When worshippers gathered at Lichfield Cathedral in November, they knew were being filmed for Songs of Praise's Christmas edition. But what followed may have been a surprise.
After recording the show's Christmas special, presented by Jonathan Edwards, the flowers were swapped, the lighting boosted to mimic lighter evenings, and members of the congregation were asked to shed their winter coats.
They became part of an unusual double bill when programme makers went on to film the show's Easter special as well; the BBC had decided to film both in one go to save costs. A BBC spokeswoman defended the tactic as an efficient use of the licence fee. But she admitted it was "unlikely" that viewers sitting down to watch on Easter Sunday would be told the programme had been filmed six months ago.
The gaff was blown by the Bishop of Lichfield in a wide-ranging speech about the media delivered to the Lichfield Diocesan Synod. "How do we get our knowledge of the world, of people, of politics? From the newspapers, the TV and the net," the Rt Rev Jonathan Gledhill said.
"But anyone who has any acquaintance with reporting knows that things tend to get distorted. Of course usually it doesn't matter. When we had the BBC to film Songs of Praise at the cathedral before Advent, and they told us that after we'd done Christmas we would do Easter straightaway (just change the flowers and get bright lights outside to mimic lighter spring evenings), it wasn't a deliberate deceit - but it will give an air of unreality to the Easter programme."
Broadcasters have been in hot water since it emerged TV programmes faked the winners of phone-in competitions, with Blue Peter among the culprits.
A BBC spokeswoman said: "There was no deception on the part of the BBC because we made it perfectly clear to the cathedral authorities and congregation.
"Particularly somewhere like Lichfield Cathedral, we go there and record two programmes in one place because it's a better use of resources and time for taking the cathedral out of use. There's absolutely no intention to deceive whatsoever. Cathedrals are expensive places. They spend a lot of time rigging up and getting them ready, therefore it makes sense." Asked if viewers of the Easter programme will be told when it was filmed, the spokeswoman said: "People know it's not live."
Gavin Drake, director of communications for the diocese, said the bishop's comments were only a small part of a wider speech, and not an attack on the producers of Songs of Praise or the BBC.