checking daily winners would have easily identified the fraudulent activity instantly. Channel 5 later admitted that the channel's senior producer was informed by Cheetah Productions that several winners had been fake. The channel ignored this advice and continued to broadcast the show until the ICSTIS investigation was concluded. During this time, Avon and Somerset Constabulary reviewed the reports from Channel 5 and the ICSTIS to see if there were any allegations or evidence of criminal wrongdoing contrary to the Fraud Act 2006. Once the ICSTIS investigation was completed on 26 June 2007, Ofcom handed out a record-breaking fine of £300,000 to Channel 5 for the phone-in scandal. The channel cancelled the show, after 1122 episodes. The Ofcom report found the use of fake winners had begun as an expedient to help the continuity of the live format; as such, fakery was not used frequently until 2007 when with the introduction of the Quickfire format to the viewers' quiz led to time constraints on sourcing contestants becoming more pressing. A system was in place that labelled callers Blue, Red or Green; these represented a caller with a correct answer ('blue'), a caller with a wrong answer ('red') or no winner could be found ('green'), in which case a fake name or staff member would be substituted. Endemol claimed their original intention when using 'green calls' was to select a genuine winner after the show; however, this only happened once. Both Channel 5 management and Endemol UK have subsequently apologised. International versions See also Wordplay References External links 2002 British television series debuts 2007 British television series endings 2000s British game shows Channel 5 (British TV channel) original programming Television series by Banijay