UK TV and Radio News

Channel 4 have disregarded whinges from advertisers, charities and a handful of members ofthe public to moderate the language on Tramadol Nights .

During a routine on Wednesday's final episode, Boyle said: The Commonwealth Games were originally called The Empire Games, it basically started out as a huge slave race.

Adopting a posh voice he added: William, I think my niggers are quicker than yours.

Top Gear's Christmas special had a bit of fun with religious themes.

The show with Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond,  nd James May included a joke with a little baby Stig doll as Jesus in a manger.

The show was a ratings hit, but the send-ups and flippant remarks triggered a few nutter whinges.

The presenters posed as the Three Wise Men to drive through Middle East countries. At one stage, they even wore burkas.

The Daily Star reports a few minor whinges on TV discussion forums and that hate preacher Anjem Choudary said: The burka is a symbol of our religion and people should not make jokes about it in any way. It would have been equally bad even if they'd not been in a country mainly populated by Muslims.

Comment: A Bastion Against PC

30th December 2010. From Andrew

What the fuck?

Seriously, that's the only way I can express my thoughts for what has to be the most ridiculous subject ever.

Why is it, Top Gear goes to a foreign country and makes a few HARMLESS jokes, and the nutters are in uproar? Why is it people can come to the UK with their views and opinions, and be honoured for them, yet when we make a slight hint of a joke about a god that MIGHT NOT EVEN EXIST (face it, have you seen him?) there's pandemonium.

Why is religion such a pain in the ass? I salute the Top Gear team for doing what Top Gear has always done. Provided entertainment. They have not been trampled on by those silly PC pricks who claim you can't say that, it might upset 1 out of 6 billion people.

Some viewers iewers have complained that the Christmas Day show by comedy duo Matt Lucas and David Walliams on BBC1 was racist.

The spoof documentary set in an airport and called Come Fly With Me featured the pair as a range of minority characters.

Lucas darkens his face and wears a beard to play a Muslim worker called Taaj. He also adopts a strong West Indian accent to play a black woman called Precious who works in the coffee shop.

Walliams's roles include a Middle Eastern passenger liaison officer called Moses.

However, some viewers failed to see the funny side and took to internet forums to complain about the programme – the first of a six-part series – likening it to a minstrel show .

The show, broadcast at 10pm, was the second most-watched show on Christmas Day, attracting an audience of 10.3million.

BBC1 bosses said they had not yet established how many complained to the corporation. A BBC spokesman said: Come Fly With Me had a huge audience and many people loved it.

Comedy has a social function and part of that function is to ruffle feathers, said Lucas. On Twitter he added: Like in Little Britain we try to reflect, affectionately, the multicultural Britain we love. No offence is intended.

L'Oreal and Nestle are pulling out from 4 on Demand over Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights show.

Beauty company L'Oreal are taking down their adverts from the 4 on Demand website where Boyle's show is available, the Daily Mirror revealed.

Nestle, which promotes its Nespresso coffee machine on the site, also said they will not renew their advertising contract.

A L'Oreal spokesman said: This is not language we condone and we are pulling the online advert.

A Nestle spokesman said: Nespresso offers its sincere apologies for any distress caused.

Frankie Boyle is now 9/4 to be sacked after bookmakers slashed odds from 5/1 - and he is 8/13 to issue an apology. A spokesman for Ladbrokes said: We think this could be the final straw. Even if he apologises the P45 could already be in the post.

The BBC has angered the nutters of Christian Voice with a TV drama in which the Virgin Mary is branded a prostitute and sex cheat.

In The Nativity , written by Tony Jordan, 15-year-old Mary is attacked by people who do not believe her claim that she is pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph accuses her of whoring and even suggests that her pregnancy might have been the result of rape.

But Stephen Green, of Christian Voice, said: There is no justification for any of this in the gospels. They do say Joseph was suspicious, but that was it. It doesn't suggest any physical or verbal abuse. It's typical of the fertile imagination you need for something like EastEnders. The kids that do nativity plays in school will be perplexed that someone has come up with this revisionist, puerile idea.

The BBC can't help themselves. Three quarters of our population are Christian. At the BBC, this proportion is reversed. You have a huge proportion of militant, liberal atheists who are keen to dump on Christianity. They wouldn't mock the birth of Muhammad , or anything to do with his life story. They wouldn't ridicule Hinduism or Sikhism, but Christianity is their big target.

Defending the drama, Jordan said: The story is told using modern language and the characters have modern attitudes. Personally, I believe in the immaculate conception but I think it's perfectly understandable if people struggle with the concept. I think the questions asked in our drama are the kind that any man watching a prime-time TV drama in 2010 would quite reasonably ask. I think it perfectly believable that Joseph should get angry with his betrothed and only agree to take her with him to Bethlehem when she risks being stoned by angry neighbours.

If my own wife came to me and said: 'Tony, I'm having a baby which isn't yours but, don't worry, I was visited by the Angel Gabriel and it's actually God's baby,' I think I would feel more than a little miffed.

A Church of England spokesman said: Tony Jordan's adaptation presents a gritty interpretation of the events of the first Christmas. We hope it will bring home the story of Jesus being born in a humble stable to many new viewers.

Update: Seeking a Haven from Nutters

24th December 2010. See  article from  guardian.co.uk

Sorry, asylum rooms only for couples in a properly consummated marriage

The BBC have rejected accusations that its The Nativity drama contained an anti-Jewish libel after a leading rabbi complained about the portrayal of one its characters.

Jonathan Romain, a prominent figure in the group Reform, said that the BBC was spoiling the season of goodwill by including a scene that showed a rabbi denying shelter to a pregnant Mary.

It shows the mother of Jesus trying to flee a hostile Bethlehem crowd and a rabbi refusing her the haven of his synagogue, letting her escape through a back door instead.

Romain said many Jews would be aghast that amid a story central to the beliefs of millions of Christians an anti-Judaic aspect has been twisted into the narrative . The Gospels tell us there was no room at the inn, not that a rabbi kicked Mary out of a synagogue . Having survived Mel Gibson's anti-Jewish Easter onslaught The Passion now the season of goodwill has been spoiled.

It would be tragic if a 30-minute television programme undid years of inter-faith dialogue, he added.

The BBC rejected his suggestion that the scene constituted an anti-Jewish libel, saying there was absolutely no truth to claims the rabbi was depicted in a negative way.

Daily Mail hacks have been glued to their sets for another episode of Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights.

They spotted that:

During Tuesday night's show a female character was dressed up as sexualised Super Mario character and uttered the phrase: Hello to Pakis everywhere .

Later in the show he used the word again when talking about Western forces in Afghanistan before using the word n****r .

In the same episode there were also repeated jokes about women who wear burkas. He then added: All very funny till I get shot in the car park.

There were also jokes about Madeleine McCann, dead British soliders, as well as rape and the crossbow cannibal murders.

Vivienne Pattison of Mediawtch-UK was given a Christmas break from sound bite duty and instead the 'outrage' was provided by Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation who said the scenes were disgusting . If he has used those words on a public broadcaster it is abhorrent. People at home watching that will think that this sort of language terminology is acceptable in the 21st century.

Update: Whittering On

24th December 2010. Based on article from  metro.co.uk

The Daily Mail have caused a little interest from a serial sound bite nutter.

MP John Whittingdale, chairman of the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, slammed Frankie Boyle saying: The words nigger and Paki are deeply offensive to a large number of people. I don't think even in comedy it is justified.

He has written to the TV censor Ofcom, calling Boyle a serial offender.

Channel 4 is continuing to back to back Boyle. In response to complaints of racism, a spokesman said: Channel 4 would not have broadcast these words had they been used in a racist way. All the jokes highlight the unacceptable nature of this language. Boyle's cutting edge comedy aimed to ridicule and satirise the use of the controversial words, and Channel 4 would not have broadcast them if they been used in a racist way.

But maybe the viewers aren't quite so wound up. The Guardian notes: Media regulator Ofcom and Channel 4 are understood to have cumulatively received a handful of complaints about the broadcast.

Ofcom has launched an investigation into the X Factor final after thousands of viewers whinged about sexy performances from Rihanna and Christina Aguilera

Ofcom has received 2,750 complaints with an additional 1,500 being registered directly with ITV.

