Booster weekend had changed Saturday night
Scott, Chris and producer Amy were all comparing post-booster arms.
Scott complained that his left arm felt heavy and slightly slower than usual.
Chris accused him of performing the discomfort for attention.
Amy could barely lift hers without using the other hand.
The pair agreed that Saturday nights had changed dramatically.
Rather than going out, people were sitting on plastic chairs in vaccination centres waiting for a booster.
Scott also praised the volunteers and staff for how smoothly the process had been running.
Dial-A-Carol returned from Illinois
One of the show’s oldest Christmas traditions came back:
Dial-A-Carol.
The service in Illinois allows people to phone a bank of students and request a festive song.
Scott and Chris had used it for years.
In 2021, they decided a normal call was not enough.
Impressionist Luke Kempner joined to make the request in character.
The chosen voice:
Ted Hastings from *Line of Duty*.
Mother of God, he wanted Little Donkey
Luke introduced himself to the American student as Ted Hastings from AC-12.
The impression was full of the character’s familiar phrases about following things to the letter and acting within the law.
Then came the song request.
Could she sing something featuring:
Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the wee donkey?
The student agreed to perform Little Donkey.
Luke stayed in full Hastings mode throughout, repeatedly referring to the “wee donkey” and responding as though the carol were part of a police investigation.
Scott and Chris loved how little the American student seemed to understand about the reference — and how happily she carried on anyway.
The final Who Game of the year became festive
The last Who Game of 2021 offered double points for Christmas entries.
Among the memories were:
figgy pudding.
The Royal Variety Performance as a Christmas tradition.
Being threatened with a lump of coal.
Getting an orange in your stocking.
Christmas cards.
Photocopier misuse at an office party.
And parents insisting that every present had been the thing you had “really wanted”.
Scott and Chris realised many Christmas traditions automatically qualify as Who Game material because they appear once a year and then disappear again for 11 months.
Booster centres were listening too
Messages arrived from vaccination centres with Radio 1 playing in the background.
Scott liked the idea that one of the strangest public-health experiences of the year now had its own soundtrack.
After almost two years of pandemic broadcasting, an ordinary festive show could include vaccine side effects and American carol singers without either feeling out of place.
Bad Christmas woodwinds closed the quiz
Don’t Look It Up used deliberately rough instrumental versions of festive songs.
Scott and Chris had to identify well-known Christmas music after it had been reduced to flutes, kazoos and other questionable woodwind arrangements.
The day had begun with a heavy booster arm.
It ended with AC-12 demanding Little Donkey.
COMMENTS