Can I get into the Top 100 of tiddlywinks in one day?
I try to recover childhood muscle memory, to play some students at a Victorian parlour game. | ▶️ Next episode on Nebula right now: https://nebula.tv/videos/tomscott-when-i-blow-this-whistle-a-swimming-pool-appears | 🗺️ England series map: https://www.tomscott.com/england/
🟥 MORE FROM TOM: https://www.tomscott.com/
(you can find contact details and social links there too)
❓ LATERAL, free weekly podcast: https://lateralcast.com/ https://youtube.com/lateralcast/
👥 THE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES: https://youtube.com/techdif
Written and presented by
Tom Scott
Producers
for Penny4 https://penny4.co.uk/
Cambria Bailey-Jones
Guy Larsen
Studio Associate Producer
Heloise Lowenthal
Studio Director of Photography
Jamie MacLeod
Studio Gaffer
Frank Hammond
Head of Post
for Breadbox Studios https://www.breadboxstudios.co.uk/
Mandy Celine
Associate Post Producer
Isla McTear
Senior Editor
Jamie MacLeod
Assistant Editor
Alex “J’Rassic” Bate
Sound Supervisor
Dan Pugsley
Sound Assistant
Maggy Apodaca
Subtitles by So Speedy https://www.sospeedy.co.uk/
With thanks to the Historic County Borders Project https://www.county-borders.co.uk/
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images
Executive Producer
Tom Scott
© Pad 26 Limited MMXXVI
@TomScottGo
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
Yes, when I was a couple of decades younger, this is exactly the sort of thing I'd get involved in. Also, the next episode's on Nebula right now! https://nebula.tv/videos/tomscott-when-i-blow-this-whistle-a-swimming-pool-appears
@greenockscatman
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
Who else looking forward to the Veritasium Tiddlywinks video?
@davelangford2439
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
Your forced laugh towards the end of the tournament comes across as really patronising
@jettnash5217
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
This feels… overly complicated
@Adam-bh1lk
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
This was a wonderful video. There's something special about earnest student nonsense
@Sanyaenyenwa
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
No matter how weird or obscure or even childish a game may seem, there's always someone out there that takes it way too seriously. And I absolutely love that!
@timothywhieldon1971
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
Can't say im a fan of the new channel. Its just a grab and your older content was 100x better
@larnregis
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
I vote for world conflicts being solved with tiddlywinks instead of war.
@slugeater1938
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
He finally gets around to my county and he's playing tiddlywinks 😭😭😭😭😭
@DenkouNova
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
"Cheer up, Graham. At least you can practice your game of tiddlywinks."
@MissLCB
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
This is one of the most aggressively Cambridge things I have ever seen.
@awgmax
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
It is weird to see people speak of Price Philip and Queen Elizabeth II with the same tone as some other monarch from centuries ago. Like the information just came from history books.
@DerCrawlerVomUrAnus
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
I think this is the most I've seen Tom being in his element in all of the series so far.
@Arksimon2k
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
I was way more invested in this than I expected! The tactics of the game is quite clever, though I still see it as somehow annoying to play.
@MattDvc
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
Wonder if they do the same with dominoes. Used to play that at work a lot. Also in pairs.
@Voltaic_Fire
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
I'm sure they can 3D print new pieces, it'll take a little sanding to get them smooth enough but even a home scale printer should be able to mass produce them.
@MrSirMrSirMr
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
I'm not entirely sure the words "John Lennon memorial" and "shot" should all be in the same sentence.
@denvergoudeau
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
Can we get a link to the rules?
@Voltaic_Fire
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
I remember playing tiddlywinks with my grandma when I was a little kid, I was terrible at it and I'm sure we weren't following the rules but it is one of my core happy memories. I love and miss you, Nana, you were the best. I hope you're in a better place where the beer is cold, free, and plentiful.
@brgp1998
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
"the John Lennon memorial shot I did NOT ask why" 🤣
@tiltedstudio
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
Feels like the kind of game that would benefit from at least half a pint.
@chungus100
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
Sqlortyddiwinfsks is my favorite move in tiddlywinks
@yawnberg
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
Appreciate that someone showed up in Tom Scott costume
@carpediemcotidiem
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
16:38 "Beware of an old man in a profession where men usually die young"
@khanfarm321
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
I wanna know the history behind john lennon memorial shot
@Z4KIUS
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
the name itself is already so British it's incredible
in Poland we call it "little fleas"
@doobat708
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
I love that your "Next time, or, right now on Nebula" summations sound like chapter headers from Tristram Shandy or Going Postal.
@wazeroonie6084
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
How very very very middle class🤣
@RunawayTrain2502
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
Not to be confused with Tiddilywanks, that's something different.
@melusine826
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
So a cheap version of pool/billiards. Kinda
@hundry_f
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
Wait, why were the jetlag team and Tom in France at the end?!
@boredincan
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
Phil The Greek getting The Goons to play Tiddlywinks in Cambridge is probably the most pommy sentence ever uttered.
Current king Chuck 3 wrote the introduction to the published Goon Show scripts, admitting that he made fart noises to sing along with the Ying Yong Tong Song, by the way
@adammullarkey4996
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
For anyone who's wondering, according to Google, it's called the John Lennon Memorial Shot because it was invented around the time he was assassinated.
@ThesecretL
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
Those people definitely look the sort to be into competitive tiddlywinks.
@underthesettingsun2199
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
This game has a very similar vibe to curling
@FunkyDesignsUK
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
Me before: how can you make a video about this
Me after: how come nobody has made a video about this
@MrFunreal
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
Imagine chess, but without a geometrical board. Then add the ability to send your pieces into retirement, and there's physics involved.
Congrats, its tiddlywinks.
@jackryan2135
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
Bet the parties are wild. Bags everywhere!
@Hamuelin
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
I liked playing the game as a child, and I religiously love watching Tom. But if this isn’t the most upper class student nonsense (I say that in an endearing way).
@michaelrobertson4298
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
16:35
Whenever you come across a British man who needs subtitles, you're about to learn to elder knowledge.
@officialmcdeath
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
After this, Jet Lag is just a game m/
@OrimaJam
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
I'm british and this is the first time I have ever heard of tiddlywinks
@grrman
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
I have never heard of this game, but it looks like it could be great fun.
@PaulCashman
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
When they said "squidger" I thought "aha, what's next? A bludger, a quaffle or maybe the Golden Snitch, from Quidditch?" 🙂
@sharqane
September 22, 2026 at 2:50 pm
The OG Disc Golf