Johnny Ball The TV That Made Me


Johnny Ball

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Transcript


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TV - the magic box of delights.

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As kids, it showed us

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a million different worlds, all from our living room.

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-So funny!

-That was state-of-the-art.

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-Argh!

-I loved this.

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Each day, I'm going

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to journey through the wonderful world of telly...

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-Cheers.

-..with one of our favourite celebrities...

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We're going into Space.

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-It's just so silly.

-Oh, no!

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-Yeah!

-..as they select the iconic TV moments...

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-My God, this is the scene!

-Oh, dear.

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..that tell us the stories of their lives.

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I absolutely adored this.

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'Some will make you laugh...'

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Don't watch the telly, Esther, watch me!

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'..some will surprise...'

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No way! Where did you find this?

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..many will inspire...

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It used to transport us to places that we could only dream about.

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..and others will move us.

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I am emotional now.

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Today we look even more deeply.

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Why wouldn't you want to watch this?

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So come watch with us as we rewind to the classic telly that

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helped shape those wide-eyed youngsters into the much-loved

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stars they are today.

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APPLAUSE

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Welcome to The TV That Made Me. My guest today is a national treasure.

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It can only be the one and only Mr Johnny Ball!

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CHEERING

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-All right?

-John. Come and sit yourself down.

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Welcome to my humble abode.

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Johnny Ball is a national treasure.

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He may have started life as a stand-up comedian,

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but we all know him as a children's television presenter.

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The show that made him a household name was Play School, which he

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presented for 16 years.

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But he's fronted over 20 series since then,

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from Think Of A Number to Johnny Ball Reveals All.

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The TV that made him includes

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one of the most famous FA Cup finals...

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Bolton have drawn first blood within 90 seconds.

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..a landmark series on science...

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And it was instantly made a sensation.

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..and the show that launched his TV career.

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Could be seaweed, couldn't it?

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-How are you?

-I'm very well. This is very nice.

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Well, today's a look back at, you know, your favourite TV highlights.

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-I know.

-But first we're going to delve into your past

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and find out a little bit more about the young Johnny Ball.

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Johnny Ball was born Graham Ball in Bristol in 1938.

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His father Daniel worked at an iron foundry,

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whilst mum Martha-Ann worked in a factory making boots during the war.

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The family moved to Bolton when he was 11.

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He left school at 16 with just two O Levels

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and a few years later signed on with the Royal Air Force.

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It was here that he learned his craft,

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entertaining his colleagues with his funny routines.

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After three years, he left to pursue a career in comedy,

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first becoming a Butlins Redcoat, then launching

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himself as a stand up comedian on the tough Northern club circuit.

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But it wasn't long before he was spotted by the BBC,

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and his long career in children's TV began.

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Lovely memories there.

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Yeah. Yeah, they were. My childhood was lovely.

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I was born in Bristol. Until I was 11, I was there.

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Passed my 11 Plus there.

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It was blissful. It was absolutely wonderful.

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Then we moved to Bolton and we were 200 yards from a Satanic mill.

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You know, and the railway shunting yards were across the road,

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where they used to drop coal into wagons.

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And everything was covered in dirt and soot and everything.

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So an incredible change.

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And it was a terrible change, but I came through that.

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My parents were so disappointed when I only got two O Levels.

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It's time for your first choice, Johnny.

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This was Sunday Night At The London Palladium.

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So your dad liked watching this?

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Yeah, we all watched it.

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And, of course, we watched the famous Brucie.

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Oh, here he is. Look.

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Good evening!

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# Ladies and gentlemen

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# Welcome to Sunday Night At The London Palladium... #

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When ITV launched in 1955, it needed some big shows to bring

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an audience and advertisers to the new network.

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Few shows were bigger

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and glitzier than Sunday Night At The London Palladium.

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You see, it's pure Butlin Redcoat.

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It's all smiles, all friendly, all nice and jolly, "I love you all."

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And you've also been a Redcoat.

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Oh, yeah. That was the university of comedy.

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When I was 14, I went to Filey,

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and our Redcoat captain for our house

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was a guy called Des O'Connor.

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Really? Des O'Connor?

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And he was magic.

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He'd do gags like "This here is the Pig

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"And Whistle where the pigs get a whistle.

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"Over here we have the Palm Court,

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"so called because it's got a door with a strong spring,

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"and if you're not careful, you'll get your palm caught."

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And that was the gags he was doing.

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I thought he was wonderful, and I said, "I'm going to do that."

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Oh, really? So Des played a big influence on your career?

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And eight years later, I followed him and became a Redcoat.

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But I felt so good, you know, in those few days.

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I went to the south of France. Always wanted to go there.

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What a place! Cyril, isn't it marvellous there? He lives there.

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He lives there, that boy.

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He's a great presenter, isn't he?

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Oh, he was lovely.

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Oh, Beat The Clock.

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The show included the popular game Beat The Clock,

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where two contestants would take on a series of challenges.

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Bruce's commentary and helpful suggestions and the imposing

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sound of the ticking clock had viewers on the edge of their seats.

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We want you to get one ball in that pocket, one ball in that pocket,

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one ball in that pocket, and the other ball in that, in that order.

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One, two, three, four.

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-That is impossible!

-No, it's not. No, they'll do this.

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-I mean, it is big money. I mean, for its day.

-Yeah.

-£200.

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You have 40 seconds to the beat the clock, starting from now.

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They ain't going to do it, are they?

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-Oh, that is nice.

-Oh, that's one in!

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Two, good, good.

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How that working?

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-That is really good going.

-Why are the other two not moving?

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It's a bit like The Cube.

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-Well done.

-Oh, and this one's easy. This one's easy. How long to go?

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How long to go? Get in there, get in there, get in there!

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Oh, no!

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Oh! I mean, it really feels like event telly, doesn't it?

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Oh, it does, it does, and the Palladium's such a wonderful,

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wonderful theatre.

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How much did you admire Bruce?

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Brucie I loved.

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And, you know, when you become a comedian,

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the first way to become a comedian is to watch everybody else,

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and it's not stealing the jokes - you steal inflection,

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you steal ideas of how to present yourself and all those things

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become... It slowly becomes you. Pieces of everybody else.

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So I used to do Brucie's walk

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and I'd come down the stairs like Brucie. I couldn't help it.

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And I was showing off, really.

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So can you still do that walk?

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No. No! Are you expecting me to do it. I don't know if I can.

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Go on, we'll try, we'll try.

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-Oops.

-Are you coming in?

-I'm coming in.

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Ladies and gentlemen, I would now like to present for your pleasure

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and entertainment, Johnny Ball doing the Bruce Forsyth walk.

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APPLAUSE

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..to see you nice. Nice to see you. Oh, something like that.

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Bruce Forsyth holds the Guinness World Record for the longest

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TV career of any male entertainer.

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After Sunday Night At The London Palladium,

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he went on to launch the legendary Generation Game on the BBC.

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He gave ITV a Brucie bonus with Play Your Cards Right.

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And he went back to the Beeb to present Brucie's Guest Night,

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an all-singing and all-dancing music and chat show.

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Most recently, he reclaimed his crown as king of Saturday Night TV

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with the incredibly successful Strictly Come Dancing.

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So we're going to move onto something that will bring

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a lump to your throat.

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I hope you're ready for this.

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'100,000 people crammed into Wembley in 1953 to watch

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'Bolton play Blackpool in the FA Cup Final.

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'It was the first Cup Final to reach a live TV audience.

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'As an avid Bolton supporter,

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'it was nail-biting stuff for a young Johnny Ball.'

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Now Bolton get going smoothly. Hassall collects and passes.

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Isn't that Lofthouse? He was absolutely wonderful.

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As the ball goes to Nat Lofthouse, he shoots.

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Farm fumbles and it's a goal!

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'After Bolton took a 3-1 lead, the cup seemed in their grasp

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'but they then sustained injuries and Blackpool had Stanley Matthews.'

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Oh, Mortensen scores from here.

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Oh, me heart was breaking. Oh, no!

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Mortensen takes it. Wham!

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Oh, there you go!

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Oh, and here he comes.

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'Matthews' spectacular performance meant

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'the match will be forever known as the Matthews Final.'

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That was 3-3.

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But our left-half and our left-back have both been injured.

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-Right.

-There were no substitutes in those days.

-Oh, interesting.

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So he didn't have anybody to beat!

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Blackpool 4, Bolton 3.

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Matthews recently ignored by the England selectors,

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is the Man Of The Match.

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I watched this next door but one,

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-and walked the 20 yards crying in the street.

-Oh, really?!

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-Absolutely crying in the street...

-Really?

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..because we'd lost.

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But the right-back for Bolton who had nothing to do with Matthews,

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he was on the other side and did not get beat by Matthews,

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was Johnny Ball.

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And because he was Johnny Ball,

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all my mates called me Johnny Ball.

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I loved that because it

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was a nicer name than Graham,

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I didn't like Graham...

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But they made me play right-back but I wanted to be centre-forward.

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So it ruined my football, but I've been called Johnny ever since.

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-Isn't that amazing?

-That's when it started.

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Yeah, just from that, that's amazing.

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So even though you lost, does it still bring back good memories?

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-It was terrible memories.

-Really?

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It was so sad but our whole left flank was depleted

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and the left winger for Bolton was Bobby Langton,

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who also played for England now and again.

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Matthews, Finney and then Langton, they were really three left-wingers.

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Let's just check if you were right. Was it Matthews...?

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-This is a gift for you.

-Oh!

-It's a programme from that day.

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APPLAUSE

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To bring back all those happy memories.

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It's made me shake.

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Oh, this is wonderful! One shilling.

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And we were robbed!

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-And there's Johnny Ball, J Ball.

-Yeah.

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-There you are. Oh, that's fantastic.

-That's yours.

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-We'll give it to you later.

-Oh, right!

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-Oh, that's tremendous.

-Oh, it's a pleasure.

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Well, now for your next choice, Johnny.

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-This is Must See TV.

-Right.

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The Phil Silvers Show centred around our Ernest Bilko,

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an unlikely sergeant in the US Army who spent most of his time

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dreaming up a get-rich-quick scams.

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It instantly appealed to the young Johnny Ball,

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who had recently joined the Forces.

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So this would have been on whilst you were in the RAF.

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We used to watch...

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An audience this big in a room this size,

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and we used to watch Phil Silvers and just roar.

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And then shut up to catch the next line.

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-25 cents!

-50 cents!

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-One buck!

-A buck and a half!

-A buck 60!

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Stop it! Stop the sale Stop the sale!

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What do you think of Phil Silvers' performance here?

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It was just... It was made for him, he was made for it.

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It was perfect.

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He did A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, the film,

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and he was fine, but this was the starring part.

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A buck 60, a dollar 60 indeed for a television set?

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'Fast-talking and irrepressible,

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'Bilko was forever trying to

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'persuade his men to part with their cash.'

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Show them that.

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A dollar 60 for this magic box

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that brings you Jack Benny, Ed Sullivan, Jackie Gleason?!

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Yeah, it's only a 2" screen!

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-Oh, he was a joy, he really was, wasn't he?

-Yeah.

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He was wonderful.

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So you were in the RAF while watching this.

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The RAF, yeah, and I had a fabulous time.

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All the mates who were coming out the RAF, out of National Service,

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there were two kinds.

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"Two years of wasted bloody time, waste of my life!"

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You know, terribly grumpy.

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And the others said, "Oh, get in there, John,

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"volunteer for everything. Go for it."

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And, of course, I took their advice and I had a fabulous time.

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I was surrounded by boffins, people doing air-to-air missiles,

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ground-to-air missiles.

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That's where all my experience with science and technology came in,

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-through rubbing shoulders with all these boffins.

-Oh, right.

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Oh, it was a great time.

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After leaving the RAF, Johnny started on the road

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to being a stand-up comedian, touring the north-east.

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It's hard being a comedian anyway, but to be in the north-east.

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-I mean, those clubs didn't suffer fools.

-Well, yeah.

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I was lucky cos I got it right.

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There was a guy called Ricky McCabe helped me write my first act,

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and it was very simple, and it worked.

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I used to apologise to the audience.

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I used to come on with a paper bag, inflated, and I'd go,

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"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I... I ... Before I start...

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"What I want... "

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HE STUTTERS

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"Bag of nerves."

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-LAUGHTER

-And I'd walk off.

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And I'd walk off. And that gave them the time to laugh.

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What era was this? Was this '60s?

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This was '63 was when I was semipro.

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Turned pro January '64.

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Johnny, your next choice is very educational.

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-Right.

-Have a little peak at this.

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The theory of evolution by natural selection was certainly

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the most important single scientific innovation in the 19th century.

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This is the Ascent Of Man.

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Mr Bronowski.

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And today we look even more deeply at the chemistry that we all share.

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The Ascent Of Man was a personal view of the history of science

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and technology through the eyes of historian Jacob Bronowski.

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From the very first...

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This book that he wrote with this series has been my Bible.

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-It was commissioned by Sir David Attenborough, the series.

-Yeah.

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From that moment, it was no longer possible to believe any story which

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supposed that at any time now there could be created

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once again the beginning of life.

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But it's sadly so pedantic and slow for today that it's never been...

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It has been shown once and it didn't do particularly well.

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He was wonderful, and it was the only series he ever did.

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There's the lovely story when he was in Auschwitz,

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and he bends down and he's talking about man's inhumanity to man.

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I owe it as a human being

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to the many members of my family who died here

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to stand here as a survivor and a witness.

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We have to cure ourselves

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of the itch for absolute knowledge and power.

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And he picks up the dust from the floor, and as he's doing it -

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and he only did once take -

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he realises this isn't earth,

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this is ash.

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We have to close the distance between the push-button order

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and the human act.

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We have to...touch people.

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And he felt that as he did the piece.

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And he held it, walked off-camera

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and cried and cried and cried.

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And that was him.

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So you can do so much with television,

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and if you time it right and if you edit it right,

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the audience absolutely would be much more intelligent than

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you give them credit for,

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and will take it.

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Bronowski, his book is my Bible.

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The next show made you a favourite with kids across the country.

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Let's have a look at your big break.

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Of course it's Play School.

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-Hello.

-Hello.

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This, this is going to be a mountain. There you are, Hamble.

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You can sit on top.

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That's Sarah Long.

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Well, no, that's a puppet. LAUGHTER

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-It's a puppet!

-It is a puppet.

0:17:400:17:43

These are the pieces of material.

0:17:430:17:45

It can be fields and things on the lower slopes.

0:17:450:17:49

Play School was the first-ever show to broadcast on BBC Two,

0:17:490:17:53

after the channel's grand opening plan for the previous night

0:17:530:17:57

was scuppered by a power cut.

0:17:570:17:58

Some light blue material here,

0:17:590:18:02

that can be the shallow water.

0:18:020:18:05

Purple trousers!

0:18:050:18:07

Who bought me purple trousers?

0:18:070:18:09

Johnny was one of the longest-serving presenters,

0:18:090:18:12

chalking up 545 episodes over 16 years.

0:18:120:18:17

At what sort of age what this aimed at?

0:18:170:18:19

It was definitely under fives.

0:18:190:18:21

-Under fives.

-And it worked.

0:18:210:18:23

Now, they didn't do any fairy stories, no elves and pixies,

0:18:230:18:27

no fantasy. And nobody ever notices that.

0:18:270:18:32

It was all factual, it was all about life, really.

0:18:320:18:37

And this is darker blue, this could be the deepwater,

0:18:370:18:41

the deep sea further out.

0:18:410:18:44

And it can be all wavy.

0:18:440:18:45

HE IMITATES WAVES CRASHING

0:18:450:18:48

So how did you get the job on Play School?

0:18:480:18:50

Well, somebody said,

0:18:500:18:52

"We're looking for presenters for children's television."

0:18:520:18:56

And the producer rang my agent and said,

0:18:560:18:59

"Johnny would be perfect for this."

0:18:590:19:01

It must be Crackerjack.

0:19:010:19:02

So I go for an interview in Manchester

0:19:020:19:05

and I breeze in, and I've got the job in two minutes.

0:19:050:19:08

And he said, "Oh, you're going to be fabulous in Play School.

0:19:080:19:11

LAUGHTER

0:19:110:19:13

"What's Play School?"

0:19:130:19:15

He said, "It's for under fives, 11 o'clock in the morning, BBC Two."

0:19:150:19:18

And I went, "Thanks a lot."

0:19:180:19:20

And I got up to walk out.

0:19:200:19:22

And I got to the door, and he came and he put his hand on my hand

0:19:220:19:25

and he said, "No, come and chat." So I went, "All right."

0:19:250:19:28

So we went back and chatted and he persuaded me to do the audition.

0:19:280:19:31

And when I started doing, Play School I couldn't do it

0:19:310:19:34

cos he gave me a toy, you know, Hamble,

0:19:340:19:36

and sing a song to Hamble.

0:19:360:19:38

And being a stand-up comic it was very difficult,

0:19:380:19:41

and I couldn't do it.

0:19:410:19:42

So after three weeks they said,

0:19:420:19:44

"When you're doing something you like you're great.

0:19:440:19:46

"When you're doing something you don't like you're terrible.

0:19:460:19:50

"So you've either got to get a grip and forget adults,

0:19:500:19:54

"and talk for under-fives, or we'll have to let you go."

0:19:540:19:57

And I went out and I thought, "Why am I being bad at something

0:19:570:20:02

"because of some chip on my shoulder?" You see?

0:20:020:20:05

And I changed, and I loved it.

0:20:050:20:07

And I loved the integrity of the people who did Play School.

0:20:070:20:10

I mean, Derek Griffiths, a great performer,

0:20:100:20:13

he joined just after me,

0:20:130:20:15

and I saw his audition, and gales of laughter in the gallery

0:20:150:20:19

-with no effort at all.

-Yeah.

0:20:190:20:22

It was just lovely.

0:20:220:20:23

I would drop kick Humpty through the window.

0:20:230:20:27

-Really?

-That's a wrap. Boink!

0:20:270:20:29

-That's what we want to hear. I like that picture.

-Yeah.

0:20:290:20:32

We used to do that in studio seven in Television Centre,

0:20:320:20:37

and we'd have Morecambe and Wise or the Two Ronnies next door,

0:20:370:20:41

and in a break they'd come and walk through other studio. Why?

0:20:410:20:44

Cos they said, "We used to watch it with our kids."

0:20:440:20:47

And they would come round and chat to us

0:20:470:20:50

and then they'd go off and do their shows for nine million, you know, peak shows,

0:20:500:20:55

and we'd do our thing at 11 o'clock in the morning.

0:20:550:20:57

I mean, 16 years.

0:20:570:20:58

Yeah. 16 years, yeah.

0:20:580:21:00

And it was just such a lovely period.

0:21:000:21:03

It was the golden age of television,

0:21:030:21:05

especially for BBC Children's.

0:21:050:21:08

We were the best in the world by far.

0:21:080:21:10

And that's what I did.

0:21:100:21:12

We're very glad you did.

0:21:120:21:14

LAUGHTER

0:21:140:21:15

How did you go into the BBC with the sales pitch for Think Again?

0:21:150:21:19

They said... I was writing the...

0:21:190:21:22

-They approached you?

-No.

0:21:220:21:24

They said...

0:21:240:21:27

They said, "If you had your own series what would you do?"

0:21:270:21:30

I said, "I'd do a programme on maths."

0:21:300:21:32

And so that was Think Of A Number.

0:21:320:21:35

But we found that the audience slowed the programme down

0:21:350:21:39

because I could only go at a certain speed.

0:21:390:21:41

So we did Think Again, and the reason we did Think Again is

0:21:410:21:45

because I could do it straight to camera and get,

0:21:450:21:48

we're television, and get more to the audience, the TV audience,

0:21:480:21:53

get more to the TV audience, and that's why we did it.

0:21:530:21:55

And they were my favourite programmes, the Think Agains.

0:21:550:21:58

In the latter years of his life the great Isaac Newton spent much

0:22:000:22:03

of his time studying alchemy, trying to turn base metals into gold.

0:22:030:22:07

He never achieved it,

0:22:070:22:08

but that's perhaps because he never had equipment like this!

0:22:080:22:12

Freed up from having to entertain a studio audience, Think Again

0:22:130:22:17

allowed Johnny to explore a much wider range of topics in depth,

0:22:170:22:21

focusing on one subject for an entire episode.

0:22:210:22:25

Is it? Of course it's not.

0:22:250:22:27

It's the base from which gold paint is made.

0:22:270:22:30

And, as you know, you can buy gold paint in any paint shop in the high street.

0:22:300:22:35

How much gold is there in gold paint? Not a scrap.

0:22:350:22:38

However, you can produce gold in a laboratory.

0:22:380:22:41

It's possible to turn platinum into gold.

0:22:410:22:44

But as platinum is rarer than gold

0:22:440:22:46

and more expensive it's a pointless exercise.

0:22:460:22:49

Besides, you need atomic physics to do it.

0:22:490:22:52

It's all very costly.

0:22:520:22:53

But you can produce startling effects very cheaply

0:22:530:22:57

with other metals.

0:22:570:22:58

Metal like titanium.

0:22:580:23:00

Well, that programme got an International Emmy nomination,

0:23:000:23:05

and it was beaten by a programme with all of 20 times our budget.

0:23:050:23:12

And, oh, it was just wonderful doing those programmes.

0:23:120:23:15

And I think I was, if I can say it,

0:23:150:23:18

I was suddenly at my writing peak.

0:23:180:23:22

-And it was the comedy training, you see.

-Yeah.

0:23:220:23:25

You know with a comic, a gag has to go boom, boom, bash. You know?

0:23:250:23:29

It's got a timing. It might be boom, boom, boom, bash.

0:23:290:23:32

And you paint a scene and turn it on its head, and that's comedy.

0:23:320:23:36

You know?

0:23:360:23:38

And so that's how I wrote my scripts -

0:23:380:23:40

as though I was writing comedy.

0:23:400:23:42

So when I was talking about science and it had to go bang. I had to say da! And boom!

0:23:420:23:46

I mean, what you underestimate is how cleverly you were explaining

0:23:460:23:49

these things so children could get a grip on it.

0:23:490:23:51

I just loved the medium.

0:23:510:23:53

I love it.

0:23:530:23:55

And it's just a wonderful thing, television.

0:23:550:23:58

It's a great communicator, the greatest educator.

0:23:580:24:00

We're all better educated because of television. We know more.

0:24:000:24:03

It doesn't matter whether we watch rubbish or not.

0:24:030:24:05

We're all educated because we know you, Johnny Ball.

0:24:050:24:08

-JOHNNY LAUGHS

-Well, I see.

0:24:080:24:10

-I'm 77 now, but I'm still working.

-You still look good.

0:24:100:24:14

And I'm still working and enjoying it so much.

0:24:140:24:17

We're much better than we think,

0:24:170:24:19

and the future is brighter than anyone can imagine.

0:24:190:24:24

Cos it was, comparing when I was a kid to today,

0:24:240:24:28

much brighter than anyone could have imagined, and it'll go on.

0:24:280:24:32

And that's what you tell your kids.

0:24:320:24:34

And that's how we sell television, that's how we sell education.

0:24:340:24:38

Oh, it should be beautiful

0:24:380:24:41

in the future.

0:24:410:24:43

And, Johnny, is there any TV that you like watching now?

0:24:530:24:57

I love the good detectives.

0:24:570:24:59

I still love the Poirots, I still do,

0:24:590:25:01

even though I've seen them -

0:25:010:25:02

different productions, but done again -

0:25:020:25:05

and I know who's done it. It's lovely.

0:25:050:25:07

I like Not Going Out.

0:25:070:25:09

I think it's fabulous. I think it's absolutely...

0:25:090:25:12

-The programme, or not going out?

-Yeah, well, there you are! Yeah.

0:25:120:25:16

Oh, I never don't go out.

0:25:160:25:18

Yeah, Not Going Out I think is a beautiful sitcom.

0:25:180:25:21

It's a lovely thing, and it's...

0:25:210:25:24

Do you know, it's modern in an old tradition, in a way.

0:25:240:25:27

And it's pure. It's just pure and very inventive.

0:25:270:25:29

-And very well written.

-Oh, it's gorgeous.

0:25:290:25:32

Lee Mack, isn't it? Oh, he's just wonderful.

0:25:320:25:34

Go on, then, give me a compliment.

0:25:340:25:37

All right.

0:25:370:25:38

In this episode, Lee Mack is finally admitting

0:25:380:25:41

his feelings for long-suffering flatmate Lucy.

0:25:410:25:44

And he's making a typically ham-fisted attempt at it.

0:25:440:25:48

All right, what about this?

0:25:480:25:50

Your eyes look nice.

0:25:500:25:52

-Why do they look nice?

-Because...

0:25:520:25:55

your eyelashes look like...

0:25:550:25:57

two tiny little crows that have crashed into the windscreen

0:25:570:26:00

of your face.

0:26:000:26:02

And bringing it back to television and children's TV,

0:26:040:26:06

are you proud that Zoe followed your footsteps?

0:26:060:26:09

Oh, it's just wonderful, you know?

0:26:090:26:11

The great thing is I didn't write my first programme,

0:26:110:26:14

factual programme, till I was 39.

0:26:140:26:16

Zoe had a great opening career then went quiet,

0:26:180:26:21

-and she got Strictly, and she was about 39, 40.

-Oh, right.

0:26:210:26:27

-Not Strictly, but It Takes Two.

-Mm-hm.

-And...

0:26:270:26:32

It's a perfect job for her. It's perfect for her.

0:26:320:26:36

And then you see all the people coming in who, in 16 weeks,

0:26:360:26:41

are incredibly good, you know? It's a beautiful programme.

0:26:410:26:45

-Except for you.

-Except for me.

0:26:450:26:46

Leave it out! And she has dovetailed that job.

0:26:480:26:52

It's perfect for her, she's perfect for it,

0:26:520:26:54

-and it'll go on and on, and it's lovely.

-Awww!

0:26:540:26:58

Now, I give my guests an opportunity now to pick a theme tune for us

0:26:580:27:01

to play out on. Have you got any thoughts?

0:27:010:27:04

Oh... Right, I wrote five educational stage musicals,

0:27:040:27:09

and one was called Let The Force Be With You.

0:27:090:27:12

And I needed a finishing number.

0:27:120:27:14

And I stole this number...

0:27:140:27:17

-..which is Mr Ed.

-Mr Ed!

0:27:180:27:21

# A horse is a horse, of course, of course

0:27:210:27:24

# And everyone understands... #

0:27:240:27:25

Right. What I wrote was...

0:27:250:27:29

# A force is a force, of course, of course

0:27:290:27:32

# And everyone understands force, of course

0:27:320:27:34

# Especially when, as a matter of course

0:27:340:27:36

# You've seen us performing the show. #

0:27:360:27:38

But that was it. And so writing lyrics, I love. Finding the tunes...

0:27:380:27:43

Yeah, very often they're a bit borrowed.

0:27:430:27:45

So, Johnny, thank you for being on,

0:27:450:27:47

-and you're going to go out with Mr Ed...

-With Mr Ed.

0:27:470:27:50

-..as your play-out tune.

-Right.

0:27:500:27:52

So it's my thanks to YOU, Johnny Ball,

0:27:520:27:54

and my thanks to YOU for watching The TV That Made Me.

0:27:540:27:57

-We'll see you next time. Bye-bye!

-See ya!

0:27:570:28:00

# And no-one can talk to a horse, of course

0:28:000:28:03

# That is, of course, unless the horse is the famous Mr Ed

0:28:030:28:07

# Go right to the source and ask the horse

0:28:070:28:10

# He'll give you the answer that you'll endorse

0:28:100:28:12

# He's always on a steady course

0:28:120:28:14

# Talk to Mr Ed!

0:28:140:28:15

# A horse is a horse, of course, of course

0:28:150:28:18

# And this one will talk till his voice is hoarse

0:28:180:28:20

# You never heard of a talking horse?

0:28:200:28:22

# Well, listen to this!

0:28:240:28:27

# I am Mr Ed! #

0:28:270:28:30

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