A war of words broke out last night between the BBC and ITV over accusations that the first ever jackpot win on the British version of the TV quiz show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? had been fixed to win a ratings war.
Viewers tuning in to last night's episode saw Ms Judith Keppel, a 58-year-old distant relative of Camilla Parker Bowles, become the first ever winner of the £1 million jackpot.
After 122 episodes of the show, Ms Keppel became the first contestant to successfully negotiate the 15 questions needed to scoop the jackpot.
But the television milestone was slightly overshadowed by accusations that the questions had been "dumbed down" so ITV could win an important ratings battle. The ITV programme was screened at the same time as the last ever episode of the popular BBC comedy One Foot In The Grave.
A BBC insider said that the last big winner had also occurred when there was an important ratings battle taking place.
"It is a bit of a coincidence," said the BBC insider. "Call me suspicious but it seems to me you can drastically improve your chances of becoming a millionaire if you check your BBC1 schedule before going on the programme.
"I wonder if there has been some deliberate "dumbing down" of the questions on certain nights?"
But ITV reacted to the accusations, accusing its rival of "unpleasant and unfounded attacks".
The show's host Chris Tarrant said: "It's obviously luck and coincidence. We don't say "oh well, Victor Meldrew is dying tonight, let's slip her a couple of easy ones."
The questions and answers were: - Ten (£32,000), Whose autobiography has the title A Long Walk To Freedom? (a) Ranulph Fiennes; (b) Mother Teresa; (c) Nelson Mandela; (d) Mikhail Gorbachev. Answer, c.
Eleven (£64,000), Duffel coats are named after a town in which country? (a) Belgium; (b) Holland; (c) Germany; (d) Austria. Mrs Keppel went 50-50 and was left with (a) Belgium and (b) Holland. Answer, a. Twelve (£125,000) - Complete this stage instruction in Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale: "Exit, pursued by a . . ."
(a) tiger, (b) clown, (c) bear, (d) dog, Answer c.
She phoned her friend Ms Jilly Greenwood who immediately knew the answer.
Thirteen (£250,000) - The young of which creature is known as a squab? (a) salmon, (b) horse, (c) pigeon, (d) octopus. Answer, c. Fourteen (£500,000) - Who is the patron saint of Spain? (a) St James, (b) St John, (c) St Benedict, (d) St Peter. Answer, a.
Fifteen (£1 million) - Which king was married to Eleanor of Aquitaine? (a) Henry I, (b) Henry II, (c) Richard I, (d) Henry V. Answer, b.