Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh S07E33

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00:00:00Away to the window I flew like a flash,

00:00:03Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

00:00:07The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow

00:00:10Gave a lustre of midday to objects below,

00:00:13When what to my wandering eyes did appear

00:00:16But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer.

00:00:21A Visit from St Nicholas by Clement Clarke-Moore,

00:00:23The Perfect Christmas Poem.

00:00:26Isn't that right, Satu?

00:00:28Too busy eating.

00:00:29Well, we're honoured you've found time to come anyway,

00:00:31Even if you're starving.

00:00:32But you find us okay.

00:00:34Yes, it's a pretty straightforward journey, isn't it?

00:00:35From the North Pole to Hampshire.

00:00:38It's not?

00:00:39Oh well, you know best.

00:00:42You're also very hungry.

00:00:43It's time for Love Your Weekend.

00:00:59The first Sunday of December. Time for the Christmas lights.

00:01:13There we are. The month that signals the start of winter.

00:01:28Snow falls sometimes, wild fowl fill the waterways and the light sits low creating those multi-hued sunsets over frosty hills, farmland and mountains.

00:01:39It's a festive month too when twinkling Christmas lights like ours fill Britain's villages and towns.

00:01:46And we're feeling festive on the show today.

00:01:48Coming up, a woman who really is a sport, from saddling up to galloping over the airwaves to taking on those traitors.

00:01:55She's done it all. Claire Balding, currently making waves in literary circles here with her latest page turner just in time for Christmas.

00:02:05And from Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof to Horace van der Gelder in the London revival of Hello Dolly.

00:02:11Andy Nyman's back on the West End stage, this time in the revival of Melbrook's The Producers.

00:02:17Leslie Joseph channels her inner Meryl Streep as she goes out of Africa on a safari with a difference.

00:02:24And wreath making made simple with his seasonal seven.

00:02:28Florist Simon Lysert with the key ingredients to make your own piece of festive magic for the front door.

00:02:35And looking back on a busy year capturing the royal family at home and abroad,

00:02:39photographer Chris Jackson escapes the press pack to share his personal favourite images of royalty.

00:02:51We have the tree, the tinsel and we have the tipples.

00:02:54Let's get the party started. Welcome Claire Balding and Mr Producer himself, star of The Producers,

00:03:02fresh from the West End stage. Andy Nyman, welcome to you both.

00:03:06Hi, good morning.

00:03:07You can tell now, we've gone into Christmas mode already.

00:03:11Not too early for you, I hope. I mean, do you indulge yourself at Christmas, Andy? Can you do that?

00:03:16I love it. I love it. I get the double whammy. I've got Chanukah as well.

00:03:19Yeah.

00:03:20So I do a bit of Chanukah, a bit of Christmas.

00:03:22Didn't have a tree when we were growing up, so could not wait when I'd moved away to have a tree.

00:03:28So yeah, I love it all. We do the Chanukah candles, Christmas, Christmas lunch. It's great.

00:03:32Claire, are you the same or is there a bit of humbug attached or not at all?

00:03:35Oh no, I love it. Oh, I love it. I ordered this thing the other day, right? It's so tacky.

00:03:39It's a Santa Claus that climbs up like a metal rope, thrilled with it. And in the garden,

00:03:46I put a big blow up penguin, because obviously that's very Christmassy.

00:03:50Is the Santa climbing an indoor thing or an outdoor? It's an indoor thing. Right.

00:03:54Oh my God, it was £15. Best £15.99 ever spent. It's fabulous.

00:03:59And it plays almost like a cowboy music.

00:04:03Is it the one that does it when you're speaking, when it hears a noise?

00:04:05No, no, no. You've got to turn it on.

00:04:08No, is there one when you speak?

00:04:09I think so.

00:04:11I don't think I'm... Yeah, you'd be pulling the batteries out of that 35 seconds.

00:04:14I might have to. The only trouble is the cats are very...

00:04:17Well, one of them is very scared of the Father Christmas.

00:04:19Oh. Yes.

00:04:21With my grandchildren, it's the elf on the shelf that moves around.

00:04:25There's an elf and overnight, he or she, not gender specific,

00:04:30they come down in the morning and the elf has moved.

00:04:32It's quite amazing. Wow.

00:04:34We're all looking, where's the elf gone? Oh, it's up there, you know.

00:04:38Oh, it's quite fun, isn't it? Yeah, it's lovely.

00:04:40And I quite like the Norad Santa Tracker.

00:04:42Oh, it's fantastic. Love that, love that.

00:04:45Yeah, fantastic and accurate.

00:04:47Very.

00:04:48It wasn't when they first brought it out, now it's bulls-on.

00:04:51So it's very good for world geography.

00:04:53Yes. There you go.

00:04:55And time zones. Yeah.

00:04:56Super important. Love all that.

00:04:58Love the food too, particularly Brussels sprouts.

00:05:01I'm a big fan of Brussels sprouts. Oh, yes.

00:05:03The thing about Brussels sprouts, you love them or loathe them.

00:05:05Yes.

00:05:05I love them, my daughter loves them and my granddaughter loves them

00:05:08and we sort of fight the rest of the family.

00:05:09Yes, we are having sprouts.

00:05:10See, this is probably the programme to embarrass myself on

00:05:14by declaring it was only about ten years ago

00:05:17I first saw how Brussels sprouts grew.

00:05:20I had no idea that's what it was like.

00:05:23When I first saw it, I thought it was something from space.

00:05:26I could not believe it.

00:05:28There have been gardening programmes on television for many years now.

00:05:31You have no excuse.

00:05:32I am so... Alan, mea culpa, I am so sorry.

00:05:37You know that carrots and potatoes both come out the ground.

00:05:39No, they don't.

00:05:40They do.

00:05:41Yes, I've seen them.

00:05:42What's about parsnips?

00:05:43I'll blow your mind.

00:05:46Look, two masters of their craft here.

00:05:48You, Claire, and Andy as well.

00:05:51I mean, inspirations, people that you're heroes when you were...

00:05:55You know, not when you were growing up,

00:05:56but when you've been doing your job.

00:05:57Who do you regard as your hero?

00:05:58Well, Terry Wogan was a...

00:06:00I mean, watching him and the way he was off-camera, off-mic as well,

00:06:05I think there is a lot, and we've talked about this,

00:06:07and I, you know, I hold Alan in huge regard,

00:06:10but not just because of what you are on screen,

00:06:12but I think there's a code of behaviour, a standard of behaviour,

00:06:15and I do think that's important.

00:06:16So if studio managers, floor managers like you, you're in.

00:06:20And so I will always ask the floor manager,

00:06:22is something so good to work with?

00:06:24And then you get your proper answer.

00:06:25Yeah, yeah.

00:06:26So Terry, what about you, Andy?

00:06:28Heroes in theatre?

00:06:30Well, the big thing for me when I was a boy,

00:06:34I sort of knew I wanted to act,

00:06:36and then I went to see Jaws at the pictures

00:06:38and saw Richard Dreyfuss on screen.

00:06:40And that was...

00:06:41That really brought home for me how important representation is,

00:06:44because there I was, little curly-haired Jewish kid wearing glasses,

00:06:47and there he came onto the screen,

00:06:49little curly-haired Jewish guy with glasses,

00:06:51and I thought, you don't have to look like Steve McQueen

00:06:54or Robert Redford.

00:06:56You don't have to be a god to do that.

00:06:57You can look kind of normal.

00:06:59And so that was an epiphany for me,

00:07:02and that really stayed with me, actually, and always has.

00:07:05So then I've had many people that I sort of look at their careers

00:07:09and think, oh, my goodness, you know, you'd love to be like that.

00:07:12But that's always been a thing for me.

00:07:14Have you ever met any of your heroes?

00:07:15Do you ever get to meet...

00:07:16I've met quite a lot of them.

00:07:17Yeah.

00:07:18And none have ever disappointed, including yourself.

00:07:20Oh, stop it.

00:07:21No, that's...

00:07:22I mean, it's such a relief,

00:07:23because that thing about when you do always...

00:07:25You've always admired somebody,

00:07:26and, you know, we're lucky enough to get to meet a lot of people.

00:07:29Very, very few of them, to be fair, let you down.

00:07:31But when they do...

00:07:32Oh, the disappointment.

00:07:34But when they're great and when they're even better than you expect them to be.

00:07:37Helen Mirren, right, is somebody I have had the pleasure of meeting.

00:07:41My God, she's knockout.

00:07:42And so much fun and so naughty.

00:07:44Yeah.

00:07:44And I love that.

00:07:45You get, like, Celia Imry, who I did Traces with.

00:07:47Celia's someone who probably shouldn't eat Brussels sprouts.

00:07:50She doesn't eat them.

00:07:52She's terrific fun and, again, has got that naughty side to her

00:07:55that it makes it so much more enjoyable.

00:07:58Now, you, I know, Clare, have acting aspirations.

00:08:03The reason I know you have acting aspirations is,

00:08:06is from this particular clip I'm going to show you now.

00:08:08This is Clare Balding, acting.

00:08:15Joe Calzani!

00:08:16Joe Calzani!

00:08:18Hello, Joe.

00:08:20Hey, how you doing?

00:08:20What say you and I engage in some sexual sparring?

00:08:24Ding, ding, round one, bash, bash, a boom, a bash, bang, bang, boom.

00:08:32Oh, I'm so, so sorry, Miss Balding.

00:08:35So sorry, sorry.

00:08:38What an I'm weird.

00:08:39Oh, it's impossible to be casual around famous people.

00:08:42I know, I know.

00:08:43I just got my mom in Clare Balding's face.

00:08:44Okay, could we keep that quiet?

00:08:47I was expecting rather more than that.

00:08:49I was hoping for something sort of Stanislavski-esque.

00:08:54Sorry, yeah, I didn't have any dialogue there.

00:08:57It's harder with that dialogue there.

00:08:58I would agree.

00:08:59And here's the truth.

00:09:01That was a very truthful, cold stare.

00:09:05Yes, that's what I worked on.

00:09:06Yeah, and a good fringe bounce as well.

00:09:08Well, there's always the good fringe bounce.

00:09:10I can provide that any time it's needed.

00:09:13I have a few times appeared as versions of myself,

00:09:18because it's never quite you, is it?

00:09:20It's, oh, I remember working with Victoria Wood once

00:09:22and doing a bit in one of her sketches,

00:09:24and she wrote me a very sweet note afterwards and said,

00:09:26thank you for coming on, because it's like playing you but not.

00:09:30Oh.

00:09:31And it is there.

00:09:32It's just that little bit of extra, I suppose.

00:09:35But you've done quite a bit of it.

00:09:36I remember you in W1A.

00:09:37I enjoyed playing.

00:09:38Coming up and down an escalator.

00:09:40Well, and my father said to me,

00:09:42you were so horrid to that boy in reception.

00:09:44And I said, Dad, I was acting.

00:09:45Maybe you were really not very nice to me.

00:09:48Dad, seriously, I was acting.

00:09:50I had dialogue and everything in that.

00:09:52That's quite a compliment, though, from you, Dad.

00:09:53I got name-checked in it, but that was it.

00:09:56Yes, were you put up for Brisbane's Tastiest Village?

00:09:59Brisbane's Tastiest Village.

00:10:00But haven't we both been offered that show, actually, in real life?

00:10:04No, you were, were you? No, I wasn't.

00:10:08Fine, OK.

00:10:09Well, much more from Claire and Andy coming up a little bit later on.

00:10:12Regulars to the show will know this is the moment we invite our guests

00:10:16to partake of a cornucopia of delicacies.

00:10:19We have cucumber sandwiches.

00:10:21We have, you know, probably the first mince pies you're going to see

00:10:23and some Christmas cake and all sorts that do tuck in.

00:10:26Fondant fancies a go-go here.

00:10:28Still ahead, impressing your guests with the newest wines on the market.

00:10:32Wine expert Tony Oshoba has her festive hit list of the latest releases

00:10:37to try this Christmas, which will clearly go down well with these mince pies.

00:10:40There's even a new fizz, would you believe,

00:10:42and bringing their reindeer farm to Manor Farm.

00:10:46I'll be meeting the Cotswolds couple who've created a winter wonderland

00:10:49where it's Christmas all year round.

