"QI" - The first episode Trivia Quiz

Answer: A bleating sheep

Alan's buzzer noise is revealed last, and always plays something funny or unexpected to play up Alan's role as the "Black Sheep" of the panel. This is probably also an in-joke, because Alan Davies tends to wear his hair long and curly like a sheep or a sheep-dog - it's been his trademark ever since he made his big break starring in "Jonathan Creek"!

Curiously enough, Alan's buzzer keeps changing throughout this entire episode. At one point it is a ringing bell, and during the General Ignorance round it is a dog's "Woof". The idea of unexpectedly changing Alan's buzzer noise returned in a few later episodes.

Answer: Adam's navel

Appropriately, the first question is about Adam, more specifically Michelangelo's Adam, as painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The question is what Adam's navel has in common with the Archbishop of Canterbury's left ear. In this famous painting, Adam has a navel, which contradicts the idea that Adam was not born of a woman and therefore shouldn't have had one at all.

Therefore, the navel is purely decorative, much like the Archbishop's left ear: he's been deaf in his left ear since birth.

Answer: Thomas Beckett

Sessions is quite a knowledgeable man, and over the early course of the series has won several times. Of course, the naughty QI Elves have set up some traps especially for him, just to make sure he knows his place.

Answer: Hugh Laurie

Hugh Laurie was Stephen Fry's comedy partner for many years before the show, with the two performing many comedy acts together and participating as a duo in several famous British comedy shows like "Blackadder" and "Jeeves and Wooster". Laurie was apparently not comfortable with the "QI" format however, and did not make a second appearance in series A to G. As Fry once let slip in a "QI" episode: "Laurie is only funny when the script's in front of him". Apparently, improvisation isn't one of Laurie's fortes.

P.S. all the answers to this question are guests who appeared once and never came back, but of these only Laurie appeared in the FIRST episode.

Answer: Danny Baker, "New balls please!"

This was the wrong response to a question about Caravaggio, who had murdered a man called Tomassoni during an argument at a tennis match. As Stephen remarks, Caravaggio claimed that it was an accidental murder, and that he was only trying to cut the man's testicles off. This prompts Baker to say "New balls please!", triggering the forfeit for a penalty of 10 points.

During the first season, Stephen actually held up cards with the forfeit text printed on them. It was only later in the series that the forfeit was flashed on the large video screens behind the participants, and the cards were dropped.

Answer: Sir George Scott

Odd bits of information seem to flow out of Stephen Fry's mouth every time there's a pause in the conversation. In a tangent about Burma, he says that Sir Scott once wrote in his diary that he "Stepped on something soft and wobbly. Struck a match. Found it was a dead Chinaman". He then wonders why the British are hated around the globe.

Answer: A fart in the bath

While the panelists can often show great wit and astounding knowledge, toilet humor tends to crop up at least once per episode if not more. That's part of the charm of "QI", and is always (ok, mostly) done in good taste. Stephen Fry himself is often guilty of starting a bout of various sexual or scatological jokes, although the honor usually goes to the less "mature" members like Alan Davies or Sean Lock.

Answer: A giant anteater hugging a man

Stephen asks what would happen to John Sessions if he were to be hugged by an anteater, and the answer is that he would probably be badly hurt - anteaters have long sharp claws and a powerful grasp, and can kill a man with a hug. Alan proceeds to give a hilarious impression of an anteater greeting John with a hug and then apologizing for having killed him.

Impressions are also another common occurrence on the show, performed by many of the guests, and are often very funny. Alan once said of Stephen that "he doesn't do many impressions, but when he does they're hilarious". And he's right!

Answer: Which country has the highest suicide rate?

If you answered wrong, give yourself -10 points! General Ignorance comes at the end of each episode, and often contains questions completely unrelated to the show's weekly theme. These questions are specifically selected to lure players into forfeits, causing them to lose 10 points per forfeit. In other words, these are questions where the average person would THINK he's got the right answer, possibly through common myths and urban legends, and would be tempted to push the buzzer quickly and give that answer, falling instead into a trap.

Most guests have taken the bait at least once. After a particularly devious General Ignorance round, it's likely that at least one guest (usually Alan) would end up with a staggeringly low score, somewhere deep in the negative regions.

Answer: Danny Baker

Despite having given many correct and interesting answers early in the show, John Sessions only comes in 3rd place with 10 points. Danny Baker, who had the show's first forfeit, somehow managed to win this episode with 18 points, followed by Hugh Laurie with 11. Due to the nature of the show's editing, it's sometimes hard to tell why or how a person has won.

But then again it doesn't matter - it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game!