Image courtesy: Channel 4
London:
Britain's Channel 4 has said it would go ahead and air a controversial drama-documentary depicting Prince Harry being kidnapped in Afghanistan, defying appeals by the military not to broadcast the fictional plot.
The documentary titled The Taking of Prince Harry is to be beamed tonight, despite a last minute appeal by the British Armed Forces Chief, Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup to drop the programme.
A Channel 4 spokesman told Daily Express "We will go ahead and air the documentary as planned."
The TV channel in its defence said the documentary had been made to show the risk faced by British forces by Afghanistan and potential consequences of capture of a high profile individual.
Prince Harry, 26, the third in line to the British throne, did a ten week active combat stint in Afghanistan with the Royal forces, before being withdrawn from frontline prematurely in 2008 after media leaks of his posting.
Now, his elder brother Prince William has expressed intentions to do an active stint in the same battlefield.
The 90-minute documentary includes fictionalised scenes depicting actor Sebastian Reid, playing Harry being taken hostage by the Taliban and an unloaded gun being pointed on his face before the captor pulls the trigger.
The Prince is also shown forced to appear in Taliban and Al-Qaida propoganda. The picture shows how the British government reacts to ransom demands of the militants.
Buckingham Palace has refused to comment on the programme, but British military forces have vociferously attacked the programme, saying it showed lack of respect to 10,000 troops in Afghanistan.
The documentary titled The Taking of Prince Harry is to be beamed tonight, despite a last minute appeal by the British Armed Forces Chief, Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup to drop the programme.
A Channel 4 spokesman told Daily Express "We will go ahead and air the documentary as planned."
The TV channel in its defence said the documentary had been made to show the risk faced by British forces by Afghanistan and potential consequences of capture of a high profile individual.
Prince Harry, 26, the third in line to the British throne, did a ten week active combat stint in Afghanistan with the Royal forces, before being withdrawn from frontline prematurely in 2008 after media leaks of his posting.
Now, his elder brother Prince William has expressed intentions to do an active stint in the same battlefield.
The 90-minute documentary includes fictionalised scenes depicting actor Sebastian Reid, playing Harry being taken hostage by the Taliban and an unloaded gun being pointed on his face before the captor pulls the trigger.
The Prince is also shown forced to appear in Taliban and Al-Qaida propoganda. The picture shows how the British government reacts to ransom demands of the militants.
Buckingham Palace has refused to comment on the programme, but British military forces have vociferously attacked the programme, saying it showed lack of respect to 10,000 troops in Afghanistan.
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