‘Quiz’: a compelling retelling of an infamous tale

It’s perhaps the most British of all heist stories – an army major took part in a TV quiz show and, armed only with a coughing helper, scooped the top prize. The so-called’ Coughing Major’ scandal lived on in our cultural memory and, after a run on the West End, it was inevitable that a drama about the story has now hit our TV screens. With strong performances and a sharp script that refuses to judge, Quiz is a compelling retelling of this infamous tale.

The drama retells the story of the creation of hit ITV quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, its initial runaway success and the scandal that brought it worldwide attention. The creation of entertainment company Celador, run by founder Paul Smith (Mark Bonnar), Millionaire proved a major ratings hit. But with such success, a shadow industry was founded, dedicated to finding ways to game the game itself. Diana Ingram (Sian Clifford) was one of the contestants who came into their orbit, but it was her husband, Major Charles Ingram (Matthew Maacfadyen), who was destined to win the top prize in 2001. But how did a man with little appreciation for quizzes scoop the million – could he *cough cough* be a cheat?

But with such success, a shadow industry was founded, dedicated to finding ways to game the game itself

Quiz is really a play of three acts, with each episode telling a different piece of the story. We begin with the show’s creation and Diana and her brother Adrian’s (Trystan Gravelle) goes at winning the million. Episode two puts Ingram in the chair opposite Chris Tarrant (Michael Sheen), recreating the key scenes from his victorious game and following the crew as they become convinced he is cheating. And we wrap up with the Ingrams’ trial, as Sonia Woodley QC (Helen McCrory) presents an astonishing alternative version of events in defence of the couple. I really wish there would have been more of the latter, because it was by far the most gripping piece of the story.

Before Quiz aired, a lot of people were suggesting that the show would sink or swim based on Sheen’s impersonation of Chris Tarrant – there’s a lot more going on, but it should be said that the likeness is uncanny. Seeing him, sitting on a recreation of that set, that familiar opening music – there are points where I felt caught up in the original show. I’m old enough to remember when Millionaire first aired, and quite what a phenomenon it was, and Quiz really recaptures that magic.

But we’ve far more than Tarrant. It’s easy to root for Ingram because Macfadyen plays him as so likeable, ordinary and sincere, and he has a really charming chemistry with Clifford as his wife. It’s this human element that really drives Quiz forward, with the couple caught up in a circumstance beyond their imagining. On the TV executive side, we have Mark Bonnar, who is always brilliant in everything (even though there were definite instances of accent slippage going on). You can see the passion as his show is created and jeopardised, and it leads to some great scenes with the other ITV figures. At one stage, an executive describes the Celebrity Crime Squad as sounding like a crap show – another one then suggests it sounds like something they’d make.

I’m old enough to remember when Millionaire first aired, and quite what a phenomenon it was, and Quiz really recaptures that magic

A lot of critics have rallied against certain inaccuracies, and are annoyed that Quiz never definitively answers the question at its very heart – were the Ingrams guilty of cheating? Really, though, that’s the point, and it’s to the show’s strength that it makes this so ambiguous. There are much bigger issues at stake here, with the control of narratives, the reliability of memory and the worrying fusion of fact and entertainment, three subtexts that permeate Quiz. At one point, Woodley tells the Ingrams that they’re up against it because their narrative has already been written – that the third episode takes such an established story and makes us doubt is testament to James Graham’s sharp script.

Quiz is an interesting show, each episode boasting a distinct feel, but it adds up to a really compelling run of TV. It takes a story we all thought we knew and dares us to question – such is the power of the main performances, we really want to. Much like the original Millionaire, Quiz has you on the edge of your seats, watching as ordinary people face life-changing decisions and facing the emotional consequences of doing so. I’d recommend you catch up with it – and that is my final answer.