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[John Dower] So what's this appointment
we're going to?

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[Andrew Flintoff]
I'm gonna go see Mr Haq.

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He was the bloke who operated on me.

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When I got flown into St. George's
by air ambulance,

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he did a five-hour operation on me.

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And he's done more and more,

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and I've had so many steroid injections
into the scars.

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It's unpleasant.

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I had some other thing done,
which was this plasma

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where they effectively
soldered my face, really.

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Jury's out on that one.

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And I know what's gonna happen.

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Mr Manisali will be happy
with the nose work.

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Mr Haq will be happy with the face.

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Everyone will tell me,
"Oh, yeah, it's looking better."

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I think the skin colour

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- is settling on its own quite well.
- [Flintoff] Yeah?

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You know, it looks less red.

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Yeah, I think all in all,
it's a fantastic improvement.

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The bit here, this feels strange.

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This bit. It feels really baggy.

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- Okay.
- It just feels like it doesn't...

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It's better than it was.

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It just feels really strange, this bit.

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- Can I have a little look?
- Yeah.

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Do that smile again.

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Yeah. It's looking good.

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Open wide, open up.

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Bite together.

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That's looking a lot better.

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- Can you feel me touching you here?
- Yeah.

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And what about here, is that less...

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- I don't feel that.
- You can't feel that?

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- No.
- No, that's the skin graft.

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So you might get some sensation back
in the future, but possibly not.

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Overall, I think it's the best
I've seen you, actually.

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- Really good progress.
- Thank you.

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Thanks.

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Winds me up a bit...

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because I don't think
I'm gonna be happy with it.

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And I'm appreciative of it.

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They're both amazing.

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But...

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they'll never give me what I had back.

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I wasn't happy with that then,

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but now I realise
it wasn't too bad, was it?

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I just want people to be honest
half the time, say, "Yikes.

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It is a fucking mess," isn't it?
[chuckles softly]

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Don't know if they want that on Disney.

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I've never heard Mickey Mouse swear.

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[chuckles]

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I'm still arranging it in my mind.

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Still coming to terms with it.

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Even though it's been 18 months.

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[Dower] Just before Christmas 2022,

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one of the country's most beloved
sportsmen and TV presenters,

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Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff,
was involved in a horrific crash

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while filming for the BBC's
Top Gear programme.

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Over the course of the next year,
he completely disappeared from public.

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[Flintoff] You know,
I still live it every day.

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I'm still in the car every night
when I go to bed.

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And it's so vivid.

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Not slept the same since.

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[Dower] Effectively, you have a movie
of what happened to you

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playing in your head every night.

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It's a movie in my head.

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I've watched it as well.

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- The actual footage?
- In-car footage.

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I've seen it. And I demanded it.

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I wanted validation for myself.

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"This is why I'm feeling that,
this is why I'm so bad."

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And the other side is when you talk
about having a movie in your head.

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In cricket,
people talk about visualisation.

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You're just seeing something.

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To me, that's only a part of it.

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So, because I was injured so many times,
I couldn't really practise bowling.

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So, I developed a way
of practising in my head.

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I just didn't see myself bowling.

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I could feel it.

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I could smell it.

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I could feel how it felt.

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Even, like, the ball leaving my hand.

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Problem is, when you relate it to this,

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even the memories of it are real,

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to the point where I'm talking about it
and I'm getting a bit jittery,

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and I can feel the pain
in this side of my face.

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I can feel the phantom pains and...

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It's like a bit of a curse, really.

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[commentator 1] Here he comes.

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[♪ dramatic music playing]

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[commentator 2] Oh, he's got him!
Freddie Flintoff, the man!

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[Vaughan] No one had as much talent,
but I don't think many had as much doubt.

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[commentator 3] Oh! Massive!

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[commentator 4] We're witnessing
something fantastic.

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[Panesar] He had a celebrity-like status.

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[Key] And he wrestled
with that all the time.

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[announcer] ...your host,
Mr. Freddie Flintoff!

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All right?

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[Corden] Transcending cricket
is almost impossible.

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Freddie Flintoff,
ladies and gentlemen.

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[Corden] And he did it.

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[Whitehall] You're a cricketer.
You're not meant to be this funny.

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[Lydon] But in his head,
he'd never done quite enough.

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[female newscaster] Freddie Flintoff
has been involved in a crash.

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[male newscaster] Freddie Flintoff
has been taken to hospital.

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[Rachael] All of a sudden,
your whole life can change, like that.

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[Flintoff] It's almost like I've reset.

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I'm trying to find out what I am now.

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[female newscaster] Freddie Flintoff
was injured in a crash last year.

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[male radio presenter 1] What happened?

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- [male radio presenter 2] They won't say.
- [male radio presenter 3] Big crash.

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[male radio presenter 4]
His injuries are life-altering.

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[female newscaster]
He's been silent ever since.

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[♪ sombre music playing]

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[Dower] In 2023,

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Freddie Flintoff withdrew
into the refuge of his home.

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But as speculation grew
about his whereabouts,

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he started to make a record
of his recovery.

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Freddie felt compelled to tell people
exactly what had happened with the crash

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and its aftermath.

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[Flintoff] One of the real frustrations,
and this really hurt me,

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was the speculation.

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That's why I'm doing this now.

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You know, just get it out there.

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What actually happened.

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I've lived under the radar
for seven months.

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The only time I'm getting out
is for medical stuff.

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And what I've done, I suppose,
in this house, is become safe,

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and been scared to step outside of it.

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You want to be there for the kids
and not miss stuff.

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Fortunately, we've got four of them.

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I spent all this time
with a three-and-a-half-year-old.

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He wouldn't come near me.
I think he'd get frightened of my face.

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Frightened of me.

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That was heartbreaking.

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I've got PTSD, and I get anxious.

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For periods of time,
I just find myself crying

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for no particular reason.

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Come here.

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Good boy.

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Where are you going?

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[Dower] As the year passed, Freddie,

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who had always resisted
making a biographical film...

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- Steve wants to throw a mic on you.
- [Steve] Yeah.

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[Dower] ...decided to open up
about his career,

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cricket, and life for the first time.

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[Steve] I'm gonna take off
a couple of hairs.

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[Flintoff] It took years to grow.

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[Dower] Should I call you
Freddie or Andrew?

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[Flintoff] I reckon Freddie
would be good. Fred.

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Fred.

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It's strange, isn't it? Because...

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obviously, my name's Andrew,

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and then, since I was about 15,

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I've just been called Fred or Freddie.

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Because Andrew is probably
more a reflection of me.

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Quite introverted.

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Just likes his own space.

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But that would never have survived
in the world of professional sport.

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I knew that pretty quickly.

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Lancashire have just completed

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what could be a very significant
move for the future.

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They've signed a 16-year-old

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who's rated the best young batsman
of his generation.

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[male reporter] Andrew Flintoff,
6'4" of cricketing potential,

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has been playing since he was six.

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He's represented England
from under-14s upwards

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and was in the first 11
at his club, St. Anne's, at 14.

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I started playing county cricket
when I was nine.

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I've done all right ever since.

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But each year, it's getting harder
as you start to step up each age group.

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[Dower] Fred said to me that
you're one of the best coaches he's had.

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He's very kind. I don't think so.

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[Dower] I mean, he described you
as his cricket dad.

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Yeah, and he, to me...

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I have three sons. He's my fourth son.

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We knew about him
when I was Lancashire coach.

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His pace was menacing.

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One that stands out is when he played
for St. Anne's under-15s,

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he scored 232 not out.

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We have a broken window,
five, six, cricket balls disappeared.

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[Bumble] Because of his size,
he had strength.

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Big strapping lad who's bowled
and bowled and bowled.

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One half of his back was a man, solid man,

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and the other half was a child.

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Two different sorts.

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So, then we talked formally
about signing Andrew.

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[Dower] I noticed
that you call him Andrew.

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- Yeah.
- He's Andrew, Fred, Freddie.

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There seems to be a few of him.

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Yeah, I mean, "Fred" picked up
in the changing rooms,

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you know, Flintstones.

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But I've sort of always
called him Andrew, really,

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particularly if I were giving him
a bit of a bollocking from time to time.

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[laughs]

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[male reporter] I'm sure people have been
expecting great things from you.

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How have you responded to that?

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When I first started,
I struggled a bit with being so young.

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But I've got better each year
as I've gone on.

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I was a shy kid growing up in Preston.

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I was mild, I was meek,
didn't say boo to a goose.

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I remember going in the Lancashire
dressing room for the first time,

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surrounded by men,

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not knowing where to put myself
or what to say, really conscious.

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They started calling me Fred.

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And I started drinking. [chuckles]

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And then I found this alter ego.

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[crowd clapping]

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[♪ dramatic music playing]

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It's like a character I created

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which loved the limelight, loved playing.

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Loved it all.

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Concentration. Big game, this.
If we win this, we've won the series.

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[Key] I would have been 17.

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He was probably 18.

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He was England under-19 captain.

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And everyone knew of Fred,
because from under-11s,

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he was this lad from Lancashire
that bowled fast and could smack it miles.

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And you just thought,
"This kid's better than us."

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Now, sporting history was made
at Old Trafford cricket ground yesterday

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when a new world record was created,

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and here with the evidence,
Peter Stevenson.

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Yes, this could become a collector's item
in years to come.

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It's the official score record

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marking Andrew Flintoff's amazing innings
for Lancashire at Old Trafford.

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Only this filmed evidence of an over
that produced a record 38 runs

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is contained on this club security camera.

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[Freddie] Being on the field,

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it was almost like...
I wouldn't say Superman,

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but you know when he goes
in a phone booth and...

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It was almost like that,
playing cricket, for me.

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And when I walked off the pitch,

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it was very different.

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I'd go home and I was back to myself.

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[Dower] There's two of you?

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Oh, I think there's two,
there might be more.

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[laughs] Over the years,
I think there might be more than two.

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[Rachael] He introduced himself as Andrew,

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and I've always called him Andrew.

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We started talking,
and then we didn't stop talking.

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He was funny. I know he made me laugh.

244
00:13:46.760 --> 00:13:48.000
Um...

245
00:13:48.800 --> 00:13:51.640
And I think the more I was talking to him,
the more I was like,

246
00:13:51.720 --> 00:13:54.280
"Oh, you're really lovely."

247
00:13:55.080 --> 00:13:57.520
[Dower] At this point, he wouldn't
have been that well-known

248
00:13:57.600 --> 00:14:00.200
- as a professional sportsman.
- [Rachael] No.

249
00:14:00.880 --> 00:14:03.360
I didn't actually know
who Andrew was at the time.

250
00:14:04.240 --> 00:14:05.640
Not in a bad way, but...

251
00:14:06.360 --> 00:14:07.800
I can't put my finger on it.

252
00:14:07.880 --> 00:14:11.000
There was just something about him
that was different.

253
00:14:12.600 --> 00:14:15.880
He takes it really negatively
when I say it.

254
00:14:15.960 --> 00:14:17.560
Like, I say to him "potential",

255
00:14:17.640 --> 00:14:21.400
and he's like, "Oh, I have potential.
You try to change me."

256
00:14:21.480 --> 00:14:23.520
But I never meant that at all.

257
00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:25.720
It was just something in him

258
00:14:25.800 --> 00:14:28.560
that I knew he was just...

259
00:14:28.640 --> 00:14:30.440
there was so much more gonna happen.

260
00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:34.840
[Bumble] He had it all in spades.

261
00:14:35.640 --> 00:14:37.880
And he's not one of them,
and they're around...

262
00:14:38.760 --> 00:14:41.560
a great player, but a bit of an arsehole.

263
00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:44.320
No. Champion bloke.

264
00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:50.120
You know, I tended
to look after him a bit.

265
00:14:53.400 --> 00:14:54.840
And just after his accident,

266
00:14:54.920 --> 00:14:57.000
before they were sort of patching him up,

267
00:14:57.080 --> 00:14:59.600
I saw him, and it took my breath away.

268
00:15:00.640 --> 00:15:03.080
I wanted to burst into tears
and give him a hug.

269
00:15:08.560 --> 00:15:10.680
[Lydon] I've managed him for 16 years.

270
00:15:10.760 --> 00:15:13.280
We always sit down and we strategise

271
00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:16.680
and say, right, "In ten years' time,
what would you want to do?

272
00:15:16.760 --> 00:15:18.640
"What's the long-term objective?"

273
00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:20.600
And it was always Top Gear.

274
00:15:22.760 --> 00:15:25.000
Nothing will compare
to his cricket career.

275
00:15:25.080 --> 00:15:27.640
So when he got the opportunity,
it was huge.

276
00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:29.120
Thank you.

277
00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:31.800
It's so good to be presenting
our first show.

278
00:15:31.880 --> 00:15:33.600
And we know Top Gear has had more rebirths

279
00:15:33.680 --> 00:15:35.240
- than Doctor Who recently.
- Yeah.

280
00:15:35.320 --> 00:15:37.760
- [Rachael] He was...
- But look, we've kept the little Dalek.

281
00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:39.360
[Lydon] ...really buzzing.

282
00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:41.480
He thought it was such a big programme.

283
00:15:41.560 --> 00:15:45.560
I mean, it's liked by a lot of people,
and a lot of people have grown up with it.

284
00:15:46.160 --> 00:15:47.560
[both] Oh!

285
00:15:47.640 --> 00:15:49.240
[Flintoff] Out of all the TV stuff...

286
00:15:49.320 --> 00:15:51.000
Nice and smooth through it.

287
00:15:51.080 --> 00:15:54.000
That was the one show
I got competitive to get.

288
00:15:55.160 --> 00:15:57.760
This, to him, was proper.

289
00:15:58.560 --> 00:16:00.160
[Dower] And he loves his cars.

290
00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:02.080
[Rachael] Yeah, he loves cars, too.

291
00:16:02.160 --> 00:16:06.120
They let him try out different cars a lot,
which he loved.

292
00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:12.400
Whoa, you dickhead! You absolute whopper!

293
00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:16.640
[Whitehall] You know, Fred is someone
that constantly needs new challenges.

294
00:16:18.840 --> 00:16:20.960
He's someone
that definitely gets restless.

295
00:16:21.040 --> 00:16:24.720
And I was so excited when he told me
that he'd got that gig.

296
00:16:25.280 --> 00:16:27.400
He felt like the perfect fit for the show.

297
00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:30.560
This is one of the most horrific things
I've ever done.

298
00:16:31.520 --> 00:16:32.760
[yelling]

299
00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:36.480
[Lydon] He kind of became
a daredevil on the show.

300
00:16:36.560 --> 00:16:37.880
He did most of the stunts.

301
00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:44.720
And I think it's just because
he naturally challenges himself.

302
00:16:45.480 --> 00:16:49.080
[Dower] And what do you remember
the day of the accident?

303
00:16:49.160 --> 00:16:51.080
[♪ uneasy music playing]

304
00:16:51.160 --> 00:16:54.040
[Lydon] It was just a track day.

305
00:16:56.440 --> 00:16:59.680
I didn't expect there to be any issue.

306
00:17:05.280 --> 00:17:07.400
[Flintoff] I remember everything about it.

307
00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:12.600
In some ways, it'd have been easier
if I'd gone unconscious

308
00:17:12.680 --> 00:17:14.560
and then been unconscious
for a week or two,

309
00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:16.520
and then you wake up
and your stitches are out.

310
00:17:16.600 --> 00:17:17.760
But I remember everything.

311
00:17:22.080 --> 00:17:24.400
I think about it,
and now I'm back in that car.

312
00:17:28.440 --> 00:17:29.640
It was a three-wheeler.

313
00:17:30.440 --> 00:17:32.440
There's a reinforced windscreen
about there,

314
00:17:32.520 --> 00:17:35.160
and a bar which goes about halfway
up my back, so I'm exposed.

315
00:17:37.520 --> 00:17:39.760
I'm probably doing about 40 or 45.

316
00:17:40.800 --> 00:17:44.040
They were showing me
how to get the car going sideways.

317
00:17:45.720 --> 00:17:47.280
And the wheel came up at the front.

318
00:17:47.360 --> 00:17:49.480
[♪ tense music playing]

319
00:17:57.320 --> 00:17:59.040
It's a funny thing, rolling a car.

320
00:17:59.720 --> 00:18:01.560
Because it's the point of no return,

321
00:18:02.520 --> 00:18:05.080
and everything slows down.

322
00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:08.120
It's so weird.

323
00:18:11.880 --> 00:18:13.720
I should know
how to get questioned by people.

324
00:18:13.800 --> 00:18:16.600
But I used to play cricket. I used to bat.

325
00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:19.680
You get 0.4 of a second
to make your mind up.

326
00:18:19.760 --> 00:18:21.800
Where the ball's going,
what shot you're gonna play,

327
00:18:21.840 --> 00:18:23.280
how you're gonna move your feet.

328
00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:26.440
And as it started going over,

329
00:18:28.320 --> 00:18:29.520
I looked at the ground,

330
00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:33.680
and I knew if I get hit here, on the side,
then I break my neck.

331
00:18:34.520 --> 00:18:36.040
If I get hit on the temple, I'm dead.

332
00:18:37.120 --> 00:18:40.000
My best chance is go face down.

333
00:18:44.200 --> 00:18:46.240
And then I remember hitting...

334
00:18:47.440 --> 00:18:49.200
And then, oh... then my head got hit.

335
00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:53.600
But then I got dragged out
and the car went over.

336
00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:55.480
And I went over the back of the car,

337
00:18:55.560 --> 00:18:58.560
and then pulled face-down on the runway

338
00:18:59.840 --> 00:19:01.800
for about 50 metres underneath the car.

339
00:19:03.800 --> 00:19:05.920
And then it hit the grass
and then flipped back in.

340
00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:09.400
[♪ tense music playing]

341
00:19:13.000 --> 00:19:14.000
I thought I was dead,

342
00:19:14.560 --> 00:19:17.360
because I was conscious,
but I couldn't see anything.

343
00:19:19.560 --> 00:19:21.280
I was thinking, "Is that it?"

