MPs and pressure groups yesterday rounded on ITV after it issued a “clarification” over a landmark documentary in which a man with Alzheimer’s was filmed as he supposedly passed away.

{mosimage}In fact, the network admitted yesterday that the man died two and a half days later, and not while the cameras were still rolling.

Paul Watson, the acclaimed documentary maker at the centre of the latest row, last night defended the film, saying he never intended to imply the footage portrayed the exact moment of death. But ITV’s admission was immediately seized on as further evidence that TV must get its house in order.

“We are very disappointed to learn that yet another documentary appears to have been doctored,” said the shadow culture minister, Ed Vaizey. “I hope this is now the final lesson to be learned by production companies who often make good programmes that are undermined by misleading publicity campaigns.”

With broadcasters having declared zero tolerance on misleading viewers in the wake of the row over publicity footage for BBC1’s A Year with the Queen and a series of other incidents, ITV’s “clarification” was the latest example of their jittery disposition.

Last week, the broadcaster faced criticism for proposing to show the final moments of Alzheimer’s sufferer Malcolm Pointon as part of a moving documentary by Watson that tracks the debilitating effect of the disease over 11 years.

It defended scenes in which Mr Pointon is surrounded by his family as he slowly loses consciousness. His widow, Barbara Pointon, also appeared on the radio and in newspapers including the Guardian defending the decision.

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