1 00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:02,600 Sit back... 2 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:04,400 It's so naughty! 3 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:05,200 ..strap in... 4 00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:06,800 It was quite an eye-opener. 5 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:08,500 What? ..and get ready to return... 6 00:00:08,500 --> 00:00:10,300 They banned the video! 7 00:00:10,300 --> 00:00:12,740 ..to naughty, naughty 1984. 8 00:00:12,740 --> 00:00:15,800 The world stopped turning at that point. 9 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:18,800 And what had our scandalised tongues wagging? 10 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:21,900 Even if she'd been 16, she was still too young for him. 11 00:00:21,900 --> 00:00:23,500 They were at it! 12 00:00:23,500 --> 00:00:25,620 That is shocking! 13 00:00:25,620 --> 00:00:28,240 There were political puppets... 14 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:30,520 AS MARGARET THATCHER: I do not take orders from men. 15 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:32,200 And don't you ever forget it! 16 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:34,400 ..while video got nasty. 17 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:36,400 They were classic movies she had a problem with. 18 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:39,280 I have far too much respect for my mind. 19 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:44,000 Over the next two hours, we'll take a deep dive into the outrageous... 20 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:46,160 Blasphemy, darling, what was she doing?! 21 00:00:46,160 --> 00:00:48,800 ..and gobsmacking events of '84... 22 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:50,560 Listen, I might seem like a traitor. 23 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:53,920 ..as the nation watches tragedy unfold live... 24 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:56,080 You knew something had gone dreadfully wrong. 25 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:57,520 It was absolutely horrible. 26 00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:00,680 ..and politics takes a sinister turn. 27 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:02,400 It makes you very frightened 28 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:05,480 and very determined that they're not going to win. 29 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:06,640 It was outspoken... 30 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:08,880 Like a monstrous carbuncle. 31 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:11,040 He really wasn't allowed to say that. 32 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:12,400 ..shocking... 33 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:14,720 I don't know what happened. I can't remember. 34 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:15,880 Oh, I'm getting upset now. 35 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:18,720 ..and crazily controversial. 36 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:20,480 I thought it was rubbish. 37 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:22,680 It's OK to be wrong about things, Michael, 38 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:24,240 and you were wrong about Doctor Who. 39 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:27,240 These are the most extraordinary events 40 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:29,960 in TV, showbiz, music and politics that were... 41 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:39,600 George Orwell predicted 1984 would be bleak - 42 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:41,840 he had no idea. 43 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:44,640 Forget Big Brother, we had a big sister in charge, 44 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:47,160 and not everyone was happy. 45 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:48,960 The police are already blocking off roads. 46 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:51,200 It seemed to be wall-to-wall anarchy. 47 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:53,400 It is unlawful assembly. 48 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:57,080 And that chaos spilled from our streets onto our screens, 49 00:01:57,080 --> 00:01:59,520 as Britain's youth revelled in gratuitous violence 50 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:01,560 from the comfort of their sofas. 51 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:03,880 One series which some, particularly older reviewers, 52 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:06,800 find tasteless is The Young Ones. 53 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:10,160 The second series of the rebellious and ground-breaking sitcom 54 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:13,320 The Young Ones didn't just raise the comedy bar, 55 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:15,960 it repeatedly smashed viewers over the head with it. 56 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:21,760 It was anarchic, it was naughty, 57 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:24,560 it was just deeply funny, 58 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:27,280 and rude, really rude. 59 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:30,840 All of Felicity Kendal's underwear... 60 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:32,400 that needs a good wash. 61 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:34,960 It was like nothing I'd ever seen before. 62 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:36,760 It was like punk the sitcom. 63 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:39,400 Hands up who likes me. 64 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:43,800 Damn! Right, that's it, I'm going to kill myself. 65 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:46,000 Then you'll be sorry. No, we won't. 66 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:48,680 The Young Ones was completely controversial, 67 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:52,120 and you never really knew what was going to happen next. 68 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:58,640 It was fantastic cos this was a show for me, 69 00:02:58,640 --> 00:03:00,640 this was not a show for my mum and dad, 70 00:03:00,640 --> 00:03:03,920 this was a show for young people. 71 00:03:03,920 --> 00:03:07,480 Comedy duo Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson, 72 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:09,720 along with Alexei Sayle and Ben Elton 73 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:14,080 were pioneers of '80s alternative comedy. 74 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:19,440 Upcoming BBC producer Paul Jackson, on the lookout for edgy new talent, 75 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:23,200 had caught them live at The Comedy Store. 76 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:25,920 I was a young assistant in the entertainment department, 77 00:03:25,920 --> 00:03:27,920 and I've always loved comedy and I thought, 78 00:03:27,920 --> 00:03:30,120 "Oh, I must go and have a look at this," 79 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:32,080 and I was knocked out. I went back to the BBC and said, 80 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:36,520 "Look, there's this thing happening, we should do something about it." 81 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:38,360 Rik Mayall, a natural disruptor, 82 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:41,560 had already unleashed his spoof reporter Kevin Turvey 83 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:44,080 to BBC sketch show A Kick Up The Eighties, 84 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:47,280 and wanted to go further. 85 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:48,560 Good evening, Britain. 86 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:51,280 Tonight, I'd like to talk about shark fishing, 87 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:53,880 but I don't know the first thing about it. 88 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:57,680 I'm going to have to talk about something else, I think. 89 00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:01,560 Mayall was keen not to just push TV boundaries, but burn them, 90 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:04,160 and following an offer from Jackson, 91 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:06,600 Mayall began writing with American Lise Mayer 92 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:09,320 and British political satirist Ben Elton. 93 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:12,520 Their intention - to kick the very concept of sitcom 94 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:14,000 down the garden path. 95 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:17,720 Now, that IS a miracle! 96 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:20,000 We'd had The Good Life... 97 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:24,680 ..and we'd had Wendy Craig, Butterflies. 98 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:26,920 Sexy legs. Is that a joke? 99 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:30,440 Is it? Is that a joke? 100 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:33,640 And suddenly, somebody is putting their head through a wall. 101 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:37,720 There's head-butting, nuclear bombs, 102 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:39,920 people are punching each other. 103 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:43,800 It was just so high energy, so revolutionary, 104 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:47,680 and yet it was sort of a domestic sitcom all along. 105 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:54,200 The scripts are actually absolutely bog-standard sitcom procedure. 106 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:58,160 You've got four characters with very explicit characteristics 107 00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:01,040 which never change, you lob a situation into it, 108 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:05,000 whether it's a bomb in the cellar or the end-of-term exams... 109 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:06,400 Oh! Oh! 110 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:08,840 Wow! Yeah! 111 00:05:08,840 --> 00:05:10,800 ..they all react in their own different ways, 112 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:13,080 and then the whole thing reconciles in the final scene. 113 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:14,560 It's a very traditional comedy. 114 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:17,120 Not traditional enough, though, 115 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:20,160 for the self-appointed guardians of the British moral compass. 116 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:28,040 It was controversial in the sense that there was a lot of violence 117 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:31,720 in the show, quite graphic violence, you know, Vivian loses his head 118 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:33,960 and blood spurts everywhere. 119 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:37,040 You took your time, you bastard! 120 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:40,320 People said it was too violent. 121 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:46,000 It had a kind of element of cruelty to it that felt kind of new. 122 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:48,800 Why do you think that an older audience would be offended, 123 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,440 as some of them were, by both the language... 124 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:53,640 And they claim to be disgusted by some of the stuff 125 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:54,680 they saw on The Young Ones? 126 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:57,280 I'm sure they are. 127 00:05:57,280 --> 00:05:59,080 I mean, we certainly didn't set out that way, 128 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:00,960 we just put in the stuff that made us laugh, 129 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:02,600 and I think that's all you can do. 130 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:04,640 Nobody was trying to offend anybody, you know, 131 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,080 that's a really basic misunderstanding. 132 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:10,400 If the kids are united, we will never be divided! 133 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:14,040 Did we think it would be controversial? 134 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:15,520 Well, if you'd asked us at the time, 135 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:17,960 probably we thought people would object, but we didn't care, 136 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:19,680 and it wasn't the purpose. 137 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:21,960 I'm being hassled in the street by a chick. 138 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:23,520 Don't make me paranoid, man. 139 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:26,960 Stop making him paranoid, you slag! 140 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:28,600 Oh! 141 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:30,880 It's very slapstick violence, The Young Ones. 142 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:32,760 It is, it's The Three Stooges, really. 143 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:36,720 I mean, it's lots of eye poking and hits over the head with frying pans. 144 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:39,120 I mean, it's Tom and Jerry made real. 145 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:44,040 Oh, wow, a wet bum. Just what I need. Far out. 146 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:46,440 It's boy farty toilet humour. 147 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:48,480 Achtung! BUZZING 148 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:50,920 It's not an automatic! EXPLOSION 149 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:55,120 There were no trigger warnings in 1984, 150 00:06:55,120 --> 00:07:00,160 but nowadays, the sensitive are given ample alerts. 151 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:01,760 It's even more shocking now 152 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:04,360 because there's things that we thought were OK to say 153 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:07,360 and situations we thought were OK to represent 154 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:11,080 that would never make it through any kind of compliance now. 155 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:18,920 Vyv can you, like, actually kill yourself with laxative pills? 156 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:25,000 I don't know, Neil, but I'm going to stay and find out. 157 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:28,640 You would never get away with doing stuff like that these days 158 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:30,680 because we're so much more aware of mental health. 159 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:33,240 When you talk about suicide, well, of course it's not funny, 160 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:35,840 and making jokes about suicide wouldn't be funny. 161 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:38,080 I really screwed that up, didn't I? 162 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:40,960 I should think I'd look pretty stupid if anyone was watching. 163 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:43,160 That's not a joke about suicide, 164 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:45,920 there wasn't the remotest chance of him committing suicide. 165 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:49,960 It's a joke about the complete ineptitude and self-indulgence 166 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:53,120 and self-importance of that character, of Neil. 167 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:56,000 I thought you were dead! 168 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:59,080 Well, that's no reason to hassle me on the toilet. 169 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:07,120 In the modern day, I think it's possible to become too concerned 170 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:10,080 about trigger issues, trigger words. 171 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:12,840 So you say, "Suicide, you can't do gags about suicide." 172 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:16,080 Well, you can do a gag about an incompetent bloke 173 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:17,880 completely failing to commit suicide 174 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:20,160 for a completely ridiculous reason in the first place. 175 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:21,600 I think you CAN do that joke. 176 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:24,200 That was really pretty bad, Rick. 177 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:27,240 Bad for society when the kids start to get into it. 178 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:30,600 Anything made in any time is made for its time, 179 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:33,280 that's the point of popular culture. 180 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:37,480 They weren't making The Young Ones in 1984 to be funny in 2023. 181 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:39,680 See, I've done my revision. 182 00:08:39,680 --> 00:08:42,840 I'm going off now to stuff loads and loads of paper down the toilet. 183 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:49,160 It's '80s gold, and its influence obviously went on to Vic and Bob. 184 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:51,640 The League Of Gentlemen wouldn't have happened in the same way 185 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:52,760 without The Young Ones. 186 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:55,080 It was irreverent, it was anarchic, 187 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:58,080 and if that offended sort of the older viewers 188 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:01,480 and the TV critics from The Times, well, tough luck to them, 189 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:03,600 they had plenty of shows of their own. 190 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:10,440 The next targets for conservative campaigners 191 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:14,160 would be horror films and pop music. 192 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:17,320 They were classic movies she had a problem with! 193 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:19,520 "This is harmful, this is offensive." 194 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:23,760 But one pop band was primed and ready to turn the tables. 195 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:25,560 It's so beautifully designed 196 00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:27,400 to cause the maximum amount of trouble. 197 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:29,040 The minute something got banned, 198 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:31,200 we were obsessed with it at our school. 199 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:40,320 Check down the back of the sofa for that old VCR remote control, 200 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:45,240 and join us as we rewind back to the controversies of 1984, 201 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:49,400 when your TV choice could land you in a whole heap of trouble. 