More Rosebud - The Lost Coat Episode

0:00They say that less is more, so I'll be brief. Ah, you want more? You're getting it. This is More Rosebud. Welcome to it. Cue the music.

0:30This is Giles Brandreth. I'm with my friend and producer Harriet Jane. It's a Tuesday, and therefore it's a day for more rosebud. And this is a rather different episode, isn't it? Explain. Well, back in Diaries episode five, so it's actually a few months ago now, we read out an email from someone called Harry Scoble, which I think some listeners will remember because a few people emailed me about it. And he wrote in, we're going to play the email shortly. He wrote in to say that he thought he'd left a coat with you in 2002, a long time ago. and then you said to me, I think I've got that coat, and you took me into the jumper room, and there was a coat on the hanger.

1:13So I thought it'd be fun to get Harry Scoble here to see if it's his coat. How did you get hold of him? Oh, he had written in. He emailed us, yeah. In fact, let's play Harry's original email now, and a bit of what happened afterwards, just to refresh our memories. So this is an email from somebody called Harry Scoble. dear Giles and Harriet I came across the podcast a few weeks ago and I absolutely love it after each episode I find myself sinking into the same pleasantly reflective mood and when that happens there's one memory that inevitably surfaces because once upon a time I too was interviewed by Giles not once but twice really?

1:55it was in 2002 I was 19 and it was the year that both Giles and I made our respective cross-dressing debuts at the Edinburgh Fringe. He in Zip, 100 Musicals in 90 Minutes, in which he gave his Dorothy, as it were, and I in Lesbian Laundrette. Oh, I remember that. A queer musical version of Macbeth, in which an ambitious drag queen, me, stops at nothing to wrest control of a coin-operated laundry from its rightful owners. That sounds intriguing. I'm not sure how, but Giles heard about our show and kindly started to plug it in his own. One afternoon, he called round to interview us in the top floor flat we were renting just off the Royal Mile.

2:43There were about 12 of us, all students, cohabiting across three bedrooms and subsisting almost solely on a diet of Stella Artois and cannabis. So it must have been a mildly alarming environment, but Giles took it all in his charming stride. He came to see the show and I remember immediately being able to detect his baritone laugh in the audience. Afterwards, he and Michelle took us for drinks and patiently listened to us chattering like parakeets. A few months later, Giles invited us up to London for a live interview on the radio, took us to a recording of a panel show he was on and to drinks afterwards where we met his daughter Scythrid.

3:26At the end of the night, he dropped us off at Marble Arch to get the coach back to Oxford, where we were still students. I left my coat in the taxi and Giles retrieved it and kept it at his house for me to pick up. I never did. I can't think why. I suppose London felt like a long and pricey trip to get it. Since listening to the podcast, I bitterly regret that decision, as it's obvious I might have encountered any number of amazing people at his house. Anyway, I just wanted to write to say thank you, Giles. You will always have a small but very happy place in my own recollections of youth. Thank you for being so kind 22 years ago.

4:04And thank you for Rosebud. What a lovely letter. And it now explains the coat that I will show you shortly, Harriet, on a rail just outside this room. What? I think this coat has been with us all these years and we didn't know who it belonged to. I will show it to you. 22 years? Yes. You've still got Harry Scoble's coat? Well, it could be. There is a coat there that doesn't belong to any of us. It must belong to him. We've lived in this house for 22 years. So that explains it. Wow. So maybe we're going to reunite you, Harry, with your coat. So, Harriet, that was a flashback there to what happened when we read out the email Harry wrote to us back in episode five of the diaries.

4:48and today we're going to find out what happened when Harry came to my house for tea a couple of weeks ago. And it was a really fun afternoon and we recorded it where we look around your house and we look for the coat and we have quite a lot of laughs in the process and then we have tea and we ask Harry some questions about his first memories which is really nice. Lovely. So it's different to our usual episode because we're on the move, we're walking around your house, is slightly chaotic. There's quite a lot of giggling. Apologies. But the good things are Michelle makes an appearance, your wife, which is fun.

5:24And we get to talk to Harry, who's lovely. OK, well, before we meet Harry Scoble, great name, let's meet some of the people who sent us emails. Colette Davis from County Meath in Ireland. She's been in touch to suggest that we start making, oh, Rosebud merch. Yeah. What do you think, Giles?

5:47Well, before we met, before we started doing this for five years, I did a lovely podcast with my friend Susie Dent, all about words and language called Something Rhymes With Purple. And I think people can still discover the old episodes. I'm sure lots of people listening to this listen to that. And funnily enough, people come up to me sometimes and say, oh, I miss purple. And I say, what about rosebud? Oh, you changed the colour. I say, well, you've changed actually the whole concept. But not everybody knows. So, by the way, if you're listening and you like this, and please do spread the word because it's lovely if you can.

