would read the news.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43They couldn't afford to have any filmed reports,
0:03:43 > 0:03:46so it was just Dad reading the news - although there was a phone on his desk,
0:03:46 > 0:03:49and occasionally that would ring, and he'd do an interview.
0:03:49 > 0:03:50- And that lasted for an hour.- OK.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53And then at eight o'clock there'd be a half-hour documentary
0:03:53 > 0:03:56about something gripping like the Queen's silver spoon collection...
0:03:56 > 0:03:59- Oh, yes.- ..and then at 8.30 the whole service closed down.- Yeah.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01So, I thought that's what dads did.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04I thought that they just were on in the corner of the room,
0:04:04 > 0:04:05and then you went to bed.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08In 1967,
0:04:08 > 0:04:13Claus became Danish television's first foreign correspondent ever,
0:04:13 > 0:04:16and the family jetted off to the United States.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27We moved to New York, because the idea was the UN was there,
0:04:27 > 0:04:28so you could cover the whole world.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30Because if something happened in the world,
0:04:30 > 0:04:33he could talk to a person at the UN about it.
0:04:33 > 0:04:35So we lived most of my childhood in New York.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38Now, your first TV memory... it's enormous, really, you know?
0:04:38 > 0:04:42It's something that 600 million people got to watch.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45This, of course, was the rocket launch.
0:04:45 > 0:04:51Yeah, Apollo 11, which was 1969. The first manned mission to the moon.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55I knew that we were in the presence of history,
0:04:55 > 0:04:57and my dad couldn't have been clearer about it.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59Let me press the clicker. Just... Here we are.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02Leading up to the ignition sequence at 8.9 seconds.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06Back in Britain, we watched this through the night,
0:05:06 > 0:05:08thanks to the BBC and ITV's first ever
0:05:08 > 0:05:10all-night transmission.
0:05:10 > 0:05:16All around the world, man's greatest adventure was being watched
0:05:16 > 0:05:19on one of man's greatest inventions.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23But Claus Toksvig was actually there reporting live to Denmark,
0:05:23 > 0:05:26and he took 11-year-old daughter Sandi along with him.
0:05:26 > 0:05:2840 seconds away...
0:05:28 > 0:05:31- Can you see this crowd?- Mm-hm. - That's where I was standing.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33So I am somewhere in that crowd.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37Astronauts report it feels good. T minus 25 seconds.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40And this countdown...
0:05:40 > 0:05:4220 seconds and counting.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44..the thrill of it was unbelievable.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47What's extraordinary, as you stood in the crowd, was the tremor.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51Ten, nine - ignition sequence starts.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55It felt like your whole heart was going to come out of your chest.
0:05:55 > 0:06:00Six, five, four, three, two, one, zero.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03All engine running.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05Lift-off! We have a lift-off!
0:06:05 > 0:06:0732 minutes past the hour.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10People started clapping and crying -
0:06:10 > 0:06:12it was incredibly moving.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17Apollo 11, Houston. You're good at one minute.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19And as it disappeared up into the clouds,
0:06:19 > 0:06:23we absolutely knew we were seeing something extraordinary.
0:06:23 > 0:06:24You're good at one minute.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29And then, of course, we moved to Mission Control,
0:06:29 > 0:06:31- which was in Houston.- Mm-hm.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33And so I was standing next to a woman who was watching,
0:06:33 > 0:06:36and she looked rather nervous, and I said, "Are you all right?"
0:06:36 > 0:06:38And she said, "Actually, I'm a little nervous,
0:06:38 > 0:06:41"because that's my boss about to step out on to the moon."
0:06:41 > 0:06:43And I said, "Oh, don't worry, I'll hold your hand."
0:06:43 > 0:06:46And so, Neil Armstrong, as he stepped out on to the moon,
0:06:46 > 0:06:48I was holding his secretary's hand.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52That's one small step for man...
0:06:54 > 0:06:57..one giant leap for mankind.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01- "One giant leap."- Yes.- That's it.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03Great sentence, terrible grammar.
0:07:03 > 0:07:04Erm...but it was an extraordinary...
0:07:04 > 0:07:06Was it you who told the secretary that?
0:07:06 > 0:07:09I said, "Look, I don't who wrote that for him, but seriously..."
0:07:09 > 0:07:12The excitement in that room - I mean,
0:07:12 > 0:07:18watching grown men sobbing with the relief and excitement and so on.
0:07:18 > 0:07:19They've got the flag up now,
0:07:19 > 0:07:23and you can see the Stars and Stripes on the lunar surface.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27Beautiful. Just beautiful.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29- Now, we have a surprise for you. - Oh, Lord.- Yeah.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32- Because you've been talking about your father...- Yeah.
0:07:32 > 0:07:33..and, er...
0:07:33 > 0:07:35Well, have a little look at this.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44HE SPEAKS IN DANISH
0:07:44 > 0:07:46SHE GASPS: There he is!
0:07:58 > 0:08:01I can translate - he says, "I am sitting in the captain's seat
0:08:01 > 0:08:05"in the Apollo space capsule..."
0:08:11 > 0:08:12But look - that's how they controlled...
0:08:12 > 0:08:14That's extraordinary, isn't it?
0:08:14 > 0:08:16- Left, right! - Don't you think that's unbelievable?
0:08:16 > 0:08:18When we think about computers today -
0:08:18 > 0:08:20they're literally going "left" and "right"
0:08:20 > 0:08:22in the command module, it is sort of unbelievable.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24HE CONTINUES IN DANISH
0:08:29 > 0:08:30- And...- Have you seen this, Sandi?
0:08:30 > 0:08:32VOICE BREAKS: Oh, it makes me want to cry.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34- Oh, you can have a cry if you want. - Oh!
0:08:34 > 0:08:39He was the best live broadcaster. He...
0:08:39 > 0:08:41He brought the world to Denmark.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44That's what's really hard to imagine - he was it,
0:08:44 > 0:08:50and he became the idol for anybody who wanted to work in television.
0:08:54 > 0:08:55He was a very special guy.
0:08:57 > 0:08:58A special dad indeed.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01When the family lived in an austere post-war Denmark,
0:09:01 > 0:09:04wherever Claus was sent in the world,
0:09:04 > 0:09:07he'd always come back with a special treat.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11I believe there's something about oranges.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13- Something about oranges?- Oranges.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16- Oranges - let me show you. - Oh, my word.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20- This is it.- Yeah. - This is my magic pouffe.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22Oh, that's so sweet!
0:09:22 > 0:09:26Oh, my goodness! OK, so this is really sweet,
0:09:26 > 0:09:29and again, it's hard to imagine, because the world is small now,
0:09:29 > 0:09:32and we can eat whatever we like, and we get food from all over the world.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34- Yeah.- An orange, when I was a child in Denmark,
0:09:34 > 0:09:36- was still a really rare thing.- Mm.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38You just didn't see them,
0:09:38 > 0:09:41because - we mostly had pickled vegetables in the winter.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43So, if you got an orange, that was a fantastic treat,
0:09:43 > 0:09:46and very occasionally Dad would bring back an orange -
0:09:46 > 0:09:48one for me and one for my brother.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51I love this! This is the sweetest thing! Oh, this is wonderful.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54- Well, we've done our research. - I love it!
0:09:54 > 0:09:57So, what you do is, you make a hole in the orange like this,
0:09:57 > 0:10:00and you put a sugar cube... Try this, OK? Cos it's just gorgeous.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02- Am I going to try it, or are you? - No, no, you go.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04- We both can have a go. - So, ideally, there should be...
0:10:04 > 0:10:07And have a little go at this at home, ladies and gentlemen.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10If you look down in there, the sugar cube is already melting.
0:10:10 > 0:10:11- Right?- Yes, we can see that.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13And so, what you do then -
0:10:13 > 0:10:14I'm going to make a terrible mess now -
0:10:14 > 0:10:16- is you suck up the juice... - Of course.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18..up through the hole in the...
0:10:19 > 0:10:20Try that.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27You have got to try this at home. Ladies and gentlemen...
0:10:27 > 0:10:28Isn't that delicious?
0:10:28 > 0:10:32Thanks to Sandi, we have created...
0:10:32 > 0:10:34a phenomenon. I mean, it really is...
0:10:34 > 0:10:36- And you could spend... - It's really nice!
0:10:36 > 0:10:38- It's delicious, isn't it? - I'm not just saying that.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41And you'd suck all the sweetness out, and all the juice,
0:10:41 > 0:10:43and then eventually you'd make a terrible mess,
0:10:43 > 0:10:46- open the orange up and eat it. I haven't...- I'm going to...
0:10:46 > 0:10:48Dear Lord, that must be half a century
0:10:48 > 0:10:49since I've had a sugared orange
0:10:49 > 0:10:51- How nice is that? - I'm going to show my girls.
0:10:51 > 0:10:52I will show my girls that one.
0:10:52 > 0:10:57- I am genuinely impressed. That's wonderful.- Thank you.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00Moving on a few years, and back to the States,
0:11:00 > 0:11:02where that sweet little Danish girl
0:11:02 > 0:11:06had turned into a rebellious American teenager.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08To save their 14-year-old daughter from herself,
0:11:08 > 0:11:12Mum and Dad sent Sandi to school in England,
0:11:12 > 0:11:15and two years later the whole family followed.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19I came... When I was 14, I came to boarding school,
0:11:19 > 0:11:22so I came two years before the rest of my family.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25I got thrown out of three American schools in a row.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29- Can I just say, the last one was a misunderstanding?- OK.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31I had no idea you were supposed to be there every day.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34And so, in order to contain me,
0:11:34 > 0:11:36- because I found school very boring...- Mm-hm.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38..my parents sent me to boarding school.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41So my parents sent me when I was 14, and my parents then...
0:11:41 > 0:11:44My dad got the posting to London when I was 16.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47So we didn't move here until quite late in my life.
0:11:49 > 0:11:54As the Toksvig family first gathered around a British TV in 1974,
0:11:54 > 0:11:58they were just in time to see Tom Baker become Doctor Who,
0:11:58 > 0:12:03a show called Angels rewrite the rules on television hospital drama,
0:12:03 > 0:12:08and a man called Norman Stanley Fletcher get porridge.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12There'd never been so much great TV to choose from,
0:12:12 > 0:12:14so, what did the Toksvigs choose?
0:12:21 > 0:12:25So, Family Favourites - what did the whole family sit down and watch?
0:12:25 > 0:12:28- Well, when we were in the UK? - Yes.- My dad loved That's Life.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31- That did make us cry with laughter. - Shall we have a look?
0:12:31 > 0:12:33- Yeah!- Yeah, absolutely. - Let's have a look.
0:12:33 > 0:12:35Let's have a look. This is the opening of That's Life.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38THAT'S LIFE THEME
0:12:39 > 0:12:43They certainly don't make shows like That's Life any more.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45It was the hard-hitting campaigns
0:12:45 > 0:12:48mixed with the light-hearted slices of life
0:12:48 > 0:12:51that made it so ground-breaking and so popular.
0:12:51 > 0:12:56For 21 years it made us laugh and cry in equal measure,
0:12:56 > 0:13:00and it remains one of the very few shows in the history of TV
0:13:00 > 0:13:03that has truly changed the way we live.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06- As soon as you hear the music... - The music is the best.
0:13:06 > 0:13:07It was great.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11And nobody in our family could understand the obsession
0:13:11 > 0:13:14with misshapen vegetables. We just...
0:13:14 > 0:13:16We used to look at it... Because we'd been in Denmark
0:13:16 > 0:13:19and then in America, it was a completely different kind of humour.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23- Yeah.- And Esther's obsession with strange carrots and, er...
0:13:23 > 0:13:27- I think Britain's obsession with strange carrots...- Yeah.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32It wasn't just about carrots.
0:13:32 > 0:13:37That's Life is actually our most successful consumer programme ever.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40At its height, over 20 million people watched
0:13:40 > 0:13:44as Esther Rantzen crusaded against all kinds of wrong,
0:13:44 > 0:13:48from dodgy domestic appliances to issues of life and death.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51Thank you very much indeed. Welcome once again to That's Life,
0:13:51 > 0:13:52and thank you...
0:13:52 > 0:13:56For me, watching as a young person, I watched Esther be in charge,
0:13:56 > 0:14:00and I suddenly thought, cos I had never really seen that before,-
0:14:00 > 0:14:02and I thought, "Oh, wow, you can be a woman
0:14:02 > 0:14:03"and be in control of the show."
0:14:03 > 0:14:06While Esther held court, her jester,
0:14:06 > 0:14:10the brilliant Cyril Fletcher, kept us in stitches,
0:14:10 > 0:14:13especially with those clippings sent in by viewers.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16- Do you remember Cyril Fletcher? - Of course.- In the armchair.
0:14:16 > 0:14:17We loved Cyril Fletcher.
0:14:28 > 0:14:29LAUGHTER
0:14:29 > 0:14:32For anyone who might be thinking unchristian thoughts
0:14:32 > 0:14:35about our vicar, readers learned on Tuesday...
0:14:53 > 0:14:54LAUGHTER
0:14:56 > 0:14:58However, on Wednesday...
0:15:07 > 0:15:10"The Reverend AJ Agland has one television set for sale cheap.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13"Telephone 626 1313 after 7pm,
0:15:13 > 0:15:16"And ask for Mrs Jordan who loves with him."
0:15:16 > 0:15:18LAUGHTER
0:15:21 > 0:15:22How can you laugh?
0:15:22 > 0:15:25This blooming reverend is getting very annoyed.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28On Thursday, the Reverend AJ Agland comes out fighting.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45LAUGHTER
0:15:47 > 0:15:50Dear old Rev Agland doesn't give up easily.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52In Friday's paper, his advertisement read...
