Netflix quietly adds ‘gripping’ drama about real-life game show cheat

Netflix viewers can now watch a series about ‘one of the most bizarre controversies of the last decade’.

First released on ITV in 2020, Quiz was written by James Graham and based on his play of the same name and the book Bad Show: the Quiz, the Cough, the Millionaire Major by Bob Woffinden and James Plaskett.

Running across three episodes, the series told the story of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? contestant Charles Ingram, a former army major in the Royal Engineers – who then became known as the ‘coughing major’.

In 2001 Ingram became only the third person ever to win the £1,000,000 jackpot on the quiz show.

However, the winnings never hit his bank account after he was charged with, and then convicted of, procuring the execution of a valuable security by deception.

Quiz starred Matthew Macfadyen as Ingram, Sian Clifford as his wife Diana, and Michael Sheen as the quiz show’s Chris Tarrant.

Meanwhile Mark Bonnar played Paul Smith, the head of the company who produced the show, Helen McCrory as Sonia Woodley QC, who defended the Ingram’s in court and Michael Jibson as Tecwen Whittock, who it emerged helped the cheating happen.

Airing during the height of the pandemic, the series amassed a huge audience – with the first episode attracting an audience of 5.3 million in the UK.

Upon its release, the series received glowing reviews from both critics and viewers.

‘The drama becomes as addictive as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? proved. Clifford, Macfadyen and Trystan Gravelle as Diana’s brother Adrian who – along with his proliferating debts – provides the catalyst for the family’s involvement, humanise the story while still leaving you boggling at its fathomless oddities,’ The Guardian wrote.

‘Like any great drama, Quiz balances both farce and high art to a spectacular degree. Because this is not only a look at how obsessed one country got with trying to win an absurd amount of money on TV, but a dissection about our perception of truth and how it can be twisted in the press,’ Metro shared.

‘For all the energy and excitement of the first two episodes, it’s in the final instalment that Quiz really crystallises into something great. In recreating the court case that unfolded over the eligibility of Ingram’s win, Graham’s screenplay shifts gear to reveal a modern parable – one where a quiz show all about finding definitive, factual answers somehow became the stage for a deeply improbable event in which there is no objective truth, just opposing narratives trying to make sense of it all with a million pounds (and a whole lot more) hanging in the balance,’ Empire added.

Meanwhile viewers called it ‘gripping’, ‘captivating’ and a ‘must-watch’.

However, at the time of the show’s release, its star Macfadyen refused to reveal if he thought the Ingrams were guilty of cheating.

Speaking on the Final Answer podcast, writer James Graham revealed: ‘I think Sian [Clifford] definitely would come on set every day and tell us about whether she thought they were innocent or guilty. And she definitely alternated between the two.

‘And I know that informed her performance at points. But I think Matthew definitely kept his cards very close to his chest and didn’t want to let us know.’

He continued: ‘I think also Stephen [director Stephen Frears] encouraged him sometimes to do a take where definitely in his mind, Charles was guilty. And then also did takes where in his mind he wasn’t.

‘And there was one brilliant exchange between them where Matthew asked if Stephen could tell which he was going for and Stephen didn’t.

‘I think he really found the fun in playing with that idea. Yeah. And he was he was very cool about that. Didn’t quite reveal to us exactly what was going on inside his head as Charles.’

For those unfamiliar with the real-life scandal, Ingram appeared on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? across two nights on September 9 and 10, 2001.

But as he made it closer to the end, he started behaving oddly – changing his mind about answers, with it later being discovered there was a pattern of suspicious coughs from the audience whenever the right answers were read out.

Eventually Ingram, his wife Diana, and another contestant – Whittock – were arrested and convicted of ‘procuring the execution of a valuable security by deception’.

The Ingrams received an 18-month suspended sentence and a fine of £15,000 plus £10,000 for costs. Whittock received 6 months less and a fine of £10,000 plus £7,500 for costs.

In the year since Ingram has written two novels and appeared on various other TV shows including The Games, The Weakest Link and Wife Swap.

The Ingrams were also charged with further fraud offences unrelated to Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? two years after appearing on that show.

He was then given a conditional discharge on the charge of fraudulently claiming £30,000 on insurance. The judge told Ingram he took into account ‘the punishment [Ingram had] brought upon [himself] and [his] dire financial state’ and rejected an alternative option of community service after Ingram told a probation officer that he feared other criminals would bully him.

Quiz is streaming on ITVX and Netflix.

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