TV documentary `faked' scenes

MILLIONS of television viewers were deceived by a Channel 4 fly- on-the-wall documentary in which apparently shocking scenes were staged, it was claimed last night.

Cutting Edge's "Rogue Males" documentary purported to be a gritty portrayal of the black economy, showing men who were prepared to flout the law as they wheeled and dealed to earn a living. A ruthless and cut-throat world was depicted in which men fought and wrestled in front of the camera, stole goods from a yard, and attempted to charge people for cowboy building work.

But today's Mirror newspaper reports that some of the men who appeared to be strangers actually knew each other, and three of the characters had appeared in a previous documentary. One man works as a stand-up comic. Friends of those shown in the documentary were quoted as saying they had a "good laugh" at the programme. One man who had appeared in a previous docu-mentary by the same producer was said to have "roped in a few mates" for the programme.

A Channel 4 spokesman said: "When a documentary crew follows people around there are certain things which cannot be filmed, like illegal activities. Scenes depicted in `Rogue Males' would and could have occurred.

"There was an element of reconstructed truth of sorts but there is not a documentary around which does not have an element of that in it. There was never any question in `Rogue Males' that people involved didn't know each other."