344
00:19:21.360 --> 00:19:23.280
"Is that it?" You know what I mean?

345
00:19:23.360 --> 00:19:25.440
"Seeing black for the rest of my days?"

346
00:19:27.240 --> 00:19:29.880
And my hat came over my eyes. [chuckles]

347
00:19:29.960 --> 00:19:31.840
So I pulled my hat up, and I thought,

348
00:19:31.920 --> 00:19:35.640
"No, I'm on the Top Gear track.
This is not heaven."

349
00:19:36.600 --> 00:19:37.880
Yeah, it was...

350
00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:40.200
Yeah.

351
00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:47.400
And then I just looked down,
and the blood started coming down.

352
00:19:51.240 --> 00:19:56.240
And my biggest fear
was I didn't think I had a face.

353
00:19:56.320 --> 00:19:57.960
I thought my face had come off.

354
00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:02.880
I was frightened to death.

355
00:20:05.400 --> 00:20:08.680
I got a phone call,
"Andrew's been in an accident in Top Gear,

356
00:20:08.760 --> 00:20:11.280
"but we don't have much information.

357
00:20:12.160 --> 00:20:15.000
"I think they might take him
to the nearest hospital,

358
00:20:15.080 --> 00:20:17.760
"but it sounds like
it's just his teeth or something.

359
00:20:17.840 --> 00:20:19.240
"I think everything's fine."

360
00:20:19.320 --> 00:20:20.960
I put the phone down,

361
00:20:21.040 --> 00:20:23.920
and I didn't think much of it
to begin with.

362
00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:28.200
But it just kind of escalated very quick.

363
00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:32.440
I think it was about half an hour
or 40 minutes, just in agony

364
00:20:33.240 --> 00:20:34.720
till the air ambulance came.

365
00:20:36.040 --> 00:20:38.680
[Breen] We had a call
to an airfield in Surrey,

366
00:20:38.760 --> 00:20:41.520
and Freddie was clearly
very shell-shocked.

367
00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:44.920
He had quite a significant facial injury.

368
00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:47.520
I mean, it wasn't one,
it was several and multiple.

369
00:20:48.840 --> 00:20:51.640
He was in a lot of pain,
so we gave him some pain relief,

370
00:20:51.720 --> 00:20:56.720
and we transported him
to our leading major trauma centre,

371
00:20:56.800 --> 00:20:59.360
which is St. George's Hospital.

372
00:21:01.400 --> 00:21:03.360
And it was just,
"This can't be happening to me.

373
00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:04.600
"This can't be happening."

374
00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:08.200
I wasn't getting any information.

375
00:21:08.280 --> 00:21:09.720
I didn't know...

376
00:21:11.120 --> 00:21:12.440
how he was injured.

377
00:21:13.040 --> 00:21:15.920
And I just started just grabbing
all my stuff and thought,

378
00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:17.120
"I'm gonna head to London,

379
00:21:17.960 --> 00:21:20.760
"and then hopefully,
someone will tell me where he is."

380
00:21:24.440 --> 00:21:26.240
[Mr Haq] I was on call that day

381
00:21:26.320 --> 00:21:29.360
and received a phone call
from the A&E consultant.

382
00:21:30.560 --> 00:21:33.600
A lot of the injuries we have
are managed at a more junior level

383
00:21:33.680 --> 00:21:36.720
before escalating to a consultant,
so I knew something was up.

384
00:21:37.360 --> 00:21:40.960
[Dower] How would you describe
the injuries that Fred came in with?

385
00:21:41.040 --> 00:21:42.600
[chuckles softly] Complex.

386
00:21:43.240 --> 00:21:44.240
Very complex.

387
00:21:45.400 --> 00:21:47.280
His injuries, overall,

388
00:21:47.360 --> 00:21:50.840
for the past 20 years
of seeing maxillofacial trauma,

389
00:21:50.920 --> 00:21:53.400
I'd probably put up in the top five.

390
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:03.720
He had a mixture of hard tissue
and soft tissue injuries,

391
00:22:04.360 --> 00:22:06.000
broken teeth, lost teeth,

392
00:22:06.080 --> 00:22:09.560
elements of the upper jaw bone
that were also fractured and displaced.

393
00:22:11.000 --> 00:22:13.720
His soft tissue injuries
were very complex.

394
00:22:13.800 --> 00:22:16.720
It's very unusual
that you lose soft tissue,

395
00:22:16.800 --> 00:22:18.080
that you lose skin.

396
00:22:18.160 --> 00:22:23.040
And he'd lost a really significant
portion of his upper lip,

397
00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:26.160
the skin
and some of the underlying muscle,

398
00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:27.640
and also his lower lip.

399
00:22:30.800 --> 00:22:36.000
[Lydon] They said, "You've got
to just prepare yourself for going in."

400
00:22:36.080 --> 00:22:38.440
Because at that time,
he hadn't been to surgery.

401
00:22:39.360 --> 00:22:42.480
[Dower] So, you were
the first person at the hospital?

402
00:22:44.720 --> 00:22:45.720
Sorry.

403
00:22:47.280 --> 00:22:48.600
Oh, God. [chuckles]

404
00:22:51.160 --> 00:22:52.600
I felt very helpless.

405
00:22:55.320 --> 00:22:56.440
Just didn't know...

406
00:22:58.560 --> 00:23:00.400
what to say that...

407
00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:02.240
My job is to make things better

408
00:23:03.040 --> 00:23:04.400
and fix things.

409
00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:05.800
And I couldn't fix that.

410
00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:13.280
[Mr Haq] These wounds
were never gonna be clean wounds.

411
00:23:13.880 --> 00:23:16.280
He's scraped his face along the tarmac.

412
00:23:17.160 --> 00:23:19.680
There's gonna be grit, dirt.

413
00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:24.680
And the initial surgery,
it took about five hours.

414
00:23:25.640 --> 00:23:29.560
[Dower] So, in that first
five-hour bout of surgery,

415
00:23:29.640 --> 00:23:32.040
you were already starting
to try and rebuild the face?

416
00:23:32.120 --> 00:23:33.560
Yeah. Yeah.

417
00:23:35.280 --> 00:23:38.400
You just gotta get the anatomy back
to how it was in the first place.

418
00:23:39.240 --> 00:23:40.600
It's like a jigsaw puzzle,

419
00:23:41.960 --> 00:23:44.520
and almost always,
all the pieces are there.

420
00:23:45.880 --> 00:23:47.440
In Andrew's case, they weren't.

421
00:23:49.080 --> 00:23:50.920
[♪ sombre music playing]

422
00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:54.480
When I did see him,

423
00:23:55.480 --> 00:23:58.400
I walked in the room,
and he was just in the bed,

424
00:23:58.480 --> 00:24:00.920
and he was bandaged up.

425
00:24:01.000 --> 00:24:02.640
But his eyes,

426
00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:07.160
I've never seen someone
so scared in their eyes.

427
00:24:08.080 --> 00:24:12.240
And he just stared at me,
and I just think he was looking at me

428
00:24:13.320 --> 00:24:15.240
to know how bad he was.

429
00:24:16.080 --> 00:24:20.920
So, to be fair,
I totally pulled myself together,

430
00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:25.160
and I just... didn't cry.

431
00:24:25.240 --> 00:24:28.080
I just said, "It's fine,
you're gonna be okay.

432
00:24:30.200 --> 00:24:32.160
"I can't believe how amazing you look."

433
00:24:37.840 --> 00:24:41.600
Before we got home, I did call the kids,

434
00:24:41.680 --> 00:24:45.200
and I did say to them, like,

435
00:24:45.280 --> 00:24:47.960
"You've just gotta be as strong
as you've ever been.

436
00:24:49.560 --> 00:24:52.000
"Your dad does look different
at the moment.

437
00:24:52.080 --> 00:24:53.760
"It's gonna get better,

438
00:24:53.840 --> 00:24:58.520
"but I don't want you to look
shocked and horrified,

439
00:24:58.600 --> 00:25:00.720
"because that's gonna knock him."

440
00:25:04.280 --> 00:25:05.600
And that was hard.

441
00:25:06.960 --> 00:25:08.960
Andrew doesn't know I've ever done that.

442
00:25:10.600 --> 00:25:13.560
I'm just so grateful
to all of those people.

443
00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:16.520
I've still got a husband,

444
00:25:17.240 --> 00:25:20.120
the kids still had their dad.

445
00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:26.440
I'm very aware that there are other people
going through similar or far worse things

446
00:25:27.120 --> 00:25:29.720
without the help that we had.

447
00:25:35.840 --> 00:25:37.400
[Vaughan] I got sent the picture.

448
00:25:39.560 --> 00:25:41.360
And I couldn't look at it.

449
00:25:44.680 --> 00:25:46.440
That was awful.

450
00:25:47.160 --> 00:25:50.600
Straight away, we're trying
to make sure that Rachael knew

451
00:25:50.680 --> 00:25:53.560
that we're all thinking about
her and the kids.

452
00:26:02.520 --> 00:26:04.800
[Rachael] I think you saw
none of Fred at all.

453
00:26:05.680 --> 00:26:07.760
He just literally just zoned out.

454
00:26:07.840 --> 00:26:11.560
He didn't want to speak to anyone,
he didn't wanna see anyone.

455
00:26:12.880 --> 00:26:14.680
He just didn't wanna do anything.

456
00:26:16.640 --> 00:26:21.440
It was like the lowest
I've ever, ever seen him.

457
00:26:23.680 --> 00:26:26.680
I remember texts going around,

458
00:26:26.760 --> 00:26:30.400
and you're hearing cobbled together
bits of things

459
00:26:30.480 --> 00:26:32.360
that you've no idea
if this is true or not.

460
00:26:33.120 --> 00:26:36.560
Just keeping trying to reach out,
just keeping trying to...

461
00:26:36.640 --> 00:26:38.320
knowing that you're not gonna get a reply.

462
00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:40.960
I was really desperate to see him

463
00:26:41.040 --> 00:26:43.560
and had been messaging
mutual friends that we had,

464
00:26:43.640 --> 00:26:47.120
and they said he was just
sort of taking some time.

465
00:26:48.080 --> 00:26:49.640
And, yeah, just, like...

466
00:26:50.600 --> 00:26:52.520
I wanted to give him a hug. [chuckles]

467
00:26:56.960 --> 00:26:58.240
Through my cricket life,

468
00:26:59.400 --> 00:27:02.840
I found myself in a lot of situations
I didn't know if I could get through.

469
00:27:04.160 --> 00:27:07.560
Always seemed to be able to flick a switch
and get on with it.

470
00:27:09.440 --> 00:27:12.280
I gotta find that switch again,
because at the minute,

471
00:27:12.880 --> 00:27:14.640
I... I don't know what I am.

472
00:27:22.360 --> 00:27:25.720
Look out for the name
of a 20-year-old, Andy Flintoff.

473
00:27:25.800 --> 00:27:27.960
Congratulations to Lancashire's
Andrew Flintoff...

474
00:27:28.040 --> 00:27:31.640
He's the latest in a line of players
making a name in the national side.

475
00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:35.720
[Vaughan] Freddie was fast-tracked
for the England team.

476
00:27:36.440 --> 00:27:38.000
You gotta remember, English cricket,

477
00:27:38.080 --> 00:27:42.000
they're looking for the next Ian Botham,
an amazing all-rounder.

478
00:27:42.080 --> 00:27:46.040
So anybody that could bat,
bowl and field was just... "Get them in."

479
00:27:46.920 --> 00:27:50.160
And Freddie had the capabilities
to bowl 90 miles an hour,

480
00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:51.800
whack the ball out of the park.

481
00:27:51.880 --> 00:27:54.080
[commentator] Andy Flintoff
has his first Test wicket.

482
00:27:54.160 --> 00:27:57.400
[Vaughan] Exactly what every team wanted,
in particular, the England team.

483
00:27:57.480 --> 00:27:58.920
We needed that all-rounder.

484
00:27:59.000 --> 00:28:02.240
Andrew Flintoff hit his highest score
for England today.

485
00:28:02.320 --> 00:28:04.240
The man being hailed as the new Ian Botham

486
00:28:04.320 --> 00:28:06.320
smashed seven sixes,

487
00:28:06.400 --> 00:28:08.320
and one of them
went straight to his father.

488
00:28:10.880 --> 00:28:13.616
[male interviewer] Some people are talking
of you as the next Ian Botham.

489
00:28:13.640 --> 00:28:16.880
I don't think I'll be the next Ian Botham.
I just want to be Andy Flintoff.

490
00:28:16.960 --> 00:28:19.080
If I do anything in cricket,
I wanna do it as me.

491
00:28:20.280 --> 00:28:22.040
[Key] He was very northern.

492
00:28:23.280 --> 00:28:25.616
When you meet some people
from up north, being a southerner,

493
00:28:25.640 --> 00:28:27.320
they almost hide it. He didn't.

494
00:28:27.400 --> 00:28:30.600
He was definitely one of the most
northern people that I've ever met.

495
00:28:30.680 --> 00:28:33.560
Cut him open and that man bleeds gravy.

496
00:28:33.640 --> 00:28:37.400
You're from Lancashire. What would you say
are the top qualities of any Lancastrian?

497
00:28:37.480 --> 00:28:39.880
All my mates,
everyone I know is a good drinker.

498
00:28:40.440 --> 00:28:41.760
Good drinkers.

499
00:28:41.840 --> 00:28:44.720
He had an ability to go out and drink

500
00:28:44.800 --> 00:28:47.520
and then still perform the next day,
and show off.

501
00:28:48.080 --> 00:28:50.640
When he came as this young teenager,

502
00:28:50.720 --> 00:28:52.280
he didn't drink at all.

503
00:28:52.360 --> 00:28:54.280
You know, he just used to have this Coke.

504
00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:56.560
And then he discovered alcohol,

505
00:28:57.280 --> 00:28:59.560
and he made up for lost time, as well.

506
00:29:00.320 --> 00:29:02.936
His staying power from an alcohol
point of view was just ridiculous.

507
00:29:02.960 --> 00:29:05.560
You'd joke that you're
drinking shifts with him.

508
00:29:05.680 --> 00:29:08.240
You'd go out at different times
just to keep him company.

509
00:29:08.320 --> 00:29:12.240
He was creating an atmosphere
which I think helped other people thrive.

510
00:29:13.920 --> 00:29:16.960
Because you enjoy yourself,
you play your best cricket.

511
00:29:19.640 --> 00:29:22.160
[Vaughan] I got to know him
because I captained him

512
00:29:22.240 --> 00:29:23.880
in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

513
00:29:24.840 --> 00:29:27.120
And it really was a stag trip.

514
00:29:27.200 --> 00:29:28.440
[Dower] In what way?

515
00:29:28.520 --> 00:29:31.160
Fred had an amazing skill.

516
00:29:31.240 --> 00:29:33.880
He could put about five bottles
of beer in his mouth

517
00:29:34.720 --> 00:29:36.880
and down them all at once.

518
00:29:36.960 --> 00:29:39.880
And then he was very good
at just necking a bottle of wine.

519
00:29:39.960 --> 00:29:43.040
- What, in one go?
- He could neck a bottle of wine in one go.

520
00:29:43.120 --> 00:29:44.360
He's got an amazing gullet.

521
00:29:44.440 --> 00:29:45.520
And he just kind of...

522
00:29:45.600 --> 00:29:46.920
[gulps] And it's gone.

523
00:29:47.840 --> 00:29:50.200
Yeah, we were all in awe of him. [laughs]

524
00:29:51.440 --> 00:29:56.160
[Dower] And in that era,
if you're a talented teenager,

525
00:29:56.240 --> 00:29:57.320
it must be very exciting,

526
00:29:57.400 --> 00:30:00.680
but it must be quite difficult
to be fast-tracked in that way.

527
00:30:00.760 --> 00:30:06.120
Oh, without any question, the '80s, '90s,
cricket was an amateur sport

528
00:30:06.200 --> 00:30:08.680
with a semi-professional setup around it.

529
00:30:09.400 --> 00:30:12.760
So that's why he kind of got
on this conveyor belt that went too fast.

530
00:30:14.400 --> 00:30:17.920
I just thought he was thrown out there
to the wolves a little bit too young.

531
00:30:18.440 --> 00:30:20.216
[male reporter] England have long
had problems

532
00:30:20.240 --> 00:30:21.280
with their middle order.

533
00:30:21.360 --> 00:30:22.680
Now it seems their major headache

534
00:30:22.760 --> 00:30:25.360
is getting Andrew Flintoff's
middle in order

535
00:30:25.440 --> 00:30:27.760
as he fights the battle of the bulge.

536
00:30:28.840 --> 00:30:30.440
[Flintoff] As a young kid, I was skinny.

537
00:30:31.200 --> 00:30:33.480
I used to wear a T-shirt under my shirt
to look bigger.

538
00:30:35.280 --> 00:30:37.520
Then I got big pretty quickly,

539
00:30:37.600 --> 00:30:39.560
and I just got an absolute kicking.

540
00:30:42.400 --> 00:30:43.800
Became a figure of fun.

541
00:30:47.080 --> 00:30:50.080
I was living on my own,
and you go to the supermarket,

542
00:30:50.160 --> 00:30:53.200
you just feel all eyes on you.
"What are you putting in your thing?"

543
00:30:53.280 --> 00:30:56.520
[male newscaster 2] At last, England's
NatWest series is up and running,

544
00:30:56.600 --> 00:30:58.240
and it was largely down to a young man

545
00:30:58.320 --> 00:31:00.920
emerging from the most
difficult week of his career.

546
00:31:01.000 --> 00:31:02.240
[crowd cheering]

547
00:31:02.320 --> 00:31:05.560
[male newscaster 2] Andy Flintoff had been
accused of being unfit and overweight.

548
00:31:08.560 --> 00:31:10.640
Andrew, there's no better way
to answer the critics

549
00:31:10.720 --> 00:31:12.320
than with a sparkling innings like that.

550
00:31:12.400 --> 00:31:14.360
Yeah, I played all right for a fat lad.

