QI. Image shows from L to R: Alan Davies, Sandi Toksvig. Copyright: TalkbackThames
QI

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.

Episode menu

Series B, Episode 10 - Bills

William F. Cody (aka Buffalo Bill)

Extra Tasks

- The panel are asked to draw a wigwam. However, each panel mistakenly draw a tepee instead, except for Clive who draws George Michael and Andrew Ridgley of the band Wham! wearing wigs. ("Wamwig")

Topics

- There are over 200 folk names for the pansy, such as "Love idol", "Tickle my fancy", "Meet me in the buttery" and "Tickle my John".

- "Bottomry" is a type of insurance taken out on a ship (known as "Bottoms" in marine commerce).

- Buffalo Bill did nothing with buffalo because all the supposed buffalo in the USA are actually bison.

- Sitting Bull's real name was "Jumping Badger". He inherited his name from his father as a teenager. Sitting Bull is chief of the Sioux, who defeated General Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn. Correction: Sitting Bull was not chief of the Sioux, but a medicine man. The army that defeated Custer was also made of several tribes. The Sioux formed only a third of the army.

- The BBC paid Hilda Brabban three guineas for the three original Bill and Ben, the Flowerpot Men radio stories.

- Tangent: "Flobbadob" the language used by Bill and Ben was named after the noise made by Brabban's brothers farting in the bath. Correction: This is an urban myth that first appeared in a newspaper article. Their language is ""Oddle Poddle". "Flobbadob" means "Flowerpot" in Oddle Poddle. (See Series D)

- The connection between Billy the Kid and Ben-Hur is Lew Wallace. Wallace wrote the novel Ben-Hur and also wrote Billy the Kid's death warrant whilst he was Governor of New Mexico.

- Luvvie Alarm: When John Sessions was talking to Robert Redford at the Sundance Film Festival, Redford told him that The Sundance Kid was Welsh.

- As you go upstairs, the thoughts in your head go faster.

- The best floor to throw a cat out of is the fifth, if you want to harm it.

- Tangent: A man in Shropshire catapults dead cows.

General Ignorance

- The commonest material in the world is perovskite. (Forfeit: Oxygen; Water)

- In 63 AD, Pompeii was destroyed by an earthquake.

- Roman emperors ordered the death of a gladiator by sticking their thumbs up. (Forfeit: Thumbs down)

- The organisation the Americans fought in Vietnam was the Viet Minh. (Forfeit: Viet Cong)

- Tangent: In Denmark, King Kong is known as Kong King. Correction: This fact is a myth, although is true that the Danish for "King" is "Kong".

Scores

- Clive Anderson: 1 point
- Phil Kay: 0 points
- John Sessions: -10 points
- Alan Davies: -26 points

Notes

For the King Kong correction, see The Unbelievable Truth, Series 21, Episode 1.

Broadcast details

Date
Friday 3rd December 2004
Time
10:30pm
Channel
BBC Four
Length
30 minutes

Repeats

Show past repeats

Date Time Channel
Friday 22nd October 2010 7:20pm Dave
Sunday 28th November 2010 7:40pm Dave
Monday 7th February 2011 10:55pm Dave
Friday 22nd April 2011 6:40pm Dave
Saturday 4th June 2011 7:20pm Dave
Monday 5th September 2011 7:20pm Dave
Monday 5th September 2011 10:40pm Dave
Saturday 26th November 2011 7:40pm Dave
Sunday 27th November 2011 1:50pm Dave
Saturday 21st January 2012 1:20pm Dave
Saturday 21st January 2012 7:20pm Dave
Sunday 1st April 2012 2:20pm Dave
Sunday 1st April 2012 8:20pm Dave
Saturday 9th June 2012 12:20pm Dave
Tuesday 9th October 2012 5:20pm Dave
Tuesday 9th October 2012 11:40pm Dave
Tuesday 29th January 2013 11:20pm Dave
Saturday 4th May 2013 7:30pm Dave
Sunday 27th October 2013 3:20pm Dave
Saturday 21st December 2013 1:00pm Dave
Saturday 21st December 2013 6:20pm Dave
Sunday 9th March 2014 11:00am Dave
Sunday 9th March 2014 6:00pm Dave
Monday 19th May 2014 12:40pm Dave
Monday 19th May 2014 5:40pm Dave
Monday 9th March 2015 11:00pm Dave
Monday 23rd November 2015 1:20am Dave
Monday 23rd November 2015 11:30pm Dave
Friday 20th May 2016 1:00am Dave
Friday 20th May 2016 10:40pm Dave
Monday 18th July 2016 10:00pm Dave
Saturday 20th August 2016 8:30pm Dave
Sunday 21st August 2016 2:25am Dave
Tuesday 31st January 2017 6:40pm Dave
Wednesday 1st February 2017 2:40pm Dave
Tuesday 21st March 2017 1:40am Dave
Friday 24th March 2017 12:40am Dave
Friday 25th August 2017 11:40pm Dave
Saturday 26th August 2017 1:40am Dave
Thursday 21st December 2017 1:20am Dave
Wednesday 24th January 2018 11:40pm Dave
Thursday 25th January 2018 1:40am Dave
Wednesday 28th February 2018 1:00am Dave
Saturday 7th April 2018 12:40am Dave
Saturday 7th April 2018 2:40am Dave
Monday 17th December 2018 7:20pm Dave
Tuesday 18th December 2018 12:20am Dave
Thursday 23rd May 2019 11:00pm Dave
Friday 7th February 2020 11:40pm Dave
Saturday 8th February 2020 1:40am Dave
Thursday 4th June 2020 8:20pm Dave
Friday 5th June 2020 3:20pm Dave
Friday 3rd July 2020 1:20am Dave
Friday 17th July 2020 12:55am Dave

Cast & crew

Cast
Stephen Fry Host / Presenter
Alan Davies Regular Panellist
Guest cast
John Sessions Guest
Clive Anderson Guest
Phil Kay Guest
Writing team
Sophie Johnstone Researcher
Molly Oldfield Researcher
John Mitchinson Question Writer
Piers Fletcher Question Writer
Kate Staples Researcher
Garrick Alder Researcher
Dan Schreiber Researcher
Production team
Ian Lorimer Director
John Lloyd Producer
Mark Freeland Executive Producer
Simon London Executive Producer
Nick King Editor
Jonathan Paul Green Production Designer
Howard Goodall Composer

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