CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Goooooood....
..rest ye merry, merry, merry, merry, merry, merry gentlemen,
let nothing you dismay
and welcome to the QI Christmas panto,
with an evening of Merriment.
Let's see who's under my tree.
It's Baron Hardup, Johnny Vegas.
And here's Buttons Bill Bailey.
Widow Twankey, Jenny Eclair.
And a horse's arse, Alan Davies.
So, let's hear your panto noises.
Johnny goes...
BUZZER: "OH, YES, IT IS."
Bill goes...
BUZZER: "OH, NO, IT ISN'T."
Jenny goes...
BUZZER: "HE'S BEHIND YOU!"
And Alan goes...
BUZZER: "WHY IS THAT MAN WEARING A DRESS, MUMMY?"
Good question. Have a sweet, dear.
Right, now, I've sent you all a Christmas card and here they are.
I've got one for Johnny. And one for Jenny.
Thank you. One for Bill. And there's one for Alan.
- Thank you. - Now, my question is quite simple -
whose card is most like the first card ever sent?
Well, mine's like that. Yeah.
- OK, well, I've got a robin. - You've got a robin.
- A lovely cock robin. - Cock - maybe. How do you know it's a cock robin?
Er, well, um...
I mean, I don't mean cock robin...
Is that what Batman said?
That's terrible. ALAN LAUGHS
- He likes that - you like that, don't you? - I like that.
He's very pleased with himself. Have another sweet.
- Sorry? - "How do you know it's a cock, Robin?"
I didn't actually...
"How do you know it's a cock, Robin?"
So you've got the robin and the robin is certainly
a traditional Christmas card picture and image.
You've got a Roman statue? In a Christmas jumper.
Which seems unlikely, though, of course,
the Roman Empire had hundreds of years as a Christian empire... No.
But you still... If it had been a Christmas toga, maybe, but no.
That's not the original Christmas card.
Well, fair point.
You've got a little baby.
I'm struggling to think this is the original.
It's very close to my upbringing.
- But it's not... - "I saw this and thought of you."
Well, we saw that and thought of you, Alan.
There we are. It does look a bit like me.
It looks very like you.
I would say that is Alan Davies, there.
- In a production of Puss In Boots. - Puss In Boots.
In 1916.
So was that the very first Christmas card?
No, it wasn't, but we were just fascinated to see Alan in it
and to see that you were working in panto then
and wondered, you know, whether you had a good experience?
- Loved it. - You loved it, yeah.
It's demanding, cos it's five shows a day.
Yes, five. That's what they always say.
But financially, it's the best gig of the year, so...
And can I say, I don't think we're getting the best out of my costume.
Show the ladies and gentlemen.
Look, I've got a tail.
Hey! AUDIENCE: Hey!
And I've got...I've got feet and everything.
- But it's all out of sight below the desk, Stephen. - Yes.
It looks like you're just wearing a pair of large grey trousers,
for no reason at all.
They are retaining all the moisture, that's all I'd like to say...
- Is it a ventriloquist's donkey? - It is now.
- Oh, yeah... - "Happy new year."
- That's a scary-looking... - "Rubbish Stephen, more points."
You look like you're wearing boiler lagging.
- You do! You've been lagged. - I've been lagged.
All right, so yes, that was one Christmas card, it was 1916.
I vote the robin as the early one.
Robins were very early on Christmas cards.
It's probably the most common depiction of Christmas, isn't it?
Do you know why they were common?
- Why were they considered a symbol of Christmas? - Uh...
What it is, is that when the first Christmas cards were delivered,
they were delivered by postmen who wore red tunics
and were known as "red breasts".
- Oh, yes. - Robin red breasts.
And so the sight of the postman coming up the path in the snow...
..was a harbinger of doom.
..was a harbinger of doom, of doom / Christmas.
- A harbinger of postal orders. - Yeah.
That's the most commonly accepted theory.
What is also interesting is that in the last...20 years, maybe,
the number of robins on Christmas cards in Britain
has declined enormously.
Well, that's because that one looks like he's been doing Charlie.
No, that...
It just looks like he's been abusing drugs.
BILL: It does, doesn't it?
JOHNNY: He's the reason you can't get in a cubicle.
Only you would notice, only you.
I'm perhaps one of the last humans in Britain
who use cubicles to have a poo.
And at Christmas, the thought of a little robin red breast in there
- just going... - HE SNIFFS
HIGH-PITCHED: "I'll be out in a minute."
..whilst I'm touching Christmas cloth.
Oh, gracious.
BILL: # "Touching Christmas cloth..."
HE HUMS TUNE OF "JINGLE BELLS"
This is already going slightly out of control.
I think he's just... He's been at the Gold Top, that's all that is,
he's been at the Gold Top on your doorstep.
- Yes, that's right. - That's true, yes.