551
00:31:17.560 --> 00:31:19.280
I'd have a meal
I didn't think I should have

552
00:31:19.320 --> 00:31:20.440
and throw it up.

553
00:31:21.400 --> 00:31:23.720
And then it'd become another meal
and another meal.

554
00:31:24.480 --> 00:31:28.720
And before I know it, it was like,
thinking, "Shall I chuck my breakfast up?"

555
00:31:34.200 --> 00:31:36.800
So, I was playing on empty all the time,
there was nothing in me.

556
00:31:37.600 --> 00:31:39.640
And I lost probably about 10 kgs.

557
00:31:40.600 --> 00:31:42.160
And everyone was so happy with me.

558
00:31:42.920 --> 00:31:46.040
So, then that started
just being a lifestyle.

559
00:31:47.960 --> 00:31:49.360
Fundamentally, with Fred,

560
00:31:50.360 --> 00:31:54.680
because he's so big and his stature
is so strong, you would just think,

561
00:31:54.760 --> 00:31:57.400
"Come on, you must be so strong
in everything that you do."

562
00:31:58.040 --> 00:31:59.600
And I just don't think that's correct.

563
00:31:59.680 --> 00:32:03.960
He's a human being
that fundamentally just wants loving.

564
00:32:13.000 --> 00:32:14.600
[Flintoff] I have moments where I forget

565
00:32:16.080 --> 00:32:17.200
and I'm just living.

566
00:32:19.560 --> 00:32:20.640
And it's so nice.

567
00:32:24.400 --> 00:32:26.440
And then you just get a stark reminder.

568
00:32:27.680 --> 00:32:30.800
I get a feeling all over my face
because it's all tight and it's different.

569
00:32:30.880 --> 00:32:33.920
I've got no teeth, or something will fall
out of my mouth as I'm eating.

570
00:32:34.640 --> 00:32:36.120
Or I look in the mirror,

571
00:32:37.320 --> 00:32:38.520
and it all comes back.

572
00:32:44.520 --> 00:32:47.400
You know, you say that
your face is your identity.

573
00:32:47.480 --> 00:32:49.920
But how many times
do you hear people saying,

574
00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:53.760
"It's what's inside that counts.
It's not how you look?"

575
00:32:53.840 --> 00:32:55.760
Bollocks, you know what I mean?

576
00:32:59.760 --> 00:33:02.520
[Mr Haq] We change people's faces,
we make people look different.

577
00:33:05.120 --> 00:33:06.920
Patients find it difficult sometimes

578
00:33:07.000 --> 00:33:09.120
to come to terms
with their new appearance.

579
00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:14.560
People will judge you
the moment they see your face.

580
00:33:14.640 --> 00:33:16.520
Within a couple of seconds,
they will judge you.

581
00:33:16.560 --> 00:33:20.240
Even down to how many millimetres
of upper tooth show that you have.

582
00:33:20.320 --> 00:33:22.280
How much of your incisor do you show?

583
00:33:22.360 --> 00:33:24.240
Is it less than one millimetre?

584
00:33:24.320 --> 00:33:26.440
Mmm, do I trust this person?

585
00:33:26.520 --> 00:33:27.800
Are you a threat?

586
00:33:27.880 --> 00:33:30.120
Are you gonna be a benefit to them?

587
00:33:30.200 --> 00:33:32.400
Do you look like someone
that's going to be successful?

588
00:33:33.440 --> 00:33:34.520
It all gets targeted

589
00:33:34.600 --> 00:33:37.760
and it all goes into your assessment
of whoever is in front of you.

590
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:43.040
[Lydon] The one thing that we discussed
was protecting him.

591
00:33:44.520 --> 00:33:48.400
Because the press intrusion
was significant.

592
00:33:52.000 --> 00:33:53.640
Everyone wanted that picture.

593
00:33:55.040 --> 00:33:59.200
They wanted to see what he looked like,
because it was shrouded in mystery.

594
00:34:00.680 --> 00:34:02.880
[Rachael] People were following us.

595
00:34:03.680 --> 00:34:05.120
We didn't even know.

596
00:34:06.760 --> 00:34:08.240
I had to take him to an appointment.

597
00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:10.760
There was this car,
it looks like a normal car,

598
00:34:10.840 --> 00:34:12.400
but with a blacked-out window.

599
00:34:12.480 --> 00:34:15.560
So they pull ahead of you
as you're driving,

600
00:34:15.640 --> 00:34:18.960
and then they can just keep taking
as many photos as you like,

601
00:34:19.040 --> 00:34:20.520
and you're totally oblivious.

602
00:34:22.400 --> 00:34:26.880
It just made him wanna
stay in the house more than ever.

603
00:34:34.800 --> 00:34:37.080
[Dower] We were now
several months into filming,

604
00:34:37.160 --> 00:34:40.160
and on one of our visits to the house,
Fred's dad, Colin,

605
00:34:40.240 --> 00:34:44.080
brought around some of his
old photo albums and scrapbooks.

606
00:34:44.160 --> 00:34:45.560
[Dower] How come...

607
00:34:45.640 --> 00:34:48.560
Cricket for you, Colin,
were you a fan or a player?

608
00:34:48.640 --> 00:34:51.240
I played. I played.
Not very well, to be honest.

609
00:34:51.320 --> 00:34:53.320
[laughs] But I did play.

610
00:34:54.720 --> 00:34:58.040
And, like, Christopher, his brother,

611
00:34:58.120 --> 00:35:01.880
and Andrew just came
to every match at weekends,

612
00:35:01.960 --> 00:35:05.480
you know, and they just
became part of cricket.

613
00:35:06.360 --> 00:35:09.280
[Dower] So, would you say, Fred,
it was your dad who got you into cricket?

614
00:35:10.600 --> 00:35:11.720
[Flintoff] Yeah, massively.

615
00:35:12.360 --> 00:35:14.600
It's all I ever remember
growing up as a kid.

616
00:35:15.440 --> 00:35:18.600
And he was always down
at the cricket club, cutting grass.

617
00:35:19.920 --> 00:35:22.240
I remember driving
a Cortina around the ground,

618
00:35:22.320 --> 00:35:23.640
- cutting the grass.
- [laughs]

619
00:35:23.720 --> 00:35:25.560
- [Dower] What, a Cortina car?
- Yeah.

620
00:35:25.640 --> 00:35:27.200
[laughs]

621
00:35:28.000 --> 00:35:30.560
[Dower] And these are all your albums
you've kept along the way?

622
00:35:30.640 --> 00:35:33.240
- Well, they're Andrew's now.
- [laughs]

623
00:35:33.320 --> 00:35:34.720
They won't be staying here.

624
00:35:34.800 --> 00:35:37.440
Well, I've told your mum that

625
00:35:37.520 --> 00:35:40.120
I'm not bringing them back. [laughs]

626
00:35:40.200 --> 00:35:41.720
[Flintoff] You bloody are.

627
00:35:41.840 --> 00:35:44.320
[Dower] Do they bring back
any memories, Fred?

628
00:35:44.400 --> 00:35:46.000
[Flintoff] A lot of it I can't remember.

629
00:35:46.040 --> 00:35:47.040
[Colin laughs]

630
00:35:47.560 --> 00:35:50.560
I'd sooner look at the photographs
as opposed to the clippings.

631
00:35:53.040 --> 00:35:55.880
[Dower] Did you ever think
he'd become the player that he did?

632
00:35:55.960 --> 00:35:58.440
[Colin] I always knew he's got something.

633
00:35:59.400 --> 00:36:00.960
But I've only seen one player

634
00:36:01.040 --> 00:36:03.800
that I would have put money on
playing for England,

635
00:36:04.400 --> 00:36:06.080
and that was Philip Neville.

636
00:36:07.120 --> 00:36:09.000
- [Dower] The footballer?
- [Colin] Yes.

637
00:36:09.920 --> 00:36:11.320
He was something, wasn't he?

638
00:36:11.400 --> 00:36:13.096
- [Flintoff] He was all right.
- [Colin] Yeah.

639
00:36:13.120 --> 00:36:15.480
- He could bat, he could bowl.
- We're sat in his house.

640
00:36:15.560 --> 00:36:17.760
Yeah. Yes, I know we are, but...

641
00:36:17.840 --> 00:36:19.960
- [Dower laughs]
- Yeah, yeah.

642
00:36:21.400 --> 00:36:24.760
- [Dower] He's moved out, hasn't he?
- Yeah, we bought it off him.

643
00:36:24.840 --> 00:36:27.640
We don't keep him in the basement.
You know what I mean?

644
00:36:27.720 --> 00:36:28.720
He might want it back.

645
00:36:28.800 --> 00:36:31.840
You don't know with Phil.
He could be sat in a corner somewhere.

646
00:36:31.920 --> 00:36:34.200
- You wouldn't know. [laughs]
- Yeah.

647
00:36:34.280 --> 00:36:35.920
- [Dower] He's quite quiet.
- And also...

648
00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:38.400
- You'd know if Gary was here.
- Exactly. Oh, my God, he's...

649
00:36:38.480 --> 00:36:40.320
[Flintoff laughs]

650
00:36:41.520 --> 00:36:44.280
[Dower] Walking into this house,
you wouldn't know

651
00:36:44.360 --> 00:36:48.560
one of the country's
greatest cricketers lived here.

652
00:36:49.200 --> 00:36:51.560
Yeah, Andrew just doesn't like
showing off.

653
00:36:51.640 --> 00:36:57.560
He gets embarrassed sometimes
of having stuff on display.

654
00:36:57.640 --> 00:36:59.760
He'd rather just hide it away.

655
00:37:00.720 --> 00:37:04.680
[Dower] As a cricket fan, I'd been excited
to see Fred's personal archive,

656
00:37:04.760 --> 00:37:07.160
but he didn't even
want it back from his dad.

657
00:37:07.240 --> 00:37:09.280
And it was revealing that the scrapbooks,

658
00:37:09.360 --> 00:37:11.320
like the walls of his own house,

659
00:37:11.400 --> 00:37:15.160
didn't have any reference
to the 2005 Ashes.

660
00:37:16.040 --> 00:37:18.760
A summer that would
radically change his life.

661
00:37:19.560 --> 00:37:23.920
You were one of those sportsmen
that transcended the sport.

662
00:37:24.840 --> 00:37:27.840
I mean, my wife has
no interest in cricket.

663
00:37:27.920 --> 00:37:29.600
But she knows who you are.

664
00:37:29.680 --> 00:37:35.240
And yet, I've never seen
a film about 2005,

665
00:37:35.320 --> 00:37:37.680
which you're talking about what happened.

666
00:37:37.760 --> 00:37:43.320
No, I've always been reluctant
to do anything about 2005, about a career.

667
00:37:43.400 --> 00:37:44.640
Why?

668
00:37:44.720 --> 00:37:45.920
It almost feels...

669
00:37:46.880 --> 00:37:48.600
It almost feels boastful, or...

670
00:37:48.680 --> 00:37:51.200
It was a great time in my life,
and I loved it.

671
00:37:51.320 --> 00:37:55.480
And it's not the medals,
it's not the accolades after.

672
00:37:55.560 --> 00:37:58.280
Or the money, even, though,
don't get me wrong, it's all right.

673
00:37:59.040 --> 00:38:00.400
The treat is doing it.

674
00:38:01.640 --> 00:38:03.120
[Dower] Looking back on 2005,

675
00:38:03.200 --> 00:38:05.960
how would you explain to someone
who knew nothing about cricket,

676
00:38:06.040 --> 00:38:07.760
the significance of the Ashes?

677
00:38:08.480 --> 00:38:12.160
Well, the Ashes is the history
of the game, really.

678
00:38:12.240 --> 00:38:13.800
You know, England versus Australia.

679
00:38:15.640 --> 00:38:17.280
[commentator] Oh, is it? Is it the Ashes?

680
00:38:17.360 --> 00:38:19.360
Yes! England have won the Ashes!

681
00:38:20.720 --> 00:38:23.520
[Vaughan] So many years ago,
the Ashes were put in the little urn,

682
00:38:23.600 --> 00:38:24.920
and that's what we play for.

683
00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:28.040
These are the Ashes,
presented to the England captain,

684
00:38:28.120 --> 00:38:31.680
the honourable Ivo Bligh,
exactly 100 years ago.

685
00:38:34.040 --> 00:38:37.320
[Key] An Ashes series is basically
like the World Cup in football.

686
00:38:39.560 --> 00:38:43.680
Your judgement as a cricketer
is really only done in Ashes cricket.

687
00:38:43.760 --> 00:38:47.720
Australia's cricketers have flown out
for the most anticipated Ashes series

688
00:38:47.800 --> 00:38:49.360
in almost two decades.

689
00:38:49.440 --> 00:38:51.600
Leading his first tour to England
as captain,

690
00:38:51.680 --> 00:38:55.160
Ricky Ponting is keen
to crush the old enemy's spirits early.

691
00:38:55.240 --> 00:38:58.160
[Ponting] 2005 is undoubtedly
the greatest Test series

692
00:38:58.240 --> 00:38:59.360
that I ever played in.

693
00:39:00.240 --> 00:39:02.960
When you're born, and you pick up
your first cricket bat in Australia

694
00:39:03.040 --> 00:39:05.120
and you have a game in the backyard,

695
00:39:05.200 --> 00:39:08.080
it's an Ashes Test match
that you're playing, it's nothing else.

696
00:39:08.160 --> 00:39:10.200
It's the pinnacle. It doesn't get better.

697
00:39:10.880 --> 00:39:14.120
And we go to England
as the No. 1 ranked team in the world.

698
00:39:15.120 --> 00:39:18.360
[Vaughan] This Australian side
were a juggernaut of greatness.

699
00:39:18.440 --> 00:39:20.160
So, we're up against it.

700
00:39:20.880 --> 00:39:22.320
But we've got this young team

701
00:39:22.440 --> 00:39:25.920
that's been brought together
for about an 18-month period.

702
00:39:26.000 --> 00:39:27.800
And the heartbeat of that team's Fred.

703
00:39:28.720 --> 00:39:30.456
[male reporter] Bit of verbal
jousting already,

704
00:39:30.480 --> 00:39:33.160
Glenn McGrath's predicted
a 5-0 whitewash for England.

705
00:39:33.240 --> 00:39:34.760
We might as well not bother then.

706
00:39:34.840 --> 00:39:35.840
Might as well go home.

707
00:39:38.360 --> 00:39:40.560
[male news reporter]
Time for all the talking to stop.

708
00:39:42.360 --> 00:39:44.040
[announcer] Andrew Flintoff.

709
00:39:44.120 --> 00:39:46.520
[commentator 1] Here's a moment
for Andrew Flintoff.

710
00:39:46.600 --> 00:39:50.120
He has been eager to be
a part of the Ashes for a long time.

711
00:39:50.880 --> 00:39:52.720
[Flintoff] Second innings,
I went out to bat,

712
00:39:53.920 --> 00:39:56.000
and I started putting pressure on myself.

713
00:39:57.720 --> 00:40:00.640
But it was like I was matching myself
up against Australia.

714
00:40:01.440 --> 00:40:05.320
I've gotta do this, I've gotta do that,
I'm doing this, everyone expects.

715
00:40:06.560 --> 00:40:08.520
[commentator 1] Andrew Flintoff
has much to prove.

716
00:40:10.120 --> 00:40:13.000
[Vaughan] No one had
as much talent as Freddie.

717
00:40:15.320 --> 00:40:19.040
But I don't think many had
as much doubt as Freddie.

718
00:40:21.800 --> 00:40:23.920
[Flintoff] I'll never forget this
from Ricky Ponting.

719
00:40:25.600 --> 00:40:27.400
He's fielding right up close
in front of us.

720
00:40:28.520 --> 00:40:30.960
I was batting with Kev, Kevin Pietersen.

721
00:40:31.040 --> 00:40:32.680
We had the same bat sponsor, Woodworm.

722
00:40:32.760 --> 00:40:34.760
[Dower] Do you remember
what you said to Freddie

723
00:40:34.840 --> 00:40:37.280
when he came out to bat at Lords?

724
00:40:37.360 --> 00:40:40.480
No. No, I don't. [laughs] No, I don't.

725
00:40:41.120 --> 00:40:44.280
He says, "I bet the sponsor's really happy
with these two fuckwits,"

726
00:40:44.360 --> 00:40:45.360
or something like that.

727
00:40:45.440 --> 00:40:49.840
I thought, "I'll remember that, mate.
That will come back and bite you."

728
00:40:49.920 --> 00:40:52.880
That was one of the things
that you think, "I'm not having this."

729
00:40:52.960 --> 00:40:54.520
I got out next ball.

730
00:40:57.920 --> 00:41:00.640
[commentator 2] And that is the end
of Freddie Flintoff.

731
00:41:02.160 --> 00:41:04.136
[commentator 1]
That's a disappointment for the crowd.

732
00:41:04.160 --> 00:41:06.360
He's a big favourite, Andrew Flintoff,
but he's gone.

733
00:41:08.600 --> 00:41:13.080
The whole nation were expecting us
to be very competitive.

734
00:41:17.040 --> 00:41:19.080
And we get hammered.

735
00:41:23.280 --> 00:41:25.960
[commentator 3] The Australians
have won this opening Test match.

736
00:41:27.520 --> 00:41:30.960
Oh, we were shocking. All of us.

737
00:41:31.040 --> 00:41:35.120
I've never been in an England dressing
room where I felt a team was so low.

738
00:41:35.200 --> 00:41:37.640
And I think Freddie was embarrassed.

739
00:41:37.720 --> 00:41:41.360
He was the pinnacle of our team,
he had to perform.

740
00:41:43.880 --> 00:41:47.600
I sat in my chair after the game,
just shaking, just...

741
00:41:48.560 --> 00:41:49.920
It all got too much for me.

742
00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:51.280
I didn't know what to do.

743
00:41:51.880 --> 00:41:54.800
There was a lot of talk about
we all go back and play a bit of cricket,

744
00:41:54.880 --> 00:41:57.480
and I was like, "Nah, we need to get away.

