QI (H series)

QI Series H
Country of origin United Kingdom
No. of episodes 16
Broadcast
Original channel BBC One
Original run 17 September 2010 (2010-09-17) – 14 January 2011 (2011-01-14)
Series chronology
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Series I

This is a list of episodes of QI, the BBC comedy panel game television programme hosted by Stephen Fry. Series H was aired on BBC One. It was the first series of the show to be aired in high definition (HD).

Contents

Episodes

As with the previous series, series H featured a total of 16 editions. During recordings, there was a return of the game that Stephen Fry had set up for his Twitter followers during the previous series through AudioBoo. As before, the object was to decipher a word the audience shouts out, this time for words beginning with the letter "H". Debutant panellists for this series were; Chris Addison, Clare Balding, Eddie Izzard, John Lloyd, Ross Noble, Daniel Radcliffe, Ruby Wax and Robert Webb. Lloyd is QI's creator and former producer, while Izzard was a panellist in the unaired pilot of the programme, but until this series had yet to feature in the actual televised show.

Episode 1 "Hodge Podge"

Broadcast date
Recording date
Panellists
Notes
Buzzers
Topics
Tangent: Alan tells of the time when he had to hold a koala and while it ate its eucalyptus leaves, its breath still smelt sweet.
Tangent: If you cut 2 wedges off a cylinder whose height is the same size as its length, then it can fit through a circular, square and triangular hole.
General Ignorance
Tangent: In 2005, a Burmese Python tried to eat an alligator in the Everglades National Park, Florida, but it exploded as the alligator tried to get out, so they both died. The main reason that there are so many Burmese Pythons in Florida is that many are pets, but many escape to the swamps, which they find similar to their habitat in Burma.
QI XL Extras
Tangent: People buy more perishable foods, such as meat and fish in a boom, and pasta is bought mainly in a bust, because it has a longer shelf life.
Tangent: The panellists are given some left-handed items to try out, such as a Biro, a pencil sharpener, a pair of scissors and a can opener. The word "sinister" derives from the Latin for "left". If you're ambisinistrous, you can't use either hand well, the opposite of ambidextrous. Jack actually once went to a left-handed shop to buy a present for his left-handed sister, but he crashed into the door, because the door was placed correctly for a left-handed person.
Tangent: Alan struggles with getting the "cylinder" through the holes, and gets frustrated when he's still not allowed to use the gun.
General Ignorance
Tangent: Discussion about Robert Newton, pirate speak and International Talk Like a Pirate Day, as previously mentioned in Series "E".

Episode 2 "Hanatomy"

Broadcast date
Recording date
Panellists
Buzzers

Stephen prompts the audience to greet the guests in a series of ways, which is recorded and used for their buzzers:

Topics
Tangent: Palmistry was a favourite topic of famous individuals such as Oscar Wilde. Also, Alan pulls a wire on a skeleton prop to prod Stephen, but it topples over and breaks.
Tangent: Gyles tells a story about a known individual who may have had a "limp handshake" and who learned the North African custom of lightly touching hands instead of gripping them in a handshake. He demonstrates the handshake on Sue, but realizes by the end of the story, he wasn't thinking of the correct individual; Fry suggests that Brandreth was probably thinking of André Gide.
General Ignorance
QI XL Extras
Tangent: The opening scene in the first episode of Proust's novel In Search of Lost Time involves the narrator of the story dunking his madeleine cake in a cup of tea. The bulk of the novel consists of memories that flow from the sense memory of the tea and cake, which reminds the author of his childhood. A "madeleine moment" is one which brings forth lots of memories.
Tangent: Some cultures have halos represented on other anatomical parts, as Gyles described a painting that showed a halo around the penis of Saint Joseph.
Tangent: The panel is given a fur covered ball and asked to comb it flat, attempting to demonstrate how impossible it is, and how hair naturally needs swirls and directions. They then go on to discus the fact that the comb over is a patented invention, while Bill Bailey demonstrates his rebellion by combing his hair over.

Episode 3 "Hoaxes"

Broadcast date
Recording date
Panellists
Buzzers

Stephen says that one of the buzzer noises is a hoax, while the others are the mating call of a deer:

Theme

Each of the panel have a "Hoax card". If the panel think they have spotted something that is a hoax, they can play their hoax card for bonus points. If they get it wrong they lose points.