6:18But we did some merch. And I think the lesson I learned is that you've got to make the merch totally appropriate. Yes. And of a really good quality. Interesting. Yeah. So what were you doing? Well, actually, some of our stuff was quite good. We were doing all the rather obvious things like a tote bag and mugs and all of that. And yet, of course, we were talking about words and language. So there would have been a potential there for doing stuff that was more word and language orientated. That's a good idea. So here, I think, went into memory, into nostalgia. Yeah. I don't know. A diary or something.

6:52Oh, the Rosebud Diary. So you could keep a record of your year. Yeah. But does anyone... People should be keeping a diary. They should. Actually, we could try and encourage people to keep a diary by selling a Rosebud Diary. We could. Is that quite right? I don't, yeah. What I'd love to do, I mean, I find this very evocative, and occasionally I've been, when filming for something like The One Show, to one of these streets where they've recreated a street from, say, the 1950s. Oh, that's nice. And you go into a sweet shop in this street, and in those interestingly shaped jars are all sorts of different sweets from another era, particularly lemon sherbet.

7:33What's it called? Sherbet lemon. You know, it's quite hard. And inside is the powdery sherbet, yeah. And that roughness on the top and the roof of your mouth. I mean, you know there are still sweet shops like this. Like in Southwold. I'm going to Southwold soon in Suffolk for a weekend. And there's a sweet shop there like that. You can go in and you order a little bag of sweets and they put it in the scales and it's really fun. I mean, this would be too complicated to do, but a little rosebud hamper that contained nostalgic sweets from your childhood. I love it. It's a nice idea, isn't it? We're going to be putting those together, Giles.

8:10You and I, like a cottage industry. It's just, it's all you and me. Yeah. It's just you and me. Well, I'll get the hampers. You can get the sweets and we'll start building them. Yeah. And sending them out. Great. All right. Okay. So thank you for that. We'll seriously, Colette, we will think more of that. But I have to be honest with you. One of my feelings about this podcast, we are so lucky that we get people of the absolute tip-top calibre to be our guests. Yeah. and I think I have to say I think um Harriet is the best producer working in broadcasting and podcasting today uh editing skills are beyond compare she's really brilliant at what she does I'm not paying Giles to say this by the way he's just he's just saying it I'm sitting here looking at him yeah my mouth is open I'm well I'm actually not the best producer working in but well name the person then you're fired I'll get that person I only want the best the point is I think having high standards is a good thing you know that's true when we were interviewed uh Dave David Suchet uh the great Poirot but also a great classical actor from you know Shakespeare to Arthur Miller the works he's done um he touched on people thinking sometimes that he was difficult to work with and it became clear to me that he is has been demanding because he wants the best yeah and i've occasionally been lucky enough to meet or work with people who have a reputation for being difficult sir rex harrison good example dame maggie smith another good example yeah these people simply wanted the best and unless they got the best they weren't satisfied um and I want the best for our listeners.

9:57Anyway. But you're not difficult to work with, Giles. Thank you. Well, not yet. It's the right thing to say. Although you have just fired me, so. I haven't fired you. I've reinstated you. Shall I read this email? So Colette emailed to say we should make merch. And I'm afraid to say I wrote back to Colette and said, my hunch was that doing merch was more complicated than it looked. Yes. And also. And involves a lot of postage and packing issues which I don't want to get involved in. We don't want to get it. We are doing this because we are finding that we are creating a kind of library of the memories of some of the most interesting people of our time.

10:34That is our core objective. If we can do that and do it well, wonderfully. If along the line we come up with a fantastic idea that we think, oh that would be rather special. Because you were selling mugs. Do you remember during the pandemic you were selling mugs saying, I've had two jabs or something. Yes. And did you just come up with that and make them? Yes, I just do it for fun. It's like I have a puzzle, you know, every day. People don't believe this. Oh, Full Rainbow. Full Rainbow. I put it out every day. If you do, it's only on Twitter, I think, now called X. Yes. Full Rainbow is there. You know, I have whatever it is.

11:11Because I used to do that, Giles. I've forgotten all about it. It's there. It's free. The anagram puzzle. It's an anagram puzzle. Yeah. Seven letters, you know. I have to say one day I was put off when the word was suicide, which I thought was... Perfectly valid word. Very valid, but quite a dark way to start the day. I was doing it at seven o 'clock in the morning or something. Oh, wow. But, you know, I solved it. I was happy about that, yeah. Good, absolutely. I'm going to read this email from Colette because she also tells us about her first memory. Good. My first memory is from 1969. This is from Colette Davis.

