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Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh - Season 8 - Episode 03

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00:00:00On a crisp winter's morning, you don't have to look far to be reminded of the countryside's quiet wonders.
00:00:06Take the Tamworth pig in these Tamworth saddleback crosses.
00:00:10The Tamworth's one of our oldest native breeds with that glorious russet coat glowing against the winter hedgerows.
00:00:18Even in the coldest months, there's still life, warmth and charm to be found outdoors.
00:00:23And we've plenty more moments of countryside comforts coming your way this morning.
00:00:28It's time for Love Your Weekend.
00:01:04You know, January is the quiet heartbeat of winter, isn't it?
00:01:08The festive glow has faded, the morning has arrived with a crisp bite, and the countryside seems to draw breath.
00:01:16Yet look a little closer, and the first hints of change are already stirring.
00:01:21And here at Manor Farm, we're ready to embrace whatever this wintry morning has in store.
00:01:26Coming up, he's the Liverpool comedian who became a national treasure when he swapped punchlines for Paso Doblis.
00:01:34Lifting the lid and the glitter ball, Chris McCausland, on the highs, the lows and the downright hilarious along the
00:01:41way.
00:01:41From sparkling dance floors to decidedly darker tales, Ella Maisie Purvis and Nathan Welsh on why solving crimes is anything
00:01:50but straightforward in the new series of Patience.
00:01:54And horticulturist Ashley Edwards shows us how to bring winter to life with a garden that looks good, smells good
00:02:01and even sounds good.
00:02:03And Ian Burrell returns with his pick of the new British rums, taking the drinks world by storm.
00:02:09And she's the acclaimed illustrator, whose gentle brushstrokes have shaped the childhoods of generations.
00:02:16Helen Oxenbury and the stories behind some of her favourite drawings.
00:02:26Well, this is a treat, a little comedy, a little drama and a little crime solving with Ella Maisie Purvis,
00:02:33Nathan Welsh and Chris McCausland.
00:02:35Welcome all and welcome to mid-January.
00:02:37And, oh gosh, do you get the January blues, Ella?
00:02:40I do when people talk to me about their diets or their protein intake or how they want to better
00:02:48themselves.
00:02:49I don't care what you're going to do to make yourself happier.
00:02:52I really don't.
00:02:55So that's the only thing that gets me in January, is when other people talk about what, you know, what
00:03:01they're going to do.
00:03:02People's attempts to better themselves.
00:03:04Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:03:04You don't like any positivity.
00:03:06Or the gym memberships.
00:03:07Or the gym memberships.
00:03:08None whatsoever.
00:03:10That's not what January's for.
00:03:11No, January's for, you know, feeling really sorry for yourself.
00:03:14And, um, you're really cold and you don't want to put the heating on because the heating bill's going to
00:03:20be too much.
00:03:21So you have a hot water bottle.
00:03:23That's, that's January to me.
00:03:25Lovely.
00:03:26A friend of mine always used to be out of February.
00:03:27The trouble with February is it's a vile little month.
00:03:29You're fat, bored and broke.
00:03:31It's a bit the same in January.
00:03:33But it does have the decency to get itself out of the way in 28 days.
00:03:36That's very true.
00:03:37That's very true.
00:03:38That's very true.
00:03:40Do you get them, Nathan?
00:03:41Do you get blue in January?
00:03:43I don't know if I get blue.
00:03:44I get, I think I get a bit lazier and I allow myself to be a bit lazier.
00:03:49Yeah, I think the fun of Christmas is sort of past and you've got a long time to wait until
00:03:55summer.
00:03:55So you're sort of like, all right, let's get this year started and get going.
00:03:58Yeah, but you see, you three helping us with comedy and with, well, also with crime dramas.
00:04:02I mean, here we are Patience, one of the favourites in the Titch Marsh household,
00:04:05with the lead role here, the title role.
00:04:08It's a shame it's not called Jake.
00:04:10I know, I know.
00:04:10There we are.
00:04:11He knows his clothes.
00:04:12What about other crime dramas then?
00:04:14I mean, are you into other crime dramas, Ella?
00:04:17Yes, Happy Valley.
00:04:18Cool.
00:04:19Sally Wainwright, yeah.
00:04:20Oh my gosh, she's amazing.
00:04:22I thought you didn't like Happy.
00:04:24Yay!
00:04:26Nathan, what about you?
00:04:27Crime dramas?
00:04:28Crime dramas, oof.
00:04:29I love crime dramas.
00:04:30I'm quite big on true crime as well.
00:04:32So I've been watching a lot of 24 Hours in Police Custody, which I think is wicked.
00:04:38You fall asleep to them?
00:04:38Fall asleep to, I literally fall asleep to...
00:04:41Why would you want to watch 24 Hours in Police Custody, except to any of them, and B, to fall
00:04:48asleep?
00:04:49Well, 24 Hours in Police Custody, I've always been interested in, like, the interview process.
00:04:54So, and in fact, when preparing for Patience, I watched a lot of it, just to be like, oh, it's
00:04:59a lie to get that mindset of being in that room.
00:05:02But crime, I don't know what it is about crime, true crime podcasts.
00:05:05I just find the investigation side of things...
00:05:08Really boring.
00:05:08Fascinating.
00:05:09No, it's fascinating.
00:05:10Yeah, and literally, it's like, the monotony of the, um, of the way they talk, maybe, is what puts me
00:05:16to sleep.
00:05:17Is that worrying?
00:05:18No, I have a video of you snoring to, uh, um, a true crime podcast, and it's like, and then
00:05:25he decapitated her head.
00:05:27Yeah, I agree, I agree, I agree.
00:05:29Yeah, see, literally.
00:05:31He loves it.
00:05:31Chris, crime dramas for you, true or otherwise?
00:05:34Nah, me wife watches every single one of them.
00:05:37She's got over a thousand ways to dispose of her body in her head, so I've got to behave myself,
00:05:42because she'd never be caught.
00:05:46No, I don't bother with them.
00:05:48I have to, if I'm going to watch a show, I need to catch it.
00:05:51I need to be lucky enough to catch it on the first series as it comes out.
00:05:55And then, like, I did that with Ozark on Netflix.
00:05:58I loved Ozark.
00:06:00Lucky enough to catch it when it first came out, and then I could follow it as new series came
00:06:03out.
00:06:04Whereas usually, for me, someone will go, oh, have you seen Breaking Bad?
00:06:08Or have you seen, and I look at it in the sixth series, and I go, oh, I just haven't
00:06:11got it in me.
00:06:12Oh, yeah, because it's coming in.
00:06:12I haven't got it in me.
00:06:14That's a commitment, isn't it?
00:06:16Well, let's talk about dream roles, Ella.
00:06:18You're offered, the pick of your dream roles.
00:06:21Well, the pick is, I grew up on Bond.
00:06:23I grew up on all of the James Bond films.
00:06:25Not actually grew up on them, but that's what I was fed.
00:06:31That and Star Wars.
00:06:33So I think my dream role would be a Q.
00:06:36Would be a Q.
00:06:37Oh, I could see you as Q.
00:06:39But Ben Whishaw's probably unlikely to relinquish it any time soon.
00:06:41No, and do you know what?
00:06:42And that's fine, and I'll fight him for it.
00:06:45Talk to Chris's wife, if you're going to hide a body.
00:06:47Yeah.
00:06:48She'll get rid of him for you.
00:06:56I think I'd like to play Lady Macbeth.
00:06:59Really?
00:07:00I'd put a different spin on it, obviously.
00:07:02Well, of course, when the Bard brought it out,
00:07:05you could have played, because all the...
00:07:06Oh, well, exactly, yeah.
00:07:07I just think she's a cool character.
00:07:09I think she's wicked.
00:07:11She's complex.
00:07:12She's like, you know, she's got gusto.
00:07:14And I'd like to give it a go.
00:07:16Do the hand washing.
00:07:18I'm so far out of the conversation.
00:07:21I've got no idea who she is, what happens in the...
00:07:24I know, I know, and that's literally my level of knowledge.
00:07:27And then I'm...
00:07:28I don't know what the story is.
00:07:30She sells washing powder, and she says,
00:07:32out damned spot.
00:07:34Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:07:34She's trying to get...
00:07:35She's got the village's laundry.
00:07:36Yeah.
00:07:37Or whatever.
00:07:38Chris, green roll for you.
00:07:40What are you at?
00:07:40So, look, I'm lucky enough to get to meet a lot of people
00:07:44doing what I do, and I met a guy called Richard Naylor,
00:07:48who is the son of Doug Naylor, who created and wrote
00:07:50all the wonderful Red Dwarf episodes with Rob Grant back in the day.
00:07:55And so Richard writes all the new series that were kind of brought
00:08:00back on Dave, and they've been fantastic.
00:08:01And I have been shameless in trying to secure myself a place
00:08:05on any future Red Dwarf project, to the point where I think
00:08:08he's taken a restraining order out.
00:08:10But he...
00:08:11What's that thing around your uncle?
00:08:14But he did write a new Red Dwarf for UK TV,
00:08:20and the plug got pulled on it.
00:08:23And he said, he said, I've got a part in it for you.
00:08:26And it's not going to happen.
00:08:27I was like, oh, I'd rather you're not at all.
00:08:31I had a similar experience with Nick Park and Aardman
00:08:36and the Wallace and Gromit films.
00:08:38And he said, oh, we had a part for you, a voiceover,
00:08:41but unfortunately it didn't make the final cut.
00:08:43So, oh!
00:08:44And I tried for years to get Julian Fellowes to give me part
00:08:47of a gardener in Downton Abbey.
00:08:48Because I said, all that landscape needs somebody to look after it.
00:08:51You never have anybody with a mower.
00:08:52I don't mind not being recognisable, can I?
00:08:54No, nothing can you.
00:08:56Tell them I'm stretching yourself, though, Alan.
00:08:57I'll play a gardener.
00:09:00Well, I thought I'd start with what you know, you know.
00:09:04There'd be very straight stripes on the lawn.
00:09:07However, you've had a dream, Rob,
00:09:09because you are talking to a man
00:09:11who was auditioned for MI5 in real life.
00:09:14What?
00:09:15Auditioned.
00:09:17Well, you're an actor, sorry, wouldn't you, actor?
00:09:19Can you say, where's the bomb?
00:09:23Where's the bomb?
00:09:24No, I'm feeling I think we should do with more kind of urgency.
00:09:27Did they, I mean, when you went along there,
00:09:31clearly, presumably, they saw that you couldn't find your own way
00:09:33into the room on your own.
00:09:35Yeah, but listen, I did say to them at one point,
00:09:37because they did say, you know, obviously,
00:09:40you being blind is quite a security risk
00:09:42if we are in staked-out locations and you're procuring information.
00:09:45I said, what's more undercover than a blind bloke
00:09:47having a pint with his mate in the pub?
00:09:49And they went, yeah, good, good.
00:09:50Yes, that's not a bad point.
00:09:52Wrote something down.
00:09:53I always like to think you just wrote down more blind people.
00:09:56More blind people.
00:09:57I did the GCHQ quiz.
00:09:58No, you're thinking of GCHQ quiz.
00:10:01No, GCHQ.
00:10:02Was it GCHQ?
00:10:04Yeah.
00:10:05They did a quiz.
00:10:06I did the quiz, and it was like,
00:10:08would you be a good spy, basically?
00:10:10Could you work for us?
00:10:11And it was like, do you like talking to people?
00:10:13It's like, oh, yeah, I love talking to people.
