0:00:02 > 0:00:03TV - the magic box of delights.
0:00:03 > 0:00:07As kids it showed us a million different worlds,
0:00:07 > 0:00:09all from our living room.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11This takes me right back.
0:00:11 > 0:00:12That's so embarrassing!
0:00:12 > 0:00:14I am genuinely shocked.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17Each day I'm going to journey through the wonderful world
0:00:17 > 0:00:21of telly with one of our favourite celebrities...
0:00:21 > 0:00:23It's just so silly.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26Ah! I love it! Is it Mr Benn?
0:00:26 > 0:00:28- SHE SINGS - Shut it!
0:00:28 > 0:00:31..as they select the iconic TV moments...
0:00:31 > 0:00:33- Oh, hello. - HE LAUGHS
0:00:33 > 0:00:36..that tell us the stories of their lives.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39- SHE GASPS - Oh, my gosh.
0:00:39 > 0:00:40Cheers.
0:00:40 > 0:00:41Some will make you laugh...
0:00:43 > 0:00:44Oh, no!
0:00:44 > 0:00:46..some will surprise...
0:00:46 > 0:00:48SHE SCREAMS
0:00:48 > 0:00:50..many will inspire...
0:00:50 > 0:00:53Look at this. Why wouldn't you want to watch this?
0:00:53 > 0:00:55..and others will move us.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57Seeing that there made a huge impact on me.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00Got a handkerchief?
0:01:01 > 0:01:04So come watch with us as we rewind
0:01:04 > 0:01:06to the classic telly that shaped
0:01:06 > 0:01:11those wide-eyed youngsters into the much-loved stars they are today.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22Welcome to The TV That Made Me.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25My guest today is not only a good booking, she likes a good book.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29So please welcome the lovely Mariella Frostrup.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31APPLAUSE
0:01:34 > 0:01:35Come and sit down.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40- Welcome.- Thank you.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43A journalist and presenter, whose husky tones were once
0:01:43 > 0:01:46voted some of the sexiest on TV.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50Mariella has fronted programmes like The Culture Show,
0:01:50 > 0:01:53as well as becoming a leading book and film critic.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58Among the TV that made her, an Irish institution...
0:01:58 > 0:02:01The fastest reel in the west, Ciaran MacMathuna just said.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03..a music show featuring Mariella herself...
0:02:03 > 0:02:06..described them as the Talking Heads for the 1990s.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10..and a satirical puppet show where no-one in the public eye was safe.
0:02:10 > 0:02:11What am I going to do?
0:02:11 > 0:02:14Well, today is a celebration of the TV that made you.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16TV highlights that you have chosen.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18Stuff that you've probably never seen for many years.
0:02:18 > 0:02:20But first we're going to rewind the clock now
0:02:20 > 0:02:23and have a look at a very young Mariella.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26- SHE GASPS - Oh, no.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29Mariella was born in Norway in 1962.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33At the age of six she moved to Ireland with her family,
0:02:33 > 0:02:36growing up in County Wicklow with her siblings.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41Her Norwegian father was a journalist for the Irish Times...
0:02:43 > 0:02:46..and her Scottish-born mother was an artist.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50So why did your parents move to Ireland?
0:02:50 > 0:02:51Well, they met...
0:02:51 > 0:02:55My mother is Scottish and my father was Norwegian.
0:02:55 > 0:02:56And they met in Edinburgh,
0:02:56 > 0:03:01because a lot of Norwegians go to university in Edinburgh.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04My mum was at art college, and they met there,
0:03:04 > 0:03:06and then she followed him back to Norway.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09Well, they got married and then she went back to Norway with him.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12But neither of them were very happy there,
0:03:12 > 0:03:15and they quite liked the sort of Celtic thing,
0:03:15 > 0:03:17and so we went on a holiday to Kerry
0:03:17 > 0:03:19and they fell in love with Ireland
0:03:19 > 0:03:23and my dad got offered a job as the foreign editor of the Irish Times.
0:03:23 > 0:03:24Oh, really?
0:03:24 > 0:03:25And so because of the job,
0:03:25 > 0:03:28and because they'd fallen in love with the place, we moved there.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31Did you watch much TV as a child?
0:03:31 > 0:03:34In Ireland they had two channels,
0:03:34 > 0:03:37and that was pretty much what we had to watch.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41So, no, television wasn't a huge feature of my childhood,
0:03:41 > 0:03:45but there are within that, kind of, golden moments.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47Because I suppose... Because we didn't watch very much,
0:03:47 > 0:03:50I remember everything we did watch.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53So, what... Where was the telly situated?
0:03:53 > 0:03:57- Oh, I lived in 11 homes over ten years.- Oh, right.
