QI
- TV panel show
- BBC Two / BBC One / BBC Four
- 2003 - 2024
- 312 episodes (21 series)
Panel game that contains lots of difficult questions and a large amount of quite interesting facts. Stars Sandi Toksvig, Stephen Fry and Alan Davies.
- Returns on Monday 18th December on BBC2 at 9pm with Series U, Christmas Special
- Series N, Episode 8 repeated at 9pm on Dave
Episode menu
Series A, Episode 4 - Atoms
Topics
- The main component of air is nitrogen (Forfeit: Oxygen)
- The most boring place in Britain is a field outside Ousefleet, near Scunthorpe, according to the Ordnance Survey map. It containing nothing except half an electricity pylon and some overhead cabling. It is the blankest square kilometre in the country.
- Tangent: Charles Dickens claimed that Chelmsford was, "The dullest and most stupid spot on the face of the Earth." He also invented the word "Boredom".
- Barbara Cartland holds the world record for the most books written in a single year, with 23 books. She was buried in a cardboard coffin beneath an oak tree planted by Elizabeth I.
- The ozone layer is 15 miles above the surface of the Earth and smells of geraniums.
- The film critic John Simon described Walter Matthau as resembling, "A half-melted rubber bulldog."
- Atoms are mostly empty space. Ernest Rutherford compared the inside of an atom as being, "like a few flies in a cathedral."
- The discoverer of hydrogen and the creator of the grand piano knew each other and lived locally. A hydrogen atom has more frequencies than a grand piano.
General Ignorance
- King Henry VIII technically had either three or four wives. He annulled is marriage to Anne of Cleves, the Pope declared is marriage to Anne Boleyn void because he was still married to Catherine of Aragon, and Henry declared his marriage to Catherine of Aragon void because it was illegal to marry his brothers wife, and she had previously been married to Henry's brother Arthur. (Forfeit: Six)
- Tangent: Hans Holbein, who once painted Henry VIII, once did a painting called "The Ambassadors", which can only be seen correctly from the correct angle.
- The word "Silver" rhymes with "Chilver", which is a female lamb. (Forfeit: Nothing)
- All diamonds in the world come from the Earth's surface, and are brought to the surface by volcanic eruptions. (Forfeit: South Africa)
- Tangent: South Africa is the fifth largest producer of diamonds, after Australia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Botswana and Russia. Diamonds and graphite are both made out of pure carbon, but appear on opposite ends of the Mohs scale of hardness.
- Light can travel at 38 mph, through sodium chilled at -270 degrees celcius. The speed of light is only constant in a vacuum.
- A chameleon changes colour depending on mood. (Forfeit: Background)
- Tangent: Chameleons can swivel their eyes independently. It was once believed they lived on air.
Deleted Scenes
- William Shakespeare invented the expression, "Vanish into thin air". Hamlet also contains several cliches still used today.
Scores
Jo Brand: 36 points
Howard Goodall: 13 points
Jeremy Hardy: 7 points
Alan Davies: -24 points
Broadcast details
- Date
- Thursday 2nd October 2003
- Time
- 10pm
- Channel
- BBC Two
- Length
- 30 minutes
Repeats
Show past repeats
Date | Time | Channel |
---|---|---|
Sunday 29th July 2012 | 2:40pm | Dave |
Sunday 29th July 2012 | 6:40pm | Dave |
Wednesday 14th November 2012 | 7:40pm | Dave |
Wednesday 14th November 2012 | 11:00pm | Dave |
Thursday 20th December 2012 | 2:00pm | Dave |
Sunday 26th May 2013 | 1:40pm | Dave |
Sunday 26th May 2013 | 5:00pm | Dave |
Wednesday 31st July 2013 | 11:00pm | Dave |
Thursday 1st August 2013 | 2:10am | Dave |
Saturday 2nd November 2013 | 7:40pm | Dave |
Sunday 3rd November 2013 | 3:20pm | Dave |
Thursday 8th January 2015 | 11:35pm | Dave |
Friday 20th March 2015 | 11:00pm | Dave |
Monday 13th July 2015 | 12:00am | Dave |
Wednesday 18th November 2015 | 2:40am | Dave |
Wednesday 18th November 2015 | 10:20pm | Dave |
Wednesday 27th July 2016 | 12:20am | Dave |
Wednesday 27th July 2016 | 9:20pm | Dave |
Saturday 3rd September 2016 | 10:20pm | Dave |
Sunday 4th September 2016 | 3:20am | Dave |
Wednesday 11th January 2017 | 3:20pm | Dave |
Tuesday 14th March 2017 | 2:00pm | Dave |
Wednesday 15th March 2017 | 12:20am | Dave |
Monday 15th January 2018 | 11:00pm | Dave |
Tuesday 16th January 2018 | 1:00am | Dave |
Tuesday 6th February 2018 | 11:00pm | Dave |
Wednesday 7th February 2018 | 1:00am | Dave |
Wednesday 21st March 2018 | 1:00am | Dave |
Tuesday 15th May 2018 | 8:00pm | Dave |
Wednesday 15th August 2018 | 3:15am | Dave |
Thursday 24th January 2019 | 11:40pm | Dave |
Friday 25th January 2019 | 1:40am | Dave |
Cast & crew
Stephen Fry | Host / Presenter |
Alan Davies | Regular Panellist |
Jeremy Hardy | Guest |
Jo Brand | Guest |
Howard Goodall | Guest |
Samantha Ball | Researcher |
Adam Jacot de Boinod | Researcher |
Sophie Johnstone | Researcher |
Molly Oldfield | Researcher |
Ian Lorimer | Director |
John Lloyd | Producer |
Phil Clarke | Executive Producer |
Nick King | Editor |
Jonathan Paul Green | Production Designer |
Howard Goodall | Composer |