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Quiz about Read the Book
Quiz about Read the Book

Read the Book? Trivia Quiz


While it's often argued that television discourages people from reading, some popular British TV series have had viewers searching for the books on which they were based. How many of these do you remember?

A multiple-choice quiz by baldricksmum. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Author
baldricksmum
Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
267,277
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
8 / 10
Plays
1765
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Guest 185 (8/10), Richh (8/10), spanishliz (8/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. In 1976 BBC Television presented the 13 part drama series "I, Claudius", based on Robert Graves' novels "I, Claudius" and "Claudius the God". Which now internationally famous actor played the part of Caligula in the series? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Which 1981 Granada TV production of an Evelyn Waugh novel introduced the audience to the characters Charles Ryder and Sebastian Flyte (with his teddy bear companion Aloysius)? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Thirteen "Cadfael" novels by Ellis Peters were first televised in 1994 as a series of murder mysteries. What was the occupation of the leading character, Cadfael? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. In 1967 BBC Television presented "The Forsyte Saga", a twenty-six episode series based on the novels of which author? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. "The Saint" series of novels and short stories by Leslie Charteris was first televised by ITV in 1962. Which Bond actor appeared as the hero Simon Templar? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. In 1975 BBC2 televised the series "Poldark", based on the novels of which author? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Between 1991 and 1993, ITV televised a comedy drama series based on books and short stories by H E Bates. What was the name of this series, which starred Pam Ferris and David Jason as Ma and Pa Larkin, and helped launch Catherine Zeta-Jones to stardom? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. In 1985 BBC televised a six part serialization of a satirical Tom Sharpe novel, starring David Suchet, Geraldine James and George Cole, and focusing on extreme actions taken to prevent the building of a motorway which would necessitate the demolition of the stately home of Sir Giles and Lady Maud Lynchwood. What was this series called? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Which children's television series, originally narrated by Ringo Starr, is based on "The Railway Series" of books by the Reverend W Awdry?
Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. In 1997 ITV presented the first in the drama series "Midsomer Murders" based on the novels of which author? Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Mar 27 2024 : Guest 185: 8/10
Mar 25 2024 : Richh: 8/10
Mar 23 2024 : spanishliz: 8/10
Mar 20 2024 : Lloydy1233: 6/10
Mar 19 2024 : Guest 148: 8/10
Mar 19 2024 : Guest 86: 10/10
Mar 19 2024 : Guest 5: 10/10
Mar 19 2024 : Guest 85: 9/10
Mar 16 2024 : Guest 51: 9/10

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. In 1976 BBC Television presented the 13 part drama series "I, Claudius", based on Robert Graves' novels "I, Claudius" and "Claudius the God". Which now internationally famous actor played the part of Caligula in the series?

Answer: John Hurt

A work of fiction based on known facts, "I, Claudius" chronicled the political scheming, murder, depravity and madness within the Roman Empire's ruling families, as seen through the eyes of the stuttering Claudius.

Derek Jacobi took the title role of Claudius, Brian Blessed was Augustus and Patrick Stewart played Sejanus in this immensely popular presentation, which prompted a resurgence of interest in the novels.

John Hurt had played the part of Quentin Crisp in the 1975 TV presentation of "The Naked Civil Servant" and went on to star as John Merrick in "The Elephant Man".

Robert Graves, who described himself as primarily a poet, published "I, Claudius" in 1934 and "Claudius the God" in 1935. He died, aged 90, in 1985, at his home in Majorca
2. Which 1981 Granada TV production of an Evelyn Waugh novel introduced the audience to the characters Charles Ryder and Sebastian Flyte (with his teddy bear companion Aloysius)?

Answer: Brideshead Revisited

The eleven episode production starred Jeremy Irons as Charles Ryder and Anthony Andrews as Sebastian Flyte, the member of the landed gentry he meets at university. The two become friends, and Charles is introduced to Sebastian's decadent lifestyle as a member of the 1920s "Bright Young Things". The story is shown as a series of flashbacks by Charles Ryder, a World War Two Army officer billeted at "Brideshead Castle" which failing fortunes have taken from the Flyte family.

Scenes involving "Brideshead Castle" were actually filmed at Castle Howard in Yorkshire.

Arthur Evelyn St.John Waugh died in 1966 at the age of 62. "Brideshead Revisited, The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder" was first published in 1945.
3. Thirteen "Cadfael" novels by Ellis Peters were first televised in 1994 as a series of murder mysteries. What was the occupation of the leading character, Cadfael?

Answer: Benedictine Monk

A Central TV production, with Derek Jacobi starring as Brother Cadfael, the 12th Century monk whose skills as a herbalist are often put to use in solving murders.

The setting for the novels and television series, was Shrewsbury Abbey in Shropshire, but filming took place on location in Hungary.

The author, Edith Pargeter (Ellis Peters was one of a number of pseudonyms she wrote under) died in 1995 at the age of 82.
4. In 1967 BBC Television presented "The Forsyte Saga", a twenty-six episode series based on the novels of which author?

Answer: John Galsworthy

This television production coincided with the centenary of Galsworthy's birth. "The Forstye Saga" covered 50 years in the lives of the Forsyte family, showing the hopes, passions and pains of three generations, and is possibly best remembered for the brief and brutal rape scene between husband and wife Soames and Irene Forsyte, played by the unrelated Eric Porter and Nyree Dawn Porter.

John Galsworthy died in 1933 at the age of 65.
5. "The Saint" series of novels and short stories by Leslie Charteris was first televised by ITV in 1962. Which Bond actor appeared as the hero Simon Templar?

Answer: Roger Moore

Roger Moore was already a familiar face on British television after his starring role in the children's TV series "Ivanhoe", loosely based on the novel by Sir Walter Scott. He played Simon Templar from 1962 until 1969.

Simon Templar was a suave adventurer with a strong sense of justice. Hailed as a modern day Robin Hood, he would steal from wrong-doers and protect the needy: especially if they were young and beautiful women.

Leslie Charteris was born Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin to a Chinese father and English mother, changing his name by deed poll in 1926. He introduced the character Simon Templar in his 1928 novel "Meet - The Tiger", but claimed the successful series began with his 1930 novella "Enter the Saint".

Leslie Charteris died, aged 86, in 1993.
6. In 1975 BBC2 televised the series "Poldark", based on the novels of which author?

Answer: Winston Graham

"Poldark" was set in 18th Century Cornwall, with Ross Poldark (played by Robin Ellis) meeting the urchin Demelza (played by Angharad Rees) when he returned home from war in America to discover that his father had died and his fiancee was due to marry. Plots included shipwrecks, prison rescues, and changes in the Poldark family fortune. The first episode of a new series of Poldark was broadcast in 2015.

The first Poldark novel was written in 1945.

Winston Mawdsley Graham died in July 2003, at the age of 93. He continued writing Poldark novels until shortly before his death.
7. Between 1991 and 1993, ITV televised a comedy drama series based on books and short stories by H E Bates. What was the name of this series, which starred Pam Ferris and David Jason as Ma and Pa Larkin, and helped launch Catherine Zeta-Jones to stardom?

Answer: The Darling Buds of May

The tax inspector who visited the large, rumbustious, pleasure loving Larkin family to investigate why they weren't paying tax never went back to his office. Instead he married the eldest daughter Mariette (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and became part of the happy Larkin brood, living in the heart of the Kent countryside. There were 20 episodes in the series.

Herbert Ernest Bates (commonly known as H E) died in 1974 at the age of 69. He claimed that inspiration for the books came from a chance encounter with a "Pa Larkin" character while on holiday in Kent. The first novel in the "Pa Larkin" series was published in 1958.
8. In 1985 BBC televised a six part serialization of a satirical Tom Sharpe novel, starring David Suchet, Geraldine James and George Cole, and focusing on extreme actions taken to prevent the building of a motorway which would necessitate the demolition of the stately home of Sir Giles and Lady Maud Lynchwood. What was this series called?

Answer: Blott on the Landscape

"Blott on the Landscape" is a typical Sharpe satire on bureaucracy, class values and greed. Local MP Sir Giles Lynchwood (played by George Cole) devised the scheme of a motorway as a means of ending his loveless marriage to Lady Maud (played by Geraldine James) with funds from the compulsory purchase of her family estate. Lady Maud, with the help of a few villagers affected by the motorway, vigorously opposes the scheme and sets up a safari park in the estate grounds. While Lady Maud's protesters fight bureaucracy, her fiercely patriotic foreign handyman and secret admirer, Blott (played by David Suchet), uses his secret cache of World War II weapons for a more direct fight against authority.

Tom Sharpe, who had made his home in South Africa, was deported from that country in 1961 for sedition. He wrote "Blott on the Landscape" in 1975 and died at the age of 85 in 2013.
9. Which children's television series, originally narrated by Ringo Starr, is based on "The Railway Series" of books by the Reverend W Awdry?

Answer: Thomas the Tank Engine

Railway enthusiast and clergyman, Wilbert Vere Awdry, created his railway characters in 1942 as a diversion for his son during a childhood illness. The first in a series of twenty-six "Railway Series" books by Reverend Awdry was published in 1945 and the last in 1972, after which his son, Christopher Awdry, continued his work.

Thomas, the blue tank engine with friends including Annie, Clarabel and Percy, first appeared on ITV in 1984, with Ringo Starr as the first of a series of narrators. The actor Pierce Brosnan has been signed up to narrate three further series, starting in 2008.

Reverend Awdry was awarded an OBE in 1996, and died in 1997 at the age of 85.
10. In 1997 ITV presented the first in the drama series "Midsomer Murders" based on the novels of which author?

Answer: Caroline Graham

Midsomer is a fictional English county with Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby of Causton CID (played by John Nettles) solving the myriad of creative murders that take place in its bucolic surroundings.

Caroline Graham first introduced Chief Inspector Barnaby in "The Killings at Badger's Drift", published in 1987. A Midlander, born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, she currently lives in Suffolk.
Source: Author baldricksmum

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ladymacb29 before going online.
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