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 E, Episode 6 - Everything, Etc.

Preview clips

The chemical sturcture of ecstacy

Theme

- This is the "General" show in Series E, covering a wide range of different topics beginning with "E".

Topics

- The panel have to identify a picture of methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA for short, better known as ecstasy or "E". It was designed by the Germans to heal wounds during WWI.

- Tangent: "Suicide Tuesday" is the "downer" you get after taking ecstasy over the weekend.

- You can use chickens to help look after a nuclear bomb. In the 1950s, the British planed to put nuclear bombs around Germany in case the Soviet Union tried to invade. The body heat of the chickens could keep the bombs warm and prevent them from not working.

- Tangent: Jeremy and Vic both keep chickens as pets.

- Tangent: Jeremy tried hunting foxes using Russian night-vision goggles and a gun. He stayed up at night drinking some Merlot. However, he got confused with all his items and accidentally shot his wife's Scotts of Stow steamer chair.

- Fainting goats can protect a flock of sheep by fainting. They are eaten by wolves, allowing the rest of the herd to flee. Older fainting goats faint against walls to prevent themselves being eaten.

- 'Jumping French Lumberjacks of Maine' is very rare disorder in which people react to certain stimuli. One is that they instantly obey any order given to them suddenly. The other is the need to constantly repeat foreign phrases. It was first discovered in French lumberjacks, working in Maine. Gilles de la Tourette was so interested in this condition that he went into
the whole field and eventually discovered Tourette's Syndrome.

- Tangent: In Oregon, lumberjacks prefer to call themselves "Treefellers" because "Lumberjacks" is a Canadian term.

- Tangent: Clarkson's syndrome involves leaking capillaries.

- Elephant in the Room: From 1884 onwards, the first thing that greeted immigrants to New York was a gigantic hotel and brothel shaped like an elephant on Coney Island. (Forfeit: The Statue of Liberty)

- The multiple choice exam was invented by (A): The Ancient Greeks, (B): The American Army, (C): The Blue Whale, or (D): "Can I have a 50/50 please, Steve?". The 50/50 was asked, leaving A and B. The American Army invented the exam during WWI so that it could process recruits quicker.

- Tangent: Men are better than women in multiple choice exams.

- Tangent: The Chinese have multiple choice exams in their driving tests.

General Ignorance

- House dust is mostly made up of dirt and grit, although it actually varies from place-to-place, by season and if you have pets. (Forfeit: Human skin; Dust mites)

- In the middle of a pearl you will find the sarcophagus of a nematode worm or a similar organic creature. (Forfeit: Grit; Sand)

- Tangent: No edible oysters produce pearls.

- Tangent: The largest pearl ever found was in a giant clam.

- A glass bottom would not keep you out of the navy. There is a myth involving a glass bottom of a tankard, but it is false. (Forfeit: Taking the King's shilling)

- It does not matter what colour you wear in a hot climate. (Forfeit: Black; White)

Vodcast/Quickie

(Presenter: Stephen and every member of the panel)

- Tangent: In his fox hunting/night-vision goggle story, Jeremy accidentally claims that a fox ate his children's guinea pigs.

- Tangent: Stephen saw a documentary about a place similar to Ibiza, in which a nightclub had a slightly dome-shaped floor. The ceiling had a shower system that could wash the fluids on the floor away into gutters on the side of the floor and into the drains.

- Tangent: According to a survey of 15,000 hoteliers, the British are the fifth-worst tourists in the world. The worst are the French. 75% of French tourists holiday in France. The best tourists are the Americans.

- Tangent: The Himalayas will eventually cause the destruction of Greece. Jeremy was once put in a Greek prison, but managed to escape.

Scores

- Vic Reeves: -6 points
- Alan Davies: -24 points
- Clive Anderson: -25 points
- Jeremy Clarkson: -30 points

Broadcast details

Date
Friday 19th October 2007
Time
10:30pm
Channel
BBC Four
Length
30 minutes

Repeats

Show past repeats

Date Time Channel
Friday 23rd July 2010 9:00pm Dave
Wednesday 11th August 2010 10:00pm BBC2
Friday 19th November 2010 9:00pm Dave
Wednesday 13th July 2011 11:05pm Dave
Friday 14th October 2011 11:40pm Dave
Saturday 15th October 2011 8:20pm Dave
Thursday 29th December 2011 9:40pm Dave
Saturday 3rd March 2012 2:00pm Dave
Saturday 3rd March 2012 7:20pm Dave
Saturday 6th October 2012 4:20pm Dave
Sunday 10th February 2013 1:00pm Dave
Sunday 10th February 2013 5:00pm Dave
Saturday 17th May 2014 5:00pm Dave
Saturday 17th May 2014 11:40pm Dave
Sunday 27th July 2014 12:00pm Dave
Sunday 21st December 2014 2:40pm Dave
Monday 26th January 2015 11:40pm Dave
Monday 4th May 2015 11:00pm Dave
Tuesday 5th May 2015 2:00am Dave
Thursday 13th August 2015 2:20am Dave
Thursday 13th August 2015 11:20pm Dave
Tuesday 9th February 2016 12:20am Dave
Tuesday 9th February 2016 9:20pm Dave
Monday 30th May 2016 3:30am Dave
Tuesday 31st May 2016 12:35am Dave
Wednesday 10th August 2016 12:20am Dave
Wednesday 10th August 2016 11:00pm Dave
Sunday 1st January 2017 12:20am Dave
Wednesday 15th March 2017 2:40pm Dave
Thursday 20th April 2017 12:40am Dave
Wednesday 14th June 2017 2:00am Dave
Thursday 24th August 2017 11:15pm Dave
Friday 25th August 2017 1:15am Dave
Friday 3rd November 2017 1:00am Dave
Wednesday 15th November 2017 1:20am Dave
Friday 2nd February 2018 11:00pm Dave
Saturday 3rd February 2018 1:00am Dave
Friday 20th April 2018 12:00am Dave
Friday 20th April 2018 2:00am Dave
Thursday 31st January 2019 11:40pm Dave
Friday 1st February 2019 1:40am Dave
Tuesday 11th June 2019 11:40pm Dave
Wednesday 12th June 2019 8:20pm Dave
Wednesday 16th October 2019 3:10am Dave
Wednesday 16th October 2019 11:20pm Dave
Tuesday 28th January 2020 11:40pm Dave
Wednesday 29th January 2020 1:35am Dave
Wednesday 8th July 2020 8:20pm Dave
Wednesday 22nd February 2023 12:40am Dave
Thursday 22nd June 2023 10:00pm Dave
Sunday 26th November 2023 11:00pm Dave

Cast & crew

Cast
Stephen Fry Host / Presenter
Alan Davies Regular Panellist
Guest cast
Clive Anderson Guest
Jeremy Clarkson Guest
Vic Reeves Guest
Writing team
Molly Oldfield Researcher
Piers Fletcher Question Writer
Garrick Alder Researcher
Mat Coward Researcher
Christopher Gray Researcher
James Harkin Researcher
Justin Gayner Researcher
Vitali Vitaliev Researcher
Justin Pollard Question Writer
Production team
Ian Lorimer Director
John Lloyd Producer
Lorraine Heggessey Executive Producer
Katie Taylor Executive Producer
Nick King Editor
Tayyaba Irtizaali Production Designer
Howard Goodall Composer

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