Hindley, 56, has been approached at Highpoint Prison, Suffolk to participate in the Modern Times documentary.

The programme, to be shown in February, would discuss the 1960s series of sex-and-torture murders.

Careful handling

A BBC spokeswoman said: "It is just an idea at the moment and is nothing more than a gleam in a producer's eye.

"If it were to go ahead, viewers' sensitivity to the subject would mean that any film would be handled especially carefully.

"It is one of countless ideas being explored at any one time. No decision has been made about what shape or form the programme would be."

Ian Brady: Jailed for life

Hindley and her lover Ian Brady were jailed for life in 1966 for the murders of Lesley Ann Downey, 10, and Edward Evans, 17.

Brady, now 60, was also jailed for life for murdering 12-year-old John Kilbride.

Another 21 years went by before the pair confessed to killing Pauline Reade, 16, and Keith Bennett, 12, and burying their bodies on Saddleworth Moor, on the edge of the Peak District.

Keith Bennett's body has never been found.

Hindley is awaiting the result of an appeal against a decision that she must die in prison.

Three judges sitting at the Court of Appeal reserved judgment on her appeal earlier this month.

Prison for life

Her life sentence was made with no recommended tariff.

But in 1990 Conservative Home Secretary David Waddington ruled she should stay in jail for the rest of her natural life.

This decision was confirmed by Michael Howard and, last year, the new Home Secretary Jack Straw.

Another 26 prisoners, including serial killers Rose West, Dennis Nilsen and Peter Sutcliffe, have also been told they will never be released.

In December three High Court judges, led by Lord Bingham, upheld Mr Straw's decision but granted leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal.