Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh - Season 8 - Episode 14 - video Dailymotion

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00:00:22Whoa, I've never driven a steam car before, happy Easter from Hampshire, wind in the air,

00:00:29steam coming out of the bottom, the rumble of the engine, the sense of the ground beneath it,

00:00:34it's just like having your own steam engine really. Oh goodness me, welcome to Love Your Weekend.

00:01:19Happy Easter.

00:01:20You know, spring into summer really is the most glorious time of year to be outside and the

00:01:27perfect time of year to delve into all things seasonally British. Say hello to Manor Farm's

00:01:34very own Easter bunny. This is Cottontail. Originally, much like me, she's absolutely itching to get going.

00:01:42So let's hop to it this Easter Sunday. That suit you, Cottontail? You don't look as if you're going to

00:01:48hop

00:01:48to anything, do you? But you're very happy, that's all right. Coming up, funny, feisty, honest, and she

00:01:53makes for brilliant company. Dame Sheila Hancock on her incredible zest for life. And from a handsome

00:01:59pilot in Foil's War, to winning the hearts of Lady Mary in Downton Abbey, to starring in a whole host

00:02:07of

00:02:07musicals, Julian Ovendon continuing to captivate audiences once more as he returns to the West End

00:02:13stage, this time in Cole Porter's High Society. And Simon Lycett takes his Easter floral decorations

00:02:21to a whole new level. And it's not just the kids having fun this Easter. Tom Serge is here with

00:02:27his

00:02:28tempting chocolatey cocktails, including a chocolate bunny martini. Don't be alarmed, Conte.

00:02:34And a white chocolate amaretto. And it's time of hard work and long hours for farmers,

00:02:41but it's also a time made joyful by cuddling newborns. We catch up with one young farmer currently

00:02:49in the throes of the lambing season.

00:02:56But first, our leisurely morning starts right here. Please welcome to the Manor Farm stage,

00:03:01Dame Sheila Hancock and Julian Ovendon. And since it's Easter, the Manor Farm mimosas are out. Look,

00:03:08a nice big treat there, isn't it? I mean, how special is Easter, Sheila, to you?

00:03:13Actually, it's very special to me. I'm a Quaker and we don't celebrate any anniversaries particularly,

00:03:20but I always find Easter a very moving time, the crucifixion. And it's full of human suffering.

00:03:30And a man behaving unbelievably well while people are hating, rejecting, ignoring him. And still,

00:03:40he remains a good man. And he's such a good example. I turn to it constantly. There's a wonderful thing,

00:03:48you like classical music, and so do I, but one of my most favourite phrases in St. Matthew's Passion,

00:03:54and there's this marvellous phrase in the music, and he wept bitterly.

00:03:59Yeah, I know, glorious. It's clear classical music is very close to both of you. You're particularly

00:04:05well-known, Julian, if you're musicals, but what sort of classical music do you listen to?

00:04:10Well, I started, I suppose, with a diet of English choral music. I went to school as a chorister,

00:04:16so I was generally at school still singing. But then I love all sorts of, all sorts of music.

00:04:26It's weird. I live with an opera singer, so a lot of opera.

00:04:29Kate Royal. Yeah, a lot of opera. Lovely.

00:04:33I, it's difficult. So when you're doing it, it's a bit like, it's a bit like being actor. You don't

00:04:38necessarily want to sort of surround yourself when you're, you know, clocking off in the evening,

00:04:42and not necessarily surrounding yourself with the thing you do in the day. So we don't actually

00:04:45listen to an awful lot of music at home. But I want, I so want everybody to have the opportunity

00:04:53to try it. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? I'm passionate. I do a lot of work with youngsters,

00:04:58introducing them to music. You know, they hear a piece of music in the lift and they think,

00:05:03oh, that's nice. Oh, did you know that's by a bloke called Brahms and he's actually written this bit.

00:05:09Do you want to hear this bit? Especially live, though. There is something amazing,

00:05:13amazing and also essential if you're experiencing something to have it live. I think that surprises a

00:05:19lot of people who don't go to live music, you know, pop concerts apart, but who don't go to

00:05:24orchestral music, big orchestral concerts. It's amazing. And when you go in and when you're part

00:05:28of it and it surrounds you and it grabs your emotions. I mean, it's so emotional. Let's have

00:05:33a bit of fun. Two great stage actors here and film actors and television actors. Mishaps,

00:05:39things that go wrong, because we all love it when you have these, you know, things collapse,

00:05:44things go wrong. I've had so many. We were just saying we've had so many. Audiences love it when

00:05:50things go wrong. I was doing a show in New York and I had to, it was a very, very

00:05:57simple scene.

00:05:57I had to come in and sit down on, I was playing the character of Death and I had to

00:06:01come in and sit

00:06:01down on this quite slightly flimsy rattan sort of sofa and as I came on, I was singing at the

00:06:08time and

00:06:08I sat down and I went straight through it. Completely broke the whole thing and ended up on my,

00:06:14on my bum. It slightly ruined the, uh, the impression that I was trying to go in. Falling over on

00:06:19stage is

00:06:19always... Well, if you're playing Death, you're dying on stage. You gave it a new meaning then, really. Indeed.

00:06:24I once played, at the Royal Shakespeare Company, I did a play called Titus Andronicus. I had to

00:06:30end up eating my sons in a pie, which you can imagine was quite difficult not to giggle. And Roger,

00:06:36Roger Allen was one of my sons and we had to make our entrance with a wonderful old prop that

00:06:42belongs

00:06:42to the RSC, which are these horses. They're very heavy wooden horse heads with long skirts, which

00:06:49you're under and you gallop on like this and it looks as though you're coming on on a horse. Well,

00:06:55I came on, Patrick Stewart was playing Titus Andronicus and he took it terribly seriously. Men

00:07:01loved playing Kings, you know, and he really loved it. I fell over and I was on the floor,

00:07:09surrounded by my skirt with the head having died on the floor and Roger Allen then started giggling.

00:07:16I started giggling. Patrick Stewart was livid with us because we were in at the entrance.

00:07:23It was just one. And it went on for the entire show. And I had this scene where I had

00:07:28to realise

00:07:29that I, my sons were cooked in a pie. I just could not stop laughing. It just seems so silly.

00:07:36It's a one, it's sort of a, both a wonderful experience not being able to stop laughing and

00:07:40also horrendous. And you dread it every night when you come to that bit. Yeah. You think,

00:07:45I mustn't laugh. I mustn't laugh. And I, you spend the whole day thinking, I will not laugh at that

00:07:49bit tonight. And the more you've got someone in this case, like Patrick Stewart, being cross.

00:07:53Oh, the more you want to laugh. Absolutely. Ian McKellen. I was in a play with Ian McKellen and

00:07:59everybody had to die at the end of it. And I, I had to die over a thing and I

00:08:04was giggling as usual.

00:08:05And he actually turned to me and said, stop it. Pull yourself together. I got worse. I got worse.

00:08:15But on the whole, that's awfully bad behaviour. But I, I. People love it though. Oh, they do.

00:08:20They do, but it's naughty. It is naughty. Naughty sometimes nice. Well, you can be as naughty as you like

00:08:25on the show.

00:08:26You can laugh as much as you want as well. Now you've both had the opportunity to play villains,

00:08:31which I've always suspected is far more fun than playing somebody who's a goody two shoes.

00:08:37I, I certainly find it more fun. Do you? Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Much, much more fun.

00:08:42Who wants to play good people? Good people are boring. Yes. Well, no, I would say that.

00:08:47But I, I, I, I actually, it's fun to get inside the mind of somebody who behaves badly.

00:08:55I mean, an actor's job is to actually feel what that person, if you're a murderer, you've got to find

00:09:02a way of feeling the way that person felt when they committed that murder.

00:09:07Up to a point, presumably, and then stop. Yes. You don't actually do it. But you have to think of

00:09:12it.

00:09:12Also, it's like, it's, it's a mistake to think that we're good or bad. I mean, as an actor, you're

00:09:16trying to, you're trying to empathise with something, as Sheila said.

00:09:19You're trying to understand. Absolutely. Because we've all got all these elements inside. But the trouble is, you always end

00:09:24up, don't you, as an actor, actually believing your right to have murdered that person.

00:09:30Yes. And the, and the, the evilness of you is, is utterly justified. Have you, villainous role, Julian? Yeah, quite

00:09:38a lot in, on television.

00:09:39You know, I mean, I've done a lot of, of American television and being English, they like you to be

00:09:43the villain. You know, um, I think Keir Starmer is finding that at the moment.

00:09:50I have to say, I've, I've been watching an old series of yours. Oh, yeah.

00:09:55Of Foil's War. I've, I've got obsessed with this wonderful series. Oh, it's superb.

00:10:00It's from way back. It actually, I think took over on, after John's programme, Morse Finish. Sure.

00:10:06And it's the most amazing depiction of what I remember the war was like. The calmness,

00:10:13the lack of emotional weeping and wailing and being frightened, just getting on with it.

00:10:20Stoicism, yeah. There you are. Did you pay her 15 quid for that?

00:10:22Money well spent. Thank you both. Much more from Sheila and Julian later on.

00:10:28Coming up, there'll be no abstinence in today's Best of British. Our very own Willy Wonka, Tom Sergi,

00:10:33is tempting us with some chocolatey cocktails, including a cream egg white Russian with a coffee

00:10:39liqueur. Simon Lycett's making the most of the seasonal bounty with his Easter bouquet,

00:10:45packed with spring delights. And they called it puppy love. Oh, I guess they'll never know.

00:10:58Yes. A cockapoo called Bramble and a Cocker Spaniel called Ivy. Oh, they love it. We meet the puppies,

00:11:06taking man's best friend to a whole new level. Bramble, I've got my eye on you. Be very,

00:11:11very, very careful. He likes having his tummy tickled. Don't we all? Ah, the memories, the memories.

00:11:18Yes, I'll be back with Simon, his bouquets, and the puppies right after this. Julian,

00:11:23help yourself to a cucumber sandwich. I've been enjoying you. Cheers, all. Cheers.

00:11:42Welcome back to Love Your Weekend. It's the first week of April and life abounds.

00:11:48Lambing is in full swing. Tractors are back to work after winter's pause. And the trees are becoming

00:11:55vibrant and verdant. The promise of more to come. And there's more to come on the show today,

00:12:00including Easter chocktails, baby lambs. And Leslie Joseph gets up close and personal with

00:12:07magnolias. And he can sing, act, dance, and woo with the best of them. Just ask Lady Mary.

00:12:15Star of Downton Abbey, Foil's War, and man of a thousand musicals, Julian Ovenden, on why we're

00:12:21all invited to the most swell party of the year, as he takes to the stage in Cole Porter's High

00:12:27Society.

00:12:28But first, Easter, for the lucky ones among us, is a time to relax and reflect.

00:12:33But for the green-fingered, it's also a perfect time to appreciate all the beautiful British flowers

00:12:40that this time of year has to offer. To showcase how to use some of your garden blooms. To bring

00:12:46a

00:12:46splash of colour to your Easter celebrations, floral designer Simon Lycett with a cornucopia

00:12:53of goodies here. Aren't they lovely? And did you lay that yourself?

00:12:57This was laid by the ooh-ah bird, I think. And I think we all know why. It's an ostrich,

00:13:03Jane.

00:13:03It's fantastic, isn't it? How do you get the top off? Well, and they're almost like porcelain,

00:13:07so you have to use one of those little hand-cutty drill things. A bit triggering,

00:13:12because the noise is quite dental and the smell is very dental. They come with a tiny hole,

00:13:17so you could just use them as a bud vase, but I've made a bit of a bigger hole, and

00:13:20it becomes a

00:13:22gorgeous vase. And then I've got a little urn, which acts as a wonderful egg cup for it. Add a

00:13:29bit of water. They're not porous, so they're nice. Aren't they actually, as you said, they are porcelain,

00:13:34aren't they? Yes, pretty much. And then just using your hand as a vase, just an assortment of stems,

00:13:41things like these really cute little butterfly ranunculus, which are one of the newer flowers

00:13:46that we're getting now. They're gorgeous, aren't they? Aren't they cute? They look like Japanese

00:13:49lemones, don't they? And they've got a sort of iridescence to the petals, which just shimmers

00:13:54and sparkles. These is one of my favourites, Ertel Muscari. Muscari, yeah. And the thing about them

00:13:59is, of course, they have to track the early insects, which is why they need as much in their

00:14:03armoury as possible to just draw them in. And then, of course, we love a little bit of

00:14:07a little bit of fragrance Solidor. So I'm threading the flowers in. I'm making sure that I haven't got any

00:14:14lower stems. You want to trim off or remove all those leaves, otherwise the water can get a bit

00:14:18soupy. Now, I've got to ask you about helibods. I know I ask every time, because a lot of people,

00:14:21you cut these, you put them in water and get... They do. Secret? Secret really is, if you're going

00:14:26to cut them from the garden, try and cut them, get them straight into water. But a lot of people

00:14:31will

00:14:31use a knife and just take one slice, very lightly, all the way down the length of the stem. I

00:14:36also

00:14:37sometimes will put them into hand-hot water, leave them, then top them up with cold water.

00:14:42They are tricky things to deal with. So ideally, always arrange in water and especially when it's

00:14:48your helibors. Right. And then just tie it off. I've got... This is a paper-covered wire,

00:14:54so it's not too aggressive on the stems because spring stems are all quite soft. It looks just

00:14:59like... Yeah, it looks... It's the same colour as the green plastic coating, but yeah. So it goes around,

00:15:04a couple of twists, snip that off and then trim those stems. And because I've got some lilac in there,

00:15:11I just want to go in and find that lilac stem and split the end because lilac again is something

00:15:16that is a bit tricky within your vase. And then you have a gorgeous little fragrant

00:15:21treat for Easter. It's as good as a Burford brown, that isn't it?

00:15:26Now, are you back later? I am, yes. Wonderful. More ideas.

00:15:30More ideas. Well, they're always inspirational and these tell you that Easter's a ride, don't they?

00:15:40Now, spring has always been a season of renewal and not much captures the spirit of Easter and new

00:15:46beginnings quite like a litter of lively puppies. These tiny bundles of fur, much like Easter itself,

00:15:54are a celebration of hope and fresh starts. So sit back, relax and get ready for a dose of puppy

00:16:02joy.

00:16:02Welcome back Manor Farm Vet, Bolo Esser, along with puppy trainer Carol Wright. Welcome to you both.

00:16:09And we've got with us here, we have Anique with Biscuit and Rachel with Waffle, two of the best behaved

00:16:16puppies

00:16:16I have ever seen. Rachel, what is your dog and how old?

00:16:22Waffle is a Sheltie, a Shetland sheepdog and he's four and a half months old.

00:16:26Right. And Anique? This is Biscuit, she's 15 weeks old and yeah, she's a bundle of joy.

00:16:32And the breeds then from your point of view, Bolo? I think they're both excellent breeds. I'm a bit of

00:16:37a

00:16:37terrier person as well. So we've got some working lines in there as well. So there is that instinct

00:16:42to work from both of them as well. But the thing is that with a terrier you've got a lot

00:16:45more of that

00:16:46ratting and chasing small game kind of instinct there. So sometimes they can lean towards destructive

00:16:52behaviours if we haven't nicked it in the bud early when they're a young puppy. And then with our

00:16:57Shelties, they're a little bit more calmer than our terriers. Now Carol, training isn't the same

00:17:01for every kind of puppy. It obviously has to vary a bit. Well, the training that they need is actually

00:17:06very similar. I think the basics, the foundations of training are the same for all puppies. But

00:17:14obviously there are some distinct breed differences when you're working with them. Some obviously are

00:17:21very quick to learn, some really struggle because of distraction and particularly, you know, you do

00:17:27find in classes you have some puppies that are actually quite shy and lack confidence and we need

00:17:33to spend time with them building confidence. And I think a lot of people underestimate

00:17:40how much time they need to actually spend with their puppy. Rachel, is that true of you and Waffle?

00:17:46Yes. Yeah, we knew that having a puppy would be quite a responsibility in terms of time and things,

00:17:53but completely ignored the fact that he wants to be involved in everything we do,

00:17:58whether it's unloading the dishwasher, doing the laundry, getting ready for work, everything and

00:18:05anything he wants to be involved in. So everything takes longer. Yeah. And how about you and Biscuit?

00:18:10I mean, same sort of thing. Yeah, dishwasher surfer is what we call her.

00:18:14You have to remember that at this age, this is the age where their brains are forming,

00:18:18their brains are, so they really want that, there's that inquisition, they're interested in everything.

00:18:21So they're finding their boundaries, aren't they? Exactly. The boundaries that we create for them. Exactly.

00:18:27This early learning stage is super important for them because all the behaviours they learn now,

00:18:33they will carry into adulthood. And because they're like sponges in terms of learning,

00:18:38they very quickly pick up not just the good behaviours that we want, but also some of the behaviours that

00:18:44we don't want. So we're about to meet another puppy, I think. Yes, we've got a little sprocker called

00:18:48Jerry. Right. And your sprocker is a Springer and Cocker Spaniel. Yes. Probably the most alert

00:18:57mix of spaniels that you can possibly get. Absolutely. So our sprocker is Jerry and his

00:19:03handler is Abbey. Welcome to you both. Now this is a Cocker with longer legs from the Springer,

00:19:09isn't it really? Exactly. So the Springer is slightly bigger than the Cocker and then we've got the best of

00:19:13both worlds here. We hope it's the best and not the worst. Exactly. And when you've got the Springer Cocker

00:19:17mix,

00:19:18you're definitely going to get that highly incentivised dog, nose, lots of energy, they're

00:19:23full of beans, so they just want to go and play and play. So I think this is where training

00:19:26gets

00:19:26a lot more important. But also it's finding that motivator because some dogs are motivated by food

00:19:32and something like a Cocker, a Sprocker, you're going to be motivated more so by maybe activities.

00:19:38By people. Exactly. Abbey, is that your experience as well? Tell us about Jerry. Age?

00:19:44So he's coming up to six months now. Right. Yes, we got him into training a bit later on

00:19:48than we probably should have, which Carol might tell you. But he's had two sessions now.

00:19:56Have you noticed the difference? Yes, absolutely. He's a lot calmer. I know it doesn't look like it,

00:20:01but he actually is. I think the environment, this is one of these high arousal environments for this

00:20:08type of breed. Yeah. And I think the other thing is, I think the training is important for all dogs,

00:20:14but I think particularly once you start talking working breeds and spaniels and collies,

00:20:21they all need a job. Yeah. And they all really thrive on the training. And I think the thing about

00:20:28them is that if you don't give them that job, if you don't give them enough to do, they tend

00:20:32to go

00:20:33self-employed. Exactly. What a lovely way of putting it. Well, Abbey and Jerry, who's now occupied in eating

00:20:40something, I'm sure is okay. Thank you very much indeed. Let's have a look at the basic training

00:20:47exercises then. First up, Jason and Bramble. Bramble is about seven months old, a Cocker Spaniel,

00:20:53working Cocker. Close. And she's quite excited by her environment, but that is absolutely fine.

00:20:59Jason's doing exactly the right thing. Bramble would love to come and have a really good sniff

00:21:04around the bales. Yeah. Oh, he's beginning to get around here. And around the cameras. So we are just

00:21:11waiting. That's it. That's really good, Jason. Being a Cocker Spaniel, we can smell absolutely

00:21:16everything that's on here. Bramble, close. So we've just lost our concentration, but look,

00:21:22that's super. Bolo, what's becoming really evident here is the requirement of patience in the owner.

00:21:27It's very easy for you to be frustrated by a puppy at such a young age. So you want to

00:21:31have a lot of

00:21:32patience, deep breaths, control your energy as you're training them, because you want to make

00:21:36sure that you're calm so that they can remain calm. And when I talked to Myrian with Sheepdogs,

00:21:41he was saying it's always short spells of doing it. Don't tire them doing it. Give them in regular,

00:21:47short spells of it. A few minutes at a time. It's absolutely plenty for a young puppy. Well,

00:21:51the cones have gone. We now have toys sprinkled everywhere for Maple, who's here with Monica.

00:21:56So what's going to happen here then, Cal? We're going to be doing a recall. Now,

00:22:00we've got quite a lot of distractions already here, but we've added some in the form of toys

00:22:05for Maple. And Monica is just going to be showing Maple that she's got a very, very yummy treat.

00:22:12And hopefully that treat is going to be sufficient that Maple's not going to feel inclined to

00:22:18head for all the other lovely snippy snails that are going. And if Monica wants to walk to the end

00:22:23of

00:22:23that alley, and then we're going to call Maple to us. Now, if you haven't got her focused,

00:22:31don't call her. Don't call her. Go back. But yeah, so let's go back with that treat and show it

00:22:38again,

00:22:38because she got a little bit distracted. That's much better. Oh, right. You've got the eye.

00:22:43OK. Now call her. People come.

00:22:48Well, that's interesting. There we are. Well done. So you went and you got the look,

00:22:52and then call. Yes. We've got their attention and they're locked in. That's when you know that

00:22:56you can tell them what to do or how you want them to respond. That's exactly right. So while we've

00:23:01been

00:23:01talking, the course has been set. And now we can let Ivy do a bit with Iona at the helm.

00:23:10So tell us

00:23:10what's going to happen here, Carol. OK, so Iona is going to be asking Ivy to sit and wait. And

00:23:17Iona's

00:23:18going to walk to the other side of the three jumps. And she's going to recall Ivy through. And then

00:23:25she's

00:23:26going to ask Ivy to come into the middle position at the end. So she's doing essentially a

00:23:31recall into middle. Here we go then. Sit. And wait. No distractions. Look at that. Looking.

00:23:44Ivy, come. Middle. Oh, impressive.

00:23:49Yes. Well done, Iona. Well done, Ivy. So what breed have we got here? This is a working

00:23:56Cocker Spaniel. Really? Wow. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Iona, well done. With all the cameras on you and Ivy.

00:24:03So sure as well. So that, you were saying, 16 months old here now. Yes, absolutely. So we've seen the

00:24:07passageway right the way through now. Yeah, absolutely. Yes. Well, thank you to Bola and

00:24:12Carol and to all our, I was going to say contestants, but they are in a way, aren't they?

00:24:18Coming up, well, the Easter bunny may be bringing baskets of chocolate and candy. Tom

00:24:23surges making sure that the adults are having a great time too, even after the egg hunts are well

00:24:28and truly over. He's here with his selection of choctales, including a tempting sounding

00:24:34chocolate bunny martini and a cocoa twist on a pina colada. Oh, excuse me. Intriguing.

00:24:42And to a man who always intrigues with his suave charm, impeccable vocals and undeniable screen presence.

00:24:50Life's so not fair. Yes, from Edelweiss, to People Will Say We're In Love, to

00:24:55Some Enchanted Evening. Some Enchanted Evening. He sung them all. Julian Ovenden on starring in nearly

00:25:01all of my favourite musicals. Join me, I'm Julian, for some enchanting chat right after this.

00:25:22Welcome back to Love Your Weekend. Still ahead. Intelligent, social and naturally curious with fantastic memories.

00:25:30There are a few things in the world as cute as a newborn lamb. It's a shame to grow up

00:25:36in there.

00:25:36How one young farmer's coping with the busiest time in the farming diary.

00:25:40Lambing season. Not much sleep, I would imagine. Also coming up, we meet the first ever sculptor

00:25:46in residence for the British Army's Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment.

00:25:50Zoe Carmichael takes equine inspiration to a whole new level.

00:25:54But first, to a theatrical jack-of-all-trades, from dramas like Foyle's War, Downton Abbey,

00:26:02and calling the shots in trigger point, to lighting up the musical stage with performances like these.

00:26:09Oh, what a whistled morning. Oh, what a whistled day.

00:26:18My God, a whistled ceiling. As this is going, I will come, I will come, I will come, I will

00:26:33come.

00:26:39Oh, what a whistled day.

00:26:55Oh, what a whistled day.

00:27:19Oh, what a beautiful morning.

00:27:21Maria, get happy, being alive and with a huge orchestra.

00:27:25I don't really like you, Julian Ovington.

00:27:28Why am I sitting here talking to someone who can do all that?

00:27:32The feeling when you're doing that.

00:27:35Oh, it's some of the most wonderful vocal music ever written.

00:27:40I'm terrified doing it because they're in big halls and stuff like that,

00:27:44but to do it with such an amazing orchestra, it was a dream for me.

00:27:51Is it the high notes that are terrifying?

00:27:55Maria is a particularly difficult song, but I like a challenge.

00:28:00But it is a little bit of a tightrope walk.

00:28:05Actually, the hardest thing about that song is you do that big high thing

00:28:07and then the end of the song is very, very, very small and intimate

00:28:12and also quite high, and that's much harder, technically.

00:28:16We'll talk about drama in a minute, but it's drama and music.

00:28:18And music and singing and musicals have always been at the core of what you do.

00:28:23Are those the real, this is why I do this,

00:28:26because this is the feeling I like best?

00:28:28I didn't set out to do musicals, I have to say.

00:28:30My musical training was much more kind of classical and choral.

00:28:33I was a chorister when I was a kid.

00:28:36And when I started out to be an actor, you know,

00:28:38I wanted to be Peter O'Toole or Roger Moore.

00:28:43But I sort of fell into musicals.

00:28:45My second job was a musical at the Don Mar, a Stephen Sondheim show.

00:28:49And I sort of discovered it as I went along.

00:28:53Did you work with him?

00:28:54I did.

00:28:55He came to the dress rehearsal.

00:28:57In fact, there's a great moment.

00:28:59We were, we, the show's Merrily Wrong starts as a school graduation.

00:29:03And the, the show, the Don Mar, the production we did,

00:29:06we started outside as kids.

00:29:09And then we processed in, in our robes, and we started the show.

00:29:13And we were doing the, we were doing the dress rehearsal,

00:29:16the first, yeah, the first run through maybe.

00:29:19And we were outside in the foyer of the Don Mar.

00:29:22And then out of the corner of my eye,

00:29:24I saw, I saw this elderly gentleman in a sort of slightly dirty Mac.

00:29:28So thinking I was being helpful, I went up to him and I said,

00:29:31um, oh, excuse me, sir, the show doesn't start for another week,

00:29:35but if you want to get tickets, the box office is downstairs

00:29:37and I'm sure they'll be able to help you.

00:29:39And he looked at him and he went, I wrote this stuff.

00:29:44So that was my first meeting with him.

00:29:46But his, why his music and his shows work still

00:29:50is that they speak to people on a very human level.

00:29:55And it's about real, real people.

00:29:58And what real people feel.

00:30:00And a lot of musicals are a sort of, a sort of fantasy lands, perhaps, you know?

00:30:06And his stuff is always anchored in, in quite uncomfortable feelings.

00:30:11Yes.

00:30:12And there's often a lot of heartbreak and resentment.

00:30:16You're about to go into High Society, playing Bing Crosby.

00:30:20Yeah.

00:30:21Or Cary Grant.

00:30:23Or, no, yes, yes.

00:30:25So High Society, Cole Porter musical, fantastic, you know, very, very famous film,

00:30:29which is based on a fantastic other film,

00:30:32which I think is based on a play called The Philadelphia Story.

00:30:34So, yes, we're doing it at the Barbican and then on a national tour

00:30:37around the country, around the British Isles and Dublin,

00:30:41for the rest of the year.

00:30:43So it's going to be, yeah, it's going to be fun.

00:30:44Shall I give you a taster of what you're meant to read?

00:30:47Oh, do you have to?

00:30:48Oh, go on.

00:30:48Well, just to remind everybody just how brilliant High Society is.

00:30:51Here's the film.

00:30:52Have you heard it's in the stars?

00:30:55Next July we collide with Mars.

00:30:59Well, did you ever?

00:31:01What a swell party.

00:31:04Swell party.

00:31:08Swell again, elegant party.

00:31:11This is...

00:31:18Such deliciously close harmony, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra.

00:31:22Pure Hollywood.

00:31:23I mean, you can see the kind of old-school confidence and charm

00:31:27they both have there, can't you?

00:31:28Isn't it?

00:31:28It's interesting watching them both.

00:31:30It's a little bit like comparing Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire

00:31:33in terms of their dancing techniques.

00:31:35Bing Crosby is almost not...

00:31:37He almost not sings.

00:31:39Do you know what I mean?

00:31:39It just sort of comes out of him.

00:31:41It's, like, effortless.

00:31:42He speaks music.

00:31:43Do you know what I mean?

00:31:44Yeah, I do.

00:31:44Whereas Frank Sinatra, I mean,

00:31:46it's one of the greatest singers of all time

00:31:48and his phrasing and everything,

00:31:49but there's much more of a sense of, I don't know,

00:31:54craft about Sinatra and he's thought about it.

00:31:57It's wonderful, yes.

00:31:59So, I mean, I'm in trouble.

00:32:01No, you're not.

00:32:02No, you're not.

00:32:03Because we've seen your musical credentials.

00:32:04You'll be OK.

00:32:06But it's fine.

00:32:06It's nice to do something.

00:32:08It's nice to reinvent something.

00:32:09Going to the straight acting, I mean,

00:32:11it's wonderful to discover that Sheila at the top of the show said,

00:32:14Foil's War, I've just discovered Foil's War.

00:32:17And you had this series that we at Home Love and We Watch

00:32:21playing Foil, Christopher Foil, Michael Kitchen's son,

00:32:26during that whole episode of the start of the war

00:32:29right the way through to the end.

00:32:31Here is Julian in Foil's War.

00:32:34I hate goodbyes.

00:32:36Oh, come on, Sam.

00:32:37It's only depth in them.

00:32:38It's not that far.

00:32:40I know.

00:32:43We're all right.

00:32:45There are always weekends.

00:32:46Please don't try to cheer them up anymore, Andrew.

00:32:50Well, you'll look after Dad for me.

00:32:54We'll look after each other.

00:32:55Good luck, Sam.

00:32:58And you.

00:33:24Beautifully written, beautifully filmed, beautifully acted,

00:33:27Foil's War.

00:33:28You, Honeysuckle Weeks, Michael Kitchen.

00:33:31It's terribly moving.

00:33:32Still, it's a shame you were such a cad.

00:33:36Because you'd left her down, didn't you?

00:33:38I can take you to task about this now.

00:33:41Yeah, people get very angry about that.

00:33:43Well, it shows you made your character's believable, doesn't it?

00:33:45I suppose so, yes.

00:33:46I mean, for me, it was a great experience

00:33:48because it was my first job on camera.

00:33:52I'm working with Michael, who I think is a great actor

00:33:57and also a great technician.

00:34:01It's a little bit of a mystery working on camera.

00:34:05How to be natural, as I'm sure you know.

00:34:08I mean, you're brilliant at it.

00:34:10No, but I can only play one character.

00:34:11No, no, but in terms of being natural and being yourself,

00:34:14that's the hardest thing to do.

00:34:16And to be able just to be able to breathe

00:34:18and to be able to be still

00:34:21and to be able to let the audience in,

00:34:23he was, he's brilliant at that.

00:34:26And I certainly learned an awful lot.

00:34:28I remember Alan Bennett saying to me once,

00:34:29he'd been working with Kenneth Branagh

00:34:31way back on Fortunes of War.

00:34:35Yeah, I remember that show.

00:34:36Yeah, yeah, with Emma Thompson.

00:34:37Was it Emma Thompson?

00:34:38Emma Thompson, Ken Branagh.

00:34:39And Alan played a part of the professoral lecturing.

00:34:41And he said, oh, no, love.

00:34:42He said, I felt watching Ken work,

00:34:44I just felt as though I would pull him faces.

00:34:47And it is that, there's a stillness about it, isn't there?

00:34:50And Michael's like that, particularly.

00:34:53Yeah, because the camera,

00:34:53you let the camera, I suppose, do the work.

00:34:55Although you are working,

00:34:57I mean, people say, you know, you do less on camera.

00:35:00Well, to a certain extent, that's true.

00:35:02But I think you have to work harder emotionally.

00:35:05You have to work harder inside.

00:35:07Yes.

00:35:08Just to, you know,

00:35:10and then let the camera just pick it up.

00:35:13But it was an amazing experience.

00:35:15And also to be in a show where,

00:35:17you know, people still, like Sheila today,

00:35:21saying how much she loves it,

00:35:23has a place in a kind of,

00:35:24it has a sort of national,

00:35:26I don't know, consciousness,

00:35:28which is, yeah, it's a rather privilege.

00:35:30It does, because as Sheila said at the top,

00:35:31it was honest.

00:35:32It showed what it really felt like to be there at that time.

00:35:35It wasn't sensationalist or gung-ho.

00:35:37No.

00:35:37Anything like that.

00:35:38It showed.

00:35:39No.

00:35:39Yeah.

00:35:40Yeah, and I suppose, yeah,

00:35:41because a lot of drama now is very much,

00:35:42you know, there's a lot of tears.

00:35:45Yeah.

00:35:45People think that you have to kind of,

00:35:47you know, go to...

00:35:48To get an award.

00:35:49To get an award, you have to be happy.

00:35:50Yeah, you have to be operatic

00:35:51and grandstanding,

00:35:53and I think that I don't,

00:35:54I turn, for me,

00:35:56I don't tend to be moved by that.

00:35:58I tend to be moved by people

00:36:00who are trying not to cry,

00:36:01rather than, you know, crying.

00:36:04Bless you.

00:36:05Good luck in our society.

00:36:07Now, to quote William Shakespeare,

00:36:09April hath put a spirit of youth in everything,

00:36:12and with it come longer days

00:36:14and more opportunities

00:36:15to capture nature and wildlife

00:36:18in the beautiful British countryside.

00:36:20You've been busy doing just that,

00:36:22so it's only right we show off

00:36:23some of your wonderful photography.

00:36:25It's time, you guessed,

00:36:27for Walk on the Wild Side.

00:36:28where you are,

00:36:56so that's the degree.

00:38:28What's not to like about Simon Leisert's Easter bouquet?

00:38:31We'll see you with Simon and his impressive blues right after this.

00:38:35We'll see you next time.

00:38:45We'll see you next time.

00:38:49Springtime brings with it birdsong, baby animals in the fields, bright flowers emerging from the ground, a few rays of

00:38:58sunshine that push through the clouds, and if you're really lucky, a big patch of blue sky.

00:39:34Here's Clare Rushbrook with Round the Year by Coventry Patmore.

00:39:46The crocus, while the days are dark, unfolds its saffron sheen.

00:39:52At April's touch, the crudest bark discovers gems of green.

00:39:58Then sleep the seasons full of might, while slowly swells the pod, and rounds the peach, and in the night

00:40:07the mushroom bursts the sod.

00:40:10The winter falls, the winter falls, the frozen rut is bound with silver bars, the snow drift heaps against the

00:40:19hut, and night is pierced with stars.

00:40:31Thank you, Clare. Lovely words.

00:40:33Now, heavily scented hyacinths, daffodils with their golden trumpets, and the many textures and colours of tulips.

00:40:42They're all associated with happiness and hope, and quite right too.

00:40:47There really is no season like spring, and as our gardens wake up from their winter sleep, it's no wonder

00:40:54displays of our early risers can put a smile on anyone's face,

00:40:58showing us how we can make the most of this season's blooms, floral designer, the master himself, Simon Lycett.

00:41:06I'll put your tulips down again now, because I felt I wanted to hold them just to explain, you know.

00:41:11Perfect.

00:41:11Aren't they gorgeous? Do you know, it's a shot in the arm, isn't it, especially when the sun shines?

00:41:16All that winter wet and grey.

00:41:18What a difference, a few bits of sun make, and some gorgeous spring flowers.

00:41:22I mean, look at this. What have you done? How many hours did it take you to do that?

00:41:27So there's some fake eggs that you can find, lots of sort of craft suppliers sell them, secured to the

00:41:33basket,

00:41:33and then I just poke some moss in amongst it.

00:41:36A little bit of gingham ribbon to add a bit of Easter fun, and then inside I've got a bowl

00:41:41with some two-inch mesh of chicken wire

00:41:43that I've scrunkled up, and some water, and that's my mechanics.

00:41:46This is pure Doris Day, this, isn't it?

00:41:47Pretty much, but I am a bit.

00:41:51And then anything that's a woody stem, like this lovely gelder.

00:41:55So here I'm going to cut it on an angle, and then I'm just going to split that stem as

00:42:00well.

00:42:00And this makes them take out the moisture better.

00:42:02It makes a lot of difference, and also if you can give it a drink for a day or two

00:42:06beforehand,

00:42:07any of the early foliage that we're starting to cut now from our gardens really benefits

00:42:13if you can let it have two or three days, cut, stand it in water, in the cool, and then

00:42:20arrange it.

00:42:20And with tulits, I often do them right up to the neck of the flower.

00:42:23Yes.

00:42:23So they don't do that swallow down.

00:42:25And it also means when you arrange them, your vases don't need topping up quite as much,

00:42:30because it's amazing how much water they all take up.

00:42:33So using those to form some little clusters, and then another fabulous favourite kick of green

00:42:38is these heavenly hellebores.

00:42:40You know, when you look inside a flower like that, in the spring sunshine,

00:42:45and you see the work of art with those golden-tipped stamens and the petals,

00:42:50dainty white, flushed with lime green.

00:42:52I mean, it's just...

00:42:54And as the petals fall, you get the...

00:42:57Or as the central part of the flower falls,

00:43:01you get the back half of it, as it were, going green rather than white.

00:43:06So it lasts and lasts and lasts.

00:43:08And I like to grow mine in pots, because they can be a little bit sort of...

00:43:12They'll sort of hang their heads quite often.

00:43:14So I grow mine in pots, and then you can move them around so you can actually look at them.

00:43:17They're breeding them now, these Lenten hellebores, with a more upright habit,

00:43:21so that the flowers turn up more than hanging down.

00:43:25And then...

00:43:25Oh, look, lilac.

00:43:26A little bit of lilac.

00:43:27And again, this is a really woody stem, so cut on an angle and split up the stem.

00:43:32And the way I'm arranging, as I'm pushing into my container,

00:43:35what I don't want to do is just jam it down in onto the wire.

00:43:40You need to just negotiate the stems through.

00:43:42Right the way through, which is why you use that wider chicken wire

00:43:45rather than the narrow one, which is more difficult.

00:43:47And then things like these anemones,

00:43:49that are just...

00:43:50To me, they're a fabulous spring flare.

00:43:52They're one of my real faves.

00:43:54Absolutely gorgeous.

00:43:56This...

00:43:56I mean, there's nothing...

00:43:58There's a kind of bashfulness about the way the flower sits there,

00:44:01but nothing remotely bashful about its colour when it fully opens like that.

00:44:05And that black centre's magnificent, isn't it?

00:44:07And that little ruff of green calyx behind the corolla,

00:44:12just a bit of bottomy there.

00:44:14Now, with your tulips, do you take any leaf off?

00:44:16I try and take quite a bit off.

00:44:17And also, when you're arranging tulips,

00:44:19they will grow about three or four inches during the vase life.

00:44:24So just be aware, if you're arranging something

00:44:26and you're not going to use it for a few days,

00:44:28cut them a little bit shorter to allow for them growing.

00:44:31But you can always pop them out,

00:44:32just trim it down and put them back in again afterwards.

00:44:35It's the whole range of colours,

00:44:38the range of, you know, the parrot tulips

00:44:40with their frilly petals that have been sliced at the edges,

00:44:44the lily flower that go in and then come out again,

00:44:47the range of tulips you can get now to grow in the garden.

00:44:50And if you've got a veg patch,

00:44:53go wild and buying tulip bulbs come the autumn.

00:44:56You can plant them right up to Christmas tulips.

00:44:57They're quite happy being planted late.

00:44:59And then, if you plant them on a veg patch,

00:45:01you don't mind cutting them.

00:45:03No.

00:45:03As a cutting...

00:45:05And some of them will come up year after year after year.

00:45:07So little few ranunculus in there.

00:45:09Look at that.

00:45:11Joyous.

00:45:12I mean, how...

00:45:13A Barbara Cartland of a flower.

00:45:15It is, isn't it?

00:45:16It's a fully doubled tutu.

00:45:17There's a ballet.

00:45:18You know, in the old days, when Strictly come dancing,

00:45:21when they used to wear frocks like that,

00:45:22in the days of Peter West and Terry Wogan doing come dancing,

00:45:27that's for the older members of our audience.

00:45:29He'll go back that far.

00:45:31But he's not your audience.

00:45:31With patent leather hair on all the men

00:45:33and a million sequins on the ladies.

00:45:34Yes.

00:45:35All sewn on thy hand by their mothers.

00:45:37Yes.

00:45:38Remember that well.

00:45:39I'm getting a nice little bunch here.

00:45:40Look at these.

00:45:41Oh, look at that, Simon.

00:45:42Look at...

00:45:42Now, what are you doing with that?

00:45:43A little cone of just some bobby-dazzle coloured paper.

00:45:47They were actually sold as little baskets.

00:45:49But then, look, I've got some of these.

00:45:51Oh!

00:45:52Little Easter eggs.

00:45:54So, just sit those in there...

00:45:56Yeah.

00:45:57..and then just nestle that in amongst your arrangement.

00:46:01How wonderful.

00:46:02Look at that.

00:46:02And it means that you can share a few eggs.

00:46:04Yeah, with all the family.

00:46:06But particularly, me.

00:46:09I'll give you one for this.

00:46:10Oh, thank you.

00:46:10Right.

00:46:11Give me a little bunch here.

00:46:13Wonderful.

00:46:14Go on, you put that...

00:46:14I'll put that one in there.

00:46:16I'm always worried about putting things in your arrangement.

00:46:18You do it, you do it.

00:46:20Oh, superb.

00:46:21Simon, you are as ever.

00:46:23A genius.

00:46:24Pleasure.

00:46:25Who wouldn't want that on their table at Easter?

00:46:29Simon, you're a genius.

00:46:30Thank you very much.

00:46:31Happy Easter.

00:46:32Happy Easter.

00:46:33Oh!

00:46:34Don't eat the ones with silver paper on.

00:46:42You're all right.

00:46:43Thank you for those.

00:46:44Thank you very much.

00:46:47Caught me on my very own Easter egg hunt

00:46:49in Manor Farms' chicken coop.

00:46:51Now, did you know egg-giving at Easter

00:46:53goes back hundreds of years?

00:46:56The earliest record of an Easter egg in England

00:46:58was almost 800 years ago, in 1290,

00:47:02when King Edward I bought 450 eggs,

00:47:06had them decorated,

00:47:08then gave them to members of his household.

00:47:11Finding 450 here might be a bit of a stretch.

00:47:14I've got a couple.

00:47:14While I'm looking,

00:47:15time for the latest in our series

00:47:17on Britain's Young Farmers.

00:47:19Today, we're heading to East Sussex

00:47:22to visit Luke Curtis,

00:47:23who's deep in the throes

00:47:25of that most Easter-y of periods,

00:47:28the lambing season.

00:47:39Get them up, then.

00:47:42My journey in farming began when I was 12 years old.

00:47:45I used to help a close family friend out

00:47:47at lambing time in the evenings after school.

00:47:50And then, yeah,

00:47:51my passion for farming began there

00:47:52and just carried on with me

00:47:54until I went to Agricultural College

00:47:56to play for their football academy as a profession.

00:47:59But I knew the head of agriculture there

00:48:02and he talked me into joining the course

00:48:03and I never played a game of football after that.

00:48:07In this journey of farming,

00:48:09you don't have to come from a family farm.

00:48:11It's all about the people you meet

00:48:13and the opportunities that can arise around those people

00:48:15that makes it one of the best jobs in the world.

00:48:19I first started my sheep journey with four ewes,

00:48:23which I got as a graduation present from college

00:48:25and then many moons ago.

00:48:28And now we're at 300 ewes of my own on this holding,

00:48:31currently expanding all the time.

00:48:34So another part of the diversification in my life

00:48:37is that I come and help subcontract.

00:48:39A local farmer gets me in to do the sheep management.

00:48:42We've been lambing here for the past two months.

00:48:45It's a tiring job at this time of year

00:48:47because we are up 24-7.

00:48:50This really is the start of lambing.

00:48:52Now we've got 300 left to do.

00:48:55So we mark up the ewes and lambs with the same number

00:48:59so that when they go outside,

00:49:00we can identify who they belong to

00:49:02if there's an issue that may arise

00:49:04and then we can sort out the problem.

00:49:06It's a good management tool.

00:49:09We've just come in this morning

00:49:10and we've just walked in

00:49:11and we've seen this ewes started lambing

00:49:12and we can tell that this lamb's coming backwards.

00:49:16Normally you want them presented, obviously,

00:49:17two front legs and a nose

00:49:19because it's the most streamlined for them.

00:49:21But when they're coming backwards,

00:49:22you have to kind of intervene

00:49:23and make sure you get them out.

00:49:25So that is what we're going to do

00:49:27is give her a little helping hand

00:49:28and make sure it comes out nice and quick

00:49:31because you don't want the lamb

00:49:32taking its first breath inside the sheep

00:49:34because then it can obviously drown in the birthing fluid.

00:49:37So what we've got now is

00:49:39the second lamb is jumbled up

00:49:41with its brother or sister

00:49:42because she's got three on board.

00:49:44So it's a little bit of a jumble up in there.

00:49:48So now we've got to try and determine

00:49:50which legs belong to which lamb

00:49:52and we're going to try and make mummy do

00:49:54a fair bit of the work

00:49:56seeing as that's a natural way

00:49:58she would normally do it

00:49:59but we've had to help her out a little bit.

00:50:03We'll go get one more out now.

00:50:13So when they come out,

00:50:14we want to make sure that all their air rays

00:50:16are clear as possible

00:50:17which is to kickstart them

00:50:19in this fascinating cycle

00:50:22of them getting up

00:50:23and bonding with the mother

00:50:25but what we also do

00:50:26is make sure they're sitting

00:50:28with their two front legs out

00:50:30so it naturally makes them lift their head up

00:50:32and it extends their airways

00:50:34so they can get a good breath.

00:50:37So this first lamb

00:50:38is no longer than, what,

00:50:40two minutes old

00:50:41and he's already trying to find his feet

00:50:43to get his close bond with his mum

00:50:45and try and get towards that milk

00:50:46which is so vital for them

00:50:47surviving in this early stage

00:50:49because the first bit of colostrum

00:50:50they get from the ewe

00:50:51it's like gold dust.

00:50:53It's so strong of all the antibodies

00:50:54they need to survive.

00:51:00So what we've got happening now is

00:51:02a sheep's seen the newborn lambs

00:51:04and decided she wants to be an auntie

00:51:07and try and mother up

00:51:09with one of these lambs

00:51:10even though they're not hers

00:51:11one of these newborn lambs

00:51:13could think that this sheep

00:51:14is her new mother

00:51:15so then actually this ewe's not given birth yet

00:51:19so she's gained a lamb

00:51:20and then if you try and put

00:51:22the newborn lamb back to her mother

00:51:24she might reject it

00:51:25and so it's important now

00:51:26that we take the ewe

00:51:28that's just given birth

00:51:29with the lambs

00:51:30into an individual pen

00:51:31where she can create that bond

00:51:33between her and her newborn lambs

00:51:35without somebody else interfering.

00:51:40I'm very happy

00:51:41because that's a good start.

00:51:43Today's the due date

00:51:43and they're on time

00:51:44which is the main thing

00:51:45you know

00:51:46that means I've done my part right.

00:51:54Thank you Luke.

00:51:55Coming up

00:51:56how brewers and distillers

00:51:57are getting in on the act

00:51:59luring adult sweet tooths

00:52:01with classic Easter flavours

00:52:03and capturing

00:52:03the spirit of the season

00:52:05with whimsical Easter cocktails.

00:52:08That keen connoisseur

00:52:09of confection

00:52:10Tom Sergi

00:52:11has all bases covered

00:52:13in today's

00:52:14Best of British

00:52:14and she's the

00:52:16household cavalry

00:52:17sculptor in residence.

00:52:19After years

00:52:20in a city job

00:52:21Zoe Carmichael

00:52:22was destined

00:52:23to devote herself

00:52:24to the antique discipline

00:52:25of sculpture

00:52:26and immortalise

00:52:27her favourite subjects

00:52:29horses

00:52:30in bronze.

00:52:31I'll see you with Zoe

00:52:32and her equine bronzes

00:52:34right after this.

00:52:48Welcome back

00:52:49to Love Your Weekend.

00:52:51Coming up

00:52:51you name it

00:52:52she's done it.

00:52:53Dame Sheila Hancock

00:52:54on being top of her game

00:52:55for over seven decades.

00:52:58And he's been

00:52:58on his very own

00:52:59Easter egg hunt

00:53:00to find the perfect

00:53:01treats for us.

00:53:02Tom Sergi

00:53:03indulging us

00:53:04with his

00:53:04eclectic selection

00:53:06of Easter

00:53:07chocolatey tipples.

00:53:08I see he's dressed

00:53:09for the occasion.

00:53:10I ask no questions.

00:53:12Now earlier

00:53:13you saw me in a vehicle

00:53:14so quirky

00:53:15it could be

00:53:16straight out of

00:53:16wacky races

00:53:17and so vintage

00:53:18it makes the

00:53:19Reliant Robin

00:53:20look like a spaceship.

00:53:21My short drive

00:53:22in the 1900

00:53:25locomobile steam car

00:53:26thought to be

00:53:27the world's first

00:53:28mass-produced car

00:53:30wasn't nearly enough

00:53:31to satisfy

00:53:32my murdering

00:53:32curiosity.

00:53:33So owner

00:53:34Tony Slingo

00:53:35has hopped back

00:53:36in the driving seat

00:53:37to explain

00:53:38how he came

00:53:39into possession

00:53:40of this

00:53:41time capsule

00:53:42on wheels.

00:53:43When you hear

00:53:44a sound like that

00:53:45well it thrills me.

00:53:47Well stopped

00:53:47Tony.

00:53:49I'm getting very

00:53:50good at this now.

00:53:50You're getting good

00:53:51as you can imagine.

00:53:52I really enjoyed it.

00:53:53It was a bit scary

00:53:54at the top of the show.

00:53:55Tell me about it.

00:53:56I mean 1900

00:53:57the first mass-produced car?

00:53:59It's thought to be

00:54:00the world's first

00:54:01mass-produced car

00:54:02between 1897

00:54:04and 1904.

00:54:07It's thought that

00:54:083,000 were made.

00:54:09Gosh.

00:54:11But sadly now

00:54:12only about 12

00:54:13worldwide survive.

00:54:14So this is

00:54:15extraordinarily rare.

00:54:17How did you come

00:54:17up on it?

00:54:18I bought this

00:54:19actually from

00:54:20a steam specialist

00:54:21down in Exeter.

00:54:22Did it look like this?

00:54:23No it didn't.

00:54:24No it was

00:54:24in many boxes

00:54:25of bits.

00:54:28But I was looking

00:54:29for a challenge

00:54:30having restored

00:54:31many classic cars

00:54:32over the years.

00:54:32How did you work

00:54:33out what went well?

00:54:34Luckily I found

00:54:35someone up in Cambridge

00:54:36that also owns a car

00:54:37and he kindly

00:54:39allowed me to pop up

00:54:40there and photograph

00:54:40his car and detail it

00:54:42which helped me

00:54:43obviously enormously.

00:54:44But it's a delightful

00:54:45run and it feels

00:54:46like driving Chitty Bang Bang

00:54:47when you're on top

00:54:48of it.

00:54:49You've got steering

00:54:49here.

00:54:50That's the steering

00:54:52column.

00:54:53So that just

00:54:53moves the wheels

00:54:54left and right.

00:54:55This here

00:54:56is the throttle.

00:54:58Steam throttle.

00:54:58Yes.

00:54:59So that's forward

00:55:00and you put that

00:55:01back and it's reverse.

00:55:02End of controls.

00:55:04That's it.

00:55:04But I did feel

00:55:05it was a bit like

00:55:05doing this.

00:55:06It's exactly that way.

00:55:07Yes.

00:55:08But a lot of fun.

00:55:09So it's powered

00:55:10obviously by water,

00:55:12steam.

00:55:13Yes.

00:55:13Heated the water.

00:55:14What heats the water?

00:55:15It's got a petrol

00:55:16fired burner underneath

00:55:17which was actually

00:55:18quite advanced for its

00:55:19day.

00:55:20Prior to this

00:55:21obviously most of the

00:55:21steam engines were

00:55:22coal fired.

00:55:23Yeah.

00:55:23So this was a huge

00:55:24leap forward in

00:55:25technology for the

00:55:26day.

00:55:27Pressurised fuel

00:55:28which is injected

00:55:29into the engine

00:55:30through a vaporiser

00:55:32and then that

00:55:33comes out of the

00:55:33vaporiser back

00:55:34into the burner

00:55:36to produce

00:55:37obviously the flame

00:55:38that you need

00:55:38to heat the steam.

00:55:39So I mean

00:55:40how big is the

00:55:41water tank?

00:55:42It holds 19 litres

00:55:44so it's actually

00:55:44quite small

00:55:45and it consumes

00:55:46about a gallon

00:55:47of water per mile.

00:55:49So you can go

00:55:50what about 15-20 miles?

00:55:5215 miles or so

00:55:52you're knocking on

00:55:53someone's door

00:55:53looking for a pond

00:55:54basically but

00:55:56that's the way it was.

00:55:57And how fast can you

00:55:58go because I have to

00:55:58say when I came

00:55:59round that corner

00:55:59I thought crumbs

00:56:00this is faster than

00:56:01it's sort of

00:56:02cruiser speed

00:56:03comfortably

00:56:03sort of 15-20 miles

00:56:04an hour

00:56:05but it will do

00:56:0630 miles an hour

00:56:08which given the

00:56:09controls is actually

00:56:10as you know

00:56:11from yourself

00:56:11you have to be

00:56:12quite brave to

00:56:13have you done

00:56:14the London to

00:56:14Brighton in it?

00:56:15No I haven't

00:56:16no.

00:56:18What I would

00:56:19like to do

00:56:19actually is

00:56:21complete the

00:56:22John de Groot

00:56:23to Land's End

00:56:24journey.

00:56:25This was one of

00:56:25the first cars

00:56:26to actually make

00:56:27that journey.

00:56:27How long did

00:56:28it take?

00:56:2916 days.

00:56:30That's an awful

00:56:31lot of 20 gallons.

00:56:32But the springs on it

00:56:33I felt it was really

00:56:34quite comfortable

00:56:35coming down there.

00:56:36It is quite comfortable

00:56:36and of course the

00:56:37seat's nice and warm

00:56:38because you're actually

00:56:38sitting on the burner

00:56:39and the boiler

00:56:40so it's actually

00:56:41a nice place to be.

00:56:43You can see though

00:56:44kind of what it

00:56:45developed from

00:56:45the horse's carriage.

00:56:47Oh absolutely.

00:56:47It's just missing the

00:56:48horse at the front

00:56:49isn't it?

00:56:49You've even got

00:56:49this sort of

00:56:50classic buckboard

00:56:51sort of shape.

00:56:51Yeah team of horse

00:56:52in the front

00:56:52wouldn't look out

00:56:53of place at all.

00:56:54Well done you

00:56:55for putting it together

00:56:56and do you get a

00:56:57chance to use it

00:56:58a lot now?

00:56:59As much as I can

00:57:00yes.

00:57:00I mean it's still

00:57:01under development

00:57:01there's still work

00:57:02to do

00:57:02but we're making

00:57:04good progress

00:57:05with it.

00:57:05Well we've had

00:57:06an absolutely

00:57:07glorious day

00:57:08being with you

00:57:08and I'm thrilled

00:57:09to bits

00:57:10that is now

00:57:10officially the

00:57:11oldest car

00:57:12I've ever driven.

00:57:13I've done the one

00:57:14that was about

00:57:141903

00:57:15in the London

00:57:16to Brighton

00:57:17well I've been on it

00:57:18and I drove a little

00:57:18bit of it.

00:57:19Probably an internal

00:57:20combustion engine

00:57:20in that one.

00:57:21Yes it was.

00:57:22Well this takes

00:57:23probably three

00:57:24quarters an hour

00:57:25to raise steam

00:57:25so of course

00:57:26as soon as

00:57:27the internal

00:57:27combustion engine

00:57:28came along

00:57:28no one wanted

00:57:29a steam car.

00:57:30Ah but you see

00:57:31you're talking to

00:57:31a patron of the

00:57:32watercress line

00:57:32down here in

00:57:33Hampshire

00:57:33I'm very happy

00:57:34to be.

00:57:35Anywhere near steam?

00:57:36Yes.

00:57:36Well I should

00:57:37begrudgingly let you

00:57:38go now it's been

00:57:39a delight to be

00:57:39with it and to

00:57:40have actually

00:57:41driven a steam car.

00:57:42Thank you Terry.

00:57:43Pleasure to be

00:57:43here today.

00:57:49Did you know

00:57:50that in some parts

00:57:51of Germany

00:57:52they don't have

00:57:53visits from

00:57:54the Easter bunny

00:57:55at this time of

00:57:56year but from

00:57:56an Easter fox?

00:57:58A strange thought

00:57:59isn't it?

00:58:00Don't worry.

00:58:01I can't tell

00:58:01I'm much happier

00:58:02with bunnies.

00:58:03Rabbit man

00:58:04myself.

00:58:05Now anybody

00:58:06can write a diary

00:58:07but what it really

00:58:08needs is a wealth

00:58:09of lived experience.

00:58:11That's why the

00:58:11very best tell-alls

00:58:13concern those

00:58:14with a fair few

00:58:15years under their

00:58:15belt.

00:58:16What better

00:58:17subject for this

00:58:18week's spring

00:58:19diaries then

00:58:20than the

00:58:21ancient magnolia

00:58:2295 million

00:58:24years old?

00:58:25Leslie Joseph

00:58:26puts pen to

00:58:27paper in

00:58:28chapter three

00:58:29of her

00:58:30spring diaries.

00:58:35Dear diary,

00:58:36last night I

00:58:37travelled through

00:58:38the night to

00:58:39Lyndhurst ahead

00:58:40of Mr.

00:58:41Biggin's grand

00:58:41arrival.

00:58:42I confess to

00:58:43feeling quite

00:58:44spent.

00:58:44That was until

00:58:46my eyes caught

00:58:47sight of what

00:58:48could only be

00:58:49described as

00:58:49spring spectacle

00:58:51of splendour.

00:58:52That I was

00:58:53quite compelled

00:58:53to halt my

00:58:54promenade,

00:58:55clutch my

00:58:56parasol and

00:58:57allow myself a

00:58:59moment of

00:58:59genuine admiration.

00:59:02Dear diary,

00:59:03you would not

00:59:04believe it.

00:59:05The magnolia

00:59:06has begun.

00:59:07I am bewitched

00:59:09by her presence.

00:59:10One does not

00:59:11simply notice a

00:59:12magnolia in bloom.

00:59:14No, one

00:59:15encounters it.

00:59:16like arriving

00:59:17at a grand

00:59:18ball and

00:59:19discovering a

00:59:20duchess already

00:59:20stationed at

00:59:21the top of

00:59:21the staircase,

00:59:22draped in

00:59:23silk, with

00:59:24a feather in

00:59:25her hair, and

00:59:26every eye fixed

00:59:28firmly upon

00:59:29her.

00:59:30I know

00:59:30jealousy is

00:59:31unbecoming, but

00:59:32there are times

00:59:33one does

00:59:34struggle.

00:59:35For if ever

00:59:36a tree knew

00:59:37how to command

00:59:38attention, it

00:59:39is the

00:59:40magnolia.

00:59:42I would be

00:59:43wrong to deny

00:59:44her such

00:59:45greatness, because

00:59:46magnolias are

00:59:47positively ancient

00:59:48aristocrats of

00:59:49the plant world.

00:59:50In fact, they

00:59:52were blooming on

00:59:52earth long before

00:59:53bees had even

00:59:54evolved, more

00:59:56than 90

00:59:57million years

00:59:57ago.

00:59:58Oh, what

01:00:00beautiful blooms

01:00:01they are.

01:00:02Many magnolias

01:00:03flower before a

01:00:04single leaf

01:00:05appears, leaving

01:00:06their branches

01:00:07decorated only with

01:00:08those glorious

01:00:10chalice-shaped

01:00:10blossoms, each

01:00:12one poised on

01:00:13a twig, like a

01:00:14champagne glass

01:00:15waiting to be

01:00:16filled, daring

01:00:17you to lift it

01:00:18to your lips and

01:00:20taste spring

01:00:21itself.

01:00:22Oh, I hear

01:00:23Mr. Biggins has

01:00:24arrived, so with

01:00:25great speed I must

01:00:26put will and

01:00:27paper down.

01:00:28Yours, as

01:00:29ever, L.

01:00:31Joseph.

01:00:35Thank you,

01:00:36Leslie, very much

01:00:37indeed.

01:00:37Did you know

01:00:37the scent of some

01:00:39magnolia flower

01:00:39flowers can trigger

01:00:41brain receptors

01:00:42associated with

01:00:43romantic feelings?

01:00:45Botanical romance

01:00:46at its best.

01:00:48Who knew?

01:00:49No, she's an

01:00:50internationally

01:00:50recognised sculptor

01:00:52known for capturing

01:00:53the spirit, movement

01:00:54and power of equine

01:00:56life in extraordinary

01:00:57detail.

01:00:58After training in a

01:01:00legendary Florence

01:01:01art school, Zoe

01:01:02Carmichael went on

01:01:03to become the first

01:01:04ever sculptor in

01:01:06residence with the

01:01:07British Army's

01:01:08household cavalry-mounted

01:01:10regiment where she

01:01:11continues to capture

01:01:12the military horses in

01:01:14bronze.

01:01:15With such a pedigree,

01:01:16I'm delighted that

01:01:17Zoe's carved some time

01:01:19out from a busy

01:01:20schedule.

01:01:21Sorry about that.

01:01:22To visitors here at

01:01:24Manor Farm.

01:01:24Zoe, lovely to see you.

01:01:26What astonishes me is

01:01:28that you've only been

01:01:29doing this for about

01:01:30four years.

01:01:30You began your working

01:01:32life in the city.

01:01:34Yes, I did.

01:01:35As what?

01:01:36I was head of account

01:01:37management at a market

01:01:38data finance firm.

01:01:40And that's the way in

01:01:41to start sculpting

01:01:42things.

01:01:42How astonishing, what

01:01:44triggered the change,

01:01:45apart from bravery?

01:01:47Well, I fancied a two-week

01:01:48holiday to Florence and I

01:01:49picked a two-week

01:01:51sculpting course.

01:01:53And I got there and

01:01:55then thought, hold on

01:01:56a second, this all

01:01:56makes quite a lot of

01:01:57sense.

01:01:58And they went back

01:01:58home, quit my job.

01:02:00Everybody thought I was

01:02:01having a nervous

01:02:02breakdown.

01:02:03Moved to Florence for

01:02:04a year and here we

01:02:05are.

01:02:05What a wonderful,

01:02:06wonderful story.

01:02:07Well, let's have a

01:02:08look at the process and

01:02:09also some of the

01:02:10glorious things that

01:02:11you've made.

01:02:12First sculpting

01:02:13residents for the

01:02:13Household Covering

01:02:14Mounties Regiment.

01:02:15Wow.

01:02:16They begin life like

01:02:17this.

01:02:18Yes, this is the

01:02:19armature and you've

01:02:21got to make the

01:02:21armature quite strong

01:02:22especially for

01:02:23sculptures like Juno

01:02:25which carry a lot of

01:02:26weight.

01:02:27And it starts off with

01:02:28a T and then you add

01:02:30on the extra

01:02:31appendages for legs and

01:02:33tails or rhino horns

01:02:35and things like that.

01:02:37And you can see where

01:02:37I've added it on, how

01:02:39I start.

01:02:39So, you know, you

01:02:40kind of just take it

01:02:41and you just squish it

01:02:43round.

01:02:43And then we go to...

01:02:45Yeah, and then you

01:02:46start to put the clay

01:02:48on.

01:02:48So this is about day

01:02:50three, I would say.

01:02:51Yeah.

01:02:52And where I...

01:02:53You can see it's still

01:02:54quite rough but you can

01:02:55start to see the general...

01:02:56When this is finished

01:02:57then and refined and

01:02:59this is, you know, part

01:03:00of the way through at the

01:03:00moment, the next stage

01:03:01then presumably involves

01:03:03this down here, does it?

01:03:04So...

01:03:04Yeah, so then you put the

01:03:07silicon...

01:03:08I'll show you, should we...

01:03:09Do you mind helping me

01:03:09open it?

01:03:10Yeah, OK.

01:03:11So...

01:03:11There we go.

01:03:13Woo!

01:03:14So...

01:03:14So this is when you get

01:03:16the foundry involved and

01:03:17you work together with

01:03:18them and this is the

01:03:20silicon layer.

01:03:21Now, so we take that...

01:03:23Yeah.

01:03:24We put it in what?

01:03:26Well, you just drip.

01:03:28This would be liquid and

01:03:29you drip.

01:03:30It's like, you've never

01:03:31had your nails done.

01:03:33No, not recently.

01:03:34I'm a gardener.

01:03:35They're awful.

01:03:37I'm a sculptor.

01:03:38Mine are too.

01:03:39So you pour liquid

01:03:40silicon on and it sets.

01:03:42Right.

01:03:42And you do another layer.

01:03:43Yeah.

01:03:43And then you put a plaster

01:03:44layer on the top and so

01:03:46you do it in two halves

01:03:47like you can see with the

01:03:48rhino.

01:03:48Yes.

01:03:49This mould, this is done.

01:03:51This has had its mould

01:03:52taken.

01:03:53Is this what comes out?

01:03:54Yes.

01:03:55So the liquid wax gets

01:03:56poured in there and you

01:03:58let it set and then so

01:03:59you'll see that this fits.

01:04:02Fits in there.

01:04:03Exactly.

01:04:04Yeah.

01:04:05In like that.

01:04:05Wow.

01:04:06And then you...

01:04:07So that is just wax now.

01:04:09Yeah.

01:04:10And you join them back

01:04:10together.

01:04:11Yeah.

01:04:12Two halves.

01:04:12Yeah.

01:04:13Yeah.

01:04:14Yeah.

01:04:14I'm only asking these

01:04:15naive questions on behalf

01:04:16of the viewer because I

01:04:17don't know either.

01:04:19So it's...

01:04:19Yeah, it's quite light.

01:04:20Yes, but this is fragile,

01:04:21isn't it?

01:04:21Very fragile.

01:04:22Yeah.

01:04:23It's very light.

01:04:24Yeah.

01:04:24Please take it off.

01:04:25Yes, agreed.

01:04:26And then what you do is

01:04:28you take this sculpture and

01:04:30the foundry attach runners.

01:04:32So they're wax lines.

01:04:36Yeah.

01:04:36And you dip it in a ceramic

01:04:38liquid.

01:04:39Yeah.

01:04:39Which you dip over a period

01:04:40of, say, two weeks and it

01:04:42sets hard and you put that

01:04:43in a kiln so then the

01:04:45ceramic will set completely

01:04:47hard and the wax will

01:04:48evaporate.

01:04:49So from clay to wax to

01:04:51ceramic.

01:04:52Yeah.

01:04:52To...

01:04:53Pour in liquid molten

01:04:54bronze.

01:04:55Wow.

01:04:55Yeah.

01:04:55That is...

01:04:56You see, that's beautiful.

01:04:58But when you do this to it...

01:05:00Yes.

01:05:00Oh my goodness.

01:05:02I'm back in Venice with the

01:05:04horses on some marks.

01:05:06Those amazing horses.

01:05:07I love that

01:05:07patination.

01:05:08That took quite an

01:05:09experimentation.

01:05:10So what do you use?

01:05:11What do you put on it?

01:05:12So this is fresh bronze.

01:05:13You have to polish it down

01:05:14like this so there's not any

01:05:16kind of residue in your

01:05:16fingers or anything.

01:05:18Right.

01:05:18And then you need a lot of

01:05:19acid and heat to create

01:05:22different parts of the

01:05:23process.

01:05:23But your real piece de

01:05:24resistance, Zoe, is Juno,

01:05:27the drum horse in silver.

01:05:29We've got the bronze version

01:05:32over there but this is

01:05:33astonishing and I mean what

01:05:35an honour because the Queen

01:05:37named Juno I think, didn't

01:05:38she?

01:05:39Yep.

01:05:39Juno was named by the

01:05:40Queen, yeah.

01:05:41Yeah.

01:05:42And then casting it in

01:05:42silver.

01:05:43Yeah.

01:05:43This is my first silver piece

01:05:45and the first silver of the

01:05:47drum horse and she's the

01:05:49first mayor to the household

01:05:50cavalry, manager regiment.

01:05:52So it's a really special

01:05:53piece to do.

01:05:54I'll tell you what, don't

01:05:55go back to the city.

01:05:58Absolutely breathtaking.

01:05:58I'm quite busy now.

01:06:00I've got too much to do.

01:06:01I bet you're quite busy

01:06:01now and you can obviously

01:06:02make a living at it as

01:06:03well with many conditions.

01:06:05Luckily, I feel very

01:06:05lucky, yes.

01:06:06Well I think we feel very

01:06:07lucky having seen exactly

01:06:08what you do.

01:06:09Thank you so much Zoe.

01:06:10Thank you for having me.

01:06:11You're welcome.

01:06:12Come back again.

01:06:13I'm enamoured.

01:06:15Glorious, glorious work.

01:06:16Coming up, we haven't spent

01:06:19ourselves entirely, in spite of

01:06:20this glory here, five Easter

01:06:23chocktails that are worth

01:06:25hopping to the bar for.

01:06:27Tom Sergis serving up a

01:06:28cream, egg, white, Russian and

01:06:29chocolate bunny martini at the

01:06:32end of the show.

01:06:33And she's an Olivier Award

01:06:35winner, an OBE recipient and

01:06:37now a dame.

01:06:38Sheila Hancock on the twists and

01:06:40turns of an impressive acting

01:06:42career.

01:06:42And now Betty Davis inspired her

01:06:45to keep going.

01:06:46I'll see you with the dame and

01:06:47more right after this.

01:07:02Welcome back to Love Your

01:07:03Weekend.

01:07:04Coming up, chocolate and

01:07:05boozy treats.

01:07:06Need I say more?

01:07:08Could it be Easter?

01:07:09First, do a treat of a different

01:07:11kind and somebody who never fails

01:07:13to entertain.

01:07:14My next guest is one of the most

01:07:15respected actresses and writers

01:07:17of our time.

01:07:18She became a household name in the

01:07:201960s sitcom The Rag Trade.

01:07:23Whistle, everybody out.

01:07:24Miriam Carlin, remember that.

01:07:26Since then, she's started everything

01:07:28from Carry On Cleo, the award-winning

01:07:30Cabaret, The Sixth Commandment and

01:07:32Edie.

01:07:33But I wonder what was going through her

01:07:35mind when she got the call to star

01:07:37opposite this Hollywood icon.

01:07:39I'd like to see my grandchildren

01:07:41occasionally, Terry.

01:07:42They're waiting for you, Mum.

01:07:44They're waiting to see what I bought

01:07:45them.

01:07:46What have you bought them then, Mum?

01:07:49You see, Shirley, no subtleties with

01:07:51Karen.

01:07:52What have you bought them?

01:07:54You want to know, I'm giving them money.

01:07:57Oh, good idea.

01:07:58They make them buy what they like.

01:08:00I've already bought it.

01:08:01I'm putting the money in trust funds so no

01:08:05one can get their hands on it.

01:08:09They're impatient, I know.

01:08:11I've had three chicks of my own.

01:08:15Only three, I grant you, Karen.

01:08:18But natural good manners told me when to

01:08:22put the plug in.

01:08:26I'm not surprised they are opposite

01:08:28Betty Davis.

01:08:29One of the most intimidating Hollywood

01:08:32actresses of all time.

01:08:35And from your point of view of acting

01:08:37with her, because you'd been in the

01:08:37stage play of the anniversary, then you

01:08:40went to appear with her in the film of

01:08:42the anniversary.

01:08:43I would have been quaking in my boots,

01:08:45Sheila, opposite her.

01:08:46I think I was.

01:08:48I actually was.

01:08:49I remember the first day she appeared on

01:08:51set.

01:08:52In fact, we were told to, she had to make an

01:08:55entrance down a staircase and we were told to go

01:08:58to the bottom and applaud her as she came down.

01:09:00She was actually a woman who needed support, really.

01:09:04She was, she was surrounded by protectors and you

01:09:08couldn't get to her, really.

01:09:10And I remember once her saying, I did a shot with her and

01:09:13she did the voices off, which people don't normally do when

01:09:17they reached the kind of stardom that she had.

01:09:19But she did.

01:09:20And then she did her reverse and I did the voices off.

01:09:24And I actually said, gosh, well done, Miss Davis.

01:09:27And she said, oh, thank you, honey.

01:09:29The most I ever get is printed.

01:09:32And, you know, obviously nobody dared approach her.

01:09:36And we ended up being quite good friends at the end.

01:09:38But, but it was, it was kind of forced on her and she fought

01:09:43Hollywood, you know, this woman, she was so courageous and

01:09:48so strong, but she had hideous men always in her life.

01:09:53And I ended up deeply respecting her.

01:09:56She sacked everybody.

01:09:58When she arrived, the director we had was one of our top

01:10:02directors, Alvin Rakoff.

01:10:03She wasn't having any of that.

01:10:05I mean, she knew that they wanted this and she lit herself.

01:10:09She got rid of the lighting cameraman and she knew we all

01:10:13looked about 103 and she looked two on the screen, you know.

01:10:17And she, and she got rid of Alvin because he tried to make her

01:10:21play it utterly realistically.

01:10:23And she knew that wasn't what the public wanted.

01:10:26Was it founded on insecurity, do you think?

01:10:29I don't, I honestly, but no, I think it was founded on being

01:10:32battered like so many of that Hollywood generation, like Judy Garland,

01:10:37like Streisand, like all sorts of people.

01:10:40They were treated abominably badly, I think.

01:10:43And she had enormous talent and nobody listened to her, you know.

01:10:48But she, she was wonderful.

01:10:50Did you ever get to work with Olivier?

01:10:52No, I got to work with his wife and I met him quite a bit, on and off.

01:10:57John understudied him, actually.

01:10:59My husband, John Thor, he understudied him in a play and he went on.

01:11:03And he was rather better than Olivier because it was a modern play that Olivier

01:11:07wasn't at all happy in.

01:11:09And John went on and did it because it was a northern part and all that.

01:11:13And he felt more at home.

01:11:15I admired Olivier.

01:11:17I mean, you know, thank you, National Theatre and all that.

01:11:20I'm not knocking him.

01:11:21But I, I don't think he was a film actor because he, he was a state,

01:11:25he was a superb stage actor.

01:11:28Although actually probably if the young people today watched him,

01:11:32they wouldn't think that.

01:11:32Because it's of its era.

01:11:34It's of its time.

01:11:34It's slightly mannered.

01:11:35Yes.

01:11:36Your career has been so diverse, but I've known you as long as I've known you

01:11:40on television and film, and I do remember Carry On Clear.

01:11:43I've known you for radio as well, particularly Just A Minute.

01:11:46Yes.

01:11:47And you became a rarity, i.e. a very close friend of Kenneth Williams,

01:11:51who allegedly was not easy to get to know.

01:11:54But you were very close.

01:11:56Yes, I loved him.

01:11:58I loved him.

01:11:58He'd have been 100 this year, astonishingly.

01:12:01We did a thing at the British Library remembering him

01:12:04because he would have, it would have been his 100th birthday.

01:12:06It was my birthday as well.

01:12:07I was, I was 93 because we had the same birthday.

01:12:11And I loved, he asked me to marry him once.

01:12:14And I said, but Ken, I'm already married.

01:12:18And he said, yes, but it's a rubbish marriage.

01:12:20We would, we would be much better.

01:12:21But everybody says that he was deeply unhappy.

01:12:24He wasn't, you know, he had lots of friends.

01:12:27He was hugely talented, but he wanted to be taken seriously as an actor.

01:12:32He used to, he was, he was self-educated.

01:12:36He was always, for just a minute, he would read things up

01:12:39and he was very knowledgeable.

01:12:41And I used to say, you know, nobody takes me seriously.

01:12:44And I used to say to him, Ken, honestly, anybody can play Hamlet

01:12:48if they learn the lines, but nobody can do what you do.

01:12:53You're utterly individual.

01:12:55I don't want to do what I do.

01:12:56Do you know?

01:12:57So in that way, he was a bit unhappy.

01:13:00And if he'd been in America, they would have built shows around him

01:13:04and he would have been a huge, huge star.

01:13:07But we're not very good in this country of dealing with people who are a bit odd.

01:13:11I mean, I would, sometimes I, he let me go in the flat.

01:13:14He didn't like people going in the flat.

01:13:16And in those days, I smoked and he wouldn't let me smoke.

01:13:18Wouldn't let me use his loo.

01:13:20I had to go down and use his mother's loo.

01:13:22His mother lived down in the flat below.

01:13:24It was terrible.

01:13:25And he had, the only decoration he had were crystals and things like that.

01:13:29He collected beautiful things like that.

01:13:32And he, but he, but he liked, sometimes he'd say, right, I've had enough of you, now go.

01:13:37And he, because he wanted to be on his own.

01:13:40And I'm a bit like that as well.

01:13:42I totally, I didn't mind at all because I, I knew how he felt.

01:13:46You wrote this book, Old Rage, which is wonderfully feisty.

01:13:50And, you know, you've done a second edition of it in paperback.

01:13:55But there's an anger in there.

01:13:57But the thing is, yes, you rant, but I love your rants because they're not, they're not bitter rants.

01:14:03They're just sort of frustrations of, and then there's humour shot through it.

01:14:10I mean, it seems to me that your life is, you've had to have a really good sense of humour

01:14:14and a sense of the ridiculous.

01:14:15You know, you, two husbands, very fond of, you know, and then John Thorne and lost both of them.

01:14:22And you've battled on.

01:14:23You're still here.

01:14:24Yeah.

01:14:24If I'm allowed to say 93, an incredible example to us all.

01:14:29Way to go.

01:14:30You know, but you're angry, but you're not.

01:14:33No, I'm not, I think, I think life is so wonderful.

01:14:37And I get so angry at the people that are destroying it.

01:14:41Because it's so beautiful.

01:14:43Here we are today.

01:14:44The weather is wonderful, isn't it?

01:14:46Yeah.

01:14:46I mean, I came, I only got, I only took the job because I wanted to see the country.

01:14:50I came down here.

01:14:51Thanks, you know.

01:14:53Seriously, no, I wanted to see you as well.

01:14:56But mainly, I just am so grateful to have been alive.

01:15:03And I don't want it to be spoiled.

01:15:06I will fight tooth and nail until the, and that's the only reason I don't want to die, because I

01:15:11feel there's so much to be done.

01:15:14We've got to make it all right.

01:15:15And I think particularly women have got to make their voice heard.

01:15:20I really, and they are doing it.

01:15:22They are doing it a lot.

01:15:24But we've got to balance the male characteristics.

01:15:30I'm not, I'm not talking gender necessarily here.

01:15:34And the female characteristics.

01:15:36And this lovely Easter time, when we, you know, look at the examples of a man who believed in the

01:15:43world

01:15:43and believed in human life and died for it.

01:15:47And I just think that we've got to cherish life.

01:15:52That's what I think.

01:15:53And keep a sense of humour too.

01:15:55Yes.

01:15:56Well, I do laugh a lot.

01:15:56Does that drive you through?

01:15:57You laugh a lot.

01:15:58Yeah, I do.

01:15:58I do.

01:15:59I laugh myself at myself sometimes.

01:16:01I think, what are you talking about, you silly cow?

01:16:05That makes no sense at all.

01:16:07I mean, sometimes I listen to myself.

01:16:09I occasionally, by mistake, listen to myself on the radio and think,

01:16:12what am I talking about?

01:16:15That's absolute rubbish.

01:16:18Well, you're welcome to come here and talk rubbish any time you want, Sheila.

01:16:22Bless you.

01:16:22Lovely to be with you, as always.

01:16:24Bless you.

01:16:25We'll give you a little treat at the end of the show.

01:16:27Good.

01:16:27Time now to pause, reflect and take a moment to enjoy some wonderful footage,

01:16:32which really rather makes a point of what Sheila's saying.

01:16:35Wonderful footage set to equally wonderful music and reminding us all what is out there,

01:16:40especially at this time of year at Easter.

01:16:42It's today's Ode to Joy.

01:17:11It's today's Ode to Joy.

01:17:28Bye.

01:17:31Bye.

01:17:32Bye.

01:17:33Bye.

01:18:33The coastline of Torquay in Devon, courtesy of Ryan Wills, and set to the symphony number 101 by Joseph Haydn.

01:18:41There's inspiration for you. He wrote 104 symphonies. Crack on. What an idler I am.

01:18:47Still ahead? Delicious, decadent and devilishly creamy.

01:18:51Tom Sergi serves up his ever-so-tempting Easter cocktails.

01:18:55So tempting that Julian and Sheila have started already.

01:19:00If you leave some with me, I'll see you with the chocolate and the guests right after this.

01:19:20Now, with Easter celebrations well and truly underway, whether you're hosting a long, lazy Easter lunch,

01:19:27planning a garden gathering or simply indulging in a little bank holiday treat,

01:19:31king of the cocktail, Tom Sergi is here, to shake, stir and sip his way and our way

01:19:38through this week's Best of British, courtesy of some sumptuous Easter choctales.

01:19:44And when you look at these, oh my goodness, what we're in for, Tom.

01:19:48It's a segment based entirely on that, isn't it? The word choctales, which is lovely, which is so good.

01:19:53So we are doing five very chocolatey.

01:19:56Only five?

01:19:57Only five. We can go back through them if we've got time.

01:19:59Are there people who don't like chocolate?

01:20:02No, I love chocolate. I love it.

01:20:04Love chocolate. Everyone loves chocolate.

01:20:07Exactly.

01:20:07Two together.

01:20:08And there's a great range of things like chocolate liqueurs on the market and you can make,

01:20:12you know, quite a lot of this is quite like baking, really.

01:20:15You know, you can make white chocolate ganaches and things and mix them into drinks.

01:20:19It's honestly, it's easy. It's easy.

01:20:21A couple of the chocolate martinis and then, you know, you can try anything.

01:20:24Okay.

01:20:25So we'll begin with my Easter bunny martini.

01:20:28So garnished with a little chocolate bunny, of course, this is sapling vodka,

01:20:32which is a climate positive, regeneratively farmed, really beautiful vodka made in the UK

01:20:38that plants a tree for every bottle sold. So I like them a lot.

01:20:42Wow.

01:20:42And what we've done is we've shaken that with a chocolate cream liqueur and a little bit of hot chocolate.

01:20:48And what it does is it gives you a very boozy, punchy, ice cold, creamy chocolate.

01:20:53That is totally outrageous.

01:20:54When you say hot chocolate, you mean it was hot when it went in?

01:20:57I made some hot chocolate, I let it cool down and I put 50 mils of that in a shaker.

01:21:01Oh, yes, I can taste that.

01:21:01And you're away.

01:21:02I love that.

01:21:03And so you can make these beforehand, you can pre-batch them and then as long as you shake them

01:21:07and get them nice and cold.

01:21:08And the trick is...

01:21:09Really?

01:21:09Yeah, lots of vodka as well. You need lots of vodka to keep the consistency.

01:21:12You put the vodka in at the beginning?

01:21:13Everything in all at once.

01:21:14Everything in all at once.

01:21:15I'm afraid I've eaten my bunny.

01:21:17That's entirely fair enough.

01:21:18What we're moving on to, if you like, is I wanted to play around with a bit of white chocolate.

01:21:22And the priline, that amazing combination of creaminess, that white chocolate, a bit of a kind of nuttiness, a little

01:21:30bit of toffee.

01:21:31And so what I've done here is we have put the amazing Cool Swan, which is an Irish whiskey-based

01:21:36cream liqueur, based on white chocolate, cream and Irish whiskey.

01:21:41We've put that into a shaker alongside some amaretto, beautifully kind of almond-y, nutty.

01:21:46I thought I'd buy the coffee vodka.

01:21:47Where do you buy these things? Where do you buy that white stuff?

01:21:51This is very easy. Honestly, quick Google and you'll find that.

01:21:53Really?

01:21:53Or quick search online and you'll find that.

01:21:55It's like an upmarket Baileys.

01:21:57It is. It is a bit like that.

01:21:59And you could build it up off that.

01:22:01And so cream liqueur, a little bit of toffee vodka, something to give it a bit of sweetness.

01:22:06Toffee vodka?

01:22:06Really nice. You need some toffee vodka in your line.

01:22:08What you then add is a bit of amaretto for the nuttiness.

01:22:10Yeah.

01:22:11And then finally, a pinch of sea salt.

01:22:13What you need is a little bit of salt in there.

01:22:14Yeah, because white chocolate can be very kind of cloyant.

01:22:17How did you come to get the recipe?

01:22:20I made it up. I spent hours toiling away in my kitchen.

01:22:23So you think, well, that needs a bit of salt.

01:22:25I'll put a bit of salt in there.

01:22:26Yeah, exactly.

01:22:27And I'm tempted to come in and wake him up.

01:22:29Yes, exactly.

01:22:31But it's, yeah, not a bad cake.

01:22:33Do you like this?

01:22:34I love this one.

01:22:35Yeah, because I don't really like white chocolate, but this is really delicious.

01:22:38It's got a nice, it's not sickly, is it?

01:22:41No.

01:22:41It's just rich but sort of clean in a way.

01:22:45100%.

01:22:46Now, next up, there is a drink out in Spain that, when it's in any other country, is highly contentious.

01:22:53But when you go to Spain, it's kind of, you know, respected and it's fun.

01:22:56And that is a Kalimucho.

01:22:59And Kalimucho is a combination of red wine and Coca-Cola.

01:23:03Or cola.

01:23:05And so red wine and cola, half and half, 50% of each, you know, equal measures.

01:23:11And what I've done with this to give it its lovely theme is we've put it into an egg.

01:23:16So you cut the top off an egg.

01:23:17It creates a very, very good glass for you.

01:23:21You can eat it afterwards.

01:23:23And into that, into that red wine and cola mix, I've put equal parts, so a third of each,

01:23:29this amazing Moorish Morello cherry brandy liqueur from the brilliant producer, which is Spirit of the South Downs.

01:23:38And the Spirit of the Downs make really high-quality, grape-based spirits.

01:23:43They make brandies, all of them based from waste material that is pressed grapes for English wine,

01:23:49with some of the best vineyards in the country, that they then take to their distillery, ferment, distill.

01:23:55And so it's a completely kind of closed circle, really beautiful kind of sustainable model.

01:24:00And this is Kent and Sussex cherries, steeped in beautiful grape spirit.

01:24:06It's pretty good, isn't it?

01:24:07I think my teenage daughter would love this.

01:24:09I mean, it's so much work, isn't it?

01:24:12Sheila, it's all been done for you, just drink it.

01:24:15It's so complicated.

01:24:17How do you like this one?

01:24:18It's Coca-Cola and something.

01:24:19Coca-Cola, red wine and cherry liqueur.

01:24:21That's exactly it.

01:24:22What's so nice about this is really high-quality cherry liqueur, like the Spirit of the Downs one.

01:24:27It does, it sits beautifully alongside Coke, alongside the red wine.

01:24:30I've used an English Pinot Noir as the red wine.

01:24:33And equal combinations, a bit like a great Negroni.

01:24:35All these equal parts hit a perfect harmony.

01:24:38Let's carry it down.

01:24:39Oh, this one is amazing.

01:24:40But you can't get at the drink because it's got so much on top.

01:24:44It's real Del Boy stuff, you're absolutely right.

01:24:46So this is my Choco Colada, okay?

01:24:49And as far as I know, no-one's made one of these before.

01:24:52It's a Pina Colada.

01:24:53Oh, this is fab.

01:24:55It's beautiful coconut cream.

01:24:57It's really, really high-quality, not from concentrate pineapple juice.

01:25:01That's important.

01:25:01Oh, that's nice.

01:25:02That's good.

01:25:02And it's this amazing myth, non-alcoholic coconut cane spirit, which I love.

01:25:07That's really good.

01:25:08Rice wine vinegar, real coconut.

01:25:10That's pretty much it.

01:25:11A little bit of sugar.

01:25:12It's a very straightforward, non-alcoholic spirit alternative,

01:25:15and it tastes this of incredibly pure coconut.

01:25:18You could have this at the start because these other ones feel like they're at the end of the meal.

01:25:21Yeah.

01:25:22They feel like dessert, but this is more, you know what I mean?

01:25:25I do.

01:25:26And a good Pina Colada, what makes a good Pina Colada is quite a lot of pineapple.

01:25:29If they're too heavy and dense, they're challenging.

01:25:32You want loads of pineapple, and what I've added is a little bit of hot chocolate.

01:25:35Very simply, into the mix, you add a bit of hot chocolate.

01:25:37And funnily enough, pineapple and cocoa, and a bit of coconut, it really works.

01:25:43I'd love to see you at it.

01:25:45There you go.

01:25:46Sheila.

01:25:47No, Sheila.

01:25:48Drink your drink.

01:25:50We knew what you meant.

01:25:52Downhill.

01:25:53A bit of pink with this in there, and a bit of chalk and all that.

01:25:56Sheila, we'll try and see if we can range for you to see him at it.

01:26:00We've got one more drink.

01:26:02Come on.

01:26:02Here we go.

01:26:03This is gorgeous.

01:26:04I like this one.

01:26:05That is superb.

01:26:06Absolutely wonderful.

01:26:08Now, just a little pick-me-up at the end.

01:26:10I thought we'd do a twist.

01:26:11Pick me up.

01:26:11A little pick-me-up here.

01:26:13This is, it's based on a White Russian.

01:26:15And so this is my white chocolate, White Russian.

01:26:19It's quite cream egg-like.

01:26:22I think there's a kind of cream egg, White Russian vibe to it.

01:26:24And what it is, is it is this fantastic Café Solo, cold-brewed coffee liqueur,

01:26:30mixed with incredible Isle of Wight distillery, mermaid, salt vodka.

01:26:36So Isle of Wight sea salt spiked vodka, which is absolutely beautiful.

01:26:39I like that one.

01:26:40And the combination of those two things really kind of softens the bitterness of coffee,

01:26:44elevates the flavour, a little bit of salt there.

01:26:46And then I've stirred into it, over the top, drizzled over the top,

01:26:50a little white chocolate ganache.

01:26:52So it's single cream and white chocolate.

01:26:53I can't taste the alcohol very much.

01:26:55I could start the day with this.

01:26:57Yes.

01:26:58And I think you probably will, Julian.

01:27:00But it's got a sweetness.

01:27:02It's got a little bit of a lovely coffee kind of...

01:27:04No, I don't like this one so much.

01:27:06I don't like it.

01:27:07No.

01:27:07I know, Sheila, give me another one.

01:27:08It tastes like camp coffee.

01:27:10Camp coffee?

01:27:10Oh, yes.

01:27:11Do you remember?

01:27:12You used to get camp coffee during the war.

01:27:14Yeah.

01:27:14It was...

01:27:15And I...

01:27:15Sorry.

01:27:16No, don't be sorry.

01:27:17I'm interested.

01:27:18I've never had camp coffee.

01:27:19It was in a bottle.

01:27:21And it's coffee and chicory.

01:27:22So I've toiled away and recreated camp coffee,

01:27:25which, look, I'm pretty happy with.

01:27:26I think that's all right.

01:27:28Cream egg, white Russian there, gang.

01:27:30It's absolutely delicious.

01:27:31Julian, not having tasted camp coffee,

01:27:32do you like what you're drinking?

01:27:33I love a camp coffee.

01:27:36Do you like this one?

01:27:37I quite like this one.

01:27:38Yeah, me too, Sheila.

01:27:39I quite like the one.

01:27:40Do you?

01:27:41Yeah, yeah.

01:27:41Well, I think the great thing is...

01:27:42Well done.

01:27:42This will put any of us three off saying,

01:27:44no, just a small sherry for me.

01:27:46Because these are absolutely...

01:27:49You've excelled yourself, Tom.

01:27:51I like it.

01:27:51I'd have a job to choose between them,

01:27:53wouldn't you, Julian?

01:27:54Just the one you'd go for more than any other.

01:27:56Well, I did like the first one.

01:27:56I mean, I liked all...

01:27:57I have to say, I liked them all.

01:27:59That's it, basically.

01:28:01Thanks to all my guests.

01:28:02The Sheila, particularly, Julian and Tom.

01:28:05They're lovely.

01:28:06And the menagerie of dogs, lambs and rabbits.

01:28:09What an Easter Sunday.

01:28:10Join me next week for some more barnside banter.

01:28:13Fletcher's Farm, family farm.

01:28:15You see, it's telling, isn't it?

01:28:17Fletcher's Family Farm's up next,

01:28:19but I'll leave you now with this quote

01:28:21from celebrated American poet Ogden Nash.

01:28:23I love Ogden Nash.

01:28:24Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker.

01:28:27Yeah.

01:28:27Let's hope the Easter money's taking notes.

01:28:29Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

01:28:31And from us, a happy Easter.

01:28:34Cheers.

01:28:35Cheers.

01:28:36Cheers.

01:28:37Cheers.

01:28:38Cheers.

01:28:39Cheers.

01:28:40Cheers.

01:28:41Cheers.

01:28:42Cheers.

01:28:43Cheers.

01:28:45Cheers.

01:28:46Cheers.

01:28:49Cheers.

01:28:58Cheers.

01:29:01Cheers.

Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh - Season 8 - Episode 14

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