0:00:03 > 0:00:05TV, the magic box of delights.
0:00:05 > 0:00:08As kids it showed us a million different worlds,
0:00:08 > 0:00:09all from our living room.
0:00:11 > 0:00:12This takes me right back.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15That's so embarrassing! I am genuinely shocked.
0:00:15 > 0:00:19'Each day, I'm going to journey through the wonderful world of telly
0:00:19 > 0:00:22'with one of our favourite celebrities...'
0:00:22 > 0:00:24It's just so silly!
0:00:24 > 0:00:26Ah! I love it!
0:00:26 > 0:00:28Is it Mr Benn?!
0:00:28 > 0:00:29IN LONDON ACCENT: Shut it!
0:00:29 > 0:00:32'..as they select the iconic TV moments...'
0:00:32 > 0:00:34Oh, hello!
0:00:34 > 0:00:37'..that tell us the stories of their lives.'
0:00:37 > 0:00:39SHE GASPS
0:00:39 > 0:00:40Oh, my gosh!
0:00:40 > 0:00:43BOTH: Cheers. 'Some will make you laugh...'
0:00:43 > 0:00:45HE GROWLS LOUDLY
0:00:45 > 0:00:47Oh, no! '..some will surprise.'
0:00:47 > 0:00:49DUCK QUACKS, SHE SHRIEKS
0:00:49 > 0:00:51'..many will inspire...'
0:00:51 > 0:00:52Ooh! Look at this.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54Why wouldn't you want to watch this?
0:00:54 > 0:00:56'..and others will move us.'
0:00:56 > 0:00:59Seeing that there made a huge impact on me.
0:01:00 > 0:01:02Got a handkerchief?
0:01:02 > 0:01:08So come watch with us as we rewind to the classic telly that shaped
0:01:08 > 0:01:12those wide-eyed youngsters into the much-loved stars they are today.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22WHOOPING AND APPLAUSE
0:01:22 > 0:01:24Welcome to The TV That Made Me.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27My guest today was once the man who was second in command
0:01:27 > 0:01:29of the entire country.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35John Prescott started his working life in the Merchant Navy,
0:01:35 > 0:01:37where he slugged it out in the boxing ring
0:01:37 > 0:01:40and, for the first time, the world of politics.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43He became a Labour MP in 1970
0:01:43 > 0:01:47and he eventually served as Deputy Prime Minister for over a decade.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49Now, he's an actual baron.
0:01:50 > 0:01:55The TV that made him includes some royal pageantry...
0:01:55 > 0:01:56..and a gritty cop show.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01Ladies and gentlemen, Lord Prescott. APPLAUSE
0:02:01 > 0:02:04Welcome, John, come and join us.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07I liked the cheering bit. Can you do that again?
0:02:07 > 0:02:09Come on, sit down.
0:02:09 > 0:02:10Make yourself at home.
0:02:12 > 0:02:17And do I call you Lord Prescott, can I call you John?
0:02:17 > 0:02:19No, the pantomime season's finished.
0:02:19 > 0:02:20I know they call me Baron -
0:02:20 > 0:02:22you played it in a pantomime, didn't you?
0:02:22 > 0:02:25I've done many pantomimes. Call me John, anyway. All right, then, John.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28And if there's any bother, John, I've got an egg.
0:02:28 > 0:02:29LAUGHTER
0:02:29 > 0:02:32Now, that does make me shiver. Does it?
0:02:32 > 0:02:33Does it really? Why?
0:02:33 > 0:02:35Well, it all happened very quickly.
0:02:35 > 0:02:37Look, I've been 40 years in politics.
0:02:37 > 0:02:4140 seconds, when a man hit me with an egg... Yes.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45..and basically, when that obituary comes for all of us,
0:02:45 > 0:02:48I'll have that situation of me thumping a fella.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51That was my contribution to politics in 40 seconds.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54Tony Blair rung me up afterwards. He said, "Are you all right?"
0:02:54 > 0:02:56I said, "Yeah." He said, "What were you doing?"
0:02:56 > 0:02:57I said, "I was carrying out your orders."
0:02:57 > 0:02:59He said, "What do you mean?"
