Channel 4's 'brownface' controversy: Documentary causes storm after white woman goes undercover as Pakistani Muslim

Channel 4 is in the midst of a 'brownface' controversy over a programme where a white British woman darkened her skin to go undercover as a Muslim in Manchester's Pakistani community.

The documentary, to be aired next week, centres around Katie Freeman who agreed to spend a week inside the Muslim population just days after a terror attack on Manchester Arena killed 23 people and injured more than 250.

Katie Freeman said the experience of being abused just for walking down the street as a Muslim made her challenge her own prejudices.Channel 4

Freeman, 44, agreed to take part to question her own prejudices but got more than she anticipated as the bomb detonated just after the Channel 4 production team had made Katie up to look like a Pakistani Muslim. As she walked around Manchester in a hijab wearing a fake nose, teeth and darkened skin, she was heckled and abused with one man shouting at her from a pub 'f***ing Muslims in this town?'

The mum-of-two wept at the reaction: 'It makes me ashamed to live here. I was raging and fuming inside. But I also felt vulnerable. What harm was I doing?'

But the documentary has caused a storm and faces accusation of racism with one viewer saying, according to the Sun: 'Channel4 have totally missed the mark here.

'Who on earth thought it would be a good idea to put prosthetics on somebody to make them a caricature of people of a different race on primetime TV in 2017? Madness.'

Katie Freeman spent the week as part of a real Muslim family in ManchesterChannel 4

Founder of equality group Faith Matter, Fiyaz Mughal, told the Daily Star: 'This is trying to drive ratings by racial stereotyping.

'Channel 4 needs to apologise.'

My Week As A Muslim airs on Monday October 23, 9pm, on Channel 4.