The series was a hoax at the expense of its contestants, who were told they were being trained as cosmonauts at a Russian military base before undergoing a five-day trip into low Earth orbit.

However, the show was in fact an elaborate practical joke, described by Commissioning Editor Angela Jain as "Candid Camera live in space" and claimed by Channel 4 to have cost roughly £5 million.

Channel 4 had contingency plans if the contestants realised the hoax; Johnny Vaughan repeatedly suggested they would have to play old rerun episodes of Jamie's School Dinners, and after the "launch" some unchosen Cadets would have been used as a backup crew.

In order for the hoax to stand a realistic chance of succeeding, the Cadets would have to remain unaware of the true nature of the show, even given any production mistakes and implausible explanations.

The Cadets had started to gain suspicions due to increasingly ludicrous set pieces (notably the space funeral of a fictional celebrity dog "Mr. Bimby", whose ashes were spilt and had to be vacuumed up).

During the four-week period the Cadets were living on-site; their barracks and the academy building where they received their training are situated within the wooded dispersal area, which is on the south west of the airbase.

The simulator also subsequently featured in Armageddon, Rocket's Red Glare,[5] Space Cowboys and Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome,[4][6] as well as commercials for IBM and Slim Jims.

As the Cadets spent five days inside the simulator, there was considerable attention and budget given to its plausibility, including extensive surround sound, pneumatic cushions, and a custom-built projector screen to display CGI graphics of the Earth's surface.

The hangar, called Hush House, is formed from insulated stainless steel walls and features an elaborate exhaust facility that enables the engines of jet aircraft such as the F-16 to be tested with minimal interruption to local residents and livestock.

In total, the two programmes are together rumoured to have cost around £4.5m to produce, including prize payouts, the 6-month audition process, set making, staff salaries, and profits for Zeppotron.

The show consistently raised the issue of how an immersive illusion can convince average people over a period of time, especially when reinforced as part of a group of believers – especially when this includes men in white coats and other authority figures.

[2] Parallels can be drawn to the supposed 'group experiment' element of Big Brother which Space Cadets draws on, and in wider terms propaganda, subliminal advertising, and the consensus nature of reality.

The theories were lent considerable credibility when Ryan McBride was sighted in a TV advert for blood donation,[7] although he later explained he was recruited as an extra on-location and was not a professional actor.