0:02:59 > 0:03:01I said, "You told us to go out and connect with the electorate,
0:03:01 > 0:03:04"so I did." LAUGHTER
0:03:05 > 0:03:08Well, welcome, John, and we hope to connect with you today,
0:03:08 > 0:03:11because today is a celebration of television that you have loved
0:03:11 > 0:03:13and watched over the many years,
0:03:13 > 0:03:15that you've been around and... Many! Many, many.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19Well, we're going to show that now, because we've got some clips
0:03:19 > 0:03:22and a little bit of footage of what it was like
0:03:22 > 0:03:24being a very young John Prescott.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29John was born in May 1938
0:03:29 > 0:03:33in Prestatyn in Wales to Phyllis and Bert Prescott,
0:03:33 > 0:03:35a railway signalman and Labour councillor.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39He grew up with two sisters, Dawn and Vi,
0:03:39 > 0:03:41and two brothers, Ray and Adrian.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45When John was just three, the family left Wales and moved briefly
0:03:45 > 0:03:50to Brinsworth in South Yorkshire, before settling in Upton, Cheshire.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54After leaving school, he joined the Merchant Navy as a ship's steward
0:03:54 > 0:03:57during the last days of the great ocean liners.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00There he got involved in trade unionism,
0:04:00 > 0:04:03which brought him to the national stage.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06He became MP for Kingston-upon-Hull East in 1970
0:04:06 > 0:04:11and in 1997, Deputy Prime Minister in the new Labour government.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14In 2010, he was elevated to the House of Lords
0:04:14 > 0:04:18to become Baron Prescott of Kingston-upon-Hull.
0:04:25 > 0:04:27So, John, it's time for your first choice.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31We're going to take a look at your very first TV memory.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35'They asked the crowd to be forbearing
0:04:35 > 0:04:37'and not to try to surge forward,
0:04:37 > 0:04:39'and now here is the Queen.'
0:04:39 > 0:04:42This, of course, is the Queen's coronation. Oh, yeah!
0:04:42 > 0:04:451953, John. Yeah.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51An estimated three million people lined the streets of London,
0:04:51 > 0:04:53hoping for a glimpse of the newly crowned Queen.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57And with over 8,000 guests and dignitaries attending,
0:04:57 > 0:05:00there weren't enough horse-drawn carriage coachmen
0:05:00 > 0:05:03to transport them to Westminster Abbey,
0:05:03 > 0:05:05so millionaires and country squires
0:05:05 > 0:05:09offered their services, dressing up as Buckingham Palace servants.
0:05:14 > 0:05:19Did you know, there was an estimated 27 million people watched this?
0:05:19 > 0:05:24Yeah, my father had won a horse bet and won ?1,000 in 1953,
0:05:24 > 0:05:26and therefore he bought a television.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30It was 14", a big cabinet, small screen
0:05:30 > 0:05:32and all the neighbours came in to watch it.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35They all came with a flask of tea and their own sandwiches.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37A lot of things were just getting over rationing,
0:05:37 > 0:05:39so you couldn't come in and have your tea
0:05:39 > 0:05:40and your sandwiches provided.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43But I got a bit annoyed cos I couldn't see anything.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46Because the lounge was so busy?
0:05:46 > 0:05:49The room was all full. They'd all turned out.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52They were from number 29, they were from 24
0:05:52 > 0:05:53and they all had their little tea things,
0:05:53 > 0:05:56they were sitting around looking at this little television.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58I was a bit annoyed, so they kicked me out
0:05:58 > 0:06:01and I was riding in my bike around the streets.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05CROWDS CHEER
0:06:05 > 0:06:07Are you very much a royalist? No.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09I think she does a remarkable job.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11It's a judgment as a kind of democrat, in my way.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14I find it hard to believe that you have a monarchy,
0:06:14 > 0:06:16but they're well-loved in this country.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19But let me tell you, the Queen came to Hull on her Silver Jubilee
0:06:19 > 0:06:22and they said, "You must come up and meet the Queen."
0:06:22 > 0:06:24I'm not a monarchist, so I didn't really want to go there,
0:06:24 > 0:06:26but I didn't want to cause offence,
0:06:26 > 0:06:28cos a lot of people do think it's important.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31But in the end, I said, "I'll come up, but I won't bow."
0:06:31 > 0:06:35I was standing there when the Queen arrived and I was standing up.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37The wife had done her curtsying.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40She came to me, the Queen, and I didn't realise how small she was.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42And then I shook hands with her and she said...
0:06:42 > 0:06:44HE IMITATES MUMBLING
0:06:44 > 0:06:45I said, "Pardon?"
0:06:45 > 0:06:47LAUGHTER
0:06:49 > 0:06:51I wasn't so clever.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54So what was the house like growing up?
