North Korea warns London over Channel 4 series

North Korea has warned London that diplomatic ties are at risk unless the British government intervenes to halt the broadcast of a Channel 4 drama about Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme.

Through its state media, North Korea has described the political thriller, "Opposite Number", as a "conspiratorial charade".

Pyongyang has also issued "a warning that movies slandering the DPRK should be dumped without delay if [the British government] wants to maintain the hard-won diplomatic ties between the DRPK and Britain."

London appears unfazed by the threats, however, with a spokesperson for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London telling The Telegraph: "It is for Channel 4 to decide upon its programming schedule.

"British media is editorially independent of the British government, and as such we would not be involved in the development or production of programmes."

The 10-part series is the fictional tale of a British nuclear scientist who is captured on a covert mission into North Korea and is forced to assist in the North's nuclear weapons programme.

Subsequent episodes will see MI6 and CIA agents deployed in Pyongyang as a global nuclear crisis looms, Channel 4 said in a statement.

"North Korea is one of the last truly impenetrable nations on the planet, and one of the most dangerous for the West," said Matt Charman, who wrote the series.

"I wanted to write a drama that could blow the lid off our understanding of who we think the North Korean people are and what their government truly wants," he said.

Pyongyang has been less enthusiastic about Mr Charman's project, with the a spokesman for the powerful National Defence Commission describing the series as a "slanderous farce".

The KCNA news agency quoted the spokesman as saying that North Korea has no need to steal foreign nuclear technology as it already has "unimaginably powerful nuclear weaponry".

"Those who are talking about 'illegal acquisition of nuclear technology' are no more than blind fools and idiots bereft of even the elementary ability to discern the truth," he added.

Pyongyang issued a similarly strongly-worded demand for a retraction in June when Seth Rogan and James Franco announced the release of "The Interview", a comedy premised on a slapstick plot to assassinate Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader.

North Korea declared the film to be "an act of war" and threatened to take "merciless countermeasures" unless it was cancelled. The regime in Pyongyang even went as far as to write a letter directly to President Barack Obama demanding that he intervene.

The pressure may have paid off as the release date for the film has been put back from October and Columbia Pictures is reportedly looking to tone down some of the scenes, including the one in which Mr Kim's face melts.

• Tourist photos of North Korea