Entertainment

Brexit film from Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? coughing story playwright to air

The production will start filming over the summer.
The production will start filming over the summer. The production will start filming over the summer.

The playwright behind the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? play Quiz has written a Brexit film – due to shoot in the summer.

James Graham’s latest play, which is on stage in the West End, tells the story of the TV show’s coughing scandal of 2001.

He has written a film about the behind-the-scenes work of the Leave and Remain campaigns – which will air on a yet-to-be-named channel.

The playwright, also known for Ink, This House and Labour Of Love, has used journalist Tim Shipman’s book All Out War as source material.

Shipman tweeted: “Some news. James Graham, the brilliant playwright of This House and Ink, has revealed that he’s written a Brexit film which is partly based on my first book. It should start filming this summer.”

Quiz at Chichester Festival (Johan Persson/Kate Morley PR)
Quiz at Chichester Festival (Johan Persson/Kate Morley PR) Quiz at Chichester Festival (Johan Persson/Kate Morley PR)

Graham told BBC News: “There is a script, we have a director, we have a channel, we’ll start shooting, we think, over the summer.”

He added: “We’ve now focused it down. We now know that it’s very much about the campaign behind the scenes, so we go behind the scenes of the Leave and the Remain offices.”

He said: “Hopefully it feels like an authentic behind-the-scenes (portrayal).”

The  Chichester Festival Theatre production of Quiz transferred to the Noel Coward Theatre.

Former army major Charles Ingram was found guilty in 2003 of trying to con the top prize of £1 million from the ITV show.