Alan Davies apologised for biting a homeless man’s ear (Image: BBC)
QI star Alan Davies exploded with rage on the day of Jonathan Creek producer Verity Lambert’s funeral and sank his teeth into a man’s ear for an estimated 13 seconds.
Verity lost her battle with cancer in 2007 – and the actor and presenter revealed that he’d become “terribly upset and drunk” following the emotive eulogy he’d dedicated to her. “We came out of [London’s Groucho Club] at two o’clock in the morning, and then some bloke on the street was abusive to me, and I went and bit him on the ear,” he revealed. “When I got home, I said to [my partner] Katie: ‘I think I’ve done something terrible.”‘
It hadn’t been his intention to attack, but his raw grief took over. “I went over to have a go at him – shout in his ear… [and] the red mist came down,” he confessed during an episode of the Griefcast podcast.
The eulogy had been “difficult” for him, while the actor reflected: “There was a very, very long wake and hardly anything to eat, and I got terribly upset and drunk.” The stunned man shared in a local newspaper how he’d recognised Alan and called him by the name of his Jonathan Creek character, causing fury.
Paul McElfatrick alleged: “I thought he was going to whisper something, but his face darkened, and he almost spat the words, ‘My name’s Alan. You know my name – Alan. What’s my name? It’s Alan.'” He grimaced: “Then he suddenly went for my left ear. It was incredibly painful. I shrieked and my eyes were watering. He hung on and drew blood.”
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The late Jonathan Creek producer Verity Lambert (Image: Getty)
Despite his shock and anger, the man confirmed that he had no intention of pressing charges.
Meanwhile, Alan – the only permanent panellist on show QI, who has outlasted even its original host – gave an insight into the lead-up to the incident.
He stated that he’d been denied the opportunity to see cancer-stricken Verity in hospital due to how badly her condition deteriorated towards the end of her life.
Jonathan Creek’s writer, Jonathan Renwick, had told Alan to rush over, warning: “You’re going to have to go now if you want to see her, it’s that bad.”
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Alan Davies on TV (Image: BBC)
He continued on the aforementioned podcast: “She was in hospital in London and I went as quickly as I could, and I got there, [but] her assistant, who looked after all her affairs – she had no family – said ‘I can’t let you in to see her, Alan, I can’t let you in, it’s too terrible.’
“So I wrote a note to Verity saying how much I loved her and I am so sorry this was happening.”
Alan subsequently apologised to the stranger he bit,
However, Mr McElfatrick added that he would rather forgive Alan for the incident than press charges.