0:00:02 > 0:00:04It was a show that went out three nights a week live...
0:00:04 > 0:00:06- Mr Wogan, you're on. You're on. - ..with a live audience.
0:00:06 > 0:00:09And everyone who was anyone dropping in,
0:00:09 > 0:00:11the great and the good, the bad and the ugly.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13And they called it Wogan.
0:00:13 > 0:00:15- TERRY LAUGHS - I never knew why.
0:00:15 > 0:00:17So, if you're sitting comfortably,
0:00:17 > 0:00:20I'll show you something I made earlier.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23God knows what they'll make of us in 25 years' time.
0:00:23 > 0:00:24WOGAN THEME MUSIC PLAYS
0:00:35 > 0:00:38And we're acting up on today's wander back
0:00:38 > 0:00:40through the wonderful world of Wogan -
0:00:40 > 0:00:43I said that without a laugh - with a line-up featuring
0:00:43 > 0:00:47some of the nation's best-loved mummers and thesps,
0:00:47 > 0:00:48including Helen Mirren,
0:00:48 > 0:00:50Judi Dench, Bob Hoskins,
0:00:50 > 0:00:54Pierce Brosnan and Julie Walters.
0:00:54 > 0:00:56Let's meet a true giant of the British cinema,
0:00:56 > 0:00:58figuratively and metaphorically.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02I am the proud first TV host in this country
0:01:02 > 0:01:04to risk an interview with Christopher Lee.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08Mind you, I admit to wearing a garlic necklace under my shirt.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10APPLAUSE
0:01:10 > 0:01:12Now, you may hate it,
0:01:12 > 0:01:15but people still see you as the Prince of Darkness.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18- Does this bother you? - Well, it's a fairly high rank.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21LAUGHTER I'm not one to complain too much.
0:01:21 > 0:01:23You've got to be recognised for something, you know,
0:01:23 > 0:01:25at some stage of your career.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29It wasn't quite the way I dreamed when I started as an actor in '47
0:01:29 > 0:01:32that I would make my name, let's put it that way.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35Yes, you're always cast as the fella in the black hat, aren't you?
0:01:35 > 0:01:37- Are we ever...? - They're the best parts, you know?
0:01:37 > 0:01:39Will we ever see you in the white hat?
0:01:39 > 0:01:40Oh, yes, I've done a bit of that.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42Particularly in the last nine years,
0:01:42 > 0:01:44I've done a lot of comedy in the States.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47- Erm...- You did Saturday Night Live, didn't you?
0:01:47 > 0:01:48Yes, I hosted it.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50Cos we had Pamela Sue Martin who did that as well.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53Yes, I hosted with the late John Belushi
0:01:53 > 0:01:55and Dan Ackroyd and Bill Murray.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59All of them, understandably, have gone on to become very big stars.
0:01:59 > 0:02:00And also the girls, of course,
0:02:00 > 0:02:03Gilda Radner, Laraine Newman, Jane Curtin and so on.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06It was the most fantastic experience I think I've ever had in my life
0:02:06 > 0:02:10and I don't think I've ever been so terrified as I was before I went on.
0:02:10 > 0:02:11It's an hour-and-a-half.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13But they recognised your ability to do comedy,
0:02:13 > 0:02:16which not too many people have, have they?
0:02:16 > 0:02:20Well, I think if you're going to be a real actor, or professional,
0:02:20 > 0:02:24whatever you like to call it, you must possess a degree of versatility,
0:02:24 > 0:02:26otherwise you're not going to last very long, are you?
0:02:26 > 0:02:28Obviously, after some of the characters
0:02:28 > 0:02:30that I've played over the years,
0:02:30 > 0:02:33people found it a little difficult to believe that I could play comedy.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36But in America, at Paramount, for instance,
0:02:36 > 0:02:37I did a picture called Serial
0:02:37 > 0:02:39in which I played an American businessman,
0:02:39 > 0:02:42a head-hunter, a very hard man,
0:02:42 > 0:02:45and at the weekends, he was the head of a gay Hells Angels gang.
0:02:45 > 0:02:46LAUGHTER
0:02:46 > 0:02:51And I did that and it...became quite a memorable experience
0:02:51 > 0:02:52for everyone, I think.
0:02:52 > 0:02:53Do people ever confuse you
0:02:53 > 0:02:56with these threatening roles that you play?
0:02:56 > 0:02:59I mean, has anybody ever confused the real Christopher Lee
0:02:59 > 0:03:03with the kind of threatening cadaverous person?
0:03:03 > 0:03:05Well, it did happen once. Yes, it did.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08Quite a long time ago, actually - about 20 years ago, maybe more.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11My wife and I were driving back to Switzerland from Italy
0:03:11 > 0:03:14and we blew a tyre on the car.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17And so I drove up to the side of the road and I said to my wife,
0:03:17 > 0:03:21"Now, you stay there. We'll put down the red triangle behind the car
0:03:21 > 0:03:25"and I will go off in the distance to those houses where I see the lights
0:03:25 > 0:03:27"and I will get a telephone..."
0:03:27 > 0:03:29LAUGHTER "..somehow, I hope.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32"And I will call the breakdown people and everything'll be fine."
0:03:32 > 0:03:37So, I got out of the car, walked behind the car...
0:03:37 > 0:03:39And disappeared, that was the first thing.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41Because there was a huge cutting that I couldn't see in the dark.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45LAUGHTER They were building for a sort of motorway.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49So I vanished. And my wife was a little bit surprised, perhaps -
0:03:49 > 0:03:51she might even have been quite relieved,
0:03:51 > 0:03:53but any rate, I vanished.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56And I clawed my way across this thing and up the other side,
0:03:56 > 0:03:59through acres of mud and dust and sand and everything,
0:03:59 > 0:04:03and charged across these fields, falling over every five feet,
0:04:03 > 0:04:05until I got to the first house.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08And I banged on the door and a voice from within, in Italian,
0:04:08 > 0:04:12said "Chi e la?" Which is, "Who is there?"
0:04:12 > 0:04:14And I then delivered myself a spate of Italian,
0:04:14 > 0:04:16saying that I was in great distress
0:04:16 > 0:04:19and the car had broken down, could I use his telephone?
0:04:19 > 0:04:22He said yes. And he opened the door.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24He had a large Alsatian with him, I may say.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27They both of them took one look at me -
0:04:27 > 0:04:31I was standing in the doorway, covered in mud from head to foot,
0:04:31 > 0:04:32white as a sheet,
0:04:32 > 0:04:34looking a little strange for a change,
0:04:34 > 0:04:36and the dog started barking
0:04:36 > 0:04:37and the man fainted.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39LAUGHTER
0:04:39 > 0:04:44And he made the most terrible noises, gave a terrific howl,
0:04:44 > 0:04:47and said in Italian, "E lui!" - "It's him!"
0:04:47 > 0:04:49And, boom!
