Sian Clifford hopes new Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? drama will ‘blow Charles Ingram case wide open’

Sian Clifford has suggested that upcoming ITV drama Quiz will “blow” the infamous Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? cheating scandal “wide open.”

Dubbed the ‘coughing major’, Charles Ingram was found guilty along with his wife Diana and their accomplice Tecwen Whittock of cheating their way to the £1 million prize on the show in 2001.

The Fleabag actress, 37, will star as Diana in the three-part series, which has been adapted for TV from a play by James Graham.

Discussing her new venture at the 65th Evening Standard Theatre Awards, Clifford promised that the case is “not what we think.”

“I finished [Quiz] a few months ago with Helen McCrory,” she told the Standard. “I’ve seen all the episodes now, we’ve got a wait until it’s coming out here but [I’m] absolutely brimming with excitement to share that with the world.

“That story is, I hope, about to get blown wide open because it’s not what we think.”

Adding that the Ingrams’ case was “everywhere” in 2001, she said: “You couldn’t avoid it and it’s been amazing to dive back into it and look at it from the Ingrams’ perspective.

“We’re really hoping to shed some light on it, with the show.”

Clifford will appear alongside Succession’s Matthew Macfadyen, who plays Charles Ingram, and Michael Sheen, who stars as Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? host Chris Tarrant.

McCrory, Mark Bonnar, Michael Jibson and Aisling Bea will also star in the series, directed by Stephen Frears.

Clifford’s comments come after Tarrant said that he hoped the drama does not “make a big deal of that the Major might be innocent.”

“I have sat through so many hours with the police and the Fraud Squad of tapes of Major’s show,” the presenter told This Morning.

“He is so guilty. Once you look into it, it’s like ‘Oh for God’s sake.’”

Quiz will air on ITV in 2020.

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