As the 2nd episode begins, we’re taken to somewhere in Wales where Adrian Pollock (Trystan Gravelle) has been living in a trailer. He lays several pages out on a table before Diana (Sian Clifford) calls. He visits a payphone and tells her that all four of them work. Adrian asks if Charles (Matthew Macfadyen) is ready. He plays along with Millionaire on the television and he is nowhere near ready. Diana tells her brother that he is going to need all of the help he can get. On September 9, 2001, Charles and Diana visit the Millionaire studio. Charles tours the facility so he can prepare for his live appearance. He plays the fast finger game first and ends up in last place. David Briggs (Elliot Levey) is told about Charles and his relationship with Adrian and Diana.
He is told that Charles likely won’t make it to the chair before being told about Diana’s request for an extra ticket. Charles sits with Diana and practices until Adrian arrives. Then, we jump forward and Charles wins the fast fingers game. Before a break, Charles sits down in the hot seat and Chris Tarrant (Michael Sheen) asks him about his family. During this time, Adrian messes around on his cellphone. Then, Charles is asked the first question and he gets it right. He struggles with the second question while Adrian sneaks outside to use his phone. He is caught and told that he can’t be out there on the phone. He goes back in. Meanwhile, Briggs watches Charles and agrees that he is an idiot but he doesn’t understand how he got into the chair in the first place.
Charles uses one of his lifelines and gets the second question right. For the next question, he has to phone a friend. Charles decides to phone Gerald while Adrian continues working on his phone outside until he is caught once again. Once again, Charles gets the right answer and he makes it up to 4,000 pounds but time runs out. The audience is told about the other fastest finger contestants who will be on the show tomorrow alongside Charles. One of the contestants is named Tecwen Whittock (Michael Jibson) and Diana has his name written in her notebook along with other details. Once the show ends, Charles, Diana, and Adrian chat in a private room. Diana wants to better prepare for tomorrow but Adrian says he won’t be there tomorrow.
Seconds later, the woman in charge barges in and tells them that they’ll need to stay at a motel for the night but Charles wants to go to work. He promises to be there tomorrow but says he has to go to work. Later that night, Diana calls Tecwen because she wants to chat with him. Then, we jump forward and Charles returns to the hot seat. Tecwen is right behind him. Charles tells Tarrant that he has a new strategy for the day so he is going on the counteract. The woman in charge tells the man running the controls that they do not expect Charles to be there for long so they should prepare for the next contestant. Charles struggles with the question but eventually gets the right answer.
He continues to the next question and runs into more trouble. Seconds later, David Briggs is told that Charles is like a new man today. Charles uses his last lifeline 50-50 and that doesn’t help. He contemplates the question until Diana coughs. He changes his mind and gets the right answer. By this point, David Briggs is suspicious that something is going on. He calls Paul Smith (Mark Bonnar) and says he thinks Charles might be cheating. He explains that normal people do not play like this so Paul agrees to come down. Charles gets another question right. He is presented with a check for 250,00 pounds but Tarrant takes it away from him before the questions continue.
Charles is asked a tough question about the planning of cities. We hear some coughs from the audience before Diana says oh god no and the man watching the monitors notices that something is going on. Charles says Paris and he is correct. Meanwhile, the man responsible for dropping the glitter has to rush to prepare since they’ve never dropped the glitter before. Charles gets his last question and he listens to several coughs from the audience. Tecwen asks the man beside him what the answer is. When he is given the answer, he coughs when Charles mentions googol. Charles goes with that as his answer before the show stops for a break.
Briggs encourages Paul to stop the show now but he can’t do that. When the show returns, Charles is told that he selected the right answer and he has won a million dollars. Glitter falls down and Charles begins celebrating. Charles is given his check. He rides in a vehicle with Diana and they can’t stop looking at it before they arrive at an expensive motel. Meanwhile, Paul is allowed to listen to the coughing in the video footage. He is told that there might be a pattern and Charles might’ve been cheating. Paul goes outside and calls Ruth (Seraphina Beh) to ask for her help. He tells her that the gang might’ve cheated and several other people are called and told the same thing.
The following day, Paul meets with Briggs, David Liddiment (Risteard Cooper), Lionel (Paul Bazely), and others. They wonder if they should air the episode of Charles winning a million pounds. Lionel admits he isn’t sure if it is a crime to cheat on a game show before the group is shown the coughing footage. Paul suggests skipping Charles and fast forwarding to Tecwen who is the next contestant in the chair. Meanwhile, Charles gets a visit from Briggs and Ruth. Charles is asked about one of the questions and it takes him a minute to get the answer. He is asked about changing his mind a lot and they go back and forth a bit. Charles tells them about the book Diana is writing with her brother. When they leave, David is convinced that they’ve cheated but Ruth isn’t sure.
Paul says there might be a chance someone was using a radio receiver to listen to the show from outside. He also wants to know why Adrian was given a ticket to be there. Then, David Briggs admits that they do not search the audience for cellphones. The group wonders whether they should cancel the check or not. Lionel says it might be best to let them cash it so it will be entrapment but Liddiment isn’t sure about that. Ruth listens to the coughing on tape and she doesn’t buy their theory since the audio has been cleaned up and the coughing isolated. She reminds them that there are coughs on the right and wrong answers. Paul calls someone at Scotland Yard before they see a news report about the terrorist attacks on September 11.
Meanwhile, Charles chats on the phone with his wife from work. He admits he hasn’t told the chaps about his win yet before he is told about the call from Celador. Paul and the others meet with a detective so they can discuss the possible crime. Charles calls and he learns that there have been irregularities so they’ve stopped the check. Charles doesn’t seem startled. Later, he tells Diana about that call and she can’t understand it. She admits she told the book publisher about his win and they’ve set up a photo and interview thing. Charles believes Adrian has put those thoughts in her head though. Diana isn’t sure the call came from Celador so she decides to call them herself. She believes it is over the top.
She calls the number and speaks with Paul momentarily. She manages to confirm that it was Celador calling earlier. She says they’re going to do the press interview since Charles won the money and it is his. Newspaper articles are published about Diana’s book helping her husband become a TV millionaire and Paul gets a copy. He says that they need to make a statement because they’re cheats. He speaks Chris Tarrant who can’t believe that Charles cheated. He believes he would’ve known if Charles had been cheating and he didn’t notice anything. Paul promises that nobody will try anything like this ever again before Chris asks who was coughing. Then, the detective is shown footage of the show and the people coughing,
They believe one of the fastest fingers contestants might’ve been involved. The following day, Ferguson arrives at Charles’s house with a search warrant. He is told that they’re being placed under arrest. Then, Sonia Woodley QC (Helen McCrory) speaks in court about Charles not liking quizzes and winning. She says it is all utter nonsense and the three defendants had never even met. The significant recorded coughs are only 19 of 192 recorded coughs and there were coughs during wrong and right answers. It is impossible to know if any of them ever came from Tecwen Whittock. She asks if everyone on the show was waiting for an attack or something strange to happen and in walks Charles Ingram. She says it is a series of horrible coincidences and that Charles is completely innocent.
Quiz Review
So far, I’ve enjoyed both episodes of Quiz. The acting has been excellent and I can feel the intensity. While I know that Charles is going to win, I am on the edge of my seat waiting to see what is going to happen. I appreciate that they’re covering a true story and I’ll wait until I dig deeper into the subject matter. However, I find it hard to believe that a network would go so far to punish someone they felt was cheating on a game show. On top of that, their theory is a bit difficult to fathom.
It makes me believe they were a bit paranoid from the beginning and Charles’s odd behavior caused that to spiral out of control. Either way, I feel that both episodes have been very good. I am eager to see what is going to happen next. This episode scores an 8 out of 10. Past recaps of Quiz are available on Reel Mockery.
Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
