Stephen Fry is to step down as host of the award-winning BBC comedy quiz show QI, the broadcaster announced on Wednesday.
Fry, who is also a comedian and actor, has hosted 180 episodes of the quiz, which airs on BBC Two in the U.K., but says the upcoming series will be his last. Fry will be replaced by Danish-born writer and presenter, Sandi Toksvig, who will become the first female host of a mainstream comedy panel show on British television.
"For 13 years I had one of the best jobs on television," said Fry, whose final series will concern questions and answers centred on the letter M. "After passing the alphabetical halfway mark I thought it time to move on, but I will never cease to be grateful to John Lloyd for devising QI and for everyone else for making it such fun."
Fry was originally cast as a team captain opposite Alan Davies but agreed to chair the pilot episode of the show as a last-minute replacement for Michael Palin and remained as host.
Toksvig, who recently stepped down as host of Radio 4's The News Quiz, called her new position her "dream job." She said: "Who knows what lies ahead? It should all be quite interesting."
Davies will continue as QI's resident panellist. Since the show began in 2003, British comedians Jimmy Carr, Jo Brand and Bill Bailey have made more than 30 appearances on the show. It has won 10 major awards, including the National Television Award for the Most Popular Comedy Panel Show in 2013.
The new series, Fry's last, begins on October 16.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Natalie is an intern for Newsweek's London office. She writes about anything from the arts to Europe's refugee crisis. She ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