0:16:01 > 0:16:02LAUGHTER
0:16:02 > 0:16:05Let me press pause.
0:16:05 > 0:16:06Isn't he a legend?
0:16:06 > 0:16:09He was just wonderful. He had great delivery. And do you know what?
0:16:09 > 0:16:12I don't think you'd get somebody who looks like that on television today.
0:16:12 > 0:16:14It's absolutely fantastic.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16And I remember, because Dad had a wonderful sense of humour,
0:16:16 > 0:16:20I remember Cyril Fletcher reading one out, and I have never forgotten,
0:16:20 > 0:16:21and it said, "Messenger wanted.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23"Must have own bike and messages."
0:16:23 > 0:16:24And...
0:16:24 > 0:16:27And Dad couldn't stop laughing, and it was a nightmare.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29You couldn't pause the television in those days,
0:16:29 > 0:16:32and you couldn't record it, and we couldn't hear what the next bit was,
0:16:32 > 0:16:34- cos Dad was laughing so much.- Yeah!
0:16:34 > 0:16:37How television has changed. Absolutely fantastic.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39I loved the programme, I loved the variety of it,
0:16:39 > 0:16:42I loved the fact that it appealed to everybody - we could watch it
0:16:42 > 0:16:45from a young age, to the parents watching it and enjoying it.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47I thought it was a wonderful programme,
0:16:47 > 0:16:51and I think Esther as a campaigning journalist is an inspiration...
0:16:51 > 0:16:54- Yes.- ..and I would pay tribute to her, absolutely.
0:16:54 > 0:16:59Another fulsome tribute to Esther came from a talking dog,
0:16:59 > 0:17:02who could not only pronounce her name, but could also say...
0:17:02 > 0:17:04Sausages.
0:17:04 > 0:17:05LAUGHTER
0:17:05 > 0:17:07- Sausages. - APPLAUSE
0:17:07 > 0:17:11The whole nation was mesmerised by that in 1979.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15Esther and the team also successfully campaigned
0:17:15 > 0:17:18for child seatbelts and more organ donors
0:17:18 > 0:17:22at the same time as attempting to feed dodgy drinks to crows...
0:17:22 > 0:17:24I think it doesn't take much beer for him to get fighting.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26..pensioners...
0:17:26 > 0:17:28Cheers, everybody!
0:17:28 > 0:17:29..and Alsatians.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34No wonder she got arrested.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40There will never be another show like it.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50Sandi, now, your next choice is fear - TV Fear -
0:17:50 > 0:17:53and obviously we're talking about you as a young child.
0:17:53 > 0:17:54JAWS THEME PLAYS
0:17:54 > 0:17:57What was it you most feared on television?
0:17:57 > 0:17:59You were most creeped-out about?
0:17:59 > 0:18:01OK, seriously, there was one thing that actually was
0:18:01 > 0:18:03designed for children, I simply couldn't bear it.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06It was the most terrif...
0:18:07 > 0:18:10- That was mean! - Hello, hello, hello, hello!
0:18:10 > 0:18:12Enter the show! Welcome!
0:18:12 > 0:18:14It's Basil Brush, ladies and gentlemen!
0:18:14 > 0:18:16- Boom, boom!- I don't even think I can sit next to you!
0:18:16 > 0:18:18Are you going to run out the door?
0:18:18 > 0:18:20- Is it that scary?- Oh...
0:18:20 > 0:18:23- Sorry, that's really terrifying. - I want to be mediator now...
0:18:23 > 0:18:26- It's truly... - You can't even stroke...?
0:18:26 > 0:18:28- Look at the teeth! - You can't even come close to me?
0:18:28 > 0:18:30Don't you think the teeth are so frightening?
0:18:30 > 0:18:32No, the teeth are frightening on Christopher Lee
0:18:32 > 0:18:34when he's a vampire on Hammer House of Horrors.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36But look at this, have a little close look...
0:18:36 > 0:18:37No, really, I can't!
0:18:37 > 0:18:40Honestly, I feel like a small child again, and I really want to go out...
0:18:40 > 0:18:43I'd like to hide behind the sofa, is the truth of it.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46- I don't know what it was - it creeped me out.- Really?- It was the sudden...
0:18:46 > 0:18:47You're talking as if he's not here.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50- I know...- I'm sitting right next to you, Miss Sandi.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52- It's the "Boom, boom" noise.- Is it?
0:18:52 > 0:18:54What, does my "boom, boom" look big in this?
0:18:54 > 0:18:56All right, I'll give you a "Boom, boom"
0:18:56 > 0:18:58- and see if it scares you. - Please do.- Oh, no! Yeah.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01Join in with me. What do you call a deer with no eyes?
0:19:01 > 0:19:03BOTH: No idea.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05- LAUGHS:- Boom, boom! Very good!
0:19:05 > 0:19:09Terrifying. I still feel, really, I do...
0:19:09 > 0:19:11Give me little brush, a little tickle.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13- Go on.- I...- Do you almost feel you do need some therapy with it?
0:19:13 > 0:19:16- Just...- Don't move so sharply!
0:19:16 > 0:19:18- ..one little stroke. - I'll just put my hand on...
0:19:18 > 0:19:20OK, I'll just creep closer.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22I can't do this!
0:19:22 > 0:19:25You touch him! You touch him.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28- Well, you've touched me...- Argh! - That's what you want.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31- You want to go...- While you've got him there...
0:19:31 > 0:19:33It's a puppet!
0:19:33 > 0:19:35- I'm sorry, Basil.- I tell you what,
0:19:35 > 0:19:39I have a little poem which might set you at ease, Miss Sandi.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43- Would I be all right to read it to her?- It would be a pleasure.
0:19:43 > 0:19:44Thank you. Ahem. Right...
0:19:44 > 0:19:47Roses are red, violets are blue,
0:19:47 > 0:19:50On my radio I've always loved you.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54So, could you love me with all of your might?
0:19:54 > 0:19:56Because I think we're both
0:19:56 > 0:19:58Just about the same height.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00- HE LAUGHS:- Boom, boom!
0:20:00 > 0:20:02- Oh, go on, give us a kiss, then. Give us a kiss.- Come here.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04Mwah.
0:20:04 > 0:20:05Basil, may I shake your paw?
0:20:05 > 0:20:08Oh, yes, I've got two of them - you can shake whichever you like.
0:20:08 > 0:20:09Basil, thank you very much.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12- I hope this has helped in some very small way, Sandi.- Yes.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14It has, although I have to say, the minute I saw him,
0:20:14 > 0:20:15I felt my stomach get upset.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18It was a kind of foxtrot that was about to happen, so...
0:20:18 > 0:20:19Let's see how you get on with this,
0:20:19 > 0:20:22because we've got a couple more of Basil's contemporaries.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24- OK.- Oh, lovely.- Here they are.
