Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh - Season 8 Episode 02 - video Dailymotion

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Watch Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh - Season 8 Episode 02 - MediaMaze on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00:06Oh, how about that? There's something rather wonderful about an old tractor on a winter's

00:00:11morning. Still ready for work, still proud of its place in the landscape, still managing to start,

00:00:18and stop fortunately, a reminder that the evening January is chill. There's warmth,

00:00:23heritage and heart to be found all around us. It's time for Love You Weekend.

00:01:04For much of Britain, January represents the very heart of winter. The frosts lie thick across the

00:01:11fields, the mornings arrive in shades of silver, and the countryside settles into a quieter, more

00:01:18contemplative rhythm. It's also a month of promise. We're never quite sure when the first signs of

00:01:24spring will dare to appear. But here in Hampshire, we're ready to greet whatever the season sends our

00:01:30way, even fine drizzle like this. And it's a packed morning ahead. Coming up, from keeping Adina and

00:01:38Patsy in check as Safi in Ab Fab, to charming Sunday night audiences in Lark Rise to Candleford,

00:01:44Julia Sawala on teaming up with the good Padre as she enters the world of Father Brown.

00:01:51And it's nearly 30 years since we warmed to him in the full Monty, and we've been enjoying his company

00:01:57ever since. Mark Addy on returning home to Yorkshire and taking on a Robbie Coltrane classic.

00:02:04And wine expert Tony Oshoba brings her top picks of rich, hearty reds, the perfect companions for a

00:02:12January evening. And devoted to enriching lives through horses. How these gentle creatures help

00:02:19riders and carriage drivers of all ages grow in confidence, strength and joy.

00:02:31Now she slips seamlessly between stage screen and Sunday night favourites, and he slips seamlessly

00:02:36between Knights, Kings and West End Musical. Welcome to Julia Sawala and Mark Addy. And you've

00:02:43met before. You've worked before. Yes, we did a Flint Street Nativity where we were playing tiny children.

00:02:50And then we... Remember me. Remember me. Do you remember me? I do remember you. Surely good.

00:02:57This is Michael Palin's Remember Me, yes? Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:03:03Yes, and Jodie Comer. A young, very young Jodie Comer. A young Jodie Comer. And I was thinking,

00:03:08you're good. You weren't wrong, were you? No, I don't know anybody who's worked with Michael

00:03:13Palin who has a bad word for him. I mean, he's such a lovely guy. Well, he pays a lot,

00:03:17you know.

00:03:18He's a... He's a charmer. The lovely thing about having you both on, is particularly on this

00:03:23programme, which is very much predicated on the British countryside, is that, you know,

00:03:27you are both country people. I mean, you live down in Wiltshire now. Your gardening is quite good,

00:03:31I'm told. I do live in Wiltshire. I used to live in Somerset, and I... Yeah, my gardening is spectacular,

00:03:37all because of you, Alan. Oh. And I mean that, but I don't like to say it because you must

00:03:41get sick of it.

00:03:42No, never. Yeah, I've got your hard copy books. I open them and I just... And all the time that

00:03:49I

00:03:49garden, this is the honest truth, whenever I'm gardening, it makes me tearful, I always think of

00:03:55you. I always hear your voice and I think, what would Alan do when I get a bit frustrated? You

00:04:01gave me

00:04:03a love of gardening, which I did. I've always loved nature since a tiny girl. And when I got my

00:04:09first

00:04:09house and I was growing vegetables and all sorts of things and things were going wrong and right,

00:04:14I relied very heavily on your books. I never miss gardeners' world. And so it is because of you,

00:04:22truly. Well, I'm deeply honoured. I think when you go out trying to enthuse people about something,

00:04:27there's no greater compliment when they say that you did and it worked. Yeah, honestly. But so gardening?

00:04:33I'm not a great gardener. I've tried and failed many, many occasions. Julia lent you a book. Yes. Oh,

00:04:40excellent. I bet you'd be good at digging. Oh, I'm a digger. You're really good at digging. Oh,

00:04:45I'm a digger. Yeah. In terms of growing anything, nah, it's... You get no joy from that. No,

00:04:51I've just failed sensationally several times. But you are a countryman. Yeah, I love being out in the

00:04:57countryside. We live at the edge of the Yorkshire walls. So you're surrounded by... David Hockney did a

00:05:04series of his iPad paintings in that area. He loves it. So define the Yorkshire

00:05:10worlds for her, because I'm a Dalesman, so I'm from the up and down bit of York, which is flatter.

00:05:15Yeah. The Yorkshire worlds sit where, Mark? Well, the Dales are, as you know,

00:05:20higgly piggly, dry stone walls, a bit kind of more picture postcard-y. The walls are much more

00:05:28gently rolling countryside, glacial for glacial formations. What does wold, where does that come

00:05:35from, the word? You know? Sorry. It's an old word. Yeah, it is. But I wouldn't know where... Well,

00:05:42there's the, there's the cots wolds. Yeah. I mean, I think it is, I mean, it is a rolling landscape,

00:05:47I think, really. And where, where we are, it's chalk, um, a chalk band, which runs, it comes out

00:05:54somewhere down in Dorset, or... There's a grape, if you look at, there's a, there's a raft of chalk

00:06:00that goes from bottom left to halfway up on the right, that runs right, runs through here, through

00:06:05Hampshire, and goes on that way. So yes, we're in that, and maybe that's why I can't grow anything,

00:06:11er... Well, blame it on the chalk. Blame it on the chalk. Yeah. Blame it on the chalk. Yeah.

00:06:14What can you grow in chalk? I've been going on the chalk for 45 years.

00:06:17Talk! It's a thin excuse.

00:06:21But at least we know that you like living in the countryside, which is the most important thing.

00:06:25Oh, absolutely. Yeah, yeah. Now then, I've got to ask you, Bo, because I've, I've heard

00:06:28rumours, um, of mistaken identity. Don't believe them. People coming up to you, I mean,

00:06:34I remember somebody coming up to me once saying, I used to love it when you used to do the

00:06:37weather.

00:06:40No, I know. I've never done the weather. Random. Very random. Oh, right. Okay. And another one who

00:06:45said, er, that jumper you were wearing on Gardeners World last week, I gave it to Oxfam. Did you go

00:06:51into it?

00:06:51No, I didn't buy an Oxfam. Who have you been mistaken? Who was the weatherman, though? I don't know. I

00:06:57have no idea.

00:06:58Oh. It's a long time ago now, but it was, er, mistaken? Er, well, I mean, I've got a cracker.

00:07:05Helena Bonham Carter. Oh.

00:07:08In the early days. We, we, we used to go, we used to go to places, you know, I don't

00:07:13know,

00:07:13events, award events, and I'd say, where am I sitting? And they'd say, over there, and I'd go

00:07:19and sit on this table, it'd say, Helena Bonham Carter, and I'd be sitting with some very special people.

00:07:24I'd be, oh, no, that's not my table. And I'd go and I'd see Helena sitting in, at my table,

00:07:29with all my very special people.

00:07:32Er, yeah, there have been many occasions. At events, or at places, you know, not, not in real life.

00:07:39Yeah, but when you're, where you're meant to be at the same place together.

00:07:42Yeah. Mark, what about you?

00:07:45I, the one, er, that I get mostly, people, er, confuse me with John Thompson. So, people say, oh, loved

00:07:52you in Cold Feet.

00:07:54And I'm like, no, no, that's the other guy. So, but it's, er, it could be worse.

00:08:00It could be worse, as long as they, they know they've seen you somewhere.

00:08:03Even if it wasn't you.

00:08:05Much more from Mark and Juliet a little bit later.

00:08:08In the meantime, now, do help yourselves to everything you fancy love. Pastel Donata there.

00:08:13We even have proper Yorkshire parking.

00:08:16Oh, parking.

00:08:16There you are, parking from Yorkshire.

00:08:18Thank you very much.

00:08:18Just makes Mark and me feel very much at home.

00:08:21I would eat one, but I've got to say a few words.

00:08:23So, still to come a few comforting tipples to take the edge off the coldest of winter nights.

00:08:27Wine expert Tony Ashoba brings us her top picks of hearty reds.

00:08:33Perfect for a January evening or morning.

00:08:36And we have some rather majestic equine visitors today.

00:08:39We meet the horses and ponies who help riders and carriage drivers of all abilities and ages

00:08:46discover confidence, joy and independence.

00:08:50And she's back with her 2026 New Year calendar.

00:08:53Camilla Bassett-Smith showcases her top plant pick for the year ahead.

00:08:57And let's just say it's small in size, enormous in personality and absolutely impossible to ignore.

00:09:04Much like someone else I know.

00:09:06I'll be back with Camilla.

00:09:08Bye for the break.

00:09:22With January in full swing, there's a certain quiet charm to the British countryside.

00:09:29Walkers wrap up and head for the hills where frost clings to the heather

00:09:34and the moorland feels almost otherworldly and equally enchanting is what's still to come this morning.

00:09:41From holding her own against Idina and Patsy to puzzling out mysteries in Jonathan Creek

00:09:47to fluttering her eyelashes through Pride and Prejudice as Lydia Bennet.

00:09:52She's given us some unforgettable moments.

00:09:55Julia Sawala on life, laughter and the roles that have made her a fan favourite.

00:10:00And a little journey into Britain's agricultural past.

00:10:03We're taking a spin through some magnificent vintage tractors.

00:10:08The grand old workhorses of British farming.

00:10:10Still turning heads and churning fields long after their sell-by date.

00:10:16But first, once upon a time, bonsai was seen as a bit of a specialist's treasure.

00:10:22The kind of thing that was admired from a distance at garden shows.

00:10:25Certainly, it was far too fiddly to have on your own windowsill.

00:10:29But over the past few years, these tiny trees have quietly taken root in Britain.

00:10:35So much so, in fact, that Camilla has declared bonsai her plant of 2026.

00:10:41So how come you've fallen for these little cuties?

00:10:44Well, firstly, they represent luck and prosperity.

00:10:48And I think we all need some of that in a new year, don't we?

00:10:51But they are so beautiful.

00:10:52And I think people often think that bonsai is a type of tree.

00:10:55But it's the art of cultivating miniature trees in containers, isn't it?

00:10:59So you can grow an oak tree as a bonsai?

00:11:01Yeah, you can. Or a pine.

00:11:02Yeah, and just keep it small because those roots are contained.

00:11:04And it's really accessible to all.

00:11:06And what you say about specialists, we all tend to be a little bit perhaps nervous,

00:11:11certainly I do, of growing them.

00:11:12But I don't think we need to be.

00:11:14Now, you have outdoor bonsai and indoor bonsai.

00:11:17And it's important to know the difference, really, of what tree you have.

00:11:19I've got two evergreen outdoor specimens here.

00:11:22First, this gorgeous Aleppo pine.

00:11:25And isn't it so pretty?

00:11:26The appeal is in the miniature-ness, isn't it, really?

00:11:29I mean, if you're on a close-up of that little cypress down there,

00:11:32with its roots, I don't think you can see this side here.

00:11:35Yes.

00:11:36Where the roots are sort of clinging to the surface of the soil.

00:11:39If you were close in on that, you could think it was a full-sized tree.

00:11:42And it's the charm of everything in miniature, isn't it?

00:11:45That's right, that intricacy.

00:11:46That really makes them so popular.

00:11:47And the meaning behind them, as well,

00:11:49I think it's good for your well-being growing these,

00:11:52because you're right, they're so beautiful, they're so intricate.

00:11:55But the pine, meaning longevity, and the Chinese juniper,

00:11:59that meaning strength, because they're quite hardy little chaps, aren't they?

00:12:02Both of these can grow outside.

00:12:05Presumably you have to avoid them being frozen solid,

00:12:07because it's a tiny root ball.

00:12:08You do.

00:12:09And if you put them outside,

00:12:09you want to put them in a really sheltered, warm spot.