Topics
Tangent: Danny Baker used his hoax card, but was incorrect and had a forfeit.
Tangent: Sean Lock suggests NASA may have killed Michael Jackson for stealing the term 'moonwalk', and David opines that Buzz Aldrin may have done it because he is clearly an angry individual.
Tangent: Alan suggested that was a hoax with Sean's support. The fact was not a hoax and they had a forfeit.
General Ignorance
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Tangent: The second largest crop in some states is marijuana (corn being the largest). Alan suggests that cauliflower is in decline of production (reciting potentially made-up statistics), and Stephen professes his love of cauliflower-cheese. Sean finds it frustrating.
Tangent: "How many fish are in this picture?" Forfeit: There's no such thing as fish.
Tangent: David Mitchell used his hoax card and was also proved wrong.
Note

There was no hoax within the hoax game. The program was entirely true.

Episode 4 "Humans"

Broadcast date
Recording date
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Topics
Tangent: Hippopotami spin their tails to spread their faeces over a wider area to mark territory. The topic was brought up because Jo claims to have heard "revolving" when Stephen asked what part of them is evolving the quickest- to which she replied "my propeller".
General Ignorance
QI XL Extras
Tangent: Alan once portrayed a dog on a radio show.
Tangent: It is impossible for a person to pass on an acquired trait or skill to the next generation genetically. For example, because people text a lot the next generation will have flat thumbs - this is not true.
Tangent: Jo tells a story how Peter Stringfellow would not allow overweight women to enter his club just in case they broke his antique chairs.
Tangent: Jimmy and Jack tell stories of a German cannibal who requested for a victim in advertisements. He found someone who was happy to volunteer and was ultimately eaten.

Episode 5 "H Animals"

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Recording date
Panellists
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Tangent: Ruby Wax has a difficult time understanding Ross Noble's Geordie accent. He was mentioning an evolutionary hypothesis and Ruby interjected with "are you speaking English?". Stephen asks, "have you ever heard a Geordie accent?" and Ruby replies with "not from something whose hair has never been combed". Ross then assures her he is a real panellist and not just a prop or creature that was on the projector.
Tangent: Sean tells a story about completing a plan where pushing a hippo into a pool was the ultimate goal. Ross keeps interjecting the conversation with sidelines like, "how many hippos are killed by pushing into swimming pools each year".
Tangent: Swimming with dolphins is mentioned. Sean says the worst would be if they rejected you, swimming away while a therapist and family look on, with the patient ultimately having to "continue with the medication". Dolphins are also quite violent in the wild.
Tangent: After a series of wrong answers, Sean suggests his information was coming from Jordan.
Tangent: Ross wants to be a super hero based on the powers of a hagfish. He suggests his mucous can help people; for example if a child happens to have his head stuck in the railings etc. Alan would rather have hippo powers, being bulletproof, run at 35 mph and only having to brush 4 teeth in the morning. Ross suggests Alan's archenemy would be Sean who is constantly pushing him into swimming pools.
General Ignorance
QI XL Extras

Tangent: Ross tells a story of a friend who wanted to steal a squid from an aquarium in a carrier bag. Once he found one that was waterproof, the handles broke under the weight of the water. He specified that it needed to be a plastic carrier bag, as he had to take it home on the bus.

Episode 6 "Happiness"

Broadcast date
Recording date
Panellists
Buzzers
Theme

The 'Pleasure Gauge' measures the audience's happiness. If the needle enters the red zone the panellists win points.

Topics
Note: Rich, Andy and Phill get audience approval through the Pleasure Gauge.
Tangent: The panel decides that giving towns like Slough more fun names may make them happier places to be. Some suggestions included Yippee! (Slough), Woo-hoo! (Staines) and Hot Diggity! (Hull)
Note: Alan gets audience approval through the Pleasure Gauge.
Note: Alan gets audience approval through the Pleasure Gauge.
General Ignorance
Tangent: Actors use a technique of emptying their lungs in order to create believable laughter. The natural inclination is to take a breath before a false laugh, but true laughter is notable from the breathlessness it causes.
QI XL Extras

Tangent: When Phill was about 10 he found a serious mining disaster which killed around 400 people in India funny because it took place at the Wankie Colliery.

