Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh - Season 8 - Episode 12 Eng Sub - video Dailymotion

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Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh - Season 8 - Episode 12

Transcript

00:00:01I know, you couldn't tell them, could you? You know, you'd try.

00:00:04Morning. Yes, just casually hanging out with my llama friends.

00:00:09Meet Indigo and Barnaby, stars of the silver screen

00:00:13and recently seen taking centre stage

00:00:16in Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club.

00:00:18They'll be spilling the beans on their stardom later.

00:00:21It's time for Love Your Weekend.

00:00:24Come on, then. So, what was Pierce Brosnan really like?

00:00:43What is Pierce Brosnan's?

00:00:44Walking inside.

00:00:45What is Pierce Brosnan's?

00:00:48Where's Pierce Brosnan's?

00:00:50What's Pierce Brosnan's?

00:00:51How did Pierce Brosnan?

00:00:51It's a dream directing all the time.

00:00:52How did Pierce Brosnan got killed?

00:01:04Go on, breathe it in, that crisp, fresh spring air with a tang to it.

00:01:12The fields are stirring, the buds are bursting, and everywhere you look, the British countryside is waking up around you.

00:01:21However you measure it, spring has officially arrived.

00:01:24Thanks to the equinox on Friday, we now get more than 12 glorious hours of daylight a day.

00:01:31As the late, great Robin Williams once said, spring is nature's way of saying, let's party.

00:01:37And here on the farm, we know the way to celebrate.

00:01:41Coming up, she made Head's Turn in the hit drama Cutting It back in 2002,

00:01:45and she's been making Head's Turn ever since.

00:01:48Sarah Parrish on teaming up with Rupert Penry-Jones for her latest theatrical foray.

00:01:54And he's led a rock and roll life.

00:01:56Peter Andre, currently celebrating 30 years since his big breakout and back with a brand new album.

00:02:03And whether you're a houseplant addict or completely devoid of any greenhouse mates,

00:02:08houseplant expert Claire Lowry returns to the farm with her top houseplant first aid tips for your indoor greenery.

00:02:16And they already have an abundance of humps, but now they're adding stripes into the mix.

00:02:23We visit friend of the show Daisy Fawcett in Warwickshire to see how some new arrivals at the family farm

00:02:29are overshadowing the camels.

00:02:36But first, the stage is set for today's guests.

00:02:40First lady of this parish, local Hampshireite and man-of-farm favourite, Sarah Parrish.

00:02:45And with her, a man who's been entertaining us for 30 years, unbelievably, with his genial personality and natural native

00:02:53charm.

00:02:53Welcome to Peter Andre.

00:02:56How do you find something in common between an Australian and someone who lives in Hampshire?

00:03:00And the answer is, unbelievably, Somerset.

00:03:02Yes.

00:03:03That's right.

00:03:04Australian, but Somerset now.

00:03:05Yeah, Somerset.

00:03:06So, I mean, my wife's family are all from Somerset, Taunton.

00:03:12And actually, my wife's father is a urologist and he operated on my kidney.

00:03:17And that's how I eventually met my wife.

00:03:20I thought we were getting to the realms of oversharing.

00:03:23You were.

00:03:23I see why now.

00:03:24You were, because actually, had he known then what he knows now, he might have done a different operation.

00:03:30I love Somerset.

00:03:32I love that whole area.

00:03:33Isn't it lovely?

00:03:34I love it so much.

00:03:35And whenever we want to escape, that's where we go.

00:03:38But, you know, it's becoming very popular now, Somerset.

00:03:41Yeah, for lots and lots of people moving there.

00:03:43I can't leave the fact that you said, so he did the operation and then you married his daughter.

00:03:49Yeah.

00:03:50You know when you wake up from the operating, in the operating theatre and they have that big bright light

00:03:54and he was standing in front of it, looking down to see if I was right.

00:03:57And I, honestly, I thought it was Jesus.

00:03:59I, I just, I just didn't know where I was.

00:04:02We became really good friends with his family for two years and two years later we were all together and

00:04:08I literally realised I had feelings and I thought, what do I do?

00:04:13What do I say?

00:04:14And I asked his permission if I could ask Emily for a date and we did and we went for

00:04:19a date and that was that.

00:04:20Oh, that's so romantic.

00:04:21We're married ten years now.

00:04:23Gosh.

00:04:23Goodness me.

00:04:24Yeah.

00:04:24What a lovely story.

00:04:26Yes, what a nice boy.

00:04:27Yeah.

00:04:28Well, he's a good man and we're still best friends.

00:04:31Well, with her whole family, they're lovely.

00:04:32So, Sarah, which operation did you have to meet Jimmy?

00:04:36Yes, I didn't, unfortunately.

00:04:39But no, Somerset, it is a lovely, lovely place.

00:04:41I, I mean, I don't very often go down there now.

00:04:44Obviously, both my parents have passed.

00:04:47But when I do go down, it's that sort of very lovely nostalgia.

00:04:52There's a smell about Somerset.

00:04:54There's something about it that calls me back.

00:04:57How long were you there?

00:04:57I lived there for 18 years.

00:05:00Gosh, right.

00:05:00Yeah, and then moved up to London after that.

00:05:03But I've got such fond memories of Somerset.

00:05:05It's a beautiful place.

00:05:06But also, I'm delighted that you both at least show an interest in gardening.

00:05:10I mean, either got to take an interest in it or just, you know, get somebody else to do it.

00:05:15Also, mum and dad are from Cyprus originally and I bought land there maybe 20, 25 years ago

00:05:21and I built a house there and I, my gardens there are my pride and joy.

00:05:26And I only noticed it when dad first, dad designed it and he put all the trees in their place.

00:05:31And I used to say to dad, yeah, this is all great, but what do I know about this stuff?

00:05:35And he said, just, just wait.

00:05:36And now 20 years later, I go there and I can't wait to just, that's where my real pride and

00:05:42joy.

00:05:42Now, Sarah, you, I remember you having a veg patch.

00:05:44You were quite cute.

00:05:45I did when I lived not far from here, actually.

00:05:48I had a big veg patch.

00:05:50It was great.

00:05:50I loved it.

00:05:51And we grew all our own veg.

00:05:53We had chickens and, you know, they would, oh, it was just great.

00:05:57It was lovely.

00:05:58Now, Jim and I are too busy for the veg patch, unfortunately.

00:06:01So, we have brought a gardener in, which I feel very embarrassed in front of you to say.

00:06:05That's all right, no doubt about it, because it just supports the industry.

00:06:08Exactly, exactly.

00:06:08That's fine.

00:06:09But, no, I loved it.

00:06:10I love doing my veg patch and I love pottering about in the garden.

00:06:13It's just lovely.

00:06:14It's intriguing to have an actor and, you know, well, an actor but also a musician,

00:06:19because I've noticed when I've been sort of keeping an eye on what's going on,

00:06:22you've both actually done crossover, because Peter's done some acting,

00:06:25and you've done some singing.

00:06:28And in MacDonald and Dodds, there was an unforgettable moment

00:06:31where Sarah Parrish became Tina Turner.

00:06:35Oh.

00:06:36You're simply the best

00:06:41Better than all the best

00:06:45Better than anyone

00:06:50Anyone I ever met

00:06:55I'm talking to you

00:06:57So, what's singing Simply the Best on camera?

00:06:59Fun or absolutely mortifying?

00:07:02Mortifying!

00:07:03It was incredibly embarrassing having to do that,

00:07:06because I'm not a singer.

00:07:07And she's not supposed to be a singer.

00:07:09She isn't supposed to be a singer,

00:07:11but it was so much fun doing it.

00:07:13I loved it.

00:07:15But, no, you can see I won't be doing any musicals in the future.

00:07:19I bet you could absolutely do that.

00:07:21That was the character you were playing.

00:07:24Yeah, it was fun.

00:07:25It was really good fun to do.

00:07:26Would you fancy a new backing singer?

00:07:28Well, by the sounds of it, I'm going to have to be...

00:07:32Well, I've done it to you,

00:07:33so I've really got to do it to Peter as well.

00:07:35So, shall we have a look at your acting class?

00:07:37Oh, yes, let's have a look.

00:07:37Well, this might have been my favourite,

00:07:39depending where you're going.

00:07:40We're going to football as wives.

00:07:42That was, like you,

00:07:44that was the one I just wish had never seen the light of day.

00:07:47Let's see.

00:07:48Let's have a look at it.

00:07:48Here we go.

00:07:50Peter, darling.

00:07:55How are you doing?

00:07:56You must be out.

00:07:57How are you going?

00:07:58Good.

00:07:59I'm a little confused, though,

00:08:00because my agent said something about Conrad,

00:08:02and you had a business proposition for me or something.

00:08:05Conrad?

00:08:07Typical agent, say.

00:08:09No, it's just me, sweetheart.

00:08:11But why don't we talk shop over dinner?

00:08:13Right.

00:08:14Champagne?

00:08:15Yeah, all right.

00:08:17You see, the thing about a collaboration is

00:08:20there's got to be some sort of connection, you know?

00:08:24Spiritual.

00:08:25Well, that's why I think we could do it,

00:08:27because, well, I'm very spiritual, Peter.

00:08:32And I think Hal looks so complimentary.

00:08:34I could be your mysterious girl.

00:08:37Yeah, you could.

00:08:38A rather gruff and frustrated version of yourself,

00:08:42I feel there, Peter.

00:08:43Peter, very much wondering what she was going to say next.

00:08:47Yes.

00:08:47Were you the footballer or the wife?

00:08:49Well, I don't know what I was, but I just...

00:08:52It was one of those where I...

00:08:54Because it was one of the first things I'd done,

00:08:56like, 20...

00:08:57That was, like, 20-something years ago.

00:08:58Yeah.

00:08:59And I remember sitting next to my cousin,

00:09:01and he said, have you done acting before?

00:09:02I said, well, I studied it as a kid,

00:09:04but I've been doing music for 20 years.

00:09:06Yeah.

00:09:06And he said, yeah, just stick to music.

00:09:08I remember him saying that.

00:09:09And then, of course, since then, I've done film,

00:09:11but that was 20 years ago.

00:09:13I thought it was pretty good.

00:09:14No, that was shocking.

00:09:15Did you?

00:09:16Thank you very much.

00:09:18Thanks for embarrassing us.

00:09:19That's all right.

00:09:20Well, I thought we had to do it both ways, really.

00:09:22That was great.

00:09:23The thing they always say,

00:09:23they always call the filming business hurry up and wait.

00:09:26In other words, you've got your...

00:09:28And then it's ages.

00:09:30What do you both do?

00:09:32Do you play games?

00:09:33Do you embroider?

00:09:34Or what, Sarah, what do you do to fill those boring gaps?

00:09:38All sorts, really.

00:09:39I mean, I always have a book on set so I can read.

00:09:42Obviously, I run a charity as well as acting,

00:09:44so if there's any emails to do,

00:09:45I've got my computer with me.

00:09:47I can, you know, shoot off some emails, things like that.

00:09:50But, yeah, generally, I try not to get on my phone all the time

00:09:54because all actors now, we've all got our phones and we just...

00:09:57And in the olden days, you'd all sit and chat to each other,

00:09:59which was great.

00:10:00You got to know the crew, you got to know everyone,

00:10:02and that doesn't happen so much now,

00:10:03so I try not to take my phone on set.

00:10:05Of course, you're instantly isolated, aren't you,

00:10:07at the moment you're doing it?

00:10:08Yeah, yeah.

00:10:09Peter, what do you do?

00:10:10Well, so I've been with the same manager for 30 years

00:10:13and I remember at the start,

00:10:15when things were really going well on the music front,

00:10:18she said, oh, I'm going to get you into presenting.

00:10:20And I said, but why would I want to do presenting?

00:10:22I want to do music.

00:10:23And she said, because there'll come a time

00:10:25when the music will slow down

00:10:26and you need to have all these different avenues.

00:10:28So the benefit of that was I get to do loads of different things,

00:10:31but the downside of that is there's never downtime.

00:10:36Obviously, I'm very grateful for it,

00:10:38but it just, my brain's constantly going,

00:10:40I need to do something else.

