Who Wants To Be A Millionare Facts
The first Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? show transmitted on 4 September 1998 on ITV1.
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? is filmed at Elstree Film Studios in Hertfordshire, and is presented by Chris Tarrant.
The 20th series of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? started on 8th September 2006.
1244 people have sat in the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? hot seat after 19 series.
Who Wants to be a Millionaire? has won a record seven consecutive National Television Awards.
The most money lost on the show in the UK was £218,000 first by Duncan Bickley in October 2000 when he got the £500,000 question wrong and left with £32,000 and most recently in October 2003 when Rob Mitchell took the same gamble and also lost £218,000.
Seven people have had a look at the million pound question and decided to leave with £500,000 – Peter Lee in January 2000, Kate Heusser and Jon Randall in November 2000, Steve Devlin in January 2001, Mike Pomfry in March 2001, Peter Spyrides in October 2001, and Roger Walker in February 2002.
Seven people have left with no money at all - John Davidson in January 1999, David Snaith in March 1999, Michelle Simmonds in February 2001 and Peter and Valiene Tungate in March 2001, Martin Baudrey on the live 300th programme in November 2002 and Bill Copland in April 2004.
The highest ratings were recorded in March 1999 when 19.2 million people tuned in to watch the unfolding drama. The shows format has been licensed or optioned to 106 countries. It has aired in more than 100 countries including: US, India, Japan, Colombia, China, Venezuela, Malaysia, Australia, Russia, Singapore, Philippines, Kazakhstan, Greece, Poland, Germany, Spain and France. The 100th country to go on air was Kenya.
"50:50", "Phone A Friend" and "Ask The Audience" are all trademarked and phrases such as "Is that your final answer?" are so well known that they are often used in everyday conversation.
During the UK's special Live version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? which marked its 300th show, Ask the Audience became Ask the Nation, and over a quarter of a million phone calls were received in less than 2 minutes.
The Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? PC game was the fastest selling PC game ever. In its first 8 weeks it sold the same number of games that Tomb Raider sold in total. The Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? PC game sold 1.3 million units in its first year.
The Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? quiz book has sold more than 1 million copies since it first went on the market.
Judith Keppel, 1st Million Pound Winner
20 November 2000
Almost 14 million people saw Judith Keppel walk off with the first jackpot prize on ITV's Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, according to early audience figures.
The top-rated quiz drew 13.9 million viewers, against 10.7 million tuning in to see the demise of grumpy Victor Meldrew in the final One Foot In The Grave on BBC One.
Millionaire took 48% of the total audience, while the BBC comedy, starting 15 minutes later at 2115 GMT, attracted 36% of the audience.
Mrs Keppel scooped the £1m prize when she correctly answered "Henry II" to the question: "Which king was married to Eleanor of Aquitaine?"
Millionaire presenter Chris Tarrant has denied questions on the programme were made easier to help create its first jackpot winner.
Tarrant said: "The questions are hard. We refused to dumb the question down.
"We said it will happen one night. We always said it would come out of the blue and it has." Mrs Keppel, 58, a distant cousin of the Prince of Wales' friend Camilla Parker Bowles, won the prize on the show's 122nd edition.
Mrs Keppel, a garden designer from Fulham in west London, is married to a TV scriptwriter and has two grown-up children.
Her great grandmother was the sister of Mrs Parker Bowles' great great grandfather. "I'm not a gambler. I'm the opposite of gambling. I've never really won any money before," she told reporters.
Judith Keppels Questions. Test Yourself!!
Answers at the bottom of the page!!! Don't cheat!!
For £100 Complete this phrase.
As sick as a... Puffin Parrot Partridge Penguin
For £200 Which legal document states a person's wishes regarding the disposal of their property after death?
Would Should Will Shall
For £300 Complete the title of the James Bond film The Man With The Golden...
Tooth Delicious Eagle Gun
For £500 Which of these fruits shares its name with something superior or desirable?
Plum Grapefruit Mango Apricot
For £1,000 In which sport do two teams pull at the opposite ends of a rope?