00:10:14Do you like working in a team?
00:10:15Yeah, yeah, I love other people.
00:10:16And I love, you know, sharing information
00:10:19and, you know, things like that.
00:10:20Would you say you're outgoing?
00:10:21Yeah, yeah, no, I love it.
00:10:22I love it, I love it.
00:10:23You might not be suited.
00:10:25Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:10:26I love sharing information.
00:10:28That's the thing that made me laugh.
00:10:29It's on the form.
00:10:30You fill out the form to see if you make a good spy.
00:10:33It says name, address, and it's just like mistake.
00:10:36Don't tell anyone your name.
00:10:38Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:10:39Fool.
00:10:39I have a friend filling in the immigration forms
00:10:43for Australia, and it's where it says,
00:10:45have you any criminal convictions?
00:10:47He said, I was very tempted to fill in the box,
00:10:49saying, I didn't know it was still necessary.
00:10:51Yeah.
00:10:53There we are.
00:10:53We'll have much more from Ella, Nathan and Chris
00:10:56a little bit later.
00:10:57In the meantime, help yourselves to anything you fancy
00:11:00from this amazing bamboo sherry of forenoons.
00:11:03Still ahead, Ian Burrell brings his pick of the brand-new bottle
00:11:07shaking up the homegrown rum scene.
00:11:09And Fiery Red, famously friendly,
00:11:11and far cleverer than you might think,
00:11:13our very own VIPs,
00:11:14the very important pigs, that is.
00:11:16Our Tamworths, ready to steal the show and our hearts.
00:11:19I'll see you with the pigs and the farmer
00:11:21right after we've talked into all this.
00:11:23Help yourself.
00:11:24Look at this.
00:11:25Chocolate.
00:11:25Thank you, Hansel.
00:11:40January is a time to look forward,
00:11:42a time to think about the paths we'll take,
00:11:45the projects we'll start,
00:11:47and the small joys that brighten the winter days.
00:11:50And plenty still ahead to brighten up your Sunday, I hope.
00:11:53Horticulturist Ashley Edwards makes his Manor Farm debut,
00:11:57showing us how to create a winter sensory garden
00:12:00right outside your back door.
00:12:02And he's a Liverpool comic who swapped code-breaking for comedy.
00:12:07Chris McCausland on Near Misses with MI5,
00:12:10life on tour and returning to the Strictly stage a year on.
00:12:15But first, for generations,
00:12:16the gentle grunts and snuffles of pigs
00:12:19have been part of the soundtrack of Royal Britain.
00:12:22And few breeds are as special as the Tamworths.
00:12:25Hardy, intelligent, and wonderfully characterful.
00:12:28They're the ginger aristocrats of the pig world,
00:12:31and they're as rooted in our farming heritage
00:12:33as hedgerows and hay bales.
00:12:35But for one Hampshire farmer,
00:12:37they're far more than just livestock.
00:12:39Time now to catch up with Flavien Obiero
00:12:41and his Tamworth pigs.
00:12:44Flavien, welcome back.
00:12:44I can't believe it's only two years since you've been here.
00:12:46I know, yeah.
00:12:47I've never heard them described as aristocrats.
00:12:51Well, you'll probably see them close too.
00:12:53No man's a hero to his valet, they say.
00:12:55Yeah, yeah.
00:12:56So, now, just tell us a bit about your story, first of all,
00:12:59just to remind us.
00:13:00So, we're on a Hampshire County farm, council farm,
00:13:04and we've been there now since April, end of April 2023.
00:13:09We've got pigs, sheep, goats, a few chickens for eggs,
00:13:13and they've also got a butchery where we sell the produce.
00:13:16Now, tell us about these guys here.
00:13:18The Tamworths are the ginger ones, the red ones.
00:13:21Yeah, so the black ones are Tamworth too,
00:13:24but not pure Tamworth.
00:13:25They've got saddleback in them.
00:13:26Yeah, yeah.
00:13:27So, yeah, we've got a moor called Pablo,
00:13:31and one of the sows is called Stumpy,
00:13:34and they're half saddleback, half Tamworths,
00:13:37hence why you get the colour variation.
00:13:38And the reason for doing that?
00:13:40Actually, they were ideal, I got from a friend.
00:13:44So, he was moving on,
00:13:45and he needed to sort of offload Pablo and his siblings,
00:13:48so that's why I got them.
00:13:49So, how old are these pigs?
00:13:51So, these vary between three and four months,
00:13:54and they stay in the same group the whole way through
00:13:58and just move in between paddocks.
00:13:59As you can see, they like grass.
00:14:02They're enjoying our grass here in Manifel, haven't they?
00:14:04Yeah, they love a bit of grass.
00:14:05Now, these chaps here, obviously,
00:14:07how many of you have you got now in your...
00:14:09So, breeding-wise, we've got the intelligence kicking in.
00:14:14Yeah.
00:14:14Breeding-wise, we've got...
00:14:16If I nudge this up, it opens.
00:14:17Yeah, breeding, we've got 12 sows, three bores,
00:14:21and then the progeny, we have around just over 100.
00:14:26This is a big farming enterprise now, then, Flavien,
00:14:30from those early days when you started.
00:14:32Yeah, yeah, it's a lot.
00:14:34Yeah, sometimes I ask myself, what am I doing?
00:14:36But then I look back at where we've come from,
00:14:39and I'm like, actually, I'm doing something.
00:14:41Yeah.
00:14:41I don't know what, but I'm doing something.
00:14:44So, what have been the surprises?
00:14:45What have you learned that you didn't expect?
00:14:47So, surprise is fencing.
00:14:50I probably should have walked the farm a little bit
00:14:53in more detail when I first looked at the farm.
00:14:56And, yeah, we've had this year,
00:14:57had a fair few issues with the animals getting out
00:15:00into neighbours' property or sometimes on the road,
00:15:04which is not ideal.
00:15:05But we've recently spent a fair chunk of money
00:15:08to build two paddocks with set fencing
00:15:11and electric on the inside.
00:15:12And then the plan is to replicate that
00:15:15on the three other paddocks so the pigs can just keep moving
00:15:18along to leave the ground to rest
00:15:20for more grass to grow for them to go back onto.
00:15:22They're great escapologists, aren't they?
00:15:25Yes.
00:15:25I think they'll have to be well.
00:15:26We've got a sow that can actually jump the electric fence.
00:15:30So, pigs aren't really known for being athletic.
00:15:32Yeah.
00:15:33But because these are fairly,
00:15:35a fairly ancient breed, quite close to the wild boar.
00:15:38Yeah.
00:15:38They're a bit more athletic than your usual commercial pig.
00:15:41What's special about the meat?
00:15:44It's fairly, I'd say it's fairly red compared to normal pork.
00:15:48And it's almost got quite a nutty taste.
00:15:51Maybe that's due to the fact that they eat a fair bit of the acorns.
00:15:57Yes.
00:15:57But I remember doing a taste test with some of my friends.
00:16:00One had middle whites,
00:16:01the other one had Gloucester Oldspot Cross.
00:16:03And there's a distinct taste difference in Tamworth pork.
00:16:07And most of our customers,
00:16:09actually someone said it's quite porky,
00:16:11which it should be,
00:16:12because when you eat lamb, it tastes lamby.
00:16:14If you eat beef, it's beefy.
00:16:16So pork should be porky.
00:16:18You probably regard that as the ultimate compliment.
00:16:19It tastes like pork should taste.
00:16:21Yes.
00:16:21Yeah, that's it.
00:16:23And yeah, I think if it wasn't for that,
00:16:25I probably would have swapped their breed.
00:16:27But they've got quite a unique taste.
00:16:29And that's why I put up with their nonsense as much as I can.
00:16:32Well, from your point of view,
00:16:34it's always lovely getting you on,
00:16:35because somebody of your age who's gone into farming,
00:16:37and it is quite an enterprise in the sound of it,
00:16:40to encourage others to do the same.
00:16:42From your point of view,
00:16:43the high spots of it,
00:16:44what you love most about it?
00:16:47I think getting experiences like this,
00:16:49I don't remember being at school thinking,
00:16:51oh, I'm going to be a farmer.
00:16:52I'll end up going on a show with Alan Titchmash.
00:16:55But I think for me,
00:16:57it's the interaction with customers at market,
00:17:00because I think there is this perception
00:17:02that people that live in the city
00:17:04don't care about their food,
00:17:05they're just going to a supermarket.
00:17:06And I've found in the last few weeks
00:17:09I've been going to London on the weekend,
00:17:11it's completely wrong.
00:17:12Some of the conversations I'm having with customers,
00:17:14someone saying,
00:17:15why have you got this in a sausage?
00:17:17Why can you not take away nitrites or sulphites?
00:17:21And what does the family make of it?
00:17:23Our little one, Noah,
00:17:24who's now two and two months,
00:17:26I remember the first time I was on the show,
00:17:27we didn't even have him.
00:17:29He's, at the moment,
00:17:31he's just a bit,
00:17:31he's not really too bothered.
00:17:33He's not scared of them.
00:17:34Like whenever I do farm work,
00:17:36he's in a truck watching me.
00:17:37My wife sometimes probably questions
00:17:40why he ended up with a farmer.
00:17:43But now she enjoys it
00:17:44and she comes to markets with me.
00:17:45Tavia, it's hard work, isn't it?
00:17:47It's a lot of commitment.
00:17:48Yes, it is.
00:17:49And I think for any young people out there
00:17:51looking to get into farming,
00:17:53I'd advise them to do it,
00:17:55but you've got to be ready to slog,
00:17:57because it's not a quick return.
00:18:00And sometimes you even think,
00:18:02have I gone in too deep here?
00:18:03Can I swim?
00:18:05But, well, currently for me,
00:18:07my nostrils are definitely above the water,
00:18:08so I'm still getting oxygen.
00:18:10So we'll keep going for a little bit longer.
00:18:12Well, it's lovely to see your chaps,
00:18:14your growers, as they're called.
00:18:15It was a lovely, smooth corner of the paddock.
00:18:18A demonstration here
00:18:19of what pigs will do to feed.
00:18:22So if you ever need a piece of ground turned over,
00:18:25get yourself a few Tamworths.
00:18:27Just make sure, as Flavio says,
00:18:29that they're well penned.
00:18:30Yeah, definitely.
00:18:31Fencing is key.
00:18:33Fencing.
00:18:33Love to tell you about it.
00:18:34Come and see us again.
00:18:35It's always a delight.
00:18:36I'll see you again.
00:18:37Thanks, Flavio.
00:18:38Still to come,
00:18:39we've had our fair share of memorable sleuthing teams,
00:18:42Rosemary and Thyme,
00:18:43Poirot and Hastings,
00:18:45Sherlock Watson.
00:18:46Now we have two more,
00:18:47proving a rather unconventional partnership.
00:18:50Ella Maisie Purvis and Nathan Welsh
00:18:52in the return of the Yorkshire-based crime drama,
00:18:55Patience.
00:18:56Prepare for some unique crime-solving and more,
00:19:00right after this.
00:19:14Welcome back to Love Your Weekend.
00:19:16Still to come,
00:19:17Ian Burrell uncorks the latest delights of Britain's rum-a-sauce,
00:19:21with his pick of the rums that'll put a spring in your step,
00:19:24long before spring itself arrives.
00:19:26And from top tipples to a telly favourite,
00:19:29Chris McCall's then joins us to chat,
00:19:31tours,
00:19:31and the very personal tales behind his new book.
00:19:34But first,
00:19:35a brilliant young woman working as a police archivist in York,
00:19:39who uses her unique pattern-recognising skills
00:19:42to help solve complex murders,
00:19:44forming an unlikely but effective investigative duo
00:19:48that navigates trust, societal barriers,
00:19:51and the world of neurodiversity.
00:19:54My name's Patience.
00:19:56Patience is autistic.
00:19:58I need to find out and solve the case.
00:20:01Patience,
00:20:02you shouldn't be here.
00:20:02I just have a quick question.
00:20:04Found links to other cases.
00:20:08The only things that interest me are forensics and criminology.
00:20:13That's actually why I like bullying so much.
00:20:16Cause of death?
00:20:17She drowned.
00:20:18This is still work, Patience.
00:20:20The solution lies in looking at it from a different angle.
00:20:23Don't you have any friends?
00:20:24I'm not sure.
00:20:27It makes the whole thing work.
00:20:29Stop, please!
00:20:30How can I give you what I do now?
00:20:32I need you on the team, Patience.
00:20:35Joining me now are Macy Purvis and Nathan Welsh.
00:20:38There's an intensity to it, isn't there?
00:20:40My wife and I were hooked from the first episode and kept on going.
00:20:45But if it's so funny, that was so long ago, season one.
00:20:48It's baby faces.
00:20:50I'm afraid it's the case on television.
00:20:52You suddenly see yourself.
00:20:53It gets worse, I can't do it.
00:20:55You go further back.
00:20:56Clearly.
00:20:56Clearly.
00:20:57Look at us.
00:20:59But you, Ella, you know, you are autistic.
00:21:02To go on a programme like this.
00:21:04Guilty.
00:21:05You must have thought, is this a good thing?
00:21:07Is this a bad thing?
00:21:08Do I want to be, you know, held up as an icon for autism or whatever?
00:21:13So tell me about the thought process about saying yes.
00:21:15Well, I mean, I think the thing is, it's hard when there are so few shows that kind of authentically
00:21:22cast someone, especially when you're, you know, you're talking about disability.
00:21:27So you kind of inevitably do become the sort of poster child.
00:21:32Especially because there's not many women on screen, autistic women.
00:21:35And so suddenly everyone goes, oh, she's autistic, but I'm maybe not like that, but I am like that
00:21:40in some respects.
00:21:41And so, you know, usually I say it's like, well, this is just kind of one story and one aspect.
00:21:48But, I mean, the reason that I said yes is because there's a lead in a TV show and I
00:21:52was, what, 20?
00:21:55Obviously I said yes.
00:21:56Of course you did.
00:21:57Yes, title role.
00:21:59Yeah, it does.
00:21:59Now, Nathan, from your point of view, as the sidekick, that must have been...
00:22:04Yeah.
00:22:05Did you like that?
00:22:06I did, I did.
00:22:07He's number three on the court.
00:22:09I'll be the sidekick.
00:22:10I'll be the sidekick if I have to.
00:22:12But again, from your point of view, you know, an established actor with a good track record already,
00:22:16what was the attraction for you?
00:22:18I think I've always kind of been interested in crime dramas and I've always wanted to play a policeman.
00:22:24I think, especially a detective, I think it's just like something that really attracted me.
00:22:27And then when I read the script for the first time and saw the direction they'd gone in,
00:22:32I just thought it'd be a really interesting and sort of like valuable thing to be a part of.
00:22:40So, yeah, yeah.
00:22:41The chemistry work, clearly from the word, well, if it didn't work from the word go,
00:22:45it's certainly working now.
00:22:46Yeah, we have a great time on set.
00:22:48We're such good mates.
00:22:49Honestly, we have such a good time, yeah.
00:22:52Sometimes too much fun.
00:22:53Well, you're working with Mark Benton as well.
00:22:55Mate.
00:22:55That man sneezes.
00:22:56He's so great.
00:22:57And it's funny.
00:22:58Yeah, he's a lovely, lovely, really, really talented, very professional, silly man.
00:23:04Professionals are stretch.
00:23:04Yeah, silly, silly man.
00:23:06Professionals are really stretch.
00:23:07He is.
00:23:08He is.
00:23:10He is.
00:23:10He's great.
00:23:11He's great.
00:23:12To the series itself, with those lovely moments of levity, there is an enormous intensity in it, Ella,
00:23:19which is, one does come out of it in the end feeling enormously empathetic towards Patience as a character,
00:23:27and, in a way, wanting to make her life easier.
00:23:30Is it a useful thing to just to say, look, this is how you can make your attitude towards people
00:23:38who are neurodiverse in that way better for those who are?
00:23:41Well, I think there's a language thing because everyone is neurodiverse.
00:23:45Everyone has different brains, but not everyone is neurodivergent.
00:23:48The very, like, little language thing there.
00:23:52And I think it is, I get what you mean, but I think it's useful kind of, you know, finding
00:23:58out, you know, a part of your identity that, you know,
00:24:03my brain connects in a completely different way than someone that's neurotypical.
00:24:08And then you build community and you find other people that are like you.
00:24:12And, I mean, it's funny because neurodivergent people often kind of flock together anyway.
00:24:18I think I have a tendency to go straight to 100 very quickly and not a lot of people do
00:24:23that.
00:24:23And so, you know, I think day one we were probably already cuddling like this, you know, having a lovely
00:24:29time.
00:24:31Because the character you're playing, Patience, is quite the reverse.
00:24:33Oh, she does not like cuddles.
00:24:35No.
00:24:35She's like my cat.
00:24:36Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:24:37I know, yeah.
00:24:38Yeah, it's interesting.
00:24:40Yeah, you were excited and then you met me.
00:24:43You read this script and then you met me.
00:24:45So, your own autism, how does it manifest itself?
00:24:47What are your particular, you know?
00:24:48Oh, I think I'm very, very black and white, very intense.
00:24:53I don't have many, I don't kind of know, I'm a bit floaty sometimes.
00:25:00You tend to say what comes to your head.
00:25:01Yeah.
00:25:02Instantly.
00:25:02No self-eating.
00:25:03Yeah, none of that.
00:25:04None of that.
00:25:05Which is a great quality.
00:25:06It's a great quality.
00:25:07I get in trouble, but it's a great quality.
00:25:11Let's have a look at you, because the series two, which started now, you've got Jessica
00:25:15Hines.
00:25:16Yeah.
00:25:16Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:25:17Here's a bit of patience in series two.
00:25:20Sorry, why are you talking so fast?
00:25:22Well, because otherwise you'd walk off and order another coffee.
00:25:28Okay, well, thanks for this.
00:25:31Next time, put it in an email.
00:25:35You can go.
00:25:43Bring him in.
00:25:44Sure.
00:25:46Um, patience is autistic.
00:25:49Right.
00:25:50And?
00:25:52Or maybe you could, you know, go a bit easy on her.
00:25:55Oh, you see, there we are.
00:25:58The explanations come.
00:26:00And, I mean, the character's very quick to share a forensics theory, very certain with
00:26:06it.
00:26:06There's no doubt there.
00:26:08It's everything, as you say, is black and white.
00:26:10Yeah.
00:26:10I mean, that's the thing about the character.
00:26:12Yeah.
00:26:12That's the thing.
00:26:12I think she sees that there's, she's solved something.
00:26:16She's got to some point in the case.
00:26:17So, therefore, she might as well relay that information.
00:26:20And I think what kind of is lovely, because when we meet Frankie, she is a cow.
00:26:26But what's great is that they both say black and white.
00:26:29Yeah.
00:26:29Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:26:30Literally, literally, literally, literally.
00:26:32Oh, free joke.
00:26:33Ah, so many jokes.
00:26:36What's great is that they realise that they're both here for the work.
00:26:40And they're both just as determined as each other.
00:26:43And I think in that kind of respect, Frankie sort of meets her match.
00:26:47Let's look at you two the way you came to it.
00:26:49Because a kind of spark was your first sort of.
00:26:52Let's have a look at you in a kind of spark, which again brought you to our screen.
00:26:56There you go.
00:26:57Bonnie Bridges.
00:26:58Former Juniper resident, history nerd.
00:27:01And from what I heard, the Queen was actually betrayed by the Lord for a cash payment.
00:27:08Oh, that doesn't sound very sporty.
00:27:11No.
00:27:11But it's that kind of place.
00:27:14Bullies.
00:27:15Baddies.
00:27:17Betrayal.
00:27:19And from what I remember, whomever was crowned Queen of Juniper was usually the biggest bully of them all.
00:27:27Oh, I've actually really learned my lesson.
00:27:31Oh, so there was something then.
00:27:34Yeah, you got the Juniper look.
00:27:37So she's a bit sharp.
00:27:39Tell us the story behind Kindness Park.
00:27:42Well, you know, it's interesting because that was also a lovely TV show with being neurodivergent at the heart of
00:27:49it.
00:27:49And she, it's great because she's jaded and she's spiteful and bitter because people have treated her really poorly.
00:27:59And, you know, I'm with her on that.
00:28:02I think that you should be angry and you should be allowed to kind of, you know, not lash out,
00:28:10but...
00:28:11Express your frustration.
00:28:12Yeah.
00:28:12You weren't very nice in that.
00:28:14No, I wasn't.
00:28:15I didn't know that you weren't a very nice person in that.
00:28:18In that.
00:28:19In that.
00:28:20Be careful.
00:28:20Should we get our own back on him now as well?
00:28:22Yeah, go on.
00:28:22Well, you were the villain, really.
00:28:25I was.
00:28:25I was not a very nice person in Shetland.
00:28:27You were not a very nice person.
00:28:27Not a very nice person.
00:28:29In Shetland.
00:28:30Yeah, yeah.
00:28:31Let someone beat you in Shetland.
00:28:32Come on, then.
00:28:34This is crazy.
00:28:35I didn't touch her.
00:28:36Do you know what?
00:28:38I don't believe you.
00:28:43Convince me.
00:28:47I did hit her when we were together, but I went to counselling in prison.
00:28:52I've turned my life around.
00:28:55I came up here to find her, not to hurt her, but to see if she'd take me back.
00:29:00She isn't interested, so I left.
00:29:02Okay, so you've already lied to me.
00:29:06So why should I believe you now?
00:29:08You believe you played Romeo at the Globe, can't you, really?
00:29:11You know, it's Romeo and Juliet.
00:29:12You look so tiny and young.
00:29:14No, babyface.
00:29:15Time hasn't been kind to you, hasn't it?
00:29:17Absolutely right.
00:29:18Black and white, yep.
00:29:20With Douglas Henshaw in your show.
00:29:23Yeah, he's what you're looking at.
00:29:23The joy for you also, we talked about Mark Benton, they're playing with Doug Pension.
00:29:27I mean, playing opposite experienced actors who can give you so much in terms of everything.
00:29:34Everything, mood, experience, whatever.
00:29:36Some real legends.
00:29:37I think that's the thing, that's the beauty of this job sometimes, is like, no matter where
00:29:41you are in your career, you sort of end up, you're always working with people that sort
00:29:44of have way more experiences than you or less experienced than you.
00:29:48You're never comfortable if you're an actor.
00:29:50Yeah, but you're always just slightly.
00:29:51You're always learning from everyone and it's wonderful.
00:29:53And especially getting to this stage where you're like, I used to watch you on TV when
00:29:57I was 12 or, and now I'm saying lines with you opposite the table to you.
00:30:02It's pretty cool.
