Jake Wood 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.

You can't beat them.

So, in this series, I'm gonna be reliving those wonderful times

with some much-loved famous faces.

Everyone's a winner!

Come on, hook a duck.

And some of the most surprising guests

have the most fascinating holidays.

-You could do a night here.

-You could.

-Yeah.

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

We'll relive the fun...

TRAIN HORN BLOWS

Ah! No, no!

..the games...

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?

I'm so excited!

I'm on my way to meet a lovely fella,

who's been on our screens since he was a lad.

He was born in London in 1972.

Oh, here he is.

Right Bobby Dazzler.

Who started his TV acting career when he was just a liver.

Here he is in his first professional acting role in 1984.

Oh! Such an angelic little chap.

But all that changed when he

joined Britain's most famous square.

Now, that's a good clue.

Now you can find him pulling punches against Phil Mitchell, no less.

Do you know what? That Phil had it coming.

Love affairs, scandals...

Oh, yes, he's been a naughty boy.

But it was when he was on Strictly,

wiggling his hips, that we saw a different side to him.

Oh, yes! It was his backside! Woo!

I bet you know who it is. Oh, of course, you do.

It's me old mate, Jake Wood.

Jake Wood, woo, you're good.

And his holiday was a school trip,

so I'm on my way to pick him up in a coach...

Just like the one he would've travelled down in.

And you know what? Hey, hey!

I'm gonna be his schoolmate.

Jake was born in 1972, in London,

to parents John and Joelle.

An only child, he discovered acting

at school at an early age

and was soon bitten by the bug.

He attended the famous after school club,

the Anna Scher Theatre School in Islington,

and it wasn't long before he started acting professionally,

first appearing on our screens as a young whippersnapper.

Jake has appeared in numerous television series, films

and some very memorable adverts,

but it was playing the scoundrel Max Branning in EastEnders

when he really became a household name.

I'm sure Jake and I will be getting up to all sorts

as we relive his holiday memories,

starting with this big, old coach.

Wow, look at that! It brings back a few memories.

Fantastic.

I've just gone back 33 years.

Hey!

-How are you, Len?

-Hey, look at you.

-Good to see you. How are ya?

-What do you reckon of the get up?

-Fantastic.

Well, I've made the effort and I want to be your schoolmate.

I'll be honoured.

This is fantastic, eh?

1979, so it could be the coach.

It could be the very coach.

Look at it.

-Bringing back a few memories.

-Yeah.

-So, where was this school trip?

-It was in use in Bude, in Cornwall.

-Oh, beautiful Bude.

-Yeah.

-And what year?

-1980.

-Oh!

-Olivia Newton John.

-Fantastic.

That film... # Xanadu! #

Oh, yes!

-Well, your chariot awaits.

-Fantastic.

-Should we get on?

-Yes, please. Let's go.

-After you.

-How are you, sir?

-Hello.

'No snogging in the back, thank you.'

44 miles north of Plymouth is Bude,

a small picturesque town that's situated

on the shores of North Cornwall.

Cornwall has almost 300 miles of rugged coastline,

which has long been a draw for tourists.

Bude itself was once known as Bude Haven,

which is probably due to its fine weather

and idyllic beaches.

And the little place is still a popular holiday destination

as people flock to the town for the coastal walks and excellent surf.

Today, I'm taking Jake back to relive those action-packed days

when he came on his school holiday with all of his mates.

We'll be scaling new heights...

I'm going for this one, because I think, with the overhang...

It looks a bit harder...

It looks harder to me, I don't care what others say.

..bunking down holiday-style.

-Help me out.

-No, come on. Don't hog it.

LAUGHTER

..and getting to grips with his inner wise guy.

-You give me a four in the rumba, did ya?

-I did.

Together, we'll find out how the holiday of the past helped shaped

the much-loved actor we see on TV today.

Before any holiday truly begins, first you must set out on a journey.

And for eight-year-old Jake, the holiday really started

when he climbed aboard a coach with all of his schoolmates

to travel from London to Bude.

So, Jake, this was a school trip, right?

Yeah. 1980. I would've been eight years old.

First proper time away from home, I suppose.

And where did you live?

We lived in Archway, North London.

The school I went to was Hargrave Park, which was in Archway,

-and we lived just around the corner.

-Yeah.

So, the trip...

There must've been terrible excitement, was there?

Yeah, well, I think it's a long way from Archway to Bude,

so it's probably a six, seven, eight-hour coach trip.

