Quiller’s Bumper Christmas Eve Quiz

When I worked at the Citizens Advice Bureau one of my favourite times of the year was Christmas, when someone at head office sent out a quiz with 100 questions. It would be left in the centre of the table and we’d all chip in with answers. It really helped break the ice at Christmas. So as I sat here on Sunday morning (18th December) I thought I’d do the same thing on my blog. The questions have no rhyme or reason. They’re just as I thought of them, a couple supplied by hubby and quite a few taken from clicking the Wikipedia ‘random’ button. Some are easy, others are not. I must admit that if you ask me some of them in a week’s time I won’t remember what the answer is.

Feel free to print them off and share them with the family when things get a bit boring over Christmas. It really is a lovely way to bring everyone together and incite debate. All the answers are searchable online but try not to do that straight away. I’ll post up the answers on New Years Eve.

1. Who wrote Far From the Madding Crowd?
2. Which legendary Irish actor played Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter films?
3. Who wrote the recent bestseller The Book of Human Skin?
4. Which epic Tennyson poem was originally called ‘The Way of the Soul’?
5. Who played James Bond in the film ‘The Living Daylights’?
6. Which pre-Raphaelite artist painted ‘The Shadow of Death’?
7. Who played Bob Lawrence in the 1934 movie, The Man Who Knew Too Much?
8. What was the nickname given to the shark in Jaws during filming?
9. Who wrote Don Quixote?
10. Which song? “When I was a little girl I had rag doll…”
11. Who is the current (2011) WBC heavyweight champion?
12. Who was the first runner to achieve the four minute mile?
13. Who wrote the theme for the film Chariots of Fire?
14. Who was Keyser Soze (character name) and who played him?
15. Who played Keaton in the same film?
16. Which infamous murder trial was the Hitchcock film Rope based on?
17. Which book does this last line come from? He would be there all night, and he would be there when Jem waked up in the morning.
18. Who played Henry VIII in television series The Tudors?
19. What cult film did Maria Doyle Kennedy (the actress who played Henry’s first wife Catherine of Aragon in The Tudors) star in?
20. Which Canadian actor played Dr. David Sandstrom in the tv series ReGenesis?
21. Who is the current Chancellor of the Exchequer? (UK)
22. How many Olympic Gold medals did Sebastian (now Lord) Coe win?
23. In which city will the 2016 Olympic Games be held?
24. Which 1900s poet developed the technique of sprung rhythm in his work?
25. Who wrote the poem ‘When I am an Old Woman I shall Wear Purple’?
26. Who was nicknamed ‘Deep Throat’ during the Watergate scandal? (Do be careful when Googling Deep Throat…)
27. But whilst we’re on the subject, who played the lead in the pornographic film of the same name?
28. Who had a hit with ‘Ain’t No Stopping Us Now’?
29. Who played the septuagenarian Maude in the film Harold and Maude?
30. Whose mother did the same actress go on to play in two offbeat films starring an orang-utan? (actor’s name)
31. Who played the female lead in the film Fargo?
32. To which acclaimed producer is the Fargo actress married?
33. In which film did actor Steve Buscemi play Rockhound?
34. Who had a hit with In the Year 2525?
35. Which poem did John Hannah narrate in the funeral in Four Weddings and a Funeral?
36. Who did Michael McDonald replace as lead singer of the Doobie Brothers?
37. Who played Jean Valjean in the original staging of Les Miserables?
38. Who sang as Eva Peron on the original concept album of Evita?
39. Who sang as Agustin Magaldi on the same album?
40. Which groundbreaking 70s miniseries did the female Evita singer mentioned above star in with Rula Lenska and Charlotte Cornwall?
41. Who played the male lead in the film Flashdance?
42. What is the alternative/sub title of Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein?
43. Where did Mary Shelley write Frankenstein?
44. Who edited the French encyclopaedia  Encyclopedie?
45. Who played the Scarlet Pimpernel in the 1934 film of the same name?
46. Who wrote The Scarlet Pimpernel?
47. Another ‘Pimpernel’ Richard E Grant was in a cult film with Paul McGann. What was it called?
48. Who wrote The Mysteries of Udolpho?
49. “Find peace of mind, the happy mind that I once owned’. Which song?
50. Who was the bassist with rock legends Queen?
51. Which film starring Christopher Lambert did Queen write the soundtrack for?
52. In another film that Queen wrote music for, Flash Gordon, who uttered (or rather roared) the line ‘Gordon’s alive!’ (Actor and character)
53. Where was comedian, Dara O’Briain born (You can’t just say Ireland!)
54. Which two comic actors starred with Dara in Three Men in a Boat, and in subsequent series?
55. Who wrote the 1889 novel, Three Men in a Boat?
56. What was the name of the dog in the Three Men In A Boat novel?
57. What was Sherpa Tenzing’s birthname?
58. Which actress, now a Hollywood a-lister, played Sally Sparrow in the now legendary Doctor Who episode Blink?
59. In what sexy historical tv series did Doctor Who regular, Alex Kingston make her name?
60. Who played Lady Randolph Churchill in the television series Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill?
61. Who played the adult Damien Thorn in Omen III?
62. In which Agatha Christie Novel did Hercule Poirot first make his appearance?
63. Which mother and daughter team wrote ‘Want to Play?’ (released in the US as Monkeewrench) (just give their joint author name)
64. What was Jack Reacher’s profession before he became a butt-kicking drifter?
65. Who gave a broken little toe as an excuse for losing a boxing match against Wladimir Klitschko?
66. Who wrote the song Moondance?
67. Who plays The Cheerleader in the tv series Heroes?
68. In the same series, who plays the father of Hiro?
69. Who played Manny in the tv series Black Books?
70. Who made the album The Funeral of God?
71. Who played ‘young’ Mr Grace in Are You Being Served?
72. Who played Sir Lancelot Spratt in Doctor at Large?
73. When did the  Suonenjoki rail collision take place?
74. Where did Major William Thomas Forshaw VC earn his Victoria Cross?
75. For which other group, besides D-Ream did Professor Brian Cox play keyboards?
76. Which former sports presenter believes that the world is run by reptilian creatures called The Babylonian Brotherhood?
77. In weaponry what’s another name for a 7.62 calibre. (courtesy of my husband)
78. In the Highway Code what does the amber light mean?
79. In Cell Culture Biology, what is a confluency?
80. In what county is Aberystruth
81. Who shot Lee Harvey Oswald?
82. Where is the River Irvine?
83. Who was the Secretary of the Interior during President Theodore Roosevelt’s administration?
84. When towing a caravan what percentage does the weight of the caravan have to be in relation to the weight of a two wheel drive car? (UK) (another one courtesy of my hubby)
85. Who shot and killed Jesse James?
86. Who played Jesse James’s killer in the recent film starring Brad Pitt?
87. What is the common name of the Cynosurus cristatus?
88. For which group is Mike Harrison the principal lead singer?
89. What profession did Jean-Félix Adolphe Gambart follow?
90. Who is the current (2011) Mayor of Berlin?
91. For which football team does adár Virágh play?
92. What is Judge Judy’s surname?
93. What does she call her bailiff?
94. What is the orbital period of main belt asteroid 68779 Schöninger
95. Near which city in Scotland is Mortonhall?
96. What was Costantino Fiaschetti’s profession?
97. In what decade was a young woman more likely to wear a Rah Rah skirt?
98. Where would you find the Mazari Tribe?
99. In which American state would you find Spunky Puddle?
100. What were the names of George Bailey’s friends, the cop and the cab driver in Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life?