Narrator: Part one. You will hear an interview with Daniel Brooks, a documentary filmmaker, about his new film The Last Lightkeepers. For questions 1 to 5, listen to the recording TWICE and choose the letter A, B or C that best answers each question.

Interviewer: Welcome to the programme. Today I'm talking to Daniel Brooks, whose new documentary, The Last Lightkeepers, has just won an award at the Green Bay Film Festival. Daniel, congratulations — and welcome.

Daniel: Thank you, Emma. It's great to be here.

Interviewer: So, for listeners who haven't seen it yet, what is the film actually about?

Daniel: Well, it's not really about lighthouses as buildings. It's about the people — the last generation of lighthouse keepers, the men and, in a couple of cases, women, who lived and worked on remote rocks and islands before everything was automated.

Interviewer: And what drew you to that subject in the first place?

Daniel: My grandfather was a coastguard, and I grew up listening to his stories about storms and shipwrecks. I always imagined keepers as lonely figures in a tower. But when I met the real men, I discovered something quite different.

Interviewer: In what way?

Daniel: They weren't lonely at all — well, not in the way I expected. They described the work as deeply social, in its own way. They relied on each other completely. One keeper told me he'd trust his colleague with his life, and often literally did.

Interviewer: That sounds like a strong bond. Was it difficult to get them to open up on camera?

Daniel: Very. At first, most of them treated the camera like an unwelcome guest. They're modest people — they don't see their lives as remarkable. I spent three weeks just drinking tea with them before I filmed a single scene.

Interviewer: Three weeks of tea! And was it worth the wait?

Daniel: Absolutely. Once they trusted me, they were extraordinary storytellers. The problem was the opposite — I had forty hours of material and had to cut it down to ninety minutes. That was painful.

Interviewer: Now, some people might say lighthouse keeping was a harsh, outdated life, and automation was a blessing. Do you agree?

Daniel: I understand the argument — machines don't get tired, and they cost less. But I'd disagree that nothing was lost. These keepers carried knowledge you can't programme: reading the sea, judging the weather by the smell of the air. When the last keeper left, a whole way of understanding the coast left with him.

Interviewer: That's a powerful point. Did the keepers themselves share that view?

Daniel: Most of them, yes. One or two said they were relieved to retire — the winters were brutal, no doubt about it. But even they spoke about the job with real pride. None of them said they'd have chosen a different life.

Interviewer: Finally, what's the reaction been like? Do young audiences care about a world that's gone?

Daniel: Honestly, I expected indifference, and the festival proved me wrong. Teenagers stayed behind to ask questions — thoughtful ones, too. It seems the idea of a life built on patience and responsibility still strikes a chord.

Interviewer: Daniel Brooks, thank you.

Daniel: Thank you, Emma.

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