What are the acceptable boundaries for the premise of a reality TV show? How much do newly pushed boundaries in TV standards influence the acceptance in society of the underlying TV concept. Judge for yourself.

The TV executives who brought us live sex on Big Brother are planning an even more depraved reality show - in which 1,000 men compete to father a child who is then created live in a laboratory. In Make Me A Mum, a woman will take fertility drugs to produce eggs which will then be harvested under anaesthetic, with one egg selected.

Then the 1,000 men will be whittled down to two - one selected by the mother-to-be on the basis of sex appeal, wealth, fitness and personality, the other by experts for genetic compatibility and quality of sperm.

The series will culminate in a bizarre 'sperm race' in which the egg is fertilised live on television. The producers plan to use technology to see which man's sperm reaches the egg first.