Episode 19 Holiday of My Lifetime with Len Goodman

'Childhood holidays? Oh, the anticipation seemed endless.

'The holiday itself? Well, it was over too quickly.

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

'with some much-loved famous faces.'

This is a memory I will treasure!

'Every day, I'll be arranging a few surprises

'to transport them back in time.'

-I feel as though we're about to go over the edge.

-Don't say that.

'We'll relive the fun...'

-Oh!

-Ah! Oh!

No, no!

'..the games...' Oh!

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

-Oh, I'm so excited.

-Oh, the taste?

Taste of your childhood.

'To find out how those holidays around the UK helped shape

'the people we know so well today.'

Ah! HE LAUGHS

'So, buckle up for Holiday Of My Lifetime.'

Oh, yes!

We're going to get the water skis out in a moment!

'Today, I'm going on a magical mystery tour

'in this fantastic Ford motor

'and with someone who's even more handsome than me.

'I know what you're thinking. It's not possible. But it is!

'So, where am I off to, then? I'm not going to tell you yet.'

I'm on my way to meet a gentleman who's been treading the boards

for more than 20 years.

He was born in York in 1966, the year England won the World Cup.

There he is as a nipper! Oh! Butter wouldn't melt.

He got his big break in 1993 when he became a regular in Emmerdale.

Oh, he was a wrong 'un and no mistake. Nasty piece of work.

Then he really got pulses racing in Casualty.

Oh! He's gorgeous.

Phew! Since then, you'd have seen him in a number of guises.

He was a detective in Blue Murder

and then got to show off his bedside manner again in Doctors.

But he's not a doctor, of course. He's just a brilliant actor.

The multi-talented Ian Kelsey.

And I'm on my way to pick him up in this classic Ford Cortina,

just like the one his family had when they went on their holidays.

Oh, yes. Ian, Ian! Wherefore art thou, Ian? I could be an actor.

Shakespeare, anything you want.

'Ian Kelsey grew up in York,

'the very heart of the White Rose country.

'With his brother David, dad John and mum Julie.

'Dad was a hard-working printer

'and Ian's mum an accomplished window dresser.

'After doing a few heavy manual jobs,

'Ian got into acting relatively late.

'But with his matinee idol looks, it wasn't long

'before the television people came calling.

'As Emmerdale's heartbreaker,

'Dave Glover was an instant hit with fans

'and he continued his love affair with the countryside

'when he starred in the drama Down To Earth with Ricky Tomlinson

'and lovely on-screen wife Angela Griffin.

'And now after three years, he's decided to say goodbye to Doctors.

'I can tell he's a man who likes to move on.

'I just hope he's hung around long enough today

'for me to pick him up.'

Oh!

Wow.

-Ian?

-I don't know who I'm more pleased to see.

-It's a beauty, isn't it?

-What a car!

-It's good to see you.

-And you.

HE LAUGHS

-What do you reckon?

-Oh, that's beautiful.

-God, sense memory. Wow.

-Yeah.

What colour was the one you came down in?

Mink Blue. It was kind of like just... I think this is Silver Fox.

HE LAUGHS Silver Fox.

Well, yeah, it suits me!

-Silver fox in a Silver Fox.

-So, where are we going?

-Down to Lyme Regis.

-Lyme Regis.

-Please, driver.

-And what is the year?

-'73.

Oh! '73. Oil crisis, power cuts, three-day week.

It was all happening then. Well, anyway, listen.

There's no fuel crisis today. We've got a full tank, we've got the car.

-Jump in and Lyme Regis, here we come.

-Let's go.

-Let's go.

Nestled in the gorgeous little curve between Exmouth and Weymouth

in the super south-west of England,

the ancient port of Lyme Regis sits very comfortably

on the border of Dorset and Devon.

It's on the world-famous Jurassic Coast,

95 miles of stunning sun-kissed seafront

that is also a paradise for natural history lovers.

Now, I happen to know Ian did a spot of fossil hunting

with his family under the cliffs of Lyme Bay

way back in those balmy endless summers of the '70s.

Oh, paradise indeed!

So today, I'm going to relive those far-off fun-filled days with him.

There'll be deep-sea adventures, thrills

and hopefully, not any spills.

Don't think I could do this as a day job.

'We'll go behind the scenes to see how the screen magic

'Ian delivers so well actually happens.'

-Look at that, 35mm.

-Don't touch anything!

'And there'll be lots of looking round for precious

'and incredibly well-preserved old treasures.'

You never know, we might dig up Bruce Forsyth in a minute.

