K-9, Doctor Who's robot dog, with Martin Belam in London

In an incredible moment of serendipity, the 135th Thursday quiz just happens to fall on the 60th birthday of Doctor Who. You lucky, lucky people. Here come 15 questions about topical news and general knowledge, and all of them with a tenuous link somehow to the children’s Saturday teatime science fantasy favourite, just to make the author happy. Have fun!

The Thursday quiz, No 135

  1. 1.Here is the quizmaster with K-9, the official robot dog of the Guardian Thursday quiz. But it was a dog called Codrut who made news this week, after biting Austria’s president, Alexander Van der Bellen, on the hand. To whom does Codrut belong?

  2. 2.Another eccentric hero with a dog sidekick is Wallace, and Aardman Animations has reassured fans that there is no need to worry about a shortage of clay. What was the name of the first Wallace and Gromit animation in 1989?

    Peter Sallis with Wallace and Gromit

  3. 3.As Doctor Who enjoys its 60th anniversary, the BBC has announced that it has “decided to rest the UK show” of its Top Gear franchise. It follows a 2022 crash involving the presenter Freddie Flintoff. When was Top Gear first broadcast by the BBC, initially only in the Midlands?

    BBC logo

  4. 4.Doctor Who’s original Delia Derbyshire-realised spooky electronic theme tune is the stuff of legends. But you won’t be able to listen to it on Spotify in which South American country after the company said it would phase out its service there following a new copyright bill requiring “fair and equitable remuneration”?

    Broken cassette tape

  5. 5.Talking of music, the Eighth Doctor claimed to have met the writer of La Bohème among other works. To which opera composer was he referring?

    Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

  6. 6.Demons of the Punjab was a 2018 Doctor Who story that featured the partition of India. When did the dominions of India and Pakistan come into legal existence, on the day the British partitioned India?

    Cricket fans

  7. 7.In the episode Rosa, the 13th Doctor strongly hinted she might be elusive street artist Banksy on the sly. A lost 2003 interview with Banksy that contains the only known instance of him revealing his first name has just been unearthed. What did he say it was in the interview?

    A Banksy artwork

  8. 8.An entire season of Doctor Who was once dedicated to a story called Trial of a Time Lord. But after an attempt to overturn their acquittal, the high court in England has ruled that two protesters were “reasonable” in calling Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith precisely what?

    Iain Duncan Smith

  9. 9.The Star Beast is the next Doctor Who episode and it will be on the television on Saturday. It is based on a 1980 Doctor Who comic strip of the same name, partly written by Pat Mills. Which famous British comic title (not pictured) was Pat Mills instrumental in creating?

    An AI Manga comic

  10. 10.1989 Doctor Who story Survival features lots of Cheetah People fighting on a planet helpfully known as the Cheetah Planet. But Oklahoma’s Republican governor has got himself in a pickle after recording a video in support of an organisation that encourages fights between …

    Cheetah on a termite mound

  11. 11.Carl McCoy of Fields of the Nephilim has been asked by the Doctor for tenuous quiz-related reasons to simplify b⁶ ÷ b³, in order to punch the correct galactic coordinates into the Tardis console. Which of these is correct?

    Fields of the Nephilim

  12. 12.Vincent and the Doctor is a critically acclaimed 2010 episode where the Doctor and Amy met Vincent van Gogh, and also for some reason fight a giant invisible alien budgie monster in a church. But when did Van Gogh die?

    Painter Murat Karabuyuk recreates Vincent van Gogh's Bedroom in Arles in three dimensions

  13. 13.Doctor Who used to drive around in the stylish Bessie. But what was it that was causing mayhem at last weekend’s Las Vegas F1 Grand Prix?

    The Doctor's car Bessie

  14. 14.This is the face Willow, the official not-robot dog of the Guardian’s Thursday quiz, pulls when yet another Doctor Who DVD goes on at home. But what was the name of the very first episode of Doctor Who in 1963?

    Willow, the official dog of the Guardian's Thursday quiz

  15. 15.And finally … which Guardian article this week included the immortal line “A friend, who declined to be named, said she was ‘100% certain’ it was not aliens.”

    A Dalek in Scarborough

If you really do think there has been an egregious error in one of the questions or answers – and can show your working – feel free to email [email protected], but remember the quiz master’s word is final and you can watch the next episode of Doctor Who at 6.30pm on BBC One on Saturday, and his episode recap will be live shortly afterwards.


Share This Article