Operation Puppet Master

French pay-to-view channel Canal Plus enjoys a reputation as the nation's premier source of TV entertainment, but it has also produced a real-life spy tale worthy of a B movie. Last week former military intelligence agent Pierre Martinet claimed that while working for Canal Plus' internal security unit, he'd been assigned to a secret project designed to smear Bruno Gaccio, lead writer of the channel's popular news parody, Les Guignols de l'Info.

Martinet's new book recounts how he shadowed Gaccio for six months in 2002 in what he says was an effort by channel security bosses "to discredit Gaccio by discovering outrageous information from his private life." Martinet says Gaccio was targeted as a leader of Canal Plus' famously feisty staff, as well as the driving force behind Guignols, a show which has infuriated politicians and public figures for years.

Barely two months after Gaccio led a televised protest over the firing of channel boss Pierre Lescure, his e-mail and phone records were monitored, says Martinet, who also scrutinized Gaccio's finances, and stalked and photographed him for any activity or contacts that might cause disrepute. But Gaccio's private life proved so staid, Martinet says, his superiors pondered planting drugs on Gaccio's motor scooter, or entrapping him with the help of a prostitute. The spy quickly grew disenchanted. "I didn't spend 20 years trailing terrorists in the secret service to do this," explains Martinet, 41, who left Canal Plus soon after. Channel management, which has undergone considerable turnover since that time, says it does not have the facts to comment on the allegations, but insists that such practices are not tolerated at the channel now.

Gaccio is saying little, although he intends to sue for invasion of privacy, which he hopes may shed light on the other dozen or so employees Martinet says he was told to investigate. "I fear this happens more than we imagine," Gaccio told Time, adding he'd like to speak with Martinet about the case. "An exchange between the spy and the spied-on might teach people a lot."