He'll be somewhere around here!

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

'When the businesses of Yorkshire

'closed for the annual factory fortnight,

'the Kelsey family would make a beeline for Lyme Regis

'in a motor very like this sleek silver beauty.

'Being driven perfectly, as you can see,

'by an equally sleek silver beauty.'

So, it was 1973. So, you could have only been a little nipper.

Yeah, yeah.

-But I do remember, it's one of my first memories.

-Yeah?

One of my first memories is just coming down to Lyme.

So excited! It was probably more exciting than Christmas.

The great thing I think about going on holiday in a car.

The holiday starts really as soon as you get in that car

and you get out the front door.

And where were you coming from?

-From York, so it was...

-Oh, that's a journey.

-That is a journey.

-And how many of you were there in the car?

-Just me and my brother.

-Just... I was always in the left.

-Right.

Um, and our kid was always on the right. And we used to...

-I used to come and sit up here.

-Right.

-I used to call it the budgie perch.

-Right, yeah.

So I'd just, you know, come back.

-There was no seat belts in the back then.

-Yeah.

So your dad would be driving. Was it your mum there?

Yeah, Mum was here

and she'd have a bag of goodies that every 50 miles, we'd get...

-Oh, get something?

-Something else.

-Right. Oh, that was good.

What do you do on the journey to sort of entertain yourselves,

keep yourselves going?

Pub games. What did we used to call it? If we went past a pub...

-Pub cricket?

-Yeah, pub cricket.

We'd call The George, you'd get two points.

-It was all down to how many legs the person had.

-Oh, right.

Or The Swan or I think my dad knew of a pub called The Centipede.

Oh, well, that... That'll be 100!

-Yeah, so that was 100 points straight away.

-Yeah.

-Oh, you'd never beat that.

-You'd never beat that.

-So you'd be driving along looking out for a pub.

-But this. This was..

This was the signal that we were near. I remember this.

Where all the trees would come over the road.

Even if it was a bright, sunny day, it used to go really dark.

And we'd know we were getting close to Lyme.

Oh, this is really, really bringing me back, this.

We used to stop at Yeovil Tank Museum,

we stopped at Stonehenge once

and that was when you could actually get in and actually...

-Get in and walk, yeah.

-And have a picnic on the stones.

-Yeah.

-You can't do that now.

-So, you'd have a few stops?

-Yeah.

Would your mum bring a few sandwiches and bits?

Yeah, used to... Used to stop in lay-bys and have a cup of tea.

-With all the cars going past!

-Yeah.

Yeah, that's exactly how my holidays were.

'I bet after a drive from York all the way to Lyme Regis,

'the Kelsey family couldn't wait to get to where they were staying.

'However exciting the pub cricket got!'

-Ah, Black Dog, four.

-Ah, there you go. It's on my side, though.

-Oh, it's got to be on your...?

-Yes, so I got four points.

-Oh! Oh, no.

-See? I think you just made that bit up.

-No! That's the rules.

-Well, I saw it! You'd have missed it totally.

-No, no.

It's on my side so I get four points so let's see what's...

-What, even if you didn't see it?

-It has to be on your side.

Well, I bet there's no pubs on my side.

What did you do? Did you stay in a hotel or did you...? A B&B?

Guesthouses, guesthouses. And we never booked. That was one thing...

-You never booked?

-That's one thing I've taken into my life now.

So, if I go away with the kids now.

We go to France or something like that,

we just get to France and turn right.

-And see, you know...

-See what you find?

When the kids get tired, let's see what we find.

And I always remembered just driving around.

I don't know why they never booked.

We used to just drive around and there'd be no vacancies,

no vacancies, no vacancies.

And then yeah, there's vacancies and we'd wait in the car

and Dad would go in and then he'd come back out.

-I remember the smile on his face.

-Uh-oh.

-"Come on, keep moving."

-But it was that tension.

-Yeah.

-Victoria. Six points, I'm up to.

-It's not on.

-But it's...

It was the tension of being actually in your holiday destination

and you still haven't gone to the beach.

Guys, we've got to find somewhere to stay.

Kent House, that's it! We stayed there.

-Kent House?

-Yeah, yes!

-Oh, really?

-It's a health centre now.

-Yes.

-Quite poignant!

Oh, you stayed... So this was where you stayed?

Yeah, Kent House, that's it.

-How funny is that? Me being on Doctors now.

-Yeah!

And my guesthouse, that's it.

And there was a tortoise in the back garden

-with another tortoise doing...

