0:00:02 > 0:00:03TV - the magic box of delights.
0:00:03 > 0:00:07As kids it showed us a million different worlds,
0:00:07 > 0:00:09all from our living room.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11This takes me right back.
0:00:11 > 0:00:12That's so embarrassing!
0:00:12 > 0:00:14I am genuinely shocked.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17Each day I'm going to journey through the wonderful world
0:00:17 > 0:00:21of telly with one of our favourite celebrities...
0:00:21 > 0:00:23It's just so silly.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26Ah! I love it! Is it Mr Benn?
0:00:26 > 0:00:28- SHE SINGS - Shut it!
0:00:28 > 0:00:31..as they select the iconic TV moments...
0:00:31 > 0:00:33- Oh, hello. - HE LAUGHS
0:00:33 > 0:00:36..that tell us the stories of their lives.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39- SHE GASPS - Oh, my gosh.
0:00:39 > 0:00:40Cheers.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43Some will make you laugh...
0:00:43 > 0:00:44Oh, no!
0:00:44 > 0:00:46..some will surprise...
0:00:46 > 0:00:48SHE SCREAMS
0:00:48 > 0:00:50..many will inspire...
0:00:50 > 0:00:53Look at this. Why 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.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00Got a handkerchief?
0:01:01 > 0:01:04So come watch with us as we rewind
0:01:04 > 0:01:06to the classic telly that shaped
0:01:06 > 0:01:11those wide-eyed youngsters into the much-loved stars they are today.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22Welcome to The TV That Made Me.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25My guest today is not only a good booking, she likes a good book.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29So please welcome the lovely Mariella Frostrup.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31APPLAUSE
0:01:34 > 0:01:35Come and sit down.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40- Welcome.- Thank you.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43A journalist and presenter, whose husky tones were once
0:01:43 > 0:01:46voted some of the sexiest on TV.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50Mariella has fronted programmes like The Culture Show,
0:01:50 > 0:01:53as well as becoming a leading book and film critic.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58Among the TV that made her, an Irish institution...
0:01:58 > 0:02:01The fastest reel in the west, Ciaran MacMathuna just said.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03..a music show featuring Mariella herself...
0:02:03 > 0:02:06He described them as the Talking Heads for the 1990s.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10..and a satirical puppet show where no-one in the public eye was safe.
0:02:10 > 0:02:11What am I going to do?
0:02:11 > 0:02:14Well, today is a celebration of the TV that made you.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16TV highlights that you have chosen.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18Stuff that you've probably never seen for many years.
0:02:18 > 0:02:20But first we're going to rewind the clock now
0:02:20 > 0:02:23and have a look at a very young Mariella.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26- SHE GASPS - Oh, no.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29Mariella was born in Norway in 1962.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33At the age of six she moved to Ireland with her family,
0:02:33 > 0:02:36growing up in County Wicklow with her siblings.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41Her Norwegian father was a journalist for the Irish Times...
0:02:43 > 0:02:46..and her Scottish-born mother was an artist.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50So why did your parents move to Ireland?
0:02:50 > 0:02:51Well, they met...
0:02:51 > 0:02:55My mother is Scottish and my father was Norwegian.
0:02:55 > 0:02:56And they met in Edinburgh,
0:02:56 > 0:03:01because a lot of Norwegians go to university in Edinburgh.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04My mum was at art college, and they met there,
0:03:04 > 0:03:06and then she followed him back to Norway.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09Well, they got married and then she went back to Norway with him.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12But neither of them were very happy there,
0:03:12 > 0:03:15and they quite liked the sort of Celtic thing,
0:03:15 > 0:03:17and so we went on a holiday to Kerry
0:03:17 > 0:03:19and they fell in love with Ireland
0:03:19 > 0:03:23and my dad got offered a job as the foreign editor of the Irish Times.
0:03:23 > 0:03:24Oh, really?
0:03:24 > 0:03:25And so because of the job,
0:03:25 > 0:03:28and because they'd fallen in love with the place, we moved there.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31Did you watch much TV as a child?
0:03:31 > 0:03:34In Ireland they had two channels,
0:03:34 > 0:03:37and that was pretty much what we had to watch.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41So, no, television wasn't a huge feature of my childhood,
0:03:41 > 0:03:45but there are within that, kind of, golden moments.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47Because I suppose... Because we didn't watch very much,
0:03:47 > 0:03:49I remember everything we did watch.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59So we're going to bring you back to your earliest TV memory now, Mariella.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03This is something that involves animals.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05Can't mean the doctor's surgery, or maybe more like a vet?
0:04:05 > 0:04:07BRIAN CHUCKLES
0:04:07 > 0:04:10- Daktari.- Oh, my God.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17Swahili for "doctor," Daktari was a family drama series
0:04:17 > 0:04:19set in a veterinary clinic
0:04:19 > 0:04:22and animal sanctuary in Africa.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25It was such a sweet programme,
0:04:25 > 0:04:27and just made me want to travel to Africa.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31It followed the lives of Dr Tracy...
0:04:33 > 0:04:36.. and his daughter, Paula, and their unusual pets.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39You had Clarence the cross-eyed lion.
0:04:39 > 0:04:40He was my favourite.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42He was my absolute favourite.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45I had a stuffed lion that I called Clarence.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51Running for three years, from 1966,
0:04:51 > 0:04:53cross-eyed lion Clarence was a regular star.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55See that radio up there on the desk?
0:04:55 > 0:04:58Now, if you hear a sound out of that radio I want you to give me
0:04:58 > 0:04:59a nice big growl into THIS radio.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02- CLARENCE GROWLS - That's right, Clarence. Great.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06Oh, brilliant acting from Clarence, let's be honest. Very natural.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09If there were animal Oscars he'd definitely be a multi-award winner.
0:05:09 > 0:05:14Do you really want to act alongside something that could kill you at any moment?
0:05:14 > 0:05:18- I've worked with presenters who I thought might kill me at any moment. - LAUGHTER
0:05:18 > 0:05:20OK, Clarence. Here's your bone. Now...
0:05:20 > 0:05:22Did you see that?
0:05:22 > 0:05:23Did she just give him this giant bone?
0:05:23 > 0:05:25- Yeah, it's probably someone's leg. - Look.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29XYLOPHONE MUSIC
0:05:29 > 0:05:32Do you hear the music - ratcheting up the tension there with the music?
0:05:32 > 0:05:36Yeah, you can't beat a bit of xylophone, can you? I mean...
0:05:36 > 0:05:38For a suspense.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40That unnerving...
0:05:40 > 0:05:44And it was of course way before they had special effects or anything.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46To know that Clarence was cross-eyed
0:05:46 > 0:05:49the picture used to just shake like that
0:05:49 > 0:05:52when you saw things from Clarence's point of view.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57Oh, now we're going to see it, we're going to see it. Look, look, look!
0:05:57 > 0:05:59There's the squint, yeah. LAUGHTER
0:06:01 > 0:06:05So all they did was just double the image, wasn't it?
0:06:05 > 0:06:06Brilliant bit of trickery.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09So who would you have watched this with as a young child?
0:06:09 > 0:06:12I would have watched it with my brother Aksel and my sister Danielle.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15But I don't know that either of them remember it to the same extent.
0:06:15 > 0:06:21Maybe I was just at the age where it just impinged on my mind.
0:06:21 > 0:06:26Really, all my childhood I dreamt about having my own pet lion.
0:06:26 > 0:06:27HE LAUGHS
0:06:28 > 0:06:31- But they're hard to come by... - Ah, yes.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33- ..particularly in Ireland.- Yeah.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35- One day.- One day.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38I'll be a sort of old crabby lady
0:06:38 > 0:06:42living in the outback of Kenya with my lion.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46Ingenious animal stars were all the rage on TV in the 1960s.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50Gentle Ben over in the Florida Everglades was a tame black bear
0:06:50 > 0:06:55and clever companion to his young owner for two years, from 1967.
0:06:57 > 0:07:01Whilst in Australia, Skippy the Bush Kangaroo was another canny
0:07:01 > 0:07:07furry friend with his own series, starting a year later in 1968.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09But perhaps the ultimate in clever pets,
0:07:09 > 0:07:12if a bit more conventional, was Lassie.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16This resourceful and smart collie dog debuted on TV screens
0:07:16 > 0:07:21in 1954 and has been solving crime and rescuing the injured ever since.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25So, what, where was the telly situated?
0:07:25 > 0:07:30- Oh, I lived in 11 homes over ten years.- Oh, right.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34So there was no sort of, like, concrete mainstay base where you...?
0:07:34 > 0:07:37- There was one house... - And why did you move so much?
0:07:37 > 0:07:39My mother liked moving.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41LAUGHTER
0:07:41 > 0:07:44- Any sort of problem...- Move.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47..would be solved with a move.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51Any sort of issue, emotional, financial, always just,
0:07:51 > 0:07:53"Let's move on down the road."
0:07:53 > 0:07:56And she didn't drive, so if we moved, even if
0:07:56 > 0:07:59it was just a mile or two, then we'd change school and everything.
0:07:59 > 0:08:00So we moved quite a lot.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02There was one house,
0:08:02 > 0:08:04the very first house that we...
0:08:04 > 0:08:07The only house, actually, that we owned in Ireland
0:08:07 > 0:08:10was when we first moved there, when my parents were still together.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12And it was in Kilmacanogue, outside of Bray,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15and I do remember where the television was there,
0:08:15 > 0:08:17cos it was a converted stables and...
0:08:17 > 0:08:20I thought of it, really, as our family home, as a child.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23And then only recently I realised that we'd only lived there
0:08:23 > 0:08:24for about two and a half years.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27- Hmm.- But it felt like an eternity, you know?
0:08:27 > 0:08:29The living room was just along from my bedroom.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31And that was where the TV was,
0:08:31 > 0:08:33in case you're wondering where I'm going with this.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37But it's also where I managed to watch,
0:08:37 > 0:08:39without my parents knowing,
0:08:39 > 0:08:42a whole season of Hitchcock films...
0:08:42 > 0:08:45- Ah!- ..through the crack in the living room door.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47And I used to have to walk about a mile and a half
0:08:47 > 0:08:49to get the bus to school,
0:08:49 > 0:08:51down this country lane
0:08:51 > 0:08:53that was just full of crows.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55- Ooh, The Birds!- And, of course,
0:08:55 > 0:08:57I couldn't admit that I'd watched the film
0:08:57 > 0:08:58through the crack in the door,
0:08:58 > 0:09:02and, for about six months, I don't think I've ever felt fear like it.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04I used to set off from the house every morning thinking,
0:09:04 > 0:09:06"Don't panic, don't panic.
0:09:06 > 0:09:07"They're not going to attack you".
0:09:07 > 0:09:10And it was really, really terrifying.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12I mean, I traumatised myself.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14Did you watch anything else
0:09:14 > 0:09:15- through the crack in the door? - Psycho.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17Ooh, Psycho! Did you really? SHE LAUGHS
0:09:17 > 0:09:18LAUGHTER
0:09:18 > 0:09:19So you never took a shower?
0:09:19 > 0:09:21- Never washed. - So there was this...?
0:09:21 > 0:09:23- LAUGHTER - I said we were quite scruffy.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25..stinky kid, who used to walk a mile and a half...
0:09:25 > 0:09:27Terrified of birds.
0:09:27 > 0:09:29- HE LAUGHS - You're getting the picture.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31All because of the crack in the door.
0:09:35 > 0:09:40Well, your next choice is from your time in Ireland.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43This is John Kenneally, ladies and gentlemen, from... Where are you from, John?
0:09:43 > 0:09:46The Late, Late Show.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50Still running after 54 years on a Friday night,
0:09:50 > 0:09:52The Late Late Show continues to be
0:09:52 > 0:09:55Ireland's most popular television chat show.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57- It was such an institution, this programme.- Mmm.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59It really was, you know,
0:09:59 > 0:10:03national viewing on a scale that you just don't get any more.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05- Everyone in the country who had a television.- Yeah.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08If you didn't, you'd go to someone else's house to watch it.
0:10:08 > 0:10:09Everyone used to watch it.
0:10:09 > 0:10:14From its debut in 1962, it was fronted by presenter Gay Byrne
0:10:14 > 0:10:18almost continuously for the next 37 years.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20The fastest reel in the West...
0:10:20 > 0:10:22- LAUGHTER - The fastest reel in the West, I see.
0:10:22 > 0:10:23Oh, he's going to do a bit of dancing.
0:10:23 > 0:10:25He's going to be doing a bit of dancing.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28ACCORDION PLAYS Here he... Ooh!
0:10:28 > 0:10:29CHEERING, SHE LAUGHS
0:10:30 > 0:10:32THEY LAUGH
0:10:35 > 0:10:38- Simon Cowell will be after him. - LAUGHTER ON TELEVISION
0:10:38 > 0:10:39ACCORDION PLAYS
0:10:40 > 0:10:41LAUGHTER ON TELEVISION
0:10:45 > 0:10:46You see, that's why...
0:10:46 > 0:10:49When you're brought up in Ireland, you're not really impressed by fame
0:10:49 > 0:10:51or any of those things, cos we had men like this.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53- Yes.- Who could do things like that.
0:10:53 > 0:10:54LAUGHTER
0:10:57 > 0:10:59APPLAUSE ON TELEVISION Here he goes.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01Yes!
0:11:01 > 0:11:02APPLAUSE
0:11:04 > 0:11:06Have you noticed he's not even broken into a bead of sweat?
0:11:06 > 0:11:08- Oh, puts his coat back on straight away.- Yeah.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10"I'm freezing in here. Let me get my coat on".
0:11:10 > 0:11:14An Irish man is only naked when he's got his vest and socks on.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17It just reminds me of what a really odd time
0:11:17 > 0:11:20the '70s were, particularly there.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24But also just how dramatically the world has changed
0:11:24 > 0:11:27in what feels like a not particularly long lifespan.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30- Yeah.- If you think, that was absolutely...
0:11:31 > 0:11:33- ..state of the art... - HE LAUGHS
0:11:33 > 0:11:36..television viewing. Quality.
0:11:36 > 0:11:37That whole thing...
0:11:37 > 0:11:39You look at shows now, like Britain's Got Talent
0:11:39 > 0:11:41and The X Factor and everything,
0:11:41 > 0:11:42and all they are, in a way,
0:11:42 > 0:11:46are just repeats of the kind of variety shows that happened before.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49And everything is just on a sort of loop.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52That's what you realise, I think, as you get older.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55Many hosts of long-running chat shows have gone on to become
0:11:55 > 0:11:57giants of the broadcasting world.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00Sir Terry Wogan was one of the most
0:12:00 > 0:12:03popular presenters of British television ever.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06His chat show ran for a decade, from 1982,
0:12:06 > 0:12:09cementing him as a hugely loved household name.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13Ten years earlier,
0:12:13 > 0:12:15Russell Harty had already started
0:12:15 > 0:12:17his famously unpredictable chat show,
0:12:17 > 0:12:20that ran for the next 12 years.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25By the late '70s, singer and comedian
0:12:25 > 0:12:28Des O'Connor began hosting his own talk show
0:12:28 > 0:12:31that played on our screens
0:12:31 > 0:12:32for an impressive 25 years.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36But one of our greatest chat show hosts,
0:12:36 > 0:12:39and nearly catching up with Gay Byrne's 37 years,
0:12:39 > 0:12:43it's Michael Parkinson, whose own series ran off and on
0:12:43 > 0:12:47for 36 years, from 1971 to 2007.
0:12:49 > 0:12:50So, The Late Late Show.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54Was this something that the whole family would gather around to watch?
0:12:54 > 0:12:57Well, it was on quite late, that's why it's called The Late Late Show.
0:12:57 > 0:12:58I was allowed to watch it.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01I'm not sure if my brother and sister were. Probably not.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04So what else would you watch together?
0:13:04 > 0:13:07Not much else. We weren't allowed to watch television during the week.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11- We were only allowed to watch it at weekends. I'm not sure there was much on during the week.- Really?
0:13:11 > 0:13:15- What was that thing called...? - Was it rationed out, was it?
0:13:15 > 0:13:17My parents were very...
0:13:17 > 0:13:19you know, against newfangled things,
0:13:19 > 0:13:21- like television. - SHE LAUGHS
0:13:21 > 0:13:23But they sort of felt we should, you know...
0:13:23 > 0:13:26- That too much television would pollute you.- Mmm.
0:13:26 > 0:13:31And distract you from more important, you know, erudite things.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33And they were very encouraging with reading.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36- Things, to be honest, that I'm quite grateful for.- Mm-hmm.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43So was your dad a comedy buff?
0:13:43 > 0:13:46My dad was an extremely morose Scandinavian.
0:13:46 > 0:13:47LAUGHTER Oh, really?
0:13:47 > 0:13:51He was all angst and intellectual pursuits.
0:13:51 > 0:13:52My mum was much more into,
0:13:52 > 0:13:54- you know, funny stuff.- Really?
0:13:54 > 0:13:56And The Goons
0:13:56 > 0:14:00were definitely a feature in our house.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03We just loved all of those characters.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05Shall we have a little look at Peter Sellers?
0:14:05 > 0:14:06- Oh, I love Peter Sellers! - Yeah?
0:14:06 > 0:14:08Here we go. Let's have a look.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12- It wasn't so much that, it was Clouseau that we loved.- Ah, yes.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15- COD FRENCH ACCENT: When he is Inspector Clouseau. - The Pink Panther.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18COD FRENCH ACCENT: Here it is. The beumb.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21My name is Professor Guy Gabroir,
0:14:21 > 0:14:24medieval castle authority from Marseille.
0:14:24 > 0:14:25Tell me...
0:14:25 > 0:14:27do you have a reum?
0:14:27 > 0:14:29- Very deadpan, though.- Yeah.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31HE MIMICS PETER SELLERS
0:14:31 > 0:14:34SHE MIMICS PETER SELLERS
0:14:34 > 0:14:37As one of The Goons, Peter Sellers had already demonstrated
0:14:37 > 0:14:40his brilliance with creating characters and voices.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43But, for many, it's as Inspector Clouseau,
0:14:43 > 0:14:45starting in 1963,
0:14:45 > 0:14:47that he will, perhaps, be best remembered.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49Argh!
0:14:49 > 0:14:50THEY LAUGH
0:14:52 > 0:14:54PLODDING MUSIC
0:14:54 > 0:14:57I think the music's funny as well. Just the way it sort of...
0:14:57 > 0:15:00- And they're brilliantly directed. - ..slowly plods. Yeah.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03And the timing. I mean, his comic timing.
0:15:03 > 0:15:04LAUGHTER
0:15:11 > 0:15:12Argh! Argh!
0:15:12 > 0:15:14Have you noticed how you know...?
0:15:14 > 0:15:16THEY LAUGH You just knew that was coming!
0:15:16 > 0:15:18You know just before it happens
0:15:18 > 0:15:20- exactly what's going to happen. - Yeah.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22That's one of the funniest things about it.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27THEY LAUGH That bloomin' car's gone out again.
0:15:27 > 0:15:28SHE LAUGHS
0:15:28 > 0:15:29If he just stood there, he would've got...
0:15:29 > 0:15:31LAUGHTER
0:15:38 > 0:15:40Oh, we love Peter Sellers.
0:15:40 > 0:15:42I love Peter Sellers.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44But...but he's just hilarious.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48- I mean, he brought light into our lives.- Yeah.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51There was also something kind of surreally humorous about it,
0:15:51 > 0:15:54- at the time.- Yeah. - It was completely different.
0:15:54 > 0:15:56And there's just not so many funny people.
0:15:56 > 0:15:58Now, we've got a lot of people that say funny things,
0:15:58 > 0:16:01but I just don't think there's as many funny people,
0:16:01 > 0:16:04sort of just funny bones. Naturally funny.
0:16:04 > 0:16:06I don't know. I think it's also to do with the fact
0:16:06 > 0:16:10that they're not given the same amount of room to develop, in a way.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14- You know, he was given an awful lot of artistic licence.- Yeah.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17And I think it's got more to do with the constant churning out,
0:16:17 > 0:16:19and everything has to be successful immediately.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22- A genuine funny man. I mean... You know?- Yeah.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24And I've always... Anything that makes me laugh.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27I'm... I think it's so important to laugh.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31And we get rare enough occasions in life.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33You know, you have to kind of really...
0:16:33 > 0:16:34nurture that.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38So we've established that you moved to Ireland from Norway.
0:16:38 > 0:16:40And then what happened after that?
0:16:40 > 0:16:43- Then we moved around Ireland incessantly.- Yeah.
0:16:43 > 0:16:44And then...
0:16:44 > 0:16:47and then my father died when I was 15
0:16:47 > 0:16:49and I sort of decided at that point
0:16:49 > 0:16:52that I'd had enough of adults,
0:16:52 > 0:16:56and that I was adult enough to shape my own destiny,
0:16:56 > 0:16:58so I decided to move out of Ireland.
0:16:58 > 0:17:00Yeah, I wanted to go to London.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04My dad had been offered a job at the Sunday Times
0:17:04 > 0:17:06when I was younger.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08And he didn't take it in the end.
0:17:08 > 0:17:09He was an alcoholic.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13And he just couldn't rise to the challenge of anything
0:17:13 > 0:17:15that took him out of the...
0:17:15 > 0:17:18sort of day-to-day...
0:17:18 > 0:17:20the cycle of his life.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22And, I think, the pub.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26And so he didn't take that chance.
0:17:26 > 0:17:27And I think, because of that, in a way,
0:17:27 > 0:17:31it just stayed in my head as a...kind of dream.
0:17:31 > 0:17:36I felt like it was time for me to, kind of, grab opportunities in life.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39- I think, also, if you are confronted with mortality...- Mmm.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43..your own mortality and a parent's mortality at that age,
0:17:43 > 0:17:45you really do want to get on with your life.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48You don't want... You sort of think it could be over at any minute,
0:17:48 > 0:17:51so I've just got to go and forge a path now.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53So I went.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55I moved to London with... actually a friend -
0:17:55 > 0:17:58it must have been 1979, I think -
0:17:58 > 0:18:01to a squat in West London,
0:18:01 > 0:18:02full of Irish people.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04- So it didn't... - LAUGHTER
0:18:04 > 0:18:06..it didn't really feel like I'd gone very far
0:18:06 > 0:18:08for the first few months.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10And then... Yeah.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13And then that was it. I stayed, and I stayed in London.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15You must have had a great time in those early days.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18- Well, the first few years were quite difficult.- Mmm.
0:18:18 > 0:18:19You know, I didn't have any money.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21You'd take any job you could get.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24I worked in a pub, I worked as a waitress on the King's Road,
0:18:24 > 0:18:26which was very exciting then,
0:18:26 > 0:18:28cos it was sort of during the punk heyday.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30And all of those... The Sex Pistols,
0:18:30 > 0:18:33and Bob Geldof had moved over from Dublin,
0:18:33 > 0:18:34you know, and The Boomtown Rats.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37And all of them, the King's Road on a Saturday afternoon,
0:18:37 > 0:18:40was just some of the craziest sights you've ever seen.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44And, for a young girl, just come over on the boat,
0:18:44 > 0:18:48it was just like the world had started all over again.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50This was a completely different universe, you know?
0:18:56 > 0:18:58It's time to move on to the category of show
0:18:58 > 0:19:01that's like a nice bowl of tomato soup
0:19:01 > 0:19:03with bread and butter.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05Here it is. Your comfort TV.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07# Saturday, Saturday... #
0:19:07 > 0:19:08Tiswas.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11Oh! Saturday mornings!
0:19:11 > 0:19:13With a hangover.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16The ultimate in anarchic kids' TV shows,
0:19:16 > 0:19:19Tiswas livened up our Saturday mornings for eight years,
0:19:19 > 0:19:21beginning in 1974.
0:19:21 > 0:19:23Hosted by Chris Tarrant, amongst others,
0:19:23 > 0:19:25it's improvised feel was partly down to
0:19:25 > 0:19:28a lack of script or autocue.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31I watched it religiously.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34- Chris Tarrant, Lenny Henry...- Yeah.
0:19:34 > 0:19:35It was the sort of programme
0:19:35 > 0:19:38- that there really isn't now on a Saturday morning.- I know, I know.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41Which was... It was perfect for children and adults.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44I loved it. I just loved the...
0:19:44 > 0:19:47- The anarchy of it, you know?- Yeah, it was completely anarchic.- Yeah.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50And I quite liked that. And the thought that television...
0:19:50 > 0:19:52Remember, this is someone who has been brought up on a diet
0:19:52 > 0:19:54- of The Late Late Show. - Mm-hmm.
0:19:54 > 0:19:58To suddenly see adults behaving like that...
0:19:58 > 0:20:01A suicidal Japanese fighter pilot crashed his plane...
0:20:01 > 0:20:02Pardon?
0:20:02 > 0:20:03LAUGHTER ON TELEVISION
0:20:03 > 0:20:04SHE LAUGHS
0:20:09 > 0:20:10SHE LAUGHS
0:20:10 > 0:20:11- The audience...- I know.
0:20:11 > 0:20:15You've got it lucky! Look at them all locked in the cage.
0:20:15 > 0:20:16Well...
0:20:16 > 0:20:17good morning, Daddy.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19LAUGHTER ON TELEVISION
0:20:19 > 0:20:21I don't know if it's just naivete on my part,
0:20:21 > 0:20:22but it really...
0:20:22 > 0:20:25I always felt that it looked like it was totally live.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27- Like these things did happen as total surprises.- Oh, it was.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29Yeah, I think, without a doubt.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31But, you know, yes, it was for the kids,
0:20:31 > 0:20:34but I think the parents watched it...
0:20:35 > 0:20:36..more than they did.
0:20:36 > 0:20:37I was 17
0:20:37 > 0:20:40when I would have been watching it, without children.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43Reports are coming in that Mr Albert Shortfuse,
0:20:43 > 0:20:45who is known as the human cannonball,
0:20:45 > 0:20:47was still stuck in the barrel of a cannon...
0:20:47 > 0:20:49And there hasn't really been anything like it since.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51The doctor has tied a rope around his ankles
0:20:51 > 0:20:54and says he is certain that the man will pull through.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56LAUGHTER ON TELEVISION
0:20:56 > 0:20:59- Tiswas was an absolute institution.- Mmm.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03And...particularly in my late teens.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05You know, when you would, obviously,
0:21:05 > 0:21:07have gone out on a Friday night and wake up
0:21:07 > 0:21:10- slightly incapacitated on a Saturday morning.- This was hango TV for you.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12Totally, totally hangover television.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14I'd lie there, like this, thinking,
0:21:14 > 0:21:16"I'll never do that again. I'll never do that again.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19"But I'm not moving till Sunday."
0:21:19 > 0:21:21And then watch that.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23So what did you do for a living?
0:21:23 > 0:21:27I got a job at about 18...
0:21:27 > 0:21:30Yeah, 18 or 19, at a record company, Phonogram,
0:21:30 > 0:21:32working as an assistant in the PR department.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36It was the '80s and record companies had so much money.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39They were like banks. It was unbelievable.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42I was 19 years old and I was flying to America,
0:21:42 > 0:21:44bringing journalists, who were the same age as me
0:21:44 > 0:21:46to see bands who were the same age as me.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49And we were all, you know, partying.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52And, you know, it was an incredible thing to be able to do at that age.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54- Yeah.- I saw half the world as a result.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57It was just really exciting and I was really, really lucky.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59And I did that until my mid-20s.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01You worked on Live Aid?
0:22:01 > 0:22:03I worked on Live Aid.
0:22:03 > 0:22:05Well, I worked with Bob Geldof, I worked on Band Aid.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08I was there that morning, when they recorded that single.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11- I remember when they recorded it. - Which was incredibly exciting.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14# Feed the world
0:22:14 > 0:22:16# Let them know
0:22:16 > 0:22:19# It's Christmas time... #
0:22:19 > 0:22:21It felt like an incredible and important
0:22:21 > 0:22:23- moment in, sort of, pop culture. - Yeah.
0:22:23 > 0:22:24INSTRUMENTAL PLAYS
0:22:24 > 0:22:29# Feed the world. #
0:22:29 > 0:22:32INSTRUMENTAL PLAYS
0:22:32 > 0:22:33- And you were part of it.- Yeah!
0:22:39 > 0:22:42So, Mariella, it's your TV heart-throb.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45DALLAS THEME PLAYS
0:22:45 > 0:22:46Oh, my...
0:22:46 > 0:22:47Bobby Ewing!
0:22:47 > 0:22:49My Bobby Ewing! My Bobby! LAUGHTER
0:22:49 > 0:22:51- Loved him!- Really?
0:22:51 > 0:22:53Oh, I loved him. This is going to be so embarrassing.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58From 1978, the melodramatic lives
0:22:58 > 0:23:00of the oil-rich Ewing family
0:23:00 > 0:23:02dominated our screens.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08Look at him! Oh!
0:23:08 > 0:23:10Just think, if I could have landed him...
0:23:10 > 0:23:12LAUGHTER
0:23:12 > 0:23:14..I would have been an oil baroness
0:23:14 > 0:23:16in Texas now.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19Miss Ellie, I was wondering if Cora Kincaid
0:23:19 > 0:23:22called about the membership meeting for the Daughters of the Alamo?
0:23:22 > 0:23:24That really doesn't look like a film set, does it?
0:23:24 > 0:23:27- No, not at all(!) Beautiful interior as well, isn't it?- Oh, yes.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29Mama, Daddy is with Julie Gray right at this minute,
0:23:29 > 0:23:33- and I want to know what you intend doing about it.- JR, shut up.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36As the younger of two brothers, Bobby Ewing was the good guy.
0:23:36 > 0:23:38The Abel to JR's Cain -
0:23:38 > 0:23:41the older brother whose schemes and dirty business
0:23:41 > 0:23:43became the hallmark of the show.
0:23:45 > 0:23:48- Brilliant acting, though(!) - Oh!- Brilliant.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50Did you tell her? Is that how she found out?
0:23:50 > 0:23:52- Somebody had to say something. - Not that!
0:23:52 > 0:23:53And there's your heart-throb.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56Look at him. And always so well turned out.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59Well-dressed. And, of course, he went on to Man from Atlantis.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01- Yeah, I didn't love him any more then.- No?
0:24:01 > 0:24:02No, I was a bit fickle. I went off him.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04Just butt out of it, you hear me? Leave him alone!
0:24:04 > 0:24:06Not on your life! Hey!
0:24:06 > 0:24:07Bobby, Bobby!
0:24:07 > 0:24:10- Oh, this is classic television. - Oh, riveting.- Yeah.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13When you are brought up on a diet of quality like this,
0:24:13 > 0:24:14it's very hard to settle for second best.
0:24:14 > 0:24:15LAUGHTER
0:24:17 > 0:24:18It wouldn't have done any good.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21It'd done me some good. It'd helped me a whole hell of a lot.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23- That was pure glamour.- Mmm.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27- Again, a whole other world. - Escapism.- Escapism, total escapism.
0:24:27 > 0:24:29- And fabulous. The drama!- Yeah.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31- The shoulder pads. - The shoulder pads.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33- It was like Greek tragedy.- Yeah.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36You know, the depths of despair, the heights of ecstasy,
0:24:36 > 0:24:40- the affairs, the revenge... - Mmm.
0:24:40 > 0:24:41Yeah, unmissable.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50Now we move on to your TV hero, Mariella.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54One of my all-time comedy gods,
0:24:54 > 0:24:56it is the legend
0:24:56 > 0:24:58that is the one and only...
0:24:58 > 0:25:00- Tommy Cooper.- Oh, Lordy.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02APPLAUSE ON TELEVISION
0:25:02 > 0:25:04Listen to that from the audience.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09After his TV debut in 1947,
0:25:09 > 0:25:13Tommy Cooper made us laugh for the next 36 years.
0:25:13 > 0:25:15Oh, there's a pound note.
0:25:15 > 0:25:16- QUIET LAUGHTER - I thought it was...
0:25:16 > 0:25:18His whole body language and everything.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20He is brilliant, isn't he?
0:25:20 > 0:25:22Just a funny man, like Peter Sellers.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25Really funny, really gifted.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29- And, again, sort of allowed enough rope to do his own thing.- Yeah.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32I want to make the white one,
0:25:32 > 0:25:33so it will come to the top.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:25:36 > 0:25:39His trademark fez dated back to wartime Cairo,
0:25:39 > 0:25:41where, whilst performing for the troops,
0:25:41 > 0:25:43he borrowed a passing waiter's hat.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45After getting a huge laugh,
0:25:45 > 0:25:47he kept it as part of his routine,
0:25:47 > 0:25:49and the rest is history.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51Look at that.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53- MAN SHOUTS:- Put it in the middle!
0:25:53 > 0:25:54- HE WHISPERS:- Shut up.
0:25:54 > 0:25:55AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:25:56 > 0:25:58In the middle? All right. How's that?
0:25:58 > 0:25:59AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:25:59 > 0:26:00APPLAUSE
0:26:00 > 0:26:02How's that?
0:26:03 > 0:26:07- No expense spared on the set, as you can see.- Yeah, yeah.
0:26:07 > 0:26:08AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:26:11 > 0:26:12HE SIGHS HEAVILY
0:26:12 > 0:26:14AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:26:14 > 0:26:15APPLAUSE
0:26:17 > 0:26:19He just...
0:26:19 > 0:26:23- You don't know if it's for real or not, do you?- No.
0:26:23 > 0:26:24But that was one of the things.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26I think, in the same way as Clouseau,
0:26:26 > 0:26:28he keeps you on the edge of your seat,
0:26:28 > 0:26:30cos you're not quite sure where
0:26:30 > 0:26:32- comedy and tragedy meet with him.- Yeah.
0:26:32 > 0:26:36And where disaster and success meet.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39Do you think it stands the test of time?
0:26:39 > 0:26:40Well...
0:26:40 > 0:26:42- Yeah, just listen to the audience. - I think yeah.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44Yeah, without a doubt.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47- I think great comedy does.- Yeah. - I think that's what great comedy is.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49It's something... It's universal, you know?
0:26:49 > 0:26:51And it translates for everybody.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53So did you ever meet Tommy Cooper?
0:26:53 > 0:26:55Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. That's...
0:26:55 > 0:26:57In a way, that's why I started watching him,
0:26:57 > 0:26:59because I didn't know that much about him.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02I met him when I was about 14 in Dublin,
0:27:02 > 0:27:04and I had a Saturday job,
0:27:04 > 0:27:06working in a restaurant called The Blackboard.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09And he came in on a Saturday night with his wife,
0:27:09 > 0:27:10and I was their waitress.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13And they were having dinner and, at a certain point,
0:27:13 > 0:27:15he went off to go to the loo.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18And five minutes went by,
0:27:18 > 0:27:22ten minutes went by, 15 minutes went by.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26And, eventually, his wife called me over and she said,
0:27:26 > 0:27:28"Have you seen my husband?"
0:27:28 > 0:27:29And I didn't know.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32I said, "Well, no. I think he went to the bathroom".
0:27:32 > 0:27:33And she said,
0:27:33 > 0:27:35"You couldn't possibly go and check on him, could you?"
0:27:35 > 0:27:38And the only man in the restaurant at the time was the chef,
0:27:38 > 0:27:40and he was in the middle of cooking,
0:27:40 > 0:27:41so I had to go down into the gents',
0:27:41 > 0:27:44and he was fast asleep, sitting on the toilet.
0:27:44 > 0:27:45LAUGHTER No!
0:27:45 > 0:27:49And I had to wake him up and send him back upstairs to his wife.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51But he was...actually very sweet when he woke up.
0:27:51 > 0:27:52He just sort of went...
0:27:52 > 0:27:55"Oh, thank you". Just kind of pulled himself together,
0:27:55 > 0:27:57went back upstairs, sat down and finished his dinner,
0:27:57 > 0:27:58having had his little nap.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00LAUGHTER
0:28:00 > 0:28:02So I watched him more avidly after that.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06Now, he also made the fez one of the most iconic hats on TV.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08- Yes.- But I've got a few more now.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10Do you remember Tommy Cooper used to do the hat routine
0:28:10 > 0:28:12- where he used to put them on?- Yeah.
0:28:12 > 0:28:13So I've got a few more hats now,
0:28:13 > 0:28:15and I'm going to model them.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20I want you to tell me, who does this one belong to?
0:28:20 > 0:28:23Are you going to do any sort of acting to go with it?
0:28:23 > 0:28:25LAUGHTER
0:28:25 > 0:28:27- Do you think I have do? - Just a little clue.
0:28:27 > 0:28:29A little something. A little, you know...
0:28:29 > 0:28:31Just a tiny little...
0:28:31 > 0:28:32- OK. Are you ready?- Yeah.
0:28:32 > 0:28:34- Really?! - Oh, Rik, Rik, Rik Mayall!
0:28:34 > 0:28:37- Rik, Rik, Rik Mayall.- Yes. Yeah, Rik Mayall. Young One.
0:28:37 > 0:28:38I have no idea...
0:28:38 > 0:28:41You see, this is quite difficult for me, because I haven't...
0:28:41 > 0:28:43- LAUGHTER - ..watched that much television,
0:28:43 > 0:28:45but I'm afraid this is so iconic
0:28:45 > 0:28:47- that I am going to get it right. - Yeah. Yes.
0:28:47 > 0:28:50- It's Coronation Street.- Yes.
0:28:50 > 0:28:51And it's Hilda Ogden.
0:28:51 > 0:28:53- APPLAUSE - I mean...
0:28:53 > 0:28:55- She is a kind of British icon.- Yep.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57Oh.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01- Is that Auf Wiedersehen, Pet?- No.
0:29:01 > 0:29:03- Or... - LAUGHTER
0:29:03 > 0:29:05- Steptoe and Son? - It's Yorkshire.
0:29:05 > 0:29:07- IN YORKSHIRE ACCENT:- Yorkshire?
0:29:07 > 0:29:09- IN YORKSHIRE ACCENT: Yorkshire. - Marjorie?
0:29:09 > 0:29:11Do you want to ask the audience?
0:29:11 > 0:29:12- Help!- Compo!
0:29:12 > 0:29:13Compo!
0:29:13 > 0:29:14Compo?
0:29:14 > 0:29:17- He's in Last of the Summer Wine. - Last of the Summer Wine!
0:29:17 > 0:29:20- I've heard of that.- So...this one?
0:29:20 > 0:29:21I...
0:29:21 > 0:29:25OK, so he used to pick up rubbish in Wimbledon.
0:29:25 > 0:29:26Oh! Oh, The Wombles?
0:29:26 > 0:29:28- Yes!- Uncle...
0:29:28 > 0:29:30- BOTH:- Uncle Bulgaria!
0:29:30 > 0:29:32- We go for the finale.- How could I have forgotten The Wombles?
0:29:32 > 0:29:33The finale.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36- Noddy Holder. - It's Christmaaas!- Christmas!
0:29:36 > 0:29:38LAUGHTER
0:29:38 > 0:29:39Well done indeed. You've done well there.
0:29:39 > 0:29:41You deserve a round of applause. Thank you.
0:29:41 > 0:29:43- APPLAUSE - You were very helpful, though.
0:29:43 > 0:29:45- Thank you.- I've messed me hair up and everything.
0:29:51 > 0:29:53This was your must see TV.
0:29:53 > 0:29:55BELL RINGS
0:29:55 > 0:29:58Starting in the early '90s, Absolutely Fabulous poked fun
0:29:58 > 0:30:00at the glamorous world of PR and fashion
0:30:00 > 0:30:03for five hilarious series.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06Jennifer Saunders just managed to encapsulate everything
0:30:06 > 0:30:10that was tacky and hilarious about the 1980s.
0:30:10 > 0:30:13And her bedroom and the futon
0:30:13 > 0:30:14- and the...- Mmm.
0:30:14 > 0:30:16You know, the clothes and...
0:30:16 > 0:30:17It was just genius.
0:30:17 > 0:30:18Oh!
0:30:18 > 0:30:20Inspired by a French and Saunders sketch
0:30:20 > 0:30:22called Modern Mother and Daughter,
0:30:22 > 0:30:24it starred Jennifer Saunders...
0:30:24 > 0:30:25Patsy!
0:30:25 > 0:30:28..alongside Joanna Lumley.
0:30:28 > 0:30:29LAUGHTER
0:30:33 > 0:30:34AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:30:34 > 0:30:36I just...
0:30:36 > 0:30:37I just nodded off.
0:30:37 > 0:30:38LAUGHTER
0:30:40 > 0:30:42I mean, she's such a wonderful actress,
0:30:42 > 0:30:44that she doesn't mind looking like that.
0:30:44 > 0:30:46They were... Well, she looks amazing.
0:30:46 > 0:30:48- Look how beautiful she is. - That's true.
0:30:48 > 0:30:52- Even with all the black stuff on her face and her hair frizzed up. - That's true.
0:30:52 > 0:30:54I loved that show. It was so...
0:30:55 > 0:30:58..exciting to see a funny programme
0:30:58 > 0:31:00- made up only of women.- Mm-hmm.
0:31:00 > 0:31:03Aside from anything else, because television,
0:31:03 > 0:31:06up until that point, had been so male-dominated.
0:31:06 > 0:31:09- Mm-hmm.- Aside from things from America, like Mary Tyler Moore
0:31:09 > 0:31:10and stuff like that,
0:31:10 > 0:31:14and to see women behaving appallingly badly
0:31:14 > 0:31:18and being hilariously funny in the process...
0:31:18 > 0:31:20So were you a Patsy or an Eddy?
0:31:20 > 0:31:23- Oh, both. I mean, you can't have one without the other, can you?- Yeah.
0:31:23 > 0:31:25You know, that's what's so great about them.
0:31:25 > 0:31:27They are just a brilliant double act.
0:31:27 > 0:31:32And we'd never thought of women as a double act in that way.
0:31:32 > 0:31:34- I was in Ab Fab!- Was you?
0:31:34 > 0:31:36Yeah, yeah. I did...
0:31:36 > 0:31:38Oh, it was one of the best jobs ever!
0:31:38 > 0:31:40I spent a week recording an episode.
0:31:40 > 0:31:43That's how long they used to do, five days at Television Centre,
0:31:43 > 0:31:44recording an episode.
0:31:44 > 0:31:46And I was in a book club,
0:31:46 > 0:31:49and Kristin Scott Thomas was in it as well.
0:31:49 > 0:31:51And, obviously, Patsy and Edina.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54And it was just so funny. I couldn't believe it.
0:31:54 > 0:31:56I had to keep pinching myself that I was there,
0:31:56 > 0:32:00in the midst of this programme that I'd watched so often.
0:32:00 > 0:32:02- Yeah.- And absolutely loved.
0:32:02 > 0:32:03Are we going to talk
0:32:03 > 0:32:04- about a book at all? - EDDY HUFFS
0:32:04 > 0:32:06- LAUGHTER - We've only done ten minutes
0:32:06 > 0:32:07on the mags, Mariella!
0:32:07 > 0:32:10Some of us haven't got all afternoon.
0:32:10 > 0:32:12Are you in a time warp?
0:32:12 > 0:32:13LAUGHTER
0:32:13 > 0:32:15Was you nervous about doing it?
0:32:15 > 0:32:18No. No, I was excited. It was...
0:32:18 > 0:32:20The thing was, cos I'm not an actress,
0:32:20 > 0:32:22I didn't feel much pressure.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26- I think Kristin Scott Thomas felt a lot more pressure than I did.- Mmm.
0:32:26 > 0:32:29I just sort of had to be me, and, you know,
0:32:29 > 0:32:31that's not that much of a challenge.
0:32:31 > 0:32:32- Seeing as I am me. - LAUGHTER
0:32:32 > 0:32:34You don't find it a bit of a stretch.
0:32:34 > 0:32:35- LAUGHTER - Did you read it?
0:32:36 > 0:32:38LAUGHTER
0:32:38 > 0:32:39Well, yeah, yeah.
0:32:39 > 0:32:41But I skimmed - I'm a skimmer.
0:32:41 > 0:32:42LAUGHTER
0:32:42 > 0:32:44- But we had such a laugh.- Mm.
0:32:44 > 0:32:46We all used to hang out in Patsy's dressing room...
0:32:46 > 0:32:48- Well, Joanna Lumley's dressing room. - LAUGHTER
0:32:48 > 0:32:50Which was all leopard...
0:32:50 > 0:32:53- It was exactly like you'd expect it to be.- Oh, really?
0:32:53 > 0:32:55Leopard-print things and, you know,
0:32:55 > 0:32:57Bolly in a bucket,
0:32:57 > 0:32:59and it was just brilliant.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01It just so didn't disappoint, in any shape or form.
0:33:01 > 0:33:03- Yeah.- But she is...
0:33:03 > 0:33:05I think she's an absolute genius,
0:33:05 > 0:33:07- Jennifer Saunders.- Mmm.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15Now we're bringing it back to your own television career.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18- Oh, no, let's not.- Yes!
0:33:18 > 0:33:20It's going to be some hideous clip of me
0:33:20 > 0:33:22from, you know, Big World Cafe,
0:33:22 > 0:33:25which was my very first television job.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28- We wouldn't do that to you. - I was so petrified that I just...
0:33:28 > 0:33:31- SHE WHISPERS: - ..spoke like this all the time,
0:33:31 > 0:33:33cos I was just really scared.
0:33:33 > 0:33:35This is your big break. SHE GASPS
0:33:35 > 0:33:38Oh, my God, that's going to be so weird!
0:33:38 > 0:33:41I've never watched myself.
0:33:41 > 0:33:42THEME PLAYS
0:33:44 > 0:33:46Big World Cafe.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48Oh, we were so proud of these opening titles.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51- You were so proud of them? - We thought they were amazing.- Yeah.
0:33:51 > 0:33:52Radical. They're not bad.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57Big World Cafe showcased bands from around the globe,
0:33:57 > 0:34:00and played for two series on Channel 4 in 1989.
0:34:05 > 0:34:06SHE GASPS
0:34:06 > 0:34:08My heart used to be beating so hard by now.
0:34:08 > 0:34:11This next group from Boston have released two LPs already here,
0:34:11 > 0:34:13which have topped the independent chart.
0:34:13 > 0:34:15Oh, my God! That's so embarrassing!
0:34:15 > 0:34:17- I can't switch it off! - LAUGHTER
0:34:19 > 0:34:20- Oh! - SHE GROANS
0:34:20 > 0:34:23Reviewers have described them as "the Talking Heads..."
0:34:23 > 0:34:24I've still got that belt.
0:34:24 > 0:34:26And here they are - Throwing Muses!
0:34:26 > 0:34:28Why is it so embarrassing?
0:34:28 > 0:34:29Well, I never, ever...
0:34:29 > 0:34:32I sort of...I feel that watching yourself
0:34:32 > 0:34:35is a bit like going to an office and working for the day,
0:34:35 > 0:34:37and then watching it again.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40Why would you? You know, I just don't get it.
0:34:40 > 0:34:42And maybe I'd be a much better presenter
0:34:42 > 0:34:46if I watched and learned from my mistakes.
0:34:46 > 0:34:48So how did you get this job?
0:34:48 > 0:34:51Well, I was working in the music business. I was working for that record company.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54And I'd sort of met a lot of people,
0:34:54 > 0:34:57and they were talking about doing this new music programme
0:34:57 > 0:35:00for Channel 4, and they wanted presenters
0:35:00 > 0:35:02who actually knew what they were talking about,
0:35:02 > 0:35:04which is so unusual!
0:35:04 > 0:35:05LAUGHTER
0:35:05 > 0:35:07And they wanted people who knew about music,
0:35:07 > 0:35:09and so I auditioned for it.
0:35:09 > 0:35:11And, er...
0:35:11 > 0:35:13I think I was probably the sort of, you know...
0:35:13 > 0:35:15blonde totty.
0:35:15 > 0:35:16LAUGHTER
0:35:16 > 0:35:18You've never been a blonde totty!
0:35:18 > 0:35:20It certainly wasn't for my skills, was it?
0:35:20 > 0:35:23Well, those are very early days. SHE LAUGHS
0:35:23 > 0:35:25- It was my first ever...- Mm-hmm.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28- ..television programme, that.- Yes.
0:35:28 > 0:35:30So what was it like, being in front of the cameras?
0:35:30 > 0:35:31It was...
0:35:31 > 0:35:35When I heard that music, the sort of countdown music,
0:35:35 > 0:35:40I just remember being totally paralysed with fear.
0:35:40 > 0:35:41And I think...
0:35:41 > 0:35:43I remember there being a review
0:35:43 > 0:35:45written by a guy called Marcus Berkmann,
0:35:45 > 0:35:47at the time, and he described me as
0:35:47 > 0:35:50"the glacially pretty Mariella Frostrup."
0:35:50 > 0:35:52And I think he got the "glacially" bit from the fact that
0:35:52 > 0:35:55I was just so terrified that I spoke monotone...
0:35:55 > 0:35:57- MONOTONE VOICE: - like this the whole time,
0:35:57 > 0:36:00cos I was just trying to get the words out of my lips,
0:36:00 > 0:36:03while my heart was just pounding in my chest.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06So do you remember when people started to pick up on your voice?
0:36:09 > 0:36:11Yeah, you know, I don't think that people really said much
0:36:11 > 0:36:15about my voice until I was in the public eye.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18- Mm-hmm.- So I don't know what that means.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20My voice has always been the same, and, in fact,
0:36:20 > 0:36:22my sister has a very similar voice.
0:36:22 > 0:36:25And, in fact, a lot of Scandinavians
0:36:25 > 0:36:28have quite, sort of, husky tones.
0:36:28 > 0:36:31Well, there was one show that mimicked you.
0:36:31 > 0:36:32- Oh, Spitting Image!- Mmm!
0:36:32 > 0:36:35I loved Spitting Image. That was a brilliant programme.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38So, did you actually have a puppet?
0:36:38 > 0:36:39Eventually.
0:36:39 > 0:36:43- And that was probably the greatest honour of my career.- Really?
0:36:43 > 0:36:46Yeah, to have your own puppet on Spitting Image!
0:36:46 > 0:36:48- Shall we take a look? - Oh, I love to. I loved her.
0:36:49 > 0:36:52What's going on? Where is Mariella? We're up to speed!
0:36:52 > 0:36:54- Ooh! Something terrible's happened. She can't go on.- Eh?
0:36:54 > 0:36:59Spitting Image burst onto our TV screens in 1984.
0:36:59 > 0:37:00- It's her voice. - Oh, you don't mean...?
0:37:00 > 0:37:03- Yes! It's completely cleared up!- Oh!
0:37:03 > 0:37:04The series ran for 12 years,
0:37:04 > 0:37:08and at its peak was watched by 15 million people.
0:37:08 > 0:37:10I used to be the sexiest voice on TV, you know.
0:37:10 > 0:37:11I'll call a doctor.
0:37:11 > 0:37:13SHE GARGLES
0:37:13 > 0:37:14Ooh!
0:37:14 > 0:37:16Every time she appeared, I just used to think,
0:37:16 > 0:37:19"Life doesn't get better than this." It's so funny and weird,
0:37:19 > 0:37:22and what a huge sort of compliment, in a way.
0:37:22 > 0:37:23But I loved that programme.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26I liked her so much.
0:37:26 > 0:37:27Though, that one,
0:37:27 > 0:37:29I look like a cross between me and Anneka Rice, I think.
0:37:29 > 0:37:31- Yeah, yeah.- Don't I?
0:37:31 > 0:37:34It was so clever, the writing was so clever,
0:37:34 > 0:37:37and the puppets were just genius,
0:37:37 > 0:37:40- in terms of how they caricatured people.- Mmm.
0:37:40 > 0:37:42I thought it was a fantastic show.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45- And great voice-overs, you know? Steve Coogan there.- Yeah!
0:37:45 > 0:37:47- Hugh Dennis.- All of the people who are top comedians now
0:37:47 > 0:37:49were all employed by that show.
0:37:49 > 0:37:53The Spitting Image puppets were stars in their own right.
0:37:53 > 0:37:54But behind the masks,
0:37:54 > 0:37:57young, unknown comedians like Steve Coogan
0:37:57 > 0:38:01were cutting their teeth for the first time on TV.
0:38:01 > 0:38:03Still at drama college, Coogan became the voice of Neil Kinnock,
0:38:03 > 0:38:06John Major and Stephen Fry.
0:38:06 > 0:38:08Whilst a young Chris Barrie was behind
0:38:08 > 0:38:12Sean Connery, President Bush and Reagan.
0:38:12 > 0:38:13John Thomson started out on his career
0:38:13 > 0:38:17voicing Nigel Kennedy, Paul Gascoigne and Bill Clinton.
0:38:17 > 0:38:19And a then young impressionist,
0:38:19 > 0:38:20Alistair McGowan,
0:38:20 > 0:38:23perfected Tony Blair and Prince Charles.
0:38:23 > 0:38:25So what happened to the puppet?
0:38:25 > 0:38:26Oh!
0:38:26 > 0:38:28- I tried to buy her.- Oh, really? - They had a...
0:38:28 > 0:38:30Yeah, they didn't auction and I thought...
0:38:30 > 0:38:32They had an auction at Sotheby's, I think.
0:38:32 > 0:38:34When they'd completely finished the show,
0:38:34 > 0:38:36they took all the puppets out of the warehouse
0:38:36 > 0:38:38and they had this auction,
0:38:38 > 0:38:41and I just didn't think anyone would want her.
0:38:41 > 0:38:44And I put a top bid in, I thought, of £500.
0:38:44 > 0:38:46You know, it's a lot of money for a, you know...
0:38:46 > 0:38:48- For a puppet.- A puppet.
0:38:48 > 0:38:49LAUGHTER
0:38:49 > 0:38:51- And I was outbid.- No!
0:38:51 > 0:38:53Who would buy a puppet of somebody...?
0:38:53 > 0:38:55- I get why- I- might want it.
0:38:55 > 0:38:57It's nostalgic, you can put it in the attic,
0:38:57 > 0:38:58show it to the kids.
0:38:58 > 0:38:59Anneka Rice.
0:38:59 > 0:39:01LAUGHTER
0:39:01 > 0:39:03- Maybe Annie bought it? - I bet it was Anneka.
0:39:03 > 0:39:05"That's me." Yeah.
0:39:05 > 0:39:07- To stick pins in.- Yeah.
0:39:07 > 0:39:09Well, that must have been a proud moment for you.
0:39:09 > 0:39:12But what other stand-out proud moments have you...
0:39:12 > 0:39:15Spring to mind from your illustrious career?
0:39:15 > 0:39:17And don't say none.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20- QUIETLY:- None. Erm...
0:39:20 > 0:39:22No, the only other one that I can think of, really,
0:39:22 > 0:39:25was when I was away for a weekend with my best friend.
0:39:25 > 0:39:27And I got a call,
0:39:27 > 0:39:30on a very early generation mobile phone,
0:39:30 > 0:39:33to ask me if I would be a judge of the Booker Prize.
0:39:33 > 0:39:37- Wow.- And that was really important to me,
0:39:37 > 0:39:39because, I suppose,
0:39:39 > 0:39:42my dad had died when I was young, you know, at 15,
0:39:42 > 0:39:45and I slightly idolised him for a long time,
0:39:45 > 0:39:48- because of the fact that he died, I guess.- Mm-hmm.
0:39:48 > 0:39:50You know, which is what you tend to do, as a kid.
0:39:50 > 0:39:54And he'd been incredibly bookish, and, you know,
0:39:54 > 0:39:55he thought that literature was everything,
0:39:55 > 0:39:59and that you could almost live an entire life just by reading books.
0:39:59 > 0:40:02And I knew...
0:40:02 > 0:40:04I didn't think he'd have had much truck with television
0:40:04 > 0:40:05or anything like that.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08He just would have thought it was all a bit silly and superficial.
0:40:08 > 0:40:12- But I knew that he would have been proud of that.- Mmm.
0:40:12 > 0:40:14And so it really meant a lot.
0:40:14 > 0:40:17- You're not going to get emotional on me?- I always get emotional.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20I always get emotional when I talk about him. It's terrible.
0:40:20 > 0:40:23- Well, you lost him at a young age, so...- Yeah.
0:40:23 > 0:40:24..it's bound to be tough.
0:40:24 > 0:40:26I think, yeah, exactly. That's what happens.
0:40:26 > 0:40:28If you lose a parent young,
0:40:28 > 0:40:30they become the, kind of, one on the pedestal.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32I think it's very difficult for the other parent,
0:40:32 > 0:40:34cos they are always the, sort of, baddie,
0:40:34 > 0:40:37who's still around and trying to parent you.
0:40:37 > 0:40:40- Mm-hmm. - So I did... I grew out of it.
0:40:40 > 0:40:42I'm surprised I went a bit teary there,
0:40:42 > 0:40:44cos I used to not be able
0:40:44 > 0:40:47- to talk about him at all... - Oh, really?
0:40:47 > 0:40:51..without crying, and so I slightly gave up talking about him,
0:40:51 > 0:40:54and then I realised about 15 years ago,
0:40:54 > 0:40:57that I didn't wake up every day missing him.
0:40:57 > 0:41:01- And it felt like I'd moved on a bit, and I could talk about him.- Yeah.
0:41:01 > 0:41:03- But now I've just gone weepy again.- Ah!
0:41:08 > 0:41:11Mariella, what TV are you watching at the moment?
0:41:11 > 0:41:13Well, I watch things with the kids.
0:41:13 > 0:41:17They make me watch I'm A Celebrity and Strictly and...
0:41:17 > 0:41:19And I watch...
0:41:19 > 0:41:21I quite like you know, all those wildlife...
0:41:21 > 0:41:22I love David Attenborough,
0:41:22 > 0:41:25and I love all those programmes about the ocean and the desert.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28And I love the news.
0:41:28 > 0:41:29I'm a kind of news addict,
0:41:29 > 0:41:32but I think that's a product of being a child
0:41:32 > 0:41:36of the, sort of, Cold War era, in a way, because you used to want to...
0:41:36 > 0:41:39- You'd wake up in the morning and you wanted to know...- You're still here.
0:41:39 > 0:41:41..that there hadn't been Armageddon overnight.
0:41:41 > 0:41:44And I'm sure that's deeply buried in my psyche,
0:41:44 > 0:41:45you know, just that reassurance.
0:41:45 > 0:41:48The radio wakes me in the morning, and I have to hear the news
0:41:48 > 0:41:51and hear the headlines before I even think of getting out of bed.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54Is there anyone on the news that you like especially?
0:41:54 > 0:41:56Oh, I don't want to show favour,
0:41:56 > 0:41:58but I do really like Jon Snow.
0:41:58 > 0:42:00- Yeah.- You've got a soft spot for Jon?
0:42:00 > 0:42:02And I love the Today programme on Radio 4.
0:42:02 > 0:42:03That's what I wake up to,
0:42:03 > 0:42:06to make sure that the world hasn't, you know, been nuked overnight.
0:42:06 > 0:42:07So have you enjoyed it?
0:42:07 > 0:42:09Oh, I loved it.
0:42:09 > 0:42:11- Yeah.- Well, I'm pleased you enjoyed it.
0:42:11 > 0:42:13Well, I've enjoyed it, because I never, never
0:42:13 > 0:42:15need to watch Big World Cafe again.
0:42:15 > 0:42:16LAUGHTER
0:42:16 > 0:42:18Seen that, done that, been there.
0:42:18 > 0:42:20Oh, look, we give our guests the opportunity now
0:42:20 > 0:42:23to play us out with a theme tune.
0:42:23 > 0:42:24You don't have to do it.
0:42:24 > 0:42:27Thank God for that, cos I'm really not musical.
0:42:27 > 0:42:29But we'd like you to pick a theme tune
0:42:29 > 0:42:30that we can play out.
0:42:31 > 0:42:35Well, one of the other shows that I used to watch a lot as a kid,
0:42:35 > 0:42:38and we really used to love, and my kids now love the movies of,
0:42:38 > 0:42:41- is Mission Impossible.- Oh!
0:42:41 > 0:42:43- That's it!- And it just had- the - most recognisable theme tune.
0:42:43 > 0:42:45You've picked the best one.
0:42:45 > 0:42:47You know, if I was sitting there,
0:42:47 > 0:42:50- that would be my choice. - Really?- Yeah.
0:42:50 > 0:42:52- You're absolutely gorgeous.- Oh! - It's been a pleasure meeting you.
0:42:52 > 0:42:54- Thank you so much. - Thank you, Mariella.
0:42:54 > 0:42:56- It's been a pleasure. - My thanks to Mariella.
0:42:56 > 0:42:58APPLAUSE And my thanks to you
0:42:58 > 0:42:59for watching The TV That Made Me.
0:42:59 > 0:43:01We will see you next time. Bye-bye!
0:43:01 > 0:43:02Thank you.
0:43:02 > 0:43:04MISSION IMPOSSIBLE INTRO PLAYS
0:43:04 > 0:43:06Oh, that was so much fun.
0:43:06 > 0:43:14MISSION IMPOSSIBLE THEME PLAYS