00:30:03However you feel of leading up to it or whatever work you've done, you're always, you're always
00:30:07forced to, to step up a level in some way.
00:30:10And you do get to see the world.
00:30:12You get to see York and you get to see Belgium.
00:30:13Oh my God.
00:30:14It's gorgeous.
00:30:15Belgium's somewhere I thought I'd never go.
00:30:17I would move to Antwerp.
00:30:19Yeah, it's lovely there.
00:30:20It's lovely.
00:30:20Belgium's lovely.
00:30:21York's beautiful.
00:30:22And it's nice when we're there, when we're filming there, isn't it?
00:30:25Because suddenly we're in the world of patience and we're like, I'm getting there, it sits
00:30:29into it.
00:30:29And that helps.
00:30:30Yeah, it really helps.
00:30:31Yeah, it's gorgeous.
00:30:32You know, walking around the shambles.
00:30:34We were lucky to film in the Minster.
00:30:37You went very well that day, were you?
00:30:38No, I was sick as a dog.
00:30:39Yeah.
00:30:40Yeah.
00:30:41We had to cover her in robes.
00:30:43I've rung the bells there.
00:30:45Have you?
00:30:45Have you?
00:30:46Yeah.
00:30:46Hang on a minute.
00:30:47It's not about you.
00:30:48I didn't realise this was a competition.
00:30:50I was very reluctant to put that in there.
00:30:52I thought I'm going to share this.
00:30:53You didn't ask, Galen.
00:30:54I didn't ask.
00:30:56And I think now I should say thank you, my friend, and thank you, Nathan.
00:30:59You're right.
00:31:00See you again in a little while.
00:31:01Lovely to have you on.
00:31:03Look for more to patience.
00:31:04Now, and again, the natural world gives us, well, it gives us a moment worth pausing for,
00:31:09rather like this one.
00:31:10But out there, a creature darting through forests or a field transformed by the morning sun.
00:31:18A squirrel pretending it didn't steal a bird's food.
00:31:21Proof, if ever it were needed, that the countryside's heartbeat never really slows.
00:31:26And once again, your photographs have caught its magic beautifully.
00:31:31It's time for a walk on the wild side.
00:35:23Absolutely.
00:35:23And if you plant with senses in mind, it encourages you to get out in the garden, even during
00:35:28the depths of winter.
00:35:29We always tend to think just of sight, don't we?
00:35:31What looks pretty, but there's sound, there's scent, there's even taste if you dare to eat
00:35:36something.
00:35:37You're standing there by a tall bamboo, which will make a lot of people nervous because
00:35:40everyone thinks, oh, bamboo, it's so invasive.
00:35:42Yeah, you probably wouldn't plant this in the ground, you could put this in a large pot,
00:35:46but there are other bamboos like Farghesea which are clump forming and so they won't spread.
00:35:49So this is Philostachys nigra, the black bamboo.
00:35:52That's right.
00:35:53And it has these amazing black stems.
00:35:54And actually, if you trim the lower branches, you can really show them off.
00:35:57And I've selected this plant because of the sound it creates when the wind rustles through it.
00:36:02You know, a lot of people don't bother.
00:36:03Grass goes like this in the garden.
00:36:05Oh, I'll shear them off now.
00:36:06And it's such a waste, isn't it?
00:36:07It is.
00:36:08And, you know, running your hands through these, the texture is amazing.
00:36:11You get spiderwebs in the winter and frost, when the frost touches the seed heads, it adds
00:36:15a whole other dimension to the garden.
00:36:17And I love them for the visual effect.
00:36:19And it's also great for habitat.
00:36:21If you leave them, insects will hibernate inside there.
00:36:23You can cut them back in February when the new shoots start to show.
00:36:27And, yeah, they form a really good structure in the winter garden.
00:36:31You've got trubs at the back here, which point out, A, the brilliant colour of young cornice
00:36:38stems, dogwood stems, but also how they fade with age.
00:36:41I mean, and these older ones that you've got here, the older stems in the middle, which
00:36:46you can prune out come about February, it's these young ones that have the colour.
00:36:50It just sort of reinforces the fact, keep it youthful.
00:36:53Yeah.
00:36:53And if, like you said, if you prune them hard, kind of late February, early March, you get
00:36:58these amazing, vibrant new stems.
00:37:00But again, they add a really nice visual effect.
00:37:02If you're lucky enough to have a water feature in your garden, they go really well in a water feature.
00:37:06That reflection is amazing.
00:37:08And you also get that growth better if they're in decent moist soil, often in dry soil.
00:37:12It's a bit too mean for them to produce lots of these coloured stems.
00:37:16Yeah.
00:37:16So be generous with them then, really.
00:37:17Definitely, yeah.
00:37:18And a plant we used to grow as a pot plant in the Parks Department, Nandina.
00:37:21Yes.
00:37:22I love Nandina.
00:37:22Also known as Heavenly Bamboo.
00:37:25It has that amazing winter colour where it goes rich hues of red and orange.
00:37:30It's also a really lovely plant in summer because it has flowers and then berries in autumn.
00:37:34So it's a great all year round plant.
00:37:36And it's not fussy.
00:37:37They're really tough.
00:37:37And new foliage comes out.
00:37:38It's sort of purply, isn't it?
00:37:39It does, yeah.
00:37:40I love it.
00:37:40I really love it.
00:37:41Great colour on your Cotoneaster, because some of these are evergreen and some are semi-evergreen,
00:37:45some deciduous, but this one colouring up really before some of the leaves fall.
00:37:48Yeah.
00:37:48Again, really good as a visual plant.
00:37:51And yeah, I love it.
00:37:52It will grow quite large, but you can prune it back and keep it compact.
00:37:55And then the stars of the winter garden, the heliballs, lovely pure white.
00:38:00Now, this is interesting because they've been grown in pots.
00:38:02And I like to, slightly earlier than now, when those flower buds are beginning to emerge
00:38:07in the ground, take all the foliage off, but it's been left on here in the pot.
00:38:11And you can see now, I suppose, really, actually, why it's worth taking that foliage off.
00:38:15Because it's just covering up the flowers.
00:38:16Yeah, I also do the same.
00:38:17Take all the leaves off.
00:38:18You'll get the flowers coming up on their own and it really shows them off.
00:38:21And you can also grow them on a bank or a slope.
00:38:24So they're kind of looking down at you because they often do nod downwards.
00:38:27So, and I've also seen them cut, the flowers cut off and placed in a bowl of water.
00:38:32It's really effective.
00:38:33Yeah, I love it.
00:38:34So we've got, we're talking taste here now as well.
00:38:36We're moving on to taste.
00:38:38Yeah, taste with the bay.
00:38:39So lovely evergreen plant again.
00:38:42And just like to be able to crush this, it's got such a amazing scent, really pungent.
00:38:46And yeah, used in cooking, like chuck a few when you're boiling rice, put it in there.
00:38:51And having herbs in the garden, that's a great way to encourage you out because you need to go and
00:38:56pick them.
00:38:56So you'll spend a minute out there.
00:38:58Yeah, but also try and get near the back door, because if it's pouring down there, way down there.
00:39:02You don't want to trek all the way down.
00:39:03No.
00:39:03But yeah, every garden needs rosemary.
00:39:05I always plant rosemary gardens.
00:39:06Yeah.
00:39:06And a plant so popular at this time, the skinnier rubella, the one with the red buds.
00:39:11And they're in bud for so long and brighter really than the flowers that come later.
00:39:14Definitely, you get a really long season with this plant.
00:39:17You've got those lovely bright buds.
00:39:19And then in spring, they open and they're scented.
00:39:21So you're hitting multiple senses.
00:39:23You've got sight and smell.
00:39:24And this one also has a really lovely variegated leaf, which I love.
00:39:27And that one of my favorites.
00:39:28Now, when this used to be called viburnum fragrance in the old days before they changed its name.
00:39:35So good.
00:39:36Oh, you knew what you were going to get.
00:39:37Yes.
00:39:38It doesn't like the frost much.
00:39:40That's the only thing about it.
00:39:41The frost can knock the buds off.
00:39:42It can knock the buds off.
00:39:42But I think every winter garden has to have a viburnum.
00:39:46And this one is so delicious.
00:39:48The scent carries for quite a way as well.
00:39:50So planting it near a door or window, you can actually invite that scent in.
00:39:54And if you have it maybe near your front door, every time you come home, you'll get that lovely scent.
00:40:00And there are several of them.
00:40:00Just ask for a winter flowering viburnum.
00:40:02Yeah, definitely.
00:40:03And you'll get the one.
00:40:04Now, here's a shrub I struggle with, you see.
00:40:06I mean, this is edgeworthier.
00:40:09Yes.
00:40:10These are going to open into clusters of creamy yellow flowers.
00:40:14That's right.
00:40:14Great scent, but sell it to me because I really struggle with it.
00:40:19They can be a bit fussy.
00:40:20And I know that some people will find them easier to grow in pots with a loamy soil.
00:40:25So, yeah, if you do struggle with these in the border, you might be better off in a pot.
00:40:30But they do.
00:40:30I think they're worth growing just for that winter scent.
00:40:32They are so strong.
00:40:34And if you have it in a pot, it means you can move it closer to the door.
00:40:37And then later in the summer when they're just in leaf.
00:40:39Well, you've got a container here.
00:40:41You're going to plant it, what, for winter pleasure, as it were?
00:40:43Of course, yeah.
00:40:44And we're going to use all these sensory plants and have a container full of them.
00:40:47So I might need your help with this.
00:40:48I'm going to go around the back.
00:40:49Okay, you go back and get going.
00:40:49I'll fetch and carry.
00:40:51What do you want for us?
00:40:51I think if we have a dogwood for the middle, for the height, and a cotoneaster, because
00:40:55that was looking lovely.
00:40:56All right.
00:40:56So let's do that.
00:40:57Okay.
00:40:58Oh, look, I've taken a pot off already.
00:41:00Dropped out.
00:41:01Coming around.
00:41:02Brilliant.
00:41:02There's your dogwood.
00:41:03Yeah, grab that.
00:41:05So that can go in there.
00:41:08Nice.
00:41:09There we are.
00:41:10That's a good bit of height.
00:41:11All right.
00:41:11Let me ease that viburnum away so we can see what we're doing.
00:41:15See what we're doing.
00:41:16And I think we'll have some rosemary in here as well.
00:41:18All right.
00:41:19And then I think for kind of sound and touch, we probably need some grasses.
00:41:24So maybe some steeper.
00:41:26All right.
00:41:26Shall we have a bit of fluff from steeper, tenuissima.
00:41:34Beautiful.
00:41:35Yeah.
00:41:36Got it.
00:41:39What are we doing?
00:41:40Do you want a bit of a cyclamen, or is that going?
00:41:42Yeah, why not?
00:41:43The more the merrier.
00:41:45And again, these are, if they get knocked by frost, which some of these ones do, just
00:41:51replace them.
00:41:52I like being an apprentice again.
00:41:55Nice.
00:41:56What do you think?
00:41:56I think outside your back door.
00:41:58Yeah?
00:41:58That'd really lift your spirits, wouldn't it?
00:42:00Yeah, yeah.
00:42:00And you could always, you know, take this out, plant it in your garden, replace it with
00:42:04new seasonal plants in summer.
00:42:05Just keep changing when one thing goes over, bung something else in.
00:42:09Thank you, actually.
00:42:09Lovely to have you with us.
00:42:10Lovely to be here.
00:42:17Now, the legendary Paul Nicholls is one of the UK's most successful National Hunt trainers,
00:42:23a man who's helped shape the very landscape of jump racing.
00:42:27We were lucky enough to follow Paul along with his leading stable jockey, Harry Cobden,
00:42:32and rising star Freddie Ginger, as they prepared for the start of the jump season at his state-of-the
00:42:39-art
00:42:40racing yard in Somerset.
00:42:42Yep.
00:42:43One more.
00:42:48One more.
00:42:51I'm Harry Cobden, I'm 26 years old.
00:42:55And when I was 9 years old, I was lucky enough to have a go at Pony Racing.
00:42:59So, I suppose I caught the bug and it went from there.
00:43:02I was fortunate enough to be a champion jockey two seasons ago. I've just ridden my thousandth
00:43:07winner. Harry Covdon is our stable jockey which means he basically rides most of the
00:43:12horses. Very talented young man, very good jockey and he's our number one. I've been
00:43:18here in Ditchett in Somerset now 34 years. I started back in 1991 with eight horses and
00:43:2420 boxes. We've now got approximately 130 horses in training. I've been very lucky to
00:43:30have been able to be in the situation to win some of jump racing's biggest races, the Grand
00:43:33National, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Jericho Place and I'm not far off 4,000 winners and I don't
00:43:39think anyone's won 4,000 national hunt races in Britain before. Obviously I'm a racehorse
00:43:45trainer, that's where it all starts but you know it's a massive operation. I have all the
00:43:49owners I have to look after, horses to buy for the owners, about 40 or 50 staff to look after
00:43:54all the time. I've got a very good head lad and Clifford Baker's been with me for the best
00:43:58part of 30 years and between us we run a big team of people. But you never stop working,
00:44:05thinking and really looking after people. The horses are the easy bit and you need a top
00:44:10man as your stable jockey. Harry has first choice on all of them and then when he's not
00:44:15available or other meetings then Freddie Gingell rides most of them.
00:44:18My name's Freddie Gingell, I'm 19 and I'm a fully professional jump jockey. Growing up with
00:44:23Harry for years. I remember going hunting with Colin, my granddad and Harry would always come
00:44:28with us and I see probably Harry more as a friend than a work colleague but the things
00:44:34he's achieved is massive. I also love beating him as well.
00:44:39It's very important that those jockeys know the horses and form a relationship with everybody,
00:44:44your owners, your staff, your team, the horses and it's great having two top class jockeys
00:44:48on board like Harry Cobden and Freddie Gingell. They're having a nice little trot now just
00:44:55as a bit of a warm up before we go jumping. The key to it all is fitness so we
00:45:01treat the
00:45:01horses really as athletes and we're more interval training here. We do lots of sprinting, steady
00:45:06work, stamina work. We jump them a lot because it's great sand if you don't jump you don't win
00:45:12and they need a lot of practice. These babies you'll see in school this morning have probably
00:45:16jumped 32 hurdles. The jump horses have to be strong individuals, lots of jumping ability
00:45:22and hopefully the good ones have got lots of class.
00:45:25You know physically it's quite a demanding job. I've been lucky enough to not break too
00:45:30many bones. It's quite a dangerous sport but you've got to take your fall as long as you
00:45:35bounce back up you get on and ride the next one and we don't actually think about the risks.
00:45:40If you did you'd probably not do it. During the jump season I'd have between six and seven
00:45:46hundred rides. To be a national hunt jockey you've got to be tough, you've got to have
00:45:51a lot of ability, you've got to love the horses, you've got to love racing them, be able to
00:45:54cope with all the ups and downs and the pressure of a job. Mental preparation is as important
00:46:00as physical preparation. When you're riding for six or seven different owners and multiple
00:46:05different trainers on a day and then you've got to work out how you're going to actually win
00:46:08on these horses and what you're going to do on everyone and you know mentally there's
00:46:11a lot going on. Riding in a race is incredibly exciting. You're obviously going 35 miles an
00:46:19hour. There's a lot of adrenaline, your heart rate is north of 180 and you know crossing that
00:46:26line it's one of the best feelings that you'll ever get. Winning a race at Cheltenham is every
00:46:32bridge up the street. The crowds are bigger. Everything's a little bit more tense in the
00:46:38weigh room between everyone and it's probably a bit more high pressure. There's something
00:46:41about Cheltenham and winning there.
00:46:44Get this a lot for it.
00:46:47Thank you Paul and Harry and Freddie. Next week we'll be going behind the scenes at Cheltenham
00:46:53for something rather special. Coming up she's the illustrator who shaped childhoods with nothing
00:47:00more than paper and paint. Helen Oxenbury on six decades of storytelling, sketching and creating
00:47:08some of the most treasured illustrations ever to grace a bedtime routine. Including a family
00:47:14favourite, we're going on a bear hunt. I'll be back with Helen and more right after this.
00:47:33Welcome back to Love Your Weekend. Coming up he's braved Strictly, he's braved Stand Up. Now he's
00:47:40braved the publishing deadline, arguably the scariest of the three. Chris McCausland on Life on the Road
00:47:46and the perils of turning real life into print with the release of his brand new memoir, Keep Laughing.
00:47:53And Cocktail Shake is at the ready. Ian Burrell is here to prove that rum isn't just for sunshine holidays.
00:47:59Now if you've ever read a bedtime story to a small child or had one read to you, chances are
00:48:06you've held the
00:48:07book brought to life by my next guest. Her illustrations are woven into the fabric of childhood, tender,
00:48:14funny, beautifully observed and instantly recognisable. And one of her most cherished works,
00:48:21We're Going On A Bear Hunt, was brought to the screen in a festive adaptation, celebrating her unmistakable style.
00:48:30We're going on a bear hunt! Swish swishy swishy swishy swishy!
00:48:38Bear hunt! Bear hunt! Bear hunt! He'll be this big!
00:48:44Come on, he's a fish!
00:48:51We're going on a bear hunt, we're going to catch a big one, what a beautiful day!
00:48:57I am not scared!
00:49:03Based on the book by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury, whose images we see in our mind all the time.
00:49:10Your wonderful and unique illustrations, they're brought to life.
00:49:15Whenever you talk to an author about a book that's been turned into a film,
00:49:18they have really quite definite opinions about whether they liked it or loathed it.
00:49:23Did you enjoy having your work turned into a film?
00:49:27I loved the whole process of it, but I think you have to, you have to give it over.
00:49:35Yeah.
00:49:35And sort of think, you've got to have faith that they will do something that you like.
00:49:41Yeah.
00:49:42And I thought it was very good, the final film.
00:49:46It seemed to me they kept your tone in a way.
00:49:51They did.
00:49:51There's a very distinct watercolour tone to your illustrations and they seem to keep that.
00:49:56Yes, I think they did, especially with the landscapes.
00:49:59Yeah.
00:50:00When did you start working with Michael Rosen?
00:50:03Because it sold 15 million copies.
00:50:07Now it's over, I don't know how many years ago, it was 89 it was.
00:50:10No, 35 years ago.
00:50:11Yes, wow.
00:50:12I know.
00:50:13Had you any idea when you did it, that's what it was going to do?
00:50:16Absolutely no idea at all.
00:50:18When it was first published, it was, it was good, it jogged along, but it slowly built
00:50:26to this rather quite a favourite book of children's books.
00:50:29I think that's what happens to children's books, is the more that they're read at bedtime,
00:50:33the more one child or one parent says to another parent, and it is word of mouth very much,
00:50:39isn't it?
00:50:40I think it is, yes.
00:50:41That's right.
00:50:42Absolutely.
00:50:43But look, these images now, as I say, they're so sort of ingrained in our consciousness,
00:50:47really.
00:50:48Michael then presumably would send you the words, here's the story, the rhymes and whatnot,
00:50:54and you sit down and you scratch your head then, presumably.
00:50:58But I didn't, not quite like that.
00:51:01Michael, I didn't meet Michael until the book was published.
00:51:05Gosh.
00:51:06And it's all done through the publisher.
00:51:08Yes.
00:51:08And through the agent.
00:51:10The latest one, oh dear, look what I got again.
00:51:14I can tell your stuff just by, if he didn't say you and Michael Rosen, I'd know it was you.
00:51:19Really?
00:51:20Yes.
00:51:20I can't see that.
00:51:22Because they're so beautiful.
00:51:23You can't see that.
00:51:23I can't see what it is.
00:51:25It's a little boy who goes, all he wants is, well he goes into a shop to get different
00:51:30things and they keep giving him animals.
00:51:32And it's a lovely story about how it works through the different things.
00:51:37All these awful mistakes that these shopkeepers keep giving.
00:51:39These shopkeepers make.
00:51:41How did you set off?
00:51:42How did you start as an artist?
00:51:43What were you right at the beginning of your life?
00:51:48Well, I went to, I went to art school.
00:51:51Yeah.
00:51:51And I specialised in theatre design at the Central School of Art.
00:51:57And there I met John Burningham, who was to become my husband.
00:52:01I was going to say, I know that name.
00:52:03Yes.
00:52:03I bet you do.
00:52:04Another illustrator.
00:52:06And at that point I had to really give up theatre.
00:52:12And, but I had to do something.
00:52:15I thought I should go mad.
00:52:17So I thought, well I'll try a children's book.
00:52:19I'd watched my husband go through all the problems of illustrating for children.
00:52:26And so that's how I first started.
00:52:28Literally on the kitchen table.
00:52:30That must have been an intriguing moment where you said,
00:52:33Oh, I think I'll have a go at that now.
00:52:35Oh, really?
00:52:37So you think you can do it.
00:52:38Was there any of that?
00:52:39Was there any rivalry there at the beginning?
00:52:41No.
00:52:42This is what I, I think that.
00:52:44He was wonderful.
00:52:46Oh.
00:52:46I mean, how many would, would not have said, you know, go and find something else to do?
00:52:52Clear off.
00:52:52This is my territory.
00:52:54You do, the faces are, I look, as an old level art student, the only old level I ever got
00:53:01was in art.
00:53:02And I, I plateaued very early.
00:53:03And I look at, when I look at your faces and see them.
00:53:07And they are, in essence, so simple, and yet fiendishly difficult to replicate.
00:53:14If I sat down and tried to draw a face like the chap here on bear hunt.
00:53:19Yes.
00:53:19I couldn't do it.
00:53:20I mean, not because I couldn't copy you.
00:53:21Yeah.
00:53:22But, but out of my head, the visualisation is tremendous.
00:53:26The body movement, the expression.
00:53:28Yes.
00:53:28Which, obviously.
00:53:30I know.
00:53:30And that is what I, I mean, I think, I also still struggle with that.
00:53:34Do you?
00:53:35And, um, I mean, if, if one of those dots for eyes.
00:53:40Yes.
00:53:40Is a tiny little bit wrong.
00:53:44It alters the whole feel of what he's thinking.
00:53:47Which explains to me why, although it just looks like a dot, it ain't just a dot.
00:53:54What's your favourite moment when you're doing it?
00:53:56I mean, an outline presumably comes first.
00:53:59And presumably when you're totally happy with the outline, that's when the colour starts to be applied.
00:54:03Or do you put colour in quite early and fiddle around?
00:54:06I work it out on tracing paper.
00:54:10Yeah.
00:54:11And I do tracing paper because if you, if you, if the, some of the paint drawing is okay,
00:54:18and the other part isn't okay, you put another piece of tracing paper over it,
00:54:22keep what's good and redo the...
00:54:25Oh, clever.
00:54:26Yeah.
00:54:27Then do you do that thing that we always used to do as children?
00:54:29You put pencil on the back and you, you outline it and it comes out on the...
00:54:33No.
00:54:34No.
00:54:34No.
00:54:38We've progressed a bit.
00:54:39We're better than that, we professionals.
00:54:41Well, technology's better than that.
00:54:44Ah, right.
00:54:44Yes.
00:54:45They have things called light boxes.
00:54:47Ah, you can use that now.
00:54:49You can use that, yes, which is brilliant.
00:54:51Tell me about the two ladies down here.
00:54:52Well, they, they appear in a story by Trish Cook.
00:54:56And, um, it's a story that I immediately thought, yes, I, I want to illustrate that.
00:55:04Because the characters were huge, lovely characters.
00:55:07And these two are the two grannies.
00:55:11In so much.
00:55:12In so much.
00:55:13Yeah.
00:55:13And, um, the, the, the story is that they're waiting.
00:55:18The, the mother and the baby are waiting and we don't know what they're waiting for.
00:55:23And then the cousin arrives and the, the, the, and then the grannies arrive.
00:55:28And they all say, oh, I love the baby and all this sort of thing.
00:55:33And, um, in the end, daddy comes home and it's daddy's birthday.
00:55:39And it's a sort of perfect story for little, little children.
00:55:43They're always so celebratory and so positive, which is nice.
00:55:46Yes.
00:55:47And it's the anticipation of the, and the repetition they love.
00:55:51Helen, it is such a delight to meet you, having followed your work for so long.
00:55:55I did say, can we get Helen Oxenbury on?
00:55:58And here you are.
00:55:59Oh.
00:56:00It's a treat to have you with us.
00:56:01Well, it's lovely to be here.
00:56:02If you see him again, if you do see him for the second time, Michael Rosen, give him my best.
00:56:08We met many years ago.
00:56:09Did you?
00:56:09Yes, I will, of course.
00:56:11Yes.
00:56:11Thank you for contributing to our childhood, our children's childhood and our children's children's childhood.
00:56:16Yes.
00:56:17It's a delight to see you.
00:56:18And good luck with, oh, dear, look what I got.
00:56:20Oh, dear, look what I got.
00:56:21I got Helen Oxenbury.
00:56:23Oh.
00:56:23Thank you, Helen.
00:56:24Thank you very much.
00:56:25That's lovely.
00:56:31But first, Jack Frost is the personification of frost and frosty cold temperatures.
00:56:37It's also a rather good title for a Christmas album.
00:56:40Fancy that.
00:56:41Here's Leslie Joseph leading us down that garden path once more with a frosty tale all about frost.
00:56:52And a very good morning to you, Alan.
00:56:54My, my, what a chilly morning.
00:56:56So what better way to pay homage to the chill than by going down the garden path for a touch
00:57:03of frost.
00:57:04This sensational occurrence takes place when the temperature of the air encounters a ground that's below the freezing point of
00:57:12water.
00:57:13But dear viewer, it isn't a case of one frost fits all, as there are a wide variety of frost
00:57:20types.
00:57:21The most common being ground frost, which refers to the formation of ice on the ground, objects, or trees.
00:57:29Frost is also a major symbol in poetry and storytelling, acting as a symbol of stillness, death, or quiet emotion.
00:57:37Writers often use frost to convey suspended time or nostalgia.
00:57:44Oh, how cinematically gorgeous.
00:57:48Even folklore pays homage to the delicate and decadent world of frost, particularly with the persona of Jack Frost,
00:57:57who traditionally left frosty, fern-like patterns on windows on cold winter mornings.
00:58:03According to some, he is said to be the husband of Susie Snowflake.
00:58:09Oh, those naughty, frisky frosties.
00:58:13Artists have long been fascinated by the frivolous frost.
00:58:16Romantic painters like Caspar David Friedrich used winter scenes with frost to express solitude and human smallness in nature.
00:58:25Such a romantic.
00:58:28Composers have also used frost imagery for texture and tone of their pieces.
00:58:33Vivaldi's winter suggests icy sharpness in the violin lines, bringing a positive chill to his four seasons.
00:58:42Now that's more like it.
00:58:45As we begin a new year with frost at our feet, let's stop to enjoy the beauty of winter.
00:58:52After all, it only comes around once a year.
00:58:56Over to you, Alan, and do wrap up warm.
00:59:04Frost is indeed a beautiful natural phenomenon, transforming ordinary landscapes and objects into delicate, crystalline works of art.
00:59:14Thanks, Leslie.
00:59:15Still to come today, he's the man who says Britain's rum scene isn't just warming up, it's positively on fire.
00:59:21Ian Burrow reveals all on the great British rum essence.
00:59:25And he's bringing along a line-up of British bottles set to make a splash in 2026.
00:59:31And he's conquered comedy, countdown and the cha-cha-cha.
00:59:35So naturally, he thought, why not write a book? How hard can it be?
00:59:39Turns out, very.
00:59:41Chris McCausland on his memoir, his touring life, and why he'll never moan about strictly training again.
00:59:48I'll be back with Chris after the rain.
01:00:04Welcome back to Love Your Weekend.
01:00:06Still ahead, if rum conjures up images of palm trees and pirates.
01:00:10Think again.
01:00:11Britain's joined the party, and it's mixing quite the tipple.
01:00:14Ian Burrow opens the Manor Farm bar with British rums so good, even Hampshire feels a little tropical.
01:00:21Now, some people leave strictly and hang up their dancing shoes for good.
01:00:25Not Chris McCausland.
01:00:26Oh, no.
01:00:27He went back for more.
01:00:29Glotten for punishment.
01:00:31National treasure.
01:00:32Little bit of both, I think.
01:00:34Here he is, returning to the ballroom, for something rather special.
01:00:38And the sweet silver song of love
01:00:46Will come through the wind
01:00:50Will come through the rain
01:00:54Though your dreams be true.
01:00:59And oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
01:01:04Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart.
01:01:11And you'll never walk alone
01:01:22You'll never walk alone
01:01:41I find it difficult to listen to that music, they're getting dewy-eyed at the best of times
01:01:45Just listening to Tommy sing that gives me goosebumps
01:01:48Well it does the rest of us really
01:01:52To use the word iconic is overused I know
01:01:55But oh my goodness me, that moment was so powerful
01:01:59And for you to experience it again like that
01:02:02Did you think twice before you agreed to go back and do it again?
01:02:05Do you know what, I was contracted in and I didn't realise
01:02:08So I was meant to be on tour, my tour started again
01:02:12I was meant to be in crew at the Lyceum Theatre on the day that this was being filmed
01:02:17And they said, oh no, the winner returns
01:02:19I said, do they always return? It's in the contract
01:02:23I was like, we'd never read that far down
01:02:28Nobody, like we got the contract and we were like, well the winner
01:02:30And they were like, well we don't need to read that far, do we?
01:02:32Because I'm not getting that far
01:02:34So yeah, we moved the tour date and went and it was lovely
01:02:37And I remember Anton, Anton is a lovely man saying to me
01:02:42How are you feeling darling?
01:02:44And I said, I'm feeling good, I'm going to go out there, I'm going to do my dance
01:02:50And do you know what, I don't really care what you think of it
01:02:53You can give your scores to yourself
01:02:55I don't need to, I'm one of one
01:02:58Diane, what a star
01:03:00And now of course, expecting, which is an additional pressure on her
01:03:05Did it come back quite quickly, quite easily?
01:03:07Yeah, so we blocked off two days to do that
01:03:10To, you know, to relearn it
01:03:12And within half a day it was there
01:03:13You know, it took us half a day to blow the dust off it
01:03:16And it was, it was just all there, just under the surface
01:03:20You know, so really, really quick to, you know, get back up to speed
01:03:25And also, you know, having said what you said to Anton
01:03:27It must have been lovely to do it, for pleasure really
01:03:30Without the pressure of, oh it's got to be absolutely spot on
01:03:34You could really relax into it
01:03:35I could, and I think, you know, part of the terror and the fear of Strictly
01:03:42Is the live TV nature of it
01:03:45It is the fact that you could go out
01:03:46It is the fact that you're being judged
01:03:48And, you know, we did that one there
01:03:50And, you know, after nine months off Diane said it was the best I'd done it
01:03:53And we got a 40 in the final in December for that dance
01:03:56You know, we got top marks for it, it was the last thing we did
01:03:59But even just doing it without the pressure of the final
01:04:02She said it was, it was the best, the best that I'd done it, you know
01:04:05You turned Strictly down several times before you finally agreed to do it
01:04:10You must be glad you did now
01:04:12I mean, surely it's transformed your life, hasn't it?
01:04:15Yeah, yeah, I mean, look, it's, representation is only good if it's positive
01:04:20You know, if it sends out a positive message
01:04:24And the fear was that it would be a disaster
01:04:27And it does nobody any good if I go on it
01:04:30And I can't do it
01:04:32Not that I'm a bit goofy, like a lot of men are, you know, dad dancing or whatever
01:04:36But that I can't do it, that it's just not logistically possible
01:04:41It was a bit, it was so unknown
01:04:44Did you feel a responsibility to the blind community not to cock it up in that way?
01:04:49Well, I mean, yeah, it was the case really that, you know, I can't go out of this for lack
01:04:57of effort
01:04:57You know, I have to, the only way I can go out of this is because the dancing isn't up
01:05:03to scratch
01:05:03Or because it's just not possible
01:05:06But not because I'm not putting 100% in
01:05:09So if I'm going to do this, it has to be all or nothing
01:05:11And we have to, we have to kind of push boundaries and show that more is possible and surprise people
01:05:17And if we can't do that, there's no point in me being there
01:05:20And Diane was all in on it from the start
01:05:21You know, doing a cartwheel and me grabbing her leg in the first episode
01:05:25And pulling it down and playing
01:05:27These things are, like, if they didn't work, it should have kicked me in the head
01:05:31And we would have ended up in a heap on the floor
01:05:32But it did work and it made everybody go, wow
01:05:35And that's what it's all about, isn't it?
01:05:38Not least because of the amount of trust you had in each other
01:05:41Any dancer, any couple dancing has to trust the partner, obviously, with lifts and all that kind of thing
01:05:47But, you know, when you can't see
01:05:48I think so much more
01:05:49And doing it there, it's impossible to believe it unless you'd seen it
01:05:53Yeah, so much more
01:05:55And, you know, people would say that, you know, they would forget that I was blind
01:06:00And that was the point, you know
01:06:01I think, you know, making people forget about the one thing that people think defines you
01:06:07Is the only thing that defines you is far more powerful than bashing them over the head with it all
01:06:10the time
01:06:11Yeah
01:06:11What it doesn't get in the way of is humour, your capacity for it
01:06:15And you've been a champion on so many different quiz shows now
01:06:18But one of my favourites is this one
01:06:20And this is Chris McCausen on Would I Lie to You?
01:06:25All these years I have been pretending to be blind
01:06:32If only, Lee, would you read that for me, please?
01:06:36Every night I use an unusual technique to make sure I wake up on time in the morning
01:06:41Oh, David's team
01:06:44OK, so
01:06:45What is the unusual technique?
01:06:48The usual way of making sure you wake up in the morning at the right time would be to set
01:06:53an alarm clock
01:06:54Yes
01:06:55Yes
01:06:55I've heard of that
01:06:56OK, so
01:06:58And you do something different
01:06:59Well, we don't need to know what
01:07:00I think it will go true
01:07:03What I've done is I have trained my brain to wake itself up
01:07:10No, you haven't
01:07:11At the right time
01:07:12By doing what?
