Friday Extra Show: the final edition
Extra podcast edition
Chris opened with an important announcement.
This was the last Friday Extra Show in its current form.
The extra podcast was not disappearing because listeners had stopped enjoying it.
Radio 1 had another archive idea ready.
24 Years at the Tap End was returning as a dedicated podcast in the feed.
The Friday slot would become the home for Chris’s old autobiographical stories instead.
To finish Friday Extra properly, Scott and Chris chose an archive directly connected with the weekend ahead.
Big Weekend 2015 in Norwich.
Chris tried to flirt his way to free coffee
One old experiment came from a theory that coffee-shop staff sometimes gave free drinks to customers they found attractive.
Chris decided to test whether he could deliberately make that happen.
The result was deeply awkward.
He attempted eye contact and flirting while ordering.
When subtlety failed, Chris increasingly moved towards simply asking whether the drink might be free.
Scott thought the experiment proved very little beyond Chris’s willingness to embarrass himself for radio.
Scott became Mr Salamander
The strongest archive story involved Scott’s old Strictly Come Dancing code name:
Salamander.
Before Big Weekend, Chris contacted the hotel where Scott would be staying and pretended to represent him as a demanding celebrity.
He asked staff to use the name Mr Salamander and attached other unnecessary requirements to the booking.
Scott knew nothing about it.
The prank worked too well.
Hotel staff greeted him with the name.
Taxi arrangements used it.
Scott became increasingly confused about why Norwich apparently believed he was called Salamander.
Chris remained silent until the reveal.
Taylor Swift supposedly needed a bowling alley
The archive then returned to fake celebrity-rumour calls made around Norwich.
Chris phoned local businesses pretending stars booked for Big Weekend might need extremely specific services.
One bowling alley was told Taylor Swift wanted to visit.
The supposed requirements became increasingly ridiculous.
Could they provide heeled bowling shoes?
Possibly in an enormous women’s size?
Could the bumpers stay up for everybody?
Most importantly, could staff somehow rig the scoring so Taylor always won?
The person on the phone remained remarkably patient.
Other fake celebrity enquiries involved Olly Murs, waxing, hair disposal, sushi and equally unnecessary details.
The Taylor mistake felt newly dangerous
The archive was particularly funny in 2019 because Scott had only recently accidentally told the real Taylor Swift that she was playing Big Weekend when she was not.
A four-year-old prank about fake Taylor Swift festival plans suddenly felt uncomfortably relevant.
Scott admitted Taylor’s fans were probably never going to let him forget the Middlesbrough mistake.
Friday Extra handed over to Tap End
The episode ended by looking ahead to the revived 24 Years at the Tap End.
The Friday Extra Show had begun in 2018 as a response to Radio 1’s schedule change.
It had evolved into listener follow-ups, archive editions and behind-the-scenes radio.
Now the archive part was taking over completely.
From the following Friday, Chris’s own life stories would become the weekly podcast.
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