They felt a documentary should be made that would show the reality of life as a student at Oxford rather than the clichéd image seen in novels such as Brideshead Revisited.
Was the primary focus of the second episode, which saw her elected as librarian, only to be stripped of the position through breaking the union's policies on electioneering.
Became embroiled in a storm of controversy surrounding her refusal to pay means-tested tuition fees, which were compulsory for the first time at English universities in 1998.
[1][3] However viewing figures were not as high as hoped and, despite the production team being delighted with the project at first, Channel 4 changed their attitude to the show once broadcasts were underway.
Tim Gardam, head of programmes at Channel 4, told one of the students involved that the films "lacked life and were too mannered to do justice to the strength of character and interest (the production team) had been allowed to document".
Peter Dale, head of documentaries, denied that the decision was ratings-related; he said the episode was dropped because it was "a little bit pretentious" and felt the series may not have been delivering what the audience wanted.
Sally Mapstone felt that the episode that was skipped was key to the story, commenting "the irony is that, by censoring the one film where the girls talk most frankly about themselves, Channel 4 has skewed the whole emphasis of the series".
Kevin Sim added that he felt that critics of the series were using the show as an excuse to "express their long-cherished hatred of Oxford as an elitist institution".
[3] The series was criticised by students in Oxford for appearing to depict an overly intense atmosphere throughout, and for being pre-occupied with scandals, rather than providing a balanced portrayal of life at the university, as it set out to do.