Plans by an Edinburgh production company to make a television documentary series about marriage came under fire today after it emerged a gay couple are set to be featured.

BBC Scotland commissioned Hand Pict to make the "fly-on-the-wall" series featuring six couples due to tie the knot in the next year.

It is claimed the eight-part show will give an insight into the extensive preparations being made for "both traditional and non-traditional weddings".

Condemnation

But a bid to give viewers an insight into a gay wedding ceremony has been condemned by church leaders and family values campaigners.

The BBC is accused of "making a joke" of marriage because gay weddings are not legally recognised.

But gay rights campaigners welcomed the prospect of a gay wedding on TV. A gay wedding has already been shown live on British television, on Valentine’s Day this year on This Morning, hosted by Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan.

Hand Pict is the independent company behind the acclaimed documentary The Clinic, which featured dramatic scenes of city cancer patients battling for life.

The team behind the programme, filmed at the city’s Western General Hospital, was also granted unprecedented access to Scottish jails for Prison Officer, broadcast earlier this year.

Series Plan

The new series - provisionally entitled Big Day - is expected to feature a young couple, an elderly couple, a couple planning to marry in an unusual location, a Sikh couple and a Pagan wedding, as well as the gay couple.

Hand Pict is still trying to find some of the participants, including the gay couple, who must be prepared to be filmed extensively.

George Cathro, the producer of the series, which is due to be screened in the autumn of next year, was unavailable for comment. But a BBC Scotland spokesman said the programme-makers were aiming to feature "a cross-section of society".

He added: "The people at Hand Pict have a very good reputation because of the previous series they’ve worked on.

"They’re renowned for spending a lot of time and effort with the people they film, to let them speak for themselves and a lot of care is put into each production."

Ratings Grabber Accusation

The Catholic Church in Scotland said the plans sounded as though the BBC was "more interested in ratings than weddings".

Spokesman Peter Kerney said: "It’s a bit disingenuous to try to find a homosexual couple to take part when legally they can’t be married. To feature a gay wedding in a programme about marriage is, quite frankly, meaningless. The BBC seem to be making a joke out of getting married."

The Church of Scotland’s board of social responsibility has said gay weddings are "not valid".

A spokesman said: " The idea of a ‘gay wedding’ is just something which is unacceptable to the church. A marriage should be between a man and a woman."

Gordon Macdonald, of the evangelical group Christian Action Research and Education, said it was "wrong" to feature a gay couple in the programme.

Misnomer

He added: " For many people getting married in a church is about putting on a nice show for the wedding guests, but for others it’s a real spiritual experience. I hope these are the kind of people the BBC will be filming. There’s no such thing as a gay marriage. The term is a complete misnomer." The Edinburgh-based campaign group The Equality Network has been approached by Hand Pict to try to find a gay couple willing to take part in the documentary.

Spokesman Tim Hopkins said: " I’m not sure if they’ll be able to find a gay couple willing to be filmed, but it’s certainly something we’d welcome. I don’t see a problem with it at all."

A spokeswoman for the Edinburgh Lesbian Mothers Network added: "There’s no good reason why a gay wedding shouldn’t be included in this programme.

"It would give people an idea that although gay people can’t be officially married, they can go through a ceremony to make a commitment to each other."