Cutting Edge: Beauty Queens And Bloodshed (C4): UNTIL going to Nigeria to stage the 2002 Miss World contest, organiser Julia Morley thought Sharia was a girl's name.

She learnt the hard way that it refers to an Islamic law used to sentence a woman to be stoned to death for sex outside marriage. Publicity over a woman in this half-Muslim country receiving such a punishment was only the start of Morley's problems.

Why, you might very well ask, put on a competition involving beautiful women in tight dresses displaying bare flesh in a country where local women are required to cover themselves and wear veils?

The answer, obviously enough, is money. Nigeria paid the Miss World organisation £5m for the privilege of welcoming 95 glamorous contestants for the month-long pageant. The publicity, they figured, would benefit their tourist industry.

It was not money well spent, as this documentary showed. After several weeks and threatened boycotts by contestants, the would-be Miss Worlds fled the country in the wake of riots that left 250 dead and 1,000 people injured.

Film-makers had the advantage of home movie footage shot by contestants and post-contest interviews showing they were no air-headed bimbos. Several also took the opportunity to highlight how controlled they were by organisers, unable to go anywhere or do anything - even visit the toilet - without a chaperone.

Some doubted the wisdom of this conspicuous display of money and glamour in a poor, religious country.

Miss Norway decided to boycott the contest over the planned stoning, until given assurances the punishment wouldn't go ahead. Miss Belgium raised the "amputation problem" after learning of children having their hands cut off for stealing.

It wasn't just their presence that sparked riots. A 21-year-old Nigerian journalist wrote a newspaper article that offended religious authorities with her comments about Mohammad and provoked riots. A fatwa was put on her, forcing her to flee Nigeria and go into hiding.

The furore continued after contestants got out of Africa and relocated to London at a cost of £1m. Miss England wanted to pull out because, like many of the others, she'd lost faith in the contest and had no interest in becoming Miss World. Eventually, organisers persuaded her to take part, but she only did it after being guaranteed she wouldn't win.

Even the outcome, some suggested, was political. The winner was Miss Turkey - who was beautiful, docile and Muslim.