mjames-45638
Joined Mar 2018
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mjames-45638's rating
Does cheating ring a bell in a quiz show? Remember what happened in the 1950s in America when the infamous scandal occurred? Quiz shows mustn't be corrupted nor influenced by the spasms of cheating and so forth. Here, is Quiz, based on the 2001 Ingram coughing incident on the TV show, Who Wants to Be A Millionaire, which frankly is also based on the successful stage play of the same name by James Graham. It is directed by masterclass, Stephen Frears.
What way does it show? Well, I admit the first 20 minutes of the drama was nothing short of dreadful. It only really got going with the mysterious Paddy Spooner, who had appeared on both the Australian and the UK versions of the format itself. He meets Charles's brother-in-law, Adrian Pollock, who was desperately trying to get onto the show but for 2 years, he still didn't get onto the hot seat. He cleverly creates a device similar to the Fastest Finger First machine featured on the show. His practice runs of doing it eventually helped him get onto the hot seat in December 2000 of what was his 4th appearance of the show as a FFF hopeful. His sister, Diana, appeared months later in 2001. Both these 2 won £32,000 each and although some of Adrian's debts were cleared, Diana persuaded her husband, Charles, to get onto the quiz and hopefully land himself on the hot seat.
Luck arrived in September 2001, close to the 9/11 atrocity, but at the same time, a little game of deception was about to be played on the game itself. Tecwen Whittock, was approached by both of the Ingrams, though sadly, we don't see enough evidence of how they got in touch with him in the first place and how did she find the correct phone number to contact him?
The intensity builds up as Charles cheats his way to a million thanks to Tecwen's coughing on what is right and what is wrong. These are some of the finest highlights of the drama itself but sadly, it is marred by some scenes that don't really work at all. Even with the scenes containing black comedy in it doesn't help the story's intelligent plot on the scandal itself, for instance, the judge taking a cough sweet whilst the trial was taking place and the American executive bowing down to the producer of the quiz show as a meeting begins.
I also found the shocking stuff like the poor Ingram family dog who was fatally shot at by an airgun not worthy of us to see because this may only sympathise the Ingram family let alone the children who looked after it well.
To me, this is supposed to be a single 2-hour or a 2 and a 1/2 hour version of the drama itself that doesn't disturb the goodness of it alone. I hope this will be re-edited and remove some bits of it including the notoriously bad running time of the first 20 minutes of the first episode itself and make this more believable than being more accurate as it ought to be.
What way does it show? Well, I admit the first 20 minutes of the drama was nothing short of dreadful. It only really got going with the mysterious Paddy Spooner, who had appeared on both the Australian and the UK versions of the format itself. He meets Charles's brother-in-law, Adrian Pollock, who was desperately trying to get onto the show but for 2 years, he still didn't get onto the hot seat. He cleverly creates a device similar to the Fastest Finger First machine featured on the show. His practice runs of doing it eventually helped him get onto the hot seat in December 2000 of what was his 4th appearance of the show as a FFF hopeful. His sister, Diana, appeared months later in 2001. Both these 2 won £32,000 each and although some of Adrian's debts were cleared, Diana persuaded her husband, Charles, to get onto the quiz and hopefully land himself on the hot seat.
Luck arrived in September 2001, close to the 9/11 atrocity, but at the same time, a little game of deception was about to be played on the game itself. Tecwen Whittock, was approached by both of the Ingrams, though sadly, we don't see enough evidence of how they got in touch with him in the first place and how did she find the correct phone number to contact him?
The intensity builds up as Charles cheats his way to a million thanks to Tecwen's coughing on what is right and what is wrong. These are some of the finest highlights of the drama itself but sadly, it is marred by some scenes that don't really work at all. Even with the scenes containing black comedy in it doesn't help the story's intelligent plot on the scandal itself, for instance, the judge taking a cough sweet whilst the trial was taking place and the American executive bowing down to the producer of the quiz show as a meeting begins.
I also found the shocking stuff like the poor Ingram family dog who was fatally shot at by an airgun not worthy of us to see because this may only sympathise the Ingram family let alone the children who looked after it well.
To me, this is supposed to be a single 2-hour or a 2 and a 1/2 hour version of the drama itself that doesn't disturb the goodness of it alone. I hope this will be re-edited and remove some bits of it including the notoriously bad running time of the first 20 minutes of the first episode itself and make this more believable than being more accurate as it ought to be.
Yes, this is a bleak portrait of the Troubles. Yes, it has wonderful music and a theme tune that strike you. But no, this isn't a masterpiece. It is a flawed masterpiece on its own accord. The accents spoken by some of its actors are a joke whilst some of its characters aren't well-presented in an acceptable manner. Plus, this plot needs more strength than ingenuity.
Without giving too much away, here are some questions for you...
1. If Harry, who is disguised as an Irish citizen, enters the Ardoyne area of Belfast, how come the Catholic taxi driver recognises an Army-type suitcase in the back without raising the alarm?
2. If Billy was supposed to run as far as his home with a wounded arm, would he really make it in time to see his wife?
3. If the British Army knew one of their military agents was going to get Harry, how on earth did they not know who the killer was in the first place?
Think before you leap is what I suggest when it comes to this overrated piece of TV history.
Without giving too much away, here are some questions for you...
1. If Harry, who is disguised as an Irish citizen, enters the Ardoyne area of Belfast, how come the Catholic taxi driver recognises an Army-type suitcase in the back without raising the alarm?
2. If Billy was supposed to run as far as his home with a wounded arm, would he really make it in time to see his wife?
3. If the British Army knew one of their military agents was going to get Harry, how on earth did they not know who the killer was in the first place?
Think before you leap is what I suggest when it comes to this overrated piece of TV history.