745
00:41:57.560 --> 00:41:59.040
"The big fella needs to go."

746
00:41:59.120 --> 00:42:02.280
So, he was sent down
to a place called Bovey Castle.

747
00:42:03.080 --> 00:42:04.960
I think to get on... [chuckles]

748
00:42:05.040 --> 00:42:06.320
get on the gas.

749
00:42:08.640 --> 00:42:10.760
[Flintoff] Didn't practise, didn't train.

750
00:42:12.320 --> 00:42:15.640
Had some red wine, a couple of cigars.

751
00:42:15.720 --> 00:42:18.640
I remember just thinking,
"Oh, my God, is this okay?"

752
00:42:18.720 --> 00:42:20.320
Like, "Should he be practising?"

753
00:42:20.400 --> 00:42:23.040
It's just gone really wrong. Um...

754
00:42:24.720 --> 00:42:27.880
But I think that was it,
I think they wanted him to be...

755
00:42:28.960 --> 00:42:30.120
back as Fred.

756
00:42:34.360 --> 00:42:36.760
[Bumble] Edgbaston
is a fortress for England.

757
00:42:38.240 --> 00:42:39.800
You're one down.

758
00:42:39.880 --> 00:42:41.240
Now we gotta get back.

759
00:42:43.840 --> 00:42:46.800
[Flintoff] But you know what?
This next match...

760
00:42:48.360 --> 00:42:50.240
This is gonna be on my terms.

761
00:42:50.320 --> 00:42:52.760
[♪ tense music playing]

762
00:42:52.840 --> 00:42:55.480
And the first opportunity I got
to score off Shane Warne,

763
00:42:55.560 --> 00:42:56.600
he's lobbed one up.

764
00:42:57.680 --> 00:42:59.040
Catch!

765
00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:01.160
And I thought, "Six."

766
00:43:02.600 --> 00:43:04.600
Just about got it over mid-off.

767
00:43:04.680 --> 00:43:07.240
Just went over his finger for four.

768
00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:12.160
I'm away now. That's it, I'm off.

769
00:43:15.040 --> 00:43:17.040
[commentator 2] Good punchy hit, that.

770
00:43:17.120 --> 00:43:18.120
My goodness me.

771
00:43:18.840 --> 00:43:20.280
[commentator 1] Oh, that's a few.

772
00:43:20.360 --> 00:43:21.840
Don't worry about that.

773
00:43:23.040 --> 00:43:24.400
It was so much fun.

774
00:43:24.960 --> 00:43:27.920
[commentator 4] And he doesn't know
where that is, but it's gone for four.

775
00:43:28.000 --> 00:43:29.640
It's gone for a six!

776
00:43:29.720 --> 00:43:31.200
The crowd were going nuts.

777
00:43:33.480 --> 00:43:36.600
[commentator 5] Oh, hello!
Massive!

778
00:43:37.680 --> 00:43:40.960
One of the most magnificent strikes
you'll ever see.

779
00:43:42.360 --> 00:43:44.800
Oh, wow. It's six more!

780
00:43:45.720 --> 00:43:47.920
We're witnessing something fantastic.

781
00:43:50.200 --> 00:43:52.560
But it was his bowling
that was gonna help us win the Ashes.

782
00:43:56.200 --> 00:43:59.200
When Flintoff came into the attack,

783
00:44:00.600 --> 00:44:02.360
there was a buzz around the ground.

784
00:44:02.960 --> 00:44:04.560
"This is gonna be tasty."

785
00:44:06.680 --> 00:44:08.896
[Flintoff] It was one of them moments
you take your cap off,

786
00:44:08.920 --> 00:44:10.600
you take your jumper off.

787
00:44:10.680 --> 00:44:13.520
I'm walking back to my mark,
got an extra spring in my step.

788
00:44:15.520 --> 00:44:16.880
I fed off the crowd.

789
00:44:18.200 --> 00:44:19.760
You feel, like, 12-foot tall.

790
00:44:21.480 --> 00:44:22.960
[commentator 4] Here he comes.

791
00:44:25.280 --> 00:44:27.520
Oh, he's got him! Freddie Flintoff.

792
00:44:28.440 --> 00:44:29.440
The man!

793
00:44:35.280 --> 00:44:36.880
[Flintoff] I got a wicket early on.

794
00:44:37.640 --> 00:44:38.920
And then Ponting came in.

795
00:44:39.520 --> 00:44:43.000
[commentator 4] New batsman at the crease.
He's Ricky Ponting, Australia's captain.

796
00:44:43.080 --> 00:44:44.640
It's like, "Yes, please."

797
00:44:45.280 --> 00:44:46.600
"Yes, please."

798
00:44:48.560 --> 00:44:50.360
[Vaughan] Ricky Ponting, undoubtedly,

799
00:44:50.440 --> 00:44:52.320
is the best player in the world
at that time.

800
00:44:52.920 --> 00:44:56.880
Every time Australia need a score,
guess who comes out? Ricky Ponting.

801
00:44:56.960 --> 00:44:58.920
And guess what he usually does?
He gets a score.

802
00:45:02.520 --> 00:45:04.800
[commentator 6] Listen to the buzz
in this ground now.

803
00:45:06.520 --> 00:45:08.720
I'm the captain and the No. 3 batsman,

804
00:45:08.800 --> 00:45:11.320
and I'm expected to get out there
and get the job done.

805
00:45:11.400 --> 00:45:12.680
But Freddie was charged up.

806
00:45:15.240 --> 00:45:16.680
[commentator 7] Oh, that's so close!

807
00:45:17.760 --> 00:45:19.000
And it's not out.

808
00:45:19.960 --> 00:45:21.936
[commentator 4] He's done it again,
Andrew Flintoff.

809
00:45:21.960 --> 00:45:24.480
He's got the crowd going,
he's got this team going.

810
00:45:28.720 --> 00:45:30.120
Oh, I say.

811
00:45:31.680 --> 00:45:33.440
[Flintoff] Whether you're
batting or bowling,

812
00:45:33.480 --> 00:45:35.440
you're trying to get them to change.

813
00:45:35.520 --> 00:45:37.240
You've got your method.

814
00:45:37.320 --> 00:45:40.320
Who's gonna give in first?
Who's gonna blink?

815
00:45:41.120 --> 00:45:42.680
And I thought, "I'm not blinking here."

816
00:45:47.200 --> 00:45:49.440
[commentator 4] He's having
nothing of that, either.

817
00:45:49.520 --> 00:45:52.920
Australia's captain
is under extreme pressure here.

818
00:45:54.160 --> 00:45:55.640
This might come across the wrong way,

819
00:45:55.680 --> 00:45:58.360
but he actually seemed
a bit more like an Aussie,

820
00:45:58.440 --> 00:45:59.840
the way that he played his cricket.

821
00:46:00.840 --> 00:46:03.960
That over, it's the best over
I've faced in Test cricket.

822
00:46:04.040 --> 00:46:07.240
[commentator 4] 90 miles an hour.
He's pumped up, Andrew Flintoff.

823
00:46:08.960 --> 00:46:12.200
Fred's bowled probably
the best seven balls that you could bowl

824
00:46:12.280 --> 00:46:14.400
to the best player in the world
at that stage.

825
00:46:20.360 --> 00:46:22.280
And at the last time of asking,

826
00:46:22.360 --> 00:46:24.760
when there's been a no ball,
so he's bowled an extra ball...

827
00:46:26.960 --> 00:46:29.920
[commentator 7] Beauty! Yes!

828
00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:32.720
Magnificent cricket from this man.

829
00:46:33.320 --> 00:46:36.040
[commentator 5] Flintoff
is turning this game around.

830
00:46:36.120 --> 00:46:38.640
He did it with the bat first,
now with the ball.

831
00:46:39.320 --> 00:46:41.440
When his team needed him, he stood up,

832
00:46:41.520 --> 00:46:44.160
and before I knew it,
I was back in the shed for a duck,

833
00:46:44.240 --> 00:46:46.560
and we were in trouble in that Test match.

834
00:46:47.440 --> 00:46:49.800
It was like I could do anything
at that point.

835
00:46:52.000 --> 00:46:53.000
You're done.

836
00:46:54.840 --> 00:46:56.840
[commentator 5] He's kicked his stumps.

837
00:46:56.920 --> 00:46:58.320
Relief in the crowd,

838
00:46:58.400 --> 00:47:00.960
certainly relief out there
for England's players.

839
00:47:02.040 --> 00:47:05.280
It's Shane Warne, dangerous Shane Warne
who's perished.

840
00:47:06.640 --> 00:47:07.880
[Flintoff] Now there's belief.

841
00:47:08.640 --> 00:47:10.760
We can beat these... It's like, "Wow."

842
00:47:15.680 --> 00:47:19.720
[commentator 8] Just one wicket by England
to keep this Ashes series alive.

843
00:47:19.800 --> 00:47:21.680
[Flintoff] I thought,
"I'm just gonna win this."

844
00:47:22.640 --> 00:47:24.360
I didn't. [laughs]

845
00:47:25.480 --> 00:47:27.360
Steve did, Steve Harmison.

846
00:47:28.280 --> 00:47:29.480
He got the last wicket.

847
00:47:31.960 --> 00:47:33.640
[commentator 5] And it's caught!

848
00:47:33.720 --> 00:47:35.400
What a victory!

849
00:47:35.480 --> 00:47:37.480
England have pulled it off.

850
00:47:38.040 --> 00:47:40.200
The crowd goes ballistic.

851
00:47:41.040 --> 00:47:43.400
England have won by two runs.

852
00:47:54.320 --> 00:47:56.336
[Vaughan] We'd celebrated a bit,
and then he realised

853
00:47:56.360 --> 00:47:58.920
that the Aussies' batter, Brett Lee,
had been a trojan, really.

854
00:47:59.960 --> 00:48:01.600
To nearly get Australia over the line.

855
00:48:03.240 --> 00:48:05.240
And Freddie's always thinking of others.

856
00:48:07.240 --> 00:48:08.600
[Bumble] It is battle out there,

857
00:48:09.640 --> 00:48:10.880
but it's only cricket.

858
00:48:12.000 --> 00:48:14.240
And sportsmanship has a lot to do with it.

859
00:48:15.440 --> 00:48:18.000
And that was a great act of sportsmanship.

860
00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:23.440
[Ponting] It's actually probably one of
the great images of the game of cricket.

861
00:48:25.240 --> 00:48:27.200
And it's an image
that will be remembered forever.

862
00:48:29.000 --> 00:48:31.200
[Flintoff] One of the things
I was told as a kid

863
00:48:31.280 --> 00:48:32.720
was you respect the opposition,

864
00:48:32.800 --> 00:48:35.560
you respect the umpires,
and there's plenty of time to celebrate.

865
00:48:37.160 --> 00:48:40.040
Steve Harmison,
he was told that as well, I think,

866
00:48:40.120 --> 00:48:42.240
because he shook Brett Lee's hand first,

867
00:48:42.320 --> 00:48:44.760
but nobody got it on camera. [laughs]

868
00:48:44.840 --> 00:48:49.160
So, Steve sees the cameras,
and he's like, "I did it first, didn't I?"

869
00:48:49.240 --> 00:48:52.400
I said, "Yeah, but, Steve, you gotta know
where the cameras are, son."

870
00:48:52.480 --> 00:48:55.360
To be fair, I mean,
the camera was always on him.

871
00:48:55.440 --> 00:48:56.680
I mean, it was always on him.

872
00:48:56.760 --> 00:48:58.960
Do you believe you can go on
and win the Ashes now?

873
00:48:59.040 --> 00:49:00.520
We've got to. Um...

874
00:49:00.600 --> 00:49:02.880
- [crowd cheering]
- I think they do.

875
00:49:06.280 --> 00:49:08.640
[Colin] Being at that game at Edgbaston...

876
00:49:10.040 --> 00:49:11.520
oh, it was incredible.

877
00:49:12.200 --> 00:49:13.560
It was incredible.

878
00:49:15.160 --> 00:49:16.680
[Dower] You must have been very proud.

879
00:49:16.720 --> 00:49:19.760
Oh, you're not kidding.
You're not kidding.

880
00:49:22.080 --> 00:49:24.840
[Dower] That changed the atmosphere
of the series, didn't it?

881
00:49:24.920 --> 00:49:27.840
Yeah, it did, it changed the atmosphere,
it changed the belief.

882
00:49:27.920 --> 00:49:30.760
And it always felt, from that moment,

883
00:49:30.840 --> 00:49:32.720
it's one-all, so we're right in it,

884
00:49:32.800 --> 00:49:36.520
but the reason why I could speak
so confidently as a captain

885
00:49:36.600 --> 00:49:38.520
and say, "I think this could be done,"

886
00:49:39.160 --> 00:49:40.240
was because of Fred.

887
00:49:41.880 --> 00:49:45.920
Good morning, this is Today,
Tuesday, 13th of September 2005,

888
00:49:46.000 --> 00:49:49.360
and what we hoped would never happen
has come to be.

889
00:49:49.440 --> 00:49:51.920
- I'm sorry, Karl.
- Is it really a good morning, Leila?

890
00:49:52.000 --> 00:49:53.736
- Good on you.
- I think it's a good morning.

891
00:49:53.760 --> 00:49:57.560
England has won the Ashes
for the first time in 18 years.

892
00:50:05.920 --> 00:50:07.616
[male reporter] English cricket's
finest hour

893
00:50:07.640 --> 00:50:09.000
in a generation.

894
00:50:09.080 --> 00:50:12.760
Cricket is suddenly cool,
a sport that has risen like a phoenix

895
00:50:12.840 --> 00:50:14.120
from the Ashes.

896
00:50:18.600 --> 00:50:22.520
2005 was the summer
we all pretended to like cricket.

897
00:50:23.080 --> 00:50:24.880
And he was the reason for that.

898
00:50:26.720 --> 00:50:29.440
He gave us these images

899
00:50:31.080 --> 00:50:35.520
which are ingrained
in our sporting psyche.

900
00:50:37.720 --> 00:50:39.840
[Rachael] It was just amazing,
the support.

901
00:50:39.920 --> 00:50:42.640
Everything was just out of this world.

902
00:50:44.040 --> 00:50:47.320
Andrew was loving it,
was like life and soul of the party.

903
00:50:48.840 --> 00:50:50.480
My main concern was Holly.

904
00:50:50.560 --> 00:50:53.320
She was getting very near
the edge of the bus,

905
00:50:53.400 --> 00:50:55.120
I was grabbing her leg most of the time

906
00:50:55.200 --> 00:50:58.280
to make sure she couldn't go any further.

907
00:50:58.360 --> 00:51:01.040
"Just put her down!" Yeah.

908
00:51:01.840 --> 00:51:04.320
But she was okay, thankfully.

909
00:51:05.760 --> 00:51:07.680
He was having the best day ever.

910
00:51:08.720 --> 00:51:10.440
[male reporter] Andrew Flintoff.

911
00:51:11.160 --> 00:51:12.360
Man of the series.

912
00:51:13.160 --> 00:51:15.480
Man of the night, by the look of it.

913
00:51:15.560 --> 00:51:17.960
Yeah, it's been a great series.

914
00:51:18.040 --> 00:51:21.360
If I'm being honest with you, David,
I'm struggling.

915
00:51:21.960 --> 00:51:23.480
Not been to bed yet.

916
00:51:24.000 --> 00:51:25.200
Behind these...

917
00:51:25.280 --> 00:51:27.320
Behind these glasses,
tells a thousand stories.

918
00:51:32.360 --> 00:51:34.520
[Vaughan] I remember walking
into the press conference.

919
00:51:35.360 --> 00:51:37.320
All the questions
were about Freddie Flintoff.

920
00:51:38.120 --> 00:51:39.560
That was Andrew's moment,

921
00:51:39.640 --> 00:51:42.640
where Andrew Flintoff
became Freddie Flintoff,

922
00:51:42.720 --> 00:51:44.360
and it went like that.

923
00:51:45.360 --> 00:51:47.840
[male newscaster 3] At just 28,
the man they call Freddie

924
00:51:47.920 --> 00:51:50.000
has the freedom of his home city.

925
00:51:50.080 --> 00:51:53.240
Transcending any sport is really hard.

926
00:51:53.320 --> 00:51:56.480
Transcending cricket
is almost impossible, right?

927
00:51:56.560 --> 00:51:58.320
And he did it in about six weeks.

928
00:52:01.160 --> 00:52:03.440
[Rachael] All different ages
were coming up to him,

929
00:52:03.520 --> 00:52:06.000
recognising him and speaking to him.

930
00:52:06.080 --> 00:52:08.416
[male newscaster 3] This school in Preston
is where Freddie went.

931
00:52:08.440 --> 00:52:11.440
Bowler, batsman,
and all-round England hero.

932
00:52:11.520 --> 00:52:17.280
[Colin] I was seeing cricket being played
on estates I'd never seen before.

933
00:52:17.840 --> 00:52:20.320
Kids playing cricket. It was unbelievable.

934
00:52:21.400 --> 00:52:23.440
It was unbelievable.

935
00:52:23.520 --> 00:52:26.040
England's Ashes-winning cricket heroes

936
00:52:26.120 --> 00:52:28.640
have been honoured by the Queen
at Buckingham Palace.

937
00:52:28.720 --> 00:52:34.360
Sports Personality winner for 2005
goes to Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff.

938
00:52:34.440 --> 00:52:36.000
[crowd clapping]

939
00:52:38.640 --> 00:52:41.480
[Rachael] I just remember thinking then,

940
00:52:41.560 --> 00:52:43.520
"Oh, my goodness, things have changed."

941
00:52:46.200 --> 00:52:48.800
[Bumble] I see him as a quiet lad.

942
00:52:49.840 --> 00:52:51.640
He's the people's champion.

943
00:52:52.520 --> 00:52:56.680
I don't think he understood
the adulation he got from the public,

944
00:52:56.760 --> 00:52:58.440
which is who we play for.

945
00:52:58.520 --> 00:53:02.080
That's why we play, to entertain
all these people that turn up.