11:44I was nearly four and had just started school. I was sitting in the classroom and my dad came to collect me. I saw the teacher remonstrating with my dad about the way I was holding the pencil. I was holding the pencil, I'm right-handed, with all my fingers fully curled around it, nearly like a clench, I suppose. I distinctly remember sitting at my desk, feeling shamed by the gesticulations of the teacher and by the subsequent description of the incident by my dad to my mum. Who was a primary school teacher to boot? The long and short of it is that every year, each teacher tried to correct my pencil holding technique.

12:23To no avail. I kept returning to my original method and they eventually gave up. I have lovely handwriting, by the way. I read years later that my unusual grip may have developed because I started holding a normal thin pen too early and not a chubby children's pencil and the muscles in my hand were not fully developed. Even now, as an adult, I'm always amused at people looking askance at my pen grip in meetings. To each their own. That's fascinating. I know, because we were talking about handwriting, weren't we? And we were showing off about our handwriting. And the way people hold pens. Yeah.

13:03I realise now, I'm a terrible snob about the way people hold their tutelary. Oh, are you, Giles? Yes. You know, I like people to... What's your preferred technique? The way you do it. The way I do it. Isn't that interesting? Well, I think I'm similar because I have to say I was brought up, some of my childhood I was brought up by my stepmother and she's a real stickler for table manners. I mean, we had actual lessons on how to hold a knife and fork. Well done, huh? And one thing she was obsessed by was you had to hold it quite near the end of the handle. You shouldn't be up near the blade. You're right.

13:41She thought that was not good. She's correct. Don't have people, some people. Very vulgar. Hold the handle and their forefinger, if that's the forefinger, on the top of the blade. We weren't allowed to do that. No, you're right. Yeah. But I think I've inherited a little bit of that. I think you could call it snobbery about table manners. Yeah. Can I tell you something bad? Leon, my better half, will be listening to this. Hi, Leon. He uses his knife and fork the wrong way round. No. He has the fork in the right hand and the knife in the left. You may have to cut this out. I might have to divorce him.

14:18Well, can I say at this point, if you are listening, Leon, we are very grateful to you for your lovely support of the venture. We are. And your critical and intelligent feedback. And your table manners are wonderful, even if you're using the things the wrong way around. Absolutely. As, if I may say, Colette says, to each their own. Yeah, and you can hold your pen or your... Cutlery, however you like. Why does Leon do it this wrong way around? Is he left-handed? No, I think it was because when he was younger, they often ate meals just with a fork. Yes. Because they were vegetarians and they weren't eating meat.

14:57So there wasn't anything that needed to be cut up with the sort of intensity that meat does. In fact, almost every meal when he was a child, they ate the same thing, which was called rice and veg. was cooked by Leon's mum. And it could just be eaten with a fork. But can I say, this is the diet I want to live by. Rice and veg are marvellous. Is there enough protein in it? I think they would possibly have some tofu with it sometimes. But there maybe wasn't quite enough protein. It's a bit like being on I'm a Celebrity. You know, when they eat rice and beans, it's that. Oh, do they? It's good for you.

15:34Very good for you. But yeah, so they didn't need a knife. So I think then he always had his fork in his right hand. Well, I always, I mean, I eat a lot with a fork, just with a fork. Yeah. And then you put it in your right hand, yes? Yeah. Yes, I do. Yeah. But I like to think my table manners are pretty good, and I can lay a good table anyway. But this, I hope, is going to be a fun episode. We're going to meet Harry Scoble, and we're finally going to find out the long-awaited answer to the question, is the unclaimed overcoat in my jumper room the one left in our taxi in 2002? two. Have I been looking after it for all this time?

16:11That's the big question. We're going to find out the answer. Okay. Cue the doorbell. This is for real. Let's go and answer it. Yeah. Oh my. Oh, hello. Hi. Hi, Giles. And Harriet. Hi. Well, yes, it is Harriet. Holding the microphone. It is Giles opening the door. Who are you? My name's Harry Scoble, and I believe you may have a coat of mine. Harry Harry Scoble, we may have a coat of yours. Come on in, Harry Scoble, it's a good name. You have been to this house before then? No, I never have, no. I left the coat in a taxi that you were in as well, and you recovered it 23 years ago. I thought you were a friend of our son.

16:51I've told my wife that you were a friend of our son. That's why you left the house. No, false pretenses. So, it is 23 years, I think, 2002 Edinburgh Festival. I was there, you were there. Oh, you were there. Michelle and I have actually met as well. Again, because you bought us all a drink. So we were in a show, me and my friends, called Lesbian Laundrette. Oh, we loved that show. There we are. It was a version of the Scottish play. Exactly. Oh, we adored you. We became great fans of yours. There we are, you see. Oh, we loved you. It was a great company. I gave them a mention every day in our show.

17:24Yes, and we were sold out as a result. Well, I think you probably were because we were the show of the season, as it were. Yeah, exactly. We filled our theatre. So what is the reason you're here particularly today? So here we go. I wrote in, what, a couple of months ago, Harry? It must have been. And I said, oh, well, it was really funny listening to the show because, you know, I've loved it. But many years ago, I was interviewed by Giles as well. And it was down in London. And then afterwards, you took us to a show. It was like a pilot of a show that you were on a panel for. And we were just in the audience.

17:59and then we went to a party afterwards, drank quite a lot of white wine. You basically poured us into a taxi, I think, dropped us off at Marble Arch to get the coach back down to Oxford. Oh, bless you. I left my coat in the taxi. You recovered it, emailed me, and then I never came to pick it up. Oh, let's find it. Let's go and make sure we make a cup of tea first. Or it's not there. Let's do it. Come on, get on with it. Sort of like I'm waiting to find out if I'm an ugly sister or Cinderella.

18:34This is extraordinary. Do you want to go down now? Go now. Look for the coat. Let's go. Let's do it. It's quite a nice coat. I think you should take it anyway. I'll just say yes, shall I? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Was it 2002? 2002, was it? Yes, 2002. We're going down the stairs. I'm showing him the poster for the show we did. Yes, exactly. 100 musicals for the price of one winner most popular show. Giles Brandreth without the sweater in Zip. That's the show we did. Michelle and I went to see these young people, Lesbian Laundrette was their company, doing this version of Macbeth in a very small space.

19:08But we really enjoyed the show and we became friendly with the cast. You'll see it for the coaches then. That's amazing. We're now coming in. Come on. We're now coming in to... It won't be in there. Well, no. There are no coats in. Darling, I think on the coat rail you wanted me to clear some time ago. Remember you wanted a new coat rag. This is the... Is this the coat? My God, it's a very tense moment. I don't think that's the coat. It doesn't look like the sort of thing you might have worn at that time. Take it off anywhere and try it on, see if you suddenly get a whoosh of... That's a nice coat.

19:47No, I think it's a bit nice for what I would have left behind. This is how you get through this coat. It's the con coat man. It's quite a nice... And we'll take it upstairs in case we're going to give it to him. Well, I can't take it. What if you get another call? Well, let's go up to the kitchen and have a cup of tea. So is there another coat? I think there is another. Two other possibilities. Go and get them and give that one to me. OK. What about there's the mat? The other coats are the ones you wanted to clear on the top hallway. We'll have one more look. I'm so sorry, Harry. No, please. No, I'll carry this one for you.

20:16And then we'll have a cup of tea. Yeah. And may I say that you left it rather a long time? Because I'm always delighted when he gets rudder stuff. So up you go. Because Michelle is always clearing things out. So it's quite possible that it's gone. Well, I'm not going to blame you after 23 years. And I'm not going to blame you either. But let's just see if... Over tea, we want to hear what happened to the lesbian laundrette company and what Harry Scoble is doing now. Stop talking. He never stops talking. Oh, come on up the stairs. Well, people have said they wanted a guest appearance from Michelle.

20:51They're getting one right now. OK. now let's just have a look up here please yeah okay harry uh these are other coats now no that's not gonna be it is it um you know what no no no no have a look look deep is that no i mean i think it was just a kind of like big gray bag you know student thing come on up the stairs there are two possibilities up here

21:24this could be the start of a spin-off podcast with michelle called for goodness sake it won't be that those won't be the worst now i'm just going to take off my shoes because we have a new carpet in this room okay harry's go the last the final cupboard Okay, you ready? One, two, three. Tenth moment. Oh. Oh. Now, just have a look here. I mean, that's a cloak that Michelle wore at Oxford. That's... Ah, what about that? It's that sort of length, isn't it? No, we are out. Look at that cloak, Michelle. That's lovely. Amazing. See, it could have been something like that. Anyway, we've looked in all the obvious places Well that was a lot of fun A full house tour Yeah, that was very, very fun We got to see all the wardrobes And then I'd like to ask for five minutes Chat to Harry about his life Is there anywhere else where we might have put that I mean if it's there I'd love to find it for you I just, I don't recollect

22:36Let's take a seat and maybe put the microphone down. So I'm just finding out, this boy, what was your background? My background, I was born in Wiltshire, in Marlborough, where the school is. Didn't go to the school, but lived in the town. Mum, I feel like I'm doing the proper show now. Well, you know what you need to ask. What is your very first memory? My God, and you would think I would have thought about that, just in case. Oh, OK, so hang on. I think I know. my very first memory i think and you can't you don't really know do you but i think it is being in a push chair with one of those rain hoods up and it was raining and the inside of the hood was completely fogged up and it was quite cold and i just remember this sense of being really pleased at what a nice dry little place i was in sat there yeah just very happy i remember that so i think that's my first so we met you in edinburgh and then we kept in touch and i invited you all to come to something what did i invite you to come see yeah i was it was a pilot for a tv show and i don't really remember like what the theme of it was but i think that peter snow was the the chairman and you were one of the guests now can i tell you you were at the beginning of what might have been television history this was a pilot made by a man called john lloyd famous television producer and he was looking to get a show all about general knowledge and his first idea was to get Peter Snow to present it and he wanted a panel of amusing people so I was brought on.

