Dynamic Duos 2 Trivia Quiz

Answer: It was white

Ishmael, an itinerant sailor, is the narrator of this story about the whaler Pequod and life aboard. It is commanded by the obsessive Ahab who lost his boat and a leg on a previous encounter with the whale. His one aim is revenge, regardless of the consequences, so he and the whale's lives are inextricably linked and they are on course for a showdown.

In 1956 a film of the story was shot with John Huston directing and the screenplay by the great sci-fi writer Ray Bradbury. There was a stellar cast which included Gregory Peck as a scary Ahab and Richard Baseheart as Ishmael - the storyteller.

Answer: Christopher Robin

Christopher Robin Milne, A.A.'s son, was less than pleased as he grew older that his father had "used" him to create the enduring world of Winnie-the-Pooh and 100 Acre Wood on which he built his reputation. He particularly disliked "Vespers" about Christopher Robin saying his prayers, which he described as "toe-curling" in its embarrassment.

The Winnie-the-Pooh franchise was obtained by Disney in 1961 and has led to cartoon stories of the characters - with one or two additions - since. Whether the real Christopher Robin had a bear called "Pooh" or ultimately benefited financially from the deal I am not certain!

Answer: Reginald

In the books, Jeeves, a "gentleman's gentleman", is constantly getting his master out of scrapes with his intelligence and network of useful contacts. In contrast, Bertie is rather silly and irresponsible but nevertheless endearing, despite his penchant for ending up in self-created awkward situations. Wodehouse lived much of his life in America and was a successful lyricist in songs and musicals - working with people of the calibre of Cole Porter.

In the early 1990s four TV series were made from the stories with Stephen Fry as the inscrutable Jeeves and Hugh Laurie as the irrepressible Wooster.

These two had a long history in comedy together and, although Stephen is still very much a regular on UK TV, Hugh, of course, has gone on to stardom in the US as the eponymous "House".

Answer: Gobbo and Sly

Noddy first came into the world in 1949 and has extended from books into TV and radio programmes. His books have been translated into other languages and in France Noddy is known as "Oui Oui" and Big Ears as "Potiron". Sly and Gobbo came into the books as villains in 1989 to replace the original characters who were, by then, regarded as "politically incorrect". Enid Blyton was a prolific writer who thought nothing of churning out ten thousand words in a day which included novels about "The Famous Five" and "The Secret Seven".

She is thought to have had published about eight hundred books up until her death in 1968. There were times when some of her books were banned by the BBC for being deemed unsuitable. She had a unusual lifestyle and is reported as having played naked tennis at her house which might be thought of as non-compatible with being a children's writer!

Answer: Verona

Probably written in Shakespeare's middle period in the 1590s, this play has been enduringly popular. In addition to the theatre it has been filmed in many versions for TV and cinema. There has been much music based on it too, the best known being Tchaikowski's "Fantasy Overture", Prokofiev's ballet and Bernstein and Sondheim's (choreography Jerome Robbins) musical reworking of the story for the stage and the film "West Side Story". Following great success as a stage musical the film, which was issued in 1961, gained ten Oscars and is still revived on a regular basis.

Answer: Reichenbach Falls

Conan Doyle never regarded Holmes' stories as his best work and thought they held back his historical novels; he decided to kill him off in "The Adventure of the Final Problem" when he and Moriarty fought all the way down to their deaths at the bottom of the Falls.

When Holmes had first appeared in "The Strand" magazine it had boosted its circulation by thirty thousand but when he "died" in 1893 there was a terrible public uproar and twenty thousand subscribers cancelled almost overnight. In 1901 Doyle was persuaded to issue a "prequel" in the form of "The Hound of the Baskervilles" and then to revive Holmes completely in "The Adventure of the Empty House", when it was revealed he had only been in hiding to avoid revenge from compatriots of Moriarty.

There have been countless versions of Holmes' stories on TV and cinema and his silhouette must be one of the most easily recognised worldwide even now. In Meiringen, near the Falls, there is a statue of Holmes and it is possible to visit the Falls via a funicular railway.

Answer: Tweedledum and Tweedledee

These two rather menacing characters appeared in "Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There" - the book that followed "Alice in Wonderland" - both written by Lewis Carroll. The pair recite "The Walrus and the Carpenter" to Alice and want to play with her.

They mirror movements of each other and finish each other's sentences. Lewis Carroll was really Charles Dodgson and Alice was probably based on the daughter of a friend, Alice Liddell. The books were published, respectively, in 1863 and 1871. Dodgson was also a Maths Tutor at Oxford and wrote academic books on the subject as well as being a leading light in the development of the new art form, photography.

