Yeah, it was brilliant. Almost the entirety of the show was based on Alan being a love-able fool and Stephen Fry bouncing off his jokes in a posh way. It's highly entertaining.
RIP Linda Smith (January 29, 1958 - February 27, 2006), aged 48 And RIP Sean Lock (April 22, 1963 - August 16, 2021), aged 58 You both will always be remembered as legends.
@@sg-yq8pm When this show was broadcast, October 2003, she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer but had decided not to go public with it because she didn't want the whole sympathy thing or to be treated like a victim. So we can't blame the other contestants for not giving way to her here, because they had no idea she was ill - and that's the way she wanted it. She didn't actually die of her ovarian cancer until nearly 2 and a half years after this show (February 2006) so I imagine she was still fairly chipper at this point ... relatively speaking.
@@curiouscuriouser2670 This is actually a good thing, the reason why deaths by cancer are more common now a days is primarily because fewer people are dying of other things.
I always love reading the comments of QI, there's always someone trying to prove them wrong to feed their own ego, even if it's just a spelling mistake from the provider.
Then there’s the rarest of phenomena someone pointing out how someone in the comment section is wrong to feed their own ego by pointing out trivial mistakes just to feed their own ego then there is me pointing out the ego feeding frenzy to feed my own ego. I can imagine God and Jesus watching us. Jesus looks over to God and says brightly: “Have you tried turning it off and on again?”
I mean, they are making a show so they have a week to do all of this research, as well as the writing and everything else, so they often make rather profound mistakes. Not so often that I would criticize them as a source of info, but I would put corrections for some reasonable things, like claiming Edison electrocuted Tospy the elephant for any reason, as he was not even involved, or as someone has pointed out a Red Snapper is a different drink from a Bloody Mary, or that cocktails do have a relationship with Prohibition, but it is not their only reason for existing.
Vesper, not Vespa. And it was the seventieth cigarette of the day, not eightieth. PS Linda Smith had been suffering from Ovarian cancer for about a year at the time this show was recorded. She passed away in February 2006. RIP Linda
@@christopherdean1326 , according to new laws/rules regarding electric Cycles (UK), having 2 wheels & an engine capable of propelling you at 15+ miles per hour it Is a Motorcycle... go figure....
@@christopherdean1326 I imagine that anytime you strap a motor to a bicycle, it becomes a motorized bicycle, hence a motorcycle. Legal authorities in different jurisdictions can make whatever classification systems they want for licensing, but unless you're specifying where and under what circumstances, even a moped is a motorcycle.
I have a theory, which I've adopted as my personal headcanon about Bond's preference in preparation method for his Vodka martinis. There's an episode of The West Wing where President Bartlet makes the following assertion: "Shaken, not stirred, will get you cold water with a dash of gin and dry vermouth. The reason you stir it with a special spoon is so not to chip the ice. James is ordering a weak martini and being snooty about it." While this assertion might be technically accurate, I think that's missing the point. 007 *is* ordering weaker, more diluted martinis... but he has a very sound reason for doing so. He's an intelligence officer. Most of the time we see him drinking in the movies, he's on duty, on a mission, and the drinking is a part of the social aspect of his job-- keeping up appearances. But considering that his life is threatened routinely, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that, in his line of work, being legitimately intoxicated could very quickly become an enormous liability for him, and could jeopardize both his life and his ability to serve England. All of this is to say that, I don't think he's ordering a weak martini and being snooty; instead, I think he's ordering a weak martini on purpose because he's a consummate professional who has to prevent his wits from being dulled, in accordance with what is necessary for him to function well as a spy.
Adding water to spirits to adjust the flavour profile is a perfectly legitimate (and common) thing to do, and since all that matters is the number of shots of liquor in the glass (which are all going into Bond) it doesn't matter whether the ice melts a little more or less. The theory I prefer is that Vodka takes awful if it's not very cold, and shaking helps achieve that. On the other hand, shaking gin will bruise it, so that's generally not recommended.
Some of the best are from WW1 apparently. There are a few like the Sidecar that are attributed to officers visiting fancy hotel bars when not at the front.
