Bonjour.
Hi.
Oi, oi, Savaloy.
Look, it's a little globe.
I'm back for more.
Oh, mummy.
Holy dilly, mate.
It's a shock you're still in the competition.
I'm back!
See you on the runway, girl.
It's my special day!
The cheek, the nerve, the gall, the audacity and the gumption.
I'm back, man!
Get your drag race fix.
Watch all episodes on BBC iPlayer.
Sir Ant Jones will need a good Northern wit joining the judging panel of RuPaul's Drag Race UK, but who will sashay away?
Be here at 11.30 to find out.
With some strong language and always top of the pile, Graham Norton.
There you are, what kept you, Sir Patrick Stewart?
Will you start the show, please?
Make it so!
I did it, I did it.
Hello!
Good evening.
You're all so welcome to the show.
Thank you to Patrick for kicking us off.
Everyone in a good mood?
CHEERING I think I know why.
Yes!
The England football team have joined Scotland in qualifying for the Euros.
CHEERING Oh, quel achievement!
Now, the finals are going to be in Germany.
In Germany.
You do wonder if the Scottish and England fans will enjoy going there.
No, I have a feeling they will.
Yes, they will.
Hey, listen, we've got a top line-up for you tonight.
Not just a Knight of the Realm, but also a Dame, plus a double Oscar nominee, a Strictly sensation, and the 20-year-old Brit who's become a global star.
So, let's get some guests on!
CHEERING Later, we'll be joined by the legend that is Dame Joan Collins!
CHEERING And we'll have music and singer-songwriter Zac Abel!
CHEERING
But first, he's the Western star, Billy Elliot Brent, and the smash hit, everybody's talking about Jamie, currently lighting up the dance floor on Strictly, it's Leighton Williams!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Hey!
There he is!
Oh, so shiny, lovely.
Have a seat, please.
Thank you.
Leighton!
This young star shot the global fame on TV hits Game Of Thrones and The Last Of Us.
Now they're back in the BBC prison drama time.
Please welcome Bella Ramsey!
Hey!
How you doing?
Nice to see you.
He's the double Oscar-nominated star of The English Patient, The Menu and Harry Potter.
Now bringing us a brand-new production of Shakespeare's Macbeth, it is the great Ralph Fiennes!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
And he's one of our finest agents, screen stars, the sort of expert at Star Trek, and now author of a new memoir, Making It So.
It's a warm welcome back to Sir Patrick Stewart!
So, welcome back, Patrick.
Thank you.
Welcome back to Rafe.
A first-time welcome to Bella and Leighton.
Lovely to see you.
And I imagine, Leighton, you are still riding high on the success of Saturday Night.
I am.
This is a lot, but I'm enjoying every moment.
It was a crazy one.
I know.
The earliest ten ever for Cha-Cha-Cha.
I know.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Wow.
It's good.
Wow.
I don't know... Patrick, are you watching Should You Come Dancing?
Dancing With The Stars?
I have watched it, yes.
OK.
Yes.
Do you dance?
Yeah, I... We did ballroom dancing at my school.
And waltz, quickstep, tango, all those things were familiar.
And my wife, who is much younger than me, American, never did ballroom dancing, so it's one thing that I hold over her.
OK.
So you drag her round the floor.
No.
And, Rafe, do you cut a rug with a drink taken?
I have two left feet.
OK.
Were you ever asked to do Strictly?
No.
Not yet, but I'm waiting for an invite.
I'm sure we could work something out.
And now, Bella, I think you... Maybe you do watch Strictly, but I think your family are big Strictly fans.
Yeah, one side of my family.
My grandma's a huge fan and my auntie and my cousins,
They love it.
So I always hear the music on but I like I always come to it like halfway through the season So I just I always forget that things like this are happening So like I've come to it halfway through and I'm like, oh, I don't know I've missed out on like the best path, but maybe I I'm gonna you miss the earliest tend to a job all time get into it plenty time this YouTube, you know
Well, just a reminder for you, and for anyone who missed it, here is a little taste of that incredible cha-cha-cha from last Saturday night.
Here it is.
MUSIC PLAYS MUSIC CONTINUES MUSIC CONTINUES MUSIC CONTINUES
It's impressive, isn't it?
Thank you very much.
I feel like I should be doing something now.
I can't do that right now.
The rest of the couch are now going, oh, my God!
No, like a human car wash.
It was very impressive.
I was so nervous before that moment as well, cos in the dress rehearsal, I, like, fell on my knees before them spins, so I was like, please, please, please, just let it be right.
And as soon as we got the spins, I jumped in splits.
I was like, yes!
Calm down, calm down.
Calm down, it's not finished yet.
So, thank you.
Amazing.
And we'll talk some more about Strictly later on in the show.
But for now, let's clock on tonight with Patrick Stewart's new memoir, Making It So.
It is a beautiful book and it is out now.
And I was saying to you backstage that one of the nice things about when someone like you writes a memoir is that you can tell that you're loving doing that deep dive into your childhood and growing up in Yorkshire.
And it seems...
Like a different world, your childhood in Yorkshire.
Yes.
It was very, very different.
And the one dominant feeling that I have about that is that I never even fantasised that it would be like this.
No, well, I presume that you didn't have a telly, I'm guessing.
We had no television, we had no gramophone, no music to play.
We only had a radio and that meant the home service, which my father was obsessed with.
So when I wanted to read my books, because I was a book fan from a very early age, I would take it to the outside lavatory, because we had no indoor lavatory, no bathroom, no kitchen.
It was just one room with a burner.
But round the corner was the lavatory that was our lavatory, and I would go there with a woolly cap on and a candle, because there was no light in the toilet, and read books.
It does sound like you're about 170 years old.
Is that your mom in the doorway?
That's my mother, Gladys, and my brother, Trevor.
Both wonderful, wonderful people.
And Rover, the dog, in the middle.
Good.
A lot of old dog names are problematic now, so that's good.
I think we've got another picture.
Oh, this is you there.
That's me.
And again, my brother, Trevor.
My father was a soldier.
He was away at the Second World War.
And we, the three of us, lived together, alone.
And it was without question
The best time of my life.
My mother was the most wonderful woman.
Looked after us, petted us, had fun with us, joked with us, did puzzles, played games.
And even my brother Trevor, because brothers sometimes get snappy.
Well, he was delightful too.
But I am the only one left.
But it's lovely that the book is now kind of a testament there.
Yes, and again, my only regret is that I wish my parents could have seen it and read it.
But you talk in the book, you go to Bristol, Vic, and of course, we're so used to you sounding like Patrick Stewart, but you were very, very Yorkshire.
Oh, yes.
I spoke not only with an accent, but a strong dialect, which means that the vocabulary that I had was different.
So, I would go to a friend's house on a Saturday morning, or whatever, and knock on the door, and when he came to the door, I would say to him, "'At a lake and out'"?
Hm?
What's wrong?
Don't you understand?
No-one from Yorkshire in, clearly.
"'At a lake and out'".
"'At a'', art thou, because we did say thee and thou as well in my family, not because we were religious, we were not."
No, we... No, I was a choir boy, so we must have been a little bit... Yeah.
Atta lakin.
Atta... Now, lakin.
Lakin is a 16th-century word for players or playing.
Shakespeare's actors were known as lakers.
Now, of course, if you live in Los Angeles, especially as I do, lakers mean something very different.
Yeah.
They're a team of something, aren't they?
Yes.
Yeah.
They're a team.
Sports.
Ooh!
Yes!
Ten, ten, ten.
As possible.
And Bristol Lovett, then, they sort of... Was it a choice, or did they just say, you talk like this now?
No, it wasn't, because it's received pronunciation.
It's standardisation of how words should sound.
Not an aristocratic way of talking at all, but it was BBC, Home Service, that was received pronunciation.
Considering two young actors on the couch, Leighton and Bella, you both have... You caught me in a moment, so I thought I'd have a quick swing.
But Bella and Leighton, have you ever been encouraged to kind of lose your accents?
Well, I went to theatre school from, like, the age of 12.
It just was easier to just speak sometimes like everybody else spoke, because if you say, oh, bath... That's all I had.
That's it, that's my lot.
But do you know what I mean?
I was just like, I just started to revile my words.
I feel like recently, like if I played a northern character, I go home to my mum and she's like, why are you speaking like that?
She's like, you don't even sound like you're from here anymore.
Do you know what I mean?
So it's a bit wishy-washy, but you know.
Where are you from?
I'm from Burry, which is like Great Manchester.
Yeah, cool.
It's got a little bit of a twang.
Yeah, I can hear it.
Yeah, thanks.
Yeah, you're welcome.
My mum will be proud.
Yay.
And what about you, Bella?
I never think that I have an accent, but apparently I do.
I'm from Leicestershire, so yeah, I'm a bit like, I'm a bit Midlands, but I'm not very, like, my family, one half of my family is from further up north and the others were, like, in Leicester.
Actually, my grandfather was born in Yorkshire and he walked down to Leicester
His, like... Sorry, this is such a ramble.
His father walked down from Yorkshire to Leicestershire in search of a job, and got a job, and then earned enough money so that he could pay for, like, travel, a train ticket for my grandfather to travel down, and the rest of the family.
So, yeah, I've got some Yorkshire in me somewhere.
I knew that.
And, Rafe, I don't want to presume, but have you always sounded like this?
I remember at drama school, we were generally encouraged to fine-tune our RP, and just generally speech in general.
But I think... This is about 40 years ago now, and I think the thing was, if you have an accent, you'd be proud of your accent.
But this tool of RP is useful to have.
But it was never... And I was at drama school.
It was never, get rid of your accent.
It was, celebrate who you are and how you speak.
But this is a useful tool.
But is this how you've always spoken?
The moment I was born.
First of all, it happens, then the RSC, then you head off to America.
Did you go to America in order to break into film and television?
No, no, not at all.
I went there because I had got to know people at UCLA, English teachers, professors of English and so forth.
And I became a regular invitee of...
giving lectures about Shakespeare, or acting, or acting Shakespeare.
And it was something that I enjoyed very much.
One night, I got a call from my Hollywood agent... Oh, hello.
..with whom I'd never spoken before.
Never met him.
And he said, all right, Patrick, I've got two questions for you.
What were you doing at UCLA last night?
And why does Gene Roddenberry want to see you in an hour?
wow well gene was the original producer of the first uh star trek series the three years of yeah leonard and william and bill well i went for the interview and um
at Gene's house, and after about seven minutes, I wasn't even asked to sit down by Gene, after seven, six or seven minutes, he said, well, Patrick, thank you very much, good to meet you, that'll be all.
And I was sort of kicked out, and apparently after I'd gone, and I learnt this many, many weeks later when I got the job, was that he said, as soon as the door closed,
thought of bringing that man here.
He's not right for Star Trek, he's not right for Picard, he's got no hair for one thing.
It was a bit of a battle and Gene never got used to me being in his show.
He would sit on the director's chair when we were filming and I'd see him looking at me and going,
Not encouraging.
But some people really wanted you for the part, so they thought that Jean might like you better if you weren't bald, is that right?
Ah, yes.
I was to do my final audition.
I did audition four times.
And this one would be for the Paramount Pictures organisation, the executives on whose lot we were going to be shooting.
And my agent called and said, Patrick, they've called us and they want to know if you've got a wig or a hairpiece or anything you could wear.
And I said, yeah, but why?
Well, they'd like to see you.
So I said, but it's in London.
So they had it flown.
Really?
Those were the days, eh?
You could say, fly my wig.
What kind of wig is it?
I'm intrigued.
What colour?
Well, it was my own hair, so it had to be changed quite a lot.
It had to be my own hair colour.
A little pussycat wig?
We've got a picture of you.
This is how Captain Luke Picard might have been.
Here he is.
When I did that final audition I took my hairpiece with me in fact they had got a hairdresser to put it on for me which she did and and did it very nicely and then I
I did the interview, and the executives were very nice, and I went back in, and my hairdresser said, ''Oh, I think they liked you.
I really think they liked you.
''Come on, let me take that off.''
So she started taking it off, and there was a knock at the door, and it was all the Paramount people that had been watching my audition.
And they came in, and they said, ''Well, yes, thank you for coming,'' and all that rubbish, you know.
And then they left, and my...
Makeup artist said, you've got it.
They wanted to see you without the wig.
That's why they came in here.
I know it without doubt.
And it proved to be true.
And the rest is sort of... It is history.
It's television history.
APPLAUSE Oh, wow.
Well, listen, good luck with the book.
It's a bestseller already.
Making It So, it is out now.
Patrick Stewart, everybody.
You can relax now.
You can relax.
Just have a nice time.
Pressure's off.
Yeah, down in one.
Ralph Fiennes brings us a new staging of Shakespeare's Scottish play.
I can say Macbeth on telly, can't I?
Yes, go ahead.
Macbeth, Macbeth.
The play opens on the 18th of November at the Depot in Liverpool before heading off to Edinburgh and London and then Washington DC in the United States.
And, Ralph, I'm thinking these aren't theatres.
These are kind of different sorts of venues.
Yes, well, I felt when we were discussing the project, we were doing it with a wonderful director, Simon Godwin, who I worked with before, did Antony and Cleopatra with him.
And we discussed not doing it in conventional theatre spaces.
I was keen
to take it out of London initially and do it in surprising spaces.
And I think it's not the first time it's been done.
So we're taking it into warehouse spaces and we're bringing in our own module, our own set, and we're trying to create a setting and an environment.
It's a war-torn background to the story, as you know.
So we hope the audience are going to be given a semi-immersion into that atmosphere as they take their seats.
So this is yourself and Indira Varma.
Indira Varma, wonderful, wonderful actress, who we worked together on a Bernard Shaw play called Man, Superman, with Simon directing us.
Oh, Simon.
And that was a very, very happy experience.
So are you in rehearsals right now?
Yes, yes, I've come from rehearsal today.
Wow, thank you very much.
I'm sure your head is elsewhere.
And so the setting it's Modern but not completely modern.
No, I mean, I think that Shakespeare is really good in modern I don't think it's particularly original now I think
I'm a great fan of Shakespeare being in the clothes we wear, or something close to the clothes we wear.
I think the language is, for some people, often initially challenging, and I think that a contemporary setting helps the accessibility for people, and I think I'm a great fan of Shakespeare in modern dress.
But there aren't phones in it or anything.
Well, we've made some decisions not to have phones, and although we have to have a sword fight at the end, we're going as a bladed fight, a famous fight between Macduff and Macbeth, and so we're having a world where we're in combat gear, but we have blades, like machetes and knives.
Oh, OK.
Because you did Hamlet on Broadway.
Well, you did here and then Broadway.
Mm-hm.
Because that had blades as well, or was that modern?
Oh, no.
It did.
Yeah.
There you are.
Wow.
Yeah, we had blades then.
Yeah.
Of course, you know, there's a famous fencing match.
Yes.
Which didn't always go well.
No, well, there was one performance where Damien Lewis was playing Laertes, and one night, one of these rapiers broke, and that blade spun out into the audience.
And we all froze.
And I remember saying, having been full-voiced for the performance, I said, is everyone all right?
Is everyone all right?
No, we're fine, it's OK.
OK, and then what was interesting was the company around us, everyone just leapt back in to get another blade from the wings and, boom, just started the fight again.
Back in again?
It was really interesting to see how suddenly a whole company just goes... ..and just carries on.
Yeah.
Made it properly exciting for the audience, I imagine.
I think audiences, if you... If you... Can I say fuck up on the show?
I think you can.
If there's a big fuck-up in the show, I think... And it gets back together.
I think audiences, they like it.
They've witnessed something real and they're rooting for you.
Absolutely.
I'm sitting... You know I'm sitting next to an extraordinary guest here.
Yes.
Cos you did it for a year, did you?
You did it in London and Broadway.
Exactly.
365 days.
Oh, my God.
Wow.
Look after yourself.
Oh, Lord, yes.
But actually, this is a weird thing to ask you in front of you, but is it Ian McKellen stopped you in the street and gave you notes?
Yes.
Well, not notes, a note, but it was a significant one.
Can I share it?
Please do.
He knew I was about to do Macbeth and he said,
You know, I've done it.
I said, yes, of course I do.
Him and Dame Judy had had a huge success with it.
And he said, just one thing, the line, tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, which Macbeth speaks, the important word is and.
How are you doing it, Rafe?
I'm going, and, and, and... Just shouting the word and.
By the way, if you do it Ian's way, he will need an ID, you know, for it.
A credit.
He'll need a credit.
Have you guys ever dabbled in Shakespeare?
Have you?
I have, yeah.
My first monologue with my acting group that I go to, television workshop, when you get into, like, the 11 to 16 group, you have to do a monologue in front of everybody, and they gave me Puck's monologue from Midsummer Night's Dream.
So that was my first thing with Shakespeare.
And then, like, I studied Macbeth in school and then just read Hamlet recently, and did another monologue, actually, for the television workshop, cos when you get... Every year, like, we do monologues, so, yeah.
Oh, OK.
Are you still in the television workshop?
Yeah.
I still go whenever I can.
I feel you've outgrown it.
No.
You know, every time I go, I learn something.
Oh, OK.
From watching people.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I go back every time I can.
And what about you, Leighton?
Have you ever done any?
My finger's in many pies, however, I'd like to give it a little go.
Never say never.
Not the Shakespeare pie.
OK.
A lot more crucial.
I just think maybe because I watched the movie and he was giving it Queen, so... Look at that girl, you know.
You just never know.
He'd be great.
So, Ray, you're going to Liverpool, Edinburgh, London and then Washington.
That seems sort of out of the blue.
Well, Simon, who we've seen on the screen, the director, he's running the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington.
Oh, OK.
So, he's got permission, I believe, to direct one production away from Washington every year.
So, lucky us, we've got him.
But he's bringing us back to his other home in Washington.
OK.
So, there's a sort of link.
When is that?
It's in April.
Ah.
Can't go.
