At the beginning of the episode, Charles (Matthew Macfadyen) and Diana Ingram (Sian Clifford) enters a courtroom and sit down together. A man sitting beside of them introduces himself and says that they’ve been charged with co-conspiracy. He says that it is nice to meet them at last before the attorney begins speaking about the crimes they’re charged with. After the short intro, we jump over to ITV Network Offices in October of 1997. David Liddiment (Risteard Cooper) steps up to the receptionist’s desk and introduces himself as the new director of programs. Two employees upstairs watch and talk about the man.

Claudia (Aisling Bea) arrives seconds later and speaks with David Liddiment. David says that he is interested in event television and he wants to know why the BBC always trounces them in the big stuff. He believes people still want to gather and experience something big together. Claudia chats about new television game show formats that might be effective and she thinks it is time to invent their own. She begins telling him about the idea to give away 1 million pounds before we jump over to Paul Smith (Mark Bonnar) and his team which is trying to build a new game called Cash Mountain. Paul is told that they could double the earnings with each question and Paul says it is a quiz and not a game show.

Next, Diana and Adrian (Trystan Gravelle) hang out at a pub together and play a quiz game. They’re interrupted when Charles calls so Diana can listen to her daughter play the piano. Polly plays for her mother before the telephone conversation ends. The following day, Diana and Paul leave home with their children. Diana says that Adrian is very competitive so Charles reminds her that she has the same attitude. After that, Paul and his partner pitch the game show idea to David and they encourage him to play with them. David plays the game and he admits he sees something there. However, he is worried that they might not make enough money from the phone lines. Paul alleviates his concerns by offering to put his money up so the show can have a chance.

After that, David says he wants to see a pilot. Paul’s partner says he hopes the first few people on the show are idiots because he could run into financial issues. Meanwhile, Charles goes to the army base and speaks with another man. During the conversation, we learn that Charles’s mother designed sets for plays so he knows some of the verses to popular songs and such. They sing together until the older man gets the verse wrong. Next, Paul sits down with Chris Tarrant (Michael Sheen) so he can invite him to present the show. After a little back and forth, Chris agrees to film a pilot for the show but it turns out to be too happy and cheesy. Paul and his partner admit that the pilot was a mess and David is willing to cooperate with them.

He says they’re going to strip it and run it every night for a week at peak times. He also says that they need to find a new name for the show. While visiting the set, they hear a man singing a song and decide to name the show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Then, we see another episode of the show hosted by Chris Tarrant before Charles watches the show with Adrian and Diana. The show does exceptionally well this time but the guests want to take the money and quit early. Then, a woman named Rachel gets to play and she runs into trouble quickly. She makes for intense and dramatic television that Paul has been hoping for. Rachel’s dad is not able to help her so she takes the money only to find out she would’ve answered right.

Adrian immediately calls the hotline so he can try to get onto the show while Paul learns that the show had 9 million viewers. Adrian calls the show over and over while Chris hosts more episodes. Then, Paul learns that the numbers have jumped to 16 million. After 50 calls or such, Adrian finally gets accepted onto the show. He invites Diana to be his guest and she agrees. During the visit, they meet with a woman and man who are going to be on the show as well. They explain that some fans have been sharing intel to help them get onto the show and such. The woman gives Adrian a phone number for someone who can help him. Adrian gets beat at the finger fast game so he doesn’t get to take the hot seat.

Meanwhile, the television show earns a lot of awards so American producers decide to work with Paul. Adrian watches a news report about the show being taken to the United States while looking at his expensive phone bills. He calls the number the woman gave to him and decides to meet with Mr. Spooner. They meet the following day and Spooner is surprised that Adrian brought his kids around. Spooner says that a group has been working together to take advantage of the show and the man with all of the answers will be God. He tells Adrian about the phone system the television show uses to get new participants and how they can cheat that system. Then, Adrian is told about a group he can call while on the show and get answers.

The only problem is that he’ll need to give them 25% of his earnings so he turns that down right now. He returns home and creates a fast finger system so he can practice at home. He appears on the show several times until he manages to answer first. Paul speaks to his partner about Adrian being there four times and he is happy that he can only play once. Adrian does decent during the show but has to call his father who gives him the wrong answer. In the end, he makes 32,000 pounds and that likely won’t be enough to cover his debts. After that, he shows Charles and Diana how he has been practicing for the game show and he wants Diana to use everything he has. Later, the man in court confronts Adrian and says he thinks something is going on weird since he was on the show four times.

Adrian tells the man that his sister will be on the show too. He wants to pay Adrian to create another box so he can practice too. Then, Diana takes the stage and Adrian is there in the audience. Paul and his partner believe they have a problem. Diana ends up leaving with 32,000 pounds as well. Back at home, Charles tells her that the money will come in handy with the business. She intends to give some of it to her brother and that leads to an argument. She also reveals they’re going to write a book to help others get onto the show and such but Charles believes that is cheating. Meanwhile, David speaks to his team about it being cheating. He learns that Ruth Settle is going to join them and that she is head of PR at Celador.

Head of press, Nicola Howson, has joined them as well. They agree they have a nightmare to deal with. Paul believes they’re getting bolder. David says it needs to be stopped now. Adrian tells Charles and Diana that he is going to go away until he can find a way to pay everyone back. Adrian leaves a little notebook with her and storms out. She looks through the book that night while telling her husband that he needs to go onto the show. She thinks it is Charles’s turn to go onto the show but he says he doesn’t like quizzes. She says the family has followed him around a lot now they need him. At this moment, they receive a call from the Millionaire people who want to tell Charles that he has been selected by the computer to be a part of the closest to questions.

He learns that his wife has already started calling and leaving his name. Then, we jump to the courtroom and the attorney says it is theft while we see Charles winning on the show. He says that they’re guilty of a crime that carries with it time in prison. Charles sits down with Chris as the episode ends.

 

Quiz Review

Quiz was very interesting from start to finish. I recall hearing something about people cheating on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire but I am not too familiar with the story. I am glad the show is going to cover it in more depth. It is hard to lose with this cast. You can’t go wrong with Matthew Macfadyen, Mark Bonnar, Trystan Gravelle, and the others. The opening episode did a great job of introducing us to the characters and developing a back history for the show.

I enjoyed it. I’d give the opening episode an 8 out of 10.