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00:00:07I'm actually driving Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
00:00:10A childhood dream has come true.
00:00:14Yes!
00:00:16It goes!
00:00:17It might even take off.
00:00:20I'm David Walliams, and from the moment I saw the film almost 50 years ago,
00:00:25I've dreamt of taking the wheel of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang The Flying Car.
00:00:31So today is pretty special.
00:00:33Hello, everybody. It's me, Dick Van Dyke. Hello!
00:00:39Released in 1968, for me, Chitty's the greatest children's film ever.
00:00:45Packed with memorable moments...
00:00:47I command you to fly!
00:00:49..and best of all, the film's real star, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang The Flying Car.
00:00:55It's fantastic!
00:00:59You're a genius!
00:01:02You know, what kid hasn't sat in their car in traffic and thought,
00:01:06what we really want is those wings to come out and take off?
00:01:10Whoa! I'm taking the corner too fast.
00:01:13But I like it.
00:01:16As a kid, I thought we'd have flying cars by now, but we don't.
00:01:20So, to celebrate Chitty turning 50, I'm going to attempt the impossible.
00:01:25I want to see if I can make Chitty fly.
00:01:31Unless I crash first.
00:01:34It's just a shame I don't have Trudy Scrumptious here with me.
00:01:51All these years, after seeing it for the first time, I'm still obsessed with Chitty.
00:01:59It makes me think of being a kid again, and rainy Sunday afternoons,
00:02:03where I'd get lost in the whole world of it for the best part of three hours.
00:02:08But I haven't been a kid for a very long time,
00:02:10so I want to find out what kids of today think about the film.
00:02:14Luckily for me, the children at this London primary
00:02:18are staging Chitty as their end-of-term play.
00:02:20So, who better to quiz about this timeless classic?
00:02:29So, this is the little microphone.
00:02:33Can you hear me?
00:02:35Yeah, I gotcha.
00:02:37I really like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
00:02:40because it's really entertaining and there's so much going on.
00:02:45You have no idea what's going to happen next,
00:02:48so it's really exciting.
00:02:50There's not a single bit that doesn't make you laugh.
00:02:55Whoa!
00:02:56So, despite being 50 years old and almost two and a half hours long,
00:03:01the film seems as popular as ever.
00:03:04No surprise, with such a unique mixture of wacky gadgets...
00:03:10..lavish music...
00:03:13..and unforgettable characters.
00:03:16Character Spots is like an inventor.
00:03:19Away with sweeping and away with dirty cartons.
00:03:22He made a machine that could actually cut hair,
00:03:25but he left it too long, so it overheated.
00:03:28Oh, Cyril, is it your smell for you?
00:03:31They meet this lady called Trudy Scramps, yes.
00:03:35How am I supposed to get out of here?
00:03:37And they go to Bulgaria.
00:03:40Children, I'll share my children.
00:03:42A bad woman is fine with children,
00:03:44but the baroness just hates children
00:03:46and they're banned from the contrary.
00:03:48Takes them away to the tower!
00:03:51Some of it, I think, is completely sort of bonkers.
00:03:55When I finish, I was like,
00:03:56oh, I really want to watch that again.
00:03:59But do these kids agree with me on the best bit of all?
00:04:04What do you think makes this film so magical?
00:04:08Yes, what do you think?
00:04:09The flying car.
00:04:10The car.
00:04:11It is special, isn't it, this car?
00:04:14I write stories,
00:04:15but I've never had an idea as good as a flying car.
00:04:19I wish I had.
00:04:22I would love to go on Titty.
00:04:24It's like an aeroplane,
00:04:26but it's like an aeroplane with no roof.
00:04:30If you actually saw it in real life,
00:04:32you'd be so amazed.
00:04:34Do any of you believe that a car could fly?
00:04:37No!
00:04:38No?
00:04:39I've never seen it.
00:04:40Maybe later on in the future,
00:04:42maybe someone could make a flying car.
00:04:45Who did the Mona Lisa?
00:04:46I forgot who did the Mona Lisa.
00:04:49He was also an inventor,
00:04:50so I think if he was still alive,
00:04:52he might actually try and make a car fly.
00:04:56It's Leonardo da Vinci.
00:04:58Thank you for crying.
00:04:59Yeah, he invented the parachute,
00:05:01and he lived in the ancient times.
00:05:04He was perfect in every single subject.
00:05:07Wouldn't it be the most magical thing in the world
00:05:09if I could really make Titty Titty Bang Bang fly,
00:05:13and these guys could all see it with their own eyes?
00:05:16I've got to go to work.
00:05:20Mind you, an online search doesn't fill me with confidence.
00:05:25I mean, I've been looking a little bit, you know,
00:05:29flying cars over the years,
00:05:32and, well, either it's something that's a complete fantasy
00:05:37or it's something that looks absolutely hideously dangerous.
00:05:44Boeing, Uber and others are throwing vast sums of money at the idea
00:05:48but still seem a long way from making it a reality.
00:05:53Planes don't look anything like cars, do they?
00:05:56And cars don't look anything like planes,
00:05:57and that's probably no accident.
00:06:03But hours into my research, I found a possible solution.
00:06:07An aircraft engineer with a madcap streak named Tony.
00:06:14To prove a World War II British escape plan,
00:06:17he built a glider from bedsheets and scrap
00:06:20and launched it off Colditz Castle.
00:06:23Ooh, what's that?
00:06:25Next, Tony went to Norway and dug up a crash spitfire.
00:06:29That is the port wing flap.
00:06:33Incredibly, he's turning this pile of rusty bits
00:06:35back into a flying aircraft.
00:06:38So I'm hoping if anyone can help me with my mad idea,
00:06:41it might be him.
00:06:43So this is Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
00:06:45All I need you to do is to make her fly.
00:06:49This car fly?
00:06:50Yes, this car fly.
00:06:52Right.
00:06:55This actual car fly?
00:06:56Yeah, how hard can it be?
00:06:58Well, David, I'm up for a challenge,
00:07:00but that's quite a challenge.
00:07:02Yeah, I know.
00:07:04This could be one challenge too far.
00:07:06Fine, we'll get someone else.
00:07:09Well, hang on.
00:07:09I haven't given up yet.
00:07:10With a better attitude.
00:07:11Look at it.
00:07:12I mean, we've got big metal wings,
00:07:14we've got cast wheels, big chassis.
00:07:16I mean, look, you can't...
00:07:17It's solid.
00:07:18The car doesn't move.
00:07:20I think if you were strong enough, you would have...
00:07:22Oh, all right, yeah, OK.
00:07:23You know, big brass lights.
00:07:25Where would you even start?
00:07:28Tony, what you're forgetting is that Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
00:07:30has wings.
00:07:32Oh, yeah, they're tiny, though.
00:07:33They're tiny.
00:07:34They come out sort of here.
00:07:35We've got to come, like, right out,
00:07:37out, like, over here or more
00:07:38to get a wing big enough.
00:07:40And you've got to fit that under a car.
00:07:41You want them to come in and out?
00:07:42Yes, of course I want it to come in and out,
00:07:44exactly like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
00:07:45So we've got, like, that amount of space
00:07:46to get a little wing out.
00:07:48It's a big ask.
00:07:50It's a big ask.
00:07:50Got to be honest, you're a bit of a killjoy.
00:07:52Oh, yeah.
00:07:53Yes.
00:07:55Right, OK.
00:07:56So exactly as this.
00:07:58Mm.
00:07:59Exactly like this.
00:08:00But flyable.
00:08:00But flyable.
00:08:01Right.
00:08:02OK.
00:08:02You haven't even started.
00:08:04Sorry, I'll get on with it.
00:08:05Get on with it?
00:08:05Yeah, I'll get on with it.
00:08:07Well, get on with it then!
00:08:08Yeah, I'll get on with it.
00:08:09Go!
00:08:11It's a nuts idea.
00:08:13And he's really serious.
00:08:16I love his passion, but I despair
00:08:18at the lack of engineering practicality.
00:08:23I must say, I do feel a bit sorry for Tony right now
00:08:25because I've just asked him to do something
00:08:27which looks impossible.
00:08:29But all I want to do is see that car fly.
00:08:33I'm actually not that interested in how he's going to do it.
00:08:36While Tony scratches his head,
00:08:39I want to unearth the incredible story
00:08:42behind my favourite childhood film.
00:08:46When it premiered in 1968 for a royal audience,
00:08:50the film marked an unexpected writing departure
00:08:53for legendary James Bond creator Ian Fleming
00:08:57and was produced by the man behind 007's big screen adventures,
00:09:02Hollywood legend Cubby Broccoli.
00:09:04Here we go!
00:09:07But what led the world's best-selling spy novelist
00:09:10to write a children's book about a magical flying car?
00:09:15Luckily, Fleming left me a clue on the opening page.
00:09:19Difficult to believe, but Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
00:09:21was a real car.
00:09:23These stories are affectionately dedicated
00:09:25to the memory of the original Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
00:09:28In 1921, she won the 100 miles per hour short
00:09:32handicap at Brooklands.
00:09:38Following Fleming's lead,
00:09:40I've come to what's left of the historic Brooklands racetrack in Surrey.
00:09:46I'm meeting Vice President of the Brooklands Museum Trust, Alan Wynn.
00:09:51What an incredible place.
00:09:53Well, this was the world's first purpose-built motor racing circuit.
00:09:56It looks incredibly dangerous.
00:09:58Well, it's designed for very high speeds.
00:10:01It's banked so that they can come through the corners quicker.
00:10:04This was the fastest racetrack in the world.
00:10:11Opened in 1907,
00:10:13Brooklands drew spectators in their thousands,
00:10:15flocking to see the sport of motor racing in its infancy,
00:10:19as drivers risked their lives at speeds of up to 130 miles per hour.
00:10:26So, I'm on the trail of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,
00:10:29and a big part of the story starts right here.
00:10:33This is the inspiration of the original Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
00:10:41This picture, taken here at Brooklands in 1921,
00:10:46shows the original Chitty Bang Bang.
00:10:49Built by Polish aristocrat Count Louis Zabrowski,
00:10:53seen here having shredded Chitty's rear tyres.
00:10:58So, Chitty, with Count Zabrowski at the wheel, raced right here.
00:11:03Yeah, would have been coming through here at well over 100 miles an hour.
00:11:08At the heart of Zabrowski's Chitty,
00:11:11lay an awesome 23-litre airship engine
00:11:14from a First World War zeppelin.
00:11:16At the end of the war,
00:11:17there was all the surplus stuff just lying around.
00:11:20Nobody needed the aeroplanes.
00:11:20And you could take an airship engine and just put it into a car.
00:11:23Yeah.
00:11:24But it must have been the thing that captured Ian Fleming's imagination.
00:11:28The thought of putting an engine from an airship into a car,
00:11:33immediately, particularly as a child,
00:11:35might make you think that that car can actually take off.
00:11:37This crash marked the end of Chitty.
00:11:40And while she no longer exists,
00:11:42a car very similar does.
00:11:45I don't think I've ever heard a car as noisy as that.
00:11:53This 1907 Berlier has a Curtis engine from a World War I aircraft.
00:12:00What could possibly go wrong?
00:12:04I'm putting my life in the hands of owner, John Dennis.
00:12:16OK. All right.
00:12:18Yeah.
00:12:19We're going here, too.
00:12:41That's just a little taste.
00:12:43I've only just met this guy.
00:12:47What a funny noise it's making.
00:12:49It's talking to us.
00:12:50All engines talk.
00:12:51What's it saying?
00:12:52It's saying,
00:12:53Chitty, chitty, chitty, chitty, chitty, chitty, chitty, chitty, chitty, chitty, chitty, chitty, chitty, bang, bang.
00:12:58Chitty, chitty, chitty, chitty, bang, bang.
00:12:59So, the name, does it come from the noise that the car makes?
00:13:03Well, that was the sort of convenient reason, but in reality, we're pretty sure the inspiration was World War I
00:13:12trenches,
00:13:14and if you were being sent back from the front for a bit of hour and hour, you got your
00:13:17chit to go back down the line.
00:13:20So, that's the chitty, and what's the bang, bang?
00:13:21And that's a little bit of, perhaps, you were going to engage the services of the Lady of the Night
00:13:26in Paris, shall we see?
00:13:28Oh, OK.
00:13:28Yes.
00:13:29Well, I shudder to think what you mean by that. I'm too innocent to understand.
00:13:39It's incredible to think that a children's favourite, it feels really a very innocent story, actually the name is referring
00:13:48to something rude.
00:13:51But what's interesting is, you know, long before Ian Fleming was dreaming up this story, the car already existed, and
00:13:59it already had this incredible personality.
00:14:10Stand back in the propellers, keep clear.
00:14:14To celebrate Chitty Chitty Bang Bang turning 50, I'm pursuing my lifelong dream of making Chitty fly for real.
00:14:23This film has been celebrated many times over the years, but seeing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in all its glory
00:14:29soaring through the air, wow.
00:14:32That would be great.
00:14:38Taking up the challenge is aircraft engineer Tony.
00:14:42He lives on tea and biscuits and has a track record of making unusual things fly.
00:14:47People for decades have wanted to have flying cars, and the reason we don't have flying cars is because it's
00:14:54really quite a challenging thing to do.
00:14:59In the 1950s, they had the aero car where you bolted a wing on, bolted a tail section on.
00:15:04It'd be the easiest way of doing it. That's not what the car is in the film, so David wouldn't
00:15:09accept it.
00:15:12Can Tony do it? I don't know. I mean, he seems like a nice enough bloke, and he wears boiler
00:15:17suits quite a lot, but I feel for him.
00:15:20I think, because we're trying to make a fantasy come to life, and I don't know how he's going to
00:15:24do it.
00:15:27Tony, how are you getting on?
00:15:29Well, I can't make that very car that you showed me fly. It's just far too heavy.
00:15:35Tony.
00:15:36I've got a solution, though.
00:15:37Oh, OK.
00:15:38I've done a lot of suns, and I think if I build you a super lightweight Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
00:15:44that's exactly the same size, I can make that fly.
00:15:47How are you going to make it fly?
00:15:48Well, you wanted it to fly just like the film, so I have a miniature Chitty.
00:15:54This one's too small.
00:15:55It is. It is. It's...
00:15:57I couldn't fit in there.
00:15:58No.
00:15:59In the film, it had these wings that came out the side.
00:16:01I'm thinking, right, let's put a rotor here and a rotor here, and we'll be able to lift this car,
00:16:05but, like, pull it into the air.
00:16:07Like a big drone.
00:16:09Like, exactly like a big drone.
00:16:10We're going to make Chitty Chitty Bang Bang drone.
00:16:15Tony's Chitty drone will be exactly the same shape and size as the original car, but a fraction of the
00:16:22weight.
00:16:22He'll construct a ladder chassis from aerospace materials to make it drive and cover it in a lightweight body so
00:16:29it looks just like the car in the film.
00:16:33Fold-out wings will carry electric motors and propellers strong enough to lift Chitty skywards.
00:16:40Tony says a bank of six ducted fans under the bonnet will allow him to control Chitty through the air.
00:16:49As proof of concept, Tony's built a scale model and asked a drone engineer to fit power units equivalent to
00:16:56his full-size design.
00:16:59Now, Tony's invited me to this disused aircraft hangar in Oxfordshire for the big test.
00:17:06Where is this model?
00:17:08It's there.
00:17:10Is that it?
00:17:11That's it.
00:17:14We're going to make a large tray fly.
00:17:17And that excites me.
00:17:19Will I get to fly it?
00:17:21Oh, I don't know.
00:17:22We have a man.
00:17:23We have a man who's done this kind of thing before.
00:17:25Okay.
00:17:25So he's like a test pilot.
00:17:27He's like our devil.
00:17:27What's the man's name?
00:17:28Martin.
00:17:29Martin!
00:17:31Martin!
00:17:33Hello, Martin.
00:17:34Can you make it fly?
00:17:35We'll do our best.
00:17:36Okay.
00:17:41This model represents the same power-to-weight ratio and motor layout as Tony's design for a full-size flying
00:17:49Chitty.
00:17:50If it works, we're in business.
00:17:53Tony and David, are you both ready?
00:17:55Yes.
00:17:55We've been ready for quite a while, I say, Martin actually.
00:18:25Oh, thank goodness we booked this aircraft hangar.
00:18:27Whoa, whoa, whoa.
00:18:29Everyone back.
00:18:31Whoa.
00:18:32Wow.
00:18:34Was that it?
00:18:35You can't even levitate a tray.
00:18:39Looks like we've got a bit of a thrust issue.
00:18:42I'm on the thrust issue.
00:18:46It's disappointing.
00:18:49That's probably an understatement.
00:18:51There was no magic.
00:18:53And there needs to be magic.
00:18:55I've sort of got a sense, I think, today of the real enormity of the challenge that I've set him.
00:19:00I feel a bit bad about it.
00:19:03Back in his shed and determined to get Chitty Airborne, Tony's got his thinking cap on.
00:19:08I absolutely have to put additional motors and propellers onto the car, but that involves moving some things around.
00:19:16We have to keep our rotors on the end of the wings, but we need to put two more rotors
00:19:23on the front and the back of the car as well.
00:19:25But what I'd like to do is be able to hide those underneath the car so no one can see.
00:19:31And that's going to be a challenge.
00:19:34Oh, you, pretty Chitty Bang Bang, pretty Chitty Bang Bang.
00:19:38While Tony grapples with the car, luckily, back at school, things are full steam ahead.
00:19:43One, two, three, four, key on bamboo.
00:19:46And today is auditions day.
00:19:50I think, year three, we are in a different key to what we thought we were in.
00:19:54One, two, three, and...
00:19:56As a children here...
00:19:58Headmaster Mr Shum is looking to fill 20 singing and dancing roles.
00:20:02How are you going to get to India, Grandpa?
00:20:05My shed.
00:20:07On the panel, dance teacher Miss Whiting and music teacher Miss Rachel.
00:20:12They are so up for it and they're so excited.
00:20:15Everyone wants a crack at the best role of all.
00:20:18Right, you two would like to have a good, come on, then.
00:20:20How about we tell them about the child catcher?
00:20:23Oh, yeah, the child catcher.
00:20:25Here are children here somewhere.
00:20:30I can smell them.
00:20:33He's the biggest bad guy, I think, because the Baroness and the Baron seem pretty funny to me,
00:20:39but the child catcher, he doesn't really do that much jokes.
00:20:44Like, he's the real bad guy.
00:20:51There are children here somewhere.
00:20:54The child catcher, he doesn't have a name.
00:20:57He dresses in black.
00:20:59He is just purely malevolent.
00:21:01Dully pop.
00:21:02And all free today.
00:21:06And remember, actually shouting out to the television,
00:21:08No, no, don't go.
00:21:11Go inside my ears!
00:21:17Clocking up less than 15 minutes total screen time,
00:21:21the power of this unforgettable villain lies in the inspired casting
00:21:26of one of the world's greatest ballet stars, Sir Robert Heltman.
00:21:30Legend has it, Sir Robert removed his false top teeth to create that sinister lisp.
00:21:38Here we are, children.
00:21:40Come and get your lollipops.
00:21:52It's going to be a really, really hard decision.
00:21:55This is going to be really hard.
00:21:56There is so many of them who are really talented.
00:22:04To help Mr. Shum with his casting,
00:22:06I've asked a pal with more than a passing knowledge of the character
00:22:10to pay the school a visit.
00:22:13I think we're set.
00:22:21Like his old friend, Robert Heltman,
00:22:23Wayne Sleep was a world-class ballet dancer.
00:22:28Children!
00:22:30He also played the child catcher on stage in London's West End.
00:22:36I've asked him to pop in without disrupting lessons.
00:22:47I think he's a child catcher.
00:22:50I think he's a child catcher.
00:22:54Oh, look at his nose.
00:22:57Come, where's me?
00:22:59Have a lot of kiddin' in case.
00:23:06Well, hello, everybody.
00:23:08Because Robert Heltman was also a ballet dancer,
00:23:10he was able to put dance steps into his role as the child catcher.
00:23:14And this was the famous one.
00:23:16One, two, three.
00:23:17One, two, three.
00:23:18One, two, three.
00:23:19One, two, three.
00:23:21Lollibur!
00:23:26Ice cream!
00:23:27Now Wayne has to help choose who plays the nastiest role of all.
00:23:32Does anybody think they can do it?
00:23:33One, two, three.
00:23:35And one, two, three.
00:23:37One, two, three.
00:23:38Oh, that's excellent.
00:23:40Next one.
00:23:41One, two, three.
00:23:42One, two, three.
00:23:43That was a very drunken child catcher.
00:23:46Children, there's a twitch in my nose.
00:23:49Be horrible.
00:23:51It's a tough call, but Wayne and Mr. Shum have made their decision.
00:23:55The child catcher is Sebastian.
00:23:58Hooray!
00:24:02Audition's over.
00:24:03Like the film, there's only one way this can end.
00:24:06Help!
00:24:16The kids are on track to deliver a knockout show.
00:24:21So how's Tony getting on?
00:24:24Oh, come on.
00:24:30There's no kit.
00:24:31There's no kit of chitty bits.
00:24:33It's got to be made and created.
00:24:36His shed is now home to a chitty replica, made entirely of fiberglass.
00:24:42Light enough to be driven by a motor from an old golf buggy.
00:24:46I didn't want to put a petrol engine and fuel tank and gearbox into it.
00:24:50This should be man enough to do the job.
00:24:55This is the main chassis going together.
00:24:59Today, his hard work is assembled for the first time.
00:25:02It's all come together from bits of fabric and resin and aluminium to create this.
00:25:12As the film chitty never actually flew, it weighed a staggering two tons.
00:25:18For his flying car, Tony needs to shave off 95% and hit a target of just 130 kilos.
00:25:26It is a constant toss-up between making it strong enough to do the job and being light enough
00:25:31that it doesn't cause a problem in getting it to fly.
00:25:36With temporary wheels making chitty mobile, her retractable wings can be tested.
00:25:42Right, we're going to try and move the tray and see if it folds now.
00:25:45Lending a hand, retired engineer and private pilot Nigel.
00:25:51If you asked 100 engineers, can it be done, 99 and a half would have said no.
00:26:02Tony's now redesigned chitty's propulsion system, scrapping the bank of ducted fans,
00:26:07but keeping the propellers on the wings and adding two more motors front and rear
00:26:12to double the power and improve stability.
00:26:16But to keep it looking like the film car, he wants to hide the additional motors on the
00:26:21underside of his chitty, with one pair pushing while the other pull her into the sky.
00:26:28To power his chitty, Tony's taken a leap of faith, purchasing four electric motors developed
00:26:34in Switzerland for flight of a totally different kind.
00:26:39Paramotoring.
00:26:41These are big, heavy-duty motors that are light enough weight to do the job,
00:26:46give enough power and thrust to launch a human into the sky.
00:26:52The motors are in transit, but 2,000 pounds worth of carbon fibre propellers have just arrived.
00:26:59These are absolutely bespoke.
00:27:01They've changed all of the angles on this blade to give it exactly what we need.
00:27:08While Tony strokes his propellers, I'm travelling south to meet someone with an exciting link to chitty.
00:27:16If you're a Bond aficionado, it's quite exciting to watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang because there are quite a few
00:27:23connections.
00:27:25There's Desmond Llewellyn, he played Q. He's in the movie.
00:27:28This was once a great car. Won the Grand Prix. Three years running.
00:27:33And Gert Froe played Goldfinger, probably the most famous Bond villain of all.
00:27:35You are not Professor Potts, the inventor!
00:27:39Of course, they share the same author, Ian Fleming.
00:27:44Oh, thank you very much.
00:27:46Today I'm breakfasting with Fleming's niece Lucy, who knew Uncle Ian well and has promised me the full story.
00:27:53Ian's favourite breakfast, scrambled eggs, toast and Cooper's vintage marmalade.
00:27:58Can I pour you some?
00:28:06Fleming wrote Chitty in 1961, seven years before the film came out, at a time when he was riding a
00:28:13huge wave of success as the best-selling author of ten Bond thrillers.
00:28:19I've always wondered what inspired his change of literary direction.
00:28:25He'd had a heart attack.
00:28:27What brought on the heart attack?
00:28:29Oh, bad living, really.
00:28:32Too much drinking, too much smoking.
00:28:34And stress.
00:28:36He was quite fed up with doing the Bonds.
00:28:39He'd done, you know, one every year for nine years.
00:28:42I think it had become a bit of a sort of treadmill.
00:28:46To aid his recuperation, Fleming's wife Anne actually took his typewriter away.
00:28:52He was ordered not to write, but he couldn't help himself.
00:28:56He had been telling Casper, his son, these stories about a car, then just started writing The Adventures of Chitty.
00:29:06Just six weeks after his heart attack, Fleming had a handwritten draft of his first ever children's book,
00:29:12a document I tracked down to Oxford's Bodleian Library.
00:29:16I actually have copies of the original manuscripts here.
00:29:23It's amazing, actually, how, from having written for his whole career for grown-ups,
00:29:29he's actually brilliant at writing for children.
00:29:31And then in heaven's name, what do you think happened?
00:29:34Yes, you're right. Absolutely right.
00:29:37The big green card tilted up her shiny green nose and took off.
00:29:42Yes! She just took off like an aeroplane.
00:29:46Isn't that brilliant?
00:29:47His heart attack provided the opportunity for Fleming to write something,
00:29:52especially for his beloved eight-year-old son, Casper.
00:29:56I can imagine it's terrifying, the thought that you're going to die while your child is so young.
00:30:03Yeah.
00:30:03So maybe that was what gave him the impetus to put it down on paper
00:30:07and be something for Casper that he could give to Casper.
00:30:13But ignoring the advice of his doctors,
00:30:17Fleming refused to change his hard-living ways
00:30:19and died three years later in 1964, age just 57.
00:30:26Reading the book, knowing about Ian and his son Casper,
00:30:29becomes a more emotional piece of work.
00:30:33It seems like a real labour of love.
00:30:35I would love to see Chidi Chidi Bang Bang fly.
00:30:38If we can pull it off,
00:30:40it'll be a wonderful way of tipping our hat
00:30:42to the genius of Ian Fleming.
00:30:46Although right now,
00:30:47it feels like we have a long way to go.
00:31:00Madcap aircraft engineer Tony
00:31:02is building me a full-size Chidi replica
00:31:05so I can hopefully see her fly for real.
00:31:09The design is so ridiculous,
00:31:12sort of like the heaviest car ever built.
00:31:15Gosh!
00:31:16You look at this,
00:31:17there's no way that could actually fly.
00:31:19But if we can pull it off,
00:31:21it'll be joyous.
00:31:26While Tony's busy,
00:31:28I want to find out why Chidi is still so popular.
00:31:32Since its release in 1968,
00:31:35the film has won millions of devoted fans,
00:31:38one of whom loves it so much
00:31:39he's collected 2,000 items of memorabilia.
00:31:46Dave,
00:31:47by any chance,
00:31:48do you like Chidi Chidi Bang Bang?
00:31:50Um, just a little bit, yeah.
00:31:54What child
00:31:56is going to want to play
00:31:57with this terrifying toy?
00:32:01I think it's beautiful.
00:32:02I used to dress as a child catcher
00:32:04on occasion.
00:32:07Why did you become so obsessed with this film?
00:32:11Um, it was the first thing I saw at the cinema.
00:32:14And that whole cinema experience,
00:32:16the fact that it was like a James Bond for kids,
00:32:18it was just a phenomenal experience.
00:32:21How often do you watch the film?
00:32:22At least once a week.
00:32:24Once a week, you put on Chidi Chidi?
00:32:25You have to have some time on your hands
00:32:27because it's a long film.
00:32:28It's two and a half hours, yeah.
00:32:29Oh, yeah.
00:32:30You always make time for Chidi.
00:32:33That's your motto?
00:32:34That's my motto.
00:32:35You always make time for Chidi.
00:32:36Yes.
00:32:38Wow.
00:32:40This is becoming disturbing.
00:32:43I have one more thing
00:32:44that's unique.
00:32:45Okay.
00:32:50My goodness me.
00:32:53That was not expecting that.
00:32:56That is extraordinary.
00:32:59You really do need help,
00:33:02don't you, Dave?
00:33:06It seems fans of all ages
00:33:09will be delighted
00:33:09if we can make Chidi fly.
00:33:13So how's Tony getting on?
00:33:16To find out,
00:33:17I've sent a spy down to his workshop.
00:33:21Henry, hi.
00:33:22Hi, nice to meet you.
00:33:23Henry runs a car company
00:33:25started by his dad, Alan,
00:33:26who built the original film Chidi in 1967.
00:33:31Here we go.
00:33:34Wow, look at that.
00:33:35Amazing.
00:33:37Full size.
00:33:38Full size.
00:33:39Did your dad talk about it, Mike,
00:33:40or was it a happy memory?
00:33:42It's certainly the most famous car
00:33:43that he was involved with,
00:33:45probably, in the day.
00:33:50In the 1960s,
00:33:51Henry's dad, Alan Mann,
00:33:53ran a successful race team.
00:33:55He built winning cars for star drivers
00:33:58and stunt vehicles for Bond
00:33:59before producer Cubby Broccoli
00:34:01asked him to build Chidi.
00:34:05Well, this is a file
00:34:06from the office archive.
00:34:08The surviving paperwork
00:34:10reveals Alan Mann Racing
00:34:12were contracted to build
00:34:13two drivable Chidi's
00:34:15and four other versions
00:34:16for the flying and water scenes.
00:34:21So it must have come
00:34:22to quite a hefty cost.
00:34:24Yeah.
00:34:25So I think the whole project
00:34:26cost about a million pounds.
00:34:27It's a million pounds
00:34:28in today's money
00:34:29for six cars.
00:34:30For six, yes.
00:34:32Six cars.
00:34:32Yeah.
00:34:32Wow.
00:34:32We've watched pictures.
00:34:34Brilliant.
00:34:34There's one of it
00:34:35being built in the workshop.
00:34:36That's superb.
00:34:38When it first came out,
00:34:39that's the Alan Mann Racing
00:34:40workshop in the background there.
00:34:44Amazingly,
00:34:45all six cars
00:34:46built by Henry's dad
00:34:47still survive
00:34:48in some form.
00:34:53What an unusual car.
00:34:56Daddy made it.
00:34:57Oh.
00:34:58And it actually goes.
00:35:01But weighing in
00:35:02at two tons,
00:35:04Chidi was never
00:35:04really going to fly.
00:35:07Instead,
00:35:07the actors performed
00:35:08in a prop car
00:35:09against a giant blue screen.
00:35:14Look,
00:35:15what's that down there?
00:35:17That's part of his charm
00:35:18in a way
00:35:18that you look at the car
00:35:19and there's sort of
00:35:20no way
00:35:21that could actually fly.
00:35:24You have to
00:35:25bring your imagination
00:35:27to it a bit.
00:35:30Producer Cubby Broccoli
00:35:31had his star car,
00:35:33but he needed someone
00:35:34to reinvent the story
00:35:35for the big screen.
00:35:37So he picked
00:35:38an up-and-coming new talent
00:35:39by the name of...
00:35:42Roald Dahl.
00:35:44Ian Fleming created this book
00:35:46and created a lot of characters
00:35:47and this central idea.
00:35:49And then he died
00:35:51and Dahl came in
00:35:52and was not shy
00:35:54to bring all his
00:35:57fantastic ideas
00:35:58to the story.
00:36:01Abandoning the plot
00:36:02of Fleming's book,
00:36:03Dahl dreamt up
00:36:04an entirely new
00:36:05second act.
00:36:06A boat!
00:36:07I can see a boat!
00:36:12He took the Potts family
00:36:14to the magical kingdom
00:36:15of Bulgaria
00:36:16with a baron and baroness
00:36:18and the truly terrifying
00:36:19Child Catcher.
00:36:21I think that's one
00:36:22of the things
00:36:22that just created
00:36:23this extraordinary
00:36:24piece of work,
00:36:25which is these two
00:36:25great imaginations
00:36:27pouring into this
00:36:28one film.
00:36:3650 years on
00:36:37and Roald Dahl
00:36:39is still a firm fixture
00:36:40of every childhood.
00:36:42So how do the kids feel
00:36:44about the parts
00:36:44of Chitty
00:36:45invented by him?
00:36:46Roald Dahl's often
00:36:47right about mean adults.
00:36:49Like when he made
00:36:50Matilda,
00:36:51the father and mother
00:36:52were so mean.
00:36:53They like didn't care
00:36:54about Matilda.
00:36:55A land where children
00:36:56are forbidden
00:36:57seems a lot like
00:36:59a Roald Dahl story.
00:37:00What do you think
00:37:01are Roald Dahl's
00:37:01best villain?
00:37:02The witches.
00:37:03The witches are
00:37:03really, really scary.
00:37:05The twits.
00:37:05The twits, yes.
00:37:07The thing about
00:37:08baddies in stories
00:37:09is you really need them
00:37:10because baddies
00:37:11make stories exciting.
00:37:13So you need a villain.
00:37:14You need the child
00:37:16catcher.
00:37:16You need the witches.
00:37:18I sometimes feel
00:37:19sorry for the baddies
00:37:20because they don't
00:37:21really get any credit.
00:37:23If you don't want
00:37:24to do this,
00:37:24can you tell somebody
00:37:25else who's a writer
00:37:26to make a story
00:37:28that the villain's winning?
00:37:30You want the child
00:37:31catcher to catch
00:37:32the children
00:37:32and they never see
00:37:34their dad again.
00:37:35That's what you want
00:37:35to see.
00:37:38You revolting
00:37:39children.
00:37:43With just a few
00:37:44weeks left
00:37:45before our deadline,
00:37:46Tony's invited me
00:37:47back to the hangar
00:37:48to see my flying
00:37:49chitty for the first
00:37:50time.
00:37:52What I really hope
00:37:52is Dave is going
00:37:53to go, wow,
00:37:54what a great car.
00:37:55He's blown away
00:37:56by it and he goes
00:37:57away happy in the
00:37:59knowledge that his
00:38:00idea is in safe
00:38:01hands.
00:38:02That would be
00:38:02brilliant.
00:38:07Hello, it's Tony.
00:38:11Hi.
00:38:13Let's go and have a
00:38:14look, shall we?
00:38:26And there's your car.
00:38:32I'm a little bit
00:38:33underwhelmed.
00:38:34It's putting it in
00:38:35such a big space
00:38:36hasn't helped.
00:38:37I'll be honest with you.
00:38:38I'll give you that.
00:38:38We could have been
00:38:39in a little garage
00:38:40down the road
00:38:41from where I live.
00:38:47It's looking a little
00:38:49bit like Chitty Bang Bang.
00:38:51This is fiberglass,
00:38:53isn't it?
00:38:53This is all super
00:38:54lightweight fiberglass.
00:38:54We can pick the car up.
00:38:56It's super light.
00:39:00That's quite impressive.
00:39:01Looks like it's still
00:39:02quite heavy.
00:39:03Is it going to look
00:39:04like the real Chitty
00:39:05when it's finished?
00:39:05Absolutely.
00:39:07So, you know,
00:39:07whereas the other one
00:39:08was made...
00:39:08What kind of distance?
00:39:09Like a mile or...?
00:39:10No, no, from really
00:39:11close up.
00:39:12This close, you'd think
00:39:13it was the same car?
00:39:14Yeah.
00:39:17I think you've got to
00:39:18use your imagination
00:39:18with the car
00:39:19because the car is
00:39:20a long way from
00:39:21looking like the car
00:39:23in the film.
00:39:24It's fine, trust me.
00:39:25But I believe with
00:39:27the right kind of paint
00:39:28and covers and all
00:39:29those kind of things
00:39:30that it's going to
00:39:31look a lot closer.
00:39:33Goodbye.
00:39:34Bye-bye.
00:39:41It's pretty impressive.
00:39:44It does go.
00:39:49He seems happy.
00:39:51It actually reminds me
00:39:52that when I was, like,
00:39:53a teenager,
00:39:54a friend of mine
00:39:54had a Citroen 2CV.
00:39:58People always used to
00:39:59call those, like,
00:39:59a dustbin on wheels
00:40:00and that's what this
00:40:01feels like.
00:40:02A dustbin on wheels.
00:40:04There's no brake.
00:40:09So you've made a car
00:40:10out of fiberglass...
00:40:12Yep.
00:40:12...that basically drives
00:40:13like a golf buggy.
00:40:14Yeah.
00:40:15Yeah, that wasn't
00:40:16actually the challenge,
00:40:16though, was it?
00:40:17Well, you said make
00:40:18Chitty Chitty Bag Bag
00:40:19drive and fly, so we...
00:40:20Yeah, fly.
00:40:21That's the key point.
00:40:22I can't see anything here
00:40:23that would make
00:40:24this car fly.
00:40:25Well, I'll show you.
00:40:26Okay.
00:40:27So if I push this out,
00:40:30they'll come out
00:40:31motorized when we've
00:40:32done them,
00:40:33and there'll be
00:40:33the big fabric wings
00:40:34that you can see
00:40:35on the wheelchairs.
00:40:38There we go.
00:40:39So we're going to
00:40:40plug some rotors in there,
00:40:41have these big fans,
00:40:43and that's what's going
00:40:43to make it take off
00:40:44and fly.
00:40:45What do you think?
00:40:47Well, I'll believe it
00:40:49when I see it.
00:40:52I am a little bit
00:40:53deflated because,
00:40:55really, we haven't
00:40:56managed to give him
00:40:57too much positive
00:40:58to go away with
00:40:59because he's seen the
00:40:59car, but he's not
00:41:00seen it fly.
00:41:01I don't really want
00:41:02to let him down.
00:41:16In Sussex, the build
00:41:18of my flying Chitty
00:41:19has reached a crucial
00:41:20stage, the first weigh-in.
00:41:22Tony and Nigel have
00:41:23got Chitty driving.
00:41:25Now the scales will
00:41:26reveal if she's light
00:41:27enough to fly.
00:41:28It's a big day in terms
00:41:30of progressing this car
00:41:32towards flying.
00:41:34With a target weight
00:41:35of 130 kilos, every
00:41:37component is taped in
00:41:39place.
00:41:40The weight is crucial
00:41:42to the whole project.
00:41:44The bare wheel needs
00:41:44to go in with a wedge.
00:41:46Everything that's going
00:41:47to go on, even if it's
00:41:48a few grams, it's a few
00:41:50grams here, a few
00:41:51grams there.
00:41:52If we put it on a scale
00:41:53and it goes 150 kilos,
00:41:55for example, then we've
00:41:57got a fairly major panic.
00:41:59It's going to simulate
00:42:00the back seat.
00:42:03My worry is if it comes
00:42:04in much heavier, we might
00:42:06not actually get it to fly.
00:42:09So, the time has come.
00:42:13Right, you are just
00:42:14off the ground.
00:42:16Chitty is jacked up
00:42:17level, so each end
00:42:18can be weighed.
00:42:20Too heavy, and she
00:42:21will never fly.
00:42:22Right, rear weight.
00:42:25Oh dear.
00:42:2795.7.
00:42:30OK, front time.
00:42:35Blimey.
00:42:351, 425.
00:42:422, 3, 8.3.
00:42:50It's a bit heavier than we
00:42:51wanted.
00:42:53At almost 240 kilos,
00:42:56Chitty is twice her flying
00:42:58weight.
00:42:59How's that weight got so big?
00:43:01It's all the fractions of a
00:43:03kilo here, there, and
00:43:04everywhere, isn't it?
00:43:06Uh.
00:43:08Right.
00:43:09Let's have her a part.
00:43:11It's a huge blow, but
00:43:13Tony's determined to try and
00:43:14keep the project on track.
00:43:16There's so many literally
00:43:17blood, sweat, and tears that
00:43:19have gone into the car.
00:43:20I'm not giving up.
00:43:22Chitty is stripped back to
00:43:24component parts, so the body
00:43:26panels can be painted as
00:43:27planned, leaving Nigel to put
00:43:29her chassis on a diet.
00:43:32Plenty of areas that we can
00:43:33trim bits of weight on.
00:43:35I reckon I can give you a,
00:43:36you know, several kilos
00:43:37there.
00:43:38Right, thanks, Nigel, a
00:43:39legend.
00:43:40We haven't got many days
00:43:41left, so we're having to
00:43:42progress this really on as
00:43:44many fronts as we can.
00:43:46I'm not surprised that no
00:43:47one's built a flying car,
00:43:49particularly a very lightweight
00:43:50one on a budget.
00:43:53Hopefully, Tony can turn it
00:43:54around.
00:43:57because the kids' end-of-term
00:43:58performance is fast
00:44:00approaching.
00:44:02Today is costume rehearsal
00:44:04and nerves are rising.
00:44:07Everybody gets really shy
00:44:09sometimes, like, oh, no,
00:44:11what am I going to do if I
00:44:13say something wrong?
00:44:17When I get on stage, what I'm
00:44:18going to do is I'm going to
00:44:20just try and look at my mum.
00:44:21My nerves are going to all go
00:44:22down, because, like, she's
00:44:23proud of me.
00:44:24And then the second thing is
00:44:25I'm going to try and look at
00:44:26David Wiley.
00:44:29One, six, seven, eight.
00:44:31The old man move, the old man
00:44:33move.
00:44:33The last great hurdle is
00:44:35mastering the complicated
00:44:36song and dance numbers, but
00:44:38Miss Whiting is determined.
00:44:41There are children in it who
00:44:42will find it challenging, but
00:44:44there's also children that you
00:44:45need to stretch.
00:44:46I just think if you give
00:44:47children something easy, that
00:44:49what are they going to achieve
00:44:50from it?
00:44:54No wonder the kids are
00:44:55finding it hard.
00:44:57The dance sequences in Chitty
00:44:58are some of the most complex
00:44:59ever attempted.
00:45:03Shooting Toot Sweets took two
00:45:05weeks, 38 dancers, 40
00:45:07singers, 85 musicians and 100
00:45:10dogs.
00:45:17With under a week before I hope
00:45:19to surprise the kids with my
00:45:21flying Chitty, specialists are
00:45:24working round the clock to
00:45:25transform her lightweight body
00:45:27kit to look like wood and
00:45:29metal.
00:45:33But the big question is, can
00:45:35she fly?
00:45:36To find out, Tony's built a
00:45:39second chassis exactly the same
00:45:41size and weighed down with water
00:45:43bottles.
00:45:44If he can get this airborne, then
00:45:47the full-size car should work
00:45:48too.
00:45:50Well, obviously, David has a
00:45:51great expectation for this to
00:45:54fly.
00:45:54I don't want to let him down on
00:45:55it.
00:45:56The electric paraglider motors
00:45:59have arrived from Switzerland,
00:46:00each powered by a specially
00:46:02manufactured lithium battery.
00:46:04Today, this kit will be bolted
00:46:06into place for the first time.
00:46:10If we can get this up in the
00:46:12air, then we'll know the actual
00:46:14car will work and all our sums
00:46:15have come together.
00:46:21This is the moment of truth.
00:46:23After all these months' hard
00:46:25graft, our home-built Chitty is
00:46:26ready to be tested at full power.
00:46:33Everybody happy?
00:46:34Yep, go for it.
00:46:36Got an arm in it.
00:46:52Yeah, well, give it a big one.
00:46:55Come on!
00:46:57Yeah, it's going!
00:47:03Whoa!
00:47:11It's game over.
00:47:13Could be.
00:47:15Let's go and have a look.
00:47:18Just as Chitty was lifting off,
00:47:21one of the control units broke
00:47:23free, hitting a propeller.
00:47:26We've managed to hit the prop
00:47:28blade against these capacitors.
00:47:30There is a split here.
00:47:32Yeah.
00:47:33I think that's game over, boys.
00:47:40We don't have an infinite amount of time.
00:47:43That could actually be it.
00:47:45We don't have to do it.
00:47:46We don't have to do it.
00:47:49We don't have to do it.
00:47:52We don't have to do it.
00:47:53I'll do it.
00:47:54We don't have to do it.
00:47:57With just days before I'm supposed to be
00:48:00showing the school kids a flying car,
00:48:05I wake up to some pretty bad news.
00:48:14oh hello David I've just seen the video right okay first of all it doesn't look anything like
00:48:24to bang bang or a car number two it doesn't fly you've made it look like you should you bring
00:48:33bang but oh it doesn't fly you've made something fly but unfortunately doesn't shoot you bring
00:48:38back you've managed to tick both boxes it's not really working so I just don't know let me go
00:48:46and scratch my head I mean you're the you're the best in the price range all right cheers David
00:48:56thanks bye he needs to scratch his head he needs to scratch his head for a while well I mean
00:49:06is that
00:49:06gonna help in any way I don't know um I know it's it's it's a very very difficult task I
00:49:14know he's
00:49:15doing his absolute best but that just seems like so far away from working I've tried I've done my
00:49:25best to replicate the film car and it just doesn't really work my problem I've now got is I've got
00:49:32a
00:49:32shed full of something that looks like chitty but it doesn't fly Tony finally accepts he's at the end
00:49:42of his expertise hmm and wisely decides to ask for help why is that Dave champion radio control pilot Dave
00:49:56Fisher twice helicopters for team GB but he's also the go-to guy for the big drone developers if he
00:50:04can't make chitty fly no one care but first what will he make of Tony's chitty I I wouldn't have
00:50:20liked to be near that to be honest no that's that's on the edge you've got an awful lot of
00:50:26flecks in the
00:50:27wings and they're not really the best way of making it fly it's late in the day but Dave offers
00:50:36to bring
00:50:36in his team of experts I think if we get our system on it it's at least gonna get airborne
00:50:42I don't think
00:50:44this one will not safely anyway we've got to get chitty flying these kids have worked so hard getting
00:50:54their performance ready and I promised myself I'd reward them with a real flying car a site I'm still
00:51:02not sure I can deliver everybody's sitting up straight and we've got a very special guest today
00:51:09haven't we so welcome mister thank you very much thank you for having me thank you thank you
00:51:19good morning and welcome to our very special chitty-chitty bang bang assembly
00:51:24to sit back whilst you're seatbelots and let us take you on a journey you won't forget
00:51:38the first time I saw the film feels like the perfect Sunday afternoon I remember just thinking
00:51:45this is just this absolute jewel
00:51:52every part of it just seems sort of perfect for children I hate to admit it but at the moment
00:52:05this
00:52:05cardboard chitty is giving ours a run for its money
00:52:11truly truly scrunchies you're truly truly scrunchies
00:52:20your children your highness
00:52:23we hate children such nasty creatures
00:52:26come with
00:52:29me
00:52:29me
00:52:30no
00:52:30no
00:52:31no
00:52:31no
00:52:32no
00:52:32no
00:52:32no
00:52:32no
00:52:33no
00:52:34no
00:53:08no
00:53:09no
00:53:09always
00:53:09yeah
00:53:10all men
00:53:11so I have organised a very special surprise for you you guys are gonna be missing
00:53:18some school and we are going to have an incredible day celebrating chitty-chitty bang bang
00:53:24At the heart of it is an incredible surprise.
00:53:28Now, I can't tell you what it is.
00:53:30Why?
00:53:31Because then it wouldn't be a surprise!
00:53:34Oh, dear. The show was so brilliant,
00:53:37I think I've just made a promise I have no idea if I can keep.
00:53:42So it's good to learn that Chitty is on her most extreme diet yet.
00:53:50That one, that one, that one.
00:53:54Under the watchful eye of drone expert Dave Fisher,
00:53:58Nigel and Tony have been tasked with removing the driving system,
00:54:03ditching the heavy wings, chassis and golf buggy motor
00:54:06so the car can be rebuilt into a thoroughbred flying machine.
00:54:11More than half of the weight of this car has to go.
00:54:14At the end of the day, whether it's slimming down a bolt,
00:54:17cutting a little bit of structure out,
00:54:19shaving a little bit of wood off,
00:54:22every single gram is going to make the difference.
00:54:27Tony's put many hours into it, done a beautiful job on it.
00:54:31Here I am, asking him to hack into it, make holes in it.
00:54:36And it's sort of tearing him apart a little bit.
00:54:38But the reality is we have to do that to make it fly.
00:54:45Dave's radical redesign
00:54:46starts with a newly constructed H-shaped lattice framework,
00:54:51running under the car with the bodywork fixed on top.
00:54:55He's repositioned the four propellers to outside of Chitty's wheels,
00:55:00giving a stable flight platform with a low centre of gravity.
00:55:07You know, we now have a solution that I think is going to work,
00:55:09and we can only give it a try.
00:55:18Today, Dave and his engineers are installing the electronics.
00:55:22That's it! That's the one!
00:55:24These guys work on top-secret drone projects all over the world.
00:55:30We're in a good place with the team here,
00:55:33second to none in terms of avionics and flight control.
00:55:36So I'm very optimistic.
00:55:38Using bespoke fibre-optic cables,
00:55:41the engineers connect the motors to a central flight controller,
00:55:45running cutting-edge software they developed,
00:55:48especially for large quadcopters.
00:55:52Very good signs.
00:55:53Everything is set up and spinning in the right direction now.
00:55:57So now it's a case of confirm everything is tight and then props on.
00:56:01But Chitty isn't going anywhere
00:56:03unless Tony and Nigel have managed to hit Dave's 90-kilo target for the car.
00:56:09This, plus the batteries and motors,
00:56:12should make an overall weight of 190 kilos.
00:56:16Chitty's rear end is first on the scales.
00:56:19Hello? Yeah.
00:56:21Where you got it?
00:56:22120.4.
00:56:24120.4.
00:56:24OK.
00:56:30So 230 kilos.
00:56:33230 kilos.
00:56:38It's bad news.
00:56:41We're 40 kilos over.
00:56:44We've got to get quite radical now with the weight reductions.
00:56:52It's bad news.
00:56:53We've got to get quite radical now with the weight reductions.
00:56:56It's heartbreaking.
00:56:59It's been hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hours of work
00:57:02and then we're cutting holes in it right at the end.
00:57:21On a crisp morning,
00:57:23many months after I asked Tony to make my childhood dream a reality,
00:57:27the day of reckoning has finally dawned.
00:57:33Come on, Max.
00:57:35All right.
00:57:36We have power.
00:57:37OK. Hang on, Mick.
00:57:38Get in there.
00:57:47Well, this is the moment of truth.
00:57:52Will Chitty finally take to the skies?
00:57:57Fingers crossed, everything is going to go to plan.
00:58:06I've got the kids off school for the day
00:58:08and asked them to meet me in the pretty Chiltern village of Turville.
00:58:15Fifty years ago, Hollywood came to town
00:58:17when Turville Windmill was cast as the magical gadget stuffed home
00:58:21of the Potts family and their flying car.
00:58:28Today, the kids still don't know what to expect.
00:58:31And quite frankly, neither do I.
00:58:36It's very exciting.
00:58:51Hello.
00:58:52Hello.
00:58:54This is amazing.
00:58:57For the first time in my life, you've impressed me.
00:59:01Well.
00:59:01This is amazing.
00:59:02I did wonder.
00:59:03I love this.
00:59:05Because it looks...
00:59:06Well, it looks exactly like Chitty.
00:59:08It is Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
00:59:10The question is, will it fly?
00:59:12You've trusted me this far?
00:59:13Trust me the last...
00:59:15Trust is a big word, but yes.
00:59:17You believed in me?
00:59:19Belief is a big word as well.
00:59:20Oh.
00:59:21I've prayed for you, Tony.
00:59:23Well, that's much appreciated.
00:59:24I've prayed for you.
00:59:25I've got the number plate.
00:59:26Important number plate.
00:59:28And I've got the horn.
00:59:31It's the voice of Chitty.
00:59:34Does that make you happy?
00:59:36Yeah.
00:59:37I mean, in a way it does.
00:59:38Good.
00:59:38I'll give you full marks on the horn.
00:59:41So, I sit in there, do I?
00:59:43Oh.
00:59:44Oh, well.
00:59:45Yeah, there's a slight problem with that.
00:59:47You can't sit on here.
00:59:48Yeah.
00:59:48It's a bit on a real diet.
00:59:50There's no floor.
00:59:51No.
00:59:52Well, it's gone on a really big diet.
00:59:54And, I mean, you know...
00:59:56What are you trying to say about me?
00:59:57Well, we share the same affliction.
01:00:00So, no-one can sit in it, no?
01:00:03Not even, like, out on deck?
01:00:04No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
01:00:06It would not end well.
01:00:07But people are going to be disappointed
01:00:08if they don't see somebody flying Chitty
01:00:11because Chitty didn't fly.
01:00:13We're not here to disappoint.
01:00:14Have I disappointed yet?
01:00:16Yeah.
01:00:17Oh, OK.
01:00:17Over and over again.
01:00:20I've got a plan.
01:00:24This is Other David.
01:00:28This is New David.
01:00:29New David, it's not New David.
01:00:32New David.
01:00:32New David, look.
01:00:33He's nice and light.
01:00:34He's well up for this.
01:00:37We pop him up like that.
01:00:39That's not a good angle.
01:00:40There really is, is it?
01:00:43This is actually good practice
01:00:46for when Simon Cowell is elderly and infirm
01:00:49and I have to sort of wash and dress him.
01:00:52I'll let you do the personal bit.
01:00:54It flies.
01:00:55Right.
01:00:56OK.
01:00:57There we go.
01:00:58Here we go.
01:00:59Oh, I've always wanted a flying helmet like this, actually.
01:01:02Yes, OK, OK.
01:01:05And you think this is going to convince these children?
01:01:09Yes.
01:01:14Tony's done an amazing job in putting the car together
01:01:17and he's painted this time.
01:01:18It does look like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,
01:01:20but can he really make this car fly?
01:01:23I just don't know.
01:01:35Hi, kids!
01:01:37Hello, everybody!
01:01:40Look!
01:01:41On a day I thought would never come,
01:01:44I'm in the pretty village of Turville
01:01:46and it's finally time to spring my big surprise
01:01:49on these Chitty Mad school kids.
01:01:52Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
01:01:56Wow!
01:01:57This is pretty cool, right?
01:01:59Wow!
01:02:00What do you think?
01:02:03Is this the actual one?
01:02:04This is not the actual car from the movie.
01:02:08This car has been specially made.
01:02:10We're in a very special field.
01:02:12Can anyone tell me why?
01:02:15Because it's got the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car in it.
01:02:18Not just the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car.
01:02:20Look over there, what can you see?
01:02:22The windmill!
01:02:24The actual real windmill from the movie is right there.
01:02:28It's amazing, isn't it?
01:02:29Yeah.
01:02:29OK, surprise number one, the car.
01:02:32Surprise number two, the windmill.
01:02:34Surprise number three is in that tent.
01:02:36Who can get there first?
01:02:38Gah!
01:02:39Wait!
01:02:39Wait!
01:02:48I've packed the tent with Chitty props to keep the kids busy.
01:02:51Now it's time to discover if Tony will triumph.
01:02:58We've come a long way together.
01:03:01We've had highs and lows.
01:03:05So many lows.
01:03:06But now the waiting is over.
01:03:15It's a very masculine run you have.
01:03:17Thank you very much.
01:03:21Great, now we need to a block side.
01:03:23We're going to hike round the side of the tent.
01:03:26So the kids hopefully think it's me in the car.
01:03:30You're not going to disappoint these children, are you?
01:03:33Hope not.
01:03:48Are those like propellers?
01:03:49Yeah.
01:03:51Oh, my God!
01:03:57It is windy.
01:03:59Oh!
01:04:03Oh dear.
01:04:06Oh my God!
01:04:07Oh my God!
01:04:08No!
01:04:08No!
01:04:10No!
01:04:16It's going off!
01:04:20No!
01:04:21No!
01:04:21No, no!
01:04:30Oh
01:04:48Wow
01:05:06I'm like, right, am I seeing things?
01:05:10Where did that just come from?
01:05:13Yes! Yes, Chitty!
01:05:16It's amazing.
01:05:18I was quite scared, kind of scared,
01:05:20and then I had my phone on the board.
01:05:22And then when they start flying safely,
01:05:26oh, that's a relief.
01:05:28The car, it was like a butterfly flying.
01:05:34I have never seen a car fly.
01:05:40Well done.
01:05:45So, kids!
01:05:47What did you think?
01:05:49It was so cool!
01:05:51Did anyone think it was me in the car?
01:05:53Yes.
01:05:53You did?
01:05:54Yes.
01:05:55I thought I was a dummy.
01:05:57You think I'm a dummy?
01:06:00Would anyone like to fly in Chitty?
01:06:02Yes!
01:06:04Is anyone slightly worried about health and safety?
01:06:07Definitely not!
01:06:08No!
01:06:09No!
01:06:09Ooh, to health and safety regulations!
01:06:12Yes!
01:06:12Let's get in there!
01:06:13Yeah!
01:06:14Who would like to see your headmaster go in there?
01:06:16Yes!
01:06:21I think probably tomorrow I will wake up and I'll realize that it's all done.
01:06:26And that's when it will sink in.
01:06:28But right now, I'm just really pleased.
01:06:31The horn is great, isn't it?
01:06:34As I said at the start, you don't see any flying cars around.
01:06:37And it is possible to build a flying car, but it's really quite tricky.
01:06:42I wouldn't recommend it.
01:06:44We'll take a break from flying cars.
01:06:47When I first saw Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as a kid, I believed in magic.
01:06:53I believed that this car really did fly.
01:06:57Of course, when you grow up, you stop believing in magic and it's such a shame.
01:07:02Well, today, a childhood dream for me has come true.
01:07:07I feel like I've believed in magic all over again.
01:07:12We really did make Chitty Chitty Bang Bang fly.
01:07:21CHITTY SILER
01:07:22Chitty Bang Bang
01:07:22Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
01:07:24Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
01:07:27Oh, you pretty Chitty Bang Bang, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
01:07:30We love you and our, pretty Chitty Bang Bang
01:07:33Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
01:07:34Watch us to hide, low, anywhere we go on Chitty Chitty we depend
01:07:39Bang Bang! Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
01:07:41Are fine for a favorite friend
01:07:44Bang, bang, chitty, chitty, bang, bang
01:07:45A fine for a fender friend
01:07:48Bang, bang, chitty, chitty, bang, bang
01:07:50A fine for a fender friend
01:07:52Bang, bang, chitty, chitty, bang, bang
01:07:54A fine for a fender friend
01:07:56Chitty, chitty, bang, chitty, chitty, bang, bang
01:07:58A fine for a fender chitty, chitty friend
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