Characters Carrying Canes Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Avengers

John Steed (Patrick Macnee) started out distinctly scruffier in bearing than he subsequently became. Once he became the lead character in the second season, he evolved into something of a stereotypical toff in appearance, while maintaining the essentials for a successful agent: Savile Row suits, bowler hat (which, of course, had a steel plate built in so that it could be used as a weapon), an umbrella with a sword hidden in its handle.

This transformation was accompanied by the introduction of a series of glamorous, tough female partners: singer Venus Smith (Julie Stevens) and leather-clad Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman) shared the role in Series 2, which originally aired in 1962; Cathy Gale continued to appear for Series 3; stylish Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) introduced a more playful tone for Series 4 and 5; Tara King (Linda Thorson) stepped up for Series 6, the first partner to be an actual trained agent, rather than a talented amateur.

Answer: A nuclear bomb

Although the show did introduce some science-fictional anachronisms, it never went as far as the concept of nuclear weapons, which would have been inconceivable at the time. West and his partner Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) enjoyed the luxury of their train, called 'The Wanderer', but it also contained a number of features essential to their activities, such as the telegraph machine hidden inside a cane which we see them use on several occasions.

In the episode 'The Night of the Bottomless Pit', West reveals a mortar concealed inside his cane, and in 'The Night of the Burning Diamond' he releases gas from a canister inside the cane. Both times the cane weapon proves quite effective.

Answer: Penguin

This series played the Batman concept for laughs, unlike some of the later movie incarnations of the character. Adam West was the wealthy Bruce Wayne whose undercover identity was that of Batman, while Burt Ward was Dick Grayson/Robin. Most episodes featured a stop-motion fight scene with cartoon-style captions.

In fact, the entire show was intentionally formulaic, so that the writers could subvert their own formula to elicit laughs. There was always some super-villain who could not be defeated by the police of Gotham City until they called on Batman, and a number of these were recurrent figures. Penguin, played by Burgess Meredith, wore top hat and tails (colloquially referred to as a penguin suit), and a high-tech umbrella which he used as a walking stick.

He actually seemed to have a range of umbrellas, since the concealed devices included a sword, a missile launcher and a gas canister - hard to see them all in there at once! When unfurled, it can be spun to hypnotise opponents, or transformed into a personal helicopter device, useful for escaping from tricky situations.

Answer: Dark Shadows

The Gothic soap opera about the Collins family started in 1966, but Barnabas was not introduced until nearly a year later, in an attempt to improve ratings by introducing the 175-year-old vampire, which allowed for an increase in the supernatural (as opposed to merely mysterious and threatening) elements of the storyline. Barnabas introduced himself to the contemporary Collins family as a cousin from England, one who bore an uncanny resemblance to their forebear (for obvious reasons).

The show not only travelled in time, using flashbacks to show events that occurred at various times in his life, but it also introduced a parallel universe.

These gave the actors a chance to play multiple characters - quite confusing if you tuned in without knowing where and when the events you were watching were supposed to be set!

Answer: Dennis Stanton

All of these characters featured in multiple episodes during the later years of the show, sometimes with Jessica Fletcher, sometimes without her, but with the episode featuring an introduction in which Jessica sets the scene. Dennis Stanton was a character in the tradition of Cary Grant in 'To Catch a Thief', who used his experience and expertise to carry out his work as an insurance claims investigator. Charlie Garrett, played by Wayne Rogers in five episodes, was a relatively inept (and amoral) private detective; Harry McGraw, played by Jerry Orbach in six episodes, was a hard-nosed private investigator with a penchant for playing the ponies; Michael Hagarty, played by Len Cariou in seven episodes, was a British MI5 agent.

Answer: Kerry Weaver

While the other three characters were part of the original cast, Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes) did not appear until the second season, becoming a permanent cast member for seasons 3 through 15. Before she moved to Florida in January of 2007, she had worked her way up from Chief Resident to Attending Physician to Chief of Emergency Medicine and ultimately to Hospital Chief of Staff. Along the way, she gained a reputation as a fiercely professional woman, widely respected but not much liked.

She was, however, given a chance to display her more compassionate side in the storyline involving Jeanie Boulet (Gloria Reuben), a physician's assistant who had contracted HIV from her husband.

Not only was she one of the first to defend Jeanie's right to continue to work in an appropriate position, she also worked with Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards) to write a hospital policy for managing HIV-positive staff.

Answer: Genial

The working title of the pilot episode was apparently 'Everybody Lies', an observation which Dr House frequently made. His jaundiced attitude to life was apparently caused both by an innate propensity to use his intellect to see through the facades that others present to the world, and by his constant pain from the damaged leg that requires him to use a cane.

His surly attitude placed stress on his relationships with everyone except his best friend Dr James Watson (Sean Leonard), and sometimes even with him.

But his brilliant diagnostic ability caused people to put up with him. By the way, the character name was an intentional reference to Sherlock Holmes (house/home), another character with exceptional deductive skills and a friend named Watson.

Answer: Supported him after he had been poisoned

If you aren't familiar with this long-running British series (1963-1989, 2005-), you will just have to go with this brief description of the eighth episode from season 32. The TARDIS carrying the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith), along with his companion Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and her husband crash lands in 1938 Berlin, where they accidentally save the life of Adolf Hitler, rescuing him from the Teselecta, a time-traveling justice robot.

There is some convoluted plot development involving future younger versions of characters (time travellers can develop incredibly tangled relationships), and at one point The Doctor is kissed by River Song, who is wearing poisoned lipstick.

Answer: Once Upon a Time

The original premise of this series was that a number of fictional characters have had their memories removed before being transported to the real world, where they have continued to live without aging. This was done by the Evil Queen Regina (Lana Parrilla), with the assistance of Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle). Regina becomes the town's mayor, and Rumplestiltskin gains the persona of Mr Gold.

When Emma Sawn (Jennifer Morrison), arrives in town, she holds the key to restoring their lost memories. Later seasons deal with the intertwining of the real and fictional worlds, and the final season had a change of setting from a small town in Maine to a residential suburb of Seattle, Washington.

Answer: War injury incurred in Afghanistan

In one of many acknowledgements to the original made by this contemporary setting of the canon, John Watson (Martin Freeman) was injured while on military service in Afghanistan; his literary predecessor was wounded at the Battle of Majwand in the Second Anglo-Afghan War.

The first episode was titled 'A Study in Pink', while the story that introduced Sherlock Holmes to the world in 1888 was 'A Study in Scarlet'; both provide the background to, and establishment of, the relationship between Dr Watson and Sherlock Holmes (played by Benedict Cumberbatch).

In this updated setting, Dr Watson's blog contributes to making Holmes into a celebrity. A number of episodes are based on the original stories, some more directly than others.