Kate Garraway The TV That Made Me

TV - the magic box of delights.

As kids, it showed us a million different worlds,

all from our living room.

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.

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 gosh!

-Cheers.

-Some will make you laugh...

HE GROWLS

LAUGHTER

..some will surprise...

TOY SQUEAKS

..many will inspire...

-Ooh!

-Look at this. Why wouldn't you want to watch this?

..and others will move us.

Seeing that there made it huge impact on me.

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 a well-loved TV presenter.

Ladies and gentlemen, Kate Garraway.

-Hello.

-Hello, how are you?

-Very well.

-You look absolutely beautiful.

-Thank you.

-Welcome to my humble abode.

-Look at this.

-Come and sit yourself down.

Nice little pink sofa.

She's been waking up the nation on breakfast telly for years.

-Hello.

-With a radiant smile and ready wit.

-Thank you very much.

-In the midst of all the early starts,

she's even managed to spare some time to slap on some sequins for

a shimmy and a shake on Strictly, coming eighth in 2007.

Amongst the TV that made her...

The thrilling adventures of a finger puppet and his friends...

"This isn't really me," says Fingermouse.

..ground-breaking daily investigative journalism...

I may well be arrested,

because I look as if I may be committing an offence in the near future.

..and a daytime magazine show that knew how to throw a party.

-Are you looking forward to it?

-I am looking forward to it, actually.

I'm a massive television fan.

I love watching the telly, I always have done.

-And yeah, so I do love it. I love a bit of telly.

-Yeah?

Yeah. I should say my favourite thing is friends and family, but really,

-it's watching telly.

-Is it really?

Yeah, and when I was little, my parents didn't really...

I don't think they really approved of telly.

There was always a feeling that radio was somehow better.

Certainly, we never watched ITV.

That was a bit spivvy.

-Oh, really?

-And we never watched breakfast television.

So I'm obviously a huge disappointment to them in a lot of ways, really.

Seeing as what happened next.

Well, you talk about your childhood and what we're going to do,

we're going to look back now, rewind the clock and look at a young Kate.

-Here she is, Kate Garraway.

-Oh.

Born and raised in the quiet historic market town of Abingdon in Oxfordshire...

Kate Garraway and her younger brother grew up in a happy home,

with Dad a civil servant and Mum a teacher.

She was a model pupil at school and budding musician at home.

Practically a one-woman band.

With a degree in English and Political History under her belt and

journalism in her sights,

she started out in radio before graduating to regional TV news.

I was a very good girl.

-Was you?

-I was really good girl, yeah.

I just talked a lot.

I always got told off for talking, but other than that...

I was one of those slightly annoying studious ones that tried really hard.

Didn't necessarily achieve anything, but tried very hard at everything.

Tried hard at musical instruments, tried hard at everything.

You'd have hated me at school.

No, didn't you play the clarinet?

I played the clarinet, I played the violin...

Well, it just so happens...

-Oh, no!

-No, I'm joking.

-Honestly, I haven't touched it for years.

The violin, the piano, the recorder...

-Really?

-Yes, I was like, a real joiner-inner.

-And none of that you've kept up?

-No, it's annoying.

I sort of went off to uni and discovered drinking and boys, I think -

and stopped playing the clarinet and the violin.

What is the first TV programme that made a big impression

on the lovely Kate Garraway?

-It's Fingerbobs.

-I remember it.

I love a bit of Fingerbobs.

Fingerbobs.

# Yoffy lifts a finger... #

Rick Jones as Yoffy.

# And a mouse is there. #

-Different era, isn't it?

-Totally different era.

# Puts his hands together... #

Fingerbobs was created in 1972 for part of the schedule called

Watch With Mother and was just 15 minutes long.

Only 13 episodes were ever made.

# And a tortoise head peeps out... #

LAUGHTER

So, this is something...Kate Garraway really enjoyed?

I really loved it. Loved Fingerbobs. I made all these things, obviously.

Oh, really? You made them?

-Oh, of course I do, yeah.

-You made them.

I made... Oh, my God.

Hold on. There you go. There's yours.

I made them especially for you.

-OK.

-So, put the glove on.

You're going to be the bird and I'm going to be Fingerbob.

It's a funny time, isn't it?

Because you think of what our kids watch now,

there isn't a single show that hasn't got CGI and everything.

And yet, I was glued to a man in some rather effeminate white gloves,

a ping pong ball and a bit of orange card. Something like that, wasn't it?

Aw, we can do our own little show.

There you go. Brian lifts a finger and a mouse scampers about.

-Isn't it something like that?

-Hello, you're Gulliver.

-I'm Gulliver.

-Hello, Gulliver.

My name's Fingerbob.

-Hi.

-Give me a peck.

-Oh!

-There you go.

It's going to be a thatched roof.

That's what the straw is for.

You see? That's brilliant.

But I suppose there's a bit of effort gone into it.

And now he's bringing some more straw. This could be a two-part series.

-Here's another load.

-So, it takes you back?

It really takes me back, it really takes me back.

And you know...

Talk about being of its era, because actually, it's fascinating,

cos look - I think they've got personalities, those bits

of cardboard. They have, Brian!

Hmm. "This isn't really me," says Fingermouse.

There must be something more interesting for me to do.

I wonder what's through that door?

When I was little - you're probably younger than me - when I was little,

you didn't have a lot of choice, did you, in terms of what you watched?

You had programmes like this and Camberwick Green and all of that on

at lunchtime and then it went off.

My children can't believe this.

The TV went off and didn't pop up again until 3.30,

when you saw other things. And so, when you were really young, preschool,

and when you had a sore throat or something,

this was just like finding a diamond on an allotment or something.

This was just amazing. It's brilliant and I like it.

-It makes me feel cosy, just watching it.

-Yeah, yeah.

So, was the telly a big thing, a big part of your life?

There were big moments of telly.

I always loved it, I was always drawn to it, right from when I was very little.

I thought it was the most fascinating thing.

We certainly didn't put it on at breakfast.

You were allowed to - when you were off school - watch Fingerbobs,

Camberwick Green and Trumpton.

And after school, you were allowed to watch certain things.

But in terms of sitting down to watch TV,

it was very much sitting down and watching certain things.

Natural history programmes, loved that.

Yeah, you'd sit down and watch TV as a family.

Go into the kitchen to have your tea, go into the sitting room...

So, when you were in the sitting room, were there snacks allowed?

Were you allowed to have anything?

-Not really.

-No?

No, not really. I don't know whether we were especially messy as kids.

Sunday nights and Saturday nights you were allowed to have sandwiches in

the lounge and everything, but we didn't really do that.

-Crumpets?

-Crumpets, that was my favourite night.

They'd bring it on Saturday night, we'd have crumpets,

Duchess Of Duke Street and Starsky And Hutch.

I'll get the crumpets.

LAUGHTER

I mean, can you ask more than that? Get me a crumpet.

I have a crumpet.

This is a big deal, because we weren't really allowed to eat

food on our laps. Look at that!

-Giving Kate a bit of crumpet!

-I could be...

LAUGHTER

Warm crumpet, melted butter,

life can't get better than that, can it?

No, I think I'd like a little bit of jam on that, though.

-No?

-You see, I would never have dreamed of jam when I was little.

This was enough for me.

You and all your big expectations.

Always pushing for more.

I know, I know, I do want a bit more.

LAUGHTER

-I was like that.

-I'm not going to be able to speak now for a while.

We're going to move on to something that will bring a lump to your throat.

-OK.

-This is...tears before...

-In a good way?

Yeah, of course in a good way.

Tears of TV.

Lassie!

Lassie!

Oh, no!

I need an old piece of second-hand used furniture.

-Oh?

-For school.

We're having an auction for poor people.

That sounds like a worthwhile cause.

We use all our second-hand used furniture.

-There's nothing to do with it.

-Did you want to be Timmy?

I wanted... I wanted Lassie as a pet.

Lassie, the fictional female rough collie dog character,

created by Eric Knight in his 1940 novel,

spawned 11 films and a TV series that started in the 1950s and has been on

our screens pretty much ever since.

The original Lassie was played by a male dog called Pal and bar one film,

his male descendants have always starred as the heroic canine.

Maybe you have, I don't know.

-Let's investigate.

-It still pulls all those heartstrings.

I reckon my children would...

If it was on now, I think my kids would love it even now.

I can remember it getting to the end and I would say to my mum,

"I've got a sore throat." She was like, "I think you're crying."

"I think that's what it is." And it was the first time I remember,

when I was really little, just being really

moved by TV.

You know when Lassie used to have those moments where he tried

to help out - someone had fallen down the mine

and he'd bark away at them.

-Oh, he was brilliant, wasn't he?

-HE IMITATES BARKING

-And they always used to understand.

-I know, I love those moments.

I got it. I knew exactly what Lassie was saying.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Well, let's put that to the test.

-Oh, no!

LAUGHTER

-What, Kate Garraway...

-OK.

-..is Lassie saying right now?

LASSIE BARKS

Oh, I know. She's saying, "Please check under there,

-"someone's trapped, someone's trapped."

-Oh, yes.

There you go.

Trapped in the storm shelter.

Trapped in a storm shelter.

Lassie has brought the rescuers to the correct place,

they've opened up...

-And there he is!

-Timmy is saved!

-Lassie's saved...

-Come on...

APPLAUSE

We'll do one more for luck.

-One more for luck.

-Seeing as you're on a roll.

There we go.

Wow. Now, this is important.

-What is it, girl?

-What is it, girl?

Someone's got trapped down a well.

Have they? Someone is...

-Not far off.

-Is it not down a well? Down a mine shaft?

A mine shaft has collapsed, someone's got to be dug out?

It is.

Timmy, are you all right?

Look! You know, you know!

-Well done.

-Now, you know why?

Because someone was always trapped down a mine shaft, every week!

I think the writers must've taken the afternoon off.

They write a little bit and go, "Oh, that'll do."

He always needed someone... Someone needed to be dug out of somewhere every week.

Someone had to be trapped in a mine shaft.

-Timmy had a tough old life.

-Yeah.

From pedigree pooches to mongrel mutts,

we love seeing dogs on our TVs.

Who doesn't remember at least one of ten pet dogs that have appeared on

Blue Peter? Starting with Petra in 1962.

Most memorable, perhaps, are Shep for seven years, from 1971

and Goldie from 1978.

More recently, Chalky the Jack Russell

accompanied chef Rick Stein on all

his adventures around the British Isles and Ireland.

He got up to some mighty capers,

leaping at microphones and snarling at cameramen.

And as Roly the giant poodle proved in EastEnders,

no long-running soap opera is complete without

a four-legged resident amongst the regular cast.

Then came the more macho Wellard,

the Alsatian who famously bit Ian Beale on the bottom.

Barbara Woodhouse would certainly have a thing or two to say about that.

So, who controlled the remote control?

Well, I'm so old, that for a long time, we didn't have a remote control.

Oh, you had to get up and turn the telly over.

You had to get up and turn the telly over.

Which often, I was made to do, clearly. Cos you know, you get kids to do that,

don't you? But it was always at my dad's instruction.

So, Dad had the charge - he was the man,

he was in charge of the mythical remote control, or indeed the bottom.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-Did he have Dad's chair?

-How was the

-setup? Yeah, you're taking me back now.

Yeah, so Dad had a swivel chair...

-Ooh.

-I presume, like something from the X-Men.

-Very

-'70s. He could survey the scene.

He had a swivel chair, brown sofa, brother and I.

Mum, kind of flitting in and out, cos mums, they always have jobs to do.

-They do. They're busy.

-They're washing up.

Flitting in and out, would often sit down on a little pouffe.

Aw, like a little pouffe?

A little pouffe, or we'd squish up for Saturday night.

We'd all sit on the sofa, apart from Dad.

And what would you be watching on a Saturday night?

So, Saturday night... I love Saturday night.

I still think Saturday night in front of the telly is just a great

thing to do. And for me, the era I can remember, I must have been about 10 or 11,

something like that - it was Duchess Of Duke Street.

-Do you even remember Duchess Of Duke Street?

-Yeah.

-I do.

-There was always a drama below stairs, wasn't there?

And a party upstairs. There was always something going on.

And then after it was Starsky And Hutch.

And I would have this thing where I was convinced I was going on a date with David Soul - Hutch.

So, I would,

during the end of Duchess Of Duke Street, as the title rolled,

race upstairs, put on my mum's peach nightie, which she's still got...

Peach nightie, put on lipstick...

-Your mum has still got that peach nightie?

-I think she kept it for sentimental reasons,

because there's so many pictures of me in this peach nightie.

Peach nightie, bright red lipstick, which was hers - or orange red lipstick -

come downstairs and say I was going on a date with Hutch,

as the Starsky And Hutch titles rolled. And I couldn't really speak, I would say,

"I'm going on a date with Hutch." And my dad would torment me by trying to make me speak,

because I wouldn't want to ruin my lipstick. And I was obsessed with David Soul.

I even made this felt purse and I cut a picture of him out of a box.

I've still got it and I later interviewed David Soul when I was

working at ITV and I showed him this and I think he was a little bit scared,

if I'm honest.

LAUGHTER

I think he was like, "That's lovely.

"Please take this woman away."

LAUGHTER

Yeah.

Well, we're going to go onto your Must See TV now.

-OK.

-Have a little look at this.

-Shall we have a look?

-Yeah.

What does it feel like to be alone,

out of work and homeless in the big city?

Nationwide, Kate.

Nationwide, yeah.

Following the national news,

this magazine-style current affairs series ran every weekday for

over 3,000 episodes from 1969.

By becoming Tony Crabbe,

I hope to find the answers to all questions by experiencing life

in the gutter first-hand.

-Wow.

-Immersive journalism, it was then, wasn't it?

It was. So, Nationwide - and we don't have anything like it,

although The One Show, I guess, has that vibe about it, hasn't it?

When I was little,

my dad sat down and wanted to watch the Six O'clock News,

because in those days, dads got home for six.

So many dads don't - poor things, stuck in traffic, working late,

working weird shifts. If your dad got home,

he wanted to watch the Six O'clock News, which I found a bit boring.

I didn't understand most of it.

But then Nationwide came on afterwards and Nationwide,

I just thought was extraordinary.

Everything about me had to look right.

BBC make-up girl Sula cut lumps out of my hair and made it look dirty.

It had something funny, something clever,

I think people forget that kind of journalism.

That report was amazing. It's very common now for reporters to do that,

to go and experience things for real.

But no-one had done that before and he went and he lived on the streets

and he showed a side of being homeless that, certainly, I'd never seen.

Most people had never seen before.

My dirty clothes actually make me look a suspicious person.

Because I've got nowhere to go and nothing to do,

I may well be arrested...

He didn't make it romantic, as though all the homeless people were poor, fallen souls.

He showed it as it was and you know, some of them were

their own worst enemies,

some of them are actually quite threatening and violent and it just

revealed a whole world, in a way,

that made sense to me and made me want to be a journalist.

-Oh, really?

-Made me want to be a journalist, yeah.

I think it's fascinating and I think breakfast TV and a lot of

news programmes now have learnt a lot from shows like Nationwide.

I think we are trying to make things more welcoming to more people,

rather than very posh, serious news like it used to be when I was little.

Is it true that when you was little, you used to interview yourself?

Yeah, when I was little, I had one of those reel-to-reel...

-Do you remember those?

-Oh, wow. Yeah, yeah.

-And also,

one of those square-box ones where you press play and record together.

And I would record interviews with myself.

Sometimes, I'd be characters of TV programmes and we still have the tape

of me interviewing myself - me being both myself and Margaret Thatcher.

Oh! And what age would you be?

Well, I was really little. She was education secretary at the time. I obviously didn't really know that,

I just knew that she'd taken away the milk in schools for kids

and my mother was furious about it. I was delighted, because it was disgusting.

But I knew this was a big scandal and children were apparently suffering.

So I was interviewing her, saying, "How dare you?"

And she was saying, "Some may argue that, actually,

"it's good to get rid of milk."

And I would answer again.

We've still got it, so my mum was like,

either you were going to be bonkers,

or you were probably going to be an interviewer when you grew up! From that evidence.

-Do you enjoy interviewing people?

-Yeah. Don't you?

-Oh, I do.

-I find it interesting.

-And I think talking to people is the most fun.

I don't really have any proper hobbies, I just like talking to people,

whether it's getting into a cab or sitting on a bus.

I'm one of those weird people who says, Hi, how are you?"

And starts talking to people and I think to get the chance to talk to

people generally and also people with extraordinary stories to tell,

who have done amazing things in life...

-I mean, what a way to pay the mortgage.

-Yeah.

-It doesn't get any better than that, does it?

-Yeah.

Now, I believe, Kate, you've got a love of Pot Noodle.

Well now, my parents...

I didn't realise it, but my dad had two allotments at one point.

He grew loads of vegetables.

We had fresh, home-grown vegetables all our life.

Amazing - and then, one day, my brother and I saw an advert for Pot Noodle.

Should be here in four minutes.

Don't fuss, Mum. You know what I like.

Launched by Golden Wonder in 1977,

its adverts focused on the convenience and simplicity of this quick, hot snack.

Tender pasta noodles with vegetables and soya pieces in a rich, savoury sauce.

Marketed as the Instant Nibble,

the ads were designed to appeal to everyone, whether at work, on the sofa,

or even on the hoof.

Now in new sweet-and-sour, and cheese and tomato flavours.

A snack in a pot...

-Makes sense...

-Pour water on, open a sachet...

-Bring it on.

-..all manner of delights.

Never tasted such a thing, but saw the advert.

And on Christmas Eve one year, my mum, out of exasperation said,

"You can have anything you want to eat. What do you fancy eating?"

And we both said, "Pot Noodle."

I think it literally broke my parents' heart.

If I said, you know, "I'm about to run away with the circus,"

she would've been less distressed.

-You're easily pleased.

-I know!

-Aren't you?

"I am going to take you out on a date, let's go and have a Pot Noodle."

-LAUGHTER

-What's wrong with that?

Can we talk about fashion, Kate?

Did fashion play a big part in Kate's growing up?

Fashion? I don't know that I was ever fashionable, really.

I loved clothes and I loved experimenting with things,

but, um... I wasn't trendy.

I seemed to spend a lot of time wearing tweed, which I'm not sure was ever fashionable.

There was a programme, which you won't know about, you won't remember,

because I've not really met many people that ever watched it,

but it was called Gems. It was on in the afternoon, as that dead period,

when there was nothing on the screen, started to change and people used to

put a few shows and, like Sons And Daughters popped up in the afternoons.

-Oh, God. I remember that.

-Gems was there as a golden jewel on a quiet afternoon,

particularly when you had free periods in the sixth form,

where you could sneak home and it was a little bit like Howard's Way.

-Do you remember Howard's Way?

-Yes.

It was sort of glamorous and sort of a bit naff, really.

It was set in the fashion industry and there were models having dramas and

I thought it was brilliant.

It was a little bit glamorous, it was a little bit ridiculous,

-people occasionally had a little kiss.

-Ooh, in the afternoon?

-Saucy.

-LAUGHTER

I know, I know. Sometimes, they weren't even married.

I know, it's amazing. And I loved it.

I don't know where it is now.

It's never been repeated, I don't know where it's gone.

Well, we've got a little moment from it.

-Oh, I'd love to see that again.

-Here we go, this is Gems.

Look at this! Why wouldn't you want to watch this?

-Covent Garden...

-Covent Garden.

-There's no-one there!

It's glamorous, no-one is there, but she's turning heads.

Oh, yes.

-Tops are being unzipped...

-Ooh, hello!

-I know!

-That was a bit racy, wasn't it?

-That's what I mean!

Running for three years from 1985, and broadcasting three times a week

during the day, Gems was a soap

set in a stylish fashion house in London's Covent Garden.

I have to tell you, Stephen -

if we don't get that skirt the way I want it,

Tilbins won't want that jacket on its own, OK?

Now, that's a drama!

If they don't get that skirt the way it's needed...

We know where it's going.

I was completely...

-Ooh.

-And there we go, and she's...

-She's not happy.

-You see? Brilliant.

Absolutely brilliant. That was pretty much the way every episode went.

-Someone was cross about something...

-Finish on a cliffhanger, did it?

Finished on a cliffhanger and it was brilliant.

-Yeah, I loved Gems.

-So, fashion not playing a big part in Kate's life, really?

I've always loved fashion.

I used to love... It's one of the reasons why I used to love GMTV -

long before I was on it, when I was watching it when it was TV-am with Anne Diamond

and Anthea Turner, over all the years.

Lorraine Kelly, fab, all her fashion.

-I've always loved fashion.

-Since Gems,

fashion designers have rarely been off our screens.

The Clothes Show, beginning in 1986, reported straight from the catwalk.

Presented by Jeff Banks and Selina Scott,

it offered glimpses into haute couture

as well as style on a budget.

In 1991, House Of Elliott gave us more drama from the fashion world,

as designers the Elliott sisters

made their way as dressmakers in 1920s London.

Absolutely Fabulous arrived with a bang in 1992.

Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley embraced

the heady world of fashion in

their comedy drama for five fabulous series.

In 2001, Trinny and Susannah

were telling us What Not To Wear in their hit series.

Then in 2006 came Gok Wan,

who told us not to wear clothes at all, in his series,

How To Look Good Naked.

This is your comedy hero,

a lady who used to give you a lot of belly laughs.

On the 28th of January...

Mr and Mrs Robinson from Harrow on the Weald...

-Pamela Stephenson.

-Pamela Stephenson, yeah.

-From Not The 9 O'Clock News.

Yeah, I know exactly where...

But then, the trouble started...

On February the 19th, the Robinsons' seven-year-old son, George,

got an attack of appendicitis had to be rushed to hospital.

They rang the electricity board, who responded...

"This has got nothing to do with us."

Joining Pamela Stephenson in the hit comedy sketch show,

Not The 9 O'Clock News, was Rowan Atkinson, Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith.

I mean, Not The 9 O'Clock News was a really great show.

And she was brilliant, wasn't she?

Cos you know, I guess we still have a little bit of that trouble now where

people don't think women can be funny.

-And she came along and I think, blew all that out of the water.

-Yeah.

With a satirical take on current affairs,

the series also lampooned popular TV shows and personalities.

Naturally upset by this,

Mr and Mrs Robinson had a quarrel which ended in Mr Robinson savagely

pushing his wife through a plate-glass window.

On both occasions, they contacted the electricity board,

and on both occasions, they were told...

"I'm sorry, this really has got nothing to do with us."

I think she was definitely one of the first female artists that I was

aware of, to come along and to have a woman being funny and holding her own

and not just playing a giggly woman,

but absolutely intrinsic to the comedy and funny in her own right.

Definitely, I think she's brilliant.

Kate, now it's a little bit of comfort television for you.

Oh, snugly viewing.

Yet, it's something that would put an arm around you when you were at home

and not feeling 100%, you know?

Aw, OK, let's have a look.

-It's Pebble Mill.

-Pebble Mill?

-Pebble Mill At One.

-Oh, I love Pebble Mill!

Starting in 1972, and broadcasting live at lunchtime

from the foyer of Birmingham's Pebble Mill,

it was one of the pioneers of daytime television.

What was it you liked about it?

It's a funny thing, isn't it...?

..thinking why.

Because I was quite young when I used to watch it.

It was stuff about how to get rid of a baby belly after you've given birth.

I'd be like this, absolutely glued - "Wow, that's amazing!"

And it would be stuff really aimed for mums and housewives, of course.

-And students.

-And students.

I think students must have watched bewildered, like me,

but there wasn't anything else on,

so you watched it and loved it and it was snugly and the presenters made

-you feel comfortable.

-This, I think, is a lovely clip,

because if you watch it,

you realise that the presenters are actually slightly inebriated -

and this is a show just before Christmas.

-OK.

-I'm just about finished on my naughty sporty..

-Naughty sporty?!

-Naughty sporty, yeah, which is actually...

I mean, it's a glass with a legwarmer on it and it's a black and leather lace garter

seductively tied around the top.

Alcohol and a live studio programme is really a recipe for disaster, isn't it?

-It's not good, is it?

-Oh, now there's a comb over.

Dynamite band, yeah, coming on.

She's had a couple of cocktails, hasn't she?

# Now I'm the king of the swingers, oh

# The jungle VIP... #

Oh, dear!

-You used to love this.

-I loved it!

# I want to be like you-ooh-ooh... #

What's he wearing?

# I want to walk like you, talk like you, dooby-doo... #

That is an office party

that everyone is going to regret.

You see, this is why students loved it, because it's just sort

of surreal, isn't it?

It's like...

car-crash TV.

Regular hosts for the first few years of Pebble Mill were Donny MacLeod

Bob Langley and Marian Foster.

Later, they were joined by Jan Leeming and David Seymour.

And when he wasn't making saucy cocktails,

regular strands included Jeff Banks' fashion and style tips.

By 1991, Alan Titchmarsh was at the helm

and the series ran for a further five years.

I mean, would you like to have worked on Pebble Mill At One?

I'd love to have worked on Pebble Mill At One.

Let's be honest, it's not a million miles from shows I've done since on breakfast TV.

It's that mixture of a bit of fun, a bit of serious,

a bit of comfy, a bit of hard news.

It's that kind of thing, isn't it? Maybe less hard news, but...

You know, it's essentially magazine shows.

I mean, out of all those genres, what you've just said,

which one do you aspire to?

Which one do you enjoy the most?

Well, I think, weirdly enough, it's the mixture that I like.

I don't think there's anywhere else but in breakfast TV generally,

where you get the chance to...

There isn't, is there? When you sit down and you can speak to

a Hollywood star about what they do,

a mum who has tragically lost their child through something ghastly and

is fighting for justice...

Give a politician a good talking to about something that you care

about and your peers care about and...

I just don't think there's anywhere else that you get the chance to do that.

Is there any presenters that you admired, growing up?

Yeah, I suppose it was all the ones

that did that.

I mean, I particularly remember Anne Diamond as being somebody who,

when I was younger, I felt was quite tough when she needed to be,

and was not afraid to ask really direct questions - really simple questions.

Well, we've got a clip of Anne Diamond now.

Have a little look. Here she is in action.

Your party pilloried Mrs Thatcher the other day for admitting that she

-believes in private health care.

-Oh, no. With great respect...

She's completely in control of this, isn't she?

Totally, totally.

Anne Diamond joined TV-am as the main presenter in 1983, aged just 28.

-They have raked this up from two years ago...

-But isn't it a fact that she did once...

-Would you listen?

-Well, I'm trying to get to that basic fact.

If you read that story...

She's not flustered, is she, by them trying to show her up?

I think that what's lovely is,

these are some of the biggest politicians at that time,

-and she's standing up to them.

-She is, and in a very gentle way, actually.

She still slightly mischievous and

very honest and not prepared to be bullied and say, actually,

"I don't see why I should."

She was a very new type of presenter, a new type of woman presenter.

Do let us know what do you think about that,

whether or not one should have brought up what was on the front page of The Sun

this morning or not. We'd like to know your opinion.

-We'll take a break.

-What is it about Anne that really inspired you?

Anne Diamond came along and before that, there were some serious,

very good newsreaders.

And there were some fun, frivolous

female presenters.

What I thought was great about her was, she was clearly full of fun,

she could do all the fun stuff, all the light-hearted stuff,

but she wasn't afraid to talk straight.

She was a brilliant journalist and yeah,

held her own whoever was on the sofa in front of her. Yeah.

Have you got a bit of that straight talking in you?

-I think you have.

-I think it probably have a little bit.

I think I have, yeah. I do do a lot of research.

I learned very early on that actually, you've got to be...

You've got to do your homework.

You can't know everything and politicians will always bamboozle you with figures,

but if you've done a lot of research and you know your stuff,

and if you don't understand what they're saying, then it's fine to think,

"If I've spent a day researching this and I'm still confused by this,"

then no-one at home has got a chance,

because they've got other priorities in their life other than spending a

day researching what a politician has to say.

So, I do feel like I have got a bit of that, yeah.

Politicians shouldn't expect people to spend hours and hours and hours

studying them to understand them.

It's their job to be clear to us.

Watching TV over our cereal in the morning is a relatively new idea.

When Breakfast Time launched on the BBC in 1983 with Selina Scott and

Frank Bough, it made TV history.

Broadcasting on 17 January, two weeks before ITV's new programme, TV-am.

It was ground-breaking in its informal style.

There were red sofas,

steaming coffee cups and fun features like Russell Grant's astrology,

as well as keep fit with the Green Goddess, Diana Moran

Meanwhile, over on ITV, a relatively unknown Anne Diamond

was partnered with Nick Owen to revive

TV-am's flagging viewing figures.

An instant hit, Anne and Nick proved to be a winning formula,

with just a little help from Roland Rat.

Yeah, rat fans!

It was a partnership so successful that Anne and Nick were poached

by the BBC in 1992.

So, Kate - how did you start in television?

How did I start in television? Well, I...

-Look.

-Ooh, hello!

How old would you have been then?

I had lot of hair.

Um... I was, I think, about 28 then.

-Oh, really?

-When I first left college, I was desperate to be a journalist,

but they didn't have the courses like they do now.

I couldn't really afford to pay myself to go on a course.

So, I was working doing all sorts of things,

including working for a law firm and a station opened up called Fox FM

in Oxford and I went along and volunteered on Saturdays and Sundays to work

for them for free. And then I managed to get a job working for

Radio Oxford as a travel person.

I then worked my way from there and ITV News in those days had a scheme,

where they trained two people a year.

And then, I went to train with them and I went to Central News and then Meridian.

And you then moved from there to GMTV?

So... No, then I was working for Meridian and a brand-new idea, 24-hour news,

came along. BBC News 24, as it was called then,

launched, and I was there as one of the launch presenters.

It was quite rocky in those days.

It was the early stages of robotics and automation and cameras used to

freeze and there was no people, there were no camera people around,

so you just have to sort of lean into shot and just slide along and carry

on reading. It wasn't good. Things went horribly wrong a lot but it was

a brilliant training ground.

And then, I went to Sky News.

How did you then move on to GMTV?

GMTV... Eamonn Holmes and Fiona Phillips, brilliant presenters,

decided they wanted a shorter week.

Why wouldn't you? So luckily, I started presenting on Fridays,

so they could nip off early for the weekend and it just went from there.

Ah. Well, we've got a clip now,

of your first day at GMTV.

Oh, my God! This is going to be terrible.

I don't think I've watched this back.

I think I'd have been too scared to watch it back at the time.

-Kate Garraway, who's a new face to our...

-Hello!

-..GMTV happy family.

'I was really nervous.'

-It's good to be here.

-You won't be, by the end of the week.

Bless me. So young, so young.

So sweet, so innocent.

..On the programme this morning?

Yeah, 5,000 children need adopting in this country right now.

Find out how you might be able to help, in 15 minutes.

Following in the footsteps of Anne Diamond,

Kate joined GMTV in 2000 with her first show alongside the established

breakfast legend Eamonn Holmes.

..only to be attacked by the very people they are trying to help.

-A report on that.

-'What was it like, working with Eamonn?'

He is extraordinary, Eamonn Holmes.

-Oh, he is.

-He's a great person to sit alongside,

cos he teaches you everything you need to know.

What is the art of being a great interviewer/journalist?

