:00:04. > :00:08.Hello from the seafront at Portishead. On the programme
:00:08. > :00:11.tonight: We are investigating a serial
:00:11. > :00:21.fraudster who's been posing as a reality TV producer to target the
:00:21. > :00:21.
:00:21. > :00:24.rich and the famous. This guy claimed the world undelivered
:00:24. > :00:27.absolutely nothing. Also tonight: With Bristol about to
:00:27. > :00:33.choose its first ever directly elected mayor, we hear from someone
:00:33. > :00:37.who knows what they're getting themselves in for. You have to
:00:37. > :00:41.think in terms of what is best for the City over 10 or 20 years, not
:00:41. > :00:44.just about getting elected. And it's been dark for just over a
:00:44. > :00:46.year, so will the Black Nore Lighthouse at Portishead get its
:00:46. > :00:56.light back? I'm Alastair McKee and this is
:00:56. > :01:13.
:01:13. > :01:18.Reality shows and celebrity TV. For those who take part, a quick step
:01:18. > :01:22.to greater fame and fortune, the perfect hunting ground them for a
:01:23. > :01:27.fraud stuck on the make. We are on the trail of the notorious conman
:01:27. > :01:32.who has been backing business using reality TV to target the rich and
:01:32. > :01:36.famous. This cut -- this guy claimed the world and delivered
:01:36. > :01:46.nothing. We find out how these big Brother stars open their hearts for
:01:46. > :01:51.a reality show that never even existed. That bloke got footage to
:01:51. > :01:57.convince people that you have a TV show. And we uncover what the
:01:57. > :02:01.fraudster was really up to behind the scenes.
:02:01. > :02:05.This is Mario Marconi and Lisa Appleton. You may recognise them,
:02:05. > :02:10.they shot to fame when they appeared in series nine of Big
:02:10. > :02:15.Brother. As the spotlight fell off them, they were left looking for a
:02:15. > :02:20.new project. That is when self- styled Silva Michael walked into
:02:21. > :02:25.their lives. A man who like to be known as the Silver Fox. He seemed
:02:25. > :02:30.to have it all and was generous with his wealth, and proud
:02:30. > :02:34.supporter of celebrity back to charity the Five Stars Appeal.
:02:34. > :02:40.met Silva through a mutual friend that he was doing charity work with
:02:40. > :02:46.at the time. He introduced himself as president producer, managing
:02:46. > :02:51.director Silva of WorldScreen Group. I thought I had met the Almighty
:02:51. > :02:57.God of the industry. So Mariya and Lisa threw in their lot with the
:02:57. > :03:03.silver fox who promised he could relaunch their career. He was
:03:03. > :03:08.famous so his signature was that he would catapult you to another bleak.
:03:08. > :03:13.He was working on a series called Bombay Vice, the equivalent of
:03:14. > :03:22.Miami Vice. And the Amazon jungle. With the contract signed, the pair
:03:22. > :03:32.set about filming with Silva and this is the result. Let's have a
:03:32. > :03:39.
:03:39. > :03:46.Mariya and Lisa spent several months filming with Silva sharing
:03:46. > :03:51.some of their most intimate moments. Filming 18 hours per day, two or
:03:51. > :04:01.three hours' sleep sometimes and all of this pressure. It was hard
:04:01. > :04:03.
:04:03. > :04:09.work. They even recorded a single All the hard work seemed to pay off.
:04:09. > :04:15.Silva told them a TV broadcaster had agreed to run their show.
:04:15. > :04:19.were proper like, so excited. cried, didn't we? We thought we had
:04:20. > :04:25.finally done it, got our own show. But there was no deal and the
:04:25. > :04:31.footage ended up as an eight minute train load dumped on the internet.
:04:31. > :04:36.Mario and Lisa were furious. left, we parted. We gave formal
:04:36. > :04:42.notice that we were leaving him and WorldScreen. He said you will never
:04:42. > :04:48.work in the media again. He was really horrible. Soon after, the
:04:48. > :04:55.Silver Fox this appeared. So, who was silver Carmichael and what did
:04:55. > :05:00.he want with Mario and Lisa? All was not what it seemed. But this is
:05:00. > :05:07.the Silver Fox 10 years ago and using a different name. Selva
:05:07. > :05:11.Carmichael arrived at court to plead guilty at a large scale fraud.
:05:11. > :05:15.He ran the Carmichael Corporation from offices in Bristol using the
:05:15. > :05:20.latest in a long line of aliases. His name was not the only fake
:05:20. > :05:24.thing about him. Carmichael was running a Spanish property scam
:05:24. > :05:29.taking thousands of pounds from investors and putting it straight
:05:29. > :05:34.into his pocket. Even then he was making friends with celebrities.
:05:34. > :05:38.This is Carmichael with Stephanie Beacham, he knew nothing about his
:05:38. > :05:44.scam. What he wanted was the touch of glamour that celebrity could
:05:44. > :05:50.bring to his own carefully-crafted image. He was very charismatic, he
:05:50. > :05:56.was dressed impeccably in Armani suits, he had dyed blond hair and a
:05:56. > :06:01.charming manner. I just trusted him. Maggie Haines was one of the
:06:01. > :06:04.investors who fell for his chance in the 1990s. If she even ended up
:06:04. > :06:08.working for the Carmichael Corporation until she found out it
:06:08. > :06:15.was a front. The crunch of it happened when the police arrived in
:06:15. > :06:22.the office and arrested everybody. I realise then, I'll my God. This
:06:22. > :06:27.whole thing has been a lie and I am in deep trouble. Maggie had been
:06:27. > :06:32.duped and left counting the cost of letting Carmichael into her life.
:06:32. > :06:36.My friends had lost their money, my boy friend lost his money, his
:06:36. > :06:41.family lost their money, my best friend lost their money. I was
:06:41. > :06:47.devastated. Carmichael was eventually sentenced to three and a
:06:47. > :06:53.half years. On release, Selva Carmichael disappeared only for
:06:53. > :06:57.Silva Michael the Silver Fox to pop up last year as Mario and Lisa's TV
:06:57. > :07:04.saviour. We have discovered it is not as big Brother stars he
:07:04. > :07:14.targeted. One celebrity who tried to win over was this man, former X
:07:14. > :07:14.
:07:14. > :07:19.Factor contestant Chico. Carmichael offered to back the new
:07:19. > :07:23.children's TV project for Chico and tried to wine and dine him at a
:07:23. > :07:29.charity gala. He came up to me and said, I want to say, if something
:07:29. > :07:35.comes off tonight, Business Wise, could you say I am your manager. I
:07:35. > :07:41.said, listen to me, let me tell you one thing, you are not my manager,
:07:41. > :07:46.I have only met she twice and you and I are not into no business
:07:46. > :07:53.venture or anything like that. Chico, it was clear what Carmichael
:07:53. > :07:58.was trying to do. What he wanted from me was the friendship and the
:07:58. > :08:04.contact us, the celebrity contacts and friends that I had, so he could
:08:04. > :08:10.build a roster of celebrity friends that he can use to me or rich and
:08:11. > :08:15.unsuspecting victims. Victims who Carmichael convinced to invest in
:08:15. > :08:19.WorldScreen Group. We have spoken to several of his investors, some
:08:19. > :08:25.parted with tens of thousands of pounds hoping to appear on a show,
:08:25. > :08:29.but now they are too embarrassed to speak on camera. Their money, it
:08:29. > :08:33.simply disappear. Documents released to the BBC show one
:08:34. > :08:40.investor is suing Carmichael under his real name for the return of
:08:40. > :08:45.more than �42,000. Even the celebrity charity the Five
:08:45. > :08:50.Stars Appeal was stung by Carmichael. A �23,000 luxury yacht
:08:50. > :08:55.holiday he promise for a charity auction failed to materialise, as
:08:55. > :08:59.did a �10,000 bid he made on the same night. For Mario and Lisa, it
:08:59. > :09:05.has been tough coming to terms with the fact their names were used to
:09:05. > :09:15.help scum innocent victims. I can't sleep at the minute still. We argue
:09:15. > :09:19.
