1 00:00:01,240 --> 00:00:04,100 Hello. Today, I'm at a factory. 2 00:00:04,340 --> 00:00:06,200 Sorry, I've still got a throat. 3 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:14,640 Oh, that's better. That can produce 4 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:19,480 up to 36 million throat lozenges every single day. 5 00:00:22,540 --> 00:00:24,480 Oh, look at this. 6 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:26,460 I'm Paddy McGuinness. 7 00:00:26,700 --> 00:00:28,460 Oh, that's good. 8 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:30,400 A reluctant superhero. 9 00:00:31,260 --> 00:00:35,460 Is this not the worst Avenger you've ever seen in your life? 10 00:00:35,700 --> 00:00:38,800 In the fight against the symptoms of colds and flu. 11 00:00:39,060 --> 00:00:43,420 I absolutely love that. Like a machine gunner for all passengers. 12 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:45,320 Hard at work. 13 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:48,200 For God's sake, Brian, slow it down. I'm not a machine. 14 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:52,200 To provide the relief that a snotty -nosed nation needs. 15 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:56,100 And while I learn how to soothe a sore throat. 16 00:00:56,540 --> 00:00:57,880 And a banging headache. 17 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:01,280 Cherry Ely is rounding up the ingredients. 18 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:04,540 I'm in search of honey. 19 00:01:05,239 --> 00:01:09,740 Uncovering the stomach -churning habits of nature's hard -working heroes. 20 00:01:10,180 --> 00:01:14,220 When a honeybee gets back to the hive, it regurgitates its collective nectar. 21 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:16,060 Obviously it regurgitates it. 22 00:01:16,860 --> 00:01:22,760 And our resident historian, Ruth Goodman, is prescribing the shocking 23 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:23,760 the local pharmacy. 24 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:26,060 You could buy... 25 00:01:26,460 --> 00:01:30,940 Arthnic, strychnine, cyanide. Over -the -counter with no oversight. 26 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:32,280 And no prescription. 27 00:01:32,700 --> 00:01:33,700 Wow. 28 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:42,360 This factory pops out an incredible 230 million tablets and 29 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:46,880 lozenges every single week. Welcome to Inside the Factory. 30 00:01:47,620 --> 00:01:49,000 Play the title. 31 00:02:18,270 --> 00:02:20,090 Are you okay? You alright? 32 00:02:25,150 --> 00:02:26,150 Yeah. 33 00:02:28,910 --> 00:02:30,330 Love these doors. 34 00:02:32,090 --> 00:02:35,570 They don't, uh... Love this door. 35 00:02:39,330 --> 00:02:43,510 I'm at the Wreck -It factory in Nottingham where they make enough pills 36 00:02:43,510 --> 00:02:46,270 tablets here to fill the biggest of medicine cabinets. 37 00:02:49,870 --> 00:02:54,190 Whether you've got a nasty cold coming on or just a bit of indigestion, 38 00:02:54,410 --> 00:03:00,050 there's a good chance that if there's an over -the -counter medicine to soothe 39 00:03:00,050 --> 00:03:02,170 it, they make it here. 40 00:03:04,790 --> 00:03:09,470 And today I'm following the production of not one, but two medicines. 41 00:03:10,710 --> 00:03:15,330 Strepsils, honey and lemon lozenges, and Neuropen, ibuprofen. 42 00:03:17,710 --> 00:03:23,050 Now, clearly, I've no idea about making pharmaceuticals, but I do know that this 43 00:03:23,050 --> 00:03:25,550 factory takes it very seriously indeed. 44 00:03:27,010 --> 00:03:32,990 Because even me designer stubbles, they've got to be covered up. 45 00:03:35,110 --> 00:03:38,870 But the main thing is, I've still got me dignity. 46 00:03:40,790 --> 00:03:42,050 Let's make some pills. 47 00:03:46,220 --> 00:03:50,140 And you can't have a honey and lemon lozenger, yeah, that's how we say it, 48 00:03:50,180 --> 00:03:52,080 without some honey. 49 00:03:54,660 --> 00:04:01,620 They get through 175 ,000 litres every year, making lozenges to ease our 50 00:04:01,620 --> 00:04:02,740 scratchy brawl. 51 00:04:05,780 --> 00:04:08,240 And I'm on my way to meet it. 52 00:04:08,540 --> 00:04:09,540 Right. 53 00:04:09,700 --> 00:04:10,700 More? 54 00:04:16,519 --> 00:04:18,140 What are they doing here, splitting the pattern? 55 00:04:19,940 --> 00:04:25,060 I tell you what, is this not the worst Avenger you've ever seen in your life? 56 00:04:28,220 --> 00:04:33,940 Meanwhile, the hero ingredient for my lozenges, the honey, has been taken to 57 00:04:33,940 --> 00:04:37,560 factory's high -tech Dust 3 testing station. 58 00:04:39,660 --> 00:04:44,100 Keep going, mate. In this chamber of highly filtered air... Only authorized 59 00:04:44,100 --> 00:04:48,520 personnel are allowed in to meet Lozinger supplier lead Richard Tagg. 60 00:04:50,840 --> 00:04:51,840 Hey -o, Rich. 61 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:57,440 Hi, Paddy. How do we do this? Is it all... I mean, it's all... How are you, 62 00:04:58,060 --> 00:04:59,060 He's on the elbows. 63 00:04:59,260 --> 00:05:00,260 Safety first. 64 00:05:00,840 --> 00:05:04,980 This is the next level. This is the most I've ever had to do when it comes to 65 00:05:04,980 --> 00:05:07,400 PPE and everything else. Why is it so stringent? 66 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:10,640 So because we're a pharmaceutical factory, from a safety and quality 67 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:13,950 perspective, we have to make sure that we cannot... contaminate any of our 68 00:05:13,950 --> 00:05:17,810 products all our raw materials that come into the factory have to be sampled and 69 00:05:17,810 --> 00:05:22,970 tested so tim's going to take that away for testing okay how many cough drops in 70 00:05:22,970 --> 00:05:27,210 there then rich these aren't cough drops these are medicated lozenges that we're 71 00:05:27,210 --> 00:05:31,650 making today a medicated lozenge coats the throat to relieve the symptoms and 72 00:05:31,650 --> 00:05:35,490 discomforts of a sore throat it's cleft as a medicine and you're only allowed up 73 00:05:35,490 --> 00:05:40,700 to 12 lozenges per 24 hours we use honey for a flavor And we add our medicines 74 00:05:40,700 --> 00:05:42,800 and active ingredients later within the process. 75 00:05:43,100 --> 00:05:46,280 These are the things you do not even think about when you pick up a lozenger. 76 00:05:48,500 --> 00:05:53,220 Tim's put the honey through its paces to meet the factory's strict quality 77 00:05:53,220 --> 00:05:54,220 controls. 78 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:56,080 Yep, that's good to go. 79 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:57,440 Get her out, pal. 80 00:05:58,100 --> 00:06:02,180 So it's safely sealed up again for transit out of the airlock. 81 00:06:04,540 --> 00:06:06,700 And we can start the clock on production. 82 00:06:09,740 --> 00:06:14,340 While the honey heads off to be transformed into lozenges, it's got me 83 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:17,380 How do bees actually make the stuff? 84 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:19,560 Cherry's on the case. 85 00:06:24,460 --> 00:06:30,420 I am Paddy, and I am buzzing to visit a specialist research facility run by the 86 00:06:30,420 --> 00:06:31,580 University of Oxford. 87 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:39,900 Scientist Dr. Jonathan Patrick is a serious bee boffin. 88 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:45,340 Lovely to meet you. Good to meet you. Welcome to the Bee Lab. The Bee Lab. 89 00:06:46,020 --> 00:06:50,200 What do you actually study? So we're interested in bee nutrition, bee 90 00:06:50,380 --> 00:06:51,259 bee physiology. 91 00:06:51,260 --> 00:06:54,580 Making sure the bees are healthy and healthy bees will tend to produce more 92 00:06:54,580 --> 00:06:57,140 honey. Why do bees make honey? 93 00:06:57,520 --> 00:06:59,000 Well, they're not making it for us. What? 94 00:06:59,500 --> 00:07:04,480 they don't make it for us no they're actually making it as a store to see 95 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:11,360 through the winter bees make honey to feed the colony and to make enough 96 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:16,860 for the cold weather they must collect plenty of the main ingredient nectar 97 00:07:16,860 --> 00:07:23,840 flowers during spring and summer what exactly is nectar the nectar is 98 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:25,060 produced by plants 99 00:07:25,919 --> 00:07:29,900 to encourage bees and other pollinators to visit their flowers. 100 00:07:30,340 --> 00:07:35,480 It's a sugary liquid which is essentially carbohydrates, so it powers 101 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:39,640 flight and it's also something that the bees will be taking back to their colony 102 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:41,620 to feed the colony members as well. 103 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:45,460 So it's not just that bees collect nectar to take back to make honey at the 104 00:07:45,460 --> 00:07:48,020 hive, they actually eat it as a snack? 