QI

For other uses, seeQi (disambiguation).

QI(Quite Interesting) is aBritish comedypanel gamequiz showfor television created and co-produced byJohn Lloyd.The series currently airs onBBC Twoand is presented bySandi Toksvig.It features permanent panellistAlan Daviesand three guest panellists per episode; the panellists are mostly comedians. The series was presented byStephen Fryfrom its beginning in 2003 until 2016.

QI
Also known as	Quite Interesting QI XL(extended episodes) QI VG(compilation episodes) QI XS(compilation episodes)
Genre	Comedy Panel show
Created by	John Lloyd
Directed by	Ian Lorimer
Presented by	Stephen Fry Sandi Toksvig
Starring	Alan Davies
Theme music composer	Howard Goodall
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No.of series	21
No.of episodes	308(list of episodes)
Production
Producers	John Lloyd Piers Fletcher(Series F–)
Production locations	The London Studios(Series A–P) Television Centre,London (Series Q–)
Editors	Nick King Richard Everton (Series A)
Running time	30 minutes 45 minutes (XL) 30 minutes (VG) 14 minutes (XS series 1) 8 minutes (XS series 2)
Production companies	Quite Interesting Limited Talkback(2003–06, 2012–present) Talkback Thames(2006–12)
Original release
Network	BBC Four(2003–08) BBC One(2009–11) BBC Two(2003–08; 2011–)
Release	11 September 2003(2003-09-11)– present
Related
The Museum of Curiosity No Such Thing as a Fish No Such Thing as the News The Unbelievable Truth

The format of the show focuses on the panellists answering questions that are extremely obscure, making it unlikely that the correct answer will be given. To compensate, the panellists are awarded points not only for the correct answer, but also for interesting ones, regardless of whether they are correct or even relate to the original question, while points are deducted for "answers which are not only wrong, but pathetically obvious"– typically answers that are generally believed to be true but in fact are misconceptions. These answers, referred to as "forfeits", are usually indicated by a loudklaxonand alarm bell, flashing lights, and the incorrect answer being flashed on the video screens behind the panellists. Bonus points are sometimes awarded or deducted for challenges or incorrect references, varying from show to show.QIhas a philosophy that "everything is interesting if looked at in the right way".Many factual errors in the show have been corrected in later episodes or on the show's blog.

For its first five series shown between 2003 and 2007, episodes premiered onBBC Fourbefore receiving their firstanalogueairing onBBC Twoa week later. From 2008 to 2011, the show was moved toBBC One,with an extended-length edition of each episode often broadcast on BBC Two a day or two after the regular show's broadcast under the title ofQI XL.Series G and H saw the regular show broadcast in apre-watershedslot with the extended edition remaining within a post-watershed slot. Beginning with the I series, the regular show returned to a post-watershed slot on BBC Two. Syndicated episodes of previous series are regularly shown onDave.In November 2020, a new compilation series titledQI XSstarted, with a run-time of 14 minutes per episode. A second series of XS, with an 8-minute running time, started in February 2023.Series ofQIare assigned letters in sequence and episodes are themed around topics starting with that letter.

The show has received very positive ratings from critics and has been nominated for multiple awards;QIitself has the highest viewing figures for any show broadcast on BBC Two and Dave.Several books, DVDs and other tie-ins to the show have been released, and international versions ofQIhave been made in other countries.

Format and concept

ComedianAlan Davies(pictured in 2007) has been a permanentQIpanellist in every series.

The panel consists of four participants: three rotating guests and one regular, Alan Davies, who has the seat to the immediate right of the host.Davies has appeared in every episode. However, in "Divination" he was not able to appear at the studio; he was still able to play "from beyond".Despite frequent wins, Davies often finishes last due to incurring forfeits.

Questions posed to the panellists are often misleading, obscure, or very difficult. Providing an "obvious but wrong"answer (referred to as a "forfeit" ) results in a sequence of klaxons, alarm bells, flashing lights, and a score penalty. Davies is often the panellist who gives these answers.In the first two series, Fry produced the given answer on a card to show the panellists, while it also flashed on the large screens behind them (except in the pilot episode and the first show of the first series, when only the cards were used).Starting in the third series, Fry's answer cards were dispensed with altogether, leaving only the screens as proof that such answers had been predicted.

Because the show's creators expected that hardly anyone would be able to give a correct answer without significant prompting, they instead encourage sheer "interestingness", which is how points are mainly scored.As such, tangential discussions are encouraged, and panellists are apt to branch off into frivolous conversations, give voice to trains of thought, and share humorous anecdotes from their own lives.The number of points given and taken away are normally decided by the host or beforehand byQIresearchers known as "TheQIElves ". For example, in one episode Davies was docked 10 points for suggesting" oxygen "to the question" What is the main ingredient of air? "

Negative scores are common, and occasionally even the victor's score may be negative. Score totals are announced at the conclusion of the show. Fry has said, "I think we all agree that nobody in this universe understands QI's scoring system."John Lloyd,QI's creator, has, on one occasion, admitted that not even he has any idea how the scoring system works, but there is someone who is paid to check on the scores.According to the Series A DVD, guests are allowed the right of appeal if they believe their score is wrong, but none has so far exercised that right.

Buzzers

Panellists are givenbuzzersto use in signalling a response, each of which produces a different sound when pressed. For the first three series, the sounds were seemingly random things or followed an arbitrary theme in each episode, such as commonly heard everyday sounds in the Series C episode "Common Knowledge." From Series D onward, all four sounds are based on the particular episode's theme, such as in the Series F episode "Films and Fame" (sound clips associated with well-known movies, with Davies receivingPorky Pig's stuttering "That's all, folks!" ). The buzzers are always demonstrated at the beginning of the programme, but are usually given a shortened version for repeated use during the episode, mostly in General Ignorance.Davies "always gets the most demeaning sound" for his buzzer.