LAUGHTER Washing his hair.
LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
Well, Ray's just going to be giving us his Macbeth at venues around the country starting next month.
Ray Fiennes, everybody!
Now, one of our brightest stars, Bella Ramsey, returns to the BBC with the second season of Jimmy McGovern's prison drama, Time.
It starts Sunday 29th October on BBC One at nine o'clock.
So, Bella, who do you play and how does this second season relate to the first season of Time?
So, I play Kelsey Morgan.
86824SQ, which is her little thing, which I will never forget.
A little code.
Yeah, so in time.
The first season was set in a men's prison, written by Jimmy McGovern and with the same production team.
And then the second season is now set in a women's prison.
It sort of follows the story of these three women and their different journeys, but it's a massive, like, ensemble piece.
But, yeah, Kelsey, she's just lost, really.
She's not had a good start in life.
She's not been dealt good cards and she finds herself in prison for drug misuse and drug smuggling, and then she finds out that she's pregnant and is working to, like... And that, like, unlocks something inside of her to want to recover and get out and get clean.
Well, it's an extraordinary performance.
Let's watch a clip.
This is you as Kelsey, queuing for your medication, and we should say the prison nurse is played by Michelle Butterly.
Here we go.
Kelsey Morgan.
There's nothing down for you.
There should be methadone for me.
You don't need it.
You were observed last night, sleeping like a baby.
They observed me?
Yeah.
Nobody told me that!
How remiss of us.
Move away please.
There's a reason I was sleeping last night.
Yeah?
Yeah.
Brought stuff in with me.
Woah!
You tell me you've taken drugs and had CSU.
And you'll do nothing in CSU but rattle.
Anything else?
No miss.
Move along then please.
Woah!
It's a weird thing to say to say to someone but this is kind of the first time you've played an adult
Because I do look about 14 most of the time.
So, yeah, this is the first time I've played somebody my age.
Yeah.
It's also the first time I've been on set without my mum being there, a chaperone.
And I was staying by myself in Liverpool, filming that, and, yeah, that was sort of a lot of firsts.
Did you go wild without your mother?
I went crazy.
No, I didn't.
I just came back and watched Finding Nemo.
So, adult role.
And in terms of being a child actor, you're kind of like the definition.
Did you join Theatre Club at three?
Oh, yeah, I joined my local stagecoach at three.
They let me in a bit early, cos you're meant to join at four.
But you were so good.
I think I was just, yeah, well, my older sister was in the group, actually, so I think that's also how I got let in.
Yeah, I just loved it.
But I read an interview, you were talking about, you know, being described as a child actor and how you kind of don't think that, you shouldn't describe child actors as child actors.
I mean, I was never... I always hated it when, like, an article would come out, and it'd be, like, child actor Bella Ramsey, because it's, like... I always found it slightly patronising.
And there's associations, I think, that I made with, like, child actors, and I never wanted to be, like, associated with, like, being, like, a little brat, you know?
I don't know.
I just never... I always felt equal to my... to anyone that I was with on set, that we were just all there doing the same thing.
So then to be, like, distinguished as, like, a child actor, it just felt weird.
I don't know.
I just wanted to be part of the gang.
Because you've talked about your co-star Pedro Pascal and how he is just a big kid.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
He's more of a kid than me most of the time.
Yeah, he's great.
We definitely looked after each other.
And, Bella, you're such a well-known face now, and what, you started on Telly at, what, 11?
Yeah.
OK, you've just turned 20, I think.
Yeah.
And it's... Oh, my God!
I know, I look... I missed your birthday!
So, you've got this global success, you've been to the Met Gala, all these things.
Are you enjoying it, or is it a bit overwhelming?
I don't think about it.
OK.
I don't think about... I don't, like... I don't know that I'm famous.
You are.
Yeah.
Which I get reminded of every time I go out, but... Yeah, yeah.
..it's not something that I'm thinking about, so I don't feel any different, really.
I just feel busier.
It's just so busy.
The amount of stuff I have to do, like, travel and, like, messages and emails I have to reply to, that's the only difference, isn't it?
But, of course, not the only, I'll stop saying it in a minute, child actor on the show.
Leighton, how old were you when you got the part in Billy Elliot on the West End?
I was a similar age.
I was around 11, yeah, when I booked the job.
Oh, there he is.
Aw.
But no, but with Billy Elliot, there's a weird thing where they cast you so far in advance of you going on stage.
Yeah, they basically, like, find you.
So I rocked up to an audition.
I'd never done a ballet class in my life.
I'd never done a tap class.
I was just, you know, a little shimmy-shammy.
