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QI (G Series)
'' QI'' (''Quite Interesting'') is a BBC comedy panel game television show that began in 2003. It was created by John Lloyd, and was hosted by Stephen Fry until the end of Series 13 (13 years) after which Sandi Toksvig took over, and features permanent panellist Alan Davies. Each series covers topics that begin with a different letter of the alphabet; for example, the first series covered topics whose word began with "A". Thus it is referred to as "Series A" instead of "Series One". ''QI'' was given a full series after BBC executives responded well to a nonbroadcast pilot and the first episode, "Adam", premiered on BBC Two on 11 September 2003. From the second to the fifth series, episodes aired each week on BBC Two; the second and subsequent episodes were shown first on BBC Four in the time-slot after the previous episode's BBC Two broadcast. When the sixth series of ''QI'' began in 2008, the show moved to BBC One and the broadcasting of episodes on BBC Four was replaced in fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panel Game
A panel show or panel game is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participate. Celebrity panelists may compete with each other, such as on '' The News Quiz''; facilitate play by non-celebrity contestants, such as on '' Match Game'' and '' Blankety Blank''; or do both, such as on '' Wait Wait Don't Tell Me''. The genre can be traced to 1938, when '' Information Please'' debuted on American radio. The earliest known television panel show is '' Play the Game'', a charades show in 1946. The modern trend of comedy panel shows can find early roots with '' Stop Me If You've Heard This One'' in 1939 and '' Can You Top This?'' in 1940. While panel shows were more popular in the past in the U.S., they are still very common in the United Kingdom. Format While many early panel shows stuck to the traditional quiz show format in which celebrities tried to get the right answers and win, the primary goal of modern panel shows is to entertain the audience with come ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kit Hesketh-Harvey
Christopher John Hesketh-Harvey (30 April 1957 – 1 February 2023) was a British musical performer, translator, composer, and screenwriter. Early life Born in Zomba, Nyasaland (now Malawi), Rhodesia and Nyasaland, into a Foreign Office family, Hesketh-Harvey was educated as senior chorister at Canterbury Cathedral and then at Tonbridge School in Kent. He gained an Exhibition in English Literature as well as a choral scholarship to Clare College, Cambridge, where he studied under John Rutter and joined the Footlights. Career Hesketh-Harvey worked as a staff producer for the BBC-TV Music and Arts Department, joining in 1980 and leaving to write the script for Merchant Ivory's '' Maurice'' (1987). He won the 1988 Vivian Ellis Award for musical-theatre writers and subsequently studied with Stephen Sondheim, who had been appointed to the Cameron Mackintosh visiting professorship in Contemporary Theatre at St Catherine's College, Oxford. Hesketh-Harvey worked on ''The Vicar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Carr
James Anthony Patrick Carr (born 15 September 1972) is an Irish-British comedian, presenter, writer and actor. He is known for his rapid-fire deadpan delivery of One-line joke, one-liners. He began his comedy career in 1997, and he has regularly appeared on television as the host of Channel 4 panel shows such as ''8 Out of 10 Cats, 8 Out of 10 Cats'', ''8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown'' and ''The Big Fat Quiz of the Year''. Early life and education James Anthony Patrick Carr was born on 15 September 1972, in Hounslow, London. He is the second of three sons born to Irish parents Nora Mary (née Lawlor; 19 September 1943 – 7 September 2001) and Patrick James "Jim" Carr (born 1945), an accountant who became the treasurer for computer company Unisys. His parents were married in 1970 and separated in 1994, never divorcing. Carr spent most of his early life in the village of Farnham Common, Buckinghamshire, where he attended Farnham Common School and Burnham Gramma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rob Brydon
Robert Brydon Jones (; born 3 May 1965) is a Welsh actor, comedian, impressionist, presenter, singer and writer. He gained prominence for his roles in film, television and radio. He was appointed Order of the British Empire, Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in Queen Elizabeth II's Birthday Honours in 2013 for services to comedy and broadcasting, and for charitable services. Brydon gained fame for his roles in the black comedy series ''Human Remains (TV series), Human Remains'' (2000), the mockumentary series ''Marion and Geoff'' (2000–2003), the chat show spoof ''The Keith Barret Show'' (2004–2005), and the comedy series ''Supernova (British TV series), Supernova'' (2005–2006). From 2007 to 2024, he played List of Gavin & Stacey characters#Bryn West, Bryn West in the BBC sitcom ''Gavin & Stacey'' for which he received a British Academy Television Awards, BAFTA Award nomination for Best Comedy Performance. He has acted in a number of films with Steve Coogan f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gyles Brandreth
Gyles Daubeney Brandreth (born 8 March 1948) is a British broadcaster, writer and former politician. He has worked as a television presenter, theatre producer, journalist, author and publisher. He was a presenter for TV-am's '' Good Morning Britain'' in the 1980s, and has been regularly featured on Channel 4's game show '' Countdown'' and the BBC's ''The One Show''. On radio, he makes frequent appearances on the BBC Radio 4 programme ''Just a Minute''. In 1992 Brandreth was elected as a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for the City of Chester constituency. Representing Chester in the House of Commons until his defeat at the 1997 general election, Brandreth then resumed his career in the media. He has written both fiction and non-fiction books, and makes appearances as a public speaker. Early life Born in 1948 at Wuppertal, Germany, where his father, Charles Brandreth (1910–1982) was serving as a legal officer with the Allied Control Commission, his mother Alice, ''n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Howard Goodall
