Magic Gatherings Trivia Quiz

Answer: Obadiah Slope

Alan is the devious but ultimately doomed chaplain of Barchester Towers in this 1982 mini-series adapted from the works of Anthony Trollope. As the "baddie" in this series Rickman is brilliant. His Obadiah Slope (I can't help but think of him as Slippery Slope) is ambitious, slimy and is constantly plotting. So effective is he in presenting this poisonous character that even his very presence on the screen is enough to give you the "heebie geebies".

The series was a breakthrough for Alan and it sent the media seeking any number of superlatives to bestow upon him.

Answer: Marvin the Paranoid Android

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (2005) is a mostly forgettable film. That, however, should not be seen as a great fault of the creators as Douglas Adams' twisted set of novels were a delight of skewered imagination, biting sarcasm and twisted fun that it was always going to be an extremely difficult task to bring it to the big screen. Without doubt the most memorable part of the entire film is Marvin the Paranoid Android, the robot with a brain the size of a planet. Rickman's deadpan delivery brings surprising warmth, humour and, ironically, a human touch to a character which, in someone else's hands, could have so easily fallen flat. An interesting aside, whilst Alan provided the voice for Marvin, Warwick Davis was the actor who provided the body. Davis had previously portrayed Professor Filius Flitwick, the Charms Master, in the "Harry Potter" series of films alongside Rickman Severus Snape.

Answer: Elyot Chase

"Private Lives" is a 1930s comedy that came from the pen of Noel Coward. This production was a 2002 revival in which Alan plays a divorced husband who has recently married and is on his honeymoon with his new wife. He discovers that next door is his ex-wife with her new husband on their honeymoon. Alan was outstanding in this role, to the point that it earned him a nomination for a Tony award, allowed him to collect a number of Variety Club Show Business awards and placed him in contention for the Laurence Olivier Theatre award.

Answer: Judge Turpin

Tim Burton has a penchant for the macabre and the bizarre. Accordingly, selecting Alan Rickman to play the vile Judge Turpin appears to have been a "no brainer". Rickman is at his serpentine best as he condemns the young Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) to transportation to Australia to open the door to possessing the young man's wife. So good is he that one critic proffered that he even made the word gander sound ghoulish.

Some may have been surprised to see Rickman performing in a Sondheim musical where he is called upon to sing several numbers but it is not Alan's first time, having performed alongside Lindsay Duncan on stage in "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" (1987).

Answer: King Phillip

Alan provides the voice for King Phillip in the season six episode "Joust Like a Woman" (2002). In truth he's not royalty at all, he's the tyrannical Phillip Motzinger who, in his mind, lives in the 1590s and believes all women should be employed as serving wenches. Peggy defeats him in a duel and he's immediately sued by all the female employees. Toward the end of this episode Alan had to resort to using a Texan accent at which he does a fair job.

It brought back memories of his excellent effort in the movie "Die Hard" (1988) when he pretends to be a Nakatomi employee by the name of Bill Clay.

Answer: Hilly Kristal

Hilly Kristal had been bankrupt twice before and now he sought something different with which to make his fortune. He opened a country bluegrass and blues music bar (hence the name CBGB). When the musicians wouldn't come he opened the doors to anyone but on one proviso - they only played original music, no covers and no Top Forty hits.

The man was not a visionary, he was a revolutionary and, on the back of this gesture, he gave rise to the punk rock movement in New York. When Alan stepped in to play the role of Hilly in this 2013 historical drama he did so with some trepidation.

He noted that the issue with playing any historical character is that there was usually a lot written about them, that there were a lot of people with their own opinions about them and the key to the actor was not to judge that person (the role) - "both feet need to be planted in both camps".

The film did not receive rave reviews from the critics though a number of them were quick to sing Alan's praises with one identifying that it was Rickman's "charisma and soft spoken charm" that carried the film.

Answer: Le Vicomte de Valmont

This 1987 production was Alan's Broadway debut and is based on a story by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. The tale pits Rickman's character against his ex-lover, the Marquise de Merteuil (played by Lindsay Duncan) in a game to see who can boast the greater manipulative talent.

Their cruel games are designed to degrade and humiliate others. Alan thrived in this role and earned a nomination for a Tony award yet, despite this, he was overlooked for the role in the film version that followed soon after. That part went to John Malkovich.

However, it wasn't all bad for Alan as it gave him the opportunity to play the villain Hans Gruber alongside Bruce Willis in "Die Hard" (1988) where his sleek performance would set a new standard for big screen bad guys.

Answer: Absolem the Caterpillar

Whilst the caterpillar is also known as the Hookah-Smoking Caterpillar in Lewis Carroll's stories in this Tim Burton production, released in 2010, he is given the name of Absolem. The original plan was to have Rickman's face composited onto the character and, to this end, the cameras were taken into the recording studio where Alan was filmed while laying down his voice.

The directors chose not to go ahead with this. Alan would reprise the role for the sequel "Alice Through the Looking Glass", which would prove to be his final film role.

He passed away 14 January 2016. The film is slotted for release in May of 2016.

Answer: Tybalt

The role of Tybalt in this 1978 TV movie version of "Romeo & Juliet" marked Alan's television debut and he was reward for his performance with strong praise and reviews. The film was part of a BBC Shakespearian project called "The Plays of William Shakespeare", which ran for eight years between 1978 and 1985. Rickman, 23 at the time, virtually steals the third act in which he becomes embroiled in two savage duels that border on being street fights.

These most likely provided a good hint of what was to come when he would hit the stage with sword in hand in "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" (1987).

Answer: Severus Snape

"I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

These were Alan's first lines as Severus Snape in a "Harry Potter" film. The words are blunt, insulting and delivered with one of Alan's trademark sneers that made one feel that he was stooping to a task that was beneath a man of his station. Yes Alan received accolades and all sorts of nominations for his performance in the last film of the series, "Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2", and he undoubtedly had lines that were much more memorable in other films in this series but in this one ("The Half-Blood Prince") we capture the essence that is Snape and we see Rickman have some fun with his character, show his loyalty to Dumbledore and wrestle with his undying love for Lily Potter. Framing his face with his stringy hair, producing insults and burns with terse facial expressions and let's not forget that sneer.

"You dare use my own spells against me, Potter? Yes. I'm the Half-Blood Prince."