Major Fraud - Charles Ingram Documentary (2003)

it seemed like the perfect crime i'm  going to play google final answer   and for a while it looked like it might just have  worked 500 000 pounds you no longer have that   you just won one a cool million pinched  from under the nose of one of the country's   most popular stars on itv one's top game  show you are the most amazing contestant and right in front of the television cameras tonight for the first time we can show you  how they did it and how they got caught we've got the tapes i really  haven't got a scoobies   we've got the witnesses i'm saying don't you  don't you dare you rub dog think it berlin this is the dramatic story of the who  wants to be a millionaire major fraud it's a classic tale of greed and obsession a  desperate desire to win the biggest cash prize   on british television by hook or by crook it was  here in this studio that eight cameras captured   every move by the major his wife and their  accomplice while 21 microphones recorded   every single guilty cough we've isolated their  soundtrack so that you can hear them clearly   just as the jury did during the trial tonight we  show you the evidence and reveal the major fraud for the ingram's millionaire's been a family  obsession with diana's brother adrian the   first to get the bug a contestant on the show  four times he finally makes it to the hot seat having coasted through 10 questions  he comes unstuck at 64 000 and bows   out graciously with a check for 32 000 pounds  we're going with your dad's 50 percent hunch   yeah and like slightly more  than 50 but not much 500 it's september in america it's september in canada   oh i tell you what though it's been great  to have you i've really enjoyed having i'm   so pleased to have you here at last after over  two years of trying adrian pollock goes back   to the vale of the morgan to tell his family  daddy's got 32 000 pounds give him a big hand   little sisters next on and with husband  charles ingram appears on the couple's show brian downs from somerset now this is diana  ingram a nursery nurse from swindon watching   at home his husband a bit of brotherly coaching  pays off from the audience is her brother adrian   and after some 300 phone calls to the show  diana ingram's in the hot seat at last   at the moment have a look at question number  11 it's for 64 000 pounds this would take you   one the correct answer and 32 000 pounds past the  total your brother got and you have a lifeline   have a look this is question number 11. you  might as well play it whatever you can't lose   on this you've got 32 000 pounds who wrote  the nonsense poem the hunting of the snark g k chesterton hillar bellock edward lear lewis  carroll well i thought it was edward lear before   they all came up yes and now lewis carroll's  come up and he might have written it too she   equals her brother's performance i'm going to play  edward lee a final answer yes final answer yes you had 32 000 pounds you kept back one lifeline  you desperately wanted to beat your brother   you stated exactly the same place as  your brother you're still on 32 000   and falls somewhat less graciously at the  same hurdle who's fastest charles ingram in 3   3. finally after two failed attempts  charles ingram makes it to the hot seat   the most infamous episode of who wants to be a  millionaire is about to begin i really warm to   him yeah he had this terrible peer pressure  in that his brother-in-law and his wife   both had won 32 000 pounds they were both quite  sort of they seem to be quite obsessed with   the show and getting on it and doing well they  both have got on and done well i mean she went   away very disappointed uh with 32 000 pounds i  remember talking to her in the bar afterwards   and i said great congratulations she said yeah  only 32. and i said to her it's a huge amount of   money she went yes but i should have done more  i should have beaten my brother and all this   15 questions three life lines he gives  me all 15 correct answers he wins   one million pounds let's play  who wants to be a millionaire   okay charles question number one for 100 pounds  here it is on which of these would you air laundry um that's a clothes horse it's the  right answer you've got 100 pounds   the first few questions are  easy enough for the major   a little worried okay you got a hundred  pounds uh question number two for 200 pounds   what name is given to a person who is against  increasing the powers of the european union   eurosceptic eurostar euro trash eurovision  uh eurosceptic right answer 200 pounds okay number three is worth  300 pounds here it comes   what is butterscotch shortbread pavement  game garden flower brittle toffee   but some staff are concerned as soon as  the major takes the hot seat it's right   outside 300 pounds diana ingram's younger  brother marcus powell is also at the studio   just after recording has started um  probably about 15 20 minutes into it really   and he was outside the studio on his mobile  phone which mobile phones aren't allowed   sort of in the studio area so i went up to the  production office um where i'm full chris burke   i just approached him and said excuse me saying i  can't have you in and out of the studio using the   phone um either if you want to make a phone call  i can get someone to escort you off site and you   can make as many phone calls as you wish or would  you please go back in the studio take your seat   when i went back downstairs about 10-15 minutes  later he was back outside on his mobile again   and as soon as he saw me he went straight back  in to the studio at which point i asked one of   our security guards to to keep an eye  on him for the rest of the recording um   and to the best of my knowledge that's that's  exactly what he did police believe four vibrating   phone pages could have signaled the right  answer i think that the the question and   the options would have been transmitted by marcus  powell's uh open mobile phone within the vip area   i believe that the person on the other end with  access to research material could then signal the   wearer of those pages with the correct answer a b  c or d depending on what part of the body the page   was secreted and then that person could either  signal charles zinger or indeed charles ingram   may have been wearing the pages himself marcus  powell's never been charged with any offence   so for now charles ingram's on his own and the  500 pound questions one he's bound to get right   question number four then for 500  quid no problem so far here it is   which of these is the nickname for a famous  scottish army regiment that's wrong embarrassing   to get it wrong charles major which of these  is the nickname for a famous scottish army   regiment black cat i think you're going to  know this black widow black sea black watch black watch chris not black widow no definitely  black cat right answer you got 500 pounds question 5's the last time the major can go  home with nothing the normans who invaded   and conquered england in 1066 spoke which  language german norwegian french danish   but he's no intention of leaving empty-handed   no i'll go with french yeah final answer it's  the right house you've got a thousand pounds on the next question he's