- 16 minutes ago
QI - Season 23 Episode 9 -
Christmas Special: Winter Wonderland
Christmas Special: Winter Wonderland
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00:00Good evening.
00:29Merry Christmas and welcome to QI where we are walking in a winter wonderland. Let's meet our windswept wanderers
00:37Driving home for Christmas. It's Julian Clary
00:43Dashing through the snow, it's Fratya El Ghori
00:50It's Jimmy Carr
00:56Reindeer in the headlights. It's Alan Davis
00:59Yeah
01:05Wintry buzzers Julian goes
01:12Fratya goes
01:14The snowman I was ready for a bit more. I thought it's a bit tight. It's Christmas. Hello. Yeah
01:21Jimmy goes
01:23No, let it snow let it snow and Alan goes
01:28Why does it always rain on me?
01:30Why does it always rain on me?
01:32Right, let's start by looking out of your desks. I have some Christmas presents for you all
01:40I've gone with a sort of theme of wellness with these. So Alan Loda, why don't we start with you?
01:48There we go. Beads. Yeah, so why might you give beads to somebody?
01:53Because
01:55Because you don't really like them
01:58Because you're obligated because you work with them and you have to think of something
02:04Because these were at the back of your drawer
02:06So what I can tell you is that all of your gifts are from early Christmas adverts
02:11So yours was first advertised in 1728 and it's called an anodyne necklace
02:17Actually this advert for it is from 1756 a little tiny bit later on
02:21So this is the weirdest thing these necklaces contained a poisonous plant called henbane
02:27It's also known as stinking nightshade
02:30It was meant to help children with teething pain at this time
02:34one in three children in England would not expect to reach their fifth birthday and
02:40Teething pain was seen as a sort of sign of something much more serious and possibly something fatal
02:43So they claimed that if you wore one of these anodyne necklaces curative substances would flow from it into the skin up into the mouth and so
02:50You didn't have to chew on it, which is just as well because it is actually a poison
02:55But it did seem to work even though there's no medical reason for it
03:00Why do you think it might have worked?
03:02They're quite expensive. There's five shillings for one
03:06It's one of those things where you tell people it's going to be good for you and then it works
03:10I think it is partly that julian, but also it is the fact that infant mortality rates were lower amongst rich people and it was only rich people
03:19Who were able to buy them?
03:20We used to give the kids bicky pegs
03:23What for the for the teething for the teething and then I don't know what it was and then
03:28And it would sort of gradually get smaller and smaller like a dog biscuit like a good dog biscuit that lasts. Yeah, you know
03:35Sounds like you're giving the kids dog biscuits
03:37I
03:40Know what you're talking about. It's like cork in it. That's a good idea though. Have a bottle of wine and give the children the cork
03:47But rich people like Augusta princess of wales her daughter queen caroline of denmark and norway
03:52Who's the one on the left there in very small quantities this particular thing henbane that was in it
03:58It is a mild sedative if you have more than three grams it can cause constipation manic episodes hallucinations and possible death
04:06Is this a replica or yes, darling?
04:08We also didn't want to kill alan. I mean
04:11Not till the zed series
04:15Don't miss that episode
04:17We are going to need a big finish
04:19Yeah
04:21Right julian. Do you want to open yours darling?
04:23Ah, have you pushed the boat out?
04:25This is from a christmas ad from 1825
04:29Oh
04:31What is it?
04:32It's macassar oil. So do you know about macassar oil?
04:35Oh, i'm sure you're going to tell me
04:38Have you heard of anti-macassars, darling?
04:40Anti-macassar, yes. What does that mean?
04:43It was a sort of a piece of cloth that sat on the back of the train
04:46I thought it was a band from camden town
04:49That's a good name for a band, isn't it?
04:51It doesn't smell
04:52Is that because you would have had oily people wouldn't wash their heads?
04:55It's to stop the oil from the back of your head going on to the train seat and it's called an anti-macassar
05:00Macassar oil comes originally from the ebony trees in indonesia
05:03But this was a much cheaper blend of vegetable oils palm oils and coconuts so it's the 19th century equivalent of hair gel
05:10Pure grease is undoubtedly the best nourisher of the hair. Yeah, it's supposed to be very very good. Tell my daughter that
05:20Want to apply some yes go on then open your hand
05:25Times i've said that
05:29Now there you are but you have to follow it by saying here's some oil
05:33Right go on then it's a lovely colour
05:36What is that?
05:37You've got to run it run your fingers through
05:39The thing is sandy what will happen if i do that is yeah we'll stop the show and the makeup department will come on
05:45Really fucked off
05:47You know those people can you imagine the language back there now they're watching on the monitor
05:56Don't you dare put your fingers through that
05:58Don't touch your hair don't touch your hair
06:00Oh it's whiffy does it smell nice?
06:10I thought you said it didn't smell well i lied
06:13That's an exchange you've had before.
06:20Right, Jimmy, come on, let's see what you've got.
06:24He was five minutes in and you've lubed him up.
06:27OK, you've not pushed the boat out here.
06:30So this, again, this is something from the past, 1857.
06:34Well, that's some pills of some description.
06:37OK, so these are from Mr. Page Woodcock of Lincoln.
06:41There were two Christmas adverts for wind pills to treat indigestion.
06:46To cure wind or to give you more?
06:48Well, so it depended which advert that you had a look at.
06:50So the very first advert claimed that the pills would conjure happy festive memories.
06:55So this is the Christmas advert.
06:57The second was the Boxing Day advert, which was inspired by Christmas Carol.
07:01It said the pills would cure people haunted by the Christmas ghost of indigestion.
07:05So if you took them on Christmas Day, made you happy.
07:08If you took them on Boxing Day, got rid of indigestion.
07:11Those are your basic happy pills that we've given you.
07:13Lovely.
07:14Yeah.
07:15Should we smash them up and do a line?
07:18I'm very concerned about those two children in the hot air balloon.
07:23Sent off unaccompanied.
07:25Well, not just that.
07:26Not dressed.
07:27Are they the ones with the wind?
07:28Is that what we think?
07:30You can still get wind pills.
07:31They're called Windies.
07:32Yes, you can.
07:33And I actually promise you that my wife did buy me some for Christmas fun.
07:36Which really, really amused the children.
07:39And I said, stop listening at the door.
07:41Go to another room.
07:42Did it work?
07:44I haven't tried them, actually.
07:46Could you?
07:47I should, yeah.
07:48I really should.
07:49Right.
07:50Fatih, come on.
07:51Yes.
07:52Mine's the biggest one here.
07:531830 is this one.
07:54This better not be like a gym or some shit like that, yeah?
07:58Oh, no, no.
07:59We don't do fitness.
08:00You're fine.
08:01I'll go mad.
08:14Merry Christmas!
08:18Can you imagine?
08:19If I should do that, should I do a rental service?
08:21Yeah.
08:22You can rent me.
08:23I'll hide in your toilet.
08:24And then you'll come and I'll go, Merry Christmas!
08:27Christmas advert for a toilet appeared in several publications in the 1830s.
08:31There was a man called Robert Wyss.
08:33There it is.
08:34And he said it was the perfect gift for Christmas and New Year's.
08:38It's a portable, self-acting water closet.
08:41So it's a kind of commode.
08:43They used to be known as thunder boxes.
08:45Because Alan used to go in there.
08:46Ah, well.
08:47So it looks like a cabinet from the outside and then when you open it up it's got a
08:51commode on the inside, a chamber pot.
08:53That is the worst James Bond gadget ever.
08:56What did they do before?
08:58Just had a sort of a bowl under the bed, you know, a pot.
09:01But this had a cistern with stored water and you could actually flush the waste out of the pot
09:05and it went into a concealed hidden bucket which was then emptied by the staff.
09:09Oh, discreet.
09:10Yes, exactly.
09:11Exactly.
09:12I mean you say discreet, portable, so presumably people would see you in the high street with it.
09:17What's he doing with that cupboard?
09:19He seems to be shitting in it.
09:22During lockdowns I like to go for a really long walk.
09:25I bought a portable toilet tent and it was, it was like a big, I did.
09:31You didn't do that.
09:32I did, I did.
09:33Portable toilet tent.
09:34It goes completely over you.
09:35Well, no, what it was, it was a pop-up thing.
09:38It was a flat circle and you just popped it and popped up like the size of a telephone booth.
09:42And I thought this was marvellous.
09:43And then you went in and...
09:44Yeah.
09:45You have to sing when you're in there in case someone comes along.
09:47Well, Sally, it was great apart from when it blew over outside...
09:54Outside the Tower of London.
09:58You come across a tent wandering round, always have a little look inside because it could be Sandy Toxford technician.
10:04LAUGHTER
10:07OK, presents away, please.
10:09What's most dangerous?
10:11A lion, a witch or a wardrobe?
10:15Definitely a witch.
10:20Would a lion be scared of a witch, though?
10:23You could reason with a lion.
10:28So enjoy that.
10:29That's a show we'd all watch, I think.
10:31LAUGHTER
10:33Hi, welcome to Reason with a Lion.
10:36And the witch, if she's in a good mood, you could get away with it.
10:40But if a wardrobe fell on you, then you'd be in trouble.
10:44And that is the correct answer, my darling. Absolutely right.
10:46APPLAUSE
10:51So the wonderful book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by...
10:54C.S. Lewis.
10:55C.S. Lewis, dedicated to Lucy Barfield.
10:57And Maud, Lucy's mother, was extremely worried that children would go looking for Narnia and get stuck inside a wardrobe.
11:03So he had to put some extra lines of text in.
11:05And every time, you'll notice in the book, somebody goes through the wardrobe, he says they took care to leave the door ajar.
11:11And C.S. Lewis does say it's a very silly thing to lock oneself in a wardrobe.
11:14But apparently we are facing an accident crisis.
11:16Britain loses ten times more working days to domestic accidents than we do to strikes.
11:21So driving accidents have significantly decreased in the past 20 years, but pretty much all other accidents have increased.
11:29Falls are by far the biggest culprit. Why do you think we might be having more and more falls?
11:35Because there's more stairs?
11:37Oh, I like that. We've had a tremendous increase in stairs. Yes.
11:41Well, if I have an accident, it's likely to be on the stairs.
11:45Or sometimes I open the fridge door and hit myself on the head.
11:51This is going to be the worst ever episode of Miss Marple.
11:54Well, I...
11:56It's the ageing population.
11:57Oh, it's the old people.
11:58In 2016, so this is according to the National Accident Helpline, one in 75 people surveyed had been injured while shopping in a sales rush.
12:06One in 50 people reported falling out of the loft while retrieving Christmas decorations.
12:12One in 90 people had suffered burns while roasting chestnuts on an open fire.
12:17One in 50 had fallen out of the loft?
12:19Yeah, I know.
12:20It seems an extraordinarily high number.
12:22Yeah.
12:23What do you think is the gift in recent years that's caused the most accidents?
12:26Knives.
12:29I bought you a very sharp knife.
12:32Sandwich maker.
12:33Yes, you could trap your finger in the thing.
12:35E-scooters.
12:37Is exactly right.
12:38I mean, 416 people seriously injured in 2023 and 965 slightly injured.
12:44338 fires.
12:45Still a lot more people falling out of the loft, though, isn't it?
12:50What's the worst or most embarrassing accident anybody here has ever had?
12:53Oh, you're counting soiling yourself.
12:56I mean, we are now.
13:01I've got a soiling myself story.
13:03Go for it, darling.
13:05Well, I've told this story before.
13:07I think last time I was on this show, but...
13:09It's so long ago, darling.
13:10No.
13:11It's in colour now.
13:12Anyway.
13:13LAUGHTER
13:15But no.
13:17Beat this.
13:18I once...
13:20I once chapped myself while meeting the Queen.
13:24LAUGHTER
13:25It was a Royal Variety show.
13:30Yeah.
13:31And you had to queue up and, you know, she came and shakes your hand.
13:36And I don't know if it was nerves or I'd had a bit of trouble.
13:39I can't remember.
13:41But it was only a little pellet.
13:43LAUGHTER
13:44But that's a true story.
13:48LAUGHTER
13:49Let's hear you're soiling yourselves.
13:52LAUGHTER
13:54I can remember doing a little pellet as a child and it came out my trouser leg.
14:01LAUGHTER
14:02Is that what happened to you?
14:03Yes.
14:04LAUGHTER
14:05It's shot across the stage...
14:09..in the general direction of Claire Sweeney.
14:13LAUGHTER
14:14This story's got everything.
14:16I've got a poo story.
14:17Go on.
14:18I was going to tell a story about shaving.
14:20OK.
14:21And now you...
14:22Are you going to go with the poo?
14:23Yeah, I want to go with the poo.
14:24Shaving is too long.
14:25That's actually fine.
14:26Can I just say to me, I don't have a poo story.
14:27This will be the last one.
14:29Oh, I cut my scrotum with...
14:31LAUGHTER
14:32Is this at the Royal Variety Performance?
14:33LAUGHTER
14:34Shaking hands with the Queen and trying to shave my balls at the same time.
14:35Do you know how that goes?
14:36I was alone.
14:37Sure.
14:38To do a podcast, and there was a company that...
14:40There were lots and lots of podcasts about football.
14:42Nearly all by boys and mostly listened to by boys.
14:44Anyway, they started sending these shaving kits.
14:46Around, giving the shaving kits for shaving your undercarriage with.
14:47And we were all sort of in their 40s and 50s.
14:48I thought, what?
14:49People are doing what now?
14:50Anyway, I tried it and I cut myself with this shirt.
14:52LAUGHTER
14:53I thought, this shouldn't be possible.
14:54It's got all this kind of protective thing on it, but I got a little bit carried away.
14:57LAUGHTER
14:58And that is the most embarrassing accident.
15:00And now you've made me say it at the Christmas show.
15:01LAUGHTER
15:02LAUGHTER
15:03I thought, this shouldn't be possible.
15:04It's got all this kind of protective thing on it, but I got a little bit carried away.
15:07LAUGHTER
15:08And that is the most embarrassing accident.
15:09And now you've made me say it at the Christmas show.
15:10LAUGHTER
15:11I'll tell you where you went wrong.
15:12You need to stretch the skin.
15:13That's what it is.
15:14You just went like this because you're lazy.
15:15But you need to stretch the skin.
15:16You just went like this because you're lazy.
15:17But you need to stretch the skin.
15:18But you need to stretch the skin.
15:19Trust me, I know I'm Arab.
15:20I know I'm Arab.
15:21I know I'm Arab.
15:22But I'm not Arab.
15:23But I'm not Arab.
15:24I know that's what you're saying.
15:25And you know I'm Arab.
15:26Anyway, I tried it and I cut myself with this shirt.
15:27LAUGHTER
15:28I thought, this shouldn't be possible.
15:29It's got all this kind of protective thing on it, but I got a little bit carried away.
15:34And that is the most embarrassing accident.
15:37And now you've made me say it at the Christmas show.
15:41I don't know about hair.
15:42LAUGHTER
15:43Thank you so much for doing mine.
15:45LAUGHTER
15:46I've had a room in that bathroom to get that smooth.
15:49LAUGHTER
15:51You'd need two people in that if you were folding a sheet.
15:56LAUGHTER
15:59Two people pulling it out and one other person with a lawnmower.
16:02LAUGHTER
16:04LAUGHTER
16:07I can't believe I'm stopping this fascinating conversation.
16:10So hear yours about poo.
16:12So, yeah.
16:13I was like seven or something.
16:14And then we went on a school trip to a farm.
16:16And I wanted to do a poo.
16:17But the teacher goes, go on your own to the toilet.
16:19And I was like, no.
16:20So I just shit in my pants.
16:22And then, like, I sat in here and had it in my pants all day.
16:26And all the kids...
16:27Shut up!
16:28LAUGHTER
16:29I wouldn't mess with her.
16:31All the kids were like, oh, there's a...
16:33We can smell poo.
16:34And I was like, oh, yeah, I wonder who it is.
16:36Maybe it's the stinky kid.
16:37And when I got home, my mum put me in the bath and it was stuck to my skin.
16:41She had to soak me and then put it off with a butter knife.
16:44Merry Christmas, everyone.
16:46LAUGHTER
16:47Merry Christmas.
16:48One spoke on a coach trip.
16:49Oh, please don't.
16:50And the driver was a huge man.
16:55Really, really big man.
16:57And he pulled over on a hard shoulder and he got out of his cab
17:00and he made his way down the aisle.
17:02We thought, what's going on?
17:03And he went down the stairs into the loo.
17:06And eventually, he re-emerged and he said,
17:09no-one can use the toilet, it's full.
17:12LAUGHTER
17:14Anybody in the audience want to talk about...?
17:22LAUGHTER
17:24Now, I've got everybody a bowl of Christmas walnuts.
17:28Why is it so hard to find a walnut's anus?
17:32LAUGHTER
17:34Are they heterosexual?
17:35Walnuts.
17:36It depends what kind of walnut we're talking about.
17:39I'm looking at the walnut, but this is not the kind of walnut, is it?
17:42Now, you've done this game before, haven't you?
17:44LAUGHTER
17:45Different kind of walnuts, the ones in front of us.
17:48The walnut bird.
17:49The walnut snake.
17:51Let's go.
17:52The beetle.
17:53The walnut fish.
17:54The walnut whiff.
17:55The walnut whiff.
17:56LAUGHTER
18:00It is a creature in the sea and they are called sea walnuts.
18:04Look at this, it is so beautiful.
18:05I love those see-through ones.
18:07They're also called walticombe jellies.
18:09It's not a jellyfish, it's a bit like a jellyfish.
18:11That's not a jellyfish.
18:12No.
18:13Yeah.
18:14I'm not sure who you're talking to.
18:15LAUGHTER
18:16But that, my friend, is a jellyfish.
18:18So why isn't it a jellyfish?
18:19I'm telling you...
18:20No, I'm telling you it is.
18:21No.
18:22Well, the reason that we know it isn't is because it does have an anus.
18:27So if it was a jellyfish, it wouldn't.
18:29But what is extraordinary about them is that these are transient anuses.
18:34What do we think that means?
18:35It moves around.
18:36Well, it's only there for a very short time.
18:39They only create one on a temporary basis when they need to poo.
18:44So when it needs to go, the digestive system fuses with its skin to form an opening,
18:49it does a poo, and the opening then closes in a matter of minutes.
18:52And they do this about once an hour, unless they're a very, very young one,
18:55in which case it's about every ten minutes.
18:57So it is a jellyfish most of the time?
18:59No, it isn't.
19:00LAUGHTER
19:01You're saying once an hour, it isn't a jellyfish briefly.
19:05I wonder why they do that, though.
19:07What's in it for them?
19:08What to do it?
19:09Not to have a permanent arsehole.
19:11I think it's that they're not so vulnerable, darling.
19:14I think it's that.
19:15It's basically, you know, it's an exit for them and an entrance for others.
19:18Well, tell me about it.
19:19LAUGHTER
19:25When you think about it, though, it would be practical if you're on,
19:27I don't know, let's say a school trip, perhaps.
19:29Yeah.
19:30Just create an arsehole and then gone again.
19:33Yeah.
19:34Just to not have one the whole time.
19:35Yeah.
19:36Because, you know, accidents happen.
19:37LAUGHTER
19:38A long walk to the toilet, maybe I'll just shit myself.
19:41What?
19:42Jellyfish don't have anuses.
19:44They expel their waste through the mouth.
19:46So it's the difference between the two.
19:48How do you know it's its mouth?
19:49What's it saying?
19:50LAUGHTER
19:51I mean, I think people have studied this.
19:53There's a fantastic...
19:54LAUGHTER
19:55There's an amazing American zoologist called Libby Hyman
19:57and it was because she noticed that these particular creatures,
20:00the sea walnuts, have these transient anuses,
20:02that she realised that they were not the same as jellyfish.
20:04I don't even think that's a real person.
20:06Libby Hyman?
20:07Libby Hyman.
20:08That sounds made up.
20:09She's from a limerick.
20:10If...
20:11LAUGHTER
20:13I've got Libby Hyman.
20:16Have you?
20:17Still intact, but you horse ride.
20:19LAUGHTER
20:23OK, moving along.
20:25Why did Oliver Cromwell ban Christmas?
20:29Don't tell anyone.
20:31Right, but he was a Muslim.
20:33LAUGHTER
20:34APPLAUSE
20:43Damn you!
20:45LAUGHTER
20:46Anybody else?
20:47Erm...
20:48Oh, I thought I was going to think of something.
20:50LAUGHTER
20:52Nothing came out.
20:54Imagine you're meeting the Queen.
20:56Yeah.
20:57LAUGHTER
20:59What's he doing there?
21:00He feels like he's signalling to someone holding his ear.
21:02So the answer is that he didn't ban Christmas.
21:05Yeah, no, he...
21:06A while.
21:07You might want to check again because, yeah, he did.
21:09No, it's a Christmas myth.
21:10Truth is, he actually quite liked a party.
21:12He enjoyed smoking and drinking.
21:14Scandalously, he allowed dancing at his daughter's wedding.
21:17So he wasn't anti-party.
21:19The Christmas ban started with the Scottish Presbyterians,
21:22so they had been discouraging Christmas celebrations for years,
21:25since 1583, and the Puritans needed the Scottish support.
21:29So it's his party that were trying to keep the Scots calm,
21:33and it wasn't Cromwell himself who thought,
21:35let's get rid of Christmas.
21:36There are parts of the country where they didn't pay
21:38any attention at all.
21:39So Devon and Cornwall, for example, they just carried on.
21:41They probably hadn't heard about it.
21:43LAUGHTER
21:44When do you think Christmas Day became a holiday in Scotland?
21:46I'll give you ten points if you're within the right decade.
21:491974.
21:50Not far.
21:51What 64?
21:5259.
21:53You win.
21:5458.
21:55Yes, absolutely.
21:56APPLAUSE
21:58So it wasn't a holiday in Scotland?
22:00It wasn't a holiday until 1958.
22:01It was a holiday until 1958.
22:02Yeah.
22:03Mm-hm.
22:04LAUGHTER
22:05Anyway, moving on.
22:09Why were Christmas Day weddings so popular in the past?
22:13Snow.
22:15Is it one of those things where, like,
22:17if you have your wedding on Christmas,
22:19you can't forget your anniversary?
22:21LAUGHTER
22:23Do you forget yours today?
22:24Do you forget your anniversary?
22:25Yeah.
22:26Yeah.
22:27LAUGHTER
22:28But if you get married at Christmas,
22:29it feels like that or Valentine's, you go,
22:31it's also one gift.
22:32Yeah.
22:33Great.
22:34Are you married?
22:35May I ask?
22:36Are you married?
22:37No, no.
22:38We're just friends.
22:39LAUGHTER
22:40I mean, we're getting on great.
22:41Yeah.
22:42I've been married and divorced twice
22:43because I don't learn the first time.
22:45LAUGHTER
22:46Do you know you're married then?
22:47Yes.
22:48My husband slipped his finger into my ring.
22:51LAUGHTER
22:53About eight years ago now.
22:55Congratulations.
22:56Aww.
22:57But anyway, getting back to the question.
22:59Yes.
23:00Why get married on Christmas Day?
23:02Everyone's got the day off.
23:03Unless they've got it.
23:05LAUGHTER
23:06Is the correct answer.
23:07Ah!
23:08I was about to say that.
23:09I'm so sorry.
23:10LAUGHTER
23:11That's it.
23:13Well, pretend he hasn't said it.
23:15What were you going to say, Julian?
23:16No, don't patronise me.
23:18LAUGHTER
23:23It's because they didn't have many days off.
23:26Yeah.
23:27So Christmas Day was off.
23:28What better day?
23:29Exactly right.
23:30Christmas Day and Boxing Day were the sort of days that you...
23:32Very clever boys, Julian.
23:33Yes, you are.
23:35Yes, you are a clever boy.
23:37So it was a very popular time.
23:38In fact, churches would give discounted rates
23:40if multiple couples got married at the same time.
23:43This is a picture at St George Church in London in 1920.
23:46She's got stars on her head.
23:48The third one from the left.
23:49Why has she got two stars?
23:50Oh, yeah.
23:51A trip advisor.
23:52They made their own.
23:53LAUGHTER
23:54It's a trip advisor thing.
23:55She's not great.
23:56LAUGHTER
23:57In 1913, The Guardian reported that Church and Stepney
24:02had married 25 couples all on the same day.
24:04Mmm.
24:05Now, it's almost time for the bum note that we call
24:08General Ignorance, but this year I have some friends
24:10to help me with the questions.
24:12Please welcome the QI choir under the direction of John Riddell.
24:15Take it away.
24:16CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
24:17AND APPLAUSE
24:18AND APPLAUSE
24:19AND APPLAUSE
24:20AND APPLAUSE
24:23AND APPLAUSE
24:25AND APPLAUSE
24:51Hey!
24:52What occasion was this tune composed for?
25:01Oh.
25:02Yes, Julian.
25:03Easter.
25:04LAUGHTER
25:06Is it the John Lewis Christmas ad?
25:08It's after Christmas.
25:09What comes after Christmas?
25:10Twelfth Night, Boxing Day.
25:11Easter.
25:13LAUGHTER
25:14Summer holiday.
25:15Mother's Day.
25:16New Year.
25:17Yes!
25:18Yes, Alan, it's New Year's.
25:21Exactly right.
25:22What do we call this tune?
25:24Does anyone in the audience know this?
25:26Carol of the Bells!
25:27Carol of the Bells is exactly right,
25:28but it was originally a Ukrainian folk song for New Year's Eve.
25:32It was called Shedrak, which means bountiful evening.
25:35So the lyrics are nothing to do with bells, nothing to do with Christmas.
25:38It's actually about a swallow visiting a home
25:40and delivering luck for the New Year.
25:42Let's have another tune.
25:43Who sang this song in the 1982 animated film The Snowman?
25:48We're walking in the air We're floating in the moon, it's sky
26:01Julian's off.
26:02Who was it?
26:03Ali Jones.
26:04No.
26:05It was actually sung by a choir boy named Peter Ortey.
26:11There he is.
26:12He's now a professional operatic tenor, but he didn't get any credit in the film
26:16because they forgot to put his name on.
26:181985, the song was used in an advert for Toys R Us and it had to be re-recorded,
26:23but this guy, Peter Ortey's voice had already broken.
26:25And so a new version was sung by Ali Jones and that was released and that became a huge hit.
26:30And that is why we think Ali Jones sang it in the film, but it isn't actually him.
26:35Here's another song that was originally written for New Year, but what is the first line?
26:42What are you going to say?
26:49La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la.
26:55Is it Deck the Halls with something and Holly?
27:06Deck the Halls with...
27:07No, Holly.
27:09The Bars of Holly.
27:10So I asked for the original lyrics and it's an old Welsh tune called Nosgallen or New Year.
27:16The oldest version of the lyrics are translated into English as this.
27:20Oh
27:35Oh how soft my fair one's bosom absolute filth
27:42Now it's time to look at our scores, let's see who's top of the nice list and who's on thin
27:50Joy to the world in first place with 16 points. It's Alan
28:06Happy in second place with minus nine. It's Julia
28:13Nobody's perfect in third place with minus 27 fatia
28:20And in last place a lost claws with minus 29 Jimmy
28:36Thank you to fatia Jimmy Julian and Alan and a very Merry Christmas from all of us
28:41Let's all go and join the choir and sing. Off you go people
28:45Oh
28:54Ah
28:56Oh
28:58Oh, how blessed love this is, ba-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
29:03Words of love and mutual kisses, ba-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
29:09Merry Christmas, everybody!
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