The head of Britain's armed forces has issued a desperate plea to TV bosses in the U.K. urging them not to screen a drama-documentary which depicts Prince Harry  kidnapped in Afghanistan. The 26-year-old British royal spent 10 weeks in the country in 2007 on a tour of duty with the army, but he was forced to return home for security reasons when his whereabouts were made public.

A controversial new TV show, which is due to air in the U.K. on Thursday, October 18 night, stars a Prince Harry lookalike and features a fictionalized story about what would have happened if the royal had been kidnapped by Taliban fighters. The show even depicts a mock execution.

The programme, titled "The Taking of Prince Harry", has sparked outrage in Britain and now Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, who is in charge of the country's armed forces, has written to bosses at the Channel 4 TV network asking them to scrap the broadcast. A Channel 4 spokeswoman has confirmed network executives have replied to Stirrup's letter, but insists the screening will go ahead as planned.

The representative tells the AFP, "The film is rooted in expert testimony and is a serious journalistic examination of a current issue. It treats the subject matter sensitively. It is a legitimate subject for documentary to explore the risks that Prince Harry faces as a high value target, and to seek to understand the full nature of the dangers to a royal in the modern theatre of war as well as the political implications of a high profile kidnap."