A New Bunch of Updates

Goodness gracious it has been a while since this was updated. Well, we might as well do some updating now.

Series H

The eighth series of QI has now been fully recorded. This series will see the 100th episode being broadcast, although we do not know as of yet whether the official 100th episode will be a special (for those wondering, the official 100th episode does not take into account the unbroadcast pilot or the clip shows). Scroll over the white section to find out more.

The show features seven new panellists, one guest who has so far only appeared in the unbroadcast pilot, another since Series A and another since Series B. This series features the show's youngest panellist and the first member of the crew to appear on the show since Howard Goodall in Series A.

Here is a guide to all the episodes and guests:

1. House and Home - Bill Bailey, Danny Baker, Eddie Izzard.

2. Hands, Hearts and Heads - Bill Bailey, Gyles Brandreth, Sue Perkins.

3. Happiness - Rich Hall, Andy Hamilton, Phill Jupitus.

4. Holidays - Bill Bailey, Rob Brydon, Rich Hall.

5. Hypnotism - Ronni Ancona, Phill Jupitus, Robert Webb.

6. Highs and Lows - Rob Brydon, Fred MacAulay, Sandi Toksvig.

7. Hodge Podge - Jack Dee, Phill Jupitus, Ross Noble.

8. History - Rob Brydon, David Mitchell, Sandi Toksvig.

9. Horrible - Chris Addison, Sean Lock, Dara Ó Briain.

10. Hypothetical Questions - John Lloyd (yes, the John Lloyd who created QI), Sandi Toksvig, Johnny Vegas.

11. Health and Safety (Possibly Hundredth Episode Special) - Jeremy Clarkson, David Mitchell, Ross Noble.

12. Hoaxes - Danny Baker, Sean Lock, David Mitchell.

13. Horses - Clare Balding, Jimmy Carr, Dara Ó Briain.

14. Hocus Pocus (Christmas Special) - Lee Mack, Graham Norton, Daniel Radcliffe.

15. Hanimals - Sean Lock, Ross Noble, Ruby Wax.

16. Humanity - Jo Brand, Jimmy Carr, Jack Dee.

The Museum of Curiosity

The third gallery of The Museum of Curiosity has almost been completely unveiled. For those who have missed any of the meetings of the museum, which has been curated by John Lloyd and Jon Richardson, you can read about what has been going on from the museum's entry on the British Comedy Guide. Episodes are currently still available from the BBC iPlayer. The final episode of galley three is on 14th June.

This week, the complete second gallery came out on CD. You can buy it from Amazon and Play, or download it from Audible.co.uk

QI Products

A new range of QI products are coming out soon.

The Second Book of General Ignorance: Don't You Know Anything? - The follow-up to the Amazon best-selling Book of General Ignorance, the second book, written by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson contains even more stuff that you think you know, but you don't.

The QI Annual 2011 - The fourth annual book will feature "H" related subjects. Contributors include Alan Davies, Phill Jupitus, Jo Brand, Clive Anderson, Rowan Atkinson, Bill Bailey, David Mitchell, Rob Brydon, Sean Lock and Jimmy Carr.

The QI Annual Bind-Up - A collection of the first three annuals, covering the letters "E", "F" and "G".

Fry: A Memoir - Stephen Fry is to publish his second autobiography, which continues on from where his first, Moab is my Washpot, left off.

Boffinology: The Real Stories Behind Our Greatest Scientific Discoveries - The fourth in QI elf Justin Pollard's selection of "Interesting" books, in which he looks at the more interesting side of science, including how Issac Newton thought gravity was created by the Holy Spirit and the Greek invention of the slot machine.

I Never Knew There Was a Word For That - The three books of former QI elf Adam Jacot de Boinod are published together in this one publication. Containing The Meaning of Tingo, Toujours Tingo and The Wonder of Whiffling, they cover a range of words you never knew existed.

QI Petitions

Just to remind you that there are still some QI petitions being carried out. These are the petition to get the show broadcast in America, which currently has over 10,000 signatures, and the petition to get more DVDs of the show released, which is nearing 1,000 signatures.

Products, Recordings and Other Updates

Quite a lot has been going on since the QI Talk blog has last been updated, so I thought it was time to give everyone the latest news.

Series G

QI's seventh series is currently being recorded. Out of the sixteen episodes to be made, seven have so far have been recorded. The details are written below in white so as not to spoil it for those waiting for them to be broadcast. Scroll over the text to read it.

Episode 1) G-Animals: With Bill Bailey, Sean Lock, Sandi Toksvig, and John Hodgman (that's right: four guests!)

Episode 2) Gravity: With Barry Humphries, Bill Bailey, and Rich Hall.

Episode 3) Gothic: With Jimmy Carr, Jack Dee and Sue Perkins.

Episode 4) Games: With Phill Jupitus, Sean Lock, and Liza Tarbuck.

Episode 5) Gifts: With Clive Anderson, Jimmy Carr, and Jan Ravens.

Episode 6) A Gallimaufry of Gingambobs: With Phill Jupitus, Hugh Dennis, and Andy Hamilton.

Episode 7) Green: With Danny Baker, Bill Bailey, and Jeremy Clarkson.

The other recordings will take place on May 26th, 28th, 29th, June 2nd, 4th, 5th, 9th, 11th, and 12th.

You can find out more information from the QI Forums and the British Comedy Guide.

The Museum of Curiosity

The second gallery of The Museum of Curiosity is currently open. The radio "spin-off" to QI, hosted by QI's creator John Lloyd (Professor of Ignorance at the University of Buckingham), now has a new curator, Sean Lock. Three episodes have been broadcast and the series is currently on the BBC iPlayer.

The Museum is also planning to expand. The people behind the show are to open a new website of the series soon, which will include a forum and podcasts, and will even allow users to donate their own exhibits.

You can listen to the new series on BBC Radio 4 on Monday evenings at 18:30, with repeats on Sundays at noon. You can follow the show on The Museum's Blog or at the British Comedy Guide.

Quite Interesting Products

Some new QI goodies are soon to be made available.

The QI Pocket Book of Animals - Following on from the pocket version of The Book of General Ignorance, a new pocket version of QI's second book, The Book of Animal Ignorance has just come out. You can buy it from Amazon and Play.

Advanced Banter (Paperback) - The paperback version of QI's book of quotations is to be published on 3 September 2009, according to Amazon and Play.

QI: The Book of the Dead - The new, fourth book published by the people behind QI to be published on 1 October 2009. Split into 42 chapters, The Book of the Dead will contain sections such as "People who died Penniless", "The One-Legged", "Only Children", "People who failed at School", "Those only Remembered by a Single Quotation" and "The Last People to Know Everything". You can pre-order the book from Amazon.

Secret Britain: The Hidden Bits of Our History: Written by Question Wrangler Justin Pollard, this is a follow up to his previous books The Interesting Bits and Charge! which look at all the quite interesting bits in the history of Britain. The book is listed on Amazon and will be released on 1 October 2009.

The QI Annual 2010: The third QI annual is currently in the making, and will feature a range of G-related topics. Contributions will come from Stephen Fry, Alan Davies, Rowan Atkinson, Jeremy Clarkson, Bill Bailey, Jo Brand, Phill Jupitus, Jimmy Carr and many more. To be released on 5th November, 2009. Per-order from Amazon.

My Favourite People, 1978-1988: Alan's first book! QI's resident panellist and stud muffin has written a memoir of his life growing up in the 1980s. You can find more information about the book here.

QI is also hoping that to make a game for the Nintendo DS, but it is not known if and when it will come out. Sadly, no details are yet known concerning DVDs of any more QI series; Series D is the next one that should be due for release.

Twitter

QI, along with several other related shows and people, is now on Twitter. For those wanting to know information about the shows as they are recorded, these links will let you know live from the scene. He is a list of some quite interesting tweets you may wish to follow.

QI - @qikipedia

The Museum of Curiosity - @Curiositwitty

QI Telegraph - @QITelegraph

Stephen Fry - @stephenfry

Alan Davies - @alandavies1

John Mitchinson - @Tewlop

Justin Pollard - @JustinPollard

Katie Scott - @katiescottscott

Dan Schreiber - @Schreiberland

Jonathan Paul Green - @jpgdesign

Some QI Things

Firstly, my sincerest apologies for leaving you all in the dark for so long. There hasn't really been that much for me to talk about recently but we're now entering the build up for the next series and also Christmas. All this means that there will soon be lots for you to spend your hard earned cash on so that you can squeeze every last ounce of enjoyment out of QI.

Here's a run down of what you can expect:

1. September 1st

It's probably the most anticipated release from QI of the lot amongst the fans of QI. The best thing is that it's already on the shelves. This one really can't wait for the Christmas list.

Check out this video to get an idea of some of the slightly more surreal contents of the DVD.

Order from Amazon.



2. October 1st/November 17th

Last year Stephen Fry jetted off to the USA for a tour of all of the 50 states to form a 6 part series that will air on the BBC this Autumn. The accompanying book goes on sale on October 1st and the series will be available on DVD from November 17th.

Pre-order the book on Amazon.

Pre-order the DVD on Amazon.



3. October 2nd

Justin Pollard - QI's resident historian releases the second of his quite interesting books this Autumn. I probably can't beet the blurb from amazon so here is what it's all about:

"It is a book about the smaller tragedies and triumphs of war - toilets that sink U-boats, unsporting attacks on Christmas day, armies that stop for tea, bombs on renegade balloons, drunk generals, blind kings, blind drunk generals, circular warships, and all the joy and misery that such things bring with them. "

Pre-order from Amazon

4. October 2nd

Have you ever been at that ever important dinner party or social gathering and embarrassed yourself when you just didn't have the right words to mind? Or perhaps you've committed a terrible faux pas when you were the only one that didn't know who originally said that amazingly funny line? Well if so then this book isn't just for you but a whole lot of other people too.

QI: Advanced Banter is more than 450 pages of funny and humorous quotes organised into an A to Z of 250 useful topics. You'll never be found wanting again when the moment is right for the witty one liner.
Pre-order from Amazon.

5. October 30th

Wonders of the Ancient World is Justin Pollard's second book to be published in the space of a month. Back in the days of the Romans and the great Greek poets, lists of the great wonders of the World were rather popular. Historical figures ranging from Antipater of Sidion to the Roman geographer Strabo created such lists but none of them had the luxury of travelling the world with the freedom that we have today. This book could quite easily be a travel guide for the time traveller who plans to visit all of the great wonders of the world in the past. But for the rest of us this book is a brilliant journey of the imagination to see the sights that would have adorned the ancient lists if only Boeing had decided to build the 747 a couple of millennia earlier.

Pre-order from Amazon.

6. November 6th

This one truly is primed for your Christmas list. If last year's annual is anything to go by then you really will have a whole year's worth of reading material here. As with the 2008 edition there will be lots of sections written by QI's many varied comedic guests and researchers, and potentially a few little snippets from the QI forum members.

* If you're hunting for it on the book shelves later in the year, do note that this is not necessarily the final version of the cover.

Pre-order from Amazon

7. January 8th 2009

The CD of the first series of The Museum of Curiosities, starring QI's John Lloyd and Bill Bailey will be available early next year. No album cover as yet, but that would give away who won the competition to design it.

*This post was edited on 01/09/08

Stephen Fry Weekend on BBC4

Next weekend BBC4 will give its tribute to Stephen Fry. It'll kick off on Friday night with episode C03 of QI and will continue on Saturday with some of Fry's favourite shows. Highlights will include '50 Not Out' a special programme to celebrate Fry's 50th Birthday to be shown at 21:00 on Friday (plus several repeats later in the week). There will also be an hour long interview with Mr Fry by Mark Lawson on Saturday at 19:00. Friday night will also include shows in which Fry has featured like A Bit of Fry and Laurie, The Young Ones, Blackadder Goes Fourth and the film Wilde.

Click Here for more details and listings.

Biography 1: Stephen Fry

Firstly, thanks must go to QI Fanatic for his astounding work on this blog and for giving me the role of one of his bloggers. I’ll be keeping my very small blog up for now, but I suspect that I will be transferring the posts over here at some point.

In the meantime, my objective is to bring you profiles on the main participants in QI. That means that every week, you can read up on information regarding Stephen, Alan, Jo Brand, Phill Jupitus, Bill Bailey and so on. This will continue until late September/early October, when series E of QI begins broadcasting on BBC Two. So today, here is a profile of the QI-master, Stephen Fry.

Born Stephen John Fry on 24th August 1957 in Hampstead, London, the 6' 4½" legend is the son of British scientist Alan Fry, and Marianne Neumann, an Austrian of Jewish descent. Writer, actor, and comedian, Fry lives in his London SW1 flat and his Norfolk house when not travelling. He grew up in Norfolk (where his parents still reside) and attended Uppingham School and Stout's Hill. After serving three months in Pucklechurch prison for credit card fraud at the age of seventeen, he attended Queens College, Cambridge in 1979, finishing with a 2:1 in English in 1981/2.

While at Cambridge, he was a member of the Footlights society, alongside Thompson, Tony Slattery, Martin Bergmann, and his now best friend Hugh Laurie. His prolific writing partnership with Laurie began in 1981, starting with Footlights revues for (among others) Mayweek, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and a three-month tour of Australia. In 1984, Fry was engaged to do the rewrite of the Noel Gay musical Me and My Girl, which made him a millionaire before the age of 30, and also earned him a nomination for a Tony award in 1987. Throughout the 1980s, Fry wrote for newspapers, magazines and hosted his own radio comedy show, Saturday Night Fry, with Laurie, Thompson and Broadbent often appearing as guests, and was a contestant on Whose Line is it Anyway? He also appeared in an episode of The Young Ones, as part of a University Challenge skit (he was familiar to this role, having been part of a real panel on the show not long before). He is perhaps best known for his television roles in Blackadder II and Blackadder Goes Forth as Lord/General Melchett, and in a cameo as the Duke of Wellington in Blackadder the Third. He went on to play the valet Jeeves in Jeeves and Wooster (1990), alongside Hugh Laurie as Bertie Wooster. Both shows ran for 4 successful series.

Fry's acting career has not been limited to films and television though. He had successful runs in Alan Bennett's Forty Years On, Simon Gray's The Common Pursuit with John Sessions, Rik Mayall, and others. Gray's Cell Mates was less successful. During what Fry described as one of his ‘episodes’ in his documentary The Secret Life of the Manic-Depressive, he walked out of the play. He then tried to commit suicide before later resurfacing in Belgium. Over that weekend, he had considered suicide and has since spoken frankly on the subject. Fry has published four novels as well as a collection of his radio and journalistic miscellanea. He has recorded audiotapes of many works for both adults and children, including the Harry Potter novels. As earlier reported on this blog, Stephen Fry is one of only 5 people to know the end of the final book in the series.

More recently, he has appeared in US drama Bones, directed his own film Bright Young Things and hosted the BAFTA awards. Fry is currently starring in the ITV1 drama Kingdom. A second series has already been commissioned and is currently in production.

Most readers of this blog will recognise Stephen Fry primarily as the host of QI. However, it was not originally intended that he would be the host of the show. When John Lloyd first presented the idea (which soon changed from a radio show to a TV show) he imagined Fry as a team captain with Michael Palin hosting the game. Palin turned down the role but QI has continued to be a huge success with Fry at the helm.