Note: Alan gets audience approval through the Pleasure Gauge.
Tangent: Alan's goddaughter laughed uncontrollably when watching a YouTube video of people falling off escalators in a succession like dominoes.
Tangent: Rich tells a story of the funniest thing he had ever seen: During an interview with John McCririck, the two had to get out of a boat. McCririck promptly fell, but pretended it hadn't happened. Because the interview was continuing, the crew was unable to laugh until two hours later while driving away.

Episode 7 "Horrible" (Halloween Special)

Broadcast date
Recording date
Panellists
Buzzers
Theme

The set is decorated with spiders webs and Halloween themed props.

Topics
Tangent: The panel discuss times where they were heckled as performers.
General Ignorance
QI XL Extras
Tangent: It was suggested to Dara that the only way to get rid of a tapeworm is to starve yourself and then wave some steak in front of your mouth. This was told by a 16 year old girl that Dara was attempting to chat up.
Tangent: Smallpox is a nearly extinct disease; with technology and medical health advancements, the disease has nearly been eradicated. In 2002 it was decided that perhaps humanity doesn't have the right to wipe it out entirely, so a small sample has been saved- especially if a vaccine is needed to be made, though it is also feared that another sample may be used to make biological weapons.
Tangent: In the 18th century, it was more likely for you to get a job if you had smallpox scars. It showed the potential employer that you had already had the disease and were not able to pass along the disease to your employers.

Episode 8 "Hypothetical"

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Notes
Buzzers
Theme
Topics
Tangent: John recalls an old joke "Do you want to lose 12 pounds of unsightly fat? Cut off your head."
Tangent: Sandi's grandfather had two glass eyes, a bloodshot one and a matching one for his working eye. The bloodshot eye was referred to as the "party eye". He used to put in his bloodshot one when he was going out for the evening and would say he would not return until his eyes matched.
Tangent: Sir Walter Raleigh's wife kept his severed head in a red velvet bag for 30 years. Stephen mistakenly introduced the tangent by asking about Sir Francis Drake, when he really meant Raleigh.
Tangent: Lewis Pugh could control his own body temperature and is the only person known to science who can knowingly raise his own temperature. He claims it has to do with his endurance swimming training and instinctively is able to alter his temperature in anticipation.
Tangent: Sadhu people of India can also control their body temperature. They apparently have the ability to dry wet towels with their touch.
(This principle was tested on Mythbusters)
Tangent: The buttered cat paradox is a paradox based on the joke that results in combining a cat (that always lands on its feet) and a slice of toast (that always lands buttered-side down). Logically the cat would never reach the ground and hover or spin indefinitely since the two laws are in competition. The panel suggest alternate toppings that may change the paradox, such as margarine.
General Ignorance
Tangent: There is an old joke about a chicken and an egg which have just made love and the chicken says: "Well, that answers that old question."
Tangent: When prompted, John immediately knows the longest recorded flight by a chicken is 13 seconds to Stephen's astonishment.

Episode 9 "House and Home"

Broadcast date
Recording date
Panellists
Buzzers
Topics
Tangent: Along the same principle, a Cat is the equivalent of a Volkswagen Golf and two hamsters are the equivalent of a Plasma screen TV.
Tangent: Ghosts and Pipes
General Ignorance
Tangent: It is estimated that there are 27 million people living in slavery today, more than there ever were during the heyday of the slave trade.
Tangent: Crimes rendered obsolete in 1967 include barratry, scolding, eavesdropping and challenging someone to a fight.

Episode 10 "Health and Safety"

