The Arctic Winter Games and Dropping the Bomb: Citation Needed 1x09

techdif.co.uk - It's the season finale! As the sun sets, we talk about very cold sports; Tom learns he's got weak fingers; and surprisingly, it all ends on a song.

[@ntlespino]

Here after the series 3 finale of TOTPAL, hehehehe, Sami, hehehehehe

[@jamesnicoll9920]

It took on a whole new meaning watching this back 😂

[@LorenHelgeson]

Nice

[@jlaw131985]

Watching again, still funny.

[@muenstercheese]

tromso!!

[@beth12svist]

Years ago, I took a quick course in Sami language (not that I remember much because I haven't had a chance to use it since), with some culture thrown in (we watched two films & listened to music), so for me all the mentions of the Sami over the years are more like "well, duh".

[@coryman125]

I remember once at work, we put on Queen's Made in Heaven, and the song Too Much Love Will Kill You came on. I didn't know it at the time, but it sounded vaguely familiar. I couldn't place it, but I was sure I knew it from somewhere. Anyways, jump ahead to today, I was back rewatching this, and it turns out I knew it from a cheese version sung on this internet game show 6 years ago. Thanks for that

[@tryplot]

no mystery biscuits? damn, that song definitely deserved it.

[@thelastcube.]

ikr!

[@green0563]

What's the actual song?

[@georgebrindley1752]

Green05 Too Much Love Will Kill You by Queen. Great song

[@green0563]

Thanks!

[@eugenielegrand8590]

@@green0563 Well more precisely, initially Brian May's solo album, then re-used on Queen's last album.

[@antivanti]

The whole "that's not a sport" argument doesn't work for these kinds of events. Remember that city planning was once an olympic event! =)

[@thelastcube.]

My hundreds of hours of Civ 5 and factorio might have helped me in that

[@AFN2750]

Elementary rocketry.

[@dave_h_8742]

@@AFN2750 Two Ltrs of cheap coke and a soft mint, see how high you can get it to shoot up in the air.

[@Novel_clips]

One of the schools near me was designed by a kid

[@zappawench6048]

So was poetry!

[@nikhilpendurkar9464]

Tom mentioned alpine skiing, then gave Matt a point for alpine skiing.

[@timothymclean]

Technically, it was a point for Flintstones snowmobiling.

[@beardedemperor]

"Technically, it was a point for Flintstones snowmobiling" may be the greatest sentence I have ever seen on the internet.

[@kkmac7247]

@@timothymclean 69th like

[@nickthephoenix8494]

@@kkmac7247 nice

[@derekconwaygd]

2:04 the sami people that ultimately caused much confusion in TOTPAL.

[@mapleflowervt]

Just after Matt talked about Tromsø too!

[@diamondrel5190]

@@mapleflowervt down a bit?

[@yuvalne]

Hell of a foreshadow

[@robmckennie4203]

With Gary's chuckle, which sounded to me like "ho ho ho", and the fact that the north pole is in the arctic, I think a crucial joke was missed.

[@oliverhees4076]

and the fact that he's a bit on the wider side

[@dkevans]

Did you know that "H0 H0 H0" is Greenland's postcode for Santa Claus?

[@KettuKakku]

David Evans Actually Canada's postcode for Santa Claus.

[@mirzaahmed6589]

And "hearty belly chuckle".

[@JonatasAdoM]

Literally!

[@na195097]

4.5 years later, I wonder if the half dead plant survives.

[@fulopmeszaros5330]

6 years later, i wonder the same

[@dave_h_8742]

That's a mini rose and it's a crispy dead thing.

[@unexpected2475]

Seven and a half years have passed now. One should not hold much hope.

[@florencewilkinson1152]

9 years later, we still do not know.

[@dysr]

Full decade now, perhaps it’s not long for the world.

[@martijnvanweele6204]

Sweet dreams are made of cheese Who am I to diss a brie? I cheddar the world and the feta cheese Everybody's looking for stilton. Some of them want the ossau Some of them want the österkron blue Some of them want the roomano Some of them want the chabichou

[@panda4247]

Hold your edam Keep your edam, movin' on Hold your edam, movin' on Keep your edam, movin' on Hold your edam Keep your edam, movin' on Hold your edam, movin' on Keep your edam, movin' on

[@Eliteerin]

Reeeed Leicester Roqueforttttt Camenbeeeert

[@sethb-h4127]

frantically googling cheeses

[@idonotlikeboats9328]

panda4247 did you know Edam is made backwards 🧐

[@benjaminbrewer2569]

@@idonotlikeboats9328 that’s just an elementary spell.

[@monochromeboi267]

I'd like to see a sports comedy film about Matt Gray and the other Technical Difficulties who go and participate in the Dene Games' Finger Pull, with Tom as the incompetent comic relief guy. Coming soon to theatres: Cool Fingerings.

[@Eliteerin]

That much like the xxxgames seems like something you'd see on pay per view

[@JSSMVCJR2.1]

Hopefully, Tom will avoid the Flak as Comic Relief by playing double duty, with his linguistic habilities.

[@JSSMVCJR2.1]

Accidentally wrote "won't", instead of "will". Sorry.

[@nardgames]

Matt was using an illegal grip

[@Liggliluff]

Good eye. Matt does hold it in the wrong way around.

[@tttITA10]

2:02 - The Sami people! Those who speak a certain language just a bit down from Tromsø!

[@MollyBlueDawn]

There's a bowl full of lollies on the counter, and some lovely pink wellies in the corner - it looks like you're filming in someone's favourite Auntie's house.

[@Brannersatlarge]

We ate a lot of those lollies. Well, I did anyway.

[@sohamsengupta6470]

Replying six years later cause that sure is a reasonable thing to do: I can't believe that I watched every episode of this run of the show three times and yet didn't notice the lollies before you commented. My respect for Matt Gray's parents has just gone past the stratosphere.

[@OfficialWildPi]

I've been rewatching these recently and realized that Tom mentions the Sami People in this episode who are the people that speak Lule Sami (the Language mentioned in Season 3 Episode 3 of Two of These People are lying.

[@beth12svist]

_Some_ of them speak Lule Sami, because it's a dialect of the Sami language. (So it'd be like, say, saying "the English are the people who speak Geordie".)

[@umgubularslashkilter9272]

This also qualifies as the 'Matt is Bas At Directions Special': Tom: It's just below the Arctic. Matt: Is it in Sochi?

[@Sevrgpro]

Sad that no one made a joke about the games being hosted in the depths of the arctic

[@KingTaltia]

I think I have a problem with TechDif, I saw the image and thought, "Hey look, it's the bounciest man on the internet!"

[@KingTaltia]

Aand "Matt Grey +1'd this" I'm happy, that's awesome....

[@sethrothz]

And I can't see Gary without thinking "he's everybodys favourite"

[@EdwardCree]

@@sethrothz nah, he's "built for leisure not for speed".

[@KusaneHexaku]

@@EdwardCree my favourite will still be "person by day, asleep by night"

[@beth12svist]

@@KusaneHexaku I didn't know that one, that's hilarious.

[@eloiseannicle]

I would certainly like an owl towel, but not if it was From Simon Cowell and certainly not if it was made of actual owls. That would be a very foul towel. Not as foul as a bowel towel though. However, if just an image of the organ was displayed, a bowel towel may be quite a bit more useful to a prospective doctor than an owl towel. One to certainly avoid is the prowl towel, it stalks about and howls and growls, actually that might just be a wolf.

[@gwenynorisu6883]

This bootsector beeps and flashes, if not, that might be a virus!

[@nlabonte]

If the towel howls but never growls, then it's not a wolf. Most likely, it's a vowel towel.

[@winterjoy211]

I think you mean, it would be a fowl towel.

[@eloiseannicle]

@@winterjoy211 I had completely forgotten I made this comment, it was an odd one to find. It looks like I had fun.

[@drops2cents260]

@@eloiseannicle > It looks like I had fun. And rightfully so.

[@adamnunavumiuq5121]

Funny I don't remember ever hearing that event being called the bombdrop, here in eastern Nunavut (Canadian eastern Arctic) we call it airplane or the airplane game. Even though the game predates human flight, the competitor has theto make like a plane, arms, legs, head, and even core, and chest stiff, supporting themselves against gravity. The finger pull was quite wrong, but its not easy to describe in text. There are more games in the AWG, traditional ones like the lip pull, and three different high-kicks, and modern or imported ones like basketball, volleyball, and soccer/football.

[@balrogdahomie]

“Tom Scott is offensive. We already knew this.”

[@anantkerur557]

balrogdahomie Gives a whole new meaning doesn't it?

[@iriscandy6377]

Crying

[@onionbot2]

Sorry, Real Life Battleships... I think that Battleships was probably based off of something.

[@laju]

Amazing that "speed-gloo" didn't get any reaction from the others.

[@diamondrel5190]

The Sami? Wait a minute... 3x03 of Two of These People are Lying haha

[@yuvalne]

The mention of the Sami here is a hell of a foreshadow to the last episode of TOTPAL

[@ThePixel1983]

TOTPAL! I'll steal that for my group where I play NOTPAL with friends! (N of these...)

[@dbseamz]

One of them even mentioned Tromso (not on mobile so can't type the actual character)

[@GameBoy-ep7de]

@@dbseamzYou can hold left-alt, then type 0216 on the NUMPAD, and it will give you Ø when you release alt.

[@na195097]

I feel bad for the dying plant on the windowsill. I know its probably long since died, but still.

[@thelastcube.]

F

[@regular-joe]

Healthy Christmas cactus to the left and relatively healthy jade plant to the right.

[@dave_h_8742]

That mini rose is brown bread, a gonner, pre-compost, pining for the ffyords

[@robertwilloughby8050]

@@dave_h_8742 Roxy Music never did a song about the death of Prairie Rose as a follow up..... But this sad ole rose suggests they should have!

[@s6th795]

I love the contempt with which Gary says "magicians".

[@joshuahadams]

There are quite a few native games that we do in here, in Labrador, that aren't mention in the video. Seal/High Kick -> jump, kick a small suspended seal doll, and land on the foot you kicked with. Each round the seal is raised a bit. Highest kick wins. Owl Hop -> hop on one foot as long as you can. If your other foot touches the ground, you're out. Last hopper wins. Bench Reach -> Kneel on the edge of an bench, and someone hold your legs on so you don't fall. Reach out and grab a badminton birdie a meter or so away, and straighten up. Seal Crawl -> it's a race. Competitors line off, laying face down, with their noses on the start line. Cross your legs and "walk" on your hands to the finish, dragging your feet behind you, but your knees can't touch the floor.

[@citizenofvenus]

+Josh Adams I knew most of those due to a friend that lives in New Brunswick. Now I kind of want to do them despite being on Brazil.

[@beaniepollard8290]

Your home is the namesake of perhaps the best large dog breed.

[@joshuahadams]

+Holly Boreham really? I thought labradors are about average size for dogs.

[@beaniepollard8290]

***** I meant it as opposed to small dog breeds, the best of which I believe to be the papillon dog.

[@joshuahadams]

Holly Boreham it's the other half of the Province that has the big dog breed, unless you count the Labrador Husky.

[@revolver265]

Free domme of the city?* Well, I'm sure they'd like to see you in the triple-X games. *yes, I know the closed captioning implies male.

[@Tefans97]

I've started reading the comments in a yorkshire accent in my head, seems I've watched a bit much of this show

[@herowin3825]

Wait, word "Okrug" isn't supposed to be translated? Cause it just means "district" Also it is read as "okroog", not "ok-rug"

[@kornsuwin]

idk it's the same thing for oblast

[@elinekonstansekjsnes8691]

Watching this with a stuffy nose and drinking water is a bad idea...

[@rewrose2838]

Ah the sweet joy of spilling water over your homework as you laugh away , not realizing that's weeks of work you've ruined by watching TechDif _just the wrong way~♪_

[@timothymclean]

I mean, that's _one_ way to pressure-wash your sinuses...

[@MagicRedWolf]

I hadn't watched any of the others but I had to watch this one as I've participated in the Arctic Winter Games. I enjoyed this episode.

[@Brannersatlarge]

What? Seriously?? Which event? That's brilliant.

[@MagicRedWolf]

Yep, Dog Mushing. It was a fun experience.

[@abrodeur]

MagicRedWolf I also went to the Arctic winter games in 2008 and 2010 for speed skating.

[@AFN2750]

“The Sami people”... so like, Lule Sami?

[@wrywh]

Drop the bomb is a lot like a gymnastics rings routine, although the person isn't required to do a backflip and then return to the cruciform position.

[@rosysaturniidae]

though i would now like to see that

[@zednotdead]

Oh my god, they mentioned the Sami people! The ones that live down a bit from Tromso from Two Of These People Are Lying!

[@RMoribayashi]

Chris probably saw it on QI. They did the ear pull and the greasy stick pull. Allen Davies vs Ross Noble and *BRIAN BLESSED* vs Sean Lock.

[@franklinodom4259]

Grew up in Fairbanks, Alaska. we learned about the native games in school, always enjoyed the one were they hung a ball over ur head and u had to kick it, and they raised it higher and higher.

[@aimelle3]

Has anyone noticed that during the finger pulling, Tom hooks his finger under Matt's, but Matt hooks his over Tom's? No wonder he won!

[@aimelle3]

I kinda meant he cheated ;) Tom referenced the web site to make sure he had the proper technique, Matt didn't.

[@RowanIngram]

Well, he was obviously watching QI....

[@black_platypus]

slawterer My thoughts exactly :)

[@lazypizzaguy]

what i was thinking too.

[@sonoftunk]

You missed-ery biscuits.

[@jbuller]

Chris probably saw the ear pull and stick games on QI. I remember Alan Davies having a go at them.

[@terrotorotbart8319]

I love how when you hover over this video on the "Related Videos", it shows a clip of Matt and Gary staring into the camera with mystery biscuits falling.

[@rebeccawiens4224]

Random knowledge from my leisure studies class comes in handy.

[@StaffanThomen]

The stick pull and earpull were both featured on one episode of QI

[@MaraK_dialmformara]

Which one? I want to see this now.

[@StaffanThomen]

I series episode 15 - Ice I got lucky guessing :-)

[@Feraloidies]

i was going to say the same thing :)

[@ZerqTM]

OMG! canoe battle ship sound awesome!!! though i think it should be done with water balloons not rocks...

[@joshuahadams]

Have the right number of people in the boats to mimic the pieces, and have them light a road flare when they're "sunk".

[@anantkerur557]

If they used cannons, this could be an actual way to fight a battle.

[@EdwardCree]

Clearly the place to do this is Peasholm Park.

[@ZeldaTheSwordsman]

The same Sami who live down a bit from Tromso?

[@Horatio268]

I'd love to see this with your own wikipedia page as the subject.

[@theformervinyl9319]

Hand games are surprisingly hardcore. It's awesome

[@benroberts1946]

I can't say how much I love these videos. Admittedly, I'm from America and don't understand half of the references made, but these videos are hilarious anyway. Please keep making them!

[@a_guy_in_orange7230]

"you know you have your Alpine skiing and your figure skating.. . . .. . " "is there a flinstones snowmobile? Its called Alpine skiing and im giving you a point for it!"

[@rashkavar]

Oh god, watching this in 2020 - the Ear Pull champs are laughing now, with folks whining about having to wear masks that wrap around their ears.

[@pjsans]

9 years later, LULE SAMI IS MENTIONED HERE AND IN TOTPAL LMAOOOOO

[@HeyItsKora]

Spent my transition from 2017 to 2018 watching this! Happy new year!! :)

[@Smurfman256]

That feeling when you've played so much Metal Gear Solid that you actually know the answers to these questions.

[@TheLonelyPeople314]

I want to bring up the brief, but foreshadowing, mention of the Sami people of Finland

[@rkocamb]

I love these shows and I can't wait for more. Being from the US I do sometimes have trouble with a few of the pop culture references. Maybe you could do some pop up video style annotated episodes? It would tide us over until the next season is released and make it accessible to the rest of the world. I'll still watch either way, keep up the good work.

[@aidenlosh9518]

I've actually been in snow snake competitions. It's very popular with northern state boy scouts in the US my patrol had a six foot long snake called the dragon.

[@pofict]

Peter Serafinowicz did a sketch called "Which Hand Is It In" which is basically hand games in a "Who wants to Be a Millionaire" format. Amazingly funny.

[@farribastarfyre]

Category: Education Now to puzzle out what exactly I've actually learned from this show...

[@casperes0912]

+Farriba Steelhand Are you kidding? There are so many things to learn from this. Did you know about all those mental games before watching this?

[@joshuahadams]

+Casper S� I live in Labrador. I've done about half of them in Gym Class.

[@casperes0912]

***** Aight' fair enough. But I learned something! Haha

[@panda4247]

@@joshuahadams how do you live in a dog?

[@OneFaintingRobinOld]

Oh, Free DOM of the city! Hence Gary's 'yes sir'. I get it now. Not just a guy called Dom. Only took me, like, six years.

[@DavidAndrewsPEC]

Ear-pull... check out BIlly Connolly's Journey (something) the Edge of the World.... one episode actually has a demonstration of this!

[@Anitagoforadump88]

YOU guys should get a slot on BBC3!!

[@gwenynorisu6883]

Nah, BBC2 surely. Or Radio 4.

[@dbseamz]

I'd like to see an Ear Pull match nowadays, when people are all used to that kind of pain because of masks.

[@alxwlsh]

Alot of nob gags in this one folks

[@Armadeus]

can i just point out tom's pronunciation of "congratulations" at 12:27? really let his inner yorkshirian through there

[@metalpuppet5798]

0:06 ahh thats where Hedwig has gone after being grilled by Voldemort

[@NotKyleChicago]

I don't remember if I had heard "Too much love will kill you" before; Gary's version re: cheese was good.

[@lunarspunk]

i shouldn't be surprised cuz y'all british but i enjoyed the queen deep cut cheese song

[@anne8663]

it’s time for a rewatch, the 2024 games start today!

[@ZeldaTheSwordsman]

This is the "Too Much Cheese Can Kill You" one, for those searching.

[@AmazingJellyfish]

Knee jumping is a cool artic /indigenous game. Sitting on knees jump to standing don't fall over

[@michaelmiller8614]

He might of seen it on QI there was a full segment around these games

[@andymion]

Season finale and we finally get our first "Name of Matt Gray's penis joke" in snowsnake. Cause as we all know, what this show is lacking compared to the podcast is more jokes about Matt Gray's penis

[@GrumpyTy34er]

Still have a scar from making a snow snake when I was 12. I'm 27 now.

[@maxhatfull3949]

I think I just found my new favourite youtuber

[@kairon156]

Wow. as a Canadian I was aware of the north-west territories and the Indians/Eskimos we have but didn't really think they got along/communicated with other similar groups around the world.

[@Altoclarinets]

I'm frankly disappointed that at no point during the hearty chuckle round of jokes did anyone comment "Santa/Father Christmas always wins". It's the Arctic Circle for crying out loud, obvious gag is obvious!

[@beth12svist]

Depends. Some people know more things about the Arctic than just the made up thing about it.

[@ryebreadthewhite3392]

It is Dene (deh-né) yes, of the na’dene language group

[@NotKyleChicago]

Was this filmed before "totpal" episode "Down a bit from Tromso"?

[@ezekielmartin4323]

Iirc TotPAL started after Citation Needed was over

[@sprengertrinker]

Hilarious bastards. Don't disappoint us, give another season!

[@jbuller]

When will the mystery biscuits actually be revealed and worked into the game? I think there could be a game around testing the phrase "Everyone's favourite Gary Brannan" in a Are You Dave Gorman? type way. Looking forward to seeing more. Well done all

[@mtty1988]

BBC has shown it it was last man standing has Chris seen this was a series featured a group of athletic individuals travelling around the globe to take part in different tribal or traditional sports.

[@thecassman]

Only stumbled across the show a couple of weeks ago. Great stuff. Looking forward to the next season!

[@diamondrel5190]

Happy 10 year anniversary to this episode!

[@TheM0JEC]

Simon Cowell’s Owl Towels, for all your Owl drying needs?

[@Nulono]

According to Wikipedia, the freedom of the city is what Brits call the key to the city.

[@lawrencecalablaster568]

This was the greatest thing because I have heard of the Arctic Games from a random book footnote & I love them.

[@benjaminbrewer2569]

Simon Cowels foul owl towels with vowels and scowls.

[@ezekielmartin4323]

And bowels?

[@peterl.deegan9059]

keep up good work ! Like watching Britain answer to the plethora of America shows on you tube.

[@brettefantomet]

Well, most samis live in Norway. Anyways, have watched these videos several times now, amaizng stuff

[@Ebolson1019]

I’ve done snow snake with Boy Scouts, 120 yards or so was the record

[@georgegrenvillethe7thpm176]

It’s been ten years, and I don’t think that anyone has mentioned the the xxx games are free with ads

[@peabody1976]

Hand games, pole push... It all seems XXX Games to me. :) And the Dene are a northern people of Canada. It is indeed /'de ,ne/ (DAY-nay).

[@dn2ze]

Corey Reid it’s actually more like Den-Nay. Letter “E” in Dene is pronounced “Eh”. Plus in Dene letter “I” is pronounced “ee” like letter “e” in English. It’s complicated lmao plus Dene is part of Athabaskan language family tree similar to Navajo and Apache of America.

[@TimeGhost7]

11:39 Last Man Standing (aired 2007 on BBC3) has already done that. Admittedly there wasn't an ear pulling episode though.

[@utofbu]

After a few more episodes, there should be enough Chuckle Brothers references in order to make a compilation!

[@MinecraftTestSquad]

I am an *IDIOT*. It took me until today to understand the joke at the end.

[@walruswalrus2042]

Oh God! A town made out of owls? Not their feathers, but their flesh? What is it made of their dry skin Drying yourself off with owl skin?!

[@HotSauceBear]

Any other Metal Gear fans who were waiting for the Ear Pull?

[@lutzjamesa]

Loved, would definitely watch more if you do another season!

[@Jemppu]

:D loving the Queen interpretation. That'll surely pop to mind next time I hear that song.

[@iriscandy6377]

I FIND HIM QUITE OFFENSIVE