946
00:53:02.760 --> 00:53:05.120
And so how would you describe
Andrew Flintoff?

947
00:53:05.200 --> 00:53:06.280
Entertainer.

948
00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:11.120
He's an entertainer.

949
00:53:18.400 --> 00:53:19.520
[Flintoff] Come on.

950
00:53:20.080 --> 00:53:21.080
Come.

951
00:53:23.800 --> 00:53:24.800
What's this?

952
00:53:27.760 --> 00:53:29.720
I've got a dog now, he's called Quilly.

953
00:53:30.760 --> 00:53:31.960
Good boy.

954
00:53:32.040 --> 00:53:34.000
He's always happy to see you.

955
00:53:34.080 --> 00:53:35.080
Good boy.

956
00:53:36.120 --> 00:53:37.400
He's not really mine.

957
00:53:37.480 --> 00:53:38.520
Come.

958
00:53:39.520 --> 00:53:41.600
I'm like a puppy trainer for Guide Dogs.

959
00:53:43.320 --> 00:53:45.360
I look after him and train him.

960
00:53:46.640 --> 00:53:48.400
He's just always happy to see you.

961
00:53:48.480 --> 00:53:50.120
Good boy.

962
00:53:51.480 --> 00:53:53.040
Good boy.

963
00:53:53.120 --> 00:53:56.920
When you need a cuddle
or something like that, he's next to me.

964
00:53:57.000 --> 00:53:58.680
[groans, exhales]

965
00:54:03.240 --> 00:54:05.360
Not sure if that's Guide Dog friendly.

966
00:54:05.440 --> 00:54:07.520
They said pick him up till you can't.

967
00:54:08.520 --> 00:54:09.800
So, I can.

968
00:54:11.760 --> 00:54:12.760
Go on.

969
00:54:14.080 --> 00:54:16.920
I don't know what I'm gonna be like
when I give him up.

970
00:54:17.000 --> 00:54:18.600
Isn't he beautiful?

971
00:54:20.560 --> 00:54:22.080
Busy, busy, go on.

972
00:54:23.080 --> 00:54:24.760
Gets me out of the house as well.

973
00:54:24.840 --> 00:54:26.160
Busy, busy, go. Go, quick.

974
00:54:26.240 --> 00:54:28.120
- Busy, go.
- [Quilly barks]

975
00:54:28.200 --> 00:54:31.120
[Lydon] In the early days
after the accident,

976
00:54:31.200 --> 00:54:36.200
the only trips that he'd make
were to London for his dental work.

977
00:54:36.920 --> 00:54:38.880
He would come into the office after.

978
00:54:40.960 --> 00:54:44.080
Most of the time, there'd be blood
coming out of his mouth.

979
00:54:44.160 --> 00:54:45.520
It was so bad.

980
00:54:45.600 --> 00:54:48.320
And we'd have lunch
and we'd try and make it a bit of a thing,

981
00:54:48.400 --> 00:54:50.480
because he wasn't seeing anybody.

982
00:54:53.760 --> 00:54:56.320
[Key] I was in London.
His agent called me.

983
00:54:57.560 --> 00:54:59.280
She said, "Fred's gonna come down.

984
00:54:59.360 --> 00:55:01.520
"Don't say anything,
but you can come and say hello."

985
00:55:01.600 --> 00:55:04.960
And then as we're going in the lift
to go up to whatever floor,

986
00:55:05.040 --> 00:55:06.760
he comes in with Rachael.

987
00:55:06.840 --> 00:55:08.760
And he's got like a...

988
00:55:08.840 --> 00:55:13.720
this beanie hat and a complete scarf
or mask over his face.

989
00:55:13.800 --> 00:55:15.720
And he looks at me, he goes,

990
00:55:15.800 --> 00:55:17.840
"Look at this,
it's the invisible man." [laughs]

991
00:55:17.920 --> 00:55:21.400
Right? And it was one
of the first times I giggled.

992
00:55:21.480 --> 00:55:24.760
I giggled because it was just him,
and I was giggling.

993
00:55:24.840 --> 00:55:26.760
And he says,
"All right, let's have it then.

994
00:55:26.840 --> 00:55:29.080
"When can we start taking the piss?"

995
00:55:29.160 --> 00:55:31.920
And it was a horrific thing to say,

996
00:55:32.000 --> 00:55:34.840
but from him, it was perfect.

997
00:55:39.320 --> 00:55:43.320
[Lydon] That was the first time
that he'd seen a friend.

998
00:55:45.640 --> 00:55:49.000
I said to him, "We've got the first Test
of the summer against Ireland.

999
00:55:49.080 --> 00:55:51.480
"I just sit in the office at Lords,
come and sit with me,

1000
00:55:51.560 --> 00:55:53.360
"no one will see you."

1001
00:55:54.120 --> 00:55:55.960
I just wanted to get him out of the house.

1002
00:56:02.000 --> 00:56:03.280
Got through that day,

1003
00:56:03.360 --> 00:56:05.880
and I said, "We've got the Ashes Test
at Edgbaston.

1004
00:56:05.960 --> 00:56:07.640
"Come and do the same again."

1005
00:56:12.400 --> 00:56:13.600
[Rachael] He just enjoyed it.

1006
00:56:13.680 --> 00:56:15.920
And I think that was the start

1007
00:56:16.000 --> 00:56:19.280
of just getting back
to a bit of normality.

1008
00:56:19.400 --> 00:56:22.480
One day, I got a call from Andrew,

1009
00:56:23.680 --> 00:56:27.480
and he said, "I'm full of drugs,
but I wanna get back into cricket.

1010
00:56:27.560 --> 00:56:29.040
"I'm gonna get back in."

1011
00:56:29.920 --> 00:56:32.080
And so I called Rob Key.

1012
00:56:33.000 --> 00:56:35.520
You know, these lads playing now
have watched him,

1013
00:56:35.600 --> 00:56:37.520
they've all idolised him.

1014
00:56:38.280 --> 00:56:40.120
I said, "Do you fancy doing some coaching?

1015
00:56:40.200 --> 00:56:43.120
"Just be aware, though,
that this is the first time

1016
00:56:43.200 --> 00:56:45.000
"people are gonna
see you and all of that."

1017
00:56:45.560 --> 00:56:48.120
And he's like, "No, no,
I think this is the best way to go."

1018
00:56:48.200 --> 00:56:51.840
I got asked to coach England
for the one-day series.

1019
00:56:54.200 --> 00:56:58.440
But the first session, I was in my room,

1020
00:56:58.520 --> 00:56:59.920
and I wanted to go down.

1021
00:57:00.000 --> 00:57:03.120
And I had about five or six goes
at leaving the room,

1022
00:57:03.200 --> 00:57:04.480
and I couldn't leave the room.

1023
00:57:04.560 --> 00:57:08.080
The anxiety was just working overtime,

1024
00:57:08.160 --> 00:57:10.720
and then everything
was crashing down on me.

1025
00:57:10.800 --> 00:57:12.760
And I was, like, in the bathroom.

1026
00:57:12.840 --> 00:57:15.960
I'd got my hands on the sink, "Come on."

1027
00:57:16.040 --> 00:57:18.720
And it was...
And I've gotta do it at some point.

1028
00:57:18.800 --> 00:57:21.840
I know there's gonna be cameras on me,
I know there's gonna be the reaction.

1029
00:57:21.920 --> 00:57:24.520
But I'm here. What am I expecting?

1030
00:57:25.680 --> 00:57:28.280
And I finally ventured out
onto the balcony.

1031
00:57:28.360 --> 00:57:29.960
[camera shutter clicks]

1032
00:57:30.040 --> 00:57:31.600
No big, like, reveal...

1033
00:57:32.240 --> 00:57:33.480
like The Masked Singer.

1034
00:57:35.920 --> 00:57:37.760
[chuckles] It was just...

1035
00:57:39.960 --> 00:57:42.120
It's probably the safest place
I could have done it,

1036
00:57:42.200 --> 00:57:43.720
with the best people.

1037
00:57:43.800 --> 00:57:44.840
For more than nine months,

1038
00:57:44.920 --> 00:57:47.800
the condition of Freddie Flintoff
has been unknown.

1039
00:57:47.880 --> 00:57:51.080
Today, he was seen in public
for the first time since the accident.

1040
00:57:51.160 --> 00:57:53.136
[male newscaster] This is
the first glimpse we have had

1041
00:57:53.160 --> 00:57:56.960
of the injuries that he suffered
in a high-speed crash last December.

1042
00:57:57.680 --> 00:57:59.800
[Flintoff] It was a way
to put my face back in public.

1043
00:58:01.160 --> 00:58:02.480
It was the perfect win.

1044
00:58:06.240 --> 00:58:09.960
I think sometimes you find help
when you least expect it.

1045
00:58:11.280 --> 00:58:14.960
What I love is that cricket
is the thing that looked after him.

1046
00:58:15.040 --> 00:58:16.120
You know, when he's...

1047
00:58:16.200 --> 00:58:18.040
This is where I get emotional, but...

1048
00:58:26.000 --> 00:58:30.400
So then, everything that he's done,
all the stuff he's gone away from,

1049
00:58:30.480 --> 00:58:34.040
actually, the cricket people
sort of got behind him.

1050
00:58:34.120 --> 00:58:36.080
And... Anyway, that was it.

1051
00:58:37.520 --> 00:58:39.960
- [Dower] You offered him a lifeline.
- Yeah.

1052
00:58:45.200 --> 00:58:46.840
I hate crying.

1053
00:58:46.920 --> 00:58:49.640
It's so annoying.
I'm glad he's not here, actually.

1054
00:58:50.840 --> 00:58:51.920
[chuckles]

1055
00:58:56.560 --> 00:59:00.400
[Dower] It felt like cricket was offering
Fred a route back to recovery.

1056
00:59:07.640 --> 00:59:11.400
And nine months after his first
public appearance on the balcony,

1057
00:59:11.480 --> 00:59:15.160
he became one of the England
Assistant Coaches for the T20 World Cup

1058
00:59:15.240 --> 00:59:16.720
in the West Indies.

1059
00:59:19.080 --> 00:59:22.760
But it meant taking a big trip away
from the sanctuary of his home.

1060
00:59:24.880 --> 00:59:26.160
[Flintoff] It's such a good job.

1061
00:59:26.880 --> 00:59:32.320
I don't think I've smiled and laughed
as much as this in a long time.

1062
00:59:33.920 --> 00:59:36.456
I've got to remind myself sometimes
that I'm not one of the lads.

1063
00:59:36.480 --> 00:59:38.720
Because you just lose yourself in it all.

1064
00:59:39.360 --> 00:59:41.560
The fun in the dressing room,
watching them play.

1065
00:59:44.600 --> 00:59:46.000
Seeing what they can do.

1066
00:59:46.560 --> 00:59:47.760
It's incredible.

1067
00:59:49.600 --> 00:59:52.360
But at night, I do go back
to my room on my own.

1068
00:59:52.440 --> 00:59:54.720
And I'm left with my own thoughts
and own feelings.

1069
00:59:55.520 --> 00:59:57.960
And they don't seem to be changing.

1070
00:59:58.840 --> 01:00:02.520
I still have my nightmares,
and I still have problems with it.

1071
01:00:05.120 --> 01:00:08.120
If you ask me where am I aiming with this,
where is it going...

1072
01:00:08.840 --> 01:00:10.080
I don't really know.

1073
01:00:11.200 --> 01:00:13.120
You know, everyone goes on these journeys.

1074
01:00:13.920 --> 01:00:17.080
You only go on a journey if you know
where you're going. I've got no idea.

1075
01:00:19.320 --> 01:00:21.440
[Dower] How far do you think
he can go as a coach?

1076
01:00:21.520 --> 01:00:26.080
[Key] He could coach for England,
he could coach at the very, very top.

1077
01:00:26.880 --> 01:00:29.840
Because it's not all about
just how do you play a cover drive.

1078
01:00:29.920 --> 01:00:32.400
It's actually about,
how do you make better people?

1079
01:00:32.480 --> 01:00:35.760
How do you get people
more robust, more resilient,

1080
01:00:35.840 --> 01:00:38.240
for life and the game
that's coming for them?

1081
01:00:38.320 --> 01:00:41.520
And that's the sort of skills
that he has in abundance, really.

1082
01:00:42.760 --> 01:00:44.560
He's talking from experience.

1083
01:00:45.280 --> 01:00:46.960
Because he's been through it all.

1084
01:00:48.360 --> 01:00:50.880
[Dower] What are your memories
of the Caribbean as a player?

1085
01:00:54.800 --> 01:00:56.840
[Flintoff] I've got mixed memories
of this place.

1086
01:00:58.800 --> 01:01:01.000
We'd had the Ashes, and we lost.

1087
01:01:06.680 --> 01:01:08.560
[commentator 1] Out! Gone!

1088
01:01:08.640 --> 01:01:10.720
[Flintoff] 5-0 defeat in Australia.

1089
01:01:10.800 --> 01:01:13.320
[commentator 2]
The humiliation of a 5-0 defeat.

1090
01:01:13.400 --> 01:01:15.040
The England players, they'll be hurting.

1091
01:01:15.120 --> 01:01:17.920
[commentator 3] The worst
Ashes defeat in 86 years.

1092
01:01:19.880 --> 01:01:22.560
[Flintoff] That was horrific.
I was in bits.

1093
01:01:24.560 --> 01:01:26.920
Yeah, I've experienced
both sides of it now.

1094
01:01:27.440 --> 01:01:30.280
At the Oval in 2005,
you know, the jubilation

1095
01:01:30.360 --> 01:01:33.520
and the joy of winning the Ashes,

1096
01:01:33.600 --> 01:01:34.640
and then today...

1097
01:01:35.880 --> 01:01:39.200
I've experienced it on the other side,
and it's not very nice.

1098
01:01:41.880 --> 01:01:44.480
It didn't matter who was captain,

1099
01:01:44.560 --> 01:01:47.720
they would have dismantled
any team that went over there.

1100
01:01:47.800 --> 01:01:49.640
[Dower] So, who was the captain?

1101
01:01:49.720 --> 01:01:52.400
Freddie was the captain. [chuckles]

1102
01:01:52.480 --> 01:01:53.920
But he shouldn't have taken that on.

1103
01:01:54.840 --> 01:01:56.920
He was leading anyway.

1104
01:01:57.600 --> 01:01:59.680
He didn't need the armband.

1105
01:01:59.760 --> 01:02:01.600
[man 1] Okay, keep it that way, chaps.

1106
01:02:01.680 --> 01:02:03.840
With Fred, I think he thinks
he can do everything.

1107
01:02:05.760 --> 01:02:08.280
He's a proud man and wanted
to be captain for England,

1108
01:02:08.400 --> 01:02:10.160
but was it really the right decision
for him?

1109
01:02:10.360 --> 01:02:12.960
Because there was so much
demand on his time.

1110
01:02:13.440 --> 01:02:15.000
He could have just said, "Nah."

1111
01:02:15.880 --> 01:02:20.560
[Dower] What was the effect of that
Ashes series on Fred, do you think?

1112
01:02:21.120 --> 01:02:23.040
Oh, I think it was huge.

1113
01:02:23.120 --> 01:02:24.840
Yeah, I do. I think it...

1114
01:02:25.680 --> 01:02:27.520
You know, it dented him.

1115
01:02:28.720 --> 01:02:31.160
[Ponting] Freddie was a very
happy-go-lucky sort of cricketer,

1116
01:02:31.240 --> 01:02:34.120
and got out there and played
with his heart on his sleeve.

1117
01:02:35.000 --> 01:02:37.360
You don't really think much
about the psychological impact

1118
01:02:37.440 --> 01:02:41.200
that it can have on an opposition captain
to lose an Ashes series 5-0.

1119
01:02:41.280 --> 01:02:46.280
You never learn these things about people
until things like this film happen.

1120
01:02:48.920 --> 01:02:50.320
[Flintoff] I was drinking heavily.

1121
01:02:51.760 --> 01:02:53.720
It wasn't drinking to enjoy myself.

1122
01:02:54.520 --> 01:02:56.960
It was drinking to change my mood.

1123
01:02:57.040 --> 01:03:00.480
And almost like escapism.
I couldn't handle it.

1124
01:03:00.560 --> 01:03:04.080
And from there, we moved on pretty much
straight to the World Cup here.

1125
01:03:06.880 --> 01:03:08.696
[male news reporter] A dramatic
batting collapse

1126
01:03:08.720 --> 01:03:11.120
against New Zealand costing them dearly.

1127
01:03:11.440 --> 01:03:12.440
[Flintoff] We got beat.

1128
01:03:13.480 --> 01:03:15.560
I was getting upset, I was getting angry.

1129
01:03:17.000 --> 01:03:18.920
So, I found a bar on the corner.

1130
01:03:19.760 --> 01:03:21.920
I got a rum punch,
and I got another rum punch,

1131
01:03:22.000 --> 01:03:23.760
and another, and another, and...

1132
01:03:24.920 --> 01:03:26.560
I remember being hammered.

1133
01:03:28.160 --> 01:03:32.240
And I knew Ian Botham
was staying on a boat out at sea.

1134
01:03:32.320 --> 01:03:34.440
I thought it'd be funny
to go and surprise him.

1135
01:03:35.240 --> 01:03:37.760
So I started dragging
this pedalo into the water.

1136
01:03:39.440 --> 01:03:41.760
The waves were choppy,
I was getting thrown about.

1137
01:03:44.280 --> 01:03:45.960
I give it up as a bad job.

1138
01:03:48.600 --> 01:03:52.720
And a security guard,
he came and got me out the water

1139
01:03:52.800 --> 01:03:54.800
and then took me to my room.

1140
01:03:56.640 --> 01:04:01.040
So, I woke up the next morning
with, like, sand in my toes.

1141
01:04:01.120 --> 01:04:03.440
I was like, "What have I done?"

1142
01:04:03.520 --> 01:04:05.320
[♪ pensive music playing]

1143
01:04:10.240 --> 01:04:12.880
[Vaughan] "England's star
falls off pedalo."

1144
01:04:12.960 --> 01:04:16.560
He's certainly fallen off something,
his plinth as a hero.

1145
01:04:20.760 --> 01:04:22.320
[Panesar] We had an emergency meeting.

1146
01:04:23.360 --> 01:04:25.440
I'm thinking, "What's happened here?"

1147
01:04:25.520 --> 01:04:28.800
I think he was quite obviously
embarrassed, you know?

1148
01:04:28.880 --> 01:04:31.680
It's like Hangover 3, isn't it?
Except it's at the World Cup.

1149
01:04:31.760 --> 01:04:33.200
[laughs]

1150
01:04:33.280 --> 01:04:34.800
Just a big stag do.

1151
01:04:38.000 --> 01:04:40.040
[Flintoff] And they're
hammering me about all sorts.

1152
01:04:41.680 --> 01:04:43.440
I wasn't in a good enough place
to take this,

1153
01:04:43.480 --> 01:04:45.080
and I remember crying in that meeting.

1154
01:04:46.600 --> 01:04:49.960
And I went back to my room,
phoned Rachael.

1155
01:04:51.120 --> 01:04:53.360
And she said,
"You're a dickhead. Phone your mum."

1156
01:04:54.160 --> 01:04:57.280
I told him that he had to call his mum
and apologise.

1157
01:04:57.360 --> 01:05:02.960
And I know we both got a massive bouquet
of flowers the next day from him.

1158
01:05:03.720 --> 01:05:06.160
What I still don't really understand...

1159
01:05:06.240 --> 01:05:09.160
I know Andrew let people down

1160
01:05:09.880 --> 01:05:12.160
and he was stupid.

1161
01:05:12.240 --> 01:05:16.840
But I don't really understand
why he was on News 24...

1162
01:05:16.920 --> 01:05:20.760
on the hour, every hour,
apologising to the whole country.

1163
01:05:21.480 --> 01:05:23.120
Isn't there other news?

1164
01:05:23.800 --> 01:05:26.040
[male reporter] Did you take a pedalo
out onto the water,

1165
01:05:26.120 --> 01:05:27.160
having had a few beers?

1166
01:05:27.800 --> 01:05:29.560
You know, the ins and outs of it...

1167
01:05:30.800 --> 01:05:32.280
There was water involved,

1168
01:05:32.360 --> 01:05:34.480
um, and obviously, this pedalo as well.

1169
01:05:37.200 --> 01:05:39.560
I can look back now and laugh at that,

1170
01:05:39.640 --> 01:05:42.520
but it's also a time which frightens me.

1171
01:05:45.120 --> 01:05:47.800
I wasn't well. I didn't know what it was.

1172
01:05:50.360 --> 01:05:52.640
It's like the shutters come down
and there's a greyness.

1173
01:05:53.320 --> 01:05:55.000
I think it was just to spark an emotion,

1174
01:05:55.080 --> 01:05:57.000
because I wasn't getting it
from playing cricket.

1175
01:05:57.040 --> 01:05:58.320
Wasn't getting it from anything.

1176
01:06:01.120 --> 01:06:03.240
[Rachael] I know the Andrew
underneath the Fred,

1177
01:06:03.320 --> 01:06:06.160
so I can see when there's
something else going on.

1178
01:06:07.400 --> 01:06:12.960
Yeah, I think there's times
where Andrew has self-medicated,

1179
01:06:13.080 --> 01:06:16.400
um, when he's felt really down.

1180
01:06:17.040 --> 01:06:18.080
Um...

1181
01:06:19.880 --> 01:06:24.720
And I think it got to the stage
where he had to really...

1182
01:06:25.880 --> 01:06:30.800
think, "Okay, I'm gonna lose everything
if I don't sort myself out."

1183
01:06:34.200 --> 01:06:36.760
[Dower] How would you describe
your relationship with alcohol?

1184
01:06:36.840 --> 01:06:38.440
[Flintoff] I had a good one for a while.

1185
01:06:39.160 --> 01:06:40.240
It wasn't all bad.

1186
01:06:42.240 --> 01:06:45.880
I got asked to go on an end-of-season trip
with Lancashire when I was 17.

1187
01:06:46.840 --> 01:06:48.000
And I didn't drink.

1188
01:06:48.600 --> 01:06:50.080
We played drinking games.

1189
01:06:51.200 --> 01:06:53.040
And I was doing it with pints of Coke.

1190
01:06:54.240 --> 01:06:56.360
Sculling eight pints of Coke isn't easy.

1191
01:06:57.440 --> 01:06:59.200
I thought I'd just try a Guinness.

1192
01:06:59.880 --> 01:07:01.960
So I sculled Guinness, and that was easy.

1193
01:07:03.280 --> 01:07:05.320
Probably had about
eight to ten pints of Guinness.

1194
01:07:06.480 --> 01:07:10.160
And I also then found
actually people are liking this.

1195
01:07:10.240 --> 01:07:11.400
I get an acceptance.

1196
01:07:12.440 --> 01:07:13.600
I'm one of the lads.

1197
01:07:15.360 --> 01:07:17.880
A big part of me, a proudness says,

1198
01:07:17.960 --> 01:07:20.440
if I had my time again,
I'd do it exactly the same.

1199
01:07:20.520 --> 01:07:21.720
I think that's a lie.

1200
01:07:22.880 --> 01:07:24.800
I don't know if I'd even touch a drop.

1201
01:07:25.960 --> 01:07:28.600
- But the problem is...
- But, Fred, would you be the same player?

1202
01:07:28.680 --> 01:07:31.000
- Can you separate...
- That the ultimate thing.

1203
01:07:31.080 --> 01:07:33.480
That's the ultimate question,
"Would you be the same player?"

1204
01:07:34.280 --> 01:07:35.320
I don't know.

1205
01:07:35.400 --> 01:07:37.200
But I think I'd be prepared to try.

1206
01:07:42.360 --> 01:07:45.240
[Dower] Barbados did feel
like a turning point.

1207
01:07:45.320 --> 01:07:49.280
Fred had opened up about one
of the darkest moments in his career,

1208
01:07:49.360 --> 01:07:52.120
and at the same time,
taken his first tentative steps

1209
01:07:52.200 --> 01:07:55.360
back into normal life
within the cricket family.

1210
01:07:59.520 --> 01:08:01.880
But despite being back in the public eye,

1211
01:08:01.960 --> 01:08:04.280
it was clear he was far from healed.

1212
01:08:05.000 --> 01:08:06.000
[Rachael] Hi.

1213
01:08:07.320 --> 01:08:10.400
[Dower] His rehabilitation
from the aftermath of the crash

1214
01:08:10.480 --> 01:08:12.920
was ongoing and relentless.

1215
01:08:14.120 --> 01:08:16.840
[Flintoff] The plan is
that today I get my teeth.

1216
01:08:19.880 --> 01:08:21.640
Not nice not having your own teeth.

1217
01:08:24.760 --> 01:08:26.600
Can't speak proper, I find myself...

1218
01:08:26.680 --> 01:08:28.640
[mumbles]

1219
01:08:28.720 --> 01:08:29.800
[chuckles]

1220
01:08:30.520 --> 01:08:32.720
You bite things
and you can't feel anything.

1221
01:08:35.360 --> 01:08:38.000
- Hi, Sunny.
- How you doing man, you all right?

1222
01:08:39.760 --> 01:08:41.520
Um, won't be long.

1223
01:08:41.600 --> 01:08:45.280
You're early anyway,
so we're just setting up for you.

1224
01:08:45.360 --> 01:08:48.000
- Am I getting teeth today?
- No.

1225
01:08:48.080 --> 01:08:49.080
[Flintoff] No?

1226
01:08:49.840 --> 01:08:52.520
[Sunny] We've got a lot to do today,
but nothing too taxing.

1227
01:08:52.600 --> 01:08:54.920
[Rachael] How long now
until the permanent ones then?

1228
01:08:55.000 --> 01:08:56.160
[Sunny] Should be next visit.

1229
01:08:57.240 --> 01:08:59.120
- [Flintoff] All right.
- Okay. Cool.

1230
01:09:01.560 --> 01:09:02.560
Brilliant.

1231
01:09:05.440 --> 01:09:06.440
Right, well.

1232
01:09:08.120 --> 01:09:09.520
No pain, no teeth.

1233
01:09:11.040 --> 01:09:12.400
[chuckles]

1234
01:09:13.560 --> 01:09:14.760
Oh, my God.

1235
01:09:18.960 --> 01:09:20.960
[Sunny] So, a couple of jabs.

1236
01:09:23.080 --> 01:09:24.320
[Flintoff] It's hard, isn't it?

1237
01:09:24.360 --> 01:09:25.976
In some ways,
I get disappointed in myself,

1238
01:09:26.000 --> 01:09:27.160
the way I've reacted to it.

1239
01:09:30.920 --> 01:09:33.720
You know, that proudness or that...

1240
01:09:34.640 --> 01:09:36.600
What do you call it, toxic masculinity?

1241
01:09:36.680 --> 01:09:39.680
Whatever it is, you feel like,
"I should have just shrugged this off.

1242
01:09:39.760 --> 01:09:41.520
"I should have just got on with my life."

1243
01:09:43.000 --> 01:09:44.720
But I can't do it.

1244
01:09:44.800 --> 01:09:47.080
[♪ sombre music playing]

1245
01:09:49.160 --> 01:09:51.280
At the moment it's hard

1246
01:09:51.360 --> 01:09:54.880
because it's Andrew,
but a really low Andrew.

1247
01:09:59.440 --> 01:10:00.440
But...

1248
01:10:03.120 --> 01:10:08.640
I think he's best at being at rock bottom
and getting back up.

1249
01:10:10.200 --> 01:10:11.200
[Sunny] Yes, please.

1250
01:10:22.480 --> 01:10:24.240
So, I'm going to take an impression now.

1251
01:10:27.400 --> 01:10:28.840
This is the messy bit.

1252
01:10:31.760 --> 01:10:32.760
Okay.

1253
01:10:33.400 --> 01:10:36.760
- You doing a bit of grouting?
- Just rest your head back for me.

1254
01:10:36.840 --> 01:10:37.880
A bit of mastic.

1255
01:10:41.400 --> 01:10:42.800
[Flintoff] In my cricket career,

1256
01:10:45.560 --> 01:10:47.840
I've reached the top a few times,

1257
01:10:47.920 --> 01:10:49.840
and I've reached the bottom
a lot of times.

1258
01:10:49.920 --> 01:10:51.680
[Sunny] You should have
a mouthful like this.

1259
01:10:52.440 --> 01:10:53.896
[Flintoff] When I reached the bottom,

1260
01:10:53.920 --> 01:10:55.680
I wouldn't say I was
more comfortable there,

1261
01:10:55.760 --> 01:10:57.040
but I quite enjoyed it.

1262
01:10:58.800 --> 01:11:02.400
I enjoyed the challenge
of trying to get back up again.

1263
01:11:02.960 --> 01:11:04.400
[Sunny] Okay, we're all done.

1264
01:11:06.680 --> 01:11:08.640
[Flintoff] I don't think
I'm ever gonna be better.

1265
01:11:10.000 --> 01:11:11.920
Just different now.

1266
01:11:16.520 --> 01:11:20.200
It's just let's find somewhere
where you sit quite comfortably.

1267
01:11:20.280 --> 01:11:22.200
And I'm getting there slowly.

1268
01:11:29.680 --> 01:11:31.960
[Dower] Eighteen months on
from the accident,

1269
01:11:32.040 --> 01:11:34.520
Fred's rehabilitation was still daunting.

1270
01:11:34.600 --> 01:11:36.680
But it was being helped by the game.

1271
01:11:37.520 --> 01:11:39.560
Only a few weeks after Barbados,

1272
01:11:39.640 --> 01:11:42.640
he took charge of his own team
for the first time,

1273
01:11:42.720 --> 01:11:44.560
the Northern Superchargers.

1274
01:11:45.480 --> 01:11:47.336
- [Dower] How are you anyway?
- [Flintoff] I'm good.

1275
01:11:47.360 --> 01:11:49.720
My first week as an head coach, isn't it?

1276
01:11:50.360 --> 01:11:51.800
It's been really good, actually.

1277
01:11:51.880 --> 01:11:53.440
I'm learning on the job a little bit.

1278
01:11:55.080 --> 01:11:58.160
It's gonna be a test, isn't it?
Because I remember when I was in Barbados

1279
01:11:58.240 --> 01:12:00.960
and I was saying,
"As a player, I was up and down.

1280
01:12:01.040 --> 01:12:03.520
"As a coach,
I managed to remain quite level."

1281
01:12:03.600 --> 01:12:05.200
This is an acid test, isn't it?

1282
01:12:06.320 --> 01:12:07.480
[commentator 1] Set to go.

1283
01:12:09.920 --> 01:12:12.920
Some turn straightaway,
just chipped it over the top.

1284
01:12:14.600 --> 01:12:18.560
Seeing him back in a cricket jersey
in and around cricketers,

1285
01:12:18.640 --> 01:12:20.800
I don't think I've seen him look so happy.

1286
01:12:22.000 --> 01:12:24.920
I think he's back, almost,
in a happy place.

1287
01:12:26.480 --> 01:12:30.840
And it's through an incredibly
awful circumstance

1288
01:12:30.920 --> 01:12:33.640
that cricket has found Freddie once again.

1289
01:12:37.000 --> 01:12:38.680
[Rachael] He's like, back
where he belongs.

1290
01:12:40.440 --> 01:12:44.120
For a girl who knew nothing about cricket
or very little about cricket,

1291
01:12:44.200 --> 01:12:46.600
it's definitely become
a big part of my life.

1292
01:12:48.200 --> 01:12:51.080
And when Andrew needed it most,

1293
01:12:52.040 --> 01:12:53.440
cricket was there for him.

1294
01:12:54.720 --> 01:12:58.520
I mean, it sounds a bit weird saying it,
a bit over the top to say,

1295
01:12:58.600 --> 01:13:03.080
but I do think cricket saved him.

1296
01:13:03.160 --> 01:13:05.400
It gave him a reason for being again.

1297
01:13:07.040 --> 01:13:08.400
[commentator 2] One ball left.

1298
01:13:11.640 --> 01:13:13.400
[commentator 3] It'll just be the one,

1299
01:13:13.480 --> 01:13:16.720
and it will be very comfortable
for the Trent Rockets.

1300
01:13:20.640 --> 01:13:21.960
[Dower] So, what happened?

1301
01:13:22.880 --> 01:13:25.680
[Flintoff] In all fairness,
we got beat by a better team.

1302
01:13:25.760 --> 01:13:28.240
There's no point
dancing around the houses.

1303
01:13:28.320 --> 01:13:29.360
I'm fucking gutted.

1304
01:13:29.440 --> 01:13:31.240
[both laughing]

1305
01:13:34.320 --> 01:13:35.560
[male supporter] Come on, Fred!

1306
01:13:36.440 --> 01:13:40.080
-[male in crowd] Freddie, Freddie, Freddie
-[kid] Join the squad!

1307
01:13:41.800 --> 01:13:43.520
[Dower] How do you feel at that moment,

1308
01:13:43.600 --> 01:13:46.600
people constantly asking
for pictures of you?

1309
01:13:46.680 --> 01:13:49.360
[Flintoff] Well, the picture thing,
I never really liked anyway.

1310
01:13:49.440 --> 01:13:51.000
But now it's slightly different.

1311
01:13:52.000 --> 01:13:54.376
Especially when they take a selfie,
because you see yourself.

1312
01:13:54.400 --> 01:13:56.120
It's like, "Wow, how do I look?"

1313
01:13:56.200 --> 01:13:58.120
I don't wanna smile because my lips
go like that.

1314
01:13:58.160 --> 01:13:59.320
[mumbles]

1315
01:13:59.400 --> 01:14:02.600
I look miserable, I'm not trying to,
I'm trying to look mildly amused.

1316
01:14:05.920 --> 01:14:08.680
Then I start thinking about
what they think about the way I look,

1317
01:14:08.760 --> 01:14:10.840
or are they just being polite?

1318
01:14:12.120 --> 01:14:14.960
And then I see the reaction when they
see me for the first time, it's...

1319
01:14:16.000 --> 01:14:17.840
Yeah, it's hard.

1320
01:14:19.520 --> 01:14:22.320
Because after the accident,

1321
01:14:24.680 --> 01:14:26.920
I didn't think I had it in me
to get through.

1322
01:14:28.360 --> 01:14:30.320
I... This sounds awful,

1323
01:14:30.400 --> 01:14:32.200
part of me wishes I'd have been killed,

1324
01:14:32.280 --> 01:14:34.160
part of me thinks I wish I'd died.

1325
01:14:34.240 --> 01:14:36.040
Although I didn't wanna kill myself.

1326
01:14:36.120 --> 01:14:38.120
I won't mistake the two things.

1327
01:14:38.200 --> 01:14:42.360
But I was not wishing, but I was thinking,

1328
01:14:42.440 --> 01:14:44.880
"This would have been so much easier."

1329
01:14:47.400 --> 01:14:49.160
Now, I try to take the attitude,

1330
01:14:49.240 --> 01:14:52.040
"You know what?
The sun will come up tomorrow,

1331
01:14:52.880 --> 01:14:55.600
"and then my kids
will still give me a hug."

1332
01:14:56.240 --> 01:14:57.240
And...

1333
01:14:58.320 --> 01:15:00.840
I'm probably in a better place now.

1334
01:15:04.160 --> 01:15:06.080
[Dower] The fact that
Fred had even thought this

1335
01:15:06.160 --> 01:15:09.920
showed what a dark place he'd been in
immediately after the accident.

1336
01:15:11.480 --> 01:15:15.760
But now watching him tirelessly
sign autographs and pose for pictures,

1337
01:15:15.840 --> 01:15:17.440
I could see being back in cricket

1338
01:15:17.520 --> 01:15:20.200
was taking him further away
from the crash.

1339
01:15:24.480 --> 01:15:29.080
A few days later, a victory
had lifted his spirits even more.

