0:00:02 > 0:00:04TV, the magic box of delights.
0:00:04 > 0:00:07As kids, it showed us a million different worlds,
0:00:07 > 0:00:09all from our living room.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12- This takes me right back.- That'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
0:00:17 > 0:00:21world of telly with one of our favourite celebrities...
0:00:21 > 0:00:23It is just so silly.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27Oh, I love it! Is it Mr Benn?
0:00:27 > 0:00:28Shut it!
0:00:28 > 0:00:31..as they select the iconic TV moments...
0:00:31 > 0:00:33Oh, hello.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36..that tell us the stories of their lives.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38Oh! Oh, my gosh.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40- BOTH:- Cheers.
0:00:40 > 0:00:41Some will make you laugh...
0:00:41 > 0:00:42Wah!
0:00:42 > 0:00:44SHE LAUGHS
0:00:44 > 0:00:46..some will surprise...
0:00:46 > 0:00:47HE QUACKS
0:00:47 > 0:00:48SHE LAUGHS
0:00:48 > 0:00:50..many will inspire...
0:00:50 > 0:00:53- Oh!- Look 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.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01Got a handkerchief?
0:01:01 > 0:01:04So, come watch with us, as we rewind
0:01:04 > 0:01:07to the classic telly that shaped
0:01:07 > 0:01:11those wide-eyed youngsters into the much-loved stars they are today.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22APPLAUSE Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to The TV That Made Me.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25My guest today is a brilliant actor.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28Ladies and gentlemen, it is the one and only Mr John Hannah.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:01:30 > 0:01:31Come on.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34Oh, good to see you, mate. Good to see you. Welcome to my flat.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36Come and sit yourself over there.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40This boyish, yet ruggedly handsome, Scot shot to international
0:01:40 > 0:01:44fame in the British blockbuster Four Weddings and a Funeral.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48And he's had big, gritty TV hits with Rebus, and Truth or Dare
0:01:48 > 0:01:51alongside the beautiful Helen Baxendale.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54The TV that made him
0:01:54 > 0:01:58is linked to the longest-running children's show in the world.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01And includes the comedy of a madcap genius.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08And the TV show that really did make him.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10John Hannah is here.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13- And you've brought someone with you. - I did. The dog, actually.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17- She wants to come over. Come on, then. Coco, this is live television. - What's the dog's name?- Coco.- Coco.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19- Coco. You coming up? Come on, up you come.- Up you get.
0:02:19 > 0:02:21- AUDIENCE:- Aw!
0:02:21 > 0:02:23Oh, look.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27It is like having another pillow, isn't it, really?
0:02:27 > 0:02:31- Yes, she is kind of toasty.- How old is she?- Six.- Six. What sort of breed?
0:02:31 > 0:02:33It's a female.
0:02:33 > 0:02:34LAUGHTER
0:02:36 > 0:02:39- They are different from us, aren't they?- So...- It is a bichon frise.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42A bichon frise. Oh, bless.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46John, today is a celebration of some TV classic moments that
0:02:46 > 0:02:47- you've chosen.- Cool.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49Stuff that we hope has probably shaped you,
0:02:49 > 0:02:53- to make you the person you are today.- Possibly, yes.
0:02:53 > 0:02:54We are going to have a little look back now,
0:02:54 > 0:02:57look back at what it was like growing up.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00- There's the young John Hannah.- OK.
0:03:02 > 0:03:03John Hannah was born
0:03:03 > 0:03:06and raised in a small town just outside Glasgow,
0:03:06 > 0:03:10where his mum, Susan, worked at the local sweet factory,
0:03:10 > 0:03:13and his dad, also called John, was a toolmaker.
0:03:13 > 0:03:19Little John grew up with two doting older sisters, Elizabeth and Joan.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22I think it is fair to say that the young John Hannah preferred
0:03:22 > 0:03:25football to book reading in his school days.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30He left when he was 16 years old, and after four years working
0:03:30 > 0:03:34as an apprentice electrician, he downed tools and took to the stage.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40He studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama
0:03:40 > 0:03:43in Glasgow, and was catapulted to international
0:03:43 > 0:03:48fame after his fantastic performance in Four Weddings and a Funeral.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51Then came Nick in Truth or Dare,
0:03:51 > 0:03:54Spendlove James in The James Gang,
0:03:54 > 0:03:57and John Wade in Sea of Souls.
0:03:57 > 0:03:58Where did John Hannah grow up?
0:03:58 > 0:04:02- Where or when?- Where.- Oh. Because I've not really grown up yet.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05I'm still only about 12 in here. East Kilbride.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09It was great, actually, it was a great place to grow up.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13You know, there was green fields, cows at the bottom of the street.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17They weren't in the field, they were just wandering around the streets. No, they were, they were in fields.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20Did you take it for granted that you had a telly, or was it a big thing?
0:04:20 > 0:04:22Most people had a telly,
0:04:22 > 0:04:25- but I remember the first people in our street that had a colour telly. - Oh.
0:04:25 > 0:04:30Yeah, I remember we all went in to watch Doug McClure in
0:04:30 > 0:04:34- Journey To The Centre Of The Earth. - Oh, God, yes. In colour.- In colour, yeah.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36That was like the first colour television in the street.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39And did your mum and dad put any restrictions on you watching TV?
0:04:39 > 0:04:43Parents didn't give a toss in those days, did they?
0:04:43 > 0:04:45You could do anything. I never did homework in my life.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48I never read a book. Stayed up late.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52Had a bath once a week, you know, on a Sunday, after my sisters.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55Never washed behind my ear. Never brushed my teeth before going to bed.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58I was Scottish, my mum worked at Schweppes, I didn't have any teeth.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00But I was very popular at school with the other kids,
0:05:00 > 0:05:04because we used to get these bags of broken chocolate and things, you know?
0:05:04 > 0:05:08- Right.- So, yeah, the teeth had gone. - So you used to get bags of broken sweets.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11Broken, like, chocolate bars, like Cadbury stuff, you know.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14Don't move, don't move. I'm just going in the kitchen. All right.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17Should I just carry on talking to these people, Brian?
0:05:17 > 0:05:18BANGING
0:05:20 > 0:05:21JOHN LAUGHS
0:05:21 > 0:05:24- There you go, John.- Is that some broken biscuits?- Sorry, Coco, no,
0:05:24 > 0:05:27- they're not dog biscuits. There you go, some broken biscuits.- What is it?
0:05:27 > 0:05:30It's not toffee, is it? Because that'll pull my fillings out.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32- I don't know.- It is toffee.
0:05:32 > 0:05:33LAUGHTER
0:05:33 > 0:05:35- Better suck on it.- Yeah, I will do.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41All right, this is your first choice now.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43This is your earliest TV memory.
0:05:45 > 0:05:50'Here Come The Double Deckers, screened on the BBC in 1971.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54'It was a co-production between British and American producers.'
0:05:56 > 0:05:58'They're dancing and everything.'
0:05:58 > 0:06:01'So no expense was spared on the budget, then.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03'They're definitely on a bus in London, aren't they?'
0:06:03 > 0:06:06'I don't think they are actually singing that song.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08'I think this might be some Chinese remake,'
0:06:08 > 0:06:11because their lips are all moving at a different time to the words.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15'The 17-part series followed the adventures of the coolest
0:06:15 > 0:06:17'TV gang of the '70s.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20'Its swanky set and super-technicolour look
0:06:20 > 0:06:22'gave it production values most other
0:06:22 > 0:06:26'British children's TV shows could only dream of.'
0:06:26 > 0:06:28What used to happen on Double Deckers?
0:06:28 > 0:06:30There was usually some sort of mystery that they had to go
0:06:30 > 0:06:32'and solve or something, wasn't there?'
0:06:32 > 0:06:35I still don't see why it has to have a skirt!
0:06:35 > 0:06:36Bacon bonce!
0:06:36 > 0:06:39If it didn't, all the air would rush out the sides
0:06:39 > 0:06:41and then it wouldn't lift up, would it?
0:06:41 > 0:06:43- Aren't you clever? - Ooh, pardon me.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45Look at that! The Peter Firth.
0:06:45 > 0:06:46'Peter Firth, of course,
0:06:46 > 0:06:48'went on to star in the BBC's
0:06:48 > 0:06:51'smash hit spy caper Spooks.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55'But he's not the only one who went on to have a brilliant career.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59'Spring went on to form the reggae band Aswad.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01'Billie is now a professor
0:07:01 > 0:07:03'of women's performance history.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07'And Doughnut became a theoretical physicist.'
0:07:07 > 0:07:09You wouldn't get away with some of those nicknames now.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12No, you wouldn't, would you?
0:07:12 > 0:07:14No, definitely not.
0:07:14 > 0:07:15That must've been very early.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17That must have been primary school, definitely,
0:07:17 > 0:07:19because it's obviously a childish thing.
0:07:19 > 0:07:21I think that was one of those shows
0:07:21 > 0:07:23that you watched in the summer holidays.
0:07:23 > 0:07:24You know, where they suddenly had
0:07:24 > 0:07:27things on like Don't Just Sit There, Let's Go And Do Something More
0:07:27 > 0:07:32Interesting and, like, The Flashing Blade and Belle and Sebastian
0:07:32 > 0:07:34and stuff like that, you know?
0:07:34 > 0:07:37Those, like, European programmes with dubbed dialogue.
0:07:37 > 0:07:39But do you think something like this...?
0:07:39 > 0:07:42Did you desperately watch this and want to become an actor?
0:07:42 > 0:07:43No.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46No, I probably wanted to kind of, like,
0:07:46 > 0:07:49incorporate some of those things into having our own little den.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51You know, the way the doors open and stuff.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53So who would you have watched this with?
0:07:53 > 0:07:55Nobody.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57Well, it's kind of embarrassing.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59You wouldn't want anyone to see you watching this, would you?
0:07:59 > 0:08:02"Don't tell anybody, right?" No, no, don't tell anybody.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10We're going to move on. We're going to look at must-see TV now, John.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12Right.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14When Sharron Macready, Craig Stirling
0:08:14 > 0:08:17and Richard Barrett crashed in the snows of Tibet
0:08:17 > 0:08:18and encountered the lost people,
0:08:18 > 0:08:22they could not even have imagined the powers that they would be given.
0:08:22 > 0:08:23So they had special powers?
0:08:23 > 0:08:25They had special powers, yeah.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28They were, like, telepathic and they knew stuff.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32'The Champions was one of the first accidental superhero series.
0:08:32 > 0:08:36'It followed the adventures of three UN agents who foil fiendish
0:08:36 > 0:08:38'terrorist plots
0:08:38 > 0:08:40'with their super-human abilities,
0:08:40 > 0:08:42'though the out-of-this-world
0:08:42 > 0:08:47'looks of Alexandra Bastedo were all her own.'
0:08:47 > 0:08:49So would you say Alexandra was your first TV crush?
0:08:49 > 0:08:51Oh, totally, yeah. Totally, yeah.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54She just seemed so exotic. Like, the make-up and everything
0:08:54 > 0:08:57and that hair. She had hair and lips and stuff. It was just...
0:08:57 > 0:08:59LAUGHTER
0:08:59 > 0:09:03- She looked like a woman. - Yeah, she looked like a woman.- Yeah.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06You know, I mean, it was the '70s.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08We didn't have vegetables in Scotland at that point.
0:09:08 > 0:09:09There weren't any women!
0:09:11 > 0:09:14You're going to tell us sooner or later, so why not now?
0:09:14 > 0:09:16'The Champions was produced by Monty Berman,
0:09:16 > 0:09:20'the man behind The Saint, Department S and Jason King,
0:09:20 > 0:09:25'shows where the baddies always wore the latest, most stylish suits,
0:09:25 > 0:09:29'and the action took place all over the world, even though it was
0:09:29 > 0:09:31'mostly filmed in the back lots
0:09:31 > 0:09:33'and car parks of Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39'I think he looks like he's on the toilet, doesn't he?'
0:09:39 > 0:09:41Ooh!
0:09:49 > 0:09:51It was in the garage. Quickly!
0:09:51 > 0:09:54'Yeah, that's her powers there. She obviously knows what's going on.'
0:09:54 > 0:09:56Jag. Nice car.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02Craig! Craig, where are you?
0:10:02 > 0:10:04I'm resting.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06You silly...
0:10:07 > 0:10:10Oh, look at that, in the boot. There you go. Good night.
0:10:15 > 0:10:20- I think he dived over that car.- Yes. So you would watch this with your family?
0:10:20 > 0:10:23- JOHN HUFFS - I don't know.
0:10:23 > 0:10:25Probably not. It's kind of silly, isn't it?
0:10:25 > 0:10:28My dad was probably asleep, or fixing the car.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30My sisters would've been doing the dishes, you know,
0:10:30 > 0:10:33after dinner. It would've been an early evening thing, wouldn't it?
0:10:33 > 0:10:37I never had to do the dishes, being a boy, I had two sisters.
0:10:37 > 0:10:38Terrible, isn't it?
0:10:38 > 0:10:41- Still don't do the dishes, I put them in a machine.- Aha.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50We'll have a look at what you did all watch together, John.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53- Right.- And this is...- Growing up, good stuff.- Yes, here we go.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56- Granada three litre.- Sing the tune? - Yeah.- Go on, mate.
0:10:56 > 0:11:01THEY HUM THEME TUNE
0:11:05 > 0:11:07THE SWEENEY THEME TUNE
0:11:07 > 0:11:11'The Sweeney was British TV's antidote to the Hollywood-style
0:11:11 > 0:11:14'glamorous shows like The Saint and The Champions.
0:11:14 > 0:11:19'It was shot with hand-held film cameras in real locations.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22'And even though the stars Dennis Waterman and John Thaw
0:11:22 > 0:11:26'had a rugged charm, there was nothing pretty about The Sweeney.'
0:11:28 > 0:11:31What was it about The Sweeney that you love so much?
0:11:31 > 0:11:34I remember, one of the things I remember about The Sweeney
0:11:34 > 0:11:36was it didn't always have a happy ending.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39It didn't always end with the cops getting the bad guy.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42Regan, I mean, he was a flawed character, wasn't he?
0:11:42 > 0:11:44- Yes.- You know, he had a drinking habit, things like that.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46Yes, I suppose it was the start of... We're still
0:11:46 > 0:11:50dealing with all those flawed characters with drinking habits
0:11:50 > 0:11:52and problems with authority. I mean, that's every cop show
0:11:52 > 0:11:55- that's ever been on the TV since then, hasn't it?- Yes.- Yeah.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59- Who are you?- We're the Sweeney, son, and we haven't had any dinner.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02You've kept us waiting, so unless you want a kicking,
0:12:02 > 0:12:04you tell us where those photographs are.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07- "We're the Sweeney, son."- They were asleep there, weren't they?
0:12:07 > 0:12:09- They should've known that was coming!- Yeah, come on.
0:12:09 > 0:12:13'It may have looked rough and ready, but at £85,000 per episode,
0:12:13 > 0:12:17'The Sweeney was considered to be a very expensive drama.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21'And the risk paid off for ITV. As many as 19 million of us
0:12:21 > 0:12:25'tuned in to watch every week for guaranteed action sequences
0:12:25 > 0:12:28'and well-choreographed fights like this.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36'And we all repeated Waterman and Thaw's classic one-liners
0:12:36 > 0:12:39'every Tuesday morning. "You're nicked."'
0:12:39 > 0:12:42I've got on this card here some classic lines from The Sweeney...
0:12:42 > 0:12:45- Right.- ..that we're going to re-enact.- All right, mate.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48- You better get your glasses... - Better get my glasses on, yeah.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52I'll read the first one, you read the second one and we're going
0:12:52 > 0:12:57to let the audience judge as to who is the best DCI Regan, OK?
0:12:57 > 0:12:59So, I'll go first.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02"All right, Tinkerbell, you're nicked."
0:13:02 > 0:13:04GENTLE LAUGHTER
0:13:04 > 0:13:07"We're the Sweeney, son, and we haven't had any dinner."
0:13:07 > 0:13:08Yeah.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11"Get your trousers on, you're nicked."
0:13:11 > 0:13:13That's the same as the other one, wasn't it?
0:13:13 > 0:13:16Yeah. This one rolls off the tongue nice and easy.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20"Now, listen, little lord spy master, you may be Special Branch,
0:13:20 > 0:13:23- "but that doesn't make you God almighty."- Yeah.- All right?
0:13:23 > 0:13:25GENTLE LAUGHTER
0:13:25 > 0:13:29"What are you doing standing around, looking like...?"
0:13:29 > 0:13:31Do you mind? LAUGHTER
0:13:31 > 0:13:32I'm trying to be evil.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35- It's comedy, Brian, you've either got it or you haven't.- I know.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37- Mate, you've got loads of it. - Thank you, love.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40- It's oozing out of every orifice. - Every orifice.- Every orifice.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44"What are you doing standing around, looking like a motorway breakfast?"
0:13:44 > 0:13:47- LAUGHTER - Shut it!- Shut it!
0:13:47 > 0:13:50OK, ladies and gentlemen, so by applause,
0:13:50 > 0:13:54what do we think of...DCI Conley?
0:13:54 > 0:13:56APPLAUSE
0:13:57 > 0:13:59Thank you, that's very good.
0:13:59 > 0:14:00DCI Hannah?
0:14:00 > 0:14:02CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:14:03 > 0:14:07- I have played a cop before, actually.- Aha. - Bit of an advantage there.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11- Give it me one more time. - Shut it!- See? He means it.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15John Thaw's Detective Inspector Regan of the Flying Squad
0:14:15 > 0:14:17set the template for many flawed cops
0:14:17 > 0:14:20who followed him into our living rooms.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26It's easy to forget John Nettles' Detective Bergerac
0:14:26 > 0:14:30went in into the first series recovering from a nasty divorce
0:14:30 > 0:14:32and a heavy drinking problem.
0:14:32 > 0:14:37And Dominic West's multilayered creation McNulty had the same
0:14:37 > 0:14:41problems as he negotiated the mean streets of Baltimore in The Wire.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47At the end of Ashes to Ashes, it turned out Philip Glenister's
0:14:47 > 0:14:51DCI Gene Hunt was literally a cop with a tortured soul,
0:14:51 > 0:14:54caught between Heaven and Hell.
0:14:54 > 0:14:55That might explain the language.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01Luther's major flaw is that he is emotionally damaged
0:15:01 > 0:15:03by his tragic life.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06Idris Elba gives this tough cop a soft heart
0:15:06 > 0:15:08that makes the best of us swoon...
0:15:11 > 0:15:14..but one of the most complicated cops in recent times
0:15:14 > 0:15:16is Sarah Lancashire's Catherine Cawood,
0:15:16 > 0:15:19whose human frailty is barely hidden
0:15:19 > 0:15:21in the brilliant Happy Valley.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25- Can I tell the ladies and gentleman...- What?
0:15:25 > 0:15:28- ..that we once done a film? - Yeah, yeah.
0:15:28 > 0:15:30I wondered what you were going to say there. We did a few things!
0:15:30 > 0:15:33LAUGHTER
0:15:33 > 0:15:39And there's a scene where John had to threaten me with a gun
0:15:39 > 0:15:43and I was by the camera and John had to lift the gun up
0:15:43 > 0:15:48and threaten me with the gun and I would then deliver my lines.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51John lifted the gun up and I
0:15:51 > 0:15:55- was so terrified that I moved out of the way.- You laughed!
0:15:55 > 0:15:56I moved out the way.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59And he said, "Why are you moving out the way?"
0:15:59 > 0:16:02I went, "Because you looked as if you were going to fire it at me!"
0:16:02 > 0:16:04And then John went, "I'm acting."
0:16:04 > 0:16:06LAUGHTER
0:16:06 > 0:16:09- But that is how good an actor John Hannah is.- Ah!
0:16:09 > 0:16:13It's a film called Circus and that is how good this man is that
0:16:13 > 0:16:14I honestly believed
0:16:14 > 0:16:17- that you were going to fire that gun...- I'm going to kill you?
0:16:17 > 0:16:20- Yeah, that's how good you are, John. - Thanks, Brian. Thanks, yeah.
0:16:20 > 0:16:22How did it all start for you?
0:16:22 > 0:16:27- Acting?- Yeah, I mean, when did the first love of it, or...
0:16:27 > 0:16:29you know, when did that spark ignite?
0:16:29 > 0:16:31It's a funny thing, you know,
0:16:31 > 0:16:35I hear a lot of actors say they fell into it and I fell into it.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38I was working as an electrician, serving a four-year apprenticeship,
0:16:38 > 0:16:41and I wanted to give up and do something else
0:16:41 > 0:16:45and I'd left school at 16 so if I wanted to go back to
0:16:45 > 0:16:48further education I would've had to go to night school
0:16:48 > 0:16:50and if I wanted to go to art school
0:16:50 > 0:16:53I'd have had to have been able to draw
0:16:53 > 0:16:55and music school, I'd have had to have been able to play
0:16:55 > 0:16:58a musical instrument and the only thing that you didn't need
0:16:58 > 0:17:02any qualifications for was drama school, you just had to go
0:17:02 > 0:17:07and audition and through ignorance, really, I thought, I'll do that
0:17:07 > 0:17:10and I did, I went, I auditioned and I got in, bizarrely.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14The first year...was weird, but I kind of liked it, you know.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17You weren't on a building site, up at eight in the morning,
0:17:17 > 0:17:21seven in the morning, it wasn't hard work and there was women around.
0:17:21 > 0:17:22It was great!
0:17:22 > 0:17:26However, I think there was... I think there was a kind of epiphany
0:17:26 > 0:17:29in the second year, we worked with this great director
0:17:29 > 0:17:32and that was a moment where I felt like,
0:17:32 > 0:17:34oh, I can do this.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37I don't have to be like Laurence Olivier, or,
0:17:37 > 0:17:41you know Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, I can be like me,
0:17:41 > 0:17:44I can be truthful in that situation.
0:17:44 > 0:17:48Er, I felt like I had something to offer at that point
0:17:48 > 0:17:49and then that was it.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57- This next show is not one of your choices.- Right.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00But it will give you a clue as to what is.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04- That's a bit cryptic, but have a little look.- Right. Blue Peter.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06First we're going into space.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09Have a look at my bracelet and see if you recognise it.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14- Is that Blake's 7?- Yeah. - Right, OK. Cool.
0:18:14 > 0:18:15BLAKE'S 7 THEME TUNE
0:18:18 > 0:18:21'Blake's 7 was the brainchild of Terry Nation,
0:18:21 > 0:18:24'the man who created the Daleks for Doctor Who.
0:18:24 > 0:18:29'It was screened on Mondays on BBC One from 1978.
0:18:29 > 0:18:34'Experts say it's one of the most influential sci-fi series ever.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38'Although now it may seem a bit dated.'
0:18:42 > 0:18:44'That theme tune's terrible, isn't it?'
0:18:44 > 0:18:45JOHN LAUGHS
0:18:45 > 0:18:48'And that's, you know Star Trek's got the same sign,
0:18:48 > 0:18:49it's just vertical, isn't it?
0:18:49 > 0:18:52Ah, yeah, so that's where they got it from.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56- It's not just advanced, it's... - Conceptually alien?- Yes.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58There are a lot of controls that I haven't dared touch yet.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01'Blake 7's studio set may not have been as swanky
0:19:01 > 0:19:04'as the Enterprise, but in the UK,
0:19:04 > 0:19:07'the show was more popular than Star Trek.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10'Ten million of us were watching every week.'
0:19:10 > 0:19:11SHIP ALARM
0:19:13 > 0:19:15- 'Oh, hello!' - 'Oh!'
0:19:15 > 0:19:17LAUGHTER 'Stood in front of a hairdryer!
0:19:17 > 0:19:20'Oh, that's lovely, isn't it? Oh, that is...'
0:19:22 > 0:19:26'Touch the button, touch the button, look, we're going to crash into that big planet!'
0:19:26 > 0:19:29Oh, God, the things you have to do as an actor.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32- LAUGHTER - I hope they got well paid.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36I mean, there was a whole raft of really bad British science fiction.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38I mean, the old Doctor Who with the Daleks,
0:19:38 > 0:19:40I never kind of got into that.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43But if you never got into them as a teenager, what was you into?
0:19:43 > 0:19:44Football.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47Apart from when it rained, obviously, then I stayed in.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49It rained a lot more than I remember.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53Is it true to say John Hannah was a huge football fan?
0:19:53 > 0:19:55Yeah, although I used to play football.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58I played school Saturday mornings,
0:19:58 > 0:20:01I played a team called Eastercraigs, a Glasgow team, Saturday afternoon,
0:20:01 > 0:20:04I played with a local amateur team on a Sunday afternoon,
0:20:04 > 0:20:06trained Tuesdays and Thursdays,
0:20:06 > 0:20:08so I was out a lot, you know?
0:20:08 > 0:20:13And the other thing, you'd make your own way there...
0:20:13 > 0:20:17sometimes, especially with the Glasgow team, it was quite,
0:20:17 > 0:20:22quite large distances to get to on your own when you're 12
0:20:22 > 0:20:24and things, but you just got on the bus and went.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27- Well, you did then, didn't you? - Yes, you did. Nowadays,
0:20:27 > 0:20:30even taking the kids to training, like my daughter swims
0:20:30 > 0:20:31and my son plays rugby,
0:20:31 > 0:20:34not only are you expected to drive them down,
0:20:34 > 0:20:36you're expected to sit and watch them train for two hours.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39Have you watched somebody train in a swimming pool for two hours?
0:20:39 > 0:20:41BRIAN LAUGHS
0:20:41 > 0:20:44I mean, I'm really proud of her and everything, but two hours
0:20:44 > 0:20:47watching somebody go up and down, sometimes they use one arm.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50- But John, this is your daughter. - I know, but...
0:20:50 > 0:20:52LAUGHTER
0:20:52 > 0:20:54I'm from the '70s.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58British TV is responsible for producing some of the best
0:20:58 > 0:21:02sci-fi series in this or in any other world.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04Our first ever sci-fi series for adults
0:21:04 > 0:21:07was The Quatermass Experiment.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09Screened in 1953,
0:21:09 > 0:21:12five million people were completely hooked.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16In 1963, Doctor Who was originally planned
0:21:16 > 0:21:19as a time-hopping educational series.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21But that idea was dropped
0:21:21 > 0:21:25and it's now the most successful sci-fi series of all time.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32The late great Douglas Adams wrote three episodes
0:21:32 > 0:21:36of Doctor Who in the late '70s and went on to create the brilliant
0:21:36 > 0:21:40Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for TV in 1981.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47The creator of Blake's 7, Terry Nation, also cut his teeth
0:21:47 > 0:21:53on Doctor Who before giving us the post-apocalyptic sci-fi, Survivors.
0:21:54 > 0:21:59That series was re-made in 2008 and featured Neil Dudgeon,
0:21:59 > 0:22:02a very old friend of the one and only Mr John Hannah.
0:22:04 > 0:22:09We met down at Bristol. We were doing a DH Lawrence play down there.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13It was very funny, because there was two phone boxes out the back,
0:22:13 > 0:22:14stage door, and it was...
0:22:14 > 0:22:17it was in the old days where you needed money for the phone!
0:22:17 > 0:22:20- Yeah...- Nobody had it, yes, 2ps and 10ps, yes,
0:22:20 > 0:22:23and both of us had girlfriends at the time.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26And we used to go out after the play,
0:22:26 > 0:22:27phone your girlfriend.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30Anyway, at the end of that play, we both got dumped by the girls,
0:22:30 > 0:22:31I don't know what that was about!
0:22:31 > 0:22:34So I ended up sharing a flat with Neil.
0:22:34 > 0:22:39Today Neil plays tough DCI John Barnaby in Midsomer Murders.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41While the two of them were living together
0:22:41 > 0:22:43they shared John's next TV choice.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54Neil and I obviously sharing a flat and then this particular Christmas,
0:22:54 > 0:22:56there was another mate of ours, Simon, who came,
0:22:56 > 0:22:59he was sleeping on the couch. And...
0:22:59 > 0:23:02They were all buddies from college, Simon and Dudge.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06I came in the living room, made some tea and toast and stuff.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08Er, for breakfast.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11Two o'clock in the afternoon or something. Christmas, it was Christmas.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15Dudge came in, got his tea and Simon was still sitting in bed,
0:23:15 > 0:23:18so Dudge got in the bed and they were sitting, we were watching
0:23:18 > 0:23:19It's A Wonderful Life.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21We were watching it, got to the bit where he finds Zuzu's petals,
0:23:21 > 0:23:24cos...his life had gone, then he's back
0:23:24 > 0:23:26and he's got Zuzu's petals in his pocket.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28And...I could feel the tears coming,
0:23:28 > 0:23:32I was sitting there watching the telly, they were sitting in bed like this, Simon, Dudge,
0:23:32 > 0:23:34me over there and I could feel, oh, my God,
0:23:34 > 0:23:36I'm going start crying, and I looked over
0:23:36 > 0:23:39and the two of them were sitting here, tears streaming down their face!
0:23:39 > 0:23:41It was really sweet, actually, yeah.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43And what age?
0:23:43 > 0:23:45Oh, I was in my 30s!
0:23:45 > 0:23:47LAUGHTER
0:23:47 > 0:23:49Let's have a little look.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51Oh, Wonderful Life, I'll start crying.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53Quiet, quiet! Now get this, it's from London.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57- Oh!- "Mr Gower cabled you need cash. Stop.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01"My office instructed to advance you up to 25,000. Stop.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04"He-ha and Merry Christmas, Sam Wainwright."
0:24:04 > 0:24:05CHEERING
0:24:05 > 0:24:08'It's A Wonderful Life isn't just a great tear-jerker,
0:24:08 > 0:24:11'it's up there with the greatest films of all time.'
0:24:11 > 0:24:13- Ah, it's a great film. - It's brilliant.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15- It's a classic.- It's brilliant.
0:24:15 > 0:24:16To my big brother, George...
0:24:16 > 0:24:19'It cost nearly 4 million to make,
0:24:19 > 0:24:23'but when it was released in 1946, the movie bombed,
0:24:23 > 0:24:27'putting director Frank Capra's film company into bankruptcy.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30'There were no parties like the one depicted in the gloriously
0:24:30 > 0:24:33'uplifting final scene.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37'But when copyright lapsed on the film in 1974,
0:24:37 > 0:24:40'TV companies discovered they could play it for free.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44'Then it became appreciated as the ultimate Christmas
0:24:44 > 0:24:47'feel-good masterpiece it really is.'
0:24:47 > 0:24:48- BELL RINGS - Look, Daddy!
0:24:48 > 0:24:54Teacher says every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03- Well, your next choice is comedy hero.- Right.
0:25:03 > 0:25:08And you've gone with, well, as far as I'm concerned, a genius.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11And utter madness. Have a little look.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13- Spike Milligan.- Yeah.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17'Spike Milligan shot to fame in 1951
0:25:17 > 0:25:19'when he wrote a radio show
0:25:19 > 0:25:23'and performed it with Harry Secombe, Michael Bentine and Peter Sellers.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27'And The Goon Show was born, changing British comedy forever.'
0:25:27 > 0:25:32- It is Spike Milligan in that costume, isn't it?- Yeah, in the brown Hilda costume, yes.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34'He looks good as a woman!'
0:25:34 > 0:25:37- You need to get out more! - LAUGHTER
0:25:37 > 0:25:39HE BLOWS RASPBERRIES
0:25:39 > 0:25:40LAUGHTER
0:25:49 > 0:25:53'Spike died in 2002 at the age of 83.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57'And his gravestone reads, "I told you I was ill."
0:25:57 > 0:25:59'But if it could make a sound,
0:25:59 > 0:26:02'I'm pretty sure it will be something like...'
0:26:02 > 0:26:04HE BLOWS RASPBERRIES
0:26:04 > 0:26:06It's just so silly!
0:26:06 > 0:26:09LAUGHTER It's ridiculous.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12Is that what you loved about him, just that simplicity of it?
0:26:12 > 0:26:16No, in truth, when I first started watching, er,
0:26:16 > 0:26:20Q5 or something like that, right,
0:26:20 > 0:26:22it was my dad, that was my dad's programme and I have to
0:26:22 > 0:26:25hold my hands up and say I was a bit bemused by what was really going on.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27- I didn't get it.- Mm.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30I probably didn't get it till about Q9, do you know what I mean?
0:26:30 > 0:26:34But there was something that I did want to get.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37I could see that my dad loved it and I could see that...
0:26:37 > 0:26:41he thought it was funny and I'm looking at it, going...what?
0:26:41 > 0:26:43'And I stuck with it because I kind of wanted to.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45'He's just brilliant.'
0:26:45 > 0:26:47- Did your dad have a good sense of humour?- Yeah, he did.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51One of the things that makes me really sad though is...
0:26:51 > 0:26:52JOHN SIGHS
0:26:52 > 0:26:55I never really... I don't suppose any of us do,
0:26:55 > 0:26:59get to know your dad the way other people know your dad.
0:26:59 > 0:27:00My dad used to have a lot...
0:27:00 > 0:27:03He was a toolmaker and he had a lot of apprentices and stuff
0:27:03 > 0:27:06and you knew a lot of the guys that were his apprentices
0:27:06 > 0:27:10and they would tell me how brilliant my dad was and how funny he is
0:27:10 > 0:27:12and what a great guy he was and I'd be like,
0:27:12 > 0:27:16"Really? We're talking about the same person?" You know? And...
0:27:16 > 0:27:18Do you think every child...?
0:27:18 > 0:27:20I do, I think... And I notice with my own kids,
0:27:20 > 0:27:25I spend a lot of time looking up and looking down at, you know,
0:27:25 > 0:27:27what age was my dad when I was that age?
0:27:27 > 0:27:30What age was I when they were...? That kind of stuff.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33And I do think that, I feel like...
0:27:33 > 0:27:36I feel like my kids don't realise how cool I am!
0:27:36 > 0:27:38LAUGHTER
0:27:38 > 0:27:39Do you know what I mean?
0:27:39 > 0:27:43They're just like, I'm an embarrassment, "Dad, don't sing."
0:27:43 > 0:27:45My daughter, every time I say,
0:27:45 > 0:27:47"Give us a kiss", she goes like that.
0:27:47 > 0:27:48I get to kiss the top of her head.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50It's a great personal tragedy
0:27:50 > 0:27:53- that they will never know how cool I really am.- Yes!
0:27:53 > 0:27:54LAUGHTER
0:27:54 > 0:27:58The genius of Spike Milligan lit up British broadcasting
0:27:58 > 0:28:00for over 50 years.
0:28:00 > 0:28:01After The Goon Show,
0:28:01 > 0:28:03Spike wrote A Show Called Fred.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06It was a star vehicle for Peter Sellers
0:28:06 > 0:28:08and it set him off on the road to Hollywood.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13Spike proved he had another string to his bow
0:28:13 > 0:28:16when he presented Muses with Milligan,
0:28:16 > 0:28:18a show about poetry and jazz.
0:28:22 > 0:28:271969 saw the first in his legendary Q comedy series,
0:28:27 > 0:28:29screened on BBC Two.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32It was the Monty way before the Python.
0:28:32 > 0:28:37And one of Spike's last and most poignant TV appearances was in 2000.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40In the BBC adaptation of Gormenghast
0:28:40 > 0:28:43he played headmaster De'ath.
0:28:44 > 0:28:46And I know he would've chuckled at that.