Broadcast date
Recording date
Panellists
Buzzers
Theme
Notes
Topics
Tangent: Jeremy suggests that when smoking wearing his high-visibility vest, he is safe from lung cancer.
Tangent: Ross claims the people he feels sorry for the most are goth construction workers, because they would have to wear the high visibility clothing when they are comfortable in black.
Tangent: Ross and his friend Mike went to a monkey enclosure in a zoo. Mike stared at a monkey and as the monkey stared back it licked its own nipple.
Tangent: Ross says he always to find "Wet Floor" signs when he visits supermarkets and trips over the intentionally. When people go to assist him, he exclaims the sign was what tripped him. David suggests that the "Wet Floor" sign should have its own "Warning: Wet Floor Sign" sign.
Tangent: Alan mentions that insertion of a finger into a dog's bottom is a sure fire way to stop it from biting you, startling it enough to release locked jaws. Ross comments that you could also use something like a pen or stick.
General Ignorance
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Tangent: Jeremy claims to have "every disease imaginable," including elephantitis, and having an aneurysm less than an hour ago.
Tangent: The Whitely test has a failure rate of plus or minus 11 points, so the results are not very reliable. Alan recites some of his favourite questions: "If you don't feel very well, do you get annoyed when someone says: 'You look like you're getting better?'" and "If a disease is brought to your attention by TV, radio or newspapers, do you worry about getting it yourself?"
Tangent: Environmentalists have actually attacked Jeremy in the past. A woman once threw a pie in his face and Jeremy said afterwards he told her she she used too much sugar.
Tangent: Jeremy came across something akin to the bystander effect. He was while go-karting, a friend rolled his go-kart over then caught fire. There were about 40 people there, and Jeremy just stood there. The worst thing Jeremy ever experienced, when he was on his own and did want to help, was when he was on a cross-channel ferry during a storm. While the boat violently rocked, the lavatories were complete with people being sick. One business man, himself ill and covered in vomit, looked Jeremy straight in the eye and said: "Kill me."
Tangent: In France there is a "Good Samaritan" law which makes you legally responsible for NOT helping if you witness a crime.
Tangent: David refutes the idea of male seahorses give birth, why not name the one that actually gives birth the female. Though it is an unusual arrangement, Stephen comments that the female seahorse implants its eggs into the male, which fertilizes them, hatches them and releases them once hatched.

Episode 11 "Highs and Lows"

Broadcast date
Recording date
Panellists
Buzzers
Topics
Tangent: A purple and green tartan displayed was mocked by the panel as a mistake. In fact it was the Sikh tartan for the Singh, which is mainly purple and green. A rich Sikh businessman commissioned a tartan for his people from a popular tartan company.
Tangent: Fred explains the correct way to measure a kilt as to kneel down, the skirt having to just touch the floor. Sandi explains that it was also the way to measure skirts when she was at a girls boarding school growing up.
Tangent: Fred recites a part of the address to the haggis for Burns Night, and tells a later anecdote about a reverse German translation of the line, in which the line, "Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!" was translated as: "Mighty Führer of the sausage people!"
Tangent: Robert Burns was fiercely opposed to the slave trade. In the Burns Museum there is a photograph of Muhammad Ali, who visited the Museum in Scotland because he was a student of Burns due to his opposition to slavery.
Tangent: Stephen told a story about some Scottish people complaining that their accent was not difficult to understand and Americans could understand them, though Stephen later found out that the North American release of the movie Trainspotting was so difficult for Americans to understand that it had subtitles.
Tangent: Rob once went skydiving and was told you could not skydive higher than 17,500 feet without the assistance of oxygen.
Tangent: Many of the people who attempt the climb die, and most of them die from oedemas in either the brain or lungs. Signs along the trail route warn of the risks, and if there is any headache or illness to turn back immediately, as it could very quickly turn into something serious. There is an area on the mountain called the "Dead Zone" which contains a lot of bodies in it. Local Sherpas have been planning to collect the bodies and waste from the area.
Tangent: You can use field crickets to tell the temperature. Below 13 degrees Celsius a field cricket makes no noise, at 13 degrees exactly it chirps once a second. It then increases at a steady rate, so if it is at 140 chirps per minute it is 22.5 degrees.
Tangent: Sandi claims you can use the bubbles in a stirred cup of coffee to tell the weather. If the bubbles make their way to the middle of the cup it is a sign that the pressure is low, and if they make their way to the edge the pressure is high.

