WINNERS AND LOSERS ON THE PRIME- TIME FAVOURITE

The fi rst episode of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? went out on September 4, 1998, and the fi nal episode aired on February 11, 2014. A total of 592 episodes across 30 series were screened.

A cash- strapped garden designer called Judith Keppel became the fi rst contestant to win the £ 1million jackpot in the UK in November 2000. It later emerged that she was distantly related to Alice Keppel, a mistress of King Edward VII.

The show featuring Keppel’s win sparked a bitter row between ITV and the BBC after news of her triumph was leaked in advance. The programme coincided with the transmission of the fi nal episode of the Beeb’s fl agship sitcom One Foot In The Grave and there were allegations that ITV had “planned” the win to boost its viewing fi gures. A probe by the Independent Television Commission cleared programme- makers of any wrongdoing, however.

A British Army offi cer called Charles Ingram won the top prize in September 2001 but members of the production team suspected he had been helped by a system of coded coughs made by members of the audience and the police were called in to investigate.

The case went to court and Ingram, his wife Diana and a college lecturer called Tecwen Whittock were found guilty of “procuring the execution of a valuable security by deception”. All three were fi ned and given suspended prison sentences.

When ITV broadcast a documentary about the scandal, it attracted 17 million viewers and the manufacturer of cough syrup Benylin booked an ad slot in the fi rst commercial break.

Quiz, a play about the scandal, is currently running at the Noel Coward Theatre in London’s West End.

Variants of the show are produced in 160 different countries.