QI Series E Recordings - Series Review

The E Series recordings are over and now we must wait three months for the wizards in post-production to do their bit. If the recordings were anything to go by, it should prove to be an excellent series.

Getting in was harder than ever in this series. I remember when I went to my first recording (ep D01) and arrived at 6:00pm and I was seated in the middle of the top tier. If you arrived at the same time during this series you were lucky to get into the studio at all. OK it doesn't help that I am telling everyone to arrive early but I am sure that applause store are issuing more tickets. Meanwhile, it was even harder to get hold of tickets for QI this year. Demand must have increased significantly on 2006.

Stephen Grant supplied the warm up for all but two of the recordings. Maybe you've got a bit bored with my regular praising of his routine. However, if you go to any other shows regularly you'll learn how many warm ups don't bother to change their routine at all. It is so refreshing to have a comedian who makes an effort for the regulars.

One Notable Change from the last series was the repeated use of "regulars" from previous series. Where as series D used 12 new guests series E only introduced [highlight] Charlie Higson and Johnny Vegas to QI. This change, whether intentional or the result of constraints on guest bookings, has created a series with a different character. Whereas series D was notable for the variability of each show (some were brilliant classics and others unimpressive) the recordings this year maintained a constant high standard.

Audience Participation played a bigger role in this series than in any other. Expect some strange scores in the next series (though some might not make the final cut since more than one set was recorded).

(You will need to highlight the next paragraph as I considered some of its contents to be a "spoiler")

The "Elephant in the Room Card" was an interesting addition to the series. For those that don't remember, each episode contained a question where the answer was an elephant. Each panellist had a picture of an elephant on a stick to wave. I was surprised by its use because it ties the show into using the material from that question. It cannot be cut from the show in its entirety. Whether this will show in the final cut is difficult to say. I wouldn't think it to be a major issue.

Deciding the Best Recording is difficult after you've seen 8 in the space of 6 weeks. Of course E03 was a highlight because something that I researched made it onto the show for the first time. I'm still hoping that it will make the final cut but I'm not optimistic. Then Dara O'Briain revealed that he reads the blog (hope you're still reading Dara) in E06. However, my favourite has to be E04. The best joke of the series came when Stephen messed up a line one time after the other. Plus, it was E04 when I went into the green room after the show. That was a great experience and one that I will remember for a long time. I know Andrew will disagree with me though, he was singing his praise for E02 at all of the recordings.

Please tell me what your favourite recording was and why. You can add a comment (even if you are not registered with blogger) by clicking the link at the bottom of this post. Check out all of the reviews by clicking the QI Reviews tag.