0:04:49 > 0:04:52Someone else who had a reputation
0:04:52 > 0:04:55for making men feel a little on the faint side -
0:04:55 > 0:04:58she's never lost it - Helen Mirren.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00At the time, she'd just won
0:05:00 > 0:05:02the Cannes Film Festival Best Actress award
0:05:02 > 0:05:05for the 1984 film Cal
0:05:05 > 0:05:09and reminded me that this wasn't our first encounter.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12Do you know we've been on a chat show before?
0:05:12 > 0:05:14- In...?- I knew you wouldn't remember.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16- No, I do remember. For radio? - For radio.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20- You remember, do you? You, me and Nigel Dempster.- It was for Radio 4.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22And I couldn't get a word in edgeways.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24And I thought you wouldn't remember,
0:05:24 > 0:05:26because you are Nigel Dempster rabbitted for about...
0:05:26 > 0:05:31- We...!- I mean, honestly, it was so difficult to get a word in edgeways.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33Nige was only about the height then, do you remember?
0:05:33 > 0:05:36Neither of you were as rich and famous as you are now.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40He was a boy gossip columnist then, I was a boy broadcaster.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42- A boy broadcaster, that's right. - And you were a girl actress.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45I was a girl. Well, yes, I was.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47Yes, you were, you were younger than both of us.
0:05:47 > 0:05:48I can't actually remember when it was -
0:05:48 > 0:05:51I just remember the two of you going on and on.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53- Oh, stop going...! - LAUGHTER
0:05:53 > 0:05:56I think it was just before the Napoleonic Wars.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00What about this Best Actress Award at Cannes for Cal?
0:06:00 > 0:06:03Well, it was a great surprise - to all concerned, I might add -
0:06:03 > 0:06:06including the people who produced the film
0:06:06 > 0:06:09or distributed the film or whatever.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11No-one believed it was going to happen
0:06:11 > 0:06:13and I certainly had no idea at all.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17- Did you go down to Cannes to all that glamour?- No, I didn't.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20I always miss out on these glorious occasions for some reason.
0:06:20 > 0:06:25- Do you not like dos like that? - I love them. Excuse my outfit.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29- Excuse me.- I...- I thought, "Well, I'll just go and chat to Terry,
0:06:29 > 0:06:31- "don't have to get dressed up for that."- Well, no.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33LAUGHTER
0:06:33 > 0:06:35Nobody does, do they?
0:06:35 > 0:06:40You've been cast from time to time in overtly sexy roles
0:06:40 > 0:06:43- and people do think of you as a sexy actress.- Like what?
0:06:43 > 0:06:46- Well, Caligula, for instance. - Oh, yes, Caligula, right.
0:06:46 > 0:06:47- Yeah.- True.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51I mean, do you think it's the part that gives you that or...?
0:06:51 > 0:06:54- Or my natural erotic charge? - Exactly.
0:06:54 > 0:06:55LAUGHTER
0:06:57 > 0:07:00- What do you think?- I think it's your natural erotic charge.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02LAUGHTER
0:07:02 > 0:07:04I think it's probably good acting.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06But they... Hello!
0:07:06 > 0:07:08LAUGHTER
0:07:08 > 0:07:10- "More! More!", they cried! - LAUGHTER
0:07:10 > 0:07:13- That's as far as I'm prepared to go. - What about the Shakespeare?
0:07:13 > 0:07:16I mean, you started on the Shakespeare early, didn't you?
0:07:16 > 0:07:19- 19, Cleopatra. - Yes, in the Youth Theatre.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22I was in the Youth Theatre then, the National Youth Theatre,
0:07:22 > 0:07:26a great organisation that gave people like me a chance.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29Like Jimmy Boyle talking about, you know, people...
0:07:29 > 0:07:32It's not remotely connected, but I think that it's...
0:07:32 > 0:07:34- Oh!- Oh! - LAUGHTER
0:07:38 > 0:07:40APPLAUSE
0:07:42 > 0:07:48You see, I shall never be a member of the A Group, shall I? LAUGHTER
0:07:48 > 0:07:50You did that deliberately.
0:07:50 > 0:07:54- A little bit of the actorish business there.- I swear...
0:07:54 > 0:07:57These are my best pearls. They were given to me...
0:07:57 > 0:08:00- Very nice, too. - They're very classy.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04Age shall not wither her. In fact, she's got better-looking.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06And here's another one, Julie Walters.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08We were more used to seeing her on the telly back then,
0:08:08 > 0:08:12but she came and told us how the phenomenally successful film,
0:08:12 > 0:08:14Educating Rita,
0:08:14 > 0:08:17meant Hollywood was now beating a path to her door.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19I've had scripts, Terry.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23- I've heard about them. - You've heard about the scripts?- Oh!
0:08:23 > 0:08:27- Didn't old Uncle Burt Reynolds offer you a part?- Yeah, he did.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29- Yeah?- I don't want to get sued though,
0:08:29 > 0:08:31I don't know if I should talk about it.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33- He did. He did, yeah.- Try it -
0:08:33 > 0:08:35- I'll fight it in every court in the land.- OK, then.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37Be it on your shoulders.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40- I'll deny everything of course. - SHE LAUGHS
0:08:40 > 0:08:41All right. Yes, I did,
0:08:41 > 0:08:43I did get offered a Burt...
0:08:43 > 0:08:45- Burt, as I call him. - Old Burt, yes.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47I did get a script,
0:08:47 > 0:08:50but, to put it mildly, it wasn't my cup of tea really.
0:08:50 > 0:08:55But I remember thinking, "I must meet him cos me mother will love it."
0:08:55 > 0:08:57Then I rang up later to say...
0:08:57 > 0:08:59I told her. I said, "I'm going to meet Burt Reynolds!"
0:08:59 > 0:09:03And there was a great silence - she didn't know who he was. LAUGHTER
0:09:03 > 0:09:06- You didn't tell him that, did you? - No, I didn't him.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09- Good God, no!- Some blow that would've been.- It would've been a blow.
0:09:09 > 0:09:10But you turned down a chance
0:09:10 > 0:09:12to appear with Burt Reynolds in a movie?
0:09:12 > 0:09:15You're hardly in a position to pick and choose.
0:09:15 > 0:09:16SHE GASPS
0:09:16 > 0:09:20What do you mean I'm hardly in a position?!
0:09:20 > 0:09:22Well, I mean you've just arrived...
0:09:22 > 0:09:26You make this movie, Educating Rita, and you could get an Oscar for it.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28- Who said that?- I did.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30LAUGHTER
0:09:30 > 0:09:33You're beginning to make me doubt meself now. Are you hearing voices?
0:09:33 > 0:09:37- No, no.- You make this movie and you arrive in Hollywood.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39And you have been feted and people are saying
0:09:39 > 0:09:41what a marvellous discovery you are.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43And Burt Reynolds offers you a part.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45Now, Burt Reynolds movies are very popular,
0:09:45 > 0:09:47they make an awful lot of money,
0:09:47 > 0:09:50and it could be an avenue to further fame, couldn't it?