24:15He saw it wiped it and then thought well we'll do it we'll give it another go we'll do it with Stephen Fry in the Peter Snow role and this amusing young man Alan Davis in the Giles role. so there you go you've been bad luck since i first met you that could have changed my life you came along you jinxed it lesbian laundrette good grief well there you go so that cursed really how interesting because that's that was his original idea was that that was the nature of the show and i think he did three pilots um and i think in fact the second one he did it with Michael Palin and on the panel as well as Alan there was Stephen Fry was on the panel.

25:03I've made so many good pilots. You've helped a lot of people to get commissioned. I have. Harry it's 23 years since we last met and feel free to come again in 23 years time in case we've found the coat by then and particularly if you bring such lovely macaroons or macarons. 23 years what in the last 23 years do you think is the most memorable thing that's happened to you? So that is a very difficult question. I'm going to say, because it encapsulates a lot of very important things that have happened in the last 23 years for me, the first time I saw the sun go down on Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro, because my partner is Brazilian and meeting him has just been an incredible thing.

25:58We're super happy together. And the fact of having a partner who is from another country has just been a joy because it's opened up another world of music and books and language. I can kind of speak Portuguese now and it's a beautiful place, the people, the food, everything. it's just so if i have to squish that down into a moment it would be the sun going down uh on ipanema in rio and on ipanema um if it's a good sunset as the sun is going down just at the last minute when the sun's cresting cresting gone everybody does a round of applause just well done sun good one um but not if it's too cloudy it has to be a good sunset so it gets judged collectively whether it deserves the applause as i asked that tough question of uh mr scopel is that i've been doing some research and i don't think i think this man is a complete fraud i don't think we ever met 23 years ago i think this is just a scam people are doing this all the time they're sending you emails saying you know i don't think i'm so preposterous 23 years ago i met them in cambridge invited Edinburgh invited them to london went out got tipsy with them and then went into a He forgot his coat.

27:14I retrieved his coat. I kept it in the cupboard down here. No wonder my wife couldn't find it. I think this man's completely fraud. What do you think? Do you want to see some ID? Exactly. But this is a brilliant way. So look, listeners, if you'd like an amusing afternoon with Harriet and me at IOM, Michelle in the background searching the cupboards, do feel free to get in touch. What's the, where do they communicate with us? Hello at rosebudpodcast.com. Hello at rosebudpodcast.com. Harry Scoble, it's been very special having you here. and I'm very glad that you lost your coat all those years ago.

27:44I'm sorry we haven't got it, but it's been fun meeting you after all these years. And what is your Brazilian boyfriend called? Will. Will? Will, Will, Will, Will De La Cruz, which if I could, you know, when we get married, if we get married, I'm taking De La Cruz for sure. Like, come on, that is a great... Absolutely, De La Cruz. Well, we look forward. This could be the first... We haven't done any weddings yet, have we? No, no, we could do a rosebud wedding. what about a rose by the way and we can ask all the guests what their first memory was but harry scoble thank you very much indeed what's the lesson you've learned from life so far oh well first of all thank you it's been great uh surreal but great um uh lesson in life i've learned so far you know all the obvious ones be kind be curious and one from my granny which i love if you ever have the opportunity to swim in the sea swim in the sea it doesn't matter how cold it is no how whatever and now whenever i get in i always first thing i do put my head under the water and shout hello granny into the water so swim in the sea

28:47we're bursting into tears harry we always do at the end of a good episode so there you go it wasn't harry's coat but we had fun the question is whose coat was it I don't know, but it was, do you know what, Charles? It was rather a good coat, wasn't it? I remember Harry, when he saw it, I could see he was thinking, Shall I say this is my coat? Maybe I will take this coat. It was Jack Wills. Have you heard of that label? I've heard of the label. Thought I was going to say it was Jack Whitehall's. Because Jack Whitehall, as you know, knows this house because we've known Jack, well, in fact, I've known Jack Whitehall's parents since before Jack was born.