No, no, no. We are never told that *Bond*, personally, believes that homosexuals can't whistle. The assertion is made in a report prepared for M about the assassin Scaramanga, the Man With The Golden Gun. We do know that Bond's views on homosexuality in general are (put politely) dated, veering towards intolerant, but that particular suggestion belongs to someone else.
Apparently this was an example of food porn due to Britain still being rationed certain food when the books first come out. Something as common now as prawn cocktail is described in nauseating detail as if fleming is describing a sex act.
The line is from "The Man with the Golden Gun" and it doesn't say homosexuals can't whistle; it says (quote) "Now it may only be a myth, and it is certainly not medical science, but there is a popular theory that a man who cannot whistle has homosexual tendencies..." Which isn't quite the same thing. In the novel, it's a "take this with a pinch of salt" theory within a character-profile of Scaramanga that has been prepared for M.
@@tomfreeman6294 I can't whistle myself, and despite being straight to date I suppose if I'm honest I wouldn't completely rule it out as a thing to experience in this lifetime, so ... dammit, maybe there is something to it after all? :)
"If you put a Lil-Let in there, you wouldn't have any drink left, would you?!" Lil-Let is a brand of tampon. Kina Lillet, as I've just found out from this video and from Google, is a liqueur
Ian Fleming intended "James Bond" to be the plainest and most boring name possible, for a very boring person. It's just that exciting things kept happening to him.
I was taught that a Vesper contained 3 parts Gin 1 part Vodka and half part Lillet Vermouth. with a twist of lemon. No idea how authentic this is but, it is a very nice drink. And yes, shaken not stirred. Try it, Cheers !
Did anyone correct this yet? The Bloody Mary fact? It was created in Paris and was originally called a Bloody Mary. The bartender who created it moved to New York and as bartenders did at the time, took his little black book of popular creations with him. It was there that the owner of his new establishment decided that the name Bloody Mary was too crude and so, the Red Snapper was ‘born’. Nowadays, a Red Snapper mostly describes a Bloody Mary made with Gin.
Mack Haddock I wrote that for American people, and people from other countries, who would generally not understand the reference. Plus it's a bit difficult to hear, I had to strain to hear it on a phone.
Didiggy Indeed. If I recall correctly the drink is named after Vesper Lynd, Bond's romantic interest in Casino Royale, the first Bond book. It's a tasty drink, too :)
If anyone wants to read a really awful book, read the original Casino Royale. It's a huge contrast to the film. That bit about homosexuals not being able to whistle is just the tip of Fleming's weird opinions. Not Bond's opinions but Fleming, because Bond is clearly a Mary Sue of the highest order in that book.
When the author injects too much of themselves in their characters, it tends to ruin them. Not necessarily that the books were bad, I can't agree or disagree since I really don't like reading, but it's a bad idea no doubt, to inject yourself into a world where you yourself don't belong.
If reading isn't your thing but you still enjoy the idea of terrible literature, might I recommend a podcast? Idon'tevenownatelevision. Here's their episode on the book in question. www.idontevenownatelevision.com/2015/11/10/casino-royale-w-lauren-parker/
Roger Moore, aka The Saint, in an early episode of the St, ordered a martini “not shaken or stirred”. And that’s where I think the Bond Martini originated.
Bond is employed as an intelligence officer but he's garbage at it. I suppose you could say what he does is more like a hitman although he's not even good at that. If it weren't such indulgent frat boy nonsense, he'd be fired, in jail or dead before the opening credits.
No, because Alan's whole job is being a prat. We're supposed to be laughing at him. James Bond is supposed to be suave and sophisticated, someone women want and men want to be. He's not supposed to come across as a prat.
This makes me so sad - both Linda Smith and Sean Lock. Wonderful talents... 🖤
Linda Smith is no longer with us? I truly did not know that
@@petejones879 Ovarian cancer, about 15 years ago.
@@BLT1967too thank you I genuinely didn't know
God, I love the chemistry between Alan and Stephen.
Yeah, it was brilliant. Almost the entirety of the show was based on Alan being a love-able fool and Stephen Fry bouncing off his jokes in a posh way. It's highly entertaining.
“Dear” 😂
Alan and Stephen are work husbands.
