Alan Davies: I nearly quit QI after BBC axed my comedy show

Alan Davies (Getty)

TV star Alan Davies has revealed that he almost quit top quiz show QI over the BBC's decision to axe his comedy Whites.

The Jonathan Creek actor, 47, starred as a head chef in the sitcom, which was axed after just one series.

Davies, who appears on QI with Stephen Fry, told the Radio Times: "They killed it after one series. I wanted to meet up to talk about it, and they sent back the message: 'We will only meet with Alan to reiterate our faith in his talent.' Totally bizarre.

"I nearly quit QI over it. I thought they were canning Whites because they had me doing another show. I asked, 'Is that a factor? Can anyone give me a straight answer on that? If it is a factor, I'd rather quit QI. Will I get cast as anything else? Because QI is never off air. What if someone wanted to cast me as a serial killer, and I'd be perfect for it?'

"I worried about that for a bit, and then I came to my senses. But I was quite burnt, I think everyone was quite burnt."

He added: "I'm still quite upset about it, and it's nearly three years ago."

Davies also said that he was not a fan of 1980s comedy, telling the magazine: "I was never happy doing political jokes. And it's a bit unfulfilling doing jokes about Conservative politicians."

He said that his inspiration to be a comedian probably came from making his mother laugh.

Davies' mother died of leukaemia when he was six and the comedy star said that a decision not to tell her she was terminally ill had been a "brutal act".

"She was ill for a year before she died. And I think she was finding things difficult... she was finding me quite difficult for a while before she was diagnosed.

"Then, my understanding of it was that she wasn't told that her illness was terminal. They decided it would be better, because she had three small children, not to tell her.

"I don't think they would have done that to a man, I think it was misogyny," he said.

"Who knows what she might have done if she'd known? What she might have done for us and what she might have said to us that we would have had for the rest of our lives? I think it was a brutal act."

PA