struggling and  there's no one to help too much knowledge   remember the family honor charles absolutely   right you've got a thousand pounds you've  still got all your lifelines you've got 50 50   friend and asked this audience have a  look at number six it's worth 2 000 pounds   inc i bet you know this one in coronation street   who is i bet you don't who is he when have you  last seen coronation street i've never watched it   i mean i've seen it sort of in the television  40 years i know sorry okay let's have a look   have a look at it work out what you want to do  in coronation street who is audrey's daughter   janice gail linda sally i really haven't  got a scooby's now you've got the audience   you can ask the audience uh you can find  a friend you can go 50 50. i'm not sure   50 50 probably if you've got two left and you've  still never heard of either robin it might have   been much use um you've got a phone a friend you  can ask the audience yeah chris i'd like to um ask   the audience okay audience let's see if you're up  on your soaks we had coronation street here only   a couple of weeks ago who raised well over 100 000  pounds for charity let's see if you know all about   them in coronation street this is the question  in coronation street who is audrey's daughter   now a on your keypad is janus b is gayle c  is linda d is sally a b c or d all vote now he's using a lifeline far too  early in the game ah thank you uh   89 saying go uh three percent linda four percent  sally four percent janice quite high it's very   high but it's your call it's a tricky one um  embarrassing it was wrong oh that guy would yeah   but it wouldn't be my fault at home and work so  i'll go for um i'll follow the audience please   i can't know what they said i think it was  gayle it's the same guy yeah okay all right   i'll run with gayle you know even though you've  never heard of it never heard of it we'll see that   no very nice sorry gail but i haven't okay  i'll go with gayle yeah we got there two   thousand pounds and the next question's also  a struggle have a look at number seven we're   getting up there this is for four thousand pounds  you're nine away from a million have a look the   river foil is found in which part of the united  kingdom england scotland northern ireland wales what are you thinking i'm thinking  i've never heard of it um with just   2 000 pounds in the pot charles ingram's  having to use his second lifeline   well the lifelines are there to help so i  think um i think i'll phone a friend okay   are you gonna phone uh gerald gerald  uh tell him the question four possible   answers uh see what he comes up with you still got  a 50 50 if you need it later uh you can walk away he wasn't the finest contestant we've ever  had he was struggling quite a bit actually   so he got up to four thousand pounds by the end  of the first night and used two lifelines so we   knew he was coming back the following evening but  expected him to last just a couple of questions or   so and then be gone final answer final answer it's  the right house you've got four thousand pounds and yes i have fifth grade okay ah god no as the rollover contestant charles ingram has  a few precious hours to come up with a plan   he'll clearly struggle on his own away from the  next big milestone if you lose two lifelines one   lifeline left you've struggled to that point you  know you might be going home with 16 000 maybe 32   there's no way that you'd expect him to stay  there for very much more than two or three   questions unless you know an incredibly lucky run  of questions but you know having sat through many   hundreds of programs that wouldn't be what you'd  expect to happen really he floundered through but   i think he had one lifeline left and i remember  us saying god that poor bloody major you know he's   he's got as much chance of getting the 32 000 you  know it's going to the moon in a rocket i mean   there was just no way this guy could could  possibly go much further and i could see his   wife sort of sitting up there behind him sort  of frowning at him i thought oh god he's got   his little girls and his promise and ponies  and all this okay fingers crossed for uh next   time earlier on tonight but there's an unlikely  savior on the way army major charles ingram here   at the moment he's on four thousand pounds  of the good news he still has one lifeline   remaining we're back tuesday night let's see he'll  be joining us then morris brown tequin whittaker   john norton that night the ingrams call  tequin whittake another millionaire regular   and it's at this point he joins their  scan the major fraud is about to begin   as the show begins again the next day charles  ingram and his co-conspirators have got a new plan   to cheat and it's going to work better than  any of them dead imagine hello welcome to   tuesdays who wants to be a millionaire we kick off  tonight with a contestant returning from saturday   charles ingram is here in the hot seat a position  he may well have been in before because you're a   military man indeed morning major honey faulty  um have you got um have you got a strategy um   well i have actually i have got a strategy i  was a bit um defensive on the last show you   know i sort of started talking myself out  of um out of answers that frankly i should   have known and did know um so this time i'm  going on the counter attack and i'm going to well basically it means i'm going to be a bit more  sort of show a bit more self-commitment you know   i'm going to if i feel i know the answer i'm going  to go for it you'll blow the lot then charles well   you only get in the chair once don't you so  remember the players will make the most of it   in court diana ingram claimed she'd never met  tequin whittake or even knew what he looked   like yet throughout the night she's caught  on camera apparently looking straight at him   sat right behind the major with the  other fastest finger first contestants   whittake's been strangely quiet during the day i think he'd been on three times at  least before and he was a he was an   old millionaire hand and we were we were new  did he strike you as a determined contestant   he struck me as being very focused so he wasn't  in a chatty mood i have to say um perfectly   polite and pleasant but um i think he was he was  focused on the evening in front of him charles   ingram major charles is here in the studio playing  for real now right now he's got eight questions to   go until the million he's still got one lifeline  intact he's got that 50 50. charles what's up   tonight let's play who wants to be a millionaire  first question of the night and they're cheating   from the off right this is where we put the  strategy to the test then you've got 4 000   pounds okay uh you can obviously walk away with  that at the top of the show and do a runner but   i know you're itching to get up a bit further  let's have a look at question number eight   you've got a 50 50. this would bring you 8 000  pounds if you gave me the right answer here it is   who was the second husband of jacqueline kennedy  who was the second husband of jacqueline kennedy   adnan khashoggi ronald reagan  aristotle anasis rupert murdoch right okay um i'm not certain it's a first   chance to