Review of QI : Series A

Introduction

I have mixed feelings about a lot of modern comedy. Not alternative comedy, although that`s something of a misnomer these days as there is so little old-fashioned comedy around the alternative stuff is the mainstream. Putting aside gross-out, cringe and shock comedy (Little Britain, The Office et al) there`s a strong tradition growing in modern comedy of smart-arsism. You know what I mean - glib little ****ers like Jonathan Ross who deliver witticisms with the same kind of self-satisfied smirk that ghastly kid at the back of the class used to disrupt Physics lessons with. Clever, quick-witted and thought he was wasting his time learning anything because he knew his gob would lead him to stardom. A smart-arse.

There`s a lot of smart-arsism in modern comedy. It`s mostly to do with the fact that you can`t get into television comedy these days without an Oxbridge education under your belt, or at least have had a gig at the Edinburgh Fringe where you can blend in with the intelligensia. The showcases for this kind of humour on television are the post-modern panel games such as Buzzcocks and Have I Got News.

QI is part of that growing tradition. Dating back into the mists of early television history - ooo, 2003 would you believe - QI is a comedy quiz show with a difference. It isn`t a smart-arse show (well, not much). It`s genuinely intelligent. Quizmaster Stephen Fry is joined by three celebrities and Alan Davies to mull over the conundrum that is the modern world and answer a series of mind-pummelling questions in as quite an interesting way as possible - hence the title QI for Quite Interesting (not Quotient Intelligence or Quaintly Indifferent). Points are deducted quite arbitrarily for using what the gnomes behind the scenes consider an obvious answer - which is almost inevitably any answer given by Alan Davies.

More often than not, the show appears to be an opportunity for guests - and frequently Alan Davies - to go on pure flights of fancy or even streams of consciousness which can be pretty hit or miss whether they`re genuinely funny but they keep the studio audience amused. The real star of the show, however, is Stephen Fry whose professorial demeanour makes some of the more off-the-wall moments of the show even more surreal.

For my money, QI is the funniest thing on television. Especially when guests and quizmaster Fry start riffing on an answer. The show is the latest from Blackadder/ Spitting Image producer John Lloyd.

Video

Presented as anamorphic 16:9, as transmitted. The recent nature of the programme means that the presentation here on the disc is as good as watching the show live - possibly better as it screened on BBC2, whose bitrate on digital channels can be woefully low.

Audio

Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo as originally presented.

Features

On disc one: The QI pilot - similar questions, radically different set. QI Factoids - a "white rabbit" feature where additional facts are presented while the show is running when a magnifying glass graphic appears on screen. The QI building is a website link for QI.com.

On disc two: QI Credits - a graphic of the credits for the series for you to peruse at your leisure. QI Factoids - more of the same as disc one. QI Extras - a series of QI clips (unsubtitled) of pure weird-and-wonderfulness.

Conclusion

Part of the current vogue for comedy quiz shows, but head and shoulders above the rest for its sheer surreality, erudition and occasional dazzling vulgarity. Easily the funniest tv programme on the box currently, and now in its third year, this two-disc set goes right back to the beginning and further with the complete first series of QI. With guests including Jo Brand, Eddie Izzard and Phil Jupitus, the wit is definitely quick.