Meatball Monday returned for the crucial second test
One week earlier, Chris had received six meatballs when the advertised portion contained five.
The programme had spent days wondering whether the extra meatball was flirting.
Chris therefore returned to the same café.
More importantly, he deliberately tried to be served by the same person.
If six meatballs appeared again:
perhaps there really was something in it.
The tray arrived.
Chris counted.
Five.
No bonus ball.
The romance theory took a major hit
Scott immediately wanted to know what had changed.
Did Chris look less attractive that day?
Had the server lost interest?
Or had the sixth meatball simply been a mistake all along?
Chris was not ready to abandon the theory completely.
The programme decided there was only one way to settle it.
Phone the café.
Ask directly.
That awkward conversation would happen the following day.
For now, Meatball Monday had become:
No Ball Monday.
Scott had already wrapped Chris’s present
Christmas organisation had also entered unfamiliar territory.
Scott had bought and wrapped Chris’s present earlier than usual.
Chris was surprised.
Scott normally operated much closer to the deadline.
The achievement then produced a separate problem.
Neither presenter could remember exactly how many days remained until Christmas.
The December schedule had begun distorting time.
Magnus Carlson Day had a calendar problem
The bigger scheduling crisis involved one of the show’s strangest Christmas traditions.
Every year, Scott and Chris play Magnus Carlson’s Wrap Myself in Paper.
The ideal date is:
one week and a day before Christmas.
That is literally part of the ritual.
In 2021, one week and a day before Christmas fell on a Friday.
Scott and Chris did not present the weekday show on Fridays.
The tradition therefore became impossible in its pure form.
Could the Official Chart save it?
Chris briefly suggested getting the song into the chart.
If enough listeners bought or streamed it, perhaps the Official Chart programme could play *Wrap Myself in Paper* on the exact day.
Scott admired the ambition.
He also looked at the actual Christmas-chart competition, including major releases from Ed Sheeran and Elton John.
Magnus Carlson was unlikely to defeat them simply to fix a Radio 1 scheduling problem.
The show accepted reality.
Magnus Carlson Day would have to move.
Tradition could bend.
Pop 101 turned show obsessions into podcast history
Scott and Chris also promoted Pop 101, a BBC Sounds series about objects and moments which helped shape pop careers.
The idea fitted them perfectly.
A piece of old promotional material.
An unusual object.
A strange career turning point.
The same things which become Who Game or Who-Vent material could also tell the history of a pop star.
The Who Game prepared for Christmas
The normal Who Game returned with forgotten products and phrases.
Scott announced that the following week would be a fully festive edition.
Christmas had now taken over almost every feature.
Even a game about forgotten culture was getting tinsel.
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