Ofcom: 'Quizmania' confused viewers

Ofcom has criticised ITV over a Quizmania question which had bizarre and confusing answers.

The late-night show on ITV Play encourages viewers to ring premium-rate phone lines to answer questions which are posed on the programme.

Complaints were received after the audience was asked to guess 14 answers to the question "What's in a woman's handbag?" After viewers guessed items including a mobile phone, plane tickets and driving licence they were told they had failed to identify others, including a balaclava and DIY Rawlplugs.

Ofcom upheld the complaints, stating that the "unreasonable" answers could not have been guessed.

ITV insisted all the items, plugs included, were picked "in good faith" and said they were selected from an internet message board contributor's list of items she carried.

The broadcaster admitted "an error of editorial judgement", however. A spokesman added: "Both Rawlplugs and balaclava could be perceived as too obscure." It said it would be more careful in future and stick to questions with definitive answers.

Labour MP Ann Coffey has criticised the breed of phone-in television quiz shows. She said: "The most important question is whether viewers are honestly and fairly given an understanding of what happens when they spend 75p or more by calling up and what their chances are of participating and winning."