29:23But when Jack was a boy, I used to come here, indeed, he famously painted one of our cats, also called Jack. A fine painting of the cat. In fact, the painting appeared once on Would I Lie to You? Because he said that he'd painted our cat. So the production company phoned us up and said, if we send a car over to pick up this painting that exists, can you wing it over to us? I mean, this is a perfect Would I Lie to You story, by the way. I can just imagine it. So upstairs you've got a painting by Jack Whitehall of your cat. Yes. Great. Yeah, absolutely. You know the wonderful story about Jack's father, Michael Whitehall, when years ago, I've known him a long time, when years ago he was dating briefly Carol Thatcher, the daughter of the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

30:11Of course. And one evening he was in Downing Street, 10 Downing Street, wanting to go home. So they phoned for a taxi, and it was Carol Thatcher on the phone to the taxi company, and she said, I'd like a taxi, please. at number 10 Downing Street. So the taxi firm said, what's your name? She said, Thatcher. That's a likely one. So Michael grabbed the phone and said, this is ridiculous. Would you please send a taxi to number 10 Downing Street in the name of Thatcher? And the voice said, what's your name then? Whitehall. At which point the phone was slammed down and they never got a taxi. Oh, cool.

30:48That is amusing. So is there something in your wardrobe that is a mystery? Or is there, what is the most precious thing in your wardrobe? It is a jumper, navy blue, hand knitted jumper, which is very itchy to wear, with a rainbow stripe across the chest and the arm, which my mum knitted and used to wear a lot, and which is probably quite 70s to look at. But I still wear it and it looks good, actually. It's a really cool jumper. and yeah so probably that very good that's a lovely thing that's a lovely precious thing i think my most precious well i've got an evening dress suit white tie and tails that was not just my father's but my grandfather's so it was first worn possibly even before the first world war so people have been wearing it for more than 100 years and i was so pleased we've got a grandson our oldest grandson called Keogh, he is at Durham University and they have He's very good looking, I saw him once He's very handsome He takes after his mother and they have balls up there and he wore this suit So can he still fit into it?

32:09He fits into it Because I've also got a pair of trousers that belong to my aunt purple velvet flares i mean amazing trousers uh and they people had smaller waists women had smaller waists even in the 70s and 60s and women in the 40s had much smaller waists than we do now and i'm slim wouldn't you say but i don't i find it hard to put these trousers on and my aunt delights in saying to me i wore those after i'd had three children but people were slim i love vintage clothes oh beautiful anyway this this evening dress thing is fantastic because it's white tie tails i think we got a new he may have worn a new dress shirt but he wore an old white bow tie he did look very good in it but it's quite fun to think it's been worn by one two three four at least four generations of the same family and still looks good because you don't wear white-tied tails very often.

33:10So it's only sort of worn once a decade. Yeah. So that's a precious thing to me. You've got to look after that then. Yeah. And I've also got a precious thing. May I have shown it to you? If not, I'll wear it again this summer. Laurence Olivier's sun hat. Oh. I went a few years ago for lunch with the late Dame Joan Plowright. Great actress who I really fell for in the 1960s when she was appearing in wonderful plays at Chichester and then at the National Theatre. But I saw her, St. Joan, and she was in lots of great plays. She was a great actress. She died last year in her 90s. Remarkable. She was married to Laurence Olivier.

33:52Yeah. And we had lunch and there was sunshine in the garden. And she said, oh, the sun's in your eyes. And she gave me one of Laurence Olivier's sun hats to wear because it was there in the hallway. and when I was going she can keep it if you want so it's rather nice so I sit wearing and there's some rather good photographs of Laurent Servier when he was an old man wearing this very hat oh that's very nice aren't you lucky aren't I lucky if you have because somebody we had somebody doing a bit of work experience for us Nancy Nancy and Nancy said oh it might be a good rosebud question to ask people what is their rosebud because in the original film from which we get the name, the Citizen Kane, the Orson Welles film, Rosebud is there because it's the brand name of a sledge, a sleigh, that he remembers William Randolph Hearst, that character, Citizen Kane, at the end of his life because it was the last time he saw his mother.

34:47That's the sort of, that's what gave us the name Rosebud, which I think you came up with. It's a sort of totemic thing. Totemic. To maybe occasionally ask a guest, what is your Rosebud? is there something that object that sums up your life I've suddenly thought of one in my head a puppet when I was a boy I used to collect Pelham puppets people of my vintage will know what they were like they were like marionettes I always wanted one well I had quite a few my favourites were a policeman and I also had a character called Mr Turnip who had a sort of turnip's head and a little coiff of hair so maybe that does some of my life being Mr Turnip this Pelham puppet so that's for me it just came into my head I've given you time to think of something?

