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A life is made up of a great amount
of small incidents.
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And a small amount of great ones.
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00:00:24,620 --> 00:00:26,700
An autobiography must therefore,
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unless it is to become tedious,
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00:00:28,700 --> 00:00:30,140
be extremely selective,
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00:00:37,060 --> 00:00:39,740
discarding all inconsequential
incidents.
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And concentrating upon those that
have remained vivid in the memory.
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00:00:58,540 --> 00:01:02,260
I went flying with the RAF
in the Second World War.
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Gloster Gladiators cooperate
with the ground forces.
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I flew straight to the point
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where 80 Squadron should have been.
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It wasn't there.
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Below me there was nothing but empty
desert, and rugged desert at that,
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00:01:30,500 --> 00:01:33,940
full of large stones and boulders
and gulleys.
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00:01:37,020 --> 00:01:39,700
It was nearly dark now, I had to get
down somehow.
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I chose a piece of ground that
seemed to be as boulder-free as any.
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00:01:50,860 --> 00:01:51,980
My wheels touched down,
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00:01:53,260 --> 00:01:55,260
I throttled back and prayed
for a bit of luck.
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00:02:01,140 --> 00:02:02,140
I didn't get it.
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00:02:05,380 --> 00:02:07,060
I was unconscious for some moments,
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but I must have recovered my senses
very quickly,
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because I can remember...
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00:02:10,660 --> 00:02:13,380
WHOOSH!
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..a mighty whoosh as the petrol tank
exploded.
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Roald is on his way to his first day
of active service flying for the RAF
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00:02:24,940 --> 00:02:28,420
against the Italians, in the desert
of northern Libya.
27
00:02:28,420 --> 00:02:31,820
He hadn't got to the base where
he was supposed to be.
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00:02:33,260 --> 00:02:36,260
He hit a boulder. The whole thing
burst into flames.
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00:02:37,740 --> 00:02:39,780
He pulled himself out,
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00:02:39,780 --> 00:02:43,420
and then lay on the ground while the
plane was burning and while these
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extraordinary guns started to go
off.
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The crash was so bad the plane was
completely totalled, he nearly...
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00:02:51,380 --> 00:02:53,780
I mean, he nearly died.
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00:02:53,780 --> 00:02:56,380
I think he was very, very lucky
to come out of that alive.
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00:02:57,620 --> 00:02:59,660
My face hurt most.
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00:02:59,660 --> 00:03:01,700
I slowly put a hand up to feel it.
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00:03:03,500 --> 00:03:04,420
It was very sticky.
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00:03:06,380 --> 00:03:08,380
My nose didn't seem to be there.
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00:03:10,260 --> 00:03:14,100
In the hospital in Alexandria, he
lived in this world for six weeks,
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00:03:14,100 --> 00:03:18,420
I think, of total darkness, of
uncertainty about where he was,
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00:03:18,420 --> 00:03:20,180
about what was going on.
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00:03:20,180 --> 00:03:24,300
The blindness must have been
very frightening.
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You're in hospital, and all you can
hear are voices.
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00:03:27,740 --> 00:03:30,260
And then when the bandages come off,
you know,
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00:03:30,260 --> 00:03:31,940
"Am I going to be able to see?"
You know.
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Blindness, not to mention life
itself, was no longer too important.
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00:03:45,500 --> 00:03:48,860
The only way was to accept
all the dangers and the consequences
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00:03:48,860 --> 00:03:50,220
as calmly as possible.
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00:03:54,140 --> 00:03:57,900
The crash clearly was incredibly
important, because it became
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00:03:57,900 --> 00:04:01,460
the subject of his first piece
of published work.
51
00:04:01,460 --> 00:04:05,620
But I think it also may well have
changed his personality.
52
00:04:05,620 --> 00:04:10,260
He thought, and often said, that,
um...
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00:04:10,260 --> 00:04:14,380
he felt something had changed in him
as a result of this crash.
54
00:04:16,060 --> 00:04:18,460
They were the head injuries
that made him into a writer.
55
00:04:20,940 --> 00:04:23,740
He exaggerated the crash
quite a bit.
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00:04:24,940 --> 00:04:26,340
You know, this was a drama.
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00:04:27,660 --> 00:04:30,660
This was something fantastic
to write about!
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00:04:33,580 --> 00:04:36,540
These extraordinary ideas,
how do they develop?
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00:04:36,540 --> 00:04:37,820
Where do they come from?
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00:04:37,820 --> 00:04:41,300
They always, of course,
start with some tiny germ.
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00:04:41,300 --> 00:04:43,140
Somewhere.
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00:04:43,140 --> 00:04:45,460
And you rattle it around, and...
63
00:04:47,140 --> 00:04:48,740
..hope for the best, and build up
a story.
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00:04:48,740 --> 00:04:51,260
I don't know, it's got to start
with something.
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00:05:01,820 --> 00:05:05,180
When I was seven my mother decided I
should go to a proper boys' school.
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00:05:07,020 --> 00:05:09,260
It was called
Llandaff Cathedral School,
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00:05:09,260 --> 00:05:11,460
and it stood right under the shadow
of the cathedral.
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00:05:14,820 --> 00:05:18,180
The sweet shop at Llandaff
was the very centre of our lives.
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00:05:19,340 --> 00:05:23,100
To us it was what a bar is to
a drunk, or a church to a bishop -
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without it, there would have been
little to live for.
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00:05:29,340 --> 00:05:32,740
But it had one terrible drawback,
this sweet shop.
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00:05:34,020 --> 00:05:35,740
The woman who owned it
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was a horror.
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00:05:37,940 --> 00:05:41,100
I've forgotten, for the moment, what
the horrible woman in the shop was,
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00:05:41,100 --> 00:05:42,380
but... Mrs Pratchett.
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00:05:42,380 --> 00:05:44,380
Oh, she was Mrs Pratchett,
that's right, yes.
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00:05:50,300 --> 00:05:52,860
She never welcomed us
when we went in.
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00:05:52,860 --> 00:05:55,980
And the only times she spoke
were when she said things like...
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00:05:57,780 --> 00:05:59,060
"I'm watching you,
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00:05:59,060 --> 00:06:02,260
"so keep your thieving fingers
off them chocolates."
81
00:06:05,500 --> 00:06:07,540
I think it was in school cap days.
82
00:06:10,660 --> 00:06:14,540
It's very nice, because it's a sort
of early version of a lot of things
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00:06:14,540 --> 00:06:16,060
that happen in the books later.
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00:06:16,060 --> 00:06:18,540
You know, these ingenuities.
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00:06:18,540 --> 00:06:23,380
Some kind of suitable revenge goes
on, which is...which is very nice.
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00:06:25,660 --> 00:06:29,060
My four friends and I had
come across a loose floorboard
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00:06:29,060 --> 00:06:30,500
at the back of the classroom.
88
00:06:31,860 --> 00:06:35,780
One day, we lifted it up and found
a dead mouse.
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00:06:37,180 --> 00:06:39,300
It was an exciting discovery.
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00:06:39,300 --> 00:06:40,620
"Hold on a tick," I said,
91
00:06:42,300 --> 00:06:46,420
"why don't we slip it into one of
Mrs Pratchett's jars of sweets?
92
00:06:47,660 --> 00:06:51,860
"Then, when she puts her dirty hand
in to grab a handful,
93
00:06:51,860 --> 00:06:54,660
"she'll grab a stinky dead mouse
instead."
94
00:06:57,300 --> 00:06:58,940
When you're old enough to...
95
00:07:00,260 --> 00:07:03,740
..and experienced enough
to be a competent writer,
96
00:07:03,740 --> 00:07:07,660
by then, you've become pompous
and...
97
00:07:09,740 --> 00:07:13,780
..adult, grown-up and...you've
lost all your jokiness.
98
00:07:13,780 --> 00:07:15,380
You don't have any...
99
00:07:15,380 --> 00:07:18,820
And so, unless you are a kind of
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00:07:18,820 --> 00:07:22,540
undeveloped...adult,
101
00:07:22,540 --> 00:07:26,180
and you still have an enormous
amount of childishness in you,
102
00:07:26,180 --> 00:07:29,100
and you giggle at funny stories
and jokes and things,
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00:07:29,100 --> 00:07:30,220
I don't think you can do it.
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00:07:33,420 --> 00:07:36,100
The five of us left school
and headed for the sweet shop.
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00:07:37,540 --> 00:07:40,780
We were tremendously jazzed up.
106
00:07:40,780 --> 00:07:45,660
We felt like a gang of desperadoes
setting out to rob a train.
107
00:07:46,780 --> 00:07:52,580
We were the victors now, and
Mrs Pratchett was the victim.
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00:07:52,580 --> 00:07:57,940
She stood behind the counter,
and her small, malignant pig eyes
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watched us suspiciously.
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00:08:02,540 --> 00:08:07,420
When I saw Mrs Pratchett turn her
head away for a couple of seconds,
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00:08:07,420 --> 00:08:12,260
I lifted the heavy glass lid
of the gobstopper jar,
112
00:08:14,100 --> 00:08:15,700
and dropped the mouse in.
113
00:08:19,620 --> 00:08:22,020
Well, I think Roald thought they'd
got away with it.
114
00:08:22,020 --> 00:08:24,660
But, in fact, of course, he hadn't.
115
00:08:24,660 --> 00:08:26,700
The consequences, of course...
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..hit hard.
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00:08:30,780 --> 00:08:34,220
We didn't speak as we made our way
down the long corridor into
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00:08:34,220 --> 00:08:36,620
the headmaster's dreaded study.
119
00:08:38,100 --> 00:08:40,300
He raised the cane high
above his shoulder,
120
00:08:40,300 --> 00:08:41,700
and as he brought it down...
121
00:08:42,820 --> 00:08:44,740
..it made a loud swishing sound.
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00:08:44,740 --> 00:08:46,100
SWISH-CRACK!
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00:08:46,100 --> 00:08:52,900
And there was a crack like a pistol
shot as it struck Thwaite's bottom.
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00:08:52,900 --> 00:08:57,580
"Harder! Harder!" shrieked a voice
from over in the corner.
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00:08:59,420 --> 00:09:04,780
We looked around, and there was the
loathsome figure of Mrs Pratchett.
126
00:09:04,780 --> 00:09:06,060
GRUFF VOICE: "Lay into him!"
127
00:09:06,060 --> 00:09:09,180
SWISH-CRACK!
128
00:09:09,180 --> 00:09:11,940
You could hear your fellow...
