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

QI & MoC Recordings

We can announce that the G series of QI is to be extended beyond the normal run of 12 episodes to a minimum of 16. Recordings of Qi are currently scheduled to take place on the following dates at the London Studios:

May 8th, 9th, 14th, 15th, 19th, 21st, 22nd, 26th, 28th, & 29th
June 2nd, 4th, 5th, 9th, 11th & 12th

Bookings for tickets can be made via www.applausestore.com as tickets are made available.

Meanwhile the Museum of Curiosities, presented by the creator of QI John Lloyd on BBC Radio 4 will be returning for a new series later this year. John Lloyd will be joined by Sean Locke who will be tacking over from Bill Bailey as the series' co-presenter and the museum's curator. Recordings will be taking place at the BBC's Broadcasting House on Oxford Circus on the following dates:

March 30th & 31st
April 6th & 13th
May 4th & 19th

Tickets can be booked online here or by ringing 0370 901 1227.

F Series Starts Today

Don't forget that the first episode of the full run of the F series starts tonight at 9:00pm on BBC One. Tonight's episode is about "Flotsam and Jetsam", with guests Andy Hamilton, Rob Brydon, and returning for only his second episode, former plasterer Charlie Higson.

You can catch an extended edition of the show tomorrow (Saturday) evening on BBC Two at 10:30pm with an extra ten minutes that wouldn't fit into the Friday show.

Also, you may be interested to learn that the Radio 4 series The Museum of Curiosity, starring QI creator John Lloyd and comedian Bill Bailey in a QI-inspired search for the universe's most interesting things, is now available for purchase in the form of an audio CD. You can order it from Amazon here.

The Museum of Curiosity 2nd Series

The Museum of Curiosity has been commissioned for a second series. The radio 4 comedy is loosely based on QI and stars John Lloyd (QI's creator) as the professor and Bill Bailey (a frequent guest) as its curator. Guests are asked to contribute an item to the museum. Items already added to the museum have included silence and the Battle of Waterloo.

The Museum of Curiosity

The Museum of Curiosity is the latest creation of John Lloyd, the creator of QI and it's coming to a wireless near you at 6:30pm on Wednesday 20th February for the next 6 weeks. It is a radio 4 comedy based around the principles of QI where a panel of guests will contribute an item to the museum. John Lloyd takes the role of the professor whilst regular QI panelist Bill Bailey takes the role of curator (at his keyboard).

Having seen the show being recorded, I am very confident that this series is going to be a big hit. It could well be radios' VI to TV's quite interesting since it doesn't rely purely on comedic talent but also on notable talents in many fields (Alastair Fothergill, the producer of Blue Planet and Planet Earth for example). However, the show still benefits from strong comedic talent including Bill Bailey himself and panelists like Kevin Day.

Don't forget to listen next Wednesday at 6:30pm on Radio 4.