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 C, Episode 4 - Cheating

Douglas 'Wrong Way' Corrigan

Extra Tasks

- As the panel are more grown up than usual, Stephen treats the panel like adults, and allows them to keep their own scores. At the same time, there is an electronic check, and the panel will be subtracted by the amount they lie by. If anyone gets their answer exactly right, they are rewarded with 100 bonus points. Alexander Armstrong manages this.

Topics

- A question on "Cheating": The winner of the marathon at the 1904 Olympic Games, Fredrick Lorz, cheated by going most of the way by car. Fourth place was given to a Cuban postman, Felix Carbajal, despite him falling ill after eating some rotten apples. Len Tau, one of the first black competitors in the Olympics, came ninth despite being chased a mile out of his way by a dog.

- Tangent: George Eyser won six gold medals in gymnastics at the 1904 Olympic Games, despite having a wooden leg.

- At the 1900 Olympic Games, cricket was one of the events. However, only Britain and France could play. The French team was made up of British Embassy Officials in Paris.

- Many riders in the 1904 Tour de France were disqualified for being towed by cars. A wire was attached to the car and a cork held in the cyclist's mouth. Maurice Garin was disqualified when it was discovered that he went part of the way by train.

- Challenger, Tornado, Typhoon, Mustang, Laser, Marauder, Hurricane, Starquest, Apache, Buccaneer, Jetstream, Superstorm and Corba are all makes of caravan. (Forfeit: Tanks; Fighters; Helicopters)

- Patriot, Gladiator, Dagger, Javelin, Merlin, Archer, Arrow, White King and Excalibur are all kinds of parsnip. (Forfeit: Missiles)

- Tangent: Pasternak, as in Boris Pasternak (author of Doctor Zhivago) is the Russian for "Parsnip".

- The first creature to be sent into space was a fruit fly. (Forfeit: Monkey; Dog)

- Tangent: 65% of diseases found in humans are found in fruit flies.

- The fruit fly has the longest sperm of any creature. It is 20 times its own length, measuring at 5.8cm.

- Tangent: The sperm is the smallest cell in the human body. The ovum is the largest.

- The connection between Nancy Kerrigan and Douglas 'Wrong Way' Corrigan (pictured) is cheating. Tonya Harding tried to eliminate Kerrigan from ice skating competitions by smashing her knee caps. 'Wrong Way' Corrigan constantly claimed he was the first person to fly across the Atlantic, from New York to Dublin.

General Ignorance

- The second world war technically ended in the year 1990, because in 1945 there was no Germany. It did not end until the country was reunified. (Forfeit: 1945) Correction: A surrender document had been signed. The formal conclusion of peace was not signed by East Germany.

- Swiss inventions include Velcro, milk chocolate, cellophane, rayon and the Swiss army knife. (Forfeit: Cuckoo clock)

- In 1792, the guillotine was first used, Charles Babbage, the inventor of the computer was born, and the written exam was invented at Cambridge University. Before then, you would be asked questions orally in Latin. Correction: The first written exams were invented in China in the 14th century. The exams themselves have been dated as going on as far back as 115 AD.

- Tangent: In the film Carry On Don't Lose Your Head, the character played by Jim Dale is about to be executed. Someone tells him he has a note from Robespierre, and he says, "Put it in the basket, I'll read it later on."

Correction: The line is actually said by Charles Hawtrey.

- Tangent: The guillotine was last used in 1977, executing a one-legged French criminal. Alan mistakenly thought it was last used in Vietnam, 1960.

- Tangent: Only three people attended Charles Babbage's funeral.

Scores

- Alexander Armstrong: 93 points
- Jeremy Clarkson: 0 points
- John Sessions: -10 points
- Alan Davies: -52 points

Notes

For more information regarding the examination error, see the QI Qibble Blog

Broadcast details

Date
Friday 14th October 2005
Time
10:30pm
Channel
BBC Four
Length
30 minutes

Repeats

Show past repeats

Date Time Channel
Friday 2nd July 2010 10:10pm Dave
Saturday 3rd July 2010 10:10pm Dave
Tuesday 10th August 2010 9:00pm Dave
Thursday 28th October 2010 9:40pm Dave
Saturday 13th November 2010 8:20pm Dave
Sunday 23rd January 2011 8:20pm Dave
Sunday 29th May 2011 11:40pm Dave
Monday 30th May 2011 10:40pm Dave
Sunday 14th April 2013 1:40pm Dave
Sunday 14th April 2013 5:40pm Dave
Saturday 22nd June 2013 7:30pm Dave
Saturday 30th November 2013 7:00pm Dave
Sunday 1st December 2013 2:00pm Dave
Monday 23rd December 2013 1:00pm Dave
Monday 23rd December 2013 11:35pm Dave
Sunday 16th March 2014 12:20pm Dave
Sunday 16th March 2014 7:20pm Dave
Tuesday 27th May 2014 12:40pm Dave
Tuesday 27th May 2014 5:40pm Dave
Saturday 19th July 2014 10:20pm Dave
Thursday 15th January 2015 11:40pm Dave
Monday 6th April 2015 1:55am Dave
Monday 6th April 2015 11:00pm Dave
Wednesday 9th September 2015 9:20pm Dave
Saturday 5th March 2016 9:20pm Dave
Sunday 6th March 2016 2:00am Dave
Monday 7th March 2016 11:30pm Dave
Tuesday 8th March 2016 8:00pm Dave
Tuesday 16th August 2016 1:40am Dave
Tuesday 16th August 2016 8:40pm Dave
Tuesday 7th February 2017 6:40pm Dave
Wednesday 8th February 2017 2:40pm Dave
Friday 31st March 2017 12:20am Dave
Thursday 3rd August 2017 12:00am Dave
Thursday 3rd August 2017 2:00am Dave
Monday 11th September 2017 11:20pm Dave
Saturday 16th September 2017 1:15am Dave
Wednesday 29th November 2017 1:20am Dave
Thursday 12th April 2018 12:00am Dave
Thursday 12th April 2018 2:00am Dave
Thursday 19th July 2018 11:20pm Dave
Friday 20th July 2018 2:20am Dave
Tuesday 2nd October 2018 2:00am Dave
Tuesday 15th January 2019 11:00pm Dave
Wednesday 16th January 2019 1:00am Dave
Thursday 19th September 2019 8:20pm Dave
Monday 9th December 2019 11:40pm Dave
Tuesday 10th December 2019 8:20pm Dave

Cast & crew

Cast
Stephen Fry Host / Presenter
Alan Davies Regular Panellist
Guest cast
John Sessions Guest
Jeremy Clarkson Guest
Alexander Armstrong Guest
Writing team
Justin Pollard Researcher
John Mitchinson Question Writer
Piers Fletcher Question Writer
Garrick Alder Researcher
Dan Schreiber Researcher
Mat Coward Researcher
Christopher Gray Researcher
James Harkin Researcher
Production team
Ian Lorimer Director
John Lloyd Producer
Mark Freeland Executive Producer
Sally Debonnaire Executive Producer
Nick King Editor
Jonathan Paul Green Production Designer
Howard Goodall Composer

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