Dutch QI episode 3 "Lust and Love"

Not content with just two people's opinions of the new Dutch QI, we decided to go a find a third one. This week The Great Prickly of Pear provides us with her opinions of the third show in the new series.

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This episode was all about "Love and Lust", with guests Claudia de Breij, Ronald Goedemond, Silvester Zwaneveld, and of course Thomas van Luyn. I think that this show was the first in the run to really shine in terms of the comedy. It hasn't only been Arthur Japin (much improved this time) that needed to get used to his role, but the guests as well. The programme has placed too much emphasis on being funny in the early shows. As a result the guests try to answer the questions by leading off with a joke. That created plenty of forfeits, but it didn't lead into much banter. This time however, the panellists tried to answer the questions directly, and the resulting klaxons led into discussions that created a much funnier show.

So this episode was funnier that the previous ones. But was it more interesting? The answer to this question is, sadly, no. Once more, about half of the questions had come from the "real" QI. That makes it less interesting for the fans who've also watched the original. Also, the panellists are not encouraged to be interesting, even if an interesting anecdote is loosely connected with the question. It is quite clear that the panelists are only expected to contribute to the laughter and not the interestingness.

There is also a problem with the way the questions are posed. The question about fans that was asked in the Christmas special was also asked during this episode of the Dutch version. The panelists were asked to show how they thought "I'm already married", for example, would look. Obviously this lead to some funny answers, but how and where and why this fan-language was invented was omitted. This difference in style really demonstrates the lack of interest that the producers pay towards the subject matter's interestingness.

However, perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that this has transpired. The original QI was born out of the rather noble ideologies of John Lloyd, whose primary concern was creating an interesting show (which was supposed to be targeted at Radio 4 before he was persuaded to put it on TV). The Dutch QI has been bought from the BBC as a comedy show; maybe we shouldn't expect the producers to aspire to anything other than that?

One final niggle is that the questions lack linguistic elegance. The writers of the original seem always to do their utmost to write beautifully, making full use of Stephen's oratory skills. However in the Dutch version the question are simple. Maybe this has something to do with the different cultures. There's no eloquence in Dutch.

But why am I complaining that the Dutch version differs from the original? Does it matter that the intro isn't the same; that it isn't as interesting; that the cards Arthur Japin has in front of him don't look as good? QI is broadcast on Nederland 1, which produces cheap viewer-ratings-conscious entertainment, although all the public channels in the Netherlands work like that. Given that environment, QI is a beacon of light in the dark ocean that we call General Ignorance.

Dutch QI Episode 2 - War

This week's review is brought to you by Peti.

Last Saturday was the day that VARA broadcast the second episode of the Dutch series of QI, and your reporter was installed by the television at 22:00 sharp.

Let's start at the very beginning with the opening credits. They are not a copy of the original: there is a different theme – not as catchy as the one Howard Goodall composed – and they show a supposedly comical animation of host Arthur Japin and panellist Thomas van Luyn travelling through interesting parts of history and having information put in their heads. It's a bit cheesy for my taste, but it highlights one of the major differences between the original programme and the Dutch version. The focus is on being funny more than on being interesting. As Japin opens the show "This quiz is all about interesting answers. We give out the most points for nice stories and funny anecdotes." What is this? Is interesting the same as funny now?

The set designers have borrowed heavily from the British version, with the panellists sitting around a big "Q" with a lower case "i" in the middle. The big Q seems to be scaled down, so the panellists are sitting much closer together, although it may simply be that it is recorded in a smaller studio. Behind the guests are two large screens used to a similar effect as the British version for displaying the klaxon answers and videos. The klaxon is quieter, or as one of the panellists said, "It's like I've hit the jackpot!"

For the second episode, the panellists sat with Japin and Van Luyn were Diederik van Vleuten, Lenette van Dongen, and Richard Groenendijk. It's good to see that the producers are employing good comedic talents instead of the usual selection of minor actors and television presenters that usually appear on Dutch panel shows. I do really like Van Vleuten and Groenendijk had some of the most amusing answers and stories.

The second episode of the Dutch QI was all about war. Lovely! Some of the questions, like in the first episode, were taken from the BBC programme, like the "kamikaze pigeons" and the number of soldiers under the command of a centurion. However, some of the questions haven't appeared in the broadcasts of the British version so it would seem that they are making an attempt at some original research. For example, one of Saddam Hussein's sons produced a cola drink with a Pepsi logo on it, and SS personnel had their blood type tattooed in their armpits. My favourite was that Napoleon gave his soldiers yo-yos because he thought it was good for the blood flow.

One question concerned a "secret weapon" employed by the ancient Greeks. Van Luyn: "Homosexuality. The ancient ones did that, the younger ones not so much, they thought is was a bit yucky." He goes on mocking hoplites and their stylish outfits, but it turns out his answer was right: there were armies of homosexuals. Plato suggested in his "Symposium" that if two lovers would fight, they would try to protect each other. This is followed by the inevitable mocking of homosexuality.

Groenendijk: "How did they fight? Pulling each other hair?"
Van Luyn: "Throwing handbags."
Groenendijk: "With beautifully styled hair. No, watch out for my hair!"
Van Luyn: "Throwing Gucci shoes."
Groenendijk: "So that was the secret weapon of the Greeks. But were the enemy soldiers all straight? So they turn out to be stronger. If it takes too long for us, we don't finish things."
Van Dongen: "I just have to watch the Eurovision Song Contest now!"

The programme has all the elements: good comedians, interesting facts, gay jokes...So why is it just not as good as the original? Obviously, it doesn't have Stephen Fry, the host of hosts. Also, the entertainment value is rather reduced if you know the answers to the half the questions, because they've been copied from the BBC series. But there are two major problems. One of them I mentioned before: the object of the Dutch QI is not to discover interesting facts. The object seems to be to let the comedians tell "funny anecdotes", and that's just wrong! Points are for interesting facts, whether they're relevant or not. The comedians are supposed to be funny; it's their job. The second problem is the way Japin hosts the show. He's no Stephen Fry, but he doesn't have to be. I just have a problem with him just being there to read up questions, and judge the answers. He is just a bit too serious and stiff. Now, since this is the first time he's done anything like this, it makes sense. I just hope he grows into his role.

Dutch QI Episode 1

Since QI is making its first foray abroad, we here at the QI Blog want to keep you up to date about the new series in The Netherlands. Hence we have some new reporters to introduce to you. This review of the first episode is written by Douchegordijn:

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In general, Dutch remakes of British comedy programmes tend to be painful to watch. The Dutch Never Mind The Buzzcocks is quite horrible, and although our version of Have I Got News For You is very popular, I haven’t the faintest idea why. This is why I concluded a long time ago panel-quizzes were just not suited for Dutch humour. Last Saturday, I was proven wrong.

ARTHUR JAPIN: How do guide dogs navigate in a city?
RONALD GOEDEMONDT: Guide dogs usually wear out a couple of blind people before they know the city. They start with five blind people, which they leave at places across the city. These blind people are lost, and you can hear them scream, "Where am I? Where am I?" These lost people are the navigating points for the guide dogs. They think: "Oh, that’s Harry who’s lost at the cathedral. Here we go left." It’s not that difficult.

They decided against beginning with an A-series, opting for a theme per episode instead. The theme of the first episode was "senses". The participating comedians were Diederik van Vleuten, Ronald Goedemondt, Jetty Mathurin, and recurring panel member Thomas van Luyn. The Dutch version of QI is still very much a work in progress. Usually the comedians were able to come up with a couple of decent anecdotes or witty jokes. They were, however, still searching for the best way to deliver them. Sometimes the jokes or stories seemed a bit forced, but I still found myself laughing out loud a lot.

Host Arthur Japin is no Stephen Fry. At the moment, his prompter skills aren’t good enough. When he’s presenting, you can hear he’s reading the prompter aloud. He’ll probably get better at this, though. He is a lot more bitchy than Stephen and when the contestants are making fun of him, you often see a him looking very much "not amused" (JAPIN: "I had a dog who would do anything for me. He’d get the newspaper, carry my groceries…" GOEDEMONDT: "…write books…"). However, there were moments when Japin demonstrated some strong comedic skills. It proves that even without Fry, the format works.

The editing of the programme was sometimes a bit strange, and this will be one of the areas that needs to be targeted if the show is to become a lasting success. At times, they editing gave the impression that the contestants came up with the correct answer very quickly, which is a bit strange with impossible questions like these. This created the feeling that the show was scripted even though it isn’t.

The Dutch version of QI is not up there with the English version yet, but that’s not a really fair comparison, because the first episode of QI had the same feelings of being a little forced. I found the first episode quite enjoyable, and I think the show can grow to something very good, especially for those who don’t watch the English version.



The opening credits from the Dutch version.

QI C Series DVD - A Review

The third series of QI is now available on DVD. Here's a review of what you'll find on it.

• 2 Disks
• All episodes from the C series, as broadcast.
  Deleted scenes including questions cut from the show and bloopers.
• Commentary on all episodes. 
• A compilation of all of the buzzers from the series.
• Peter Cushing featurette including QI's remix with Alan Davies and the original version by the Jellybottys and a new remix by the band. Plus a short audio feature about the discovery of the band which Alan mentions in the show.

The first thing that presents itself as you start the DVD menu is a backdrop of cumulus clouds in a late evening sky. I was almost expecting some Monty Pythonesque animation to emerge onto the screen when floating into the foreground comes a cuckoo clock where the dial has been replaced with the backdrop to the QI set with 5 little puppets sat around a QI style desk infront. Meanwhile some fairly pleasant music performed by a brass band plays. The menu doesn't really present itself as a theme that I would associate with the show but it's all very safe and won't offend anyone like the A series menus did.

Now if you're buying this DVD or reading this blog there is little point in me insulting your intelligence by telling you what a great show QI is. Therefore I'll skip straight to discussing the extras. Most striking about these are the several hours of audio 'commentary'. Use of the word commentary here is quite loose since it does not accompany the programme as it does on many other DVDs. Instead the commentary is restricted to briefer discussions (approx 15 minutes) focussed around several topics discussed in each show. I am pleased to say that this really cuts down on the faff that people associate with DVD commentaries. You really mustn't be embarrassed to listen to all of them since you'll learn plenty from the experience.

A key topic for each show is a discussion of the "retractions" where the elves got something wrong in their research. If you are a member of the QI forums then you should be aware that there are several name checks associated with the retractions. Most of the other topics discussed are the questions that failed to make it past the cut into the shows. If you watch QI for the interestingness then these discussions should prove of great value to you. As is explained in the commentaries, not everything can illicit a comedic response and it ends up on the cutting room floor.

