Episode 11 is our Frankenstein’s monster episode. It’s mainly made up of bits we discarded from the recordings of episodes 9 and 10. Not bits that we cut out because we didn’t like them, just bits that didn’t fit very well into the final edit. At almost 45 minutes, episode 9 was already our longest episode without the bits we cut, and episode 10 would easily have surpassed an hour if we’d left in the bits we cut from that.

Essentially since episode 6 the recording sessions had been getting longer and longer. While in most cases that did result in a final edit that was superior overall to our first five offerings, it had been making the actual recording session quite onerous and the editing process (something that presently only I have to endure) was becoming increasingly time-consuming too.

So I wasn’t massively thrilled when we stopped recording on episode ten and I saw the clock. But, at the same time, I couldn’t deny that I had laughed a lot in the preceding…well…hours. Ben, a man not burdened with trying to fit editing a podcast into his schedule (a schedule that is also, in his case, bereft of demanding children) was quite happy. He assured me that we had enough for two episodes there, so there was nothing to worry about.

Of course there was something to worry about, I opined. We only have one introduction, one postcard, one register bit and one bit where we say goodbye. This fabled ‘episode 11’ won’t have any structure.

Ben is not, of course, a fan of structure and would be quite happy to make an episode without any of the above.

Ben is wrong. The best bits of the podcast might be the bits where we just sort of talk about nothing, but without any structure we’ve essentially got a podcast in which two middle-aged men are just chatting. Which hardly has a USP. And we’re not exactly Ant and Dec. And, in any case, Ant and Dec do have a structure to their podcast.

It was approaching midnight and I was pretty tired. But because it was half term rather than the usual Saturday night recording session, I didn’t actually need to get up early to take either of my daughters swimming, as is the case on weekend mornings. And I obviously didn’t have work either, because it was half term. As I said.

So we pushed on through and recorded some more. The bits needed to give the show structure were added, including the postcard, of which more to follow. And Ben started riffing about the composer Simon May so we added that in too. And I took the opportunity to promote all the posts on this blog, most of which I hadn’t written at the time. In fact, it is clearly stated in the episode that you’d be able to see this post on the day the episode went out. But in fact, I’m posting this two days after the fact. I actually did write this before the episode went live, but I hit something of a scheduling bottleneck.Indeed, that’s not the only factual inaccuracy—when we’re discussing Aldi’s rip-off of Mars bars, I suggest that the Titan bar is named after a moon of Jupiter. But it isn’t. It’s a moon of Saturn.

Episode 11 is unquestionably Ben’s favourite episode to date. Mine is actually episode 10. Maybe the best comparison to make here is to the Radiohead albums Kid A and Amnesiac, which were recorded in the same studio sessions and which divide the fanbase a little, although both are considered to be Radiohead’s best work. Or maybe it’s nonsense to compare ourselves to one of the seminal rock bands of the last 40 years. I don’t know. I always preferred The Manic Street Preachers anyway. And Ben is a huge fan of Bowie.

Onto the postcard, and Ben did actually like this one. I quite like it too. It is ridiculous but slightly charming and it does contain a message of hope. Which at that time of night we really needed. Happiness certainly came in waves that day.