00:12:12But then moving indoors, and this one, the money tree, the jade plant.

00:12:17A lot of people know this plant, don't they?

00:12:19Yeah, but of course when you're growing it like this in a tiny pot,

00:12:21and you're trimming it back, the leaves are much smaller.

00:12:24Normally they're about that big, aren't they?

00:12:25Yes, really big, fleshy leaves.

00:12:26Yeah.

00:12:27And I'd say this is quite an easy one to grow.

00:12:29So if you're starting off, I think this one is great.

00:12:32Also represents wealth as well, so good for the year to come.

00:12:34There's a lot of wealth and prosperity there, isn't there?

00:12:36There it is.

00:12:36Yeah, I just, I think that's what we all need.

00:12:39But looking after these, a bright spot inside on a windowsill,

00:12:42avoiding things like draughts or central heating.

00:12:45And I don't, do you grow them, Alan?

00:12:46Do you?

00:12:46I have one.

00:12:47It's a little tiny hornbeam, and it's beautiful.

00:12:49Oh, that's so beautiful.

00:12:50And they last for years, don't they?

00:12:52That's another thing, don't they?

00:12:53I've kept this one going.

00:12:54And it's a case of, I mean, this one I love here.

00:12:56You've got the raked sand by it.

00:12:59They do this raking.

00:13:00Yeah.

00:13:00You could put Alan Woz here.

00:13:02Maybe not.

00:13:03So pruning the top, obviously.

00:13:05Yes.

00:13:05But you prune the roots as well.

00:13:06Yes, you do.

00:13:07And it's just, it's almost little and often.

00:13:09It's not going in there and being heavy-handed.

00:13:11You get these little bonsai scissors and just taking those new shoots

00:13:13in June time to keep them shaped.

00:13:16And these little Zen gardens, as you said, with the sand and the rocks,

00:13:19there's something that everybody can do.

00:13:21And I think children can get involved as well, which is great.

00:13:23And also you can start quite small and quite inexpensive.

00:13:26When you get the larger ones that are sometimes over a hundred years old,

00:13:29aren't they?

00:13:29And they're very expensive.

00:13:32And they can be thousands of pounds.

00:13:32I mean, these ones are probably maybe ten years.

00:13:34And these, I mean, even these ones you're looking at over a hundred.

00:13:37Yes.

00:13:37But perhaps more of the £30 mark.

00:13:38But you can get the little kit.

00:13:40Start from young and, yeah.

00:13:41Lovely.

00:13:42Really pretty.

00:13:42A life in miniature.

00:13:44Thanks, Camilla.

00:13:44And you'll be back later.

00:13:45I shall indeed.

00:13:46We'll be doing a bit of cleaning as well.

00:13:48Get my opinion.

00:13:48The glamorous bit's over for now then.

00:13:50OK.

00:13:55Now, for centuries, horses have played an extraordinary role in people's lives.

00:14:01Calm, patient and wonderfully intuitive.

00:14:04The bond between human and horse is unlike anything else in the natural world.

00:14:10And that's what makes them such remarkable partners at Park Lane Stables,

00:14:15where assisted riding, carriage driving and equine therapy all help riders build confidence,

00:14:22strength and independence.

00:14:24The stables founder, Natalie O'Rourke, joins me now, along with riders Philippa, Dan and Lauren,

00:14:30and their wonderful horses, Mac and Sam.

00:14:34Welcome, Natalie.

00:14:35Thanks for coming.

00:14:36On this grey and drizzly day, not really the perfect riding day, but there you are turning out in all

00:14:43weathers.

00:14:44Yeah, we keep going in all weathers, don't we, Dan?

00:14:46Yes, you do, yeah.

00:14:47So, how long have you been doing what you do?

00:14:49I've been at Park Lane Stables for 17 years, so I started it as a little, tiny, small acorn of

00:14:57a stables.

00:14:58We say it's the tiny stables with the big heart, and it's evolved into the charity that it is today.

00:15:03And last year we helped over 1,000 families who come to the stables

00:15:07and just benefit from being around the horses in whichever way that is.

00:15:11So, we do equine therapy, we do the carriage driving, we do riding, and we do lots of equine-assisted

00:15:18learning,

00:15:18so ground-based activities with the horses.

00:15:21What made you want to do it at the outset?

00:15:23I mean, you could just run a stables.

00:15:24Yeah.

00:15:25Folk come in and go out for a ride and bring them back and eat all the donkey work.

00:15:29Because I'm really passionate about horses, and I did start the stables as a riding stables,

00:15:34a traditional riding stables.

00:15:36I wanted it to be friendly, and that's what it was.

00:15:39But then what I really wanted was for people to come that would really benefit from the horses

00:15:43and would really get that added value.

00:15:46So, that's why I stopped being a little normal riding school and turned it into the charity.

00:15:51So, anybody that comes has got a need, so that might be a disability or it might be a mental

00:15:56health need.

00:15:57And the horses just really, really help them so much, increases their confidence, makes people feel calmer.

00:16:04It really combats social isolation because a lot of the people that come to the stables,

00:16:09you know, they're coming out of their home to come and be with the horses,

00:16:12and then they make friends with other like-minded people as well.

00:16:15And you're talking about a wide range of disabilities from deafness.

00:16:19Absolutely, yeah.

00:16:20So, we're lucky enough to offer carriage driving so people that are wheelchair users

00:16:23can stay in the wheelchair and take part in the carriage driving,

00:16:27which is a massive thing because for lots of people riding is just not appropriate or accessible.

00:16:31So, that's a huge thing.

00:16:33But yeah, we have lots of people with autism or learning disabilities,

00:16:38not necessarily just physical disabilities.

00:16:40And a lot of people with mental health needs as well that hugely benefit from being with the horses.

00:16:47What is it about horses? I was saying they're intuitive.

00:16:49They do seem to know, don't they?

00:16:52Yeah.

00:16:52You know, we've all been on a horse that's gone ape.

00:16:57It's a generalisation, I know.

00:16:59But in certain circumstances like yours and with the horses you've got,

00:17:02what is it about them that they suddenly, they seem to connect with the person they're with and know what

00:17:09to do?

00:17:09They're really intuitive, you're absolutely right, but they're also great mirrors.

00:17:13So, however you present to the horse is what they will give you back.

00:17:17So, often if people are having a bad time, their body language is quite different,

00:17:22they won't make eye contact and they're trying to make themselves smaller and smaller.

00:17:26And horses actually love those people.

00:17:28Whereas if you were a really confident person and presented like this,

00:17:31making eye contact with everybody, the horse would back away from you.

00:17:34So, actually what happens is when people present as a smaller version of themselves,

00:17:39the horse is drawn towards them and then that empowers them and increases their confidence

00:17:43because they've made a friend out of the horse.

00:17:46And then we give them tasks that are achievable that they complete with the horse

00:17:50and then incrementally we build up their confidence.

00:17:53So, it's the horses that do the work.

00:17:55We just facilitate it so that it happens.

00:17:57Oh, you're under-selling yourself quite.

00:18:00Philippa, you clearly love us.

00:18:01You're grooming over there.

00:18:02How long have you been involved with the stables?

00:18:04I've been at the stables for 14 years.

00:18:08Gosh, quite a while.

00:18:10Yeah.

00:18:10And it obviously makes a difference to your life.

00:18:12Yeah, a really big difference and I love it so much.

00:18:16What do you think is special about working with horses as opposed to doing anything else which you might enjoy?

00:18:21Horses are just like magical animals because they help people when they come out of their shells

00:18:28and like people might feel like shy and nervous when they first come and then after a few sessions they're

00:18:34like a totally different person because of the horses.

00:18:38So, how have you changed with working with horses?

00:18:41Because I've become more confident and especially with like doing lots of public speaking and it's helped me to get

00:18:51my first page job as well.

00:18:54So, a real, not just an emotional difference but a practical difference for you as well.

00:18:59Yeah.

00:18:59What we've found is that even though people might only attend for an hour a week actually the impact ripples

00:19:06out so it has a much bigger, wider impact than the hour that they're with us.

00:19:10Philippa's a really great example. So many people with disabilities unfortunately are unemployed so if we can be that stepping

00:19:17stone to help them with their confidence and do achievable tasks to get a job, that's life changing isn't it?

00:19:23And must improve your self respect as well Philippa, you know, you feel you're contributing something, you're giving something.

00:19:29I'm an ambassador.

00:19:30Yes, and encouraging other people to do the same. You're a good ambassador.

00:19:34Yeah, thank you.

00:19:35It requires something very special in your horses doesn't it? How many of them have you got?

00:19:39Yeah, we've got a lot of horses. We've got 24 horses. As long as they like people and they're kind

00:19:45then they're great for what we're doing.

00:19:47So you choose them very carefully, I mean, because you don't want people to be spooked by them do you

00:19:50really?

00:19:51No, but we train them. You've got to spend time with them and get to know them, what do they

00:19:56like, what don't they like, what makes him happy, what makes him sad.

00:19:59And then kind of fit the job for his needs like you like you would with a human in the

00:20:03workplace, really.

00:20:04And are you happy to carry on doing this? I mean, you say you've been doing it for quite a

00:20:08long time.

00:20:09Yeah, yeah. Huge congratulations. You've got the MBE.

00:20:12Well deserved.

00:20:13Thank you so much. Yeah, I absolutely love it and I can't imagine not going to work,

00:20:17but I have got some young people coming through that hopefully will be the future because I want it to

00:20:23carry on forever and ever when I'm not there anymore.

00:20:25So that's the plan. Well, you had great local support because you were struggling a few years ago because you

00:20:31thought you might lose your site.

00:20:32Yeah. So tell me what happened there.

00:20:34Well, we nearly lost the stables because I rented the site for many years and then the landlord had to

00:20:40sell.

00:20:40So he wanted a million pounds, basically, and I didn't have a million pounds.

00:20:44And the bank wouldn't lend me a million pounds, funnily enough.

00:20:46So I just had a crazy idea to crowdfund it and I managed to raise a million and a half

00:20:52pound in six weeks.

00:20:53And I saved the stables and now the stables is there forever.

00:20:57Are there things you want to do that you haven't yet been able to do?

00:20:59Do you still have ambitions for the stables? Is it really just to keep doing what you're doing?

00:21:02Just to keep doing what we're doing, really.

00:21:04And just with the help of people like yourself to let people know that there's people like us all the

00:21:10way around the country.

00:21:10So if they're not where we are in the country, they can go and find their local RDA group and

00:21:15they can get involved in exactly the same way.

00:21:17They can participate or they can volunteer and really, really benefit from the horses.

00:21:22Well, riding for disabled associations are so well established.

00:21:24You've got the Princess Royal as your patron.

00:21:26Yeah, we have.

00:21:26She has an awful lot of work.

00:21:27She works so hard, yeah.

00:21:29There's Philippa nodding over there.

00:21:30Have you managed to meet her yet, Philippa?

00:21:32Yeah.

00:21:32I've met Princess Anne like four times.

00:21:34Oh, goodness me.

00:21:36Bosom pal.

00:21:38And she is incredibly...

00:21:40She's amazing.

00:21:41She's a very active patron.

00:21:43She doesn't just put her name to it.

00:21:45So yeah, we're very, very lucky to have her.

00:21:47Well, horses, relatively straightforward to manage and grooming straightforward, but carriage driving, that's a whole different ballgame.

00:21:53Yeah, that is much more complicated.

00:21:55We're really lucky that we've got a strong team.

00:21:57And we were saying before about training the horses, but with the carriage horses, it's even more important because the

00:22:03wheelchair users stay in their wheelchair,

00:22:04the carriage is specially adapted, and we push the wheelchair up onto the carriage.

00:22:09So the horse has got to be even better trained than the riding horses.

00:22:12So how many horses that will pull carriages have you got there?

00:22:16Not enough.

00:22:16Oh, right.

00:22:18Hint, hint.

