1 00:00:01,960 --> 00:00:03,600 Real ale? Bah! 2 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:08,480 He is one of Britain's most loved comedy performers. 3 00:00:08,480 --> 00:00:13,160 He's dry, he can be very crude, he's just a very funny guy. 4 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:14,960 It's a pleasure. 5 00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:16,600 Hal! 6 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:20,280 And also one of the most respected actors in the business. 7 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:22,920 He creates an electric atmosphere on a set. 8 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:24,920 # A-wop-bop-a-loom-op a-lop-bam-boom! # 9 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:28,360 He just brings amazing authority to whatever he does. 10 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:31,760 And he is known throughout the world for his role in one of the most 11 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:35,200 successful series of movies the film industry has ever known. 12 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:37,960 Sorry about that. Robbie does great voices. 13 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:43,560 Bond, James Bond! Meet Mina and Verushka. 14 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:45,640 He's got such a naturalism about him, 15 00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:47,400 the camera captures what he's thinking. 16 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:49,920 This is only supposed to happen in the movies. 17 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:51,200 Like having a comedian on set. 18 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:55,800 I think Robbie Coltrane is a total one-off. 19 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:59,680 Yes! And I think it's his range that staggers. 20 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:04,320 These are The Many Faces of Robbie Coltrane. 21 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:18,280 Nim! Nim! Nim! 22 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:20,280 Robbie Coltrane's career has seen him 23 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:24,240 go from alternative comedy stalwart in the early '80s to playing 24 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:27,880 alongside the biggest names in Hollywood. 25 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:30,320 So...to business? To business. 26 00:01:30,320 --> 00:01:33,200 He could play a Norfolk farmer, or he could play 27 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:35,720 this sort of alcoholic man having a marital breakdown. 28 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:40,280 It's hard for a writer to work with Robbie, 29 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:41,920 because he is so intelligent. 30 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:42,920 Spinoza. 31 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:49,440 I really had problems, because he was so funny. 32 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:52,320 Strictly platonic. Keep your hands to yourself. 33 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:56,320 So, I used to have to... walk away quite a lot. 34 00:01:56,320 --> 00:02:00,280 I know it's going to be hard, there's nothing I can do about that. OK? 35 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:02,240 It's just hands off. 36 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:03,800 'A Renaissance man, really.' 37 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:05,280 I'll try(!) 38 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:08,000 He was a jack of all trades, master of quite a few of them. 39 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:10,920 Let's get those gays out of the closet! Oh, yes, sir! 40 00:02:10,920 --> 00:02:12,960 All right, let's move it out! 41 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:17,240 Drink? Add to his CV a Bond baddie with a sense of humour... 42 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:19,920 Can't you just say hello like a normal person? 43 00:02:19,920 --> 00:02:22,960 ..and of course, Hagrid in the Harry Potter films, 44 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:27,040 and you have a diverse and very impressive career. 45 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:31,360 Whoa! Right, then. This way to the boats, come on! 46 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:39,000 Born Robert McMillan, the former public schoolboy 47 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:42,400 and Glasgow art student changed his name to Coltrane after 48 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:44,480 the jazz saxophonist, John Coltrane. 49 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:50,360 While working at the Edinburgh Film Festival in 1978, 50 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:53,360 Robbie Coltrane got his first big break, 51 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:57,280 when he bumped into trendy New York arthouse director, Amos Poe. 52 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:02,800 We started talking about films, and we talked for about, I think, 53 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:07,920 three days, and suddenly realised we were brothers, of a sort. 54 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:16,720 Recognising the enormous talent of the young Scot, 55 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:22,280 Amos Poe asked Robbie to New York to play the lead in his latest film. 56 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:24,400 The first one I made was Subway Riders, 57 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:27,480 which was about a psychopathic saxophone player, who played 58 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:30,360 so beautifully that people gathered round, 59 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:34,960 and then he took his gun out and shot them all, and then got on the subway. 60 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:38,080 That's it, the guy's a saxophonist! 61 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:43,800 Shot guerrilla-style on the subways of New York, Subway Riders 62 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:47,040 had a limited budget and Amos Poe was not only the director, 63 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:50,480 but the writer, producer and health and safety officer as well. 64 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:57,480 I said, "So, if I pull this thing out and run down and bang him away 65 00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:00,440 "and he gets winged, what are the security systems?" 66 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:02,280 He says, "Don't you worry about that. 67 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:05,720 "That's all going to be OK." Of course, the thing is, New York, 68 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:08,800 how many off-duty cops are there who've got 69 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:11,440 a 38 Detective Special or a 45? 70 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:14,840 He says, "10 seconds, 10 seconds of your life, Robbie, 71 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:19,360 "how likely is it that someone will shoot you?" I'm going, "Erm... 72 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:23,200 "Quite likely indeed." 73 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:25,200 GUNSHOT 74 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:29,520 I think my fee was endless roast beef sandwiches on rye. 75 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:33,320 I think that's what all of us got, because we just wanted to make movies. 76 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:38,400 You know me, high on crime and feeling groovy. 77 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:42,920 Having survived New York, Robbie returned to the UK in 1982 78 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:45,720 to make a short film with former Monkees drummer 79 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:49,760 and now TV director, Micky Dolenz. He loved Robbie so much, 80 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:54,360 he also used him in a kids' show he was making for ITV, Metal Mickey. 81 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:57,720 Hello, my little fruit bat. Hello, Fluffy. 82 00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:00,720 While it can't be considered the high point in Robbie's career... 83 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:02,920 I don't have to grovel, do I? 84 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:05,800 ..it did lead to a meeting that would change his life. 85 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:09,040 About 1982, we were casting our first Comic Strip film, 86 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:11,720 Five Go Mad In Dorset. 87 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:15,400 And who should be in the room next door, but Micky Dolenz? 88 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:18,040 Who was in America's answer to The Beatles. 89 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:20,680 And he said, "I've just worked with this larger-than-life, 90 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:22,320 "fantastic guy called Robbie Coltrane, 91 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:24,840 "you should see him for your film, he's very funny." 92 00:05:24,840 --> 00:05:26,760 I went, "Oh, yeah, what does he know?" 93 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:28,920 So I came down to meet the guy, and he said, 94 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:33,280 "Erm, the main parts, obviously, have gone to The Comic Strip." 95 00:05:33,280 --> 00:05:35,280 ALL: Hooray! 96 00:05:35,280 --> 00:05:37,760 He said, "Well, there's two parts, there is 97 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:42,200 "an inappropriately randy gypsy, there is a really horrible, 98 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:45,680 "middle-aged woman in the sweetie shop..." 99 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:49,120 There's been a lot of strange comings and goings in this village. 100 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:55,200 Secrets and signs and...threats... 101 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:58,080 I thought, "Well, if you give me them both, I'll have it." 102 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:00,480 He went, "You're on." 103 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:05,560 You really are a brick! It's a pleasure. Right down nice, you are. 104 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:08,440 Shown on Channel 4's opening night, 105 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:12,680 this was The Comic Strip's first film and made Robbie one of the faces 106 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:15,920 of a new and groundbreaking movement, alternative comedy. 107 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:18,120 MUSIC: "White Riot" by The Clash 108 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:21,600 Never mind Norman Bates, you wouldn't want to get in a shower with her, would you? 109 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:25,080 Yes, musical satire, yes! 110 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:31,360 It was just fun, it was, you know, that energy, that wonderful energy. 111 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:34,280 And to be involved in that, it was just fantastic. 112 00:06:34,280 --> 00:06:38,080 Sorry, guv'nor, apples and pears, tit-for-tat, 113 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:41,160 I love London Town, and I was at Violet's funeral. 114 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:43,680 'Well, the Young Ones were my pals.' 115 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:45,760 And they threw me in, occasionally. 