A film imagining the early days of a Ukip government has been the subject of nearly 20 complaints before it has even aired.
The media watchdog, Ofcom, confirmed on Monday that it had received objections to the docudrama Ukip: the First 100 Days from people claiming it was politically biased.
The senior Ukip MEP Roger Helmer said on Sunday that the film was a “hatchet job”.
A source close to the production defended it, however, saying that Ukip “have to be a grown-up political party”.
The source told the Guardian that Ukip can’t expect blanket positive coverage. “The idea that you have to be even-handed in a fictional piece is ridiculous. You have to look at Channel 4’s coverage in the round. Gogglebox did a piece with Nigel Farage which was extremely pro-Ukip, it was essentially a platform for Farage. He was allowed to have his pint and a chat.”
Ukip MEP Roger Helmer tweeted: “So Channel Four is running a hatchet job on Ukip. Fortunately the Great British public recognise agitprop when they see it. And ignore it.”
According to the Mail on Sunday, an aide close to Farage said the drama was “typical of the poppycock peddled by the public-school educated lefties who run Channel 4 and large chunks of the media”.
The film, which is due to air at 9pm on Monday, combines acted scenes with actual news footage and shows race riots breaking out in Britain as Ukip’s policies begin to take effect.
“The idea that this is what would happen is simply preposterous, but it shows that we have got the liberal establishment quaking. Bring it on, we say, because this sort of thing simply serves to boost our ratings,” the Mail on Sunday quoted the Ukip official as saying.
According to the Daily Telegraph, however, another Ukip source dismissed it as the “rough and tumble of politics” and claimed that Channel 4 had refused to show the film to the party ahead of transmission.
Producers of the programme were said to be surprised at the reaction it has attracted.
The news comes after it emerged that plans for a one-to-one interview with Farage to immediately follow the mockumentary had been shelved following the Channel 4 and Ukip’s failure to reach an agreement.
The Guardian revealed on 9 February that Farage had been invited to be interviewed by Jeremy Paxman and Jon Snow. The first offer was withdrawn because of a scheduling problem, while Ukip refused the second, claiming the same issue.
A Channel 4 spokesman said: “The rise of Ukip’s electoral support and their prominence in opinion polls is the political phenomenon of recent years.
“This is a timely and innovative exploration of the effect their policies might have on Britain. As a public service broadcaster, we will comply with Ofcom rules on due impartiality within the programme. The programme is fully compliant with the Ofcom Broadcasting Code and our obligations.”
Ofcom said that it had received 19 complaints alleging political bias. The watchdog said that pre-transmission complaints are outside its remit, but that it would “assess any complaints received following transmission against the broadcasting code, before deciding whether to investigate”.