Howard Lindsay Goodall (; born 26 May 1958) is an English composer of musicals, choral music and music for television. He also presents music-based programmes for television and radio, for which he has won many awards. In May 2008, he was named as a presenter and "Composer-in-Residence" with the UK radio channel Classic FM. In May 2009, he was named "Composer of the Year" at the Classic BRIT Awards. Personal life Born in Bromley, Kent, Goodall was educated at New College School, where he was a chorister in the Choir of New College, Oxford. He then went on to Stowe School and Lord Williams's School. He read music at Christ Church, Oxford, where he gained a first-class degree. He is married to Val Fancourt, who is a classical music agent, and they have two daughters. Works Popular music In the late 1970s, Goodall was a member of the band Half Brother with his friend Jonathan Kermode. They produced an eponymous LP album, '' Half Brother'', in 1978. Musical theatre Goodal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jo Brand
Josephine Grace Brand (born 23 July 1957) is an English actress, comedian, presenter and writer. Starting her entertainment career with a move from psychiatric nursing to the alternative comedy stand-up scene and early performances on '' Saturday Live'', she went on to appear on '' The Brain Drain'', Channel 4's '' Jo Brand Through the Cakehole'', '' Getting On'' and various television appearances including as a regular guest on '' QI'', '' Have I Got News for You'' and '' Would I Lie to You?''. She also makes regular appearances on BBC Radio 4 in programmes such as '' The News Quiz'' and ''Just a Minute''. Since 2014 she has been the presenter of '' The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice''. In 2003, Brand was listed in ''The Observer'' as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. Early life Brand was born in Clapham, London, near St Paul's Church in a house which was "a little terraced Victorian place on the Wandsworth Road with an outside toilet", and grew up in Ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meera Syal
Meera Syal FRSL (born Feroza Syal; 27 June 1961) is an English comedian, writer, playwright, singer, journalist and actress. She rose to prominence as one of the team that created '' Goodness Gracious Me'' and by portraying Sanjeev's grandmother, Ummi, in '' The Kumars at No. 42''. She has become one of the UK's best-known Asian personalities. She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1997 New Year Honours and in 2003 was listed in ''The Observer'' as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to drama and literature. In 2023, she was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship. Early life Syal was born on 27 June 1961 in Wolverhampton and grew up in Essington, Staffordshire, a mining village a few miles to the north. Her Indian Punjabi parents, Surinder Syal (father) and Surinder Kaur (mother), came to the United Kingdom from New Delhi. Wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clive Anderson
Clive Stuart Anderson (born 10 December 1952) is an English television and radio presenter, comedian, writer and former barrister. Winner of a British Comedy Award in 1991, Anderson began experimenting with comedy and writing comedic scripts during his 15-year legal career. He then became host of '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'', initially a radio show on BBC Radio 4 in 1988, before moving to television on Channel 4 from 1988 to 1999. He was also host of his own chat show ''Clive Anderson Talks Back'', which changed its name to ''Clive Anderson All Talk'' in 1996, from 1989 to 1999. He has also hosted many radio programmes and made guest appearances on '' Have I Got News for You'', '' Mock the Week'' and '' QI''. Early life Anderson's mother was English and his parents met while serving in the RAF. He was educated at Stanburn Primary School and Harrow County School for Boys then a grammar school which closed in 1975. His group of contemporaries included Geoffrey Perkins and Mich ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeremy Hardy
Jeremy James Hardy (17 July 1961 – 1 February 2019) was an English comedian. Born and raised in Hampshire, Hardy studied at the University of Southampton and began his stand-up career in the 1980s, going on to win the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, Perrier Comedy Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1988. He is best known for his appearances on radio panel shows such as the ''The News Quiz, News Quiz'' and ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue''. Early life Hardy was born in Farnborough, Hampshire on 17 July 1961, the fifth and youngest child of rocket scientist Donald D. Hardy (1925–2016) and Sheila Stagg (1924–2012). He attended Farnham College and studied modern history and politics at the University of Southampton. He subsequently failed to obtain a place on a journalism course, and considered becoming an actor or poet. Career Hardy started scriptwriting before turning to stand-up comedy in London in the early 1980s, funded in part by the Enterprise Allowance Scheme. He won the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rich Hall
Richard Travis Hall (born June 10, 1954) is an American comedian, writer, director, actor, and musician, first coming to prominence as a sketch comedian in the 1980s. He wrote and performed for a range of American networks, in series such as '' Fridays'', '' Not Necessarily the News'' (popularising the "sniglet" neologism), and ''Saturday Night Live''. After winning a Perrier Comedy Award in 2000, using the character of Tennessee country musician Otis Lee Crenshaw, Hall became popular in the United Kingdom, regularly appearing on '' QI'' and similar panel shows. He has created and starred in several series for the BBC, including comedies with Mike Wilmot and documentaries often concerning cinema of the United States. Hall has also maintained a successful stand-up comedy career, as both Crenshaw and himself. Early life Richard Hall was born in Alexandria, Virginia, and grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina. He says he is of partial Cherokee descent. Early in his career, he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Sessions
John Sessions (born John Marshall; 11 January 1953 – 2 November 2020) was a British actor and comedian. He was known as a regular performer on comedy improvisation show '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'', as co-creator, co-writer and co-star of the sitcom '' Stella Street'', as a panellist on '' QI'', and as a character actor in numerous films, both in the UK and Hollywood. Early life John Sessions was born as John Marshall on 11 January 1953 to John and Esme (née Richardson) Marshall. His family was Scottish; his father was a gas engineer from Largs, Ayrshire, and his mother was from Glasgow. He had an older brother, Bill, and a twin sister, Maggie. He was raised in Bedford and St Albans. Education Sessions was educated at Bedford Modern School, an independent school for boys (now co-educational), and Verulam School, St Albans, followed by the University College of North Wales in Bangor, from which he graduated with an MA in English literature. At university, he had begun to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
