John Prescott The TV That Made Me


John Prescott

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Transcript


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TV, the magic box of delights.

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As kids it showed us a million different worlds,

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all from our living room.

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This takes me right back.

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-That's so embarrassing!

-I am genuinely shocked.

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'Each day, I'm going to journey through the wonderful world of telly

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'with one of our favourite celebrities...'

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It's just so silly!

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Ah! I love it!

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Is it Mr Benn?!

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-IN LONDON ACCENT:

-Shut it!

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

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Oh, hello!

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'..that tell us the stories of their lives.'

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SHE GASPS

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Oh, my gosh!

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-BOTH:

-Cheers.

-'Some will make you laugh...'

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HE GROWLS LOUDLY

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-Oh, no!

-'..some will surprise.'

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DUCK QUACKS, SHE SHRIEKS

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'..many will inspire...'

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-Ooh!

-Look at this.

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Why wouldn't you want to watch this?

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'..and others will move us.'

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Seeing that there made a huge impact on me.

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Got a handkerchief?

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

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

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WHOOPING AND APPLAUSE

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Welcome to The TV That Made Me.

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My guest today was once the man who was second in command

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of the entire country.

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John Prescott started his working life in the Merchant Navy,

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where he slugged it out in the boxing ring

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and, for the first time, the world of politics.

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He became a Labour MP in 1970

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and he eventually served as Deputy Prime Minister for over a decade.

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Now, he's an actual baron.

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The TV that made him includes a globetrotting giant...

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..some royal pageantry...

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..and a gritty cop show.

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Ladies and gentlemen, Lord Prescott. APPLAUSE

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Welcome, John, come and join us.

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I liked the cheering bit. Can you do that again?

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Come on, sit down.

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Make yourself at home.

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And do I call you Lord Prescott, can I call you John?

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No, the pantomime season's finished.

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I know they call me Baron -

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you played it in a pantomime, didn't you?

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-I've done many pantomimes.

-Call me John anyway.

-All right then, John.

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And if there's any bother, John, I've got an egg.

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LAUGHTER

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-Now, that does make me shiver.

-Does it?

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Does it really? Why?

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Well, it all happened very quickly.

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Look, I've been 40 years in politics.

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-40 seconds, when a man hit me with an egg...

-Yes.

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..and basically, when that obituary comes for all of us,

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I'll have that situation of me thumping that fella.

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That was my contribution to politics in 40 seconds.

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Tony Blair rung me up afterwards. He said, "Are you all right?"

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I said, "Yeah." He said, "What were you doing?"

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I said, "I was carrying out your orders."

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He said, "What do you mean?"

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I said, "You told us to go out and connect with the electorate,

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-"so I did."

-LAUGHTER

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Well, welcome, John, and we hope to connect with you today,

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because today is a celebration of television that you have loved

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and watched over the many years,

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-that you've been around and...

-Many!

-Many, many.

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Well, we're going to show that now, because we've got some clips

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and a little bit of footage of what it was like

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being a very young John Prescott.

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John was born in May 1938

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in Prestatyn in Wales to Phyllis and Bert Prescott,

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a railway signalman and Labour councillor.

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He grew up with two sisters, Dawn and Vi,

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and two brothers, Ray and Adrian.

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When John was just three, the family left Wales and moved briefly

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to Brinsworth in South Yorkshire, before settling in Upton, Cheshire.

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After leaving school, he joined the Merchant Navy as a ship's steward

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during the last days of the great ocean liners.

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There he got involved in trade unionism,

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which brought him to the national stage.

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He became MP for Kingston-upon-Hull East in 1970

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and in 1997, Deputy Prime Minister in the new Labour government.

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In 2010, he was elevated to the House of Lords

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to become Baron Prescott of Kingston-upon-Hull.

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So, John, it's time for your first choice.

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We're going to take a look at your very first TV memory.

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'They asked the crowd to be forbearing

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'and not to try to surge forward,

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'and now here is the Queen.'

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-This, of course, is the Queen's coronation.

-Oh, yeah!

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-1953, John.

-Yeah.

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An estimated three million people lined the streets of London,

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hoping for a glimpse of the newly crowned Queen.

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And with over 8,000 guests and dignitaries attending,

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there weren't enough horse-drawn carriage coachmen

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to transport them to Westminster Abbey,

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so millionaires and country squires

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offered their services, dressing up as Buckingham Palace servants.

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Did you know, there was an estimated 27 million people watched this?

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Yeah, my father had won a horse bet and won £1,000 in 1953,

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and therefore he bought a television.

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It was 14", a big cabinet, small screen

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and all the neighbours came in to watch it.

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They all came with a flask of tea and their own sandwiches.

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A lot of things were just getting over rationing,

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so you couldn't come in and have your tea

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and your sandwiches provided.

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But I got a bit annoyed cos I couldn't see anything.

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Because the lounge was so busy?

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The room was all full. They'd all turned out.

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They were from number 29, they were from 24

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and they all had their little tea things,

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they were sitting around looking at this little television.

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I was a bit annoyed, so they kicked me out

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and I was riding in my bike around the streets.

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CROWDS CHEER

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-Are you very much a royalist?

-No.

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I think she does a remarkable job.

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It's a judgment as a kind of democrat, in my way.

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I find it hard to believe that you have a monarchy,

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but they're well-loved in this country.

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But let me tell you, the Queen came to Hull on her Silver Jubilee

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and they said, "You must come up and meet the Queen."

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I'm not a monarchist, so I didn't really want to go there,

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but I didn't want to cause offence,

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cos a lot of people do think it's important.

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But in the end, I said, "I'll come up, but I won't bow."

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I was standing there when the Queen arrived and I was standing up.

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The wife had done her curtsying.

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She came to me, the Queen, and I didn't realise how small she was.

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And then I shook hands with her and she said...

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HE IMITATES MUMBLING

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I said, "Pardon?"

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LAUGHTER

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That wasn't so clever.

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The Queen has always been a massive draw to TV audiences

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and a number of famous actors have played her over the years.

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Dame Helen Mirren won a Bafta and an Oscar for her performance

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in the drama The Queen,

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about the royal response to Princess Diana's death.

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Prunella Scales wore the crown

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in Alan Bennett's A Question Of Attribution,

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about the KGB's double agent, Anthony Blunt.

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But who could forget the legendary Kenny Everett,

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who played the Queen in his 1980s TV sketch show?

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But it wasn't necessarily...

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IN AMERICAN ACCENT: ..in the best possible taste.

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So what sort of telly did the Prescotts watch

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in those early days when they got that...?

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Anything. You just switched on.

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Of course, there weren't going 24 hours,

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there was only one programme, there weren't a dozen programmes.

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You go from that now, now when you look at them,

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there's about 200 stations you're looking through.

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Then there was one, and only certain hours.

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So what was the house like growing up?

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My father was a railwayman, so he moved around a bit.

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I was born in Wales, in Prestatyn.

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He, at that time - I was born in 1938 -

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-lost his leg at Dunkirk.

-Oh, right.

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He used to have a stump stocking

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and they used to put the orange at the bottom,

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because it was your Christmas stocking!

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So your love of politics,

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did that stem from your father?

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Yes, from my parents. My mother was from a very strong Labour family.

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In fact, we're proud that my grandad then

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was on the front of the Daily Herald as a miner

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as those who had fought for the nationalisation of the mines,

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so you came from that family background in Wales.

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It was pretty hard in north Wales.

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My father was from Liverpool

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and he had his approach to it, so it was always the room

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for Labour committee rooms, visiting MPs, all that thing, so it was that

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and I think the one lesson taught to me,

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whether it was right or wrong -

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I think about it today - my father said...

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I'm saying, "Why should you nationalise the railways?"

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He said, "Look, when you have a bag of sugar for ordinary people

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"and you send it by railways, it costs them less,

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"cos they don't get the profit."

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It seems a simple enough analysis,

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but probably a bit more sophisticated today,

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but looking at the railways today, I'm not so sure it's not true still!

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Bridlington was always the place we went on holidays,

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because that's where the unions had their conferences

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and my mother, in that union, Transport Salaried Staffs,

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and in that union,

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they used to send the money to the house before the conference,

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where you'd usually get it after.

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My father was always a man who thought you could double it

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on the races, so my mother used to fight to get the package

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of the money coming, else we wouldn't get a holiday,

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so Bridlington was always the holiday.

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They were a good mother and father.

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They got difficulty later in life and they separated,

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but you're forever grateful to your mum and your dad,

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-whatever their difficulties.

-Yeah.

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Though when I got into politics,

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they were giving more press releases than me.

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LAUGHTER

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I was on the Today programme and John Humphrys said, "Well, John,

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"the Labour party's middle class now."

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I said, "It's always had middle class in it.

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"They've played a major part."

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I said, "Anyway, I'm middle class -

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"how could I be anything else with two Jags?"

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-He said...

-LAUGHTER

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He said, "Well, OK, then, bit of a shock."

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My mother and father rung up the Today programme,

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went on the programme and disowned me, saying,

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-"We're working class, I don't know what he's saying."

-Really?

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LAUGHTER

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So it's quite a divisive family, and very political, of course.

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So what age did you leave home at?

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I left the school at 15

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and then got a chance at 16, 17,

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before the army conscription came along,

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and I joined the Cunard steamship company as a waiter.

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-Yeah.

-So I had ten years at sea, got eventually kicked out of it

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and blacked by most of the shipping companies

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because of my union activities.

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The working conditions at sea were tough,

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with very little time or space for recreation.

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A seaman on the Franconia, whether he washes dishes in the galley

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or tends the engines in the extreme heat of the ship's belly,

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works on average an 11-hour day,

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seven days a week.

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There's no break in the routine, no place they can escape to.

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Cruises can last for three or four months

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and in all that time at sea, they're working half the day

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and on call for the other 12 hours.

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The men had to find their own entertainment

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and for John, that meant entering bruising boxing bouts

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with colleagues, a sport he had dabbled in before.

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The first time I ever did box was in Butlins.

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They used to have boxing competitions at Butlins?

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-That's right.

-Really?

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And I got in the ring, I had my bathers and a pair of pumps,

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and this fella got in the ring, he had boxing boots on,

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he had the shorts, he had the gear

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and he was, "Shu-shu-shu-shu!"

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I thought, "What have I done?"

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So I go out, but he'd come with the most beautiful girl

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I'd ever seen up to that stage, until I met the wife.

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Anyway, she's there and I'm looking at her like that.

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He hits me and sends me in a complete somersault across the ring

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and I'm so embarrassed getting up, not because of him,

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though I'm not happy about that,

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but this woman sees me battered by her boyfriend.

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-So you never won?

-No, I didn't.

-No.

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I hit the ropes on the other side.

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-I learned, don't take your eye off the man in front of you.

-Yeah.

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Here's your next choice, John.

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Whicker's World.

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Oh, Alan Whicker.

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Alan Whicker started his globetrotting TV career

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on the early BBC current affairs show Tonight.

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But with his suave looks and distinctive voice,

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it wasn't long before he was fronting his own show,

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reporting on the unusual and bizarre.

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-Whicker's World, aye.

-What is it you loved about it?

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Just the fact he was travelling...?

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It was interesting and he went to interesting places.

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They were usually out of UK,

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they were abroad, weren't they, Whicker's World?

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He did it in such a way, it makes a difference.

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It depends on the character of the person who's presenting it,

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that's where the key comes.

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This is a clip about medicinal bee stings.

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Now, is the sting any different from that of an ordinary bee?

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No, no.

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Yes, now, you've been stung many times yourself, I suppose.

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So many thousand times, I'd like to have it in farthings.

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That's how he introduced programmes, though.

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It awakened your interest to say, "What is he talking about?"

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I really did open windows into worlds you didn't see.

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Into Whicker's world, yeah.

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In some cases, you mustn't go near her head at all.

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-Oh.

-Because once you put it up the back of her head,

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you will have a patient just covered from head to toe with sores.

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-With what?

-With sores.

-Sores?

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Oh, yes, I have got a photograph, I can show you hundreds of them.

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I had them so much...

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I always thought he had a posh voice, of course.

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-Oh, yeah.

-You expected that from the BBC.

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IN RICH VOICE: Yes, this the BBC.

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Alan Whicker established himself as a living room favourite,

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by which time John was about to swap sea life for married life.

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How old were you when you met your wife?

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I'd have been about, um, 25, I think.

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And how did that come about?

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I saw this beautiful-looking girl standing by the bus stop.

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I said, "All right, love."

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Oh, yeah. Oh, you've got the lines.

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-"All right, love."

-So I said, "Are you doing anything tonight?"

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"Do you want to go to the pictures?"

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Then it was all pictures, weren't it?

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They knew there's a kind of clicker guys in Chester, where we lived,

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which were from the Merchant Navy

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and the thing we could do, coming over from New York,

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you could get the records then,

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-six months before they came out in the UK.

-Oh, wow.

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We were persuading them with all the good gear

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-you're bringing back from the States.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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And she's a very good-looking woman, even today - very smart.

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Now, your next choice comes out of the first year you were married.

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Let's have a look at your must-see TV.

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-That's it, that's that theme.

-Z-CARS THEME PLAYS

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-It's Z-Cars. That's the old Ford Zephyr.

-Oh, yeah.

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At that time, it was quite a car.

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-They didn't have a Jag, them.

-No!

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LAUGHTER

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Z-Cars reinvented British TV cop shows.

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Out went the gentle bobby on the beat

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and in came police in fast cars,

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chasing the criminal underworld.

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It was an instant hit, topping 14 million viewers during its run.

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Right, then.

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A bit of a squeeze.

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-Is that Smithy there?

-That is.

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Yeah, there he is, Brian Blessed.

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You look a bit like him.

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I thought I'd lost a bit of weight.

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LAUGHTER

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Where will the master criminal strike next?

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Get out of it, ya mug, you!

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Look, this bloke will try it again,

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only he won't be expecting us this time.

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Ah, it's a beat bobby's job, not ours.

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What you do associate it with was Dixon Of Dock Green, "Evening, all."

0:15:570:16:03

This was just a major change from it,

0:16:030:16:05

-about police acting probably more like they are.

-So a bit more gritty?

0:16:050:16:10

-Oh, aye, Smithy was, wasn't he?

-Yeah.

0:16:100:16:12

It was a radical change.

0:16:120:16:15

Ah, it's a waste of time, this bloke was a casual, a down-and-out.

0:16:150:16:18

He'll be miles away at a seaport by now.

0:16:180:16:20

Spending his ill-gotten gains.

0:16:200:16:22

But coming into that was the reality of dealing with difficult problems

0:16:220:16:25

and how individuals dealt with them.

0:16:250:16:27

-Yeah.

-I never missed an episode.

0:16:270:16:30

Z-Cars was one of Brian Blessed's first ever TV roles.

0:16:310:16:35

He had a roaring success in the BBC serialisation

0:16:350:16:38

of the Three Musketeers, alongside future Sherlock, Jeremy Brett.

0:16:380:16:43

He played Caesar Augustus

0:16:440:16:46

in the triple Bafta award-winning I, Claudius,

0:16:460:16:49

a drama series about the history of Rome.

0:16:490:16:52

And he boomed "Gordon's alive!" as Vultan, Prince of the Hawkmen

0:16:540:16:59

in the 1980 film Flash Gordon.

0:16:590:17:01

He was a household name by the time he played the mad, comical figure

0:17:040:17:07

of Richard IV in the first series of The Black Adder saga.

0:17:070:17:11

And he was in fine voice as the lovable Greek fixer Spiro

0:17:130:17:17

in My Family And Other Animals,

0:17:170:17:19

about the life of famed conservationist Gerald Durrell.

0:17:190:17:23

Now we move on to your next choice now, a comedy character.

0:17:310:17:34

Till Death Us Do Part was conceived

0:17:370:17:39

by legendary TV writer Johnny Speight

0:17:390:17:41

as a satire of the bigoted views around at the time.

0:17:410:17:45

But some of the audience didn't see it that way,

0:17:450:17:47

instead embracing the often offensive views of Mr Alf Garnett.

0:17:470:17:51

-Alf.

-Alf Garnett.

0:17:550:17:57

This scene shows Warren Mitchell,

0:17:580:18:00

playing the right-wing caricature at his full-blown ranting best.

0:18:000:18:05

-Number one, the Tories has got money, right?

-Right.

0:18:050:18:09

-Right, you agree with me there?

-Yeah.

0:18:090:18:11

Number two, if you've got money,

0:18:110:18:13

-you don't need to fiddle, right?

-Aw, give over!

0:18:130:18:16

Therefore, number three, the Tories can afford to be honest!

0:18:160:18:20

What was it about Alf Garnett that you loved so much, John?

0:18:200:18:24

Well, he kept to the character.

0:18:240:18:27

A lot of people actually thought about it like that.

0:18:270:18:29

I disagreed with him politically, but he captured it, didn't he,

0:18:290:18:33

with the accent, language, the most reactionary part of things,

0:18:330:18:37

but it's what I call a working class Tory.

0:18:370:18:40

-Yeah, yeah.

-And he was very much that.

0:18:400:18:42

Many of Garnett's tirades were about politics

0:18:420:18:45

and took direct aim at socialist son-in-law Mike,

0:18:450:18:49

played by Tony Booth,

0:18:490:18:50

who later became real-life father-in-law to one Tony Blair.

0:18:500:18:55

On that last election, see,

0:18:550:18:58

they was betting, wasn't they?

0:18:580:18:59

-Not only on who'd win the election, but when it'd be, right?

-Yeah.

0:18:590:19:03

And the only man in the country who knew when it would be

0:19:030:19:07

was Harold Wilson himself, cos he's the bloke

0:19:070:19:09

what had to choose when it'd be, didn't he?

0:19:090:19:12

Garnett's rants used language that would shock today's audiences.

0:19:120:19:16

But back in the 1960s and '70s,

0:19:180:19:20

it was prime-time viewing.

0:19:200:19:21

..which is his pero-jative, I'll grant you that.

0:19:210:19:24

But he played off against him, Antony Booth.

0:19:240:19:28

Great satire, great programme, great acting.

0:19:280:19:31

-I thoroughly enjoyed it.

-Yeah.

0:19:310:19:33

Alf was one of the first of a long line of TV big mouths

0:19:350:19:38

who didn't hold back.

0:19:380:19:40

Dad's Army's stroppy chief air raid warden William Hodges,

0:19:400:19:44

played by Carry On star Bill Pertwee,

0:19:440:19:46

was the scourge of Captain Mainwaring

0:19:460:19:48

and anyone who left the light on.

0:19:480:19:50

Nearest And Dearest, by Love Thy Neighbour creator Vince Powell,

0:19:530:19:56

unleashed the caustic tongue of Nellie Pledge

0:19:560:20:00

as she tried to make a success of the family pickle business.

0:20:000:20:03

Unemployed motor-mouth and street philosopher Rab C Nesbitt,

0:20:050:20:09

played by Gregor Fisher, regularly broke TV's fourth wall

0:20:090:20:12

by ranting at other characters, then directly to us watching at home.

0:20:120:20:17

Foul-mouthed spin doctor Malcolm Tucker, played by Peter Capaldi,

0:20:200:20:24

was always ready to verbally strike down anyone who caused him

0:20:240:20:28

even the mildest irritation,

0:20:280:20:31

which became known as "being Tuckered".

0:20:310:20:33

We're going to take a TV break now, John.

0:20:410:20:44

This is one of your favourites.

0:20:440:20:47

Roger, dear boy, how's your client coming along?

0:20:470:20:52

-It's the PG Tips adverts.

-Oh, yeah, yeah!

0:20:520:20:54

These cheeky, tea-drinking chimps

0:20:550:20:58

first hit our screens in 1956.

0:20:580:21:01

Don't worry, madam, I'll take over.

0:21:010:21:03

-It's horrible!

-Can you imagine them trying to film this.

0:21:030:21:06

So what did you enjoy about these little monkeys?

0:21:060:21:09

I thought it was remark...

0:21:090:21:11

Well, first of all, anything that makes you smile is good, isn't it?

0:21:110:21:13

You're going to like that.

0:21:130:21:15

Using animals, getting them to film that,

0:21:150:21:17

-that wouldn't be done in half an hour, would it?

-No.

0:21:170:21:20

I think the imagination behind it, the skill in doing it...

0:21:200:21:24

One of the unique things I think about British advertising,

0:21:240:21:27

it tends to have a...it's important for the British humour,

0:21:270:21:31

that it has humour in it,

0:21:310:21:33

more than, say, when you're in America -

0:21:330:21:35

it's always about slickness and everything.

0:21:350:21:37

But with animals - you see it with dogs and different things now -

0:21:370:21:40

it's part of the British psyche,

0:21:400:21:43

if there's an animal involved, you ought to begin with that.

0:21:430:21:46

The campaign sent sales soaring,

0:21:460:21:48

but it divided opinion and still does today.

0:21:480:21:51

Animal welfare advocates branded the ads exploitative,

0:21:510:21:54

but they were a huge hit with viewers.

0:21:540:21:57

Anything that makes people smile and feel warm,

0:21:580:22:00

isn't that what it's really about?

0:22:000:22:02

It's family life and also, with all the trials and tribulations,

0:22:020:22:06

-it's nice to get these shots to make you smile.

-Yeah.

0:22:060:22:08

-I'm trying to think who that looks like.

-Well, I don't know.

0:22:080:22:12

I think it looks like Tony Blair.

0:22:120:22:14

-Not with that hair.

-Or Brian Blessed.

0:22:140:22:16

-Brian Blessed!

-Yeah.

0:22:160:22:18

Mmm, this style's growing on me.

0:22:180:22:20

-What do you call it?

-Hair-raising?

0:22:200:22:23

LAUGHTER

0:22:230:22:24

I didn't like PG, I always thought Yorkshire Tea was better.

0:22:240:22:27

-You're just saying that!

-But it's a remarkable...

-Campaign.

0:22:270:22:32

Catching animals in that way, and those.

0:22:320:22:35

The chimps have now retired,

0:22:360:22:37

but the campaign still continues with a puppet called Monkey.

0:22:370:22:41

I'll take over.

0:22:410:22:42

You just warm to them when they come on, don't you?

0:22:420:22:45

It's the longest-running adverts in history.

0:22:450:22:47

They're still going, PG Tips and the PG monkeys.

0:22:470:22:50

-It is incredible how...

-It is incredible.

0:22:500:22:53

Now, John, we're going to move on to a charismatic politician

0:23:010:23:06

who you named as one of your biggest influences.

0:23:060:23:10

This is a challenge we did not seek

0:23:100:23:13

and do not want.

0:23:130:23:14

All the more so because it comes from men

0:23:150:23:18

who have won the undying respect and admiration of the whole nation.

0:23:180:23:23

-Harold Wilson, of course, Prime Minister.

-Yeah.

0:23:230:23:26

But he was a remarkable man and for the first time,

0:23:260:23:29

we had a professional economist, cos that's what he was.

0:23:290:23:32

He had a background and therefore he was exciting.

0:23:320:23:35

There were certain characteristics about him.

0:23:350:23:37

He was talking about things that are relevant today.

0:23:370:23:40

This was man who told the Americans,

0:23:400:23:42

"We're not going to Vietnam,"

0:23:420:23:44

to which Johnson made it very difficult for the UK,

0:23:440:23:47

but that was a principle, that we shouldn't be involved

0:23:470:23:49

in that special relationship and get involved in Vietnam.

0:23:490:23:52

And he did a lot more things -

0:23:520:23:53

he was a principled man who voted against health charges,

0:23:530:23:56

under a Labour government

0:23:560:23:58

that wanted to bring in those health charges.

0:23:580:24:00

He then resigned and came down with Bevan and others.

0:24:000:24:03

As often with politics, though,

0:24:030:24:05

what you're trying to do is not necessarily what you want to do

0:24:050:24:08

and you have to play

0:24:080:24:09

and try and find a way forward to achieving that,

0:24:090:24:12

but I admired him because he was professional,

0:24:120:24:15

he was an economist - most of the problems of that day

0:24:150:24:17

were about the economy and balance of payments.

0:24:170:24:19

To have a man who understood it and did it, I welcomed that

0:24:190:24:23

and for Labour to be looking forward

0:24:230:24:25

and carrying in technology changes to meet with it,

0:24:250:24:28

that's good, cos so often, we tend to defend

0:24:280:24:31

a lot of our things from the past, rather than getting on.

0:24:310:24:34

He captured that, I think.

0:24:340:24:36

This strike will settle nothing.

0:24:360:24:39

It will neither establish their case

0:24:400:24:43

nor settle their grievances.

0:24:430:24:44

But at great cost to Britain...

0:24:460:24:48

Back in 1966, Harold Wilson's government declared

0:24:480:24:52

a state of emergency after the nation's seamen went on strike.

0:24:520:24:56

As a prominent trade unionist, John was heavily involved in the dispute.

0:24:560:25:00

You've got to remember, that speech is just before the election

0:25:010:25:05

and we were threatening to go on strike again.

0:25:050:25:07

We'd had a seven-week strike before, which I'd been involved in.

0:25:070:25:11

We were working 84 hours a week with no overtime and we were working

0:25:110:25:16

under a merchant shipping act that if you disagreed with the captain,

0:25:160:25:19

it was mutiny. I only had one charge on that,

0:25:190:25:22

but we had to change the act.

0:25:220:25:25

He produced the proposals,

0:25:250:25:27

I produced a pamphlet called Not Wanted On Voyage,

0:25:270:25:29

which rejected most of this argument,

0:25:290:25:31

so when he came with the white paper, we wrote on it,

0:25:310:25:34

"Not wanted on voyage," and chucked it over to him.

0:25:340:25:36

"That's what we think about your white paper."

0:25:360:25:38

So we go to see him in Number Ten,

0:25:380:25:40

the first time I'm taken into Parliament, I'm not even an MP,

0:25:400:25:43

and into the Cabinet Room.

0:25:430:25:44

He meets us at the Number Ten door.

0:25:440:25:47

We go in there and he shakes hands with us

0:25:470:25:49

and he said, "I'll tell you what I'll do..." This was typical Wilson.

0:25:490:25:53

He said, "Look, accept this and then, when we come back,

0:25:530:25:57

"we'll have a new piece of legislation

0:25:570:25:59

"changing it as you want." He wanted to settle it.

0:25:590:26:02

So I said to him,

0:26:020:26:04

"Harold..." Or "Prime Minister" it was, right?

0:26:040:26:06

"..how do you know you'll win this next election?"

0:26:060:26:09

He said, on his pipe, "I'm very confident."

0:26:090:26:12

Well, he lost it, didn't he?

0:26:120:26:13

So I went up to him, I came in as an MP, I went to him and said,

0:26:130:26:16

"Now, Harold, what do I do?"

0:26:160:26:18

"You have to get on to the Tories, son."

0:26:180:26:21

To be fair to Harold,

0:26:210:26:23

he did bring about the changes in our legislation, all credit to him.

0:26:230:26:27

Though unfortunately he couldn't complete it, he started it,

0:26:270:26:30

because the Tories came in.

0:26:300:26:32

John, let's now take a look at a very young John Prescott.

0:26:380:26:42

-This is...?

-This is Panorama.

-Panorama!

0:26:420:26:45

'What we essentially seem to be discussing here is the role

0:26:450:26:49

'of a trade union in a capitalist society

0:26:490:26:51

'and whether collective bargaining is a valuable weapon for trade unions.

0:26:510:26:55

'If it is to achieve a redistribution...'

0:26:550:26:57

I think you do look like Brian Blessed.

0:26:570:26:59

1966 was a busy year for John,

0:27:010:27:04

as he took his first steps onto the biggest stage,

0:27:040:27:07

even making his first ever national TV appearance

0:27:070:27:10

on the biggest political show of the day, Panorama.

0:27:100:27:14

For your first television appearance, John,

0:27:140:27:16

-I have to say you don't look nervous.

-No.

0:27:160:27:19

'After all, Mr Wilson told us

0:27:190:27:21

'the answers to these problems before he was elected.

0:27:210:27:24

'What we're vitally concerned about at the moment is apparently...'

0:27:240:27:27

'..the very answers which they told us were wrong

0:27:300:27:33

'when the Tories used them and we feel if it was wrong for the Tories,

0:27:330:27:36

'then it must be doubly wrong

0:27:360:27:37

'for the Labour Party to adopt the same measures.'

0:27:370:27:40

We started it and I was on with a reporter from the Guardian.

0:27:400:27:44

I did a question, he did a question

0:27:440:27:45

and then they said,

0:27:450:27:47

"The camera's broken down, we're going to start again."

0:27:470:27:50

But what this journalist did was to pinch my question!

0:27:500:27:53

I'm trying to think now, I've lost my question,

0:27:530:27:56

this bugger's pinched it,

0:27:560:27:57

so when I look at that - that was my first television -

0:27:570:28:00

I often think, "You've got to watch for the guys around you,"

0:28:000:28:03

but that's life and you have to live with television,

0:28:030:28:05

-as it's live television.

-Yeah.

0:28:050:28:08

That's things you have to watch for.

0:28:080:28:10

But that was my first one, really, after the seamen's strike.

0:28:100:28:15

-How important is television to politics?

-Oh, critical.

0:28:150:28:18

It determines your own personality with the public.

0:28:180:28:21

I remember a Tory coming up to me - he must have been a Tory,

0:28:210:28:24

he had a top hat on -

0:28:240:28:26

and was on the train, an umbrella, the old city type,

0:28:260:28:31

I'm sitting at the table on the train

0:28:310:28:33

and he come up with his umbrella and said,

0:28:330:28:35

"Prescott, I don't like your views, but I like the cut of your jib."

0:28:350:28:39

-LAUGHTER

-And in a way,

0:28:390:28:42

it is important for the politicians to maintain that certain amount of,

0:28:420:28:46

"This is what I believe," that's not something to be scared to say.

0:28:460:28:49

Of course you've got to be careful with the words

0:28:490:28:51

and the public understand that,

0:28:510:28:53

but they make a judgment about you as to whether you actually believe

0:28:530:28:56

what you're saying, or you're just putting the answer up.

0:28:560:28:58

If you're just putting the answer up, I think that's a real problem

0:28:580:29:01

and I think the politicians, to a certain extent in the debate now,

0:29:010:29:05

in order not to get caught out with what you're saying,

0:29:050:29:08

cos then the press want to pick out the one word that's wrong,

0:29:080:29:11

politicians then go rather safe

0:29:110:29:14

and sometimes it's the same answer to different questions!

0:29:140:29:17

People watching it are thinking, "What's this about?"

0:29:170:29:20

They can sass it, they can see it,

0:29:200:29:22

so if you try to get an image across

0:29:220:29:24

that you're trying to control the media

0:29:240:29:27

and you don't want to give an answer that they think is just set up

0:29:270:29:30

by your press people who've told you to give that answer,

0:29:300:29:34

it demeans politics

0:29:340:29:35

and I think we have to be much more courageous about that.

0:29:350:29:38

I think just straight talking, isn't it?

0:29:380:29:40

-That's the case.

-I think that's what people do say.

0:29:400:29:42

"Here's my question - give me the answer."

0:29:420:29:44

Even if they don't agree with you.

0:29:440:29:46

Do you remember the TV coverage of the 1997 victory?

0:29:460:29:51

-Well, that was...

-Election victory?

0:29:510:29:52

That's remarkable. There'll never be another 1997.

0:29:520:29:56

Let's have a little look.

0:29:560:29:58

MUSIC: Things Can Only Get Better by D:Ream

0:29:580:30:02

-REPORTER:

-It was after five in the morning and dawn was breaking

0:30:020:30:05

by the time Tony Blair arrived at the Royal Festival Hall.

0:30:050:30:08

Labour has waited 18 years for this

0:30:080:30:11

and some of their supporters could barely contain themselves.

0:30:110:30:14

Remarkable, wasn't it, John?

0:30:160:30:18

Oh, you'll never get another occasion like that in politics,

0:30:180:30:22

-in my view.

-Why?

0:30:220:30:24

-Why was it so special?

-It was after 18 years.

0:30:240:30:27

They were finishing a period and they wanted something new.

0:30:270:30:30

People will get tired of politicians,

0:30:300:30:32

whoever they are, after a period of time.

0:30:320:30:34

This was a long period for Labour, but for the Tories,

0:30:340:30:37

they'd been in 18 years

0:30:370:30:38

and it had got identified with some of the excesses of Thatcher,

0:30:380:30:42

so people were coming up to you in the street.

0:30:420:30:45

I think everybody who was around at that time said they just felt it was

0:30:450:30:49

a kind of relief and it was great to be on the other end of it, right.

0:30:490:30:53

With all doubts about victory now gone,

0:30:530:30:55

this had the mark of a speech to the nation as a whole.

0:30:550:30:58

We are now today

0:31:010:31:03

the people's party.

0:31:030:31:04

CHEERING

0:31:040:31:07

The party of all the people,

0:31:080:31:10

the many, not the few,

0:31:100:31:12

the party that belongs to every part of Britain,

0:31:120:31:15

no matter what people's background or their creed

0:31:150:31:18

or their colour.

0:31:180:31:19

The party that can stand up

0:31:190:31:22

for what is a great country.

0:31:220:31:24

And Tony Blair.

0:31:240:31:26

-He's a remarkable guy, Tony Blair.

-Really?

0:31:260:31:28

I disagreed with a lot of his things and that was my job, really.

0:31:280:31:30

I'd run for the job and he got it.

0:31:300:31:32

But, you know, he could express things and say things.

0:31:340:31:36

The people liked him.

0:31:360:31:38

But what every Labour leader's got to do

0:31:380:31:40

is to show the electorate they're their own man.

0:31:400:31:43

It usually means having a go at the established left of the politics,

0:31:430:31:47

which is what he did on the trade unions.

0:31:470:31:49

They recognised he was a guy,

0:31:490:31:52

fresh-faced, spoke in their language,

0:31:520:31:55

wanted the kind of changes he was talking about

0:31:550:31:57

-and he achieved much of that.

-Yeah.

0:31:570:32:00

My argument at the time when we were coming with Blair when he said,

0:32:000:32:04

"I want to make a change and call it New Labour,"

0:32:040:32:09

I said, "What are you calling it New Labour for? Labour can change."

0:32:090:32:12

And I thought about it and then we were about 27% in the polls,

0:32:120:32:15

a bit political, really,

0:32:150:32:18

but I could see that a lot of our people were not going to come back

0:32:180:32:21

because they thought they were wrong about Thatcher,

0:32:210:32:24

they'd only come back if they thought you'd changed,

0:32:240:32:26

that made them vote, so I think that's what effectively happened

0:32:260:32:29

with the results we had there.

0:32:290:32:31

-It certainly was a result, wasn't it?

-Yeah.

0:32:310:32:33

Would you liked to have been leader?

0:32:330:32:36

-Oh, that would have scared me, I think.

-Really?

-Yeah.

0:32:360:32:39

I only really ran for the deputy.

0:32:390:32:41

My argument was you need a person to make sure the party keeps in line,

0:32:410:32:45

gets the policies, and then you give the support,

0:32:450:32:48

but I HAD to run for the leader. So Tony won,

0:32:480:32:52

and I always took the view - people who were saying,

0:32:520:32:54

"Don't make Prescott your deputy,"

0:32:540:32:57

Brown was one of them -

0:32:570:32:58

took the view that I might be resigning and threatening to resign.

0:32:580:33:02

No, no, when the party elects a leader, he's the leader,

0:33:020:33:05

he has the right and that's a bit of an argument at the moment.

0:33:050:33:08

And he was brilliant at putting the things together.

0:33:080:33:11

We had some differences, Iraq was a classic,

0:33:110:33:14

but the one thing I said to him, and even since,

0:33:140:33:17

he wants to bomb everywhere.

0:33:170:33:20

I said to him, "Why don't you put a bloody white sheet on,

0:33:200:33:22

"put a cross on, start the Crusades again?

0:33:220:33:24

"We lost that one, by the way - what are you doing it all again for?"

0:33:240:33:28

Brilliant, but I think he got carried away by the Yanks...

0:33:280:33:31

-Yeah.

-..to a certain extent.

-He fell in love with them?

0:33:310:33:34

Uh, well, Tony,

0:33:340:33:37

he always used to say, and every Prime Minister says it,

0:33:370:33:40

every British Prime Minister's got to make up his mind,

0:33:400:33:42

what's the relationship with the Americans?

0:33:420:33:45

And "the Americans" mean you're one of their states.

0:33:450:33:49

And if you look over Iraq, I always said you have no rights to go in

0:33:490:33:52

and remove the leadership.

0:33:520:33:54

Well, that's what they believed, that's what they did

0:33:540:33:57

and I think his downfall came from some of that.

0:33:570:34:00

But I'm a great admirer of his.

0:34:000:34:02

He did a lot of good things.

0:34:020:34:04

I was proud to serve with him

0:34:040:34:05

and that's what leadership's about, you get on with it.

0:34:050:34:08

Politicians, John, appear in the most unusual places,

0:34:140:34:19

including this next clip. Here it is, John.

0:34:190:34:22

Oh, Gavin! I knew nothing about this programme.

0:34:270:34:30

The Bafta award-winning Gavin & Stacey is an unlikely tale of love

0:34:300:34:34

between a lad from Essex and a girl from Barry.

0:34:340:34:37

-Oh, I never saw this!

-In this typical scene from series two,

0:34:370:34:40

Nessa, played by co-writer Ruth Jones,

0:34:400:34:43

recounts one of her seemingly unbelievable stories

0:34:430:34:47

about her past famous conquests to a fascinated Stacey.

0:34:470:34:51

This reminds me very much of my time with John...

0:34:510:34:54

Prescott.

0:34:540:34:56

LAUGHTER

0:34:560:34:57

I had the lot.

0:34:570:34:59

A flat in Westminster, full use of one of the Jags,

0:34:590:35:02

didn't even have to cook - I had a little Filipino do it for us.

0:35:020:35:06

Nessa's past was apparently littered with amorous encounters

0:35:060:35:10

with the rich and famous.

0:35:100:35:12

But not happy with just dropping his name,

0:35:120:35:14

Nessa takes it further,

0:35:140:35:16

inserting herself into the story of one of John's best-known moments.

0:35:160:35:20

He could be very dry.

0:35:200:35:22

I left that night and I never looked back.

0:35:230:35:26

Cos I knew I'd only ever be happy in Barry.

0:35:260:35:28

How did John take it?

0:35:280:35:30

-SIGHING:

-He took it bad.

0:35:300:35:32

He went mad, he did, shouting and fighting.

0:35:320:35:36

Next day, he punched a civilian.

0:35:360:35:38

When I saw it on the telly, I knew that punch was meant for me.

0:35:380:35:40

I was doing a programme for BBC on class.

0:35:400:35:43

It was these two series on class in Britain.

0:35:430:35:46

-And I wanted to talk to...

-Yeah, James Corden.

0:35:460:35:51

So I get in touch with him, "Can I come in?"

0:35:520:35:54

He said, "Only if you come on my programme."

0:35:540:35:57

I said, "What's your programme?"

0:35:570:35:59

He said, "Gavin & Stacey."

0:35:590:36:01

My son said to me, "Oh, it's a rave programme."

0:36:010:36:04

I said, "I don't know it."

0:36:040:36:06

Anyway, "If you'll do this interview with me on class..."

0:36:060:36:08

I'll do that one for him.

0:36:080:36:10

-Uh-huh.

-So I came in, they said, "Can you walk into the wedding?"

0:36:100:36:14

And that's what I did.

0:36:140:36:17

-See you in there.

-Yeah, see you in a minute.

0:36:170:36:19

Hi, Dave.

0:36:210:36:22

-Congratulations.

-Cheers, John. Nice to see you.

0:36:220:36:26

That was so natural, John. LAUGHTER

0:36:260:36:28

And so...

0:36:280:36:30

You're wasted, love, you're wasted.

0:36:300:36:32

-Well, all politicians are actors of one kind or another.

-Yes, they are.

0:36:330:36:36

Course it is.

0:36:360:36:37

But to follow on from that story,

0:36:370:36:39

I was down in Bristol, I knocked on a door campaigning

0:36:390:36:42

and these students came to the door and they said, "Oh, hello, John."

0:36:420:36:45

I said, "Are you going to vote Labour, then, lads?"

0:36:450:36:47

They said, "Yeah, yeah!" I said, "Is it our employment policy, health,

0:36:470:36:52

"jobs, education?"

0:36:520:36:53

"Oh, no, you were in Gavin & Stacey."

0:36:530:36:56

-LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

-That became the only reason

0:36:560:36:58

I got their vote, was because of Gavin & Stacey!

0:36:580:37:02

-I just don't think anyone expected you to be on the show.

-They don't.

0:37:020:37:06

Because she would often talk about her romances

0:37:060:37:09

to this star and that star

0:37:090:37:11

and the fact that you were there,

0:37:110:37:13

it just underlined it and emphasised it

0:37:130:37:14

and it's just a lovely moment.

0:37:140:37:16

And has quite an effect.

0:37:160:37:18

The response that comes from people who watch that,

0:37:180:37:21

they're surprised, but they're pleased that somehow

0:37:210:37:23

you've come into something they watch.

0:37:230:37:25

I can't explain it in any other way than that,

0:37:250:37:28

except they will come up to you and it got us some votes.

0:37:280:37:31

John's appearance on Gavin & Stacey continues a long tradition

0:37:340:37:38

of British politicians popping up on the entertainment scene.

0:37:380:37:42

After leaving office, Harold Wilson appeared

0:37:420:37:45

on The Morecambe And Wise Christmas special,

0:37:450:37:47

teasing Eric by deliberately calling him "Morry-camby".

0:37:470:37:51

In 1984, then Labour leader Neil Kinnock helped take

0:37:550:37:58

Tracey Ullman's cover of the Madness song My Girl

0:37:580:38:02

to number 23 in the charts

0:38:020:38:04

when he appeared in the music video.

0:38:040:38:06

In his final year as PM, Tony Blair appeared

0:38:070:38:10

in a hilarious Comic Relief sketch

0:38:100:38:12

with Catherine Tate's teenage alter ego Lauren,

0:38:120:38:16

to ask her, "Am I bovvered?"

0:38:160:38:19

And Boris Johnson stole the show

0:38:190:38:20

when he appeared for the first time on Have I Got News For You,

0:38:200:38:24

launching him on the road to becoming a TV personality.

0:38:240:38:27

So what's life like now?

0:38:290:38:31

Are you still very much...do you play a big hand in politics?

0:38:310:38:35

Oh, yeah. Well, one of the reasons...

0:38:350:38:38

People say to me, "Why did you go into the Lords?"

0:38:380:38:41

I started the climate negotiations in 1997

0:38:410:38:46

and I've followed it right through to Paris.

0:38:460:38:48

The only way I could keep in the negotiations...

0:38:480:38:50

And I became the negotiator for Europe at Kyoto in '97,

0:38:500:38:55

because Clinton rang Tony

0:38:550:38:57

and said, "I want a tough negotiator, have you got one?"

0:38:570:39:00

He said, "I've got a trade union guy that can do it."

0:39:000:39:02

That's how I became the negotiator,

0:39:020:39:04

because we had the presidency and I followed the climate change

0:39:040:39:07

right through to Paris, that's 20 years.

0:39:070:39:10

The only way I could still keep in the political frame

0:39:100:39:13

was being part of a political institution,

0:39:130:39:15

from an international... you've got to have come,

0:39:150:39:17

and the House of Lords gave me that opportunity.

0:39:170:39:20

And the other one - I wanted to continue to fight Murdoch

0:39:200:39:23

and all the spying they've been doing on people and the press,

0:39:230:39:27

who are so abusive.

0:39:270:39:28

I still want to take them on and make that accountability

0:39:280:39:31

and I needed a political base to do it,

0:39:310:39:32

so there's two things I'm still actively involved in.

0:39:320:39:36

I probably work as many hours as I did before.

0:39:360:39:39

So what do you think of the view of abolishing the House of Lords?

0:39:390:39:43

Oh, I think there's a lot of sense in that,

0:39:430:39:45

but what I don't accept,

0:39:450:39:47

I don't accept you can have two elected chambers.

0:39:470:39:49

It's a lot of trouble if you start doing that.

0:39:490:39:51

There can only be one elected chamber and that's the Commons.

0:39:510:39:54

Now, if you want to use the House of Lords as a kind of amending body,

0:39:540:39:59

as you can do, then get people indirectly elected to them

0:39:590:40:03

through the regions, so you have the regions in there

0:40:030:40:06

instead of all this appointment

0:40:060:40:08

of the people we're getting there at the moment.

0:40:080:40:10

I think make it into a proper debating...

0:40:100:40:12

But make it reflect.

0:40:120:40:14

It sounds like you're very busy.

0:40:210:40:23

Do you get to watch much telly these days?

0:40:230:40:25

No, I don't, but I'll tell you what I probably watch most -

0:40:250:40:28

I do find it very relaxing -

0:40:280:40:30

it's either films or the Discovery Channel.

0:40:300:40:33

All those things, they're fascinating.

0:40:330:40:35

-I watch so many air accidents...

-Oh, dear, plane investigation?

0:40:350:40:39

I don't know how they find out how a plane went down.

0:40:390:40:42

-It's quite remarkable.

-I love that programme.

0:40:420:40:46

I always watch it before I go on holiday and my wife tells me,

0:40:460:40:48

"What are you doing watching this for?!"

0:40:480:40:51

But I do really enjoy it.

0:40:510:40:53

I think the skill in which they find out what caused it

0:40:530:40:55

is quite remarkable and it's reassuring.

0:40:550:40:58

OK, you might be dead in an air crash,

0:40:580:41:00

but they will find out why you died!

0:41:000:41:02

We've got cinema one and cinema two in my house.

0:41:040:41:06

-You've got two cinemas?

-Oh, yeah.

0:41:060:41:09

Two Jags, two cinemas...

0:41:090:41:10

-I had one Jag, by the way, if you want to bring that up.

-I know.

0:41:100:41:12

So why two cinemas?

0:41:120:41:14

-Well, two rooms with televisions in them.

-Right.

0:41:140:41:17

She wants Celebrity, The Voice...

0:41:170:41:21

-X Factor?

-All that kind, X Factor, all that rubbish.

-Strictly?

0:41:210:41:23

She drives me barmy, they're always screaming and shouting in it!

0:41:230:41:27

I get a cup of tea for her and go in the other room and watch Discovery.

0:41:270:41:31

But it still comes through the door, all that screaming and shouting

0:41:310:41:34

when somebody's got kicked out of the celebrity thing,

0:41:340:41:37

or Tom Jones shouting about The Voice or something.

0:41:370:41:40

Cos I just see it on the way through as I'm bringing her a cup of tea.

0:41:400:41:42

LAUGHTER

0:41:420:41:45

So, John, we give our guests the opportunity

0:41:460:41:49

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

0:41:490:41:52

Have you got something in mind?

0:41:530:41:55

Yes, very much. Going back many years, cos I went to visit...

0:41:550:41:59

-Does anyone remember The Prisoner?

-Yes.

0:41:590:42:02

With that big bouncing ball,

0:42:020:42:04

you're wondering where the hell it was coming from.

0:42:040:42:06

But it had a fearful sense about it

0:42:060:42:08

and somehow, the theme music just captured it.

0:42:080:42:12

That theme music identified a programme

0:42:120:42:16

and a place which was wonderful, something different

0:42:160:42:20

and excitement and a little bit of fear on the side.

0:42:200:42:25

Well, you've been exciting

0:42:250:42:27

and there's been a little bit of fear on the side.

0:42:270:42:31

Have you enjoyed your experience?

0:42:310:42:33

-Thoroughly. Today, you mean?

-Yeah.

0:42:330:42:35

Not life, I mean today on the sofa!

0:42:350:42:38

Yeah, I have.

0:42:380:42:39

The audience were great, the interviewer was a bit going on.

0:42:390:42:43

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

0:42:430:42:45

John, it's been an absolute pleasure, Lord Prescott.

0:42:450:42:48

My thanks to John. Give him a round of applause.

0:42:480:42:51

APPLAUSE And my thanks to you lot

0:42:510:42:54

for watching The TV That Made Me.

0:42:540:42:55

We'll see you next time and bye-bye!

0:42:550:42:57

MUSIC: The Prisoner Theme

0:43:020:43:06

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