A Touch of Sci-Fi Scrabble Trivia Quiz

Answer: Red Dwarf

"Red Dwarf" is a British sit-com that was created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor and has developed a large cult following. Initially it aired on the BBC in 1988 and ran there until 1999. It began to be aired by UKTV's free to air channel Dave in 2009.

The show is built around David Lister who has woken up on the mining ship, the Red Dwarf, after being in suspended animation for three million years. That's when he discovers that he is the sole remaining human being in the universe. It is revealed that he was put into this state as punishment for stowing away a cat on board the ship. This proves to be fortunate for him because, while he is in suspension, a radiation leak wipes out the rest of the crew. Lister is kept company on his journey by Rimmer, who is merely a hologram of one of Lister's fellow crew members and Cat, which is an evolved life form that arose out of the cat he'd stowed on board.

Answer: The X Files

Created by Chris Carter, "The X-Files" originally aired on Fox in 1993 for a nine season run that ended in 2002. It was revived again in 2016 for a short season and proved so successful that an eleventh season was set up in 2018. The franchise has also spawned two full length feature films.

Drawing inspiration from television programmes such as "Night Gallery" (1970-73), "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" (1974-5), and "The Twilight Zone" (1959-64) among others, the show follows the investigations of two FBI agents, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, who deal in unsolved cases that involve paranormal phenomena. In good writing fashion the two are initially at odds with Mulder believing in the existence of extraterrestrials and Scully being a total sceptic. They come to trust each other as they discover that they're dealing with a government that knows of the existence of aliens but is trying hard to suppress that information.

Answer: Farscape

"Farscape" was an Australian/US collaboration that first aired on Australia's Nine Network in 1999. It would run for four seasons, finalizing in 2003.

The story arc focusses on a NASA astronaut, John Crichton, who is thrown through a wormhole into an unknown galaxy. He finds himself part of a crew on a fugitive (living) spaceship called Moya. As he searches for a way home, he is ridiculed for his backward knowledge of technology, makes enemies at, seemingly, every turn and is being pursued by the Peacekeepers, in particular one who believes that Crichton killed his brother.

Answer: Quantum Leap

Dr. Samuel Beckett is a physicist working on a machine that will generate time travel. His biggest issue is that he hadn't produced results for the government who are providing his funding and now they wish to terminate the project. He decides to use himself as the guinea pig before it is shut down and gets flung back in time. He discovers that he is now in the past but he has "leapt" into the body of someone else. That someone else is about to perform a deed that will alter the course of history and Sam, unless he can change it back to what it's supposed to be, cannot leap back. He finds that he can save history and he does leap... however, it is to another time and another body.

The series sprang from the wonderful imagination of Donald P. Bellisario and it first aired on the NBC network in 1989, running for five seasons, until 1993.

Answer: Roswell

Set in Roswell, New Mexico, Liz Parker is a school student who is dating the sheriff's son, Kyle, and works as a waitress in her parent's eatery, the Crashdown Café. One day she is accidentally shot when an argument breaks out in the diner and her life is saved by Max Evans, who appears to be a normal school student. What is not immediately known is that he is an alien, whose ship had crashed in the area in 1947, and he's used his alien powers to save Liz's life. Liz soon discovers Max's secret and the series is then built upon the keeping of this secret and a love triangle that blossoms, and Liz finds herself caught between Kyle and Max.

Based on the books by Melinda Metz, the series was created by Jason Katims, and it first aired on the WB in 1999, running for three seasons. A second adaptation of the series would surface in 2018 under the title of "Roswell: New Mexico".

Answer: Lost in Space

Irwin Allen created this series that ran on the CBS network from 1965 to 1968. He would use, for inspiration, Johan Wyss' 1812 novel "The Swiss Family Robinson" and a series of publications by Gold Key Comics, called "Space Family Robinson" (1962).

The Robinson family has been chosen as the testing crew for a mission to colonize a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri. Unbeknown to them, a foreign agent in the form of Dr. Zachary Smith, has come on board and sabotaged their craft. He becomes trapped on the ship and his additional weight is sufficient to throw the ship off-course and into hyper-drive sending the family into the dark depths of outer space and totally lost. The series begins with the family having crash-landed on an unknown planet and follows them as they look to survive on the alien territory. The cowardly Dr. Smith is regularly, a thorn in their plans.

Answer: Firefly

This space drama, that resembles a western, sprang from the fertile mind of Joss Whedon and ran for, unfortunately, one season in 2002. It did inspire the film "Serenity" and the franchise also branched out into comics and video games.

The story follows the adventures of Malcolm Reynolds and his crew from the ship Serenity (which is a Firefly class craft) as they travel to new worlds, all the time trying to make a dollar, stay away from Reavers, other rogues and the Alliance, an entity that rules this galaxy. A spanner gets thrown into the works when they take on board Dr. Simon Tam as a paying passenger. What they don't know is that Simon has smuggled onto the ship his sister, River (the iffy rel - relative). Doesn't sound so bad... problem is that River is some sort of prodigy and the Alliance desperately wants to get their hands on River's brain. Numerous clashes arise as River is also schizophrenic and regularly hears voices.

Answer: Planet of the Apes

"Planet of the Apes" first aired on television on the CBS network in 1974 and it featured the talents of Ron Harper, James Naughton, Roddy McDowall and Mark Lenard. It, in turn, was a spin-off of the 1968 film (and its sequels) with the same name, that starred Charlton Heston.

Three astronauts have crash landed on Earth but, somehow, they have jumped over a thousand years into the future. One of the astronauts has been killed in the crash and the other two are soon captured by chimpanzees, who now rule the planet. On their return to the chimpanzee's base they are allowed to escape by the leader of the hunting party. His aim is to have them killed and use the escape as his justification. He is prevented in this by an ape named Galen, who aids the humans in their escape. He, along with the two humans, are now fugitives.

Answer: Flash Gordon

"Flash Gordon" began life as a comic strip character in 1934 and was created to compete with the well established "Buck Rogers". Since then he has appeared in a range of media including, radio, film and television. This summary will look at the series that aired on the Sci-Fi channel in the United States in 2007.

This series does have many of the characteristics and story lines of its predecessors. Flash Gordon, along with his ex-girlfriend, Dale Arden, manage to travel through a rift in space and wind up on the planet Mongo. Here they encounter Ming. One of the first differences you will note here is that Ming is not portrayed as Asian, nor is he called "the Merciless". Instead he is known as "Benevolent Father" but that is only on the surface. Controlling the planet's only supply of safe drinking water, he wields great power and remains brutal in his quest to maintain it.

Answer: Doctor Who

"Doctor Who", which was first broadcast by the BBC in 1963, has been a part of television for so long that it is more of an institution than a television series.

The programme follows the adventures of a rogue Time Lord who moves in and out of the time vortex in a transporter known as the Tardis. He is centuries old and achieves this with the power to regenerate his body. These occasions are usually, cleverly, written into the script, which allow for a change of actor portraying the titular doctor. In this way there have been more than a dozen people who have managed to take the helm of the time travelling Tardis. Generally accompanied by humans (he just loves Earth and its people), he travels through time to frustrate the forces of evil. As such, he has accumulated a number of enemies. Among these are the Darleks and the Cybermen.

(Note) The above letters are also an anagram of "Torchwood", a spin-off from the "Doctor Who" series but it is only one word, distinct from the two specified in the clue.