British Comedy Guide - Skip to main content

QI's Great Scenes

The Portal to the Underworld

During one episode, in which Rory McGrath was displaying what might have been considered as "too much knowledge", in particular the Latin names for birds, Sean Lock pretended to be sucked under the desk, claiming there was a portal to the underworld there.

This scene is from Episode 3.3 of QI

Hoover the Talking Seal

During the Denial and Deprivation episode, in which one of the topics was about a talking seal called Hoover, poet Roger McGough wrote a poem dedicated to Hoover during the course of the show.

This scene is from Episode 4.11 of QI

Scottish discoveries and inventions

One scene featured Stephen Fry giving a list of inventions and discoveries that come from Scotland incredibly quickly.

Did you know the Scottish invented, "Adhesive stamps, the Australian national anthem, the Bank of England, bicycle pedals, the breach-loading rifle, (you'll notice I'm going in alphabetical order) Bovril, the cell nucleus, chloroform, the cloud chamber, cornflour, a cure for malaria, the decimal point, the Encyclopædia Britannica, fountain pens, Genetic fingerprinting, hypnosis, Hypodermic syringes, insulin, the kaleidoscope, the lawnmower, lime cordial, logarithms, lorries, marmalade, matches, motor insurance, paraffin, piano pedals, radar, the reflecting telescope, savings banks, the screw propeller, the speedometer, the steam hammer, raincoats, tarmac, teleprinters, tubular steel, typhoid vaccines, ultrasound scanners, the United States Navy, universal standard time, vacuum flasks, wave powered electricity generation and wire rope"?

This scene is from Episode 2.10 of QI

They say of the Acropolis, where the Parthenon is...

QI's most famous outtake. In it, Stephen Fry is unable to get out a single sentence, and is mocked by Alan Davies, Bill Bailey, Jimmy Carr and Rob Brydon.

In case you are wondering, they say of the Acropolis, where the Parthenon is that there are no straight lines.

This scene is from Episode 5.13 of QI

Alan Hosts General Ignorance

Following in the Christmas tradition of servants being served by the master, Alan Davies hosts a round of General Ignorance, directing most of questions to Stephen Fry. Amongst the questions asked, "Who plays in goal for Aston Villa?"

This scene is from Episode 2.12 of QI

Randy Gandhi

A General Ignorance question about Gandhi's first name results in Alan Davies getting his largest ever forfeit - 150 points.

This scene is from Episode 4.7 of QI

Mein Handy

Stephen Fry and Jo Brand talk about the German word for "Mobile phone", which results in Stephen sounding camp.

This scene is from Episode 5.2 of QI

Charles Babbage and Alfred Lord Tennyson

Stephen Fry points out how much the inventor of the computer, Charles Babbage, is like a typical computer nerd by reading out a letter of complaint that Babbage wrote to the famous poet Tennyson.

Tennyson wrote a poem which read, "Every moment dies a man, every moment one is born."

Babbage wrote back saying, "If this were true, the population of the Earth would be at a standstill. In truth the rate of birth is slightly in excess of death. I suggest the next version of your poem should read, "Every moment dies a man, every moment one-and-one-sixteenth is born." Strictly speaking the actual figure is so long I cannot get it into a line, but I believe the figure one-and-one-sixteenth will be sufficiently accurate for poetry."

This scene is from Episode 4.7 of QI