I think the first picture on a Christmas card
was a furious middle-aged woman scrubbing at a roasting tray
with a think bubble coming out of her head
which reads, "The ungrateful shits!"
It would be... it would be very accurate.
I'll just finish my robin point, which was reasonably interesting,
- at least to me, if no-one else. - Yes.
And that is, that over the last ten years,
the number of robins appearing in Christmas cards...
YAWNING
Over the last ten years, the number of robins
appearing on Christmas cards has declined by a quarter.
But the number of robins in Britain, as the real birds,
has increased by nearly a half.
- Exponentially. - Yeah. - Oh, right.
And the question of how you sex them,
- how you tell them apart, it's not easy at all. - No.
But it's something to do with the hairline they have there,
where the red turns into grey.
That one on the right is wearing Just For Men.
It's said that if it's a kind of quite strong V,
it's likely to be a female.
And if it's more of a U, it's a male,
but even ornithologists find it difficult.
- No, it's very true, it's impossible. - Yeah. So, we'll turn to Jenny.
What did Romans do at Christmas time?
Rome...? What did Romans...?
Well, they would feast and fornicate and puke up afterwards. Exactly.
Nothing's changed, really, over the years, has it?
- That's Christmas, basically. - That's Christmas, yeah.
Christmas tends to happen... Once a year.
Thank you. I'm trying to help.
APPLAUSE You are.
- She can't get points for that. - No points for that.
You think that's too obvious? It's not for me...
A perfectly legitimate point has been scored.
- Christmas is for life... - All right. - ..not just for...
Oh, hang on, no, no.
- There are midwinter feasts - Christmas is one. - Pagan feasts. - Yeah.
- And the Roman one was Saturnalia. - Saturnalia. - Saturnalia,
after the god Saturn.
- And there you can see... - Oh, the debauchery.
You can see him throwing up in the middle, in fact.
We did that in the stockroom at Argos.
At Christmas.
But the card that is closest to the first card ever sent
is Johnny's.
- Oh, the drinking baby. - Baby with a drink?
It was similar to the first card,
which had a whole family with drinks, including a baby there.
- That's the original. - JOHNNY: Let me get this straight.
For years, I've thought that I was raised
in an unstable environment,
when actually my dad, every day,
has just been trying to promote the original Christmas card.
Yes, there you are, exactly. Exactly.
JOHNNY LAUGHS
It was designed by John Callcott Horsley,
Royal... Royal Acad... No, now I'm going to have one of these moments...
- Royal Acadamadition. - A Royal Acadamadition.
A Royal Academician. ALAN BABBLES
It was designed by John Callcott Horsley, RA.
And he...
- Very good. - Nice. - Safe.
And, as you see, it depicts a family
all toasting Christmas and the New Year,
including the toddler, there, in green, in front,
and there's on the left a sign of feeding the poor,
and on the right, a sign of clothing the naked,
- all the good things you should do on Christmas. - Ah, yes.
- If you see any naked people, clothe them. - Yes.
Do not approach them.
No. So there we are.
Now, the Queen has a Christmas message, as do we.
In fact, as we approach the end of series 13,
it's time for us to reveal that every episode of QI,
every single one, since the very first,
has included a secret message which nobody has spotted.
Where do you think it's hidden?
Is it on your face?
Have you just encrypted
some of your delightful laughter lines into some...?
Perhaps it's in Klingon.
HE SPEAKS KLINGON
- Merry Christmas. - It's not on my face.
Is it in the credits or the theme tune?
- Theme tune. - The theme tune? - Ah! The theme tune.
BILL: What? No!
Yes. It's in code.
What sort of code do you think it might be in? Morse code.
Morse code is the right answer. No, really?! Yes. Yes!
JENNY LAUGHS, APPLAUSE
It was composed by the prolific Howard Goodall,
whom people will know from Vicar of Dibley and Blackadder
and many other theme tunes, as well as serious work,
and his colleague, Simon Nathan, decoded this,
and this is what it actually says.
And that is actually a decoding of the...
HE KNOCKS ON DESK ..the long and the shorts,
the minims and the crochets, if you like, in musical terms.
And it does come out as www.alan0andstephenhero.com.
And that...that is...
I know, I'm sorry. I didn't...
APPLAUSE
- BILL: He never told you. - No...
Years, you've been, like, in the stocks.
Oh. Poor Alan.
Well, I didn't know it until I was told either, Alan.
It's not my...
A STUDIO LIGHT BLOWS Oh! My God!
- What happened there? - What the hell was that?!
- It was a light. - BILL: Was it a lamp?
- It might be a lamp. - No, no, he's got a bad ankle,
I'm just taking him out.
I can't afford to keep him.
LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
Wow.
I absolutely shat myself.
ABSOLUTELY shat yourself? My God.
So where were we? Where were we? Where were we?
Oh, we were with this, www.alan0andstephenhero.com.
