Missing cat turns up on TV show

A cat which disappeared from its home in Cornwall turned up safe and well - on the set of Question Time.

Tango, a tom, had crept into Treviglas Community College's hall in Newquay where BBC1's political discussion programme was being filmed last week.

He padded out from under a table where David Dimbleby was chairing political discussions with a panel of guests.

The first owner Jackie Ellery knew of his surprise appearance was when a friend rang to say she had spotted him.

'Into mischief'

But she was not the only person to notice the furtive feline - panel guest Julia Goldsworthy, Lib Dem MP for Falmouth and Camborne, had also clocked him, as had many of the studio audience who erupted into laughter at his nonchalant air.

However, although his owner had been watching the programme in her living room, she missed his TV debut.

"I was watching Question Time but I didn't notice him," said Mrs Ellery, who works at the college as a dinner lady and lives next door to it.

"Then my friend rang up and said: 'Your cat's just been on the telly'.

"I told her not to be ridiculous but I had Sky Plus so I rewound it and there he was - just sauntering across.

"It didn't surprise me in a way because he's always in the school and always wandering about.

"He's always been into mischief and we live right next to the school so this is his playground - all the kids love him.

"It didn't faze him when he walked through with all those people.

"He actually got taken out five times but he still managed to get onto the television."

Although his TV debut may have been fleeting, it seems that Tango's screen appearance will go down as one of the more memorable events to happen on the show.

Gill Penlington, Question Time's editor, said: "Tango is certainly the most unusual guest we've had in Question Time's history."

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