Pulp have presented “compelling evidence” that their Mercury Prize performance last night (October 16) was mistakenly accompanied by subtitles to an episode of Miss Marple.
The BBC aired this year’s prestigious awards ceremony in full from the Utilita Arena in Newcastle. Many of the 12 shortlisted acts performed live at the event, including winner Sam Fender, Pulp, FKA Twigs and Wolf Alice.
Richard Hawley also joined Pulp for their performance of ‘Spike Island’. But following their live stint, frontman Jarvis Cocker took to Instagram to reveal that an episode of Miss Marple was mistakenly subtitled to their single, and he presented a series of images to evidence the blunder.
Cocker wrote: “Whodunnit? It appears that our performance on the Mercury Prize was accompanied by…… the subtitles to an episode of Miss Marple! Thanks to Peter Chilvers for gathering the evidence & Brian Eno for raising the alarm. I suspect the butler…..”
Pulp’s recent album ‘More’ was among the nominees on the night which saw Fender’s ‘People Watching‘ win the top prize before he performed the title track from his winning album to a standing ovation.
Accepting the award, Fender led the audience in a chant of “Toon Toon”. He said “we didn’t expect this at all…I can’t think!” He then went on to thank some of his “very good friends among the nominees tonight” including CMAT and Fontaines D.C. adding that he was in “great company.” He also dedicated the award to the late Annie Orwin, who inspired ‘People Watching’.
Other performances on the night included FKA Twigs and Wolf Alice. You can view all the performances here.
Last month, it was confirmed that this year’s period of eligibility for albums was over a month longer. This meant that the records needed to have been released between Saturday July 13, 2024, and Friday August 29, 2025.
The Mercury Prize moved up north from its traditional home in London this year, as part of a new partnership with Newcastle City Council and the North East Combined Authority. The ceremony followed a week-long regional fringe programme to “celebrate the depth and diversity of talent in the north and create opportunities for local talent”.
Last year’s Mercurys were held at London’s iconic Abbey Road Studios, and saw English Teacher take home the award for their universally-acclaimed debut album, ‘This Could Be Texas’. The former NME Cover stars were the first non-London act to bag the prize since Edinburgh’s Young Fathers won in 2014.