I’d like to suggest there is room for both ideas: the straightforward “how to” (or perhaps, in the context, “what not to”) tutorial and the role play where it looks like something may be going wrong.

Of course there are things to be careful over. We all know RE would never compromise on actual standards of health and safety but it might reassure the more nervous viewers if extra reminders were included in the set or accompanying storyline.

And perhaps you could start with scenarios that didn’t involve any physical danger, just potential embarrassment. Here are my first two suggestions.

1. The “newbie” girl tries steel self-bondage and locks herself in a cage or chains herself to a bed only to realise later she has left the key on the other side of the room. After some lovely efforts to reach it, she realises her phone is within reach. Can she telephone her friend (who knows nothing of her interest in bondage) to come and rescue her?

2. Two friends have rented a holiday house where they want to try bondage. One ties the other up. Then the doorbell goes and the free person goes to answer it. There’s some conversation like, “I’m the heating engineer. The owner asked me to check everything’s working for you. I need to check all the rooms”. The rest of the video shows the bound girl’s efforts to free herself punctuated by excuses from her friend why this room doesn’t need to be seen. And where are the safety shears?

As a variation, instead of a tradesman like the heating engineer it’s the mother of one of the girls making a surprise visit!

3. An enthusiastic experimenter decides to go for lessons only to find that she knows more than the instructor.

4. A photo session with a novice photographer/rigger and an experienced model who has to find polite but firm ways to say, “not that”: or vice versa an inexperienced, over-eager or desperate for work model whom the photographer has to stop from going beyond what is safe.

Hope some of this sparks other ideas.

Andrew