THE BBC is upping the stakes in the reality TV ratings war by recruiting former SAS soldiers to spearhead humanitarian operations in the world’s trouble spots.

The corporation is assembling an elite team that has seen service in the special forces, the Royal Marines and the RAF to lead a series of reconstruction projects.

Some SAS veterans fear that they are being turned into prime-time fodder, but the BBC insists that the programme, to be called Forces for Good, is intended to depict them in a favourable light. Ian Wright, the former England and Arsenal footballer, has been lined up to present the show.

Richard Hopkins, head of format entertainment at the BBC, said: “The whole point of this programme is to show the world and everybody else that we can be a force of good.

“We have assembled really important people from the military and the SAS and we want to target trouble spots in the world, some of which have been ignored by the world community, and to show that we can really help out. We are also asking for help from all the charities that think they can maybe help us and inspire people.”

He added: “The British Army is winning the hearts and minds of people in places like Iraq and we want to carry that through. Our force for good will help local and international charities deal with humanitarian crises.”

The BBC has drawn up a map of possible sites for its team. They include Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo and East Timor, with others to follow.

The corporation is in talks with international charities such as Save the Children and Unicef, asking for help to carry out projects to support local communities.

Andy McNab, whose account of SAS operations during the first Gulf war, Bravo Two Zero, became an international bestseller, said: “I don’t think they’re going to be near real trouble. Nobody is going to put a show on television from a really dangerous area. It will have to be contrived and safe. They are not going to be going into the Panjshir valley (in Afghanistan).”

Sir Roger Moore, the former James Bond actor who is now a goodwill ambassador for the children’s charity Unicef, was also cautious. “I do have my reservations but if it is like Comic Relief it could be marvellous because that does wonderful work,” he said.

Ken Connor, who spent 23 years in special forces and is the author of Ghost Force: Secret History of the SAS, said: “The BBC is purporting this to be reality. But it has turned the SAS into entertainment.

“It doesn’t understand that the SAS is a fighting unit. It’s job is to beat the bad guys. It is not in its remit to build hospitals. That’s a job for Oxfam.”

A BBC source said that it had considered the dangers involved but had decided that the programme could go ahead: “We have got BBC news reporters going to war zones and we have stringent safety and insurance rules in place for them. Why can’t we make an entertainment show?” News of the project was cautiously welcomed by Shashi Tharoor, under secretary-general of the United Nations: “In theory it sounds like a good idea but it would have to be done right if it is not going to make an entertainment out of people’s genuine suffering.

“However, I am generally in favour of television as a medium for informing people about the suffering, poverty and injustice in the world.”

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