105 00:07:48,300 --> 00:07:49,300 Exactly. 106 00:07:49,870 --> 00:07:54,890 Bees collect nectar using a proboscis, which is like a long tongue, especially 107 00:07:54,890 --> 00:07:58,810 evolved to lap up the sweet liquid from the centre of the flower. 108 00:07:59,550 --> 00:08:04,410 Well, how does it then transport it to the hive if it's already eaten it? So a 109 00:08:04,410 --> 00:08:08,470 honeybee has a special storage organ inside its abdomen called the honey 110 00:08:08,470 --> 00:08:09,470 stomach. 111 00:08:10,890 --> 00:08:16,750 The honey stomach is an expandable pouch which can hold around 30 milligrams of 112 00:08:16,750 --> 00:08:17,750 nectar. 113 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:20,260 But how does it get turned into honey? 114 00:08:22,060 --> 00:08:26,660 So when a honeybee gets back to the hive, the first thing it does is offload 115 00:08:26,660 --> 00:08:30,080 collected nectar to a receiver bee. How does it hand it over? 116 00:08:30,460 --> 00:08:33,080 Yeah, so I'm not sure you're going to like this. So it regurgitates its 117 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:35,659 collected nectar. Obviously it regurgitates it. 118 00:08:37,220 --> 00:08:42,780 To demonstrate how this happens inside the hive, Jonathan has mixed sugar with 119 00:08:42,780 --> 00:08:45,800 water to create his own artificial nectar. 120 00:08:46,710 --> 00:08:49,130 Doesn't take long before the bees suck it up. 121 00:08:49,530 --> 00:08:51,530 They absolutely love that. 122 00:08:51,890 --> 00:08:53,050 And share it out. 123 00:08:53,810 --> 00:08:55,010 There we go, there we go. 124 00:08:56,330 --> 00:08:59,990 So you can see one of the bees has got its proboscis out and is drinking the 125 00:08:59,990 --> 00:09:00,990 nectar from the other one. 126 00:09:02,690 --> 00:09:07,690 As the liquid nectar is passed from one bee to another, some of the water 127 00:09:07,690 --> 00:09:12,890 evaporates, increasing the concentration of sugar, but not yet raising the 128 00:09:12,890 --> 00:09:15,010 levels enough to transform it into honey. 129 00:09:16,300 --> 00:09:20,600 Next is typically around 20 % sugar, whereas honey, we need to get up to 130 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:22,400 something that's around 80 % sugar. 131 00:09:22,620 --> 00:09:26,760 How on earth do the bees get rid of so much water? The best place to see that 132 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:27,780 actually in the hive. 133 00:09:30,860 --> 00:09:33,780 There are 12 hives in this outside lab. 134 00:09:34,260 --> 00:09:36,720 An apiary manager... Is that Mark? 135 00:09:37,100 --> 00:09:38,440 It is Mark, right? 136 00:09:38,740 --> 00:09:40,800 Mark Lynch... Could be anyone. 137 00:09:41,740 --> 00:09:45,120 ..is using a little wood smoke to calm the bees down. 138 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:49,140 We are going inside the hive. We're going inside the factory. 139 00:09:51,220 --> 00:09:52,980 OK, look at this. Wow. 140 00:09:54,380 --> 00:09:58,360 Each hive has between 50 ,000 and 80 ,000 working bees. 141 00:09:59,220 --> 00:10:00,220 That's incredible. 142 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:06,300 At this point, the nectar hasn't become honey yet. They still need to evaporate 143 00:10:06,300 --> 00:10:07,500 more water from the liquid. 144 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:11,320 So there's still lots of work to be done by the bees to get it thicker and 145 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:12,320 sweeter. Yeah. 146 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:18,100 Each bee regurgitates nectar from their honey stomach into their mouth parts, 147 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:20,700 where even more water evaporates. 148 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:27,620 They repeat this process to fully concentrate the nectar, and they have 149 00:10:27,620 --> 00:10:29,080 trick to finish the job. 150 00:10:30,100 --> 00:10:35,800 The bees will continue to reduce the water content in the liquid by fanning 151 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:40,580 their wings to create an airflow through the hive that will evaporate the water. 152 00:10:41,150 --> 00:10:45,290 The temperature of a hive is about 35 degrees, so the heat of the hive and the 153 00:10:45,290 --> 00:10:47,970 fanning will reduce the water content even further. 154 00:10:48,190 --> 00:10:52,090 So the fanning is almost like putting on a hairdryer? Yeah. That's brilliant. 155 00:10:54,070 --> 00:10:59,190 After this final blow -dry, the water content is reduced to less than 18%, 156 00:10:59,190 --> 00:11:05,290 leaving at least 82 % sugar, which means that it's now officially honey. 157 00:11:05,650 --> 00:11:09,330 Oh, look at that. Look at that. We've got 82 .4%. Perfect. One, go! 158 00:11:10,510 --> 00:11:12,710 But the bees' work isn't done yet. 159 00:11:14,570 --> 00:11:20,170 In the wild, bees create these familiar hexagonal honeycomb shapes by secreting 160 00:11:20,170 --> 00:11:22,090 wax from glands on their abdomen. 161 00:11:23,350 --> 00:11:28,670 In a hive, the man -made wooden frames have a thin foundation layer of wax, 162 00:11:28,950 --> 00:11:33,650 providing a neat template onto which the bees build their cells to store the 163 00:11:33,650 --> 00:11:34,650 honey. 164 00:11:35,020 --> 00:11:38,420 When the bees have finished processing the honey and it's become what we call 165 00:11:38,420 --> 00:11:43,620 ripe, the bees will cover the cell over with wax to waterproof it. Right. 166 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:49,200 Because honey will suck moisture out of the air and without the wax coating, it 167 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:52,180 would become more watery again and eventually ferment. 168 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:58,020 As well as making enough honey to feed themselves through the winter, the bees 169 00:11:58,020 --> 00:12:03,000 in a hive like this can produce an additional 22 jars worth of honey a 170 00:12:04,470 --> 00:12:09,110 Enough for 87 ,307 individual throat lozenges. 171 00:12:11,070 --> 00:12:16,850 So that's been regurgitated many, many times. It's been dried, it's been heated 172 00:12:16,850 --> 00:12:20,050 by the hive, and then it's been sealed to be waterproof. 173 00:12:20,590 --> 00:12:21,590 Yeah. 174 00:12:21,710 --> 00:12:23,870 Takes a lot of work to make, honey, doesn't it? It certainly does. 175 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:40,640 Back at the most hygienically high -tech factory I've ever seen, 176 00:12:40,800 --> 00:12:47,780 I'm settling into my surgical space loafers and 177 00:12:47,780 --> 00:12:50,440 following the health and safety yellow brick road. 178 00:12:52,700 --> 00:12:55,520 That's fancy. I like that. I like it. 179 00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:59,240 I was going to say, when it comes to PPE, what's your favourite part? 180 00:13:00,300 --> 00:13:01,640 Not the hairnets. 181 00:13:01,880 --> 00:13:02,880 I quite like these glasses. 182 00:13:05,550 --> 00:13:09,550 My fully tested honey has made its way to the mixing area. 183 00:13:10,690 --> 00:13:12,330 But not as we know it, Jim. 184 00:13:13,710 --> 00:13:15,870 Ah! Waiting for the airlock. 185 00:13:16,450 --> 00:13:18,670 So everything's... Is it hermetic? 186 00:13:19,510 --> 00:13:20,510 What's the word? 187 00:13:20,630 --> 00:13:23,010 We call them airlocks, so you've got pressure differentials, basically. 188 00:13:23,410 --> 00:13:24,410 Oh, right, OK. 189 00:13:25,650 --> 00:13:28,450 Rich didn't want to say hermetically sealed either. 190 00:13:29,470 --> 00:13:30,470 Here they are. 191 00:13:32,230 --> 00:13:33,750 So the honey's piped up. 192 00:13:34,250 --> 00:13:35,570 That's pumped into the mixer. 193 00:13:35,970 --> 00:13:38,330 So is it just honey in there then, Rich? 194 00:13:38,570 --> 00:13:42,190 No, we mix the honey with liquid sucrose and liquid glucose. 195 00:13:42,890 --> 00:13:45,390 Sucrose is a complex sugar that comes from fruit. 196 00:13:45,750 --> 00:13:50,550 Glucose is a simple sugar made up from cornstarch. If we just use liquid 197 00:13:50,550 --> 00:13:55,310 alone, it would crystallise and produce a gritty lozenge. Whereas if we just use 198 00:13:55,310 --> 00:13:59,590 glucose alone, it would melt the final lozenge. So we use both to build the 199 00:13:59,590 --> 00:14:03,230 perfect structure to carry the medicine to our throat. 200 00:14:06,030 --> 00:14:10,390 These sugars are combined with the honey to create the base mixture for my 201 00:14:10,390 --> 00:14:11,390 lozenges. 202 00:14:12,430 --> 00:14:17,870 The sweet mix then travels through a series of cookers, heating it to 140 203 00:14:17,870 --> 00:14:22,990 degrees Celsius, removing 20 % of its moisture. 204 00:14:23,730 --> 00:14:27,470 If we continued to cook at those temperatures, the materials would burn. 205 00:14:27,710 --> 00:14:32,010 So to get around that, we drop the materials into a vacuum chamber. 206 00:14:32,010 --> 00:14:33,990 water is boiled at 100 degrees Celsius. 207 00:14:34,650 --> 00:14:38,270 So this vacuum allows us to boil a lot lower, around 30 degrees. 208 00:14:39,590 --> 00:14:45,230 The vacuum chamber lowers air pressure, so a lot less heat is needed to expand 209 00:14:45,230 --> 00:14:51,210 the water molecules into gas, which brings the moisture level down to 2%. 210 00:14:51,210 --> 00:14:58,010 Next, tartaric acid from fruits 211 00:14:58,010 --> 00:15:02,590 like grapes and avocados is added to enhance the flavour of the lozenges. 212 00:15:03,790 --> 00:15:05,450 But we've still got to add the medicine. 213 00:15:05,730 --> 00:15:06,709 Where's that done? 214 00:15:06,710 --> 00:15:08,650 So the medicine is made in dispensary. 215 00:15:08,870 --> 00:15:11,850 That sounds very chemistry, very pharmaceutical. 216 00:15:12,410 --> 00:15:13,389 I like it. 217 00:15:13,390 --> 00:15:16,690 Richard, it's been a pleasure, pal. We'll look at the next bit. 218 00:15:19,030 --> 00:15:24,170 While Rich oversees my scorching hot mixture, I'm off to meet technical 219 00:15:24,170 --> 00:15:26,730 director, Dr Jenna Buckley. 220 00:15:29,390 --> 00:15:31,190 Who has a door with no airlock? 221 00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:34,940 So maybe things are getting a bit more relaxed around here. 222 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:36,759 Hello, Jenna. 223 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:40,400 Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Right, just one minute. You can't come 224 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:44,440 across the line if you've got a phone on you. This is an ATEX rated zone, which 225 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:48,380 is where we have to be extra specially careful when we've got fine dry powders 226 00:15:48,380 --> 00:15:49,800 and flammable liquids. 227 00:15:50,100 --> 00:15:53,980 Anything that carries an electrical charge might cause an explosion. 228 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:55,640 Understood. 229 00:15:57,620 --> 00:15:58,620 Let's pop it on there. 230 00:15:59,310 --> 00:16:01,690 Is it just anything electrical? 231 00:16:02,030 --> 00:16:04,130 I'm sorry, you cannot bring over. No worries. 232 00:16:05,470 --> 00:16:06,470 Yep, 233 00:16:07,750 --> 00:16:08,750 keep going. 234 00:16:09,430 --> 00:16:11,690 We might be here for a while, Jenna. 235 00:16:22,350 --> 00:16:24,310 Great. Is that everything? 236 00:16:24,630 --> 00:16:25,730 Yeah. Okay. 237 00:16:26,210 --> 00:16:28,330 Right. One last thing, no cameras. 238 00:16:30,619 --> 00:16:36,060 Jenna, we need them so we can see it on the telly. You can come over, but they 239 00:16:36,060 --> 00:16:39,960 need to see it. They can't come with us, right? Get over there, pal. 240 00:16:41,180 --> 00:16:43,700 Luckily, the lads have some paparazzi lenses. 241 00:16:44,580 --> 00:16:45,580 Right. 242 00:16:45,740 --> 00:16:47,380 What a place this is. 243 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:56,100 So these are the ingredients that go into our medicated lozenge. This is what 244 00:16:56,100 --> 00:16:57,640 changes it from being just a sweet. 245 00:16:58,060 --> 00:17:02,060 into something that can help take away your sore throat. So what causes a sore 246 00:17:02,060 --> 00:17:06,980 throat? So most sore throats are caused by viruses. They attack the lining of 247 00:17:06,980 --> 00:17:07,819 your throat. 248 00:17:07,819 --> 00:17:10,020 They make it red, tender and sore. 249 00:17:10,500 --> 00:17:14,220 So in our medicated lozenges, we have two ingredients. 250 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:17,839 These are the antiseptics that help kill viruses in your throat. 251 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:20,619 The first one is the amometal creosol. 252 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:24,319 And then the other is dichlorobenzyl alcohol. 253 00:17:24,540 --> 00:17:27,839 This helps attack different bugs in your mouth and your throat. 254 00:17:28,099 --> 00:17:32,340 And when they're combined together, they act to be stronger and take the pain 255 00:17:32,340 --> 00:17:33,340 away. 256 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:37,760 First into the mixer go the antiseptic. 257 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:45,900 Next, we need some flavouring. We have lemon oil and the peppermint oil that 258 00:17:45,900 --> 00:17:47,720 helps it expatriate this flavour. 259 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:53,240 Oh, so you add peppermint to get more lemon. We do, yes. The way it works in 260 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:55,880 your mouth, the peppermint makes the lemon taste better. 261 00:17:57,580 --> 00:18:03,260 The flavourings are added and the mixture is heated to 35 degrees Celsius. 262 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:11,300 20 minutes later, my medicine is done and decanted into containers ready to be 263 00:18:11,300 --> 00:18:12,660 sent to the production line. 264 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:22,820 As I'm quickly learning, and as you can see, there's a lot of rules and 265 00:18:22,820 --> 00:18:27,760 regulations when it comes to medicine, but 200 years ago, not so much. 266 00:18:30,460 --> 00:18:32,800 As Ruth has been discovering. 267 00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:43,480 If you were sick in Victorian Britain, there was no NHS to turn to, 268 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:46,280 and doctors were expensive. 269 00:18:49,230 --> 00:18:54,030 But Victorian pharmacies like this one, faithfully recreated at the London 270 00:18:54,030 --> 00:19:00,090 Science Museum, stocked a range of products and potions that Catherine 271 00:19:00,090 --> 00:19:03,390 the Royal Pharmaceutical Society knows all about. 272 00:19:04,390 --> 00:19:08,110 I was wondering, this feels quite a grand sort of space. 273 00:19:08,350 --> 00:19:10,790 What sort of things are people coming... 274 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:12,320 Two are chemists' four. 275 00:19:12,660 --> 00:19:15,460 Well, the chemists and druggists would sell a whole range of things, ranging 276 00:19:15,460 --> 00:19:16,980 from food, wine. 277 00:19:17,220 --> 00:19:19,920 You could go for the opticians, get a tooth pulled. 278 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:22,500 So it wasn't just medicines that they sold. 279 00:19:22,740 --> 00:19:26,320 It's not like the NHS now, where pharmacists are paid to supply you with 280 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:27,320 prescription medicine. 281 00:19:30,220 --> 00:19:34,740 Even the poorest customers could afford cheap remedies for common ailments like 282 00:19:34,740 --> 00:19:35,860 coughs and colds. 283 00:19:38,890 --> 00:19:45,250 There were absolutely no restrictions on what these druggists sold or who they 284 00:19:45,250 --> 00:19:46,250 sold it to. 285 00:19:46,310 --> 00:19:51,810 This illustration dates to the 1860s. Oh, this is amazing, isn't it? We've got 286 00:19:51,810 --> 00:19:54,670 this very emaciated little girl down here. 287 00:19:54,990 --> 00:20:00,910 Please, mister, will you be so good as to fill this bottle again with laudanum? 288 00:20:01,470 --> 00:20:05,430 Laudanum is basically opium and alcohol mixed together. 289 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:12,120 And you can see from her sunken in cheeks that this is a depiction of 290 00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:13,120 who's already addicted. 291 00:20:13,460 --> 00:20:16,260 So this is saying a child is an opium addict? 292 00:20:16,620 --> 00:20:21,600 Yes. Children are quite often given laudanum as a soothing aid to help them 293 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:22,600 sleep. 294 00:20:23,620 --> 00:20:29,640 And side by side with narcotics, with some even more sinister products. 295 00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:31,740 And there's arsenic. 296 00:20:32,140 --> 00:20:34,900 All sorts of poisons are constantly available. 297 00:20:35,580 --> 00:20:38,960 Yes, Victorians have a slightly different understanding of poisons than 298 00:20:39,060 --> 00:20:44,580 You could buy arsenic, strychnine, cyanide, all from your chemist and 299 00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:46,960 Over -the -counter with no oversight. 300 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:48,240 And no prescription. 301 00:20:48,620 --> 00:20:49,620 Wow. 302 00:20:53,340 --> 00:20:58,260 Across town at the archives of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society... A few rare 303 00:20:58,260 --> 00:21:04,220 relics from this unregulated Victorian era can be handled with great care. 304 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:09,560 Oh, gosh. 305 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:14,300 Arsenic complexion soap? 306 00:21:14,900 --> 00:21:18,420 You'd be surprised at the products that arsenic found its way into. 307 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:19,800 I mean, in cosmetics. 308 00:21:21,540 --> 00:21:25,620 It's a far cry from the heavily controlled ingredients. 309 00:21:26,270 --> 00:21:28,430 used on Paddy's production line today. 310 00:21:28,930 --> 00:21:31,710 Oh, we've got some throat pastels. Now, you'd think that would be all right, 311 00:21:31,770 --> 00:21:33,450 wouldn't you? Allenbury's throat pastels. 312 00:21:34,510 --> 00:21:35,710 Diamorphine and cocaine. 313 00:21:36,430 --> 00:21:40,510 The diamorphine actually is a cost -suppressant, and then the cocaine is an 314 00:21:40,510 --> 00:21:43,470 anaesthetic, so it would soothe your sore throat. 315 00:21:45,190 --> 00:21:48,290 But these drugs could also be dangerously addictive. 316 00:21:51,020 --> 00:21:54,480 Thankfully, from the middle of the 19th century, acts of Parliament were passed 317 00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:57,020 to try to bring the chemists under control. 318 00:21:57,900 --> 00:22:01,800 But it was a tragic case in Bradford that would change the pharmaceutical 319 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:02,960 industry forever. 320 00:22:03,660 --> 00:22:08,140 There was a confectioner who was making peppermint humbugs like this. 321 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:14,420 And he was padding out the sugar, because it was so expensive, with a 322 00:22:14,420 --> 00:22:15,420 Paris mixture. 323 00:22:15,700 --> 00:22:19,260 And so he went to his chemist and druggist. 324 00:22:19,610 --> 00:22:23,950 to get some, but he was accidentally given arsenic. Good grief. 325 00:22:24,350 --> 00:22:26,470 And he mixed those into the sweets. 326 00:22:29,350 --> 00:22:34,610 The finished sweets didn't look quite right, so were sold at a discount to 327 00:22:34,610 --> 00:22:36,410 market trader Humbug Billy. 328 00:22:36,830 --> 00:22:41,410 The sweets sold out fast, but proved to be deadly. 329 00:22:42,830 --> 00:22:46,730 So we've got here dreadful fatality from poisoning. 330 00:22:47,610 --> 00:22:53,420 Gosh. And I sent two bellmen into all parts of the borough to give warning to 331 00:22:53,420 --> 00:22:55,700 all persons not to eat these lozenges. 332 00:22:56,180 --> 00:22:59,620 So you can imagine the panic. People were literally running through the 333 00:22:59,620 --> 00:23:02,000 warning people. Ringing bells, shouting, they're poisonous. 334 00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:06,980 And there was a massive amount. There was 12 pounds of arsenic mixed into 40 335 00:23:06,980 --> 00:23:07,980 pounds of sweets. 336 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:15,220 Tragically, more than 200 people were poisoned and at least 20 died. 337 00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:22,960 This fateful event led to the Pharmacy Act of 1868, which limited sales of 338 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:26,400 poisons to qualified pharmacists and druggists. 339 00:23:27,120 --> 00:23:32,060 So now, instead of anybody being able to set up a chemist shop and sell whatever 340 00:23:32,060 --> 00:23:34,620 they like, it has to be highly regulated. 341 00:23:34,900 --> 00:23:38,820 So in order to practice pharmacy, you have to be a member of the 342 00:23:38,820 --> 00:23:39,820 society. 343 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:43,940 The Pharmacy Act also required chemists and druggists. 344 00:23:44,190 --> 00:23:47,150 to clearly label all poison and drug. 345 00:23:48,250 --> 00:23:53,210 So this, in a sense, is the beginning of the sort of organised pharmacy. 346 00:23:53,330 --> 00:23:57,770 Exactly, and it's regulations like this that help build the public trust in 347 00:23:57,770 --> 00:23:59,770 pharmacy that we have today. 348 00:24:10,330 --> 00:24:14,940 Thankfully, the medicines in our factory... are fully approved for human 349 00:24:14,940 --> 00:24:15,940 consumption. 350 00:24:19,380 --> 00:24:24,040 And they're tested and checked at every stage to ensure they're safe. 351 00:24:27,340 --> 00:24:29,640 I tell you what, it's all happening here. Look in here. 352 00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:35,560 I don't know what tablets they are, but I say it must be a nightmare working 353 00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:36,760 here. You can never fall in sick. 354 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:41,360 Although, given the staff here can't just help themselves. 355 00:24:42,110 --> 00:24:45,230 If they do have an headache, they still have to nip out to the chemist. 356 00:24:46,790 --> 00:24:52,590 We're 35 minutes in, and at the start of the production line, my batch of zesty 357 00:24:52,590 --> 00:24:57,750 medicine is added to the honey and sugar lozenger mix, which is still a sizzling 358 00:24:57,750 --> 00:25:04,510 130 degrees Celsius, before it emerges fully combined in all 359 00:25:04,510 --> 00:25:06,110 its sticky splendour. 360 00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:18,420 All right, well, I could stand here looking at that pouring out of there all 361 00:25:18,420 --> 00:25:24,160 day, and I can just see through there, Rich, it's getting formed into a sheet. 362 00:25:44,330 --> 00:25:49,710 Two glossy rivers of lemon and honey mixture are created by rollers that 363 00:25:49,710 --> 00:25:52,050 the mix to 10 millimetres thick. 364 00:25:53,190 --> 00:25:56,270 Yes, that looks gorgeous. 365 00:25:56,510 --> 00:25:57,510 Love it. 366 00:25:59,570 --> 00:26:05,710 This flexible strip is then repeatedly folded over to create a gradually 367 00:26:05,710 --> 00:26:06,730 ribbon of gold. 368 00:26:08,690 --> 00:26:13,210 Starting to bring the temperature down so it's malleable, ready for forming. 369 00:26:14,990 --> 00:26:20,590 The metal conveyor is sprayed with warm water from underneath, maintaining a 370 00:26:20,590 --> 00:26:27,510 steady temperature of 45 to 55 degrees, which slowly cools the lozenge mix to 371 00:26:27,510 --> 00:26:28,950 80 degrees Celsius. 372 00:26:30,390 --> 00:26:34,050 So I'll snap you a piece off and then you can get a feel. 373 00:26:35,910 --> 00:26:37,050 Oh, get that. 374 00:27:00,020 --> 00:27:05,540 But of course, health and safety won't allow it. 375 00:27:05,740 --> 00:27:06,740 Spoilsports. 376 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:17,240 My stretchy strand of lozenge now heads uphill towards a pretty noisy part of 377 00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:18,240 the factory. 378 00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:23,220 Oh, look at that. 379 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:25,480 That's the snake that you've seen on the boat? 380 00:27:25,700 --> 00:27:30,420 Yeah. So the lozenge mix is transporting into what we call the batch former. 381 00:27:31,020 --> 00:27:32,660 That's amazing to look at that. 382 00:27:33,300 --> 00:27:37,600 There's four cylindrical rollers building it all up, starting to stretch 383 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:39,040 size it down for the next stage. 384 00:27:42,190 --> 00:27:47,970 The batch former is stretching the mixture like a sticky sugary dough, 385 00:27:47,970 --> 00:27:52,650 it round and round the roller to make sure it's flexible enough to be moulded 386 00:27:52,650 --> 00:27:53,650 into a lozenge. 387 00:27:55,450 --> 00:27:57,770 Yeah, it's getting thinner as it goes down, isn't it? 388 00:28:01,910 --> 00:28:05,430 The rope of honey and lemon is 9mm thick. 389 00:28:06,010 --> 00:28:10,550 As it snakes off, the roller's towards an intriguing -looking piece of kit. 390 00:28:11,980 --> 00:28:13,320 This is the moulding machine. 391 00:28:13,580 --> 00:28:16,840 So the rope comes in at the bottom. 392 00:28:22,660 --> 00:28:29,460 Inside the moulding machine, the rope passes into a circular metal die with 68 393 00:28:29,460 --> 00:28:31,800 sets of sharp top and bottom teeth. 394 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:36,100 They close on the rope. 395 00:28:36,460 --> 00:28:41,220 simultaneously cutting the individual lozenges and moulding them into the 396 00:28:41,220 --> 00:28:42,220 correct shape. 397 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:49,920 Then, out of the machine, hurtle 8 ,300 lozenges every minute. 398 00:28:54,540 --> 00:28:55,540 Wahey! 399 00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:57,920 Look at that! 400 00:29:02,420 --> 00:29:05,300 I absolutely love that machine! 401 00:29:06,670 --> 00:29:09,050 Like a machine gunner brought lozenges. 402 00:29:09,870 --> 00:29:11,070 How was the form? 403 00:29:15,550 --> 00:29:17,430 Can I get some off? Yeah, have a go. 404 00:29:18,250 --> 00:29:19,250 Get on there. 405 00:29:22,390 --> 00:29:25,810 Hey, look at that. 406 00:29:26,810 --> 00:29:28,050 All them lozenges. 407 00:29:31,070 --> 00:29:35,130 So as you can see, Paddy, that's a fully formed lozenge, but it is still really 408 00:29:35,130 --> 00:29:36,130 soft. 409 00:29:36,490 --> 00:29:39,550 And this machine, what we're firing them into, is called the cooling conveyor. 410 00:29:40,790 --> 00:29:45,370 As they travel through the enclosed cooling tunnel, the temperature of my 411 00:29:45,370 --> 00:29:52,030 squidgy lozenges is reduced from 80 degrees... Oh, the way I can see them 412 00:29:52,030 --> 00:29:53,030 going down there. 413 00:29:54,150 --> 00:29:55,370 Ah, yeah, they are. 414 00:29:55,570 --> 00:29:58,190 ..to around 33 degrees Celsius. 415 00:29:58,630 --> 00:30:00,230 So this is the end of our cooling tunnel. 416 00:30:00,970 --> 00:30:02,850 We can get a sample off at this point. 417 00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:06,100 So this is our finished lozenge. Do you want to feel that one, Paddy? 418 00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:08,600 Rock hard, ready to go. 419 00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:10,660 No squashing them whatsoever. 420 00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:15,620 So every hour, we can produce one million lozenges in the hour. 421 00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:19,940 Really? I didn't know there were that many people in the UK with sore throats. 422 00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:24,460 That is a fantastic pub fact. Thank you very much, Richard. 423 00:30:24,740 --> 00:30:27,940 I will bid you farewell, and I'm going to take that back with me. 424 00:30:32,430 --> 00:30:34,070 Every day is a school day. 425 00:30:34,610 --> 00:30:36,390 Well, unless you're poorly, of course. 426 00:30:38,770 --> 00:30:44,090 Speaking of which, remember when you were a kid, you weren't feeling well and 427 00:30:44,090 --> 00:30:46,990 your mum and dad would stick that big glass thermometer under your tongue? 428 00:30:47,510 --> 00:30:49,910 Or Terry's just finding out how they work. 429 00:30:53,350 --> 00:30:56,610 I'm in Cumbria, on the western edge of the Lake District. 430 00:30:57,990 --> 00:31:00,770 Home to thermometer manufacturer, Brannan. 431 00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:07,740 They've been making these traditional instruments since 1913. 432 00:31:13,560 --> 00:31:15,760 Manufacturing director, Juliet Taylor. 433 00:31:16,340 --> 00:31:20,220 Juliet, lovely to meet you. Hi, Sherry. It's overseeing their production. 434 00:31:20,820 --> 00:31:22,680 Do people still use glass thermometers? 435 00:31:23,140 --> 00:31:27,820 Yes, they're used in schools for experiments in their laboratories, 436 00:31:27,820 --> 00:31:30,140 the NHS and other industries. 437 00:31:32,750 --> 00:31:36,530 For safety reasons, we don't put glass thermometers in our mouth anymore. 438 00:31:37,030 --> 00:31:43,730 But one of the company's most popular products is still the 305mm glass 439 00:31:43,730 --> 00:31:44,970 laboratory thermometer. 440 00:31:46,410 --> 00:31:48,650 Where does the thermometer begin its life? 441 00:31:48,870 --> 00:31:50,990 It begins as a lens of glass. 442 00:31:52,590 --> 00:31:57,770 Produced overseas, the tubes are made from toughened glass, which won't crack 443 00:31:57,770 --> 00:31:58,770 high temperatures. 444 00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:05,900 And they already have a tiny channel inside, ready for the thermometer's 445 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:12,860 That is a very, very tiny hole. How big is it? It's about the size of a human 446 00:32:12,860 --> 00:32:13,860 hair. 447 00:32:15,020 --> 00:32:17,000 I'm amazed it can even get up it. 448 00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:18,940 Well, you'll see that it does. 449 00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:21,000 It better do. Yes. 450 00:32:23,780 --> 00:32:27,240 But first, the glass rods must be cut down to size. 451 00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:35,580 The tubes are rolled over flames at 1 ,600 degrees Celsius, melting the glass. 452 00:32:37,100 --> 00:32:40,420 And as it's heating it up, it's pulling it apart. 453 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:47,500 The rods are divided in two and sealed at the bottom, which is then expanded to 454 00:32:47,500 --> 00:32:49,480 create what is known as a bowl. 455 00:32:50,100 --> 00:32:52,740 So from here you can see that it's blowing the air. 456 00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:58,420 I'm making the bulb. So this is like a teeny tiny little glass blower. Yes, it 457 00:32:58,420 --> 00:32:59,820 is. Yes. 458 00:33:02,180 --> 00:33:07,380 With their newly formed bulbs, the thermometers are now ready to be filled 459 00:33:07,380 --> 00:33:12,420 one milliliter of the all -important liquid that will read any change in 460 00:33:12,420 --> 00:33:13,420 temperature. 461 00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:14,800 Pop that one in there. 462 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:15,759 All right. 463 00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:18,820 In it goes. We fill this with our low -tox liquid. 464 00:33:19,020 --> 00:33:20,920 What is low -tox liquid? 465 00:33:21,300 --> 00:33:26,820 It's a kerosene -based liquid that has been used to replace the mercury that 466 00:33:26,820 --> 00:33:27,820 we're used to use. 467 00:33:29,480 --> 00:33:34,560 Mercury is very stable and consistent when heated and was used in the first 468 00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:39,740 thermometer invented by Dutch physicist Gabriel Fahrenheit in 1714. 469 00:33:40,260 --> 00:33:41,920 Why don't we use mercury anymore? 470 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:45,120 The vapours off it would affect your brain function. 471 00:33:45,760 --> 00:33:50,180 So it was deemed to be a poisonous substance and it was banned in 2014. 472 00:33:50,820 --> 00:33:56,740 The kerosene used today is a safer petroleum -based product with a low 473 00:33:56,740 --> 00:33:58,940 point and a high boiling point. 474 00:33:59,700 --> 00:34:04,780 It's poured into a bath beneath the tiny holes in our thermometers before they 475 00:34:04,780 --> 00:34:06,320 are placed into a vacuum chamber. 476 00:34:07,780 --> 00:34:13,900 Inside, the air is sucked out of the tubes, forcing the kerosene mix up into 477 00:34:13,900 --> 00:34:18,600 bulbs. where it's held in place because the atmospheric pressure is greater on 478 00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:20,400 the outside than on the inside. 479 00:34:21,860 --> 00:34:23,440 It's like a magic trick. 480 00:34:23,980 --> 00:34:25,120 Look at that. 481 00:34:26,460 --> 00:34:28,179 That's absolutely incredible. 482 00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:35,960 The bulbs are heated to 70 degrees Celsius, vaporizing any excess liquid 483 00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:36,960 the tubes. 484 00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:44,719 The tops are then heated again to 1 ,200 degrees Celsius, melting the glass, and 485 00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:46,760 forever sealing the liquid inside. 486 00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:50,739 But how do thermometers actually work? 487 00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:54,520 Quality control manager Jonathan Henderson... Nice to meet you, Jonathan. 488 00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:59,700 Hi. ..is in charge of calibration, or making sure the thermometers are reading 489 00:34:59,700 --> 00:35:00,700 temperature correctly. 490 00:35:01,500 --> 00:35:05,260 At the moment, we've just got a glass tube with some liquid in it. How do you 491 00:35:05,260 --> 00:35:06,960 turn this into a thermometer? 492 00:35:07,340 --> 00:35:09,660 We need to create a reference point on the glass tube. 493 00:35:10,780 --> 00:35:15,660 To do this... the kerosene liquid must move up the inside of the thermometers. 494 00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:19,240 And this is done by placing them in a temperature -controlled bath. 495 00:35:20,680 --> 00:35:23,800 Why does the liquid expand up the tube? 496 00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:28,880 So as the liquid is heated up, there are little tiny atoms inside there, and as 497 00:35:28,880 --> 00:35:30,760 they are heated, they become more energetic. 498 00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:36,520 So it's all about the atoms getting hotter, more excited, expanding, and 499 00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:37,640 coming down when it's cooler. 500 00:35:37,980 --> 00:35:41,460 Yep. The bath water is set at 20 degrees Celsius. 501 00:35:42,120 --> 00:35:44,720 and the kerosene rises up the glass tube. 502 00:35:46,020 --> 00:35:50,700 But due to variations in each piece of glass, it will rise to a different level 503 00:35:50,700 --> 00:35:51,700 in each thermometer. 504 00:35:53,220 --> 00:35:56,880 And once the liquid stabilises, we're able to mark each thermometer. 505 00:35:57,560 --> 00:36:03,040 This engraved mark accurately records each individual 20 -degree reading. 506 00:36:04,180 --> 00:36:05,480 Counting me very, very carefully. 507 00:36:06,220 --> 00:36:07,198 Like that? 508 00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:08,200 Yeah. 509 00:36:08,720 --> 00:36:09,740 Perfect. That's enough. 510 00:36:10,510 --> 00:36:13,470 Great. Oh, contributed to science. Look at me. 511 00:36:15,030 --> 00:36:19,390 When these marks are complete, they provide the exact position for the 512 00:36:19,390 --> 00:36:23,790 temperature scale, which is added to each thermometer using a silk screen 513 00:36:23,790 --> 00:36:24,790 printer. 514 00:36:25,750 --> 00:36:27,730 Oh, there we go. How do you feel about that one? 515 00:36:28,730 --> 00:36:29,730 Perfect. 516 00:36:32,190 --> 00:36:38,290 After a quick blast in an oven to fire the ink into the glass, our thermometers 517 00:36:38,290 --> 00:36:39,310 are finished. 518 00:36:40,390 --> 00:36:41,690 Ooh, look at that. 519 00:36:43,310 --> 00:36:44,310 Oh, look. 520 00:36:44,730 --> 00:36:47,370 I've just been warming it up with my fingers and it's moving. 521 00:36:48,150 --> 00:36:49,870 I mean, it's like it works. 522 00:36:51,550 --> 00:36:52,890 You would hope so, right? 523 00:36:53,650 --> 00:36:57,690 Where is this going to end up? So this could go anywhere in the world. We sell 524 00:36:57,690 --> 00:37:02,810 them to 130 different countries around the world. A well -travelled 525 00:37:03,330 --> 00:37:04,330 Hopefully, yeah. 526 00:37:10,700 --> 00:37:13,760 Back at the medicine factory, I'm on the move too. 527 00:37:14,520 --> 00:37:15,600 Lovely stacking. 528 00:37:19,940 --> 00:37:26,020 I'm turning from lozenges to tablets at the ibuprofen production line. 529 00:37:32,520 --> 00:37:33,700 My word! 530 00:37:34,060 --> 00:37:38,700 This is proper industrial in here. I didn't expect it to be this noisy if I'm 531 00:37:38,700 --> 00:37:39,700 being honest. 532 00:37:42,140 --> 00:37:47,760 In the mixing room, process development manager, Catherine Stanifor, is getting 533 00:37:47,760 --> 00:37:50,260 ready for the next batch of painkillers. 534 00:37:50,820 --> 00:37:56,520 This is massive, this room. Very high -tech in here. It is quite high -tech. 535 00:37:56,520 --> 00:37:58,820 what I need you to do, though, first, is put some gloves on, please. Oh, if you 536 00:37:58,820 --> 00:37:59,820 don't, right. 537 00:38:00,400 --> 00:38:03,040 So, ibuprofen. 538 00:38:03,860 --> 00:38:07,540 What's the difference between a paracetamol and an ibuprofen? Because I 539 00:38:07,540 --> 00:38:08,540 know which one to buy. 540 00:38:08,840 --> 00:38:13,390 Right. Both of them are painkillers, right? But they both work in different 541 00:38:13,390 --> 00:38:19,070 ways. So paracetamol actually works by blocking pain receptors in your brain. 542 00:38:19,270 --> 00:38:23,690 Yeah. What ibuprofen does, say you twist your ankle or sprain your wrist. Yeah. 543 00:38:23,730 --> 00:38:28,730 What your body does is it produces chemicals that cause inflammation where 544 00:38:28,730 --> 00:38:29,730 that's happened. 545 00:38:30,010 --> 00:38:34,550 And the ibuprofen in your bloodstream, they'll reduce those chemicals. You 546 00:38:34,550 --> 00:38:36,730 reduce the inflammation, you reduce the pain. 547 00:38:37,370 --> 00:38:39,930 And so it works in a different way to paracetamol. 548 00:38:42,810 --> 00:38:47,850 Ibuprofen powder is sieved along with the disintegrants that help break down 549 00:38:47,850 --> 00:38:49,130 tablets in your stomach. 550 00:38:50,470 --> 00:38:55,750 And bulking agents that make the tablets easier to handle for both factory and 551 00:38:55,750 --> 00:38:56,750 consumer. 552 00:38:58,730 --> 00:39:03,250 The powders are combined with Brian Mason at the controls. 553 00:39:04,630 --> 00:39:07,450 before he drops the mix into my mega ball. 554 00:39:08,510 --> 00:39:11,010 And you're going to need a bit of muscle now, because we're going to need you to 555 00:39:11,010 --> 00:39:12,170 rake this forward. 556 00:39:12,550 --> 00:39:16,510 OK. The reason we rake this is because we want it to be flat when it goes into 557 00:39:16,510 --> 00:39:18,670 the dryer. I'm looking forward to this. Right. 558 00:39:19,030 --> 00:39:20,550 OK, Brian, off we go. 559 00:39:20,870 --> 00:39:23,090 Go on, Brian, release the Kraken. 560 00:39:24,250 --> 00:39:26,490 Oh, here it comes. 561 00:39:26,710 --> 00:39:28,370 Oh, here we go. 562 00:39:28,730 --> 00:39:29,730 Look at that. 563 00:39:31,430 --> 00:39:32,430 Blimey. 564 00:39:32,640 --> 00:39:34,420 That does come out quick, doesn't it? 565 00:39:35,020 --> 00:39:37,240 You're having a field day up there, Brian, aren't you? 566 00:39:38,320 --> 00:39:39,320 He's working me. 567 00:39:40,500 --> 00:39:41,520 Yeah, a little bit more. 568 00:39:42,060 --> 00:39:45,480 Are you all right? Get the sweat on. For God's sake, Brian, slow it down. 569 00:39:45,720 --> 00:39:46,720 I'm not a machine. 570 00:39:46,840 --> 00:39:51,180 You need to get going there, Paddy. He's gone mad. 571 00:39:52,540 --> 00:39:53,860 Okay, just a little bit more. 572 00:39:54,240 --> 00:39:58,240 Oh, it's no good talking to Brian. He just keeps going. He's a machine. 573 00:39:59,380 --> 00:40:01,420 I think I need a couple of spoonfuls of this myself. 574 00:40:03,089 --> 00:40:06,830 At this stage, it looks quite coarse as to what it looks like when you break 575 00:40:06,830 --> 00:40:10,110 open a tablet normally. Yeah, it is a bit different to that at the moment. 576 00:40:10,110 --> 00:40:11,410 got some more stages to go through. 577 00:40:11,670 --> 00:40:14,870 So we'll do a snowball test on here because this will show us we've got the 578 00:40:14,870 --> 00:40:17,950 right kind of consistency here. You say snowball test? 579 00:40:18,330 --> 00:40:20,170 Yes. I thought that's what you said. 580 00:40:21,110 --> 00:40:22,890 You form a snowball, right? 581 00:40:23,210 --> 00:40:26,050 If it was too wet, you wouldn't be able to form this. If it was too dry, you 582 00:40:26,050 --> 00:40:28,410 wouldn't be able to do it. Can you snap it in two like that? 583 00:40:28,850 --> 00:40:31,870 Ah. And that shows us that we've got a good granule here. 584 00:40:32,350 --> 00:40:35,630 So that's a good one, that. If it had all crumbled out your hands, it wouldn't 585 00:40:35,630 --> 00:40:36,630 have been right. Yeah, exactly. 586 00:40:37,030 --> 00:40:39,510 Do you want to get that in and I'll get over here? We'll have a little bit of a 587 00:40:39,510 --> 00:40:40,970 snowball fight. No, we won't do that in here. 588 00:40:41,210 --> 00:40:43,670 No, no, no. I can't lose anything out of here. 589 00:40:44,170 --> 00:40:48,410 And the mix here, because we've done all this mixing now, this basically ensures 590 00:40:48,410 --> 00:40:53,190 that we will have 200 milligrams of ibuprofen in every tablet when we make 591 00:40:53,230 --> 00:40:54,229 Got you. 592 00:40:54,230 --> 00:40:57,010 We've got to dry this off now, next. Right, let's get it dried off. Yes. 593 00:40:57,390 --> 00:41:00,210 Any chance we can put Brian in that dryer? No, we can't. 594 00:41:07,150 --> 00:41:13,430 The mix still has 36 % moisture, so it's attached to a huge dryer that takes it 595 00:41:13,430 --> 00:41:20,330 down to 1 .5%. Then the dried granule is ready to 596 00:41:20,330 --> 00:41:21,910 be transformed into tablets. 597 00:41:23,750 --> 00:41:24,990 Can I get that door? 598 00:41:27,950 --> 00:41:29,670 This is our compressing machine. 599 00:41:41,710 --> 00:41:44,110 18 of these machines in the factory. 600 00:41:44,350 --> 00:41:47,190 That's going round pretty sharp, isn't it? It is going round pretty fast. 601 00:41:48,090 --> 00:41:51,050 In fact, it's too fast to see what on earth's going on. 602 00:41:56,450 --> 00:42:00,690 Our granule is now sitting above us. It's in one of the big bins, and it's 603 00:42:00,690 --> 00:42:05,090 gravity -fed right down into the back of the machine to fill up the punches, 604 00:42:05,270 --> 00:42:06,069 they're called. 605 00:42:06,070 --> 00:42:11,030 We've got 45 of these upper and lower punches. They rotate round. 606 00:42:11,610 --> 00:42:17,190 and pick up some of the granule then what happens is a great big load of 607 00:42:17,190 --> 00:42:22,170 slams it all together basically about one ton of force and that slams it 608 00:42:22,170 --> 00:42:26,650 together and that tablet is formed it's got its shape then and is that then 609 00:42:26,650 --> 00:42:30,410 finished then not quite i was just going to say because they've got a shine on 610 00:42:30,410 --> 00:42:33,530 they look smooth but when you feel them you can still feel a little bit chalky 611 00:42:33,530 --> 00:42:37,110 yeah you can so we've got one more stage after this lead on captain 612 00:42:50,350 --> 00:42:54,250 the tablets are transported to what looks like a faith -age laundrette. 613 00:42:55,670 --> 00:42:56,670 Look at this. 614 00:42:57,190 --> 00:42:59,890 Can I introduce you to Barry, our operator in here? 615 00:43:00,110 --> 00:43:04,190 Oh, you're very nice to meet you. So what we've done, we've taken the tablets 616 00:43:04,190 --> 00:43:06,990 and we've put them into these five coating cans. 617 00:43:07,470 --> 00:43:09,490 And they're crumbling round at the moment. 618 00:43:09,770 --> 00:43:14,570 And we're going to add some sugar syrup to them. Is this the sugar solution that 619 00:43:14,570 --> 00:43:15,388 goes on it? 620 00:43:15,390 --> 00:43:18,150 Yes, so that's a mixture of food growth and water. 621 00:43:18,780 --> 00:43:20,500 Right. And we're going to apply that to the tablet. 622 00:43:20,980 --> 00:43:24,860 And there's two reasons why we do this. Because ibuprofen is actually very 623 00:43:24,860 --> 00:43:27,480 bitter. Right. So that helps it to be swallowed. 624 00:43:27,980 --> 00:43:31,980 And also the smooth shell that's on there will help it to be swallowed as 625 00:43:32,280 --> 00:43:35,980 Weirdly, now that you've said it, when I've put one in my mouth, you do get 626 00:43:35,980 --> 00:43:38,760 little bit of sweetness. It just makes it a little bit more pleasant. 627 00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:42,880 Absolutely. And we're going to add some more sugar syrup to it to help build up 628 00:43:42,880 --> 00:43:43,880 the taste of the tablet. 629 00:43:45,280 --> 00:43:47,360 It's not dry. No, no, no. 630 00:43:52,090 --> 00:43:58,770 The sugar coating is gradually built up across six to eight 631 00:43:58,770 --> 00:44:04,510 hours, with a total of 20 jugs slowly added to each pan to make the tablets 632 00:44:04,510 --> 00:44:07,270 sweeter, smoother and rounder. 633 00:44:15,280 --> 00:44:19,300 I'll look at these for six to eight hours, and I'll see you in a bit. 634 00:44:19,980 --> 00:44:23,420 I'll make sure every single one's got an even coating on. 635 00:44:27,780 --> 00:44:31,200 I might need one of those buckets back here. I'm feeling a bit clumsy. 636 00:44:35,040 --> 00:44:40,360 After a serious amount of tumbling, my sugar -coated tablets are getting ready 637 00:44:40,360 --> 00:44:41,960 for a bit of a bounce around. 638 00:44:44,020 --> 00:44:45,360 Here we are, Paddy. Ah! 639 00:44:45,860 --> 00:44:47,180 Here's our finished tablet. 640 00:44:47,500 --> 00:44:49,980 Looking very nice and shiny. 641 00:44:53,520 --> 00:44:54,160 The 642 00:44:54,160 --> 00:45:00,920 tablets 643 00:45:00,920 --> 00:45:03,760 are vibrated into snuggly fitting trays. 644 00:45:06,300 --> 00:45:11,780 Where they're held in place as a rubber roller covered in food safe ink prints 645 00:45:11,780 --> 00:45:12,780 the product name. 646 00:45:18,410 --> 00:45:19,970 and tablets per hour at the moment? 647 00:45:20,170 --> 00:45:22,470 The numbers are just mind -blowing. They are. 648 00:45:23,670 --> 00:45:29,590 Then they're checked by a close -up camera before being plucked out of the 649 00:45:29,590 --> 00:45:30,830 by suction cups. 650 00:45:33,690 --> 00:45:39,830 You can see here now, we've got these nice, shiny tablets. 651 00:45:40,430 --> 00:45:42,050 Yes, oh, they look great, them, Catherine. 652 00:45:42,770 --> 00:45:44,610 Would you like to know a fact about either person? 653 00:45:45,020 --> 00:45:47,580 I would love a fact about ibuprofen. 654 00:45:47,860 --> 00:45:50,220 Ibuprofen was actually invented here in Nottingham. 655 00:45:50,440 --> 00:45:55,000 Do you know who else knows that? Who? A very lovely lady called Ruth. 656 00:45:55,860 --> 00:45:56,860 Over to you. 657 00:45:57,240 --> 00:45:58,900 To you. To me. 658 00:45:59,340 --> 00:46:00,340 To you. 659 00:46:03,000 --> 00:46:05,060 The year is 1953. 660 00:46:06,020 --> 00:46:10,180 Queen Elizabeth II has been crowned at the age of 27. 661 00:46:11,920 --> 00:46:16,140 Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing have become the first to conquer Mount 662 00:46:16,140 --> 00:46:17,140 Everest. 663 00:46:17,800 --> 00:46:23,260 And here in Nottingham, a small team of British scientists are about to embark 664 00:46:23,260 --> 00:46:25,500 on their own incredible journey. 665 00:46:26,820 --> 00:46:31,780 This unassuming Victorian house was their rather unlikely laboratory. 666 00:46:33,060 --> 00:46:36,420 To find out more, I'm meeting Professor David Adams. 667 00:46:38,060 --> 00:46:42,760 Hello Ruth, nice to meet you. A scientist himself and the son of one of 668 00:46:42,760 --> 00:46:47,120 pioneers. I have to say this seems a rather suburban location for a 669 00:46:47,120 --> 00:46:48,120 pharmaceutical story. 670 00:46:48,500 --> 00:46:52,620 It is, isn't it? Very different to a modern pharmaceutical research 671 00:46:53,360 --> 00:46:56,600 So why on earth was your father working in a suburban house? 672 00:46:56,920 --> 00:47:00,360 Well, he was a scientist working for Boots, the Boots Pure Drug Company, as 673 00:47:00,360 --> 00:47:04,780 were then called. This was just after the war, so a lot of their departments 674 00:47:04,780 --> 00:47:07,880 been evacuated out of the centre of Nottingham because of the bombing. 675 00:47:08,360 --> 00:47:13,680 And the research department was relocated to this house down by the 676 00:47:14,080 --> 00:47:17,540 I'm ashamed to say I've never been here before, so this was quite an experience 677 00:47:17,540 --> 00:47:18,540 for me. 678 00:47:19,260 --> 00:47:20,340 Shall we go and have a look? 679 00:47:20,600 --> 00:47:21,600 Yes, let's. 680 00:47:26,890 --> 00:47:32,750 By the early 1950s, Boots was not only an established high street brand, but 681 00:47:32,750 --> 00:47:34,510 begun making pharmaceuticals. 682 00:47:35,270 --> 00:47:40,050 The former owner of the company, Jesse Boots, was a sufferer of rheumatoid 683 00:47:40,050 --> 00:47:45,890 arthritis, an autoimmune disease that causes painful inflammation of the 684 00:47:47,710 --> 00:47:52,190 31 years after his death, Boots gathered some of their brightest minds, 685 00:47:52,390 --> 00:47:55,130 including David's father, Dr. Stuart Adams. 686 00:47:55,720 --> 00:47:57,660 in this unlikely laboratory. 687 00:47:59,560 --> 00:48:00,560 Oh, goodness. 688 00:48:00,780 --> 00:48:04,420 And tasked them with finding a cure for the debilitating condition. 689 00:48:05,480 --> 00:48:08,620 You can't believe it was ever a research lab, can you? 690 00:48:08,980 --> 00:48:10,480 No, you really can't. 691 00:48:11,920 --> 00:48:15,600 I think this is where the original laboratory was, and then they extended 692 00:48:15,600 --> 00:48:18,140 the larder and the kitchen when they needed more space. 693 00:48:18,780 --> 00:48:19,960 Remarkable, isn't it? Extraordinary. 694 00:48:21,600 --> 00:48:25,040 That's my father working away, and that was taken here. 695 00:48:25,640 --> 00:48:27,900 I mean, it looked even more domestic then than it did now. 696 00:48:28,260 --> 00:48:32,100 I don't even know what this equipment is. It appears to be a hot plate, some 697 00:48:32,100 --> 00:48:33,100 agar plates. 698 00:48:33,260 --> 00:48:36,600 It's not exactly high -tech, is it? No, no, it definitely wasn't high -tech. 699 00:48:39,660 --> 00:48:43,480 The house wasn't perfect, even succumbing to regular flooding. 700 00:48:45,580 --> 00:48:50,060 But David's father and his team set about testing thousands of chemical 701 00:48:50,060 --> 00:48:53,100 compounds in the search for a cure for arthritis. 702 00:48:54,960 --> 00:48:58,500 Dad wanted to find something which suppressed that inflammation, which he 703 00:48:58,500 --> 00:49:02,460 thought that inflammation was closely linked with pain. And one route to do 704 00:49:02,460 --> 00:49:03,920 was to focus around aspirin. 705 00:49:06,500 --> 00:49:11,420 Discovered in 1897, aspirin had been used with some success to target the 706 00:49:11,420 --> 00:49:12,420 of arthritis. 707 00:49:12,460 --> 00:49:18,220 And Dr Adams was convinced a compound in the same chemical family might hold the 708 00:49:18,220 --> 00:49:19,220 key to the cure. 709 00:49:20,120 --> 00:49:24,140 They tested a whole range of compounds, and unfortunately, none of these. 710 00:49:24,840 --> 00:49:27,680 had the kind of anti -inflammatory activity they were looking for. 711 00:49:27,900 --> 00:49:32,640 So they had to change tack, and they looked at a different series of 712 00:49:34,520 --> 00:49:39,660 Six years after starting their research, Adams and his team had to begin their 713 00:49:39,660 --> 00:49:42,880 search again, effectively from scratch. 714 00:49:43,700 --> 00:49:47,440 I mean, it must have been so frustrating to just keep going, this one, no, this 715 00:49:47,440 --> 00:49:50,380 one, no, this one, no, over and over. 716 00:49:50,640 --> 00:49:54,080 Yeah, research is a slow and can be very frustrating process. 717 00:49:57,260 --> 00:50:03,620 But in 1961, the team struck gold, discovering the drug that we now know as 718 00:50:03,620 --> 00:50:04,620 ibuprofen. 719 00:50:05,440 --> 00:50:10,560 Although not the cure David's father was looking for, thanks to its anti 720 00:50:10,560 --> 00:50:15,180 -inflammatory properties, it provided much -needed pain relief to arthritis 721 00:50:15,180 --> 00:50:16,180 sufferers. 722 00:50:20,700 --> 00:50:26,140 And in 1969, the year Concord first took to the skies, 723 00:50:27,470 --> 00:50:33,290 This new miracle pain reliever finished eight years of clinical trials and was 724 00:50:33,290 --> 00:50:36,910 finally made available under the brand name Brufen. 725 00:50:41,090 --> 00:50:44,590 Sophie Clapp is in charge of Boots' vast archive. 726 00:50:47,120 --> 00:50:53,400 Brufen was launched as a prescription -only drug in 1969. It really put boots 727 00:50:53,400 --> 00:50:59,180 the map in terms of a pharmaceutical researcher. So we absolutely wanted to 728 00:50:59,180 --> 00:51:02,520 people aware of this incredibly effective drug. 729 00:51:04,600 --> 00:51:06,660 But David's father didn't stop there. 730 00:51:06,860 --> 00:51:10,160 He saw much wider potential for this new wonder drug. 731 00:51:11,140 --> 00:51:14,120 It was tested as a treatment for sports injuries. 732 00:51:14,510 --> 00:51:19,210 So he worked closely with Oxford United Football Club. It was tested for dental 733 00:51:19,210 --> 00:51:22,130 pain. It was tested as a treatment for period pain. 734 00:51:24,250 --> 00:51:30,910 In 1983, and 30 years after Dr Stuart Adams 735 00:51:30,910 --> 00:51:36,230 began his research in that suburban house, the Department of Health approved 736 00:51:36,230 --> 00:51:40,870 sale of ibuprofen over the counter under the brand name Neurofen. 737 00:51:41,870 --> 00:51:45,930 It meant that it became an absolute stalwart of everybody's home medicine 738 00:51:45,930 --> 00:51:50,030 cabinet. And how big a deal is ibuprofen worldwide? 739 00:51:51,370 --> 00:51:56,710 So within five or six years, we were selling it in 90 different countries. 740 00:51:56,710 --> 00:51:57,950 proof of the pudding being in the eating. 741 00:51:58,490 --> 00:52:00,410 Did your dad use ibuprofen? 742 00:52:00,790 --> 00:52:01,790 Yes, he did. 743 00:52:01,870 --> 00:52:05,290 You couldn't have a headache in the Addams household without being given 744 00:52:05,290 --> 00:52:06,290 ibuprofen. 745 00:52:07,050 --> 00:52:10,850 He was very proud of what he'd achieved. But he always felt that... 746 00:52:11,100 --> 00:52:14,000 he'd been a slight failure because he set out to find a cure for rheumatoid 747 00:52:14,000 --> 00:52:17,880 arthritis and he discovered a drug that has been really helpful in treating 748 00:52:17,880 --> 00:52:21,640 rheumatoid arthritis plus a host of other conditions but he didn't find a 749 00:52:21,640 --> 00:52:27,640 but i don't think he did too badly really did he you 750 00:52:27,640 --> 00:52:34,440 can say that again eight billion 751 00:52:34,440 --> 00:52:38,040 ibuprofen are made at this factory every year 752 00:52:43,020 --> 00:52:49,520 While the painkillers are being boxed up, I'm heading to see my honey and 753 00:52:49,520 --> 00:52:50,520 lozenges. 754 00:52:52,000 --> 00:52:57,280 But before they get their packaging, area team leader Mark Watkins is doing 755 00:52:57,280 --> 00:52:58,280 final checks. 756 00:52:58,800 --> 00:52:59,759 Hey, Mark. 757 00:52:59,760 --> 00:53:01,960 How are you, Paddy? Hey, Paddy, all right? Yeah, good. 758 00:53:03,080 --> 00:53:04,140 What's this lad doing? 759 00:53:04,480 --> 00:53:06,180 This lad is our fat operator. 760 00:53:06,840 --> 00:53:10,980 If there's any fat lozenges in there, then we'll move it out and put a good 761 00:53:10,980 --> 00:53:15,340 in. What's a bad lodginger? A bad lodginger is anything with a chip. 762 00:53:15,640 --> 00:53:18,040 And if you fancy it Paddy, you can have a go yourself. 763 00:53:19,120 --> 00:53:20,120 What's the other one? 764 00:53:22,020 --> 00:53:25,580 So if you take a handful of our good lodgingers Paddy. There's a good one. 765 00:53:25,880 --> 00:53:30,640 Anything you see with a chip, flick it out and I'll put a good one in. Right, 766 00:53:30,740 --> 00:53:31,740 here we go. 767 00:53:32,720 --> 00:53:33,720 Get in here. 768 00:53:37,360 --> 00:53:38,360 Oh! 769 00:53:39,180 --> 00:53:41,620 Hey, get out, you little rat. Get out! Hey! 770 00:53:43,540 --> 00:53:44,880 Oh, there's another one. 771 00:53:45,100 --> 00:53:46,100 Get out. 772 00:53:46,780 --> 00:53:48,340 Where, where, where? 773 00:53:49,540 --> 00:53:51,900 Where were you, Matt? You're supposed to be winged, Matt. 774 00:53:52,360 --> 00:53:53,178 There you go. 775 00:53:53,180 --> 00:53:54,180 Oh! 776 00:53:57,760 --> 00:54:01,660 I felt as though I were back at the bingo walls when I was a kid, though, 777 00:54:01,660 --> 00:54:02,238 my mum. 778 00:54:02,240 --> 00:54:04,740 Two dollars, one of each hand. Gibbers and dollars. 779 00:54:05,580 --> 00:54:06,580 Love that. 780 00:54:06,640 --> 00:54:07,920 I'll leave it to the expert. 781 00:54:26,010 --> 00:54:32,570 A clever camera catches any defects missed by the human eye, especially 782 00:54:33,650 --> 00:54:38,630 Then they're dropped into plastic blister packs before being sealed with 783 00:54:40,910 --> 00:54:44,610 And the packs are cut into sections containing 12 lozenges. 784 00:54:45,790 --> 00:54:49,690 The perfectly formed blisters are coming down the plating line now. Look at 785 00:54:49,690 --> 00:54:50,690 that. Beautiful. 786 00:54:51,010 --> 00:54:52,310 Why blister packs? 787 00:54:52,690 --> 00:54:56,670 Because the medicine has to keep the integrity of the product exactly as it 788 00:54:56,670 --> 00:54:57,670 when it was first packed. 789 00:54:57,910 --> 00:55:01,610 You can pop one of those out and all the ones around it stay perfectly sealed. 790 00:55:02,710 --> 00:55:04,010 Well, let's just do that. 791 00:55:04,690 --> 00:55:06,250 Here we go. Big moment. 792 00:55:08,230 --> 00:55:09,230 Oh. 793 00:55:10,730 --> 00:55:12,250 Lovely pop on that, Mark. 794 00:55:12,810 --> 00:55:17,450 The rest is sealed up like a little medicine advent calendar, that. 795 00:55:19,130 --> 00:55:20,210 And there it is. 796 00:55:21,050 --> 00:55:23,370 Ready to go. Ready to soothe. 797 00:55:24,670 --> 00:55:25,670 Beautiful, that. 798 00:55:25,830 --> 00:55:28,330 Lovely. Thank you very much. Cheers, buddy. Bye -bye. 799 00:55:29,530 --> 00:55:36,210 Two field packs are stacked together. An 800 00:55:36,210 --> 00:55:37,650 instruction leaflet is added. 801 00:55:38,030 --> 00:55:40,230 with the correct dosage clearly listed. 802 00:55:41,750 --> 00:55:46,110 And the flat box is date stamped before everything is dropped inside. 803 00:55:48,310 --> 00:55:55,250 Then it's off for one last round of tests and safety checks before they join 804 00:55:55,250 --> 00:55:57,190 ibuprofen at dispatch. 805 00:55:57,770 --> 00:56:02,190 And at last, I can change out of my PPE Santa suit. 806 00:56:07,560 --> 00:56:08,459 You all right, Paddy? 807 00:56:08,460 --> 00:56:09,460 Sorry? It's Rich. 808 00:56:09,680 --> 00:56:11,020 I've just been showing you around the factory. 809 00:56:11,760 --> 00:56:14,720 My God, I didn't recognise you with your clothes on! 810 00:56:14,920 --> 00:56:19,060 How are you, Rich? I'm all right, thank you. You? Yeah, all right. Loaded up. It 811 00:56:19,060 --> 00:56:23,160 looks to me like we've got a mixture of ibuprofen and fraught lozenges on there. 812 00:56:23,440 --> 00:56:24,218 That's right. 813 00:56:24,220 --> 00:56:28,960 On each pallet of lozenges, we've got 6 ,450 individual lozenges. 814 00:56:29,420 --> 00:56:33,680 And on each pallet of ibuprofen, we've got 16 ,800 units. 815 00:56:34,560 --> 00:56:36,240 So... Hey, excuse me. 816 00:56:37,840 --> 00:56:42,740 So how many individual tablets and lozenges are on there, then? So that 817 00:56:42,740 --> 00:56:47,200 will take 58 different pallets. Yeah. So all together, we can do 4 .5 million 818 00:56:47,200 --> 00:56:49,920 lozenges and 7 .8 million tablets. 819 00:56:51,140 --> 00:56:54,580 Even for this programme, that's a lot of big numbers. 820 00:56:55,020 --> 00:57:01,820 And get this, with seven lorries leaving every day, that's 31 .5 million 821 00:57:01,820 --> 00:57:05,540 lozenges and 54 .5 million tablets. 822 00:57:06,920 --> 00:57:10,940 So I presume in winter that number goes up, because that would be your busiest 823 00:57:10,940 --> 00:57:11,940 time, wouldn't it, winter? 824 00:57:12,260 --> 00:57:16,180 Yeah, winter's busier for cold and flu, but as a business we're produced in both 825 00:57:16,180 --> 00:57:19,880 the southern and northern hemispheres. Right. So when it's summer here, it's 826 00:57:19,880 --> 00:57:22,460 winter somewhere else. So it means we're busy all year round. 827 00:57:22,740 --> 00:57:24,480 Constantly going with it. Correct, yeah. 828 00:57:24,740 --> 00:57:27,980 Well, Rich, thanks for showing me around, pal. I thoroughly enjoyed 829 00:57:27,980 --> 00:57:29,400 and get yourself a well -earned cuppa. 830 00:57:29,620 --> 00:57:30,640 Cheers, Paddy. See you in a bit, bud. 831 00:57:31,520 --> 00:57:32,520 Right! 832 00:57:33,260 --> 00:57:34,260 Can I have no more? 833 00:57:38,860 --> 00:57:44,260 8 hours and 35 minutes after the start of production my cold and flu medicines 834 00:57:44,260 --> 00:57:50,260 are heading out of the factory to soothe sore throats and ease aches and pains 835 00:57:50,260 --> 00:57:51,380 across the world. 836 00:57:55,080 --> 00:57:59,240 As a lot of people with the lurgy will soon be feeling better. 837 00:58:05,070 --> 00:58:10,490 And after I've done one last lap around my favourite factory doors, I 838 00:58:10,490 --> 00:58:17,330 just need to round up the crew who like to peel off their PPE at the 839 00:58:17,330 --> 00:58:18,330 end of a long day. 840 00:58:18,630 --> 00:58:20,490 For God's sake, put your clothes back on. 841 00:58:21,430 --> 00:58:25,550 Bring me sunshine in your smile. 842 00:58:27,150 --> 00:58:28,530 Bring me laughter. 843 00:58:30,210 --> 00:58:33,990 With new games, fabulous famous faces and Michael McIntyre at his mischievous 844 00:58:33,990 --> 00:58:36,230 best, the big show is back on iPlayer. 845 00:58:36,490 --> 00:58:41,150 Starting now on BBC4, the profile of John Logie Baird, the man who saw the 846 00:58:41,150 --> 00:58:42,530 future and invented television. 847 00:58:43,290 --> 00:58:47,370 Heading to the school with Manchester in its DNA next tonight, Waterloo Road.