00:22:18We've got one in training at the moment, and we've got Sam that we've had for a long time.

00:22:24So we're trying to bring horses up through succession planning, really, but it isn't that easy because it is a

00:22:30tall task for them.

00:22:31There's a lot of training involved for them to pass the assessment to be part of the Riding for the

00:22:36Disabled Association carriage driving team.

00:22:39But the benefit to the participants is just enormous.

00:22:41So a lot of the participants that we have, it's the only sport that they can take part in,

00:22:46and they're still getting all the sensory benefits of being with the horse, but without riding the horse.

00:22:51What about you? Do you ride for pleasure on your own?

00:22:54Yeah, without worrying about anybody else.

00:22:56Without worrying about anybody else.

00:22:56Yeah, I do. I sneak off sometimes.

00:22:58They wonder where I've gone and say, I've gone to a meeting, I'm off on the horse.

00:23:02Meeting with a horse.

00:23:04It's lovely to meet you all.

00:23:06Dan, thank you very much.

00:23:08Thank you for having us.

00:23:09It's a pleasure, Philippa. Thank you.

00:23:11Keep on doing your ambassadorial work.

00:23:13I will, don't worry.

00:23:14It's wonderful.

00:23:15And we wish you well.

00:23:16And just to prove, you see, that whatever the weather...

00:23:18We keep going.

00:23:19They keep going.

00:23:20That's literally burnt down everybody.

00:23:22Thank you very much indeed.

00:23:24Thank you, well done.

00:23:24Still to come, his varied career has seen him get his kit off in a British film classic

00:23:29and sit on the Iron Throne in one of the biggest TV series of all time.

00:23:34Mark Addy on swapping kings and quests for Yorkshire grit, musical adventures

00:23:40and giving his own unmistakable stamp to Harry Potter's favourite gentle giant.

00:23:45I'll be back with Mark right after this.

00:24:03Welcome back.

00:24:03Still ahead, they're shiny, noisy and icons of the great British countryside.

00:24:08We get up close with some vintage tractors, proof that horsepower never truly goes out of fashion.

00:24:16And the winter jobs and bright ideas to see us through the coldest weeks of the year.

00:24:21Camilla Bassett-Smith shows how to winter-proof your garden.

00:24:24Now, from stripping off in the full monte to leading the Seven Kingdoms in Westeros,

00:24:30there's nothing this man can't turn his hand to.

00:24:32But few things beat the joy of donning a tunic and giving the world a hearty yabba-dabba-doo.

00:24:39And do you, Fred Flintstone, take Wilma Slaghoople to be your wife, to have and to hold from this day

00:24:48forward?

00:24:49I yabba-dabba-doo.

00:24:53Do you, Wilma, take Frederick to be your husband, to have and to hold from this day forward?

00:24:59I do.

00:25:03Then, by the power bested in me by the city of Rock Vegas, I now pronounce you husband and wife.

00:25:10You may kiss the bride.

00:25:14Why is this like love?

00:25:16Oh, where am I?

00:25:17Where is this place?

00:25:20An OTT family wedding featuring puppet dinosaurs, trademark catchphrases, and Joan Collins.

00:25:27Joan Collins of all people, yes.

00:25:30I guess all you could do was really go for it, wasn't it, really?

00:25:32Absolutely, yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:25:34So, didn't they approach you quite a lot to do that part?

00:25:37Yes, they kept sending me a script and I kept sending it back and saying,

00:25:41I think you're thinking of the wrong bloke.

00:25:44But they were keen, they were very keen on having me and in the end I just, I relented.

00:25:51Well, the fact that it was Spielberg might have had some.

00:25:53Well, it did, yes, executive producing it.

00:25:57It was an extraordinary experience because there was, this was, there was very little CGI in that movie.

00:26:04They'd built the Vegas Strip in a quarry in Sun Valley, so we were barefoot in a quarry for three

00:26:15months.

00:26:17It was an extraordinary experience.

00:26:19Not bad for my lad for Yorkshire, is it really?

00:26:23Talking of which, it's nice that you're able to use your native tongue and your native vowels

00:26:29in the thing that you've done most recently, which is Alan Bennett's film, The Choral.

00:26:34Now tell us about the story because it's set during the First World War.

00:26:38Yes, we're in 1916 in a fictional mill town in Yorkshire and their local choral society is running short of

00:26:48male voices

00:26:49because they're all heading off to France to fight in the trenches.

00:26:54Conscription is just coming in.

00:26:56It's been, you know, the professional army and then volunteers up to this point, but now people are starting to

00:27:03be called up.

00:27:04So it's Alan Bennett's obvious, beautiful trademark humour, but there's a kind of undercurrent of threat that's, you know, a

00:27:16distant war is affecting people.

00:27:18And it's sort of, it's resonant for today as well because, you know, the state of the world is, you

00:27:26know, perhaps not as peaceful as it could be.

00:27:28A new play?

00:27:29I play Joe Fitton, who's the local photographer.

00:27:33Largely his job at that time is photographing young men in their brand spanking new uniforms before they go off

00:27:43to fight.

00:27:44It's, it was one of those, we have a family album at home and there's a photograph of a relative.

00:27:53Ah, Uncle Albie, yeah, he didn't come back.

00:27:55So all you have is that sepia photograph of a young, a young man full of hope in his brand

00:28:02new uniform.

00:28:04Going to do this bit.

00:28:06Yeah, yeah.

00:28:06Let's have a look, the choral.

00:28:09Dr. Guthrie.

00:28:11What?

00:28:12Henry Guthrie.

00:28:13No.

00:28:14No.

00:28:15No, no.

00:28:16He's back.

00:28:17I dare say he is.

00:28:18And frankly, in other circumstances, he wouldn't even consider the likes of us.

00:28:24Isn't Guthrie...

00:28:26Yes.

00:28:27He's been living and working in Germany by choice.

00:28:31He had musical opportunities, you can understand it.

00:28:34He had musical opportunities here, but he preferred Germany as having better choirs.

00:28:40Treachery.

00:28:41He worked wonders at Leeds.

00:28:43He was despised.

00:28:45Fork were terrified.

00:28:46He's an atheist.

00:28:47That's why Leeds got rid of him.

00:28:49Well, there are atheists now.

00:28:52There's one in Bradford.

00:28:53Not conducting the Matthew Passion.

00:28:57I heard his Mozart Requiem.

00:29:00So did I.

00:29:03It was wonderful.

00:29:05It's a reminder too, isn't it, of the fear of anything to do with Germany, whether it

00:29:11was Wagner or, you know, they chose Dream of Gerontius by Elgar because it was British.

00:29:15Yes.

00:29:16All the other composers they could think of were German.

00:29:19Yeah.

00:29:19So we'll have to go with Elgar.

00:29:22The wonderful Benetian lines there.

00:29:26There's atheists.

00:29:27There's one in Bradford.

00:29:28I mean, no one with Alan can write a line like that.

00:29:31But you can hear, because you and I are both from the same county, you can hear the words,

00:29:36can't they, coming out of your auntie or somebody.

00:29:38Absolutely.

00:29:39Absolutely.

00:29:40Now, there's a lovely line where Ralph Fiennes, as their new choir master, is asking the ladies,

00:29:48do you know any men who can sing or join the choir?

00:29:52And one of them says, my husband, well, does he sing?

00:29:54He'll do as he's told.

00:29:57Classic Alan's in his hands.

00:30:00Did you get to meet him?

00:30:01Did he come along?

00:30:02Yes.

00:30:02Yeah.

00:30:03He's just, well, he's a national treasure.

00:30:08And especially being from Yorkshire, you know, he does mean a lot to us.

00:30:15Yeah.

00:30:15When we look back, Mark, I mean, you, you know, I always, it's rather like people talk

00:30:20to me about Ground Force, which I really don't mind.

00:30:22I honestly don't mind.

00:30:23It's a great treat to be remembered for anything.

00:30:25And for you, it will always be the full Monty.

00:30:28Yes.

00:30:28Because until that moment, you know, you were sort of there, but it really did establish

00:30:34you that.

00:30:35But, I mean, was it a smaller film as we were led to believe when you were making it?

00:30:40It was, it had a tiny budget.

00:30:44We shot it in six weeks in Sheffield.

00:30:50It was funded and distributed by Fox Searchlight.

00:30:53So you have what was 20th Century Fox back then behind you.

00:30:59So that means that it will be trailed in all their cinemas.

00:31:02It has the, that they have the kind of power to show an audience what is, what is to come.

00:31:10So that was really useful for us.

00:31:12Let's have a reminder.

00:31:13Beautiful Monty.

00:32:09just perfectly synchronized such a subtle start to it and then you're all in I love the fact that

00:32:16it was given time there was no rushing there and anything yes you know they were patient

00:32:23because they knew what was coming directorially absolutely yeah and if I'm if ever I'm in a queue

00:32:28these days occasionally but stage as well I mean the great thing now and I guess the great thing

00:32:45that's come from full Monty particularly and then and then on and up whether it's you know going into

00:32:50Game of Thrones and whatnot or now stage plays you know the parts you get offered now and the parts

00:32:56worthy of you mean the the unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Frye which you did in the Minerva at

00:33:00Chichester he's now going to the Haymarket in the West End that's a nice treat I think it's amazing

00:33:07it's an utterly beautiful show my first first musical that I've been involved in and it's a

00:33:14it's hard to describe the the sort of beauty of it because it's a it's about a retired couple a

00:33:21man

00:33:21who's dealing with grief and he sets out on a on a very unlikely journey in order to try and

00:33:33save a an

00:33:35old colleague of his but the journey takes him to some some dark places but also that the friendship of

00:33:44of people that he meets on this journey change his way of thinking about the world so it's it's it's

00:33:53about it's about loss and love and it's about redemption and second chances it's never too late

00:33:58for a for a second chance so there's there's hope playing a role a characterization a character as actors

00:34:06your whole ethos is of communicating something to an audience and hopefully in some small way perhaps

00:34:14changing their perception of something or changing their lives therefore as an actor do you find parts

00:34:20like this actually alter your perception of life they change the way you look at things I think I think

00:34:25it's true of Harold Frye yeah through the rehearsals at Chichester and performing it there I've I've become a I

00:34:33think I've become a kinder person to uh to strangers or you know even to even to people that you

00:34:41know but

00:34:42also you you do that glorious thing of tragedy being next door to comedy you're you're very good at

00:34:49sentiment I don't mean mawkishness I mean when I watch you in a role you know going back to the

00:34:54role in the

00:34:55full Monty I mean the tears aren't far away you can really you're very good at at pressing our buttons

00:35:03emotionally which means communicating what you're feeling with clarity I think oh well that's good

00:35:09that's that that's very kind that's that's that's what I try to do and try to make the characters

00:35:17that I play believable human beings is it important to you to keep both aspects of acting going the

00:35:26theater and the screen whether it's large or small screen do you like the combination of the two and the

00:35:31variety that they give you yes because I think uh one informs the other I mean in terms of I

00:35:39I always

00:35:40like you I'm always learning with every job I do you learn something new uh and you know stage work

00:35:48helps you when it comes to film work and vice versa how important is it to live in Yorkshire because

00:35:55there's a lot of us doing missionary work down south now you know for a while but from your point

00:36:01of view I mean do you like is Yorkshire important to you I do I love it it's it's um

00:36:06I I'm I feel at home

00:36:08there I uh York York is my hometown that's where I was born we live now on the edge of

00:36:16the Yorkshire

00:36:16world so the countryside is stunning and it's uh it's it's home following on from other people who've done

00:36:25roles is one of the most tricky things I think to do and you're doing Hagrid in the audio the

00:36:29new audio

00:36:30version yeah of Harry Potter following on in a way from Robbie Coltrane um fun part to do yeah I'd

00:36:38I'd forgotten

00:36:39quite how uh emotional Hagrid gets over the course of seven books so you know when they say at the

00:36:47end

00:36:47of the day right we need five minutes of sobbing or you know wailing uh laughter whatever it meant wow

00:36:55but uh a really it's an extraordinary achievement these full cast audio audio editions and the way

00:37:05you hear it in the headphones and there are voices behind you there are things flying over your head

00:37:12there there's a whole brand new score that that uh that plays along with it it's just

00:37:21it's not like anything else it's quite remarkable love to have you with us again mark the very best

00:37:27of luck with harold fry at the haymarket theater in london lovely theater one of my favorites

00:37:31so lovely to see and you'll stay for a glass or two will you at the end oh it'd be

00:37:36cheerless not

00:37:36well it would bless you thank you now a single picture can stir up all manner of feelings a

00:37:43flicker of nostalgia a moment of wonder or even a glimpse of the wild world we sometimes miss right

00:37:50on our doorstep yep it's time for walk on the wild side your dose of nature sorted walk on the

00:37:59wild

00:37:59side on love your weekend sponsored by wwf

00:38:05so

00:38:34so

00:38:40so

00:38:41so

00:39:42We do love them and I know you do too.

