- 2 weeks ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Hello. Today I'm at a factory. Sorry, sore throat.
00:07Oh, that's better.
00:14That can produce up to 36 million throat lozenges every single day.
00:23Oh, look at this.
00:25I'm Paddy McGuinness.
00:27Oh, that's good.
00:29A reluctant superhero.
00:32Is this not the worst Avenger you've ever seen in your life?
00:36In the fight against the symptoms of cold and flu.
00:39I absolutely love that.
00:41Like a machine gunner for all lozenges.
00:44Hard at work.
00:46For God's sake, Brian, slow it down. I'm not a machine.
00:49To provide the relief that a snotty-nosed nation needs.
00:54And while I learn how to soothe the sore throat...
00:57And a banging headache.
00:59Cherry Ely is rounding up the ingredients.
01:03I'm in search of honey.
01:05Uncovering the stomach-churning habits of nature's hard-working heroes.
01:10When a honeybee gets back to the hive, it regurgitates its collective nectar.
01:14Of course.
01:15Obviously it regurgitates it.
01:17And our resident historian, Ruth Goodman, is prescribing the shocking history of the local pharmacy.
01:24You could buy arsenic, strychnine, cyanide.
01:29Over-the-counter with no oversight.
01:31And no prescription.
01:33Wow.
01:36This factory pops out an incredible 230 million tablets and lozenges every single week.
01:45Welcome to Inside the Factory.
01:48Play the titles.
01:50The
02:21Chaps.
02:29Love these doors.
02:32Get on that.
02:34Lovely stuff.
02:39I'm at the Wreck-It factory in Nottingham where they make enough pills and tablets here to fill the biggest of medicine cabinets.
02:46Whether you've got a nasty cold coming on or just a bit of indigestion.
02:54There's a good chance that if there's an over-the-counter medicine to soothe it, they make it here.
03:02And today I'm following the production of not one, but two medicines.
03:10Strepsil's Honey and Lemon Lozenges and Nurethin Ibuprofen.
03:15Now, clearly, I've no idea about making pharmaceuticals, but I do know that this factory takes it very seriously indeed.
03:27Because even me designer stubbles...
03:29..and this got to be covered up.
03:35But the main thing is, I've still got my dignity.
03:41Let's make some pills.
03:42And you can't have a Honey and Lemon Lozenges, yeah, that's how we say it up north, without some honey.
03:54They get through 175,000 litres every year, making lozenges to ease our scratchy throats.
04:03And I'm on my way to meet it.
04:08Great.
04:10Whoa!
04:10More meat for you there, Paddy.
04:14More?
04:16What are they doing here, splitting the pattern?
04:20I tell you what, is this not the worst Avenger you've ever seen in your life?
04:25Meanwhile, the hero ingredient for my lozenges, the honey,
04:32has been taken to the factory's high-tech Dust3 testing station.
04:39Keep going, mate.
04:41In this chamber of highly filtered air,
04:43only authorised personnel are allowed in to meet lozenges supply lead, Richard Tagg.
04:51Heyo, Rich.
04:52Hi, Paddy.
04:52How do we do this?
04:53Is it all, I mean, it's all...
04:55How about you, pal?
04:58He's on the elbows.
04:59Safety first.
05:01This is the next level.
05:03This is the most I've ever had to do when it comes to PPE and everything else.
05:06Why is it so stringent?
05:07So because we're a pharmaceutical factory,
05:09from a safety and quality perspective,
05:11we have to make sure that we cannot contaminate any of our products.
05:15All our raw materials that come into the factory have to be sampled and tested.
05:19So Tim's going to take that away for testing.
05:20OK.
05:21How many cough drops in there, then, Rich?
05:24These aren't cough drops.
05:25These are medicated lozenges that we're making today.
05:28A medicated lozenge coats the throat to relieve the symptoms and discomforts of a sore throat.
05:33It's classed as a medicine, and you're only allowed up to 12 lozenges per 24 hours.
05:38We use honey for a flavour, and we add our medicines and active ingredients later within the process.
05:43These are the things you do not even think about when you pick up a lozenge.
05:48Tim's put the honey through its paces to meet the factory's strict quality controls.
05:55Yeah, that's good to go.
05:56Get her out, pal!
05:57Well, so it's safely sealed up again for transit out of the airlock.
06:04And we can start the clock on production.
06:09While the honey heads off to be transformed into lozenges, it's got me thinking.
06:14How do bees actually make the stuff?
06:18Cherry's on the case.
06:24I am Paddy, and I am buzzing to visit a specialist research facility run by the University of Oxford.
06:31Scientist Dr Jonathan Patrick is a serious bee boffin.
06:41Lovely to meet you.
06:42Good to meet you.
06:43Welcome to the bee lab.
06:44The bee lab.
06:46What do you actually study?
06:47So we're interested in bee nutrition, bee behaviour, bee physiology.
06:51Making sure the bees are healthy, and healthy bees will tend to produce more honey.
06:55Why do bees make honey?
06:57Well, they're not making it for us.
06:59What? They don't make it for us?
07:01No, they're actually making it as a store to see them through the winter.
07:07Bees make honey to feed the colony, and to make enough for the cold weather,
07:12they must collect plenty of the main ingredient, nectar, from flowers during spring and summer.
07:20What exactly is nectar?
07:23So nectar is produced by plants to encourage bees and other pollinators to visit their flowers.
07:30It's a sugary liquid, which is essentially carbohydrates, so it powers the bees' flight,
07:36and it's also something that the bees will be taking back to their colony to feed the colony members as well.
07:41So it's not just that bees collect nectar to take back to make honey at the hive.
07:46They actually eat it as a snack?
07:48Exactly.
07:50Bees collect nectar using a proboscis, which is like a long tongue,
07:54especially evolved to lap up the sweet liquid from the centre of the flower.
07:59Well, how does it then transport it to the hive if it's already eaten it?
08:04So a honeybee has a special storage organ inside its abdomen called the honey stomach.
08:11The honey stomach is an expandable pouch which can hold around 30 milligrams of nectar.
08:17But how does it get turned into honey?
08:22So when a honeybee gets back to the hive,
08:24the first thing it does is offload its collected nectar to a receiver bee.
08:28How does it hand it over?
08:30Yeah, so I'm not sure you're going to like this.
08:31So it regurgitates its collected nectar.
08:34Obviously it regurgitates it.
08:36To demonstrate how this happens inside the hive,
08:41Jonathan has mixed sugar with water to create his own artificial nectar.
08:46Doesn't take long before the bees suck it up.
08:49They absolutely love that.
08:52And share it out.
08:54There we go, there we go.
08:56So you can see one of the bees has got its proboscis out
08:59and is drinking the nectar from the other one.
09:00As the liquid nectar is passed from one bee to another,
09:07some of the water evaporates, increasing the concentration of sugar,
09:11but not yet raising the levels enough to transform it into honey.
09:16Nectar is typically around 20% sugar,
09:19whereas honey we need to get up to something that's around 80% sugar.
09:22How on earth do the bees get rid of so much water?
09:25The best place to see that is actually in the hive.
09:30There are 12 hives in this outside lab.
09:34An apiary manager...
09:36Is that Mark?
09:37Yes, hello.
09:38It is Mark, right?
09:39Mark Lynch...
09:40Could be anyone.
09:42..is using a little wood smoke to calm the bees down.
09:46We are going inside the hive.
09:48We're going inside the factory.
09:51OK, look at this, wow.
09:54Each hive has between 50,000 and 80,000 working bees.
09:59That's incredible.
10:00At this point, the nectar hasn't become honey yet.
10:05They still need to evaporate more water from the liquid.
10:07So there's still lots of work to be done by the bees...
10:09Yes, yes. ..to get it thicker and sweeter.
10:12Yes.
10:13Each bee regurgitates nectar from their honey stomach
10:16into their mouth parts, where even more water evaporates.
10:22They repeat this process to fully concentrate the nectar,
10:25and they have one last trick to finish the job.
10:30The bees will continue to reduce the water content...
10:33How?
10:34..in the liquid by fanning their wings...
10:37Oh, wow. ..to create an airflow through the hive
10:39that will evaporate the water.
10:41The temperature of a hive is about 35 degrees,
10:43so the heat of the hive and the fanning
10:45will reduce the water content even further.
10:48So the fanning is almost like putting on a hairdryer.
10:51Yeah.
10:51That's brilliant.
10:54After this final blow-dry,
10:56the water content is reduced to less than 18%,
10:59leaving at least 82% sugar,
11:02which means that it's now officially honey.
11:05Oh, look at that.
11:06Look at that.
11:06We've got 82.4%.
11:08Perfect one, girls!
11:10But the bees' work isn't done yet.
11:14In the wild, bees create these familiar hexagonal honeycomb shapes
11:19by secreting wax from glands on their abdomen.
11:23In a hive, the man-made wooden frames
11:26have a thin foundation layer of wax,
11:29providing a neat template
11:30onto which the bees build their cells to store the honey.
11:34When the bees have finished processing the honey
11:37and it's become what we call ripe,
11:39the bees will cover the sell-over with wax to waterproof it.
11:43Right.
11:44Because honey will suck moisture out of the air,
11:47and without the wax coating,
11:49it would become more watery again and eventually ferment.
11:53As well as making enough honey
11:55to see themselves through the winter,
11:57the bees in a hive like this
11:59can produce an additional 22 jars worth of honey a year.
12:03Enough for 87,307 individual throat lozenges.
12:11So that's been regurgitated many, many times.
12:15It's been dried, it's been heated by the hive,
12:18and then it's been sealed to be waterproof.
12:20Yes.
12:21Takes a lot of work to make, honey, doesn't it?
12:23It certainly does.
12:24Back at the most hygienically high-tech factory I've ever seen,
12:41I'm settling into my surgical space loafers
12:47and following the health and safety yellow brick road.
12:52That's fancy.
12:54I like that.
12:55I like to.
12:56I was going to say, when it comes to PPE,
12:58what's your favourite part?
13:00Uh, not the hairnets.
13:02Quite like these glasses.
13:02My fully-tested honey has made its way to the mixing area.
13:11But not as we know it, Jim.
13:14Ah!
13:15Waiting for the airlock.
13:16So everything's...
13:18Is it hermatic...
13:18What's the word?
13:20We call them airlocks,
13:21so you've got pressure differentials, basically.
13:23Oh, right, OK.
13:24Rich didn't want to say hermetically sealed, either.
13:29Here they are.
13:32So the honey's piped up.
13:34That's pumped into the mixer.
13:36So is it just honey in there, then, Rich?
13:38No.
13:39We mix the honey with liquid sucrose and liquid glucose.
13:43Sucrose is a complex sugar that comes from fruit.
13:46Glucose is a simple sugar made up from cornstarch.
13:49If we just use liquid sucrose alone,
13:51it would crystallise and produce a gritty lozenge.
13:54Yeah.
13:54Whereas if we just use glucose alone,
13:56it would melt at final lozenge.
13:58So we use both to build the perfect structure
14:00to carry the medicine to our throat.
14:06These sugars are combined with the honey
14:08to create the base mixture for my lozenge.
14:12The sweet mix then travels through a series of cookers,
14:16heating it to 140 degrees Celsius,
14:20removing 20% of its moisture.
14:23If we continued to cook at those temperatures,
14:26the materials would burn.
14:28So to get around that,
14:29we drop the materials into a vacuum chamber.
14:31Normally water is boiled at 100 degrees Celsius,
14:34but this vacuum allows us to boil a lot lower,
14:37around 30 degrees.
14:38The vacuum chamber lowers air pressure,
14:42so a lot less heat is needed to expand the water molecules into gas,
14:47which brings the moisture level down to 2%.
14:51Next, tartaric acid from fruits like grapes and avocados is added
15:00to enhance the flavour of the lozenge.
15:02Well, we've still got to add the medicine.
15:05Where's that done?
15:07So the medicine is made in dispensary?
15:09That sounds very chemistry, very pharmaceutical.
15:12That's right.
15:13I like it.
15:13Richard?
15:14It's been a pleasure, fellow.
15:15Go and look at the next bit.
15:16While Rich oversees my scorching hot mixture,
15:23I'm off to meet Technical Director, Dr Jenna Buckley.
15:29Who has a door with no earlock.
15:32So maybe things are getting a bit more relaxed around here.
15:36Hello, Jenna.
15:37Hi, Paddy.
15:37Nice to meet you.
15:37Are you OK?
15:38Nice to meet you.
15:39Right, just one minute.
15:40You can't come across the line if you've got a phone on you.
15:42This is an 8X-rated zone,
15:44which is where we have to be extra-specially careful
15:46when we've got fine dry powders and flammable liquids.
15:50Anything that carries an electrical charge
15:52might cause an explosion.
15:54Understood.
15:57Just pop it on there.
15:59Is it just anything?
16:01Anything electrical.
16:02I'm sorry, you cannot bring over.
16:03No worries.
16:05I should have known this.
16:07Yep, keep going.
16:09We might be here for a while, Jenna.
16:14Great.
16:23Right, is that everything?
16:24Yeah.
16:25OK.
16:26Right.
16:27One last thing, no cameras.
16:30Jenna, we need them so we can see it on the telly.
16:34You can come over, but they need to stay up there.
16:36Cameras can stay and they can't come with us.
16:38Right, damn they can.
16:39Get over there, pal.
16:40Luckily, the lads have some paparazzi lenses.
16:44Right.
16:45Come on, then.
16:46What a place this is.
16:49Eugh!
