QI

QI is the best British show & the US needs to remake it

We've remade the rest, now let's remake the best. QI is the British television show that America needs - and if there's one thing we know about America, it's if we need something, we take it.

Review - QI: series M, episode 3 - M-Places

There is one big problem with this week's episode of QI: the XL extended repeat is not being shown until next week. The XL versions always end up being moved about for some bizarre reason. This time around it is to make room for one-off drama The Dresser. The thing is that as Children in Need is coming up, QI will be skipping a week anyway, so why not put The Dresser on during the weekend when there is no QI? Awful piece of scheduling.

Radio Times review

The recent news of long-time host Stephen Fry's unexpected departure from QI casts a pall over this series, even though Sandi Toksvig will surely be a fine replacement.

Still, until he finally leaves there's plenty of fun to be had this week in the realm of M-themed places, including a country pronounced "Made-up-a-roo-rah", which the guests have to try and identify as real or fake (harder than you might think).

From an inspired riff by David Mitchell and Alan Davies on rather rudely named areas of the UK to a tirade about mangoes from newcomer Sami Shah, it's a timely reminder of why Fry's 13-year tenure on the series has been such a delight. Gosh, we'll be sad to see him go.

Quite interesting Sandi, quite interesting indeed

Series M of QI opens with A Medley of Maladies. Not much has changed apart from Stephen Fry's hair thickening up well. And yet, changes are on the 21st century-horizon for the show. Fry is stepping down after thirteen years of hosting, and Sandi Toksvig is taking control of the quizzical helm.

Radio Times review

Based on this episode, QI will definitely benefit from some of the extra female energy it'll get when Sandi Toksvig takes over. Upon given a question about historical attitudes to the private parts of women, an exasperated Cariad Lloyd is forced to educate her clueless male co-panellists (and host Stephen Fry) in a little anatomy that leaves them all squirming in their chairs like schoolboys.

As she comments, they've never looked more terrified - not even when they earlier learnt about the radioactive secrets that used to lurk inside children's breakfast cereals...

Review - QI: series M, episode 2: Military Matters

As one of this week's guests was Jimmy Carr I was expecting the latest edition of QI to be rather smutty: gladly, it turns out I was wrong. In fact, this episode was a lot better than I was expecting.

Jeremy Clarkson on QI: Five things we've learned

Unlike the cautious host we saw on Have I Got News For You, Clarkson was back in his element on QI - once again seemingly entirely comfortable with his status as PC pariah says Ed Power.

Review - QI: series M, episode 1: a medley of maladies

With the sudden announcement this week that Stephen Fry would be leaving QI after this series, it feels right to have a look this current series, and try to figure out what we can expect to stay and to go when Sandi Toksvig takes over next year. If anything were to be kept from this episode, it would be Matt Lucas. It was his first time on the show and he did very well.

TV review: QI, BBC2

Judging from this episode QI may certainly survive when Sandi Toksvig takes over, but it will be a different animal. I guess in the same way the dynamic between Hislop, Merton and Deayton had to change when Deayton left Have I Got News For You, so the relationship beween Davies and the new host will be recalibrated. On Twitter when the news broken Davies tweeted: "A Dane you say? We'll all have pastries and jumpers and it'll be shot in black & white."

Five for Friday: favorite Stephen Fry QI moments

As Mr. Fry bids adieu to QI viewers, I thought it was the perfect time to focus on some of the more amusing, dare I say even silly, moments from series past.