General Ignorance

Tangent: During the 1970s when Fred was a student at Dundee University he went to a bar called the Speedwell Tavern whose landlord was married to a German woman. The students referred to her as: "The Hun at the till". Stephen also drank there when he was Rector of the Dundee University.
Tangent: There is a story that James Stewart, the lead actor in Alfred Hitchcock's film Vertigo smuggled a yeti's hand out of India and hid it in his wife Gloria's underwear in the luggage.
Tangent: Everest should be pronounced "Eve-rest", because the person whom it was named after pronounced his name that way.
QI XL Extras
Tangent: The American word for tartan, "plaid", comes from the Gaelic for "blanket".
Tangent: Donald Dinnie is the most successful competitor at the Highland Games. In his career between 1850-90, he earned medals in all disciplines, once winning 20 medals in one day. Dinnie was best at caber tossing, but also good at high jumping. During one high jump his kilt knocked the bar off twice, so in the final attempt he took his kilt off and successfully completed the jump.
Tangent: In Vancouver, Canada, they celebrate Chinese Burns Night because Burns Night and Chinese New Year often fall close together. It is also known as Gung Haggis Fat Choy and the haggis is served with bean curd sauce.
Tangent: The biggest Highland Games in the world are held in San Francisco.
Tangent: It was Hillary who got to the top of Mount Everest first and not Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. Tenzing wrote in his autobiography that Hillary reached the top first and Hillary told Tenzing that they should say that they both reached the top together. Then the King of Nepal said that it was Tenzing who got to the top first and Hillary did not say a word against the claim. Hillary devoted most of his life to helping the people of Nepal including the building of 25 schools.
Tangent: Alan talks about the novel Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks, which is about the tunnelling toward enemy trenches and burying bombs by sappers during World War One, however stops before giving too much away of the plot.
Tangent: Unlike the British, who left their machines unnamed, the French called their machines Brigitte, Europa, Catherine, Virginie, Pascaline and Séverine. After the tunnel was completed they were broken down, rebuilt and sent to other parts of France and the British buried their machines into the ground and abandoned them.
Tangent: A man called Colonel Barog once dug a tunnel for the Indian railway and the two ends of the tunnel missed each other in the middle. He was so ashamed he shot himself.

Episode 12 "Horses and Hunting"

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Theme
Topics
Tangent: When Clare first went to school she was told she smelt of horse manure.
Tangent: When a blind person with a guide dog wants to cross the road it is the human who makes the decision, with the dog being able to overrule the human due to what is known as "selective disobedience". It is done by the feeling of the harness. For example, when the dog gets to the other end its paws hit the curb which alters the angle of the harness, so the blind person knows they are near the end of the road.
Tangent: Jimmy's Uncle Harry takes in dogs that are failed guide dogs. To show people how good one dog was he would send the dog out to pee. It would come back and he would send the dog out again, and you can tell that the dog is going to have to "force it out".
Tangent: The first people to use the guide dogs where the Romans in the 1st-2nd century AD in Herculaneum. The first school for "Seeing Eye Dogs" as they were known in the USA was set up after the First World War (due to the gas attacks blinding people). The first were used by the Germans. When guide dogs were introduced to Britain in the 1930s there were protests because people thought it was cruel to the dog. Anyone seen with a guide dog was attacked by the public.
Tangent: Once during Blue Peter children collected milk bottle tops in order to raise money to train a guide dog. However, because it cost 22 million bottle tops to train just one dog, only a single dog got trained.
Tangent: If you want to make a horse more excited, the traditional way of doing it is to stick ginger up the bottom.
Tangent: Clare says that she wants the theme from Black Beauty to be played at her funeral. A common piece of music played at funerals today is theme from Countdown.
Tangent: The first time Jimmy saw someone who was really upset about something was at primary school, when he saw a six-year-old girl crying. He asked what was wrong and the girl said: "I just love horses so much."
Tangent: Clare claims her first love was a pony called Frank who was not handsome. Clare's mother said that if she could love Frank everything in the world would always be beautiful.
General Ignorance
Tangent: The notion of white horses starting as black appears in the film Crimson Tide.
Tangent: All grey thoroughbred horses descend from one horse called Alcock Arabian. All thoroughbred horses used in racing are descended from three horses; Darley Arabian, Godolphin Arabian and Byerley Turk.
QI XL extras
Tangent: The early comedy cinema joke of slipping on a banana peel was a reference to slipping in horse manure. During the early days when cinema was considered an art form and they were worried that showing manure would cheapen the art, so they used a banana peel instead. Dara goes onto claim that no-one has ever really slipped on a banana peel only for Alan to claim that he really did once slip on one in Chapel Market in Islington.
Tangent: Because a horse's memory mostly works by seeing distressing events, if a race horse were to fall at a fence they will be scared of it again if they do the race again. According to Clare, if a horse is scared by the first big fence at Aintree (the third), home of the Grand National, then the horse will not win.
Tangent: Horses do not sleep soundly, and usually sleep for three hours a day, normally standing up. If a horse gets to close to a wall while sleeping they can get stuck, which is known as "getting cast". Dara compares this to a rubbish video game where your character gets trapped in a wall. Horses are also one of the few mammals that cannot vomit. They can die from not vomiting, known as "Colic". No-one knows why they cannot vomit.
Tangent: Dogs like to eat the shaven parts of hooves which are made when a farrier comes to shoe a horse.
Tangent: Bovines can also be calmed down by taking the top lip. Bulldogs were bred so that would bring down bulls by jumping at them, grabbing the lip and pulling it down.
Tangent: Alan argues that there should by a TV channel devoted to westerns, Champion the Wonder Horse, Casey Jones and Alias Smith and Jones. It is proposed that channel should be called "Alan" and Stephen says the best thing would be that it would not show QI all the time.
Tangent: Westerns are some times known as "Horse operas", but Hollywood insiders also called them "Oaters".
Tangent: Dara talks about stand-up routines about the best way to avoid being attacked by a bear, and talks about the idea that running down a hill and stopping is a good method because the bear will just roll down the hill. He then mentions the comic Craig Campbell who says that what you have just done is, "embarrass the bear".
General Ignorance
Tangent: You can name your race horse anything provided that a name has not already been taken by a previous horse, hence why there are so many unusual names. Robbie Fowler has race horses called "Some Horse" and "Another Horse". If you want to name it after a person you have get the person's permission.

