Episode 4 Holiday of My Lifetime with Len Goodman

Childhood holidays - we all love them, don't we?

Fun in the sun, sand castles, swimming in the sea.

Can't beat them!

'So in this series, I'm going

'to be reliving those wonderful times

'with some much-loved famous faces.'

Everyone a winner! Come on! Hook a duck!

And some of the most surprising guests had the most

fascinating holidays.

-You could do a night here.

-You could.

-Yeah.

However, I think that's long enough for me!

THEY LAUGH

'We'll relive the fun...'

TRAIN HOOTS

Oh! No! No!

'..the games...'

Aargh!

'..and the food of years gone by...'

That is a little taste of childhood right there.

'..to find out how those holidays around the UK helped shape

'the people we know so well today.'

I'm giving you a standing ovation.

'So buckle up for Holiday Of My Lifetime.'

Can you come on ALL my holidays?

On today's journey through time, I'm picking up our mystery

holiday-maker in a 1970s classic coupe. Ho-ho!

They'd have stood out from the crowd in this one!

I'm on my way to meet a man who, like me,

is really good with his feet.

He was born in Leicester in 1969.

Look at that cheeky grin!

Ah, bless him!

He started his professional football career for Norwich City

before getting signed by Man U for a million quid.

He went on to play on the hallowed turf of Wembley for England.

Come on! On me head, son! Go on! Get it in there!

And after hanging up his boots,

he turned his hand to TV on a well-known property show.

Come on! Do I have to HAMMER it home?

You must have it by now, surely!

Today's guest is former footballer-turned-TV

presenter Dion Dublin. Oh!

We're going to play football together. Well, I hope so.

And I'm on my way to pick him up

in this marvellous Morris Marina coupe, starting his holiday

just like he and his family did all those years ago.

Dion, come on, son!

Why don't we play a bit of football? Oh, yes! I've got talent, you know.

Dion was born and bred in Leicester.

With three big brothers and an older sister,

he was the baby of the family.

His dad, Eddie, worked in hosiery and mum Rose was a nurse.

He grew up in a house practically next door to Leicester City

football ground.

Perhaps it's no surprise that he was kicking

a football as soon as he could walk.

From humble beginnings at fourth division Cambridge United,

it wasn't long before the Premier League came calling.

Later, he swapped pitches for presenting, becoming

a regular sports commentator and panellist on the telly.

I'll be getting onside with Dion today after

I've surprised him with his old family motor.

Shame about the Great British weather, though!

HE LAUGHS

That is brilliant!

Oh, my word!

HE LAUGHS

-It's the same car!

-Yes!

-Oh, my gosh!

-Good to see you.

-How are you?

-I'm well.

-Very nice to see you.

-So you recognise it?

-My gosh!

-Look at that!

-Eh?

-And we squeezed about four of us in the back of that!

-No!

-We did!

-Yes, we did! Look at that!

-So where are we going?

I'd like you to take me to Great Yarmouth, please.

-We can do that.

-Can we do that?

-Yeah. What's the year?

19...79. 1979.

-The year Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister.

-There you go.

-You know what the big hit was?

-Go on, then.

# YMCA! #

Was it really?

-Was it really?

-Yes!

-And you've still got the moves!

-Well, I wouldn't go that far!

-Oh, wow.

-Look, your chariot awaits.

-Let's do it.

-Great Yarmouth is beckoning.

-Look at this beauty!

Oh, Great Yarmouth, famous for its golden sands.

It's been a seaside resort since the 18th century.

On the East Norfolk coast, 20 miles from Norwich,

it's the gateway to the Norfolk Broads and the North Sea.

There's 15 miles of beaches here, as well as six museums, two piers

and countless arcades, rides and attractions lining the promenade.

Great Yarmouth has been a family favourite for generations

and more than a million people come here every summer to

enjoy its good old-fashioned charm.

But before any holiday can begin, you have to get there first.

Whether by plane, train or automobile,

the journey is a big part of the excitement.

Austin Marina in orange. Outstanding!