You know, dancing to Girls Aloud or whatever.
And the newspaper article came up, it was like, we're looking for young Billys, etc.
And I just rocked up, and I'd say maybe, like, eight months or so of, you know, going to drama school, just doing fun after-school stuff.
And, yeah, I just... I think they must have saw something in me.
I don't know how, honestly.
They said, fake it till you make it, and I've been faking it, and still am, honestly.
We found this adorable footage.
You were filmed in the lead-up to your opening night, so you were kind of rehearsing Billy Elliot, but I don't think you've gone on at this stage.
Here you are, very young.
These are my favourite pants from the show, because they've got a bit of a secret to them.
These are the microphones from a dance we have to do, and this, they have to wear it in the finale.
Not really my type.
I'd better get a move on, cos I'm on in an hour or so.
We're just going to do some warm-up before the show.
Hello!
Also... I was such a little liar.
I wanted that tea to at home.
Not really my type.
Lies were told.
And so, Strictly continues this Saturday.
What are you giving us?
Oh, I'm giving you the salsa.
Are you liking... You must be liking the salsa, cos you're sat here drinking.
Yeah, I know, I've got training tomorrow.
Oh, no, I've got a show tomorrow.
Yes, you've got a show tomorrow.
And, I mean, you're doing so well, so let's just say you're in the final.
Who else is in the final?
Who else do you think you're up against in the final?
Oh, I can't do that.
I don't know.
Honestly, it is the wildest thing.
Even if you're at the top of the leaderboard, you are so shook when, you know... It does come down to the audience, really.
It's you guys aren't voting.
Where's the camera, actually?
Oh, it's there.
You guys are voting, then.
You just never know.
So, hopefully, I'm there.
And, you know, we'll see.
OK.
And very quickly, Bad Education continues.
And I'm aware there's a really special Christmas episode.
Yes, we filmed a musical episode, which was super fun.
I've been waiting a long time to try and, like, convince Jack Whitehall and the team to, like, make that happen.
So, I was super buzzing.
I didn't really get to do that much singing, actually.
I was a little bit fuming.
I was like, what, now we've got a musical episode?
I'm just watching everyone sing at me.
But they were all amazing and, yeah, I think it's going to be... I think it's going to be fun.
Through gritted teeth.
Yeah.
I think it's going to be really fun.
LateN Strictly Adventure continues tomorrow at 6.35 on BBC One.
And just a reminder, you can see Bella Ramsey in the second season of Time, and that's from next Sunday, the 29th.
Very good.
Now...
Right, it is time to meet our next guest.
She is a TV icon and a big-screen legend.
Now, she gives us a glimpse behind the shoulder pads in her new tell-all memoir.
Please welcome the great Dame Joan Collins!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Hello, Joan.
Are you OK?
Yes.
There we go.
Hello.
Welcome, welcome, welcome.
A vision in gold, Joan.
Well, yes, and shoulder pads.
Of course.
I had to wear my shoulder pads.
Very on-brand.
Thank you.
Of course.
Why not?
Do you know everyone on the couch?
Yes, well, I know these two.
Yeah.
Patrick Rayford.
Hello.
Bella.
Hi.
Nice to meet you.
Layton.
Gorgeous.
Dame Joan Collins.
And you.
And you too.
Oh, OK.
That's me.
Oh, is this wine?
Yeah, that's yours, that's yours.
You have fabulous tits.
Cheers.
Because actually, now, so, have you met Rafe before?
Yes, we met, I think, the first time was at Liam's.
That's right.
Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson, and you were staying with them.
I was, I was.
Joan hosted us for lunch.
Oh, yes, you came a few days later.
I did, yeah.
You came to our little pad.
That's right.
Good memory.
Those were the days.
We'll have to come again.
Thank you.
Let's draw a veil.
That story's going somewhere we don't want to go.
And here's the thing, you were in Star Trek World before Patrick was in it.
I was.
Really?
Yes, I was with Bill Shatner when he was... You were?
Yes, Captain Co.
I was in an episode that everybody says is a really wonderful episode called The City On The Edge Of Forever.
Oh, yes.
There you are.
Very famous.
Yeah, there's you and Bill Shatner there.
Yeah.
Sorry, is that Bill?
Yeah.
Captain Kirk fell in love with the saintly missionary worker me Edith Keeler who was going to save the world by saying that Hitler was a good person So dr. Spock had to have her killed I was run over by a bus
It's interesting because Captain Kirk did get lots of love interests, but poor old Captain Luke Picard not so many.
Oh, no, no, it was pathetic wasn't it?