I remember it went on for hours and hours and hours.

We'd stop off, grab some sweets and we'd go again, yeah.

Exactly like this.

I think we'd probably would've been at the back, I think, when I was eight.

So, what was home life like?

What did your dad do?

My dad was a painter and decorator.

My mom is from France, east France...

so I think she hadn't been long in England.

She still talks with a very thick French accent to this day.

Yeah, very simple sort of home life.

It was me, my mum and dad. I've got no brothers and sisters.

So, your mum and dad, were they happy for you to go?

I think they were, yeah, pleased to see me go.

It was a fantastic opportunity.

It was an adventure holiday,

so we're doing stuff like canoeing and horse riding

and abseiling...

Chuck us off a cliff, the whole lot of us.

It was going to be an adventure holiday.

Obviously, it were all very excited going out there to Cornwall,

none of us had been there before,

and were looking forward to the trip.

Aw, I can imagine the excitement.

I tell you what, we're gonna have a bit of an adventure today.

Sounds good.

What we've got to try and do is go back, totally, to 1980.

Well, I tell you what, this coach is bringing back memories.

This is exactly what we would've had. This is a great start.

Now, as taken as I am with the old school uniform,

I'm not sure the good people of Bude

should really be exposed to my bare legs.

So, what I've gotta do is go up the back and change.

-All right, perfect.

-But I am going to tell you, while I'm up there,

I don't want you looking. I'm going to moon.

-Right, OK.

-I don't think mooning had come in...

Well, I'll keep my eyes very firmly that way.

-Keep that way. Right.

-Right.

See you in a bit, Len.

Dave, go slow because I'm gonna show me bum.

Look out!

LAUGHTER

I think he would've been expelled from my school.

Do you honestly think I did it?

Well, what goes on school trip

stays on school trip,

so you'll never know.

BUS DRIVER LAUGHS

Welcome to Bude.

Aw, look at that. Fantastic!

And here's what else was going on in the world back in 1980.

It was the year Maggie Thatcher introduced the controversial

Right To Buy,

which saw over a million council houses being

sold off to their tenants.

We also saw boxer Muhammad Ali,

who floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee,

make his comeback.

Keep your eyes open and your ears open.

Keep writing and watch me come back, knock out a couple bums,

do my dance...

do my shuffle.

At 38 years old, I'll show you a miracle.

Despite his claim for a miracle,

Larry Holmes defeated Ali, who would retire a year later.

And even way back in 1980, The Archers was celebrating

its 30th anniversary,

with two deaths and a scandalous relationship.

Oh, it was epic!

Meanwhile, the young generation were glued to Grange Hill,

where Tucker Jenkins created TV history

by setting fire to Miss Mooney's science lab.

Whoa! The cheeky little so and so.

Mind you, this was also the year many of us were saying,

"Hey, teacher! Leave those kids alone."

# Hey!

# Teacher!

# Leave them kids alone. #

Oh, yes, having already topped the British charts,

Pink Floyd's classic track Another Brick In The Wall

hit number one in America, New Zealand, South Africa,

Israel and across Europe,

selling more than four million copies.

Oh! What a year!

After what I am sure would have been a noisy coach ride,

Jake and his chums would have arrived at Bude

and had their first glimpse of the sea.

-Come on, Jake, the adventure begins.

-Here we are, look!

Look at it all.

Oh, yeah!

-Just as I remember it.

-Really?

Well, it's 33 years since I've been here.

It wouldn't have changed much.

It wouldn't change much in thousands of years, I'd imagine.

What sort of things did you get up to on this holiday?

There'd be lots of, sort of, walking...

Packed lunches, obviously in areas like this,

in the dunes, just the open space.

We're all from London, North London kids.

London's great, there's parks there, but nothing like this.

Out in the open space for the first time, probably.

You must've been so excited.

Just that sense of freedom when you get out.

What about the teachers, were they a strict bunch?

Occasionally, yeah.

They were great.

We had one teacher in particular, Mr Lashbrooke,

who was the headmaster, he was fantastic.

We went to Italy and he made a real effort with the kids.

We used to do school productions, huge productions,

and a fantastic school holidays.

-I really appreciate it now, looking back.

-Yeah.

Mr Lashbrook.

You know what? I...

You know what?

I wouldn't mind cliff climbing or something later.

-Len, if you want to do a bit of cliff climbing, I'm with you.

-Yeah?

I'll hold the ropes, I'll come up with you, whatever you want.

I have to think about it. For the time being,

-should we just go and have a look at the beach?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

I've got a little surprise on the beach for Jake,

but first...

Bude became a popular tourist destination in the 20th century,

due to the advent of the Atlantic Coast Express railway.

In a journey time of around five hours from London,

it didn't take long for people to swap The Big Smoke

for the open beach.

With the 20th century came tourism.

We have magnificent surf.

We have one of the largest sea pools in Britain -

it's 100 metres long.

It's washed out by the sea every day,

so you have safe sea bathing.

You've got magnificent surf.

We've got a very strong tradition in the character of

beach huts in Bude,

so you've got everything here.

Back in 1980, Jake and his schoolmates couldn't wait to

get down on to the beach and

teacher Mr Lashbrook knew not to waste any time getting them there,

so I won't either, today.

-Lovely, eh?

-Look at that. Beautiful.

I suppose, as a kid, as soon as you got here,

all you and your mates were down here, were you?

Straight in, certainly. As soon as we were let loose,

all 30 kids steaming down to the sea, yeah.

Lovely. Yeah.

Well, there's somebody here that I want you to meet.

-Right, OK.

-OK. And...

Here he comes now.

Mr Lashbrook.

It is Mr Lashbrook!

I thought, if you don't recognise me, I should feel a right berk.

Wow! How are you, sir?

-I am fine.

-Can I give you a cuddle?

Yeah, long-time no see.

30...well, we won't say that, will we?

Fantastic to see you. How are you?

I'm fine, really, considering how old I am.

-How old I am!

-Yeah!

I don't think I could chase you any more, Jake.

No, no. You don't have to.

I am much better behaved.

What was he like as a nipper?

He was a lovely little fellow, actually.

You always play the villain and you were the nice guy.

Thank you very much.

Yeah! Yeah! You see, Len?

Dear little fellow.

Did you do many of these trips with all of the kids?

We used to come here in the summer.

We used to go skiing in the winter.

-Yeah, Sella Nevea. Do you remember?

-Yeah, yeah.

And with shows, we did three shows a year, didn't we?

Yeah, I remember the first show I did was Peter Rabbit.

That was my first ever thing. That was the first production of the year

and the first time I was ever on stage.

I always credit Mr Lashbrook with part of the reason I'm into acting.

Yeah, is because... when I was seven or eight in school,

we used to do fantastic school productions.

We used to do a big concert in the church at Christmas.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

-Around the corner, remember?

Bugsy Malone, do you remember?

You actually got the splurge guns, didn't you, from the film?

I got them from the film. I got them from Pinewood...

-Pinewood Studios.

-It was unbelievable.

My mum and dad still talk about that show -

-they still remember it.

-The splurge guns were hilarious.

They say, "Give me the child till they're seven

"and I'll give you the man."

Did you...?

Did you ever have a feeling that he could act?

Or was he just one of the kids to you?

To be honest, Len, I mean,

we were a school in a very poor area,

but the talent among those kids was amazing.

I had so many kids that were talented -

most of them didn't do anything with it. You did.

I really remember the spark and the interest in acting

started with you when I was seven, eight in the school productions.

-We loved doing it.

-And lucky for us,

Mr Lashbrook has got lots of photos of school life.

There's another one here, with a splurge gun.

-They were like semi-professional productions?

-Oh, yeah.

We had everything. We had the sets, the musicians.

-You can see all the costumes.

-Costumes, the props.

We had all the sound. I did all the sound.

The splurge guns there. Wow. I've never seen these photos.

That's amazing.

I used to get professional musicians in to play for you lot.

The band was all pros because I knew them.

I was entertaining as well, so I had mates in the trade.

I could pull them in.

So, you had a hell of a backing group...

I tell you what. ..and they were free.

Such a treat to see you.

-It's lovely to see you.

-Aw, it's fantastic.

And while we say goodbye to Jake's dedicated old teacher...

..here's the first instalment of my seven...

Top tips for Cornwall.

First off, you need to get your bearings.

So, how about a horse and carriage ride around Bude,

with modern-day coachman Mark?

Poseidon is probably the leader,

in terms of he likes to get on with

the job and get going.

Zeus will hang back a lot more

and let Poseidon do all the work, if he can...

If he gets away with it.

They like all the fuss that the people make of them.

I think they enjoy it, really.

The horse can collect you outside Bude Castle,

which itself was once a home to Sir Goldsworthy Gurney,

the inventor of the steam carriage.

Clever man!

Then, you can go indoors

and try your hand at a spot of

glass-making at Beau Nidol.

Get it?

LAUGHTER Beau Nidol?

Here you can learn to cut glass,

wrap it in copper foil

and solder it together.

A fascinating craft

and the family's holiday gift sorted.

Actor Jake obviously learned a lot from his time at school

with Mr Lashbrook

and one production seems to bring back extra special memories,

so I want to take him back to those childhood days.

Well, what I thought, one of the things that

I know was a joy was doing some of those shows.

So, I thought we'd try... There's only two of us, unfortunately.

..replicate one of those shows.

So, I'm just going to get something...

you wait there a moment, I'm gonna get a... Because...

-Firstly, I think you're...

-What are we doing, Len?

-I think you'll have to put that on.

-All right, OK.

-You know, to give it the feeling.

-Right.

Let me sort me life out, here.

-Oh, yes!

-These the bottoms?

Now, does this give you a clue?

Now, this is...yeah.

-Bugsy Malone, innit?

-It's a bit of Bugsy.

Oh.

THEY LAUGH

Wait a minute.

I'm dreading this.

-We've got the splurge guns.

-Fantastic.

Now...

Look.

Ah, Bugsy, yeah.

Now, wait a minute!

-Hey!

-Come on.

-Ready?

-Yeah.

-I'm going to enjoy this.

Take that.

-You gave me a four on a rumba, didn't ya?

-I did.

Oh, on the Rumba!

-I gave you a ten in something or other.

-Go on, then.

When I was eight or nine years old,

I would've been running around with that.

-There you go.

-THEY LAUGH

Over the shoulder.

Here he goes, look.

That will serve them right, won't it?

I don't like people that come down on the beach

and, you know, flaunt themselves with tops off.

Let's go down and give him a squirt.

-It'll wash off, won't it?

-It'll wash off.

You've got the sea. LAUGHTER CONTINUES

That's the best thing.

Like with Jake's trip in 1980,

Bude surf and cliffs have always played a major part in its tourism.

Today, Bude is still a popular place for school trips for the young ones,

so they can experience first-hand what life on the coast is all about.

The main activities are things as you can see here,

like surfing.

They can do a little bit of canoeing on the canal.

Then you've got a lovely area over by the break water

where they can go climbing and abseiling.

Where we're lucky with Bude is it's such a great natural classroom.

It is all about helping people find out a bit more about themselves,

give them some self-confidence and self-esteem,

and it can change people's lives.

Well, adventure was certainly on the cards when Jake was here as a lad.

He'd be up and down these cliffs like a rat up a drain pipe.

What? Out there? In the weather? Oh, no!

Instead, I've brought him to a local climbing wall -

much better for us pensioners.

Oh, look. Come on.

Hey, Jake! Look at that.

What we should do is get kitted up,

-you know, health and safety.

-Yeah.

And then the challenge will start.

Now, I'll tell you what we'll do.

-Whoever wins is going to be crowned...

-Yeah.

..the rock face champion.

Fantastic. The challenge is on.

-You're on?

-Yeah.

-Come on, let's get the gear.

Now, we've just got to put on the harness

so Mike here can safely belay for us

and then we're going to see who can shimmy up

that climbing wall the quickest.

-Can you just hold that yellow loop?

-Does that go in my teeth?

-No, not quite like that.

-OK.

-Oh, oh.

-Can you still breathe?

Yeah, it's good. Oh, I feel secure.

Perfect.

Oh, yes. Oh, yes.

There we go.

-Oh, yeah.

-Yeah, good, eh?

Yeah, you look like a scaffolder.

Well, I think, you know,

-you should go first, really.

-OK. Yeah, all right.

And then you'll set the challenge and I'll go from there.

-Wish me luck.

-Good luck. Get up there.

Jake, what route are you gonna go?

Uh, what would you recommend, Mike?

I'd go...whites for your hands

and any colour for your feet.

There you go, that's the one.

-I'm listening to him.

-I don't blame you.

Is there a harder one, though?

There is... No, this is pretty much the hardest route.

-You ready?

-I'm timing you.

-Good to go.

-You timing?

-OK, here we go.

-Nice and tight.

Climb when you're ready.

-There we go. You watching, Len?

-I am watching you.

LAUGHTER

I'm running out of holes already.

HE GRUNTS

-Oh!

-Careful.

There you go.

Jake, honestly!

24 seconds?!

He's been practising, I know he has.

God, this brings me back.

I lost a bit of the time, I got confused. I think it was 11 minutes.

All right, that sounds about right.

I may have got confused, though.

-All right, you going up?

-I am going up now.

-I'm going to be like a gazelle.

-It's easy, you'll get up there.

You'll get up there in no time.

Right, here you go, Len.

-Do you know what? You know, you've done that one.

-Yeah.

I don't want anyone to say, "Well, he knew where to put it."

I'm going for this one cos I think, with the overhang...

-That looks a bit harder.

-It looks harder to me.

I don't care what others say.

-Yeah.

-And, Mike, I don't care what you say.

I think you were giving Jake a bit of a pull along.

-I don't want any help.

-OK, I won't.

Go on. I'm just plotting me...

-Plotting your route.

-Plotting me route, now.

Obviously, I want to be fast.

Climb when ready.

-Climb when ready.

-Go on, Len.

You can do it.

Ooh! Ooh! Ooh-ooh!

I'm getting vertigo.

HE WHIMPERS

I think I'm going to need oxygen.

The air gets thin the higher you go.

Can I...? Whoa!

Mum!

I wish my mum was here.

HE GRUNTS

Go on, Len!

No! No!

Jake, have I made it?

No, Len, I think you should come down now. Come on.

Oh, the height. OK, Mike.

-Oh, mummy.

-You all right?

-Yeah.

Whoa!

'Well, it felt really high.

'OK, Jake, you win.'

A must for any literary, or in fact history, buff is Jamaica Inn.

Around 45 minutes south of Bude,

it's infamous for being embroiled in

Cornwall's smuggling past.

It's also the title of

Daphne du Maurier's famous book,

a book so full of dastardly deeds

and double-crossing

it makes your hairs stand on end

just to think about it. Blimey!

Daphne du Maurier, she was riding on the moors

and she got lost,

which is quite easy to do,

and she arrived at this Jamaica Inn.

And she got ideas from the Jamaica Inn

on how the smuggling went on

and the storyline behind Jamaica Inn.

If nature is more your thing,

try Bude marshes,

accessible from the canal at the

Visitors' Information Centre.

You can keep an eye out for

otters, bats, herrings,

kingfishers and grass snakes. Oh, wait a minute.

And staying with animals,

if you know your shire cross

across from your genuine cob,

then Broomhill Manor Stables

on the outskirts of Bude

is a place for you.

With pony and horse rides

tailored for all ages,

and cliffside rides

for the more experienced riders,

there's fun here for everyone.

And cliffside horse riding was something Jake experienced

back in 1980.

So, there's horses here.

Did you go on one on your school trip back in 1980?

We did horse riding on the cliff tops, yeah.

I remember, on my horse, at one point, bolted towards the cliff edge.

I'd never been on a horse before, I didn't know what to do.

So he's galloping away, going at quite a speed,

and I thought the best thing to do would be throw myself off.

Yeah, it wasn't the best experience.

So, you don't fancy getting on one today?

I think I would rather give it a miss, Len, if I'm honest.

I mean...

they're pretty big animals.

Thank God you said that

cos, if you'd got on, they'd probably make me get on.

-You don't want to do that.

-No, no.

What was your first, sort of, professional job?

First professional job was...

Do you remember The Gentle Touch? Jill Gascoine?

I would've been 19...

I would've been about ten years old...

It would've been about 1982.

I'd been at Anna Scher's for about three months

and they wanted this...

kid to come in who's, sort of, been beaten up by his dad

for about three or four scenes.

And I just fell in love with it from there, you know?

They really looked after me and being in the studio...

I remember the cameraman was showing me how to use the camera.

Everyone made a real fuss about me.

By that time, after that job, I decided that was it,

that, you know, all I wanted to do was to act.

What about your mum and dad? Their reaction when, "There he is"?

I think really proud and also very supportive.

I remember when I came back from that first job, The General Touch,

my mum said, "How did it go? Did you enjoy it?"

I said, "Mum, I think I want to be an actor."

She turned around and said, "You are one."

That sort of support is valuable when you want to do something.

I was always encouraged and never held back,

so I've got them to thank.

And you appeared with, bless her heart, Cilla Black.

Yeah, I did a Christmas show with Cilla,

about 1983, I think I'm dancing in that.

Obviously, no training at that point.

But she was lovely. She sang a song and gave us all gifts.

What were your moves? What was going on?

Well, I was very untrained at that point.

I think it was all just a little bit of that.

Body popping was big at the time,

so I think I was doing a bit of that. Yeah.

I'm definitely going to look it up, I promise you!

No holiday experience is complete without indulging in a

few sweet treats along the way

and Jake's school trip, back in 1980,

was made complete by a very special ice cream moment.

I think there was something...

on your holiday, back in 1980, involving a knickerbocker glory.

There was. There was a race.

There was a race with the whole class, everyone on the school trip,

was told to race from A to B

and whoever got past the finish line first got a knickerbocker glory.

And what did the others get?

Nothing. So I sat there, I sat at a table...

I won the race, so I sat there with his huge ice cream,

eating it in front of me mates.

It was great watching all their faces.

So, I thought what we could do is maybe replicate that -

-have a race.

-Yeah.

The winner gets the knickerbocker.

-That sounds like a great idea.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-Now, I thought down to the rope.

-Yes.

-Down to the rope, from somewhere here.

-OK.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

I've gotta be honest, you are younger than me, right?

I've got a gammy knee,

so I thought what I'd get is a yard's start.

Or if you want to go metrication, a metre's start...

A metre sounds all right.

..for every year I'm older.

-I'm going to walk forward until you think that's fair.

-OK.

So, a metre for every year?

Well, you can say, "Len, don't be daft."

-So, I'm just going to stroll.

-Off you go.

-Look...

Don't worry about me bad knee.

HE SIGHS

What are you saying?

Keep going, Len, go on!

-You happy?

-No, keep going.

-Right, that's perfect!

-OK.

-I'll say, "Ready! Steady! Go!"

-OK.

-You ready?

-I am ready.

-OK, don't fall over.

-Ready!

-Yes!

Steady!

Go! Come on!

-Come on, Len.

-Come on!

THEY LAUGH Go on, son.

-Good race!

-All right!

-We get to share it.

-Oh, lovely.

-Yeah?

-Yeah!

-Ice cream.

-Ice cream.

-Let's do it.

-Oh, yes.

Sand, ice cream and excellent views.

I tell you, it don't get much better than this.

Oh, here we go!

-Look at that.

-Look at that, Len.

-What a beauty?

That's exactly as I remember it.

I remember I ate the whole thing in front of everyone.

Well, it was very generous of you to let me,

you know, get a bit of it cos it would've drove me mad.

Lovely.

-Enjoy.

-I'm going to just have that first lump.

Oh, lovely.

-Cheers, Len.

-Cheers, me dear.

-Happy holidays.

-Happy holidays.

-Mm.

-Oh, yeah!

-Go on...

Jake, the thing is, you have been in so many different shows.

-Red Dwarf...

-Yeah.

-Only Fools and Horses.

-Yeah, that was great fun.

-What else you been in?

I've done a few films over the years, The Illusionist.

What about that monkey?

Something monkey?

-Grease Monkeys?

-Grease Monkeys!

-Yeah.

That was a few years ago.

And the other thing, you've popped up in a lot of...

-adverts.

-Hmm-hmm.

-Yeah.

-I remember the BT one.

The BT one. Yellow Pages, one.

When you were the vandal?

That's it, waking up on a bed.

Wake up, my parents fly back today!

-Who are you?

-Who are you?

Who is she?

Get these glasses.

JAZZ MUSIC PLAYS

Come on, you stupid thing.

-Oh, no.

-I used to love doing adverts.

I used to do about one advert every year

and that used to keep me going for the rest of the year.

Yeah.

What about the one...

with the noodles?

When you wouldn't share them?

Wouldn't share the noodles.

Not like me now. Look, I'm sharing this with you.

So, how are you Super Noodles, then?

-Mm.

-Give us a try.

-Hmm-hmm.

Oh, moody!

Look, I hate it when you do this.

I offered to make you some and you said no.

-I'm not hungry, I just want a little taste.

-No!

SHE MOCK WHINES

You can finish them off if you like.

-Oh, David, are you sure?

-Yeah.

Oh... You really love me, don't you?

That was a bit of comedy, I like doing a bit of comedy.

I haven't done much in recent years.

You've always been a rascal...

-more or less.

-Yes.

Why do you think that is?

Cos you're not. You're a charming, lovely chap.

-Bless you, Len.

-Well, you are.

I don't know. I suppose I've got a mean look. I can do mean and moody.

I sort of...fell into doing that and it seemed to work.

Hopefully, I'll go back to doing a more comedy - I enjoy that.

I've got to be honest, I'm going to tell you something.

This is not flattery or anything,

so don't take it as a truism.

You're fit.

-You're fit as a fiddle.

-Yeah.

Great North Run.

Yeah, I do a little bit of running,

so a half marathon and boxing. I'm into my boxing.

I love my sports.

I used to play a lot of football and running. I'm always at the gym.

And there's me hobbling about like Hop-a-long Cassidy.

There's you, films coming out all over, adverts...

Sport... No.

We still drew the race, Len.

We did and I tell you something about a knickerbocker glory -

the lower you get, the better it gets.

The fruiter it gets.

It's not like a prawn cocktail, when you get all the prawns on the top,

and once you've had them, all you've got is a bit of foliage.

This...the deeper you go, the better it gets.

-We haven't gotten to the sauce yet.

-No.

-Get in there.

-Go on, get in there.

Part of the excitement of a childhood holiday is staying somewhere new

and somewhere new was a dormitory for Jake and his mates.

Ho-ho! I bet that was nice and quiet(!)

Oh, yeah. Here we are.

Wow! Look at that.

Now, that's exactly as I remember it.

We had the bunk beds and it would be, yeah, about four to a room.

Yeah. Come and have a sit down.

Lovely! Hey!

So, what did you...?

What did you get up to? Surely you didn't just go off to sleep.

There was not much sleeping, Len, to be honest.

I remember, one night, we bought little mini torches

when we were out and about.

The old torches, the old comics come out.

The old sweets, the old teacher walking by and the torches go off.

Well...

Let's...

-Cos, you know, we want to try and replicate the 1980s.

-Yeah.

It's daylight now, so we can't really make...get it dark.

Let's make up a tent!

-Come on.

-All right, lovely.

-Get in there. Up and over.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Go over.

Got to be quiet, the teachers are outside.

Hold on, I ain't got a lot of this.

Oh, no. Come on, don't hog it.

HE LAUGHS I know... You...

Now, hold on.

-What we got here?

-The torches.

-Here we go.

Right, there we go.

HE MUMBLES

Hello.

-Got mine going.

-Yeah, of course you have.

Got to flash it to your mate in the other bunk up there.

Why mine ain't coming on?

Oi! Wake up! Who's got the comics?

-I've got the comics.

-Oh, get them out.

-I've got The Beano.

-He's got The Beano!

Who's got the sweets?

-I've got the sweet!

-Shh! The teacher's outside.

What's that?

Strawberry bonbons.

George, wake up! We've got strawberry bonbons!

Come on, George!

LAUGHTER

Let me show you something.

What's the year?

Wow! 31st of May, 1980.

-I probably had this one.

-Seven pence

I remember this one.

Oh, yeah, Fort Softy.

Fort Softy. What else we got?

Roger the Dodger, of course.

-Baby Face Finlayson, who I don't remember.

-He was good.

-Teacher's coming.

-Oh, get under!

-George, get under the cover!

-George, stop mucking about!

What else we got? Gnasher...

Tell you what, this is like being back on my school trip.

-That's what we tried to do.

-Exactly like it.

-Fabulous. Now...

I've gotta be honest with you,

I never really got to see a lot of EastEnders...

but I know you were on it for many, many years.

You have an idea how many episodes you did?

I think they told me, by the time I left, I think it was 987,

so just short of 1,000.

-You should've gone on for 13 more.

-I should've,

but I'm gonna take a year off.

I'm having a year break and then Max Branning will be back.

-He's coming back?

-Yeah, he's coming back.

-He's in the nick, isn't he?

Yeah, for the moment, and we'll see what happens after,

-but I think the story will continue.

-Lovely.

Now, you did a few villainous tricks in your time.

What, Max, what did he get up to?

-Well, he had an affair with his daughter-in-law.

-That's bad.

He...what else did he do?

-He got buried alive.

-Oh, that's not really good, is it?

No, it was a bad week for Max.

Ripped so many people off.

He had numerous affairs. Yeah, the list is endless.

Once you've gone for over 900, nearly 1,000 episodes,

you're gonna get up to a bit of a mischievous, isn't he?

-Now, he's in prison.

-Yeah.

-What'd he do?

-He didn't do anything - he's innocent!

-No way!

-Really?

-We'll see what happens. Wrongly accused.

-Really?

-Yeah.

Well, he couldn't have got just a year.

No, he's got life. I don't know how he is going to get out.

He must get out for good behaviour or something.

-It's nice in here, but it's a bit hot, innit?

-It is a bit hot.

While we cool off, here's the last of my holiday sevens.

Here's something a little bit interesting - The Gnome Reserve.

Half-an-hour northwest of Bude,

it houses more than 2,000 gnomes and pixies,

all thanks to founder Ann Atkin.

There are roughly, gnomes and pixies together, just over 2,000.

I think it's roughly half gnomes,

so round about 1,000 gnomes.

In the summertime, when people come,

we lend everybody gnome hats,

so the gnome population rises, doesn't it?!

And top of my list, well,

it has to be the Cornish pasty.

It's said the dish

dates back to the 13th century,

but it was the 18th century

that saw its popularity rise among

poorer mining and farming families,

who could fill a whole meal

of cheap ingredients, like

potatoes, swede and onion,

into one thick crust.

Before our holiday comes to an end,

I'm taking Jake to a spot high on the hill,

where I can get the lowdown on how he's managed to become

so good at so many things.

Now, I can't spend the day with you without asking

-you about your experiences on Strictly.

-Yes.

What made you, first of all, decide...?

They ask you and you say, "OK, I'll give it a go."

I'd had a few friends that had gone through it.

I just always fancied it. I like a challenge.

I'd never danced before, so that was another challenge for me.

And I just think it's a great show, one of the best shows on TV.

It's great Saturday night entertainment.

My kids were at an age where they could watch it and enjoy it.

They love the series. As a family, we enjoyed watching it,

so I thought I'd love to do something they can watch and be proud of.

And I'm gonna be honest with you, I was so sad and sorry when you went

because you were so much...so entertaining.

-There was so much going on.

-Thank you, Len.

And that salsa that you did.

That was my main regret, that we didn't get to the finals,

cos I was looking forward to doing that salsa in the final again.

But it was great fun.

A lot of that is down to Jeanette, she's fantastic.

I've gotta ask you about this fabulous time we've had,

and I'm sure the time you had back in 1980, coming here...

Do you think your time here and the wonderful Mr Lashbrook,

do you think that turned you into who you became, really?

I think so.

That was the start of it.

As soon as I saw Mr Lashbrook today,

I think I totally realised that

my first experience of being on the stage was thanks to Mr Lashbrook

and the effort and the school productions they used to do.

I'm really pleased that I got to see him again after 33 years.

It was a real shock and such a special treat.

I hope you've enjoyed the experience of coming back and reliving it

because I certainly have.

I think it's been a terrific time.

-That certainly means a lot.

-Yeah, lovely.

I've really enjoyed being one of Jake's school friends in Bude today.

We've messed around in the dorms...

-George, wake up! We've got strawberry bonbons.

-Come on, George!

..splurged on fun...

THEY LAUGH

..and found glory at the bottom of a knickerbocker.

The deeper you go, the better it gets.

We haven't got to the sauce yet.

-No. Go on, get in there.

-Go on, get in.

Being able to relive the holiday with Jake has shown me

just how important those early school days were

in shaping the actor we know and love.

And to remember our day, I've got him a few goodies.

I tell you what, Jake,

-I've had a terrific day.

-So have I.

-I have, really.

-It's been fantastic.

-And I want you to remember it.

-Yes.

You know, so...

in case you forget, I've got a little book of memories.

Oh, wow, thank you so much.

Good, I'll treasure that.

A picture book of our fantastic day together.

And I've also got him something else very special.

Everyone gets a scrapbook.

Not you.

You're getting two.

-Really?

-You are.

And you can open that, there's is a little thing.

Wow, look at that.

Aw, look at that. That's my holiday in 1980.

It is, indeed.

-I was asking Mr Lashbrook to get me copies of the photos.

-There you go.

I don't need to any more.

Look at that, Bugsy Malone.

Mr Lashbrook has come good.

Thank you so much, Len. I am really touched by that. It's very special.

I'll show my kids that.

They'll like to see dad when he was starting acting.

Last thing....

I know you've seen it already,

but it is 1980 and it is The Beano,

so what more could you want?

Fantastic. Again, I will give that to my kids and show them

what Daddy used to read when he was their age.

-Jake...

-I'll treasure that.

Len, thank you so much for today.

I had such a great day.

It's been a great trip down memory lane.

-It's lovely to share it with you, so thank you.

-Cheers!

It's been a fantastic day!

And as we say goodbye to good, old Bude,

I know this little piece of the Cornish coastline

will always be a special place for Jake.