00:39:44Still to come, Camilla Bassett-Smith, armed with her top tips to keep your plants perky while the rest of

00:39:51us are still thawing out.

00:39:52I'll be back with Camilla and her top tips right after this.

00:40:09Welcome back to Love Your Weekend.

00:40:11Coming up, proof that they don't make them like they used to.

00:40:14Yes, the vintage tractors are in town, older than the average motorway and twice as reliable.

00:40:20And from the marvels of the great British countryside to the small pleasures that brighten a winter evening,

00:40:27Tony Osoba brings us the rich, comforting reds perfect for a crisp January night.

00:40:32Before all that, it's time for your Voice of Nature.

00:40:36Here's Bonnie Langford and Sheep in Winter by the great John Clare.

00:40:49The sheep get up and make their many tracks and bear a load of snow upon their backs

00:40:55and gnaw the frozen turnip to the ground with sharp, quick bite and then go noising round.

00:41:02The boy that pecks the turnips all the day and knocks his hands to keep the cold away

00:41:08and laps his legs in straw to keep them warm and hides behind the hedges from the storm.

00:41:14The sheep, as tame as dogs, go where he goes and try to shake their fleeces from the snows,

00:41:22then leave their frozen meal and wander round the stubble stack that stands beside the ground

00:41:28and lie all night and face the drizzling storm and shun the hovel where they might be warm.

00:41:44Thank you, Bonnie.

00:41:45The words of the great John Clare highlighting nature's brutal beauty and the quiet endurance of country life.

00:41:52Now, when it comes to getting outside in January, it's not always the most inspiring time,

00:41:58the days are short, the soil's cold and the garden seems to be holding its breath.

00:42:03But look a little closer and there's still quiet promise.

00:42:07First tips of bulbs stirring, buds sitting tight on bare branches

00:42:11and those small winter tasks that set the stage for spring.

00:42:16Here to guide us through the best of the January jobs,

00:42:19with plenty of inspiration along the way, Camilla Bassett-Smith.

00:42:23And I can see scrubbing brushes and soapy water.

00:42:26It'd be a nice being with you.

00:42:28You can't contain the excitement.

00:42:29No, no. The excitement is palpable.

00:42:31Yeah, it is.

00:42:32But it's an important job, isn't it?

00:42:34And my pots, I mean, my pots look like this.

00:42:37I bet yours don't, Alan.

00:42:38They do, oh, they do.

00:42:39Yeah, because when you knock them out, you put them to one side.

00:42:41And then when you start to use them again, you think,

00:42:42oh, I ought to get that out.

00:42:43But you know how to tell how old a pot is.

00:42:46You see these...

00:42:47Do I hug it?

00:42:48Well, yeah, but that one's a moulded pot made in a mould.

00:42:52Yes.

00:42:52And this one's hand-thrown.

00:42:54OK.

00:42:55And all the hand-thrown ones stopped being hand-thrown in about 1930.

00:42:58Oh, I didn't realise that.

00:42:59So you can tell the age of your pots.

00:43:00Oh, that's really interesting.

00:43:01The hand-thrown ones are pre-30s.

00:43:02And they're so beautiful, aren't they?

00:43:03I mean, terracotta pots are lovely to look at.

00:43:05Shall I do it?

00:43:06Just to show I'm not shy.

00:43:07So you've got this brush.

00:43:08They're very useful.

00:43:09They're special pot-cleaning brushes,

00:43:10which are a thing of beauty in themselves, aren't they?

00:43:12There you are.

00:43:13Oh, I'm just going to sit back now, aren't I?

00:43:15Yeah, that's all right.

00:43:16Well, I haven't been rude about it.

00:43:17I'd better give you a go.

00:43:18Get rid of it.

00:43:19And then you've got soapy water too.

00:43:21Yeah, soapy water.

00:43:22There we go.

00:43:22And just a scourer, actually, a standard scourer to just give it a good...

00:43:25The first jobs I had to do in a parks department was a 15-year-old boy, OK,

00:43:29in winter, washing that cold water.

00:43:31This is warm water.

00:43:32And a scrubbing brush that had a severe case of creeping alopecia,

00:43:35because all the bristles cut off the water.

00:43:38It's bringing back all the memories, isn't it?

00:43:39Well, at least you're allowed warm water.

00:43:41I know, I know.

00:43:42But it's so easy to do.

00:43:43And it's important, isn't it?

00:43:44Because messy pots, dirty pots, harbour bacteria.

00:43:47Yeah.

00:43:48And that can get onto your new plants.

00:43:49So no one wants that.

00:43:50But you can also buy as well.

00:43:51This is a natural antiseptic with time.

00:43:54So you can actually spritz your pots with it.

00:43:56All right.

00:43:57I mean, I should clean that one first.

00:43:58Spritz your pots.

00:43:59It's quite...

00:43:59I mean, honestly.

00:44:00Could give a little spritz.

00:44:01Honest.

00:44:04Anyway, clean your pots.

00:44:05Clean pots.

00:44:05This is the time.

00:44:06Don't have a great blitz.

00:44:08No, that's it.

00:44:08Just a little bit now and then with warm water.

00:44:10But then on to the patios.

00:44:12And patios can get so mucky, can't they?

00:44:14And it's so dangerous at this time of year for slipping and algae building up.

00:44:18This is a serious brush.

00:44:19It is.

00:44:19It's a miracle patio brush.

00:44:21And it has plastic bristles around the edge.

00:44:23And then in the centre, metal, which is really, really strong.

00:44:26Oh, we've got one.

00:44:29That's it.

00:44:30Have you noticed?

00:44:31I suddenly seem to be doing a large labour.

00:44:34It's fine.

00:44:34She's very neat at this.

00:44:35Just a look at that.

00:44:36Oh, yes.

00:44:36It's very gentlemanly, Alan.

00:44:38It's very nice.

00:44:38Well, it does work.

00:44:39It does.

00:44:40Do you want to swirl it off?

00:44:41And actually, you do, yeah, the instant effects and quite rewarding.

00:44:47Well, it's also sensible because it stops them being quite so slippy.

00:44:50It does.

00:44:51And then you've got over here, for those little cracks in between the paving, these are paving

00:44:56kind of brushes.

00:44:57This is beginning to be something like something out of the Bridget Jones films.

00:45:00For those little cracks that nothing else can make, as used by, Your Royal Highness,

00:45:05the Duchess of Kent, in the, yeah, anyway.

00:45:08Anyway, I feel like I ought to do some work.

00:45:10So do I.

00:45:11I know.

00:45:11Down your cracks.

00:45:12You see, I quite like the moss between the others.

00:45:14It does look pretty, but sometimes it can be a bit slippery, can't it?

00:45:16So you can get that, but that's quite good because, again, metal bristles.

00:45:19Yeah.

00:45:20Or you can get one of these, which is serious.

00:45:22I ought to be not let loose with this.

00:45:24Taking out the weeds.

00:45:25Yeah, that's it.

00:45:25And that's quite good as well.

00:45:26That's neat, isn't it?

00:45:27Yeah, a little hand weeder.

00:45:28Nicely made bit of kit.

00:45:30So, patios dirt weed, unless it snows, and if it snows, I think we ought to get

00:45:35manual, now you can have, oh, hold on.

00:45:37I have to say, I know, here we are, all knotted up.

00:45:41I don't think I'll ever push the snowplow.

00:45:46Serious, serious piece of kit, that, isn't it?

00:45:48And it would do the job.

00:45:48That's for serious snow, really.

00:45:50It does not find drizzle like this.

00:45:51No, not a few flakes.

00:45:53Yeah.

00:45:53Or just a, just a standard plastic shovel, and I think grit and sand, yes, people use,

00:45:57but actually, I think just get in there with one of these, and that does the job, doesn't it?

00:46:01And then plant protection as well, because you have to think about our plants,

00:46:04and they're often January and February, the coldest months, aren't they?

00:46:07So fleece, we have it in a roll in white, that's what we're used to seeing.

00:46:11But you can get these rather nifty.

00:46:13Oh, a fleece tunnel.

00:46:14Little tunnels.

00:46:15So if you've got the sort of veg outside that you want, just give a bit of protection.

00:46:18Yes.

00:46:19It's got the worse the weather off.

00:46:20It's not going to raise the temperature much, is it?

00:46:22But it will just...

00:46:23It just protects them a little bit, and it's really quick and easy as well.

00:46:25You can just pop out and do that.

00:46:27Neat.

00:46:27But until recently, I didn't realise you can also get fleece in green.

00:46:33Look at this amazing fern design.

00:46:36This is a fleece jacket that you just pop over, say, a tree fern or something like that,

00:46:40but really blends in nicely.

00:46:42Yeah, and so it's not quite as a start from a distance.

00:46:44Unless it's snowing, in which case the white one of each, maybe.

00:46:48Yeah, neat.

00:46:49But that's really good.

00:46:50Okay.

00:46:50And then covering plants with cloches as well.

00:46:53The bell cloches, cloches from the French word for bell,

00:46:56but they just cover up perennials, tender perennials, don't they?

00:46:59And you get some lovely, newly made Victorian-style cloches that are made for iron and glass.

00:47:06And they're beautiful.

00:47:07They're good garden ornaments.

00:47:08Yeah, they look really good year-round.

00:47:09And then the long ones for perhaps salad crops.

00:47:11But, yeah, so plants all happy.

00:47:13Just about time to do a new year planter.

00:47:16Right.

00:47:17You feel like a good sit-down after all.

00:47:19Well, I'm going to let you do this now.

00:47:20Yes, yes.

00:47:21I've been scrubbing.

00:47:22You have.

00:47:22You've been working hard.

00:47:23So we've gone for a green glazed bowl.

00:47:25Green in feng shui for growth and vitality.

00:47:29So important for a new year.

00:47:31A couple of bamboos here.

00:47:32Now, with bamboos, this is a Fargesia roofer.

00:47:36You have to be careful with bamboos, don't you?

00:47:37Because they can run away with themselves.

00:47:39Well, they're all right in the pub.

00:47:40Yeah.

00:47:41Fargesia is generally the one which is safer than Phyllostachis,

00:47:44which is the one that really does run.

00:47:45It's a good one.

00:47:46And there's a backdrop as well.

00:47:47They're good because they're evergreen.

00:47:49So popping the plants up against that.

00:47:50And you get lovely...

00:47:52You do, don't you?

00:47:53When the wind rustles, the sort of saturation.

00:47:56Oh, nice word.

00:47:57I like that.

00:47:57It is, isn't it?

00:47:57It's sort of onomatopoeia.

00:47:59Yeah, it is.

00:48:00And you've got a little skimier ruban.

00:48:01I have.

00:48:02This is the male one, isn't it?

00:48:03Because it flowers with those red buds.

00:48:05Now, I'm using garnet red because garnet is the birthstone for January.

