Quiz

A superb drama. ... Quiz is everything McMillion$ should’ve been: propulsive, efficiently told drama that boils down a lorry full of facts to the simple 50:50 question: Did they or didn’t they?

Quiz makes you genuinely care about the Ingrams, and after their barrister (an exceptional Helen McCrory) gives a well-reasoned and fully logical case for why the Ingrams didn’t cheat, you can’t help but be in doubt.

Quiz dramatizes an already melodramatic story in an absolutely outstanding and zany miniseries. ... What elevates "Quiz" beyond a scripted docudrama is the performances from the cast, especially MacFadyen, Clifford, Sheen and Bonnar.

Given how entertaining it is, there's a much better than 50-50 chance that those who watch won't feel the least bit cheated.

Quiz is smart, entertaining, and told with a great sense of efficiency. By sticking to three hour-long episodes, it provides all wheat and no chaff.

While I don't always believe this, it's an experience that plays out with more purity if you come in knowing as little as possible. The whiplash is part of the fun and the fun is more intense if you can treat Quiz as bordering on fiction, a chain being jerked around by two excellent storytellers, facilitated by a cast of familiar faces all in top form.

All of this is handled, by the estimable Frears (“A Very English Scandal”), with a sure hand and a light wit; it’s consistently entertaining. The really distinctive feature of the show, though, is the sleight of hand he and Graham employ to keep open the question of the Ingrams’ guilt.

To the credit of writer James Graham and director Stephen Frears (“A Very English Scandal”), “Quiz” rigorously offers both sides of the story and allows viewers to decide.

“Quiz” goes back and presents an alternate version of events it’s already portrayed, showing us all the ways in which editing a story to better fit a narrative might transform it completely. It’s a risky gambit, and one that frankly works better on a second viewing when you can better appreciate all the winks Graham layered in from the start. But when it does come together, “Quiz” is as compelling as the show that first inspired it.

“Quiz” is a thought-provoking and entertaining miniseries, even if it peters out a bit close to the end.

Quiz’s tight, three-part structure is one of its selling points in this era of overstuffed TV, but the trim runtime isn’t utilized nearly as well as it could’ve been. That doesn’t make it boring, however. The behind-the-curtain glimpse at quiz TV’s nuts and bolts is exciting, and Michael Sheen’s riff on original host Chris Tarrant succeeds both in translating his on-camera amiability and the ways Tarrant’s life in the spotlight translated into his real-life behaviors.

Quiz isn’t exactly a heavy lift for the viewer; it’s only 3 parts — though probably would be better as 2 — and is about a scandal that has more silly elements (a lot of coughing, for instance) than serious ones.

A polished production with strong performances that’s always incredibly watchable. Ultimately however, I’m not exactly sure what James Graham’s script, based on his play of the same name, expects us to take away from it, and the muddled perspective sometimes hold back what could have been a stronger piece about spectacle and obsession.

The opening episode gets off to a shaky start, credibility and credulity-wise, as we watch how the show that would soon dominate the schedules came together. ... Fortunately, once the nuts and bolts are dealt with and the focus shifts to the Ingrams and life among normal humans outside the TV studios, the drama becomes as addictive as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? proved.

Clifford and Macfadyen both play to the strengths they’ve showed in their most recent TV roles: flinty intelligence for her, barely-concealed vulnerability for him. But the resolution of the story is underwhelming, making the whole thing feel like a waste even at a modest three hours.