All language subtitles for My.Old.School.2022.1080p.WEBRip.x264.AAC5.1-[YTS.MX]

Everybody be quiet, please.

We're going for a wild track,
room tone.

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165. Take 1. Plate.

When you have an adversary,

the thing you have to do
if you really want to prevail,

is do the unimaginable.

Do something
that is just so out there,

that no-one's
even going to dream

that you would
think of doing that.

So, many of us would think,

if we had our time over again,
what would we do?

In fact, he tried to do
exactly the same thing

he had done the first time.

To rewind your life
and be someone different.

What would possess someone
to do that?

He did have a strange
facial appearance in some ways.

Did he have some kind of
cosmetic surgery?

Because it was a rather
mask-like face that he had.

It was an unusual face.

Anything is possible here.

I'm telling you,
this guy is a charmer.

He's not what you think he is.

He never was.

Can we just begin
with you telling me your name?

Uh, you would have known me
as Brandon Lee.

Tell us what you know
of Brandon Lee.

Brandon Lee said
he staged the hoax

because he was
frustrated and angry.

Brandon Lee has published
his story on the internet

and describes how his secret
double life was discovered.

Brandon Lee has broken off ties

with the production company
filming his life story.

Shooting is scheduled
to begin next summer

with Alan Cumming
in the lead role.

Okay.

Where is the best place to start
do you think?

I guess that would be

when I came to your school
in 1993.

I remember my first day
at Bearsden Academy.

The prospect of it
was just so daunting.

It was just awful,

just like hell.

I don't believe in hell
in my philosophy,

other than self-made hell.

That was self-made hell.

Bearsden Academy
was an ancient school.

It was scary going up there.

This huge grey monolith.

It looked like a factory,

eh, churning out the students.

I remember it
as being very old-fashioned.

Probably on its last legs
when we were at school.

Aye, it was a terrible,
it was a terrible building.

With leaky roofs and no heating
and mold on the walls.

Bearsden Academy
was a bit of a time-warp.

Welcome to 5th Year,
boys and girls.

This is an important year
for you.

You're sixteen years old,
the age of majority.

But the majority of you
are a bunch of wasters.

Eh, what?

So, this is the year
I want to start

seeing some maturity

in this classroom.

Have no fear.

Fear doesn't do you any good.

Hmm...

I was almost in tears
when I walked into the school.

Then of course,
I quickly quelled that

because I was going
into a situation

where you didn't want
to be crying, you know?

It was Junior year, day one.

The classroom door opened

and there he was.

There was a guy
who looked about forty,

standing in the corner.

He had a briefcase.

And he was wearing a school tie.

He definitely wore a blazer.

- Yeah.
- He was in full regalia.

And it was the blazer

and the satchel kind of suitcase

that stuck out

because we were all rucksacks
and just ordinary jackets

parka jackets, whatever.
And that kind of...

it made you double take.

I remember looking at him
and thinking "Oh."

He looked

like a man.

Funny hair, glasses.

More stubble for some reason
than your average pupil.

He was quite gaunt looking
though and he was really pale.

His skin looked older.

And he had these tight curls
in an almost kind of...

I remember it kind of coming
down the back of his head,

his curly hair.

Who's he?

First impression was

what's a teacher
doing in uniform?

He looked significantly older.

I do remember clearly turning
to one of my friends at the time

saying "Oh, we've got
a new student teacher."

You know? And that was it.

I remember him
having quite a deep voice.

He had a weird accent.

Hello. Is this class 5C?

The accent...
Couldn't really place it.

I remember sitting
at the front and thinking,

"Well, everyone can see me
and I can't see anyone."

I remember thinking,
"What's he doing sitting here?"

Cause if he's a student teacher,

shouldn't he be
sitting with the teacher?

I remember the name call.

- Donald Lindsay
- Here, miss.

- Brian Mackinnon.
- Here, miss.

And then it got to the end

and my name was
tagged on at the end

because I was a late arrival.

And our new comrade,

Brandon Lee.

And I suddenly shot up
in my seat and said...

Brandon Lee?

Here, Miss.

The same name as Bruce Lee's son

who died maybe
not even two months ago

on the filming of The Crow?

It was all over the news.

Brandon Lee was accidentally
shot and killed

in the set of his movie,
The Crow.

Being inquisitive and curious,
I had to go up to him and say

"Listen, do you know
you've got the same name

as Bruce Lee's son
who's just died?"

And he said to me,
straight as a die,

"Hey man, I didn't know
Bruce Lee had a son."

"Did he die?"

People talked about it.

"Oh, he's got the same name
as Bruce Lee's son!"

You know what...

My name is Brian Mackinnon

and there are other Brian
Mackinnons out there, so...

We do not know when we will die.

We get to think of life
as an inexhaustible well.

How many more times
will you remember

a certain afternoon
of your childhood

and yet it all seems limitless?

My first impression of Brandon

was that he seemed
a little bit older

than the majority of the pupils.

He wasn't quite
the fresh-faced youth

that you expect
from fifth year pupils.

But when I enquired
about his background,

I realized that there
were reasons for that.

He had been...

with his mother in Canada

who was an opera singer,
moved around a lot.

I was quite close to my Mum

when I was young.

She was the coolest character
you could imagine, my mother.

He travelled the world
and his mother toured.

He basically just
travelled with her.

It was unlike anything
any of us had ever experienced.

None of us knew the kids
of travelling musicians.

Yeah.

He had not gone to
a normal school in Canada,

but he had been
privately tutored.

His mother had been
separated from his father

who was a Professor in London.

Dad was kind of,

you know a... I suppose
a kind of typical Dad.

I wasn't maybe so close to him
in some ways.

So, you never really knew
what he was thinking.

I never did anyway.

But my Mum,

she was the one human being
I ever felt close to.

You know, in that way

you know, you can tell
what they are thinking,

sensing and feeling.

My Mum probably knew
almost as soon as I did.

Medicine.
That was what I wanted to do.

She could pretty much
read my mind.

Does that sound weird?

That's how it was.

Yeah.

They'd been in a car accident.

And his face
had been slightly burned

and this scarring
was a result of that.

Unfortunately,
his mother hadn't survived...

And so,

having been brought up
in Canada,

when she died,

he went to live
with his grandmother

in Bearsden.

Bearsden
is the nicest part of Glasgow.

It's a little slice of heaven
tucked away

in the west end of the city.

Bearsden is the posh place.

Whether it is or not,
that's what people think.

People live
in a bubble in Bearsden

and it's a lovely bubble.

If you mention it to other
people in Glasgow,

they go "woo!"
You get the handbag arms. Woo!

Woo, you're from Bearsden.

The sort of people
that live in Bearsden

are probably...

rich people.

Doctors and lawyers and
solicitors and dentists and...

Surgeons.

Really, really crooked
accountants.

It changes very quickly

from a fairly large
and posh-ish type area,

to... not.

Where we were was more towards

Spam Valley perhaps.

I have no idea
what Spam Valley is.

I hate to tell you,
you lived in Spam Valley.

Spam Valley refers
to people who...

according to the legend

ate Spam all week

in order to be able to afford
a house in Bearsden.

But Brandon's Gran,

she was like
the next level down.

She was renting a flat
from the council.

So, while it wasn't like

he was living in the projects,
or anything.

Compared to the rest of the kids
in Bearsden,

he kind of was.

The principal
of Bearsden Academy

was a man called Norman Mcleod.

For me, Norman Mcleod

was... a great man.

Mr. Mcleod was very...
traditional.

You never saw him
without his black cape.

His black graduation gown.

He wore that all the time.

Which led to his nickname
of Batman.

Mr. Mcleod... Batman!

So, if you heard
"Batman's coming,"

you felt like a criminal
and you had to scarper.

Stop right there!

Officially the school
was run by Mr. Mcleod.

But his second, Mrs. Holmes...

I think she probably ran it.

I remember Mrs. Holmes
being a very efficient lady.

And made sure people
knew who was the boss.

Well, the second boss,
in her case.

I guess you've always
got to have

a kind of good cop, bad cop.

And Mrs. Holmes
was always very strict.

She was Mr. McLeod's
sort of...

...field marshal.

She did all the dirty stuff.

Get to detention!

Oh, she was a poisoned
wee bastard, wasn't she?

I still remember
having to get up

and salute at the start of
Classical Studies Class

and give it the...

Um, what was it?
Chaíre Didáskale.

Chaíre Didáskale, or something.

It was a sort of a, you know,

kind of an Adolf sort of
a salute, wasn't it?

- Left arm.
- Left arm.

Straight salute.
Forty-five degrees.

- Forty-five degrees.
- Open hand.

Like a little, kind of,
Nuremburg rally.

Chaíre Didáskale

Chaíre Didáskale, like that.

Enunciate, pronounciate.

Chaíre Didáskale

Let's not beat about the bush.

- It was weird.
- Yeah.

I think I probably fancied her
a bit as well.

Really?

Yeah, there was a kind of

that sort of strict
no-nonsense thing.

You can use that.

Can we put our hands down, Miss?

Brandon spent a lot
of his time on his own.

He'd have lunch on his own

you wouldn't see him around
during break time,

he'd disappear.

Break times at Bearsden Academy
could be

like a prison exercise area.

It felt like that sometimes.

Oi, come here a minute,
you prick!

What age are you?

The yard, at break,

it was almost like being behind
enemy lines without an enemy.

Can you understand that?

A stranger in a strange land.

He was getting picked on
by first years

and we were in fifth year,
you know.

They were calling him names.

You're a pure old man.
Are you my Dad?

Some of the kids used to call
Brandon Lee "Thirty-something."

- Here, Thirty-something.
- Thirty-something.

He's ancient.

Can you get drink for me, mate?

I...
I just didn't notice

the kids I went to school with.

It wasn't a thing for me.

I just wanted to get
to where I needed to be.

There was a good few
of the lads, you know going,

giving him a bit of...
giving him a wee bit of stick.

So, I thought, I'll go up

and speak to him about Canada.

Because the poor guy

doesn't look
like he's fitting in too well.

And I went up to him and said

"Oh, so I hear
you're from Canada."

Ehm. "I used to live in Canada
as well."

To which
he went "ba-ba-de-bap."

And kind of legged it

and I thought that's very rude.

I remember in Biology class,

I sat across from a chap
called Stefen Addo.

Stefen was a nice guy.

You want to borrow mine?

I have a bunch of them.

Thank you, that's very kind.

Brandon's friendship
with me developed

in Biology probably,

because we sat
next to each other.

He was polite, he was friendly.

He took an interest in you.

What's your plans for college?

Where you gonna go?

- I don't know.
- Everything he said

used to be
immensely interesting.

Did you know that if you cut
the arm off a star fish,

the limb will regenerate

and become
an entirely new starfish?

Wow, really?

He could also do a very funny
Clint Eastwood impression.

So, do you feel lucky, punk?

Here, do another one.

I saw the Clint Eastwood movies

when I was little.

I could put on accents
and things just to amuse people.

You know, whatever it takes.

He was just
an all-round nice guy.

What are you doing
after class today?

Bearsden Academy
wasn't like, you know,

being in a London school
or something.

There's only a few people
who weren't like Anglo-Saxons.

It's a little station where
the rich people live, you know.

Well-to-do people.

And there's the attitude
that accompanies it.

There was quite a lot
of racism going on.

I had a few...

hate mail letters
delivered to my home by pupils.

Just the usual abuse really.

I remember there was a guy
at the school.

He was the big bully guy
that you didn't mess with.

And one day,

Stefen told me this guy
just came out of nowhere

and punched him in the nose.

And bled his nose.

A guy got me in a headlock

and was just
punching me in the head.

Everyone was around,

no one said a thing.

Stefen was
a gentle fellow, you know,

he wouldn't fight back.

What would you have done

if you had been there for that?

For what?

For Stefen
getting punched in the nose.

I'd have probably
stopped the guy.

It's okay. It will all work out.

Our friendship meant a lot to me

because I didn't have
that kind of

social interaction
with a lot of people at school.

Except Brandon.

How did I feel
when Brandon arrived?

I was delighted.

Eh, so there was someone else
to take the heat.

There was someone who was

a little bit goofier looking
than I was.

There was someone who was...

definitely more
socially awkward than I was.

And there was someone else
who I thought,

"This is great."

"All of these
tribes that don't want me,

they can deal with him now."

I was a...
I wouldn't say a techno-nerd,

but I listened
to a lot of techno music

And...

something happened
at some point in fourth year.

It was one of these
horrible moments of when...

somebody puts their foot in it.

And can I remember asking
Brian, "What music do you like?"

And he was like
"I like techno."

And everyone was like
"Oh, right,

what band do you like?"
And he went "2 Unlimited."

And it was like his credibility

went from there
to through the floor.

2 Unlimited, they're crap, mate.

2 Unlimited?

That's so embarrassing.

I knew him, Brian Mackinnon,

he was cool.

He hung out with Donald Lindsay.

Donald sat beside me in Physics.

He would pick his nose

and put it underneath the bench.

I shouldn't say that
because I like Donald.

Most of what I can remember

talking to Brandon about

was... music.

Brandon had a way
of introducing you

to bands you might not
have discovered otherwise.

I always liked music
with that guitar twang.

I remember Brandon essentially

giving me a history lesson

in like 80s punk bands.

Television, a band I like,

Red Lorry Yellow Lorry.

Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,
Television.

They weren't like 90s bands.

It was all 80s bands
that fed into it.

Brandon had a knowledge
of bands before our time

because...

Just because
he had an interest in music.

Otherwise,
perhaps he spent a lot of time

in second hand record shops

where you could find records
by all those bands.

Becoming sixteen, seventeen,

music you know
it shapes you a wee bit.

He fundamentally
informed my music taste.

Having been
this socially awkward,

uncomfortable techno kid,

like everything ch...

like it felt
as if my whole identity changed.

Brandon's life plan was...

to go to medical school
and become a doctor.

I remember Biology.

I had a great teacher.

A Miss Ma kitchen.

She was rather nice.

Now, Gary, can you tell me
the medical term

for what I'm pointing at here?

Eh, it's a willy, Miss.

Urgh.

It became
a bit of a running joke.

Because as soon as there was
a question nobody could answer,

everybody's attention
just turned to Brandon,

said "Brandon, do you know?"

Of course, ten out of ten times
he always knew.

He always knew the answer.

Well, Miss, your finger
is on the bulbourethral gland.

It's otherwise
known as Cowper's gland,

after the anatomist,
William Cowper

Oh, for fuck sake.

Because I remember she said

"Sometimes Brandon
teaches me Biology."

You know Brandon,
sometimes you teach me Biology.

I thought oh,
I'm getting somewhere.

This is good.
This is a good report.

I still remember

one of the teachers
saying to us:

"Look at Brandon."

"He is ten times better
than any of you wasters."

He was one of the better pupils
and was a potential A candidate.

Uh, Sir, I have a question.

He asked Mr. Gunn
to define time.

Of course,
I mean within the Copenhagen

interpretation of quantum time.

Huh?

We all just kind of
looked around and went "What?"

I don't think
I would have given him

much of a response in a class.

Because...

we have no idea
how time works, really...

or what the concept is.

But surely, the paradoxes
that relativity introduced...

...mean that travel can exist

within space time
or the multiverse.

Well, Brandon,

the idea of going back in time
is something

that has appealed to people
through the generations.

But the evidence
that it's not possible is...

that we haven't seen
anyone from the future.

I'd normally
find myself at Brandon's house

to watch a video,

to have something to eat,

to maybe do some study together.

I did go to Brandon's house

to work on some assignments,

or some homework,
or some school projects.

And I met his grandmother
as well.

Brandon's grandmother
was a fairly quiet person.

Sorry to interrupt

but would yo use like a
wee biscuit and a cup of tea?

She was just a nice,
kind of quiet Glaswegian lady.

OK. I'll get out the way

and let you brain boxes
get on with it.

He used to help me
with my homework

and help me in my exam studies.

The square on the hypotenuse
is equal to the sum...

I don't know who else he helped,

but... it certainly
benefited me,

not just from
a friendship point of view,

but academically as well.

I have a genius level IQ.

My IQ was recorded
at 158 when I was eight.

And 162 at nine.

And that's as high as it goes.

Now class, in this scene,
Willy Lomon tells his son Biff

that the key to success in life,

is simply to be well liked,

to be popular.

But what is Arthur Miller
suggesting

about Willy's state of mind?

We were doing
Death of a Salesman,

and I just remember the
first time

he answered a question.

Well, Miss,
in Willy Loman's head,

he doesn't see his son
as a thirty-four-year-old man.

To him, Biff is a
high school sophomore again.

So, Miller is implying
a psychotic delusion.

Perhaps, as an
allegorical or metaphorical

hallucination of chronology.

