With Real Housewives of ISIS this BBC2 show is already the most controversial of the year

The BBC has prompted both outrage and applause with a controversial new comedy sketch, The Real Housewives of ISIS, in which jihadi brides are seen comparing suicide vests and wondering what to wear to a beheading.

The parody of shows such as the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, part of new BBC2 series Revolting, has been watched 22 million times on Facebook and prompted more than 60,000 comments.

Meet the Real Housewives of ISIS… pic.twitter.com/WXpVp8Zmbg

— Lalo Dagach (@LaloDagach) January 4, 2017

One of the three women bemoans the fact that her husband “won’t stop talking about his 40 virgins, why can’t he be happy with me?”

Another says her partner Ali “has bought me a new chain, which is eight feet long so I can almost go outside, it’s great.”

The sketch also parodies young women who have been seduced online and end up scrubbing the floors. “I’m so glad I’ve moved over here, it’s everything those guys on the chatrooms told me it would be.”

Revolting creators Heydon Prowse and Jolyon Rubinstein defended the scenes, saying comedians must be able to target religious fundamentalism.

Prowse said: “It’s important not to pull your punches in satire. You have to be fearless or it undermines your credibility. You can’t go after David Cameron for five years like we did and not go after Islamic State.”

“The target is online grooming,” Rubinstein told the i paper. “It’s about people who are vulnerable to these kind of approaches … This is actually happening to women here.” But the sketch prompted fierce debate online.

The next episode of Revolting is on BBC2 next Tuesday.