Quiz Review

Quiz is a dramatisation of the trial of Charles Ingram who allegedly cheated to win £1,000,000 on Wants to be a Millionaire. It’s a miniseries that showed ambition from ITV due to its ensemble cast and choice of director.

In the late ’90s, David Liddiment (Risteárd Cooper) becomes the new head of ITV and immediately hears a pitch for a new game show. The concept evolves into the game show we all know and love and becomes a hit with middle-class audiences. Two fans were Adrian Pollock (Trystan Gravelle) and his sister Diana Ingram (Sian Clifford) and both get to compete on the show. Diana’s husband, Charles (Matthew Macfadyen) also gets to compete and wins the million pounds: but ITV suspects foul play.

Quiz was told in three episodes. The first focus on the creation of the show and the underground community who try to compete on the show, the second was about Charles Ingram’s competing on the show and criminal investigation, and the third was about trials the Ingrams face, one in the courts, the other in the press. It’s a standard structure for a three-part series and it does the job effectively. All three episodes tell a different part of a wider story.

The first episode does give the audience an insight into how Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was created including how the producers found ways to enhance the tension. It showed how much of a phenomenon the show was, including ITV making a deal with ABC. The other aspect of the episode was the fanbase the show garnered and it acted a bit like a heist film as potential contestants find ways to get on the show.

The series was directed by Stephen Frears, a man who made films like The Queen, Philomena, and Florence Foster Jenkins, so he has a high pedigree. Because of this he did inject some visual flair like the use of split seconds to show the underground network of fans and have a couple of fantasy sequences in the final episode. Whilst the series was classified as a drama it was light-hearted in its tone for the most part. The heist nature of the first episode gave the series energy and there plenty of humour scattered around throughout. There were a couple of knowing jokes like the Celebrity Crime Unit sounds like something ITV would make and someone making a comment about the development of Are You Smarter than a 10-year-old.

The series does take a dark turn in the final episode. This was due to the accusations in the press and the Ingrams suffered from the mob mentality that was cultivated.

Quiz puts forward the case that Charles Ingram was innocent. He was shown to not be interested in game shows and has to be talked into competing on the show. Charles makes no plans to cheat and he was unaware of any outside actions like Diana contacting Tecwen Whittock (Michael Jibson). If Charles did hear the coughing as answer cues it was incidental The Defence Barrister (Helen McCrory) does put up a convincing argument for Charles.

Quiz had a great cast with recognisable actors. It even had well-known actors like Aisling Bea (This Way Up) and Jasmyn Banks (Eastenders) in minor roles. As expected from this cast everyone gives excellent performances. Macfadyen and Clifford’s relationship felt authentic due to their banner together, live a comfortable middle-class life, and were able to show their suffering when the world turns against them. The most impressive performance was Michael Sheen as Chris Tarrant because it was a fantastic impression of the presenter and made even more convincing because of the hair-and-make-up job.

Quiz shows that ITV can compete with their rival on British TV because they were able to make an entertaining miniseries with big-name talent.