0:28:56 > 0:28:58The next choice is an interesting one,
0:28:58 > 0:29:02this is an actor that had a big influence on you. Sir Alec Guinness.
0:29:02 > 0:29:04Why don't we sit back, relax,
0:29:04 > 0:29:08- and enjoy a little bit of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy?- Ah. Yeah.
0:29:09 > 0:29:10FLY BUZZES
0:29:12 > 0:29:14Do you know where your wife is?
0:29:14 > 0:29:16I mean, at this moment?
0:29:16 > 0:29:18'Look at that. Patrick Stewart.'
0:29:18 > 0:29:19'Is that Patrick Stewart?
0:29:19 > 0:29:21'I wonder if that's his own beard or if they stuck it on.'
0:29:21 > 0:29:24'I don't know. 'It looks stuck on.'
0:29:24 > 0:29:25He would've been at the RSC a lot,
0:29:25 > 0:29:28so he might have had a Shakespearean kind of beard.
0:29:28 > 0:29:33'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is quite rightly regarded
0:29:33 > 0:29:35'as one of the best TV dramas ever made.'
0:29:38 > 0:29:41Perhaps we could get in touch with her secretly?
0:29:43 > 0:29:47If you stay with us, we might be able to arrange something.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51In exchange for someone your people want returned.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54What do you think of Alec Guinness in this? You know?
0:29:54 > 0:29:57I thought he was brilliant. I mean, it was an amazingly...
0:29:57 > 0:29:59It's just, it's Alec Guinness.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02He's amazing. I mean, he's a genius at what he does
0:30:02 > 0:30:04or how he does it or how he achieves it.
0:30:04 > 0:30:07When you've got a very complex plot like that, you know,
0:30:07 > 0:30:11shooting it is very... You have to be very, very careful
0:30:11 > 0:30:13with how you tell that story, you know?
0:30:13 > 0:30:15I don't know who directed these, actually,
0:30:15 > 0:30:17if it was one director who did all of them,
0:30:17 > 0:30:19but it was brilliantly directed.
0:30:20 > 0:30:23'It was actually directed by John Irvin,
0:30:23 > 0:30:27'whose next job was directing the big Hollywood movie The Dogs Of War.
0:30:27 > 0:30:32'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy screened on the BBC in 1979.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36'It won a Bafta for its brilliantly atmospheric camerawork.
0:30:36 > 0:30:40'Alec Guinness won the Best Actor award for his superb
0:30:40 > 0:30:43'central performance as George Smiley.'
0:30:49 > 0:30:53So, John Hannah, who had a big influence on your acting?
0:30:53 > 0:30:54- Me.- Yeah?
0:30:54 > 0:30:58Yeah, I had a mate at work who suggested that I go to drama school
0:30:58 > 0:31:00when I was looking for something to do.
0:31:00 > 0:31:02He was like, "You should go to drama school, you'd be a good actor."
0:31:02 > 0:31:06I was like, "How do you do that?" He told me, I auditioned and got in.
0:31:06 > 0:31:08I suppose, like, the films I used to watch...
0:31:08 > 0:31:11I mean, Sunday when it rained in Scotland and I always watched films
0:31:11 > 0:31:14and always liked the old films and stuff, but I knew I wasn't
0:31:14 > 0:31:17like Alec Guinness or Laurence Olivier
0:31:17 > 0:31:22or any of... Or any of the, kind of, famous actors.
0:31:22 > 0:31:24I'd never been to the theatre.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27So I didn't really know anybody... I didn't know anything about theatre.
0:31:27 > 0:31:31I did have that epiphany in second year where I realised that what
0:31:31 > 0:31:36I could do was what was truthful within me.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39If I had to play somebody that was waiting for a bus,
0:31:39 > 0:31:41I could play that better than Laurence Olivier could
0:31:41 > 0:31:44because he probably never had to wait on a bus.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47So there was an honesty and a truth which I've tried to keep.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50That's why I jokingly say me because it's the only reference,
0:31:50 > 0:31:52it's the only points that you can have where you know
0:31:52 > 0:31:54you can be truthful.
0:31:54 > 0:31:57When you start pretending then you're pretending.
0:31:57 > 0:32:01So I got accepted for drama school bizarrely
0:32:01 > 0:32:03and I thought, "Well, I'd better go and see a play,
0:32:03 > 0:32:05- "see what it's all about, right?" - BRIAN LAUGHS
0:32:05 > 0:32:07- So I took this...- After being accepted?!- Yeah, yeah!
0:32:07 > 0:32:09So I took this girl... I can't remember her name.
0:32:09 > 0:32:11But I took this girl to see this play at the
0:32:11 > 0:32:13Citizens Theatre in Glasgow.
0:32:13 > 0:32:15The Citizens Theatre is very European, very, kind of,
0:32:15 > 0:32:19not absurd but strange.
0:32:19 > 0:32:21Me and this girl, I'm trying to impress this girl
0:32:21 > 0:32:22and look at the play...
0:32:22 > 0:32:25The play was called Marriage a la Mode
0:32:25 > 0:32:27and I didn't find out until...
0:32:27 > 0:32:30I had no idea what was going on in this play!
0:32:30 > 0:32:33I had no idea, not a Scooby!
0:32:33 > 0:32:36It turned out that what was going on was that there was a play within
0:32:36 > 0:32:39the play and I didn't realise you could do that!
0:32:39 > 0:32:41AUDIENCE LAUGH
0:32:41 > 0:32:43I didn't have a clue that you could
0:32:43 > 0:32:45actually have a play within the play.
0:32:45 > 0:32:47It was very, very bizarre.
0:32:47 > 0:32:49But I'd tied my colours to the mast,
0:32:49 > 0:32:51so I was going to drama school anyway!
0:32:51 > 0:32:53I thought, "What am I letting myself in for?"
0:32:53 > 0:32:55And at the end of the day, did you get off with the girl?
0:32:55 > 0:32:57She was a nice girl.
0:32:57 > 0:32:59We just went home and stuff. I didn't see her again.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01I think she was like, "I'm not going there again.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04"That's not a date, I wanted some chips!"
0:33:09 > 0:33:14- John, I want to talk about your big break now.- Right.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17- Still waiting for it, Brian, still waiting.- Gritty Glasgow drama.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20- 'Have a look at this. There it is.' - 'Brond?'- 'Yeah.'
0:33:20 > 0:33:23'Stratford Johns, a bit like Alec Guinness as well. He was amazing.'
0:33:23 > 0:33:25The name's Brond, James Brond.
0:33:25 > 0:33:27Sorry!
0:33:27 > 0:33:28I don't know why I did that.
0:33:28 > 0:33:31- Because it's funny.- Thank you.
0:33:31 > 0:33:33- My mum and dad came to this location, actually.- Oh, really?
0:33:33 > 0:33:36- First time I was ever filming, yeah. - So what was the series about?
0:33:36 > 0:33:38JOHN EXHALES
0:33:38 > 0:33:41It was one of those, like, weird psychological dramas.
0:33:41 > 0:33:46It was kind of about Scottish independent movement -
0:33:46 > 0:33:47independence movement -
0:33:47 > 0:33:49but it was a more militaristic
0:33:49 > 0:33:50'independence movement.
0:33:50 > 0:33:55'You know, back in the '70s there had been statues blown up.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58'The Tartan Army were taking, sort of,
0:33:58 > 0:34:00'a republican view of things.'
0:34:02 > 0:34:06Stratford Johns plays a kind of agent
0:34:06 > 0:34:09who's brought in to infiltrate them.
0:34:09 > 0:34:11I'm a student who's about to have peritonitis
0:34:11 > 0:34:14and then everything is weird after that.
0:34:14 > 0:34:16In as much as I don't know what's real and what's not real.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19There's a scene on Gibson Street bridge in this sequence
0:34:19 > 0:34:22- where I'm running... - That's in Glasgow?- Yeah.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25There's a sequence on the bridge where I stop
0:34:25 > 0:34:27and there's a little kid looking over the bridge,
0:34:27 > 0:34:29really cool little sequence, actually.
0:34:29 > 0:34:32Stratford Johns comes up and just throws the kid over the bridge
0:34:32 > 0:34:34and as he walks past, he winks at me.
0:34:41 > 0:34:43That's, like, really spooky.
0:34:43 > 0:34:45I watch him and I follow him and I lose him,
0:34:45 > 0:34:46and then go back to the bridge
0:34:46 > 0:34:49and the kid who was thrown over, who had landed on this big rock,
0:34:49 > 0:34:50isn't there any more.
0:34:50 > 0:34:54Then I've got a burst appendix so I'm not sure quite where it all...
0:34:54 > 0:34:57- Oh, right.- What I imagine. - What's real, yeah.
0:34:57 > 0:35:01Then James Cosmo, sort of, ends up being...
0:35:01 > 0:35:04Inveigles his way into my life in a summer job...
0:35:04 > 0:35:06It's really weird.
0:35:06 > 0:35:08It's a mystery and we have to find out what goes on.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11I saw a boy being murdered.
0:35:11 > 0:35:14- You're right.- What?- I don't believe you.
0:35:14 > 0:35:16'Brond was a high risk.
0:35:16 > 0:35:19'It cost £2.5 million
0:35:19 > 0:35:24'and everything hinged on the unknown actor playing the lead role.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27'So no pressure for John Hannah, then.'
0:35:27 > 0:35:31- John, how important was this to your career?- Oh, it was huge.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34I mean, I was out of drama school a couple of months.
0:35:34 > 0:35:38It was huge for a short period of time, funnily enough.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41Out of drama school a couple of months, worked with Michael,
0:35:41 > 0:35:43it was a ten week shoot, six days a week
0:35:43 > 0:35:45and I was in just about everything.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48So it was like a course in film acting.
0:35:48 > 0:35:50Michael is a terrific director.
0:35:50 > 0:35:54Richard Greatrex was the DP - the director of photography -
0:35:54 > 0:35:57and similarly he was great to work with, and great for me
0:35:57 > 0:36:01to suddenly have this kind of education.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03So it was good for me for a while and then, as I say,
0:36:03 > 0:36:06it died until the '90s,
0:36:06 > 0:36:10- '93 I think with...- Four Weddings. - Four Weddings, yeah.
0:36:10 > 0:36:13So let's talk about Four Weddings,
0:36:13 > 0:36:16- the time schedule...- Yeah.- ..and how difficult that was to shoot.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19I mean, I think with all things there's always a limit.
0:36:19 > 0:36:22You know, there's never enough money, there's never enough time.
0:36:22 > 0:36:25Rehearsals are important to get to know each other
0:36:25 > 0:36:27but there was a scene that...
0:36:27 > 0:36:32The scene before Simon dies that we had rehearsed for half a day
0:36:32 > 0:36:35before we started filming and that was all great
0:36:35 > 0:36:37and everybody knew what they were going to do
0:36:37 > 0:36:39and how it was going to be blocked and all of that.
0:36:39 > 0:36:41Then on the day it got to quarter to seven
0:36:41 > 0:36:44and the sparks are pulling the plug at seven o'clock
0:36:44 > 0:36:45and Mike was like, "Right, OK,
0:36:45 > 0:36:48'"we'll do it in the doorway."'
0:36:48 > 0:36:50- SPEAKER IN BACKGROUND:- And also I want to thank
0:36:50 > 0:36:52all those wonderful ladies in the parish
0:36:52 > 0:36:55who did the flowers in the church...
0:36:56 > 0:36:59'So he improvised how he wanted to do it.
0:36:59 > 0:37:01'We had 15 minutes to do it,
0:37:01 > 0:37:04'two cameras, possibly three cameras, just shot it really quick,
0:37:04 > 0:37:07'really simple. We put it somewhere where it was already lit.
0:37:07 > 0:37:10'So we ended up having to do a really, really important scene
0:37:10 > 0:37:12'in 15 minutes, probably 20 minutes or something.'
0:37:12 > 0:37:15- But it worked.- Yeah, it was a beautiful scene.
0:37:15 > 0:37:18- It added to it, added to the suspense.- It did, it did in a way.
0:37:18 > 0:37:20I think sometimes there's a certain energy, a certain frisson
0:37:20 > 0:37:23that comes from having to think on your feet.
0:37:23 > 0:37:27- But you'll always come up against that, whether it's The Mummy... - Winging it.
0:37:27 > 0:37:28Whatever it is, yeah.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31"We've got ten minutes, we need to shoot this somehow."
0:37:31 > 0:37:32They didn't have that sort of...
0:37:32 > 0:37:35They didn't shoot The Mummy in ten minutes.
0:37:35 > 0:37:38There was stuff... It's funny, at the end of the day
0:37:38 > 0:37:40you always want more, you always want more time.
0:37:40 > 0:37:43So in the last ten minutes there's always things that they want to get
0:37:43 > 0:37:46because maybe this is the last day on that location or you've
0:37:46 > 0:37:47got 400 guys in the background that
0:37:47 > 0:37:50you're not getting back tomorrow, or something.
0:37:50 > 0:37:54So, yeah, I mean, it's big and it's a different planet
0:37:54 > 0:37:55in terms of production,
0:37:55 > 0:37:58but it still comes down to getting in front of the camera
0:37:58 > 0:38:00- and doing your stuff.- Yeah.
0:38:00 > 0:38:04That's like this, or like a student film
0:38:04 > 0:38:06- or Blake's 7.- Yeah.
0:38:06 > 0:38:10Does it irritate you that people keep bringing up Four Weddings?
0:38:10 > 0:38:13- No, no. I like Four Weddings, you know?- It was a great movie.
0:38:13 > 0:38:15Yeah, and I always say it's not like I robbed a bank.
0:38:15 > 0:38:19It's a bit of television or a film or something. It's good, yeah.
0:38:19 > 0:38:21Somebody said to me at school the other day,
0:38:21 > 0:38:24"Four Weddings and a Funeral was on and we watched the repeat.
0:38:24 > 0:38:25"Oh, you've aged, haven't you?"
0:38:25 > 0:38:27And you're like, "Yeah, well, so have you.
0:38:27 > 0:38:30"It's just that we don't have you on television to go, wow,
0:38:30 > 0:38:33- "you were kind of good looking back in the day."- Yeah.
0:38:33 > 0:38:36- Could you see yourself directing or producing?- No, I don't think so.
0:38:36 > 0:38:40- No?- No, I think you really have to be...- It's a special art, is it?
0:38:40 > 0:38:43- It is but it's also something you have to be driven to want.- Mm hm.
0:38:43 > 0:38:47There's so much you have to put up with, that you have to want it
0:38:47 > 0:38:50so much in order to put up with all of that.
0:38:50 > 0:38:53And actually I like the acting bit, I like doing that bit.
0:38:53 > 0:38:55- Also, it's a lot less hassle. - It's a lot less hassle,
0:38:55 > 0:38:57- you get time off. You're not in every scene.- Yeah.
0:38:57 > 0:39:00The director's got to be there for everything.
0:39:05 > 0:39:07Well, what are you watching now?
0:39:07 > 0:39:11Well, funnily enough, I was working down in Somerset recently
0:39:11 > 0:39:13doing a wee film down there and I spent a lot of time on the train.
0:39:13 > 0:39:17I watched this series called Mr Robot, which was great, really good.
0:39:17 > 0:39:21It's about hacking and everything and I thought my son would like it but it got a bit rude.
0:39:21 > 0:39:24- And what does Coco like watching? - She likes watching anything.
0:39:24 > 0:39:27She just likes getting rubbed, really. But she'll sit there and...
0:39:27 > 0:39:30We've got a cat as well and the cat likes the football.
0:39:30 > 0:39:32AUDIENCE LAUGH
0:39:32 > 0:39:34I think it's because...
0:39:34 > 0:39:36Do you remember that first electronic game
0:39:36 > 0:39:39- where you had the two things...? - Beep, beep!- And the ball moved. - Yeah.
0:39:39 > 0:39:43So the cat comes in and sits on the thing that the telly's on,
0:39:43 > 0:39:45I mean, right in front of the telly like that.
0:39:45 > 0:39:47It loves a corner.
0:39:47 > 0:39:49It'll take a corner and the ball goes from there
0:39:49 > 0:39:53and the cat's like, that, "Where did it go?"
0:39:53 > 0:39:55It looks to the side of the telly.
0:39:55 > 0:39:57"Oh, it's there, right, OK."
0:39:57 > 0:39:59- Watches the football!- Yeah.
0:39:59 > 0:40:02But I noticed you've got a very big telly because that was...
0:40:02 > 0:40:05- Yeah.- That's another thing the kids won't appreciate...
0:40:05 > 0:40:08- What, small tellies?- Yeah.
0:40:08 > 0:40:10Do you know the other thing is, like,
0:40:10 > 0:40:12because we've got the set-top box and all that
0:40:12 > 0:40:14so you can pause live TV and stuff.
0:40:14 > 0:40:18So you go away on holiday or something and you watch whatever
0:40:18 > 0:40:19and they go, "Oh, can we pause it?"
0:40:19 > 0:40:23And you're like, "No, no, we can't, no."
0:40:23 > 0:40:25"Ah, I don't what to do!"
0:40:25 > 0:40:29I still take analogue photography, film,
0:40:29 > 0:40:31and I've got digital as well,
0:40:31 > 0:40:34but when I've got the film camera out and take a picture they're like,
0:40:34 > 0:40:36- "Oh, can I see it?"- Yeah.
0:40:36 > 0:40:38So, yeah, they don't get it.
0:40:38 > 0:40:40Have you enjoyed your time on the show today?
0:40:40 > 0:40:42- Yeah, it's been great.- Yeah?
0:40:42 > 0:40:46- I love sitting talking.- Yeah.
0:40:46 > 0:40:49Well, thank God for that, otherwise you would have been a very boring guest.
0:40:49 > 0:40:51Yeah, I love that about going to work
0:40:51 > 0:40:53because you've got somebody to talk to because the kids
0:40:53 > 0:40:55don't listen to you, my wife's usually too busy
0:40:55 > 0:40:58with the washing machine. She loves her washing machine, mate.
0:40:58 > 0:40:59I don't know what it is!
0:40:59 > 0:41:02She loves her washing machine and now, she never ironed
0:41:02 > 0:41:04anything for me, irons stuff for the kids,
0:41:04 > 0:41:06makes proper dinner for the kids -
0:41:06 > 0:41:08she's never made a shepherd's pie for me, you know!
0:41:08 > 0:41:12But, no, the kids will get shepherd's pie and proper food.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15- Well, it's...- You come in at lunchtime... Sorry, Brian!
0:41:15 > 0:41:17But you come in at lunchtime sometimes and she's got
0:41:17 > 0:41:20something on for the kids and I'm like, "What have you got for me?"
0:41:20 > 0:41:21"Some soup or something."
0:41:21 > 0:41:23What I love is the only reason you came on the show is
0:41:23 > 0:41:26that you'd have someone who would listen to you.
0:41:26 > 0:41:27It's the only reason I go to work!
0:41:27 > 0:41:31Sitting in make-up having a chat and a rant about everything I hate.
0:41:31 > 0:41:34"See that Doctor Who! Shut it!"
0:41:34 > 0:41:37Oh, John, it's been a real pleasure to have you on the show
0:41:37 > 0:41:39- and Coco of course.- Yeah.
0:41:39 > 0:41:40We've got to thank Coco.
0:41:40 > 0:41:43She's been such a good little thing sitting here all this time.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46We give you a choice now to go out with a theme tune.
0:41:47 > 0:41:49What's it going to be?
0:41:49 > 0:41:51Ah, well, I know what it's going to be
0:41:51 > 0:41:54and it is one of the programmes that I loved as a kid.
0:41:54 > 0:41:57Well, it's the Rockford Files but what I loved about
0:41:57 > 0:42:01the Rockford Files, in that theme tune there's an answering machine.
0:42:01 > 0:42:05Up to that point, the most advanced technological
0:42:05 > 0:42:08piece of phone equipment I'd seen was one of the neighbours had
0:42:08 > 0:42:11an address book that you moved a wee slider down
0:42:11 > 0:42:13and it opened at a particular letter.
0:42:13 > 0:42:15I thought that was amazing!
0:42:15 > 0:42:16AUDIENCE LAUGH
0:42:16 > 0:42:19- They had it on the wee table next to the phone in the hall.- Yeah.
0:42:19 > 0:42:24So the idea that James Rockford had a machine that
0:42:24 > 0:42:27'answered his phone and took messages was...'
0:42:27 > 0:42:29JOHN EXHALES
0:42:29 > 0:42:31- ANSWERING MACHINE:- 'Mr Rockford, this is the
0:42:31 > 0:42:34'Thomas Crown School Of Dance And Contemporary Etiquette.
0:42:34 > 0:42:37'We aren't going to call again. Now, you want these free lessons?'
0:42:37 > 0:42:40John, we've got an answering machine here
0:42:40 > 0:42:42to pay homage to the Rockford Files.
0:42:42 > 0:42:45So we're going to go out, press play.
0:42:45 > 0:42:47ANSWERING MACHINE: 'Ladies and gentlemen,
0:42:47 > 0:42:49'this was the TV That Made John Hannah.
0:42:49 > 0:42:52'Please leave a message after the credits. Goodbye.'
0:42:52 > 0:42:54- Bye-bye.- Bye.
0:42:54 > 0:42:57MUSIC: The Rockford Files Theme by Mike Post and Pete Carpenter