''Quiz'' is a British

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

television serial developed for the ITV channel and

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

and written by James Graham, based on his play of the same name commissioned by William Village and the book ''Bad Show: the Quiz, the Cough, the Millionaire Major'' by

Bob Woffinden Robert Woffinden (31 January 1948 – 1 May 2018) was a British investigative journalist. Formerly a reporter with the ''New Musical Express'', he later specialised in investigating miscarriages of justice. He wrote about a number of high-profi ...

and

James Plaskett Harold James Plaskett (born 18 March 1960) is a British chess grandmaster and writer. Biography Early life and personal life Plaskett was born in Dhekelia, Cyprus, on 18 March 1960 and was educated at Bedford Modern School, England. In the ...

. It is directed by

Stephen Frears Sir Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is a British director and producer of film and television, often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply-drawn characters. He has received numerous a ...

and consists of three hour-long episodes. The series focuses on the ''

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (WWTBAM) is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Televis ...

'' contestant Charles Ingram, a former army major in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

, and how he unexpectedly won the £1 million jackpot on the quiz show in 2001, followed by a

criminal trial Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail or ...

in which he and his wife were convicted of cheating their way to success. ''Quiz'' premiered on ITV on 13 April 2020. The series received positive reviews from critics. Released during the height of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

lockdowns worldwide, ''Quiz'' received a large audience — similar to the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

documentary ''

Tiger King ''Tiger King'' (subtitled in marketing as ''Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness'' for its first season, ''Tiger King 2'' for its second season and ''Tiger King: The Doc Antle Story'' for its third season) is an American true crime document ...

'' — with the first episode being seen live by an average audience of 5.3 million in the UK. While the show was still airing, Ingram's

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article was one of the most viewed on the site.

Summary

In 2001, at the height of the public obsession with ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'', a British army major named Charles Ingram and his wife, Diana, apparently swindled the British game show. The morning after Ingram bumbled his way to a million pounds, broadcaster ITV and production company Celador realized something had been amiss: a series of coughs by the Ingrams' alleged accomplice, Tecwen Whittock, may have led Ingram to the answers. It was a massive scandal, resulting in a court case that found all three guilty.

Episodes

Cast

Matthew Macfadyen David Matthew Macfadyen (; born 17 October 1974) is an English actor. Known for his performances on stage and screen, he Breakthrough role, gained prominence for his role as Mr. Darcy in Joe Wright's ''Pride & Prejudice (2005 film), Pride & Prej ...

as Charles Ingram *

Michael Sheen Michael Christopher Sheen (born 5 February 1969) is a Welsh actor. After training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he worked mainly in theatre throughout the 1990s with stage roles in ''Romeo and Juliet'' (1992), ''Don't Fool wi ...

Chris Tarrant Christopher John Tarrant (born 10 October 1946) is a retired English broadcaster, television personality, radio DJ and stand up comedian. He is best known for presenting the ITV children's television show '' Tiswas'' from 1974 to 1981, and th ...

* Sian Clifford as Diana Ingram *

Mark Bonnar Richard Mark Bonnar (born 19 November 1968) is a Scottish actor. He is known for his roles as Max in ''Guilt (British TV series), Guilt'', Duncan Hunter in ''Shetland (TV series), Shetland'', Bruno Jenkins in ''Casualty (TV series), Casualty'', ...

as Paul Smith *

Helen McCrory Helen Elizabeth McCrory (17 August 1968 – 16 April 2021) was an English actress. After studying at the Drama Centre London, she made her professional stage debut in ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' in 1990. Other theatre roles include play ...

as Sonia Woodley QC *

Michael Jibson Michael Jibson (born 16 December 1980) is an English actor, director, writer and voice over artist. He was the winner of the 2018 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical, for his role of King George III in ''Hami ...

as Tecwen Whittock *

Aisling Bea Aisling Clíodhnadh O'Sullivan (born 16 March 1984), known professionally as Aisling Bea ( ), is an Irish comedian, actress and screenwriter. She created, wrote and starred in the comedy series '' This Way Up'' on Channel 4. As a stand-up comedi ...

as Claudia Rosencrantz * Trystan Gravelle as Adrian Pollock * Elliot Levey as David Briggs *

Risteárd Cooper Risteárd Cooper (; born February 1969) is an Irish actor, comedian, singer and writer and is one third of comedy trio '' Après Match''. Cooper's parents Cáit Lanigan and Richard Cooper were both educated through Irish and were highly accomp ...

David Liddiment David Liddiment (born 20 September 1952) is a former Creative Director of the independent production company All3Media. He is also an associate of The Old Vic Theatre Company and a member of the BBC Trust, the governing body of the British Broadcas ...

* Jasmyn Banks as Nicola Howson * Andrew Leung as Kevin Duff * Martin Trenaman as DS Ferguson *

Nicholas Woodeson Nicholas Robin Frank Woodeson (born 30 November 1949) is an English film, television and theatre actor, and Drama Desk and Olivier award nominee. Early life and education Woodeson was born in Sudan and grew up in Haifa, Israel. He later moved ...

Nicholas Hilliard Nicholas Hilliard ( – before 7 January 1619) was an English goldsmith and limner best known for his portrait miniatures of members of the courts of Elizabeth I and James I of England. He mostly painted small oval miniatures, but also some l ...

QC *

Paul Bazely Paul Reginald Bazely (born 6 May 1968) is an English actor. He is known for portraying Troy in the ITV sitcom ''Benidorm''. His other TV credits include ''Making Out'', ''Emmerdale'', '' Heartbeat'', ''Doctors'', ''Holby City'', '' Vanity Fair'' ...

as Lionel from Legal

Production

Development

In March 2018, ''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. It is updated several times a day, with en ...

'' reported that

Left Bank Pictures Left Bank Pictures Ltd. (stylised as LEFT BANK Pictures) is a British film and television production company owned by Sony Pictures Television through its International Production division. It was formed in 2007 and was the first British media c ...

was developing a television adaptation of ''Quiz''. In April 2019, Left Bank was in talks for Stephen Frears to direct the adaptation. In August 2019, it was announced that ITV and AMC co-commissioned the drama series, with Graham writing and Frears directing all three episodes.

Filming

The scenes in the ''Who Wants to be a Millionaire?'' studio were filmed in a set constructed at

Wimbledon Studios Wimbledon Film & Television Studios is an English film and television production company and facilities provider, located in Colliers Wood, between Mitcham and Wimbledon in south London. History Wimbledon Studios was established as the Mer ...

. Scenes were also filmed outside

Southwark Crown Court The Crown Court at Southwark, usually referred to as Southwark Crown Court, is a Crown Court venue at 1 English Grounds (off Battlebridge Lane) on the south bank of the River Thames between London Bridge and Tower Bridge in London. It operates ...

and inside a former court building in

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

International broadcasts

In Australia, the

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

, which aired both ''

'' and its '' Hot Seat'' spin-off between 1999 and 2023, aired the serial in three parts on consecutive Thursday nights in late 2021. The first part, which aired on 25 November 2021, followed an episode of ''Hot Seat'' in which contestant Antony McManus became the show's final winner.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the series holds a 95% approval rating based on 36 reviews, with an average rating of 7.57/10. The website's consensus reads, "With clever writing, a slick production, and a pitch perfect Michael Sheen, ''Quiz'' crafts a captivating snapshot of a wild scandal that will keep viewers on their toes." Ingram himself, who has always denied the charges, praised the series, calling it "balanced".

References

External links