00:48:09In fact, I'm wearing my grandmother's garnet ring there.

00:48:11So it's amongst the soil.

00:48:13I'm getting it in the mud.

00:48:13I mean, look at this.

00:48:14I am.

00:48:15Granny, do not be upset.

00:48:16No.

00:48:17God, dear.

00:48:18It's not the most practical of a garden, is it?

00:48:20And then at the front, some little cyclamen as well.

00:48:22And red in the Chinese New Year.

00:48:24I'm just popping these in.

00:48:24Oh, thank you.

00:48:26It's a really important colour.

00:48:27I think the most important colour in the Chinese New Year for a good year ahead.

00:48:31That's lovely, isn't it?

00:48:32That looks.

00:48:33Yeah.

00:48:33There you go.

00:48:35Done.

00:48:36So, and the thing about winter containers is they don't need a lot of attention when

00:48:39it comes to watering.

00:48:40We've got this gentle drizzle now just coming down.

00:48:43Yeah, it's fine.

00:48:43And then you can swap out the cyclamen, actually, as they die off.

00:48:46Yeah.

00:48:47Because the rest of it is...

00:48:47And they will because these cyclamen, the larger flowered ones, they're not going to be hardy.

00:48:51No, they're not the most hardy.

00:48:52But in a shelter...

00:48:53In towns and cities where the city heat is that much higher.

00:48:56Yeah, or on a blue scale.

00:48:57Something like that.

00:48:58But out in the country particularly, it's the little tiny ones which are tough.

00:49:02And these are not...

00:49:03But as you say, these can be your sort of this and the skimmier...

00:49:06That's your layers in the background.

00:49:07Your nucleus, really.

00:49:09And then you can replace the stuff around the front.

00:49:10And a bit later sticking bulbs in now.

00:49:12You can get little potted bulbs and pop those in.

00:49:14Yeah, you can pop those in.

00:49:15Or even red pansies as well, which would be hardier, wouldn't they, if you used that?

00:49:18If you're sticking with the garlic, you'd better go and watch your granny's ring now.

00:49:21That's right, I know I'll be in trouble.

00:49:22She'll be telling me off.

00:49:23Why did you let her put her hands in that compost with that ring on?

00:49:25Do you know how long that's been in the family?

00:49:27I know, you're going to be in trouble now.

00:49:30Thanks, Camilla.

00:49:31Happy New Year.

00:49:31Go and wash.

00:49:38Now, a couple of weeks back, we watched survivalist Ray Mears and YouTuber turned Strictly star Joe Sugg

00:49:45build a shelter in the heart of Sussex.

00:49:48Well, the boys are back.

00:49:49And this time, they're turning their attention to the ancient art of fire lighting.

00:50:07So I think you'd agree that we've hardly used any energy to build the shelter.

00:50:11We can survive longer because we've still got energy inside us to keep warm.

00:50:15It's been an adventure for me as well.

00:50:16I mean, I've turned up, we've built the shelter.

00:50:19I've contributed with my thatching skills, just taking me back down memory lane a little

00:50:23bit as well.

00:50:24But it's just nice to know that if the weather turned really bad or I was injured, knowing

00:50:29this skill is just so useful.

00:50:31So we've got a windbreak, we've got shelter from rain, and now we need warmth.

00:50:35Once we have achieved that, we have made life survivable.

00:50:41This fungus has got this lovely name, King Alfred's Cakes, or cramp balls.

00:50:45If they're dry, you can ignite these with a spark and they glow like charcoals.

00:50:50These are at their best in the winter, when you need them most.

00:50:53It's like nature has given us something to help us.

00:50:55You normally find them on the underside of logs.

00:50:57They have got that kind of mushroomy smell, mushroom mix of like children's shoe shop.

00:51:03Do you know what I mean?

00:51:03A new pair of school shoes.

00:51:04No, I'm getting sunset over Solihull.

00:51:09It's a real full circle moment for me, this, because I watch Ray all the time as a young

00:51:15child growing up, and I never thought I'd be in the woods with him.

00:51:20So what we're doing now, we're looking in the top of the trees to try and find twigs.

00:51:24They can be used as kindling for getting the fire started.

00:51:29That is hazel.

00:51:34Is this a hazel?

00:51:35Yeah.

00:51:36Yes.

00:51:37So I'm gathering these pine needles, Ray so they've got like a resin in them, which could

00:51:41be useful if it's dried for helping getting the fire going.

00:51:46So Joe, we've got permission to make fire here today.

00:51:49Also, while we're building the fire, this is mineral soil.

00:51:52This soil won't catch light, it's not peat.

00:51:54We need to create a base for our fire, and it gives ventilation as well.

00:51:59But the most important thing is early on in the life of the fire, this will start to glow

00:52:02and give heart to the fire, which makes it more certain in bad weather.

00:52:06Yeah.

00:52:07So now we need to think about the small stick that we gathered.

00:52:10And what I'm going to do is I'm going to divide this big bundle into two halves, and I'm going

00:52:15to put those down at an angle across our platform.

00:52:19About 45 across three degrees.

00:52:21Yep.

00:52:21And this is where we want to introduce our plane.

00:52:24This is a ferrocerium rod.

00:52:26It's a mixture of iron and cerium, and it gives good sparks.

00:52:29It's the best tool to carry for fire lighting in the wilderness because it doesn't matter

00:52:33if it gets wet.

00:52:34Yeah.

00:52:34And you can get thousands of fires from it.

00:52:36Wow.

00:52:36You can even signal with it because it's so bright.

00:52:39Okay.

00:52:41It's like Harry Potter's wand.

00:52:43So here's the fungus we collected earlier, the cramp bores.

00:52:46I'm going to try and ignite that now.

00:52:47I have lit many fires in my time, but never this way.

00:52:50It's a matter of getting them to land in the right spot.

00:52:52Here we go.

00:52:55Now, once we've got one going, we'll try and ignite three of them.

00:53:04Right.

00:53:05Pack those together tightly and blow.

00:53:09Are the needles catching?

00:53:11No, not really.

00:53:12Shall I have a...

00:53:13It's like, it's ignited, it's like glowing, but then it's...

00:53:17Makes you go light headed.

00:53:20I'm trying to inflate a lilo from my nieces.

00:53:23That's how you do it.

00:53:26Can you imagine when the first human discovered how to do this?

00:53:30It's quite difficult if you've never done this before.

00:53:33Do you not get light headed?

00:53:34No.

00:53:35It's just me.

00:53:36I'm just a wimp.

00:53:39Now, I'm going to pop that under there.

00:53:41And continue blowing.

00:53:46Hey!

00:53:49That's really good.

00:53:50Joe, you've been really helpful.

00:53:52You can see this is quite a skill.

00:53:53Yeah.

00:53:53It's not so simple.

00:53:55You have to practice these things.

00:53:56This all started from that one spark in a bit of fungus.

00:54:01Tiniest of embers, but you've managed to turn it into this.

00:54:05Part of the magic.

00:54:06But if you could collect some firewood, I think we'll make some coffee.

00:54:10Yeah.

00:54:10Joe told me that he gets a bit of a buzz off of coffee.

00:54:14I love everything about coffee, but it makes me really jittery.

00:54:17And, like, wired.

00:54:19Because I'm with ray, I'm just going to go with it.

00:54:21A proper woodland fire smell.

00:54:24It really lifts your spirits, though, doesn't it?

00:54:25It does, yeah.

00:54:26Obviously, you've got the loose grounds in here.

00:54:28There's no filter.

00:54:29But without a doubt, there is one really good way to get rid of the grounds,

00:54:33and that's to centrifuge the pot.

00:54:35Let's hope the handle stays in place.

00:54:37You need a good handle.

00:54:38Yeah.

00:54:39That'll do, mate.

00:54:41Thanks.

00:54:42There you go.

00:54:46Not bad, eh?

00:54:47That's very good.

00:54:48We've got rain shelter, wind shelter.

00:54:50We haven't put a bed in yet.

00:54:51We've got warmth, and we've got good coffee.

00:54:53What else do you need?

00:54:54Good company, which we also have.

00:54:56There you go. Cheers.

00:54:56Cheers.

00:54:57Very good help.

00:54:59Thanks, Ray and Joe.

00:55:01Wonderful to see you both reminding us how to appreciate and survive the great outdoors.

00:55:07Coming up, rich, comforting, and perfect for a winter's day.

00:55:11Tony Ashoba opens up our best of British bar with her selection of reds

00:55:16that bring a little warmth and reassurance to even the chilliest Sunday.

00:55:21And, brace yourselves, heavy metals are riding at Manor Farm.

00:55:25Yes, the vintage tractors are here.

00:55:27Older, louder, and far more dependable than any band you listen to in the 70s.

00:55:33See you with the tractors, and they're very proud owners.

00:55:36Right after the road.

00:55:51Welcome back to Love Your Weekend.

00:55:53Coming up, she first stole our hearts as Linda Day in Press Gang,

00:55:57and gave us one of television's most iconic eye rolls as Safi in Absolutely Fabulous.

00:56:03Julia Swala, keeping us all entertained.

00:56:06This time, as Mrs Wendell in Father Brown.

00:56:09Now, they're sturdy, they're reliable, and once upon a time,

00:56:13they were the absolute backbone of the British countryside.

00:56:16These days, these fine old tractors are polished, cherished, and celebrated at shows right across the country.

00:56:24Here to reveal all about their impressive machinery, and the stories behind them,

00:56:29are Lewis, Matt, Sam, Kevin, and Claire.

00:56:34Starting with you, Lewis, the youngest of the lot, from the New Forest Tractor and Engine Preservation Society.

00:56:41Yeah.

00:56:42I'm glad I got that out of the way.

00:56:44So, tell me about this.

00:56:46Is this the classic little grey Fergie?

00:56:48Yes.

00:56:48It is a Ferguson tractor.

00:56:49How old?

00:56:5078 years old.

00:56:52Goodness me, only slightly older than me.

00:56:54I've nose wearing better.

00:56:56So, how did you come up on it?

00:56:57I went one day to go and get some pigs, and I got told in the hedge there was a

00:57:01tractor for sale.

00:57:02In the hedge?

00:57:03In the hedge.

00:57:03It's been sat there for about 50 years, you reckon.

00:57:06Really?

00:57:06And when we bought it, the front tyres were shredded.

00:57:10Yeah.

00:57:10And the front rims were rusted.

00:57:12Yeah.

00:57:12The rims down here, they're original.

00:57:15These tyres, they were the most expensive bit.

00:57:17And pretty much everything else on here is original.

00:57:19Wonderful.

00:57:20And you got it going.

00:57:21Yeah.

00:57:21It took us £42 to get it going.

00:57:25£42?

00:57:26Yeah, we got some new spark plugs.

00:57:27Yeah.

00:57:28Some new leads for it, then petrol.

00:57:30Yeah.

00:57:30And then that got the engine to turn over.

00:57:32And that was it.

00:57:32It started after 50 years.

00:57:34It's a good advert for Little Grey Fergies, isn't it?

00:57:36Yeah.

00:57:36And when we got it, it was the original oil in it as well.

00:57:39How astonishing.

00:57:40So, what's the fascination for you with a tractor?

00:57:43Well, with a tractor, I feel like they're quite fun to enjoy.

00:57:46Yeah.

00:57:46You can just pretty much fix them when you want.

00:57:49Yeah.

00:57:49And if they break down.

00:57:50And they're really simple to run.

00:57:51Well, I mean, you've proved the fact that they're durable, haven't they?

00:57:54It's been at the edge of that.

00:57:55Oh, you're a farmer's son, don't you?

00:57:56I work at a farm in the new forest.

00:57:59Yeah.

00:57:59And one day, do you think you'll have your own?

00:58:00Yeah.

00:58:01What do you particularly love about this particular model?

00:58:04With this one, it's very simple.

00:58:05Yeah.

