An Iraqi series has just been pulled off the air after staging fake Isis ambushes. So who thinks it’s OK to abduct people or simulate a plane crash?
There are prank shows, and then there is Tannab Raslan, an Iraqi prank show so extreme that it has just been yanked off the air. It has an unbelievably cruel premise: Iraqi celebrities are invited to a charity event, which is then ambushed by actors playing militants. In a recent episode, actor Nessma Tanneb gets blindfolded by terrorists and screams in mortal panic until she passes out.
Prank shows exist on a spectrum. There are the “just for laughs” kind that offend nobody, and exist mainly to kill time on planes. On the other is the show I watched on holiday in Malta 15 years ago, which I definitely didn’t imagine, where a succession of terrified people witness a mock drive-by shooting.