-Oh, getting on with it?

Yeah, I always remember that! But that was it. Kent House.

So, this was the walk that we'd do. Now, now we're driving now.

This is the walk that we had to do at the end of the day.

Well, you won, without doubt, the pub cricket

and if you open that glove box, your reward is waiting for you.

-HE LAUGHS

-Bag of crisps?

-Yeah!

-Thanks, Len.

'In 1973, when Ian was no doubt winning the pub cricket

'on his way down south,

'the world's greatest artist Pablo Picasso played his last innings.

'He died in '73 and art lovers all over the world mourned his loss.'

I think it's very sad

because I think Picasso gave a lot to the world through his works.

'In Britain, while the strikes were raging

'and oil prices were rocketing,

'in the City of London, the stock exchange opened its doors to women

'for the first time in its 200 year history.

'I don't know what took 'em so long. Liberty!

'Way out west of London, beautiful Brecon had a very special visitor.

'His Holiness, in fact.

'The Dalai Lama visited followers there as part of his ten-day tour

'on his first ever trip to Britain.

'And from a guru to a Wizzard, Roy Wood and chums got us on our feet

when Ball Park Incident reached the top 10 at the very start of '73.

# I found her lyin'

# Yeah, yeah, yeah Near the ball park down at school

# The sheriff came on to question my brother

# I could have dropped down... #

'Well, I hope there were no incidents today

because we've just arrived just down the hill from where Ian once stayed.

In the centre of lovely Lyme Regis.

And we're about to relive his holiday of a lifetime.

-Well I've got to say, Ian. This is fantastic.

-Hmm.

This is lovely.

That was it, that...

Just walking down here and seeing that view for the first time.

-That was the start of the holiday.

-So, you got into your hotel, right?

-Or your...

-B&B.

-B&B.

And then I suppose you couldn't wait, you and your brother.

-We want to get down on the beach.

-Yeah.

-So, straight down.

Straight down, walking round this corner and seeing that.

Even now, just seeing that. It's hardly changed.

I think that's why we loved it.

Well, these places are really timeless, in a way. You know.

You come back and I bet if you came back in another 50 years

or 30 years or whatever...

-It'd still be the same.

-Still be the same.

That's one lovely thing about Lyme,

that's one of the qualities about it.

It hasn't lent itself to the busyness

of other kind of coastal towns.

It's still the same.

So, it's 1973. What was the fashion? Was it flares and all that?

-I can remember I had quite a horrendous fringe haircut.

-Oh, yeah?

-Yeah, just shorts and T-shirts.

-Yeah.

-Get in the sea.

I think one year, they were filming French Lieutenant's Woman.

-Oh, yeah?

-Here, yeah. So there was a big film crew filming on the pier.

Over there.

30-odd years later, 40 years later, the place is the same.

Still the same, still the same atmosphere.

And coming back, does it sort of...?

Is it as though you'd never left, almost.

-It's part of me, I think.

-Yeah.

'This ancient and beautiful place used to be called plain old Lyme

'until it got a royal charter in 1284 and added the Regis bit.

'Since then, it's been a hugely important naval port,

'shipping centre and tourist spot.

'And for the whole 700-odd years since it got its charter,

'you know you've arrived somewhere special when you come to Lyme Regis.

'And it's even given the world one of its greatest films.

'The French Lieutenant's Woman set in Lyme Regis in around 1867.

'And looking around, you can see they didn't need much set dressing.

'That famous film was based on an equally famous book

'written by a Lyme Regis resident John Fowles who,

'when he wasn't being one of our greatest novelists,

'helped out at the Lyme Regis Museum.'

John Fowles started working at the museum in 1970s.

In a voluntary role, being the great novelist he was,

he was a great researcher too and contributed greatly

to the museum's knowledge of the town.

'Fowles must have found the museum handy for researching his book.

'And in 1980, at the same time as Master Ian Kelsey

'was mucking about in Lyme Regis, Meryl Streep, Jeremy Irons

'and their huge film crew came to make the movie. Oh, what fun!'

Of course, the ironic thing is the iconic picture from the film

is of Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons on the end of the Cobb in a storm.

But it wasn't actually Meryl Streep.

I think Meryl was much too valuable for them

to risk being swept into the sea.

I'm not sure if it was Jeremy Irons but by all accounts,

he's quite a tough guy so it may well have been him.

'Well, it might have been Meryl.

'She's pretty tough and it's staying power you need.

'That's one of the many things me, Meryl and Lyme Regis

'have been common.