00:58:06You've got four gears.

00:58:08Yeah.

00:58:08And like most tractors, you start on the key.

00:58:11With this, you start on the gearbox.

00:58:14And it's a very simple engine as well.

00:58:16Yeah.

00:58:17Can you start it up and give us a...

00:58:18Yeah.

00:58:18Here we go.

00:58:19Watch this now then.

00:58:21Key.

00:58:26And you start it by pushing the gear lever.

00:58:29Yeah.

00:58:30It's a lovely sound.

00:58:32Did it sound like that when you first started it up?

00:58:34It was a lot louder because it didn't have an exhaust.

00:58:36Right, turn it off now.

00:58:39What we were saying, if you couldn't hear us then was, it was a lot louder when Lewis first

00:58:45started it up in the engine because it didn't have an exhaust pipe.

00:58:48So...

00:58:48And is it a working Fergie now?

00:58:49Do you use it now?

00:58:50It does get used around the yard.

00:58:51Yeah.

00:58:51And taking to shows as well.

00:58:53Taking to shows.

00:58:53Have you won any prizes with it?

00:58:54Yeah, I won a few prizes with it.

00:58:56Well, good for you.

00:58:57Look, it's lovely to meet you.

00:58:59Yeah.

00:58:59Good luck to you.

00:59:00I'm quite envious of this now.

00:59:02I like a classic car, but I think now I like a classic tractor too.

00:59:05Well, I'm turning now to some of your comrades here.

00:59:08Now, Matt, you're from the Wessex Historic Tractor and Implement Club.

00:59:12You're good at snappy titles, you tractor enthusiasts, I tell you.

00:59:16So, tell me about the area you cover.

00:59:17So, we've got members from, I'd say mostly Hampshire.

00:59:21Yeah.

00:59:21A couple from Berkshire.

00:59:23We run all the way across Surrey and Sussex as well.

00:59:25Right.

00:59:25So, it's that lump of the old fashioned Wessex all coming in.

00:59:28But this, I mean, this is shiny in the extreme, Claire.

00:59:32And a gold undercarriage, as it were.

00:59:36Fabulous.

00:59:37So, tell me about this, Kevin.

00:59:38I mean, what age is this one?

00:59:40This was built in 1957.

00:59:42Yeah.

00:59:43So, it's exactly ten years younger than next door.

00:59:45Exactly.

00:59:46Yeah.

00:59:47But very flashy.

00:59:48Was it regarded as a kind of posh new thing?

00:59:51It was in between when the Queen got coronated in 1954 and 57.

00:59:56Yeah.

00:59:56And that's why they painted it.

00:59:58The actual, it's known as the gold belly.

01:00:01Yeah.

01:00:01And that's why they painted it gold.

01:00:02So, now, Lewis found his inner hedgeron.

01:00:05It's been there 50 years.

01:00:06What's the story behind yours?

01:00:07This actually belonged to Claire's brother.

01:00:09I bought it off of him.

01:00:10Is that why you married her?

01:00:12Oh, no, don't go there.

01:00:13No, sorry.

01:00:13Right.

01:00:14Married your future or distractor.

01:00:16Yeah.

01:00:17And bought it off of him.

01:00:18And when I started to restore it, I found out, obviously, the bonnets are different and

01:00:22little things I picked up on it and found out that it was a grain gold.

01:00:26Could you get sparse?

01:00:27Can you get sparse for it?

01:00:28You can get most parts for it, but it's a tin work part to try and keep it original.

01:00:32Yeah.

01:00:32You can buy paint and parts, but, you know, I tried to keep it as original as I could.

01:00:36It's absolutely glorious.

01:00:38A little bit more sophisticated, presumably, than that one, Claire.

01:00:41I guess.

01:00:41I'm not mechanically minded.

01:00:43I just drive it.

01:00:45It's exactly the same.

01:00:47Do you enjoy driving it?

01:00:48Do you like it?

01:00:49I do, yeah.

01:00:49It's good fun.

01:00:50Everybody comes out, smiles and waves.

01:00:52Yeah, well, you would, wouldn't you?

01:00:53Because it's such a beautiful thing, but then they all are.

01:00:56How many have you got altogether, Kevin?

01:00:58In total, between my dad and myself, it was about 18.

01:01:01Good heavens above.

01:01:02And are they all going?

01:01:03They all run.

01:01:04Wonderful.

01:01:05So, 1947, 1957, where are we going next, Matt?

01:01:09I'll let Sam tell you.

01:01:11Sam, hi.

01:01:12Hiya.

01:01:12So, this is a super Dexter.

01:01:14Yeah.

01:01:15Fordson.

01:01:16Fordson, yeah.

01:01:16The other famous name really in tractors, isn't it?

01:01:19Fergie, Ferguson, and then, and Massie Ferguson, and, and Fordson.

01:01:23Tell me about this one.

01:01:24How long have you had this?

01:01:24So, this is, was built in 1962.

01:01:27Yeah.

01:01:28I've owned it for probably two years now.

01:01:31Um, chap, I bought it off of, done this to it.

01:01:34And this was sort of bought back from the dead as well.

01:01:37Is this a favourite, the Fordson?

01:01:39This is up there with one of them, yes.

01:01:40Why?

01:01:41Why is it special about this particular one?

01:01:43It's just something from a young age I've been bought up with.

01:01:46Yeah.

01:01:47Driving a Fordson Major.

01:01:48And a good drive?

01:01:49An easy drive?

01:01:51Yeah.

01:01:51Yeah, real easy.

01:01:52Yeah.

01:01:53Well, look, Matt's standing in front of his.

01:01:55Have you seen this?

01:01:56I mean, that size isn't everything.

01:01:58Somebody ought to tell you that, but this is a monster.

01:02:01Let's go and have a look at this.

01:02:02So, we've had 47, 57, 62.

01:02:06This is the 8,000 Ford.

01:02:09What date's this?

01:02:101971.

01:02:11I'm getting a crick in my neck here.

01:02:151971.

01:02:15So, this is roughly sort of 10 years in between each of them, really.

01:02:17You can see the decades as they go along.

01:02:19Now, this, I don't think I've seen anything like this in a British field.

01:02:22No, you won't have done.

01:02:24Um, they were, Ford went up to the 7,000, which was the biggest that they did over here,

01:02:29which was a four-cylinder tractor.

01:02:31Yeah.

01:02:31These were produced in America, so they did an 8,000 and a 9,000.

01:02:35First big six-cylinder engine that Ford produced, put into a tractor.

01:02:39Um, they were attempted to be sold over here, but they were deemed too big back in the 70s.

01:02:45Um, they didn't sell in big numbers.

01:02:47There's a few over here.

01:02:48Yeah.

01:02:48Um, but they definitely didn't sell in big numbers.

01:02:50That's quite rare, then.

01:02:51Yeah.

01:02:51Um, there's a handful that I know of, but apart from that, there's, there's not many, not many over here.

01:02:56Yeah.

01:02:56And if somebody wanted to get into the tractor, well, you know, I want a tractor.

01:03:00What's the sort of ballpark figure you'd have to pay to buy one?

01:03:03You can still pick a Fergie up for probably a thousand pounds still.

01:03:07Um, and sky's the limit.

01:03:10Fine.

01:03:10Um, but you can still get into it relatively cheaply, and I think that's the reason a lot

01:03:14of people do.

01:03:14And if you're looking like Lewis, you see it, because you're observant, lying in the edge

01:03:18row for 50 years and say, can I have that?

01:03:21Yeah, take it away.

01:03:22You know, you're looking very small.

01:03:24I think looking at your little one at the end, Lewis, you know, that's the one I think

01:03:28that will warm people's hearts.

01:03:29But I have to say that your passion, guys, for, for what you, what you own and what you

01:03:34run is, is just laudable.

01:03:37It's always wonderful meeting enthusiasts and hearing them wax lyrical about their vehicles.

01:03:41Well, we heard Lewis's beautiful throaty growl.

01:03:45I think we ought to hear the other three as well.

01:03:46Claire, would you like to turn on yours?

01:03:51See, that's the sound I remember from my childhood.

01:03:54It's that little bit younger.

01:03:56Lovely.

01:03:58Right.

01:03:58Sam, can you match that one?

01:04:08They get...

01:04:11They sort of get throatier, don't they?

01:04:13I'm a bit frightened of asking that.

01:04:15You started that.

01:04:16I was probably doing part of the way.

01:04:17Go on, Matlin, give us a go.

01:04:18Show on.

01:04:20Whoa.

01:04:26That's a boiler house chimney on that one, isn't it?

01:04:29Another exhaust pipe.

01:04:30Wonderful.

01:04:31Lovely to be with you all.

01:04:32Thank you so much for bringing you along.

01:04:34Wonderful.

01:04:39Coming up, when January throws its worst at us,

01:04:43sometimes only a glass of something red will do.

01:04:46Wine expert Tony Ashoba's here with the best of British tipples

01:04:50that put the glow back in your cheeks.

01:04:53And speaking of lifting the spirits,

01:04:55the sharp-witted Julia Sawala on her illustrious career

01:04:59and stepping into the world of cosy murder mysteries in Father Brown.

01:05:03We'll be having an absolutely fabulous time with Julia after the break.

01:05:20Welcome back to Love Your Weekend.

01:05:22Still ahead.

01:05:23What's rich, red and guaranteed to lift the spirits on a January morning?

01:05:27No, not my long johns.

01:05:29Tony Ashoba's brought us her warming best of British vino selections.

01:05:32But first, Julia Sawala has given us so many memorable characters over the years.

01:05:38Comic, dramatic and delightfully unpredictable.

01:05:41But there's one role that truly cemented her in the nation's heart

01:05:45as the wonderfully exasperated, ever-sensible Safi in this comedy classic.

01:05:51Morning, wedding girl.

01:05:52Morning.

01:05:56Did you sleep well, darling?

01:05:58No, I could hardly sleep at all.

01:05:59Well, that's just wedding butterflies, you know.

01:06:01Yes.

01:06:02I never had those, but I never had the build-up, you know.

01:06:05Oh, guess who I spoke to this morning, Serge?

01:06:07Oh, is he coming?

01:06:08No, he can't make the wedding, but he's coming to the reception.

01:06:09Oh, yes.

01:06:11This is nice.

01:06:12You don't normally come up and see me in the morning.

01:06:14No, I don't.

01:06:15Do I, darling?

01:06:16Right, come in.

01:06:16What are you doing?

01:06:17I've got it.

01:06:18I've got it.

01:06:19I've got it.

01:06:19Ahh!

01:06:29What's all that there?

01:06:32The redness will go.

01:06:34The redness will go.

01:06:35It's just I'm a perfectionist.

01:06:36I'm sorry.

01:06:37I'm a perfectionist.

01:06:39Safi once again at the mercy of her mother and Patsy.

01:06:42Patsy, I mean, the physicality of the comedy in that was quite dramatic,

01:06:47but the interplay, you know, you're always thought of as the serious one in a way,

01:06:50but then in other ways, the counterpoint between the two of you,

01:06:54the three of you, was quite remarkable.

01:06:56The dickings, you kept a straight face the most of the time, I've no idea.

01:07:00Well, I got a lot of my laughing out in rehearsals.

01:07:04Yeah.

01:07:05But also, you know, you are in front of a...

01:07:08I'm not going to say live audience, cos what else would it be?

01:07:10In front of an audience, you have a theatre.

01:07:12Really.

01:07:13And then you have camera.

01:07:14And so Jennifer and Joanna's performances in rehearsal are very, very funny,

01:07:22and so I prepare myself, get all my laughter out then.

01:07:25Then on the night, the audience kind of ramp up the adrenaline

01:07:28and things come out of the two of them that you never saw in rehearsals,

01:07:32and it gets such a huge laugh.

01:07:34But if I were to laugh, then I've broken it for them.

01:07:39They've got to do it again, and it's not the same.