test out their secret  weapon i would have thought i would have thought that it  would be aristotle onassis   that coughs from tequin whittake you're  hearing it in isolation as the jury did   much clearer than it would sound in any broadcast  and that's the plan to cough after ingram reads   out the right answers on him and jacqueline  kennedy wasn't mentioned so um um adnan casa hoggy doesn't bring any bells at all  aristotle and asses brings a bell or two   the major seeks further  confirmation from his accomplice one of my sub strategies is to take my time oh  you've got something absolutely okay so i'll   just rethink this one for a moment i'm i'm  pretty confident it's an aristotle analysis   and after that ingram's completely confident  yeah i'm going to go for aristotle analysis   you're a wild and crazy man major final  answer you only live once um yeah final answer still very happy with the strategy uh no  but it's too late it's the right answer my attention was first drawn to to major increment  um at around the 8 000 pound question when our   floor assistant said to me there's something  strange going on and that was really the first   time that i'd focused at what was going on on  the set uh you got a thousand pounds yeah uh you   still kept that lifeline 50 50. you're two away  from an important milestone of 32 000 and it's   actually important in more ways than one let's  have a look though at question number nine first   emental is a cheese from which country   france italy netherlands switzerland this is  the only time all night the major gets the right   answer without a little help from his friends  all right counter-attack think counter-attack i'm   i'd like to go for switzerland but i  need to just think about it for a moment and when you're up here you know sort  of doubts a multiplied tenfold so   so i think it's switzerland you got a 50-50  if it helped again he lists the other answers   just in case but there's no need for a cough  from whittak it could be france i suppose   then again it could be italy so or  maybe it's the netherlands right   yeah that's sort of how the  question works john no i got a hair   you got a 50 50 it helps you just trying  it's worth 16 000 you lose 7 000 if uh   you gave me a wrong answer the girls will be back  to three on a pony so no cost a hundred times um sure switzerland i'll the major knows he's right  yeah switzerland final answer yeah final answer why did you think it was switzerland well i just  recall emmental coming from switzerland i've eaten   it a lot and i'm sure it had made in switzerland  or something written on it swiss made yes   i don't know what your strategy and some strategy  is but it's working you've just got 16 000 pounds   even without the cost his habit of reading all  the answers sets antennae twitching the acoustics   within um the you know the what i call the bowl  of the studio are such that you know the sound is   pretty much kept within it and i was watching  a monitor just on the other side so at this   point there was absolutely no suggestion of of any  coughing or any noises whatsoever this was just   simply me now focused on the monitor but kind  of removed from the production of the program   i'd become so suspicious that something untoward  was going on that i then said to our floor manager   that i wanted to find out whether we could  search major ingram when he came off the set   my my boss adrian wolfe came running across  the studio which in itself was a sight   and he said we have a problem and i didn't  know what quite he meant but having then   been told that he believed there  was something funny going on   with the contestant in the hot seat um  we then concentrated on that and i was   by a monitor so i was able to see the way the man  was playing the game and also i was able to stand   behind the cameras looking directly at him and see  for myself that it was unusual if not completely   strange the way he was attempting to answer the  questions and the way he finally chose an answer   it was well out of any understanding or  experience i'd ever had 32 000 pounds   the third question of the night and a critical  moment in the major fraud have a look this is it who had who had a hit uk album with  born to do it released in 2000 coldplay   top loader a1 craig david i'm not sure i'm afraid i'm born to do it i  vaguely recall it i'm sure i've heard of the title   but i i don't honestly know for sure disaster  the major doesn't know the answer and neither   does whittak the plan's out the window i think i  think i think it's a1 it's not you got a 50 50. craig david i just can't i don't think i've  never heard of craig david to be honest   does wife diana ingram know he's wrong  um coldplay i've never heard of and top   loader is a well it's part of a rifle  sir i don't think it's that it's also that's what they're for  right computer take away two   wrong answers leave charles the right  answer and one other wrong answer and again it seems she's looking to whittak  the two answers left were craig david who   he admitted to never heard of and a one who  he had been gunning for all along and when   those two answers were left he said well that  doesn't give me any help which hang on a second   you've been saying a1 all along so and you didn't  know craig david so why haven't you now gone   it must be a1 then um so no the man was playing a  different game to anything i've ever seen i think   it's a1 the major set on the wrong answer and  needs help but there's none coming from whittak i've just never heard of craig david so trust me he does exist he's quite well known  unaware her every move is recorded it looks like   diana ingram's preparing to help out if so she's  taking a massive gamble who had a hit uk album   with born to do it released in 2000 a1 and craig  david how old are your daughters um eleven nine   and six you know they'll all know this they will  they'll be at home screaming the answer now um   craig david his wife seems to check the studio televisions   diana ingram's not on screen but the cameras are  still rolling you've got sixteen thousand pounds i think i'll go for a1 i can't i can't influence your judgment  at all you're only getting the chair once   she seems unable to hide her  frustration she must know he's wrong well you are if you haven't  got a clue but it's up to you one of those is worth 32 000 one of them would  cost you 15 000. it's the second answer he wants hey one a1 okay david diana coughs twice is that a clue   i'm gonna go for everyone has he heard her  maybe not final answer no are we on the main   strategy you're the sub strategy yeah it's like  detour at the moment yeah okay a lot of money   to lose you tend to play you can take 16 000. it  seems he's heard all right here comes the u-turn   i mean i'm 80 of the time i'm wrong when  i guess so now i'll get craig david yeah final answer i'm going to guess craig david final  answer but his wife's been spotted and the ingrams   are in trouble let's take a break join us again  tonight who wants to be a millionaire don't go away on the 32 000 question it looks like  diana's taken a massive gamble to help her   husband cheat but she's been spotted mrs ingram  developed quite a nasty cough on that particular   question the