129
00:09:13,980 --> 00:09:16,500
..friends being caned.
130
00:09:16,500 --> 00:09:17,980
And you knew you were next.
131
00:09:17,980 --> 00:09:20,740
I mean, that's pretty tough.
132
00:09:22,980 --> 00:09:25,380
I think it affected him a lot.
133
00:09:26,860 --> 00:09:30,700
And, of course, it went through
a lot of his children's literature.
134
00:09:30,700 --> 00:09:34,340
Vicious people are much more
interesting than nice, good people.
135
00:09:34,340 --> 00:09:38,820
There's nothing more boring
than a totally good person.
136
00:09:38,820 --> 00:09:44,500
They've got to have quirks, and
bad habits, and things like that.
137
00:09:44,500 --> 00:09:47,500
You can have a nice one as well,
chucked in there,
138
00:09:47,500 --> 00:09:50,580
but if you had a book full of
nothing but nice people,
139
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it would be awfully boring.
140
00:09:52,420 --> 00:09:54,500
"It's like a war!" Matilda said.
141
00:09:54,500 --> 00:09:57,300
"You're darn right, it's like
a war," Hortensia cried,
142
00:09:57,300 --> 00:09:59,340
"and the casualties are terrific.
143
00:09:59,340 --> 00:10:04,220
"We are the Crusaders, the gallant
army fighting for our lives
144
00:10:04,220 --> 00:10:07,100
"with hardly any weapons
at all.
145
00:10:07,100 --> 00:10:08,820
"And the Trunchbull
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00:10:10,260 --> 00:10:13,500
"is the Prince of Darkness.
147
00:10:13,500 --> 00:10:15,380
"The foul serpent.
148
00:10:15,380 --> 00:10:19,620
"The fiery dragon with
all the weapons at her command."
149
00:10:20,660 --> 00:10:24,100
Mrs Trunchbull in the movie
is very, very like
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00:10:24,100 --> 00:10:26,220
Mrs Trunchbull in the book.
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00:10:26,220 --> 00:10:28,580
She's larger than life,
152
00:10:28,580 --> 00:10:32,860
a grotesque adult who absolutely
hates children and finds them
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00:10:32,860 --> 00:10:35,500
the most revolting things
in the world.
154
00:10:35,500 --> 00:10:39,500
Her way of punishing them is rather
different, however, to the norm.
155
00:10:39,500 --> 00:10:43,820
She likes to whirl them around her
head, and throw them out the window.
156
00:10:43,820 --> 00:10:45,220
CHILDREN GASP
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00:10:45,220 --> 00:10:46,780
Aaaaargh!
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00:10:46,780 --> 00:10:48,100
I never liked authority.
159
00:10:48,100 --> 00:10:51,340
I've never got on very well
in institutions.
160
00:10:51,340 --> 00:10:55,220
Always...er, difficult.
161
00:10:55,220 --> 00:10:57,660
But it's wrong, of course,
to be like that,
162
00:10:57,660 --> 00:11:01,140
because you couldn't run schools
and institutions like that
163
00:11:01,140 --> 00:11:03,780
if everyone was like that.
164
00:11:04,940 --> 00:11:07,460
There shouldn't be too many rebels
around.
165
00:11:07,460 --> 00:11:08,580
There shouldn't be.
166
00:11:08,580 --> 00:11:10,220
But you are one?
167
00:11:10,220 --> 00:11:14,620
Well, I... Yes, but you get much
mellower as you get older, you know.
168
00:11:14,620 --> 00:11:17,460
I'm still a rebel
in some respects, yes.
169
00:11:17,460 --> 00:11:22,540
Very much so. I don't like
conformists, people who conform.
170
00:11:28,780 --> 00:11:33,380
At school, every boy in our house
used to be given, each term,
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00:11:33,380 --> 00:11:38,620
a plain brown cardboard box with 12
chocolate bars in it.
172
00:11:38,620 --> 00:11:39,900
And every...
173
00:11:39,900 --> 00:11:43,100
Each of these, except for the one,
which was the control bar,
174
00:11:43,100 --> 00:11:45,820
and was always a coffee creme bar,
175
00:11:45,820 --> 00:11:50,940
they were new inventions from
a famous chocolate manufacturer,
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and we were meant to taste them.
177
00:11:52,700 --> 00:11:54,580
We were given them free,
and we tasted them,
178
00:11:54,580 --> 00:11:57,340
and there was a bit of paper in
there, and we marked them all
179
00:11:57,340 --> 00:11:59,500
from 0 to 10. I realised then,
you see,
180
00:11:59,500 --> 00:12:04,260
that this vast chocolate factory
had in it a room,
181
00:12:04,260 --> 00:12:09,940
a secret room, where fully grown men
and women spent their entire time
182
00:12:09,940 --> 00:12:14,180
trying to think up and invent
new chocolate bars for children.
183
00:12:15,420 --> 00:12:18,900
And I've never been in one,
or seen one,
184
00:12:18,900 --> 00:12:22,300
or met anyone who's worked in one,
but they clearly must exist,
185
00:12:22,300 --> 00:12:23,740
mustn't they?
186
00:12:27,220 --> 00:12:30,500
ARCHIVE: Every big industry
has its backroom boys,
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00:12:30,500 --> 00:12:32,580
where research and science
take over.
188
00:12:37,780 --> 00:12:43,820
The fascination of chocolates became
immense when he was at Repton.
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00:12:43,820 --> 00:12:45,700
That was the seed,
190
00:12:45,700 --> 00:12:48,700
the cocoa bean, that was planted for
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory.
191
00:12:52,140 --> 00:12:57,500
Willy Wonka was partially my father.
192
00:12:57,500 --> 00:13:01,900
I think he based most of his adult
heroes
193
00:13:01,900 --> 00:13:03,540
on parts of himself.
194
00:13:03,540 --> 00:13:05,980
Parts of his dreams of glory.
195
00:13:05,980 --> 00:13:09,100
Parts and characteristics of
himself that he liked in himself.
196
00:13:19,740 --> 00:13:22,900
The inspiration that I've had
from Willy Wonka,
197
00:13:22,900 --> 00:13:27,540
it's just the idea that there should
be no limits to your creativity.
198
00:13:31,340 --> 00:13:33,820
Let free rein happen, and...
199
00:13:33,820 --> 00:13:36,420
Just try introducing all sorts of
200
00:13:36,420 --> 00:13:38,620
wild and wacky ingredients,
201
00:13:38,620 --> 00:13:39,700
and see what happens.
202
00:13:43,260 --> 00:13:45,620
Mmm! It's nice? Yeah, really good.
203
00:13:45,620 --> 00:13:48,940
That's certainly got the crunchy
cricket. Yes.
204
00:13:50,020 --> 00:13:54,580
Did you know that he's invented
chocolate ice cream so that it
205
00:13:54,580 --> 00:13:58,580
stays cold for hours and hours
without being in the refrigerator?
206
00:13:59,860 --> 00:14:03,700
"That's impossible," said little
Charlie, staring at his grandfather.
207
00:14:03,700 --> 00:14:06,900
"Of course it's impossible,"
said Grandpa Joe.
208
00:14:06,900 --> 00:14:09,180
"It's completely absurd."
209
00:14:11,300 --> 00:14:14,540
"But Mr Willy Wonka has done it."
210
00:14:15,540 --> 00:14:18,060
Somehow, he conjured up,
211
00:14:19,140 --> 00:14:23,180
time after time, these magical
stories,
212
00:14:23,180 --> 00:14:25,820
and I think he did believe...
213
00:14:27,580 --> 00:14:32,180
..that you have to believe in magic.
214
00:14:34,020 --> 00:14:35,380
Roald wrote the screenplay
215
00:14:35,380 --> 00:14:37,620
for the movie of
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory,
216
00:14:37,620 --> 00:14:39,460
and had very high hopes for it,
217
00:14:39,460 --> 00:14:42,300
but he was very disappointed
when they came to shoot it.
218
00:14:42,300 --> 00:14:45,060
He thought Wonka was more mercurial
and more weird,
219
00:14:45,060 --> 00:14:48,180
and he had Spike Milligan in mind,
and, in fact,
220
00:14:48,180 --> 00:14:51,860
insisted that the producers
do a screen test with him.
221
00:14:51,860 --> 00:14:53,860
And Spike Milligan even shaved his
beard.
222
00:14:55,460 --> 00:14:58,340
They didn't like him, so it ended up
with Gene Wilder.
223
00:14:58,340 --> 00:15:01,580
He thought Gene Wilder just wasn't
eccentric enough.
224
00:15:01,580 --> 00:15:02,540
He was too soft.
225
00:15:05,860 --> 00:15:12,060
Invention, my dear friends, is
93% perspiration, 6% electricity,
226
00:15:12,060 --> 00:15:16,460
4% evaporation and
2% butterscotch ripple.
227
00:15:16,460 --> 00:15:18,820
That's 105%.
228
00:15:18,820 --> 00:15:19,860
Any good?
229
00:15:21,500 --> 00:15:23,340
Yes.
230
00:15:23,340 --> 00:15:26,700
Everything that happened in his life
coloured what he wrote.
231
00:15:26,700 --> 00:15:27,980
Everything.
232
00:15:33,500 --> 00:15:38,140
When you finished school, you were
very anxious to get a job that would
233
00:15:38,140 --> 00:15:39,980
bring you to exotic places
in the world.
234
00:15:39,980 --> 00:15:41,820
Yes. Why was that?
235
00:15:41,820 --> 00:15:49,140
Well, I think... If you think of
the time, which was 1933, or '4,
236
00:15:49,140 --> 00:15:52,180
there were virtually no aeroplanes
flying you anywhere.
237
00:15:52,180 --> 00:15:54,180
There weren't any.
No commercial airline.
238
00:15:54,180 --> 00:15:56,660
FOG HORN BLARES
239
00:15:56,660 --> 00:16:00,700
It's impossible for young people
today to understand the excitement
240
00:16:00,700 --> 00:16:05,380
of getting on a boat and travelling
solidly for three or four weeks
241
00:16:05,380 --> 00:16:08,860
and finishing up in Africa
among the coconut palms.
242
00:16:08,860 --> 00:16:14,100
He joined Shell, he was a trainee
oil executive of some description,
243
00:16:14,100 --> 00:16:17,140
but he'd only joined Shell so that
he could get to go to Africa.
244
00:16:17,140 --> 00:16:18,420
That's where he wanted to go.