01:07:41The audience will willingly laugh again,

01:07:43but it's never the same as that real impulsive laugh.

01:07:48So it's out of respect for them.

01:07:51And sometimes I am just standing there in awe,

01:07:53watching their performance.

01:07:55You know, it's quite extraordinary to see it live.

01:07:59And also, if they are improvising as they go along,

01:08:03knowing quite when your moment is going to come in,

01:08:07it sharpens your timing up, I think.

01:08:08Yes, well, I mean, that scene is a classic example of us.

01:08:12You know, we just blocked it in rehearsal.

01:08:14It's very simple.

01:08:15You know, she's lying in bed, and it's all, you know, very sweet,

01:08:18and Patsy's going to come in and rip my moustache off.

01:08:20We had no idea that it was going to bring the house down like that,

01:08:24so that's when Patsy starts doing that,

01:08:27because we're actually waiting for the laugh to be over,

01:08:29and I'm lying there.

01:08:30You know, you can sort of feel the director,

01:08:31just keep on acting, because you've got to let that laugh roll.

01:08:35But, you know, it must have been good for you to get one over,

01:08:39in a way, on Jennifer Saunders, when you went on The Masked Singer,

01:08:42because there she is on the panel.

01:08:44You are one of the contestants in The Masked Singer,

01:08:47and she doesn't get you.

01:08:50Here we are.

01:08:51Take it off! Take it off!

01:08:54Take it off!

01:08:55Where are you?

01:08:56No, I'm here.

01:08:57Take it off! Take it off!

01:09:00Take it off!

01:09:02Take it off!

01:09:03Take it off!

01:09:04Oh, my God, who is it?

01:09:05Take it off!

01:09:06Take it off!

01:09:08Take it off!

01:09:08Oh!

01:09:09Oh!

01:09:10Oh!

01:09:13Oh!

01:09:13It's an absolutely fabulous action!

01:09:15Oh, my word!

01:09:17No!

01:09:18Genius for water, everyone!

01:09:20Darling!

01:09:21What are you doing?

01:09:23That's amazing.

01:09:24Sing it, girl!

01:09:26Buddy!

01:09:27Hello!

01:09:28Whoa!

01:09:30What are you doing, darling?

01:09:32What are you doing?

01:09:33Dude, no!

01:09:33You've got yourself in a mess!

01:09:38But you were very good!

01:09:40Thank you!

01:09:42Oh, the justice.

01:09:43I love it when Jennifer does that.

01:09:44Yeah.

01:09:46The gutting your own baccala.

01:09:47She can see the shock on her face.

01:09:48I mean, for that time.

01:09:49Oh, yeah.

01:09:50Did you see it?

01:09:51Well, I said to her, everybody's going to think it's fixed afterwards.

01:09:53She went, not with the look on my face!

01:09:55She said she didn't have a clue.

01:10:00Yeah.

01:10:01The singers look very, very tall because you've got the extra, you know, mask on.

01:10:06I mean, they did tell me that Jennifer was going to be on the panel because if they hadn't, I'd

01:10:12walked out.

01:10:13It's scary enough as it is, if I'd seen her on the panel, I don't think I would have made

01:10:19it.

01:10:19Did you enjoy doing it?

01:10:21It was scary, I should say.

01:10:22I loved it, yeah.

01:10:22I mean, again, it's live, you don't get a second chance if you mess up on your song and you

01:10:29can't see, hear, smell, taste, walk, anything.

01:10:32And I said to my costume lady, I said, I don't know what I'm doing, she said, you're doing the

01:10:37Masked Singer.

01:10:37And I thought, well, yeah, haha, funny, but she was, she absolutely knew what she was doing, I said, I

01:10:42don't know what I'm singing.

01:10:43It obviously happens to a lot of people in that situation because you've got nothing.

01:10:46You can't escape, you see, until you go into freeze mode and what your body's actually doing is resting itself

01:10:53before the hard hit of adrenaline.

01:10:56But I'm a changed woman after that.

01:11:00Are you, for the better or worse?

01:11:02Yeah, but no, for better because I think if I could do that, because it wasn't stage fright, it was

01:11:09something way beyond.

01:11:10I could not pull a thing from my brain, it had gone totally black.

01:11:15I don't think I could have even known who I, my name, what my name was.

01:11:19And I could hear somebody singing and I knew I was going on and I could not escape the situation.

01:11:24And it was, yeah, it was, I thought there was something wrong with my brain, but I was told later

01:11:30on it was.

01:11:31It happens.

01:11:32Yes, it's your body going into protection mode.

01:11:34It's really interesting.

01:11:36Much more comfortable playing a part in Father Brown.

01:11:40Yes.

01:11:40Back within your comfort zone.

01:11:42So you join the cast of love.

01:11:43Let's have a look at you in Father Brown.

01:11:48You all right, Mrs. Wendell?

01:11:49Yes.

01:11:50Just a little bit stressed.

01:11:52We've got this rather complicated bouah base to make, which means that we have fish to fillet, 22 herbs and

01:12:00spices, and we haven't even started the stock yet.

01:12:01That does seem a Herculean effort.

01:12:04Yes, but if we want to get into the Anderson's Guide.

01:12:07You might try making things people like to eat.

01:12:12Oh.

01:12:13Oh, yes, you're right.

01:12:17We could change the menu.

01:12:19Oh, fish pie.

01:12:21Everyone loves fish pie.

01:12:24Mrs. Wendell, may I have a word?

01:12:27Yes.

01:12:31There we are, working with Claudie Blakely again.

01:12:33You were together in Lark Rise.

01:12:34Yes.

01:12:35Yes, that was a game-changer for me.

01:12:38Well, I love Father Brown, but I thought Claudie, because I love working with Claudie.

01:12:42We get on very well.

01:12:43We didn't have much to do together in Lark Rise, and when we did, we had fantastic days together, and

01:12:48I just love her very much.

01:12:51And so it was very nice.

01:12:53Costume drama seems to call you quite a lot.

01:12:56I mean, you and I first met, like, 30 years ago, probably now, on the set when I was at

01:13:01Pebble Mill, doing the set of Martin Chuzzlewit.

01:13:03Yes.

01:13:04With Emma Chambers, I remember, and Paul Schofield.

01:13:06Sir Paul Schofield, yes.

01:13:08Working with Paul Schofield.

01:13:09I mean, what a treat.

01:13:10I know, and it was only my second week of production, I think, and it was my first day with

01:13:14Sir Paul Schofield, and everyone was more excited that Pebble Mill were turning up, and Alan Titchmarsh was turning up.

01:13:21Oh, yeah.

01:13:22And I was like, oh, my God, I've got a scene with Sir Paul Schofield, and they were interviewing, calling

01:13:27people to be interviewed with you, and they called me, and I was like, me?

01:13:30I don't know.

01:13:30Why do you want to speak to me?

01:13:32I felt really, really inadequate.

01:13:33We went behind a wall, and you were so lovely, and you were so interested, genuinely interested in me, Alan,

01:13:40and I won't ever forget that.

01:13:42Well, you're very kind.

01:13:44Well, I am interested in people.

01:13:46I know, I know, you're excellent.

01:13:49Oh, bless you.

01:13:5050 quid, we said.

01:13:5220 lop.

01:13:53But I have to say, the one thing for which you will always remember, and certainly in our household, is

01:13:58Lydia Bennett in The Pride and Prejudice,

01:14:03which is still forever talked about, and still held up as the definitive Pride and Prejudice.

01:14:09This ghastly woman, Lydia Bennett, I mean, but, you know, she's a puppet, really.

01:14:15Lord, it seems amazing since we were at Longhorn, and here you all are, just the same.

01:14:20Oh, my dear, dear Lydia, fast.

01:14:25Oh, I don't believe you've grown.

01:14:27Oh, how we've missed you.

01:14:30We've been far too merry to miss any of you.

01:14:33Well, here we are.

01:14:36Haven't I caught myself a handsome husband?

01:14:38Indeed you have, my love.

01:14:41You are very welcome, sir.

01:14:43You're all goodness and kindness, ma'am, as always.

01:14:47Oh, let me give you a kiss, then.

01:14:53Well, shall we go in?

01:14:54Oh.

01:15:00No, Jane, I take your place now.

01:15:04You must go lower, because I am a married woman.

01:15:08Mrs Wickham.

01:15:12Lord, how droll that sounds.

01:15:19Oh, I should have made more of that moment.

01:15:24You made quite a lot of that moment, don't you?

01:15:26A little bit of a shy actress there, I think.

01:15:28Really?

01:15:28Yeah, I think so.

01:15:29I could have done more with that.

01:15:30Yeah.

01:15:31Yeah.

01:15:31I know, it's astonishing, but it's held up so well.

01:15:33I'm going through most of the cast, Alison's sat where you're sitting, and Luke has been

01:15:39there as well.

01:15:40But what a lovely cast.

01:15:41I mean, Benjamin Whitrow, I always thought, was a wonderful watch, as Mr Ben is.

01:15:46Yes, we all blended so well.

01:15:49I came on a month later, because I was doing chuzzlewit.

01:15:53Of course, right.

01:15:54With you.

01:15:56And so I came on late, and they'd already shot quite a bit.

01:16:00And it was just instantly, I was a bit naff to say it, like a family.

01:16:06And we all really very much respected what a difficult job everybody had with Austin's

01:16:12words, which Andrew Davis did a brilliant job, especially for me, because Lydia is much

01:16:19bigger in the series than she is in the book.

01:16:23And, you know, it was just one of those productions that had pixie dust all over it.

01:16:28I watched it about a year after it had been on, already broadcast.

01:16:32And obviously, I'd seen Colin Firth daily.

01:16:38And, you know, lovely.

01:16:40And when I watched it, I was like, oof.

01:16:47Because obviously, I hadn't seen him, you know, Darcy Darcy-ing it up.

01:16:50You know, there's Colin Firth.

01:16:51Not that he isn't lovely.

01:16:52But I rang my mum.

01:16:54I said, Mum, have you watched My Little Pressure?

01:16:55She said, of course I have.

01:16:56And I said, have you seen Colin Firth?

01:17:00He's absolutely gorgeous.

01:17:02And she said, have you only just noticed half the nation had been swooning over him for

01:17:06the past year and I didn't really have any idea of the success of the whole programme.

01:17:14And it's the only thing that I will actually sit down and watch that I'm in.

01:17:19And I just love it.

01:17:21I think it's brilliant.

01:17:22So do we.

01:17:22And we'll sit down and watch him in anything.

01:17:24You're right.

01:17:25Lovely to have you with us.

01:17:26Lovely to be here.

01:17:27Thanks for coming.

01:17:27A chance now to relax and unwind with some stunning footage set to some equally stunning music.

01:17:33It's time for today's Ode to Joy.

01:19:32Coming up, smooth, soft and soothing, it's wine o'clock and Tony Oshoba's here with

01:19:38the Comfort Reds to warm even the darkest of January days.

01:19:43I'll be back with Tony, Julia, Mark and a selection of Vinos right after the break.

01:20:02Welcome back to Love Your Weekend.

01:20:04Now, January may be chilly, but there's nothing like a warming glass of red to bring a little

01:20:09glow back into the day and the cheeks.

01:20:12These homegrown bottles here, perfect for cosy suppers, Sunday roasts or simply settling

01:20:19in by the fire.

01:20:20Here to guide us through her pick of the season's most comforting reds, Tony Oshoba.

01:20:24And Mark and Julia have very kindly said they'd join in two.

01:20:28So I know it was a push to get you to do it, but here we are.

01:20:31Tony, it is the time of year for reds, isn't it?

01:20:33It is indeed.

01:20:34And thank you so much for having me.

01:20:36We've got a lovely selection of Comfort Reds today.

01:20:39So when you want something a little bit cosy, I feel like these are absolutely perfect.

01:20:42So starting off, we've got an alcohol-free option from Beaver Farms.

