Scotland Yard has been called in to investigate a case of suspicious coughing in the audience during filming of ITV's version of the quiz show Who wants to be a millionaire? The inquiry centres on an as-yet unscreened episode in which an army major became Britain's third winner of the £1 million sterling top prize. Programme makers believe the coughing may have been either a coincidence or a deliberate act of deception. Either way, detectives are expected to ask the audience.
According to reports, the producers became suspicious at an incidence of coughing in which the number of throat clearances appeared to relate to the correct answer to a question.
ITV is refusing to cough up the £1 million prize pending the outcome. But the man at the centre of the inquiry, Major Charles Ingram, is in turn threatening to sue the producers if they fail to produce evidence against him by today. He has strenuously denied the allegations.
The 38-year-old father of three survived to reach the £1 million question, which required him to identify the name of a number comprising a one followed by a hundred zeros, and answered correctly "googol". According to newspaper reports, ITV's concern centres on that question. Broadcast of the programme has been postponed.
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