00:10:41I can't sit still.

00:10:44So I don't really,

00:10:46the downtime is when we all, as a family, go somewhere.

00:10:50That's the only time.

00:10:51But apart from that,

00:10:52I'm just constantly thinking, what's next?

00:10:54What do I do next?

00:10:55What do I do?

00:10:56More coming up from Sarah and Pete a little bit later.

00:10:59Now, pull up a hay bale and grab yourself a caramel slice.

00:11:02Still ahead, adequate light, sufficient water

00:11:05and a strong root system.

00:11:07It's a houseplants rescue.

00:11:09Claire Lowry and the houseplant hacks

00:11:11to help revive your leafy favourites

00:11:13just in time for summer.

00:11:14Also coming up, long eyelashes,

00:11:17banana-shaped ears,

00:11:19upturned mouths and stocky bodies.

00:11:21We'll be catching up with our movie star llamas,

00:11:24currently taking the spotlight over in Paddock 2.

00:11:27I'll see you with our llamas and more,

00:11:29right after I've invited Peter

00:11:31to indulge himself with a fondant fancy.

00:11:34Oh, no.

00:11:34Sorry about that.

00:11:35Already?

00:11:36I should have waited for my cue.

00:11:38I should have waited for my cue.

00:11:40Look at that.

00:11:41That's a fondant fancy and a half, isn't it, really?

00:11:43Oh.

00:11:46Help yourself.

00:11:47Sarah, do you want to be the Battenberg?

00:11:48I will have a Battenberg, actually.

00:11:50Lovely.

00:11:50Look at that.

00:12:06There's an old country saying, told to me, by Percy Thrower, no less.

00:12:12It's March dust worth a pound a peck,

00:12:15meaning that a dry spell and a good covering of blue sky right now

00:12:20can mean great things for the season ahead.

00:12:22After the wettest start to the year on record,

00:12:26a few days of settled weather isn't just a good omen for growers.

00:12:29It's a real spirit lifter, isn't it?

00:12:31You just feel a whole lot better.

00:12:32Your shoulders come down.

00:12:33And we've lots to lift the spirits and lower your shoulders on today's show,

00:12:38including a man who oozes natural charisma, likeability,

00:12:42and boasts a large fan base.

00:12:45No one likes a show-off, Peter.

00:12:46Peter Andre, sharing the stories and the songs

00:12:49from the illustrious 30-year career.

00:12:52And forget the Cocteau twins.

00:12:55Remember them?

00:12:56Today we bring you the Cocktail Twins.

00:12:58They're not twins, but never let facts get in the way of a good title.

00:13:02Master mixologists Hannah and Siobhan make their Manor Farm debut

00:13:06with some citrusy sippers in this week's Master British.

00:13:11Now, we've welcomed a cacophony of animals to our paddocks in recent years,

00:13:16all enriching our understanding of the great British countryside.

00:13:20Today's visitors may be less recognisable than some we've met,

00:13:23but these herbivores certainly rival any when it comes to personality.

00:13:29A South American relative of the camel,

00:13:32llamas were first brought here in Victorian times as zoo attractions.

00:13:37Today, they're predominantly kept as pets,

00:13:39but some owners do specialise in breeding and offer llama experiences,

00:13:45trekking through the English countryside.

00:13:48It's exactly what Sarah Brown from Katanga Llamas in Northampton she does.

00:13:53She joins me now with indigo and Barnaby.

00:13:58It's very interesting.

00:13:59Normally, all animals present their bottom to camera.

00:14:02We've got half of tail here.

00:14:05Sarah, let's clear this up first of all.

00:14:07Difference between a llama and an alpaca.

00:14:09What is it?

00:14:10Alpacas are half the size.

00:14:12They're slightly more timid.

00:14:14They're not as outgoing and confident as llamas.

00:14:17They're predominantly a fibre and meat producer in South America,

00:14:21whereas the llama is the all-round utility animal, so pack llama.

00:14:26They do use their fleece as well,

00:14:28and they use their dung for heating and cooking.

00:14:31They're just the all-rounder, basically.

00:14:33They've never ridden, are they?

00:14:34But they're beasts of burden.

00:14:35They carry stuff.

00:14:36Yeah, so they can carry up to about 25 kilos,

00:14:39so they trade with other communities around the Andes.

00:14:42This is indigo, who you met last time.

00:14:46I've met you before.

00:14:47Do you know they're beautifully soft?

00:14:49They are.

00:14:49And you stroke them gloriously.

00:14:50And I love this hum.

00:14:52You're very handsome, aren't you?

00:14:54He is.

00:14:57This is indigo, that's Barnaby.

00:14:58Ages here, Sarah.

00:14:59Indigo is 17, and Barnaby is 16 this summer.

00:15:04And how long can they live?

00:15:05Late teens, early 20s.

00:15:07Yeah.

00:15:07I mean, we've got a 23-year-old at the minute,

00:15:09and his grandfather lived to be nearly 27, so...

00:15:11Graciously.

00:15:12Yeah, really.

00:15:13If you look after them, they can go into their 20s.

00:15:15But average is about 18, I'd say.

00:15:17And people come to you to go trekking.

00:15:19Yes.

00:15:20Long country walks with a llama carrying your bag.

00:15:22Yes, so we do an on-farm trek and a half-day experience

00:15:26where we go cross-country,

00:15:27because we've got 20-acre woodland at the farm.

00:15:30And they're just really, you know,

00:15:32confident companions to trek with.

00:15:34They have a reputation, even as all llamas,

00:15:36they spit, don't they?

00:15:37They do have a bad reputation for it,

00:15:39but it is just a bad reputation.

00:15:41They do spit, but they should never, ever spit at people.

00:15:44And it's because of a lot of petting zoos

00:15:46and places where they're prodded and poked all day

00:15:48and quite, you know, stressed, but...

00:15:51They have the most wonderful eyes and eyelashes

00:15:53that most women would kill for, you know.

00:15:56You're getting hungry.

00:15:56But they're a large, they're a broad animal, aren't they?

00:15:59They're just quite a broad back, hence the beast of burden bit.

00:16:03They are, but actually under all of that fibre

00:16:05is quite a small body, really.

00:16:07Yeah, they look bigger than they actually are,

00:16:09but they, yeah, you can carry...

00:16:10Excuse me while I do this, won't you?

00:16:12Yes.

00:16:13It is very dense.

00:16:15It's up to there.

00:16:16Yeah.

00:16:16Yeah, look at that, really...

00:16:19There's loads of it there.

00:16:21Yeah.

00:16:21It's really very extremely deep.

00:16:23Quite coarse.

00:16:24Is it coarser than alpaca?

00:16:26Yeah, so alpacas just have one coat,

00:16:28which is all down hair.

00:16:30Llamas have a double coat,

00:16:31so they have down hair next to their skin

00:16:33and then they have this outer layer of guard hair,

00:16:35which protects the down hair, so...

00:16:37The neck is particularly soft.

00:16:39Yes.

00:16:39How long have you been working with them?

00:16:4113 years now.

00:16:42Gosh.

00:16:43Yeah.

00:16:43And you'd rather be with them

00:16:44than pigs, sheep and cows?

00:16:46Well, I used to be a pig farmer.

00:16:47Did you?

00:16:48Yeah.

00:16:48What a difference.

00:16:49Yeah, yeah, so I used to be a pig farmer

00:16:51and then I've gone to llamas.

00:16:53It's a lot less stressful.

00:16:54They have one baby.

00:16:55Yeah.

00:16:56Right, so they have one baby.

00:16:57Generally speaking, when?

00:16:59So we're coming up to the crea season now.

00:17:02The young are called creas.

00:17:04Yes, so we do our first in April.

00:17:07So they're induced ovulators,

00:17:09so they don't have a season,

00:17:11so they can actually get pregnant

00:17:12any time of the year.

00:17:13So we breed them spring, summer

00:17:15for a spring, summer baby the following year.

00:17:17So the climate's much better for them.

00:17:19Yeah, because it's an 11 and a half month gestation,

00:17:21so it's a long time.

00:17:22Yeah.

00:17:23Wonderful.

00:17:23Now, they've got this ability,

00:17:25because they're from the Andes,

00:17:26to cope with high altitude.

00:17:29Yes.

00:17:29I gather.

00:17:30They're particularly adapted to that then, presumably.

00:17:32Yeah, their blood corpuscles are elongated,

00:17:34so they take in more oxygen,

00:17:36so they can be at such higher altitudes than us.

00:17:38They actually donated blood for cancer research years ago,

00:17:43because they were studying, you know,

00:17:44because they fight off viruses and infection

00:17:46a lot more than we can because of that.

00:17:48So they actually donated blood to cancer research

00:17:51because of that, so...

00:17:52So if somebody wants to keep llamas,

00:17:54as you say, more often it is alpacas,

00:17:57but what do they need in terms of accommodation?

00:17:59As long as they've got the right amount of grazing

00:18:01and field shelter or barn for them to come in...

00:18:04The right amount of grazing is what?

00:18:05Well, if you're having just a few llamas,

00:18:08you'd need at least an acre or two

00:18:10and you'd need to be able to split the paddocks

00:18:11so that you can rest the fields.

00:18:15Wonderful.

00:18:16You're a sweetheart, aren't you, really?

00:18:18They're also television stars, aren't they?

00:18:20They are, yeah.

00:18:21Both of these are, actually.

00:18:21What have they been on?

00:18:22Come on, give us your CV.

00:18:25So, I mean, they've done lots, but...

00:18:27Apart from Indigo being on Love Your Weekend,

00:18:30which, of course, is top of the list.

00:18:31They recently did the filming for the Thursday Murder Club

00:18:35on Netflix, which aired at the end of last year.

00:18:37So Indigo and Barnaby went and did that.

00:18:39And then Barnaby has actually just done

00:18:42something else for Netflix,

00:18:44but we're not allowed to say yet,

00:18:45and that comes out at the end of this year.

00:18:47Right.

00:18:47But, yeah, that's quite a big one as well.

00:18:49When they come back,

00:18:50do you notice them being particularly starry?

00:18:52Oh, yeah, he's a terrible diva now.

00:18:55Look, I mean...

00:18:56As you can tell.

00:18:56I'm not standing still.

00:18:57I'm just going to strut me stuff.

00:18:59He's gone straight to his head.

00:19:00Are they always the same colour?

00:19:01We've got here really quite dark legs.

00:19:02No, these two are very similar.

00:19:04They have got the same dad but different mums,

00:19:06but you could put two white llamas together

00:19:08and get a brown.

00:19:09It's very random.

00:19:10So, yeah, you have no idea.

00:19:13We've got spotty ones, pure white ones,

00:19:16brown and white, you know,

00:19:16it really varies in colour.

00:19:18How many are you looking after?

00:19:20I think we've got about 38 at the minute.

00:19:22We've got three babies due.

00:19:24Now, diet, I mean, clearly they graze.

00:19:26Do they browse as well?

00:19:28Yes, they're browsers rather than grazers, actually.

00:19:30Yeah, so obviously if there was hedges and trees,

00:19:33they'd be straight in there.

00:19:34But they're continuous grazers

00:19:36and then they obviously ruminant,

00:19:37so they do have to eventually stop grazing

00:19:40and chew the cud.

00:19:41Right.

00:19:41But, yeah, grass and hay ad-lib,

00:19:44but they are grazers, so they do...

00:19:46And supplementary feeding during the winter?

00:19:48The older geriatrics we give extra feeding for

00:19:53and obviously the pregnant mummies and the youngsters.

00:19:57But these trekking boys are really hardy,

00:19:59so in South America they'd have really sparse vegetation,

00:20:02so actually they can get too fat in this country,

00:20:05so you do have to watch their weight.

00:20:07But they are really hardy because they're from the Andes.

00:20:10And presumably winter cold means nothing to them

00:20:12with a coat this thick.

00:20:13Do you use them as sort of therapy animals as well?

00:20:17I mean, yeah, because a lot of animals now,

00:20:18horses, dogs particularly, are used for therapy.

