• McCanns think BBC's screening of The Moorside last night was in 'poor taste'

• They are facing heartbreaking 10th anniversary of Maddie's disappearance

• New mini-series follows story of Shannon Matthews who 'vanished' in 2008

• Similarities in show to Kate McCann holding Maddie's Cuddle Cat soft toy

The parents of Madeleine McCann have branded last night's controversial TV drama about the fake kidnap of Shannon Matthews 'appalling' and 'insensitive'.

Kate and Gerry McCann thought the BBC's screening of The Moorside - which alluded to their ordeal - was in 'poor taste and bad timing', a close friend said.

It comes as the parents from Rothley, Leicestershire, face the heartbreaking 10th anniversary of their daughter's disappearance from Praia da Luz in Portugal.

The mini-series follows the story of nine-year-old Shannon who 'vanished' from the Moorside council estate in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, in February 2008.

The schoolgirl's own mother Karen Matthews - played by Gemma Whelan in the series which debuted on BBC One yesterday - had callously made it all up.

Inspired by the huge Maddie police hunt nine months before, she wanted to cash in with a relative by grabbing the reward and any media interview fees.

Matthews was eventually arrested, charged and jailed for eight years. She had been an accomplice in her daughter's drugging and kidnapping.

Shannon's shocking 'disappearance' after failing to return home from a school swimming trip bore a chilling similarity to that of three-year-old Maddie.

She was snatched from her bed in a holiday apartment in Portugal in May 2007 – and her plight was highlighted at least three times in the first episode of The Moorside.

In one scene Matthews's friend and search co-ordinator Julie Bushby, played by Sheridan Smith, discusses a candelit vigil after the mother's TV appeal.

A friend, viewing the papers the next day, says: 'It must be working all this, they are offering a reward of £20,000.'

Bushby's young son chips in: 'They are offering £2.5million for Maddie McCann. Is that because they're posher than us?' His mother replies: 'It's not a contest.'

In another clip while discussing how best to launch the media plea with a detective, Matthews says: 'I've got my cuddly bear that you wanted, like Maddie's mum wants her Cuddle Cat.'

The police officer asks: 'Is that Shannon's favourite' and her mother takes a long pause before answering 'Probably!'

Matthews's appearance before cameras clutching the toy was a near carbon copy to Mrs McCann's genuine pleas to her daughter's abductor.

Maddie's favourite soft toy Cuddle Cat had been left lying on her bed when she vanished.

In the early days Mrs McCann kept the grubby pink animal which she later recalled was dirty and 'smelt of suntan lotion' close to her.

The grief stricken mother was photographed carrying the toy everywhere.

During the show's appeal, Matthews shed crocodile tears as she echoed some of Mrs McCann's words, begging: 'I need her home. If anyone's got my beautiful princess, bring her home.'

A source close to the McCanns said: 'The whole Shannon Matthews saga only came about because of Madeleine's disappearance and what the family wrongly thought they could claw through rewards and interviews.

'The BBC have been trailing it for a few weeks. Kate and Gerry think the whole thing is appalling, and in really poor taste and bad timing.

'They may not sit down and watch every minute of these programmes but they are aware of them and references to their family.

'They feel is very insensitive and the show tries to glorify a terrible crime involving a young girl.'

Neither Shannon, now aged 18, nor her family say they were asked to co-operate in the prime time programme and even tried to ban it being aired.

The drama, which continues next week, describes the frantic £3.2million police search for the schoolgirl.

Hundreds of neighbours joined in the 24-day hunt unaware that her mother, inspired by the outpouring of grief and huge public donations to help find Maddie, was an elaborate hoax.

Shannon was eventually discovered just a mile away, drugged inside the wooden base of a double bed at the home of Michael Donovan, the uncle of stepfather Craig Meehan, Matthews's boyfriend at the time.

They had orchestrated the plot to bag the £50,000 reward money.

As well as re-telling the search, the two-part series deals with the fallout of the community after they discovered they had been lied to.

The Moorside writer Neil McKay defended not making contact with Shannon's family, insisting he didn't want to put Matthews back in the public eye.

He said: 'We don't defend her or condemn her, and we don't make an apology for her crime.'

Maddie's mother, a former GP, and heart doctor father, believe their daughter – who would now be 13, could still be alive.

The couple, both 48, are hoping 'a miracle' reunites them with their daughter soon.

Scotland Yard are working on one last 'throw of the dice' lead which the McCanns are praying could solve the mystery.

Episode one of The Moorside was shown last night and is now available on BBC iPlayer. The second and final episode will air next Tuesday at 9pm.