Made of Steel Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sean Bean

Sean Bean originally intended to be a footballer, but had to give up playing after his leg was damaged by a piece of glass from a broken door. A graduate of RADA, he started out in theatre before moving to television; one of his most notable roles in the 1990s was Sharpe in the TV series of the same name.

'Lord of the Rings' fans will remember him as Boromir, the steward-prince of Gondor, in the first two films of the trilogy. He has a tattoo of the number 9 in the fictional Tengwar script, as do several other actors whose characters were members of the Fellowship of the Ring (Ian McKellen, who played Gandalf, Elijah Wood, who played Frodo Baggins, and Orlando Bloom, who played the elf Legolas, among them).

A running gag about Sean Bean's characters is that they are always killed off. Examples of Bean characters dying include Boromir being shot in 'The Two Towers', Eddard Stark's execution in 'Game of Thrones', Tadgh McCabe being pushed off a cliff in 'The Field', Bond villain Alec Trevelyan falling off a satellite in 'GoldenEye', and John Dawson being shot in the 'Red Riding' TV series.

Answer: The Arctic Monkeys

The Arctic Monkeys formed in 2002, with singer/guitarist Alex Turner, guitarist Jamie Cook, drummer Matt Helders and bassist Andy Nicholson (later replaced by Nick O'Malley). Their signature hit was 'I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor', covered by the Sugababes as a B-side for 'Red Dress'. They found fame in the mid-00s after amateur photographer Mark Bull made a video for 'Fake Tales of San Francisco' and posted it on his website, along with a collection of demos, the band having given away demo CDs at their gigs. Their debut album, 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not' set a record in 2006 for being the fastest-selling debut album in British musical history.

The Arctic Monkeys branched out into psychedelia and heavier rock over the years; their 2009 album 'Humbug' was produced by Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age. Turner is also a member of The Last Shadow Puppets, who he formed with Miles Kane in 2007 after the Rascals, Kane's band, supported the Arctic Monkeys on tour.

Answer: The Full Monty

'The Full Monty' stars Robert Carlyle as Gaz Schofield, a divorced former steelworker who has lost his job; he and his former colleague Dave (Mark Addy) make money by stealing and selling scrap. As he owes money to Mandy, his ex-girlfriend, he decides to form a group of male strippers, inspired by the Chippendales (a real-life male striptease group). The other strippers include Lomper (Steve Huison), a suicidal security guard and musician; Gerald (Tom Wilkinson), Gaz and Dave's old boss; and two men who pass an audition, Horse (Paul Barber) and Guy (Hugo Speer). While rehearsing, Gaz, Gerald and Horse are arrested for indecent exposure and Gaz loses custody of his son Nathan. The arrest is good publicity for them, and they perform a sold-out show to Tom Jones' 'You Can Leave Your Hat On'.

A musical version of 'The Full Monty' was released in 2000, and a play in 2013. A TV series based on the film has also been planned.

Answer: Sheaf

A sheaf is a bundle of cereal crop stems that are tied together after reaping; in the olden days, they were reaped with sickles and scythes, which were replaced by the reaper-binder. This handy machine, invented by the jeweller Charles Baxter Withington in 1872, would cut crops and then bind the stems into sheaves. Reapers would start at the outer edge of a field and work inwards, and pile up the sheaves to dry in a pile called a 'stook'.

Sheaves of wheat are often used as symbols for harvest festivals by churches; when I was in infant school, we had an annual Harvest Festival and the centrepiece was a plastic wheat sheaf. Some cities and counties, such as Chester, also have sheaves of wheat, known as garbs, on their coats of arms (three sheaves of wheat being the Earl of Chester's symbol).

Answer: Owl

In many Western cultures, owls are associated with wisdom, and this association dates back to ancient Greece. Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom and the patron of the city of Athens, associated with arts, politics and culture. The owl was one of her symbols and in some myths, she wore an owl mask. The tetradrachm, an ancient Greek coin equivalent to four drachmae, would sometimes feature a little owl on one of its faces. In one myth, Athena transformed the princess Nyctimene into an owl after her father raped her, and Nyctimene was so ashamed she refused to show her face.

Owls are also associated with death in some cultures, such as among the Kikuyu people of Kenya, the Apache, the Aztecs and the ancient Romans, possibly because they are nocturnal birds and predators (and their screeching and hooting can sometimes sound a bit creepy). In other countries, such as Mongolia or Japan, they are seen as lucky. In Hinduism, the goddess Lakshmi is sometimes depicted as riding an owl.

Answer: Blade

Blade, aka Eric Brooks, was created by Marv Wolfman and first appeared in 'The Tomb of Dracula in 1973 as a supporting character, before becoming a lead character in his own right. He is also known as 'the Daywalker' and was trained to fight with a sword by Jamal Afari, a veteran vampire hunter posing as a jazz musician. Originally conceived as a human vampire hunter who was immune to vampire bites, he was retconned as a dhampir (a half-vampire, half-human hybrid) following the 'Blade' films, which portrayed him this way. Wesley Snipes played him in 'Blade' (1998), 'Blade II' (2002) and 'Blade: Trinity' (2004).

Angel, Spike and Oz are all characters from 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'.

Answer: Pulp

Pulp were originally formed in 1978, and got through several members before settling on the most well-known line-up of singer/guitarist Jarvis Cocker, guitarist Mark Webber, drummer Nick Banks, keyboardist Candida Doyle and bassist Steve Mackey (who died in 2023). Although 'His 'n' Hers' was Pulp's breakthrough album in 1994, spawning the single 'Do You Remember the First Time?', it was 1995's 'Different Class' that won the Mercury Music Prize and contains some of Pulp's signature hits: 'Common People', 'Sorted for E's and Wizz' (which was condemned for promoting drug use, though it was actually an anti-drugs song), 'Mis-Shapes' (a double A-side with 'Sorted for E's and Wizz'), 'Disco 2000' and 'Something Changed'. 'Disco 2000' was later covered by Nick Cave.

Jarvis Cocker caused controversy by invading the stage at the Brit Awards while Michael Jackson was performing 'Earth Song'. He later stated that it was a protest against Jackson portraying himself as a messianic figure. While some people criticised him, such as Blur's Damon Albarn, others - including Albarn's rival Noel Gallagher - praised him for the stunt. Pulp split in 2002 after a tour of national parks, but reformed in 2011-2013, and again in 2023.

Answer: Steel

Steel is one of the most commonly used alloys that features iron as a base metal; it is used for cutlery, weapons, vehicles, railway tracks, wool and surgical instruments, amongst other things. Its high tensile strength (meaning that it is extremely hard to break when stretched) makes it a very handy material. Steel was used as far back as 1800 BC (early examples of steel have been found at archaeological sites in Anatolia), but following the introduction of blast furnaces in the 17th century, steel production became more widespread.

Stainless steel, often used for cutlery, is so-called because of its rust-proof properties, thanks to the chromium it contains. Maraging steel is a variant of steel that contains nickel and low amounts of carbon, and is both strong and ductile. Spring steel is used to make springs and swords, contains manganese and has a high yield strength.

Answer: The Crucible

'The Crucible' is a fictionalised retelling of the Salem Witch Trials, set in Puritan Massachusetts, and a metaphor for the persecution of suspected left-wing activists by the Committee on Un-American Activities, nicknamed the 'McCarthy Witch Hunts' after the Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy, who was seen as the face of the movement. It was originally performed in 1953.

Reverend Samuel Parris was a Puritan minister in Salem Village and the owner of Tituba, a Barbadian slave who was accused of witchcraft by Parris' daughter Betty and her friend Abigail Williams. Tituba was imprisoned, but her case never went to trial. In the play, Williams is in her teens and had an affair with John Proctor, a local farmer; she later absconds to England with Parris' money. Paranoia spreads in the village, with villagers turning on each other and accusing each other of witchcraft. The play ends with Proctor falsely confessing to committing witchcraft and being led away to be hanged.

Answer: Sheffield

All of the answers have a Sheffield connection.

(1) Actor SEAN BEAN was born in Sheffield on 17th April 1959.
(2) and (7) THE ARCTIC MONKEYS and PULP are both bands from Sheffield.
(3) 'THE FULL MONTY' is set in Sheffield.
(4) The river SHEAF runs through Sheffield, and gives the city its name.
(5) 'The OWLS' is the nickname of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club, and their symbol is an owl. Jarvis Cocker and Alex Turner are fans; the video for Arctic Monkeys' 'Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair' even features footage of Wednesday's Chris Waddle. Pulp have a song called 'Sheffield: Sex City' on their 1993 compilation 'Intro - The Gift Recordings'.
(6) 'The BLADES' is the nickname of Sheffield's other main football team, Sheffield United (Sean Bean is one of their most notable fans, and played a fan-turned-footballer in 'When Saturday Comes'). Their symbol is a pair of crossed swords. Matches between the two are known as the Steel City Derby.
(8) Sheffield was a major producer of STEEL for several decades, hence the nickname of 'Steel City'.
(9) THE CRUCIBLE, as well as a play by Arthur Miller, is also the name of a theatre in Sheffield where the annual World Snooker Championship is held.