00:10:51Wrap up, Warngang.

00:10:52We're journeying north.

00:10:54Well, not quite north, just over there, actually, in Paddock 2.

00:10:58But it's not. It's going to be brilliant.

00:11:02Fondant fancy, anybody? Or a grape?

00:11:04Well, grape.

00:11:05A grape. Have a grape. Cheese and grape.

00:11:07Cheese and grape. Lovely.

00:11:09It's sophisticated, this show.

00:11:10I'm grabbing a grape.

00:11:11Can I eat the fig?

00:11:12Of course you can eat the fig.

00:11:14From idyllic woodlands to coastal villages

00:11:31to chocolate box cottages nestled deep in hillsides

00:11:35and secret hideaways.

00:11:36Oh, the romance of the British countryside.

00:11:39Coming up, with a career that spanned a slew of shrewdly inhabited parts

00:11:43in Hollywood films,

00:11:46Peaky Blinders, on the box,

00:11:47and on stage, too numerous to mention.

00:11:50Andy Nyman, back on the boards,

00:11:52this time in the revival of Mel Brooks' outrageously funny The Producers.

00:11:58Now, surely there is no better way

00:12:01to signal the arrival of Christmas in our homes

00:12:03than by hanging a wreath on the front door.

00:12:06The tradition began in Northern Europe in the 16th century,

00:12:10would you believe,

00:12:11when locals would prune their evergreen trees

00:12:13to create early incarnations of the Christmas tree.

00:12:16They'd then weave the offcuts into wreaths,

00:12:20an early form of German recycling.

00:12:22Well, keen to embrace that no-waste philosophy today,

00:12:25here to show us how to create a Christmas wreath

00:12:27using just seven seasonal pieces of winter foliage.

00:12:31Welcome back.

00:12:32Florist extraordinaire Simon Lycett weaving away.

00:12:35Weaving away, I am.

00:12:37I'm struggling and wrestling with the dogwood.

00:12:41As you do.

00:12:42It's a gorgeous colour, isn't it?

00:12:43Yeah, it's a lovely colour,

00:12:44because it's quite flexible at the same time,

00:12:46because it's still stuck inside there.

00:12:46It's what you need is something,

00:12:48if you've got, I mean, to make a Christmas wreath,

00:12:50you need a base of some sort.

00:12:52Yeah.

00:12:52It can sometimes be a wire coat hanger from the dry cleaners.

00:12:55What works really well and is super sustainable is something like this,

00:12:59which is just to use some twigs that you've pruned that have got nice sap

00:13:03supple tea to them, and then just create yourself a wreath like this.

00:13:07You see, just like, he does that and says,

00:13:09and there you are, ladies and gentlemen,

00:13:10it's done with the base of a wreath.

00:13:12Wait till you're blooming out.

00:13:13Actually, it wouldn't with you.

00:13:14It'd be half an hour and you're done.

00:13:15The rest of us, it'll be a couple of hours.

00:13:17But it does look good, doesn't it?

00:13:19It's a gorgeous thing.

00:13:20I mean, even if you don't want to put many more decorations on it,

00:13:23you've started off with a really pretty base.

00:13:25Yeah.

00:13:25The secret for this one, though, is to make sure you use nice,

00:13:28supple branches with some sap still in them so that they're lovely and bendy.

00:13:32Otherwise they'll crack and break when you're bending them.

00:13:35Exactly.

00:13:36And if you want to just anchor it occasionally with a bit of twine,

00:13:39that's also fine.

00:13:40Right.

00:13:40You've got another one here, then.

00:13:41This is more...

00:13:42This is your luxy high-end wreath.

00:13:45This is how we make all our wreaths at Lysart Towers,

00:13:48and it gives you a gorgeous base,

00:13:50because it's a wire frame that you can buy from your local florists,

00:13:55and then it's using some sphagnum moss,

00:13:57which I know is a bit controversial.

00:14:01It is, isn't it?

00:14:01It's always difficult, this one,

00:14:02because, you know, sphagnum moss is from moorland,

00:14:05and, you know, we're trying to conserve our moorland.

00:14:07Yes.

00:14:07So...

00:14:07It's sold.

00:14:09A lot of garden centres sell it in bags to line,

00:14:12hanging baskets and things.

00:14:13Yeah, yeah.

00:14:13If your lawn's like mine,

00:14:14you can probably wreck it.

00:14:15Well, actually...

00:14:16Your lawn won't be anything like mine.

00:14:17No, no, it is.

00:14:18You see, I'm organic, so I have lots of moss in my lawn.

00:14:20So if you get your wiretooth rake out,

00:14:22and pull the moss out of your lawn,

00:14:23just as easy to use that, isn't it, really?

00:14:25Yes, it is.

00:14:26And it's really...

00:14:26You're doing the lawn a favour as well.

00:14:28Yes.

00:14:28So it's a double whammy.

00:14:29So we're going to bind it all over,

00:14:31and then we end up with one like this.

00:14:34Right.

00:14:34Well, you can reuse this year after year,

00:14:36presumably, because you can soak it again.

00:14:37Exactly, yes.

00:14:38So once you've done it,

00:14:39you are being sustainable by just making sure

00:14:41you're using the same stuff.

00:14:42You're being sustainable for a good two or three years

00:14:44before it becomes a bit brittle.

00:14:46Yeah.

00:14:46And then it can be composted again.

00:14:48So it's a good, complete circle to create a gorgeous circle.

00:14:53So if you've got one that you did last year,

00:14:54soak it well before you put it together.

00:14:56Exactly.

00:14:57And this becomes our lovely base

00:14:59for adding all our gorgeous foliage.

00:15:00Right.

00:15:01Well, you'll be back a little bit later.

00:15:02Now that we've done the bottom half,

00:15:04you'll be back later with the top.

00:15:05Show us the full-blown Christmas wreath.

00:15:13Now, the Cotswolds may not be the first place

00:15:15you'd expect to find a herd of reindeer,

00:15:17but thanks to one couple's love of the festive season,

00:15:20that's exactly what you'll discover on their farm in Sirencester.

00:15:24Building on their already successful Christmas tree business,

00:15:28they've been rearing reindeer for over 15 years,

00:15:30and now have one of the largest permanent herds in the UK.

00:15:34With the worldwide reindeer population at risk due to global warming,

00:15:37farms like theirs go some way to protecting and preserving the species.

00:15:42Well, taking a break from their busiest time of year, welcome Andrew Woodward and Clare Ward,

00:15:48ably assisted by Anne, holding on to one or two, and just a few of their herd of reindeer.

00:15:55Lovely to see you again, you're on the programme a few years ago, and it's nice to see the herd is still going strong.

00:16:00How old is your oldest reindeer now then, Andrew?

00:16:03You'll remember Satu came to see you a few years ago, and she is now 22 and a half years old,

00:16:09which is a ripe old age for a reindeer.

00:16:12So how long can they live?

00:16:14We don't know, we're off the chart now.

00:16:18Well, let me know, 22 and a half.

00:16:20Now I notice the antlers here, Satu's antlers are quite felty,

00:16:24whereas the other reindeer's antlers, they're quite naked and quite sharp,

00:16:27and I'm rather worried about you dodging out the way.

00:16:31Yeah, well, having reindeer and particularly feeding them is always a bit of a contact sport,

00:16:37it's just something that you have to accept as part of the job.

00:16:39You learn to duck quite readily.

00:16:41Yeah, yeah, or get your face out of the way.

00:16:43Now, when it comes to antlers, male and female, Clare, they both have antlers.

00:16:47They both have antlers, and the males will lose them every year.

00:16:52Yeah.

00:16:52So the males will lose them around Christmas time.

00:16:55Yeah.

00:16:56The females, if they're not pregnant, it's January,

00:16:59and if they are pregnant, they hang on till May, because they always

00:17:03carve in May, the first week of May.

00:17:05Now, this is rather upsetting, because Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer,

00:17:07who's out at Christmas then, it's probably Rudolfina.

00:17:10Yeah.

00:17:11So the females will have them at Christmas, which is why these are females here.

00:17:14Yes.

00:17:15But the males lose them that quickly.

00:17:16Yes, because as soon as they're after the rut, which is the mating season,

00:17:20Yeah, in autumn, yeah.

00:17:21their testosterone drops, and that is the trigger to lose their antlers.

00:17:25Right, oh dear.

00:17:26Yeah.

00:17:26The ignominy of it all.

00:17:28Now, we've talked about the grown-up mums here.

00:17:30What about these two here?

00:17:32Right.

00:17:33This is Chunky.

00:17:34Now, she's eight years old.

00:17:35Chunky, and she's only got one antler, so.

00:17:37Yeah, well, she's just lost it.

00:17:39So, because she's had a calf, she now doesn't need them.

00:17:43So, she's lost it.

00:17:44It's already starting to grow, because it's like a cartoon bump.

00:17:47So, they grow quite quickly.

00:17:49Yeah, up to an inch a day.

00:17:50Wow.

00:17:51I know, it's incredible.

00:17:52And this is little May, who was born on 1st of May.

00:17:55Goodness me.

00:17:56And she's, now look at her, she's just got two single ones.

00:17:59I know.

00:17:59They've become more elaborate as they age.

00:18:01Yes, yeah.

00:18:01I mean, that's a glorious set there, isn't it?

00:18:04Yeah.

00:18:05Our males antlers are as big as me, so I can stand in the middle of them, so.

00:18:09So, how do you go about acquiring reindeer?

00:18:13They're not in the shops.

00:18:14No, no, no. Well, we bought our first reindeer in this country, but when we wanted to get

00:18:23some more, we actually investigated and went up to the reindeer farm up north, which is

00:18:28right at the top of Finland, and we actually bought 10 calves from Nassami, because they

00:18:34love their animals.

00:18:35Getting them home must have been quite interesting.

00:18:37Yes, it was.

00:18:38Getting them home was fun, yeah.

00:18:39How did you do it?

00:18:40About 8,000 miles door to door, we jumped in our Land Rover and trailer and drove.

00:18:45Are you serious?

00:18:46Obviously, yeah.

00:18:46We cleared it with Defra, and they said, yeah, go do it.

00:18:51And so we drove 400 miles north of the Arctic Circle in December.

00:18:56Yeah.

00:18:57One of the dumbest things I have ever done, but, you know.

00:19:00It was quite spectacular, it was.

00:19:02Yeah, it was, you know, the care of the animals made it a real serious journey.

00:19:08The last 1,000 miles was on ice, but, you know, if you're kitted out for it, you've

00:19:16still got the ice tires.

00:19:17So, and we brought back 12 lovely reindeer calves, of which Chunky was one of them.

00:19:24Yeah.

00:19:25And the rest we bred at home.

00:19:27It must be wonderful for kids to come and actually see reindeer.

00:19:30Yes.

00:19:30Yeah.

00:19:31Yeah.

00:19:31It's lovely to see their faces.

00:19:33It's lovely to see the wonder of people seeing something that they wouldn't normally see.

00:19:40And let's not overlook the fact that the reindeer love it.

00:19:42Yeah.

00:19:43They do.

00:19:43Are they so sure?

00:19:44Yeah, they're turning up with treats.

00:19:46Oh, yeah.

00:19:46Yeah.

00:19:47Yeah.

00:19:47Reindeer are like the most shallow humans you could ever wish to meet.

00:19:51While ever you've got something that they want, then you're number one priority.

00:19:56I'm afraid as soon as you don't have that, you're not even worth looking at.

00:20:00It's been lovely to meet you again, chaps.

00:20:02Sorry, ladies.

00:20:05Thank you both very much indeed.

00:20:06I mean, it's just, it really wouldn't be Christmas without seeing reindeer.

00:20:09They're such noble beasts, aren't they, when this time they were their heads up like that.

00:20:13I do think they're special.

00:20:14They're wonderful animals, yeah.

00:20:16Pleasure to you.

00:20:17Andrew, Claire, and thank you very much indeed for holding on to that one over there.

00:20:21Mischief, Chunky, Satu and May.

00:20:23Thank you very much and a very Merry Christmas to you.

00:20:26Merry Christmas to you too.

00:20:27And Merry Christmas.

00:20:28Still to come, opening up is archives to celebrate life with the royal family.

00:20:32Photographer Chris Jackson shares the stories behind his most newsworthy images from the royal beat.

00:20:38And it's the Laugh Out Loud musical with the original Broadway production

00:20:42winning a record-breaking 12 Tony Awards.

00:20:45And this revival proves why.

00:20:47Andy Nyman taking on the role of the beleaguered antihero

00:20:51Max Bialystok in Mel Brooks' Hoot of a Production, The Producers.

00:20:56I'll be back with Andy for a Hoot of a Chat right after this.

00:21:00Welcome back to Love Your Weekend.

00:21:15Tis the season to be jolly.

00:21:17And he always is.

00:21:1812 months of the year, in fact, Simon likes it here with the decorations that really do embody the spirit of Christmas.

00:21:24Leslie Joseph, hanging out with the big boys, and not for the first time.

00:21:28And getting the party started in style, wine expert Tony Asoba has you covered with the finest new British wines to try this festive season.

00:21:37Now, as the late great James Stewart said, the great thing about the movies is you're giving people little tiny pieces of time that they never forget.

00:21:45Which brings me on to this Mel Brooks classic, a scheming producer and his mousy accountant in a cinematic triumph,

00:21:53which has now been turned into a West End masterpiece.

00:21:57And if you go and see this, you'll be in for a moment you will never forget.

00:22:01I'll see you next time.

00:22:31The Producers is on at the Garrick Theatre in London.

00:22:44I went last week and I wept with laughter.

00:22:49And the man who is at the heart of it all, Andy Nyman,

00:22:52barely a moment off stage.

00:22:54I know.

00:22:54You were on last night.

00:22:55I just, I don't know how you have the energy to get through it.

00:22:59Packed audience, standing ovations.

00:23:01I saw it years ago on Broadway and then in London again when I came back here.

00:23:05But this, it's even, I don't know, even funnier than it ever was.

00:23:09It's funny, isn't it?

00:23:09Because I too saw it then.

00:23:11It was one of the first shows we took our kids to on Broadway.

00:23:14So they'd have been seven and ten, I think.

00:23:17And it was incredible.

00:23:19It was this giant spectacle.

00:23:21And what's amazing is here we are 26 years later.

00:23:25And this is the first time Mel Brooks has allowed a new version of it.

00:23:30The show's not been rewritten, but it's been redesigned and it's really stripped back and gone back to the sort of dirty truth of what the film is.

00:23:41And because the world has changed around Mel Brooks' amazing writing, it feels so new, essential, outrageous.

00:23:51It is outrageous because when you saw it, it was always, I mean, to do a song, this is about a musical which they discover, these two, or one producer who inveigles another accountant to become a producer.

00:24:03They've discovered, or the accountant discovers, that if you put on a flop, you can make far more money by keeping your investment than if you put on a hit.

00:24:10So they try and find a script, which is a guaranteed flop, and they put it on, and it's an outrageously amazing hit, with songs like Springtime for Hitler and Germany, Winter for Poland and France.

00:24:22It was pretty outrageous.

00:24:23Nowadays, with the sensitivities around nowadays...

00:24:26Well, that's what's amazing, isn't it?

00:24:27That's why you're in the audience going, gosh, we are laughing at this, but somehow it's essential to do that.

00:24:35It really is, and that's Mel Brooks' genius, is that he uses satire as a weapon in the best way, because underneath it, he's also incredibly kind, because for all of the fun it pokes at everybody within the show.

00:24:51There's a real sweetness there that's about this friendship between two men, but you feel in the first two or three minutes, five minutes, this sense of, oh, can we laugh at that?

00:25:06And then within about 15 minutes, you realise, for the audience, all bets are off, and it's just gales of laughter and joy.

00:25:16It is a very, very joyous show.

00:25:19The music is so fun.

00:25:21And it's humanity poking fun at itself, really, isn't it?

00:25:23It really, really is, yeah, yeah.

00:25:26Yeah, how on earth do you stay fresh?

00:25:30I mean, you're doing, how many performances a week?

00:25:32Eight, eight shows a week.

00:25:33Eight shows a week, and you are never off, it's energetic.

00:25:37This is what I'm surprised that you can sit here without being asleep.

00:25:40I really am.

00:25:41What's your secret?

00:25:42How do you do it?

00:25:43I take care of myself, is the first thing, and I eat well, and I exercise,

00:25:48but the biggest thing is, and it sounds schmaltzy to say it, I just adore what I do.

00:25:54I've always loved it.

00:25:55I love the lifestyle of it.

00:25:57I love every aspect, both the highs and the lows, of being an actor,

00:26:05and because I do lots of other things, I write and direct and stuff as well,

00:26:08just being in show business, I really love it.

00:26:09I've never taken it for granted.

00:26:12It started its life at the Mania Chocolate Factory, as did a completely different musical,

00:26:18whereas the producers' is all about humour and hilarity.

00:26:21Poignancy, heart and love are at the core of Fiddler on the Roof.

00:26:26To life from Fiddler on the Roof.

00:26:46That was a production, you did that performance in Covent Garden, it wasn't the one.

00:26:49Yeah, that was at West End Live, so you're in front of 25,000 people there.

00:26:53Again, heavily based on the Jewish tradition, that one there.

00:26:57I have to tell you, and I haven't told you before,

00:27:00Alice and I came and saw Fiddler at, I'd been in it as an amateur years and years ago,

00:27:05and seen one or two other productions.

00:27:06We came and saw it at the Mania Chocolate Factory and decided that we would see no other production.

00:27:10We're never going to it again, because it was just the definitive.

00:27:15Quite a small theatre, you felt included, you were within the village of Amitevka,

00:27:20and your performance as the father, because we were so close,

00:27:23which is not always comfortable in theatre, but in Fiddler on the Roof,

00:27:27oh my goodness me, you felt drawn in.

00:27:29Terribly, terribly moving.

00:27:31I mean, I can't hear Sunrise, Sunset without weeping.

00:27:33Yeah, of course.

00:27:34And from your point of view, being Jewish,

00:27:36I mean, the humour of Jewishness in the producers,

00:27:39but there, the poignancy and tragedy of the Jewish faith

00:27:44and those pogroms that were going on in Russia then,

00:27:46I mean, a completely different part of you to draw on us.

00:27:50It really was, and it was, look, it's an honour to have done it.

00:27:54It's the first time in my career where I was cast in a role

00:27:58before a director or anyone else was on board.

00:28:00And so when they said, oh, I think Sir Trevor Nunn is going to direct it,

00:28:05I'd be like, oh, gosh, OK.

00:28:09So Trevor and I got together and he said to me, you know,

00:28:12what do you think this show is?

00:28:16And it was very important to me, firstly,

00:28:19that I felt that I could honour my grandparents,

00:28:22my great-grandparents, because this is fundamentally their story.

00:28:25But the play that was then written around that, you know,

00:28:31is so honest about marriage, about parenthood,

00:28:36about people, immigrant families living under stress

00:28:41with threat of having to leave.

00:28:44And it was very important to me that I think one of the things

00:28:47which is so lovely to hear that made it so truthful for you

00:28:50and so resonant is that you just tell the truth of those people

00:28:55and then the Jewishness, that's just, it's in the fabric of what it is.

00:28:59You don't have to make it about that.

00:29:01Well, it worked, I can tell you why.

00:29:03What intriguing, which I didn't know about you,

00:29:05was this fascination with ghost stories and the paranormal.

00:29:09And you've written this, like, ghost stories.

00:29:11Yes.

00:29:12Shall we have a peep? Let's have a look.

00:29:13Oh, yes.

00:29:14Here's a bit of ghost stories.

00:29:18OK?

00:29:21Yeah.

00:29:25OK.

00:29:29So, who else is up here with us in the upstairs room?

00:29:36No one, it's just us.

00:29:37No, sorry, in the top bedroom.

00:29:39My brother's old room.

00:29:40Right, your brother, so is he still living at home?

00:29:42What, Mr Perfect?

00:29:43No, he's 25 and married, he's got a flat.

00:29:46There's no one here, it's just us.

00:29:48Sorry, I would have just got there.

00:29:52There's nobody here, I'm telling you, there's nobody here.

00:29:54Do you want to go and look?

00:30:09No.

00:30:10Fine, then.

00:30:11The stillness, they, see, adding to the horror of it all.

00:30:17What is it about the horrors, John, that detracts you so much?

00:30:19I mean, it's all about, you know, suggestion, really, isn't it?

00:30:25Jeremy Dyson and I wrote the play and directed the play

00:30:29and I starred as Goodman in it and then we did the same on film.

00:30:32We met when we were 15 at a Jewish summer camp and decided,

00:30:37because generally you get sent to those things to try and find a wife.

00:30:41That's what your parrot's hoping for.

00:30:43I found Jeremy.

00:30:44But it was also at the same time as the video Nasty Boom happened in the 80s,

00:30:50which I was obsessed with, still am.

00:30:53So Jeremy and I, in later years, decided we wanted to write together.

00:30:59And there's something so fascinating about ghost stories

00:31:04and particularly within the history of Britain and how it sits.

00:31:08And here we are in this lovely, cosy, you know, cottage out in the countryside

00:31:13and there is something unquestionably unnerving about the silence, the emptiness.

00:31:24There's a city boy.

00:31:27It's lovely.

00:31:28It is lovely.

00:31:29But it is also the world of M.R. James and Christmas ghost stories.

00:31:36Well, diversity is clearly the key in your life,

00:31:40the variety of things you do, including Wicked.

00:31:44Elphaba.

00:31:46Elphaba Throck.

00:31:49This is my younger sister, Nessa Rose.

00:31:51As you can see, she's a perfectly acceptable colour.

00:31:53Stop making a spectacle of yourself.

00:32:00I was trying to be nice.

00:32:01You're so nice and good and correct.

00:32:02Did I do something bad?

00:32:03No.

00:32:04How did that come across?

00:32:05I don't see colours.

00:32:06My precious little girl.

00:32:09Father.

00:32:12A parting gift.

00:32:19Mother's jeweled shoes.

00:32:22So they can all see how beautiful you are right down to your toes.

00:32:30Thank you so much.

00:32:31I love them.

00:32:33Let me put them with your boxes.

00:32:35Of course.

00:32:38Suitably suited and booted there.

00:32:40Incredible costumes and sets.

00:32:42I mean, like being in your own fairy tale.

00:32:44In all my years, I have never been involved with anything of that scale.

00:32:48I've done big things, but that is like nothing else.

00:32:51That set was extraordinary.

00:32:55Is that intimidating rather than helpful to an actor?

00:32:57I don't find it intimidating because I just sort of roll with it and think, wow.

00:33:00I mean, when you first walk on, you realise, holy cow, this is something.

00:33:06But ultimately, it's just the same thing.

00:33:07You've just got to do the work.

00:33:08Do your bit.

00:33:09But honestly, Alan, it was mind-blowing, let alone the talent of the cast.

00:33:14Who were just fabulous.

00:33:16But then it also boils down to the truth of the script.

00:33:19That is a father who loves one daughter and not the other.

00:33:21It's heartbreaking.

00:33:23You know, and to see that play, I think that's one of the reasons it touched so many people.

00:33:27You know, the songs are brilliant.

00:33:29The truth of the story is brilliant.

00:33:31And to have done it as two films just means it opens out and can breathe.

00:33:35Thank you for so much pleasure over the years.

00:33:37It's nice of me to get the chance to say.

00:33:38It's so lovely.

00:33:39Thank you so much.

00:33:40See you again in whatever you do.

00:33:42Thank you, Andy.

00:33:42Now, the natural world in close at night may unnerve Andy, but we tend to love it.

00:33:48We're turning our attention to the wonderful vistas that you've been capturing.

00:33:52It's time for Walk on the Wild Side.

00:33:56Your dose of nature, sorted.

00:33:59Walk on the Wild Side on Love Your Weekend.

00:34:01Sponsored by WWF.

00:34:03The Wild Side on Love Your Weekend.

00:34:21The Wild Side on Love Your Weekend.

00:35:25Oh, thank you for those wonderfully diverse pictures that reflect the very best of the British countryside.

00:35:41Please do keep sending them in. We do love them.

00:35:43Coming up, it was the exclusive they all wanted, but which we got.

00:35:48And for a mission of such importance, we needed a special reporter.

00:35:51Someone with a natural affinity for wildlife.

00:35:54Fearless in the field and donning the flak jacket once again.

00:35:58Leslie Joseph heads off on safari to celebrate Christmas with some of her wilder friends.

00:36:04What? No big ins.

00:36:06And speaking of flamboyant characters, he's making an impact before we've even made it through the front door.

00:36:12Florist Simon Lighthouse getting creative with Christmas wreaths.

00:36:15The bigger, the better, it seems.

00:36:17I'll see you with Simon and his seasonal blooms right after this.

00:36:22Welcome back to Love Your Weekend on this rather damp Sunday morning.

00:36:39Coming up, with Christmas just weeks away, she's bringing out the good stuff early.

00:36:44Tony Osoba back in the barn with her pick of the best new British wines to try on the big day.

00:36:51Leslie Joseph's donning her binoculars as we let her loose on safari.

00:36:55And it's the ultimate game of deceit and betrayal.

00:36:58Yes, the fingerless gloves are on.

00:37:01Let the mind games begin.

00:37:03Celebrity traitor star Claire Balding talks traitors and faithfuls and being banished by her fellow players.

00:37:09As she says, she was glad not to be murdered.

00:37:12Every cloud, eh?

00:37:14Before that, it's time for your voice of nature.

00:37:17Here's Amanda Redmond and the Snow Fairy by Claude Mackay.

00:37:29Throughout the afternoon, I watch them there.

00:37:32Snow fairies falling, falling from the sky.

00:37:36Whirling fantastic in the misty air.

00:37:40Contending fierce for space supremacy.

00:37:42And they flew down a mightier force at night, as though in heaven there was revolt and riot.

00:37:50And they, frail things, had taken panic flight down to the calm earth, seeking peace and quiet.

00:37:57I went to bed and rose early dawn, to see them huddled together in a heap.

00:38:05Each merged into the other upon the lawn, worn out by the sharp struggle, fast asleep.

00:38:12The sun shone brightly on them half the day.

00:38:15By night, they stealthily had stolen away.

00:38:20Ah, thank you, Amanda.

00:38:29The fairy in our Christmassy programme.

00:38:32Time now to pick up where we left off in our wreath-making masterclass from our festive florist, Simon Lycett.

00:38:39So we've tackled the bases, and now on to the exciting part of the decoration.

00:38:43So we're doing two.

00:38:43We're doing a rustic wreath.

00:38:45We are.

00:38:45Using all the goodies you get from the garden.

00:38:47Yeah.

00:38:47Just nip out there, snip everything off.

00:38:50And then you...

00:38:51So you've got on there, you've got ivy.

00:38:52So that's my base.

00:38:53There's our dogwood base.

00:38:55And then I'm just taking little handfuls of whatever's around and about.

00:38:59I love all the different conifers, the evergreens.

00:39:02You really want to choose something that's not going to wilt if you're hanging it inside.

00:39:06Outside, you've got a bit more leeway because the moisture in the air will sustain things.

00:39:10It's cooler, yeah.

00:39:11So we continue on around, and then we end up with one that looks like that.

00:39:16This fabric is largely beautiful.

00:39:17It's gorgeous, isn't it?

00:39:19Isn't it gorgeous?

00:39:19And smells wonderful.

00:39:20Yeah.

00:39:20So now we've got our base.

00:39:22I've, again, raided the garden for things.

00:39:25You know, I'm lucky in London the hydrangeas really aren't affected by the cold, wet weather.

00:39:30And so I've got these lovely stems which I've just mounted onto a stub wire.

00:39:33Yeah.

00:39:34That's neat.

00:39:34So it's much more pliable.

00:39:36And it just means that you can secure anything and you push the wire in at the front.

00:39:42It comes back on the base.

00:39:43Yeah.

00:39:43And then you just push it back in on itself, which stops it being a nasty, scratchy thing on your door.

00:39:49On your paintwork.

00:39:50Yes, exactly.

00:39:51It anchors it as well.

00:39:51Exactly.

00:39:52I love these, when you get this bi-coloured effect on these hydrangeas.

00:39:56I mean, it's wonderful, isn't it?

00:39:57It's sort of the pink and the green, the sort of colder weather seems to burnish them, doesn't it?

00:40:01And it doesn't matter how hard you wish it or try it, you can't influence it.

00:40:06It's purely nature doing its thing.

00:40:08You get what you give them.

00:40:09Yes.

00:40:10Rose hips.

00:40:11Lovely to put things like rose hips in because they add some colour.

00:40:15They're totally organic and sustainable.

00:40:16I mean, they also feed the birds, which is wonderful.

00:40:20And you can find all sorts of berries, whatever is in the garden, do some foraging and find some lovely things, a bit of bartering with neighbours as to what they've got.

00:40:28So you're doing that all the way around.

00:40:30You can either go all the way around or you can choose to just do smaller areas of it.

00:40:34It really depends.

00:40:36You'll be amazed how many materials it uses.

00:40:38It eats stuff.

00:40:39Yeah.

00:40:40So it's really a case of pacing your design.

00:40:42We're talking about seven, though, and you have only got seven.

00:40:45And then, oh, is this the pièce de résistance?

00:40:47And then my little finish.

00:40:48I've never seen a bow as big as that.

00:40:50I made a bow out of some trails of ivy.

00:40:52Yeah.

00:40:52And I thought I would just whack that in at the bottom there, you see.

00:40:57Yeah.

00:40:57And again, I'm just securing it using my stub wire.

00:41:04And the stub wires you can get from your local flask.

00:41:07Oh, that's these, isn't it, the things here?

00:41:09The joy of them is that it does mean you can secure things relatively easily.

00:41:15Just attach your bow in at the base.

00:41:19Just give it a good, secure wire.

00:41:23You can take your time at home.

00:41:26You just set yourself an evening or an afternoon to do this.

00:41:29It's a really lovely thing to do, perhaps with a friend.

00:41:32Yeah.

00:41:32A couple of you having a little go at it.

00:41:34And then, at the very end, you've got your hook.

00:41:38I know this is where my duty comes in now.

00:41:40To hang it on.

00:41:41I'm nervous now.

00:41:41It doesn't fall apart.

00:41:43Right, there's my hook.

00:41:44Go around the front.

00:41:45And you can see it in all its glory.

00:41:47If that goes in there.

00:41:50There we are.

00:41:52Isn't that amazing?

00:41:53Beautiful.

00:41:53Lovely.

00:41:55A rustic wreath.

00:41:56Yes.

00:41:56Now, you're talking about a luxe, as you said, falling over a hay bale.

00:41:59You're talking about a luxe version as well.

00:42:02So, when you left me with my mossy base, I then bound some of this lovely blue pine on.

00:42:09Now, if you're buying one of these non-drop trees, you often need to trim a few branches

00:42:13from the bottom.

00:42:14These are perfect to use.

00:42:16And you can see how there was my base.

00:42:18Yeah.

00:42:18And I've bound it all over with the lovely blue pine, which is non-drop and smells yummy.

00:42:23And then I end up with one like this.

00:42:27And I've just been adding in.

00:42:28Oh, you've got twigs with lichen on it.

00:42:30Aren't they just joyous?

00:42:31It's a blue spruce, this, isn't it, actually?

00:42:32Yes.

00:42:33Yeah.

00:42:33And look at this lichen twig.

00:42:35So, this comes down from Scotland for me, from suppliers.

00:42:38Yeah.

00:42:38And it is just, it's the biggest treat for us to get hold of.

00:42:42I love it.

00:42:43And these long pine cones.

00:42:44And then pine cones again, mounted on the stub wire.

00:42:47And it's a bit hard on the hands, mounting the cones initially.

00:42:51But each year, when you've finished with your wreath, you can undo them, remove them, store

00:42:56them with them on their wires.

00:42:57Dry.

00:42:58Dry.

00:42:59Somewhere dry.

00:43:00And preferably vermin-free, so that when you go back to the box next year,

00:43:04they're still intact and already wired and good to go.

00:43:07The mice haven't been in there.

00:43:09And I thread them in, so I go in from the front, just sort of lifting up some of the

00:43:15pine, so that they don't sit on top, they sort of nestle inside.

00:43:18Yeah, and they're sticking out of it.

00:43:19And then, on the reverse, my wire gets pushed in again, so I'm not scratchy on the paintwork.

00:43:25You've then got walnuts.

00:43:27Yes, these I love.

00:43:28They're a bit fiddly, and we do use the glue gun just to anchor them.

00:43:32But again, they'll last for years if you keep them somewhere free from vermin.

00:43:37Yeah, yeah.

00:43:38And these I thread in at the front and the back.

00:43:42I mean, you can use chestnuts, baubles.

00:43:44There's all sorts of things.

00:43:45You can just do a little cluster of them, join together, twisty-twisty, snip them off,

00:43:53bend it on itself, so that you're adding in a big handful of them on one wire.

00:44:01And then you've got succulents.

00:44:02You've got echeverias.

00:44:04Aren't they a lovely, gorgeous, glaucus grey with the pine colour?

00:44:08You see, so this is just a rosette whipped off, as you can see.

00:44:12And when you do that to an echeveria, it will then, often from the stalk that's left,

00:44:17it'll sprout and give you more of these rosettes, wonderfully succulent.

00:44:21And then some little sticks of cinnamon, which smell divine.

00:44:24Gorgeous, don't they?

00:44:25And you can buy decorative cinnamon that isn't for eating, so just be aware.

00:44:30Oh, right.

00:44:31Yes, it's normally less expensive, longer sticks, but you shouldn't use it in your mulled wine.

00:44:36Right.

00:44:36And then there's a finale.

00:44:38Yeah.

00:44:38A beautiful bow.

00:44:40Now, this, don't you love it?

00:44:41You're Sam's going to a store at Christmas, don't you?

00:44:43And the assistants have been doing this since September.

00:44:46And you watch the deafness with which they turn it around, tired of anything.

00:44:49I wish I could do that.

00:44:50And you know when they get home, they're never going to bother to do it on the Christmas presents

00:44:52because they've been doing it all day in the shop.

00:44:54They just don't want to do it at home.

00:44:57But I'm sure you do, Simon.

00:44:59I generally do have a door wreath, and I normally, because I'm a bit of a control freak,

00:45:04I normally give door wreaths to all my neighbours so that I know they've got a nice one.

00:45:09Don't lower the tone of the area with something nasty.

00:45:12I'm very good.

00:45:13Right.

00:45:14Give that a little trim off.

00:45:16Yeah.

00:45:17And then just anchor it.

00:45:20With your walnut.

00:45:21With a wire.

00:45:22Yeah.

00:45:25And then pop that in.

00:45:29Just a little finale.

00:45:31And there we are.

00:45:31Look at that.

00:45:32Go on then.

00:45:33Got to be done, hasn't it?

00:45:35Isn't that wonderful?

00:45:37Would you look at that?

00:45:38Created, before your very eyes, a luxurious, along with the rustic, door wreath.

00:45:45Pay your money.

00:45:45Take your choice.

00:45:46Simon, you're a star as ever.

00:45:48Thank you very much indeed.

00:45:49Merry Christmas.

00:45:50And you.

00:45:56Now, Christmas wouldn't be Christmas here at Love Your Weekend without a visit to one of

00:46:00the UK's wildlife parks and zoos to see how the animals in their care get to celebrate

00:46:06the season like the rest of us.

00:46:08This year, the honour goes to Woburn Safari Park in Bedfordshire, home to more than 75 species

00:46:13of exotic and endangered animals.

00:46:16Our resident natural history guru willingly took up the challenge.

00:46:21Well, she still had all the gear and the gap in her panto schedule, so it was a no-brainer, really.

00:46:26Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the world premiere of Leslie Joseph in A Very Safari Christmas.

00:46:43Where is he?

00:46:48I've been walking for miles, and there he is, Bob the Ranger.

00:46:56Hello, Bob.

00:46:57Hi.

00:46:58Safari time.

00:46:59Let's go.

00:46:59Let's go for it.

00:47:08Bob and I are taking Christmas presents for the lions, and I've got meat and partridge

00:47:13in here, and I'm going to not stay and see them eat it.

00:47:17I'm going to get back in the Land Rover.

00:47:23Are we actually going to be this close?

00:47:25So it might be worth actually putting the window up?

00:47:29Oh, it's terrifying.

00:47:33Oh, my God, it's huge.

00:47:34It's really weird.

00:47:35If part of you wants to open the door almost to stroke them, it's a weird sort of primeval

00:47:41feeling that...

00:47:43So you want to do it, but you don't really want to do it, do you?

00:47:47One just went over to another one, and they have a really loud growl.

00:47:51Is that...

00:47:51It's just a warning growl, you know?

00:47:53It's just siblings having a bit of a rivalry.

00:47:56I've never been this close to something so dangerous.

00:48:00Any closer?

00:48:02No closer.

00:48:03No closer.

00:48:04But you're always safe with a ranger, Bob.

00:48:05Oh, my God.

00:48:06Oh, my God.

00:48:07So how many in the Pride, and how many acres do they have here?

00:48:11So there's eight in the Pride here, and they roam in 34 acres, which is huge.

00:48:16So the lion rips the Christmas presents.

00:48:20It's just a little bit of mental stimulation.

00:48:22Kojo, he's weighing it at 350 kilos.

00:48:26It really is the most peculiar feeling.

00:48:30It's scary, and wonderful, and awesome.

00:48:34Right, I'm going to open my eyes.

00:48:45Where are we?

00:48:47Okay.

00:48:47Well, you can pan around here.

00:48:49Goodness, giraffes.

00:48:50They're beautiful.

00:48:52So what you're going to do is grab a bit of button and squash there.

00:48:55Love that.

00:48:58I've never seen such a long tongue in my life.

00:49:00I'll tell you what.

00:49:03There you go.

00:49:05And then Freya's coming across.

00:49:08Come on, Freya.

00:49:09Freya?

00:49:10Right, Kimmy, you've had enough.

00:49:12Bob, they're eating our wreath.

00:49:14Oh, no, they've turned it over.

00:49:17So we're obviously quite high up to feed them.

00:49:19How tall do they actually get?

00:49:21So probably around 14 plus feet.

00:49:23It's interesting, the barrels are there.

00:49:25But they can't just get their food.

00:49:27They've got to find food.

00:49:28So it's a bit like living in the wild.

00:49:30It's not just presented on a plate.

00:49:32They're all surrounding me now, fighting over the wreath.

00:49:36It's my Christmas present.

00:49:37So I'm sitting here in the meerkat enclosure, stuffing this straw with live crickets and mealworm.

00:49:52And this is going to be their Christmas present.

00:49:54So shall we put them down and go now?

00:49:55Okay, go and open the door.

00:49:57Don't call up my arm.

00:49:58Do not.

00:50:01Come on.

00:50:02What's this?

00:50:02Oh, they're adorable.

00:50:04Come on.

00:50:04Up you come.

00:50:05Up you come.

00:50:06Up you come.

00:50:06Yeah, yeah.

00:50:07Come on.

00:50:08Oh, look.

00:50:10No, no.

00:50:10Don't put the live ones on me.

00:50:11They are absolutely adorable.

00:50:14This one's trying to dig into my coat.

00:50:18Oh, I'm surrounded by meerkats.

00:50:20Oh, they're so, I thought they were much bigger than this.

00:50:24So where are meerkats wrong?

00:50:25So these generally originate from Southern Africa.

00:50:28And do they like it over here in the cold?

00:50:30Oh, yeah, they're fine because we have heated compartments.

00:50:33So they all look now, they're sunbathing, look.

00:50:38They're on sentry duty.

00:50:40Oh, are they?

00:50:41No, look, it's gone, it's gone already.

00:50:45I am now in the monkey enclosure, so I'm going to put this carrot nose on one of these mashed potatoes.

00:50:50Snowmen, and then we're going to feed them.

00:50:52What sort of monkeys are these?

00:50:54So these are your barbary apes, the barbary macaques.

00:50:56And do they exist in a family?

00:50:58Yeah, there is.

00:50:59So we've got five family groups here, and obviously the boss, his name is Bilinga, he's 22.

00:51:04It was his family came down first, and then if there's anything left, the next family in the rankings comes down, and that's how it works.

00:51:12He's eating everything.

00:51:13He's not leaving anything.

00:51:15Oh, my God, they've taken the whole snowmen.

00:51:17Oh, they really must think Christmas is here.

00:51:20I have had the best Christmas present ever.

00:51:24Happy Christmas to all of you.

00:51:27Oh, thanks, Leslie, and everyone at Woburn Safari Park for putting up with her.

00:51:32No, she's no bother, really.

00:51:33Coming up, keen to branch out from the Blue Nun this Christmas, look no further.

00:51:38Tony Osoba's here with a wine list packed with new whites, reds, and rosés to uncork on the big day.

00:51:45And he's the man with the access all areas past to the royal family.

00:51:49We go behind the lens with the royal photographer, Chris Jackson, to discover the stories behind the most iconic images of 2025.

00:51:58Join with Chris and his remarkable royal archive right after this.

00:52:02Welcome back to Love Your Weekend, this chilly Sunday morning.

00:52:18Coming up, she's the first lady of Wimbledon and the former flat jockey with an impressive pedigree.

00:52:23Claire Balding on why she enjoys the sporting life.

00:52:26Oh, she's got a new book, too.

00:52:28But first, my next guest is someone who's truly witnessed history up close,

00:52:33documenting unforgettable moments and intimate scenes featuring the royal family

00:52:38that have appeared in news outlets worldwide.

00:52:41A trusted royal photographer, he offers a unique perspective on what's been another eventful year for the family,

00:52:48both at home and abroad.

00:52:50Here with his personal standout images of recent years,

00:52:53and to share special memories of Christmas's past with the Windsors, welcome, Chris Jackson.

00:52:58Chris, lovely to see you, and what a display of your work.

00:53:02Well, I'm very lucky to be surrounded by my pictures. Thank you.

00:53:06How long have you been a trusted royal photographer?

00:53:08Well, I've been doing the job, I suppose, for over 20 years now.

00:53:11I'm coming up to 23 years with Getty Images, so I'll knock you on a little bit, but it's fantastic.

00:53:17I'm so lucky to do this job.

00:53:19It's a huge privilege, really, to kind of have a front row seat to some of these incredible historic moments.

00:53:24What was it like when you were first introduced to this circle?

00:53:27I mean, they would have to get to know you, you know, you would have to get to know them.

00:53:30It must have been quite daunting at the very beginning.

00:53:32I think it really is an organic process.

00:53:35These things take a lot of time over the years.

00:53:36You get to know everyone within that kind of circle, and you build up those relationships over time.

00:53:42And I think, you know, I've been lucky enough to travel all around the world with the royal family,

00:53:46with the king and the queen, and it's time, really, that kind of helps you in this role

00:53:51and helps you sort of build up a knowledge of the nuances and the way that things work.

00:53:55And for them to build up trust in you, because they're going to be very guarded if they think,

00:53:59what's he going to show?

00:54:00So there's obviously an understanding between the photographer and the subject

00:54:05as to when you can take a photograph and when you didn't there, you know.

00:54:11And you get to know those, presumably.

00:54:12Yeah, I think that's really important.

00:54:14Of course, taking a photo is an important part of the job,

00:54:16but like you say, not taking a photo.

00:54:18It can be, you know, you have to be sensitive to these moments.

00:54:21We're surrounded by some special photographs here.

00:54:24The one behind me is, I mean, now, if that isn't an inside photograph,

00:54:28there is no such thing as it, behind the newly crowned king and queen

00:54:34on the day they came onto the balcony at Buckingham Palace.

00:54:37I mean, that was an incredible moment.

00:54:39I've been lucky enough to photograph the king and the queen for the last 20 years

00:54:42and to be there for that moment.

00:54:43And I will never forget the kind of the cheers of the crowd.

00:54:47And I was really conscious of not getting in the picture for some of my colleagues

00:54:50on the Queen Victoria Memorial.

00:54:53I was like ducking down and like trying to get the picture but not appear.

00:54:56Yeah, there's a danger of you photobombing that.

00:54:59Exactly, exactly.

00:55:00But, you know, and there's another great moment actually when the red arrows kind of whizz over head.

00:55:04So that was a slightly lower perspective.

00:55:06But, you know, it was a huge privilege to be there.

00:55:09And I suppose that's the epitome of front row seat.

00:55:11There are obvious posed moments here.

00:55:14You know, the balcony at Buckingham Palace here we aren't looking the other way,

00:55:17looking back into it.

00:55:18The photograph there of the king and queen which looks glorious.

00:55:22But then the candid ones where they're doing something

00:55:24and totally in the moment and in the zone and you're snapping them.

00:55:28And that's lovely.

00:55:29I mean, Prince William down here.

00:55:31I think that's one of the most wonderful things about photographing the royal family

00:55:34is you can't necessarily control what's going on in front of you.

00:55:37And for me, I love that because, of course, controlling a portrait is one thing.

00:55:42And that's lovely.

00:55:43But that anticipation of not knowing what you're going to get next,

00:55:46this picture of Prince Louis and George, of course, and Charlotte on the balcony.

00:55:50I just love not knowing that that moment's going to happen

00:55:53and then capturing it and seeing it on the back of the camera.

00:55:55Do you work on a very fast one of those?

00:55:58So you've got lots going on within the space of a second.

00:56:01There's several shots in there.

00:56:03Yeah, we work with the benefits of digital cameras that we have these days.

00:56:06But it's almost like sketching out a picture.

00:56:08So you have the benefit of taking lots of pictures if you need to.

00:56:11But it's very much choosing that moment and kind of sketching that particular moment out.

00:56:16And, you know, this is a particularly lovely moment where Louis is waving to the crowd.

00:56:20The crowd is cheering.

00:56:22He's waving.

00:56:22They're cheering.

00:56:23And just capturing all the expressions of the royals around the family around him was lovely.

00:56:28So, yeah, it does benefit you having that ability to take a good few photos quickly.

00:56:32There's one here which is particularly lovely and that is the king looking up and laughing at the rain.

00:56:37Now, I've been with him when it started to rain and everybody else says, oh, dear, it's raining.

00:56:42And he just looks up and says, it's a blessing.

00:56:44You know, and that for me sums up the king.

00:56:47He's a good gardener, you see, and he knows that we need rain or things won't grow.

00:56:51Yeah, that was in Jersey.

00:56:53And, you know, rain can be an absolute curse for a photographer with all your equipment.

00:56:56But at the same time, you know that if a storm's coming and I saw that one coming across the bay, big black clouds.

00:57:04And it was, I mean, the raindrops were huge.

00:57:07But it was a lovely moment because that moment, it started tipping it down.

00:57:11All the kind of cub scouts and beavers, poor kids were kind of traipsing past, absolutely safe.

00:57:17But that moment it started, the king looked up to the heavens and it was that exact moment then.

00:57:22So, you know, you've got to be ready for those.

00:57:24Yeah. You also have a very close understanding and knowledge of what Robert Aardman famously calls, what lots of people call, soft power.

00:57:33You see the effect that the arrival of the king, the queen, the prince and princess of Wales, princess royal and Sir Tim Lawrence.

00:57:40You see the reaction of people when they go into a room or they go to an occasion.

00:57:46Spreading stardust, in a way, lifts people's lives.

00:57:49And I think sometimes it's really underestimated what good they can do just by making people feel special.

00:57:57I think that's spot on.

00:57:58And seeing the reaction that the royal family have around the world, seeing the crowds on a walkabout, seeing the excitement that people have.

00:58:05I remember the king's first visit as king to Germany and seeing the crowds gathered in the square in Hamburg.

00:58:12You know, everyone wanted to meet him.

00:58:14When you're following through the generations, I mean, over your shoulder there, the late queen with her soldiers trooping past.

00:58:20Intriguing to, from your point of view, to be really on site at the moment of transition, where everybody was rather nervous, wondering how it would happen.

00:58:29And it seemed to happen almost completely seamlessly.

00:58:32It just moved from Elizabeth II to King Charles III.

00:58:36I think everybody was relieved that that was the case.

00:58:40But to be there at that moment, I think also must have been special.

00:58:43Yeah, I mean, to a photograph of Queen Elizabeth was a huge privilege, and I'll never forget.

00:58:48I mean, it's a cliche, but the presence she had is absolutely iconic.

00:58:53And I'm so lucky that I had the opportunity.

00:58:56But the moment of her passing, I was in Windsor.

00:58:59And I will never forget, you know, the announcement being made and everyone looking at their phones and looking up at the Round Tower,

00:59:05that iconic part of the place that she lived for so many years, an incredible rainbow developing at that exact moment.

00:59:12And it did, it just felt like an incredibly powerful moment.

00:59:16And, you know, I'll never forget the week following and the journey that her body made as it came down from Scotland

00:59:22and all the ceremony and the emotion and even, you know, feeling a little bit of it myself, having photographed her for so long.

00:59:28Yes, you see, that must happen to you as well.

00:59:31When you're in work mode, when you're doing all of these, but at the same time,

00:59:35there must be moments where they really do catch you unawares and raise your emotions.

00:59:42Does that happen as well?

00:59:43I know you've got to control it, but you must nevertheless find that there are.

00:59:46Yeah, I mean, a mix of emotions.

00:59:49You know, the great thing about photographing the royal family is the happy moments that you get to capture.

00:59:53And that's, again, I've used it a lot, but a huge privilege, you know.

00:59:57Photographing the Princess of Wales with her children, babies at the Lindo Wing,

01:00:02a day of celebration for the whole country and the whole world.

01:00:05And to be right at the forefront of that, you know, I'll never take that for granted.

01:00:10And then, obviously, more poignant moments, more sombre moments, funerals.

01:00:14The Duke of Edmund's funeral, for example, during COVID, with that kind of pared-down ceremony.

01:00:20That was so powerful.

01:00:21So powerful.

01:00:22And I was right next to the door as the coffin came out.

01:00:26And I just never forget being aware that I was there.

01:00:31And it felt like, because there was so few people, it just felt so powerful.

01:00:37There are so many.

01:00:38Do we get a chance to see them in a book?

01:00:40Are they only going to be in one place?

01:00:41Well, thanks for asking.

01:00:43I do have a book coming out in March in 2026 called Modern Majesty.

01:00:47And it's, you know, it's my fourth book.

01:00:50And I love doing books because it's an opportunity to talk about some of the stories behind the pictures.

01:00:54With the transition from Elizabeth II to King Charles III, have you felt a change in mood, a different kind of mood?

01:01:01Does it feel different to you now as a royal photographer than the way it felt with the late Queen?

01:01:06Well, of course, you know, there's been challenges in recent years, wellness challenges.

01:01:12And I think that sort of transition was a challenging period.

01:01:15But seeing how the King and Princess Catherine have bounced back from those incredibly difficult times has been incredible.

01:01:23And, I mean, even keeping up with the King today is very hard work.

01:01:28He's working left, right and centre with so many different engagements.

01:01:32I don't know how he keeps it all in his head.

01:01:34No, I don't know.

01:01:34I don't know.

01:01:35And Christmas, a special time for the royals.

01:01:38It means you've got to be there and give your Christmas up a bit, doesn't it, really?

01:01:41Exactly, exactly.

01:01:42You know, it's a very special time for the royal family.

01:01:44And there's a number of different events around Christmas, which, you know, I remember from past years.

01:01:49And, you know, it's all about coming together, all about giving back.

01:01:52And I suppose, you know, the Queen's event at Clarence House with Helen Douglas and Roald Dahl, Marvellous Children's Charity,

01:02:01is always a fantastic one to photograph and very poignant.

01:02:04But, you know, it's amazing what happens around this period for the royal family.

01:02:08Thanks very much indeed, Chris.

01:02:09I look forward to the book.

01:02:11I appreciate it.

01:02:12Now, the thing I like about Leslie Joseph is her joie de vie, her raison d'être, her ooh-la-la,

01:02:19and any other French expressions you'd like to pin on her.

01:02:21Today, she's out doing even herself.

01:02:24First, we saw her on safari with a whole host of animals.

01:02:28Now, she's returned to her horticultural roots, showing off her knowledge of mistletoe.

01:02:33A wonderful and whimsical good morning to you, Alan.

01:02:36Today, we go down the garden path to meet an evergreen so popular, Sir Cliff even sang a song about it.

01:02:44Ahem, ahem.

01:02:46Christmas time, mistletoe and wine.

01:02:51Now, that's what I call an evergreen.

01:02:54Step forward, the magnificent mistletoe.

01:02:57The humble mistletoe, or viscum album, to its scientific friends, is a semi-parasitic evergreen,

01:03:05smothered in translucent white berries that decorates our landscape from winter to spring.

01:03:11Oh, mistletoe, if you weren't highly poisonous, I could just kiss you.

01:03:17Mistletoe is dioecious, meaning male and female flowers are produced on separate plants.

01:03:24Oh, how fancy.

01:03:28Berries are naturally spread from one tree to another by birds, especially thrushes and blackcaps,

01:03:34who just can't help themselves.

01:03:36When a bird discards the seed, the gluey pulp around the seed hardens

01:03:41and firmly attaches the seed to a tree branch.

01:03:45As the new mistletoe plant grows, the roots penetrate the bark and start to take water and nutrients from the tree.

01:03:55In Greek mythology, local heroes were granted passage to the underworld with mistletoe.

01:04:01And during the Middle Ages, mistletoe was associated with fertility and vitality.

01:04:06Nowadays, it's known for puckering up after a couple of mulled wines.

01:04:12Oh, I adore the evolution of seasonal sophistication.

01:04:16That's it for this week, darling viewers.

01:04:20And we'll be down the garden path again soon.

01:04:22Until then, may you have a sensational Sunday.

01:04:28Over to you, Alan.

01:04:29Well, we like to keep her busy. Thank you, Leslie.

01:04:32A fun fact, the name mistletoe actually comes from the Anglo-Saxon words for dung twig.

01:04:39Because birds spread the seeds, having eaten the berries, in their droppings.

01:04:43I just dropped that one in. Rather like a bird.

01:04:46Coming up, she's first out the paddock and always finishing first with a stellar career in broadcasting.

01:04:52And when she isn't plotting in the traitor's castle,

01:04:54Claire Balding is busy penning her very first adult novel,

01:04:58which she says she owes all to the late-fame Julie Cooper.

01:05:02I'll see you with the ever-faithful Claire Balding right after this.

01:05:07There'll be no traitors here, Claire.

01:05:09Welcome back to Love Your Weekend.

01:05:25Still ahead, a Pinot Noir with notes of cola and a cheeky new Chardonnay.

01:05:30Why is it? Wine's always known as cheeky.

01:05:33Wine connoisseur Tony Osoba brings new life into your Christmas wine list in today's Best in British.

01:05:38Now, it's the series that's had the nation hooked,

01:05:41and it's never been more dramatic thanks to its first-ever spin-off series,

01:05:47packed with the celebrity cast who haven't held back

01:05:50in delivering jaw-dropping twists, furious wars of words and ruthless gameplay.

01:05:56And with suspicions rising, strategies starting to unravel

01:05:59and meltdowns becoming more frequent,

01:06:02I'm surprised my next guest is still smiling.

01:06:05Cue the evidence.

01:06:05You have received the most votes.

01:06:08You are banished from the castle.

01:06:11Before you leave us, please reveal,

01:06:13are you a faithful or are you a traitor?

01:06:18I came in with only one strategy,

01:06:20which was to be nice to absolutely everyone,

01:06:22and I have had the best time,

01:06:24and I love all of you.

01:06:25I am, and I have been, from the start,

01:06:39a faithful.

01:06:41What did that moment feel like when you start,

01:06:48the lovely pauses there where everybody's wondering,

01:06:51is she, isn't she, is she a traitor, is she faithful?

01:06:53I mean, you must have thought,

01:06:55am I going to shock them or will they know?

01:06:58I was quite emotional, to be honest.

01:07:00It looked like it.

01:07:00Because it came as such a shock.

01:07:02Yeah.

01:07:02I hadn't seen that coming at all.

01:07:04What, that they'd think you were a traitor?

01:07:05Yeah, and it sort of came out of nowhere,

01:07:07and I regret not, I regret being a bit polite.

01:07:10I was a bit polite at the round table,

01:07:12and I shouldn't have been,

01:07:13I should have defended myself more robustly.

01:07:17But it's such a hard, like,

01:07:19you want to be forward enough, not too forward,

01:07:23loud enough, not too loud.

01:07:25I think pitching how you play yourself,

01:07:28as it were, for everybody there,

01:07:30was the hardest thing to do, must have been.

01:07:33Yeah, but I think I wasn't ruthless enough.

01:07:37Funnily enough, my nickname for Ruth,

01:07:39was ruthless, because she was.

01:07:41I mean, she was much,

01:07:42and if she could have,

01:07:44if we could have stuck together for longer,

01:07:46she'd have really gone for it,

01:07:47and I'd have been right there with her.

01:07:49But I wasn't, I suddenly was on my own,

01:07:51I'm like, oh, and everyone's suspicious of you,

01:07:54which isn't a nice feeling, Alan.

01:07:56But hey, look, I'm still here.

01:07:58It's all right.

01:07:59It's all okay.

01:07:59I'm friends with a lot of them.

01:08:01It's fine.

01:08:02I've survived.

01:08:04It had the nation gripped.

01:08:06I mean, 11 million watching the last show.

01:08:08But it struck me that all of you on there,

01:08:10I've seen some comments since from people who came out,

01:08:13whether they were traitors or whether they were faithfuls,

01:08:15I don't know that I should have done that.

01:08:18It was very exposing.

01:08:20It was very revealing.

01:08:21It was very intense.

01:08:22Did you know it would be that intense

01:08:23and that revealing when you went in?

01:08:25No.

01:08:25I thought we'd have a jolly week away

01:08:27or a couple of weeks away, Alan.

01:08:28I thought it'd be really fun.

01:08:29I thought we'd get to hang out with each other

01:08:31and make friends.

01:08:32No, I didn't realise.

01:08:34But I love the game and I love the show

01:08:35and that's why I wanted to do it.

01:08:37Yeah.

01:08:37And there were some terrific people

01:08:40with whom I made proper friendships

01:08:41and had really good chats with people.

01:08:44And it's just that feeling

01:08:45when something suddenly is turned against you.

01:08:47I think there are lots of layers to it

01:08:49and I genuinely think there's quite a lot going on

01:08:52that is reflected in real life.

01:08:55Like, it's not just a game on the telly.

01:08:57So I think it's interesting that, you know,

01:09:00the levels with which people approach it

01:09:03but also what you reflect on

01:09:06and how you come out of it

01:09:08and what's important.

01:09:10Like, I think it's really important

01:09:12to stick up for people if they're not,

01:09:14if something's being said that isn't fair

01:09:16or isn't, and I understand,

01:09:18I do understand the concept of the game

01:09:19and I do understand that, you know,

01:09:21I'm not an idiot, I'm not completely naive

01:09:23but I'm really pleased that Ruth and I

01:09:26particularly bonded

01:09:27and I felt very, you know,

01:09:31we were a team together

01:09:32and if that team had been able to get bigger

01:09:35I think we'd have had more of an impact.

01:09:37But we've stayed in touch.

01:09:38Charlotte, I adore.

01:09:39Celia Imri, obviously, is just terrific.

01:09:41It's just such a shame about her flatulence.

01:09:43I know.

01:09:44But there we are.

01:09:45You just, I think, Celia, Celia,

01:09:46you're such a fine actress

01:09:47and you know darn well

01:09:49that in your Times obituary

01:09:50they're going to mention you

01:09:51breaking wind on traces.

01:09:53But the lovely thing about Celia

01:09:55and I think probably...

01:09:56She probably doesn't care.

01:09:57Exactly.

01:09:58And I think what we've all learned

01:09:59and maybe, you know,

01:10:00something I did need to learn

01:10:01is you can't take yourself too seriously.

01:10:04Honestly, you can't, Alan.

01:10:05Would you advise other presenters to do it?

01:10:08Oh, God, I mean, it's an amazing experience.

01:10:10And, you know, I'm a great believer

01:10:11in finding things to be able

01:10:12to talk to every generation about

01:10:14and sport is really good for that.

01:10:16Animals are really good for that.

01:10:17I watch Love Island

01:10:18so that I can talk to teenagers.

01:10:20Now I don't have to watch Love Island anymore

01:10:21because I've done Celebrity Traitors

01:10:23and I can talk to them about that.

01:10:25And they have strong views

01:10:27and that's really interesting.

01:10:29So, no, I mean, gosh,

01:10:30it's a lovely experience.

01:10:31It's an amazing thing to be in that castle.

01:10:34You know, it's pretty iconic.

01:10:36Did you guess any of the traitors?

01:10:37Yes.

01:10:38Did you?

01:10:38Who did you guess?

01:10:39Well, Alan.

01:10:40Yeah.

01:10:40Really early on.

01:10:41Yeah.

01:10:42Because I just thought,

01:10:43opportunity,

01:10:44he was with Paloma,

01:10:45therefore,

01:10:46not that he would,

01:10:47but just from a...

01:10:49So why did he get away with it?

01:10:50Because, listen,

01:10:51the greatest shield of all, Alan,

01:10:53humour.

01:10:54It is the greatest shield of all.

01:10:56He could...

01:10:57I mean, he's great company

01:10:58and I thought he and Cat,

01:11:00I thought, played that role so well.

01:11:02Whatever else it was,

01:11:03it was a hugely social

01:11:05and sociable experience.

01:11:06You've since gone from that,

01:11:08well, you'd done it before,

01:11:09but the thing you're talking about now

01:11:11is solitude

01:11:12because writing is a solitary occupation.

01:11:14First novel,

01:11:16Pastures New.

01:11:16We've read your memoirs,

01:11:17great fun,

01:11:18very enjoyable

01:11:19about growing up

01:11:20with all kinds of animals,

01:11:22horses particularly.

01:11:23But here,

01:11:24I always...

01:11:25I don't know what I'm at my office,

01:11:25you look at it,

01:11:26you think,

01:11:26but there's nothing there

01:11:27except my imagination

01:11:29in that inch of paper.

01:11:30Well, you know.

01:11:31Did you enjoy the fiction,

01:11:32the fact that it was made up,

01:11:34doing that?

01:11:34I did.

01:11:35And you and I

01:11:36have talked about writing

01:11:38because obviously

01:11:38you write fictions as well.

01:11:40When you create those characters,

01:11:42you really get to like them.

01:11:44I wanted to write characters

01:11:45that were warm

01:11:47and friendly

01:11:48and full of love

01:11:49and I wanted to write about kindness

01:11:51and actually even more,

01:11:53I guess,

01:11:53in having done celebrity traces

01:11:55and as you say,

01:11:56so much of that,

01:11:57your trust in people

01:11:58is undermined

01:11:59because you're forced

01:11:59to be suspicious.

01:12:00In this book,

01:12:02I wanted the heart of it

01:12:03to be about trust

01:12:04and love

01:12:05and particularly reflecting

01:12:07rural friendship

01:12:08and how much

01:12:09people go out of their way

01:12:11to help each other

01:12:12in a practical sense.

01:12:13I wanted to write

01:12:15about farming

01:12:15and the difficulty of farming,

01:12:17the reality of farming.

01:12:17This is about a woman

01:12:18who has gifted a farm in Wales

01:12:20and she doesn't know

01:12:20who to buy or anything.

01:12:21She goes out there.

01:12:22Total life-changing experience.

01:12:24And it's about her

01:12:25getting to know

01:12:25who she is really

01:12:26and taking on responsibility

01:12:28which is something

01:12:29she has always avoided

01:12:31and eschewed

01:12:31and thought that

01:12:33success was a life

01:12:35without responsibility.

01:12:36But if you make that decision,

01:12:38there's quite a lot else

01:12:39that you can't do

01:12:39if you don't take responsibility.

01:12:41So it's about Alex

01:12:42and how she changes

01:12:43but it's about

01:12:44that friendship network

01:12:45and it's also about

01:12:47who she falls in love with.

01:12:49One of the hardest things,

01:12:51it seems to me,

01:12:51certainly I find it hard,

01:12:52is writing evil

01:12:53and badness authentically.

01:12:56It's, I think,

01:12:57quite difficult

01:12:57because it can very easily

01:12:58become pantomimic.

01:12:59Did you find,

01:13:01because it's not

01:13:01within your character,

01:13:03that doing the nasty bits of work

01:13:05was actually harder to write

01:13:06than the nice ones

01:13:08or was it rather

01:13:09fun being nasty?

01:13:10It was quite fun

01:13:11creating Leighton

01:13:12who's a really nasty character

01:13:14and there's something

01:13:15that he does

01:13:16with his physical presence

01:13:17that is very overpowering

01:13:20and I know that to be true

01:13:22and my editor said

01:13:25when I first, you know,

01:13:27wrote it,

01:13:27said,

01:13:28oh, do you think

01:13:28you've overdone this a bit

01:13:29and then actually

01:13:30various things happened

01:13:31with various men

01:13:33in the public eye

01:13:36and she went,

01:13:36oh, no,

01:13:36you haven't overdone it.

01:13:37You're kind of ahead of the curve.

01:13:40It's like, yeah.

01:13:41So that wasn't difficult

01:13:43to create him

01:13:44and I needed someone

01:13:46upon whom,

01:13:48you know,

01:13:49who creates a threat,

01:13:50actually.

01:13:50Yeah, and you want your readers

01:13:52to be surprised

01:13:53and you want to surprise yourself

01:13:54I think when you're writing

01:13:55and if it's all going too smooth,

01:13:56oh, it's a lob of spanner in the works

01:13:58and it's going fast.

01:13:59But there's great humour

01:14:00in some of that.

01:14:01I mean, you know,

01:14:01I love sending up

01:14:03a character

01:14:04who's based, you know,

01:14:05loosely on maybe a few people

01:14:07I know,

01:14:07so there's elements

01:14:08of maybe three or four

01:14:09different people

01:14:09and then put it in the mix,

01:14:11exaggerate it a bit

01:14:12and this cake rises

01:14:13of a character

01:14:14who's completely

01:14:15their own person.

01:14:17So that's been really joyful.

01:14:19So the first of many then now

01:14:21presumably this is it.

01:14:22It definitely needs a sequel.

01:14:24And encouraged by Julie Cooper

01:14:25to write fiction.

01:14:27As you were as well.

01:14:28Absolutely.

01:14:29What an amazing

01:14:29positive force she was.

01:14:31I mean, what a brilliant person.

01:14:33You know,

01:14:34really encouraging

01:14:35and such an energetic

01:14:36life force as well.

01:14:37Yeah.

01:14:37You know,

01:14:38whenever she loved

01:14:38to go to the races

01:14:39and whenever I saw her

01:14:40at the races

01:14:40she was just so full

01:14:42of, you know,

01:14:43energy.

01:14:44I loved her.

01:14:44But you see,

01:14:45when you talk about your career

01:14:46it is astonishing, isn't it?

01:14:47You know,

01:14:47you're a great rider

01:14:49and you managed

01:14:50to make that transition

01:14:51from sport

01:14:53into commentary

01:14:54which you're adept at,

01:14:56you know,

01:14:562012 Olympics

01:14:57particularly,

01:14:58the sort of

01:14:59A high spot.

01:15:00And there's clearly

01:15:01a chance to continue

01:15:02the enjoyment

01:15:03not just from

01:15:04a spectatorial point of view

01:15:06but from helping

01:15:06other people

01:15:07to understand it.

01:15:08And clearly

01:15:08that is a life force

01:15:09for you

01:15:09whether it's horse racing

01:15:10or tennis

01:15:11because Wimbledon

01:15:12was not easy

01:15:13to take over

01:15:13from lovely Sue Barker.

01:15:14Oh gosh,

01:15:15but Sue was so supportive

01:15:16and that really mattered,

01:15:17that really helped.

01:15:18And I think

01:15:19using that example

01:15:21I have made sure,

01:15:22I've tried

01:15:23to be really supportive

01:15:25to anyone coming up

01:15:27into the industry.

01:15:29And there's so many women

01:15:30now working

01:15:31within sports commentary

01:15:33and reporting

01:15:33and presenting

01:15:34from when I started

01:15:35when I was literally

01:15:36about five.

01:15:37And it's really,

01:15:38really encouraging

01:15:39to see that

01:15:40and I love

01:15:40that obviously

01:15:41the coverage

01:15:42of women's sport

01:15:42has improved so much

01:15:44and there's so much

01:15:44more of it.

01:15:45What a year

01:15:45for women's team sport

01:15:47with obviously

01:15:48both the Red Roses

01:15:50winning the Rugby Union

01:15:51World Cup

01:15:51and the Lionesses

01:15:52winning the Euros again

01:15:53and all of that.

01:15:53And to go as an experience

01:15:55live,

01:15:55it's such a lovely atmosphere.

01:15:57Oh and the sound

01:15:57of the crowds

01:15:58as a woman's match

01:15:59is wonderful.

01:16:00I love the variety

01:16:01of what I do.

01:16:02I really enjoy

01:16:02being able to do

01:16:04different things

01:16:05for different broadcasters

01:16:06with different production

01:16:07companies

01:16:07on subjects

01:16:09that stimulate me

01:16:10that I want to know about

01:16:11so whether it's

01:16:12you know rivers

01:16:13or presenting crafts

01:16:14with dogs

01:16:15or whether it's

01:16:15Or doing ramblings

01:16:16which I've done with you

01:16:17for the radio program

01:16:18which is a wonderful walk.

01:16:19We walked together

01:16:19on Tennis and Down

01:16:20on the Isle of Wight.

01:16:21We did, it was lovely.

01:16:22And Winter Olympics

01:16:23I've got next year

01:16:23so that'll be fun

01:16:24in Italy.

01:16:25You get all the plum jobs.

01:16:27You also become

01:16:28a national treasure

01:16:29and if you want proof

01:16:30of the fact

01:16:30that you've become

01:16:30a national treasure.

01:16:31Absolutely not.

01:16:31No, no, don't deny it.

01:16:32Look at this.

01:16:33This is what happens

01:16:33in Bake Off

01:16:34when you become

01:16:35a national treasure.

01:16:42So Greg,

01:16:44tell us all about

01:16:45Claire Balding.

01:16:47So this is

01:16:48my doppelganger.

01:16:49She's been made out

01:16:49of two different biscuits.

01:16:51I think you should

01:16:51send it to her.

01:16:52I think she might

01:16:52call the police.

01:16:55It's a very nice biscuit.

01:16:57I think you've done

01:16:57a great job

01:16:58with the flavour.

01:16:59More importantly,

01:16:59it's baked well.

01:17:00Thanks.

01:17:01Thank you very much, Greg.

01:17:02Thanks a lot.

01:17:03If Claire Balding

01:17:04is watching,

01:17:05I'm sorry about that.

01:17:08Well, you may deny

01:17:09being a national treasure

01:17:09but you're certainly

01:17:10a national biscuit.

01:17:11I am a biscuit.

01:17:13I'm thrilled.

01:17:13Do you ever think

01:17:13you'd be turned

01:17:14into a biscuit?

01:17:14No, and I love Greg

01:17:16and we've always

01:17:17had this joke

01:17:17that we look like

01:17:18we could be

01:17:18brother and sister

01:17:19which I find

01:17:20quite flattering.

01:17:20I'm thrilled for that.

01:17:22He's such a lovely guy

01:17:23and he's,

01:17:24yeah, I think he's,

01:17:26I'm very thrilled

01:17:27that he thought

01:17:28I was worthy of a biscuit.

01:17:29You'll stay for a tipple

01:17:30or two.

01:17:30I'd love to.

01:17:31You don't have to

01:17:31mix anything.

01:17:32We do it all for you.

01:17:33All right.

01:17:34And before the tipples,

01:17:35time to de-stress

01:17:36your Sunday

01:17:37even more

01:17:37in today's

01:17:38Ode to Joy.

01:17:39Ode to Joy.

01:17:40Ode to Joy.

01:17:42Ode to Joy.

01:17:43Hold on to Joy.

01:17:44All right.

01:17:48Do you want to do it all?

01:19:50And my guests seem keen to give them a try already.

01:19:53I'll be back with Tony, Andy and Claire right after this.

01:19:56Welcome back to Love Your Weekend.

01:20:11Now, Christmas is a time for celebrating cherished customs, particularly when it comes to the festive food and drink we enjoy.

01:20:18But maybe this is the year to branch out a little.

01:20:21As the reputation of British wines continues to improve, there's an emerging array of options to explore, some of which may well become established Christmas favourites in the years to come.

01:20:31Here to reveal her pick of the newest wines on the market, worthy of a place on the festive table.

01:20:37Welcome back, wine expert, Tony Oshoba.

01:20:40So, worthy of a place in the pantheon of our favourite Christmas winestay.

01:20:44Yes, that's right.

01:20:45And thank you so much for having me.

01:20:46We've got an array of festive drinks today, perfect for the Christmas season.

01:20:50So, first up, we've got a sparkling jasmine tea from Sight Show.

01:20:54Oh.

01:20:55To have a taste.

01:20:55Jasmine tea.

01:20:56Yes, this is an alcohol-free option as well.

01:20:59Oh, it smells lovely.

01:21:00Oh, it smells like tea, doesn't it?

01:21:02That smells like a jasmine candle, really.

01:21:04Yeah, it does.

01:21:04That is really nice.

01:21:05It's nice, isn't it?

01:21:06So, it's really fragrant.

01:21:07You'll definitely get notes of jasmine because it's a jasmine tea, but you'll also get notes of apple, lychee and a bit of vanilla as well.

01:21:14Oh, I like it.

01:21:14So, when you have your fizz on Christmas morning, you know, and that means I'm tipsy by 12, straight to my head, I can have this instead.

01:21:22Yeah, it's guilt-free and it's great for the tea lovers and the bubbly lovers, both of those drinks in one delicious drink here.

01:21:28So, where's it from, this one?

01:21:29So, this one is from Shropshire.

01:21:31So, Chinese tea leaves but made with Shropshire spring water in Shropshire.

01:21:35So, they carbonate it and add a little bit of grape juice for a bit of sweetness.

01:21:38I really like that.

01:21:38It's really lovely.

01:21:39Andy, you approve?

01:21:41I think that's absolutely lovely.

01:21:42I'm not really much of a drinker and that is delicious.

01:21:46Yeah, and I think it stands up really well alongside like a champagne in its own right because it's so complex and refreshing as well.

01:21:52It's lovely.

01:21:53So, next up, we have a Chardonnay.

01:21:56So, this is the Roman Road Chardonnay by Simpsons.

01:21:59And I know a lot of people say that they don't like Chardonnays but I feel as though this one really challenges that idea.

01:22:05So, have a taste and see what you think.

01:22:06Do they get Chardonnay they don't like, Tony?

01:22:08Or over-oaked Chardonnay?

01:22:10That's such a difference.

01:22:11I don't mind it.

01:22:11It's not over-oaked.

01:22:13Exactly.

01:22:13So, this is really slightly oaked and it's more similar to a Chablis in style rather than like a Californian heavily oaked Chardonnay.

01:22:20Oh, that is nice.

01:22:21So, it's really nice, isn't it?

01:22:22You'll get notes of orange peel, of honeysuckle.

01:22:25Fruity.

01:22:25Yeah, a little bit of butterscotch as well, perhaps.

01:22:28I can't lie.

01:22:29I'm getting butterscotch, but it's rather nice.

01:22:31If you dig deeper, you might find it.

01:22:33I'm definitely thinking butterscotch now.

01:22:34I like the idea of thinking butterscotch.

01:22:36But this one's great for a roast dinner.

01:22:39So, this will go really nicely with your roast potatoes and your Yorkshire pudding as well because it will really balance out the flavours in a really lovely way.

01:22:46So, I love this one.

01:22:47Great for your Christmas dinner.

01:22:48So, from where?

01:22:49This one is from Canterbury, so it's from Kent and it's actually made with soils that are similar to the Champagne region.

01:22:56So, really similar to a Chablis in style or a white Burgundy.

01:22:59We do seem to be able to make the French cross, don't we?

01:23:02If I'm able to make really good wine.

01:23:05Definitely rivalling.

01:23:06In blind tastings, they win prizes.

01:23:08That's got a delicacy to it, hasn't it?

01:23:10I like it.

01:23:11I think that this often happens with wine.

01:23:13The more sips you have, the better it gets.

01:23:15Oh, I really like that one.

01:23:17Two out of two so far, Terry.

01:23:19Lovely.

01:23:20So, next up, we have a sparkling rosé from Greyfriars.

01:23:25Oh, great.

01:23:25So, it is quite a pale rosé, but it still gives you all the notes that you'd get from a nice, crisp and dry rosé.

01:23:32Looks lovely, doesn't it?

01:23:33It does.

01:23:34In a coupe.

01:23:34It's glorious, isn't it?

01:23:35The old Champagne glass.

01:23:37Yeah.

01:23:37Which is the way you're meant to serve Champagne, isn't it?

01:23:40So, you can get plenty of bubbles up your nose.

01:23:43Exactly.

01:23:43Oh, that's interesting.

01:23:44It really is.

01:23:45So, you'll get notes of strawberry here, raspberry, a little bit of cranberry as well, which is why I say it pairs really nicely with your turkey and your cranberry sauce.

01:23:53Works really well.

01:23:54I like that.

01:23:55Yeah, it's a lot.

01:23:56And a hint of butterscotch.

01:23:58I'm kidding.

01:23:58You're kidding.

01:23:59You're kidding.

01:24:02I really like this one because I feel as though people think that rosé is just for the summer months, but this just shows you can have it in the winter months as it'll go really well with your Christmas dinner.

01:24:10So, a challenger there for you.

01:24:12And did you like that one?

01:24:12I do like that.

01:24:14Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:24:14More or less than the previous one, the Chardonnay.

01:24:17If I'm honest, my favourite so far is the tea.

01:24:19Is the tea.

01:24:20I thought that was really lovely.

01:24:21Yeah, I thought that was lovely too.

01:24:22So, now we're actually moving over to Essex slash Cambridge.

01:24:27So, this one, this is our Pinot Noir.

01:24:29It's made from grapes grown in Essex, but the wine itself is made in a winery in a windmill in Cambridge, which is really interesting.

01:24:38Wow, romantic.

01:24:38Yeah, so this is our Gutter and Stars Pinot Noir.

01:24:41Gutter and Stars.

01:24:42Gutter and Stars.

01:24:43So, yeah, it's a little nod to an Oscar Wilde quote, which is something along the lines of, we're all in the gutter, but some of us are looking to the stars.

01:24:50So, looking beyond hardship is what this one's all about.

01:24:54I like that.

01:24:54But this one has a really unique note that I've never come across in a wine before, and that is a cola soft drink.

01:25:01So, cola.

01:25:01And I think it works really well.

01:25:03See if you can pick that up.

01:25:04I do, actually.

01:25:07I honestly can get a bit of that.

01:25:09Yeah, yeah, definitely.

01:25:10I agree.

01:25:11I can, too.

01:25:11Yeah.

01:25:12Yeah, and it works really well.

01:25:13And it's nicely balanced with, like, cherry, with a bit of raspberry as well, with your darker fruits, but it's still really nice and light and juicy.

01:25:20Sometimes I find Pinot Noirs are too strong on the top.

01:25:22This isn't.

01:25:23It's quite gentle, isn't it?

01:25:23So delicate.

01:25:24It's delicious.

01:25:25Yeah.

01:25:25And what's great about this one is you can actually have it chilled.

01:25:28So if your fridge space is at a premium in the Christmas, in the build-up to Christmas, which it likely is, you just pop it outside on your doorstep for 10 to 15 minutes, and that will chill it down really nicely so you can have it at the perfect temperature.

01:25:39It's really warming.

01:25:41It is.

01:25:41It's lovely.

01:25:41I think this is one of those drinks that I'd sit there, have a glass of it, and suddenly come up with all my best ideas.

01:25:47And I'd be really fascinating and funny.

01:25:49Yeah.

01:25:49Have it.

01:25:50See, three sips of that, I'd be asleep.

01:25:52Oh.

01:25:53In the gutter.

01:25:54Yeah, exactly.

01:25:55Looking like a star.

01:25:56Because I'd be fooling myself that I was a star.

01:26:03Do you think the following morning it would be one of those, it seemed such a good idea yesterday, yesterday, in the cold light of day.

01:26:10They should put that on the label, shouldn't they?

01:26:11Like an index that the hangover it may give you.

01:26:16A date rating.

01:26:17Hangover level.

01:26:17Yeah, yeah.

01:26:18But it is quite a nice and light one.

01:26:20Nice to have on a special occasion.

01:26:21Yeah.

01:26:22I love that.

01:26:22Last one.

01:26:23So, yes.

01:26:23So, finally, we have this fortified wine.

01:26:26So, this is from Langham's, and they're based in Dorset, and this is actually a limited edition wine.

01:26:31So, sweeter wines are a bit rarer in England, but this is a collaboration between Langham's Wine Estate and Capriola's Gin Distillery, and it is so delicious.

01:26:40This is sweeter.

01:26:41Wow.

01:26:41It's quartified, so it's nice and strong.

01:26:43Has that got that ginger or something in it?

01:26:44It's really nice.

01:26:44You might get ginger notes.

01:26:45You'll also get orchard fruit notes as well.

01:26:47I was expecting something floral, like a, you know, like a Sauternal.

01:26:51Like a dessert wine, like a Sauternal.

01:26:52Yeah, exactly.

01:26:52But it's not.

01:26:53No.

01:26:53It's really nice.

01:26:54It's quite thick as well, isn't it?

01:26:56Yeah.

01:26:56It's quite full-bodied, exactly.

01:26:58Yeah.

01:26:58You're right.

01:26:58And this is great for the sweet wine lovers, but I think it's also great if you don't like

01:27:02sweet wine, because it's really well-balanced with acidity and delicious.

01:27:05I wouldn't call that a sweet wine.

01:27:06It's nice, isn't it?

01:27:07Say that again.

01:27:07It's cleared up, I don't know.

01:27:14I've not tasted anything like that before.

01:27:17It's an amazing mixture of citrus and alcohol.

01:27:21Yeah.

01:27:21There's a hint of sherry in there.

01:27:23You might get those notes, because it's fortified, yeah, so it is quite strong, but it's delicious.

01:27:27This would be great with your cheeses or great with your dessert as well, so well-deserved.

01:27:31And it's a very nice box.

01:27:33Yes, it is, and the bottle's beautiful as well, yes.

01:27:35That helps.

01:27:35Yeah.

01:27:35That's right.

01:27:36Five useful Christmas presents, too.

01:27:38Yeah.

01:27:38The funny thing is, I think all three of us were really taken with the tea, yeah?

01:27:43The jasmine tea.

01:27:44Yeah, there's definitely something for everyone, so, yeah.

01:27:47But that is very lovely, although, probably because I am such a lightweight, I cannot imagine

01:27:51drinking that whole glass of that.

01:27:53Just sip it slowly.

01:27:54Yeah.

01:27:56Over the course of ten minutes.

01:27:58Yes, very good.

01:27:59Yeah.

01:27:59I'm going to go back to the rosé, because I really liked that, and I don't want that sat

01:28:03there.

01:28:04Okay.

01:28:04And I don't want it to go to waste.

01:28:06I don't want it to go to waste.

01:28:07I would have them all.

01:28:09Christmassy and kind of celebratory, and we can toast your success, Alan.

01:28:13Bless you.

01:28:14And your good heart.

01:28:16Thank you so much.

01:28:17Yes.

01:28:17Cheers for that.

01:28:18Just pay me and wine.

01:28:21That's it for today's show.

01:28:24Thanks to all my guests, to Clare, Andy, and, of course, to Tony, providing us with such

01:28:28delightful refreshment.

01:28:30Joining me next week, the rock star turned farmer, Alex James.

01:28:34Corrie's Reverend Billy, actor Daniel Brocklebank.

01:28:37Leslie Joseph will be here.

01:28:38And we've donkeys and pygmy goats.

01:28:40Of course we do.

01:28:41What's not to love?

01:28:42Up next, Fletcher's Farm, but I'll leave you now with some profound words from Cary Grant.

01:28:47Simplicity, to me, has always been the essence of good taste.

01:28:52Oh, Cary, if only it were that simple.

01:28:54Till the next time.

01:28:55Cheers.

01:28:56Cheers.

01:28:57Cheers.

01:28:57Cheers, Sonny.

01:28:58Oh.

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