Questions by Jill Stocks
Missing the pub quiz? Fancy yourself as a bit of a trivia buff? Try your hand at our Christmas Quiz or challenge friends and family round the Christmas dinner table or on zoom to see who is the Christmas quiz champion.
Round One – Christmas Trivia
- How many gifts in total were given in the “Twelve Days of Christmas”?
2. What colour suit did Santa wear before Coca Cola rebranded him red?
3. Which direction is it said you should stir mincemeat in for good luck?
4. Which country first started the tradition of a Christmas Tree?
5. The first Christmas postage stamp was issued in which country?
6. Which king was the first to eat turkey at Christmas?
7. Which Christmas tradition first began in 1843?
8. Which Christmas character did Robert L May create in 1939 when he wrote a Christmas themed poem to attract customers to his department store?
9. What was Thomas Edison’s contribution to Christmas in 1880?
10. President Theodore Roosevelt banned what in the White House?
Round two – Christmas Number Ones
11. What was the name of the choir master who is named alongside the Military Wives on the 2011 Christmas number one “Wherever You Are”?
12. The Cliff Richard hit “Mistletoe and Wine”, Christmas number one in 1988, was based on a story by which famous children’s author?
13. The 2003 Christmas number one was a version of Tears for Fears “Mad World” by Gary Jules and Michael Andrews. Which film soundtrack was it recorded for?
14. Paul Young sang the first lines of “Do They Know It’s Christmas “ by Band Aid in 1984. But which artist was originally lined up to do so?
15. Rob Davis co-wrote “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” by Kylie Minogue and “Groovejet” by Spiller featuring Sophie Ellis Bextor but earlier in his career played guitar for the band who had the Christmas number one in 1974?
16. What was the first Christmas number one, and the first ever UK number one, in 1952?
17. Which Ed Sheeran song was Christmas number one in 2017?
18. Which artist has had eight Christmas number ones as part of various acts?
19. The Flying Pickets had the Christmas number one in 1983 with “Only You”, a cover version of a song by which band?
20. Which Spice Girl has had four Christmas number ones?
Round three – Christmas TV
21. The first Doctor Who Christmas Special was broadcast in 2005. Who played the Doctor?
22. Which monarch delivered the first televised Christmas address?
23. Which Simpsons character delivered the Channel Four Alternative Christmas message in 2004?
24. What did Den Watts give his wife for Christmas in 1986?
25. Who won the first ever Strictly Come Dancing in December 2004?
26. Which TV personality’s show replaced The Morecambe and Wise Show on Christmas Day 1974, the only time between 1969 and 1980 that they did not occupy that slot?
27. Which member of the Royle Family was born in the 1999 Christmas special episode?
28. In the 2002 Friends Christmas episode which city had Chandler been working in when he quit his job rather than working away from home at Christmas?
29. In which seaside resort is the 1999 Christmas special episode of “Only Fools and Horses” – “A Jolly Boys Outing” set?
30. Which iconic character left Coronation Street on Christmas Day in 1987?
Round Four – Christmas Films
31. Who “traded places” with Eddie Murphy in 1983?
32. Where are the McAllister family travelling to in Home Alone when they leave Kevin?
33. What is the name of the town “It’s a Wonderful Life” is set in?
34. What is the name of the TV executive played by Bill Murray in Scrooged?
35. Which song plays during the end credits of Die Hard?
36. Which film are the Gremlins watching in the cinema in the 1984 film?
37. The film “Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence” is set during which conflict?
38. Who played Esther Smith, the main character in the 1944 film “Meet Me In St Louis”?
39. Which actor plays Penguin in the 1992 film “Batman Returns”?
40. Who plays the shopping mall Santa in the 2003 film “Bad Santa”?
Round Five – Christmas Not Number Ones
41.True or false – Chris Rea was serving a driving ban when he wrote “Driving Home For Christmas”
42. Which Christmas song gave Eartha Kitt her biggest hit in 1953?
43. ”Happy Christmas (War is Over)” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, the Plastic Ono Band and the Harlem Community Choir was a protest song about which conflict?
44. What was on the B side of Last Christmas by Wham?
45. The Pogues song “Fairytale of New York” was written as the result of a bet between songwriters Gem Finer and Shane McGowan and which other songwriter, who was also the bands producer?
46. Which singer/songwriter had a top ten hit in Christmas 1985 with “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”?
47. What is the name of the Cuban singer who had a top ten hit in 1992 with “Christmas In Your Eyes”?
48. Which Christmas song has been a hit for both Boney M in 1978 and Harry Belafonte in 1957?
49. St Etienne and Tim Burgess had a Christmas hit in 1993 with Tim Burgess and the song “I Was Born on Christmas Day”. What band is Tim Burgess lead singer of?
50. George Michael had a Christmas hit with “December Song (I dreamed of Christmas)” but which girl band was the song originally intended for?
Need a tiebreaker?
Approximately how many turkeys are consumed on average at Christmas in the UK?
How many viewers watched the 1977 Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show?
How many miles does Santa Claus travel on Christmas Eve?
THE ANSWERS!
Round One – Christmas Trivia
1.364
2.Green
3.Clockwise
4.Germany
5.Canada
6. Henry the eighth but it didn’t become a popular tradition until the 1950’s and it was a Yorkshireman, William Strickland who first introduced them into the country in 1526 when he was given them by American Indian traders
7. Sending Christmas cards, first designed by John Horsley
8.Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
9.He invented electric Christmas lights
10. Christmas trees – he thought it was wrong to cut down trees for decoration
Round Two – Christmas Number Ones
11.Gareth Malone
12. Hans Christian Andersen (The Little Match Girl)
13.Donnie Darko
14. David Bowie – he couldn’t make the recording session on 25th November
15.Mud – Lonely This Christmas
16.Al Martino – Here in My Heart
17.Perfect
18. Paul McCartney – The Beatles (4), Band Aid (3), Wings (1)
19.Yazoo
20. Melanie Chisholm – Spice Girls (1996-98) and the Justice Collective (2012)
Round Three – Christmas TV
21. David Tennant (his debut as the Doctor)
22. Queen Elizabeth the second in 1957 (George the fifth delivered the first ever Christmas message in 1932)
23.Marge Simpson
24. Divorce papers (Angie Watts, Eastenders) – it was watched by 30.1 million viewers, more than half of the British population at that time
25.Natasha Kaplinsky
26.Mike Yarwood
27.Baby David
28.Tulsa
29.Margate
30.Hilda Ogden (Jean Alexander)
Round Four – Christmas Films
31.Dan Akroyd (Trading Places)
32.Paris
33.Bedford Falls
34.Frank Cross
35.Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
36.Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
37.World War 2
38.Judy Garland
39.Danny De Vito
40.Billy Bob Thornton
Round Five – Christmas Not Number Ones
41.True
42.Santa Baby
43.The Vietnam War
44.Everything She Wants
45.Elvis Costello
46.Bruce Springsteen
47.Gloria Estefan
48.Marys Boy Child
49.The Charlatans
50.The Spice Girls
Tiebreakers
23 million
27 million – the most viewers for any of their Christmas shows between 1969 and 1980
41 million