1340
01:15:29.160 --> 01:15:30.760
You won the second game.

1341
01:15:32.440 --> 01:15:34.600
[commentator] Just chipped up,
thanks very much.

1342
01:15:34.680 --> 01:15:36.200
Easy as you like.

1343
01:15:36.280 --> 01:15:37.920
[Flintoff] The boys were brilliant.

1344
01:15:38.000 --> 01:15:40.040
I was allowing myself to enjoy it.

1345
01:15:41.120 --> 01:15:43.360
And I think at the end of it,
the overriding emotion

1346
01:15:43.440 --> 01:15:46.440
was... obviously pleased.

1347
01:15:47.680 --> 01:15:49.800
But I was quite contained.

1348
01:15:49.880 --> 01:15:54.280
I was more reflective and content.

1349
01:15:54.360 --> 01:15:56.160
Got a great group of lads around me.

1350
01:15:57.400 --> 01:15:58.400
It's brilliant.

1351
01:15:58.920 --> 01:16:01.216
[Dower] I'll let you get on with it.
You've got a game today.

1352
01:16:01.240 --> 01:16:04.520
Yeah. I don't even know
how many points you get for a win.

1353
01:16:04.600 --> 01:16:06.080
Hopefully, we get some more points.

1354
01:16:06.160 --> 01:16:07.920
[both laughing]

1355
01:16:08.760 --> 01:16:10.360
We do things our way.

1356
01:16:10.440 --> 01:16:13.880
[Dower] All right, well,
it seems to be working.

1357
01:16:13.960 --> 01:16:15.760
- [Flintoff] Well, is it?
- [both laughing]

1358
01:16:15.840 --> 01:16:18.040
It's 50-50 at the minute, John.

1359
01:16:18.120 --> 01:16:20.120
[Dower] All right, well,
see you next time.

1360
01:16:20.200 --> 01:16:21.280
[Flintoff] Thank you.

1361
01:16:21.360 --> 01:16:23.600
[Dower] I don't think
I'd seen Fred this happy.

1362
01:16:24.760 --> 01:16:27.240
It was an unexpected turn in his life,

1363
01:16:27.320 --> 01:16:31.680
given that when he'd retired as a player,
he'd turned his back on the game.

1364
01:16:32.840 --> 01:16:36.640
It's a dilemma for all sportsmen,
you know, when they retire.

1365
01:16:37.640 --> 01:16:39.520
How was that for you at that point?

1366
01:16:41.400 --> 01:16:42.400
[Flintoff] No, it's hard.

1367
01:16:44.200 --> 01:16:45.920
All through my career,

1368
01:16:46.960 --> 01:16:49.080
I always felt
I was on the brink of retirement,

1369
01:16:49.160 --> 01:16:50.400
because I had so many injuries.

1370
01:16:53.160 --> 01:16:58.280
[Dower] The summer of 2009 would see
Fred's third and final Ashes series,

1371
01:16:58.400 --> 01:17:02.200
a chance to avenge the humiliating
whitewash over in Australia.

1372
01:17:02.840 --> 01:17:05.360
But he wasn't even sure
if he'd be playing.

1373
01:17:05.440 --> 01:17:07.096
[male newscaster]
A decision on Freddie's fitness

1374
01:17:07.120 --> 01:17:08.920
won't be taken until the last minute.

1375
01:17:10.200 --> 01:17:11.800
My knee's in tatters.

1376
01:17:12.400 --> 01:17:13.400
But...

1377
01:17:14.880 --> 01:17:18.280
because everything had been
going wrong in my career,

1378
01:17:19.040 --> 01:17:20.560
I couldn't leave it like that.

1379
01:17:21.720 --> 01:17:23.760
[Harmison] His body had had enough.

1380
01:17:23.840 --> 01:17:26.240
I mean, Fred was hanging on by a thread.

1381
01:17:26.320 --> 01:17:29.360
He literally couldn't walk
down the stairs, poor big lad.

1382
01:17:31.040 --> 01:17:34.600
[Flintoff] I have to play this series.
We have to win this Ashes series.

1383
01:17:36.040 --> 01:17:38.000
After that, I'm gonna retire.

1384
01:17:39.400 --> 01:17:40.880
Winning was everything.

1385
01:17:41.720 --> 01:17:42.920
There was nothing else.

1386
01:17:43.680 --> 01:17:46.560
I had to win, whatever I did.

1387
01:17:48.720 --> 01:17:51.440
I needed jabs in my knees,
and my body was hurting.

1388
01:17:52.560 --> 01:17:54.120
Rachael got me dressed, actually.

1389
01:17:54.200 --> 01:17:57.040
She helped me put my shoes and socks
and took me to the ground.

1390
01:17:58.640 --> 01:18:00.800
[Rachael] He shouldn't have played.

1391
01:18:00.880 --> 01:18:04.960
But as soon as someone says,
"That's impossible, you can't,"

1392
01:18:06.200 --> 01:18:08.000
then that almost makes him fly.

1393
01:18:13.160 --> 01:18:14.616
[commentator 1] Wonderful appreciation

1394
01:18:14.640 --> 01:18:17.720
from a full house at Lords
for Andrew Flintoff.

1395
01:18:19.720 --> 01:18:22.296
[Flintoff] It was me against me.
It was never me against the opposite.

1396
01:18:22.320 --> 01:18:23.960
It was me against my body.

1397
01:18:24.640 --> 01:18:27.000
[commentator 1] Great stroke.
What a way to get going.

1398
01:18:27.080 --> 01:18:29.640
And if I wasn't hurting,
I wasn't having fun.

1399
01:18:32.880 --> 01:18:36.040
[commentator 2] Oh, that's
brilliant bowling by Flintoff.

1400
01:18:39.800 --> 01:18:41.120
Oh, it's out.

1401
01:18:41.200 --> 01:18:43.400
[commentator 3] That is out.
Flintoff's done it.

1402
01:18:43.480 --> 01:18:44.840
He's got the breakthrough.

1403
01:18:46.000 --> 01:18:47.320
[commentator 4] That one is out.

1404
01:18:47.400 --> 01:18:49.080
I played like it was my last game.

1405
01:18:51.200 --> 01:18:53.080
[commentator 5]
It's then taken at second slip.

1406
01:18:54.560 --> 01:18:55.560
[commentator 3] Got him!

1407
01:18:57.440 --> 01:18:58.760
Oh, it works, too!

1408
01:18:59.600 --> 01:19:02.440
Five for Andrew Flintoff.
A glorious moment.

1409
01:19:05.720 --> 01:19:09.680
[Flintoff] I knew at that point
I could never bowl like that ever again,

1410
01:19:09.760 --> 01:19:10.840
because I'd gone.

1411
01:19:13.120 --> 01:19:16.760
My celebration was quite...
What's the word? Self-indulgent.

1412
01:19:19.680 --> 01:19:21.600
It was part celebration, part not.

1413
01:19:23.600 --> 01:19:26.720
I just wanted to feel it one last time.

1414
01:19:26.800 --> 01:19:30.480
I wanted to smell the ground,
I wanted to feel the atmosphere.

1415
01:19:30.560 --> 01:19:34.400
I wanted to remember what it felt like,
because I'm never getting this again.

1416
01:19:40.280 --> 01:19:44.360
Freddie bowls an incredible spell here,

1417
01:19:44.440 --> 01:19:46.000
to bowl England to victory.

1418
01:19:46.080 --> 01:19:47.680
And then at the Oval,

1419
01:19:47.760 --> 01:19:51.920
where it looked like Australia
may have got close to winning that game,

1420
01:19:53.000 --> 01:19:54.600
who runs out Ricky Ponting?

1421
01:19:55.840 --> 01:19:58.360
[♪ dramatic music playing]

1422
01:20:00.720 --> 01:20:04.280
As soon as he hits it
and they set off for the run,

1423
01:20:04.360 --> 01:20:06.600
I've gone like that, as you do,
edge of the seat,

1424
01:20:06.680 --> 01:20:08.240
because I know who it's gone to.

1425
01:20:09.000 --> 01:20:10.800
[Ponting] I was 60-odd
not out at the time.

1426
01:20:10.880 --> 01:20:13.280
And it's like,
"It's Fred. Like, he's on one leg.

1427
01:20:13.360 --> 01:20:15.200
"He won't be able to get there
quick enough."

1428
01:20:16.240 --> 01:20:21.600
And it just needs a perfect storm
of a quick pick up and release,

1429
01:20:22.160 --> 01:20:25.160
like a rocket,
and he's got to hit.

1430
01:20:34.000 --> 01:20:38.560
Our commentary box was alive.
I mean, everybody was up.

1431
01:20:38.640 --> 01:20:40.640
[commentator 1] Now, Flintoff, the man.

1432
01:20:41.920 --> 01:20:45.280
The Australian Captain
has been run out for 66.

1433
01:20:46.280 --> 01:20:49.080
And I knew then that the Ashes was over.

1434
01:20:49.160 --> 01:20:52.160
It was another epic Flintoff moment
in an Ashes series.

1435
01:20:54.280 --> 01:20:56.800
England have reclaimed the Ashes

1436
01:20:56.880 --> 01:20:59.280
in a dramatic day of cricket at the Oval,

1437
01:20:59.360 --> 01:21:04.680
England took all 10 Australian wickets
to win by 197 runs.

1438
01:21:11.440 --> 01:21:13.400
[Flintoff] I'm finished at the Oval...

1439
01:21:16.600 --> 01:21:19.240
knowing that that's probably it.

1440
01:21:23.440 --> 01:21:27.080
And then I was booked in for an operation
two days after on my knee,

1441
01:21:27.160 --> 01:21:28.920
but brought it forward to the next day.

1442
01:21:29.560 --> 01:21:30.560
I think my wife did that,

1443
01:21:30.640 --> 01:21:33.080
because then I was nil by mouth
at midnight

1444
01:21:33.160 --> 01:21:35.280
and I didn't make a knob of myself again.

1445
01:21:39.360 --> 01:21:40.400
I was lost.

1446
01:21:41.360 --> 01:21:42.520
Like, "Who am I?"

1447
01:21:42.600 --> 01:21:44.960
Everything I wanted to do
since I was six years old

1448
01:21:45.920 --> 01:21:47.720
has finished at 31.

1449
01:21:49.280 --> 01:21:50.920
[Dower] So do you regret that decision?

1450
01:21:52.000 --> 01:21:54.560
[Flintoff] I don't regret
the decision to retire. I had to.

1451
01:21:56.640 --> 01:21:58.160
But afterwards was so hard.

1452
01:22:00.040 --> 01:22:04.120
I rebelled against routine
and being told what to do. I hated it.

1453
01:22:05.160 --> 01:22:07.720
But when nobody did,
I realised how important it is.

1454
01:22:07.800 --> 01:22:10.880
If I've got nowt to get up for tomorrow,
I'll drink, you know?

1455
01:22:11.680 --> 01:22:13.400
I'll drink.

1456
01:22:13.480 --> 01:22:14.480
And I was just...

1457
01:22:15.720 --> 01:22:18.200
just cruising through life, and it was...

1458
01:22:19.400 --> 01:22:20.720
it was horrible.

1459
01:22:24.280 --> 01:22:28.080
It's a bit like going to the supermarket
and carrying your shopping bags out

1460
01:22:28.160 --> 01:22:30.640
not knowing where your car is.

1461
01:22:30.720 --> 01:22:33.040
And then after a while,
they get heavier and heavier,

1462
01:22:33.120 --> 01:22:35.080
and the shoulders go,
and everything slumps.

1463
01:22:36.680 --> 01:22:41.280
You're not the No. 1 name
in the newspaper at the weekend.

1464
01:22:42.560 --> 01:22:45.520
You're not the name in lights
when the cricket comes on.

1465
01:22:46.960 --> 01:22:48.760
You quickly get forgotten.

1466
01:22:49.920 --> 01:22:52.960
And I think, as sportsmen and women,

1467
01:22:53.040 --> 01:22:55.320
I think it frightens
the shit out of people.

1468
01:22:59.440 --> 01:23:01.520
[Dower] Were you worried
when he finished cricket

1469
01:23:01.600 --> 01:23:03.200
about what he might do next?

1470
01:23:03.280 --> 01:23:05.040
[Rachael] I was not worried at all.

1471
01:23:05.120 --> 01:23:07.320
I just knew he would still be amazing.

1472
01:23:07.400 --> 01:23:09.240
I knew that there was something else.

1473
01:23:11.120 --> 01:23:14.040
[Panesar] He removed himself
from the game very quickly,

1474
01:23:14.120 --> 01:23:16.640
was, you know, front cover
of Men's Health magazine,

1475
01:23:16.720 --> 01:23:19.640
GQ Hunk of the year
or something like that.

1476
01:23:19.720 --> 01:23:21.440
He was everywhere.

1477
01:23:21.520 --> 01:23:24.680
He then became this TV celebrity icon.

1478
01:23:25.400 --> 01:23:27.960
[Dower] James, do you remember
the first time

1479
01:23:28.040 --> 01:23:30.200
you came across Freddie Flintoff?

1480
01:23:31.120 --> 01:23:34.320
I remember vividly
the first time I met Fred.

1481
01:23:34.400 --> 01:23:39.120
I was doing a sketch for Sport Relief.

1482
01:23:41.200 --> 01:23:45.480
It was my character from Gavin and Stacey
winning Coach of the Year

1483
01:23:45.560 --> 01:23:47.160
at Sports Personality of the Year.

1484
01:23:47.240 --> 01:23:48.360
Smithy.

1485
01:23:53.680 --> 01:23:55.600
Before the show, I went up to Fred

1486
01:23:56.280 --> 01:23:59.240
and I said,
"We just want you to look annoyed

1487
01:23:59.320 --> 01:24:01.920
"so the sketch rings true."

1488
01:24:02.000 --> 01:24:03.600
Freddie.

1489
01:24:04.160 --> 01:24:06.080
Freddie, Freddie Flintoff.

1490
01:24:06.160 --> 01:24:07.680
What's your real name? Andrew?

1491
01:24:07.760 --> 01:24:08.760
Whatever.

1492
01:24:09.920 --> 01:24:12.320
Congratulations on the Ashes,
you did brilliant.

1493
01:24:12.400 --> 01:24:13.920
It was great to see you out there.

1494
01:24:14.000 --> 01:24:15.200
But are you gonna give up now?

1495
01:24:15.240 --> 01:24:17.880
You gonna stop playing
because your knee hurts?

1496
01:24:18.680 --> 01:24:20.160
Is it sore?

1497
01:24:20.240 --> 01:24:22.800
A bit of a poorly knee?
Your arm's all right though, isn't it?

1498
01:24:25.600 --> 01:24:27.520
He looked so annoyed...

1499
01:24:29.000 --> 01:24:33.320
that I remember thinking,
"Oh, God, he could be an actor."

1500
01:24:33.400 --> 01:24:35.160
Like, he could do anything.

1501
01:24:37.760 --> 01:24:41.240
And then the next day,
we were filming in a pedalo,

1502
01:24:42.280 --> 01:24:46.520
and I was about to go
and do this sports comedy show

1503
01:24:46.600 --> 01:24:48.080
called A League of Their Own.

1504
01:24:49.040 --> 01:24:51.000
And I called the producer of the show.

1505
01:24:53.440 --> 01:24:55.880
And said, "We've gotta try and get him.

1506
01:24:55.960 --> 01:24:57.360
"I think he'll be that good."

1507
01:24:57.440 --> 01:24:59.960
Three, two, one, go!

1508
01:25:00.040 --> 01:25:02.040
Luckily, he said yes.

1509
01:25:02.120 --> 01:25:03.600
[both laughing]

1510
01:25:04.800 --> 01:25:09.680
I suppose it kind of launched
this TV career that he went on to have,

1511
01:25:09.760 --> 01:25:13.360
which could not
be less of a surprise to me,

1512
01:25:13.440 --> 01:25:15.000
or anyone that knows him, actually.

1513
01:25:15.080 --> 01:25:17.640
One of you is a metrosexual
Lord Fauntleroy,

1514
01:25:17.720 --> 01:25:21.600
and the other is a straight-talking
northerner who is 99% testicles.

1515
01:25:21.680 --> 01:25:23.136
You barely speak the same language...

1516
01:25:23.160 --> 01:25:24.696
[Whitehall] I remember being intimidated.

1517
01:25:24.720 --> 01:25:26.840
I was gonna meet Freddie Flintoff,

1518
01:25:26.920 --> 01:25:29.280
who I'd looked up to a lot as a kid,
for the first time.

1519
01:25:29.360 --> 01:25:33.560
I was also like, "He is this big burly,
you know, northern bloke,

1520
01:25:33.640 --> 01:25:38.360
"and I'm this rather effeminate,
flouncy boarding school boy.

1521
01:25:38.440 --> 01:25:41.600
"I'm probably not gonna be
his type of chap."

1522
01:25:41.680 --> 01:25:44.800
- [crowd laughs]
- Okay, Fred, what fragrance do you use?

1523
01:25:45.440 --> 01:25:47.560
- Old Spice.
- [James] Old spice, classic.

1524
01:25:47.640 --> 01:25:49.160
Jack, what have you gone for?

1525
01:25:49.240 --> 01:25:51.560
- Ah, Bisto!
- [crowd laughs]

1526
01:25:52.480 --> 01:25:55.320
[Dower] But it felt like
there was a genuine relationship

1527
01:25:55.400 --> 01:25:56.400
between the two of you.

1528
01:25:56.480 --> 01:25:57.616
[Whitehall] A hundred percent.

1529
01:25:57.640 --> 01:26:01.160
So many people
think of him as, you know...

1530
01:26:02.000 --> 01:26:03.600
so strong and so alpha.

1531
01:26:03.680 --> 01:26:06.040
But he's definitely fragile.

1532
01:26:06.960 --> 01:26:10.000
To see how open and honest
he's been about his struggles.

1533
01:26:12.120 --> 01:26:13.320
Like with bulimia.

1534
01:26:16.440 --> 01:26:21.840
I mean, I was bulimic when I first
started doing television.

1535
01:26:21.920 --> 01:26:24.840
It's not something that
I've really even ever spoken about.

1536
01:26:24.920 --> 01:26:28.760
But I remember feeling that pressure
of being on television.

1537
01:26:29.560 --> 01:26:31.800
And it's not something
that I'd ever seen other men

1538
01:26:31.880 --> 01:26:33.240
or people in the media talk about

1539
01:26:33.320 --> 01:26:35.720
until Fred came out and spoke about it.

1540
01:26:35.800 --> 01:26:38.960
I remember thinking
that was just incredibly brave of him.

1541
01:26:41.640 --> 01:26:44.040
[Rachael] I think after cricket,
there was Andrew,

1542
01:26:44.120 --> 01:26:46.800
but then there's this Fred,
and Fred wasn't getting to be Fred.

1543
01:26:48.200 --> 01:26:51.400
He was looking for that buzz
that he had from playing cricket.

1544
01:26:53.320 --> 01:26:55.920
Most of the projects
that he did were based on,

1545
01:26:57.160 --> 01:27:00.400
"How am I gonna feel the way that I did
when I played cricket?"

1546
01:27:01.200 --> 01:27:04.400
So, he really tried to push himself
as much as he could.

1547
01:27:05.760 --> 01:27:09.200
[Whitehall] You had the four of us
doing these crazy challenges together.

1548
01:27:09.800 --> 01:27:12.680
And he would always
just throw himself into anything,

1549
01:27:12.760 --> 01:27:15.200
and I would be the one
sort of dragging my heels

1550
01:27:15.280 --> 01:27:19.480
and call out that we're just
making an entertainment show,

1551
01:27:19.560 --> 01:27:23.720
so, like, why were we genuinely
putting ourselves at any risk?

1552
01:27:23.800 --> 01:27:26.160
And Fred would be like,
"Come on, Jack, it'll be fine."

1553
01:27:27.320 --> 01:27:28.560
[screams]

1554
01:27:29.800 --> 01:27:32.240
I think that's the danger
that TV falls into.

1555
01:27:33.240 --> 01:27:35.600
[♪ tense music playing]

1556
01:27:42.760 --> 01:27:44.840
And I found out the hard way, eventually.

1557
01:27:51.560 --> 01:27:52.920
It's always more, isn't it?

1558
01:27:53.880 --> 01:27:55.480
Like, even you with your questions.

1559
01:27:56.520 --> 01:27:57.720
Everyone wants more.

1560
01:27:57.800 --> 01:27:58.960
Everybody wants more.

1561
01:27:59.040 --> 01:28:02.480
Everybody wants that thing
that nobody's seen before,

1562
01:28:02.560 --> 01:28:04.360
everybody wants that bigger stunt.

1563
01:28:04.440 --> 01:28:06.280
And it's not a go at you, John.

1564
01:28:06.920 --> 01:28:09.120
- No, it's fine. That's what I'm here for.
- But it's...

1565
01:28:09.160 --> 01:28:11.360
Exactly, but everybody
wants to dig a little bit deeper.

1566
01:28:11.400 --> 01:28:13.720
- Yeah. But you're right.
- Everybody wants an exclusive,

1567
01:28:13.800 --> 01:28:15.160
everybody wants that bigger stunt.

1568
01:28:15.200 --> 01:28:19.360
Everybody, "Actually, in some ways,
let's have that near-miss,

1569
01:28:19.440 --> 01:28:20.896
"because then that will get viewers."

1570
01:28:20.920 --> 01:28:23.840
Everything's about viewers,
always, always.

1571
01:28:23.920 --> 01:28:25.840
And I should have been cleverer on this,

1572
01:28:25.920 --> 01:28:28.440
because I learnt this in sport as well,

1573
01:28:29.240 --> 01:28:30.880
with all the injuries and the injections,

1574
01:28:30.920 --> 01:28:33.136
and all the times that I got sent out
on a cricket field,

1575
01:28:33.160 --> 01:28:34.520
and treated like a piece of meat.

1576
01:28:35.080 --> 01:28:36.880
That's TV and sport.

1577
01:28:36.960 --> 01:28:38.760
I think that's where it's quite similar.

1578
01:28:38.840 --> 01:28:41.640
You're just a commodity.
You're just a piece of meat.

1579
01:28:43.120 --> 01:28:44.880
- I agree.
- Do you?

1580
01:28:47.040 --> 01:28:51.400
[Dower] I did agree, but I, of course,
was guilty of wanting more.

1581
01:28:51.480 --> 01:28:53.640
Do you know what?
We're in a bubble. We can.

1582
01:28:54.880 --> 01:28:56.400
[Dower] And one of the things I wanted

1583
01:28:56.440 --> 01:29:00.400
was to talk about whether
he'd seen his co-presenters on Top Gear,

1584
01:29:00.480 --> 01:29:02.760
Chris Harris and Paddy McGuinness.

1585
01:29:02.840 --> 01:29:04.280
[Flintoff] We've been in contact.

1586
01:29:04.360 --> 01:29:07.560
I saw Chris, actually,
and we hugged each other.

1587
01:29:07.640 --> 01:29:09.320
He got upset, I got a bit upset.

1588
01:29:09.400 --> 01:29:10.760
It was really nice to see him.

1589
01:29:10.840 --> 01:29:15.000
And I feel bad I haven't
been more in contact

1590
01:29:15.080 --> 01:29:16.320
with him and Paddy.

1591
01:29:16.400 --> 01:29:19.280
I think there were some comments
from Paddy a while ago

1592
01:29:19.360 --> 01:29:22.120
saying I've not spoke to him,
I've not done this.

1593
01:29:22.200 --> 01:29:23.280
And part of it is...

1594
01:29:26.280 --> 01:29:28.560
For myself a little bit,
you know what I mean?

1595
01:29:29.640 --> 01:29:32.480
I hate the word "triggering"
but I'm worried about that.

1596
01:29:34.120 --> 01:29:35.840
It's also something that stopped,

1597
01:29:35.920 --> 01:29:38.280
I suppose, in some ways,
because of what happened to me.

1598
01:29:40.800 --> 01:29:43.800
Like, their careers have been
halted as well, so I feel...

1599
01:29:43.880 --> 01:29:45.680
not guilty, but I feel bad for them.

1600
01:29:46.360 --> 01:29:48.600
Um, and also, it's like...

1601
01:29:50.480 --> 01:29:54.000
What happened gets dragged up enough
in my own head without adding to that.

1602
01:29:59.040 --> 01:30:01.240
[Dower] Sometimes I forgot
the man in front of me

1603
01:30:01.320 --> 01:30:04.440
was still dealing with significant trauma.

1604
01:30:04.520 --> 01:30:06.560
- Who is it?
- [Rachael] Me and Rocky.

1605
01:30:06.640 --> 01:30:07.640
All right, come in.

1606
01:30:07.720 --> 01:30:09.240
- Hi.
- [Dower] Hi.

1607
01:30:09.920 --> 01:30:12.000
- How are you?
- [Rachael] Are you finished?

1608
01:30:13.880 --> 01:30:16.600
[Dower] But this was also
testimony to his recovery.

1609
01:30:17.200 --> 01:30:21.200
He was done with talking about the crash
and now looking forwards.

1610
01:30:25.040 --> 01:30:29.320
So much so, he did something
in classic Fred style.

1611
01:30:32.000 --> 01:30:33.680
[Flintoff] I have taken one job.

1612
01:30:33.760 --> 01:30:36.560
I'm gonna do a Christmas special
of Bullseye.

1613
01:30:36.640 --> 01:30:39.480
[laughs] Because why not?

1614
01:30:40.080 --> 01:30:42.280
And the reason for doing it,
it's a one-off.

1615
01:30:43.080 --> 01:30:44.520
And it's almost, for me,

1616
01:30:45.800 --> 01:30:49.480
maybe an opportunity to put
TV to bed on safe ground.

1617
01:30:53.280 --> 01:30:55.640
[barber] Do you have any tender spots?

1618
01:30:55.720 --> 01:30:57.280
- Not really.
- No?

1619
01:30:57.360 --> 01:30:59.240
So you're okay with me
working around that area?

1620
01:30:59.280 --> 01:31:00.600
Yeah.

1621
01:31:00.680 --> 01:31:02.880
Not sure what to do for my scars.

1622
01:31:02.960 --> 01:31:04.880
- Say that again?
- Are you gonna go over it?

1623
01:31:04.960 --> 01:31:07.520
Yeah, just lightly,
because it's quite red.

1624
01:31:07.600 --> 01:31:10.480
It might just ping too much
in the studio with the lights.

1625
01:31:11.480 --> 01:31:13.480
- Are you all right with that?
- Yeah.

1626
01:31:16.800 --> 01:31:18.000
[Dower] How you feeling, Fred?

1627
01:31:21.840 --> 01:31:23.496
[makeup artist] Got my magic fingers back.

1628
01:31:23.520 --> 01:31:26.160
Better now Donald's got his hands on me.

1629
01:31:26.240 --> 01:31:27.600
- [Dower laughs]
- Um...

1630
01:31:28.680 --> 01:31:29.760
I don't know, it's...

1631
01:31:32.160 --> 01:31:33.720
It's all a bit strange.

1632
01:31:35.520 --> 01:31:36.800
It's something I didn't think...

1633
01:31:37.400 --> 01:31:39.240
I didn't really plan I'd be doing.

1634
01:31:42.160 --> 01:31:45.480
In all honesty, I've been quite anxious
about it the past...

1635
01:31:45.560 --> 01:31:48.080
Well, since I said I'd do it,
and it's here, isn't it?

1636
01:31:49.760 --> 01:31:52.520
And even today, you're in the studio
going through the walkthrough,

1637
01:31:52.600 --> 01:31:55.120
looking on the big screen
and you're seeing yourself.

1638
01:31:56.840 --> 01:31:58.320
Trying to find my feet again.

1639
01:32:00.960 --> 01:32:04.120
It's Bullseye, though.
It's a plastic Bully and a darts board.

1640
01:32:04.200 --> 01:32:06.160
- Who gives a fuck?
- [all laughing]

1641
01:32:06.840 --> 01:32:08.040
You know what I mean?

1642
01:32:13.240 --> 01:32:15.040
Interesting getting makeup on.

1643
01:32:17.320 --> 01:32:18.680
I'm not trying to hide my scars.

1644
01:32:18.760 --> 01:32:20.480
Just trying to take a bit out of 'em.

1645
01:32:22.440 --> 01:32:23.440
You know...

1646
01:32:25.080 --> 01:32:26.176
Wouldn't say embracing them,

1647
01:32:26.200 --> 01:32:29.680
but it's a case of don't make them show,
don't make them look.

1648
01:32:40.920 --> 01:32:42.520
[Harmison] After what he's been through,

1649
01:32:43.040 --> 01:32:45.960
I'm just pleased that he came through
the other side of it.

1650
01:32:47.360 --> 01:32:49.600
The interesting bit for me
is the next bit.

1651
01:32:50.640 --> 01:32:52.080
The minute he does Bullseye,

1652
01:32:53.000 --> 01:32:55.920
and everybody realises he's back,

1653
01:32:56.000 --> 01:33:00.440
then all of a sudden the offers
of the entertainment side come back in.

1654
01:33:01.360 --> 01:33:04.760
[host] Ladies and gentlemen,
Mr Freddie Flintoff!

1655
01:33:13.280 --> 01:33:16.520
[Harmison] In 12 months' time,
I'd love to see him still in cricket.

1656
01:33:16.600 --> 01:33:19.600
But being back in front of a camera,

1657
01:33:21.600 --> 01:33:23.640
I'd be amazed if he puts that to bed.

1658
01:33:34.160 --> 01:33:36.216
- [man 1] Yeah, good shot.
- [man 2] You little beauty.

1659
01:33:36.240 --> 01:33:37.240
[man 1] Great shot.

1660
01:33:37.320 --> 01:33:39.520
[Flintoff] I got here as if by magic.
Thanks, Pab.

1661
01:33:39.600 --> 01:33:41.520
Go on, Nige. I was due one of them.

1662
01:33:44.120 --> 01:33:45.600
Tried to hit that so hard.

1663
01:33:46.640 --> 01:33:47.640
Yes, Nige.

1664
01:33:50.600 --> 01:33:54.840
[Dower] When we started filming with Fred
over a year ago, he was a recluse,

1665
01:33:54.920 --> 01:33:57.440
suffering the torment
of a movie in his mind

1666
01:33:57.520 --> 01:34:00.600
that replayed the crash
over and over again.

1667
01:34:03.480 --> 01:34:04.720
[Flintoff] Did it get you?

1668
01:34:04.800 --> 01:34:07.720
[John Dower] I mean, were you
actually aiming for us?

1669
01:34:07.800 --> 01:34:09.960
I tried a little bit further right,
but you were...

1670
01:34:10.640 --> 01:34:12.840
That hat of yours was my aiming point.

1671
01:34:12.920 --> 01:34:14.800
[Dower] Now, though,
he was confident enough

1672
01:34:14.880 --> 01:34:16.560
to be out and about in public.

1673
01:34:17.080 --> 01:34:18.960
Very much Freddie again.

1674
01:34:19.040 --> 01:34:21.240
I thought he's found a way
of getting rid of me,

1675
01:34:21.320 --> 01:34:22.480
take me out with a golf ball.

1676
01:34:22.560 --> 01:34:24.760
There's plenty of ways, John,
don't worry about that.

1677
01:34:24.840 --> 01:34:26.720
[both laughing]

1678
01:34:29.800 --> 01:34:34.360
[Dower] I wasn't sure if his future
was in cricket, or television, or both.

1679
01:34:37.760 --> 01:34:40.840
[Key] There's always something else,
especially for someone like him,

1680
01:34:42.120 --> 01:34:45.440
who's always gonna be thinking,
"That's done, what's the next thing?"

1681
01:34:46.320 --> 01:34:48.800
That's why he's done
so many different things,

1682
01:34:48.880 --> 01:34:51.160
you know, he's got such a varied playbook,

1683
01:34:51.240 --> 01:34:53.360
because he's never ever got to that point

1684
01:34:53.440 --> 01:34:55.760
where he can just sit back and go,
"Oh, that's me done now,

1685
01:34:55.800 --> 01:34:57.400
"I can just put my feet up."

1686
01:34:58.320 --> 01:35:00.800
- [John Dower] Plays golf now.
- There you go, Nige, that's on!

1687
01:35:01.640 --> 01:35:03.080
- [Nige] Get in.
- [man] Get in?

1688
01:35:03.160 --> 01:35:05.800
[all laughing]

1689
01:35:09.120 --> 01:35:13.120
[Rachael] Some things will maybe
never go back to how they were.

1690
01:35:15.280 --> 01:35:19.200
But, you know, with Andrew being Andrew,

1691
01:35:19.280 --> 01:35:22.760
he's just created a whole new story.

1692
01:35:24.680 --> 01:35:26.800
[Dower] This documentary
started as a shoot

1693
01:35:26.880 --> 01:35:28.960
to end speculation on the accident.

1694
01:35:30.240 --> 01:35:32.040
But as the filming progressed,

1695
01:35:32.120 --> 01:35:34.240
it became a search for Fred's identity

1696
01:35:35.400 --> 01:35:38.360
as he looked backwards
while trying to move forwards.

1697
01:35:40.320 --> 01:35:43.400
It felt like that search was now over.

1698
01:35:46.800 --> 01:35:50.440
And finally, Fred, how's your recovery?

1699
01:35:50.520 --> 01:35:53.240
I think you've got your teeth finally,
didn't you?

1700
01:35:53.320 --> 01:35:55.320
I got these teeth, my teeth are in now,

1701
01:35:56.040 --> 01:35:58.400
but I think this is it now, isn't it?

1702
01:35:58.480 --> 01:36:00.360
This is where I'm at, what I'm left with.

1703
01:36:01.400 --> 01:36:03.496
[Dower] All right, I'll let you
get on with the back nine.

1704
01:36:03.520 --> 01:36:05.800
Which I am.
I'm having a nice day, actually, yeah.

1705
01:36:05.880 --> 01:36:07.496
It'll be even better
when you lot are gone.

1706
01:36:07.520 --> 01:36:09.480
[both laughing]

1707
01:36:09.560 --> 01:36:11.000
[Dower] Don't worry, we're going.

1708
01:36:16.200 --> 01:36:18.136
- [Dower] Well done.
- [Whitehall] Thank you very much.

1709
01:36:18.160 --> 01:36:19.320
[Dower] No, thank you.

1710
01:36:20.880 --> 01:36:24.400
It felt a bit like we were talking
about him and he'd died, but...

1711
01:36:24.480 --> 01:36:26.120
[Dower laughs heartily]

1712
01:36:26.200 --> 01:36:27.240
At times.

1713
01:36:27.320 --> 01:36:30.280
- Do you have any message for him?
- Do you remember this?

1714
01:36:30.360 --> 01:36:31.640
You know, beyond the grave?

1715
01:36:31.720 --> 01:36:33.240
Beyond the grave? [chuckles]

1716
01:36:34.440 --> 01:36:36.640
Uh, answer my texts.

1717
01:36:37.280 --> 01:36:38.760
[Dower] Well, he's terrible for that.

1718
01:36:38.800 --> 01:36:40.040
He's terrible for that.

1719
01:36:40.120 --> 01:36:41.840
But I spoke to Steve Harmison
the other day,

1720
01:36:41.920 --> 01:36:43.280
and Steve Harmison said,

1721
01:36:45.120 --> 01:36:48.800
"The most worrying moment
about post the injury

1722
01:36:48.880 --> 01:36:52.720
"is that whenever you messaged Fred,
he would message back straightaway,

1723
01:36:52.800 --> 01:36:54.680
"and that's when we knew
something was wrong."

1724
01:36:54.760 --> 01:36:57.720
And recently, he's stopped returning
people's texts,

1725
01:36:57.800 --> 01:37:00.640
and everyone's gone,
"We've got Fred back."

1726
01:37:00.720 --> 01:37:03.080
[♪ captivating music playing]