And for one million pounds... who’s this as Chris Tarrant in ‘Coughing Major’ series?
IF YOU’RE struggling to work out who’s playing Chris Tarrant in a new television series, why not phone a friend?
Sporting the same toothy grin, tanned complexion and light blond locks, the actor has truly captured the former Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? host when the show was hit by a cheating scandal.
If you ask the audience, the star has an impressive record of uncannily turning into the figures he portrays, including Sir David Frost, Brian Clough and Tony Blair. For those still at a loss, the character actor is, cough, Michael Sheen.
Wearing a bald cap topped with a wig, the 50-year-old has transformed into Tarrant, 73, for the ITV drama, Quiz.
The three-part series, expected to be broadcast next year, charts Army major Charles Ingram and his wife Diana’s attempt to cheat during the quiz show, which began in 1998 and has been presented by Jeremy Clarkson since last year.
The first photo from the drama recreates a shot of Tarrant arriving to give evidence in the Ingram trial at Southwark Crown Court, London, in March 2003.
In 2001, Major Ingram scooped the £1 million top prize on the programme.
But Celador, the show’s production company, refused to pay out when it suspected he had an accomplice in the audience cough to indicate the correct answers.
The ‘Coughing Major’ and his wife were given 18-month sentences suspended for two years over the deception. Their accomplice, a college lecturer, was given a 12month term suspended for two years.
Sheen played Sir David in Frost/Nixon (2008), Mr Clough in The Damned United (2009) and Mr Blair in The Queen (2006).