- 5 days ago
Location: Rome, Italy, along with explorations of subatomic physics and local culture.
• Key Events:
• James drives and navigates his Fiat Panda through the chaotic traffic of Rome.
• He boards a virtual reality bus tour that transports him back 2,000 years.
• He explores concepts of subatomic physics, microscopic phenomena, and identity.
• The episode features a minor digital removal artifact (ghost)
条条大路通罗马，因此詹姆斯最终来到这座意大利宏伟的首都，可谓顺理成章。不过，这里不仅有罗马人和古迹，詹姆斯还搭乘了巴士，遇见了另一个自己，并观察了某种微小到肉眼无法看见的事物。
詹姆斯·梅（James May）踏上了一段意大利之旅，旨在探索这个伟大国家的历史、文化、风光、产业与人民。这位笨手笨脚的中年英国大叔，能否领悟“甜蜜生活”（la dolce vita）的真谛？
• Key Events:
• James drives and navigates his Fiat Panda through the chaotic traffic of Rome.
• He boards a virtual reality bus tour that transports him back 2,000 years.
• He explores concepts of subatomic physics, microscopic phenomena, and identity.
• The episode features a minor digital removal artifact (ghost)
条条大路通罗马，因此詹姆斯最终来到这座意大利宏伟的首都，可谓顺理成章。不过，这里不仅有罗马人和古迹，詹姆斯还搭乘了巴士，遇见了另一个自己，并观察了某种微小到肉眼无法看见的事物。
詹姆斯·梅（James May）踏上了一段意大利之旅，旨在探索这个伟大国家的历史、文化、风光、产业与人民。这位笨手笨脚的中年英国大叔，能否领悟“甜蜜生活”（la dolce vita）的真谛？
Category
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TVTranscript
00:07In this episode of Nostro Homo in Italia, I address politics...
00:14Viva l'Italia! Viva l'Italia!
00:18So, prawns and nationalism, you don't get that at home, do you?
00:21Identity...
00:22So, that means I'm Idris Elba. That's quite cool.
00:25Yes.
00:27And truth.
00:29Like a lot of things in subatomic physics, you'll have to just take our word for it.
00:34Epic.
00:57Ah, look. That's La Mia Panda driving along a road. I wonder where it leads.
01:05Well, as you can probably tell, viewers, the sun is beginning to set. I'm well on my
01:09way towards Rome. This person is Guia. Buongiorno. Buongiorno. And she's agreed to be my guide
01:18for this episode. Grazie. Grazie a te, James.
01:25Yes, viewers, we're off to Italy's capital, which, if we're going to stick with the old
01:30boot analogy, can be found around your kneecap. Assuming you like boots that go up to your
01:35gluteus maximus.
01:40Is being Roman different from being any other type of Italian?
01:45We think we represent the whole Italy. The Roman way is the best way to be Italian, you
01:51know?
01:51The reason Guia is driving is because she insisted that, as I'm not a Roman and I don't understand
01:58the rules of driving in Rome, it was better if she did it. Our view at home in Britain is
02:04the driving in Rome is mad. It's very furious. There are thousands of old cinquecenti dodging
02:12around.
02:13I want to drive you there and then I want you to drive there. You want me to take over
02:19when we're in Rome?
02:19Yeah.
02:20OK.
02:21I want you to, you know...
02:22Then you can critique.
02:24Yeah.
02:24Oh!
02:25Yes.
02:26That's going to be like a driving lesson.
02:28I am ready.
02:31Perfect.
02:33Grazie.
02:33Prego.
02:37Now, the first rule of driving in Rome is that your rules are wrong.
02:42Right.
02:42Here we go.
02:45Avanti, as Caesar said.
02:47Whoa!
02:48Wow!
02:50Revolutioni Maximus.
02:51Ah, you like it.
02:55There we go.
02:59I can't let him go.
03:00Oh!
03:01No, no, no.
03:03Oh, very, very.
03:05I'm going to go on the pavement a bit to avoid that one.
03:08There you go.
03:16Yes.
03:18Yes.
03:19Yes.
03:20Oh, no, it's orange.
03:22Yes.
03:23Remember, if in doubt...
03:26Oh, that's a useful one.
03:27That's a good one.
03:28I could have gone...
03:28...use hand signals.