202 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:54,960 More than a third of all children under the age of seven 203 00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:56,840 have seen a "video nasty". 204 00:09:56,840 --> 00:09:59,400 That's one of the findings in a study of video violence 205 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:02,800 published today by a group of MPs, peers and churchmen. 206 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:07,240 Every day, this is what scores of Britain's schoolchildren are up to. 207 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:10,520 They're tuning in in their thousands to the sickening violence 208 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:13,200 of an endless stream of video nasties. 209 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:15,640 All new technology has a dark side, 210 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:18,520 and in 1984 it was hardcore horror, 211 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:21,240 known as the video nasty. 212 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:26,720 Video nasties were extreme VHS films that were unrated. 213 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:29,520 Usually very hardcore horror movies 214 00:10:29,520 --> 00:10:33,800 depicting sexual violence, murder, other acts of body horror. 215 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:36,760 More movies are now seen on video than in the cinema, 216 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:39,080 but regulations which were designed for films 217 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:40,800 don't apply to the new technology. 218 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:45,200 The authorities were playing catch up in trying to regulate it. 219 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:48,840 And here's the authorities using the Obscene Publications Act 220 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:50,560 to seize unregulated films. 221 00:10:50,560 --> 00:10:52,000 Cue moral panic! 222 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:56,200 The Director of Public Prosecutions called the material, 223 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:58,880 "an extravaganza of gory violence 224 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:02,000 "capable of depriving and corrupting those who watched it." 225 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:06,320 But depravity seekers who knew someone who knew someone 226 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:09,040 were in for a nice evening of corruption. 227 00:11:09,040 --> 00:11:10,840 I've seen a lot of them, you know. 228 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:13,560 There was a builder doing some work at my mum and dad's house, 229 00:11:13,560 --> 00:11:16,960 and he could get his hands on these, and I loved it. 230 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:18,760 But my mum and dad didn't seem to mind, 231 00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:20,240 cos it was horror, you know, 232 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:23,560 it wasn't, like, hardcore porn, cos I'm Catholic. 233 00:11:23,560 --> 00:11:26,880 It was, like, Barry on the estate who could get you these things. 234 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:30,560 So I had Spit On Your Grave, Evil Dead, Driller Killer. 235 00:11:30,560 --> 00:11:32,080 They're all quite boring, actually. 236 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:33,440 And especially they're boring 237 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:35,400 when you're watching it on a 10th generation one 238 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:37,840 where it looks like there's a blizzard sweeping in. 239 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:40,720 You didn't mind the bad quality, the... 240 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:43,280 The snow and then it kind of... 241 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:46,080 clearing. And you go, "Oh, it works," you know? 242 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:47,920 "This video works." 243 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:50,520 That was the thrill, you'd got your hands on a copy, 244 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:52,080 it was like a badge of honour. 245 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:54,320 You just had to have sort of seen them in order 246 00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:57,720 to have some kind of playground or pub sort of credence. 247 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:00,400 Enter Britain's offence-finder general, 248 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:04,240 crusader against controversy, Mary Whitehouse. 249 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:06,480 I'm afraid people who say, 250 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:08,240 "But why shouldn't adults 251 00:12:08,240 --> 00:12:10,880 "be able to see this kind of thing in their own home?" 252 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:12,760 I'm half tempted to say 253 00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:15,960 that people who make that kind of demand, 254 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:18,560 knowing that children are likely to see it, 255 00:12:18,560 --> 00:12:21,680 aren't really themselves very mature and adult. 256 00:12:21,680 --> 00:12:24,080 Whitehouse, as chief spokesperson 257 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:26,400 for the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association, 258 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:28,920 had been cleaning up TV since the '60s, 259 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:33,840 and was now sworn enemy of extreme horror. 260 00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:37,840 This list came out, of video nasties, 261 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:40,040 to try and make everything clearer for people. 262 00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:43,120 "This is harmful. This is offensive." 263 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:45,400 REPORTER: The image the campaigners presented 264 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:48,440 was of children having unrestricted access to horrific videos. 265 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:53,560 The hysterical horror headlines forced our government into action. 266 00:12:53,560 --> 00:12:57,080 Such was the outcry, Members of Parliament panicked. 267 00:12:57,080 --> 00:13:00,200 I was on the standing committee that went through the bill 268 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:03,320 on video nasties that eventually became law. 269 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:06,880 The idea was that we would be able to categorise 270 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:08,440 the nastiness of videos, 271 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:10,400 so some would be banned outright, 272 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:12,560 others would be restricted. 273 00:13:12,560 --> 00:13:14,760 I was rather a sceptic. 274 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:19,080 There was a danger we were actually glamorising video nasties, 275 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:22,080 but it answered the media and, to some extent, 276 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:23,800 public demand that the government should, 277 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:26,080 in inverted commas, do something. 278 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:31,760 1984's Video Recordings Act banned 72 nasties outright. 279 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:36,040 Shame, I rather fancied Zombie Creeping Flesh. 280 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:38,920 There have been many moral panic moments, 281 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:43,800 and when there's moral panic around something in society 282 00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:45,280 which terrifies people, 283 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:48,160 that's the moment when they can push through bans. 284 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:53,160 There were classic movies she had a problem with, like Evil Dead! 285 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:55,880 How can you have a problem with Evil Dead? 286 00:13:55,880 --> 00:13:57,200 It's so funny! 287 00:13:57,200 --> 00:13:59,640 Mary Whitehouse explained her logic, 288 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:03,600 and it's an argument that's still raging four decades later. 289 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:06,680 Just as drugs are obsessional, 290 00:14:06,680 --> 00:14:12,040 so getting hooked on violence can be obsessional, too. 291 00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:15,480 My actual view back to her is we're not puppets, 292 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:17,720 we don't do the things which we watch. 293 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:19,720 I watched Superman 294 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:23,640 and I felt no desire to jump out of the window and pretend to fly. 295 00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:27,840 I actually think the horrific things give us moments of catharsis. 296 00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:29,440 But the big question was, 297 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:33,520 what did Mary herself make of a video nasty's content? 298 00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:37,280 I haven't seen it. I have far too much respect for my mind 299 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:39,080 ever to look at these things. 300 00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:41,760 That National Viewers' and Listeners' Association, 301 00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:43,760 it wielded an extraordinary power. 302 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:46,800 But then again, in a democracy, I suppose fair play to her. 303 00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:48,760 If I have any power, 304 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:52,760 it is because it is acknowledged that our association 305 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:55,720 speaks for the considerable voice in the country. 306 00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:57,000 Maybe she had a point. 307 00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:01,920 She was opening up a question around what is the limit of free speech. 308 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:06,280 Is it really OK to show rape and paedophilia 309 00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:08,080 and incest and murder and horror? 310 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:10,120 What are the limits of what's acceptable? 311 00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:13,000 There always will be in this battle between 312 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:15,040 what broadcasters and film-makers 313 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:17,240 and programme makers want to put out, 314 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:20,480 and what the so-called kind of pillars of society 315 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:23,160 feel that we should be watching. 316 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:26,880 So in 1984's heavyweight bout between moral crusaders 317 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:30,560 and controversy, round one goes to the crusaders. 318 00:15:30,560 --> 00:15:32,440 But seconds away - round two, 319 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:37,160 in which the fighters against immorality square up to pop music. 320 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:39,640 Another story of the pop singer turned impresario, 321 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:42,600 who's making a great success of his new career 322 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:44,200 producing unknown bands. 323 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:46,400 He's Trevor Horn. 324 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:52,400 In 1983, former Yes and Buggles singer Trevor Horn 325 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:56,120 set up his own record label ZTT along with his wife, 326 00:15:56,120 --> 00:16:01,000 Jill Sinclair, and former NME journalist Paul Morley. 327 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:03,200 The trio believed they knew exactly 328 00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:06,720 what the record-buying public were craving. 329 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:09,680 Pop music is about sex and about reproduction, 330 00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:12,960 because the kids who buy records are between the ages of about 12 and 25, 331 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:15,320 and mating is all that they have on their mind. 332 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:19,080 And Liverpool's horny hopefuls - Frankie Goes To Hollywood - 333 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:23,320 were a band keen to kick pop's old guard out of the charts. 334 00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:27,000 Somebody like Rod Stewart always, to me, looks like a dirty old uncle, 335 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:29,320 and I thought Frankie looked much healthier. 336 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:31,840 They were just sort of raw lust, you know? 337 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:34,680 Holly, why did the Frankies sign to ZTT? 338 00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:40,120 Well, no-one would touch us with a barge pole! 339 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:43,920 The recording relationship was a match made in heaven 340 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:47,280 and would lead to the most controversial debut single 341 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:51,120 of all time, with its own explicit video nasty, 342 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:52,960 which, naturally, we lapped up. 343 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:56,360 # Relax, don't do it 344 00:16:56,360 --> 00:16:58,120 # When you wanna go do it... # 345 00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:00,680 It was clearly the greatest record of its time. 346 00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:02,520 # When you wanna come... # 347 00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:06,360 The video was outrageous. Very, very sexual. 348 00:17:06,360 --> 00:17:09,120 # Relax, don't do it... # 349 00:17:09,120 --> 00:17:10,560 It was quite an eye-opener. 350 00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:14,360 Oh, my God. It's so naughty! 351 00:17:14,360 --> 00:17:16,640 # When you wanna come... # 352 00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:20,240 It's not about gardening, is it? 353 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:24,160 I do remember thinking, "This is a bit near the knuckle," 354 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:26,360 or other bits of your anatomy. 355 00:17:26,360 --> 00:17:30,760 It was so beautifully designed to cause the maximum amount of trouble. 356 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:39,080 ZTT's plan to provoke moral outrage left nothing to chance. 357 00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:42,960 In the end event, you know, we're in business. 358 00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:45,800 It wasn't just the record itself, which is quite steamy, 359 00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:48,040 it was the iconography that went with it - 360 00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:50,240 the slightly rude sleeve. 361 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:53,800 Two people in sort of bondage gear, they're back to back. 362 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:55,640 It just looks raunchy. 363 00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:58,640 And that's where the record company, ZTT, they won, 364 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:00,880 they managed to create controversy. 365 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:03,280 The last thing you want to be is another record label. 366 00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:05,120 You have to be a little bit special. 367 00:18:05,120 --> 00:18:06,720 Racy video, tick. 368 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:08,880 Catchy-but-naughty single, tick. 369 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:11,040 Playlisted on radio, tick. 370 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:12,800 The plan was coming together, 371 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:15,040 but deep in the bowels of Broadcasting House, 372 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:17,360 somebody was not relaxed, 373 00:18:17,360 --> 00:18:19,320 not relaxed at all. 374 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:24,400 Mike Read, the Radio 1 disc jockey, decided he was appalled 375 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:27,120 by the subject matter of this record 376 00:18:27,120 --> 00:18:30,480 and declares that he will not play it any more. 377 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:33,160 Mike Read, who's quite fond of making a fool of himself, 378 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:37,400 suddenly decided that he was going to be the nation's conscience, 379 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:40,840 and that he couldn't possibly put up with this pornographic piffle 380 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:42,320 on his dear radio show. 381 00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:46,280 Radio 1 producer and knitwear fan David Atkey 382 00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:49,160 attempted to explain the ban to singer Holly Johnson. 383 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:51,760 I found the lyrics objectionable, 384 00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:54,440 and I felt that the record could offend 385 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:56,720 a majority of our listening audience. 386 00:18:56,720 --> 00:19:00,280 I'm quite outraged by the way I've kind of almost been slandered 387 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:03,200 and said, you know, I sing disgusting lyrics. 388 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:04,760 It is a description of a sexual act. 389 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:08,000 "Relax, don't do it," you know? 390 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:10,280 "Till you want to come." Where is the sexual act? 391 00:19:10,280 --> 00:19:12,760 Well, come on, explain further. 392 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:13,760 I don't think I need to. 393 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:17,640 Good try, Holly, but no cigar. 394 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:19,840 The BBC often gets itself in a bit of a tizz, 395 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:21,200 and particularly did back then, 396 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:23,360 it did with the Sex Pistols and God Save The Queen 397 00:19:23,360 --> 00:19:24,920 and all of that. 398 00:19:24,920 --> 00:19:27,640 And, of course, they just looked a bit old-fashioned. 399 00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:30,400 What really seemed to get up people's noses was 400 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:33,760 it was really overtly a gay anthem. 401 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:36,080 A lot of people found that really shocking. 402 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:37,640 They scared the establishment. 