And for Dion, in 1979, it was the one time of the year when the whole

family got together, all piling into Dad's car

and setting off for a week of fun at the seaside. Ho-ho, what larks!

-Dion, let's set the scene.

-Go on, then.

-How many of you were in this car?

-Well, there's five...

I've got three brothers and a sister, Mum and Dad.

And we all used to try and cram in here, you know.

Just cram it all in and off you go.

And that's all we could afford at the time.

-Everybody did those holidays, didn't they?

-Yeah.

-And I suppose you were a bit of a cheeky lad?

-Er...

-Were you all squabbling and that...

-Yes, yes!

-..or was it all sedate?

Nah, none of that sedate rubbish.

You get the odd jab in with your brother,

just in case he kicked off, put your sister in the middle as the referee.

We were, you know, four lads and your sister.

-Sister used to get the brunt of it all the time.

-Of course.

-She'd get the blame for everything!

-Yeah.

And if there was any food to be had,

you had to eat it very quickly otherwise it'd be gone.

-All gone.

-Biscuits and stuff, crisps. Yeah.

So your mum sorted out... You had a bit of a packed lunch sort of thing?

Yeah. Mum sorted everything out. Mum was the boss.

-Some sandwiches?

-Yeah, sandwiches.

-Bit of lemonade?

-Yeah, exactly.

Oh, lemonade. I don't know about lemonade. We'd have squash.

-Couldn't afford lemonade.

-Oh, right. So where were you living?

We were living in Leicester at the time, right by the football

ground, Leicester City football ground.

So were you a Leicester City supporter?

Yeah, I used to go and watch Leicester City play.

My sister, Carmen, used to take me down to Leicester.

-Three quid it was to get in.

-Right, yeah.

-£3 back in the day.

-Bit different now.

-Yeah, it is.

-So how long was the journey?

-Must have been a few hours.

-Yeah, it was.

From Leicester, it's about 2½ hours.

So what made you come down to Great Yarmouth?

Well, we used to come and see my eldest brother.

He used to be down here. It was good to see him.

That's why we went there,

that's why we went there for so many years, actually.

It was just such a nice place to go. They have summers down there.

Of course you did, unlike today.

Yes. Our summer is like a couple of days now?

Yeah, if you're lucky!

I can't believe there were so many of you in this tiny car.

I just can't believe it.

-Can you see this sign here, Great Yarmouth?

-Great Yarmouth.

-Here we go.

-We're in.

-Come on, lad.

-We're in.

It was all...

GEARS CRUNCH

Oh, you sound like my mum's driving!

Do you know what I'm going to do in a moment,

-I'm going to pull over and let you have a go.

-No, no, please, no.

No, please.

In the summer of 1979,

everyone needed a holiday after a winter of discontent.

Months of industrial disputes and some terrible weather

brought the country to a standstill.

It was bad news for milk drinkers too, as the price of a pint went

up to 15p.

Scandalous!

And a low turnout for the first referendum in Scotland meant

the vote was defeated but certainly not forgotten.

And the soundtrack to all of this, well, it wasn't the most

cheerful of years but for the Bee Gees at least, '79 wasn't a...

# Tragedy

# When the feeling's gone and you can't go on

# It's tragedy... #

The legendary band of the Gibb brothers made their way up

the charts, all the way to number one in the UK and America.

This is the start of Dion's holiday of his lifetime.

THEY LAUGH

With beaches extending for miles along the coast

from Great Yarmouth,

one of the best stretches of sand is just down the road at Hemsby,

which is where Dion and his family were based for their week away.

Hemsby beach.

-These are the places where you went to get a brand-new...

-Beachball.

A beachball and a bucket and spade.

-Because the sands here, as I remember...

-Yes.

-..are lovely.

Beautiful, really well-kept.

We've just arrived, the rain's stopped and it's lovely.

It is.

Now, because Dion's brother worked at a caravan park in Hemsby,

all the family would stay there for a budget week's break.

-Look, you're here.

-Is this it?

Newport Caravan Park.

This is you!

I didn't realise it was so close.

-This is it.

-Oh, my gosh.

I'm chatting away there, thinking...

This is a posh place and it's your place!