- Yeah, let's move on from that. - You might find, ladies and gentlemen,
including panelistas,
that that is a real URL,
a real web address, that you can find a little QI Easter egg in
if you visit it.
Wow, if you've got nothing better to do with your lives.
I think it's a jolly exciting thing to do with your life.
Yes, it is, of course.
BUZZER: "OH, NO, IT ISN'T..."
So this...
BUZZER: "OH, YES, IT IS."
LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE I knew there'd be trouble.
I mentioned to you that that hidden code was discovered by Simon Nathan.
He's in the audience. Where are you?
Is he wearing an anorak? There he is, over there.
He's not wearing an anorak. APPLAUSE
Well done. Thank you very much.
There you are.
- Other TV shows have also hidden Morse code inside them. - Have they?
Yeah. Do you know of one?
One quite well-known example, pretty obvious when you think about it.
- Loose Women. - BILL: Morse.
Morse. Of course. Morse, yeah.
The composer, Barrington Pheloung, liked to...
Never! That's his name, yes.
Barrington Pheloung, nice chap. Very nice fellow.
He used to hide the name of the murderer very often
in the opening...
HE HUMS BEAT ..there.
Yes. Wasn't it like this?
- Hang on, I've actually, look, look... - Oh, hello.
Right. It was like this, wasn't it?
HE PLAYS NOTES
- Yes. - He'd tap it out and then when the murderer appeared, he went...
SINISTER MUSICAL STING
LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
And you went, "That's him!"
They never understood why everybody could guess the murderer, could they?
Another one which used Morse might surprise you.
It had titles that came over
as a sort of ticker-tape kind of thing at the end,
with a piccolo giving the tune of a famous sitcom.
BILL WHISTLES
- Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em. - Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em.
- That one. - That one. - Exactly. - I'll stop whistling now.
That was brilliant, you're right, that was the tune.
And there's a building that gives off Morse code,
a very famous building in Hollywood.
- How? Tapping it? - Well, it's got a light flashing at the top.
- It's not sound. - Oh, I thought it was...
Because of course, Morse code can be visual as well.
There it is. Capitol Records. It's like a stack of discs.
And it flashes out this message here,
"Hollywood", in Morse code - very simple.
But in 2013, it changed to announce Katy Perry's new album Prism
and its release date came out in Morse code.
Nobody noticed.
Not like the demographic of Katy Perry's fans, not...
They're not really into Morse. I'm just...just saying, just saying.
Bletchley and Katy Perry,
there's no real cross-over, is there? Not really.
There's 200,000 fans sitting there with carrier pigeons.
"If only I'd known it was Morse."
In 2004, Morse code added its first addition since World War II,
which is di-dah-dah-di-dah-di.
See if you can guess what it is?
It's an addition to the Morse alphabet.
It's going to be a hashtag or an @ sign.
It's an @ sign, well done.
Exactly right, so that people can spot e-mail addresses.
Samuel Morse invented Morse code, as you probably know.
But do you know anything about him, other than that he was the inventor of Morse code?
He had another job, which was rather interesting.
He was a painter and he liked, or was commissioned, to paint...
- Dot-dot-dot, dash... - ..to paint paintings...
Dot-dot-dot-dot-dot-dot...
He wasn't a pointillist, but he was commissioned to paint paintings.
It seems very odd, why would he be commissioned to paint paintings?
Whoa! There's a fly on my hand!
Argh!
LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
Oh!
Oh...!
You've killed it, Alan!
- I never thought I'd get it in a million years! - How could you?!
It was just looking for somewhere to sleep
- and you just killed it, you...you brute! - I'm so sorry.
Never mind. Merry Christmas, everybody.
Samuel Morse was a painter
and he was commissioned to paint paintings.
- Paint paintings. - Because he lived in an era
when there were no catalogues.
- Of course. - Of museums, for example. So he painted...
- The Argos catalogue. - He painted one famous...
He painted one famous painting, six foot by nine,
of the most well-known exhibits at the Louvre Museum.
So you could see them if you hadn't visited it.
You can see the Mona Lisa, down there, famously.
- The best-known of... - He was quite good, wasn't he?
- Yeah, he was. - So as a sort of copyist...
Yeah. To give you an idea of what was in the museum,
the best-known ones there, if you didn't have a chance of getting to Paris, for example.
So next time you think of Samuel Morse,
you can think of that as well as the dots and dashes. Oh.
I will - I'll think of him as...as a public spirited...
I think that's genuinely interesting. Thank you.
Yes. That's all we hope for. Good.
So by that logic, he invented the internet?
- He didn't. - He didn't? - No.
BILL: Wait, the fly's coming back to life!
Hold that thought, though.
I have to hold these thoughts, I have nothing else.
No, they're good thoughts. Thank you.
Anyway... We'll move on, we'll move on.
And we may come back to that.
I very much doubt it, but we may.
Describe the plot of, or sing a song from the popular musical,
"The Bathrooms Are Coming".
# The bathrooms are coming
♪ Thank God, I need a shit! ♪
Nice. Bill, can you do me
CISTERNS Are Doing It For Themselves?
Oh, very good. APPLAUSE
# The bathrooms are coming Lock up your pipes
# The bathrooms are coming Where are your knives?
# Kill, kill, kill them They'll be coming
# Kill them, kill them
♪ The bathrooms are coming for your lives... ♪
AUDIENCE CLAPPING ALONG
♪ They're coming for your souls... ♪
# I've had it installed now
# And there's nothing to pay till September
# I'm on an HP high
# And ain't no debt collector ever gonna bring me down
# Water may be very hot
♪ Don't let the grout go mouldy on me... ♪
APPLAUSE
It was country and western.
BILL PLAYS A TUNE
If you're going to do country and western, it'll be...
# Fixed shower head, driving me wild
# Can't find my crevices no matter how hard I tried
- # I'm going to put my leg up... # - No, don't!
- # Pull my junk to the side... # - Oh...!
BILL PLAYS AN END NOTE
Thank you.
Well, that was a big surprise, thank you very much.
Do you know what that might be? The Bathrooms Are Coming?
- The Bathrooms Are Coming? - Written by a Broadway musical composer.
But not for Broadway.
- Was it a bathroom company? - A commercial or something?
Yes. American Standard, they were called,
and this was one of many, many, many industrial musicals,
which had their heyday in between 1950 and 1980,
30 years of exciting musicals
for conventions of various companies and their salesmen, all over America.
And they would write specialist musicals just for the salesmen,
just for the conventioners, not for the members of the public.
But they had big budgets and they were written by Broadway,
serious Broadway composers, who hid their names, I think.
- Yeah. - But that's an example of one, The Bathrooms Are Coming.
An original musical, presented by American Standard, as you can see.
The Sound of Selling.
B F Goodrich's 1966 sales meeting musical.
Isn't that exciting?
The Saga of the Dingbat. The Saga of the Dingbat?
- This is the weirdest thing I've ever seen. - Isn't it?
- Truly astonishing. - Mental, innit? - These were huge. - What's going on?
Well, when it started in the '50s, by about 1955,
- America... - ..had gone mad.
..made two-thirds of the world's goods.
Two-thirds of manufacturing industry in the world was American.
Was this at the height of,
"This week's show was brought to you by Lorimar cigarettes..."?
- There was all that sponsorship going on... - Yeah.
..on the Ed Sullivan Show and things like that, yeah.
- So wait, hang on, if you want to hang on a second. - Excellent!
# If you've a hankering for knowledge
# But can't be arsed with college
♪ Then this is the show for you. ♪ Something like that, I don't know.
Yeah. That's the one!
That's the QI show. APPLAUSE
♪ This really Quite Interesting show! ♪
- Something like that. - Yes, The Quite Interesting Show.
We've got our own musical. APPLAUSE
Thank you, Bill.
# Alan, Alan, Alan, Alan Alan, Alan, Alan, Alan
♪ Alan, Alan, Alan, Alan I'm aghast! ♪
- LAUGHTER - # And he's won! No, he's last. #
You know.
We could, we could do this, I don't know,
- like funded by some kind of light bulb company... - Yeah.
LAUGHTER ..and put it on ice.
- Yes. - Yes!
Don't need to skate properly -
just skate out, deliver your lines and skate off.
- QI on Ice. - On Ice. - Q Ice! - Just, just...
Stephen, don't look at your cards, think about it just for a second.
- Please! - Quite pleased with that - Q Ice.
We've got reality shows filling arenas, QI on Ice.
- Do you think that would work? - I think so. - No.
I would... Wouldn't you pay to see yourself...?
Would I pay to see myself on ice?
Skate out... LAUGHTER
- BILL: In a horse costume! - In a horse costume!
- No, I will not part with any money under any circumstances. - Come on!
So...
QI on Ice, just think about it, just overnight,
don't write it off straight away.
I'll put it on... on ice.
LAUGHTER So...
Here are some lines from musicals,
in this golden era of the industrial musical, as it was called,
and you have to tell me who the company was, really.
- Go on. - "I can sell a wiener! My school..." Sausages!
Yes, wieners are sausages.
But it goes a little further, you see. Oh, I see.
"My school supplies are cleaner! I sell candy!"
- So, OK, can sell a sausage and candy? - Wal-Mart.
- Wal-Mart. - You're in the right area, it's a very well-known brand,
sells things, from early in the morning to quite late at night.
- 7-Eleven. - 7-Eleven is the right answer. That was a good clue!
- Well, you know... - That was a bit of a hint, wasn't it? I was helping you.
