Image Credit: James Ashworth

Image Description: The Varsity Quiz – in the Matrix!

By James Ashworth and Emilia Ames

Following the epic online adventure that was the 2020 Varsity Quiz, it was time for a more relaxing session in 2021 as the battle of wits was cut back to a four round quickfire quiz.
Once again, the two teams of Oxford and Cambridge did battle in the matrix, this time taking the form of a specially-created Discord server rather than the breakout rooms of Zoom.
The benefits of online quizzing meant that members past could join current students during the Varsity Quiz, but it remained to be seen if Oxford’s team of old and new blood would be able to take on Cambridge’s complement of students.
This quiz also brought the innovation of the online buzzer round, with participants shouting their university name to buzz in. Were Oxford buzzing at the end of this, or stung by the experience? Find out after the questions…

Classic Who

1. With the exception of An Unearthly Child, which episode is the first to not contain the definite article in its name?
2. Who is the only credited guest character in An Unearthly Child to still be alive?
3. Which Second Doctor story shares its name with a Skullduggery Pleasant novel?
4. A photograph of which actor appears in the animation of Fury from the Deep?
5. Future Imperfect, featuring Chancellor Goth conveying a warning to the Second Doctor, acts as a prequel to which TV story?
6. What is unusual about the death of Private Wyatt in Inferno?
7. In terms of average viewers, what is the most seen season of Doctor Who?
8. Alongside being the unofficial name for the TV Movie, and a working title for The Invisible Enemy, ‘The Enemy Within’ was the name used during filming of which fourth Doctor story? 
9. Alongside Image of the Fendahl Episode 2, and the TV Movie, which Fifth Doctor era story has the joint highest audience appreciation index of the classic series?
10. From which planet are Monarch, Persuasion and Enlightenment from?
11. Who was the first companion to be born after An Unearthly Child, being born during the broadcast of The Sensorites?
12. Though the TARDIS doesn’t end up there after being deflected by over seven centuries, which year of the twelfth century is the time corridor of Timelash meant to arrive in?
13. Regression of the Daleks, a hypothetical episode depicted in It’s A Sin, pays tribute to which Remembrance of the Daleks actor?
14. Later appearing in Dragonfire following an injury, Lynn Gardner was originally meant to play which other character in the same season?
15. What is the name of Dr Grace Holloway’s boyfriend, whose shoes fit the Eighth Doctor perfectly?
16. Which companion of the Eighth Doctor is mentioned in the novelisation of The Night of the Doctor, but not the episode?
17. According to the song ‘Who’s Who’, Doctor Who is quite at home in a big spaceship or sitting on top of a what?
18. With a name perhaps more appropriate for the Zygons, which company reanimated the missing episode of The Web of Fear?
19. To date (July 2021), how many missing episodes have had official animations commissioned?
20. ‘Three Guitars Mood Two’, which Susan listens to in An Unearthly Child, was previously heard in the debut episode of which other long running BBC serial in January 1962?

NuWho

1. The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances won the 2006 Hugo award for ‘Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form’. Name either of the other Series One episodes which was nominated.
2. Excluding Earth, name any four of the celestial bodies stolen by the Daleks to create the reality bomb.
3. In The Eleventh Hour, the Doctor confronts the Atraxi on the hospital roof. Name four other Moffat-written episodes with rooftop scenes.
4. List the nicknames given by the Doctor to the Vikings in The Girl Who Died
5. How many Thirteenth Doctor episodes go straight into the titles sequence?
6. How many Doctor Who actors have appeared in Broadchurch? And how many can you name?

Expanded Universe

1. What word is common to the titles of three New Adventures written by Andrew Cartmel? 
2. Which non-human species appears in both Blood Heat and Eternity Weeps? 
3. How old is Tommy Brockless when he is frozen by Torchwood in 1918?
4. Perfect for getting into the Christmas spirit, which episode of Torchwood was first shown on Christmas Eve 2006?
5. What links Colditz Castle, The Land of Fiction and The Crooked World?
6. The Shadows of Avalon is the only Eighth Doctor adventure written by which author?
7. In a lockdown short story by Neil Gaiman, what notable object does The Corsair steal?
8. Which New Series Adventure special is subtitled ‘Pirates of the Second Aether’?
9. Which companion features alongside the First Doctor in the novel The Man in the Velvet Mask?
10. Yarven, Ikkala and Ruathadvorophrenaltid are all what?
11. The Second Doctor novel Twilight of the Gods is a sequel to which story?
12. Which is the only Past Doctor Adventure to feature the Eighth Doctor?
13. How many series of the Sarah Jane Adventures feature at least one episode with ‘Sarah Jane’ in the title?
14. In which episode is Sanjay, Luke Smith’s future husband, first mentioned?
15. Which character, introduced in Doctor Who and the Star Beast, was interviewed in Doctor Who Magazine #419?
16. Which 2006 game, produced by Aardman Animations, featured the Weeping Angels?
17. What is the name of the creature placed inside Miss Quill’s head by the Rhodians?
18. Later appearing in The Human Factor, Beautiful Chaos and Nekromanteia, in which Eighth Doctor audio does the Garazone bazaar first appear?
19. What is the name of the nation featuring in The Last?
20. Name either of the two Doctors who appeared in The Muppets Take the O2 Doctor Who sketches

WHouse of Games

Round One
We’ve taken the title of a Doctor Who story and added one letter. Work out the altered title from its synopsis. You’ll be given the year of (the first episode of) the original’s first broadcast/release.

• Eleventh Doctor TV episodes
• 2013 – The Doctor and Clara visit a haunted house to give the ‘ghosts’ a telling off
• 2010 – In a dying reality, Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart helps the Doctor reboot the universe
• Thirteenth Doctor TV episodes
• In this category, a multi-part story without distinct episode titles is counted as a single episode, so you don’t need to specify ‘Part One’ etc.
• 2018 – Tim Shaw seeks revenge on the Doctor by exploiting a psychic prayer to the Virgin Mary
• 2018 – The team help a Norwegian girl whose father has abandoned her to attend an American university
• Twelfth Doctor TV episodes
• 2015 – Osgood summons the Doctor when Operation Double is threatened by a group of rebel piscine appendages
• 2015 – The Doctor and Clara find monsters created by pods designed to replace resting with a card game
• First Doctor TV serials
• 1965 – Two of the Doctor’s companions die to prevent his most iconic enemies from conquering the solar system from a flat area of land
• 1964 – Susan is left behind to get married after defeating an alien occupation of a tavern

Round Two

• Location of the Eleventh Doctor’s regeneration & Species of the criminal calling herself Florence Finnegan
• Actress who played the title character of The Runaway Bride & Word typically shouted by Daleks before firing their weapons
• Character who wails ‘My DREAMS of CONQUEST’ & Charity for which The Five Doctors and Time Crash were made
• Actor who played Hector Finch, headmaster of Deffry Vale & Episode featuring Charles Dickens and the Gelth

Round Three

• Each team will be shown a statement which is incorrect. Change one word to make the statement correct. Technically correct ‘cheat’ answers such as changing WAS to WASN’T will not be accepted.
• PETER CAPALDI STARRED IN ‘THE DOCTOR DANCES’
• PATRICK TROUGHTON STARRED IN ‘THE SEEDS OF DOOM’
• SYLVESTER MCCOY STARRED IN ‘THE CURSE OF PELADON’
• BORUSA’S LAIR COULD BE ACCESSED BY PLAYING THE KAZOO OF RASSILON

Round Four

• Spin-off Characters
• Character played by Anji Mohindra in The Sarah Jane Adventures & Ace’s debut serial
• Character created by Miss Myers & Chancellor of the High Council of Gallifrey at the time Omega attempted to steal the Doctor’s body
• Girl who lives at 36 Bannerman Road & Species eternally at war with the Rutans
• Companions (TV)
• Character married to Clifford Jones & Competition in 2074 in which the Doctor (allegedly) rode a motorbike and came last
• Character who lives in The City & City in Canada where the Seed Pods were sent in The Seeds of Death
• Companion first appearing in The Face of Evil & Pocket universe visited by the Second Doctor in The Mind Robber
• Planets
• Planet of Queen Xanxia & Surname of the journalist who was killed by her ATMOS device after trying to interview Luke Rattigan
• Eponymous setting of the Series Eleven finale & Location of Lady Cassandra O’Brien.Δ17’s house “when [she] was a little boy”
• Where Kerblam!’s HQ is located & Alien race introduced in Spyfall
• Doppelgangers of the Doctor and their companions/allies
• Fiancée of Charles Cranleigh & Species with which the Twelfth Doctor claimed to have lived for a month after an argument with River Song
• Sister of Sara Kingdom & Province in Canada where, according to the Doctor in Praxeus, there was a talking cat
• Technician at Torchwood One & Boy whose governess drowned and was assimilated by telepathic snow

Classic Who Answers

1. Five Hundred Eyes, Marco Polo
2. Kal (Jeremy Young)
3. The Faceless Ones
4. Roger Delgado
5. The Three Doctors
6. The same stuntman, Roy Scammell, is both Wyatt (for the stunt fall) and the soldier who shoots him
7. Season 17 (11.08 million)
8. The Android Invasion
9. The Five Doctors (75)
10. Urbanka
11. Bonnie Langford
12. 1179
13. Dursley McLinden
14. Ray (Delta and the Bannermen)
15. Brian
16. Fitz
17. Horse
18. Shapeshifter Studios
19. 32
20. Z-Cars

NuWho Answers

1. Dalek & Father’s Day
2. Adipose 3; Callufrax Minor; Clom; Jahoo; the Lost Moon of Poosh; Pyrovillia; Shallacatop; Woman Wept
3. The Empty Child; The Eleventh Hour; The Big Bang; The Wedding of River Song; The Angels Take Manhattan; The Snowmen; The Time of the Doctor; Deep Breath; Last Christmas; Heaven Sent; The Return of Doctor Mysterio; The Doctor Falls
4. Lofty; Daphne; Noggin the Nog; ZZ Top; Heidi; Limpy; Chuckles
5. 13
6. 25; and: David Tennant; Arthur Darvill; Julie Hesmondhalgh; Sarah Parish; Meera Syal; David Bradley; Sunetra Sarker; Mariah Gale; David Sibley; Olivia Coleman; Matthew Gravele; Lenny Henry; Peter De Jersey; Simon Ludders; Tracey Childs; Simon Rouse; Phil Nice; Jodie Whitaker; Jonathan Bailey; Eve Myles; Sebastian Armesto; Shaun Dooley; Sanchia McCormack; Richard Hope; Adjoa Andoh

Expanded Universe Answers

1. War (Warhead, Warlock, Warchild)
2. Silurians
3. 24
4. Combat
5. Settings of Steve Lyons stories
6. Paul Cornell
7. The Hand of Omega
8. The Coming of the Terraphiles
9. Dodo
10. Vampires
11. The Web Planet
12. Fear Itself
13. Four
14. Death of the Doctor Part One
15. Beep the Meep
16. Don’t Blink
17. An Arn
18. The Sword of Orion
19. Bortresoye
20. Peter Davison or David Tennant

