Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Quiz Blu-ray Movie Review

Playing the game.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III January 8, 2021

James Graham's mini-series Quiz dramatizes the real-life cheating scandal during a 2001 episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in which British Army major Charles Ingram, conspiring with his wife Diana and another man, scammed his way to the show's £1M jackpot. Told mostly in flashback with bookending segments during the subsequent trial of all three guilty parties, it's a well-paced production with the scope and running time of a feature film. Capably directed by Stephen Frears (Dangerous Liaisons, High Fidelity) and based on Graham's own stage production of the same name, Quiz's keen eye for detail and commitment to visual realism make it an accessible, entertaining watch.

Aside from its fascinating source story, Quiz's greatest strengths are pacing and a structure that gets more interesting as it goes on. Chronological flashbacks begin at the British network ITV with the arrival of new creative director David Liddiment (Risteárd Cooper), a fan of "event TV" who greenlights a formerly rejected trivia game show idea at the urging of producer Paul Smith (Mark Bonnar); initially called "Cash Mountain", it features trivia questions that escalate in value. Its creative team focuses on the core idea's potential for drama while adding an unprecedented top prize of £1M; soon enough, the newly-named Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" is a smash hit with a growing audience of eager contestants and TV executives from around the world. Simply put, everyone wants a piece of the pie.

Elsewhere, we meet Diana Ingram (Sian Clifford) and her brother Adrian Pollock (Trystan Gravelle), both massive trivia fans desperate to play for the prize. Adrian even designs and builds a practice mechanism that gives him an advantage in qualifying. When their questionable methods of registration land them separate spots on the show -- where they each win a disappointing £38,000 -- Diana's hapless husband Charles (Matthew Macfadyen) is their last hope. Together, with the help of interested third party Tecwen Whittock (Michael Jibson), they devise a plan to secretly feed Charles the correct answers as he plays, coughing from separate seats when the correct answer is read.

The problem is that Charles isn't very convincing in his style of play. He clumsily second-guesses himself at every turn, amusing host Chris Tarrant (Michael Sheen) but setting off red flags backstage as his earnings increase. Nonetheless, the fateful show -- recorded on September 10, 2001 and never aired -- ends with a £1M payout. ITV's examination of the footage, combined with audio recording of the audience, are enough to prompt a police investigation... which predictably does not go well for Charles and, later, Diana. But long before their trial starts, the public is already convinced of their guilt and harasses the Ingram family at every turn. Some even resort to violence.

Quiz is an intriguing watch during all three of its 50-minute episodes, but it takes an even more interesting turn in the home stretch. Its left-field finale is almost entirely devoted to entertaining a more ambiguous possibility of the Ingrams' innocence, accomplished through visual sleight-of-hand and some good old-fashioned unreliable narration. I'm still not convinced the real-life parties are anything but guilty, a conclusion made even less difficult after the serendipitous release of the full broadcast version earlier this year, which was never aired in full but is edited and mixed for TV -- not exactly "raw footage". (I could do without the uploader's additional text prompts, but this still seems like an open-and-shut case.) Although part of me doesn't the idea of a drama playing devil's advocate, I think Quiz's real fight is against the public mob mentality that unfairly punished the Ingram family well before their court trial.

Despite that extremely mild reservation, Quiz is nonetheless a highly recommended title -- and most especially for those intrigued by legal dramas and TV-related scandals. (This one from the popular American game show Press Your Luck is another gem... although I personally don't feel that any part of that contestant's plan was illegal, despite his sketchy actions later.) Luckily, RLJ Entertainment's Blu-ray offers a good amount of support for Quiz on their low-priced disc, which includes very solid A/V specs and a handful of lightweight but appreciated bonus features.

Quiz Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray with a slick and polished 1080p transfer, Quiz looks exceptional from start to finish. This looks to have been an entirely digital production with a very clean and refined image, minimal noise in the darkest of scenes, and a strong amount of depth and image detail overall. Skin tones are accurate and textures occasional pop in close-ups, including hair and clothing. But not surprisingly, scenes shot to mimic Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? are perhaps the most impressive -- mainly because of the creative team's attention to detail, which includes the show's dramatic lighting and cool blue set design, which contrasts nicely with warmer colors when the studio audience is shown. On-screen graphics, likewise meant to mimic their real-life counterparts, are razor-sharp and easy to read. Scenes shot in an around rural London are also impressive with vivid colors, none more so than the lush green foliage and brick architecture. Overall, it's a terrific picture that likely meets or exceeds any available streaming version.

NOTE: The 152-minute running time of this disc, as well as its 1080p24 transfer, both strongly suggest that this Blu-ray plays at a slightly slower speed than its original 25fps PAL broadcast, which is listed as 147 minutes. Although not a deal-breaker for me personally (and not uncommon for imports), I felt this was a detail worth including.

Quiz Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Quiz's default DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix unsurprisingly plays it straight. The wide majority of this three-part mini-series is almost entirely dialogue-driven and fairly low-key, with the most notable exceptions being the more exciting mock footage of Who Wants to Millionaire? and both bustling press scenes outside a London court that bookend this production; these moments obviously make good use of the rear channels with a more lively atmosphere and strong channel separation to maintain a pretty convincing illusion. By contrast, everything else is anchored almost squarely up front with occasional panning from left to right depending on the number of people speaking, while the sporadic original score by composer Murray Gold occasionally drifts into the rears for dramatic effect. All told it's a very clean and precise mix that's easy to follow, and one that rarely employs any unnatural tricks to get the job done.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included as well, which may help to decipher a few of the supporting characters' stronger accents. These are cleanly formatted, small enough not to distract, and are synced perfectly.

Quiz Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This release arrives in a standard keepcase with a matching slipcover and no inserts. On-disc extras aren't much to speak of but at least provide a quick peek behind the scenes with key members of the cast and crew. No shortage of information about the real-life Millionaire scandal is available online, of course. (This piece is a good start.)

• A Look at the Series (2:13) - Key members of the cast and crew offer a promotional overview of the production including Matthew Macfadyen, Michael Sheen, Sian Clifford, and Mark Bonnar.

• Constructing the Set (2:06) - Time-lapse footage of the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? set being built in August and September of 2019. It's really well-done and almost unmistakable for the real thing.

• Michael Sheen is Chris Tarrant (4:20 ) - The British actor -- also known for his appearances in films like Frost/Nixon, Masters of Sex, and The Queen -- speaks about his role and the real-life host.

• Introduces Charles and Diana Ingram (4:45) - Sian Clifford and Matthew Macfayden discuss the real scandal, "the court of public opinion", and Quiz's conscious decision to present the story ambiguously.

Quiz Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

James Graham's mini-series Quiz is an accessible and thought-provoking examination of a real-life 2001 game show scandal that, somewhat surprisingly, lends a sympathetic ear to all three accused suspects in the home stretch while ultimately remaining ambiguous. It's a perfectly cast and well-paced production that remains compelling from start to finish. RLJ Entertainment's Blu-ray offers a strong audio/video presentation as well a few surface-level bonus features, with its main feature easily worth the asking price. Recommended to those interested in the subject matter.