403 00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:39,880 It was like, "Oh, there's gay men talking about gay sex, 404 00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:42,360 "and we don't want anything to do with that." 405 00:19:42,360 --> 00:19:45,000 There's no doubt that a lot of the vitriol levelled at 406 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:47,200 Frankie Goes To Hollywood at the time 407 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:51,480 was a fallout from homophobia, which was rife at the time - 408 00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:53,720 you only have to look at the rhetoric of the tabloids. 409 00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:55,760 You know, we're in the middle of the AIDS pandemic. 410 00:19:55,760 --> 00:19:58,400 Personally, for me, growing up as a gay man at the time, 411 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:01,040 I remember that rhetoric very, very vividly. 412 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:03,600 If this blitzkrieg of negative publicity was designed 413 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:05,920 to shut Frankie up, it really didn't work. 414 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:10,440 The more people tried to suppress it, the more it was everywhere. 415 00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:14,840 The Frankie T-shirt was everywhere, the Frankie slogans were everywhere. 416 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:17,400 By banning it, they turned it into the biggest hit of the year. 417 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:20,680 Obviously, this is fantastic for Frankie Goes To Hollywood 418 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:23,200 and the powers at ZTT behind it, 419 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:25,680 they'd have been delighted by this. 420 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:29,400 ZTT's master plan to stir up a storm had played out 421 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:31,200 exactly as they intended. 422 00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:34,320 The minute something got banned, 423 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:36,200 we were obsessed with it at our school. 424 00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:38,960 Someone says, "Have you heard this track, Frankie - Relax?" 425 00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:40,720 "No, what is it?" "It's been banned!" 426 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:42,360 "How do I hear it?" 427 00:20:42,360 --> 00:20:45,480 I was 12 years old, I didn't know why it had been banned 428 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:47,680 because I didn't know the language. 429 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:49,640 Mike Read was an absolute muppet 430 00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:51,560 because most of the people were just buying it 431 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:53,600 cos it was a great pop song. 432 00:20:53,600 --> 00:20:57,920 DJs thought that they were on the side of the child 433 00:20:57,920 --> 00:20:59,640 and the moral high ground, 434 00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:02,920 but all they were doing was clearing the path through to number one. 435 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:07,600 Relax would hit the top spot in ten different countries 436 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:10,440 and even make the top ten in the United States... 437 00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:13,240 It was huge in America. 438 00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:15,920 ..a country not normally known for its sexual liberalism 439 00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:17,800 and experimentation. 440 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:22,880 I think, basically, us Americans, all we heard was "Relax"! 441 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:24,920 So why didn't the BBC relax? 442 00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:26,680 SHE LAUGHS 443 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:30,760 While Frankie Goes To Hollywood's entire reputation 444 00:21:30,760 --> 00:21:32,960 came from courting controversy, 445 00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:35,280 one British band had so far managed 446 00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:39,040 to steer away from anything remotely contentious - 447 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:41,320 Bucks Fizz. 448 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:44,000 # You gotta speed it up 449 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:46,600 # And then you gotta slow it down... # 450 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:47,840 I was a massive fan. 451 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:50,360 The first record I ever bought was a Bucks Fizz record. 452 00:21:50,360 --> 00:21:51,800 I just thought they were brilliant. 453 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:55,160 They were our version of Abba. 454 00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:56,640 # For making your mind up... # 455 00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:58,400 Bucks Fizz were literally put together 456 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:00,080 like the ingredients in a cake. 457 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:03,800 The icing on that cake was winning the Eurovision Song Contest 458 00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:07,480 only four months after their formation. 459 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:09,520 So, from being nowhere and nobody, 460 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:14,400 that short period of time, life changed completely. 461 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:17,080 Making Your Mind Up hit number one in the UK charts 462 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:21,640 as fans lapped up the group's catchy music and wholesome image. 463 00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:26,320 Bucks Fizz were really squeaky, squeaky clean. 464 00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:30,080 I mean, they were like squeaky clean and some polish on top. 465 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:33,160 Although, looking back at their iconic dance routine, 466 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:36,760 perhaps we shouldn't, erm, skirt the issue. 467 00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:39,720 Back then, it wasn't controversial to rip our skirts off, 468 00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:42,480 not in the slightest - and we didn't mind, either. 469 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:46,440 We just thought it's great telly, it'll be an eye-opener. 470 00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:48,440 I think it won the Eurovision Song Contest for us. 471 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:50,480 In an age of video nasties, 472 00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:54,160 a minor skirts removal hardly registered on the shock dial. 473 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:57,760 For the next three years, the Fizz were everywhere. 474 00:22:57,760 --> 00:22:59,320 Ladies and gentlemen, Bucks Fizz. 475 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:01,920 Bucks Fizz. Bucks Fizz. 476 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:05,320 1984 saw the group riding the crest of a wave. 477 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:09,040 We were on a sold-out tour, enjoying life, 478 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:10,840 really having the best time. 479 00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:13,360 But a few fateful seconds in Newcastle 480 00:23:13,360 --> 00:23:16,840 brought the band's dreams to a crashing halt. 481 00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:18,480 We did the gig, it was fantastic. 482 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:22,680 We got on the coach, got a vodka tonic, sat down, 483 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:24,640 you know, really beautiful coach. 484 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:31,960 SIREN BLARES 485 00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:34,640 And the next thing I remember is lying on the road. 486 00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:36,840 Two members of the Bucks Fizz pop group 487 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:39,480 have been badly injured in a road accident in Newcastle. 488 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:42,400 A total of 15 people were hurt when the group's coach 489 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:43,920 collided with an articulated lorry 490 00:23:43,920 --> 00:23:45,960 on the Great North Road during the night. 491 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:50,200 Singers Cheryl Baker and Mike Nolan and two members of the backing band 492 00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:53,680 were thrown through the coach's windscreen. 493 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:57,240 I just remember waking up and blue flashing lights 494 00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:02,120 and voices - "Cheryl, Cheryl, wake up, Cheryl." 495 00:24:02,120 --> 00:24:06,000 It was like my mum waking me up to go to school, 496 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:07,880 and I wanted to say to her, 497 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:10,760 "Five more minutes, Mum, five more minutes." 498 00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:14,040 The injured were rushed to a local hospital. 499 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:17,680 The first thing I did was move my legs, and I could move them. 500 00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:20,120 But my back was broken. 501 00:24:20,120 --> 00:24:24,600 Somehow, singers Jay Aston and Bobby G escaped serious injury. 502 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:28,400 It felt, first of all, that we was braking heavily, 503 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:30,240 and then it just became more intense, 504 00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:32,520 and we were just hurled through the coach. 505 00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:37,840 From external injuries alone, it seemed Cheryl had come out worse. 506 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:44,360 I remember lying flat and them picking glass out of me. 507 00:24:44,360 --> 00:24:48,160 And the next morning, Mike Nolan came in to see me and he went, 508 00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:49,480 "You all right?" 509 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:53,000 And I went, "Oh blimey, Mike. If your fans could see you now." 510 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:56,040 Cos, like me, his hair was full of blood and glass. 511 00:24:56,040 --> 00:24:58,440 And he went, "Oh, don't make me laugh, Cheryl, 512 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:00,080 "I've got such a headache, 513 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:02,080 "and they won't give me any tablets." 514 00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:05,400 And that evening, he slipped into a coma 515 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:07,880 and was rushed off to the general hospital 516 00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:09,840 to remove a blood clot on the brain. 517 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:10,960 So... 518 00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:13,040 Oh, I'm getting upset now. 519 00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:17,360 His condition is critical and may either deteriorate, 520 00:25:17,360 --> 00:25:21,080 possibly to a fatal outcome, or he may cover. 521 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:24,640 I don't think I realised how serious it was. 522 00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:26,440 Mike Nolan nearly died. 523 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:28,960 It was really touch and go. 524 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:30,320 He had the last rites. 525 00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:35,040 He was revived three times with CPR. 526 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:36,360 On the edge of death, 527 00:25:36,360 --> 00:25:39,800 miraculously, Mike Nolan pulled through. 528 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:42,640 I don't know what happened, I can't remember what happened. 529 00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:47,160 All I know was it was just this big crash and I had a clot, 530 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:49,720 and they had 11 minutes to release it, 531 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:53,400 otherwise I would've been brain dead, they reckon. 532 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:56,560 It took a long time for Mike to get over the coach crash. 533 00:25:56,560 --> 00:25:58,240 In fact, he's still getting over it now. 534 00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:01,280 When you're involved in something that catastrophic, 535 00:26:01,280 --> 00:26:03,600 I don't think it ever leaves you. 536 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:06,200 For many years he was very, very ill. 537 00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:08,080 He wasn't the same. 538 00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:10,160 He lost his spark for many years. 539 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:13,280 People have said to me that the old Mike that I was 540 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:16,160 has never come back. I'm now a better Mike. 541 00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:18,040 You've gotta back me up on that. 542 00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:20,200 Yes, it's right. LAUGHTER 543 00:26:20,200 --> 00:26:22,120 When I look at the coach I think, 544 00:26:22,120 --> 00:26:24,320 "How did anyone get out of that alive? 545 00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:26,160 "How did anybody live after that crash?" 546 00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:31,360 Shattered by their experience, the band were never the same again. 547 00:26:31,360 --> 00:26:35,200 That accident brought to light so many things - 548 00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:37,840 all of the arguments behind the scenes. 549 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:39,960 It was really the crash that exploded the band. 550 00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:46,000 Four decades on, with '80s revivals soaring in popularity, 551 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:49,440 the Fizz are back as a three piece, without singer Bobby G, 552 00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:52,880 and are once again pulling in the crowds. 553 00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:54,160 It's fantastic. 554 00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:56,360 Got back together, me, Mike and Jay, 555 00:26:56,360 --> 00:26:58,640 and we still rip the skirts off. 556 00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:00,760 It is wonderful that we can still do that. 557 00:27:02,120 --> 00:27:08,600 In 1984, no-one was off limits when it came to creating controversy. 558 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:11,000 We were certain that Margaret watched it 559 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:14,680 because she changed to look more like her puppet. 560 00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:16,880 And the press were getting better and better 561 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:19,560 at dragging secret affairs into daylight. 562 00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:21,560 Everybody was completely gobsmacked. 563 00:27:21,560 --> 00:27:23,280 She was just a child. 564 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:29,720 We're dusting down the Trimphone 565 00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:32,680 and dialling back to the controversies of 1984... 566 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:34,880 It was shocking being there. 567 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:38,360 ..when celebrity gossip got juicier than ever before... 568 00:27:38,360 --> 00:27:42,080 We are obsessed by the relationships in the tabloids. 569 00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:44,480 ..and political satire was once again 570 00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:46,840 raising its ugly head on TV. 571 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:48,280 Evening, evening. 572 00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:50,840 It's lovely to be here, isn't it, Roy? Yes it is, Neil. 573 00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:53,400 And that may well be controversial. 574 00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:59,360 Spitting Image was a satirical rubberised puppet show 575 00:27:59,360 --> 00:28:02,200 which took the mick out of the headlines of the day... 576 00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:04,680 April Fool! 577 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:07,840 ..in the most cutting and clever 578 00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:11,000 and yet grotesque and laughable way possible. 579 00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:16,360 We'd been in the grip of Margaret Thatcher's government, 580 00:28:16,360 --> 00:28:18,560 and many people did not like it, 581 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:23,680 and so to have these puppets making complete fools 582 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:27,040 of all these stupid politicians was fantastic. 583 00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:28,600 Everyone had to watch Spitting Image, 584 00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:30,760 cos we'd all be talking about it on Monday morning. 585 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:32,960 I'm Mary Whitehouse. 586 00:28:32,960 --> 00:28:36,120 I didn't actually see Spitting Image last week, 587 00:28:36,120 --> 00:28:38,520 but it was disgusting. 588 00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:41,200 Millions and millions of people were tuning in 589 00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:44,200 to watch politicians whacking each other over the head, 590 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:46,800 and suddenly, political satire was huge again. 591 00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:48,120 Hungry for led, Ed. 592 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:51,360 While some laughed, many others scowled. 593 00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:53,160 I'm not sure of the purpose of the programme, 594 00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:56,120 cos it's not really very funny, it's not really very satirical, 595 00:28:56,120 --> 00:28:58,000 you don't learn anything new. 596 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:00,560 Mrs Thatcher is made to look very ugly. 597 00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:02,960 Now, she has many defects, according to some people, 598 00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:05,520 but ugliness is not one of them. 599 00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:07,160 It is a little bit cruel. 600 00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:09,480 Do you bother about what people think? 601 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:10,920 Yes, we do. 602 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:15,200 I'm glad that he does find it's irresponsible and disrespectful 603 00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:17,440 because that is exactly what it's supposed to be. 604 00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:21,040 Politicians across all parties were ruthlessly parodied. 605 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:28,200 Don't dawdle, Geoffrey, or I'll send you to Northern Ireland. 