There is a keen sense of nostalgia to this revival of James Graham’s 2017 play about the “coughing major”. The court case made headlines when Charles and Diana Ingram were found guilty of wrongdoing on the quizshow Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? It is surprising then that it manages to keep its intrigue bottled, fresh and funny, playing out like light entertainment as well as a critique of it.
Its three central actors bear uncanny resemblances: Rory Bremner, as the host Chris Tarrant perfects the facial tics and easy manner while curbing the urge to play him as a caricature. There is some exaggeration when he elongates a vowel or smiles for too long but these are delightfully controlled. The Ingrams are the epitome of the home counties couple: her in an alice band, him in chinos. Charley Webb makes her stage debut as Diana and has some of the same sober, strait-laced qualities as Sian Clifford in the 2020 three-part TV adaptation but adds the nerdish innocence of a gameshow super fan. The major, played by Lewis Reeves, is as disarmingly sweet and squeaky clean.