'The town goes back a bit further than me, though.

'It's even got a mention in the Domesday Book.

'But that's nothing compared to the age of the fossils

'you can find on beaches around here.

'And I just can't wait to show off my knowledge of Lyme

'in the time of the dinosaurs.'

Ian?

I want you to meet someone now who knows a lot about old things.

Not me! HE LAUGHS

-Paddy, this is Ian.

-Pleased to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you, Len.

-So, this is the Jurassic Coast.

-This is part of it, yes.

-And it's 185 million years old.

In places, yeah. We've got Triassic rocks to the West.

So, over 200 million years old.

-And then Jurassic rocks all the way along here.

-Right.

So Ian, did you used to come down here with your mum and dad?

We did, yeah. We never found anything, though. You know.

What are these? Teeth?

Yeah, this is part of the jaw of a large ichthyosaur.

-So, you've got teeth on...both sides.

-What's that?

That was a big piece of poo.

You wouldn't know that was poo, would you?

-You'd think, "That's a funny bit of a rock."

-Look at that.

You know, anybody could pick that up and throw it in the sea.

They are the hardest things to learn to find

-because they're all different.

-So, where did you find this?

That was actually just over here.

-Really?

-Literally within about 10ft of where we are now.

-So, millions of years ago...

-No, don't tell me.

-..a dinosaur had a poo over there.

-Yeah.

That's just a bit of stone, you just brought that down for a laugh.

Well, to most people.

But we learn to recognise the right sort of stone.

-So this one, I broke it open.

-Oh, don't do that!

-That's what I wanted to do.

-Don't do that!

So, you recognised that there was something in that?

You recognise the right shape and texture.

Do you reckon we could find something today?

-There's a good chance.

-Come on, Paddy. Lead the way.

Let's go and do a bit of fossil hunting.

Come here...

Can you...? I've come here.

I've got my fossil-hunting shoes.

I wish I'd bought a little pick axe or something. Come on.

Dinosaurs must have loved it down here in Lyme Regis

because, you know, everywhere you look,

there's all the traces of old creatures.

You never know, we might dig up Bruce Forsyth in a minute.

He'd be somewhere around here.

Look, that could be like the hipbone, couldn't it?

Yeah, no, just a piece of stone, that one.

So, when you were coming down here as a little boy,

did you have any idea that what you wanted to do was,

you know, go into acting?

No idea, no idea. That just came from working at the railway.

And we were so bored building the trains,

that me and a friend joined Rowntree's Youth Theatre

to just meet girls, really!

And just got the bug there.

And then I just...I went to...

I went to build conservatories for a year

after I worked at the railways and I got an allergy to cedar-wood.

So, I had to change my career.

Doctors said, "Look, you know, if you're going to carry on doing that,

"you need to wear a mask all day," and I just didn't fancy that.

-No!

-So, I just flipped it and went to drama school and, you know...

I was a late starter at 24. Doesn't sound late now but it was then.

And did... Were your mum and dad pleased?

Or did they say, "No, don't do that"?

They were kind of laid-back and just like, "Yeah, OK,

"if you want to do that, go and do that." So yeah...

-So you know, that was it. No looking back.

-Right.

'Maybe acting's gain was dinosaur hunting's loss.

'I'm going to see if we can help Ian finally find a fossil.'

So, Paddy?

These rocks have got the potential to have something in them.

Yeah, all of these might have something inside.

-Can I break some rock?

-Yeah, you can have a go. You'll need these.

-Cool.

Health and safety at all times.

-Oh, yeah, look.

-Oh, yeah! Look, the sneaky little devil, he's just...

You've got a gnat's thing of it.

40 years later, I've found something.

THEY CHUCKLE

-Can I just do one?

-Yeah, certainly.

-Do you mind?

Because you know, you're hogging the whole thing.

You're coming down here.

-Oh, he's going. Going.

-I might...

-Ah!

-He pulled it apart with his fingers.

I'm like that. I'm Action Man.

I haven't come across a family yet that have done any fossil hunting.

Yeah, were you a bit posh? HE LAUGHS

No!

No, I mean, we weren't really bothered about the fossils.

-It was just something to fill the day.

-Something to do.

Something to do, yeah.

It was just part of the excitement of coming down to Lyme.

This is what Lyme offers, you know.

-Oh!

-Hey!

BOTH LAUGH

'Oh, yes! After 40-odd years, Ian finally got his prize.

'If you want to know more about some of the other biggest attractions

'in the area, then you're in luck

'because I've picked seven of the best to tell you all about.

