Essential Trivia Trivia Quiz

Answer: Hannah Gordon

Hannah Gordon was born 9th April, 1941, in Edinburgh, Scotland. In the final episode of 'One Foot in the Grave', she accidentally killed the character of Victor Meldrew, played by Richard Wilson. Hannah played the character of Glynis Holloway, who had recently lost her own husband. Both Margaret Meldrew and Glynis had recently been widowed, which brought them together in grief, as close friends. This brilliant programme was written by David Renwick.

One of the alternative answers was American actress Mercedes McCambridge. She dubbed the voice of Regan MacNeil, played by Linda Blair, in 'The Exorcist' (1973). This 12 year old child was possessed by the devil and sounded like she already had 'One Foot in the Grave!'.

Answer: Mamma Mia!

'Mamma Mia' is a romantic comedy set on a picturesque Greek island. Amanda Seyfried (Sophie Sheridan) is a bride who doesn't know the name of her real father. She sends out invitations to men who could potentially be her father. The excellent cast includes Meryl Streep (Donna Sheridan), Colin Firth (Harry Bright), Pierce Brosnan (Sam Carmichael) and (Julie Walters) as Rosie.

Answer: 4

Carrying my best (China), (I ran) across the road (to go) into the (India)n restaurant.

The Republic of Togo is sandwiched between Ghana, Benin, and Burkina Faso, in Western Africa.

Answer: Thunderball

To play Thunderball, one picks five numbers between 1 and 39, and chooses a Thunderball number, between 1 and 14. In 2012, a prize of £500,000 could be won if one was extremely lucky and picked the correct five numbers and the 'Thunderball'.

Answer: James Bond

James Bond was an agent of the British Secret Service. He had a Scottish father called Andrew Bond, of Glencoe. Switzerland has 26 Cantons and James Bond's Swiss mother, Monique Delacroix, hailed from Canton de Vaud. Both of his fictional parents died in an Alpine climbing accident in Aiguilles Rouges, a mountainous massif opposite Mont Blanc.

Teresa Di Vicenzo (Diana Rigg) was the wife of James Bond in the movie 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' (1969). She was murdered by agents of SPECTRE (Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion). One could comically argue that SPECTRE sounded like the British tax office!

Answer: Spilling the Beans

Clarissa Dickson Wright was born 24 June, 1947, in London. She was born into wealth and privilege, as her father was a surgeon for the Royal Family. Clarissa trained as a lawyer and became the country's youngest barrister. Alas, her father was a violent alcoholic, and with the death of her mother, from a heart attack in 1975, she too became an alcoholic for many years.

She was known as one of the 'Two Fat Ladies' which was a cookery programme with herself and Jennifer Paterson. In 1999, Jennifer died of lung cancer. Clarissa's autobiography 'Spilling the Beans' was published in 2007 and disclosed skeletons in her closet.

A later book of hers was called 'Rifling Through My Drawers', which I assume was a good read, and wasn't pants! On a serious note, it described how she got her life back on track by attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and a detox centre.

Answer: Stingray

'Stingray' was a Gerry Anderson creation, which was based in Marineville in the year 2065. In 1964, this marionette programme was the first British children's television series to be filmed in colour. 'Stingray' featured Captain Troy Tempest who was allegedly based on James Garner. 'Stingray' was part of WASP, the World Aquanaut Security Patrol, who policed the ocean from the evil Aquaphibians in their mechanical Terror Fish.

These mechanical fish were capable of firing missiles through their cavernous mouths.

Naturally, Stingray could fire back Sting Missiles, dive deeper, and travel faster than any other submarine.

Answer: The first computer programmer

Ada Byron was born 10 December, 1815. She was the daughter of Lord Byron, who died in Greece, when Ada was just eight years old. Ada was a brilliant mathematician and analyst. She was known as 'The Enchantress of Numbers' and worked with Charles Babbage. In 1980, ADA was a standardized computer language, used in her honour, by the American Department of Defense.

Answer: The Three Wise Monkeys

Saru is the Japanese word for monkey. The three wise monkeys see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil. Mizaru covers the eyes to see no evil, Kikazaru covers the ears to hear no evil, and Iwazaru covers the mouth to speak no evil.

Answer: William Smellie

William Smellie (1740-1795) was a 28 year old scholar, master printer and naturalist. He did most of the writing, and was the original editor of the first Encyclopedia Britannica, which was first published in 1768. As an editor it was a shame Mr Smellie didn't use a nom de plume. Even the name Quasimodo had a ring about it!