One of the key extras that most people buy DVDs for are the outtakes. You'll certainly find a good measure of them here on disk 2. It is slightly irritating that the bloopers have been intermixed with the additional material (usually whole questions that were cut from the show for time). However, you'll still find some very cheeky laughs (in more sense than one) in all of the additional scenes.

Perhaps the strangest aspect to the DVD is the Peter Cushing extra. The QI remix that is advertised on the front of the DVD (and which you can view online from the link in the last post) is a little bit of fun. Still, I'm not sure I can agree with the assessment that Alan's rendition of the song was the funniest moment in the series. However, I'm sure that plenty of people will have been curious about the band that performed the song from Whitstable and the inclusion of the original is rather entertaining.

The C series DVD is well worth buying if you haven't already. There are some classic moments in this series and the extras, especially the commentaries, are great. I hope you enjoy it as I have.

QI Series F, Episode 11 Recording Review

Hello everyone, apologies for the late reviews but we just couldn't post them up in the wrong order now could we? I'm back with the review of the penultimate recording. Now as some of you already know I was allowed backstage on this to get a better insight as to how the show is made, there will be a review of that coming very soon..

Having spent the majority of the day inside the studio I didn't get a very good look at the queue, however I did nip out and talk to a few familiar faces from the forum. It was also nice to have Stephen Grant back doing his magnificent warm-up.

Onto the spoilers!

Tonight's theme was "Fame and Fortune" The guests were David Mitchell, newcomer Emma Thompson and returning from the earlier seasons John Sessions. The designers had added a lot of flourishes to the set for this episode. The centre of the Q was decorated with red carpet and red rope barriers surrounded the bottom half of the symbol. Two large BAFTA style "happy and sad" faces sat either side of the screens facing inwards towards Stephen. If that wasn't enough, two giant Oscar statuettes either side of Stephen. However they bore shields rather than the traditional swords due to copyright issues.

Topics for discussion included Marlon Brando, patents, Stanley Gibbons, foleys, double F, Carnegie Hall, Oscars, publicity stunts, Greek statues, cheese, hedgehogs, Shakespeare, headlice (Stephen Fry and much of the audience began to scratch his head when the topic was discussed), flu vaccines, depression, and film. The lineup was perfect, John Sessions was on top form and I really hope that his brilliant impression of Alan Rickman will be included in the final edit. Another moment that will hopefully make the cut is the banter between Emma and Stephen regarding bikini-line waxes and anal bleaching! Watch out for Luvee Alarms and Teacher's Pet awards as well.

The show went very well and then I was off into the Green Room once more to chat with the stars. I also met QI Fanatic (Lord and master of the blog) and Glenn (Known to forum members as Gluben).

I'll be back in a few days with the final episode review! Ciao for now!

QI Series F, Episode 10 Recording Review

I apologize even more for not having done this review weeks ago; it is ever exams and ever shall be exams. Exams will be the death of me, just as they were the birth of me. That strikes me as somehow not quite right, but I can't remember a life without them. Forgive a drowned woman.

This review is for the QI recording of 5th June, 2008.

We saw, upon entering the studio, that the set was dappled with tiny Pudsey bears, and a giant eyepatch had strung its way across the circular backdrop. It was clear that we had a Children in Need special in store for us, even though the episode isn't going to be able to be broadcast for months yet. Gordon Southern provided us with the warm-up, which was interrupted part of the way through when a life-sized Pudsey entered the room. Pudsey was guided to a seat in the audience, after choosing a woman to displace (Gordon, ominously: "Pudsey has chosen his bride."), and Guy, the floor manager, directed a small bit of film in which the bear we all love enthusiastically waved his telephone number above his head.

That finished, Pudsey left the audience and took the seat to Stephen's left, and this is where the spoilers begin.

Stephen came on (to tumultuous applause and cheers, as always; there is no one who doesn't love that man), and introduced the two other mystery guests: David Mitchell and Ronni Ancona. The show started--buzzers demonstrated and guests introduced--with no indication that Pudsey wasn't going to be a permanent panellist. Very soon, however, Stephen was interrupted by a booming voice from off-stage, and in walked . . . Terry Wogan. Let it not be said that QI is not apropos. Terry took Pudsey's place at the desk so that the show could really begin.

The theme of the day was "Families", and the first topic discussed was old wives' tales and what they are associated with. Stephen disclosed that he has a novel way of preventing macular-degeneration-by-shortness-of-zinc, but his method might not be for everyone. The next discussion centered upon one of the most popular fads of the early 20th century, which was followed by a question on foundling wheels. Some Jelly Babies were brought out during the course of the next question, although the panellists declined to share with the audience. Then came a topic about Tarzans of film; Ronni Ancona was asked outright to do impressions of Jane-as-various-people, for which she was taken aback at first, but rose to the challenge admirably, starting with a pitch-perfect impression of Renee Zellweger.

Further topics discussed: Relatives of famous people, Micronations, Dan Dare, the Eurovision song contest ("It's united the nations of Europe!" Terry stated loudly; "Has it, arse . . . it's divided east and west!" Stephen shot back), the Swiss Family Robinson, boomerangs, kangaroos, lions manes, and a specific mathematical proof.

