BBC rumbled as African orphan prank falls flat

Special report: the future of the BBC

Steven Morris
guardian.co.uk, Monday November 20 2000 07.45 GMT

It must have seemed such a good wheeze at the time. Following in the traditions of Candid Camera, the BBC team plotted to dump the child actor, pretending to be a homeless child from Africa, on somebody's doorstep and watch the hilarious reaction.

Unfortunately Gillian Dumbarton, a childminder, did not see the funny side and called the police. Officers sent the crew, filming for a pilot of a BBC show called Rumbled, on their way.

Yesterday the BBC apologised for causing offence after it was accused of poor taste.

Mrs Dumbarton had opened the front door of her home in Croxley Green, near Watford, to find a man asking if she wanted to help homeless African children.

A wooden box was then unloaded from a lorry and out popped a seven-year-old boy pretending to be in need of adoption. Mrs Dumbarton was told she would have to look after him.

But Mrs Dumbarton dialled 999. Neighbours worried about the sudden influx of strangers also phoned for help.

Police told the crew they were in danger of causing a breach of the peace and told them to stop filming. Mrs Dumbarton, a childminder for 20 years, said the trick was in poor taste. "I've got a sense of humour, but this was so unsavoury and in bad taste when you think of all the disasters that have hit people in Africa."

The BBC said the purpose of the show was to find out if members of the public "rumbled" the pranksters. "In this case we were rumbled," a spokesman said. "We are sorry if we have caused any unnecessary offence."