PREVIEW: Quiz
When television producer Paul Smith puts everything on the line to make ITV quiz show and overnight sensation ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire?’, one family’s much loved pub-quiz hobby turns into outright obsession.
As the family’s attempts to win the ultimate prize fall short, all eyes turn to an unsuspecting Major Charles Ingram to take his turn in the coveted hotseat. While his first night on the show is a disaster, on the second, he is a brand new man with a brand new strategy.
The audience on the edge of their seats, Charles dithers and about-turns all the way up the question ladder while an increasingly suspicious production team launch an investigation that will lead them to an incriminating pattern of coughs in the studio audience.
Charged with fraud and persecuted by the public and press Charles, his wife Diana and the alleged cougher head to court. At first it seems the trial is a fait accompli, but as the case for the defence gets underway, the jury learn there is far more to the story than they know.
Episode 1
Major Charles Ingram doesn’t even like quizzes... but for his wife Diana, and brother-in-law Adrian, knowing the answer is a way of life. When television producer Paul Smith puts everything on the line to make ITV quiz show and overnight sensation ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire?’ a much-loved pub-quiz hobby turns into outright obsession. As Diana and Adrian’s repeated attempts to get into in the hotseat fall short, all eyes turn to an unsuspecting Charles to win the million-pound prize. Meanwhile, the repeated reappearance of middle-class, professional quizzers has not gone unnoticed by the ITV team and Paul makes a vow to stop them by any means necessary.
Cast
Charles Ingram (Matthew Macfadyen) Diana Ingram (Sian Clifford) Paul Smith (Mark Bonnar) Chris Tarrant (Michael Sheen) Sonia Woodley QC (Helen McCrory) Tecwen Whittock (Michael Jibson) Adrian Pollock (Trystan Gravelle) David Liddiment (Risteard Cooper) Claudia Rosencrantz (Aisling Bea) David Briggs (Elliot Levey) Nicola Howson (Jasmyn Banks) Ruth Settle (Seraphina Beh) Nicholas Hilliard QC (Nicholas Woodeson) Kevin Duff (Andrew Leung) Kerry the Floor Manager (Maggie Service) Paddy Spooner (Jeremy Killick) Arthur Pollock (Tony Turner)