606 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:32,600 Naturally, MPs were way too busy to be concerned with the show. 607 00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:34,160 Everybody watched it, 608 00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:36,320 and then you'd come into work the next morning going, 609 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:38,080 "He-he-he." 610 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:41,560 So those who were on sometimes wished that they weren't, 611 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:44,080 and those that were not on the show 612 00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:46,240 recognised that they weren't important enough 613 00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:48,280 or well enough known. 614 00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:49,920 Conservative Edwina Currie, 615 00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:53,080 a relatively unknown backbencher at the time, 616 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:55,320 was keen to up her profile. 617 00:29:55,320 --> 00:29:57,360 We did eventually have a puppet of Edwina Currie, 618 00:29:57,360 --> 00:29:59,880 and of course, she was delighted about this. 619 00:29:59,880 --> 00:30:01,720 I think she sent in a lock of her hair, 620 00:30:01,720 --> 00:30:03,160 so that we got that right. 621 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:06,840 It was a kind of double-edged sword, if you like. 622 00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:12,160 Suddenly 10, 12, 13 million people knew who you were, 623 00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:14,800 but they thought you were just like your puppet. 624 00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:18,080 They didn't see the subtleties or, God help me, 625 00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:22,800 the intelligence or anything that you were trying to say. 626 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:24,520 While rising comedy stars 627 00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:29,040 like Harry Enfield and Chris Barrie provided some voices... 628 00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:31,720 When I became president, someone told me I had a voice. 629 00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:33,680 Then I opened my mouth - ah-ha-ha - 630 00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:35,080 and here it came. 631 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:39,000 ..it was 22-year-old Steve Nallon's on-the-money impression 632 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:42,440 of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher that stole the show. 633 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:47,200 She was the greatest comic gift of the 20th century 634 00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:50,240 for comedians and satirists. 635 00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:53,160 You couldn't have invented her. 636 00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:55,440 I got the job on Spitting Image writing to John Lloyd, 637 00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:56,800 who was the producer. 638 00:30:56,800 --> 00:30:58,560 The audition wasn't really an audition, 639 00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:02,560 what happened was he asked me a question as Mrs Thatcher.. 640 00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:05,160 AS MARGARET THATCHER: ..and I answered it as Mrs Thatcher. 641 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:08,720 And, goodness me, I think the way my body moved, 642 00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:10,720 the way my hands moved, 643 00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:15,640 the way I expressed myself, that got me the job to a degree. 644 00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:18,360 NORMAL VOICE: And then Roger Law came in, who was the puppet maker, 645 00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:21,240 and John said, "This guy is going to do Mrs Thatcher." 646 00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:24,440 And Rodgers said, "Do her, then." 647 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:30,560 And I said, "Goodness me, Mr Law, I do not take orders from men!" 648 00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:34,600 And he burst out laughing, and we've been friends ever since. 649 00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:37,880 You know, Spitting Image portrayed me as someone who is out of touch, 650 00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:39,960 someone who has no humanity. 651 00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:43,840 Well, the truth is, I care. I care a great deal. 652 00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:46,720 I care, I care, I care, and don't you ever forget it! 653 00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:48,400 We never will, 654 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:53,560 but did the real Mrs T care enough to check out her latex counterpart? 655 00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:57,360 We were certain that Margaret watched it, absolutely certain. 656 00:31:57,360 --> 00:31:59,200 Why were we certain? 657 00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:03,840 Because she changed to look more like her puppet. 658 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:08,400 At the beginning of her time in office, she was quite nervous, 659 00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:12,360 quite shy, and she wore little kind of pussy bows, 660 00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:14,160 and she had a slightly high voice. 661 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:15,840 Goodness, it's as well you didn't 662 00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:18,080 live in the time of Queen Elizabeth I, isn't it? 663 00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:20,000 Then along comes Spitting Image 664 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:24,360 with a much deeper voice and a man's suit... 665 00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:27,200 Are you trying to tell me, you fat, spotty oaf, 666 00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:29,600 that I can't kill anyone I choose? 667 00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:32,200 ..and next thing we know, Margaret's wearing dark suits 668 00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:33,720 with little white revers, 669 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:37,400 and her voice has become more authoritative. 670 00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:40,800 While Mrs Thatcher was an easy target, 671 00:32:40,800 --> 00:32:43,280 the royal family didn't escape the derision, either. 672 00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:48,480 There's plenty of excess fat in the monarchy. 673 00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:50,120 You leave my sister out of this! 674 00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:53,160 I understand that the royal family didn't really like it much, 675 00:32:53,160 --> 00:32:55,360 apart from Diana, who thought it was fantastic, 676 00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:57,880 but then of course, she would, cos she was like the rest of us, 677 00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:00,200 we all wanted to poke fun at anything stuffy or anything 678 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:02,960 that was ridiculous. 679 00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:06,560 Its take-no-prisoners portrayal of royals and politicians 680 00:33:06,560 --> 00:33:09,040 made Spitting Image one of the most successful 681 00:33:09,040 --> 00:33:11,640 and controversial satires ever. 682 00:33:11,640 --> 00:33:14,760 But what happens when your number-one target 683 00:33:14,760 --> 00:33:17,360 is ousted as prime minister? 684 00:33:17,360 --> 00:33:20,400 As you know, I won't be here forever. 685 00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:22,960 GASPS And my successor, well, 686 00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:26,200 might be someone from round this table. 687 00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:29,800 New PM John Major's quiet and unassuming front 688 00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:33,720 was a far cry from Thatcher's aggressive and forceful nature. 689 00:33:33,720 --> 00:33:37,400 We were the guys who had to decide how to portray John Major. 690 00:33:37,400 --> 00:33:40,560 We were trying to pin down the ordinariness of him. 691 00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:42,720 I said, "Well, imagine if he was always grey 692 00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:44,120 "and everything else was in colour," 693 00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:45,560 and they just painted him grey, 694 00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:47,520 put him in a grey suit, and it looked fantastic. 695 00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:50,200 These peas are rounder than usual. 696 00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:54,440 We'd film him having his tea with Norma 697 00:33:54,440 --> 00:33:56,360 and always eating peas, for some reason. 698 00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:57,560 We just thought it was funny 699 00:33:57,560 --> 00:33:59,840 that he had the most boring vegetable you can think of. 700 00:33:59,840 --> 00:34:02,320 They're the same ones I normally buy. 701 00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:04,520 Oh, I don't mind. 702 00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:05,760 Oh, good. 703 00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:08,680 But peas can only take satire so far. 704 00:34:08,680 --> 00:34:10,600 The writers needed some drama 705 00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:13,760 and invented a situation that could never happen. 706 00:34:13,760 --> 00:34:15,400 Not ever. 707 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:17,880 We thought, "Wouldn't it be fun if we had him 708 00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:19,120 "maybe having an affair?" 709 00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:21,480 So we sat around and went, "Well, who should it be?" 710 00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:24,200 "Edwina Currie, well, no, she's not around so much these days. 711 00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:25,680 "What about Virginia Bottomley?" 712 00:34:25,680 --> 00:34:30,400 Cooee! I got your message, I came as soon as I could. 713 00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:32,360 Yes, John, I think we've got to talk. 714 00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:33,800 Oh, so do I. 715 00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:35,600 The nation loved this naughty idea 716 00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:37,120 that John Major was having an affair. 717 00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:40,000 But in a shocking real-life twist, 718 00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:42,920 choosing Conservative MP Virginia Bottomley 719 00:34:42,920 --> 00:34:45,320 was the wrong option. 720 00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:48,000 When I saw John Major's rather grey image, 721 00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:51,800 I had a private giggle to myself along the lines of, 722 00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:53,680 "Oh, you don't know him. 723 00:34:53,680 --> 00:34:56,160 "That might be the image he's portraying, 724 00:34:56,160 --> 00:34:57,880 "but that isn't him." 725 00:34:57,880 --> 00:34:59,640 And Edwina would know, 726 00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:01,880 after revelations in her published diaries 727 00:35:01,880 --> 00:35:04,120 took everyone by surprise. 728 00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:06,360 We so nearly chose Edwina Currie, 729 00:35:06,360 --> 00:35:09,880 not knowing that he'd had an affair with Edwina Currie. 730 00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:11,480 The news would stun the nation, 731 00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:15,360 and inject some colour into John Major's image. 732 00:35:15,360 --> 00:35:19,880 The reason why Edwina Currie saying she'd an affair with John Major 733 00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:22,720 is just beyond most of us 734 00:35:22,720 --> 00:35:26,760 is because not so much her, but him! 735 00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:28,400 So this guy that we've all gone, 736 00:35:28,400 --> 00:35:31,760 "He's the grey man, you know, he's so boring." 737 00:35:31,760 --> 00:35:34,920 Back in '84, when went we were all laughing at Spitting Image, 738 00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:36,400 they were at it! 739 00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:38,640 That is shocking! 740 00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:42,840 You can imagine I'm in the House of Commons, 741 00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:45,560 there are 23 women in the entire House of Commons, 742 00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:47,960 with over 600 men, 743 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:51,120 we're getting propositioned all the time. 744 00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:55,520 Sometimes in a nice way, sometimes in a not very nice way. 745 00:35:55,520 --> 00:35:58,560 And occasionally we see somebody that, actually, 746 00:35:58,560 --> 00:36:02,120 we do rather fancy and we do rather like 747 00:36:02,120 --> 00:36:05,480 and we do rather think might be trustworthy 748 00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:08,520 and be a closer friend than some of the others. 749 00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:11,120 That's what he came across as, at least to me. 750 00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:20,960 Edwina Currie was 38 in 1984, John Major was 41. 751 00:36:20,960 --> 00:36:23,720 I only mention that because our next controversial couple 752 00:36:23,720 --> 00:36:26,320 had a 34-year age difference. 753 00:36:26,320 --> 00:36:28,600 Meet the Rolling Stone and the schoolgirl. 754 00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:31,800 Bill Wyman and Mandy Smith... 755 00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:33,600 SHE INHALES SHARPLY 756 00:36:35,600 --> 00:36:39,000 He said in his autobiography that she looked like a woman, 757 00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:42,520 but in reality, she was just a child. 758 00:36:42,520 --> 00:36:45,320 It was all a bit tawdry. 759 00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:48,160 She was a part of this wild-child scene, 760 00:36:48,160 --> 00:36:50,400 all over the covers of The Sun 761 00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:53,320 with these basically out-of-control youngsters 762 00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:55,520 who were behaving way beyond their years. 763 00:36:55,520 --> 00:36:58,800 Now, admittedly, he thought that she was older but still, 764 00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:01,480 even if she'd been legal, even if she'd been 16, 765 00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:03,680 she was still too young for him. 766 00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:08,440 The couple did at least wait a few years before tying the knot. 767 00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:12,720 He's 52, she's nearly 19, and they married today. 768 00:37:12,720 --> 00:37:14,440 Bill Wyman and Mandy Smith. 769 00:37:14,440 --> 00:37:17,560 Even then, as a schoolboy, I'm looking at it going, 770 00:37:17,560 --> 00:37:20,560 "What, he's marrying her?" 771 00:37:20,560 --> 00:37:23,120 "But, hang on, isn't she just the year above me at school? 772 00:37:23,120 --> 00:37:25,520 "How...? Really? Really?" 773 00:37:25,520 --> 00:37:27,920 Mandy's mother is younger than you. 774 00:37:27,920 --> 00:37:29,360 Yes. Yes. 775 00:37:29,360 --> 00:37:32,080 It's confusing, isn't it? CHEERING 776 00:37:32,080 --> 00:37:33,760 Hold on, can we rewind that reaction? 777 00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:35,840 Mandy's mother is younger than you. 778 00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:36,880 Yes. Yes. 779 00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:38,840 It's confusing, isn't it? CHEERING 780 00:37:38,840 --> 00:37:42,840 Can you imagine an audience doing that now? 781 00:37:42,840 --> 00:37:45,200 I remember thinking, if the boot was on the other foot, 782 00:37:45,200 --> 00:37:48,840 I'm not sure I'd want to go on a national chat show with a woman 783 00:37:48,840 --> 00:37:51,320 that was double my age and say we'd just got married. 784 00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:53,840 But I remember looking around the room and everyone else going, 785 00:37:53,840 --> 00:37:55,000 "No, it's fine, it's fine. 786 00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:57,000 "They've just got married. Of course they have." 787 00:37:57,000 --> 00:37:58,600 At the time, there was a lot of blame 788 00:37:58,600 --> 00:38:01,840 attached to her as well as him, 789 00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:04,880 said she was a bad role model for young women. 790 00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:08,040 It's unfair. That relationship was very damaging for her. 791 00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:10,080 This is forever, isn't it? 792 00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:12,960 I hope so. That's what it's about, isn't it? 793 00:38:14,440 --> 00:38:19,240 If forever means two years, then, yes, they were married forever, 794 00:38:19,240 --> 00:38:22,840 and the 1984 controversial couplings keep coming. 795 00:38:22,840 --> 00:38:24,960 Step forward another music legend. 796 00:38:26,240 --> 00:38:29,400 The rock star Elton John was married in Australia this morning. 797 00:38:29,400 --> 00:38:33,240 His bride was a German recording studio engineer, Renate Blauel. 798 00:38:33,240 --> 00:38:35,000 Everybody was completely gobsmacked. 799 00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:36,960 I remember somebody writing was saying, 800 00:38:36,960 --> 00:38:38,520 "I'm Still Standing is one of his hits, 801 00:38:38,520 --> 00:38:40,840 "but the rest of us are on the floor." 802 00:38:40,840 --> 00:38:43,600 He'd announced his engagement on Friday, 803 00:38:43,600 --> 00:38:45,680 and, under New South Wales' laws, 804 00:38:45,680 --> 00:38:48,160 would normally have had to wait a month before the wedding. 805 00:38:48,160 --> 00:38:50,960 After publicly declaring his bisexuality in the '70s 806 00:38:50,960 --> 00:38:54,320 and after rumours of many male lovers, 807 00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:58,080 Elton's sudden marriage to a woman was the last thing anyone expected. 808 00:38:58,080 --> 00:39:02,480 Renate was a studio engineer, obviously very talented musically, 809 00:39:02,480 --> 00:39:06,240 and Elton and she had a great bond 810 00:39:06,240 --> 00:39:09,800 already formed through the music. 811 00:39:09,800 --> 00:39:14,920 He met Renate in an island called Montserrat. 812 00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:16,680 They'd gone out to dinner, 813 00:39:16,680 --> 00:39:20,040 and I think Elton was really sick of falling in love with men 814 00:39:20,040 --> 00:39:21,880 who didn't fall in love back with him, 815 00:39:21,880 --> 00:39:23,160 who didn't reciprocate. 816 00:39:23,160 --> 00:39:27,400 Once again, Wogan was on the controversy front line. 817 00:39:27,400 --> 00:39:29,760 Was it a whirlwind romance, or had you been... 818 00:39:29,760 --> 00:39:31,800 cogitating it for a long time? 819 00:39:31,800 --> 00:39:35,000 Well, I'd often done that. But it was, yes, 820 00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:37,880 it was kind of whirlwind. But I'd met her before. 