Pets on TV – A Christmas quiz!

10 questions to test your TV memory of Christmases past...

It’s the season to cuddle up on the sofa with our pets and watch some festive family TV – yippee!

From soaps to cartoons, blockbusters to cinema classics, can you recall the names of these animal stars of the big and small screen? Answers at the bottom – but no peeking!

Q1: The ever popular Muppet Christmas Carol (a Radio Times survey has revealed that two-thirds of film fans rewatch the hit Dickens adaptation every single year) features The Great Gonzo and a sarcastic rat as the co-narrators – but can you remember his name?

1. a) Rio b) Remi c) Rizzo

Q2: In Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were Rabbit, what’s the name of the hero bunny who swaps personalities with Wallace and then, with the help of Gromit, saves him at the end of the film?

1. a) Hank b) Hutch c) Huxley

Q3: The spectral hit sit-com Ghosts (which signs off this year with a Christmas special) features a cherished stuffed dog that once belonged to Lady Button and who once went missing after a raucous party, causing Alison and Mike to go on a hilariously frantic house search. What was his name?

1. a) Dante b) Dario c) Donato

Q4: The children’s comedy film Peter Rabbit, based on the beloved Beatrix Potter story, tells the tale of the adventures of a bunny family in the Lake District. But what were the names of Peter’s sisters?

1. a) Pansy, Petunia and Petal b) Blackberry, Bluebell and Buttercup c) Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail

Q5: Two friends, beautiful places and a good old natter. Comedians Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse’s life-affirming series Mortimer & Whitehouse Gone Fishing has become a well-loved watch. But which four-legged chum often accompanies the dry-witted duo on their angling adventures?

1. a) Ed b) Ted c) Ned

Q6: The Witches is Roald Dahl’s spookily scary tale of a plan by the convention of witches to turn all the world’s children into mice (originally filmed in 1990 with a reboot released in  2020). Luke (as a mouse) has a narrow escape while stealing a bottle of magic potion when he is stalked by the Grand High Witch’s cat – but what does she (Angelica Huston) call her feline familiar?

1. a) Lieselotte b) Liebetraud c) Liebchen

Q7: Enid Blyton’s fabulous series of stories The Famous Five is getting a lavish CBBC makeover for the festive season, with George, Dick, Julian and Anne getting mixed up in lashings of thrilling mysteries. Wizard! But what’s the name of the fifth, four-legged member of the team?

1. a) Tobias (Toby) b) Timothy (Timmy) c) Thomas (Tommy)

Q8: In the sci-fi comedy Men in Black an attention-loving cat plays an important role when Agent Jay (Will Smith) and Agent Kay (Tommy Lee Jones) realise that an entire galaxy can be found in the ball on his collar. What was the cat called?

1. a) Orion b) Gemini c) Taurus

Q9: When EastEnders began in 1985, joining Den, Ange and Sharon Watts at The Queen Vic was an apricot-coloured Standard Poodle. Can you recall his name?

1. a) Ronnie b) Reggie c) Roly

Q10: In The Princess Diaries, Mia Thermopolis (Anne Hathaway) is floored when her estranged grandmother (Julie Andrews) visits her to reveal that she is the heir to a throne in the distant country of Genovia. As the San-Francisco teenager's life is upended, Mia relies on her beloved cat for comfort – but what’s his name?

1. a) Louie b) Hughie c) Dewey

THE ANSWERS

Q1 Answer: c) Rizzo, a streetwise rat with a New Jersey accent. In the movie, he tells Gonzo that he has 1,274 brothers and sisters.

Q2 Answer: b) Hutch. Gromit revives Wallace with cheese, undoing the curse of the Were Rabbit. Lady Tottington awards Gromit the Golden Carrot for his valour and converts the grounds of Tottington Hall into a nature reserve for Hutch and the other rabbits.

Q3 Answer: a) He was called Dante and Lady Button was totally devoted to him. Dante guarded the front door until Alison and friends took him on a drunken tour of the house. He was eventually located in Alison and Mike’s bed, still wet from being accidently drenched in wine, and is placed by the fire to dry off. When Lady Button spots him she decides that it's fitting for him to be by the fire as he liked that in life.

Q4 Answer: c) Beatrix Potter conceived her tale of Peter Rabbit on 4 September 1893 in an illustrated letter to Noel Moore, the five-year-old son of her friend and former governess, Annie Moore. Noel was recovering from a bout of scarlet fever so Potter amused him with a story based upon her real pet rabbit, Peter Piper: “I don't know what to write to you, so I shall tell you a story about four little rabbits, whose names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, and Peter…”.

Q5 Answer: b) The wader-wearing pair are sometimes accompanied by rescue dog Ted, a Patterdale Terrier, who even has his own Instagram account – instagram.com/ted_gone fishing/!

Q6 Answer: c) Luke encounters The Grand High Witch’s pet cat Liebchen (which means love, sweetheart, darling). Liebchen is distracted by Luke’s grandmother with a piece of knitting, enabling Luke to make good his escape and, eventually, save the day!

Q7 Answer: b) Timothy – known as Timmy – is George's faithful dog. George adopted him after finding him abandoned on the moors as a puppy. Timmy is very friendly, clever, affectionate and loyal to the children, defending them against the various jolly rotten villains they encounter on their adventures.

Q8 Answer: a) Orion – who was the cat of Gentle Rosenburg, an alien of Arquilian race. Orion’s belt referred to the cat’s collar, on which was hanging a marble sized entire Arquilian Galaxy containing billions of stars, which Agents Jay and Kay finally figure out. As Agent Kay remarks: “There are things out there you don't need to know about.”

Q9 Answer: c) Roly, who was involved in many storylines during his time in the show, including trampling over Tom Clements' prize leeks, which leads to Tom stealing Arthur Beale’s leeks and winning first prize in the London in Bloom competition. Gor blimey! An incredible 14.8 million viewers watched Roly's last appearance on-screen when he slipped his lead to chase a cat... Off-screen, he retired to live with co-creator/producer of the show Julia Smith.

Q10 Answer: a) Fat Louie. Mia got Louie on her sixth birthday as a reward for quitting her thumb sucking, which Mia considered the best day of her life. Fat Louie collects shiny objects, such as bottle caps and tweezers, and hides them behind the toilet in Mia's bathroom. If Louie catches someone taking something from his secret stash, he will try to bite that person every time he sees them.

How did you score?

8-10 – Santa Clause is coming to town!

5-7 – Step into Christmas

4 or less – Do they know it’s Christmas?

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