No Such Thing as the News
No Such Thing as the News is a British television comedy series on BBC Two, which is a spin-off to the podcast "No Such Thing as a Fish", produced and presented by the researchers behind the panel game "QI", also on BBC Two. In it each of the researchers – James Harkin, Andrew Hunter Murray, Anna Ptaszynski and Dan Schreiber – collectively known as "The QI Elves", present their favourite facts related to the previous week's news. Format. In each episode the Elves present their favourite fact that week which is connected to that  week's news, and discuss related news and facts about it. They also read out news stories sent to them by viewers, which as of the second series is in a segment called "Special Correspondence", and also highlight other stories they did not have time to examine in greater depth. In the first series the end of the show also features a small sketch in which Dan goes over to BBC newsreader Jane Hill. In the second series the beginning of the show features a sketch with Hill and Matthew Amroliwala reading some obscure news stories, before the opening titles  play. On Friday, 17 February 2017 the Elves began a weekly Facebook Live topical broadcast summing up the week's news in a similar style to the television programme. Origin. "No Such Thing as the News" is a television spin-off to the "No Such Thing as a Fish" podcast, which sees the "QI" elves discuss their favourite facts that they had learned that week. The show's title comes from one of the facts revealed in the "QI" TV series. In the third episode of eighth series, also known as "Series H", an episode on the theme of "Hoaxes  reported that, after a lifetime studying fish, the biologist Stephen Jay Gould concluded that there was no such thing as a fish. He reasoned that while there are many sea creatures, most of them are not closely related to each other. For example, a salmon is more closely related to a camel than it is to a hagfish. The opening of early episodes of the podcast used to feature a recording of the elves mentioning this fact, which appears in the first paragraph of the Oxford Dictionary of Underwater Life". Production. The series was commissioned by James Harding, Director of  BBC News. The show was recorded at the Up the Creek Comedy Club in Greenwich, London, and is produced by John Lloyd, the creator of "QI". A pilot episode was made, which was not broadcast on TV but was released as Episode 114 of "No Such Thing as a Fish". Reception. In a review for "Chortle" Steve Bennett wrote: "If you're a curious person too, your interest will definitely be piqued by the info imparted (now my internet search history includes 'didgeridoo in space' and 'sticky google car') and in a most entertaining way. Though quite what the weird  handover to Jane Hill in the BBC newsroom just to call Schreiber 'Bernard' was all about defies explanation." On Episode 130 of "No Such Thing as a Fish" it was announced that Series 2 would begin on 12 October 2016 at 11:15pm on BBC2.