QI

QI, the cleverest comedy on television, is back on our screens this week. It's now in double figures series-wise, (tenth series and not eleventh, as has been advertised in some quarters); although in terms of the alphabet it's only up to "J".

This first episode of this series covers the subject of "Jargon" - and words beginning with "J" - and featured Jimmy Carr, Bill Bailey and newcomer Victoria Coren on the panel alongside regulars Stephen Fry and Alan Davies. Topics included dictators and their hatred of jazz, the first use of "OMG", and a lot of jizz.

In fact, the opening episode was rather smutty. Following on from a question about jizz (a bird-watching term for recognising a bird from a long distance by its shape), the panel, mostly Carr, performed quite a lot of rude material. I know that some people on the QI forums hated this, saying it was too rude for such a programme. But these critics should bear in mind that only a little while ago QI tried to be less rude when it was pre-watershed on BBC One and it failed miserably. People didn't like it, so now it's back in its old post-watershed slot on BBC Two - and now people are complaining about the show being too rude. Whenever the questions are lewd someone suggests it's 'dumbing down'. Yet whenever the questions are clever someone says it's not 'being funny enough'. I wish some people would make their minds up...

Series J is becoming notable for reasons other than perceived rudeness. For starters the "General Ignorance" round has been scrapped, because the panel were getting too wise to it and not going for the klaxon answers. Now the General Ignorance questions are spread out more to catch people out. I'm a bit worried about that, to be honest. It's a bit like Have I Got News for You getting rid of "Missing Words", Mock the Week scrapping "Scenes We'd Like to See", or Celebrity Juice getting rid off... well, whatever they have on Celebrity Juice (I can never bring myself to watch). However, it's best to wait and see after a few episodes if the re-shuffle works.

The other notable thing about this series is the guests. There are more women appearing on it. Next week's episode will be the first in which all the guests are women, which I can't remember happening on another panel show...ever. And some of the new guests are pretty experimental; they haven't even appeared on British TV yet. New Zealander Cal Wilson appears in a fortnight's time. She was on The News Quiz this week and seemed to cope alright, so hopefully she will put in a good performance.

I know some people will complain it's too rude, or it's dumbed down, or the guests are not good enough, but you can't please everyone. In the end, so long as it keeps being interesting and surprising QI will be good enough for me.

Like the wizened face of an old man resembling its childhood self, QI increasingly feels like the radio show it essentially is. The format of a group of people locked in a situation they neither understand nor have control over is still more Come Dine with Me than Sartre's Huis Clos. It's hard to see how, having only got to 'J' in the alphabet, they'll make it to the end without the introduction of a new element, possibly electricity or a vicious beast. In tonight's extended version of last night's series opener, the ghastly Victoria Coren struggles (and does she struggle) to make a dent in the pub-quiz bloke smut, though she's only an also-ran for worst-ever contestant, Rory McGrath having been allowed to keep that particular trophy. It's the unique way the BBC's funded etc etc.

You'll never watch Sherlock in the same way after tonight's hilariously smutty episode. The start of series 10 is brought to you by the letter "J", an innocent-sounding letter that somehow lends itself to the most infectious schoolboy humour.

"I came on this show to talk about the Aztecs!" protests ­panellist Victoria Coren as Alan Davies, Bill Bailey, Jimmy Carr and even Stephen Fry dissolve into fits of giggles all around her.

Oh joy and jubilation. Those jocose jackanapes and jovialists are back with - yes you guessed it - an edition featuring weird and wonderful questions related to the letter J.

Along the way we discover that OMG and "unfriended" are not contemporary expressions, but by the time the two teams have gone through the multiple (and often rude) definitions of jigger, it all degenerates into a bout of schoolboy sniggering that's strangely infectious. Even the usually urbane Stephen Fry is reduced to giggles. It is, says Jimmy Carr (possessor of an extraordinary foghorn laugh), the most fun he's ever had on the show.

What may astound you almost as much as Alan Davies not coming last this time is Bill Bailey's knowledge about subjects as diverse as bird watching and cognitive dissonance. Just goes to show he's no jolterhead.

A fresh selection of alliterative posers from quintessential inquisitor Stephen Fry. This opening episode of series J sees newcomer Victoria Coren join regulars Bill Bailey, Jimmy Carr and Alan Davies to take on the world of jargon. While QI feels less of a rare treat now there's the option of watching old episodes 10 times a day on Dave, new episodes are still a welcome sight, if only to keep up to date on delicious trivial titbits such as the surprising etymology for several well-known txt-speak terms.

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