Alan "It's got something like Drambuie in it" Stephen "Oh how sophisticated!"😄
It’s generally quite well liked, dear.
RIP Linda Smith (January 29, 1958 - February 27, 2006), aged 48
And
RIP Sean Lock (April 22, 1963 - August 16, 2021), aged 58
You both will always be remembered as legends.
Dunno why "I've never been to Essex" sounded so funny to me, but I'm still laughing as I type this.
The Only Way is Essex.
I heard 'Wessex'.
I was laughing too
but knew why it was funny
@@johanvajse8410 Yank here. Why is it funny?
@@inotterwords6115 its just a joke about how trashy essex is. we might make the same joke here about jersey. 💜
Hard to believe this episode was recorded almost 20 years ago. Where has the time gone?
Actually a "Red Snapper" is made with gin instead of vodka.
And there's several different variations based on where the drink actually originated.
That chick got ignored to the shithouse at the start
@@sg-yq8pm is that true? What's her name? I hope you are wrong.
@@curiouscuriouser2670 sorry to say linda smith did die of cancer
@@robroper8878 Oh, I hate hearing about people dying of cancer and it seems to be happening more and more and to younger people. So awfully sad.
@@sg-yq8pm When this show was broadcast, October 2003, she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer but had decided not to go public with it because she didn't want the whole sympathy thing or to be treated like a victim. So we can't blame the other contestants for not giving way to her here, because they had no idea she was ill - and that's the way she wanted it.
She didn't actually die of her ovarian cancer until nearly 2 and a half years after this show (February 2006) so I imagine she was still fairly chipper at this point ... relatively speaking.
@@curiouscuriouser2670 This is actually a good thing, the reason why deaths by cancer are more common now a days is primarily because fewer people are dying of other things.
I was waiting for “Mr Music, will you play?” after the cocktail recipes
Soupy twist
I always love reading the comments of QI, there's always someone trying to prove them wrong to feed their own ego, even if it's just a spelling mistake from the provider.
In all fairness, Vespa is a sccoter, Vesper is a drink. I went back to double-check whether they talked about a scooter.
MichaelKingsfordGray, what does providing a name have to do with the veracity of their comment?
Well, the comment was wrong, and mean spirited.
They suffices.
Then there’s the rarest of phenomena someone pointing out how someone in the comment section is wrong to feed their own ego by pointing out trivial mistakes just to feed their own ego then there is me pointing out the ego feeding frenzy to feed my own ego. I can imagine God and Jesus watching us. Jesus looks over to God and says brightly: “Have you tried turning it off and on again?”
I mean, they are making a show so they have a week to do all of this research, as well as the writing and everything else, so they often make rather profound mistakes. Not so often that I would criticize them as a source of info, but I would put corrections for some reasonable things, like claiming Edison electrocuted Tospy the elephant for any reason, as he was not even involved, or as someone has pointed out a Red Snapper is a different drink from a Bloody Mary, or that cocktails do have a relationship with Prohibition, but it is not their only reason for existing.
Vesper, not Vespa. And it was the seventieth cigarette of the day, not eightieth.
PS
Linda Smith had been suffering from Ovarian cancer for about a year at the time this show was recorded. She passed away in February 2006.
RIP Linda
so the vespa motorcycle much loved by skinkeads & mods never existed?
A clear demonstration of the inferiority of the non-rhotic R.
Rhotics unite
@@davefrancisjarrett3563 No, but the scooters did. Two wheels and an engine do NOT make it a motorcycle!
@@christopherdean1326 , according to new laws/rules regarding electric Cycles (UK), having 2 wheels & an engine capable of propelling you at 15+ miles per hour it Is a Motorcycle... go figure....
@@christopherdean1326 I imagine that anytime you strap a motor to a bicycle, it becomes a motorized bicycle, hence a motorcycle. Legal authorities in different jurisdictions can make whatever classification systems they want for licensing, but unless you're specifying where and under what circumstances, even a moped is a motorcycle.
Stephan and Alan are such funny, clever and entertaining chaps, I adore them!
I have a theory, which I've adopted as my personal headcanon about Bond's preference in preparation method for his Vodka martinis.
