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Gregg Wallace's Miracle Meat leaves Channel 4 viewers baffled

The documentary one-off was not all it appeared to be.

Gregg Wallace in Channel 4's Miracle Meat

Channel 4

Published: Monday, 24 July 2023 at 9:35 pm

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Channel 4's audience was left stunned tonight (Monday, 24th July) when a new programme featuring MasterChef's Gregg Wallace revealed a rather nasty twist.

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Gregg Wallace: The British Miracle Meat presented itself as a one-off documentary in which the titular host investigated new methods of mass-producing meat substitutes.

However, viewers quickly twigged that something wasn't quite right when the substitute was revealed to be "engineered human meat", with children being harvested to provide the foodstuff.

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Happily, this horrific practice wasn't really being rolled out in factories across the country – the programme was in fact a mockumentary, looking to hoax viewers in a manner similar to the BBC's iconic Ghostwatch (a spooky 1992 drama also promoted as a straight documentary).

Like its predecessor, Gregg Wallace: The British Miracle Meat succeeded in fooling some viewers before the ruse was revealed, with the presence of esteemed chef Michel Roux Jr – who was in on the joke – helping to sell the trick.

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The hour-long spoof was loosely based on A Modest Proposal, a satirical essay written by Jonathan Swift in 1729 – similar to the Channel 4 show, Swift's essay included a tongue-in-cheek suggestion that the impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles by selling their children as food to the rich.

Eagle-eyed viewers will have spotted that Swift was thanked in the credits to Gregg Wallace: The British Miracle Meat.

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#MiracleMeat was trending on Twitter throughout the show's broadcast, with viewer opinion divided – some applauded the show for its satirical humour (even comparing it to the likes of Brass Eye and Black Mirror) and for highlighting issues around the cost of living and public dependency on food banks, while others felt the gag fell flat and objected to the false advertising.

Read more:

Gregg Wallace: The British Miracle Meat is available to watch now on Channel 4 online.

Check out more of our Comedy coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight.

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Authors

Morgan Jeffery

Morgan Jeffery

Morgan Jeffery is as a TV and Film expert and has appeared on BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio 5 Live and Sky Atlantic.

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