Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh S08E15

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Transcript

00:00:00How doth the little busy bee improve each shining hour

00:00:04And gather honey all the day from every opening flower

00:00:08An excerpt from a poem by Isaac Watts

00:00:10The perfect spring poem as buzzing bees make their return to our gardens

00:00:15And while bees are swarming and buzzing into action

00:00:19Here at Manor Farm it's horses and riders who are trotting into action

00:00:23As they gear up for the prestigious Royal Windsor Horse Show

00:00:27And we're gearing up for today's Love Your Weekend

00:01:05I think we can agree it's not been the driest start to the year

00:01:10But as carpets of colour emerge from rain-soaked ground

00:01:14Rivers recede giving coots and moorhens riverbanks on which to nest

00:01:19April is the perfect time to enjoy what the British Isles has to offer

00:01:24We've a lot to offer you this morning too

00:01:26Coming up, you might have heard it on the grapevine

00:01:29But have you heard it from Tim Vine?

00:01:32Comedian and actor Tim Vine talks one-liners, not going out

00:01:36And playing a plastic version of Elvis Presley

00:01:39And from Barbara Windsor to June Brown to Wendy Richard

00:01:43They're the EastEnders legends, she says, helped shape her career

00:01:47Natalie Cassidy on working and learning from the best

00:01:51What if she's brought the trumpet?

00:01:53And primroses, tulips, and a fruit that whispers of tennis rallies

00:01:58And eat a mess, the strawberry

00:02:00Horticulturist Camilla Bassett-Smith celebrating the joys of the warmer weather

00:02:04With her April diary

00:02:05And under starter's orders, we meet some of the magnificent horses and riders

00:02:10Competing in this year's Royal Windsor Horse Show

00:02:18But first, the cock has crowed, the starlings have awoken

00:02:21And the sound of celebrity murmuration brings a sense of expectation across Manor Farm

00:02:27The dulcet tones of actress and EastEnders legend Natalie Cassidy

00:02:31And actor and comedy legend Tim Vine

00:02:34Welcome to your voice

00:02:36Thank you, I thought someone else was on there for a minute

00:02:39Thank you for having me

00:02:40You're very welcome

00:02:41If you weren't here, what would you be doing?

00:02:42What are your weekend pursuits, Natalie?

00:02:44Well, at this time, I'd probably be climbing out of bed after a nice lay-in

00:02:48I do like a nap

00:02:49I really do like a lay-in

00:02:51I'm a bit of a sleeper

00:02:52And as the children have got older

00:02:54They can get up and sort of tend to themselves

00:02:57So, you know, after lots of lack of sleep with the kids

00:03:00It's quite nice now to have a lay-in

00:03:02Yes

00:03:03And Sunday lunch, are you roast girl?

00:03:05Oh, I'm a huge...

00:03:06I love making a Sunday lunch

00:03:08It's my favourite to make

00:03:10And I usually do all my cauliflower cheese early

00:03:13Peel all my potatoes quite early on

00:03:15So, yeah

00:03:16Well done, Mary Berry's worked, hasn't it?

00:03:19Really, watching all those

00:03:20Tim, Sunday, you

00:03:21Yes

00:03:22Yes, I do Sundays, yeah

00:03:24I sleep as well

00:03:25I like sleeping too

00:03:27But, do you know, the first thing I do every day

00:03:29And I don't cut it out on Sundays

00:03:31Is I try and do a 501 darts ending on a double

00:03:35Before the kettle boils

00:03:36Are you serious?

00:03:37Yes

00:03:38So I fill up the kettle

00:03:39And then I start

00:03:40And I'm trying to hit the double

00:03:42Before it boils

00:03:43So you can adjust the amount of water you've got in the kettle

00:03:46To make it easier or harder

00:03:48And currently I'm not playing that well

00:03:50So I would tend to fill it right to the top

00:03:51Right, so your success rate's pretty low at the moment

00:03:53A little bit, yeah, yeah

00:03:55But that's how I start a Sunday morning, yeah

00:03:57You've always fancied a bit of stand-up, haven't you, Natalie?

00:04:01Is that one of your ambitions?

00:04:03I love it

00:04:04I'm obsessed with stand-up

00:04:05I watch it and I love it

00:04:07And I just, I find it incredible

00:04:09That someone can stand on their own

00:04:11And make people laugh

00:04:12I love it

00:04:13I would love to try it one day

00:04:14Well, you can stand on your own

00:04:15That's a start, isn't it?

00:04:17And then, you know

00:04:17I mean, I always say to people

00:04:18Have a go

00:04:19You should have a go, Natalie

00:04:20I mean, you've got to

00:04:21You've obviously got the, you know

00:04:22You can stand in front of people

00:04:23That you do, you know, second nature

00:04:25Yeah

00:04:25So just do it

00:04:26Yeah

00:04:26Write five minutes or something

00:04:28And get up there

00:04:29Oh, goodness

00:04:29But is there difficulty finding your style?

00:04:33Because, you know, you could do one style

00:04:34And it wouldn't work for you

00:04:35Your style's become one-liners

00:04:37But I think, well, yeah

00:04:38But that was sort of

00:04:39It's happened kind of organically

00:04:40But I think the main stumbling block

00:04:42For most people

00:04:43Is the fear of making a fool of yourself

00:04:44And I say to everyone

00:04:45If you can get past the fear

00:04:48Of making a fool of yourself

00:04:49There's a whole world of fun

00:04:50The other side of that, you know

00:04:51I make a fool of myself

00:04:52Exactly

00:04:53Quite a lot, actually

00:04:54So I should be good at that

00:04:55Oh, if you don't

00:04:56Go for it

00:04:56You've got to go into it

00:04:57Ready to fail, haven't you?

00:04:59Yeah, oh yeah

00:04:59Yeah, exactly

00:05:00But you've done a job

00:05:01You've been in Neighbours

00:05:03When you were out in Australia

00:05:04Well, it was very, very brief

00:05:06Yes

00:05:06Now, I was doing the comedy festival in Melbourne

00:05:08And I said to my agent

00:05:09As a bit of a joke

00:05:10I said, can you get me on Neighbours?

00:05:12See if, you know

00:05:12And he asked

00:05:14And I think they must have thought

00:05:15It was someone else

00:05:16And they said

00:05:17They said, yeah, right

00:05:18Well, he's got two choices

00:05:19He can either be doing his act in Lassiter's

00:05:22Or he can be asking for directions

00:05:24You know, and I thought

00:05:25Well, I'd like to be acting slightly

00:05:27So I asked for directions outside

00:05:29That was it

00:05:30You could have been the turn

00:05:31You could have done your act

00:05:32Well, I thought I wanted to be sort of

00:05:34You know

00:05:35I'm going to do some action

00:05:36So I said to someone

00:05:36I said, can you tell me where Lassiter's is?

00:05:39You know

00:05:40They said, well, it's right here

00:05:41It's Lassiter's

00:05:41I said, all right

00:05:43Lassiter's

00:05:43It was great fun though

00:05:46I mean, it was

00:05:47Because I remember watching that

00:05:48You know, back in the day

00:05:49Yeah, love Neighbours

00:05:505.35 after school

00:05:52Push the sofa around

00:05:54Very worried though

00:05:55When my daughters

00:05:55Who were growing up

00:05:56They used to come home

00:05:57And say, hello

00:05:58We do not live in Melbourne

00:06:00No, it's true

00:06:01Hello

00:06:02It's changed now

00:06:07It's a good job

00:06:08You can make people laugh

00:06:09Because

00:06:10Because

00:06:11I've got a couple of clips now

00:06:12For you

00:06:13To show you making people laugh

00:06:14Probably somewhat unintentionally

00:06:16In dance for comic relief

00:06:18Here we are

00:06:19First up

00:06:20Here's Natalie Cassidy

00:06:21With a bit of hairspray

00:06:23And if they try to stop

00:06:24My dancing feet

00:06:26Well I just cannot sit still

00:06:28Because the world keeps spinning

00:06:30Round and round

00:06:31I'm a hard

00:06:32In time

00:06:33And the speed on sound

00:06:34I was lost

00:06:35And I heard

00:06:36But it's something

00:06:36Then I fell my way

00:06:38You can't stop me

00:06:41Heaven sits this whole world

00:06:42Together

00:06:45An exuberant and playful dance

00:06:47You can't stop me

00:06:48Dean Gaffney in there

00:06:49Claire Sweeney

00:06:50Difficulties with that routine

00:06:52Because you were really giving it some

00:06:53Weren't you, Joanna?

00:06:54I was giving it some

00:06:55But we had quite a few rehearsals

00:06:56If I remember rightly

00:06:57Didn't we?

00:06:57A few days rehearsal

00:06:58Well I had none for your

00:06:59I was rehearsing my one

00:07:01But you're

00:07:02Oh, you mean

00:07:02Yes, it was going to be both

00:07:03Yes, you're right

00:07:04You couldn't live with him

00:07:05You couldn't live with him

00:07:05Could you imagine?

00:07:07You'd go nuts

00:07:07Oh, so

00:07:08You'd have your own one-liners

00:07:09Wouldn't you?

00:07:10Or a dartboard

00:07:10Most of them would be rude

00:07:11He'd be the human dartboard

00:07:13When they're in the house

00:07:15Anyway, but it was hard work

00:07:16Then was it?

00:07:17It was hard work

00:07:17But there was a lot of rehearsing

00:07:18Wasn't there?

00:07:18Lots of rehearsing

00:07:19Hard work

00:07:20But great laugh

00:07:22How did you get on

00:07:23With your co-stars

00:07:24In that one

00:07:24You had Claire Sweeney

00:07:25Claire

00:07:26Didn't have to do a lot

00:07:27Did he?

00:07:28Didn't have to do a lot

00:07:30He's like a real-life brother

00:07:31Really

00:07:32Because I've known him

00:07:32Since I was ten

00:07:33So there we are

00:07:35We need to see Tim Dine

00:07:36Doing Justin Timberlake

00:07:38Here we go

00:07:39Got time

00:07:41But I don't mind

00:07:42Just want a girl

00:07:44I'll have a girl

00:07:47I'll have a girl

00:07:49I've been watching you

00:07:51I like the money to move

00:07:54So go ahead

00:07:55I'll just do it

00:07:56And I think you know

00:07:58Well you got all the right moves

00:08:01Not necessarily in the right order

00:08:02But they were all there

00:08:03Your body was doing things

00:08:05Roughly in time with the music

00:08:07I loved that time was fabulous

00:08:07Every time I did that turn in rehearsal

00:08:09I'd sort of would spin off

00:08:10And hit my head on the mirror

00:08:11In the dance rehearsal

00:08:13So I was pleased to stand up

00:08:15You found Justin Timberlake

00:08:16Well not especially

00:08:17Have you ever seen him?

00:08:18Well I then

00:08:19I watched the video

00:08:20Some of his stuff

00:08:22What afterwards?

00:08:23I think it was after

00:08:24I saw him five times

00:08:26Really?

00:08:27Consecutive evenings

00:08:28I was obsessed with that album

00:08:30Yeah

00:08:30Oh what album?

00:08:31Oh you did an album did you?

00:08:32Oh god

00:08:34Don't ask me what it was called

00:08:35I can't remember now

00:08:35Cry me a river

00:08:37That was one of it

00:08:38That was one of the songs

00:08:39Oh right

00:08:40That was the album

00:08:41But yeah

00:08:41There we go

00:08:42Okay well when we get to the end of the day

00:08:43How are you going to run mine?

00:08:44Bedtime reading

00:08:45What do you read at bedtime?

00:08:48I do love a cookbook

00:08:49In bed?

00:08:50That's the most fantastic answer

00:08:51You read cookbooks in bed?

00:08:53A cookbook in bed?

00:08:53I love a cookbook in bed

00:08:54Does it send you off?

00:08:55I just love looking at all the recipes

00:08:57And all the pictures

00:08:58Whose books have you read?

00:09:00My favourite to read

00:09:01Because I think he's wonderful

00:09:02Is Nigel Slater

00:09:03Oh yes

00:09:04Quite cerebral

00:09:05Really wonderful actually

00:09:07But other than that

00:09:08I can look at anything

00:09:09I can bring a Delia up to bed

00:09:10A Jamie Oliver comes to bed with me

00:09:12It doesn't really matter

00:09:12Does it have to be savoury?

00:09:14Would you rather be reading about puddings?

00:09:16Savoury

00:09:17Would you rather it was savoury?

00:09:18More savoury for me yeah

00:09:19At that point

00:09:20That's just me being selfish

00:09:21We've got pasties

00:09:22At the end of the programme for you

00:09:23So enjoy the savoury

00:09:24Great

00:09:24What about

00:09:25Do you read at bedtime Tim?

00:09:26Or do you

00:09:27Do you have a pad by your bed

00:09:28And you keep writing down one line

00:09:29I do have a pad by my bed

00:09:31Yeah

00:09:31And I occasionally scribble things down

00:09:33Although I find

00:09:34When I make up jokes in my sleep

00:09:35When I wake up

00:09:36I think

00:09:36Oh this is a brilliant one

00:09:37And I write it down

00:09:38In the morning

00:09:38I sort of read it

00:09:39It's gibberish

00:09:41But it always feels like

00:09:42It's something brilliant

00:09:43That I've come up with

00:09:44It never is

00:09:44But no

00:09:45I tend to read

00:09:46There's a magazine called

00:09:47Retro Magazine

00:09:47Have you ever seen that?

00:09:48No

00:09:48It's all about

00:09:49Old film stars

00:09:51So it would be like

00:09:52Elizabeth Tainer

00:09:53Cary Grant

00:09:54And it's so

00:09:55I might have a flick through that

00:09:56But to be honest

00:09:57I fall asleep so quickly

00:09:58I'm a bit bad at reading in bed

00:10:00Because the second I attempt it

00:10:01I'm not that

00:10:02I'm not that

00:10:02So you know

00:10:03I tend to just listen to the radio

00:10:05Are you a snorer as well?

00:10:06I'm like a hog

00:10:07I think I possibly

00:10:08Yeah

00:10:08Are you

00:10:09You keep it to yourself

00:10:10Do you the snoring?

00:10:11No

00:10:11I might as well tell everybody

00:10:13It's horrible really

00:10:13Do you admit snoring?

00:10:15Yes

00:10:15Interesting

00:10:17Do you not?

00:10:18You said I'm right

00:10:18I breathe quite heavily

00:10:22Moving swiftly on

00:10:23Before it gets totally embarrassing

00:10:25More coming up from Tim and Natalie

00:10:27A little bit later

00:10:28Stillhead

00:10:28Some would say it's the main

00:10:30Royal event of the season

00:10:32Well certainly for our equine friends

00:10:33We meet some of the very elegant horses

00:10:35Heading to this year's Royal Winter Horse Show

00:10:38And they're Britain's earliest wildflowers

00:10:40Loved by bees, butterflies

00:10:42And gardeners alike

00:10:43Colours ranging from joyous yellow

00:10:45To soft pink

00:10:46Camilla Basset-Smith

00:10:48On the sunny delight

00:10:49Of the primrose

00:10:50In part one of her April diary

00:10:53Natalie

00:10:53May I take you

00:10:54To a cherry fondant

00:10:55Now look at those

00:10:56I don't think we've had those before

00:10:58Just because it's from you sir

00:10:59I will

00:10:59Thank you very much

00:11:00Well I'll join you then

00:11:01Thank you

00:11:01Or one for Tim

00:11:02There we are

00:11:02Can't leave you out

00:11:03Thank you very much

00:11:05Cheers

00:11:05Lovely

00:11:05Cherry fondant

00:11:06Cheers everyone

00:11:07Going up the world

00:11:22There's a 16th century proverb

00:11:25First penned by Thomas Tusser

00:11:28In 1557

00:11:29It says

00:11:30Sweet April showers

00:11:32Do spring

00:11:33May flowers

00:11:34Something I always like to remind myself

00:11:37If the weather leaves something to be desired

00:11:39At this time of year

00:11:40Bit nippy this morning

00:11:41Hence the Harris Tweed

00:11:43A bomber jacket

00:11:43Lots of desirable goodies

00:11:45On today's show

00:11:47Coming up

00:11:47In the US

00:11:48They had Miles Davis

00:11:49Louis Armstrong

00:11:50And Dizzy Gillespie

00:11:51But when it comes to

00:11:52Titan trumpeters

00:11:54On these shores

00:11:55We have

00:11:55Sonia Fowler

00:11:56Natalie Cassidy

00:11:57On the life

00:11:58On and off

00:11:59Britain's most famous square

00:12:01And they've often compared

00:12:03The Manor Farm pub

00:12:04To the Queen Vic

00:12:05With its vast and varied

00:12:06Cast of patrons

00:12:07Iconic quotes

00:12:09And there's even been a brawl or two

00:12:11My lips are sealed

00:12:12Beer boffin marverine coals

00:12:14Providing some pub grub

00:12:15In a best of British

00:12:17That celebrates

00:12:18Pints and pasties

00:12:20Oh yummy

00:12:21But first

00:12:21To primroses

00:12:23They've been gathered for centuries

00:12:24Once used in folk remedies

00:12:27And still occasionally used in the kitchen

00:12:29Where they're candied

00:12:30Or steeped in light wines

00:12:32In Victorian times

00:12:33They symbolised young love

00:12:35Or a love that couldn't quite find the right words

00:12:38Oh I do so understand

00:12:40Despite its unassuming charm

00:12:42Camilla Bassett-Smith is here to prove

00:12:44That this flower is anything but meek

00:12:47In the first part of her April dowry

00:12:50Hello my little primrose

00:12:51Oh how sweet

00:12:52I love that

00:12:52I shall change my name by default

00:12:54Back to the brimroses

00:12:56And aren't they just so quintessentially springtime

00:12:58They just smile at you

00:12:59Don't they when they come through

00:13:00They do

00:13:00And this is our native one

00:13:01Which is Primula vulgaris

00:13:03And there's nothing vulgar about them at all

00:13:05Is there really

00:13:06It just means they're widespread

00:13:07It does

00:13:08It does

00:13:08And they seed themselves

00:13:09They're all over my lawn at the moment

00:13:11Which is very pretty

00:13:12But I need to mow it

00:13:13So I'm sort of moving them out of the way

00:13:15But these ones are just so beautiful

00:13:18And they were loved by Disraeli

00:13:20Queen Victor

00:13:21Well he found in the primrose league

00:13:22Didn't he

00:13:23Oh did he

00:13:24I didn't know that

00:13:24I know that he loved them

00:13:26And also Shakespeare mentioned them

00:13:28And Hamlet the Midsummer Night's Dream

00:13:29So I feel they're a very British plant

00:13:31And as I said

00:13:33I'm moving them out of my lawn at the moment

00:13:34They're very easy to divide aren't they

00:13:36Oh they are

00:13:37They form lovely clumps

00:13:38I mean you can almost tear them apart

00:13:40But I'm going to do this

00:13:41With just a

00:13:41Get a trowel in there

00:13:42And people think

00:13:43Oh you're being really nasty here

00:13:44But

00:13:45No you literally

00:13:46Tear them apart

00:13:47Different plants like that

00:13:49And they're so

00:13:50They look delicate don't they

00:13:51But they're really

00:13:53Double little boots

00:13:53Resilient

00:13:54And the cowslip as well

00:13:55Is another one that we're used to seeing

00:13:57In the wild here

00:13:59Primula veris

00:14:00And you had a lot didn't you

00:14:01That you planted

00:14:02In a wildflower meadow

00:14:03Yeah

00:14:03I sowed a wildflower meadow

00:14:04On chalk

00:14:05They're particularly like chalky ground

00:14:06Chalked downland

00:14:07And also alongside I think the M4

00:14:09There's loads there

00:14:10I often see them growing alongside

00:14:11Motorway veris

00:14:12You see them more nowadays

00:14:13Than we used to actually

00:14:14But this one

00:14:15The Barnhaven Strain

00:14:16That came about at the start of the 20th century

00:14:18I went up there once

00:14:18To Cumbria many years ago now

00:14:2030-40 years ago

00:14:21Where they bred these double primroses

00:14:23In all kinds of colours

00:14:25It's really beautiful

00:14:26They're very very choice

00:14:27And also the rose

00:14:28The prima rose

00:14:29You can really see the rose-like look there

00:14:31Can't you as well

00:14:32And the blues

00:14:33The pinks

00:14:34These really bright ones

00:14:35That are used for bedding

00:14:36Predominantly

00:14:37But we forget they are perennials

00:14:38So given the right conditions

00:14:39They come back year after year

00:14:42The classiest there must be this

00:14:43The gold-laced polyanthus

00:14:45And they look very much like the auriculas

00:14:47Don't they

00:14:48That people collect

00:14:48And you could actually have those individually

00:14:50In nice terracotta pots

00:14:51And auricular theatre

00:14:52They'd so work

00:14:53Now what is this?

00:14:54This is an oak-leaved

00:14:55This I've never seen before

00:14:57Doesn't it?

00:14:57You can see why

00:14:58It's named that

00:14:59It was a chance seedling in 1999

00:15:01That someone found

00:15:03So oak-leafed primrose

00:15:04Yes oak-leafed primrose

00:15:05And also very delicate at the top as well

00:15:07It has a natural look about it

00:15:08But it's the leaf really

00:15:09That's special about those ones

00:15:10And then finally on the end

00:15:12The drumstick primrose

00:15:13The Kiri Dumpling

00:15:14As it's known as in Scotland

00:15:16I can see why

00:15:18Yeah I can see why the dumpling

00:15:20But the lollipops

00:15:21And these are very good

00:15:22Alongside a pond aren't they?

00:15:24Yeah they like the moisture

00:15:25Yeah

00:15:25They will really travel won't they?

00:15:27You can get a good clump up of those

00:15:29In not too much at all

00:15:30And varying from white

00:15:31Through pale pink

00:15:31To this really deep sort of magenta

00:15:33And it kind of shows doesn't it?

00:15:35The real variety you've got

00:15:36From whether you love

00:15:36The dainty natural ones

00:15:38Or the really bright

00:15:40Garish

00:15:40Loud yellow

00:15:41Pink

00:15:41There's so many different colours

00:15:43Aren't there?

00:15:43And it kind of

00:15:44Something for everyone

00:15:45Indeed

00:15:45Lovely

00:15:46And the first sign

00:15:47The proper sign of spring

00:15:48Which is wonderful

00:15:49Thanks Camilla

00:15:50And you'll be back

00:15:51A little bit later on I think

00:15:52I shall indeed

00:15:52With some more floral beauty

00:15:54And a little bit of a nibble

00:15:55As well if you're peckish

00:15:56Oh

00:15:56How can I resist

00:16:02Now the Royal Windsor Horse Show

00:16:05Takes place next month

00:16:06It's an event that sees

00:16:07International show jumpers

00:16:09Descend on the castle arena

00:16:10And demands exceptional skill

00:16:13Speed and accuracy

00:16:14From both horse

00:16:16And rider

00:16:17For some

00:16:18That level of competition

00:16:19Is a solitary pursuit

00:16:20But for one engaged couple

00:16:22It's very much

00:16:23A shared passion

00:16:24And I'm pleased to say

00:16:26That international show jumpers

00:16:27Matt Sampson

00:16:28And Cara Chad

00:16:29Have come to Manor Farm

00:16:31To share that passion with us

00:16:32Matt good to see you

00:16:34One of the high spots

00:16:36Of your year

00:16:36That I should think

00:16:37Windsor

00:16:37Absolutely yeah

00:16:39Yeah the Windsor Horse Show

00:16:40For us

00:16:40Especially as a British rider

00:16:41It's alongside the biggest events

00:16:44Throughout the world anyway

00:16:45But for us

00:16:46It's really something

00:16:47We aim for yeah

00:16:48And as the Duke of Edinburgh

00:16:49Once said to me

00:16:50I said it's really good

00:16:51Of you to come

00:16:52He said well it's in our

00:16:52Back garden isn't it

00:16:53It is yeah

00:16:55So tell us about your horse

00:16:57Who's this

00:16:57So this is Ebolensky

00:16:59Lenny we call her

00:17:02She's my old

00:17:03My old faithful partner

00:17:04She won the Grand Prix

00:17:05At London International

00:17:06Horse Show

00:17:06A few years ago

00:17:07And she's competed

00:17:09The last four or five years

00:17:10At Windsor as well

00:17:11And how old is she

00:17:12She's 17 now

00:17:13Is she really

00:17:14Showing your age

00:17:16Very well

00:17:16Well you're not

00:17:17Showing your age

00:17:17You're wearing very well

00:17:18Thank you for that

00:17:19You're counting now as well

00:17:20So how many horses

00:17:22At your disposal

00:17:24So we have quite a few

00:17:25In total

00:17:27Between myself and Cara

00:17:28Probably around

00:17:2824 or 5 in work

00:17:30Gracious me

00:17:30Yeah but then

00:17:31That's including

00:17:32A lot of young horses

00:17:33That we're producing

00:17:34And bringing on

00:17:35And training

00:17:36But at top level

00:17:38We sort of have

00:17:38Two or three horses

00:17:40That we're either

00:17:41You know

00:17:41Either at that level

00:17:42Or stepping up to that level

00:17:43So

00:17:43It's nice to horse

00:17:45On a bit of grass

00:17:46Because it's been a bit

00:17:46Long time coming

00:17:47Hasn't it

00:17:48Absolutely

00:17:48Yeah yeah

00:17:49It's been wet

00:17:49But no

00:17:50You won't stop her

00:17:51From finding the grass

00:17:52No it's good organic grass

00:17:53So you're alright

00:17:54Wonderful

00:17:55Tell me about your day

00:17:56Because the day

00:17:57For when you show

00:17:58It's all very glamorous

00:17:59When you come

00:18:00Into the arena

00:18:01Here you are

00:18:02Beautifully attired

00:18:03And in the arena

00:18:04With glorious coats on

00:18:05And what not

00:18:05But heck of a lot of work

00:18:07Yeah absolutely

00:18:08No when we get to the show

00:18:09That's kind of the

00:18:10You know

00:18:11The peak

00:18:12The peak

00:18:12Yeah yeah

00:18:13It's a lot of work

00:18:13Building up to it

00:18:14But no

00:18:15With our team

00:18:16We start every day

00:18:17At seven in the morning

00:18:18Yeah

00:18:18And the thing is

00:18:20We finish roughly

00:18:22Around five o'clock

00:18:23In the evening

00:18:24With the horses

00:18:24And then they've checked again

00:18:26Before we all go to bed

00:18:28Around eight

00:18:28Eight thirty

00:18:29The amount of skill

00:18:31And precision

00:18:31That's involved

00:18:32With show jumping

00:18:33What does that mean

00:18:35On a daily basis

00:18:36Are they jumping

00:18:37Every day

00:18:37No absolutely not

00:18:39No we very rarely

00:18:40Jump our horses

00:18:41Honestly at home

00:18:42We train them

00:18:43You know

00:18:44Small fences

00:18:45We do a lot of pole work

00:18:46Just keeping the

00:18:46The horses fitness

00:18:48And they're eyeing

00:18:48To you know

00:18:50To what they're doing

00:18:51But in general

00:18:52We try and take them out

00:18:53Hacking out

00:18:53You know

00:18:54They do a lot of

00:18:54A lot of work

00:18:55That's outside the arena

00:18:56Which keeps them fit

00:18:57And keeps them

00:18:58Keeps them you know

00:18:59Happy as well

00:19:00They love show jumping

00:19:01As much as we do

00:19:02You know

00:19:02And do they get that moment

00:19:03When they go into the arena

00:19:04It's right I'm on

00:19:05Oh yeah

00:19:05Can you tell

00:19:06Absolutely

00:19:06Her and my other

00:19:07Best horse Daniel

00:19:08They both

00:19:09You know

00:19:09When they get to it

00:19:10Like even today

00:19:11When we arrived

00:19:11She came out

00:19:13Thinking

00:19:14I think she thought

00:19:14She was definitely at a show

00:19:15You know

00:19:15Yeah I'm on telly

00:19:16Yeah exactly

00:19:19So now tell me

00:19:20About you and Cara

00:19:21Cara's having a nice

00:19:22Little trot round there

00:19:24Cara do you want

00:19:24To come in

00:19:25Tell us who you're on

00:19:27I'm on

00:19:28His stable name is Gary

00:19:29And his competition

00:19:32Name is Mercano

00:19:33Yeah

00:19:33He's an eight year old

00:19:34That we actually bred

00:19:35So he's a home bred

00:19:36So he's the young star

00:19:37But he is yeah

00:19:38But he's very talented

00:19:39We hope anyway

00:19:40Yeah he's great

00:19:41Glorious

00:19:42So how are they both

00:19:43In terms of

00:19:45Competitive expertise

00:19:46I mean they're both

00:19:46Obviously extremely good horses

00:19:48But are they really

00:19:49These two

00:19:50Top of the range

00:19:51As it were

00:19:51Well Ebolansky

00:19:52Has definitely proven herself

00:19:54She's won five star

00:19:55Grand Prix

00:19:55Which is the

00:19:56Her and Matt

00:19:57Have won five star

00:19:57Grand Prix

00:19:58Which is the highest

00:20:01In which you can

00:20:02Achieve other than

00:20:03I guess a world championship

00:20:04Or Olympics

00:20:05And then

00:20:06So she's

00:20:06And she proves herself

00:20:07At Nations Cups

00:20:08Representing Great Britain

00:20:10So she's pretty incredible

00:20:11And then Gary

00:20:12He's an up and comer

00:20:14We think he's quite special

00:20:16He's an incredible jumper

00:20:17He has an amazing character

00:20:19Yeah

00:20:20And yeah

00:20:21We're hoping

00:20:22He's jumped up to

00:20:23The metre 40 level

00:20:24Wow

00:20:24And we're hoping to

00:20:25Continue on with his development

00:20:28As he's just eight years old

00:20:29We bred him

00:20:31So we owned his mum

00:20:32And his dad

00:20:33Belonged to a friend of ours

00:20:35Oh right

00:20:36So it's better be as well now

00:20:37So you know

00:20:38It's quite cool

00:20:38To see him sort of

00:20:39Develop into a good horse

00:20:40When you've had him

00:20:42Since the fall

00:20:42Which is not always the case

00:20:43I mean it's lottery

00:20:45Isn't it

00:20:45Yeah exactly

00:20:46You hope for good ones

00:20:48Like this when you breed them

00:20:49So if I ask you

00:20:50Where you two met

00:20:51It's obviously you met

00:20:52In a similar situation

00:20:53To where you're sitting now

00:20:54You met some horses

00:20:55Where did you meet?

00:20:56We met in

00:20:57Vejera de la Frontera

00:20:59Spain

00:20:59On the Sunshine Tour

00:21:01Circuit

00:21:02Where are you from?

00:21:03I'm from Calgary

00:21:04Alberta, Canada

00:21:05So a little ways from here

00:21:06But have been together

00:21:09With Matt

00:21:10For seven years now

00:21:11And spent quite a bit

00:21:12Of that time

00:21:12Up in Sheffield

00:21:14And then now

00:21:14We've just moved our base

00:21:15To down close to Horsham

00:21:17In Sussex

00:21:17It's a bit handier

00:21:18For travel

00:21:18Exactly

00:21:19Foreign and

00:21:20Certainly in Europe

00:21:21And over here as well

00:21:22Yeah

00:21:23So you've got the joy

00:21:24Of having a shared passion

00:21:26But presumably Cara

00:21:27You're sometimes competing

00:21:28Against one another

00:21:29Yeah it definitely happens

00:21:31Quite often

00:21:32But we are both

00:21:33Very competitive

00:21:34But I think we both

00:21:35Feed off each other

00:21:36And when somebody

00:21:38Has a great day

00:21:40Other not so much

00:21:41We try and focus

00:21:41On the positive

00:21:42And it's even better

00:21:43When we both

00:21:44Have good days

00:21:44Yeah yeah

00:21:45That is really good

00:22:12How legends make their names

00:22:13And how the famed

00:22:15Thunder run

00:22:15Recreates dramatic storms

00:22:18Sounds ominous

00:22:19But the sun's coming out now

00:22:21And catfights

00:22:22Showdowns

00:22:23Kidnap plots

00:22:24A surprise baby

00:22:25She even tried to seduce

00:22:27Phil Mitchell

00:22:27I don't judge

00:22:28Natalie Cassidy

00:22:30On finally exiting

00:22:31Albert Square

00:22:32After 30 years

00:22:33And the explosive

00:22:3540th anniversary episode

00:22:37That saw her give birth

00:22:38In the Queen Vig

00:22:40I feel a doof doof

00:22:41Coming on

00:22:43There it is

00:22:45How rewarding

00:22:46I'll see you with Natalie

00:22:47And more

00:22:47Right after this

00:23:02Welcome back

00:23:03To Love Your Weekend

00:23:04Still ahead

00:23:04King of the puns

00:23:06And a comedy genius

00:23:07Tim Vine's done it all

00:23:09From appearing in Neighbours

00:23:10To sitting in Dictionary Corner

00:23:11To making history

00:23:13By becoming the first man

00:23:14On Channel 5

00:23:43Also coming up

00:23:45Audiences with a number

00:23:46Of high profile storylines

00:23:47From affairs

00:23:48To feuds

00:23:49And most recently

00:23:50Giving birth

00:23:51In the Queen Vig

00:23:52Never one to blow

00:23:53Her own trumpet

00:23:55Audiences were thrilled

00:23:56When she did just that

00:23:57As she bid farewell

00:23:58To Albert Square

00:23:59In true

00:24:00Sonia style

00:24:30Coming in

00:24:31Look for old time's sake

00:24:32As we drive off

00:24:33Come on

00:24:33It'll be a laugh

00:24:34Oh Bianca

00:24:34We'll put it in the bin

00:24:35When we get to stand

00:24:35Stead

00:24:37Shall I?

00:24:38Yeah

00:24:39Go on

00:24:40Go on

00:24:57It was hugely emotional

00:25:00That you were leaving the programme

00:25:02You were leaving everybody behind

00:25:05In reality as well

00:25:06All your mates

00:25:07For all those years

00:25:07Really

00:25:08I was

00:25:09And I was

00:25:09And it did feel quite final

00:25:10Really

00:25:11I'm not saying it is final

00:25:12But it did

00:25:13Everyone around that boat

00:25:15And sort of going away

00:25:16And obviously the old

00:25:17Trumpet come out again

00:25:18All I could think of

00:25:19Was Jim Bowen

00:25:20Saying look what you could have won

00:25:21And it was always a speedboat

00:25:23And I thought perhaps you have

00:25:26But you'd been there

00:25:27From 1993 to 2025

00:25:30I know

00:25:31That's a long run

00:25:32It is

00:25:33It is

00:25:33Few breaks in between

00:25:34Yeah

00:25:35It feels like home

00:25:36Even when I watch it now

00:25:37I miss everybody

00:25:38Yeah

00:25:39You know

00:25:39But you grew up there

00:25:40I did

00:25:41Yeah

00:25:41How old were you when you joined the cast

00:25:43Ten

00:25:44Ten when I joined

00:25:45I was there for 12 years

00:25:47And then had eight years off

00:25:49Went off and did some other things

00:25:51And then went back when I was 30

00:25:52Got the call to say

00:25:53Would you like to come back

00:25:54Went back when I was 30

00:25:55And I've done another 12 years

00:25:57And then I left last year

00:25:59So I don't know what it is

00:25:59About the pattern of 12 and 8

00:26:01Maybe I'll be back when I'm 50

00:26:02I don't know

00:26:03Well you've still got a great acting life

00:26:05Ahead of you at that stage there really

00:26:07Absolutely

00:26:07Going in age 10

00:26:10Nervous or nerveless at that age

00:26:13Nervous

00:26:14Really

00:26:14I had no idea what I was going into

00:26:17Didn't watch soaps

00:26:18My mum and dad watched Corrie

00:26:20Didn't like EastEnders

00:26:21That went down well

00:26:22I know

00:26:22And I got the part

00:26:24And I went in

00:26:25And was just surrounded by all these lovely people

00:26:28It was just completely out of the blue

00:26:29There was no one in the entertainment industry

00:26:31In my family

00:26:32It wasn't

00:26:32It wasn't pushed upon me to do it

00:26:34I went to Anna Sher

00:26:36Oh the famous Anna Sher

00:26:37A pound in the pot wasn't it

00:26:39A pound in the pot

00:26:40There you go

00:26:41For the working classes

00:26:42And I got picked up from there

00:26:43And that's it really

00:26:45The rest is history

00:26:46But at the age of 10

00:26:47And in the subsequent years to that

00:26:49You worked with some real stars

00:26:51In EastEnders

00:26:52Working with Wendy Richard

00:26:54Working with June Brown

00:26:55With Barbara Windsor

00:26:56The old pros

00:26:58You know

00:26:58The accomplished actors

00:27:01Let's have a look at you

00:27:02With Wendy

00:27:03And June

00:27:05What do you think then?

00:27:07Very nice

00:27:08Can we stop admiring the cake now Dorothy?

00:27:10And I've sold loads of me fairy cakes

00:27:12I've made ever so much money

00:27:13Mum look this is lovely

00:27:15Hey listen

00:27:16Where are you about to be going?

00:27:17Ah wait a minute

00:27:18Till I stick this one on the top

00:27:19And then I'll come and give you a kiss

00:27:21Goodbye

00:27:21Stick it when the sun don't shine in a minute

00:27:23I'm sorry Pauline

00:27:25I didn't quite catch that

00:27:27Give my love to Shel

00:27:29And the boys

00:27:30Yep we will

00:27:30See if I don't

00:27:31Oh listen

00:27:32My letter of resignation to the college

00:27:33Is on the mail page

00:27:34You can't post it to me could ya?

00:27:36Be glad to

00:27:36Lovely

00:27:40I saw that doc Browning

00:27:42Don't think I didn't

00:27:44Master their craft

00:27:45Oh that is

00:27:46Honestly

00:27:46He says watch that

00:27:47And you know

00:27:48They're all not with us anymore

00:27:50No

00:27:50And they

00:27:52The dynamic between the two of them

00:27:55And Wendy was an exacting performer

00:27:57Wasn't she?

00:27:58You know

00:27:58She either took to you or she didn't

00:27:59She took to me

00:28:00She took to you

00:28:01We were dear dear friends

00:28:01Yeah

00:28:02Many many nights I'd go to Wendy's house

00:28:05And have a glass of champagne

00:28:06We'd learn our lines in our pyjamas

00:28:08June I went on holiday with a lot

00:28:10And I was so so lucky

00:28:12So lucky to have them in my life

00:28:14Yeah

00:28:15Because you lost your mum when you were quite young

00:28:17I did

00:28:17I lost my mum at 19

00:28:18Yeah

00:28:19Yeah

00:28:19She was 63

00:28:20She was young

00:28:21Gosh

00:28:21But they had me older

00:28:22But they had me older my mum and dad

00:28:23Yeah

00:28:23They were 44 and 46

00:28:24So my two brothers Tony and David

00:28:27They were 15 and 18 when I came along

00:28:30And family is so important to me

00:28:33And I suppose I did lose mum

00:28:34But what I gained was sister-in-laws

00:28:37And nieces which are like my sisters

00:28:39Because I was an auntie at three

00:28:40So it all worked out you know in the end

00:28:43It's like it's sort of a mirror

00:28:44How like Sonia are you as a character?

00:28:48I think I'm a very caring person

00:28:50Yeah

00:28:50Like Sonia

00:28:51I would like to think I've got better dress sense

00:28:54Because she wasn't very glamorous was she

00:28:56No

00:28:56The country colours that you're wearing today

00:28:59You've got that one that's okay

00:29:00But yeah I think playing a character for that long

00:29:03You know you do sort of merge

00:29:05And of course there's parts of Sonia within me

00:29:07But I'd like to think I was a little bit better than her

00:29:11You had a two-hander with Doc Cotton

00:29:13An entire episode

00:29:14I did

00:29:14With June Brown

00:29:16It's interesting isn't it

00:29:17The character and the actor are interchangeable

00:29:20You think of them both as having two names

00:29:22That must have been a great learning curve

00:29:25To work with somebody like that

00:29:26In a two-hander

00:29:28Accomplished actress

00:29:29Raising your game

00:29:30It was a gift

00:29:32For me I think a two-hander episode in EastEnders

00:29:35Is the biggest gift of all

00:29:37And to sit with that lady

00:29:39And learn from her

00:29:41Is something I will never ever forget

00:29:43Was it all by observation

00:29:45Or did they actually say to you

00:29:46If you do this that works

00:29:48That doesn't

00:29:48June was very

00:29:51Very forthright

00:29:54I remember her saying

00:29:55Speak up dear

00:29:56Come on

00:29:57Can't hear you

00:29:58But in a lovely way

00:29:59Yeah

00:29:59You know you couldn't do that now

00:30:00Yeah

00:30:01But she was yeah

00:30:02She told the truth

00:30:03And she said you need to listen

00:30:04And reacting

00:30:06Is half of acting

00:30:08And all those lovely things

00:30:09And I have taken them on board

00:30:11And you know

00:30:12Wendy was always saying

00:30:13Be kind to the crew

00:30:14Know everybody's name

00:30:16And that stuck with me

00:30:17Well I'm marrying a cameraman

00:30:18So that really stuck with me

00:30:21You can carry it too far

00:30:22Yeah you can can't you

00:30:23There you go

00:30:25But yeah

00:30:25Lots and lots of brilliant advice

00:30:27From everybody

00:30:27Yeah

00:30:28There's lots of things

00:30:29You've done since

00:30:29You've now got a podcast

00:30:30You do your own podcast

00:30:32And you're going out

00:30:33And doing it live as well

00:30:34Sort of in theatres

00:30:35Which is exciting

00:30:36Thank you

00:30:37Yeah it's brilliant

00:30:38It started off a couple of years ago now

00:30:40What do you call it?

00:30:41Life with Nat

00:30:42And it's me

00:30:43And my family members

00:30:44I have my brother

00:30:45My fiancé Mark

00:30:47My nieces

00:30:48My sister-in-law

00:30:49It's about what we're up to

00:30:50And it's a little insight

00:30:51Into my life

00:30:52The kids come on

00:30:53My daughters sometimes

00:30:54And it's brilliant

00:30:55So yeah

00:30:56And we're in

00:30:57Where are we?

00:30:58Hertford

00:30:59On May the 24th

00:31:00Which is nearly sold out actually

00:31:02And May the 10th

00:31:04We're doing a very special show

00:31:05Myself and my sister-in-law

00:31:06On grief

00:31:07Because we do a grief pod

00:31:09And we've had an outpouring of listeners

00:31:11That absolutely

00:31:13Take great comfort

00:31:14From us talking about loss

00:31:16But we still laugh

00:31:17You know

00:31:18It's not down and depressing

00:31:19But sometimes I feel

00:31:20In this country

00:31:21We're not very good at talking about loss

00:31:22And it's the one thing

00:31:23That's going to happen to us all

00:31:24So yeah

00:31:25We're doing a little live show

00:31:26To chat about grief as well

00:31:27Which I'm really happy about

00:31:29And looking forward to

00:31:30We have a great tradition

00:31:31Of bottling don't we?

00:31:33Oh bottling it up

00:31:33Step up a lip

00:31:34Well I don't stop talking

00:31:35So there we are

00:31:36Well it's a relief

00:31:37When you're doing a show like I do

00:31:39You're really rather glad

00:31:39That people do

00:31:40You're also versatile

00:31:41You like doing different things

00:31:42You like doing challenges

00:31:43We talked at the very top of the show

00:31:45About

00:31:45That stands for comic relief

00:31:46You also

00:31:49Did the masked singer

00:31:50I did

00:31:51Yes

00:31:51You fool

00:31:52Let's have a look at you

00:31:55Our house

00:31:57In the middle of our street

00:31:59Our house

00:32:01In the middle of our

00:32:03Our house

00:32:05In the middle of our streets

00:32:08Our house

00:32:08Take it up

00:32:16Take it up

00:32:43Yeah, East End accent puts a good use there, madness song, and Richard E. Grant there with you.

00:32:49I did not know he was going to be on it, so I was as surprised as he was.

00:32:53To relief he knew you were. I always imagine if I did that, and I haven't done it, the second

00:32:58thing I think.

00:33:00You should do it, but I've nicked your costume, haven't I?

00:33:02You'd make me bush.

00:33:03There we are.

00:33:04The only horticultural outfit they've ever had on there.

00:33:07Do you sing? We saw you dancing at the top of the show. Do you sing much?

00:33:11Not really. I can hold a small tune, but not particularly.

00:33:16But I love to dance, I love to sing, I try my hands at anything.

00:33:20Stage work, I mean you've done panto, you're doing panto I think, aren't you?

00:33:23I am, yeah, I'm in Dunstable this year at The Grove.

00:33:26Playing?

00:33:26Wicked Queen.

00:33:27Oh, good one. They all say the wicked ones are nice.

00:33:29Won't need any prosthetics, will they, for the nose?

00:33:31Stop it.

00:33:33Not at all, darling. Elegant, statuesque.

00:33:37What about straight theatre? Have you done much of that?

00:33:40I've done a few, yeah. I did The Vagina Monologues, which was a fantastic tour.

00:33:45That was back, oh, 20 years ago now.

00:33:47Gosh.

00:33:48I did a fantastic comedy, I did Bedroom Farce by Alan Aitbourne, and I loved that very much.

00:33:53That farce is, you know, it's a craft and a skill within that.

00:33:56Timing.

00:33:57Yeah, timing is everything.

00:33:59And then I went to Chichester Festival Theatre and I played Danyesha in The Cherry Orchard by Chekhov, which was

00:34:05very posh for me.

00:34:06So in answer to my question, yes I have, and you shouldn't have known that I'd been in Chekhov.

00:34:10But I, yeah, I had a wonderful time. I actually felt like a competition winner when I did that, because

00:34:15I was with, I was with Frank Finlay, Maureen Lipman, Gemma Redgrave, Dame Diana Rigg, it was incredible.

00:34:24When you're standing on a stage with them, when you've got over the terror of the people that you're working

00:34:31with, people you've admired all your life, really big names like that, when you get over that, my goodness me,

00:34:39it must be fun.

00:34:40Fun and enjoyable, and something I'll never ever forget. A real honour.

00:34:45And meaty.

00:34:46Very meaty. Well, Danyesha wasn't overly meaty, but she had a lovely story, and I remember being absolutely petrified, and

00:34:55you know, when I opened that script, the first thing I had to do was open the play by lighting

00:35:00a candle.

00:35:01Huh?

00:35:02I was like that. Every night, I couldn't believe it. It never ever calmed down. I thought, I'm never going

00:35:07to be able to do this.

00:35:08Tell us about working with Diana Rigg.

00:35:09She was wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. We got on really, really well. I've got a lot of respect for people that

00:35:16are older than me, and I find it fascinating to sit and learn about them.

00:35:21Yeah.

00:35:21So, yeah, I've got great memories of her.

00:35:22I did have one encounter with Diana Rigg.

00:35:24Go on.

00:35:25It was a moment I'll never forget. It was a carol service. It was in the Guards Chapel in London,

00:35:30and we were sitting, and I must have been here, and she was there, and we were singing I Vow

00:35:35To Thee My Country.

00:35:36You know, amazingly powerful hymn. And our eyes met on two lines. And there's another contrary of long ago, so

00:35:47dear to them that know those. And we just locked and sang at one another, and then looked away again.

00:35:54And it makes, there's on the back, I'm going to stand on end now, just remembering the moment. I mean,

00:35:59a lovely moment, not a terrifying moment, but that connecting moment. And as actors, you get that.

00:36:05You do, you do. And if you click with someone, I mean, Frank Finlay, his life, you know, he worked

00:36:11with Olivier at the National Theatre.

00:36:13He was Iago to Othello, wasn't he?

00:36:15Absolutely. He was Iago, and he'd say, my Maureen, and he'd talk about his wife. And all the youngsters would

00:36:21say, oh, we're going here, we're going there. I'd say, no, I'm going to the pub with Frank. See you

00:36:24later.

00:36:24Yes.

00:36:24I just want to take in all those stories.

00:36:26Now, you're doing a programme, too, about caring, about carers.

00:36:31I am, yes. Title TBC, but it's for BBC Daytime. Hoping to be out at the end of May, but

00:36:39again, the date's not quite there yet. But I went back to college, and I did a BTEC Level 3

00:36:45in health and social care, for real.

00:36:47For you, yes.

00:36:48So I did my assignments, done my exam, and I went out on placement. So it's all about carers. It

00:36:55was amazing.

00:36:56I can't wait for it to come out, because it really, I think there's, no-one will watch it and

00:37:01not relate to something in it, and that's what I like. It's all just very real. It's all about real

00:37:06life.

00:37:07A bit like you, really. Very real.

00:37:10Thank you, Natalie. Great company. Bless you.

00:37:12Stay with us for a Cornish pasty and a pint at the end, will you?

00:37:15Now, a couple of minutes for a constitutional through the countryside, courtesy of you at home. It's time for Walk

00:37:23on the Wild Side.

00:37:41We'll see you next time.

00:38:04We'll see you next time.

00:38:34We'll see you next time.

00:39:05Oh, thank you for those images. They're always so moving. What a wonderful world we inhabit. It's just a good

00:39:10reminder, isn't it? Please keep sending them in. We do love them.

00:39:13Coming up, from Oscar winners to Golden Globe nominees and our list of alumni that boast the likes of Peter

00:39:20O'Toole, Daniel Day-Lewis and Olivia Colman, we go behind the scenes of the prestigious Bristol Old Vic.

00:39:26And with the summer months teasing us, now's the time to prepare.

00:39:31Camilla Bassett-Smith is celebrating everything sweet, red and juicy about the strawberry in the second part of her April

00:39:37diary, the strawberries and tulips.

00:39:54Do you know that contrary to popular belief and its reputation for April showers, this is one of the driest

00:40:01months of the year.

00:40:02A good excuse to get outside and make the most of a truly uplifting period in the calendar.

00:40:08Plenty more to lift the spirits on today's show, too.

00:40:11Coming up, Elvis is in the building. Plastic Elvis, that is.

00:40:15Tim Vine on fulfilling a lifelong dream as he pays tribute to the king of rock and roll.

00:40:20And forget the pie and the pint. We're getting in the summer spirit, yes, perhaps a little prematurely, with a

00:40:26pasty and a pint.

00:40:27Marloreen Coal brings us some refreshing beers paired with the best pasties the UK has to offer, including, of course,

00:40:35a traditional Cornish.

00:40:36But first, it's time for your voice of nature.

00:40:40Today, it's the turn of Hannah Waddingham with Signs of Spring by Mary Austin.

00:40:53Cream cups, buttercups, dandelions and sedges, blackbirds in the poplar tree, sparrows in the hedges.

00:41:04Fruit buds in the orchard, swelling with the rain.

00:41:10All the close-fed pasture lands, growing green again.

00:41:16Poppies on the river bluff, soon will wake from sleeping.

00:41:22Home, along the foothills, woolly clouds creeping.

00:41:36Thank you, Hannah. Lovely.

00:41:39Now, the strawberry has always felt like a British staple, as inseparable from the British summer as Wimbledon, drizzly barbecues

00:41:47in the garden, and Royal Ascot.

00:41:49Small, wild varieties were foraged for and enjoyed as far back as the Middle Ages.

00:41:54But the modern garden strawberry we know today only emerged in the 18th century when gardeners created a sweeter hybrid

00:42:01by crossing varieties discovered in the Americas.

00:42:04And if you want a copious crop of these ruby fruits this summer, Camilla Bassett-Smith has you covered with

00:42:11the second part of her April dowry.

00:42:13But, Camilla, it's not just strawberries. I'm standing here among the tulips.

00:42:16You are. I feel you should be singing a song.

00:42:19No, definitely not.

00:42:21Tiptoeing through them.

00:42:22Yes, exactly.

00:42:22Now, you planted these bulbs back in October.

00:42:24We did. In October, we decided to make a cutting bed with bulbs, with the daffodils and with the tulips.

00:42:30And they've come to fruition, which is so lovely to see.

00:42:32And they've timed it quite nicely, actually.

00:42:34We've got the cabana, which is the pink parrot tulip.

00:42:39And people either love or hate those ones. I don't know what you think about them.

00:42:41I love them because there's something, I don't know, they're just an amazing work of art in themselves, aren't they,

00:42:46really?

00:42:46Yeah, the contorted petals, they're just so great.

00:42:48And they have a historical look about them as well, don't they?

00:42:51Because, of course, tulips...

00:42:51All those Dutch paintings.

00:42:53Yeah, I know.

00:42:53They mixed all the seasons together, particularly with tulips.

00:42:56Yeah, and they loved... In the 1630s, tulip mania was big, wasn't it?

00:42:59I mean, you could exchange tulips for a house.

00:43:02Yeah, a bulb for a house.

00:43:04I have a feeling, if I offered you a pod of these, would you give me a new house?

00:43:06Nope.

00:43:07Oh, damn.

00:43:08I know what happened. The bubble burst way back then, it would burst again there.

00:43:11Yeah, yeah.

00:43:12But so many different types.

00:43:14In 15 divisions, actually, I think 16 now, there's a new coronet division.

00:43:17So there are so many different tulips.

00:43:20I mean, I guess the classic is the white in the middle down there, the purissima,

00:43:24which is almost like this one as well, which is candy prints,

00:43:27which is a classic tulip shape, isn't it, really?

00:43:30It's that lovely.

00:43:31And then you get the lily flower where the petals come out at the top.

00:43:33But a daff, what's this?

00:43:35Yes, yes.

00:43:35This one is a brand new...

00:43:36I like to bring you new things here on the programme.

00:43:39And nobody else has these bulbs at the moment.

00:43:41They're only on pre-order.

00:43:42It's only just been launched.

00:43:44And it's Heaver Castle.

00:43:45Now, you might say, why is it different to any other daffodil?

00:43:48Because it looks the same, doesn't it, really?

00:43:50It does look like an old King Alf, doesn't it?

00:43:52But it's said to be a modern version of that, really,

00:43:54because this one's got a very strong stem.

00:43:56It's got good disease resistance and a good colour.

00:43:59It's a good yellow trumpet daffodil, isn't it?

00:44:01It really is, with a nice fragrance as well.

00:44:04Quite a good scent, too.

00:44:05Even on the cobalt.

00:44:06Exactly.

00:44:06Lovely.

00:44:07Right.

00:44:07We were talking about strawberries.

00:44:10Strawberries.

00:44:10And I did promise you something to eat.

00:44:12You did.

00:44:13You did.

00:44:13I'm a girl of my word.

00:44:15Now, strawberries.

00:44:16Oh, I mean, again, so British, isn't it?

00:44:18Two main types that we grow, aren't there?

00:44:20You've got your summer dune bearers,

00:44:23which I think are the most popular, aren't they?

00:44:25Like Cambridge Favourite, El Santa.

00:44:27And these are the ones we see in a lot of the supermarkets.

00:44:30They're big fruits.

00:44:31They're very, very sweet.

00:44:32But then you've got the ever bearers.

00:44:34This one's a little ever bearer called Albion.

00:44:37And they give you fruit over a longer period.

00:44:39So I think, really, they're probably better to grow,

00:44:42although I guess best to have a mix of all of them.

00:44:44I tend to do both, you know, the summer bearers

00:44:46and then the later ones that keep on going.

00:44:49And you can see the strawberry forming

00:44:51in the centre of the flower there.

00:44:53There it sits, and then it gets big and fat.

00:44:55And they're pretty as well, aren't they?

00:44:57They look ornamentally attractive.

00:44:58And then new to me are the white strawberries.

00:45:01This is a white strawberry plant here,

00:45:02which looks quite woodland-y alpine by nature.

00:45:06But we've got a place of them.

00:45:08I mean, look at these.

00:45:09I don't think I've tasted the white strawberries.

00:45:11They look a bit anemic, don't they?

00:45:12They do.

00:45:13You'd have to have them with maybe strawberry ice cream.

00:45:16I hope I like it.

00:45:17Yeah.

00:45:23It's gorgeous.

00:45:23You wouldn't know, would you?

00:45:24I don't think you'd know.

00:45:26There's said to be perhaps a slight pineapple flavour to it.

00:45:30I don't know if you get that.

00:45:30You've got imagination.

00:45:32Also known as the pineberry.

00:45:34Right.

00:45:34I could just eat a lot.

00:45:35I mean, we could just...

00:45:36I know, they are.

00:45:37They're very tasty.

00:45:37They're very crunchy, too.

00:45:39So they're really something quite new.

00:45:40I love that lovely coloured cloud on that one.

00:45:42A pink-flowered strawberry as well you can get.

00:45:43And also the woodland.

00:45:45I mean, this is something you would see growing.

00:45:46Well, the frais du bois.

00:45:47Yeah, very nicely said.

00:45:49They're so tiny.

00:45:50They go around picking them,

00:45:51and you're half of that,

00:45:52and you go, oh, there's a bit of flavour.

00:45:55Yeah, really, really good.

00:45:57And just so sweet as well.

00:45:58And quite nice just in a little pot like this.

00:45:59So there are so many different types you can grow.

00:46:01And how do we grow them?

00:46:03Well, you can grow them in the ground.

00:46:04That's traditionally how they were done.

00:46:06Certainly when I used to go strawberry picking when I was young.

00:46:08Yeah.

00:46:08They used to be in big fields in the ground.

00:46:10Now they tend to raise them up more, don't they?

00:46:12But if they are on the ground,

00:46:15traditionally around the base using straw.

00:46:16Pushing it around the flowers when the base is developing

00:46:19just to keep them off the mud

00:46:20and to help a bit repel slugs and snails, just a bit.

00:46:24Or you can get these strawberry collars, strawberry mats,

00:46:27which some of these have copper in them,

00:46:29which again repels the slugs and the snails.

00:46:32Plants it here up the middle.

00:46:32And these are really effective, actually.

00:46:34I've used these quite a lot, and they do work.

00:46:36So if you're in the ground, that's what you need to do.

00:46:38But you can also plant them in hanging baskets.

00:46:42All these bags you can get, can't you?

00:46:43Which you can also put busy lizards.

00:46:45And they sit in pockets.

00:46:46That's a really easy thing to do.

00:46:48They're very versatile plants.

00:46:49Or these stackable, which are quite easy.

00:46:52Pop them on top of each other.

00:46:54Pop three plants.

00:46:55The important thing is drainage, isn't it?

00:46:56Make sure there's drainage holes in the bottom.

00:46:57Yeah, definitely holes in the bottom.

00:46:58Or if you've got a small space, something like this,

00:47:00a vertical planter.

00:47:01It's like your very own supermarket shelf, isn't it?

00:47:03It is, isn't it?

00:47:04So what's it made of?

00:47:05It's a fabric, yeah, called Vigorroot.

00:47:07And the idea is that it air prunes the roots of strawberries,

00:47:11a little bit like air pots that you can get.

00:47:14So the roots, instead of meeting a pot edge and just staying there,

00:47:18they meet the air, they get pruned off,

00:47:20and it encourages the plant to create more roots.

00:47:23So it's said to create healthier plants.

00:47:25But even if that wasn't that fabric,

00:47:28if you had something like this with a trough,

00:47:30it's still great because you can pop that on a balcony.

00:47:32Easy to access as well.

00:47:34So these are really good.

00:47:35But the traditional way to grow your strawberries is in strawberry pots.

00:47:39With these holes there or cups right around the side here.

00:47:43And this is my old one from the garden, which is covered in mug.

00:47:45I thought I'd better get you a nice shiny one.

00:47:46Oh, thank you.

00:47:47Glamorous.

00:47:48Yes, exactly.

00:47:49So we're going to pop some in.

00:47:50We've got a mixture here.

00:47:51I think I've got a star.

00:47:53I've got an ever-bearer.

00:47:55I've got an ever-bearer.

00:47:55I will be in.

00:47:56Yeah.

00:47:56And they go in these.

00:47:58Now, I'm putting mine in from inside.

00:48:00Because I think mine have got smaller.

00:48:01I can squeeze mine in.

00:48:02They're a bit bigger, these.

00:48:04Mine have got smaller holes.

00:48:05Oh, that's it.

00:48:05Get in.

00:48:06You can go in.

00:48:06Yes, you can.

00:48:07That's it.

00:48:07Oh, I can't.

00:48:08Yes, you can.

00:48:09I'm going to put a mixture.

00:48:09I've also got Cambridge Favourites.

00:48:11So I'm going to put a few of each in.

00:48:12Because that way, you are just increasing the period for your cropping, aren't you?

00:48:19Which seems like a very good idea.

00:48:22The important thing is, you've really got to avoid these pockets drying out.

00:48:28Yes, because full sun, there's been a lot of research done to say that full sun, that

00:48:32the sunnier the spot, the more fruit you will get, the better it will taste and the

00:48:37larger the fruit will be.

00:48:38So it really is worth putting it in the sunniest position you've got.

00:48:42I've got one more there.

00:48:43Well, you've got to, yeah, it's really worth keeping an eye on water, because you've got

00:48:46a big bulk of compost in the centre here, which is going to hold on to moisture better.

00:48:51These little pockets might dry out, but they're linked to this bigger bulk, so it does slow them.

00:48:56And what you're getting is, these fruits will go down there, and they'll be nice and clean.

00:49:00They will tumble.

00:49:01You've got me some decorative plants from the top, I see.

00:49:04I have indeed.

00:49:05I thought you'd like that.

00:49:06I'm just popping a dianthus in the top of mine, like that.

00:49:09I've got a perennial wallflower, a rissimum in here, and some arabis around me.

00:49:14It's a gorgeous honey scent, this has.

00:49:17And I thought, finally, I'd put a little mint, berries and cream.

00:49:20Now, mint needs to be contained, doesn't it, because you don't want it.

00:49:23Berries and cream?

00:49:23A mint called berries and cream.

00:49:24Yeah, I thought that was quite appropriate for you.

00:49:25It's good for strawberries, isn't it?

00:49:27Pop that in there.

00:49:29Could probably get another little strawberry in the top.

00:49:32There you go.

00:49:35All done.

00:49:37And we've got all these to eat now.

00:49:38Yeah, we'll work our way through.

00:49:40We will.

00:49:41Thanks, Camilla.

00:49:42Lovely.

00:49:43Something nice to look at and something succulent to eat.

00:49:45Indeed.

00:49:51Now, from the drama of April flowers to the theatricality of the stage,

00:49:57the Bristol Old Vic opened its doors all the way back in 1766.

00:50:03Over the centuries, it's welcomed some of the greatest names in acting,

00:50:06from Peter O'Toole to Olivia Colman, Jeremy Irons and even a young Gene Wilder,

00:50:11all honing their craft on its stage.

00:50:14Even today, it remains a powerhouse of new writing and bold productions.

00:50:19Let's step into the wings of one of the country's greatest theatres.

00:50:23Lord, I couldn't hear nobody pray.

00:50:28I couldn't hear nobody pray.

00:50:32Here we are in the jewel of the crown of British theatre history.

00:50:37Welcome to the Bristol Old Vic,

00:50:38the oldest working, surviving theatre in the English-speaking language.

00:50:42So, this theatre has had the most incredible history and it has actually survived and gone

00:50:47through many, many threats when Bristol was heavily bombed, flooding, fires nearby and the plague.

00:50:53But this wall is amazing because this wall tells the most wonderful story because when this theatre

00:50:58first opened, it was hidden away behind three small Georgian houses because it was illegal to perform

00:51:04if you never had an official licence because it would open all sorts of doorways and avenues to political debates

00:51:09without free speech and, of course, it was dangerous and exciting at the same time.

00:51:18So, in the 1800s, this building was actually crammed full of people and it was quite riotous in here.

00:51:24So, the audiences would have oranges and apples. They didn't like the actors on stage.

00:51:27They would throw these objects at them.

00:51:29And, of course, when we refurbished this building, we found things under the floorboards like pig trotters' bones.

00:51:34It's just full of the most amazing characters, quite raucous Bristolians who used to come in here

00:51:39but loved live entertainment and started the history off of this wonderful building.

00:51:44So, the theatre has had many, many famous managers, but the most famous one, I would say,

00:51:49would be Sarah McCready, who we believe to be the ghost who now haunts this theatre.

00:51:53Now, Sarah was the most incredible lady. She was quite an imposing lady.

00:51:57Sarah, as a ghost, still haunts this building and I've had my own experience here.

00:52:02I was in this building on my own, locking up and going round and making sure every doorway's shut.

00:52:08And I was literally on the side of the dress circle as I was walking along.

00:52:12This corridor went very, very cold and the hairs on the back of my neck are literally doing this now,

00:52:17actually.

00:52:17I don't know whether she's around.

00:52:19As I turned, suddenly this smell, lavender.

00:52:23She loved lavender perfume and from time to time, you can come across lavender perfume

00:52:28as you're locking up this building.

00:52:32Lots of many actors have actually started here on this wonderful stage.

00:52:35To name a few, people like Peter O'Toole, Daniel Day-Lewis, three-time Oscar winner, Patrick Stewart.

00:52:42Peter O'Toole, as an actor, loved this theatre.

00:52:45He thought this was the most beautiful theatre ever to perform on.

00:52:49And because of its very unique, horseshoe-style-shaped auditorium,

00:52:52makes it the most intimate space to perform on.

00:53:02Ten years ago, Timothy West was on this stage and he gave one of his highlighted performances,

00:53:07playing King Lear on this stage.

00:53:09Blow winds and crack your cheeks.

00:53:12But what was so magical about that performance was,

00:53:14we went back to the 1800s, when the ceiling was raised and the thunder run was used for the first

00:53:20time.

00:53:20Use sulphurous and thought executing fires.

00:53:22Here we are in the rafters of Bristol Old Vic.

00:53:24We're right above the auditorium and we're standing next to the thunder run that was put into the theatre in

00:53:311766.

00:53:32So no one in living memory knew how this worked.

00:53:36And we've had to work out the different sizes of balls and how to release them down the thunder run.

00:53:42We start with smaller balls, then bigger balls and then smaller balls again.

00:53:46So it makes the shape of thunder when you hear it from down below.

00:53:50But we accidentally used it in 2019 when Sir Ian McKellen came and he threw a ball down it and

00:53:57it went all the way down the chute.

00:53:58You need someone at the bottom to catch the balls otherwise they go straight through the auditorium ceiling.

00:54:03Luckily we managed to stop the ball and it didn't go through.

00:54:08From up here it sounds like loads of skittle balls going down the skittle alley at the same time.

00:54:13But when we hear it from underneath it reverberates through the ceiling so it sounds much more like thunder.

00:54:20Imagine what that would sound like 260 years ago and people wouldn't have heard anything like it at all.

00:54:27And it would have had a massive impact on the audience.

00:54:31You can feel it rolling through the room. It sounds really realistic.

00:54:36It's extraordinary that this building is still standing after 250 years when so many other theatres have burned to the

00:54:43ground.

00:54:44We want to keep telling stories to people of Bristol and beyond for the next 260 years.

00:54:50We want to keep telling stories to people of Bristol and beyond for the next 20 years.

00:54:55We want to keep telling stories to people of Bristol and beyond for the next 20 years.

00:54:58Thank you and what a list of alumni. Goodness me.

00:55:02Coming up, Britain's love of a duo shows no signs of abating.

00:55:06Houghton Deck, Morecambe and Wise, French and Saunders, but what about the iconic pint and pasty?

00:55:12Beer sommelier Malverein Coal proves pints and pasties are a winning combination in this week's Best of British.

00:55:20And he doesn't just feed the birds. He seems to speak their language.

00:55:24Bird whisperer Tristan Phipps shares his top tips for caring for our feathered friends.

00:55:30I'll see you with Tristan and his bird box right after this.

00:55:48Welcome back to Love Your Weekend.

00:55:50Still ahead, we're talking about the power of the vine.

00:55:53Not the versatile horticultural plants that use twining stems, tendrils or aerial roots to climb,

00:55:59but the pond meister general himself, Tim Vine. But now we humans have always had a special relationship with birds.

00:56:06Their song is proven to soothe as signalling a safe environment and studies show they boost well-being

00:56:13and bring down stress levels. So at this time of year, when bird song spreads across the countryside

00:56:19and feathered residents begin their courtship rituals, it's only fair we provide a bit of support too.

00:56:26And encouraging us to do just that is a warm welcome back to everyone's favourite bird expert, Tristan Phipps.

00:56:32Welcome back, Tristan.

00:56:33Thank you, Alan.

00:56:34A nippy morning, but the song is around us and it's just glorious.

00:56:38You feel that they're heralding spring, aren't they?

00:56:40They're saying, it is coming, it's come because I'm singing.

00:56:42Absolutely, yeah. So spring is all about bird song and nesting.

00:56:45I'm still trying hard to identify them, you know.

00:56:47You did really well last time, I have to say.

00:56:48Well, yeah, I have a feeling today I'm not going to do this.

00:56:50We've got another game today, so you might remember the last time I brought that with me.

00:56:53I don't swat and I don't know what he's going to play.

00:56:56You're an expert on Twitcher, I know that, Alan.

00:56:57Oh, no, I'm not. I like birds and I do watch, but I wouldn't go as far as saying Twitcher

00:57:01or Birder.

00:57:02But there we are, carry on.

00:57:02We'll put it to the test this morning. I feel like you're going to do very well.

00:57:04So we've got a few bird songs and we're going to use the app to identify.

00:57:07And it's all about, you know, making bird watching, twitching a little bit more accessible.

00:57:11I do have it on my phone, so I do know I can identify it when it sings.

00:57:15And I go out and stand in my garden quite regularly, just turn it on and listen to it.

00:57:19Firecrest the other day. Yeah, amazing.

00:57:20My garden. Yeah, that was exciting.

00:57:22Beautiful, bright, super cinnamon on the head there.

00:57:23Stunning bird. Yeah, and a goldcrest.

00:57:24Anyway, enough of that. I'm getting that bit of knowledge in because that'll be it.

00:57:27That was good, that was good. Okay, let's give it a go.

00:57:30Yeah.

00:57:31Very small bird, size of a one pound coin.

00:57:34Blue tit.

00:57:34A little bit smaller.

00:57:36Great tit. And cold tit.

00:57:38Wren.

00:57:38Wren. It's the Wren.

00:57:39The Wren is a lovely song, hasn't it?

00:57:41Beautiful.

00:57:41Because I watched them in the garden and thought,

00:57:42you have a better song than most people give you credit for.

00:57:45For a very small bird, very, very loud.

00:57:47Yeah, loud.

00:57:47So that's a lovely spring bird.

00:57:49So there's another one in there now.

00:57:51Also a spring migrant coming up from Africa.

00:57:55Black cat.

00:57:57Sits in the reeds in the...

00:57:59Reed warbler.

00:58:00Almost. Willow warbler.

00:58:01Willow warbler.

00:58:02Willow warbler.

00:58:02That was my fault.

00:58:03I told you I'd be rubbish.

00:58:04I led you askew there.

00:58:05But that's a great thing, we've got an app that does the work for us.

00:58:07Yeah.

00:58:08Let's see if we can get it.

00:58:09Okay.

00:58:10That's another one coming in.

00:58:11This is a really exciting bird.

00:58:13One of the first migrants in spring.

00:58:15The call is quite distinctive.

00:58:17Says its name.

00:58:18If it says its name, it must be a Chiffa Chaff.

00:58:20Exactly.

00:58:20Chiffa Chaff.

00:58:21Very good.

00:58:21So obviously we want to talk about how to encourage birds into our home in spring.

00:58:25Another really exciting mammal that we should be paying attention to is the bat.

00:58:29Yeah.

00:58:30Loads of bats in the UK, in urban areas and in the countryside as well.

00:58:33A bat detection device is a great way to try and connect with bats at home.

00:58:37So the best time to see them obviously is dusk.

00:58:40So what this is, is a magenta bat detection device.

00:58:43It uses a really high frequency basically to detect bats in the air.

00:58:46And you'd be amazed how many you'll pick up.

00:58:47So turn it on, point to the sky and as bats fly past and they're communicating with that

00:58:52very high frequency noise, the bat detection device will pick it up.

00:58:55And of course it's feeding time.

00:58:57It is. And last time we were together, we mentioned how important it is to feed birds

00:59:02as we come into winter. Spring is a really important time to supplement feed birds as well

00:59:07because obviously spring is all about nesting and birds need to eat high volumes of insects

00:59:12to feed their chicks. So this is a really important part of supplement bird feeding.

00:59:17So lots of different things going on here. We've got one of these lovely bird feeder stands,

00:59:20we've got suet balls, really important high protein, we've got peanuts.

00:59:24Now I've heard from time to time that you shouldn't feed large whole peanuts at this time of year

00:59:29because they can get stuck in the throats of nestlings. Is that the case?

00:59:33Yeah, potentially nesting. So this is more for things like woodpeckers and tits.

00:59:37Right.

00:59:37They'll break off little bits, but that's why it's important to have a variety of different things.

00:59:41So you can buy these, obviously beautiful bird feeders.

00:59:44You've got the sunflower seeds there with the husks taken off, so they're much cleaner.

00:59:47Exactly, yeah. So if you can take the husks off the peanuts as well, even better.

00:59:51Yeah.

00:59:51Sunflower seeds, suet ball, seed mix, but you can also make your own at home.

00:59:56Aha.

00:59:56So this is a homemade DIY bird feeder made from an egg carton.

01:00:02Perfectly adequate for doing the job. We've got peanuts in here, we've got seed mix.

01:00:05This is going to encourage all sorts of different varieties of birds,

01:00:07so make sure you've got a nice variety so you can have lots of different things.

01:00:10Presumably it wouldn't last very long if it got very, very wet.

01:00:12I was about to say, yeah, on a windy day, probably not the best,

01:00:14but in a nice sheltered part of the garden, perfect.

01:00:18And then another really important part of a bird's diet in spring,

01:00:21obviously because they're raising chicks, is insects.

01:00:24And there's great ways to encourage insects into your home and biodiversity into your garden.

01:00:28So this is a pre-made bug hotel. Five star, this one.

01:00:31Five star, this is like the Ritz of bugs.

01:00:33But also, and this is probably an area you can give me some advice on,

01:00:36leaving parts of your garden a bit wilder.

01:00:38Three quarters of the life in your garden is insect life and you don't see it,

01:00:42but it's vital for the health of the soil, the health of the bird and other populations,

01:00:46all wildlife populations are helped by the insects that go in rotting logs.

01:00:50You're like, ew, it's horrible.

01:00:51I mean, look at this, this rotting log you've got on the back, it's really quite soft.

01:00:55That's a whole ecosystem in itself.

01:00:56It is indeed, and things like stag beetles feed on those, don't they?

01:00:59So very exciting stuff.

01:01:00So if we can encourage people to leave a part of their garden a bit wilder,

01:01:03you know, that's going to really increase the insect numbers

01:01:05and therefore the nesting bird numbers.

01:01:08And then we're going to go on to nesting materials.

01:01:10So you can supplement nesting materials as well.

01:01:12You can buy these sorts of kits online.

01:01:14This has got bits of hair and things like that.

01:01:17Sheep's wool in it.

01:01:17Sheep's wool.

01:01:18So when you've finished shearing your sheep, you can just hang it up like that.

01:01:21It is lovely to see them pulling it out though, isn't it?

01:01:23Yeah, it's really really special.

01:01:24You know, it's amazing how smart they are

01:01:26and how amazing they are at actually building these homes as well.

01:01:28So you can buy these online.

01:01:29Again, this is kind of coming back to leaving pots.

01:01:31You go on a bit wilder.

01:01:32If you've mown the grass, you've got bits of hay, you've got bits of straw,

01:01:35leave it out.

01:01:36The birds are going to find it and they're going to make a home with it.

01:01:39Lots of bird boxes then.

01:01:40Lots of bird boxes.

01:01:41Different types of bird boxes for different birds.

01:01:43So this sort of nest box is perfect for things like blue tits.

01:01:47Smaller entrance holes.

01:01:48Blue tits are going to be one of the first ones to get in there.

01:01:50Prime real estate for blue tits.

01:01:52And obviously, different birds like different homes.

01:01:54So more open-faced things like robins.

01:01:56And flycatchers like open fronts, don't they?

01:01:59Exactly.

01:01:59And then also hedgerows.

01:02:00You know, lots of birds nest in hedgerows.

01:02:02So try and encourage parts of the garden a bit wilder.

01:02:04Plant a hedge instead of having a fence, an interwoven fence.

01:02:07There's so much more excitement and enjoyment for you.

01:02:10And also sustenance for the birds, whether it's food or shelter.

01:02:13100%.

01:02:14And you know, this whole table just shows how easily you can supplement

01:02:17the environment for a bird and really encourage birds into your home.

01:02:20Now, this is a great bit of kit.

01:02:22This is the Nature Spy bird nest.

01:02:25And I don't know if you remember last time I showed you some of the footage from

01:02:27the Nature Spy bird feeder that I had at home.

01:02:30Yes.

01:02:30So this is a bird box with a camera installed, which gives you alerts on your mobile phone

01:02:34so you can see when birds are actually going in and out.

01:02:37And one of the Love Your Weekend team has actually installed one of these in their home.

01:02:40And here's some lovely footage of a blue tits, a pair of blue tits nesting.

01:02:44Lovely.

01:02:45So they're coming in empty box to start with, bringing some of that moss that I raked out

01:02:49of my little bit of straw going in there.

01:02:52Taking the straw straight off the spale in front of us.

01:02:54There's only one problem with this, is you get completely mesmerised by it.

01:02:57Isn't it?

01:02:57It's just such a great way of connecting with animals in your garden.

01:03:00I remember watching, well I did one in my own garden a few years ago.

01:03:04They started like this and I went back to the floor and it's all gone.

01:03:07They didn't like what they'd done.

01:03:09Yeah.

01:03:09So they took it all out and started again.

01:03:10They're very fussy, really, very fussy.

01:03:11They are fussy.

01:03:12Look at this, you can see the nest building up now though, can't you?

01:03:15This is only over a few days as well, I mean really intuitive.

01:03:18And also incredibly hard working.

01:03:20Big, yeah exactly, hard working.

01:03:21It is important to remember as well that once you have put a bird nest in and a bird is

01:03:25nesting

01:03:25in it, it is illegal to move it and remove it.

01:03:27So once it's there, you know, that's their real estate.

01:03:30Leave it alone, good luck, blue tit.

01:03:31Leave it alone, exactly.

01:03:33So if we feed them, provide them with sustenance, all kinds of nesting materials in their nesting

01:03:37box, we'll have a much brighter and a lovely gloriously song-filled spring.

01:03:43Exactly, exactly, Alan.

01:03:44Pearson, thank you very much indeed.

01:03:46Now, diaries are secret spaces into which you can dive and offload your most private thoughts

01:03:53and feelings.

01:03:53Perhaps that's why the meek and reserved Leslie Joseph has decided to broadcast her

01:03:58own musings to the whole nation.

01:04:01It's time for Leslie's Spring Diaries.

01:04:11This morning I found myself by the water's edge and very nearly in love, not with a gentleman,

01:04:20though hope springs eternal, but with a family, a most enchanting, slightly unruly, deeply endearing

01:04:27family.

01:04:28There were twelve ducklings.

01:04:30They were tucked among the reeds at first, little whispers of yellow and brown, darting

01:04:35in and out of view, as though playing a game known only to themselves.

01:04:40Now, these are the young of the mallard and they are what we call precocial, which means

01:04:45they waste absolutely no time in getting on with life.

01:04:48Within hours of hatching, they are up and exploring and no doubt causing mischief.

01:04:54I watched as mother led them out from the reeds and onto the open water, gliding with that

01:04:59effortless composure one cannot help but admire.

01:05:04And behind her came the twelve, forming what could generously be described as a line.

01:05:11And there, waiting on the far side, was their father.

01:05:16Back at the water's edge, three of the ducklings had remained behind, dabbling in the shallows

01:05:21with great seriousness.

01:05:22One wandered off in search of adventure.

01:05:25There's always one who doesn't follow the rules.

01:05:28I respect her enormously.

01:05:31For a few fleeting weeks they remain like this, all softness and determination.

01:05:37Then they grow, and fluff gives way to feathers, and the moment passes.

01:05:44Hark, my butler calls me, a visitor has arrived.

01:05:48Oh, I do hope it's Lord Biggins with new gossip from London.

01:05:52I must downquill to search for my pearls.

01:05:55Ruby, make haste, I must dress at once.

01:05:59Forever yours in chaos, charm and questionable composure.

01:06:03L. Joseph

01:06:07Oh, thank you, Leslie.

01:06:08Did you know that ducklings can swim and dive as soon as they hatch?

01:06:13Amazing, isn't it?

01:06:13Puts humans to shame, doesn't it?

01:06:15They also have regional accents.

01:06:18A study found that the ducks in London had a louder, rougher quack,

01:06:22because they had to shout above the noise of city life and traffic.

01:06:26The ducks in the country made longer and more relaxed sounds.

01:06:30Laid back, country ducks.

01:06:31Coming up, we're calling time on the show at the Manifam Bar.

01:06:36Beer Sommelier Marvarine Coal has the best of British pints and pasties,

01:06:41including a traditional Cornish pasty and a pale ale.

01:06:45And he's famous for his rapid-fire one-liners,

01:06:48winning numerous awards for his comedy.

01:06:51And he also broke the Guinness World Record in 2004

01:06:54for the most jokes told in an hour.

01:06:57Tim Vine on the absurdities of daily life

01:07:00and the obsession that's left him all shook up.

01:07:03I'll see you with Tim and the pasties.

01:07:19Welcome back to Love Your Weekend.

01:07:21Still aired pints and pasties.

01:07:23Need I say more?

01:07:25Marvarine Coal welcomes us to the Manifam Arms

01:07:27with their selection of perfect pint and pasty pairings.

01:07:31Try saying that after a tipple or two.

01:07:33But first, sharp observational wit, energetic bounter,

01:07:37along with a rapid-fire wordplay and slapstick comedy.

01:07:40And as comedy duos go, they don't get better than these two.

01:07:44If I was in the band,

01:07:45I'd make them start playing the songs you really love.

01:07:48Put that down now. It belongs to Stretch.

01:07:54Looking back, I could have played it differently.

01:07:58I don't like this stuff anymore, actually.

01:08:02Perfect situations can go wrong.

01:08:04I'm in a rock band now. My late-page days are over.

01:08:07But it has never yet prevented me.

01:08:11Thinking you can win me over like a schoolgirl.

01:08:13Once and far too much for far too long.

01:08:16That's it.

01:08:18Wasn't it good?

01:08:20Oh, so good.

01:08:23Oh, so fine.

01:08:24Isn't it madness?

01:08:27He can't be mine.

01:08:31But in the end,

01:08:33he needs a little bit more than me.

01:08:37More security.

01:08:39He needs his fantasy and freedom.

01:08:42I know him so.

01:08:50The ace of spades!

01:08:52The ace of spades!

01:08:53The ace of spades!

01:08:55The ace of spades!

01:09:00And great line in silliness, quick-fire silliness, musical talent and mischief, great fun to do.

01:09:06I mean, Lee's unlikely to be in a musical any time soon, isn't he?

01:09:10Well, I don't know, I mean, he's very good at that.

01:09:14Is it harder learning a part for you than, because you're the man of the one-liners,

01:09:18and it's like machine gun fire, you know, and move on and move on and move on.

01:09:22There's a greater responsibility when you're doing something like that, isn't there?

01:09:25Yeah, it's a different thing, acting.

01:09:27I think that with a programme like that, you know, you're given marks on the floor,

01:09:32and you've got to lean on the right leg and look in the right area and, you know, know what

01:09:36you're doing.

01:09:38Whereas with stand-up, I can choose to go this way or that way,

01:09:41and if I forget what I'm doing as well, I can sort of dip into a bit of back catalogue,

01:09:45you know.

01:09:45Nobody will know but you.

01:09:46No-one knows what they do when I start going, you know, Velcro, what a rip-off thing.

01:09:50In fact, there's a particular joke I do where I say, I went to Alcoholics Anonymous and said,

01:09:54I can't stop gambling.

01:09:55He said, you want Gamblers Anonymous?

01:09:56I said, you're probably right, I'm so drunk, I don't know where I am.

01:09:59And whenever I do that, my tour manager at the back of the room, who also triggers sounds for me,

01:10:04he always knows, oh, he's lost his place.

01:10:07Because that's a, that's one of the ones that I pop in for thinking time.

01:10:11Oh, I always know, I've just been on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday, never again.

01:10:15Yeah, exactly.

01:10:17Do you, when do you, do you sit down and try and work out one line,

01:10:21and so do you just hope they pop in and then you write them down?

01:10:23Well, it's a bit of both, but I, ultimately, if I'm getting ready for a tour or something,

01:10:29I have to sit down and get on with it, you know, I have to go to a coffee shop.

01:10:32I went to a coffee shop the other day, and I said, can I have a cappuccino?

01:10:36He said, is that to sit in? I said, I'm going to drink it.

01:10:41Put the laughs on later, viewers.

01:10:44But, yeah, no, ultimately, at some point, you've got to do the work, you know.

01:10:49It must be the same when you're writing a book, isn't it?

01:10:51You can't just wait for stuff to dawn on you, you've got to get up every day and get on

01:10:53with it.

01:10:54Exactly, sit down, write.

01:10:55Yeah, but you hope that the previous day when you stopped,

01:10:58you thought, I know what the first line is tomorrow.

01:11:00Right.

01:11:00That's, for me, that's the key, as long as I know where I'm going.

01:11:03Let's see you in action in the days of Pebble Mill. Here we are.

01:11:06Oh, gosh.

01:11:08You know, when you're in love, you get that tingly feeling all over your body.

01:11:12Well, that's led to me having two disastrous relationships with an electric fence and a cattle prod.

01:11:19And I went out with my last girlfriend for six months,

01:11:21and during that time, I saw her once every six months.

01:11:27And the first time we went out, we were like this.

01:11:31Let me start going steady.

01:11:35I remember once we had a candlelit dinner, so everything was undercooked.

01:11:43Is this one of these reunion shows? You're not going to bring on my hair, are you?

01:11:47Because that was the first bit of television I did, so it was very exciting.

01:11:52But the live audience must fuel you.

01:11:54Yeah, that's great. That's kind of, certainly for jokes, you need that, really.

01:11:58Yeah, yeah.

01:11:58If there's no laugh at the end of something, it doesn't quite work.

01:12:03But there's a hint of Tommy Cooper in that delivery, then.

01:12:06Yeah, well, Tommy Cooper would be one of my comedy heroes, certainly, yeah.

01:12:11So many of those growing up that, you know, my era of when I was a child,

01:12:17at the 70s and 80s, I think we were very sport with comics,

01:12:19because these people had been doing their acts for 25 years before they didn't eat.

01:12:24Yeah, exactly. But they're all, you know, people like Frankie Howard and people like that,

01:12:28you know, Les Dawson, Morecambe and Wise. I mean, it's, you know, brilliant.

01:12:32I love all those dead comics. I loved them when they were alive.

01:12:38And I love, I mean, most comics, and I'm not about to give you this list,

01:12:43but it'd be much easier for me to tell you the comics I'm not that keen on,

01:12:47because I essentially just love comics.

01:12:50I just like comedy.

01:12:51Is there a kind of humour you're not keen on, though?

01:12:53I mean, your humour's never cruel. It's always very silly, but funny.

01:12:57Yeah, I wouldn't choose to go and see someone who does one-liners, funnily enough.

01:13:01I wouldn't choose to go and see the same thing that I do.

01:13:03Yeah.

01:13:04I like, well, what kind of things do I like?

01:13:07Well, because you'd be frightened there would be better.

01:13:10Well, actually, more than there'd be overlap.

01:13:11I mean, Milton Jones, for example, a very good friend of mine,

01:13:14and we both probably, I mean, when I go and see him, I tense up thinking,

01:13:19is there going to be something here that I'm going to have to drop from my act,

01:13:21or we're going to, you know, because normally what happens is you go,

01:13:24well, you offer it up, and you go, listen, I do that.

01:13:28So, no, no, I did, you know, I've only just come up with it.

01:13:31You've been doing this, so we're all very good at it.

01:13:33I'll drop it, don't worry, and I'll, you know.

01:13:36So it's that thing of, with wordplay, you're kind of often playing on famous phrases,

01:13:42and maybe you got to the punchline in different routes,

01:13:46but you ended the same way, kind of thing, so.

01:13:48What a lot of people won't know is that you write songs.

01:13:51I was thinking that you've written 800 songs.

01:13:54Well, I have written a lot, yeah.

01:13:56Have any of them been heard?

01:13:57Most of them haven't.

01:13:58No, I think I'm a bit like a kind of low-grade prince,

01:14:03in that I've got all this vault of stuff that no one's heard.

01:14:07The difference is no one's actually interested in hearing it,

01:14:09but most of it is, you know, it starts from when I'm about, you know,

01:14:15in my teens and stuff, and they're songs, you know,

01:14:18she doesn't love me, sort of songs, you know.

01:14:20Yeah.

01:14:22Most of them are like that, and loads like that,

01:14:25but the one thing that has been nice is that when I do my tour shows,

01:14:29my comedies, my touring shows, I'm on stage for like an hour and 15 minutes

01:14:33or something, and I can't just stand there and do one-liners.

01:14:35I do one-liners, props, and then I'm doing silly songs as well.

01:14:40You know, I do one where I go half past seven, quarter to three,

01:14:43ten to eleven, good times, for example, I mean...

01:14:47And that's one of the 800 in its entirety, isn't it?

01:14:49Well, that's one of my comedy songs, so that one has seen the light of day.

01:14:53But you've done this rockabrella fella.

01:14:57I had to look because it's...

01:14:58Yes, rockabrella fella, yeah.

01:14:58Which is about Plastic Elvis?

01:15:01Well, it's not about Plastic Elvis.

01:15:02It's like an attempt at a spoof Elvis film.

01:15:05Plastic Elvis is an Elvis tribute act I do,

01:15:07which is a sort of vanity project I do with a lovely band.

01:15:10And I wanted to do... I said to them,

01:15:12I'd quite like to do something like Blue Hawaii or something like that,

01:15:15you know, maybe we should make a, you know...

01:15:16So I threw a whole load of cash down the drain and made this thing.

01:15:21It's an hour and a half long.

01:15:23It's a film.

01:15:23Yeah, it's a film, and it's 26...

01:15:26I wrote 26 songs for it, all in an Elvis-y style, you know.

01:15:29And so it's Plastic Elvis playing a character called Sam Salono,

01:15:33who works for his family umbrella business.

01:15:35This is in trouble because there's been too much sunshine.

01:15:38Although, you know, there's a bit of a flora in that

01:15:40because, of course, you could use it to shade yourself,

01:15:42but that never comes up at any stage during the plot.

01:15:46But, yeah, so we made this thing.

01:15:47Let's have a look at a bit of rockabrella fella.

01:15:51Right, strap in, folks.

01:15:52This is the best darn party I've ever been to.

01:15:57Yes, you're invited to the best darn party you've ever been to.

01:16:00It's Tim Vine, as you've never seen him before,

01:16:03in a plastic Elvis film, Rockabrella Fella,

01:16:07featuring 26 brand-new rocking songs,

01:16:11including Mama Don't Fuss.

01:16:13Mama Don't Fuss, Mama Don't Fuss.

01:16:16I came here on a train on a yellow school bus.

01:16:19Behind on the rolling.

01:16:21What am I ahead of?

01:16:22The rocking.

01:16:23What am I behind on?

01:16:25The rolling.

01:16:26And the guaranteed toe-tapper, Evaporation.

01:16:30When water gets hot, it turns into steam.

01:16:34Compress that steam, you can power a machine.

01:16:38Well, you could have fooled me

01:16:39if you'd have said these are Elvis songs that I am singing.

01:16:43I mean, you've got the style of it. Were you a great fan?

01:16:45I think it's fantastic.

01:16:47Yeah.

01:16:48Do you know what?

01:16:48It's an interesting thing, because looking like this,

01:16:51I don't look like an obvious candidate for an Elvis tribute app.

01:16:54But you could have left a delay before you said the no.

01:16:56Sorry.

01:16:56But what I do is I grow my own sideburns, paint them black,

01:17:01put the wig on, and suddenly I pull my nose down.

01:17:05Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

01:17:05It's fantastic.

01:17:06It's uncanny.

01:17:07Are you into Graceland?

01:17:10Yeah, I've been once. Have you been?

01:17:12Yes, I have.

01:17:12Extraordinary place, isn't it?

01:17:13Amazing.

01:17:13Yeah.

01:17:14I wasn't that bothered about going, really, but it's quite...

01:17:17Yeah, yeah, and Sun Studios.

01:17:18I was even more blown away.

01:17:19Did you sand on the microphone?

01:17:21Yeah, I mean, and then they start playing new stuff there

01:17:23that they've recorded in that little room.

01:17:25Yes.

01:17:26And you think, this is unbelievable.

01:17:27And it was an air dressing salon for a bit,

01:17:28and then they brought it back to being a studio.

01:17:30Yeah, yeah, and that little bit of time when it was in between,

01:17:32there was a moment in the 80s where essentially it was,

01:17:35you know, you and I could have probably gone and bought it.

01:17:38Yeah.

01:17:38No one was interested in it.

01:17:39Gee, no.

01:17:42Well, look, good luck with rockabrella, fella.

01:17:44Thanks a lot.

01:17:44Cheers, viewers.

01:17:47Incidentally, Elvis Presley was climbing out of a swimming pool for the 10th time.

01:17:50Priscilla said, what are you doing?

01:17:52He said, I can't help falling in love.

01:17:55And on that note, thank you, Tim Vine.

01:17:58Time now to pause, reflect and indulge ourselves with some glorious footage

01:18:03set to some equally glorious music that isn't Elvis.

01:18:06It's time for this week's Ode to Joy.

01:18:31So that's what I was doing.

01:20:10Marverine Co. has the best pints and pasties these lands have to offer.

01:20:14I'll see you with Marverine, the pasties and my giddy guests right after this.

01:20:32Best of British time now.

01:20:33The pasties has fed every manner of Britain over the years.

01:20:37In the 13th century, royalty tucked into venison-filled parcels and by the 18th and 19th centuries, pasties became the

01:20:45miners' go-to lunch, packed with potatoes, swede, olive swede and onions, all in a handy crust that needed no

01:20:54cutlery.

01:20:54And it's still going strong.

01:20:56Nothing beats pairing a hearty pasty with a frothy pint.

01:21:00You see, I'm celebrating the prospect of it, really.

01:21:03The ultimate comfort food.

01:21:04So who better to match brews to pastry than the first landlady of the Man of Farm Arms.

01:21:10Marverine Co.

01:21:11Marverine, thank you so much.

01:21:12This is my idea of heaven.

01:21:14This is probably my last lunch, you know, one of those moments.

01:21:17What did you have for your last lunch?

01:21:19Pie in a pasty and a pine.

01:21:20My pleasure.

01:21:21This is my happy place.

01:21:22You guys are in for a real treat.

01:21:24We are going to get started with a non-alcoholic beer.

01:21:27Well, it's 0.5%.

01:21:29So this is Shorebreak and it's a hazy pail, as you can see.

01:21:33What we're going to do with each of the tastings is just have a smell, get the aromas of the

01:21:38beer.

01:21:38Really fruity.

01:21:39He went straight in.

01:21:40He went straight in.

01:21:41Because it's non-alcoholic and I'm thirsty.

01:21:44You're always hearing someone chanting down in one, aren't you?

01:21:48Of course you can with this.

01:21:500.5% and nice tropical aromas.

01:21:53Can you smell those?

01:21:54That's delicious.

01:21:55It's really good.

01:21:56Tim?

01:21:57It's super refreshing.

01:21:59But you know what?

01:21:59I like the fact that it's non-alcoholic.

01:22:01I don't drink all that much alcohol anymore.

01:22:04And normally I see something that's sort of hazy like that and it just looks like a headache in a

01:22:08glass.

01:22:09But I know that this isn't that.

01:22:10Far from it.

01:22:11It's won best alcohol-free pale ale at the World Beer Awards last year.

01:22:15And we're going to try cheese and onion.

01:22:17So look for your little flag so we don't get them mixed up.

01:22:21School mum, mums, till you look for the flag.

01:22:23See you know.

01:22:24Cheese and onion.

01:22:24Now let's have a bite.

01:22:29Lovely paste.

01:22:30Oh my goodness.

01:22:31The paste is gorgeous.

01:22:33It is cheese and onion pasty from proper Cornish.

01:22:35Really lovely.

01:22:36Multi-award winning pasty.

01:22:38Won gold at various pasty awards.

01:22:40Oh, you've matched the two that have been matched together.

01:22:42Oh, yeah.

01:22:43There's lots of thought been put into this.

01:22:45Can we stop there?

01:22:46Because I'm perfectly happy with those two.

01:22:48But then we'd lose all of these other wonderful flavours.

01:22:51All right.

01:22:51Honestly.

01:22:52So that's part one.

01:22:53Let's move on then.

01:22:54We are going to East Sussex.

01:22:57So this is Harvey's Old Ale.

01:22:59Oh, this looks a bit serious.

01:23:00This is a classic.

01:23:01It always looks a little bit scary, a dark beer.

01:23:03But never fear the dark beer.

01:23:04It's only 3.6%.

01:23:06And this has got a lot of kind of fruit aromas and flavours in.

01:23:09Maybe dark fruit.

01:23:10So pop your nose in there.

01:23:12Oh, it's plum.

01:23:13Oh, it's lovely.

01:23:14I just love this beer.

01:23:15Mmm.

01:23:17Smells like a tree.

01:23:20Okay.

01:23:20So you've got some piney aromas in there.

01:23:22Yeah, maybe it's piney.

01:23:23Piney aromas, sultanas in the flavour as well.

01:23:26It couldn't be more different to that first one, could it?

01:23:28Yeah, exactly.

01:23:29It's really heavy, that one.

01:23:30Actually, I'm wrong.

01:23:31It's not a tree, is it?

01:23:32It's more Maltesers.

01:23:33Well, it's definitely malty, Tim, without a doubt.

01:23:36And sultanas, dried fruit, kind of raisin.

01:23:39Raisins, yeah.

01:23:40I can get it a bit Christmassy.

01:23:41You could have one of these with a bit of Christmas pud or a mince pie.

01:23:44It's cold weather beer, that, isn't it?

01:23:45Yeah.

01:23:46And so to match the beer's flavours, we're going for a really robust pasty here.

01:23:49A beef and vegetable pasty.

01:23:52And it's from Wales.

01:23:53It's a Kymru crust, goes by the name of.

01:23:57And it's from Walford's Pies.

01:23:59I mean, look at that.

01:24:00Look at those carrots.

01:24:01Another good one.

01:24:02And a potato in there.

01:24:04I'm sorry, I know I don't have to, but I need to have a little nibble.

01:24:07That's lovely.

01:24:08I'm going in.

01:24:09It's full of veg, too, but it's not.

01:24:11But there's plenty of meat in there.

01:24:13When you've had a few nibbles, then swirl again and toast your beer and just see what

01:24:18happens with it.

01:24:19I'm going so far as to say, of the two, that's the best combo.

01:24:22Mmm.

01:24:23Well, let's see if the last two sway you.

01:24:26Tribute.

01:24:28From St. Alstall Brewery.

01:24:29It's classic beer.

01:24:30We have this at home.

01:24:31I chose this beer to go with this pasty because there's a delicious creaminess about this.

01:24:36You get lovely fresh aromas.

01:24:38Yeah, very sweet.

01:24:39Lovely kind of lemony aromas here.

01:24:41And it's amber-coloured look.

01:24:43It's beautiful to look at.

01:24:44And again, in terms of alcohol.

01:24:47What flavour is that?

01:24:484.2%.

01:24:48What flavour is that?

01:24:49There's a little bit of orange.

01:24:51Fresh water off a recently cleaned gutter that was on top of a...

01:24:55And hopefully boiled and...

01:24:59Boiled, of course, yes.

01:25:00And then squeezed over a lime.

01:25:02I'm sensing, are you a beer lover, Tim?

01:25:06Mmm.

01:25:07Well, I tend to be...

01:25:09I tend to be...

01:25:09This is real education for me because I tend to be a lager drinker if...

01:25:13Oh.

01:25:13You know.

01:25:14I much prefer an ale to a lager.

01:25:17So this is your area.

01:25:18Oh, right, my girl.

01:25:18We're converting you, hopefully.

01:25:20My fiancé got me onto the ale.

01:25:22Oh, good man.

01:25:23Much nicer.

01:25:24We're grooving with the pasties.

01:25:25It's a chicken curry pasty from Chunk of Devon.

01:25:29So we're mixing Devon and a Cornish beer here.

01:25:33Great Taste 2025 award winner as well.

01:25:36It's making my leg do that thing that dogs do when you're trying to be in the right place.

01:25:40Is that...?

01:25:41Your happy leg.

01:25:44And the pasty's incredible.

01:25:46I mean, look, I see tomatoes, peppers in here, the chicken.

01:25:48You should be a comedian, Tim.

01:25:49You'd be quite good at it.

01:25:50I really like it.

01:25:51I've never actually gone for...

01:25:53A curry pasty.

01:25:54No, I haven't.

01:25:54And I always go for kind of a bit boring and plain, whereas that is really, really lovely.

01:25:58But when you're forced to eat one on a TV show, it's different, isn't it?

01:26:01Can't help it.

01:26:02What do you do?

01:26:02You've twisted my arm.

01:26:03You've twisted my arm.

01:26:04There's nothing like being adventurous, though, isn't it?

01:26:07Now and again.

01:26:07I mean, that really...

01:26:08For me, it's an unusual flavour, because it's non-traditional.

01:26:12Delicious.

01:26:14Get the spice.

01:26:15Yeah.

01:26:16Oh, yeah, really spicy.

01:26:17As soon as it gets to the end of it.

01:26:18Is that pastry, has that got turmeric in it?

01:26:20Because it looks quite yellow.

01:26:20I imagine, yeah.

01:26:21It's yellowish.

01:26:22I could say, yeah.

01:26:23Quite possibly.

01:26:25It's so much of art, aren't they?

01:26:27Finally, then, last one.

01:26:28Finally.

01:26:29Oh, look at me sipping the...

01:26:30Oh, hang on.

01:26:30Let's move on.

01:26:32Right, we're going to Otter Ale.

01:26:35So, Otter Brewery from Devon, 4.5%.

01:26:39This is really a really traditional beer.

01:26:43This is a family brewery, fifth generation.

01:26:45Again, a little bit of maltiness there.

01:26:47I'm going to get almost a toffee-ish.

01:26:50Toffee, yeah.

01:26:51Toffee-ish.

01:26:51Yeah, it is toffee.

01:26:53I'm in, I'm in.

01:26:54And we are staying under 5%.

01:26:56You know me, I love a really strong beer,

01:26:59but I was behaving myself today.

01:27:00That's nice.

01:27:01It's 4.5%.

01:27:02Nice and easy.

01:27:04Oh, you're inhaling it, Tim.

01:27:06Oh, that's enough of me, actually.

01:27:07Are you enjoying that?

01:27:08Right, we are traditional.

01:27:10So, this is a Cornish pasty from Cornish Premier Pasties.

01:27:15It's won a whole host of awards.

01:27:182017, 2018, I mean, goodness me.

01:27:21World Pasty Championships at the Eden Project.

01:27:24It's packed full of that lovely, it's salt and pepper,

01:27:27the beef and the potatoes, the traditional pasty.

01:27:30Lovely.

01:27:31I'm naughty.

01:27:32Really lovely.

01:27:33I want to eat them.

01:27:35I'm feeling like the otter ale was for me, favourite for you.

01:27:38I have to say, out of all of those flavours, I loved,

01:27:42I loved the first, the Shawbreak.

01:27:44Amazing.

01:27:44Yeah, me too.

01:27:45And we can have more of them, can't we?

01:27:46Yeah, is this the most alcoholic one?

01:27:49Yeah, 4.5%, can you tell?

01:27:51Yeah, this is the slightly more, you're going to give yourself a headache

01:27:54if you have too much of that, Tim.

01:27:55Uh-oh.

01:27:56Taxi for wine.

01:27:59And before that happens...

01:28:00Tequila, snaps, and bunker, I'm calling for shots.

01:28:02Well, he gets completely out of hand.

01:28:04That's it for today.

01:28:05Thanks to all my guests, to Natalie, Tim, and, of course, Marverine

01:28:09and the combination of pasties and pints.

01:28:11Joining me next week, Anne Reid, Martin Clunes

01:28:14and crime writer Anthony Horowitz.

01:28:16Fletcher's Family Farm is up next,

01:28:18but I'll leave you with these words from Ella Fitzgerald.

01:28:21Don't give up trying to do what you really want to do.

01:28:25Where there is love and inspiration,

01:28:27I don't think it can go wrong,

01:28:29and I certainly can't go wrong with one of these in one hand

01:28:32and a bit of pasty in the other.

01:28:33Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

01:28:35Thanks for your company.

01:28:36From all of us here, cheers.

01:28:37Cheers.

01:28:38Cheers.

01:28:51Cheers.

01:28:52Cheers.

01:28:54Cheers.

01:29:02Cheers.

01:29:04Cheers.

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