Alex Jones The TV That Made Me

TV - the magic box of delights.

As kids, it showed us a million different worlds,

all from our living rooms.

-This takes me right back.

-That's so embarrassing!

I am genuinely shocked!

Each day I'm going to journey through the wonderful

world of telly with one of our favourite celebrities...

It's just so silly!

-SHE LAUGHS

-I love it!

Is it Mr Benn?

Shut it!

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

Oh, hello!

..that tell us the stories of their lives.

Oh, my God!

Cheers!

-Some will make you laugh...

-WUUURGH!

..some will surprise...

-SQUEAKING

-Oh!

..many will inspire...

-Oooh!

-Look at this!

Why wouldn't you want to watch this?

..and others will move us.

Seeing that there made a huge impact on me.

BABY CRIES

Got a handkerchief?

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

those wide-eyed youngsters into the much-loved stars they are today.

Welcome to The TV That Made Me.

My guest today is on our screens every day fronting the one show

we love to watch,

it's the gorgeous, the wonderful Alex Jones!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-Hello, Brian! Are you well?

-I'm very well. I hope you are too.

-It's lovely to be here.

-Come and sit down.

-Well! I love this sofa.

-Do you?

-Yeah!

-Are you comfy?

Having swapped her Welsh homeland for a spot on The One Show sofa,

Alex is fast becoming one of the best known faces on the BBC.

-Thanks for tuning in to The One Show with Alex Jones...

-And Chris Evans.

Coming up from our top team tonight...

In the last few years, there has been no stopping her.

Shows like Tumble...

..and a run on Strictly Come Dancing, where she reached

the semifinals, have all helped turn her into a household name.

And amongst the TV that made her,

comedy in the best possible taste from one comedian who dominated our screens in the '80s...

Spread your legs and your arms.

..as well as close encounters with kids and animals on S4C.

This is a celebration of television that you know and love

and that you've grown up with. Are you excited about that?

Really excited.

Because actually, when you think back, you can

remember different eras by what you were watching at the time.

I've always been a huge telly fan.

Today, we're going to watch some classic TV shows,

but before we do that we going to rewind the clock

and have a look at a very young Alex Jones.

Alex grew up in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, with her mum,

a bank clerk, dad, an engineer,

and Jenny, her younger sister by three years.

She was seen chatting away in her native tongue

after attending the local Welsh speaking school.

Giving up childhood dreams to be a ballet dancer,

she headed off to university to study theatre, film and TV.

After working briefly behind the cameras it wasn't long

before she found herself on screen and starting her TV career

presenting the Welsh language channel S4C.

-So what about nostalgia? Are you one for nostalgia?

-Yeah, I am, yeah.

Um, you know, when we were thinking about shows we used to watch,

it brings back really happy memories,

especially of watching television as a family.

And I think back when we were young

it was more of an appointment to view, then.

People would sit down as their family - nine o'clock on a Friday,

so-and-so is on, get the fish and chips in, and we'd all be there.

And I don't think that happens as much any more

because you can watch things on catch-up.

I dunno, when I look back it reminds me of really happy,

comforting, cosy times.

And we want to make you comfy, we want to make you happy today.

Did you have any TV snacks?

TV snacks would be mostly, well, tea and biscuits.

-Tea and biscuits. Don't go anywhere.

-Well, it's great service here!

I'm going in the kitchen now.

-I hope you like builder's tea.

-Oh, I love builder's tea.

-There you go.

Drop of milk, that's all you need.

We have a small selection here - do you want to take any?

Well, I'm spoiled for choice here. I think I'll have a custard cream.

-Oh, custard cream!

-Do you mind if I dunk?

Oh, I'm going to have a dunk as well.

-The good thing with a custard cream is they're robust.

-Very robust, yes.

What you don't want is a biscuit and you dunk it

and then it goes pathetic.

-Yes.

-Custard cream, nice and chunky. It can withstand the tea.

Yeah, see, you've learned something today, haven't you, ladies and gentlemen?

LAUGHTER

A custard cream is robust!

Good for dunking. So not a digestive, then?

I'm not opposed, I love a digestive.

I like Rich Tea, and I'll tell you why.

Because they're so thin you can eat loads of them.

LAUGHTER

It's time for your first choice now, Alex.

Let's take a look at an early TV memory. Here it is.

# Sunny day... #

Sesame Street!

This takes me right back

to being probably four or five.

Really?

With over 4,000 episodes over the last 47 years, Sesame Street

has become an institution on both sides of The Pond.

It was originally created for nursery-aged children to prepare them for school.

The educational content of the series was delivered by children

and adults interacting with puppets provided by the then relatively

unknown Jim Henson.

# Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street? #

It reminds me of school holidays, especially summer holidays.

We'd get up really early, Jen and I - Jen is my sister -

and first thing we do, Mum would bring us some cereal,

turn the telly on and Sesame Street would be on.

I used to absolutely love it.

It's one of the most vivid memories, you know, as a child.

Sesame Street was a big...

On our street, we lived on a sort of cul-de-sac,

and all the parents bought houses at about the same time

because they were new houses then, back in the early '80s or whatever.

And so all the children were around the same age

and we were all friends.

And we'd all watch that in the morning and then we go out

and play our own version of Sesame Street. So we were all big fans.

What sort of games would you play that stemmed from watching Sesame Street?

Well, we had a tree in the field that was near this

cul-de-sac where we lived, and the big tree would be Big Bird's nest.

Of course, of course.

-You've just got imagination when you're little, haven't you?

-Yeah.

(Bert is it!)

-Oh, Bert and Ernie!

-Yeah.

The very first Muppets to appear were Bert and Ernie.

Henson himself performed as Ernie.

Fellow puppeteer Frank Oz played Bert.

-You're it, Bert!

-Aaaagh!

I'LL GET YOU! I'LL GET YOU!

I'M GOING TO GET YOU!

It's been claimed that Bert's irritation at Ernie's endless

harebrained schemes bore a strong similarity

to their real-life friendship.

I'm going to get you!

-BERT PUFFS

-Oh, you got me, Bert.

Actually watching it as an adult, you think, this is weird!

Do you think it was exciting because it came from America?

-Yeah, probably.

-Do you think there was something about that, as well?

I suppose. You know, we were all, as children, I suppose, um...

obsessed with anything American. It seemed quite exotic, didn't it?

Especially in Wales.

And of course it was educational.

It was, yeah, because every day and have a different letter

and a different number, one or the other. Definitely.

So yeah, I suppose it was educational, you know.

-It won over 150 Emmys.

-Did it? Sesame Street?

-Mm-hm.

-150 Emmys?

-Yeah.

-That's incredible, isn't it?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So, Alex, tell me about where you lived.

So, yeah, it was a little cul-de-sac in South Wales.

Well, in Carmarthenshire. That's the house we've always lived in.

-Oh, right, even to this day?

-Mum and Dad still live in the same house.

Where was the telly, in the lounge?

-So our lounge, the cat used to sleep on top of the telly.

-No!

But then the telly...

well, it sort of exploded, for want of a better word...

Not with the cat on top of it?

-No, thankfully. But all her fur had gone into the telly...

-No!

Yeah, and had blocked it.

She used to love it because it was hot on top of the telly.

And she lived until she was 24.

-What was the cat's name?

-Medi, which is Welsh for September.

-September.

She was born in September.

Has he got a cat?

LAUGHTER

-I shall place the cat...

-Awwww! Well, now it's perfect.

-I feel right at home now.

-Yeah. Happy with that, are we?

There she is.

The next clip I want to show you now, Alex, is from a show that your dad used to enjoy.

Spread your legs and arms.

HE SPEAKS SPANISH

What language is he speaking?

It's French.

Oh, Canned Carrott!

Voulez-vous une armoire, maintenant?

Que?

What did you say?

-It is the only bit of French I know.

-What does it mean?

"Do you want a wardrobe at the moment?"

From the early '80s, Jasper Carrott wrote and performed in numerous

comedy sketch shows, including Carrott Confidential

and Canned Carrott.

His regular characters,

hapless detective duo Louis and Briggs, with Robert Powell,

became so popular that they were

given their own spin-off series in 1993.

-Dad was obsessed with - OBSESSED with - Jasper Carrot.

-Really?

-Yeah.

This was kind of on quite late at night,

I think it was about nine o'clock or something.

So it was the last thing we were allowed to watch

before we had to go to bed.

Then you search his jacket.

What's this? I have found a quantity of drugs?

Oh! I have been naughty!

I have got really vivid memories of sitting on Dad's lap,

and I would get really annoyed because he would be laughing

so much, he would be jiggling up and down and I would fall off,

and then I'd get back on and he would laugh again and I'd fall off.

Weirdly, about, I don't know,

a couple of weeks ago, a few weeks ago,

Jasper Carrott presented The One Show with me.

APPLAUSE

-Lovely...to see you.

-Love to see you.

-A1, A1. Really looking forward to this.

-Good!

Are you ready for all The One Show has to offer?

-Dad was completely made up.

-Yeah?

It was...kind of his highlight, I think.

He said, "Well, there we are.

"She is sat next to Jasper Carrott, I am a happy man."

-And that is the only One Show he has ever recorded.

-Really?

The cheek of it.

So, was comedy and laughter a big part of the Jones' household?

It was, looking back, I can remember,

I mean, that is one of my most vivid memories,

is of watching television as a family and belly laughing

at all sorts of things.

What was it your mum used to enjoy?

Um, we used to like family sitcoms,

Sunday night drama, she loves, as well.

She will watch Downton, you know really enjoyed War And Peace,

that sort of thing.

But there is one programme your mum used to watch which should really

have carried a government health warning.

-This, of course...

-This, of course, Dynasty.

-Yeah, Dynasty.

This is the only show that we were allowed to stay up late to watch,

because Mum was obsessed, and, to be honest,

when Dynasty was on, nothing else mattered.

It was the only time Mum would really switch off.

Never has she been one of those mums to say,

"Don't talk to me, so-and-so is on,"

but during this, she was less keen to chat.

Throughout the '80s, perms and shoulder pads were in abundance.

Actors in Dynasty, like British-born Emma Samms, commanded

huge weekly audiences.

I used to want to be her.

Spanning nine series and over 200 episodes,

at its peak it was the number one drama on our screens.

So, the opening titles of Dynasty, do you remember?

All of these glamorous ladies used to come down the stairs

and they would stop and they would turn to the camera like that,

and they would be, like, windswept,

and then their name would come up,

and I thought that was the epitome of glamour.

So, my sister and I would run upstairs,

grab the closest thing to glamour we could find,

which, in South Wales,

was my mother's thermal dressing gown from M&S,

and drape that over our shoulders, because it was nice and long.

And then we would stick on a pair of

her high-heels and recreate the scene.

-And come down the stairs. Unfortunately...

-Yes?

..a child in high heels is never a good combination on stairs,

and, twice, I ended up in accident and emergency

-having broken my arm.

-Broken your arm?

-Broken my arm.

-Not once?

Not once, but twice, thanks to Dynasty. It was worth it.

-It was worth it?

-Yeah. The lengths girls go to for a bit of glamour!

Should have carried a health warning!

I know! Should have a warning!

When you were rushed to the hospital,

was it your dad that took you and

your mum carried on watching the programme?

Yeah, "You take her, Al!"

LAUGHTER

What brings you here? And why didn't you let us know you were coming?

It was a last-minute thing, Jeff has to see mother about some business,

and I thought, "I am going, too,

"just to see my father's great smile."

Everybody was in lovely, massive shoulder pads and massive earrings.

I think it was just an insight into a really glamorous world,

and nothing else on television really compared to it at that time,

from what I can remember.

Excuse me, I thought you were alone, but I see...

Hello, Fallon.

My aim in life as a young child was to be Fallon off Dynasty.

I used to think she was so pretty

and I thought, "Gosh, she has got everything going for her."

I know you saved my sister's life, we are all very grateful for that.

You know, we have had Joan Collins on.

I couldn't believe it,

that Alexis was sitting in front of me.

I think it is people that you watch as a child that really stand...

You know, I don't get really star-struck any more,

but when Joan Collins came on, I thought, "Wow, you're amazing."

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Did she look that good in the flesh?

Oh, she is flawless, she is literally...

I looked really close up, I pretended to go in for a kiss,

but really, I wanted to see how many wrinkles she had.

LAUGHTER

There was nothing there. She is amazing.

-So, Alex, it is now time to move on to your must-see TV.

-Right.

Oh! Beadle about!

-BOTH:

-# Watch out, Beadle's about

# You better watch out

# Cos Beadle's about! #

APPLAUSE

Oh, my gosh, it is funny, isn't it, how a catchy theme tune,

just, can transport you to a time and a place.

On Saturday afternoon, you know, pools would be on.

-Oh, yeah!

-And do you remember the noise of the pools?

And it was really monotone, wasn't it? It would be like,

-IN MONOTONE VOICE:

-"Swansea City, one. Bristol...three."

And it just went on for ages,

and you were, like, "Oh, come on! Where's the good programmes?

And Dad would go, "Ssh! Shh!"

And then, you know, this would come on and we would all sit down.

We are here at Leigh-on-Sea in Essex to try and pull off...

-He's got classic '80s hair.

-Yeah.

And now they are off to enjoy a lovely lunch,

but they better watch out, because Beadle's about!

Starting in 1986 on ITV, Jeremy Beadle's hidden camera show

played practical jokes on members of the public for a whole decade.

As top Saturday night entertainment,

it regularly attracted 15 million viewers.

Even though this was a long time ago,

-the stunts were...

-Oh, amazing, yeah.

Amazing, and really big scale, weren't they?

What did you do that for?!

I just used to love it when people would get angrier and angrier,

and then he just, the timing that he had,

just before it all kicked off badly,

it was brilliant, wasn't it?

What do you think of Brian, though?

I think he is an outright BLEEP!

I used to love that, and I think it was really forward-thinking.

It was the first big prank show, wasn't it?

-It was, and it wasn't small-scale stuff.

-Oh, no.

I mean, it was huge things.

I have had a lot of things happened to me where I thought,

"Is Jeremy Beadle anywhere near here?"

Any that spring to mind?

I was a runner at the time.

-Oh, I see.

-I had just started out in television.

There was a man who was the first, well, it was Michael Crawford,

and he was doing a documentary all about

being the first Phantom Of The Opera,

and my task that day was to go and collect him from the station

and take him to the location where we were filming.

He comes off the train, lovely, lovely man.

And I said, "I am just going to take you, Michael, now,

"to the location where we are filming." He said "Yeah, absolutely."

Anyway, they rang and said, "We are running late,

"so ask him whether he wants some lunch, and take him if he does."

Well, at the time, I had no money, because I had only just started out,

and I thought, "Oh, God, how will I pay for this?"

I said "Are you hungry, Michael?" And he went,

"Oh, yeah, I could do with a snack."

So I took him to McDonald's, to the drive-through.

Because I thought, well, it is going to be really embarrassing

if I can't afford to buy him lunch, so I thought, I can shout him

a burger or something.

He was happy enough, but they were absolutely horrified.

Oh, and then there was another one, there was an alarm on the building.

-The alarm had broken. As it does.

-Mm-hm.

And then, one morning, a man called Mike, who was in a band

called The Alarm... Have you heard of a band called The Alarm?

