Six scenes to treasure

Did poor Louis see too much of the Hamiltons?

When Neil and Christine Hamilton found themselves at the centre of an alleged sex scandal last summer, they were in the middle of making a documentary with the BBC's Louis Theroux.

I kind of like you - it's awful isn't it, I'm old enough to be your mother

Christine Hamilton to Louis Theroux

The couple previously best known for their cash-for-questions fight with Harrods boss Mohammed Al Fayed found themselves once more in the spotlight over allegations that they indecently assaulted a woman at a sex party - an accusation they strenuously denied.

Theroux unwittingly became the couple's interviewer, their confidante, even their media advisor in how best to appear before the waiting cameras.

Now, several months after police dropped the investigation, the resulting documentary airs on BBC Two on Tuesday. We pick a handful of moments to watch out for - the first of which comes before the opening credits.

"Are we saucy people? Not at all"

1. 'YOU TWO A BIT NAUGHTY THEN?'

In a clip filmed several weeks before the Hamiltons found themselves in Barkingside police station, Louis asks them if they are "saucy". Neil is, after all, a disgraced ex-Tory minister, who sat in the House of Commons in the days when many a Conservative MP got caught with his pants down.

"Not at all," comes the response. Neil, straight-faced as his wife collapses in giggles, says: "It's been a permanent source of regret to me that I've never been involved in a sex scandal."

Prescient words indeed, as the drama unfolds over the next half-hour.

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2. 'I'LL STAB YOU!'

Driving back from the police station, having already faced the first of many media scrums, Christine slumps in the back seat having had more than a couple of glasses of wine on an empty stomach.

"Did you do this, Louis?"

Aware that yet another pack of journalists will most likely be waiting outside their Battersea flat, Louis and Neil urge her to keep quiet until she's had something to eat.

"I hesitate to say you need to get something inside you," Neil deadpans from the driver's seat.

"Oh darling, for God's sake!" Christine says before turning her attention to Louis: "If you broadcast that, I will personally stab you."

On getting out of the car, she disregards their advice entirely. Louis queries the wisdom of talking to the media while drunk, to which Neil responds: "She's not pissed, she's tired and emotional."

Once inside, she turns on Louis, speculating that perhaps he put "the tart" up to making the accusations so as to beef up his documentary.

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3. THE STRIPTEASE

Christine and Louis fight to untuck Neil's shirt

Another day, another media appearance.

Having told Neil off for wearing too-casual a shirt with his jeans, Christine marches him off to change. We glimpse his bare torso as Louis looks on somewhat askance.

Louis then chides Neil for tucking his shirt in too far, prompting a tussle with Christine as both try to fix the offending article of clothing.

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Some house guests just never leave

4. LADY THATCHER'S SEAT

Having decided to get away from it all at the their house in Cheshire, the Hamiltons show their guest to his room.

Neil: "This is the Margaret Thatcher memorial suite... this is your loo, upon which the Thatcherial bottom once sat."
Christine: "Neil, stop it!"
Louis: "So just to clarify, Margaret Thatcher did go to the loo in there?"
Neil (having been chastised yet again): "That's really very vulgar. Like the Queen, she doesn't have to."

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Up close and personal for Louis and Christine

5. FLIRTY DANCING

Our hero collapses on the couch, glass of wine in hand, to relax after the stresses of the past few days. Christine joins him, this time in a frisky mood.

Christine: "I do like you - I don't put my arm around just anybody."
Louis: "You like to flirt, don't you?"
Christine: "Of course I like to flirt - what's wrong with that?"

Louis by this point looks a little like a rabbit caught in headlights. But Christine laughs off his suggestion that although her intentions are no doubt honourable, her actions may be open to interpretation.

"There's no sex involved," she insists. "I just kind of like you. It's awful isn't it, I'm old enough to be your mother."

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6. THE KISS

Christine corners Louis in the bathroom while he's shaving, bearing his discarded boots and a morning cup of tea.

Christine sneaks a peck from Louis

"Can I just have a little..." she murmurs as she leans in towards the towel-clad TV interviewer.

They exchange pecks, prompting Louis to comment that he now feel like their son home for the holidays: "Louis Hamilton," he muses.

And that is how documentary maker Louis Theroux found himself drawn into the Hamiltons' media circus.

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When Louis Met the Hamiltons will be shown in the UK on BBC TWO on Tuesday at 2100GMT.