0:09:50 > 0:09:53- But you've turned it down? - Yeah. Well, yeah!
0:09:53 > 0:09:57Well, yes, I did turn it down.
0:09:57 > 0:10:02LAUGHTER And part of me didn't want it because they offer you lots of money.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06And a girl could have been set up for life, as they say,
0:10:06 > 0:10:10but the thing was it was an action movie,
0:10:10 > 0:10:11do you know what I mean?
0:10:11 > 0:10:14Burt was having everybody and...
0:10:14 > 0:10:17LAUGHTER Well, he was.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20Well, in the script, I don't know what happened in the film.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23Every five minutes, four or five girls,
0:10:23 > 0:10:25you know, in and out.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28- It's a family show?- Of course it is. - I shouldn't have said it.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30Anyway, so it was all that.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34And it was all kind of action and fighting and it wasn't...
0:10:34 > 0:10:36And just a suggestion of sex?
0:10:36 > 0:10:38- And a suggestion of it.- Yeah.
0:10:38 > 0:10:40- That's what "having" means. - Yes, thank you
0:10:40 > 0:10:41LAUGHTER
0:10:41 > 0:10:43- Was it because...? - LAUGHTER
0:10:43 > 0:10:45It was nothing to do with the fact
0:10:45 > 0:10:48that there was nothing in the script about you having any?
0:10:48 > 0:10:50There...
0:10:50 > 0:10:52No, excuse me, but there was...
0:10:52 > 0:10:55- Yeah.- ..a suggestion of it towards the end, yeah.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57- You wanted it closer to the beginning?- No!
0:10:57 > 0:11:00LAUGHTER No, I didn't.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03Don't be so rude. No, I wanted it without the toupee.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05AUDIENCE GASPING DROWNS OUT DIALOGUE
0:11:05 > 0:11:07But I went to meet him, you see.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11But I went to meet Burt, because even though I said I didn't want to do it,
0:11:11 > 0:11:13he said, "Oh, come down anyway, I'd like to meet you."
0:11:13 > 0:11:17Talking about toupees - this is why I'm bringing this up -
0:11:17 > 0:11:21I remember going in the car to his place for dinner.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24We went for dinner, me and my friend. I remember saying...
0:11:24 > 0:11:26- You brought a friend with you? - What's that got to do with it?
0:11:26 > 0:11:29Well, because that's the real boring thing, isn't it?
0:11:29 > 0:11:31- "Can me friend come as well?" - LAUGHTER
0:11:31 > 0:11:34- Was that it?- Yeah, well, a girl needs a bit of support.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36Do you know what I mean? No, she does.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38Oh, what a bust you must have been in Hollywood,
0:11:38 > 0:11:40bringing your friend with you everywhere.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43- I did, yeah.- You brought your friend to see Burt - what happened?
0:11:43 > 0:11:45Well, yeah, I was only going to...
0:11:45 > 0:11:47Because I mentioned toupee, I thought I may as well tell you.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51I said to her, "Don't mention wig. Don't mention wig."
0:11:51 > 0:11:54This will never be shown in America, will it?
0:11:54 > 0:11:56LAUGHTER
0:11:58 > 0:12:01Well, we'll be very lucky if it's shown in Britain.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04LAUGHTER
0:12:04 > 0:12:06Anyway, I said to her, "Don't mention wig."
0:12:06 > 0:12:09So, the first three minutes, "Wig!" It kind of came out.
0:12:10 > 0:12:15- Oh, God. Just appalling. - So, you turned Burt down.- Yeah.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19Any other interesting offers come up?
0:12:19 > 0:12:20Yeah, but this is a family show, isn't it?
0:12:22 > 0:12:24- I mean from Hollywood.- No.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26Following on the success from Educating Rita.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28But Michael Caine said that...
0:12:28 > 0:12:32He is on record saying that he thought Educating Rita
0:12:32 > 0:12:35would do for you what Alfie did for him.
0:12:35 > 0:12:37Yeah. I've been offered the remake of Zulu!
0:12:40 > 0:12:43But I'm not tall enough and I don't wear glasses.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46As always, a little burst of music.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50A remarkable and theatrical performer whose talent is
0:12:50 > 0:12:52enjoying another surge of acclaim, and rightly so.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56Here's Kate Bush with her biggest single from the 1980s,
0:12:56 > 0:12:58Running Up That Hill.
0:13:20 > 0:13:21# It doesn't hurt me
0:13:23 > 0:13:25# Do you want to feel how it feels?
0:13:27 > 0:13:29# Do you want to know
0:13:29 > 0:13:30# Know that it doesn't hurt me?
0:13:32 > 0:13:36# Do you want to hear about the deal that I'm making?
0:13:36 > 0:13:39# You-hoo
0:13:41 > 0:13:43# It's you and me
0:13:45 > 0:13:47# And if I only could
0:13:47 > 0:13:50# I'd make a deal with God
0:13:50 > 0:13:53# And I'd get him to swap our places
0:13:53 > 0:13:55# Be running up that road
0:13:55 > 0:13:57# Be running up that hill
0:13:57 > 0:14:00# Be running up that building
0:14:01 > 0:14:07# Say, if I only could, oh...
0:14:17 > 0:14:19# You don't want to hurt me
0:14:21 > 0:14:24# But see how deep the bullet lies
0:14:25 > 0:14:28# Unaware I'm tearing you asunder
0:14:30 > 0:14:34# Ooh, there is thunder in our hearts
0:14:34 > 0:14:37# Is there so much hate for the ones we love?
0:14:38 > 0:14:42# Tell me, we both matter, don't we?
0:14:43 > 0:14:46# You-hoo
0:14:47 > 0:14:50# It's you and me
0:14:52 > 0:14:56# It's you and me won't be unhappy
0:14:56 > 0:14:58# And if I only could
0:14:58 > 0:15:00# I'd make a deal with God
0:15:00 > 0:15:04# And I'd get him to swap our places
0:15:04 > 0:15:06# Be running up that road
0:15:06 > 0:15:08# Be running up that hill
0:15:08 > 0:15:10# Be running up that building
0:15:13 > 0:15:19# Say, if I only could, oh...
