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QI (Quite Interesting) is a BBC comedy panel game television show that began in 2003. It was created by John Lloyd, and was hosted by Stephen Fry until the end of Series 13 after which Sandi Toksvig took over, and features permanent panellist Alan Davies. Each series covers topics that begin with a different letter of the alphabet; for example, the first series covered topics whose word began with "A". Thus it is referred to as "Series A" instead of "Series One".

QI was given a full series after BBC executives responded well to a nonbroadcast pilot and the first episode, "Adam" premiered on BBC Two on 11 September 2003. From the second to the fifth series, episodes aired each week on BBC Two; the second and subsequent episodes were shown first on BBC Four in the time-slot after the previous episode's BBC Two broadcast. When the sixth series of QI began in 2008, the show moved to BBC One and the broadcasting of episodes on BBC Four was replaced in favour of an extended repeat broadcast on BBC Two the following day, titled QI XL. From the ninth series, QI returned to BBC Two on Friday at 10 pm with the XL edition on Saturdays. Lloyd acted as the producer for the first five series. Piers Fletcher became producer starting from Series F. New episodes for "Series U" began airing on 18 December 2023. As of 3 May 2024, 308 episodes of QI have aired. This count does not include the unbroadcast pilot, three special episodes, 30 compilation episodes (from "Series G" onwards), and one episode containing outtakes from "Series E".

Series overview

Episodes

Pilot

Series A (2003)

Series B (2004)

Series C (2005)

Series D (2006)

Series E (2007)

Series F (2008–09)

Beginning with "Fire and Freezing", episodes premiered on BBC One. XL editions were broadcast the following day on BBC Two, from "Flotsam and Jetsam" onwards.

Series G (2009–10)

Series H (2010–11)

Comic Relief Special (2011)

Series I (2011–12)

Sport Relief Special (2012)

Series J (2012–13)

Series K (2013–14)

Series L (2014–15)

Series M (2015–16)

Series N (2016–17)

Series O (2017–18)

Series P (2018–19)

Series Q (2019–20)

Series R (2020–21)

Series S (2021–22)

Comic Relief Special (2022)

Series T (2022–23)

Series U (2023–24)

Series V (2024–25)

Series V was recorded in February and March 2024.

Footnotes

1. This episode was never broadcast, but was released as an extra on the Series A DVD.
2. Also known as "Africa".
3. ^ Christmas special
4. ^ Apart from the first episode which premiered on BBC Two, all the dates given are for when the episodes premiered on BBC Four.
5. For the General Ignorance portion of this episode, Fry and Davies switched places after Davies demanded that he "not be humiliated at Christmas". Fry deliberately collected enough forfeits to ensure he finished bottom.
6. ^ Hallowe'en special
7. ^ Children in Need special
8. Alan Davies was absent for the recording of this episode, as he did not want to miss his favourite football team, Arsenal, playing in the Champions League final that same evening. He did however make an appearance through pre-recorded material, which ended with him being 'teleported' to the match as he tested his buzzer.
9. A special episode containing outtakes from Series E.
10. The broadcast of this episode was delayed by a week because of the 2009 Comic Relief telethon.
11. The first few XLs were not screened the day after the short version was shown in Series G, the BBC instead choosing to hold them back for later airing dates.
12. Hodgman was a last-minute addition to the panel after the producers found out he was in the UK. This is the only episode to feature five panellists on the show instead of four.
13. ^ The XL version of this episode premiered on Dave, not the BBC.
14. For the first time, the players were divided into teams, with the men on one team and the women on the other.
15. Jo Brand was listed as finishing 5th in this episode – US President Barack Obama 'finished' 4th with a score of −10 for referring to 44 different Presidents taking the oath of office in a clip of his inauguration speech, activating a klaxon. At the time, there were actually 43, because Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th President.
16. On the original transmission, Clive Anderson was announced as the winner, but in the XL version it was shown that the actual winner was the audience, scoring 10 points compared to Anderson's 3 points.
17. Special episode webcast live as part of 24 Hour Panel People. Alan Davies was not present for this episode.
18. Conti was accompanied by her ventriloquist's puppet, Gran, whose score was counted separately from her own.
19. As part of the theme, the scores were unjustly given at the beginning, stating that Toksvig won (despite the fact Anderson had a higher score). The true scores were not revealed at the end.
20. The original broadcast of the 30-minute edition of this episode was replaced by live coverage of Children in Need on BBC Two. It was eventually shown at 11:30pm on the day of the first broadcast of "Ice".
21. ASIMO scored points by demonstrating its technological capabilities to the audience. Of the four panellists, Mitchell had the highest score.
22. Special episode aired as part of BBC Two's Shakespeare season.
23. This episode was originally scheduled to go out on 9 December 2011 (as episode 14 of the series), but after a furore over comments that panellist Jeremy Clarkson had made live on The One Show – concerning a recent public sector strike and suicides on railway lines – the BBC decided to postpone the airing until a later date.
24. This XL edition was unintentionally made available on the BBC iPlayer following the date of its original intended broadcast (it was removed the following morning). The first TV broadcast was on BBC HD.
25. A short sports-themed edition of the show, recorded during the filming of the "I-Spy" episode and broadcast during the 2012 Sport Relief telethon.
26. ^ The scores were not revealed.
27. Fry declared himself the winner having awarded himself 52! (52-factorial, approximately 8×10) points for demonstrating that no two shuffles of a deck of cards would ever be the same. Of the four panellists, Sessions had the highest score.
28. To match with the theme of correcting previous inaccuracies, the panellists were given points that they would be owed for their prior appearances' incorrect answers which were statistically now correct. Davies received 737.66 owed points, several hundred more than anyone else was owed, ensuring that he won. The panellist who had the most points without including this bonus was Jo Brand.
29. ^ The XL edition of this episode was broadcast before the regular edition.
30. ^ As part of the theme, the scoring system was inverted, with the panellist with the lowest score being declared the winner and the highest scorer the loser.
31. Although Millican had fewer points than both Lane, and Fielding, she was declared the winner as Toksvig once had to stand her up so she could become the host of QI.
32. The episode had a theme of politeness. In keeping with the theme, when one panellist received points, the other panellists also received points. Instead of reading out scores at the end of the episode, Toksvig awarded prizes to each panellist: Brandreth won "Most Positive Attitude"; Carr won "Tidiest Desk"; Phillips won "Neatest Colouring In"; Davies won "Waggiest Tail".
33. Marvin was awarded 42 points after appearing on the show. Of the panellists, Walsh had the highest score.
34. ^ This episode's broadcasting in Northern Ireland took place after this date.
35. ^ Show was recorded in March 2020 without a studio audience. This was because of restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
36. In keeping with the episode's theme, the points were awarded randomly. Alan Davies was declared the winner with 150,000 points - the weight in kilograms of a blue whale.
37. QI floor manager. The panellists all had a turn on a test-your-strength machine, with their scores on the machine being added to their points from the rest of the show. Smart then also had a turn and achieved the highest score, thus winning the episode. Of the four panellists, Alan Davies had the highest overall score.
38. Special episode as part of the main Comic Relief programme, aired on BBC One.
39. Basil came last having scored minus 20 points.
40. At the end of the episode, Toksvig was too busy pouring vodka down an ice sculpture she had made to read out the scores.
41. ^ The standard-length version of this episode was made available on BBC iPlayer prior to broadcast, on the date the XL version was first aired.
42. The players were divided into teams, with the British panellists on one team and the Americans on the other.

References

General

• Wolf, Ian. "QI – Episode Guide". British Comedy Guide. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
• Wolf, Ian. "QI Merchandise". British Comedy Guide. Archived from the original on 9 March 2010. Retrieved 22 March 2009.

Specific

1. Wolf, Ian. "QI – A Quite Interesting Guide". British Comedy Guide. Archived from the original on 26 February 2010. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
2. "QI: The BBC Television Series". QI. Archived from the original on 6 November 2006. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
3. John Lloyd and John Mitchinson (6 November 2006). QI – The Complete First Series: "Factoids" (Audio Commentary) (DVD). BBC and 2entertain. Catalogue number BBCDVD2325.
4. Wolf, Ian. "Series A – Adam". British Comedy Guide. Archived from the original on 9 March 2010. Retrieved 22 March 2009.
5. Wolf, Ian. "QI – Production Details, Plus Regular Cast and Crew". British Comedy Guide. Archived from the original on 16 January 2010. Retrieved 22 March 2009.
6. "BBC Two - QI XL, Series V, Voyaging XL". BBC Programmes. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
7. Wolf, Ian. "QI – Pilot". British Comedy Guide. Archived from the original on 4 February 2010. Retrieved 23 March 2009.
8. ^ "Weekly top 30 programmes on TV sets (July 1998 – Sept 2018)". BARB. Archived from the original on 11 February 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
9. Wolf, Ian. "QI: Series F – Food". British Comedy Guide. Archived from the original on 19 August 2010. Retrieved 2 March 2009.
10. Wolf, Ian. "QI: Series G – Greeks". British Comedy Guide. Archived from the original on 21 January 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
11. "24 Hour Panel People: Schedule". BBC: Comic Relief. Archived from the original on 7 March 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
12. "Weekly top programmes on four screens (from Sept 2018)". BARB. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
13. "BBC iPlayer - Comic Relief - 2022: Red Nose Day". BBC iPlayer - Comic Relief - 2022: Red Nose Day. Archived from the original on 19 March 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
14. "BBC Two - QI XL, Series V, Vulgar". BBC Online. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
15. "BBC Two - QI XL, Series V, Episode 11". BBC Online. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
16. "BBC Two - QI XL, Series V, Episode 12". BBC Online. Retrieved 19 December 2024.

1. ^ Ratings for half-hour version only.
2. ^ Not reported in the weekly top 30 programmes.
3. ^ Ratings for half-hour version only unless otherwise specified.
4. From episode 11 onwards, ratings are 28-day consolidated. Beforehand, 7-day consolidated.
5. ^ Not reported in the weekly top 15 programmes for four-screen viewer ratings.

External links

• QI official website Archived 18 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
• QI Episodes Guide Archived 4 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine
• QI at British Comedy Guide
• QI at IMDb

• Lists of British comedy television series episodes
• Lists of British non-fiction television series episodes
• QI