TO CATCH A PREDATOR: Foley (second left); Chris Hansen (inset)

Potential child abusers are caught in To Catch A Predator and 635 Ways To Kill Castro highlights ways to bump off Fidel

When George Bush’s Republicans did so badly at the recent mid-term elections, one of the few deciding factors (that didn’t have anything to do with Iraq) helping voters decide was the Mark Foley scandal. (For those that don’t know, Foley was a powerful congressman forced out of the office after he was caught sending sexually explicit emails to teenage boys that were working in his office.)

There are so many good reasons why he should have known better. But a particularly pertinent one is the popularity of To Catch A Predator. British perverts should be on the look out too. Because the series starts over here tonight (ITV1, 8pm) and it must surely only be a matter of time before a British version is commissioned. After all, hundreds of American internet predators are still being caught despite the programame’s massive popularity.

It goes a little something like this. A house is set up where a young teen is supposed to be home alone. Volunteers from childrens’ charities then build profiles of a clearly underage person, enter social networking sites and the like and voila! Sexual predators can’t stay away.

This is where it gets interesting. The potential predators are then invited by the ‘teen’ to come to their house. When they reach, they are let in only to be confronted by Chris Hansen, host of NBC’s Dateline – for it is they that dreamt up the whole scheme – and interviewed at length, while on camera, about their obviously dishonourable intentions. It looks like being a lot more effective than screaming red top headlines.

There are many Americans whose opinion of Fidel Castro is only marginally higher than that of child abusers. Ever since he rose to power, they have considered him the biggest pain in the rear. 638 Ways To Kill Castro (Channel Four, Tuesday, 10pm) takes a look at the many weird and wonderful ways the good ol’ USA has tried to bump off perhaps the most famous head of state in the world.

There have been exploding cigars, femme fatales, a radio station rigged with noxious gas and a poison syringe disguised as a ballpoint pen.

Apparently, John F Kennedy even asked James Bond creator, Ian Fleming, for his advice on how to oust Castro.

Fabian Esclante, the former head of Cuban intelligence, alleges that there have been over 600 attempts to kill Che Guevera’s former best friend.

Of course, Castro’s recent ill-health means that nature is likely to succeed where countless millions and intense hatred have failed.

Published: 29 November 2006
Issue: 1246