0:03:57 > 0:04:02So there was no sort of, like, concrete mainstay base where you...?
0:04:02 > 0:04:03There was one house...
0:04:03 > 0:04:05The living room was just along from my bedroom.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08And that was where the TV was,
0:04:08 > 0:04:10in case you're wondering where I'm going with this.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14But it's also where I managed to watch,
0:04:14 > 0:04:15without my parents knowing,
0:04:15 > 0:04:18a whole season of Hitchcock films...
0:04:18 > 0:04:22- Ah!- ..through the crack in the living room door.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24And I used to have to walk about a mile and a half
0:04:24 > 0:04:25to get the bus to school,
0:04:25 > 0:04:27down this country lane
0:04:27 > 0:04:30that was just full of crows.
0:04:30 > 0:04:31- Ooh, The Birds!- And, of course,
0:04:31 > 0:04:33I couldn't admit that I'd watched the film
0:04:33 > 0:04:35through the crack in the door,
0:04:35 > 0:04:39and, for about six months, I don't think I've ever felt fear like it.
0:04:44 > 0:04:45We're going to bring you back to
0:04:45 > 0:04:47your earliest TV memory now, Mariella.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53This is John Kenneally, ladies and gentlemen, from... Where are you from, John?
0:04:53 > 0:04:56The Late, Late Show.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00Still running, after 54 years, on a Friday night,
0:05:00 > 0:05:02The Late Late Show continues to be
0:05:02 > 0:05:05Ireland's most popular television chat show.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08- It was such an institution, this programme.- Mmm.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10It really was, you know,
0:05:10 > 0:05:13national viewing on a scale that you just don't get any more.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16- Everyone in the country who had a television.- Yeah.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18If you didn't, you'd go to someone else's house to watch it.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20Everyone used to watch it.
0:05:20 > 0:05:25From its debut in 1962, it was fronted by presenter Gay Byrne
0:05:25 > 0:05:29almost continuously for the next 37 years.
0:05:29 > 0:05:30The fastest reel in the West...
0:05:30 > 0:05:32- LAUGHTER - The fastest reel in the West, I see.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34Oh, he's going to do a bit of dancing.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36He's going to be doing a bit of dancing.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38ACCORDION PLAYS Here he... Ooh!
0:05:38 > 0:05:40CHEERING SHE LAUGHS
0:05:41 > 0:05:43THEY LAUGH
0:05:46 > 0:05:48Simon Cowell will be after him.
0:05:48 > 0:05:49ACCORDION PLAYS
0:05:55 > 0:05:57You see, that's why...
0:05:57 > 0:06:00When you're brought up in Ireland, you're not really impressed by fame
0:06:00 > 0:06:02or any of those things, cos we had men like this.
0:06:02 > 0:06:03- Yes.- Who could do things like that.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10Here he goes.
0:06:10 > 0:06:11Yes!
0:06:11 > 0:06:13APPLAUSE
0:06:14 > 0:06:17Have you noticed he's not even broken into a bead of sweat?
0:06:17 > 0:06:18So, The Late Late Show.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22Was this something that the whole family would gather around to watch?
0:06:22 > 0:06:25Well, it was on quite late - that's why it's called The Late Late Show.
0:06:25 > 0:06:26I was allowed to watch it.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29I'm not sure if my brother and sister were. Probably not.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32So what else would you watch together?
0:06:32 > 0:06:35Not much else. We weren't allowed to watch television during the week.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39- We were only allowed to watch it at weekends. I'm not sure there was much on during the week.- Really?
0:06:39 > 0:06:43- What was that thing called...? - Was it rationed out, was it?
0:06:43 > 0:06:45My parents were very...
0:06:45 > 0:06:47you know, against newfangled things,
0:06:47 > 0:06:49- like television. - SHE LAUGHS
0:06:49 > 0:06:51But they sort of felt we should, you know...
0:06:51 > 0:06:54- That too much television would pollute you.- Mmm.
0:06:54 > 0:06:59And distract you from more important, you know, erudite things.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01And they were very encouraging with reading.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04- Things, to be honest, that I'm quite grateful for.- Mm-hmm.
0:07:09 > 0:07:15So was your dad a comedy buff?
0:07:11 > 0:07:15- My dad was an extremely morose Scandinavian.- Oh, really?
0:07:15 > 0:07:19He was all angst and intellectual pursuits.
0:07:19 > 0:07:20My mum was much more into,
0:07:20 > 0:07:22- you know, funny stuff.- Really?
0:07:22 > 0:07:24And The Goons
0:07:24 > 0:07:26were definitely a feature
0:07:26 > 0:07:29in our house. We just loved
0:07:29 > 0:07:31all of those characters.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33Shall we have a little look at Peter Sellers?