This capacity to be multi-skilled was typical of the Victorian era.

Answer: Bullseye

Bull's-eye was so faithful he left bloody footprints as he followed Bill from the site of Nancy's murder and then carried on following him even though Bill tried to drown him to avoid the dog giving him away. Bill's accidental hanging was brought about by his panic to escape from his pursuers and from Bull's-eye who followed Bill to his death. "Oliver Twist" was first published in monthly instalments in "Bentley's Miscellany" between 1837 and 1839. Towards the end of this period it was issued as a novel in "Triple-decker" form (in three parts) with the author listed as "Boz" - Dickens' nom-de-plume.

This way of issuing novels was Dickens' modus operandi and many other famous novels were also issued by other authors in "Triple-decker" format during the Victorian period.

Answer: Paradise Lost

"Paradise Lost" is, arguably, the greatest poetic work in the English language and Adam and Eve are high up in the list of best known duos! The work is about the "Fall of Man" and was published in 1667 in ten books. Milton was a fairly rebellious character who wrote pamphlets against the regime of Charles I. During Cromwell's Commonwealth, after the Civil War, he held public office and must have been lucky not to suffer repercussions when the monarchy was restored in 1660. By this time he was blind and needed an amanuensis to scribe for him. Nevertheless, it was during this period when he produced the majority of his major works of poetry.

Answer: He finds a footprint in the sand

This fictional autobiography was published in 1719 and can be regarded as one of the earliest novels. It was partly based on the adventures of a real castaway - Alexander Selkirk, a Scot. Crusoe spent 28 years on his island and the only visitors during that time were cannibals.

It was from one of these visits that Friday, a prisoner of the cannibals, escaped and was subsequently discovered by Crusoe and called "Friday", as this was the day on which he was found.

Answer: Tilting at windmills

"Don Quixote" was published in two volumes a decade apart in 1605 and 1615. He is a picaresque hero who adopts the persona of a chivalric knight who goes off in search of adventure. On his travels he meets Sancho Panza and appoints him as his squire. The story has been used as a subject for Art and Music by such as Pablo Picasso and Richard Strauss.

The long-running musical "Man of La Mancha" is based on the story, from which came a film. The word "quixotic" was derived from the character to describe a dreamer who is idealistic but also unrealistic and rather deluded.

Answer: Oxford

The backdrop of Oxford with its historic architecture and colleges is very appealing and certainly added much to the television adaptations of the stories. Despite these stretching to 33 episodes between 1987 and 2000 there are only thirteen full length novels with "The Remorseful Day" being the final one in 1999, which includes Morse'e demise.

The relationship between Morse and Lewis is a "chalk and cheese" affair with the academic, idiosyncratic and lone-wolf Inspector contrasting with his down-to-earth, family-oriented Sergeant.

There is a TV spin-off called "Lewis" in which his new young Sergeant, Hathaway, takes on the more academic role in the partnership to maintain the original balance.

Answer: Trilby

Svengali uses his hypnotic powers to turn the tone-deaf Trilby into a diva but ultimately she ends up on stage without his influence, is unable to perform and is ridiculed. The word "Svengali" has entered the English language to mean an evil person who manipulates another into doing something they don't want to do.

It is frequently used for any coach or teacher who has an overriding influence over someone - particularly if the person is a younger woman being coached by an older man. It is also sometimes used to describe an adviser who has undue sway with a politician.

Answer: Jacob and Wilhelm

Many of the most popular fairy tales are amongst those collected by the Grimms. These include "Rumplestiltskin", "Snow White", "Rapunzel", "Hansel and Gretel", "Little Red Riding Hood" and "The Frog Prince". They are notable for their dark content unlike the lighter touch of Hans Christian Andersen's tales, however it must be underlined that they collected the tales and did not write them although they would have had an influence in how each tale was presented.

They began collecting in 1807 1nd continued into the nineteenth century. Most of the best known tales have been filmed including the first full-length cartoon feature "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", issued in 1937, which won an Oscar for its score and an Honorary Award for innovation, which was rewarded with one normal size Oscar plus seven miniature ones.

Answer: Hercule Poirot

Between 1920 and 1975 Poirot appeared in 33 novels and 51 short stories but only some of them include Hastings. The first of these was "The Affair at Styles". Hastings often had a Watson-like role in the stories even to the point of being narrator in the way Watson was for Holmes.

Other recurring characters in the Poirot stories are Chief Inspector Japp, Ariadne Oliver and Miss Lemon, his trusty secretary. Apart from David Suchet's canon of work for TV many other actors have played Poirot on screen - including Peter Ustinov and Albert Finney.