1
00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:09,560
Ten seconds... 9, 8, 7,
6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

2
00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:11,400
Hello, good evening and welcome.

3
00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:18,320
It is without question the greatest
purpose-built studios in the world.

4
00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:21,160
I remember just seeing the building
first of all

5
00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:23,600
and I actually couldn't
believe my eyes.

6
00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:27,440
It's an icon. It's like Big Ben,
it's like the Houses of Parliament.

7
00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:29,240
It's like St Paul's.

8
00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:34,160
When they built the Centre this was a
temple to this marvellous new medium.

9
00:00:34,160 --> 00:00:37,080
'This particular family is
called Forsyte.'

10
00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:40,240
Word reached us that amazing things
were happening out in west London.

11
00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:41,680
'Flipping heck.'

12
00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:44,720
A jewel box full of activity.

13
00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:47,760
'Tottenham Hotspur 4
Sheffield United 2.'

14
00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:49,960
'That's the end of the news.
Let's join Michael Fish

15
00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:51,840
'and take a look
at tomorrow's weather.'

16
00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:54,440
I'm actually getting quite
emotional remembering it.

17
00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:57,080
It was like being at a
very exciting party, really

18
00:00:57,080 --> 00:00:59,400
because I was having such fun here.

19
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'Tony likes Demis Roussos,
I like Demis Roussos and so would
like to hear Demis Roussos.

20
00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:08,600
'So please, do you think we could
have Demis Roussos on?'

21
00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:10,320
It felt like home, certainly.

22
00:01:10,320 --> 00:01:13,760
'Well thank you very much, Jerry.'
'I don't believe it.'

23
00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:15,200
LAUGHTER

24
00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:17,400
It was like Wonderland to me.

25
00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:20,680
'Live from Television Centre...'

26
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Walking into Television Centre
meant sparkle time.
This was show business.

27
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'Now the Morecambe And Wise Show.'

28
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'I'm free. I'm free. I'm free.'

29
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APPLAUSE

30
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'...Top of the Pops'.

31
00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:37,960
Coming here in the taxi,
I suddenly got this rush.

32
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The memories
that you have of this place.

33
00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:43,920
People were bonking
all over the BBC!

34
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They were absolutely stoned
out of their minds.

35
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Please, don't smoke
that stuff, you know.

36
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I promise you I am not at all
proud of this, but I was drunk.

37
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What I'm going to do
is bleach your moustache.

38
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We were in the wrong set
and he said, "Go on and act."

39
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'Exterminate.'

40
00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:04,560
'Whatever happens,
don't have nightmares.'

41
00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:07,840
What we now know as British
television was invented here.

42
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'Don't mention the war.

43
00:02:09,640 --> 00:02:12,880
'I mentioned it once but I think
I got away with it all right.'

44
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My memories of Television
Centre are so wonderful.

45
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When this place finally goes,
I will really cry buckets.

46
00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:20,600
'And it's goodnight from me.'

47
00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:22,400
'And it's good night from him.'

48
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This will always be the building
that will be British
television at its best.

49
00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:31,920
Tales of Television Centre.

50
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'Nearby is a model of the White City
Project, future home of the BBC.

51
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'Here many different departments
now scattered all over London,

52
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'may one day become
centralised under one roof.'

53
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Nice motor.

54
00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:06,600
I always love coming here,
actually, even to this day.
I get a twinge of excitement.

55
00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:09,160
There's something about
this building.

56
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From an early age
I was aware of Television Centre.

57
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If you've ever watched
Swap Shop or Superstore...

58
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I knew all about TV Centre because I
used to watch Blue Peter as a child.

59
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The building had a resonance.

60
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It was awesome to step inside it
for the very first time.

61
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I remember getting to
Television Centre

62
00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:30,880
and then having my name on the
gates, and it was literally
a religious experience.

63
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I came here with my father who was a
television director, John Glenister.

64
00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:38,480
It was very exciting
for a nine-year-old.

65
00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:41,640
I visited the Doctor Who set.
It was the TARDIS.

66
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My abiding memory of that was,
"My God, this is cheap".

67
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Basically, it was made out of
plywood and polystyrene.

68
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This building in many respects
acted as a catalyst for me

69
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to go into the industry.

70
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I'd grown up seeing BBC
programmes in Australia

71
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and this was the motherlode.

72
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This was Television Centre,
where all of those programmes

73
00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:07,720
that I grew up with
had emanated from.

74
00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:11,320
'I can remember walking around the
corridor for the first time'

75
00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:14,280
looking for my first dressing room
and thinking,

76
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"I'm at the BBC,
working as an actor."

77
00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:18,920
Can you move from the monitor,
please?

78
00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:22,240
Good evening
and welcome to Top Of The Pops.

79
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'A friend of mine got tickets
to go and see Top Of The Pops.
I was about 15.'

80
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I think you had to be 16 to
get in, but we thought
we would lie about our age.

81
00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:33,440
'We were motorbike fanatics and we
had leather jackets with studs

82
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'and great boots and gloves.
We looked - we felt,'

83
00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:38,720
like Marlon Brando out
of The Wild One or something.

84
00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:41,000
They said, "Tony Orlando
and Dawn are at number one

85
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"with Tie A Yellow Ribbon,
so we're going to give
a yellow ribbon to everybody

86
00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:46,440
"and we want you all to
skip around dancing."

87
00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:48,920
# Tie a ribbon round
the old oak tree

88
00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:50,880
# Tie a ribbon round
the old oak tree. #

89
00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:54,280
That was my first humiliation
on British television.

90
00:04:54,280 --> 00:04:58,360
'Incident Reported is the title of
this week's story in the popular
Z Cars series

91
00:04:58,360 --> 00:04:59,840
'tomorrow night at 8.25.'

92
00:04:59,840 --> 00:05:02,240
Z CARS THEME MUSIC PLAYS

93
00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:09,360
My mum was in some of the
live episodes of Z Cars.

94
00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:14,280
It's a nice friendly shop.
Yes, that's the way we like it.

95
00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:17,800
'My dad and I would see the start
of the programme,

96
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'get in the car
and come to Television Centre'

97
00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:23,040
and wait for Mum to emerge.

98
00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:28,680
I just can't breathe.
You're all right. Come on.
What do you think you're doing?

99
00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:33,280
I hasten to add I was tiny,
so everything was fabulously huge

100
00:05:33,280 --> 00:05:38,040
and modern and shiny
and so exciting.

101
00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:40,480
They are waiting for me.
Keep still, lad.

102
00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:41,920
'I did this live Z Cars.'

103
00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:44,640
I didn't have a big part in it,

104
00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:47,000
but I was terribly excited
and quite nervous.

105
00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:52,880
Mr Rawlings says he's like to speak
to you, sir. Mr Rawlings?
Inspector Rawlings?

106
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I don't know.

107
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'I was a teetotal girl from Wales.
Hadn't ever drunk in my life.'

108
00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:02,000
Signed the pledge at 11.
And at the end of it Jimmy,
or Brian Blessed,

109
00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:04,680
one of them said, "Come on, we're
going to the club for a drink",

110
00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:07,640
and I had my first drink ever
in the BBC bar.

111
00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:10,520
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mavis.

112
00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:12,120
At school, when I was 13,

113
00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:15,160
I think I did rather well
in a science project

114
00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:18,000
which was about the only time I
ever did well in a science project

115
00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:20,720
and the reward was a trip
to Television Centre.

116
00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:25,200
'I visited the Z Cars studio
and it was the most magical thing.'

117
00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:27,480
'I had watched Z Cars on the TV'

118
00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:30,440
and thought, "They're sitting
in their car in a street",

119
00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:32,920
and there was the car,
half a car cut out,

120
00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:38,640
and just the seats were there
and then a backdrop
of a northern street.

121
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It was like a revelation to me.

122
00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:44,120
I remember thinking,
"It would be fantastic
to work in a place like this",

123
00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:45,680
never thinking I ever would.

124
00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:48,720
Add on film for 32 seconds.

125
00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:51,160
'Everybody who was anybody
came here.'

126
00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:55,360
Prime ministers, great actors,
heroes, they all came.

127
00:06:57,040 --> 00:06:58,840
SHOUTING

128
00:06:58,840 --> 00:07:02,760
One at a time, please.
No, no, no!

129
00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:05,280
The Prime Minister took time off
from Westminster to come

130
00:07:05,280 --> 00:07:08,360
to Television Centre to see how
the BBC makes its programmes.

131
00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:10,640
Have you never watched the news
from there? I haven't.

132
00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:31,560
Hello. Hello. Hello, I'm Elton John.

133
00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:35,240
Who's that fat bastard?

134
00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:39,480
DRUM ROLL

135
00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:41,320
'This is BBC Television...'

136
00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:43,720
DRUM ROLL

137
00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:46,200
'..broadcasting from
the Television Centre.'

138
00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:52,880
The very first show that went
out from Television Centre

139
00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:54,520
was called First Night.

140
00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:56,960
It was quite a challenge,
but it was very rewarding

141
00:07:56,960 --> 00:07:59,600
because it meant we were using
all these new facilities

142
00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:02,120
for the very first time

143
00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:04,680
and it really was very exciting.

144
00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:06,640
A lot of big names in it.

145
00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:08,120
# Tonight I'm on a proper buster

146
00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:11,080
# And my head is
just a little light

147
00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:13,920
# And with tomorrow's sorrow
ready to drown

148
00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:16,680
# I'm going to beat up
the town tonight

149
00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:19,520
# Tonight I'm on a celebration

150
00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:22,160
# That will shake the nation
to the core

151
00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:25,000
# I'm going to beat, beat,
beat, beat up the town

152
00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:27,360
# The way it's never
been done before. #

153
00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:30,720
It was the biggest tailor-made
television centre in the world.

154
00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:41,080
My father had been a very senior
engineer working for the BBC.

155
00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:46,120
They sent him a model of the Centre
and I remember it on my carpet.

156
00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:47,560
I was 11.

157
00:08:47,560 --> 00:08:50,800
'We have already started on the
foundations and then later on,

158
00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:54,400
'we shall build another part in the
front here with three more studios.

159
00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:59,640
I remember that circle that
turned into a question mark.
I remember it well.

160
00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:03,080
To me, Television Centre
was a work of art.

161
00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:05,000
It belonged to that
period in the late '50s

162
00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:07,000
when everything was futuristic,

163
00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:10,160
everything was space age. There's
that same sense of design here.

164
00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:13,960
The mosaic with the light coming in,

165
00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:16,600
the honeycomb ceiling above it -
it's wonderful.

166
00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:19,040
There are echoes of that mosaic
all around the central circle

167
00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:21,000
and in the columns of the colonnade

168
00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:25,520
and if you go to the staircase
of the south hall, it's unsupported.

169
00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:28,080
There's nothing holding you up,

170
00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:31,200
so you get this wonderful
feeling of precarious altitude

171
00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:33,240
although it's perfectly
safe standing there.

172
00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:34,760
And the big basin at the fountains,

173
00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:37,960
it's exactly like the
flying saucer from Forbidden Planet.

174
00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:40,560
But there's also
a hint of Tracy Island about it -

175
00:09:40,560 --> 00:09:42,800
that central circle,
I can't really imagine it

176
00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:45,600
without Thunderbird 3
coming up out of the middle.

177
00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:46,920
THUNDERBIRDS THEME MUSIC

178
00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:51,480
Everything here is solid.

179
00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:56,000
With television now, everything has
a life of about five years, really,

180
00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:57,800
but this place was built to last.

181
00:09:57,800 --> 00:09:59,880
The design of it is brilliant.

182
00:09:59,880 --> 00:10:03,280
I love the fact that it's
like a cross between show business

183
00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:05,600
and a KGB interrogation centre.

184
00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:09,200
That's a good description.
Quite good. I like that.

185
00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:11,680
It's almost as if it was designed

186
00:10:11,680 --> 00:10:13,760
with a sort of Stalinist
point of view

187
00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:17,560
for bigwigs to look down and
check whether the members of
staff were actually working.

188
00:10:17,560 --> 00:10:21,080
A revolutionary building
in its time, a building

189
00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:23,520
that was copied all
over the world, as far as I'm aware.

190
00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:26,200
I remember going to one place,
I think it was in Zimbabwe,

191
00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:29,120
or somewhere,
which was virtually a carbon copy.

192
00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:33,520
The dynamics work.

193
00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:36,640
The two ring roads to bring
the scenery and the
technical equipment,

194
00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:39,680
the inner corridor that funnels
the artists from the dressing rooms

195
00:10:39,680 --> 00:10:43,160
through the assembly areas into the
studios via make up and wardrobe.

196
00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:46,040
Everything arrives at the
right place at the right time.

197
00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:50,120
The production people, who of course
were the brains,

198
00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:51,640
would come in on the first floor

199
00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:55,920
and hoi polloi, the actual
horny-handed sons of toil,

200
00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:57,760
the crews and technicians,

201
00:10:57,760 --> 00:11:00,600
would come in from the back
on the ground floor,

202
00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:02,200
so they never, ever would meet.

203
00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:07,520
The logic there was the proles
didn't have to meet
the important people, you know!

204
00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:10,960
Dividing and ruling.
Keep them all separate.

205
00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:12,880
BBC Television, nine o'clock.

206
00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:16,440
'Because it was live and there was
always live things going on,'

207
00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:18,480
it gave the place a fizz.

208
00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:22,080
Good evening, this is David Jacobs

209
00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:24,880
speaking from the BBC's
Television Centre in London.

210
00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:28,040
Viewers in the United Kingdom
will recognise this building,

211
00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:31,080
but it will be less familiar
to the 75 million viewers

212
00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:35,200
from 17 other European countries,
who are joining us tonight

213
00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:39,200
to watch the Eurovision
Song Contest Grand Prix of 1963.

214
00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:42,040
Everywhere that you looked,
you got the feeling

215
00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:46,320
that you were in the middle of this
extraordinary fun factory.

216
00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:50,560
'The difference between it
and the factory was that every
bit of artwork was different.'

217
00:11:50,560 --> 00:11:53,800
The range of programmes
that came out was extraordinary.

218
00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:58,080
I mean, In TC1, you could have
a full-scale opera going on.

219
00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:01,920
HE SINGS

220
00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:04,560
And then there would be
the daily dramas that were going on.

221
00:12:04,560 --> 00:12:07,000
Yes, madam. Yes it is on sale today.

222
00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:08,640
Comedy shows, audiences coming in.

223
00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:10,560
Scouse git.

224
00:12:10,560 --> 00:12:12,120
And it really throbbed.

225
00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:15,960
You could drop in and see
the ferment of creativity

226
00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:20,000
that existed all at the same
time in this amazing building.

227
00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:23,520
It was magic, it was, "Oh,
this door, it's Eric and Ernie

228
00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:25,080
"doing their programme."

229
00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:27,040
HE COUGHS
Arsenal.

230
00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:29,520
You walked along the corridor,
another door opened it,

231
00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:30,960
"Oh, there's a drama going on."

232
00:12:30,960 --> 00:12:34,800
And further around still,
"Oh, a quiz is happening."

233
00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:37,360
It was very vigorous at the time.

234
00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:39,560
Things going on in every
studio at the same time.

235
00:12:39,560 --> 00:12:41,120
Would you mind going back, please?

236
00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:44,400
There's just one tiny thing...

237
00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:47,960
Television was on the rise, you see.
In its power, its scope,

238
00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:51,160
its creative possibilities
were just exploding.

239
00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:53,560
And this building reflected that.

240
00:12:53,560 --> 00:12:57,360
The place reeks of history,
of television history.

241
00:12:57,360 --> 00:12:59,840
TV JINGLE

242
00:12:59,840 --> 00:13:03,520
'The man who steers this
vehicle of television communication

243
00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:07,160
'is Bryan Cowgill, World Cup
Grandstand's Executive Producer.

244
00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:11,400
Can we do a... Bill, can you lower
the scores again for me, please?

245
00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:15,480
'Television Centre was the only
place in which to work.'

246
00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:17,800
This was the place where
the big decisions were made.

247
00:13:17,800 --> 00:13:21,960
BBC2 arrived, of course,
then satellite television arrived,

248
00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:23,880
the moon landing was done from here.

249
00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:27,000
'It's one small step for man,

250
00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:30,000
'one giant leap for mankind'.

251
00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:33,240
Oh, good God! Straight back,
we've got a boom in shot this time.

252
00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:35,960
'The arrival of colour
was a main event here.'

253
00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:38,400
'And we were going
so fast that the colour cameras'

254
00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:40,480
were still under development.

255
00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:44,200
'I was in the very first
colour drama',

256
00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:46,680
which was Vanity Fair.

257
00:13:46,680 --> 00:13:50,400
And it was very stressful
for everybody because nobody knew
how it was going to work out.

258
00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:53,560
What's the matter with props?
They're all in the wrong place.

259
00:13:53,560 --> 00:13:56,160
'We actually took a decision
that we would risk it.'

260
00:13:56,160 --> 00:13:57,720
And it worked, yes.

261
00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:01,400
'First on BBC1,
John Craven's Newsround.'

262
00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:04,200
'No school today
for thousands of children,

263
00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:06,320
'as the nation goes
to the polls.

264
00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:08,800
'It's going to be a busy night'

265
00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:12,560
of incredible complications for the
people here at BBC Television,

266
00:14:12,560 --> 00:14:15,360
who will be giving the viewers
the situation, minute by minute.

267
00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:19,040
TC1, this is the BBC's biggest
television studio in London

268
00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:23,760
and it's going to be the nerve
centre for the election coverage.

269
00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:27,280
And the BBC canteen has been
preparing for the big night as well.

270
00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:29,200
In its biggest ever operation,

271
00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:32,120
it will provide the studio
with 6,000 sandwiches,

272
00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:36,560
20 gallons of tomato soup,
100 gallons of fruit squash,

273
00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:38,840
3,500 cups of coffee

274
00:14:38,840 --> 00:14:41,800
and hundreds and hundreds
of sausage rolls.

275
00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:45,080
Yes, Frank and Norman
are clear, thank you.

276
00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:48,480
Every studio was full,
and it was a miracle of planning.

277
00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:51,360
If someone rushed into my office,
bashed on the door

278
00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:54,400
and said, "Frank Sinatra's going
to come in to town in two days

279
00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:58,080
"and we reckon we can get him,
have we got a studio?"

280
00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:02,160
You could go across the corridor
to all these lovely girls
sitting there with their pencils

281
00:15:02,160 --> 00:15:05,760
and say, "Quick! Can we
have TC2 studio or something?"

282
00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:06,960
And they would do it.

283
00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:10,440
'Well, it was a self-contained city.'

284
00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:12,080
It was like a mini studio.

285
00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:14,680
It reminded me of what Hollywood
must have been like.

286
00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:18,160
You did say Hollywood? Yes.
Not Cricklewood? No, Hollywood.

287
00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:22,520
I played Roxanne to Eric's
Cyrano De Bergerac, as one would.

288
00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:25,680
He said, "I want a dream
sequence in the middle of this."

289
00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:30,120
We took over TC1
and there were Eric and Ernie

290
00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:33,600
in top hat, white tie and tails
and me in a blue floaty dress,

291
00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:38,880
just prancing around the studio
for about, I suppose a minute?

292
00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:41,600
That wouldn't happen now.

293
00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:45,600
'In my heyday, I was doing Morecambe
and Wise and The Two Ronnies',

294
00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:47,760
we didn't really have things
called budgets,

295
00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:50,240
whereas now, they nitpick
over 50 quid.

296
00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:53,920
'It was full of hurrying people.

297
00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:55,920
'directors, producers, actors,

298
00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:58,560
'dressers, it was a hubbub.'

299
00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:03,640
We made programmes like shelling
peas. Excellence came as standard.

300
00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:06,480
The beauty of working
at Television Centre

301
00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:08,400
was that everything was on tap.

302
00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:11,400
Lighting, design, make up.

303
00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:15,000
If you were short of anything
during rehearsal,

304
00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:17,480
you could whiz round to small props
and bring something in,

305
00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:20,520
or whiz round to make up.

306
00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:23,360
It all facilitated
getting the shows on the air.

307
00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:27,320
'You'd got whole wardrobes
full of period stock,

308
00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:30,320
modern stock, science fiction.

309
00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:32,920
I mean, you could do a show
from stock

310
00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:37,000
and it wouldn't cost the programme
anything for the costumes.

311
00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:39,280
There's an awful lot of scenery
kept in this place.

312
00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:41,240
There's stacks and stacks of it.

313
00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:43,280
Whole houses get built here

314
00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:47,680
and they get made into small sections
so they can be assembled here,

315
00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:50,760
then painted, decorated,
whatever has to happen to them.

316
00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:52,400
'When I was writing my programmes,'

317
00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:55,880
I would walk through the scene dock
with my designer

318
00:16:55,880 --> 00:17:00,000
and I'd see a Dickensian
shop window with mullions.

319
00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:01,760
And I'd then write a sketch

320
00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:05,800
and it cost nothing because we could
get it out the scene dock for free.

321
00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:08,240
'It is the most incredibly
exciting place,

322
00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:10,560
'with these huge studio spaces,'

323
00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:14,160
where you can create worlds
in pools of darkness.

324
00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:16,200
Can you clear for a moment?

325
00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:20,200
We created the most wonderful
worlds. The most intricate sets.

326
00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:22,920
This would be turned into an
18th century house,

327
00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:25,920
or a garden, and overnight,

328
00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:31,280
everything would be carted out,
deconstructed,

329
00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:34,040
the floor would be repainted.

330
00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:36,280
We'd literally say goodbye
and you'd hear clanking

331
00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:38,520
and think, "They're taking
the set down already!"

332
00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:40,520
and by the time you'd
gone back into wardrobe,

333
00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:45,600
taken your clothes off, you'd
be out, half the set would be gone.

334
00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:47,880
You were like, "How can that be?"

335
00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:50,880
The little bloke would come on his
machine and he'd go up and down,

336
00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:54,360
up and down and all the
lovely graphics that had been created

337
00:17:54,360 --> 00:17:57,760
on the floor would be wiped away and
then the next set would be put in.

338
00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:04,440
Dawn French.

339
00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:06,760
Dawn French.

340
00:18:08,560 --> 00:18:10,760
I'm allowed to park in there, please.

341
00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:16,920
They'd look at you and go
"Hi, Andi, how are you?" "Fine."

342
00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:20,640
"Can I see your pass, please?"
"But you've already identified
that you know me.

343
00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:23,120
"Surely you can let me in?"
"I need to see your pass."

344
00:18:27,320 --> 00:18:30,080
I work here! This is a BBC pass.

345
00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:33,560
You're a jerk! You know that?

346
00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:36,800
This is a career decision you're
making here, buddy!

347
00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:39,840
Look at the camera.
Look at the camera!

348
00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:41,680
OK, I have to go home.

349
00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:44,560
'There was a day when
a man wouldn't let me in

350
00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:49,200
'because I didn't have a car park
ticket. So I took the key out, left
my car and ran into the building.

351
00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:52,880
OK, man, yeah? You happy with that?

352
00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:54,680
Can you see my fingers?

353
00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:56,320
Count 'em, Stan, you fuck!

354
00:18:56,320 --> 00:18:58,360
OK? OK! I showed him.

355
00:18:58,360 --> 00:19:00,560
'From this place
there is no escape!

356
00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:07,960
'Not only can you not get out of
this place, but you can't get in!

357
00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:12,000
At the front of the building they
had this thing called the Horseshoe
car park, very exclusive,

358
00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:15,840
I think just meant
for the bigwigs on the sixth floor.

359
00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:18,640
My greatest achievement
at Television Centre

360
00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:20,400
was when I was editor of Newsround

361
00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:22,560
and I was actually given
a permanent pass.

362
00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:24,400
There was a very valuable
form of currency

363
00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:27,600
when it came to car parking
spaces, which were these.

364
00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:29,600
That this could get you
a space anywhere,

365
00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:31,880
even in the Horseshoe car park.

366
00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:36,720
The internal bureaucracy
was an absolute nightmare.

367
00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:41,200
I had to get permission to have
a helicopter land at the front

368
00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:43,840
of Television Centre,
actually in the bosses' car-park.

369
00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:47,080
This was the first time a chopper
had landed at the VIP car-park

370
00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:52,400
at the front of Television Centre
and, as you can imagine,
it caused quite a stir.

371
00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:57,440
I was given a complete
brush-off and I was told,

372
00:19:57,440 --> 00:20:00,680
"You're treating this as if it
was a place for entertainment."

373
00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:03,320
Sorry, we haven't got a meter.
You're terribly privileged.

374
00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:05,800
Only the very best people
park in this spot, you know.

375
00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:08,000
I gather the Rolls-Royces
have had to leave.

376
00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:11,240
We had our own security force,
we had our own commissionaires.

377
00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:14,720
My great-uncle was
a commissionaire for the BBC

378
00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:16,720
so he worked a lot of the time here.

379
00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:20,600
So when I got the job as
Director-General, I always laughed,

380
00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:23,200
we've gone from commissionaire
to Director- General

381
00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:25,760
in only two generations. Not bad!

382
00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:29,320
I'd be away at Yorkshire
Television, what, 15 years,

383
00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:32,640
and I came back,
and on the morning I arrived,

384
00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:35,440
the commissionaire said
"Good morning, sir. Been on leave?"

385
00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:38,240
They were fantastic. Like the guys
at the front of Harrods,

386
00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:40,480
all dressed up. "Morning, Mr Nigel."

387
00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:42,760
"Morning, Miss Rippon."
"Good morning, Mr Daniels."

388
00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:46,680
They were their own men and they
weren't in any way obsequious.

389
00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:48,200
It was Vic, always Vic.

390
00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:51,560
That was it, Vic, and he was
on the main gate for years.

391
00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:54,880
And Vic had lost an arm
during the Second World War.

392
00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:59,000
And he always wore his uniform
and the ribbons of his medals.

393
00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:01,960
He had quite a few altercations
with people who thought

394
00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:05,080
they had a right to get in, in their
vehicles and he thought they didn't.

395
00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:06,880
You could get through Vic.

396
00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:09,920
I'd lift him up and put
him on top of a car!

397
00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:11,760
If he liked you, he'd park your car.

398
00:21:11,760 --> 00:21:15,840
"Well, you can go over there,
mate, or you can go over there."

399
00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:19,800
Eric Sykes, the comedian,
was coming in, chatting away,

400
00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:23,160
and I said, "I didn't know you
knew the commissionaire there?"

401
00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:26,840
He said, "Oh, yes, he's a great pal.
I always invite him to my shows.

402
00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:29,400
"I can't imagine why,
cos it halves the applause!"

403
00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:34,600
It had such a status,
that reception.

404
00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:39,520
You felt a little bit swingy
walking into reception.

405
00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:42,480
Kings and Queens and Prime Ministers
walked through there

406
00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:45,520
and were met by dragon ladies.

407
00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:48,960
Quite a stern-looking lot
but really old-school,

408
00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:51,840
all dressed up in
their Chanel suits.

409
00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:55,640
I was walking across reception
and a lady came up and said,

410
00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:58,320
"Excuse me, Miss Hughes,
but I've often wondered,

411
00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:03,000
"do you pronounce your name
'Nervous' or 'Nerees?'"

412
00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:06,240
And I was Nervous Hughes
from then on!

413
00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:10,720
No, it's not Pebble Mill
at Seven, it's Wogan.

414
00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:13,360
Tonight, as you can see, we come
to you from the main reception.

415
00:22:13,360 --> 00:22:15,960
'One of my guests was the Dalai Lama.

416
00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:19,240
'And when we'd finished, we were
out in the main reception area

417
00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:23,480
'and I heard this formidable
blonde woman make an announcement.

418
00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:29,560
"Taxi for the Lama.
Taxi for the Lama!"

419
00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:32,560
Those ladies on reception
really ran the place. They did.

420
00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:34,880
Knew more than anybody
in the building

421
00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:36,280
about what went on.

422
00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:40,400
There were three ladies who
took it in turn on rotation

423
00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:42,720
to woman main reception.

424
00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:45,280
And one of them was scariest of all.

425
00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:48,360
She had the glasses
that went up like this

426
00:22:48,360 --> 00:22:51,120
and the hair piled
high on her head.

427
00:22:51,120 --> 00:22:53,360
Blonde hair going up like this,

428
00:22:53,360 --> 00:22:55,800
sprayed to within
an inch of its life.

429
00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:59,640
And she would go,
"Maaaain Receptionnnnnnnn."

430
00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:05,360
Well, the thing that I find rather
ironic is the fact that what

431
00:23:05,360 --> 00:23:08,200
used to be main reception,
where one arrived,

432
00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:12,040
was given one's dressing room key
and told where to go,

433
00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:15,160
and there were always
actors buzzing around.

434
00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:19,160
Now actors are as rare as
a snowball on the equator,

435
00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:22,400
and yet they have changed
the name to 'Stage Door'.

436
00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:27,240
The blokes just aren't the same. The
blokes they have now, not the same.

437
00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:30,280
When I arrived, they said,
"Yes? Name?" "Angela Rippon."

438
00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:33,400
"Why are you here?" "I've come
to be interviewed for a job

439
00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:36,920
"for television news." And one of
the girls looked up and said,

440
00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:40,560
"Oh, are we going to have a woman on
the news? Oh, that'll be nice."

441
00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:41,920
Ready, Jack?

442
00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:43,960
This is take two of the closing.

443
00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:46,960
Good evening, all.
I was doing a Dixon of Dock Green.

444
00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:51,440
For Collins and Skinner...
Oh, sorry.

445
00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:53,880
And I can remember being terribly,

446
00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:57,160
terribly nervous walking in
this wonderful building.

447
00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:01,280
I said my name and
they had a long list,

448
00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:03,960
and she started
looking from the bottom.

449
00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:08,120
I remember mine was the very
bottom word! And she said,

450
00:24:08,120 --> 00:24:11,360
"Oh, yes, dressing room 359."
And she handed me a key and said,

451
00:24:11,360 --> 00:24:14,640
"Do you know where to go?" I said,
"Yes," cos I was so nervous,

452
00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:18,880
I thought, I can't ask this terribly
frightening lady where to go.

453
00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:23,120
And I think I wandered round
for about half an hour before
I found my dressing room.

454
00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:30,040
'Standby, please, we're going on.'

455
00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:32,480
I did know the difference
was in Thames Television,

456
00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:35,000
you got a star on your dressing room.

457
00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:37,160
When you come to the BBC, you didn't.

458
00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:42,640
'Depending on where you were,
I mean, if you're in the basement,

459
00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:45,520
you'd sometimes get a dressing
room that was made for 50 people

460
00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:48,920
so you could do a lap of the
room while you were waiting.

461
00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:53,400
Good luck, Barry, darling, I'll be
with you every inch of the way.

462
00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:59,160
Poor brave boy.

463
00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:02,120
It was like a small cell.

464
00:25:02,120 --> 00:25:04,240
'Jeremy Kemp on the set, please.'

465
00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:07,640
You never had a telephone or
anything like that, or a loo.

466
00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:10,880
One day in the corridor, this
Blue Peter presenter came up to me

467
00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:12,960
and said, "Have you got
a star dressing room?"

468
00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:15,520
And I thought, "Oh dear,
they're obviously jealous"

469
00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:18,840
because I had this lovely bath,
and I said, "Yes, I have."

470
00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:22,440
He said, "Would you mind
sharing it with the otter
that's on our programme?"

471
00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:25,960
Shall I see if she can
jump in from there? There.

472
00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:29,760
Let's run a bit of water for
swimming. Oh, come back!

473
00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:32,400
You did sometimes get very noisy,

474
00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:35,640
or very egocentric neighbours,

475
00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:38,040
Who made it very hard
for you to think.

476
00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:42,560
Attention, attention,
Joanna Lumley is back.

477
00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:47,280
To all BBC producers,
she's a size eight,

478
00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:49,880
she's had her eyes done
and she's feeling good.

479
00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:52,680
Joanna, quick, get up,
there's Michael Winner.

480
00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:55,360
Mr Winner, remember Joanna Lumley?

481
00:25:55,360 --> 00:25:57,600
She was a Bond girl...
uh, a month ago

482
00:25:57,600 --> 00:25:59,840
and she was the original Purdey...

483
00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:03,200
Who? Purdey in the Avengers.
Joanna, like we rehearsed.

484
00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:05,080
2, 3, 4, cue.

485
00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:07,320
AVENGERS THEME MUSIC

486
00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:19,320
Go, Joanna, go!

487
00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:27,480
There was a series called Adam
Adamant where one of the actors

488
00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:30,400
was well-known for, um,
hitting the bottle.

489
00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:32,920
'All right, darling? Yes,
we're ready on the floor.'

490
00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:34,760
His dressing room was fleeced

491
00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:38,240
to see that there weren't
alcoholic substances there.

492
00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:42,400
He was brought his evening meal,
but actually incarcerated

493
00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:46,040
in his dressing room until
he was needed on the set.

494
00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:49,160
These are men who have been
caught acting in Colditz,

495
00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:53,760
being escorted to their cell
by sadistic floor managers.

496
00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:56,080
Whoops!

497
00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:01,880
'I remember it was a dressing room'

498
00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:05,200
just over there, actually, where I
met Stevie Wonder for the first time.

499
00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:07,160
He always had the
electronic organ there.

500
00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:10,120
He was always thinking up songs
and I remember one particular one,

501
00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:14,360
he said "Tony, what you think of
this?" Dang-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding.

502
00:27:14,360 --> 00:27:17,280
And I heard it a little later and
thought, "Where have I heard that?"

503
00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:19,640
And it was
'Uptight (Everything's Alright)'.

504
00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:23,760
Well, I heard it for the first
time in a dressing room down there.

505
00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:28,760
They were convinced that the
dressing rooms were being used

506
00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:30,560
for naughty purposes.

507
00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:32,960
Yeah, slightly sordid.

508
00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:35,320
I think a lot went on
in them just the same.

509
00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:37,520
Oh, no, everybody was
doing it on the premises.

510
00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:40,560
They minded you being drunk
and they minded you being late.

511
00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:42,280
Yes. Drunk and late, but not sex.

512
00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:44,840
Nobody cared whether you
had sex in your dressing room.

513
00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:48,000
No, people were bonking
all over the BBC, haha!

514
00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:52,720
Yeah, what do you think
those 'B's stand for?

515
00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:55,000
THEY LAUGH

516
00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:59,080
I was not seeing very much
of my boyfriend at the time,

517
00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:01,680
who I hasten to add is
now my husband, Mike Smith.

518
00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:04,520
But we were like ships in the night.

519
00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:07,200
I had dressing room number two,

520
00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:10,160
so on the occasions where we did
see each other, we had to take

521
00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:15,320
full advantage of that time, of
that blissful however long it was.

522
00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:18,360
And I have kept a souvenir which
I've brought with me rather cheekily

523
00:28:18,360 --> 00:28:21,480
because I didn't know
whether I should hand it in.

524
00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:24,840
But it's my dressing
room key. Number two.

525
00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:27,920
I think Terry Wogan was in
dressing room 1 that day.

526
00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:31,320
I wouldn't say that people actually
died in these dressing rooms

527
00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:33,640
but they looked as if somebody had.

528
00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:37,080
What they were known for were
the soup stains and coffee stains

529
00:28:37,080 --> 00:28:39,880
and indeed the
bloodstains on the carpets.

530
00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:42,600
Some of them have
become really glam.

531
00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:47,680
They're a set, what I might call
the Bruce Forsyth dressing rooms,

532
00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:52,080
stripy wallpaper and very, very
dark lighting, and very glamorous.

533
00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:53,920
I was in my sketch show,

534
00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:57,720
and the first day of recording
I was in the glamour dressing room

535
00:28:57,720 --> 00:29:01,200
and when I came back the
second day, I'd been moved.