And I just remember
just closing my jotter.

Every kid was just looking
at each other thinking

"What was that about?"

You know?
It was so off-the-wall.

And I think looking back,

Mrs. Ogg had seen the potential
in him.

This kid is maybe quite special.

She obviously thought,

"Well, he'd be a really good
lead role in the school show."

Mrs. Ogg one day
in English class said

"We're looking for boys
for the school play"

and heads down, nobody
was interested... me especially.

And she said...

Brandon, it's South Pacific.

You could do that.

Uh, maybe I could
help out backstage?

Brandon, come on.

With that accent,

I think we could think
of something better for you.

Well before I knew it,
I was in the audition room.

I remember the terror of it.

It tended to be
very popular people

who were taking
part in the school show.

I wasn't that sort of person.

Brandon Lee simply didn't have

the personality or the talent.

But I thought, you know,
he has an American accent,

and this is about Americans
on a South pacific island.

And I thought they're going
to say, "Thank you, next."

But no.

They loved me.

And I got the part.

I just walked out thinking...

"Oh dear."

Brandon was playing the part

of Lieutenant Cable

and I was playing
the role of Liat.

- Say cheese!
- Cheese.

I played Bloody Mary

and part of the story

is me trying to set
my daughter Liat

up with this Lieutenant Cable

from the American army.

The awkward bit about rehearsals

was Liat and Lieutenant Cable
were meant to be in love.

I was supposed
to kiss this girl, Liat,

who was another girl
from my year.

I didn't want to kiss her

And I was getting into trouble
with Mrs. Thomson for that.

Every rehearsal,

Mrs. Thomson would say

"Right Brandon,
I want you to do the kiss now."

And he would be like, "No, no,
we'll do it on the night."

And he refused, refused,
to kiss this girl.

And she said,
"Look, you just do it."

"You just go, you just do it,
you just kiss."

Come on you two,

it's just a kiss.

Valerie is looking as if to say

"Why won't you kiss me?
What's wrong with me?"

Maybe she thought I was gay
or something, I don't know.

He was a really good singer.

He sung like an angel.

I suppose
I did feel self-conscious

about doing the...
the kissy bit.

It wasn't even remotely
romantic.

When we actually
did have to kiss in the play,

it was probably
a more avuncular kiss

than she'd gotten
from any of her uncles.

It was more a... peck.

It was...

and that's what we managed.

Which was enough
for fifth year at school.

He didn't properly kiss her.
Nae tongues.

South Pacific was...
it was a hit.

It was a really
successful school show,

as a result of him being in it.

He was noticeably better

than most of the other people,

or all the other people actually
in the... in the production.

Yeah, uh huh.

I remember the then rector,

the headteacher, of the school
saying,

"You know Paul,
nobody's going to

remember maths lessons
in Bearsden Academy."

"But everybody is going
to remember the school musical."

- Bravo!
- Woohoo!

Go on yourself, Brandon!

Take a bow, Brandon!

The rector, Mr. Mcleod,
stood up to say thank you

to everybody for taking part.

But I remember he specifically
picked out Brandon and said...

Brandon only arrived last year

but he acts like he has been
with us from the very beginning.

And we thought, yeah he's right,

it does feel like
he has been here forever.

- Bravo!
- Woohoo!

- Go on yourself, Brandon!
- Well done, Brandon!

I saw a change in Brandon
around that time.

Because he's suddenly
in a different place.

He's not that lonely boy
anymore.

He was good company.

But he was very valuable
because he had a car.

He had been spotted driving.

But we were all too young
to even have passed our test.

A bunch of us
were at traffic lights

and pressed the button
to cross the road, you know.

And then his... him in a car.

He's driving a car, stops...

...at the traffic lights,
you know?

Fuck, there's that guy,
that new kid from Canada.

Huh?

He just sort of like
waved over, you know.

Like that is unusual,
that is a bit strange.

He had obviously
learned before he left Canada.

You get your driving license
a year younger in Canada.

And it was just fun to go
driving listening to music

with the windows down,
at full volume.

He would take us to the cinema,
sometimes we would go bowling.

Laser tag...

Suddenly we access to the city,
we had access to record shops.

We used to go out
for dinner together, or...

we would go round
to each other's houses.

I ended up at his house
at a house party.

- In his house?
- Yeah.

There was like some kids
from the year below us,

some kids from our year.

But the mix of kids
was quite strange.

I'd initially said

that I didn't want to go,
but then just thought,

"Right, I'm just going
to go and see what happens."

And I went,

and one of my bullies was there.

And it was all fine.

Hey!

Brandon improved that situation,

where I wasn't going
to be at the receiving end

of any bullying as such.

My credibility increased,

being known as being
one of Brandon's friends.

He may have been quite
knowledgeable about cocktails.

I just remember him
going into the kitchen

and all I heard was,

"Who's touched my Chardonnay?"

- Eh, what?
- What did he say?

I thought that's the first time
I've heard that at a party.

What the fuck's Chardonnay?

What a dafty.

Ah, forget it.

Who wants
to go to a discotheque?

Everybody was in a good mood,
quite merry.

And we're driving
out of Bearsden,

towards Glasgow,

fairly fast.

And the next thing we hear,

a police siren
coming up the road,

but quite far behind us, though.

And Brandon,
his face turned white.

And he sort of said "Guys, guys,

eh there's the police
coming up."

"I think I might
have been speeding."

"They're going to pull
me over."

'When I show them
my driver's license,

it's going to be under
a slightly different name."

And we were like "What?
What are you talking about?"

And he said "I've got
this driver's license, you see,

and my dad gave it to me."

And we're like "Okay."

He said, "But the way
he had to do it is,

is somebody else's name
and date of birth on it."

And he said his Dad was some

kind of attaché
to the Canadian embassy.

You know, people thought
he might be a spy.

He said, "Don't worry,
the police will look at it

and it will all be fine.
Just let me do the talking."

"Please don't say anything."

"Don't get my Dad into trouble."

"This could be
really bad for him."

He's kind of now going at

thirty miles an hour
with white knuckles

panicking that this police car
is going to pull him over.

But in the end, the police car
just went racing past us.

And uh,
we just kind of forgot about it.

We went out into town
and had a good night.

Good afternoon,

Bearsden Academy,
Janice speaking.

One lunch time
there was a phone call

saying that his father had died.

This is the father
who lived in London.

And the office
had asked me to go

and try and find him
and tell him.

I said "Has your father
been ill recently?"

And he said
that he had been ill.

And I said "Well, I'm sorry
to tell you, he's died."

And his immediate reaction was,

"Oh, I thought I was maybe
in trouble for something."

Which seemed rather strange,

after I just told him
his father had died.

I know all about death,

sudden death, and...

you know,
that it can come at any moment

so I just...
I just live in the moment

Brandon and his Gran
seemed really close.

But obviously his Mum
had died, his Dad had died.

Then so she was all he had.

She was now
a mother figure to him.

They weren't taking students

directly from fifth year
to medical school anymore.

They hadn't for a few years.

But after he died...

I just decided really quickly

that was what I was going to do.

I was going to turn that around

and that was my plan.

It got to
our Higher exams. And...

as expected by everyone,

he got all As.

And I knew he was going on
to do medicine at Dundee.

The staff were
certainly concerned

that he was going to do medicine
straight from fifth year.

Come on, boy.

Medicine is too
difficult to do that.

And some of the teachers
had spoken to him about it,

saying that really
you're a bit young to be going.

You really should
wait the extra year.

And he wouldn't do it,

he wouldn't take the advice.

When I went up to Dundee,

everything was right
and it was in place

and I was happy.

Medicine was...
It was like the tide, you know?

I was always going to do that.
There was nothing else.

That's the direction.
There's never been another one.

And then...

the tide somehow got stopped.

Sometimes we would see

his car parked
at Bearsden Station.

And that's how we knew
he was back in Glasgow.

I knew that things

hadn't worked out for him
in Dundee

because of the grapevine.

I didn't know

why it had gone wrong.

But obviously,
a lot of people were saying,

"Well, I told you so,
he was too young."

So, a few of us went
round to his house.

Almost as soon as
I got back from Dundee,

five of them came to the door.

They hammered, and hammered,
and hammered

I had to go to the door.

That's when he told us the news.

I've had to quit university.

It's okay, they've said I can

start again next year
when you guys do.

But why, Brandon?

It's my Grandmother, she...

she died.

Obviously, we knew

he had lost his mother
and his father already.

And his Gran was all he had.

And that's why he was
living in Scotland with her.

So, now to lose her as well
he was totally alone in life.

And it was heart-breaking.

My Grandma had died

and they just wanted
to be nice friends, you know.

Come out and we'll help you.

Or we'll take you for a drink.

Or will take you
for something to eat.

You know, sympathy,
just people being nice.

And that's when...
the holiday came about.

Uh, hello?

Hi Brandon, it's Jemma.

- Yeah, from school.
- Oh.

Jemma attracted people

that maybe needed friendship.

Jemma was a collector of people.

I think that's the best way
to describe her.

How are you doing Brandon?

I've not seen you in ages.

I don't think she became
as friendly with Brandon

until he actually left school.

Which seems bizarre
thinking back.

I don't really know
how that became the case.

Listen Brandon, do you
remember my friend Cheryl?

Her and I were
just talking about you.

Cheryl was a girl from Bearsden

who... was quite upper-class.

- Can you believe...
- She...

wanted to go to Uni
and become a doctor.

Same as Brandon.

Cheryl wasn't one of my
favorite persons in those days.

She could be
quite a nasty person.

She was...

A good kid.

Very nice girl.

That Cheryl
was a nasty piece of work.

Cheryl, I...

I wouldn't say she was
a nice person,

uh, from experience.

Ugh, for god's sake.

Get out my way, boy.

Cheryl was definitely
one of those kids

that felt she was a bit elevated

over most other people
in the class.

I'm sure she's lovely now,
but...

She was sometimes just mean
to people for the sake of

it I think.

It was just in her nature.

Cheryl's had this great idea.

We should all go
on holiday together.

I didn't even know this girl.

She wants to go on holiday.

They wouldn't take no
for an answer.

Look, it's not just us.

I've asked Nicola to come too.

And you know her from
the school musical, don't you?

Jemma was really keen
for me to go on holiday,

so, I ended up going
away with Jemma, Cheryl,

and at the time... Brandon Lee.

This is going to be
the best holiday ever.

England. England.

I don't really understand

the relationship between,
you know,

Cheryl and Jemma

and Nicola and Brandon.

I didn't even know
they were friends.

I was like oh,
are they all friends?

Yeah.

Cheers guys... here's to us.

- Chin-chin!
- Cheers!

- Cheers.
- Happy Holidays

Would you have gone
on holiday on your own

- with three girls?
- No, definitely not.

They would never have asked me.

No.

You'd have been happy
to go down the shops

with three girls at that age.

The holiday was your
average 17-year-olds holiday.

Eh, until everything
went a bit mad.

Look out, Brandon! Brandon!

You spilt my drink.

There was some...
trouble in a pub.

He got into some bother,
a fight, in a pub.

- What's your problem, dude?
- Brandon, no!

You feel lucky, punk?

Police were called,
and he ended up in jail.

Brandon!

This has ruined my holiday!

They went back to the apartment
to get his passport.

And there was two passports.

One had one identity,
one had another identity.

Because that's
how he got caught, didn't he?

With having two passports.

Jemma, look at this.

Which one is he?

Well, that was Brandon,
banged up abroad, shocking!

I think that's
the official story.

Is it... Is it?

Sunburn and a criminal record.

That's the official
rumored story.

Is that so...
Have you heard that story?

What Cheryl did
the minute she came home,

she told her parents.

And her mother went
to Bearsden Academy

to see Mr. Mcleod.

Thank you for bringing
this to my attention.

I will investigate further.

I should think so.

Mr. Mcleod asked me
to come into his room

to look at a photograph
from some years before.

And said "Does that
remind you of anyone?"

And we looked at the photograph

and we said, "Not really, no."

He said "Brandon Lee?"

Sir, do you think time travel
is feasible?

Well, Brandon,

we've yet to meet anyone who's
travelled from another time.

So, I'd say that proves
that it's not possible.

Huh.

Impossible imshmossible,
you can get around impossible.

I watched Mission Impossible
when I was little.

And that was
very influential for me,

especially the first season.

I didn't
recognize his photograph

to the Brandon Lee
I knew in my Physics class.

It looked like a...

fifteen-year-old boy.

I got a letter from Mcleod.

"Something has come
to my attention

that may affect your
future and education."

"Could you make an
appointment to see me?"

Hello, Bran...

Come in.

Mcleod had this folder.

This document

your report card
from one year ago.

He said,

"I compiled it from the reports
from various teachers."

"I've never written
a better report.

Now, this document
is a report card for a pupil

who first attended this school

twenty years ago.

He showed me the report for him.

He said I shouldn't be
showing you this but, you know,

it is ten out of ten.

You can see it is very similar.

You do realize,
as far as I'm concerned,

it would appear that you're
not who you say you are.

Yeah, I knew something bad
was going to happen then.

So, I decided that I was going

to get on the first plane
in the morning.

One of the office staff
came to me

and asked me...

Hi Ronna,

do you by any chance
have a copy of that videotape

that was done of South Pacific?

I'm trying to get a hold of one
really urgently.

I managed to get a hold
of one for her

and I gave her it.

And she said to me,

as she was leaving my classroom,

Watch the six o'clock
news tonight, Ronna.

You'll find it interesting.

So, I went home and remembered

to watch the news.

Tonight, we can reveal
that a thirty-two-year-old man

has spent the
last year posing as a...

Sixteen-year-old schoolboy.

And I'm thinking

what fucking idiot
has fell for that?

Bearsden Academy...

What?

Brandon!

This is the bizarre case
of the schoolboy

who is thirty-two years old.

I was...

absolutely astonished.

I couldn't...

I couldn't comprehend
what I was feeling.

Brandon Lee was rather
older than his classmates.

About fifteen years older.

I knew there was something
about that guy.

Brandon Lee was not Brandon Lee.

He was no teenager either,
he was thirty-two!

I remember just being
utterly shocked.

And I remember finding it
quite hilarious at the time.

Sean, how old are you, mate?

Uh, fifty-six.

But Brandon being twice our age

wasn't even the most
shocking part of the story.

Brandon Lee studied
for a year at his old academy.

He went back to school
he originally went to.

Brandon Lee was

originally enrolled here
in 1975.

He was
at Bearsden Academy before this?

- Yes!
- Huh?

From that moment on,

it was just a media circus.

To that end, the authorities...

At the front gate,

it was packed with reporters,
TV cameras.

People were running after you
with microphones.

The streets were buzzing.

We didn't really
suspect anything at all.

We were outside the school,
Billy Big Balls,

waiting for our fifteen minutes.

Everybody was a bit shocked
when he first turned up,

because he looked
like a teacher sort of thing.

Did he have some
kind of cosmetic surgery?

Because it was a rather
mask-like face that he had.

It was an unusual face.

The headmaster, Norman Macleod,

says Brandon Lee certainly
made an impact on him.

He really was an ideal pupil.

A polite, well-spoken,
gentlemanly young man.

Y'know he managed
to keep his story

constant all the time,

and never let it slip at all.

His mother was an opera singer.

He had toured the world
with his mother.

He told us
that both his parents had died

and he was living
with his grandma.

A string of lies

that spans a whole year.

And he was being taught

by the same teachers
that taught him back then!

Around forty teachers,
half the staff,

had worked there at the time,

but none recognized him.

Many of the teachers

who had taught him said

"I wondered who it was
he put me in mind of."

A lot of our viewers
might be thinking,

how on Earth could the.
Teachers have been taken in

After all, some of them
taught him the first time round.

If you were teaching there

in the 1970s,

how did you not recognize him
again in the 90s?

Oh, because he had
changed physically quite a bit.

He did look much older.

What?

Tell us what you know
of Brandon Lee.

At this stage and time,
we don't know a great deal.

We have not yet
definitively identified

his previous name.

But that is the subject
of discussion later today.

Opened the front door and...

it's mid-morning.

And there were journalists
at the front door,

immediately asking,
"Am I Brian Mackinnon?"

Are you Brian Mackinnon?

I had no idea.
I was Brian Mackinnon.

It's Brian.
It's Brian Mackinnon.

Brian Mackinnon,
why did you do it?

How old am I? Am I thirty-two?

How have you made yourself
look so young Brian?

Am I seventeen?

Have you
had the plastic surgery?

At the time, I just thought,

why do they want to
know who Brian Mackinnon is

and what Brian Mackinnon's done?

Well, most people these days
can't wait to leave school.

But not thirty-two-year-old,
Brian Mackinnon.

Oh shit.

He managed to fool

the education authorities
into believing

that he was actually
seventeen-year-old, Brandon Lee.

Seventeen-year-old
Brian Mackinnon watching this.

My mind was blown!

I mean -

It was his pal.

His pal who is
a thirty-two-year-old man

and it's his pal that's got
the same fucking name as him.

It was... why?

Was the first question.

Why did he do it?

He had a burning
ambition to study medicine.

Yes.

At thirty students
are deemed too old actually...

At thirty you are deemed too old

to study in the medical field.

I think that's probably
the reason for all of this.

He then went
to university in Dundee

as a medical student.

But dropped out after one term,

claiming there was
a death in the family.

It's my grandmother.

She died.

He was totally alone in life,
it was heart-breaking.

The press finally found

the right Brian Mackinnon's
house.

And his car was outside,

but no one was coming or going.

And then a florist van arrived

and a bunch of
flowers got delivered.

And the door opened.

And there was...

Brandon's dead gran.

I think by the time we saw
Brandon's gran on the news,

we were past the
point of being surprised.

So, her rising from the dead,

it was just a case of
"Well, oh right then."

Brandon's grandmother

was besieged at her home
by reporters

and she didn't want
to leave the house.

We'll all go away,
if you come out and speak.

So, at that point
the police showed up

and the reporters asked them

the identity of the woman

who just answered the door
and taken the flowers.

She is Brandon's mother though,

the so-called
"Brandon's mother"?

Well, I don't know
the full story,

so I wouldn't like to comment.

But it's her son
that the news has been about?

It's her son
that you're all apparently here

to photograph and talk to.

It's her son?

Her son isn't there,
she doesn't know where he is.

So, not only is she not dead,

but she's not his gran either.

That's one of those realizations
that came on slow, I suppose.

I didn't...

I think we were still
referring to her as his gran.

Even though,
we now logically knew

that she couldn't be.

The story was that he was...

He lost his parents,

and his mum was his gran.

But his gran was his mum.

You know?

No, the story was
that Brandon's mum was dead

and then Brandon's
gran was dead.

But actually,
Brian's mum was alive

and she was Brandon's gran.

Who had been dead
but now was alive again.

The Peter Pan
of Bearsden Academy,

thirty-two-year-old,
Brian Mackinnon,

flew home on Saturday
amid rumors

that he had spent the
last week at a German clinic,

avoiding the furor

that he's been unmasked
as a fraud.

The press seemed
to be outside my door,

spinning nonsense
before I got back from Europe.

But I didn't see it as being
quite that big, you know.

To me It seemed
like a little thing

It was just a means to an end.

It should have occurred to me.

It was something
I was oblivious to maybe.

And I shouldn't have been
that...

that was sort of something new
in human history.

When Brian Mackinnon
returned home last night

by taxi at eight o'clock,

he refused to talk
to waiting press.

But until he does so,

the intense media interest
in his story will continue.

They misrepresented,

big time.

You know you get things
in the pr...

It has been suggested.

A source close to so and so
says that...

And finally, the strange story
of false identity,

dogged perseverance,
and momentary indiscretion.

Lee's secret was discovered

when he went on holiday
with former classmates

to Tenerife this summer.

There was a disturbance at
a bar and Lee was arrested.

Police found
that Lee had two passports

One showing him at seventeen,

the other as thirty-two.

There was no two passports.

There was no fight
in a Spanish bar.

There was no police

and he was never
put in a Spanish prison.

None of that was true.
It was all lies

The minute
I arrived in Tenerife,

Jemma said to me...

Brandon's got something
to tell you.

He then showed me his passport

And that was when he said.

My name isn't Brandon Lee

and I'm not a teenager.

So suddenly, as he got to
the end of the sentence,

the Canadian accent stopped

and he had a Scottish accent.

My name is Brian Mackinnon

and I'm thirty-two years old.

I can't imagine what it
would have been like for them

to then be on holiday
with this old man.

Jemma and Cheryl
knew prior to going on holiday.

I don't know why I wasn't told
prior to going on holiday.

But they did know
prior to going on holiday.

I know that to be a fact.

Nicola, can you
promise me something?

And he said like,

please don't tell anyone.

Blah, blah, blah,
can you keep this a secret?

And I was like, "Not a problem."

Did not bother me at all.

And then we carried on.
We went out that night.

And carried on
like everything was normal.

It just, it didn't...
It didn't faze me.

I don't understand why he would
go away on holiday with them.

I didn't even know
they were friends.

It's just a little bit odd.

A little bit strange.

The only explanation
I have is the fact

that he had people
that were his friends

and he wasn't
used to having that.

And he was caught up.

He was caught up
in the friendship.

And it was something
he wasn't used to

and he had never had before.

It is just the most bizarre...

bizarre thing.

- We totally nailed that.
- I know!

It was only one or two nights in

that the big fight happened.

We came home after a few drinks.

And the guys
from the apartment next door,

they basically trashed
the outside of our room.

And Cheryl went wild.

Like mental, she was furious.

I'm going round...

She'd had a few
and she was uptight

and decided she was
going to sort them all out

And I thought, these guys
looked a wee bit iffy.

I'm going round.
Don't try and stop me.

I tried to stop her
and stood in her way.

Whoa, whoa. Cheryl, stop.

Brian was trying
to calm her down at this point.

And... she just
wouldn't calm down.

I will not clam down.

I understand a bit
about the core

and the inception of hysteria

and how powerful
it is in adolescence.

The forces
that can give rise to it

and the damage that can ensue,
if it gets out of control.

Those bastards!

Eventually,
I kind of went icy and said,

"If you want to go
and commit suicide,

don't drag us all into it."

And then she turned on him.

She was saying

like, "How dare you
tell me what to do?"

"You're not my Dad."

"You're not even who you
said you were" and all this.

"You're a liar."

Bringing all
that kind of stuff up.

This is the worst holiday ever.

She didn't take that well.

She went crying into her room.

And the door would get slammed.

And the door would
get slammed again.

And I figured, hmm,

female hysteria...

How is that going to pan out?

The atmosphere
the next morning was awful.

I thought things
would have calmed down,

but no one was talking.

Hey, do you want
to walk down to the beach?

I was really intrigued
to learn this story

because it is such
an interesting story.

So, I would like sit down
and ask him about his life

and where it got
to the point he was.

So, you're not Canadian,
are you?

Where did you grow up?

I moved to Bearsden
when I was twelve.

Before that we lived
in a place called Milton.

It was just a housing scheme...

Post-war, I think.

And I don't have
fond memories of it.

But it was concrete
and it was rough.

You know with gangs
and things like that.

And drugs were coming in.

And my mum decided
she was going to try

and get me right out of there.

This baby boy is two weeks old.

He's more than
twice as likely to die

before the age of sixty-five,

as a baby born less
than a mile away in Bearsden.

So, then my Mum
got this job in Bearsden.

And we moved there
in October 1975.

Bearsden is the posh place

She wanted what was best.

Woo, you're from Bearsden!

Bad things
don't really happen in Bearsden.

My Mum had the notion
that Bearsden Academy

was as close
to a private school,

as she could get.

I remember my first day
at Bearsden Academy.

I noticed that the boys,

because they were
middle-class lads,

they were stronger,
more robust looking fellas,

and...

had quite serious fist fights
to show who was eh, dominant.

Most of the children
going to the school

were from professional families.

Doctors, dentists, lawyers.

Brian's Dad
was the local lollipop man.

And his Mum was the warden
in the old folks' home

Her job came with accommodation.

That was how they managed
to move to Bearsden

Bandon Lee definitely had

a more sociable time in school
in the mid-90s,

as Brian Mackinnon
did in the 1970s.

I wasn't like one
of the pretty kids.

That anyone would
want to go out with

So, I didn't even bother asking.

I was brought up
to be impersonal,

to hold back from people.

I just had a sense
that it wasn't my time

for that sort of thing yet.

When you're sixteen years old,

there's a point
where you come of age,

and you start defining yourself,

and you really have
a sense of your own,

you know, your own
identity for the first time.

Medicine.

That was what I wanted to do.

My Mum probably knew

almost as soon as I did.

We could usually tell what
one another were thinking

Almost a...

...a telepathic connection.

Well, I say almost, truly!

Then my Mum was, you know,
she wasn't a medic

but she had pretty close
knowledge of a doctor.

She came from a poor background.

Had she had the
education opportunities,

she probably would
have ended up being

a Professor or something.

She was an
immensely smart individual.

She wanted him
to become a doctor.

And I think it was
his Mum's belief in that

that maybe had
him believe in that.

One day my mother said to me:

"Your dreams are separate
from your waking life."

"But for some people
you can go further than that."

"You can be aware of the fact

that you're dreaming

when you're dreaming."

"When you're
inside a lucid dream,

you can begin to use that

to get what you want."

I think he was fulfilling
his dreams, as it were.

His dream
was to become a doctor.

I went to study medicine
at Glasgow University in 1980.

The doctors of 1980

studying at Glasgow University's
world famous Medical School,

gain practical experience.

It started off great.

I was getting A's
in my class tests.

But then everything
just changed on a dime.

It started off like the flu.

The weight-loss.

I was feeling
constantly thirsty.

My heart was racing.

I had headaches, night sweats.

I couldn't dream properly.

I couldn't do that anymore,
that was terrifying.

I failed my exams
in the first year.

And then when I was
eventually called up

to see the dean

and the advisor of studies
one day,

they were just like
bad cop, bad cop

You are failing,
you are failing.

You're failure.

Medicine isn't for you.

They were desperate

to get to the point
where they could exclude me.

It was just brutal
and nasty and bad.

Get out, you're a failure!

It felt like
the end of the world.

Brian tried

applying to various
medical schools after that.

But nothing worked out for him.

And he eventually
started working

in the local health club.

But then you know,
a little bit of time passes

and you begin to plan
and scheme again,

on maybe a long game...

but you know,

you're thirty years old.

It's just that decade long...

Well, decade and a half
long gap.

By that time, he was too old

to study medicine.

Because I think
over the age of thirty,

they wouldn't let you back in.

My life had been held
back for no good reason.

And all the other lives of
the kids I went to school with,

their lives had
maybe not gone to plan,

but they had at least
moved forward, you know?

The defining factor
of when he decided

to go back to Bearsden Academy,

was I think
the death of his father.

My father who had been
diagnosed with cancer,

was close to death.

And I'm sitting with him

and he said to me...

You know Brian,
I never lost confidence in you.

Thanks, Dad.

But do you think
I will ever be able to do

something meaningful
with my life?

Everybody has their day, son.

It was my Mum
that was with him when he died.

She said he sat up,
as if he was seeing something,

sucking in his last breath

and then he died.

And that just...

That put me into something
I had never experienced before.

I was angry, not in a kind of,
you know,

raging blood-boiling way.

It was cold.

And I thought, "Well, if this
is going to have any meaning,

his death, his suffering,

let it be this."

- You're failure.
- Failure.

To hell with those guys,

you know, that have stopped you.

You're just not good enough.

Get this done.

When you have an adversary,
you...

The thing you have to do,
if you really want to prevail,

is do the unimaginable.

Do something
that is just so out there,

that no one is even
going to dream

that you would think
of doing that.

Whose responsibility was it

for admitting Brandon Lee
to the school?

I think it was Mrs. Holmes
who interviewed him originally.

Seriously? I did not know that.

Mrs. Holmes.

Chaíre Didáskale.

You would definitely put her
bottom of the list

in terms of people
who would get it...

- Wrong.
- ...wrong.

Holmes, yes, that was her name.

Holmes.

Of course,
I'm not talking as myself.

I'm talking
as this fictive father.

So, I had to put on
a bit of pomp.

So, I told her my name was...

William Lee,
I'm a Professor of Zoology,

and I wish to send
my son Brandon

to enroll at your school.

Why, yes, Professor.

Just send him straight to me.

And it was towards
the end of May,

I think I showed up.

So, it was not long
before my thirtieth birthday.

You must be Brandon.

Your father has told me
great things about you.

Take a seat.

I'll be with you in a minute.

McLaverty, get in here!

Some boy came in, a
first year who had misbehaved.

McLaverty,
look at the state of you.

Detention!

- Go.
- She suddenly

turned from being
very sweet with me

to being very nasty
And then right back, you know.

And I thought...

I'll be real careful
of any human being

that wields
any kind of authority.

Anyway, Brandon,

where were we?

All I really showed

was a letter
from a fictive tutor.

She had the letter

from my would-be Dad,
again fictitious.

I just need
to see your birth certificate.

And she had a tick list.

You've no birth certificate?

I've... I call it...
I call it mesmerism.

I have skills
where I can hypnotize people.

And get into their psyche,
that sort of thing.

I can do that.
I had to learn to do that.

That's okay, Brandon.

I'll believe you.

Mind-control.

Right...

He used his powers
of mind-control

to make her sa...

Oh, like in Star Wars.

He looked into her eyes
and said: "Don't."

"These are not the droids
you're looking for."

These aren't the drones
you're looking for, no?

Droids.

Yeah, droids, I beg your...
I'm not a fan of that Star Wars.

I was more an Alien kind of guy.

Did Mrs. Holmes
not want to be interviewed?

No.

Did she say why?

Oh.

She does not remember
ever meeting Brandon Lee?

I mean...

She doesn't remember
anything at all?

Do we think
she is just saying that?

Why would she?

Mind-control.

I'm going with...
I'm going with mind-control.

Okay we'll go
with the mind-control, yeah.

Yeah.

Making one little difference

can make all the difference.

So, the hair change
was the main thing.

Brandon Lee had a mop
of reddish-brown...

I wouldn't say it was permed
but it was curly-ish hair.

At first,

I was actually using curlers
on my hair in the morning.

So, he actually put curlers in
every night

to curl his hair?

Shit.

Eventually,
I figured out if I get a perm,

I won't have to go through that
every morning

and get up an hour early.

I wouldn't have thought that.

I would go out the house.

I would go down the road
a little in the morning

before I put the tie on.

That took huge balls
on his part.

He's got big balls to...
One, to do it.

But to go back to the same
school?

That's phenomenal.

That whole chaos

almost seemed
like remote from me.

Because my life
had already been destroyed.

So, chaos was my element.

- Donald Lindsay.
- Here miss.

Brian Mackinnon.

My name is Brian Mackinnon.

And there are other Brian
Mackinnon's out there, so...

They called out Brian Mackinnon
at one point

And, you know, a kind if wave
of adrenaline went through me.

Then natural impulse
was to put your hand up.

And I really had to, you know,

really stop myself
to keep my hand down.

I can only imagine the blood
must have left his system

at that point.

But what do you do?

I think
he must have shat his pants.

Immediately,
when the story broke,

I just thought that was
just the strangest thing.

The person he had befriended...

Befriended

...had the same name as him.

For Brandon,
it would have been much easier

to just ignore me all together.

But I think that is why

he shared some of the music
with me that he shared.

In becoming friends

with sixteen-year-old
Brian Mackinnon,

thirty-two-year-old Brandon Lee

became friends with...

Yeah, a shadow of his old self.

Brandon Lee

Brandon Lee was accidentally
shot and killed

on the set of his movie,
The Crow.

You know after I found out
about the Brandon Lee thing,

I thought I should have
been hip to...

to that, but I wasn't.

Honest.

Brandon is a popular name.

Is it not? Brandon.

There was Brandon from 90210.

- What was that? Ehm...
- Urgh.

I came across Brandon
on the television.

There was a show on called

Beverley Hills 2-0-1-0,
or something.

My name is uh, Brandon Walsh.

Brandon Walsh.

That is where he said
he got the name.

Oh, did he? High-five.

- Seriously?
- I like this guy.

I actually like Brandon Lee.

Well if you think about it
90210 Brandon

was the perfect teenager.

He was handsome, popular,

could drive a car.

Nah, I call bullshit on that.

He arrived in our class a month

after Brandon Lee died
on the set of The Crow.

The Crow is a story about a man
who comes back from dead

to seek revenge
on his assassins.

Was he coming back
to avenge wrongs,

just like The Crow in the film.

Well, he was definitely
coming back to right a wrong,

there's no question about that.

It really is a role

that you have to
take risks with.

You tell me how somebody
who comes back from the dead

is going to behave.

Oh, right.

- You get it?
- Yeah, I get it.

I'm glad the penny's dropped.

So, his mother
was an opera singer...

- Who...
- Okay.

...died in a car crash

That was a back story.

I didn't have it written for me.

I was making it up
as I go along.

Here, Thirty-something!

He's ancient.

It is a wee bit
like an acting role.

You just had to
say get in character.

Yeah, that's about
as close as it comes.

He sounded
like he came from Canada,

because that's
where he said he came from.

I can just do these things.

I can put on accents
just to amuse people.

Switch between
Russian and American.

And, you know,
whatever it takes.

You feel lucky, punk?

My favorite thing in all of this

is Miss Ma kitchen in Biology

teaching sex education

to a child who
was older than she was.

Sometimes Brandon
teaches me Biology.

As soon as there was a question

nobody could answer,

everybody's attention
just turn to Brandon.

Well Miss,
in Willy Lomon's deluded head,

his thirty four year old son
is a high school sophomore again

with all his life ahead of him.

Did you like
being a teenager again?

No, it was just awful.
Just like, hell.

No, it was just awful.
Just like, hell.

It'll be okay.

Our friendship
meant a lot to me.

And I should hope
it meant a lot to him as well.

I know the kids at the school,

they're human beings.

But to me
they were just ciphers.

You know, that wasn't
what I was focusing on.

That's awful to say
but that is what it was like.

Although he said he never
wanted to make friends,

he never wanted to be
involved in anything, he did.

He was able
to do all of the things

he wasn't able to do
in the 1970s.

To make the friendships
that he had,

to go on holiday with friends,

to taking the part
in the school show.

You would want
to keep under the radar

Not attract unwanted attention
to yourself.

So...

taking the lead role
in the school show

is bizarre.

Hiding in plain sight.

That's about the best place
you can hide.

Brandon sang
"Younger than Springtime."

He was almost taunting people
to find out what the truth is.

I always looked youthful.

And I was an active dreamer
of things

you can do
to keep yourself young.

Taking a role in a school play

is a perfect fit for him,

because he was acting
every day of his life.

It's as
if you're living in a film.

He thinks he is the lead part
in his own film.

So, this is the only footage
that exists of Brandon Lee.

This is the video

of the school production
of South Pacific.

I'm glad somebody recorded it.
This is cool.

Have you ever seen this before?

No.

Look, he's got two silhouettes.
Talk about foreshadowing.

And here's Brandon

being called by Bali Ha'i.

It's interesting

because when I see
this... video.

I haven't seen it
for a very long time,

I think he does look older.

I think he looks older.

Oh, the singing is rotten.
It's just awful.

He's horribly off-key
but it's so charming.

Oh, here we go.

"Younger Than Springtime."
Oh, my goodness.

Oh, is this the kiss scene.

Oh, he was quite happy
to kiss my hand.

From what I've heard,

it was just
a cheeky kind of peck.

My memory was,

it was...

It's quite a passionate kiss.

Oh, there's two!

He went back.
He went back for another one.

How many nights
did we do this for?

How many times did it happen?

I don't know.

An uncomfortable number
because it's more than none.

E... That's just so weird.

I haven't looked
at this film since, and it's...

It's what?

I haven't got words
at the moment.

She was sixteen, right?

Over sixteen.

Nothing wrong with that.

It's legal, eh?

Was it morally acceptable

for a thirty-two year old man
to kiss a sixteen-year-old girl?

No.

But you're just a kid.

Well, part of you feels a bit...

Eh...

Icky.

That was a semi-uncomfortable

walk down memory lane, that was.

He must have really

wanted to be a doctor but...

That's not how...
That's not becoming a doctor.

- No.
- You don't stand on a stage

and kiss a sixteen-year-old girl
to become a doctor.

He was playing Brandon Lee,

playing Lieutenant Cable,

playing a mediocre
high school actor.

Whilst at the same time,

fooling absolutely everybody
around him

uh, that he was
a sixteen-year-old teenager.

One of the pleasures of teaching

lies in watching young people
grow up.

And what did we see tonight?

Confidence, maturity.

Part of me thinks
it genuinely is mind-control.

Because what is mind-control,

if it's not standing
in front of hundreds of people

and convincing them
that a thirty-year-old man

is a sixteen-year-old
school boy?

Now, Brandon Lee,

I'm delighted to say

he behaves and acts

as if he has been a pupil
at Bearsden Academy

from the very beginning.

And we are delighted
to have him.

That's the line.

I always thought
that was a mythical line.

- What does he do?
- Wow. Fabulous.

Look at Brandon's face.

He behaves and acts

as if he has been a pupil
at Bearsden Academy

from the very beginning.

And we're delighted to have him.

I mean hindsights,
we are all good with hindsights.

But, eh, it's one
of those remarks which, eh...

have probably become
quite famous.

The Brandon Lee saga has caused

considerable embarrassment
for a number of individuals

and puts the system
of recruiting secondary pupils

under the microscope.

By the time
Brandon's story broke,

Mrs. Holmes had left Bearsden,

moved onto another school

and got a promotion
to becoming a headmistress.

Meanwhile, Mr. Macleod went
on TV

and said that it was him
that interviewed Brandon

and let him into the school.

In front
of me stood a very composed

articulate young man.

He arrived in this school
with credentials,

impeccable credentials.

Birth certificate?

No,

but I'll believe you.

Mr. Macleod always accepted it

as his responsibility

as the headmaster.

So, that's not what happened?

No, Mrs. Holmes
was saved by Batman.

And I thought, well,

if he's spent his life
touring the world

with an opera singing mother,

uh, private tutoring,

then this kind of
cosmopolitan manner

eh, was all part of the...
part of the course.

The police coming in
to my Mum's house.

There was no crime committed.

Technically.

Whatever your moral stance.

And certainly, my mother
did nothing wrong.

She's already fainted
once or twice in the house.

So, she's pretty upset.

Did she know
he was at the school?

I have no idea.

Has this come
as a surprise to her?

Apparently so.

I would appeal to you all,
give her a break please.

She doesn't know anything.

There is no point
in hanging about.

According to May Mackinnon,

Brian has said that the time
he spent at Bearsden Academy,

was the happiest year
of his life.

She went on to add

that thirty-two-year-old Brian
was a fine son.

I can't put my finger
on whether...

Brian's mum was
involved in this or not.

I suspect that she wasn't.

I like to think that she wasn't

I also like
to see the best in people.

If she knew that
he was going back to school

to assume the identity
of a sixteen-year-old child,

I don't think that
would have happened.

I don't think she knew about it.

Did your mother know

what you were doing?

No, my mother was not made aware

of what was going on.

If he acted alone,

then it's one person who is

delusional, narcissistic
and has...

maybe some issues around reality

and some issues around ethics.

If two people
come up with something

then it becomes
much more insidious

And it becomes a...

It just takes
a slightly more sinister turn.

She came from a poor background.

The sort of people
that live in Bearsden

are rich people.

Doctors, dentists, lawyers.

She wanted him
to become a doctor.

She didn't see
why he couldn't become a doctor.

It was his father's dying wish

that Brian
should become a doctor.

And Mrs. Mackinnon
said she'd promised

that she would do all she could
to help him.

If she didn't know,

who did she think you were

coming to the house
to study for school?

Good question.

Good point. Good point.

Ehm, I suppose, yeah...

Now I think about it,

she must have been in on it
and treated me like, you know,

one of Brandon's, Bri...
Yeah, Brandon's school friends.

I've heard that...

that Brian told her
that Brandon was a nickname

Okay, so if his nickname
is Brandon, what's her nickname?

- You met his Mum/Gran?
- Yeah.

And he called her?

He called her Gran
when I was there.

- He called her Gran?
- Uh-huh.

And what did she say?

She went along with it.

So, hang on,
the bit I don't get is,

if it was a death bed promise
to his Dad

that made him
come back to school,

how come his Dad
died months after

he was back at school with us?

Good afternoon,
Bearsden Academy.

How did you find out

that Brandon's father had died?

What came in was a call
to the school office

from his grandmother,
apparently.

Saying that his father had died

and she was sending a car
to collect him.

Oh.

- So... oh.
- Yeah.

So, his father
was alive and well

at the time
when he started school.

No.

No.

- No, his real father. No?
- No.

This is the made up one?

That wasn't his Granny calling.

That was his Mum
calling the school

that she knew he was in.

Uh-huh, to say...
So, she's... Oh, so she's... Oh!

So, she's complicit.

- Because she knew about it.
- Fuck sake.

- Oh my God.
- Eek!

Oh!

Hello, I'm Brandon Lee's
grandmother.

I'm afraid
I've had some awful news.

Brian's mother would have done
anything for him.

Brandon, I'm sorry to tell you,

you're father has died.

Have you ever had
to do that before or since?

No.

No, fortunately.

So, that's the only
time you've told a child...

- Yes.
- ...that their parent has died?

How do you feel about it now?

I feel I don't know
if it is true or not.

I don't know whether it was
his father who had died.

Or whether it was some reason

to get out of school
for something special.

I don't know.

I still don't know.

I fell behind
in the study for...

a Physics class test.

So, I realized I'm going
to have to be sick that day.

It's just a class test,
they'll let me off with that.

How do I get round it?

I see.

Right

That does seem

rather an extreme way
of dodging a Physics test,

I have to say.

I think Brian
and his Mum believed

they could do anything to
get what they wanted in life.

They have common personalities
in that respect

That they both think...

I don't know
how to put it without going,

"They're both fucking mental."

Do you know what I mean?
Like, how can I...

How can we say like,
that they're both nuts?

His Mum was mental.

She was...
That's where he gets it from.

Today, Brian Mackinnon's mother

told me that he was not at home.

It was unlikely
he would give interviews,

given the lies that journalists
have told about him.

When you get that
attack in the press back in '95,

someone saying
he has to sort out

his relationship
with his mother.

So, effectively
it's calling you,

forgive my language...

A motherfucker.

It was an obsession

with getting to be a doctor.

A thirty-two-year-old man
who posed as a school boy

to get the qualifications needed
to study for a medical degree,

has lost his place
at Dundee University.

Universities are now
insisting on all students

starting or re-sitting
a first year,

presenting a birth certificate
or passport.

So, Brian Mackinnon
will not return to Dundee.

So that was him
thrown out of Dundee.

And then the press
had a field day, digging up

the first time he had been
kicked out of medical school.

The doctors of 1980

studying at Glasgow University's
world famous medical school,

gain practical experience.

Brian Mackinnon felt cheated

by Glasgow University's
medical faculty

and he said they had
robbed him of a chance

to become a doctor.

You have an institution

that is supposed to be
an educational institution.

A university who will
hold a press conference

to correct the public record

and tell nothing but lies.

This afternoon

the dean of Glasgow University's
medical faculty said,

Mackinnon just wasn't
good enough.

He was asked to leave
after he had been given

every possible
chance of succeeding,

even with a second year re-sit.

Eh, which he then failed
to complete successfully.

Brian thinks

that the whole world
is against him.

And that people don't want him
to get a medical degree.

And that there are people

deliberately standing
in his way.

What they did was presented

as bona fidè papers
that were falsified.

Guys that are willing
to do that, probably are...

you know, not big on conscience.

If there is no trust
between a patient and a doctor,

then there is nothing left.

The fact that
he has falsified papers

and has admitted to it,

rather calls his honesty
into question.

What happened to Cheryl?

Sorry?

The girl
he argued with on holiday.

She went to Dundee

after she left school

and did her degree there.

Competition for places
on medical courses is fierce

and the question mark

hanging over Brandon Lee's
future at the university

has resulted
in a flood of queries

from people whose applications
had been turned down.

It is a very popular course

We have twelve applications

for every place
that is available.

And we should make it clear
that eh...

all places are now taken.

What does Cheryl do now?

She's a doctor.

Cheryl is a doctor.

I always thought, well,

that he actually could
have got away with this,

if he hadn't gone on this
damn holiday with these lassies.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
to whom it concerns.

It's the Late Late Show

and here is your host,
Gay Byrne.

Would you welcome please,
Brian Mackinnon.

He made the world headlines
and I'm not surprised.

Sit down, Brian.

I really think subconsciously

I wanted to be caught, you know,

because it was... it's so...
it's such a disgusting

self-degrading feeling

to have to... to do
something like that

to go under a false persona,
a false, you know, identity.

I used to see him
walking down the street.

He would turn around

and walk back up
the road if he saw me.

I don't know whether he is
ashamed or embarrassed,

or...

Maybe, I don't know,

maybe he just doesn't
want to know me.

I'd see him in the street.

But he looked quite disheveled
and just a different person.

A completely different
person from who he was.

Well, he was.

True, he was
a different person, yes.

Good point.

Did you like
being seventeen again?

No, I had no like for it at all.

My main feeling throughout
the year was, you know,

God can't this be over.

I lost touch with Brian
over the years.

I did hear that his Mum
had passed away.

For real this time.

Ehm, and obviously
I know he was very close to her

and that would
have hit him really hard.

But you didn't
feel that you were

almost flaunting the danger?

No.

Wasn't there an element of that
in it?

No, absolutely not.

Look at me,

- I'm thirty-two years old.
- I was terrified. No way.

Yes, he was a liar.

Ehm, that's a very
harsh thing to say but...

he was.

There was a kiss required.

But I managed to get off with,
with not performing the kiss.

If it was my children
who were at school

with somebody who
had pretended to be sixteen,

you would expect that
he would have to account for it

in some way.

So... But then he didn't,
there was no charges pursued.

Were there any ramifications?
I would have put him in prison.

Although he hasn't done
anything wrong, but he's lied.

He lied about his life.

You can follow your dreams

without deceiving people.

It's a story which is
seemingly never-ending.

And he's still trying to gain
entry into a medical faculty

at a Scottish University.

I want my career back.

I'm still strong, fit,
bright, sharp

and I've got a lot to offer.

Maybe I can make a difference.

So, if I was lying
in a hospital bed

and he walks in as the doctor...

If Brian needed to treat me...

I would probably
allow that to happen

because I believe...

someone's personal life

shouldn't interfere
with their professional life.

If professionally,
he is a capable doctor,

uhm...

Depends what's wrong with me.

Nah, of course not.

No.

He fraudulently
went to school...

And lied.

Do you know what?

I'd... I'd give it a go.

- Would you?
- Aye.

Aye, if he came in the room,
whacked on the rubber glove,

I'd be like that,
do you know what?

This is where we're at

and I'm just going
to roll with it.

You're on your own then.

What does Brian do now?

I don't think he does
anything very much now.

I mean, I don't think
he works at all.

I've seen him very often

walking along the road
just up from the post office,

so I think he does
a lot of walking.

It was maybe ten years ago

they pulled
Bearsden Academy down.

They sold off the land

and built an estate
of really expensive houses

called Academy Grove.

They named
one of the streets in it,

Norman Macleod Crescent.

Brandon Lee, he behaves and acts

as if he has been a pupil
at Bearsden Academy

from the very beginning.

And we are
delighted to have him.

Mr. Macleod never got
to see that though.

He died not even a year

after the Brandon Lee scandal
broke.

I remember he always
used to say to us

at the start of
every school year,

"This is the most
important year of your life."

This is your
most important year.

It didn't matter
what year you were in

This was your
most important year.

I think what he was
trying to say was

past is past
and that's behind you.

The only thing you have
the power to change

is what lies ahead.

Since school, ehm...

And I must also say

thanks to Brandon

and us studying together,

ehm, I went to study pharmacy.

I'm glad that Brandon

was who Brandon was.

Because he made my school life

more bearable.

And if anything
was different back then,

I wouldn't be who I am today.

- Thanks very much.
- OK, bye-bye.

Was Brandon Lee a real person?

He...

Is there much
of a difference between

Brandon Lee and Brian Mackinnon?

I mean, who am I talking to now?

Oh, you're talking
to Brian Mackinnon, of course.

And the difference
is simply a name.

All I can say is,
what is a person?

Where is the castle?

There.

Dave McKinlay!

Coming up today in the studio,
we hear from the man...

When you look
at that photo of Brandon,

do you feel stupid?

It's odd because we did
just accept that he was sixteen.

I know.

Yep.

Okay, so...

So did you, you mug.

Brian is still around Bearsden.

He is often spotted
in the local library

on the computers.

I think I know
what he is doing on them.

Brian is still applying to...

medical universities and stuff.

And it's... He's stuck.

If he feels that, you know,

I was destined for this
and I'm only going for this...

I just want my medical degree.

I want to know, that I know,
what I know.

Maybe a medical school dean
somewhere

in an English, German

or Swedish speaking
part of the world,

maybe they'd think twice.

I feel given his notoriety,

it's highly unlikely

any medical school
is going to allow him

to study medicine.

Unless he changes his identity
again.

I still get
glimpses of possible futures,

because... I have got tricks
up my sleeve.

Why did he not let you film him?

Why does he not want us
to see what he looks like now?

When you have an adversary,

the thing you have to do,
if you really want to prevail,

is do the unimaginable.

Do something that is
just so out there,

that no one is
even going to dream

that you would
think of doing that.

I began to think

did he have some
kind of cosmetic surgery?

Because it was a rather
mask-like face that he had.

It was an unusual face.