821 00:39:37,880 --> 00:39:41,000 Renate is an engineer,, and there was just a chemistry 822 00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:42,960 between the two of us, and I had no doubts, 823 00:39:42,960 --> 00:39:44,440 and I thought that, in my time in life, 824 00:39:44,440 --> 00:39:45,960 it was about time I took the plunge. 825 00:39:45,960 --> 00:39:48,880 I don't really remember him coming out as bisexual or whatever, 826 00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:51,640 I just loved him and I was thrilled he'd got married, 827 00:39:51,640 --> 00:39:53,000 and she had a fabulous dress on. 828 00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:57,080 So there was kind of no judgement. 829 00:39:57,080 --> 00:39:59,080 I can sympathise with Elton 830 00:39:59,080 --> 00:40:03,120 in deciding that a marriage was a good idea. 831 00:40:03,120 --> 00:40:05,320 As it happens, it wasn't a good idea. 832 00:40:05,320 --> 00:40:08,400 People were panicking in those days, and they thought, 833 00:40:08,400 --> 00:40:11,280 "What can we do to get out of this?" 834 00:40:11,280 --> 00:40:14,960 And the answer was to find someone that you could marry. 835 00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:18,600 Elton and Renate's relationship would last twice as long 836 00:40:18,600 --> 00:40:20,000 as Bill and Mandy's, 837 00:40:20,000 --> 00:40:23,200 with the couple divorcing after four years. 838 00:40:23,200 --> 00:40:24,960 You can't live a lie, 839 00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:29,680 and, sadly, you know, that didn't work out. 840 00:40:29,680 --> 00:40:31,240 But he genuinely loved her. 841 00:40:31,240 --> 00:40:34,000 He really genuinely loved her. 842 00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:36,360 I think they were very good friends. 843 00:40:38,560 --> 00:40:41,080 One celebrity couple whose relationship 844 00:40:41,080 --> 00:40:44,040 was unquestionably built to last was the McCartneys'. 845 00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:49,160 But in 1984, they hit the headlines after being issued a ticket to ride 846 00:40:49,160 --> 00:40:51,560 to the local nick. 847 00:40:51,560 --> 00:40:54,760 Linda McCartney, the wife of pop singer Paul McCartney, 848 00:40:54,760 --> 00:40:56,960 was arrested at Heathrow Airport this afternoon 849 00:40:56,960 --> 00:40:59,160 and charged with possessing cannabis. 850 00:40:59,160 --> 00:41:01,360 She'll appear in court later this month. 851 00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:04,880 Paul McCartney and his family had arrived back from Barbados, 852 00:41:04,880 --> 00:41:06,720 where he'd been fined £70 853 00:41:06,720 --> 00:41:09,840 for possessing a small amount of cannabis. 854 00:41:09,840 --> 00:41:14,640 Most pop stars would be contrite, but McCartney isn't most pop stars, 855 00:41:14,640 --> 00:41:18,920 and he dug in and doubled down, regardless of the consequences. 856 00:41:18,920 --> 00:41:21,960 Now, whatever you think, and whatever you think I've done, 857 00:41:21,960 --> 00:41:25,240 I'm telling you, this substance, cannabis, 858 00:41:25,240 --> 00:41:30,360 is a whole lot less harmful than rum punch, whisky, 859 00:41:30,360 --> 00:41:35,000 nicotine and glue, all of which are perfectly legal. 860 00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:37,640 It's so sort of almost normalised now, 861 00:41:37,640 --> 00:41:39,480 where then it was so sort of demonised. 862 00:41:39,480 --> 00:41:42,840 "Oh, my God, he's smoking weed." It's like the devil incarnate. 863 00:41:42,840 --> 00:41:44,240 What about your children? 864 00:41:44,240 --> 00:41:46,040 I would like to see it decriminalised 865 00:41:46,040 --> 00:41:49,520 because I don't think, in the privacy of my own room, 866 00:41:49,520 --> 00:41:51,720 I was doing anyone any harm whatsoever. 867 00:41:51,720 --> 00:41:54,520 Well, you've got to start off by saying that Paul McCartney 868 00:41:54,520 --> 00:41:56,520 is possibly the greatest human being 869 00:41:56,520 --> 00:41:58,400 who has ever lived or ever will live, 870 00:41:58,400 --> 00:42:01,360 so everything needs to be seen in that context. 871 00:42:01,360 --> 00:42:02,840 I'm a fan. 872 00:42:02,840 --> 00:42:05,280 Macca's enthusiasm for herbal produce 873 00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:07,600 is well known and completely fine, I think. 874 00:42:07,600 --> 00:42:10,160 And because of Paul's enthusiasm, 875 00:42:10,160 --> 00:42:13,440 I think we've had some of the greatest art of the 20th century. 876 00:42:13,440 --> 00:42:15,240 Macca's herbal dalliance began 877 00:42:15,240 --> 00:42:18,240 during an early Beatles visit to America. 878 00:42:18,240 --> 00:42:20,480 REPORTER: 3,000 screaming teenagers 879 00:42:20,480 --> 00:42:22,840 were at New York's Kennedy Airport to greet, 880 00:42:22,840 --> 00:42:24,600 you guessed it, The Beatles. 881 00:42:24,600 --> 00:42:28,920 The Beatles were first introduced to weed by Bob Dylan in 1964, 882 00:42:28,920 --> 00:42:31,840 and you can see the difference in the photographs 883 00:42:31,840 --> 00:42:34,040 between that first wave of Beatlemania 884 00:42:34,040 --> 00:42:36,440 and then, say, when they're making the film Help!, 885 00:42:36,440 --> 00:42:39,160 because they're all out of their boxes. 886 00:42:39,160 --> 00:42:42,280 He's almost a lifelong advocate for marijuana, isn't he? 887 00:42:42,280 --> 00:42:48,320 He'd been busted in America, Sweden, Japan. 888 00:42:48,320 --> 00:42:52,200 Even in Scotland, on his farm, he was growing his own. 889 00:42:52,200 --> 00:42:55,720 And on all of these occasions, he called for weed to be legalised. 890 00:42:55,720 --> 00:42:58,600 Personally, I think it's less dangerous than cigarettes, 891 00:42:58,600 --> 00:43:00,520 in the long run, personally. 892 00:43:00,520 --> 00:43:04,280 But I haven't got any proof, just my opinion. 893 00:43:04,280 --> 00:43:07,440 Macca it wasn't the first Beatle to be busted. 894 00:43:07,440 --> 00:43:11,880 Both Lennon and Harrison were arrested for possession in the '60s. 895 00:43:11,880 --> 00:43:14,280 But while the Beatles were known to have experimented 896 00:43:14,280 --> 00:43:16,600 with hallucinogenics like LSD, 897 00:43:16,600 --> 00:43:20,320 their cannabis use has proved enduringly controversial. 898 00:43:20,320 --> 00:43:23,600 Not being a big fan of the wacky tobaccy, 899 00:43:23,600 --> 00:43:25,800 I do know that if you are a musician, 900 00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:29,040 it seems to be a very good drug creatively. 901 00:43:30,360 --> 00:43:32,000 Whereas some people, 902 00:43:32,000 --> 00:43:35,520 it sort of slows down their creative process, 903 00:43:35,520 --> 00:43:38,280 with him, it seemed to sort of speed it up. 904 00:43:38,280 --> 00:43:42,480 It took him to wonderful creative places with a lot of his work. 905 00:43:42,480 --> 00:43:44,840 I love you all dearly, goodbye. 906 00:43:44,840 --> 00:43:48,840 Now, without medical examination, we'll never know if the Fab Four's 907 00:43:48,840 --> 00:43:52,680 herbal intake had any lasting negative effects. 908 00:43:52,680 --> 00:43:54,120 But let's note that in '84, 909 00:43:54,120 --> 00:43:56,960 Ringo Starr became Thomas The Tank Engine, 910 00:43:56,960 --> 00:44:00,640 and Paul McCartney decided a Frog Chorus was a good idea. 911 00:44:00,640 --> 00:44:02,280 Just saying. 912 00:44:02,280 --> 00:44:03,800 FROG CROAKS 913 00:44:06,880 --> 00:44:11,120 In 1984, it seemed no-one could escape controversy. 914 00:44:11,120 --> 00:44:13,320 Simon Roberts on the line. Hello, Simon. 915 00:44:13,320 --> 00:44:16,560 I think the world stopped turning at that point. 916 00:44:16,560 --> 00:44:19,400 That year, TV had its critics... 917 00:44:19,400 --> 00:44:23,240 I think it was a waste of the licence payers' money. 918 00:44:23,240 --> 00:44:26,720 ..but it had the power to be deeply shocking, too. 919 00:44:26,720 --> 00:44:28,280 Incredible piece of television. 920 00:44:28,280 --> 00:44:30,480 I'm getting choked up now just thinking about it. 921 00:44:30,480 --> 00:44:32,800 What happened? Did somebody else come on? 922 00:44:38,560 --> 00:44:44,160 Ah, look, we've landed back in 1984 on Planet Controversial. 923 00:44:44,160 --> 00:44:49,360 And now we're rewinding the troubled TV of that year. 924 00:44:49,360 --> 00:44:51,000 Starting with a Time Lord 925 00:44:51,000 --> 00:44:54,840 who probably wished he could go back and start all over again. 926 00:44:54,840 --> 00:44:57,440 Who's to be the new Doctor Who has been announced. 927 00:44:57,440 --> 00:45:00,960 The man who will take to the TARDIS from now on is Colin Baker, 928 00:45:00,960 --> 00:45:03,680 the sixth Doctor Who in 20 years. 929 00:45:03,680 --> 00:45:05,880 I might regenerate. 930 00:45:05,880 --> 00:45:07,360 I don't know. 931 00:45:07,360 --> 00:45:13,000 In 1984, Peter Davison's easy-going Doctor said ta-ta to the TARDIS, 932 00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:15,840 with some effects borrowed from Top Of The Pops. 933 00:45:15,840 --> 00:45:18,680 Die, Doctor! 934 00:45:18,680 --> 00:45:20,640 HE LAUGHS 935 00:45:20,640 --> 00:45:22,400 It WAS different. 936 00:45:22,400 --> 00:45:26,400 His replacement would instantly be divisive. 937 00:45:26,400 --> 00:45:28,360 The new Doctor, Colin Baker's Doctor, 938 00:45:28,360 --> 00:45:30,640 was going to be brash and loud and angry, 939 00:45:30,640 --> 00:45:34,040 and they really decided to go for that. 940 00:45:34,040 --> 00:45:35,840 What's happened? 941 00:45:35,840 --> 00:45:37,160 Change, my dear. 942 00:45:38,400 --> 00:45:40,760 And it seems not a moment too soon. 943 00:45:40,760 --> 00:45:45,320 A change that would see the Doctor go full 1984, 944 00:45:45,320 --> 00:45:48,080 with this migraine-worthy make over. 945 00:45:49,560 --> 00:45:50,920 Ah. 946 00:45:50,920 --> 00:45:52,480 You're not serious? 947 00:45:52,480 --> 00:45:54,200 I'm always serious. 948 00:45:54,200 --> 00:45:56,560 You can't go out dressed like that. 949 00:45:56,560 --> 00:45:58,040 Why ever not? 950 00:45:58,040 --> 00:45:59,720 Well, you look dreadful. 951 00:45:59,720 --> 00:46:02,760 Over to the fans for an instant reaction. 952 00:46:02,760 --> 00:46:06,720 Doctor Who's look, it's more adventurous in this one. 953 00:46:06,720 --> 00:46:09,440 This one just looks like he's come out of a comedy programme. 954 00:46:09,440 --> 00:46:10,920 I like the way he dressed, 955 00:46:10,920 --> 00:46:14,440 but I don't think he plays his part very well. Harsh! 956 00:46:14,440 --> 00:46:16,880 I have to say that the outfit you're wearing, Colin, 957 00:46:16,880 --> 00:46:18,240 is rather odd, to say the least. 958 00:46:18,240 --> 00:46:20,560 Did you have any hand in designing it? 959 00:46:20,560 --> 00:46:23,160 Well, I'm not one to talk about '80s fashion, 960 00:46:23,160 --> 00:46:24,360 cos look what I was wearing. 961 00:46:24,360 --> 00:46:28,440 But his flamboyant patchwork coat was quite a thing. 962 00:46:28,440 --> 00:46:33,080 It featured such a lot of pink, which is a difficult colour to wear. 963 00:46:33,080 --> 00:46:37,520 I mean, that outfit is really of the time, shall we say. 964 00:46:37,520 --> 00:46:41,120 It is giving very '80s, but I mean, it's Doctor Who. 965 00:46:41,120 --> 00:46:44,920 You are a time-travelling space alien with two hearts 966 00:46:44,920 --> 00:46:46,880 that constantly saves the universe, 967 00:46:46,880 --> 00:46:48,800 I feel like maybe fashion 968 00:46:48,800 --> 00:46:52,200 isn't your priority in that kind of situation. 969 00:46:52,200 --> 00:46:53,840 But, Doctor, it's dangerous! 970 00:46:53,840 --> 00:46:55,880 Of course it's dangerous! 971 00:46:55,880 --> 00:46:59,040 Warm and cuddly? Not this Doctor. 972 00:46:59,040 --> 00:47:01,320 I'm falling to pieces! 973 00:47:01,320 --> 00:47:03,160 I no longer even have any clothes sense. 974 00:47:03,160 --> 00:47:05,160 Oh, stop feeling sorry for yourself! 975 00:47:05,160 --> 00:47:07,880 Not only do you get in Colin Baker's Doctor, 976 00:47:07,880 --> 00:47:11,680 this kind of eye-aching costume, 977 00:47:11,680 --> 00:47:14,440 but what it goes hand in hand with 978 00:47:14,440 --> 00:47:16,080 is the desire to make the Doctor 979 00:47:16,080 --> 00:47:18,600 a more dangerous and unpredictable figure. 980 00:47:18,600 --> 00:47:20,760 But nothing must be allowed to interfere 981 00:47:20,760 --> 00:47:22,560 with my period of contemplation. 982 00:47:22,560 --> 00:47:25,320 They really played this hand hard, so that in the first story, 983 00:47:25,320 --> 00:47:30,160 in Colin Baker's first episode, he is strangling his assistant. 984 00:47:31,320 --> 00:47:35,480 Well, we all know the fate of alien spies! 985 00:47:37,400 --> 00:47:40,400 He's absolutely unstable. 986 00:47:40,400 --> 00:47:43,960 You're just sort of left to think, "Well, maybe he'll settle down." 987 00:47:43,960 --> 00:47:47,920 This was a Time Lord keen to face down his detractors. 988 00:47:47,920 --> 00:47:52,920 I am... the Doctor. 989 00:47:52,920 --> 00:47:56,240 Whether you like it or not. 990 00:47:56,240 --> 00:47:58,840 Unfortunately, in the latter category 991 00:47:58,840 --> 00:48:02,000 was the new BBC One controller Michael Grade. 992 00:48:02,000 --> 00:48:06,280 Here he is, scowling through time and space. 993 00:48:06,280 --> 00:48:09,800 I thought it was rubbish. 994 00:48:09,800 --> 00:48:13,120 It was pathetic, it was a waste of the licence payers' money. 995 00:48:13,120 --> 00:48:16,680 It had had a long run, it had been going 21 years. 996 00:48:16,680 --> 00:48:18,680 The ratings were plummeting, rather, 997 00:48:18,680 --> 00:48:22,080 and Michael Grade was a person with an axe to wield, 998 00:48:22,080 --> 00:48:24,240 and he saw Doctor Who's head on the block and thought, 999 00:48:24,240 --> 00:48:25,720 "I'll have that." 1000 00:48:25,720 --> 00:48:29,000 The fans of Doctor Who were outraged. 1001 00:48:29,000 --> 00:48:32,240 Fans are notoriously reluctant 1002 00:48:32,240 --> 00:48:34,040 to let go of their favourite things. 1003 00:48:34,040 --> 00:48:35,640 People were up in arms. 1004 00:48:35,640 --> 00:48:37,800 I actually hate sci-fi, to begin with, 1005 00:48:37,800 --> 00:48:39,080 so I'm not a sci-fi fan. 1006 00:48:39,080 --> 00:48:43,600 And when your monster budget is £2.75 for the series, 1007 00:48:43,600 --> 00:48:45,600 it's time to go. 1008 00:48:45,600 --> 00:48:48,120 You're an interfering fool! 1009 00:48:48,120 --> 00:48:50,360 Star Wars was '77. 1010 00:48:50,360 --> 00:48:53,720 I mean, we didn't really move with the times. 1011 00:48:53,720 --> 00:48:56,680 It's quite comedic to see an old police box 1012 00:48:56,680 --> 00:48:57,880 flying through space. 1013 00:48:57,880 --> 00:48:59,760 I mean, it's iconic, yes, 1014 00:48:59,760 --> 00:49:04,920 but you know, it's not an Imperial Star Destroyer, is it? 1015 00:49:04,920 --> 00:49:07,120 There'd always been pressure from Hollywood, 1016 00:49:07,120 --> 00:49:09,600 and Doctor Who was never trying to be a Superman 1017 00:49:09,600 --> 00:49:12,120 or a Star Wars or a Star Trek, it was its own thing. 1018 00:49:12,120 --> 00:49:14,800 Then, like a cat with a galactic mouse, 1019 00:49:14,800 --> 00:49:16,840 Grade announced a reprieve. 1020 00:49:16,840 --> 00:49:19,840 The sense was somehow that the fans had saved it. 1021 00:49:19,840 --> 00:49:22,440 Public pressure got their way eventually, 1022 00:49:22,440 --> 00:49:25,040 and Colin came back for one last season. 1023 00:49:25,040 --> 00:49:27,760 Even though it does have a kind of rebirth, 1024 00:49:27,760 --> 00:49:30,520 there's still that institutional hostility towards it, 1025 00:49:30,520 --> 00:49:33,880 it's very grudging, the restoration. 1026 00:49:33,880 --> 00:49:39,400 In 1989, the BBC threw away the TARDIS key, seemingly forever. 1027 00:49:39,400 --> 00:49:40,960 I don't really know why Michael Grade 1028 00:49:40,960 --> 00:49:44,200 wanted to axe Doctor Who, it seems a little bit foolish. 1029 00:49:44,200 --> 00:49:45,800 But then look what happened. 1030 00:49:49,040 --> 00:49:52,840 Calling the War Council of Gallifrey, this is the Doctor. 1031 00:49:52,840 --> 00:49:56,760 Ironically, maybe the Doctor just needed time to regenerate properly 1032 00:49:56,760 --> 00:49:58,600 and become a global phenomenon. 1033 00:49:58,600 --> 00:50:00,480 Commencing calculations. 1034 00:50:00,480 --> 00:50:03,760 It's just iconic. Geronimo! 1035 00:50:03,760 --> 00:50:05,360 He never quite apologised. 1036 00:50:05,360 --> 00:50:08,520 He's put his arm metaphorically around Colin Baker's shoulder 1037 00:50:08,520 --> 00:50:10,280 and said, "Yeah, you did a good job." 1038 00:50:10,280 --> 00:50:12,440 It's OK to be wrong about things, Michael. 1039 00:50:12,440 --> 00:50:14,640 And you were wrong about Doctor Who. 1040 00:50:14,640 --> 00:50:17,800 The making of TV can be controversial, 1041 00:50:17,800 --> 00:50:20,440 and it's what's in front of the cameras 1042 00:50:20,440 --> 00:50:22,880 that can really go nuclear. 1043 00:50:22,880 --> 00:50:25,440 Especially when broadcast live, 1044 00:50:25,440 --> 00:50:30,160 and particularly when teenagers are let loose on the airwaves. 1045 00:50:30,160 --> 00:50:32,720 The wonderful thing about children's television 1046 00:50:32,720 --> 00:50:37,880 is what is supposed to be so anodyne and fluffy and inoffensive 1047 00:50:37,880 --> 00:50:41,880 becomes this cesspit sometimes for awful things happening. 1048 00:50:44,080 --> 00:50:48,320 Behold that cesspit of depravity, Saturday Superstore - 1049 00:50:48,320 --> 00:50:52,560 a live kids' show with music, guests and phone-ins, 1050 00:50:52,560 --> 00:50:55,840 presented by Frankie-hating Mike Read. 1051 00:50:55,840 --> 00:50:59,360 Oh, look at that shiny happy set, nothing bad happened here. 1052 00:50:59,360 --> 00:51:02,800 Until one-hit wonders Matt Bianco turned up. 1053 00:51:02,800 --> 00:51:05,240 Right, and Simon Roberts is on the line. 1054 00:51:05,240 --> 00:51:06,840 Hello, Simon. Hello. 1055 00:51:06,840 --> 00:51:08,640 You're through to Matt Bianco. 1056 00:51:08,640 --> 00:51:10,840 Hello, Matt Bianco. Hello. Hello, Simon. 1057 00:51:10,840 --> 00:51:13,360 You're a bunch of wankers. MIKE READ CHUCKLES AWKWARDLY 1058 00:51:13,360 --> 00:51:14,640 Hello? He's gone. 1059 00:51:14,640 --> 00:51:20,120 Now, naughty Simon Roberts rang in to Saturday Superstore, 1060 00:51:20,120 --> 00:51:23,960 had the opportunity to interview and speak to Matt Bianco 1061 00:51:23,960 --> 00:51:26,720 and called them all a bunch of wankers. 1062 00:51:26,720 --> 00:51:30,320 I think the world stopped turning at that point. 1063 00:51:30,320 --> 00:51:32,840 On live kids' television! 1064 00:51:32,840 --> 00:51:34,840 Hello, Matt Bianco. Hello. Hello, Simon. 1065 00:51:34,840 --> 00:51:36,160 You're a bunch of wankers. 1066 00:51:37,240 --> 00:51:38,840 It's the funniest thing on TV, 1067 00:51:38,840 --> 00:51:42,680 and what's so funny is they look like they're a bit annoyed 1068 00:51:42,680 --> 00:51:44,920 but it's like, "Yeah, maybe we are." 1069 00:51:44,920 --> 00:51:48,840 I mean, it was just unheard of. Absolutely unheard of. 1070 00:51:48,840 --> 00:51:51,280 I bet in the gallery and stuff they were like, "Oh, my God, no." 1071 00:51:51,280 --> 00:51:52,760 And then that night down the pub 1072 00:51:52,760 --> 00:51:54,680 they were killing themselves laughing. 1073 00:51:54,680 --> 00:51:56,040 Mike Read seems to brush it off. 1074 00:51:56,040 --> 00:51:57,920 Right, sorry about the silly caller just now. 1075 00:51:57,920 --> 00:51:59,400 You sometimes get a silly caller. 1076 00:51:59,400 --> 00:52:02,880 But Mike Read is probably very angry that this could happen on his watch. 1077 00:52:02,880 --> 00:52:04,640 Heads may have rolled. 1078 00:52:04,640 --> 00:52:06,480 Claire Marshall, hello. Hello. 1079 00:52:06,480 --> 00:52:08,520 You're not a silly caller, are you? No. Good. 1080 00:52:08,520 --> 00:52:12,760 The reason why Bianco-gate became so celebrated 1081 00:52:12,760 --> 00:52:15,920 was because it punctured the pomposity 1082 00:52:15,920 --> 00:52:18,000 of Saturday Superstore. 1083 00:52:18,000 --> 00:52:21,080 Cos Mike Read was, like, so respectable 1084 00:52:21,080 --> 00:52:24,720 and had this kind of smoothness about him. 1085 00:52:24,720 --> 00:52:29,760 You can see why some radio stations and some TV live phone-ins 1086 00:52:29,760 --> 00:52:33,040 have a delay. You know? 1087 00:52:33,040 --> 00:52:36,280 It's like the five-second delay so that somebody can go, 1088 00:52:36,280 --> 00:52:38,440 "Hit that button and mute it." 1089 00:52:38,440 --> 00:52:40,120 "Matt Bianco, you're a banker." 1090 00:52:42,440 --> 00:52:46,280 Matt Bianco's misfortune was comical in its controversy, 1091 00:52:46,280 --> 00:52:49,000 but our next live TV event 1092 00:52:49,000 --> 00:52:53,720 was one of the most tragic moments in British TV history. 1093 00:52:53,720 --> 00:52:57,400 Fellow comedians have been paying tribute to the late Tommy Cooper, 1094 00:52:57,400 --> 00:53:01,640 who died last night after appearing onstage at a London theatre. 1095 00:53:01,640 --> 00:53:04,440 The show was being broadcast live on ITV, 1096 00:53:04,440 --> 00:53:06,600 and the viewing audience saw the magician collapse 1097 00:53:06,600 --> 00:53:07,960 during his act. 1098 00:53:07,960 --> 00:53:10,600 This was so tragic and so bizarre. 1099 00:53:10,600 --> 00:53:13,680 I, as a television critic, had been invited along 1100 00:53:13,680 --> 00:53:15,840 to a programme called Live From Her Majesty's, 1101 00:53:15,840 --> 00:53:17,240 hosted by Jimmy Tarbuck. 1102 00:53:17,240 --> 00:53:19,760 And we had Tommy coming on 1103 00:53:19,760 --> 00:53:24,200 and I thought, "What a thrill seeing Tommy Cooper live, it's fantastic." 1104 00:53:25,760 --> 00:53:28,200 Tommy Cooper was a genius. 1105 00:53:28,200 --> 00:53:31,800 They say the phrase, which has been said many times, about funny bones, 1106 00:53:31,800 --> 00:53:37,200 but Tommy Cooper could walk on stage and you would laugh. 1107 00:53:38,480 --> 00:53:42,720 The brilliant comedian, magician and light entertainment legend 1108 00:53:42,720 --> 00:53:43,720 for 30 years. 1109 00:53:49,640 --> 00:53:52,400 There is something so divinely stupid 1110 00:53:52,400 --> 00:53:58,680 about this huge man wearing a fez with clumps of hair coming out, 1111 00:53:58,680 --> 00:54:02,000 and then on top of that, he starts telling you stupid jokes... 1112 00:54:02,000 --> 00:54:03,880 Look, see that? 1113 00:54:03,880 --> 00:54:06,240 This one's just the same, look. 1114 00:54:06,240 --> 00:54:08,240 And then he'd throw in tricks. 1115 00:54:09,680 --> 00:54:11,800 HE SHOUTS 1116 00:54:13,640 --> 00:54:18,360 Tommy Cooper's performance at Her Majesty's Theatre in April 1984 1117 00:54:18,360 --> 00:54:20,640 saw the comedian in classic form. 1118 00:54:20,640 --> 00:54:23,880 LAUGHTER 1119 00:54:26,800 --> 00:54:29,720 No-one imagined this would turn out to be his final 1120 00:54:29,720 --> 00:54:31,080 and most dramatic act, 1121 00:54:31,080 --> 00:54:34,720 witnessed by an audience of millions. 1122 00:54:34,720 --> 00:54:40,240 It was all going really well, and everybody was laughing hilariously. 1123 00:54:40,240 --> 00:54:43,840 And then he suddenly seemed to sort of collapse. 1124 00:54:43,840 --> 00:54:48,480 When Tommy Cooper, at the end of his act, crumpled down 1125 00:54:48,480 --> 00:54:51,680 in front of the audience, 1126 00:54:51,680 --> 00:54:54,120 everyone thought it was part of the joke 1127 00:54:54,120 --> 00:54:56,840 cos that's what Tommy Cooper would do, 1128 00:54:56,840 --> 00:54:59,600 and the place was in hysterics. 1129 00:54:59,600 --> 00:55:02,120 LAUGHTER 1130 00:55:02,120 --> 00:55:04,320 We were watching on TV, 1131 00:55:04,320 --> 00:55:07,440 and it was like it seemed to be the end of the act, 1132 00:55:07,440 --> 00:55:09,480 and he just collapsed. 1133 00:55:09,480 --> 00:55:12,320 And then some arms just came out 1134 00:55:12,320 --> 00:55:17,120 and pulled him slowly back behind the curtain. 1135 00:55:19,000 --> 00:55:21,160 Jimmy Tarbuck came in front of the curtain, 1136 00:55:21,160 --> 00:55:22,560 and he was very, very agitated - 1137 00:55:22,560 --> 00:55:24,600 this was in the commercial break. 1138 00:55:24,600 --> 00:55:26,560 So I thought, "Oh, my God, 1139 00:55:26,560 --> 00:55:29,480 "that must mean something awful has happened to Tommy." 1140 00:55:29,480 --> 00:55:32,400 It was horrible, it was absolutely horrible, 1141 00:55:32,400 --> 00:55:34,880 and it all went out live on television. 1142 00:55:34,880 --> 00:55:38,000 Tommy Cooper had suffered a fatal heart attack. 1143 00:55:38,000 --> 00:55:41,640 He was one of the great comedy geniuses this country's ever had, 1144 00:55:41,640 --> 00:55:43,640 for many, many, many, many years, 1145 00:55:43,640 --> 00:55:47,400 he's just brought laughter to people all of his life. 1146 00:55:47,400 --> 00:55:49,280 Around that time, you had Eric Morecambe, 1147 00:55:49,280 --> 00:55:51,480 who died in a very similar circumstance, 1148 00:55:51,480 --> 00:55:56,720 these were performers who worked and worked and worked... 1149 00:55:56,720 --> 00:55:58,920 They should be taking it easy, 1150 00:55:58,920 --> 00:56:04,320 but they were still hitting the act like they were 20-year-old men. 1151 00:56:04,320 --> 00:56:05,880 But of course it took its toll. 1152 00:56:07,200 --> 00:56:10,280 Cooper's friend and fellow comedian Eric Sykes 1153 00:56:10,280 --> 00:56:13,360 had shared a poignant last moment. 1154 00:56:13,360 --> 00:56:14,720 He phoned me on Saturday night 1155 00:56:14,720 --> 00:56:17,360 and told me he was doing the programme, 1156 00:56:17,360 --> 00:56:20,440 and the funny thing is, he was joking, of course, he said, 1157 00:56:20,440 --> 00:56:23,720 "All I need is a finish to the act." 1158 00:56:25,600 --> 00:56:27,040 Well, that's... 1159 00:56:27,040 --> 00:56:30,880 That's going to live with me for a long time. 1160 00:56:30,880 --> 00:56:32,840 It's a cliche for actors and comedians, 1161 00:56:32,840 --> 00:56:34,680 they want to die with their boots on, 1162 00:56:34,680 --> 00:56:38,240 but I'm not sure Tom would've liked to have gone quite so dramatically. 1163 00:56:40,160 --> 00:56:44,440 It must have been dreadful for his family and his friends and his fans, 1164 00:56:44,440 --> 00:56:46,280 but if you're a comedian, 1165 00:56:46,280 --> 00:56:48,680 the most glorious sound to you is the laugh of an audience, 1166 00:56:48,680 --> 00:56:51,640 and those will have been the last sounds he heard. 1167 00:56:51,640 --> 00:56:55,480 That seems to me a wonderful, fitting tribute to him. 1168 00:56:56,720 --> 00:56:58,120 Incredible piece of television. 1169 00:56:58,120 --> 00:57:00,040 I'm getting choked up just thinking about it, 1170 00:57:00,040 --> 00:57:01,560 I've not seen it for 40 years. 1171 00:57:01,560 --> 00:57:05,480 What happened? Did somebody else come on? 1172 00:57:05,480 --> 00:57:09,040 Most of us will never, fortunately, 1173 00:57:09,040 --> 00:57:12,400 have to watch somebody die. 1174 00:57:12,400 --> 00:57:15,680 But that night, millions of people did, 1175 00:57:15,680 --> 00:57:18,480 right in front of them, right in their homes. 1176 00:57:23,800 --> 00:57:28,320 Soon, we would all be swept up in a nationwide controversy. 1177 00:57:28,320 --> 00:57:31,360 It is an attempt by force to prevent others 1178 00:57:31,360 --> 00:57:34,320 from doing what they have a right to do. 1179 00:57:34,320 --> 00:57:37,640 On one side politics, the other protests... 1180 00:57:37,640 --> 00:57:40,320 It's almost impossible to imagine that could happen 1181 00:57:40,320 --> 00:57:42,520 in what was supposedly a civilised nation. 1182 00:57:42,520 --> 00:57:45,160 ..which all became a matter of life and death. 1183 00:57:45,160 --> 00:57:48,400 Margaret Thatcher was saved by her workaholic nature. 1184 00:57:52,600 --> 00:57:55,880 We're stepping back to controversial 1984, 1185 00:57:55,880 --> 00:57:59,600 when some barriers split communities... 1186 00:57:59,600 --> 00:58:02,920 No pit closures, no manpower reductions! 1187 00:58:02,920 --> 00:58:05,120 ..while another barrier built that year 1188 00:58:05,120 --> 00:58:08,560 would save the Queen and the capital... 1189 00:58:08,560 --> 00:58:12,360 London has now been made free from the threat of flooding. 1190 00:58:12,360 --> 00:58:13,960 ..and a young prince arrived 1191 00:58:13,960 --> 00:58:16,960 who would go on to provoke no controversy whatsoever. 1192 00:58:16,960 --> 00:58:18,600 No, none. 1193 00:58:18,600 --> 00:58:22,400 NEWSREADER: The royal baby arrives, the princess has a second son, 1194 00:58:22,400 --> 00:58:25,000 and they've already announced his names. He'll be christened... 1195 00:58:28,160 --> 00:58:30,720 But the royal couple say the family will call him Harry. 1196 00:58:32,480 --> 00:58:34,640 I think his name should be longer. 1197 00:58:34,640 --> 00:58:39,560 Henry Charles Albert David Wolfgang 1198 00:58:39,560 --> 00:58:42,720 Karen Susan Nieve. 1199 00:58:42,720 --> 00:58:44,920 You know, just make it longer and longer and longer, 1200 00:58:44,920 --> 00:58:47,120 the most ridiculously long name in history. 1201 00:58:47,120 --> 00:58:49,480 Cos he's a royal, he can have any name he likes. 1202 00:58:49,480 --> 00:58:52,080 He should be called Hepsiba or Lightning, or maybe a bit, 1203 00:58:52,080 --> 00:58:54,760 you know, like a wrestler or something like that. 1204 00:58:54,760 --> 00:58:56,800 His less formal name was immortalised 1205 00:58:56,800 --> 00:58:58,800 in Shakespeare's Agincourt battle cry. 1206 00:58:58,800 --> 00:59:01,760 "God for Harry, England and St George." 1207 00:59:01,760 --> 00:59:04,280 That is very privileged rich people - 1208 00:59:04,280 --> 00:59:07,480 they give them all these names and then give them a nickname. 1209 00:59:07,480 --> 00:59:08,960 I think that's wonderful. 1210 00:59:08,960 --> 00:59:11,400 "Look, look at me, I'm Biggins." 1211 00:59:11,400 --> 00:59:14,880 So, Prince Harry Henry Charles Albert David it is. 1212 00:59:14,880 --> 00:59:16,480 OK, Britain, thoughts? 1213 00:59:18,240 --> 00:59:21,120 Harry, cor, terrible, innit? You'd hear that in the pub or something. 1214 00:59:21,120 --> 00:59:24,200 I'm sure it'll be a popular name from now on. 1215 00:59:24,200 --> 00:59:26,760 When I first heard the name I didn't like it at all, 1216 00:59:26,760 --> 00:59:30,160 but I've said it about 20 times now, and I'm quite getting used to it. 1217 00:59:30,160 --> 00:59:33,640 Having managed to tie the nation's tongues in knots, 1218 00:59:33,640 --> 00:59:37,680 Prince Charles then unleashed another controversial nickname 1219 00:59:37,680 --> 00:59:40,200 for an iconic London landmark. 1220 00:59:40,200 --> 00:59:45,800 But what is proposed seems to me like a monstrous carbuncle 1221 00:59:45,800 --> 00:59:48,760 on the face of a much-loved, elegant friend. 1222 00:59:48,760 --> 00:59:51,840 Absolute... I mean, scenes, as they would say, 1223 00:59:51,840 --> 00:59:54,400 when Prince Charles, as was, 1224 00:59:54,400 --> 00:59:57,720 talks about an extension to the National Gallery being a carbuncle. 1225 00:59:57,720 --> 00:59:59,360 I remember this was everywhere. 1226 00:59:59,360 --> 01:00:02,480 It really... He wasn't allowed to say that. 1227 01:00:02,480 --> 01:00:08,320 King Charles, as he is now, he's a caring, thoughtful man. 1228 01:00:08,320 --> 01:00:12,000 I don't think it was said in any way as a clever remark, 1229 01:00:12,000 --> 01:00:13,800 I think he really meant it. 1230 01:00:13,800 --> 01:00:15,400 The argument was over this - 1231 01:00:15,400 --> 01:00:18,280 the proposed extension to the National Gallery. 1232 01:00:18,280 --> 01:00:21,120 To be honest, though, I agree with Charles about the carbuncle comment 1233 01:00:21,120 --> 01:00:24,520 because it wasn't in keeping with the original architecture. 1234 01:00:24,520 --> 01:00:27,720 And for something not to kind of like, you know, match, 1235 01:00:27,720 --> 01:00:29,880 and him saying, "This is a carbuncle," 1236 01:00:29,880 --> 01:00:33,240 I think he's within his rights. 1237 01:00:33,240 --> 01:00:35,240 You've only got to look at the places he lives in, 1238 01:00:35,240 --> 01:00:38,440 and also the fact that he won't live in Buckingham Palace. 1239 01:00:38,440 --> 01:00:40,800 He loves Clarence House as a London... 1240 01:00:40,800 --> 01:00:43,560 And Clarence House is beautiful, it's a home. 1241 01:00:43,560 --> 01:00:45,120 And Buckingham Palace is not a home. 1242 01:00:45,120 --> 01:00:47,280 I mean, they should turn it into a hotel, you know, 1243 01:00:47,280 --> 01:00:49,200 it would be much better use. 1244 01:00:49,200 --> 01:00:51,960 He wasn't just saying, "I don't like this newfangled stuff." 1245 01:00:51,960 --> 01:00:54,760 He was saying, "Let's think a little bit 1246 01:00:54,760 --> 01:00:57,360 "about the visual language of central London." 1247 01:00:57,360 --> 01:00:58,720 But it gave him a bad reputation. 1248 01:00:58,720 --> 01:01:02,600 It's interesting that people will criticise the royal family 1249 01:01:02,600 --> 01:01:04,880 for being apolitical, which they're supposed to be, 1250 01:01:04,880 --> 01:01:07,200 but then they'll criticise the royal family 1251 01:01:07,200 --> 01:01:08,640 for ever saying anything. 1252 01:01:08,640 --> 01:01:10,320 So you can't win. 1253 01:01:10,320 --> 01:01:12,280 And yet he managed to get it stopped 1254 01:01:12,280 --> 01:01:16,040 and a different one then built, and apparently the different one 1255 01:01:16,040 --> 01:01:17,840 was better than the one they had proposed. 1256 01:01:17,840 --> 01:01:20,920 Four years later, a more sympathetic gallery extension 1257 01:01:20,920 --> 01:01:22,480 was finally underway. 1258 01:01:22,480 --> 01:01:24,760 Unveiling the foundation stone, you guessed it, 1259 01:01:24,760 --> 01:01:27,280 Carbuncle Charlie himself. 1260 01:01:27,280 --> 01:01:28,960 When the Prince and Princess of Wales 1261 01:01:28,960 --> 01:01:31,840 arrived at the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square today, 1262 01:01:31,840 --> 01:01:34,280 they were on something of a peace mission. 1263 01:01:34,280 --> 01:01:37,120 They were bringing to an end one of the longest-running 1264 01:01:37,120 --> 01:01:40,000 and heated arguments British architecture has seen. 1265 01:01:40,000 --> 01:01:44,280 We shall now have a purpose-built gallery extension, 1266 01:01:44,280 --> 01:01:47,160 rather than the unsatisfactory arrangement 1267 01:01:47,160 --> 01:01:48,960 of a commercial office building 1268 01:01:48,960 --> 01:01:53,040 with only a few galleries perched on top. 1269 01:01:53,040 --> 01:01:56,040 It was architects, not known for their violent protests, 1270 01:01:56,040 --> 01:01:57,880 upset by Charles, 1271 01:01:57,880 --> 01:02:00,640 but Margaret Thatcher was about to clash head-on 1272 01:02:00,640 --> 01:02:02,840 with entire angry communities. 1273 01:02:02,840 --> 01:02:05,880 She admitted that 1984 has been the type of year 1274 01:02:05,880 --> 01:02:07,520 she doesn't want to see again. 1275 01:02:07,520 --> 01:02:12,320 What we have seen in the past few weeks is not picketing at all. 1276 01:02:12,320 --> 01:02:14,040 The UK was on a knife edge 1277 01:02:14,040 --> 01:02:16,480 as a miners-versus-government dispute 1278 01:02:16,480 --> 01:02:19,480 was tearing the country apart. 1279 01:02:19,480 --> 01:02:22,280 It is an attempt by force to prevent others 1280 01:02:22,280 --> 01:02:25,400 from doing what they have a right to do. 1281 01:02:25,400 --> 01:02:30,200 For me, as a kind of centre, centre-left Conservative MP, 1282 01:02:30,200 --> 01:02:35,080 the miners' strike was a sad and difficult period 1283 01:02:35,080 --> 01:02:37,840 because it seemed to turn people against each other. 1284 01:02:37,840 --> 01:02:41,280 There were violent clashes at collieries, 1285 01:02:41,280 --> 01:02:42,840 as pickets fought both police 1286 01:02:42,840 --> 01:02:45,640 and so-called scabs who refused to strike. 1287 01:02:45,640 --> 01:02:51,280 Everybody pretty much picked a side and battled it out. 1288 01:02:51,280 --> 01:02:54,760 It was that divisive, it was that brutal. 1289 01:02:54,760 --> 01:02:57,440 Almost impossible to imagine that could happen 1290 01:02:57,440 --> 01:03:00,480 in what was supposedly a civilised nation. 1291 01:03:00,480 --> 01:03:02,760 It's the nearest we got to civil war, I suppose. 1292 01:03:02,760 --> 01:03:06,280 It wasn't about coal, it was about wanting to destroy the strongest bit 1293 01:03:06,280 --> 01:03:08,760 of the working class, in the trade unions. 1294 01:03:08,760 --> 01:03:13,400 It still seems unbelievable that people could revolt that strongly, 1295 01:03:13,400 --> 01:03:16,240 that forcefully and that vocally for so long. 1296 01:03:16,240 --> 01:03:20,520 The miners' controversial leader was uber-trade unionist 1297 01:03:20,520 --> 01:03:21,600 Arthur Scargill - 1298 01:03:21,600 --> 01:03:25,440 determined to stop the planned pit closures, whatever the cost. 1299 01:03:25,440 --> 01:03:29,880 Our people ARE going without food, they ARE suffering severe hardship, 1300 01:03:29,880 --> 01:03:31,720 they ARE having their electricity cut off 1301 01:03:31,720 --> 01:03:34,080 as a result of this government's policy. 1302 01:03:34,080 --> 01:03:36,480 One thing you don't lead your members into 1303 01:03:36,480 --> 01:03:40,280 is a battle they can't possibly win, and there was no way, 1304 01:03:40,280 --> 01:03:42,680 if you decided to have a strike to bring down the government, 1305 01:03:42,680 --> 01:03:44,440 that you were going to win that one. 1306 01:03:44,440 --> 01:03:49,120 Violence in the coalfields has reached a new pitch 1307 01:03:49,120 --> 01:03:53,480 because the miners' leaders will resort to anything. 1308 01:03:53,480 --> 01:03:57,480 I thought Mrs Thatcher was right to hold out against the miners. 1309 01:03:57,480 --> 01:04:02,120 The mining industry was headed for extinction anyway, 1310 01:04:02,120 --> 01:04:05,240 it was being extinguished all over Europe. 1311 01:04:05,240 --> 01:04:08,720 But the tone was sometimes a bit hateful. 1312 01:04:08,720 --> 01:04:11,120 This is a British Prime Minister 1313 01:04:11,120 --> 01:04:15,800 who described the working class as the enemy within, 1314 01:04:15,800 --> 01:04:19,000 as if they were somehow traitors to the nation. 1315 01:04:19,000 --> 01:04:22,560 Miners were just ordinary men and women like ourselves, 1316 01:04:22,560 --> 01:04:24,080 with children, 1317 01:04:24,080 --> 01:04:26,680 and I should have preferred a Conservative government 1318 01:04:26,680 --> 01:04:30,360 that had adopted at least a more conciliatory tone. 1319 01:04:30,360 --> 01:04:36,040 There was no conciliation, though, as alleged scabs' homes were burned. 1320 01:04:36,040 --> 01:04:39,600 And as Thatcher pursued an us-and-them stance, 1321 01:04:39,600 --> 01:04:43,400 she received a very British protest, straight out of the larder. 1322 01:04:43,400 --> 01:04:46,440 NEWS REPORT: Mrs Thatcher was left in no doubt about her unpopularity 1323 01:04:46,440 --> 01:04:49,920 when one of a barrage of eggs, tomatoes and ice creams 1324 01:04:49,920 --> 01:04:53,320 found its mark, squarely in the chest. 1325 01:04:53,320 --> 01:04:56,040 It's the slapstick hand grenade, the egg, isn't it, really? 1326 01:04:56,040 --> 01:04:58,800 It's not ever going to cause anybody a great deal of harm, 1327 01:04:58,800 --> 01:05:01,600 but it does cause a lot of mess and loss of face. 1328 01:05:01,600 --> 01:05:04,360 After a year of violence and protests, 1329 01:05:04,360 --> 01:05:06,280 Thatcher emerged victorious. 1330 01:05:06,280 --> 01:05:09,600 But another group were planning direct action against her. 1331 01:05:12,640 --> 01:05:16,080 On the eve of her speech at the Tory conference in Brighton, 1332 01:05:16,080 --> 01:05:17,960 there was a devastating attack. 1333 01:05:20,720 --> 01:05:23,680 REPORTER: The explosion came just before three o'clock. 1334 01:05:23,680 --> 01:05:25,680 Most of the residents were asleep. 1335 01:05:25,680 --> 01:05:27,840 Some were still socialising in the bars 1336 01:05:27,840 --> 01:05:31,120 as the hotel was ripped apart. 1337 01:05:31,120 --> 01:05:34,040 It still is one of those news stories where, 1338 01:05:34,040 --> 01:05:39,640 even as you were saying it out loud, it still sounded... wrong. 1339 01:05:41,200 --> 01:05:44,080 Those pictures of the front of the Grand Hotel in Brighton 1340 01:05:44,080 --> 01:05:46,280 were remarkable. 1341 01:05:46,280 --> 01:05:48,600 REPORTER: After the initial and inevitable confusion, 1342 01:05:48,600 --> 01:05:51,520 the rescue operation was soon underway. 1343 01:05:51,520 --> 01:05:53,240 You didn't need to be political 1344 01:05:53,240 --> 01:05:55,080 to know this was a terrible thing to do. 1345 01:05:55,080 --> 01:05:56,800 Everybody was shocked. 1346 01:05:56,800 --> 01:05:58,800 "How could this happen?" 1347 01:05:58,800 --> 01:06:00,400 The Gunpowder Plot was years ago. 1348 01:06:01,880 --> 01:06:05,000 REPORTER: Some of the casualties helped out at ground level 1349 01:06:05,000 --> 01:06:07,480 were able to walk - but only just. 1350 01:06:07,480 --> 01:06:10,760 Others, more seriously hurt, were stretchered to ambulances. 1351 01:06:10,760 --> 01:06:14,160 I was staying in the Ship Hotel, which was a little bit further down, 1352 01:06:14,160 --> 01:06:15,800 because I was a brand-new MP. 1353 01:06:15,800 --> 01:06:20,040 And the first thing in the morning I went for a run along the prom, 1354 01:06:20,040 --> 01:06:23,960 only to find that the hotel had disappeared in a pile of rubble. 