It wasn't this posh before, mate!

-Oh, my gosh.

-Here you are.

-Look at this.

DION LAUGHS

Part of the magic of any childhood holiday is

the excitement of staying somewhere new.

The sights, sounds and smells of those hotels, motels and campsites.

For Dion, home for the week was here at the caravan park.

Static caravans were first introduced straight after

the war, but they really became popular in the '60s.

By the end of the decade,

they were being mass-produced with sturdy aluminium panels

and came as long as 28 feet.

For the millions of travellers coming to Great Yarmouth in 1979,

around two-thirds of the accommodation

available was holiday camps, just like Dion's.

Ho-ho! What fun!

So do you recognise any of this?

In this area here, I know we were in this area here, on this patch

-because it's, like, sectioned off, isn't it?

-Yeah.

We were definitely in this section. I'm not quite sure where.

It's a while ago now, I'm getting old now.

Well, I was hoping that it might all come back to you.

Yes, the place has come back to me.

This is definitely the section. A big section here.

I'll tell you what, why don't we have a look in one of the caravans?

-Keep it local.

-There might be a few people...I don't know.

Is that you, Hilda?

-We're all right. Oh!

-This is different now.

It's a bit different. It's got carpeting for one.

This...

You can stand up straight.

-Yeah.

-Is it a bit similar to how it was?

It is, the layout's the same.

There was a little bit more space in these kind of caravans

but it does bring it back. It does bring it back.

-As soon as you get up those few steps you think...

-Hello.

-Holiday, it's holiday.

-Yeah.

It comes straight to holiday again.

I suppose you had to sort out who was sleeping where?

As long as Mum and Dad got their space, they were happy.

-Fight it out for yourselves.

-Right.

Because some of my mates were nearby,

-you'd do little sleepovers and stuff.

-Oh, did you?

Mum and Dad might have a night on their own

and we would be all out and the boys would come in here.

This is, honestly...

I must say, let's have a look along.

It's a proper sink, look.

-Yeah.

-A proper sink.

-Proper gas stove.

-Microwave.

-Microwave?

-Well...

-Not in '79.

Not in '79, Len.

It's very different now, though.

Oh! Oh, hello.

-Three beds.

-Three beds in there.

It used to have bedrooms then, but this might not have been here.

-It's all sectioned off now.

-It was open-plan.

-Yeah.

-Oh...

-It's gone round.

-Yes!

-It's gone round full circle.

You didn't spend that much time in bed, anyway.

As soon as you went to bed, you wanted to get up.

Of course you did.

And not forgetting my dad snoring, by the way.

-That was terrible.

-Right.

Come on, let's hit the beach.

Now, I've heard that Dion scored

more than 100 goals during his Premiership career.

'45 of them with his loaf.

'That puts him into the UK's top three scorers of all time

'with headed goals.'

-Get it, Len.

-Hey-hey!

That's not bad, that, you know. That's not bad at all.

-That's a new record.

-There you are.

Were you scouted as a kid?

Did someone see you playing in a little, local game

and they said, "Oi, we could do with you"?

I was sort of eight, nine years old. All my mates were saying to me,

"Listen, come down the youth club Friday night,

"game of table tennis, game of table football."

I said, "I can't, I've got to play football in the morning."

"Rubbish. I better not go."

I went on Saturday, scored, and Leicester seen me play.

-It was just...

-You could have gone to that...

-Could have gone.

And then you would have been a bit cream crackered the next morning

and nothing would have happened.

No, that's what it is all about. Choosing the right things.

How long were you at Leicester for?

I was at Leicester from the age of 9 to the age of 15.

I did a year's work and then I had trials all over the country.

My dad, he wrote one letter, photocopied it 92 times

-and sent it to every professional football club.

-Right.

I got about ten replies, I got about three trials. It's incredible, Len.

Right, I'll tell you what,

-I'll find some stones for goalposts up here, you do it up there.

-OK.

-Yeah?

-All right, you go left post, I'll go right post.

-OK.

OK, here we go.

And were you, you know...

I imagine you must have been very competitive, even at that age?

Yeah, always wanting to win. I also wanted to score the most goals.

I always wanted to take the throw-ins. I was like Billy Whizz.

You know, I wanted to do everything.

-You wanted to do the lot.

-I wanted to do the lot.

But that's just the nature of a sportsman, I suppose.

-It ain't a very long pitch, is it?

-No, no, it's...

I'm going down a bit.

Two there.

I'll tell you what, it's not bad, that, Len.

We'll have another goal 20 yards, 30 yards away.

The kids would be bouncing about. The ball would go miles.

Nobody cared.

Did you continue to play, even if it went in the sea,

-or was that a throw-in?

-No, just carry on. Kick it.

Pushing each other. It was just genius.

-It was on this beach.

-Yeah.

-It was right on this beach.

I'll tell you what we'll do.

We'll have a three-kick penalty shoot-out.

-Go on, then.

-OK.

Give us your best kick. Give us your best.

Here we go.

-Oh!

-Good save, sir.

'Go on, son.'

-I tried to get it through the legs.

-Safe hands.

Argh!

Go on!

Oh, thank you.

It's all in the footwork!

Oh!

'Oh, keep up, Dublin.

'Well, nine-year-old Dion could never have dreamt that the

'beaches of Yarmouth would lead to the pitches of the Premier League.'

So, listen, you started off at Norwich and Cambridge.

Yes, that's right.

Then, of course, came the £1 million transfer...

-Yeah.

-To Man U.

The fact that it's £1 million must make you think,

"I've got to really perform here," you know.

-Yeah, a bit of pressure.

-Yeah.

For somebody to go from the fourth to the first division was huge,

and Sir Alex Ferguson got in touch with John Beck,

the manager, and said, "Listen, £1 million for Dion Dublin."

I think Cambridge United were like that. "Come on!

-"We've had enough of him anyway!"

-Yeah.

And then, of course, the worst possible thing.

-I know.

-You break your leg.

Yes, I scored on my debut for Man United,

away at Southampton on a Monday night.

Then I played my home debut for Man United at Old Trafford

and I was thinking, "Here we go, 50,000 people.

"I've got the Man United shirt on."

I break my leg. Out for eight months.

-Then they sign, you might have heard of him...

-Cantona.

Yeah, you might have heard of him, Len.

Then as soon as he signed,

-Man United went from strength to strength.

-Yeah.

That, to be fair, mate, makes me the catalyst for Man United's success.

-Yeah.

-I break my leg, they get Cantona.

-Yeah!

No holiday experience is complete without sampling the local food.

There's been a market here selling fish since the 1200s.

Now, cockles, winkles and whelks might not be everybody's

fancy any more, but some classics never go out of fashion.

-So, now, tell me...

-Yeah, go on.

..what was the sort of food you'd be eating back then, '79?

It was all sausages and chips and...

Did like me mushy peas. I liked mushy peas.

Little bit of a nip of mint sauce.

Bit of a strange delicacy, but, yeah...

Mint...? Mushy peas and mint sauce?

-Little bit of mint sauce and mix it up there.

-Never!

Yeah, that's what we used to have back in the day.

Some people say mushy peas descend from one of Britain's

oldest meals - pease pottage.

Either way, every town has its own take on the dish,

and 1979 Great Yarmouth was no different.

To take Dion back in time, I've brought him to Gary's pie

and pea stall, and we're going to serve up his beloved Norfolk-style mushy peas.

Mint sauce an' all! Well, I'll give anything a try once.

Oh, here we are!

This is it. Tradesman's entrance.

-Lovely to see you, Len, old friend.

-Lovely to see you.

-And you, Dion.

-Hello, pal. You OK?

-Lovely to see you.

-Right, now...

-Peas.

-Yes.

-Where do they come from?

These are the ones what are grown in Lincolnshire.

They're a special variety, what we do for mushy peas.

-They're called beluga.

-Are they?

Yeah. They're about the best peas you can get for mushy peas.

This is where they're cooked, all freshly cooked.

Look at how many you've got in there!

Without further ado, come on... Stop teasing us, Gaz. Come on!

Come on, we'll go for it.

-What we got, what we got?

-Here you are, you try these, me old son.

-Look at that.

-Get yourself a spoon.

-Cheers, pal.

There's some mint, there, look, if you need it.

I'll be banging in the mint sauce in two secs. When Len gets his.

-Just try it without mint first.

-That's nice.

-There you are, Len.

-Try it without mint first.

-I'll try it without the mint and I'll...

-OK?

You've got to eat them all up, you know...

-Oh! They're unbelievable.

-They are lovely.

-They are.

Because they've got...

-They are lovely.

-Do you know what I think?

-Go on.

I don't think you could improve on this, mint sauce or not.

-But I'm going to see.

-Got to give it a go.

-Yeah!

You'll know the difference, then.

Here we go.

I'm going to get a little bit of the old mint...

and put it there.

Don't be shy with the mint sauce. Get yourself involved.

Go on, Len, go for it.

Yeah, I'm giving myself an ample proportion. There.

Here we go...

There you go. You try first. Then...

It's a nice little collaboration.

-It is.

-It's a nice little collaboration.

-It is.

It's one of those lovely little...

-You know, yeah, like Mills & Boon, or...

-There you go.

-Go on.

-Taking me back, this is.

-Oh, go on, Dion!

-Hoo-hoo!

-Eh?!

You know what?

I can't fault you. Can't fault you. It's got to be a ten, Gaz.

Got to be a ten. That's unbelievable.

I'm nine years old again.

-Yeah!

-60 years on, we must be doing something right.

So, what do you give it out of ten?

-Let me give it one more go and I'll tell you.

-Go on, then.

Just a mark out of ten.

-It's a ten from Len.

-It's a ten from Len, Gaz!

Oh, yes! Oh-ho-ho, yes!

There you are!

After our games on the beach,

I think it's time for another match.

'Now, let's see how Dion takes corners here.'

Oh, hello.

'Oh, yes, this is serious business.'

Body armour! I tell you what...

You look serious.

'Time to kit up, Dion.'

Where's the ball? Where's the ball?!

'No, it's not football!

'And we're not getting in the showers either! Leave it out!'

Now we dance!

'On me 'ead, son!

'Two lookers like me and you, we've got to protect our noggins.

'Prepare for a high-speed showdown.'

Heh-heh-heh-heh!

'It's Segway racing.'

Never been on one of these. How does it work?

-You get on...

-Yeah, if you like, step on.

-Whoa!

-Oi, I know you did that!

-What, what, what?

'Of course, these weren't here back in Dion's day but,

'after a quick talk, he's mastered the basics.

'Not too much, I hope. We're under starter's orders.'

Now, this is a rolling start. So as we get to that start, we're off.

Go on, then.

Three, two, one...

Woohoo! Ha-ha!

Come on, Len. I'll give you the inside track.

'Hold on a minute, he's leaving me in the dirt!'

Here I come.

-I'm sort of getting the gist of it a bit now.

-Here we go.

Whoa!

'I've got this whippersnapper in me sights.

'I tell you what, he's going down!'

I do like these.

-Come on!

-Come on, son!

-Come on!

Oh, yes, now, now we're on it!

-We're on the straight, we're on the straight.

-I can see the finish.

We're on the straight, we're on the straight! Come on, come on, son!

I tell you what, I'm better at it than I ever dreamt. It's a tie!

Oh, no! Come on!

-Ohhh!

-Photo finish!

I tell you...

-Did you see me, lady?

-They are brilliant.

-I was wonderful, wasn't I?

-Well done, sir.

-Love it!

-Team photo.

-Yeah!

Well, Nelson famously lost his arm, but our Dion very nearly

lost his head during his own legendary career.

-Now, I've got to ask you this.

-Go on, then.

-I know you broke your leg...

-Yes.

-..but you also broke your neck.

Yeah, I did. In '99, playing for football for Villa, I crushed C5

in the front of my neck.

-So I've got a big plate in my neck now.

-How did that happen?

I collided with a Sheffield Wednesday player

and just crushed C5.

I've got bolts in 4, two bolts in 6

and a plate that holds it all up now.

-So, it's still in there. It's made of titanium.

-Right.

-So, I don't beep...

-When you go through the...?

I don't beep at the airport, so I'm all right with that.

I wondered why you kept nodding your head a bit funny!

-Yeah, exactly. Nodding to people, saying hello to people.

-"Hello!"

In a life of two halves,

Dion's started his second career now as a TV personality.

He's a regular sports commentator and recently started presenting

the BBC property series Homes Under The Hammer.

When I was a player, Len, I put a lot of my money into houses.

Oh, so you've got a bit of background in property?

Yeah, yeah, I put a lot of my money into houses and did OK,

sold at the right time, rented. Had a few in Spain.

So, yeah, I've got a little bit of knowledge.

I'm no expert, don't get me wrong, but it's just...

It's learning a new trade. It's learning what you do.

And I think it's...

There's longevity in it, so, thanks to them for giving me a chance.

Yeah, I'm a big fan of the show, I can tell you.

-Are you still a fan now I'm on it?

-Oh, yes, indeed!

-You haven't switched off, no?

-No, no, no. I really like it.

Have you got any sort of ambitions or things that, you know, "I'd like

"to have a dabble at that,"

or do you want to just see how things pan out?

Yeah, I love my music.

I love my music, I love my percussion, I love my rhythms.

I wouldn't mind playing a few live gigs.

Playing percussion with some of the big boys.

I've got to know, you know, a lot of big names in the musical world

and stuff, so that would be nice.

-I played with Ocean Colour Scene once, on stage.

-Really?

-Yeah.

Played with Ocean Colour Scene on stage at the UEA.

That was incredible. Toploader, as well, at a festival.

Yeah, I've never heard of any of them, if I'm honest.

-Never you mind!

-Don't matter. I'm sure they're big bands! Yeah.

Do you think, you know, your experiences here

and playing football with your mates and your mum and dad,

do you think that in any way sort of helped to form your future?

Yeah, I do, I do, Len. It's about your personality.

If I can come here and play on the beach with my mates at 19 years old,

then you get to...

You do that for six or seven years and then you get to...

somebody says about signing pro forms.

"Pro forms? What, me being a professional?"

It grounds you.

Honestly, Len, doing these kind of things, coming to Yarmouth,

it was the making of me as a person.

And the way I was brought up by my parents and stuff.

So, yeah, it does...

It's great to come back, mate, so thank you for that.

'Spending the day with Dion,

'it's easy to see just how much Great Yarmouth means to him.'

Well, Dion, look, obviously I'm hoping you'll remember this day.

-Oh, gosh, yeah.

-And I want...

Occasionally, in 20 years' time, you'll be going through

and you'll think, "Oh, what's this?"

And what it is...

what it is...

There you are.

A Holiday Of My Lifetime scrapbook full of all the photographs

and things that we've done.

A picture book of memories from our fabulous time here together.

But I've also got another souvenir for him.

-So, that's for you.

-Thank you very much, sir.

Now, I've got to be honest...

-You are very competitive.

-Oh, yes.

-I'm very competitive.

-I am very competitive.

-I've noticed, I've noticed.

-And when I think about, you know, the football...

-Yeah, yeah.

..the air hockey, the Segway things, I've got to say, I think...

-..you are the winner overall. I'm going to give it to you.

-Awww!

Thank you very much.

Now, I know you've got cup-winner's medals and this and that,

but I think this will go somewhere.

You're going to get the official

Holiday Of My Lifetime trophy, Dion Dublin.

It's engraved. Look at that beauty!

-Thank you very much, sir. Thank you very much.

-We had a great day.

-That is amazing.

It's been great.

And, you know...

to the millions of people out there who voted for me,

I'd just like to say thank you very much to Len

for putting me through a bit of nostalgia.

Len, we all love you. We all love you, Len.

Thank you very much, mate.

This is going to go right next to the Premier League trophy.

Yeah, go on!

Look at that!

'So it's goodbye to Great Yarmouth, a great seaside town.'

For Dion, the beaches here will always be home

to some very special memories.