245
00:16:20,300 --> 00:16:24,540
To me it was all wonderful,
beautiful and exciting.
246
00:16:25,700 --> 00:16:28,700
And so it remained for the rest of
my time in Tanganyika.
247
00:16:29,740 --> 00:16:31,860
Oh, I loved it all.
248
00:16:31,860 --> 00:16:36,260
There were no furled umbrellas, no
bowler hats, no sombre grey suits.
249
00:16:36,260 --> 00:16:39,260
And I never once had to go
on a train or a bus.
250
00:16:40,460 --> 00:16:45,420
Finding himself in Africa
must have been a revelation,
251
00:16:45,420 --> 00:16:48,260
an incentive as well, I'm sure.
252
00:16:48,260 --> 00:16:51,500
Of course, he could not know at that
stage that he was going to be
253
00:16:51,500 --> 00:16:55,740
the writer he was, but I'm sure that
that sort of stuff silts down
254
00:16:55,740 --> 00:16:58,580
in the consciousness
and comes out later.
255
00:17:01,460 --> 00:17:05,100
Now, these black mambas are real
bastards.
256
00:17:05,100 --> 00:17:09,140
Not only are they one of the few
snakes that will attack without
257
00:17:09,140 --> 00:17:12,660
provocation, but if they bite you,
you stand a jolly good chance
258
00:17:12,660 --> 00:17:14,620
of kicking the bucket
in a few hours.
259
00:17:16,620 --> 00:17:20,460
The black mamba is extraordinary,
and I'm not sure if I know how to...
260
00:17:20,460 --> 00:17:24,180
to draw a black mamba, but they're
261
00:17:24,180 --> 00:17:25,620
pretty hefty and serious.
262
00:17:29,060 --> 00:17:31,740
One morning, I was shaving myself
in the bathroom,
263
00:17:31,740 --> 00:17:33,300
and I was gazing out
into the garden.
264
00:17:35,340 --> 00:17:39,140
I was watching Salimu, as he
methodically raked the front drive.
265
00:17:44,220 --> 00:17:45,700
And then I saw the snake.
266
00:17:46,940 --> 00:17:50,580
It was six feet long
and thick as my arm.
267
00:17:50,580 --> 00:17:55,660
It had seen Salimu and was gliding
fast, straight towards him.
268
00:17:55,660 --> 00:17:58,060
I yelled in Swahili, "Salimu!
269
00:17:58,060 --> 00:17:59,860
"Beware, huge snake, behind you."
270
00:18:01,180 --> 00:18:03,700
It would reach him in another
five seconds.
271
00:18:03,700 --> 00:18:06,380
I lent out of the window,
and held my breath.
272
00:18:08,660 --> 00:18:10,900
He waited until the very last
moment,
273
00:18:10,900 --> 00:18:14,060
when the mamba was not more
than five feet away, and then...
274
00:18:15,380 --> 00:18:17,620
..he brought the rake down hard,
275
00:18:17,620 --> 00:18:19,780
right on the middle of the mamba's
back.
276
00:18:21,780 --> 00:18:24,180
I rushed down the stairs,
absolutely naked,
277
00:18:24,180 --> 00:18:26,060
grabbing a golf club as I went.
278
00:18:26,060 --> 00:18:28,660
I shouted to Salimu,
"What shall I do?"
279
00:18:30,700 --> 00:18:33,340
"Stand away, Bwana!
Leave it to me."
280
00:18:33,340 --> 00:18:37,340
The boy hit it accurately,
and very hard, on the head.
281
00:18:39,580 --> 00:18:43,340
Salimu let out a great sigh, and
passed a hand over his forehead.
282
00:18:43,340 --> 00:18:47,100
"Oh, thank you, Bwana,
thank you very much."
283
00:18:49,740 --> 00:18:53,180
The first book I did
was The Enormous Crocodile,
284
00:18:53,180 --> 00:18:54,660
which, I suppose...
285
00:18:55,860 --> 00:18:58,620
I mean, when I got it, it was
the first book I'd done, you know,
286
00:18:58,620 --> 00:19:00,500
and I was just sort of amazed
to look at it,
287
00:19:00,500 --> 00:19:04,380
but, of course, he had
that background in Africa,
288
00:19:04,380 --> 00:19:09,620
so that if it was, you know, this
great, greasy river that he was in.
289
00:19:09,620 --> 00:19:12,460
That, to him, was a real river.
290
00:19:13,860 --> 00:19:16,660
It says he has hundreds of teeth,
I think.
291
00:19:16,660 --> 00:19:21,180
So I sort of came to do it
with hundreds...
292
00:19:22,380 --> 00:19:24,340
I mean, I started off drawing
real crocodiles,
293
00:19:24,340 --> 00:19:26,300
but real crocodiles are not like
this at all.
294
00:19:26,300 --> 00:19:27,740
They don't have teeth like that.
295
00:19:27,740 --> 00:19:30,380
Real crocodiles have sort of wobbly
mouths like that,
296
00:19:30,380 --> 00:19:32,380
and they have a tooth here and
there, you know,
297
00:19:32,380 --> 00:19:34,860
sort of thing. But this has...
298
00:19:34,860 --> 00:19:36,260
And of course, what it is...
299
00:19:38,700 --> 00:19:40,860
..you know, it's specially
for eating children.
300
00:19:40,860 --> 00:19:43,580
CHANTING AND SINGING
301
00:19:43,580 --> 00:19:49,140
"Soon," he thought, "one of them
is going to sit on my head,
302
00:19:49,140 --> 00:19:52,220
"and I'll give a jerk, and a snap.
303
00:19:53,580 --> 00:19:56,940
"And after that, it will be -
yum, yum, yum!"
304
00:19:56,940 --> 00:19:58,740
SQUAWK
305
00:19:58,740 --> 00:20:00,700
At that moment there was a flash of
brown.
306
00:20:00,700 --> 00:20:03,300
It was Muggle-Wump, the monkey.
307
00:20:03,300 --> 00:20:05,700
"Run!" Muggle-Wump shouted
to the children.
308
00:20:05,700 --> 00:20:07,460
"All of you, run, run, run!
309
00:20:07,460 --> 00:20:13,180
"That's not a seesaw!
It's the enormous crocodile,
310
00:20:13,180 --> 00:20:14,980
"and he wants to eat you up."
311
00:20:17,260 --> 00:20:18,860
I'm quite prepared to have them
312
00:20:18,860 --> 00:20:20,940
killed in the most grisly possible
way,
313
00:20:20,940 --> 00:20:25,540
like having little boys from Eton
pulled out of the windows
314
00:20:25,540 --> 00:20:29,940
and eaten by giants,
bones crunched up and everything.
315
00:20:29,940 --> 00:20:33,100
That's fine as long as there is
a whopping great laugh
316
00:20:33,100 --> 00:20:34,740
at the same time.
317
00:20:45,340 --> 00:20:48,980
Will you warn your controller that
this looks like yet another attack?
318
00:20:48,980 --> 00:20:51,420
SIREN WAILS
319
00:20:51,420 --> 00:20:55,140
VOICE OVER RADIO - INDISTINCT
320
00:20:57,500 --> 00:21:00,940
At exactly ten o'clock, I was
strapped into my Hurricane,
321
00:21:00,940 --> 00:21:02,140
ready for takeoff.
322
00:21:04,020 --> 00:21:07,060
Well, six months after his crash,
he found himself in one of these,
323
00:21:07,060 --> 00:21:08,700
a Mk I Hurricane,
324
00:21:08,700 --> 00:21:11,780
with only two hours flying
experience in this,
325
00:21:11,780 --> 00:21:13,380
flying to Greece.
326
00:21:13,380 --> 00:21:17,180
Two days after he got there,
he found himself flying in combat
327
00:21:17,180 --> 00:21:19,460
for the first time.
328
00:21:19,460 --> 00:21:22,500
I took off and climbed
to 5,000 feet.
329
00:21:22,500 --> 00:21:26,420
I cruised around, admiring the
blue sea and the great mountains.
330
00:21:28,060 --> 00:21:31,980
I'm just beginning to think to
myself that this was a very nice way
331
00:21:31,980 --> 00:21:35,460
to fight a war, when the static
erupted.
332
00:21:35,460 --> 00:21:36,700
STATIC BUZZES
333
00:21:36,700 --> 00:21:39,100
Bandits over shipping at Chalcis.
334
00:21:48,580 --> 00:21:51,540
I cleared the top of the mountain
range with 500 feet to spare,
335
00:21:51,540 --> 00:21:53,420
and as I went over,
336
00:21:53,420 --> 00:21:57,820
I saw a solitary goat, brown and
white, wandering on the bare rock.
337
00:21:57,820 --> 00:21:58,700
GOAT BLEATS
338
00:22:01,260 --> 00:22:03,860
"Hello, goat," I said aloud,
339
00:22:03,860 --> 00:22:06,980
"I bet you don't know the Germans
are going to have you for supper
340
00:22:06,980 --> 00:22:09,020
"before you're much older."
341
00:22:09,020 --> 00:22:12,620
To which, as I realised
as soon as I'd said it,
342
00:22:12,620 --> 00:22:15,060
the goat might very well
have answered,
343
00:22:15,060 --> 00:22:16,780
"And the same to you, my boy,
344
00:22:16,780 --> 00:22:18,740
"you're no better off than I am!"
345
00:22:23,820 --> 00:22:27,100
Suddenly, I spotted the bombers.
346
00:22:27,100 --> 00:22:29,500
They were Junkers, 88s.
347
00:22:29,500 --> 00:22:31,020
I counted six of them.
348
00:22:33,180 --> 00:22:36,700
All six rear gunners began shooting
at me.
349
00:22:43,540 --> 00:22:45,980
Quickly, I turned the firing button
from "safe" to "fire".
350
00:22:50,300 --> 00:22:54,140
The odds for the British pilots in
Greece at that time were terrible.
351
00:22:54,140 --> 00:22:57,820
There were about 15, they had about
15 planes when Dahl arrived,
352
00:22:57,820 --> 00:22:59,300
they had 14 before.
353
00:22:59,300 --> 00:23:03,620
And there were over
1,000 German planes, you know,
354
00:23:03,620 --> 00:23:06,300
and so they were totally
onto a loser.
355
00:23:13,380 --> 00:23:14,860
It's a very nice aeroplane to fly.
356
00:23:16,220 --> 00:23:18,500
It handles really well.
357
00:23:18,500 --> 00:23:20,700
They say it's a very good
gun platform,
358
00:23:20,700 --> 00:23:24,060
but I wouldn't want to get shot at
in one.
359
00:23:24,060 --> 00:23:25,580
I think he's a very brave man.
360
00:23:26,940 --> 00:23:28,260
Only seven hours on type,
361
00:23:28,260 --> 00:23:31,020
to then go into combat with it
would be very scary.
362
00:23:35,500 --> 00:23:36,980
The Hurricane gave a shudder
363
00:23:36,980 --> 00:23:40,380
as the eight Brownings in the wings
all opened up together,
364
00:23:40,380 --> 00:23:44,820
and a second later, I saw a huge
piece of his metal engine cowling,
365
00:23:44,820 --> 00:23:47,300
the size of a dinner tray,
366
00:23:47,300 --> 00:23:49,340
go flying up into the air.
367
00:23:53,060 --> 00:23:55,420
Dear Mama, thanks for your
telegrams.
368
00:23:55,420 --> 00:23:57,300
We had great fun in Greece
369
00:23:57,300 --> 00:24:00,940
although I must admit I was pleased
to get away safely.
370
00:24:00,940 --> 00:24:04,180
I arrived at the house here looking
like a tramp, with nothing but
371
00:24:04,180 --> 00:24:06,780
my flying suit and a pair of khaki
shorts.
372
00:24:07,860 --> 00:24:10,460
Incidentally, I got three German
aircraft confirmed,
373
00:24:10,460 --> 00:24:11,900
and two unconfirmed.
374
00:24:13,300 --> 00:24:15,420
Lots of love to all, Roald.
375
00:24:17,940 --> 00:24:19,980
We know they...
376
00:24:19,980 --> 00:24:23,540
They flew alone and they came back,
377
00:24:23,540 --> 00:24:25,460
or in many cases, didn't come back.
378
00:24:26,700 --> 00:24:28,220
So that was extraordinarily, um...
379
00:24:31,100 --> 00:24:33,420
That was old-fashioned heroism,
really, I think.
380
00:24:43,820 --> 00:24:47,100
The guilt that he was a survivor
lay with him,
381
00:24:47,100 --> 00:24:51,260
and in his ideas book, you can still
see the names of the pilots
382
00:24:51,260 --> 00:24:54,580
who flew there, which he's obviously
written down much later,
383
00:24:54,580 --> 00:24:57,180
and put an X against the ones
who died.
384
00:24:58,620 --> 00:25:00,020
Timber Woods, Oofy Still.
385
00:25:01,900 --> 00:25:05,340
I mean, there were probably only two
or three of the 30-odd pilots
386
00:25:05,340 --> 00:25:08,340
in that squadron, around that time,
who survived.
387
00:25:12,180 --> 00:25:13,620
Those years...
388
00:25:14,660 --> 00:25:16,460
..must have been terrifying.
389
00:25:17,820 --> 00:25:20,100
And again, the losing of your
friends, you know,
390
00:25:20,100 --> 00:25:22,780
you come back and they're dead.
391
00:25:22,780 --> 00:25:25,220
They've gone. They've been shot
down.
392
00:25:25,220 --> 00:25:27,900
And, again, it comes back to his
books,
393
00:25:27,900 --> 00:25:32,340
when you think of the children
who lose their parents.
394
00:25:32,340 --> 00:25:36,340
You know, and the lives
that they have to cope with,
395
00:25:36,340 --> 00:25:41,460
after the loss of a father or
mother, or a great friend.
396
00:25:43,060 --> 00:25:44,980
And he learnt to cope with that.
397
00:25:49,260 --> 00:25:51,620
Did you like being a pilot
when you were in the war?
398
00:25:52,740 --> 00:25:56,020
Um, only the training part, really.
399
00:25:56,020 --> 00:26:00,940
It's not much fun to fly
an aeroplane and be shot at
400
00:26:00,940 --> 00:26:02,100
at the same time.
401
00:26:02,100 --> 00:26:05,220
So the answer, really, the honest
answer, is no.
402
00:26:11,020 --> 00:26:12,380
In fact, you started to write
403
00:26:12,380 --> 00:26:15,980
when you were assistant air attache
in Washington.
404
00:26:15,980 --> 00:26:17,860
How, in fact, did it come about?
405
00:26:17,860 --> 00:26:20,940
To be quite honest, I had no thought
of writing at all,
406
00:26:20,940 --> 00:26:24,780
right up to the age of, what,
20...something.
407
00:26:24,780 --> 00:26:29,380
And I was wounded, a bit,
in the war,
408
00:26:29,380 --> 00:26:31,540
and sent to Washington,
409
00:26:32,660 --> 00:26:35,980
and it was early days, and, erm...
410
00:26:37,420 --> 00:26:41,700
I was sitting in my rather grand
office in the British Embassy,
411
00:26:41,700 --> 00:26:45,660
wondering what to do, and there was
a knock on the door,
412
00:26:45,660 --> 00:26:48,540
and I said, "Come in."
413
00:26:48,540 --> 00:26:51,900
And a tiny little man came in,
with thick glasses,
414
00:26:51,900 --> 00:26:53,740
and said, "Excuse me, are you busy?"
415
00:26:53,740 --> 00:26:55,340
And I said, "Not in the least, no.
416
00:26:55,340 --> 00:26:58,860
"Do come in." And I thought he was
going to ask for a job.
417
00:27:00,500 --> 00:27:04,140
And he said, "My name's Forester.
418
00:27:04,140 --> 00:27:05,620
"CS Forester."
419
00:27:05,620 --> 00:27:08,860
I said, "Get on," you know,
"You can't be that."
420
00:27:08,860 --> 00:27:10,660
One of my heroes. Really?
421
00:27:10,660 --> 00:27:13,620
A great...one of the great writers
at that time,
422
00:27:13,620 --> 00:27:15,340
Captain Hornblower and everything
else.
423
00:27:15,340 --> 00:27:17,780
The only pleasure I seem to get
from life these days
424
00:27:17,780 --> 00:27:20,620
is when you come home from one of
your confounded adventures.
425
00:27:20,620 --> 00:27:22,220
He said, "Now, you've been
in the war.
426
00:27:22,220 --> 00:27:26,420
"America's only just coming in.
You've been in action.
427
00:27:26,420 --> 00:27:31,020
"I'll take you out to dinner..."
Lunch, it was.
428
00:27:31,020 --> 00:27:34,220
"..tell me your most exciting
exploit,
429
00:27:34,220 --> 00:27:36,780
"and I'll write it up
in the Saturday Evening Post
430
00:27:36,780 --> 00:27:38,860
"and we'll get the British
a bit of publicity."
431
00:27:40,140 --> 00:27:42,540
Roald would be there,
432
00:27:42,540 --> 00:27:46,660
looking very
young and handsome at the time.
433
00:27:46,660 --> 00:27:48,700
Of course, in uniform.
434
00:27:52,300 --> 00:27:55,500
So we went out to lunch, and...
435
00:27:55,500 --> 00:27:57,620
I remember we had roast duck.
436
00:27:58,860 --> 00:28:01,660
And he was trying to take notes and
eat this bloody duck
437
00:28:01,660 --> 00:28:04,620
at the same time, you know,
and he couldn't do it.
438
00:28:04,620 --> 00:28:07,540
And I said, "Well, why don't I
scribble it down for you
439
00:28:07,540 --> 00:28:09,220
"this evening in sort of a rough
way,
440
00:28:09,220 --> 00:28:12,020
"and then you can put it right
when I send it to you?"
441
00:28:12,020 --> 00:28:14,860
And he said, "Ooh, that would be
super."
442
00:28:14,860 --> 00:28:17,100
"Would you do that?" And I said,
"Of course I will."
443
00:28:17,100 --> 00:28:20,740
So we finished our duck, and I went
home that evening
444
00:28:20,740 --> 00:28:23,700
and I wrote
the thing out and sent it to him.
445
00:28:23,700 --> 00:28:27,740
And I got a letter back,
about a week later,
446
00:28:27,740 --> 00:28:31,340
saying, "I asked for notes,
not a finished story.
447
00:28:31,340 --> 00:28:32,780
"I didn't touch it."
448
00:28:32,780 --> 00:28:35,380
The Saturday Evening Post had bought
it at once for $1,000,
449
00:28:35,380 --> 00:28:36,580
the agent takes 10%.
450
00:28:36,580 --> 00:28:40,220
Here's my cheque for 900 bucks,
you see. Amazing stuff. Superb.
451
00:28:40,220 --> 00:28:43,100
I thought, my God, it can't be
as easy as all that!
452
00:28:43,100 --> 00:28:46,140
If they hadn't had
such a good lunch,
453
00:28:46,140 --> 00:28:48,140
and had so much in common to talk
about...
454
00:28:49,780 --> 00:28:52,220
Who knows? He might never have been
a writer.
455
00:28:52,220 --> 00:28:53,380
I don't know.
456
00:28:54,700 --> 00:28:57,060
But that was definitely
a turning point.
457
00:28:59,300 --> 00:29:00,540
Down once more,
458
00:29:00,540 --> 00:29:02,020
squirting lorries all along
459
00:29:02,020 --> 00:29:04,740
and watching the bullets making
little flashes
460
00:29:04,740 --> 00:29:07,940
where they hit the metal, and
throwing up little spurts of sand
461
00:29:07,940 --> 00:29:09,260
where they missed.
462
00:29:11,500 --> 00:29:14,740
Time to be going now, up and home.
463
00:29:17,380 --> 00:29:19,700
Hell's bells! What was that?
464
00:29:19,700 --> 00:29:22,180
It felt like she was hit somewhere.
465
00:29:27,740 --> 00:29:30,820
Flying high, high above the Earth,
466
00:29:30,820 --> 00:29:32,660
gave him the feeling that he could
write.
467
00:29:32,660 --> 00:29:34,340
It gave him something to write
about,
468
00:29:34,340 --> 00:29:37,140
and that whole world of
pilots,
469
00:29:37,140 --> 00:29:38,500
the sky, the air...
470
00:29:40,180 --> 00:29:43,300
The sort of sense of magic and
escape,
471
00:29:43,300 --> 00:29:45,420
and almost entering a different
world,
472
00:29:45,420 --> 00:29:47,460
like a world of his imagination...
473
00:29:47,460 --> 00:29:50,500
All figure very strongly in those
first stories he wrote.
474
00:30:01,100 --> 00:30:04,140
I was met by Walt's number-one
artist,
475
00:30:04,140 --> 00:30:06,940
and taken to
the Beverly Hills Hotel,
476
00:30:07,940 --> 00:30:09,820
and after a bath and a shave
477
00:30:09,820 --> 00:30:12,620
was driven up to the studio
and ushered up to Walt's room.
478
00:30:14,700 --> 00:30:19,700
The room itself is very magnificent,
with sofa, arm chairs
479
00:30:19,700 --> 00:30:21,180
and a grand piano.
480
00:30:23,020 --> 00:30:25,060
Almost the first story
that he wrote
481
00:30:25,060 --> 00:30:28,700
after Shot Down Over Libya
was called Gremlin Law.
482
00:30:28,700 --> 00:30:32,780
And this was a story about these
little creatures, the gremlins,
483
00:30:32,780 --> 00:30:35,380
they were what the pilots and the
engineers blamed
484
00:30:35,380 --> 00:30:38,060
for unexplained mechanical failures.
485
00:30:38,060 --> 00:30:41,020
Walt wanted to make a film
of The Gremlins.
486
00:30:42,740 --> 00:30:49,780
I think, suddenly being next to
Walt Disney in a studio SO famous...
487
00:30:50,900 --> 00:30:54,060
Ah! I mean... Fantastic.
488
00:30:54,060 --> 00:30:55,820
Just fantastic.
489
00:30:55,820 --> 00:30:58,260
He would give me all
his best artists to work with,
490
00:30:58,260 --> 00:31:00,420
and anything else I wanted.
491
00:31:00,420 --> 00:31:03,580
"Oh, and by the way, I've put a car
at your disposal
492
00:31:03,580 --> 00:31:05,220
"for the whole time you're here."
493
00:31:09,100 --> 00:31:10,580
I said, "Thank you very much,"
494
00:31:10,580 --> 00:31:13,300
and followed him down to an enormous
room where half a dozen
495
00:31:13,300 --> 00:31:16,660
of his best artists were waiting
with pencils poised
496
00:31:16,660 --> 00:31:19,860
to be told what a gremlin
looked like.
497
00:31:22,300 --> 00:31:23,820
Let me see.
498
00:31:23,820 --> 00:31:25,340
What do I think they look like?
499
00:31:27,180 --> 00:31:28,380
I always like people who have...
500
00:31:30,180 --> 00:31:31,460
..little horns...
501
00:31:34,500 --> 00:31:39,380
'Terrifying odds, terrifying
situations, and you had to be...
502
00:31:40,620 --> 00:31:42,060
'..cool about it, you know.'
503
00:31:42,060 --> 00:31:44,860
What happened if somebody
was killed? They "bought it",
504
00:31:44,860 --> 00:31:47,300
I think
was the expression at the time.
505
00:31:47,300 --> 00:31:50,780
Really, gremlins were a piece of
fiction, if you like,
506
00:31:50,780 --> 00:31:54,820
they were a piece of mythology
that could move that off,
507
00:31:54,820 --> 00:31:58,180
so you could talk about it but not
have to talk about it with quite
508
00:31:58,180 --> 00:32:03,900
the drama or seriousness that it
would actually have, I think.
509
00:32:03,900 --> 00:32:07,220
ENGINE ROARS
510
00:32:08,820 --> 00:32:11,700
Every pilot knows what a gremlin is,
511
00:32:11,700 --> 00:32:14,700
and every one of them talks about
gremlins every day.
512
00:32:19,620 --> 00:32:23,380
These little tykes
with horns and a long tail,
513
00:32:23,380 --> 00:32:26,300
who walk about
on the wings of our aircraft,
514
00:32:26,300 --> 00:32:28,740
boring holes in the fuselage.
515
00:32:28,740 --> 00:32:31,780
SHRILL DRILLING
516
00:32:31,780 --> 00:32:32,780
TINKING
517
00:32:32,780 --> 00:32:35,060
And urinating in your fuse box.
518
00:32:35,060 --> 00:32:38,100
Well, the film got quite a long way
into production,
519
00:32:38,100 --> 00:32:40,220
but the urgency to make the film
fell away,
520
00:32:40,220 --> 00:32:41,740
from Disney's point of view,
521
00:32:41,740 --> 00:32:43,580
and, in fact, it never got finished.
522
00:32:43,580 --> 00:32:48,780
Disney published a book based on the
drawings and illustrations that had
523
00:32:48,780 --> 00:32:52,340
inspired the animators,
with Roald's original story.
524
00:32:57,180 --> 00:33:00,860
And so, with the help of
the gremlins,
525
00:33:00,860 --> 00:33:03,460
a pilot was able to return
to his flying.
526
00:33:05,140 --> 00:33:09,540
But he was only one of many hundreds
who have come to know and understand
527
00:33:09,540 --> 00:33:13,260
the truth about these little people,
528
00:33:13,260 --> 00:33:15,860
who have learned to love them,
529
00:33:15,860 --> 00:33:18,100
to fear them,
530
00:33:18,100 --> 00:33:20,540
and respect them.
531
00:33:20,540 --> 00:33:22,580
He is, indeed, an unhappy man
532
00:33:22,580 --> 00:33:25,380
who goes up into the sky
to fight saying,
533
00:33:26,620 --> 00:33:29,340
"I do not believe in gremlins."
534
00:33:32,660 --> 00:33:35,420
MUSIC:
James Bond Theme
535
00:33:40,460 --> 00:33:43,660
My first little book I wrote was
called The Gremlins,
536
00:33:43,660 --> 00:33:46,140
which was bought by Walt Disney.
537
00:33:47,780 --> 00:33:52,860
And Eleanor Roosevelt read it
to her grandchildren,
538
00:33:52,860 --> 00:33:56,900
and loved this book. And so I got
invited to the White House.
539
00:33:58,140 --> 00:34:01,140
And we got to know each other a bit,
you know,
540
00:34:01,140 --> 00:34:03,220
and I would go for weekends.
541
00:34:03,220 --> 00:34:07,620
FDR had...his country place was
called Hyde Park, a vast place.
542
00:34:07,620 --> 00:34:09,100
And we used to go there.
543
00:34:09,100 --> 00:34:10,780
I got to know him.
544
00:34:12,140 --> 00:34:17,060
I was only a young chap of 26
in an RAF uniform,
545
00:34:17,060 --> 00:34:19,220
and I had no business around there,
really.
546
00:34:19,220 --> 00:34:21,540
Didn't I read that you were a spy?
547
00:34:21,540 --> 00:34:22,900
HE LAUGHS
548
00:34:22,900 --> 00:34:25,100
No, that's an ugly word.
549
00:34:25,100 --> 00:34:26,980
Spy!
550
00:34:26,980 --> 00:34:31,460
No, I did. I worked for
British...SIS, yes,
551
00:34:31,460 --> 00:34:34,660
the last half of the war, when I was
injured and couldn't fly.
552
00:34:34,660 --> 00:34:36,580
Sure I did. Yeah.
553
00:34:43,820 --> 00:34:46,700
We were going to have a picnic
lunch in the garden with Franklin.
554
00:34:47,900 --> 00:34:53,100
At one o'clock, an old Ford car
came bouncing over the grass,
555
00:34:53,100 --> 00:34:56,220
driving furiously,
with two other cars,
556
00:34:56,220 --> 00:34:59,260
full of the toughest looking thugs
I've ever seen, in hot pursuit.
557
00:35:00,340 --> 00:35:03,060
The President was driving
the old Ford,
558
00:35:03,060 --> 00:35:06,380
which is especially built
so that the throttle and the clutch,
559
00:35:06,380 --> 00:35:08,980
and everything else,
can be operated with his hands.
560
00:35:10,260 --> 00:35:14,060
In it was also
Crown Princess Martha of Norway.
561
00:35:15,940 --> 00:35:19,380
The President was relaxing,
and seemed to be enjoying himself.
562
00:35:22,540 --> 00:35:27,340
What he was doing was working in
that very grey area
563
00:35:27,340 --> 00:35:31,380
where British interests and American
interests did not mesh,
564
00:35:31,380 --> 00:35:34,580
and making sure that the British
knew what was going on
565
00:35:34,580 --> 00:35:36,740
behind the scenes in America.
566
00:35:36,740 --> 00:35:39,900
ARCHIVE: Winston Churchill has
crossed and recrossed the Atlantic
567
00:35:39,900 --> 00:35:44,500
to confer on strategy and to plan
future offence, not defence.
568
00:35:44,500 --> 00:35:46,620
When Roald discovered
that the Americans
569
00:35:46,620 --> 00:35:49,820
were planning to destroy British
civil aviation after the war,
570
00:35:49,820 --> 00:35:51,580
that definitely got to Churchill,
571
00:35:51,580 --> 00:35:55,380
who was... Roald was quite proud
of the fact that Churchill was
572
00:35:55,380 --> 00:35:57,980
incandescent with rage
when he read it.
573
00:35:57,980 --> 00:36:05,100
My job was to try to help Winston
Churchill to get on with FDR.
574
00:36:05,100 --> 00:36:12,020
And tell Winston what was in the
old boy's mind in America, you know.
575
00:36:12,020 --> 00:36:14,820
I was really not spying against
the Americans,
576
00:36:14,820 --> 00:36:16,820
I was trying to create amity.
577
00:36:21,700 --> 00:36:24,860
So we move in very high circles.
578
00:36:26,620 --> 00:36:29,740
So bloody high that sometimes
it's difficult to see the ground.
579
00:36:34,540 --> 00:36:41,380
There was this tall, good-looking
RAF English guy.
580
00:36:41,380 --> 00:36:44,820
And the Americans, of course,
love the English.
581
00:36:44,820 --> 00:36:47,140
So he had a ball.
582
00:36:47,140 --> 00:36:49,820
But, also, he was fascinated
by the politics.
583
00:36:50,940 --> 00:36:53,860
He was definitely finding out
information
584
00:36:53,860 --> 00:36:56,220
for the British government.
585
00:36:57,460 --> 00:36:58,620
That was exciting.
586
00:37:00,140 --> 00:37:01,500
So he was...
587
00:37:02,900 --> 00:37:05,260
He was the perfect spy, I think.
588
00:37:05,260 --> 00:37:07,660
MUSIC:
James Bond Theme
589
00:37:07,660 --> 00:37:10,500
Roald met Ian Fleming
when the two of them
590
00:37:10,500 --> 00:37:13,500
were working in intelligence
in New York,
591
00:37:13,500 --> 00:37:19,220
and thought he was good fun,
he was naughty, he was dangerous,
592
00:37:19,220 --> 00:37:20,580
he had a bit of edge to him.
593
00:37:21,500 --> 00:37:24,700
Roald had no idea that he would
later go on to write
594
00:37:24,700 --> 00:37:26,180
all the James Bond books.
595
00:37:27,300 --> 00:37:29,540
Then in London they saw each other
from time to time,
596
00:37:29,540 --> 00:37:31,020
and it was no surprise,
597
00:37:31,020 --> 00:37:33,540
when it came to writing a
screenplay of You Only Live Twice,
598
00:37:33,540 --> 00:37:37,300
that the producers turned to Roald
rather than someone else to write
it.
599
00:37:37,300 --> 00:37:39,820
MUSIC:
You Only Live Twice theme
600
00:37:49,300 --> 00:37:52,580
ARCHIVE: Did you have a certain
number of things that you had to do?
601
00:37:52,580 --> 00:37:55,900
For example, Bond normally goes
through three women in a film,
602
00:37:55,900 --> 00:37:57,940
doesn't he? How many women does
he go through?
603
00:37:57,940 --> 00:37:59,980
I don't know what you mean
by going through them.
604
00:37:59,980 --> 00:38:01,660
Well, he disposes of them, they get
killed,
605
00:38:01,660 --> 00:38:03,260
they sacrifice themselves, you know?
606
00:38:03,260 --> 00:38:05,580
Yes. Are you up to ration?
607
00:38:05,580 --> 00:38:10,220
There's no question that you must
stick to that sort of formula,
608
00:38:10,220 --> 00:38:11,580
I think.
609
00:38:11,580 --> 00:38:14,700
I asked that when I went in, first.
610
00:38:14,700 --> 00:38:17,260
They said, "Oh, yes."
611
00:38:18,780 --> 00:38:20,900
I said, "He wants a woman,
doesn't he?
612
00:38:20,900 --> 00:38:23,900
"To chase around
and fall in love with,"
613
00:38:23,900 --> 00:38:26,660
and they said, "Well,
three would be better!"
614
00:38:28,060 --> 00:38:31,140
MUSIC: You Only Live Twice theme
615
00:38:36,820 --> 00:38:39,420
Action! I'm a spy.
616
00:38:39,420 --> 00:38:41,660
I know that.
617
00:38:49,620 --> 00:38:52,580
He had a pretty devastating effect
on women.
618
00:38:52,580 --> 00:38:56,140
I remember speaking to one person
and she just said he was
619
00:38:56,140 --> 00:38:58,500
the most attractive man
in Washington.
620
00:38:59,780 --> 00:39:03,180
He was 6'6" tall, he had
these matinee idol looks,
621
00:39:03,180 --> 00:39:04,580
he was in uniform.
622
00:39:04,580 --> 00:39:07,060
He was, you know, a serving officer.
623
00:39:08,700 --> 00:39:12,700
These famous actresses,
these beautiful models,
624
00:39:12,700 --> 00:39:16,980
these wealthy, influential beauties,
they wanted to sleep with him.
625
00:39:18,980 --> 00:39:20,500
He was perfectly happy to do that.
626
00:39:30,060 --> 00:39:33,060
I remember a twinkle in his eye
about Ginger Rogers.
627
00:39:34,740 --> 00:39:38,140
I drove out to have dinner
with Ginger Rogers.
628
00:39:39,860 --> 00:39:41,020
Very nice girl.
629
00:39:45,980 --> 00:39:48,980
But then it's also interesting that
he gives it up.
630
00:39:48,980 --> 00:39:51,940
FILM NARRATOR: The kind of woman
who could enslave any man.
631
00:39:51,940 --> 00:39:53,180
Except one.
632
00:39:55,020 --> 00:39:59,100
Patricia Neal was a very celebrated
stage actress at that point.
633
00:39:59,100 --> 00:40:01,700
She'd been in successful movies
like The Fountainhead,
634
00:40:01,700 --> 00:40:03,340
and The Day The Earth Stood Still.
635
00:40:05,420 --> 00:40:07,460
They're the kind of things that are,
636
00:40:07,460 --> 00:40:09,380
you know, a bit weird, a bit
offbeat.
637
00:40:10,420 --> 00:40:15,540
Gort. Klaatu...barada...nikto.
638
00:40:15,540 --> 00:40:18,980
The two of them fell into
a very easy relationship.
639
00:40:18,980 --> 00:40:20,620
They decided to get married,
I think,
640
00:40:20,620 --> 00:40:23,060
because they felt they would make
beautiful children.
641
00:40:23,060 --> 00:40:27,700
They were both, sort of, eager for
marriage and it seemed a good bet.
642
00:40:27,700 --> 00:40:30,700
During this part of his life he
started writing short stories, and
643
00:40:30,700 --> 00:40:33,020
is now an acknowledged master of the
craft.
644
00:40:33,020 --> 00:40:35,260
Collections of his stories like
Kiss Kiss
645
00:40:35,260 --> 00:40:38,940
and Someone Like You have become
bestsellers all over the world.
646
00:40:38,940 --> 00:40:42,180
How do you arrive at these plots?
647
00:40:42,180 --> 00:40:45,380
I mean, what gives you the idea
for a short story?
648
00:40:45,380 --> 00:40:49,100
Obviously, the spark has got to come
from something you see... Yes.
649
00:40:49,100 --> 00:40:51,900
..somewhere, or something you hear.
It's got to.
650
00:40:51,900 --> 00:40:56,220
She carried the meat into
the kitchen, placed it in a pan,
651
00:40:56,220 --> 00:40:59,100
turned to the oven on high and
shoved it inside.
652
00:41:00,580 --> 00:41:03,140
Then she washed her hands,
ran upstairs to the bedroom.
653
00:41:04,700 --> 00:41:07,580
She sat down before the mirror,
tidied her hair,
654
00:41:07,580 --> 00:41:09,500
touched up her lips and face.
655
00:41:11,740 --> 00:41:13,700
She tried to smile.
656
00:41:15,860 --> 00:41:17,660
It came out rather peculiar.
657
00:41:23,340 --> 00:41:24,700
It made very good television,
658
00:41:24,700 --> 00:41:27,460
which lots of people got to know
in the 1970s
659
00:41:27,460 --> 00:41:29,940
as Roald Dahl's
Tales Of The Unexpected.
660
00:41:32,140 --> 00:41:36,180
I ought to warn you, if you haven't
read any of my stories, that you may
661
00:41:36,180 --> 00:41:38,580
be a little disturbed by some of
the things that happen in them.
662
00:41:39,660 --> 00:41:42,420
He'd spot a, sort of, psychological
situation
663
00:41:42,420 --> 00:41:46,740
and then insert a pretty convoluted
plot, say,
664
00:41:46,740 --> 00:41:51,220
like a woman murders her husband
with, you know,
665
00:41:51,220 --> 00:41:55,580
with a frozen leg of lamb and then
serves...then cooks the leg of lamb
666
00:41:55,580 --> 00:41:57,700
and serves it to the police
officers, for lunch,
667
00:41:57,700 --> 00:41:59,740
who are looking
for the murder weapon.
668
00:41:59,740 --> 00:42:01,740
It's just a matter of looking.
669
00:42:01,740 --> 00:42:03,220
Find the weapon, find the man.
670
00:42:03,220 --> 00:42:05,420
Hello, hello, who's putting in
for promotion, eh?
671
00:42:05,420 --> 00:42:08,300
So many of them are...
672
00:42:11,540 --> 00:42:13,780
..husbands treating their wives
badly.
673
00:42:13,780 --> 00:42:15,820
I mean, I find that rather
interesting,
674
00:42:15,820 --> 00:42:19,820
because he's so often accused
of not liking women, you know,
675
00:42:19,820 --> 00:42:22,300
which was quite the reverse!
676
00:42:22,300 --> 00:42:28,180
When I walked into his house
for the first time, it was filled
with women.
677
00:42:28,180 --> 00:42:31,980
He had daughters, stepdaughters,
you know, a wife.
678
00:42:31,980 --> 00:42:33,140
He had sisters.
679
00:42:33,140 --> 00:42:35,420
They were... It was this one man,
680
00:42:35,420 --> 00:42:39,180
almost like a lion surrounded by
a pack of lionesses.
681
00:42:39,180 --> 00:42:42,180
He preferred the company
of women to the company of men,
682
00:42:42,180 --> 00:42:44,100
funnily enough.
683
00:42:44,100 --> 00:42:47,260
And I think he got on with them
better than he got on with men.
684
00:42:52,540 --> 00:42:55,700
Your own story itself is
stranger than fiction, isn't it?
685
00:42:55,700 --> 00:42:57,740
I mean, it really is a remarkable
story.
686
00:42:57,740 --> 00:42:59,700
I mean, one minute you're
a successful writer,
687
00:42:59,700 --> 00:43:03,020
you're married to a beautiful film
star, Patricia Neal,
688
00:43:03,020 --> 00:43:05,260
and then a series of accidents,
a chain of tragedies,
689
00:43:05,260 --> 00:43:07,340
that are absolutely extraordinary...
690
00:43:07,340 --> 00:43:09,940
Let's talk about Theo, your boy.
691
00:43:09,940 --> 00:43:12,460
What were the sequence of events
leading to that?
692
00:43:12,460 --> 00:43:16,540
When he was a baby, his nurse pushed
his pram into a taxi in New York,
693
00:43:16,540 --> 00:43:20,820
and he got severe head injuries,
which developed into hydrocephalus.
694
00:43:20,820 --> 00:43:23,580
It's too much cerebrospinal fluid
in the ventricles,
695
00:43:23,580 --> 00:43:26,300
and you get pressure in there.
696
00:43:26,300 --> 00:43:29,860
Your brain suffers damage unless you
are very swift and quick
697
00:43:29,860 --> 00:43:32,820
to relieve the pressure, and then
you have to...
698
00:43:32,820 --> 00:43:37,740
This was 16 years ago, and they did
have a shunt,
699
00:43:37,740 --> 00:43:40,300
or a tube with a valve in it,
700
00:43:40,300 --> 00:43:44,980
where you could take...drain the
fluid out of the ventricle and down
701
00:43:44,980 --> 00:43:48,700
and put it in the place you hoped it
would be all right in.
702
00:43:48,700 --> 00:43:53,100
But they weren't very competent,
the shunts they had in those days.
703
00:43:53,100 --> 00:43:55,980
He had to keep going back
and having new operations.
