QI

Radio Times review

It can't be a coincidence that whenever Richard Osman appears as a panellist, QI seems to trip along in a higher gear. It's the snappiest episode for a while, and although some credit for that goes (I suppose) to the questions and curiosities dug up by the QI Elves, I prefer to credit Osman, Phill Jupitus and Lucy Porter for upping the banter.

As Fry hands out plastic bags to be blown up, Jupitus quips, "Time for the controversial auto-erotic asphyxiation round..." and Osman's off-the-cuff name for a penguin dating service is inspired. We learn stuff too, about Turgenev, our fingertips and the largest native land animal in Antarctica - not what you might think.

QI biggest TV turn-on in Yorkshire

Yorkshire viewers have been surveyed by TV Licensing to see how what a potential partner watches on the box affects how attractive they are, with QI topping the chart of TV turn-ons.

Radio Times review

A slumbery round of the gently filthy information exchange, livened by a shake-up in the scoring system. We're playing Lucky Losers, this being Series L, which means klaxons are good, clever right answers are to be avoided and Alan Davies has to find a new way to come last.

With L also standing for lavatory this series, the best banter focuses on bottom-wiping: there's a terrifying lesson on which leaves to avoid when caught short in a Queensland forest, while Jeremy Clarkson and Sandi Toksvig bond over the impermeability of boarding-school loo roll. If that all sounds a bit vulgar, wait until you hear what Lillie Langtry once said to Edward VII.

Radio Times review

As you would expect, Stephen Fry inhabits a different world from ordinary folk. So when Alan Davies tells him a preposterous nickname for the staff at Argos, he believes him. Let's assume he doesn't shop there. He's equally naive when it's suggested that the Earl of Sandwich is now appearing on Gogglebox. "Is he?" he asks politely and only slightly incredulously.

Among the musings on love handles, peshwari naans and composers, Fry's hilarious demonstration of how to make a lava lamp reminds David Mitchell of dreadful chemistry lessons. "Sir! I did what Alan said to do," he whines, waving his hand in the air. "And now I'm scared!"

Radio Times review

The most jaw-dropping - or ear-opening - curiosity in this episode comes from Italy. Stephen Fry plays a song that sounds like a rap record, and kind of is. Except it dates from 1972 and is by an Italian comedian and singer called Adriano Celentano. What's weird about it is that the lyrics are all nonsense words chosen because they sound to Italian ears like American English. (It's called Prisencolinensinainciusol if you want to Google it...) The theme, you see, is lying and deception.

Otherwise, the lavatorial theme that has run through the "L" series is well-plumbed, not least with a diversion on an utterly bizarre Japanese "gotta go" briefcase-cum-commode.

QI facts: 77 incredible things you never knew

The ultimate book of useless trivia has been compiled by the team behind the incredible facts of the hit BBC show.

Radio Times review

It's one of those QI outings that barely feels like a quiz, more a pleasant meandering chat about this and that, as Stephen Fry, Kathy Lette and Sue Perkins discuss Suffragettes, the knock-on effects of Victorian corsets, and Fry admits he has never heard of their modern equivalent, Spanx.

Perkins is on wonderful form, not least when asked to name an Anglo-Saxon swearword, whereupon she gamely charges into the welcoming embrace of multiple klaxons (and bleeps). Elsewhere we hear the worst-ever Viking insult and the truth about history's most maligned woman, Mary Magdelene.

QI confirms special one-off show at University of Kent

A special one-off version of hit BBC TV quiz show QI is to be held at the University of Kent as part of the institution's 50th birthday celebrations. The line up will include regulars Alan Davies, Sandi Toksvig, Jo Brand and Phill Jupitus. Stephen Fry will not be present, but his place will be taken by the show's creator and producer, John Lloyd.

Radio Times review

Nothing that tonight's four panellists come up with can quite beat an aside from Stephen Fry early on where he quotes the late Christopher Hitchens to the effect that "The four most overrated things in life are lobster, champagne, anal sex and picnics."

But along the way, we get other diversions: the mating rituals of the tent cobweb spider sound like they should have been included in an episode of Life Story: the male is 100 times smaller than the female and uses two "penis legs" to mate, Fry tells us.

The theme of all this is L for love, including the wonderful-sounding Puritan tradition of "bundling" betrothed couples. It also takes us from Napoleon's mistresses to Psycho to nanny goats, which are more aptly named than you would think.

Radio Times review

Stephen Fry is absolutely lethal tonight. Partly because that's the theme of this week's show, but also because he's on fire comedically. After a lengthy dissertation about a particular marsupial's energetic but ultimately deadly sex life, he solemnly wags his finger and says, "Russell Brand take note."

Sandi Toksvig, Jason Manford and Bill Bailey join Alan Davies to try to answer questions about laptop fatalities, the perils of sugar-free confectionery, unusual duelling weapons and the possibility of taking a bullet for someone. They also learn a nifty method of extracting a cork that's dropped down inside a glass bottle using a plastic bag. How handy.