Extraordinary Portraits Season 5 Episode 1

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Transcript

00:01None of us know what surprises life has in store for us.

00:06But all around are everyday heroes.

00:08Ordinary people showing amazing bravery, courage and determination.

00:12I was holding him by the wrists so that he couldn't blow up the gong.

00:15When I opened my eyes, I was on the hospital bed, all handcuffed.

00:19I competed in eight Ironman triathlons.

00:23And I'm here to give them the recognition they deserve.

00:26I've assembled a crack team of artists, painters and sculptors

00:29to immortalize these unsung heroes with a unique series of portraits.

00:34This is the hardest bit for you, isn't it, Eddie?

00:36Sitting still.

00:37We were just looking at you.

00:39Can you look at me with your eyes?

00:42It's not going to be easy.

00:43I feel in my own personal hell.

00:45The reveals are not that far away now.

00:48If this second cast fails, I'm done.

00:50There's a big sense of responsibility to capture their story.

00:54But the results are going to be amazing.

00:57I've put my heart and soul into this.

00:58Three, two, one.

01:02Fantastic.

01:03Quite blown away, to be honest.

01:05I wasn't thinking you were going to make me cry.

01:07Sorry, I'm getting a bit emotional.

01:10Creating a legacy for generations to come.

01:12I want to remember them like that.

01:14I'm struggling to find right words because there's no words.

01:18To have us captured in that moment, in that spot that means so much is an absolute privilege.

01:25Welcome to Extraordinary Portraits.

01:38Our sitter today found himself in a terrifying situation.

01:42One which we would naturally feel you would want to get away from.

01:46But instead, he stepped forward, risking his own life to help others.

01:56In an act of incredible courage, Darren helped to restrain the man behind the London Bridge attack,

02:03by using a narwhal tusk to fend him off.

02:06It's an image that remains etched in people's minds.

02:10Hi Darren.

02:12Hi Bo, pleasure to meet you.

02:13How's it going? Good to meet you.

02:14Very well, thank you.

02:15Welcome.

02:17Come into my artist's retreat.

02:23Yours is quite an extraordinary story.

02:27I wonder if you wouldn't mind just telling me a bit about how you came to be at the Fishmongers

02:33Hall that day.

02:34Well, I was working for the Ministry of Justice.

02:37I was one of the national comms managers writing up an article about the event.

02:41This event was a celebration of an incredible programme of students from Cambridge University studying alongside serving prisoners.

02:50Sadly, one of the attendees decided to plan and execute an attack at that event.

02:58Could you talk me through a little bit about how it unfolded?

03:02We heard some screams and commotion from downstairs.

03:05Myself and a prisoner, Steve Gallant, stood up at the same time and I ran down the stairs.

03:10And I'm presented with the sight of a man and he's got these two eight-inch knives and they're glistening

03:17in the light.

03:18And straight away everything like slowed down for me.

03:22And that's when he looked down, he opened his jacket and he said,

03:25And I've got a bomb.

03:26I mean, what was going through your mind at this point?

03:28So I was making decisions on what to do.

03:30So I went to go and find something to fend this person off.

03:34And as I turned that way, I looked down this dimly lit hallway and I saw two long narwhal tusks.

03:40I suppose they were appropriate in terms of its fishmongers hall and these are the tusks of these narwhals.

03:47They're nearly two metres long and they must have been a couple hundred years old.

03:51Is this all happening in just in minutes, like seconds going past and all of this is going through your

03:57mind?

03:58Time slows down.

03:59You're at full stretch in terms of, you know, like your physical, mental concentration.

04:05I had tunnel vision in this moment and I could see that gone out the front door and I ran

04:11out chasing him at a full pelt.

04:13He turned around and came towards us and he lifted both knives when he saw me running at him with

04:20this jousting pole effectively.

04:22But at that moment, a former prisoner had an extinguisher, fire extinguisher.

04:26He let it off and the wind carried it perfectly and I jump onto his back and hold his hands

04:34above his head.

04:35What an extraordinary situation to find yourself in.

04:38The police arrived quite quickly after that.

04:40The officer looked down and looked at his chest and the officer's voice broke.

04:44He says, he's got a bomb!

04:46And then I hear three bangs and that's when my mind blacked out.

04:49And then I come to and I'm all of a sudden second floor upstairs in Fishmongers Hall.

04:54I mean, has that caused you, you know, any kind of problems since then?

05:00I would say for the first two months, I was a complete zombie.

05:05People would be talking to me like this, but I would just be seeing everything in my mind.

05:10So quite often I was awake for days.

05:13And how are you today?

05:15Yeah, well, I've filled my world with positive things.

05:20Using that incident as a vehicle for doing good in this world as much as I possibly can.

05:26I still have hope for rehabilitation because since that day, Steve Gallant and I set up a small social enterprise

05:33called Own Merit.

05:35And we now house and accommodate prison leavers who would otherwise have been homeless.

05:39And we're seeing incredible results.

05:41We'd better talk about this portrait then.

05:44It's nothing I've ever had done before, no, and it's not something I would have gone looking for.

05:51If you sit tight there for a minute, I'm going to go and get the artist.

05:55My hands have got sweaty. I thought the topic would have made me nervous, but the portrait seems to be

06:00making me more so.

06:01See you in a bit.

06:09And you're going to get loads and loads of paint on the floor.

06:11Yeah.

06:17Hello, artists.

06:18Hi.

06:19So I've just spoken to today's sitter.

06:22There was a terror attack on London Bridge.

06:26Our sitter today, he fended off the attacker with a narwhal tusk.

06:31I don't know if you remember that.

06:32Yeah.

06:32With that in mind, I thought of you, Nick.

06:35Wow.

06:36For this particular project, only because I think that it's something that would lend itself to a sculpture.

06:44Yeah.

06:45Freezing that moment in time.

06:47Yeah.

06:47Well, we'll go and meet our sitter and I'll fill you in another way.

06:50So thanks, guys.

06:51See you soon.

06:52Good luck.

06:53Good luck, Nick.

07:00How are you, Nick?

07:02How are you doing?

07:03How are you doing?

07:03Good luck.

07:04Happy to meet you.

07:04Good luck.

07:04Lovely to meet you, too.

07:05Right.

07:06So Nick here is a fantastic sculptor.

07:09That's quite exciting because I think I'm more comfortable with that than the portrait.

07:13I mean, you've got a fantastic face for it as well.

07:16That's a first. I've never heard that.

07:19Do you have any initial thoughts?

07:21I mean, for me, obviously the Narwhal Tusk.

07:23I mean, it's a beautiful object,

07:26as well as what it sort of represents as well.

07:29It's got this mystical, you know, sort of concept behind it.

07:32Is there anything that you would want me to incorporate?

07:35People see kindness as weakness.

07:37I don't know how you'd ever get that kindness is strength

07:40and balancing acting out in a sculpture, but...

07:42Listen, if anyone's capable of that, it's Nick.

07:45I'm telling you that right now.

07:47I'm going to let you guys go. Carry on.

07:49Good luck, and I'll see you soon.

07:50Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

07:51Cheers. Okay, guys.

08:00I mean, that was a very powerful account

08:03of what must have been a terrifying experience.

08:08What I get a sense of from Darren

08:10is a tremendous kindness, compassion for others.

08:14And I think that Nick is the perfect person

08:17to capture this in sculpture,

08:19because Nick's work is monumental,

08:23but it's also deeply personal, very emotive.

08:28He manages to get to the heart of the person he's sculpting.

08:38I've got so many ideas buzzing around in my head at the moment.

08:43And I think, really, to sort of hone it in,

08:45I need to go down and meet the people that love him.

08:52He's keen to meet Darren's dad,

08:53who was there to help him in the aftermath of the attack,

08:56and is still the person he opens up to about how he's coping.

09:00Dad, your father's... How you doing, bud?

09:03How you doing? How you doing?

09:04I'm Jeff.

09:04Nice to meet you, Jeff.

09:06Jeff, my dad.

09:06How you doing?

09:07I've got a big responsibility here.

09:09So, what did it feel like

09:12when you first heard about what happened?

09:13He just talked and talked and talked and talked

09:16for about the next hour and a half.

09:18Wow, that's what he needed to do.

09:19And I just had to listen and get to grips

09:23with what had gone down.

09:24And the bottom line is, I could have lost my son.

09:26Yeah.

09:27So, I've got a few photos of him, if you would like to see him.

09:30Yeah.

09:30And what, when he was younger?

09:32That's when he just started work in London.

09:34Do you see a different person from when he was younger?

09:36And since the attack?

09:38Yeah, a bit forgetful.

09:39Yeah.

09:41Yeah.

09:41So, that's the sort of PTSD effect, isn't it?

09:43Those first two years, I can't tell you what happened.

09:47It was really, really chaotic.

09:50Like, absolute chaos in my brain.

09:52I literally couldn't remember anything that happened to me.

09:55I couldn't tell you.

09:57So, those years are just gone for me.

09:59It is improving.

10:00Yeah.

10:01Well, you got the time right today, so that's an improvement.

10:04Do you feel like he did something heroic?

10:06He's a hero.

10:07Oh, yeah.

10:08Absolutely.

10:09He put other people before himself.

10:12Yeah.

10:12Very proud of him.

10:13Very, very proud.

10:14All right.

10:21After the horrific events on London Bridge, Darren has found the gym to be a vital lifeline for his mental

10:26health.

10:27I know it sounds a bit weird, and it's weird to do it in here, but I wouldn't mind just

10:30doing some filming and photograph you as you're doing it, just to get an idea.

10:33To see the strange face.

10:35Yeah, when you're stressed and you're strained.

10:40It's the perfect place to observe, snap and sketch Darren.

10:54Were you into the gym before the incident?

10:57Yeah, I think I was in a very dark place after the incident, and I couldn't do anything.

11:02I think it was just I was a bit of a zombie.

11:04I didn't know what I was doing, so I became a bit of a hermit, turned to alcohol and to

11:09try and cope.

11:09The only time I felt I could feel was when I was drunk, which was a terrible way to go.

11:15I felt very lost.

11:16I was in the wilderness.

11:18I was very lost for a long while.

11:28So, yeah, the reason why I want to photograph and sort of sketch Darren in action is because what it

11:34really does is it stops him being self-aware so I can actually find his character.

11:42And I just really want to try and capture any strain, any pressures, and then I can use that creatively.

11:55So with this, you know, the Own Merit project.

11:58Yeah.

11:59Our name, it's a little nod to Jack Merit and Saskia Jones.

12:04Oh.

12:04Jack was killed and Saskia was killed.

12:06Oh.

12:07So Own Merit.

12:08And the whole ethos is we give them prison leavers who would have been homeless.

12:12We give them a home, opportunity and support, and they succeed by their own merit.

12:16Brilliant.

12:17I'll be honest with you.

12:18You know, I've struggled in my life with anger problems.

12:21Yeah.

12:21Eating disorders, which, you know, which was a way of controlling my situation, my mental health.

12:25You know, and it's close to my heart.

12:28Well, thank you for sharing that because that's a lot.

12:31The truth that you understand, people are human.

12:37I've told him personally about my struggles.

12:39I think that's also helped him feel like he can open up to me.

12:48You know, I really want to exaggerate emotions.

12:51When people have got loads of wrinkles, happy wrinkles or frowny wrinkles, you can use them and exaggerate them.

12:56But he is extremely good looking, so he does look like a hero, doesn't he?

13:00He looks like Superman.

13:01Right.

13:02So, what I've actually done is I've measured him up at every point.

13:09And I only really need a few points of measurement.

13:12And then I'll just use my eye to get it right.

13:14I'm going to throw the clay on and just measure, measure, measure and throw the clay on.

13:41Well, I've just got the train here to North Wales to catch up with Nick.

13:44Now, by all accounts, he's making good progress, but I wanted to come here to catch up properly.

13:51So, I've done this very sort of straightforward, proportionately right sculpture.

13:56So, it's all ready as a canvas to work from.

13:59And I have purposely not worked on his eyes until he comes down.

14:02That sort of element of it, trying to kind of get the personality out.

14:05Yeah.

14:05That's the thing you want to try and sort of achieve.

14:08Absolutely.

14:09While I'm here.

14:15Oh, my God.

14:18Organised mess.

14:19I'm entering your head a little bit here, Nick.

14:23So, this is basically the canvas for me to be able to start sculpting him.

14:26The windows of the sole are the eyes, and there are no eyes on this at the moment.

14:31Real life sittings are important for a sculptor to capture details that photos miss.

14:36Nick will need a few sessions with Darren, and it can be an intense experience.

14:41Hey.

14:42Hello, hello.

14:43Darren.

14:44How are you?

14:44Very good.

14:45How are you doing, buddy?

14:46How are you doing?

14:48We were just looking at you.

14:50That looks so accurate already.

14:52That's crazy.

14:53That's good news.

14:54This is now the canvas, a very simplistic canvas to then work from.

14:58But you want to work on the eyes today.

15:00That's the key, in a way.

15:01I'll see a moment in your face, and then I just sort of memorise it, and subconsciously then start to

15:08put it into the work.

15:09This part of the process is about capturing Darren's expressions and creating a mood for the sculpture.

15:15Yeah, you asked me to bring something that would be personal so you can see some of the emotions.

15:19One night, when I couldn't sleep, I wrote on my phone a little poem about what happened, and it kind

15:25of helped me deal with the trauma.

15:30Deep breath, mind reeling, two blades, one bomb, no chance, but you try or more people die.

15:40Blood is shed, and a big explosion inside my head.

15:45God.

15:48It's very powerful stuff.

15:49Yeah.

15:50And even now I can tell it affects you.

16:00Good morning.

16:01Hello.

16:02How you doing, man?

16:02How you doing?

16:03Yeah, good.

16:04You all right?

16:04What's the plan today?

16:06So the plan is, we're going to be making a metal skeleton of Darren's hands.

16:10Before the model is cast, Nick has to carefully sculpt Darren's features and hands, and I'll be helping.

16:17Identical.

16:17Yeah.

16:18And then he just, what we'll do is we get a layer of clay on.

16:31And hands are very similar to the eyes.

16:34They're the ends of the sole expression.

16:36You know, people use their hands to express themselves.

16:49In that moment when you were in this almost like an embrace, you held him very, very tightly.

16:55I was holding him by the wrist so that he couldn't reach for the trigger to blow up the bomb.

17:00Gives you sort of slight goose bumps when you describe it like that.

17:07I can see the stars.

17:27The next stage can be tricky.

17:30Once Nick finishes sculpting Darren in clay, the work is covered with silicon to make a mould.

17:47I've had a real nightmare over the last week and a half.

17:51The mould obviously came out perfectly, but the first cast I did failed.

17:56When I opened it up, it hadn't gone off properly in some areas and basically all the resin and the

18:02glass just fell out.

18:04It takes days and days to get the cast done.

18:06It's soul destroying and it just means I've got to do another cast.

18:08I've done 500 hours over sculpting this piece.

18:12And if this second cast fails, I'm done.

18:15I won't be able to be showing this on the day.

18:17I needed three weeks to be casting this piece.

18:22I've got eight days.

18:23I feel physically sick.

18:25Last night I've hardly slept because I'm coming in today to see if this next cast has worked.

18:50I'm going to open this up now.

18:52I'm going to open this up.

18:57Let's go.

18:58Ahhhh!

19:02Ahhhh!

19:03That's…

19:10Ah, do you know what?

19:15Ah, mate.

19:16I think it's okay.

19:16yeah so this has come out I've got this will take four days to fix and clean up

19:21and patinate but we have something oh thank God for that

19:33Darren is now in the van ready to go physically shaking but anyway off we go

19:46after over 500 hours of work Nick's sculpture will finally be unveiled to Darren his family

19:53and friends always ambitious Nick has poured everything into this piece and as always no

19:59one knows what to expect aha I thought I heard a van pull up hey Nick how's it going this

20:09is it

20:09the big day you're a bit nervous yeah yeah well I've got we've got a bit of help bring this

20:16in

20:17but I'm probably going to get a few more people if possible to bring the rest in this looks quite

20:22restrained for you yeah well you haven't seen the rest yet all right I'll go and rustle up some muscle

20:28cheers thank you for the reveal Darren has brought along his dad and closest friends

20:47thank you very much for coming through I can't wait for this it's probably everything you hate

20:52have an attention on you but wow just by the size of this I'm guessing there's quite a big sculpture

21:01behind here I went a bit mad as usual can you give me any clues I know very strongly that

21:07he didn't want

21:07me to portray him as this larger-than-life hero yeah and what I've tried to do is really sort

21:12of

21:13portray him as a human being this is why I'm a little bit worried because obviously you know

21:16he has been affected by it and I've tried to be honest about the whole thing and I've put all

21:21that

21:21in it and I'm hoping that it's sensitive but also tells the story yeah I've solidly put my heart and

21:27soul into this I'm sure so you know all right we're just about there

21:33come on you'll be all right I'll get the family okay

21:37corner okay fingers crossed yeah fingers crossed it'll be fine yeah so yeah excited but apprehensive

21:43as well hello everyone if you'd like to see a sculpture yeah come this way hey Dan hi

21:57the big day the big reveal Nick is uh has been working as you can imagine around the clock yeah

22:03Darren how are you feeling today a bit of a mix of emotions to be honest I don't know what

22:08to expect

22:08but I I have no idea you guys have done so well at keeping this hidden Nick any final thoughts

22:15it's

22:15an honor to be able to sculpt the good in humanity we've developed a close relationship and it's

22:21really helped me to connect with this piece and I'm hoping I hope you connect with it as well

22:27so I think now is the moment of truth Nick yep you ready yeah go on I'm ready you guys

22:33ready

22:34okay you ready all right take a breath and uh we'll reveal the sculpture

23:12that is incredible I'm now speechless

23:15ah it's really uh quite hard hitting it's quite emotional to see like a full narwhal tusk again

23:28I think for me it brings through a lot of the stuff that I'm feeling as in like confusion

23:33confliction and like so proud of what I did with this crazy object but also so sad of the circumstances

23:44uh if it was some kind of heroic statue I would sorry I've hated it and this is poignant it's

23:51emotive

23:51it does make people feel a bit sad but it was the saddest day of my life so

23:58the fact that he's got the weight of the world on his shoulder at that time he did

24:03and he still lives that day quite regularly it has affected him a heck of a lot he's really changed

24:10his whole life hearing my dad talk about sorry I'm getting a bit emotional I've changed since that

24:17moment because I try and hide it from everyone because I don't want them to see the darkness which

24:23this kind of portrays really well because there was a lot of darkness um there's a lot of pain and

24:31I probably still am not through all of it it's okay to just be yourself especially with us it's okay

24:37to just be vulnerable sometimes yeah it's not horrible to hear you say that well there were dark

24:43days where I didn't want to live and this kind of shows it you can see that face sad and

24:48I think

24:49that's a fair reflection so I know it was a difficult time but it had to be honest this to

24:56me it was was

24:57a shield it was protection and he's actually you know afterwards putting it back together and fixing

25:02and this is representing what you're doing now in your life and you know you're turning something

25:06that was a tragedy into into a miracle today this is basically you can detach from it so it's for

25:13you

25:13to take your empowerment over that and to lift your own burden then now that's an incredible gesture yeah

25:21I want this for you to to be able to let go that is so thoughtful thank you it's an

25:29honor

25:34it's overwhelming because it's bringing up the past um but trying to paint it in a new light

25:41that there is hope you just want to go back to that day and just you know give the guy

25:47a hug and

25:47say you've done something extraordinary here he doesn't ever see himself as the hero that he is and

25:56he doesn't like to portray himself like that he was the one who chose to take action I hope this

26:01will

26:01give him a bit of closure but his heart is absolutely in the right place he's trying to do for

26:08other

26:08people what they can't do for themselves I struggled with my memory like no end and I try and hide

26:15that

26:15um I try and carry on with the work and stuff but I forget things I drop things I lose

26:21things but

26:22you guys don't know how much it does help having others around and knowing that they're there for you

26:28it's very emotive for me to see that to have it reflected back because it's really difficult to look

26:34at but it's honest and um I don't think that's the face I show my friends normally which is probably

26:40I was honest and this this portrays that so well and it shows the part of me that I always

26:46try and hide

26:47so I wasn't expecting for you to see so deep into me and bring that out

26:55Darren just the final thoughts from you it has stirred up a lot of emotions from the day

27:01I'm just very proud of Nick as well and I hope you are yeah thank you I think what we're

27:07going to do

27:07now is Nick and I are just going to step out for a few minutes and invite you all to

27:13come forward and

27:14have a closer look okay cheers guys

27:31Nick Nick how was it mate I've just I just feel like intense crash I'm absolutely exhausted and

27:40the silence you just don't know I was physically shaking but did they get quite emotional I mean

27:46his father completely got the piece Darren suddenly heard his dad saying what he could see and feel

27:52Darren just went into tears just floods the tears and I'm like it's all over

28:04what Nick has created is a very powerful piece of work he got Darren to open up a bit he

28:10wanted it to

28:11to convey something of that trauma that he he went through on the day Darren had put his trust in

28:18Nick

28:19he was honest with him he opened up to him and the result is an extraordinary piece of work

28:25and I'll see you next time

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