How to be part of a TV Audience

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My experience of watching QI being filmed

You may be wondering how to be part of a TV Audience. It was certainly on my bucket list and I was thrilled we had to a chance to do so.

Back in 2015 we went to ITV towers to watch Qi being filmed! Yes strangely even though it was shown on BBC until series P it was filmed in The London Studios owned by ITV.

How to be part of a TV audience in 2024

Qi is now filmed at Television Centre and the tickets are distributed by a different company-Lost in TV

From looking at their website it seems like a similar setup just a different company. There are various series you can apply to watch through both Lost in TV and the company we used Applause Store.

My experience being part of a TV audience

Being in a TV audience was on my “bucket list”. I absolutely loved Qi at the time especially Stephen Fry (back then he was of course the host)!

We got the tickets through a company called Applause Store.

Qi involves a long waiting list so even getting the tickets was a huge step! Therefore we decided to get there nice and early. Especially as we had tried and missed out on showings before because of long queues. We arrived in the area at 12.30, had lunch and then queued from around 1 for a 5.15 showing. So a long wait!

But the line quickly filled up behind us. We were 5th and 6th in the queue of free tickets. Therefore you do need to arrive early (around 2.30 would of been fine) to get in and get good seats. The wait was totally worth it for me!

We were fourth row back in the end which was the first row of free ticket seats. This was super close and saw some amazing guests including Matt Lucas and David Mitchell.

Would I recommend it?

Whilst I would definitely recommend going to watch Qi being filmed or any of your favourite TV shows I’m not sure if I would recommend Applause Store. I’ve heard lots of bad remarks about them compared to the other companies so I think I might research into them. A less stressful queueing process would of been great.

If you did want to go to an Applause Store show I’d recommend getting priority tickets to avoid such a long waiting time! This can be bought for a ‘membership fee’ or sometimes they are offered via email. Also if you turn up to a filming but don’t get in you tend to get a priority showing for the next series. However this doesn’t account for how much time and money you spent getting there in the first place!

Have you been in a TV audience? What was your experience? Share with us in the comments!