536
00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:06,040
I'd been moved into one of the old,
sort of former dressing rooms,

537
00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:07,480
recognisably just hutches,

538
00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:10,520
with those very high windows
like you see in police cells,

539
00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:12,880
where you can hear the
technical staff discussing

540
00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:15,240
the programme they're working on.

541
00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:19,880
"Yeah, I'm on that Smith and Jones
thing. It's all right, I suppose."

542
00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:21,520
I was very lucky to
work with Joan Rivers

543
00:29:21,520 --> 00:29:24,200
and she came over to this
country to do her chat show,

544
00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:27,600
so I got the job of tarting up
Ms Rivers' dressing room,

545
00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:30,640
and tart it up we did.
It looked fantastic.

546
00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:33,480
We had people knock on the door
from around the building, saying,

547
00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:35,760
"Can we come and have a
look at the dressing room?"

548
00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:38,720
And she was here for a fortnight,
and how funny is this,

549
00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:40,600
the minute she left the building,

550
00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:43,040
we stripped it all out and
put it back to as it was!

551
00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:47,760
I want you to meet Damon Beesley.

552
00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:51,240
He's a producer here but he's also a
great writer. He's a script editor.

553
00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:53,560
HIGH-PITCHED LAUGHTER

554
00:29:55,240 --> 00:29:57,280
Room for a small one? Cheeky.

555
00:29:57,280 --> 00:29:59,920
You started without me,
and not for the first time.

556
00:29:59,920 --> 00:30:02,520
What's he been saying?
It's all lies.

557
00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:05,800
The BBC's always
had its strange hierarchy.

558
00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:07,600
Some real talent at the BBC.

559
00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:09,840
Cheers. He's lovely.

560
00:30:09,840 --> 00:30:12,320
There were rules about what
you could have in your office.

561
00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:15,560
You could have curtains that drew,
or, if you weren't senior enough,

562
00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:18,360
they had to be just
strips at the side.

563
00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:20,840
You had to be on a certain
grade to get a carpet.

564
00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:24,200
You could have a drinks cabinet,
you could not have a drinks cabinet.

565
00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:27,720
But you knew that you were upwardly
mobile when you were issued

566
00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:33,200
with a rather grander desk
and a coat and hat rack.

567
00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:38,680
They put me into a little segmented
room, like being part of an orange.

568
00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:41,440
You were stuck with one wall
narrower than the other

569
00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:43,280
and peg boards,

570
00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:47,040
and the whole thing was simply not
conducive to writing comedy.

571
00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:50,480
When I first arrived, somebody told
me that it was built in a circle

572
00:30:50,480 --> 00:30:52,320
so the buck couldn't stop.

573
00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:59,640
'After a short drive, I arrived
at BBC Television Centre.

574
00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:07,000
'Unfortunately, this is the most
complicated building in the world.'

575
00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:11,440
Because it is a circle,
it does encourage people
to get to know one another.

576
00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:15,280
Jim Cellan Jones was Head of Drama
and I knew he was on the 5th floor

577
00:31:15,280 --> 00:31:17,480
and I'd pretend
I was going somewhere

578
00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:19,560
and I'd just walk round the offices

579
00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:22,400
and he'd say, "Nige, hey,
come in, what are you up to?"

580
00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:25,680
I'd said, "I'm just... Not a lot."
And I'd get cast. I'd get a job!

581
00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:29,280
Now I found this a very easy
building to get to grips with.

582
00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:31,560
Once you've mastered the fact that

583
00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:34,400
it's all built round
this circular quad.

584
00:31:34,400 --> 00:31:39,000
I loved the shape of it because
it's so organic, isn't it?

585
00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:40,360
Easy to get lost,

586
00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:43,200
but wonderful
that it just goes round in a circle.

587
00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:46,320
My wig was tight,
my corsets were tight,

588
00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:48,800
my shoes were hurting me, and
there's no oxygen

589
00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:51,800
in those big studios because
there's so many of us there.

590
00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:55,280
I would always have a cup of tea
and then I would go and walk

591
00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:59,760
around the doughnut maybe two or
three times, in my costume usually.

592
00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:03,240
And then you work out that all
the studios are off it like that.

593
00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:07,680
Make-up was sort of over there
and below the studios there's
more make-up and dressing rooms.

594
00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:10,520
It actually worked really well.
I think it was a brilliant design.

595
00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:14,400
'A series of endless corridors.

596
00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:20,240
'I have spent most of my
formative years walking
endlessly round in circles,

597
00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:24,080
finding myself back where I started,
unable to find a studio

598
00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:26,360
or anybody to show me the way!

599
00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:28,000
I could be wandering round there now.

600
00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:33,280
It's a round building and
I remember, very early on,

601
00:32:33,280 --> 00:32:36,520
somebody said, "Do you want a cup
of tea?" And I said, "Yeah."

602
00:32:36,520 --> 00:32:39,240
They said, "Just pop up and
you'll find a little tea bar."

603
00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:43,520
I started walking.
I could not find this tea bar.

604
00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:46,880
What I was doing
was walking round and round!

605
00:32:46,880 --> 00:32:49,800
You wouldn't think you could get
lost in a circular building,

606
00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:52,160
because you'd just walk
back to where you started,

607
00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:55,400
but it's actually
very easy to get lost.

608
00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:58,040
It's such a big circle that
you don't actually realise that

609
00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:00,720
you've passed the point
where you entered the circle,

610
00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:04,360
and so just to find this cup of
tea, I was gone for about an hour,

611
00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:07,400
and I just carried on walking
for a great deal of time,

612
00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:08,800
round and round in circles.

613
00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:11,240
When I was appointed Controller,

614
00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:14,320
and I had to go to the first
important meeting, I got lost.

615
00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:16,760
I mean, I was going round
and round the circle

616
00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:22,400
and I suddenly realised
I was recognising the same
fire extinguisher. Where was I?

617
00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:27,800
A myriad of corridors. I remember
having quite an important meeting

618
00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:31,160
downstairs and saying, "I've
got to go. I'm going for a pee",

619
00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:34,160
and going off for a pee,
and I couldn't find my way back.

620
00:33:34,160 --> 00:33:37,680
So in the end I had to
ring up my secretary and say,

621
00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:40,800
"I'm wandering around this place but
I've no idea where the meeting is,"

622
00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:43,880
because it all looks the same,
doesn't it? 'Going down.'

623
00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:46,800
In the sub basement, which is
a level below the basement floor,

624
00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:51,120
there are service corridors which
connect all the blocks on the site,

625
00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:54,560
so a corridor that's probably
not much wider than a human being.

626
00:33:54,560 --> 00:33:57,440
Extremely creepy because
there are so many twists

627
00:33:57,440 --> 00:33:59,720
and turns down there
and it's very dimly lit.

628
00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:05,280
I got a pink chalk and I just
used to quietly put a chalk arrow.

629
00:34:05,280 --> 00:34:07,920
On the very first
edition of Newsround,

630
00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:10,720
I nearly didn't make it because
I was down in the basement

631
00:34:10,720 --> 00:34:13,640
at about quarter to five and
I had to get up to the studio

632
00:34:13,640 --> 00:34:16,120
on the 6th floor. And I went
the wrong way around.

633
00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:19,680
And I got to the studio about
six or seven minutes before air,

634
00:34:19,680 --> 00:34:21,320
palpitating like mad.

635
00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:26,120
You just follow the bum,
and when we got to the bum,

636
00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:27,840
we knew we were in the right part.

637
00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:31,480
In the summer, the sun
hits it in a certain way

638
00:34:31,480 --> 00:34:32,680
and it really glows, that bum.

639
00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:39,840
'Hugh Weldon, who was the boss,
was on the other side of the ring,

640
00:34:39,840 --> 00:34:44,080
so I could look out of my office and
see whether he was in his office,
whether it was worth going round.

641
00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:46,920
"Come on then, Brian",
said Huw Wheldon.

642
00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:50,400
"You're a climber. Climb up this
column, right up to the top,

643
00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:53,920
"then get on to that
statue down there."

644
00:34:53,920 --> 00:34:57,280
Took me about 20 minutes, shimmied
up, it's quite hard at the base.

645
00:34:57,280 --> 00:35:01,520
But gradually wrapped myself round,
got myself there, got to the top,

646
00:35:01,520 --> 00:35:07,040
and I, "Pfffft" - blew up this
great big French letter,

647
00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:11,680
tied it onto its cock,
and Huw Wheldon said,

648
00:35:11,680 --> 00:35:14,160
"Now we hope people
look at the bloody thing!"

649
00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:17,200
Next day, when everyone
came into their offices,

650
00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:20,240
there was a French letter, a condom,
tied over its cock.

651
00:35:20,240 --> 00:35:23,440
That's why it's called
Golden Bollocks.

652
00:35:31,800 --> 00:35:33,240
The bowl which caught the water

653
00:35:33,240 --> 00:35:38,920
was directly above where all
the telecine apparatus was.

654
00:35:38,920 --> 00:35:41,720
And it started to leak,

655
00:35:41,720 --> 00:35:45,480
and this crucial element of the
system was in danger of blowing up,

656
00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:47,680
short-circuiting with
water cascading down.

657
00:35:47,680 --> 00:35:51,720
I think it was exaggerated
but that was one of the problems.

658
00:35:51,720 --> 00:35:54,560
The videotape recording department
used to be in the basement.

659
00:35:54,560 --> 00:35:57,240
One day the Queen was coming to
something at Television Centre.

660
00:35:57,240 --> 00:36:00,120
She was coming up Wood Lane
in a limousine and they said,

661
00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:02,920
"Quick, turn on the fountain,
it's going to look smashing."

662
00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:04,760
They turned on the fountain,
it was lovely.

663
00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:08,520
The Queen came in and said,
"What a lovely fountain",
and went through the door.

664
00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:11,240
And then they said, "Turn it off,
quick!" And turned it off.

665
00:36:11,240 --> 00:36:12,680
But then they said,
"Turn it on again,

666
00:36:12,680 --> 00:36:14,640
"the Duke's coming
behind in a Land Rover!"

667
00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:18,320
So they turned it on again and the
entire VT was flooded, I believe.

668
00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:21,160
When it turned on,
it made a heck of a noise.

669
00:36:21,160 --> 00:36:22,960
Because the sound of the water

670
00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:26,240
on the fountain was
echoing around this ring.

671
00:36:26,240 --> 00:36:28,960
I'm told that the more sensitive
of the lady secretaries

672
00:36:28,960 --> 00:36:32,200
found this really unendurable and
had to keep going to the ladies' room

673
00:36:32,200 --> 00:36:34,480
once every
three quarters of an hour!

674
00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:38,480
I'll never forget, one day the
water tanks burst in the building.

675
00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:42,120
And the water was coming flooding
down. I don't know how many floors.

676
00:36:42,120 --> 00:36:45,720
These days, of course,
the building would be evacuated,

677
00:36:45,720 --> 00:36:49,520
nobody would be allowed
to go anywhere near it.

678
00:36:49,520 --> 00:36:53,480
No, on Blue Peter, the idea was to
get a sequence actually dancing,

679
00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:57,560
barefoot, with umbrellas up,
in the water,

680
00:36:57,560 --> 00:37:01,200
coming right through the
light fittings. Can you imagine?

681
00:37:04,040 --> 00:37:07,480
There are a lot of obstacles in this
building that you have to overcome.

682
00:37:07,480 --> 00:37:11,520
God forbid you want to film anything
outside the confines of a studio,

683
00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:12,960
then I wish you luck.

684
00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:16,640
Once you'd started to use the
television centre as a location,

685
00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:18,400
then you were in real trouble.

686
00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:24,400
Prem ops, fire safety people, health
and safety people, the list goes on.

687
00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:28,520
What about the height? What would
you say this is? About 60?

688
00:37:28,520 --> 00:37:32,160
About 60 feet. What does it
look like from down there?

689
00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:33,760
Very high!

690
00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:37,960
'Karl Wallenda was a world
famous tightrope walker.

691
00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:40,800
He'd done the most
amazing tightrope walks,

692
00:37:40,800 --> 00:37:45,840
and the great thing was that
he never used a safety net.

693
00:37:45,840 --> 00:37:48,960
There was the most almighty
battle about that.

694
00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:52,080
We got our own way, because
we were such a pain in the neck.

695
00:37:52,080 --> 00:37:56,080
There wasn't the Health and Safety
around that there is today.

696
00:37:56,080 --> 00:37:59,080
You are taking, not a chance,
but a calculated risk.

697
00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:04,600
You want me to stand on my neck?
Can you? Well, I'll try.

698
00:38:04,600 --> 00:38:08,000
Obviously, we couldn't do it live,
just in case he did go off.

699
00:38:09,840 --> 00:38:13,280
'I suddenly thought, what
happens if he does fall?

700
00:38:13,280 --> 00:38:18,760
'And I said to camera two,
if he falls, pan with him.'

701
00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:23,480
I was worrying about that.
Can you walk right to the end now?

702
00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:26,600
Karl said to me,
"When it's time for me to go,

703
00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:30,000
"I will either get run over
by a bus, have a heart attack

704
00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:33,960
"or fall off a wire. God above
is going to make those decisions."

705
00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:36,040
And three years
after he told me that,

706
00:38:36,040 --> 00:38:39,520
he did actually fall off
a wire and kill himself.

707
00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:41,120
On shorter programmes than yours,

708
00:38:41,120 --> 00:38:43,720
I'd rehearse what we're doing
next but on this occasion,

709
00:38:43,720 --> 00:38:47,160
I can sit back and enjoy
nearly three hours of your
multi-coloured programme.

710
00:38:47,160 --> 00:38:50,400
Marvellous. Well, thank you,
Richard. Let's have the titles.

711
00:38:50,400 --> 00:38:55,000
It was going to be totally live
and absolutely unrehearsed.

712
00:39:00,440 --> 00:39:06,080
The people in charge said "You're
going to run about in unlit areas."

713
00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:09,240
Well, we've come now this morning
to one of the most important areas

714
00:39:09,240 --> 00:39:11,600
of the Television Centre.
We're one floor below ground

715
00:39:11,600 --> 00:39:14,480
and this is known
as the videotape area.

716
00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:17,920
"We don't know where the
sound's coming from. It's
going to look and sound awful."

717
00:39:17,920 --> 00:39:21,000
So in the half-hour between now and
when we follow you on air,

718
00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:23,080
we'll be tidying up
the things that didn't work

719
00:39:23,080 --> 00:39:25,480
and getting everything
just right for transmission.

720
00:39:25,480 --> 00:39:28,240
OK, I'll leave you to do that,
Jim. Thank you very much indeed.

721
00:39:28,240 --> 00:39:31,280
Thanks a lot.
Grandstand later on BBC1.

722
00:39:31,280 --> 00:39:34,560
I then said, "I tell you what,
we'll just have one lit area

723
00:39:34,560 --> 00:39:39,720
"and we won't deviate from that",
which was a complete lie.

724
00:39:39,720 --> 00:39:42,440
Haha! Silly!

725
00:39:42,440 --> 00:39:44,200
'We just pushed it
as far as we could.'

726
00:39:44,200 --> 00:39:46,560
At the Television Centre here,

727
00:39:46,560 --> 00:39:48,560
we do have many other
things going on.

728
00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:51,840
I mean, this is the only
programme actually going out live.

729
00:39:51,840 --> 00:39:56,560
But we've got people doing rehearsals
for programmes, setting up studios.

730
00:39:56,560 --> 00:39:59,960
Look at the mess here. 'The crews,
of course, were wonderful.

731
00:39:59,960 --> 00:40:01,960
'They thought this was
a marvellous challenge,'

732
00:40:01,960 --> 00:40:04,160
so we just upped and went.

733
00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:06,920
They followed us, out of
the door, into the corridor

734
00:40:06,920 --> 00:40:08,680
and into the next studio.

735
00:40:08,680 --> 00:40:10,880
Morning! Morning! Morning!

736
00:40:10,880 --> 00:40:13,560
That's Noel Edmonds! Hello!

737
00:40:13,560 --> 00:40:18,840
I've just taken a break from next
door. Morning, chaps. How are you?

738
00:40:18,840 --> 00:40:21,680
No one was foolish enough to try
and do it before, but it worked.

739
00:40:21,680 --> 00:40:24,040
Is it Dad's Army? No, it's not!

740
00:40:24,040 --> 00:40:27,800
Because of this group of studios,
all with different things going on,

741
00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:31,600
we were able to show this
is where it all happens.

742
00:40:34,160 --> 00:40:40,680
'The idea of the tap dancing
record came out of the fact that
Roy Castle was in fact a tap dancer.

743
00:40:40,680 --> 00:40:44,280
That took me into this
spectacular thing here.

744
00:40:44,280 --> 00:40:47,040
Are you part of the biggest
tap-dancing troupe in the world?

745
00:40:47,040 --> 00:40:51,520
Yes, I am. What's your name? Julie.

746
00:40:51,520 --> 00:40:56,000
I looked up the record and it
wasn't very big, to be honest.
I thought, 500 will do.

747
00:40:56,000 --> 00:41:00,880
Pardon me asking, but
where are the other 499?

748
00:41:04,320 --> 00:41:05,560
Right here.

749
00:41:10,640 --> 00:41:12,840
We had absolutely no choice.
If we wanted to do it,

750
00:41:12,840 --> 00:41:16,520
we had to do it in December. It was
cold and I wanted another take,

751
00:41:16,520 --> 00:41:19,760
because there was a camera shadow,
but my head of the department said,

752
00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:23,040
"Get the children in the warm."
We had a mini camera in those days,

753
00:41:23,040 --> 00:41:25,680
which was that size,
you know, quite big.

754
00:41:25,680 --> 00:41:29,680
I said, "I want the Busby Berkeley
shot, put it right over the middle,"

755
00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:31,560
and they pulled it out on a wire.

756
00:41:31,560 --> 00:41:34,880
To have the fountain going was
the climax of the whole piece

757
00:41:34,880 --> 00:41:39,520
and that was difficult to do
but it's just getting the right
people on your side, to be honest.

758
00:41:39,520 --> 00:41:42,120
And there was a lady
who was the powerhouse

759
00:41:42,120 --> 00:41:44,960
behind what you could do
on the building site

760
00:41:44,960 --> 00:41:47,320
if you stepped outside the studio.

761
00:41:47,320 --> 00:41:51,080
And I went up to her and she
was knitting in her office.

762
00:41:51,080 --> 00:41:53,480
And so I said,
"Maureen, what are you knitting?"

763
00:41:53,480 --> 00:41:56,360
She said "I'm being
sponsored to do this knit."

764
00:41:56,360 --> 00:41:58,960
So I said, "I'll help you,
I'll sponsor you."

765
00:41:58,960 --> 00:42:02,440
I gave her a couple of quid and
she said, "Now what I do for you?"

766
00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:05,720
I said, "Well, how about switching
the fountain on for starters?"

767
00:42:05,720 --> 00:42:08,880
And they did it.

768
00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:12,800
That's how it used to operate
in those days, bribery!

769
00:42:16,640 --> 00:42:19,760
There was always some bugger out
there, Doctor Who or somebody,

770
00:42:19,760 --> 00:42:22,920
Dixon of Dock Green. They're always
doing little shots.

771
00:42:22,920 --> 00:42:26,120
And of course you had
Michael Bentine's World out here.

772
00:42:26,120 --> 00:42:29,480
Hello, and a very, very warm
welcome back to the very last

773
00:42:29,480 --> 00:42:32,480
in our present series
of It's A Square World.

774
00:42:32,480 --> 00:42:34,880
Michael Bentine loved
Television Centre so much

775
00:42:34,880 --> 00:42:38,960
that at the end of every series
he destroyed it catastrophically.

776
00:42:38,960 --> 00:42:42,640
It was sunk by a German U-boat,
it was besieged by Red Indians.

777
00:42:45,080 --> 00:42:47,360
It got blasted into
space in one of them.

778
00:42:47,360 --> 00:42:50,720
With the aid of some
special effects, obviously.

779
00:43:08,080 --> 00:43:11,680
Now what's wrong?!
We are weightless!

780
00:43:14,040 --> 00:43:16,160
Now easily observable is
the BBC Television Centre.

781
00:43:16,160 --> 00:43:19,400
You'll be able to see its form
together with the many lights

782
00:43:19,400 --> 00:43:20,400
associated with it.

783
00:43:20,400 --> 00:43:23,600
Whenever surreal mayhem broke out
around the grounds

784
00:43:23,600 --> 00:43:26,320
of Television Centre, everyone
assumed, "It's Michael Bentine.

785
00:43:26,320 --> 00:43:27,960
"He's up to something again."

786
00:43:27,960 --> 00:43:31,480
Until one day there was a
real raid on the cashiers.

787
00:43:31,480 --> 00:43:33,640
You've done more to confuse
BBC Commissionaires

788
00:43:33,640 --> 00:43:35,640
than any man in the history
of broadcasting.

789
00:43:35,640 --> 00:43:38,080
The robbers attacked,
and they thought it was you.

790
00:43:38,080 --> 00:43:40,520
Yes, they did. That was a shocking
business. They were real.

791
00:43:40,520 --> 00:43:43,600
The week's wages, £20,000 in cash,

792
00:43:43,600 --> 00:43:46,040
had just been delivered
by a security firm.

793
00:43:46,040 --> 00:43:49,680
And a getaway car, full of people
with stockings over their faces

794
00:43:49,680 --> 00:43:52,320
and looking for all the world
like pantomime bank robbers,

795
00:43:52,320 --> 00:43:54,000
pulled up at the main gate.

796
00:43:54,000 --> 00:43:58,080
I just said, "What's going on?"
And he said, "It's all right, mate."

797
00:43:58,080 --> 00:44:00,040
And then I presumed it was filming.

798
00:44:00,040 --> 00:44:03,320
These guys went in with stockings
over their faces, beat everybody up,

799
00:44:03,320 --> 00:44:05,200
smashed them on top of their heads,

800
00:44:05,200 --> 00:44:08,360
knocked them all out,
and pinched £16,000. I was there!

801
00:44:08,360 --> 00:44:09,960
I thought it was
something like Z Cars.

802
00:44:09,960 --> 00:44:12,240
You know, they nipped in here.

803
00:44:12,240 --> 00:44:14,480
Ran in with guns, and said,
"Everybody on the floor,"

804
00:44:14,480 --> 00:44:17,880
and broke down the bars
and got through the grille, you see.

805
00:44:17,880 --> 00:44:20,480
They got in their car
and they drove round the circle

806
00:44:20,480 --> 00:44:22,600
and simply went out the back gate.

807
00:44:22,600 --> 00:44:25,400
The commissioner appears and says,
"Nice to see you, Mr Bentine,"

808
00:44:25,400 --> 00:44:27,040
and opens the gate
and lets them out.

809
00:44:27,040 --> 00:44:30,080
"Hello. Hello, Mr Bentine.
nice to see you back again."

810
00:44:30,080 --> 00:44:32,800
And it really was
five men in a Jaguar car

811
00:44:32,800 --> 00:44:35,320
came up and robbed the place.
Yes. Thanks to you.

812
00:44:35,320 --> 00:44:38,000
There seemed to be
no limit to the items

813
00:44:38,000 --> 00:44:41,040
that people would
take from the building.

814
00:44:41,040 --> 00:44:42,480
Everything would go.

815
00:44:42,480 --> 00:44:47,720
We would have a cage
full of 100 footballs,

816
00:44:47,720 --> 00:44:50,520
and by the end of the week,
there were three.

817
00:44:50,520 --> 00:44:55,520
They had a banqueting hall
with a dozen place settings

818
00:44:55,520 --> 00:44:58,520
and silver period cutlery
had been hired

819
00:44:58,520 --> 00:45:01,480
and very carefully laid out
on the table.

820
00:45:01,480 --> 00:45:03,600
And when people came
back into the studio,

821
00:45:03,600 --> 00:45:05,400
every piece of cutlery had gone.

822
00:45:05,400 --> 00:45:07,080
But it hadn't just been stolen.

823
00:45:07,080 --> 00:45:09,720
Somebody had actually gone
to the restaurant block

824
00:45:09,720 --> 00:45:13,160
and collected enough
BBC canteen cutlery to replace it.

825
00:45:13,160 --> 00:45:17,800
Oh, don't use that one!
It's discoloured! Here, find another.

826
00:45:19,480 --> 00:45:22,320
There were three canteens,
all on top of each other.

827
00:45:22,320 --> 00:45:24,360
So you had the first floor canteen,

828
00:45:24,360 --> 00:45:27,680
waitress service on the second
floor, and the third floor canteen.

829
00:45:27,680 --> 00:45:30,400
And there was kind of an
unwritten rule between, you know,

830
00:45:30,400 --> 00:45:32,000
production go to the third floor,

831
00:45:32,000 --> 00:45:34,480
and anyone that might have
a high-visibility jacket

832
00:45:34,480 --> 00:45:35,720
would go to the first floor.

833
00:45:35,720 --> 00:45:38,280
Yeah, I think there was
a sort of class system

834
00:45:38,280 --> 00:45:40,000
of restaurants at one point.

835
00:45:40,000 --> 00:45:44,360
The ordinary people ate baked beans
on the ground floor,

836
00:45:44,360 --> 00:45:48,080
and then there was a bit
where slightly smarter people
ate lasagne or something.

837
00:45:48,080 --> 00:45:50,320
We're up here. You stay in that one.

838
00:45:50,320 --> 00:45:53,280
That one's got sausages, beans,
and mash. Ours has got chicken kiev.

839
00:45:53,280 --> 00:45:57,320
I remember The Two Ronnies
queuing up with everyone else,

840
00:45:57,320 --> 00:46:00,320
and they got two little stools,

841
00:46:00,320 --> 00:46:02,240
and they were sitting on
these stools,

842
00:46:02,240 --> 00:46:04,680
dragging the stools
along as the queue shortened.

843
00:46:06,640 --> 00:46:10,440
Wild horses would never have dragged
me there. But I would hear tales.

844
00:46:10,440 --> 00:46:12,440
The soggy bacon, left overnight.

845
00:46:12,440 --> 00:46:15,600
Because there was no wastage.
Good husbandry was the watchword.

846
00:46:15,600 --> 00:46:18,560
People used to talk about
having been taken

847
00:46:18,560 --> 00:46:21,600
to the waitress service
bit of the canteen.

848
00:46:21,600 --> 00:46:23,080
Yes! Lots of times!

849
00:46:23,080 --> 00:46:24,640
Lots of times? Yes!

850
00:46:24,640 --> 00:46:26,080
There we go again.

851
00:46:26,080 --> 00:46:28,840
I was so impressed,
because it had white tablecloths

852
00:46:28,840 --> 00:46:31,480
and there was the waitresses
there going round.

853
00:46:31,480 --> 00:46:33,800
So you felt you'd arrived.
SHE LAUGHS

854
00:46:33,800 --> 00:46:35,560
I don't think it was
that glamorous.

855
00:46:35,560 --> 00:46:38,200
There was some hairstyles amongst
those waitresses.

856
00:46:38,200 --> 00:46:39,840
And I used to look at John and say,

857
00:46:39,840 --> 00:46:41,640
"I really want my hair to
look like that."

858
00:46:41,640 --> 00:46:44,560
You know, these beautiful beehives.
Oh, it was brilliant!

859
00:46:44,560 --> 00:46:48,200
I remember there was one lady,
she had this enormous hairdo,

860
00:46:48,200 --> 00:46:50,440
and the longest nails
that were painted green.

861
00:46:50,440 --> 00:46:52,280
And you think, how can you...anyway.

862
00:46:52,280 --> 00:46:55,560
Did you ever have that waitress
who was rather eccentric,

863
00:46:55,560 --> 00:46:59,880
and she had a really, really, long
fingernail, but it twisted round?

864
00:46:59,880 --> 00:47:02,040
I never wanted to be served by her!

865
00:47:02,040 --> 00:47:04,440
That would have put me off
my lunch, I think, really!

866
00:47:04,440 --> 00:47:07,000
I remember one day,
Joan Collins walked in.

867
00:47:07,000 --> 00:47:10,040
She sat down and just took out her
little Tupperware box

868
00:47:10,040 --> 00:47:11,160
and had her own salad.

869
00:47:11,160 --> 00:47:13,800
I thought, "How chic is that,
in the waitress service?!"

870
00:47:13,800 --> 00:47:18,840
It was where most of the producers
went to have their lunch, in fact.

871
00:47:18,840 --> 00:47:22,920
And we used to eat
lunch in those days.

872
00:47:22,920 --> 00:47:25,240
It was sort of meat and two veg
and a glass of wine.

873
00:47:25,240 --> 00:47:27,640
I mean, it was none of this
grabbing a sandwich by the...

874
00:47:27,640 --> 00:47:30,040
HE LAUGHS
..by the typewriter!

875
00:47:30,040 --> 00:47:31,720
When the controllers had a guest,

876
00:47:31,720 --> 00:47:33,920
they would take them
to waitress service.

877
00:47:33,920 --> 00:47:36,560
And you could also book
a table at waitress service,

878
00:47:36,560 --> 00:47:38,280
and see them with their guests.

879
00:47:38,280 --> 00:47:41,240
It was very useful to be able
to nobble the bosses

880
00:47:41,240 --> 00:47:43,320
whilst they were preoccupied
with their meal.

881
00:47:43,320 --> 00:47:46,200
The wonderful thing about the second
floor was there was a balcony

882
00:47:46,200 --> 00:47:47,560
overlooking the first floor.

883
00:47:47,560 --> 00:47:51,000
So they could actually look
down their noses at the proles below.

884
00:47:51,000 --> 00:47:53,200
We used to imagine it was
so they could do a Henry VIII

885
00:47:53,200 --> 00:47:54,880
with their chicken bones.
Toss it over.

886
00:47:54,880 --> 00:47:57,280
"Look, there's peasants
scrabbling for my leftovers!"

887
00:47:57,280 --> 00:48:00,760
I was doing the Jackanory programme
with Kenneth Williams.

888
00:48:00,760 --> 00:48:02,800
So we went into the canteen

889
00:48:02,800 --> 00:48:04,880
where some lady was
behind the counter,

890
00:48:04,880 --> 00:48:07,120
and we said, "What's nice
for lunch today?"

891
00:48:07,120 --> 00:48:09,560
And she said, "Oh, we've got a very
nice chicken curry."

892
00:48:09,560 --> 00:48:11,920
I said, "That's good.
I'll have the chicken curry."

893
00:48:11,920 --> 00:48:13,920
And Kenneth said,
"Sounds rather lovely.

894
00:48:13,920 --> 00:48:16,600
"I think I'll have
the chicken curry as well."

895
00:48:16,600 --> 00:48:18,720
And the woman dashes over to
a hatch and yells down,

896
00:48:18,720 --> 00:48:21,120
"There's a big rush on
the chicken curry!

897
00:48:21,120 --> 00:48:23,880
"Send some more up!"
HE LAUGHS

898
00:48:23,880 --> 00:48:26,680
I remember vividly it was
a very nice steak and chips

899
00:48:26,680 --> 00:48:29,960
with a bottle of what the
BBC called, 'Good Ordinary Claret.'

900
00:48:29,960 --> 00:48:32,600
I sometimes sat at the table
and amused myself

901
00:48:32,600 --> 00:48:37,280
by crossing out 'Good' and
writing 'Very', Ordinary Claret.

902
00:48:37,280 --> 00:48:41,560
You'd go in at 12 o'clock
and you'd roll out at half past two.

903
00:48:41,560 --> 00:48:44,640
FILM NIGHT THEME TUNE

904
00:48:44,640 --> 00:48:48,280
Yeah, there was an occasion
that could have proved disastrous.

905
00:48:48,280 --> 00:48:52,520
And I promise you, I'm not at all
proud of this, but I was drunk.

906
00:48:52,520 --> 00:48:54,720
We all used to have lunch
in the restaurant

907
00:48:54,720 --> 00:48:58,120
before going into the studio,
and on this particular Friday,

908
00:48:58,120 --> 00:49:00,240
a lad who'd been attached to us
was leaving.

909
00:49:00,240 --> 00:49:03,280
He was going round the table with
bottles of wine the whole time.

910
00:49:03,280 --> 00:49:06,560
And in those circumstances, you lose
track of how much you've drunk.

911
00:49:06,560 --> 00:49:10,720
We walked down the corridor
to the studio, Pres B.

912
00:49:10,720 --> 00:49:13,200
But when I got inside
and the lights came on

913
00:49:13,200 --> 00:49:15,880
and I had to do my first
link to camera,

914
00:49:15,880 --> 00:49:18,520
everything fell apart.
And I burbled and stuttered.

915
00:49:18,520 --> 00:49:20,160
Oh, I was fluffing my lines.

916
00:49:20,160 --> 00:49:23,560
And at the end of this,
there was total embarrassed silence.

917
00:49:23,560 --> 00:49:26,560
And I got up and said,
"OK, this is what I'm going to do.

918
00:49:26,560 --> 00:49:29,320
"I'm going to walk round
and round this circular building,

919
00:49:29,320 --> 00:49:31,920
"and every time I pass this door,
I want someone to give me

920
00:49:31,920 --> 00:49:33,920
"a cup of strong black coffee."

921
00:49:33,920 --> 00:49:36,160
And I did this for
about half an hour,

922
00:49:36,160 --> 00:49:40,520
went to my dressing room, plunged
my face repeatedly into cold water,

923
00:49:40,520 --> 00:49:42,720
and went in and recorded
the programme.

924
00:49:42,720 --> 00:49:44,640
DIRECTOR: Just under 30 seconds.

925
00:49:44,640 --> 00:49:48,560
It turned out it was the most sober
programme I have ever done.

926
00:49:48,560 --> 00:49:52,160
It also happened to be about the
dullest programme I've ever done.

927
00:49:52,160 --> 00:49:55,480
But the thing is, I got away with
it, but I learned a salutary lesson.

928
00:49:55,480 --> 00:49:57,960
I never drank again before working.

929
00:49:57,960 --> 00:50:01,200
There are pop groups in
to record in the afternoon

930
00:50:01,200 --> 00:50:03,240
and of course, they smoked.

931
00:50:03,240 --> 00:50:05,040
And they didn't smoke
ordinary cigarettes.

932
00:50:09,160 --> 00:50:11,960
David Attenborough was a very
tolerant controller.

933
00:50:11,960 --> 00:50:14,600
But he did pass a message to
the editor, which was,

934
00:50:14,600 --> 00:50:16,040
"There is a herbal smell

935
00:50:16,040 --> 00:50:18,760
"drifting along that corridor
from your studio.

936
00:50:18,760 --> 00:50:23,480
"If it becomes any stronger,
you'll be in trouble."

937
00:50:23,480 --> 00:50:26,800
Look, please don't smoke
that stuff, you know,

938
00:50:26,800 --> 00:50:30,000
openly, and so that we can all smell
it. I mean, just be sensible.

939
00:50:33,440 --> 00:50:37,120
That was all he said.
And so we were told to control it.

940
00:50:37,120 --> 00:50:40,800
I remember you telling me a tale
of you doing something on Play Away.

941
00:50:40,800 --> 00:50:44,240
I think it involved silhouettes.
And everybody had had...

942
00:50:44,240 --> 00:50:46,680
Playschool, and it was the Nativity.

943
00:50:46,680 --> 00:50:51,520
And there was
Rick Jones, Lionel Morton, myself.

944
00:50:51,520 --> 00:50:55,560
They got stoned on the biggest joint
you've ever seen, in the studio.

945
00:50:55,560 --> 00:50:59,280
And we were in silhouette, as
the three shepherds with our crooks.

946
00:50:59,280 --> 00:51:03,560
And Lionel purposely held his crook
so the crook didn't show.

947
00:51:03,560 --> 00:51:06,280
Like with the cameras,
instead of that way!

948
00:51:06,280 --> 00:51:09,240
They were absolutely stoned
out of their minds.

949
00:51:09,240 --> 00:51:13,320
So when we recorded,
who cocked his lines up? Me.

950
00:51:13,320 --> 00:51:16,160
I couldn't work with it,
I really couldn't!

951
00:51:16,160 --> 00:51:19,400
I like that you weren't stoned.
I wasn't!

952
00:51:19,400 --> 00:51:20,560
Such a professional.

953
00:51:20,560 --> 00:51:22,240
HE LAUGHS

954
00:51:23,880 --> 00:51:26,280
You would come from the
screaming mayhem of the studios

955
00:51:26,280 --> 00:51:29,160
and the Light Entertainment
department or the drama department,

956
00:51:29,160 --> 00:51:33,240
where basically everybody shouted
to each other all the time,

957
00:51:33,240 --> 00:51:36,040
and then you'd open up
on the 6th floor.

958
00:51:36,040 --> 00:51:38,360
There would be this swish,
and then there was silence.

959
00:51:38,360 --> 00:51:41,320
LIFT ANNOUNCEMENT: 6th Floor.

960
00:51:41,320 --> 00:51:44,600
You couldn't hear yourself walk.
People spoke in whispers.

961
00:51:44,600 --> 00:51:47,440
It was like you'd sort of gone to
heaven or something.

962
00:51:47,440 --> 00:51:52,160
ANGELIC MUSIC

963
00:51:52,160 --> 00:51:55,120
Ooh, the hierarchy! And you never
really went onto that floor.

964
00:51:55,120 --> 00:51:56,920
It was the posh floor, you know.

965
00:51:56,920 --> 00:52:01,040
Where the head of BBC One, BBC Two,
and the DG were.

966
00:52:01,040 --> 00:52:03,800
You had to be fantastically
well-behaved.

967
00:52:03,800 --> 00:52:07,880
PRESENTER: Here, the drama department
meets the controller of BBC One.

968
00:52:07,880 --> 00:52:09,360
Well, let's move on to Dr Who,

969
00:52:09,360 --> 00:52:10,960
because that's an even
bigger problem.

970
00:52:10,960 --> 00:52:14,520
Because you're asking
for around 2,500 extra programmes.

971
00:52:14,520 --> 00:52:16,160
Avoid the 6th floor.

972
00:52:16,160 --> 00:52:17,840
It's just nothing but trouble.

973
00:52:17,840 --> 00:52:20,720
If you're summoned to the 6th floor,
you've put your foot in it.

974
00:52:20,720 --> 00:52:22,360
You're going to get a bollocking.

975
00:52:22,360 --> 00:52:27,200
Having a young baby and trying to do
a live show really is a nightmare.

976
00:52:27,200 --> 00:52:29,160
You know,
I'd be trying to breastfeed her,

977
00:52:29,160 --> 00:52:32,240
then I'd come in to rehearse a bit.
Rose would be screaming.

978
00:52:32,240 --> 00:52:33,720
How's your hair? All right?

979
00:52:33,720 --> 00:52:36,480
So the girl who used to help me said,
"I've done it.

980
00:52:36,480 --> 00:52:38,920
"I've got this great corridor.
It's just marvellous.

981
00:52:38,920 --> 00:52:41,080
"There's no one around there.
It's really quiet.

982
00:52:41,080 --> 00:52:44,920
"And no matter how much noise Rose
makes, in the end she calms down."

983
00:52:44,920 --> 00:52:47,640
And I went, "Oh, great.
Well done. Where is it?"

984
00:52:47,640 --> 00:52:49,560
And she said,
"Oh, it's the 6th floor."

985
00:52:49,560 --> 00:52:51,360
SHE LAUGHS

986
00:52:51,360 --> 00:52:53,000
Anybody who's anybody is here.

987
00:52:53,000 --> 00:52:55,040
And they've got their names on
all the doors.

988
00:52:55,040 --> 00:52:57,040
Like, DG.

989
00:52:57,040 --> 00:52:59,200
That means it's
the Director General's office.

990
00:52:59,200 --> 00:53:01,760
He's the head of everything.
Oh, so exciting!

991
00:53:01,760 --> 00:53:03,600
Let's have a look, shall we?

992
00:53:03,600 --> 00:53:06,160
LAUGHTER

993
00:53:06,160 --> 00:53:08,760
Oh, good morning, Mr Everett.
Welcome to the BBC.

994
00:53:08,760 --> 00:53:10,880
Naughty DG!

995
00:53:10,880 --> 00:53:15,760
This building embodies
the paradox in the BBC.

996
00:53:15,760 --> 00:53:19,960
Of jazz hands and the smart suit.

997
00:53:19,960 --> 00:53:23,360
THEY SCREAM
Ken! You!

998
00:53:23,360 --> 00:53:25,000
It's fun to see those two collide.

999
00:53:25,000 --> 00:53:26,920
That's how you get the best
programmes.

1000
00:53:26,920 --> 00:53:28,320
B-U-M.

1001
00:53:28,320 --> 00:53:30,800
That must be
Broadcasting Under-Manager.

1002
00:53:32,520 --> 00:53:35,320
LAUGHTER
No, it's a bum.

1003
00:53:35,320 --> 00:53:38,640
On Thursday evening, there's
a rather special show of the week.

1004
00:53:38,640 --> 00:53:41,320
The other day, I spoke to
one of its stars, Ernie Wise,

1005
00:53:41,320 --> 00:53:43,480
who'd brought along a friend.

1006
00:53:43,480 --> 00:53:47,000
Ernie, your Christmas show's being
repeated. Why is that?

1007
00:53:47,000 --> 00:53:49,880
By public demand. What, particularly,
has made this public demand?

1008
00:53:49,880 --> 00:53:52,520
Well, they're just clamouring to
see my performance again.

1009
00:53:52,520 --> 00:53:55,160
My Napoleon was quite superb,
wasn't it? Napoleon? Yes.

1010
00:53:55,160 --> 00:53:57,400
I did have the pleasure of working

1011
00:53:57,400 --> 00:54:00,240
on the Morecambe and Wise shows,
and I think it was back in 1977,

1012
00:54:00,240 --> 00:54:01,960
if my memory serves me right.

1013
00:54:01,960 --> 00:54:04,320
They were coming to
the end of their BBC contract,

1014
00:54:04,320 --> 00:54:08,040
and the BBC wanted to woo them
to come and sign another contract.

1015
00:54:08,040 --> 00:54:10,200
So they threw them a very nice party

1016
00:54:10,200 --> 00:54:12,640
in the hallowed 6th floor suite.

1017
00:54:12,640 --> 00:54:15,200
To this day, I remember Eric saying,

1018
00:54:15,200 --> 00:54:17,120
"Just enjoy yourselves
tonight, boys,

1019
00:54:17,120 --> 00:54:20,120
"because we've already signed
with Thames Television."

1020
00:54:20,120 --> 00:54:23,560
So we knew before the BBC bigwigs.

1021
00:54:23,560 --> 00:54:25,000
Very slippy chairs.

1022
00:54:26,040 --> 00:54:28,080
Excuse him. He's always like this.

1023
00:54:28,080 --> 00:54:31,120
The BBC had a policy
whereby the senior executives

1024
00:54:31,120 --> 00:54:34,280
would all meet once a week
round the boardroom table.

1025
00:54:34,280 --> 00:54:40,280
All the heads of department
went to B209,

1026
00:54:40,280 --> 00:54:42,720
which was a room in the basement.

1027
00:54:42,720 --> 00:54:45,120
And in those days,
full of smoke.

1028
00:54:45,120 --> 00:54:47,280
The rest of us called it
The Chimps' Tea Party.

1029
00:54:47,280 --> 00:54:50,200
And we used the Radio Times
as our agenda.

1030
00:54:50,200 --> 00:54:52,880
We would say, "Look at your
Radio Times, please.

1031
00:54:52,880 --> 00:54:55,080
"Now, who wants
to comment on what?"

1032
00:54:55,080 --> 00:54:59,760
It went on from half past nine
in the morning until lunchtime.

1033
00:54:59,760 --> 00:55:02,200
At one of those
Chimps' Tea Parties, Paul Fox,

1034
00:55:02,200 --> 00:55:04,240
who was then controller of BBC One,

1035
00:55:04,240 --> 00:55:05,960
flew into a sudden rage

1036
00:55:05,960 --> 00:55:08,280
and slammed his fist on the table,
and said,

1037
00:55:08,280 --> 00:55:11,360
"That bloke reviewing films on Film
'72 last night was wearing a wig!

1038
00:55:11,360 --> 00:55:14,320
"I will not have wigs on my channel.
Get rid of him!"

1039
00:55:14,320 --> 00:55:17,680
I really cannot believe
that I said that.

1040
00:55:17,680 --> 00:55:20,480
I wasn't actually wearing a wig.
I was just having a bad hair day.

1041
00:55:20,480 --> 00:55:21,640
Good evening.

1042
00:55:21,640 --> 00:55:24,960
Tonight, Joseph Losey talks about
The Assassination of Trotsky.

1043
00:55:27,080 --> 00:55:30,040
There are some horrible
places in this building.

1044
00:55:30,040 --> 00:55:32,040
Horrible offices.
You would go to parts of it

1045
00:55:32,040 --> 00:55:35,680
and you couldn't believe that
people were working there.

1046
00:55:35,680 --> 00:55:37,560
And there was a tower block over
the back there

1047
00:55:37,560 --> 00:55:40,160
that Children's was in at one point.

1048
00:55:40,160 --> 00:55:42,600
Just a truly terrible place to work.

1049
00:55:42,600 --> 00:55:46,080
It is the grimmest office block
you could imagine.

1050
00:55:46,080 --> 00:55:48,760
This grey, drab building.

1051
00:55:48,760 --> 00:55:52,800
You look up
and there's endless floors.

1052
00:55:52,800 --> 00:55:54,400
But East Tower was to be my home.

1053
00:55:54,400 --> 00:55:57,880
And because I was so homesick,
I just used to spend

1054
00:55:57,880 --> 00:56:00,960
as much time as possible
in East Tower,

1055
00:56:00,960 --> 00:56:03,760
looking out of the window,
dreaming of the North.

1056
00:56:03,760 --> 00:56:06,400
And everybody else just
wanted to go home.

1057
00:56:06,400 --> 00:56:07,840
It was just so sad!

1058
00:56:07,840 --> 00:56:10,680
You know, people shouldn't have been
asked to work there.

1059
00:56:10,680 --> 00:56:13,280
And yet, people thought this
was romantic. I never got it.

1060
00:56:13,280 --> 00:56:16,640
The loos in the East Tower
are on alternate floors.

1061
00:56:16,640 --> 00:56:19,800
The ladies are on one floor
and the gents are on the other.

1062
00:56:19,800 --> 00:56:22,960
And a very, very distinguished
senior member

1063
00:56:22,960 --> 00:56:26,120
of the BBC management board
was caught short.

1064
00:56:26,120 --> 00:56:30,120
So there was nothing for it
but to nip into the ladies.

1065
00:56:30,120 --> 00:56:32,240
So he nipped into the first
open cubicle

1066
00:56:32,240 --> 00:56:33,840
and had his tinkle, and then

1067
00:56:33,840 --> 00:56:36,040
when he was washing his hands
at the sink,

1068
00:56:36,040 --> 00:56:37,880
he let rip with a huge fart.

1069
00:56:38,920 --> 00:56:43,120
And then from behind the closed
cubicle door at the end of the row,

1070
00:56:43,120 --> 00:56:45,680
a voice said, "Is that you, Maureen?"

1071
00:56:45,680 --> 00:56:48,640
I mean, it was one of those places
that you felt that once

1072
00:56:48,640 --> 00:56:52,760
we moved out,
the dossers would move in, really.

1073
00:56:57,160 --> 00:56:59,200
Cameras in the right place
at the right time.

1074
00:56:59,200 --> 00:57:01,240
Microphones within reach,
but out of sight.

1075
00:57:01,240 --> 00:57:03,480
Actors knowing what to say
and where to move.

1076
00:57:03,480 --> 00:57:05,880
The right setting,
designed to fit the actor

1077
00:57:05,880 --> 00:57:07,640
and leave room for the cameras.

1078
00:57:07,640 --> 00:57:09,600
The lighting worked out
for each scene.

1079
00:57:09,600 --> 00:57:13,000
Everyone knowing what to do
and when to do it,

1080
00:57:13,000 --> 00:57:15,640
so that every part fits together to
become what was at first

1081
00:57:15,640 --> 00:57:17,560
only in the mind of the director.

1082
00:57:17,560 --> 00:57:19,400
David, can we come onto this
next scene?

1083
00:57:19,400 --> 00:57:21,040
Two-shot, on camera five.

1084
00:57:21,040 --> 00:57:23,960
The competition to get the best
stuff was absolutely knives out.

1085
00:57:23,960 --> 00:57:25,840
I mean, you had to pull out
all the stops

1086
00:57:25,840 --> 00:57:29,680
to get the studio you wanted,
to get the camera crew you wanted.

1087
00:57:29,680 --> 00:57:32,120
It was very, very, very competitive.

1088
00:57:34,040 --> 00:57:36,600
I remember working with
fantastic camera crews

1089
00:57:36,600 --> 00:57:38,160
when we were working here.

1090
00:57:38,160 --> 00:57:41,400
You know, they would give you
everything,

1091
00:57:41,400 --> 00:57:45,360
and the kind of pride of work,
and just the sheer concentration.

1092
00:57:45,360 --> 00:57:48,240
I was very young.
We were doing Casanova.

1093
00:57:49,360 --> 00:57:52,800
And I was doing one of the low
cameras,

1094
00:57:52,800 --> 00:57:54,280
and I had a woman in front of me,

1095
00:57:54,280 --> 00:57:57,720
who was going to be superimposed
in a dream sequence

1096
00:57:57,720 --> 00:58:00,640
that Casanova was supposed
to be dreaming.

1097
00:58:00,640 --> 00:58:05,800
The thing was, she was stark
naked. And I'd never seen
a naked woman before.

1098
00:58:05,800 --> 00:58:09,080
We'll have to see what we can do,
won't we?

1099
00:58:09,080 --> 00:58:12,960
And it had a certain effect on me,
and I couldn't hide it.

1100
00:58:18,520 --> 00:58:22,960
And she looked at me in a most
disdainful way - you disgusting
little boy!

1101
00:58:22,960 --> 00:58:25,560
What a nice little old man!

1102
00:58:25,560 --> 00:58:30,720
You could be sent to a crew that
worked on the not-quite-so-exciting
programmes.

1103
00:58:30,720 --> 00:58:33,680
And then if you made a complaint,
you got a card like this.

1104
00:58:33,680 --> 00:58:36,400
TS - tough shit!

1105
00:58:36,400 --> 00:58:39,960
There aren't many hovercraft
I'd be allowed
to bring into the BBC car park.

1106
00:58:39,960 --> 00:58:43,360
But this is different. It's very much
more manoeuvrable, as you can see.

1107
00:58:43,360 --> 00:58:46,480
We're attempting
a 360 degree turn here.

1108
00:58:46,480 --> 00:58:49,520
'I think part of the magic
of this building'

1109
00:58:49,520 --> 00:58:54,640
is that you saw strange, incongruous,
and weird things every single day.

1110
00:58:54,640 --> 00:58:56,000
DR WHO THEME PLAYS

1111
00:58:56,000 --> 00:58:58,240
I think the weirdest has to be

1112
00:58:58,240 --> 00:59:03,120
a more or less life-size
Tyrannosaurus rex in rubber.

1113
00:59:03,120 --> 00:59:05,120
THEY GASP

1114
00:59:05,120 --> 00:59:07,040
DINOSAUR ROARS

1115
00:59:07,040 --> 00:59:09,440
That's the creature
that attacked me in the caves!

1116
00:59:09,440 --> 00:59:12,760
And inside was a small,
elderly man

1117
00:59:12,760 --> 00:59:15,360
wearing ballet tights
and ballet pumps,

1118
00:59:15,360 --> 00:59:18,360
and he would enter this costume
via a hole between its legs,

1119
00:59:18,360 --> 00:59:20,960
so it's already starting
to get a bit weird,

1120
00:59:20,960 --> 00:59:23,760
but being in a completely
enclosed latex suit,

1121
00:59:23,760 --> 00:59:26,240
he got very hot,
so when there was a pause,

1122
00:59:26,240 --> 00:59:29,320
his colleagues would come up
with a compressed air bottle,

1123
00:59:29,320 --> 00:59:31,640
stick it up the hole
between his legs,

1124
00:59:31,640 --> 00:59:33,280
and send a jet of cold air up.

1125
00:59:33,280 --> 00:59:35,200
And when they did this,
he would relax,

1126
00:59:35,200 --> 00:59:38,280
and the result was that
the suit sagged

1127
00:59:38,280 --> 00:59:40,880
in such a way that
the dinosaur's head lolled back

1128
00:59:40,880 --> 00:59:42,520
and its jaws flopped open.

1129
00:59:42,520 --> 00:59:45,760
So what you saw
as a disinterested observer

1130
00:59:45,760 --> 00:59:48,000
was some people shoving
a large metal cylinder

1131
00:59:48,000 --> 00:59:50,640
up a hole between
the legs of a dinosaur,

1132
00:59:50,640 --> 00:59:52,240
a "psssht" sound,

1133
00:59:52,240 --> 00:59:54,920
and the dinosaur going, "Ahhh!"

1134
00:59:54,920 --> 00:59:56,520
DINOSAUR ROARS

1135
00:59:58,440 --> 01:00:01,200
The late Dame Thora Hird was doing

1136
01:00:01,200 --> 01:00:03,120
a programme called Mrs Pepperpot,

1137
01:00:03,120 --> 01:00:06,080
and we were getting ready
for the dress rehearsal,

1138
01:00:06,080 --> 01:00:09,760
and suddenly the door opened and
in came a whole lot of dignitaries.

1139
01:00:09,760 --> 01:00:12,200
They said, "Carry on as normal."
HE GULPS

1140
01:00:12,200 --> 01:00:15,600
So we said, "Oh, right, we'll start
rehearsing Mrs Pepperpot."

1141
01:00:15,600 --> 01:00:17,360
You remember Mrs Pepperpot.

1142
01:00:17,360 --> 01:00:18,480
You don't?

1143
01:00:18,480 --> 01:00:20,920
Well, she's a woman who shrinks
to the size of a pepper pot...

1144
01:00:20,920 --> 01:00:22,920
..at the most inconvenient moments.

1145
01:00:22,920 --> 01:00:25,600
And so the music plays,
and in went the camera to Thora Hird,

1146
01:00:25,600 --> 01:00:28,400
and she said, "Hello.
Do you know Mrs Pepperpot?

1147
01:00:28,400 --> 01:00:30,880
"You don't? Well, sod off!"

1148
01:00:30,880 --> 01:00:32,240
SHE LAUGHS

1149
01:00:32,240 --> 01:00:33,080
Goodbye.

1150
01:00:35,440 --> 01:00:38,680
'We set ourselves a lot of
very difficult things to do.'

1151
01:00:38,680 --> 01:00:41,840
This French device
is a one-man elevator.

1152
01:00:41,840 --> 01:00:47,320
They expand to form a strong,
light...that's hot.

1153
01:00:47,320 --> 01:00:49,480
It was a sort of challenge,

1154
01:00:49,480 --> 01:00:51,080
and they did often go wrong.

1155
01:00:51,080 --> 01:00:55,120
..let one go, releasing the brakes.
Here's Kieran!

1156
01:00:55,120 --> 01:00:57,200
God, I'm sorry.
I'm really suffering.

1157
01:00:57,200 --> 01:00:58,240
It's burning me!

1158
01:00:58,240 --> 01:01:01,320
Oh, my God. Motorised roller skates!

1159
01:01:01,320 --> 01:01:03,360
MOTOR REVS

1160
01:01:06,240 --> 01:01:10,080
'I had to start outside
Television Centre.'

1161
01:01:10,080 --> 01:01:11,880
Aargh!

1162
01:01:11,880 --> 01:01:14,120
And I'd rehearsed all day long.

1163
01:01:16,320 --> 01:01:18,120
Tomorrow's World. What studio is it?

1164
01:01:18,120 --> 01:01:19,240
Studio 7, dear.

1165
01:01:19,240 --> 01:01:22,440
And no falling over at all.
And, of course, live on air...

1166
01:01:22,440 --> 01:01:23,480
You have to...

1167
01:01:23,480 --> 01:01:25,520
SHE SCREAMS

1168
01:01:25,520 --> 01:01:26,960
It's not that simple.

1169
01:01:26,960 --> 01:01:31,840
I'd got the job, and this wonderful
make-up artist set to work on me.

1170
01:01:31,840 --> 01:01:34,440
So she kind of pinned
my hair back and everything,

1171
01:01:34,440 --> 01:01:37,800
and said, "Right, that's great,
you've got a good face.

1172
01:01:37,800 --> 01:01:40,920
"Mmm. I think what I'm going to do
is bleach your moustache."

1173
01:01:40,920 --> 01:01:43,000
So without me saying
anything about it,

1174
01:01:43,000 --> 01:01:46,440
she put all of this foam
on top of my upper lip.

1175
01:01:46,440 --> 01:01:48,680
Noel Edmonds burst through the door

1176
01:01:48,680 --> 01:01:51,200
and I was sitting there
looking like...

1177
01:01:51,200 --> 01:01:52,120
I don't know.

1178
01:01:52,120 --> 01:01:54,320
Like a mad Father Christmas!

1179
01:01:54,320 --> 01:01:57,080
And you're the first people
I've told that story to.

1180
01:01:57,080 --> 01:01:58,800
I used to love
the make-up department.

1181
01:01:58,800 --> 01:02:00,920
Right, we are recording, everybody.

1182
01:02:00,920 --> 01:02:05,880
They used to wear these really sweet
little blue gingham smocks.

1183
01:02:05,880 --> 01:02:07,160
They used to hate them,

1184
01:02:07,160 --> 01:02:09,800
but I thought they were
just really erotic.

1185
01:02:09,800 --> 01:02:11,520
HE CHUCKLES

1186
01:02:11,520 --> 01:02:14,080
Take it from the second one, Roger.
That's right, isn't it?

1187
01:02:14,080 --> 01:02:15,680
'It was rather like the theatre.'

1188
01:02:15,680 --> 01:02:17,720
'It was, "OK, guys,
we've rehearsed all day.'

1189
01:02:17,720 --> 01:02:20,400
"It's now 7 o'clock,
we're back from lunch.

1190
01:02:20,400 --> 01:02:22,360
"We have to finish by 10."

1191
01:02:22,360 --> 01:02:25,040
I know we're a little bit
understaffed this evening...

1192
01:02:25,040 --> 01:02:26,760
LAUGHTER

1193
01:02:26,760 --> 01:02:28,680
But I know we're all
going to do our best.

1194
01:02:28,680 --> 01:02:31,600
And don't be afraid to laugh
as loud as you like,

1195
01:02:31,600 --> 01:02:35,360
and I'm sure we're all going
to have a really super evening.

1196
01:02:35,360 --> 01:02:37,600
Interesting, when I did Strictly,
it was in Studio 1

1197
01:02:37,600 --> 01:02:39,080
and I'd known that studio so much,

1198
01:02:39,080 --> 01:02:43,160
and for some people, they would be
absolutely petrified going in to,

1199
01:02:43,160 --> 01:02:46,520
at one time, what was the biggest
television studio in Europe,

1200
01:02:46,520 --> 01:02:48,880
and yet, for me,
it was like going home,

1201
01:02:48,880 --> 01:02:50,120
and it just felt brilliant,

1202
01:02:50,120 --> 01:02:53,160
and I used to love going in there
and dancing and doing my thing,

1203
01:02:53,160 --> 01:02:56,200
knowing that I'd spent
so much time in this place.

1204
01:02:58,520 --> 01:02:59,960
MIMES BARKING

1205
01:02:59,960 --> 01:03:02,000
There's old magical memories
like that.

1206
01:03:02,000 --> 01:03:04,120
You'll never lose them.
They're with you forever.

1207
01:03:04,120 --> 01:03:06,240
Shot 52 on Take 1.

1208
01:03:06,240 --> 01:03:08,080
'Comes that moment at 7.30,'

1209
01:03:08,080 --> 01:03:10,320
the red light would go on

1210
01:03:10,320 --> 01:03:11,840
and you had to deliver.

1211
01:03:13,200 --> 01:03:15,600
I heard the music start
and the doorman said,

1212
01:03:15,600 --> 01:03:16,840
"Can I have your ticket?"

1213
01:03:16,840 --> 01:03:20,480
I'm dressed like Carmen Miranda
or something outrageous,

1214
01:03:20,480 --> 01:03:23,920
and I said,
"No, I'm one of the dancers."

1215
01:03:23,920 --> 01:03:26,760
And he said,
"No, no, I need your ticket."

1216
01:03:26,760 --> 01:03:30,240
And I started to lose my cool,
and I promise you, I'm not a diva.

1217
01:03:30,240 --> 01:03:34,360
I said, "Do you think
I normally dress like this?!"

1218
01:03:34,360 --> 01:03:36,120
And right now,
the sound of Elton John.

1219
01:03:36,120 --> 01:03:38,160
Cue the disc!
Island Girl and Pan's People...

1220
01:03:38,160 --> 01:03:39,360
Pineapples?

1221
01:03:39,360 --> 01:03:41,320
Two and four.

1222
01:03:41,320 --> 01:03:43,840
Three. Four and four.

1223
01:03:43,840 --> 01:03:45,520
'Ruthie was a nightmare.'

1224
01:03:45,520 --> 01:03:47,640
'Just before we were
about to start the show,'

1225
01:03:47,640 --> 01:03:49,920
'Ruthie would suddenly say,
"Which arm is it?'

1226
01:03:49,920 --> 01:03:52,800
"Is it the right or the left?
Do we go on the left or right foot?"

1227
01:03:52,800 --> 01:03:55,360
And we always used to say,
"Shut up, Ruth!"

1228
01:03:55,360 --> 01:03:57,120
And then, but the irony of it was,

1229
01:03:57,120 --> 01:04:00,000
she'd go on and do it right
and we'd all go wrong.

1230
01:04:01,400 --> 01:04:02,720
# Smarty pants

1231
01:04:02,720 --> 01:04:04,840
# Looking for romance... #

1232
01:04:06,960 --> 01:04:08,840
Holy God!

1233
01:04:08,840 --> 01:04:10,000
You devil!

1234
01:04:10,000 --> 01:04:14,560
'We were doing a Dave Allen show,
which involved the use of firearms.'

1235
01:04:14,560 --> 01:04:16,160
On the night, the adrenaline was up,

1236
01:04:16,160 --> 01:04:18,600
and he stood rather
closer to his target,

1237
01:04:18,600 --> 01:04:21,000
a bare-chested man in bed,
than he should have done...

1238
01:04:21,000 --> 01:04:22,280
Aaargh!

1239
01:04:22,280 --> 01:04:24,040
..causing shock and severe pain.

1240
01:04:24,040 --> 01:04:27,080
You've just shot my husband!

1241
01:04:27,080 --> 01:04:29,120
'We immediately rang the surgery'

1242
01:04:29,120 --> 01:04:31,360
'and were told that, no,
it wouldn't be possible'

1243
01:04:31,360 --> 01:04:34,200
for anyone to come down
in case there was an emergency.

1244
01:04:34,200 --> 01:04:37,080
From top again, 108. I think it's
probably better on you, Mike.

1245
01:04:37,080 --> 01:04:41,720
'You were in a complete time bubble
in your dark studio, you know.'

1246
01:04:41,720 --> 01:04:45,280
Completely divorced from the real
world, but having to do this thing

1247
01:04:45,280 --> 01:04:49,040
and having to distil
your programme down

1248
01:04:49,040 --> 01:04:52,440
to something that could be
recorded within three hours.

1249
01:04:52,440 --> 01:04:54,200
Soon, Chancellor Flavia will...

1250
01:04:56,160 --> 01:04:59,400
'At 10 o'clock,
the lights would just go off,'

1251
01:04:59,400 --> 01:05:02,560
or the machines would go off,
and so you could see,

1252
01:05:02,560 --> 01:05:04,880
because they had
the big clocks on the wall,

1253
01:05:04,880 --> 01:05:06,920
the seconds ticking away
till 10 o'clock,

1254
01:05:06,920 --> 01:05:08,880
and you knew you had to do
a certain scene.

1255
01:05:08,880 --> 01:05:10,600
Soon Peter will get the line out(!)

1256
01:05:10,600 --> 01:05:12,400
'We were doing Suffragettes.'

1257
01:05:12,400 --> 01:05:16,560
'It had a scene where it was
force-feeding in Holloway Prison,'

1258
01:05:16,560 --> 01:05:20,120
and we had these four cameras
on this woman being force-fed,

1259
01:05:20,120 --> 01:05:22,240
'and we had five minutes to finish.'

1260
01:05:22,240 --> 01:05:23,560
'It was unbelievable.'

1261
01:05:23,560 --> 01:05:25,200
'How do you get the shot?'

1262
01:05:25,200 --> 01:05:27,640
'And how do you shove
the pipe down her throat?'

1263
01:05:27,640 --> 01:05:29,440
'and me shouting up in the gallery,'

1264
01:05:29,440 --> 01:05:32,520
and we managed to finish
at one minute to 10.

1265
01:05:32,520 --> 01:05:35,960
'We actually did it,
and when you watch it,'

1266
01:05:35,960 --> 01:05:37,640
'actually it's quite brilliant,'

1267
01:05:37,640 --> 01:05:39,680
because somehow, the panic
set into the vision.

1268
01:05:39,680 --> 01:05:41,920
SHE CHOKES

1269
01:05:41,920 --> 01:05:43,880
'I was directing Eureka...'

1270
01:05:43,880 --> 01:05:46,600
I bought this trike for
my wee 10-year-old son Johnny.

1271
01:05:46,600 --> 01:05:47,760
'..and we'd had a full day

1272
01:05:47,760 --> 01:05:50,400
'and we were scheduled
to finish at 10 o'clock.'

1273
01:05:50,400 --> 01:05:54,040
I had one scene to record
at 10 to 10.

1274
01:05:54,040 --> 01:05:56,440
'The cast were all pissing about.'

1275
01:05:56,440 --> 01:05:59,200
'All pandemonium was
going on in the studio.'

1276
01:05:59,200 --> 01:06:00,560
'Over talkback, I said,'

1277
01:06:00,560 --> 01:06:03,280
"Look, I'm coming down and I'm
going to direct it from the floor,

1278
01:06:03,280 --> 01:06:05,320
"because we're never
going to get this done."

1279
01:06:05,320 --> 01:06:08,880
So I rushed out of the gallery
and went down the back steps,

1280
01:06:08,880 --> 01:06:12,120
burst into the studio behind
the white sight cloth and said,

1281
01:06:12,120 --> 01:06:14,320
"Will you fucking
behave yourselves?!"

1282
01:06:14,320 --> 01:06:17,800
And I'd walked out into
the Newsnight studio.

1283
01:06:17,800 --> 01:06:19,640
Such stories are cheap and nasty

1284
01:06:19,640 --> 01:06:21,840
and bring shame on
anyone who spreads them.

1285
01:06:21,840 --> 01:06:24,360
I went, "Oh, my God! I'm so sorry."

1286
01:06:24,360 --> 01:06:27,520
Did he tell you
he only did that once?

1287
01:06:27,520 --> 01:06:29,600
There was one particular scene,
I remember,

1288
01:06:29,600 --> 01:06:31,240
where the producer came down to me

1289
01:06:31,240 --> 01:06:33,240
and I said, "We haven't
rehearsed this."

1290
01:06:33,240 --> 01:06:34,960
We were actually in the wrong set,

1291
01:06:34,960 --> 01:06:37,520
and he just said, "Go on and act!"

1292
01:06:37,520 --> 01:06:40,360
'No tray. Where's the bloody tray?!'

1293
01:06:40,360 --> 01:06:41,360
We'll cope.

1294
01:06:41,360 --> 01:06:43,760
It's mentioned! Mentioned?

1295
01:06:43,760 --> 01:06:45,200
LAUGHTER

1296
01:06:45,200 --> 01:06:47,240
Get us out of it.

1297
01:06:47,240 --> 01:06:48,760
Come on, Beau.

1298
01:06:48,760 --> 01:06:50,480
Improvise!

1299
01:06:50,480 --> 01:06:54,320
Yes, I just had to
bring it in to show you.

1300
01:06:54,320 --> 01:06:56,000
Take it.

1301
01:06:56,000 --> 01:06:57,200
Isn't it light?

1302
01:06:57,200 --> 01:07:01,080
Ooh! And such a lovely
shade of mauve.

1303
01:07:01,080 --> 01:07:03,480
It was actually quite
a thrilling experience,

1304
01:07:03,480 --> 01:07:06,960
but you knew the end result
was going to be rubbish.

1305
01:07:06,960 --> 01:07:09,200
Should we cut? Go back? No.

1306
01:07:09,200 --> 01:07:10,960
We professionals notice.

1307
01:07:10,960 --> 01:07:13,440
Joe Public never clocks
a damn thing.

1308
01:07:13,440 --> 01:07:16,120
It was just the biggest sin
as a producer you could commit -

1309
01:07:16,120 --> 01:07:19,600
not finishing was like
the end of the world.

1310
01:07:19,600 --> 01:07:21,600
You know, you expected
to be shown the door

1311
01:07:21,600 --> 01:07:24,120
and sent out into Shepherd's Bush
down to the dole queue.

1312
01:07:24,120 --> 01:07:25,240
I KNOW!

1313
01:07:25,240 --> 01:07:28,160
Look, have a glass of wine and cool
down. I don't want a glass of wine.

1314
01:07:28,160 --> 01:07:30,840
You'll feel better for it.
Barbara, have a nice glass of wine.

1315
01:07:30,840 --> 01:07:34,360
There was a lot of adrenaline.
I remember darling Richard Briers

1316
01:07:34,360 --> 01:07:36,400
used to say, "Never again,
dear. Never again.

1317
01:07:36,400 --> 01:07:38,440
'"I'm not doing this again."

1318
01:07:38,440 --> 01:07:40,000
Can we clear Penny and Paul?

1319
01:07:40,000 --> 01:07:41,880
Thank you very much. You can change.

1320
01:07:41,880 --> 01:07:43,800
Now? Yes, you can change now.

1321
01:07:43,800 --> 01:07:45,040
And it was quite scary.

1322
01:07:45,040 --> 01:07:47,800
The business of producing television
gives you a great high.

1323
01:07:47,800 --> 01:07:50,200
You're throbbing with
adrenaline by the time...

1324
01:07:50,200 --> 01:07:52,680
particularly if things
have gone right.

1325
01:07:52,680 --> 01:07:54,880
If they've gone wrong,
you don't want to go anywhere,

1326
01:07:54,880 --> 01:07:56,920
except to go and shoot yourself,

1327
01:07:56,920 --> 01:07:58,640
but if things have gone right,

1328
01:07:58,640 --> 01:08:02,040
you really feel terrific,
and the place to go was the Club.

1329
01:08:02,040 --> 01:08:04,520
It was on the fourth floor,
still is.

1330
01:08:04,520 --> 01:08:07,960
And it was the home
of the comedy department,

1331
01:08:07,960 --> 01:08:11,560
which was a fairly disastrous idea,
because, of course,

1332
01:08:11,560 --> 01:08:15,080
if any of the comedy department
had any kind of block, you know,

1333
01:08:15,080 --> 01:08:16,640
what they were going to write,

1334
01:08:16,640 --> 01:08:18,400
what they were going
to do on the show,

1335
01:08:18,400 --> 01:08:20,920
they'd go into the BBC Club
and drink a bit of inspiration.

1336
01:08:20,920 --> 01:08:23,560
It's quite stressful doing
a sitcom with an audience.

1337
01:08:23,560 --> 01:08:26,000
Even though I loved it.
It was a place to go and unwind.

1338
01:08:26,000 --> 01:08:28,080
That was the rule of thumb
of a good show,

1339
01:08:28,080 --> 01:08:29,640
if you could be in the bar by nine.

1340
01:08:31,000 --> 01:08:33,720
Shall we start again?
Lost your friend? Lost my friend.

1341
01:08:33,720 --> 01:08:36,520
You went darting out there
and it sort of did...

1342
01:08:36,520 --> 01:08:37,800
It's not your fault.

1343
01:08:37,800 --> 01:08:40,080
Those silly twits said,
"Shut up in the scene dock."

1344
01:08:43,520 --> 01:08:46,160
There are the Dimblebys
in that corner,

1345
01:08:46,160 --> 01:08:48,120
the Attenboroughs in that corner.

1346
01:08:48,120 --> 01:08:50,960
There were agents there
and there were actors there

1347
01:08:50,960 --> 01:08:52,600
and it was the place to be.

1348
01:08:52,600 --> 01:08:55,400
All the Radio 1 guys
to do Top Of The Pops.

1349
01:08:55,400 --> 01:08:58,400
# Mama told me not to come... #

1350
01:09:00,320 --> 01:09:02,720
And people tended to clique
a little bit,

1351
01:09:02,720 --> 01:09:05,640
but we tried to break down
those barriers,

1352
01:09:05,640 --> 01:09:07,600
and we would introduce ourselves.

1353
01:09:07,600 --> 01:09:09,000
"Can we buy you a drink?"

1354
01:09:09,000 --> 01:09:11,400
Sir David Attenborough
would walk in, for example...

1355
01:09:11,400 --> 01:09:12,720
although it wasn't Sir David.

1356
01:09:12,720 --> 01:09:15,120
Forget David Attenborough,
we liked all the pop groups!

1357
01:09:15,120 --> 01:09:16,360
We ended up getting married.

1358
01:09:16,360 --> 01:09:19,400
# That ain't the way to have fun... #

1359
01:09:19,400 --> 01:09:20,800
You could talk to, you know,

1360
01:09:20,800 --> 01:09:24,480
the David Bowies and the
Bryan Ferrys and the Hollies.

1361
01:09:24,480 --> 01:09:27,400
You're talking to John Cleese
and Marc Bolan

1362
01:09:27,400 --> 01:09:28,920
and Benny Hill or whoever,

1363
01:09:28,920 --> 01:09:32,600
and it's just wall-to-wall fabulous
people having such a good time.

1364
01:09:32,600 --> 01:09:35,040
You never knew what bands
were going to be around

1365
01:09:35,040 --> 01:09:37,680
and you had to take your pass up
on a Wednesday night

1366
01:09:37,680 --> 01:09:39,840
cos otherwise you weren't allowed in.

1367
01:09:39,840 --> 01:09:41,400
This was gold dust.

1368
01:09:41,400 --> 01:09:45,400
This was the BBC Club card
that you have to have

1369
01:09:45,400 --> 01:09:49,240
if you wanted to go to the BBC Bar,
and without it you couldn't get in.

1370
01:09:49,240 --> 01:09:51,480
Or somebody had to sign you in.

1371
01:09:51,480 --> 01:09:52,920
We never got a pass!

1372
01:09:52,920 --> 01:09:55,520
I got to meet T.Rex and everybody
up there without a pass!

1373
01:09:55,520 --> 01:09:57,040
It was so exciting.

1374
01:09:57,040 --> 01:10:01,440
The guy wouldn't let me in one night
because I hadn't got my pass,

1375
01:10:01,440 --> 01:10:04,280
and he said, "You might
have walked off the street,"

1376
01:10:04,280 --> 01:10:05,920
I said, "What, dressed like this?"

1377
01:10:05,920 --> 01:10:08,840
Opened my dressing gown and
I've got this leather leotard on.

1378
01:10:08,840 --> 01:10:11,080
Then they believed I was...
either that,

1379
01:10:11,080 --> 01:10:13,440
or I seduced him enough
to be able to go into the bar.

1380
01:10:13,440 --> 01:10:17,280
I think Frankie Howerd
really fancied my husband.

1381
01:10:17,280 --> 01:10:19,280
He saw him and though,
"That's rather nice."

1382
01:10:19,280 --> 01:10:21,360
Didn't realise it was my husband,
I suppose.

1383
01:10:21,360 --> 01:10:24,880
And I remember him chasing
Patrick out of the club,

1384
01:10:24,880 --> 01:10:28,040
and I remember us
running round and round

1385
01:10:28,040 --> 01:10:30,280
trying to get away,
and giggling.

1386
01:10:30,280 --> 01:10:33,080
I mean, I suppose we'd all
had a little bit of wine.

1387
01:10:33,080 --> 01:10:36,200
You mustn't take any notice of her
because she's...she can't help it.

1388
01:10:36,200 --> 01:10:39,040
She's at a funny time of life,
you know. She's very difficult.

1389
01:10:39,040 --> 01:10:40,440
Mind you, she has a point.

1390
01:10:40,440 --> 01:10:42,480
Actors in the BBC bar -

1391
01:10:42,480 --> 01:10:45,760
you've never seen so many moths
flying out of wallets, you know.

1392
01:10:45,760 --> 01:10:47,720
I loved Jon Pertwee dearly,

1393
01:10:47,720 --> 01:10:51,400
but he did find it very hard
sometimes to shout a round.

1394
01:10:52,640 --> 01:10:55,080
Sorry, could...please people
keep out of my eyeline?

1395
01:10:55,080 --> 01:10:57,920
Dancing about. Please,
it's terribly difficult.

1396
01:10:57,920 --> 01:10:59,960
Tom Baker, who was my Doctor,

1397
01:10:59,960 --> 01:11:02,360
would be the first
with his hand in his pocket.

1398
01:11:02,360 --> 01:11:04,800
Doubles all round, all the time.

1399
01:11:04,800 --> 01:11:07,120
Even if you had an orange juice,
he'd buy you a double.

1400
01:11:07,120 --> 01:11:09,560
We are still running recording.

1401
01:11:09,560 --> 01:11:13,080
I remember when the head of make-up
was very much the worse for wear,

1402
01:11:13,080 --> 01:11:15,560
and we really should have taken
her car keys from her,

1403
01:11:15,560 --> 01:11:19,880
but it was kind of before
you did those very sensible things,

1404
01:11:19,880 --> 01:11:22,920
and she went up, collected her car
from the multi-storey car park,

1405
01:11:22,920 --> 01:11:27,480
and I think she hit about 50 cars
before she exited the car park.

1406
01:11:29,000 --> 01:11:32,560
It had an atmosphere, I tell you.
It was a proper old club.

1407
01:11:32,560 --> 01:11:35,600
No, but seriously, gagging aside,
it was a super show, I thought.

1408
01:11:35,600 --> 01:11:39,120
There you are, Richie!
There we are! Drinks all round.

1409
01:11:41,360 --> 01:11:44,000
It was a marketplace,
and it was there

1410
01:11:44,000 --> 01:11:47,680
that you ingratiated yourself
with a producer

1411
01:11:47,680 --> 01:11:52,120
in order to get yourself
onto the very best of shows.

1412
01:11:52,120 --> 01:11:56,000
The man, Eddie, the man who brought
Keith Harris and Orville
into Television Centre.

1413
01:11:56,000 --> 01:11:58,000
The nearest thing that
I've got to family.

1414
01:11:58,000 --> 01:12:00,440
Oh, sod off, you old queen!

1415
01:12:00,440 --> 01:12:04,840
Ohhh, up yours, you rancid,
dribbling zit.

1416
01:12:04,840 --> 01:12:09,600
Yeah! Screw you, you complacent,
misogynistic bumsplat.

1417
01:12:11,320 --> 01:12:13,440
I got my first job in the BBC Club.

1418
01:12:13,440 --> 01:12:16,800
I went down to have a drink
with somebody I'd met.

1419
01:12:16,800 --> 01:12:19,080
She said, "Ned Sherrin's
looking for a researcher."

1420
01:12:19,080 --> 01:12:21,600
I said, "Stay where you are,"
ran up to the sixth floor,

1421
01:12:21,600 --> 01:12:24,680
wrote out my letter of application.

1422
01:12:24,680 --> 01:12:27,400
Esther, that wasn't in the script.
You're ad-libbing.

1423
01:12:27,400 --> 01:12:30,760
And got the job,
thanks to the BBC Club.

1424
01:12:30,760 --> 01:12:32,600
Do you mind if we carry on?

1425
01:12:32,600 --> 01:12:35,240
One day, as a young
assistant floor manager,

1426
01:12:35,240 --> 01:12:39,000
I went to the lift, main lifts,
to go up to the bar,

1427
01:12:39,000 --> 01:12:41,920
and the doors opened,
and I walked in, and I was facing

1428
01:12:41,920 --> 01:12:43,760
this very tall man
and this short man.

1429
01:12:43,760 --> 01:12:47,720
It was Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise,
and they wound me up.

1430
01:12:47,720 --> 01:12:48,840
I mean, they used me.

1431
01:12:48,840 --> 01:12:51,360
"Hello, choochy-face!"
"Oh, isn't he pretty?"

1432
01:12:51,360 --> 01:12:53,720
And the whole of that lift
was in fits.

1433
01:12:53,720 --> 01:12:56,160
They were falling about with
laughter. I walked out,

1434
01:12:56,160 --> 01:12:58,480
and they said, "Where are you going,
choochy-face?"

1435
01:12:58,480 --> 01:13:00,400
And I said,
"Oh, hopefully going to a bar,"

1436
01:13:00,400 --> 01:13:03,240
not thinking, of course,
that's exactly where they were going.

1437
01:13:03,240 --> 01:13:06,520
So all the way down to the bar,
I had to suffer these two people

1438
01:13:06,520 --> 01:13:08,720
sending me up all the way.
It was delightful.

1439
01:13:08,720 --> 01:13:10,640
Nice fellow, that. Lovely mover.

1440
01:13:11,600 --> 01:13:15,640
A year later, I'm standing in
reception, waiting for the lift to go
up to the bar, the doors open.

1441
01:13:15,640 --> 01:13:17,480
Exactly the same situation.

1442
01:13:17,480 --> 01:13:22,640
A crowd of people, Eric Morecambe
and Ernie Wise stood at the back. And
they said, "Ooh, it's choochy face!"

1443
01:13:22,640 --> 01:13:25,320
Why is it you can never remember
anybody's name?

1444
01:13:25,320 --> 01:13:27,440
I don't know, I think it's a gift.

1445
01:13:27,440 --> 01:13:29,800
Well, you brought me to the BBC club,

1446
01:13:29,800 --> 01:13:33,000
which I have to say
looks alarmingly sterile.

1447
01:13:33,000 --> 01:13:37,400
In my day, things happened
that were more than just drinking.

1448
01:13:37,400 --> 01:13:40,320
People came for a drink and ended up
thinking up programme ideas.

1449
01:13:40,320 --> 01:13:44,800
'From the cultural ghetto of BBC2,
we present Line-Up Review.'

1450
01:13:44,800 --> 01:13:47,120
I remember one occasion
when the programme ideas

1451
01:13:47,120 --> 01:13:49,960
completely died
and about six o'clock,

1452
01:13:49,960 --> 01:13:53,600
we had no programme
and we were on the air at about 11.

1453
01:13:53,600 --> 01:13:58,480
So we came down here and there were
a lot of comedy writers here.

1454
01:13:58,480 --> 01:14:01,520
Johnny Speight, Spike Milligan
and so on, sitting around drinking.

1455
01:14:01,520 --> 01:14:04,680
"Will you come and talk about
comedy writing?" "Certainly would."

1456
01:14:04,680 --> 01:14:09,040
As we'll be pointing out later on,
comedy is a serious business.

1457
01:14:09,040 --> 01:14:12,400
GIGGLING
We're on the air...

1458
01:14:12,400 --> 01:14:15,720
That programme has become
a legendary archive programme.

1459
01:14:15,720 --> 01:14:19,400
They didn't stay enormously sober,
so it got quite boisterous.

1460
01:14:19,400 --> 01:14:22,920
I am a comedy writer...
John, cool it for God's sake.

1461
01:14:22,920 --> 01:14:27,720
But it was vigorous and memorable.
Come on, say what you mean.
I'm saying what I mean.

1462
01:14:27,720 --> 01:14:31,800
If you are writing in television,
this is not an ivory tower...

1463
01:14:31,800 --> 01:14:35,440
Wherever I write,
I write for myself. If I write...

1464
01:14:35,440 --> 01:14:39,920
And you get dodgy ratings and nobody
asks you to write any more.

1465
01:14:39,920 --> 01:14:42,160
There you go, Johnny Speight.

1466
01:14:42,160 --> 01:14:46,280
I write for myself. I write for
myself. I have to live...

1467
01:14:46,280 --> 01:14:48,560
The commissionaire was very lordly.

1468
01:14:48,560 --> 01:14:53,520
Eric, the commissionaire.
Tall, balding...

1469
01:14:53,520 --> 01:14:56,640
a man with years upon him.

1470
01:14:56,640 --> 01:15:01,600
The big thing at the club used to be
to get yourself paged.

1471
01:15:01,600 --> 01:15:04,680
"Mr Attenborough. Mr Attenborough."

1472
01:15:04,680 --> 01:15:08,560
"Janet Fielding, please come to the
phone, your agent is on the phone."

1473
01:15:08,560 --> 01:15:10,480
It was abused.

1474
01:15:10,480 --> 01:15:14,520
And several times, Rupert Bear
was summoned to the phone.

1475
01:15:14,520 --> 01:15:17,680
Mr Andrew Pandy to TC5.

1476
01:15:17,680 --> 01:15:21,280
Yes! We did a lot of that!

1477
01:15:21,280 --> 01:15:23,200
Calling for Mr G Raffe.

1478
01:15:23,200 --> 01:15:27,240
The cast of the Woodentops
go to TC6 immediately.

1479
01:15:27,240 --> 01:15:29,800
We had some really
disgusting ones, too.

1480
01:15:29,800 --> 01:15:32,320
Oh...that's right... Yes...

1481
01:15:32,320 --> 01:15:35,560
Mr Hugh Jampton, will he come to...?

1482
01:15:37,440 --> 01:15:41,240
It was quite cruel when...

1483
01:15:41,240 --> 01:15:43,720
He never ever allowed YOU to make
him feel silly.

1484
01:15:43,720 --> 01:15:46,840
As far as he was concerned, he had
been asked to call for G Raffe,

1485
01:15:46,840 --> 01:15:49,280
that was his job
and he was going to call for them.

1486
01:15:49,280 --> 01:15:53,560
He was once asked, "Eric, were
you at any time a butler?"

1487
01:15:53,560 --> 01:15:56,320
He drew himself up
to his considerable height,

1488
01:15:56,320 --> 01:16:00,560
looked at the person and said,
"Was I ever a butler?

1489
01:16:00,560 --> 01:16:02,160
"I HAD a butler."

1490
01:16:05,280 --> 01:16:06,880
There's another wire!

1491
01:16:06,880 --> 01:16:10,520
I was a big fan of Robert's,
I watched Doom Watch all the time.

1492
01:16:10,520 --> 01:16:14,760
So when Babs told me she was going
out with him, I was so pissed off!

1493
01:16:14,760 --> 01:16:17,400
What?

1494
01:16:17,400 --> 01:16:20,400
Don't pull it,
follow it back to the terminal.

1495
01:16:22,440 --> 01:16:25,160
For years and years and years,
I had been watching Top Of The Pops

1496
01:16:25,160 --> 01:16:29,800
and I would sit there and gawp.
I always fancied the big blonde one.

1497
01:16:29,800 --> 01:16:32,240
What are they called -
Pan's People, yeah?

1498
01:16:32,240 --> 01:16:34,520
There's one special one,
beautiful Babs.

1499
01:16:34,520 --> 01:16:36,320
Don't know what her name is.

1500
01:16:39,360 --> 01:16:43,200
I used to chase after Babs.
Never got anywhere.

1501
01:16:46,440 --> 01:16:50,320
I was always very jealous
of Robert Powell.

1502
01:16:50,320 --> 01:16:52,160
BLOWS RASPBERRY

1503
01:16:52,160 --> 01:16:55,200
Nice guy, but very skinny.
Chin him when I see him.

1504
01:16:55,200 --> 01:16:58,880
And I had a friend who
was the floor manager on Sportsnight.

1505
01:16:58,880 --> 01:17:00,960
I went to the bar
and we were chatting away.

1506
01:17:00,960 --> 01:17:05,720
I'm standing there and suddenly these
five extraordinarily beautiful women
walk in. They were Pan's People.

1507
01:17:05,720 --> 01:17:09,800
As we walked in, I think
Robert muttered something to Chris.

1508
01:17:09,800 --> 01:17:13,080
"Look! Look! There's Pan's People!"
And he went, "Yeah.

1509
01:17:13,080 --> 01:17:16,720
"They're in every Wednesday.
This is the night they shoot."

1510
01:17:16,720 --> 01:17:19,440
"Is it?" "Do you want to meet them?"

1511
01:17:19,440 --> 01:17:21,680
I said, "No, no, no!"

1512
01:17:21,680 --> 01:17:23,800
He said, "Come on," dragged me over,

1513
01:17:23,800 --> 01:17:26,880
plonked me down on
a little banquette with the girls.

1514
01:17:26,880 --> 01:17:28,960
I bought them a drink.

1515
01:17:28,960 --> 01:17:33,600
And Robert decided it would be quite
fun to take us all out to dinner.

1516
01:17:33,600 --> 01:17:35,920
Somebody said,
"How did you've the nerve to do it?"

1517
01:17:35,920 --> 01:17:38,040
I said, "I didn't have the nerve
to take one."

1518
01:17:38,040 --> 01:17:41,040
# Sharing horizons
that are new to us... #

1519
01:17:41,040 --> 01:17:42,920
It was Babs he had his eye on.

1520
01:17:42,920 --> 01:17:45,760
# Watching the signs
along the way... #

1521
01:17:45,760 --> 01:17:50,120
But we were a bit naughty and said
yes, he could take us all out

1522
01:17:50,120 --> 01:17:53,520
because we just wanted to see
what would happen.

1523
01:17:53,520 --> 01:17:55,640
I remember one point in the evening,

1524
01:17:55,640 --> 01:17:59,840
he put his arm around my shoulder
and I thought, "Ooh!"

1525
01:18:01,640 --> 01:18:03,840
We've been together
ever since that night.

1526
01:18:03,840 --> 01:18:05,880
I have the Centre to thank for that.

1527
01:18:05,880 --> 01:18:09,160
To thank for 36 years of marriage
and two kids.

1528
01:18:09,160 --> 01:18:11,360
Thank you, Television Centre.

1529
01:18:15,840 --> 01:18:18,280
This is BBC1.

1530
01:18:18,280 --> 01:18:20,360
And this is BBC2.

1531
01:18:20,360 --> 01:18:22,560
And this is Television Centre.

1532
01:18:22,560 --> 01:18:26,120
And this is David Dunsbury,
a commissionaire on the main gate.

1533
01:18:26,120 --> 01:18:27,640
And this is the main gate.

1534
01:18:29,040 --> 01:18:31,640
Just recently,
I was working on a programme

1535
01:18:31,640 --> 01:18:35,520
and somebody made a fantastic fluff.

1536
01:18:35,520 --> 01:18:38,160
I said, "Save that one
for the Christmas tape."

1537
01:18:38,160 --> 01:18:41,240
And everyone looked at me.
What is she talking about?

1538
01:18:46,320 --> 01:18:48,840
The BBC Christmas tape was
an in-house thing.

1539
01:18:48,840 --> 01:18:53,000
It was done by the VT department
every year. And this predates

1540
01:18:53,000 --> 01:18:56,280
It'll Be All Right On The Night
or TV's Naughtiest Moments.

1541
01:18:56,280 --> 01:19:00,920
Every time anything went wrong,
it would be on videotape
if it was a recorded show.

1542
01:19:00,920 --> 01:19:04,920
And the VT editors
had amazing memories
for things that had gone wrong.

1543
01:19:04,920 --> 01:19:08,200
Happy Christmas to you all in VT!

1544
01:19:08,200 --> 01:19:10,880
Happy Christmas, VT.

1545
01:19:10,880 --> 01:19:12,640
You would do a clanger on a recording

1546
01:19:12,640 --> 01:19:15,520
and you'd go, "Merry Christmas VT".

1547
01:19:15,520 --> 01:19:20,880
You knew they were going to pick it
up and they liked it with the tag!

1548
01:19:20,880 --> 01:19:24,760
This is where we're happy
to say "bollocks". Crap,
anything you like.

1549
01:19:24,760 --> 01:19:28,960
That was what you'd do
with all those outtakes -
save them for the Christmas VT.

1550
01:19:28,960 --> 01:19:32,400
A very merry Christmas
to all in VT.

1551
01:19:32,400 --> 01:19:37,080
And now those are broadcast and
whole series have been made of them.

1552
01:19:37,080 --> 01:19:38,360
We had our own secret version.

1553
01:19:40,240 --> 01:19:42,040
It's running down my willy.

1554
01:19:42,040 --> 01:19:44,200
Merry Christmas to the boys on VT.

1555
01:19:44,200 --> 01:19:45,880
Obviously bigger budget than us!

1556
01:19:45,880 --> 01:19:47,880
'They were fantastic things.'

1557
01:19:47,880 --> 01:19:51,000
Whole dance routines
and people joining in.

1558
01:19:51,000 --> 01:19:53,920
Obviously, people behind the scenes
doing most of the work.

1559
01:19:53,920 --> 01:19:56,240
# All the girls in make-up

1560
01:19:56,240 --> 01:19:58,840
# In the Club bar

1561
01:19:58,840 --> 01:20:00,440
# The ladies down at reception... #

1562
01:20:00,440 --> 01:20:04,520
A lot of it consisted of rather
well-known actors swearing blindly.

1563
01:20:06,720 --> 01:20:08,360
Oh, for fuck's sake!

1564
01:20:08,360 --> 01:20:09,640
Now piss off!

1565
01:20:09,640 --> 01:20:13,280
Fuck you, you fucking bastard!
You're not getting it again!
That's it!

1566
01:20:13,280 --> 01:20:15,800
# Oh Barry Norman... #

1567
01:20:15,800 --> 01:20:18,720
Everyone at TV Centre,
happy Merry Christmas.

1568
01:20:18,720 --> 01:20:21,400
That was very much
part of the bonding experience.

1569
01:20:21,400 --> 01:20:24,240
You had arrived,
you were part of the family.

1570
01:20:24,240 --> 01:20:26,240
# ..Patrick, Patrick

1571
01:20:26,240 --> 01:20:28,240
# Grooving with Michael Rodd... #

1572
01:20:28,240 --> 01:20:30,800
The managing director,
Alistair Milne,

1573
01:20:30,800 --> 01:20:33,880
today appealed to
all programme departments

1574
01:20:33,880 --> 01:20:36,280
to stop deliberately
making mistakes in studios.

1575
01:20:36,280 --> 01:20:41,320
He said commendable though it was
to try to make appearances
on the VT Christmas tape,

1576
01:20:41,320 --> 01:20:45,520
viewers could no longer distinguish
BBC programmes from those at ITV.

1577
01:20:46,960 --> 01:20:50,520
God, if it's going to get like this,
we'll be here till midnight.

1578
01:20:50,520 --> 01:20:55,440
Eventually, I think it was stopped
because some of the presenters didn't
like being humiliated in this way.

1579
01:20:55,440 --> 01:20:56,720
Isn't it sad?

1580
01:20:58,320 --> 01:21:02,600
My favourite one is actually
one of Tom Baker and John Cleese.

1581
01:21:02,600 --> 01:21:06,080
Tom, sorry to bother you, sign
this for my little godson, will you?

1582
01:21:06,080 --> 01:21:08,080
He's a nice little kid, he's blind.

1583
01:21:08,080 --> 01:21:09,520
"He's blind."

1584
01:21:09,520 --> 01:21:12,360
And so Tom says, "Of course I will.
Do you have a pen?"

1585
01:21:12,360 --> 01:21:15,000
Have you got a pen? I haven't.
He said "No, I don't."

1586
01:21:15,000 --> 01:21:17,520
Never mind,
I'll tell him you signed it.

1587
01:21:22,920 --> 01:21:26,080
There was a bit of space
behind the canteen

1588
01:21:26,080 --> 01:21:30,200
and I thought that would be ideal
for the Blue Peter Garden.

1589
01:21:30,200 --> 01:21:32,080
Biddy, characteristically,

1590
01:21:32,080 --> 01:21:34,920
went in like Captain Cook,
but with a Blue Peter flag,

1591
01:21:34,920 --> 01:21:36,640
and claimed it for Blue Peter.

1592
01:21:36,640 --> 01:21:39,200
You can guarantee the morning
you were recording out here,

1593
01:21:39,200 --> 01:21:43,040
you'd open up the curtains and
it would be hoying down with rain.

1594
01:21:44,720 --> 01:21:48,480
You mean, the minute
you went out into the garden,

1595
01:21:48,480 --> 01:21:51,760
it would absolutely
pelt down with rain, yes.

1596
01:21:51,760 --> 01:21:55,640
It's like a wind tunnel. We're just
getting battered by the wind now.

1597
01:21:55,640 --> 01:21:57,560
They used to ring Biddy to say,

1598
01:21:57,560 --> 01:22:00,880
"Could we possibly use
the Blue Peter Garden?"

1599
01:22:00,880 --> 01:22:03,240
But nobody had ever actually
said it was ours.

1600
01:22:04,960 --> 01:22:09,040
I was directing the 50th anniversary
of children's programmes.

1601
01:22:09,040 --> 01:22:12,680
And the climax of the programme
was a huge firework display.

1602
01:22:12,680 --> 01:22:15,520
'So I said to Biddy,'

1603
01:22:15,520 --> 01:22:18,800
"Can we have the Blue Peter Garden
to let the fireworks off in?"

1604
01:22:18,800 --> 01:22:21,560
And she said, "Yes, of course
you can." She was very obliging.

1605
01:22:21,560 --> 01:22:24,400
'It was a huge fireworks display'

1606
01:22:24,400 --> 01:22:27,520
and the Blue Peter Garden was
where the main bulk exploded.

1607
01:22:31,800 --> 01:22:33,800
'The next morning,'

1608
01:22:33,800 --> 01:22:38,160
the Blue Peter Garden looked like
the Somme in the First World War.

1609
01:22:40,480 --> 01:22:42,280
Goodbye!

1610
01:22:45,640 --> 01:22:48,480
'Vandals broke into
the Blue Peter Garden

1611
01:22:48,480 --> 01:22:50,880
'and caused rather a lot of damage.

1612
01:22:50,880 --> 01:22:55,200
'One really cruel thing they did was
to pour fuel oil into the fishpond.'

1613
01:22:55,200 --> 01:22:57,600
'To be honest with you,
it's really sad coming back here

1614
01:22:57,600 --> 01:23:01,760
'because I did so much work in this
garden that is no longer here.

1615
01:23:01,760 --> 01:23:05,240
'We had a sunken garden,
that's been buried.'

1616
01:23:05,240 --> 01:23:09,440
We had a nice little veg patch...
The greenhouse isn't even there.

1617
01:23:09,440 --> 01:23:10,840
'We hope to repair the damage,

1618
01:23:10,840 --> 01:23:14,440
'but it's very sad to think that a
few people take such pleasure...'

1619
01:23:14,440 --> 01:23:17,080
It's only a bloody garden!
Turn it off!

1620
01:23:19,720 --> 01:23:23,160
Television Centre, from where
this programme is broadcast,

1621
01:23:23,160 --> 01:23:25,320
has been put up for sale.

1622
01:23:25,320 --> 01:23:29,040
The 14-acre site in west London
will be vacant by 2015

1623
01:23:29,040 --> 01:23:31,280
after staff move to other sites.

1624
01:23:34,160 --> 01:23:36,360
It was an iconic building
on its own,

1625
01:23:36,360 --> 01:23:38,800
with the cars in the middle.
All that's changed.

1626
01:23:38,800 --> 01:23:42,040
And certainly,
the inside has changed radically.

1627
01:23:42,040 --> 01:23:43,680
And, um...

1628
01:23:43,680 --> 01:23:45,720
It seems awfully corporate
to me now.

1629
01:23:45,720 --> 01:23:49,120
Apparently, they can't actually
find a studio for us.

1630
01:23:49,120 --> 01:23:52,360
Studio 1 is now going to
be squash courts.

1631
01:23:52,360 --> 01:23:55,080
Studio 2 is executive saunas.

1632
01:23:55,080 --> 01:23:58,560
And Studio 3 is now
"the Television Experience".

1633
01:23:58,560 --> 01:24:03,320
You can actually go and experience
television and how it was made.

1634
01:24:04,440 --> 01:24:07,440
One word to describe
Television Centre...

1635
01:24:09,080 --> 01:24:11,120
Nucleus.

1636
01:24:11,120 --> 01:24:12,320
Historic.

1637
01:24:12,320 --> 01:24:13,760
Opportunity.

1638
01:24:13,760 --> 01:24:15,720
Brilliant.

1639
01:24:15,720 --> 01:24:16,720
Ideal.

1640
01:24:16,720 --> 01:24:18,800
Unique.

1641
01:24:18,800 --> 01:24:19,880
Magic.

1642
01:24:19,880 --> 01:24:21,480
Champion.

1643
01:24:21,480 --> 01:24:25,440
'There'd always be friends in there
and there'd always be gossip.'

1644
01:24:25,440 --> 01:24:26,960
Eccentric.

1645
01:24:26,960 --> 01:24:28,160
Terrific.

1646
01:24:28,160 --> 01:24:29,600
Excitement.

1647
01:24:29,600 --> 01:24:30,800
Excitement.

1648
01:24:30,800 --> 01:24:32,840
Exciting.

1649
01:24:32,840 --> 01:24:34,480
Extraordinary.

1650
01:24:36,080 --> 01:24:38,560
It's a hard one to try and think of.

1651
01:24:40,160 --> 01:24:41,760
Magnificent.

1652
01:24:41,760 --> 01:24:43,120
Luscious.

1653
01:24:45,680 --> 01:24:49,000
If I was being romantic,
I'd say it echoes with the spirits
of creative figures

1654
01:24:49,000 --> 01:24:51,920
who have worked here
and other such nonsense.

1655
01:24:51,920 --> 01:24:53,560
Creative.

1656
01:24:53,560 --> 01:24:54,560
Dedicated.

1657
01:24:54,560 --> 01:24:55,800
Wondrous.

1658
01:24:55,800 --> 01:24:57,400
It's like coming home.

1659
01:24:59,040 --> 01:25:02,000
It played such a big part
of our lives.

1660
01:25:02,000 --> 01:25:03,520
Youth.

1661
01:25:03,520 --> 01:25:04,840
Topping.

1662
01:25:04,840 --> 01:25:06,960
Romance.

1663
01:25:06,960 --> 01:25:08,360
'There's another wire!'

1664
01:25:08,360 --> 01:25:09,760
Drama.

1665
01:25:09,760 --> 01:25:11,040
Peg board.

1666
01:25:11,040 --> 01:25:12,840
Fun.

1667
01:25:12,840 --> 01:25:14,440
Fun.

1668
01:25:14,440 --> 01:25:16,280
Warm. Family.

1669
01:25:16,280 --> 01:25:18,120
Home.

1670
01:25:19,480 --> 01:25:21,800
Magical.

1671
01:25:21,800 --> 01:25:23,400
Wonderful.

1672
01:25:23,400 --> 01:25:24,800
Wonderland.

1673
01:25:24,800 --> 01:25:26,480
Wonderland.

1674
01:25:26,480 --> 01:25:28,480
Shangri-La.

1675
01:25:28,480 --> 01:25:33,360
'Those were such happy days.
I was so happy.'

1676
01:25:33,360 --> 01:25:34,640
Iconic.

1677
01:25:34,640 --> 01:25:35,800
Influential.

1678
01:25:35,800 --> 01:25:37,760
Historic.

1679
01:25:37,760 --> 01:25:41,480
'Television Centre
completely changed my life.

1680
01:25:41,480 --> 01:25:45,560
'I met my husband here,
we had a daughter.'

1681
01:25:45,560 --> 01:25:47,800
Rose is called Rose
after Rosemary Gill,

1682
01:25:47,800 --> 01:25:50,840
'the editor of that first
programme, Swap Shop.'

1683
01:25:53,480 --> 01:25:57,440
It's a building I will really, really
miss. It's got such an atmosphere.

1684
01:25:58,960 --> 01:26:02,080
It's my guess that,
in a very short time,

1685
01:26:02,080 --> 01:26:06,040
they'll be making a programme
in which Penelope Keith will return

1686
01:26:06,040 --> 01:26:10,760
to restore this building so that
the BBC can return in splendour

1687
01:26:10,760 --> 01:26:12,760
to where they belong.

1688
01:26:15,040 --> 01:26:19,680
'I would like it to live on through
the programmes that it produced'

1689
01:26:19,680 --> 01:26:21,600
more than the bricks and mortar.

1690
01:26:21,600 --> 01:26:24,680
When we worked here, we used to say,

1691
01:26:24,680 --> 01:26:28,760
they won't be happy,
the administrators,

1692
01:26:28,760 --> 01:26:31,920
until they've closed
down all these studios

1693
01:26:31,920 --> 01:26:34,920
and this whole complex
can just be admin.

1694
01:26:42,400 --> 01:26:46,720
'Television Centre is
full of the laughter and the anger'

1695
01:26:46,720 --> 01:26:50,560
and the crackle of making television.

1696
01:26:50,560 --> 01:26:54,880
There's nowhere
I've ever been like it.

1697
01:26:54,880 --> 01:26:59,280
There will never be a building
like this in the world again

1698
01:26:59,280 --> 01:27:01,120
responsible for so much
broadcasting.

1699
01:27:07,200 --> 01:27:09,080
'It wasn't just a fun factory,

1700
01:27:09,080 --> 01:27:12,000
'it was just one of those best
places in the world to work.'

1701
01:27:17,160 --> 01:27:20,640
'My whole career was created here.

1702
01:27:20,640 --> 01:27:24,480
'Without Television Centre, my life
wouldn't have been nearly as good.'

1703
01:27:25,520 --> 01:27:29,520
I don't want to see it go. I feel I
have to walk away and not look back.

1704
01:27:46,720 --> 01:27:50,480
# There was a time
when the time didn't matter

1705
01:27:50,480 --> 01:27:54,240
# Only the time of day

1706
01:27:54,240 --> 01:27:59,840
# And living was living in hope
which would never pass away

1707
01:28:01,600 --> 01:28:05,280
# Worry was a Monday morning

1708
01:28:05,280 --> 01:28:08,960
# When weekend was done

1709
01:28:08,960 --> 01:28:15,440
# Fear was the fear of being
what we had become

1710
01:28:15,440 --> 01:28:20,040
# Oh, what happened to you?

1711
01:28:20,040 --> 01:28:23,400
# Whatever happened to me?

1712
01:28:23,400 --> 01:28:29,680
# And what became of the people
we used to be?

1713
01:28:30,680 --> 01:28:34,160
# Tomorrow's almost over

1714
01:28:34,160 --> 01:28:37,600
# Today went by so fast

1715
01:28:37,600 --> 01:28:41,360
# Is the only thing
to look forward to

1716
01:28:41,360 --> 01:28:45,520
# The past? #

1717
01:28:45,520 --> 01:28:48,040
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd