Original subtitles

What the hell is that doing in my house?

What the hell is that?

A bottle opener.

It's James' birthday, innit? Is this for this plate?

Oh, yeah, you can do that.

Er, that's not a job for me.

- You just put that on the white tray. - I'll mess up that.

And then what?

And then tear it off and then put it on.

It's not hard.

How do you tear it off? It just keeps coming out.

You're as crap as me.

It's covered it, has it not?

I don't wanna add my name to this.

Do you know what's the worst thing about everything?

Is hampers at Christmas.

They give you shit in them.

All olives.

- Nobody likes olives. - Mum does.

All these shitty things.

They're all hampers.

Didn't we give him a hamper?

Yeah, I was gonna say. We got you a hamper at Christmas.

If it's a hamper with nice stuff in, it's fine

but most of them have just got, like, tea.

Where is James?

Pulling his plonker upstairs, probably.

That's the most revolting thing ever. Why would you say it?

That's what most teenagers do.

Helmet!

James, you can't come in here. James!

- Look what I've done, James. - No.

Honestly, no, but that sums you up, actually.

Look, you can pick them up like that. Look at that.

And now all that fluffy stuff's gonna go in your mouth. Which do you prefer?

The one without leaves is more practical.

- Yeah, of course you were gonna say that. - More practical.

Dad could say anything and you'd be like, "Ooh, yeah, I agree, Dad."

- He's just intelligent. - Anyway, my job's done.

- And mine. - Thanks for your help.

We're off to see my old mate, Wayne Rooney.

He's been asking me to do a podcast for a little while now.

I did do one many years ago with Simon Jordan.

He said, "What were you like growing up

and where did you get that confidence from?"

And I used an example of throwing an apple core into a bin.

Everything was a challenge,

I'd eat an apple and the bin would be by the TV.

And I had the bravery, and that confidence,

that sort of daring to miss…

And for there to be a stain on the wallpaper

and my mum to absolutely scream at me.

It became a meme.

And everybody laughed at it.

Shit! I'm gonna get a bollocking.

People twist things like this apple in the bin, you know.

Oh, big deal.

But you know what it is?

I'm daring enough to go again.

Life was a competition.

We always like to win everything.

Even, like, Cluedo or Monopoly.

Yeah, and I would go mad 'cause he would hit the wallpaper.

That's cool. Because do you know what?

The vast majority of people that laughed at it

are the people that just don't get it. And that's why they're bloody muppets.

Probably still living at home.

You know and they're 40 years of age. It's like, who's arsed?

Thank you very much.

There we are.

How are you?

- Good to see you. Familiar faces. - You dressed up.

Nice to see you.

When you speak about Wayne, you just smile 'cause he's…

he's just a great lad.

- How's things with you? - Good.

- Michael, you're in the middle. - On this one?

For him to break into the England team, for us to play alongside each other,

it was just a fantastic few years.

So, who was better as an 18-year-old?

'Cause you've been on record saying that there was no question.

I was very good at a very young age.

He was exceptional, constantly.

As an 18-year-old, he was better. I've said this before,

he was the best forward in world football at that age.

Here's young Owen. How cool can he keep?

On to the first challenge and the second. Brilliant!

What a goal!

I've said it many times. Obviously, I used to pretend to be him.

I think I was in the garden,

running round, hitting the ball against me nan's wall

pretending to be Michael.

All of a sudden, two years later, I'm playing alongside him.

People actually forget how good he was.

Michael Owen!

How did you deal with all that at the time?

That pressure, the overnight success.

The people around you are massively important.

Fortunately, I had an amazing family,

supportive and keep your feet on the ground. That's, er…

pretty critical as well, I would say.

Cut there!

- Thank you, appreciate it. - No problem at all.

- Cheers, mate. Brilliant. - Good to see you all.

- How are the kids? - All good…

Kai's…

We're in next week with him to get his terms for his pro contract.

Yeah?

You doubling up as his agent?

No.

I couldn't, I couldn't.

It's hard to talk about your own son like that, isn't it?

Is your lad still playing?

Not really, no. He don't play, erm…

He sort of stopped playing quite early on 'cause of his eyes.

Well, people might not notice

but James is clinically blind.

His peripheral vision is quite good, but…

central vision is really, really poor.

And his condition is a degenerative one.

My eye condition is called Stargardt's.

I've had it since I was born.

And obviously, as you can imagine, it's been tough, er, growing up.

It's not good in the centre of the view.

And it makes it hard for me to actually look straight.

Quite often people think I'm being rude by not keeping eye contact.

I'm actually looking at them in the clearest way I possibly can.

Dive in, head first.

Oh, no.

So James' condition, we became aware of it…

Oh, gosh, I think he was about eight.

Stinks, let me out!

A teacher actually called me in and said,

"I think James is having a bit of an issue seeing the board."

After a significant amount of testing,

we obviously discovered that it was Stargardt's.

When he first got diagnosed, I remember stopping in the car,

three or four times and just bursting out crying, thinking…

What's his life gonna be like?

Just… wanted him to not feel sorry for himself.

Wanted him to have a positive outlook on life.

I put my finger in the glass so when the water touches my finger,

I know it's near the top, erm…

'Cause quite often, if I don't do that,

I'll pour and pour, and pour, and it'll go all over the table.

- How would you wipe your arse, then? - Michael.

I smell my fingers.

Oh, no, let's not do--

Let's not do that.

That's how I know if I've finished wiping.

Any other brilliant questions you want to ask?

I'm just intrigued.

What about using the phone, then? What's, like…

I can do lots of stuff on a phone. I can make it dictate,

like read the whole screen.

Write "helmet" down and then do that for me.

Let's listen to the lady say "helmet".

He calls me, "Helmet" quite often.

Helmet!

Helmet…

Helmet.

What's your problem?

"Helmet" is another word for a bell end.

The guys were asking why you call me helmet.

If you ask him what the explanation is he'll just say…

'Cause you are one.

He says it's a perfect word to describe me,

so it's really, really lovely.

- Helmet. -

That's how I'm gonna call you, then, "helmet".

James' ability to laugh at himself

is just the most endearing thing in my world.

Little things like that just bring us incredibly close together.

Is this how big a stall actually is?

- Like a-- - Er, can be smaller.

- Smaller? - Possibly.

If you were a horse, you wouldn't even fit in it.

You've got a long way to go, mate.

In ten years, you'll be fat too.

You'll be going in this stall.

Can't wait till you're 40 and you're a big, fat pudding.

So now this is our new yard.

- Nice. - Yeah.

Is anything going in the middle?

Could have like a horse statue or something.

No.

James is being exposed a little bit more to Manor House.

Ideally he comes and works for me because I'd love that.

And it'd be lovely to watch it grow together

and him have an influence on that.

Officially, I'm a trader. I buy and sell gold.

Been doing it for a couple of years now.

I work by myself, which is very isolating,

but, if I make a lot of money from trading,

I'd love to put a lot of it towards Manor House, and…

one day take over the business side. That would be my dream.

So, what we got in here, Mr Siegel?

He might have a decent enough season.

For James, it's a bit of understanding the business.

I'm just talking to him and it's all sinking in.

- Trickey Tell. - Yeah.

- That's, er… Gary. - Me, Simo and… Gary.

Art Desire.

He can't run in the Guineas 'cause he's got no balls.

So, you can only run in the Guineas if you've got… testicles.

I think he's got all the hallmarks of being a big asset to this place.

If he wants it.

But he's gotta add something to it.

It's not a charity, you know? It's, er…

this is a serious business.

The Dragon. He just can't get a result at any other track

bar Chester and Bahrain.

- Yeah. - And that's your next port of call.

Well, most of our racing operation takes a break during the winter,

but two of our specialist horses, Roman Dragon and Dubai Bling,

they head to Bahrain chasing Middle Eastern prize money.

I guess the pressure's on, but, as you know,

we're trying to expand this business

and we wanna create a lifestyle for the owners.

Bahrain is that.

I think this is where James has a real chance to prove himself

and help me deliver an incredible experience for those owners.

I've never been on a work trip with my dad before.

Sometimes going to new places is a bit daunting

and it has its struggles,

so there is obviously that in the back of my mind.

But, you've got to earn your stripes a bit, don't you?

That's James Milner's new horse.

James just adores his dad.

The way Michael looks at his dad

is pretty similar, really, in the way James looks at Michael.

And it's a lovely relationship, actually, between all three of them.

I'll count to ten in Spanish.

Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez.

And now in Welsh.

Un, dau, tri, pedwar, pump, chwech, saith, wyth, naw, deg.

- Hmm. - Can you do those?

I can do it in English.

It looks like I'm crying, but I've just nearly sneezed.

You'll be crying when we beat you at spoof in a bit.

Right, so normal rules.

Max, three in your hand, you gotta guess the total amount of coins.

- Six. - Four.

Seven.

I'm dead.

Four. I knew there was four.

Don't wanna lose in front of the cameras?

Don't wanna lose, no.

Virtually every horse I've named over the last five years,

have been in here playing spoof.

It Ain't Two, Trickey Tell, Little Saver.

We need Terry Tight Pants next.

Terry Tight Pants.

I don't know why he calls me Terry Tight Pants.

James is the one because

he's slow to get to the bar. If he goes at all, he's always last.

Get in there, baby.

Never won in his life and he's gonna win tonight when the cameras are around.

First time ever.

I absolutely looked up to my dad as a kid.

He was a professional footballer, back in the day.

He played for Everton, Bradford, Chester.

So I guess that I did wanna be like him.

We could see he was an excellent player as a boy.

He had to play with his left foot,

and then he'd have to not come over the half-way line,

'cause he scored so many goals.

He was five then, by the way.

At a young age, I've always dreamed about

being a professional footballer.

And as I've got older, I've started dreaming more, really.

Oh.

The team numbers. Number nine, Michael Owen.

I was breaking every record, at every level, since I was seven.

He knew what he wanted to be,

and he did everything he could to get to where he did.

He was always like a mini pro, wasn't he?

Yeah, always.

That's the thing about Michael is his strength of mind.

I hate losing.

I'm probably the worst in our family for losing.

Doing well, Mike there, isn't he?

Terry always used to say,

"Can't be second. Nobody remembers second."

They had to win.

He should go on his own more often.

My dad had something over me. It was strange.

Honest to God. He's in no-man's land.

All the time.

If I did play poorly, he would not talk to me for a week

until my next game.

And the pain of upsetting him was a guiding light for me.

I have the utmost respect for him to have done what he's done.

He was younger than me and he was playing for the country

and had almost a dream life.

Finds Michael Owen!

That was my dream, to follow my dad's footsteps,

to be a footballer and make a great career.

To have a realisation that it's not possible,

it kills you.

It used to break my heart every day coming back from school.

And I just used to cry.

And I used to think life was unfair.

…close to the corner flag.

How many goals did you score today, Michael?

Most people that play football have probably got

the dream of their son following in their footsteps.

That's what my dad had with me.

I wanted James to be a footballer when he was really young,

but obviously that dream was dashed quite early.

We made James and I don't think

I'd be normal if I didn't look myself in the mirror and think, you know,

it's down to us that he's got this eye condition.

So, I did feel guilty for a little while and…

could say I still feel guilty now, but…

you know, you look at the positives with him…

and the guilt sort of evaporates.

You've had a healthy day today, have you?

Sausage butty and then a Greggs. What did you have from Greggs?

Er, chicken nuggets and chips.

How do you get chicken nuggets and chips when you're 20 years old?

That's for, like, eight-year-olds.

And what would you have got from Greggs, then?

- Chocolate eclair. - For lunch?

The most important thing to me is to make my dad proud.

More than anything really.

And hopefully that'll be what I do one day.

Helmet!

- It's the life, innit? - Hmm.

Coming out, watching your horses, entertaining owners.

It's where all the clients are as well, I would imagine.

I think this is what we've gotta sell more.

Floating out here in the middle of the winter when it's minging at home.

Yeah, that's true.

Oh, gosh. I just need my fingers to thaw out a bit.

Yeah. I've got a really bad blister and I'm limping.

- That's quite nice. - Mine's all right.

- It's actually nice. - Minty. Is it?

Right, enough now.

God. You're being very silly.

I want to go home already.

"I wanna go home already", he says.

The old dad jokes.

Right, I'm done with this game.

How have I got gloves on and my hands are still, like, frozen?

Yeah, I know.

Well, at least your dad's in the sunshine, sunning himself.

Right, I'm gonna give her a call now.

Speak of the devil.

Oh, yeah. Funny.

Such an idiot.

Like, I'm not laughing.

Erm, what's the weather like back there?

- Horrendous. - What are you drinking, James?

- Sex on the beach. - Oh, right.

Good one.

Right, well I better go, then, I'm quite busy at the moment, so…

- I'll, er, I'll see you soon. - Yeah, good one.

- All right. Take care. - All right, hon. Have fun.

- Oh, my God! - Surely not?

On the beach. Scandalous.

He's gonna be having his top off lying on the--

- He's embarrassing. - He's getting a massage on the beach.

- Bye. - Bye.

That's outrageous.

My windows are iced over. Let's get some Antifreeze.

And they're on the beach, having cocktails with cucumbers on their eyes,

having a foot massage.

December and January are pretty miserable months.

But just this anticipation stage of the year is so exciting.

Just need a winner or two. That's the only problem.

Yeah.

If James wants to come into the business,

I think he could have a really important role.

He can talk to anybody.

I think he's likeable. I think he's funny.

So, he's the perfect wingman.

You're gonna be, like, taking over Manor House now?

- Me? - Yeah.

Yeah. When I take over, your training fees are going up.

Oh, [bleep].

I'm gonna start banning some owners.

I wouldn't say it's, like, the first thing but it's up there.

He'll have to put me into my coffin before he can take over.

Needs to learn the ropes first.

Bahrain, it definitely is a new environment

and I think it's gonna be a big step towards my involvement in Manor House.

Right, then. Should we go?

Cheers, guys.

- Good luck. - Thank you.

Oh, we're beeping.

It's all those burgers.

We'll see you up there.

- Do you wanna go first? - No, not at all.

I'll beat you there.

No, I won't. There's no stairs.

I want us both to be up there.

Yeah. Oh, first and second would be brilliant.

- I don't care who is first. - I don't either.

But I know I want to win.

My role, where I'm most useful is around the owners.

I've heard, like Hugo say, both of them looked--

- Yeah, ready. - Look healthy.

That is what keeps the business going is the owners.

What a time we're having, mate. What a time we're having.

I feel a bit of pressure. I feel a bit of nerves.

I just want the business to be really successful.

And I want people to have such a good time

and just ride that lifestyle, I suppose.

Oh, we all like this one.

It's my dad's favourite song, this.

Wasn't this guy on The Voice once?

- Dressed as a cauliflower. - No, it was The Masked Singer.

We still take the mick out of him.

What were the character choices?

Bagpipes. Gnome.

I thought, I might as well walk in on my own and be a gnome.

Before you say it.

On The Masked Singer… I was the doughnut.

He is a doughnut, all right.

The Masked Singer. Oh, gosh.

That was embarrassing.

I never knew you could knock Will Young out of a singing competition.

Heather Small.

She got beaten by the doughnut as well.

What made me do it?

I guess the money.

♪ Everybody get up! Singin' one, two, three, four ♪

♪ Five will make you get down now ♪

♪ Five will make you get down ♪

Yes, Michael!

♪ Keep it moving, keep it moving Keep it moving ♪

♪ Keep it moving ♪

I love him!

He did decent. He was definitely the entertainment.

He did lots of very questionable singing.

I was quite glad he got voted out.

His time's done. It's getting too embarrassing for me. This needs to end.

Now I've done it, I'm actually quite proud of it.

Got a right fat head, haven't I?

I look like a doughnut. I look like I've ate about 20 doughnuts.

I've lost about three stone since then.

It's cool, innit? Are you okay over there?

Do you wanna sit over there, or on one of the individual chairs?

- It's fine actually, sit there. - No, I'm okay.

I guess if you ask James how does he cope,

he probably would find it hard to explain because he just does it.

I forget some of the things that I do for him.

Right, we're off, girls and boys.

Oh, give us a second.

I'll always lead the way.

If we're watching a horse race, I'll be stood by him commentating.

But I suppose it's when you go away

with him to somewhere like Bahrain, where it crystallises a little bit more.

Because he is out of his comfort zone.

Here we go, guys. Here we go.

Good luck, everyone.

Let's go, Manor House. Let's go.

Blingey's in about mid-pack.

Roman's last.

It has definitely got worse over the years.

Er, fifth. Ah, Blingey's flying as well at the end.

Ah, both mid-pack.

Fifth and eighth or something.

It is a disappointing result, but we have had a fantastic time.

It was disappointing.

We'll smash it at May festival. That will be the next target.

The last few years, I've struggled more with light.

If I go outside, I can't see a thing.

Which is a bit scary.

Where's, er… Where's my dad gone?

It's a lot easier getting around when I'm at home

'cause I know where everything is.

If I'm in a new place, a lot of day-to-day stuff, it can be difficult.

Okay. Cheers, nice to meet you.

Erm, my son's… Don't know where he's going.

All right. I saw you, er, up there.

It's when you come to places like this, it's draining.

How many little things he's gotta remember and count.

I gotta teach him where the taps are, which is the hot, which is the cold.

You know, in the lift, he's gotta remember the amount of silver buttons to press.

Counting them. Then he's gotta remember where to turn.

Left, right, how many doors down.

It's horrific.

If there's not a cure, I might not be able to live the life I live now.

It's almost like a ticking time bomb,

where one day, I might be…

like, fully blind.

I always get a little nervous talking about this

because, one, I always get emotional.

And, two…

I-I feel… I feel a bit guilty…

…for being emotional about it.

Sorry, just give me a minute.

There are so many

families that are going through way more traumatic

and sort of life-threatening issues.

But, I think anyone with kids, you just want them to have

the same opportunities that you have and…

The same life.

Right, I'm gonna head to Manor House to do this stuff. All good?

Yeah, I'm fine.

We obviously go to bed every night

hoping and praying that they're gonna find a cure.

But, how he deals with his condition…

You know, it's just a credit to him.

Hi, you okay? Hello, you okay?

Hello, how are you?

I don't know whether it's my eyes, or the telly's blurred.

I'm the wrong person to ask.

He's the most of my worries in terms of his condition,

but he's the least of my worries in terms of how far he'll go in life.

So, how's my horses doing?

They're all doing well.

We need them back for the May festival as well.

Oh, we're gonna be in the May festival?

Oh, yeah. That's the plan.

That's gonna cost me a few quid in the boxes.

I can never imagine what I'll be like if I wasn't

anything to do with Manor House 'cause I just love it.

Just the whole family being involved in it and loving it.

I think it just gives Manor House almost like an aura about it.

Just like a sense of belonging.

I'm gonna grass him up. Mum, Dad's on the red wine!

I told you to behave yourself.

See you soon. Take care.

I was speaking to James earlier. You know what? I'm really surprised.

The knowledge that he had was quite extensive.

It was sort of like better than talking to you, if I'm being perfectly honest.

Don't let him hear that, though.

- You should be proud. Honestly. - Yeah, no, I am.

- Yeah? - I am.

What I've experienced today with him.

He's moving in the right direction.

I don't do love where it's blowing kisses

and telling them every day that I love them.

And I'm unbelievably proud of you.

My dad never gave me any pats on the back.

And "I love you, son," and anything else like that.

I'm not right. I'm not wrong. I don't know. That's just how I am.

Erm… yeah, Gary said a few nice things about you.

He said you knew a lot more about racing than he… originally thought.

Oh.

It's been all right, though, hasn't it?

James is just popular, and nice, and kind.

And he's determined, despite the harsh cards he's been dealt.

And he's just a bloody good lad.

A proper son… that I'm proud of.

I'm… I'm quite, er…

blown away that he says stuff like that.

'Cause he would never say anything like that to your face.

I think he likes…

I don't know. That's really like…

er, threw me a loop really, erm…

But, yes, I do.

Sorry, what was the question?

I would hate for people to feel sorry for me.

You still got the stuff which matters.

A loving family…

And such a good model for a dad.

This is probably my favourite place on Earth.

Look at that for a view.

And yeah, it makes me really happy.

You look amazing.

In the next few months, all of my children will have finished school.

It's like a horror film.

Don't let go yet. Don't let go yet.

I fear what my purpose then will be.

Kai, stop being a knob. Come on, you bastard.

Chester, this is the big one. Let's go get them.

It's a bit cheesy.

Donegal Rose in second place.

Go on, girl!