03:29you're making me unhappy the scooter riders are all a little bit but not as
03:38bad as do you think I've passed my Roman driving test I think so James
03:55that's here good job I'm not gonna do it again
04:05while ancient Rome was all about architecture culture eating drinking and
04:11being Roman modern Rome is completely the same quest that's a Greer is taking me
04:19out for supper in a very fashionable part of Rome and to what is apparently an
04:25extremely popular restaurant Bellissimo
04:35what is the name of this quarter
04:42bye this is
04:58I'm finding the waiters Italian rather hard to follow but perhaps it's because I
05:03haven't mastered the nuances of the Roman dialect yet
05:16that's a type of Japanese because it is the dick what the dick do you want that's
05:24not even English what do you respond in Italian perfect we've come out for
05:29supper I haven't come out looking for a fight okay I'm British I don't like to
05:45complain but I'm also paying for dinner and this is just non egg good enough
06:09if you don't want to know what I attempt to say to the waiter next please look away now
06:25it's not traditional in Rome it's this place I think
06:35this is a rude restaurant yeah they insult you the minute you were set sorry James
06:43I was fooled I was astonished that anybody would be that rude anyway
06:48il vino non è freddo quello non è freddo no per bere per il bidet quello serve
06:55I'm not interested in shoving it up your ass I just like it to be lower temperature
06:58e lo stesso sapori che immagino abile il mio anno ciao
07:19I just wanted to talk to a bit about rude restaurant which was quite good fun but
07:23ultimately the problem is if you don't speak the language properly then it's
07:27slightly confusing but I have to say I did learn a lot of new words most of
07:32which didn't appear on your screens I'm afraid and I do at least now know what
07:36that newsagent in Naples was saying to me
07:43I forgive Guir for trying to make me look like a cat so on my first night and
07:48agree to meet again the next day now when I signed up to explore Italy I
07:54thought it would be shades and linen shirts all the way not this damp Manchester
07:58tribute act but I lend Guir a boring British green anorak and we press on to
08:04see the sights fantastic so that's where the Pope lives yeah perfect and this is
08:14Piazza some it's not Pinocchio but it's a word a bit like pincho pincho pincho you
08:19know this terrazza is famous because every Roman came here to to kiss it kiss
08:25them kiss each other beware you have to wait for someone maybe we've edited out how long I waited for
08:39nobody to show up anyway our first stop a must-see for God's botherism pan fans
08:45are like the Pantheon that's quite fab is this a bit where your father boy yeah
08:51child and then made you learn about it see see Papa queer would have said that
08:56the Pantheon has the largest and oldest unreinforced concrete dome in the world
09:01has been in continuous use since the second century AD and cost so much to film
09:05inside we're stuck al fresco we could do with an umbrella couldn't we there's one well Dante has
09:17his nine circles of hell if you want to film in Italy there are at least ten circles of bureaucracy
09:25it's the roses Italy is different from the rest of Europe in that the view is not considered free
09:30you need permits to film things the moment you turn up with the film crew here as if by magic
09:36someone else turns up to check your permit so I'd advise if you want to say anything more about the
09:41Pantheon I'd say it very quickly we might quickly the Pantheon you've got eight seconds starting now
09:46okay so Pantheon means every every gods you know
10:01next on our sodden tour of the ancient city somewhere that's meant to be wet
10:08scusey scusey me scusey it's the Trevi fountain and every day 3,000 euros
10:17is thrown in here by tourists and locals in return for wishes granted
10:24what are you wishing for I can tell I can say no you missed see if it goes in I've
10:32made a wish
10:38anyway Rome is also home to many other architectural greatest hits the Colosseum and the Forum neither of
10:46which you can see here because they're also too expensive to film but at least there's the
10:51circus Maximus so this is your compassion or so I thought the real problem I think with the circus
11:02Maximus is that it's largely not as there as anymore you're right you need a lot of imagination you know
11:10what would be really good right if somebody had a tour bus that went around Rome but it mixed the
11:16real
11:16view of modern Rome out of the window with like virtual reality ancient Rome and enhanced and
11:23also them you know the smell of ancient Rome yes yes as if by magic planned meticulously by the
11:34production crew just such a thing turns up immediately a virtual reality tour bus complete with permits
11:41something's happening oh oh my god wow look at that so that's what this bit of Rome would have looked
11:54look at that unlike my previous experience of GPS activated tours guess what this one works and this is the
