‘I’d sit quietly hoping to find weird creatures’
TV presenter Jonathan Ross, 62, journeys across the country investigating myths and legends for our viewing pleasure…
How did this come about? I’ve spoken a little bit about my love of mythology and folklore, and the idea behind this is that we talk to people keeping these traditions and rituals alive, as well travelling round the UK, visiting spots that have inspired mythology in fiction. It was a lot of fun.
Has this always interested you?
I used to read a lot of horror stuff when I was a kid. Part of the appeal was the realisation that folklore is based on some degree of fact, and so I spent a lot of my youth wandering round – essentially on my own – hoping to find weird creatures. I’d also sit quietly in trees. I never saw anything, but I was very open to that, I kind of still am…
You touch on vampires… Obviously, I’ve read Dracula and I’ve seen so many vampire movies – but to actually go to the place in Whitby where Bram Stoker went, visiting the spot where he would have sat and looked over the bay… it was really lovely to walk in his footsteps. What else do you get up to?
We go to Wales where we talk about the legend of the Afanc, which is a kind of cross between a beaver and a crocodile, in a river, lured out using a young maiden… There’s another fabulous story about a faithful hound called Gelert. We also tried some Welsh rarebit, which bizarrely I never thought would come from Wales, I don’t know why! Even people like me can learn how stupid they are on this trip…
You try mixing herbal potions… This medicine has been going on for centuries, and it was great to find out there is so much growing around us that we can benefit from. We went out with a local herbalist and had a good yomp through the woods. She made me some nettle tea, which – I’ll be honest with you – wasn’t the best tea I’ve ever had, but presumably it does something to you…
And you meet the Silver
Spoon Collective.…
I felt very moved to meet this group of women who connected to the past, when these terrible acts were carried out – thousands of people across Europe executed for allegedly being witches. You’re accused of something which is clearly nonsense, and in Lancaster I went down into a cell 30 or 40 feet underground, with no sanitation or windows, where they were chained up for months and given dry bread. It’s certainly stayed with me, it’s so disturbing…
Did you bring back any interesting curios?
There’s an apothecary in Brontë country, which was there when the Brontë sisters lived there. Apparently, their brother, Branwell, used to go there to get his laudanum – and then unsteadily make his way home! They don’t sell laudanum any more, but I bought quite a few bath bombs and bits and pieces for my wife and daughters – and a pebble from Loch Ness. I hope that doesn’t get me in trouble, it’s not like coral in Australia…
Would you like to make more TV shows like this?
Yes and no… The thing is, I’m quite old now and time does get a little bit more valuable to you. It’s also more challenging to make this kind of show, but if a topic’s appealing and I feel a degree of passion for it, then it can be fun.
I’ll just have to see…