This one you won't necessarily know the name of the company, but it's,
"Any cola tastes so much colier. Holy water is somewhat holier."
- They weren't trying, really, then, were they? - No!
LAUGHTER
- Something that contains liquids. - Very much phoning it in!
- It's the Scott paper cup company, that's what it is. - Oh, right.
This one is weird, because it makes Mad Men
look positively modern in its attitude towards women and bosses.
"Though our boss never beats us, for that he'd never do
"It always looks as though he does 'cause we are black and blue.
"With ribbons! Ribbons! Ribbons! Ribbons!"
Typewriters, typewriters, isn't it?
Monroe Calculators. Oh! Yeah.
"I really enjoyed my appendectomy. Loved my hysterectomy."
LAUGHTER
- Um... - BUPA?
- It's Surg-O-Pack, who are disposable surgical implements and so on. - Right.
- Implying that you sort of did it yourself, really, sort of... - Yeah!
Exactly. "I gave myself a lovely hysterectomy."
Yes, I draw it on - how hard can it be? Yeah.
Well, there you are. Industrial musicals were made to motivate.
Whose music do cats like best?
Um, is he, that cat, listening to Purr-ple Rain perhaps?
GROANING Purr-ple Rain!
You've made a cat joke! I liked it. No, no, good.
It looks like he's in Old Smokey,
- he looks like he's in an electric chair being... - Oh!
LAUGHTER
Sparky, I think, rather than Smokey, wasn't it?
They're electrocuting that cat. He's not listening to anything.
- Is it jazz? - Is it...? No. Well, not jazz, actually.
Perhaps unsurprisingly,
cats are not that interested in human music of any kind.
- They're pretty much indifferent to it. - Really? - Yeah.
But they do like music specially composed for them.
Do they like birdsong? Cat music is...
Well, it sounds like mouse and bird and indeed cat sounds.
SOFT MUSIC PLAYS
- These are cats enjoying themselves, are they? - Yeah.
- Wow. - Not being tormented?
No! No cats were tormented in the making of this sequence.
- If you listen to the music... - It's quite lovely.
PIANO TINKLING
It has slight calls and slight birds and purring things. It's got hums.
Yeah, cat noises in it as well. MUSIC CONTINUES
Yeah, but is it true that cats don't meow to other cats, only to humans?
BIRDSONG ON MUSIC
LAUGHTER
I don't know. I'm being genuine! I was told this. No, I'm fascinated!
- I don't know. - I'll go along with that! - Yeah, yeah?
I've had cats and then, you don't see them meow.
- They just kind of hiss, they just grunt. - Yeah.
Their body language says enough.
- They hiss if they're fighting. - They go up very close to them
and going, "Yeah, you get the food, I'll go out the back." Yeah.
They're just whispering and hissing and all sorts of other noises.
Yeah, but it's only with humans
- that they go, "Meow." - Yeah. - "Meow." - You're right.
Younger cats are more receptive
to that sort of music than middle-aged ones,
and, some like it so much, they rub their faces against the speakers.
- AUDIENCE MEMBER: Aw! - They get very, very excited by it.
- The same cat music composer... - Well, we've all done that!
..is working with the Smithsonian National Zoo
- on cotton-top tamarins... - Aw! - ..who like silence more than music.
- How do they get the funding? - Yes!
LAUGHTER
But isn't...? Shouldn't there be a cut-off point where you're suddenly
going, "Oh, the cat doesn't like my music, I'll change my music."
And then, you go, "Well, the cat can't work my cooker."
I'll devise a cooker that the cat can use. Yeah.
And then, essentially, you end up living in the cat's house.
LAUGHTER
And you're sitting there on a bed of dead robins,
wondering why they don't feature on Christmas cards any more.
Isn't there a point where we should maintain the human/pet relationship?
You're right, you've painted a nightmare scenario there.
Well, I just don't know how big the roof will be.
No! No none of us, none of us does. LAUGHTER
- Um... - When you come home and you go through a flap,
you know it's gone too far.
LAUGHTER
Anyway, cats prefer their own music
to Atomic Kitten or Cat Stevens. JENNY LAUGHS
Now time for a short interval. Who wants an ice cream?
- Yes, please. - Me, me, pick me. - Oh, there we are. Yeah, go on.
There, take a couple.
- We've got some left over, of course. - Thank you very much. Wow!
- There you go. Johnny? - Oh, yes, please. Thank you, my love.
Chocolate, I've got chocolate, I don't really like chocolate.
- I've got raisin, I don't like raisin. - Do you want to swap? - Yes.
- No, I'd like vanilla, please. - Oh?
- LAUGHTER - Do you like chocolate?
- Do you want to swap? - Yes! You can have another flavour.
- I've got strawberry. - That'll do me! - All right.
- Oh, you already had a bit! - Yes!
LAUGHTER
How else would I know I didn't like it!?