major seemed to be struggling  to answer it and there was enough concern for   production to decide that they needed to stop the  recording to rewind the tape to look back at it so even at that stage third question in  on the night the recording is stopped   because there's concerned suspicion yes  yes there was some cause for concern   but not enough the team let the show continue  and no one's yet spotted whittake welcome back   to the second part of tonight's who wants to be a  millionaire this tuesday night there was something   in the air that was all a bit strange and when i  did come down to the studio the um you know the   crew some of them were just sort of shaking  the heads going something's definitely going   on just before the break major charles ingram  here was on 16 000 pounds he said his own words   he never heard of craig david uh used the 50 50  coldplay and top loader went he then went for a1   then because i actually rather lost the plot  of his thinking then but basically because he   reckons most of his guesses are 80 wrong  he changed his mind knowing he'd lose 15   000 pounds if he gave him the wrong answer and  went for craig david who he'd never heard of so your strategy and your sub strategy just  go for it it somehow worked i have no idea   how you got to choose a man lots of money at  stake who you've never heard of neither of us   i don't think i'll be doing that again all right  a few of the millionaire team knows something's   wrong but can't quite work out what he would  make some humorous comment about each answer   how it couldn't be that because he didn't know it  or it wasn't that or he was certainly wasn't that   but he was doing that to all of them um and then  finally pumping for an answer that he disregarded   sort of three efforts ago or three mentions  before and so it was very odd it wasn't the way   anybody has ever played the game or before  or since in any of the territories in the   experience i've had you've never seen anything  like this anywhere in the world no not at all no   it's no this was not this is not a gambler's way  of playing it wasn't somebody who knew the answer   there was no smile of recognition when an answer  came up when you can see somebody knows the answer   beforehand you've got your way up to that  32 000 pounds don't want to give you that   but you've got that basically you hold it you  want to hold yourself uh i'd like to hold it yes   okay my wife didn't hold it and she blew out at  32 000 so when i see this is interesting because   your wife is sitting up there in the audience  shaking her head because she doesn't understand   how you got 30 000 pounds either she was on the  show quite a long time about now she also got   thirty two thousand pounds now you said when you  came on whatever happens somehow i have to get the   same amount as my wife yeah and you frankly didn't  believe you would do it did you i didn't know   and frankly charles nor did i yeah he's equalled  his wife's win but the three cheats have their   eyes on a much bigger prize for at least 32  000. wouldn't it be a jolly wheeze though if   you got more than your wife um wouldn't it  cause certain friction what do you think um my reading of him was that he was a sort of a  a mad major you know brave brave as a lion but   completely barmy you know probably a bit thick  but but very you know tim timberton knight sort   of thing i mean dim but nicely and i thought he  was like that and i mean he was extraordinary to   be opposite i mean he was amazing to be opposite  he was he was fascinated uh question number 11 you   might as well play this you've got no lifelines  but uh you can't lose on this you get 32 000   anyway have a look at question number 11 it's  worth 64 000 you might as well play it here it is   gentlemen versus players was an annual match  between amateurs and professionals of which sport   the three conspirators are now playing for  serious money of which sport lawn tennis   rugby union polo cricket  now it's worth 64 000 pounds i mean it could be any of them really but i think it's cricket but i'm not sure i think  it's good and the cough from lets him know he's   right a picture a print on either cigarette  cards or or the old cigarette cards you used   to get or like i don't know grandfather's study  wall or something that's gentlemen versus players   but i'm not sure and that was a cricket  though they were playing cricket i think so long tennis rugby union polo crooked i think it  might be cricket uh it's worth 64 000 you might as   well play it indeed your time have a good it could  be lawn tennis it might have been long tennis maybe it was doing this again sorry as the  two men become more confident in their system   the coughs become more frequent  i don't think it's rugby union   i don't think it's lawn tennis again  mrs ingram looks towards whittak polo   no i just don't recall any connection  but i've heard of it definitely and but   i don't remember any connection with polo so  i think if i had to guess and i can't i can't   take cricket the ever helpful whittake  just 10 feet away is there again it's not fair on everyone else i'll  go for cricket it doesn't matter about   everybody else they'll play anyway don't  worry um gonna play finally final answer you got 32 000 pounds your wife came   and she won 32 000 pounds you just  won 64 pounds of pounds come on roman had never ever heard of craig david you've  done pretty well have a look at that one take   that one 64. you're shaking major you're shaking  no good in the fire fight major you're shaking   no wonder he's shaking charles ingram's carrying  out major fraud in front of a live studio audience   but whittock's coughing is now drawing attention after for about 5-10 minutes he seems coughing  all the time and it's just strange because he   didn't copy photoshop and rehearsals and he  didn't copy after show we was in the chair   even those who haven't noticed  the coughing smell a rat   relatively early on halfway through i thought  there might be something dodgy going on   so what i did was i looked at his face i assumed  that it was going to be a visual clue of some sort   of visual code so he would have a member  of the audience somewhere in his eye line   that would be giving him some subtle coded  indication like like not a wink i mean it's   you know remember it's there in the light  the audience is in half light so you know   it would be you know like that for a or or  that would be or some something fairly subtle   so i question after question i was looking i was  locked onto his face and but i couldn't detect i   couldn't detect anything that was he was he didn't  seem to be systematically looking at the crowd but   even during the recording even during the game you  were pretty sure that something untoward was going   on yeah you were that convinced yeah absolutely  i said to to marilyn and she felt the same um now   you've got 64 000 pounds next one would be for 125  000 pounds obviously you've got no lifelines left   um and you would drop 32 000 pounds here if you  gave me a wrong answer you clearly do not have to   play this question but you might like the look of  it have a look at it it's number 12 of a possible   15. the ambassadors in the national gallery  is a painting by witch artist van ike holbein   michelangelo rembrandt it's worth 125 000 pounds  the pressures rising as the money goes up just   five coughs so far from tequin whittake but all  subtlety will soon disappear as greed takes over but have a good look at this  question have you got um all right   i think it was either holbein  or rembrandt i have seen it   um i think i think it was holbein here  it comes another guilty cough from whitak she looks towards tequin whittaker you've got 64  000 you've got no lifelines you can walk away with   that summer money down payment on a house um yeah  i think i'm going to go for holbein yeah um hold   on there's no longer a decent pause between the  coughs and ingram choosing his answer hold on you just won 125. the team believed that to  escape scot-free with the cash this is when   charles ingram should take the money and run he  was struggling more at 200 pounds than you are now   i think if they bailed out 125 000 i don't think  any of us will be saying i think it's just pushed   that little bit too far and as i said every step  of the way up there's more evidence that you've   got to argue away one way or another and it may  well be easy to argue away three questions with a   cough but you know when you're talking about  17 18 persistent coughs at specific points   that appear to be leading somebody i  think you back yourself into a corner   but the two men can't resist temptation it's to be  the undoing of all of them i think it was when it   was getting on for sort of serious money probably  when we sort of got to one two five i think that's   probably when you know i mean i definitely thought  something very strange was going on you're seeing   something happen in front of you you think that  there might be collusion going on you think there   might be cheating going on you're not 100 sure  it's difficult it certainly is not my call to   stop the program it had been stopped once already  i was alerted by the sound supervisor kevin duff   and by our director to listen out because on the  microphones they could hear some coughing going on   and obviously in the studio there's always  spluttering and bits of coughing going on   but this seemed more systematic so i listened  out and i was directed to look in the audience   but i soon realized that it was  actually coming from another contestant   when you hear the coughs which are adjacent  to the right answers when you first hear them   you're looking to see if the pattern stays  you know if it's a pattern that's going to   be repeated and sustained throughout the series of  series of questions but after a while when it is   your reaction on hearing it is one of humor i mean  you start to laugh really when the coughs come   up right on cue you think gosh there it is again  have a look at number 13 it is worth a quarter of   a million if you give me a wrong answer of this  question if you decide to play it you don't have   to you got no lifelines you would lose 93 000  pounds which is fairly sobering but chris tarrant   clearly reminding the major who with his wife has  debts of more than 50 000 pounds that the stakes   are high from 1 million it's a thing i do a lot  i sort of repeat it as as as the money goes up   and up and up and with the major i constantly  seem to be bringing him back to earth and you'd   see him go yes right yes thanks for that anyway  ignore all that and carry on have a look the next   question would form a key part of the prosecution  case at their trial this is for 250 000 pounds what type of garment is an anthony eden   overcoat hat shoe tie tequin whittake is caught  on tape getting the answer from his unsuspecting neighbor ready for action i think it's a hat i think i mean again you know i'm not sure but  i i think it's a hat i think it's one of those   really sort of tall hats that sort of came into  fashion presumably when he was prime minister   two coughs and he's not finished yet well this is the famous hat question of  course what type of garment is an anthony eden   and here we've got chris tarrant going through  the various possibilities an overcoat a shoe a hat   of course which is the right answer or a tie  and what we hear at the same time as this   is conversation among the ff contestants where  one man with a cockney accent mr lucy thomas lucy   in fact confirms that it is a hat just after  it confirms it's a hat you hear ingram say   to tarant i think it's a hat and of  course what it's there right on cue but his unwitting helper remembers things  differently a question had been asked and   the answer had been given and as i  turned around to look towards my son   tequin whitake said to me did you know that  answer and i said yes i did why do you think   he asked you that question i i don't know i  think it was probably just because i turned   round and i was sort of looking his way just  for something to say it's worth 250 000 pounds   he continues his private conversation with  whitake i'm sure it's a hat how am i sure well he's sure now yeah hat that's a hat   you lose ninety three thousand pounds if you're  wrong i'm going for a hat final answer yep you just won 250 three coughs in the one question   tequin whittake and charles  ingram are over doing things it's easy for me to realize that it was tech  when doing the coughings he was only about 10 or   15 feet away from me directly in front of me and  the way he was coughing was rather bizarre he was   actually turning towards the set to cough so at  one point he was chatting to the contestant to his   left in a whispered way and then he'd turn around  a full 90 degrees with his head cough towards the   hot seat and then turn away again but wittek's  about to risk everything as the major nearly   blows the lot you got a quarter of a million it  sounds strange you've got a quarter of a million   the next question is worth 500 000 pounds  as chris tarrant asks the penultimate baron houseman is best known for his planning  of which city rome paris berlin athens   i think it's berlin it's not i think it tells  ten minutes ago you thought it was a one   i think i think it's berlin next  time it's worth half a million   it's a huge amount of money to win there's  also a huge amount of money to drop housman's   it's more a german name than an italian name and parisian name in athens name he  quickly rules out the other options   likely to be at home i'm really  not sure um oh i'm never sure um if i was at home i'd be saying  berlin if i was watching this on tv   he forgets the system and fails to check slowly  around the answers it's worth 500 000 pounds you dropped 218 000 you've got a quarter million is best known for his planning of which city rome   paris berlin athens he's giving  whittak no opportunity to help   risks everything no and he's going for  berlin you can hear he's going for berlin   and then all of a sudden you hear a cough which  is now acknowledged to be from whittic which is and the no is partly in whisper  but it's allowed now like that   when i say partly in whisper it's not no it's  now and it comes right on the heels of the cough   so in a way what what what the coffer's  doing there what mr whittek's doing there   is breaking the code the agreed code but he can  only do that by putting a no there with his cough   otherwise ingram would interpret the cough  as meaning berlin is the right answer   moments later is this a new signal the  effect of the nose blow seems immediate there's a cough there's a no and then just after  that there's a little series of nose blowing as   well the nose blowing only ever happened at that  point um and it's only my subjective opinion but i   think if you've got a system you've got to have a  an all-stop signal because otherwise you could end   up in a in a very difficult position and i think  that was probably part of their all-stop signal   the all-stop was the nose blowing i think  so and of course the word no well that helps everything i don't think it's paris just as he's dismissing  paris tequin wittek's cough   stops him mid-sentence i don't think  it's athens i'm sure it's not rome   he was convinced that it was berlin you know  prompted by the fact that he believed that baron   hussman was a german name um and kept focusing  on berlin i mean he went on and on and on about   berlin and um then he says something to effective  but it could be paris and then gets a cough now he freezes he just he freezes for the moment  he obviously completely regains his thoughts   because i think that he is relatively convinced  himself that it is um the answer is berlin   i'm sure it's not rome ingram now  makes another u-turn i'd have thought   it's berlin but there's a chance it's  paris i'm not sure think think think um i've read this i think it's berlin is that the all-stop signal again  diana stares in whittak's direction   it could be paris they're pushing their  luck you've done it to play this press   the fastest finger first contestants about to  link the major's answers to whittock's coughs   it suddenly occurs to me that this  this bloke's being held out here   and as soon as i have that thought almost as soon as the bloke who's coughing you know this is  what's going on in my mind it wasn't a long   process it was almost immediate it's the bloke  who's coughing you know is he sending him signals   so i've immediately alighted on tekken wittig  and during the course of that question lo and   behold he does come right round the houses goes  for the answer that he originally discarded   and tequila whittake did cough in  the right place i think it is paris yeah i'm gonna play ingram responds to the  cough immediately hang on now where are we   don't worry i'm talking to myself as we  go right you've got 250 000 pounds yeah   you've got no lifelines yeah if you give me  a wrong answer you still got 32 000. that's   guaranteed whatever if you give me a wrong answer  here you've got 218 000 lost you lose 218 000. you   give me a right answer it's worth half a million  you don't have to play okay this is the question   baron houseman is best known for his planning of  which city rome paris berlin or athens it's worth   half a million pounds charles ingram checks for a  fourth and final time it's either berlin or paris and i think it's paris cue whittake   yeah i'm going to play i'm going to play i'm going  to play paris you were convinced it was berlin   i know i know i think i was wrong i'm going  to go for paris final answer final answer you had 250 000 pounds you did not need to  play this question you thought it was berlin   berlin berlin you changed your mind to paris  that brought you five hundred thousand yeah   the major clearly delighted after  so nearly blowing it all on berlin   it takes four guilty coughs from tequila to  get him there yet still most of the audience   and the man sat opposite him are unaware  he's cheating unbelievable i had no idea of   anything going on at all to be honest once  it gets up to the big money i've got like   a very very concentrated job to do so really  short of somebody you know sending up smoke   signals or lighting a bonfire in the audience  i mean i would not pick anything up normally   um just in i mean i'm this close to someone i'm  eyeball to eyeball so no i'm not aware of anything   at all and i was genuinely amazed when i came off  here that there was um you know murmurings and   suspicion that something might have might have  might have happened that night that was illegal   right are you right no definitely not  that's the reality what you've done 500 000 pounds take it the cheating majors still  in the hot seat he's risking everything to win   his million probably just about the whole  of the united kingdom we're going to look   at the million-pound question which we haven't  done very often since we started three years ago   you don't have to play this question i think  you know the routine by now but let me make   sure you're absolutely aware and clear of  your situation you've got 500 000 pounds   question number 15 if you go for it  and give me the right answer you win   a million pounds you'll be the third person in  britain to win the million since we came on it   if you go for it and give me a wrong  answer charles you lose 468 000 pounds   yeah okay okay you're guaranteed 32 000. that's a  long time ago now question number 10. we're about   to look at question number 15. you do not have  to play this question it's worth 1 million pounds   you've got 500 000. this is it question number  15 of 15 on who wants to be a millionaire a number one followed by 100  zeros is known by what name google megatron gigabit nanomole it's worth a million the  cheats are about to be rumbled   i'm entirely focused on tequin whittake um he's  sitting over there he's sitting over there at c3   i know what the answer to the  question is before the four   answers come up so i can really study the  process between these two people mega nano it seems his wife can't believe  he's playing on i'm not sure   however charles you haven't been sure since  questions the mood in the production office   is strangely flat normally i probably would be  quite excited that you know one of my contestants   has won a lot of money um but because i there has  some doubt in my mind that something strange was   going on i don't think i could really sort of get  enthusiastic about it really you've got 500 000   pounds in your hand nobody at all would blame you  to walk away with that amount of money it's a huge   change if you give me a wrong answer you lose 460  000 pounds you plunge back to 32 000 it is worth   one million a number one followed by 100 zeros is  known by what name google think megatron gigabit it's worth one million pounds and again the  major checks around the answers one by one   i think it's a nanomole it could be a gigabit and once again if you listen   carefully the tapes reveal tequin  whittake checking the answer god i don't think it's a megatron  whittake now has the million pound answer   and i have to say i haven't i don't think  i've heard of a google but which has google i'm waiting for tequin whittake to  cough at precisely the moment that the major   mentions the word google and the first time  he mentions the word google cough cough gotcha   i'm also thinking during that process  which is almost completely the opposite   of that i'm thinking don't you don't  you dare don't you dare have you   i'm thinking that at the same time as i'm  thinking i want you to to cough because i   want i want this i want i want to know that  i'm right in what i've been in my suspicions i mean by process of elimination i actually think  it's google but i don't know what a google is so   that's sort of how we got to create david yeah he  went for it because you've never ever heard of him   don't think it's gigabit i  don't think it's nanomole i don't think it's megatron he revisits all four  to check the answer with whittak a second time   i really do think it's a google but you  thought it was analysis as whitaker coughs   it seems he's again under the watchful  eye of the major's wife not a gigabyte   of meal and megatron there's only four  of them so it must be google wasn't it i don't actually know what a google  is but no wonder she seems worried i mean it's the only chance i'll ever have  of winning a million but it's a hell of a   child it's also the only chance you'll ever  have a losing 468 000 pounds i just put that   into the equation you've got half a million  you're going for the one you've never heard of   just because you haven't heard of it i can't  influence you it's entirely your call but you've   got 500 000 pounds i mean i don't mind taking the  odd risk now and again his wife's not laughing and   again looks towards whittak that was a joke by  the way it hasn't been a joke you've been like   he was about to answer the million pound question  which means that he stands to win a million pounds   but he also stands to lose if he's wrong 468  000 pounds a tidy sum to anybody and it became   obvious that he wasn't under the pressure that  he should have been somehow it didn't make sense   he should have been very very careful and very  certain and he certainly wasn't both of those   or either of those i should say but ingram's  not gambling at all he's been given the answer   okay let's um take your time take as long as you  need you've got 500 000 pounds i mean my strategy   has worked so far you know just take it by the  bit and go for it um i was defensive on the on   the last show and and that you know very slowly  got me somewhere but minus a lot of lifelines   i missed quite a lot of um the action um of  the the questions between the 64 and i think   about the quarter of a million pound question  because the frantic phone calls were going on   but the fact that he was still there without  actually knowing what was going on um confirmed my   suspicions and certainly when watching the million  pound question you know my heart was pumping   i came into the studio and i saw adrian and he  asked me if i thought that there was anything   suspicious going on and i had been uneasy up  until that point and and we basically discussed   whether there was any possibility of cheating  whether he could have got hold of the questions   beforehand or whether his wife or he had  any kind of device on them or if indeed he   was being helped by anyone else in the audience if  you're wrong you lose four hundred and sixty three   kills don't think it's a gigabit again he checks  around the answers i don't think it's an animal   megatron mega megamega mega yeah i don't  think it's megatron i'm sure it's google you do not have to play this question  there's nothing on my screen here you   do not have to play this you've  got five hundred thousand pounds   after three separate coughs on the million pound  question ingram still wants one final signal   you lose 468 000 pounds if you're wrong i've  got no answer on my screen i'm just making   you aware exactly how you are no one's ever  lost 468. god don't no it's a it's a google tell me somebody please do not go for a break please don't you this is turning into an epic night join us again   for the third part of tonight's who  wants to be a millionaire do not go away we didn't have to go for a break in the break as  they wait to see if charles ingram's won a million   there's furious activity backstage the  head of cellador is called to see if the   show should be stopped nobody's ever lost 468  thousand no discussions please say the chat   i really am a serious amount of money at stake  uh yeah just a bit okay they said that they were   on the commercial break and they were about to  go back and say that the guy had won a million   but they were certain that there was some form  of cheating going on what should they do i called   paul and i said to him that i felt very strongly  that he ought to come up to the studio that night   he initially was very dismissive and i  said well what evidence do you have and   they said well just gut instinct and i said  well we can't stop a show and accuse someone   on gut instinct i said you must go  ahead and we will deal with it later welcome back to the third nail-biting part  of tonight's who wants to be a millionaire   major charles ingram came on tonight with  just four thousand pounds he only had one   lifeline left he got up to 500 000 pounds he got  this question number one followed by 100 zeros   is known by what name google megatron gigabit  nanomole he initially went for an animal   he then went through his various options again he  knew he would lose 468 000 pounds if he was wrong   he then went for google mainly because he'd never  heard of it and he'd heard of the other three   charles give me that check 500  000 pounds you no longer have that you just won one minute the contestant who spotted the cheats  isn't clapping well i'm just sitting there   glaring at tequila whittake probably glaring  at the major as well and my reaction is i can't   believe that i seem to be the only person  who's witnessed what i've seen you know   am i the only one here who's seen this did i  really see this you know what's going on here why   has nobody else noticed what's happening here tom  lucy sitting opposite larry is equally unimpressed   when the program finished i walked from here and  i met my son coming down the stairs over there   and as he looked at me he said he was at it  ted and i said do you think so he's a definite   when the major one is million pounds it  was quite a strange atmosphere in here   because building up to that there'd been a  feeling of disbelief amongst the crew anyway   because we strongly suspected he was cheating  and then when he got to the million pounds the   atmosphere wasn't how it should be at all and  i noticed that certain members of the crew not   all of them but some of them weren't sure  how to react because they were obviously   had suspicions of their own i noticed some of  them were slow clapping and just looking at me   not really sure how to what to do and  i just basically said come on you know   we've got to we've got to maintain that this  is a genuine win until we know otherwise i was there when judy's  careful won one her million   and the whole production team everybody was elated  it was a fantastic moment especially having been   with the show since the start you know you really  want somebody to get there and you really want   somebody to take that that little step and do it  um but because of the way that uh the way that it   appeared the major it got to this point as i say  everybody was just what incredibly uncomfortable absolutely incredible come on i have no idea how  you got it diana you were going you went to hell   and back up there sorry about that i was down just  sort of offset where um they sort of came off and   hugged each other and diana was crying but i mean  i didn't totally believe that it was real tears   it sort of to me was a bit put on and seems  sort of a bit fake wow yes i can't believe it   literally they'd walk down the steps from the  edge of the set and the way that it was put   to them after congratulating them was that it was  common practice with big winners that we searched   them for security reasons and would they object to  having such a search done i searched his clothing   i searched his hair i even asked him to take his  shoes off and i found nothing and the feeling   that i was left with at that time was incredibly  disappointed because my suspicions hadn't hadn't   gone away i was just left feeling well i don't  quite understand what's going on here after being   searched the ingrams are taken to their dressing  room but rather than celebrating have a huge row security guards sort of pointed out that sort  of shouting coming from their dressing room   and their window was open so you know as soon  as he said that we all sort of listened and   of course you know there was ray's voices  coming from there and as the security guard   sort of went a bit nearer to the window  to see if he could hear what's being said   the window was slammed shut there was an  atmosphere between the two of them in the dressing   room when i was there an atmosphere dominated  by her and the impression was that something   was not as it should be definitely diana  looked very sort of shaken and i mean just look   physically sort of just not very happy and charles  was very tense um and at that point he had a cigar   so he's a lot of his attention was of looking  down on the floor playing with the ash in the   ashtray and just generally not saying very much  at all these two people had just won a million   pounds they should have been ecstatically happy  they should have wanted to speak to the children   they should have wanted to speak to the dog they  should have wanted to do something other than be   as miserable as they seemed and the atmosphere  in hindsight in and this is speculation is that   he had gone further than they had agreed that  he would go and as a result he had possibly   exposed himself to what has now happened  the trial and the subsequent decision of   the jury while the ingrams are fighting the  man who claims his allergies made him cough takes center stage and gets into the  hot seat immediately after ingram   right you want to play for a  million pounds i certainly do   i could do to take away two wrong answers leave  tech in the right house his cough now gone   whittake finds it's not so easy playing it  straight sweet pastries is still there i'm   gonna get a clue so obviously i'll go with what  carol said sweet pastries one last final answer you had four thousand pounds tech  when you just lost three thousand as soon as the show's over the team begin  their search for evidence of cheating   that million pound check can be cashed in eight  days time i got in my car and went up to the   studio center i said to them to keep the the  gallery that the truck powered up could they   put all the tapes up for me and i would have a  look at them we sat together and watched through   the programs and to paul's credit i have to say  he did try and play devil's advocate with me   he tried to as best he could to refute each one  of the coughs when i said well there pulled that   one there that one he would you know do his best  um as we got further up the money tree um he got   quieter and karate until we got to the million  pound question when he was silent and quite pale   the police are called in and paul smith has  to ring charles ingram to tell him he's not   getting his million i have to tell you that that  we have suspicions from viewing the recording of   last monday's uh program and subsequently studying  the tapes carefully that there were irregularities   during the tipping of the show in which you  participated oh good lord now because of that   i have to tell you that these suspicions have  been referred to the police right and thus we   for not for the moment will be airing the program  or indeed authorizing payment of the check right   yeah well i mean you know i  completely refute that obviously   um good lord i'm gonna say gosh thanks all right  well thanks for letting me know frankie thank you   cheers bye what effectively i was saying was you  have cheated us of a million pounds on our show   and i would have suspected that i would have if  i'd have been him in that situation i said hang   on a minute how do i know that you know what  are you talking about with that extraordinary   call the game's up for charles and diana ingram  and tequin whittake the major resorts to his   favorite strategy the counter-attack i did not  cheat if i can use that very firm expression to   cover everything i can't say that there wasn't  coffee going on but i did not um either hear or   use coffin as any form of mechanism for  being able to answer those questions   two weeks ago a jury convicted charles ingram his  wife diana and their accomplice tequin whitaker   of deception the judge told them to  give up any childish wishes they might   have that they're entitled to the money  their reputations ruined branded cheats   and liars they risked everything to con  their way to a million pounds and lost it all why do you whisper green grass why tell the trees what a soul whispering grass the trees  don't have to know no no why tell them all your secrets who kissed that long ago whispering  grass don't tell the trees cause why don't you tell it to the breeze cause  she'll run and tell it to the birds and bees   and everyone will know because you done  told the blabbering trees why tell them over on itv2 next you can witness the major's  complete performance on who wants to be a   millionaire as he tries to cheat his way to one  million pounds stay with us here for the itv news to

Channel: Gemma Wood

Views: 3,011,414

Rating: 4.7821317 out of 5

Keywords: Charles Ingram, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Quiz, Chris Tarrant, Major Fraud

Id: F-K7bNxOPvA

Length: 74min 52sec (4492 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 10 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/Green22Jack]

It sounds interesting, just not 1 hour and 14 minutes interesting.

[u/GetsGold]

I'm absolutely certain it's Berlin and would wager my life on it. Although... it could be Paris audience member coughs violently

[u/Aeouk]

You should watch the ITV drama

[u/tomispie]

This was my driving instructors cousin and that ladies and gentlemen is my lame claim to fame ;)

[u/Texastexastexas1]

Actually a good watch.

[u/bonermoanr]

Why not cough when the host says it? then use this plan as a backup

[u/aznsensation8]

There's no way that million dollar question would be used nowadays. Just through the process of elimination I think most people who watch that show would've gotten that one right. Of course it's not a Megatron lol. That's some first question shenanigans.

[u/vortexIV]

I remember watching this episode in 2001

[u/Foreign-Complaint130]

He also forced to resign his commission in the Army, so can no longer refer to himself as Major Ingram.