BBC is censoring hit comedy show Chewin’ the Fat
Woke TV bosses fear repeats may offend viewers
IT was one of Scotland’s most popular comedy series.
But now woke BBC bosses have started censoring repeat showings of Chewin’ the Fat for fear it will offend modern audiences.
The series launched the careers of Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, who went on to write sitcom Still Game.
Their co-star, Karen Dunbar, 50, discovered that the show she appeared in had fallen foul of the censors, while filming a documentary on comedy in today’s woke world.
She was shown how decisions were made on what to cut from the show before a repeat was broadcast last year.
On the Cultural Coven podcast, she said: ‘As part of the documentary we went down to the BBC in London where they edit the repeats.
‘The week we went down Chewin’ the Fat was going to be repeated at the weekend so they brought up sketches and they were asking me if I thought it was going to be kept or cancelled.
‘The BBC review every repeat that goes out and will take out the bits that aren’t acceptable today.
‘The result of that was Chewin’ the Fat went out on the Saturday but it went out with bits taken out of it that would have been in the original 20 years before it.’
Some of the material which was deemed unacceptable will be revealed in the documentary Karen Dunbar: The Comedy of Offence, which is set to air later this year. Chewin’ the Fat began as a radio show and later ran for four series on television between 1999 and 2002. It featured characters such as randy pensioner Auld
Betty, played by Dunbar, the chain-smoking family who use voice boxes and an infamous scene involving a female ice-cream van worker lifting up her skirt to two young boys. The show has been regularly repeated on the BBC Scotland channel since it was launched in 2019.
Last year, Kiernan, 60, said he did not think Chewin’ The Fat would be made today because it would be deemed too offensive.
‘A lot of the stuff on Chewin’ the Fat is stuff you couldn’t get away with now,’ he said.
‘The likes of Karen pulling her skirt up I don’t think you could do. We did get letters at the time and somebody wrote in and said, “As funny as the nation thought that sketch was, would that sketch work if it was two wee lassies at the van and it was a man?”
‘Me and Greg went, “No it wouldn’t be as funny”. So the point was made, “Don’t write any more sketches like that” – so we didn’t. Another thing is dirty Auld Betty. You couldn’t have her on the telly now.’
In 2020, the BBC removed episodes of Little Britain and Fawlty Towers from streaming services over fears of causing offence.
A BBC spokesman said: ‘The BBC regularly reviews older content to ensure it meets current audience expectations.
‘This is part of our process when repeating archive content, including comedy.’
‘Take out bits that aren’t acceptable’