I love the QI reactions. The visible joy of learning in the eyes of teachers is really something.

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks is a fantastic novel. Highly recommend.

Fun fact. the first serious attempt at digging a channel tunnel was in 1880, but as you know the English and French have not always been great buddies. There was a fear that the tunnel would give easy access to an invading army despite reassurances that the tunnel could be flooded, have smoke pumped into it or the air supply easily cut off. If you go back a few thousand years this whole tunnel thing wasn't necessary because Britain was connected to the European mainland when the sea levels were much lower. In fact, archeologists have found remains of villages in the channel where people used to live. Fascinating stuff me thinks. The flat cap and beret suit you guys. ✌️❤️🇬🇧

@BoringReviews

6 ай бұрын

Thanks for the information. And for the compliment.

5:33 the reference about trousers goes back to the movie The Great Escape, where the prisoners in a German camp created tunnels. They would stash the dirt in their pant legs and casually drop it while walking around the camp after digging. I believe this movie was the inspiration for Hogans Heroes, a TV sitcom about a German POW camp. You know, the fun side of WWII.

@chassetterfield9559

6 ай бұрын

Sure it's the great escape? I thought it dates back to an earlier POW escape movie, but it's years since I've seen either.

@ezaxis

6 ай бұрын

@@chassetterfield9559 yep kzread.info/dash/bejne/a66pydhqfsezmpc.htmlsi=BtV-fPWdJMul1wMX

@hakz795

4 ай бұрын

The Shawshank Redemption

Birdsong is a terrific book , and despite the economic advantages there were still reservations about the tunnel even in the 1990s . QI is always interesting , it's like a chat round the table only armed with the correct facts .

the thing about WW1 tunnelers is actually the setup for the show Peaky Blinders, where the gang members were tunnelers during the war and the show depicts (very well) how it was the worst job you could have during the war.

Sharing the load, sharing the cost and skill bases, economics, splitting the labour force and appeasing the voting public and politics always play their parts when countries decide to collaborate on high value prestigious projects, as has and will continue to be the case between ALL COUNTRIES: CONCORD AIRCRAFT (UK/FRANCE), TYPHOON FIGHTER (UK/GERMAN/FRANCE?), HARRIER JUMP JETS ( UK/USA), AIRBUS AIRCRAFT ( UK/GERMAN/FRANCE), etc, to name a few high finance shared projects!

In the UK we are constantly using boring machines, mainly for new railway lines, and can be watched on You Tube videos: the Elizabeth line used eight giant machines going under London. (Crossrail Tunnelling: TBM Elizabeth breaks through)

The film under Hill 60 is about the WW1 tunnlers it's a great insight into the subject

Hi Nick & Jodi, firstly may I say, Jodi that beret suits you !! The comment about the English emptying the soil from their trousers, refers to escape attempts from P.O.W. camps in WW II. (Also the vaulting horse)

I still remember the livefootageof when the 2 teams met in the middle. The frenchman gave the englishman a bottle of wine The englishmangave the frenchman a big hug.

9:39 Another piece of trivia for you - there’s a long tradition in warfare of digging underneath the enemy’s defences to destabilise them (with or without explosives). That’s where we get the expression“to undermine” from.

@davidmckie7128

6 ай бұрын

Rochester Castle in Kent (in 1215) was under seige and they tunelled under it. That is why even today, although it looks intact, you cannot go round all of it.

For reference, 300mm is equivalent to 1 foot, US or UK. That's on a tunnel with a total length of about 25 miles, give or take a couple.

There’s actually three tunnels so the trains can go in different directions, and in the middle between the two tunnel is a smaller maintenance and escape tunnel in case of emergencies The boring machine was extremely long because it poured the tunnel behind that The machine placed the tunnel walls in position behind that was where the concrete was mixed, and they were made behind that was the workers section

Never a better German impression than QI. I particularly like Stephen’s camp German impression & Alan’s German driving licence impression.

The Messines Ridge (Ypres) mine explosion under German trenches in June 1917 was so massive that it was heard in London and Dublin and killed ten thousand soldiers. Approximately 300,000lbs of explosives were used and it took a year of work to set up. The explosion was said to be like an erupting volcano with massive fountains of fire erupting from the Earth and was mistaken for an Earthquake by monitors. It's supposedly the loudest sound ever created by man.

Ve hav sold tvo! One of my favourite lines on QI

You should watch whole episodes if that is possible. This show is so good.

If I remember correctly there are still one or two unexploded tunnels in France left over from WW1. The explosives are now so unstable they can’t be made safe so have just been left.

It's a great book about the tunnel rats and based on War Underground by Alexander Barrie

The story I heard was, a Scotsman was living in France and joined the Company that was making the Channel Tunnel. After a length of time a French Supervisor started an argument with him so the Scotsman knocked him out and he was sacked. He discovered he had dropped a Pound Coin but they wouldn't let him back in, so, he flew over to England, joined the English Company that was also digging the Tunnel. He was the reason they met in the middle. As we all know if a Scotsman drops any money he will do anything to get it back. I believe it.

Fascinating ... and I love your reaction videos. Your revelation that you had randomly aired three successive French slants in your videos was followed by naming the stretch of water between France and the UK, the 'English Channel'. Of course, the French beg to differ and instead call it La Marche. It's an historic and ambivalent and sometimes martial rivalry based on mutual (dis)respect, which makes the accomplishment even more historic.

Quite enjoyed getting the two fingered salute from Jodie at the start😂😂must start all vids by doing this from now on😂😂

Loving the QI clips guys ❤

Love the new French twist to the videos 😄 Happy New Year guys! Bonne année!

The gyro theodolite was not invented for the tunnel. It was originally invented by Max Schuler in 1921. By the time the Chunnel (as it is often referred to in the UK) was dug it was well established technology.

@MyBigMouth

6 ай бұрын

Plus there was plenty of existing tunnels through the Alps that it could've been tested and calibrated in.

@Shoomer1988

6 ай бұрын

Nobody calls it the 'Chunnel' apart from lazy journalists that should know better..

@mlee6050

5 ай бұрын

​@@Shoomer1988I also hate lazy journalists use of "Briton"

@error.delete4945

Ай бұрын

The only people calling it "chunnel" are a bunch of chunts

Every Irish person will be rolling their eyes! Cries of "pog mo hon"!

I loved your reaction to this clip of QI. Don’t forget to read the book, Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks, you will not be disappointed. It is one of my top ten books of all time. Happy New Year Geoff from London.

As a brit (English to be precise) we are exceptional at mocking our European cousins 😂😊

When you visit England again you must do the Eurostar to France or Belgium its a great experience guys love the video

You can't go wrong with QI it's always interesting and always funny...

Fun fact: There are actually three tunnels - two for trains and a smaller service tunnel that can be used in emergencies. Bonus fact: Its the second time Britain was physically connected to mainland Europe, the first time being about 20,000 years ago when terrain that became the British Isles was linked to mainland Europe by Doggerland, a tract of now-submerged territory where early Mesolithic hunter-gatherers lived, settled and traveled. rising sea levels submerging it. Obviously Britain and France didn't exist then, Mesolithic hunter gatherers roamed and settled in the area - and what is now the British Isles wasn't an island.

Damn, QI is so good. It's such a good and fun way to learn quite interesting things.

The reason our boring machines where left to dig into the ground was because the do not move backwards They dug themselves in under the French machines so the French machines where the ones that broke through and carried on down our tunnel so they could be dismantled, no reversing needed . It was not cost effective to retrieve our machines as it would cost not only more financially but also time and would have held up the other works required to make the tunnel operational

If you only start at one end of the tunnel then it would take twice as long to build it and with it increase the cost. A little like the 'Pacific Railroad' in the US where three companies built separate sections to decrease the time it would have taken to build it. Tunnelling in World War One was very common, if you watch the UK TV program Peaky Blinders Tommy the lead character was a tunneller during WW1. During the Battle of Messines in WW1 19 underground tunnels were built under the German lines and packed with 1 million pounds of high explosives then set off. The blast from the explosion was heard in London 140 miles away. If you go to the battlefield today you can still see the hollows that were created. It is said that 10,000 Germans were killed in the explosions many of whose bodies were obliterated.

What was the biggest mine in ww1? The Lochnagar mine was sprung at 7:28 a.m. on 1 July 1916 and left a crater 98 feet (30 m) deep and 330 feet (100 m) wide, which was captured and held by British troops. The crater is the largest one made in hate by man.Vicious hand-to-hand fighting in the dark with picks, shovels and wood used as weapons might also take place. Although all miners were trained to use rifles, the restrictions of tunnel construction and the conditions of the tunnels where the miners had to operate often meant they could not be used.

Merci!

Reminds me of the old joke about the Irish Navies who were " digging " the tunnel ! When asked what would happen if the tunnel didn't meet in the middle replied - " well, you'll have two tunnels then " ???

Love this channel 😊

You’re rocking that flat cap 🤘🏼

Please more qi!!

You should check out "The Story of Chuggy The Channel Tunnel Digger" by Dara O'Briain

As someone form elsewhere it's so fun hearing them making fun of the French and the Germans, but in kind of a loving way. Taking history in mind it's surprising how well they are getting along today. Here's a couple of short clips where they make fun of the Germans: The First Drivers' Licence (4m37s) - kzread.info/dash/bejne/h6B4qs5shNinhLQ.html Mein Handy (39s) - kzread.info/dash/bejne/oatl0KqQZM3FaNI.html

_In 1852, the French physicist Léon Foucault discovered that a gyro with two degrees of freedom points north_ _This principle was adapted by Max Schuler in 1921 to build the first surveying gyro. In 1949, the gyro-theodolite - at that time called a "meridian pointer" or "meridian indicator”_

As someone involved in the new $6 billion subway system under Brisbane Australia...tunnelling technology is amazing (no doubt more advanced than the 90's).

Looking forward to Friday we have Sarah Millican on Channel 4 with her recent tour

I think gyro theodolites would tend to be sold in pairs. Fry didn't really tell us anything about how it works, the rotation of the earth is a single dimension. I'd think it would be easy to do with lasers if you fixed the start points accurately (GPS). Maybe it's long enough that tunnelling in a straight line would actually be tunnelling downhill abd the German gizmo enabled them to match the curvature of the earth??? Tunnelling is the process of removing stuff from a tunnel, start at both ends & you don't have to remove half of it as far as you would if you went in one direction. It would also be more of a challenge to put the far end where you want it. Though, it isn't a tunnel, it's 3.

Birdsong is a fantastic book.

Birdsong is indeed a brilliant novel as Alan said, a must read.

We`ve been Annoying the French for 1000yrs, lol.... Birdsong is a really intense book, like any book about WW1.

Got to say you're pulling of a berret very well. 😊

Jodi,take no notice of that mean guy.Evey Irish person watching would enjoy your "Top of the morning to you" LOL

'The War Below' - a 2021 film based on the true story of miners recruited to dig under enemy trenches and plant explosives.

The British are now naming their tunnelling machines. The ones used on Crossrail and HS2 all have female names, usually commemorating famous women who lived in the vicinity of where the tunnels are being bored.

i have been through the tunnel many times, there are also three types of trains, so to speak, the ones for cars and the frieght and eurostar, The freight trains works different to the car one, your not allowed to stay with your vehical, you park up, an a mini bus A and B take to the engine, where there is seats, toilets coffee machine, once you arrive, you get on your mini bus, A or B, it then drops you at your truck, the travel time is 28 to 30 minutes, i have not been through brexit, last time i came back, i has 120 bottles of wine, 90 bottles vodka, have to tell you my arse was going, security had tightened up, , i got passed no problem, as my passport showed i only went once a year, so i could say i was stocking up till next year, we were saving about £8.00's a bottle, same token i could have lost the lot, i did use my debit card, and bought from supermarkets, no wherehouse's in spain

Schuler invented his gyroscopic theodolite in 1921.

There are 3 tunnels under the Channel.

Qi could be a great teaching tool, but occasionally there might be the odd swear word or mostly innuendo. If it's boring you forget, if you laugh you learn.

300mm out after all that? Amazing.

Nick. Dude. The gyrotheodolite could have been (and likely was) tested thoroughly using other tunnels.

rotation of the earth lol

Coming from both sides was faster. That's it.

they actually only turned out to be a fraction out only 14 inches when they met

IT WAS THE 4TH ATTEMPT AT THE TUNNEL FROM NAPOLEAN DAYS, ALSO THE FRENCH AND BRITISH HAD TO GREAT COLLABERATIONS WITH THE TUNNEL AND CONCORDE SUPERSONIC AIRPLANE, TROUBLE IS THERES SOME PEOPLE IN UK THAT DONT LIKE THE FRENCH MAINLY RICH PEOPLE SO CHILDISH

A boring explanation as to why they dug the tunnel from both ends at the same time: The main limiting factor in tunnels is the size - you can only have so many people and machines actually at the end digging before you run out of space, after that adding more manpower doesn’t actually speed anything up. So what you do is have multiple locations with multiple teams of people digging. This is why you often see roads in the hilly areas where, rather than just making a tunnel, they carve out a whole V-shape chasm in the hill for the road to pass through. Even though it takes more manpower, it’s actually faster because you can get more machines in there at the same time working.

Team up with the French!! Madness 🇬🇧✌️

@grahamholmes9630

6 ай бұрын

I am surprised the lunatic Tory government haven't decided to fill up the tunnel and declare it a Brexit benefit.

You did not know the channel tunnel existed ....damn and your a school teacher???

Boring reviews the boring of the English channel

I hate they bury the machine as at least reuse or recycle them

you tube algorithm anything in France it will pick it out for you.

if you team up it would take twice as long.

The English and the French in the same tunnel would cause a war. We have loathed each other for over a thousand years. We bail them out when they surrender to ... well ... anyone in a uniform, but that's just so we can be smug about it.

Trust in technology, man. Just save the receipt.

300mm = 1 foot

You will find a lot of British films about tunnelling in WW1. Sod that, they went very deep, you're talking hundreds of meters down.....

Without knowing it? You’re dressed as a French stereotype.

Very confusing. The flat cap is Yorkshire, the berry is Parisian France and you attempt an Irish accent as is the saying "Top of the mornin to ya"...

@Sue474

6 ай бұрын

Beret, not berry.

@daveofyorkshire301

6 ай бұрын

@@Sue474 actually it's Le béret. I can be pedantic too.

Qi quite inappropriate. Qi s barely broadcastable bits Worth a review.

Kinda sad the English just sent their tunnel diggers off to die, it reminds me of maybe a movie.

Oh please no no no. Top of the morning. Nobody in Ireland says top of the morning.. Except Americans. Really grates on my nerves.

Ya, the tunneling technique in WWI was in use 'bout thousand yrs ago f.e Chinese used clay pots filled with water to see the possible incoming trembles. WWI trench war the tunnel digging went as far that they dug "fight back" to meet the enemies and blow them up b4 others could. In Vietnam - well, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnel_rat