There's an episode of The West Wing where President Bartlet makes the following assertion: "Shaken, not stirred, will get you cold water with a dash of gin and dry vermouth. The reason you stir it with a special spoon is so not to chip the ice. James is ordering a weak martini and being snooty about it." While this assertion might be technically accurate, I think that's missing the point. 007 *is* ordering weaker, more diluted martinis... but he has a very sound reason for doing so. He's an intelligence officer. Most of the time we see him drinking in the movies, he's on duty, on a mission, and the drinking is a part of the social aspect of his job-- keeping up appearances. But considering that his life is threatened routinely, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that, in his line of work, being legitimately intoxicated could very quickly become an enormous liability for him, and could jeopardize both his life and his ability to serve England. All of this is to say that, I don't think he's ordering a weak martini and being snooty; instead, I think he's ordering a weak martini on purpose because he's a consummate professional who has to prevent his wits from being dulled, in accordance with what is necessary for him to function well as a spy.
1. it's a hypthesis not a theory
2. it's wrong, in the books he driks like a shelf of liqor for breakfast
Adding water to spirits to adjust the flavour profile is a perfectly legitimate (and common) thing to do, and since all that matters is the number of shots of liquor in the glass (which are all going into Bond) it doesn't matter whether the ice melts a little more or less. The theory I prefer is that Vodka takes awful if it's not very cold, and shaking helps achieve that. On the other hand, shaking gin will bruise it, so that's generally not recommended.
Wow sorry can u repeat that
The Vespa / Vesper reference is deliberate, people. This programme's not about your IQ, it's about being QI.
"Oh, I've never been to Essex" - just brilliant
When he told Alan to stand in the corner, I lost it XD
I’d enjoy Stephen Fry calling _me_ dear! Lol
4:28 as an Essex lad I can be proud.
Cocktails were developed long before Prohibition. It's possible that they were popularized during Prohibition.
Some of the best are from WW1 apparently. There are a few like the Sidecar that are attributed to officers visiting fancy hotel bars when not at the front.
Loving Linda's Paul Frank T-shirt!
I'm so sorry Stephen, but you need two cocktail onions to make it a Gibson.
Poor bloody Linda can barely get a word in edgeways! Come on fellas, give her a chance..
chuckles...
She has a buzzer 🤔
@@hrafnofthule5962 I notice no one used a buzzer in the entire clip, and yet they didn't get talked over 🤔
@@imaweerascal if you don’t assert yourself you can’t get a word in, plus she wasn’t timing it well
Alan Davies loves to talk over people. Keeps the attention on him.
3:32 What is Alan Davies saying that gets a laugh? I keep repeating it and it gets no clearer...
"Because they've got cock in their mouth."
+ShadarLogath
"You just put your lips together and blow."
Well played
"I want you to go stand in the corner!"
"Is that because they always got a cock in their mouth."
I like the sound of Alan's drink.
My husband had one last night. Don't know where he got it from though.
"sorry - did i call you 'dear'??"
and he didnt stop since XD dropped quite a few dears and darlings over the years
Vivienne Michel rode a Vespa in the novel The Spy Who Loved Me. As Didiggy mentions, the drink is named for Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale
No, no, no. We are never told that *Bond*, personally, believes that homosexuals can't whistle. The assertion is made in a report prepared for M about the assassin Scaramanga, the Man With The Golden Gun. We do know that Bond's views on homosexuality in general are (put politely) dated, veering towards intolerant, but that particular suggestion belongs to someone else.
Can't understand why. Most boarding schools in Britain are known for young fellows trying the same sex thing.
*tries to whistle* I think there might be some truth behind it though
When M reads that, he immdiately (and successfully) whistles... and then laughs softly to himself.
He was talking about Fleming, do try to pay attention dear. Fleming was such a homophobe, he makes JK Rowling seem ok to trans women.
Perhaps one day we'll have multi-channel audio where we can mute everyone except those we're trying to hear !
Damn, that's a brilliant idea!
You mean like the audience? Wish they’d turn down their microphone!
in the james bond books they all big descriptions of food . lashings of butter on a crumpet ect
Apparently this was an example of food porn due to Britain still being rationed certain food when the books first come out. Something as common now as prawn cocktail is described in nauseating detail as if fleming is describing a sex act.
It should be Vesper not Vespa, she was an agent with Bond in casino Royale
I do know that a Vespa is a motor scooter.
@@samiam619 beep beep
That’s what thought it was called
@@ladyluckapologies6077 it was wordplay and misdirection for ENTERTAINMENT!
It's like you've never seen Qi before
still miss Linda , she was a joy
The line is from "The Man with the Golden Gun" and it doesn't say homosexuals can't whistle; it says (quote) "Now it may only be a myth, and it is certainly not medical science, but there is a popular theory that a man who cannot whistle has homosexual tendencies..." Which isn't quite the same thing. In the novel, it's a "take this with a pinch of salt" theory within a character-profile of Scaramanga that has been prepared for M.
Speaking as a man who can't whistle, they might just be on to something.
@@tomfreeman6294 I can't whistle myself, and despite being straight to date I suppose if I'm honest I wouldn't completely rule it out as a thing to experience in this lifetime, so ... dammit, maybe there is something to it after all? :)
IMO, Linda was blatantly ignored by Fry, Davies and Anderson.
or the editor
1:35 Can someone please explain this bit to my American brain? I’m still trying to figure out what Stephen says
"If you put a Lil-Let in there, you wouldn't have any drink left, would you?!"
Lil-Let is a brand of tampon. Kina Lillet, as I've just found out from this video and from Google, is a liqueur
Ian Fleming intended "James Bond" to be the plainest and most boring name possible, for a very boring person. It's just that exciting things kept happening to him.
As an Aussie I’m annoyed. We haven’t shamed virgins for at least a couple of decades. We have grown up somewhat.
I thought this was about a scooter, not a drink >_>
...or a van.
thats the point. the questions on this show are meant to trip you up.
Yes, but they're not supposed to spell Vesper wrong.
I didn't see 'Vesper' written down in the clip.
I'll go and have another look...
No one ever spells the word "pizza", yet we still know it's "pizza", not "pitsa". What is your point
Isn't the drink a Vesper and the Vespa is a motor scooter?
I was taught that a Vesper contained 3 parts Gin 1 part Vodka and half part Lillet Vermouth. with a twist of lemon.
No idea how authentic this is but, it is a very nice drink. And yes, shaken not stirred. Try it, Cheers !
Mahatma Coat except that they stopped making kina lillet in the 1980s so you'd have to use a substitute.
Mahatma Coat, Stephen’s recipe differs from yours.
RIP Sean Lock
Watching this 5years on and James Hewitt still cracks me up. Prince Harry's father
Did anyone correct this yet? The Bloody Mary fact?
It was created in Paris and was originally called a Bloody Mary. The bartender who created it moved to New York and as bartenders did at the time, took his little black book of popular creations with him. It was there that the owner of his new establishment decided that the name Bloody Mary was too crude and so, the Red Snapper was ‘born’.
Nowadays, a Red Snapper mostly describes a Bloody Mary made with Gin.
3:30 What did Alan say about something in their mouth - was it a ciggie?
... not quite. Starts with a 'C' though.
@@darinsingleton3553 O?K then ?
pmailkeey ”Because they always have a c*ck in their mouth” is what he says, hence Stephens reaction. Really funny!
Bonus QI fact: Bond's most frequently ordered beverage? Bourbon.
Also his favourite biscuit...
No, you're thinking of the Happy Shopper custard cream.
Roger Moore never ordered a martini in any of his films.
@MichaelKingsfordGray Who told you?
Shouldn't it be "Vesper"?
It's actually half a measure of kina Lillet
Hmm..wonder why Stephen said, "James Hewitt Spencer"?
Soupy twist!
final comment
"I've never been to Essex"....
which is meant to poke fun at the lack of sophistication in the region
MilesBellas You is a smart.
Mack Haddock
I wrote that for American people, and people from other countries, who would generally not understand the reference. Plus it's a bit difficult to hear, I had to strain to hear it on a phone.
Thanks, Miles. I'm an Anglophile but I can't get every reference.
as an American i was able to assume that's what he meant but this comment was nice to confirm my thoughts so thanks
I think Essex is to London what New Jersey is to New York (based almost entirely on watching the Sopranos)
That's not how you spell "Vesper"
It's Vespa as in the name, not Vesper the vehicle.
It's Vesper, look it up. Has nothing to do with vechicles either. Vesper is the evening prayer (vesper is latin and means "evening").
Didiggy Indeed. If I recall correctly the drink is named after Vesper Lynd, Bond's romantic interest in Casino Royale, the first Bond book. It's a tasty drink, too :)
Vespa _is_ the vehicle. They must have been doing one of those plays on words that only works with people who refuse to pronounce the letter R.
Didiggy
Vesper is Latin for "evening."
Fleming went to Eton College where "every boy studies Latin for a year".
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesperus
Oih!, Alan it were bronze, wake up....(the vespa,at least)
"I've never been to Essex"
Says the man from Norfolk, which is hardly any better!
I'm just imagining Stephen going to Essex and demanding it be closed down or fenced off from the rest of the world
Vesper...
Vesper, not Vespa
I believe Bond named his drink after Vesper Lynd.
Bacon & Bradford, that didn’t age well. 😂
I can't whistle
I’ve read Ian Fleming and he’s great of course.
this is the only qi where me being american has kept me from understanding a lot of what is said.
In Wisconsin we just call a Bloody Mary "breakfast." 😉
It isn’t ‘Vespa’ - it is actually ’Vesper’ - he named it after the character ‘Vesper Lynd’ played by Eva Green.
...which is in turn wordplay on "West Berlin". I had to read the novel to get that.
No, he called it the Vesper. After his first love.
If anyone wants to read a really awful book, read the original Casino Royale. It's a huge contrast to the film. That bit about homosexuals not being able to whistle is just the tip of Fleming's weird opinions. Not Bond's opinions but Fleming, because Bond is clearly a Mary Sue of the highest order in that book.
When the author injects too much of themselves in their characters, it tends to ruin them. Not necessarily that the books were bad, I can't agree or disagree since I really don't like reading, but it's a bad idea no doubt, to inject yourself into a world where you yourself don't belong.
If reading isn't your thing but you still enjoy the idea of terrible literature, might I recommend a podcast? Idon'tevenownatelevision.
Here's their episode on the book in question. www.idontevenownatelevision.com/2015/11/10/casino-royale-w-lauren-parker/
+Stubbs314 I like it already. Thanks for the suggestion.
Stubbs 314, interesting: Stephen just said what a delight it was....
Roger Moore, aka The Saint, in an early episode of the St, ordered a martini “not shaken or stirred”.
And that’s where I think the Bond Martini originated.
Are you sure that episode was prior to the first appearance of bond’s martini?
A bit of a prat? The sort of prat to bite a homeless man, would you say?
Vermouth is nasty stuff
That's why you add the Vodka Stu Bur.
Bond is a hitman not a spy
Bond is a spy not a hitman
Ian Babcock bond is an intelligence agent
Intelligence officer. An agent is a source of information, an officer is actually employed by the intelligence services.
Bond is employed as an intelligence officer but he's garbage at it. I suppose you could say what he does is more like a hitman although he's not even good at that. If it weren't such indulgent frat boy nonsense, he'd be fired, in jail or dead before the opening credits.
Robert R, you must be a delight at parties.
*Vesper
Davies cslling James Bond a prat - pot, kettle anyone ?
I don't care about hipocrisy as long as I agree with them
Not really.
Posting a sly innuendo without spell checking, prat.
Well Bond is, he mean't to be a spy but everyone knows who he is
No, because Alan's whole job is being a prat. We're supposed to be laughing at him. James Bond is supposed to be suave and sophisticated, someone women want and men want to be. He's not supposed to come across as a prat.
To mention all those pork references in regards to Bradford is extremely racist considering Bradford is a Muslim hotspot.
Well, there's a meat, and a religion.
Not sure where the 'race' bit comes in...
Ugh I HATE the bond movies/books. I’ve tried to watch the movies, but omg they’re so boring and annoying and headache making.
It's a shame that most people know Bond from the films. The books are as wonderful (and wonderfully appalling) as the films are horrendous.