BBC calls off its child pranksters As staff at the King Edward VII Hospital nervously await the inquest into the death of the nurse Jacintha Saldanha, who died after putting through a prank call about the Duchess of Cambridge from an Australian radio station, the BBC is taking no chances. Mandrake can disclose that the corporation has dropped two long-running programmes which involve pranks being played on children. A BBC spokesman confirms that it has commissioned no more episodes of Prank Patrol, which it has broadcast since 2007, or Prank Patrol Down Under, which was shown regularly until the week before the fatal telephone call from the disc jockeys. The spokesman says no more repeats of either programme will be shown. In one episode of Prank Patrol Down Under, broadcast on CBBC earlier this year, children were visibly upset. The youngsters, who were helping out at a charity car wash, were told that a limousine that was brought in belonged to the pop singer Beyoncé. To their horror, it began to fall apart as they tried to clean it. The BBC insists that the programmes were broadcast with the permission of the children's families. "Prank Patrol and Prank Patrol Down Under are light-hearted entertainment shows created with full input from the children's parents and guardians to ensure their enjoyment and safety," says the spokesman. The BBC has stringent editorial guidelines on these activities. The show has now finished and there are no repeats currently scheduled.