01:07:14When I'm lying in bed I will bang out the time on the pillow with my head
01:07:20Right
01:07:21Saying the hours for the time that I want to wake up
01:07:25Yeah?
01:07:26And that
01:07:27Subconsciously programs the time
01:07:29Chris
01:07:29Yes?
01:07:31Are you alright?
01:07:35And how accurate is this?
01:07:3750-50
01:07:42A valiant effort there
01:07:43Yeah, yeah, yeah
01:07:44Tough scrutiny
01:07:46Does being a stand-up make it easier to think on your feet, do you think?
01:07:50Do you know what?
01:07:51It obviously does and it makes it easier for you to improvise and it makes it easier for you to
01:07:55be funny
01:07:55It gives you more confidence in what you're saying that what you're saying is going to be funny
01:07:58But when you're doing something like Would I Lie to You?
01:08:02There's a lot more pressure on you to be the funny one
01:08:04Yeah
01:08:05When, you know, when you're on with somebody, you know, I think the episode you showed there was Alex from
01:08:10the one show
01:08:11Yes
01:08:13You've got Lee McNamee and Rob Brydon, all three of them going
01:08:16Absolutely, yeah
01:08:17But when you're amongst the other guests, if you're the only comedian, it's your job to kind of, you know,
01:08:22bring the guest to comedy
01:08:23So there's a bit more pressure on you from that point of view
01:08:25But sometimes on that show, like, I've been sat next to Lee or David
01:08:29And the two of them, when they get going on one of Lee or David's mad cards, yeah
01:08:34It's like machine gun fire
01:08:35I mean, I just sit back
01:08:37It's like being in immersive television
01:08:40You just sit back and you just watch them go like you're watching it on the telly
01:08:44Because there's no way you're getting a word in Edgeways
01:08:47No one to chip in
01:08:49But you're never known for taking the easy route, as it were
01:08:52And you've just done something which is completely out of your comfort zone
01:08:56Chris McCausland, the autobiography
01:08:58Keep laughing
01:08:59I mean, how easy did you find it to set down the story?
01:09:04I mean...
01:09:05Yeah, do you know what?
01:09:06Like, I actually enjoyed it
01:09:07I wrote it over six months at the beginning of the year, last year
01:09:11And it was, coming on the back of Strictly, I think it made all the difference
01:09:17Because I, you know, I've always been very emotionally closed off
01:09:21I've always been very private
01:09:22If I'd have written this, you know, before Strictly
01:09:25I'd have written a compendium of just funny anecdotes
01:09:28With no real insight or revealing, you know, emotion
01:09:32Or none of the other side of the coin, you know
01:09:37Lots of funny things happen when you lose your sight over 25 years
01:09:40I'd have written all the funny things and not let anybody in behind the curtains
01:09:44You know, about how that was to experience, I think
01:09:48But you do Strictly
01:09:49And all of a sudden
01:09:52It really made me aware of the value in connecting with people
01:09:56And sharing vulnerability
01:09:58And how that can really connect with people in a way that I didn't appreciate
01:10:03But in a positive way as well, you called the book Keep Laughing
01:10:07And obviously there's a lot of times when it is incredibly difficult to keep laughing
01:10:13You know, you always say that failure is the greatest comedic vein in a way
01:10:19Rather than success
01:10:20Yeah, well I mean, so Keep Laughing, you know
01:10:23I think, as a title, it very much sums up, I think, what I think is a good attitude
01:10:29Because we all have obstacles to overcome, we all have things that we need to, you know
01:10:33We need to navigate in life
01:10:35And often they can be difficult
01:10:37And I think, you know, to keep laughing is, you know, as they say, the best medicine
01:10:41And also, you know, it's a very loose tie into the keep dancing of Strictly
01:10:46For a little bit of a marketing angle there
01:10:49That's what I thought when I came up with the title
01:10:51No one's really noticed that
01:10:52It doesn't work when I have to point it at myself
01:10:54I'd say, I didn't notice either
01:10:56Maybe if you'd put...
01:10:58Yeah, yeah, yeah
01:10:59Yeah, I thought this is really clever
01:11:03No one's mentioned it
01:11:04No, yeah, I failed as well, Chris, don't worry
01:11:08But you, I mean, you are keeping laughing, you've been doing this tour
01:11:12Incredible, over 300 dates in this Yonks
01:11:16Yeah
01:11:16And you've extended it
01:11:19Not surprisingly, people are coming because they want to keep laughing
01:11:23It's been lovely, and to have people just come along and want to see me do stand-up
01:11:27Who, I think a lot of them maybe haven't been to comedy before
01:11:31And comedy isn't really something that they regularly go to
01:11:35And such as the stretch of the, you know, the demographic of Strictly
01:11:41My demographic was always kind of, I would say mid-30s to mid-60s
01:11:45You know, grumpy, miserable northern comedian
01:11:47And all of a sudden, you know, gangs of women in their 20s are coming
01:11:53And generations of families
01:11:56From, you know, from 17 years old through to great grannies
01:12:00And it's been lovely, you know
01:12:04So, yeah, we're going to wrap the tour up in May
01:12:07And I'm going to get to play the London Palladium
01:12:11Because they've really lowered their standards
01:12:16It's getting people to know you in a way
01:12:19Which makes comedy, I wouldn't say easy, comedy is never easy
01:12:23But in a way when people know and understand you a bit more
01:12:26They're that much more willing to be on side, aren't they really?
01:12:30Yeah, and I think there's a couple of extra things to it really as well
01:12:33In that, you know, I didn't really get on panel shows, you know, until maybe
01:12:39I mean, how long have I been, 16 years I've been doing comedy?
01:12:4216, 17 years
01:12:44And, you know, I had a lot of strings to me both at that point
01:12:47A lot of miles under my belt
01:12:48Doing the circuit and all the clubs
01:12:51All types of rooms and audiences
01:12:52And they lend them, you know, all them skills lend themselves
01:12:55To being able to improvise and do well on the telly
01:12:59But also, I think I was just comfortable in my own skin by the time I got these opportunities
01:13:04And was very comfortable to just be myself
01:13:07I get the impression you're much more comfortable in your skin now
01:13:12Knowing who you are
01:13:13Knowing what you've come through
01:13:14And in a way, having utilised that to your own advantage
01:13:19I don't mean that in a kind of, you know, smart way
01:13:23But just working...
01:13:24The biggest thing in life, isn't it, for everybody
01:13:26Is working out who they are and being comfortable with that
01:13:28Yeah, and especially in comedy, you hear it said often that it takes a while to find your voice on
01:13:32stage
01:13:33It's ironic, really, that that basically just means learning how to be yourself a lot of the time
01:13:38It takes, you know, it takes people a while to be comfortable with themselves
01:13:43And the bottom line is you need to be comfortable with yourself off stage
01:13:47Before you can be comfortable with yourself on stage
01:13:50Sometimes being on stage is almost an escape from having to be yourself
01:13:55But it takes those two things to line up really
01:13:59But famously, that's not the case with comedians, you know, a lot of troubled people
01:14:03I mean, look at the great comics of the past
01:14:05The Tony Hancocks, the Kenneth Williamsies, the people like that
01:14:07Who really are not comfortable with themselves
01:14:10Yeah, yeah, but I would say Tony Hancock was not himself on stage
01:14:16Because he was a performer, he was a character
01:14:18Do you know what I mean?
01:14:19Yeah, totally
01:14:20Yeah, and you know, I'm not saying, you know, Milton Jones does not need to find himself off stage
01:14:25To find his voice on stage, because he's a character
01:14:28He's a comical exaggeration, he's a wonderful comedian
01:14:31But for somebody like myself, for somebody like, I'd say, like John Bishop, like Kevin Bridges, you know
01:14:38I'm very aware I've just put myself in the same category as big arena comedians
01:14:43And that wasn't intentional
01:14:44But guys who are just themselves, who are relatable, you know
01:14:50I was working in, living in Scotland, making a children's TV show when Kevin first started doing, first started doing
01:14:57stand-up
01:14:58And he landed on the open mic circuit as just this, exactly what he is now
01:15:03He's just never, you know, his joke writings got better, his performances got better
01:15:08But he was always just absolutely natural
01:15:11I think that's a rarity, I think it takes the rest of us a while to get there
01:15:15Well, I think you've got there, Chris
01:15:16We are confident, we'll give you 10, 10, 10, 10, we'll give you 40
01:15:20Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever you do, don't edit this to just be the bit where I go, Kevin Bridges is
01:15:24a freak
01:15:28Trust us
01:15:30So, in terms of Strictly and writing the book, which is the most stressful?
01:15:35Oh, Strictly is the most stressful thing I've ever done in my life
01:15:37But probably the most rewarded, you know, so
01:15:41That's the nature of it, isn't it?
01:15:43The things that we do that scare us the most can often be the most rewarding
01:15:50So, Strictly was a lot more daunting than sitting at my desk in my lovely warm room writing it right
01:15:56in the book
01:15:56Always a delight, Chris
01:15:58Cheers
01:15:58Now, there are moments when, apart from having a laugh with Chris
01:16:03All you need really is a stretch of open countryside and a melody to match it
01:16:08So, settle back and let both do their work
01:16:11This is today's Ode to Joy
01:16:13This is a bit of a motel story
01:16:13This is a story
01:16:14This is a story
01:16:15It is a story
01:16:15It is on the place
01:16:40As long as the hits
01:19:12Go for it.
01:19:13Right.
01:19:14So it's a new year and it's also dry January as well.
01:19:18So I thought I'd combine both styles of rums and drinks with some new rums for the 2026
01:19:23or for new iterations.
01:19:24And of course some non-alcoholic dry January cocktail.
01:19:28So we're going to start off up in Sheffield.
01:19:32That well-known rum capital of York.
01:19:35Well, as this is best of British, we've got British brands.
01:19:39So this is a Sheffield brand.
01:19:40It's actually a rum bar called Rum Cake 876.
01:19:42And what they do, they go to the city in Nottinghamshire.
01:19:45They get a rum inside there.
01:19:47And it's really spicy and flavourable.
01:19:49What I've done, I've made like a rum punch, a classic rum punch with that.
01:19:52So a bit of rum, lime, sugar, water, and a bit of spice.
01:19:56And in a non-alcoholic version, I've created like my own non-alcoholic rum-y spice product.
01:20:01A bit of water, a bit of lime, a bit of sugar.
01:20:02So it's really nice and easy drink.
01:20:04Very nourish.
01:20:05Yeah, that's a non-alcoholic version.
01:20:06Yeah, I like it.
01:20:07You two's on the non-alcoholic.
01:20:09I'm on...
01:20:09She's on the non-alcoholic.
01:20:11You and Ellen are non-alcoholic.
01:20:13I'm on that.
01:20:14I've only met you today, but I reckon you'd be a nightmare after a couple.
01:20:19Sorry.
01:20:21You're not wrong, Chris.
01:20:24But we like it anyway, don't we?
01:20:26Yeah, I thought it was gorgeous.
01:20:27Do you like your version?
01:20:29Is that alright, Chris?
01:20:29Good?
01:20:30Excellent.
01:20:30It's delicious, to be honest.
01:20:31Coconut-y.
01:20:32Yeah, because in the non-alcoholic, what's called rum-y type base inside there,
01:20:37it's a bit of coconut, a bit of vanilla, a bit of cinnamon.