00:20:21Yeah, we do have lots of groups come with various special needs

00:20:25and we've had blind groups and, you know, all sorts.

00:20:28And I think also being head level with a calm animal

00:20:32that's not intimidating gives a lot of people confidence.

00:20:36We have a lot of children come as well,

00:20:38so they're all round us.

00:20:39It is interesting because, as you say,

00:20:42when you're in close proximity with this glorious head

00:20:44and these glorious eyes and that little hum...

00:20:49They call it Lama Karma.

00:20:50It is Lama, certainly calming Lama.

00:20:54Lama Karma.

00:20:55They're lovely.

00:20:55Bless you.

00:20:56Thank you very much for bringing them in.

00:20:57You're welcome.

00:20:57Indigo, nice to have you back.

00:20:59Glad you've made such a fuss of me.

00:21:02And Barnaby, you too.

00:21:03And we look forward to your appearance

00:21:05on the top secret Netflix drama, whatever it is,

00:21:10come the end of the year.

00:21:12But lovely to be...

00:21:12I could just stand and gaze at these all day, you know.

00:21:16I love the Lama.

00:21:17And you're very calm.

00:21:18I know.

00:21:18And you're very beautiful.

00:21:21And I think you know that.

00:21:23Oh, he is back.

00:21:24Is that a good thing or not?

00:21:26I'm not sure about that.

00:21:27I'm backing off now.

00:21:28OK.

00:21:28You've got my number.

00:21:30Thank you, sir.

00:21:31Thank you, Indigo.

00:21:33Thank you, Barnaby.

00:21:33Coming up, ahead of their retirement,

00:21:36we catch up with the Zebras,

00:21:38currently residing at one Warwickshire farm.

00:21:41And it was the year they cloned Dolly the sheep,

00:21:44the Euros ended in disappointment,

00:21:46and the Macarena went viral.

00:21:49Do you remember that?

00:21:50Oh, I don't know.

00:21:52Yes.

00:21:52Enough, fella.

00:21:53But to his adoring fans,

00:21:55the biggest revelation of 1996 was this.

00:21:58Oh, oh, oh, oh.

00:22:01No, no.

00:22:01Peter Andre talks 30 years

00:22:03since the UK release of that song.

00:22:06And much more right after this.

00:22:09Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

00:22:13Mysterious girl, move your body close to my...

00:22:23Welcome back to Love Your Weekend.

00:22:25Still aired, she's arguably the doyen of alpha female roles,

00:22:29having starred in hits like Bancroft, Broadchurch,

00:22:33and my favourite W1A.

00:22:35Hampshire local Sarah Parrish

00:22:36on cornering the market in TV baddies.

00:22:39Isn't she so nice in real life?

00:22:42Also coming up,

00:22:43how your trash is nature's treasure.

00:22:45TV carpenter Wayne Perry

00:22:47brings us everything that's great

00:22:49about the green, brown,

00:22:50and the beautiful world of compost bins.

00:22:53Oh, the glamour of telly.

00:22:54Now, my next guest is a bona fide household name,

00:22:57who for 30 years has toured his way around the world,

00:23:01and along the way,

00:23:02he's also picked up a rather successful TV career.

00:23:05But it's music that will always be his home,

00:23:08as he's about to release his most personal album yet,

00:23:11his 11th studio album, to be precise.

00:23:15Before we say hello or g'day,

00:23:17let's take an astounding trip back to the 90s.

00:23:21If you're down, throw your hands up in the air,

00:23:24the match back with a flavor of the air.

00:23:26Here we go, there's a party over here.

00:23:29Oh, yeah, it's coming to the end.

00:23:31Slay me down, throw your hands up in the air,

00:23:33the match back with a flavor of the air.

00:23:35That's right, I'm kicking you a flavor.

00:23:37Oh, yeah, it's coming to the 90s.

00:23:43Just to be with you.

00:23:46I want to go, there's a party over here.

00:23:49It feels so good to go.

00:23:52Come on.

00:24:19I mean, be honest, Peter Andre, you never ate, did you?

00:24:23You just did not eat anything, you just spent your life in the gym.

00:24:27Well, you do, you really think, it's an interesting thing, back then I used to train to try and look

00:24:33a certain way, now I train to feel a certain way, and there's a big difference in that.

00:24:37Well, your baggy trousers aren't quite...

00:24:39Well, I mean, who wears jeans in a waterfall? I still sometimes see that video and think, why didn't anyone

00:24:46say, can you take your jeans off?

00:24:48Probably better I didn't actually think about it, but yeah, they were good days, they were good days as much

00:24:55as I can remember, a lot of it's a bit of a blur now, but great times.

00:24:58The 11th album, Legacy, with old hits, new stuff, you write as well as perform, but you've had a chance

00:25:06to sort of revisit the old things, re-orchestrate them, you know, and use Friends on the album too.

00:25:11Yeah, so basically the first song I wrote, I was 13, I was riding my bike home from school, and

00:25:17I wrote it, the whole thing really quickly, ran home, said to my brother Chris, who is an incredible musician,

00:25:24what song is this?

00:25:25And he said, well, it might be yours. And I said, what do you mean? He said, well, you've probably

00:25:29just written a song, and I didn't know I could do that back then.

00:25:32So that was it, the obsession started. And some of the songs on the first album, we're talking 11 albums

00:25:38ago, was songs that I'd written when I was that young, and I eventually got to record them.

00:25:43And it was this summer, 30 years ago, that Mysterious Girl became a worldwide hit, so I thought, why don't

00:25:48I do something to celebrate that, revisiting some of those old songs, and then writing some new songs, and that's

00:25:55what we did.

00:25:56Who are we heroes? Who are your heroes? I mean, looking back, and you've met a few of them, I

00:26:01guess.

00:26:01Yeah, well, I was six years old when I first heard Off the Wall album, Michael Jackson, and I remember

00:26:08it being this unbelievable sound, because it was all Quincy Jones production, wasn't it?

00:26:12And I remember playing it at home on a record player, and my dad walked in in his strong Greek

00:26:17accent, and he said, who is this woman singing?

00:26:22And I said, Dad, what do you mean? This is Michael Jackson. This is the greatest singer of all time.

00:26:26And he said, wait. And he went and he got this record of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, and he

00:26:34said this, listen to this.

00:26:35And back then, I didn't appreciate it, because I was into what I liked, and, you know, the songs were

00:26:40great, Michael Jackson.

00:26:41Of course, music was incredible. But I grew up understanding what my father listened to and what my brothers listened

00:26:47to, so I had a lot of heroes.

00:26:49But you're also, you know, utilising now the music of Frankie Valli.

00:26:53Frankie Valli.

00:26:54Frankie Valli in the Four Seasons. I mean, my daughters, when we took them to see the Jersey Boys, you

00:26:59know, say, but we didn't know those songs came from that long ago.

00:27:02They knew the songs so well, you know, from disco and things like that.

00:27:05But Frankie Valli, you've also been enjoying that.

00:27:07I am. And when I first got approached to do it, I remember saying to the producer, that's really kind

00:27:12of you, but I don't really know any Frankie Valli songs.

00:27:14And he said, yes, you do.

00:27:15Yes, you do.

00:27:16And I realised that when we were kids on the Gold Coast, that the speakers, they used to have speakers

00:27:22on the beaches, and they used to play local radio stations, used to play music.

00:27:26I always thought it was the Beach Boys, and some of them were.

00:27:29But what I didn't realise was a lot of those songs, embedded in our childhood, were Frankie Valli, so it

00:27:34was a real honour to take that on.

00:27:37You've done various genres over the years. The people you've encompassed within your act also were encompassing people like Jack

00:27:46Sparrow.

00:27:47And I can never forget this scene from Strictly Come Dancing when Peter Andre suddenly descended.

00:28:25There you are.

00:28:26Wow.

00:28:26Best Jack Sparrow, best Johnny Depp, Janet Menrara there.

00:28:29Wow, Janet Menrara.

00:28:30That music. I mean, you only have to hear that, don't you? And you all feel you could dance like

00:28:34that.

00:28:34Well, it's such powerful music. That was, I have to be honest, of all the TVs I've ever done, Strictly

00:28:42was the scariest experience I've ever had in my life.

00:28:44Because you're being judged by real dancers. You're not being judged by, you know, celebrities.

00:28:50You are being judged by people who know their craft. And when they tell you your foot's wrong, your foot's

00:28:55wrong.

00:28:56So you try so hard to do it properly. And it's really scary. Really scary, but very rewarding as well.

00:29:04You get to do different things with different people and different skills. I mean, Jeanette, they're a brilliant dancer.

00:29:08But it was very intriguing watching Jill Scott with you doing Mysterious Girl in a league of their own. Here

00:29:17we are.

00:29:18You know, I said earlier that we hadn't booked Peter Andre to come out and sing with you.

00:29:22I was lying. It wouldn't be a league of their own without making dreams come true.

00:29:27It is time, Jill Scott, for your duet with Mr. Peter Andre!

00:29:40Come on, Jill. I want you to sing it with me. Promise me a word.

00:29:53Are you going to do the rap? Here we go.

00:30:06You know, she covered about three different keys there, but she just managed to do it perfectly.

00:30:12She got all the words right.

00:30:14I can't get all those words right. She's such a lovely person. I've met many times. Really lovely person.

00:30:21Isn't it wonderful to be able to bring joy into someone's laughter that she really had no idea that you

00:30:26were going to spring that on there?

00:30:27And this is the thing that I think is wonderful about the industry that we're in.

00:30:31You know, we get to do so many different things, like you said, and I feel very, very blessed to

00:30:36be able to do that.

00:30:37And we've met over the years a few times, but it's amazing to think 30 years later I could sit

00:30:43here on the sofa with you and chat. It's wonderful.

00:30:45Well, we're both very old now. That's probably why. Some of us are older than others.

00:30:49My dad said it's only the first hundred years that are tough. He reckons it gets really easy after that.

00:30:54So we're OK. We're OK for now. He's 93.

00:30:58OK, not so great for him, but it's great for us.

00:31:02It's the variety, the things that you go on. And you're doing musicals as well. You've done various musicals.

00:31:07You've done Grease. Now, you had an acquaintanceship there with Olivia Newton-John.

00:31:12I know you were a great fan of hers.

00:31:14Well, I mean, I had the pleasure of working with Olivia Newton-John one night at the Spina.

00:31:20We did a Spina Bifida concert in Australia, in native Spina Bifida.

00:31:25And we all performed on stage together. And she was exactly what you wish she would be like.

00:31:31She just radiated from the second she'd walk in, was kind to everybody.

00:31:36And so, you know, I got to see her a few more times over the next few years after that.

00:31:42And she was always just that lovely person.

00:31:45I mean, who didn't have a crush on Olivia Newton-John?

00:31:48She was just... Agreed.

00:31:50You know, just... And she's always been so lovely.

00:31:53Well, I can't bring you Olivia Newton-John one night from Grease.

00:31:56I can give you Teen Angel.

00:31:58But on Loose Women. Here we are.

00:32:00Brilliant.

00:32:01Baby, you blew it.

00:32:03Baby, you blew it.

00:32:04You put out good and vice to shame.

00:32:06How could you do it?

00:32:08How could you do it?

00:32:09Bet you did, Abby, say the same.

00:32:12Cos there's no way to get through to you.

00:32:16No matter how I try.

00:32:23Might as well walk back to that more choppy mascara.

00:32:38A pink curl, pink wings.

00:32:41I have to tell you this.

00:32:43I'm so sorry.

00:32:44Four years before that, five years before that, I was offered the role of Danny Zuko and I couldn't do

00:32:50it.

00:32:50How could I not do it?

00:32:51I couldn't do it.

00:32:52Whatever the reason was, it was a...

00:32:55Six or however many years later, they came back and said, would you do Grease?

00:32:58And I said, of course.

00:33:00I told everybody.

00:33:01I'm playing Danny Zuko.

00:33:03I rang my in-laws.

00:33:05I rang my parents in Australia.

00:33:06I'm going to be Danny Zuko in Grease.

00:33:08I said, wow, you know, a little bit old, but okay.

