BBC shamed over ‘vile’ Queen jokes
Vulgar broadcast aired on Monarch’s 90th birthday
THE BBC was shamed yesterday over a ‘serious breach’ of its editorial guidelines after broadcasting vulgar jokes about the Queen.
More than 100 listeners complained about crude comments by panellists on the Radio 4 comedy show Don’t Make Me Laugh, which was aired on the Queen’s 90th birthday, April 21.
The BBC Trust deplored the ‘personal, intrusive and derogatory’ remarks on the show, in which comics have to discuss a topic without making the audience laugh. During the episode, which was pre-recorded, host David Baddiel asked his guests to talk about how ‘the Queen must have had sex at least four times’.
Panellist Russell Kane, 41, said: ‘For me, this is just a quadruple representation of why inherited power is so dangerous. The Queen having had sex at least four times is no laughing matter whatsoever because we’re forced to imagine Prince Philip and his work in the creation of those children.’
Listeners quickly commented on social media, describing the jokes as ‘awful’ and ‘singularly inappropriate’. One tweeted: ‘What a truly awful programme. Ridiculing the Queen on her birthday is not funny.’ Baddiel posted a link to the show on Twitter with a message saying: ‘Sorry royalists.’
The trust’s damning report described the episode as ‘a regrettable failure of editorial judgement and compliance processes’. The watchdog added that the offence caused was ‘compounded by the date of transmission’.
The first series was broadcast at 11pm, but the second series – including the episode about the Queen – was aired at 6.30pm.
The show had already been put on the BBC’s ‘risk list’ – which includes controversial programmes that require more stringent monitoring – but when the editor of editorial standards listened to a rough cut of the show he did not request any amendments.
Independent production firm So Radio, which made the programme, also failed to flag any ‘controversial reference to public figures’.
The report said the programme was a ‘serious breach’ of guidelines relating to ‘harm and offence’.
A BBC spokesman said: ‘We never intended for the programme to coincide with the Queen’s birthday and are sorry for the offence caused by its timing and content.’