All This Time Travel Trivia Quiz

Answer: Back to the Future

Released in cinemas in 1985, "Back to the Future" was directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Bob Gale and Zemeckis and starred Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd. In this film, Marty McFly accidentally attracts his own mother's interest after travelling back in time and he must make his parents fall back in love again, which he does with the help of the "Doc". Upon release producers were worried it would flop, but it went on to gross $383.87 million worldwide and was well received by critics. It spent eleven weeks at the top of the box office and won the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing.

It was selected for preservation at the Library of Congress in 2007. Part I and II were released in 1989 and 1990 respectively and it also spawned a TV animated series, a theme park ride at Universal Studios in Japan (previously also in Florida and Hollywood), numerous video games and more.

Answer: H.G. Wells

First published in 1895, this 32 000 word novella by H.G. Wells was instrumental in introducing science fiction to the general public and making popular the idea of time travel. It also coined the phrase "time machine". Two feature films were made from it, one released in 1987 and the other in 2002, which was directed by H.G. Wells' great grandson.

H.G. Wells was born on the 21st of September 1866 and passed away on the 13th of August 1946. He was a British author most famous for his works in the science fiction genre, which also included "The War of the Worlds", "The Invisible Man", "The Island of Doctor Moreau" and much more. He is considered by some to be one of the "Fathers of Science Fiction", along with Hugo Gernsback and Jules Verne.

The other authors were also notable for their science fiction works. George Orwell wrote "Animal Farm", Edgar Allen Poe was responsible for the poem "The Raven" among others and Jules Verne wrote "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" and "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea".

Answer: Doctor Who

The "Doctor Who" series first aired in 1963 and since then the Guinness World Records has named it the "Most Successful Science Fiction Series" in 2009 based on overall ratings and sales, as well as the longest running sci-fi television series in 2006.

In the series, The Doctor (a human-like alien) is a "Time Lord" who travels the universe in the TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimension in Space), which is a time machine with telepathic powers resembling a police box. Many actors have portrayed The Doctor overtime, beginning with William Hartnell.

The show has been adapted in to two feature films ("Doctor Who and the Daleks" and "Daleks' Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D."), many books, spin-off TV series' such as "Torchwood" and some museum exhibitions, not to mention plenty of merchandise.

Answer: Slaughterhouse-Five

"Slaughterhouse-5" was written by Kurt Vonnegut and was first published in 1969, amid much controversy. A satire science-fiction novel, the book follows Billy Pilgrim, a World War II soldier who becomes "unstuck in time" when abducted by aliens and is continually transported to random moments in time in an out-of-sequence cycle (some real, some not). It was mostly well received by critics upon publishing, but because of its occasional graphic content and dark themes it was the centre of much controversy and censorship. However, it has since become a classic and "Time" magazine named it on their list of the greatest English-language novels written since 1923.

"Nineteen Eighty-Four" was written by George Orwell, "Catch-22" was written by Joseph Heller and "Fahrenheit 451" was written by Ray Bradbury.

Answer: Groundhog Day

Directed by Harold Ramis and starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell, "Groundhog Day" is a 1993 American comedy film named after a real annual event which takes place in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. It follows a weatherman named Phil Connors who finds himself repeating the same day over and over again until he gets it right.

It received critical acclaim upon release and went reasonably well in the box office, grossing $70.9 million in North America while in cinemas. It won Best Comedy Film at the 1993 British Comedy Awards and Andie MacDowell won the Saturn Award for Best Actress.

The American Film Institute named it the 34th best American comedy film of all time in 2000 and the 8th best American film of the Fantasy genre in its list of "10 Top 10".

It was also selected for preservation at the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2006.

Answer: Matt Groening

"Futurama" follows the story of Phillip J. Fry, who works as a pizza boy in 1999 before being accidentally cryogenically frozen and waking up in the 31st century, here he is employed by a delivery company named Planet Express. It was created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen. It has received large critical acclaim, being named as the "Current Most Critically Acclaimed Animated Series" by Guinness World Records. A series of comic books, figurines, a video game and various pieces of merchandise have been created based on the show, as have four films which were aired as sixteen separate episodes.

Matt Groening was born on the 15th of February 1954 and is the creator of the comic strip "Life in Hell" and the TV shows "The Simpsons" and "Futurama". As an individual he has received a number of honours, including the award for "outstanding contribution to comedy" by the British Comedy award in 2004 and receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2012.

Seth MacFarlane was the creator of "Family Guy", Tey Parker was a co-creator of "South Park" and Mike Judge was a co-creator of "King of the Hill".

Answer: Arnold Schwarzenegger

"The Terminator" is a 1984 action/sci-fi film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn and Linda Hamilton and directed by James Cameron (the film helped escalate his directing career). It was a critical and commercial hit, grossing $4 020 663 in its opening week and spending two weeks at the top of the American box office. The American Film Institute ranked it the 42 out of 100 on its list of most "heart-pounding films" and named The Terminator the 22nd greatest movie villain ever on its list of best heroes and villains. Empire magazine named it in its list of the 500 greatest films ever made in 2008. Also in 2008 the film was selected for preservation at the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. A number of sequels followed the film, including "Terminator 2: Judgement Day" in 1991, "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" in 2003 and "Terminator Salvation" in 2009.

The other actors are also notable for their action film appearances.

Answer: A Christmas Carol

"A Christmas Carol" was first published in 1843 and is arguably one Charles Dickens' most influential pieces of writing. In this tale three ghosts, the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, show an old man named Ebenezer Scrooge what will happen if he continues his evil ways. It was immediately a huge success with the critics and the book continues to influence modern writing.

Charles Dickens was an English author born on the 7th of February 1812 and he passed away on the 9th of June 1870. His serial production "The Pickwick Papers", released in 1836, quickly caused him to become a household name all over the globe. Some of his other notable works include "Oliver Twist", "David Copperfield", "Great Expectations", "A Tale of Two Cities" and much more.

The other books were also written by Charles Dickens.

Answer: The Twilight Zone

Created by Rob Sterling, "The Twilight Zone" is a television anthology which had its first series in 1959. Each episode followed a different tale which mixed up a range of genres, such as science fiction, horror, drama, fantasy or thriller and often ended in a way you didn't expect. The first series had scripts written by Ray Bradbury, Charles Beaumont, George Clayton Johnson and more. This series ran from 19549 to 1964. Revival series then ran from 19854-1989 and 2002-2003. A feature film based off the series released in 1983 simply titled "Twilight Zone: The Movie" was produced by Steven Spielberg.

"Tales of Tomorrow" was an American sci-fi show which ran from 1951-1953 which "The Twilight Zone" was influenced by. "Star Trek" and "Lost in Space" are both popular American television shows.

Answer: Apes

I'm talking, of course, about the 1968 movie "Planet of the Apes". In this film, a crew of astronauts aboard a spacecraft travel at light speed while deep in hibernation for almost 2006 years. They crash land at a planet where apes are the dominant species.

The movie was notable for its costume and make-up techniques which were well ahead of its time. It was a commercial success, gaining $32 589 624 at the box office internationally, as well as a critical one. Four other films in the franchise followed suit and a 2011 reboot film titled "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" served as a prequel to the film. Empire magazine named it in its list of the 500 greatest films of all time in 2008 and in 2001 the film was selected for preservation by the Library of Congress in the National Film Registry.