12:05foreign imperiale ancient forum look it's very good you can see right through the buildings okay this is
12:12very convenient having a virtual forum to look at there's the Colosseum yeah that's quite good isn't it
12:22yeah people shouting and a strange smell of battle that's the smell of a dismembered Christian who's just been
12:30torn torn to bits by lions oh hang on here comes the real world in all its disappointment there is
12:42the
12:42real Colosseum which you can't look at the important thing is yeah if you're getting off the bus make sure
12:50you get off in the modern world not ancient yeah you'll be stuck there forever oh no no sooner did
13:08I say that than we actually did get off the bus 2,000 years too early looks like we're in
13:14for one of
13:15those when in ancient Rome moments yes this is a real life gladiator school where anyone can pay to
13:37dress up in silly looking costumes and learn to use not so silly looking weapons whether you leave in one
13:45piece however depends on two bit Nero giving you the thumbs up or the thumbs down until then we're in
13:55the culpable hands of trainer Atticus fisticuffs okay this is the gladio oh it's real real death yeah
14:23there are three main weapons to master if you want to be a gladiator there's the mortifying sword
14:29right the third blow surely neck surely he's had it by now the terrifying trident please I'll just try
14:39that out on Tom the director I think so I can go in the gut no we don't and the
14:47fishing net we're
14:51going to actually fight to the death yes oh well if I'm about to cark it they're probably going to
14:57edit in some cliche training montage so if some of the gladiators were major celebrities and feeding
15:08and housing them didn't come cheap yeah great so they weren't oft as much as Hollywood suggests the
15:17tradition actually started during funeral ceremonies where the spilling of blood was said to purify the
15:24souls of dead rich Romans in the nuts here we go but then it became a mass spectator sport for
15:32the
15:32plebs oh I just caught me up that was close anyway back to my impending death when the trumpet blows
15:46it's time to
16:01fight as you can tell from the music this is deadly serious how dare you turn your back who are
16:17you
16:20me he no man as Giacomo bimius Maggio relatore travallogues collector verities motor beacus
16:36and now your opponent
16:41go yeah
16:43oh you are kidding seriously
17:11it is a brutal unforgiving arena of combat where no quarter is given
17:18and none is taken
17:26ow
17:27ow
17:34wait
17:35pucks
18:00after my unceremonious demise yesterday I decided to leave guir behind in ancient Rome
18:06because today I fancy something futuristic you know when you're staying in a hotel in an interesting
18:14city which is full of tourist sites and landmarks and interesting things to do you get a collection
18:20of leaflets at recepciatione saying come to the dinosaur park and come to the museum of printing and
18:26come and see the Colosseum you never get one that says come to the local rocket factory
18:3535 miles southeast of Rome is Coloferro a small town that's home to some really big stuff inside these unassuming
18:46modern walls is a company that's made aeroplanes for over a hundred years and nowadays this the Vega rocket for
18:57the European Space Agency which sends satellites and probes into orbit and an old nerd
19:02into a tailspin
19:05Maggio you are cleared for crap Italian
19:08as the people who work here sometimes say
19:13送ing
19:22DJ
19:31IT'S ONLY TAKEN AFTER FILM BUT FINALLY I'M ALLOWED TO DO SOMETHING I LIKE
19:36and there's no silly dressing up we're going into the clean room and might
19:42actually be able to touch something that's going to end up in space which
19:46I get very excited about because components that are incredibly humdrum
19:51like n6 hex headed screws become very exotic when you know they're going to go
19:57into orbit I don't look good do I this is my first rocketing experience so this
20:16place is so advanced they even have a teleporter or as it turns out a hoover
20:26for grubby humans dust-free this is actually the cleanest this film crew
20:31has ever been today we'll be looking at stage four of the Vega sea rocket which
20:37is powered by a liquid propellant engine allowing for multiple deliveries to a
20:40range of orbits on a single mission what is that bit so this is one under
20:46preparation so it's at an earlier stage it's only the structure and some of the
20:50wiring you see here oh hey come and stick your lens in here it's a huge amount of
20:57wiring Giulio Ranzo avio's main rocket man is naturally proud of his product but I
21:03do have some concerns and I hesitate to bring this up but I have owned a number
21:08of Italian motorcycles sometimes the wiring is not very good because on the
21:13old Ducati often what should have been a red wire in the book was blue yeah many of
21:19these wiring's don't even come from us they are put together by other companies
21:23all around Europe German so we work with Germans with works like sweet the rocket
21:29is only one and a half meters wide just big enough for three if you want to
