Bloody Obvious

Destructive · Apr 21, 2003

Im watching the Who wants to Steal A Million special. What are people's thoughts? I think it is bloody obvious that Charles Ingram cheated. The coughs seemed very orchestrated. Very lucky guesses too.

dr nick · Apr 21, 2003

Originally posted by Destructive
Im watching the Who wants to Steal A Million special. What are people's thoughts? I think it is bloody obvious that Charles Ingram cheated. The coughs seemed very orchestrated. Very lucky guesses too.

what a lowlife piece of scum. that was ridiculously obvious. he didnt have the slightest clue about most of the answers and was locking in answers he'd never heard of despite having previously claimed strong leanings toward other answers.

you have to love his reasoning "well ive been wrong with my instincts so far, so i'll just lock in the one ive never heard of"

i would have cottoned on after the wife coughed on the Craig David question. since when does your wife cough when answers are being read out, yet everyone else is dead silent.

dr nick · Apr 21, 2003

he should have been thrown in the slammer. i know i would have if i tried to fraud a company out of a million pounds.

evade28 · Apr 21, 2003

haha i watched that too, how obvious was it!! *oh i think its google" COUGH COUGH gawd, as if u wouldnt get caught! wat a dicko.

they could have at least variated it, like sniffing instead or something!

dr nick · Apr 21, 2003

Originally posted by evade28
haha i watched that too, how obvious was it!! *oh i think its google" COUGH COUGH gawd, as if u wouldnt get caught! wat a dicko.

they could have at least variated it, like sniffing instead or something!

they should have coughed for A. sneezed for B. sniffed for C and farted for D

Nic · Apr 21, 2003

Only problem being finding someone who can fart on demand.

Magpie Magician · Apr 21, 2003

Originally posted by nicko18
he should have been thrown in the slammer.

Just him? There were 2 others that were every bit as involved as he was.
Imagine their kids? How ashamed will they be of the folks when they're older. The 12yo must cop plenty at school.
I'm also surprised no one's tried to link the scam with Eddie McGuire.

Mattster · Apr 22, 2003

Originally posted by Nic
Only problem being finding someone who can fart on demand.

ever heard of Mr Methane?

anyway, it was a joke. it should have been picked up on the night, but i guess they needed to be 100% sure to stop the show.

sandeano · Apr 22, 2003

Hindsight is the key here. I bet that 95% of the viewers at the time thought nothing of it, but 100% of those same viewers today could tell he was cheating.

ThePowerFromPort.com · Apr 22, 2003

Originally posted by Nic
Only problem being finding someone who can fart on demand.

My 12 year old is very good at that. Want a lend of him for the last week of school holidays?

Richmondfan#1 · Apr 22, 2003

Crazy stuff. So completely obvious, ridiculous and insane. For the million dollar question why the hell would you guess, if you had heard of none of them anyway.

It's pretty surreal, kinda like seeing those movies with casino's being scammed. It seemed planned so bad, if you were going to do it, you'd want to do it to perfection. So many things could've been improved to make it at least seem less suss. Also, they could've been less greedy. Say took only 250,000. Although it seems by then they were screwed anyway.

Beyond me.

Former · Apr 22, 2003

I was in the UK at the time. I didn't see the show tonight but when it happened they had to comb through the footage to catch the faint coughing sounds.

From what I saw in the ad it showed a close-up shot of the lady coughing. No such shot ever went to air on the show. I am guessing that in true tabloid TV style they re-cut it to make it far more suspiscious and obvious than it ever actually was.

knuckles · Apr 22, 2003

Originally posted by Groves
I was in the UK at the time. I didn't see the show tonight but when it happened they had to comb through the footage to catch the faint coughing sounds.

From what I saw in the ad it showed a close-up shot of the lady coughing. No such shot ever went to air on the show. I am guessing that in true tabloid TV style they re-cut it to make it far more suspiscious and obvious than it ever actually was.

I believe the show never went to air, until after the court case.

Why didn't the cougher enter themself? Obviously smart enough!

Smokin · Apr 22, 2003

Of course it was obvious AFTER they spent half an hour telling us about the coughing, THEN showed it. They should have shown the show bit first, then explained it. It's like watching a magician after youve been told exactly how he does everything. Looks very obvious then, but it's nearly impossible to pick up when you dont have a clue.

Up untill about 250,000 it woulda been pretty hard to catch on he was cheating. On a couple of the "coughing' questions, the answer was actually his first instinct which he stated before a cough. Sure, the 32K one with Craig David would have looked very strange, but you can put that down a fluke/guess which happens often on that show.

He shot himself in the foot a couple times (like that one) by admitting he hadnt heard of an answer before getting the coughs. Dug himself into a hole the idiot.

But, what I want to know is how the guy who was coughing knew all the friggen answers? Was that explained and I missed it? As far as I understood, they tried the pager tied to legs trick on the first night which was basically caught that night, or something like that.

It had to be an outside source who was getting the answers. Was it done via the radio like shown? If so, how did that guy get the answers? Did he have net access etc, was it a panel of various experts etc? I mean I cant possibly beleive that other contestant would have just known every answer, as in by fluke they picked a guy who would happen to know all the answer which were gonna be asked.

I was hoping they would explain things better.

Pieman7 · Apr 22, 2003

Originally posted by Smokin
Of course it was obvious AFTER they spent half an hour telling us about the coughing, THEN showed it. They should have shown the show bit first, then explained it. It's like watching a magician after youve been told exactly how he does everything. Looks very obvious then, but it's nearly impossible to pick up when you dont have a clue.

Up untill about 250,000 it woulda been pretty hard to catch on he was cheating. On a couple of the "coughing' questions, the answer was actually his first instinct which he stated before a cough. Sure, the 32K one with Craig David would have looked very strange, but you can put that down a fluke/guess which happens often on that show.

He shot himself in the foot a couple times (like that one) by admitting he hadnt heard of an answer before getting the coughs. Dug himself into a hole the idiot.

But, what I want to know is how the guy who was coughing knew all the friggen answers? Was that explained and I missed it? As far as I understood, they tried the pager tied to legs trick on the first night which was basically caught that night, or something like that.

It had to be an outside source who was getting the answers. Was it done via the radio like shown? If so, how did that guy get the answers? Did he have net access etc, was it a panel of various experts etc? I mean I cant possibly beleive that other contestant would have just known every answer, as in by fluke they picked a guy who would happen to know all the answer which were gonna be asked.

I was hoping they would explain things better.

They even admitted if he walked out at 125,000 or 250,000 he probably would have gotten away with it, guess he got greedy. The other contestant giving him the answers was a university professor or something like that, from what I understand the Major and the coughing Professor had a deal worked out, I remember them saying there was a heap of phone calls between the two leading up to the show.

He would have been better off just shutting up and not admitting he didn't know the answer straight away, the times he said "Maybe XXXXX" would have been a better way to word it. Also the wife looked terrible when everytime the cameras caught her she was looking at the Professor, unlike all the other partners they showed panicking, stressing and looking at the loved one in the hot scene.

Be a hard thing to live with, I wouldn't be suprised to here a divorce or suicide attempt in the near future from the guilty parties.

Smokin · Apr 22, 2003

Originally posted by Pieman7
They even admitted if he walked out at 125,000 or 250,000 he probably would have gotten away with it, guess he got greedy. The other contestant giving him the answers was a university professor or something like that, from what I understand the Major and the coughing Professor had a deal worked out, I remember them saying there was a heap of phone calls between the two leading up to the show.

Hey mate,

But how did that other contestant know the answers?

I understand the coughing, just now HOW the hell that guy knew all the answers has got me - obviously it had to come from outside?

Ie it would be a huge coincidenceif the guy the major happened to pick to cough simply knew those 5-6 nearly impossible questions. They must have had an outside source with internet or some sort of reference surely.

Unwritten_Law · Apr 22, 2003

It was a great plan but poorly executed. If the guy had half a brain he could have got away with it. The professor should have got a colleague to do it with him. If it only happened on 2 or 3 questions and was a little more subtle they would be living it up on a pacific island, the producers would only have circumstantial evidence.

Agree it was poor to show their tricks first. Some selective editing to accenuate the coughs and bingo you have everyone believing he is guilty before they even air the show.

dr nick · Apr 22, 2003

Originally posted by Smokin
Hey mate,

But how did that other contestant know the answers?

I understand the coughing, just now HOW the hell that guy knew all the answers has got me - obviously it had to come from outside?

Ie it would be a huge coincidenceif the guy the major happened to pick to cough simply knew those 5-6 nearly impossible questions. They must have had an outside source with internet or some sort of reference surely.

on the first week they had a guy who was walking in and out of the studio every 60 seconds to make phone calls. the police revealed a lot of phone calls to pagers. he got told to stay inside and that must have been when the guy started using his lifelines. the first week he obviously had vibrating pagers attatched to his own legs.

on the second week, rather than risk the pager being stuck to himself (he would be searched if he won 1 million), his mate in the audience must have had them strapped to the inside of his leg. there was a guy outside picking up the broadcast on UHF radio and he could have time to look up the answers.

BomberGal · Apr 22, 2003

Ha...how about 'Yeah, I'm positive it's Berlin...yeah, if I was sitting at home I'd do with Berlin. I don't think it's Paris...*COUGH COUGH* Oh, yeah, I'll go with Paris!'

Duuhhh!

Docker_Brat · Apr 22, 2003

Originally posted by BomberGal
Ha...how about 'Yeah, I'm positive it's Berlin...yeah, if I was sitting at home I'd do with Berlin. I don't think it's Paris...*COUGH COUGH* Oh, yeah, I'll go with Paris!'

Duuhhh!

He blew it with the stupid reasoning he came up with for selecting answers.

It was a poorly thought through plan, they worked out the technicalities of doing it but didn't formulate some believable responses.

Being a better actor and less greedy would have seen them get away with it.

red+black · Apr 22, 2003

Originally posted by Groves
I was in the UK at the time. I didn't see the show tonight but when it happened they had to comb through the footage to catch the faint coughing sounds.

From what I saw in the ad it showed a close-up shot of the lady coughing. No such shot ever went to air on the show. I am guessing that in true tabloid TV style they re-cut it to make it far more suspiscious and obvious than it ever actually was.

Screened for the first time in the UK on Easter Monday, just like here.

Docker_Brat · Apr 22, 2003

Originally posted by red+black
Screened for the first time in the UK on Easter Monday, just like here.

You're correct, it has been mentioned that the show never went to air at the time it was meant to. It was pulled when the cheating was suspected.

Someone is telling porkies again.

Smokin · Apr 22, 2003

Originally posted by nicko18
on the first week they had a guy who was walking in and out of the studio every 60 seconds to make phone calls. the police revealed a lot of phone calls to pagers. he got told to stay inside and that must have been when the guy started using his lifelines. the first week he obviously had vibrating pagers attatched to his own legs.

on the second week, rather than risk the pager being stuck to himself (he would be searched if he won 1 million), his mate in the audience must have had them strapped to the inside of his leg. there was a guy outside picking up the broadcast on UHF radio and he could have time to look up the answers.

ok, sorta makes sense. But the guy doing the coughing was another contestant, not just in the crowd. Obviously they didnt get searched or anything before going on.

Why wasnt it explained properly as to how it was done? It seemed a very vague expose if thats what youd call it.

Also interesting that on all the media footage of the trial etc, it was only the 3 inside ever show. Surely those helping on the outside are just as guilty?

If that guy had half a brain and could act a little he woulda got away with that. It was pretty well done, he just stuffed it up from the hot seat.

Hawkers_here · Apr 22, 2003

Originally posted by knuckles
I believe the show never went to air, until after the court case.

Why didn't the cougher enter themself? Obviously smart enough!

I thought that for a while, maybe he was cheating with the radio and the beepers bit.

That Paris question was so obvious. And the thing is with most of them, they coughed more than once! Did they WANT to be caught?

Docker_Brat · Apr 22, 2003

Originally posted by Hawkers_here
I thought that for a while, maybe he was cheating with the radio and the beepers bit.

That Paris question was so obvious. And the thing is with most of them, they coughed more than once! Did they WANT to be caught?

Hence the stupidity of selecting an idiot to get in there. Once should have been enough, yet he kept waffling after the first cue.

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Bloody Obvious

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