0:20:24 > 0:20:30Basil Brush comes from a long line of gifted British puppet performers.
0:20:30 > 0:20:31Muffin the Mule kicked it all off
0:20:31 > 0:20:35after a few strings were pulled in 1946.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39Sooty and Sweep got their big break in 1948,
0:20:39 > 0:20:41and still hold the Guinness World Record
0:20:41 > 0:20:44for longest-running children's series.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47Emu, Spit the Dog and Orville the Duck
0:20:47 > 0:20:49entertained the adults through the '70s,
0:20:49 > 0:20:51while Gordon the Gopher
0:20:51 > 0:20:56made his sidekick Phillip Schofield a star in 1985.
0:20:56 > 0:21:03Today, Hacker T Dog is TV's most versatile performer - a CBBC veteran
0:21:03 > 0:21:08who also commentated on Russia v Belgium in the 2014 World Cup.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13So, have you recovered?
0:21:13 > 0:21:17Well, only just. I may need some therapy.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19I thought you had some then!
0:21:19 > 0:21:21Well, yeah, but I also may have mange now, which is a worry.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30Right, we're moving on to TV Taboos.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34Now, this is stuff that... Well, you can explain it. Top Of The Pops.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36OK, so, when I was at boarding school,
0:21:36 > 0:21:39- we pretty much were not allowed to watch television.- Right.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41We pretty much weren't allowed to do anything,
0:21:41 > 0:21:44but we were, on a Thursday night, allowed to watch Top Of The Pops.
0:21:44 > 0:21:48- Right.- And a parent, grateful for having their daughter locked up
0:21:48 > 0:21:51for so very long, donated a colour television to the school.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55- Colour telly!- So, the very first time we watched it -
0:21:55 > 0:21:58- it was glam rock in those days.- Yes.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01It was thrilling, and we were all highly overexcited,
0:22:01 > 0:22:04and the next morning, the headmistress, bless her,
0:22:04 > 0:22:06called an engineer to the school,
0:22:06 > 0:22:09and the television was retuned to black and white,
0:22:09 > 0:22:11because it had been too exciting.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14And we never saw the colour television in colour again.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17That was the end of it - from then on, for the rest of my schooldays,
0:22:17 > 0:22:19television appeared in black and white.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22Oh, well, let me give you a little catch-up of glam rock.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24- Is it in colour? - Of course it is.- Thank goodness.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27Top Of The Pops. Can you cope?
0:22:27 > 0:22:30MUSIC: Block Buster! by The Sweet
0:22:30 > 0:22:35Top Of The Pops arrived on our screens on New Year's Day 1964,
0:22:35 > 0:22:38and stayed for 42 years.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41In the process, it became the biggest music show in the world.
0:22:41 > 0:22:46At its height, the show was screened in over 100 different countries.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52Luckily, they didn't stick to the original title -
0:22:52 > 0:22:59I don't think Teen & 20 Record Club would have done quite so well.
0:22:59 > 0:23:00The hair is fantastic.
0:23:00 > 0:23:02# Does anyone know the way?
0:23:02 > 0:23:05# Did we hear someone say
0:23:05 > 0:23:08# We just haven't got a clue what to do!
0:23:08 > 0:23:10# Does anyone know the way?
0:23:10 > 0:23:11# There's got to be a way
0:23:11 > 0:23:13# To Block Buster! #
0:23:13 > 0:23:16So, is it making you feel wild and racy?
0:23:16 > 0:23:18Yeah. I'm crazy now, I'm completely crazy now.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20That's it - I'm going to go completely bonkers
0:23:20 > 0:23:22- and have an extra sugar in my tea. - I know!
0:23:22 > 0:23:25Quick, get it back to black and white.
0:23:25 > 0:23:26We're freaking out here.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29So, what were the other rules for television?
0:23:29 > 0:23:32We were occasionally allowed to watch on a Saturday night,
0:23:32 > 0:23:33if Matron decided,
0:23:33 > 0:23:36but we were allowed to watch something on BBC One,
0:23:36 > 0:23:39because it was the family channel, possibly something on BBC Two,
0:23:39 > 0:23:41but that was really for people who'd read a book.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43And nothing on ITV, because that was cheap and tawdry.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47So it pleased me, usually, when I started on television,
0:23:47 > 0:23:49that I worked for ITV, cos I knew it would have upset Matron.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53- So, after school, you obviously moved on to university.- Yeah.
0:23:53 > 0:23:55- Was it Cambridge, I believe? - I did, yeah.- Yes.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58- Mm!- I was going to be a lawyer. - Really?- Yeah!
0:23:58 > 0:24:01I did something called the Footlights,
0:24:01 > 0:24:03which was a comic review, so if I wasn't studying the law,
0:24:03 > 0:24:08- which was quite heavy-duty studying, I was acting and performing.- Mm-hm.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10What other contemporaries were there at the time?
0:24:10 > 0:24:12- Well, nobody you'd have heard of, darling.- No?
0:24:12 > 0:24:15- Stephen Fry... - Stephen Fry! I knew, I knew...!
0:24:15 > 0:24:19- Hugh Laurie...- Oh, yes. - Emma Thompson, Tony Slattery...
0:24:19 > 0:24:23- Hardly... Nobody who did... - Well.- Well, Emma's done well.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26- I think something secretarial, as I understood it.- Mm.- But... So, nobody.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28Nothing in particular.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35Parents' Choice.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37This, I believe, is Tomorrow's World.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40Yeah. My dad was obsessed with new technology.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43We've already seen that he was obsessed with Saturn V rockets,
0:24:43 > 0:24:47and Apollo and so on, so anything that was an advance,
0:24:47 > 0:24:50technologically, my dad was fascinated by.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52And I remember him bringing home
0:24:52 > 0:24:54the very first calculator that you could buy.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56I've got something in my pouffe.
0:24:56 > 0:25:01- Oh!- This is a very early calculator. - Oh, my goodness!
0:25:01 > 0:25:04- Wow.- Let me show them at home.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07- There it is.- Look at the size of it!
0:25:07 > 0:25:10- Ooh...- There you go. - Oh, there - it IS working!
0:25:10 > 0:25:12Oh, how tiny - look how tiny the numbers are.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15How much do you think this was? This was back in 1972, this.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19- I mean, er... Well, it would have been in dollars.- Yeah.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21So maybe 100 or so?
0:25:21 > 0:25:25- 149.95.- The numbers are so tiny.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27- I know.- And still working.
0:25:27 > 0:25:28That's absolutely fantastic.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30- Oh, bless, you've written "BOOB".- Yeah.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33- Well, got to be done. - You have to, don't you?- Sorry.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35Shall we have a little look at Tomorrow's World?
