for Me, a Pop Idol-style contest to find a Parliamentary candidate. The series will be presented by Jonathan Maitland. 19 April – Tots TV begins screenings on CBeebies and BBC Two, as part of a broadcast deal between the BBC and Carlton, who distributed the series. 60 Minute Makeover debuts on ITV1. 20 April – BBC Two celebrates 40 years on air by broadcasting Happy Birthday BBC Two. 23 April – ITV unveils plans for The X Factor, a new music talent contest developed by Pop Idol judge Simon Cowell that will see a panel of judges mentoring acts and competing against each other to have their act chosen as the winner. 24 April – Computer programmer and quiz expert Pat Gibson becomes the fourth contestant to win the £1 million prize on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. 26 April – Michael Parkinson is to take his Parkinson chat show to ITV after the network poached him from the BBC, it is reported. Parkinson's decision to make the move was also influenced by BBC plans to move his show to a different time slot to make way for the return of Match of the Day. His final BBC show is recorded on 29 April for transmission on 8 May. 27 April – The BBC's Programme Complaints Committee rules that an episode of EastEnders that dealt with the aftermath of the rape of a character was unsuitable for family viewing after it received several complaints from viewers. Complaints about the episode are also later upheld by Ofcom. April – The newly created ITV plc purchases NTL's 35% stake in the ITV News Channel. May 2 May – Merseybeat actress Leslie Ash's publicist has released a statement saying that she is undergoing treatment in hospital for "an unknown infection", which she is believed to have contracted during an earlier hospital stay. Ash was treated for a broken rib and collapsed lung a few days earlier, which she said had occurred as a result of her falling onto a table during lovemaking with her husband, former footballer Lee Chapman. The infection has left Ash with partial loss of feeling below the waist, but she is said to be responding to treatment and is described as stable. The infection is subsequently diagnosed as Methicillin-Sensitive Staphylococcus aureus, a bug that attacks the nervous system. Following her recovery, Ash later speaks about how she almost