The TV censor will look at whether the show broke the broadcasting code which seeks to protect children. In particular it will look at rule 1.3 of the broadcasting code: Children must also be protected by appropriate scheduling from material that is unsuitable for them.

The ITV show aired between 7pm and 9pm and the producers have said that they were confident the performances given by our guest artistes ... were appropriate for the show .

According to the Guardian, Mark Thompson, director general of the BBC, told an audience at a seminar on impartiality in broadcasting that Murdoch had told him he would like Sky News to go down a polemical 'Fox-style' route - but that the editors of the channel had brushed off his wishes.

The revelation came during a speech where Thompson said he thinks Britain's strict impartiality laws on television and radio are outmoded: Why shouldn't the public be able to see and hear, as well as read, a range of opinionated journalism and then make up their own mind what they think about it? Why not entire polemical channels which have got stronger opinions? I find the argument persuasive.

Frankie Boyle is a comedian who has made a career from saying what a lot of people are thinking. That being said, his Channel 4 stand up / skit show Tramadol Nights , isn't great. Boyles stand up is considerably funnier, and more enjoyable than the fill in sketches. However, the material used in his stand up segments is actually quite dated (as far as his shows are concerned). Several jokes have been used before in (Boyles) break out BBC series Mock the week (especially this week, when a regularly used line, about his girlfriends sex face looking like their young son in pain). And last weeks Katie Price upsetting lines, have been used frequently in Boyles stand up shows. Yet she's never complained to the distributor of his DVDs.

HOWEVER. it is common knowledge that he pushes the envelope, and appears to deliberately set out to offend. Something Channel 4 has always embraced. But in my opinion, Channel 4 are not to blame. They're broadcasting the show after 11pm, and are openly admitting prior to any show that it may offend. What people don't seem to realise, is that the more they complain, and the more they give Boyle media highlights, the more we will see him on TV. Controversy sells. This show has had 2 of its 3 weeks of airtime in the public eye. Which almost certainly means that it will have a DVD release, previous stand up show DVDs will sell better and Boyle will cement himself as the comic of choice for many people.

Please don't misunderstand me. I don't find child molestation, incest or cancer funny. But the likes of Katie price (who decided she needed to be in the papers again), are some of the worst people in the celebrity limelight. If she's such a great parent why can you openly buy an amateur hardcore sex tape of her, that she ENDORSED, quite freely in the UK? If that's great parenting, my parents are saints.

In closing, we've seen this before. Granted, it's always been live (Shaun Ryder on TFI, Julian Clary stating on live TV he fisted Norman Lamont). The only people who are offended, are the people who watch, just to be offended.

Would these people buy porn if they were offended by it? Doubtful. Get over yourselves, and stop making Boyle more money.

The X Factor nonsense escalated as the Inequalities Minister warned that the raunchy performances should never have been shown to children.

Lynne Featherstone said that the 'sexualised' routines, which have now sparked 3,000 complaints from viewers, were unsuitable for the show's young fans.

Featherstone said X Factor bosses should have made pre-watershed performances by American pop star Christina Aguilera and Bajan singer Rihanna less raunchy . 

Featherstone said: It was a bit much because so many young kids – seven and eight-year-olds – watch it.

She spoke out last night as pressure grew on the TV censor Ofcom to launch a full-scale probe into the routines as the regulator said it was still assessing complaints.

There have now been 1,500 calls of complaint made to the censor, with a similar number made to ITV. Up to four million children are believed to have watched the show on Saturday.

Dr Linda Papadopoulos, who wrote a Home Office report on the 'sexualisation' of children, accused ITV and show producers of behaving irresponsibly. She said: What is happening is that sex seems to have become the most important thing. Christina Aguilera and Rihanna are very talented singers and yet the whole performance is not about skill, it is about being sexy. Children are being bombarded with the message that being sexy and being sexual is the way to be appreciated or to be validated. This is a terrible message to be sending out. [But being sexy is a skill too. Surely the whole range of talents should be available for people to excel at. Why disallow one? Jealousy maybe?]