AUDIENCE MUTTERS

Some of you.

So, Mike comes to the office, I only hear the word "alarm"

and I wasn't familiar with the band,

and he was in something that

I thought looked a bit like a boiler suit,

so I gave him a cup of coffee and steered him to the alarm,

and said, "There we are, it has been awful, it has been playing up,

"we can't get it to switch off."

-And I left him there.

-That is lovely!

-And off I went.

And then my boss said, "Where is Mike?"

I said, "Well, he is downstairs by the panel."

And he said, "What Mike is downstairs?"

I said, "Yes, Mike, you know, the alarm."

He said, "No, he is in a band called The Alarm!

Oh, gosh! Right, OK, so they said, "Listen, this isn't working out."

I was young, Brian, I was 21, straight out of university,

and so they said, "Do you know what?

"We might see if you are better off on-camera."

-And, so, that was that.

-The rest is history?

They didn't have much choice, they thought,

"We are not having her back on production, stick her on a show!"

Now, Alex, we are going to look at a clip from a show,

-and from a presenter that has had a big influence on you.

-Yeah.

This is the first ever episode of...

TFI.

Beginning in 1996, and running for

four years in its distinctive warehouse set,

the driving force behind TFI Friday was

TV and radio superstar Chris Evans.

-You know, we all remember this on a Friday night.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Good evening and welcome to Friday nights live, here on Channel 4.

From now on, at six o'clock, this is the place to be

if you want to hear live music from Skunk Anansie!

Did you used to watch it before a night out?

Yes, we did, actually,

but during those days, probably,

it would be a night out in Ritzy's in Swansea.

Aaay.

Sticky carpets. Not very exciting.

But, yeah, we did, we used to watch it before a night out.

I will talk to Dawn French, Kathy Lloyd, I will be in bed with Cher...

With its anarchic backstage feel and roving camera,

and the very latest Britpop bands,

it inspired a whole new style of Friday night entertainment.

Ocean Colour Scene, The Riverboat Song, the new single out now!

Ocean Colour Scene, what happened to them?

-So that was Chris's first TFI, was it?

-Yeah.

-Amazing.

I used to watch all his shows,

and I always thought that he was a brilliant broadcaster.

He has become such a solid friend.

-Probably my best male friend.

-And work colleague.

Yeah, I mean, we are an unlikely couple,

there's no two ways about it.

He is completely mental.

People don't really understand that Chris is, yes, he is mad and

he has got these funny ideas, but underneath all of that he is really

kind, and when I came to London and I didn't know a single person, and I

had only met Chris once, and we were never supposed to do a show together

on Friday. I met him and he said, "Why don't you do Friday with me?"

I said, "I am all right, thanks, I would like a long weekend,

"I like going home to Cardiff."

He said, "Look, if you do the show I promise it will be really,

"really good fun."

And I said, "Well..." And he said,

"Just do it for a couple of weeks, see how you feel."

-So I did, and then we ended up doing five years together.

-Five years.

-Do you miss him from the show?

-I do.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

It is more like...

Chris Evans was Alex's

sofa buddy for five years from 2010.

They formed a dream partnership

hosting the Friday edition of The One Show.

-Alex is single.

-All right, here we go, love.

-Cancelled! It is all over!

Aww. Lovely couple!

I used to be a member of the Dennis the Menace club.

That is all I am looking for.

-So, Alex, can we talk about your early TV career?

-Yes.

How you got into it?

How it came about, how that spark was ignited?

Well, because I was such a bad television researcher,

-they then suggested...

-I think we definitely established that.

..yeah, I might be better on camera, and so,

for years and years I worked on children's television,

which really suited me.

It was brilliant fun, I don't know, have you done children's television?

You must have done lots of children's television.

I have done a little bit. I did do Jackanory.

Aww! Jackanory tells a story!

I think you learn a lot, and I was lucky because I am bilingual

and can speak Welsh as well,

I was really lucky that they have got...

S4C, is basically the Welsh Channel 4,

and I learned loads without anybody really knowing who I was.

So, when I came to The One Show I had a lot of experience,

but nobody had seen me before, I suppose,

but children's telly, I think, is the best thing.

You learn to leave your embarrassment at the door.

Because I have dressed up as everything,

from a dolphin to a fire engine, was the best one.

We've got a little clip of you on S4C.

COCK CROWS

We should put a public warning out about clothes, hair, etc,

because I know it's gonna be bad.

SHE SPEAKS WELSH

-God, I have got stripy hair.

-I wouldn't recognise you there.

Oh, no, I've still got that shirt, I think it is in storage in Cardiff.

SHE SPEAKS WELSH

Do you miss Welsh TV?

I do, well, I miss Wales, but to be honest, I get back, I go home loads.

-I am home at least once a month.

-Yeah.

When you are at home, do you speak in Welsh?

To Mum, yeah, and to my sister. Well, you know, English.

Back and forth. You would be able to pick up the odd phrase in there.

My favourite Welsh word is for microwave.

Popty ping!

Isn't that lovely? Popty ping.

-It says what it does, doesn't it?

-Exactly!

-It sounds like it should,

popty ping! It is brilliant.

And another one we've got, and I think it is, actually,

yesterday or today was national hug week,

but in Wales we call it a cwtsh.

-A cwtsh, yeah. Give us a cwtsh.

-Give us a cwtsh.

And, you know, it is a nicer word.

I am trying to campaign to roll that out nationally.

So, what TV do you enjoy watching now?

I like dramas, like, recently, I really liked

Doctor Foster with Suranne Jones.

I thought that was excellent.

I loved The Missing with Jimmy Nesbitt in it, I thought

that was excellent.

I'll normally now watch something that is kind of a short drama

or something. I can't commit to something long term.

Because everybody is busy, aren't they?

But, um, yeah, a bit of everything, documentaries I find really interesting.

I love nature programmes.

Um... And we are lucky that we meet all of these wonderful people

on them because they come on and talk about them on our sofa!

So, how important is The One Show to you?

Oh, Brian, if I had my way they would be pushing me

out of there with a Zimmer frame.

I absolutely love it, Matt and I have such a nice time. Every day.

And every day is different, as you know.

And I just love live television,

but the show I find interesting,

because there is all sorts, history, nature, all sorts of things.

And, normally, a lovely guest as well.

At this moment, Alex, I give my guests the opportunity

to pick a theme tune for us to play out on.

What is it going to be?

Well, I did think long and hard,

and, over the summer holidays, my sister and I used to love watching

-a show called Going For Gold.

-Yeah!

Do you remember it? And they used to go,

"Today, on the show, we have duh-duh-duh from duh-duh-duh"

and they would wave to the camera.

All different nationalities, weren't they?

From Finland! From Switzerland!

And it was just like a quiz show, wasn't it?

And I used to think the theme tune was just brilliant.

My thanks to you for being here. Have you enjoyed it?

It has been a pleasure, I have really enjoyed it, Brian,

-Thank you very much. Aww.

-Oh, two.

-I never know, in Wales it was one

and now in London it's two, I am confused.

We could also have a cwtsh.

-We could have a cwtsh.

-Let's have a cwtsh.

-Aww.

-There you go.

My thanks to you, Alex.

-I have loved it, thank you.

-APPLAUSE

Thank you. And my thanks to you for watching The TV That Made Me.

-See you next time. Bye-bye!

-Bye!

# Going for gold!

# The heat is on The time is right

# It's time for you For you to play your game

# Cos people are coming Everyone's trying

# Trying to be the best that they can

# So reach for the sky Cos this space is so high

# When they're going for going for gold!

# Go for it, for gold!

# Go for it, only the best survive

# Go for it, for gold!

# Go for it And you can take your prize

# Going for gold! #