Christmas came early for BBC reporter Quentin Sommerville's nearly 25,000 Twitter followers after he posted a rather hazy link yesterday: footage of him reporting next to a pile of flaming drugs. Or trying to report, as he bursts into uncontrollable laughter just a few seconds into the taping. "Burning behind me is 8-1/2 tons of heroin, opium, hashish, and other narcotics," he says in the most serious voice he can muster, before the smoke overtakes him and he emits a high-pitched, manic-sounding giggle. The cameraman can't help chuckling with him as he tries (unsuccessfully) two more times to wrap up his report. The video, which Sommerville called "Don't Inhale," was believed to have been shot in an undetermined location in the Middle East, news.com.au reports.
The now-deleted tweet (said to have been taken down due to copyright issues, the Telegraph reports) reportedly read, "Dear tweeps, it's been a year of bullets & bloodshed. You've earned a xmas laugh, at my expense." A BBC spokesman tells the Telegraph that Sommerville put the video up "in the spirit of a blooper" and that "it was filmed four years ago—it hasn't been seen before and was never broadcast." It's not the first time Sommerville has attempted to add levity to his often super-serious stint: Yesterday he tweeted a photo of a suitcase stuffed with tea cakes, Christmas ornaments, and Earl Grey tea, commenting, "I'm often asked by celebrity magazines, etc, what I pack for my travels in war zones. Strictly essentials." (This BBC announcer wasn't quite as charming.)
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