Red faces after Red Nose farce
COMIC Relief’s annual telethon was branded “an utter shambles” after a string of technical glitches, swearing and X-rated gaffes.
Viewers slammed comedian Russell Brand for yelling “f***ing hell” after the BBC broadcast cut off due to a system fault.
And they cringed after Vic Reeves flashed a fake penis at presenter Susanna Reid before the 9pm watershed. The Red Nose Day programme, which aired from 7pm until the early hours of Saturday, was marred by “diabolical” sound problems throughout.
But, despite the backlash, the star-studded charity event raised a whopping £71million. An average of 6.2million viewers tuned in. While the prerecorded Love Actually film, featuring returning stars including Hugh Grant, Keira Knightley and Colin Firth, was hailed a success, the rest of the live elements left viewers cold.
Some were difficult to hear, with host Sir Lenny Henry even being forced to ask the audience at London’s O2 Arena to be quiet. Many viewers complained they could barely hear what was happening.
One viewer wrote on Twitter: “Comic Relief considering the O2 is home to 100s of music events each year, the sound tonight is diabolical.”
A skit involving Good Morning Britain star Susanna Reid, in which she was jokingly interviewed by Vic Reeves and Bob FELICITY CROSS Mortimer in character as The Stotts, drew negative comments after Reeves flashed a fake penis between his legs under a kilt. There were also problems when, during a televised version of BBC Radio 1’s Innuendo Bingo starring I’m A Celebrity’s Joel Dommett and radio star Chris Stark, a video failed to play and DJ Scott Mills was forced to improvise and explain the game to the audience. Complaints flooded in over swearing before the watershed, including during a Mrs Brown’s Boys skit with former JLS star Aston Merrygold. A viewer moaned online: “@ comicrelief Inappropriate content before watershed. Watching with my children before 8pm... inuendos, Mrs Brown??”
Another added: “@ BBC One The worst £RedNoseDay I’ve ever watched. Not one funny sketch and 2 different ‘comedians’ swearing before watershed. Disgusting.”
The BBC said the technical problems were under investigation.