is a British television quiz show, created by David Briggs, Steven Knight and Mike Whitehill for the ITV network.

This proved a success with viewers and led to a revival of the programme, with new series being commissioned by the broadcaster and a spin-off airing in 2022 called Fastest Finger First.

[1] Walmsley's design features a central stage made primarily with Plexiglas, with a huge dish underneath covered in mirror paper,[2][1] onto which two slightly modified, 3 foot (0.91 m)-high Pietranera Arco All chairs were chosen for use by both the contestant and the host, each having an LG computer monitor directly facing each that would be used to display questions and other pertinent information.

[3] On Game Show Network's Gameshow Hall of Fame special, the narrator described the Strachan tracks as "mimicking the sound of a beating heart", and stated that as the contestant works their way up the money ladder, the music is "perfectly in tune with their ever-increasing pulse".

The programme was assigned a timeslot of one hour, to provide room for three commercial breaks, with episodes produced by UK production company Celador.

[4] Over the course of his time presenting the game show, Tarrant developed a number of notable catchphrases, including "Audience, all on your keypads please.

In his claim, Bachini stated that he submitted documents for his TV concepts to Paul Smith, from a sister company of Celador's, in March 1995 and again in January 1996, and to Claudia Rosencrantz of ITV, also in January 1996, accusing both of using roughly 90% of the format for Millionaire in the pilot for the game show, including the use of twenty questions, lifelines and safety nets, although the lifelines were conceived under different names – Bachini claimed that he never coined the phrase "phone-a-friend" that Briggs designed in his format.

[37][38] Over the course of the programme's broadcast history, six contestants have received its top prize of £1 million: Charles Ingram, then an army major, was found to have cheated at winning the series in September 2001.

Once contestants audition for a part on the programme and filming takes place, they undertake a preliminary round called "Fastest Finger First".

If two or more contestants gave the correct sequence in the same fastest time, a tiebreaker question is held between them to determine who proceeds to the main game.

During the live specials whilst Tarrant was host, the contestant's game ended and any question in play would be null and void unless they gave a final answer before the klaxon sounded.

[50] On 30 July 1999, production staff withdrew the winnings of three contestants who had appeared in the programme between January and March, after each was discovered to be an active criminal, one of whom was wanted by police.

After each had appeared on the programme, several viewers contacted staff to report about their criminal past, leading to their winnings, a combined total of over £80,000, being frozen until the allegations were checked.

They eventually discovered that all three had lied on their application forms, breaching a rule that stipulated that "anyone with a criminal record – unless it is spent – is not eligible to enter".

The programme's executive producer at the time made clear that while anyone was eligible to enter, attempts to deceive staff would eventually be found out.

was announced by ITV on the day that the corresponding episode was to be broadcast, several allegations were made that Celador had rigged the show to spoil the BBC's expected high ratings for the finale of One Foot in the Grave.

[53] Richard Wilson, the lead star on the sitcom, was quoted in particular for saying that the broadcaster had "planned" the win, adding "it seems a bit unfair to take the audience away from Victor's last moments on earth.

[53] Richard Webber's account, in his 2006 book, cites "unnamed BBC sources" as those who "questioned the authenticity of Keppel's victory".

[53] The allegations, in turn, led to eleven viewers making complaints against the quiz show, of a similar nature, to the Independent Television Commission (ITC).

The corporation apologised, saying that any suggestion of 'rigging' "did not represent the official view of the BBC",[56] while the ITC's investigation cleared the programme of any wrongdoing.

[55][57][58] On 11 February 2006, celebrity couple Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen and his wife Jackie took on the game show to raise money for the Shooting Star Children's Hospice, their chosen charity.

Believing that cheating had occurred, the production company Celador withheld the winnings, suspended the broadcast of Ingram's run, and reported the incident to police.

None of the defendants in the case took part, with Ingram later describing Major Fraud and a subsequent programme of the matter, shown on ITV2, as "one of the greatest TV editing con tricks in history".

Chess grandmaster James Plaskett later wrote an essay arguing in favour of the group's innocence;[68] this was noticed by journalists Bob Woffinden and Jon Ronson.

[70] Quiz, a 2017 play based on the events of the scandal, was written by James Graham,[71][72] and a TV adaptation was commissioned by ITV starring Matthew Macfadyen, Michael Sheen and Sian Clifford, which aired in April 2020.

In March 2007 various UK newspapers reported that an organised syndicate had been getting quiz enthusiasts onto the show in return for a percentage of their winnings.

[76] Paul Smith, the managing director of Celador Productions, stated: "We are aware of Paddy Spooner and what people similar to him are doing, and we have made a priority of changing our question procedure.

[77] In April 2020, the Daily Mirror provided more up-to-date details on how the syndicate run by Keith Burgess and Paddy Spooner had operated.

Fastest Finger First[79] is a spin-off series commissioned by ITV and produced by Stellify Media, and filmed at dock10 studios in Salford.

When two contestants have secured a place in the second round, the winners play in a head-to-head duel where they must answer multiple-choice questions in a set sequence.