A spokesman for the Mothers' Union said: Do you want a society where young people think their worth is defined by sex appeal – because this is what is being normalised. Its president, Reg Bailey, has already been asked to chair an independent Government review into the commercialisation and sexualisation of childhood. [Not showing any bias at all then! This is a worthless report before it's even started]

Last night an ITV spokesman said: We are confident that the performances given by our guest artistes on Saturday were appropriate for the show.

"Christians have something unique to contribute to the discussion"...The same old bollox

Based on article from  christiantoday.com

The Christian Institute has voiced its 'alarm' over the plummeting standards of decency in broadcasting after lewd performances by US pop stars Rihanna and Christina Aguilera.

Simon Calvert, of the Christian Institute, said ITV had made a catastrophically bad error of judgement in allowing the production to go out before the watershed. He expressed concern over the effect of such performances on young people in particular.

Lots of people are concerned and parents are particularly concerned about the effect this kind of thing has on their sons and daughters, he said. Daughters are made to feel that this is a normal way to behave in public and sons are taught to expect women to behave like that. It is very unhealthy.

Calvert said the level of concern expressed over the performances ought to both encourage and challenge to Christians: It shows we are not the only ones to be concerned about the plummeting standards of decency in broadcasting.

Christians have something unique to contribute to the discussion. As Bible believing Christians, we believe in values like dignity and virtues like modesty and we ought to be more courageous in advancing these values and virtues, whether it's with the neighbour over the garden fence or from our pulpit.

N ow Frankie Boyle has targeted cancer victims on his Channel 4 comedy show Tramadol Nights .

In the third installment of his gratuitously offensive comedy show, the former Mock The Week star also mocked grandparents, obese people, Colombians and AIDS sufferers.

In his cancer gag, he said: I had a friend come up to me and say that she had breast cancer and that she was going to cycle the Great Wall Of China.

You feel like going you're the last person who should be cycling the Great Wall Of China! you should be lying at home in bed, playing with your tits before they drop off.

He added: 'I should add she doesn't mind me saying that. She's dead, she doesn't give a fuck.

A spokesperson for Breast Cancer Care meanwhile told MailOnline: Jokes about other people's life-threatening illnesses are a strange subject for humour, even for someone of Frankie's comic style, and it's a shame that anyone would think breast cancer is a legitimate subject for comedy.

Though people deal with illness in many different ways, it's unlikely that the 120 people diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK today will find this funny.

Talking to MailOnline today a Channel4 spokesperson said: We are aware that Frankie Boyle's comedy can be very challenging which is why we have gone to careful lengths in scrutinising the material editorially, in scheduling the series appropriately and by giving clear and strong warnings into each of the programmes.

Update: 500 Complaints

18th December 2010. Based on article from  dailystar.co.uk

500 viewers have complained to Ofcom about the Frankie Boyle's jokes about cancer. An Ofcom spokesman said: We will make our judgment in the new year.

ITV faces a backlash after thousands of viewers protested about lewd performances on the X Factor final.

Critics called on TV censor Ofcom to launch an inquiry into why disgusting routines were shown before the watershed.

They challenged whether the performances by U.S. pop stars Christina Aguilera and Rihanna broke Ofcom's broadcasting rules.

'Horrified' parents also accused ITV of breaking the bond of trust with viewers by failing to tone down the performances for younger fans.

By last night ITV had received about 1,000 complaints about the routines with Ofcom understood to have received a further 1,000-plus.

During her Saturday night performance of What's My Name , Rihanna shed her gown and cavorted around the stage in underwear, performing a series of suggestive dance moves.

She was surrounded by an army of dancers who performed in a similar way. This was then followed by Aguilera's performance which saw her in an extremely low-cut black dress writhing around the stage with her troupe of scantily-clad dancers.

The TV pressure group Mediawatch UK said it too had received complaints from the public about Saturday night's final. Director Vivienne Pattison said: I don't think it was suitable for a pre-watershed broadcast, I think that's quite clear.

It was the simulated sexual stuff, that was the problem. I think Ofcom should look into this. Whether the X Factor like it or not they are commanding audiences of more than 19million. They are role models whether they like it or not.

She added: We have a broadcasting code that expects certain things to be post-watershed and I think that one crossed the line.

