QI: The B Series

TAKE one legendary comedian slash actor, renowned for his magnificent wit and, let's be honest, really Quite Intelligence (Stephen Fry).

Mix said national treasure with yet another part comedian part actor, only this one being more renowned for his less-than-Quiet Ignorance (Alan Davis).

And the resulting concoction? Well, it's Quite Interesting. More specifically, it's QI: The B Series.

Now in its fifth series, it's business as usual for the consistently highbrow comedy fixture in an increasingly lowbrow TV schedule.

It's a schedule run by producers who commission ‘My Family' into series four billion, and still persist with the idea that YouTube clips presented by ‘comedian' Lenny Henry make great TV.

‘Lenny Henry dot TV' doesn't, but QI really does.

Its ace was convincing the ever-excellent and irrepressible Fry to take the quizmaster's chair.

His wealth of knowledge is only marred by the inexplicable revelation in the DVD extras that he sometimes has information piped to him by the producers. This is probably a fact you'll want to instantly dismiss, like the first time you hear that Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny or the idea of good ITV drama on Sundays is just pure fantasy.

But the dynamic of the series wouldn't work, without its permanent contestant, Davies. He's the pupil to Fry's teacher; the show's Paul Merton to Fry's Angus Deayton.

This second series is loosely based on the theme of ‘things beginning with the letter B.' Blue, Bombs, and Big Bountiful Bears are therefore just a few of the diverse subjects put on trial.

Yet, while the complex themes change week-by-week, mercifully the simple format does not.

Davies gets the funny buzzer, states the obvious and gets playfully reprimanded because of it while the bewildered guests look on and occasionally chip in with something meaningful.

Company included in this series range from Jeremy Clarkson, John Sessions, Jimmy Carr and Josie Lawrence; all fill in the gaps when neither Fry or Davies have something to say.

On paper, somehow this show really really shouldn't work.

But by God it does and, as a result, it champions the kind of programming that should be propping up TV channels for years in order to offer a much needed alternative to Robert Lindsay.

Quite Interesting? More like Very Interesting.

QI: The B Series is now available in shops as a double DVD.