27/02/2012 Inside Out West Midlands

famously connected to Elgar, who wrote the music for Land of Hope

and Glory. Later in the programme, we will be discovering how this

landscape could also be the inspiration for some of our most-

loved TV theme tunes. They are theme tune millionaires,

and they both live here in the magical, mysterious Malvern Hills.

And we discover why a promising young actor put his career on hold

to work for the RSPCA. It was one of the most

heartbreaking things I've ever seen in my life. It wasn't a case of

these two dogs going at it and that was it, it was all over in a second,

this fight went on for hours. Also tonight, if you need to borrow

money, we've got a warning about the interest rates being charged

But we begin tonight with a story about dog fighting here in the

Midlands. Former boxer Richie Woodhall has been finding out more,

but I should warn you that even he Remember this face? Actor Adam

Rickitt. He played Nicky Tilsley in Coronation Street and was a teenage

heartthrob. I'm going to have to examine your chest.

Only if I can examine yours first. He's giving up acting for a while

So, Adam, we're used to seeing you in the Rovers Return, in Coronation

Street, and now you're working for the RSPCA?

Yeah, basically I've taken a year out of my life to help raise money

for the first ever national hospital we are building here. But

it's not the new hospital we're here to talk about.

It's a problem the charity need help with tackling, and that's dog

fighting. When I first joined, I got from one

of the inspectors some undercover footage of an actual dog fight, and

it was one of the most heartbreaking things I've ever seen

in my life, because it wasn't the case of these two dogs going at

each other and that was it, it was all over in seconds, this fight

went on for hours. The police arrived and the inspectors arrived

and you had this... The dog which won was so, you know, it was so

knackered, basically, it was dying. And yet still when an inspector

went down to treat it, it was trying to lick him.

Organised dog fights with pitbull terriers are supposed to be a thing

of the past. 21 years ago, the Dangerous Dogs Act was introduced

to stop the problem of aggressive dogs.

The act banned the breeding of four types of dogs in the hope it would

wipe out those breeds in the UK. But it hasn't. It's just forced

some owners underground, and made dogs like the pitbull terrier the

ultimate status dog. Ian Briggs understands the secret

world of fighting dogs because he's a chief inspector in the RSPCA's

Special Operations Unit, and his surveillance footage is shocking.

Oh, man! The swelling on the muzzle when he looks up.

God, doesn't he look in pain? Doesn't he look a sorry sight?

Jeez! Oh! It's just like a boxer completely swollen.

Totally. I mean, for him, everything was

breaking down, kidneys, liver, because there was so much poison in

his body. Yeah. There was just nothing they could do for him.

Totally exhausted? Yeah, he'd gone through so much trauma and shock

they just couldn't bring him out of it, so he had to be put to sleep.

This is the pit area. You can see the carpet they have put on the

floor, that's so the dogs can grip and they are not slipping on the

wooden floor. That's the main purse for the fight, just short of �3000

there. So it's an organised underworld.

But why would you want to force your dog to fight to the death?

They can't have any affection for the dog?

They would say they do. They would say they love their dog, and as a

rule, they're not generally cruel to them when they're not fighting.

But they don't see the fighting as being cruel, they see it as the dog

doing what it wants to do, and it's trying to impress them, their owner.

The evidence seized from previous investigations showed just how

committed the owners are to attaining the perfect fighting dog.

Tell me what that is. That is what's called a manual

slatted treadmill. It's a treadmill specifically designed for dogs.

What, to build stamina? To build stamina, muscle mass, that

sort of thing. And the dog will just work freely,

off you go? Often, what they will use is some sort of lure to get the

dog running, something like this, where they will just dangle that in

front of the dog so it chases it. I'm just looking down here. I

wouldn't like to tackle the dog that that belonged to.

What's that? That is a hefty weighted collar, a

way of increasing the muscle mass on the dog's neck, which will

assist it while it's fighting in the pit.

If their dog regularly wins fights, that has a knock-on effect for not

only their reputation, but how marketable that dog is for breeding

and their bragging rights. Ian, the organised dog fighting

ring, if you like, what kind of people are they?

They go across the board and come from all sorts of backgrounds. It

hinges around this obsession with the pitbull, and the history of dog

fighting. We've had women prosecuted and sent to prison for

dog fighting. Really?

It's just this absolute obsession with the pitbull, its breed, the

It's not only the organised dog fighting rings that are a problem

in Birmingham. Numbers of status dogs are growing too. Dogs have

replaced weapons, and the wrong sort of dog in the wrong hands is

lethal. Police! Police! Any dogs on the

premises? West Midlands Police are one of only two forces in the

country to have a specialist unit to tackle the problem.

This is dog death row. Some of these pitbulls have been

trained to attack, and they are simply too aggressive to be re-

homed. This is the sort of dog, he's quite

unsociable, he comes from a background where we would not

advocate his return. This dog is a product of poor socialisation and

irresponsible dog ownership, and unfortunately, we will have to

advocate for this dog's destruction, because to have this dog returned

would be in our opinion a danger to public safety.

PC Keith Evans from the Dangerous Dogs Unit believes pitbulls are

used by criminals not because they're a banned breed, but because

they're good at what they do. The pitbull terrier is the most

abused and misued dog the world has ever seen.

Because they're so resilient? Resilient, they're durable,

powerful, and unfortunately those same traits that have stood them in

good stead fighting for hundreds of years in the pits are now being

abused and misused by a wide ring of the criminal fraternity.

You have a perfectly healthy dog and he's obviously been brought up

with the wrong owner who doesn't know how to look after the dog,

hasn't socialised the dog properly, and this dog may have to be

destroyed, and yet there seems nothing wrong with it at all.

Heartbreaking. I had a pitbull as a family pet.

Jessie. She lived till she was 13 years of age, and she never had one

fight. In that time, we had three kids, and they were introduced to

the dog and they loved the dog and the dog loved them. And she was the

perfect example that a pitbull terrier, or that type of dog, could

live in a family, in a home environment and have no problems at

all. So I know from experience it's not

the breed that is bad, but it's the way the dog's brought up. But what

can be done to stop these dogs being used for sport or as weapons?

These guys are extremely secretive, but there are people out there who

know people who are involved in this, so they let ourselves or the

police know, it gives us a fighting chance to investigate them and try

If you'd like to comment on that, then why not drop me an e-mail? If

you'd like to find out more about Adam Rickitt's campaign for a new

animal hospital in our region, the The Office Of Fair Trading has

promised to investigate the high interest rates being charged by

some money lending shops. But with a huge increase in the number of

online and high street lenders, we decided to visit West Bromwich to

They're taking over our high streets, money lending shops that

charge I watering the high interest rates. And where you find the

poorest people is where they seem to want to be most. This is a

typical high street in 2012. It feels like practically every other

This is all we get in West Bromwich now, it's all you can see, these

cash lending places. It's absolutely spoiling this country.

The rates they are charging are terrible.

Terrible, isn't it? I mean, you know, they're making

money, but no-one else does. They are all right. I do not use them

particularly, I walk past them. That one has just opened up there,

that's about it really. I was thinking about... I don't know. I

do wander by and look. It just draws you in, doesn't it?

It's so easy. They make it too easy to get it. And harder to pay back.

With families in financial crisis, our shops like this the answer to a

prayer, or the start of a nightmare in a country which already has one

of the highest rates of personal debt?

Every minute of every working day, one person will go bankrupt.

Earnings are not going up, but inflation is.

People in Britain earn as much as the country produces.

The interest paid in Britain on personal debts per day is �171

million. �171 million per day. What are they doing with all the money?!

The increasingly popular payday loans, intended to tide you over a

short-term crisis, are sometimes over a staggering 4000 percent APR.

The annual percentage rate was never designed to explain small sum,

short-term loans, and when you buy anything in the high street, you

look at the price on the label, don't you, and the price of thea

payday loan is between �10 and �30 for every hundred.

Frankly, 4000 percent isn't ethical. It isn't reasonable, and it isn't

necessary. Now it seems a rival is about to

step into the payday market. The Six Towns Credit Union in West

Bromwich is one of those hoping to push the high interest lenders of

the high Street. It's a popular place for savers and borrowers who

become shareholders. Many have previously struggled to manage debt.

The credit union is fantastic. Obviously, they are good if you

want alone. It's better than going to the payday loans and whatnot.

You can get into a lot of trouble with them, but you know where you

stand with the credit union. They can help you with getting

loans if you are in debt or you need some money. They can help you

with that, and they're really good. I had to use one the other day,

that's why I came here, signed it up and stuff, and they helped me,

so I'm OK now. I've used it for taking kids on

holidays, I've done my house. Do you think you will bring up your

kids to use credit unions? Yeah, definitely. They've already

got their shares in them. So they're saving as well!

Don Hackett has a poor credit history. He's had to take out

several high interest loans to meet life's emergencies.

Obviously, if I had the money in the bank, then I wouldn't have to

do it. But I have no other option, so I have to do it.

The family wedding coming up could mean another loan, so Don agreed to

come and take a look at what a credit union might do for him.

Credit union, the maximum interest rate that we can charge is 26.8

percent. We're not allowed to charge anything more than that. So

a lot of companies are now starting to offer payday loans. And I'd just

like to show you something. This is to borrow money over a one-month

period. If you borrow �500, what you will pay back at the end of the

month is �684. So the interest you've paid back is unbelievable.

If you borrowed �500 off us for exactly the same period of time,

you'd pay �510 and a penny in interest.

�10 and a penny. �10 and a penny in It is a scandal. And at some point

this government is going to have to regulate what the maximum rate of

interest is that can be charged. It happens in most states in America

and in Germany and Austria and so on. But not in this country. And of

course the bigger the loan that you take out... Take out �1,500 for a

month and you will pay �550 in interest. Wonga, whose online

figures were quoted, didn't want to give us an interview, but in a

statement argued their loans are designed for short periods, keeping

costs down and they are careful to check potential customers can

afford any repayments. Wonga says it makes it clear how much people

have to pay and interest rates are not relevant. Customers typically

pay �1 per day for every �100 borrowed. They say they turn down

nearly two-thirds of first-time applicants. There is a growing

campaign for interest rates to be capped. But the industry says it

would simply mean higher risk customers would no longer be

offered loans for what is often essential spending. Interest rate

capping does not make loans cheaper. It makes them unavailable. And they

have tried this in Australia. There are looking at it right now. In

Australia, I would not be allowed to lend you less than $2,000, which

is �1,500. What use is that to somebody who wants to borrow �200

or �300 if the interest rate cap means I can only lend you �2,000?

It doesn't help anybody. In 2010, the Office of Fair Trading came out

in support of high interest lenders. They said shops like this are a

valuable part of the economy. said customers of these shops have

a lower than normal financial understanding. The Office of Fair

Trading said capping interest rates could mean shops stop lending to

higher risk customers. So, how realistic is the credit union

alternative? Occasionally, credit unions do fail. Among them,

Handsworth Breakthrough in Birmingham, which had fewer than

500 members. They blamed poor financial controls and the failure

of some borrowers to pay back loans. For some, this illustrates the need

to charge high interest rates because of the higher risks taken.

Some of our borrowers regretfully seemed rather forgetful about

repaying the money which they had borrowed from other members. It is

completely against the ethos of credit unions which are mutual

enterprises and people help other people. It is a breach of trust.

do track people who do not pay using bailiffs and the DWP to

recover through benefits. If you're providing a service such as we do,

on the basis of keeping money within the local community, and

then end up with the situation where that money just gets taken

away by people who have no intention of paying. -- it simply

is not good enough. Credit unions emphasise money invested with them

is safe and they say hundreds of successful unions with common bonds

such as whether savers live or work prove that it isn't necessary to

raise interest rates to make a profit. First of all, if you save

with a credit union, every penny you have saved is insured. Secondly,

because we try to work on the basis of ethical savings and loans, over

the last four years now we have paid a dividend of 3.29% to savers

which has just about the best deal on the high street for an instant

access savings account. As credit unions increasingly dip their toes

into the pay-day loans market, the campaign for a cap on interest

rates continues. The Office of Fair Trading has promised to take

another look in the next few months. Well, finally tonight, I have come

to Malvern for some musical inspiration because Des Coleman

tells me there is some serious money to be made if I can just come

You wouldn't know them if you passed him in the street, but if

you heard just a few bars of their music, you'd recognise them

instantly. I wrote the BBC News theme. I composed the music to

Weakest Link. They are theme tune millionaires and they both live

here in the magical mysterious Malvern Hills. Home of Elgar. Yes,

incredibly. Two of the most successful TV theme tune composers

live and work here. Is it something in the water? There is this amazing

magical feeling in Malvern that is quite inspirational I suppose

because it has a unique quality to it. Today, David is working on a

new commission. But it is the return royalties that roll in from

the news and themes for The One Show, Countryfile, Grand Designs

and many others that make him very comfortable. I think, with anything

in life, if you have a passion for something, whatever you do, if you

follow that passion and then if you are absolutely nuts about doing it,

then you will be rewarded financially in the end. It is

amazing. I am very lucky. That luck and ability has also bought him

homes in the Malverns, London and Spain. And Paul's music for shows

like Weakest Link, the Krypton Factor and Dancing On Ice has

certainly set him up. When it comes to music that is broadcast, you're

paid by the second. If I happen to have written music for a show that

has 45 minutes' worth of music on a lot of times during the week and is

on in a lot of countries throughout the world, it is earning money

while I sleep. It has been reported that Paul makes a whopping �5,000

every time the show airs in America. Welcome to Weakest Link. But there

was little money in David's first job. He was a sound recordist, but

he loved messing around with the keyboard. I went out and bought

this spanking new synthesiser. A Roland polyphonic synthesiser. I

got it out the box and I got it home and I just literally sat and

went bang, like that. Oh, my God! That is it. The heavens opened, the

oceans parted. I was absolutely nuts about it. And on this state of

the art keyboard, he wrote his first theme music for Midlands

Today in 1983. Then, in 1999 came a phone-call from this man. A graphic

designer called Martin who was rebranding the BBC News transformed

David's life. My brief to David was to use the news pips. It occurred

to me some years before that one of the best identities of any sort was

actually the news pips. Because throughout my lifetime, it had

preceded the news. Following the briefing, David caught the train

home and that is when the magic happened. I just sat there and it

was looking out the window thinking about it. I thought maybe if I took

the news pips and I could put a dance beat behind it and I could

add a bassline and add some strings. And I thought that could be the one.

He came in and he put this tape on and he played it and we all looked

at each other and went, my goodness, that's it! It wasn't the pips, but

the gentle peaks of the Malvern Hills that inspired Paul to write

the Weakest Link music. It took him just five minutes to come up with

the four note ditty. The idea is in television programmes anything that

is instantly recognisable very quickly that you hear while you are

cooking in the next room, and think I know that show was on, it has an

iconic flavour to it. Weakest Link became his biggest hit and was sold

right across the world. To me, it was just a piece of music that I

did for a job. I didn't approach it differently to any other job. If

somebody told me it was going to be a big success when I was doing it,

I probably wouldn't have been able to do it as I would have been so

mortified by fear. Imagine a payment every time you hear this.

Or this. Or this. Now, it may sound like money for nothing, but don't

say that to the Performing Rights Society. They're the ones that see

that these composers get paid. These are very talented people who

have worked a lifetime to become very good at what they do. And they

are at the peak of their game. And as a result of these compositions,

they're bringing in an awful lot of money to this country and it is a

very very positive thing. And it is very rare for people to be this

successful. So we are talking about the cream. So, crafting a catchy

theme tune can make you a fortune. But with the promise of absolutely

no money whatsoever, what can Paul and David do to update Inside Out's

theme music? Luckily for us, they are up for the challenge, so we

will see what they come up with later. Back in Malvern, Paul is

working on the music for an ITV documentary about the Hillsborough

Disaster. Wherever possible, he uses real instruments including

something called the waterphone. That is scary. Yes. It is your

typical cliched horror music. Here comes the monster! But in relation

to something like this, it can add a real subtle sense of unease or a

sense of trepidation or if things going wrong. -- or of things. So

these small little elements are actually are really good part of

any production getting the right tone. David! All right? How are

you? How is it going? In London, David is also favouring real

instruments. As he works with DJ Johnnie Walker on music for his new

website. And this Birmingham-born veteran of pirate radio knows a

good theme tune. He will forever be linked with Dwain Eddie's Because

They Are Young. It had a mix of really twangy Dwain Eddie guitar

and strings on it. And I just thought that was so unusual. And

that became my theme tune. I used it for years and years. I dropped

it once and my mum said to me, you've got to start using your

theme tune again. She said, you were different. When you play that,

somehow you come on the radio with more energy than when you don't use

the theme tune. A good theme tune can make an actor's career. For

four years, I was in EastEnders and I can tell you this, the only thing

the actors ever wanted was to be featured in those closing bars of

music. When I was mixing it in London, the creators of EastEnders

came into the studio and the engineer was focusing on that drum

fill, so when they heard that music, the rest of the orchestra was not

playing because it was a solo. They said I was a genius and that is

what they wanted for the credits. Are you telling me it was an

accident?! Well, contrived accident! There may well be a lot

of accidental magic about this business, but David believes most

of us are capable of penning a tune. And in Malvern he loves encouraging

budding composers. Right, so the test of a good song is whether we

can sing along to it. Shall we give it a go? Here we go. Three, two,

one, go. One! One! One! Louder! Time now to catch up on our

composers' efforts on rewriting the Inside Out music. I was after a

punchy three note melody that said Inside Out.

NEW THEME PLAYS. For my theme tune, I really wanted

the business of the orchestral strings and some really powerful

drums. NEW THEME PLAYS.

OK, guys, that was good. But if they ever get used, I want a share

of those PRS royalties. And by the way, all the incidental music that

you heard in this short film, that was written by Paul or David. Even

this heroic almost majestic piece as I walk away into the Malvern

Hills. More! More! Brilliant. Well, if you'd like to

have a go at composing an Inside Out theme tune, you can post your

efforts on our Facebook page. Although I am afraid we won't be

paying any fees! That is it for tonight. We are back again next

week with a very special programme. We will be bringing you the