0:15:30 > 0:15:32# You-hoo
0:15:34 > 0:15:37# It's you and me
0:15:38 > 0:15:43# It's you and me won't be unhappy
0:15:43 > 0:15:44# C'mon, baby
0:15:44 > 0:15:47# C'mon darling
0:15:47 > 0:15:51# Let me steal this moment from you now
0:15:52 > 0:15:54# C'mon, angel
0:15:54 > 0:15:56# C'mon, c'mon, darling
0:15:56 > 0:16:01# Let's exchange the experience, oh
0:16:16 > 0:16:19# And if I only could
0:16:19 > 0:16:21# I'd make a deal with God
0:16:21 > 0:16:24# And I'd get him to swap our places
0:16:24 > 0:16:28# Be running up that road
0:16:28 > 0:16:31# Be running up that hill
0:16:31 > 0:16:33# With no problems
0:16:35 > 0:16:37# Say if I only could
0:16:37 > 0:16:40# I'd make a deal with God
0:16:40 > 0:16:42# And I'd get him to swap our places
0:16:43 > 0:16:46# Be running up that road
0:16:46 > 0:16:47# Be running up that hill
0:16:47 > 0:16:51# With no problems
0:16:52 > 0:16:55# So if I only could
0:16:55 > 0:16:57# I'd make a deal with God
0:16:57 > 0:17:00# And I'd get him to swap our places
0:17:00 > 0:17:03# Be running up that road
0:17:03 > 0:17:05# Be running up that hill
0:17:05 > 0:17:08# With no problems
0:17:10 > 0:17:12# So if I only could
0:17:14 > 0:17:17# Be running up that hill
0:17:19 > 0:17:22# With no problems
0:17:30 > 0:17:33# If I only could
0:17:33 > 0:17:34# I'd be running up that hill
0:17:34 > 0:17:36# If I only could
0:17:36 > 0:17:38# I'd be running up that hill. #
0:17:41 > 0:17:44APPLAUSE
0:17:49 > 0:17:53One of our most successful actors next - director, producer.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55Kenneth Branagh was just 24 years old
0:17:55 > 0:17:59when he came to talk about playing Henry V.
0:17:59 > 0:18:05A young, talented man. That wasn't all we had in common, of course.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07Now, you're Irish, I am very pleased to say.
0:18:07 > 0:18:11- Yes.- Playing Henry V. That's a bit of miscasting, isn't it?
0:18:11 > 0:18:12It's a bit worrying, yes,
0:18:12 > 0:18:15because they keep saying he's a Monmouth lad from Wales,
0:18:15 > 0:18:18especially as one of the most famous Henry Vs was Richard Burton,
0:18:18 > 0:18:21who was the real McCoy, but having a bit of Celtic blood...
0:18:21 > 0:18:23Do you play him as a Welshman?
0:18:23 > 0:18:26I do, actually - at one stage, in the night-time scene
0:18:26 > 0:18:28when Henry goes into disguise, I use a Welsh accent
0:18:28 > 0:18:30because I think that's what he would use,
0:18:30 > 0:18:33which was spotted by one of the critics, who said,
0:18:33 > 0:18:36"Mr Branagh in the night-time scene is effortlessly a Geordie."
0:18:36 > 0:18:39LAUGHTER
0:18:39 > 0:18:42- Some of these critics are as sharp as a sausage, aren't they?- Yes, yes.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45You are very young to play a Shakespearean king, though,
0:18:45 > 0:18:48because one would think Henry V was about 30 or so.
0:18:48 > 0:18:53- But you are older than you look, of course.- Well... Um...
0:18:53 > 0:18:57But I can play down! He was actually about 26, 27 and it's quite good.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00There were lots of references in the play to him being
0:19:00 > 0:19:01in the May-morn of his youth
0:19:01 > 0:19:03so I look quite fresh-faced from out there, you see.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06Yeah, but after several seasons playing it,
0:19:06 > 0:19:08the old fresh-faced looks can go, can't they?
0:19:08 > 0:19:09It's a tough part, physically.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12Oh, yes. It is, yes.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15Because when you have to win the battle of Agincourt
0:19:15 > 0:19:18twice in a day, it can take it out of you!
0:19:18 > 0:19:21You are the stuff on which empires were built.
0:19:21 > 0:19:26- How long is it since you have been out of RADA?- Um, three years.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29- And look at you!- Ha-ha!
0:19:29 > 0:19:31Some would say you're pretty close
0:19:31 > 0:19:32to the top of the profession already.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36Yeah. Some would - some would say I've got lots to learn.
0:19:36 > 0:19:37What would you say?
0:19:37 > 0:19:39I would probably be one of those, yeah.
0:19:39 > 0:19:44Having a lot of experience in a short space of time makes you aware,
0:19:44 > 0:19:45because the more you do, I suppose,
0:19:45 > 0:19:47the more potentially frightened you can get
0:19:47 > 0:19:50and the most frightening thing is other people's expectations of you,
0:19:50 > 0:19:52especially if you've been doing something big
0:19:52 > 0:19:55and people say you might become terribly good,
0:19:55 > 0:19:57then you have that riding on every performance of Henry V,
0:19:57 > 0:19:59so you have to dismiss it and get on with the job.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01At your age, how do you react to criticism,
0:20:01 > 0:20:04whether adverse or complimentary?
0:20:04 > 0:20:07Well, I wish I could say I never read them and it doesn't bother me,
0:20:07 > 0:20:10but I read them and it bothers me!
0:20:10 > 0:20:12- I know the feeling, yes. - Yes, I'm sure you do.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14LAUGHTER
0:20:14 > 0:20:16There's no need to be quite so unfair.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18APPLAUSE
0:20:18 > 0:20:21Will you pack it in, for goodness' sake?!
0:20:21 > 0:20:25Any time anybody shoots a barb into me, they are into applause.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29"Good ol' Tel, he's been knocked for six again. Hurray!"
0:20:30 > 0:20:35Now, I first saw you playing the part of Billy
0:20:35 > 0:20:39- in that TV series with a Northern Ireland accent.- Oh, yes.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42At the same time, you were playing in the West End in Another Country
0:20:42 > 0:20:43with a public school accent.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47Yes, well, I mean I'm lucky - proud to be from Belfast
0:20:47 > 0:20:49and although I left when I was nine,
0:20:49 > 0:20:53which is why I suppose I end up talking like this,
0:20:53 > 0:20:55it has given me quite a good ear for accents
0:20:55 > 0:20:58and picking it up for that show was relatively easy.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01For Another Country, you are not a public schoolboy,
0:21:01 > 0:21:03what sort of an accent do you take on for that?
0:21:03 > 0:21:05That was terribly intimidating to begin with,
0:21:05 > 0:21:07because having been to a comprehensive school
0:21:07 > 0:21:09and not a public school,
0:21:09 > 0:21:12and because it is set in the '30s, I went to the first audition
0:21:12 > 0:21:14and started talking like that.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17CLIPPED ENGLISH: Everything far back.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19You couldn't understand a word I said, actually.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23Until they said, "What are you doing? Can't you talk properly?"
0:21:23 > 0:21:26They thought there was something wrong with me.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30So, I just dropped it and decided to, you know, be myself.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33They still didn't understand me but I was completely natural!
0:21:33 > 0:21:36You are now in the Shakespearean mode, do you intend to stay...?
0:21:36 > 0:21:39Is that your main aim, to achieve greatness as a Shakespearean actor?
0:21:39 > 0:21:42Or will you be drawn to the tinsel of Hollywood?
0:21:42 > 0:21:45- The glamour of the films. - I would like to be drawn to it!
0:21:45 > 0:21:49- Yes, I'm waiting for the phone to ring.- The money?
0:21:49 > 0:21:51No, in an ideal world, it would be nice to balance things up.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53One of my plans is to form a company
0:21:53 > 0:21:56and go back and do some theatre in Belfast and elsewhere
0:21:56 > 0:22:00and bring it to England and I would like to balance that up,
0:22:00 > 0:22:03if possible, doing some film and television,
0:22:03 > 0:22:06and...in an ideal world, to do a bit of both,
0:22:06 > 0:22:09but whether that's possible remains to be seen.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12Of course, it turned out to be very possible indeed.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16Now we turn our attentions to the much-missed Bob Hoskins -
0:22:16 > 0:22:19a fantastic actor who loved his craft
0:22:19 > 0:22:21and everything that came with it.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24You are very hot property now, aren't you?
0:22:24 > 0:22:27You're what's called, "hot property" in the movies, aren't you, Bob?
0:22:27 > 0:22:29Yeah, it's great. I love it.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32- You love being a movie star, don't you?- Yeah. Terrific.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36A fly has just landed on my nose. Get out of here!
0:22:36 > 0:22:39I mean, you love it. You're not one of those people
0:22:39 > 0:22:42who say, "No, I don't like being a star."
0:22:42 > 0:22:44No, it actually comes...
0:22:44 > 0:22:48I can see how people back off from it
0:22:48 > 0:22:53but it comes to the first time you walk into a public place
0:22:53 > 0:22:57and everybody in that place knows who you are and you don't know a soul.
0:22:57 > 0:23:02Now, I can imagine for a lot of people thinking, "Ooh, hold up!
0:23:02 > 0:23:06"Back off and that is never going to happen to me again."
0:23:06 > 0:23:08And they isolate themselves.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11With me, it was a question of... I've always liked people
0:23:11 > 0:23:13and because I didn't know anybody, it didn't mean to say
0:23:13 > 0:23:17I didn't WANT to know anybody so I was in there like a flash.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19"Hold up, how you going?"
0:23:19 > 0:23:24You know, that was sort of...yeah. It's great.
0:23:24 > 0:23:26Tell me, what fascinated me
0:23:26 > 0:23:29is that you made the transition with extraordinary ease
0:23:29 > 0:23:31to American movies
0:23:31 > 0:23:33and notwithstanding you have a Cockney accent,
0:23:33 > 0:23:35you're one of the few British actors
0:23:35 > 0:23:38who can do a convincing American accent.
0:23:38 > 0:23:42How did it come about that they picked you for The Cotton Club,
0:23:42 > 0:23:46and then they picked you for Roger Rabbit and all those.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48How did they know you could do an American accent?
0:23:48 > 0:23:51I don't think the accent is that good.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53Nobody notices because of the shape.
0:23:53 > 0:23:55You're shaped like an American?
0:23:55 > 0:23:58Well, no, if you're 5'6", cubic and walk on the screen,
0:23:58 > 0:24:01everybody is, "Who's that?"
0:24:01 > 0:24:04- "Who's that fella?"- So, they don't hear what you're saying?
0:24:04 > 0:24:07- No, swept through.- Get out of here!
0:24:07 > 0:24:09Keep mumbling, you're all right.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11You were once paid an awful lot of money
0:24:11 > 0:24:13for not appearing in a movie, weren't you?
0:24:13 > 0:24:16Oh, with Brian De Palma.
0:24:16 > 0:24:17Well, he...
0:24:17 > 0:24:21He phoned me up and sent me this script of The Untouchables
0:24:21 > 0:24:24and he said, "Read Al Capone."
0:24:24 > 0:24:27I thought, "Al Capone, yeah, I'll have some of this."
0:24:27 > 0:24:32And...I read it and he said, "Meet me in the Beverly Wilshire,"
0:24:32 > 0:24:34in the hotel, in the bar.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37We met and he said, "Listen, I want De Niro to do this.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39I thought, "Great. Terrific."
0:24:39 > 0:24:43He said, "But I don't think he's going to do it,
0:24:43 > 0:24:45"but if he doesn't, will you do it?"
0:24:45 > 0:24:51I says, "Yeah. If I'm free, yeah. I will. Terrific. Fine."
0:24:51 > 0:24:53And I went off and I forgot about it.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57And then I saw in the paper that De Niro was doing Al Capone.
0:24:57 > 0:24:58"Oh, he's got him. Terrific."
0:24:58 > 0:25:01And then I was sitting having my cornflakes in the morning
0:25:01 > 0:25:05and Linda is opening the mail and she went, "Hold up!"
0:25:05 > 0:25:09"We have a cheque here for 200,000."
0:25:09 > 0:25:11"Hold up..."
0:25:11 > 0:25:19And it said, "Thank you, Bob, for being my standby, love Brian."
0:25:19 > 0:25:21And I thought, "If Hollywood is like this..."
0:25:21 > 0:25:23I phoned him up a couple of times, "Brian,
0:25:23 > 0:25:25"have you got any more films you don't want me to be in?!"
0:25:25 > 0:25:28LAUGHTER
0:25:28 > 0:25:30APPLAUSE
0:25:36 > 0:25:38Now, last year's big movie which starred you
0:25:38 > 0:25:39was Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
0:25:39 > 0:25:41You didn't do much promotion for that.
0:25:41 > 0:25:47- Did Roger Rabbit have a bad effect on you?- I was loopy.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49I was totally loopy at the end of it.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53The point was that to do it, to keep your eyes...
0:25:53 > 0:25:57If you put your hand in front of your eyes and lock off your eyes
0:25:57 > 0:26:01and take your hand away, your eyes immediately open up
0:26:01 > 0:26:04and you can see that on camera.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07So you have to learn to hallucinate.
0:26:07 > 0:26:12And Rosa, my daughter, who has this friend called Geoffrey
0:26:12 > 0:26:14who I have sat on a couple of times...
0:26:14 > 0:26:16LAUGHTER
0:26:16 > 0:26:18She...
0:26:18 > 0:26:20We used to play these games and she taught me how to...
0:26:20 > 0:26:24When we're a kid, our imagination is right there.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27You know, you can take it out and look at it, but as we get older,
0:26:27 > 0:26:31we push it further and further back to survive, you know what I mean?
0:26:31 > 0:26:34And, um...
0:26:34 > 0:26:39I learned to do this and having to hallucinate for eight months,
0:26:39 > 0:26:43you know, very intensely - I lost control of it.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47There were some very rude things happening to people
0:26:47 > 0:26:49and I was trying to hold it together.
0:26:49 > 0:26:50Get out!
0:26:50 > 0:26:52I started doing that type of thing.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55Do you know what I mean? It was a bit weird.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58- Are you all right now?- Oh, yeah.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01Linda took me to the West Indies
0:27:01 > 0:27:03and even Rosa said, "You're over the top, Dad.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05"You've gone too far."
0:27:05 > 0:27:09Rosa debriefed me, you know what I mean?
0:27:09 > 0:27:12Harvey was the white rabbit, as well.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15Yeah, Harvey, but I had loads of weasels and all sorts doing...
0:27:15 > 0:27:18- And you weren't even drinking. - ..rude things.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21Well, I can't say that!
0:27:21 > 0:27:25No pink elephants. Did your kids like the film?
0:27:25 > 0:27:29Yeah. Yeah, they did. Jack was a bit funny.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31How old is Jack?
0:27:31 > 0:27:34Jack was about just two, three.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37Just on the verge of being three, maybe he was just three.
0:27:37 > 0:27:43And he saw it. And afterwards, he was really funny with me.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46You know, it took me two weeks to work out what it was.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48What it was was the fact that...
0:27:48 > 0:27:53"Here is my old man, he has mates like Yosemite Sam and Bugs Bunny
0:27:53 > 0:27:55"and he don't bring them home."
0:27:55 > 0:27:59He really had the needle with me. "Hold up!
0:27:59 > 0:28:00"What sort of old man are you?
0:28:00 > 0:28:03"You've got friends like this and all I meet is your boring lot!"
0:28:04 > 0:28:07Moving right along from the merry chatter,
0:28:07 > 0:28:11it's the food of love and one of the most enduring singers who has
0:28:11 > 0:28:14also done a bit of the old acting in his time.
0:28:14 > 0:28:15Sting.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20# Free, free, set them free
0:28:20 > 0:28:24# Free, free, set them free
0:28:24 > 0:28:27# Free, free, set them free
0:28:29 > 0:28:31# Free, free, set them free
0:28:31 > 0:28:39- # If you need somebody, call my name - Free, free, set them free
0:28:39 > 0:28:44# If you want someone you can do the same
0:28:44 > 0:28:47# Free, free, set them free
0:28:47 > 0:28:50# If you want to keep something precious
0:28:50 > 0:28:54# You got to lock it up and throw away the key
0:28:54 > 0:28:58# If you want to hold on to your possession
0:28:58 > 0:29:01# Don't even think about me
0:29:02 > 0:29:05# If you love somebody
0:29:05 > 0:29:09# If you love someone
0:29:09 > 0:29:13# If you love somebody
0:29:13 > 0:29:17# If you love someone
0:29:17 > 0:29:19# Set them free
0:29:19 > 0:29:21# Free free, set them free
0:29:21 > 0:29:25- # Set them free - Free free, set them free
0:29:25 > 0:29:29- # Set them free - Free free, set them free
0:29:29 > 0:29:32- # Set them free - Free free, set them free
0:29:32 > 0:29:38# If it's a mirror you want just look into my eyes
0:29:40 > 0:29:46# Or a whipping boy someone to despise
0:29:48 > 0:29:51# Or a prisoner in the dark
0:29:52 > 0:29:55# Tied up in chains you just can't see
0:29:55 > 0:29:59# Or a beast in a gilded cage
0:29:59 > 0:30:03# It's all some people ever want to be
0:30:03 > 0:30:06# If you love somebody
0:30:07 > 0:30:11# If you love someone
0:30:11 > 0:30:14# # If you love somebody
0:30:14 > 0:30:18# If you love someone
0:30:18 > 0:30:20# Set them free
0:30:20 > 0:30:22# Free free, set them free
0:30:22 > 0:30:26- # Set them free - Free free, set them free
0:30:26 > 0:30:30- # Set them free - Free free, set them free
0:30:30 > 0:30:33- # Set them free - Free free, set them free
0:30:35 > 0:30:40# You can't control an independent heart
0:30:43 > 0:30:47# Can't tear the one you love apart
0:30:47 > 0:30:50# Can't love what you can't keep
0:30:50 > 0:30:54# Forever conditioned to believe that we can't live
0:30:54 > 0:30:57# We can't live here and be happy with less
0:30:57 > 0:31:01# So many riches, so many souls
0:31:01 > 0:31:05# Everything we see we want to possess
0:31:05 > 0:31:10# If you need somebody, call my name
0:31:13 > 0:31:16# If you want someone
0:31:16 > 0:31:20# You can do, you can do, you can do the same
0:31:20 > 0:31:24# If you want to keep something precious
0:31:24 > 0:31:28# You got to lock it up and throw away the key
0:31:28 > 0:31:32# If you want to hold on to your possession
0:31:32 > 0:31:34# Don't even think about me
0:31:35 > 0:31:38# If you love somebody
0:31:39 > 0:31:43# If you love someone
0:31:43 > 0:31:47# If you love somebody
0:31:47 > 0:31:51# If you love someone
0:31:51 > 0:31:54- # Set them free - Free free, set them free
0:31:54 > 0:31:58- # Set them free - Free free, set them free
0:31:58 > 0:32:02- # Set them free - Free free, set them free
0:32:02 > 0:32:06- # Set them free - Free free, set them free
0:32:06 > 0:32:10- # Set them free - Free free, set them free
0:32:10 > 0:32:13- # Set them free - Free free, set them free
0:32:13 > 0:32:17- # Set them free - Free free, set them free
0:32:17 > 0:32:19# Set them free... #
0:32:19 > 0:32:22APPLAUSE
0:32:29 > 0:32:32Now, when Judi Dench popped up on the show,
0:32:32 > 0:32:36she was probably most widely known at the time for a sitcom,
0:32:36 > 0:32:41A Fine Romance, which co-starred her late husband Michael Williams.
0:32:41 > 0:32:45She came in for a chat in 1985 and, fearless as ever,
0:32:45 > 0:32:48I began with the burning question that everyone was then asking.
0:32:48 > 0:32:52Why Judi with an I instead of with a Y?
0:32:52 > 0:32:56Because it is Judith and when I went to a drama school, there was
0:32:56 > 0:33:01another Judy as well so they decided they would knock the -th off
0:33:01 > 0:33:04so I became Judi and she was J-U-D-Y.
0:33:04 > 0:33:06And you call your daughter... Findy.
0:33:06 > 0:33:08- Finty.- Finty.
0:33:08 > 0:33:13Yes, that's just a nickname. She is really called Tara.
0:33:13 > 0:33:17Yes - it's a logical conclusion. Quite.
0:33:17 > 0:33:18And so we call her Finty.
0:33:18 > 0:33:20We thought it would be a boy and we'd call him Finn
0:33:20 > 0:33:23but it turned out to be a girl so she was nicknamed Finty
0:33:23 > 0:33:24and it's stuck now.
0:33:24 > 0:33:26So, you're married to that fine actor Michael Williams
0:33:26 > 0:33:29and you worked together in A Fine Romance.
0:33:29 > 0:33:31Is it that you can't bear to be away from each other?
0:33:31 > 0:33:34Well, you see... We do like working together.
0:33:34 > 0:33:38I do know where he is in the evening, too, that means!
0:33:38 > 0:33:40We like working together and I think that for a lot of actors
0:33:40 > 0:33:46and actresses, maybe they don't work so well, but we seem to and we knew
0:33:46 > 0:33:50each other nine years before we were married so we're really old friends.
