The eloquently-spoken QI quiz master, who recently slammed the "infantalism" of British television generally, told the Radio Times he had yet to see a documentary which tackled language comprehensively.

Speaking about plans for Planet Word, the presenter said: "I haven't seen a good documentary about language, where it comes from, how we speak it, the variations of it, whether languages are dying, whether we are better at speaking than we were."

He continued: "There are so many questions."

He told how he was planning a trip to China for the first time,
adding: "It's a bit of a secret but the BBC have commissioned me to do a five-part series on language, called Planet Word.

"Language is my real passion. So, I'm going to Beijing to interview the man who invented Pinyin, a phonetic version of the Chinese language.

"He's 105 years old... if he dies on me I'm going to be so annoyed."
The BBC confirmed that the series is to be shown on BBC Two.
After delivering the Bafta Annual Television Lecture in London last month, Fry told the audience at the event: "If I wanted to be angry... I would say infantilism's the problem."

Fry also highlighted the BBC's Merlin and Doctor Who at the event as being "wonderfully written" but not for adults.

Discussing his recent BBC Four programme on Wagner, Fry told the latest issue of the Radio Times: "I think programmes only work if they matter to you, because I think audiences are smart - even though you wouldn't believe the BBC thinks so, but I don't want to get into another sandstorm of horror about that - and one thing they are particularly smart about is when a presenter is faking.

"Because I have so many passions I don't want to do things I'm not genuinely interested in."

Fry said he was a fan of Anglo-Saxon words and ones that were "just themselves, like bundle - what a lovely word".

The Harry Potter narrator was also asked if he would have liked a part in the films.

He said: "For the audiobooks I have to do all of the characters, so I have an affinity for them all.

"I can't imagine which character I'd have liked to play if I had the opportunity.

"I was asked to be part of the second film, but I wasn't available."

* The full interview appears in the latest issue of the Radio Times.