Science Fiction Trivia

[Disembodied]

What about the farscape Leviathan?

Yes, I'll accept that … they might be partly machine but they're a definite life-form. That's five! Over to you …

[Cmdr James]

That's five! Over to you …

Should be asn easy one for people of around my age, and Id say it counts as scifi:

Who is station?

[Disembodied]

Hmm … does it have anything to do with Max Headroom, by any chance?

[Cmdr James]

No, though max headroom was indeed a kind of tvstation.

The station I was thinking of has been described as one of the 40 oddest movie aliens

[ffutures]

For some reason this is ringing a faint bell. Something to do with the Culture novels... Oops, not a movie.

I gave in and googled it and got an answer which I suspect is what you want, but I'll hold off in case someone can remember it.

[Cody]

Go for it! I kinda wish I hadn't looked that list up - thanks, James!

[ffutures]

Well, if it's the only way to finish the round - it's from Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey:

https://www.gamesradar.com/40-oddest-movie-aliens/

The Alien: Station

The Odd: Station is a strange, hairy little so and so, who is not only capable of splitting himself in two, but also appears to be a dab hand at advanced robotics. Oh, and he lives in heaven. Boys, boys, boys…what have you been smoking?

If Pegg & Frost Had To Look After Him: He could knock them up a pair of robot girlfriends, a la Weird Science . Bodacious!



OK, assuming that this is what we were actually looking for, my question is very simple....

Take a numerical character's name from Star Trek: TOS and a number from an episode title in Star Trek: TOS, subtract one, and use the answer to explain the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. Show your working...

[Disembodied]

Take a numerical character's name from Star Trek: TOS and a number from an episode title in Star Trek: TOS, subtract one, and use the answer to explain the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. Show your working...

The only numerical character's name I can think of from Trek: TOS is "Number One", from the pilot … and there's an episode called "The Galileo Seven" … so if you multiply Number One by Galileo Seven you get 7, subtract 1 gives you 6, and 7 x 6 = 42. I suspect though that I have overstretched my mathematical skills …

[spud42]

ok well here goes another go at it...

season 1 ep 23 there is a character called Sar6 that gives us a 6.
season 1 episode 3 is titled charlie X that gives us a 10.
10-1 is 9.
when Arthur and ford are on earth afterexploring the planet. Arthur is trying to teach the natives scrabble.
ford says to arthur that the question is in his brain and a random act might release it. so arthur randomly pulls scrabble tiles out of the bag and gets the question "what do you get if you multiply six by nine? " because we all know that the answer to the question of life the universe and everything is 42 as provided by Deep Thought.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZLtcTZP2js
https://youtu.be/NKwy0ZfAgt4?t=5h22m54s

EDIT : i always thought that arthur said the "quote" i always thought there was something fundamentally wrong with the universe at this time. however the reading of the book in the second link does NOT say this. and i have searched the Ebooks i have and it is not written in any of the 5 books of the trilogy. yet it is all over the internet that arthur says it . is this a Mandela effect ? or can someone give me page number and which book and what edition it is written in? because i have spent an hour trying to find proof of where it was written but i cant find anything!

[ffutures]

You are both correct in guessing that this is a HHG reference, specifically the famously wrong answer for "what do you get if you multiply six by nine?", and Disembodied correctly identified The Galileo Seven as part of the key to solving my question, but neither of you has found the answer I'm actually looking for - there is another character with a numerical name, and with a little lateral thinking you have the basis for making the wrong answer right.

re the quote - I think it was in the original radio version but not the books.

[Cody]

re the quote - I think it was in the original radio version but not the books.

<nods> If it's anywhere, it'll be in the original radio scripts.


Here you go, spud (at 55:52).

[ffutures]

Hint: The episode in which this character appeared was a "Back door pilot" for a proposed series that was never made, and the character in question uses a device not unlike a sonic screwdriver.

[spud42]

re the quote - I think it was in the original radio version but not the books.

<nods> If it's anywhere, it'll be in the original radio scripts.


Here you go, spud (at 55:52).

yep i "aquired" a copy of the radio scripts and on page 126 it is written there. i think in the tv series they used the line as well. just not in the published books..

[Disembodied]

Hint: The episode in which this character appeared was a "Back door pilot" for a proposed series that was never made, and the character in question uses a device not unlike a sonic screwdriver.

Okay, a bit of googling reveals the character "Gary Seven", from the episode "Assignment: Earth". So if we take Gary Seven, and "The Galileo Seven", minus one to give us "The Galileo Six" … seven times six is forty-two?

[Cody]

... just not in the published books..

Aye, that particular page in the second novel looks kinda odd without that line.
When I got my paperback out to check, I discovered it's falling apart! <sobs>