21:34endeavor and go underneath this we can enter yeah I think this is actually the
21:38first time I've been inside a rocket yes this is the very high-tech interior but if
21:43you look at the actual nozzle of the rocket motor here this appears to have been
21:47bought from a retro 50s housewares market it's a piece of Soviet Union
21:55technology that no one has ever done any better than them you know in many ways
22:01rocket engineering it's very complicated but it's actually a great deal of
22:05simplicity yes we we complexify things you know the law of physics are a few you
22:11know and pretty simple making a travelogue about Italy is lovely yes but a part of
22:18me is always in my shed there are bits of this that I can imagine making in my
22:24little workshop at home I could I could do that with my pipe bender I could
22:29probably on my lathe make that lid would you mind at some point having a word with
22:34the film crew about the correct use of tapes and cable ties because this is
22:40beauty well come on this is beautifully done very neat it has to be rather than
22:47say lumps of black tax stuck on the windscreen of my car I think the
22:52difference is if it's me no one gives a shit can we go and see the future rocket
23:00yes we can see we cannot get too close because I'm told we need to keep some
23:05secrets okay we do I won't say anything
23:12for security reasons the crew weren't allowed in so they had to watch through
23:17the window yeah that looks like a turbo quite a beefy one actually a bit like
23:23people who couldn't afford a telly in the olden days you're probably still
23:36wondering what I wished for at the Trevi Fountain it's nice to be left alone
23:40with someone else who appreciates the finer things in life sharing the joy of
23:49beautiful things the essential magnet on a stick at last I found my forever home
23:57oh this is fantastic
24:09apparently a tool chest isn't for life after all it's only for Christmas at best I
24:14was told the socket set had to be put down back to the day job
24:19there are three essential elements to any Italian high street they are
24:23clothing cafes and ice cream you might get a small hardware shop you might get a
24:29chemist you might even get a dual area but you will always have clothing
24:34cafes and ice cream so today what I thought we'd do is make some ice cream and
24:39we're going to turn this little adventure into an anglo-italian
24:44collaboration it all begins in this market where I'm going to buy some ingredients and
24:49this gives me an excellent opportunity to try out some of the Italian words I've learned
25:23from the door a blue
25:24Viva l'Italia! Viva l'Italia!
25:28So, prawns and nationalism, you don't get that at home, do you?
25:31Armed with my ingredients, it's gelato clock.
25:39Marco and Venezia have been making their gelato for the last ten years
25:43and claim they can make ice cream out of anything.
25:47Scopriamolo.
25:50Oh, they've spelt gelato wrong.
25:54Now, I said this was going to be an Anglo-Italian ice cream, and it is.
26:01But what I thought we'd do is make a carrot and coriander ice cream.
26:05So it's a bit like a sort of rather nice left-wing British cake.
26:09And then, prawn cocktail.
26:12And that's not quite such a daft idea as it sounds,
26:14because if you were watching our Japanese series,
26:16you'll know that fishy, savoury ice cream is a thing.
26:19It's the sort of thing Hester Blumenthal would do, you know,
26:21without even blinking.
26:22La carota da gioia.
26:23Un bel colore, arancione da gioia, no?
26:25È bello?
26:26So what Marco is saying is that carrots being orange are the colour of joy.
26:30I would agree with him on that.
26:31I have an orange car and an orange refrigerator at home for that reason.
26:35Let's leap forward in the action to a point where the carrots have been boiled
26:39for the appropriate length of time and blended into a paste.
26:47Here it is.
26:48Now it's only to make it.
26:51You spread it all over your car.
26:53It's ready.
26:53Oh, it's ready?
26:54OK.
26:55It's ready to go in the ice cream machine.
27:01Now for the really good bit.
27:03To make this stuff, you need some high tech.
27:06This machine is from the 1970s and has been in continuous operation ever since, so...
27:12It's a sort of alchemy, transforming liquid beta-carotene into solid joy.
27:19Can you turn this one?
27:20Yes.
27:21It's a bit like using a milling machine.
27:23Yeah.
27:24Or a pillow drill.
27:25This machine has two functions.
27:27One is to chill the mixture, the other is to stir it in such a way that it's fluffed
27:32up slightly and becomes more leggera, lighter.
27:37Oh, look at that!
27:39OK.
27:40Can you see the consistency of the mixture is changing as it's stirred and chilled?
27:45This is very satisfying to watch.
27:47While my carrots churn away, let's watch Marco make the Mary Rose sauce for my prawn cocktail
27:54flavour, using salad cream, ketchup and the essential part of any ice cream.
28:01This, if you're watching in America, is Worcestershire sauce.
28:05Tiny, ooh, that's three, four drops.
28:09Once everything is blended together...
28:13It's into the machine.
28:16Here it goes, ready to start rotating as it engages there.
28:21...which works exactly the same on a prawn as it does on a carrot.
28:24So let's cut to the tasting.
28:29Hey, that's not bad, you know.
28:31After the joyful carrot and coriander, it's prawn cocktail.
28:35Actually, I'm going to go as far as to say that would be a better starter to your traditional
28:39English 70s dinner party than an actual prawn cocktail.
28:43Well, I would say that.
28:47Let's test this properly with an in-depth, on-street, vox pop market research focus group
28:53surveyed thing.
28:53Gelato strano gratis, gelato strano.
28:58Ah, no, grazie.
29:00Oh.
29:02You made this?
29:03Yes.
29:04I like it.
29:05You like it?
29:06Carrot and coriander, dieci punti.
29:09But what about my other backwards gelato?
29:12Lei l'ha fatto?
29:13Hmm?
29:14Lei?
29:14Si.
29:14Chef?
29:15Si.
29:17Fatto per i tuoi gambelli.
29:20Very good.
29:21That means delicious.
29:23Well, I think I might have got away with it.
29:27Gelato, bringing communities together.
29:30Thank you very much.
29:32Grazie.
29:33And that brings to an end that sequence in which I make gelato.
29:38What did I make?
29:39Gelato strano gratis.
29:43You're welcome.
29:47Plus a little rub from the locals, it never goes amiss.
29:58It's day three of my Roman holiday, I mean my Italian job, and I'm delighted to say it's
30:04not raining.
30:05I might put a nice scarf on for this.
30:08We were talking about La Dolce Vita, and if you've seen the film anywhere other than
30:14in Italy, it will have been subtitled.
30:16But if you're in Italy and you watch a foreign film here, it will be dubbed, because apparently
30:23Italians don't like subtitles.
30:28Warner, caro amico mio.
30:33Actually, it's a bit more complicated.
30:36In the 1950s, many Italians still spoke a regional dialect, and dubbing in standardised Italian
30:42was something the government used to unify the language.
30:45So, everything foreign had to be dubbed, and as a result, the Italian dubbing industry
30:50became a world leader.
30:55Now, it follows that because Amazon is a global platform that also offers next-day delivery,
31:00streaming music and more, there must be somebody in Italy with the rather doloroso task of
31:06being me.
31:07Well, his name is Alberto, and he works in this dubbing studio here.
31:13So, I'm going to go and meet me.
31:22Good morning.
31:24Buongiorno.
31:25Now, the interesting thing is, Alberto has obviously had to play me all over the world,
31:29tutti la mondo, and bizarrely, you are also Idris Elba?
31:34Yes.
31:35Same voice?
31:35Same voice of Idris Elba.
31:37So, that means I'm Idris Elba.
31:40That's quite cool.
31:41Excellent.
31:43Today, Francesco, the director, and Enzo, the sound engineer, are dubbing the first episode
31:49of this very series, from a few hours ago.
31:53Don't let me put you off.
31:54This is me, in Sicily, harping on about La Dolce Vita.
31:58From the top, okay?
32:00Okay.
32:01Okay.
32:31Salve a tutti.
32:32The English version is, for an English audience.
32:34Now, La Dolce Vita, does it really exist?
32:39I suspect this is a lot harder than it looks.
32:42Scopriamolo.
32:44For me, it's perfect.
32:46Bravo.
32:47Bravo, signor.
32:50So, obviously, I'm having a go myself, with a scene the crew prepared earlier, starring
32:56Italian me and Italian guia.
33:01Now, I just need to be the English everyone.
33:05Hang on.
33:07You're overlooking something.
33:09What?
33:09I don't really speak Italian.
33:11I can only say, io mangio una mela.
33:13Okay.
33:13So, can I have a minute to try and work out what the bloody hell this all means?
33:17Yes.
33:18May I have a pencil?
33:21After five on-screen seconds of working it out for myself, it's my turn.
33:25For the benefit of you at home, you'll get subtitles.
33:29But I won't.
33:31Okay.
33:31From the top, okay?
33:33And action.
33:35Can I start with a question, Guia?
33:37James, how is it?
33:38Can I start with a question, Guia?
33:40Guia, can I ask you something?
33:41Allora, prima cosa, è convinto di sapere l'italiano, ma non sa neanche dire gioielleria.
33:47Poi, è fissato con i lavori di fare l'egnameria, non ho capito perché.
33:51You now love James.
33:52Ah, he had me with his Italian.
33:54He can say gioielleria.
33:56I'm fixated with his face and hair.
33:58In macchina mette sempre il progressive rock a palla.
34:02E poi, c'ha questi capelli che sono sempre scaruffati.
34:05Quindi un'anima completamente persa.
34:08In the car, he lets me play prog rock, and he has such a lovely, lovely scarf.
34:14I see, what a smart animal.
34:18Perfetto?
34:19Perfetto.
34:21Unfortunately, director Tom has spotted a flaw in our otherwise faultless idea for a scene.
34:26I think it's just too confusing for the viewers.
34:28Italians won't know what the hell's going on.
34:30He's him being you being him, but then he's going to be...
34:32No, he's not.
34:32But then he's going to be you again at the end.
34:34And then it's really confusing.
34:35When he's being me, he's me.
34:37Yeah.
34:37But when he's speaking Italian by himself, being Alberto, he's Alberto, and then I'm
34:41him because I'm reading it in English.
34:42So you're both each other?
34:44Yes.
34:44That's ridiculous.
34:45No, it's not.
34:46Hang on.
34:47Let me ask the director.
34:49No, hang on.
34:50Francesco, do you understand what's going on?
34:52Nothing.
34:53Alberto, do you understand what's going on?
34:55Yes, I like.
34:58You see?
34:59Yes, I like.
35:01Perfect.
35:05I think that's an excellent demonstration about how the dubbing works.
35:10Please shut up.
35:14Now we've cleared all that up, the English version of the Italian Idris Elba is driving out to
35:19the east of Rome, towards the back of Italy's knee, in Abruzzo.
35:26An area of wide open spaces, of national parks and stunning views, like the lake at Campo Tosto.
35:36I just wanted to stop here for a moment, viewers, to say, look at that.
35:41I mean, anywhere else, that would be a sort of grey, cloudy day.
35:46But in Italy, even the clouds are bellissimo.
35:49It was Verdi, he was a composer, who said, you may have the universe if I may have Italy.
35:58But he was right, though, look at that, look at the water, it's fantastic.
36:09Looming large over the lake at Campo Tosto is the Gran Sasso d'Italia, the highest mountain
36:15in the Apennine Gap.
36:18It's a magnet for skiers, climbers, wannabe Bond villains, and nuclear physicists with a
36:24penchant for hiding.
36:27Inside lies the world's largest underground neutrino and astroparticle physics laboratory,
36:34which interferes with cameras, either that or it's raining.
36:38So I'm now driving through the mountain, and I've got to go five kilometres, and then
36:43I will turn off into the laboratory itself, which is through a big sliding steel door, sort
36:49of like Blofeld's lair.
36:56That's as far as you're allowed to go with a car, and there's still another kilometre of
37:00scientific tunnels to go.
37:02So that's why I've brought with me a little piece of England in the form of...
37:10This is how I'm going to get around the world of top-end conceptual physics.
37:18Thanks.
37:19Thank you very much.
37:23Inside three cavernous chambers, hewn deep into solid rock, is a world of subatomic experiments
37:30and dark matter.
37:35Now, dark matter is pretty mysterious stuff.
37:38It makes up 27% of the mass of the universe, but we can't see any of it because it's,
37:44well,
37:44very dark.
37:46So, it's taken some Italian brains bigger than the largest available helmet to try and find
37:51it.
37:52Nice to meet you.
37:53Bonjour, and you.
37:54Bonjour.
37:54Sorry about that.
37:55I overshot slightly.
37:56I was enjoying myself.
37:58Wow.
37:59So.
38:00Anyway, this is no ordinary boffin in a helmet.
38:03Carlo is a neutrino hunter in a subterranean lair.
38:08Why put it inside the mountain?
38:10You're making life very difficult for yourself.
38:11The main point is that we have to be shielded from something that is called cosmic rays,
38:18that are particles that are coming from outer space, and so we have to shield.
38:23The particle we are looking for, mainly neutrinos and dark matter particles, are so rare that
38:29we have to shield our experiments also from natural radioactivity.
38:35Carlo detects his neutrinos in this apparatus, a kind of super-cooled, high-tech ice bucket.
38:43But it seems even one and a half kilometres of solid mountain isn't enough to protect their
38:48experiments from stray radiation.
38:51They also need ancient Roman lead.
38:56It's quite heavy.
38:57It's very heavy.
38:59Two thousand years ago, close to Sardinia, there was a ship that sank a pool of lead ingots.