0:06:54 > 0:06:56My father was a railwayman, so he moved around a bit.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58I was born in Wales, in Prestatyn.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02He, at that time - I was born in 1938 -
0:07:02 > 0:07:04lost his leg at Dunkirk. Oh, right.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07He used to have a stump stocking
0:07:07 > 0:07:09and they used to put the orange at the bottom,
0:07:09 > 0:07:11because it was your Christmas stocking!
0:07:11 > 0:07:13So your love of politics,
0:07:13 > 0:07:15did that stem from your father?
0:07:16 > 0:07:21Yes, from my parents. My mother was from a very strong Labour family.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23In fact, we're proud that my grandad then
0:07:23 > 0:07:25was on the front of the Daily Herald as a miner
0:07:25 > 0:07:28as those who had fought for the nationalisation of the mines,
0:07:28 > 0:07:31so you came from that family background in Wales.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33It was pretty hard in north Wales.
0:07:35 > 0:07:37They were a good mother and father.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40They got difficulty later in life and they separated,
0:07:40 > 0:07:43but you're forever grateful to your mum and your dad,
0:07:43 > 0:07:44whatever their difficulties. Yeah.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46Though when I got into politics,
0:07:46 > 0:07:48they were giving more press releases than me.
0:07:48 > 0:07:49LAUGHTER
0:07:49 > 0:07:54I was on the Today programme and John Humphrys said, "Well, John,
0:07:54 > 0:07:56"the Labour Party's middle class now."
0:07:56 > 0:07:58I said, "It's always had middle class in it.
0:07:58 > 0:07:59"They've played a major part."
0:07:59 > 0:08:01I said, "Anyway, I'm middle class -
0:08:01 > 0:08:04"how could I be anything else with two Jags?"
0:08:04 > 0:08:06He said... LAUGHTER
0:08:06 > 0:08:09He said, "Well, OK, then, bit of a shock."
0:08:09 > 0:08:12My mother and father rung up the Today programme,
0:08:12 > 0:08:14went on the programme and disowned me, saying,
0:08:14 > 0:08:16"We're working class, I don't know what he's saying." Really?
0:08:16 > 0:08:18LAUGHTER
0:08:18 > 0:08:21So it's quite a divisive family, and very political, of course.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23So what age did you leave home at?
0:08:23 > 0:08:25I left the school at 15
0:08:25 > 0:08:27and then got a chance at 16, 17,
0:08:27 > 0:08:30before the army conscription came along,
0:08:30 > 0:08:34and I joined the Cunard steamship company as a waiter.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37Yeah. So I had ten years at sea, got eventually kicked out of it
0:08:37 > 0:08:39and blacked by most of the shipping companies
0:08:39 > 0:08:42because of my union activities.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44The working conditions at sea were tough,
0:08:44 > 0:08:47with very little time or space for recreation.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52A seaman on the Franconia, whether he washes dishes in the galley
0:08:52 > 0:08:55or tends the engines in the extreme heat of the ship's belly,
0:08:55 > 0:08:57works on average an 11-hour day,
0:08:57 > 0:08:59seven days a week.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02There's no break in the routine, no place they can escape to.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04Cruises can last for three or four months
0:09:04 > 0:09:07and in all that time at sea, they're working half the day
0:09:07 > 0:09:10and on call for the other 12 hours.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12The men had to find their own entertainment
0:09:12 > 0:09:15and for John, that meant entering bruising boxing bouts
0:09:15 > 0:09:18with colleagues, a sport he had dabbled in before.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23The first time I ever did box was in Butlins.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25They used to have boxing competitions at Butlins?
0:09:25 > 0:09:27That's right. Really?
0:09:27 > 0:09:30And I got in the ring, I had my bathers and a pair of pumps,
0:09:30 > 0:09:33and this fella got in the ring, he had boxing boots on,
0:09:33 > 0:09:35he had the shorts, he had the gear
0:09:35 > 0:09:37and he was, "Shu-shu-shu-shu!"
0:09:37 > 0:09:38I thought, "What have I done?"