I did actually go to the producers and say look They wrote these episodes in which I Remet someone I've been in love with once and we thought oh, maybe it's gonna be good No, it always went downhill
They always went badly.
Until one episode, they sent me away on holiday and I had an affair.
I mean, Picard had an affair.
Yes, yes, of course.
Yes, naturally.
APPLAUSE
Now, David O'Collins has a new book out called Behind The Shoulder Pads.
It's out now.
But, of course, it's not just a book, it's also a tour.
I think... Have you just got two dates left?
We only have... Yeah, we're going to Brighton on Saturday, and then we're going to Cheltenham.
But I've already been... Oh, it's been two weeks.
Yeah.
It's been quite exhausting, darling.
Yes.
I've been up and down the UK like crazy.
The UK.
In San Francisco.
No, so friends of mine went to see you in Leicester Square and said it was amazing.
Oh, well, we had fun.
They loved it.
We did two shows that day.
And then the next day at 10.30, we got in the car and drove to Liverpool, which is not exactly a short journey.
So I'm feeling pretty exhausted now.
OK.
Well, thank you for... I fluffed up my shoulder pads and... Obviously, this is what I wear on stage.
Yeah.
I mean, much as I love you, Graham, I wouldn't get this frock just for this show.
It's lovely.
Thank you.
I'm happy to share it with the audiences.
I thought I knew a lot about Dame Joan Collins, but I was not aware of your dancing skills.
My dancing skills?
Well, you share a skill with Leighton.
You were on an Italian television programme.
Oh!
Tell us what you did on the Italian television show.
I went on this programme initially with Bill Wyman, a very old friend, and we're sitting backstage talking to Lionel Richie, as you do.
Bill said you know we're gonna have to do something on the show that we've never done before on TV I said you're joking he said yeah what are you gonna do I said I can't think I said well how about this so I had this big wide skirt on and I
started to do a split but I couldn't quite make it so I said if I go down there totally you think they'll like that and he said I think they will so I get on the stage with this Italian guy and he says now don't know what do you do now you know what are you doing what film you're doing and sorry I shouldn't do that
Anyway, I go on the show with this Italian very nice man who was saying so Joe
So I said well my grandmother taught me this so I'll do it so I lifted up my skirt and I went and did a complete split and Everybody went crazy and laughed and laughed and laughed and it was fantastic.
The only problem was I couldn't get up.
I
And my thighs were burning for days.
Do your thighs burn for days?
Oh, I feel you.
I feel you.
I must stop you for a minute.
I must stop you for a minute, because in case anyone doesn't believe that happened, we've got the picture of you doing the splits.
Oh, have you?
There is Joan.
Oh, yes.
And in heels.
In heels.
What a maniac.
Wonderful.
Very impressive.
Joan, good luck with the remaining dates on the tour, and good luck with the book.
Behind the shoulder pads, ladies and gentlemen, Dame Joan Collins!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Thank you so much.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I love these.
They're gorgeous.
Right, it is time for music.
He's one of the UK's hottest new singer-songwriters, whose latest album is called Love Over Fear.
Here performing the single Cry, please welcome Zac Abel!
When the darkness gets way too strong And each week is a day too long Feels like there's nothing you can't do I'll sing you your favorite song
Turn all your lights back on I'll keep loving you, I'll keep loving you You know when I'm around you can let it out I wanna make you cry Wanna move you deep inside
I wanna sing it true Cause everything I do is for you So if you're holding back the tide Let the river open wide Cause I wanna make you cry I've been in the place you're in
If only you could feel something, I'd give anything for you.
Why'd you never tell no one the truth about what's going on?
I'll keep loving you, keep loving you.
You know when I'm around, you can let it out.
I want to make you cry.
I wanna move you deep inside I wanna help you heal I feel like you're alive I wanna sing it true Cause everything I do is for you So if you're holding back the tide Let the river open wide
I wanna make you cry I wanna make you cry I wanna make you cry, cry, cry I wanna make you cry Wow!
Beautiful!
Zack Abel, everybody.
What a voice.
Thank you to the band, the backing vocalists, come on over.
Here comes Zack.
Thank you so much.
That was terrific.
Zach, that's Leighton, Bella, Ray, Patrick, Joan, Mrs. Zach.
There you go.
Say hello to everybody.
Thank you so much for doing that.
Oh, your voice is stunning.
Really gorgeous.
Thank you.
And that song, that's off the album Love Over Fear.
Yes.
And it's out now.
And I think a lot of people will have seen you for the first time when you did the coronation concert for the king.
Yes.
But in fact, this is your second album.
This is my second album, yes.
And it's been a bit of a wait between one and two.
I released my first album in 2017 and then there was a period where I started losing my hearing and it took me some time to
be able to hear pitch again.
And so because of that, I took a little bit of time out.
So how are you now?
Well, I wear a hearing aid, and that helps with sounds.
And I'm able to manage.
I can't sing as in tune as I used to be able to, but I can still sing generally in tune, which is a good thing.
And what happened?
Did you get an infection, or what happened?
I got diagnosed with something called otosclerosis, which is the same thing that Beethoven had, and Frankie Valli, and Howard Hughes, apparently, as well.
Wow.
And have they fixed it, or...?
Well, they fixed one ear.
Fixed.
Volume's good, but, yeah, things like pitch, that's something I had to relearn, and I'm holding off on this ear for the time being.
But that's unbelievable, cos your voice is so gorgeous.
Thank you.
Like, I can't imagine what you're hearing compared to what we're hearing.
You don't know what I'm hearing.
OK.
And you are a fascinating man, because growing up, listen to this, Joan, he wasn't always going to be a musician.
What do you think he might have been instead of a musician?
An actor.
Close.
He was, in fact, possibly going to be a professional table tennis player.
Oh, my God.
Never guessed that, a million years ago.
They all look at the... Oh, look at baby Zach.
So, I mean, I didn't know you could be a professional table tennis player.
You can.
OK.
Tom Hanks did it.
That's true.
You are right.
You are absolutely right.
And how close did you get to being...?
So, I was in the Olympic squad for England.
Cash.
Why haven't we met before?
Wow.
Yeah, and I was training to compete in the London Olympics and then...
Music took over.
Yeah.
And very quickly, you must say you're off on tour, right?
I am, yeah.
Starting in, like, ten days.
Going all across the UK and Europe.
Biggest tour I've ever done.
23 cities.
And, yeah, there's still tickets.
Well, if that performance doesn't sell tickets, I don't know what will.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Good luck to the album.
Zac Eagle, everybody!
Wow!
Right, that is nearly it, but before we go, just time for a visit to the big red chair.
But before we do anything, I must begin with an apology.
Because last week, there was someone on the red chair, and they were less than kind about the town of Fremoy in County Cork in Ireland.
Well, suffice to say, the people of Fremoy, not happy.
I'm upset about it.
So, we'd like to apologise.
Though, in fairness, I did defend Fremoy and said it was the home of the big pencil.
But, sadly, I must apologise again, because, apparently, the giant pencil has been removed.
However, on the upside, Fremoy did win Cleanest Town in Ireland 2007 and 2018.
So, I imagine it's still quite clean.
Big up for more we offend tonight.
Hello.
Hi
What's your name, sir?
My name's Kevin.
Kevin, lovely.
And where are you from, Kevin?
I live in Whittam in Essex.
OK, and what do you do there?
I work for a company, an amazing company, that provides interactive projectors to hospitals, care homes, places like that.
This is so good.
When people get in and then have a really worthy, good job, suddenly, you know, it's very difficult.
But I'll try.
Off you go with your story, sir.
OK.
When I was 19, I went hitchhiking and camping to North Wales with a friend.
I used to live up there.
I had an upset stomach on the way, so when we got to this location... I'm so sorry already, Joan.
I'm so sorry already.
I think we know where this is going, but off you go.
It gets worse.
And when we got to the edge of the forest where we were going to be camping, I had to keep disappearing into the forest, and for a short period of time, I used up all the supply of toilet paper, and the only thing left was a tea towel, a favourite tea towel of my friend's mother that he'd brought along.
I had no choice, so it wasn't a pretty sight at the end of it.
I discarded it into the undergrowth and just forgot about it.
A year later, we were up for a day with his mother and the family dog, and we're in the same place... No!
..and the dog disappeared, and... No!
..and we called her, and she finally came up, and in her jaws was the discarded tea towel.
I'm going to blame you, I'm going to blame you.
That was a good story.
Very good.
It's been a big discussion.
That really is all we've got time for.
If you'd like to have a go in that red chair yourself and tell us your story, you can contact us via our website at this address.
And please, say a huge thank you to all of our guests tonight.
Zac Abel!
Leighton Williams!
Bella Ramsey!
Ralph Fiennes!
Patrick Stewart!
And Dame Joan Collins!
Join me next week with pop legend Duran Duran, the repair shop's Jay Blades, comedian Jack Whitehall, and together at last, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Dame Judi Dench.
I'll see you then.
Good night, everybody.
Bye-bye!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE The queens are coming next on B2C1, and Saran Jones on the judging panel in RuPaul's Drag Race UK.