39:07Our institute understood that it could be used for physics.
39:12Can we put it down?
39:14Yes.
39:16We use lead to shield our experiment from radioactivity.
39:21So the point is, lead itself contains a radioactive isotope, lead 210, that decays with time.
39:30If we take ancient lead, we can have an excellent material for shielding, completely free of radioactivity.
39:37I like that thought.
39:38This is the bleeding-edge physics, but it's dependent upon Empicarius's...
39:44Emperor Caesar.
39:46Oh, that's Emperor Caesar, right.
39:48That's his lead ingot.
39:50Fingers.
39:51Fingers.
39:52Yes.
39:53Time to meet some more well-protected brains.
39:58I'm excited to continue our journey to the centre of the earth because I'm allowed to help out with an
40:03actual experiment.
40:05So now you will have the chance to help us to build something to really detect sub-nuclear particles.
40:12Epic.
40:15After my second deep clean of the episode, it's time for particle physics.
40:21This is a crystal of tellurium dioxide.
40:26This particular crystal, when supercooled, can pick up even the weakest traces of radioactive decay,
40:33which show up as an infinitesimal temperature increase.
40:38Fantastico.
40:40Now, viewers, it seems there may have been a slight error in judgment on our part.
40:45I'm guessing the crystal goes...
40:47Exactly.
40:48...when I press it in there.
40:49Oh!
40:51In thinking that you might be interested in seeing people dressed entirely in white...
40:55There are very tiny 25 microns gold wires.
41:00Well small.
41:01Performing an experiment that we can't see...
41:04We're talking about the smallest events in the universe, I think, aren't we?
41:09Yes.
41:10And neither can you.
41:11Did you get it?
41:13Absolutely, yes.
41:14That's...
41:15Like a lot of things in subatomic physics, you'll have to just take our word for it.
41:19In fact, the amount of time an invisible physics experiment sustains on screen is the half-life of barium-122,
41:28which is right about now.
41:39I've collected Guir, who's refusing to talk to me because I wouldn't let her take part in the particle physics
41:45experiment.
41:47Maybe I can enthuse her with what's coming up in the next scene.
41:52Now, there are two basic elements to this show.
41:55There are the things that I would like to do in Italy, and there are the things that the producer
42:00and the director think I should do in Italy.
42:02So I would like to look at Italian art and culture, a bit of science history, a bit of tech,
42:08some food and wine, learn some Italian words.
42:11The producer and the directors would like me to do anything that involves dressing up and making me look like
42:16a total knob.
42:18So we're on our way to meet some people who have chosen to live like hobbits from Lord of the
42:22Rings.
42:26Guess whose idea that was?
42:28Can I have a slightly less cynical one, please?
42:31Less cynical?
42:33Hey, you'll never guess what, viewers. We're going off to dress up as hobbits. It's going to be brilliant!
42:46Begrudgingly, we're off to Middle Earth, just off Junction 5 of the Ring Road.
42:51There's nothing really middle about it, except in the of nowhere sense.
42:58On the face of it, this place looks pretty idyllic.
43:02Beautiful countryside, quirky little huts, and mustachioed men in flat caps and braces.
43:12This is the brainchild of one Nicholas Gentile, who, in a bid to escape the pressure of working as a
43:19pastry chef in Rome, decided to live as a hobbit.
43:24What I really want to know is, is this for real, or is it just a Tolkien gesture?
43:34You've got to hand it to him. He's a stickler for detail.
43:37No tree stump left unthumped, no field unswept.
43:44He's even got a life-size statue of a wizard.
43:48Buongiorno, Signore Gandalf.
43:51Now, I've never knocked on a hobbit door before, and I think I'm supposed to knock with a staff.
43:56And there's one here. Oh, there's also a bell.
44:01Buonasera, Signore Hobbit.
44:04Buonasera, James.
44:06La mia Italiano è caca.
44:08We can speak in Elvish, if you want.
44:10La mia Elvisha è even more caca.
44:13Ok.
44:14Welcome in my hobbit hall.
44:18This is a very tiny hobbit house.
44:21In Tolkien language, it's called smial.
44:25Build into the hill.
44:27Yes.
44:27My project is to build a real shire.
44:31Not one hobbit house, but a village.
44:34A hobbit village.
44:35Architectural drawings of hobbit houses are visible on the small hobbit table.
44:41Along with un piatto di biscotti.
44:45Se vieni nella contea, e non mangi, e non mangi niente, è come se non fossi mai venuto nella contea.
