England were out
England’s World Cup run had ended with defeat to Croatia.
Scott and Chris were disappointed, and the mood around listeners was noticeably flatter than it had been during the previous week.
That made one person essential.
Good News Jamie.
The show’s relentlessly cheerful listener had become the emergency answer whenever the programme needed somebody capable of making even ordinary information sound exciting.
The Big Question returned
Before Jamie arrived, Scott and Chris repeated the street game they had launched the previous day.
People were asked their name, age, ideal night out and other harmless questions.
Then came:
“Did you do bits last night?”
Vicki, 25, described an ideal Saturday involving drinks, clubbing and cheesy chips.
The question still caught her off guard.
Scott and Chris liked the game because the first half of each interview sounded like an ordinary vox pop before suddenly changing direction.
Keith, the 73-year-old from the previous show, remained the benchmark.
His polite response had made the phrase much funnier than they expected.
Would you share an ice cream with your dog?
The programme then moved to a surprisingly divisive question.
If you allowed your dog to lick your face and kiss you, would you also let it share your ice cream?
One caller loved his dog and admitted allowing plenty of face licking.
Scott pushed the logic.
If the dog’s tongue was already touching your mouth, why did the idea of sharing an ice cream suddenly feel disgusting?
The conversation exposed how inconsistent people could be about animal hygiene.
A dog licking somebody’s face was affectionate.
The same dog licking the food they were eating felt completely different.
Good News Jamie arrived when they needed him
Jamie returned full of exactly the enthusiasm the programme had hoped for.
His social-media following had grown because of Radio 1 and he was now slightly worried that he had to keep producing content for people.
Scott told him not to overthink it.
The entire appeal was that Jamie found ordinary life genuinely exciting.
He attempted an American accent, discussed Donald Trump’s visit to Britain and became thrilled by the possibility that Innuendo Bingo might eventually return.
Listeners immediately started asking for Jamie’s number so they could call him whenever they felt miserable.
Someone suggested a ball pit full of Mini Eggs as the perfect present for him.
Scott thought it might genuinely cause him to explode with happiness.
England had lost.
Good News Jamie made it difficult for the show to stay gloomy for long.
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