Mat Fraser and Sophie Morgan watch events unfold on monitors.Photograph: Kalel Productions

I have never had to pause a programme halfway through before to catch my breath. That is until The Experiment – Channel 4's highly controversial social exercise designed to find out "how susceptible the British public are" to Nazi ideology about disabled people. This is a show so disturbing, timely and surreal that within 90 seconds of viewing it alone, I am looking around for confirmation from an empty room that any of this is happening.