Episode 13 "Holidays"

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Theme
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General Ignorance
Tangent: The population of the Vatican is 500 and it also has the most helipads, TV stations and the highest crime rate per capita in the world, with 600 reported offences per year.

Episode 14 "Hocus Pocus" (Christmas Special)

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Theme
Buzzers
Topics
Tangent: The panel, especially Lee, annoy Stephen by failing to give him examples where the rule does not work, with Lee constantly giving the example of "ceiling" which does follow the rule.
Tangent: J. K. Rowling has been told in interviews that there is such a hogwort plant. She says that she thought she made the word up, but maybe she went to Kew Gardens, spotted this plant and the name stuck. "Rowling" is pronounced to rhyme with "bowling" not "howling".
General Ignorance

The panel all pulls some Christmas crackers and tell each other the jokes which are:

The panel are asked why their jokes are so bad. The answer is that in most cases not everyone will find a joke funny. Thus if you tell a good joke the chances are you will split the room in two; between those who like the joke and those who do not, and thus some people may dislike you. However, if you know the joke is going to be bad, then the figure of dislike is the joke itself rather than the person telling it.

Final tricks

To end the show the panel perform their own magic tricks. Alan saws Lee in half successfully. Graham guillotines Daniel but actually gets the trick wrong and cuts off Daniel's head (this is revealed to be, of course, an illusion at the end of the credits).

QI XL extras
Tangent: The Dedi trick was done for King Cheops around 2,600 BC. It is he after whom the Great Pyramid in Giza is named after. It was also the first trick that was done purely as a trick, rather than something that was supposed to depend on supernatural forces.
Tangent: Another trick which went disastrously wrong was when one magician attempted to stab himself with a sword. The trick involved having sheep intestines hidden in your clothing and a metal plate behind it so you cut out the sheep guts and did not stab yourself. This magician however one night forgot the plate and stabbed himself to death.
Tangent: Someone else who died from the bullet trick Chung Ling Soo, who was not Chinese and was actually called William Robinson. He spoke cod Chinese on stage and never spoke English, until the day he performed the bullet trick and it went wrong, was shot. He said in English: "Oh God, something's gone wrong. Close the curtain." Those were his last words on stage.
Tangent: Daniel comments that in quidditch the rules say that if you catch the snitch you automatically win the match, which he claims is unfair because it does not matter how many points you score with the other ball you can still lose straight away. A form of quidditch is played in real life. It is known as "muggle quidditch" because the people who play it have no magical powers and so run with a broomstick between their legs. There are over 200 muggle quidditch college teams in American universities.
General Ignorance
Tangent: Alan talks about pubs when there used to be sold bags of nuts stuck onto a picture of a naked woman. Lee says that Johnny Vegas told him about a pub in St. Helens where there was a topless bar where if you paid an extra 50p the barmaid would stick her breasts in the beer.

Episode 15 "Hypnosis, Hallucinations & Hysteria"

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Topics
Tangent: There was a dog in Edinburgh called Oscar who was able to hypnotise humans. He was trained by one Hugh Lennon. He went missing and people trying to find him were warned not to look into Oscar's eyes. Snakes can also hypnotise rabbits by staring at them.
Tangent: The most famous stories of audio subliminal messages are stories of satanic messages in heavy metal tracks when played backwards (known as "backward masking"); the most famous messages being supposedly made by Judas Priest. The band went to court after two teenagers attempted suicide after listening to a message in one track which supposedly said: "Do it. Do it now." The band defended themselves by playing loads of albums and showing that most have things you can claim to be messages when played backwards. Frontman Rob Halford also said in court: "I don't wish to paint myself as greedy, but if we were going to put a message in it would be: 'Buy more of our records.'" Halford also said that "Do it", does not mean "kill yourself", but Phill points out the track was called "Suicide Solution". Which is actually incorrect the track was "Better By You, Better Than Me", Phill may have said "Suicide Solution" for better comedic effect as it is in fact an Ozzy Osbourne song.
Tangent: Another supposed subliminal message is the face of Lenin appearing in the Labour Party rose logo.
Tangent: In New Zealand motorists suffer from sun strike. This occurs because New Zealand is so far down on the planet, so the sun has to pass through a lot of atmosphere to get to the surface. So at that angle when the sun shines down on the road the light gets reflected back up making it hard to see the road.
General Ignorance
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Tangent: In the 1830s a Scottish doctor called James Esdaile working in India used hypnosis on patients suffering from filariasis, which causes hydroceles of the scrotum. This causes large tumours in the testicles, and the operation was so uncomfortable that sufferers would not see a doctor for many years. As a result, one sufferer had a scrotum weighing 46kg. One man had a scrotum so big he was using it as a writing desk.
Tangent: Robert tried hypnosis to stop smoking but found that he could not be hypnotised so he pretended to faint in order to prevent the hypnotherapist from being embarrassed. Robert eventually gave up smoking, but using prescription drugs.
Tangent: Hypnopaedia is when you play music tracks which contain subliminal messages in order to help you learn things. You can even buy pillows with speakers in them. However, there is no real evidence to suggest hypnopaedia actually works in terms of what is being taught. However, if you sell someone some classical music and tell them it contains subliminal messages to increase your self-confidence, it works, even if it is just the music.
Tangent: Another form of self-hypnosis is banging your head on the pillow so many times and then you wake up on the number of bangs on the hour. For example, if you bang your head four times, you wake up at four o'clock. Stephen claimed it worked for him at prep school when the pupils raided the kitchens.
Tangent: Adolf Hitler suffered from hysterical blindness and dumbness after suffering from a gas attack during World War One. Unfortunately it was during this time when he was recovering in hospital he decided then that he would lead the German people. American psychologist Walter Langer wrote a report on Hitler during the war which made some interesting observations and predictions using Freudian analysis. Langer wrote that in Hitler's symbolic vision Austria was his father in 1914, old, dying and exhausted, and Germany was his symbolic mother who was about to be violated. Hitler, unlike most Germans at the time, referred to Germany as the Motherland ("Mutterland") rather than the Fatherland ("Vaterland"). Langer also went onto say that Hitler would most likely commit suicide in a symbolic womb.
General Ignorance
Tangent: DNA is a double helix in shape. If you took out your DNA and stretched it out it would be a tenth of a light year long, so it would stretch beyond the Solar System. There are 50 trillion cells, 23 chromosomes per cell, 220 million base pairs per chromosome.
Tangent: The Argentine blue bill duck or Argentine lake duck has a penis the shape of a corkscrew. It also has the longest penis relative to its body size of any vertebrate. It is the length of its whole body. It also has a brush on the end of penis to wipe away the sperm of other males. The female's vagina is also corkscrew shaped, but in the opposite direction.
Tangent: During the Second World War American army camps in Britain were racially segregated, but the British were opposed to it. When the Americans insisted on segregated pubs the British refused. When white Americans came in and saw black Americans drinking in a bar they would start fights and the British fought alongside the black Americans. Ronni then talks about US propaganda films showing a white US soldier and a black US soldier meeting an old British lady and invites both of them around for tea, so the film prepared soldiers for the non-racist treatment the British gave to American soldiers.

Episode 16 "History"

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