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00:00Custard biscuits, I see you as a custard cream.
00:02Everybody loves them.
00:04Do you know what you remind me of?
00:05A teeny, tiny little cookie.
00:08Lovely while you're there, but it doesn't last very long.
00:12Today we're at one of Europe's biggest biscuit factories.
00:16Shall we get in?
00:18Yeah.
00:21But even Cherry Kite burst my bubble today.
00:27Hey!
00:30Because I'm like a kid in a sweet shop.
00:32Everyone's going to wonder what's happened to this shop.
00:34Well, a biscuit shop.
00:36Everywhere I look in here, there's something delightful.
00:41Finding out how the most memorable treat in my mum's biscuit tin...
00:45Oh! ..is made.
00:47That's so good, Doc.
00:49..and getting into some sticky situations along the way.
00:53Jenny!
00:54Jen, I'm losing it!
00:55LAUGHTER
00:56Get them in, love!
00:59Just get them in as best we can!
01:02Sit on!
01:06Cherry's under pressure too.
01:09Oh, it's gone!
01:11In a quest to test the best biscuit to dunk.
01:15A hundred ducks!
01:16100 ducks!
01:17A hundred ducks!
01:17A hundred ducks!
01:18A hundred ducks!
01:22A hundred ducks!
01:23While a less caffeinated Ruth Goodman...
01:26A mobile canteen...
01:29...discovers how a million women risked their lives
01:33to provide a brew and biscuit where it was needed most.
01:38They really are the forgotten heroines of the Second World War.
01:43Did you know that 4.4 billion biscuits
01:46pass through this factory every year?
01:49I mean, how do they produce so many?
01:51I am so glad you're asked,
01:53cos literally that's what we're here to tell everybody.
01:56Welcome to Inside the Factory.
02:03MUSIC
02:12Handwashing.
02:17Here we go.
02:19I always feel like a surgeon doing this.
02:22Like that?
02:23Yeah, exactly.
02:25Right, here we go.
02:29Right, go and do some work.
02:30Have a good one.
02:33This is the Foxy's Burton's Biscuit Factory
02:42in Cumbraan, South Wales.
02:45And they've been making biscuits here since 1939.
02:50And for myself, a person who absolutely loves biscuits,
02:54this place is Ebenhummer.
02:56Let's get involved.
02:57MUSIC
02:58Hey, look.
03:06We're only wandering past.
03:08You all right?
03:09Look at these little rascals.
03:20All right, you fell?
03:22I recognise that.
03:24As well as cookies and other classics like wagon wheels,
03:31this factory produces one of the most recognisable biscuits in Britain.
03:37MUSIC
03:38Ah, the mighty Jammy Dodger.
03:45They've been making these little beauties at this factory
03:47since the 1960s.
03:50And they've been a tea-time staple ever since.
03:53Now, today, I'm following production of the Pack of Eight.
04:03So, while I have a sneaky brew,
04:06Cherry's getting the biscuit ball rolling
04:08with delivery driver Marcin Akatsky.
04:12Hello there.
04:13I've come to help.
04:14Oh, lovely.
04:15So, what's in here?
04:16We've got the plain flour.
04:17Plain white flour?
04:19Yeah.
04:19For biscuits?
04:20For a biscuit.
04:21OK, and how much is in here?
04:2226 tons.
04:23That's a lot of biscuits.
04:24That's a lot.
04:27The factory gets through five tankers
04:30of fine white biscuit flour every day.
04:33It's all right.
04:34I'll work out.
04:36And once it's connected to the 50-ton silo...
04:40It's not going to bug in a rug.
04:42We can start the clock
04:44on our production.
04:47I'm feeding the factory with flour.
04:56As the flour flows...
04:59Hey, Paul, are you all right?
05:01I'm sorting the other ingredients
05:03at the weighing area,
05:05where Head of Research and Development,
05:07Gemma James,
05:08and Shift Operation Manager,
05:10Jamie Caswell,
05:12are already hard at work.
05:14Hey, Gemma.
05:15Hi, Maddie.
05:16Hello, are you OK?
05:17Yeah, good, thank you.
05:18You all right, Jamie?
05:19Hiya, Paddy.
05:20Don't leave me hanging like that.
05:22Now, you've got a handful of powder there.
05:24I have indeed.
05:25I've stopped you mid-scoop.
05:26What are we doing here?
05:27So we've got the key ingredients here
05:29going into our biscuits.
05:30So we've got the bicarbonate of soda,
05:32which is a raising agent.
05:34It helps release the carbon dioxide.
05:35So it helps with the raising of the biscuit
05:38and the finished texture.
05:40So you've got the bubble structure,
05:42so it's nice and light.
05:44Also scoops into colour-coded bags
05:46is a butter alternative and table salt.
05:51And what are you doing there, Jamie?
05:52You're measuring them all out, pal.
05:54So I'm measuring them all out.
05:55We could use up to 70 bags per day,
05:58so this is a full-time job for someone.
06:00Wow.
06:01To do this all day.
06:03Just while we're here,
06:04and we're right at the start here,
06:05and I want to get this out of the way.
06:07When it comes to dunking in a cup of tea,
06:10these aren't the biscuit I go to.
06:13Do you dunk the old jammy biscuits?
06:15Yes, I would.
06:16And just to put it out there,
06:18I prefer herbal tea to dunk.
06:25Hang on here, Paddy.
06:27Hold me up, pal.
06:27Hang on here, Paddy.
06:29Did you hear what she said then?
06:31That's sacrilege.
06:33My word.
06:34Well, everyone's got the different ways
06:36of dunking the biscuits and the tea,
06:38but there's a real scientific approach
06:40to how long you leave them in,
06:42what's the correct texture and everything else,
06:44and do you know who knows the answer to that?
06:46Cherry?
06:47Cherry.
06:48You know, it's Cherry Healy.
06:51That's right, Paddy.
06:53Can I have one cup of tea
06:55and two biscuits, please?
06:56Yes.
06:59Any biscuit can be dunked
07:02and probably should be dunked,
07:04but which dunker is the best,
07:07according to science?
07:09To help me put it to the test...
07:11Hi there.
07:11Can I get a tea and two biscuits, please?
07:13I'm meeting engineer
07:15and Great British Bake Off finalist,
07:17Andrew Smith.
07:18Well, hi, Andrew.
07:20Hello, Cherry.
07:21Why do we feel the impulse,
07:23the wild impulse,
07:24to dunk our biscuit in our tea?
07:25Well, I think, first and foremost,
07:26it releases a load of tastes and flavours and aromas,
07:29but different biscuits perform very differently.
07:32Not all biscuits are equal.
07:33No, absolutely not.
07:35And there's been quite a few studies done on this
07:37and two NHS doctors put these to the test
07:39and we're going to take inspiration from them today
07:41and do some science.
07:45We've come to the University of Reading
07:47to identify the ultimate dunking champion.
07:52Welcome to the lab, Cherry.
07:53Very science-y, I love it already.
07:55So we've got three biscuits that I've chosen.
07:57We've got the traditional digestive.
07:59Good old classic staple.
08:01Second, the modest rich tea biscuit.
08:03It's got the word tea on it.
08:05You would hope that it would do well.
08:06And last but not least, the oat biscuit.
08:09Chunky, oaty.
08:11Texture.
08:12All the biscuits might look similar,
08:13but why they're made and the ingredients
08:15actually are quite different.
08:18Each supermarket-owned brand biscuit
08:21will be dunked in a beaker
08:22a freshly prepared English breakfast tea
08:25brewed for five minutes before milk is added
08:28and tested when it's between 60 and 65 degrees Celsius.
08:34Test number one is absorption.
08:36So we're looking at how much tea the biscuits can soak up.
08:39And all biscuits are porous,
08:40so that means they've got all these little gaps
08:42and channels in between the crumbs of the biscuit.
08:46And through capillary action,
08:47that soaks up the tea into the biscuit.
08:50What do you mean by capillary action?
08:51So capillary action is the tendency for a fluid
08:54to go up a channel when it's presented with it.
08:56The tea wants to be in the biscuit.
08:58Exactly.
08:59It's gagging to get in there.
09:02First, we weigh the three undunked biscuits.
09:06Chocks away.
09:07And then dunk each one precisely halfway into the tea
09:11for exactly five seconds.
09:14And out we come.
09:15And weigh each biscuit again.
09:18Dunked.
09:18Weight.
09:19To reveal the percentage increase in weight of each dunked bicky.
09:23So the winner of that one was the rich tea biscuit,
09:26which absorbed a whopping 66% of its weight in tea.
09:30So the biscuit that absorbs the most tea,
09:33therefore helping the flavour compounds move around,
09:35would that taste better in theory?
09:37Yes, absolutely.
09:38It more efficiently distributes all those flavours and aromas
09:42around your mouth, which is where you perceive flavour.
09:44So the tea becomes almost a vehicle
09:46for the delicious flavours in the biscuit.
09:48Yes.
09:48It's transporting us to flavour land.
09:50But absorption could impact another important biscuit quality.
09:57Are we interviewing the biscuits for test number two?
10:00Test number two, Cherry, is all about crunch.
10:02Are you saying this is a crunch-o-meter?
10:04It is the crunch-o-meter.
10:05Let's start with the digestive.
10:07OK.
10:08I'm adding the tea.
10:10I syringe three millilitres of freshly brewed tea
10:13onto the centre of each biscuit.
10:16Thirsty biscuit.
10:17And wait for it to absorb for four seconds.
10:20Quiet in the lab, please.
10:2357.8.
10:24And then snap it in half one centimetre away
10:27from the crunch-o-meter.
10:29The rich tea.
10:3267.1.
10:33The oaty biscuit.
10:3661.
10:37So the rich tea biscuit is the snappiest, the crunchiest,
10:40but why is that a good thing?
10:42Well, believe it or not,
10:43the crunch actually makes a biscuit taste better
10:45because it makes our brain think it's a fresher biscuit.
10:48So even though we're dunking it
10:50and we're reducing a bit of that crunch,
10:52the lighter it is,
10:53the more we perceive it as fresh and delicious.
11:00Andrew, what is the third and final challenge
11:02that our biscuits have to face?
11:04We're going to see which one can be dunked the most
11:06before it just crumbles into the tea.
11:08When I've dunked my biscuit,
11:09if it falls into my tea,
11:10it's like all is lost.
11:11It's ruined.
11:12It's the breaking point test.
11:14The most dramatic of them all.
11:16It's like the gladiator ring.
11:20Biscuits, are you ready?
11:23In, out.
11:25I lower each of the three biscuits
11:28exactly halfway into a freshly brewed tea.
11:31Again.
11:32Out.
11:33And again.
11:35Until.
11:37Oh, it's gone!
11:37Oh!
11:38Seven dunks.
11:40Seven dunks to the digestive.
11:45Oh, there it goes!
11:46Oh!
11:47There we go.
11:47She's down.
11:48Ten dunks.
11:55What is this biscuit made of?
11:56I'm flabbergasted.
12:03In.
12:05A hundred dunks!
12:06A hundred dunks!
12:07In!
12:08Keep going, Gerry.
12:09We've got for science, out.
12:13I've gone into a really weird place.
12:18Out.
12:19What is going on?
12:20I'm scared.
12:21I'm scared.
12:23Do you know what?
12:26I feel like Ant and Dec are going to...
12:27Ah!
12:27Ah!
12:28Ah!
12:28Ah!
12:29Ah!
12:29Ah!
12:29Ah!
12:30Ah!
12:30Ah!
12:30Ah!
12:31Ah!
12:31Ah!
12:32Ah!
12:32We don't have to stay here forever!
12:34Ah!
12:34It's finished!
12:35It's finished!
12:35It's finished!
12:38Ah!
12:38A hundred and thirty-five dunks.
12:41A hundred and...
12:41I...
12:42That number doesn't feel real, but...
12:43Wow!
12:44And we were there!
12:45Compared to seven for the digestive.
12:48Why did this biscuit suddenly become invincible?
12:51It's incredible, right?
12:52And as you look inside a rich tea biscuit,
12:53it's actually very tightly packed,
12:55and has these kind of layers that look a little bit more bready.
12:58It's got lots of gluten in there.
12:59And you saw that, the way it's stretched and held together, right?
13:02That's all that gluten that is softening and it stays elastic.
13:06And more gluten, stronger structure and lighter.
13:09It's the dream combination.
13:11It's a structural engineering marvel.
13:12So the rich tea biscuit is the overall winner.
13:15But do you want a biscuit that you can dunk a hundred and thirty-plus times?
13:20I think the perfect time is actually around one second to get that balance of aroma release,
13:26but retaining crunch.
13:27And that's roughly about the time it takes to say one biscuit.
13:30One biscuit.
13:31That's a one-second dunk.
13:33Mmm!
13:35Add a bit of tea, a bit of biscuit-y aromas, a little crunch.
13:41And I have to say, that is dunking lovely.
13:44Mmm!
13:46Mmm!
13:47And while we leave Cherry scoffing the programme's profits...
13:55I'm living my 1980s childhood dreams.
14:03Hey!
14:04I'm at this yummy Dodgers factory.
14:07There they are.
14:09Never gonna give you up
14:11Never gonna let you down
14:13Never gonna run around
14:15Never gonna tell a lie
14:16Never gonna tell a lie
14:17Never gonna tell a lie
14:18Never gonna tell a lie
14:19Never gonna tell a lie
14:20Never gonna tell a lie
14:21Never gonna tell a lie
14:22Never gonna tell a lie
14:23Never gonna tell a lie
14:25Lovely score.
14:26My pre-weighed biscuit ingredients have been tipped into a mixer.
14:31Then a clever computer adds sugar, flour and vegetable oil.
14:36And after 15 minutes of mixing, Gemma and I can see the results.
14:44He'll be here in a minute.
14:45Oh, here you go.
14:46There we go.
14:47Just tip it on cue.
14:51A whopping 600 kilograms of dough, enough to make 93,600 biscuits, drops...
14:54Into a dough cutter.
14:55Which separates the dough.
14:56Which separates the dough.
14:57into strips.
14:58into strips.
14:59into strips.
15:00into strips.
15:01Ah.
15:02Ah.
15:03Ah.
15:04So here we've got the finished dough pan.
15:05A whopping 600 kilograms of dough, enough to make 93,600 biscuits, drops into a dough
15:23cutter, which separates it into strips.
15:30Ah!
15:32So here we've got the finished dough paddy.
15:36It's quite soft, isn't it?
15:38It's lovely and soft.
15:39So in the dough, we've got the raising agent, so the carbon dioxide bubbles are gaffing away in there.
15:45It's quite cool.
15:46I expected it to be warm.
15:48So ideally, we want the dough about 22, 24 degrees C at this stage.
15:52See, when it comes to biscuits, that'll do me.
15:55Just put a bit of jam in the middle of that, and I'll be happy with that.
15:58No.
15:59Jummy balls.
16:00Sounds wrong, but it tasted nicer in me head.
16:05Once this has gone up here, then what?
16:08Now we need to transform this dough into biscuits, and once it leaves here, it will head to the
16:14rotary moulder, and you will meet Rebecca there.
16:18So is that me and you, Dom?
16:19That is, Paddy.
16:20Oh, Gemma.
16:22Lovely meeting you.
16:23Listen.
16:24Hold that.
16:25Thanks.
16:26I'll see you in a bit.
16:27See you.
16:27Our door travels along a 17-metre-long conveyor, and guiding me on its onward journey is Rebecca
16:40Phillips.
16:41You all right, Rebecca?
16:44How are you?
16:44You OK?
16:45I'm going well, thank you, Paddy.
16:46Gemma sent me down to see you.
16:48What do you do here?
16:48I'm the factory general manager.
16:50You're the person we have to thank.
16:53Families up and down the country have been lost without you, Rebecca, let me tell you.
16:58It's our pleasure.
16:59Now, before we crack on, to ask you, what are you dipping your biscuit into?
17:04A strong cup of tea.
17:07We're going to get on.
17:08Gemma, lovely person, but, to be honest, you need to get rid of her.
17:13She dips hers in herbal tea.
17:16It's not good for the factory.
17:19While HR escorts Gemma off the premises, my chopped-up dough is heading to the moulding
17:26area, where it's getting some proper love and attention.
17:33One, two, three.
17:34Good love.
17:35Come on, give me that love.
17:37Good love.
17:38All I need is love.
17:39Good love.
17:40Good love.
17:41Good love.
17:42This is what I recognise.
17:51I've noticed it's coming out of, it looks like a mould.
17:56Yes, that's correct.
17:56I presume it'd be like a cookie cutter kind of thing that you do at home.
18:01No, not like you do at home.
18:02The reason we use a moulding roller is because we want to be able to maintain the intricacy of
18:08the design and also the consistency of the biscuit.
18:12Our door lands on the brass roller, which is imprinted with 264 biscuit-shaped moulds.
18:24A forcing roller pushes the door into the moulds, and a fixed knife removes any excess that
18:33can then be recycled.
18:352,880 intricate tops and bottoms are made every minute.
18:41Can you see the well on the base?
18:47Yes.
18:48Now that's been specifically designed so that when the closet is baked and cooled, and we
18:53add the jam, that the jam sits nicely in the centre of the biscuit.
18:57You don't get any jam spilling over the outside.
19:00I just presumed it were a flat biscuit with jam on it, and then the other bit was stuck
19:04on the top.
19:05But I remember when I was a kid, they had like a really intricate design.
19:09Do you remember that?
19:10Yeah, I do, and the design has changed over the years.
19:13If you look at the base of the biscuit, you can see the little hearts.
19:16Yeah.
19:17Now that was something from the original design that we wanted to keep, and it's not something
19:21that the consumer would necessarily see.
19:23So obviously, it's sandwiched together, those hearts are never seen by the naked eye, really.
19:29Yeah.
19:29So why is that still there?
19:31It's just part of our legacy.
19:33Hell is for the way you look at me.
19:39And why the arts?
19:41It's just a biscuit ton of love.
19:43Oh, I love that.
19:44I love that.
19:45And love is all that I can give to you.
19:51Love is more than just a game for two.
19:58Now, even though I consider myself a biscuit expert, I had no idea they were made in such
20:06colossal amounts.
20:10Without this level of production, none of us would have the choice we had when it comes
20:16to biscuits.
20:17Let's be honest, that doesn't bear thinking about.
20:21But when did production on this scale begin?
20:29Proofs in London to find out.
20:34Nearly 170 years ago, a family of tea importers, based near here on the south bank of the Thames,
20:42decided to diversify and make biscuits.
20:49From the wharves and mills of the London docks, they had easy access to cheap imported flour
20:54and sugar.
20:55The company was called Peak Free, and using the very latest steam-powered machinery, their
21:02factories created some of the world's most famous biscuits, right here in Bermondsey, an
21:08area that became known as Biscuit Town.
21:11Food historian Mukta Das is giving me a peek inside the building that was once a giant factory.
21:19So, this biscuit factory was built in 1866, and we're standing in a room that they would
21:29have used to sort out all the broken biscuits into packets and sold at the local markets
21:36cheaply.
21:37This is quite late, though, isn't it?
21:38When you think of when the Industrial Revolution starts, you know, way back in sort of 1700,
21:43it's not until the mid-Victorian, 150 years later, that you start to get industrialised
21:49food production.
21:52We've had industrialised textiles, industrialised iron and steel, but food is really late to
21:57the party.
21:58That's right.
21:59So, it's only really in the 1860s you get a kind of level of industrialisation that created
22:04the snack biscuit.
22:05This was one of the first factories who embraced technology to such an extent that this was
22:13purpose-built, housed these huge steam-powered turbines that would turn belts and conveyors
22:20and cutting machines.
22:22Before these newfangled machines, posh biscuits were the preserve of the wealthy.
22:27But this technology meant that fancier snack biscuits like chocolate digestives and complex
22:33sandwich biscuits like bourbons and custard creams could be produced on a huge scale, making
22:40them more accessible to all.
22:43And their first bestseller in 1861 was the groundbreaking Garibaldi.
22:50It's quite innovative as that, with fruit in the middle and then two biscuits baked together
22:55with flour from North America, fruit from the colonies.
22:58You know, this is kind of an empire-building biscuit.
23:01It reflected global Britain of its time.
23:06By the turn of the 20th century, Peek Freen was producing hundreds of millions of biscuits
23:12a year.
23:13It was an incredible industrial success story, and Mukta has found an extraordinary archive
23:21film that celebrated it.
23:27So this is Peek Freen's biscuit factory right here, but in 1906.
23:33Oh, my goodness.
23:41An Edwardian inside the factory.
23:50And now here we can see all the machines go.
23:53Now that is an Edwardian moustache, isn't it?
23:57Very fine.
23:58This is the cutting-edge technology, these sorts of rolling and mixing machines.
24:03This is mass production for a mass market.
24:07An oven that it just rolls through all by itself, cooking as it goes.
24:13At its peak, the factory employed 4,000 people.
24:17But like many in this early industrial era, there was little health and safety.
24:22No guards on anything, look.
24:25Belts running all over the place.
24:27Cheap as that place must have been dangerous.
24:30Oh, my goodness, look at this little lad.
24:32Oh, how old must he be?
24:35In 1901, 22% of boys in England aged between 10 and 14 were working.
24:43Thankfully, that's a thing of the past.
24:45In 1933, the Children and Young Persons Act set a minimum working age of 14.
24:52And in 1972, that age was raised to 16.
24:57The packing is all female.
24:59100% female, in fact.
25:00And again, young, look.
25:06An entire community streaming out of the factory.
25:09Here comes the finished product, look.
25:13Horses and carts over the cobbles.
25:16And a couple of motorised vehicles, too.
25:19So this is right on the cusp, isn't it,
25:21when the first motor lorries are coming in to replace the horse and cart.
25:26It was a new era of the mass market,
25:29with Peak Freen exporting affordable sweet treats
25:32from Biscuit Town right across the country
25:35and around the world from the nearby London docks.
25:39The factory closed in 1989,
25:42but this remarkable film shows that it was right at the forefront
25:46of our mass-produced food revolution.
25:49This is very much like those shots we have at the Endwell programmes
25:53where lorries bringing the produce out.
25:56It's exactly the same.
25:58Just 118 years earlier.
26:00And there's no dodgy comedian from Bolton.
26:05Hey, no need, Ruth.
26:07She's always so lovely on the telly.
26:13The mass production of biscuits may not be a new thing,
26:17but here in Cumbraan,
26:20they certainly seem to have perfected the art.
26:29Everywhere I look in here, there's something delightful.
26:32And quite a few of the 700-strong team
26:39have dedicated years to topping up our biscuit tins.
26:44How long have you worked here?
26:46I've been here about eight years.
26:48I've been here about three.
26:49It's 33 on you.
26:51I've always been on this slide.
26:53Just under two hard-working hours into production,
27:00my moulded dough biscuits
27:02are being swept along another conveyor
27:05into an oven.
27:11And an epic oven it is.
27:13It's the length of eight double-decker buzzes.
27:18And it's where I find factory manager Rebecca.
27:23This oven's got four zones.
27:26And each zone has got a different purpose.
27:28This is between zone one and two, OK?
27:31Yeah, that door open, Rebecca.
27:32I need to see this.
27:35So as you can see,
27:36you've got some lift on the biscuits.
27:38Yeah.
27:38And this is because in that first zone,
27:40the raising agents that we've put in the product
27:42back at the mixing stage
27:43are starting to activate.
27:45That rise will drop
27:47as the biscuit continues through the baking process.
27:50We're not baking cakes, we're making biscuits.
27:52But it's essential that we get that lift
27:54to make sure we get the right texture.
27:56OK.
27:57The biscuits now pass through zones three and four,
28:01which are set to 235 degrees Celsius,
28:05reducing moisture levels to 2%.
28:08And after a total bake of eight minutes,
28:13they exit the oven.
28:25Oh, no.
28:26These are the colours that I remembered.
28:29Golden light brown.
28:30So the product at this stage is fully baked.
28:44And one of the things that's really important at this stage
28:46is that we've driven off enough moisture.
28:48Yeah.
28:48Once the biscuit shell is baked and cooled
28:51and we add the jam,
28:52the jam migrates liquid into the biscuit.
28:55So if we haven't driven off enough moisture
28:58during the baking process,
28:59we'll end up with a soggy biscuit,
29:00which is absolutely what we don't want.
29:02No-one wants that.
29:04So if I take a biscuit off the line,
29:07really hot, about 90 degrees,
29:09but you'll see that the texture at this point
29:11is still quite soft.
29:14Yeah, it is.
29:14God, yeah, it's bendy.
29:16So how will that harden up?
29:18Just as the biscuit cools.
29:20So we've got around 80 metres of cooling conveyors
29:23and it's no different to what you would do
29:25on your way back at home.
29:26Can I try one of them?
29:28You certainly can.
29:29Mind your mouth.
29:30Warm, yeah.
29:35Oh.
29:36Good?
29:37Oh, that's lovely.
29:40And do you know what?
29:41With that, you've obviously got the jam element,
29:43but that biscuit's actually delicious on its own.
29:46Off they go along the cooling conveyor,
29:54reducing temperatures from 90 to 35 degrees Celsius.
29:59It actually feels a bit cooler here as well, doesn't it?
30:02And my biscuits are ready to let loose.
30:12Oh, look at that.
30:14So this is the start of our sorting process.
30:19They've got all these biscuits coming through,
30:21but they're a mixture of tops and bottoms.
30:24The tops and bottoms are clocked by hidden sensors
30:28and funnelled into separate channels.
30:33Right, Paddy, so they've been transferred then
30:36onto what we call a V-belt.
30:38Right, a V-belt.
30:39A V-belt, like the letter.
30:41And it's just to do with...
30:42Oh, I know what a V is, Rebecca.
30:44I know I'm from Bolton, but I know the alphabet.
30:48Are you sure?
30:49Well, about half of it.
30:52The V-belt moves the biscuits from flat to vertical,
30:55and as they glide along,
30:57they get checked for defects
30:59by machine operator Richard Maggs.
31:02How are you, Richard?
31:03How are you, pal?
31:03You OK, bud?
31:04Yeah, I'm OK.
31:05Richard, how long have you been with us?
31:07Ten years.
31:07I've been here, then.
31:08Yeah.
31:08Now, ten years for someone working in a factory,
31:12that's still a starter, isn't it?
31:14Yeah, it's still a starter.
31:14You're still considered, like, a new bit.
31:16A baby.
31:17A baby, always learning me.
31:19As well as removing any broken ones,
31:22Richard neatly levels the biscuits
31:24so they don't clog up the next machine.
31:27If there's any slightly stuck up,
31:30that'll absolutely cop that process up down there.
31:32Yeah, it can do,
31:33and also, while we're here,
31:34we're looking for defect biscuits as well
31:36to take them out.
31:37Can I have a go at the old smoothies?
31:39Yeah, you can have a go at there,
31:40patting them down,
31:40and then, if you want to...
31:42Oh, what's this one?
31:43What are you doing with that one?
31:46Just pull it in.
31:47Oh.
31:48Hook them up.
31:49Fortunately, you don't win a prize,
31:51but you've got a little bit of a biscuit.
31:52I'll tell you what, take that back.
31:54I'm not interested in that.
31:55I'll do the patting.
31:56Here we go.
32:01Come on.
32:03Oh, go on, Matty.
32:06Sign you up now.
32:07You can have a job, yeah.
32:08I might do it again,
32:09just to show it's not beginner's luck.
32:11Yeah.
32:11Here we go.
32:14Whee!
32:15That's how you want.
32:17That's made my day.
32:19Smoothed and sorted,
32:20my biscuits move onwards.
32:24OK, Paddy,
32:25so what we have here
32:25is the shuffleboard.
32:29Well, we're all going to do that.
32:30We're going to shuffle it, yeah?
32:30Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
32:32Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
32:43Everyone's going to wonder
32:44what's happened to this show.
32:46Come on.
32:46And what this is doing
32:48is changing the orientation
32:49of the biscuits again.
32:52Two metal plates on the shuffleboard
32:54move the biscuits into sets
32:56of tops and bottoms.
32:59And is there a reason
33:00why it's now bottom top, bottom top?
33:03It's just getting ready
33:04to be presented to the jam.
33:05I love that, being presented to the jam.
33:08While we're here as well, Rebecca,
33:09I hope you don't mind
33:10because I'm loving the jammie dees,
33:12but I did spot further up there
33:14another classic biscuit.
33:15Do you mind if I go
33:16and have a quick look at it?
33:17Absolutely.
33:18Right, all right, I won't be long.
33:22While my biscuits are organised
33:24into pairs
33:24and head towards the jam,
33:27I'm being pulled down memory lane.
33:29Oh, look at that wagon wheel.
33:40You've got the biscuit base,
33:42you've got the chocolate,
33:43but the star of the show
33:45is that lovely marshmallow
33:47in the middle.
33:49You would like this.
33:50Sherry.
33:52Where is she?
33:52She's in, Sherry.
33:56Where is that tall?
33:58Talks or what?
34:00Give me a break, Paddy.
34:08I really needed that.
34:11But when you put marshmallows
34:12on the top,
34:13I'm sorry,
34:14it takes it to a whole new level.
34:16They are rather unusual.
34:18They're soft and squishy,
34:20yet firm.
34:22What are marshmallows, anyway?
34:26In search of sweet secrets,
34:28I've come to a rather special bakery
34:30near Leeds.
34:32I'm definitely in the right place
34:34because even the air
34:35tastes like sugar.
34:40Una Sims is the marshmallowist.
34:43Oh, my God, Una.
34:44I have died and gone to marshmallow heaven.
34:47We really love marshmallows
34:49in this bakery.
34:50Clearly you do.
34:51What a beautiful,
34:53floofy sight.
34:54They are very soft
34:56and very floofy.
34:58There's nothing really like them.
35:00And why is it called
35:01a marshmallow?
35:02It's actually
35:03from the
35:04mallow plant.
35:05A plant?
35:06So this plant
35:07usually grows
35:08in sort of
35:09marshy areas.
35:11Marsh.
35:12You follow
35:13where we're going.
35:15That is called a marshmallow
35:16because of that plant.
35:17And it's grown
35:18all around the world.
35:19Asia,
35:20Africa,
35:21Europe,
35:21even in the UK.
35:22It grows around
35:23like salt land areas,
35:24coastal areas,
35:25marshes.
35:26OK,
35:27how on earth
35:28do you get
35:29from that
35:30to that?
35:31So the mallow plant
35:33has actually been used
35:34for thousands of years
35:35to make some form
35:36of sweet treat.
35:37So we use the root,
35:38which we dry up,
35:39and if you steep
35:40this in water,
35:41you get a gloopy,
35:43like,
35:44viscous-y texture.
35:46And in ancient Egypt,
35:47they used to incorporate
35:48this with honey,
35:49so it'd be used
35:50as like a sweet treat
35:51or even
35:51to cure sore fruits.
35:54The plant isn't used
35:56in modern marshmallows,
35:58so Una starts her recipe
36:00with three types of sugar,
36:02including a very smooth
36:04liquid sugar
36:05known as invert.
36:07This stops the crystallisation
36:09of the sugar
36:10in the marshmallows.
36:11So instead of getting
36:12a grainy marshmallow,
36:13we get a really smooth
36:15marshmallow.
36:17We're making a cherry
36:18and rose-flavoured marshmallow.
36:21Oh, lovely.
36:23I'm going to take this
36:24up to a very specific
36:25112 degrees.
36:27That is when the sugar
36:28starts forming
36:29with the water
36:30of the cherry puree
36:31and starts making
36:32the perfect strands
36:33and it contains
36:34the right amount of moisture
36:35to make the best type
36:37of marshmallows.
36:38What happens next?
36:39So this is where
36:39we're going to add
36:40our sheets of gelatin.
36:42So this is what replaces
36:43the mallow plant.
36:45They're very weird,
36:46aren't they?
36:46They're completely transparent,
36:48they're completely odorless,
36:49and they provide
36:50the stability
36:51that we want
36:52in a marshmallow.
36:55Gelatin is solid
36:56at room temperature,
36:57but turns liquid
36:58when heated in water
37:00as the amino acid
37:02building blocks
37:02of its protein structure
37:04loosen.
37:05It's then mixed
37:06into the hot,
37:07fruity concoction.
37:08So all the strands
37:11of the amino acids
37:12when it gets heated up
37:13are all unwinding
37:14and loosening,
37:15and then when it forms
37:16a solid,
37:17they're all coming
37:18back together
37:18and binding up.
37:20The gelatin
37:21and its flexible amino acid
37:24must be worked
37:25into the mix
37:26while it's hot.
37:27This also fluffs it up
37:29before it cools down
37:30and sets hard.
37:31And this is where
37:34we're going to put
37:35all the air bubbles
37:36into those strands
37:37that when they reform,
37:39they'll be bouncy
37:39and fluffy.
37:40You bring the air in
37:42and then it gets cooler
37:45and then you trap it.
37:46Exactly.
37:47The stand mixer
37:51works away
37:52for ten minutes,
37:53quadrupling the volume
37:55of the marshmallow mix.
37:57It's completely
37:58changed texture.
37:59It's completely
38:00changed colour.
38:02So as those amino strands
38:03are cooling down
38:05and they've incorporated
38:06all that air,
38:07they're building
38:07this sort of scaffolding
38:09for making the foamy
38:10marshmallow that we want,
38:11that fluffy texture.
38:13Una carefully judges
38:15the precise moment
38:16to stop mixing.
38:17Before I pour out
38:21our puffed up
38:22powder pink creation
38:24to set at room temperature.
38:28I'm really surprised
38:29it doesn't get baked
38:30or you don't put it
38:31in a fridge or a freezer.
38:32Nope.
38:33You just leave it
38:33so that the gelatine
38:34can do its work,
38:36harden up,
38:36create that really
38:37solid foundation
38:39so that those air bubbles
38:40are trapped forever.
38:42Exactly.
38:43The marshmallows
38:45take 12 hours
38:46to cool and set.
38:49Then they're dusted
38:50with a confectioner's mix
38:51of icing sugar
38:52and corn flour
38:53to reduce stickiness.
38:55We are going to cut them
38:57into little cubes.
39:02Is that air bubbles popping?
39:03Yeah.
39:08So then, perfect,
39:10the marshmallows.
39:12I need to have a go at this.
39:13And there we have it.
39:18There's some quite big holes here.
39:20Look at that one.
39:21The gelatine has incorporated
39:22loads of air
39:23so it's really light
39:24and it's almost souffle-like
39:25in texture.
39:26Yeah.
39:29Cool.
39:31Mmm.
39:31That is so fruity
39:33and intense
39:34but it just disappears.
39:36The minute it hits my tongue
39:37it melts and disappears.
39:38Yeah.
39:39It's really velvety.
39:42Do you know what?
39:42This reminds me of paddy.
39:44Big, sweet
39:45and soft on the inside.
39:47Aw.
39:49Aw, thanks, Cherry.
39:51They do look good
39:53but I'm all about the biscuits.
39:57And my shortcake bases
40:00are missing
40:00a very important component.
40:04Biscuits everywhere.
40:06Still not seeing any jam.
40:09So, I'm following my nose
40:12to meet up with Rebecca.
40:16I can already smell the jam.
40:21And there are my tops and bottoms
40:23on the way to meet it.
40:25Ooh, yeah.
40:27This is it now.
40:29Now it's becoming a reality.
40:31Beautiful.
40:32Well, all right.
40:34Well, tell me.
40:38I want to time it with you.
40:41Well, tell me.
40:43So, what we have here
40:44is the depositor
40:45and this has got built-in cameras.
40:47Right.
40:47So, as the biscuit bases
40:49pass through
40:50the cameras to check the biscuit
40:51and they'll deposit the jam.
40:53Right.
40:54And temperature
40:55on depositing
40:56is absolutely critical.
40:57So, we're up in between
40:5840 and 50 degrees.
41:00If it's too warm,
41:02it's too runny
41:03and it won't stay
41:04inside the well.
41:04Right.
41:05And then we get
41:05the sticky bottoms
41:07for the process.
41:07Yeah, we don't want that.
41:08Yeah, we don't want that.
41:09And if the jam is too cold,
41:11it won't be the street
41:12flowing as it needs to be.
41:14So, we're changing temperature
41:15slightly either side
41:16or ruin the biscuit?
41:17Yes.
41:18Right, OK.
41:19Exactly 4.8 grams
41:26of extra smooth,
41:28warm, raspberry flavoured jam
41:30is placed inside the moulded
41:32well on every biscuit base.
41:36We've got some of the jam here.
41:37If you'd like to try it,
41:38have you?
41:40I'm not really in the mood,
41:41Rebecca, if I'm being honest.
41:42Of course I want to try it.
41:44Of course I want to try it.
41:45Fill your boots.
41:46This is actual jam
41:48out in the middle
41:49of one of them little rascals.
41:52Oh.
41:54See, instantly,
41:56if I had a blindfold on
41:57and smelt that,
41:59I'd be saying
41:59it's a jammy D.
42:01Let's have a go.
42:01This is not going to come out
42:16how I mean it,
42:17but it's a very childish jam.
42:19Yeah.
42:19Do you know what I mean?
42:20It just takes me back to me child
42:22and it's a nice,
42:23a lovely flavour to it.
42:25It's not grown up.
42:27Yeah.
42:27Fantastic.
42:29Oh.
42:31My word.
42:33In fact,
42:33I'd say, really,
42:35the only thing that's missing
42:38is the biscuit.
42:39Yeah,
42:39what we need to do now
42:40is to put the tops
42:42onto the bottoms.
42:44The jam is dotted
42:45onto the biscuit bases
42:46and small vacuum cups
42:48lift and place the tops
42:50to make the perfect sandwich.
42:52OK, Paddy,
42:58so now you can see
42:59a finished biscuit.
42:59Yes, fantastic.
43:01Look at that.
43:03Rows and roars
43:04of little jammy beauties.
43:07The memories you gave
43:09The memories you gave
43:11The memories you gave
43:12Made of this
43:13And my six-year-old self
43:17would never forgive me
43:18if I didn't have a sneaky taste
43:20of a warm Dodger
43:21straight off the line.
43:23Hold me lightly
43:26With a dream
43:27With memories you gave
43:30Feel free to try one.
43:32Oh.
43:32One if you'd like.
43:33Thought you'd never ask.
43:34I'll go for that one there.
43:39Oh.
43:40Is it good?
43:44Oh.
43:46Oh.
43:47That's so good, that.
43:53That's the freshest
43:54jammy Dodger
43:55you'll ever eat.
43:57Why are they called
43:58jammy Dodgers?
43:59Well, Roger the Dodger
44:01who was in the Beano magazine.
44:03He used to read Beano
44:03when I was a kid.
44:04He was always up to mischief.
44:06OK?
44:06And he's always managing
44:08to be jammy enough
44:09to get himself
44:10out of sticky situations.
44:12So someone
44:12at the biscuit factory
44:14went,
44:15that's a bit of inspiration.
44:16They were like that
44:17and they formed the biscuit
44:18on the strength of that comic.
44:19Absolutely.
44:20That's amazing.
44:21It is.
44:22You know before
44:23when I said
44:23taste of the jam
44:24I said what's missing
44:25is the biscuit.
44:26Those who've got
44:27the jam and the biscuit
44:28what's missing now Rebecca?
44:30Come on.
44:32Tea.
44:32Cup of tea.
44:33Of course.
44:35While we go and have a brew
44:36and enjoy these
44:37Bruce finding out
44:38how biscuits boosted morale
44:39during World War II.
44:41Come on Rebecca.
44:42Doesn't go anywhere
44:43but we'll pretend Rebecca.
44:45we'll pretend
44:46we'll just walk like this.
44:55In 1940
44:56during the Second World War
44:58Britain came under attack
44:59from German bombers
45:01causing devastation
45:03and costing the lives
45:04of tens of thousands
45:06of people.
45:07As bombs fell
45:12across the country
45:13the government feared
45:14that high casualty numbers
45:16on the home front
45:17would lead to a collapse
45:19of morale
45:20and widespread panic.
45:24Volunteers like air raid wardens
45:26and firefighters
45:27were drafted in
45:28but more support was needed.
45:31Historian Lucy Noakes
45:33has studied
45:33how spirits
45:34were lifted.
45:36The whole point of air raids
45:38was to destroy morale
45:39because it's targeted
45:40to ordinary people
45:42at home
45:43in towns and cities.
45:44And you just think
45:45how would you cope
45:47in those situations?
45:48Yeah.
45:49I think it was really
45:50really difficult
45:50but luckily
45:51there was a group of women
45:52who were ready
45:53to step up
45:54and try to help.
45:55And they did it
45:59in vans like this.
46:03A mobile canteen.
46:06The Women's Voluntary Service
46:08or WVS.
46:11Let's have a tea ladies.
46:13Oh yes please.
46:14Thank you very much.
46:15This is too.
46:18The WVS
46:20they organise blood transfusions
46:22they helped to coordinate evacuees
46:25they mended uniforms
46:27but one of their
46:28most important roles
46:29was keeping up morale
46:31during air raids.
46:35Where a bomb was fallen
46:37the mobile canteen
46:39manned by the WVS
46:40arrives with that
46:41inevitable prop
46:41to British morale
46:42a cup of tea.
46:45And tea
46:45wasn't their only weapon.
46:47The ladies of the
46:48Women's Voluntary Service
46:49often provided
46:50biscuits.
46:52Quite the treat
46:53during rationing.
46:55Sugar was rationed
46:56from January
46:571940
46:59because it was so hard
46:59to bring supplies in
47:00during the Second World War.
47:02But although sugar
47:04was rationed
47:04they tried really hard
47:06to keep biscuits
47:07off the ration.
47:08They decided
47:09that they would
47:09prioritise
47:10servicemen
47:11servicewomen
47:12firefighters
47:13would get biscuits.
47:15Air raid wardens
47:16the volunteers
47:16who worked
47:17during the air raid
47:18they would get
47:19a cup of sweet tea
47:20with sugar
47:21and a couple of biscuits
47:22as a kind of thank you
47:23for putting their lives
47:24on the line
47:25through the night.
47:28By 1940
47:29the WVS
47:31was running
47:31at least 700
47:33canteens
47:34all over the country.
47:36And the Ministry
47:37of Information
47:37promoted the work
47:39of their brave recruits.
47:40So this was a woman
47:45called Patience Boo Brand.
47:48Boo was her nickname
47:49and so Patience
47:51was from
47:51a pretty posh
47:52background.
47:54You would be
47:54with a nickname like that.
47:55Yeah you absolutely would.
47:57And you can see her here
47:58so she's in front
47:59of a Women's
48:00Voluntary Service
48:01tea van
48:02that was donated
48:03by the American Red Cross
48:04and you can see her
48:06helping to dole out
48:07cups of tea
48:07to the Royal Engineers.
48:09But because the WVS
48:10was a voluntary organisation
48:13there was really
48:13very little in the way
48:14of kind of rank
48:15everybody mucked in
48:17and women came
48:17from all walks of life
48:19and it was a way
48:19for every woman
48:20to kind of join in
48:22and help
48:22in the war effort.
48:26Often women volunteers
48:27like Boo
48:28were on duty
48:29during the actual raids
48:31supporting the
48:32anti-aircraft gunners
48:33and giving tea
48:35and biscuits
48:35to people in shelters.
48:42One of the country's
48:44most devastating raids
48:45took place
48:46on the 14th of November
48:471940
48:47when hundreds
48:49of German bombers
48:50attacked the city
48:51of Coventry.
48:53568 people
48:54were killed.
48:55At the time
48:59my grandparents
48:59were living there
49:00for war work
49:01and my granddad
49:02he spent that night
49:04of the big air raid
49:04he was on fire watching duty
49:06on the roof of the factory
49:07where he worked
49:08but my grandmother
49:09would talk about
49:10the next day
49:11in particular
49:11and just the streams
49:13of people
49:13leaving Coventry
49:15because they'd lost everything
49:16they were leaving the city
49:17with absolutely nothing
49:19sometimes without even
49:20shoes on their feet.
49:22You can get a sense
49:23of the devastation there.
49:25You can see how
49:26absolutely flattened.
49:28And there's the van
49:29WVS.
49:30Yeah there they are.
49:31The bombing of Coventry
49:32was so intense
49:34so much was destroyed
49:35that the local WVS
49:37couldn't cope
49:37on their own.
49:38So these mobile vans
49:39came from all over
49:40the country
49:41and one of the volunteers
49:42with the Leicester van
49:43was a canteen worker
49:44called Mrs Janet Waits.
49:47She was dishing out
49:48tea and biscuits
49:49to the people of Coventry.
49:51In fact they had
49:52their own role of honour
49:53and you can see
49:54Janet Waits' name
49:55on there.
49:56Janet Waits,
49:57canteen worker.
49:59She'd been over to Coventry
50:00with other canteen workers
50:02helping after their first blitz.
50:04She returned home to sleep
50:05and was killed
50:07when her house
50:07was destroyed
50:08by an HE.
50:09HE, high explosives,
50:11that's a massive bomb
50:12of about 50 kilograms.
50:14So this is a woman
50:15who's risked it
50:16by going into
50:17the centre of Coventry.
50:18She's been doing her bit
50:19and then she gets home
50:20and she's killed immediately.
50:22Yeah, killed in her own bed.
50:26More than 240 members
50:28of the Women's Voluntary Service
50:30lost their lives.
50:33Their work didn't stop
50:34with the end
50:35of the really heavy air raids.
50:37By 1942,
50:38there were about 1,500,
50:40these mobile canteens.
50:42At least a million women
50:43volunteered with them
50:44and it said that they helped
50:46about 10,000 people
50:47every night of the blitz.
50:50They really are
50:51the forgotten heroines
50:52of the Second World War.
50:54This is where the bomb fell.
50:56The wardens are gone
50:57and the demolition workers
50:59have taken over.
51:00But the WVS are still there.
51:02As long as men continue
51:03to work on the dusty job,
51:05the mobile canteen
51:06visits them every day.
51:09Yeah, it's not a small thing.
51:11A cup of tea and a biscuit,
51:12it makes a difference.
51:14It really does.
51:15It showed you
51:16that somebody cared.
51:17Someone was there
51:18and somebody cared.
51:33After me own
51:34morale-boosting
51:35brew and biscuit,
51:37I'm also ready
51:41for the final push.
51:42My finished biscuits
51:50are reporting for duty
51:52on a pretty impressive
51:55parade ground.
51:57Look at that!
51:59This is our buffer room paddy.
52:00How does it work in here then?
52:01OK.
52:02So if we've got a problem
52:03downstairs,
52:04this conveyor belt
52:05actually extends out.
52:07And what that does,
52:08it gives us
52:09three and a half minutes
52:10of additional time.
52:12I can see it moving
52:12a little bit here.
52:13Yeah, yeah.
52:16A system of motors
52:18enlarges the belt
52:19concertina style,
52:21creating extra space
52:23so problems downstream
52:25could be sorted
52:26without causing
52:27a jammy traffic jam
52:28on the line.
52:29When this is out
52:32at full length,
52:33there's about 5,000
52:34biscuits that can be
52:35in this room
52:35at any one time.
52:36So if they don't
52:37stop moving,
52:38it'll just get longer.
52:40Yeah.
52:40Will that stretch
52:41right to the end?
52:42Right to the end.
52:43So if I ever come
52:44in this room
52:44and this is right
52:45at the end,
52:45I know it's kicking off.
52:47Yeah.
52:47It's kicking off.
52:48We've had a small issue
52:49downstairs somewhere.
52:50How many of these
52:51are going out every year?
52:53Of these biscuits,
52:54around 274 million.
52:59And from here,
53:00my little biscuits
53:01shoot off yet again.
53:05They're flying down there,
53:07aren't they?
53:08They're a bit like
53:09an air hockey table.
53:11So it's using
53:12air to move the biscuits.
53:15The belt gently floats
53:17them onto a dual carriageway
53:18of dodges.
53:20Then two sets of four
53:21are stacked
53:22with a cardboard base.
53:25Their floor wrapped
53:26into packs of eight
53:27and sealed at both ends
53:29before travelling
53:30onto packing.
53:39So this is our
53:40hand packing station padding.
53:41Yeah.
53:43Do you fancy having a go?
53:45I do.
53:46Let me speak
53:47to experts first.
53:49Hello.
53:49What's your name?
53:50Hello.
53:51Yeah, Jenny.
53:51Jenny, nice to meet you.
53:52Paddy, are you OK?
53:53All right?
53:54Yeah.
53:54Now, how long have you been here, Jenny?
53:56Just over 34 years.
53:5734 years?
53:59Yeah, my husband worked here.
54:00That's where we met in fact.
54:01I'm here.
54:01Yeah.
54:0223 years ago.
54:0323 years ago.
54:04Yeah.
54:04That's the good thing
54:05about the factory,
54:06isn't it?
54:06A big factory,
54:07you'll meet someone
54:08who you work with,
54:09and you have a course,
54:10and you have kids.
54:10Sometimes the kids work here.
54:12Yeah.
54:12So, I've been watching you
54:13there as I walk around.
54:14You're making it look very easy,
54:16but I'm sure it's not.
54:18Now, firstly,
54:20Jenny's got
54:21a very specialist glove on here.
54:23Shall I swap these around?
54:24Yes, please.
54:25If you wouldn't mind, Paddy.
54:26There we go.
54:27Here we go.
54:28Thanks, Jen.
54:29Hey.
54:31Come on.
54:32We need me to get a wriggle on here.
54:33We've got to get these biscuits out.
54:35Do you want to let Paddy have a go?
54:38Yeah, I'll keep my mess up a minute.
54:40Right.
54:42Whoa.
54:43Is it three at a time?
54:45My God, come here.
54:47Jenny's putting every minute
54:49of her 34 years of experience
54:51to good use.
54:53She's like a biscuit ninja.
54:56Jenny, I'm...
54:57How are you dropping an usa quickly?
55:00Three at a time.
55:01Six rolls of three.
55:03Yeah, but how are you keeping them
55:04taking your stacking up here?
55:06My God, get a hold of them.
55:09Right, hang on.
55:11Right, that's that.
55:12Are they going underneath?
55:13Yeah.
55:14Like that?
55:15Right, here we go.
55:17What's going...
55:18What the hell?
55:20Oh, my God, I'm losing them.
55:22Jen.
55:22Jen, I'm losing it.
55:25Jenny!
55:26Look, have that one.
55:27The Dammy Dodgers.
55:30Jen!
55:32Get them in, love.
55:33Just get them in as best we can.
55:37Sit on.
55:38Right, Paddy, that's enough.
55:40Wait.
55:42I'll leave you to it.
55:43You're doing a great.
55:44Oh, here you go.
55:45I'll take it back.
55:46I'll take it back.
55:48I'm sorry about that.
55:49It's all Jenny's fault.
55:51Right, good luck.
55:53Thank you very much.
55:54Flipping heck.
55:55That's cost them a few packs.
55:59Sorry, folks.
56:00Right, see you later.
56:04But Jenny quickly restores order.
56:08And when the experts are in charge,
56:1018 packets go neatly into each box.
56:13Then my biscuits are stacked onto pallets
56:17before a fleet of forklifts whisk them off to meet the lorry.
56:23So this is our dispatch area, Paddy.
56:30Look at that.
56:34There they go.
56:35How many pallets are on there?
56:4026 on a single-decker.
56:42So how many individual boxes are on them pallets?
56:45154.
56:46And dare I ask, how many is in total on the back of that, then?
56:50Just over half a million, Paddy.
56:52Wow.
56:53The factory's capable of producing 2.2 million jamming dodgers per day.
56:58Per day?
56:59Per day.
57:00So we would send four or five vehicles every day.
57:04I'm not going to even attempt to top that up, but it's a lot.
57:09Lovely driving.
57:14Straight in.
57:15Beautiful.
57:16So that one's full up and ready to go now, Rebecca.
57:18Yep, sure is.
57:20Right.
57:21Which one is it?
57:22Help yourself.
57:23Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa.
57:24Stand by.
57:30Safe travels.
57:34Oh, look here is done.
57:37Right, Rebecca, come on.
57:39There's more tea to be drank, more biscuits to be eaten.
57:46Two hours and 34 minutes after the start of production, my jammy biscuits are leaving the factory.
57:53From South Wales, they head out all over the country.
58:02And these biscuits travel.
58:04The lucky little dodgers are enjoyed as far away as Australia.
58:11So, there you have it.
58:13Now you know exactly how these iconic biscuits are made.
58:162.2 million leave this factory every single day, and I reckon half of those go to my house.
58:23Right, where's Cherry?
58:25Well, Amanda and Alan are in sunny Corfu, but it's far from a summer holiday.
58:38Join their Greek job on BBC iPlayer.
58:41Next year, the holidays are well and truly over.
58:43We're starting a new series and a new term at Waterloo Road.
58:46It must be love, love, love.
58:52Nothing more, nothing less.
58:55Love is the best.
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