Library Tennis was properly back
The Golden Moment from the previous week had reminded everybody how much they missed Library Tennis.
So the show brought it back for real.
Two students were positioned in a quiet university library, separated from one another but connected to the programme.
The rules remained beautifully stupid.
One player had to make a tennis grunt.
The other had to return it slightly louder.
They continued the imaginary rally until somebody lost their nerve, failed to respond or attracted the attention of people who were genuinely trying to study.
A quiet room made every noise feel enormous
The tension in Library Tennis never came from the score.
It came from the silence surrounding it.
A noise which would barely register in a sports hall sounded outrageous between desks, laptops and shelves of books.
Each player had to decide whether to increase the volume knowing that the next grunt might finally make somebody look up.
Scott and Chris could only listen from the studio and imagine the disapproving faces around them.
After the pandemic had removed so many features dependent on public spaces, the return felt like another piece of the old show clicking back into place.
Was it Aitch or Shakespeare?
The quiz found an unlikely literary comparison.
Contestants had to decide whether a line came from Aitch or William Shakespeare.
Out of context, some modern lyrics sounded grand enough to belong in a play, while some Shakespearean phrases could be made to sound remarkably like boasts from a rapper.
The day also brought another Bamboleo Wednesday, giving the programme a familiar midweek shape around the revived feature.
The Greeters Guild appeared on the show’s radar
Scott and Chris also became fascinated by clips of Troy Hawke and his Greeters Guild character, who positioned himself outside shops and enthusiastically welcomed complete strangers with elaborate compliments.
The idea was so unnecessary that they loved it immediately.
Within a week, Troy would be doing it outside the BBC itself.
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