704
00:43:55,980 --> 00:43:59,420
He had five. Because the shunts kept
blocking, and I said, "Well, I mean,
705
00:43:59,420 --> 00:44:01,980
"bugger this, we must be able to
make a better shunt than this."
706
00:44:01,980 --> 00:44:08,340
And so I thought of a lovely man who
707
00:44:08,340 --> 00:44:13,420
I knew was an inventor, who I'd been
flying model aeroplanes with.
708
00:44:13,420 --> 00:44:15,540
Stanley Wade, his name was,
in Wickham.
709
00:44:17,420 --> 00:44:19,900
Well, who was Stanley Wade, then?
710
00:44:19,900 --> 00:44:22,300
He was a very skilled engineer
711
00:44:22,300 --> 00:44:25,380
who was very interested
in model aircraft.
712
00:44:25,380 --> 00:44:30,100
And what I'd admired so much about
him was that, instead of buying
713
00:44:30,100 --> 00:44:34,260
these tiny model aeroplane engines,
he made them all himself.
714
00:44:34,260 --> 00:44:37,020
He turned them in his workshop.
715
00:44:37,020 --> 00:44:39,300
I said, "How about you doing this?"
716
00:44:39,300 --> 00:44:42,020
He's an eccentric fellow, with
nothing much to do, and he said,
717
00:44:42,020 --> 00:44:43,260
"Yes, all right."
718
00:44:43,260 --> 00:44:45,940
So the actual thing he used in
a brain would be very much smaller?
719
00:44:45,940 --> 00:44:47,140
Yes.
720
00:44:47,140 --> 00:44:49,740
And the tolerances that he was
working to were probably
721
00:44:49,740 --> 00:44:52,820
plus or minus 1/1,000th of an inch.
722
00:44:52,820 --> 00:44:56,140
And if you don't have good
tolerances like that in something
like a valve,
723
00:44:56,140 --> 00:44:57,460
it's just not going to work.
724
00:44:57,460 --> 00:45:02,780
We had the enormous advantage
of the head of neurosurgery at
Great Ormond Street,
725
00:45:02,780 --> 00:45:07,140
Kenneth Till, was a tremendous
co-operator in this, you see.
726
00:45:07,140 --> 00:45:09,900
And he told me exactly what was
wanted, and I told Stanley,
727
00:45:09,900 --> 00:45:12,340
and Stanley slaved away over
his thing and we...
728
00:45:12,340 --> 00:45:16,340
He, you know, he really did it,
not me.
729
00:45:16,340 --> 00:45:20,020
ENGINE HUMS
730
00:45:23,980 --> 00:45:25,900
Who was going to think like that?
731
00:45:27,340 --> 00:45:32,140
And what doctor would actually
listen to him and think,
732
00:45:32,140 --> 00:45:34,420
"Well, that's quite a good idea,
let's have a go"?
733
00:45:34,420 --> 00:45:37,460
You know... That, to me...
734
00:45:38,700 --> 00:45:40,100
Well, he never gave up.
735
00:45:41,860 --> 00:45:46,780
He really believed
that Theo could...
736
00:45:48,460 --> 00:45:52,300
..have a normal childhood and
become...
737
00:45:53,340 --> 00:45:55,300
...a good person,
738
00:45:55,300 --> 00:45:56,980
which, indeed, Theo is.
739
00:46:00,260 --> 00:46:03,100
Saves the lives of thousands of kids
all over the world.
740
00:46:03,100 --> 00:46:05,740
He made sure it was never sold
for profit.
741
00:46:05,740 --> 00:46:10,620
That's just the kind of way he
looked at a difficult situation.
742
00:46:10,620 --> 00:46:13,700
"Well, what, practically, can one do
to think one's way out of it?"
743
00:46:15,500 --> 00:46:19,100
Sadly, Theo's accident was just
the beginning, you know,
744
00:46:19,100 --> 00:46:22,540
two years after, that his eldest
daughter died
745
00:46:22,540 --> 00:46:25,460
from meningitis following measles.
746
00:46:28,100 --> 00:46:30,340
Eventually he picked himself up,
747
00:46:30,340 --> 00:46:34,180
only to have, three years later,
another disaster,
748
00:46:34,180 --> 00:46:38,300
which was that Pat suddenly struck
down by the most terrible stroke,
749
00:46:38,300 --> 00:46:41,340
while making a movie in LA.
750
00:46:43,220 --> 00:46:47,060
When she woke up from consciousness,
she could neither speak nor,
751
00:46:47,060 --> 00:46:49,900
of course, read or write or walk,
752
00:46:49,900 --> 00:46:53,460
having a good deal of paralysis
down the right side.
753
00:46:53,460 --> 00:46:58,740
I was out for two and a half weeks,
I think.
754
00:46:59,860 --> 00:47:06,060
And the first thing I remember
is singing songs.
755
00:47:07,700 --> 00:47:11,940
And I was in the hospital, I think,
a month altogether.
756
00:47:13,580 --> 00:47:20,220
And then Roald, my husband, took me
out one night.
757
00:47:21,220 --> 00:47:26,140
And then I started trying to
get well.
758
00:47:26,140 --> 00:47:28,420
But I'm not well.
759
00:47:28,420 --> 00:47:32,460
I must spend a year and hope to get
well at that time.
760
00:47:33,900 --> 00:47:35,740
My mother was three months pregnant
with me
761
00:47:35,740 --> 00:47:37,740
when she had three massive
strokes.
762
00:47:37,740 --> 00:47:41,380
She had just won the Oscar for
Best Actress
763
00:47:41,380 --> 00:47:45,660
for Hud with Paul Newman, so she was
at the top of her career.
764
00:47:45,660 --> 00:47:48,740
She could not walk, she couldn't
talk, she couldn't read,
765
00:47:48,740 --> 00:47:49,860
she couldn't write.
766
00:47:49,860 --> 00:47:52,580
He was determined that he was going
to get his wife back.
767
00:47:52,580 --> 00:47:56,620
And so he flew everybody back
to...the whole family back
768
00:47:56,620 --> 00:48:01,140
to England, and he got everybody
in the village in Great Missenden,
769
00:48:01,140 --> 00:48:07,300
all his friends and volunteers,
teaching her how to move her hands,
770
00:48:07,300 --> 00:48:10,620
how to walk, and really,
Mum and I learned
771
00:48:10,620 --> 00:48:13,220
how to walk and talk together.
772
00:48:14,540 --> 00:48:17,980
And what about words, as well?
She obviously had a vocabulary,
773
00:48:17,980 --> 00:48:20,020
a retained memory?
She didn't have any, no.
774
00:48:20,020 --> 00:48:23,220
When she started to pick up words,
she made them up.
775
00:48:23,220 --> 00:48:24,780
She, she used to...
776
00:48:24,780 --> 00:48:26,620
When she used to say,
wanted to say...
777
00:48:26,620 --> 00:48:29,260
I made a whole list of them once
and I don't know where they are.
778
00:48:29,260 --> 00:48:31,820
She used to want to say,
"You drive me crazy,"
779
00:48:31,820 --> 00:48:34,460
she used to say,
"You jake my diagles."
780
00:48:34,460 --> 00:48:36,860
Which is a splendid phrase,
you know.
781
00:48:36,860 --> 00:48:39,020
I had all my words mixed up.
782
00:48:39,020 --> 00:48:41,500
I said words that didn't exist.
783
00:48:41,500 --> 00:48:46,340
She used to call a dry martini
a red screwdriver.
784
00:48:46,340 --> 00:48:48,900
Now I talk properly, I hope!
785
00:48:48,900 --> 00:48:51,500
I think Dad thought,
"Wow," you know, "There is,
786
00:48:51,500 --> 00:48:55,340
"there's a whole other vocabulary
here that hasn't been explored,
787
00:48:55,340 --> 00:48:58,180
"but I could have a little bit of
fun with," which he did,
788
00:48:58,180 --> 00:48:59,940
in the Big Friendly Giant.
789
00:48:59,940 --> 00:49:03,660
"I is not a very know-all giant,
myself.
790
00:49:03,660 --> 00:49:08,740
"But it seems to me that you is an
absolutely know-nothing human bean.
791
00:49:08,740 --> 00:49:11,300
"Your brain's full of rotten wool."
792
00:49:12,980 --> 00:49:14,980
"You mean cotton wool?" Sophie said.
793
00:49:16,060 --> 00:49:18,540
"What I mean and what I say
794
00:49:18,540 --> 00:49:23,020
"is two different things," the BFG
announced, rather grandly.
795
00:49:24,980 --> 00:49:26,740
Please don't eat me!
796
00:49:26,740 --> 00:49:32,100
You think because I'm a giant
that I'm a man-gobbling canniable?
797
00:49:32,100 --> 00:49:33,820
HE LAUGHS
798
00:49:33,820 --> 00:49:35,340
Aar.
799
00:49:42,140 --> 00:49:43,460
That's a good onion, isn't it?
800
00:49:44,900 --> 00:49:47,500
I grew 100 of these this year.
801
00:49:48,780 --> 00:49:53,260
We've just dug them up, and
they're drying out now.
802
00:49:53,260 --> 00:49:58,380
I wouldn't live anywhere else
except in the country.
803
00:49:58,380 --> 00:50:00,740
Here. I've never lived in the city.
804
00:50:02,780 --> 00:50:06,460
And, of course, if you live
in the country,
805
00:50:06,460 --> 00:50:10,060
your work is bound to be
influenced by it.
806
00:50:10,060 --> 00:50:11,540
I suppose the most...
807
00:50:12,940 --> 00:50:15,220
The one that was most dependent,
808
00:50:15,220 --> 00:50:17,980
purely on this countryside around
here,
809
00:50:17,980 --> 00:50:20,420
is Danny, The Champion Of The World.
810
00:50:23,220 --> 00:50:27,420
Except for the swift fluttering
of its wings, the hawk remained
811
00:50:27,420 --> 00:50:29,980
absolutely motionless in the sky.
812
00:50:31,940 --> 00:50:35,540
It seemed to be suspended
by some invisible thread,
813
00:50:35,540 --> 00:50:38,500
like a toy bird hanging
from the ceiling.
814
00:50:39,820 --> 00:50:44,180
Then, suddenly, it folded its wings
815
00:50:44,180 --> 00:50:47,460
and plummeted towards the earth
at an incredible speed.
816
00:50:48,540 --> 00:50:53,140
Oh, this was a sight that always
thrilled me.
817
00:50:56,260 --> 00:50:59,660
Dad knew every little nook and
cranny of our village.
818
00:50:59,660 --> 00:51:01,460
He knew every rabbit hole.
819
00:51:01,460 --> 00:51:03,860
He knew every mole hole.
820
00:51:03,860 --> 00:51:07,380
He knew... He knew everything
about it and he loved it.
821
00:51:07,380 --> 00:51:09,820
He had great admiration for
all of it.
822
00:51:09,820 --> 00:51:12,500
My father learned about
the countryside because he had
823
00:51:12,500 --> 00:51:14,460
a great friend that he met
in the '40s
824
00:51:14,460 --> 00:51:17,220
when he first moved
to our village in Great Missenden,
825
00:51:17,220 --> 00:51:18,700
called Claude Taylor.
826
00:51:22,540 --> 00:51:23,820
Claude taught me everything.
827
00:51:25,340 --> 00:51:28,100
His knowledge of the habits
of wild animals,
828
00:51:28,100 --> 00:51:32,540
be they rats or pheasants or hares,
was very great.
829
00:51:33,780 --> 00:51:38,060
And he was happiest when he was out
in the woods, in the dead of night.
830
00:51:38,060 --> 00:51:45,180
I think Claude gave him
a lot of inspiration
831
00:51:45,180 --> 00:51:50,020
for Danny, Champion Of The World,
832
00:51:50,020 --> 00:51:52,020
Ah, Sweet Mystery Of Life,
833
00:51:52,020 --> 00:51:54,260
Fantastic Mr Fox...
834
00:51:54,260 --> 00:51:57,540
He liked the way they cheated,
835
00:51:57,540 --> 00:52:02,220
the way they out did the wealthy
farmers,
836
00:52:04,260 --> 00:52:11,140
who probably treated them quite
badly, and they had devious ways of
837
00:52:11,140 --> 00:52:13,220
feeding their family.
838
00:52:13,220 --> 00:52:17,340
I think the idea of poaching
pheasants by feeding them raisins
839
00:52:17,340 --> 00:52:21,540
with mashed up sleeping pills inside
them was undoubtedly Roald's idea.
840
00:52:21,540 --> 00:52:27,060
He did it with Claude Taylor, but
it's a totally, totally Dahl idea.
841
00:52:27,060 --> 00:52:30,300
BIRD SQUAWKS
842
00:52:30,300 --> 00:52:32,060
This is ideal for pheasants.
843
00:52:32,060 --> 00:52:33,780
This is just where they like.
844
00:52:33,780 --> 00:52:36,580
There's a nice bit of thick cover
there for them to go into,
845
00:52:36,580 --> 00:52:39,660
out of sight of predators,
and some nice open spaces for them.
846
00:52:41,820 --> 00:52:43,620
Is this Roald? Or Claude?
847
00:52:43,620 --> 00:52:45,260
This is Roald.
848
00:52:45,260 --> 00:52:47,540
I can't remember what Claude looks
like.
849
00:52:47,540 --> 00:52:50,540
Do you know what he looks like? I
think he was more... He was butcher,
850
00:52:50,540 --> 00:52:52,140
I think he was quite a big man. Yes.
851
00:52:54,020 --> 00:52:56,860
But it's lovely to draw
these things in the dark.
852
00:52:56,860 --> 00:53:01,020
What is very nice and very
atmospheric is to do that torchlight
853
00:53:01,020 --> 00:53:03,900
in the middle of the darkness.
854
00:53:03,900 --> 00:53:05,340
Here's a little...
855
00:53:06,380 --> 00:53:08,180
..little drugged pheasant.
856
00:53:09,420 --> 00:53:10,660
Not quite flying.
857
00:53:11,700 --> 00:53:14,140
This is a typical tree that they'd
roost in.
858
00:53:14,140 --> 00:53:17,660
And the poachers know that,
probably better than we do.
859
00:53:17,660 --> 00:53:18,660
GULPING
860
00:53:21,420 --> 00:53:23,500
They gobble the raisins,
861
00:53:24,460 --> 00:53:25,820
then feel sleepy,
862
00:53:28,300 --> 00:53:29,540
then go up to roost.
863
00:53:31,420 --> 00:53:35,820
And then the little buggers sleep so
hard that they fall off their bough,
864
00:53:35,820 --> 00:53:37,260
and we catch 'em on the way down.
865
00:53:42,700 --> 00:53:45,180
I look at it this way,
if anyone poached me,
866
00:53:45,180 --> 00:53:46,820
that's how I'd like it to be done.
867
00:53:49,780 --> 00:53:53,460
He and Claude got up to these tricks
in the early 1950s,
868
00:53:53,460 --> 00:53:56,380
and then you see it, more than 20
years later,
869
00:53:56,380 --> 00:53:59,460
it comes out in
Danny, The Champion Of The World.
870
00:53:59,460 --> 00:54:03,260
One of the things he liked about
the movie version of that was that
871
00:54:03,260 --> 00:54:09,180
it caught the...the delight in
simple pleasures of the countryside.
872
00:54:09,180 --> 00:54:13,420
And it has a very cosy, simple,
warm heart to it.
873
00:54:16,100 --> 00:54:18,300
What do you think we should do with
them, Danny?
874
00:54:22,380 --> 00:54:23,780
Let them go.
875
00:54:25,300 --> 00:54:26,300
Well said, lad.
876
00:54:27,860 --> 00:54:31,540
I just have that feeling that in
some ways, in the children's books,
877
00:54:31,540 --> 00:54:36,420
or in some places in the children's
books, he was able to express
878
00:54:36,420 --> 00:54:40,660
feelings that he wouldn't have
expressed coldly, as in...
879
00:54:40,660 --> 00:54:44,780
just like that, I think. So you come
to it innocently,
880
00:54:44,780 --> 00:54:48,180
in a children's book, and, in a way,
881
00:54:48,180 --> 00:54:53,860
I think it gave him a bigger gamut
of emotional feelings
882
00:54:53,860 --> 00:54:55,740
than he might have done anyway.
883
00:55:03,460 --> 00:55:08,020
Dear Mama, we are planning
a gigantic fire balloon,
884
00:55:08,020 --> 00:55:12,340
to be 18 feet high and 12 feet wide.
885
00:55:14,140 --> 00:55:16,380
It should lift at least one boy.
886
00:55:20,260 --> 00:55:25,300
Huge sheets of tissue paper cut into
sections,
887
00:55:25,300 --> 00:55:27,100
and then you glued them together,
888
00:55:27,100 --> 00:55:33,900
you'd paste...with glue,
and then at the end,
889
00:55:33,900 --> 00:55:36,980
he had a little round tin
with methylated spirit...
890
00:55:36,980 --> 00:55:39,940
Cotton wool soaked in methylated
spirit, and that was tied on,
891
00:55:39,940 --> 00:55:41,940
you know, like a parachute.
892
00:55:41,940 --> 00:55:47,220
And then that was lit and it filled
the tissue paper balloon.
893
00:55:50,900 --> 00:55:54,820
We did it from our garden, and there
are fields all around.
894
00:55:54,820 --> 00:55:58,660
And we would just watch in awe
every single time.
895
00:55:58,660 --> 00:56:00,300
We would say, "Look at it! Look at
it!
896
00:56:00,300 --> 00:56:02,340
Look at it go! Do you think it's
going to go left?
897
00:56:02,340 --> 00:56:05,140
Do you think it's going to go right?
Will it go backwards?
898
00:56:05,140 --> 00:56:06,980
Which way d'you you think it's going
to go?
899
00:56:06,980 --> 00:56:09,420
And then the light would go
further and further
900
00:56:09,420 --> 00:56:11,220
and further away until it would
fade away.
901
00:56:13,420 --> 00:56:17,260
Both a man, a father and a mother,
902
00:56:17,260 --> 00:56:19,820
should be sparky with their
children,
903
00:56:19,820 --> 00:56:23,460
and invent things and go places
with them, you know, and...
904
00:56:23,460 --> 00:56:27,300
Make bows and arrows or balloons,
I don't know what.
905
00:56:27,300 --> 00:56:30,260
But you have to do things
with your children.
906
00:56:36,020 --> 00:56:37,980
On looking back,
907
00:56:37,980 --> 00:56:43,940
I think he knew his life was not
going to be very much longer.
908
00:56:45,180 --> 00:56:48,580
The Minpins, it was his swansong,
I think.
909
00:56:48,580 --> 00:56:54,980
The thought of being able to get on
the back of a bird and fly, what...
910
00:56:56,340 --> 00:57:02,340
..what... Nothing more wonderful
could a child wish for, than that.
911
00:57:02,340 --> 00:57:06,060
There was a brightness
like sunlight below them.
912
00:57:07,500 --> 00:57:13,820
And little Billy could see a vast
lake of water, gloriously blue,
913
00:57:13,820 --> 00:57:15,500
and on the surface of the lake,
914
00:57:16,700 --> 00:57:20,300
thousands of swans
were swimming slowly about.
915
00:57:22,140 --> 00:57:25,980
The pure white of the swans
against the blue of the water
916
00:57:27,340 --> 00:57:28,620
was very beautiful.
917
00:57:32,740 --> 00:57:37,180
It was...it was surprising to me,
918
00:57:37,180 --> 00:57:40,780
when he wasn't there any longer.
919
00:57:40,780 --> 00:57:43,940
Because he seemed kind of battered,
920
00:57:43,940 --> 00:57:47,060
but as though he would go on and on.
921
00:57:47,060 --> 00:57:50,060
So it was something of a shock
when...
922
00:57:50,060 --> 00:57:52,340
when he wasn't there any longer.
923
00:57:52,340 --> 00:57:55,460
But, at the same time, I think he's
still there.
924
00:57:55,460 --> 00:57:59,300
I mean, he's very present
for everybody, really, I think.
925
00:58:02,580 --> 00:58:05,980
There's a wonderful quote at the end
of The Minpins,
926
00:58:05,980 --> 00:58:08,260
one of Dad's stories, and it says,
927
00:58:09,540 --> 00:58:12,260
"If you don't believe in magic,
you will never find it."
928
00:58:13,940 --> 00:58:18,700
His spirit was so large, and so big,
um...
929
00:58:20,260 --> 00:58:21,700
It might sound a bit mad,
930
00:58:21,700 --> 00:58:24,460
but because he taught us to believe
in magic,
931
00:58:24,460 --> 00:58:27,740
I feel like, in some magical way,
he's always with me.
932
00:58:27,740 --> 00:58:28,740
SHE LAUGHS
77311
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