The BBC has been forced to apologise after 200 viewers complained about a hidden camera show in which women train their husbands like dogs.

BBC2's Bring Your Husband to Heel features dog trainer Annie Clayton using traditional dog-training techniques to improve husbands' behaviour.

The show, based around the premise that men share 85% of their DNA with dogs, uses hidden cameras to film the men, who think they are taking part in a documentary about relationship roles.

Dozens of viewers complained on the BBC's Points of View website, branding it "sexist, offensive and degrading".

"I am utterly appalled by this programme," said Paul Hayman. "I can take a joke like anyone else but dedicating a programme to assisting wives to train their husbands like dogs is outrageous."

Other viewers branded the show "grossly insulting" and "scandalous drivel".

"If this had been a woman that was trained as a dog, the programme would not have aired," said another complainant. "The entire tone of the programme was demeaning to men, and while the producers may argue that it was tongue in cheek, it was way over the line. I was left incredulous that the BBC would show such a thing."

The show, which began on BBC2 last week, was described by the BBC as a "bit of fun". An advert looking for women to take part asked: "Does your husband drive you mad? Does his attitude need re-training? Is it time to teach the old dog new tricks?"

The first programme featured volunteer Margaret Elliott and her unsuspecting husband of 37 years, John. It ended with Margaret declaring that her husband was now a "good boy", and Clayton giving her a "rosette for bringing her husband to heel".

But the London Evening Standard TV critic, Victor Lewis-Smith, said John "looked so thoroughly emasculated by the two women that they might as well have taken him to the vet to be 'done'".

The BBC said in a statement today: "There was never an intention to cause offence. But we recognise that some viewers have felt the programme to be inappropriate and we are sorry if any upset has been caused.

"Bring Your Husband to Heel plays on the longstanding stereotype of wives nagging husbands about their failings and attempts to explore in a humorous way whether it is possible to find solutions to the stalemate using a different and unique method of instruction. The nature of the programme was clearly signposted."

But the Guardian TV critic, Nancy Banks-Smith, said the show, produced by Talkback, was a "real stinker - I am embarrassed for the dogs involved".

Another critic wrote: "Disappointingly, this isn't a spoof, rather another week, another TV nanny helping us to lead sunnier, sparkier domestic lives. This one really takes the biscuit."

A BBC spokesman said: "The thing to remember about this programme is it's a bit of fun and there is room for a bit of fun in the BBC2 schedule.

"It is part of a rich and varied schedule which runs the whole gamut from comedy to investigative journalism to hard-hitting documentaries.

"It is pure entertainment, a fun show with a provocative title which I am sure a lot of people picked up on. Well over a million people enjoyed it."

The BBC apology comes a fortnight after Michael Buerk, the former BBC newsreader, stirred up a storm of controversy in the media when he said modern men had been reduced to little more than sperm donors.

"Life is now being lived according to women's rules", he told the Radio Times. "The traits that have traditionally been associated with men - reticence, stoicism, single-mindedness - have been marginalised.

"The result is that men are becoming more like women. Look at the men who are being held up as sporting icons - David Beckham and, God forbid, Tim Henman. What are men left with?"

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