The infamous Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? cheating scandal is being adapted into a TV drama starring Michael Sheen as Chris Tarrant.

Matthew Macfadyen will play Charles Ingram, the so-called “Coughing Major”, in Quiz, with the Fleabag actor Sian Clifford as his wife Diana.

The drama will air on ITV, which broadcasts Who Wants to be a Millionaire? – said to be the “most successful game show of all time”.

Ingram, a former army major who won the top prize on the show in 2001, was found guilty in 2003 of cheating his way to the £1m.

Ingram listened for coughs from Tecwen Whittock, a college lecturer who sat in the audience, to steer him to the correct answers. Michael Jibson plays Whittock on the show.

ITV has released a first-look image of Macfadyen and Clifford in their new roles.

The drama is directed by Stephen Frears, whose credits include the TV series A Very English Scandal and the film-length biopic The Queen.

Charles Ingram on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in 2001. Photograph: PA

Helen McCrory, Mark Bonnar and Aisling Bea will also star in the production, which is written by James Graham, whose play of the story hit the West End in 2018.

The playwright said: “I was gripped by this story over 15 years ago, and I’m still gripped now. It’s a very English heist.”

ITV’s head of drama, Polly Hill, said the three-part series would be “an extraordinary and thoroughly British story and is going to be a real treat for our audience”.

Programme bosses are confident the drama will be a hit with US audiences, too.

Sarah Barnett, president of the Entertainment Networks Group at AMC Networks, said: “If this tale was invented you’d think it too preposterous – the fact that it is true, and told so brilliantly, makes for an unmissable three-part TV event that will entertain and enthral American audiences every bit as much as their British counterparts.

“Quiz has the most remarkable bunch of talented people attached, both in front of and behind the camera, and we at AMC are delighted to be part of it.”

Filming is currently under way in London.