QI (2003– )

A comedy panel game in which being Quite Interesting is more important than being right. Stephen Fry is joined each week by four comedians to share anecdotes and trivia, and maybe answer some questions as well.

Stars:

Stephen Fry, Alan Davies, Bill Bailey

3 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Stephen Fry	...	Himself - Host (139 episodes, 2003-2013)
Alan Davies	...	Himself (139 episodes, 2003-2013)

Storyline

A comedy panel game in which being Quite Interesting is more important than being right. Stephen Fry is joined each week by four comedians to share anecdotes and trivia, and maybe answer some questions as well.

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Plot Keywords:

trivia | non fiction

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Genres:

Comedy | Game-Show

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Details

Official Sites:

BBC [uk] Official site

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 September 2003 (UK)

Also Known As:

QI XL

Filming Locations:

The London Studios, Upper Ground, South Bank, Lambeth, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Talkback Thames

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min 30 min (93 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Stephen Fry revealed that there is one panelist who insists on seeing the questions in advance so that he or she can prepare their answers. Fry refused to name the person but did confirm that it was neither Alan Davies nor Rob Brydon.

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Quotes

Alan Davies: [after his buzzer is a sexy woman's voice saying "Ahoy, hello sailor"] Hang on, hang on, who was that?
[pushes buzzer again]
Alan Davies: Hells bells.

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Connections

Spin-off QI Presents: Strictly Come Duncing (2007)

User Reviews

Never hilarious but it is both quite entertaining and quite interesting

With it not being a standard comedy panel show or easy to describe, I didn't manage to get round to watching QI for quite a while but am now busily catching up. The show sees host Stephen Fry asking very detailed questions to test the knowledge of the panel of four; the "questions" are almost all based on trivia or little known facts. As with all panel games the scoring is not really that important, what is important is that the show is funny and keeps moving or, in this case, that the answers be Quite Interesting.

Interesting is not something it ever struggles to be because the questions are nearly always little "I never knew that" affairs that, although mostly trivial in nature, do at least mean that the show lives up to its name. This aspect is the foundation for the show so it is important that it was strong but what is just as important is that the panel can make jokes around the material while still being intelligent enough to be a going concern. Mostly they manage this and it is only some of them that are consistently annoyingly silly and seem to belong more on Never Mind the Buzzcocks than on QI. Fry is a perfect host for this sort of thing and he convinces that he knows it all – he seems genuinely in love with the detail of the answers and this helps convey it to me. The panellists are a mixed bunch but mostly do OK. I'm not a massive fan of Bill Bailey, Alan Davies or Jo Brand so I must admit being a little biased but mostly the panellists do well to deliver fresh jokes without detracting from the slightly intellectual nature of the programme.

Overall an enjoyably different panel show that can be enjoyed by anybody despite the appearance of being a rather intellectual affair. Fry is a great host and keeps the humour from sliding too far into the silly, to ensure that the air is kept intelligent. Never as out and out funny as your "Have I Got News" or your "Buzzcocks" but it manages to be quite entertaining as well as quite interesting nonetheless.