0:09:38 > 0:09:41So I go out, but he'd come with the most beautiful girl
0:09:41 > 0:09:44I'd ever seen up to that stage, until I met the wife.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48Anyway, she's there and I'm looking at her like that.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52He hits me and sends me in a complete somersault across the ring
0:09:52 > 0:09:55and I'm so embarrassed getting up, not because of him,
0:09:55 > 0:09:57though I'm not happy about that,
0:09:57 > 0:10:00but this woman sees me battered by her boyfriend.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03So you never won? No, I didn't. No.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05I hit the ropes on the other side.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08I learned, don't take your eye off the man in front of you. Yeah.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18Now, your next choice comes out of the first year you were married.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20Let's have a look at your must-see TV.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26That's it, that's that theme. Z-CARS THEME PLAYS
0:10:26 > 0:10:29It's Z-Cars. That's the old Ford Zephyr. Oh, yeah.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32At that time, it was quite a car.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34They didn't have a Jag, them. No!
0:10:34 > 0:10:37LAUGHTER
0:10:37 > 0:10:40Z-Cars reinvented British TV cop shows.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42Out went the gentle bobby on the beat
0:10:42 > 0:10:45and in came police in fast cars,
0:10:45 > 0:10:47chasing the criminal underworld.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51It was an instant hit, topping 14 million viewers during its run.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58Right, then.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00A bit of a squeeze.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02Is that Smithy there? That is.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04Yeah, there he is, Brian Blessed.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07You look a bit like him.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09I thought I'd lost a bit of weight.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11LAUGHTER
0:11:12 > 0:11:15Where will the master criminal strike next?
0:11:15 > 0:11:18Get out of it, ya mug, you!
0:11:18 > 0:11:19Look, this bloke will try it again,
0:11:19 > 0:11:21only he won't be expecting us this time.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23Ah, it's a beat bobby's job, not ours.
0:11:23 > 0:11:28What you do associate it with was Dixon Of Dock Green, "Evening, all."
0:11:28 > 0:11:31This was just a major change from it,
0:11:31 > 0:11:35about police acting probably more like they are. So a bit more gritty?
0:11:35 > 0:11:38Oh, aye, Smithy was, wasn't he? Yeah.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40It was a radical change.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43Ah, it's a waste of time, this bloke was a casual, a down-and-out.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46He'll be miles away at a seaport by now.
0:11:46 > 0:11:47Spending his ill-gotten gains.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50But coming into that was the reality of dealing with difficult problems
0:11:50 > 0:11:52and how individuals dealt with them.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55Yeah. I never missed an episode.
0:11:56 > 0:12:01Z-Cars was one of Brian Blessed's first ever TV roles.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04He had a roaring success in the BBC serialisation
0:12:04 > 0:12:08of the Three Musketeers, alongside future Sherlock, Jeremy Brett.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11He played Caesar Augustus
0:12:11 > 0:12:14in the triple Bafta award-winning I, Claudius,
0:12:14 > 0:12:17a drama series about the history of Rome.
0:12:19 > 0:12:24And he boomed "Gordon's alive!" as Vultan, Prince of the Hawkmen
0:12:24 > 0:12:26in the 1980 film Flash Gordon.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32He was a household name by the time he played the mad, comical figure
0:12:32 > 0:12:36of Richard IV in the first series of The Black Adder saga.
0:12:38 > 0:12:43And he was in fine voice as the lovable Greek fixer Spiro
0:12:43 > 0:12:45in My Family And Other Animals,
0:12:45 > 0:12:48about the life of famed conservationist Gerald Durrell.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59Now we move on to your next choice now, a comedy character.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04Till Death Us Do Part was conceived
0:13:04 > 0:13:07by legendary TV writer Johnny Speight
0:13:07 > 0:13:10as a satire of the bigoted views around at the time.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12But some of the audience didn't see it that way,
0:13:12 > 0:13:16instead embracing the often offensive views of Mr Alf Garnett.
0:13:20 > 0:13:22Alf. Alf Garnett.
0:13:23 > 0:13:25This scene shows Warren Mitchell,
0:13:25 > 0:13:30playing the right-wing caricature at his full-blown ranting best.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34Number one, the Tories has got money, right? Right.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36Right, you agree with me there? Yeah.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38Number two, if you've got money,
0:13:38 > 0:13:41you don't need to fiddle, right? Aw, give over!
0:13:41 > 0:13:46Therefore, number three, the Tories can afford to be honest!
0:13:46 > 0:13:49What was it about Alf Garnett that you loved so much, John?
