The BBC was yesterday defiant over its plans to publish a "warts and all" autobiography by Michael Barrymore which will include details of the night a partygoer drowned in the star's swimming pool.
Bosses at the corporation's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, insisted that the book would be on the shelves at the end of next month, in time for the lucrative Christmas market, despite anger from politicians and the family of the dead man, Stuart Lubbock.
Barrymore, who was paid a six-figure sum for the book, has been criticised for allegedly "cashing in" on the tragedy by writing about the party while refusing to answer key questions at Lubbock's inquest last week.
BBC Worldwide commissioned the book, Running Away From Myself, in September 2000, six months before the death of the 31-year-old butcher and father of two at Barrymore's Essex mansion.
Until the start of the hearing, retailers had not expressed any special interest in the autobiography, which will be priced at £16.99. However the inquest, which ended in an open verdict after Barrymore refused to answer questions about alleged drug taking, has sparked intense interest.
The promise of 50-year-old Barrymore describing the night of Lubbock's death in his own words is likely to turn the book into a bestseller.
BBC Worldwide sources revealed that tabloid newspapers had also expressed interest in obtaining the serialisation rights to the book.
"He's a popular entertainer. There will be a big call for his story," a spokesman said. "He's been through a lot in the last 12 months. If he's going to tell his story, it's got to be warts and all."
The Conservatives led the criticism against BBC Worldwide, which returned £106m to the BBC in 2001-02 to reinvest in programming, through the sales of favourites such as the Tweenies and Delia Smith's How to Cook series.
John Whittingdale, the shadow secretary of state for culture, media and sport, said: "Most people will be deeply shocked that Michael Barrymore is going to profit from a book about the death of Stuart Lubbock when he refused to give details to the inquest.
"The fact that the money comes from the taxpayer, via the licence fee, is outrageous. The BBC must think again." Lubbock's father, Terry, called Barrymore "diabolical" for using his son's death to sell the book.
There has been discussion within BBC Worldwide, a limited company, about whether to go ahead with the book, but the spokesman said he was "99% certain" that it would be published. "Mr Barrymore was commissioned to write a full account of his personal life and career in showbusiness. The latter chapters will cover the death of Mr Lubbock."
The spokesman said the decision to include the death of Lubbock, who had a combi nation of alcohol and drugs, including ecstasy and cocaine, in his system at the time of his death, and had suffered serious injuries which may have been from a sexual assault, had not been taken lightly.
The company had been "assured" there was "nothing in the book relevant to the investigation into Mr Lubbock's death which has not already been divulged to the police or coroner's court".
The spokesman added that no licence fee funds were used to pay Barrymore, as BBC Worldwide operated at arm's length from the corporation.
Despite the assurances, detectives, who have kept the file on the death open, will examine the book carefully.
It emerged yesterday that the coroner is looking at an allegation that Barrymore perjured himself at the inquest. The presenter's former wife, Cheryl, has alleged that he lied at the hearing by claiming he could not swim - the reason he gave for not jumping into the pool to pull Lubbock out.
An Essex police spokesman said the coroner, Caroline Beasley-Murray, was studying the claim. "She will decide whether there's anything she wishes to refer to the police for further inquiry," he said.