0:07:33 > 0:07:34- Oh, I love Peter Sellers!- Yeah?
0:07:34 > 0:07:36Here we go. Let's have a look.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40- It wasn't so much The Goons, it was Clouseau that we loved.- Ah, yes.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43- COD FRENCH ACCENT: When he is Inspector Clouseau. - The Pink Panther.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46COD FRENCH ACCENT: Here it is. The beumb.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49My name is Professor Guy Gabroir,
0:07:49 > 0:07:52medieval castle authority from Marseille.
0:07:52 > 0:07:53Tell me...
0:07:53 > 0:07:55do you have a reum?
0:07:55 > 0:07:57- Very deadpan, though.- Yeah.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59HE MIMICS PETER SELLERS
0:07:59 > 0:08:02SHE MIMICS PETER SELLERS
0:08:02 > 0:08:05As one of The Goons, Peter Sellers had already demonstrated
0:08:05 > 0:08:08his brilliance with creating characters and voices.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11But, for many, it's as Inspector Clouseau,
0:08:11 > 0:08:13starting in 1963,
0:08:13 > 0:08:15that he will, perhaps, be best remembered.
0:08:15 > 0:08:17Argh!
0:08:17 > 0:08:18THEY LAUGH
0:08:20 > 0:08:22PLODDING MUSIC
0:08:22 > 0:08:25I think the music's funny as well. Just the way it sort of...
0:08:25 > 0:08:28- And they're brilliantly directed. - ..slowly plods. Yeah.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31And the timing. I mean, his comic timing.
0:08:31 > 0:08:32LAUGHTER
0:08:39 > 0:08:40Argh! Argh!
0:08:40 > 0:08:42Have you noticed how you know...?
0:08:42 > 0:08:44THEY LAUGH You just knew that was coming!
0:08:44 > 0:08:46You know just before it happens
0:08:46 > 0:08:48- exactly what's going to happen. - Yeah.
0:08:48 > 0:08:49That's one of the funniest things about it.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55THEY LAUGH That bloomin' car's gone out again.
0:08:55 > 0:08:56SHE LAUGHS
0:08:56 > 0:08:57If he just stood there, he would've got...
0:08:57 > 0:08:59LAUGHTER
0:09:06 > 0:09:08Oh, we love Peter Sellers.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10I love Peter Sellers.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12But... But he's just hilarious.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16- I mean, he brought light into our lives.- Yeah.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19There was also something kind of surreally humorous about it,
0:09:19 > 0:09:21- at the time.- Yeah. - It was completely different.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24And there's just not so many funny people.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26Now, we've got a lot of people that say funny things,
0:09:26 > 0:09:29but I just don't think there's as many funny people,
0:09:29 > 0:09:32sort of just funny bones. Naturally funny.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34I don't know. I think it's also to do with the fact
0:09:34 > 0:09:38that they're not given the same amount of room to develop, in a way.
0:09:38 > 0:09:42- You know, he was given an awful lot of artistic licence.- Yeah.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45And I think it's got more to do with the constant churning out,
0:09:45 > 0:09:47and everything has to be successful immediately.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50- A genuine funny man. I mean... You know?- Yeah.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52And I've always... Anything that makes me laugh.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55I'm... I think it's so important to laugh.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59And we get rare enough occasions in life.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01You know, you have to kind of really...
0:10:01 > 0:10:02nurture that.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06So we've established that you moved to Ireland from Norway.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08And then what happened after that?
0:10:08 > 0:10:11- Then we moved around Ireland incessantly.- Yeah.
0:10:11 > 0:10:12And then...
0:10:12 > 0:10:15And then my father died when I was 15
0:10:15 > 0:10:17and I sort of decided at that point
0:10:17 > 0:10:20that I'd had enough of adults,
0:10:20 > 0:10:24and that I was adult enough to shape my own destiny,
0:10:24 > 0:10:26so I decided to move out of Ireland.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28Yeah, I wanted to go to London.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32My dad had been offered a job at the Sunday Times
0:10:32 > 0:10:34when I was younger.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36And he didn't take it in the end.
0:10:36 > 0:10:37He was an alcoholic.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41And he just couldn't rise to the challenge of anything
0:10:41 > 0:10:43that took him out of the...
0:10:43 > 0:10:46sort of day-to-day...
0:10:46 > 0:10:48the cycle of his life.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50And, I think, the pub.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54And so he didn't take that chance.
0:10:54 > 0:10:55And I think, because of that, in a way,
0:10:55 > 0:10:59it just stayed in my head as a...kind of dream.
0:10:59 > 0:11:04I felt like it was time for me to, kind of, grab opportunities in life.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07You must have had a great time in those early days.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09- Well, the first few years were quite difficult.- Mmm.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11You know, I didn't have any money.
