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Draft:Chris Spargo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  • Comment: Where is the significant coverage in reliable independent secondary sources? And please provide better citations - not bare URLs. Paul W (talk) 19:13, 15 August 2025 (UTC)


Chris Spargo
EducationUniversity of Reading
Occupations
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2021–present
Subscribers304 thousand
Views32.12 million
Last updated: 28 May 2026
Websitechrisspargo.co.uk

Chris Spargo is a English YouTuber and filmmaker. As of July 2026, he has over 326,000 subscribers. Since February 2025, Spargo has published videos under his format The Small Questions, which primarily explores minor aspects of British infrastructure, industry and regional governance.

Career

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Early career

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On 30 October 2020, a music video for the 2016 Lemon Demon song "Touch-Tone Telephone" was released, directed by Spargo. The video won Best Music Video in the 2021 Oxford Film Festival.[1][2][3]

The Small Questions

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On 3 February 2025, Spargo uploaded the first of his The Small Questions videos, "Why do UK supermarkets have clock towers?"[4]. In this video, Spargo explained the trend of UK supermarkets designed and built during the mid-20th Century with clock towers attached. In addition to garnering over 3.3 million views (as of July 2026) and becoming Spargo's most-viewed video, it was the subject of reports across various UK news outlets, including the Manchester Evening News[5] and the Mirror.[6] As the video also referred to the 'Essex style' of supermarket design which gave way to supermarket clock towers, it also gained local attention via Essex Live.[7]

Furthermore, on 10 March 2025 Spargo uploaded the video "Why did UK crisp packets swap colours?"[8] which outlined the history of crisp production in the UK. This gained attention from retail magazine The Grocer, in which technology editor George Nott praised the video's subject matter by stating "Kudos to the YouTube algorithm, for knowing its users better than they know themselves".[9] As of July 2026, it is the fifth most-viewed video on Spargo's channel.

Other videos in The Small Questions series include "Why does the UK have colour-coded milk?"[10] and "Why are these signs unintentionally vague?", which explains the history of the signs found on railway bridges in the UK.[11] In June 2026, Spargo attended the 52nd G7 summit by invitation by YouTube,[12] during which he conducted an interview with the outgoing Prime Minister of the UK Keir Starmer as part of his video "British cities are a game design nightmare".[13] Satirical newspaper Private Eye noted the timing of the interview before Starmer's resignation in its comment that "Keir Starmer's last exclusive media outing before announcing his resignation was, improbably, in a Youtuber video (...)" .[14]

Reception

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Chris Spargo's videos, particularly those of the The Small Questions format, have received generally positive acclaim. George Nott of The Grocer described his style of filming and delivery as "deceptively dull". In the BFI's Sight and Sound article "The best video essays of 2025", essayist Harry Negus acknowledged that "many people attribute Spargo's meteoric rise in 2025 to the absence of household name Tom Scott".[15] Disputing this claim, Negus continued by praising Spargo as "his own creator", and noting that "There really is something for everyone here".

In its coverage of Spargo's interview with Prime Minister Starmer, Private Eye characterised Spargo as "a content creator usually found asking about crisp packet colours or supermarket clock towers", noting that he "used a one-to-one with the PM to ask about planning permissions and council funding in British cities (so different to the game SimCity...)". Rick Lane of PCGamer teased Starmer's appearance: "even if the idea of comparing metropolitan systems of government isn't thrilling to you, you're going to want to watch it just to see who crops up at the end", further describing the video and its guest as "fascinating".[16]

References

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  1. ^ "2021". OxFilm. Retrieved 17 April 2026.
  2. ^ Shapiro, Dev (4 April 2021). "The 2021 Oxford Film Festival Announces Award Winners | Selig Film News". Retrieved 17 April 2026.
  3. ^ I.Faleye (2 April 2021). "Women Is Losers and In A Different Key Win Top Prizes at 2021 Oxford Film Festival". VIMooZ. Retrieved 17 April 2026.
  4. ^ Chris Spargo (3 February 2025). Why do UK supermarkets have clock towers?. Retrieved 11 July 2026 – via YouTube.
  5. ^ Marshall, Lucy (29 May 2025). "Brits floored to discover why supermarket clock towers don't show the right time". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
  6. ^ Marshall, Lucy (29 May 2025). "People just realising why some supermarkets have clock tower that doesn't work". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
  7. ^ Moran, Michael (27 February 2025). "UK supermarkets 'all look the same' after copying 'original'". Essex Live. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
  8. ^ Chris Spargo (10 March 2025). Why did UK crisp packets swap colours?. Retrieved 12 July 2026 – via YouTube.
  9. ^ "Chris Spargo: YouTube documentarian solves mundane mysteries". The Grocer. Archived from the original on 15 November 2025. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
  10. ^ Chris Spargo (28 April 2025). Why does the UK have colour-coded milk?. Retrieved 12 July 2026 – via YouTube.
  11. ^ Chris Spargo (16 June 2025). Why are these signs intentionally vague?. Retrieved 12 July 2026 – via YouTube.
  12. ^ Chris Spargo (26 June 2026). The Prime Minister resigned after meeting me. Retrieved 12 July 2026 – via YouTube.
  13. ^ Chris Spargo (17 June 2026). British cities are a game design nightmare. Retrieved 12 July 2026 – via YouTube.
  14. ^ "HP Sauce - Game Boy". Private Eye. No. 1679. London. 10 July 2026. p. 13.
  15. ^ "The best video essays of 2025". BFI. 17 December 2025. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  16. ^ Lane, Rick (21 June 2026). "You will never guess who turns up in this video about why you can't build British towns in SimCity 4". PC Gamer. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
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