:09:19. > :09:24.a lot about it because it has led to a lot of problems. It so in now
:09:24. > :09:28.that other people come forward and say he has done this and that. At
:09:28. > :09:34.the time we didn't know and they are saying that they feel sorry for
:09:34. > :09:40.them as well. So, where is he now? He failed to appear in court two
:09:40. > :09:45.weeks ago. Carmichael is bankrupt, but his wife owns this house in
:09:45. > :09:49.Buckinghamshire. The car he drives his here, but he is not. Just as we
:09:49. > :09:54.thought he had gone to ground, we found one man who knows exactly
:09:54. > :10:00.where he is. For when was the last time you saw
:10:00. > :10:04.Selva Carmichael? When he was being sentenced to three and a half years
:10:04. > :10:10.in prison for his money laundering and major fraud. It turns out he is
:10:10. > :10:14.more than the fame hungry con man, he is part of the major criminal
:10:14. > :10:18.network whose members try to steal more than half a million pounds
:10:18. > :10:23.from the Santander Bank. So we have fraud, money laundering,
:10:23. > :10:28.he is hardly the person you would trust to make you famous? More
:10:28. > :10:33.likely penniless. From what I have seen, if you have done any dealings
:10:33. > :10:39.with Selva Carmichael, be very careful because what might be a
:10:39. > :10:44.good and convincing front doesn't bear any examination in detail.
:10:44. > :10:51.Mariya and Lisa, the news that he is behind bars comes as a shock.
:10:51. > :10:56.Really? What for? They hope it marks the end of their journey with
:10:56. > :11:06.the silver fox. Knowing Selva Carmichael now, he is a compulsive
:11:06. > :11:11.
:11:11. > :11:15.liar, he lives in deluded land and Next week, the people of Bristol
:11:15. > :11:20.head to the polls to choose the city's first directly elected mayor.
:11:20. > :11:30.Does anyone know exactly what they are voting for? Our reporter has
:11:30. > :11:33.
:11:33. > :11:38.The people of Bristol what a new champion. I want them to listen. To
:11:38. > :11:43.really listen. I want them to exploit the potential of the city
:11:43. > :11:50.and deliver a lasting legacy. Someone who will go the distance
:11:50. > :11:55.for this city. You have to think in terms of what is best for the City
:11:55. > :12:00.over 10 or 20 years, not just the immediate future. What does it take
:12:00. > :12:08.to even step into the ring? I think the elected mayor really has to
:12:08. > :12:13.represent all the people of the city. If let alone win the fight?
:12:13. > :12:17.Press will is a city of over 400,000 people. It is England's
:12:17. > :12:22.eighth biggest. It has its own special character and now, those
:12:22. > :12:26.that live within the boundaries are going to vote for a new mayor. That
:12:26. > :12:31.mayor will be responsible for the day-to-day running of Bristol, but
:12:31. > :12:36.will also be its figurehead on a national stage. So what is the job
:12:36. > :12:41.of mayor? Did you see the advert in the paper? Actually, there was not
:12:41. > :12:45.one. What about the job description? There isn't one. What
:12:45. > :12:50.we do know is that the elected mayor will replace the current
:12:50. > :12:55.council leader here. They will set major policies in areas like
:12:55. > :13:01.transport, housing, culture and regeneration. What they cannot do
:13:01. > :13:07.is grant planning permission, so a new arena were football stadium,
:13:07. > :13:11.the mayor could back them but not enact them. And also education. The
:13:11. > :13:17.mayor alone may have limited powers here. There's often talk of Bristol
:13:17. > :13:27.being a city that does not punch its weight. So what do people want?
:13:27. > :13:30.
:13:30. > :13:33.I belong here. It has the expertise of aerospace and the colourful air
:13:33. > :13:38.balloons that flowed across the sky. This man is a performance poet to
:13:38. > :13:44.Kohl's Bristol home and mostly loves it. It is a great city. It
:13:44. > :13:51.has a good record for recycling, the environment, business. He wants
:13:51. > :13:55.the Meyer to bring about one major change in the city. -- the mayor.
:13:55. > :13:59.And I believe the wealth of Bristol is still based on the transatlantic
:13:59. > :14:02.slave trade and the money they made from there, which is more fast on
:14:02. > :14:07.the computer industry today. I would like to see a legacy left.
