Surprise, surprise. Really, it is. Made to be broadcast and lost in the mists of time, or repeated on some obscure satellite channel at an ungodly time, 'Q.I' is Stephen Fry's superb comedy quiz show.

Based primarily on the idea of the journey being more important than the destination, like a couple of other shows in the past and one or two in the present, the idea is that two teams (each with a usual regular captain, the most obvious is Alan Davies) attempt to answer questions in a manner which Mr.Fry determines to be 'Quite Interesting'. Each Series revolves around subjects beginning with a particualr letter of the alpahabet, though that's not so obvious it wares you down, and the subjects, themes are very odd and fun to find out about.

As the show progresses, Mr.Fry awards points abstractly and keeps them secret until the end of the show - the twist being that the questions often intentionally revolve around common misconceptions, strange facts, oddities that are hard to know about but offer up chances of guesses, and that in the process it's easy to fall into traps and subsequently loose points; everyone can slip in any little additional bits of wisdom, give their answers any kind of spin in attempt to make it all as 'Quite Interesting' as possible. Each team consists of a cycling selection of popular stand-up comedians and comedy figures, each is given their own freedom to be as they normally would, and the show is very relaxed, charming, easy to watch, educational and entertaining in equal amounts.

In recent years it's remained one of the few shows I will go out of my way to watch, Mr.Fry being immensely knowledgeable, charming, fascinating as we all hopefully realise. Anyway, in small doses, once a week or so, for 30 minutes a pop, each series has 12 episodes (there have been a few by now) and this R2 UK DVD is coming soon - and it's highly recommended.

'Quite Interesting' Official Website; downloadable clips and much more.
'Quite Interesting' at Wikipedia.