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"Death" is the fifth episode of the D Series of QI, the first Halloween special and the 41st episode overall. It was first broadcast on BBC Four on 20 October 2006, and aired on BBC Two on 27 October 2006. Andy Parsons made his first appearance, and the audience received their second score and first win, having unofficially scored -45 in "Creatures". The episode was preceded by "Dictionaries" and followed by "Drinks".

The panellists (and Fry) were all wearing black for this episode, and at the centre of the stage there was a coffin inside the magnifying glass. Forfeits flashed in green, instead of white.

Scores[]

Numbers in brackets mark appearances - e.g. "(2)" means "(second appearance)".

  1. Audience (2): 2 points
  2. Andy Parsons (1): 0 points
  3. Sean Lock (10): -8 points
  4. Alan Davies (41): -15 points
  5. Clive Anderson (8): -24 points

Fry announced the audience's score at the end of the episode and declared them the winners. Despite this, he said Alan finished in third place, which implies that the audience weren't officially counted.

Subjects[]

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  • The bubonic plague was caused by marmots.
  • British doctors treat depression more than any other illness - 3.1 million people every year.[1][2]
  • The saddest song ever is "Gloomy Sunday" sung by Billie Holiday, also known as the "Hungarian Suicide Song". The song was originally written by Rezső Seress, who broke up with his girlfriend. After the song became popular, they got together briefly but then she committed suicide by poisoning herself and left only a two-word suicide note that said simply "Gloomy Sunday".
  • Killer Mushroom Roulette: The panel have to pick out which of four types of mushroom is safe to eat, out of the death cap, peppery milk cap, the destroying angel and the trumpet of death. The trumpet of death is safe. Out of the 3,500 mushrooms in Britain, 100 are poisonous, only 15 are fatal, and the last death-by-mushroom is too long ago to care. (Note: while correct at the time of broadcast, a recent death-by-mushroom in Britain occurred in 2008. A woman in her 20s died on the Isle of Wight after eating death cap mushrooms.)
  • The Nazis used Trumpets of Jericho. They were the Junkers Ju 87, otherwise known as the Stukas. According to archaeologists, Jericho had no city walls.[3]
  • Extremophiles are the only things that live in the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is the lowest place on Earth. People can't turn around in the Dead Sea if they are the wrong way round and could drown.
  • Lemmings do not commit suicide by jumping off cliffs. The myth was first noted in a children's encyclopedia in 1908.[4]

General Ignorance[]

  • There is no curse of Tutankhamun.[5]
  • Only five people died in the Great Fire of London. The then-Lord Mayor of London, Thomas Bloodworth went back to bed on the first night of the fire, because he claimed "a woman might piss it out".
  • Ring a Ring O'Roses dates to 1881 in North America.[6]
  • Edward de Bono (who invented lateral thinking) suggested using Marmite to solve the Middle-East conflict, as it boosts zinc levels.

Forfeits[]

  1. Cancer
  2. Flu
  3. Destroying city walls
  4. Myth invented by Disney
  5. Death to all who enter here
  6. The Plague
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