Although Terry Wogan would seem to be a rather unexpected choice of guest, he rose to the task wonderfully and was very funny, and took many opportunities to verbally spar with David. He did sneak in one long Children (are) in Need(!) speech in the first third of the show, but it was well-received by the audience. Ronni Ancona's return to guesthood was also very good; when she had something to say, whether joke or anecdote, it was unerringly sweet. She kept a running tab throughout the show of how many times something particularly racy was mentioned, pondering the appropriateness of the jokes for a CiN special. Although QI does not usually hesitate to be ribald, many of the more risqué jokes are going to have to be dropped in order to be shown on the night. The innuendo alone could have made up an entirely separate show! Despite the necessary lack of knob gags, it was a great recording that will no doubt yield a tight and extremely entertaining cut.

QI Series F, Episode 9 Recording Review

It was quite an achievement in the end that anyone was there to review this recording. Applause store is hard enough to get tickets out of and at this stage in the series the production lists are pretty much fully booked now.

Having taken my seat the warm-up soon got underway. Stephen Grant is still touring with his Edinburgh previews so enter Ben Norris again. His performance is too repetitive for the regulars but some of the jokes are still good (the panda joke continues to get a very big laugh). Stephen Grant will be back for the last two recordings next week.

As usual Stephen Fry walked onto the set to huge applause and sat down in his seat to give his usual introduction. It is at this point that I should explain that my guest at recording this week was Tom Scott. He is possibly someone that the readers of the QI blog will be familiar with. He co-founded the official website for the UK leg of International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Indeed he has recently been elected to the post of the Student Union President at the University of York - mainly by virtue of the fact that he campaigned as his pirate alter ego Mad Cap'n Tom. However, his greatest association with QI comes from a video that he made last December in which he attempts to remove his fingerprints using a pineapple because it was something claimed on QI in the last series. Having delivered his usual introduction, Stephen declared that we had a very important person in the room "Tom Scott, where are you?"

Tom was of course rather surprised, I had only told him that he would be able to come about 6 hours before the recording when he was still in York. Stephen quickly explained Tom's video to the audience and his attempts to remove his fingerprints. Tom explained how the experiment had failed and then it was time to introduce the guests so time for the spoilers:

The guests this week were Clive Anderson, Rich Hall and newcomer Reginald D Hunter. The topic of the night was fashion, so whilst the set had not been decorated with anything special for this show, Alan was wearing a very chique outfit. The topics discussed included; haircuts, engagements, the Duke of Wellington, trousers, head wear, bollocks, canals, macaroni, month, Michelin and balls.

Justin Pollard had invited his friend - a Romanian mathematician - to come to the show and bring a rather remarkable object with him. You'll have to watch it in the autumn to find out what that item was. At the start of the show the panelists were given the task of picking a catch phrase that they will attempt to popularise by repeating through out the recording. Alan went with "Has your mother sold her mangle", Clive Anderson decided to use "Who are you?", Rich chose "Dumber than a bag of wet mice" and Reginald used one from back home "Do what you do best". It's recommended that you try to start using them now so that you're ahead of the game when all your friends are repeating them after the episode airs.

That's my last recording review this series, Mandibles returns next week with a rather special review. She will be heading behind the scenes to get a closer look at how the show is produced.

The QI Test

On Tuesday I attended the first of 5 run-throughs of a new show being produced by QI called the QI Test. In attendance were several forum members including Andrew, Neotenic, Mr and Mrs Tetsabb and Smiley_Face.

Upon our arrival we were soon shepherded down to the basement studio, not a particularly large room and certainly not somewhere that you could fit an audience. There were 16 chairs placed in two concentric semi-circles. After we were introduced to Justin Gayner (one of QI's senior elves - in experience and not age I should add) we all sat down and got to business. The format of the show was explained to us and we began playing the game.

This unfortunately is where things get a bit vague. This was the first of five run-throughs before a proper pilot is produced and pitched to the BBC. There will likely be some big format changes anyway so what I could say here wouldn't be that informative. Plus, for obvious reasons, the producers will not want the format ti be known to the public until the time is right. What I can probably tell you is that in its current guise there is a very inventive take on the pun at the heart of QI's name (the IQ test) but frankly that's probably something you'd already worked out for yourselves.

After the show there was some quick chat and then we headed over to the pub where Justin Pollard (historian, author and QI elf) joined us for a few drinks. I was quite impressed by the idea for the QI Test, it definitely has the potential (and a show at this stage of development can have nothing more than that) to become very entertaining viewing. I am pleased to say that when the show does come to fruition, you'll be able to hear about it first on the QI blog.

P.S. A review of Wednesday's recording will be available Friday.

QI Series F, Episode 8 Recording Review

Yet another guest reviewer today. Hello! I'm Kate -- long-suffering friend of MinervaMoon's, and watcher of QI. I will be reviewing the recording of May 29th, or at least, what I can remember of it. Memory like a sieve, me!

This recording's warm up comedian was Tom Price. Lovely chap, and definitely NOT a paedophile (this is a joke based on his skit, not a standard disclaimer).†

On to the show itself, where I will try not to ramble too much:

It was the Christmas episode, the title of which was "Fire and Freezing", so the set was decorated with snowflakes, two trees and some fake snow (or cocaine as Stephen dubbed it). The guests, Dom Joly, Clive Anderson, and Rob Brydon (and, of course, Alan and Stephen) came out in assorted winter hats and stripy scarves looking lovely, as Stephen managed to point out at least three times (plus commenting on Rob's "chocolatey wells of love")! The buzzers were songs on the theme of fire, and Alan's was a specially made recording of Alan Sugar telling Alan he was disgrace.

Dom made a very good debut and I'd be glad to see him make some more appearances. Clive was, if I remember rightly, also very good, and Rob was on fire (not literally, although it would fit with the theme). There were some jokes about the fact that the show will be aired many months in the future: Gosh, remember when it rained on the 100m at the Olympics? Gosh, remember when it rained on the 200m? Gosh, remember when it rained on the shotput? Etc. . . .

The guests all had fans, and were following rules of fan-etiquette or something to flirt and send each other coded signals. There was also lengthy discussion of smoke signals, firemen and smoke. I should stop now though because this runs the risk of being really rather long as more things come back to me.

† Sarah notes: He didn't introduce himself with "Hello. You may remember me from such roles as P.C. Andy from Torchwood." But he should have.

QI Series F, Episode 7 Recording Review

This recording was the first outing of the Quite Interesting Society at the University of York, so whilst I was writing this review I also had the minor concern of getting 10 students to the recording on time. After what turned out to be a 6 hour drive from York to London (due to traffic on the M1 and central London) our two cars arrived outside the studio at 7:18, and we walked into the studio as the floor manager was giving the safety briefing. We ended up seated all over the place, I myself was sat on a chair in front of the curtain at the back of the studio. It was by far the worst seating I had ever had in that studio but it was still better than sitting on the far side of one of the wings.

Before I could get the notepad out, Ben Norris strolled on to warm-up the audience. It was a competent skit but if I'm to be honest the adrenaline was only just wearing off from having been minutes from turning round and heading straight back to York; I wasn't precisely concentrating at the time.

Stephen Fry walked on and I was rather pleased that my request for him to shout out the society was successful. There was a quick wave from our scattered members and Stephen told us to "get a life" (fair comment) and told the audience about York's claim to fame - the largest plastic-bottomed lake in Europe.

After Stephen had introduced the guests there was some quick banter about how he was stalked by Courtney Love and a rendition of "Peter Cushing Lives in Whitstable" it was soon time to start the tape rolling for the recording. Thus here begin the spoilers:

The guests for this recording were Jimmy Carr, David Mitchell and Rich Hall. This episode will be one of a minority this series formed only from regular guests. The topic of the episode was Food. The topics of oysters and fruit machines introduced a running joke into the show about oral sex and this was probably how this episode will have become one of the funniest of the series (not that one is in a position to judge having seen only two of them).

Other topics discussed included; tongues, yakult, tape worms, crabs, Scottish drinks, oysters, melons, Russian service, chips, muscle, teeth, snakes, cheese, cake and the Internet. David Mitchell was given two Teacher's Pet awards throughout the recording.

After the recording we all headed into the green room where we were all introduced to Stephen Fry and Alan Davies plus a number of the elves. After enjoying the free bar (except for the drivers) it was then time to head back home. The dawn had come before we were in our beds.

QI Series F, Episode 6 Recording Review

Hello, I'm Erin. MinervaMoon, through whose awesomeness I was able to go to two QI recordings during the week I was in London,[1] asked me to do this review so she doesn't completely die from exams. I, being done with that sort of thing for the time being, agreed.

This is the review for the Tuesday, May 20 recording. As at the May 12 recording, Rufus Hound did the warmup. This was my second time at a QI recording, my first time having been the day before. I had a brilliant time both nights, and am already going through withdrawal and fantasizing[2] about moving to the UK.

[Footnote 1: All right, the main reason I went was to go to QI.]

[Footnote 2: Sorry for the spelling -- I'm an American.]

Now for the spoilery bits:

The guests for this episode were Jimmy Carr, Jo Brand, and John Sergeant, whose surname I hope I am finally spelling correctly. It was John's first time on the show, and yes, Stephen did bring up his resemblance to Jo.

The theme was "Flora and Fauna," and the center of the set was decorated with grass, flowers, and two garden gnomes.

The show began with a question about camellias (Stephen was wearing one). The answer involved a really precious line from Stephen (for which Jo made fun of him) that I hope makes the edit. Other subjects included flea circuses, tree-dwelling fish, flamingos (repeating some information from series B episode 2), naïve rhinoceroses, frogs and toads, fairy rings, more frogs, lice and the animals they live on, ferrets helping to build aircraft (segueing into ferrets and trousers), the fastest thing in nature, slugs, peacocks, albatrosses (Alan told the "albatross burger" riddle), and mushrooms. So it was mostly fauna rather than flora, but there were a few good plant questions.


Thanks again to MinervaMoon for giving me the opportunity to see QI and for entrusting me with the writing of this review.


[Erin, you're brilliant. Thank you and you're welcome. Sarah]

QI Series F Episode 5 Recording Review

This review is written by Ian Dunn, QI’s faithful newshound.

This was my first time at not just a QI recording, but also my first time at a TV recording. This is mainly due to the fact that I come from Stockton-on-Tees, which for those who are not British is located in the north of England (where there be dragons). As a result, I have to get the train down from Darlington and book a hotel for the night, which makes the fact that most TV and radio records are free somewhat less significant.

My brother and I got into the studio at around 18:45, after talking to some of the people also waiting including other members of the QI forums. Stephen Grant was doing the warm-up again, taking the fun out of a Norwegian and an Austrian, but then it was revealed that some Americans were also there and the heat was took off the previous two. Stephen Fry then came out and played to us a recording on his iPhone featuring a rather bizarre and very rude Australian phone call.

But now, onto the content of the show. Tonight’s guests were Sean Lock, Johnny Vegas and yet another newcomer – the poet Pam Ayres. This makes Pam the fourth new guest of the series so far. The theme of the episode was “Fight or Flight”. Stephen put on an RAF captain’s cap, and the panel were wearing flying goggles and scarves. Sean was also wearing a very tight shirt, but this has nothing really to do with overall costume. The buzzers, instead of being pressed, were operated by joysticks. Topics covered in tonight’s episode were parachuting, spitfires, fish, fighting animals, boxing, ducklings, hot-air balloons, Viking sailors, rockets (and in General Ignorance) manned flight, the armed forces and knights.

Pam Ayers was certainly an interesting guest and gave a lot of quite interesting information. However, it could be said that she lacked the comic abilities of Sean and Johnny, but then again she is not a comedian by trade, but a poet. Like in his first appearance, Johnny was clearly dominating in his presence. Sean and Alan were their usual selves, although quite interestingly, Alan was the subject of one of the questions.

The recording was an interesting experience for a first timer. For starters, the stage was much smaller than I imagined, although it could well be the case that it was just Stephen and Johnny dwarfing the stage with their collective size. The other thing I noted was the seating. I do not know if this is familiar to those who attended previously recordings, but there is not much foot-room for the audience. I ended up with cramp.

After the show, my brother and I went into the Green room, which was a place of celebration as it was John Mitchinson’s birthday, who was presented with a birthday cake. I got chatting to members of the cast, crew and with fellow members of the QI talk boards. I was in conversation with John Lloyd – or to be more accurate, I talked and I had the feeling that I was going on a bit too long. If you’re reading this John, I apologise if I did.

It was a wonderful night as a whole and I hope to able to do more reviews if I come down to Series G. Thanks to those who allowed me to create this review. Remember: keep an eye out on the QI News section of the website for updates.

QI Series F Episode 4 Recording Review

A quick apology for the delay to this review, things are very hectic up in this northern QI enclave with two trips being planned for society members to watch the recordings coming up.

I arrived at the studio at 4:30pm having travelled all the way from York (early departures now a must given the disaster of one trip to the Museum of Curiosities caused by train delays). I passed the time catching up with several friends from last year's recordings, waiting until they were moved in through the gates before I disappeared in through the main entrance at the front of the building.

Stephen Grant returned tonight to give his classic warm-up. It's now the 9th time that I've seen him at QI (probably about the 12th time I've seen him overall) but I still laugh. It's a testament to Stephen's quality that he gets a laugh from the regulars who know his routine as well as he does. He's just released the DVD from his Edinburgh show last year and he deserves a shameless plug. Stephen Fry then came on and introduced the guests in his characteristic fashion, thus it is time for the spoilers:

The guests were Phill Jupitus, Jo Brand and another new-comer of Radio 4 fame, Hugh Dennis. The set was not dressed but the theme was obvious from the moment that the lightning was tested. The set was draped in the glow of the red, white and blue - France was the night's topic. Things started a little on the slow side, at least in part due to each panelist being asked a question in French. Will the French be offended if that section is subtitled in the TV show? Things moved on swiftly however and with hilarious results. Tripods, sleeping, languages, the Arc De Triumph, Paris Syndrome, puffs, soldiers, anthems, (and in GI) romans, cyclists and Hastings were all discussed. There was a tangent into the topic of Mary Poppins although this is a family orientated blog and I will mention no more.

Hugh Dennis gave an admirable performance but given his pedigree in panel shows (MTW, The Now Show, HIGNFY) that was to be expected. The series has already taken on the characteristic of having many more new faces than the last but the results have been positive so far.

Ian Dunn - a new author on the blog - will make an appearance soon to review the 5th episode. I myself shall not be reviewing another until next week so in the meantime please enjoy the reviews and the recordings (if you're one of those lucky people that lives near London).

QI Series F, Episode 3 Recording Review

Sorry to be so disgracefully late with this review, but both qifanatic and I are absolutely overwhelmed with coursework and exam revision. His review for the fourth episode will come imminently, he promises. Since I'm supposed to be doing physics now, I thought a review would be the proper thing to get started on. If you're the kind of person who understands this logic, what are you doing reading this review? Don't you have exams to revise for?

Anyhow. This is the review for the episode that was recorded on 12 May 2008.

The warm-up for this episode was conspicuously Stephen Grant-less, as the busy bee is working hard on his Edinburgh show. Instead, the audience was prepped by comedian Rufus Hound, a newbie to the QI scene, who nevertheless performed admirably. Since my friend had flown in from the States to be there for the week's recordings, I willingly submitted us to get picked on as part of the obligatory "oo-er, who's from overseas?" bit. Mr Hound did his best to cut us down, but I think we scored the last laugh by refuting his contention that we would have backstage passes were we that impressive (which we did, so I think it can be said that we are).

Is this the part where we make the text unreadable for the spoilery bits?
[Ed: Yes, you clod.]
[Ed 2: Only joking. That wasn't really Ed.]

The theme of the show was "Fakes and Frauds", or something along those lines. The guests were Sean Lock, Jimmy Carr, and newcomer Marcus Brigstocke. Each of the panellists had a mask of a different panellist to hold up (in a fraudulent way, you see? You see?) while they were being introduced, but this caused some problems when they were called upon to demonstrate their buzzers; they all kept their masks up and didn't know whether to be themselves or the person they were impersonating. The first 15 minutes of the show were one hilarious disaster after another: The viewscreens started displaying weirdly, and then the buzzers refused to light. Marcus suggested to Jimmy that he "hit it with the flat of the hand!", so Jimmy slammed his palm into his mushroomoid . . . which accomplished nothing. They got a man in from backstage, and finally, everything worked properly until the end.

There were close to 20 questions and activities over the course of the night, and it's a real shame that they all won't make it into the final cut. Topics discussed included freak shows, snake oil (which, someone should inform Stephen, is not made of wank), sword swallowing, false memories, rhubarb jam, Archimedes, margarine, and Cock Lane. I know, you just can't wait. Tangents included the origins of Fanta ("Nazi Coke", according to Jimmy), and deliberate slagging-off of the channel Dave simply because it would be hilarious if they had to air it (Alan). There was a running joke concerning the "pig-faced lady", a topic from the first question. A lot of great banter from the guests made it an excellent recording, and although Marcus came behind the rest of them in points (was I not supposed to say that? [Ed: *facepalm*]), he did very well for a first-timer.

Looking forward to the rest of this series; it's shaping up to be a good 'un.

QI Series F, Episode 2 Review

Lo and behold Mandibles is back with another review for the show.

Having arrived at the studio I enjoyed a chat with some forum friends whilst basking in the sunshine. My bucket of M&S Cornflake crispy bites seemed to go down well and the time flew by until we were moving into the studio. Well done to Matthew of the Applause store who managed to get the queues separated. However, I noticed that a large crowd of Priority members had decided to hang around at the middle of the normal queue until Matthew arrived. They were allowed to join the priority queue before the priority members waiting patiently in line nearer the back were seen to. This maybe something to watch out for in future.

Once again Stephen Grant did a fabulous warm-up and the special C series DVD preview was played.

Onto the fantastic spoilers!

The theme of tonights show was "Future". On the QI set there were 2 large rockets and two pointed paper lights that changed colour from red, blue, yellow and green. These sat either side of Stephen's chair whereas the rockets were at the left and right of the set near the screens. The guests tonight were Sean Lock, Alan Davies, Rob Brydon and a NEW guest Ben Miller (whose startling resemblance to Rob Brydon was not overlooked). Topics covered included Rockets, futuristic languages, speech, time travel and aliens. I was very impressed by Ben Miller's knowledge of advanced physics and time travel and he was awarded a special F series fanfare from Stephen. The interaction between the guests was brilliant, especially between Ben and Rob. One particularly tender moment between them will hopefully make the edit of the show.

I noticed that there were not as many production guests as there were the previous night but all in all it was a very funny show and very interesting.

Thanks to QIFanatic for allowing me to review the show, hopefully it won't be the last one I do!

Bye for now!

QI Series F Episode 1 Review

Hi there folks,
Sorry it has taken me so long to post up these reviews. Only just got back from London. Anyways here goes with my very first QI Review!

The very first recording of the series is always an exiting event and this was no different. The entire queue was buzzing with anticipation as they waited outside. I wasn't in the queue due to being on the production guest list but I did go up front to say hello to some friends from the forum. There were quite a few production guest alongside myself and we were led into the studio at about 6.45pm to take our seats.

Stephen Grant was once again the warm-up for the show. I noticed a lot of new material from him and he was on top form. His warm-up went on for a fair bit longer than usual due to some mysterious happenings behind the curtain. Soon we found out what the wait was for - an exclusive peek into the C Series DVD. Our response to the extra was to be measured to see if they would include it in the show, I hope they do. The QI set was completely bare of props or items giving us no clue as to what the theme of the show was.

On with the spoilers!

The guests this week were Dara O' Briain, Jo Brand, Phill Jupitus and Alan Davies. Some people in the audience stood up as Phill walked out to show their appreciation of him. The theme of tonights show was Features. Mainly bodily ones seeing as most of the questions were related to fingers, faces and feet. This show contained a special forfeit where if any guest said the word f**k then they would lose 10 points. However, if they took Stephen on in a game of "Paper, Scissors, Stone" and won then they would gain five points back. If they lost then another 10 points would be deducted from their score. The special F series bonus is called "Fanfare". If any guest is interesting enough then they earn themselves a fanfare which is very nice for them.
Other topics covered included French kissing, finger lengths, fancy lizards, face recognition, foreskins, feet size and finger muscles.

The show went off really well and the audience were very enthusiastic. After a few pickups the show was done and I headed into the Green Room. It was an excellent experience for me and being able to chat with Piers, John and the stars after the show whilst enjoying a glass of wine was a perfect end to the evening.

Thanks to QIFanatic for letting me review the show!

Edited for certain corrections x

Reviews (Coming Soon)

A quick apology for the delays to the reviews. Due to commitments QI Fanatic is severely limited in the shows he can attend this year so other authors are taking up the slack. Mandibles, a new author, and a fan so obsessed that she has the QI logo tattooed on her arm (which is now property of QI) will bring the reviews of the first two recordings as soon as possible.

Review - Strictly Come Duncing

Click here to purchase Strictly Come Duncing from Amazon.

Strictly Come Duncing is everything that its creators could hope for. It is entertaining but most importantly, it is interesting.

Having come two years since the last DVD a lot of lessons have been learnt. The previous QI game was complicated to play and left many players confused and frustrated. Strictly Come Duncing relies upon simplicity and straight forward interestingness to achieve a very entertaining result.

There are three striking changes in this game. Firstly there are the "Duncehalls", 9 different themes such as Ballroom and Latin (as Stephen makes clear in his introduction the names have no relevance upon the questions in the rounds) in which there are four 10 question rounds. In each round the player competes to answer the most questions correctly. Secondly, there is the option of a two-player quiz. And finally there is Alan Davies, with whom one competes in single-player. Alan did not feature in the first game.

These differences play to the strengths of this format. In the past game one could expect to spend an hour or two answering 50 questions where there could be some horribly frustrating 'dead ends'. The 10 question rounds in duncing can be sped through in quarter of an hour. This game is a very social activity, much like a modern board game. Even when playing by oneself Alan Davies (who was filmed answering the questions himself with no assistance) proves to be a fairly formidable opponent!

Duncing also exhibits some other good features. The questions and informative answers given by Stephen Fry are filmed as a single take for each round. There are no repetitive put-downs from Stephen for wrong answers. There's also a video of Alan as he intently watches Stephen. The credits are accompanied by out-takes, including Stephen's humiliation as he asks a question to which one of the answers is Twinings.

With 36 ten-question-rounds in total this DVD will certainly have the capacity to come out of the box more than a three or four times. Indeed like all of QI's best creations of late, it is best suited to dipping in and out of on a regular basis. Enlightenment should, after all be part of a stable diet. Say no to binge enlightenment!

QI E08 Review - Eyes and Ears

This was also the 8th episode to be recorded, click here to read the review of the recording.

First of all, apologies for the delay in this review. There should be another one very soon for this week's episode.

The guests for this episode were Phill Jupitus, Jimmy Carr and David Mitchell. All of these guests had already been to at least one recording so they all seemed to take the filming in their strides. David Mitchell provided a particularly strong performance in this episode, with his classic style of wit and sarcasm. Jimmy Carr's comments about wife-beating were probably the most risky though. Another highlight was Alan's inventiveness in cat packaging!

This episode will probably be remembered most of all for its final outcome. As is customary in this situation, Stephen read out the scores from lowest to highest. This was Alan's fourth win on the show and with a massive achievement of a 10 point lead.

Come back soon for a review of E09 and some other goodies on this blog.

Review - The QI Annual 2008 ("E")

The QI Annual (edited by John Lloyd and featuring contributions from a helluva lot of people) is available to order on Amazon.co.uk.

The QI Annual is an endeavor several years in coming, and thank the stars, it more than makes up for the wait. Its theme is all things beginning with "E", and unlike The Book of General Ignorance, the source of its content has little to do with what has already been featured on the show. It focuses, instead, on original tidbits of knowledge offered up by a refreshing variety of authors.

As its colourful cover would suggest, many of QI's regular panellists contribute items to the Annual, their topics ranging from the scholarly to the silly. Dara Ó Briain's narrative about how some of Eire's less celebrated historical figures have actually helped out the world of medicine is hilariously riveting, and Bill Bailey does his part in being entertainingly knowledgeable by offering up brief biographies of "Embarrassingly Named Composers". Even Clive Anderson's treatise on the English Elm is a pleasure to read, for it is suffused with his characteristic wit.

On the other side of the bridge of erudition, we get treats like Jo Brand's imaginary gig as an Agony Aunt ("Dear Aunty Jo, I am on a television show called QI and I keep coming last. What shall I do? Love, Alan"), the pictorial demonstration of emotions by Jimmy Carr and Rowan Atkinson, and Jeremy Clarkson's guide to eating exotic creatures (self-researched, of course). Alan Davies' piece is an essay on--what else?--Essex, and illustrated with a near-nude picture of Jodie Marsh, but it is surprisingly full of interesting information about the area, much of it garnered from personal experience.

Of the segments in the Annual related, if sometimes peripherally, to the show, there is a page on "The Poetry of QI", which has rendered extracts from the programme into free verse poems. The highlight here is Julian Clary's much-acclaimed "I Had Wind When I Met the Queen", but I'm a personal fan of "David Beckham Lives in Chingford". On another set of facing pages, the QI Elves guide you through a series of wacky experiments you can actually do, such as measuring the speed of light using grated cheese and a microwave. The accompanying pictures of them in lab-wear makes it clear that, yes, they've done it themselves.

The book provides well for those wanting quick distraction and those willing to delve right into the pile of wisdom. As you might expect from an annual publication, it presents a selection of games and puzzles with which to divert one's attention, including a fiendishly hard quiz that can be entered online. The QI philosophy of offering real knowledge in an absorbing way is not ignored, however, and the annual duly contains fact-filled essays on the eighteenth century and excommunication, tucked in among pieces about lavatories and erotica. Overall highlights include the multi-paneled pastiche entitled "The Education of Stephen" (which has to be seen to be believed), and a disturbingly graphic representation of "The Atrocities of Francois L'Ollonais".

Truly, whatever you were expecting from the publication of QI's first annual, you'd be hard-pressed to be disappointed. Go on. 100 Nectar Points says you'll love it.