Ian McKellen, Helen Mirren, Lenny Henry and Lesley Manville are hosting the ultimate pub quiz

National Theatre enlists the great and the good of British acting talent

The virtual pub quiz is in a league of its own when it comes to online social activities under lockdown – and now the medium just got classier.

Dame Helen Mirren, Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Lenny Henry and Lesley Manville will all be taking to the screen for a regular monthly quiz night.

This dream line-up of hosts will be putting the nation to the test on the last Monday of every month, with the first one taking place tonight (27 April).

The four thesps are hosting the trivia game, which kicks off at 7pm UK time, on behalf of the National Theatre in order to raise money.

However, the quiz is free to play, with participants able to choose whether or not they would like to donate.

Rounds include history, sport, nature, and – naturally – the National Theatre.

“The rules are simple – don’t cheat!” says the National. “Each question is worth one point, except for a question in Round Two – Sport, which Lenny will point out to you. Each of the answers in Ian McKellen’s Bonus Round are worth one point each."

Players are invited to leave their final scores out of 19 in the comments below the video afterwards.

Taking around 15 minutes, the quiz will be available indefinitely on the National Theatre’s YouTube channel after it airs.

It’s not the only way the National is enlivening lockdown.

The theatre is releasing recordings of some of its best performances onto YouTube, with each one available for a week.

Plays so far have included Twelfth Night with Tamsin Greig and One Man, Two Guvnors with James Corden.

This week the sell-out production of Frankenstein, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller, will be available to watch for free.