Long Way From Home Trivia Quiz

Answer: Hancock's Half Hour

Hancock's Half Hour was a sitcom, an unusual format in the UK in the 50s, breaking with the traditional variety format.

It featured Tony Hancock, Sid James of the wicked laugh, and many other popular stars of the time, at various times including Kenneth Williams and Hattie Jacques. The show was written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, and ran from 1954 to 1960.

The final series in 1961 occurred after Hancock split with James, and was named "Hancock". If you ever get a chance to listen to "The Blood Donor", please do; it is still very funny.

Answer: Australia

The original, British (there is an Australian and a US version) version of "I'm a Celeb...", has the wilds of Australia as its location; not the harsh, dry Outback that is the usual setting for Aussie films, but the rainforests of Queensland and the New South Wales bush country.

The Australian version of the series is held in Kruger National Park in South Africa, while the US version, which only ran for two seasons, was filmed in Australia and in Costa Rica. If anything was designed to take contestants out of their comfort zone and leave them a long way from home, this has to be it.

Answer: Bob Hope

Bob Hope, born Leslie Townes Hope, was the 5th of 7 brothers, born in Eltham, London in 1903. His family migrated to Cleveland, Ohio in 1908, where Leslie started busking when he was 12. When he was 16 he had 4 professional boxing bouts, winning 3 and quitting with his first loss.

Hope went on to a career in Vaudeville and films, starring with Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour in the "Road to.." series of comedy films. He started entertaining the US forces in 1941 and had a reputation for going to any field of war to support "the troops". He continued in this work beyond the age of 75, and made cameo appearances till his later years, dying at the age of 100 at his home in California in 2003.

Answer: Rudolf Nureyev

Nureyev had become a celebrated ballet dancer in Russia, although regarded with hostility and suspicion by the hardline Soviet Government. He was seen by a French tour organiser, who persuaded the authorities to allow him to dance in Paris as part of a Russian cultural tour. He enlisted help and defected to the West from the airport as the troupe were about to fly from Paris to London. Minutes before he defected he had been taken aside by the KGB (Russian Secret Police) and told he had to return to the USSR.

Subsequently he became Principal Dancer with the Royal Ballet, before embarking on a series of international tours. He is widely regarded as the foremost male dancer of his generation. Rudolf Nureyev continued his illustrious career until 1991, when his HIV related ill health forced him to retire. He died in 1992 in France aged 54.

Answer: Nicki Minaj

Nicki Minaj spent her first five years in St James with her grandmother while her mother put herself through college in New York before sending for Onika and her four siblings.

In 2004 Minaj signed with Brooklyn group Full Force, and rapped in a quartet, and in 2007 released her debut mixtape, "Playtime is Over", with other artists. In 2009 she signed with Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment, and she started to gain wide recognition and success. She has developed her own style, incorporating alter-egos with different accents and constantly reinventing herself.

Answer: Come From Away

"Come From Away" was based on the remarkable story of Gander, a Canadian town in Newfoundland, which was inundated by bewildered and frightened travellers on September 11, 2001. The airliners had been directed there when most of North America's airports (including major Canadian airports) were closed as a result of the terrorist hijacking of four airliners on that day.

The musical deals with the interaction between the nearly 7,000 visitors and their accidental hosts, who opened their homes and their hearts and shared their limited resources for the six days before flights could resume. The musical has won many nominations and awards including the Laurence Olivier Best New Musical Award in 2019.

Answer: Joey

In the movie, a farmer buys a thoroughbred horse (Joey) which bonds with his young son, Albert. The horse and boy manage to plough a field, saving the farm from their landlord. When war breaks out, the farmer is forced to sell Joey to the British Army. Albert is too young to go to war with him. Joey survives many misadventures, and is eventually reunited with Albert, who saves him from being put down. The final scene shows Albert and Joey returning to their farm in England, being greeted by Albert's father.

Incidentally, fourteen different horses portrayed Joey, four as a young horse and another ten played the adult character.

Answer: Riverdance

Riverdance had its origins (performed by Michael Flatley, Jean Butler and the vocal group Anuna), as a 7 minute interval act during Eurovision 1994. The act was an immediate international success, and Flatley put together a full length performance, showcasing Irish dance with an ensemble of traditional dancers.

The night before the show was due to open in London, Michael Flatley was summarily fired over a pay and royalties dispute, and was replaced by Colin Dunne. Flatley, an American, went on to create a new show, "Lord of the Dance".

Answer: Tintin

Tintin was the creation of Belgian cartoonist Herge (real name Georges Remi). The eponymous hero was accompanied by his faithful white dog, Milou (Snowy in the English versions). On the trail of mysteries and international criminals, Tintin crisscrossed the globe and even travelled to the moon.

The serialised adventures first appeared in 1929 in an ultra-conservative paper with pro-Fascist leanings, but by 1950 Herge had started his own production company, producing Tintin albums and several movies.

Answer: Sass & Bide

Australians Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton travelled to London's Portobello Road, setting up their fashion label to sell modified jeans in the late 1990s. Returning to Australia they developed a range of fashion, attracting a loyal following.

Their collections were shown at the London Fashion Week and the New York Fashion Week during the 2000s, and Clarke introduced herself to Sarah Jessica Parker, who commissioned a number of Sass & Bide designs for "Sex and the City". Madonna, Kate Moss, Rihanna and Beyonce have all worn the designs.