H is for hero - which is what Stephen Fry has become to millions of TV viewers and Twitterers who hang on his every tweet. And it's also the letter that'll be the theme of the brand new series eight.

Regular panellist Alan Davies - who admits the endless repeats of this show on Dave even get up his nose - resumes his role of The Thudding Voice Of Ignorance. And he'll be joined by Phill Jupitus, Jack Dee and Ross Noble who'll all be aiming to come up with Quite Interesting answers to the show's posers.

But QI would be nothing without its genial headmaster Fry who sits atop this mountain of knowledge like an erudite genie. His trivia lessons often end up being quite a lot more interesting than the brave stabs at comedy.

Stephen Fry fans, prepare to hug yourselves with glee - RT's cover star is going to be everywhere this autumn and winter. The second, eagerly anticipated volume of his memoirs, The Fry Chronicles, is published this week (it's been too long since Moab Is My Washpot in 1997), he's doing gigs at the Royal Albert Hall and elsewhere and, of course, he's hosting this new series of QI. At last! We no longer have to survive on endless re-runs on Dave, so endless that we devotees know all the questions and all the correct answers and aren't caught out by the klaxon any more. So let's welcome the newness. As always, expect an erudite, if occasionally unnecessarily smutty delight, as we reach the letter "H". Genial perpetual QI loser Alan Davies returns, along with another regular, the cheery Phill Jupitus. Making up the quartet are the dolorous Jack Dee and Geordie comic Ross Noble, wild of hair and even wilder of imagination.

The closest you'll ever be to diving into an encyclopaedia and then surface, drenched in knowledge and needing to wipe facts about the Periodic Table from the corners of your eyes, is by watching this still-spiffing comedy panel show. Tonight Stephen Fry will set Alan Davies, Ross Noble, Jack Dee, and Phill Jupitus questions relating to the letter H, which means obscure questions on hacky sacks, the Roman soldier Horatio, and H out of Steps.

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TV review: Comedy Exchange

The comedians in this first episode were Eugene Mirman and panel show doyen Phill Jupitus, who admittedly had more to prove, given that he hadn't performed stand-up in almost a decade. Judging by his hackneyed material (yes, there were fat jokes), that's a blessing for us all.

Original programming on Dave! Yes, and it's perfect for the channel: a series of interest to serious comedy fans, but inclusive and fun enough to draw in new viewers. Phill Jupitus is first to take part in an experiment where UK and US stand-ups swap places. Jupitus flies to New York to play to audiences who've never heard of him, while Eugene Mirman tries to impress here. Cultural differences are such a comedy cliche, you'd think the pros would be hyper-sensitive to them, but a visibly nervous Jupitus manages to derail his first gig by attempting a routine about Frosties. The very funny Mirman starts well by playing on his bewilderment, but still anxiously adjusts gags between sets. The two men's skill and likeability create valuable insights into the comedian's craft. And when they finally get it right, the gags are tremendous.

Phill Jupitus has moved away from his stand-up heritage in recent times, so it's nice to see him return here. However, there's a twist involved - he's trying his luck in New York, swapping places with Manhattan-based comic Eugene Mirman. Not only do both comics have to contend with being unknowns once more, there are cultural differences to trip them up as well. It's a great programme that really exposes how hard the art of stand-up is.

We gave them The Beatles, they gave us Billy Ray Cyrus. We gave them Monty Python, they gave us Golden Girls. We gave them language, they gave us mispronunciation of herbs. Well, now it's time for revenge. They're giving us mediocre comedian Eugene Mirman and we're giving them Phill Jupitus. Dave's new format sees two comedians try out gigging in each other's land. But they've subverted that in the pilot, by sending Jupitus. To be fair, it actually holds up pretty well under Jupitus's weight as a study of the effort that goes into stand-up.