Stephen Fry

Radio Times review

What links the hairy hand of Dartmoor, a bog cannon, a foetid parachute and an ant with the head of a lion? Why, it could only be this particularly bizarre episode of QI, which is a veritable monster mash of weird and wonderful creatures and people.

In the course of one half hour, learn about the stereoscopic smell of the star-nosed mole (useful for awkward moments in lifts) and the pubic hair party thrown by Mary Queen of Scots after the death of her husband, and muse on incredibly detailed theories about the mating habits of mermaids.

And with this smorgasbord of trivia (as well as a sneaky reference to Stephen Fry's classic role in Blackadder), you'd have to be a monster yourself not to get on board for the fun.

Stephen Fry steps down from Norwich City board

Actor, writer and television presenter Stephen Fry has stepped down from the board of Norwich City Football Club.

Radio Times review

If you've been missing Dermot O'Leary since he left The X Factor you'll be glad to see him returning to our screens here, where he's in his giggly element as the teams are forced to solve a collection of culinary conundrums.

For example: why do tortoises have such big shells? What would you give a butterfly for a special picnic? What two things can you get from a Kangaroo's nipple? And why would someone eat washing detergent for a multi-course Christmas dinner?

And if nothing else, you'll leave this episode with the unlikely mental image of Stephen Fry struggling to cook a cheap microwave dinner. Now that's food for thought.

On BBC2 they were celebrating a very British icon as Bafta presented a look back over Stephen Fry's multi-faceted career. This sort of thing tends to get a bit smug and certainly there was little fresh ground covered as the likes of Hugh Laurie, Michael Sheen and the producer John Lloyd paid tribute.

Yet Fry, like Beckham, is oddly appealing and this tribute worked best when he spoke for himself, talking illuminatingly about his early life - "I was incredibly disruptive and a bad influence on others" - honestly about his breakdown post-Cell Mates and movingly about his experience making the 1997 Oscar Wilde biopic, Wilde.

In recent years Fry has been so swept up in hosting quiz shows and award shows and chattering on Twitter that it's easy to forget that he is also an actor of great charm and skill. This film went some way to reminding viewers of that. Despite the backslapping, job done.

Stephen Fry confesses he would have killed himself

Stephen Fry says he would have killed himself if he had not been able to vanish when starring in a West End play became too much for him. The actor and TV host, 58, went AWOL three days into the run of Cell Mates at the Albery Theatre.

"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.

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Stephen Fry has launched a bizarre attack on Little Mix, branding their music a "hideous, toxic compound".

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.

Radio Times review

Those QI elves have been busy. We learn that every episode of QI since the start has included a secret coded message that nobody has spotted. And that's not the only bauble: at the end, Stephen Fry gets a (literally) magical surprise gift and it brings such childish joy to his face, it feels like a proper Christmas moment.

Elsewhere, there's a hilarious ad lib from Johnny Vegas when a studio bulb blows, keyboard skills from Bill Bailey, and some improvising around that little-known (but genuine) musical, The Bathrooms Are Coming.