PLUS Amandaland Christmas Special

0:09Is that the sound of sleigh bells? that can mean only one thing Father Christmas has arrived and he has delivered to you the greatest gift of all that's right it is the final Pilot Plus of 2025 your extended guide to every show that matters we have haggard exhausted and basically dead as we are we have gathered one final time to drop into your ears on Christmas morning and wish you a very very Merry Christmas so Merry Christmas one and all isn't that right Coyd wish the listeners happy christmas yeah happy christmas listeners from your haggards apparently there you go a begrudging happy christmas from boyd a very merry christmas from me now once again listeners i'm the only one of the trio who's wearing a christmas jumper you are it's true again you're boyd and i are wearing the traditional funereal black for christmas morning come on guys get a bit festive it's christmas day it's christmas day it is not in studio we're not we're just in our listeners ears and that is true i hope everyone's having a very good whenever you're listening to this hope you've eaten delicious food and uh you're having a very jolly christmas i mean it's just started the whole day is ahead of them how do you know people could be listening to this at any time yeah that's what i was saying james i i'm not like prescriptive people don't necessarily listen to it as soon as it drops maybe they're listening to it um it could be on the sofa yeah it could be a bit like relief you You know, in between bouts of Monopoly and Brussels sprouts.

1:39Okay, I've got a Christmas gift for all of you listening, and that is a winning Monopoly tactic that I got from Martin Lewis. Do you want to hear this? Yeah, go on. This is absolutely true. So your return on investment for properties in Monopoly has what I would call a soft cap, and anyone who plays the FromSoft games will understand what I'm talking about. So if you have a property and you put one house on it, you get i can't remember the percentages don't ask me to look at the percentages i'm not going to do it it gives you a certain return investment two gives you a higher one three gives you a big jump like a big jump to return on investment and then the difference between three and four is small and the difference between four and a hotel is small so you're actually better off only getting three houses on each property never getting a fourth house and never getting a hotel until you've got three houses every in which case obviously upgrade if you want to but the three houses that is the sweet spot that is the soft cap for return on investment in monopoly and that is a winning strategy i kind of feel like you've succeeded in making monopoly more boring i mean that's hard to do it's the worst genuinely the worst board game in the world i fucking hate it it's awful it's absolutely hateful for someone who hates it you know a lot about it though it's capitalism boy what can i tell you i tell you what's worse right i mean i love any board game so i i will play monopoly but when you're playing with someone who uh steals from the bank or does any of that kind of underhand stuff 100 someone who steals from the bank aren't you be honest.

3:00James, take it back now. No, take it. Wash your mouth out. I never cheat with games because I hate those people. What is the point? Yeah, I agree. What is the point? I agree. What's the point of playing? Yeah, it sounds like you've got a few psychotic people in your life who do steal from the bank though. No, I mean, like, I think anyone who's listening has probably paid with someone who steals from the bank. I can't think of anyone else. I have. There's a type of person who likes to win at all costs. Or he doesn't need to steal from the Monopoly bank. I don't know why we're talking Monopoly but it is Christmas because I mentioned it first and then you came up with your also before we wrap up the Monopoly segment what's your preferred board game or game over Christmas well actually I was going to say I thought you were going to ask what's your preferred Monopoly because obviously there are many like I got a Star Wars Monopoly set yeah I got a Stranger Things one of course you did they sent me a Stranger Things one it must have been the last series or the series before I think Was this when you were on set, Boyd?

3:58Did they hand deliver it to you? Yeah, it might have been. There's an answer to one, of course. That's the answer to the question, in fact. The answer to your question is... Do you buy players and not places? That's right, yeah. And I think, yeah. You have to... It keeps changing, because obviously the squad changes quite a lot from... How do you put hotels on a player? How does that work? Maybe it's boots. Yeah, I can't remember, actually. And also, what's the little figurines that you... Three boots. what's the little figurines that you move around then are they Arsenal players er but I'm starting to doubt your commitment to Arsenal Monopoly I can't remember it's years since I mean yeah I'm thinking like 10 years ago since I lost so I can't remember but it's probably around somewhere I'm just being quick scatting okay well no one's asked me so I'll just answer the question which is I love Kay what's your favourite board game Kay what's your favourite board game or iteration of Monopoly no I'm skipping over monopoly i like playing articulate yeah which is a good one it's a really good one to play with friends and families and especially in articulate ones yeah exactly oh my gosh we sometimes get my mum to play that is a lot of fun how does it work get an articulator so you have um you have words to describe you can't you can't like um say the word etc etc and then you move along the board That was quite fun We were getting you to articulate What articulate was And I was doing it really badly And you weren't doing the best job No I'm none the wiser It's a kind of What do you call them A game It's like Oh god I was falling apart Because I was doubting myself I was like That's really simple But yeah Basically you've got to get through As many as possible Before the egg timer goes Yeah And I quite like Pictionary The egg timer Yeah Pictionary's fun I can't draw for shit But Pictionary is quite fun My proudest moment in the history of all board games was playing uh trivial pursuit once where we got to the final you know you know the game winning question and as i recall the game winning question the person asking the question gets to choose which question on the card wait so you've already won all the cheese and then you're in the center but to win you have to win the final question right and it was it was i believe it was like a millennium edition of of true presume and uh my girlfriend at the time who was on the opposing team was like uh uh right and so she chose what she thought was the hardest question she goes she said where in america would you find the town of boys and which i kind of yeah and so i kind of pushed my metaphorical glasses up my nose when it's pronounced boysey and it's in idaho did you split up soon after yeah it's funny the relationship didn't last uh it's curious i've never really understood why but that was that is genuinely my board game that is the peak of my board game life i was i was as smug as it is possible to get yeah it's very on brand for you though it was yeah it was glorious it was it was delightful there were many high fives so there we go we've procrastinated some but we do have a show to talk about and it is amanda land this is of course the spin-off from popular sitcom motherland and this stars lucy punch as amanda hughes who was kind of the villain of motherland if you like but is the hero here uh her and her mother flick played by joanna lumley uh and here it is a christmas with family where they go to stay with uh with amanda's aunt played by jennifer saunders making this an unofficial ab fab reunion which i'm sure kay you were very excited about oh my god what a joy i'm saying this now this is the best thing on christmas day and everyone whatever you're doing today please make time for it um because you won't regret it as you say james it's a family affair because felicity and amanda and the family uh go down to see aunt joan who is jennifer saunders character in siren cester um much to felicity's irritation because she there's a there seems to be a bit of beef there you're not quite sure at first what's going on probably just sibling rivalry slash tension anyways um amanda lucy punch is on a mission to have a picture perfect Christmas or she calls it a traditional Cotswoldian Noel and um specifically she wants to recreate a photo of her with a pavlova that she was taken when she was a kid right and that's her mission throughout the whole episode I don't know why it makes me laugh so much because you can just imagine like she just wants to put it on Instagram yeah etc etc and she gets crestfallen every time someone's like oh we don't have time for this now and she's like do you want to do the pavlova I know she's so She's so tightly coiled about it.

8:29But there's bigger fish to fry, namely that Felicity is getting increasingly agitated and irritated by Joan and her existence, even though they're at her house and she's trying to be really hospitable. I would say that Felicity is even more barbed and snippy than usual. And Joanna Lumley is on gloriously awful form. She is so awful to everyone who's in sight, including two of Amanda's friends. Not going to ruin anything, but there are other people there as well, which I think makes it even more enjoyable because not only do you see the tension, the standard tension between Amanda and her mum, and then between the sisters, Joan and Felicity, but you also get to see how their family is perceived by these outsiders who are taking refuge at Joan's but are caught up in the madness of this very, what should we say, fractious family.

9:24So, yeah, it's chaotic, it's tense, it's very, very fun, and it gave me a lot of satisfaction. Are you saying that mentioning who the other characters are is like a spoiler? Is that what you're... No, but I just don't want to give... Do you know what? There's some details in here. I mean, no, it's not a spoiler, but I've kept it vague about what happens during this Christmas because, yeah, I just want everyone to... She wants them to unwrap their own presence. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Because obviously it's not in all the publicity photos. Well, we can say then. No, sorry. It's not publicity, Boyd. It's Plick.

9:58Yeah. That's true. Because I think the character of Mal, who is the neighbour played by Sammy Anderson, is so one of the best things about the show is him. Because he's so believable. and he just, he doesn't, he's a very, he's kind of quite laid back in his performance. Not laid back, that's the wrong word. I don't know. There's a total realism to him within the whole comedy vibe of the over-the-top, you know, Amanda character and Flick and Joan. They were very vividly drawn, funny characters, whereas he's kind of the straight guy, if you like. He's grounded, isn't he? He's grounded, yeah. Thank you.

10:40That's the word I was desperately grasping for. But he does such a brilliant job, Samuel Anderson, and famously, of course, was in The History Boys with Russell Tovey and others. That's, I think, how he first came to fame, Corden, et cetera, yeah. He's brilliant. And Philippa Dunstan always is like, she's just right going back to the very first days of Motherland. She's such a brilliant, it's such a brilliant performance and such a fantastic character, in thrall to Flick and et cetera. It's, yeah, so I think all of the whole ensemble is key to making this as brilliantly entertaining as it is yeah but the the the storyline about these photos these mystery photos i'm not gonna spoil it don't worry okay shaking her head isn't this um but what i liked about that storyline is the the first the the first mention of it is funny like the whole idea of it is funny but the resolution of it is hilarious i thought it was such a clever resolution of that um yeah it's it's fantastic yeah um i would say it's not the out on that funniest episode, I think.

11:43Really? Yeah. Oh, see, I thought it was. I think it is. Oh, interesting, yeah. I mean, don't get me wrong, there's loads of funny moments in there. But that's no way of criticism. I think, because it has to make time for a couple of kind of, you know, sentimental slash emotional moments that it somehow manages to earn. I think by being really good, really good writing, et cetera. And within a half hour, basically, within meeting one character, you then there's a poignancy to that um in the end which happens very quickly but so i think in some ways it kind of um they lean into i hate the word phrase i keep using it they they there's there's a lean into the phrase boy there's a dramatic um you know element to it that works really well as much as the comedic element of it but having said it's not the funniest episode it's still one of the most enjoyable so yeah it's a giggle i it made me smile obviously that's as close as I get to laughter with comedies, but I smiled at several points.

12:44But yeah, it's exactly what you want on Christmas Day as well, because it's good, it's well put together, it's well written, but it's also, and this sounds like I'm damning with faint praise, it's undemanding. Do you know what I mean? Like it's good, no, but it is, like it's good Christmas Day viewing where, you know, it's not like, oh God, I better lean in and watch this, you know, the plot is going over my head. It's not like watching Task. I do not mean that. Do you know what I mean? Like it's really, it's quite fun and, you know, if you're chatting to people while you're watching it, that's also fine.

13:07But it's really, it's really fun. It's a half-hour sitcom, James. I don't know. But I'm just saying, like, but I just don't think, you know, and obviously as someone who does not watch TV on Christmas Day, and I will not be watching TV at any point today, as someone who doesn't watch that, I wouldn't know this, but I'm assuming most people want TV to be quite, you know, like, undemanding. I don't imagine people want to sit down and watch The Wire, for example. I think the phrase you're looking for is escapist, not necessarily undemanding. I don't know, because foundation is escapist, and that's incredibly demanding.

13:34No, it's not. So I think they're separate things. Oh, my God, I was going to really swear then. angry cat yeah because i'm sorry that's absolute that's absolute nonsense that foundation is this of course it is it's a hundred percent escapism yeah even for you not for normal people well i would say arguably it's a trial and a torture there's nothing there's nothing relaxing or enjoyable about it it's not the nature of escapism the nature of escapism is something that takes you out of your life and takes you somewhere else something that's transportational and science fiction speculative fiction as a whole that's what it does foundation is a hundred percent you have to give him credit he's got you there with his 100 % escapism it's escapism for you it's a hellscape i mean it is definitely hellscapism for you yeah absolutely true i will definitely anyway all i would say just sorry to follow up on james's thing is you know he's terming it's undemanding do not talk through this please please give it your full attention it deserves your full attention because it's funny and it's very enjoyable and it's joyful the context of this is is which i find interesting as a TV obsessive is that this is a new Christmas Day treat from the BBC.

14:45Remember, The Mandalorian started out as a Tuesday 10 o 'clock BBC 2 show. Not particularly a huge deal at the time. It was created by people who work with Sean Hogan, in fact, literally Sean Hogan, Holly Walsh, Helen Seraphinewicz, etc. They created it together um and it was an immediate critical hit and then then moved to bbc one with amanda land um etc now it's called christmas special but the context of this but i think comedy escapism is different i think people want a laugh don't they they want a um it's in the grand tradition of a christmas special on christmas day at the bbc last year was gavin and stacy literally the biggest scripted show in recent tv history before that would have been the royal family christmas specials you know, Only Fools and Horses.

15:34I'm just, so this is now in that slot. And that's a big, I think that's quite a big deal for, for this show. Because it's not your, it's, yeah. And I think that's what people want on, normal people, not James, but James is watching, James is watching the complications and stuff. A very foundational Christmas stuff. Yeah. While the rest of the country is watching brilliant, old-fashioned comedies. That, that escapism, That's a different type of escapism to your... Think about it. This could work. This could work. This could work 100%. You could have Cassian Bilton as like Brother Christmas Eve, Lee Pace as Brother Christmas Day, and Brother Dusk would be with Brother Boxing Day.

16:15And they'd be ho, ho, and ho. It'd be brilliant. I'm sure you know personally, you must have done some spoiler specials that I didn't get involved with for the showrunners or whatever. If you could convince them to do a Christmas special, they should. but it just so happens that it's rare to get a Christmas special of a hard-edged sci-fi epic. But it could work. Christmas on Terminus. I can see it now. It'd be amazing. Suggested. He sang Ho Ho and Ho has made me think oh I'd love to see a Christmas special of Roddy. His Christmas. Roddy Ho from Stoy Horses. Ho Ho Ho. Roddy Ho Ho Ho. Yes I would watch that.

16:50One of the seasons of Stoy Horses was so Christmas wasn't it pretty much? Do you remember? It was. The one before last. Also Black Doves famously. Yeah. But I like the idea of more dramas doing Christmas specials. I mean, there are loads. This Christmas, by the way, and I've said this before, it's not as great as, like, last year you had Wallace and Gromit and Gavin and Stacey and other stuff I can't even remember. But this year there's, like, a whole bunch of Death in Paradise universe specials because that's a really popular show. And they're dramas, I guess, like, you know, lighthearted, cosy crime type shows.

17:23but there aren't many there really aren't many specials scripted specials that really got me excited and that's what, and this is, you're right Kay this is absolutely the jewel in the crown of BBC Christmas, the whole Christmas period, not just Christmas Day Well, okay, well then this almost seems like a listener question but I want to know of the shows this year and have to be this year, what would you have liked to have seen come back for a Christmas special today? Black Doves. That wasn't this year Kay, you've immediately broken the rules i thought it was this year no obviously the bear has had a christmas special of our favorite shows of the year black doves was not on it i was just saying the bear had a christmas special but of course it wasn't it was a thanksgiving special wasn't it i don't think they didn't have a christmas special so yeah we could i mean god the christmas uh wait so something from this year we'd like okay yeah right i've got the got the very squid game christmas you know what I'm saying yeah what would a smoke Christmas special look like Boyd tell me someone just setting fire to a Christmas tree like what would it be yeah basically Goodson going around like Father Christmas but instead of leaving presents he's just setting your house on fire I mean he does get down the fireplace so it makes sense Christmas themed yeah I guess I mean there's a lot of flammable let's face it there's a lot of flammable things aren't there around the Christmas period that's true he'd have a great time yeah it wouldn't take long to find some major fire action what would Christmas look like in the world of Pluribus?

18:50Because on the one hand, you've only got one person to buy for, realistically. I finished Pluribus last night, funnily enough, which is why I'm even more like, yes, yes. Wow. That's what I can say. And everyone listening to this, it airs tomorrow on Apple TV +, the finale of Pluribus, so you get to enjoy it then. Maybe that is, maybe the finale is a Christmas special and the whole world gives Carol a present. I mean, they kind of do. I'd more like to see a big boys Christmas special oh yeah that'd be good did they not have any episodes around Christmas they did I think they did but it definitely wasn't it was just a side element I don't think they ever did a Christmas special as such I mean White Lotus is literally what I was about to say instead of doing it as a summer getaway do it like a log cabin snow so it's like the white lotus meets a murder at the end of the world oh yeah that'd be great good shot yeah that could work for me that would be good the last of us doesn't really lend itself to christmas christmas corridors i'm not not not seeing it no i don't think so tinsel strewn might work yeah the studio didn't have a christmas special obviously but i guess christmas in la looks like every other day in la so you know wouldn't quite be the same they could do a christmas special of the studio easily um but yeah all built around you know what the big film's coming out and or Christmas special what's Christmas like in the do they celebrate I mean I'm feeling they probably don't I mean the fight against the empire never ends Boydie so it would just be much the same it's true it is yes exactly that I don't know it's funny because like you mentioned the studio American Christmas isn't quite the same as British Christmas because their holidays are kind of front loaded they have Thanksgiving and then they have Christmas Day and then no one gives a shit about Boxing Day because it doesn't exist and so everyone just goes back to work so it's just like I feel like we have they don't have the merineum in America.

20:42Like that's a very British confection or Twixmas if you prefer. But they don't really do that. I would hate not to have Boxing Day as a day off. Can you imagine having to go back to work straight away? It's not even Boxing Day for me. I mean physically I don't think I'd be able to winch myself off the sofa. It's that whole period between Christmas and New Year which is the best time of the year because it's weirdly surreal. I love it. So yes, I think everything should be said. The war between the Christmas and the New Year. That could happen. All the days lose their meaning. you don't even know what day it is who you are it's glorious that period I would like to see a pit Christmas special I would like it to be 12 hours long and it to be like as the show is I mean you guys wouldn't know because you haven't seen it but real time in the pits the A &E in Pittsburgh on Christmas Day where they're all working Christmas shift they've done Casualty and Holder Christmas special that's pretty much the same thing ER as well ER's had Christmas ones because you know people don't stop getting injured just because it's Christmas I was going to say I was going to say I was just looking on my list of my favourite shows of the year.

21:41And of course, How Are You? It's Alan Partridge who was on it, which didn't make it to the communal top 20. But of course, there's been that absolute classic Alan Partridge Christmas special that they do show every year on Dave, on Gold or whatever channel on UKTV or You, as it's now known. And that Alan Partridge, knowing me, knowing Yule Christmas special. Oh yes, I know that one. Yeah, it's one of the best, 100 % one of the best of all time. What happens in it? I can't remember. Oh my God. He recreates, it's set in a recreation of his own home. And then the guy who he suggested monkey tennis to in that classic scene in I'm Alan Partridge, he's back on the scene as a guest on the show.

22:22And there's a drag ventriloquist act. No, there's a drag act, yeah, who Alan gets into a fight with. And it basically ends up in physical assault at the end of the episode. But it's got so many brilliant elements to it, yeah. it's fantastic i'm surprised alan hasn't um tried to recreate all the characters in the nativity i can see that's something he was uh yeah yeah maybe do at some point but why i think there should be another one because that was years ago that was like you know 25 years ago whatever it's time for a new alan partridge christmas special you know i mean yeah that was it was 1995 wasn't it so wow what okay what is your if you had to pick what are your favorite christmas specials oh i mean it's easy it's it's um the royal family um the one where um this is this is the sofa one isn't it yeah yeah the new sofa no no no no no no it's the queen of sheba oh okay it's uh all about um the mom passing away yeah it's absolutely phenomenal yeah oh in fact there was the motherland special do you remember that the crystal special with um her mom yeah i think that was christmas yeah that It turns out I was incorrect.

23:31I'll just list out the bear episode, Fishes, is a Christmas one, not a Thanksgiving one, so that actually does qualify. The one with the holiday armadillo, the Friends episode, that's a great Christmas. It's not a Christmas special, it's a Christmas episode. I think Only Fools and Horses had some good Christmas specials, didn't they? Oh, God, yeah. Incredible. Yeah, loads of them. Legendary. So, obviously, the Office Christmas special, which I have, you'll be shocked to hear, never seen. That is insane. That's absolutely insane. I think Royal Family and The Office are the best ever, for sure. Gavin and Stacey.

24:01Yeah. Blackadder's a Christmas special was sadly quite disappointing, so I can't plump for that one, unfortunately. Of course, which Gavin and Stacey Christmas special are you talking about? You're talking about the first Christmas special. Well, obviously the one that you're in, Boidy. That goes without saying. Oh, yeah, when you're sorting through the women's underwear, nothing gave me more pleasure. Yeah, although you do look right down the barrel at one point, so, you know, it's deeply unprofessional. What, down the gusset? I mean, I was thinking the camera for sure. You know, I don't want to take responsibility for any of this.

24:30Yeah. Okay. I'm trying to think of any. Oh, of course. I mean, pick a Downton Abbey. There's Christmas at Downton Abbey. Christmas in the Highlands. Oh, yeah. I loved the Downton Christmas ones. Yeah, ITV back in the day, in the Downton years, that was like their annual absolute treat was the Christmas special of Downton, and they haven't replaced it with anything since, really. There hasn't been anything. No, nothing quite like that. No. now they're just showing like you know entertainment specials or like the 1 % club or something they're showing Christmas day it's not the same it's not the same, it's not the same at all well what better way to end, what is still frankly the review of the Amanda Land Christmas special I like that impromptu discussion of Christmas specials down the years basically we loved Amanda Land, everyone should watch it yes and it is available today on Christmas day, BBC One Christmas Day 9.15pm I think 2025 yeah enjoy right we probably have if we scrape around in the bottom of Santa's sack amidst all the present wrappers we might find the odd one or two festive question from you lovely listeners Kay what do we have?

25:38Ladies and gentlemen it's Miss Kay versus the postbag

25:52Well, to be honest, I mean, the festive sack is relatively empty, as it should be on Christmas Day. But there are a couple of messages, not about Christmas, but about, do you remember I was talking about Hercules the Bear, the documentary? Yes, you're obsessed with that fucking bear. Boy's turned on the bear. Boy? Second best bear to Paddington. No, I'm not obsessed with it, thanks very much. But a couple of listeners got in touch about it. well actually quite a few i posted on instagram about it and then um sarah emailed in to say um she was interested thank you very much boy to hear me talking about hercules the bear documentary and that when she was at uni in the mid 2000s she worked at a pub in sterlingshire and that andy and maggie had owned where hercules had lived and even though andy and maggie no longer owned the pub when she worked there um and hercules had been dead for a few years there was still at least one person a week who'd go in and ask about where the bear was um which just shows how interested people were in him and so she's really happy that um we brought her attention to the documentary which she's going to watch i think if there was a chance you'd run into a 60 stone grizzly bear at a pub it's definitely something you'd want to keep at the forefront of your mind yeah well absolutely and do you know what gillian is it gillian fx she got in touch to say she can't wait to see the documentary.

27:14And she actually met Hercules when she was six years old at a teddy bear's picnic and she hugged him. Oh my God. And she was like, how many people can say they have a hugged a grizzly bear? I was about to say, it's amazing how times have changed. Can you imagine the health and safety? Yeah, we're going to bring a grizzly bear to this kid's birthday party. What the fuck? Wow. And she sent me a photo and she was like, crazy. Yeah, crazy to think that our parents were totally fine with us all just hanging around for a bit. Isn't it just? He never hurt anyone. But yeah, obviously he's mad. It's batshit crazy.

27:46But he's a very well-behaved bear. When is this thing on, by the way? Do you know? I think by the time this comes out, you'll be able to see it on BBC iPlayer. Yeah, it'll already have been on TV, I'm sure. Anyway, for the one festive question, well, I don't even think it was a question. One festive message we had was from Lee, who said, hi Kay Boyd and James I don't have any questions or complaints about one of Boyd's spoilers no corrections to some wild statement from Kay about an actor's dodgy accent oh god and no issues with James's dislike of Rera Roche I just wanted to wish you all and Darren a happy Christmas and a great new year you're my favourite podcast and I've been listening since the days of basic binges whoop whoop so keep up the good work and I look forward to listening to your output over the perineum is that the right word and beyond thanks the merineum otherwise it just gets a bit awkward.

28:41I'm going to say, look, you mentioned that you don't have any complaints about Boydie's spoilers, but it is Christmas morning and as a special gift to you from Boydie, if you go to your Christmas stocking, if you reach down to the very bottom in the toe, you'll find a piece of paper. And what Boyd has done is he's written spoilers for all the presents you're going to get for the rest of the day. So Merry Christmas from Boyd. I wonder where that little comedic riff is going. Can I just say, by the way, that the question of when Hercules the Bear a love story the aforementioned documentary that Kay's obsessed with it's actually not on until Tuesday the 30th of December oh is it 30th yeah 30th so you have to wait a few days I'm afraid listeners oh okay okay I can't believe you got the day that it goes out wrong that's unbelievable shocking and of course if anyone wants to know the Stranger Things second block drops today you can watch that today not yesterday crucially but today Repent James repent At least your fuck up has given you a lot of material It's true Gotta lean into it Boydie Unless we forget not the only Muck up that you've got to look forward to listeners Because all I will say is Do enjoy the review of the year I will say Of the review of the year Which I listened to last night Which is going up on the 29th So you don't have that long to wait There is a blooper reel I listened to it in the Empire office and they were like, what is wrong with you?

30:05I was crying, absolutely crying all the way through. I don't know that listeners will find it funny, but I found it absolutely hilarious. Didn't I tell you? So we recorded yesterday and I came in, I was like, my jaw hurts a lot. And the thing is, it's very self-indulgent because obviously it is us, right? And it's quite long and so it's self-indulgent. Is anyone actually going to care? But from my point of view, it was such a brilliant summary of the year because also I just forgot how many, how much of our time is spent just laughing. And do you see what I mean? boys just in the background going oh my god yeah come on as james and i are just um like saying each other off laughing at least we now know james doesn't laugh at out and out comedies on tv but he does myself outtakes of himself i find myself hilarious i mean someone has to yeah that's fair that's fair the greatest christmas special of them all yeah indeed yeah um yeah the blooper reel has been signed off now so it has for anyone who cares and can get through the year the year in review um yeah enjoy get through it was a joy it was a treat k yes get through no get through i know it was a very good list it's more that as always with the list it then went on into james just listing every single show that's been on this year and it you you yourself said that it was a valuable service you it was you know what we didn't do this struck me um we didn't do in our christmas that episode i mean we recorded so many episodes this week it's insane but yeah in the one in the look back at our favorite favorites of the year what we have done in previous years which we didn't do is um our favorite like you know pilot podcast related moments do you know what i mean like best interviews it's actually yeah because i would immediately say and i was thinking about this last night as i finished Pluribus that having those guys the Pluribus guys come in to the studio was absolutely brilliant wasn't it and they were so nice and they liked your particularly I have to give you credit James they liked your theories which you expounded upon obviously at great length they didn't get to speak at any point during this interview they mainly just listened to me you can listen to that show and you think oh James is show running Pluribus rather than Vince Gilligan but nevertheless it was they were absolutely brilliant and you know to have one of if not the best show of the year, certainly a contender.

32:25Yeah. To have the creators and stars in the studio was brilliant. That was a really good one. And then my pick would also be the live show that we did this year with RTD. Of course. Which was an absolute hoot and means I will never, ever forget the show Butterfly. Oh, Butterfly. Do you know, I still, I correspond with Russell, you know. Of course you do, of course you do. Yeah, in various media, like email or text, et cetera, or whatever. And I always sign off with the butterfly emoji now. that was that was so much fun that live he was such great value and it was lovely seeing all the listeners and lest we forget we had cake we did have wonderful bakers listeners and uh yeah it was it was a fun night it was a good night it was a good night i was i felt hopelessly ill prepared before we started that i think russell mentioned it on the show like before we went out i was like fuck it i'll wing it and just walked out onto the stage yeah oh god and we got the name of it we got the number of the episode wrong like it was absolutely shambolic in the best i like how he uses we in that instance yeah i'm i i got the number yes that was my bad that was to be fair i've noticed it a few days before and i thought oh i don't mention it no because i thought i mentioned it to boyd i was like i think he's got it wrong and then i was like i don't know if it's going to give him a nervo so that's fair so okay what was your favorite episode well no i was i was going to pick the live but you went poor so i would have chosen the life and just generally to be honest like not to be all like sentimental I just think it's been a good year of TV and it's been a good year of us having a laugh and you guys have been relatively well behaved so overall it's been a lot of fun I love that you always bring it back to Scylla Black always comes back to Scylla do we have any other questions before we go and disappear into a kind of food coma for the rest of Christmas day No, we can officially power down now and just, I don't know about you, but I plan to sleep till, I don't know, midpoint of January sometime.

34:20Yeah, it does. I do feel like hibernation at this point is definitely in order. As we recall this now, there's two huge events coming up, which is James's birthday tomorrow, is it, I believe? As we recall this now. Certainly, he's not as old as me, as Kay reminded me yesterday. I did a... Listen, is he banging on about how old I am? I didn't. I did. No, just for clarity, I didn't. I just asked Boyd when his next milestone birthday was. And the look of horror on his face, he just, all he kept on saying was, shut the fuck up. And I was like, what the hell? And then James couldn't stop laughing. To be reminded of your, yeah, of impending old age is fabulous.

34:59And then, of course, after that, we've got the K-Day. Yeah. K-Birthday on, was it Tuesday? K-Day. I like to, yeah. K-Day. K-Day. Well, you three of us are basically birthday brethren. Yeah. We're birthday twins. Apart from watching a full rewatch of Foundation, what are any plans for the big day, Kay? Oh, just, do you know what? I'm going low-key this birthday. I would go out for a nice - Low-key, the Marvel spin-off. Yeah, yeah. That makes perfect sense. Absolutely not. Do you know what? As my treat on my birthday, I'm not going to watch any television and I'm not going to open my laptop. I'm not going to do anything.

35:34I'm just going to chill out, see some friends and family. You're not even going to watch Michael McIntyre's The Wheel, Christmas special. Come on. No, I can't. What is it on the 23rd? No, it's on Christmas Day, for fuck's sake. My birthday's not on Christmas Day. I know you look to me like I'm Jesus, but I'm not. I'm sorry. My birthday's on 23rd. You are pilot Jesus. You're not going to watch any TV on your birthday. You will be watching TV on Christmas Day, two days later. Yeah, obviously, I'm not a psychopath. I will be watching no TV today whatsoever, and I will be speaking to humans. And it is the only day of the year that I genuinely, willingly do that.

36:04Yeah, I was going to say. I assume James is going to go on an Avatar marathon or something like that. No, no, no, no, no. For me, Christmas is all about not doing any of those things. One concession I will make is there will almost certainly be a lot of video gaming. So I'm going to bake a start on my next PlayStation wrapped. See if I can top 469 hours. On Christmas Day, you're going to be gaming? Not on Christmas Day, but during the merineum, I shall be playing a lot of games. On your birthday. Oh, yeah. It's going to be fun. okay that's it for us oh my god thank god i mean that is it for us literally this year because it's the last podcast we have to record but thankfully for you this is not the last podcast you will hear because we'll be in your ears on the 29th of december with our monstrous review of the year special and then our first regular pod back will be on monday the 5th of january which we've already recorded under boyd's tyrannical regime where he won't let us take the time off that's worth it you get full reviews of the best shows on yeah that is true isn't it and it's a good good three shows yeah it's the new year's day shows and we're hopefully reviewing them on the fifth but don't hold that against us uh okay fantastic well you know happy christmas everybody it's christmas day happy christmas merry christmas we love you merry christmas to all uh from us here at pilot tv and thank you to everyone i would say to every one of you who subscribed which is literally everyone you wouldn't be able to hear this but do genuinely big thanks for subscribing to pilot plus because uh as we have said many times it is literally the only way we're allowed to continue doing this podcast otherwise that would be it and you would never hear from us again for some of you that would be a bonus but i'm don't say that now everyone's cancelling their subscriptions james yes if you want to get rid of us if you want to expel us from your lives cancel your subscription you'll never hear from us again uh but uh thank you yes thank you very much for uh for subscribing and we look forward to seeing you again uh in 2026 happy christmas and pilot out