0:00:02 > 0:00:04TV, the magic box of delights.
0:00:04 > 0:00:07As kids it showed us a million different worlds,
0:00:07 > 0:00:08all from our living room.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11This takes me right back.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14- That's so embarrassing! - I am genuinely shocked.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18'Each day, I'm going to journey through the wonderful world of telly
0:00:18 > 0:00:21'with one of our favourite celebrities...'
0:00:21 > 0:00:23It's just so silly!
0:00:23 > 0:00:25Ah! I love it!
0:00:25 > 0:00:26Is it Mr Benn?!
0:00:26 > 0:00:28- IN LONDON ACCENT:- Shut it!
0:00:28 > 0:00:31'..as they select the iconic TV moments...'
0:00:31 > 0:00:33Oh, hello!
0:00:33 > 0:00:36'..that tell us the stories of their lives.'
0:00:36 > 0:00:38SHE GASPS
0:00:38 > 0:00:39Oh, my gosh!
0:00:39 > 0:00:41- BOTH:- Cheers. - 'Some will make you laugh...'
0:00:41 > 0:00:43HE GROWLS LOUDLY
0:00:43 > 0:00:46- Oh, no!- '..some will surprise.'
0:00:46 > 0:00:48DUCK QUACKS, SHE SHRIEKS
0:00:48 > 0:00:50'..many will inspire...'
0:00:50 > 0:00:51- Ooh!- Look at this.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53Why wouldn't you want to watch this?
0:00:53 > 0:00:55'..and others will move us.'
0:00:55 > 0:00:57Seeing that there made a huge impact on me.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01Got a handkerchief?
0:01:01 > 0:01:07So come watch with us as we rewind to the classic telly that shaped
0:01:07 > 0:01:11those wide-eyed youngsters into the much-loved stars they are today.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21WHOOPING AND APPLAUSE
0:01:21 > 0:01:22Welcome to The TV That Made Me.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26My guest today was once the man who was second in command
0:01:26 > 0:01:27of the entire country.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34John Prescott started his working life in the Merchant Navy,
0:01:34 > 0:01:36where he slugged it out in the boxing ring
0:01:36 > 0:01:39and, for the first time, the world of politics.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41He became a Labour MP in 1970
0:01:41 > 0:01:46and he eventually served as Deputy Prime Minister for over a decade.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48Now, he's an actual baron.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52The TV that made him includes a globetrotting giant...
0:01:54 > 0:01:56..some royal pageantry...
0:01:57 > 0:01:58..and a gritty cop show.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03Ladies and gentlemen, Lord Prescott. APPLAUSE
0:02:03 > 0:02:06Welcome, John, come and join us.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09I liked the cheering bit. Can you do that again?
0:02:09 > 0:02:11Come on, sit down.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13Make yourself at home.
0:02:14 > 0:02:19And do I call you Lord Prescott, can I call you John?
0:02:19 > 0:02:21No, the pantomime season's finished.
0:02:21 > 0:02:22I know they call me Baron -
0:02:22 > 0:02:24you played it in a pantomime, didn't you?
0:02:24 > 0:02:27- I've done many pantomimes.- Call me John anyway.- All right then, John.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30And if there's any bother, John, I've got an egg.
0:02:30 > 0:02:31LAUGHTER
0:02:31 > 0:02:34- Now, that does make me shiver. - Does it?
0:02:34 > 0:02:35Does it really? Why?
0:02:35 > 0:02:37Well, it all happened very quickly.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39Look, I've been 40 years in politics.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43- 40 seconds, when a man hit me with an egg...- Yes.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47..and basically, when that obituary comes for all of us,
0:02:47 > 0:02:50I'll have that situation of me thumping that fella.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53That was my contribution to politics in 40 seconds.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56Tony Blair rung me up afterwards. He said, "Are you all right?"
0:02:56 > 0:02:58I said, "Yeah." He said, "What were you doing?"
0:02:58 > 0:03:00I said, "I was carrying out your orders."
0:03:00 > 0:03:01He said, "What do you mean?"
0:03:01 > 0:03:03I said, "You told us to go out and connect with the electorate,
0:03:03 > 0:03:06- "so I did." - LAUGHTER
0:03:07 > 0:03:10Well, welcome, John, and we hope to connect with you today,
0:03:10 > 0:03:13because today is a celebration of television that you have loved
0:03:13 > 0:03:15and watched over the many years,
0:03:15 > 0:03:18- that you've been around and... - Many!- Many, many.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21Well, we're going to show that now, because we've got some clips
0:03:21 > 0:03:24and a little bit of footage of what it was like
0:03:24 > 0:03:27being a very young John Prescott.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31John was born in May 1938
0:03:31 > 0:03:35in Prestatyn in Wales to Phyllis and Bert Prescott,
0:03:35 > 0:03:38a railway signalman and Labour councillor.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41He grew up with two sisters, Dawn and Vi,
0:03:41 > 0:03:43and two brothers, Ray and Adrian.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47When John was just three, the family left Wales and moved briefly
0:03:47 > 0:03:52to Brinsworth in South Yorkshire, before settling in Upton, Cheshire.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56After leaving school, he joined the Merchant Navy as a ship's steward
0:03:56 > 0:04:00during the last days of the great ocean liners.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02There he got involved in trade unionism,
0:04:02 > 0:04:05which brought him to the national stage.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09He became MP for Kingston-upon-Hull East in 1970
0:04:09 > 0:04:13and in 1997, Deputy Prime Minister in the new Labour government.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16In 2010, he was elevated to the House of Lords
0:04:16 > 0:04:20to become Baron Prescott of Kingston-upon-Hull.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29So, John, it's time for your first choice.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33We're going to take a look at your very first TV memory.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37'They asked the crowd to be forbearing
0:04:37 > 0:04:39'and not to try to surge forward,
0:04:39 > 0:04:41'and now here is the Queen.'
0:04:41 > 0:04:44- This, of course, is the Queen's coronation.- Oh, yeah!
0:04:44 > 0:04:47- 1953, John.- Yeah.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53An estimated three million people lined the streets of London,
0:04:53 > 0:04:55hoping for a glimpse of the newly crowned Queen.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59And with over 8,000 guests and dignitaries attending,
0:04:59 > 0:05:03there weren't enough horse-drawn carriage coachmen
0:05:03 > 0:05:05to transport them to Westminster Abbey,
0:05:05 > 0:05:07so millionaires and country squires
0:05:07 > 0:05:11offered their services, dressing up as Buckingham Palace servants.
0:05:16 > 0:05:21Did you know, there was an estimated 27 million people watched this?
0:05:21 > 0:05:26Yeah, my father had won a horse bet and won £1,000 in 1953,
0:05:26 > 0:05:28and therefore he bought a television.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32It was 14", a big cabinet, small screen
0:05:32 > 0:05:34and all the neighbours came in to watch it.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37They all came with a flask of tea and their own sandwiches.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39A lot of things were just getting over rationing,
0:05:39 > 0:05:41so you couldn't come in and have your tea
0:05:41 > 0:05:43and your sandwiches provided.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46But I got a bit annoyed cos I couldn't see anything.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48Because the lounge was so busy?
0:05:48 > 0:05:51The room was all full. They'd all turned out.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54They were from number 29, they were from 24
0:05:54 > 0:05:55and they all had their little tea things,
0:05:55 > 0:05:58they were sitting around looking at this little television.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00I was a bit annoyed, so they kicked me out
0:06:00 > 0:06:03and I was riding in my bike around the streets.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07CROWDS CHEER
0:06:07 > 0:06:09- Are you very much a royalist?- No.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11I think she does a remarkable job.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13It's a judgment as a kind of democrat, in my way.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16I find it hard to believe that you have a monarchy,
0:06:16 > 0:06:18but they're well-loved in this country.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21But let me tell you, the Queen came to Hull on her Silver Jubilee
0:06:21 > 0:06:24and they said, "You must come up and meet the Queen."
0:06:24 > 0:06:27I'm not a monarchist, so I didn't really want to go there,
0:06:27 > 0:06:28but I didn't want to cause offence,
0:06:28 > 0:06:30cos a lot of people do think it's important.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34But in the end, I said, "I'll come up, but I won't bow."
0:06:34 > 0:06:37I was standing there when the Queen arrived and I was standing up.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39The wife had done her curtsying.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42She came to me, the Queen, and I didn't realise how small she was.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45And then I shook hands with her and she said...
0:06:45 > 0:06:46HE IMITATES MUMBLING
0:06:46 > 0:06:48I said, "Pardon?"
0:06:48 > 0:06:50LAUGHTER
0:06:51 > 0:06:53That wasn't so clever.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58The Queen has always been a massive draw to TV audiences
0:06:58 > 0:07:01and a number of famous actors have played her over the years.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05Dame Helen Mirren won a Bafta and an Oscar for her performance
0:07:05 > 0:07:06in the drama The Queen,
0:07:06 > 0:07:10about the royal response to Princess Diana's death.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17Prunella Scales wore the crown
0:07:17 > 0:07:19in Alan Bennett's A Question Of Attribution,
0:07:19 > 0:07:22about the KGB's double agent, Anthony Blunt.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27But who could forget the legendary Kenny Everett,
0:07:27 > 0:07:30who played the Queen in his 1980s TV sketch show?
0:07:30 > 0:07:32But it wasn't necessarily...
0:07:32 > 0:07:35IN AMERICAN ACCENT: ..in the best possible taste.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40So what sort of telly did the Prescotts watch
0:07:40 > 0:07:43in those early days when they got that...?
0:07:43 > 0:07:44Anything. You just switched on.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46Of course, there weren't going 24 hours,
0:07:46 > 0:07:49there was only one programme, there weren't a dozen programmes.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51You go from that now, now when you look at them,
0:07:51 > 0:07:54there's about 200 stations you're looking through.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57Then there was one, and only certain hours.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59So what was the house like growing up?
0:07:59 > 0:08:02My father was a railwayman, so he moved around a bit.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04I was born in Wales, in Prestatyn.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08He, at that time - I was born in 1938 -
0:08:08 > 0:08:10- lost his leg at Dunkirk.- Oh, right.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12He used to have a stump stocking
0:08:12 > 0:08:15and they used to put the orange at the bottom,
0:08:15 > 0:08:17because it was your Christmas stocking!
0:08:17 > 0:08:19So your love of politics,
0:08:19 > 0:08:21did that stem from your father?
0:08:22 > 0:08:27Yes, from my parents. My mother was from a very strong Labour family.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29In fact, we're proud that my grandad then
0:08:29 > 0:08:31was on the front of the Daily Herald as a miner
0:08:31 > 0:08:34as those who had fought for the nationalisation of the mines,
0:08:34 > 0:08:37so you came from that family background in Wales.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39It was pretty hard in north Wales.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41My father was from Liverpool
0:08:41 > 0:08:45and he had his approach to it, so it was always the room
0:08:45 > 0:08:50for Labour committee rooms, visiting MPs, all that thing, so it was that
0:08:50 > 0:08:52and I think the one lesson taught to me,
0:08:52 > 0:08:53whether it was right or wrong -
0:08:53 > 0:08:55I think about it today - my father said...
0:08:55 > 0:08:58I'm saying, "Why should you nationalise the railways?"
0:08:58 > 0:09:01He said, "Look, when you have a bag of sugar for ordinary people
0:09:01 > 0:09:03"and you send it by railways, it costs them less,
0:09:03 > 0:09:06"cos they don't get the profit."
0:09:06 > 0:09:08It seems a simple enough analysis,
0:09:08 > 0:09:10but probably a bit more sophisticated today,
0:09:10 > 0:09:14but looking at the railways today, I'm not so sure it's not true still!
0:09:14 > 0:09:17Bridlington was always the place we went on holidays,
0:09:17 > 0:09:20because that's where the unions had their conferences
0:09:20 > 0:09:23and my mother, in that union, Transport Salaried Staffs,
0:09:23 > 0:09:25and in that union,
0:09:25 > 0:09:30they used to send the money to the house before the conference,
0:09:30 > 0:09:31where you'd usually get it after.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34My father was always a man who thought you could double it
0:09:34 > 0:09:37on the races, so my mother used to fight to get the package
0:09:37 > 0:09:40of the money coming, else we wouldn't get a holiday,
0:09:40 > 0:09:43so Bridlington was always the holiday.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45They were a good mother and father.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48They got difficulty later in life and they separated,
0:09:48 > 0:09:51but you're forever grateful to your mum and your dad,
0:09:51 > 0:09:52- whatever their difficulties.- Yeah.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54Though when I got into politics,
0:09:54 > 0:09:56they were giving more press releases than me.
0:09:56 > 0:09:57LAUGHTER
0:09:57 > 0:10:02I was on the Today programme and John Humphrys said, "Well, John,
0:10:02 > 0:10:04"the Labour party's middle class now."
0:10:04 > 0:10:05I said, "It's always had middle class in it.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07"They've played a major part."
0:10:07 > 0:10:09I said, "Anyway, I'm middle class -
0:10:09 > 0:10:11"how could I be anything else with two Jags?"
0:10:11 > 0:10:14- He said... - LAUGHTER
0:10:14 > 0:10:18He said, "Well, OK, then, bit of a shock."
0:10:18 > 0:10:20My mother and father rung up the Today programme,
0:10:20 > 0:10:22went on the programme and disowned me, saying,
0:10:22 > 0:10:25- "We're working class, I don't know what he's saying."- Really?
0:10:25 > 0:10:27LAUGHTER
0:10:27 > 0:10:29So it's quite a divisive family, and very political, of course.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32So what age did you leave home at?
0:10:32 > 0:10:34I left the school at 15
0:10:34 > 0:10:36and then got a chance at 16, 17,
0:10:36 > 0:10:39before the army conscription came along,
0:10:39 > 0:10:42and I joined the Cunard steamship company as a waiter.
0:10:42 > 0:10:46- Yeah.- So I had ten years at sea, got eventually kicked out of it
0:10:46 > 0:10:48and blacked by most of the shipping companies
0:10:48 > 0:10:51because of my union activities.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53The working conditions at sea were tough,
0:10:53 > 0:10:56with very little time or space for recreation.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00A seaman on the Franconia, whether he washes dishes in the galley
0:11:00 > 0:11:04or tends the engines in the extreme heat of the ship's belly,
0:11:04 > 0:11:06works on average an 11-hour day,
0:11:06 > 0:11:08seven days a week.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11There's no break in the routine, no place they can escape to.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13Cruises can last for three or four months
0:11:13 > 0:11:16and in all that time at sea, they're working half the day
0:11:16 > 0:11:19and on call for the other 12 hours.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21The men had to find their own entertainment
0:11:21 > 0:11:24and for John, that meant entering bruising boxing bouts
0:11:24 > 0:11:27with colleagues, a sport he had dabbled in before.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32The first time I ever did box was in Butlins.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34They used to have boxing competitions at Butlins?
0:11:34 > 0:11:35- That's right.- Really?
0:11:35 > 0:11:39And I got in the ring, I had my bathers and a pair of pumps,
0:11:39 > 0:11:42and this fella got in the ring, he had boxing boots on,
0:11:42 > 0:11:44he had the shorts, he had the gear
0:11:44 > 0:11:46and he was, "Shu-shu-shu-shu!"
0:11:46 > 0:11:47I thought, "What have I done?"
0:11:47 > 0:11:50So I go out, but he'd come with the most beautiful girl
0:11:50 > 0:11:53I'd ever seen up to that stage, until I met the wife.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57Anyway, she's there and I'm looking at her like that.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01He hits me and sends me in a complete somersault across the ring
0:12:01 > 0:12:04and I'm so embarrassed getting up, not because of him,
0:12:04 > 0:12:06though I'm not happy about that,
0:12:06 > 0:12:09but this woman sees me battered by her boyfriend.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12- So you never won?- No, I didn't.- No.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14I hit the ropes on the other side.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17- I learned, don't take your eye off the man in front of you.- Yeah.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26Here's your next choice, John.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28Whicker's World.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30Oh, Alan Whicker.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34Alan Whicker started his globetrotting TV career
0:12:34 > 0:12:37on the early BBC current affairs show Tonight.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40But with his suave looks and distinctive voice,
0:12:40 > 0:12:43it wasn't long before he was fronting his own show,
0:12:43 > 0:12:45reporting on the unusual and bizarre.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49- Whicker's World, aye. - What is it you loved about it?
0:12:49 > 0:12:51Just the fact he was travelling...?
0:12:51 > 0:12:53It was interesting and he went to interesting places.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55They were usually out of UK,
0:12:55 > 0:12:58they were abroad, weren't they, Whicker's World?
0:12:58 > 0:13:02He did it in such a way, it makes a difference.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05It depends on the character of the person who's presenting it,
0:13:05 > 0:13:07that's where the key comes.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11This is a clip about medicinal bee stings.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14Now, is the sting any different from that of an ordinary bee?
0:13:14 > 0:13:15No, no.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18Yes, now, you've been stung many times yourself, I suppose.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21So many thousand times, I'd like to have it in farthings.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23That's how he introduced programmes, though.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26It awakened your interest to say, "What is he talking about?"
0:13:26 > 0:13:29I really did open windows into worlds you didn't see.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31Into Whicker's world, yeah.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33In some cases, you mustn't go near her head at all.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36- Oh.- Because once you put it up the back of her head,
0:13:36 > 0:13:40you will have a patient just covered from head to toe with sores.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42- With what?- With sores.- Sores?
0:13:42 > 0:13:45Oh, yes, I have got a photograph, I can show you hundreds of them.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47I had them so much...
0:13:47 > 0:13:49I always thought he had a posh voice, of course.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51- Oh, yeah.- You expected that from the BBC.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53IN RICH VOICE: Yes, this the BBC.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58Alan Whicker established himself as a living room favourite,
0:13:58 > 0:14:02by which time John was about to swap sea life for married life.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06How old were you when you met your wife?
0:14:06 > 0:14:09I'd have been about, um, 25, I think.
0:14:09 > 0:14:10And how did that come about?
0:14:10 > 0:14:13I saw this beautiful-looking girl standing by the bus stop.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15I said, "All right, love."
0:14:15 > 0:14:17Oh, yeah. Oh, you've got the lines.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20- "All right, love."- So I said, "Are you doing anything tonight?"
0:14:20 > 0:14:21"Do you want to go to the pictures?"
0:14:21 > 0:14:23Then it was all pictures, weren't it?
0:14:23 > 0:14:26They knew there's a kind of clicker guys in Chester, where we lived,
0:14:26 > 0:14:28which were from the Merchant Navy
0:14:28 > 0:14:30and the thing we could do, coming over from New York,
0:14:30 > 0:14:32you could get the records then,
0:14:32 > 0:14:35- six months before they came out in the UK.- Oh, wow.
0:14:35 > 0:14:36We were persuading them with all the good gear
0:14:36 > 0:14:39- you're bringing back from the States.- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43And she's a very good-looking woman, even today - very smart.
0:14:50 > 0:14:52Now, your next choice comes out of the first year you were married.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55Let's have a look at your must-see TV.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01- That's it, that's that theme. - Z-CARS THEME PLAYS
0:15:01 > 0:15:04- It's Z-Cars. That's the old Ford Zephyr.- Oh, yeah.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07At that time, it was quite a car.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09- They didn't have a Jag, them.- No!
0:15:09 > 0:15:12LAUGHTER
0:15:12 > 0:15:15Z-Cars reinvented British TV cop shows.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17Out went the gentle bobby on the beat
0:15:17 > 0:15:19and in came police in fast cars,
0:15:19 > 0:15:21chasing the criminal underworld.
0:15:21 > 0:15:26It was an instant hit, topping 14 million viewers during its run.
0:15:31 > 0:15:32Right, then.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35A bit of a squeeze.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37- Is that Smithy there?- That is.
0:15:37 > 0:15:39Yeah, there he is, Brian Blessed.
0:15:40 > 0:15:42You look a bit like him.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44I thought I'd lost a bit of weight.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46LAUGHTER
0:15:47 > 0:15:50Where will the master criminal strike next?
0:15:50 > 0:15:52Get out of it, ya mug, you!
0:15:52 > 0:15:54Look, this bloke will try it again,
0:15:54 > 0:15:56only he won't be expecting us this time.
0:15:56 > 0:15:57Ah, it's a beat bobby's job, not ours.
0:15:57 > 0:16:03What you do associate it with was Dixon Of Dock Green, "Evening, all."
0:16:03 > 0:16:05This was just a major change from it,
0:16:05 > 0:16:10- about police acting probably more like they are.- So a bit more gritty?
0:16:10 > 0:16:12- Oh, aye, Smithy was, wasn't he? - Yeah.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15It was a radical change.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18Ah, it's a waste of time, this bloke was a casual, a down-and-out.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20He'll be miles away at a seaport by now.
0:16:20 > 0:16:22Spending his ill-gotten gains.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25But coming into that was the reality of dealing with difficult problems
0:16:25 > 0:16:27and how individuals dealt with them.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30- Yeah.- I never missed an episode.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35Z-Cars was one of Brian Blessed's first ever TV roles.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38He had a roaring success in the BBC serialisation
0:16:38 > 0:16:43of the Three Musketeers, alongside future Sherlock, Jeremy Brett.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46He played Caesar Augustus
0:16:46 > 0:16:49in the triple Bafta award-winning I, Claudius,
0:16:49 > 0:16:52a drama series about the history of Rome.
0:16:54 > 0:16:59And he boomed "Gordon's alive!" as Vultan, Prince of the Hawkmen
0:16:59 > 0:17:01in the 1980 film Flash Gordon.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07He was a household name by the time he played the mad, comical figure
0:17:07 > 0:17:11of Richard IV in the first series of The Black Adder saga.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17And he was in fine voice as the lovable Greek fixer Spiro
0:17:17 > 0:17:19in My Family And Other Animals,
0:17:19 > 0:17:23about the life of famed conservationist Gerald Durrell.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34Now we move on to your next choice now, a comedy character.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39Till Death Us Do Part was conceived
0:17:39 > 0:17:41by legendary TV writer Johnny Speight
0:17:41 > 0:17:45as a satire of the bigoted views around at the time.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47But some of the audience didn't see it that way,
0:17:47 > 0:17:51instead embracing the often offensive views of Mr Alf Garnett.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57- Alf.- Alf Garnett.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00This scene shows Warren Mitchell,
0:18:00 > 0:18:05playing the right-wing caricature at his full-blown ranting best.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09- Number one, the Tories has got money, right?- Right.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11- Right, you agree with me there? - Yeah.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13Number two, if you've got money,
0:18:13 > 0:18:16- you don't need to fiddle, right? - Aw, give over!
0:18:16 > 0:18:20Therefore, number three, the Tories can afford to be honest!
0:18:20 > 0:18:24What was it about Alf Garnett that you loved so much, John?
0:18:24 > 0:18:27Well, he kept to the character.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29A lot of people actually thought about it like that.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33I disagreed with him politically, but he captured it, didn't he,
0:18:33 > 0:18:37with the accent, language, the most reactionary part of things,
0:18:37 > 0:18:40but it's what I call a working class Tory.
0:18:40 > 0:18:42- Yeah, yeah. - And he was very much that.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45Many of Garnett's tirades were about politics
0:18:45 > 0:18:49and took direct aim at socialist son-in-law Mike,
0:18:49 > 0:18:50played by Tony Booth,
0:18:50 > 0:18:55who later became real-life father-in-law to one Tony Blair.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58On that last election, see,
0:18:58 > 0:18:59they was betting, wasn't they?
0:18:59 > 0:19:03- Not only on who'd win the election, but when it'd be, right?- Yeah.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07And the only man in the country who knew when it would be
0:19:07 > 0:19:09was Harold Wilson himself, cos he's the bloke
0:19:09 > 0:19:12what had to choose when it'd be, didn't he?
0:19:12 > 0:19:16Garnett's rants used language that would shock today's audiences.
0:19:18 > 0:19:20But back in the 1960s and '70s,
0:19:20 > 0:19:21it was prime-time viewing.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24..which is his pero-jative, I'll grant you that.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28But he played off against him, Antony Booth.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31Great satire, great programme, great acting.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33- I thoroughly enjoyed it.- Yeah.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38Alf was one of the first of a long line of TV big mouths
0:19:38 > 0:19:40who didn't hold back.
0:19:40 > 0:19:44Dad's Army's stroppy chief air raid warden William Hodges,
0:19:44 > 0:19:46played by Carry On star Bill Pertwee,
0:19:46 > 0:19:48was the scourge of Captain Mainwaring
0:19:48 > 0:19:50and anyone who left the light on.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56Nearest And Dearest, by Love Thy Neighbour creator Vince Powell,
0:19:56 > 0:20:00unleashed the caustic tongue of Nellie Pledge
0:20:00 > 0:20:03as she tried to make a success of the family pickle business.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09Unemployed motor-mouth and street philosopher Rab C Nesbitt,
0:20:09 > 0:20:12played by Gregor Fisher, regularly broke TV's fourth wall
0:20:12 > 0:20:17by ranting at other characters, then directly to us watching at home.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24Foul-mouthed spin doctor Malcolm Tucker, played by Peter Capaldi,
0:20:24 > 0:20:28was always ready to verbally strike down anyone who caused him
0:20:28 > 0:20:31even the mildest irritation,
0:20:31 > 0:20:33which became known as "being Tuckered".
0:20:41 > 0:20:44We're going to take a TV break now, John.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47This is one of your favourites.
0:20:47 > 0:20:52Roger, dear boy, how's your client coming along?
0:20:52 > 0:20:54- It's the PG Tips adverts. - Oh, yeah, yeah!
0:20:55 > 0:20:58These cheeky, tea-drinking chimps
0:20:58 > 0:21:01first hit our screens in 1956.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03Don't worry, madam, I'll take over.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06- It's horrible!- Can you imagine them trying to film this.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09So what did you enjoy about these little monkeys?
0:21:09 > 0:21:11I thought it was remark...
0:21:11 > 0:21:13Well, first of all, anything that makes you smile is good, isn't it?
0:21:13 > 0:21:15You're going to like that.
0:21:15 > 0:21:17Using animals, getting them to film that,
0:21:17 > 0:21:20- that wouldn't be done in half an hour, would it?- No.
0:21:20 > 0:21:24I think the imagination behind it, the skill in doing it...
0:21:24 > 0:21:27One of the unique things I think about British advertising,
0:21:27 > 0:21:31it tends to have a...it's important for the British humour,
0:21:31 > 0:21:33that it has humour in it,
0:21:33 > 0:21:35more than, say, when you're in America -
0:21:35 > 0:21:37it's always about slickness and everything.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40But with animals - you see it with dogs and different things now -
0:21:40 > 0:21:43it's part of the British psyche,
0:21:43 > 0:21:46if there's an animal involved, you ought to begin with that.
0:21:46 > 0:21:48The campaign sent sales soaring,
0:21:48 > 0:21:51but it divided opinion and still does today.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54Animal welfare advocates branded the ads exploitative,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57but they were a huge hit with viewers.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00Anything that makes people smile and feel warm,
0:22:00 > 0:22:02isn't that what it's really about?
0:22:02 > 0:22:06It's family life and also, with all the trials and tribulations,
0:22:06 > 0:22:08- it's nice to get these shots to make you smile.- Yeah.
0:22:08 > 0:22:12- I'm trying to think who that looks like.- Well, I don't know.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14I think it looks like Tony Blair.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16- Not with that hair. - Or Brian Blessed.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18- Brian Blessed!- Yeah.
0:22:18 > 0:22:20Mmm, this style's growing on me.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23- What do you call it?- Hair-raising?
0:22:23 > 0:22:24LAUGHTER
0:22:24 > 0:22:27I didn't like PG, I always thought Yorkshire Tea was better.
0:22:27 > 0:22:32- You're just saying that! - But it's a remarkable...- Campaign.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35Catching animals in that way, and those.
0:22:36 > 0:22:37The chimps have now retired,
0:22:37 > 0:22:41but the campaign still continues with a puppet called Monkey.
0:22:41 > 0:22:42I'll take over.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45You just warm to them when they come on, don't you?
0:22:45 > 0:22:47It's the longest-running adverts in history.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50They're still going, PG Tips and the PG monkeys.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53- It is incredible how... - It is incredible.
0:23:01 > 0:23:06Now, John, we're going to move on to a charismatic politician
0:23:06 > 0:23:10who you named as one of your biggest influences.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13This is a challenge we did not seek
0:23:13 > 0:23:14and do not want.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18All the more so because it comes from men
0:23:18 > 0:23:23who have won the undying respect and admiration of the whole nation.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26- Harold Wilson, of course, Prime Minister.- Yeah.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29But he was a remarkable man and for the first time,
0:23:29 > 0:23:32we had a professional economist, cos that's what he was.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35He had a background and therefore he was exciting.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37There were certain characteristics about him.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40He was talking about things that are relevant today.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42This was man who told the Americans,
0:23:42 > 0:23:44"We're not going to Vietnam,"
0:23:44 > 0:23:47to which Johnson made it very difficult for the UK,
0:23:47 > 0:23:49but that was a principle, that we shouldn't be involved
0:23:49 > 0:23:52in that special relationship and get involved in Vietnam.
0:23:52 > 0:23:53And he did a lot more things -
0:23:53 > 0:23:56he was a principled man who voted against health charges,
0:23:56 > 0:23:58under a Labour government
0:23:58 > 0:24:00that wanted to bring in those health charges.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03He then resigned and came down with Bevan and others.
0:24:03 > 0:24:05As often with politics, though,
0:24:05 > 0:24:08what you're trying to do is not necessarily what you want to do
0:24:08 > 0:24:09and you have to play
0:24:09 > 0:24:12and try and find a way forward to achieving that,
0:24:12 > 0:24:15but I admired him because he was professional,
0:24:15 > 0:24:17he was an economist - most of the problems of that day
0:24:17 > 0:24:19were about the economy and balance of payments.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23To have a man who understood it and did it, I welcomed that
0:24:23 > 0:24:25and for Labour to be looking forward
0:24:25 > 0:24:28and carrying in technology changes to meet with it,
0:24:28 > 0:24:31that's good, cos so often, we tend to defend
0:24:31 > 0:24:34a lot of our things from the past, rather than getting on.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36He captured that, I think.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39This strike will settle nothing.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43It will neither establish their case
0:24:43 > 0:24:44nor settle their grievances.
0:24:46 > 0:24:48But at great cost to Britain...
0:24:48 > 0:24:52Back in 1966, Harold Wilson's government declared
0:24:52 > 0:24:56a state of emergency after the nation's seamen went on strike.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00As a prominent trade unionist, John was heavily involved in the dispute.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05You've got to remember, that speech is just before the election
0:25:05 > 0:25:07and we were threatening to go on strike again.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11We'd had a seven-week strike before, which I'd been involved in.
0:25:11 > 0:25:16We were working 84 hours a week with no overtime and we were working
0:25:16 > 0:25:19under a merchant shipping act that if you disagreed with the captain,
0:25:19 > 0:25:22it was mutiny. I only had one charge on that,
0:25:22 > 0:25:25but we had to change the act.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27He produced the proposals,
0:25:27 > 0:25:29I produced a pamphlet called Not Wanted On Voyage,
0:25:29 > 0:25:31which rejected most of this argument,
0:25:31 > 0:25:34so when he came with the white paper, we wrote on it,
0:25:34 > 0:25:36"Not wanted on voyage," and chucked it over to him.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38"That's what we think about your white paper."
0:25:38 > 0:25:40So we go to see him in Number Ten,
0:25:40 > 0:25:43the first time I'm taken into Parliament, I'm not even an MP,
0:25:43 > 0:25:44and into the Cabinet Room.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47He meets us at the Number Ten door.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49We go in there and he shakes hands with us
0:25:49 > 0:25:53and he said, "I'll tell you what I'll do..." This was typical Wilson.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57He said, "Look, accept this and then, when we come back,
0:25:57 > 0:25:59"we'll have a new piece of legislation
0:25:59 > 0:26:02"changing it as you want." He wanted to settle it.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04So I said to him,
0:26:04 > 0:26:06"Harold..." Or "Prime Minister" it was, right?
0:26:06 > 0:26:09"..how do you know you'll win this next election?"
0:26:09 > 0:26:12He said, on his pipe, "I'm very confident."
0:26:12 > 0:26:13Well, he lost it, didn't he?
0:26:13 > 0:26:16So I went up to him, I came in as an MP, I went to him and said,
0:26:16 > 0:26:18"Now, Harold, what do I do?"
0:26:18 > 0:26:21"You have to get on to the Tories, son."
0:26:21 > 0:26:23To be fair to Harold,
0:26:23 > 0:26:27he did bring about the changes in our legislation, all credit to him.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30Though unfortunately he couldn't complete it, he started it,
0:26:30 > 0:26:32because the Tories came in.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42John, let's now take a look at a very young John Prescott.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45- This is...? - This is Panorama.- Panorama!
0:26:45 > 0:26:49'What we essentially seem to be discussing here is the role
0:26:49 > 0:26:51'of a trade union in a capitalist society
0:26:51 > 0:26:55'and whether collective bargaining is a valuable weapon for trade unions.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57'If it is to achieve a redistribution...'
0:26:57 > 0:26:59I think you do look like Brian Blessed.
0:27:01 > 0:27:041966 was a busy year for John,
0:27:04 > 0:27:07as he took his first steps onto the biggest stage,
0:27:07 > 0:27:10even making his first ever national TV appearance
0:27:10 > 0:27:14on the biggest political show of the day, Panorama.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16For your first television appearance, John,
0:27:16 > 0:27:19- I have to say you don't look nervous.- No.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21'After all, Mr Wilson told us
0:27:21 > 0:27:24'the answers to these problems before he was elected.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27'What we're vitally concerned about at the moment is apparently...'
0:27:30 > 0:27:33'..the very answers which they told us were wrong
0:27:33 > 0:27:36'when the Tories used them and we feel if it was wrong for the Tories,
0:27:36 > 0:27:37'then it must be doubly wrong
0:27:37 > 0:27:40'for the Labour Party to adopt the same measures.'
0:27:40 > 0:27:44We started it and I was on with a reporter from the Guardian.
0:27:44 > 0:27:45I did a question, he did a question
0:27:45 > 0:27:47and then they said,
0:27:47 > 0:27:50"The camera's broken down, we're going to start again."
0:27:50 > 0:27:53But what this journalist did was to pinch my question!
0:27:53 > 0:27:56I'm trying to think now, I've lost my question,
0:27:56 > 0:27:57this bugger's pinched it,
0:27:57 > 0:28:00so when I look at that - that was my first television -
0:28:00 > 0:28:03I often think, "You've got to watch for the guys around you,"
0:28:03 > 0:28:05but that's life and you have to live with television,
0:28:05 > 0:28:08- as it's live television.- Yeah.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10That's things you have to watch for.
0:28:10 > 0:28:15But that was my first one, really, after the seamen's strike.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18- How important is television to politics?- Oh, critical.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21It determines your own personality with the public.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24I remember a Tory coming up to me - he must have been a Tory,
0:28:24 > 0:28:26he had a top hat on -
0:28:26 > 0:28:31and was on the train, an umbrella, the old city type,
0:28:31 > 0:28:33I'm sitting at the table on the train
0:28:33 > 0:28:35and he come up with his umbrella and said,
0:28:35 > 0:28:39"Prescott, I don't like your views, but I like the cut of your jib."
0:28:39 > 0:28:42- LAUGHTER - And in a way,
0:28:42 > 0:28:46it is important for the politicians to maintain that certain amount of,
0:28:46 > 0:28:49"This is what I believe," that's not something to be scared to say.
0:28:49 > 0:28:51Of course you've got to be careful with the words
0:28:51 > 0:28:53and the public understand that,
0:28:53 > 0:28:56but they make a judgment about you as to whether you actually believe
0:28:56 > 0:28:58what you're saying, or you're just putting the answer up.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01If you're just putting the answer up, I think that's a real problem
0:29:01 > 0:29:05and I think the politicians, to a certain extent in the debate now,
0:29:05 > 0:29:08in order not to get caught out with what you're saying,
0:29:08 > 0:29:11cos then the press want to pick out the one word that's wrong,
0:29:11 > 0:29:14politicians then go rather safe
0:29:14 > 0:29:17and sometimes it's the same answer to different questions!
0:29:17 > 0:29:20People watching it are thinking, "What's this about?"
0:29:20 > 0:29:22They can sass it, they can see it,
0:29:22 > 0:29:24so if you try to get an image across
0:29:24 > 0:29:27that you're trying to control the media
0:29:27 > 0:29:30and you don't want to give an answer that they think is just set up
0:29:30 > 0:29:34by your press people who've told you to give that answer,
0:29:34 > 0:29:35it demeans politics
0:29:35 > 0:29:38and I think we have to be much more courageous about that.
0:29:38 > 0:29:40I think just straight talking, isn't it?
0:29:40 > 0:29:42- That's the case.- I think that's what people do say.
0:29:42 > 0:29:44"Here's my question - give me the answer."
0:29:44 > 0:29:46Even if they don't agree with you.
0:29:46 > 0:29:51Do you remember the TV coverage of the 1997 victory?
0:29:51 > 0:29:52- Well, that was...- Election victory?
0:29:52 > 0:29:56That's remarkable. There'll never be another 1997.
0:29:56 > 0:29:58Let's have a little look.
0:29:58 > 0:30:02MUSIC: Things Can Only Get Better by D:Ream
0:30:02 > 0:30:05- REPORTER:- It was after five in the morning and dawn was breaking
0:30:05 > 0:30:08by the time Tony Blair arrived at the Royal Festival Hall.
0:30:08 > 0:30:11Labour has waited 18 years for this
0:30:11 > 0:30:14and some of their supporters could barely contain themselves.
0:30:16 > 0:30:18Remarkable, wasn't it, John?
0:30:18 > 0:30:22Oh, you'll never get another occasion like that in politics,
0:30:22 > 0:30:24- in my view.- Why?
0:30:24 > 0:30:27- Why was it so special? - It was after 18 years.
0:30:27 > 0:30:30They were finishing a period and they wanted something new.
0:30:30 > 0:30:32People will get tired of politicians,
0:30:32 > 0:30:34whoever they are, after a period of time.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37This was a long period for Labour, but for the Tories,
0:30:37 > 0:30:38they'd been in 18 years
0:30:38 > 0:30:42and it had got identified with some of the excesses of Thatcher,
0:30:42 > 0:30:45so people were coming up to you in the street.
0:30:45 > 0:30:49I think everybody who was around at that time said they just felt it was
0:30:49 > 0:30:53a kind of relief and it was great to be on the other end of it, right.
0:30:53 > 0:30:55With all doubts about victory now gone,
0:30:55 > 0:30:58this had the mark of a speech to the nation as a whole.
0:31:01 > 0:31:03We are now today
0:31:03 > 0:31:04the people's party.
0:31:04 > 0:31:07CHEERING
0:31:08 > 0:31:10The party of all the people,
0:31:10 > 0:31:12the many, not the few,
0:31:12 > 0:31:15the party that belongs to every part of Britain,
0:31:15 > 0:31:18no matter what people's background or their creed
0:31:18 > 0:31:19or their colour.
0:31:19 > 0:31:22The party that can stand up
0:31:22 > 0:31:24for what is a great country.
0:31:24 > 0:31:26And Tony Blair.
0:31:26 > 0:31:28- He's a remarkable guy, Tony Blair.- Really?
0:31:28 > 0:31:30I disagreed with a lot of his things and that was my job, really.
0:31:30 > 0:31:32I'd run for the job and he got it.
0:31:34 > 0:31:36But, you know, he could express things and say things.
0:31:36 > 0:31:38The people liked him.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40But what every Labour leader's got to do
0:31:40 > 0:31:43is to show the electorate they're their own man.
0:31:43 > 0:31:47It usually means having a go at the established left of the politics,
0:31:47 > 0:31:49which is what he did on the trade unions.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52They recognised he was a guy,
0:31:52 > 0:31:55fresh-faced, spoke in their language,
0:31:55 > 0:31:57wanted the kind of changes he was talking about
0:31:57 > 0:32:00- and he achieved much of that.- Yeah.
0:32:00 > 0:32:04My argument at the time when we were coming with Blair when he said,
0:32:04 > 0:32:09"I want to make a change and call it New Labour,"
0:32:09 > 0:32:12I said, "What are you calling it New Labour for? Labour can change."
0:32:12 > 0:32:15And I thought about it and then we were about 27% in the polls,
0:32:15 > 0:32:18a bit political, really,
0:32:18 > 0:32:21but I could see that a lot of our people were not going to come back
0:32:21 > 0:32:24because they thought they were wrong about Thatcher,
0:32:24 > 0:32:26they'd only come back if they thought you'd changed,
0:32:26 > 0:32:29that made them vote, so I think that's what effectively happened
0:32:29 > 0:32:31with the results we had there.
0:32:31 > 0:32:33- It certainly was a result, wasn't it?- Yeah.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36Would you liked to have been leader?
0:32:36 > 0:32:39- Oh, that would have scared me, I think.- Really?- Yeah.
0:32:39 > 0:32:41I only really ran for the deputy.
0:32:41 > 0:32:45My argument was you need a person to make sure the party keeps in line,
0:32:45 > 0:32:48gets the policies, and then you give the support,
0:32:48 > 0:32:52but I HAD to run for the leader. So Tony won,
0:32:52 > 0:32:54and I always took the view - people who were saying,
0:32:54 > 0:32:57"Don't make Prescott your deputy,"
0:32:57 > 0:32:58Brown was one of them -
0:32:58 > 0:33:02took the view that I might be resigning and threatening to resign.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05No, no, when the party elects a leader, he's the leader,
0:33:05 > 0:33:08he has the right and that's a bit of an argument at the moment.
0:33:08 > 0:33:11And he was brilliant at putting the things together.
0:33:11 > 0:33:14We had some differences, Iraq was a classic,
0:33:14 > 0:33:17but the one thing I said to him, and even since,
0:33:17 > 0:33:20he wants to bomb everywhere.
0:33:20 > 0:33:22I said to him, "Why don't you put a bloody white sheet on,
0:33:22 > 0:33:24"put a cross on, start the Crusades again?
0:33:24 > 0:33:28"We lost that one, by the way - what are you doing it all again for?"
0:33:28 > 0:33:31Brilliant, but I think he got carried away by the Yanks...
0:33:31 > 0:33:34- Yeah.- ..to a certain extent. - He fell in love with them?
0:33:34 > 0:33:37Uh, well, Tony,
0:33:37 > 0:33:40he always used to say, and every Prime Minister says it,
0:33:40 > 0:33:42every British Prime Minister's got to make up his mind,
0:33:42 > 0:33:45what's the relationship with the Americans?
0:33:45 > 0:33:49And "the Americans" mean you're one of their states.
0:33:49 > 0:33:52And if you look over Iraq, I always said you have no rights to go in
0:33:52 > 0:33:54and remove the leadership.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57Well, that's what they believed, that's what they did
0:33:57 > 0:34:00and I think his downfall came from some of that.
0:34:00 > 0:34:02But I'm a great admirer of his.
0:34:02 > 0:34:04He did a lot of good things.
0:34:04 > 0:34:05I was proud to serve with him
0:34:05 > 0:34:08and that's what leadership's about, you get on with it.
0:34:14 > 0:34:19Politicians, John, appear in the most unusual places,
0:34:19 > 0:34:22including this next clip. Here it is, John.
0:34:27 > 0:34:30Oh, Gavin! I knew nothing about this programme.
0:34:30 > 0:34:34The Bafta award-winning Gavin & Stacey is an unlikely tale of love
0:34:34 > 0:34:37between a lad from Essex and a girl from Barry.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40- Oh, I never saw this!- In this typical scene from series two,
0:34:40 > 0:34:43Nessa, played by co-writer Ruth Jones,
0:34:43 > 0:34:47recounts one of her seemingly unbelievable stories
0:34:47 > 0:34:51about her past famous conquests to a fascinated Stacey.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54This reminds me very much of my time with John...
0:34:54 > 0:34:56Prescott.
0:34:56 > 0:34:57LAUGHTER
0:34:57 > 0:34:59I had the lot.
0:34:59 > 0:35:02A flat in Westminster, full use of one of the Jags,
0:35:02 > 0:35:06didn't even have to cook - I had a little Filipino do it for us.
0:35:06 > 0:35:10Nessa's past was apparently littered with amorous encounters
0:35:10 > 0:35:12with the rich and famous.
0:35:12 > 0:35:14But not happy with just dropping his name,
0:35:14 > 0:35:16Nessa takes it further,
0:35:16 > 0:35:20inserting herself into the story of one of John's best-known moments.
0:35:20 > 0:35:22He could be very dry.
0:35:23 > 0:35:26I left that night and I never looked back.
0:35:26 > 0:35:28Cos I knew I'd only ever be happy in Barry.
0:35:28 > 0:35:30How did John take it?
0:35:30 > 0:35:32- SIGHING:- He took it bad.
0:35:32 > 0:35:36He went mad, he did, shouting and fighting.
0:35:36 > 0:35:38Next day, he punched a civilian.
0:35:38 > 0:35:40When I saw it on the telly, I knew that punch was meant for me.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43I was doing a programme for BBC on class.
0:35:43 > 0:35:46It was these two series on class in Britain.
0:35:46 > 0:35:51- And I wanted to talk to... - Yeah, James Corden.
0:35:52 > 0:35:54So I get in touch with him, "Can I come in?"
0:35:54 > 0:35:57He said, "Only if you come on my programme."
0:35:57 > 0:35:59I said, "What's your programme?"
0:35:59 > 0:36:01He said, "Gavin & Stacey."
0:36:01 > 0:36:04My son said to me, "Oh, it's a rave programme."
0:36:04 > 0:36:06I said, "I don't know it."
0:36:06 > 0:36:08Anyway, "If you'll do this interview with me on class..."
0:36:08 > 0:36:10I'll do that one for him.
0:36:10 > 0:36:14- Uh-huh.- So I came in, they said, "Can you walk into the wedding?"
0:36:14 > 0:36:17And that's what I did.
0:36:17 > 0:36:19- See you in there. - Yeah, see you in a minute.
0:36:21 > 0:36:22Hi, Dave.
0:36:22 > 0:36:26- Congratulations.- Cheers, John. Nice to see you.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28That was so natural, John. LAUGHTER
0:36:28 > 0:36:30And so...
0:36:30 > 0:36:32You're wasted, love, you're wasted.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36- Well, all politicians are actors of one kind or another.- Yes, they are.
0:36:36 > 0:36:37Course it is.
0:36:37 > 0:36:39But to follow on from that story,
0:36:39 > 0:36:42I was down in Bristol, I knocked on a door campaigning
0:36:42 > 0:36:45and these students came to the door and they said, "Oh, hello, John."
0:36:45 > 0:36:47I said, "Are you going to vote Labour, then, lads?"
0:36:47 > 0:36:52They said, "Yeah, yeah!" I said, "Is it our employment policy, health,
0:36:52 > 0:36:53"jobs, education?"
0:36:53 > 0:36:56"Oh, no, you were in Gavin & Stacey."
0:36:56 > 0:36:58- LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE - That became the only reason
0:36:58 > 0:37:02I got their vote, was because of Gavin & Stacey!
0:37:02 > 0:37:06- I just don't think anyone expected you to be on the show.- They don't.
0:37:06 > 0:37:09Because she would often talk about her romances
0:37:09 > 0:37:11to this star and that star
0:37:11 > 0:37:13and the fact that you were there,
0:37:13 > 0:37:14it just underlined it and emphasised it
0:37:14 > 0:37:16and it's just a lovely moment.
0:37:16 > 0:37:18And has quite an effect.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21The response that comes from people who watch that,
0:37:21 > 0:37:23they're surprised, but they're pleased that somehow
0:37:23 > 0:37:25you've come into something they watch.
0:37:25 > 0:37:28I can't explain it in any other way than that,
0:37:28 > 0:37:31except they will come up to you and it got us some votes.
0:37:34 > 0:37:38John's appearance on Gavin & Stacey continues a long tradition
0:37:38 > 0:37:42of British politicians popping up on the entertainment scene.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45After leaving office, Harold Wilson appeared
0:37:45 > 0:37:47on The Morecambe And Wise Christmas special,
0:37:47 > 0:37:51teasing Eric by deliberately calling him "Morry-camby".
0:37:55 > 0:37:58In 1984, then Labour leader Neil Kinnock helped take
0:37:58 > 0:38:02Tracey Ullman's cover of the Madness song My Girl
0:38:02 > 0:38:04to number 23 in the charts
0:38:04 > 0:38:06when he appeared in the music video.
0:38:07 > 0:38:10In his final year as PM, Tony Blair appeared
0:38:10 > 0:38:12in a hilarious Comic Relief sketch
0:38:12 > 0:38:16with Catherine Tate's teenage alter ego Lauren,
0:38:16 > 0:38:19to ask her, "Am I bovvered?"
0:38:19 > 0:38:20And Boris Johnson stole the show
0:38:20 > 0:38:24when he appeared for the first time on Have I Got News For You,
0:38:24 > 0:38:27launching him on the road to becoming a TV personality.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31So what's life like now?
0:38:31 > 0:38:35Are you still very much...do you play a big hand in politics?
0:38:35 > 0:38:38Oh, yeah. Well, one of the reasons...
0:38:38 > 0:38:41People say to me, "Why did you go into the Lords?"
0:38:41 > 0:38:46I started the climate negotiations in 1997
0:38:46 > 0:38:48and I've followed it right through to Paris.
0:38:48 > 0:38:50The only way I could keep in the negotiations...
0:38:50 > 0:38:55And I became the negotiator for Europe at Kyoto in '97,
0:38:55 > 0:38:57because Clinton rang Tony
0:38:57 > 0:39:00and said, "I want a tough negotiator, have you got one?"
0:39:00 > 0:39:02He said, "I've got a trade union guy that can do it."
0:39:02 > 0:39:04That's how I became the negotiator,
0:39:04 > 0:39:07because we had the presidency and I followed the climate change
0:39:07 > 0:39:10right through to Paris, that's 20 years.
0:39:10 > 0:39:13The only way I could still keep in the political frame
0:39:13 > 0:39:15was being part of a political institution,
0:39:15 > 0:39:17from an international... you've got to have come,
0:39:17 > 0:39:20and the House of Lords gave me that opportunity.
0:39:20 > 0:39:23And the other one - I wanted to continue to fight Murdoch
0:39:23 > 0:39:27and all the spying they've been doing on people and the press,
0:39:27 > 0:39:28who are so abusive.
0:39:28 > 0:39:31I still want to take them on and make that accountability
0:39:31 > 0:39:32and I needed a political base to do it,
0:39:32 > 0:39:36so there's two things I'm still actively involved in.
0:39:36 > 0:39:39I probably work as many hours as I did before.
0:39:39 > 0:39:43So what do you think of the view of abolishing the House of Lords?
0:39:43 > 0:39:45Oh, I think there's a lot of sense in that,
0:39:45 > 0:39:47but what I don't accept,
0:39:47 > 0:39:49I don't accept you can have two elected chambers.
0:39:49 > 0:39:51It's a lot of trouble if you start doing that.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54There can only be one elected chamber and that's the Commons.
0:39:54 > 0:39:59Now, if you want to use the House of Lords as a kind of amending body,
0:39:59 > 0:40:03as you can do, then get people indirectly elected to them
0:40:03 > 0:40:06through the regions, so you have the regions in there
0:40:06 > 0:40:08instead of all this appointment
0:40:08 > 0:40:10of the people we're getting there at the moment.
0:40:10 > 0:40:12I think make it into a proper debating...
0:40:12 > 0:40:14But make it reflect.
0:40:21 > 0:40:23It sounds like you're very busy.
0:40:23 > 0:40:25Do you get to watch much telly these days?
0:40:25 > 0:40:28No, I don't, but I'll tell you what I probably watch most -
0:40:28 > 0:40:30I do find it very relaxing -
0:40:30 > 0:40:33it's either films or the Discovery Channel.
0:40:33 > 0:40:35All those things, they're fascinating.
0:40:35 > 0:40:39- I watch so many air accidents... - Oh, dear, plane investigation?
0:40:39 > 0:40:42I don't know how they find out how a plane went down.
0:40:42 > 0:40:46- It's quite remarkable. - I love that programme.
0:40:46 > 0:40:48I always watch it before I go on holiday and my wife tells me,
0:40:48 > 0:40:51"What are you doing watching this for?!"
0:40:51 > 0:40:53But I do really enjoy it.
0:40:53 > 0:40:55I think the skill in which they find out what caused it
0:40:55 > 0:40:58is quite remarkable and it's reassuring.
0:40:58 > 0:41:00OK, you might be dead in an air crash,
0:41:00 > 0:41:02but they will find out why you died!
0:41:04 > 0:41:06We've got cinema one and cinema two in my house.
0:41:06 > 0:41:09- You've got two cinemas?- Oh, yeah.
0:41:09 > 0:41:10Two Jags, two cinemas...
0:41:10 > 0:41:12- I had one Jag, by the way, if you want to bring that up.- I know.
0:41:12 > 0:41:14So why two cinemas?
0:41:14 > 0:41:17- Well, two rooms with televisions in them.- Right.
0:41:17 > 0:41:21She wants Celebrity, The Voice...
0:41:21 > 0:41:23- X Factor?- All that kind, X Factor, all that rubbish.- Strictly?
0:41:23 > 0:41:27She drives me barmy, they're always screaming and shouting in it!
0:41:27 > 0:41:31I get a cup of tea for her and go in the other room and watch Discovery.
0:41:31 > 0:41:34But it still comes through the door, all that screaming and shouting
0:41:34 > 0:41:37when somebody's got kicked out of the celebrity thing,
0:41:37 > 0:41:40or Tom Jones shouting about The Voice or something.
0:41:40 > 0:41:42Cos I just see it on the way through as I'm bringing her a cup of tea.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45LAUGHTER
0:41:46 > 0:41:49So, John, we give our guests the opportunity
0:41:49 > 0:41:52to pick a theme tune now for us to play out on.
0:41:53 > 0:41:55Have you got something in mind?
0:41:55 > 0:41:59Yes, very much. Going back many years, cos I went to visit...
0:41:59 > 0:42:02- Does anyone remember The Prisoner? - Yes.
0:42:02 > 0:42:04With that big bouncing ball,
0:42:04 > 0:42:06you're wondering where the hell it was coming from.
0:42:06 > 0:42:08But it had a fearful sense about it
0:42:08 > 0:42:12and somehow, the theme music just captured it.
0:42:12 > 0:42:16That theme music identified a programme
0:42:16 > 0:42:20and a place which was wonderful, something different
0:42:20 > 0:42:25and excitement and a little bit of fear on the side.
0:42:25 > 0:42:27Well, you've been exciting
0:42:27 > 0:42:31and there's been a little bit of fear on the side.
0:42:31 > 0:42:33Have you enjoyed your experience?
0:42:33 > 0:42:35- Thoroughly. Today, you mean?- Yeah.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38Not life, I mean today on the sofa!
0:42:38 > 0:42:39Yeah, I have.
0:42:39 > 0:42:43The audience were great, the interviewer was a bit going on.
0:42:43 > 0:42:45LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:42:45 > 0:42:48John, it's been an absolute pleasure, Lord Prescott.
0:42:48 > 0:42:51My thanks to John. Give him a round of applause.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54APPLAUSE And my thanks to you lot
0:42:54 > 0:42:55for watching The TV That Made Me.
0:42:55 > 0:42:57We'll see you next time and bye-bye!
0:43:02 > 0:43:06MUSIC: The Prisoner Theme