0:13:49 > 0:13:52Well, he kept to the character.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54A lot of people actually thought about it like that.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58I disagreed with him politically, but he captured it, didn't he,
0:13:58 > 0:14:03with the accent, language, the most reactionary part of things,
0:14:03 > 0:14:05but it's what I call a working class Tory.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08Yeah, yeah. And he was very much that.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10Many of Garnett's tirades were about politics
0:14:10 > 0:14:14and took direct aim at socialist son-in-law Mike,
0:14:14 > 0:14:16played by Tony Booth,
0:14:16 > 0:14:21who later became real-life father-in-law to one Tony Blair.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23On that last election, see,
0:14:23 > 0:14:25they was betting, wasn't they?
0:14:25 > 0:14:29Not only on who'd win the election, but when it'd be, right? Yeah.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32And the only man in the country who knew when it would be
0:14:32 > 0:14:34was Harold Wilson himself, cos he's the bloke
0:14:34 > 0:14:37what had to choose when it'd be, didn't he?
0:14:37 > 0:14:42Garnett's rants used language that would shock today's audiences.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45But back in the 1960s and '70s,
0:14:45 > 0:14:47it was prime-time viewing.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50..which is his pero-jative, I'll grant you that.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54But he played off against him, Antony Booth.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57Great satire, great programme, great acting.
0:14:57 > 0:14:58I thoroughly enjoyed it. Yeah.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08We're going to take a TV break now, John.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12This is one of your favourites.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16Roger, dear boy, how's your client coming along?
0:15:16 > 0:15:18It's the PG Tips adverts. Oh, yeah, yeah!
0:15:19 > 0:15:22These cheeky, tea-drinking chimps
0:15:22 > 0:15:25first hit our screens in 1956.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27Don't worry, madam, I'll take over.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30It's horrible! Can you imagine them trying to film this.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33So what did you enjoy about these little monkeys?
0:15:33 > 0:15:35I thought it was remark...
0:15:35 > 0:15:37Well, first of all, anything that makes you smile is good, isn't it?
0:15:37 > 0:15:39You're going to like that.
0:15:39 > 0:15:41Using animals, getting them to film that,
0:15:41 > 0:15:44that wouldn't be done in half an hour, would it? No.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48I think the imagination behind it, the skill in doing it...
0:15:48 > 0:15:51One of the unique things I think about British advertising,
0:15:51 > 0:15:55it tends to have a...it's important for the British humour,
0:15:55 > 0:15:57that it has humour in it,
0:15:57 > 0:15:59more than, say, when you're in America -
0:15:59 > 0:16:01it's always about slickness and everything.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04But with animals - you see it with dogs and different things now -
0:16:04 > 0:16:07it's part of the British psyche,
0:16:07 > 0:16:10if there's an animal involved, you ought to begin with that.
0:16:10 > 0:16:12The campaign sent sales soaring,
0:16:12 > 0:16:15but it divided opinion and still does today.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19Animal welfare advocates branded the ads exploitative,
0:16:19 > 0:16:21but they were a huge hit with viewers.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25Anything that makes people smile and feel warm,
0:16:25 > 0:16:26isn't that what it's really about?
0:16:34 > 0:16:39Now, John, we're going to move on to a charismatic politician
0:16:39 > 0:16:43who you named as one of your biggest influences.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45This is a challenge we did not seek
0:16:45 > 0:16:47and do not want.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51All the more so because it comes from men
0:16:51 > 0:16:56who have won the undying respect and admiration of the whole nation.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59Harold Wilson, of course, Prime Minister. Yeah.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02But he was a remarkable man and for the first time,
0:17:02 > 0:17:05we had a professional economist, cos that's what he was.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08He had a background and therefore he was exciting.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10There were certain characteristics about him.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13He was talking about things that are relevant today.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15This was man who told the Americans,
0:17:15 > 0:17:17"We're not going to Vietnam,"
0:17:17 > 0:17:20to which Johnson made it very difficult for the UK,
0:17:20 > 0:17:22but that was a principle, that we shouldn't be involved
0:17:22 > 0:17:25in that special relationship and get involved in Vietnam.
0:17:25 > 0:17:26And he did a lot more things -
0:17:26 > 0:17:29he was a principled man who voted against health charges,
0:17:29 > 0:17:31under a Labour government
0:17:31 > 0:17:33that wanted to bring in those health charges.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36He then resigned and came down with Bevan and others.
