Kilts aren't Scottish, Mount Everest isn't the tallest mountain on Earth, and QI isn't a quiz show. It's an anti-quiz show, asking impossible questions and awarding points for the most interesting answers. The cardinal sin is to be boring, even if you're funny and boring like Alan Davies.

The host is Stephen Fry, but did you know that Michael Palin was the original choice? He said no, the ungrateful scum. A word of warning to newcomers - this isn't another sarc-fest like Buzzcocks or HIGNFY. It's actually a rather cosy show brimming with facts that are as interesting as they are useless.

Think of it as a visit to an eccentric uncle who invites you to sit comfortably and non-perversely on his lap so he can say things like: "Did you know the first person killed in a rail accident was a chap called William Huskisson, who previously avoided death when a horse fell on his head during his honeymoon?"

Comments (27)

Jonnydb

January 6, 2009
12:13 a.m.

qi is one of the most interesting and funny shows i have ever encountered. I always tell my friends the information that i find out on qi and it proves how ignorate some people are because even though its true they dont believe me. Qi rocks
Permalink | Report as offensive

becky3337

January 4, 2009
5:26 p.m.

awhh, i love this show :-) jimmy carr's amazing. 'put smarties tubes on cats legs make them walk like a robot' the anagram was amazing :-D it's a very clever show.
Permalink | Report as offensive

fredthefish

January 3, 2009
1:41 a.m.

Definitely agree with the comments about Bill Bailey being great on here. Since Bill has retired from Buzzcocks and panel shows generally "to concentrate on his tour", AFTER the tour I reckon Dave should approach Bill about producing a new show with him featuring heavily on it. There have been various attempts in the past to get a regular Bailey show on telly to varying success but I reckon he's now learnt enough to crack it.
Permalink | Report as offensive

big.paul

December 30, 2008
5:34 p.m.

This is the best show i'v seen
Permalink | Report as offensive

Dr V

December 27, 2008
1:06 a.m.

Was the show at 11.40 tonight a re-run from pre 2000? There are now seven states of matter: solid, liquid, gas, plasma, fermionic matter, Bose-Einsten condensate and (since 2000 at CERN) quark-gluon plasma. Why not put the updates at the bottom of the screen about new discoveries like this? You'd get fewer physics pendants emailing in like this! You could get a physics advisory board or physics-geek elves? Physics Geeks love to be pedantic for free as well :-) especially about accelerator physics in my experience .... oh, I can't think why I am single....
Permalink | Report as offensive

bobN97001

December 20, 2008
11:23 p.m.

Stay Clue'd, Stay True, Forever is the word, or a spit in the eye, The colour of Amber, like Qi. Let the wind blow your mind. Sgt Bob. Glasgow.
Permalink | Report as offensive

Space Alien

December 20, 2008
2:44 p.m.

The funniest episode was when Jimmy Carr was on it...he's so dirty minded that him on that show was like...something equally odd...
Permalink | Report as offensive

jillh10

December 13, 2008
5:27 p.m.

I love this show but sometimes they come out with subject matter that no one else has ever come across like the show where the number 666 was said to have been altered many years ago. I have been trying to find out where this information came from to show people that I am not as Bonkers as they try to make out.
Permalink | Report as offensive
You must be logged in to post comments