SO far this week we've had power struggles, lewd behaviour, fights and displays of macho posturing and the signs are that there is plenty more to come.

No, it's not the live coverage of Celebrity Big Brother, it's BBC1's Chimp Week which has probably shown more controversial material in half an hour than the entire series of Rome and all at a time when children are up and watching TV.

Am I the only one to find the antics' of a family of chimpanzees filmed over a period of a couple of years vaguely disturbing?

Whatever happened to the watershed?

Now I know that animals in the wild are just that and that cuddly chimps are reserved for Tarzan films but some of the footage on Chimp Week has been truly shocking. Certainly some of the content has, to me, been unsuitable for a 7pm screening.

Frodo, the head chimp, is clearly a male chauvinist pig (if chimps can be pigs) and a bully as well.

He's fighting off challenges for the leadership of the chimp family from young upstart chimps in a manner which makes Tony Soprano look like Julian Clary.

His partner' is clearly a bit of a flirt and despite having twins to look after isn't averse to causing a bit of trouble herself.

You can only admire the skill and patience of the camera crew who have captured every aspect of the chimps' life.

And the frightening thing is that you can see so many human traits in what they have recorded.

Those who oppose the Darwinian theory of evolution would do well to tune in to BBC for the rest of the week, but only if they aren't easily shocked.