Tug of war Polo Ice hockey Basketball
For £2,000 Where would a cowboy wear his chaps?
On his arms On his legs On his head On his hands
For £4,000 Which of these zodiac signs is not represented by an animal that grows horns?
Taurus Aquarius Aries Capricorn
For £8,000 Sherpas and Gurkhas are native to which country?
Nepal Ecuador Russia Morocco
For £16,000 Prime Minister Tony Blair was born in which country?
Wales England Northern Ireland Scotland
For £32,000 Whose autobiography has the title A Long Walk To Freedom?
Mikhail Gorbachev Nelson Mandela Mother Teresa Ranulph Fiennes
For £64,000 Duffle coats are named after a town in which country?
Germany Holland Belgium Austria
For £125,000 Complete this stage instruction in Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale: "Exit, pursued by a ..."
Clown Bear Dog Tiger
For £250,000 The young of which creature is known as a squab?
Horse Octopus Pigeon Salmon
For £500,000 Who is the patron saint of Spain?
St James St John St Benedict St Peter
For £1m Which king was married to Eleanor of Aquitaine?
Richard I Henry II Henry V Henry I
Judith Keppel Answers!
1.Parrot 2.Will 3.Gun 4.Plum 5.Tug of War 6.On his Legs 7.Aquarius 8.Nepal 9.Scotland 10.Nelson Mandela 11.Belgium 12.Bear 13.Pigeon 14.St James 15.Henry II
Watch Judith Keppel tackle the last two questions to win her Million
Behind The Scenes
Chris Tarrant, ten contestants, a cheering audience and an hour of adrenaline-packed drama. But for the people behind the scenes at Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? it takes a little longer, starting at 8am and ending when the tapes are ready to be delivered to ITV1 for transmission.
First to arrive are members of the contestant research team. They are there to man the phones should any contestants on their way to the studio be held up, lost or even want to drop out (yes it does happen!). From all over the country, this week's contestants are beginning their journey to Elstree Film Studios. By 11am most of them have arrived safe & sound, and their first stop is the costume department.
The crew here will be working away to ensure Chris' wardrobe is ready. They also prepare the clothes that the contestants want to wear, advising on what will look best, cleaning, pressing and even mending where necessary. From there it is off to the dressing rooms and a run through the information pack with a researcher. Each contestant is interviewed so the producers can get information together for Chris’ introductions when someone makes it into that famous chair. The contestants are also asked to fill out a brief questionnaire to cover any points we might have missed.
Next up, lunch, and time to look forward to rehearsal. The technical crew are all here by now and they will be making sure everything in the studio is just as it should be. In the Green Room, our floor assistant briefs the contestants about the afternoon’s activities, then it is off for a first look inside the studio where fortunes can be won and lost. Rehearsal is for the benefit of all; the crew get the chance to make sure everything from cameras to computers is in full working order and the contestants get to familiarise themselves with being in the studio, under the lights and playing the game. The producer (and more often than not CT himself) will be there offering invaluable advice to the contestants about playing FFF, using life lines, and throwing in the occasional noteworthy anecdote.
After rehearsal, a pause to draw breath over dinner and a chance to prepare for stepping into the arena of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Clothes left with wardrobe have miraculously appeared in the relevant dressing rooms, so it is now time for a quick change, and then to make-up to make sure everyone is looking their best. Then our contestants are fitted with a microphone and off to the studio. Meanwhile, the audience has been brought in and are being entertained, and all the crew are in place having carried out their final checks.
During recording, different departments are in communication with the director in control from the production gallery via radio talkback. The only thing they cannot determine are the questions that appear on Chris’s screen and the contestant's reactions to the situation they find themselves in, which eight cameras are poised to cover. Recording ends at around 9pm, and the contestants are given the chance to talk through their day over a drink in the bar. Any who can’t get home that night are escorted to a nearby hotel, and the production team and crew head home for a well-deserved rest before returning to the studios to get cracking on next week’s show.
A Major Fraud
After recieving a couple of emails from visitors to the site asking why there is no mention of the Charles Ingram 'coughing' episode on the site I decided to add a small piece as it is a rather significant story in the history of 'Who Wants To be A Millionaire'.
