Coughing major Charles Ingram hails 'extremely courageous' new play about Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? scandal

Charles Ingram was found guilty of cheating his way to victory with the aid of a coughing accomplice
PA
Tom Powell17 April 2018

The army major found guilty of cheating his way to victory on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? has hailed an "extremely courageous" new play about the scandal.

Charles Ingram, who went to see Quiz in London on Friday night, said he hoped the play would bring the incident “back into the spotlight” and allow people to “make their own minds up”.

Ingram, his wife Diana and another contestant were accused of cheating their way to a million pounds on the game show in 2001 by coughing to signify correct answers.

The 'coughing major', who maintained his innocence throughout the trial, was found guilty but avoided jail.

Quiz asks the audience to vote on Ingram's guilt or innocence

James Graham’s Quiz, which recently began a run at Noel Coward Theatre, asks the audience to vote via keypads on whether they think Ingram is guilty or innocent.

“We are pleased the incident is back in the spotlight,” Ingram told the Standard.

“Quiz is not just about us, it’s an extremely courageous, relevant, necessary, profound and honest piece of theatre cleverly softened for entertainment with comedy.

“It deserves the utmost respect of writer, director, cast and crew who have left no stone unturned.

“Make your own mind up about truth, and no, guessing is not good enough.”

Charles and Diana were handed suspended sentences at Southward Crown Court (PA)
PA Archive/PA Images

The audience is asked to vote twice, first after hearing the prosecution’s case and again after hearing the defence. Most performances have reportedly resulted in a 'not guilty' verdict in the final vote.

Figures comparing the votes from the last 10 performances are then shown at the end.

Host Tarrant, who saw Quiz in disguise in Chichester, warned audiences not to confuse the show with the facts in an article for the Daily Mail.

Host Chris Tarrant maintains that Ingram is 'guilty as sin' (Myung Jung Kim/PA)
Myung Jung Kim/PA Archive/PA Images

“To settle any doubts you might have about the character at the centre of the play, who has gone down in television folklore as ‘The Coughing Major’, he was as guilty as sin,” he wrote.

“Good drama is not the same as hard fact," he added.

Paul Smith, chairman of Celador, the production company behind Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, praised the play but emphasised the fact it is a "fictional account" of a real event.

He told the Standard: “It’s a great piece of entertainment as long as you don’t take it too seriously.

“The major and his accomplices are guilty, they were found so by a jury.”

Playwright Graham, who was 18 when the trial took place, told the BBC: “I think quizzes and game shows are fascinating, they're a very British obsession and I love that.

"But I think the story about whether or not a few middle class people tried to steal a million pounds with questions and coughing, feels like the most British crime of all time. And almost ludicrous in its simplicity.

"It just felt really delicious to me, and I thought if we could just try and turn that into an Ocean's Eleven-style thriller, but with a major and a Welshman coughing, that felt really exciting as a proposition."

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