Author Biography: alkmene

This quiz is based on bullymom's inspired original, which you can find in the Mythology and Legends section. Questions are in the form of ads; you identify the literary place, object or character advertised.

Although Mary Poppins seems not to have much of a sense of humour herself, all of the following music-hall gags, japes and routines appeared in the film. See which ones you can remember...

1964's 'Mary Poppins' not only revolutionised filmmaking in a number of ways; it kept a lot of kids entertained. Swallow a spoonful of sugar, wink, blink, double-blink, close your eyes and... jump!

Turn off the lights and crawl under the bed. Now see how much you really know about the genre that makes our skins crawl - or our eyes roll. Beware - here be a few spoilers.

Agatha Christie, D.C.B.E., was fond of drawing titles from both high and popular culture, from sources as diverse as Shakespeare and Mother Goose. Very little knowledge of Christie's books is needed and I have done my best to eradicate spoilers.

How much do you know about South Africa and its history?

Tour the counter-culture of America from the point of view of an African who thinks they're all nuts... yet has a sneaking respect for some of their madder habits!

A good many performers change their names before they become famous - and considering their original labels, not even a proud parent could blame them...

Beware the spoilers... More perhaps than any other family archetype, mothers have always played a central role in the horror genre. Challenge your acquaintance with the Monstrous Mother, both real and figurative...

Love your Python? So do I... (Not for the faint-hearted or easily offended.)

Step once more into my parlour and recoil from the terrors therein...

Once again those crazy Yanks have got the foreigner stumped. (What is it about Americans and this mania for souvenir shot glasses, anyway?)

Hungarian director Michael Curtiz directed some of Hollywood's earliest blockbusters. I'll give you a few clues, you name the Curtiz masterpiece... OK?

We were all famous during our lifetimes and we all died rather oddly. Who are we, and how did we die?

I laughed till I stopped... (WARNING: Here be spoilers. If you haven't seen the movie, and if you haven't read Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None', then please - and I can't believe I'm saying this - do not play this quiz!)

So you think you know everything about Asterix's adventures? Let's see whether you can sort out the following vital statistics... IMPORTANT NOTE: questions are based on British-English translations of the Asterix series.

The 1988 classic hit comedy 'A Fish Called Wanda' had, according to John Cleese, 'Americans, masses of sex and loads of violence'. It was consequently a massive hit on both sides of the Atlantic...

The Walt Disney company has produced many excellent and enthralling filmic adaptations of famous tales, but loves to deviate from the originals. How well do you know the REAL Herc?

The Marx Brothers comprised one of the most talented and successful comedy teams of the twentieth century. How much do you know about their movies?

Each question relates to an English word we use often in speech and writing - but all have a story behind them. What is the provenance or origin of each of the following words, concepts and phrases...?

First lines from famous novels have been translated electronically into other languages and then back into English, with some surprising results! See if you can identify the novel from the odd-sounding intro.

Myths have made their way into our language in so many ways. The following involve some common idioms which relate to myths and a little bit of history...

This quiz combines music and the horror/thriller genre. Can you match the song (and/or artist) to its scary (or thrilling) source?

Following on from my last quiz on 'the real Marxism', see how much you remember about the greatest comedy team comprising short Jewish relatives ever!

There are some films you know you will remember for the rest of your life.

I grew up on the jazz soundtrack from this scintillating Dennis Potter series, long before I was allowed to watch it. How well do you remember these war-time songs?

Before the 8th Century BC when the Romans assimilated the Greek gods into their culture, they had various lesser-known gods of their own. Before Jupiter and Juno there were a good many others...

Can you identify the song titles from their verbosely paraphrased forms? (No punctuation necessary.)