The karaoke was better when everybody was there
Scott and Chris returned to the Instagram Live karaoke night they had staged with Lewis Capaldi.
At the time, the evening had felt brilliant.
Thousands of people watched online, sent requests and commented while Lewis, Scott and Chris worked through increasingly ambitious songs.
Listening back several days later was more dangerous.
Chris’s attempt at “Barbie Girl” had required him to cover more than one role.
Lewis was the only person in the room who could reliably hit the difficult notes.
Scott admitted that some moments worked largely because viewers were experiencing the chaos live rather than listening to the vocals as a polished performance.
The final song had been “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
A listener remembered it as one of the highlights of the night.
Scott and Chris were less certain once confronted with the recording.
The title “Bohemian Tragedy” suddenly felt appropriate.
They agreed on the safest policy for future karaoke nights.
Enjoy them live.
Do not necessarily replay every note afterwards.
Ask Me Anything found Milkman of the Year
The programme then returned to Ask Me Anything, inviting somebody with an unusual life or occupation to answer the questions people normally would not ask.
This time the caller was Ian, who introduced himself as Milkman of the Year 2018.
Scott initially struggled with the idea that traditional milk rounds still existed at all.
Ian explained that he worked through the night and early morning, part of what he called an almost invisible overnight community.
His job had also become unexpectedly eventful.
He had interrupted a burglary which appeared likely to affect one of his customers.
He had found lost dogs.
He had recovered or come across items including laptops and car keys.
Scott promoted him from milkman to local superhero.
The obvious milkman question had to be asked
Scott and Chris then addressed the old cliché.
Had customers ever invited Ian inside for something more than milk?
Ian said absolutely not.
He was there to deliver.
Nothing else.
Scott joked that his own father had been a milkman for around 30 years and briefly revived the classic family joke about whether the milkman might actually be somebody’s dad.
Ian also admitted he had genuinely milked animals when younger, including goats.
The questions became increasingly specific.
The milk float could do 53mph
Chris wanted to know how fast a modern milk float could go.
Ian said his new StreetScooter had a top speed of around 53mph.
Scott had imagined the traditional slow electric vehicle barely moving between houses.
Ian’s version was considerably quicker.
The answer allowed him to claim the title of the fastest milkman in the west, or at least one of them.
Ask Me Anything had already found a plane licker.
Now it had found a milkman who interrupted crime and drove at motorway-adjacent speeds.
Dissertation season created a Radio 1 reference service
The programme also spoke to university students struggling through dissertations.
One journalism student asked Scott for a usable quote because Scott held an honorary doctorate.
Scott offered the observation that journalism was good because it allowed people to meet interesting people and feel a strong sense of achievement.
The student politely suggested the wording might need improving before appearing in an academic dissertation.
Another caller studying compounds and human breast-cancer cells asked whether Scott could contribute to that subject too.
He accepted defeat much more quickly.
Weather forecasters finally got their big day
Snow and ice were forecast.
Scott thought every television weather presenter looked delighted.
Thomas Schafernaker’s line “winter is here” sounded to the show like the trailer for *Game of Thrones*.
After weeks of ordinary winter forecasts, the weather teams finally had the kind of conditions which justified dramatic graphics and warnings.
Scott imagined them waiting all year for exactly this moment.
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