35:40I think I'm going to say it's a plate Peter Rabbit plate that I used to eat my bread and jam from when I was a little girl and I still got that I love it you see it's a good question actually Yes. I can see you with that plate, having your bread and jam. It's wonderful. I used to love Peter Rabbit. I preferred Benjamin Bunny to Peter Rabbit. Oh, yes, a bit naughty.

36:14Now, wonderful advice there. Who was it who gave the advice to Harry? Oh, Harry's grandmother told him, if you ever get the opportunity to swim in the sea, swim in the sea. That's good advice. Do you swim in the sea whenever you get the opportunity? No. Do you? No. I knew you wouldn't. I mean, I used to swim quite a lot. Really? Yeah, I was quite a keen swimmer. I was a relatively good swimmer. And it may come up in the diaries. Next week, we're back to the diaries, everybody. And we're getting towards my gap year. And during my gap year, as you will hear, I fell in love with a girl on a beach in California.

36:56Oh, I've heard this. Well, I've told it to. It's not even, we haven't even got to it in my diaries, and I'm telling, I must have told it to. No, this is a rosebud moment for you. It's seared on the memory, isn't it? And was our mother called or was she called Rusted La Rosa? Was that really in it? That's amazing. It's a great name, isn't it? Rusted La Rosa. That's the name that comes into my head. Maybe the girl was called Kim. Anyway, there was a girl. There was a girl, and there was a mother. The mother was quite significant, maybe more significant than the girl, but the girl, I thought, was getting into difficulties in the waves.

37:24and I was just sitting on the beach. This is how I met her. Wow. And I literally tore off my shirt. You stayed direct. Oh my goodness, Giles. This is in California. I ran into the crashing waves and rescued this girl from the waves and carried her in my arms back out of the briny, up the beach and later on a towel in front of her mother. Like an episode of Baywatch. And they were very nice to me and then they invited me back. I bet. For tea and... I mean, was she just... Did she really need rescuing? Or did you just go up to sort of knee height? Oh, you look like you're in trouble. I can't imagine you really...

38:05She had disappeared beneath the waves. Oh, my goodness. I ran into the sea. I dived into the sea. Giles! I mean, I could swim properly. Freestyle, like crawl? I could crawl, I could crawl, I could do freestyle, I could do butterfly. Because I can only do breaststroke. I could do breaststroke, backstroke. You can't stage a rescue doing breaststroke. It's not good enough. No, no. I dived in. I scooped her up. I held her in my arms. I brought her onto the shore. Gave her the kiss of life, obviously. No, I did not go that far. I may have later fantasised about that. But I then became a friend of the family.

38:44And they were very sweet. They were hippies, the parents. It was a hippie age. It was the late 60s. Especially in California. They were. They were beads and bangles. Brilliant. And they were hippies, and they were rather charmed by the way I'd fallen in love with their daughter. Your life could have taken a really different turn there, Giles. It could. You'd married Rusty De La Rosa. Yeah. Yeah, that's amazing. Well, it's worth listening to these guys, because there was another girl. Oh, crumbs. I thought you said they got more boring, but it sounds like there's a lot to come. Well, there is quite a lot to come.

39:15This girl was one of the richest girls in America. wait for it exactly one of the from one of the wealthiest families in america well wait and see what happens great yeah um i don't swim in the sea because i don't fear of being rescued someone like me i don't like cold water i mean what's the point it's it's i actually hate it no so i don't oh i'm thinking of my mother suddenly um taking me to Fulham Baths as a little boy to learn to swim. She was so good. I can remember Fulham Baths. I can remember also having to walk through a little paddling pool to clean your feet. Oh yes. They're not very nice are they?

40:00In case you had a Veruca. And then there was a proper swimming lesson up and down the pool. Afterwards though, the reward was Well it did pay off. And also the reward was you sat in a little sort of cafe and I would have hot bovril like Marmite but it was bovril in boiling water, which I stirred. I loved it. Wow. Those are cosy times with my mother. It's interesting. I'd forgotten that. I hadn't thought about that, well, for a long, long time, many, many years. Straight comes back to us. Anyway, so we thank Harry for that. You didn't find, we didn't find your coat. We don't know whose coat it is.

40:38If you think it might be your coat, do get in touch. Come and have tea. If you have rosebud of your own, something like Harriet's Peter Rabbit plate, or even my hat that once belonged to Sir Laurence Olivier, they'll be thinking, oh, trust him. He even manages a name drop with some inanimate object like a hat. Nonetheless, it was Laurence Olivier's hat. It is now mine, a gift from his widow. Get in touch. What is our email address? Hello at rosebudpodcast.com. Lovely. Yeah, we could start off a new thread of emails about people's rosebud objects. I think that's a good idea. That's a nice idea.