Major Charles Ingram has been found guilty of cheating his way to the top prize on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire.
During his trial for conspiracy to cheat the programme out of its £1m jackpot prize, a jury at Southwark Crown Court watched an unedited video recording of him making his way to the top that was never shown on TV.
Ingram was found guilty along with his wife Diana and college lecturer Tecwen Whittock of tricking game show host Chris Tarrant into signing the £1m cheque.
Here are details of the video presented to the court:
Ingram was first shown winning the "fastest finger" round by putting in correct order the words from the Agatha Christie novel "Death", "On", "The", "Nile", in 3.97 seconds.
After reaching the hot seat to face host Chris Tarrant, Ingram told Tarrant: "To be honest, I will be happy to walk away with anything.
"If I can go away to work and hold my head up high, I will be happy.
"I will probably crash and burn, so we will see. The only thing I have done is read quite a lot of children's books."
He said his children had asked for a pony if he won.
"All of them are willing to share one and they have been saying they are happy to give up their next three birthdays and Christmases."
Tarrant referred to Ingram's wife in the studio audience and her previous £32,000 win on the show.
Ingram joked: "We have both got big families so there are plenty of people to come."
Here are the details of Ingram's winning round: He easily passed through the first questions, guessing that the word "horse" followed the word "clothes" and that butterscotch was a type of toffee.
£2,000 question
But on question six, for £2,000, he had to use the "ask the audience" lifeline when faced with the question: "In Coronation Street, who is Audrey's daughter?"
The audience gave an 89% vote for Gail.
He selected the answer and progressed to the next question.
£4,000 question
Next he struggled on the question: "The River Foyle is found in which part of the UK?"
He phoned a friend, Gerald in south Wales, who gave him the correct answer of Northern Ireland.
The recording for the day then came to an end, with Ingram looking to the ceiling and saying: "God, no."
The next night he returned, he told Tarrant he would be more assertive.
Ingram: "I have a strategy. I was a bit defensive on the last show and I started to talk myself out of answers that I should know.
"This time I'm going on a counter-attack. I'm going to be a bit more positive.
"I'm going to show a bit more self-commitment."
£8,000 question
He struggled on the first question that night, question eight for £8,000.
Asked who was the second husband of Jacqueline Kennedy, he pondered the four possibilities: Adnan Khashoggi, Ronald Reagan, Aristotle Onassis, or Rupert Murdoch.
On two occasions, when he said the name Aristotle Onassis out loud, a cough was heard on the tape played in court, coming from one of the contestants waiting for their turn at the "fastest finger" round.
Ingram selected Aristotle Onassis, which was the correct answer, taking him up to £8,000.
£16,000 question
No coughing could be heard when Ingram faced question 9: "Emmental is a cheese from which country? - France, Italy, Netherlands or Switzerland."
Ingram said: "Counterattack!
"I would like to say Switzerland but I am not sure.
"When you're up here, your doubts multiply tenfold."
He said he remembered seeing it on packaging before.
Tarrant told him it was the right answer, adding: "I do not know what your strategy or counter-strategy is but you have just got £16,000. You're doing well."
£32,000 question
On the £32,000 question of "Who made the album Born To Do It in 2000?", Ingram selected his "50-50" lifeline, leaving him the options of Craig David or A1.
He said he thought it was A1, drawing gasps from the audience.
Mr Hilliard, prosecuting, suggested it was this which made Ingram change his mind and choose Craig David - the correct answer.
Again there was no coughing.
£64,000 question
Question 11 was: "Gentlemen versus players was an annual match between amateurs and professionals of which sport - lawn tennis, rugby union, polo or cricket."
Major Ingram: "I think it is cricket."
Two coughs.
"I think I have seen it printed on an old cigarette carton or on my grandfather's study wall.
"Maybe it was polo... It is less likely to be rugby union.
"I think I would take cricket."
Told he has won £64,000, he jumped up and shouts "yes" before returning to his seat, saying "no more risks".
