It has already been described as an "unethical gimmick" and is said to be "doomed to failure" – which is one way of guaranteeing great viewing figures for Thursday night’s Intervention: We’re Coming to Get You.

The show is reality TV with a difference: the difference being that the people featured aren’t wannabe TV stars, but real, live drug addicts, who are lured to a "secret location" and then asked to make the hardest decision of their lives – either kick the habit or face never seeing their families again. Ever.

At the centre of the show is American addiction specialist, Tracey Towner, who claims that although her method of "intervention" could be described as emotional blackmail, for some addicts and their families, it’s the only way to give them back their lives.

"Imagine that you walk into a room and all of a sudden you’re faced with your parents, your brothers, your sisters, your family, your friends – people from the past you haven’t seen for years," she says. "And they’re all saying the same thing – either check into rehab right then and there or face never seeing any of them ever again. It’s tough love, that’s really taken to the extreme."

The "extreme" reactions of the addicts who feature in this show is presumably what Channel 2 are hoping we’ll all tune in for. Drugscope and Addaction have already voiced their concerns over the methods used in the programme, and critics and addicts alike have reacted angrily to what they see as the exploitation of people’s very real problems in the name of entertainment.

Who’s side are you on?

Intervention: We’re Coming to Take You Away, Channel 4, 9pm