Brass Eye

This was originally recorded to go out with a repeat run of the original series and was scheduled for 05/07/2001. However it wa pulled from the schedules for some alleged last-minute editing. C4 stated that Morris was unhappy with the finishedarticle and wanted to spend some time "tinkering" with it. Nearer to the truth was that there were a number of high-profile child abuse cases which happened too close to scheduled transmission. The episode as you can see took an uncompromising look at media coverage/panics surrounding child abuse cases, and proved to be Morris' most controversial work to date. The outcry was huge, amongst it all several MPs who later admitted to not actually having seen it themselves. Iyt has to be said that fans were divided over it. It was quite different in style to the oriiginal series, and most of the origianl cast were not used. There was some criticism that it was something of a disappointment in not going far enough. An investigation by the ITC (television complaints commission) defended Channel 4's right to show the episode, but at the same time ordered them to apologise for not having given viewers adequate warning of the nature and content of the show.

Debates over material Morris was being forced to cut went on right up until each actual transmission. This episode was no exception. A last-minute spat over a sketch intended for the final episode resulted in a caption flashing up likening Channel 4 head Michael Grade to a moist area of the female anatomy. This only showed up for a few seconds and sadly was cut from the DVD version. With the tabloids baying for his blood and Channel 4 unsure whether he could be trusted in any way, Morris slipped into one of his legendary silences before the series had finished airing. He issued plans to 'reboot' himself with an entirely new project. The rest is history.

Somewhere, and I have seen this once, there is a pilot episode of a series called Torque TV. It features most of the same cast and a lot of the interview footage used in the Animals episode. There is some extended material but the only bit I remember from the top of my head is the press conference from the guy that states all animals are vegetarians. Very funny and pity it wasn't put on the Brass Eye dvd.