If the story were fiction people would call it far-fetched. The saga of Major Charles Ingram, who with his wife Diana and lecturer Tecwen Whittock tried to take 'Who wants to be a millionaire?' for a million, was given a huge amount of TV time. For example, it occupied a tedious 90 minutes on Easter Monday (digital viewers were offered a further hour), and a promised 'update' a few weeks later repeated much of the original footage with a few additional facts. Then, like most such stories, it slipped from the headlines.
For those who have other things to do with their time, here's how 'Who wants to be a millionaire?' works. Contestants answer a series of increasingly difficult general knowledge questions, the amount at stake rising until a million pounds hangs on the last question. For every question four possible answers are given. Contestants also have three 'lifelines', to be used only once each: phone a friend, ask the audience, and have two answers removed.
The Major was making an unpromising start when the programme ran out of time and had to be continued the next day. In the interval the trio appear to have devised a winning cheat. The Major would repeat each of the choices in turn, and his accomplices in the audience would cough when he said the right one. The Major - who seems to have been a bit of a loose cannon as a conspirator - lost the plot as the stakes rose, forcing a barrage of coughs and at one point a badly-concealed anguished 'No!' from the conspirators.
