The strangest idea for a reality TV show that I've heard to date comes courtesy of Slashdot this morning. "Terminal illness got you down? Does your future seems bleak? Channel 4 and production company Fulcrum TV would like to brighten your day by making you the star of an upcoming documentary."

A British TV station and production company are "currently keen to talk to some one who, faced with the knowledge of their own terminal illness and all that it entails, would nonetheless
consider undergoing the process of an ancient Egyptian embalming," according to an advertisement.

The body of the candidate selected to be embalmed could then end up being displayed in a museum, according to an article in the UK's Daily Mail.

An employee from Fulcrum TV told a reporter posing as a volunteer that they "would like to film with you over the next few months to understand who you are and what sort of person you are so the viewers get to know you and have a proper emotional response to you."

It may sound rather macabre but we have mummified a large number of pigs to check that the process worked and it does. We have lined up scientists to support the project and found a place approved by the Human Tissue Authority where the mummification would take place. Afterwards one thought was – though this is not obligatory – to put the body in an exhibition in a proper museum so people can properly understand the mummification process. That is something we would be flexible about. But we would like to keep the body for two or three years to see that the mummification process worked. Then the normal funeral arrangements could be made. He said payment would not be made, but that costs would be covered.

Why would they want to do this? A Channel 4 employee explained:

"If you were to question why we were interested we’d say 'If the scientists have solved one of the ancient world’s most enduring mysteries [the process of mummification] it would give us a unique insight into science and Egyptian history and may well prove to have other significant benefits for medical science.'"

Oh, well, that changes everything! As long as it's in the name of science.