Image Credit: Alice Hardaker.

Image Description: The Varsity Quiz competitors.

Compiled by James Ashworth

Following two years battling it out in the Matrix, 2022 saw the Varsity Quiz return in-person for the first time since 2019. Instead of the star-studded event of that year, 2022 was a gradual easing back into the original format.

Of course, after so long online, it was perhaps inevitable that organisational issues would arise. When Cambridge’s expected team of eight didn’t arrive on their train as planned, the quiz itself was briefly called into question. In the end, three Cambridge members eventually arrived to take part, and the battle of wits was back on!

Though Cambridge’s team may have been small, the quiz itself had grown. After the four round quiz in 2021, the quiz was up to eight for 2022. Each round was written by a different individual – thank you to all those who contributed! Sadly, two rounds, covering the Thirteenth Doctor and spinoffs, were not preserved for Tides to publish. Nonetheless, now it’s your turn to see how you would have fared…

Doctors 1-4

1. What is the surname of the Brittanicus Base employee who, along with Davis and Arden, is the first to name the Ice Warriors on screen?
2. Similarly, what is the surname of the worker at the Sea Fort who names the Sea Devils?
3. In which season (or year) does the TARDIS visit Earth (very briefly), Argolis, Tigella, Zolfa-Thura, Alzarius and an unnamed planet resembling medieval Earth?
4. In which season (or year) does the TARDIS spend four consecutive stories within Earth’s solar system?
5. Which friend of the Doctor’s second line is: “Well before you begin this rapturous reunion, there are one or two questions I’d like answered. For a start, is there anyone else down here playing hide and seek?”?
6. The Doctor’s second line to which companion is: “I read your paper on the teleological response of the virus. A most impressive piece of work.”?
7. Malcolm Hulke’s first two stories were collaborations with David Ellis and Terrance Dicks. Name both of them.
8. Which two stories, screened in January 1978 and January/February 1979, were the last two written by Bob Baker and Dave Martin together?
9. Give the first four words said by a Cyberman on Doctor Who, which are given in response to a challenge by Cutler?
10. Addressed to Barbara, complete the first line said by a Dalek on Doctor Who by adding five words to this sentence: “You will move ahead of us and…”

Doctors 5-War

1. Why does the Fifth Doctor wear celery? 
2. Who wrote the Fifth Doctor’s debut episode, Castrovalva? 
3. What animal can usually be found on the Sixth Doctor’s lapel pin?
4. In the 2015 DWM poll to find the show’s best episodes, which Sixth Doctor episode ranked the highest?
5. What was the last Seventh Doctor episode to be shot?
6. Which opera does Grace listen to when operating on the Seventh Doctor?
7. Name all the companions saluted by the Eighth Doctor in The Night of the Doctor.
8. Who played the War Doctor in The Night of the Doctor?
9. What are the last words spoken by War Doctor?
10. What alias does Grace give the Eighth Doctor in the TV Movie?

Doctors 8-12

1. Name four of the five activities the Eleventh Doctor does to cure his boredom for an hour in The Power of Three.
2. How many Series One episodes do not contain the word “fantastic” in their final script?
3. Which Christmas carol plays as Wilfred Mott enters the church in beginning of The End of Time Part One?
4. In which episode does the Twelfth Doctor first warn someone not to look through the browsing history of his sonic sunglasses?
5. Name the common food item which links these two pieces of trivia: The Eighth Doctor follows a vegetarian diet, with the exception of [food item]. In World Enough and Time, The Twelfth Doctor compares Bill Potts’ eating of  [food item] to the murders committed by Missy.
6. Which colour jumper has the Ninth Doctor not worn under his iconic leather jacket on screen: red, blue, green, purple, black or white?
7. Series Five’s The Vampires in Venice was not actually filmed in Italy, but in which country?
8. What is unusual about the title sequence in The Night of the Doctor, compared to other opening credits in the show’s history?
9. In The Christmas Invasion, how many outfits do we see the Tenth Doctor hold up in consideration before he settles on his iconic look?
10. In Smile, The Twelfth Doctor reveals his secret winning move in the game of Chess to be ‘kicking over the board’. But how many times do we actually see a Chess Board on screen during Moffat’s time as showrunner?

Expanded Universe

1. What is the surname of the siblings introduced as companions of the Eighth Doctor in Terror Firma?
2. Which actor, married to Rob Shearman, replaced Ysanne Churchman as the voice of Alpha Centauri in The Bride of Peladon and subsequent Big Finish stories set on Peladon?
3. On which island, invaded by the Nazis, is Bernice Summerfield living in Just War?
4. How many novels is it between the introduction of Jason Kane and Bernice later marrying him in the Virgin New Adventures?
5. The Eight Doctors is the name of the first Eighth Doctor Adventure novel. What is the name of the second?
6. Which author, perhaps best known for putting together the modern incarnation of the Guardians of the Galaxy at Marvel, wrote the stories Thin Time, The Mark of Mandragora and Border Princes?
7. Which robot, sharing its name with a volcano, becomes the Emperor of the Galactic Roman Empire at the conclusion of The Iron Legion?
8. What species of animal is Mitzi, who plans to conquer Earth before becoming being stopped by the Doctor and Rose?
9. In The King’s Dragon, the Eleventh Doctor encounters Enamour, a metal which manipulates people into wanting it. What similar technology, with a rhyming name, do the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors encounter in a number of New Series Adventures?
10. 11 books were re-released by BBC Books for the 50th anniversary – one for each Doctor. Which Doctor features in the only book from this set based on a television story?

WHouse of Games

Round One
You will be given a category and a thing in that category written in code. The code is simple: 1 = A, 2 = B etc.

• Doctor Actors
• [10][15][14] [16][5][18][20][23][5][5]
• [16][1][21][12] [13][3][7][1][14][14]
• New Series Companions
• [13][9][3][11][5][25] [19][13][9][20][8]
• [23][9][12][6][18][5][4] [13][15][20][20]

Round Two

You will be shown a question. Put the words in alphabetical order.

• What was the 2016 Christmas special called?
• What was the overarching title of Season 23?
• In which TV serial did Leela’s eyes change colour so that Louise Jameson could stop wearing contacts?

Round Three

Give the answer to each question without saying TEN.

• Tim Shaw’s species
• First episode starring Peter Capaldi to have a single-word title
• TV serial which introduced the Cybermen

Round Four

Combine the two answers together.

• Food & Drink
• A cup of brewed Camellia sinensis and the callsign of the UNIT helicopter in The Green Death, also a bird of prey
• The Fourth Doctor’s favourite sweet and the ship whose home box was found in the Delirium Archive by the Eleventh Doctor
• Food thrown at T’zim Sha in Sheffield and the aristocratic passenger on the number 200 bus
• The Doctor’s Hats (where applicable, omit ‘hat’ from answer)
• Hat favoured by Sherlock Holmes and the name of the colony ship in Smile
• Hat worn by the Eleventh Doctor in 1930s Berlin and the woodlouse-like species descended from the Menoptera
• Hat worn by the Doctor in An Unearthly Child and the short name for the androids at the Two Streams Facility

Word Grids

Grid 1

Grid 2

Doctors 1-4 Answers

1. Walters
2. Clark
3. Season 18 (1980)
4. Season 15 (1977)
5. Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart
6. Sarah Jane Smith
7. The Faceless Ones & The War Games
8. Underworld & The Armageddon Factor
9. “They will not return.”
10. “…follow my direction this way.”

Doctors 5-War Answers

1. He is allergic to certain gases in the praxis range of the spectrum. In their presence, the celery turns purple. 
2. Christopher H. Bidmead
3. Cat
4. Revelation of the Daleks
5. Ghost Light 
6. Puccini’s Madam Butterfly
7. Charley, C’rizz, Lucie, Tamsin, Molly (and Cass)
8. Paul McGann
9. “Wearing a bit thin. I hope the ears are a bit less conspicuous this time.”
10. Dr. Bowman

Doctors 8-12 Answers

1. Any from: Hoovers the house; Paints the fence; Practices with a football; Rewires the car; Cuts the lawn
2. Three: Aliens of London; The Empty Child; Bad Wolf
3. Good King Wenceslas
4. The Zygon Inversion
5. A bacon sandwich
6. White
7. Croatia
8. Doctor Who, the series’ title, does not appear.
9. One
10. Three: The Wedding of River Song; Nightmare in Silver; The Caretaker

Expanded Universe Answers

1. Griffin
2. Jane Goddard
3. Guernsey
4. One (It happens in the next book after his introduction)
5. Vampire Science
6. Dan Abnett
7. Vesuvius
8. The titular feline of The Cat Came Back, and subsequently Rose Tyler’s pet
9. Glamour
10. The Seventh Doctor (Remembrance of the Daleks)

WHouse of Games Answers

• Round One
• Doctor Actors
  • [10][15][14] [16][5][18][20][23][5][5]
    • Jon Pertwee
  • [16][1][21][12] [13][3][7][1][14][14]
    • Paul McGann
• New Series Companions
  • [13][9][3][11][5][25] [19][13][9][20][8]
    • Mickey Smith
  • [23][9][12][6][18][5][4] [13][15][20][20]
    • Wilfred Mott
• Round Two
  • What was the 2016 Christmas special called?
    • DOCTOR MYSTERIO OF RETURN THE
    • THE RETURN OF DOCTOR MYSTERIO
  • What was the overarching title of Season 23?
    • A LORD OF THE TIME TRIAL
    • THE TRIAL OF A TIME LORD
  • In which TV serial did Leela’s eyes change colour so that Louise Jameson could stop wearing contacts?
    • FANG HORROR OF ROCK
    • HORROR OF FANG ROCK
• Round Three
  • Tim Shaw’s species
    • Correct answer is: SZA
    • Or with TEN re-inserted: STENZA
  • First episode starring Peter Capaldi to have a single-word title
    • Correct answer is: LIS
    • Or with TEN re-inserted: LISTEN
  • TV serial which introduced the Cybermen
    • Correct answer is: THE TH PLANET
    • Or with TEN re-inserted: THE TENTH PLANET
• Round Four
• FOOD & DRINK
  • A cup of brewed Camellia sinensis and the callsign of the UNIT helicopter in The Green Death, also a bird of prey
    • TEAGLE = TEA + EAGLE
  • The Fourth Doctor’s favourite sweet and the ship whose home box was found in the Delirium Archive by the Eleventh Doctor
    • JELLY BABYZANTIUM = JELLY BABY + BYZANTIUM
  • Food thrown at T’zim Sha in Sheffield and the aristocratic passenger on the number 200 bus
  • SALADY CHRISTINA DE SOUZA = SALAD + LADY CHRISTINA DE SOUZA
• THE DOCTOR’S HATS
  • Hat favoured by Sherlock Holmes and the name of the colony ship in Smile
    • DEERSTALKEREHWON = DEERSTALKER + EREHWON
  • Hat worn by the Eleventh Doctor in 1930s Berlin and the woodlouse-like species descended from the Menoptera
    • TOPTERA = TOP + OPTERA
  • Hat worn by the Doctor in An Unearthly Child and the short name for the androids at the Two Streams Facility
    • ASTRAKHANDBOTS = ASTRAKHAN + HANDBOTS

Wrapping up

After getting off to a slow start, it was a pretty close game throughout. As a result of Cambridge’s low team numbers, excess players from Oxford ended up subsituting into an unofficial ‘Durham’ team at random before each round. In the end, Durham actually ended up with the most points overall, pipping Cambridge to the post by just one point. Had team numbers been better balanced, it really could have gone either way if everyone had been allowed to share their knowledge – so it’s an unprecedented third party win for 2022!

Print copies of Tides 49 are, at time of publication, available to buy through this link