Plaskett and Woffinden's book on the "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" Fraud

[MJMcCready]

Well that's hard to answer. Where he got the gaul to do what he did I don't know, but more importantly, when are we going to see a chess-based 'Who wants to be a millionaire'?

[Kevin Thurlow]

"Where he got the gaul to do what he did I don't know"

Somewhere in Western Europe?

[James Plaskett]

Because Neville Twichell´s interest in the case was revivified by the 2015 book I co-authored, Bad Show. And that book led to the 2020 TV series QUIZ.

[MJMcCready]

Well I'm sorry James but I won't be reading it. Charles seemed completely lost so many times and kept chopping and changing his mind so much I just don't believe he could win the grand prize without there because some method to his madness. He took it too far if you ask me. I've never seen anyone else take such huge risks like he did, clearly not knowing the answer, many times over. He didn't fluke 1 million, I always thought that was quite obvious.

[Mike Gunn]

Why Ingram behaved the way he did is explained in the book!

[MJMcCready]

Okay well that I would be curious to learn about. He looked totally lost to me, and many times over.

[Joey Stewart]

I'd been interested to hear an alternative take as well, since it looked pretty clear cut to me, but not so much so that I would be prepared to pay for a book to further clutter my house.

[Kevin Thurlow]

Luckily, it's available on Kindle.

[Joey Stewart]

But I'd presumably still have to part with very hard earned money even in electronic form?

[MJMcCready]

And you have to overcome the incredulity involved, accepting that there just might have been method in his madness. That's a tough one if you ask me.

[Mike Gunn]

This point was discussed on the first page of this thread!

[MJMcCready]

Indeed it is, and exposed effectively I would say also, however, since the thread started 7 years ago, it's easy to forget that but yes, it is worth returning to the original page. Thanks.

[James Plaskett]

Well waddya know!?

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tv/21699519/ja ... ula-yates/

[MJMcCready]

Well waddya know!?

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tv/21699519/ja ... ula-yates/

Interesting choice. Like you say anything showbiz or pop related, you would expect her to be in the know. I always remember her revelling in her role on The Tube alongside Jules Holland, a show which still to this day is rather unappreciated and almost forgotten about now.

[MJMcCready]

Well waddya know!?

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tv/21699519/ja ... ula-yates/

Hi James, since you linked it, I thought I would have a look at your performance on who wants to be a millionaire for the first time. I have to say it seemed to me that the questions you were given were harder than usual. You actually alluded to this in your question for £125,000 'Who was the mother of Charles II and James II?' Suggesting that 'the last person who said Eleanor of Acquitaine got a million pounds, didn't she?' That was Juddith Keppler, and yes she did. and the question you couldn't answer at £250,000 was exceptionally difficult. I've seen questions for £500,000 and also one for £1,000,000 that were quite a bit easier to answer than yours at £250,000. The £1,000,000 question that I thought was far too easy for that stage of the game was the one your friend, also known as 'the coughing major' had to answer. I just assumed that everyone knows Google is the biggest website and the name of which was itself founded on an accidental misspelling of googol, which made the question too easy. But with regards to your £250,000 question, it seemed disproportionately difficult for the stage you were at in the quiz itself for the simple reason that beyond Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, no one cares who walked on the moon after them as it was never publicized to the same degree.

Your £250,000 question was:

Which of these astronauts has never set foot on the moon?

A Jim Lovell
B Edgar Mitchell
C James Irwin
D Charles Duke


Your answer Charles Duke was the 10th person to set foot on the moon, who in their right mind is going to remember who the 10th person to walk on the moon was? It's too far down the list on those with the same accomplishment. His inclusion made that question far too hard.

The actual answer Jim Lovell gained a degree of notoriety for being a pilot in the failed Apollo 13 mission, which is one of those NASA prefers to sweep under the carpet and not talk about but did once have a (not very exciting but nonetheless critically acclaimed) film made about it in the 90s. Only in watching that rather drab Tom Hanks movie would you have a real chance of answering that question. But in my opinion that movie quite forgettable and already more than ten years old when you sat in the chair.

Answer B He was on Apollo 14, another less publicised mission and was the 6th person to walk on the moon. Again, he's too much of an unknown character.

Answer C, he was on the lesser known mission Apollo 15 and was the 8th person to walk on the moon, again, who is going to be interested in the 8th person to walk on the moon?

Your question at £250.000 was too hard for that stage of the game. I think they only selected it for that level because of the movie having Tom Hanks play Jim Lovell, which had you seen the film and remembered it, would I suppose make the question a bit easier.