Channel 4 secretly broadcast a new comedy programme last night.

Promoted as a serious documentary, Gregg Wallace: The British Miracle Meat, which aired at 8:30pm, was in fact a mock documentary and dark satire, reporting on a fake company's supposed human meat food products.

Spoofing Wallace's real BBC Two series Inside The Factory: How Our Favourite Foods Are Made, it was co-hosted by Michelle Ackerley and also featured renowned Michelin-starred chef Michel Roux Jr.

Official television listings said: "With food prices soaring, Gregg Wallace investigates a controversial new lab-grown meat product that its makers claim could provide a solution to the cost-of-living crisis."

The one-off episode - still categorised by the broadcaster's website and catch-up service as 'factual' - saw Wallace visit the factory and laboratories of 'Good Harvest', an apparent British start-up growing large "cakes" of meat from small human cell samples in their labs.

It also saw him presented with the company's new 'Premium' range, and discover how cash-strapped Brits were able help make ends meet by selling large chunks of their own flesh to the company.

The broadcast shocked and baffled viewers, with posts across social media querying the veracity of what they were watching - and many seemingly not picking up on the dark joke.

Written by Matt Edmonds, it was inspired by the work of noted 17th-18th Century Anglo-Irish satirist Jonathan Swift, and directed by Tom Kingsley (Ghosts, Stath Lets Flats).

Gregg Wallace: The British Miracle Meat is currently available to watch via Channel 4's streaming service.