0:11:11 > 0:11:12You'd take any job you could get.
0:11:12 > 0:11:16I worked in a pub, I worked as a waitress on the King's Road,
0:11:16 > 0:11:17which was very exciting then,
0:11:17 > 0:11:19cos it was sort of during the punk heyday.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21And all of those... The Sex Pistols,
0:11:21 > 0:11:24and Bob Geldof had moved over from Dublin,
0:11:24 > 0:11:25you know, and The Boomtown Rats.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28And all of them, the King's Road on a Saturday afternoon
0:11:28 > 0:11:31was just some of the craziest sights you've ever seen.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35And, for a young girl, just come over on the boat,
0:11:35 > 0:11:39it was just like the world had started all over again.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42This was a completely different universe, you know?
0:11:47 > 0:11:49It's time to move on to the category of show
0:11:49 > 0:11:52that's like a nice bowl of tomato soup
0:11:52 > 0:11:54with bread and butter.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56Here it is. Your comfort TV.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59# Saturday, Saturday... #
0:11:59 > 0:12:00Tiswas.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02Oh! Saturday mornings!
0:12:02 > 0:12:04With a hangover.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07The ultimate in anarchic kids' TV shows,
0:12:07 > 0:12:10Tiswas livened up our Saturday mornings for eight years,
0:12:10 > 0:12:12beginning in 1974.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15Hosted by Chris Tarrant, amongst others,
0:12:15 > 0:12:20its improvised feel was partly down to a lack of script or autocue.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22I watched it religiously.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25- Chris Tarrant, Lenny Henry...- Yeah.
0:12:25 > 0:12:26It was the sort of programme
0:12:26 > 0:12:29- that there really isn't now on a Saturday morning.- I know, I know.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32Which was... It was perfect for children and adults.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35I loved it. I just loved the...
0:12:35 > 0:12:38- The anarchy of it, you know?- Yeah, it was completely anarchic.- Yeah.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41And I quite liked that. And the thought that television...
0:12:41 > 0:12:43Remember, this is someone who has been brought up on a diet
0:12:43 > 0:12:45- of The Late Late Show.- Mm-hmm.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49To suddenly see adults behaving like that...
0:12:49 > 0:12:52A suicidal Japanese fighter pilot crashed his plane...
0:12:52 > 0:12:53Pardon?
0:12:54 > 0:12:56SHE LAUGHS
0:13:00 > 0:13:01SHE LAUGHS
0:13:01 > 0:13:02- The audience...- I know.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06You've got it lucky! Look at them all locked in the cage.
0:13:06 > 0:13:07Well...
0:13:07 > 0:13:08good morning, Daddy.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12I don't know if it's just naivete on my part,
0:13:12 > 0:13:14but it really...
0:13:14 > 0:13:16I always felt that it looked like it was totally live.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19- Like these things did happen as total surprises.- Oh, it was.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21Yeah, I think, without a doubt.
0:13:21 > 0:13:22But, you know, yes, it was for the kids,
0:13:22 > 0:13:25but I think the parents watched it...
0:13:26 > 0:13:28..more than they did.
0:13:28 > 0:13:29I was 17
0:13:29 > 0:13:31when I would have been watching it, without children.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34Reports are coming in that Mr Albert Shortfuse,
0:13:34 > 0:13:36who is known as the human cannonball,
0:13:36 > 0:13:38was still stuck in the barrel of a cannon...
0:13:38 > 0:13:41And there hasn't really been anything like it since.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43The doctor has tied a rope around his ankles
0:13:43 > 0:13:45and says he is certain that the man will pull through.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50- Tiswas was an absolute institution.- Mmm.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54And...particularly in my late teens.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56You know, when you would, obviously,
0:13:56 > 0:13:59have gone out on a Friday night and wake up
0:13:59 > 0:14:02- slightly incapacitated on a Saturday morning.- This was hango TV for you.
0:14:02 > 0:14:04Totally, totally hangover television.
0:14:04 > 0:14:05I'd lie there, like this, thinking,
0:14:05 > 0:14:08"I'll never do that again. I'll never do that again.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10"But I'm not moving till Sunday."
0:14:10 > 0:14:12And then watch that.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14So what did you do for a living?
0:14:14 > 0:14:18I got a job at about 18...
0:14:18 > 0:14:21Yeah, 18 or 19, at a record company, Phonogram,
0:14:21 > 0:14:24working as an assistant in the PR department.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28It was the '80s and record companies had so much money.