44:54Oh.
44:55So, enjoy.
44:57I think this makes him lord of the jam rings.
45:01Salute.
45:02Cin cin.
45:03Grazie.
45:05Very good.
45:09Nicolas isn't here alone.
45:12They are my family.
45:13Buonasera.
45:13Buonasera.
45:14Dorothy.
45:15Dorothy.
45:16Alicia.
45:16Alicia.
45:17Vincent.
45:18Vincent.
45:19We have also the wizard, Gandalf.
45:21Gandalf the Grey.
45:23Oh, Gandalf is real.
45:24I didn't realise he was a real person.
45:25I thought he was a mannequin.
45:29I don't think he lives as a hobbit.
45:32It's like a Saturday thing, right?
45:33I think so, yeah.
45:34It's like playing football on a Saturday morning.
45:36Yeah.
45:36He hobbits it up on a Saturday.
45:38Yeah, exactly.
45:39I play with my lathe.
45:40Tom mows the grass.
45:42You play football.
45:43He's a hobbit.
45:45I mean, if transporting plastic pumpkins around from A to B for no real reason is how
45:50you get your kicks, then this place is for you.
45:57Or maybe it's a cult.
46:01Well, what I might go and do is go and speak to Gandalf, who hasn't really said anything
46:06yet, and then see if when he blinks it says save me on his eyelids or something like
46:10that.
46:12Buonasera, Gandalf.
46:23Buonasera.
46:24Well, sometimes he can, come I said before, understand that we've done.
46:28No matter that live in great cities or in social situations that people isn't
46:34anаготовish offers, we're done to live with the family, friends,
46:41with their family.
46:44Perhaps living this way is the key to a happy life, or perhaps it's something they slip
46:52into the homebrew since I'm now in a cape.
46:57As you can tell, it's night time now and Italian hobbits die hard, so there's the obligatory
47:04vat of tagliatelle a la Baggins, everyone's gobbling down the red wine, and I've lost
47:11all elf awareness.
47:14Oh no, I've collided with the table.
47:20In the Hobbit.
47:27This is great, yeah, it's very nice.
47:29Very nice food, being in good company.
47:31Yeah, I think it suits you actually, if you don't mind me saying.
47:37So there you go, we came in search of La Dolce Vita, we dismissed it as a myth.
47:41And then we realise that it does exist here at Hobbit Farm.
47:46Salute.
47:49Right, let's get out of here before I field two orcs.
47:52Or they burn Gandalf at the stake or something.
48:03The next morning, I return to Rome for the inevitable Arrivederci.
48:11That's better.
48:12Yes, it is.
48:13Isn't it?
48:13Yeah.
48:14With the sun bathing the Pope's house and...
48:16It's amazing.
48:17...side of the obelisk.
48:19James.
48:19I know, we're just avoiding it.
48:21Yeah, yeah, yeah.
48:25I mean, you've had a great time.
48:26I've got a gift for you.
48:28Really?
48:29Yes.
48:29Oh no!
48:30Gift item, please.
48:31Oh no!
48:32Here's the gift coming in magically.
48:35Wow, thank you.
48:36It's very special.
48:37I was...
48:37To be honest, I was going to keep it.
48:39I shouldn't say that, but I'm...
48:44No!
48:44Oh, nice.
48:46Nice box.
48:46We haven't seen it yet.
48:47But the box is nice.
48:50No!
48:51Wow!
48:53Wow!
48:54What is it?
48:55It's a really nice desktop rocket model.
48:58Wow, it's amazing.
48:59So I wanted you to have it because I love it.
49:03I'm going to go now because I don't like emotional moments.
49:05Okay, okay.
49:05Let's go as well.
49:06I will stay here.
49:07Why soon?
49:08Goodbye.
49:09Yeah, you're right.
49:31In three, two, one, action!
49:34So, what do you think of the Russian submarine?
49:38You now love James?
49:39Ah, he had me with his Italian.
49:41He can say giui alla ria.
49:43I'm fixated with his face and hair.
49:45The coffee?
49:46Grazie.
49:50Grazie.
49:50In the car he lets me play prog rock,
49:53and he has such a lovely, lovely scarf.
49:55Okay.
49:56Quindi, non parlo italiano bene?
49:58I see.
50:38I'll see you again.
50:49I'll see you again.
50:49I'll see you now.
50:50I'm going to talk to you soon,
50:50and I'll see you soon.
50:50Bye.
50:50Bye.
50:55You