- Well, do what I did - just sniff it and lick it. - Don't do that!
- People who sniff... - Don't take a lump out!
You must have very warm hands, cos this is already melted!
I'm having a hot flush!
APPLAUSE It's one of my super-powers!
- Mine's turned into a slushy! - Yes!
You're going to a dinner party and they've forgotten to get
the ice cream out of the freezer, just hold it against my neck!
LAUGHTER And it's spoon soft in seconds!
- Well, there's barely any... - THEY BOTH SHOUT
LAUGHTER DROWNS THEM OUT
- Right... - I don't want to do this in front of Stephen. - No.
But the next time we're having ice cream, just...
LAUGHTER
- Don't have her on my team! - Do you have any HRT-flavoured ice cream?
No, this is delicious. Thank you very much. Good.
This is what I think life will be like in a nursing home.
LOUD LAUGHTER
APPLAUSE Anyway...
What flavour have you got?!
Bingo! So what was the biggest nuisance
- in the Victorian theatre? - I like peas! I had a fly in mine.
What was the biggest nuisance...? I've got to tell this.
What was the biggest nuisance in the Victorian theatre?
No... What was the biggest nuisance in the Victorian theatre?
APPLAUSE Please!
SHOUTS: What was the biggest nuisance in the Victorian theatre?
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Yeah?
Any thoughts?
Ice-cream?
I, genuinely... Don't worry, you don't need to press them.
- Was it people interrupting? - That was one of them.
Was it the infamous female flasher
who'd invade a Victorian stage without her bloomers,
and she was called Fanny by Gaslight.
Was it her? It wasn't that, no.
Was it things going wrong, like machinery?
Well, those were all bad things, they are bad today,
but what is actually still one of the worst things that can happen?
- People eating sweets. - That's bad. Was it a bulb breaking?
If you're in the audience,
what is one of the most annoying things for you, not just...
Cholera.
LAUGHTER
Being stabbed in the neck by someone.
You're stretching, Bill. It's good that you're thinking.
TB.
Rickets.
LAUGHTER
If you stayed in for a very long time. No, what it is...
Let's imagine, for example, the Victoria Theatre, in London.
- Yeah. - It had 2,200 people. When it came to the interval?
- Oh, the lavatories? - The lavatories.
- How many lavatories do you think it had? - Four. - Two. - One.
- One lavatory. - One lavatory, 2,200 people.
This is an issue, isn't it? It's not good. Nothing's changed.
Well, things were even more problematic up north,
certainly in the Theatre Royal in Newcastle, in the Victorian era,
where they actually installed lead lining on the floor of the balcony
because urine was dropping down on to the people in the stalls,
because people just peed where they sat
cos there was nowhere else to go.
GEORDIE ACCENT: Lovely, lovely Geordies!
LAUGHTER
Now, now, careful, careful. Just be careful, that's all I'm saying.
- Aye aye, we'll piss on't floor! - It's pretty grim. That was in 1837.
That was a serious problem and it's still a problem today, is it not?
I think particularly for women? Absolutely.
Sometimes you just have to invade the men's. Yeah.
We always hear of these Japanese funnels
that are supposed to allow women... The Shewees. ..yeah, to stand up,
but they haven't caught on. I just go for the side swipe. OK.
LAUGHTER
Am I going to be able to picture this? It's sort of a dance move...
and a relief. Oh, yes.
But I'm not going to demonstrate it now.
This is a nice programme.
But is not the male urinal, couldn't you not...
I mean, is that usable as a lady?
I can't see what is wrong with just going sort of like that.
- A squat, like that. - Yeah.
Or you could hold yourself up between two parked cars.
LAUGHTER
Yes.
Not that I've ever done that!
Weren't the girl guides taught to pee standing up, as a form of...
Self-defence?
LAUGHTER
What changed then were intervals.
Intervals came more or less in time to coincide with the desire
of people to, you know...
They had what they called the Broadway Bladder,
which is supposedly 75 minutes,
which is the maximum, averagely, that people can go without having a pee.
And cinemas often had intermissions in our childhood.
Do you remember any particular ones?
- Zulu, I saw Zulu... - Zulu had an intermission.
..and it was very frightening and there were masses of Zulus
- coming over the hill, and then they had a break... - Yeah.
- ..and when we came back, wasn't quite so frightening after that. - No.
Well, the one I remember best was
where there's a car going along some green towards a cliff
and then suddenly they're going, "Argh!" as they go over the cliff,
just going straight down and then it just goes - Intermission.
And my brother and I were absolutely, just terrified,
and we had our choc-ices and our Kia Ora orange drink,
and all these other things, and came back, and then it picked it up from
there again, the car goes down and then suddenly it flies.
♪ Um Chitty, um Chitty, Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang, we love you. ♪
And it was just the most heroic moment in all cinema
and we went back again and again and again.