WHouse of Games Answers

• Round One
• Eleventh Doctor TV episodes
  • 2013 – The Doctor and Clara visit a haunted house to give the ‘ghosts’ a telling off
    • CHIDE/HIDE
  • 2010 – In a dying reality, Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart helps the Doctor reboot the universe
    • THE BRIG BANG/THE BIG BANG
• Thirteenth Doctor TV episodes
  • 2018 – Tim Shaw seeks revenge on the Doctor by exploiting a psychic prayer to the Virgin Mary
    • THE BATTLE OF RANSKOOR AVE KOLOS/THE BATTLE OF RANSKOOR AV KOLOS
  • 2018 – The team help a Norwegian girl whose father has abandoned her to attend an American university
    • MIT TAKES YOU AWAY/IT TAKES YOU AWAY
• Twelfth Doctor TV episodes
  • 2015 – Osgood summons the Doctor when Operation Double is threatened by a group of rebel piscine appendages
    • THE ZYGON FINVASION/THE ZYGON INVASION
  • 2015 – The Doctor and Clara find monsters created by pods designed to replace resting with a card game
    • SLEEP UNO MORE/SLEEP NO MORE
• First Doctor TV serials
  • 1965 – Two of the Doctor’s companions die to prevent his most iconic enemies from conquering the solar system from a flat area of land
    • THE DALEKS’ MASTER PLAIN/THE DALEKS’ MASTER PLAN
  • 1964 – Susan is left behind to get married after defeating an alien occupation of a tavern
    • THE DALEK INNVASION OF EARTH/THE DALEK INVASION OF EARTH
• Round Two
  • Location of the Eleventh Doctor’s regeneration & Species of the criminal calling herself Florence Finnegan
    • TRENZALORE/PLASMAVORE
  • Actress who played the title character of The Runaway Bride & Word typically shouted by Daleks before firing their weapons
    • CATHERINE TATE/EXTERMINATE
  • Character who wails ‘My DREAMS of CONQUEST’ & Charity for which The Five Doctors and Time Crash were made
    • SOLDEED/CHILDREN IN NEED
  • Actor who played Hector Finch, headmaster of Deffry Vale & Episode featuring Charles Dickens and the Gelth
    • ANTHONY HEAD/THE UNQUIET DEAD
• Round Three
  • PETER CAPALDI STARRED IN ‘THE DOCTOR DANCES’
    • PETER CAPALDI STARRED IN ‘THE DOCTOR FALLS’
  • PATRICK TROUGHTON STARRED IN ‘THE SEEDS OF DOOM’
    • PATRICK TROUGHTON STARRED IN ‘THE SEEDS OF DEATH’
  • SYLVESTER MCCOY STARRED IN ‘THE CURSE OF PELADON’
    • SYLVESTER MCCOY STARRED IN ‘THE CURSE OF FENRIC’
  • BORUSA’S LAIR COULD BE ACCESSED BY PLAYING THE KAZOO OF RASSILON
    • BORUSA’S LAIR COULD BE ACCESSED BY PLAYING THE HARP OF RASSILON
• Round Four
• SPIN-OFF CHARACTERS
  • Character played by Anji Mohindra in The Sarah Jane Adventures & Ace’s debut serial
    • RANI CHANDRAGONFIRE = RANI CHANDRA + DRAGONFIRE
  • Character created by Miss Myers & Chancellor of the High Council of Gallifrey at the time Omega attempted to steal the Doctor’s body
    • SKY SMITHALIA = SKY SMITH + THALIA
  • Girl who lives at 36 Bannerman Road & Species eternally at war with the Rutans
    • MARIA JACKSONTARANS = MARIA JACKSON + SONTARANS
• COMPANIONS (TV)
  • Character married to Clifford Jones & Competition in 2074 in which the Doctor (allegedly) rode a motorbike and came last
    • JO GRANTI-GRAV OLYMPICS = JO GRANT + ANTI-GRAV OLYMPICS
  • Character who lives in The City & City in Canada where the Seed Pods were sent in The Seeds of Death
    • ZOE HERIOTTAWA = ZOE HERIOT + OTTAWA
  • Companion first appearing in The Face of Evil & Pocket universe visited by the Second Doctor in The Mind Robber
    • LEELAND OF FICTION = LEELA + LAND OF FICTION
• PLANETS
  • Planet of Queen Xanxia & Surname of the journalist who was killed by her ATMOS device after trying to interview Luke Rattigan
    • ZANAKASHIMA = ZANAK + NAKASHIMA
  • Eponymous setting of the Series Eleven finale & Location of Lady Cassandra O’Brien.Δ17’s house “when [she] was a little boy”
    • RANSKOOR AV KOLOS ANGELES CREVASSE = RANSKOOR AV KOLOS + LOS ANGELES CREVASSE
  • Where Kerblam!’s HQ is located & Alien race introduced in Spyfall
    • KANDOKASAAVIN = KANDOKA + KASAAVIN
• DOPPELGANGERS OF THE DOCTOR AND THEIR COMPANIONS/ALLIES
  • Fiancée of Charles Cranleigh & Species with which the Twelfth Doctor claimed to have lived for a month after an argument with River Song
    • ANN TALBOTTERS = ANN TALBOT + OTTERS
  • Sister of Sara Kingdom & Province in Canada where, according to the Doctor in Praxeus, there was a talking cat
    • BRET VYONTARIO = BRET VYON + ONTARIO
  • Technician at Torchwood One & Boy whose governess drowned and was assimilated by telepathic snow
    • ADEOLA OSHODIGBY LATIMER = ADEOLA OSHODI + DIGBY LATIMER OR ADEOLATIMER = ADEOLA + LATIMER

Wrapping up

It’s been a long time coming, but after four years of consecutive defeats, Cambridge won the Varsity Quiz. In the end, a strong WHouse of Games showing from the light blues allowed them to pull into the lead in the closing moments of the quiz, denying Oxford the opportunity to pull three points clear of their rivals. As a result, there’s plenty at stake in the upcoming quiz. Can Cambridge keep their comeback momentum up, or will Oxford redouble their efforts to succeed? There’s only one way to find out – wait until the next Varsity Quiz!

Tides 48 is, at time of publication, available to buy through this link