Quiz finally aired it’s long-awaited first episode on Monday night, and sent fans into a tailspin with its depiction of the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? coughing scandal.
Along with setting the stage for how Charles and Diana Ingram formed their sinister plot to try and cheat the show out of £1 million, the first episode also revealed the formation of a secret syndicate of quizzers who would help contestants on the show.
Many viewers were stunning to learn that such a wholesome show could spark such sinister plots, with many comparing the scenes to that of spy epic Mission Impossible.
Shocking: Quiz finally aired it’s long-awaited first episode on Monday night, and sent fans into a tailspin with its depiction of the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire coughing scandal
In the first episode, Diana’s brother Adrian makes hundreds of desperate calls to appear on the show, but despite being a contestant on the show three times, he fails to make it to the hot seat.
Another contestants suggests he call Paddy Spooner, who appeared on Millionaire in three different countries, UK, Ireland and Australia.
His stint on the British version proved fruitful, as he won £250,000, and in the series he is shown meeting Adrian in a pub.
He then reveals that he can help Adrian make it onto the show by slipping him the answers to the questions used by researchers to pick contestants.
Paddy then offers the help of a group of serial quizzers who can help with correct answers – but for a 25% share of their winnings, branding them ‘The Syndicate.’
Adrian turns down the offer and does make it onto the show, but is disappointed to only win £32,000.
He then passes the baton to his sister Diana, who also falls at the same hurdle with just £32,000, meaning they cannot pay off Adrian’s mounting debts.
The revelation that Millionaire was gripped by something as sinister as a syndicate of quizzers sent many fans into a tailspin, with some questioning whether that element of the show was real.
One tweeted: ‘#quiz has all gone Mission Impossible with The Syndicate,’ while another posted: ‘Well I’ve clearly been living in my own little bubble cuz I had no idea about the syndicate thing and I’m really disappointed to find out about it now!!’
A third added: ‘Knew there was something dodgy going on but didn’t realise the syndicate were that hard core.’
Surprisingly the idea that there were syndicates cashing in on Millionaire was true, as former contestant Keith Burgess recently revealed.
He told The Sun: ‘We weren’t doing anything wrong. We were just helping people get on the show. The Ingrams cheated so ridiculously, though, and Charles didn’t know anything at all.’
Quiz is based on a play about the scandal written by James Graham, which has been adapted to screen with the help of The Queen director Stephen Frears.
Charles famously cheated his way to the top prize with the help of fellow contestant Tecwen Whittock who coughed after hearing the correct answer for each multiple choice question.
They originally formed the plan after Ingram struggled to just £4,000 in the first show, and had to use two of his lifelines to get there.
The coughs would not have been heard by viewers at home watching the show (which was never aired apart from during an ITV documentary) as a majority of the sound was focused on the hot seat.
Ingram eventually reached won the top prize with the help of Whittock, but even then many crew members were convinced he’d cheated, and even before they announced he’d won the top prize, producers threatened to stop filming after calling the Head Of Celador with their claims.
Throughout their trial and in its build-up Charles and Diana repeatedly insisted they hadn’t cheated, even when they were convicted of deception.
Chris famously testified against Charles during his trial, and said in the documentary that he was amazed when he learned about the crime from ITV crew members.
After a four-week crown court trial in 2003, Charles and Diana were convicted of deception, and Ingram was given a 20-month suspended prison sentence.
His two accomplices were given 18-month suspended sentences for their part in the scam.
Quiz continues tomorrow at 9pm on ITV.