116 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:49,520 Appearances on the revolutionary Young Ones, 117 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:53,120 and Behind The Green Door With Kevin Turvey, Rik Mayall's other comedy creation, 118 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:56,560 cemented Robbie's credentials as an alternative comedian. 119 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:00,000 Telly's crap today. 120 00:07:01,840 --> 00:07:04,680 What do you mean? There's a war film on in a bit. 121 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:08,720 You know, "Kevin Tur-voi", you know, comes from Redditch and I wasn't 122 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:13,040 quite sure how to do the accent, but Rik gave me lots of notes. 123 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:15,040 I've got four pairs of shoes, right? 124 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:18,640 Now, one of them is brown and the rest are black. 125 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:22,360 Now, I lend him the brown ones, in fact, 126 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:26,040 I have done on a couple of occasions, but not the black ones. 127 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:30,000 I know it sounds odd, but it's just the way I like to live my life. 128 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:34,960 But it was The Comic Strip to which Robbie always returned, 129 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:39,000 which allowed him to show off his versatility as a comic actor. 130 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:42,080 One of my favourite characters Robbie ever played 131 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:44,600 with The Comic Strip was in a film called Gino, 132 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:48,120 where he plays this sort of desperate character called Max. 133 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:49,600 Do you want a lift? 134 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:52,400 Who is careering across the countryside in a Mk 10 Jag. 135 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:55,400 And he's having a mental breakdown and he's drinking Scotch 136 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:57,680 and he pulls up and he takes up with this young couple, 137 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:00,160 Keith Allen and Jennifer Saunders, and just unburdens 138 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:04,800 himself on them in this kind of monologue, which is just fantastic. 139 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:08,280 I'm an epileptic. Well, I've been all right since Christmas. 140 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:12,520 My wife says I'm crazy and ought to be locked up. Perhaps she's right! 141 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:15,760 God, she's beautiful. Wish I could see her. 142 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:18,280 She won't let me in the house without a lawyer. 143 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:20,640 I mean, that's not a proper marriage, is it? Hmm? 144 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:23,920 Are you, er, are you married? No. 145 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:26,520 It's a great high-energy performance from Robbie 146 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:29,240 and I think it is still very funny. 147 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:32,440 Probably a part he understands quite well, really. 148 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:38,080 I admit it, I am a bit of a mess just now. I haven't slept for seven days. 149 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:41,400 'I remember sitting in the car thinking,' 150 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:46,240 "This is a bit unbelievable," you know, the dog-ends, the whisky. 151 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:50,720 And I remember thinking, "It's a little bit over the top here," 152 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:52,680 and Robbie going, "Am I all right? Am I mad?" 153 00:08:52,680 --> 00:08:55,600 If someone doesn't start to understand me right now, 154 00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:58,040 I'm going to kill us all, and I mean it! 155 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:02,440 But many years later, I remember being that person, being Robbie! 156 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:08,200 Because The Comic Strip was sort of this troupe, you know, 157 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:11,640 was sort of this gang, who took on loads of different roles 158 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:13,840 and actually churned out the product, you know, 159 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:16,880 they did a lot of stuff, it was almost like, I guess, 160 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:19,760 being in a sort of travelling theatre troupe where you have 161 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:22,840 to do all the roles and you have to really put the work in, 162 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:24,760 and that's great experience 163 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:26,840 and you really learn your craft by doing that. 164 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:28,000 Who are you? 165 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:31,080 I'm Ken Livingstone, I live upstairs. 166 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:34,360 Not Dr Livingstone, I presume? 167 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:38,440 No, I'm not a doctor, well, not in a medical sense. 168 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:43,040 Robbie played Charles Bronson as Ken Livingstone in a film we did called GLC. 169 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:46,520 Which was kind of like a spoof of the Death Wish films. 170 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:50,840 It's a story about an ordinary guy whose wife 171 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:53,440 and family gets wiped out by these creeps. 172 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:56,280 So naturally, he has to follow them 173 00:09:56,280 --> 00:10:01,480 and wipe them out one at a time in a prolonged and very cruel way. 174 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:02,840 I see, thank you. 175 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:05,520 I just thought it was a great choice, actually. 176 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:08,880 Because an awful lot of these films are about revenge, 177 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:12,760 about people going, "You think you know my family? 178 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:14,720 "I know YOUR family." 179 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:19,080 OK, those of you that don't know, my name is Ken Livingstone. 180 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:23,360 I'm looking for councillors who ain't afraid to get their hands a little dirty. You, what do you do? 181 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:26,160 London Transport, trains and buses, sir. 182 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:29,440 Halve the fares, old people travel for free. Sorry, sir? You heard me. 183 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:33,520 Yes, sir. Joan, go to the bank, borrow some money for CND. 184 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:38,160 I want those cruise missiles out by Christmas. Sure, Ken. You... 185 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:40,680 I want you to take care of the black minorities. 186 00:10:40,680 --> 00:10:44,680 Set up theatres, sports centres, recreational grounds. Yes, sir. 187 00:10:44,680 --> 00:10:46,640 And equalise some women. You... 188 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:48,520 'Robbie does great voices.' 189 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:55,200 And he just seemed to me to be... a Renaissance man, really. 190 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:58,480 He was a jack of all trades, a master of quite a few of them. 191 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:00,920 Start a new movement, call it Gay Pride. 192 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:03,840 Let's get those gays out of the closet! Oh, yes, sir! 193 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:07,680 All right, let's move it out! Come on, let's shake this city up! 194 00:11:07,680 --> 00:11:10,280 CHEERING AND APPLAUSE 195 00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:13,400 'The only people who were doing anything 196 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:17,240 'that could be held as a drama was The Comic Strip.' 197 00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:19,800 I'm not bigging myself up here when I say that. 198 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:21,800 DEEP VOICE: Or perhaps slightly! 199 00:11:21,800 --> 00:11:23,680 No, I think it was great. 200 00:11:23,680 --> 00:11:26,080 No-one else was doing it. Who is doing it now? 201 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:31,000 During the early '80s, as well as being a Comic Strip member, 202 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:35,320 Robbie was also the go-to man for more mainstream comedy sketch shows. 203 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:39,120 Starring in Laugh? I Nearly Paid My Licence Fee, The Lenny Henry Show 204 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:41,120 and A Kick Up The Eighties, among others, 205 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:42,920 Robbie was given the freedom 206 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:45,160 to create dozens of new comedy characters. 207 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:50,880 Oh, hello. No, don't, please, you'll spoil it, the pills will wear off! 208 00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:52,160 You'll love this. 209 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:54,960 What's the difference between a snowman and a snowgirl? 210 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:56,760 Snowballs. Sorry? SNOWBALLS! 211 00:11:56,760 --> 00:11:59,000 Nim! Nim! Nim! 212 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:01,640 'In many ways, it was kind of like rep.' 213 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:05,280 Repertory theatre, where one week, 214 00:12:05,280 --> 00:12:10,200 you'd be playing the gorgeous 18-year-old - some chance there - 215 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:13,200 um, and then, the next week, they'd make you up 216 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:15,440 and play an 85-year-old person. 217 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:21,840 But even in more mainstream shows, Robbie was keen to stretch 218 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:24,600 traditionally held values to the limit. 219 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:28,880 # Mason Boyne on the march, once again... # 220 00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:35,280 We invented this character called Mason Boyne. So controversial! 221 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:39,200 # Mason Boyne, Mason Boyne, Mason Boyne! # 222 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:41,280 It was very incendiary at the time. 223 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:43,920 We got a lot of very unpleasant letters, I have to say. 224 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:46,840 But we also did the Pope the next week. 225 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:49,160 "Give me some talcum powder," you know what I mean? 226 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:50,800 He says, "Sure, Your Holiness. 227 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:52,640 "Can you walk this way?" I said, 228 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:55,960 "If I could walk that way, I'd be in Brideshead Revisited!" 229 00:12:55,960 --> 00:13:01,120 In 1983, he was asked to join Alfresco, a new comedy sketch team, 230 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:04,840 which contained some kids just out of university. 231 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:07,480 They said, "There's a bunch of smarty-pants young people 232 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:12,360 "coming down from Cambridge, who have done the Footlights. 233 00:13:12,360 --> 00:13:15,600 "But I think they need a steadying influence..." 234 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:19,240 HE LAUGHS "..of an older performer." 235 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:24,120 I just thought... Well, the F word was involved. 236 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:28,200 The question, surely, sir, is why the only totally blind officer 237 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:32,040 we have gets the job of forger! 238 00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:34,760 You heartless swine, Kuryakin! 239 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:38,320 You know perfectly well that man went blind recreating the minutest 240 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:42,000 detail of 1,000 Nazi documents! Oh, come off it, Charlie! 241 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:44,880 We all know that's not the reason he went blind! 242 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:47,680 'They were quite staggeringly talented.' 243 00:13:47,680 --> 00:13:53,240 It was just astonishing, how productive they were. 244 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:56,800 'Can you imagine getting those people in a room now?' 245 00:13:56,800 --> 00:13:58,520 So, I started off with this. 246 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:02,280 And I ended up with...this. 247 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:04,360 Good God! 248 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:07,240 Gentleman, meet Gertie the Woman. 249 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:12,680 Robbie had had small parts in feature films before, 250 00:14:12,680 --> 00:14:17,440 but in 1985, The Comic Strip moved from TV to the big screen, 251 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:19,600 and took Robbie with them. 252 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:23,000 Directed by Peter Richardson, The Supergrass was to give us 253 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:25,680 one of Robbie's most memorable on-screen moments. 254 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:31,400 The walk down the breakwater is one of my finest hours, you know. 255 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:37,040 Playing a complete psychopath English policeman, 256 00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:40,400 who had come to sort somebody out with a chainsaw. 257 00:14:46,520 --> 00:14:48,800 We were shooting in a cove in Devon 258 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:51,000 and there was a big storm, and I said, 259 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:54,280 "What would be really good in my film is if you were to walk, 260 00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:57,560 "with your chainsaw, down that breakwater." 261 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:01,040 "Straight through the waves." 262 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:05,120 And Robbie said, "Are you trying to make a snuff movie? Are you mad?" 263 00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:08,120 I said, "There are a lot of girls over there who think 264 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:10,880 "you're a hero and think you're very sexy." 265 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:13,040 He took a slug of whisky and said, "OK, I'll do it." 266 00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:18,040 MUSIC: "Two Tribes" by Frankie Goes To Hollywood 267 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:24,440 'It was the most exhilarating, wonderful thing to do.' 268 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:27,520 Just when the waves hit and splashed over you, it was lovely. 269 00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:31,000 I really enjoyed it, actually. So I had to do it four times. 270 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:36,240 We did have to walk down there, in that weather, 271 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:37,840 and it was pretty dodgy. 272 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:44,240 Yeah, it was good, it was a brilliant image. 273 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:50,880 'There were two little safety boats.' 274 00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:55,760 He said, "We're going, Rob." I said, "I'm sorry?" "We're going." 275 00:15:55,760 --> 00:16:00,520 And I was actually on the pier when they said it. "We're going, Rob. It's too dangerous now for us." 276 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:04,360 I said, "But the safety boats have just said they're going away." 277 00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:09,480 And he said, "Rob, I wouldn't normally ask you to do this..." 278 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:13,720 Which is, as you know, every director's favourite line. 279 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:18,440 It was quite an impressive moment, really, 280 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:23,040 Robbie still talks about it as one of his daring moments of cinema. 281 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:31,880 I think you can really see Robbie Coltrane blossoming, 282 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:35,960 as those early TV shows kind of morphed into Comic Strip movies 283 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:38,560 and things a little bit more ambitious. 284 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:41,160 Because, you know, he had the ability and he had 285 00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:46,160 the versatility and it just needed the right outlet to show that off. 286 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:49,000 And that outlet came, 287 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:52,080 as Robbie began to be offered more serious film roles, including 288 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:55,680 playing alongside Bob Hoskins in the Neil Jordan film, Mona Lisa. 289 00:16:55,680 --> 00:17:00,080 But in 1986, he was given a part in a groundbreaking series 290 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:03,280 which was to show that Big Robbie could play the lead. 291 00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:07,560 # You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain 292 00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:10,000 # Too much love drives a man insane 293 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:12,840 # You broke my will, but what a thrill 294 00:17:12,840 --> 00:17:15,200 # Goodness gracious, great balls of fire! # 295 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:19,040 Set in Robbie's hometown of Glasgow, Tutti Frutti followed 296 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:23,840 the fortunes of The Majestics, a once-successful rock'n'roll band. 297 00:17:23,840 --> 00:17:28,760 Written by John Byrne, the series served up equal measures of laugh-out-loud comedy, romance... 298 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:33,360 ..and violence, to a classic '50s soundtrack. 299 00:17:33,360 --> 00:17:34,880 I'll give you the recipe! 300 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:39,040 # You're fine, so kind, I wanna, oh 301 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:40,880 # A-wop-bop-a-loom-op, a-lop-bam-boom! # 302 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:45,920 I remember the day I opened it and read it and just laughed my head off. 303 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:50,840 Right. I vote we take him out and beat the living jobbies out of him. 304 00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:53,000 Nothing personal, pal, it's just you're a jerk. 305 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:56,040 Haw, wait a minute here! You know what you are, don't ye? 306 00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:57,520 You're a moron. 307 00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:02,920 I think a show like Tutti Frutti, which was just drama, 308 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:04,840 it was... 309 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:09,520 You couldn't define it as anything other than that, it wasn't comedy... 310 00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:13,280 Shut up! Dennis. The name is Dennis, in case you forgot. Fine. 311 00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:14,560 Shut up, Dennis! 312 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:15,800 BRAKES SCREECH 313 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:19,680 You are not talking to one of the roadies 314 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:22,480 of your art college bands now, pal, so watch it! 315 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:24,120 There was no half measures, 316 00:18:24,120 --> 00:18:26,600 you were either in love or you were oot the windae! 317 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:31,240 And that's very John Byrne, and I loved that, because people say, "Oh, it was a comedy, wasn't it?" 318 00:18:31,240 --> 00:18:33,480 And you think, well, was it that much of a comedy? 319 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:36,920 There was a suicide in it and a guy who covered himself in petrol 320 00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:40,720 and set himself on fire. Would that pass as comedy? 321 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:43,560 I think John Byrne broke the mould with that. 322 00:18:43,560 --> 00:18:45,760 Did I ever tell you that 323 00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:48,640 almost my entire body is one enormous erogenous zone? 324 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:52,160 I'm talking to the doll. Two 35s, please. 325 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:57,400 At the heart of the multi-award-winning series 326 00:18:57,400 --> 00:18:59,960 was the will-they, won't-they relationship between Robbie 327 00:18:59,960 --> 00:19:03,240 and his old Alfresco pal, Emma Thompson. 328 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:10,920 # Well, that'll be the day when you say goodbye... # 329 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:14,280 People used to offer me money in the streets, you'll not believe this, 330 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:19,920 saying, "So, do they or don't they? I'll give you 500 quid." 331 00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:23,040 If you don't quit shouting, I'm shoving this toilet bag 332 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:24,840 and its contents down your stupid throat! 333 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:26,480 Sorry. 334 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:28,720 She taught me so much about acting. 335 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:32,080 She comes from an acting family, I come from a family of doctors, 336 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:34,760 what would I know about acting? She taught me so much. 337 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:37,080 Lie down and shut up! 338 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:39,840 Suzi? What? 339 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:42,400 You look sensational when you're hopping mad. 340 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:44,640 Consider my offer of marriage re-negotiable. 341 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:47,720 I'm asleep, I'm asleep! 342 00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:49,880 HE PRETENDS TO SNORE 343 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:52,080 We have that intensity. 