QI XL: Television


9:00 pm - 9:45 pm, Tuesday, July 14 on BBC Two England (2)

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About this Broadcast

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Television
Season 20, Episode 3

Sandi Toksvig celebrates the 100th birthday of the BBC, with Zoe Lyons, Greg James, Richard Osman and Alan Davies


HD subtitles repeat 16x9
Comedy Game Show/Quiz/Contest Movie/Drama Show/Game Show

Cast & Crew

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Sandi Toksvig (Presenter)
Alan Davies (Panellist)
Zoe Lyons (Panellist)
Richard Osman (Panellist)
Greg James (Panellist)
Diccon Ramsay (Director)
Piers Fletcher (Producer)
John Lloyd (Executive producer)

More Information

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Did You Know..

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Sandi Toksvig (Presenter)
Born: May 03, 1959 in Copenhagen, Denmark
Best Known For: Whose Line is it Anyway? and The News Quiz.
Early-life: Sandra Birgitte Toksvig was born in Copenhagen on May 3, 1958. Due to her father's job as a foreign correspondent for a Danish TV station, she grew up in Europe, Africa and the US. She studied anthropology, archaeology and law at Cambridge, and hoped to become a human rights lawyer. She won several prizes for academic achievements, and also appeared with the famous Footlights entertainment group. Sandi took a year off her studies to work as a lighting technician at a London theatre - and never looked back.
Career: Toksvig went on to work at Nottingham Playhouse and for the New Shakespeare Company before landing a job as a writer and performer on children's show No 73 in 1982. She then moved onto the comedy circuit and began to gain a wider following thanks to regular appearances on Radio 4's I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, hosting the station's News Quiz, and Channel 4's Whose Line is it Anyway? She became a Call My Bluff team captain in 1997, and began presenting a revival of Fifteen-to-One in 2014. In 2015, she left her job as the presenter of The News Quiz to help set up the Women's Equality Party.
Quote: On the intellectuals she met while a Cambridge student: 'They could split the atom, but not wire a plug.'
Trivia: Toksvig was awarded an OBE in 2014. She has written several novels.
Alan Davies (Panellist)
Born: March 06, 1966 in Loughton, Essex
Best Known For: Jonathan Creek and being the permanent panellist on QI.
Early-life: Alan Roger Davies was born in Loughton, Essex, on March 6, 1966. Together with his older brother and younger sister, Alan was raised by his accountant father, following the death of his mother from leukaemia when he was six. Despite disliking school, he was a bright child and passed 12 O-Levels and two A-Levels before studying drama at the University of Kent. On graduating, he signed on for an Enterprise Allowance Scheme to help fund his assault on the London comedy circuit.
Career: Davies performed his first stand-up gig in 1988, and by the early 1990s was a rising star, picking up rave reviews at Edinburgh. He later gave up playing clubs to concentrate on radio. His Radio 1 series, Alan's Big One FM, led to TV appearances on shows such as One Foot in the Grave, before he was cast as the lead in Jonathan Creek, the light-hearted mystery drama that made him a household name. Other acting work includes Bob and Rose, A Many Splintered Thing, The Brief, Marple, Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008), Lewis and Whites. He presented the three-part documentary Alan Davies' Teenage Revolution for Channel 4 in 2010 and was a judge in 2011 on ITV talent show Show Me the Funny. He's also appeared in West End hit Auntie and Me. He has been a permanent panellist on irreverent quiz QI since the show began in 2003.
Quote: 'I'm like a fine wine. I'm maturing.'
Trivia: In early 2012, he announced his first UK stand-up tour in 12 years.
Zoe Lyons (Panellist)
Richard Osman (Panellist)
Born: November 28, 1970 in Billericay
Best Known For: Pointless.
Early-life: Richard Thomas Osman was born in Billericay on November 28, 1970, but grew up in West Sussex. He was raised by his single mum after his father left home - they didn't see each other for 20 years. Richard studied politics and sociology at Trinity College, Cambridge, where his future Pointless colleague Alexander Armstrong was reading English literature. He claims that one of his proudest moments came when his mum and grandfather watched his graduation.
Career: Osman has worked behind the scenes as an executive producer on a number of TV programmes, including Deal or No Deal, 8 Out of 10 Cats, and 10 O'Clock Live. As the UK creative director of TV production company Endemol, he pitched the quiz Pointless to the BBC. As a way of explaining the rules, he played the co-host during a run-through. He was asked to do the role for real when the show was commissioned. Pointless started on BBC Two in 2009 and was an immediate hit. It quickly made the switch to BBC One. Since being in the spotlight on Pointless, he has made guest appearances on QI, Have I Got News for You and Would I Lie to You? He also guest presented an episode of The One Show alongside Alex Jones.
Quote: 'Whenever I turn up to pub quizzes now, I see people going: ‘Urgh, that's the guy who knows everything.''
Trivia: He is the younger brother of Mat Osman, bassist with Suede, and suffers from nystagmus, a condition that results in uncontrolled movement of the eyes.
Greg James (Panellist)
Born: December 17, 1985 in Bishop's Stortford
Best Known For: His work on Radio 1.
Early-life: Greg was born in Bishop's Stortford on December 17, 1985. He went on to study drama at the University of East Anglia and during his time there, he presented several shows on the students' union radio station, becoming the station manager in 2006.
Career: James' big break came in October 2007 when he began presenting the Radio 1 Early Breakfast show. Since 2012, he has presented Radio 1's 4-7pm slot. He also co-hosts Not Just Cricket and Fighting Talk on Radio 5 Live. On TV, James has presented Britain Unzipped and I Survived a Zombie Apocalypse, and co-hosted coverage of various music festivals.
Quote: 'I would never be put off by anyone's level of fame. I don't hide from the showbiz world, I've just worked out what I like.'
Trivia: In 2014, James won a Gold Radio Academy Award. In 2013, he journeyed along the Zambezi River for five days to raise money for Comic Relief. He is an ambassador for the Stroke Association and the Lord's Taverners.
Diccon Ramsay (Director)
Piers Fletcher (Producer)
John Lloyd (Executive producer)

Before / After

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