Channel 4 sets up The Experiment to investigate attitudes towards disability

The Experiment aims to discover if people can recognise cruelty disguised as care

UK public service broadcaster Channel 4 (C4) is launching documentary special The Experiment, to be presented by actor Mat Fraser (Cast Offs) and disability rights activist Sophie Morgan.

Made by UK factual and formats indie Kalel Productions (Undercover: Sexual Harassment – The Truth), it is described as a constructed experiment to ask if people would recognise cruelty if it was dressed up as care.

Disabled and neurodivergent actors feature as residents in a fictional residential facility that appears to offer a radical model of supported living. Cameras capture the reactions of members of the public as they tour the facilities, unaware that it is based on Nazi-era concepts about devaluing and exterminating disabled people.

The factual show comes at a time of growing concern from campaigners around what many see as increasingly hostile attitudes towards disabled people. It airs on Channel 4 tonight.

Emily Shields, commissioning editor for specialist factual, and Shaminder Nahal, head of specialist factual, said: “Only on Channel 4 would you see a programme like this, asking such challenging questions about how disabled people are viewed, the cost of supporting independent living – and, ultimately, who we are as a society.”