Last night I watched the first episode of Space Cadets, a programme on Channel 4 (UK) which claims to be staging the biggest TV hoax ever. For those not in the know, put simply, the aim of the series is to fool a group of nine people into thinking they are being sent into space, when in fact they are not. The scale of the project is huge. And I wonder how air tight Channel 4's methods have and will be.

Months ago an advert for a TV show was placed in a newspaper, receiving a response from thousands of applicants. The first programme in the 10-part series was shown last night and detailed the interesting methods used to select the most "suggestible" candidates. To prevent any news of the programme being leaked and throw the media off the scent auditions for fake TV shows were staged.

A huge military base near Ipswich has been converted into a Russian training facility for the group. Here the group of nine (along with three actors) are staying, believing themselves to be in Russia, after boarding a plane which effectively didn't leave the UK. Even Russian foodstuffs were bought to authenticate the base. It will have taken a large amount of time and money to make this show as believable as possible, and because of this I'm surprised that the show is taking place - it's certainly an ambitious idea.

When I first heard the concept, I thought it to be quite cruel. Setting someone up for the dream of a lifetime, then crushing their hopes on national TV could be very disappointing. But if the group don't rumble the ruse then they take away a money prize, so I suppose it's a win-win situation.

The astronauts will not experience weightless flight, which I was saddened to hear. Apparently they will be taught during their training that weightless flight isn't always the norm during space flights, which could cause some of the candidates to doubt the reality of the show. Everyone knows that space travel involves weightlessness. No-one within the group has any understanding of astrophysics though, the producers hoping decrease the chances of any expert knowledge spoiling the trick.

Johnny Vaughn was quite funny as presenter and I would encourage anyone to tune in for the next few days to witness the outcome. It will be interesting to observe the behaviour of the astronauts, but I would be surprised if the venture is pulled off successfully.

Further reading: Official Space Cadets website