George Osborne was offered help with his maths skills tonight after a BBC comedy stunt show infiltrated his speech to bankers.
The Chancellor was presented with a GCSE Maths exercise book as he prepared to reveal plans for an emergency bank funding scheme at a Mansion House event, in central London.
Mr Osborne was handed the book by Heydon Prowse, who is filming a new comedy series for BBC3 with collaborator Jolyon Rubinstein.
The programme, which has two working titles; We Know Where You Live and The Revolution Will Be Televised, will be shown later this year.
A BBC spokeswoman said the show was a "topical, satirical, entertainment series that challenges the establishment".
Prowse - who hit the headlines in 2009 after covertly filming Conservative politician Alan Duncan saying MPs had been "nationalised" - and Rubinstein became internet hits with their satirical work for Don't Panic Online.