- Nothing will ever recapture that moment. - No? - So wonderful.
I was happy then, you know.
LAUGHTER
And now this. This!
- Aah, that's a lovely story. - Thank you, yes. - And quite interesting.
Yeah, well, we hope.
Other films, The Godfather, Sound of Music,
they all had intermissions too. Really big movies.
Hitchcock said, "The length of a film should be directly related
"to the endurance of the human bladder."
- About seven minutes with me, then. - Oh, dear.
Now, who's the worst person to sit next at a silent movie?
ALAN BURPS
Alan Davies.
I rather bolted my ice-cream. I'm very sorry.
You did, didn't you? Disgusting!
STEPHEN TUTS
- Alan, have you? Did you? Could you? - No, I just, I slightly belched.
- Would it be someone telling you the plot? - Someone talking?
- Telling the plot, yes, kind of. That is very annoying. - Yes.
How were plots laid out in silent movies?
- Obviously there was no dialogue as such. - Cards? - Cards.
- Cards were showed. - Cards would come, these captions, which would...
- Oh, reading out the captions. - Reading out the captions. - Memoing.
The number one annoyance in the days of silent movies, apparently.
There were various others.
They were very concerned about how people should behave
so they put out these things.
And the cinemas themselves had these cards at the beginning, telling
people, as you can see - "Loud talking and whistling not allowed."
"Please applaud with hands only."
LAUGHTER
I suppose it means don't cat-call and don't, you know, stamp your feet.
Or slap your buttocks together or something.
And "Madam, how would you like to sit behind the hat you are wearing?"
- That's another issue. - Yes.
So people would actually go, "Look out!"
- and would all shout, "Look out!" - Yes, probably, exactly. Annoying.
- Yeah. - But then watching films in America is great, though,
in New York particularly, because the whole crowd get involved,
and they all shout.
I went to see Lord of the Rings in New York.
Just the best experience, cos in the fight scenes,
people are shouting out, "Kick that Orc's ass!"
LAUGHTER
- "Go get it! Damn!" - It's true, they do.
- "Damn you, that Orc!" - It's fantastic.
Well, there are certain other bits of cinema etiquette which
now are very common, which is
if you happen to know how a film turns out, you're not
supposed to tell anybody on social media, or at least if you do...
- No spoilers. - ..and you blog or review, you put in capital letters?
- Spoiler alert. - Spoiler alert.
And yet, there's a thing called the Spoiler Paradox.
- Do you know about this? - It's more fun if you know what's happening?
It's more fun if you know.
If you actually know how a film turns out,
you are more likely to enjoy it, quite appreciably.
The films I like the most are the ones where you've no expectation,
you haven't been tainted in advance in any way
and then it all unfolds before you.
- I think I prefer that. - I forget anyway. People tell me stuff.
Anyway, make sure you mind your manners at the movies.
Now, Christmas comes and goes, but one thing that's never
out of season is General Ignorance, so fingers on buzzers, please.
It's a moonlit Christmas night in the city, and you can see just fine.
But then the moon goes behind a cloud.
What happens next?
BILL'S BUZZER: 'Oh, no, it isn't!'
You turn into a wolf.
LAUGHTER
- Wouldn't that be when the moon came out? Or maybe not. - Yes.
Oh, yeah.
That's right. That's why it's not working out for me.
The moon goes behind a cloud. JOHNNY'S BUZZER: Oh, yes, it is!
Does it actually become brighter?
Yes. Very good. Spot on.
APPLAUSE
Extra extra points if you can tell me why?
There's already light bouncing off the earth.
Ah ah ah ah ah, yes.
I mentioned we were in the city there.
London is burning huge amounts of light.
If the moon goes behind a cloud and the clouds are covering the sky,
then the light bounces back from the clouds and it increases,
it magnifies the light by a considerable amount.
Whereas if it's a completely cloudless night, even with a bright
big full moon, that's less light than you get in the reflection.
And this has been found to be true even in the countryside.
Ice-cream makes you intelligent!
LAUGHTER
The brightest area was in Schipliden in the Netherlands,
where the sky was 10,000 times lighter than the darkest night sky.
Tomatoes were grown there and the greenhouse lights were on.
- Good lord. - Too incredible for words.
Right, time for some Christmas music.
What did the boys in the NYPD choir sing?
BILL'S BUZZER: 'Oh, no, it isn't!'
Galway Bay.
KLAXON
- D'oh! - Don't you know by now?
Oh, I thought I'd take one for the team.
Firstly they can't have done,
because there is no NYPD choir at all.
The NYPD people they brought in for the video were the pipe band
in fact, of the New York Police Department.
And we're talking about the Pogues' Shane MacGowan singing
Fairytale of New York, the great Christmas single.
- Yes, the greatest Christmas song. - Ever. - Brilliant, yeah.
- It's a very thin competition now, isn't it, really? - Eh?
It's pretty thin competition.
Well, it's Mistletoe and Wine and that.
LAUGHTER
So the pipe band came in and they didn't know Galway Bay.
- Right. - They were supposed to sing it.
And so instead they sang the Mickey Mouse Club
and it was slightly slowed down
and it fitted to the words of Galway Bay, apparently,
so you couldn't tell.
But there are more points if you can tell me, Shane MacGowan's band,
The Pogues, of course,
why is it called The Pogues and what does that mean? Oh, I know this.
Oh, we revised it. I knew it would come up!
No, I DID once know this.
Well, it's Pog mo thoin. That means "kiss my arse".
That's it. That's it. Kiss my arse in Irish. Rather pleasing.
I had one night out with him and my thumb has never been the same again.
I can't bend it properly.
I'm just picturing a night out with Johnny Vegas and Shane MacGowan.
- That is something. - He was reading a book on architecture
and I was just in a foul mood and we got drinking together.
- Good times! - And I, yeah, I fell and I couldn't get up.
I fell in a little gully and my head was trapped,
so I just laid there for three hours going, "Help!"
LAUGHTER
And then I fell asleep after saying,
"Some kind of neighbours you are," in my sleep.
- Well, that's absolutely amazing. - Yeah.
Now, on which bank holiday is it most likely to snow?
Easter Monday.
Is the right answer.
No!!!
APPLAUSE
Yes! Come on!
Very good.
Bloody hell. I'm impressed.
Absolutely.
Statistically it is more likely to snow at an Easter bank holiday
than it is over the Christmas, even though it moves.
Well, the weather here is rubbish, isn't it?
I was out with the old man on a hot June day
and there were lots of people driving in their open-top cars
down the King's Road, as they would.
And the old man, who knows everything, said,
"Do you know that there are only six days a year
"where people with open-top sports cars could put their tops down."
Wow. That made me feel better... And that was one of them? Yeah, yeah.
There's so few good days in this country,
and so that's why I thought it was quite likely to be on Easter Monday.
That's true, cos we, as a nation, we, per capita,
own more convertible cars than any other country in Europe.
No, that's so hopeful! Durrr!
- Optimistic. - Oh, bless us. Driving with an umbrella, yeah.
Yeah, December averaged 3.9 days of snow and March had 4.2.
You are more likely to see a white Easter than a white Christmas.
Can you give me a line from the world's first panto?
Go on, go on...
He's behind you.
KLAXON
Yay! Oh, you MADE me do that!
- Why did you do that? - It's your buzzer, isn't it?
She did so well on Easter Monday
and you've just sabotaged it out of spite!
Anyway, no, first pantoMIME, what were pantomimes originally?
- Oh, silent. - They WERE silent. - They were mime.
Yeah, unlike mimes, oddly enough.
The pantomime was a character in a Roman play, who represented
all kinds of mythological things and he never spoke.
- Wow. - Terrifying.
You'd be hard pressed to shift tickets for that, though,
wouldn't you?
LAUGHTER
My God, look at that. That's an Ood and Lady GaGa.
Well, isn't it Zoidberg from Futurama?
Nothing screams "festive" like a shin-kicking contest
between two people for whom life has gone very wrong.
The first pantomimes were silent and only had one person in the cast.
So let's take a look at the scores.
Oh, my actual actual.
In fourth place, a brilliant first appearance,
and actually an incredibly high score by any QI standards.
On minus two it's Jenny Eclair! Did quite well.
APPLAUSE
In third place, with minus one, Bill Bailey!
APPLAUSE
I still don't understand why.
When two giants meet at Christmas, who can it be?
Who's the winner, who's the winner here?
In second place, with eight points, it's...
Johnny Vegas!
APPLAUSE
Oh, my stars, the winner on 11 is Alan Davies!
APPLAUSE
QI JINGLE PLAYS
So, that's all from Jenny, Johnny, Bill and Alan,
but before we go, I have one more trick up my sleeve.
Right, let's see.
Now, here's the box in which I keep my luggage.
There we go, like so.
Let's see. That's...
Now, in my luggage I keep a very Christmassy item.
It's what everyone should keep in their luggage, really.
It's a big surprise.
APPLAUSE
- Do you need a hand? - Thank you.
There you go.
Splendid.
- Oh, hello, Scott? - I have a surprise for you, Stephen. - Oh, no.
My name is Scott Penrose. I am the President of the Magic Circle,
and if you're a member of the Magic Circle,
you have to have taken a test.
And throughout this series of QI, you've been doing various
- magical experiments, so it's with a great deal of pleasure... - No!
..to announce that Stephen Fry is now formally
a member of The Magic Circle.
Oh, my God! APPLAUSE
MUSIC: Magic Moments by Perry Como
Merry Christmas, everybody!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE