Who Was 'C'? | QI

[@gibsonlespaul023]

There was originally MI 1 through to MI 19, with each MI department having a very specific role. Eventually they were all discontinued or absorbed into the two we have today; MI 5 and MI 6. MI 1 was responsible for code-breaking, MI 2 dealt with Russian and Scandinavian intelligence, MI 3 was concerned with the rest of Eastern Europe and MI 4 was responsible for aerial reconnaissance.

[@agentk1073]

MI 9 was responsible for aiding POWs in escaping from captivity

[@BR1GADIER]

MI 7 comes out in July staring Tom Cruise

[@Tao_Tology]

@@BR1GADIER So MI 7 focussed on scientologists?

[@Dymodeus1]

You actually have to eat yourself now

[@dogcarman]

@@Tao_Tology The General Nutter Department.

[@Daniel-yy5tx]

1:49 Clive's shock at his silly question actually being right on the money at 1:55 is absolute gold. He wasn't expecting it at all!

[@10thdoctor15]

So in Spectre, when M says "now we know what C stands for", we already did.

[@thegabrielhyde]

The added gag is that the head of the Joint Intelligence Service (JIS) is named after Mr. Cumming.

[@HOTD108_]

"Cumming"

[@echtblikbonen]

I understand that they couldn't have him say C stands for cunt but come on at least cut it there and leave it to our imagination

[@marycanary86]

clive and stephen always had brilliant chemistry

[@imransheikhinfo]

I think because Clive is the only one who can match, or at least compete with, Fry's wit and knowledge.

[@darklordwendel]

The wooden leg is also his - he owned it, he used it, he stabbed it. Steven even refers to it as "his leg" throughout the rest of the round. It's not "this man had 12 legs, his original one and 11 he keeps in a freezer at home"; it's "this man is actively using his prosthetic leg in tandem with his flesh leg".

[@RenewedRS]

A prosthetic isn't human though is it so its a leg only by nickname

[@Brinta3]

⁠​⁠@@RenewedRS It’s a leg by function.

[@padstowphantom]

I loved John Sessions' impersonations.

[@petermortimer6303]

He's the reason I watch this clip so often

[@alicec1533]

And then Fry goes on to play 'C' in Doctor Who.

[@samfisher6606]

I was just about to say this.

[@HOTD108_]

@@samfisher6606 I bet you say that all the time.

[@DomoftheDoctor]

Beat me there as well!

[@thepenultimateninja5797]

In the Ian Fleming James Bond novels, M uses green ink. I wasn't aware that it was something that was done in real life too, that's a nice touch.

[@elliotspirrett7752]

I started reading his Wikipedia and came across the following: "When SSB discovered that semen made a good invisible ink, his agents adopted the motto "Every man his own stylo". However, the use of semen as invisible ink was ceased because of the smell it produced for the eventual receiver. It also raised questions over the masturbatory habits of the agents."

[@joshdavis3743]

Apparently he didn't amputate his own leg with a pen knife. Medical records show his left foot was not amputated until the day after the crash. Apparently he used to like to mage up magnificent stories about he car crash.

[@MichaelKingsfordGray]

Utter rubbish.

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

But did the agents continue to be known as the “C men” ...

[@ablestmage]

Sir Richard Shamwow was at the ready for just such a meeting.

[@rosiefay7283]

Shamwow?? Wow, that's a weird one.

[@clickrick]

Chamois, perhaps?

[@Slanghappy]

I came for this video, and finish very satisfied...

[@Reactordrone]

"Captain Darling will pump you thoroughly in the debriefing room."

[@johnnunn8688]

They did have anaesthetic, it was administered by the glass, from a bottle labelled brandy, whiskey etc.

[@rin_etoware_2989]

not only can you rearrange MI6 chiefs' surnames to tell an indecent tale, the two most common firstnames among all MI6 chiefs are John and Richard.

[@francaperotti8343]

RIP JOHN SESSIONS

[@lohphat]

...who was a Euroskeptic, a UKIP supporter, and thought Nigel Farage was speaking sense. I lost all respect for him.

[@francaperotti8343]

@@lohphat he was also gay. I didn't agree with his political views like I HATE the Tories like a passion. I still had respect for his comic and intellectual intelligent brain and still RIP JOHN SESSIONS.

[@JohnyG29]

@@lohphat I'm sure he would have really cared.

[@lohphat]

@@francaperotti8343 People with intelligent brains don't think Nigel Farage is a respectable source of information. All Nigel has done is race-bait and lie. I will not respect racists or those who tolerate racists.

[@Maya_Pinion]

@@francaperotti8343 for real,being from USA,lovin' qi forever: I thought everyone on the panel was gay,that that was part and partial of the show.omg.dont care at all,but I did.

[@richardw64]

Yes , what about MI1,2,3,4 ? Good point Alan !

[@stukay2803]

I can answer this: MI5 and MI6 are the only active Sections of the Directorate of Military Intelligence that remain. All other Sections were either merged into MI5 or MI6 or disbanded. The first of these mergerswas after WW2. The second merger was in 1964, when the War Office was "rebranded" as the Ministry of Defence. But to the actual question of "What happened to MI1, 2, 3 and 4?" It's now GCHQ.

[@handpaper6871]

Since SIS (MI6) has Naval ranks, had he been promoted through the organisation the current head would have been, at some point, Captain Scarlet....

[@maxscameraguy]

Great name play at the end!

[@Chris-hx3om]

I can properly relate to the cold saw. The one thing I hate about having any sort of medical procedure is that the anesthetic is cold as it enters the vein, and it's actually quite painful in a strange way..

[@skylark.kraken]

I needed a bone scan and they needed to inject me with a large amount of dye, it felt super cold and I could feel it going around my body that added to me fainting. It felt horrible feeling cold from the inside, I'm pretty sure the nurse who injected me also injected way too quickly, it was a big syringe and all in in like a second. I remember being slightly shamed because the dye doesn't stay around long and me fainting meant a worse scan.

[@victorymansions]

Yeah I had surgery a few weeks ago and the sensation of the cold anaesthetic coarsing into you is super horrible. I'm just glad it knocks you out pretty soon after because it's akin to nails on a chalk board to me. I wouldn't describe it as pain in any way, just an alien feeling that is so unnatural.

[@gitman3486]

I had surgery a few years ago and dont remember it feeling cold at all. Odd.

[@kjamison5951]

Shout out to Mark Steel who was quiet…

[@highdownmartin]

Shame he hardly gets on these things now, he’d usually make a great contribution.

[@decodolly1535]

@@highdownmartin He was in an episode of the current T series - "Thrills & Spills".

[@salyluz6535]

All subsequent Chiefs after Cummings continue to be known as “C.” Cummings, Darling, Scarlet, Dearlove- C sounds much more serious!

[@dogwalker666]

I do hope Scarlet is a captain.

[@johnnunn8688]

C-rious.

[@chaos386]

I'm surprised no one went for a joke about how Cummings was followed by the "C Men"!

[@PhantomMarquis]

General Melchett: come now, Darling! 🤪

[@joelhall5124]

I've known a few of them.

[@ROBANN88]

At 2:40 "you're really pumping me, Alan" Alan is pumping his Cummins?

[@johnnunn8688]

Cum-in.

[@functionoflightone]

This is insanely hilarious.

[@stonkr]

Where the heck is C? Rumour has it Victor Borge is still looking.

[@Lord_Skeptic]

Mr. C. He is the rapper from the shamen.

[@SekritJay]

Darling, Dearlove, Cummings and Tissue

[@RalphBrooker-gn9iv]

Is espionage thriller writer Charles Cumming related.

[@porticojunction]

A friend with a wooden leg use to freak people out at parties by driving nails into it. She even make a video of it once.

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

Did anybody ever ask her to change a pound note?

[@MrCuddy2977]

I heard a - possibly apocryphal - story about the electronic Tag: the one worn by prisoners on early release, that only allows you out between 7 in the morning and 7 at night. Apparently? One of the first tags was put on an inmate with an artificial leg. ON the artificial leg. Apparently, he’d break the curfew: by taking the tagged leg off, and swapping it for a spare leg … and head for the pub …

[@Sweetlyfe]

Brilliant 😂😂

[@samdumaquis2033]

Very interesting

[@kjamison5951]

Alan’s hair! So dark!

[@Maya_Pinion]

Ever see one of his Jonathan creek shows on britbox....it's long,curly,dark.he was/is adorable.

[@Tao_Tology]

This was back when there we had only 1 moon.

[@lazyhazeldaisy9596]

Johnny Sessions was so knowledgeable he had this ability to give any date of someone famous of when they were born and died, increadable , greatly missed.

[@jackbassindale4336]

Completely agreed! Rest in peace Johnny old boy ❤️

[@quintessentialquinten-bm4pj]

No he demanded that they gave him the answers in advance before filming so that he could prepare

[@weswheel4834]

"He had a wooden leg, and a fleshy leg." 2 legs then. But I bet '2' would have got a claxon.

[@ClarinoI]

Well, three in total over the course of his life.

[@weswheel4834]

@@ClarinoI Fair point.

[@Danrandon900]

So he was the C Man 😂

[@Brandontroll]

I am a long distant relative of sir Richard Dearlove!

[@grf15]

Sessions always has some weird and wonderful stories. I often wonder if he was the panelist who insisted on knowing the questions and answers before taping. (I don't care, he was a witty guest, and a delight to listen to.)

[@Finch1412]

"Leeder hosen" 😊

[@Hellwyck]

"Dearlove, Darling... BAHHHHHH!"

[@jimmyusee]

"Jeffrey Tissue" sounds like a new super-villainous, anti-hero, for today's generation. 👍 😁

[@ublade82]

Did Bart shoot Nelson's arm off?

[@BlueManIan]

C was Stephen Fry!

[@idontlikeitproductions3509]

I assumed C was for Control.

[@etrisb]

So M is for Murchison?

[@NewMessage]

"Mhm... mhm... Yes, Cummings you say? We'll just introduce you to the men as 'C', shall we? Anyhow.. Welcome to MI6."

[@thomthom6268]

Who is Q? And I thought Steve was clairvoyant.

[@geoffroi-le-Hook]

C's accident goes to show that the average number of legs on a human is slightly less than two.

[@ShannonJacobs0]

The original business model of KZbin was annoying, but at least the ads were reasonable. New flood of invasive, repetitive, and offensive ads are EVIL. Google is now fully dedicated to doing any evil that seems profitable. And censoring complaints, too.

[@TheMightySwash]

Ironically their increase in ad delivery rates will drive more of their users to using ad blockers, reducing ad impressions

[@dogcarman]

@@TheMightySwash And those of us who use the app will move to a browser to get that exact benefit.

[@alfnoakes392]

I recommend the KZbin Premium Account. Not expensive and with many more benefits than just getting rid of ads. No, I do not work for KZbin.

[@zkpdreaming]

@@alfnoakes392 true. I worked out that 50c a day was worth not dealing with the ads

[@NuVibes.]

Ads are annoying but your comment is lamebrained.

[@lekoman]

“No, because stop it at once.”

[@22espec]

With how much obsessed with tradition, I'm surprised that they don't cut the leg of the man that gets the job

[@southron_d1349]

Of course we know the current C. It's the pound!

[@matthiasschulz3569]

Thanks for typing it out, I did hear "currency" and was a little confused, tbh.

[@Damian_1989]

Hopefully C never had an off day where he stabbed the wrong leg with the pen.

[@Maya_Pinion]

Hahahaha

[@johnnunn8688]

That’s not an ‘off’ day, that’s a shit-hot hilarious meeting day.

[@BajkonurBobby]

Anyone know the name of this episode?

[@picobyte]

How did 'he' know 🤭

[@markfox7764]

First name: Mel.

[@jamescook7796]

M from Bond was named from the initial of the first name of the same person...

[@221b-Maker-Street]

*_Rear Admiral Geoffrey Tissue, reporting for duty, Sir!_* _If you'd care to wipe yourself on me..._

[@Appophust]

I'm surprised no one gad anything to say about the name "Mansfield." ESPECIALLY since his last name was "Cumming."

[@jb888888888]

So C had three legs in total.

[@grimkupid8478]

I'd have said a Mexican Yes Man

[@Bananeisafree]

Ok ... how one does hack a femur with a ballpen ? Seeing how that man was keen on putting on a show and worked at a deception agency, I call Hogwash on this one !

[@danielpresley5796]

Lol. 'Pen-Knife' isn't a pen, it's basically a Swiss Army Knife without all the extra tools... 😂

[@jacobpaint]

So I’m guessing that if he was in a car accident that it was a horse and car. It seems unlikely that they would have used the term “car accident”, that seems like a newer word combination… or the bit about the accident is wrong. Possibly derived from some story he told to explain how he lost his leg.

[@roydickel9183]

1st car accident (recorded) was 1896 so its not as unlikely as all that

[@blackbird5634]

I kept wondering what was wrong with the recordings of QI when Fry was on it and I realized it was just him audibly gasping for air. Sucking wind through his gaping maw and desperately trying to get oxygen through that busted club foot on his face.🤣 *some of this comes from his fluctuating girth, and it must be a challenge to sleep at night with apnea.

[@TehPhuzzy]

INB4 all yinz!

[@timnor4803]

Go Birds👍🇺🇸

[@abhinavroy1630]

I c

[@timmasters1195]

QI was so much better when the guests came from Oxford, rather than Dave

[@wordreet]

X

[@mirthenary]

Dearlove, much better than Manlove.😆 That's for all you fans of old top gear😁

[@Tao_Tology]

Dearlove sounds a bit pricey.

[@okeycokey2000]

Go away sandy