- 18 hours ago
The One Show - Season 2025 Episode 218
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00Hello there and welcome to your Wednesday One Show live on BBC One and I play with Vernon Kaye.
00:11And Alex Jones of course and tonight we'll be joined by a Hollywood legend, a history making
00:16astronaut and Nikki Fox. She's here with watchdog Nikki. We know it's the festive season but it
00:22can put a real strain on people's finances. Yeah that's right Vernon and this week we've been
00:27looking into a company called Bunch which promises to organise all of your finances by bunching
00:32your bills together in one easy payment. Sounds ideal doesn't it? But we've been hearing from
00:38some customers who discovered their bills weren't being paid at all. Plus the holiday hire card
00:43company that some viewers say pressured them into taking out additional insurance they just didn't
00:48need. Thanks Nikki lots of good advice coming up. Also tonight we are joined by the actor who brought
00:54his adventures in the Mummy movies before winning an Oscar for his brilliant performance in The Whale.
00:59And now Brendan Fraser will be telling us about his new feel-good film about a struggling actor in
01:04Japan whose latest role changes his outlook on life. It's very charming isn't it? Yeah it really is and
01:10joining Brendan is the rocket man himself. Tim Peake this month marks 10 years since he made history
01:16becoming the first British astronaut to visit the International Space Station. He will be revealing
01:21how you can get involved with the celebrations this weekend. Plus Angela Rippon is kicking off the
01:26Christmas holidays early as she stays at a unique holiday home in Dumfries and Galloway where guests
01:32can immerse themselves in literature like never before by running the village bookshop. What an idea. I'm in.
01:38What an idea but first it's watchdog and if you're thinking of getting on top of your finances in
01:432026 you'll want to listen to what Nikki's got to say. Yes now with bills set to rise again next year
01:50many are finding it difficult to keep up with utility payments and avoid getting into debt. So when a
01:56company offers a solution to help streamline your finances but doesn't follow through well that's just
02:02not helpful at all. Keeping on top of utility bills is notoriously faffy with lots of different companies
02:11and multiple direct debits on separate dates to keep track of. So if a company promises to take care of
02:17all of that for you well it's easy to see the appeal isn't it? One such company is Bunch. Bunch promises
02:26to manage all your household bills in one place streamlining all your bills into one monthly payment
02:32making it in its words faff free. That was attractive to 30 year old Gabrielle who moved into her rental
02:39home in Enfield in July. What made you go with Bunch in the first place? At my previous tenancy my gas bill
02:47was going up every single month which ultimately put me in debt. I thought let me give myself that breath
02:53fresh out. So I went with Bunch because I know what I'm paying monthly. Bunch agreed to take over
02:59Gabrielle's electricity gas and water bill for a monthly payment of £187 but after forking out £374
03:08to the company she received something unexpected. I got a letter in the post from my water provider
03:15which said you're overdue you need to pay the £366. What was your initial thought? I didn't think
03:21anything of it because I remember there was an email from Bunch saying it might take some time
03:26for the payments to reflect. But the following month Gabrielle received another letter from her
03:33water provider this time requesting payment immediately. So Gabrielle emailed Bunch. It took
03:40a month to get a response. They confirmed we haven't paid your water bill. I was just thinking to myself
03:46I paid someone else to do that for me. Why haven't they paid? Unhappy with the service Gabrielle decided
03:55to cancel but her final bill included a charge of £150 for 92 days water supply despite Bunch admitting
04:04to never paying for it. To make matters worse Gabrielle then received a debt collection letter chasing
04:11payment for her water company. I kind of just like sorted out my debt from my previous tenancy.
04:17How do you feel about Bunch? I feel like I've ultimately gone into debt to make up for the lack
04:24of payment from Bunch. That anxiety came back instantly. They're terrible, honestly terrible.
04:31And Gabrielle's not alone. A quick look online shows multiple complaints from other Bunch customers who
04:37say despite paying Bunch they're still receiving demands for payment from their utility providers.
04:44There's also Catherine from Gairlock in North West Scotland. She went with Bunch for just her electricity
04:50and it planned to switch her over to a new supplier from Ovo Energy. But six weeks later she received an
04:57£80 bill charging her for electricity use. Ovo informed Catherine that EAT was supplying her property.
05:04Bunch had taken my money over two billing cycles but they had supplied me with nothing.
05:11It turns out Bunch had arranged for the energy supply of the wrong property to be taken over. A detached
05:18house half a mile away. How did you feel when you found that out? I was shocked and of course it causes a
05:25great deal of stress. Catherine cancelled her contract but despite Bunch never paying for her electricity,
05:33she only received a partial refund. The company had over £100 of her money. And on top of this,
05:41she was told to expect a £100 cancellation fee. How do you feel about Bunch?
05:47I engaged Bunch to pay my electricity bill and they simply haven't done it. And that has snowballed
05:56to weeks, months of huge stress and finally fear.
06:03When we wrote to Bunch it apologised to both Gabrielle and Catherine and says the issues were caused by a
06:08third-party company it works with. It told us there was an error in setting up Gabrielle's account which
06:14led to her water supplier wrongly sending her the bills but Bunch admitted its own delays made things worse.
06:21It added that Catherine's case was a clear operational failure with the wrong property's energy supply
06:26being taken over. Bunch has now paid Gabrielle's water bill, refunded Catherine and given both
06:32gestures of goodwill. Bunch, your customers trust you to take over their bills and take over the stress of
06:39it all, not add stress on. If you've committed to making life easier for people, well the least you can do.
06:45Well you really feel for Gabrielle and Catherine don't you? But there is a little bit of good news.
06:53Yes there is out. Bunch has now paid Gabrielle's water bill, refunded Catherine and given both
06:59gestures of goodwill. Well done Watchdog team, that is such a good result. Now if you've got a problem
07:04you'd like us to investigate, email watchdog at bbc.co.uk or you can tag us in at bbcwatchdog on social media.
07:11Now we know the festive season is a popular time for travel and if you're lucky enough to be going
07:17away for Christmas you may have sorted out a hire car for your holiday. Often when you book flights
07:22many of the big travel providers offer add-ons like car rental services and insurance which means
07:28when you get to your destination everything is sorted. But that is not what we've been hearing
07:32from some customers of hire car company OK Mobility who despite having bought insurance with well-known
07:39companies have arrived at the desk to be told it's not valid. Alex tell us about Lorna.
07:45Well Lorna and her family went to Alicante at the end of the summer. Both Lorna and her sister
07:50Kirsty booked hire cars on insurance with third-party companies through the booking.com website.
07:55However when they got to the OK Mobility car hire desk at the airport they were told their insurance
08:00wouldn't cover them despite showing documentation. Lorna says she was told that if she didn't take out
08:05additional coverage just a small scratch the car would cost over a thousand euros. She said I know
08:12she said she felt under pressure to purchase additional insurance from OK Mobility at 462 euros
08:18each in order to get the car keys. Yeah Lorna also said she began to question if she'd misunderstood
08:24the insurance she'd originally paid for but once she got to our hotel she realized what had happened.
08:30When I did reread my own insurance later on in the holiday I realized that I didn't actually need
08:36this OK Mobility policy and I was fully covered which left me feeling really frustrated really
08:42misled by the OK Mobility team and I just couldn't understand why they would want to do this to people.
08:47Yeah now Lorna's family aren't the only ones to experience this with OK Mobility. Vernon tell us about
08:53Jenna. I will. Jenna from South Sea booked flights to Pisa. A higher car and insurance through
08:59EasyJet's website. When she got to the OK Mobility desk at the airport she says her insurance
09:04documentation was rejected and was told she'd need to purchase OK Mobility's insurance or the car
09:11would not be rented to her. She even showed a confirmation email from EasyJet stating that she
09:16did not need to purchase another policy at the desk but that was rejected. Jenna felt she had no choice
09:22but to agree it cost her 180 euros. Yeah and now when she complained to EasyJet it said that because
09:29she accepted the OK Mobility insurance it would not be able to refund her instead it gave her a refund
09:35for her original policy which cost 34 pounds. So what are OK Mobility and EasyJet saying then?
09:42Okay well OK Mobility told us that the insurance products it offers are not mandatory and it does not
09:49carry out forced sales practices. It told us third party insurance products do not replace the rental
09:55company's own liability and deposit conditions so customers may still be required to leave a deposit
10:01or be offered coverage. It said its staff are instructed to explain the available options to
10:06customers and that it monitors service quality so it can be reviewed. Now EasyJet said that whilst it
10:12offers the option to book higher car services through its website these are actually operated by a company
10:18called car trawler. Car trawler said it's disappointed and concerned to hear about Jenna's experience
10:24and is committed to ensuring that situations like this are prevented. It has suspended OK Mobility in
10:30Pisa while a full investigation is conducted. Wow. I know. I'm breathing again. I know it was a long one.
10:37Yeah well done. A great result for Jenna though. Lorna's case as well? Yeah yeah that's right then.
10:43Booking.com said it regrets what happened to Lorna and works closely with its partners to improve
10:48its customer experience. Both Booking.com and car trawler told us they have 24-7 customer service
10:53teams who could offer support with any concerns whilst at the rental desk and since Watchdog got
10:59in touch Lorna and her sister Kirsty have now been refunded for both insurance policies. That is a total
11:06of 900 quid back in their pocket which is brilliant. And just in time for Christmas as well. I know.
11:12It's nice isn't it? Brilliant. A great result. Thank you. Thanks Al.
11:16Matt's going to be back next week. I know. So we should say Merry Christmas. Oh Merry Christmas.
11:20We'll see you in the new year. Have a good in. Yeah we're going to try. We are. Always. We're going to try.
11:26Hollywood star Brendan Fraser on how Japanese culture inspired his new heartwarming film and
11:31astronaut Tim Peake tells us how he's celebrating 10 years since his history making space mission.
11:37But first Angela Rippon is on her own journey of discovery as she visits a unique holiday rental
11:43in Dumfries and Galloway which is bringing together a community of book lovers from all over the world.
11:48There's something magical about a bookshop. Running your fingers along the spines of hundreds of books
11:58discovering new authors, new places, new adventures that you can disappear into and in some cases
12:07even spend the night. And that's just what you can do here. Above the open bookshop in Wigtown in Scotland
12:13is a holiday let. Stay here and you also get to run the shop with the help of local volunteers immersing
12:21yourself in the world of books. And what better time to do that than at Christmas. Wigtown is known as
12:28Scotland's book town. Its streets are full of bookshops and the annual book festival in October
12:35regularly attracts around 13,000 people. Jessica Fox came up with the idea of a bookshop slash holiday let
12:4210 years ago after she moved here to fulfill her dream of working in one. What made you think that
12:48people would want to do that? I don't know I had an instinct that people would really get a lot of
12:52pleasure about being here but they wouldn't like I did give up their entire lives to do it they could
12:56just do it for a holiday. And Jessica's instinct was right. The book lovers holiday was soon attracting
13:01people from all over the world proudly displayed on the shop's map. It really feels like we get a taste of
13:08the world coming to Wigtown. And what is lovely is that whoever comes here gets involved with the
13:13village as well. Yes that's right. As an avid reader myself I'm keen to see how I get on. Volunteer
13:20Joyce is showing me the ropes. You take your sales record. Yeah. Then you're putting your book title.
13:26Yeah. The price. Yeah. And whether they're paying cash or card. Okay. So that's it. That's you.
13:34For my time in the shop I'm going to be embracing Christmas. Like many holiday makers before me I've
13:41decided to plan an event. Now Joyce is one half of a local band so um she's going to come and provide
13:49some music. I'm going to do a reading and um also I hope she's going to encourage some of the locals
13:55to come and listen and uh let's hope they'll come flooding in the door. As night falls over Wigtown
14:02I'm settling down upstairs. Then the day for me to turn bookseller dawns.
14:09Well I have to say the shop is looking really sort of cozy and Christmassy which is important.
14:14So frankly all we need now a few customers. Hello. How are you today? Hello. Hi. Hi.
14:22I think my book knowledge is going to become useful. Hey George Best got a got a paperback.
14:28Perfect. Yeah that'll do. Thank you. Three times fifty. That's five.
14:34Thank you very much indeed. Thank you very much. The day flies by with plenty of custom and it's soon
14:42time for my event. Joyce's band gets things going. I can't believe it's Christmas time again.
14:52Drawing in a full house for my reading.
14:54There's all things to swear. And the songs of joy and peace everywhere.
15:02Ladies and gentlemen thank you so much for coming. I'm going to read you The Night Before Christmas
15:06which was written by Clemency Moore. It was the night before Christmas when all through the house
15:13not a creature was stirring. Not even a mouse. But I heard him explain ere he drove out of sight.
15:22Happy Christmas to all. And to all, good night.
15:26Thank you. And I hope you all have a lovely, lovely, lovely Christmas.
15:43My, what a fascinating two days I've had here. You know, I really feel that the the book community
15:48here in Wigtown have really embraced me. And it's been a joy to meet so many people who love reading as
15:54much as I do. I tell you, it has been a real Christmas treat.
16:00Oh, thank you for that, Angela. That's lovely. It's my dream weekend away but,
16:04unsurprisingly, fully booked. You could have a sleepover in a library.
16:09You could. But then I want to, I want to work in the shop.
16:12OK. You could clean it at night. I know.
16:15Now, on the subject of books, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on today's very sad news that
16:20best-selling author Sophie Kinsella has died. Like millions, I really love the Shopaholic series
16:25and our thoughts are very much with her family and friends. Yeah, they are. Right. Time to introduce
16:31tonight's guest. One is a record-breaking astronaut, whilst the other is an Oscar-winning actor.
16:37Please welcome Tim Peake and Brendan Fraser. What a lineup. What a lineup.
16:41Welcome, gentlemen. Tim, we're going to go from the story about books to yourself in space,
16:50in the International Space Station. You read books on a regular basis to the kids down on Earth.
16:54Yes, yeah. It was such a special environment to be in and to do that kind of goodnight piece where
17:01you're reading a book from the cupola window and behind me there's Earth beneath in the background.
17:06And, of course, I didn't get to see any of this until I got back down on Earth and then people were
17:10telling me all about it. But it was a really special occasion. Yeah, it must be like a dream now.
17:15Well, Tim will be sharing more stories from space very shortly. But first, Brendan is telling us
17:20about Rental Family, his heartwarming new film inspired by an unusual industry in Japan. It's all
17:25about a struggling actor who lands a job pretending to be family and friends of complete strangers.
17:31Before we chat to Brendan, let's take a look. The market here isn't the same anymore. It's half the
17:37rate twice the work. But I got you a gig and the pay is actually pretty good.
17:43What's my part? So, what do you think we do here?
17:47We sell emotion. How? We play roles in clients' lives. Parents, siblings,
17:53boyfriends, girlfriends, best friends, and help them connect to what's missing. I'm just an actor. I don't
17:59know how to help people. What I'm offering here is a chance to play roles with real meaning. What do you need me for?
18:04We need a talking white guy.
18:10Oh, Brendan, it is super heartwarming. And of course, the brilliant thing, as we were just saying,
18:15is that this is a real thing in Japan, isn't it? They hire actors to become sort of friends or family
18:22for a period of time. So, give us an example of why somebody would need to hire an actor then. What
18:28sort of situations? Well, loneliness is a real problem in Tokyo. You'd think such a populous
18:33place or London or anywhere in the world would be somewhere that you'd never find yourself feeling
18:38bereft of company. But the opposite is true. It's actually a public health concern in many,
18:44many ways. So, in Japan, mental health issues are stigmatized, which is a point made by the film.
18:51But this is a workaround so that people can have someone come be their brother, their sister,
18:56any family relation you might want. But the film itself lives in that area between make-believe
19:03and reality. What happens when those people go home? What happens to the people who stay
19:10and have that relationship that they've built up? Well, you have to come and see the film and find out.
19:16But it is a touching one, I'll tell you that. Yeah, it is. Oh, Brendan, you're so professional.
19:21Just leave us hanging on a thread and then deliver the plug. It's superb. It's my job, man. Yes,
19:28thank you. But one of the jobs that your character takes on is he plays the father of a young girl,
19:36which throws up all the moral questions about this kind of role within society, especially Japanese
19:42society. Lying to children. Yeah. In this case, a little girl played by newcomer Shannon Gorman,
19:48whose father is Irish and mother is Japanese. And that is the requirement of the role for her,
19:53because she feels worlds apart. She's the daughter of a single mother in the world of the film and needs
20:00to get into an esteemed school, but can't keep up the appearances of being the daughter of a single
20:09single mother. So that mother hires an actor, a performer to stand in as her father, with the
20:17caveat being that she must not know that he truly is not her biological father. However, when you meet
20:24Shannon and you see her on screen, nine years old when she gave this performance, you can't not fall
20:30in love with her, which is exactly what happens to this guy, Philip. Yeah. And it gets the heart pumping
20:35and it brings out paternal instincts they didn't know he had until they actually happened with her.
20:42Amazing. Whilst you were there in Japan, you learned language as well.
20:46I learned enough to be able to understand the basic structure of conversations by the time I was
20:53leaving. I know the importance of hellos and goodbyes. And I know how to thank people when leaving
21:00a noodle shop. And then you can hear a guy in the dish pit going, you'll always get a call back.
21:07Try that, folks, if you can. Next time you're leaving a sushi restaurant.
21:10But did you embed yourself in Japanese culture?
21:12Yeah, I was there for a little while just to make sure that I got myself good and lost and found while
21:15I was there. And there was always someone to help out. If I needed directions, they would walk you to
21:24your destination before they'd let you stand there alone. It was a place that gave me a sense of being
21:32well, you know, a foreigner in a foreign land, which is the character who I play. He's an American
21:37who's been away from the United States for the last seven years. Do with that information what you will,
21:43if you're wondering why. And he finds himself quite lonesome too. He had arrived successful being the
21:51mascot for a toothpaste company. And he played Mr. Clearo Brighto. And we had, we shot a commercial,
22:00which made him famous, maybe more so than he wanted to be or knew how to be. But when we find him,
22:07he's not doing so well with his acting career until he meets the owner of a rental family agency who says,
22:13hey, maybe I could use you. Once he stops acting and actually engaging with people who truly have needs,
22:20then he finds his real purpose. But it comes at a cost. Yeah. Wow. It's very nice. It really is.
22:26Brendan's film, Rental Family, is in cinemas from Friday the 16th of January. Thank you so much.
22:32Yeah. Thank you, Brendan. What did he say? Thank you. Oh, good. Thank you. It sounded much more
22:41than that, didn't it. Time now to blast back to the 15th of December 2015, when Tim here boldly
22:48went where no Brit has gone before the International Space Station. Before we chat to him all about how
22:55he's marking the 10-year milestone, let's remind ourselves of his incredible adventure that inspired
23:00thousands all over the world. I think it was thank you.
23:15Oh, brilliant. We've already had loads of questions then, haven't we?
23:31Yeah. I can't believe it's been a decade. Does it feel like a decade for you? Because we were
23:48saying earlier on that it feels like two minutes. Yeah. And that's exactly what Faye's asking.
23:51No, it does feel just like yesterday. In fact, I was passing through London on my way to Kazakhstan,
23:56and I was here on the One Show on my way through, and I saw a photograph of that the other day and
24:01just thought, no, it just feels like yesterday. Oh, wow. Gosh, we were saying it's gone in a blink
24:06of an eye the 10 years, hasn't it? So this weekend, you are celebrating at the Science Museum with a new
24:15exhibition. Yes. So we are taking over the Science Museum for the weekend. There's a new space gallery at
24:20the Science Museum anyway. Wow. So we're going to base ourselves there. We've got loads of fun
24:24activities that are going to be going on. Kids can come along and code computers,
24:29Raspberry Pi computers that will actually, that code will go into space and be used by the astronauts
24:34on board right now. Live shows going on. And then on Monday, we're streaming a live lesson,
24:41which is going to culminate in a big rocket launch. And any school can take part in that, can't they?
24:46Yes. Yeah, we've already had hundreds of schools signed up. It's on the Science Museum's website. You
24:51can just click on the link and join in. And it will tell you all the resources you need. Gosh,
24:55that is brilliant, isn't it? It really is. And space still fascinates us, doesn't it? Absolutely.
24:59Yeah, it's somewhere, I think, that's a complete leveller. Everybody can just look up at night and,
25:03you know, have that awe and wonder. And we dream about the universe, ask the big questions. And
25:08I think that, you know, everybody enjoys space in some capacity. What was your pinch yourself moment when
25:14you arrived? Obviously, there's the hugs from your fellow astronauts when you did arrive in the
25:19International Space Station. But when was the actual moment when you thought, wow, I am here?
25:25The first pinch myself moment was looking out that cupola window. This is a big seven, seven windows,
25:30actually, that's always earth facing. Because when you first get on board the space station,
25:34it looks just like the mock-ups that we've trained at in Houston and over in Kennedy Space Center. But then
25:39when you float into that cupola, you think, hang on a second, that wasn't there in Houston. You've got this
25:43incredible view of Earth beneath you. That's the moment you realise you're actually in space.
25:48Is it as beautiful as it looks in the pictures from above?
25:50Completely. Yeah, more so. And the planet's always changing. It's so dynamic. People say,
25:56oh, do you ever get bored looking down? It's like, no. Every time you look out the window,
25:59you're seeing a different part of the planet, different weather systems, day, night, lighting,
26:03thunderstorms, aurora, seasons are changing. It's just the most stunning planet in the solar system.
26:08Yeah.
26:09The light not make you just go, what are you all so worried about down here?
26:12Completely. Completely.
26:15And you end up, well, it's 10 years, so it's this time of year, just before Christmas Day.
26:20What was Christmas Day like then on the International Space Station?
26:23Christmas is fun. It's a special day for us in space, just as it is for everyone down on Earth.
26:28But we have a light schedule for the day. So not exactly a day off, but we have a meal together.
26:33Everybody brings a bit of bonus food, which is a small, you know, I had some whiskey fudge made,
26:38which I share with my crewmates. And we all bring something to the table and we just enjoy
26:43a Christmas meal in space, which is very nice.
26:45Yeah, crackers. Can you have crackers in space?
26:48Whiskey fudge. No crackers. No, no crackers.
26:50Brendan, we saw this year, Katy Perry went up, there was a gang of them went up into space.
26:56Would you fancy that?
26:57I'm good right here.
27:01I like it.
27:03You know, but I'm here.
27:04Yeah.
27:05Yeah.
27:05You can just swap numbers and then get in the WhatsApp chat and you can ask him all the questions you need.
27:10You don't need to go.
27:10Exactly. I can just shout out to you. Hey, Tim!
27:13But I tell you what, you've inspired, you know, adults and children alike. I mean,
27:21so many people have followed you during that period and since they all want to be Tim Peake.
27:27What is the one question, though, that you get asked over and over again?
27:32Well, it kind of depends on the audience. If it's kids, it's either going to be bodily functions,
27:38you know, sleeping, eating, going to the loop, or aliens, which I love the aliens question
27:44because it's a fascinating question. How do you answer?
27:47Well, because we are searching for life out in the universe. It's one of the fundamental questions,
27:55perhaps the only fundamental question we haven't yet answered. So it's a really important question
27:59and when kids ask it, you know, often they'll be thinking about little green people in spacecraft,
28:03but actually there's a really serious side to this about searching for life in the universe.
28:08And then with adults, it might be about the view from Earth and that kind of shift in perspective
28:13you have of our planet when you see it from space.
28:16Yeah, you obviously still love talking about it. Your eyes are still sparkling when you talk about it.
28:20It's lovely. As we said, Tim will be celebrating his 10 years since going to space at the Science Museum
28:25in London this Sunday. And if you do know a school that may like to join his free live lesson,
28:31we've put details on how to register on our website. We've got a quick question here.
28:36Now then, question for Tim. Faye asks, Tim, did the stars look bright from above the Earth?
28:42They do. Yeah, we get to see them without any twinkling because the twinkling happens
28:47as the light passes through our atmosphere. So the stars in space are just steady bright white
28:53lights. Amazing. That's a wonderful thing to witness, isn't it?
28:56Wow. Well, as always on The One Show, we've run out of time.
28:59Yeah, we have. We could sit to you both and chat all night.
29:01Unfortunately, there's a programme on After Us which we've got to get to.
29:04That's all we've got time for. Tim and Brendan, thank you very much. Amazing.
29:07Thank you. Happy holidays.
29:08Tomorrow, Roman and JB will be joined by Miranda Hart and Jamie Callum, and we'll have surprises
29:12galore with our one big thank you Christmas special. You never know, we might be surprising
29:16you. Tune in to find out. Bye-bye.
Be the first to comment