Michael Sheen does his best Chris Tarrant impression in Quiz
ITV, MONDAY 13 – WEDNESDAY 15 APRIL, 9PM
In an Easter period full of TV treats, believe us when we say this three-parter telling the incredible true story of how an army Major was alleged to have conned his way to the million pound prize on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? is the event of the week. Not only is the story itself relentlessly fascinating, the creative team that’s been assembled to tell it is extraordinary: the writer is James Graham, who created the Channel 4 Brexit drama with Benedict Cumberbatch, the director is legendary filmmaker Stephen Frears (A Very English Scandal), and the Rolls-royce cast features Succession’s Matthew Macfadyen, Fleabag’s Sian Clifford, Helen Mccrory off Peaky Blinders and Michael Sheen as Chris Tarrant.
THREE AMAZING ACTS
Writer Graham addresses the complexities of this saga in three distinct parts. In the opener, he explores the creation of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? itself, putting its arrival on prime-time ITV in context (the great Aisling Bea plays then-itv Entertainment Commissioner Claudia Rosencrantz), while introducing us to nice middle-class quiz show addict Diana Ingram and her rather less quiz-obsessed husband Charles. The middle episode then traces the build-up to Charles Ingram’s fateful appearance on Millionaire, egged on to apply by Diana. And we get to see what happened when the Major “won” the million pounds in his bizarre Millionaire episode, which was never actually broadcast by ITV. The final act then shows us the fallout and subsequent trial of the Ingrams.
FINDING THE TRUTH
The ingenious triumph of the three-parter is how it forces us to consider the events surrounding the scandal from different viewpoints. Our sympathies are constantly shifting, so the whole notion of truth soon becomes tenuous. It’s a story as much about TV, the media and fake news as it is about an apparent con trick. Above all,