'24' criticised over torture scenes

24 producers have been criticised over the show's portrayal of interrogation techniques.

American military chiefs voiced their concern about the hit series during a meeting with the 24 team. Producers were asked to tone down violent scenes of torture due to fears that the United States is being shown in a bad light due to the programme.

Among the group who complained about the show was retired Colonel Stu Herrington, who is now an army consultant on conditions in Guantanamo Bay.

"When the good guys are shown doing something evil and winning, that bothers me," Herrington explained.

Tony Lagoura, a former interrogator at Baghdad prison Abu Ghraib, claimed that some techniques from the show were being copied. He told the team that he had seen mock executions of suspects' families being staged - as shown in a previous episode of 24.

Co-executive producer Howard Gordon told the Daily Star Sunday: "We respect everything they had to say but our desires are naturally going to be at odds sometimes. We're not a documentary or a manual on interrogation. We're a television show."