0:25:35 > 0:25:38- Yeah, let's do that.- Here we go. Tomorrow's World.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41TOMORROW'S WORLD THEME
0:25:41 > 0:25:46The BBC introduced us to Tomorrow's World in 1965,
0:25:46 > 0:25:48and for 38 years
0:25:48 > 0:25:51we were totally amazed, and often confused,
0:25:51 > 0:25:55by the inventions that were seemingly just around the corner.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57In 1972, ten million people tuned in
0:25:57 > 0:26:00to hear about a barely believable prospect
0:26:00 > 0:26:03of something called the Channel Tunnel...
0:26:03 > 0:26:04A large area of western
0:26:04 > 0:26:07and central Europe will come within a comfortable day's
0:26:07 > 0:26:09driving from London, and that mighty ditch, the Channel,
0:26:09 > 0:26:12will have been reduced to an average day's journey to work.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16..and to watch demonstrations of the first water bikes
0:26:16 > 0:26:18and helicopter cars.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21Mine still hasn't been delivered.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24Telecommunications have intruded into our lives,
0:26:24 > 0:26:27but not for political purposes, like Orwell's telescreen.
0:26:27 > 0:26:28And ironically,
0:26:28 > 0:26:32the ingredients aren't futuristic technological wonders,
0:26:32 > 0:26:34they're basically just our old friends
0:26:34 > 0:26:38the telephone and the television linking with a computer database.
0:26:38 > 0:26:40Even the way she speak - nobody talks like that.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42CLIPPED ACCENT: They talk like this.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45There's the telephone, and things you're entirely used to.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49This is a breakthrough that will affect all our everyday lives.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51You can already use it to do your shopping.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56Now, a list of wines to stock up again after Christmas.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00Now, I can put in a credit card to pay for it,
0:27:00 > 0:27:02and the orders are on the way.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05That was incredible - the idea that you could order something
0:27:05 > 0:27:07- through your television was unbelievable.- Mm.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10This is the more normal size of set,
0:27:10 > 0:27:14and at the moment it's telling where to take my children this holiday.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16Ever book a holiday on Ceefax, Sandi?
0:27:16 > 0:27:19No, I did not. Did you?
0:27:19 > 0:27:20No, I didn't.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23No, I mean, but it was always good for, you know,
0:27:23 > 0:27:25some major news-breaking story, wasn't it?
0:27:25 > 0:27:27- It was like, "Oh, let's go to Ceefax!"- Mm.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29In your home or your office,
0:27:29 > 0:27:31computers join the mass communication market
0:27:31 > 0:27:33for the first time.
0:27:33 > 0:27:35This is a sign of how fast we've come along.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38My dad died - where are we now? -
0:27:38 > 0:27:4126 years ago, and he never saw a mobile phone.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43- Really?- And he would have loved it! - Yeah, yeah.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46He would have loved all that computerised stuff.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48I sometimes have some trouble with my hands,
0:27:48 > 0:27:51- and I dictate to my computers, I have a voice recognition programme.- Mm-hm.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53And I remember my son coming in, and I was dictating a book.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56He said, "What are you doing?" I said, "I'm talking to my computer."
0:27:56 > 0:27:58He went, "Oh, yeah." And you just think,
0:27:58 > 0:28:01- "Oh, you don't think it's extraordinary and amazing."- No.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04That I can speak and the computer will type for me is unbelievable.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13We've got a clip from a show that I think you'll really enjoy.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15Dan...da-da!
0:28:15 > 0:28:16Good God!
0:28:16 > 0:28:18Yes, none of your shop-bought rubbish.
0:28:18 > 0:28:20Now, there's a trick with these, all right?
0:28:20 > 0:28:23They're perfectly all right, they're perfectly sound,
0:28:23 > 0:28:24except they do not go bang. So...
0:28:24 > 0:28:26- And... - BOTH: Bang!
0:28:26 > 0:28:29- Richard Briers... - Yeah, I know, what a legend.
0:28:29 > 0:28:33And Felicity Kendal, but, for me, the show was about Penny Keith.
0:28:33 > 0:28:38The show was about the timing of that genius comic woman.
0:28:38 > 0:28:39One, two, three...
0:28:39 > 0:28:40Crack.
0:28:40 > 0:28:42LAUGHTER
0:28:42 > 0:28:44Not "bang"?
0:28:44 > 0:28:46No, I see "crack" as a more pertinent word.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49It is, after all, the stem of "cracker", isn't it?
0:28:49 > 0:28:51You can't argue with that.
0:28:51 > 0:28:58Of course, because I'd been brought up so far in Denmark, and in America,
0:28:58 > 0:29:00I didn't know about the class system in Britain.
0:29:00 > 0:29:03We don't really have a class system in Denmark at all.
0:29:03 > 0:29:06And it seemed extraordinary to me
0:29:06 > 0:29:09that these two women could not get on, couldn't understand each other.
0:29:09 > 0:29:11Oh, look at her!
0:29:11 > 0:29:12Come on, Margot, get your hat on!
0:29:12 > 0:29:14This is the Daily Mirror.
0:29:16 > 0:29:20I am terribly sorry, Margot. Please, have the Telegraph.
0:29:24 > 0:29:27- So, of course, he's got the Financial Times on...- Yes!
0:29:27 > 0:29:29..and she's got the Daily Telegraph on,
0:29:29 > 0:29:31and that tells you so much about British society, doesn't it?
0:29:31 > 0:29:33- Yes. - But I didn't know it at the time.
0:29:33 > 0:29:35But look at it - it's all happening in one room...
0:29:35 > 0:29:39There's no great, fantastic television thing happening here,
0:29:39 > 0:29:42- apart from people sitting, chatting and being funny.- Yeah.
0:29:42 > 0:29:43Bit like us.
0:29:43 > 0:29:44SHE CHUCKLES
0:29:44 > 0:29:47We should have had hats. We should have had hats!
0:29:47 > 0:29:49Now, then, my motto.
0:29:51 > 0:29:55"The 'ooh-aah' bird is so called because it lays square eggs."
0:30:04 > 0:30:06I don't understand that.
0:30:06 > 0:30:08So you'd watch that at home, with your family?
0:30:08 > 0:30:11Yeah. Yeah, that was a good one for the family.
0:30:11 > 0:30:13And I miss it. It always used to be on at half past seven,
0:30:13 > 0:30:15we'll all sit together at half past seven.
0:30:15 > 0:30:17- Of course, it doesn't work that way now.- No.
0:30:17 > 0:30:20You would have 12 million people might watch one thing,
0:30:20 > 0:30:23and the chances are somebody else at work had seen the same thing.
0:30:23 > 0:30:25- It doesn't happen any more. - 12 million people watched one thing,
0:30:25 > 0:30:27because there was only what, three channels?
0:30:27 > 0:30:29Yeah, and one of them was cheap and tawdry, so...
0:30:29 > 0:30:31- Yeah, which you never watched. - No.
0:30:31 > 0:30:33Watching Penelope, watching The Good Life,
0:30:33 > 0:30:34did it influence your comedy?
0:30:34 > 0:30:36Yeah, there's no question
0:30:36 > 0:30:38that there's a lot of very strong women that I've watched
0:30:38 > 0:30:41- over the years, and admired their timing.- Mm.
0:30:43 > 0:30:48When Penelope Keith gave her last performance as Margot in 1978,
0:30:48 > 0:30:52even the Queen and Prince Philip were in the audience.
0:30:52 > 0:30:55But is she the most watched British sitcom leading lady?
0:30:55 > 0:30:58Well, here's the top five.
0:30:58 > 0:31:02At five, Prunella Scales' Sybil Fawlty and husband Basil
0:31:02 > 0:31:05attracted over 12 million guests
0:31:05 > 0:31:07to Fawlty Towers in the ''70s.
0:31:07 > 0:31:11At four, Patricia Routledge as Hyacinth Bucket
0:31:11 > 0:31:14kept up appearances and audiences
0:31:14 > 0:31:16of over 16 million in the ''90s.
0:31:18 > 0:31:21Annette Crosbie's long-suffering wife of Victor Meldrew
0:31:21 > 0:31:23is straight in at number three
0:31:23 > 0:31:25with a high of 20 million
0:31:25 > 0:31:27in the noughties.
0:31:27 > 0:31:29At two, it's Penelope Keith.
0:31:29 > 0:31:36Margot and the Good Life gang got an audience high of 21 million in 1979.
0:31:38 > 0:31:41And at one, as Audrey fforbes-Hamilton,
0:31:41 > 0:31:46Penelope Keith gave us yet another brilliant character
0:31:46 > 0:31:48in the biggest sitcom of the ''70s.
0:31:48 > 0:31:51Almost 24 million people tuned in to watch...
0:31:51 > 0:31:53To The Manor Born.
0:31:56 > 0:31:59I mean, what do you think of people that say that,
0:31:59 > 0:32:02"Oh, women can't be funny"?
0:32:02 > 0:32:04- Ridiculous, isn't it?- Here's a little test I would do for you, OK?
0:32:04 > 0:32:06Try and do this without getting arrested.
0:32:06 > 0:32:08- If you're ever at a big function, OK?- Mm.
0:32:08 > 0:32:10Go and stand outside the gents' toilets -
0:32:10 > 0:32:12you don't need to go in, just stand outside -
0:32:12 > 0:32:15the door will open and close, and all you'll hear is...
0:32:15 > 0:32:17SHE MURMURS ..and water running.
0:32:17 > 0:32:19Stand outside the ladies'. As the door opens and closes,
0:32:19 > 0:32:21you will hear nothing but laughter.
0:32:21 > 0:32:23Women are funny all the time.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26We still have a problem in this country -
0:32:26 > 0:32:30if there's a show on, you hardly ever have more than one woman on the show.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33If there's four panellists, it'll be three boys and a girl.
0:32:33 > 0:32:37- And they'll say, "Ooh, women - we've already got one of those."- Mm.
0:32:37 > 0:32:39So, we still have work to do. There's stuff to do.
0:32:39 > 0:32:42The Good Life, the class system,
0:32:42 > 0:32:44do you think it really taught you about British values?
0:32:44 > 0:32:46I certainly think it opens the door.
0:32:46 > 0:32:48When you come from abroad, living abroad,
0:32:48 > 0:32:51a lot of bits of British life just seem a bit strange,
0:32:51 > 0:32:53and when I first arrived,
0:32:53 > 0:32:56- I remember the Wombles of Wimbledon were a big hit.- Yes!
0:32:56 > 0:32:58And I thought that it was that they were OF Wimbledon,
0:32:58 > 0:33:00and that they were common.
0:33:00 > 0:33:03And I didn't understand that there was a place called Wimbledon Common.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06I thought it was, "We're the Wombles of Wimbledon - common are we."
0:33:06 > 0:33:08I thought, "Oh, what an extraordinary thing,
0:33:08 > 0:33:09"to talk about yourself being common."
0:33:09 > 0:33:12So there's lots of bits of the life that I didn't understand.
0:33:12 > 0:33:14I didn't understand about the class system,
0:33:14 > 0:33:16and there were lots of jokes.
0:33:16 > 0:33:19- Innuendo is peculiarly British.- Mm.
0:33:19 > 0:33:22And it is something that completely passed me by
0:33:22 > 0:33:23when I first came across it.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26Speaking of which, I think that brings us nicely to our next clip.
0:33:26 > 0:33:28Have a little look at this.
0:33:29 > 0:33:30Oh, yes.
0:33:36 > 0:33:38The management would have had more consideration
0:33:38 > 0:33:42than keep us sitting on our jacksies for the postmortem.
0:33:42 > 0:33:46I used to watch this with no idea what was going on.
0:33:46 > 0:33:49I knew that Mrs Slocombe had a cat, I didn't know why it was funny.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54You know, this sort of thing just isn't fair on my pussy.
0:33:55 > 0:34:01Rather appropriately, Are You Being Served? ran for 69 episodes.
0:34:01 > 0:34:04It graced our screens from 1972 to 1975,
0:34:04 > 0:34:09and at its peak Inman and Coutts delivered shameless innuendo
0:34:09 > 0:34:12to audiences of 22 million viewers.
0:34:12 > 0:34:14We'd sit and watch it completely bemused,
0:34:14 > 0:34:16and my mother, who's English, would laugh,
0:34:16 > 0:34:17and the rest of the family
0:34:17 > 0:34:20are thinking, "Well, I've no idea what's going on here.
0:34:20 > 0:34:22- "This is surely not the way to run any kind of shop."- Yeah!
0:34:22 > 0:34:25Yodel-odel-odel-odel...
0:34:25 > 0:34:27..ee-hee!
0:34:30 > 0:34:33- John Inman.- "I'M free."- Yeah!
0:34:33 > 0:34:36I can't think why, but my eyes are watering.
0:34:36 > 0:34:38- Another innuendo. - Innuendo. Straight in.
0:34:38 > 0:34:40- We should count how many there are. - Yeah.
0:34:40 > 0:34:42'Ere, listen - I don't know how to wear me braces.
0:34:42 > 0:34:44Should they be like that...
0:34:44 > 0:34:45or like that?
0:34:45 > 0:34:47I did panto with Wendy Richards.
0:34:47 > 0:34:49This was before she did EastEnders, so she was still being billed
0:34:49 > 0:34:51as Wendy "Are You Being Served?" Richards.
0:34:51 > 0:34:53And do you know what?
0:34:53 > 0:34:55She taught me a lot about a great attitude to show business,
0:34:55 > 0:34:58which is that really you should just thank every day
0:34:58 > 0:35:00- that this is what you do for a living.- Yeah.
0:35:00 > 0:35:04And she was a joyous person, and is much missed.
0:35:04 > 0:35:05I feel a right fairy.
0:35:05 > 0:35:08Ooh. Aren't you the lucky one?
0:35:08 > 0:35:10It hadn't occurred to me - this may surprise you -
0:35:10 > 0:35:12that there were people of a homosexual persuasion.
0:35:12 > 0:35:15- It had never occurred to me... - National television.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18Well, not at all, darling. In life, it hadn't occurred to me.
0:35:18 > 0:35:22- It's such a piece of history.- Did you not realise that they were gay?
0:35:22 > 0:35:26I don't know. People thought Liberace wasn't, so...!
0:35:26 > 0:35:31I seriously... I think possibly there was a bit of innocence in the world.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34Although when my mother told my grandmother, she said,
0:35:34 > 0:35:38"I've got something serious to tell you," to my grandmother,
0:35:38 > 0:35:40and when they all sat down and had a cup of tea,
0:35:40 > 0:35:42my mum sat down with my...
0:35:42 > 0:35:44Why she thought she should do it, I don't know,
0:35:44 > 0:35:47and said, "I've got something very serious to tell you about Sandi.
0:35:47 > 0:35:48"She's gay."
0:35:48 > 0:35:51And Granny said, "Oh, I thought you were going to say she was ill!
0:35:51 > 0:35:52"We had those in OUR day."
0:35:53 > 0:35:56- So, "We had those in our day" is good. It was OK.- That's lovely.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59We were fine after that.
0:35:59 > 0:36:03John Inman's Mr Humphries is a queen of British TV camp,
0:36:03 > 0:36:07but he's one of many brilliant comic camp creations.
0:36:07 > 0:36:11The success of Dick Emery's Clarence high-kicked it all off
0:36:11 > 0:36:16with his catchphrase, "Hello, Honky Tonk," on TV in 1963.
0:36:16 > 0:36:20Barry Stuart-Hargreaves came waltzing along in the ''80s,
0:36:20 > 0:36:23taking camp on holiday in Hi-de-Hi.
0:36:23 > 0:36:26James Dreyfus gave us
0:36:26 > 0:36:30PC Goody alongside Rowan Atkinson in The Thin Blue Line in the 1990s,
0:36:30 > 0:36:33and David Walliams gave camp a twist for the noughties
0:36:33 > 0:36:35with Sebastian,
0:36:35 > 0:36:39the Prime Minister's very personal aide in Little Britain.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48But Sandi's big TV break came in 1982,
0:36:48 > 0:36:53when ITV started making a brand-new, completely live
0:36:53 > 0:36:56Saturday morning kids' TV show, No. 73.
0:36:56 > 0:37:00It was to be bigger and messier than anything on the BBC,
0:37:00 > 0:37:02but she got started on the road to stardom
0:37:02 > 0:37:05not because of what she did right, but what she did wrong.
0:37:05 > 0:37:07- So, you know The Stage newspaper... - Yes.
0:37:07 > 0:37:09..the newspaper for the profession.
0:37:09 > 0:37:11I was reading it, and there was an advert in the back,
0:37:11 > 0:37:14"Would you like to have breakfast with a gorilla?"
0:37:14 > 0:37:15And I though, "Well, I don't mind."
0:37:15 > 0:37:19So, it said to send off your CV and a photograph of yourself,
0:37:19 > 0:37:21and I didn't realise, because I didn't know much about show
0:37:21 > 0:37:24business, that they meant one of those posh photographs.
0:37:24 > 0:37:27I went to Victoria Station in London to a photo booth,
0:37:27 > 0:37:29and I couldn't get the chair to go all the way up,
0:37:29 > 0:37:32so, I sent a photo that, honestly, it was three-quarters of my head
0:37:32 > 0:37:34in a little tiny picture like this,
0:37:34 > 0:37:36and the producers thought it was a joke.
0:37:36 > 0:37:37Oh, right! Oh, right.
0:37:37 > 0:37:42It was the only photo that I had of myself, and I auditioned,
0:37:42 > 0:37:44and I got the job.
0:37:44 > 0:37:49So, here we are. This is No. 73, with Sandi Toksvig.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55Morning. Did you see who that was?
0:37:55 > 0:37:57I bet it was the milkman.
0:37:57 > 0:37:59- That's not you!- It is me!
0:37:59 > 0:38:00No, that's you!
0:38:01 > 0:38:04- Have you seen this before? - No. Cos it was live!
0:38:04 > 0:38:05Well, let's have a look.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08That's how the day started. What does the horoscope say?
0:38:08 > 0:38:10Er...Taurus.
0:38:10 > 0:38:13It was live telly, hour and three-quarters.
0:38:13 > 0:38:15Still only three channels.
0:38:15 > 0:38:17Millions of people watching,
0:38:17 > 0:38:20and you knew there was a lot of work ahead of you.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23Your heart would be absolutely coming out of your chest.
0:38:23 > 0:38:25So, the first six years of my television career.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28- So, wonderful TV training, surely? - Oh, it's the best.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31There's nothing that went wrong that couldn't have gone wrong.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34First he had the whole house rewired, then he had me wired for sound.
0:38:34 > 0:38:35It's wonderful.
0:38:35 > 0:38:37KNOCK AT DOOR
0:38:38 > 0:38:39Oh, it can't be the milkman, can it?
0:38:39 > 0:38:42- I can't tell you...- A lot of acting. - There was a lot of acting,
0:38:42 > 0:38:44and I can't tell you how many things went wrong.
0:38:44 > 0:38:48We did a whole show with Spike Milligan, hour and three-quarters.
0:38:48 > 0:38:49The last five minutes,
0:38:49 > 0:38:52Spike and me are meant to do the whole big scene
0:38:52 > 0:38:54to wrap up everything.
0:38:54 > 0:38:56I go into that bit of the set,
0:38:56 > 0:38:59and the floor manager's behind the camera going, "Spike's gone home."
0:39:00 > 0:39:03To do the last five minutes, I played both parts.
0:39:03 > 0:39:05HONKY TONK MUSIC So, the daring, dazzling,
0:39:05 > 0:39:07death-defyingly dull, devastatingly dangerous,
0:39:07 > 0:39:10delectable, divinely decadent Sandwich Quiz!
0:39:10 > 0:39:12- ALL:- Heeeeeere's Ethel!
0:39:12 > 0:39:15The reason we did the Sandwich Quiz was, because the show was live,
0:39:15 > 0:39:17sometimes at the end we had two minutes left,
0:39:17 > 0:39:18and sometimes we had 22 minutes left,
0:39:18 > 0:39:21and we could never work out how to time it exactly,
0:39:21 > 0:39:23and the Sandwich Quiz, and my job,
0:39:23 > 0:39:25was to make sure we came out exactly on time.
0:39:25 > 0:39:27Prince Charles has saved a 59-year-old man
0:39:27 > 0:39:29who was in a car crash this morning.
0:39:29 > 0:39:31- Quite a hero, old Charles. - Is he? Going to make your sandwich?
0:39:31 > 0:39:34- Here's your currants.- Thanks. - Piece of bread. How are we doing?
0:39:34 > 0:39:35That's very nice.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38Pour them down here, and make them disappear or turn into sugar.
0:39:38 > 0:39:43- Talking of the Sandwich Quiz, I've got something...- Oh, no.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46..in the hall, that I'm just about to get.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49Should I feel worried? It's not another fox puppet, is it?
0:39:49 > 0:39:50No, you're OK.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54- I've got here...- Oh, for goodness' sake.- ..the very item.
0:39:54 > 0:39:55SHE CHUCKLES
0:39:55 > 0:39:58Ladies and gentlemen, we are presenting, for the first time...
0:39:58 > 0:40:02Oh, we had currants! It was for current affairs, we had currants.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05..in many years, we are going to perform the Sandwich Quiz.
0:40:05 > 0:40:07- These are your questions.- OK.
0:40:07 > 0:40:11- Cos we're going to play. I haven't seen them.- So, the idea was...
0:40:11 > 0:40:13Well, first up, can you do the tongue twister?
0:40:13 > 0:40:15Oh, my goodness, it must be 30 years.
0:40:15 > 0:40:17- I've got it here. - No, no, let me try.
0:40:17 > 0:40:19So, I used to bang the table, and the music would start.
0:40:19 > 0:40:21HONKY-TONK MUSIC And I would say...
0:40:21 > 0:40:23So, the daring, dazzling, death-defyingly dull,
0:40:23 > 0:40:25devastatingly dangerous, delectable,
0:40:25 > 0:40:27divinely decadent Sandwich Quiz.
0:40:27 > 0:40:30In the bag, ladies and gentlemen. A Blue Peter badge.
0:40:30 > 0:40:31So, I'm going to ask you a question.
0:40:31 > 0:40:33- Right.- If you get it right, you make a sandwich.
0:40:33 > 0:40:36You've got to do this quickly, we have a lot of people to feed.
0:40:36 > 0:40:38- Mm-hm.- OK, are you ready? KLAXON
0:40:38 > 0:40:41Sandwiches were invented by a famous earl, the Earl of...?
0:40:41 > 0:40:43- Of Sandwich.- Absolutely right. Make a sandwich.
0:40:43 > 0:40:45- So, I make a sandwich. - I'll ask you the next question -
0:40:45 > 0:40:46you've got to be quick.
0:40:46 > 0:40:49- Which country has a nut named after it?- Oh, gawd.
0:40:49 > 0:40:51- Um...- What is that? - I don't know what sandwich it is.
0:40:51 > 0:40:52Looks like salad cream.
0:40:52 > 0:40:55- No, don't do jam with it! It looks horrible.- I'm sorry.
0:40:55 > 0:40:57- Have I got to eat it afterwards? - Yes. Is it coronation chicken?
0:40:57 > 0:41:00- It is...brazil nuts.- Brazil nuts! Make another sandwich.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03Do you drink fizzy pop from a can or a cannot?
0:41:03 > 0:41:05- Er...from a can. - Oh, you're good. You're good!- Ah!
0:41:05 > 0:41:08- But you're not fast at the sandwiches.- No, I'm not.
0:41:08 > 0:41:09Normally there would have been two people.
0:41:09 > 0:41:11We'd have Elton John against Suzi Quatro.
0:41:11 > 0:41:13Oh, where's Elton when you need him?
0:41:13 > 0:41:16If you put bread in a bread bin, what do you put in a toaster?
0:41:16 > 0:41:18- Er... Oh, good - bread, bread. - Hey!- That was good!
0:41:18 > 0:41:21- I see where you were going there. - Another sandwich, please.
0:41:21 > 0:41:22Thank you very much.
0:41:22 > 0:41:24- Why did the chicken cross the road? - Er...
0:41:24 > 0:41:26To get to the other side.
0:41:26 > 0:41:27Ah, you see, a comic.
0:41:27 > 0:41:29We should ask some currant ones.
0:41:29 > 0:41:30Why did the tomato blush?
0:41:30 > 0:41:32Er, because it was...
0:41:32 > 0:41:35- sun-dried? - Because it saw the salad dressing.
0:41:35 > 0:41:37KLAXON Oh, you were doing so well!
0:41:37 > 0:41:38You should come on 15 to One.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41I'm telling you, the physics questions were next.
0:41:41 > 0:41:42Would have been great.
0:41:42 > 0:41:44Do you think that this would work well on 15 to One,
0:41:44 > 0:41:46- making sandwiches?- Yeah, why not?
0:41:46 > 0:41:48I love the fact that this is your idea.
0:41:48 > 0:41:50This is something that you thought of.
0:41:50 > 0:41:52Well, it's a long time ago, but maybe it's ripe for a comeback.
0:41:52 > 0:41:54Shall we see what we can do?
0:41:54 > 0:41:56- You said we should work together.- I'm ready.
0:41:56 > 0:41:58- Ready when you are.- Yeah?- Mm.
0:41:58 > 0:42:00Does it seem weird, watching yourself?
0:42:00 > 0:42:01Yeah, it is very strange.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03Because it was live, I never really watched it.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06So, it is very odd and dear Lord, I look young.
0:42:06 > 0:42:08- Mm, you still do, though.- You are gorgeous.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11I may be on the turn, Brian, I'm just saying. I really like you.
0:42:11 > 0:42:12God bless you.
0:42:12 > 0:42:14So, Sandi, to bring us up-to-date,
0:42:14 > 0:42:15what do you enjoy watching now on TV?
0:42:15 > 0:42:18I've loved all the Danish dramas that have done so well -
0:42:18 > 0:42:19The Killing, Borgen, The Legacy -
0:42:19 > 0:42:21I think they've been absolutely fantastic.
0:42:21 > 0:42:23I love the international element of them.
0:42:23 > 0:42:27Orange Is The New Black - American series, it's fantastic.
0:42:27 > 0:42:29Mary Beard, classical historian,
0:42:29 > 0:42:30talking about the Romans.
0:42:30 > 0:42:32It would be impossible
0:42:32 > 0:42:34to do documentary better than she does it,
0:42:34 > 0:42:38and then, after that, news. I'm a newshound, I'm afraid.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41So, as a guest on the show, you get a choice, now,
0:42:41 > 0:42:42to pick a theme tune...
0:42:42 > 0:42:45- OK.- ..that we're going to play out on.
0:42:45 > 0:42:46- There's only one.- Mm-hm.
0:42:46 > 0:42:50It's got to be Cagney & Lacey. I love those feisty ladies.
0:42:50 > 0:42:53I dreamt of striding down a street like that.
0:42:53 > 0:42:56- It reminds me of my American childhood.- Mm-hm.
0:42:56 > 0:42:58Ladies and gentlemen, this wonderful lady,
0:42:58 > 0:43:01Sandi Toksvig, God bless you.
0:43:01 > 0:43:03And here is Cagney & Lacey to play us out.
0:43:03 > 0:43:05We'll see you soon. Bye-bye.