Alan Davies

Last night QI returned to BBC2 for another series of the incredibly intelligent quiz show hosted by the extremely knowledgeable Stephen Fry. Last night Mr Fry was joined by Lee Mack, Jimmy Carr, Sandi Toksvig and the ever-present Alan Davies. The subject was I-Spy.

To list the amount of interesting facts would take longer than watching the show itself and to list the amount of jokes, gags or hints of amusement would take almost as long. A few key points on last night's episode that ticked both boxes were the plastic mould of Einstein's face that tricks the mind and making the Queen happy or sad on a five pound note. Without giving it away I think you definitely have to watch the show in order to get the point of each.

QI is a very unique programme on the old telebox these days as it educates whilst entertaining. Maintaining the balance and keeping an audience who have flicked on for either is a tricky thing to master, but QI has mastered it with flying colours I do believe. I did learn a few things that I did not know before watching and I although most of it may be useless I do feel more confident going into next week's pub quiz.

Star of the show last night would have to go Lee Mack who isn't the cleverest of men, but is damn funny. Catch it on the iPlayer and expand your intelligence whilst having a chuckle.

The versatile Lee Mack pops up again here to bolster the return of QI - giving Alan Davies a run for his money in the dunderhead stakes, opposite the other team of Sandi Toksvig, Jimmy Carr and his very strange giggle.

Thanks to Stephen Fry, it's possible to learn more in a single episode of QI than in an entire year at school and tonight you'll come away with your head stuffed with generally useless but quite interesting facts about lobsters, insect matter, Ye Olde Pie Shoppes and one very unlucky chap nicknamed the Durable Mike Malloy.

There are some very cool optical illusions too, much semi-intelligent banter and a bizarre moment that inspires Sandi to gasp: "I never thought I'd see Einstein in that position."

Fans of the whimsical quiz show QI can look forward to a long night on the sofa tonight, with a run of four repeated episodes (the first of which is at 9.00pm) sandwiched around this jolly documentary about the making of the series. Featuring clips from the archives as well as interviews with Stephen Fry, Alan Davies, Jo Brand et al, it goes back to the genesis of the series - which was originally conceived as a radio show - and includes a rare glimpse of the bashful research team affectionately known as the "QI Elves".

A slightly surprising - and very tough - vote from the judges after Monday night's show sent Dan, Pat and Tiffany through to tonight's live final at London's Hammersmith Apollo.

They've already played Blackpool's Tower Ballroom, but you can bet the nerves will be kicking in tonight as they play to the biggest audience of their careers and millions of voting viewers at home.

The winner will pocket £100,000 plus their own DVD, but all three finalists will be heading off around the country on tour in just three weeks' time.

Joining host Jason Manford are judges Alan Davies and Kate Copstick, who's warned Dan: "If you let me down I will have your Welsh rarebits on toast." I don't think she was joking.

Show disappointed as the contestants joined the army

Show Me The Funny saw Jason Manford, Alan Davies and Bob Mortimer judge the hopefuls at a military base, but the comic value of comedians participating in an army bootcamp is surprisingly low.

Alan Davies' Whites. Hulu. Now.

Should you find yourself in need of a new British comedy fix, hope over to Hulu and check out Whites, starring Alan Davies, Darren Boyd and Katherine Parkinson.

Show Me The Funny was a shambles that looked like it was being hastily cobbled ­together as they went along. Anyone work out what the hell was going on? Damned if I could.

Twitter fan and former One Show sensation Jason Manford was the host. I think.

Dying a death in Liver­pool, 10 criminally hopeless ­alleged stand-up ­comedians seemed determined to establish they couldn't make us laugh if their lives ­depended on it. Mission accomplished.

Meanwhile, Jimmy ­Tarbuck and Alan Davies spouted seasoned-pro claptrap with some old girl doing an impression of Cruella De Vil on a bad-hair day. They were the ­judges. I think.

But back to the action... and contestant Cole Parker's first "joke" of the empty night: "The amount of oestrogen in this room is as palpable as it is ­intimidating." Boom-boom!

After that it was downhill all the way. Hard to crack a smile.

There are supposed to be six more episodes of this ocean-going turkey. But is it really worth ­carrying on? I think not.

Show Me The Funny review

Another reality competition, but guest judges Alan Davies and Jimmy Tarbuck lulled me into a false sense of security by assuring me they'd never lend their names to something tawdry and half arsed. I'm not a fan of the term half arsed but it does work in certain circumstances and Show Me The Funny is the perfect one of these.

Show Me The Funny review: stand-up chronic

Alan Davies and Jimmy Tarbuck realised they were in the presence of a no-hoper but went easy on the poor bloke. However the show's answer to Simon Cowell - comedy critic Kate Copstick lays into the pair like someone trying to make a name for herself. Will this be a hit? Probably...

A more cynical tv-based e-mail that likes to use glaringly topical references might say an ITV1 show about stand-up comedy that is hosted by Jason Manford and features Alan Davies as a judge is something akin to Fox News asking Rebekah Brooks to host a show about running a morally superior newspaper business, with Rupert Murdoch as judge.

But we're not that e-mail. We like Manford, though he's never really been funny-funny, and Davies redeemed himself a touch by being good in Whites... so we're going to let it slide. In this reality show, 10 wildly different stand-ups have to perform to tough rooms and then get voted out by Davies and the Mr Nasty of the affair, sidekick Kate Copstick. And it is pretty good - but not because anyone is particularly funny. It's actually interesting and unusual to watch comics dying on stage.