British Comedy Guide
British Comedy Guide
The British Comedy Quiz

Quiz 185: The answers

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Here are this week's answers, question-by-question. Scroll down for a bonus cryptic question.

1. Select the actor who did NOT star in Porridge.

Porridge. Image shows from L to R: Mr. Mackay (Fulton Mackay), Fletcher (Ronnie Barker), Godber (Richard Beckinsale). Copyright: BBC

Nicholas Lyndhurst did star in the spin-off Going Straight.

  1. Brian Wilde
  2. Ronnie Barker
  3. Nicholas Lyndhurst
  4. Fulton Mackay
  5. Christopher Biggins

2. Select how many times Tommy Cooper got married.

Tommy Cooper. Tommy Cooper. Copyright: London Weekend Television

Cooper married Gwen Henty in Cyprus in 1947. From 1967 until his death in 1984, Cooper also had a relationship with his personal assistant, Mary Fieldhouse.

  1. One
  2. Two
  3. Three
  4. Four
  5. Five

3. Who starred in the central role in ITV sitcom Agony?

Agony. Jane Lucas (Maureen Lipman). Copyright: London Weekend Television
  1. Alison Steadman
  2. Helen Mirren
  3. Emma Thompson
  4. Maureen Lipman
  5. Diana Rigg

4. Here is the title screen of a programme. We have hidden the show's name. Which show is it?

Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled
  1. Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled
  2. 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown
  3. Frankie Boyle's New World Order
  4. Live At The Apollo
  5. Rhod Gilbert's Growing Pains

5. What is the surname of Mandy in Diane Morgan's sitcom?

Mandy. Mandy (Diane Morgan)
  1. Hall
  2. MacIntyre
  3. Carter
  4. Pitt
  5. Foot

6. Katy Wix starred in a 2013 Channel 4 sketch series alongside...

Anna & Katy. Image shows from L to R: Anna Crilly, Katy Wix. Copyright: Roughcut Television
  1. Mel Giedroyc
  2. Martha Howe-Douglas
  3. Nick Mohammed
  4. Sarah Hadland
  5. Anna Crilly

7. Marti Caine was the stage name of Lynne Shepherd. But how was the stage name chosen?

Marti Caine. Copyright: BBC

Her husband chose her stage name from a gardening book, though 'Marta Cane' (derived from tomato cane) was misspelled at an early gig as 'Marti Caine', and it stuck.

  1. Scrabble tiles
  2. An anagram of her mother's names
  3. In a dream on a train
  4. Copying her next door neighbour's name
  5. Via a gardening book

8. Which of these is a genuine award?

The Thick Of It. Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi). Copyright: BBC

The Tucker Awards for Excellence in Swearing have been presented by the swearword-devoted blog Strong Language since 2015. Past winners include John Oliver (three times), comic band The Kunts, The Mash Report and Malcolm Tucker himself.

  1. The Malcolm Tucker Awards for Swearing
  2. The Captain Mainwaring Awards for Military Incompetence
  3. The Hyacinth Bucket Awards for Snobbery
  4. The Arkwright Awards for Miserliness
  5. The Guy Secretan Awards for Medical Negligence

9. Complete the name of James Acaster's book. James Acaster's Classic ______.

QI. James Acaster

James Acaster's Classic Scrapes was published in 2017.

  1. Gags
  2. Cliffs
  3. Scrapes
  4. Cars
  5. Cabbages

10. Which Harry Potter star appeared alongside Jon Hamm in 2012 series A Young Doctor's Notebook?

A Young Doctor's Notebook. Image shows from L to R: Young Doctor (Daniel Radcliffe), Older Doctor (Jon Hamm)
  1. Daniel Radcliffe
  2. Emma Watson
  3. Rupert Grint
  4. Tom Felton
  5. Jessie Cave

Bonus cryptic question

Feeling brainy? BCG's Ian Wolf likes devising additional, obfuscated brain-teasers as an extra challenge. See if you can work this one out. You'll find the answer in the next quiz.

Why are a woman who shares her surname with a American family from a British sitcom, a man who shares his surname with a prophet, another woman who shares her surname with an American family from an American sitcom, and a final individual who shared their surname with a former Celtic manager who started his career at a distillery all diverse?

Last week's cryptic question

A UB8 reference text, a station three stops from Oxford Circus and a noted panel show can all be found where?

Take a bow: Martin Harris, Gary Richmond, Chris Hunter, Peter Breen, Trevor Rudge, Wayne Mason, Karen Trethewey, Joanne Rutherford, Kate Emmett, Martin Wellard, Liz Daw, Colin Fee and Jim Mortleman.

See the answer

This is all about I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue.

UB8 is the postcode of Uxbridge... a nod to the show's reference text, the Uxbridge English Dictionary.

Take the Victoria line from Oxford Circus to Warren Street, then head two stops up on the Northern Line and you end up at Mornington Crescent... which is involved in a game the panellists often play.

And there could be various answers for "a noted panel show", but the best fit is probably the show's game Just A Minim, a musical version of Just A Minute.

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