:14:07. > :14:11.When people visit Bristol and say to the people that live here, what
:14:11. > :14:14.have you done as a reaction to the legacy that the slaves have left
:14:14. > :14:22.Bristol and what have you done to appease the sons and daughters of
:14:22. > :14:27.those former slaves? I belong right here. The city's history ships at
:14:27. > :14:31.and helps make it what it is and gives it clues about his future.
:14:31. > :14:38.This man has seen a few things on the harbourside. As Parrott beat,
:14:38. > :14:43.he teaches locals and visitors about what Bristol used to be like.
:14:43. > :14:48.I am old school. I've was born in the cathedral in the war. I see
:14:48. > :14:52.Bristol as trams, smoke, smells from the brewery. Peter thinks it
:14:52. > :14:58.is the old pioneering a can-do spirit that is needed to get
:14:58. > :15:01.Bristol going. Bristol has fiercely independent. Men could not stop us
:15:02. > :15:08.getting on a ship and finding a colony. We had that spirit. That is
:15:08. > :15:12.what we need to get back into Bristol. You go to these committee
:15:12. > :15:17.meetings and after 30 minutes, you go to sleep. You know what the
:15:17. > :15:21.answer will be. We need somebody decisive who will put down a policy
:15:21. > :15:28.and steamrollered through. Bristol is not the first place to get an
:15:28. > :15:34.elected to mayor. It is the 17th. Across the country, elected mayors
:15:34. > :15:38.have called the shots since London went first in the year 2000. As I
:15:38. > :15:42.was saying before I was so rudely interrupted 14 years ago...
:15:42. > :15:48.Livingstone made history as Britain's first directly-elected
:15:48. > :15:53.mayor and went on to serve two terms. If someone can give us
:15:53. > :15:58.insight and advice, maybe it is famous. I had a wonderful time. I
:15:58. > :16:03.had hit Mach years, returns London round, rebuilt the police service,
:16:03. > :16:08.the bus service, got all bunch of projects going. It is a great job
:16:08. > :16:12.to have. What kind of things make a good mayor? What characteristics
:16:12. > :16:19.would somebody need? You need to be honest or would you be in trouble.
:16:19. > :16:24.-- you will be in trouble. Can you get investment in from outside? Can
:16:25. > :16:28.you get firms to bring jobs? That sort of ambition would surely take
:16:28. > :16:32.a strong character. Political analysts are watching Bristol
:16:32. > :16:36.closely to see if the new mayor will be someone who can do deals
:16:36. > :16:42.with the big movers and shakers, gain extra powers and money in
:16:42. > :16:46.order to get things done. I do not think all politicians who are
:16:47. > :16:50.mayors in big cities have to be mega personalities. London is
:16:50. > :16:54.slightly misleading. We have other cities in Britain and elsewhere in
:16:54. > :17:00.the world where there are mayor 3D who are not as well-known as the
:17:00. > :17:06.Mayor of London and not as bigger personality, but they can be
:17:06. > :17:13.perfectly good SVRs mayors and be good for the cities. So many things
:17:13. > :17:17.will go wrong. So many pressures will come on them that if you bend
:17:17. > :17:21.with every little breeze that is coming, you will never get anything
:17:21. > :17:25.done. In the end, they have to be seen to work for the whole city, to
:17:25. > :17:29.speak for the City when things go wrong and go right, and we have
:17:29. > :17:33.seen it with Boris Johnson with the Olympics. I don't think anybody
:17:33. > :17:40.really thought he was a Conservative politician, just the
:17:40. > :17:45.Mayor of London. Boris Johnson, mayor of the moment. His profile is
:17:45. > :17:48.high, but so is his capacity to climb round. Here at City Hall,
:17:48. > :17:53.Boris Johnson and his team are working the way to keep London
:17:53. > :17:56.running. For the London mayor, it is often about the big landmark
:17:56. > :18:01.projects, those schemes that are impressive that everybody notices.
:18:01. > :18:05.The Bristol mayor will be more about the everyday, the care homes,
:18:05. > :18:10.the meals on wheels, the picking up of the bins. Were the potential
:18:10. > :18:16.Bristol mayor, it is as much about the graft as the glamour. And there
:18:16. > :18:21.is lots of hard work to do. Cuts to be made straight away, plans to
:18:21. > :18:29.throw in the bin, as the new mayor has to learn quickly. So, what will
:18:29. > :18:33.be the winning candidates lock-out punch? -- knockout punch? Clean
:18:33. > :18:37.streets, decent public services. What do they need to flower the
:18:37. > :18:42.opponents? Before you speak and before the act, really listen to
:18:42. > :18:47.what people want. Let's sit down and say, this is what I'm going to
:18:47. > :18:52.do and this is how we will do it. In the end, there can only be one
:18:53. > :18:57.winner. So to be a crystal mayor, he needs to be tough and determined,
:18:57. > :19:02.you need a clear vision of what the City wants to be, where it is going
:19:02. > :19:07.and how it will get there. Do you need policies? Yes, of course, but
:19:07. > :19:12.hopefully, you will have a bit of personality, too. It is a tough job,
:19:12. > :19:22.but someone has got to do it. He will fit the bill? If you have a
:19:22. > :19:23.
:19:23. > :19:28.You can find out more about the Bristol mayor elections, including
:19:28. > :19:38.a mini manifesto of every candidate, on our website. And there is a
:19:38. > :19:40.
:19:40. > :19:43.special debate, not on Radio -- In our final film tonight, we tell
:19:43. > :19:46.the story of the Black Nore lighthouse. For more than 100 years,
:19:46. > :19:56.it guided sailors safely into Portishead. But last year, the
:19:56. > :20:01.
:20:01. > :20:08.light went out. So our history man This is the Black Nore lighthouse
:20:09. > :20:17.near Portishead. In September 2011, its light was turned off and this
:20:17. > :20:25.little lighthouse was scheduled for demolition. I am taking a rare
:20:25. > :20:31.opportunity to have a look inside this unique structure. What gave
:20:31. > :20:39.you! You can see the whole of the Bristol Channel. The ship's going
:20:39. > :20:45.by, it is amazing. But there is something missing. Where is the
:20:45. > :20:52.optic? Where is the light? Of the future was looking bleak for this
:20:52. > :20:55.lighthouse with no light. Happily, it got local supporters like Bill
:20:55. > :21:01.and Tony interested. We have grown very attached to it. We would not
:21:02. > :21:06.want to lose it. Any sailor that got by fear would feel a great
:21:06. > :21:16.sense of relief and then a great sense of anticipation at meeting
:21:16. > :21:18.
:21:18. > :21:21.loved ones and friends. Got by Sheila. -- got by fear. When
:21:21. > :21:27.Trinity house decided to decommission it, what were they
:21:27. > :21:33.going to do with it? They would have to demolish it, because it is
:21:33. > :21:38.in a charter to divide navigation aids. Not to protect monuments.
:21:38. > :21:43.They had to take it off the books. They were going to demolish it
:21:43. > :21:49.until we offered to take it on and buy it and stick responsibility for
:21:49. > :21:53.it. It has turned out to be quite an undertaking! Bill and Tony
:21:53. > :21:58.stepped in to save the lighthouse. They formed a trust and bought it
:21:58. > :22:03.for just �1. It's but they will need to raise thousands of pounds
:22:03. > :22:08.every year to pay for maintenance and insurance. Black Nore
:22:08. > :22:17.lighthouse was completed in 1894 and three generations of a local
:22:17. > :22:23.family were responsible for running it. This was the Ashford Farm. The
:22:23. > :22:29.main family lived in this part. a teenager, wronged used to help
:22:30. > :22:33.the Ashford's keep the light turning. The actual mechanism
:22:33. > :22:40.inside was clockwork and it had to be wound up every day. At the
:22:40. > :22:47.bottom of the lighthouse was where the gas storage tanks were kept.
:22:47. > :22:50.1940, the gaslight was converted to electricity. The symmetrical
:22:50. > :22:55.systems were donated back into the farmhouse, so we could can switch
:22:55. > :22:59.it on and off. -- the electrical systems. This was important in the
:22:59. > :23:06.wartime, because when the air raids went, the light has had to be
:23:06. > :23:09.switched off. -- lighthouse. lighthouse survive the war intact
:23:09. > :23:15.and the trust has saved it from demolition. But it is still missing
:23:15. > :23:22.its glowing heart. Trinity house removed the optic last year. The
:23:22. > :23:27.trust would dearly love to have it back. I have come to the Trinity
:23:27. > :23:35.house depot near Swansea where there are massive boys and bits of
:23:35. > :23:44.old lighthouse, all here to get spruced up. Somewhere round here is
:23:44. > :23:47.the bit of old lighthouse I am looking for. This is the light from
:23:47. > :23:55.the Black Nore lighthouse? It is a marvellous piece of Victorian
:23:55. > :24:05.engineering. This rotates and that standstill. That is extraordinary.
:24:05. > :24:05.
:24:05. > :24:14.Can be getting? You could open it up so you could serve as it. --
:24:14. > :24:21.service it. That is fantastic! High, it is here? Surely the Bristol
:24:21. > :24:25.Channel is filled with ships that has not got a lighthouse? With
:24:25. > :24:31.modern electronics, ships are reliant much more on G Ps and
:24:31. > :24:34.electronic navigation. Lighthouses take much more secondary roles.
:24:35. > :24:40.Normally, she would just say that is great, let's take whatever we
:24:40. > :24:47.need and locket down. And that is as far as we got when we got the
:24:47. > :24:53.lens out. But then, the Black Nore lighthouse Trust stepped in and
:24:53. > :24:59.said they did like to preserve it. If we ever need a service use for
:25:00. > :25:04.it, we can take the lens back. trust agreed a 10 year alone. But
:25:04. > :25:09.even when it is back in place, the lighthouse may have to remain in
:25:09. > :25:14.the dark. It would have to be a registered navigation light of the
:25:14. > :25:19.did turn it back on. Then, if a ship were to go aground because the
:25:19. > :25:26.light burned out, there would be a big liability involved. You were
:25:27. > :25:31.not insured to be a lighthouse! Correct. Finally, the optic is
:25:31. > :25:37.almost home. The Trinity house engineers have faced an unusual
:25:37. > :25:46.challenge. The first job is to disassemble the unit. Hopefully,
:25:46. > :25:56.without damaging anything. It is a priceless unit. I am just glad I
:25:56. > :25:59.
:26:00. > :26:09.have the opportunity to put it back It is exciting, isn't it? It feels
:26:10. > :26:29.
:26:29. > :26:39.like it is coming back to where it That is it. Last piece going in.
:26:39. > :26:43.
:26:43. > :26:48.That looks like a lot of hard work! To mark the occasion, there is a
:26:48. > :26:57.celebration at the Yacht Club, where special guest Julia Elton, an
:26:57. > :27:02.expert in lice ties optics is here. -- lighthouse optics. The hall like
:27:02. > :27:08.deer about it is that you take all the light that comes out of the
:27:08. > :27:14.light source and is just diffuse, and she direct delight through the
:27:14. > :27:17.prisons so they come out intensely through the lens and the view that
:27:17. > :27:23.we would like ball behind it, you know you can see the intense beams
:27:23. > :27:28.for the denials. It is a miracle. This is a fairly limited miracle.
:27:28. > :27:33.The land has looked for just a few celebratory hours. But it
:27:33. > :27:37.symbolises everything Bill and the trust have been working towards.
:27:37. > :27:41.Black Nore lighthouse looks like a proper lighthouse again. This
:27:41. > :27:46.little light house has seen over 100 years of service, but sadly, it
:27:46. > :27:53.has now been decommissioned. But thanks to the hard work of the
:27:53. > :28:02.trust, it will hopefully act as a landmark for mariners for many
:28:02. > :28:05.Well, that is just about it for this week. But before we go, a
:28:05. > :28:07.quick update on an investigation we did last year.
:28:07. > :28:10.School governors at Ashcombe Primary school in Weston Supermare
:28:10. > :28:15.were so outraged by its poor condition, they sneaked our cameras
:28:15. > :28:20.in. Now, the council plans to spend �5 million pounds on a brand new
:28:20. > :28:23.school. And if you want to keep in touch
:28:23. > :28:31.with developments on other stories coming up on Inside Out West, why
:28:31. > :28:34.Next week We go undercover to investigate the