00:33:11They said, no, what are you talking about?

00:33:12I can do it.

00:33:13Oh, he's Italian.

00:33:14He wasn't.

00:33:14But anyway.

00:33:16So I told everybody.

00:33:19And what I didn't realise until the day of the photo shoot, they sent a message saying, can you please

00:33:25bring tight white jeans and a tight white vest top?

00:33:27And I thought, well, Danny Zuko doesn't wear that.

00:33:30So I turned up and they said, well, who told you you were Danny Zuko?

00:33:33I said, I just presumed.

00:33:36They said, you're slightly too old for that.

00:33:38So I was a teenager instead.

00:33:39I still loved it, but I didn't get to fulfil my Danny Zuko dream.

00:33:44And tell me about working with Madonna.

00:33:46I mean, goodness me, support up for Madonna.

00:33:49And I bet you thought, no, I don't really.

00:33:52Does that one bite your hand off time?

00:33:54Yeah, absolutely.

00:33:55When I got the call to open for the girly tour, it was all around Australia in stadiums.

00:34:01Now, I'd never, I mean, most people don't start at stadiums.

00:34:04They start at the bottom and eventually get there.

00:34:06I started at the top.

00:34:07There was only one way it was going to go.

00:34:09I was, where do you go from that?

00:34:11I mean, that was Madonna.

00:34:12And it was the most incredible experience.

00:34:15She was lovely.

00:34:16Yeah, we did a six-week tour, I think, together.

00:34:19When you're working with somebody like that, watching how they operate, how they operate onstage and operate offstage,

00:34:25it must be quite interesting seeing how they carry themselves, how they relate to an audience.

00:34:30Can you learn from working with someone like Madonna?

00:34:32Well, yeah, of course.

00:34:34I mean, you learn from all the greats.

00:34:36You see how it all works.

00:34:38You know, of course, when you've got a budget and you can put on the production that...

00:34:42But you still need star quality.

00:34:44You do, yes.

00:34:45And if you haven't got that, all the bells and whistles don't really mean anything.

00:34:49Yeah, that's right.

00:34:49Well, she's definitely got, I mean, the songs.

00:34:52Good to have you with us.

00:34:52Good luck with the album.

00:34:54And Frankie Valli, fabulous.

00:34:56Thank you, Peter.

00:34:57Delight.

00:34:58Now then, a wonder through nature, courtesy of you at home.

00:35:03It's time for Walk on the Wild Side.

00:35:05Walk on the Wild Side.

00:36:02Walk on the Wild Side.

00:36:05Walk on the Wild Side.

00:36:45Oh, thank you for all your wonderful pictures there.

00:36:48Please do keep sending them in.

00:36:50It's a very special part of this programme.

00:36:52Still ahead.

00:36:53If you think your houseplants need some CPR, that's care, pruning and refreshing,

00:36:58houseplant guru Claire Lowry has it covered.

00:37:01How to repot, rescue and revive your plants.

00:37:04Coming up.

00:37:19There really is no season like spring and as our gardens wake from their winter sleep,

00:37:26it's no wonder that displays of our early risers can put a smile on anyone's face, as we hope

00:37:33we will today.

00:37:34Coming up, spoilt, psychopathic, salt of the earth.

00:37:38She's led a variety of characters.

00:37:39Sarah Parrish on mixing it up when it comes to choosing her roles.

00:37:44But first, it's time for your Voice of Nature.

00:37:47Today, it's the turn of Patience stars Ella Mae Purvis and Nathan Welsh with Hope by Edith Nesbitt.

00:38:04Oh, thrush, is it true?

00:38:06Your song tells of a world born anew, of fields gold with buttercups, woodlands all blue with

00:38:13hyacinth bells, of primroses deep in the moss of the lane, of a princess asleep and dear

00:38:20magic to do.

00:38:21Will the sun wake the princess?

00:38:23Oh, thrush, is it true?

00:38:25Will spring come again?

00:38:26Will spring come again?

00:38:28Now at last, with soft shine and rain, will the violet be sweet where the dead leaves have

00:38:34lain?

00:38:35Will winter be past?

00:38:36In the brown of the copse will white-wind flowers star through, where the last oak leaf drops

00:38:43and the daisies come too.

00:38:45And the May and the lilac, will spring come again?

00:38:48Oh, thrush, is it true?

00:38:58Thank you, Ella and Nathan.

00:39:00Lovely words capturing that anticipation of spring renewal that we all feel when the

00:39:06sun comes out.

00:39:07Now, they've filled our shelves and populated porches for decades, from the exotic specimens

00:39:14in grand Victorian glasshouses to the humble spider plants on 1970s windowsills.

00:39:20Our love affair with houseplants shows no signs of fizzling out.

00:39:24But after a long and dusty winter, it's time to give your leafy friends some TLC.

00:39:29Thankfully, we have just the woman.

00:39:32Welcome back, houseplant expert Claire Lowry, here with her rejuvenation masterclass to get

00:39:38your houseplants prepped, primed and positively thriving.

00:39:42Welcome, Claire.

00:39:43Let me tell you back.

00:39:44Thank you for having me back.

00:39:45It is, isn't it?

00:39:46Because there they sit, like bits of furniture, the occasional flick over with a feather duster,

00:39:50lobs of water.

00:39:52But now they're a bit weary, aren't they?

00:39:54They are.

00:39:55I mean, you actually, you just mentioned about the flick over with the feather duster and

00:39:58one of the first things I was actually going to touch on is plants that don't get a

00:40:02dusting enough.

00:40:03Ah.

00:40:03And I think especially as the days kind of start to pick up and the light is beautiful,

00:40:08you really want to be kind of optimising that as much as possible so the plant can photosynthesise.

00:40:13And so I've got a very dusty plant here.

00:40:16I mean, I typically don't let it get this bad, but when it starts to kind of get quite

00:40:20dusty, because I think a lot of the time people kind of think, oh, no, my plants aren't

00:40:23dusty.

00:40:23They look absolutely fine.

00:40:24But you don't realise in the same way as your skirting boards build up dust, your plants

00:40:28build up dust as well.

00:40:30And besides the fact that obviously you can't kind of allow them all the light that they

00:40:34need, it's kind of like having a sheer curtain over them.

00:40:37They can't absorb the light.

00:40:39They also are far more susceptible to pests.

00:40:42Right.

00:40:43So, yeah.

00:40:43So clean them.

00:40:44Yeah.

00:40:45So I'm just using literally just some lukewarm water.

00:40:48Look at that.

00:40:49Oh, yeah.

00:40:50Hey, as Larry Grayson used to say, hey, the muck in here.

00:40:54But it looks totally different.

00:40:57It literally shines.

00:40:57And you don't need anything other than water.

00:40:59I know.

00:41:00It's amazing.

00:41:01They used to say in the elders, do them with milk.

00:41:03And you think, well, actually, it then starts to smell a bit cheesy after a while.

00:41:07I've heard all of these.

00:41:08But hairy plants, of course, you wouldn't do that with.

00:41:11You have to be a bit careful with hairy plants, because obviously they're much more susceptible

00:41:14to mould, mildew.

00:41:16If you are going to wipe them down, I personally would recommend just dusting.

00:41:19But if you do need to wipe them down, if you are dealing with pests or something like that,

00:41:23I would just make sure you've got really good airflow to allow the leaves to kind of dry

00:41:27off so that they don't start.

00:41:29It's beautiful, isn't it?

00:41:31Fresh and you can, it's sort of, oh, Claire, thank you so much.

00:41:34Listen carefully and you can hear it.

00:41:36Yeah, it's like a whole new plant.

00:41:37It is.

00:41:38It is.

00:41:38The other thing that I was going to mention, this is a very, you actually mentioned spider

00:41:42plants at the beginning.

00:41:43The spider plant is obviously a very common house plant, and this one has been throwing

00:41:48out plantlets for months.

00:41:50This is great to start with this, isn't it?

00:41:52And start children off, too, because each one of these make a separate plant.

00:41:55It's fantastic.

00:41:56I think the reason that this one is probably doing it is because the plant is actually

00:42:00stressed, because this one hasn't had a repot in quite a while.

00:42:05Oh, yes, there's a lot in there.

00:42:07There's a lot in there.

00:42:08And if you've got that plant looking that healthy in that size pot, you obviously feed

00:42:11it really well, because it's still glowing with health.

00:42:14I mean, the amount of water this plant's requiring at the moment is ridiculous, because

00:42:18just look at those roots.

00:42:21They are crazy.

00:42:24So before I pot it up, I'll show you the soil mix that I quite like to use.

00:42:29This is, for me, just kind of like a generic soil mix that I'll use for most of my house

00:42:34plants, terrestrial house plants that grow from the ground.

00:42:37Now, you can buy it in bags when you mix it, you mix your own.

00:42:40You can.

00:42:40To be honest, I do a bit of both, but I do quite, this thing quite therapeutic and I

00:42:45don't know, just quite nice about getting your hands in the soil and mixing everything

00:42:48up yourself.

00:42:49So what have you got for greens?

00:42:50So this is just a peat-free soil mix and I'm going to put all of that in the bowl.

00:42:56And then I've got two different types of orchid bark.

00:42:58This is orchid bark with tree fern fibre, so it's really, really nice at adding aeration

00:43:03into the soil.

00:43:04So that's the orchid, but what about the bigger chips?

00:43:07Yeah, this is just much chunkier.

00:43:09And typically, if I'm working with an epiphytic plant, so a plant that naturally doesn't grow

00:43:14out of the ground and it grows...

00:43:15That grows on a tree.

00:43:16Yeah.

00:43:16Not a parasite, but an epiphyte just clings on.

00:43:19Yeah.

00:43:19Exactly.

00:43:20So I would typically add a lot more kind of chunky things like sustainably sourced sphagnum

00:43:25moss and stuff like that as well to really kind of replicate its natural growing conditions.

00:43:29For this plant, I think I'm just going to stick with the fine stuff.

00:43:34Right, yeah.

00:43:34And then this is perlite, and when you're using perlite indoors, it's really important

00:43:39to make sure that you hydrate it first.

00:43:41Because it's very dry and fluffy, it almost blows away, it's almost like polystyrene granules.

00:43:44It feels different, but it's as light and fluffy, isn't it, really?

00:43:48Yeah, yeah, completely, but also the dust is really bad for you to breathe in.

00:43:52I mean, you can actually see just from how I've hydrated it already, how it's kind of

00:43:56holding the moisture, and this just means that I'm creating a really nice airy mix that

00:44:01also is very moisture-retaining, so I'm not, hopefully, going to need to have to be watering

00:44:06this plant quite so much.

00:44:07It's that seeming contradiction with compost.

00:44:10They need to be moisture-retentive, but free-draining.

00:44:13Yes.

00:44:14And that means they're holding on to enough moisture, but not too much to get soggy.

00:44:17I can tell from the way you're handling it, that has got a lovely feel to it now.

00:44:21That's gorgeous.

00:44:22It is lovely.

00:44:22It's really nice.

00:44:24It is.

00:44:24And I love the smell of it as well.

00:44:26I know that's weird, but...

00:44:27No, no, it's not.

00:44:28I'm trying to be a gardener.

00:44:29It's not weird at all.

00:44:30Well, I don't think it's weird.

00:44:31It's quite normal.

00:44:32I'm sure no one at home also thinks it's weird.

00:44:35But, yes.

00:44:36So there's your mix.

00:44:37So I'm just going to get my hands in there and just try and work as many of the plants

00:44:42out as I can.

00:44:44And it's surprising.

00:44:45I don't think there's a decent lump of root on them.

00:44:47You'll be okay.

00:44:48Yeah.

00:44:49They're all so knotted together.

00:44:50That's your problem, isn't it, really?

00:44:51Yeah.

00:44:51I'm afraid this is an incense clay where I would go in with a knife.

00:44:55Would you?

00:44:55As long as there's a big enough lump with each.

00:44:57Oh, we're almost there.

00:44:58Yeah.

00:44:58You're almost there.

00:45:00The bits that do get cut off and broken off, it doesn't matter, there'll be enough remaining.

