Douglas Noel Adams was an English author, humourist, and screenwriter, best known as the creator of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (HHGTTG). Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy developed into a "trilogy" of five books which sold more than 15 million copies in his lifetime. It was further developed into a television series, several stage plays, comics, a video game, and a 2005 feature film. Adams's contribution to UK radio is commemorated in The Radio Academy's Hall of Fame.
Not the Nine O'Clock News is a British television sketch comedy show which was broadcast on BBC2 from 16 October 1979 to 8 March 1982. Originally shown as a comedy alternative to the Nine O'Clock News on BBC1, it features satirical sketches on then-current news stories and popular culture, as well as parody songs, comedy sketches, re-edited videos, and spoof television formats. The programme features Rowan Atkinson, Pamela Stephenson, Mel Smith, and Griff Rhys Jones, as well as Chris Langham in the first series.
Geoffrey Howard Perkins was a British comedy producer, writer and performer. He was BBC head of comedy between 1995 and 2001, and produced the first two radio series of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He is one of the people credited with creating the panel game Mornington Crescent for I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. In December 2008 he posthumously received an Outstanding Contribution to Comedy Award.
QI is a British comedy panel game quiz show for television created and co-produced by John Lloyd. The series currently airs on BBC Two and is presented by Sandi Toksvig. It features permanent panellist Alan Davies and three guest panellists per episode; the panellists are mostly comedians. The series was presented by Stephen Fry from its beginning in 2003 until 2016.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a comic science fiction series created by Douglas Adams that has become popular among fans of the genre and members of the scientific community. Phrases from it are widely recognised and often used in reference to, but outside the context of, the source material. Many writers on popular science, such as Fred Alan Wolf, Paul Davies, and Michio Kaku, have used quotations in their books to illustrate facts about cosmology or philosophy.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy radio series primarily written by Douglas Adams. It was originally broadcast in the United Kingdom by BBC Radio 4 in 1978, and afterwards the BBC World Service, National Public Radio in the US and CBC Radio in Canada. The series was the first radio comedy programme to be produced in stereo, and was innovative in its use of music and sound effects, winning a number of awards.
William Wallis was a British character actor and comedian who appeared in numerous radio and television roles, as well as in the theatre.
The Book of General Ignorance is the first in a series of books based on the final round in the intellectual British panel game QI, written by series-creator John Lloyd and head-researcher John Mitchinson, to help spread the QI philosophy of curiosity to the reading public. It is a trivia book, aiming to address and address many of the misconceptions, mistakes and misunderstandings in 'common knowledge'—it is therefore known not as a 'General Knowledge' book, but as 'General Ignorance'.
The Museum of Curiosity is a comedy talk show on BBC Radio 4 that was first broadcast on 20 February 2008. It is hosted by John Lloyd. He acts as the head of the (fictional) titular museum, while a panel of three guests – typically a comedian, an author and an academic – each donate to the museum an 'object' that fascinates them. The radio medium ensures that the suggested exhibits can be absolutely anything, limited only by the guests' imaginations.
John Mitchinson is the head of research for the British television panel game QI, and is also the managing director of Quite Interesting Limited. He is co-writer of the QI series of books with the show's creator John Lloyd. The two men are normally referred to as "The Two Johns" and are seen as the main controllers of QI, as they do most of the research of the show. His most recent work, 1,411 Quite Interesting Facts to Knock You Sideways, a collaboration with John Lloyd and James Harkin, was released in 2015 with W.W. Norton and Company.
The Book of Animal Ignorance is the second title in a series of books based on the intellectual British panel game QI, written by series-creator John Lloyd and head-researcher John Mitchinson. It is a trivia book, consisting largely of little-known facts about various animals, alongside factual corrections to other pieces of supposedly "well-known" trivia that, although widely believed, are not always accurate. It is a sequel to The Book of General Ignorance.
Advanced Banter: The QI Book of Quotations, known as If Ignorance Is Bliss, Why Aren't There More Happy People? in the United States, is the third title in a series of books based on the intellectual British panel game QI, written by series-creator John Lloyd and head-researcher John Mitchinson. It is a book of "quite interesting" quotations.
Daniel Craig Schreiber is an Australian radio producer, writer, podcaster, and comedian based in London. He co-created the BBC Radio 4 panel show The Museum of Curiosity with host John Lloyd and co-producer Richard Turner and co-hosts the podcast No Such Thing As A Fish.
The Second Book of General Ignorance is the fifth in a series of books based on the final round in the intellectual British panel game QI, written by series-creator John Lloyd and head-researcher John Mitchinson. It is the second book to be based on the show's final round "General Ignorance", the first being The Book of General Ignorance first published in 2006. Like the original book, it is a trivia book aiming to address and correct the comprehensive and humiliating catalogue of all the misconceptions, mistakes and misunderstandings in 'common knowledge' — it is therefore known not as a 'General Knowledge' book, but as 'General Ignorance'. A second, expanded edition called The Discreetly Plumper Second QI Book of General Ignorance was released on 4 October 2012.
1,227 QI Facts To Blow Your Socks Off is the sixth in a series of books based on the intellectual British panel game QI, written by series-creator John Lloyd, director of research John Mitchinson, and chief researcher James Harkin. Published on 1 November 2012, it is a trivia book containing 1,227 facts collected during the making of the series, which had been ten years in the making at the time of publication.
No Such Thing as a Fish is a weekly British podcast series produced and presented by the researchers behind the BBC Two panel game QI. In the podcast each of the researchers, collectively known as "The QI Elves", present their favourite fact that they have come across that week. The most regular presenters of the podcast are James Harkin, Andrew Hunter Murray, Anna Ptaszynski and Dan Schreiber, and there are occasional guest presenters. When one of the regular presenters is unavailable for any reason, fellow QI elves Alex Bell and Anne Miller often take their place.
No Such Thing as the News is a British television comedy series on BBC Two, which is a spin-off to the podcast No Such Thing as a Fish, produced and presented, from 20 May 2016, to 30 November 2016, by the researchers behind the panel game QI, also on BBC Two. In it each of the researchers – James Harkin, Andrew Hunter Murray, Anna Ptaszynski and Dan Schreiber – collectively known as "The QI Elves", present their favourite facts related to the previous week's news.
James Michael Harkin is a British podcaster, television host, and television writer. He is one of the four regular hosts of the podcast No Such Thing as a Fish, together with Dan Schreiber, Andrew Hunter Murray, and Anna Ptaszynski. He was also a presenter of the BBC Two television show No Such Thing as the News. He is a researcher for the television show QI, where he has been both the head researcher and the head writer.
Anna Rosemary Ptaszynski is a British podcaster, television host and television writer. She is one of the four regular hosts of the podcast No Such Thing as a Fish alongside Dan Schreiber, Andrew Hunter Murray and James Harkin. She was also a presenter of the BBC Two television show No Such Thing as the News and is a researcher and writer for the television show QI.
Anne Miller is a Scottish author, scriptwriter, producer, comedian, and researcher, best known for her work on the BBC Two quiz show QI.