'In the 18th century, Lyme Regis was one of the biggest

'ports in the country.

'Much bigger than Liverpool, even.

'People have been fishing out of here in boats big and small

'for hundreds of years. And today, you can too.

'Lyme Bay's Mackerel Fishing Tours run all summer long

'and they're becoming a hot ticket.

Mackerel fishing is terribly, terribly popular.

This area has been very good for mackerel over the years.

They seem to arrive...

..when we start our fishing trips at Easter.

In a good year, we can be catching mackerel for most of the season

until we pack up in November.

'During the Second World War, Dorset played host

'to 80,000 American soldiers

'and the wonderful Marine Theatre in Lyme Bay

'was the place to keep their peckers up.

'It was the Armed Forces canteen

'with stars like Jimmy Cagney entertaining them.

'More recently, everyone from Paul Daniels to Jo Brand

'to Alan Carr has played here too.

'I wonder why they haven't called me.

'No holiday experience is complete without sampling the local food.

'Those new tastes and textures,

'so different to home, that transform our palettes forever.

'When Ian came to Lyme Regis in 1973,

'he had a couple of bob in his pocket

'and the desire to sample every tasty treat you could find.

'Let's see if he's still got his sweet tooth.'

You know, as much as you remember the big things on holiday,

sometimes it's just the little things that bring back wonderful

-memories. Have you got any of them?

-Yeah, we used to get...

We used to get a little budget of 50p

and off we'd go at amusement arcades or little sweet shops.

And what was your favourite sweets?

-Sugar mice.

-Sugar mice? Well, I'm going to make your day.

-There's the sweet shop.

-Wow! Same one still there.

Still there, look at that. Want to go in?

-Let's see if they sell them.

-You got 50p?

I'll give you 50p, don't worry.

Eh? This is a kid's dream. Right?

And I tell you what, I'm going to go around the counter

-and I'm going to see what you fancy.

-See if you've got me 50p. Look!

-Here they are. Little sugar mice.

-Look at that!

-So, how many of them would you have had?

-Oh, I dread to think.

-Dread to think.

-Well, let's get a bag. Don't touch the stock!

-Why don't you have one of them?

-I'll have one please, Len.

-Just one?

-And get yourself one.

-OK, well, I'll give you... I'll have a white one.

And a green one.

I'm going to savour this because I like a bit of sugar.

-Wow, look at this.

-So let's go.

I'll find a nice little spot where we can sit and eat our sugar mice.

-So, how much did you get? 50p?

-50p a day.

-Was it ten shillings back then or still 50...?

-Come on!

-Oh, OK.

Let's leave it there.

Let's go somewhere and eat 'em. Come on!

Well, this is a nice little spot. Lovely, now...

-Do you want the white one or the green one?

-White one, please.

Look at that! Eh?

-Delicious.

-Oh!

-Absolutely delicious.

So, when did you get your first proper acting job?

Um...straight away. Out of drama school, actually. It was...

-It was a commercial in South Africa.

-In South... Oh, blimey!

But the first stage production was Grease.

-I did that in Dublin at the Olympia Theatre.

-Really?

So, that was my introduction into the business.

-And then, of course, the thing that we all remember was Emmerdale.

-Hmm!

-How did that come along?

-Just went up for the casting.

Yeah, and I got the gig. That was my first TV role. I can remember.

I didn't even know what marks were or any camera terminology.

-So, that was almost like TV school for me, really.

-Right.

But the crew were so lovely up there, you know.

They were used to people that didn't know

what they were doing on a film set.

So, that's where I learned the trade, really, on that job.

I used to work with Seth Armstrong.

Spent most of the time in the countryside filming.

We'd have people walking up to you

-and asking for an autograph during the take!

-Right.

You know, people taking pictures

and you know, back this way, there was the countryside

but over there, there'd be probably 500 people watching you.

So, it was like doing live theatre, it was hilarious.

But that was one thing that was lovely about that show.

-Three quarters of it was out...

-Out in the country? Oh, lovely.

Regardless of what weather.

It was just brilliant to get out there and do your job.

And how did your parents feel when suddenly, there he is?

-You're on the telly!

-Oh, very proud. Very, very proud, yeah.

Well, I can imagine.

Because they were in York and we were filming in Leeds

so they used to come down to the set all day. Let's have another go.

Yeah, don't, you know...

-Well, I like it.

-Don't eat the tail.

-No, I'm not going to eat the tail.

I suppose it's just pure sugar, really.

-God, we must have been flying after we had these.

