QI is a unique quiz show hosted by Stephen Fry (the QI master) and broadcast by the BBC. As well as being IQ¹ backwards, 'QI' stands for 'Quite Interesting.' Though the teams supposedly change each week, you will often see guests do more than one show. The only permanent guest is Alan Davies² who, despite playing every week, seems to lose every week as well. But this is all part of the fun of the game.

Playing the Game

The rules of the game are simple - each round is based on a different subject, with the next round being linked to the previous one until the final round links back to the first round. Although points are awarded for answering the question correctly, more marks are given for the answers to questions being 'quite interesting' than for actually getting the right answer. However, if the question is answered with an obvious yet mostly-wrong answer you will lose points. Each guest is given an 'attention-seeking device' - buzzers where the usual 'ding' sound has been replaced with a daft sound effect. For example, in one episode Alan Davies's buzzer was replaced by the sound of an automated speaker system saying 'Cashier number four please'. Obviously, the show is not meant to be taken too seriously and the totalling of points does seem a bit off each week; however, this results in QI being a hilarious, yet very informative, panel-game show.

Famous Names and Faces

Guests on the first series included Dave Gorman, Richard E Grant³, Jo Brand, Rich Hall, Clive Anderson, Phill Jupitus, Bill Bailey and composer Howard Goodall. The producer of QI is John Lloyd, who set up his own company, QI Productions, to find and research interesting facts for the series. John Lloyd also co-wrote two episodes of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio show and the book The Meaning of Liff⁴, both with Douglas Adams.

More Connections

Eagle-eyed viewers may have noticed that all the topics of the first round of this series started with the letter 'A'. At the time of writing, the first show had just finished its first series; however, the subjects of the first round of every series are expected to carry on alphabetically, so second series first round topics will start with 'B', third series will start with 'C', etc.