Alan Davies

The nation's favourite national treasure, Stephen Fry, has finally called time on QI (BBC Two).

Where would we have been without Fry's QI? The quirky quiz has been correcting our misconceptions for 13 years and over 180 episodes. How else would we have known that Darwin ate owls, the moon smells of gunpowder, Cinderella's slippers were made of squirrel fur and that Henry VIII had two wives (or four if you're Catholic)?

QI has been a pedant's paradise and has probably been the cause of more pub fights on 'quiz night' than any of the beer served. It will continue with Sandi Toksvig in the chair, but only time will tell whether the chemistry of Fry and Alan Davies will be replicated. My guess is Davies will give it a go to the end of the series and then bow out himself. Only time - and ratings - will tell.

Review - QI: Series M, Episode 16 - Misconceptions

Bye-Bye Stephen...

After rattling through half an alphabet's worth of "quite interesting" trivia, and finding endlessly inventive ways of calling Alan Davies an idiot, Stephen Fry finally steps down from his role of QI's avuncular headmaster tonight. But first there's a final light-hearted lecture to get through, on the subject of misconceptions. The panel of Chris Addison, Sue Perkins and Sara Cox isn't quite a classic by QI standards - where's Bill Bailey?! - but one final opportunity for some Fry-and-Davies back-and-forth should make up for that.

"You can't live your life without Stephen Fry," we're told, but I'd disagree. Nonetheless, those who find Stephen Fry pompous these days might actually like this documentary as it reminds you of the days when he appeared in brilliant comedies like Blackadder and The Young Ones. He wasn't always a luvvie BAFTA host or a dabbling TV presenter. This tribute takes us back to his great days, but also tells his difficult personal story, which is far more interesting than anything he's done on screen.

The story starts in Hampstead in 1957, but his family soon moved to Norfolk and he says it was "agony to be so remote" as the cool London kids were going to cinemas and milk bars and he was stuck in flat old Yokeltown.

There followed some youthful brushes with the law but education brought him back into civilisation, and it was at Cambridge in the 1970s where he met his first comedy partner, Hugh Laurie.

There is lots of luvvie emotion and glowing contributions from Laurie, Michael Sheen, Alan Davies and John Lloyd but Fry's discussions about his battles with bipolar disorder offset all of that frilly nonsense.

In a Christmas instalment of Alan Davies's rambling chatshow - the guests just talk at random, the title of the show being decided at the end; so "Christmas" is perhaps a strong contender this time around - the Reverend Richard Coles, EastEnder Jo Joyner and comedians Jason Manford and Joe Lycett get together at the round table. There is talk of donning Santa outfits, chimney fires, having a curry on Christmas Day and a wonderful story about Brian Blessed. But then, aren't they all?

Radio Times review

Stephen Fry has been the face of the Bafta Film Awards for many years now and the British Academy is behind this glowing tribute to the writer, raconteur, actor and wit. There will be contributions from Fry's friends and colleagues Michael Sheen, Hugh Laurie, Alan Davies and John Lloyd. But in the main, Fry himself waxes lyrical on his love of meeting film stars at the awards, his early passion for drama and comedy and the bathroom encounter with Alan Bennett that prompted him to play Oscar Wilde in the 1997 film.

This may be a little luvvieish for some tastes, but the goo will have a dose of savoury in the form of his reflections on his various private struggles over the years, including his battle with depression.

Alan Davies at Cheltenham Town Hall review

The traumas of soft play, horrors of male changing rooms, and woes of adolescence, television comedian, Alan Davies, returned to Cheltenham Town Hall to raise laughs, gasps, and even snorts among comedy fans.

Alan Davies's favourite TV

The QI panellist and stand-up comedian on Ted Danson, Tricia Yates and how a studio audience makes TV much funnier.

Radio Times review

Comedian Susan Calman hyperventilates at the prospect of this week's topic: maths. "I'm phobic about maths," she wails to a sympathetic Stephen Fry, who guides her gently through a maths-based limerick. Future host Sandi Toksvig (who takes over next series, after Fry's retirement), however, thinks maths can be "beautiful". During a jolly episode where Alan Davies is outnumbered there to one by female contestants (including comedian Aisling Bea), we learn the difference between an anagram and an aptagram, and ponder whether rhesus monkeys can count.

Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled - series 3 review

If there was a Guinness World Record for the simplest comedy format, then Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled would probably be most likely to claim it.