-Yeah? Well...

-I like them.

-I might leave it there for the seagulls.

Anyway...

There's more to do, more to see and places to visit. Come on.

'Now, the next stop on our tour of Lyme

'isn't exactly a tourist destination.

'Unless you're seven-year-old Ian Kelsey.

'He and his brother loved the thrilling sight of the brave men

'of the lifeboat crew being called to action.

'So, I've arranged another surprise.'

Ian, I want you to meet Ken.

-How you doing, Ken?

-All right, how are you doing? Nice to see you.

-Ken, good to see you again.

-Very nice, thanks.

-Now, Ken...

was on the lifeboat back when you were here in '73. Is that right?

-Yeah, but you won't remember this.

-No, it was over there, wasn't it?

Yeah, yeah. I've got a picture here.

-Of the old place.

-Wow!

That might be me! So when is this, then?

-Well, that will be the middle '70s. Because...

-There we are.

-The early '70s, we had a boat like that.

-Yeah.

And then we came to a boat like that.

Which is the forerunner of these.

-Right.

-Smaller version than that.

I mean, that's high technology.

-I used to remember the firework going up.

-The maroons.

And then all you boys coming down from your day jobs.

Running like hell, yeah. Day and night.

Screeching up with the cars and on your bikes and everything.

And all the kids would run to see it, go down the slope.

-Yeah, and the boat.

-Do you still use the firework now?

-No.

Are you all just... You constantly man it?

Well, I finished years ago. But it's all electronic now.

-They're all tagged up, you know.

-Oh, OK.

-But they're still working in and around the town?

-Oh, yeah, yeah.

It must have been fantastic for you.

-You know, where you came from, you were nowhere near the sea.

-No.

-And suddenly, you're coming down here.

-Yeah, with a firework. Boom!

You've got the harbour, you've got the beach. Fantastic, hey?

And I guess these now can reach colossal speeds.

-This one goes 35 knots.

-Really?

-Yeah, we were only going 25 with these.

-Yeah. Well now, Ian.

-What we're going to do now is we're going out in a boat.

-You're kidding.

-Really?

-No, and we're going out quite a way, three or four miles.

-Wow, cool.

-And we're going to look back at the whole of this bay.

-Now, are you any good at rowing?

-Let's have a go.

-Come on.

I'm going to wear my hat in case I burn my balding head.

-How do I look?

-True sailor.

OK. Well, I think the boat is over here. So, Ken. Thanks a million.

-That's all right, mate.

-Cool, good.

-Nice, Ian. Nice meeting you.

-Good to talk. Cheers.

-Come on, sailor.

-There we go, sailor.

Ian?

-This is John.

-Hello, John.

-How are you?

-Nice to meet you.

These are life jackets. You can put them on just like a jacket.

John, you'll have to help me because I'm a bit cranky. Where's that one?

Oh, lovely. Right.

That's nice, isn't it? You're so protected.

I'll put my hat on because my head's burning.

I was in the sea cadets, you know? Oh, yes!

-Shall we get on?

-Let's do it.

'Now fortunately, the lifeboat with its 35 knots isn't for joyriding in.

'And anyway, one of those bright orange hero speedsters

'isn't the Goodman way, oh, no.

'I like to ride in style and not in a hurry.'

To be honest, this is about as rough as I can stand it

and about the right speed, this.

Mind you, don't think I'm feeling as bilious as Ian.

I think it was wise to not have lunch before we came out here.

Yeah, exactly.

-God, I've never seen Lyme from this angle.

-Yeah.

-Fantastic.

-So you never did this as a kid?

-No.

-We'd come out in a little dinghy but...

-But nothing like this.

Fantastic, hey?

It is the most wonderful coastline.

And, you know, you don't really get to appreciate it

so much as when you get somewhere like this and you're out here.

I think it's great.

-Don't know if I could do this as a day job. See that there?

-Where?

-Where the park is there?

-Yeah?

-We did a little show on there one night.

-What, when you was a kid?

Yeah, it was like an improvised comedy show.

And at the end, it must have been the last...

It must have been the last night because they sold off all the props.

And one of the props was a big shark's fin.

And I can remember walking up that big hill back to the guesthouse

and I'd walk past windows with the shark fin on.

Oh, yeah? Fabulous.

You still got it? No!

HE LAUGHS That's gone!

Now when you first started your acting career,

was there any times you felt, "Oh," you're not looking for work

and you thought maybe this isn't the best thing to do?

-Or did it all work along swimmingly?

-Um...

Yeah, I've been really, really lucky.

Um, I think the first time I've had a big kind of break

was 18 months and that was about five years ago.

So really, you've had the most lovely career.

-What was the detective thing?

-Uh, Blue Murder.

That was six years in Manchester filming with Caroline Quentin.

-That was great fun.

-And Doctors, of course.

-You can turn your hand to anything, you can!

-Yeah!

-Yes, I had a fun time on Casualty as well.

-Oh, yeah?

-The medical jargon was...

-Oh, I bet you that was the game!

I think I hold the record for the most takes

-for some of the terminology.

-Can you remember it?

27 takes it was for homonymous hemianopia.

-Homonyous...?

-Homonymous hemianopia, sounds like a fossil.

Yeah.

I can say it now. It took me 27 takes.

Oh, I'd have it written everywhere. It was like The Generation Game.

-Yeah?

-I had it written on people's arms, people's legs.

You know, you'd lift up something

and there'd be another five milligrams of whatever. You know.

Well, we didn't want to tell you this

until we got you on the boat but...

We're going to get the water skis out in a moment.

HE LAUGHS

-You first. You show me how it's done.

-No, no, no!

No, it's not in my contract.

While we try to find our land legs again,

here's another instalment of my seven top tips for Lyme Regis.

They say nearly half the wildlife in the world

has disappeared in the last 40 years.

So, it's a good job we've got places like Lyme Regis'

excellent Axe Valley Wildlife Park

to care for some very precious species.

We have several types of endangered species of mammal.

We have some of the species of lemurs here that are endangered.

We have several species of birds that are endangereds

from the cranes, some of the ibis have come from the Endangered List.

BIRDS SQUAWK

And also some of the parrots are on the Endangered List.

They've also got some of those good-looking mongoose things

that are even more famous than me.

Unlike piranhas, grey mullet have very, very tiny teeth.

That's a fact worth knowing!

If you go to the Lyme Regis Marine Aquarium,

you can feed mullet by hand and not worry about losing your finger.

Water mills started to die out in the UK

when the Industrial Revolution brought in

that newfangled steam power.

So, it's fantastic to see such a beautifully restored town mill

in Lyme Regis.

It now stands on a site surrounded by artisan shops and a microbrewery.

Ooh, posh!

Which leads me neatly to the next stop

on Ian Kelsey's Holiday Of A Lifetime.

Because I'm taking him to the pub his family used to visit.

And I reckon I can win back the 50 pence I paid for the sugar mice.

This is your old pub, right? Where your mum and dad used to come?

-I'm so pleased you brought me here.

-Yeah, what do you want?

-Just half a lager, please? Ta.

-Cheers! All the best.

-Hmm.

-Oh, look.

You want a go?

-Walked through that. Oh, hard luck.

-Oh, red.

Right, yellow.

No, don't do that!

We saw Brian Cant in the garden one day.

He was the Tom Cruise of kids TV in the '70s.

Children's television, he was like the master. He was...

Oh, he was great.

-Beautiful.

-Yeah, beautiful shot.

I've got to say that because he gets all grumpy.

-Ah, didn't mean to do that.

-Unlucky.

Oh, no! Bosh!

Right. Thank you.

£5.

Next drinks are on me.

'They certainly will be. Cheers, Ian!

'I love the fact that there's so much history in Lyme Regis.

'It's literally bursting out of the rocks.

'These beaches haven't only seen dinosaurs.

'They were also the landing ground for some of the last ever

'invasions of 17th-century Britain.'

In 1685, the Duke of Monmouth

made the last attempted invasion of England in Lyme Regis.

He landed just to the west of the town at Monmouth Beach.

And with his followers, marched inland

and was finally defeated in Somerset at the Battle of Sedgemoor.

The outcome of his rebellion was quite bloody.

Many of his followers were executed in many hideous ways.

They were hung, drawn and quartered, some here at Lyme.

'Oh, that's not a good way to go out.

'But the final stop on Ian's holiday definitely is.

'In 1981, Ian remembers watching James Bond

'in Live And Let Die in this picture palace.

'So, we're going behind the scenes!'

-Wow! Look at that!

-Oh! Look at it.

I wonder if that was the one that played the Bond movie.

It might have been because it's like a real old-fashioned, proper old...

-Isn't it?

-Blooming heck.

-A beauty, Peerless.

-Just need to have a look through there.

-Yeah, I was going to say.

-Have a little look.

-Wow!

Look at this thing. This is, I suppose...

-Yeah, look, they've got some film on it.

-Wind the films back on, yeah.

Yeah, massive!

-Look at that, 35mm.

-Don't touch anything!

-Don't touch it!

-Big old thing.

-They'll charge us.

When you started on Casualty, you became quite hot property then.

Did you know that you'd become a bit of a heart-throb and...?

Well, it all started on Emmerdale, really.

It was this campaign to kind of beef up the soap.

We had this big poster campaign down in London.

And it was me and one of the other young lads from the show.

An on the big Tube posters, it said, "Worth getting home early for."

So the lads had to look at my face every day when they were...

Oh, I bet they were painting a moustache on it and the glasses!

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

So, that whole heart-throb thing started there, really.

-It's all quite embarrassing, really.

-Well...

You got it, you got to flaunt it, I suppose!

Now if you get a new role,

-do you sort of prepare or do you think, well...?

-Yeah, I do, yeah.

When I was on Blue Murder, I spent a day with the CID.

Just before Down To Earth, which was a show about organic farmers,

I came to a little place near here in Honiton

and spent two days on an organic farm.

Talking about Down To Earth,

they look the most idyllic, wonderful places.

-Please don't say no, it was a dump!

-It was gorgeous.

We were filming, you know, in places like Lyme every day.

-It was gorgeous.

-Yeah, the filming of it was beautiful.

Just made you want to go and just be there.

Yeah, it was one of the best jobs I've ever had, that. It was lovely.

Oh, this is lovely. Thank you so much, brilliant.

No, I'm glad we could make it in and also, you know,

thank you to the Regent and letting us come in and have a look round.

-Yeah.

-Fantastic.

'While we poke around these fascinating projectors,

'here are the last two of my top tips.

'Did you know the Americans and Germans have been arguing

'about who invented the teddy bear since 1903?

'And here's another fact.

'Lyme Regis is the hub of

'international teddy bear health care.

'Alice's Teddy Bear Shop has a hospital that treats sick bears

'from all over the world.

'Aw! Hello.'

We've gone from one or two a month 16 years ago

to six or seven a day now.

So, hundreds and hundreds of bears come through.

'And at one, it's got to be Lyme Regis Museum.

'It ties all the town's rich history together perfectly.

'It also commemorates the greatest ever fossil hunter.

'Lyme's very own Mary Anning.

'They say she was the inspiration for the tongue twister

' "she sells seashells on the seashore. "

'Uh, yeah, I think that's it.

'It's been a long day but that's still easy for me to say,

'even with these dentures!'

Talking to you during the course of the day

and thinking about your mum and dad.

You know, you must have come from a really loving family.

To take the time to get you up and drive six or seven hours here.

Yeah, I think so. I think they'd be...

I think if they were still around today,

I think they'd be very happy with what's happened with my career

and seeing the kids and everything I've got.

You know, so my mum and dad introduced me to this place

and hopefully I'll be able to introduce my kids to this place.

Yeah.

If things hadn't worked out as they did for you,

and you became very successful in your acting and so on,

what do you think you'd have become?

-What would you have done?

-I don't know. But...

I always have points in my life.

Like this next point now, leaving Doctors,

where you don't know what's coming round the corner.

And I'm not afraid of change.

If I had to give up acting now,

I'd be very happy with what I've achieved so far.

But I don't know.

I would find something that I would wake up and smile about.

'That was the perfect end to a perfect day.

'It's been an absolute delight spending time with Ian

'and reliving precious moments from his childhood holiday of a lifetime.

'We've dug deep into the sun-filled memories

'unearthing treasures more valuable than we could find in the shops.'

Oh, yes! Look!

'And we've braved the choppy seas of the south coast.'

Don't know if I could do this as a day job.

'There was controversy when he won the pub cricket.'

I think you just made that bit up.

'But I beat him fair and square at pool.'

Thank you. £5.

'And Ian was as gracious in defeat as he has been all day.

'A brilliant Holiday Of My Lifetime companion.'

-Here's a little scrapbook of memories...

-Ah!

-..from your Holiday Of My Lifetime.

-Thank you so much, brilliant.

For super Ian, a picture book of our time together.

And I've got one final surprise that will help him

remember his holiday of a lifetime.

-Here's an original LP from Live And Let Die.

-Wow, cool.

-Thank you so much.

-It's been a pleasure.

-Cheers, mate.

-I've had a lovely day. Thank you so much.

-I had a great day, thank you.

So that's it. Bye-bye from lovely Lyme Regis.

A town much like me. It may be old but it's also ageless.

Oh, cheerio!