0:14:28 > 0:14:30They were like banks. It was unbelievable.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33I was 19 years old and I was flying to America,
0:14:33 > 0:14:35bringing journalists, who were the same age as me
0:14:35 > 0:14:38to see bands who were the same age as me.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40And we were all, you know, partying.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44And, you know, it was an incredible thing to be able to do at that age.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46- Yeah.- I saw half the world as a result.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48It was just really exciting and I was really, really lucky.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51And I did that until my mid-20s.
0:14:51 > 0:14:52You worked on Live Aid?
0:14:52 > 0:14:54I worked on Live Aid.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57Well, I worked with Bob Geldof, I worked on Band Aid.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59I was there that morning, when they recorded that single.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02- I remember when they recorded it. - Which was incredibly exciting.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06# Feed the world
0:15:06 > 0:15:08# Let them know
0:15:08 > 0:15:10# It's Christmas time... #
0:15:10 > 0:15:12It felt like an incredible and important
0:15:12 > 0:15:14- moment in, sort of, pop culture. - Yeah.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20# Feed the world. #
0:15:23 > 0:15:24- And you were part of it.- Yeah!
0:15:30 > 0:15:33Now we move on to your TV hero, Mariella.
0:15:33 > 0:15:37One of my all-time comedy gods,
0:15:37 > 0:15:39it is the legend
0:15:39 > 0:15:41that is the one and only...
0:15:41 > 0:15:44- Tommy Cooper.- Oh, Lordy.
0:15:44 > 0:15:45APPLAUSE ON TV
0:15:45 > 0:15:47Listen to that from the audience.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52After his TV debut in 1947,
0:15:52 > 0:15:56Tommy Cooper made us laugh for the next 36 years.
0:15:56 > 0:15:58Oh, there's a pound note.
0:15:58 > 0:15:59I thought it was a fiver...
0:15:59 > 0:16:01His whole body language and everything.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03He is brilliant, isn't he?
0:16:03 > 0:16:06Just a funny man, like Peter Sellers.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08Really funny, really gifted.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12- And, again, sort of allowed enough rope to do his own thing.- Yeah.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15I want to make the white one,
0:16:15 > 0:16:16so it will come to the top.
0:16:18 > 0:16:19AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:16:19 > 0:16:23His trademark fez dated back to wartime Cairo,
0:16:23 > 0:16:24where, whilst performing for the troops,
0:16:24 > 0:16:27he borrowed a passing waiter's hat.
0:16:27 > 0:16:28After getting a huge laugh,
0:16:28 > 0:16:30he kept it as part of his routine,
0:16:30 > 0:16:32and the rest is history.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34Look at that.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36- MAN SHOUTS:- Put it in the middle!
0:16:36 > 0:16:37- HE WHISPERS:- Shut up.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:16:39 > 0:16:41In the middle? All right. How's that?
0:16:41 > 0:16:42AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:16:42 > 0:16:43APPLAUSE
0:16:43 > 0:16:45How's that?
0:16:46 > 0:16:50- No expense spared on the set, as you can see.- Yeah, yeah.
0:16:54 > 0:16:55HE SIGHS HEAVILY
0:16:57 > 0:16:58APPLAUSE
0:17:00 > 0:17:02He just...
0:17:02 > 0:17:06- You don't know if it's for real or not, do you?- No.
0:17:06 > 0:17:07But that was one of the things.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09I think, in the same way as Clouseau,
0:17:09 > 0:17:11he keeps you on the edge of your seat,
0:17:11 > 0:17:13cos you're not quite sure where
0:17:13 > 0:17:15- comedy and tragedy meet with him.- Yeah.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19And where disaster and success meet.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22Do you think it stands the test of time?
0:17:22 > 0:17:23Well...
0:17:23 > 0:17:25- Yeah, just listen to the audience. - I think yeah.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27Yeah, without a doubt.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30- I think great comedy does.- Yeah. - I think that's what great comedy is.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32It's something... It's universal, you know?
0:17:32 > 0:17:34And it translates for everybody.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36So did you ever meet Tommy Cooper?
0:17:36 > 0:17:38Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. That's...
0:17:38 > 0:17:40In a way, that's why I started watching him,
0:17:40 > 0:17:42because I didn't know that much about him.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45I met him when I was about 14 in Dublin,
0:17:45 > 0:17:47and I had a Saturday job,
0:17:47 > 0:17:49working in a restaurant called The Blackboard.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52And he came in on a Saturday night with his wife,
0:17:52 > 0:17:53and I was their waitress.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55So I watched him more avidly after that.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02This was your must-see TV.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04BELL RINGS
0:18:04 > 0:18:07Starting in the early '90s, Absolutely Fabulous poked fun
0:18:07 > 0:18:09at the glamorous world of PR and fashion
0:18:09 > 0:18:12for five hilarious series.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15Jennifer Saunders just managed to encapsulate everything
0:18:15 > 0:18:19that was tacky and hilarious about the 1980s.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22And her bedroom and the futon
0:18:22 > 0:18:23- and the...- Mmm.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25You know, the clothes and...
