CITIZEN VERDICT Cert: 15, 98 mins


WHAT this film is trying to warn us about is that if Reality TV is allowed to continue on its trashy course, we'll end up tuning into the nightmare of live executions.

What its star Jerry Springer may be trying to tell us is that he knows where the boundaries are - and, under his careful stewardship, the cruel brand of underclass entertainment he pioneered will lead to nothing more harmful than a fun opera at the National Theatre.

I hope he's right because this thought-provoking look at what some might see as the logical conclusion of the whole Big Brother-Pop Idol culture, places a huge question mark over Springer's type of ritual on-screen humiliation.