The BBC has confirmed that ‘QI‘ is returning for Series X this November, with Sandi Toksvig back in the host’s chair, Alan Davies once again taking up his regular seat, and a frankly ridiculous number of comedians and special guests ready to discover just how much they don’t know.
Having worked its way through the alphabet since 2003, the long-running panel show has reached the letter X for its 24th series. That might sound like a tricky letter to build an entire run around, but apparently the Quite Interesting team have found plenty of material. Expect explorations of Xs and Exes, a look at X Animals, some festive fun with Xmas, and a trip into all things Xtreme.
And, as ever, the real fun comes from watching a group of very funny people confidently give answers which turn out to be spectacularly wrong.
Who’s appearing in Series X?
The BBC has unveiled a huge lineup for the new run, mixing familiar faces with some guests who might be less familiar to regular viewers. Among those appearing are Maisie Adam, Roisin Conaty, Chris McCausland, Tom Allen, Rhod Gilbert, Ross Noble, Sara Pascoe, Jo Brand, Gyles Brandreth, Nish Kumar, Joe Lycett and Susan Calman.
They’ll be joined across the series by Stevie Martin, Eshaan Akbar, Lucy Cooke, Fatiha El-Ghorri, Lewis MacLeod, Ella Al-Shamahi, Angela Barnes, Howard Goodall, Cally Beaton, Sheila Hancock, Blank Peng, Catherine Bohart, Bella Hull, Lucy Porter, Melanie Bracewell, Elis James, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Rosie Jones, Lou Sanders, Daniel Sloss, Alex Brooker, LaVoix, Ian Smith, Desiree Burch, Laura Smyth, Zoe Lyons, Phil Wang, Daliso Chaponda, Jamali Maddix and Holly Walsh.
That’s an impressive spread of stand-up comedians, entertainers and people with specialist knowledge, which is rather the point of ‘QI’. You never quite know whether a guest is about to deliver a genuinely fascinating explanation or accidentally walk into one of the show’s famous traps. Sometimes both happen in the same answer.
More XL episodes, and a very X-centric theme
Series X will kick off with the extended ‘QI XL’ format, with 14 episodes running for 45 minutes. Each XL instalment will be followed during the week by a shorter, 30-minute edition, and there will also be two 30-minute compilation episodes.
Series producer Piers Fletcher is clearly enjoying the possibilities of the new letter. He said: “QI is back, and this year we’re all about the letter X – so if you’ve ever wondered what a xerotic xanthocarp might be then this is the show for you. (It’s a dried banana, but don’t let that put you off.)”
If a dried banana is the starting point, there’s probably no predicting where the questions will end up. Then again, this is a programme which has spent more than two decades demonstrating that knowing the obvious answer is often the quickest way to lose points.
Created by John Lloyd, ‘QI’ originally launched with Stephen Fry presenting, before Toksvig took over from Series N. Davies has been the show’s resident panellist throughout, providing a reassuringly consistent target for the klaxon. The series is produced by TalkbackThames, part of Fremantle, and Quite Interesting for the BBC.
‘QI‘ Series X premieres Tuesday, 3rd November 2026 at 9pm on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.
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