The BBC has denied dropping controversial blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin from its Hardtalk segment due to political pressure.

Raja Petra Kamaruddin (popularly known as RPK) was originally scheduled for a Sept 1 interview with Hardtalk.

Malaysia Today had previously alleged that the BBC had cancelled RPK's interview because it would upset the Malaysian government and expose the station to legal action.

The suggestion that the item was dropped due to political pressure is untrue, said Peter Connors, BBC global news senior press officer in an e-mail statement. Citing editorial reasons, Connors told FMT that it was normal for certain news or current affairs stories not to be aired on the BBC's channels.

It became clear in our research that any comprehensive interview with RPK would prominently feature issues that are currently the subject of a current court case in Malaysia, Connors said.

He also added that a meeting with the controversial blogger would raise issues of defamation. Connors did not specify which court case he was referring to.

A TV show featuring CCTV footage showing two teenage killers leading a little boy to his death has upset the family of James Bulger.

The fictional footage appears in an upcoming episode of Law and Order: UK and bears a similarity to the horrific killing of James at the hands of ten-year-old boys Jon Venables and Robert Thompson.

The programme features CCTV footage of two girls aged 13 and ten leading a boy by the hand, before strangling him to death and leaving their initials on his chest.

James' mother Denise Fergus demanded the programme be taken off air and said it was too similar to the 1993 murder of her son: It's virtually a direct copy-cat of what happened to James, she told The Sun: I'm certain they knew it would rub salt in the wounds for me and my family. They seem to think they can treat James as public property.

ITV denied the drama was in any way linked to the Bulger case, and a spokesman said it was in fact 'loosely based on the sory of Mary Bell, who killed two boys in 1968.

Channel 4 is creating a reality show that will see two people, one attractive and the other physically disfigured, share a house.

Beauty and the Beast intends to expose the different ways in which they are treated because of their appearance. In each episode a different pair will be followed by the cameras. The show will follow them at home and when they are out and about.

Vivienne Pattison, the director of the nutter group MediaWatch, said: It sounds like an extraordinary freak show and Channel 4 pledged an end to this kind of voyeuristic programming when they announced the end of Big Brother. She said putting a disfigured person in a mirrored house in the name of entertainment was not healthy.

But the six-part series is being made with the co-operation of disfigurement charity Changing Faces. The programme makers are understood to be in talks with a number of high-profile people who have suffered some form of disfigurement to take part and discuss the issues faced.

More than half of older viewers believe television has deteriorated in the past year because of the soaring number of repeats, bad language and violence.

TV censor Ofcom found that 53% of over-65s believe standards have fallen and the quality and range of programmes have worsened.

Almost two thirds of those surveyed said part of their dissatisfaction was down to the increased number of repeats on screens, while a quarter were unhappy with the level of bad language and the variety of shows available.

Violence was another reported problem, with 15% saying programmes were using endless fight scenes in a gratuitous manner.

Last year, the five main channels broadcast 30,485 hours of original programming - down almost 8 per cent on 2008, and the lowest level for more than seven years.

For the BBC, EastEnders was one of the most complained about programmes in 2009. Hundreds whinged about its violence.

ITV has repeatedly come under fire for its reliance on big talent search reality shows such as Britain's Got Talent, The X Factor and Dancing on Ice at the expense of original drama and comedy.

Vivienne Pattison, director of nutter group MediaWatch-UK, said: There has been an erosion of the watershed in recent years, with people seeing more and more inappropriate scenes before 9pm.

Since joining the BBC a decade ago, the Polish-born meteorologist Tomasz Schafernaker has outraged the Scots by describing the Outer Hebrides as nowheresville and collapsed into fits of giggles after predicting muddy shite for a rain-lashed Glastonbury.

Schafernaker's latest exploit on the rolling News Channel was yesterday earning him thousands of hits on the internet after he was caught delivering a one-fingered salute to the BBC news anchor Simon McCoy after McCoy's bantering ironic suggestion that his forecast would be 100 per cent accurate and provide you with all the details you could possibly want.

Schafernaker is seen flipping the presenter the bird and then appears to hide his hand in his mouth, as if trying to destroy the evidence, as McCoy's co-presenter Fiona Armstrong squeals in dismay. McCoy tries to gloss over the incident remarking: Every now and again there's always a mistake and that was it.

A BBC spokesman said the Corporation was sorry if anyone had been upset by the brief incident: Tomasz was not aware that he was on air, and whilst the gesture was only shown for a second, it was not acceptable. The News Channel presenter live in the studio acknowledged a mistake had been made, and we apologise for any offence caused.

Hundreds of viewers have complained to the BBC about scenes featuring EastEnder Phil Mitchell using crack cocaine which were shown before the watershed.

The plotline has the character, depressed after his family broke up, bingeing on the class-A drug.

Viewers saw Mitchell surrounded by litter in a smoky room, clutching a whisky bottle. Obviously high and drunk, he asked a friend for another pipe, while in a later scene he was accused of being off his head on crack.

The troubled character, played by actor Steve McFadden, goes wild on a crack binge with fellow drug addict Rainie Cross (Tanya Franks) after losing custody of his daughter Louise.

More than 350 people made formal complaints about the half-hour episode which went out at 8pm, while scores more inundated online message boards to voice their 'disgust.' Critics said scenes showing drugs and drug paraphernalia were not appropriate before the watershed, when there could be children watching.

A spokesman for the show said: EastEnders has a history of tackling social issues. 'We are working closely with drug and alcohol charities, including Addaction and DrugScope, to make sure that we sensitively reflect this difficult issue.

The episodes do not in any way glamorise or encourage the use of drugs and details of a BBC helpline were provided at the end of the episode for any viewers affected by the issue.

Such storylines can really help in promoting an understanding about drugs and the problems they cause. In no way is it a glamorous portrayal. Instead, it shows the damage drug use can have on a person, their family and their friends.'

Emma Thompson has upset residents of the Isle of Wight by joking that they stone and flog homosexuals.

The actress also told US television viewers that Irish and Scottish visitors to the island are tortured and shot.

Appearing on The Late Late Show, Thompson engaged in a conversation about holiday destinations. Craig Ferguson, the presenter, said he was visiting Catalina, an island off the California coast.

It's kind of like the Isle of Wight, Ferguson explained, to which Thompson replied: Oh, so they stone homosexuals there? Nice.

To roars of laughter from the audience, she went on: I think they are still allowed to flog them, which of course some of them enjoy. I think they are allowed to shoot Irish or Scottish people if they arrive on the island - it is still in the rules. They are allowed to torture people. It's lovely, you should go.

David Pugh, council leader on the island, said: It's a great shame that someone with her profile should make such ridiculous claims. Presumably Emma Thompson made these comments to get some laughs on the chat show. Her claims are much ado about nothing and as outlandlish as some of the fiction in the Harry Potter films she has been working on. If there was a Golden Globe award for Best Fictional Claims on a Chat Show, Emma Thompson would win it hands down.

Isle of Wight Tory MP Andrew Turner also weighed in to the debate. The Isle of Wight is known as a friendly and welcoming tourist destination and if Emma Thompson had ever been here she would know that. I hope she said this in a light-hearted way and it will be taken that way because it's clearly rubbish.