As the episode begins, Charles Ingram (Matthew Macfadyen) shows up to take the MENSA test. The man scheduling the appointment makes fun of him when he turns his back but Charles passes the test and gets a pin. He wears that pin to court while the woman in charge of the show talks about Charles and Diana (Sian Clifford) arguing after winning the money. He lays out her theory that Charles was supposed to stop a few questions earlier so they wouldn’t be so much attention but he couldn’t help himself. Sonia Woodley QC (Helen McCrory) speaks to the jury about memories and the human brain. She says that we’re not actually recalling the original event when remembering something. She explains that people only remember the last time they remembered it.

So, they’re constantly wiping their pasts and creating new ones. She claims that all memories are a lie and that is human nature. She wants to convince the jury that Charles knew the answers and that is why he got them right. Then, we jump back to September of 2001 to the Salisbury Police Station and Charles and Diana (Sian Clifford) are taken to an interview room. Charles is asked about the coughs and changing his answer but he can’t believe it. He explains that the audience and producers want the drama and tension before Diana is asked about her book. Charles confesses that he never read her book. Seconds later, they’re questions about Tecwen Whittock (Michael Jibson). Charles doesn’t know him but Diana does and she called him before the second show.

Diana says it wasn’t a relationship. They only shared the fact that they liked the show and that isn’t illegal. After that, Diana and Charles return home to find their house surrounded by journalists. They manage to break through the journalists and escape inside. Charles says it is a nightmare and that they actually think they did it. Their conversation turns to Tecwen and Diana admits she barely knew him. It was Adrian (Trystan Gravelle) who spent more time with him. Charles reminds her that he didn’t want to go on the bloody show to begin with and he got sucked into it. He is worried how that is going to look to a jury. After a bit more, the couple meets with Sonia Woodley and she says something stinks about their case.

She agrees to take on their case and represent them in the courtroom. She tells them that their arrest is the type that is normally associated with pedophiles and murders. The narrative of their guilt is already being written. Next, Paul Smith (Mark Bonnar) and David Briggs (Elliot Levey) look at a newspaper article about Diana’s book. They find out that the team is working on new show ideas but Paul isn’t sure why that is necessary. Then, we see news videos of the start of the trial before Charles and Diana arrive at court. They sit next to Tecwen who introduces himself to them seconds later. David Liddiment (Risteard Cooper) and the others sit in the audience. Kevin Duff (Andrew Leung) is interviewed by the prosecutor about the coughs.

He walks the jury through the video of the coughs and Charles changing his mind. The prosecutor says that Diana was looking over at the fastest finger section trying to urge Tecwen to help her husband. Once they’ve finished, Sonia begins questioning the witness. She tries to use Kevin to show that Celador created the evidence since there were at least 5 other tapes. Kevin admits that the video was edited together because they needed to show the police and jury what happened. After that, another Fastest Finger First contestant takes the stand and he claims he knew about the cheating from the beginning. When Sonia questions him, she manages to prove otherwise since his previous statements contradict that.

She also says that many of the Fastest Finger First contestants were angry at some of the guests because they took too long to answer the questions. Next, the detective takes the stand and he begins chatting about Adrian’s pagers. Sonia gets him to admit that the tape recording stayed with the show’s producers because they needed to add the fingerprints to it. He quickly changes his words to cover for that mistake. The jury and others begin coughing and the judge tries to get them to stop but he starts coughing too. A man coughs and laughs at the couple while they sit with Sonia. Charles is worried that things aren’t going well for them but Sonia says they’ll get their chance to fight back. She wonders why he didn’t mention the MENSA badge.

He says that he doesn’t boast about it and that he did it for himself. When Diana picks up the kids, several children throw eggs at their vehicle. Diana discusses that with Charles and says they might need to make plans for prison before Adrian calls. He wants to talk about the book but Diana doesn’t have time for that. When the call ends, Diana apologizes to Charles but he tells her not to do that since they’re in this together. We jump forward and Chris Tarrant (Michael Sheen) is the next witness. He admits that it took some convincing for him to believe that Charles cheated. He tells the court how strict the show is so they can prevent people from cheating. He tells Sonia that he didn’t notice anything at all suspicious.

Paul and David discuss Tarrant’s answers a bit later. David suggests doing a documentary when the show is over and Paul receives a summons. Next, Diana returns home with the kids and finds Charles holding their injured dog. He is forced to bury it later that night. The following day, he is harassed and spit on by a few teenagers. He is shown in jail before his boss talks to him. He tries to give Charles advice and encouragement. Charles breaks down and cries. Then, it is time for Sonia to present witnesses. The first witness talks about Tecwen and the fact that he suffers from chronic coughing. So, he says that he would’ve been a bad person for Diana and Charles to pick. Then, Tecwen takes the stand and discusses the other shows he has been on. He admits that he never did well on any of them.

We also find out that he had a rough upbringing and was born in a psychiatric hospital. Despite that, he became a teacher and has a family of his own. Paul listens as Tecwen denies the accusations against him. That night, Paul heads online and checks out the forums where people get tips for the show. He finds the phone number of Paddy Spooner (Jerry Killick) and decides to meet with him the following day. Paddy is hesitant to talk at first but he eventually sits down with Paul. He begins telling Paul about the extensive operation and that he is going to retire from it. Before Paddy leaves, he tells Paul that Diana and Charles were never clients. He says that there were hundreds for Diana and Charles were never their clients. Diana is the next on the witness stand and she discusses her love for quizzes.

She tries to explain away the reason she called the four pages before Adrian arrives. She says that Adrian was trying to call their father that night because he is a bigger fan than them. She also says they tried to become chair-wise so they would be entertaining and stay in the chair longer. She also goes on to say that you’re seated behind your partner so you have to look at the monitor to see their face. We see that Diana helped Charles train for the competition. The training continues on and on until Charles gets better. Then, Charles is on the stand and he tells Sonia about forgetting who Craig David was. He says it just wouldn’t go in. The tough questions are easier for him but the easy ones are not. He says that he changes his answer because he heard a gasp from the audience and not a cough.

The jury is told about the abuse Charles has gone through and he says he didn’t cheat. He says that he tried to be entertaining, get the questions right, and do his wife proud. Paul is the next witness. He is reminded that there more than 190 coughs on the night in question. She wonders why he didn’t suspect Judith Keppel who was the first millionaire. We watch footage of her win and see that it is full of coughs as well. Paul says that he knows the game and he knows how normal people play it. Charles didn’t play it normal but he confesses that he didn’t see Charles play live. He wasn’t at the studio and arrived late. It admits it is personal because the show was his life and he claims they were trying to ruin his show. Then, he is asked about the 18 minutes between the Craig David question and the Baron Haussmann question when there are no significant coughs.

Paul claims that Tecwen didn’t need to cough on those questions because Charles knew the answers. Sonia doesn’t believe Tecwen would’ve known that since they didn’t know each other and Paul doesn’t know that either. He is still adamant that Charles cheated. Sonia gives her closing argument before Paul and Charles end up in the bathroom together. It is an awkward encounter and they do not say anything to one another. Then, the jury comes back and finds all three defendants guilty. The trio is given 18 months in prison to be suspended for two years. Sonia explains that justice just has to be “seen” to be done more than it actually has to be. She encourages Charles not to question it and go live their lives. Then, he tells his wife that he’ll have to resign his commission.

She reminds him that Tarrant said he was an amazing man. They step outside and find themselves surrounded by journalists. Later, they sit down with a journalist who wants to pay them a lot of money for a confession. Charles decides against it and sticks with the photo only. We learn that the documentary about the case was the highest-rated factual program since the funeral of Princess Diana. David, Paul, and the others celebrate that. When Diana goes to bed, Charles turns the channel and sees Chris on television. He is asked what the answer is but he turns on the television and says nothing. We find out that the Ingrams maintain their innocence to this day and continue to work on their appeal with hopes of overturning the verdict.

 

Quiz Review

I thought Quiz was great. I can imagine it was difficult to create such a show since the subject matter contains little action. Nevertheless, the writers managed to bring some tension and drama with every episode. I can’t argue with the cast either. Everyone did great in their respective roles. It is difficult to say whether Charles was guilty or not. Nevertheless, it is clear that the production crew put in great effort to find enough evidence to bring him down. Whether or not the evidence was correct, it seems overzealous.

It seems a bit odd that they would convict him with the evidence put forth. I find it easy to see things from both sides but finding Charles guilty sees a bit more far fetched to me. Would one have to be paranoid to begin with to come up with such an outlandish accusation? Of course, the show might’ve done its job pushing my opinion in this direction and I could be completely wrong. It was indeed effective in making the Ingrams easy to sympathize with.

As far as entertainment goes, I enjoyed it. I would give the finale an 8 out of 10. Previous recaps of Quiz can be found on Reel Mockery.