Former Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe, who appeared on this year's Strictly Come Dancing, said: It is before the watershed so parents are entitled to some consideration from the TV bosses. I think it is a pity. It isn't necessary and it should be a family show. If you are going to that sort of thing they should put it on after the watershed and it ceases to be a family show. I think Ofcom should take it seriously. What is the point of having a watershed? I think Strictly by comparison is serious family fun.

Not so Liberal Democrat culture spokesman Don Foster said: One of the routines was particularly inappropriate and it may lead a number of parents to consider whether or not next year's show is something that their younger children watch. It was unnecessary and I think they should have toned it down. I just think it went a step too far.

A spokesman for the programme maker Talkback Thames said: We are confident that the performances given by our guest artistes on Saturday were appropriate for the show.

An ITV insider said what was aired on the show was no worse than much of what goes out on dedicated music TV channels during the day.

It was also claimed that Aguilera's routine, based on her movie Burlesque , had been toned down from what was in the film, which has a rating of 12A. The source pointed out that there was no swearing or nudity in the routine.

Katie Price has again condemned Channel 4 for repeating Frankie Boyle's show containing a controversial joke he made about her disabled son.

Boyle said: Jordan and Peter Andre are still fighting each other over custody of Harvey - eventually one of them will lose and have to keep him.'

TV censor Ofcom has launched an investigation after Price accused the comic of being a bully in the wake of his comments about her son Harvey, who suffers from septo-optic dysplasia and autism, on his show Tramadol Nights .

In a statement, Price said:

By repeating Frankie Boyle's show, Channel 4 are embracing and exploiting discrimination. They are saying it is ok to ridicule people - even children - for disability in a way they would not dare over race or sexual orientation. The people who control the channel are endorsing this behaviour and it is disgusting. Even the fact that Ofcom are investigating the first broadcast has not made them divert from this path.

Head of Comedy, C4, Shane Allen said:

We are aware that Frankie Boyle's comedy can be very challenging which is why we have gone to careful lengths in scrutinising the material editorially, in scheduling the series appropriately and by giving clear and strong warnings into each of the programmes . We think that it is important that a space on terrestrial TV exists for comedy that takes risks and pushes boundaries and we stand by our original decision to broadcast the programme.

Boycott

Based on article from dailystar.co.uk

Katie Price is urging fans to boycott sick comic Frankie Boyle's Christmas DVD over his jokes about her disabled son.

His latest DVD, Frankie Boyle Live 2: If I Could Reach Out Through Your TV and Strangle You I Would repeats the sick jokes and also sees him making fun of Baby P, soldiers in Afghanistan and the Lockerbie air disaster.

I hope no-one buys it. I also hope that with hindsight, and knowledge of the content, that retailers will withdraw it from sale.

The model and reality TV star Katie Price is threatening legal action against Channel 4 after comedian Frankie Boyle made a vile joke about her disabled son.

Price last night said she had asked her lawyers to write to the broadcaster on her son's behalf. Boyle made the comments about Price's son, Harvey, on his Tramadol Nights show. Harvey, 8, suffers from septo-optic dysplasia and autism.

To bully this unbelievably brave child is despicable; to broadcast it on television is to show a complete and utter lack of judgment, Price said in a statement on her website.

Harvey Price is a little miracle. Every day he overcomes so many difficulties with the help of family and medical experts and has so many tiny battles to win due to his medical problems. I have asked my lawyers to write to Channel 4 on Harvey's behalf.

A Channel 4 spokeswoman said: Frankie Boyle is one of the highest profile comedians in the UK. He's well known for his controversial humour and the programme carried appropriate warnings as to the nature of the material.

The joke aired in the context of a late-night comedy show. The joke itself has been performed by Frankie as part of his stage show and, as with much of his material, is an absurdist and satirical comment on high-profile individuals whose lives have been played out in the media.

The head of the British army has complained to the BBC about a drama showing bullying among troops in Afghanistan, calling it deeply offensive to all those serving .

General Sir Peter Wall has written to BBC director general Mark Thompson about the programme, Accused .

The episode features a corporal who bullies two friends who join the Army, one of whom goes on to commit suicide.

The writer of the series, Bafta-winning TV dramatist Jimmy McGovern, has said that Accused is a work of fiction and that he had the greatest respect for British soldiers. McGovern, who also created Cracker and The Street , said: As a dramatist, I was interested in exploring how soldiers have to be at a certain mindset to kill. It is not my intention to slur British soldiers, for whom I have the greatest respect. At the heart of the drama is my belief in the sanctity of life.

The Ministry of Defence said Sir Peter, the Chief of the General Staff, believed the episode was offensive to both troops and their families. A spokesman said: There are fears that those watching it will believe this is what is really happening to their loved ones. We have asked the BBC to make it clear that this is a fictitious programme, is not accurate and that the Army has nothing to do with making it.

A controversial new BBC lesbian drama which showed two women having sex next to a corpse has left TV viewers appalled.

BBC 3's Lip Service , which is aimed at viewers as young as 16 and began airing this week, has attracted complaints from scores of viewers.

And one of the show's actresses has revealed that filming the controversial drama was like working on a porn set. Laura Fraser, who plays a character called Cat, said: I started to feel like I was making a porno film. It started to freak me out a bit. We were all freaked out. At the end of a day I was thinking 'what am I doing for a living?'And then I was going home to my six-year-old daughter Lila which felt very weird.

The BBC describes Lip Service as being a bold drama about the sex lives and love affairs of twenty-something lesbians living in contemporary Glasgow .

However, the show has attracted a number of complaints. Alice Seddon, who contacted a national newspaper, said: I was shocked and horrified. It was so off-putting I switched off. Churning

Another viewer, commenting on an internet forum, described the funeral parlour sex scene as stomach churning .

Harriet Braun, the show's creator, spoke to BBC's Newsbeat and claimed that the show is as realistic as possible. She said: It was important to me that the lesbian characters came across as authentic to a lesbian audience. I wanted it to reflect real life.

The BBC has changed its editorial guidelines to ensure that subjects such as religion and science are treated with due impartiality.

The change has come about as a result of a review of the BBC's editorial guidelines by governing body, the BBC Trust.

The 2005 guidelines stated that controversial subjects which must be treated with due impartiality were solely matters of public policy or political/industrial controversy. The new guidelines extend the definition of controversial subjects to include religion, science, culture and ethics.

The trust said: In practice, this means that when BBC content deals with controversy within these subjects, it must be treated with a level of impartiality adequate and appropriate to the content, taking account of the nature of the content and the likely audience expectation.

The BBC has further beefed up its guidelines on religion by stating that any content dealing with matters of religion and likely to cause offence to those with religious views must be editorially justified and must be referred to a senior editorial figure .

Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society, said the new religion rules go to far: Although we are not suggesting that contributors should go out of their way to be needlessly offensive, this is an entirely retrograde step that will put severe restrictions on comedians, documentary makers, satirists and commentators who want to be critical of religion. Almost anything that isn't wholly reverential towards religious beliefs can be perceived as offensive by some believers. The idea that any comment that could be offensive to a religious person must be editorially approved shows that the BBC has become ridiculously timid and fearful of religious controversy.

Other changes include a new guideline on protecting international contributors to the BBC from repercussions in their own countries.

BBC stars will not be allowed to make unduly humiliating or derogatory remarks to entertain audiences under new guidelines published yesterday.

The changes are aimed at protecting people from intrusive, aggressive or derogatory remarks for the purposes of entertainment . The guidelines state: This does not mean preventing comedy or jokes about people in the public eye, but simply that such comments and their tone are proportionate to their target.

Following upheld complaints about BBC coverage of the launch of a U2 album in 2009, and a Radio One Harry Potter Day the same year, the new guidelines now require BBC staff to take account the cumulative effect that repeated mentions of a particular brand or product over a short period may have in providing undue prominence.

The new rules take effect from midnight on Monday, 18 October.

According to reports, Coronation Street , will be screening its raunchiest ever sex scene on Friday 22nd October.

The episode will be screened before the 9pm watershed when plenty of children are likely to be watching.

A member of the production team has been quoted as saying these episodes will be, without a doubt, the hottest ever shown by any soap . Apparently the producers are bracing themselves for a backlash of complaints .