Helen McCrory

Helen McCrory, who stars in ITV’s gripping new drama Quiz, based on the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? cheating scandal, chats to Yours about the case that captivated the nation

The year was 2001 and ITV’s Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, hosted by Chris Tarrant, was the biggest show on British television, pulling in upwards of 19 million viewers.

However an episode screened in September of that year cast a sensational shadow over the show when allegations of cheating were made. As one Major Charles Ingram sat in the hot seat, eventually winning the £1m on offer, he, his wife Diana and an accomplice, Tecwen Whittock, who were both sitting in the audience, were accused of cheating their way to the top prize by conspiring to cough at pertinent moments during the recording.

Eighteen months later in Spring 2003, and in a case which would forever be known as ‘The Coughing Major’, the trio stood trial and were found guilty of ‘procuring the execution of a valuable security by deception.’ The Ingrams and Whittock were each given suspended prison sentences with the Ingrams being ordered to pay hefty fines and additional defence costs.

But Helen McCrory, who plays the Ingram’s defence barrister Sonia Woodley QC in the three-parter, Quiz, which tells the story, remains ambivalent about the verdict. “My character Sonia doesn’t really come into the proceedings until the third episode,” she says. “That’s when the focus is on the trial itself and we get to see some of the scenes from the first two episodes from a different point of view which, in turn, reveal more facts about what happened. What really emerges is the power of the edit in a TV programme about real people. People who work in TV are aware of this but if you’re not aware of it or part of the TV world, it is quite dangerous. With the Ingrams, it could be construed that they were two innocents

‘What really emerges is the power of the edit in a TV programme about real people’

walking into the gladiator’s den. I think the drama calls into question the whole morality of it all.”

Yet the coughing cannot be denied? “True, but there is lots of other coughing

during the recording, too,” Helen goes on. “Many people involved with the show at the time didn’t notice any specific coughing. Chris Tarrant didn’t. Neither did some members of the audience. It’s difficult to ascertain the truth and as time goes on, that’s becoming more and more the case about everything. My kids, for instance, now have a lesson at school where they are taught to look at what might be fake news and what is real. Where they should look and where they shouldn’t.

Quiz looks at this issue in a lighthearted and entertaining, rather than dryly boring, way. Perhaps we’ve forgotten just how big Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Was? back then. With a third of the country watching the show at one point, it had a massive impact on popular culture.”

So does Helen (51) think the Ingrams and Whittock were guilty or innocent?

“Ah,” she says with a twinkle in her eye. “That’s in the lap of the viewer! Quiz is a very cleverly written and directed drama. You know what the outcome is before you start watching but curiosity is there in all of us. One minute you think they’re innocent, then you change your mind. You also can’t help but play along with the quiz, trying to answer the questions.!”

■ Quiz is due to start on ITV this month, but at the time of going to press the broadcaster hadn’t confirmed the exact dates.