Jingle Bells QI


Jingle Bells

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Ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho ho-ho-ho,

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ho-ho-ho,

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and welcome to QI for the J series Christmas Special,

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which is, of course, called Jingle Bells.

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And just look at my lovely, shiny baubles -

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the sparkling Danny Baker...

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Thank you, good evening.

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APPLAUSE

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..the twinkling Sarah Millican...

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Yay!

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APPLAUSE

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..the glittering Phill Jupitus...

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APPLAUSE

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..and...

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GLASS BREAKS

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..oh, dear, he's fallen off the tree, Alan Davies.

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CHEERING

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So, Jingle your bells, please. Sarah goes...

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TINKLE

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Danny goes...

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SLEIGH BELLS

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Lovely. Phill goes...

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CHURCH BELLS

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Wow. And Alan goes...

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THE BELLS, THE BELLS!

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LAUGHTER

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Very good. So now, first question.

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It's a musical question. Where did Beethoven put his Jingling Johnny?

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TINKLE

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-Yes, Sarah?

-Mrs Beethoven.

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LAUGHTER

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APPLAUSE

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Somebody had to say it.

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Yeah, well...

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-Jingling Johnny?

-Yes. What do you think?

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I can't imagine a Jingling Johnny, and it's something that the

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good folk at Durex have obviously missed out on.

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A seasonal range, that actually, you know, with a bell in the um...

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LAUGHTER

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-With holly round it.

-Yeah. Be nice.

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I'll take that copy of Fifty Shades Of Grey away from you.

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We've started our family Christmas Show just as I hoped we would.

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-Exactly.

-Yes, merry Christmas.

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-His Jingling Johnny, what might it be?

-Tiny Tim.

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A triangle?

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-Well, you're in the right area.

-Ah.

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It's an instrument.

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Other composers, Haydn's 100th Symphony uses a Jingling Johnny.

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Berlioz was extremely fond of them, as was John Philip Sousa.

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-And I even have one.

-Is it a cow bell?

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It's rather more complex than that. It's this...

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-Wow!

-That is a Jingling Johnny. It's a large...

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That would make your eyes water, wouldn't it?

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You were supposed to not bring any props from the Hobbit back.

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LAUGHTER

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Exactly. It was used as a marching, ch-ching-ch-ching.

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You up and down, with a march, up and down.

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That's it, yes.

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The army that used these began with J and has a connection with

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Vienna, the Siege of Vienna, if that means anything historically to you.

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As opposed to...

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# The feeling has gone, only you and I, this means nothing to me... #

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Not... Yeah.

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# Oh, Vienna... #

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Usually...

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It's not Ultravox, it's earlier than that, Vienna...

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Very good popular culture remembered.

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It's good that I should know that, I don't know how I knew that, either.

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Between Vienna and the East,

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the whole of that part of Eastern Europe was owned by an empire.

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-Ottoman Empire?

-Ottoman Empire.

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Their elite corps was called Janissaries.

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And the Janissaries used these as they marched.

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And Beethoven used it in one of his most famous compositions,

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his Ninth Symphony, the Choral Symphony, he uses a Jingling Johnny.

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And Hector Berlioz, one of the great French composers, claimed that

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"The shaking of its sonorous locks added brilliancy to marching music."

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Ah, I believe that it was later taken up, wasn't it,

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by... On the X-Factor is how they...?

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# Buddy you're a boy, make a big noise... #

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Take it away, it's compulsive.

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I think I'd better take it away from you.

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-It's the Casio of its day.

-It is. There are other...

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# Casio! #

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There are other instruments of this nature.

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Buskers make their own versions.

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There's a thing called the lagerphone,

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it's an Australian version where the ringing noise is made by,

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can you guess?

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-Lager cans.

-Oh, yeah, bottle tops.

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Yeah, crowns, the crowns of bottle tops, yeah, exactly.

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If you'd like me just to show you the majesty of Baker.

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Name a '70s single that harnessed one of those instruments?

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Terry Dactyl And The Dinosaurs, Seaside Shuffle.

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Ladies and gentlemen, Danny Baker.

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Wow!

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APPLAUSE

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It's like being in the room with Max Planck and Einstein

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while they're talking physics.

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Which instrument was it?

