My Old School (2022) - full transcript

Man: Everybody be quiet, please.

We're going for a wild track,

room tone.

Thanks.

Man: 165. Take 1. Plate.

(piano music)

Man 1: 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.

Man 2: 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.

Woman: To rewind your life

and be someone different.

What would possess someone

to do that?

Man: 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.

Man: Anything is possible here.

I'm telling you,

this guy is a charmer.

He's not what you think he is.

He never was.

(clap)

Interviewer: 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.

Interviewer: Okay.

Where is the best place to start

do you think?

Brandon: I guess that would be

when I came to your school

in 1993.

(school bell ringing)

Brandon: I remember my first day

at Bearsden Academy.

The prospect of it

was just so daunting.

It was just awful,

just like hell. (chuckles)

I don't believe in hell

in my philosophy,

other than self-made hell.

That was self-made hell.

♪ I, I got a new life

You would hardly recognize me ♪

♪ I'm so glad ♪

♪ How can a person

Like me care for you? ♪

♪ Ah, why do I bother ♪

♪ When you're

Not the one for me ♪

♪ Is enough enough? ♪

♪ I saw the sign ♪

♪ And it opened up my eyes

I saw the sign ♪

♪ Life is demanding ♪

♪ Without understanding ♪

♪ I saw the sign ♪

♪ And it opened up my eyes ♪

♪ I saw the sign ♪

♪ No one's gonna drag you up ♪

♪ To get into the light

Where you belong ♪

♪ But where do you belong? ♪

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.

♪ Under the pale moon ♪

♪ For so many years

I've wondered who you are ♪

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.

♪ No one's gonna drag you up ♪

♪ To get into the light

Where you belong ♪

♪ But where do you belong? ♪

Hmm...

Brandon: 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?

Jono: 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.

Alexis: 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."

- (gasps)

- Iffy: He looked

like a man.

Brodie: Funny hair, glasses.

More stubble for some reason

than your average pupil.

He was quite gaunt looking

though and he was really pale.

Scott: 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.

(murmurs)

Girl: 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.

Brandon: 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.

Shan: 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?

Mr. Gunn: 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.

(operatic singing)

Brandon: I was quite close

to my Mum

when I was young.

She was the coolest character

you could imagine, my mother.

(operatic singing)

Gregor: 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.

Mr. Gunn: 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.

(phone ringing)

Brandon: 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.

(operatic singing)

Brandon: 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?

(chuckles)

That's how it was.

Yeah.

(applause)

- (brakes screeching)

- (screaming)

(crash)

(long beeping noise)

Mrs. Montgomery:

They'd been in a car accident.

And his face

had been slightly burned

and this scarring

was a result of that.

(medical equipment beeping)

Mrs. Montgomery: Unfortunately,

his mother hadn't survived...

(birds cawing)

Mrs. Montgomery: And so,

having been brought up

in Canada,

when she died,

he went to live

with his grandmother

in Bearsden.

(lively string music)

Gregor: Bearsden

is the nicest part of Glasgow.

It's a little slice of heaven

tucked away

- in the west end of the city.

- (chuckles)

Val: Bearsden is the posh place.

(laughs)

Whether it is or not,

that's what people think.

(chuckles)

Charlotte: People live

in a bubble in Bearsden

and it's a lovely bubble.

Neil: If you mention it to other

people in Glasgow,

they go "woo!"

You get the handbag arms. Woo!

Woo, you're from Bearsden.

Eleanor: The sort of people

that live in Bearsden

are probably...

rich people. (laughs)

Doctors and lawyers and

solicitors and dentists and...

Surgeons. (chuckles)

Really, really crooked

accountants.

Kirsten: It changes very quickly

from a fairly large

and posh-ish type area,

to... not.

Where we were was more towards

- Spam Valley perhaps.

- (Simon chuckles)

I have no idea

what Spam Valley is.

(chuckles) I hate to tell you,

you lived in Spam Valley.

Donald: 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.

(chuckles)

Jono: 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.

Nicola: 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.

- Mr. McLeod: Stop right there!

- (gasps)

Val: Officially the school

was run by Mr. Mcleod.

But his second, Mrs. Holmes...

I think she probably ran it.

Mr. Gunn: 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.

Neil: She was Mr. McLeod's

sort of...

- (students gasp)

- ...field marshal.

(chuckles)

She did all the dirty stuff.

Get to detention!

Oh, she was a poisoned

wee bastard, wasn't she?

(chuckles)

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.

(chuckles)

Donald: It was a sort of a,

you know,

kind of an Adolf sort of

a salute, wasn't it?

(chuckles)

- Ian: Left arm.

- Craig: Left arm.

Straight salute.

Forty-five degrees.

- Forty-five degrees.

- Open hand.

Like a little, kind of,

Nuremburg rally.

Class: Chaíre Didáskale

Chaíre Didáskale, like that.

Enunciate, pronounciate.

Class: Chaíre Didáskale

Let's not beat about the bush.

- It was weird.

- Yeah.

I think I probably fancied her

a bit as well.

Interviewer: Really?

Yeah, there was a kind of

that sort of strict

no-nonsense thing.

(chuckles)

You can use that.

(desk creaking)

(students gasping)

Can we put our hands down, Miss?

(school bell ringing)

(chatter)

Shan: 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!

Girl: What age are you?

Brandon: 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.

(laughter)

You're a pure old man.

Are you my Dad?

Some of the kids used to call

Brandon Lee "Thirty-something."

- Boy: Here, Thirty-something.

- Thirty-something.

He's ancient.

Can you get drink for me, mate?

Brandon: 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.

- (students laughing)

- 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.

Stefen: 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?

(laughter)

Here, do another one.

Brandon: 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?

Brandon: 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.

(grunts)

It's a little station where

the rich people live, you know.

Well-to-do people.

And there's the attitude

that accompanies it.

Stefen: 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.

- (bully grunts)

- Brandon: And bled his nose.

Stefen: A guy got me

in a headlock

and was just

punching me in the head.

Everyone was around,

no one said a thing.

Brandon: Stefen was

a gentle fellow, you know,

he wouldn't fight back.

Interviewer:

What would you have done

if you had been there for that?

For what?

Interviewer: For Stefen

getting punched in the nose.

I'd have probably

stopped the guy.

It's okay. It will all work out.

Stefen: 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.

(grunts)

Brian: 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."

(dance music playing)

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."

♪ No, no, no, no ♪

♪ No, no, there's no limit ♪

And it was like his credibility

went from there

to through the floor.

(students laughing)

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.

(chuckles) I shouldn't say that

because I like Donald.

Donald: Most of

what I can remember

talking to Brandon about

was... music.

♪ When I first saw you ♪

♪ Something stirred within me ♪

Brandon had a way

of introducing you

to bands you might not

have discovered otherwise.

♪ If I could have held you

I would have held you ♪

♪ Rip it up and start again ♪

I always liked music

with that guitar twang.

Brian: I remember

Brandon essentially

giving me a history lesson

in like 80s punk bands.

Brandon: Television,

a band I like,

Red Lorry Yellow Lorry.

Brian: Red Lorry Yellow Lorry,

Television.

They weren't like 90s bands.

It was all 80s bands

that fed into it.

♪ And there were times

I'd take my pen ♪

♪ And feel obliged

To start again ♪

♪ I do profess ♪

♪ That there are things

In life ♪

♪ That one can't

quite express ♪

♪ Rip it up and start again ♪

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.

♪ Rip it up and rip it up ♪

♪ Rip it up and start again. ♪

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.

♪ Rip it up ♪

Brandon's life plan was...

to go to medical school

and become a doctor.

Brandon: 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.

Brandon: 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.

- (student snoring)

- Gregor: 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...

- (snoring)

- ...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.

(dogs barking)

Stefen: 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...

Stefen: 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.

(snoring)

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.

Craig: 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."

Brandon: 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.

(singing off-key)

Stefen: It tended to be

very popular people

who were taking

part in the school show.

I wasn't that sort of person.

(chuckles)

Mr. McAlinden: Brandon Lee

simply didn't have

- the personality or the talent.

- (Brandon singing)

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. (chuckles)

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!

- Brandon: Cheese.

Nicola: 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.

Val: 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.

- (smacking sound)

- I didn't want to kiss her

And I was getting into trouble

with Mrs. Thomson for that.

(grumbles)

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."

- (smacking sound)

- Come on you two,

it's just a kiss.

Brandon: 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.

(buzzing)

♪ Younger than

Springtime am I ♪

♪ Gayer than laughter am I ♪

♪ Angel and lover

Heaven and Earth ♪

♪ Am I ♪

♪ With you ♪

He was a really good singer.

He sung like an angel.

(laughs)

♪ Younger than springtime

Are you ♪

♪ Softer than starlight

Are you ♪

I suppose

I did feel self-conscious

about doing the...

the kissy bit.

It wasn't even remotely

romantic. (chuckles)

♪ Warmer than winds of June ♪

♪ Are the gentle lips

You gave me ♪

Brandon: 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.

(chuckles) Which was enough

for fifth year at school.

He didn't properly kiss her.

Nae tongues.

(chuckles)

(smack)

- (cheering)

- (applause)

South Pacific was...

it was a hit. (chuckles)

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.

Mr. Macalindin: 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."

- Student 1: Bravo!

- Student 2: Woohoo!

Student 3: Go on yourself,

Brandon!

Take a bow, Brandon!

The rector, Mr. Mcleod,

stood up to say thank you

to everybody for taking part.

(applause)

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.

- Student 1: Bravo!

- Student 2: Woohoo!

- Go on yourself, Brandon!

- Student 3: 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.

(music playing)

(engine starts)

He had been spotted driving.

But we were all too young

to even have passed our test.

Grant: 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...

(imitates brakes screeching)

...at the traffic lights,

you know?

(brakes screeching)

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.

(car engine rumbling)

Neil: And it was just fun to go

driving listening to music

with the windows down,

at full volume. (chuckles)

♪ Do you remember

The first time? ♪

♪ I can't remember

A worse time ♪

♪ But you know that we've

Changed so much since then ♪

♪ Oh yeah, we've grown ♪

He would take us to the cinema,

sometimes we would go bowling.

(cheering)

Laser tag...

(indistinct)

Suddenly we access to the city,

we had access to record shops.

Nicola: 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.

Craig: There was like some kids

from the year below us,

some kids from our year.

But the mix of kids

was quite strange.

(music thumping)

Stefen: 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.

(gasps)

Stefen: And it was all fine.

Hey!

(both laughing)

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.

(rattling)

He may have been quite

knowledgeable about cocktails.

(chuckles)

(gasps)

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.

- (laughter)

Ah, forget it.

Who wants

to go to a discotheque?

(cheering)

(whooping)

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.

(police siren wailing)

Stuart: 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."

(police siren wailing)

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.

(phone keys beeping)

(line ringing)

Good afternoon,

Bearsden Academy,

Janice speaking.

Mr. Gunn: 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.

Brandon: 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

Nicola: 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.

Brandon:

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.

Stefen: 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.

Mrs. Montgomery: 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.

Brandon:

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.

Neil: Sometimes we would see

his car parked

at Bearsden Station.

And that's how we knew

he was back in Glasgow.

Mrs. Montgomery:

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.

(knocking)

Brandon: 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.

Nicola: 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.

- (girl speaking indistinctly)

- 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.

(phone ringing)

Uh, hello?

Hi Brandon, it's Jemma.

- Yeah, from school.

- Oh.

Nicola: 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.

Nicola: 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?

(giggling)

Her and I were

just talking about you.

Nicola: Cheryl was a girl

from Bearsden

who... was quite upper-class.

- Can you believe...

- Nicola: 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.

Kirsten: She was...

A good kid.

Very nice girl.

That Cheryl

was a nasty piece of work.

(laughs)

Cheryl, I...

I wouldn't say she was

a nice person,

uh, from experience.

Ugh, for god's sake.

Get out my way, boy.

Shan: 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.

- (giggling)

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?

Nicola: 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!

- Man: Cheers.

- Gemma: Happy Holidays

Interviewer: Would you have gone

on holiday on your own

- with three girls?

- No, definitely not.

They would never have asked me.

No.

(laughs)

You'd have been happy

to go down the shops

with three girls at that age.

♪ Dale a tu cuerpo

Alegría Macarena ♪

♪ Que tu cuerpo es pa' darle

Alegría y cosa buena ♪

♪ Dale a tu cuerpo, alegría

Macarena ♪

♪ Hey Macarena, ay ♪

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.

- (police siren)

- 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!

♪ Hey Macarena, ay ♪

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?

♪ Hey Macarena, ay ♪

What Cheryl did

the minute she came home,

she told her parents.

And her mother went

to Bearsden Academy

to see Mr. Mcleod.

(indistinct)

Thank you for bringing

this to my attention.

I will investigate further.

Cheryl's mother:

I should think so.

(school bell ringing)

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.

Mr. Gunn: I didn't

recognize his photograph

to the Brandon Lee

I knew in my Physics class.

It looked like a...

fifteen-year-old boy.

Brandon:

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.

Brandon: 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.

Brandon: 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.

(news tune)

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?

And instantly you think:

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.

Reporter: 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.

- (laughter)

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...

David: 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.

Woman: 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!

Reporter: Around forty teachers,

half the staff,

had worked there at the time,

but none recognized him.

Mrs. Montgomery:

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.

Interviewer:

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?

(laughing)

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.

(knocking)

Opened the front door and...

it's mid-morning.

And there were journalists

at the front door,

immediately asking,

"Am I Brian Mackinnon?"

Both: Are you Brian Mackinnon?

I had no idea.

I was Brian Mackinnon.

Reporters: 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?

Brian: 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.

Newsreader: 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?

Interviewer: 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.

(knocking)

It's my grandmother.

She died.

(birds cawing)

He was totally alone in life,

it was heart-breaking.

Jono: 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."

Neil: 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.

Gregor: 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.

Man: 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.

Man: 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.

Newsreader: 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.

Brandon: 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.

Nicola: 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.

(gasps)

Eleanor: I can't imagine what it

would have been like for them

to then be on holiday

with this old man.

Nicola: 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?

Nicola: 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.

Nicola: 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.

Gemma:

♪ Hey, Macarena ♪

(laughing)

- We totally nailed that.

- I know!

It was only one or two nights in

that the big fight happened.

(laughter)

Nicola: 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...

Brandon: 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.

Brandon: I tried to stop her

and stood in her way.

Whoa, whoa. Cheryl, stop.

Nicola: 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.

(giggling)

Brandon: The forces

that can give rise to it

and the damage that can ensue,

if it gets out of control.

- (snickering)

- 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."

Nicola: 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.

Cheryl:

This is the worst holiday ever.

Brandon:

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.

- (door slams)

- Brandon: And I figured, hmm,

female hysteria...

How is that going to pan out?

(birds chirping)

Nicola: 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?

Brandon: 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.

(news theme music)

Woman: 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.

Brandon: So, then my Mum

got this job in Bearsden.

And we moved there

in October 1975.

♪ Sha-na-na,

sh-na-na-na-na-na ♪

Bearsden is the posh place

(chuckles)

Brandon: She wanted

what was best.

Woo, you're from Bearsden!

Bad things

don't really happen in Bearsden.

Brandon: My Mum had the notion

that Bearsden Academy

was as close

to a private school,

as she could get.

♪ I don't know what

They talk 'bout in my school ♪

♪ But I seem to be

Like some kind a fool ♪

- ♪ Sha-na-na, sh-na-na-na-na ♪

- ♪ Oh, yeah ♪

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.

♪ Well I know my

Teacher had no soul ♪

♪ And that school didn't

Teach no rock 'n' roll ♪

♪ Sha-na-na,

sh-na-na-na-na-na ♪

Most of the children

going to the school

were from professional families.

Doctors, dentists, lawyers.

♪ I failed my Geography

But that don't bother me ♪

♪ Sha-na-na,

sh-na-na-na-na-na ♪

Jono: 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.

♪ Sha-na-na-na-na-na-na-na ♪

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.

♪ With my mind on

other things ♪

♪ Until that school

bell rings ♪

♪ And in my childhood dreams ♪

♪ I would hear

Little Richard scream ♪

Brian: 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.

Brandon: 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...

- (snoring)

...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.

Nicola: 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.

Reporter:

The doctors of 1980

studying at Glasgow University's

world famous Medical School,

gain practical experience.

Brandon: 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.

(panting)

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.

Brandon: 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!

Brandon: 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.

Brandon: 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.

Brandon: 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.

Brandon: 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.

Brandon:

To hell with those guys,

you know, that have stopped you.

Both men: You're just

not good enough.

Brandon: 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.

(phone keys beeping)

Interviewer:

Whose responsibility was it

for admitting Brandon Lee

to the school?

(line ringing)

I think it was Mrs. Holmes

who interviewed him originally.

Seriously? I did not know that.

(gasps) Mrs. Holmes.

Class: Chaíre Didáskale.

You would definitely put her

bottom of the list

in terms of people

who would get it...

- Wrong.

- ...wrong.

(phone ringing)

Brandon: Holmes, yes,

that was her name.

Holmes.

Brandon: 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.

Brandon: 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!

Brandon: Some boy came in, a

first year who had misbehaved.

McLaverty,

look at the state of you.

Detention!

- Go.

- Brandon: 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?

Brandon: 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.

Brandon: 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?

Interviewer: 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?

Interviewer: No.

Did she say why?

Oh.

She does not remember

ever meeting Brandon Lee?

(chuckles)

I mean...

She doesn't remember

anything at all?

Do we think

she is just saying that?

Why would she?

- Mind-control.

- (chuckles)

I'm going with...

I'm going with mind-control.

Okay we'll go

with the mind-control, yeah.

Yeah.

(alarm clock ringing)

Brandon:

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.

Brandon: 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.

- (both laugh)

(birds chirping)

Brandon:

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.

Brandon: 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.

Carol: 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.

(laughter)

Brian: 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.

Brandon: I came across Brandon

on the television.

(Beverly Hills 90210

theme tune playing)

Brandon:

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.

(chuckles)

Well if you think about it

90210 Brandon

was the perfect teenager.

He was handsome, popular,

could drive a car.

Jono: 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.

Brandon Lee: 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.

- (laughs)

(operatic singing)

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.

Boy: Here, Thirty-something!

Girl: He's ancient.

Brandon: 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?

(laughter)

Jono: 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.

Jonny: 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.

Interviewer: 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.

Stefen: Our friendship

meant a lot to me.

And I should hope

it meant a lot to him as well.

Brandon: 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.

Brian: 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.

Scott: 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."

♪ Younger than

Springtime am I ♪

He was almost taunting people

to find out what the truth is.

Brandon:

I always looked youthful.

And I was an active dreamer

of things

you can do

to keep yourself young.

♪ Angel and lover

Heaven and Earth am I ♪

Bruce: 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.

(static)

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.

(tense music)

Interviewer: Have you ever

seen this before?

No.

Look, he's got two silhouettes.

Talk about foreshadowing.

(chuckles)

Mr. Macalindin:

And here's Brandon

being called by Bali Ha'i.

♪ Bali Ha'i may call you ♪

♪ Any night, any day ♪

Mrs. Montgomery:

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.

♪ Bali Ha'i ♪

♪ Bali Ha'i ♪

♪ Bali Ha'i ♪

Oh, the singing is rotten.

It's just awful.

(applause)

He's horribly off-key

but it's so charming.

♪ And when your youth ♪

♪ And joy invade my arms ♪

♪ And fill my heart

As now they do ♪

Oh, here we go.

"Younger Than Springtime."

Oh, my goodness.

♪ Then younger than springtime

Am I ♪

♪ Gayer than laughter, am I ♪

Oh, is this the kiss scene.

♪ Heaven and earth

Am I with you ♪

Oh, he was quite happy

to kiss my hand.

♪ Younger than Springtime

Am I ♪

David: From what I've heard,

it was just

a cheeky kind of peck.

♪ Angel and lover ♪

♪ Heaven and earth, am I ♪

Val: My memory was,

it was...

(applause)

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?

Lindsay: How many times

did it happen?

I don't know.

An uncomfortable number

because it's more than none.

(both chuckling)

E... That's just so weird.

(applause)

Val: I haven't looked

at this film since, and it's...

Interviewer: It's what?

I haven't got words

at the moment.

Sam: She was sixteen, right?

Over sixteen.

Nothing wrong with that.

- It's legal, eh?

- (Iffy chuckles)

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.

(chuckles)

- (cheering)

- (applause)

That was a semi-uncomfortable

walk down memory lane, that was.

Bruce: 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.

Mr. Macalindin:

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.

Jono: 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?

Headmaster: 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.

(laughter)

Stuart: That's the line.

I always thought

that was a mythical line.

- What does he do?

- Wow. Fabulous.

Look at Brandon's face.

Mr. Macleod: 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.

Mr. Macleod: I mean hindsights,

we are all good with hindsights.

But, eh, it's one

of those remarks which, eh...

have probably become

quite famous.

Reporter: The Brandon Lee

saga has caused

considerable embarrassment

for a number of individuals

and puts the system

of recruiting secondary pupils

under the microscope.

Gregor: 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.

Mr. Macleod: 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.

Mr. Macleod: 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.

(operatic singing)

Brandon: 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.

Reporter: Did she know

he was at the school?

I have no idea.

Reporter: 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.

Brian: 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.

Lindsay: 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.

Interviewer:

Did your mother know

what you were doing?

No, my mother was not made aware

of what was going on.

Brian: 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.

Brandon/Brian: She came

from a poor background.

Eleanor: The sort of people

that live in Bearsden

are rich people. (chuckles)

Mrs. Montgomery:

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.

Interviewer: If she didn't know,

who did she think you were

coming to the house

to study for school?

(chuckles) 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.

Bruce: 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.

Interviewer:

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.

Interviewer: 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.

Interviewer: Have you ever had

to do that before or since?

No.

No, fortunately.

Interviewer: So, that's the only

time you've told a child...

- Yes.

- ...that their parent has died?

Interviewer:

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.

Bandon: 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.

Nicola: 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.

Reporter: 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.

Brandon: 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.

Mrs. Montgomery:

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.

Jono: 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.

Reporter 1: The doctors of 1980

studying at Glasgow University's

world famous medical school,

gain practical experience.

Reporter 2: Brian Mackinnon

felt cheated

by Glasgow University's

medical faculty

and he said they had

robbed him of a chance

to become a doctor.

Brandon: 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.

Newsreader: 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.

Mrs. Montgomery: 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.

Brandon: 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.

Woman: 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.

Interviewer:

What happened to Cheryl?

Sorry?

Interviewer: The girl

he argued with on holiday.

She went to Dundee

after she left school

and did her degree there.

Reporter: 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.

Interviewer:

What does Cheryl do now?

She's a doctor.

Cheryl is a doctor.

Iffy: 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.

Man: 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.

(applause)

Sit down, Brian.

Brandon/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.

Brian: 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.

Shan: 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.

Interviewer: Well, he was.

True, he was

a different person, yes.

Good point.

Interviewer: 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.

Nicola: 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.

Interviewer: 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.

Brandon/Brian:

There was a kiss required.

But I managed to get off with,

with not performing the kiss.

Donald: 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.

(applause)

Reporter: 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.

David: So, if I was lying

in a hospital bed

and he walks in as the doctor...

Stefen: 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.

(chuckles)

Nah, of course not.

No.

He fraudulently

went to school...

(laughs) And lied.

Gregor: 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?

(laughs)

This is where we're at

and I'm just going

to roll with it.

You're on your own then.

(birds chirping)

Interviewer: 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.

Mr. Mcleod: 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.

Jono: 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.

♪ One more step

Along the world I go ♪

♪ One more step

Along the world I go ♪

♪ From the old things

To the new ♪

♪ Keep me travelling

Along with you ♪

Stefen: 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.

Interviewer: Was Brandon Lee

a real person?

He...

Interviewer: 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?

♪ Round the corners

Of the world I turn ♪

♪ More and more

About the world I learn ♪

♪ And the new things

That I see ♪

♪ You'll be looking at

Along with me ♪

♪ And it's from the old

I travel to the new ♪

♪ Keep me travelling

Along with you ♪

Where is the castle?

There.

(laughter)

♪ As I travel through

The bad and good ♪

♪ Keep me travelling

The way I should ♪

♪ And where I see

No way to go ♪

♪ You'll be telling me ♪

♪ The way I know ♪

Dave McKinlay!

♪ Give me courage

When the world is rough ♪

♪ Keep me loving t

Thought the world is tough ♪

♪ Leap and sing in all I do ♪

♪ Keep me travelling

Along with you ♪

♪ And it's from the old ♪

♪ I travel to the new ♪

♪ Keep me travelling ♪

♪ Along with you ♪

Coming up today in the studio,

we hear from the man...

♪ You are older

Than the world can be ♪

♪ You are younger

Than the life in me ♪

♪ Ever old and ever new ♪

♪ Keep me traveling

Along with you ♪

♪ And it's from the old

I travel to the new ♪

♪ Keep me travelling

Along with you ♪

Interviewer: When you look

at that photo of Brandon,

do you feel stupid?

(chuckles)

It's odd because we did

just accept that he was sixteen.

I know.

Yep.

Interviewer: Okay, so...

So did you, you mug.

(both women and interviewer

laughing)

Jono: 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.

David: 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...

Brandon/Brian:

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.

Stefen:

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.

Brandon/Brian: 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?

Brandon/Brian:

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.

Man: 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.

♪ And it's from the old

I travel to the new ♪

♪ Keep me travelling

Along with you ♪

♪ ("My Old School" playing) ♪

♪ I remember The

thirty-five sweet goodbyes ♪

♪ When you put me

On the Wolverine ♪

♪ Up to Annandale ♪

♪ It was still September ♪

♪ When your daddy

Was quite surprised ♪

♪ To find you

With the working girls ♪

♪ In the county jail ♪

♪ I was smoking

With the boys upstairs ♪

♪ When I, I heard about

The whole affair ♪

♪ I said oh no ♪

♪ William and Mary won't do ♪

♪ Well I did not think

The girl ♪

♪ Could be so cruel ♪

♪ And I'm never going back ♪

♪ To my old school ♪

♪ Oleanders growing

Outside her door ♪

♪ Soon they're gonna be in

bloom. Up in Annandale ♪

♪ I can't stand her ♪

♪ Doing what she did before ♪

♪ Living like a gypsy queen

In a fairy tale ♪

♪ Well I hear the whistle

But I can't go ♪

♪ I'm gonna take her down

To Mexico ♪

♪ She said oh no

Guadalajara won't do ♪

♪ Well I did not think

The girl ♪

♪ Could be so cruel ♪

♪ And I'm never going back ♪

♪ To my old school ♪

♪ California tumbles

Into the sea ♪

♪ That'll be the day I go

Back to Annandale ♪

♪ I tried to warn you

About Chino and Daddy Gee ♪

♪ But I can't seem to get to

you Through the U.S. Mail ♪

♪ Well I hear the whistle

But I can't go ♪

♪ I'm gonna take her down

To Mexico ♪

♪ She said oh no

Guadalajara won't do ♪

♪ Well I did not think

The girl ♪

♪ Could be so cruel ♪

♪ And I'm never going back ♪

♪ To my old school ♪