Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? review: Even Jeremy Clarkson gets emotional as Donald Fear wins jackpot

“You’ve just won a million pounds!” The last time we heard those six immortal words, they were being said by actor Michael Sheen during his uncannily accurate portrayal of Chris Tarrant in ITV drama Quiz - this spring’s hit retelling of the scarcely credible “Coughing Major” scandal.

Now Jeremy Clarkson got to say the magic phrase for the first time in his tenure as Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? host. When Donald Fear from Telford clinched the fabled jackpot, it made for a shiver-inducing TV moment. Gold confetti fell from the ceiling. Even Clarkson admitted he was “choked up”, his usually bombastic voice cracking with emotion.

Fear by name but not by nature. The history and politics teacher’s elder brother Dave had appeared on the show two years ago and won a cool £500,000.

Lovely, low-key Donald admitted he wanted to beat his “best friend and hero”. Aww. He did so nervelessly, without seeming to break sweat. “How easy was that?” he exclaimed, surprised by his own success.

He was the quickest winner in the show’s history, fairly rattling through the multiple choice rounds and only using one of his four lifelines. “You need to slow down,” warned Clarkson. Fear smiled obligingly before continuing at his own pace. Respite came only when Clarkson cut to commercial breaks, giving viewers time to take a breath.

Read more: Donald Fear: ‘Retirement? I’ll just apply to more quiz shows’

The dice fell in Fear’s favour, with several questions on his specialist subjects of history and politics. As a lucky bonus, one related to his gynaecologist wife’s profession also came up. Yet Fear seemed destined to romp home anyway. As he edged incrementally closer to the top prize, the palpably impressed Clarkson called him “a knowledge sponge”, “the internet in a pink shirt” and “an encyclopaedia with a moustache”.

His knowledge ranged from whales to pirates, from Big Ben to the Bahamas, from Diwali to Doctor Who. “As a history teacher, my job is to know stuff,” shrugged Fear with endearing modesty. He visibly vibrated with pleasure when he matched his brother, then proceeded to go one better.

Fear said he would retire from teaching and spend his winnings on travelling the world with his wife. He effectively handed in his resignation on national TV - before adding the caveat that he’d work for one more year to see his sixth form class through their A-levels. This was surely the moment at which any lingering envy dissipated and every viewer saluted his success.

It wasn’t exactly a surprise win, having been heavily trailed in the tabloids all week. Even the ITV continuity announcer introduced the episode with: “Trust me, this is one you don’t want to miss.” The sole downside of Fear’s formidable knowledge was that it dissipated any tension. Clarkson even admonished him for not letting him crank up the pressure.

Yet the seven-figure, two-comma cash prize is the show’s entire raison d’être, so it’s still an event when someone scoops it. Indeed, it had happened only five times before in the show’s 22-year, 635-episode history. Five legitimate times, anyway. The notorious sixth, Charles Ingram’s hotly disputed triumph, was never aired and the disgraced army officer was denied the money due to suspicion of cheating. Cough. Splutter. Nothing to see here.

The first ever jackpot-winner was ice-cool customer Judith Keppel in 2000. As a garden designer from Fulham and cousin of Camilla Parker-Bowles, Keppel wasn’t exactly a woman of the people but remains the only woman to reach the top prize. She's now one of the resident quiz champions on teatime BBC Two fixture Eggheads.

Lightning struck twice in 2001, with Welsh physics teacher David Edwards and City banker Robert Brydge both becoming overnight millionaires. Following this flurry, viewers had to wait two-and-a-half years for Irish pro quizzer Pat Gibson’s win. He also went on to join Eggheads. Somerset civil servant Ingram Wilcox came in 2006.

It’s been a long 14-year gap to Fear’s win. For a nation under lockdown, this was a welcome piece of cheering news. It was delightful to see knowledge get its just reward. What better example could be set by a professional educator?

Commissioning classy three-part dramatisation Quiz, which aired over Easter and attracted bumper ratings of 9.5m, proved a marketing masterstroke by ITV. It revived our interest in a format which was beginning to look distinctly tired. Alongside The Weakest Link, Deal Or No Deal and The Cube, Millionaire was part of the Noughties trend for tensely paced, moodily lit, megabucks gameshows. The rest have since faded away. Millionaire itself took a four-year break from our screens until it was rebooted for its 20th anniversary in 2018.

Clarkson replacing Tarrant when it returned also gave the show a shot in the arm. The former Top Gear petrolhead might be less of a smooth showbiz beast than Tarrant - no tie or shiny suit here, just a navy blazer and specs perched on his nose - but he’s all the better for it. Clarkson adds sardonic wit, hangdog charm and a frisson of unpredictability.

In his 44th episode, Clarkson was thrilled to oversee a jackpot win. “Holy cow! Yes, yes, yes!” he exclaimed with an airpunch, before warning Fear: “I can’t get near you.” Showbiz hugs might have been off-limits but Clarkson had already poked fun at pandemic restrictions, saying contestants had “braved the prevailing hysteria to be here”.

Nightly episodes have been stripped across this week’s ITV schedules. Saving the landmark win until last made for a fittingly Friday night-ish climax. A million quid might not be quite the fortune it was when the show launched in 1998 but it’s still a tidy sum. It seems even more so in the current economic climate.

Due to some pesky pandemic or other, there was no live studio audience. There might currently be a respiratory disease outbreak but at least there were no distracting coughs this time. Empty seats might have led to a lack of atmosphere - no oohs nor aahs, no hums of excitement nor relieved applause at correct answers - but also served to tighten the focus.

All attention was on Clarkson and Fear, mano a mano, eyeball to eyeball. I’d say it was gladiatorial but Clarkson was clearly willing him to win from the moment Fear said he was a superfan of Genesis and Pink Floyd. “Impeccable musical taste,” nodded the host approvingly.

The show’s original working title was Cash Mountain. Well, Donald Fear climbed it rapidly and reached the summit in record time. This was event TV, a communal treat, gripping and heartwarming in equal measure. Is that my final answer? Yes, it is. Like Clarkson said: “A million congratulations.”