0:33:50 > 0:33:53It is the cliche question, when you fall out on the set
0:33:53 > 0:33:57or fall out at home, you carry it on to the set?
0:33:57 > 0:33:59We have had a couple of tricky times, yes!
0:33:59 > 0:34:02Yes, a couple of tricky times when...
0:34:02 > 0:34:06We had a terrible row just before Christmas last year
0:34:06 > 0:34:09and it lasted a whole day, the row,
0:34:09 > 0:34:12and went on towards evening and we were both
0:34:12 > 0:34:17going to the theatre together to play in a play together, Pack Of Lies.
0:34:17 > 0:34:22And we got into the taxi and it was ice everywhere in the taxi,
0:34:22 > 0:34:24ice on the seats, ice from the ceilings
0:34:24 > 0:34:27and we looked out of the various windows -
0:34:27 > 0:34:30he looked out that side, I looked at this side.
0:34:30 > 0:34:33I thought, "This is going to make a very tricky evening."
0:34:33 > 0:34:37And we came to a traffic jam in Shaftesbury Avenue -
0:34:37 > 0:34:39still sitting there and not saying a word.
0:34:39 > 0:34:44A woman, through the window, saw us and suddenly went,
0:34:44 > 0:34:46# A Fine Romance... #
0:34:46 > 0:34:50And we took it in turns to go, "Thank you very much, indeed!"
0:34:50 > 0:34:54- It didn't break until the next morning.- The strain.
0:34:54 > 0:34:57- The strain is terrible. - Emotional and thespian.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00When you're playing a comedy,
0:35:00 > 0:35:03people say comedy is harder to play than serious stuff.
0:35:03 > 0:35:04Do you find that so?
0:35:04 > 0:35:08Well, I laugh more doing serious stuff than I do during the comedy.
0:35:08 > 0:35:09- Really?- Yes.
0:35:09 > 0:35:13The serious stuff, when you have to actually be very serious
0:35:13 > 0:35:14and something goes wrong...
0:35:14 > 0:35:18I have got myself into serious trouble for that.
0:35:18 > 0:35:20Many, many things.
0:35:20 > 0:35:23In Mother Courage, which is near three-and-a-half hours
0:35:23 > 0:35:26of dragging a cart around the station, not many laughs.
0:35:26 > 0:35:31On the last afternoon, two of the boys who were playing soldiers,
0:35:31 > 0:35:33I had to give a drink to and they used to give me money.
0:35:33 > 0:35:36On the last afternoon, because they thought it was so funny,
0:35:36 > 0:35:40instead of giving me the money, they'd given me an American card...
0:35:40 > 0:35:42- Express.- Express, yes.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45So, I didn't bat an eyelid about it,
0:35:45 > 0:35:50but between the shows, I doctored the drink so that when they came
0:35:50 > 0:35:52and asked for the drink and threw it back,
0:35:52 > 0:35:56they had half water, half vinegar - cider vinegar.
0:35:56 > 0:36:02And then what was wonderful about it and why it rebounded on me
0:36:02 > 0:36:05was they had to come back and say, "We would like another drink."
0:36:05 > 0:36:07They have to say, "We want another drink."
0:36:07 > 0:36:10And I thought, by all means.
0:36:10 > 0:36:14What about films? You don't seem to have done too many.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17- I am not asked to do many.- Why not?
0:36:17 > 0:36:21Because I'm not what they want to look at. They just...
0:36:21 > 0:36:24AUDIENCE: Aw!
0:36:24 > 0:36:28They're not sympathising with you, they are saying, "Shame, shame!"
0:36:28 > 0:36:31Well, I think that sometimes about films
0:36:31 > 0:36:33if you don't go in looking like the person
0:36:33 > 0:36:35you are meant to look like in the film,
0:36:35 > 0:36:38people perhaps don't cast you in that part.
0:36:38 > 0:36:43Whereas in the theatre, you can fool a lot of people, a lot of the time.
0:36:43 > 0:36:45You can look taller in theatre
0:36:45 > 0:36:47and you can do amazing things to yourself
0:36:47 > 0:36:49that makes you not look like yourself at all.
0:36:49 > 0:36:53And I don't think they like to do that so much in films.
0:36:53 > 0:36:57Our final encounter today is with the man who worked for Judi
0:36:57 > 0:37:00when she was M.
0:37:00 > 0:37:05Brosnan. Pierce Brosnan. I think he's Irish.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08This is years before he was cast as 007.
0:37:08 > 0:37:12Then, he was hugely famous for the TV series Remington Steele
0:37:12 > 0:37:15which did really well in America
0:37:15 > 0:37:17but, for some slightly awkward reasons,
0:37:17 > 0:37:20did a bit less well over here.
0:37:21 > 0:37:26As I say, enormous in the States - we do show Remington Steele here.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29It tends to go out at strange times
0:37:29 > 0:37:32so maybe that would be the reason why it hasn't grabbed
0:37:32 > 0:37:35the imagination of the public here in the same way as America,
0:37:35 > 0:37:36do you think?
0:37:36 > 0:37:39I don't think it is going out, actually, is it?
0:37:39 > 0:37:42I think the BBC took it off! As far as I know, they did.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45That's what I heard. I heard it was on again and off again.
0:37:45 > 0:37:49They put it on on Tuesday night at 7pm and then Wednesday night at 11pm.
0:37:49 > 0:37:53Pierce, there's no need for you to turn nasty with me.
0:37:53 > 0:37:55I don't make these decisions!
0:37:55 > 0:37:57I don't tell them to take the things off.
0:37:57 > 0:37:59I know you don't but that's what I heard the other day.
0:37:59 > 0:38:02- It's no longer on. - Oh, you're still making it, though.
0:38:02 > 0:38:03We're still making it, yes.
0:38:03 > 0:38:05Hence this growth here.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08We've just finished our third season back in the States.
0:38:08 > 0:38:12That's not a growth. That's designer stubble you have there.
0:38:12 > 0:38:14Designer stubble?!
0:38:14 > 0:38:17The jacket has got it as well.
0:38:17 > 0:38:20- You don't wear that out in the street, do you, that jacket?- No, no.
0:38:20 > 0:38:26- Only on certain occasions.- There's a class of the old Western about that.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29Any ambitions to turn into John Wayne?
0:38:29 > 0:38:32No, none whatsoever, although I was going to do a movie this year,
0:38:32 > 0:38:36but that never got off the ground and that was going to be a Western.
0:38:36 > 0:38:40- What happened to the Irish accent? - The Irish accent?- Yeah.- Er...
0:38:40 > 0:38:43That comes and goes. It depends who I'm talking to.
0:38:43 > 0:38:46By the end of this interview I might be back into the brogue.
0:38:46 > 0:38:49But would you have had to change
0:38:49 > 0:38:51to a slightly recognisable American accent
0:38:51 > 0:38:53to work in Remington Steele?
0:38:53 > 0:38:57Well, when I was working here, people thought I was mid-Atlantic anyway,
0:38:57 > 0:39:00so I was halfway there.
0:39:00 > 0:39:02Do you have any of the old Irish left?
0:39:02 > 0:39:07- How old were you when you left? - Well, there's a little bit there.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10- I left now in '64. - It's coming back!
0:39:11 > 0:39:14A bit cod, as they would say, but I left in '64.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17Do you remember any of the old Irish, the Gaelic?
0:39:17 > 0:39:19- Do you remember your name in Irish? - No, I don't.
0:39:19 > 0:39:22I can just about remember it in English, actually!
0:39:22 > 0:39:24Pierce O'Brosnanall!
0:39:24 > 0:39:26All I remember is "sui sios" and "dul abhaile".
0:39:26 > 0:39:29"Sui sios" means "sit down" and "dul abhaile" means "go home".
0:39:29 > 0:39:30Do you not remember in class,
0:39:30 > 0:39:32"An bhfuil cead agam dul amach?"
0:39:32 > 0:39:33No.
0:39:33 > 0:39:36I very rarely put my hand up!
0:39:36 > 0:39:39No, you were educated by the Christian Brothers.
0:39:39 > 0:39:41Christian Brothers. They were first fellows.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45You put your hand up, you were lucky to get it back!
0:39:45 > 0:39:48Yes, but I survived anyway.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51You certainly have survived it.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55By way of Wimbledon and now the Hollywood Hills in LA.
0:39:55 > 0:39:57That's a strange place.
0:39:57 > 0:40:00We have had various reports of the Hollywood Hills and life there.
0:40:00 > 0:40:04- You enjoy it, don't you?- I enjoy it, yes. I struck a vein of gold.
0:40:04 > 0:40:06I was very fortunate. I was really lucky.
0:40:06 > 0:40:09You made a couple of small films.
0:40:09 > 0:40:12You had small parts in a couple of films here before you went.
0:40:12 > 0:40:15I know the one you are going to pick up.
0:40:15 > 0:40:17Yes, I was in...
0:40:17 > 0:40:20It was a slow week that week, actually, and I got into two films.
0:40:20 > 0:40:25The Long Good Friday and another one was called The Mirror Crack'd
0:40:25 > 0:40:27with Elizabeth, Elizabeth Taylor.
0:40:27 > 0:40:30I don't remember you in The Long Good Friday. Was that a quick part?
0:40:30 > 0:40:33I was the gentleman killer. I was the killer.
0:40:33 > 0:40:35I picked the fellow up in the swimming baths and then I stab him
0:40:35 > 0:40:39and I pop at the end of the movie and point at Mr Hoskins' head.
0:40:39 > 0:40:44Yeah. You had to bend down to point at Mr Hoskins' head.
0:40:44 > 0:40:49And the other one, I was being cradled on Liz Taylor's bosoms.
0:40:49 > 0:40:50It's very...
0:40:50 > 0:40:52AUDIENCE: Ooh!
0:40:52 > 0:40:58It's very brief. I mean, not her bosoms... It's just...
0:40:58 > 0:41:01She looks into my eyes and says, "Jamie, Jamie..."
0:41:01 > 0:41:02And that was it.
0:41:03 > 0:41:05Anyway, since then...
0:41:05 > 0:41:09- You are breaking out in a sweat at the very thought of it.- I know.
0:41:09 > 0:41:13- It's very warm on here. - Yes, that's cos it's live.
0:41:13 > 0:41:16You've been careful about the arms and everything?
0:41:17 > 0:41:21One has to be careful these days. It does get a little close in here.
0:41:21 > 0:41:23That's the roar of the greasepaint
0:41:23 > 0:41:25and the smell of the crowd, you know.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28Did you always have ambitions to do the acting?
0:41:28 > 0:41:30Not really, no. It came out of the blue.
0:41:30 > 0:41:34I left school and was a commercial artist
0:41:34 > 0:41:36and I went into the studio one day
0:41:36 > 0:41:39and was talking to a fellow colleague about acting and he said,
0:41:39 > 0:41:42"I go to this place called the Oval House Theatre club",
0:41:42 > 0:41:44and that was back in the late '60s.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47At that time, experimental theatre was really blooming.
0:41:47 > 0:41:50You weren't one of those eejits who walked around the street
0:41:50 > 0:41:52acting in the street or anything?
0:41:52 > 0:41:55- Yes, I did that. - Pierce, no! Don't say that.
0:41:55 > 0:41:59I was a fire eater for two weeks in the Hoffman Circus.
0:41:59 > 0:42:01You wouldn't try that now with the beard, I'd say.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03No, I did it on the show.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06I did it on Remington Steele and nearly blew myself up!
0:42:07 > 0:42:10So, that's how I got smitten by acting.
0:42:10 > 0:42:14I used to go down to the theatre club every Tuesday and Wednesday night
0:42:14 > 0:42:16and eventually, it became every night
0:42:16 > 0:42:17and eventually I gave up commercial art
0:42:17 > 0:42:19and joined a theatre company.
0:42:19 > 0:42:20We got an Arts Council grant
0:42:20 > 0:42:23and went up and down the country and I decided
0:42:23 > 0:42:26I wanted to go legitimate and then I trained at a great drama school...
0:42:26 > 0:42:29What happened to the ambition to go legitimate? Never mind that.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32The final question is a rather worrying one for me
0:42:32 > 0:42:36because I've made it perfectly clear to old Cubby - Hi, Cubbs! -
0:42:36 > 0:42:39that I am available for the James Bond thing.
0:42:41 > 0:42:44Now I understand that you are the front runner.
0:42:44 > 0:42:48- I don't know anything about that. - Don't start all that!
0:42:48 > 0:42:50It's a wicked rumour, really. I mean, it is quite something.
0:42:50 > 0:42:54It is fabrication by the press back there in the US.
0:42:54 > 0:42:58Has Cubby not sidled up to you at a party and said, "Hey, kid...
0:42:58 > 0:43:00"Would you like to be James Bond?"
0:43:00 > 0:43:03- Cubby hasn't done anything of the sort.- No?- No.
0:43:03 > 0:43:07Well, I shall peruse and pursue the matter further because we hope
0:43:07 > 0:43:11to have the present incumbent Roger Moore along with us shortly
0:43:11 > 0:43:14and I shall find out and we'll get a picture of you
0:43:14 > 0:43:17- and throw darts into it.- Good!
0:43:17 > 0:43:20- In the meantime, it's great to see you.- Nice to meet you.
0:43:24 > 0:43:26And there, as they say, you have it.
0:43:26 > 0:43:30Some of our finest thespians in the sunrise of their careers,
0:43:30 > 0:43:33little thinking of the accolades that lay ahead.
0:43:33 > 0:43:37I hope you've enjoyed our little adventure through time and space.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40Join me again for more next time.