£125,000 question
For £125,000, Tarrant said: "The Ambassadors in the National Gallery is a painting by which artist? - Van Eyck, Holbein, Michaelangelo, Rembrandt."
Ingram: "I think I'm going to go for Holbein."
Cough.
Tarrant: "Final answer?"
Ingram: "Yes."
Again he jumped to his feet being told he had won.
Ingram said by this stage he was able to consider buying his own house with the money he stood to win, but the next question promised £250,000.
£250,000 question
Tarrant: "What kind of garment is an Anthony Eden? - An overcoat, hat, shoe, tie."
Ingram: "I think it is a hat."
Cough.
Ingram: "Again I'm not sure. I think it is..."
Coughing. Ingram: "I am sure it is a hat. Am I sure?"
Cough.
Ingram: "Yes, hat, it's a hat."
And, to cheers, Tarrant told him it was the right answer.
£500,000 question
For the £500,000 question, he was asked: "Baron Haussmann is best known for his planning of which city?
Rome, Paris, Berlin, Athens."
Ingram: "I think it is Berlin.
"I think Haussmann is a more German name than Italian or Parisian or Athens.
"I am really not sure. I'm never sure. If I was at home, I would be saying Berlin if I was watching this on TV."
A cough was then heard, which the prosecution claim sounded like someone saying the word "no".
Ingram: "I do not think it's Paris."
Cough.
Ingram: "I do not think it's Athens, I am sure it is not Rome.
"I would have thought it's Berlin but there's a chance it is Paris but I am not sure.
"Think, think, think! I know I have read this, I think it is Berlin, it could be Paris.
"I think it is Paris."
Cough.
Ingram: "Yes, I am going to play."
Tarrant: "Hang on, where are we?"
Ingram: "I am just talking to myself. It is either Berlin or Paris. I think it is Paris."
Cough.
Ingram: "I am going to play Paris."
Tarrant: "You were convinced it was Berlin."
Ingram: "I know. I think it's Paris."
Tarrant: "He thought it was Berlin, Berlin, Berlin.
"You changed your answer to Paris.
"That brought you £500,000.
"What a man! What a man. Quite an amazing man."
£1,000,000 question
The final question was: "A number one followed by 100 zeros is known by what name?"
A googol, a megatron, a gigabit or a nanomol.
Ingram: "I am not sure."
Tarrant: "Charles, you've not been sure since question number two."
Ingram: "The doubt is multiplied.
"I think it is nanomol but it could be a gigabit, but I am not sure.
"I do not think I can do this one.
"I do not think it is a megatron. I do not think I have heard of a googol."
Cough
Ingram: "Googol, googol, googol.
"By a process of elimination I have to think it's a googol but I do not know what a googol is.
"I do not think it's a gigabit, nanomol, and I do not think it's a megatron.
"I really do think it's a googol.
Tarrant: "But you think it's a nanomol, you have never heard of a googol."
Ingram: "It has to be a googol."
Tarrant: "It's also the only chance you will have to lose £468,000.
"You are going for the one you have never heard of."
Ingram: "I do not mind taking the odd risk now and again.
"My strategy has been direct so far - take it by the bit and go for it.
"I've been very positive, I think. "I do not think it's a gigabit, I do not think it's a nanomol or megatron. I am sure it's a googol."
Cough.
Ingram: "Surely, surely."
He then teased the audience, saying: "I'm going to play. No, I'm not. Yes, I am."
Tarrant: "You lose £468,000 if you are wrong."
Ingram: "No, it's a googol.
"God, is it a googol? Yes, it's a googol."Yes, yes, it's a googol."
Cough.
Ingram: "I am going to play googol."
Tarrant: "Final answer?
"He initially went for nanomol, he then went through the various options again.
"He then went for googol because he had never heard of it and he had heard of the other three.
"You've just won £1m."
After the audience cheers died down and Ingram's wife had joined him on the set, Tarrant said: "I have no idea how you got there, you went to hell and back out there.
"You are an amazing human being."
Ingram's wife added: "How the hell did you do it?"
