Tidy Friday was becoming threatening
Radio 1 was approaching another Tidy Friday.
The internal emails began politely enough.
Then the tone became progressively firmer.
Anything left under desks, around chairs or in communal spaces could be thrown away.
Scott knew the system was necessary.
He had still managed to accumulate clutter.
Chris claimed he did not have a desk even though Scott could identify the area everybody regarded as his.
Hanging nearby was something particularly incriminating:
the suit from Chris’s wedding, more than a year earlier.
Tidy Friday was no longer an abstract workplace policy.
It was coming for the archive.
Nicole was going to Reading
The show caught up with Nicole from Pontypridd, whose Radio 1 life had already expanded far beyond her original call about taking her first flight.
Nicole was heading to Reading Festival.
The biggest attraction for her was Foo Fighters.
She was a huge fan and was excited enough for Scott and Chris to treat the weekend like another major Nicole milestone.
They knew social media would provide the polished “best weekend ever” version afterwards.
What they really wanted was Nicole’s account.
She promised to report back after the bank-holiday weekend.
The Who Game was still overflowing
The revived Who Game returned with more old references listeners had stored away.
The programme had discovered that once people started thinking in “who” terms, forgotten cultural objects appeared constantly.
Old CBBC programmes became particularly rich territory, including *The Demon Headmaster*, *The Queen’s Nose* and other shows capable of producing an immediate nostalgic reaction.
The game worked because the items were not completely forgotten.
They were remembered just enough for everybody to enjoy pretending they had disappeared from history.
Alex wanted Bradford defended
Listener Alex lived in Bradford and was tired of hearing people dismiss the city.
Scott and Chris had increasingly received Stark Guide requests from people who already lived in the place rather than tourists heading there.
They wanted the guide to remind them why their own town was worth noticing.
Chris promised to roll Bradford in glitter.
He also warned Alex not to become distracted by nearby Leeds.
Bradford deserved its own afternoon.
Bradford had been a wool capital
The guide began with the city’s rapid growth during the Industrial Revolution and its importance in textile and wool production.
Scott jokingly begged Chris to stop mentioning the Industrial Revolution because almost every British city guide seemed to require it.
Bradford’s later identity included much more.
Chris highlighted its reputation as a curry capital, something Alex was already proud of.
The guide also celebrated City Park’s fountains and local history.
Bradford had its own Batman
One of the stranger stories involved a local man dressed as Batman who had taken a wanted man to a police station.
The supposed superhero was later identified in news coverage as a local takeaway delivery driver.
Scott loved it.
A city guide could contain industrial history and curry.
A man dressed as Batman handing someone in to police was what made people remember it.
Alex finished the feature sounding exactly as proud as he had at the beginning.
Chris considered the mission accomplished.
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