00:45:05It's like when you get, particularly between November and March, you get things like bare

00:45:09root roses, and they'll be dug up from the ground, and the nursery rose, and they'll come

00:45:13to you with the top growth like that, and roots going down here.

00:45:16And you can take half of them off, because they're all going to dye the bottom ends anyway,

00:45:19and new roots are going to come from the top half.

00:45:22So if you're planting bare root stuff, don't be frightened of shortening by a good half

00:45:26the root that's on there.

00:45:28Oh, how fascinating.

00:45:28Would you put that back in the same pot?

00:45:29You know what?

00:45:30I probably would.

00:45:30It's about the right size, isn't it?

00:45:31I bought some other pots.

00:45:31But it is about the right size.

00:45:34Yeah.

00:45:34And I'll propagate that in a second, probably.

00:45:38Yeah.

00:45:38So yeah, I'm just going to take a little bit of the soil mix and pop that in the bottom.

00:45:46There's a lovely line in Wind in the Willows, right?

00:45:48It says, one of the things about having holidays, it's not just that you've got time off yourself,

00:45:52it's watching the other fellas still working.

00:45:55You know, it's very nice when I lean here as a gardener, watching another gardener, feeding

00:46:01it around the edge.

00:46:03Yeah, that's right.

00:46:03Just kind of tipping it in.

00:46:04I mean, you can always feel that plant being grateful, can't you?

00:46:08Well, I really, I hope now, oh, I mean, obviously it's kind of, it's a lovely, healthy section

00:46:12we've got here, but I hope the roots will just kind of expand and fill that pot.

00:46:15Yeah, sure with that.

00:46:15And then the little plantlets here, there's a few different ways you can propagate them,

00:46:19but my favourite and the easiest way, we just chop the thing off that's attaching them.

00:46:25I just pop them in a little bit of water and I've just got a little pot of water here.

00:46:30And I personally just really like watching the roots grow.

00:46:34Drop it in there.

00:46:35So you can literally pop it in like that.

00:46:37Keep it on your windowsill.

00:46:38Yeah, exactly.

00:46:39Absolutely fab.

00:46:40Yeah.

00:46:40No, it's great.

00:46:41Thanks Claire.

00:46:41Not at all.

00:46:42Learn from you every time you come.

00:46:45And it's wonderful to see all these things which can go together to make the compost,

00:46:48you know, and making your own compost.

00:46:50Great fun.

00:46:51It is.

00:46:52Thanks Claire.

00:46:53Not at all.

00:46:59Now, Joseph's Amazing Camels is no ordinary farm.

00:47:04They're the leading specialists in humped animals,

00:47:08the kind you'd expect to see strutting across the sands of North Africa,

00:47:11rather than grazing politely in Warwickshire.

00:47:15But just when you thought a camel in the Midlands was peak eccentricity,

00:47:19things took an even wilder turn.

00:47:22Enter the stripes.

00:47:24Yes, the farmers welcomed three eye-catching new arrivals,

00:47:28Aled, Maasai and Chad.

00:47:30And let's just say they didn't get the memo about blending in.

00:47:35To tell us more, friend of the show and young farmer, Daisy Fawcett.

00:47:47Camels are a usual on my parents' camel farm here in Warwickshire.

00:47:52I've been involved with this business since I was little.

00:47:55My parents started the company in 2000, so I've grown up with camels.

00:47:59We have the largest herd of camels in the UK.

00:48:02So we have 13 camels on the farm at the moment for events like racing and Christmas parades,

00:48:07and obviously film and TV.

00:48:10I've got Mr. Baxter with me today.

00:48:12He is one of our film star camels.

00:48:14You might recognise him from Aladdin, for example.

00:48:18We also have some very special guests staying with us.

00:48:21These are my stripy new friends.

00:48:24They are Chapman zebras.

00:48:25So we've got Aled, Maasai and Chad.

00:48:29Aled is a little bit aloof.

00:48:31He's not too keen on people.

00:48:33I think he thinks we're giant carrots.

00:48:36Maasai is a real sweetie.

00:48:39The coolest thing about Maasai is his beautiful teardrop just underneath his left eye.

00:48:47And then Chad is like a giant dog.

00:48:49I just love Chad.

00:48:50He's probably my favourite.

00:48:51Don't tell the others.

00:48:51He's a little bit aloof, a little bit standoffish,

00:48:54but if you've got a carrot, you're his best friend for life.

00:48:58With their previous owners, they were actually film stars,

00:49:01and they've been around people their entire lives,

00:49:04doing animal experiences.

00:49:05They've been on the set of Bridgerton.

00:49:07They're very, very cool.

00:49:09They are now retired.

00:49:10So we are a temporary home for them before they go

00:49:14to live their absolute life of luxury in a retirement home.

00:49:21No squabbling.

00:49:23Make sure it's all nice for you.

00:49:24There you go. Look at that.

00:49:26From afar, Aled, Chad and Maasai look exactly the same,

00:49:30but actually their stripes are completely different.

00:49:33Like our fingerprints, each one is unique.

00:49:35Now these guys are Chapman zebras.

00:49:38They're a subspecies of plain zebras.

00:49:40They're found in Southern Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia,

00:49:44and they've got some really distinctive patterns

00:49:46that make them Chapmans.

00:49:48Their stripes go all the way down to their feet,

00:49:52which some zebras don't.

00:49:54But the biggest one is that they have something called a shadow stripe.

00:49:57It's a brown stripe between their white stripe,

00:49:59and this is a really distinctive feature that only the Chapman zebras have.

00:50:05Zebra stripes are actually a self-defense mechanism,

00:50:08which is so interesting.

00:50:09A herd of zebras is called a dazzle,

00:50:11and it's supposedly because they dazzle predators.

00:50:15So a predator can't pick one individual zebra out of a group.

00:50:19Even though I've grown up around camels,

00:50:22zebras are a completely different ball game.

00:50:25Our zebras are very tame,

00:50:27but they really are wild animals

00:50:29and they have that real prey instinct in them.

00:50:31Whereas camels are domesticated animals,

00:50:33so they're a lot easier to handle in a lot of ways.

00:50:37These guys can be far more unpredictable.

00:50:39They are not pets.

00:50:40Any training with animals, whether it be a zebra, a camel or a dog,

00:50:46it's always important to give them a positive reward.

00:50:50Alid, one of the three zebras, has been trained differently to Chad and Masai.

00:50:55Chad and Masai have been trained traditionally almost like you would a horse.

00:50:59Alid has been clicker trained.

00:51:02So when Alid touches the ball with his nose like that,

00:51:06he knows he gets a treat.

00:51:09It's a way of positive reinforcement.

00:51:12He won't let you put the head collar on unless you give him the tennis ball first.

00:51:17Oh, good boy. There we go.

00:51:20When they're on a film set,

00:51:22this cone and tennis ball trick really helped the previous owners get them into position

00:51:27because he will stand wherever that tennis ball is.

00:51:30One of the most common questions I have had on social media about the zebras is,

00:51:34can you ride them?

00:51:35The answer, absolutely not.

00:51:38Their backs are not made for it because they're wild animals.

00:51:41They haven't been bred to be able to ride.

00:51:43Baxter on the other hand, very comfortable.

00:51:46I would ride him all day long.

00:51:49It's going to be really emotional letting these zebras go.

00:51:53They've really become a part of our family like any animal that comes here does.

00:52:01Thank you, Daisy, and good luck to Alid, Masai and Chad in their new home.

00:52:07Coming up, when life gives you lemons, make a gin and tonic.

00:52:11So the proverb says, well, I can't promise G&T, but I can promise some rather refreshingly zesty libations.

00:52:19Cocktail twins, Hannah and Siobhan, make their Manor Farm debut with a round of fruity botanicals.

00:52:25And it's a loss about compost.

00:52:28So many people are.

00:52:30Wayne Perry is here with his guide to what's hot and what's not in the world of compost bins.

00:52:36It's all here, you know.

00:52:37I'll see you with the TV carpenter himself that afternoon.

00:52:55The sale of compost in the UK produces roughly 100 million plastic bags every year.

00:53:02In a world where we're all trying to have less of an impact on the environment,

00:53:06one way of scaling back your plastic consumption is by producing your own compost at home.

00:53:12Here to show us how to turn pallets into compost bins, TV carpenter Wayne Perry.

00:53:18We're talking here about compost to enrich garden soil rather than potting compost,

00:53:22which you're still going to have to buy unless you've got a way of making your own.

00:53:25But I don't think anyone should buy it.

00:53:27We can all make our own.

00:53:29The stuff to enrich the soil outside.

00:53:31Absolutely.

00:53:31So we've just got a few things here that you need to make perfect compost.

00:53:35I love the orange theme here.

00:53:36Your jumper, my jumper and the carrots.

00:53:38It's like we planned it, Alan.

00:53:39It is really, characterly.

00:53:41So what goes in?

00:53:42So you've got the brown and green.

00:53:44So brown is obviously your twigs, it's your hard barks,

00:53:48it's things that are going to take a little bit more time to break down.

00:53:50One of the best things I ever bought was a shredder.

00:53:52To shred those and it all then goes in.

00:53:54It all goes in.

00:53:55But also your cardboards, your egg boxes.

00:53:58We did have, I've got a shredder at the front of my door for my paper and letters that I

00:54:03don't want.

00:54:04They get shredded.

00:54:05We were going to put them here, it's a bit windy.

00:54:06Blowing away.

00:54:07We didn't want it.

00:54:07So it's a good idea to get used some of that stuff as well.

00:54:10But then you've got the green stuff, which is obviously your vegetable peelings, your old flowers.

00:54:14And once they're all mixing together and turned in, you know, and keep layering them like lasagna.

00:54:19And mixing.

00:54:20Mixing is the big thing.

00:54:21Not to put in thick perennial weed roots or any food like potato, you know, processed food.

00:54:28Yeah, any processed food.

00:54:29Cooked food.

00:54:29Chickens or anything like that.

00:54:30Nothing, yeah.

00:54:30And also just bear in mind, any diseased plants, you don't want to put those in there either.

00:54:34You know, you want to, it's got to be gorgeous stuff for your plants.

00:54:37So mixing, keep it moist and firm.

00:54:39That's usually the best one.

00:54:39And once you've collated all of those and you've got them together, we then need to put them into a

00:54:43compost bin.

00:54:44Right.

00:54:44So this is your entry level compost bin.

00:54:47It's, you can get from B&Q, 32 pounds.

00:54:50Standard, it's recycled plastic.

00:54:52The lid comes off.

00:54:53The lid comes off.

00:54:54Throw your rubbish inside.

00:54:56Little flap at the bottom there that you can lift up if you want to access it so you can

00:55:00see how it's going.

00:55:01But what's great about it is on the ground, you can, the worms and microorganisms are coming through.

00:55:07They're working their way up.

00:55:08So that's 32 pounds from most of your DIY stores.

00:55:11I love this one.

00:55:13Beehive.

00:55:13The beehive.

00:55:14So the idea of this is if your, if your compost bin needs to be on display, it could be

00:55:20in a border.

00:55:20It could look pretty.

00:55:21You could paint it.

00:55:22This is from Bloom.

00:55:23So we, they, they're a small independent company who make them bespoke.

00:55:28They started off doing bins and storage bins for your front of your house to look pretty.

00:55:32But this one, it's a stained wood.

00:55:34It's pressure treated wood.

00:55:35Um, 195 pounds.

00:55:38But you could put a liner inside of that so the wood didn't rot.

00:55:41So it didn't rot.

00:55:42It can keep.

00:55:42But what we've seen done with these before is because they look so pretty, sometimes once all your compost is

00:55:47in there, you can plant that up and just leave it.

00:55:49Yeah.

00:55:49Use it as a planter as well.

00:55:51Yeah.

00:55:51So it's a nice way of creating something, you know, compared to that one, which is, you know, black, but

00:55:56this one painted looks lovely.

00:55:58Like a WBC hive.

00:55:59Within your cottage garden.

00:56:01Now this one is all singing, all dancing.

00:56:03This is your hot bin.

00:56:05So the hot bin is, uh, insulated.