1355 01:06:23,960 --> 01:06:27,840 I said, "My God. What's happened?" 1356 01:06:27,840 --> 01:06:31,600 And I was immediately reassured, "The Prime Minister's OK." 1357 01:06:31,600 --> 01:06:35,840 Margaret Thatcher was saved by her workaholic nature. 1358 01:06:35,840 --> 01:06:38,240 She was actually working on her conference speech 1359 01:06:38,240 --> 01:06:39,480 when the bomb went off 1360 01:06:39,480 --> 01:06:42,160 some time between two and three in the morning. 1361 01:06:42,160 --> 01:06:47,440 I just turned to do one final paper, and then it went off. 1362 01:06:47,440 --> 01:06:50,040 My husband was in bed, and all the windows went, 1363 01:06:50,040 --> 01:06:52,400 and the bathroom was extremely badly damaged. 1364 01:06:52,400 --> 01:06:53,960 In your own room? Yes, yes. 1365 01:06:53,960 --> 01:06:55,280 They were trying to kill her, 1366 01:06:55,280 --> 01:06:56,640 and it was sheer luck, 1367 01:06:56,640 --> 01:07:00,040 sheer luck that that didn't happen. 1368 01:07:00,040 --> 01:07:03,960 REPORTER: Firemen were forced to axe their way through locked doors. 1369 01:07:03,960 --> 01:07:07,080 But the biggest problem was how to free victims trapped in the remains 1370 01:07:07,080 --> 01:07:08,680 of the upper floors. 1371 01:07:08,680 --> 01:07:12,120 Controversially, news broadcasters aired the rescue 1372 01:07:12,120 --> 01:07:16,640 of trade and industry secretary Norman Tebbit live on TV. 1373 01:07:16,640 --> 01:07:19,120 The firemen are now getting close to Mr Tebbit. 1374 01:07:19,120 --> 01:07:21,000 He's in a crouching position 1375 01:07:21,000 --> 01:07:23,960 with the rubble of his room more or less on his back. 1376 01:07:23,960 --> 01:07:26,680 As clear as day, I remember seeing 1377 01:07:26,680 --> 01:07:31,240 Norman Tebbit being stretchered out. 1378 01:07:31,240 --> 01:07:35,000 To see him in his pyjamas, dust around his face, 1379 01:07:35,000 --> 01:07:36,760 a bit bloodied and a bit battered, 1380 01:07:36,760 --> 01:07:40,160 was really rather shocking at the time. 1381 01:07:40,160 --> 01:07:43,520 This is live news 1984 style. 1382 01:07:45,040 --> 01:07:47,600 And it still has the power to shock today. 1383 01:07:49,560 --> 01:07:54,520 REPORTER: It was 6:50, the rescue had taken nearly four hours. 1384 01:07:54,520 --> 01:07:59,720 Five people died in the attack, with many more seriously injured. 1385 01:07:59,720 --> 01:08:05,080 It was absolutely tragic for those who lost their lives, 1386 01:08:05,080 --> 01:08:09,600 for Norman Tebbit's wife, who was maimed for life. 1387 01:08:09,600 --> 01:08:11,040 It makes you very frightened 1388 01:08:11,040 --> 01:08:13,320 and very determined that they're not going to win. 1389 01:08:13,320 --> 01:08:17,040 Margaret Thatcher sent a clear message back to the IRA 1390 01:08:17,040 --> 01:08:19,920 when she refused to cancel the conference. 1391 01:08:19,920 --> 01:08:23,160 Mrs Thatcher walked along the front to start her conference 1392 01:08:23,160 --> 01:08:25,680 on the dot of 9:30am. 1393 01:08:25,680 --> 01:08:28,080 I knew immediately what the response would be. 1394 01:08:28,080 --> 01:08:30,280 It would be, "Take no notice and carry on." 1395 01:08:30,280 --> 01:08:33,920 They began with prayer and two minutes' silence. 1396 01:08:33,920 --> 01:08:35,600 There was an element of... 1397 01:08:37,120 --> 01:08:40,880 ..understanding what it was like during the Blitz for our parents 1398 01:08:40,880 --> 01:08:42,400 and knowing that they didn't give in, 1399 01:08:42,400 --> 01:08:44,600 and eventually, they defeated Hitler. 1400 01:08:44,600 --> 01:08:46,960 And if we showed the same kind of spirit, 1401 01:08:46,960 --> 01:08:50,880 however scared we were, we would eventually defeat the IRA. 1402 01:08:50,880 --> 01:08:53,480 Thatcher's Churchillian resolve 1403 01:08:53,480 --> 01:08:56,440 even drew respect from her detractors. 1404 01:08:56,440 --> 01:09:00,080 I spent a lot of my life making fun of her, 1405 01:09:00,080 --> 01:09:06,520 and yet when I saw her speech, you just saw the Iron Lady. 1406 01:09:06,520 --> 01:09:07,880 You couldn't help it. 1407 01:09:07,880 --> 01:09:11,720 And the fact that we are gathered here now, 1408 01:09:11,720 --> 01:09:16,160 shocked, but composed and determined, 1409 01:09:16,160 --> 01:09:20,000 is a sign not only that this attack has failed 1410 01:09:20,000 --> 01:09:22,280 but that all attempts 1411 01:09:22,280 --> 01:09:27,040 to destroy democracy by terrorism will fail. 1412 01:09:28,520 --> 01:09:31,040 The week after, she was in church, she said, 1413 01:09:31,040 --> 01:09:33,520 and she looked through the stained glass window 1414 01:09:33,520 --> 01:09:36,040 and the light was coming in, and she said, 1415 01:09:36,040 --> 01:09:39,480 "I realised this was the day... 1416 01:09:41,120 --> 01:09:43,280 "..I was not meant to see." 1417 01:09:45,560 --> 01:09:48,400 And I don't think you can be a human being 1418 01:09:48,400 --> 01:09:52,280 if you don't have some understanding of that thought. 1419 01:09:58,560 --> 01:10:01,560 Coming up, more of '84's controversial women, 1420 01:10:01,560 --> 01:10:05,320 with the live MTV debut of this material girl. 1421 01:10:05,320 --> 01:10:08,760 Blasphemy, darling. What was she doing? 1422 01:10:08,760 --> 01:10:11,720 There's a furore over fur. 1423 01:10:11,720 --> 01:10:15,160 Wow. That's graphic. 1424 01:10:15,160 --> 01:10:18,560 And a music legend is under fire. 1425 01:10:18,560 --> 01:10:20,160 It was really, really shocking 1426 01:10:20,160 --> 01:10:23,800 that something like that could happen to one of our pop stars. 1427 01:10:28,600 --> 01:10:30,480 Do not adjust your set, 1428 01:10:30,480 --> 01:10:33,400 this was what passed as high fashion in 1984, 1429 01:10:33,400 --> 01:10:39,160 as clothes for the '80s generation screamed, "Look at me now!" 1430 01:10:39,160 --> 01:10:42,920 People felt more free to express themselves. 1431 01:10:42,920 --> 01:10:45,120 Not caring what people think. 1432 01:10:45,120 --> 01:10:48,680 It was just really fun, and we didn't take ourselves too seriously. 1433 01:10:48,680 --> 01:10:51,320 And while the rest of the UK were dressing like this, 1434 01:10:51,320 --> 01:10:56,360 across the pond, a controversial 26-year-old stylistic pioneer 1435 01:10:56,360 --> 01:10:59,200 was out to dominate the planet. 1436 01:10:59,200 --> 01:11:01,560 One of pop music's most flamboyant characters... 1437 01:11:01,560 --> 01:11:03,920 It's a girl who's been tipped as the white female answer 1438 01:11:03,920 --> 01:11:05,040 to Michael Jackson. 1439 01:11:05,040 --> 01:11:07,760 The hottest property on the music scene at the moment, Madonna. 1440 01:11:07,760 --> 01:11:09,000 I like the way she acts. 1441 01:11:09,000 --> 01:11:11,560 She's got everything, she's worked her way up. 1442 01:11:11,560 --> 01:11:15,440 She's like Marilyn Monroe again, except a much harder Marilyn Monroe. 1443 01:11:15,440 --> 01:11:18,160 It's "virgin" on the ridiculous. 1444 01:11:18,160 --> 01:11:20,720 Madonna was one of those artists - well, she still is - 1445 01:11:20,720 --> 01:11:22,600 where she makes headlines. 1446 01:11:22,600 --> 01:11:25,960 She knows exactly what buttons to press. 1447 01:11:25,960 --> 01:11:28,680 Madonna is the girl that every boy wants to go to bed with 1448 01:11:28,680 --> 01:11:30,600 and every girl wants to be, 1449 01:11:30,600 --> 01:11:32,760 and every parent loathes and despises. 1450 01:11:32,760 --> 01:11:34,400 She's always been opinionated, 1451 01:11:34,400 --> 01:11:38,680 she's always been outspoken, she doesn't care about her critics. 1452 01:11:38,680 --> 01:11:42,320 If she's got a message that she wants to get across, she'll get it. 1453 01:11:42,320 --> 01:11:45,240 If you're going to call your track Like A Virgin, 1454 01:11:45,240 --> 01:11:48,280 then you know people's backs will be up. 1455 01:11:48,280 --> 01:11:51,120 Madonna revelled in conservative criticism 1456 01:11:51,120 --> 01:11:54,000 that she was undermining family values. 1457 01:11:55,560 --> 01:11:58,400 Next, MTV invited her to perform the song 1458 01:11:58,400 --> 01:12:01,080 live at their inaugural Video Awards - 1459 01:12:01,080 --> 01:12:03,320 oh, the possibilities! 1460 01:12:03,320 --> 01:12:04,560 Anything could happen. 1461 01:12:04,560 --> 01:12:06,360 So I think she may well surprise everybody. 1462 01:12:06,360 --> 01:12:07,960 You don't say! 1463 01:12:07,960 --> 01:12:10,840 Madonna was a controversy-seeking missile 1464 01:12:10,840 --> 01:12:13,800 determined to score a direct hit. 1465 01:12:13,800 --> 01:12:16,640 First of all, she'd said she would do it 1466 01:12:16,640 --> 01:12:19,520 if they provided a live Bengal tiger. 1467 01:12:21,880 --> 01:12:23,240 But they didn't want to do that, 1468 01:12:23,240 --> 01:12:27,000 so she decided she would do it dressed in a wedding dress. 1469 01:12:27,000 --> 01:12:30,320 # Like a virgin 1470 01:12:30,320 --> 01:12:32,840 # Touched for the very First time... # 1471 01:12:34,280 --> 01:12:36,440 Madonna, MTV, Like A Virgin. 1472 01:12:36,440 --> 01:12:37,920 Blasphemy, darling. 1473 01:12:37,920 --> 01:12:39,120 What was she doing? 1474 01:12:39,120 --> 01:12:41,480 # When your heart beats... # 1475 01:12:41,480 --> 01:12:43,240 So far, so harmless. 1476 01:12:43,240 --> 01:12:46,520 But soon, the bride had everyone blushing. 1477 01:12:46,520 --> 01:12:51,200 I was like, "OK, Like A Virgin, but you're not being a virgin." 1478 01:12:51,200 --> 01:12:53,800 It was very, very controversial. 1479 01:12:53,800 --> 01:12:55,680 Then she rolls around on the floor, 1480 01:12:55,680 --> 01:12:59,400 and it shows the top of her thigh and her backside - 1481 01:12:59,400 --> 01:13:02,000 it all seems quite pleasant to me. 1482 01:13:02,000 --> 01:13:04,800 That's not how a virgin behaves. 1483 01:13:04,800 --> 01:13:06,200 Was she drinking? 1484 01:13:06,200 --> 01:13:07,520 No, I mean, look, 1485 01:13:07,520 --> 01:13:09,280 she's obviously in the moment, 1486 01:13:09,280 --> 01:13:10,880 she's enjoying her performance. 1487 01:13:12,480 --> 01:13:14,920 Madonna may not have been the headline artist, 1488 01:13:14,920 --> 01:13:18,000 but her risque routine stole the show. 1489 01:13:18,000 --> 01:13:22,240 MTV, I don't know how many millions and millions of viewers 1490 01:13:22,240 --> 01:13:24,160 over the world. 1491 01:13:24,160 --> 01:13:26,680 So she thought, "Let me just push it over the edge." 1492 01:13:26,680 --> 01:13:27,880 So she pushed it. 1493 01:13:27,880 --> 01:13:31,040 Cue predictable outrage from the world's media. 1494 01:13:31,040 --> 01:13:34,760 They got very bent out of shape about this indeed. 1495 01:13:34,760 --> 01:13:38,600 And then she has to make an excuse - well, her shoe had come off. 1496 01:13:38,600 --> 01:13:40,560 But obviously, Madonna is going to do this! 1497 01:13:40,560 --> 01:13:42,280 It's quite obvious, 1498 01:13:42,280 --> 01:13:44,720 I don't understand why everyone got so distressed about it. 1499 01:13:44,720 --> 01:13:47,520 As a businesswoman, Madonna was very clever, 1500 01:13:47,520 --> 01:13:50,240 she knew which buttons to push, she knew what would get press, 1501 01:13:50,240 --> 01:13:52,720 she knew what would get things talked about, 1502 01:13:52,720 --> 01:13:54,920 she knew what would get records sold. 1503 01:13:54,920 --> 01:13:57,440 She knew that she was going to be very successful 1504 01:13:57,440 --> 01:14:00,520 and she knew she was going to have a career in film as well, 1505 01:14:00,520 --> 01:14:01,520 she told me. 1506 01:14:03,360 --> 01:14:05,560 REPORTER: It's the sort of ecstatic welcome 1507 01:14:05,560 --> 01:14:09,040 that hasn't been seen since The Beatles. 1508 01:14:09,040 --> 01:14:12,640 40 years on, even Madonna's face is controversial. 1509 01:14:12,640 --> 01:14:16,920 She's still the most successful female artist of all time, though. 1510 01:14:16,920 --> 01:14:19,240 So what's the legacy of those raunchy three minutes 1511 01:14:19,240 --> 01:14:20,880 way back in '84? 1512 01:14:22,680 --> 01:14:25,920 Upon reflection, I'm sure it was very controversial for the time. 1513 01:14:25,920 --> 01:14:28,880 At this moment in time, we've all done much worse, 1514 01:14:28,880 --> 01:14:30,640 we've all seen a lot worse. 1515 01:14:30,640 --> 01:14:31,920 I've probably got a lot worse 1516 01:14:31,920 --> 01:14:33,560 in the gallery on my phone right now. 1517 01:14:33,560 --> 01:14:36,400 If you consider today's artists 1518 01:14:36,400 --> 01:14:39,800 like Beyonce or rap artists, you know, 1519 01:14:39,800 --> 01:14:42,920 in their videos, you know, how raunchy they get, 1520 01:14:42,920 --> 01:14:45,720 what Madonna is doing is kindergarten stuff. 1521 01:14:45,720 --> 01:14:51,000 I think present day has really gone a bit too far. 1522 01:14:51,000 --> 01:14:54,000 You've got Cardi B, who just plain old gyrates 1523 01:14:54,000 --> 01:14:56,840 and wears a G-string all the time. 1524 01:14:56,840 --> 01:14:58,760 But Madonna might have started it. 1525 01:14:58,760 --> 01:15:00,240 She may have started it 1526 01:15:00,240 --> 01:15:03,040 that you have to push it a bit further and a bit further. 1527 01:15:07,280 --> 01:15:10,920 Madonna's racy style influenced a whole new generation. 1528 01:15:10,920 --> 01:15:13,800 But high fashion came at a price. 1529 01:15:13,800 --> 01:15:17,720 In an era where wearing fur was still considered chic 1530 01:15:17,720 --> 01:15:19,640 and live animals were controversially used 1531 01:15:19,640 --> 01:15:22,440 as test subjects for new make-up products, 1532 01:15:22,440 --> 01:15:25,720 1984 saw outraged animal lovers 1533 01:15:25,720 --> 01:15:28,640 pulling ever more public stunts. 1534 01:15:28,640 --> 01:15:31,880 REPORTER: Nearly 1,500 animal rights protesters 1535 01:15:31,880 --> 01:15:34,440 from a wide area converged on the farm, 1536 01:15:34,440 --> 01:15:36,760 and foxes have been released from their pen. 1537 01:15:36,760 --> 01:15:38,920 It certainly seemed around this time, 1538 01:15:38,920 --> 01:15:40,560 the early '80s, the mid '80s, 1539 01:15:40,560 --> 01:15:44,400 that the animal rights protesters were becoming much more visible. 1540 01:15:44,400 --> 01:15:45,720 It was important, 1541 01:15:45,720 --> 01:15:49,080 and it was the febrile time for animal rights campaigners. 1542 01:15:49,080 --> 01:15:51,520 There were quite shocking protests, really, 1543 01:15:51,520 --> 01:15:53,720 like injecting Mars bars with poison, 1544 01:15:53,720 --> 01:15:56,440 to really raise awareness, to hit the headlines. 1545 01:15:56,440 --> 01:15:58,680 REPORTER: So far, there's no firm evidence 1546 01:15:58,680 --> 01:16:00,280 that any of the ten bars discovered 1547 01:16:00,280 --> 01:16:02,880 have actually been injected with poison. 1548 01:16:02,880 --> 01:16:05,040 A controversial confectionery campaign 1549 01:16:05,040 --> 01:16:06,920 would gain nationwide exposure. 1550 01:16:06,920 --> 01:16:09,320 Which is the more important to you - children or animals? 1551 01:16:09,320 --> 01:16:11,520 I think the greatest suffering is the most important. 1552 01:16:11,520 --> 01:16:13,360 Millions of animals are tortured every year 1553 01:16:13,360 --> 01:16:15,000 in laboratories in this country... 1554 01:16:15,000 --> 01:16:16,480 What about poisoned the children, 1555 01:16:16,480 --> 01:16:18,960 are they not important? There are no poisoned children. 1556 01:16:18,960 --> 01:16:21,160 There's no poison in these Mars bars whatsoever? 1557 01:16:21,160 --> 01:16:23,080 There's been no evidence of it so far, has there? 1558 01:16:23,080 --> 01:16:25,520 But you can't give us any guarantees about that whatsoever. 1559 01:16:25,520 --> 01:16:28,360 But there is plenty of evidence of cruelty to animals. 1560 01:16:30,160 --> 01:16:32,360 The extreme protests polarised opinions, 1561 01:16:32,360 --> 01:16:36,080 and in 1984, this shocking Lynx anti-fur campaign, 1562 01:16:36,080 --> 01:16:39,960 followed by an even more controversial Greenpeace TV advert, 1563 01:16:39,960 --> 01:16:41,360 split opinions. 1564 01:16:43,400 --> 01:16:45,160 It looks like a catwalk show, 1565 01:16:45,160 --> 01:16:47,760 largely because legendary style snapper 1566 01:16:47,760 --> 01:16:49,360 David Bailey was directing. 1567 01:16:52,680 --> 01:16:55,640 Known as the Dumb Animals campaign, 1568 01:16:55,640 --> 01:16:57,840 it's too disturbing for TV today, 1569 01:16:57,840 --> 01:17:00,160 as the fashionistas are splattered with blood. 1570 01:17:03,880 --> 01:17:05,880 Oh. 1571 01:17:05,880 --> 01:17:06,880 Wow. That's graphic. 1572 01:17:12,840 --> 01:17:16,560 Even now, as an adult you watch that and you think, "Wow." 1573 01:17:16,560 --> 01:17:17,960 For a large part of it, 1574 01:17:17,960 --> 01:17:24,680 it feels like a very '80s, glamorous, yuppie-era fashion show, 1575 01:17:24,680 --> 01:17:27,240 then you start to see the blood, 1576 01:17:27,240 --> 01:17:30,040 and then it kind of throws it back at you - 1577 01:17:30,040 --> 01:17:32,880 "If you buy a coat like this, you're a dumb animal" 1578 01:17:32,880 --> 01:17:38,000 After this moment, it becomes socially unacceptable to wear fur. 1579 01:17:38,000 --> 01:17:40,680 Who wants to wear a fox around their neck, anyway? 1580 01:17:40,680 --> 01:17:43,120 Who wants to wear a jacket that's made out of, you know, 1581 01:17:43,120 --> 01:17:44,640 17 dead animals? 1582 01:17:46,120 --> 01:17:49,320 Pressure worked, as major designers went fur-free, 1583 01:17:49,320 --> 01:17:53,560 or, in some cases, fur-partly-free. 1584 01:17:53,560 --> 01:17:56,480 People used to go, "Yeah, but it's not 100% fur, it's only 50%." 1585 01:17:56,480 --> 01:17:58,840 And you're going, "What, do you think there's a fox 1586 01:17:58,840 --> 01:18:00,360 "that's just lost its back legs 1587 01:18:00,360 --> 01:18:03,200 "and it's still running around with two legs like that?" 1588 01:18:03,200 --> 01:18:04,640 And I think that really hit home, 1589 01:18:04,640 --> 01:18:08,200 where it shows actually the death and the cruelty of it. 1590 01:18:08,200 --> 01:18:11,560 Today, 19 European countries have banned fur farming, 1591 01:18:11,560 --> 01:18:15,320 but over 90 million animals are still killed annually 1592 01:18:15,320 --> 01:18:17,560 to put their fur on humans' backs. 1593 01:18:21,400 --> 01:18:25,960 1984's clothing was clearly as contentious as it was colourful. 1594 01:18:27,080 --> 01:18:30,680 And without a hair-raising outlandish mop to top it off... 1595 01:18:32,200 --> 01:18:34,480 ..you'd never stand out from the crowd. 1596 01:18:35,840 --> 01:18:39,440 But with rivers of gel, mountains of mousse, 1597 01:18:39,440 --> 01:18:41,280 and gales of hairspray - 1598 01:18:41,280 --> 01:18:43,440 most of which contained napalm, apparently - 1599 01:18:43,440 --> 01:18:45,320 you risked more than a bad hair day. 1600 01:18:48,560 --> 01:18:52,400 I did a pantomime with Tessa Sanderson. 1601 01:18:52,400 --> 01:18:56,480 She was an Olympic javelin thrower, gold medallist, actually. 1602 01:18:56,480 --> 01:18:59,960 And she'd come on, and a pyrotechnic had gone off, 1603 01:18:59,960 --> 01:19:03,800 it had caught her hair - backcombed, full of hairspray - 1604 01:19:03,800 --> 01:19:05,840 and it set fire to her hair. 1605 01:19:05,840 --> 01:19:08,600 So we had to... I was going... 1606 01:19:08,600 --> 01:19:12,800 onstage bashing her head, trying to put the fire out. 1607 01:19:12,800 --> 01:19:14,480 It was dangerous. 1608 01:19:15,560 --> 01:19:18,480 It was exactly the same as what happened to Michael Jackson 1609 01:19:18,480 --> 01:19:20,120 in the Pepsi advert. 1610 01:19:20,120 --> 01:19:23,760 1984 was arguably Michael Jackson's biggest year. 1611 01:19:23,760 --> 01:19:26,160 Thriller was breaking global sales records, and nothing, 1612 01:19:26,160 --> 01:19:28,360 seemingly, could go wrong. 1613 01:19:28,360 --> 01:19:30,600 Oh, my gosh, Michael Jackson was the king of pop. 1614 01:19:30,600 --> 01:19:33,640 He was number one. He sold out stadiums worldwide. 1615 01:19:33,640 --> 01:19:35,840 He was the top banana. 1616 01:19:35,840 --> 01:19:37,720 Michael Jackson - Thriller 1617 01:19:37,720 --> 01:19:40,160 is now the highest-selling solo album 1618 01:19:40,160 --> 01:19:42,480 in the history of recorded music. 1619 01:19:42,480 --> 01:19:45,640 Jackson's life was about to take a terrifying twist. 1620 01:19:45,640 --> 01:19:48,720 A starring role in a Pepsi commercial went devastatingly wrong, 1621 01:19:48,720 --> 01:19:52,720 as seen in this horrifying behind-the-scenes footage. 1622 01:19:52,720 --> 01:19:55,400 Of course you've got hair, make-up, 1623 01:19:55,400 --> 01:19:57,640 you've got Jheri curl juice and spray 1624 01:19:57,640 --> 01:19:59,080 and all of this everywhere. 