01:20:40Yeah, touch, it's a touch.
01:20:40No coconut.
01:20:41Did you see him put it in?
01:20:45I'm getting no.
01:20:45You get a bit of lemony, citrus-y coming out.
01:20:47A bit of lemony, citrus-y, yes.
01:20:49Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:20:49Got a bit of a lime pureness, balance it out, and then the rum itself.
01:20:52Yeah, that's quite nice and rum-y.
01:20:53Right, so we've got, we're sticking to Nottinghamshire.
01:20:56The Drops Works, one of my favourite new distilleries here in the UK.
01:20:59This is one of the oldest rums they've created.
01:21:02It's actually aged in chestnut barrels.
01:21:05So this will be one of the most limited edition rums you'll get in 2026,
01:21:09if there are any left.
01:21:10And what I've done, I've created like an old-fashioned style of cocktail inside there,
01:21:14with a bit of, instead of using sugar, I've used chestnut syrup.
01:21:17Oh.
01:21:17A bit of bitters inside there, just a length and a flavour.
01:21:20And a non-alcoholic version, we've got the chestnut syrup.
01:21:22Oh, that's a real winter warmer, that one.
01:21:23Oh, yes.
01:21:24Oh, yeah.
01:21:24Quite boozy, that one.
01:21:25Well, Chris and Eve's one's not boozy.
01:21:27Oh, it's nice.
01:21:28It's lovely.
01:21:29You still get the chestnut flavour inside there, quite warmy, and the spice inside there.
01:21:32I'm not sure about these glasses though.
01:21:34It's a weird shape, innit?
01:21:35Because, like, why would you have a glass that means you've got to elevate it at a ridiculous...
01:21:41Because that's how you drink.
01:21:42Yes!
01:21:44Do you want a straw?
01:21:47Hello, Joel's nice.
01:21:48What's in it?
01:21:49So with this, it's got chestnut syrup, which is the flavour, the main flavour of there.
01:21:54A little bit of lime, orange peel, and then I've added a dash of what's called allspice,
01:21:59vanilla, a bit of cinnamon.
01:22:01So there's everything in it.
01:22:02A bit of everything, yeah.
01:22:03The cinnamon is what jumps out at me.
01:22:04A bit of cinnamon.
01:22:05Did you get that, Chris?
01:22:06Yeah.
01:22:06I think you said there's a bit of allspice in it.
01:22:09The, um...
01:22:10Allspice?
01:22:11A little bit of...
01:22:11A little bit of brooch.
01:22:13A little bit of brooch.
01:22:14You wait till you get the next one.
01:22:16It's au sauvage.
01:22:17You might as well.
01:22:19Right.
01:22:20Next one.
01:22:21Another part of the rum category that you're going to see a lot more in 2026 is the bling
01:22:25rums, the ones a little bit more expensive.
01:22:27This bottle here is about 100 quid a bottle, but it is an amazing creation as you can see
01:22:31by the bottle.
01:22:31You don't even get a straight bottle.
01:22:33You drink more, it'll get straighter.
01:22:35Is that rum with a twist?
01:22:38It...
01:22:38Oh, boom.
01:22:40Sorry, sorry, sorry.
01:22:41So this rum here is actually, originally the liquid is from Panama and they bring it
01:22:45down to Kent and then they distill their own rum and they blend the two rums together.
01:22:48So it's a unique blend called the Curitus, this particular brand.
01:22:52And what I've done here is because it tastes really well neat, I didn't want to do too
01:22:55much to it.
01:22:56So I've added a bit of smoke.
01:22:57There is a chocolate rim in case you want to do the rum and chocolate pairing, which is
01:23:00another thing you'll see a lot more in 2026 rum and chocolate pairings.
01:23:04And then a twist of orange peel.
01:23:05Wow.
01:23:06So it's quite boozy, again, for the boozy ones.
01:23:08The non-alcoholic ones is, again, my rum base with a little bit of water inside it and
01:23:14a bit of spice and the chocolate.
01:23:16But if you like the chocolate, it's got nice chocolate in it.
01:23:17Nathan, this is really, this is like rum, but with the sort of body taken out underneath.
01:23:23So it's really quite sharp.
01:23:24Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:23:26It's got a bit of bite into it because of the young rums added to it.
01:23:29And that's why it works so well in certain styles of cocktails.
01:23:31It's almost like you want to get, like, a peaty whiskey.
01:23:34Yes, yes.
01:23:35And that's the reason why I've added a smoke to it, to give it that peaty and smokiness,
01:23:39so it gives that element.
01:23:40So it is a rum and a cocktail that we've made for whiskey drinkers.
01:23:43Anyone who likes that classic old-fashioned with a whiskey, like a smoky whiskey, this
01:23:47is the cocktail for you.
01:23:49But if you're having a non-alcoholic, it's also the cocktail for you as well.
01:23:51Wow.
01:23:53Chris, I get the impression this is not the cocktail for you then, is it?
01:23:56No, some of them are nice.
01:23:57This one, I'm not sold on this one.
01:24:02Can I try it on?
01:24:03Yeah.
01:24:04That's all right.
01:24:04And this is dangerous.
01:24:06I think putting chocolate around the edge of a glass is dangerous,
01:24:08because you want to bite it up and you don't want to end up with a mouthful of glass, do
01:24:12you?
01:24:13I mean...
01:24:14Also, especially when it's cold, you've got to kind of chew that chocolate.
01:24:17Where was the risk assessment in this?
01:24:19That's true.
01:24:20I've got to put that in the form.
01:24:21I wanted to create a rum for the whiskey drinkers,
01:24:24and that's the reason why this has been aged quite extensively
01:24:26and added a little bit of local Kent rum.
01:24:29Nathan's absolutely right on that one, because it's very much.
01:24:32Yeah, it's 100%.
01:24:32He's got a bit of Caribbean inside him, so he knows that.
01:24:35He's got a bit of Caribbean inside him, so he knows his rum, you see.
01:24:37That's the reason why.
01:24:38Indeed, indeed.
01:24:39Oh, now this one completely different.
01:24:40What's this?
01:24:41Oh, sorry, we've moved now.
01:24:42We've gone from Kent down to Devon.
01:24:43Go down!
01:24:44Oh, she has one drink in him, and he has to stop!
01:24:48So we've gone to Devon Southwest, and we've gone with a classic highball.
01:24:54You're going to see a lot more highballs in 2026.
01:24:56This is a rum that's an old rum, Vault 53, but it's been reformulated.
01:25:00So this is prickly pear and grapefruit.
01:25:03So you're going to have spiced rums and flavoured rums,
01:25:05seeing a lot more of those in 2026.
01:25:06So what we've gone with is a classic highball.
01:25:08Grapefruit, prickly pear, and a bit of soda water.
01:25:11Just a prickly pear syrup, just to sweeten it up.
01:25:14The non-alcoholic version is just grapefruit, prickly pear,
01:25:16and a bit of soda water.
01:25:17Just a lengthen, and a really nice refreshing drink.
01:25:20I like this.
01:25:21I like this.
01:25:21It's got a lot going on.
01:25:23That's what I like to hear.
01:25:24I reckon this one's dangerous.
01:25:26It is.
01:25:26I was about to say that because it seems really quite...
01:25:29I agree.
01:25:31I have put a double shot in yours.
01:25:33Yeah.
01:25:34Bottoms up, buddy.
01:25:35So it is quite dangerous.
01:25:37That's me thinking it was squash.
01:25:41Oh, yeah, that's delicious, though, isn't it?
01:25:43Oh, yeah, but it's one of those drinks I love to promote
01:25:45because they are refreshing, easy to drink.
01:25:47And this little decilary, Vort 53,
01:25:49they make a range of different flavours.
01:25:51But prickly pear and grapefruit, for me,
01:25:53is a really great combination, a unique combination.
01:25:55What's the thing?
01:25:55The pear.
01:25:56The prickly pear.
01:25:57It's not nice.
01:25:58What is that?
01:25:58It's a cactus.
01:25:59Of course it's not nice.
01:26:00Our frontier is the Latin name.
01:26:02It's not a pear.
01:26:03No, but it's a pear-shaped fruit, but it's not a pear.
01:26:06Oh, no.
01:26:07But it is a fruit.
01:26:08You know, Jungle Book, pretty pear.
01:26:10Yeah, yeah, of course, yeah.
01:26:11You were thinking, what a stupid question.
01:26:13What's it, Britain?
01:26:13And now you know, you're like, oh, yeah.
01:26:14Can we grow them in England?
01:26:15Oh, Chris, actually.
01:26:16Can we grow them in England?
01:26:17Can we grow them in England?
01:26:19Can we grow them in England?
01:26:30Can we grow them in England?
01:26:30No, it's inedible.
01:26:31That's why we put it in there.
01:26:33Yes, it's inedible.
01:26:34And finally, and finally, the classic rum punch.
01:26:40But instead of drinking rum punch in a classic way, because it's a bit cold in January, we
01:26:45want to have a nice warm rum punch.
01:26:46So this is a classic rum punch where it's been orange juice, pineapple juice, a bit of syrup
01:26:52and grenadine, a bit of lime and a bit of nutmeg on top.
01:26:55So you guys have the alcoholic version.
01:26:57And Chris and Nelly, you have the non-alcoholic version, which is...
01:27:01This is my favourite.
01:27:02Oh, you like that one?
01:27:03This is my favourite.
01:27:03Orange juice, pineapple juice, grenadine.
01:27:04Well, our version is nice.
01:27:06Yeah.
01:27:07Yeah.
01:27:08Smooth.
01:27:09I have a suggestion for the future in this show, though, all right?
01:27:12I think that you should do this at the beginning from now on.
01:27:15I think you should get Alan drunk and then let him do the interviews.
01:27:18Yeah.
01:27:19Well, do you think they would be any better?
01:27:22No, but that'd be funny.
01:27:25I think people would be tuning in just for the chaos.
01:27:28I don't know.
01:27:28I think they're tuning in just for the chaos today, frankly.
01:27:32There's quite...
01:27:33Lord knows what this show would have been like if I'd put you on this at the beginning of it,
01:27:37you know.
01:27:37Only job keeping order anyway.
01:27:39It's just fancy juice, isn't it?
01:27:41Imagine what me and Ella would be like if we'd had a drink.
01:27:43It's very true.
01:27:44It's a nightmare.
01:27:45Thank you for being a glorious company today.
01:27:48It's been an absolute delight.
01:27:49That's it for today's show.
01:27:50Thanks to all my guests, to Ella, Nathan, Chris, and of course Ian,
01:27:54who's seen us off in more ways than one with his lovely rum.
01:27:57Joining me next week for more rural delights here in Hampshire
01:28:00and I'll be joined by Dame Maureen Littman, Grant Chester's Al Weaver
01:28:04and currently wowing audiences in Hercules, Trevor Dion Nicholas.
01:28:08Until then, I leave you with these words from Marlon Brando, no less.
01:28:14Never surrender to the momentum of mediocrity.
01:28:18And I said that without any cotton wool in my cheeks.
01:28:21There's absolutely nothing mediocre about what we've been drinking here today.
01:28:25Viva the rum essence.
01:28:26Where was Marlon Brando from?
01:28:28Cornwall.
01:28:31It's just lip, isn't it?
01:28:32We'll just say cheers and goodbye.
01:28:34Cheers.
01:28:34Cheers.
01:28:35Cheers.
01:28:36Yes.
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