01:20:46That's this one.

01:20:47Ease us in gently.

01:20:48Exactly.

01:20:49So this is a sparkling cherry and raspberry, and it's made with all natural fruits.

01:20:54So have a taste, see what you think of that.

01:20:55Oh, it's very raspberry.

01:20:57It's yummy.

01:20:57Yeah.

01:20:58Easy.

01:20:59Yeah, easy to drink.

01:21:00Lovely, isn't it?

01:21:00And you can really taste that real fruit.

01:21:02And to me, I think this is perfect after a nice winter walk, you want to come home,

01:21:07have something cosy but refreshing, this is that drink.

01:21:10It won't send you to sleep?

01:21:11No.

01:21:11Mark, has it got enough bite for you?

01:21:15It's nice and easy, and yes, I could drink quite a lot of that easily.

01:21:20Who knows what the others will bring.

01:21:22Julia, do you like it?

01:21:24I do like it, but I'd like it in a kind of like a tippy-top, like a kid's cup.

01:21:30It's very drinkable.

01:21:32Do you know what I mean?

01:21:33I know where you're going.

01:21:35It feels odd having it in that glass, but I feel like I'm being tricked.

01:21:39It is a fruit drink, isn't it?

01:21:40It is, yeah.

01:21:41Yeah, but if you want to elevate it a little bit, you can have it in a nice flute, it's

01:21:44something a little bit different.

01:21:45Yeah.

01:21:45Okay.

01:21:45But yeah, really delicious.

01:21:46And you'll get lovely notes of cherry, raspberry and a bit of apple from this.

01:21:50Right, okay.

01:21:51Deliciously.

01:21:52Moving on.

01:21:53Yes, moving on.

01:21:54We've got the Four Daughters Pinot Noir.

01:21:56This is a group of four sisters, and they're all about bringing something new and different

01:22:00to the wine world.

01:22:01This is a very approachable Pinot Noir that you'll find, but it's still got a nice depth.

01:22:05That word, the lovely words that you use in wine making.

01:22:08This is approachable.

01:22:09It's approachable.

01:22:10Hello, little wine.

01:22:10You tell me you're very approachable.

01:22:12Well, afternoon.

01:22:13You can approach it and enjoy it.

01:22:14It's got lovely notes of summer fruits, a bit of cherry and a bit of raspberry as well.

01:22:18So have a taste, see what you think of that.

01:22:20Ooh, ooh, that's very, that's fruity, but in a wine way.

01:22:25Yeah, it's lovely.

01:22:26I don't drink red wine, so I'm just going for the smell.

01:22:30Slightly sharp for me, but.

01:22:33Yeah, it smells tart.

01:22:35Would that be a good word to use?

01:22:37Very good word, exactly.

01:22:38And so it's quite low in tannins, this one, so it'd go really well with spicy food.

01:22:42So I'd have this with like a spicy stew or a spicy curry and it'd pair just so beautifully

01:22:47and feel really comforting.

01:22:48Because it's not, it's not too heavy, is it, Mark?

01:22:50It's not, it's not a heavy red.

01:22:52I mean, it's.

01:22:52You can, some people have red wine chilled.

01:22:56Yes.

01:22:57And it's, this seems like one that might.

01:23:00Yeah, work with that.

01:23:02Exactly.

01:23:02Least towards that.

01:23:03Yes.

01:23:04Definitely, because it's really nice and light bodied, so definitely you can.

01:23:07What do you think of this one, Tony?

01:23:08I really like this.

01:23:09It's really subtle, but it's got some layers to it as well.

01:23:12So those summer fruits, but then also a hint of vanilla.

01:23:14So it gives it a good complexity.

01:23:16I really like this one.

01:23:17It is, it is quite complex, you're right, but not overpowering.

01:23:20Exactly.

01:23:20There's enough body there.

01:23:22Yeah.

01:23:23But it's not kind of, ooh, you can feel headache coming on already, you know.

01:23:27Not one of those.

01:23:28Man, you're looking at this next one.

01:23:30Yeah, so this has got a bit more body.

01:23:32I thought it might, I'm bowing in mind the depths of colour.

01:23:36Lovely.

01:23:36Is this approachable, or have we already approached?

01:23:39But it's got a bit more to it.

01:23:41Approach it where, really?

01:23:43So this one is a really interesting one.

01:23:45It's made from a grape called Cabaret Noir.

01:23:49So it's a distant relative of a Cabernet Sauvignon grape, but because of strict wine rules, you

01:23:53can't call it Cabernet.

01:23:54So it's Cabaret Noir, and it does really well in England.

01:23:57It gives you these really nice, delicate, but elegant wines, is the words I'm using.

01:24:01Oh, this is quite grown up, this one.

01:24:02And this has got a bit of depth to it.

01:24:04It smells quite smooth.

01:24:05It is.

01:24:06It is.

01:24:07Your nose is not deceiving you.

01:24:08Yeah.

01:24:09Really nice and smooth.

01:24:10So you'll get blackberry, maybe a bit of sour cherry, a bit of plum as well.

01:24:14I like that.

01:24:15And we're going to have a roast dinner.

01:24:16Yes, yeah.

01:24:17Yeah.

01:24:17Roast dinner.

01:24:18Yeah, very nice.

01:24:19A bit of cheese, a bit of risotto.

01:24:21Like, it's really nice and subtle and smooth.

01:24:23I think that's the best one so far.

01:24:25Remind us again what it is.

01:24:26So it's the Abingworth Tua Skylark.

01:24:28Right, oh, Tua Skylark.

01:24:30So that's a poetic reference.

01:24:31So Percy Shelley, the poet, actually used to live in the farmhouse where this wine is made,

01:24:36alongside his wife, who's the writer of Frankenstein.

01:24:39So, yeah, nice poetic references in their branding.

01:24:42Mary Shelley, yes.

01:24:42Exactly.

01:24:43Well, I never.

01:24:45Not remotely ghostly, is it?

01:24:47Oh, well, that's fab.

01:24:50That's nice, yeah.

01:24:51So we could drink that one, Mark, do you reckon?

01:24:53Oh, yeah.

01:24:54So the next one, comparing that with that.

01:24:58Yeah, a little bit heavier.

01:25:00It's like a body, this one.

01:25:01So this is really full-bodied and complex.

01:25:03You'll get a lot from this one.

01:25:05It's not just the fruity notes, but also a bit of vanilla, a bit of oak.

01:25:09This one, I feel you can actually have on its own, because that's how complex it is.

01:25:13And it's really fruity, really enjoyable, this one.

01:25:17Oh, now we're talking.

01:25:18Oh, now this has got bottom, hasn't it?

01:25:21It's got everything.

01:25:22But it's not overly strong in that kind of put-you-off way.

01:25:29Yeah.

01:25:29It's just really rich and deep.

01:25:31Yeah, exactly.

01:25:31There's a lot going on in that glass.

01:25:33It's gorgeous.

01:25:35It really is.

01:25:36I think it's the fruitiness of it all.

01:25:38It really gives a lot to the palate, so you don't feel like you're missing anything when

01:25:41you have this one.

01:25:42This is the Radlow 100 Rondeau.

01:25:45So they're specialists in still wine.

01:25:47So I think you can tell and agree that they do it really, really well.

01:25:50They're quite small plots, so they don't do much wine.

01:25:53But what they do is really great.

01:25:54So small and mighty, I would say.

01:25:56There's not an inter-sourness in this at all.

01:25:58It's wonderfully rich and velvety almost, isn't it?

01:26:02Yeah, really balanced.

01:26:02What would you have it with?

01:26:04I would have this on its own, to be honest.

01:26:07Just on the sofa in front of the TV.

01:26:09But you could have it with dark meats if you want to have it with some food.

01:26:11From the nose, Julie, do you like the nose?

01:26:13Well, did you say notes?

01:26:16Nose.

01:26:17I was going to talk about notes.

01:26:19Is there such a thing?

01:26:20Or is that music?

01:26:21Yeah, that's right.

01:26:22Tasting notes.

01:26:22They seem like there are loads and loads of them.

01:26:25Exactly, yeah.

01:26:26Yeah, it's really complex.

01:26:27Yeah.

01:26:28Exactly.

01:26:28Completely agree.

01:26:29Yeah.

01:26:29Definitely get that vanilla.

01:26:31Yeah, yeah.

01:26:32That's what I love about it.

01:26:33Yeah, exactly.

01:26:34This is exceptional.

01:26:35I like that a lot.

01:26:36Yes, me too.

01:26:36Very good.

01:26:37Fab.

01:26:38Lovely.

01:26:38And then, last but not least, we've got the Cuvée Noire from Bollner.

01:26:41So, this is a sparkling red wine.

01:26:44So, something a little bit different.

01:26:45I know some people get put off by the idea of sparkling red.

01:26:48This is quite a light expression of it.

01:26:50So, not too heavy and not too dense and overwhelming.

01:26:53Let's have a taste of this.

01:26:54See what you think.

01:26:56It's always interesting with these, to not look at the colour and think, if you were doing

01:27:01a blindfold tasting, would you know this was red?

01:27:04Mmm.

01:27:05Um, would you?

01:27:06That's a good test.

01:27:07I can't smell anything.

01:27:09I don't think I would, to be honest.

01:27:11It's quite light.

01:27:13It's not as heavy as some reds.

01:27:14There's no real nose to it, Jo, I don't think is that.

01:27:16I can't knock it in.

01:27:17It's quite light.

01:27:18I don't know if that's because of the glass that it's in.

01:27:19Perhaps, yeah, that could be it.

01:27:21So, less opportunity for us to swirl.

01:27:23But, yeah, it is quite light in comparison to lots of other sparkling reds.

01:27:27Really enjoyable.

01:27:28And because it's so light, I would have this as like a chocolate mousse.

01:27:31Yeah.

01:27:32So, keeping a nice lightness to the palette.

01:27:34I think it would go perfectly.

01:27:35It doesn't have that zesty feel of a champagne or a Prosecco.

01:27:40So, there is a little bit more depth to it.

01:27:42But you don't get, maybe it's having had to all the others, that, you know, that kick,

01:27:47that hit you get from a first mouthful of champagne.

01:27:49And it's going, oh, I really needed that.

01:27:52It's jeffler than that.

01:27:53Yes, it is, yeah.

01:27:54Easy drinking, definitely.

01:27:56Mark, do you like that?

01:27:57I do.

01:27:58I've not, I mean, this is the first time I've had sparkling red wine.

01:28:03Red, yeah.

01:28:04And, yes, I don't dislike it.

01:28:07It's quite nice.

01:28:08You see, now that is a Yorkshire expression.

01:28:11That's a Yorkshire compliment.

01:28:11You get next door in when you've just decorated your front room.

01:28:15And she says, you know, I don't dislike that raw paper.

01:28:18That's as good as it gets.

01:28:20Wow.

01:28:20That's a win.

01:28:21Wow.

01:28:22That is a win.

01:28:24Thank you both very much.

01:28:25Thank you, Tony.

01:28:26That's it for today's show.

01:28:28Thank you to all my guests, Julia Mark, and, of course, Tony, with the wines that we don't

01:28:32dislike.

01:28:33Join me next week for more mischief here at Manor Farm with comedian Chris McCausland,

01:28:38the stars of crime drama Patience, Ella Mae Purvis and Nathan Welsh, plus some of the cutest

01:28:45piglets you'll find this side of Ampshire.

01:28:48But until then, keep warm, keep well, and keep a bottle of something red within arm's reach

01:28:54for those colder nights and chilly days like today.

01:28:57I think it's probably going to be that one, Mark, don't you?

01:29:01Cheers, all.

01:29:02Cheers.

01:29:03Cheers.

01:29:04Cheers.

01:29:05Cheers.

01:29:09Cheers.

01:29:11Cheers.

01:29:21Cheers.

Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh - Season 8 Episode 02

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