1625 01:20:02,400 --> 01:20:05,880 One of the sparks just went too close to Michael, 1626 01:20:05,880 --> 01:20:08,160 his hair was set on fire... 1627 01:20:08,160 --> 01:20:11,320 Oh, no. That's really bad, what happened there. 1628 01:20:11,320 --> 01:20:14,720 That's the worst place to get burned. 1629 01:20:14,720 --> 01:20:16,880 Then all of a sudden the crew is running over, 1630 01:20:16,880 --> 01:20:18,280 they're patting his head down. 1631 01:20:18,280 --> 01:20:19,800 The footage! 1632 01:20:19,800 --> 01:20:21,600 He got dragged off with flames on his head 1633 01:20:21,600 --> 01:20:23,520 and they're putting towels on him, 1634 01:20:23,520 --> 01:20:25,960 and it was really, really shocking. 1635 01:20:25,960 --> 01:20:29,880 He ended up with second-degree burns. 1636 01:20:29,880 --> 01:20:33,400 Problems with hair growing back. It was a mess. 1637 01:20:33,400 --> 01:20:36,240 While Jackson's chart success continued, 1638 01:20:36,240 --> 01:20:38,280 some believe those few shocking seconds 1639 01:20:38,280 --> 01:20:41,720 may mark the turning point between Jackson's old life, 1640 01:20:41,720 --> 01:20:44,800 and the deteriorating health that would follow. 1641 01:20:44,800 --> 01:20:47,760 We didn't see the trauma of it, we saw the drama of it. 1642 01:20:47,760 --> 01:20:50,680 It was like, "Oh, my God, Michael Jackson's head's on fire." 1643 01:20:50,680 --> 01:20:52,680 But it must have been awful for him. 1644 01:20:52,680 --> 01:20:54,920 In a way, it was an even darker tragedy 1645 01:20:54,920 --> 01:20:57,240 because they then say that the reason 1646 01:20:57,240 --> 01:20:59,600 that he got so far into prescription drugs 1647 01:20:59,600 --> 01:21:02,920 was because of the drugs he'd had to take as painkillers, 1648 01:21:02,920 --> 01:21:05,640 and that he was never the same again. 1649 01:21:05,640 --> 01:21:07,440 But as we should know by now, 1650 01:21:07,440 --> 01:21:09,680 big corporations tend to get their way 1651 01:21:09,680 --> 01:21:12,640 and, amazingly, the Pepsi advert still got shown. 1652 01:21:14,200 --> 01:21:17,280 The Pepsi ad, actually, it went on to go out, 1653 01:21:17,280 --> 01:21:19,880 but a lot later, and you know those clever clogs, 1654 01:21:19,880 --> 01:21:23,640 they did use some of that to push the advertisement. 1655 01:21:23,640 --> 01:21:26,680 But at first nobody wanted to touch a Pepsi, 1656 01:21:26,680 --> 01:21:29,120 they thought that Pepsi set your hair on fire. 1657 01:21:29,120 --> 01:21:32,520 In 1984, the final controversial straw... 1658 01:21:33,600 --> 01:21:35,440 "You need to be tortured like I was. 1659 01:21:35,440 --> 01:21:37,640 "I made it, you can make it." 1660 01:21:37,640 --> 01:21:39,840 ..would mean the end of time-honoured traditions... 1661 01:21:39,840 --> 01:21:41,480 "You got Mickey Mouse qualifications." 1662 01:21:41,480 --> 01:21:43,360 I think they were just jealous. 1663 01:21:43,360 --> 01:21:45,520 ..and a frightening fear of the future. 1664 01:21:45,520 --> 01:21:47,160 I was more or less convinced 1665 01:21:47,160 --> 01:21:49,840 I would end up kind of bartering rat meat 1666 01:21:49,840 --> 01:21:51,640 in the ruins of Cheadle. 1667 01:21:56,200 --> 01:21:59,360 Oh, 1984 - so much to answer for. 1668 01:21:59,360 --> 01:22:02,280 The fire at York Minster is still a mystery tonight. 1669 01:22:02,280 --> 01:22:07,480 Landmarks burned as iconic British institutions disappeared. 1670 01:22:07,480 --> 01:22:08,960 It was awful, I lived in fear. 1671 01:22:08,960 --> 01:22:13,160 We all know us Brits hate change, even small change. 1672 01:22:13,160 --> 01:22:16,760 In '84 it arrived with a vengeance. 1673 01:22:16,760 --> 01:22:20,200 The campaign to save the English pound note is gathering pace. 1674 01:22:20,200 --> 01:22:21,640 After yesterday's announcement 1675 01:22:21,640 --> 01:22:24,000 that it's to be replaced by the pound coin, 1676 01:22:24,000 --> 01:22:26,680 MPs - Labour and Tory - are demanding a rethink. 1677 01:22:26,680 --> 01:22:29,160 Conservative Norman St John-Stevas called it... 1678 01:22:31,440 --> 01:22:34,000 I remember when the pound note was phased out 1679 01:22:34,000 --> 01:22:35,920 feeling a little bit nostalgic 1680 01:22:35,920 --> 01:22:38,960 for that little bit of paper scrunched in my jeans pocket. 1681 01:22:38,960 --> 01:22:41,200 I remember pound notes, they were lovely. 1682 01:22:41,200 --> 01:22:45,560 You felt rich when you had a few quid, didn't you, like a wad? 1683 01:22:45,560 --> 01:22:48,440 I remember the end very clearly, I remember lots of old people 1684 01:22:48,440 --> 01:22:50,400 getting really irate about it, 1685 01:22:50,400 --> 01:22:52,880 my dad talking about how we were going to have to get used to this 1686 01:22:52,880 --> 01:22:54,720 newfangled situation. 1687 01:22:54,720 --> 01:22:56,880 REPORTER: The campaign to stamp out the coin 1688 01:22:56,880 --> 01:22:58,400 isn't confined to Westminster. 1689 01:22:58,400 --> 01:23:01,080 Well, we've had about 3,000 letters in all, 1690 01:23:01,080 --> 01:23:03,920 and many of them contain petitions. 1691 01:23:03,920 --> 01:23:05,640 But it's old people in particular 1692 01:23:05,640 --> 01:23:08,000 who are most likely to be upset by the metal pound. 1693 01:23:08,000 --> 01:23:11,880 The old people, some of them don't realise the difference between them, 1694 01:23:11,880 --> 01:23:14,440 say, and a 5p or a 20p piece. 1695 01:23:14,440 --> 01:23:16,280 Do you yourself find it confusing? 1696 01:23:16,280 --> 01:23:17,760 Yes, I do, sometimes. 1697 01:23:17,760 --> 01:23:22,400 The change in that was almost like you had killed society 1698 01:23:22,400 --> 01:23:23,720 for that generation. 1699 01:23:23,720 --> 01:23:26,000 I remember people going, "Oh, you can't get rid of that." 1700 01:23:26,000 --> 01:23:28,880 The £1 coin was tiny, it was actually more practical. 1701 01:23:28,880 --> 01:23:33,080 Any introduction of any kind of new monetary, anything tangible, 1702 01:23:33,080 --> 01:23:34,360 is going to upset them. 1703 01:23:34,360 --> 01:23:37,240 Of course, in 1971 and they had to deal with decimalisation. 1704 01:23:37,240 --> 01:23:39,120 So you'd gone pound note to pound coin, 1705 01:23:39,120 --> 01:23:41,360 and then you went big 10p, smaller 10p, 1706 01:23:41,360 --> 01:23:42,720 5p, smaller 5p. 1707 01:23:42,720 --> 01:23:45,160 Any change of size of coin they think, 1708 01:23:45,160 --> 01:23:48,120 "Oh, too fiddly getting on the bus." 1709 01:23:48,120 --> 01:23:50,320 For some, they were a blessing. 1710 01:23:50,320 --> 01:23:53,560 The blind say they can recognise the coin by touch. 1711 01:23:53,560 --> 01:23:56,880 People who make slot machines reckon it'll make our lives easier. 1712 01:23:56,880 --> 01:23:59,760 As a kid I was just like, "I want a pound coin." 1713 01:23:59,760 --> 01:24:02,800 I remember holding that pound coin in my hand 1714 01:24:02,800 --> 01:24:06,360 and just marvelling at it, because it was really heavy. 1715 01:24:06,360 --> 01:24:08,880 As a kid it was like, "Oh, my God, how heavy is this?" 1716 01:24:08,880 --> 01:24:12,520 Most did what we do best - complain. 1717 01:24:12,520 --> 01:24:13,880 Most of the people I've spoken to 1718 01:24:13,880 --> 01:24:16,200 have assumed that if anything was going to be scrapped, 1719 01:24:16,200 --> 01:24:18,800 it would be the coin and not the note. 1720 01:24:18,800 --> 01:24:20,360 No-one wants the coins at all. 1721 01:24:20,360 --> 01:24:22,120 Everybody wants pound notes. 1722 01:24:22,120 --> 01:24:24,280 Well, I think it's a shame, in a way, 1723 01:24:24,280 --> 01:24:25,400 because I think a pound note 1724 01:24:25,400 --> 01:24:27,040 has got more value than a pound coin. 1725 01:24:27,040 --> 01:24:29,720 Maybe never apply to be Chancellor! 1726 01:24:29,720 --> 01:24:33,120 But if maths O-level was going to be a stretch, 1727 01:24:33,120 --> 01:24:34,960 there was maybe good news on the way. 1728 01:24:34,960 --> 01:24:38,920 In 1984, exams were getting a controversial overhaul. 1729 01:24:42,920 --> 01:24:46,720 O-level GCE exams and the CSE are to go. 1730 01:24:46,720 --> 01:24:51,800 The GCSE will replace the present O-levels and CSEs. 1731 01:24:51,800 --> 01:24:53,840 Got that? Good. 1732 01:24:53,840 --> 01:24:58,440 The era of everything resting on a single end-of-year exam was gone. 1733 01:24:58,440 --> 01:25:00,760 I lived in fear of O-levels, 1734 01:25:00,760 --> 01:25:03,600 and it was a memory test, which is ironic now, 1735 01:25:03,600 --> 01:25:06,000 as kind of my job is a memory test all the time, really, 1736 01:25:06,000 --> 01:25:08,160 learning lines and learning script. 1737 01:25:08,160 --> 01:25:10,000 So you did well, then? 1738 01:25:10,000 --> 01:25:11,760 I got two. 1739 01:25:13,840 --> 01:25:18,520 I left school at 16, and I worked really hard for my exams, 1740 01:25:18,520 --> 01:25:20,280 I came out with three. 1741 01:25:20,280 --> 01:25:22,480 More than two! Well done. 1742 01:25:23,960 --> 01:25:27,080 REPORTER: The new scheme will put all children on the same scale. 1743 01:25:27,080 --> 01:25:29,320 There will be harder papers with higher marks 1744 01:25:29,320 --> 01:25:31,520 for the brighter and more ambitious, 1745 01:25:31,520 --> 01:25:33,520 simpler questions for those who choose them. 1746 01:25:33,520 --> 01:25:35,200 No, you've lost me. 1747 01:25:35,200 --> 01:25:38,520 Someone explain, are GCSEs easier? 1748 01:25:38,520 --> 01:25:41,120 I did O-levels, obviously, and did rather well in them, 1749 01:25:41,120 --> 01:25:42,400 thank you very much. 1750 01:25:42,400 --> 01:25:43,800 And when they became GCSEs, 1751 01:25:43,800 --> 01:25:46,960 I think everybody knew that they were completely diminished. 1752 01:25:46,960 --> 01:25:49,920 No-one since has done a serious exam. 1753 01:25:49,920 --> 01:25:52,520 No young English person who hasn't done a proper... 1754 01:25:52,520 --> 01:25:54,480 I'm only kidding! 1755 01:25:54,480 --> 01:25:58,200 People who did O-levels said, "Yeah, it's a Mickey Mouse exam. 1756 01:25:58,200 --> 01:26:00,560 "You've got Mickey Mouse qualifications." 1757 01:26:00,560 --> 01:26:02,160 I think they were just jealous. 1758 01:26:02,160 --> 01:26:05,280 All I'm going to say is, I got a couple of O-levels, yeah? 1759 01:26:05,280 --> 01:26:09,640 And my friends - I'm not saying some of them were stupider than me - 1760 01:26:09,640 --> 01:26:13,040 but they all got, like, 10 GCSEs or 12 GCSEs. 1761 01:26:13,040 --> 01:26:14,600 REPORTER: In some subjects, 1762 01:26:14,600 --> 01:26:16,560 the children will set their own standards, 1763 01:26:16,560 --> 01:26:19,320 choose how deeply and how precisely they answer the questions, 1764 01:26:19,320 --> 01:26:21,920 or choose what questions to attempt. 1765 01:26:21,920 --> 01:26:25,120 I remember thinking, "I wish I was doing GCSEs." 1766 01:26:25,120 --> 01:26:27,800 A lot of it was prep work and project work, 1767 01:26:27,800 --> 01:26:32,400 and you were judged on that as equally as the test at the end. 1768 01:26:32,400 --> 01:26:35,080 GCSEs come in, and all of a sudden, 1769 01:26:35,080 --> 01:26:37,280 I can pass my English literature with no exam, 1770 01:26:37,280 --> 01:26:40,560 I can pass my English language with no exam. 1771 01:26:40,560 --> 01:26:41,880 And that to me seemed, 1772 01:26:41,880 --> 01:26:44,400 A, not only much more beneficial for my own skill set, 1773 01:26:44,400 --> 01:26:48,000 but, B, a much fairer way of testing your rounded knowledge. 1774 01:26:48,000 --> 01:26:50,560 Thanks to the introduction of GCSEs, 1775 01:26:50,560 --> 01:26:53,680 we now have generations of bitter O-level parents 1776 01:26:53,680 --> 01:26:57,320 convinced their kids are educational chancers. 1777 01:26:57,320 --> 01:27:00,880 People always want their children to struggle how they did. 1778 01:27:00,880 --> 01:27:03,240 When I speak to my mother she says, 1779 01:27:03,240 --> 01:27:07,160 "Oh, I did O-levels, and I did this, and it was, like, torture, 1780 01:27:07,160 --> 01:27:10,440 "which is why you should do the same thing, too. 1781 01:27:10,440 --> 01:27:12,040 "You shouldn't have it easier." 1782 01:27:12,040 --> 01:27:16,440 "You need to be tortured like I was. I made it, you can make it." 1783 01:27:16,440 --> 01:27:19,920 Poor young things, all we did was change the name! 1784 01:27:24,000 --> 01:27:26,600 All right, so, in 1984, we lost our pound notes 1785 01:27:26,600 --> 01:27:28,800 and O-levels were being phased out. 1786 01:27:28,800 --> 01:27:31,040 We lived, we moved on. 1787 01:27:31,040 --> 01:27:33,960 But waiting in the wings was a far more apocalyptic event - 1788 01:27:33,960 --> 01:27:35,720 the apocalypse. 1789 01:27:35,720 --> 01:27:39,000 In 1984, I think I probably thought about the end of the world 1790 01:27:39,000 --> 01:27:41,560 more than I thought about anything else. 1791 01:27:41,560 --> 01:27:46,120 I was obsessed with nuclear war, and massively afraid as well. 1792 01:27:49,440 --> 01:27:52,400 It structured our lives, 1793 01:27:52,400 --> 01:27:54,640 the thought of looking up into the sky 1794 01:27:54,640 --> 01:27:58,000 and seeing something that would vaporise your eyeballs. 1795 01:28:00,040 --> 01:28:02,280 The whole thing to me is terrifying, 1796 01:28:02,280 --> 01:28:04,920 you know, it is mutually assured destruction. 1797 01:28:04,920 --> 01:28:08,200 In 1984, there were nuclear weapons everywhere - 1798 01:28:08,200 --> 01:28:12,040 Russia had them, America had them, your grandad probably had them. 1799 01:28:12,040 --> 01:28:15,120 But he wasn't running the free world, 1800 01:28:15,120 --> 01:28:17,480 unlike retired cowboy actor President Reagan, 1801 01:28:17,480 --> 01:28:20,440 with his finger on the nuclear trigger. 1802 01:28:20,440 --> 01:28:24,120 The fact you had an old Hollywood movie star 1803 01:28:24,120 --> 01:28:28,000 actually as president of the United States of America 1804 01:28:28,000 --> 01:28:29,600 was almost like we'd entered 1805 01:28:29,600 --> 01:28:32,480 this sort of blockbuster apocalyptic film, 1806 01:28:32,480 --> 01:28:35,320 and it all felt very, very real. 1807 01:28:35,320 --> 01:28:38,880 So not a time to do anything stupid. 1808 01:28:38,880 --> 01:28:42,440 Russia were on a third leader in three years - Chernenko - 1809 01:28:42,440 --> 01:28:44,000 and feeling twitchy. 1810 01:28:44,000 --> 01:28:47,680 Enter President Reagan with some Armageddon-inviting ad-lib. 1811 01:28:47,680 --> 01:28:50,320 Hilarious? Well, no. 1812 01:28:50,320 --> 01:28:51,400 Every Saturday morning, 1813 01:28:51,400 --> 01:28:55,280 Reagan gave a radio address from the White House. 1814 01:28:55,280 --> 01:28:58,640 And of course, before any broadcast, you check the mic for sound, 1815 01:28:58,640 --> 01:29:01,680 and normally, you say, "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven." 1816 01:29:01,680 --> 01:29:05,320 But he came on with this daffy line about starting to bomb the Russians. 1817 01:29:14,920 --> 01:29:17,160 We all thought that if this was some kind of a joke, 1818 01:29:17,160 --> 01:29:18,920 it was particularly scary 1819 01:29:18,920 --> 01:29:21,680 because some truth might lie behind it. 1820 01:29:21,680 --> 01:29:24,360 This is an off-the-cuff remark, it's a joke, really, 1821 01:29:24,360 --> 01:29:28,400 but I suppose it's the joke that could have ended everything. 1822 01:29:28,400 --> 01:29:30,800 It wasn't a storm in a teacup, it was more than that, 1823 01:29:30,800 --> 01:29:33,240 it was a joke of the most alarming proportions, 1824 01:29:33,240 --> 01:29:35,440 if you considered he was the man 1825 01:29:35,440 --> 01:29:38,120 with his finger on the nuclear button. 1826 01:29:38,120 --> 01:29:40,320 It took a lot of explaining away afterwards, 1827 01:29:40,320 --> 01:29:42,560 especially, of course, to the Soviet Union. 1828 01:29:42,560 --> 01:29:45,520 Three, two, one. 1829 01:29:47,840 --> 01:29:50,480 With Reagan's stand-up career on hold, 1830 01:29:50,480 --> 01:29:54,080 the nuclear controversy would next explode in the UK, 1831 01:29:54,080 --> 01:29:56,480 when US cruise missiles targeting Russia 1832 01:29:56,480 --> 01:29:58,680 arrived on our shores. 1833 01:29:58,680 --> 01:30:00,840 This is the time of the deployment 1834 01:30:00,840 --> 01:30:03,040 of medium-range missiles in Europe, 1835 01:30:03,040 --> 01:30:06,040 and he was thought to be trigger-happy, 1836 01:30:06,040 --> 01:30:09,320 and there were huge protests at Greenham Common and elsewhere. 1837 01:30:11,160 --> 01:30:14,800 Understandably, we didn't want to be, in Britain, 1838 01:30:14,800 --> 01:30:17,480 an airstrip for nuclear war. 1839 01:30:17,480 --> 01:30:20,640 And as so often in history, 1840 01:30:20,640 --> 01:30:23,960 it's women who take the lead, 1841 01:30:23,960 --> 01:30:27,400 and they created this fabulous peace camp. 1842 01:30:27,400 --> 01:30:31,120 The Tory government was not in the mood for protests. 1843 01:30:31,120 --> 01:30:35,120 1984, we know which side we're on. 1844 01:30:35,120 --> 01:30:36,720 We're with the Americans, 1845 01:30:36,720 --> 01:30:41,040 and if they want to base cruise weapons in Britain, 1846 01:30:41,040 --> 01:30:42,320 then so be it. 1847 01:30:42,320 --> 01:30:45,320 You do whatever you can to avoid war. 1848 01:30:45,320 --> 01:30:49,640 And sometimes, that includes being very well-armed. 1849 01:30:49,640 --> 01:30:51,480 With the Cold War heating up, 1850 01:30:51,480 --> 01:30:54,960 public preparation for the horrors of nuclear war intensified. 1851 01:30:57,440 --> 01:30:59,240 It was a time for nuclear scares. 1852 01:30:59,240 --> 01:31:03,040 Take cover at once when you hear the attack sound. 1853 01:31:03,040 --> 01:31:05,120 SIREN BLARES 1854 01:31:05,120 --> 01:31:08,040 You had public information films of what would happen 1855 01:31:08,040 --> 01:31:10,680 in the event of hearing the air attack warning. 1856 01:31:14,640 --> 01:31:16,040 You had four minutes. 1857 01:31:16,040 --> 01:31:18,400 And it became a standard sort of school playground thing, 1858 01:31:18,400 --> 01:31:21,880 "Oh, what would you do in your last four minutes?" 1859 01:31:21,880 --> 01:31:25,400 If you weren't already petrified, you soon would be. 1860 01:31:26,840 --> 01:31:29,040 Jesus Christ. They've done it. 1861 01:31:33,800 --> 01:31:35,120 They've done it. 1862 01:31:35,120 --> 01:31:37,480 The brutal and controversial drama Threads 1863 01:31:37,480 --> 01:31:40,160 told you everything you really didn't want to know 1864 01:31:40,160 --> 01:31:42,240 about nuclear destruction. 1865 01:31:42,240 --> 01:31:46,880 Threads is completely and utterly nightmarishly terrifying 1866 01:31:46,880 --> 01:31:47,880 and haunting. 1867 01:31:49,360 --> 01:31:51,240 Come on. Get all this stuff on! 1868 01:31:52,720 --> 01:31:57,200 To actually see the grim reality was exceptionally powerful. 1869 01:31:59,080 --> 01:32:02,080 We all watched it kind of pale faced, I think. 1870 01:32:02,080 --> 01:32:03,400 The blood drained from us. 1871 01:32:03,400 --> 01:32:05,600 SCREAMING 1872 01:32:09,360 --> 01:32:11,360 It was everything I'd read about, 1873 01:32:11,360 --> 01:32:14,840 but then made into an even more howling nightmare. 1874 01:32:16,720 --> 01:32:19,360 It was controversial in the sense 1875 01:32:19,360 --> 01:32:21,720 that that put a great deal of fear out there. 1876 01:32:21,720 --> 01:32:25,400 Threads isn't reality, it's only a television programme, 1877 01:32:25,400 --> 01:32:28,640 and one based upon the sometimes controversial techniques 1878 01:32:28,640 --> 01:32:30,400 of a drama documentary. 1879 01:32:30,400 --> 01:32:33,440 What we were trying to do in Threads was to give a realistic picture 1880 01:32:33,440 --> 01:32:35,600 to people who perhaps haven't thought about it at all 1881 01:32:35,600 --> 01:32:36,880 in their lives. 1882 01:32:36,880 --> 01:32:39,320 It certainly did the trick. 1883 01:32:39,320 --> 01:32:40,560 Thanks for that. 1884 01:32:41,600 --> 01:32:44,200 I didn't think I would've reacted like this, you know, 1885 01:32:44,200 --> 01:32:45,680 but I just couldn't help it. 1886 01:32:45,680 --> 01:32:48,840 There's literally going to be nothing after, is there? Nothing. 1887 01:32:48,840 --> 01:32:51,480 I want to die when it hits me cos I don't want to live through 1888 01:32:51,480 --> 01:32:53,680 anything they lived through. Not at all. 1889 01:32:53,680 --> 01:32:55,520 Watching Threads, I was more or less convinced 1890 01:32:55,520 --> 01:33:00,680 I would end up kind of bartering rat meat in the ruins of Cheadle. 1891 01:33:00,680 --> 01:33:03,360 That's what the future seemed to present to me. 1892 01:33:03,360 --> 01:33:06,040 Listen, I might seem like a traitor, but guess what? 1893 01:33:06,040 --> 01:33:08,440 I'd rather be taken over by the Russians, 1894 01:33:08,440 --> 01:33:12,240 the Chinese or the North Koreans than be vaporised. 1895 01:33:12,240 --> 01:33:16,400 Now, That's What I Call Controversially 1984.