0:17:36 > 0:17:37As often with politics, though,
0:17:37 > 0:17:41what you're trying to do is not necessarily what you want to do
0:17:41 > 0:17:42and you have to play
0:17:42 > 0:17:45and try and find a way forward to achieving that,
0:17:45 > 0:17:48but I admired him because he was professional,
0:17:48 > 0:17:50he was an economist - most of the problems of that day
0:17:50 > 0:17:52were about the economy and balance of payments.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56To have a man who understood it and did it, I welcomed that
0:17:56 > 0:17:58and for Labour to be looking forward
0:17:58 > 0:18:01and carrying in technology changes to meet with it,
0:18:01 > 0:18:04that's good, cos so often, we tend to defend
0:18:04 > 0:18:07a lot of our things from the past, rather than getting on.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09He captured that, I think.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12This strike will settle nothing.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15It will neither establish their case
0:18:15 > 0:18:17nor settle their grievances.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21But at great cost to Britain...
0:18:21 > 0:18:24Back in 1966, Harold Wilson's government declared
0:18:24 > 0:18:29a state of emergency after the nation's seamen went on strike.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33As a prominent trade unionist, John was heavily involved in the dispute.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38You've got to remember, that speech is just before the election
0:18:38 > 0:18:40and we were threatening to go on strike again.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43We'd had a seven-week strike before, which I'd been involved in.
0:18:43 > 0:18:48We were working 84 hours a week with no overtime and we were working
0:18:48 > 0:18:52under a merchant shipping act that if you disagreed with the captain,
0:18:52 > 0:18:55it was mutiny. I only had one charge on that,
0:18:55 > 0:18:58but we had to change the act.
0:18:58 > 0:18:59He produced the proposals,
0:18:59 > 0:19:02I produced a pamphlet called Not Wanted On Voyage,
0:19:02 > 0:19:04which rejected most of this argument,
0:19:04 > 0:19:06so when he came with the white paper, we wrote on it,
0:19:06 > 0:19:09"Not wanted on voyage," and chucked it over to him.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11"That's what we think about your white paper."
0:19:11 > 0:19:13So we go to see him in Number Ten,
0:19:13 > 0:19:16the first time I'm taken into Parliament, I'm not even an MP,
0:19:16 > 0:19:17and into the Cabinet Room.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20He meets us at the Number Ten door.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22We go in there and he shakes hands with us
0:19:22 > 0:19:26and he said, "I'll tell you what I'll do..." This was typical Wilson.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30He said, "Look, accept this and then, when we come back,
0:19:30 > 0:19:32"we'll have a new piece of legislation
0:19:32 > 0:19:35"changing it as you want." He wanted to settle it.
0:19:35 > 0:19:37So I said to him,
0:19:37 > 0:19:39"Harold..." Or "Prime Minister" it was, right?
0:19:39 > 0:19:42"..how do you know you'll win this next election?"
0:19:42 > 0:19:45He said, on his pipe, "I'm very confident."
0:19:45 > 0:19:46Well, he lost it, didn't he?
0:19:46 > 0:19:49So I went up to him, I came in as an MP, I went to him and said,
0:19:49 > 0:19:51"Now, Harold, what do I do?"
0:19:51 > 0:19:54"You have to get on to the Tories, son."
0:19:54 > 0:19:56To be fair to Harold,
0:19:56 > 0:20:00he did bring about the changes in our legislation, all credit to him.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03Though unfortunately he couldn't complete it, he started it,
0:20:03 > 0:20:04because the Tories came in.
0:20:11 > 0:20:15John, let's now take a look at a very young John Prescott.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18This is...? This is Panorama. Panorama!
0:20:18 > 0:20:21'What we essentially seem to be discussing here is the role
0:20:21 > 0:20:24'of a trade union in a capitalist society
0:20:24 > 0:20:28'and whether collective bargaining is a valuable weapon for trade unions.
0:20:28 > 0:20:30'If it is to achieve a redistribution...'
0:20:30 > 0:20:32I think you do look like Brian Blessed.
0:20:34 > 0:20:371966 was a busy year for John,
0:20:37 > 0:20:40as he took his first steps onto the biggest stage,
0:20:40 > 0:20:43even making his first ever national TV appearance
0:20:43 > 0:20:47on the biggest political show of the day, Panorama.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49For your first television appearance, John,
0:20:49 > 0:20:52I have to say you don't look nervous. No.
0:20:52 > 0:20:53After all, Mr Wilson told us
0:20:53 > 0:20:57the answers to these problems before he was elected.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00What we're vitally concerned about at the moment is apparently...
0:21:03 > 0:21:06..the very answers which they told us were wrong
0:21:06 > 0:21:09when the Tories used them and we feel if it was wrong for the Tories,
0:21:09 > 0:21:10then it must be doubly wrong
0:21:10 > 0:21:13for the Labour Party to adopt the same measures.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17We started it and I was on with a reporter from the Guardian.
0:21:17 > 0:21:18I did a question, he did a question
0:21:18 > 0:21:20and then they said,
0:21:20 > 0:21:22"The camera's broken down, we're going to start again."
0:21:22 > 0:21:26But what this journalist did was to pinch my question!
0:21:26 > 0:21:29I'm trying to think now, I've lost my question,
0:21:29 > 0:21:30this bugger's pinched it,
0:21:30 > 0:21:33so when I look at that - that was my first television -
0:21:33 > 0:21:36I often think, "You've got to watch for the guys around you,"
0:21:36 > 0:21:38but that's life and you have to live with television,
0:21:38 > 0:21:41as it's live television. Yeah.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43That's things you have to watch for.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47But that was my first one, really, after the seamen's strike.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58Politicians, John, appear in the most unusual places,
0:21:58 > 0:22:01including this next clip. Here it is, John.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09Oh, Gavin! I knew nothing about this programme.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13The Bafta award-winning Gavin Stacey is an unlikely tale of love
0:22:13 > 0:22:16between a lad from Essex and a girl from Barry.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20Oh, I never saw this! In this typical scene from series two,
0:22:20 > 0:22:22Nessa, played by co-writer Ruth Jones,
0:22:22 > 0:22:26recounts one of her seemingly unbelievable stories
0:22:26 > 0:22:30about her past famous conquests to a fascinated Stacey.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33This reminds me very much of my time with John...
0:22:33 > 0:22:35Prescott.
0:22:35 > 0:22:36LAUGHTER
0:22:36 > 0:22:38I had the lot.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41A flat in Westminster, full use of one of the Jags,
0:22:41 > 0:22:45didn't even have to cook - I had a little Filipino do it for us.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49Nessa's past was apparently littered with amorous encounters
0:22:49 > 0:22:51with the rich and famous.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53But not happy with just dropping his name,
0:22:53 > 0:22:55Nessa takes it further,
0:22:55 > 0:22:59inserting herself into the story of one of John's best-known moments.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01He could be very dry.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05I left that night and I never looked back.
0:23:05 > 0:23:07Cos I knew I'd only ever be happy in Barry.
0:23:07 > 0:23:09How did John take it?
0:23:09 > 0:23:11SIGHING: He took it bad.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15He went mad, he did, shouting and fighting.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17Next day, he punched a civilian.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20When I saw it on the telly, I knew that punch was meant for me.
0:23:20 > 0:23:22I was doing a programme for BBC on class.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25It was these two series on class in Britain.
0:23:25 > 0:23:30And I wanted to talk to... Yeah, James Corden.
0:23:32 > 0:23:33So I get in touch with him, "Can I come in?"
0:23:33 > 0:23:36He said, "Only if you come on my programme."
0:23:36 > 0:23:38I said, "What's your programme?"
0:23:38 > 0:23:40He said, "Gavin Stacey."
0:23:40 > 0:23:43My son said to me, "Oh, it's a rave programme."
0:23:43 > 0:23:45I said, "I don't know it."
0:23:45 > 0:23:47Anyway, if he'll do this interview with me on class...
0:23:47 > 0:23:49I'll do that one for him.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53Uh-huh. So I came in, they said, "Can you walk into the wedding?"
0:23:53 > 0:23:56And that's what I did.
0:23:56 > 0:23:58See you in there. Yeah, see you in a minute.
0:24:00 > 0:24:01Hi, Dave.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05Congratulations. Cheers, John. Nice to see you.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07That was so natural, John. LAUGHTER
0:24:07 > 0:24:09And so...
0:24:09 > 0:24:11You're wasted, love, you're wasted.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16Well, all politicians are actors of one kind or another. Yes, they are.
0:24:16 > 0:24:17Course it is.
0:24:17 > 0:24:18But to follow on from that story,
0:24:18 > 0:24:21I was down in Bristol, I knocked on a door campaigning
0:24:21 > 0:24:24and these students came to the door and they said, "Oh, hello, John."
0:24:24 > 0:24:27I said, "Are you going to vote Labour, then, lads?"
0:24:27 > 0:24:31They said, "Yeah, yeah!" I said, "Is it our employment policy, health,
0:24:31 > 0:24:32"jobs, education?"
0:24:32 > 0:24:35"Oh, no, you were in Gavin Stacey."
0:24:35 > 0:24:38LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE That became the only reason
0:24:38 > 0:24:41I got their vote, was because of Gavin Stacey!
0:24:41 > 0:24:45I just don't think anyone expected you to be on the show. They don't.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48Because she would often talk about her romances
0:24:48 > 0:24:50to this star and that star
0:24:50 > 0:24:52and the fact that you were there,
0:24:52 > 0:24:54it just underlined it and emphasised it
0:24:54 > 0:24:56and it's just a lovely moment.
0:24:56 > 0:24:57And has quite an effect.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00The response that comes from people who watch that,
0:25:00 > 0:25:03they're surprised, but they're pleased that somehow
0:25:03 > 0:25:05you've come into something they watch.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07I can't explain it in any other way than that,
0:25:07 > 0:25:10except they will come up to you and it got us some votes.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17John's appearance on Gavin Stacey continues a long tradition
0:25:17 > 0:25:22of British politicians popping up on the entertainment scene.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24After leaving office, Harold Wilson appeared
0:25:24 > 0:25:26on The Morecambe And Wise Christmas special,
0:25:26 > 0:25:30teasing Eric by deliberately calling him "Morry-camby".
0:25:34 > 0:25:38In 1984, then Labour leader Neil Kinnock helped take
0:25:38 > 0:25:41Tracey Ullman's cover of the Madness song My Girl
0:25:41 > 0:25:43to number 23 in the charts
0:25:43 > 0:25:45when he appeared in the music video.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49In his final year as PM, Tony Blair appeared
0:25:49 > 0:25:51in a hilarious Comic Relief sketch
0:25:51 > 0:25:55with Catherine Tate's teenage alter ego Lauren,
0:25:55 > 0:25:58to ask her, "Am I bovvered?"
0:25:58 > 0:25:59And Boris Johnson stole the show
0:25:59 > 0:26:03when he appeared for the first time on Have I Got News For You,
0:26:03 > 0:26:06launching him on the road to becoming a TV personality.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17Do you get to watch much telly these days?
0:26:17 > 0:26:19No, I don't, but I'll tell you what I probably watch most -
0:26:19 > 0:26:21I do find it very relaxing -
0:26:21 > 0:26:24it's either films or the Discovery Channel.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27All those things, they're fascinating.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30I watch so many air accidents... Oh, dear, plane investigation?
0:26:30 > 0:26:33I don't know how they find out how a plane went down.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37It's quite remarkable. I love that programme.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40I always watch it before I go on holiday and my wife tells me,
0:26:40 > 0:26:42"What are you doing watching this for?!"
0:26:42 > 0:26:44But I do really enjoy it.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47I think the skill in which they find out what caused it
0:26:47 > 0:26:49is quite remarkable and it's reassuring.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51OK, you might be dead in an air crash,
0:26:51 > 0:26:54but they will find out why you died!
0:26:55 > 0:26:58So, John, we give our guests the opportunity
0:26:58 > 0:27:00to pick a theme tune now for us to play out on.
0:27:02 > 0:27:04Have you got something in mind?
0:27:04 > 0:27:08Yes, very much. Going back many years, cos I went to visit...
0:27:08 > 0:27:11Does anyone remember The Prisoner? Yes.
0:27:11 > 0:27:12With that big bouncing ball,
0:27:12 > 0:27:15you're wondering where the hell it was coming from.
0:27:15 > 0:27:17But it had a fearful sense about it
0:27:17 > 0:27:21and somehow, the theme music just captured it.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25That theme music identified a programme
0:27:25 > 0:27:30and a place which was wonderful, something different
0:27:30 > 0:27:34and excitement and a little bit of fear on the side.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37Well, you've been exciting
0:27:37 > 0:27:40and there's been a little bit of fear on the side.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42Have you enjoyed your experience?
0:27:42 > 0:27:44Thoroughly. Today, you mean? Yeah.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47Not life, I mean today on the sofa!
0:27:47 > 0:27:48Yeah, I have.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52The audience were great, the interviewer was a bit going on.
0:27:52 > 0:27:54LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:27:54 > 0:27:58John, it's been an absolute pleasure, Lord Prescott.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00My thanks to John. Give him a round of applause.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03APPLAUSE And my thanks to you lot
0:28:03 > 0:28:04for watching The TV That Made Me.
0:28:04 > 0:28:06We'll see you next time and bye-bye!
0:28:11 > 0:28:15MUSIC: The Prisoner Theme