Prince Harry to be 'kidnapped' in Afghanistan in Channel 4 show

It has never been scared of airing controversial programmes about the royal family – and later this month Channel 4 will broadcast its latest, a dramatised documentary about the hypothetical kidnapping of Prince Harry while on military duty in Afghanistan.

In the 70-minute programme to be shown on 21 October, Harry, played by Sebastian Reid, is kidnapped after the Apache helicopter he is flying crashes, and is then taken to Pakistan. When a British-born fighter recognises him, he is forced to appear in a video for the Talibandemanding troops leave Afghanistan.

Harry is shown appearing on a Taliban video saying: "My name is Captain Harry Wales. I'm being fed, I'm comfortable and I'm being looked after very well. The price of my release is that coalition troops must leave Afghanistan, starting immediately. If that does not happen, I will never return home and you will never find my body."

Hamish Mykura, Channel 4's head of documentaries, justified the subject matter by saying it was clear that kidnapping in Afghanistan is on the increase and the Prince would be a target were he to return. "It's a very real and live issue and one that we think is well worth exploring."

But while the programme also includes extensive interviews with former intelligence officers, military commanders, negotiators, as well as those who had previously been held hostage – including Guardian journalist Shoaib Sharifi and Jere Van Dyk, the CBS journalist who was held hostage for 45 days in 2008 – Channel 4's approach is likely to raise questions. The programme's focus on Prince Harry will prompt accusations of sensationalism. But the broadcaster says it has acted responsibly and was careful not to show anything on screen that experts did not believe could happen.

It also says it is correct to question whether Britain should allow high-value targets to be on the front line. "If you're going to analyse that it's probably a story best told by looking at the number one target in this situation. And Prince Harry is the number one target," Mykura said.

According to Channel 4, the royal family had been informed about the programme, but had not made any response. Today a spokesman for Clarence House said: "We're not going to comment on this work of fiction."

Prince Harry served in Afghanistan's Helmand province as a forward air controller for 10 weeks from December 2007. Due to worries that he could become a Taliban target, his presence in the country was kept secret with a news blackout agreed between the UK media and the Ministry of Defence.

The blackout was broken when news aggregator the Drudge Report ran a story about his deployment, and Harry was flown home. Earlier this year, it was reported that the prince wanted to return to Afghanistan to fly the Lynx attack helicopter.

Channel 4 said it had discussed whether The Taking of Prince Harry would "simply put ideas into people's heads", but decided that there were already websites calling for him to be made a target.

"It's clearly not an idea that would be new to the Taliban or al-Qaida or to their supporters," Mykura said.

There will likely be questions, however, about why it was felt necessary to make the programme as a dramatised documentary – with heightened scripted sections between interviews with experts – rather than a more traditional documentary.