Something odd happened last night. I watched Wonderland (BBC Two, Wednesday, 9.50pm) and felt that, before I'd even had chance to think, my mind had already been made up. The show, from the off, almost said "come viewer... come point and laugh at these warped freaks... no pity is needed. Get your scorn up and you best mocking laugh on. It's time to prod and sneer at the peep-show." So with that, I was immediately on my guard. This was a show that was clearly going to be dealing with exceptional cases and as such, will probably feature people who may have mental issues... and when did laughing at people with mental problems become okay?

Before I go any further, I'll explain what the show was about. The show looked at the online community of Second Life. Now, Second Life is an incredibly posh version of, say Myspace or Facebook. It's a social networking site which, instead of being a load of words and updates, features 3D avatars which you can control, walk around virtual cities... hell... you can even do the sex. It's the latter element that this show looked at.

Now, as interesting as this show was, it's goal was to goad you into sneering. The main story of the show was that of a lady who spent up to 14 hours a day 'interacting' with another bloke. Her husband was neglected... as were her children. Such was her infatuation with Second Life that it prompted one of her children to say 'that computer means more to you than we do'. If this show was a true reflection of their lives, then you'd have to say it was true... her Second Life meant more to her than her real life.

Her long suffering... and in fairness, push-over... husband wanted to stand by her throughout this. As she declared her love for this other bloke via Second Life, the husband ran the house, cared for the kids, and the lady just sat in the bedroom and acted out her fantasies through this virtual portal. It was incredibly sad to see such unrequited love on the husband's part, shunned in favour of a virtual world. Her relationship was so real to her that she upped sticks from the US and traveled to the UK to meet her online 'partner'.

Now, as unusual and strange as this is, to me, it seemed like Second Life wasn't the cause of these problems. The lady would have thrown herself into something or someone else regardless of format. Her selfishness wasn't that of someone who was merely a 'freak', but rather, someone with huge mental issues that could not be fixed quickly. Any sane person would realise that this glorified game was not worth the deterioration of your real world and relationships. So, to sit and mock is neither helpful or just.

What was worrying was the tone of the programme almost suggested that everyone who uses Second Life is like this. Now, having tried it for ten minutes and got bored, I can imagine that many regular users treat it like Facebook or whatever, and spend a bit of time catching up with online friends and then, it's off for their tea and some real people. More to the point, most people probably use it loads and then leave it after a few months... a bit like when you get a new computer game and hammer the life out of it before the honeymoon period wanes. It seemed that this show wanted us to worry about this sinister trend when really, it's nothing to get worked up about. As with anything, some people abuse a thing and end up abusing themselves. I mean, just because you've tried weed in your teens, doesn't mean you'll end up on heroin does it? It's a shame this show went for the sensational angle when, deep down, there was an incredibly interesting programme about the human condition.

You've got 6 days to watch this show on iPlayer. I advise you click here and watch this fascinating show.