41:14Yeah. I was in Winchester the other day doing my one-person show, which goes on for a few more Sunday matinees. I forget where we're going to be next. High Wycombe, somewhere like that, Swindon. Anyway, you can look it up on the website. But at Winchester, somebody came up to me and said she loved... In fact, I made a video of her to send to you about how much she loved Rosebud. But she then said to me, Oh, could you do it five nights a week, please? I don't mind weekends I'll listen to repeats but I really need a new one every night wasn't that a nice thing to say the amount we're talking today Giles I think we probably could oh but we're not going to I've had a coffee and have you had well I've had a sip of coffee for the first time in 25 years I think it makes you talk it makes me talk a lot anyway the point is there's some very exciting episodes of Rosebud coming up we are going to be in July doing a sort of live Rosebud not a proper show Oh, yes.

42:11But we're... Shall I mention this now? Yeah. And I'll give you what details I've got. I knew the former Prime Minister, Edward Heath. We'll get to a bit of that in the diaries. Have you got his sun hat? No, I've not got his sun hat. But he did have a sun hat. But I did used to visit his house in Salisbury. It's in the close... By Salisbury Cathedral. We've talked about it because we recorded the Alan Titchmarsh episode. Oh, down in Salisbury. For the same charity. to fundraise as a fundraiser for the edward heath charitable foundation which helps keep this house arangel's which really is a beautiful house in salisbury cathedral going it's open to the public but also raises money for the foundation which gives scholarships to young music students because ted heath was interested in well he was a great sailor but he was also a great amateur conductor and he loved choral music so it's to encourage that and he was born in broadstairs and as you know Broadstairs is where I spent my childhood holidays.

43:10I love Broadstairs. Entertaining the masses. Entertaining. Well, I did. I mean, taking part in the talent competitions, etc. So every year, there's a kind of Edward Heath weekend in Broadstairs around the time of his birthday. And this year, it's going to be happening on the 19th and 20th of July. And on the 19th of July, at 2.30 in the afternoon at the Sarah Thorne Theatre in Broadstairs. Sarah Thorne was a great late Victorian Edwardian actor-manager, actress-manager, one of the many women who successfully ran theatres in the Victorian Edwardian age. Gosh, that's fascinating. Quite a few. She was one, Sarah Thorne, so it's named after her.

43:55And because I'm at the seaside, I thought, you know, oh, we're at the seaside. Hidey-hi, ho-dee-ho. thinking of, well, thinking of that TV show, which starred my late friend Simon Cadell, I thought, ooh, who can we get from Heidi High? Let's have a special seaside episode. And we persuaded Geoffrey Holland. Oh, brilliant. I mean, I loved that show. It's great. And he was also in another show they did that David Croft produced and co-wrote called You Rang, My Lord. Ah, yes. Anyway, he's a delightful actor. he does his own show interestingly enough about lauren hardy i can see him and he plays stan laurel yeah so we might actually get him to tell us a little bit about stan laurel and what his what he thinks his first memory early memories would have been because he's soaked himself in the life of stan laurel but basically it's the story of jeffrey holland it's an open rosebud come along the 19th of july in broadstairs you can meet me there you can meet harriet there We shall have some fun.

45:00You can even challenge Harriet and me, it's a beautiful day, to run down the hill from the Sailor Thorn Theatre to Broadstairs Beach to Viking Bay and maybe take a dip. Could you be tempted? Oh, gosh. I thought you were going to say it was a running race between you and me. Well. Which I was thinking to myself, well, I'll definitely win that. I know. I was already... How interesting that you think that. Thrilled to win a race. Rather like when Billie Jean King took on that older man who boasted that he could beat her and she beat him playing tennis. You think you'd win the running race, do you?

45:38I mean, maybe I wouldn't. Maybe you wouldn't. Yeah. So there may be a running race. There may be. I don't know if it's a good idea, Giles, you and me running a race. That could be the end of Rosebud. There may be some skinny dipping. Who knows what will happen? And I'll put a link to a place you can buy the tickets in the episode description. Please, please do. But otherwise, just cue Sarah Thorne Theatre, and I think they'll tell you. It's the 19th of July. It's Rosebud with Giles and Harriet and Geoffrey Holland and a touch of Heidi High. That's going to be fun. Ho-dee-ho. That's it. That's it for this Rosebud.

46:14Bye. Oh, bye. Heidi High. Heidi High, Ho-dee-ho. Maybe we'll get our, what's he called, our lovely composer? Phil Leppard. maybe Phil Leppard would do us a seaside version what do you think of our theme tune? yeah on the old Joanna we could persuade him to do that I'd rather like that oh I do like to be beside the seaside oh I do like to be beside the sea with the ump ump ump of the big bass drum oh she's turning the switches she's fading me down this oh my goodness Harriet she's controlling the ship isn't she

46:53Thank you.

47:25Thank you.