From Quiz to Chernobyl, the one-off television series is the perfect antidote to the relentlessness of multi-season shows. But do they ultimately leave us wanting more?
Broadcast across three nights as lockdown kept us glued to our sofas, ITV’s Quiz was the first new drama in a long time that felt like event television. Unlike an unwieldy, 10-season drama or a densely-packed one-off, the story of Major Charles Ingram’s dubious Who Wants To Be A Millionaire win was presented as a three-part miniseries, one of many that have attracted dedicated audiences in recent years.
From Chernobyl (five episodes), to
Netflix hits Unorthodox (four episodes) and Unbelievable (eight episodes), or self-contained anthology series such as
American Crime Story, miniseries have become increasingly popular in recent years, offering a low-stakes way for harried TV viewers to get immersed in scripted drama. As well as Quiz, another
British hit, The Nest, garnered impressive ratings, with 9 million viewers tuning in to the first of its five episodes. In the groundhog day mood of lockdown, their blink-and-you’ll miss-them nature perhaps felt even more vital, a few brief moments of connection to the outside world as everyone hunkered down in separate living rooms.