0:18:25 > 0:18:26It was just genius.
0:18:26 > 0:18:27Oh!
0:18:27 > 0:18:29Inspired by a French and Saunders sketch
0:18:29 > 0:18:31called Modern Mother and Daughter,
0:18:31 > 0:18:33it starred Jennifer Saunders...
0:18:33 > 0:18:34Patsy!
0:18:34 > 0:18:37..alongside Joanna Lumley.
0:18:37 > 0:18:38LAUGHTER
0:18:44 > 0:18:46I just... I just nodded off.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51I mean, she's such a wonderful actress,
0:18:51 > 0:18:53that she doesn't mind looking like that.
0:18:53 > 0:18:55They were... Well, she looks amazing.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57- Look how beautiful she is. - That's true.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01- Even with all the black stuff on her face and her hair frizzed up. - That's true.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04I loved that show. It was so...
0:19:04 > 0:19:07exciting to see a funny programme
0:19:07 > 0:19:09- made up only of women.- Mm-hmm.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12Aside from anything else, because television,
0:19:12 > 0:19:15up until that point, had been so male-dominated.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18- Mm-hmm.- Aside from things from America, like Mary Tyler Moore
0:19:18 > 0:19:19and stuff like that,
0:19:19 > 0:19:23and to see women behaving appallingly badly
0:19:23 > 0:19:27and being hilariously funny in the process...
0:19:27 > 0:19:29So were you a Patsy or an Eddy?
0:19:29 > 0:19:32- Oh, both. I mean, you can't have one without the other, can you?- Yeah.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34You know, that's what's so great about them.
0:19:34 > 0:19:36They are just a brilliant double act.
0:19:36 > 0:19:42And we'd never thought of women as a double act in that way.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44- I was in Ab Fab!- Was you?
0:19:44 > 0:19:46Yeah, yeah. I did...
0:19:46 > 0:19:48Oh, it was one of the best jobs ever!
0:19:48 > 0:19:50I spent a week recording an episode.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53That's how long they used to do, five days at Television Centre,
0:19:53 > 0:19:54recording an episode.
0:19:54 > 0:19:56And I was in a book club,
0:19:56 > 0:19:59and Kristin Scott Thomas was in it as well.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01And, obviously, Patsy and Edina.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03And it was just so funny. I couldn't believe it.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06I had to keep pinching myself that I was there,
0:20:06 > 0:20:10in the midst of this programme that I'd watched so often.
0:20:10 > 0:20:11- Yeah.- And absolutely loved.
0:20:11 > 0:20:12Are we going to talk
0:20:12 > 0:20:14- about a book at all? - EDDY HUFFS
0:20:14 > 0:20:16- LAUGHTER - We've only done ten minutes
0:20:16 > 0:20:17on the mags, Mariella!
0:20:17 > 0:20:20Some of us haven't got all afternoon.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22Are you in a time warp?
0:20:23 > 0:20:24Was you nervous about doing it?
0:20:24 > 0:20:28No. No, I was excited. It was...
0:20:28 > 0:20:30The thing was, cos I'm not an actress,
0:20:30 > 0:20:32I didn't feel much pressure.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35- I think Kristin Scott Thomas felt a lot more pressure than I did.- Mmm.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39I just sort of had to be me, and, you know,
0:20:39 > 0:20:41that's not that much of a challenge.
0:20:41 > 0:20:42Seeing as I am me.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44You don't find it a bit of a stretch.
0:20:44 > 0:20:45Did you read it?
0:20:46 > 0:20:48LAUGHTER
0:20:48 > 0:20:49Well, yeah, yeah.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51But I skimmed - I'm a skimmer.
0:20:51 > 0:20:52LAUGHTER
0:20:52 > 0:20:54- But we had such a laugh.- Mm.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56We all used to hang out in Patsy's dressing room...
0:20:56 > 0:20:58- Well, Joanna Lumley's dressing room. - LAUGHTER
0:20:58 > 0:21:00Which was all leopard...
0:21:00 > 0:21:02- It was exactly like you'd expect it to be.- Oh, really?
0:21:02 > 0:21:05Leopard-print things and, you know,
0:21:05 > 0:21:07Bolly in a bucket,
0:21:07 > 0:21:08and it was just brilliant.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11It just so didn't disappoint, in any shape or form.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13- Yeah.- But she is...
0:21:13 > 0:21:15I think she's an absolute genius,
0:21:15 > 0:21:17- Jennifer Saunders.- Mmm.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25Now we're bringing it back to your own television career.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27- Oh, no, let's not.- Yes!
0:21:27 > 0:21:30It's going to be some hideous clip of me
0:21:30 > 0:21:32from, you know, Big World Cafe,
0:21:32 > 0:21:35which was my very first television job.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38- We wouldn't do that to you. - I was so petrified that I just...
0:21:38 > 0:21:41- SHE WHISPERS:- ..spoke like this all the time,
0:21:41 > 0:21:43cos I was just really scared.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45This is your big break. SHE GASPS
0:21:45 > 0:21:48Oh, my God, that's going to be so weird!
0:21:48 > 0:21:50I've never watched myself.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55Big World Cafe.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58Oh, we were so proud of these opening titles.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00- You were so proud of them? - We thought they were amazing.- Yeah.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02Radical. They're not bad.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07Big World Cafe showcased bands from around the globe,
0:22:07 > 0:22:10and played for two series on Channel 4 in 1989.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18My heart used to be beating so hard by now.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21This next group from Boston have released two LPs already here,
0:22:21 > 0:22:23which have topped the independent chart.
0:22:23 > 0:22:25Oh, my God! That's so embarrassing!
0:22:25 > 0:22:26I can't switch it off!
0:22:28 > 0:22:30- Oh! - SHE GROANS
0:22:30 > 0:22:33Reviewers have described them as the Talking Heads...
0:22:33 > 0:22:34I've still got that belt.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36And here they are - Throwing Muses!
0:22:36 > 0:22:38Why is it so embarrassing?
0:22:38 > 0:22:39Well, I never, ever...
0:22:39 > 0:22:42I sort of... I feel that watching yourself
0:22:42 > 0:22:45is a bit like going to an office and working for the day,
0:22:45 > 0:22:46and then watching it again.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50Why would you? You know, I just don't get it.
0:22:50 > 0:22:52And maybe I'd be a much better presenter
0:22:52 > 0:22:56if I watched and learned from my mistakes.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59So, do you remember when people started to pick up on your voice?
0:23:01 > 0:23:04Yeah, you know, I don't think that people really said much
0:23:04 > 0:23:07about my voice until I was in the public eye.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10- Mm-hmm.- So I don't know what that means.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12My voice has always been the same, and, in fact,
0:23:12 > 0:23:14my sister has a very similar voice.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17And, in fact, a lot of Scandinavians
0:23:17 > 0:23:20have quite, sort of, husky tones.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23Well, there was one show that mimicked you.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25- Oh, Spitting Image!- Mmm!
0:23:25 > 0:23:27I loved Spitting Image. That was a brilliant programme.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30So, did you actually have a puppet?
0:23:30 > 0:23:31Eventually.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35- And that was probably the greatest honour of my career.- Really?
0:23:35 > 0:23:38Yeah, to have your own puppet on Spitting Image!
0:23:38 > 0:23:40- Shall we take a look? - Oh, I love to. I loved her.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44What's going on? Where is Mariella? We're up to speed!
0:23:44 > 0:23:46- Ooh! Something terrible's happened. She can't go on.- Eh?
0:23:46 > 0:23:51Spitting Image burst onto our TV screens in 1984.
0:23:51 > 0:23:52- It's her voice. - Oh, you don't mean...?
0:23:52 > 0:23:55- Yes! It's completely cleared up!- Oh!
0:23:55 > 0:23:56The series ran for 12 years,
0:23:56 > 0:24:00and at its peak was watched by 15 million people.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02I used to be the sexiest voice on TV, you know.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05- I'll call a doctor. - SHE GARGLES
0:24:05 > 0:24:06Ooh!
0:24:06 > 0:24:08Every time she appeared, I just used to think,
0:24:08 > 0:24:11"Life doesn't get better than this." It's so funny and weird,
0:24:11 > 0:24:14and what a huge sort of compliment, in a way.
0:24:14 > 0:24:15But I loved that programme.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17Well, that must have been a proud moment for you.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20But what other stand-out proud moments have you...
0:24:20 > 0:24:23Spring to mind from your illustrious career?
0:24:23 > 0:24:25And don't say none.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28- QUIETLY:- None. Erm...
0:24:28 > 0:24:30No, the only other one that I can think of, really,
0:24:30 > 0:24:33was when I was away for a weekend with my best friend.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35And I got a call,
0:24:35 > 0:24:38on a very early generation mobile phone,
0:24:38 > 0:24:41to ask me if I would be a judge of the Booker Prize.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45- Wow.- And that was really important to me,
0:24:45 > 0:24:47because, I suppose,
0:24:47 > 0:24:50my dad had died when I was young, you know, at 15,
0:24:50 > 0:24:53and I slightly idolised him for a long time,
0:24:53 > 0:24:56- because of the fact that he died, I guess.- Mm-hmm.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59You know, which is what you tend to do, as a kid.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02And he'd been incredibly bookish, and, you know,
0:25:02 > 0:25:04he thought that literature was everything,
0:25:04 > 0:25:07and that you could almost live an entire life just by reading books.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10And I knew...
0:25:10 > 0:25:12I didn't think he'd have had much truck with television
0:25:12 > 0:25:13or anything like that.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17He just would have thought it was all a bit silly and superficial.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20- But I knew that he would have been proud of that.- Mmm.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22And so it really meant a lot.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25- You're not going to get emotional on me?- I always get emotional.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28I always get emotional when I talk about him. It's terrible.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31- Well, you lost him at a young age, so...- Yeah.
0:25:31 > 0:25:32..it's bound to be tough.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34I think, yeah, exactly. That's what happens.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36If you lose a parent young,
0:25:36 > 0:25:38they become the, kind of, one on the pedestal.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40I think it's very difficult for the other parent,
0:25:40 > 0:25:42cos they are always the, sort of, baddie,
0:25:42 > 0:25:45who's still around and trying to parent you.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48- Mm-hmm. - So I did... I grew out of it.
0:25:48 > 0:25:50I'm surprised I went a bit teary there,
0:25:50 > 0:25:52cos I used to not be able
0:25:52 > 0:25:55- to talk about him at all... - Oh, really?
0:25:55 > 0:25:59..without crying, and so I slightly gave up talking about him,
0:25:59 > 0:26:03and then I realised about 15 years ago,
0:26:03 > 0:26:05that I didn't wake up every day missing him.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09- And it felt like I'd moved on a bit, and I could talk about him.- Yeah.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11- But now I've just gone weepy again.- Ah!
0:26:17 > 0:26:19Mariella, what TV are you watching at the moment?
0:26:19 > 0:26:22Well, I watch things with the kids.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25They make me watch I'm A Celebrity... and Strictly and...
0:26:25 > 0:26:27And I watch...
0:26:27 > 0:26:29I quite like you know, all those wildlife...
0:26:29 > 0:26:30I love David Attenborough,
0:26:30 > 0:26:33and I love all those programmes about the ocean and the desert.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36And I love the news.
0:26:36 > 0:26:37I'm a kind of news addict,
0:26:37 > 0:26:40but I think that's a product of being a child
0:26:40 > 0:26:44of the, sort of, Cold War era, in a way, because you used to want to...
0:26:44 > 0:26:47- You'd wake up in the morning and you wanted to know...- You're still here.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49..that there hadn't been Armageddon overnight.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52And I'm sure that's deeply buried in my psyche,
0:26:52 > 0:26:54you know, just that reassurance.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56The radio wakes me in the morning, and I have to hear the news
0:26:56 > 0:26:59and hear the headlines before I even think of getting out of bed.
0:26:59 > 0:27:00So, have you enjoyed it?
0:27:00 > 0:27:02Oh, I loved it.
0:27:02 > 0:27:03- Yeah.- Well, I'm pleased you enjoyed it.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06Well, I've enjoyed it, because I never, never
0:27:06 > 0:27:07need to watch Big World Cafe again.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09LAUGHTER
0:27:09 > 0:27:11Seen that, done that, been there.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13Oh, look, we give our guests the opportunity now
0:27:13 > 0:27:15to play us out with a theme tune.
0:27:15 > 0:27:17You don't have to do it.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20Thank God for that, cos I'm really not musical.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22But we'd like you to pick a theme tune
0:27:22 > 0:27:23that we can play out.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28Well, one of the other shows that I used to watch a lot as a kid,
0:27:28 > 0:27:31and we really used to love, and my kids now love the movies of,
0:27:31 > 0:27:33- is Mission: Impossible.- Oh!
0:27:33 > 0:27:36- That's it!- And it just had THE most recognisable theme tune.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38You've picked the best one.
0:27:38 > 0:27:40You know, if I was sitting there,
0:27:40 > 0:27:42- that would be my choice. - Really?- Yeah.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45- You're absolutely gorgeous.- Oh! - It's been a pleasure meeting you.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47- Thank you so much. - Thank you, Mariella.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49- It's been a pleasure. - My thanks to Mariella.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51APPLAUSE And my thanks to you
0:27:51 > 0:27:52for watching The TV That Made Me.
0:27:52 > 0:27:54We will see you next time. Bye-bye!
0:27:54 > 0:27:55Thank you.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE INTRO PLAYS
0:27:57 > 0:27:59Oh, that was so much fun.
0:27:59 > 0:28:03MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE THEME PLAYS