(May Contain Spoilers)
Charles (Matthew Macfadyen) and Diana Ingram (Sian Clifford) are not just your average, white middle-aged couple, they become millionaires! Quiz is a drama about the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire scandal in the 2000s and the question about cheating. This three-part drama sees quiz mad Adrian (Trystan Gravelle), Diana’s brother, try to get onto the show but after failing calls on the help of a local fan community who help him get onto the show. Later, Adrian builds a fastest-finger-first device to train himself so that he can get into ‘the seat’ and play the game. Eventually after four times in the studio, Adrian gets into the seat and win £32,000, but after the debt he has accumulate trying to ring in and the fees from the community who helped him get on he gets his sister Diana on the show.
Diana wins £32,000, like her brother, and gives £14,000 of that to him to help with debt, but still struggling they try and convince Charles to go on the show. Charles manages to get into the seat and the first night he can barley make it past the first two questions and uses most of his lifelines. The next day Charles bounces back getting every single question right, which the programme makers Paul (Mark Bonnar) and David (Elliot Levey) find suspicious. It follows that, a series of coughing from contestant Tecwen (Michael Jibson) appears to help Charles answer the questions correctly, especially when his mind was set on an answer which was wrong. Charles goes on to win the million pounds, but because of the suspicious behaviour Paul and David contact the police.
Charles and Diana are arrested and taken to court, during their trial Sonia (Helen McCrory) tries to convince the jury that the programme makers through there connected earpieces brewed up a plot and convinced themselves Charles was cheating. The programme makers made a tape to isolate the coughs and raise the volume levels, as well as cut the footage together to look like how they remember it. However, Chris Tarrant (Michael Sheen) didn’t think Charles cheated and he was the only one not wearing an earpiece. Despite a convincing defence case Charles, Diana and Tecwen were given a suspended sentenced of two year with 18 months in jail.
I remember this episode being televised or at least the documentary version of the episode, I remember thinking how obvious the coughing was, but after watching this drama and being part of the media industry there is so much influence editing and sound mixing can have on the final impression of the piece. This drama was a great three-parter, which I sat down to watch over the course of three evenings!!! I actually watched terrestrial television for once, after all this Netflix! I thought Clifford did an amazing job and looked very similar to the real Diana, as well as Sheen doing an uncanny impression of Tarrant! Well worth a three-hour binge on catch up! Tense, Funny and Absurd.
Watch the series now on ITV Hub
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