DVD: QI Series B

Some people adore QI. The cable companies have latched onto this and have accordingly rammed their schedules full of the Stephen Fry-hosted panel game show. Oh, how I have rejoiced in the QI marathons, back-to-back weekends and double-helpings mid-week. In fact, such saturation almost makes a DVD of Series B virtually redundant, QI always seems to be on. It’s practically omnipresent.

If you’ve been living under a rock, here’s how it all works: the show involves two teams, one always encompassing Alan Davies as the proverbial village idiot, while the genial Fry acts as the chair putting forward questions in a bid to provoke reasonably stimulating answers. The general idea is that the obvious answer isn’t (cue a klaxon in the background), it is in fact something ‘quite interesting’. Do you see?

Despite being entertaining and a genuinely good concept for a show, eventually one QI begins to run into another. It’s fair to say that once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all (much the same could be said of most panel shows but they haven’t enjoyed the same level of re-use). It’s very much the antithesis of your common-or-garden variety panel show (it has some degree of wit and intelligence for one, appearances from Phil Jupitus aside) which revels in its smarts and the refreshing lack of pretension surrounding a show which should probably wallow in it.

Luckily, Series B is when everything still felt fresh and it’s a delight. As well as 12 episodes, the DVD also comes with bonus bits, bloopers, buzzers and a bountiful bonanza of other features which are loosely (very loosely in some cases) based around the letter B. Were it not for the fact that owning what is essentially just another panel show on DVD seems pointless in and of itself, this disc would come with a much higher recommendation.

QI: Series B can be bought by clicking here. For more quizzlement, visit the QI website here.