That line from Bob hits hard...."keep treating people like crap theyre gunna turn into crap".....Bob could understand what was going on......fair play too for a man who despite his own success still cared about community.

Loved him. I passed him on the street one day. Our eyes met, he gave me a huge smile and a nod, nothing said. Beautiful fella.

As a 90s baby Londoner, it's crazy to know that Waterloo once housed families. Development can kill communities overnight.

How depressing that it's been 40 years and this problem has only gotten worse and worse.

"Sterilised by greed" is precisely what has happened to London. It's too expensive for anything interesting to survive here now. There's no point going into central London because there's nothing there if you want to do anything other than look at buildings from the outside. Pubs are obscenely expensive, independent shops are all but gone. Soho is almost dead. It's just a business machine, not a place for people to live. Working class or just poor artists have been stamped out by greed.

"People are secondary to property" Nothing has changed

Back in the days when the BBC could still be critical of government policy.

I had no idea Bob Hoskins was so involved with his London community. You can tell he's lived and breathed his country's heritage.

When he says 'Mars Bar' that's cockney rhyming slang for 'scar' - and he's not wrong.

Shame Bob isn't about to say "I told you so."

I just wish this clip were longer. Listening to Bob Hoskins’ passionate and informed defence of London is such a delight, especially in our modern age of bland soundbites and press releases that have to be vetted by the comms department. Bob keeps it real and I’m having this all day.

So, in addition to having been a brilliant actor, Bob Hoskins was also a premier London tour guide and historian? Absolutely fascinating. The love and enthusiasm he expresses for London is infectious.

The great Bob Hoskins should have been an MP , the working class needs people like him to speak truth to power .

Bob was on the money. Over developed. London is losing it’s identity to residential blocks that look like they are in Dubai.

“Those who are able to see beyond the shadows and lies of their culture will never be understood, let alone believed, by the masses.” ― Plato

He was spot on ole Bob. I’m an east ender many generations down the line and my daughter born and raised cannot afford to live in the area and she’s a hard working secondary school teacher on the manor. It’s absolute criminal what’s happening.

I lived in London for twelve years. Left last year after suffering a mental breakdown. It's not a healthy place to live if you're on your own and not making bags of money.

The sad reality is, most of those side streets and turnings, beside the river Thames, which belonged to Londoners at one time, and their communities are now closed off to ordinary folk, turned into plush offices and expensive real estate for wealthy investors, who don’t live in them most of the time. Destroying the character of London, at the price of losing its soul.

"Keep treating the people like crap and they turn into crap." Thirty years on and it's true.

Robert William Hoskins 26 October 1942 - 29 April 2014 Barry Leslie Norman 21 August 1933 - 30 June 2017

Crazy seeing as this was made in 82 how quickly London has gone to shite!

Bob was 100% on the mark here- he knew what was going on, not by some foresight, but because he read into it- he understood what the big property developers were up to and wasnt afraid to call them out on it.

I think Bob Hoskins would’ve made a great Mayor of London had his movie career not been so successful. This doc was a few years before his famous Oscar winning movie Mona Lisa took him off to Hollywood in the mid 80s. I’m flabbergasted by his London knowledge, about the backstreets, every drainpipe and sewer to gleaming skyscraper city office window panels, from dockside labourer to multi billion corporate magnates and cartels, from estate management to city finance and investment, etc… and his take on the shady politics behind it all. The man was a genuine diamond geezer in every respectful sense of the word.

40 years plus onwards I’ve been to Tower Bridge lately. It’s a lot different from what we see in this video. Bob is correct. He saw 40 years into the future, regenerated buildings, luxury homes at high prices

This is fascinating. People objecting to big business being able to speak freely on TV. It's like another dimension.

Inner London is just one big holiday home for the wealthy foreigners to reside in.

Bob Hoskins cared about the ordinary people of London

How true was Bobs prediction from 42 years ago

I found this fascinating. Bob seemed very intelligent and obviously proud if his city. Thanks for uploading.

I loved Bob Hoskins - such a great actor! His passion for London shines through in this piece. I also miss England in this form, prior to the over development and gentrification we see now……..the ordinary person has been pushed out of areas in the name of financial gain ever since. A great shame.

I cannot fathom that Waterloo looked like THAT all cosy and everything - there were communities living there?! It just looks touristy, cold and officey now. Gentrification is horrific, and I see it happening everywhere in London 😭

The 1980s were a tough time. I was born in London and was in chaos everywhere, it was a bad feeling everywhere that Thatcher touched. We just could not take living in the slum dwellings, and joblessness. I had loved a holiday in the Lake District as a child and the wife had been in love with Scotland after a Scottish holiday she had as a child. We found a house exchange to the West Highlands packed our belongings into a van and headed North. People in Scotland were so kind. We arrived jobless, moneyless, and with not much else. 1983 began in Lochaber with heavy snow. falls. Then vanished and it was the most beautiful long summer and from our house window was Ben Nevis. Oh, Scotland you glorious place. There are few places on this planet as stunning as Western Scotland. But I can say that the Scottish people are what makes Scotland so great. London was lost a long time ago.

Bob Hoskins Bloody called it all the way back in 1982. I’m surprised BBC uploaded this as Good Old Bob is essentially criticising their Lords & Masters

When the BBC was actually reporting in a non-biased way. All true and still going on today it seems. Kudos to Bob Hoskins for seeing it back then!

Bob was a working class hero he knows what’s happening look how wise and sharp RIP BOB HOSKINS.

I would've loved to take a tour of London with Bob, what a legend.

Bob was right Londoners were sold down the river excuse the pun, and that continues today, the sheer greed of the city boys investment houses and property developers asset stripped the homes and future of Londoners many of whom had lived and worked there for generations.

I remember Waterloo when it was like that because I grew up about a mile away. Lots of the property was Victorian slums, for example the house I grew up in was falling apart and still had the toilet outside even in the 70s. The whole Southbank was basically abandoned and derelict warehouses full of rats (which we played in). The problem is that they were also communities of people that had lived there for generations, and when they modenised the area they just swept our communities away with no care about that community. They saw us as working class Londoners who had no 'right' to live in London unless we had big money, which we didn't.

I lived in Hackney in the mid 80's and saw the gentrification of the Borough first hand. Was shocking to see the acceleration of working class people being pushed out by the middle class. I loved the old East end of London and I'm Glaswegian. Shame. Bob was a great man, sorely missed.

This hurts to watch. Well spoken Mr. Hoskins. I hope with all my heart that you and all those who passed on since the making of this video, with their hopes and dreams dashed by greed, are getting to enjoy an unspoiled spot of natural beauty by a nice river somewhere. Rest in peace.

I met Bob several times and he was a lovely guy, really down to earth. The last time I saw him he was wandering around Harley Street London in his dressing gown and slippers, he wasn't well at that time I think his brain was going sadly, I forgot to say though that he was a true English man and he really loved London with all his heart! although he was born in Suffolk he was brought up in Finsbury Park I believe from a baby. This amazing man although small in stature could do everything, sing, dance and do gymnastics too! R.I.P Robert, you are not forgotten and are still much loved.

Then we wonder why the media and rentier class are screaming "Get back to the office!"

Barry Norman was a great presenter and interviewer wasn't he? He just let's Bob take the lead and drive the conversation this time as it's a subject Bob was passionate and informed about.

I miss Bob but I'm gld he didn't see what the Big Smoke has become now. None of any of where they walked exists anymore. All exactly as he said: luxury flats and offices. No one lives in central London anymore. Well said Bob, wish more people had listened.

If he saw what London is like today he would not believe it.

so prophetic - its why I left London

It was in the 80s that I first noticed the new buildings going up everywhere, especially in my favourite place, Charing Cross Road. Almost all of them removed forever some of the little book shops that gave the road its character. I think there must have been around 20 - 30 book shops in those days -- now only one segment of the road still has a couple of book shops, although there are still a few in Cecil Court, I believe. I last went up to London about 7 years ago and actually lost my bearings completely at one stage. They've done just as Bob predicted, turned it into a high rise nightmare.

Bob Hoskins, sorely missed.

I must say, this BBC channel is a revelation. Some really interesting videos, and this is no exception. Times haven't changed much, and the insidious creep of pseudo-public space (actually owned by corporations) is one of London's biggest problems today.

Nothing has changed ... about time houses in London require the owners to actually permanently living in these houses !

There is a sublime aspect to famous, talented, articulate people expositing on their passions and concerns for the atomized inarticulate masses, who are prey to the power structures of their age. RIP Bob

Bob Hoskins was a passionate, good man. Wish we all had a bit of that spirit.

It’s got a lot worse over the last 40 years

London has gone beyond salvation. It will soon be indistinguishable from any city apart from a few landmarks which cannot be seen anyway because they are masked by yet another swathe of soulless glass and concrete. It is probably the ugliest ancient city in Europe, and arguably the most dystopian major European city of all. Muggings, knife crime, gun crime, car and bike hijackings are all the result of the alienation and poor social and infrastructure spending, and the grabbing of decent areas by Oligarchs who never live in the places they takeover but wait for prices to inflate. The government does not care. They have impounded the mega yachts but left the mega properties to carry on ruining the social structure of London. This film was prescient.

London was one of the most beautiful places to visit. No wonder so many true Brits race to foreign countries where historic architecture still stands, and laws against any thought of demolition. Modern buildings never last. Glass will be to expensive to replace. More demolition. Then what? Love Bob Hoskins

Well...this aged like a fine wine. They turned it up to 11.

Respect to Bob for speaking the truth 👊🏼

Makes you wanna cry dannit?

I used to see Bob in the pubs around the Cally(Islington) was always a nice gentleman R.I.P

With Coin St, the residents won, a rare win for the common man. Bob was a truly nice guy, before he got ‘Hollywood Famous’ in Who Framed Roger Rabbit he used to come into the camera shop where I worked and would often spend hours over a cup of tea discussing everything from the best street photography lens made for his latest 2nd hand Leica to his latest casting call for a part playing an East End market trader/gangster (he hated that he was, at that time, typecast and couldn’t get the parts he wanted). As a young 19 yo it was a fascinating experience.

Crazy how true it ended up being. Look at the state of London now, be lucky to meet a proper Londoner

Not joking but it didn't occur to me that Waterloo had a community, I just accepted it was offices, high spec riverside apartments, cafés and bars.

Nice to see a superstar that didn't disappear up his own arse. RIP BH.

What a great character and person, not many people like him around anymore...

In between takes Bob took Barry for a drink at a slightly dodgy bar. Hoskins later returned for a drink there and the barman confided to Bob that he’d thought Barry was a gangster and Bob his bodyguard! Lovely story in Barry’s book. Hoskins came across as a great bloke.

A great actor, a great man!

What is amazing back then is that people still had a heart and tried to fight back for their own communities and ways of life. Now? Nobody cares about their country anymore and just focuses on their own lives. It really is sad actually.

When I moved to London 20 years ago, whatever it was when I moved here has gone. Its just changed so much, from something vibrant and exciting to a city that even before the pandemic feels that its dying, going through the motions of nothingness.

Well having been brought up and lived in London for 48 years I went back 5 years ago after having left 17 year's ago, the south Bank to London Bridge is unrecognisable, vast rows upon rows of Riverside flat's, sorry apartments that only the very rich can afford, communities up and down the country have forced locals out from Cornwall to Edinburgh even Dublin, people who grew up there from generation after generation can no longer buy a two up two down because of an ever changing world that ain't for the better for the average person

Seems to me that if the world was deprived of a great actor London might have had a great civil engineer in Bob Hoskins.

Wow, Bob Hoskins has such a force of personality and gravitas in this it's almost like he's a character in a film.

I met Bob in the Marlborough Pub in Brighton. He was a proper interesting fella, which is shown here clearly.

the thing is, for all the talk in the '80s of investment and development, at first it was just a turkey shoot for companies to 'invest' in derelict dockland etc. for tax breaks etc. it wasn't really until Docklands/Canary Wharf came in that the money was providing something that could actually exist and progress. Either way, the incumbent residential population were always going to be 'inconvenient'. Scariest thing is that this bit of Bob's London of 1982 was probably nearer that of 1942 than what we have in 2022 (40 yrs either way)

Kick the working tax paying voters out for their rich mates with tax dodging companies, what a surprise. Time to build guilotines... the'll never expect the Brirish Inquisition. Bob, a man of the people ❤

God I love Bob Hoskins. Legends never die.

The river belongs to the wealthy now..... Bob would be heartbroken to see what they've done to our beautiful city..... London's river communities are the oldest in the city..... Now they're mostly gone I so wish Bob were still with us .... Sorely missed..... God bless you Bob. Thanks for the upload 👍👍👍👍👍

Reminds me of how people move into Shoreditch or Hackney today because they want "the real London" when the real Londoners have left already.

'It's all owned by Kuwaiti investors'. Makes you want to cry doesn't it.

What a character!

I live in Salt Lake City and few years back, the government saddled us tax payers with the bill to move a state prison. Why? Because the community it is in, which use to be a rural farming community, has become one of the richest in our county and developers want the land for large, expensive houses. So we pay the bill and the developers get rich. I know it’s slightly different than what Bob is talking about, but the common man/woman are the ones picking up the bill while the rich get richer.

Good job he can't see what it looks like now....

I went on a river tour of the Thames a few years back, the guide gave excellent history about most buildings along the river that are now luxury apartments... Was very sad.

What was being done to London 40 years ago had since been rolled out to do many other cities too

Great actor, big personality with a social conscience (no agent-led vapid soundbites with Bob!), he makes important points, and the Long Good Friday was a wonderful, timeless film . RIP to both Bob and Barry.

Wasn't expecting I'd watch this, but damn he was right and entertaining at the same time. Well put together.

Shame it all came true London looks like New York and Birmingham nowadays horrible concrete monstrosities ugly buildings lost heritage and history

London is not London anymore.

I would never visit London again...

Crikey... I was 9 months old when this was broadcast. It's depressing to know that the same crap happening now began then and is continuing to happen. London is completely unaffordable now and the rot has spread to the rest of the country.

Heartbreaking RIP Bob and London 🙏

So well informed and articulate. We could use him today

Bob was not only a great actor... 'long good friday' and 'pennies from heaven' and great londoner with pride in his heart of local communities

He was ahead of his time…as I write this in 2022 nothing has changed!

Good old Bob a legend he was and greatly missed. Rip Bob Hoskins

Loathe as I am to ‘like’ a BBC video, it’s Bob Hoskins’ passion and sincerity that earns my respect.

Bob Hoskins spitting facts wandering around the south bank with Barry Norman in the year I was born. Magic!

Completely natural conversation

This is brilliant. Bob and Barry. And a London lost in time. Oh man, I miss so much.

Miss this man...the honest voices of society.

4:44 I love Barry Norman's cockney "Where's that then?" 😆