Charles Ingram is a major character in the ITV drama series Quiz, based on the real life contestant of the same name. He was portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen. He won the top prize of £1,000,000, but was denied the winnings due to suspicion of cheating throughout most of his run.
Charles Ingram became a contestant on the show following his wife Diana and her brother Adrian Pollock, who had each won £32,000 as contestants on the show. To prepare, Ingram practised for about twenty minutes per day on a homemade "Fastest Finger First" machine. In episodes recorded in September 2001, Ingram got into the "hot seat" but used two lifelines early, ending the day at £4,000 and with only the 50/50 lifeline remaining. The production team doubted he would proceed much further when filming resumed, but he surprised them and reached the jackpot of £1 million.
The show's production company, Celador, were tipped off by the show's producers of the assumed irregularities occurring within the quiz and suspended the jackpot payout to investigate the matter.. At the same time, the show's presenter, Chris Tarrant, overheard that the Ingrams had been arguing, despite Ingram's success, moments before Tarrant joined them in their dressing room for champagne; another member of the production team also noted a similar thought about the couple's behaviour. While reviewing the recording, the production team made a connection between Ingram's answers and coughs coming from one of the waiting contestants, lecturer Tecwen Whittock; in another instance, the coughing came from Ingram's wife while she was in the audience. Based on this evidence, all three were accused of cheating, and the matter was handed over to police to investigate further.
Following a lengthy trial at Southwark Crown Court, the Ingrams and Whittock were convicted on a single count of procuring the execution of a valuable security by deception.
WWTBAM Run[]
On September 9th 2001, having practised with a Fastest Finger First button of his own invention, Charles quickly managed to get into the chair opposite Chris Tarrant for the big money prize. He said that the plan was to "get a million between them".
Fastest Finger First Question[]
Fastest Finger First Question
Put these words in the order they occur in the title of the Agatha Christie thriller.
⬥ A: Nile
⬥ B: On
⬥ C: Death
⬥ D: The
From the 8 remaining contestants, 7 got it right, but Charles (with a time of 3.97 seconds) was the fastest to correctly answer C-B-D-A, making it into the Hot Seat.
Charles's Run to the Million[]
£100 (1 of 15) - Not Timed
On which of these would you air laundry?
⬥ A: Clothes dog
⬥ B: Clothes horse
⬥ C: Clothes rabbit
⬥ D: Clothes pig
£200 (2 of 15) - Not Timed
What name is given to a person who is against increasing the powers of the European Union?
⬥ A: Eurosceptic
⬥ B: Eurostar
⬥ C: Eurotrash
⬥ D: Eurovision
£300 (3 of 15) - Not Timed
What is butterscotch?
⬥ A: Shortbread
⬥ B: Pavement game
⬥ C: Garden flower
⬥ D: Brittle toffee
£500 (4 of 15) - Not Timed
Which of these is the nickname for a famous Scottish army regiment?
⬥ A: Black Cat
⬥ B: Black Widow
⬥ C: Black Sea
⬥ D: Black Watch
£1,000 (5 of 15) - Not Timed
The Normans, who invaded and conquered England in 1066, spoke which language?
⬥ A: German
⬥ B: Norwegian
⬥ C: French
⬥ D: Danish
£2,000 (6 of 15) - Not Timed
In 'Coronation Street', who is Audrey's daughter? "Ask the Audience" lifeline used.
Charles did not know, so he used his first lifeline, He asked the audience, which gave a resounding 4-89-3-4 vote. Charles went with the audience, and won £2,000.
£4,000 (7 of 15) - Not Timed
The River Foyle is found in which part of the United Kingdom? "Phone-a-Friend" lifeline used.
⬥ A: England
⬥ B: Scotland
⬥ C: Northern Ireland
⬥ D: Wales
Charles did not know, so he decided to phone his friend Gerald, who was 99% sure it was Northern Ireland. He went with him and won £4,000. After this question, the klaxon called time and Charles would return on £4,000 with 1 lifeline still available.
£8,000 (8 of 15) - Not Timed
Who was the second husband of Jacqueline Kennedy?
⬥ A: Adnan Khashoggi
⬥ B: Ronald Reagan
⬥ C: Aristotle Onassis
⬥ D: Rupert Murdoch
Charles immediately thought it was Aristotle Onassis, and Tecwen coughed immediately after Charles said his name. After two coughs, Charles was confident and went for it.
£16,000 (9 of 15) - Not Timed
Emmenthal is a cheese from which country?
⬥ A: France
⬥ B: Italy
⬥ C: Netherlands
⬥ D: Switzerland
Charles immediately thought it was Switzerland, and went for it. This is the only question of the night that Charles knew the answer to without getting help from either his wife Diana or Fastest Finger First contestant Tecwen Whittock.
£32,000 (10 of 15) - Not Timed
Who had a hit UK album with 'Born To Do It', released in 2000? "50:50" lifeline used
⬥ A: Coldplay
⬥ B: Toploader
⬥ C: A1
⬥ D: Craig David
Charles didn't know. After using his 50/50 the two remaining answers were A1 (what he thought the answer was) and Craig David, who he said he had never heard of. Knowing that her every move was being recorded, Diana, who was in the audience, took a huge gamble and coughed when Charles was musing over Craig David, hinting that was the correct answer. After nearly locking in A1 as his final answer, he backed off and later said "80% of the time I'm wrong when I guess, so you know what—I'll go Craig David." He then locked in Craig David as his final answer, which was correct.
£64,000 (11 of 15) - Not Timed
Gentlemen v Players was an annual match between amateurs and professionals of which sport?
⬥ A: Lawn tennis
⬥ B: Rugby Union
⬥ C: Polo
⬥ D: Cricket
Charles checked all the answers and two coughs from Tecwen told Charles it was Cricket.
£125,000 (12 of 15) - Not Timed
'The Ambassadors', in the National Gallery, is a painting by which artist?
⬥ A: Van Eyck
⬥ B: Holbein
⬥ C: Michelangelo
⬥ D: Rembrandt
It took two coughs from Tecwen for Charles to be certain that it was Holbein.
£250,000 (13 of 15) - Not Timed
What type of garment is an Anthony Eden?
⬥ A: Overcoat
⬥ B: Hat
⬥ C: Shoe
⬥ D: Tie
It took three coughs from Tecwen this time instead of two for Charles to choose the correct answer.
£500,000 (14 of 15) - Not Timed
Baron Haussmann is best known for his planning of which city?
⬥ A: Rome
⬥ B: Paris
⬥ C: Berlin
⬥ D: Athens
Charles immediately thought it was Berlin simply because he thought Baron Haussmann was a German name. He forgot to slowly say all the answers, not giving Tecwen a chance to help. Tecwen then took a huge risk by coughing and loudly whispering 'No!'. He broke the code by creating a signal that meant that Charles was about to give an incorrect answer. But Charles continued to think it was Berlin, so Tecwen made a new signal, a nose-blow, trying to tell Charles that it was the all-stop signal. When Charles rules out Paris, Tecwen coughed hinting that it was correct, stopping Charles mid-sentence. Charles once again thought it was Berlin, and Tecwen once again did his all-stop signal. After saying Paris two more times, and hearing two more coughs from Tecwen, Charles finally went with Paris.
£1,000,000 (15 of 15) - Not Timed
A number one followed by one hundred zeros is known by what name?
⬥ A: Googol
⬥ B: Megatron
⬥ C: Gigabit
⬥ D: Nanomole
Charles thought it was Megatron (in real life he thought it was Nanomole). He said that he never heard of a Googol, but Tecwen had, so he coughed. Charles then visited all the answers again to check with Tecwen. Although he'd never heard of a Googol, he was actually thinking it was, even though he'd just thought moments before that it was a Nanomole. As he says Googol again, Tecwen coughs a second time. Charles then checked all the answers a third time and on Googol, Tecwen coughed for the last time. After saying Googol one last time, Charles finally played Googol as his final answer.
Charles asked Chris not to go for a break, but he did. After coming back, Chris recapped exactly how Charles approached the million pound question. He tore up the cheque for £500,000, and announced that he just won a million pounds.
After the show[]
Cheating scandal[]
By the time Ingram had left the set, the show's production company, Celador, began to receive allegations of irregularities occurring within the quiz and suspended the jackpot payout to investigate the matter. Believing that cheating had occurred, the production company Celador withheld the winnings, suspended the broadcast of Ingram's run, and reported the incident to police. Both the Ingrams and Whittock were charged with "procuring the execution of a valuable security by deception", and taken to Southwark Crown Court in 2003. On 7 April 2003, the group were found guilty, with all three given suspended prison sentences and fines. The Ingrams were later ordered to pay legal costs within two months of the trial's conclusion. On 24 July 2003, the British Army ordered Charles Ingram to resign his commission as a Major, in the wake of the trial.