16:49So these are the ingredients that go into our medicated lozenge.
16:55This is what changes it from being just a sweet
16:57into something that can help take away your sore throat.
17:00So what causes a sore throat?
17:03So most sore throats are caused by viruses.
17:05They attack the lining of your throat.
17:08They make it red, tender and sore.
17:10So in our medicated lozenges, we have two ingredients.
17:14These are the antiseptics that help kill viruses in your throat.
17:18The first one is the amometal creosol.
17:21Yeah.
17:21And then the other is dichlorobenzyl alcohol.
17:25This helps attack different bugs in your mouth and your throat.
17:28And when they're combined together,
17:30they act to be stronger and take the pain away.
17:35First into the mixer go the antiseptics.
17:40Next, we need some flavouring.
17:43We have lemon oil and the peppermint oil
17:45that helps it exaggerate this flavour.
17:49Oh, so you add peppermint to get more lemon.
17:51We do, yes.
17:52But the way it works in your mouth,
17:54the peppermint makes the lemon taste better.
17:57The flavourings are added
17:59and the mixture is heated to 35 degrees Celsius.
18:0520 minutes later, my medicine is done
18:08and decanted into containers
18:10ready to be sent to the production line.
18:13As I'm quickly learning and, as you can see,
18:21there's a lot of rules and regulations when it comes to medicine,
18:24but 200 years ago, not so much.
18:30As Ruth has been discovering.
18:33If you were sick in Victorian Britain,
18:40there was no NHS to turn to
18:43and doctors were expensive.
18:46But Victorian pharmacies like this one,
18:52faithfully recreated at the London Science Museum,
18:55stocked a range of products and potions
18:58that Catherine Walker of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society
19:01knows all about.
19:03I was wondering, this seals quite a grand sort of space.
19:08What sort of things are people coming to a chemist's for?
19:12Well, the chemist and druggist would sell a whole range of things,
19:15ranging from food, wine,
19:17you could go for the opticians, get a tooth pulled.
19:20So it wasn't just medicines that they sold.
19:22It's not like the NHS now,
19:24where pharmacists are paid to supply you with prescription medicine.
19:30Even the poorest customers could afford cheap remedies
19:33for common ailments like coughs and colds.
19:38There were absolutely no restrictions
19:41on what these druggists sold,
19:44or who they sold it to.
19:46This illustration dates to the 1860s.
19:50Oh, this is amazing, isn't it?
19:51We've got this very emaciated little girl down here.
19:55Please, mister, will you be so good
19:57as to fill this bottle again with laudanum?
20:01Laudanum is basically opium and alcohol mixed together.
20:06And...
20:06And you can see from her sunken-in cheeks
20:10that this is a depiction of somebody who's already addicted.
20:13So this is saying a child is an opium,
20:16addict.
20:16Yes.
20:17Children were quite often given laudanum
20:19as a soothing aid to help them sleep.
20:24And side by side with narcotics
20:26were some even more sinister products.
20:30And there's arsenic,
20:32all sorts of poisons constantly available.
20:35Yes, Victorians had a slightly different understanding
20:37of poisons than we do.
20:39You could buy arsenic, strychnine, cyanide,
20:43all from your chemists and druggists.
20:44Over-the-counter with no oversight.
20:47And no prescription.
20:48Wow.
20:53Across town at the archives of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society,
20:57a few rare relics from this unregulated Victorian era
21:01can be handled with great care.
21:08Oh, gosh.
21:12Arsenic complexion soap?
21:14You'd be surprised at the products that arsenic found its way into.
21:19I mean, in cosmetics.
21:21It's a far cry from the heavily controlled ingredients
21:26used on Paddy's production line today.
21:29Oh, we've got some throat pastels.
21:30Now, you'd think that would be all right, wouldn't you?
21:32Alanbury's throat pastel.
21:34Diamorphine and cocaine.
21:35The diamorphine actually is a cough suppressant.
21:39Okay.
21:39And then the cocaine is an anaesthetic.
21:41So it would soothe your sore throat.
21:45But these drugs could also be dangerously addictive.
21:51Thankfully, from the middle of the 19th century,
21:53Acts of Parliament were passed
21:54to try to bring the chemists under control.
21:57But it was a tragic case in Bradford
22:00that would change the pharmaceutical industry forever.
22:04There was a confectioner
22:06who was making peppermint humbugs like this.
22:08Mm.
22:08And he was padding out the sugar,
22:11because it was so expensive,
22:13with a plaster of Paris mixture.
22:15Mm-hmm.
22:16And so he went to his chemist and druggist
22:19to get some...
22:21But he was accidentally given arsenic.
22:23Good grief.
22:24And he mixed those into the sweets.
22:27The finished sweets didn't look quite right,
22:32so were sold at a discount
22:34to market trader Humbug Billy.
22:37The sweets sold out fast,
22:40but proved to be deadly.
22:43So we've got here dreadful fatality from poisoning.
22:47Gosh.
22:49And I sent two bellmen
22:50into all parts of the borough
22:52to give warning to all persons
22:54not to eat these lozenges.
22:55So you can imagine the panic.
22:58People were literally running through the streets warning people.
23:00Ringing bells, shouting, they're poisonous.
23:02And there was a massive amount.
23:04There was 12 pounds of arsenic
23:06mixed into 40 pounds of sweets.
23:08Oh, my gosh.
23:10Tragically, more than 200 people were poisoned
23:13and at least 20 died.
23:17This fateful event led to the Pharmacy Act of 1868,
23:21which limited sales of poisons
23:23to qualified pharmacists and druggists.
23:27So now, instead of anybody being able to set up a chemist shop
23:31and sell whatever they like,
23:32it has to be highly regulated.
23:34So in order to practise pharmacy,
23:37you had to be a member of the Pharmaceutical Society.
23:41The Pharmacy Act also required chemists and druggists
23:44to clearly label all poisons and drugs.
23:48So this, in a sense,
23:49is the beginning of the sort of organised pharmacy.
23:53Exactly.
23:54And it's regulations like this
23:55that help build the public trust in pharmacy
23:58that we have today.
24:00Thankfully, the medicines in our factory
24:12are fully approved for human consumption.
24:19And they're tested and checked at every stage
24:22to ensure they're safe.
24:27It's how you are.
24:28It's all happening, isn't it?
24:29Look in here.
24:30I don't know what tablets they are,
24:34but I'd say it must be a nightmare working here.
24:36You can never fall in sick.
24:38Although, given the staff here can't just help themselves,
24:42if they do have an headache,
24:43they still have to nip out to the chemist.
24:47We're 35 minutes in,
24:49and at the start of the production line,
24:51my batch of zesty medicine
24:53is added to the honey and sugar lozenger mix,
24:56which is still a sizzling 130 degrees Celsius.
24:59before it emerges fully combined
25:03combined in all its sticky splendour.
25:11Hello, Rich.
25:12You all right, pal?
25:13Good, buddy.
25:13I could stand here looking at that pouring out of here all day,
25:19and I could just see through there, Rich.
25:22It's getting formed into a sheet.
25:24Oh, look at this.
25:34Two glossy rivers of lemon and honey mixture
25:47are created by rollers that squash the mix
25:50to 10 millimetres thick.
25:53Yes!
25:54That looks gorgeous.
25:57Love it.
25:59This flexible strip is then repeatedly folded over
26:03to create a gradually thicker ribbon of gold.
26:07starting to bring the temperature up down,
26:11so it's malleable, ready for forming.
26:14The metal conveyor is sprayed with warm water from underneath,
26:20maintaining a steady temperature of 45 to 55 degrees,
26:24which slowly cools the lozenge mix to 80 degrees Celsius.
26:29Well, I'll snap you a piece off, and then you can get a feel.
26:36Oh, get that.
26:43Oh, that's good.
26:47Ho, ho, ho!
26:48That is your, Rich.
26:50Oh, and as I'm squashing it away, though,
26:55I'm getting a lovely waft of lemon and honey.
26:58I really wish I could take this with me all day and just do this.
27:03But, of course, health and safety won't allow it.
27:06Spoil sports.
27:07Woo!
27:09Enjoyed that.
27:11My stretchy strand of lozenge now heads uphill
27:15towards a pretty noisy part of the factory.
27:20Oh, look at that.
27:24That's the snake that you're seeing on the belt.
27:25Yeah.
27:26So the lozenge mix is transporting
27:28into what we call the batch former.
27:31That's amazing to look at that.
27:33So there's four cylindrical rollers, building it all up,
27:36starting to stretch it and size it down to the next stage.
27:42The batch former is stretching the mixture
27:45like a sticky sugary dough,
27:47wrapping it round and round the roller
27:49to make sure it's flexible enough
27:51to be moulded into a lozenge.
27:55Yeah, it's getting thinner as it goes down, isn't it?
28:02The rope of honey and lemon is 9mm thick
28:05as it snakes off the rollers
28:08towards an intriguing-looking piece of kit.
28:12This is the moulding machine.
28:14Right.
28:14So the rope comes in at the bottom.
28:23Inside the moulding machine,
28:25the rope passes into a circular metal die
28:28with 68 sets of sharp top and bottom teeth.
28:34They close on the rope,
28:36simultaneously cutting the individual lozenges
28:39and moulding them into the correct shape.
28:43Then, out of the machine,
28:46hurtle 8,300 lozenges every minute.
28:50Look at that!
29:03I absolutely love that machine.
29:06It's like a machine gunner for all lozenges.
29:10That was a fun.
29:11Can I get some off?
29:17Yeah, have a go.
29:18Get on this!
29:22Hey!
29:25Look at that!
29:27All them lozenges!
29:31So as you can see, Paddy,
29:32that's a fully-formed lozenge,
29:34but it is still really soft.
29:35Yeah!
29:35And this machine,
29:37what we're firing them into
29:38is called the cooling conveyor.
29:41As they travel through the enclosed cooling tunnel,
29:44the temperature of my squidgy lozenges
29:46is reduced from 80 degrees...
29:49Oh, the way I can see them all going down there.
29:54Ah, here they are!
29:55..to around 33 degrees Celsius.
29:58So this is the end of our cooling tunnel.
30:01We can get a sample off at this point.
30:04So this is our finished lozenge.
30:05Do you want to feel that one, Paddy?
30:07Rock hard, ready to go.
30:08That's it.
30:09No squashing them whatsoever.
30:12So every hour,
30:13we can produce one million lozenges in the hour.
30:16Really?
30:16I didn't know there were that many people in the UK
30:19who were so affroats.
30:21That is a fantastic pub fact.
30:23Thank you very much, Richard.
30:25I will bid you farewell
30:26and I'm going to take that fact with me.
30:32Every day is a school day.
30:34Well, unless you're poorly, of course.
30:39Speaking of which,
30:41do you remember when you were a kid
30:42you weren't feeling well
30:44and your mum and dad would stick that big glass thermometer
30:46under your tongue
30:47or Terry's just finding out how they work?
30:50I'm in Cumbria
30:54on the western edge of the Lake District
30:57home to thermometer manufacturer Brannan.
31:03They've been making these traditional instruments
31:06since 1913.
31:13Manufacturing director Juliet Taylor
31:16Julia, lovely to meet you.
31:18Hi, Sherry.
31:19is overseeing their production.
31:21Do people still use glass thermometers?
31:23Yes, they're used in schools
31:24for experiments in their laboratories
31:27throughout the NHS and other industries.
31:30For safety reasons
31:34we don't put glass thermometers
31:35in our mouths anymore
31:36but one of the company's most popular products
31:40is still the 305mm glass laboratory thermometer.
31:46Where does a thermometer begin its life?
31:48It begins as a length of glass.
31:53Produced overseas
31:53the tubes are made from toughened glass
31:56which won't crack at high temperatures.
31:58and they already have a tiny channel inside
32:04ready for the thermometer's liquid.
32:08That is a very, very tiny hole.
32:10How big is it?
32:11It's about the size of a human hair.
32:15I'm amazed liquid can even get off it.
32:17Well, you'll see that it does.
32:19It better do.
32:21Yes.
32:23But first
32:24the glass rods must be cut down to size.
32:29The tubes are rolled over flames
32:31at 1,600 degrees Celsius
32:34melting the glass.
32:37And as it's heating it up
32:39it's pulling it apart.
32:41The rods are divided in two
32:43and sealed at the bottom
32:45which is then expanded
32:47to create what is known as
32:49a bulb.
32:49So from here you can see
32:51that it's blowing the air
32:53and making the bulb.
32:55So this is like a teeny tiny
32:57little glass blower.
32:58Yes, it is.
32:59Yes.
33:02With their newly formed bulbs
33:04the thermometers are now ready
33:06to be filled
33:07with one milliliter
33:08of the all-important liquid
33:10that will read
33:11any change in temperature.
33:13Pop that one in there.
33:15All right.
33:15In it goes.
33:16We fill this with
33:17our low-tox liquid.
33:19What is low-tox liquid?
33:21It's a kerosene-based liquid
33:23that has been used
33:25to replace the mercury
33:26that we used to use.
33:29Mercury is very stable
33:31and consistent when heated
33:32and was used
33:34in the first thermometer
33:35invented by Dutch physicist
33:36Gabriel Fahrenheit
33:38in 1714.
33:40Why don't we use
33:41mercury anymore?
33:42The vapors off it
33:43would affect
33:44your brain function
33:45so it was deemed
33:47to be a poisonous substance
33:48and it was banned
33:49in 2014.
33:51The kerosene used today
33:52is a safer
33:53petroleum-based product
33:55with a low freezing point
33:57and a high boiling point.
33:59It's poured into a bath
34:01beneath the tiny holes
34:03in our thermometers
34:03before they are placed
34:05into a vacuum chamber.
34:06Inside,
34:09the air is sucked
34:10out of the tubes
34:11forcing the kerosene mix
34:13up into the bulbs
34:14where it's held in place
34:16because the atmospheric pressure
34:17is greater on the outside
34:19than on the inside.
34:22It's like a magic trick.
34:24Look at that.
34:26That's absolutely incredible.
34:30The bulbs are heated
34:31to 70 degrees Celsius
34:33vaporising any excess liquid
34:35from the tubes.
34:38The tops are then heated again
34:40to 1,200 degrees Celsius
34:42melting the glass
34:44and forever sealing
34:45the liquid inside.
34:48But how do thermometers
34:49actually work?
34:51Quality Control Manager
34:52Jonathan Henderson
34:53Nice to meet you, Jonathan.
34:55Hi.
34:55is in charge of calibration
34:57or making sure the thermometers
34:59are reading temperature correctly.
35:01At the moment,
35:02we've just got a glass tube
35:03with some liquid in it.
35:04How do you turn this
35:06into a thermometer?
35:07We need to create
35:08a reference point
35:09on the glass tube.
35:11To do this,
35:12the kerosene liquid
35:13must move up
35:14the inside of the thermometers.
35:16And this is done
35:17by placing them
35:18in a temperature-controlled bath.
35:19Why does the liquid
35:22expand up the tube?
35:24So as the liquid
35:25is heated up,
35:26there are little tiny atoms
35:27inside there
35:28and as they are heated,
35:29they become more energetic.
35:31So it's all about
35:32the atoms
35:33getting hotter,
35:34more excited,
35:35expanding
35:35and then coming down
35:37when it's cooler.
35:38Yep.
35:38The bathwater
35:39is set at 20 degrees Celsius
35:41and the kerosene
35:43rises up the glass tube.
35:45But due to variations
35:47in each piece of glass,
35:49it will rise
35:49to a different level
35:50in each thermometer.
35:53And once the liquid stabilises,
35:55we're able to mark
35:56each thermometer.
35:57This engraved mark
35:59accurately records
36:00each individual
36:0220-degree reading.
36:04Can't make me
36:05very, very happy.
36:05OK.
36:06Like that?
36:07Yep.
36:07Yep.
36:09That's enough.
36:10Great.
36:11Oh, it contributed to science.
36:13Look at me.
36:15When these marks
36:16are complete,
36:17they provide
36:17the exact position
36:19for the temperature scale,
36:20which is added
36:21to each thermometer
36:22using a silk screen printer.
36:25Oh, there we go.
36:27How do you feel
36:27about that one?
36:28Perfect.
36:29Perfect.
36:32After a quick blast
36:34in an oven
36:34to fire the ink
36:36into the glass,
36:37our thermometers
36:38are finished.
36:40Ooh, look at that.
36:43Oh, look.
36:44I've just been
36:45warming it up
36:45with my fingers
36:46and it's moving.
36:48I mean,
36:49it's like it works.
36:51You would hope so, right?
36:54Where is this
36:54going to end up?
36:55So this could go
36:56anywhere in the world.
36:57We sell them
36:58to 130 different countries
37:00around the world.
37:01A well-travelled thermometer.
37:03Hopefully, yes.
37:04Back at the medicine factory,
37:12I'm on the move too.
37:14Lovely stacking.
37:20I'm turning from lozenges
37:21to tablets
37:23at the ibuprofen production line.
37:26My word!
37:34This is proper industrial
37:36in here.
37:36I didn't expect it
37:37to be this noisy
37:38if I'm being honest.
37:42In the mixing room,
37:44process development manager
37:45Catherine Staniforth
37:47is getting ready
37:48for the next batch
37:49of painkillers.
37:51This is massive,
37:53this room.
37:54Very high-tech in here.
37:55It is quite high-tech.
37:56So what I need you
37:57to do, though, first
37:57is put some gloves on,
37:58please.
37:58Okey-doke, right.
38:00So,
38:02ibuprofen.
38:04What's the difference
38:04between a paracetamol
38:06and an ibuprofen?
38:07Because I never know
38:07which one to buy.
38:09Right.
38:09Both of them
38:10are painkillers,
38:11right?
38:12But they both work
38:13in different ways.
38:14So paracetamol
38:16actually works
38:16by blocking pain receptors
38:18in your brain.
38:19Yeah.
38:19What ibuprofen does,
38:21say you twist your ankle
38:22or sprain your wrist.
38:23Yeah.
38:24What your body does
38:25is it produces chemicals
38:26that cause inflammation
38:28where that's happened.
38:30And the ibuprofen
38:31in your bloodstream,
38:32they'll reduce those chemicals,
38:34you reduce the inflammation,
38:36you reduce the pain,
38:37and so it works
38:38in a different way
38:39to paracetamol.
38:43Ibuprofen powder
38:44is sieved
38:44along with the disintegrants
38:46that help break down
38:47the tablets
38:48in your stomach.
38:49and bulking agents
38:52that make the tablets
38:53easier to handle
38:54for both factory
38:55and consumer.
38:59The powders are combined
39:00with Brian Mason
39:02at the controls
39:03before he drops the mix
39:06into my mega ball.
39:08And you're going to need
39:09a bit of muscle now
39:10because we're going to need
39:10you to rake this forward.
39:12OK.
39:13The reason we rake this
39:14is because we want it
39:15to be flat
39:16when it goes into the dryer.
39:17I'm looking forward to this.
39:18Right.
39:19OK, Brian,
39:20off we go.
39:21Go on, Brian,
39:22release the Kraken.
39:24Oh!
39:24Here it comes.
39:26Oh!
39:27Hey-oh!
39:28Here we go.
39:29Look at that.
39:31Blimey!
39:32That does come out quick,
39:34doesn't it?
39:35You're having a field day
39:36up there, Brian,
39:37aren't you?
39:38He's working me.
39:40Yeah, a little bit more.
39:41Are you all right?
39:43Get the sweat on.
39:44For God's sake, Brian,
39:45slow it down.
39:46I'm not a machine.
39:47You need to get going there,
39:48planter.
39:48I'll talk about that.
39:48He's driving up there.
39:50He's gone mad.
39:52OK, just a little bit more.
39:54Oh, he's no good talking to Brian.
39:57He just keeps going.
39:58He's a machine.
39:59I think I need a couple
40:00of spoonfuls of this myself.
40:02All done.
40:03At this state,
40:04it looks quite coarse
40:05as to what it looks like
40:06when you break open
40:07a tablet normally.
40:08Yeah, it is a bit different
40:09to that at the moment.
40:10We've got some more stages
40:10to go through.
40:12So we'll do a snowball test
40:13on here,
40:13because this will show us
40:14we've got the right
40:15kind of consistency here.
40:17Did you say snowball test?
40:18Yes.
40:19I thought that's what you said.
40:21Oh.
40:21You form a snowball,
40:22right?
40:23If it was too wet,
40:24you wouldn't be able to form this.
40:25If it was too dry,
40:26you wouldn't be able to do it.
40:27Can you snap it in two
40:28like that?
40:29Ah.
40:30And that shows us
40:30that we've got a good granule here.
40:32So that's a good one,
40:33that.
40:33If it had all crumbled out
40:35your hands,
40:35it wouldn't have been right.
40:36Yeah, yeah, exactly.
40:37Do you want to get that in
40:38and I'll get over here.
40:38We'll have a little bit
40:39of a snowball.
40:40No, we won't do that in here.
40:41Oh, they're more pine,
40:41will they?
40:41No, no, no.
40:42I can't lose anything
40:43out of here.
40:44And the mix here,
40:45because we've done
40:46all this mixing now,
40:47this basically ensures
40:48that we will have
40:49200 milligrams
40:50of ibuprofen
40:52in every tablet
40:52when we make it.
40:53Got you.
40:54We've got to dry this off
40:55now, next.
40:55Right, let's get it
40:56dried off.
40:57Yeah.
40:57Any chance we can put
40:58Brian in that dryer?
40:59No, we can't.
41:00The mix still has
41:0836% moisture,
41:10so it's attached
41:11to a huge dryer
41:12that takes it down
41:13to 1.5%.
41:15Then the dried granule
41:19is ready to be
41:20transformed into tablets.
41:24Do you want to get that door?
41:25This is our compressing machine.
41:41We've got 18 of these
41:42machines in the factory.
41:44That's going round
41:45pretty sharp.
41:46It is going round
41:46pretty fast.
41:48In fact, it's too fast
41:49to see what on earth
41:50is going on.
41:55Our granule is now
41:58sitting above us.
41:59It's in one of the big bins
42:00and it's been gravity-fed
42:01right down into the back
42:03of the machine
42:04to fill up the punches,
42:05they're called.
42:06We've got 45 of these
42:08upper and lower punches.
42:09Yeah.
42:10They rotate round
42:11and pick up
42:12some of the granule.
42:14Then what happens
42:15is a great big load
42:16of force
42:17slams it all together,
42:19basically about
42:19one tonne of force.
42:20One tonne.
42:21Slams it together
42:22and that tablet is formed.
42:24It's got its shape then.
42:26And is that then
42:26finished then?
42:28Not quite.
42:28I was just going to say
42:29because they've got to shine
42:30on them,
42:30they look smooth
42:31but when you feel them
42:32you can still feel
42:32a little bit chalky.
42:34Yes, you can.
42:34So we've got one more
42:35stage after this.
42:36Lead on, Catherine.
42:37Come on then.
42:37Lead on.
42:38The tablets are transported
42:51to what looks like
42:52a space-age laundrette.
42:54Look at this.
42:57I'm going to introduce you
42:58to Barry,
42:58our operator and him.
43:00Oh, you're very nice
43:00to meet you.
43:01Follow you up.
43:02So what we've done,
43:03we've taken the tablets
43:04and we've put them
43:05into these five coating cans
43:07and they're tumbling
43:08round at the moment
43:09and we're going to add
43:11some sugar syrup to them.
43:13Is this the sugar solution
43:14that goes on it?
43:15Yes.
43:16So that's mixture
43:16of sucrose and water.
43:19Right.
43:19And we're going to apply
43:19that to the tablet
43:20and there's two reasons
43:22why we do this.
43:23Because ibuprofen
43:24is actually very bitter.
43:26Right.
43:26So that helps it
43:27to be swallowed
43:27and also the smooth shell
43:29that's on there
43:30will help it
43:31to be swallowed as well.
43:32Weirdly,
43:32now as you've said it,
43:33when I put one in my mouth,
43:35you do get that little bit
43:36of sweetness.
43:37It just makes it
43:38a little bit more pleasant.
43:39Absolutely.
43:40And we're going to add
43:40some more sugar syrup to it
43:42to help build up
43:43the coat of the tablet.
43:45It's quite bright.
43:47I don't know.
43:47As far back as you can reach.
43:49Right then.
43:50Yep, right then.
43:52There she goes.
43:55The sugar coating
43:56is gradually built up
43:57across six to eight hours
43:59with a total of 20 jugs
44:01slowly added to each pan
44:03to make the tablet sweeter,
44:05smoother and rounder.
44:07There we go.
44:09There you go.
44:11I'm just going to expect
44:12me to work at me at Catherine.
44:13OK.
44:15I'll look at these
44:16for six to eight hours
44:17and I'll see you in a bit.
44:20I'll make sure
44:21every single one's
44:22got an even coating on.
44:27I might pee when
44:29I'm empty buckets back here.
44:30I'm feeling a bit crazy.
44:35After a serious amount
44:37of tumbling,
44:37my sugar-coated tablets
44:39are getting ready
44:40for a bit of a bounce around.
44:44Cereal paddy?
44:45Ah!
44:46Here's our finished tablet.
44:47Looking very nice and shiny.
44:50The tablets have vibrated
45:02into snuggly-fitting trays.
45:06Where they're held in place
45:08as a rubber roller
45:09covered in food-safe ink
45:11prints the product name.
45:12So, they've been printed
45:16about 460,000 tablets
45:19per hour at the moment.
45:20The numbers are just
45:21mind-blowing.
45:22They are.
45:24Then they're checked
45:25by a close-up camera
45:26before being plucked
45:29out of the moulds
45:30by suction cups.
45:31You can see here now
45:38we've got these nice
45:39shiny tablets.
45:40Yeah, they all look great
45:41then, Catherine.
45:43Would you like to know
45:43a fact about ibuprofen?
45:45I would love a fact
45:46about ibuprofen.
45:48Ibuprofen was actually
45:49invented here in Nottingham.
45:51Do you know who else
45:51knows that?
45:52Who?
45:53A very lovely lady
45:54called Ruth.
45:56Over to you.
45:57To you.
45:58To me.
45:59To you.
46:01The year is 1953.
46:06Queen Elizabeth II
46:07has been crowned
46:08at the age of 27.
46:12Edmund Hillary
46:13and Sherpa Tenzing
46:14have become the first
46:15to conquer Mount Everest.
46:18And here in Nottingham,
46:19a small team
46:20of British scientists
46:21are about to embark
46:23on their own
46:24incredible journey.
46:27This unassuming
46:28Victorian house
46:29was their rather
46:30unlikely laboratory.
46:33To find out more,
46:34I'm meeting
46:35Professor David Adams.
46:37Hello.
46:38Hello, Ruth.
46:38Nice to meet you.
46:39A scientist himself
46:41and the son
46:42of one of these pioneers.
46:44I have to say,
46:44this seems a rather
46:45suburban location
46:46for a pharmaceutical story.
46:48It is, isn't it?
46:49Very different
46:50to a modern
46:50pharmaceutical research
46:52department.
46:53So why on earth
46:54was your father
46:55working in a suburban house?
46:57Well, he was a scientist
46:58working for Boots,
46:59the Boots Pure Drug Company
47:00as they were then called.
47:01This was just after the war,
47:03so a lot of their departments
47:04had been evacuated
47:05out of the centre of Nottingham
47:07because of the bombing.
47:08And the research department
47:10was relocated to this house
47:12down by the River Trent.
47:14I'm ashamed to say
47:15I've never been here before,
47:16so this is quite
47:17an experience for me.
47:19Shall we go and have a look?
47:20Yes, let's.
47:27By the early 1950s,
47:29Boots was not only
47:30an established
47:31High Street brand,
47:32but had begun
47:33making pharmaceuticals.
47:35The former owner
47:36of the company,
47:37Jesse Boots,
47:38was a sufferer
47:39of rheumatoid arthritis,
47:41an autoimmune disease
47:43that causes painful
47:44inflammation of the joints.
47:4831 years after his death,
47:50Boots gathered
47:50some of their brightest minds,
47:53including David's father,
47:54Dr Stuart Adams,
47:55in this unlikely laboratory.
47:59Oh, goodness.
48:01And tasked them
48:01with finding a cure
48:02for the debilitating condition.
48:05You can't believe
48:06it was ever a research lab,
48:08can you?
48:09No, you really can't.
48:12I think this is where
48:13the original laboratory was,
48:14and then they extended
48:15into the larder
48:16and the kitchen
48:17when they needed more space.
48:18It's remarkable, isn't it?
48:19It's extraordinary.
48:21That's my father,
48:22working away,
48:24and that was taken here.
48:25I mean, it's looked
48:26even more domestic then
48:27than it did now.
48:28I don't even know
48:29what this equipment is.
48:30It appears to be a hot plate,
48:32some agar plates,
48:33and it's not exactly
48:34high-tech, is it?
48:35No, no,
48:35it definitely wasn't high-tech.
48:36The house wasn't perfect,
48:42even succumbing
48:42to regular flooding.
48:45But David's father
48:47and his team
48:47set about testing
48:49thousands of chemical compounds
48:50in the search
48:52for a cure for arthritis.
48:55Dad wanted to find something
48:56which suppressed
48:57that inflammation,
48:58which he thought
48:59that inflammation
48:59was closely linked with pain.
49:01And one route to do this
49:02was to focus around aspirin.
49:04Discovered in 1897,
49:08aspirin had been used
49:09with some success
49:10to target the pain
49:11of arthritis,
49:12and Dr Adams was convinced
49:14a compound in the same
49:15chemical family
49:16might hold the key
49:18to the cure.
49:20They tested a whole range
49:21of compounds,
49:22and unfortunately,
49:23none of these
49:24had the kind of
49:26anti-inflammatory activity
49:27they were looking for.
49:28OK.
49:28So they had to change tack,
49:30and they looked at
49:30a different series
49:32of compounds.
49:34Six years after
49:36starting their research,
49:38Adams and his team
49:39had to begin
49:39their search again,
49:41effectively from scratch.
49:44I mean, it must have been
49:44so frustrating
49:45to just keep going,
49:46this one, no,
49:47this one, no,
49:48this one, no,
49:49over and over.
49:50Yeah, research is a slow
49:52and can be a very
49:53frustrating process.
49:57But in 1961,
49:59the team struck gold,
50:01discovering the drug
50:02that we now know
50:03as ibuprofen.
50:06Although not the cure
50:07David's father was
50:08looking for,
50:09thanks to its
50:10anti-inflammatory properties,
50:12it provided much-needed
50:13pain relief
50:14to arthritis sufferers.
50:16and in 1969,
50:24the year Concord
50:25first took to the skies,
50:27this new miracle
50:29pain reliever finished
50:30eight years
50:31of clinical trials
50:32and was finally
50:34made available
50:35under the brand name
50:36Brufen.
50:41Sophie Clapp is in charge
50:43of Boots's vast archive.
50:47Brufen was launched
50:48as a prescription-only drug
50:50in 1969
50:51and it really put Boots
50:53on the map
50:54in terms of
50:54a pharmaceutical researcher.
50:56So we absolutely
50:57wanted to
50:58make people aware
51:00of this
51:01incredibly effective drug.
51:04But David's father
51:06didn't stop there.
51:07He saw much wider potential
51:09for this new wonder drug.
51:11It was tested
51:12as a treatment
51:13for sports injuries.
51:14So he worked closely
51:15with Oxford United
51:16Football Club.
51:17It was tested
51:19for dental pain.
51:20It was tested
51:20as a treatment
51:21for period pain.
51:24In 1983
51:26and 30 years
51:29after Dr Stuart Adams
51:31began his research
51:32in that suburban house,
51:34the Department of Health
51:35approved the sale
51:36of Ibuprofen
51:37over-the-counter
51:38under the brand name
51:40Nurofen.
51:42It meant that it became
51:43an absolute stalwart
51:44of everybody's
51:45home medicine cabinet.
51:47And how big a deal
51:48is Ibuprofen
51:49worldwide?
51:51So within
51:52five or six years
51:53we were selling it
51:54in 90 different countries.
51:56The proof of the pudding
51:57being in the eating.
51:58Did your dad use
52:00Ibuprofen?
52:01Yes, he did.
52:02You couldn't have
52:03a headache
52:03in the Adams household
52:04without being
52:05given Ibuprofen.
52:07He was very proud
52:08of what he'd achieved
52:09but he always felt
52:10that he'd been
52:11a slight failure
52:12because he set out
52:13to find a cure
52:13for rheumatoid arthritis
52:14and he discovered
52:16a drug that
52:16has been really helpful
52:17in treating rheumatoid arthritis
52:18plus a host
52:19of other conditions
52:20but he didn't find a cure.
52:22But I don't think
52:23he did too badly
52:24really, did he?
52:28You can say that again.
52:30Eight billion ibuprofen
52:35are made at this factory
52:37every year.
52:42While the painkillers
52:44are being boxed up
52:45I'm heading to see
52:48my honey and lemon lozenges.
52:52But before they get
52:53their packaging
52:54earlier team leader
52:55Mark Watkins
52:56is doing some final checks.
52:58Hey, I'm Mark.
53:00How are you, Paddy?
53:01Oh, you felt like you're all right?
53:01Yeah, you're good.
53:03What's this lad doing?
53:04This lad is our track operator.
53:07If there's any bad lozenges in here
53:08they'll remove it out
53:10and put a good one in.
53:11What's a bad lozenges?
53:13A bad lozenges
53:14is anything with a chip.
53:16And if you fancy it, Paddy
53:17you can have a go yourself.
53:19What's your word?
53:22So, if you take a handful
53:23of our good lozenges, Paddy
53:25and a good one
53:25anything you can see
53:26with a chip
53:27flick it out
53:28and then put a good one in.
53:30Right, here we go.
53:33Get in here.
53:37Oh!
53:39Hey, get out,
53:40you little rat.
53:40Get in!
53:41Hey!
53:43Oh, there's another one.
53:45Get out.
53:46You missed one, don't you?
53:47Where, where, where?
53:48You missed it, it's gone.
53:49Where were you, Mark?
53:50You're supposed to be
53:51being winged, Mark.
53:52There you go,
53:53put it out,
53:53where did you stick it out?
53:54Oh!
53:58I felt as though
53:59I were back at the bingo halls
54:00when I were a kid
54:01though with me mum.
54:02Two doppers,
54:03one of these hands.
54:04Give us some doppers.
54:05Love that.
54:06I'll leave it to the expert.
54:10That is a skill.
54:12I didn't even know
54:12he had any lozenges
54:13in his other hand.
54:14That's bonkers.
54:17Should be a magician.
54:19Good, slight,
54:20fantastic, this lad.
54:22Like a young Paul Daniels.
54:26A clever camera
54:28catches any defects
54:29missed by the human eye,
54:32especially mine.
54:34Then they're dropped
54:35into plastic blister packs
54:36before being sealed
54:38with foil
54:38and the packs
54:42are cut into sections
54:43containing 12 lozenges.
54:46The perfectly formed blisters
54:47are coming down
54:48the packing line now.
54:49Look at that,
54:50beautiful.
54:50Why blister packs?
54:53Because it's a medicine.
54:54You have to keep
54:54the integrity of the product
54:55exactly as it was
54:56when it was first packed.
54:58You can pop one of those out
54:59and all the ones around it
55:00stay perfectly sealed.
55:02Well, let's just do that.
55:05Here we go.
55:05Big moment.
55:06Oh, lovely pop on that, Mark.
55:13The rest is sealed up
55:14like a little medicine
55:16advent calendar, that.
55:19And there it is.
55:21Ready to go.
55:22Ready to soothe.
55:24Beautiful, that.
55:26Lovely.
55:26Thank you very much, buddy.
55:27Cheers, buddy.
55:28Take care, mate.
55:28It's all right, pal.
55:33Two sealed packs
55:34are stacked together
55:35and instruction leaflet
55:37is added
55:37with the correct dosage
55:39clearly listed.
55:42And the flat box
55:43is date stamped
55:44before everything
55:45is dropped inside.
55:48Then it's off
55:49for one last round
55:50of tests
55:51and safety checks
55:52before they join
55:55my ibuprofen
55:56at dispatch.
55:58And at last
55:59I can change
56:00out of my PPE
56:01Santa suit.
56:07You all right, Paddy?
56:08You all right?
56:09It's Rich.
56:10Just been showing you
56:10around the factory.
56:12My God,
56:12I didn't recognise you
56:13with your clothes on.
56:15How are you, Rich?
56:16I'm all right, thank you.
56:16You?
56:17Yeah, right.
56:18Loaded up.
56:19It looks to me
56:20like we've got
56:20a mixture of ibuprofen
56:21and throat lozenges
56:22on there.
56:23That's right.
56:24On each pallet
56:25of lozenges
56:25we've got
56:266,450
56:28individual lozenges.
56:29And on each pallet
56:30of ibuprofen
56:31we've got
56:3116,800 units.
56:34So,
56:35hey,
56:35excuse me.
56:38So,
56:38how many individual
56:39tablets and lozenges
56:41are on there then?
56:42So that trailer
56:42will take
56:4358 different pallets.
56:44Yeah.
56:45So all together
56:45we can do
56:464.5 million lozenges
56:47and 7.8 million
56:49tablets.
56:51Even for this programme
56:53that's a lot
56:54of big numbers.
56:55And get this,
56:56with 7 lorries
56:58leaving every day
56:59that's
57:0031.5 million
57:02lozenges
57:02and 54.5 million
57:05tablets.
57:07So I presume
57:07in winter
57:09that number
57:09goes up
57:10because that'll be
57:10your busiest time
57:11when it winter.
57:12Yeah.
57:13Winter's busier
57:13for cold and flu
57:14but as a business
57:15we're produced
57:16to both the southern
57:16and northern
57:17hemispheres.
57:18Right.
57:18So when it's summer here
57:19it's winter somewhere else.
57:21So it means
57:21we're busy all year round.
57:22So you're constantly
57:23going with it.
57:24Correct, yeah.
57:25Well, Rich,
57:25thanks for showing me around, pal.
57:26I've thoroughly enjoyed myself.
57:28Go and get yourself
57:28of a well-earned cuppa.
57:29Cheers, Paddy.
57:30See you in a bit, bud.
57:31Right.
57:33Send them off.
57:39Eight hours
57:39and 35 minutes
57:41after the start
57:42of production
57:42my cold and flu medicines
57:44are heading out
57:45of the factory
57:46to soothe sore throats
57:49and ease aches
57:50and pains
57:50across the world.
57:55That's a lot of people
57:56with the lurgy
57:57who'll soon be
57:58feeling better.
58:05And after I've done
58:06one last lap
58:07around my favourite
58:07factory doors
58:08I just need
58:13to round up the crew
58:14who like to peel off
58:16their PPE
58:16at the end
58:17of a long day.
58:19For God's sake
58:19put your clothes back on.
58:21Bring me sunshine
58:23in your smile
58:25Bring me laughter
58:29Bring me laughter
58:29Bring me laughter
58:30Bring me laughter
58:30With new games
58:31fabulous famous faces
58:32and Michael McIntyre
58:33and Michael McIntyre
58:33at his mischievous best
58:34The Big Show
58:35is back on iPlayer
58:36starting now on BBC4
58:38the profile of
58:39John Logie Baird
58:40the man who saw the future
58:41and invented television
58:42Heading to the school
58:44with Manchester
58:45in its DNA
58:45next tonight
58:46Waterloo Rose
58:47and Michael McIntyre
58:48Bring me laughter
58:49Bring me laughter
58:50Hey!
58:55The
58:55Your
58:59Lama
59:01sei
59:02You
59:03Cost
59:05You
59:06Lama
59:07You
59:08I
59:09Family
59:09WHO
59:10You
59:11Would
59:11platform
59:12down
59:12Not
59:13And
59:14Home
59:14You
59:15Must
59:15things
59:16life
59:16True
59:17My
59:17compare
59:18tout
59:20Their
59:21Pare
59:21过
59:22Him
Comments