00:56:07So it gets hot inside there.

00:56:10Um, it's a bit pricey.

00:56:11It's 215 pounds.

00:56:13This is the smallest.

00:56:14They can go, this is a hundred liter.

00:56:15It can go up to 700 liters.

00:56:17So you can go, go big with it.

00:56:18But the beauty of this one is, these take about a year to turn.

00:56:23Once you've turned them every two months, a year to get some good compost.

00:56:26This one can take between 60 to 90 days for you to get some compost and you don't need to

00:56:31turn it.

00:56:31So that's two or three months.

00:56:32Two or three months.

00:56:33And there's a little, um, thermostat.

00:56:35There's one on the top.

00:56:36It's like your meat thermometer.

00:56:38And it literally...

00:56:38It's a joint Dundee.

00:56:40I don't know where the compost is.

00:56:41But when you say meat thermometer, what's great is once it gets to the temperature that you see there between

00:56:4540 and 60.

00:56:46When it's green.

00:56:47When it's green, it means you can throw in your meat waste.

00:56:50Oh, really?

00:56:50Whereas before you can't throw in your chicken bones.

00:56:52Once they're cut down, you can throw in anything in there and it'll heat it down and it'll work its

00:56:57way through.

00:56:58Again, you don't need to turn it.

00:56:59It's worth putting the layers in as you're adding stuff, having all the different layers.

00:57:02I have to say, if life's too short to stuff a mushroom, I don't turn compost.

00:57:06If it's mixed and kept moist and firmed, a bit of old carpet oil on the top, that'll have enough

00:57:12to do with that turning it every two months.

00:57:13I mean, some people do.

00:57:14It's just a matter of opinion.

00:57:15You don't have to turn it.

00:57:16It's more important to turn it in tiny bins, I think, than in bigger ones.

00:57:19Mine's about two metres by two metres.

00:57:21And also you can access this.

00:57:22There's normally like a strap that goes round.

00:57:23You'll take the strap off, you can access it.

00:57:25And the little blue tap at the bottom collects all those juices.

00:57:28Oh, your liquid manure.

00:57:29Your liquid manure, liquid fertiliser.

00:57:31So, you know, it's a great product because it means it can turn it quickly.

00:57:36Fast.

00:57:36Yeah.

00:57:36Fast.

00:57:37But of course, knowing you, you don't necessarily want to buy one at somebody else's, mate.

00:57:42No.

00:57:42You want to make one yourself.

00:57:43For free.

00:57:44Okay.

00:57:45Let's have a look.

00:57:46The ubiquitous pallet.

00:57:48The pallet.

00:57:49The pallet.

00:57:50Our world is held together by pallets.

00:57:52You either love them or hate them.

00:57:53And I've got a varied relationship with them.

00:57:56But pallets are free.

00:57:57They're amazing.

00:57:58If you find four pallets that are the same, joyful.

00:58:01You can make one of these.

00:58:03One thing to look out for, you'll see a little stamp here.

00:58:05There's two letters, HT there.

00:58:08That means heat treated.

00:58:09So they've been heat treated so they won't rot.

00:58:11But they used to be covered in loads of chemicals and different things.

00:58:15So check that it's heat treated because you don't want anything that's covered in chemicals.

00:58:18It's just going to leach into your gorgeous compost.

00:58:20So we've got three equally sized pallets here.

00:58:24And we've literally just screwed them, spiked them through into place.

00:58:28We hold them into place.

00:58:29The next thing you need to do is get yourself some chicken wire.

00:58:32And what I love about chicken wire, you can literally just cut it with some strong scissors.

00:58:36You don't need any pliers or anything like that.

00:58:37And the reason we have chicken wire is we're going to line the inside edge with it.

00:58:42So by...

00:58:43And hold it in place.

00:58:44Yeah, just by lining the inside edge.

00:58:47Do you want to stop with my fingers, Wayne?

00:58:48I haven't got your fingers.

00:58:50There's a deer.

00:58:51And this will go all the way around.

00:58:53And what this does, it allows the air circulation to go through.

00:58:58But it stops the soil or any debris falling out.

00:59:01Falling out.

00:59:01Are you doing another layer of that then?

00:59:03Or you would do another layer of that?

00:59:04I would do another layer higher.

00:59:06Yeah.

00:59:06Across that way.

00:59:07So the idea then is anything's collecting there.

00:59:10Again, it's on the floor.

00:59:11We want those worms to come through.

00:59:12We want all of that nutrients to come through the floor.

00:59:16And the next one, you could put a full pallet here.

00:59:18But I like to cut mine down.

00:59:20So I pre-cut this one down.

00:59:22And we offer this one into place.

00:59:26You can put hinges on there.

00:59:28You can put latches so it opens like a barn door.

00:59:31But I think if you can just...

00:59:32If you can use a drill, you can unscrew something.

00:59:37That's within my capabilities.

00:59:38Yeah.

00:59:39So I'm literally just going to hold this one in place for now.

00:59:41So a diagonal bit of a nail down there.

00:59:46And the idea that we've cut it down lower is,

00:59:48if you're coming along with your wheelbarrow,

00:59:50you can hook it up and throw it over.

00:59:52Yeah.

00:59:52But having this one...

00:59:56Having this one in place so that you can unscrew it

00:59:59means that when you get in there, you can turn it.

01:00:01And then, once that's done, put on...

01:00:04I've just got an old throw here.

01:00:07If you've got a piece of carpet or something,

01:00:08lay that on top and then put some plastic on top

01:00:12just to stop too much moisture going in.

01:00:14Yeah.

01:00:14You don't want it to get too sodden.

01:00:15You want the air going through?

01:00:17You know more than me, but you want...

01:00:18Well, it's the three M's, isn't it really?

01:00:20Mix it, moisten it and mash it.

01:00:23To keep it firm.

01:00:25And with those three M's, mix everything,

01:00:27rather than having a concentration of grass clippings

01:00:29in one place, just because it's brown and slimy.

01:00:31Mix that with everything else.

01:00:32And grass is great because it heats it.

01:00:34And so with all the things mixed up,

01:00:36with your browns, as you say, and your greens,

01:00:38and if you hire a shredder, it's really useful.

01:00:40It speeds up the moving of it.

01:00:42And then if you make sure there's three M's there,

01:00:44the mixing, the moistening and the mashing,

01:00:46you'll find it rots down.

01:00:47I always give it a year anyway, if it's safer.

01:00:49And how many of these bins would you normally have?

01:00:51I've got...

01:00:52Well, as many as you...

01:00:53Depends on the size of your garden.

01:00:55But I always have a couple, at least,

01:00:56because then one is full and rotting

01:00:58and the other's being filled.

01:01:00And you've got this system then,

01:01:02about a year on you're using that one,

01:01:04and the following year you'll be using that one

01:01:05while this one's filling up.

01:01:06I love the idea, though,

01:01:07of using the compost that you've created

01:01:10for your garden,

01:01:12and knowing it hasn't cost you anything to get rid of it,

01:01:14you've just re-put it back and purposed it.

01:01:15And it's the natural cycle.

01:01:17When trees lose their leaves,

01:01:18they fall on the ground,

01:01:19they rot, the worms take them in,

01:01:20and that's nature.

01:01:22And you've been a nice part of nature.

01:01:24Yeah.

01:01:24And look for the HT.

01:01:25Heat treated.

01:01:27Heat treated, Wayne Perry.

01:01:29Thanks, Wayne.

01:01:35Now, many legendary thinkers and creators

01:01:38kept famous diaries.

01:01:40Leonardo da Vinci,

01:01:41whose notebooks contain sketches of inventions

01:01:45and anatomical studies.

01:01:47Charles Darwin,

01:01:48who documented his geological and biological observations.

01:01:51Alexander Graham Bell,

01:01:53who detailed his telephone experiments.

01:01:55Albert Einstein,

01:01:56who filled his diary with calculations.

01:02:00And Leslie Joseph is no different,

01:02:02as she takes a leaf out of all their books

01:02:05with the first of her nature diaries.

01:02:08Chapter one,

01:02:09The March Hare.

01:02:14Hampshire,

01:02:15Sunday the 22nd of March,

01:02:172026.

01:02:18Dear diary,

01:02:20it's been a week since my last diary entry,

01:02:23but I am feeling quite rejuvenated.

01:02:25The weather is most agreeable,

01:02:27as spring grabs hold of us,

01:02:29and winter seems so very far away.

01:02:32Enter master hare,

01:02:35dashing,

01:02:35and deliciously naughty,

01:02:38with his large, long, powerful hind legs.

01:02:41Oh, dear diary,

01:02:43I itch in anticipation.

01:02:44I have been meaning to see the apothecarist about that, actually.

01:02:48Sorry.

01:02:49Sorry.

01:02:50Back to my diary.

01:02:51As I perch by the open window,

01:02:54absorbing the gentle spring breeze,

01:02:56the brown hare parades itself around,

01:03:00with a bouncy ease,

01:03:02along the heath and hidden in the grasses,

01:03:04running across fields and hiding in the marshes.

01:03:07The brown hare plays and strays,

01:03:10whilst having the occasional vegetational graze,

01:03:13glistening in the warm sun,

01:03:15embracing the hazy days.

01:03:19With long black-tipped ears worthy of a sonnet,

01:03:22no doubt having to poke two holes

01:03:24through a celebratory bonnet,

01:03:27with a super speedy and slick fast pace,

01:03:31the brown hare can certainly take on a race.

01:03:34I have a ball this evening,

01:03:36and word is spreading that Lord Biggins will be in attendance.

01:03:40Oh, I do hope he selects me to be part of his waltz.

01:03:44I hear he is quite the maverick on the dance floor.

01:03:48Now I must dash enough hair-related do-gooding.

01:03:51If I don't put down the quill,

01:03:53who will make today's plum pudding?

01:03:55Oh, fare thee well, brown hare.

01:03:58It's been a treat.

01:04:00Thank you for continually making my heart beat.

01:04:04Yours affectionately as ever, Leslie.

01:04:09Thank you, Leslie.

01:04:10Well up to Einstein standards.

01:04:12Did you know the expression mad as a march hare

01:04:15stems from their frantic mating behaviour,

01:04:17including high-speed chases, leaping and boxing,

01:04:21that peak in early spring?

01:04:24Fancy.

01:04:24It's an amazing sight when you watch boxing hares.

01:04:26Coming up, Sarah Parrish, back on stage

01:04:29in the bittersweet family drama Eclipse.

01:04:32I'll see you with Sarah after this.

01:04:47Welcome back to Love Your Weekend.

01:04:49Now coming up, drinks duo Hannah and Siobhan.

01:04:52See us out in style with zesty botanicals,

01:04:55including a burnt lemon spritz

01:04:57and a chilled martini with an orange twist.

01:05:00Can't wait.

01:05:02But first, saucy storylines and devious divas.

01:05:05Scandalous, sexy and seductive.

01:05:08It was the hit series following the lives and loves

01:05:11of a group of 30-something girlfriends

01:05:13and featuring my next guest.

01:05:16Yes, lovers may come and go,

01:05:18but friends last forever.

01:05:20Or do they?

01:05:21Katie, multiple choice.

01:05:23Sex, lover, kids.

01:05:24What, can I only have one?

01:05:27Um...

01:05:30Love.

01:05:34I think someone asked me out today.

01:05:37Really?

01:05:37Oh, yeah?

01:05:38Hello.

01:05:39Well, he's a new dad at school

01:05:41and I think he just got divorced.

01:05:43And we got chatting at the supermarket

01:05:45and he said that we should go for a coffee

01:05:48and I went...

01:05:50Hang on a minute.

01:05:51He asked you out for a coffee in Sainsbury's?

01:05:53No, in Tesco's actually.

01:05:55And...

01:05:57Well, I'm not really sure he was asking me out.

01:05:59Well, what did he say?

01:06:00Um...

01:06:01Exact words.

01:06:03Do you fancy going for a coffee?

01:06:04He said fancy.

01:06:05I think so.

01:06:06If he said that, he was asking you out.

01:06:07Oh, no, maybe he said want.

01:06:09Well, that's...

01:06:10No, that's different.

01:06:11That's more tricky to interpret.

01:06:12You see, this is exactly why I switched from English

01:06:14to modern languages.

01:06:17Mistresses, the deep bond and connection

01:06:19between the four of your characters

01:06:21with your shared sarcasm and ease with each other.

01:06:25Was it like that on set?

01:06:26You did seem...

01:06:26There seemed to be some kind of chemistry going on there.

01:06:28Oh, we had such a good time on that show.

01:06:30We were out in Bristol, the four of us,

01:06:33and we all shared a big house, which was great,

01:06:35so we were together the whole time.

01:06:38Yeah, and we really bonded on that show.

01:06:41It was a terrific show.

01:06:42And, you know, I get arsed often.

01:06:43It's the one show that I get arsed about all the time.

01:06:47I get stopped in the street with women saying,

01:06:49oh, when are you going to bring back Mistresses?

01:06:50We'd love to see something like that again.

01:06:52Why do you think?

01:06:53I think it's a bit like Sex and the City, isn't it?

01:06:57I think women want to see themselves on television,

01:07:00so something like Mistresses obviously was very successful

01:07:03and now they want to see where those women are

01:07:06at the age that they would be, which is in their 50s.

01:07:09But shot through with humour too.

01:07:11You've got to have humour.

01:07:12Yeah.

01:07:13You've got to have humour.

01:07:14You're splitting, as ever, screen work,

01:07:17both, you know, large and small, with theatre work

01:07:20because you're now going into a play at Chichester Festival Theatre,

01:07:24Eclipse, which is written by the guy who wrote W1A,

01:07:28to which my wife and I were glued.

01:07:30Hilarious.

01:07:31How on earth could the BBC do this about themselves?

01:07:33I know.

01:07:34Because it's so accurate.

01:07:35You know, good for them.

01:07:37So tell us about it, Eclipse.

01:07:39Well, yes.

01:07:40John Morton has written a play.

01:07:41It's the only play he's ever written.

01:07:43He wrote it 20 years ago.

01:07:45So he's been sat on this play now for 20 years.

01:07:49And he wrote me a letter actually and said,

01:07:52look, I've written this play and I'd really love you to be in it.

01:07:54And I immediately thought, oh, it's going to be hilarious.

01:07:56You know, it'll be really fast and funny and probably set in an office.

01:08:00You know.

01:08:01Anyway, this play came through and it's, it's, I mean, it just shows what a brilliant,

01:08:05versatile writer he is.

01:08:07It's a very minimalistic play that happens over 24 hours, the last 24 hours of somebody's life.

01:08:15And it's about the brother and sister, the son and the daughter of this guy who's dying in the kitchen.

01:08:21And just their relationship over this 24 hours, how they are with each other while their father is dying.

01:08:28So nothing happens and everything happens.

01:08:30It's one of those plays.

01:08:32And, of course, it's beautifully written.

01:08:34He's got such a wonderful way of writing.

01:08:37It's so naturalistic.

01:08:40It reads brilliantly.

01:08:41I'm surprised he's only ever written one play, really.

01:08:44So, yes, we're doing it at the Minerva in Chichester.

01:08:46So the smaller theatre.

01:08:48Rupert Penner Jones is playing.

01:08:50Well, my wife will be there, though.

01:08:52I know.

01:08:53He's not ugly, is he?

01:08:54It's Rupert Penner Jones.

01:08:54He's in it.

01:08:55It's Sarah.

01:08:57So, yeah, the two of us are brother and sister.

01:09:00So it'll be, it will be a really lovely experience.

01:09:03You've got, you know, other TV things.

01:09:06Yes, yeah, yeah.

01:09:07There's all sorts going on.

01:09:08What was on, Piglets has been on again this year, which was a series that I do with Mark Heap

01:09:15about a police academy, which is quite funny.

01:09:18It's not my most attractive part.

01:09:21No.

01:09:21Now, tell me about this make-up for Piglets.

01:09:24We're going to have a look at it in a second.

01:09:26It's very funny that, well, when we were sort of trying to work out what Julie Spry would look like,

01:09:31they brought out a bag of wigs and I was sort of trying on these wigs and literally it was

01:09:35like Cinderella's slipper.

01:09:37One wig came, I put it on, I went, there she is, that's it.

01:09:40And the make-up lady said, I think we could probably push her a bit further and maybe have some

01:09:44teeth as well.

01:09:45So we went for these comedy teeth and then Julie Spry was born, yeah.

01:09:50I love playing her.

01:09:52She's so much fun.

01:09:53Here is Julie Spry in Piglets.

01:09:56Let's start with the traditional good cop, bad cop scenario.

01:10:00Which one do you want me to be?

01:10:13I can do bad.

01:10:16I can do bad.

01:10:23Okay.

01:10:25I don't know how you did that.

01:10:28I don't know.

01:10:29I'm doing it now.

01:10:31Do you know what?

01:10:32It's Mark Heath.

01:10:33It's so easy to work with an actor like that.

01:10:36He is a born clown.

01:10:37Some people have just got funny bones, haven't they?

01:10:40Yeah.

01:10:40And he can't, he can't do anything without being funny.

01:10:43I mean, literally, I can't sit opposite him in London.

01:10:45I remember him being the postman in Lark Rice to Candleford.

01:10:47He was brilliant.

01:10:48And you just look at his face there.

01:10:49He's just funny.

01:10:50He was funny in Friday night, you know, Jim in Friday night dinner.

01:10:54He was, he's just a funny person.

01:10:56And we, it's such a fun show to do because we do get quite a lot of freedom and lots

01:11:02of,

01:11:02you know, that was all sort of, not all improvised, but a lot of it was improvised.

01:11:06And, and we've got time to sort of muck about and try things out.

01:11:10And it's lovely.

01:11:10Looking at those four younger people, looking at you, how they kept a straight face.

01:11:17Well, that must have been hard.

01:11:19It was, it was.

01:11:20They did.

01:11:20There's a lot of corpsing in that show.

01:11:22It's good fun.

01:11:24You did.

01:11:24We heard you sing earlier on.

01:11:25I wanted to show a bit of you singing now because you sang in Blackpool.

01:11:29Yes, I did.

01:11:30Yes.

01:11:31Blackpool.

01:11:31It was called in Blackpool with David Tennant.

01:11:35Yes.

01:11:35Great cast.

01:11:36Gosh, that was, that was a lovely show, you know.

01:11:39It's not, it's not often that you get a musical on TV.

01:11:44And I remember the read through, I remember it was me and David Morrissey and David Tennant

01:11:47and we all met outside before the read through.

01:11:50So I said, do you think they're actually going to make us sing the songs in the read through?

01:11:53And I was like, no, of course they won't.

01:11:55They wouldn't do that.

01:11:56They did.

01:11:58They had a tape recorder and we all had to sing the actual songs at the read through.

01:12:02We didn't know each other.

01:12:03We'd never met each other.

01:12:04You know, it was hard work, but it was brilliant.

01:12:07It was so much fun.

01:12:08Peter Bowker wrote it.

01:12:09He's a fabulous writer.

01:12:12We were up in Blackpool for about five or six months.

01:12:15It was just a lot of fun.

01:12:17It was a lot of fun.

01:12:18Being able to, getting up every day, going to work and dancing and singing.

01:12:21It doesn't get any better than that.

01:12:23It doesn't get any better than this, does it?

01:12:25Yeah.

01:12:26To that station alone

01:12:28Could I ever ring since I let you go

01:12:31Got you to find the right words to say

01:12:35Think maybe I'm getting in your way

01:12:39I feel your warmth

01:12:42Got me wanting more

01:12:44You've left the door half open

01:12:53Staring into each other's eyes

01:12:55It's quite difficult doing that

01:12:58You know, and you've got to do take after take after take

01:13:01So it was a tough job, but it was really enjoyable

01:13:05When you're not cavorting on the stage, or anywhere, or doing your TV

01:13:10Your original Murray Parish charity in memory of your daughter Ella Jane

01:13:17Has gone from strength to strength. I mean Ella died tragically young in 2009

01:13:22You the charity going you've changed the name of it now to widen it because it's very much based in

01:13:27Southampton

01:13:28It was, yes

01:13:29So tell us about it now

01:13:30So we last year it was our 10-year anniversary as the Murray Parish Trust

01:13:35And we we figured that we'd kind of done as much as we could down in the South

01:13:40We'd predominantly worked at Southampton Children's Hospital

01:13:43And we kept noticing there was a real lack of help for the mental health of seriously ill children

01:13:50So we kind of thought maybe now is the time with all our experience to expand and go national

01:13:55And maybe have a rebrand and change our name

01:13:58So it's not just about Jim and I

01:13:59It's something a little bit bigger

01:14:02And just purely concentrate on the mental health of seriously ill children and their families as well

01:14:08Because you often find that the child gets looked after

01:14:12But the fallback and the fallout for the family is terrible

01:14:16Talking of working, it seems to me the roles you choose

01:14:19Have always got some kind of central spark to them

01:14:24They're either completely bonkers

01:14:26As in the character in W1A, you know where you're just going

01:14:30I mean I can see you

01:14:32You don't seem to want to play what you might call ordinary people

01:14:35No I don't get ordinary people

01:14:37I mean whatever ordinary people

01:14:38I don't know what

01:14:39But no

01:14:40I mean also as an actor you pick what you want to do

01:14:44Don't you

01:14:44And there are certain parts that I'm drawn to

01:14:46I did go through a phase of playing quite a lot of psychopaths

01:14:50Which I bizarrely enjoyed a bit too much

01:14:53I'm hoping to go into a nicer sort of you know time of my life

01:14:57And maybe more gentle characters now

01:14:59Who knows

01:14:59There are so many outlets as well now

01:15:01Not just BBC, ITV

01:15:02But Netflix

01:15:04I mean Geek Girl

01:15:05Is on

01:15:05Is on Netflix now

01:15:07And that gives you in a way a longer life

01:15:09Yeah Geek Girl was great

01:15:10I mean Geek Girl looks fantastic

01:15:12And the kids in it were wonderful

01:15:14And it was a very funny

01:15:15Jude was a great part

01:15:16But I couldn't turn Jude down

01:15:17So tell us about Jude

01:15:18Jude is the head of a model agency

01:15:21She's a bit of a monster

01:15:23But

01:15:24Hang on there's a sort of theme

01:15:26Coming here

01:15:27She's great fun

01:15:29She had all the

01:15:30You know she had a lot of great lines

01:15:32She's just a funny character

01:15:33And yeah I read it and went

01:15:35Oh I'd love to be part of this

01:15:36And it was also

01:15:37The first series came out

01:15:38Just when my daughter Nell

01:15:40Was at the perfect age for it

01:15:42You know she was 14

01:15:43I said you're going to love this

01:15:45And she did

01:15:45She was absolutely glued to it

01:15:46So it's a lovely series

01:15:48For that age range

01:15:50You know

01:15:50And older as well

01:15:51I've had a lot of older people

01:15:52That have loved watching it

01:15:53I should be looking it up now

01:15:54Geek Girl

01:15:56Go

01:15:58Let me do that one more time

01:15:59At this angle just in case

01:16:03Okay right

01:16:03Just hold it there

01:16:05Just hold it there

01:16:05You if you ever worn glasses

01:16:08No I don't

01:16:08I don't need glasses

01:16:09I have 20-20 vision

01:16:13It's fashion

01:16:19Ah okay

01:16:19Yeah

01:16:20Hold that

01:16:22And me

01:16:23Chin down an inch

01:16:26Actually get rid of the feathers

01:16:27Get rid of the feathers

01:16:31Right just hold it there Ray

01:16:32Just hold it one minute

01:16:33Just hold it

01:16:50I can see what you mean by no expense spared

01:16:56You know quite a lot

01:16:57But you like being cruel don't you

01:16:59I do

01:16:59I'm good at cruel aren't I

01:17:01I'm good at cruel

01:17:02Yeah she's a really good fun character

01:17:04I've always wanted to play somebody in the fashion industry

01:17:06In those lovely clothes as well

01:17:08It was a real treat

01:17:09Look always lovely to talk to you

01:17:10And you

01:17:11Thank you so much for coming

01:17:12Good luck with the charity

01:17:13Which is now called Imagine This

01:17:15Imagine This

01:17:15I've got to get that in my head now

01:17:16Rather than Murray Prash

01:17:17Lovely to see you

01:17:18Lovely to have Jim on last week

01:17:19We'll take you in rotation

01:17:20Yes do

01:17:21His turn next

01:17:22Great

01:17:22Lovely to see you

01:17:24Time to pause, reflect and take a moment to enjoy some wonderful footage

01:17:28Set to some equally wonderful music

01:17:30It's today's Ode to Joy

01:18:02The

01:18:20¶¶

01:19:00¶¶

01:19:11¶¶

01:19:12¶¶

01:19:20¶¶

01:19:29Absolutely stunning pictures there of the Cairngorms, courtesy of Sam Hales and set to the Symphony No. 4 by Felix

01:19:37Mendelsohn.

