Quiz fans loving Michael Sheen's 'eerily accurate' portrayal of Chris Tarrant

ITV Quiz

The much anticipated mini-series started last night...

ITV Quiz viewers were amazed by Michael Sheen's portrayal of game show legend Chris Tarrant.

The three part series, which started on Easter Monday, tells the true story of Major Charles Ingram.

Along with his wife Diana and college lecturer Tecwen Whittock, they cheated their way to £1 million.

The first episode of Quiz saw the early stages of now iconic game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

ITV Quiz

Matthew Macfadyen and Michael Sheen as Charles Ingram and Chris Tarrant in Quiz.

It introduced us to Charles Ingram (Matthew Macfadyen) and his wife Diana (Sian Clifford) as they get involved with the new game show.

The first episode jumped from the courtroom where they stood tiral, to the Millionaire set where the crime was committed.

But one person stood out to viewers on Twitter the most, as they were quick to praise Michael Sheen for his role as Chris Tarrant.

One viewer wrote, "Eerily accurate portrayal of Chris Tarrant. Fantastic"

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Another added, "Absolutely loving #Quiz! Michael Sheen as Chris Tarrant...wow! Absolutely incredible performance so far! @michaelsheen"

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A third wrote, "#Quiz Michael Sheen is brilliant. All the mannerisms - the best was the "hur-hur" laugh when he met Mark Bonnar's character"

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And a fourth added, "@michaelsheen portrayal of Chris Tarrant on the #Quiz is amazing... great show"

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Sheen has given his own thoughts on the role, revealing, "this gave me a respect for what a brilliant job Chris does. He’s not just presenting, he’s stage-managing the show. And he speaks so quickly – his voice is extraordinary.”

ITV Quiz airs over three consecutive nights, and the second episode will see Charles Ingram finally taking to the hotseat.

During this time, he becomes the centre of the 'coughing scandal' which has gone down in TV history.

Quiz is available on demand via ITV Hub. Episode 2 airs on 14th April at 9pm on ITV1.

Lucy Buglass
Senior Staff Writer

Lucy joined the WhatToWatch.com team in 2021, where she writes series guides for must-watch programmes, reviews and the latest TV news. Originally from Northumberland, she graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Film Studies and moved to London to begin a career writing about entertainment.


She is a Rotten Tomatoes approved film critic and has a huge passion for cinema. She especially loves horror, thriller and anything crime-related. Her favourite TV programmes include Inside No 9, American Horror Story, Stranger Things and Black Mirror but she is also partial to a quiz show or a bit of Say Yes to the Dress