Things have come to a pretty pass when the country that so enthusiastically invented the Big Brother tv show is now drawing up petitions to have ‘son of Big Brother’ – better known as the Golden Cage – removed from our screens.

So far, several thousand people have apparently signed a petition to have the programme scrapped.
The Golden Cage was launched on our unsuspecting screens last October and caused an initial fuss when it transpired that several parents had left their children to take part in the show. Since then, it simmered away on John de Mol’s tv station Tien with a small but devoted audience. Everyone else forgot about it.
However, Tien itself is about to disappear and, strangely, the Golden Cage is back in the news.
Online fisti-cuffs, vile language, bullying, sex: you name it, it has all been happening.
MPs are calling for codes of conduct and an advertising boycott. Rumours are spreading that the contestants were being urged to act up to boost the viewing figures. And surely it is no cooincidence that the petition coincides with a quiet news time when newspapers are desperate for something controversial to cover.
Such a fuss can only be good for the audience ratings. Perhaps not quite the desired effect? After all, if you don’t like it, you can simply switch off.