01:19:37Coming up, it's a juicy end to the show with this week's Best of British.

01:19:41Drinks experts Hannah and Siobhan prove that citrus tipples are the way to go.

01:19:47If you're having a springtime shindig, who am I to disagree?

01:19:51Zesty Botanicals, coming up right after this.

01:20:09¶¶

01:20:10Best of British time now.

01:20:12The days are longer, the soil's warmer, said the gardener,

01:20:15and the equinox has been and gone, which can only mean one thing, the unequivocal arrival of spring.

01:20:22And what better way to toast the new season than with an array of fresh and citrusy tipples sure to

01:20:27get you perked up and possibly even a little puckered.

01:20:30Behind the bar today, the double trouble, as we welcome for the first time, not one, but two master cocktail

01:20:37connoisseurs,

01:20:38Hannah Sharman-Cox and Siobhan Payne, founders of the London Cocktail Week.

01:20:44Why would you not found that?

01:20:46And here they are with their rounds of zesty botanicals.

01:20:50What have we got today, then?

01:20:51Well, you gave us a brief of zesty botanicals, so we've stuck to theme.

01:20:56We're going to start with this, which is the burnt lemon spritz in your wine glass.

01:21:03Oh, nice.

01:21:04And this is celebrating the lemon, so it's very, very lemony.

01:21:08Yep.

01:21:09We're starting with, at the base of it, is a Cornish vermouth.

01:21:13It's made down on the south coast, near St. Austal.

01:21:17It's called Nitor.

01:21:19I just love the bottle of this one, actually.

01:21:20It's so gorgeous, isn't it?

01:21:21It looks like a sort of Liebfraun.

01:21:23Yes, it does.

01:21:24I was going to say that.

01:21:25It was probably blue, none in the form of Liebfraun.

01:21:28But it's a working winery.

01:21:29You can actually get married there as well.

01:21:30They make all sorts of English wines.

01:21:33Their Blanc de Blanc English sparkling is very highly awarded.

01:21:36But this vermouth is really delicious.

01:21:38It's really, really, it's really grown up.

01:21:42It's really interesting.

01:21:43It's really, yeah, it's great.

01:21:45But we've paired it with...

01:21:46Yes, so this is Rapscallion Burnt Lemon.

01:21:50So it's designed to be a grown-up soft drink, and it's made in Glasgow.

01:21:55And they've called it Juicy Wee Tart, which I think is quite funny.

01:22:00But actually, it's designed, you can drink it by itself and it feels grown up.

01:22:05You usually think of vermouth as a mixer.

01:22:07You do, don't you?

01:22:08In Norwegian, you know, a martini.

01:22:09So to have that as a base...

01:22:10Yeah, and it's a lovely summery drink, isn't it?

01:22:13You have that on a summer's day.

01:22:15And the good thing about vermouth as the base is that it means that the cocktail is lower ABV, so

01:22:21less alcoholics.

01:22:22It's quite a good lunchtime cocktail if you want to...

01:22:25You can drink more.

01:22:25In the afternoon.

01:22:26You can drink more.

01:22:27Peter, you're sitting for a class.

01:22:27That is one way of looking at it, Sarah.

01:22:30To your taste, this or...?

01:22:31Oh, it's lovely.

01:22:32This is delicious and fresh.

01:22:35Really lovely.

01:22:36Really lovely.

01:22:37Also, we thought we'd start with it because it opens your palate for what is to come.

01:22:40Oh, yes.

01:22:41This is a non-alcoholic cocktail, and it is a twist on the Paloma.

01:22:46So classically, a Paloma is tequila with grapefruit and a bit of sugar.

01:22:50Oh, this is...

01:22:51But what we've done for this cocktail, because we wanted to do something not boozy, perhaps for breakfast, is mixed

01:22:59it with Bativo.

01:23:00Oh, that's...

01:23:00So Bativo is made in Hertfordshire.

01:23:03That is lovely.

01:23:04And what it is is apple cider vinegar, steeped in various herbs and spices and then sweetened with honey.

01:23:09So it's actually really good for you.

01:23:10This is a good food drink, yeah?

01:23:12It's unpasteurised ACV.

01:23:14Really nice.

01:23:15And then mixed with grapefruit.

01:23:17Wonderful.

01:23:18It really is a beautiful soft drink, isn't it?

01:23:21Isn't it gorgeous?

01:23:22Two out of two.

01:23:23Oh, good.

01:23:26All right, more unusual citrus fruit for you.

01:23:29We're going to yuzu.

01:23:30Some people call it a Japanese lemon, but it's more of a hybrid, actually.

01:23:34It's kind of closer to a mandarin, probably.

01:23:37So we've gone all out.

01:23:39Yeah, we wanted to really celebrate the yuzu, so we've gone double yuzu today.

01:23:43We have.

01:23:43So the base of the product, like similar to how we did with the spritz, the base is a sake.

01:23:48So it's a rice wine.

01:23:50Oh.

01:23:52So Kampai, which means cheers in Japanese.

01:23:55To you.

01:23:55They are, cheers.

01:23:56They are based down in the arches near London Bridge.

01:24:00Oh, all right.

01:24:00Yeah, it's lovely.

01:24:02That's nice too.

01:24:02Yeah, it's really, yeah.

01:24:03We've paired it with a yuzu mixer, and this brand of mixers called Kazimo, it's made by a bartender, so

01:24:13you know it's going to be good.

01:24:14They use yuzus from Japan, and they don't use any artificial coloring, so it's really, really good brand of mixers.

01:24:21It reminded me, because I, it just reminded me that I know a bit of Japanese.

01:24:24Oh, go into it.

01:24:25Come on then.

01:24:26Main to go joshua, arigato gozaimashita.

01:24:29That means mind the gap when you're getting on the train.

01:24:34But the beautiful thing is that you can have that mixer just by itself, and it still gives you that

01:24:38real yuzu.

01:24:39Very nice.

01:24:40Yeah, very nice.

01:24:40Good for you, Sarah.

01:24:41That's really nice.

01:24:42Now we're moving on to celebration of Bergamot, and this is a non-alcoholic cocktail as well, and we're using

01:24:50Everleaf Marine.

01:24:52So Everleaf is such a nice brand, and this is also created by a bartender, but he's also a conservationist.

01:24:59Oh, is that really nice?

01:25:00And actually, when I said we were coming on, we know Paul very well, who's the founder.

01:25:05He said that his dad might have met you, Alan, because he's the famous botanist, Brian Matthew, and he said

01:25:13he might have...

01:25:14Brian Matthew?

01:25:14Yeah.

01:25:15This is Brian Matthew.

01:25:16Brian and I used to work together at Kew Gardens.

01:25:18He's a famous botanist, Brian Matthew.

01:25:19Yes, he is.

01:25:19Very accomplished.

01:25:20So he's head of botany for Everleaf.

01:25:22He taught his son well.

01:25:24Bruns.

01:25:25Well done, Brian.

01:25:27Yeah, it's a really nice product.

01:25:29They've also got forest and mountain.

01:25:31This is marine.

01:25:32So this is lots of Italian bergamot, but mixed with things like kelp to give it that sort of marine

01:25:37feeling.

01:25:38Yeah, you see, there's a seaside.

01:25:39Yeah, I can taste that.

01:25:41Yeah.

01:25:41And what we've done to give it the sort of mouthfeel, because obviously, because it's non-alcoholic, sometimes non-alcoholic

01:25:47cocktails feel a bit thin, so we've put some coconut water and some lime and that gives it a little

01:25:52bit more body.

01:25:54Yeah, it's so clever.

01:25:56No, but I mean, obviously, I stopped drinking ten years ago, and to be able, never, ten years ago, would

01:26:03you go and ask for a non-alcoholic drink, and it would never taste nice.

01:26:07Yes.

01:26:07You'd be like, well, what's the point?

01:26:09Yeah.

01:26:09I mean, these are beautiful, like, really beautiful.

01:26:13These two are my absolute...

01:26:16Yeah, these two are my favourite.

01:26:17But this one's so...

01:26:19It's such an unusual taste, isn't it?

01:26:20They're all quite distinct.

01:26:22Yeah.

01:26:22So from not boozy to the most boozy...

01:26:26Here we go.

01:26:27It would be very rude for us not to...

01:26:28You've done it in the right order, haven't you?

01:26:29Exactly.

01:26:30It would be very rude for us not to bring our favourite drink, which is a martini.

01:26:34So, we have gone with...

01:26:36This is such a lovely producer.

01:26:39It's called Vault.

01:26:39Look at that.

01:26:41He's actually, much like everything else, he used to be a restaurateur, and then he got into production.

01:26:46So it's a gin martini.

01:26:48It is...

01:26:48It's on the wet side, so it's not too strong.

01:26:52Blimey.

01:26:53And when she says wet, she means vermouth heavy.

01:26:56Vermouth heavy.

01:26:58That is, yeah.

01:26:59Very good.

01:27:01The gin has got citrus leaves and orange blossom within it, and then the vermouth is a vermouth

01:27:07they call meadow, which is sweetened with Northumberland honey.

01:27:11Right.

01:27:12They also make a coastal and a vodka, which is very chalky, so if you're into a vodka martini,

01:27:18like, that would be the combination of their products, but too much.

01:27:21No.

01:27:23It's got a bit greater.

01:27:24Just about enough.

01:27:25Yeah, this is, it's so rich and round, despite it looking like a very clear drink, like...

01:27:32But I can taste the honey in that.

01:27:33Yeah, can't you?

01:27:34There's a nice, sweet twist to that, which is...

01:27:37It is the perfect martini.

01:27:39Your eyes are watering.

01:27:40Well, there were just two of you when we started.

01:27:42I can see about four of them.

01:27:46It's delicious.

01:27:47I mean, it's obviously very alcoholic.

01:27:50I don't think I could take two of those, but I'm very happy to take one.

01:27:55Well, it depends on the time of day, because I think if you were having one in the afternoon,

01:27:59maybe one's enough.

01:28:00But of an evening, after dinner, maybe?

01:28:02I mean, I tried this again.

01:28:04This is now becoming one of my favourites.

01:28:06It's really good, isn't it, that one?

01:28:08I really like that one, yeah.

01:28:09Ladies, thank you very much indeed.

01:28:10That's it for today.

01:28:11Thanks to all my guests, especially to the girls, to Hannah and Siobhan,

01:28:15and to Sarah and to Peter.

01:28:18They're not necessarily in that order after martini.

01:28:21Joining me next week, Phil Daniels, Adam Garcia, and Raquel herself, Tessa Peake-Jones.

01:28:27Fletcher's Family Farm is up next.

01:28:28Till then, I leave you with these words from American inventor Thomas A. Edison.

01:28:33Our greatest weakness lies in giving up.

01:28:36The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.

01:28:42So I think I'll try another sip of this, but only a sip.

01:28:46Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

01:28:48Cheers, all.

01:28:48Cheers.

01:28:59Cheers.

01:29:03See you next day.

01:29:04Cheers.

01:29:05Cheers.

01:29:12Cheers.

01:29:14Cheers.

Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh - Season 8 - Episode 12 Eng Sub

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