This makes me so sad - both Linda Smith and Sean Lock. Wonderful talents... 🖤

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.

Hard to believe this episode was recorded almost 20 years ago. Where has the time gone?

God, I love the chemistry between Alan and Stephen.

Dunno why "I've never been to Essex" sounded so funny to me, but I'm still laughing as I type this.

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

I was waiting for “Mr Music, will you play?” after the cocktail recipes

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.

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.

The Vespa / Vesper reference is deliberate, people. This programme's not about your IQ, it's about being QI.

Actually a "Red Snapper" is made with gin instead of vodka. And there's several different variations based on where the drink actually originated.

"Oh, I've never been to Essex" - just brilliant

That chick got ignored to the shithouse at the start

I’d enjoy Stephen Fry calling _me_ dear! Lol

Stephan and Alan are such funny, clever and entertaining chaps, I adore them!

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.

4:28 as an Essex lad I can be proud.

Loving Linda's Paul Frank T-shirt!

When he told Alan to stand in the corner, I lost it XD

I'm so sorry Stephen, but you need two cocktail onions to make it a Gibson.

I like the sound of Alan's drink.

Poor bloody Linda can barely get a word in edgeways! Come on fellas, give her a chance..

Cocktails were developed long before Prohibition. It's possible that they were popularized during Prohibition.

It should be Vesper not Vespa, she was an agent with Bond in casino Royale

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

"sorry - did i call you 'dear'??" and he didnt stop since XD dropped quite a few dears and darlings over the years

still miss Linda , she was a joy

Perhaps one day we'll have multi-channel audio where we can mute everyone except those we're trying to hear !

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 !

in the james bond books they all big descriptions of food . lashings of butter on a crumpet ect

3:32 What is Alan Davies saying that gets a laugh? I keep repeating it and it gets no clearer...

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.

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.

As an Aussie I’m annoyed. We haven’t shamed virgins for at least a couple of decades. We have grown up somewhat.

Isn't the drink a Vesper and the Vespa is a motor scooter?

It's actually half a measure of kina Lillet

Soupy twist!

Bonus QI fact: Bond's most frequently ordered beverage? Bourbon.

I thought this was about a scooter, not a drink >_>

Watching this 5years on and James Hewitt still cracks me up. Prince Harry's father

RIP Sean Lock

1:35 Can someone please explain this bit to my American brain? I’m still trying to figure out what Stephen says

final comment "I've never been to Essex".... which is meant to poke fun at the lack of sophistication in the region

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.

Hmm..wonder why Stephen said, "James Hewitt Spencer"?

IMO, Linda was blatantly ignored by Fry, Davies and Anderson.

2:07 "red snapper" is also a euphemism for a menstruating vagina. Oddly enough, "bloody Mary" is a euphemism for an act in which a person goes "south" on a menstruating woman.

"I've never been to Essex"

Vesper...

Shouldn't it be "Vesper"?

That's not how you spell "Vesper"

I'm just imagining Stephen going to Essex and demanding it be closed down or fenced off from the rest of the world

3:30 What did Alan say about something in their mouth - was it a ciggie?

Three things to note here IMO: 1) It's "Vesper," not "Vespa." 2) The Vesper cocktail as featured in the novel _Casino Royale_ is no longer possible to mix. The Kina Lillet used in it hasn't been made since the 1980s. 3) When Fleming actually drank a Vesper, he considered it "unpalatable."

I believe Bond named his drink after Vesper Lynd.

Oih!, Alan it were bronze, wake up....(the vespa,at least)

I’ve read Ian Fleming and he’s great of course.

Vesper, not Vespa

Bacon & Bradford, that didn’t age well. 😂

No, he called it the Vesper. After his first love.

I can't whistle

In Wisconsin we just call a Bloody Mary "breakfast." 😉

this is the only qi where me being american has kept me from understanding a lot of what is said.

It isn’t ‘Vespa’ - it is actually ’Vesper’ - he named it after the character ‘Vesper Lynd’ played by Eva Green.

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.

A bit of a prat? The sort of prat to bite a homeless man, would you say?

Vermouth is nasty stuff

Bond is a hitman not a spy

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.

*Vesper

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.

Bond is the worst spy ever everybody knows who he is

Davies cslling James Bond a prat - pot, kettle anyone ?

To mention all those pork references in regards to Bradford is extremely racist considering Bradford is a Muslim hotspot.

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.