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It was, they used the zob stick, which was what they called it,

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which was the bottle toppy... # Da-da-da... #

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Yes they did. Terry Dactyl And The Dinosaurs.

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You guys, you guys! But anyway, that was the Jingling Johnny.

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So, moving on.

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Who sang the first advertising jingle,

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as it's Jingle Bells day today?

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-Wasn't it...the, no?

-Not Marconi himself, surely?

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Marconi. "Hey, radio is the way forward."

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Hey, hey, pop that hasn't been invented yet, pickers,

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this is Marconi.

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I was at a party at the BBC and I sat next to Marconi's widow.

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I have touched the wife of the man who invented radio.

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That does seem weird, doesn't it, that she was still alive?

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-Where did you touch her?

-Did she mind? Yeah.

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She had been a young girl and he was quite an old man

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when they married, but nonetheless, it's weird to think that

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I could have met the inventor of radio's wife anywhere.

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But the first jingle wasn't on the radio.

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Oh, music hall?

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Well, no. The first people ever to sing jingles would have been,

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as it were, you and me.

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They were written in newspapers and on pieces of paper with products.

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There would be the music written out with the words,

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so that you would sing it to yourself.

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So you bought a packet of cigarettes and it went,

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# I'm smoking cigarettes, I'm a man... # Whatever.

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Because this was 20 years before they invented radio,

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you know, we're talking about the 1870s and '80s.

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Of course, a lot of people had little pianos

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in their front parlours,

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and they would get round and sing the, you know,

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the Wrigley's song, or whatever it was.

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And so the first people ever to sing jingles would have been

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the members of the public themselves.

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Have you heard the Von Moltke?

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There's a wax cylinder of Von Moltke, the German general,

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and it's the only recorded voice of someone born in the 18th century.

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He was born in 1798. You can hear his voice.

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That is extraordinary, isn't it?

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I remember, I had the good fortune to meet Alistair Cook,

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the great broadcaster. He said, "Shake my hand,"

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he said, "You're shaking the hand of someone who shook the hand of

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"Bertrand Russell, the philosopher." And I said, "Wow, that's amazing.

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He said, "Oh, no, no, that's not too strange."

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He said, "What's strange is that Bertrand Russell's aunt

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"danced with Napoleon."

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So I shook the hand of someone who shook the hand of someone

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whose aunt danced with Napoleon.

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Wow!

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-It is pretty amazing, isn't it?

-That is something, yeah.

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Let's go round the table. This hand shook the hand of John Lennon.

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-Oh, wow.

-That's good.

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And to him, yeah.

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Wow, there we are, we're passing it on.

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Yeah, Louie Spence, I've shook his hand.

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LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

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Oh! Fantastic.

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Go on...

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-OK.

-Go on, then.

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-River Phoenix.

-River Phoenix.

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-Ooh.

-Oh, good.

-Here we go.

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-Jennifer Lopez.

-Wow, that's a goodie.

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-And if you were coming across here?

-Here we go.

-Oh, OK.

-Alan Davies.

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Whoa! You've gone and trumped us all, haven't you?

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My aunt and uncle are very close to Jesus.

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Yes.

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So back right off, all.

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-Oh, there you go. But do you...

-You see today.

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Jesus is still alive, so that doesn't really count.

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Of course. He's behind you.

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Whoa!

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And in front.

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And, and it's his birthday!

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ALL: Hurray!

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Wah, wah, wah.

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But radio...

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radio jingles, on the other hand,

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appeared in the 1920s, as a way, oddly,

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to get round NBC's rule that you couldn't advertise directly,

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but what you could do is sing songs which had the sponsor's name in.

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And the show could even be named after the sponsor,

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so like...

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This is Rudy Vallee, a famous performer in his day,

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he had an NBC show called Fleischmann's Yeast Hour.

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LAUGHTER

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Thankfully, that was followed by Perkins' Yoghurt Half-Hour.

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And it was the Sunshine Vitamin Yeast jingle was,

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they consider, probably one of the very first jingles.

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Do you use jingles on your show?

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I use vintage ones, the Ovaltinies one, cheers everybody up.

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-Ovaltine is a great famous one.

-And ones from the early 60s, you know?

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"Sorry mate, you're too late, the best peas went to Farrows,"

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-which, again, is a beautiful bit of copyright.

-Oh, yes.

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Hang on a minute, this is one... # Boom-boom-boom-boom. #

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-Esso Blue.

-There we go.

-Yeah, I know.

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It's mad, the things that stay in your head.

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Ho-ho-ho...

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ALL: # Green Giant. #

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Free advertising on the BBC. Ah, there we go.

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We're just going to be thigh-deep in paraffin and corn, me and Alan.

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They're going to send you all kinds of free ones.

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So now, what is that one for that malt whisky that

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I was just trying to remember?

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No, but anyway...

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Can you explain the Jesus Christ Dinosaur Hypothesis?

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Why might you call anything a Jesus-something?

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Amongst the properties of Jesus, if you...

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-A walk on water.

-Walking on water, that's the one.

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That's the one. Now, there's a particular kind of dinosaur,

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a sort of intermediate dinosaur between birds and dinosaurs,

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150 million years ago, which, in dinosaur terms

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is quite recent, it was not long before they were all wiped out.

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There is a picture.

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Oh, isn't it beautiful? like all the dinosaurs.

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They're pretty amazing.

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Do you know what that one was called?

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Dave.

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One day the answer might be Dave,

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one day the answer might be blue whale, it's going to be...

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What I'm looking forward to is

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when we have a blue whale called Dave and you don't get it.

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LAUGHTER

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They're called Archaeopteryx.

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And all the fossils for Archaeopteryx, oddly enough,

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are found in a place where there was a sea,

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but there was absolutely no evidence of any trees,

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therefore, it seemed very odd as to how they would fly.

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And there is a suggestion that what they did was they ran on water,

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rather in the way that swans, when they're about to take off,

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let's have a look at a swan about to take off,

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you'll get the idea of what I mean.

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They sort of, like that. It's a beautiful sight.

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They can really run along the water.

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PHILL MAKES ENGINE NOISE

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They think that's what the Archaeopteryx might have done.

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And there are other animals today, still exist,

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that are called the Jesus-something, because they run on water.

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-Can you think of any examples?

-Well, there's a lizard.

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There's a Jesus lizard, you might want to see a

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Jesus lizard having a bit of a go.

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The Jesus cow.

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LAUGHTER

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I would pay big money to see a Jesus cow.

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So would I. I'd get one of my own.

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How that works is they blow up their own udders really big.

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Oh, like Space Hoppers.

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There's something very Glenn Marston about that, isn't there?

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But the Jesus lizard can get up to about 20 metres, which is not bad.

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Obviously when they stop, they sink, I mean,

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so it's all about the fact that they are literally walking

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or indeed in their case, running, on water.

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They strike the water and they slap it and they go through.

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-What else runs on water?

-In Jamaica there's one,

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that would have been written about by James Bond.

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Bob Marley used to run on water.

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This one would have been...

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"Rita, me going for a run 'pon de lake.

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"Hold me chalice while I run on de water."

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"No woman no drown."

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I'm full of cultural references at the moment.

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This particular one would have been written about by James Bond.

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Where did Ian Fleming get the name James Bond?

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-From note paper.

-No. He had a book.

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He lived in Jamaica and he had a selection of books on Jamaica.

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And there was as book called The Birds of Jamaica,

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by a man called James Bond.

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-Oh.

-And that's where he got the name for his hero.

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And so this man, James Bond, would certainly have

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written about the Jacana, which is a Jesus bird, it's also called

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the Jesus bird, for its apparent ability to walk on water, as well.

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He gets all the credit, and why not For James Bond?

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But let's never forget

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he also wrote Chitty Bang Bang, Ian Fleming wrote Chitty Bang Bang.

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Yes, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

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And a character in that was called Caractacus Potts,

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I didn't understand that joke for years.

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-Potts, isn't that wonderful?

-What's the joke?

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LAUGHTER

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He was a crack-pot, he was an inventor.

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-Crack-pot.

-Oh, a crack pot!

-Yeah. I know.

-Ah.

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Are you a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang fan?

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I haven't watched it since I was a child,

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-because I think that's when you're supposed to watch it.

-Supposed to.

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Do you know, that's girls, you see, little girls grow up to be

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women and little boys grow up to be big, little boys.

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-We've got too much stuff to do.

-We still watch children's films.

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-Do you have children, though?

-No.

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Ah, well, yes, when you do then remember...

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-No no no, no.

-You plan not to?

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No. There's no "when", Stephen.

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-There's no...

-No.

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You're not going to adopt a little...shiny little baby?

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A shiny one?

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LAUGHTER

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Are they varnished? Can I varnish one?

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I don't know. They might be more attractive if they're shiny.

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It's not my field, I don't...

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And then Stephen revealed his plans for a child-buffing workshop.

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LAUGHTER

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Where craftsmen will get toddlers to a high sheen.

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More, more lacquer, little boy?

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PHILL IMITATES MACHINE NOISE

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Baaa. You're the shiniest one.

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We shall put you in the Harrods window.

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Oh, stop it!

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"I'm still alive in here, I'm still alive in here."

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-"Why I can see..."

-"Help me!"

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"I can see my face in your face. It's..."

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MACHINE NOISE

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You might have changed my mind, I thought they were very matt,

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I had no idea.

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Nice shiny little baby, I think they're lovely.

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Although, slightly put off by the idea of the child-buffing...

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LAUGHTER

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Thank you for that, so much.

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Let me take you back now to your childhood and innocence.

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-You remember all those white Christmases?

-No.

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-No?

-Oh, OK. I remember one.

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-Yeah.

-1971.

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1970. The January was '71.

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-There you go.

-Christmas itself was 1970.

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Had you said "yes" I would buzz you,

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cos you don't remember any, because you're from the south east.

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You might remember a few more, because South Shields has had more.

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-We've actually tried to work out...

-Have you? Good.

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..how many white Christmases you've had.

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We think you might have had them

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-when you were one, three, four, five, six and nine.

-Wow.

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-Which is actually quite a lot.

-That is quite a lot.

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Because in the whole of the 20th century, if you lived in London

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and the South East, there were only four white Christmases.

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-Ha ha!

-I know!

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It is extraordinary.

0:15:450:15:47

And they were in 1927, 1938, 1970 and 1981.

0:15:470:15:52

As we know, in the 21st century, we've had a few.

0:15:520:15:54

But what's important about this is that in the early part of

0:15:540:15:58

the 19th century, around about 1812 to 1820, there were eight in a row.

0:15:580:16:03

Oh.

0:16:030:16:04

Now, why was that important to our culture?

0:16:040:16:07

Is that when the song was written?

0:16:070:16:09

No. A certain child was born in 1812. We will...

0:16:090:16:13

Jesus.

0:16:130:16:14

LAUGHTER

0:16:140:16:16

Mormon!

0:16:160:16:17

You really do need a little bit of a religious education.

0:16:170:16:20

This was an author, a writer who's created idea...

0:16:200:16:22

-Charles Dickens.

-Oh, OK, Dickens, yeah.

0:16:220:16:24

Charles Dickens. For the first eight years of his life,

0:16:240:16:27

it always snowed on Christmas Day.

0:16:270:16:29

And so whenever he mentions Christmas, not just

0:16:290:16:32

in A Christmas Carol, but in several other novels, it's always snowing,

0:16:320:16:35

and this helped the myth in British culture of a snowy Christmas.

0:16:350:16:39

He also lived at a time known as the little ice age, you know this,

0:16:390:16:43

-I'm sure you've seen paintings of fairs on the River Thames.

-Yeah.

0:16:430:16:47

There were times when the River Thames froze so solidly they

0:16:470:16:49

would have fairs, not just fairs, they'd have bonfires on the ice.

0:16:490:16:52

Those crazy Cockneys.

0:16:520:16:54

Yes. But that they could guarantee...

0:16:540:16:56

-"Light a fire up!"

-Yeah.

-"It's freezing!"

0:16:560:16:59

"Let's light a fire on the river on the ice.

0:16:590:17:02

"What could possibly go wrong?"

0:17:020:17:04

But the odd thing is, nothing did go wrong,

0:17:040:17:06

because it was so thick, the ice.

0:17:060:17:08

The last frost fair, as they were called, was in 1813/14,

0:17:080:17:12

-on the frozen River Thames.

-Wow.

0:17:120:17:13

But anyway, this century we've had more white Christmases,

0:17:130:17:16

as we know, but only four in the entire 20th century,

0:17:160:17:19

-and only two in our lifetimes.

-Yeah.

-More in Scotland.

0:17:190:17:22

I'm really being very metro-centric here and I apologise for that.

0:17:220:17:25

But that's just the fact of the matter.

0:17:250:17:27

Now, what's the best thing to do with your old Christmas tree?

0:17:270:17:29

TINKLE

0:17:290:17:32

-Yes?

-I just, I put mine back in the spare room.

0:17:320:17:35

I do, and I just, it's still fully decorated.

0:17:380:17:40

-I just unplug it.

-Oh, so you have an artificial one?

-Of course.

0:17:400:17:43

-Oh, I see.

-I just unplug it and then put it all in,

0:17:430:17:47

so in my spare room it's always Christmas.

0:17:470:17:50

(AUDIENCE) Aww...

0:17:500:17:51

Well, imagine if it was a real tree, rather than an artificial one.

0:17:510:17:55

Sell it to Africans?

0:17:550:17:57

Cos according to Bob Geldof, they don't know when it's Christmas.

0:17:570:18:00

And you aim...

0:18:000:18:01

LAUGHTER

0:18:010:18:02

..wouldn't know. So, oh, here's a tree, when you've finished with it.

0:18:020:18:06

But when you've finished with it, it's too late.

0:18:060:18:08

-It won't be Christmas.

-No, they don't know, do they?

0:18:080:18:10

They do know when it's January.

0:18:100:18:12

But do they know it's Christmas time at all? No.

0:18:120:18:14

You're compounding the felony. Well, it's rather pleasing.

0:18:140:18:17

It's actually possibly the best thing you could think of doing.

0:18:170:18:20

Give it to a zoo. There are animals that would love it.

0:18:200:18:23

-In Germany, they do this regularly.

-Aww...

0:18:230:18:26

-Yeah. Elephants, elephants love it.

-Isn't that lovely, look?

-I know.

0:18:260:18:29

An elephant can have five Christmas trees for lunch.

0:18:290:18:31

Five Christmas trees!

0:18:310:18:33

And giraffes, rhinos, at Dresden Zoo, camel, deer,

0:18:330:18:37

sheep also enjoy it.

0:18:370:18:39

So before London Zoo writes me a letter saying,

0:18:390:18:43

"What the hell have you done, Stephen?"

0:18:430:18:46

Because the entire Regents Park is covered,

0:18:460:18:49

ring up the zoo first and ask if they'd like your Christmas tree.

0:18:490:18:51

But as long as it isn't too covered in hideous bits of silver tinsel,

0:18:510:18:54

and you've got rid of all the nastiness.

0:18:540:18:56

How much cuter that elephant would look

0:18:560:18:58

if it had a little bit of tinsel on it.

0:18:580:19:00

Well, it might look cuter,

0:19:000:19:02

but I don't think it's nutritively valuable for it.

0:19:020:19:04

No. You know what tinsel is?

0:19:040:19:06

Mirrors for snakes.

0:19:060:19:07

-Aah.

-Aah. I like that, that's rather sweet.

0:19:070:19:11

That's adorable.

0:19:110:19:12

I can't bear people who do that on Boxing Day.

0:19:120:19:14

Sometimes you go out Boxing Day or the day after

0:19:140:19:16

and there's trees outside people's houses, that's not the spirit.

0:19:160:19:19

-6th of January.

-There you go.

-Yes, 12th night. Absolutely.

0:19:190:19:22

-Is it? Is it?

-Yes.

0:19:220:19:23

Because that's always a perennial argument. It's the 6th, is it?

0:19:230:19:26

-Yes. 12th Night.

-Oh, OK.

-Yes.

0:19:260:19:27

Because we do it on the 5th and that's why I've had no luck.

0:19:270:19:30

-Well, no, ah.

-Ah.

-Ah.

0:19:300:19:33

Well, is it midnight on the 5th or is it...oh, hell!

0:19:330:19:35

That's what this programme's here for, things like this.

0:19:350:19:37

Now you've got me worried.

0:19:370:19:39

Oh, the chatrooms will be ablaze now.

0:19:390:19:41

LAUGHTER

0:19:410:19:44

-It's the 5th.

-Right.

-If you include Christmas night, that's one.

0:19:440:19:47

Oh, hell. Oh God.

0:19:470:19:50

26th, 27th, 28th, 29th, 30, 31, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

0:19:500:19:56

-Bang, thank you. There you go.

-That's the 7th night, then.

0:19:560:20:00

-What I've done there is...

-He's gone round once.

0:20:020:20:04

I've gone round once.

0:20:040:20:07

Take that away, I'll take that away.

0:20:070:20:08

Get your socks off, get your socks off,

0:20:080:20:10

it's the only way he'll believe you.

0:20:100:20:12

I think the jury's still out.

0:20:120:20:13

Anyway, we're going to have a quick fire round now

0:20:130:20:15

and it's about Jesus, because it isn't just about eggnog and tinsel.

0:20:150:20:18

So, fingers on buzzers. What did Jesus' mum call him?

0:20:180:20:21

-TINKLE

-Yes?

0:20:210:20:23

-Shiny?

-Shiny. She might have called him shiny.

0:20:230:20:27

THE BELLS!

0:20:270:20:29

Jo Junior.

0:20:290:20:31

Closer, basically, yes. There is a name that he had.

0:20:320:20:35

Yay-zuice. The name that we have called Jesus,

0:20:350:20:38

that's a Greek version of a Hebrew name which is also

0:20:380:20:42

used as a name given to people in Britain.

0:20:420:20:44

Dave.

0:20:440:20:46

I'll tell you what I will do...

0:20:500:20:52

Welcome back.

0:20:520:20:53

I'll tell you what, I'll give you points if you can tell me

0:20:530:20:56

why there are so many begats, so and so begats, so and so begats,

0:20:560:21:00

until they come to Joseph in the opening Gospels.

0:21:000:21:02

Who were they trying to prove that Christ was descended from?

0:21:020:21:05

Oh, Abraham.

0:21:050:21:06

-Dave!

-Dave.

-Yes, David.

0:21:060:21:08

-David, David.

-That was the answer that would have been Dave.

0:21:080:21:11

And I said Abraham, what a idiot!

0:21:110:21:13

He's given it to me on a plate. He had a plate.

0:21:130:21:16

I gave it to you on a plate.

0:21:160:21:17

Yes, he was descended from Dave, but his real name was Yeshua,

0:21:170:21:20

which is in fact?

0:21:200:21:22

-Joshua.

-He was Joshua. His name was Yeshua.

0:21:220:21:25

His mother would have called him Yeshua or Joshua.

0:21:250:21:27

So that's one. OK, very good.

0:21:270:21:30

Where is the world's tallest statue of Jesus?

0:21:300:21:32

Oh...

0:21:330:21:34

Now. Ah, now. Is it the statue or is it on top of something?

0:21:340:21:37

The statue height or how high?

0:21:370:21:38

-The actual, simply, tallest statue of Jesus.

-I'm going to guess

0:21:380:21:41

Rio de Janeiro.

0:21:410:21:43

Oh, dear, no, sadly it isn't Rio.

0:21:430:21:44

We all know that one, Cristo Redentor, the famous one there.

0:21:440:21:48

It's a tall one, it's a tall one.

0:21:480:21:49

It is, gosh it's tall. Don't get me wrong.

0:21:490:21:51

But...

0:21:510:21:53

THE BELLS!

0:21:530:21:55

-America.

-No. There is an even taller one in Bolivia,

0:21:550:21:58

but that's not the tallest either.

0:21:580:22:00

The actual tallest one is in Poland.

0:22:000:22:02

Oh.

0:22:020:22:03

Would you believe? In Swiebodzin, I'm sure I've pronounced that wrong.

0:22:030:22:06

There it is.

0:22:060:22:07

It's 33 metres tall, one metre for each year of Christ's life,

0:22:070:22:11

plus a three-metre crown.

0:22:110:22:13

If the crown wasn't on that, the one in Bolivia would be the tallest.

0:22:130:22:16

So, now, how many people did Jesus feed at the feeding of the 5,000?

0:22:160:22:20

TINKLE

0:22:240:22:25

Yes, go on?

0:22:250:22:27

4,998 because there was a couple who were bit suspicious.

0:22:270:22:31

-They don't like fish.

-Yeah, exactly.

-A couple of Vegans.

0:22:320:22:36

"Oh, no, it gives me the creeps, all scaly, oh, no, no.

0:22:360:22:40

"Can I just have toast? All right, nothing for me, then."

0:22:400:22:43

I will quote you Matthew, 14.21, "The number of those who ate was

0:22:430:22:46

"5,000 men, besides women and children."

0:22:460:22:49

-Oh.

-Oh.

-So there were a lot more than 5,000.

-Why don't we count?

0:22:490:22:53

It's the Bible.

0:22:530:22:55

Women get stoned just for looking at people in an odd way.

0:22:550:22:57

Very different times. Different times.

0:22:570:22:59

I'm afraid it's not fair or right or just and I agree with you,

0:22:590:23:02

-it's horrible.

-Stupid thing!

0:23:020:23:03

I'm with you.

0:23:070:23:10

It was known as The Miracle Of The Five Loaves And Two Fishes.

0:23:100:23:12

However, how many were there at the feeding of the 4,000?

0:23:120:23:15

Oh...

0:23:150:23:16

4,000 men! Huh!

0:23:160:23:18

Well, oddly enough, this is a separate one, a separate feeding.

0:23:210:23:23

Because you've got the 5,000 in Matthew and the 4,000.

0:23:230:23:27

This one he fed 4,000 men plus the women and children, again,

0:23:270:23:30

and that's called The Miracle Of The Seven Loaves And Fishes.

0:23:300:23:33

-I've never heard of that, so it was two.

-Yeah.

0:23:330:23:36

So he was a caterer?

0:23:360:23:38

Yes. Basically.

0:23:380:23:39

How many disciples did Jesus have?

0:23:410:23:42

Oh, here we go.

0:23:420:23:45

-Christmas, be nice.

-Yeah.

0:23:450:23:47

-12.

-12.

0:23:470:23:49

SIREN

0:23:490:23:52

No, no, again we look to the Gospel of Luke here.

0:23:520:23:55

He had 72. He had, basically, he had a posse.

0:23:550:24:00

He had an entourage.

0:24:000:24:01

Was it 12 men, the rest were women, so that's why they don't count?

0:24:010:24:04

No, no.

0:24:050:24:07

"After this the Lord appointed 72," he's got the 12, but

0:24:070:24:09

"he appointed 72 others and sent them

0:24:090:24:11

"two-by-two ahead of him to every town and place

0:24:110:24:13

"where he was about to go."

0:24:130:24:14

The 12 most famous of his disciples are, of course, the Apostles.

0:24:140:24:18

OK, now, it's time to pull our Christmas crackers.

0:24:180:24:21

We have decided, you know, the jokes are always terrible, aren't they?

0:24:210:24:24

So we wondered, is it because we tell them the wrong way round?

0:24:240:24:28

And what you should have is the punch line from the joke,

0:24:280:24:32

not the joke. We want you to work out the joke from the punch line.

0:24:320:24:37

-Oh, look, look, I can do an impression. Hang on.

-Oh, go on, then.

0:24:370:24:40

I've got to do an impression.

0:24:400:24:42

Look, I'm in Poland.

0:24:420:24:44

Hey, hey!

0:24:440:24:46

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

0:24:460:24:49

Very good.

0:24:490:24:50

Wait.

0:24:500:24:52

All right, have you found your jokes? Danny?

0:24:520:24:54

Mine just says, "That's not funny."

0:24:540:24:55

I don't know if it's a note from the producers of the show here, but...

0:24:550:24:58

That's harsh, isn't it?

0:24:580:24:59

You have to work out what the joke is.

0:24:590:25:01

A limerick?

0:25:010:25:02

When the government ran out of money...

0:25:020:25:06

and things look real bleak and not sunny, we all had a bash,

0:25:060:25:11

using these jokes as cash, but Germans said,

0:25:110:25:15

"Ein, that's not funny!"

0:25:150:25:16

-Hey!

-Yes!

0:25:160:25:19

Aye-aye.

0:25:190:25:20

-That's a quick...

-Aye-aye. Thank you.

0:25:200:25:22

Thank you.

0:25:240:25:25

I have to say, it's a lot better than the real joke,

0:25:250:25:28

which is how many feminists does it take to change a light bulb?

0:25:280:25:31

-That's not funny.

-Oh, that's not funny.

-Do you know the one,

0:25:310:25:33

-how many Freudians it takes to change a light bulb?

-No, go on.

0:25:330:25:36

It takes one to screw in the light bulb and the other to hold the cock.

0:25:360:25:39

Father, ladder!

0:25:390:25:40

LAUGHTER

0:25:400:25:42

There you go.

0:25:420:25:44

That's brilliant.

0:25:500:25:51

Anyway, so, Phill, what's your punch line?

0:25:510:25:54

My punch line is subordinate clauses.

0:25:540:25:57

Wow. What can the joke be?

0:25:570:25:59

And the joke is,

0:25:590:26:01

"What is a sadomasochistic Santa Claus's favourite thing?"

0:26:010:26:05

Oh, well, that's not bad.

0:26:050:26:06

The real answer is, what do you call Santa's little helpers?

0:26:080:26:11

Subordinate clauses.

0:26:110:26:13

STEPHEN GROANS

0:26:130:26:16

OK, Sarah, your turn, what's your punch line?

0:26:160:26:19

My punch line is, "The trifle tower." Ha, ha.

0:26:190:26:22

You might be able to guess this particular joke, what's the joke?

0:26:220:26:25

That's the only reason I went to bloody Paris.

0:26:250:26:28

That would, that would do it.

0:26:280:26:30

What's tall and wobbly and is in Paris, is, you know, the trifle.

0:26:300:26:33

-Me, when I went to Paris.

-Oh, no!

0:26:330:26:35

I'm not that tall, actually.

0:26:370:26:39

Alan, we haven't had yours, have we?

0:26:390:26:40

Well, mine says that, "Eat, drink and be Mary."

0:26:400:26:43

Eat, drink and be Mary. What do you think the joke is?

0:26:430:26:46

What did Jesus' mum do on Christmas Day, or something?

0:26:460:26:49

No, it's, "What does a transvestite do on Christmas Day?"

0:26:490:26:52

-Eat, drink and be Mary.

-Eat, drink and be Mary.

0:26:540:26:56

The thing is, I can't actually get these off.

0:27:110:27:14

I can see, I can see everything.

0:27:140:27:17

Good.

0:27:170:27:18

We've got one more punch line.

0:27:200:27:21

"It's very good cold on Boxing Day, too."

0:27:210:27:25

-Turkey.

-No.

0:27:250:27:28

Remember a puppy isn't just for Christmas.

0:27:300:27:33

-Ah.

-Aah.

0:27:330:27:35

-Ooh, that's a bit sick, isn't it?

-Oh, that's awful.

0:27:350:27:38

What's wrong with you?

0:27:380:27:39

Anyway, our sleighs have finally hit the buffers

0:27:420:27:44

and it remains only for me to try and pick a winner from the wreckage.

0:27:440:27:48

And it's quite remarkable.

0:27:480:27:51

The clear winner, with four points, Danny Christmas Baker.

0:27:510:27:54

Hurray, ho-ho-ho-ho-ho. Ho-ho-ho-ho.

0:27:540:27:57

God love us, one and all! Love us one and all. Hurray!

0:27:570:28:02

And Sarah, Sarah, whom Jesus didn't feed, did fantastically well

0:28:030:28:08

and is in second place with minus six.

0:28:080:28:11

Yay!

0:28:110:28:13

And Bob Cratchit writing away at the ledger shivering with little

0:28:170:28:22

coal and feeling that it isn't very Christmassy at all,

0:28:220:28:25

on minus 32, Phill Jupitus.

0:28:250:28:28

But with a staggering minus 38,

0:28:340:28:36

it's Dave Dave Dave Dave Davies.

0:28:360:28:38

And it's snowing! Hurrah!

0:28:450:28:49

So, that's all from Sarah, Danny, Phill, Alan and me.

0:28:490:28:52

And a very, very happy

0:28:520:28:53

and a quite, Quite Interesting Christmas to you all.

0:28:530:28:56

Good night.

0:28:560:28:57

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0:29:200:29:23

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