Sometimes, the buzzers have unique points to them, such as having questions based on them; in most cases they are about Davies' own.For example, one of his buzzer noises in the Series D episode "Descendants" sounded like aClanger,and the panel had to try and guess what was being said, while in the Series F episode "Fakes and Frauds", all the buzzers sounded like ordinary household objects, but three turned out to be the sound of thesuperb lyrebirdmimicking the noises. In other episodes, they were sometimes changed to suit the theme of an episode; for the Series D episode "Denial and Deprivation", the panellists had to use unique buzzers – two had bells, one flicked a ruler over the edge of a school desk, and Davies squeezed a toy chipmunk – while in the Series G episode "Green", the buzzers were replaced with whistles so the show could be seen to be eco-friendly. On one occasion, points were automatically deducted from Davies' score solely because the buzzer did not match the theme of the episode, or activated the Klaxon.

General Ignorance

See also:The Book of General Ignorance

In a parody of ubiquitousgeneral knowledgequizzes, the final round is off-topic and called "General Ignorance". It focuses on seemingly easy questions which have widely believed but wrong answers. Whereas in the main rounds of the show, the panellists' buzzer usage is not usually enforced, the "General Ignorance" questions are introduced by the host's reminder to keep "fingers on buzzers". "General Ignorance" was featured in every episode until the I (ninth) series, but featured only occasionally in the J (tenth) and K (eleventh) series before appearing regularly again in the L (twelfth) series. Due to the large number of "obvious but wrong" answers, panellists—especially Davies—usually incur the greatest point losses in this round.

Tasks and themes

In a number of episodes, either the set, the panellists' clothing, the opening theme, or a mixture of all, are changed to match the episode's theme. For example, in "Denial and Deprivation", the set was replaced with an auctioneer stand for Fry and school desks or side tables for the panellists, and the lighting was stripped down;while in "Health and Safety", the panellists wore hard hats, safety glasses, and bright yellow work vests and Fry wore a doctor's white coat and stethoscope.

In some episodes, an extra task is given to the panellists to complete during the course of an episode, which can earn them extra points. Such tasks have included a drawing contest,or spotting an item on the video screens and waving a "joker" card (e.g. Cuttlefish.) Several series have had a recurring task spanning every episode, often involving the use of a joker card to respond to a question whose answer fit a specified theme. Examples include "The Elephant in the Room" (series E, elephants), "Nobody Knows" (Series I, for questions without a known answer) and "Spend a Penny" (Series L, lavatories).

In addition to assigning tasks, Fry performed scientific experiments or demonstrations during certain episodes. He often did so once an episode in the J, K and L series, where they were called "Jolly Japes", "Knick-Knakes" and "Lab Larks", respectively, and usually occurred towards the end of the episode. Such experiments either used simple objects, various chemical compounds, odd contraptions, or a mixture of all. If an experiment's outcome was too fast to be seen, a short "replay" of it was shown, (sometimes with multiple angles) to reveal precisely what happened.

Production

Veteran comedy producerJohn Lloydwas the driving force behindQI's creation.

Writer and formerBBCproducerJohn Lloyddevised the format of the show, and it is produced byQuite Interesting Limited,an organisation set up by Lloyd.QIwas originally seen as being an "AnnotatedEncyclopædia Britannica... the world's first non-boring encyclopaedia. "As a panel game, it was conceived as a radio show, with Lloyd as chairman.While developing the show withPeter FinchamandAlan Yentob,Lloyd decided that it would work better on television. The three pitched it toLorraine Heggessey,controller of BBC One at the time. Heggessey passed on the format, opting to commission a similar panel game calledClass War,which was never made. When Fincham became controller of BBC One, Lloyd pitched it to him, only to be turned down by his former collaborator. Eventually, he pitched it toJane Root,then controller of BBC Two, who agreed to develop it.When it was decided that the show would air on television,Michael Palinwas offered the job of chairman with Fry and Davies as captains of the "cleverclogs" and "dunderheads" teams, respectively.However, when Palin decided not to take the job, the producers opted to change the format; Fry became the host, with Davies as the only regular panellist.Root commissioned a pilot and a further 16 episodes after that, although budget limitations reduced the first series to 12 episodes.

Stephen Frywas theQI Masterfrom the pilot through to Series M in 2015.

Danish-bornSandi Toksvig,a regularQIguest (Bantermeister), took over from Fry asQI Master(credited as"Nøgleperson") from Series N in 2016.

In October 2015, it was announced that Fry would be stepping down as host after Series M and would be replaced bySandi Toksvig.Fry described his position onQIas "one of the best jobs on television",but that "it was time to move on". According to Alan Davies, Fry quit because the BBC cut the budget, so that three shows had to be recorded on the same day. "For budget reasons, they ended up making him do three shows in 24 hours", Davies said.Toksvig said that "QIis my favourite television programme both to watch and to be on ".Lloyd said that Toksvig will be "the first female host of a mainstream comedy panel show on British television",and that although she is very different from Fry, she "will bring to the show the same kind of wonderful thing that Stephen does, the mixture of real brains and a hinterland of knowledge, plus this naughty sense of humour." He also said it will give the show a chance to "do things in a slightly different way".

Recording

TheQIpanel set, seen empty in 2009, incorporates theQIlogo.

Recordings usually take place over a few weeks in May or June; three episodes are typically filmed per week and sixteen are filmed for each series.Series A–P were filmed atThe London Studios,with Series Q onwards being filmed atTelevision Centre.

In the morning on the day of recording, the studio has to be set up. Seven cameras are used to recordQI.To check that images, forfeits, buzzers and lighting are working, the first technical rehearsal is hosted by floor manager Guy Smart with stand-ins for panellists. Fry, who was given the list of questions roughly an hour beforehand,hosted the second technical rehearsal at 2:00 pm.Guests may have time to practise with a set of warm-up questions.

For earlier series, warm-up comedians were used before recording began, frequentlyStephen Grant,credited as the "audience wrangler".However, there have been no warm-ups for recent series. Fry recorded and tweeted audienceAudioBoomsand introduced the guests before the show.Recordings start at either 4:30 pm or 7:30 pm and last up to two hours,although only 30 minutes of footage is used for normal episodes and 45 minutes for "XL" episodes. By 10:00 pm, recording has usually finished and the set has been disassembled.Roughly 16 questions are asked and about half of those make it into the show;about 20% of material researched is used in aQIepisode, while other facts may appear in the XL versions, aQIbook, onQI's Twitter feed or on their website.

In March 2020, due to theCOVID-19 pandemic,two episodes of series R were filmed without an audience, due to social distancing requirements. Further series R episodes were recorded with a virtual audience viaZoom.

Questions seen beforehand

The makers of the show insist that the answers are not given to the panellists beforehand.The host is given a list of questions about an hour before the show, for preparatory purposes, but the guests are forbidden to ask for preparatory materials or other help.Alan Davies never does any preparation.

In a 2010 interview with theRadio Timesregarding the current state of theBBC,Fry revealed that one of the regular panellists insisted on seeing the questions before they appear in the show.

"There's only one regular guest who always insists on seeing the questions beforehand and prepares for them. I won't tell you his or her name," he said. "It really annoys me. In fact, one day, I'll make sure that person is given a list from another programme because they don't need them."

Following this comment, people asked Fry to identify the guest and some posted their own speculations. Fry later posted on his Twitter account that it was neither Davies norRob Brydon.In a 2022 Q&A at the Oxford Union, regular panellistDara Ó Briainsaid that the guest in question was someone who had since died, but was notSean Lock.

Research

The research for the show is mostly carried out by seven people called the "QIElves ", a team which has includedJustin Pollard,Vitali Vitaliev,Molly Oldfield (daughter ofMike Oldfield),Stevyn ColganandJenny Ryan.The "elves" devise the questions for the show, and one is on set during filming who is able to communicate with the host during the show to provide and correct information.Other people involved in researching questions and compiling the scripts areJohn MitchinsonandPiers Fletcher,known (along with Justin Pollard, Molly Oldfield, and James Harkin) as theQuestion Wranglers,whose research uses bothEncyclopædia BritannicaandWikipedia.TheQIwebsite also has a forum.

AQIElves podcast,No Such Thing as a Fish,began on 8 March 2014. The title is taken from an entry into theOxford Encyclopedia of Underwater Life(although in the opening theme of the first 41 episodes it is incorrectly referenced as theOxford 'Dictionary' of Underwater Life), which was used on the show. The audio from the first episode in which they discuss how they found this fact is used as an introduction.Regular elves areAnna Ptaszynski,James Harkin,Dan Schreiber,andAndrew Hunter Murray,with occasional appearances from Alex Bell andAnne Miller.Schreiber is the host of the show. Its theme song is "Wasps" from the bandEmperor Yes,which is based on a fact about bees which was used onQI.The song is written as an exchange between the bees, as they defend their hive from attacking wasps by swarming the wasp, and using their body heat to kill the wasps by overheating.A TV show entitledNo Such Thing as the Newsaired for two seasons in 2016, following a similar format based around news stories and current events. In 2018, an online behind the scenes series that followed the podcasters on their UK tour was released called 'Behind The Gills'.

Episodes

Main article:List of QI episodes

InQI,every series takes its theme from a different letter of the Alpha bet, starting with the letter "A". Series are referred to by letter rather than number. The first series started on 11 September 2003, and consisted of topics beginning with "A". The second series consisted of topics beginning with "B" and also saw the first attempts to pay attention to a particular theme throughout one episode, e.g. "Birds" (the over-riding theme did not necessarily begin with "B", although the questions always contained an element that did). The only exceptions to the Alpha bet system have been the Christmas specials, where the topics are often Christmas-based and do not necessarily correspond to that series' letter (although greater attempts have been made to do so since Series D).

Series D was the first to see all the episodes focus upon a single topic or theme, beginning with the series letter (e.g. Danger), and for each to be given an official title connected to the topic/theme. It also saw Fry modify his introduction of the panellists, by incorporating the theme/topic of the episode, with Davies often getting the "demeaning" introduction. This trend has continued with each subsequent series; episodes from previous series were retroactively given titles. Avideo podcast(featuring the best moments with some out-takes) was planned to accompany Series E, but this was instead turned into a set of "Quickies" featured on theQIhomepage of the BBC's website. As this decision was not reached until after recording, the videos are still referred to as "vodcasts" by whoever is introducing them (usually Fry but occasionally a panellist or even the audience.)The series was ended by a special outtake compilation entitled "Elephants".

Points may be given to (or taken from) the studio audience, and six episodes have the distinction of being won by the audience: "Death", the fifth episode in Series D; "England", the 10th episode in Series E; "Flora & Fauna", the 10th episode in Series F; "Greeks", the 14th episode in Series G; "Next", the 15th episode in Series N; and "Quantity and Quality", the 15th episode in Series Q. The audience's win in "Greeks" was only announced during the XL broadcast as their contribution was cut out of the main broadcast. In contrast, the audience lost the fifth episode of Series E, "Europe", receiving a forfeit of −100 when they incorrectly sang the first stanza of theGerman national anthem,and the fourth episode of Series Q, “Queasy Quacks”, when they received a forfeit for referring to the first patient in a disease outbreak as Patient Zero. Several others have scored points in certain episodes by making appearances on the set or screens; these have includedASIMO(a humanoid robot) and US PresidentBarack Obama.

A special stand-alone episode was filmed between 1:00 and 2:00 a.m. (GMT) on 6 March 2011 as part ofComic Relief's special24 Hour Panel PeoplefeaturingDavid Walliams,who appeared in various old and new panel game shows throughout a 24-hour period. The shows were streamed live on theRed Nose Daywebsite, and parts of each show were shown during five half-hour specials on Comic Relief. TheQIepisode featured panellistsSue Perkins,Jo Brand,Russell Toveyand David Walliams. Davies admitted through Twitter that he was asked to host the episode when it was not certain if Fry would be available, but Davies declined. Once Fry confirmed his participation, Davies did not hear back from the production team.Unlike the classic format of the show where most questions follow a subject, this episode was instead an hour-long General Ignorance round.

Guest appearances

Main article:List of QI panellists

As of 19 November 2024, the following have all appeared multiple times as one of the guest panellists on the show. This list does not include the unbroadcast pilot, nor the special editions for theComic ReliefandSport Relieftelethons, nor any live stage editions.

47 appearances

• Bill Bailey^[a]

46 appearances

• Phill Jupitus

43 appearances

• Jimmy Carr^[c]

41 appearances

• Jo Brand^[b][e]

33 appearances

• David Mitchell

27 appearances

• Sean Lock

25 appearances

• Rich Hall

20 appearances

• Ross Noble

18 appearances

• Jason Manford
• Josh Widdicombe

17 appearances

• Aisling Bea

16 appearances

• Clive Anderson
• Sara Pascoe
• Sandi Toksvig^[c][d]
• Holly Walsh

15 appearances

• Rob Brydon
• Sue Perkins^[b]

14 appearances

• Jeremy Clarkson
• Cariad Lloyd
• Dara Ó Briain
• Johnny Vegas

12 appearances

• Sarah Millican

11 appearances

• Susan Calman
• Joe Lycett

10 appearances

• John Sessions

9 appearances

• Danny Baker
• Victoria Coren Mitchell
• Jack Dee

8 appearances

• Gyles Brandreth
• Noel Fielding
• Nish Kumar
• Lee Mack^[c]
• Sally Phillips^[e]

7 appearances

• Ronni Ancona
• Andy Hamilton
• Colin Lane
• Richard Osman
• Lou Sanders

6 appearances

• Tom Allen
• Cally Beaton
• Bridget Christie
• Rhod Gilbert
• Matt Lucas
• Romesh Ranganathan
• Liza Tarbuck

5 appearances

• Maisie Adam
• Stephen K. Amos
• Daliso Chaponda
• Zoe Lyons

4 appearances

• Eshaan Akbar
• Jeremy Hardy
• Alice Levine
• Chris McCausland
• Vic Reeves
• Mark Steel
• Jack Whitehall

3 appearances

• James Acaster
• Chris Addison
• Desiree Burch
• Ed Byrne
• Richard Coles
• Reginald D. Hunter
• Rosie Jones
• Lucy Porter
• Ahir Shah
• Arthur Smith
• Linda Smith
• Sindhu Vee
• Julia Zemiro

Rich Hall has the highest number of guest appearances in a single series—six times in Series B (half of the episodes that year), while Phill Jupitus has won the most episodes of any guest panellist, with 14.

Musical comedian and actorBill Baileyhas appeared on 47 episodes - more than any other guest panellist - as well as the pilot.

Comedian and actorJo Brandhas appeared on 41 episodes of the show.

Comedian and8 Out of 10 CatshostJimmy Carrhas appeared in every series except series 'R'.

FormerNever Mind the Buzzcockscaptain and comedianPhill Jupitusappeared in every series up to series 'R'.

Bailey, Brand, Carr and Jupitus are the only guest panellists to have made 40 or more appearances.

a.¹Also made an additional appearance in the unbroadcast pilot.
b.¹²Also made an additional appearance in the 2011 Comic Relief episode.
c.¹²³Also made an additional appearance in the live Sport Relief episode.
d.¹Excluding Series N onwards. Toksvig took over hosting duties from Fry from the start of Series N.
e.¹²Also made an additional appearance in the 2022 Comic Relief episode.

International broadcasts

As of 2011,QIis distributed byFremantle.

In Australia,QIis broadcast on theABC.The programme was first broadcast on 20 October 2009 after the surprise ratings success ofStephen Fry in America.The ABC airedQISeries F first, but subsequently, in July 2010,ABC1began broadcastingQIfrom the very beginning with Series A.QIhas also been broadcast on the pay TV channelUKTV.

In March 2010,QIbegan a run in New Zealand onPrime.This was also aired onBBC UKTVin New Zealand.On 27 May 2011, Series A ofQIwas broadcast in South Africa onBBC Entertainment.QIseries A-Q has also aired on BBC Entertainment in theNordic countries.

There have been several attempts to broadcastQIin the United States. US networks that have tried to broadcast the series includeComedy Central,PBS,Discovery ChannelandBBC America.Show creator and producer John Lloyd said that one factor in the failure to get the show broadcast is due to the cost. AsQIfeatures several images during each episode there arecopyrightissues. Lloyd said in an interview withTV Squadthat: "No country in the world has bought the original show and this is partly a matter of cost. The pictures in the background of the show are only cleared for UK usage, so until the show is bought by a Stateside TV company and the rights cleared for World, the programme (is) unaffordable by smaller countries."Amongst the famous names also to express anger overQInot being shown in the US include comedianJohn Hodgman,who appeared as a "fifth guest" in the second episode of Series G.In 2013,QIwas picked up in the US by the streaming video serviceHulu. On 30 January 2015BBC Americaannounced that they had acquiredQIand planned on airing the show, beginning with Series J, on 19 February 2015.

Davies has criticisedQIbeing repeated so often, saying "QIbeing in a soup of shows on one of these repeat channels... completely devalues the brand ". Davies thought the show would gain more viewers when a new series aired if channels made" an audience wait for a couple of months ".

Versions and spin-offs

International versions

In 2008, theQIformat was sold to the Dutch broadcasterVARA.Also calledQI,the Dutch version of the show aired for the first time on 27 December 2008 and was hosted by the writerArthur Japinwith the comedian Thomas van Luyn taking the role of regular panellist.Japin also appeared (in the audience) in a BritishQIepisode, "Gothic", explaining how the nameVincent van Goghshould be pronounced. The Dutch series was discontinued after six episodes.

A Swedish version ofQIstarted airing onSVT18 September 2012, and was calledIntresseklubben.ComedianJohan WesterhostedIntresseklubben,andAnders Janssonwas featured as the regular panellist.A second series covering the letter B started airing in September 2013;Series C was recorded in June 2014 and aired in late 2014,while season D was recorded in June 2015 and started airing in August 2015.

A Danish version of QI, calledQuiz i en hornlygteaired on DR2 between 2012 and 2013. The show was hosted by Danish comedianCarsten Eskelund.While not directly branded as a Danish version of QI, it maintained some recognisable elements, such as the difficulty of some questions and awarding points for interesting answers as well as negative points for wrong, but widely believed, answers.

The Czech version ofQIwas first broadcast onTV Primaon 14 August 2013. The programme is hosted by Leoš Mareš, with Patrik Hezucký appearing as a guest in every episode.

The QI Test

The QI Testwas a planned spinoff version ofQIthat was to be broadcast on BBC Two. Created by Lloyd, Talkback Thames' Dave Morely and former QI Commercial DirectorJustin Gayner,The QI Testdiffered fromQIin that it would have featured members of the public as contestants instead of comedians and celebrities. It would have been broadcast during the daytime schedules. The pilot was not hosted by Fry and was recorded in November 2009, but a series was never broadcast.

Mistakes and fact correction

Some of the answers on the show have been disputed and shown to be incorrect. In Series A, the show claimed that the longest animal in the world was thelion's mane jellyfish,but this was later corrected in Series C, saying that the longest animal in the world is thebootlace worm.

Members of the public and members of theQIwebsite contact the show to correct information. At the end of the third series,Dara Ó Briainwas docked points for having stated, in the previous series, that thetriple pointof water is zero degrees Celsius, an answer which earned him 2 points at the time.Viewers had written in to say that the triple point of water is in fact 0.01 degrees, and so the 2 points awarded Ó Briain in the previous series were revoked and he received a further deduction of 10 points for "saying a nowobvious answer".

Various other retractions are made by the producers of the show on the special features of the DVD releases. The origin of the error may also be explained. For instance, Fry made a mistake when explaining whyheliummakes your voice higher, in the Series B Christmas special. He claimed that the gas only affected thefrequency,but not thepitch,despite them being the same thing; in actuality, thetimbreis affected.

Information contributed by a panellist during a discussion, but which has since been found to be false, have also been corrected. In the "Knowledge" episode in Series K it was explained that many facts on the show are later shown to be incorrect. Points were refunded to three panellists who had appeared previously; The largest refund went to Davies, who received in excess of 700 wrongly deducted points.Fry gave some examples of incorrect facts told in previous episodes, such as ones relating tolobsterages,the evolution of giraffe's necksandmillipedelegs.

More recently, the online forum now includes a "QI Qibbles" blog, which aims to rectify further mistakes in the show.

Notable examples

Welsh word for "blue"

The error that has attracted the most complaints to date was made in Series B, when it was claimed that theWelsh languagehas no word forblue.In fact it isglas.The error was explained on the "Banter" section of the Series B DVD as a mistake on the part of John Lloyd himself (the show's producer).

Flobbadob

Main article:Flower Pot Men § Controversy

An episode in Series B claimed that the language spoken by children's TV charactersBill and Benwas called "Flobbadob" and was named after theonomatopoeicphrase that supposed creator Hilda Brabban's younger brothers (after whom the characters were named) gave to their bathfartsduring their early childhood.However, in Series D, Fry read out the following letter written by Silas Hawkins, the son of veteran voice-over talentPeter Hawkins,who provided the original voices of the characters:

The fart-in-the-bath story was trotted out last year in an episode of Stephen Fry's otherwise admirable quiz showQI.It (the story) first appeared some twenty years ago in a newspaper article, to which my father immediately wrote a rebuttal. This was obviously ferreted out by some BBC researcher. It may be quite interesting, but in this case, it just isn't true.

Fry then apologised and corrected the error, saying "Their language is called 'Oddle poddle'. 'Flobbadob' means 'Flowerpot' in Oddle poddle."

It has later been established that while Hilda Brabban did sell stories about characters named Bill and Ben to the BBC in the 1950s, these bear no resemblance to the Bill and Ben of the Flower Pot Men.

Culture

QIhas stated it follows a philosophy: everything in the world, even that which appears to be the most boring, is "quite interesting" if looked at in the right way. The website states that:

"We live, they say, in The Information Age, yet almost none of the information we think we possess is true.Eskimosdo not rub noses. Therickshawwas invented by an American.Joan of Arcwas not French.Leninwas not Russian. The world is not solid, it is made of empty space and energy, and neitherhaggis,whisky,porridge,clan tartansnorkiltsare Scottish.So we stand, silent, on a peak in Dariena vast, rolling, teeming, untrodden territory before us.QIcountry. Whatever is interesting we are interested in. Whatever is not interesting, we are even more interested in. Everything is interesting if looked atin the right way.At one extreme,QIis serious, intensely scientific, deeply mystical; at the other it is hilarious, silly and frothy enough to please the most indolent couch-potato. "

On 28 December 2009, theBBC Radio 4panel gameThe Unbelievable Truth,hosted by frequentQIguest panellistDavid Mitchell,broadcast aNew Year's Specialwhich paid tribute toQI.The show featured Fry, Davies and Lloyd on the panel, as well asRob Brydon,another regularQIparticipant.

Controversies and criticism

Content perceived as offensive

In December 2010, panellists onQImade jokes during a discussion aboutTsutomu Yamaguchi,who survived bothatomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasakiin August 1945.Yamaguchi had died only earlier that year.The Japanese embassy in London wrote a letter of complaint to the BBC about the content of its quiz show after being alerted to the content when viewers in Japan contacted diplomatic staff.Yamaguchi's daughter also made known how upset she was as a result of the comments broadcast on the BBC.She said that Britain, as a nuclear power, had no right to "look down" on her father.In January 2011, the BBC issued an apology for "any offence caused" to Japan by the incident, recognising "the sensitivity of the subject matter for Japanese viewers".In February 2011, the BBC cited a "strength of feeling" in Japan following its atomic bomb joke broadcast in its decision to cancel the filming of part of itsPlanet Worddocumentary in the country,which was due to be presented by Fry.

In February 2011, the BBC received several complaints about jokes made in an episode ofQIaboutMargaret Thatcher.Regular panellistJo Brandcommented that Lady Thatcher sounded like "a device for removing pubic hair". Later, panellistPhill Jupitusshouted "Burn the witch!" when a digitally altered picture of Thatcher, showcasing theThatcher effectoptical illusion, was shown on-screen. Several Conservative politicians condemned the remarks; andLord Tebbitcomplained that "Lady Thatcher has been treated like this by the BBC for the past 30 years".

In 2011, an episode ofQIfeaturingJeremy Clarksonwas withdrawn due to controversial comments Clarkson had recently made about people dying by suicide by jumping in front of trains. TheQIepisode did not contain any such statements, but was postponed "to avoid putting Clarkson in the spotlight". The episode, on the subject of "idleness", was broadcast later.

On 11 January 2013, an episode ofQIending with Fry reading a limerick aboutpaedophiliawas criticised by viewers, especially as it was broadcast directly before aNewsnightreport onJimmy Savile.TheBBC Trustdescribed the incident as "unfortunate and regrettable" and the limerick as "capable of causing offence", but ruled it was not in breach of BBC guidelines.

Gender gap

Number of female panellists in the first 170 episodes (up to September 2014) ofQI(30.1% female guests).

None (38%)

One (55.9%)

Two (5.4%)

Three (0.7%)

The BBC has received criticism regarding the lack of women on their comedy panel shows. As a result, the corporation decided to ban all-male panels on comedy shows in February 2014,with BBC's director of TVDanny Cohenstating in an interview withThe Observerthat "shows without women are unacceptable".In November 2014,Mirrorreported stats revealing that 38% of allQIepisodes at that time had featured only men, 55.9% featured only one woman, and only the remaining 6.1% had two or three women, out of a total of three guest panellists per episode (the fourth one being regular panellist Alan Davies).Clem Bastow ofThe Sydney Morning Heraldwas supportive of BBC's decision, saying that "left to their own devices, the producers of these shows are clearly failing massively when it comes to putting together line-ups that aren't just endless parades of the same old white men," and noted that this could motivate the producers to uncover some new talent.In 2017, creator ofQIJohn Lloyd commented on BBC's decision, telling theCheltenham Literature Festivalthat "arguing a BBC quota for women panellists risked being meretokenism",while his wife Sarah Wallace—director ofQI Limited—stated that female comedians are hesitant to appear on the show.

In April 2014,Sandi Toksvig,who was hostingThe News QuizonBBC Radio 4at that time, had also criticised BBC's decision saying that "recruiting more female hosts would be a more desirable way of correcting the imbalance." She explained that women would feel more comfortable about participating with a female host, and described the fact that many quiz shows are presented by men as "slightly ridiculous".In 2015, when Toksvig took over from Fry as a host ofQI,she told theGuardiannewspaper: "If I can show that by hosting a programme like this women neither destroy the social fabric of this country [nor] frighten the horses, it's a very good job." Nevertheless, Toksvig has acknowledged Fry's delicate treatment towards his female panellists,and she herself continues to encourage them to be smart and funny when they appear on the show. In 2018, Emma Cox ofRadio Timeshighlighted a notable difference betweenQIand other "aggressively masculine" panel shows.

In September 2018, while responding to a question onequal payat theWomen's Equality Party's conference, Toksvig revealed that she receives 40% of what Stephen Fry was being paid as the host ofQI,and the same amount as panellist Alan Davies. Talent fees forQIare managed byTalkback.

Approximately ten years after theMirrorreported that 30.1% of QI guests were female, this number had increased to 31.9%.

Reception

You feel like you're at the pub with the funny, clever people, ear-wigging on their slightly tipsy meanderings, rather than standing against a wall while they fire their joke cannons at you. It draws you in, all that familiarity and casual pontification.

Julia Raeside ofThe Guardian

QIwas received very positively by its viewers. It was the most popular programme onBBC Fourin 2005,and one of its books,The Book of General Ignorance,became a global best-seller for Christmas 2006.

QIhas been supported by nearly all critics. Peter Chapman said, "When the schedules seem so dumbed-down, it's a delight to encounter the brainy and articulate Stephen Fry. He excels in this format, being both scathing and generous."Another critic,Laura Bartonsaid, "QIand its canny coupling of Stephen Fry and Alan Davies, which manages to condense tweedy goodness, cockney charm, pub trivia and class war into one half-hour. "

Julia Raeside fromThe Guardianreviewed the show during its tenth series, calling it "still rather more than quite interesting" and complimenting it for being "one of the last truly popular programmes on mainstream television where comedians are allowed to be clever". Raeside noted ratings were still high, as four million viewers in total watched the firstJ seriesepisode ofQIandQI XL.American critic Liesl Schillinger describedQIas "Jeopardy!withStephen Colbertas host, withSteve MartinandEllen DeGeneresas guests, working off a game board loaded with unanswerable questions. "

Matt Smith gaveQI Livea positive review, calling it "funny, educational, and... quite interesting"; Smith noted there was a "great deal of Fry worship" and that, due to high ticket prices, "only the most dedicated Fry fans... would come to this show". He commented that "much like the television show, your enjoyment of the stage version will be affected by how you perceive the guests", but went on to say that he enjoyed the line-up in the show he saw.

Awards

Year	Ceremony	Category	Outcome	Notes
2004	BAFTA Awards	Best Entertainment Performance Stephen Fry	Nominated
2005	BAFTA Awards	Best Entertainment Performance Stephen Fry	Nominated
		Lew Grade Award John Lloyd Ian Lorimer	Nominated
2006	British Comedy Guide	Best British TV Panel Show/Satire	Won
	Rose d'Or Light Entertainment Festival	Best Game Show Host Stephen Fry	Won
2007	British Comedy Guide	Best British TV Panel Show/Satire	Won
	BAFTA Awards	Best Entertainment Performance Stephen Fry	Nominated
	British Comedy Awards	Lifetime Achievers Award Stephen Fry	Won
	British Book Awards	TV and Film Book of the Year The Book of General Ignorance	Nominated
2008	Royal Television Society	Entertainment	Won
		Entertainment Performance	Nominated
	Televisual Bulldog Awards	Best Panel, Quiz or Chat Show	Won
	BAFTA Awards	Best Entertainment Performance Stephen Fry	Nominated
	British Comedy Awards	Best Comedy Panel Show	Won
2009	BAFTA Awards	Best Entertainment Performance Stephen Fry	Nominated
		Best Entertainment Programme	Nominated
	Televisual Bulldog Awards	Best Panel, Quiz or Chat Show	Won
2010	BAFTA Awards	Best Entertainment Performance Stephen Fry	Nominated
2011	BAFTA Awards	Best Entertainment Performance Stephen Fry	Nominated
	British Comedy Awards	Best Female TV Comic Sarah Millican	Nominated
	TV Quick Awards	Best Entertainment Show	Nominated
	National Television Awards	Most Popular Entertainment Programme	Nominated
2012	Comedy.co.uk Award	Best TV Panel Show	Won
	National Television Awards	Most Popular Comedy Panel Show	Nominated
2013	National Television Awards	Most Popular Comedy Panel Show	Won
2018	BAFTA Awards	Best Entertainment Performance Sandi Toksvig	Nominated

Media releases

QIhas entered a number of different media, and has seen an increasing number of tie-in DVDs, books and newspaper columns released since 2005.

Books

United Kingdom

The firstQIbook was 2006'sThe Book of General Ignorance,published in hardback on 5 October byFaber and Faber.(ISBN9780571233687)Written by producer and series-creatorJohn LloydandQI'shead of research,John Mitchinson,it includes aforewordby Fry and "Four words" by Davies ( "Will this do, Stephen?".) Most of the book's facts and clarifications have appeared on the programme, including its list of 200 popular misconceptions, many of which featured during the "General Ignorance" rounds. On 8 December 2006, the book "became a surprise bestseller over the Christmas period, becomingAmazon's number one Global bestseller for Christmas 2006. "By the end of January 2007, it had sold more than 300,000 copies (and subsequently over half a million), paving the way for subsequent (projected) annual book releases to capitalise on the UK Christmas book market.As of 2008, the OfficialQIwebsite notes that it will soon be published in 23 countries.

Pocket-sized and audio versions ofGeneral Ignorancewent on sale the following year. In 2008, a newly revised version was published under the title ofThe Book of General Ignorance: The Noticeably Stouter Edition.This edition corrected and updated some of the information from the first print, while adding 50 new sections (and extra illustrations) to the original 230. It also included quotes from the series, new "Four Words" by Davies and added a complete episode listing from Series A–F, along with an index.

QI's second book,The Book of Animal Ignorance,was released in the UK (in the same hardback format) by Faber & Faber on 4 October 2007. (ISBN978-0-571-23370-0)It promised to be a "bestiaryfor the 21st century, "and contains almost completely new quite interesting facts.The book includes "400 diagrams and cartoons by the brilliant Ted Dewan", another Foreword by Stephen Fry and a "Forepaw" by Alan Davies.This publication has also been followed by a pocket-sized version.

On the Factoids feature of the Series A DVD, John Lloyd mentioned an idea he'd had for aQIbook of quotations, under the working titleQuote Interesting.This book was eventually published in 2008 asAdvanced Banter.Similarly, on the Banter feature of the Series B DVD, Lloyd also previewed the title ofQI's fourth book,The QI Book of the Dead,which went on sale on 15 October 2009.

7 October 2010 saw the publication ofQI's fifth book—The Second Book of General Ignorance.Written by the same authors, this book covers a whole new series of questions on a wide variety of topics, which promises to prove that "everything you think you know is (still) wrong".

The sixthQIbook,1,227 QI Facts To Blow Your Socks Off,a list of facts, was published on 1 November 2012. James Harkin,QI's chief researcher, co-wrote the book with Lloyd and Mitchinson.

QI's firstannual,The QI"E"AnnualorThe QI Annual 2008was published by Faber and Faber on 1 November 2007, to coincide with the initial airing of the TV show's E series (ISBN978-0-571-23779-1.)Succeeding years have seen the publication ofF,GandHannuals, concurrent with the BBC show's chronology, though retrospective annuals on the first four letters of the Alpha bet have yet to be published. The covers, which feature various cartoon scenes starring caricatures of Fry and regularQIpanellists, are produced byDavid Stoten(one ofRoger Law'sSpitting Imageteam), who also contributed to the annuals' contents. Many of said cover stars are also credited with contributing content to the annuals, which also provide a showcase forRowan Atkinson's talents as a 'rubber-faced' comic, as well as the comic stylings ofNewmanand Husband fromPrivate Eye,Viz'sChris Donald,Geoff Dunbar,Ted DewanandThe Daily Telegraph'sMatt Pritchett.

France

A French edition entitledLes autruches ne mettent pas la tête dans le sable: 200 bonnes raisons de renoncer à nos certitudes( "Ostriches don't put their heads in the sand: 200 good reasons to give up our convictions" ) was published by Dunod on 3 October 2007. (ISBN978-2-100-51732-9)It is released as part of Dunod's "Cult.Science" / "Oh, les Sciences!" series, which also includes titles byRobert L. Wolke,Ian StewartandRaymond Smullyan.

Italy

An Italian edition entitledIl libro dell'ignoranza( "The book of ignorance" ) was published by Einaudi in 2007 and in 2009 the same publisher publishedIl libro dell'ignoranza sugli animali( "The book of ignorance about animals".)

United States

On 7 August 2007,The Book of General Ignorancewas published in America byHarmony Books.(ISBN0-307-39491-3) It features a sparser cover downplaying its links to the TV series, which had yet to be broadcast in the US. The book received glowing reviews from bothPublishers WeeklyandThe New York Times,which recommended it in its "Books Holiday Gift Guide".(It subsequently entered theNew York Times'"Hardcover Advice" best-seller charts at No. 10 on 9 December,falling to No. 11 two weeks later where it stayed until mid-January, before falling out of the top 15 on 20 January.)

DVDs

A number of DVDs related toQIhave also been released, including interactive quizzes, and complete series releases.

Interactive quizzes

On 14 November 2005 an interactiveQIDVD game, calledQI: A Quite Interesting Game,was released byWarner Vision International.A second interactive game,QI: Strictly Come Duncingfollowed on 26 November 2007, once again from Warner Vision International.Both games feature Fry asking questions, and then explaining the answers in fullQI-mode.

Series releases

United Kingdom

A DVD release for the first series was the direct result of an internet petition signed by 1,821 people, which persuaded the BBC of the interest in such a move.Series A, was therefore released byBBC Worldwide's DVD venture, 2 entertain Ltd. on 6 November 2006 (as "QI: The Complete First Series." )It contains a number ofouttakesas well as the unbroadcast pilot.Sales over the Christmas period, however (in stark contrast toThe Book of General Ignorance,which topped the Amazon.co.uk best-seller list), were not as strong as hoped.A lack of adequate advertising is thought to be to blame (and subsequent episodes ofQIhave since trailed the DVD), and may have factored in the label change forSeries B.Series B was released on 17 March 2008,followed bySeries Con 1 September.In 2014, a message on the QI site read "Due to a number of copyright issues there are difficulties releasing further series of QI on DVD".

On 14 December 2015, the Network imprint announced on its website that it had made a deal withFremantleMediaso previously unreleased shows could be made available onDVDsometime in 2016; among the list wasQI.The DVD sets, released on 8 May 2017, were split into two initial volumes of series A-D and E-G, containing additional features including a 'Making of' feature, interviews and bloopers. Two additional sets, series H-J and K-M are scheduled for release on 23 October 2017.

Australia

A box-set of series 1–3 (Series A-C) was released in September 2011.Additionally, a single DVD titled "The Best Bits" containing clips fromSeries Gwas released on 3 June 2010.Two years later a three DVD set labelled as "Series 9" was released in August 2012, containing the Series H episodes.The Series 9 DVD title was later changed to "The H Series"andThe Series Jwas released also on 5 March 2014.

List of releases

Series		No. of Discs	Year	No. of Episodes	Individual releases		Box Set releases
					Region 2	Region 4	Region 2	Region 4
	Series A	2	2003	13	6 November 2006	—	Complete Series (A-D) 8 May 2017	Complete Series 1–3 (A-C) 14 September 2011
	Series B	2	2004	12	17 March 2008	—
	Series C	2	2005	12	1 September 2008	—
	Series D	—	2006	13	—	—		—
	Series E	—	2007	13	—	—	Complete Series (E-G) 8 May 2017	—
	Series F	—	2008	12	—	—		—
	Series G	—	2009–2010	18	—	3 June 2010 (The Best Bits)		—
	Series H	3	2010–2011	18	—	2 August 2012	Complete Series (H-J) 23 October 2017	—
	Series I	3	2011–2012	18	—	—		—
	Series J	3	2012–2013	18	—	5 March 2014		—
	Series K	—	2013–2014	18	—	—	Complete Series (K-M) 23 October 2017	—
	Series L	—	2013–2014	18	—	—		—
	Series M	—	2015–2016	18	—	—		—
	Series N		2016-2017	18
	Series O		2017-2018	18
	Series P		2018-2019	18
	Series Q		2019-2020	18
	Series R		2020-2021	18
	Series S		2021-2022	16
	Series T		2022-2023	16
	Series U		2023-2024	17

Online releases

United Kingdom

• The entire show is available to watch on BBC'siPlayer.
• AdditionallyUKTV Playalso offers a number of episodes that have been repeated onDaveon its on-demand service.

United States Multiple services have made QI available to stream in the United States, includingAcorn TV(Series A through G - unavailable as of 2024)andHulu(Series I, J and K).
By April 2024, twelve seasons (series J-U) had been available throughBritBox.

Other media

Since 10 February 2007, a weeklyQIcolumn has run inThe Daily Telegraphnewspaper. Fifty-two columns were planned, originally Alpha betically themed like the TV series and running from A to Z twice, but the feature is ongoing and was recentlyre-launched in the newspaper's Saturday magazine and online.AQIfeature has appeared inBBC MindGamesmagazine since its fifth issue, and revolves around facts and questions in theGeneral Ignorance-mould. A weeklyQI-linked multiple-choice question is featured inRadio Times,with the solution printed in the feedback section.QIalso has an official website, QI, which features facts, forums and other information. It also links toQI's internet showQI News,a parody news show which broadcasts "News" items about things which are "quite interesting".QI Newsstars Glenn Wrage andKatherine Jakewaysas the newsreaders, Bob Squire and Sophie Langton.

External links

• QIatBBC Online
• QI XL
• QI XS
• QIatIMDb
• QIatBritish Comedy Guide
• Quite Interesting Ltd. official website.
• QI home page atThe Telegraph.
• QI episode titles and broadcast datesat Epguides