I think, just listen what people have to say,

because I think everyone's got a great story to tell.

That's enough about that, let me carry on.

No, I'm joking. LAUGHTER

No, I think it is, it's imperative, isn't it?

It is, isn't it? It's actually listening,

because so many people just ask a question and when the person has

answered, just ask another question anything, hang on a minute,

you weren't listening to word they said.

-That's what I find, yeah.

-It is tough.

It's a lot tougher than you think, ladies and gentlemen, sitting here,

doing interviews. Let me tell you. I make it look easy!

Cos he's brilliant! Your brilliant, aren't you?

Thank you very much. God bless you. I want to talk about Strictly now.

-Ooh.

-Your experience on Strictly.

Do I get an ooh and an aww?

I was extraordinary, wasn't I?

-It was 2007.

-It was 2007.

Now, when they said, "Would you like to go on Strictly Come Dancing," I said,

"Absolutely. I'm going to be brilliant at this.

"I dance like a storm at a wedding and obviously,

"it's going to be fun to wear the outfits."

I had no idea - A, how rubbish I was going to be

and B, just how hard it is.

-Yeah.

-I was terrible.

-Do you mean learning the dancing?

-Is that what you found difficult? Or remembering the steps?

-Oh, the whole thing.

I mean, it's nothing to do with...

I think that's what people don't know.

You think, "Oh, I can dance a bit at a wedding."

It's about as much like that is going for a walk around the block is

climbing Everest. It's a sport so I was just in total shock.

But it's brilliant fun, brilliant fun -

and I was paired up with the lovely Anton Du Beke,

who just made everything so much fun.

It was a really good time, yeah.

I was rubbish, though. Please don't show anything.

LAUGHTER

My children might be watching.

I want them to still have the illusion I was quite good.

-They've never seen it.

-Have they never seen it?

-You've never shown it to them?

-No, because they were so little.

-You haven't saved any on tape?

-No, Darcy is very proud and says,

"Oh, my mum was on Strictly. She was amazing." So one day, I'm going to have to

-break the news to them.

-Burst their bubble.

-It was very embarrassing.

-You'd be brilliant. Don't you think he'd be good?

-CROWD:

-Yes!

You think so, ladies and gentlemen? HE HUMS STRICTLY THEME

-See? You see?

-Hey!

-You see?

-Already - seven!

-Yeah(!)

So, what do you watch these days on TV?

I'm still a news addict.

I still love my rolling news,

I still always have a bit of rolling news on the TV.

-I love Modern Family. Do you watch Modern Family?

-Yeah.

-Very funny, isn't it?

-Very good.

I've been getting into The Man In The High Castle.

-Have you seen that?

-No, I haven't, no.

It's brilliant. It's if Germany won the war.

That's right, yeah.

That's good, you should try that one.

I love all that and big dramas - I love all the big American dramas.

Yeah, wonderful.

-I love telly.

-Would you have liked to have been an actress?

An actress...? That's a good question.

I don't know. I...

I don't think I would have been a very good actress, actually.

But don't you think being a journalist and being an interviewer

requires an amount of acting?

Well, I don't know really.

Does it? Or does is it actually demand the opposite -

that you just stay yourself and concentrate on being yourself in chaos?

I don't know. I'm not sure that it is the same, acting.

Is it? Do you think it is? You're a performer though, aren't you?

I'm an entertainer, yeah.

-That's my job.

-So, you're an entertainer, you're a performer.

You've got that in you, whereas I...

-But I need a crowd.

-Do you?

-I need an audience.

LAUGHTER

I don't know about this lot, but, yeah.

-Normally, yeah.

-You like a crowd?

Yeah, that's what I play off and that's what I've always enjoyed.

I've done films and I didn't like it.

-It felt... You relied too much on the director.

-Right.

You like a live theatre situation?

What I like is that you are now interviewing me.

LAUGHTER

You see? This is my show and on my show...

"You give the answers, Garraway!"

Yes, on my show,

we let our guest choose the theme tune for us to play out on.

OK. Oh...

-We'd love you to pick something.

-So many theme tunes. I think it's going to have to be Nationwide,

just because that was such a big show when I was little, that I think

decided what I ended up doing for a living and probably the sort of person

I am, actually. So yeah, it's got to be Nationwide, I think.

Well, the sort of person you are is very beautiful, very glamorous and very dear.

-Oh, bless you.

-And thank you very much for being on.

-Thank you. So nice to see you.

-And you too. So, my thanks to Kate and my

thanks to you for watching The TV That Made Me.

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

-Thank you.

MUSIC: NATIONWIDE THEME