What happens when you satirize hysteria?

One of the interesting things is the way the furor has confused both supporters and critics. More than one columnist who has defended Morris on the grounds of freedom of expression has now had to bite his words as Louis Farrakhan, that great liberal bug bear, reaches Britain for the first time. All of a sudden the freedom of expression that allows you to call Hitler a great man is not quite as palatable as the freedom of expression which allows you to satirize blue-collar newspapers.

At least one writer is believed to have withdrawn his name from the list of "Brass Eye's" credits before the show was aired, and it was hard not to look at some parts of the show through knitted fingers, dreading what was going to come next. Which, one suspects, is exactly what Morris wanted. After all, it was no surprise and no fun to have right-wing author Freddy Forsythe condemn Morris, but one imagines he got a real kick out of the bleeding heart liberal brigade balking at the subject matter.

In previous episodes, Morris has dealt with drugs, where he persuaded celebrities to tell outrageous stories about the dangers of a fictitious new drug called "cake." The tablets were size of a sombrero and one duped politician even raised the deadly specter of the new drug in the House of Commons.

Morris has also dealt with animal-rights issues, crime and religion -- all emotive subjects where opinions differ and no quarter is sought or given. Each time he has managed to make each topic hilarious, vicious and completely on the money.

With "Pedogeddon," however, the laughs were more sparse than usual. Of course, one can point out that devoting an entire satirical show to the subject of pedophilia is a little like looking at a dog walking on two legs. It's not important whether the dog does it well or not, it's just refreshing to see it try.

But there were moments of inspiration. For example, Morris as the newscaster who is upset by the pedophile -- restrained in stocks, naturally -- who admits that he just doesn't fancy his son. Or the grainy, undercover, black and white footage of a sinister building, with the whispered voice-over, "this clever pedophile has disguised himself as a ... school." Or the live newscast from outside a prison where a braying mob, encouraged by the reporter, break into the cell of a pedophile and set fire to him live on camera.

Predictably, these were among the scenes which caused most of the outrage, simply because they were virtually identical to real footage we have seen on our television screens for the last year and a half. Those Portsmouth protesters who carried placards saying "hanging's too good for them" and burned people out of their homes condemn anyone who has criticized them, and anyone who dares to question their actions is frequently painted in some way as a defender of pedophiles.

But right in the middle of the "Brass Eye" storm came a new spin on the story, one that caught everybody off guard. As a child, Morris had attended a minor English public school which was the center of a child sex abuse scandal that saw the headmaster jailed and several senior staff fired.

Two years ago Morris was asked if he remembered any abuse while there. He replied, "I remember all sorts of degradation going on with other boys and teachers."

But to the chagrin of some of his fellow students who testified, Morris refused to go to court. It suggests some things are just too daunting even for Chris Morris.

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