So someone gives you a briefcase stuffed with loadsamoney... what do you do? I know what you’re thinking. You’d go straight out and buy a raccoon for a mere 460 quid. Who wouldn’t?

Incredibly, that’s exactly what 31-year-old Scott did after Channel 5’s hilarious The Great British Benefits Handout made him instantly richer to the tune of £26,000. Happy days.

Sadly, Scouser Scott’s idea of using his unexpected financial windfall wisely was to turn his back garden into a zoo.

While his long-suffering wife Leanne looked on with an increasing sense of horror, Scott went animal crackers and embarked on a bizarre spending spree.

“I could do with some giant millipedes,” he began. “Maybe some giant snails and some giant Madagascan cockroaches. Some 12-foot snakes, six-foot lizards and a nice iguana.”

Barely pausing for breath, he continued: “An eagle owl, maybe a barn owl or something. Even maybe get a cage for a monkey or two.” What, no elephants?

In his mind, this guy was setting up a can’t-fail business. Staging parties for kids whose parents are gagging to have their homes invaded by frightening creepycrawlies, dangerous reptiles and poisonous tarantulas. What could possibly go wrong?

“I know for a fact it’ll work,” insisted Scott, optimistically. “I’m the type of person who’ll turn a dollar into a million.” Or is it the other way round? As her eccentric husband ploughed through their loot like a maniac, Leanne sighed: “Who buys a raccoon? I just can’t see how anyone’s gonna say ‘Ooh, let’s invite a raccoon to my birthday party’.” Good point.

Unbowed, Scott was still on a roll: “Maybe I could get a skunk. You need stuff like this.” Leanne: “No skunk!” There may be trouble ahead. Lots of it.

Easily the funniest comedy of the week, this intriguing programme was, of course, (cliché alert) “a social experiment”. Translation: a tawdry reality romp.

Empowering the long-term jobless by gifting them a year’s worth of the maximum unemployment benefit. In return for their 26 grand, the stars of the show had to sign off and make a go of things.

Out of work for a decade and a half, single mum Rachel’s big plan was to find a job. Why couldn’t she do that before?

As for dynamic duo Tony and his fiancée Diane... their grand scheme was even more dubious than menagerie man Scott’s.

After investing in an important £350 PlayStation for their feckless son Michael, the likeable couple excitedly discussed their entrepreneurial future.

As far as I could discern, they intend to establish a removal firm and a second-hand furniture shop that relies on home movers not wanting to keep their furniture.

And for those who fear this pair of innocents are lambs to the slaughter, here’s Tony’s impressive response: “We’ve not gone into this blindfolded. We watch Bargain Hunt and all that on TV. Things To Sell In The Attic... we’ve been watching that for the last 10 years.” And never once did they notice it’s called Cash In The Attic.

Ahead of the excruciatingly staged lucrative knock on their front doors, were these povertystricken people chosen because they have genuine potential to turn their lives around?

Or were they plucked from penury because they’re guaranteed to screw it up and deliver great telly? With three weeks to go, I really hope they don’t. Stand by for developments...