GAVIN & STACEY HOMOPHOBIA ROW
VIEWERS of the Gavin and Stacey Christmas special criticised it for including the use of the homophobic term ‘f **** t’ during a scene.
It was used during a scene in which Nessa and Bryn performed a version of Fairytale of New York as the characters enjoyed a night out on Christmas Eve.
The Christmas special had been hugely anticipated, given the series had been off screens for a decade, but it was to the disappointment of many watching that they decided to keep the offensive lyric from the festive classic. Many took to Twitter to slam the move, with one writing: “Really wish they’d changed that lyric. Would have been smarter and more caring.”
Another suggested it was a “real missed opportunity” to address how people feel about the use of that term in 2019.
Another said: “Not to reignite the annual Fairytale of New York argument, but not feeling great about the Gavin & Stacey special making the closeted gay character sing the F word.” And another wrote: “Was really hoping they would change the words to Fairytale of New York but no. Disappointing.”
The BBC had defended the use of the word in the Christmas special before it aired and confirmed it would air uncensored.
The broadcaster opted to use the original soundtrack because the lyrics have been “well-established” with the audience. It also noted Fairytale of New York is a “very popular, muchloved Christmas song” which has been played on loop in the Christmas season.
Fairytale of New York was released in 1987 and was originally performed by Shane MacGowan and Kirsty MacColl. In the song’s lyrics an argument takes place between a drunk couple and MacColl sings: “You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy f **** t.”
Before Christmas, a DJ for the local radio station BBCRadio Solent said he was “no longer comfortable” playing the 1987 hit on his show and in a tweet that has now been deleted he described it as “an offensive pile of downmarket chav bilge”.
The gay-rights campaigner, Peter Tatchell , 67, urged the BBC to reconsider the inclusion of the word and either to cut or to bleep the word, saying: “It would send completely the wrong signal. It will give comfort to homophobes everywhere.”
A spokesperson for the BBC said before Christmas: “Fairytale of New York is a very popular, much-loved Christmas song played widely throughout the festive season, and the lyrics are well-established with the audience.”
The Christmas Special was the most-watched show on Christmas Day with an incredible 11.6 million viewers. This makes it the biggest of the decade, across all channels, since 2008. After waiting 10 years for the much anticipated Shipman and West reunion, fans showed their dedication with almost half of the country’s TV audience tuning in to watch the festive celebrations in Barry .
The most popular show on TV last Christmas was Call the Midwife, with 8.7m viewers. No programme has attracted more than 20 million viewers since 2001.
The last time a Christmas TV show came close to the 11.48m figure from last night was in 2010, with Eastenders at 11.4m viewers. And, according to the i paper, the single biggest Christmas Day TV audience was recorded in 1989 when 21.8 million watched the UK premiere of Crocodile Dundee.
This makes the special, which ended on a cliffhanger, the biggest show on Christmas Day for a decade.
There is speculation that once the catch-up viewing figures are added, the show will surpass the most watched show of the year, which was I’m A Celebrity at 13.2m, which surpassed Line of Duty, which had 12.7m viewers.