344 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:56,120 There was never any kind of question of, you know... 345 00:19:56,120 --> 00:19:58,960 because we are brother and sister, very close. 346 00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:03,720 The more serious side of Robbie Coltrane 347 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:05,640 was beginning to emerge on screen. 348 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:08,040 But even those closest to him were surprised 349 00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:11,400 when he decided to perform a one-man show, based on the life 350 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:15,080 of the 18th-century man of letters, Dr Samuel Johnson. 351 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:19,680 I had a friend once who got his happiness from drink. 352 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:22,560 For exercise, he would walk to the alehouse, 353 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:26,200 and for relaxation, he would be carried home again. 354 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:30,480 He had the confidence to know that he could do it. He could do it. 355 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:33,120 And it was very well received. 356 00:20:33,120 --> 00:20:37,480 Because it was very different from what he was doing at that time. 357 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:41,240 So, I'd like to take this opportunity to set a few things straight. 358 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:44,480 For example, my days were not just spent 359 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:47,920 making one clever remark after another. 360 00:20:47,920 --> 00:20:51,240 The weird thing was that Tutti Frutti was on television at the time, 361 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:55,040 so I'm playing this slightly manic, Glaswegian rock 'n' roller. 362 00:20:56,280 --> 00:21:00,920 And on stage at night, I'm playing one of the great literary heroes 363 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:05,040 of, well, of English literature. 364 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:08,960 But this Johnson that Boswell wrote about was his hero. 365 00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:14,520 I just thought, "Now I really am an actor." I thought, "Yes! 366 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:18,000 "Danny McGlone... 367 00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:23,320 "Samuel Johnson. I really am an actor now." 368 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:26,520 Spying an opportunity for some new comic material, 369 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:30,000 the Blackadder writers, Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, 370 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:32,320 made sure they saw Robbie's Dr Johnson. 371 00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:38,120 They came, I'm sure, out of loyalty, as I'm sure a lot of chums did, 372 00:21:38,120 --> 00:21:41,760 and, erm, I don't know if they had the idea to put 373 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:46,400 Johnson into Blackadder before that, and they just came to check me out. 374 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:48,560 I wouldn't have put it beyond them! 375 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:53,520 Dr Johnson, your Highness. Ah, Dr Johnson! Damn cold day. 376 00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:55,400 Indeed it is, sir, but a very fine one. 377 00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:59,240 For I celebrated last night the encyclopaedic implementation 378 00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:02,680 of my premeditated orchestration of demotic Anglo-Saxon. 379 00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:07,160 No, didn't catch any of that. 380 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:12,360 And he just thought, "Let's have a scene with Blackadder 381 00:22:12,360 --> 00:22:17,040 "upstaging Johnson." I just thought, fantastic idea! 382 00:22:17,040 --> 00:22:20,400 "So, would you like to do it?" I said, "Bring it on, boys." 383 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:23,120 I believe, sir, that the Doctor is trying to tell you that he is 384 00:22:23,120 --> 00:22:25,040 happy because he has finished his book. 385 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:28,120 It has apparently taken him 10 years. 386 00:22:28,120 --> 00:22:30,280 Yes, well, I'm a slow reader myself. 387 00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:36,840 The one thing we know about Dr Johnson is that he wrote 388 00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:39,280 the first dictionary, and so forth. 389 00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:44,280 And then, out of pure spite, er, Rowan gives him 390 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:47,320 a word that he knows that he can't have... 391 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:52,440 that he can't have seen before, because Rowan has just invented it. 392 00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:53,680 I hope you will not object 393 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:58,120 if I also offer the Doctor my most enthusiastic contrafibularities. 394 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:00,680 What? 395 00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:04,640 Contrafibularities, sir. It is a common word, down our way. 396 00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:06,880 Damn! 397 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:10,880 Oh, I'm sorry, sir. I am adyspeptic... frasmotic... 398 00:23:12,360 --> 00:23:16,000 ..even compunctuous to have caused you such pericumbobulations. 399 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:19,080 What, what, what?! 400 00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:21,520 He walks on set with the absolute comic genius that is 401 00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:24,800 Rowan Atkinson and he is surrounded by all these amazing comedians... 402 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:28,600 I'm sorry, sir, I merely wished to congratulate the Doctor 403 00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:30,760 on not having left out a single word. 404 00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:35,480 And then he just walked in and played this perfect Dr Johnson, this 405 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:40,800 huge, Scottish guy, effete and comic and whimsical, and it was perfect. 406 00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:44,200 There is certainly a fieriness in him, there is 407 00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:46,760 a passion in him, when actually, I think 408 00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:51,320 that's partly why he works so well in a lot of historical dramas, 409 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:54,600 which he went on to do later on in his career, 410 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:59,440 because often in historical dramas, certainly comedic ones, 411 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:02,120 you want that sort of Dickensian caricature, don't you, 412 00:24:02,120 --> 00:24:04,480 you want someone a bit over the top. 413 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:09,960 Tell me, sir, what words particularly interested you? Oh, nothing. 414 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:13,680 Anything, really, you know. I see you've underlined a few. 415 00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:16,560 Bloomers, bottom, burp... 416 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:20,800 Mm. Fart? Fiddle? Fornicate? Well... 417 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:23,640 Sir, I hope you are not using the first English dictionary 418 00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:25,360 to look up rude words! 419 00:24:25,360 --> 00:24:26,680 I wouldn't be too hopeful, 420 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:28,960 that's what all the other ones will be used for. 421 00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:31,600 By this stage of his career, 422 00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:34,680 it seemed Robbie Coltrane could play any part. 423 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:39,400 His fearlessness and versatility made him a casting director's dream. 424 00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:42,360 But even Robbie felt he was way out of his depth 425 00:24:42,360 --> 00:24:46,040 when Kenneth Branagh asked him to take the role of lovable old rogue 426 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:49,400 Falstaff in his version of Shakespeare's Henry V. 427 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:54,760 So, I walk onto the set and there's all these Shakespearean actors, 428 00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:58,280 you know, like Robert Stephens and, well, Branagh, for God's sake, 429 00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:00,200 and Em and all these people. Oh, my God! 430 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:03,040 Hal! 431 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:05,160 'But actually, once you get into it,' 432 00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:06,320 it is like rapping. 433 00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:08,760 Ah! 434 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:13,440 If sack and sugar be a fault, then God help the wicked. Mm? 435 00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:20,120 If to be old and merry is a sin, if to be fat is to be hated... 436 00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:23,280 No, my good lord. 437 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:26,000 He was so encouraging, he said, 438 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:32,120 "You can do this, Robbie, you can do this!" And so, he got me to do it. 439 00:25:32,120 --> 00:25:36,800 When thou art King, banish Pistol, 440 00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:39,840 banish Bardolph, banish Nym. 441 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:45,800 But sweet Jack Falstaff, valiant Jack Falstaff, 442 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:52,600 and therefore more valiant, being as he is, old Jack Falstaff, 443 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:55,960 banish not him, thou had his company. 444 00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:00,360 Banish plump Jack and banish all the world. 445 00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:07,080 You expect Falstaff to be a silly old, fat old, bumbling old coward. 446 00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:09,640 And Robbie is none of those things. 447 00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:15,400 And so again, you know, you cast somebody who is 448 00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:20,880 a very, very unexpected route into a character. 449 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:25,120 And Robbie will always satisfy you with that, 450 00:26:25,120 --> 00:26:27,160 never disappoint. 451 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:28,880 You are so fat, Sir John, 452 00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:32,160 that you must indeed be out of all compassment! 453 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:35,880 Do thou amend thy face and I'll amend my life. 454 00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:41,480 There is a great line about Falstaff, they talk about, 455 00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:45,080 "The grave opens wider for a big man." 456 00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:51,800 Which means that big men tend to die earlier than thin men. 457 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:57,000 But I think generally, history has been quite good to Falstaff. 458 00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:02,360 Upon my troth, the King has killed his heart. 459 00:27:02,360 --> 00:27:04,920 CHORAL SINGING 460 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:09,000 Robbie returned to doing a one-man show, 461 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:11,880 but this time in a series of one-act plays for TV, 462 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:16,320 originally written by the Italian and Nobel Prize winner, Dario Fo. 463 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:19,360 Revised and updated for a '90s audience, the plays were 464 00:27:19,360 --> 00:27:22,880 a modern take on perennial religious and political issues. 465 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:27,600 Right, ladies and gentlemen, that's your culture for tonight. And offski! 466 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:29,720 'The important thing about Mistero Bufo' 467 00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:31,360 is whatever your theories 468 00:27:31,360 --> 00:27:34,760 are about God and religion and so forth, you have to play it 469 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:38,640 absolutely as though it's happening, as if you were there. 470 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:41,280 What about the holy family? 471 00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:43,880 Do you think they'd have got a mobility allowance? 472 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:48,000 Well, there they are, there they are, 473 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:51,640 a family on their way to Bethlehem to register for the poll tax... 474 00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:57,560 Come with me, why don't you, while we see how the Nativity might have been. 475 00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:00,760 The monologues had Robbie playing dozens of different characters, 476 00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:04,920 which director Morag Fullarton stage-managed in a very clever way. 477 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:07,600 I don't care if they are swaddling clothes, madam, 478 00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:10,160 they're bloody unhygienic! 479 00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:14,200 She said, "All you have to do is establish where the characters are on the stage." 480 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:17,480 And I guess, my doubt was, if I'm honest, 481 00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:20,480 could the audience keep up with that? 482 00:28:20,480 --> 00:28:23,120 Right, sir, you'll be the father? 483 00:28:23,120 --> 00:28:25,200 'She said, "No, no, no. All you have to do,' 484 00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:27,400 "you have to do one character there..." 485 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:30,040 It's a big stage, you're just on your tod. 486 00:28:30,040 --> 00:28:32,440 "..and do another character there, another there." 487 00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:38,120 And you, madam, are you the mother? Oh, that's nice. 488 00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:42,840 "They will know, when you run to that position, 489 00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:47,720 "that you are the old wifey, you are Jesus, you are whatever." 490 00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:50,120 I think I'm getting the picture here, yes. 491 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:54,960 And this will be the son of God, is it? Yes... 492 00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:56,840 'We had a few runs, and it works.' 493 00:28:56,840 --> 00:29:00,200 The audience were so ahead of you, you could literally 494 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:02,520 stand in one position and go, "Oh, dearie me, 495 00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:04,760 "he's coming oot the grave, and look, 496 00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:07,400 "look at the little beasties coming out of his eyes!" 497 00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:11,480 And then, you'd run over there and go, "Want to rent yourself 498 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:14,680 "a very nice little deckchair to watch the miracle? 499 00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:16,320 "Cost you 12-and-a-half pence." 500 00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:21,680 This could be seen as Robbie's religious period, 501 00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:27,080 as his next two feature films both had ecclesiastical themes. 502 00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:31,200 Nuns On The Run was a slapstick caper comedy, co-starring Eric idle. 503 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:34,120 Robbie's other religious movie, the slightly more incendiary 504 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:39,120 The Pope Must Die, was made by his old pals, The Comic Strip. 505 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:41,640 I mean, it just caused a lot of fuss, this film, 506 00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:43,800 you know, the title alone. 507 00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:46,200 It was based on the book, The King Must Die, it wasn't, 508 00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:49,080 "The Pope must die, because he's a Catholic." 509 00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:52,880 The Pope's dead and that's the big news story here in Rome today. 510 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:55,760 We're gonna see him get buried, live on CNN, 511 00:29:55,760 --> 00:29:57,760 right after these messages. 512 00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:01,480 Originally, it was written for Steve Martin, years before, 513 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:02,920 and he didn't want to touch it. 514 00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:08,600 Robbie is playing this pope who gets selected by mistake 515 00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:11,480 and then gets embroiled in this sort of Vatican corruption. 516 00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:14,840 You got the wrong guy. 517 00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:17,320 They all say that. 518 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:21,120 It was quite determined to play him as a good man, as an honest, 519 00:30:21,120 --> 00:30:23,560 decent Christian man - which he was - 520 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:26,840 who's suddenly... The big finger pointed at him, 521 00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:28,440 because of a mistake. 522 00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:30,320 I was so impressed, actually. 523 00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:33,560 It was the first time I'd seen Robbie do a serious role 524 00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:36,920 and he suddenly had this aura of sort of innocence 525 00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:39,840 and holiness about him that I just thought was... 526 00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:43,280 I totally believed that he was that person. 527 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:45,520 Oh, what's out here? 528 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:48,360 CROWD CHEERS 529 00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:53,440 I really do have to speak to somebody who's in charge. 530 00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:54,480 That's you. 531 00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:58,120 While The Pope Must Die had a cinema release in the UK, 532 00:30:58,120 --> 00:31:00,560 when the film was taken to the United States, 533 00:31:00,560 --> 00:31:03,000 fear of offending the large Catholic population 534 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:06,280 meant a slight change of title. 535 00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:09,880 The Pope Must Diet, as it was renamed, 536 00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:14,000 was called that for the American audiences. 537 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:16,600 I think in terms of movie title changes, 538 00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:19,240 actually it's one of the best ones. It really works. 539 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:21,280 I mean, all they had to do was put a T at the end 540 00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:23,000 which I think on the poster they probably put 541 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:24,840 in the shape of a crucifix, 542 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:27,160 and it all sort of tied in and it was all very neat. 543 00:31:27,160 --> 00:31:29,200 We're late! 544 00:31:34,720 --> 00:31:37,920 In 1993, Robbie went from the confessional box 545 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:39,960 to the psychologist's chair, 546 00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:42,600 when he took on a role which would change his life. 547 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:47,080 Dr Fitzgerald is now ready to give us his lecture. 548 00:31:49,800 --> 00:31:53,320 When I first conceived of Fitz, I was very thin and wiry 549 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:55,360 and full of nervous energy. 550 00:31:55,360 --> 00:31:59,640 I also admired an American actor called John Cassavetes, 551 00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:02,320 who was much the same, and that's the kind of character 552 00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:06,960 I had in mind - you know, a thin, wiry guy full of nervous energy. 553 00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:10,520 He always imagined Fitz to be a small, wiry man 554 00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:13,800 who'd been in the army for most of his life. 555 00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:15,360 Natural choice(!) 556 00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:23,080 I remember going home and I said to the wife and kids, 557 00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:27,720 "Oh, God, they've only cast Robbie Coltrane as Fitz, you know." 558 00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:31,160 My lad and two daughters, who were young then, very media savvy, 559 00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:33,400 they said, "That's a brilliant idea." 560 00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:34,760 Spinoza... 561 00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:39,280 Descartes... 562 00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:41,040 Locke... 563 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:44,720 Cracker certainly changed British drama. 564 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:46,600 You know, American cop shows 565 00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:49,600 had started to change into something quite bleak. 566 00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:52,320 They weren't just about getting the bad guy any more, 567 00:32:52,320 --> 00:32:55,960 they were also about the issues that the lead character had. 568 00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:59,920 I rehearsed the death of my father for years. 569 00:32:59,920 --> 00:33:01,240 I even got a little bored. 570 00:33:02,360 --> 00:33:03,480 I knew all my lines, 571 00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:07,680 but he was still alive and I never got my opening night. 572 00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:09,720 You had the crime story going on, 573 00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:13,440 that he was part of and investigating, 574 00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:17,640 but this guy also had major issues himself 575 00:33:17,640 --> 00:33:19,720 and was arguably more troubled 576 00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:22,600 than a lot of the people he was trying to catch. 577 00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:26,880 It was a long way away from the smooth, suave detective 578 00:33:26,880 --> 00:33:29,360 like a sort of Bergerac-type character, 579 00:33:29,360 --> 00:33:31,080 from around the same time. 580 00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:33,280 You know, this was someone with serious issues. 581 00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:34,840 How are you fixed, Eddie? 582 00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:38,960 No chance, Fitz. 583 00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:40,840 What about cashing a cheque, yeah? 584 00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:42,840 30, 35, 40... 585 00:33:42,840 --> 00:33:44,720 Am I speaking Urdu or something? 586 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:49,160 'He was not a lovable guy. He wasn't a great father,' 587 00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:52,400 he drank too much, he smoked too much, he was a gambler... 588 00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:53,800 Come on, you lazy... 589 00:33:56,040 --> 00:33:57,480 I've got an expression now - 590 00:33:57,480 --> 00:33:59,720 if I'd known I was going to last this long 591 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:02,360 I'd have taken better care of myself, you know? 592 00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:06,240 I'll give that to Fitz one day hopefully, you know what I mean? 593 00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:08,840 He's gambling that he's not going to live that long, 594 00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:10,480 so why take care of yourself? 595 00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:12,720 Everything in his life's a gamble. 596 00:34:12,720 --> 00:34:14,120 How bad this time? 597 00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:20,640 Over the limit on both cards. Two grand overdrawn at the bank. 598 00:34:22,440 --> 00:34:26,320 Such a damaged character, and yet he's not a cliche in any way. 599 00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:28,400 Such an incredibly bright person 600 00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:31,920 who can't see his way through his own problems. 601 00:34:31,920 --> 00:34:34,600 Women love that tortured stuff. 602 00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:37,680 Anything else? No. 603 00:34:43,160 --> 00:34:47,720 I raised five grand of the mortgage. Told them it was for a new bathroom. 604 00:34:49,720 --> 00:34:54,320 To hell with all your conventional political philosophies, 605 00:34:54,320 --> 00:34:57,160 you know, your anti-racism, your anti-sexism, 606 00:34:57,160 --> 00:35:01,040 your anti-homophobia, all that political stuff 607 00:35:01,040 --> 00:35:04,920 I will now ignore and I will speak what's in my heart. 608 00:35:04,920 --> 00:35:06,800 So, he came from that as well. 609 00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:11,120 There's a great sadness in your life. 610 00:35:11,120 --> 00:35:12,880 'It kind of broke new ground, really. 611 00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:14,960 'I mean, it was the forerunner' 612 00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:19,520 of the psychology of murder as opposed to 613 00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:25,240 the detection of murder and it was brutal, you know? 614 00:35:25,240 --> 00:35:29,480 Underneath it all there's blood, and filth, and stench, 615 00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:33,760 and hair - tatty, matted, disfiguring hair. 616 00:35:33,760 --> 00:35:37,000 'In a way, the audience knew who'd done it' 617 00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:39,840 and how would anybody else find out who'd done it, 618 00:35:39,840 --> 00:35:43,080 if only by understanding the psychology 619 00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:45,320 of the bad person who'd done it, 620 00:35:45,320 --> 00:35:47,360 'which was a hugely new idea.' 621 00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:50,800 I'm saying I understand, yes? 622 00:35:52,440 --> 00:35:54,680 Yes. 623 00:35:54,680 --> 00:35:57,760 There were all kinds of influences on Cracker, 624 00:35:57,760 --> 00:36:01,800 but I think the biggest was the first episode of Prime Suspect, 625 00:36:01,800 --> 00:36:07,360 where the prime suspect was there right from the beginning, you know? 626 00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:10,720 And that seems to me to be an obvious thing to do, 627 00:36:10,720 --> 00:36:14,320 because the most interesting person in a crime story is the criminal. 628 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:18,440 Is that how it was? Is it? 629 00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:22,920 It's you who needs the psychologist. 630 00:36:25,480 --> 00:36:28,160 'That's the essence of Fitz -' 631 00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:30,440 a man adept at examining his own conscience 632 00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:34,120 and thus able to examine other people's consciences. 633 00:36:34,120 --> 00:36:37,120 You're paying some poor, downtrodden cow 634 00:36:37,120 --> 00:36:40,400 £2 an hour to look after your child. That's enough, Fitz! 635 00:36:40,400 --> 00:36:43,000 Your child, a thing that means most to you in the world, 636 00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:45,520 £2 an hour and you've got a cleaner. 637 00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:47,640 Oh, we'll talk again when you're sober, OK? 638 00:36:47,640 --> 00:36:50,320 Even in his ordinary life, does he have time to think 639 00:36:50,320 --> 00:36:54,200 and assess what his words will do to people? I don't think so. 640 00:36:54,200 --> 00:36:55,440 Bang, bang, bang. 641 00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:58,880 There's you up on the podium talking about equality and freedom 642 00:36:58,880 --> 00:37:03,520 and feminism, and she's at home with her arm halfway down your lavatory. 643 00:37:08,320 --> 00:37:11,160 I think what we have here is a failure to communicate. 644 00:37:11,160 --> 00:37:12,920 'When I first met Robbie' 645 00:37:12,920 --> 00:37:16,680 I really had problems, because he was so funny. 646 00:37:16,680 --> 00:37:18,760 Strictly platonic. Keep your hands to yourself. 647 00:37:18,760 --> 00:37:20,440 I know it's going to be hard. 648 00:37:20,440 --> 00:37:24,880 There's nothing I can do about that, OK? It's just hands-off. 649 00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:26,480 'And he can just change.' 650 00:37:26,480 --> 00:37:30,720 He can be cracking jokes, absolutely hilarious, 651 00:37:30,720 --> 00:37:33,360 doing all these kind of crazy voices and then literally, 652 00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:36,840 they say, "Action," and he's totally in that zone. 653 00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:38,680 SHE SOBS 654 00:37:41,920 --> 00:37:43,000 What did he say? 655 00:37:44,920 --> 00:37:46,720 He said... 656 00:37:46,720 --> 00:37:49,840 'Fitz could see into people's souls.' 657 00:37:49,840 --> 00:37:53,520 He saw himself perhaps in all of those characters. 658 00:37:53,520 --> 00:37:55,720 I think that was what was so powerful. 659 00:37:55,720 --> 00:37:57,840 You know this man. 660 00:37:57,840 --> 00:38:01,000 It's someone that you know with a very distinctive voice, 661 00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:02,440 that's why he said nothing. 662 00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:04,120 You would wish, would you not, 663 00:38:04,120 --> 00:38:08,560 if somebody you love had been killed, to have Cracker on your side? 664 00:38:08,560 --> 00:38:12,800 People will say he was a killer, he was a butcher, but he did one 665 00:38:12,800 --> 00:38:18,320 decent thing, he confessed so they could bury their daughter. 666 00:38:18,320 --> 00:38:22,040 'There have been times when I've seen descriptions of a murder and I've just thought,' 667 00:38:22,040 --> 00:38:23,440 "God, I'd like to get in there, 668 00:38:23,440 --> 00:38:27,240 I'd love to get Cracker in there for half an hour 669 00:38:27,240 --> 00:38:30,200 and say, "Oi, mush!" 670 00:38:30,200 --> 00:38:34,520 Did the paper come yet? In the bog. What? In the bog. 671 00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:40,240 'The hallmark of Robbie's work, really, is the element of uneasiness. 672 00:38:40,240 --> 00:38:42,680 'You're never really in a safe place.' 673 00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:47,120 As we would say, he never phones in a performance, you know? 674 00:38:47,120 --> 00:38:48,960 HE SOBS Oh, God. 675 00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:52,840 'It was a beautifully written series. 676 00:38:52,840 --> 00:38:54,880 'Those were very good scripts,' 677 00:38:54,880 --> 00:38:58,480 but he took it to a whole different level with that performance. 678 00:38:58,480 --> 00:38:59,600 You all right? 679 00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:06,240 'As a writer,' 680 00:39:06,240 --> 00:39:09,880 what you need is something to make sure you work. 681 00:39:09,880 --> 00:39:11,880 As part of the drive for the first series 682 00:39:11,880 --> 00:39:15,480 they showed me the gigantic life-size poster of Fitz, 683 00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:19,440 so what I did was I got it framed and I put it behind me. 684 00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:21,240 As a writer you're tempted to say, 685 00:39:21,240 --> 00:39:24,800 "That's not quite working, but I've seen worse," you know? 686 00:39:24,800 --> 00:39:29,240 Then you'd go, "Oh, no!" And so you'd have to... 687 00:39:29,240 --> 00:39:33,240 You would never settle for that, you would never settle for, 688 00:39:33,240 --> 00:39:34,440 "I've seen worse." 689 00:39:34,440 --> 00:39:37,920 You know, you'd only settle for "I cannot do any better". 690 00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:42,440 McGovern got it absolutely right, I would say. 691 00:39:42,440 --> 00:39:44,160 End of lecture. 692 00:39:44,160 --> 00:39:46,040 APPLAUSE 693 00:39:47,480 --> 00:39:50,880 And the winner is... Robbie Coltrane. 694 00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:53,160 APPLAUSE 695 00:39:53,160 --> 00:39:55,800 Cracker ran for three years and Robbie Coltrane 696 00:39:55,800 --> 00:39:58,640 won the BAFTA for best actor three years in a row 697 00:39:58,640 --> 00:40:03,280 for his performances of Fitz, a first in BAFTA history. 698 00:40:03,280 --> 00:40:05,560 There's a saying in poker that you're only as good 699 00:40:05,560 --> 00:40:08,320 as the people you play with and I was playing with the best. 700 00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:11,440 Thank you very much. Thank you. 701 00:40:11,440 --> 00:40:15,880 But it wasn't just the British TV industry who recognised Robbie's talent. 702 00:40:15,880 --> 00:40:17,720 Big Robbie, not bad, eh? 703 00:40:17,720 --> 00:40:19,760 New Yorkers would come up and say, 704 00:40:19,760 --> 00:40:22,760 "I can't believe it, you're Mr Fitz, aren't you? 705 00:40:22,760 --> 00:40:24,120 "Yes, I am." 706 00:40:27,680 --> 00:40:30,720 Cracker was a cult hit in the US, 707 00:40:30,720 --> 00:40:33,760 so they inevitably made their own version. 708 00:40:33,760 --> 00:40:36,840 And while the American Fitz was slightly more sanitised than our one 709 00:40:36,840 --> 00:40:42,280 Robbie couldn't resist turning up in one episode as the murderer. 710 00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:47,200 I'm not worried about you finding me guilty, Doctor. I know your work. 711 00:40:47,200 --> 00:40:48,800 You'll uncover the truth. 712 00:40:50,160 --> 00:40:53,880 Cracker had made Robbie Coltrane an international star 713 00:40:53,880 --> 00:40:56,520 and given him a passport into the big time. 714 00:40:56,520 --> 00:40:57,680 GUN CLICKS 715 00:40:59,600 --> 00:41:05,840 Walther PPK, 7.65 millimetre, only three men I know use such a gun. 716 00:41:05,840 --> 00:41:08,240 I believe I've killed two of them. 717 00:41:08,240 --> 00:41:09,480 Lucky me. 718 00:41:09,480 --> 00:41:10,440 GUN CLICKS 719 00:41:10,440 --> 00:41:11,760 I think not. 720 00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:13,800 HE SINGS BOND THEME 721 00:41:15,200 --> 00:41:18,240 A childhood ambition had been to be a Bond baddie, 722 00:41:18,240 --> 00:41:20,480 and in this remarkable career, 723 00:41:20,480 --> 00:41:23,960 Robbie saw that come true in 1995 with GoldenEye. 724 00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:26,400 The franchise was given a much-needed boost with 725 00:41:26,400 --> 00:41:30,520 the new 007 recapturing some of the old Bond values. 726 00:41:30,520 --> 00:41:33,680 The Bond movies were a very clever move, 727 00:41:33,680 --> 00:41:38,800 obviously because they're huge, and I think it really showed 728 00:41:38,800 --> 00:41:41,760 the status that he had, because you don't get to play 729 00:41:41,760 --> 00:41:45,240 sort of a cameo role or a supporting role in a Bond movie 730 00:41:45,240 --> 00:41:46,760 by being an unknown. 731 00:41:46,760 --> 00:41:50,560 You know, you're Judi Dench if you get asked that, or Sean Bean, 732 00:41:50,560 --> 00:41:53,200 or Robert Carlyle, those kind of people, you know, 733 00:41:53,200 --> 00:41:55,640 familiar faces that we all know and love. 734 00:41:55,640 --> 00:41:57,640 So, it showed that he had reached that stage. 735 00:41:57,640 --> 00:41:59,280 James Bond... 736 00:42:00,800 --> 00:42:03,600 Charming, sophisticated secret agent. 737 00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:07,000 Shaken, but not stirred. 738 00:42:07,000 --> 00:42:08,080 LAUGHTER 739 00:42:08,080 --> 00:42:12,080 I see you haven't lost your delicate sense of humour, Valentin. 740 00:42:12,080 --> 00:42:13,920 You get sent the script, 741 00:42:13,920 --> 00:42:19,600 it's got 007 feinted on the front and it's got your number underneath 742 00:42:19,600 --> 00:42:22,520 in case you send it to somebody else and then suddenly, 743 00:42:22,520 --> 00:42:25,280 you're on the set and there you are in a beautiful suit. 744 00:42:25,280 --> 00:42:27,120 Who's strangling the cat? 745 00:42:28,360 --> 00:42:29,920 Strangling a cat? 746 00:42:29,920 --> 00:42:32,880 SINGS OFF KEY: # Stand by your man... 747 00:42:35,440 --> 00:42:38,080 That is Irina, my mistress. 748 00:42:38,080 --> 00:42:39,920 'Oh, Pierce, what would it be like' 749 00:42:39,920 --> 00:42:43,160 to wake up in the morning and look as handsome as that? 750 00:42:43,160 --> 00:42:45,640 How different would my life have been? 751 00:42:45,640 --> 00:42:49,440 And then I thought, "Well, I'm here, aren't I?" 752 00:42:49,440 --> 00:42:50,880 So, why did you not kill me? 753 00:42:52,480 --> 00:42:54,160 Call it professional courtesy. 754 00:42:54,160 --> 00:42:58,200 Then I should extend you the same courtesy. 755 00:43:01,080 --> 00:43:04,480 Kerov's Funeral Parlour, four o'clock this afternoon. 756 00:43:04,480 --> 00:43:05,920 'It was classic Robbie' 757 00:43:05,920 --> 00:43:08,760 in that it was another shady character. 758 00:43:08,760 --> 00:43:11,880 He wasn't the worst guy in a Bond movie. 759 00:43:11,880 --> 00:43:14,400 He wasn't entirely evil and actually, 760 00:43:14,400 --> 00:43:17,480 he was sort of a fixer and a middleman but at the same time, 761 00:43:17,480 --> 00:43:19,520 I mean, he's not someone that you'd 762 00:43:19,520 --> 00:43:22,720 particularly want to trust implicitly, 763 00:43:22,720 --> 00:43:25,560 so he was another guy in the shadows. 764 00:43:25,560 --> 00:43:29,240 After you. I insist. 765 00:43:29,240 --> 00:43:32,480 In The World Is Not Enough, Robbie's character, Zukovsky, 766 00:43:32,480 --> 00:43:37,000 a former KGB agent turned gangster, returned with relish. 767 00:43:37,000 --> 00:43:39,200 Bond! James Bond! 768 00:43:39,200 --> 00:43:43,720 Meet Nina and Verushka. 769 00:43:43,720 --> 00:43:46,960 Lose the girls, Valentin, we need to talk. 770 00:43:46,960 --> 00:43:50,600 Bond movies do bring you back and they do widen out your role 771 00:43:50,600 --> 00:43:52,640 if you're a success, if people like you. 772 00:43:52,640 --> 00:43:55,080 You only have to look at Judi Dench in Skyfall 773 00:43:55,080 --> 00:43:58,120 compared to Judi Dench in GoldenEye. You know, much bigger role 774 00:43:58,120 --> 00:44:01,080 and that's exactly what Robbie had in The World Is Not Enough. 775 00:44:01,080 --> 00:44:04,800 I got asked back for the second one, which is a huge honour, 776 00:44:04,800 --> 00:44:07,040 because no-one gets asked back for a second time. 777 00:44:07,040 --> 00:44:08,120 Drink? 778 00:44:08,120 --> 00:44:09,160 DOOR SLAMS 779 00:44:11,120 --> 00:44:14,600 Can't you just say hello, like a normal person? 780 00:44:14,600 --> 00:44:18,000 Proving that he'd been a success in the franchise, 781 00:44:18,000 --> 00:44:21,760 proving, you know, as is the case in so much that he's done, 782 00:44:21,760 --> 00:44:24,200 that audiences just really respond to him. 783 00:44:24,200 --> 00:44:27,480 They just have a real warmth 784 00:44:27,480 --> 00:44:31,320 and feeling of happiness when he's around, you know? 785 00:44:31,320 --> 00:44:33,120 He seems like a friend, like an old pal. 786 00:44:33,120 --> 00:44:35,360 GUNSHOTS 787 00:44:41,520 --> 00:44:44,200 Running around lavish sets with beautiful girls 788 00:44:44,200 --> 00:44:47,560 while avoiding helicopters customised with giant circular saws 789 00:44:47,560 --> 00:44:50,000 is all in a day's work for a Bond baddie. 790 00:44:54,240 --> 00:44:57,040 Though it was the baddie-turned-goodie Zukovsky 791 00:44:57,040 --> 00:45:00,120 who saved Bond's life in the end. 792 00:45:00,120 --> 00:45:02,680 He was kind of a baddie, but kind of a goodie. 793 00:45:08,800 --> 00:45:10,400 HE GASPS 794 00:45:14,240 --> 00:45:16,720 Watching the Bond movies, 795 00:45:16,720 --> 00:45:18,800 You thought, "What a long way this guy has come." 796 00:45:18,800 --> 00:45:22,360 He had sort of moved into a world that actually, 797 00:45:22,360 --> 00:45:25,840 a lot of his contemporaries have still never got into, 798 00:45:25,840 --> 00:45:27,520 they've stayed in TV. 799 00:45:27,520 --> 00:45:30,000 But, you know, he's absolutely conquered movies. 800 00:45:32,560 --> 00:45:34,760 With Bond and Cracker on the CV, 801 00:45:34,760 --> 00:45:38,840 Hollywood came after Robbie and they got him. 802 00:45:38,840 --> 00:45:41,840 From blockbuster action movies with Hugh Jackman, 803 00:45:41,840 --> 00:45:45,760 romantic weepies with Kevin Costner and Robin Wright Penn, 804 00:45:45,760 --> 00:45:49,440 to historical murder mysteries with Johnny Depp. 805 00:45:49,440 --> 00:45:54,320 Then, in 2004, Robbie was asked to appear in Ocean's Twelve 806 00:45:54,320 --> 00:45:58,800 alongside three of the biggest stars on the planet. 807 00:45:58,800 --> 00:46:02,040 So finally, she slams her vodka tonic down on the tray 808 00:46:02,040 --> 00:46:06,640 and says, "Hey, maybe that's why I've been feeling so warm recently?" 809 00:46:08,760 --> 00:46:12,160 'George Clooney and Brad Pitt and Matt Damon...' 810 00:46:12,160 --> 00:46:13,400 and moi. 811 00:46:13,400 --> 00:46:14,600 Would you agree? 812 00:46:14,600 --> 00:46:17,280 In Ocean's 12, Robbie plays Matsui, 813 00:46:17,280 --> 00:46:20,320 a shadowy eastern European criminal mastermind, 814 00:46:20,320 --> 00:46:23,760 an intellectual who likes to talk in enigmatic sentences 815 00:46:23,760 --> 00:46:26,400 to confuse and alienate. 816 00:46:26,400 --> 00:46:28,640 When I was four years old, 817 00:46:28,640 --> 00:46:31,760 I watched my mother kill a spider with a tea cosy. 818 00:46:35,120 --> 00:46:38,720 'Matt Damon's character is trying to move himself into the hierarchy, 819 00:46:38,720 --> 00:46:40,840 'so supposedly, they're having' 820 00:46:40,840 --> 00:46:44,800 a test of sorts to decide whether or not he's up for the job. 821 00:46:44,800 --> 00:46:49,320 Years later, I realised it was not a spider, it was my Uncle Harold. 822 00:46:49,320 --> 00:46:52,360 But while director Steven Soderbergh had worked out 823 00:46:52,360 --> 00:46:54,320 what the dialogue would be, 824 00:46:54,320 --> 00:46:57,880 no-one was quite sure how the scene should play out. 825 00:46:57,880 --> 00:47:00,720 Soderbergh's sitting there, saying, "What do you think, Rob?" 826 00:47:00,720 --> 00:47:03,360 So I said, "Right, have you ever been to a poetry reading?" 827 00:47:03,360 --> 00:47:07,280 "And people look at each other and go... 'Mm. Mm.' 828 00:47:07,280 --> 00:47:11,880 "Like, 'We're all in the know, we understand.' Go for that." 829 00:47:11,880 --> 00:47:14,120 Way out of his depth, Matt Damon's character 830 00:47:14,120 --> 00:47:17,480 is reduced to reciting lyrics from a Led Zeppelin song, 831 00:47:17,480 --> 00:47:21,720 trying to convince Matsui he is an intellectual equal. 832 00:47:21,720 --> 00:47:25,600 Oh, let the sun beat down upon my face 833 00:47:25,600 --> 00:47:28,560 Stars sent to fill my dreams 834 00:47:28,560 --> 00:47:32,480 I am a traveller in both time and space 835 00:47:32,480 --> 00:47:34,280 To be where I have been. 836 00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:37,880 'So, that's the way we played it.' 837 00:47:37,880 --> 00:47:39,040 I think it worked, actually. 838 00:47:42,360 --> 00:47:44,480 While Hollywood had provided Coltrane 839 00:47:44,480 --> 00:47:47,440 with some of his most prestigious roles to date, 840 00:47:47,440 --> 00:47:49,520 it was a job closer to home 841 00:47:49,520 --> 00:47:52,800 which would take Robbie's career onto a different plane together. 842 00:47:52,800 --> 00:47:54,760 TYRES SCREECH 843 00:47:55,960 --> 00:48:00,080 Professor Dumbledore, sir. Professor McGonagall. 844 00:48:00,080 --> 00:48:02,360 I was asked by the producer of the Potter films, 845 00:48:02,360 --> 00:48:04,280 before they ever shot a reel, 846 00:48:04,280 --> 00:48:06,960 "If you could have anyone, who would you have?" 847 00:48:06,960 --> 00:48:08,560 Try not to wake him. 848 00:48:08,560 --> 00:48:10,680 And I said, "Robbie Coltrane - Hagrid." 849 00:48:10,680 --> 00:48:12,640 There you go. 850 00:48:12,640 --> 00:48:15,400 'My children, who were about eight and five,' 851 00:48:15,400 --> 00:48:17,560 in this very room came clattering in and went, 852 00:48:17,560 --> 00:48:21,360 "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, you're going to play Hagrid, how fantastic!" 853 00:48:21,360 --> 00:48:24,200 HE SOBS AND SNIFFLES 854 00:48:25,400 --> 00:48:30,200 There, there, Hagrid, it's not really goodbye after all. 855 00:48:30,200 --> 00:48:32,880 It certainly was a career change for him, 856 00:48:32,880 --> 00:48:38,400 someone who had made his name being gruff and tough and angry 857 00:48:38,400 --> 00:48:41,480 and laden with problems in a lot of those, 858 00:48:41,480 --> 00:48:43,920 you know, TV shows and movies. 859 00:48:43,920 --> 00:48:48,760 Now, here he was, cuddly fantasy figure in a kids' movie. 860 00:48:48,760 --> 00:48:52,840 He's extremely good at menace and darkness. 861 00:48:52,840 --> 00:48:54,440 Oh, there's something else as well. 862 00:48:54,440 --> 00:48:56,480 'And then, he plays Hagrid.' 863 00:48:56,480 --> 00:48:59,160 Professor Dumbledore gave me this. 864 00:48:59,160 --> 00:49:01,840 I got her number and I phoned her up and I said, 865 00:49:01,840 --> 00:49:04,640 "OK, Hagrid, what do you know about Hagrid?" 866 00:49:04,640 --> 00:49:07,280 You know, the most stupid question you could imagine. 867 00:49:07,280 --> 00:49:11,560 I shouldn't have said that. I SHOULD NOT have said that. 868 00:49:11,560 --> 00:49:15,840 And then she started talking about a character that he was based on. 869 00:49:15,840 --> 00:49:18,640 It was a guy used to turn up in her pub in the West Country 870 00:49:18,640 --> 00:49:20,000 on a huge Harley Davidson... 871 00:49:20,000 --> 00:49:22,080 DOOR CRASHES 872 00:49:22,080 --> 00:49:24,760 THEY SCREAM 873 00:49:24,760 --> 00:49:27,120 ..and he looked absolutely terrifying. 874 00:49:31,440 --> 00:49:34,520 He'd walk to the bar and order a pint and sit down... 875 00:49:36,960 --> 00:49:39,560 ..and then talk about how his petunias were getting on. 876 00:49:39,560 --> 00:49:41,280 Sorry about that. 877 00:49:42,400 --> 00:49:45,680 I told Robbie the first time I ever spoke to him about Hagrid 878 00:49:45,680 --> 00:49:48,040 exactly what the inspiration for Hagrid was, 879 00:49:48,040 --> 00:49:50,960 and it was twofold, really. 880 00:49:50,960 --> 00:49:54,040 There's this folkloric idea of the man of the words, the wild man 881 00:49:54,040 --> 00:49:56,080 and obviously, Hagrid is that. 882 00:49:56,080 --> 00:49:59,640 Dry up, Dursley, you great prune! 883 00:50:01,560 --> 00:50:05,160 And then, on a more prosaic level, where I grew up in Chepstow, every six months or so 884 00:50:05,160 --> 00:50:07,800 the Hell's Angels used to steam into town 885 00:50:07,800 --> 00:50:10,240 and I can remember being 19 and being in a pub 886 00:50:10,240 --> 00:50:12,680 and getting chatting to one of these Hell's Angels, 887 00:50:12,680 --> 00:50:14,920 and he looked like the scariest guy on earth, 888 00:50:14,920 --> 00:50:17,760 and all he wanted to talk to me about was his cabbages. 889 00:50:17,760 --> 00:50:21,000 I thought, "I know that guy, I know that guy, I AM that guy." 890 00:50:21,000 --> 00:50:25,080 And she said, "I know that, that's why you're playing Hagrid." 891 00:50:25,080 --> 00:50:26,560 Who are you? 892 00:50:26,560 --> 00:50:31,400 Rubeus Hagrid, keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts. 893 00:50:31,400 --> 00:50:34,840 There's a really special relationship between Harry and Hagrid 894 00:50:34,840 --> 00:50:37,640 and there's a great relationship between Robbie and Dan. 895 00:50:37,640 --> 00:50:38,880 You're a wizard, Harry. 896 00:50:40,960 --> 00:50:43,400 I'm a what? A wizard. 897 00:50:43,400 --> 00:50:46,600 Daniel in particular would always say, "What do you think? What do you think?" 898 00:50:46,600 --> 00:50:49,440 I...can't be a...a wizard. 899 00:50:49,440 --> 00:50:51,480 'I said, "Look, do the brave thing. 900 00:50:51,480 --> 00:50:55,120 "Even if you think it might be over the top or a bit wrong, 901 00:50:55,120 --> 00:50:59,280 "just do it and they will cut it out. 902 00:50:59,280 --> 00:51:03,440 "Do as many takes as you like, just don't be afraid." And he went, "OK." 903 00:51:03,440 --> 00:51:08,800 You're Harry Potter! I'm Hermione Granger. And you are? 904 00:51:08,800 --> 00:51:12,000 Um, Ron Weasley. Pleasure(!) 905 00:51:12,000 --> 00:51:14,600 He's such a great person to be on set with, 906 00:51:14,600 --> 00:51:18,720 just constantly telling you stories and doing these voices 907 00:51:18,720 --> 00:51:22,080 and characters and it was just like having a comedian on set. 908 00:51:22,080 --> 00:51:25,000 Who told you about Fluffy? Fluffy? 909 00:51:25,000 --> 00:51:26,600 'I think he really kind of made' 910 00:51:26,600 --> 00:51:29,320 the character a lot funnier than it was, probably, in the book. 911 00:51:29,320 --> 00:51:31,240 Hello, Norbert. 912 00:51:31,240 --> 00:51:34,520 Norbert? Yeah, well, he's got to have a name, doesn't he? 913 00:51:36,360 --> 00:51:39,200 Look at you, Norbert, eh? Tickle, tickle! 914 00:51:39,200 --> 00:51:41,440 DRAGON HICCUPS Ooh! 915 00:51:41,440 --> 00:51:43,400 'For the people watching that movie,' 916 00:51:43,400 --> 00:51:45,560 it's the most important thing they've ever seen. 917 00:51:45,560 --> 00:51:49,480 I mean, they are utterly invested in these characters 918 00:51:49,480 --> 00:51:50,680 and you can't treat it as, 919 00:51:50,680 --> 00:51:54,840 "Oh, yeah, I'm dressing up, putting on a big wig 920 00:51:54,840 --> 00:51:57,120 "and having a bit of a laugh in a kids' fairytale," 921 00:51:57,120 --> 00:51:59,920 you have to really take it seriously. 922 00:51:59,920 --> 00:52:03,160 He is a trained and experienced actor 923 00:52:03,160 --> 00:52:06,440 and that's why I think he gets that role right. 924 00:52:06,440 --> 00:52:08,360 Thanks, Hagrid. 925 00:52:08,360 --> 00:52:11,320 'Anyone who's a parent knows what it's like to watch' 926 00:52:11,320 --> 00:52:15,280 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Mary Poppins 28 times. 927 00:52:16,560 --> 00:52:18,840 'Wouldn't it be lovely to be involved in something 928 00:52:18,840 --> 00:52:23,280 'that so engaged children that they wanted to watch it 28 times?' 929 00:52:23,280 --> 00:52:24,880 So, Harry Potter would be that for me. 930 00:52:27,320 --> 00:52:30,080 Nobody could have done Hagrid better than Robbie. 931 00:52:33,560 --> 00:52:35,280 The Harry Potter films are 932 00:52:35,280 --> 00:52:38,320 the most successful movie franchise of all time 933 00:52:38,320 --> 00:52:41,960 and they made Robbie's face, albeit with a wig and beard, 934 00:52:41,960 --> 00:52:44,400 recognisable throughout the world. 935 00:52:51,320 --> 00:52:55,280 With an OBE and dozens of Hollywood movies to his name, 936 00:52:55,280 --> 00:52:58,800 Robbie more recently has returned to the small screen 937 00:52:58,800 --> 00:53:01,480 and his first love - comedy. 938 00:53:03,920 --> 00:53:07,360 He appeared as a Scottish Nationalist on the recent remake 939 00:53:07,360 --> 00:53:11,800 of Yes, Prime Minister - a role he feels privileged to have played. 940 00:53:11,800 --> 00:53:13,440 It was just fantastic to do that 941 00:53:13,440 --> 00:53:15,920 because it was so beautifully written. 942 00:53:15,920 --> 00:53:20,120 It's like another OBE - another OBE, do you get that? 943 00:53:20,120 --> 00:53:21,400 ALARM BELL RINGS 944 00:53:21,400 --> 00:53:25,080 He also starred as a violently disturbed prisoner, 945 00:53:25,080 --> 00:53:28,480 kidnapping Jack Dee in his sitcom, Lead Balloon. 946 00:53:30,120 --> 00:53:33,560 Hey, you! Anybody so much as touches this door without my say-so, 947 00:53:33,560 --> 00:53:36,400 laughing boy gets it, right? 948 00:53:38,560 --> 00:53:41,480 Apologies for raising my voice. It's not a problem. 949 00:53:41,480 --> 00:53:44,360 I mean, ideally we shouldn't really have to do any of this nonsense 950 00:53:44,360 --> 00:53:48,040 but, you know, it seems to be the only way you get any attention to your demands in this place. 951 00:53:49,600 --> 00:53:52,960 He's still an active member of the Comic Strip. 952 00:53:52,960 --> 00:53:56,320 When they returned in 2011 with The Hunt For Tony Blair, 953 00:53:56,320 --> 00:53:59,240 Robbie was thrilled to be part of the gang once again. 954 00:54:00,440 --> 00:54:02,400 More recently, in 2012, 955 00:54:02,400 --> 00:54:06,640 the original Comic Strip cast from Five Go Mad In Dorset 956 00:54:06,640 --> 00:54:09,960 reunited for their 30th anniversary with an update - 957 00:54:09,960 --> 00:54:13,400 Five Go Mad In Rehab. 958 00:54:13,400 --> 00:54:16,040 Here you are, here's your slap-up birthday cake - 959 00:54:16,040 --> 00:54:20,920 Stuffed with cherries, vanilla sponge and home-grown marzipan, 960 00:54:20,920 --> 00:54:23,520 hand-picked from our very own marzipan tree. 961 00:54:23,520 --> 00:54:28,480 Hurrah! Ooh! Well, what a wonderful get-together after 30 years. 962 00:54:28,480 --> 00:54:30,960 '30 years later to where we started -' 963 00:54:30,960 --> 00:54:33,120 it was hilarious! 964 00:54:33,120 --> 00:54:37,880 We're all sitting there and I'm in drag, and Nigel's in drag... 965 00:54:39,600 --> 00:54:42,400 'He'd not read the script, I'd not read the script.' 966 00:54:42,400 --> 00:54:45,680 I just sat and said, "Are you in a frock, Nigel?" 967 00:54:45,680 --> 00:54:48,280 He says, "Yes, I am. Are you in a frock?" 968 00:54:48,280 --> 00:54:49,640 I said, "Yeah, why? 969 00:54:49,640 --> 00:54:52,360 "Well, apparently I'm playing a rather homophobic woman who 970 00:54:52,360 --> 00:54:54,600 "runs a boarding house in Devon." 971 00:54:54,600 --> 00:54:58,640 And he went, "Yeah, well, apparently I'm playing a..." 972 00:54:58,640 --> 00:55:00,280 Women who think they know best, 973 00:55:00,280 --> 00:55:03,520 if you catch my homophobic way of thinking? 974 00:55:03,520 --> 00:55:06,160 And the girls turned up, of course, and went, 975 00:55:06,160 --> 00:55:07,840 "Don't you look lovely, BOYS?" 976 00:55:10,040 --> 00:55:13,920 'The fun with Five Go To Rehab was to see how these' 977 00:55:13,920 --> 00:55:19,280 iconic kids' characters had fared through the '80s and '90s. 978 00:55:19,280 --> 00:55:21,120 Not very well! 979 00:55:22,560 --> 00:55:27,320 'Comic Strip always had its own inner core of naughtiness' 980 00:55:27,320 --> 00:55:29,560 and undermining-ness 981 00:55:29,560 --> 00:55:32,720 and the whole idea of them going back to rehab, of course, 982 00:55:32,720 --> 00:55:34,440 is just hilarious. 983 00:55:34,440 --> 00:55:35,720 CRASH 984 00:55:35,720 --> 00:55:39,160 Yeah? Well, they've got everything, what do you want? 985 00:55:39,160 --> 00:55:42,720 I just want my gin back. Good. 986 00:55:46,000 --> 00:55:49,040 Lovely to see you. Yes, you too. 987 00:55:49,040 --> 00:55:50,640 'They're trying to pretend' 988 00:55:50,640 --> 00:55:52,720 that they're still the people they were, 989 00:55:52,720 --> 00:55:55,720 but of course the cracks are showing all the way through the film, 990 00:55:55,720 --> 00:55:57,400 until they finally fall apart. 991 00:55:57,400 --> 00:56:01,040 Don't be silly, Dick, they're alcoholics, they need a drink. 992 00:56:01,040 --> 00:56:04,760 Well, we've all got our problems, Anne. I mean, you're a vegan. 993 00:56:04,760 --> 00:56:06,760 'They're also lying to each other, going,' 994 00:56:06,760 --> 00:56:09,560 "I'm just going down for a walk. Are you going for a walk?" 995 00:56:09,560 --> 00:56:11,480 "Yes, I am." 996 00:56:11,480 --> 00:56:13,000 Where's Joe? 997 00:56:13,000 --> 00:56:14,840 'Very, very naughty,' 998 00:56:14,840 --> 00:56:16,240 but just the way it should be. 999 00:56:17,480 --> 00:56:22,160 I don't believe it! You can't be the same gypsy we saw here 30 years ago. 1000 00:56:22,160 --> 00:56:27,240 Oh, yeah, still got no water, no electricity, 1001 00:56:27,240 --> 00:56:32,560 still staring up at that old ruin, with its secrets and signs 1002 00:56:32,560 --> 00:56:36,320 and gratuitous unexplained screams in the night. 1003 00:56:36,320 --> 00:56:38,200 He moves from paper-thin characters 1004 00:56:38,200 --> 00:56:41,840 that are very, very amusing caricatures 1005 00:56:41,840 --> 00:56:46,280 right through into incredibly nuanced performances like Cracker, 1006 00:56:46,280 --> 00:56:48,680 and he just doesn't seem to break a sweat. 1007 00:56:48,680 --> 00:56:50,800 Look at me. 1008 00:56:50,800 --> 00:56:55,480 There is a fire inside and that comes through in his work 1009 00:56:55,480 --> 00:56:56,880 and he's electrifying. 1010 00:56:58,160 --> 00:57:02,880 He is a comedy actor and an artist and larger than life character. 1011 00:57:04,600 --> 00:57:07,640 I think he went into those things that he went into 1012 00:57:07,640 --> 00:57:09,760 because he was good at it. 1013 00:57:09,760 --> 00:57:13,560 I don't care what you say I just want to beat you to a pulp. 1014 00:57:13,560 --> 00:57:15,920 A very talented man. 1015 00:57:15,920 --> 00:57:19,040 And then he just went into Harry Potter and got lost really, bless him. 1016 00:57:19,040 --> 00:57:20,240 Codswallop! 1017 00:57:22,360 --> 00:57:24,200 He was one of us, really, 1018 00:57:24,200 --> 00:57:28,240 always up for a practical joke or just to mess about. 1019 00:57:28,240 --> 00:57:29,600 He was just great for that. 1020 00:57:29,600 --> 00:57:32,440 Ruthless people, they got what they deserved. 1021 00:57:32,440 --> 00:57:35,600 Actually, he's reached a position where he can do documentaries, 1022 00:57:35,600 --> 00:57:37,120 where he can do travelogues. 1023 00:57:37,120 --> 00:57:39,600 More of a threat than a promise, perhaps. 1024 00:57:39,600 --> 00:57:42,440 He won't be presenting Gardeners' World or anything, 1025 00:57:42,440 --> 00:57:45,640 although I'd pay good money to see Robbie present Gardeners' World. 1026 00:57:45,640 --> 00:57:48,040 God, the embarrassment! 1027 00:57:48,040 --> 00:57:50,240 He's not either square or around. 1028 00:57:50,240 --> 00:57:53,200 So you're judge, the jury, the executioner too? 1029 00:57:53,200 --> 00:57:56,280 If you find the right shape on the board, you can fit him in. 1030 00:57:56,280 --> 00:57:58,840 He's got an infinite number of faces. 1031 00:57:58,840 --> 00:58:00,360 Bye! 1032 00:58:00,360 --> 00:58:02,720 People who've done well in our business always say 1033 00:58:02,720 --> 00:58:04,120 they're incredibly talented 1034 00:58:04,120 --> 00:58:06,240 and people who haven't done well always say 1035 00:58:06,240 --> 00:58:10,720 they're incredibly unlucky, and I... 1036 00:58:10,720 --> 00:58:13,080 I don't know what you say to that. 1037 00:58:13,080 --> 00:58:16,320 Hey, Not The Nine O'clock News, ho-ho! 1038 00:58:16,320 --> 00:58:20,560 I've been very lucky and I've been incredibly talented(!) 1039 00:58:20,560 --> 00:58:22,720 No, I'm kidding, I'm kidding! 1040 00:58:22,720 --> 00:58:25,680 Good night, and sock it to me. 1041 00:58:25,680 --> 00:58:28,600 Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd