BBC and BBC Trust Watch

Strictly Come Dancing,
BBC One, 29 October 2011

Two people appealed to the BBC Trust against the BBC's response to complaints regarding a dance routine on the Strictly Come Dancing Halloween special.

The appeals were consolidated and considered together across the range of issues raised. The complainants said that a dance routine performed by Robbie Savage to the Michael Jackson song Bad was sexually explicit (particularly in relation to its ending, when the contestant jumped onto the judges' desk in front of one of the male judges) and was inappropriate for the programme's audience.

The Committee concluded:

• that the routine in question was not sexually aggressive and would have been viewed more as pantomime behaviour, a caricature of Michael Jackson's dance routine, and would not have had a harmful effect on children.
• that, while some viewers may have found elements of the routine tasteless and vulgar, overall the routine did not exceed audience expectations.
• that the audience would be familiar with the nature of Robbie Savage's on-screen relationship with the male judge and would take that into consideration as part of the narrative of the show.
• that the dance routine met generally accepted standards, but that the final hip thrust on the judges' desk was at the margins of acceptability in a programme appealing to a wide family audience.

The complaints were not upheld

Torchwood – Miracle Day,
BBC One, 25 August 2011

A complainant said that a sex scene in episode seven of the BBC One drama series Torchwood was inappropriate for its target audience (which the complainant considered to be children under 16 years of age). The complainant said that, although the programme was shown after the watershed, it would attract 13-15 year olds who watch Doctor Who. The complainant also complained about the existence of a link between the Doctor Who and Torchwood websites.

The Committee concluded:

• that the sexual content was appropriately handled taking into account the lead-up to the scene and that the development of the scene gave no doubt as to the ultimate outcome.

• that the scene itself was not prurient or exploitative and was not sexually explicit.

• that most viewers are aware of the 9pm watershed and, given the nature of the drama and its scheduling, the scene did not exceed audience expectations.

• that, given the ultimate outcome of the scene was clear for some time, carers and parents were able to decide to switch off if they wished.

• that, while specific content advice regarding the sex scene would have been useful, the development of the scene and the established context of the programme meant that viewers would have had sufficient information to decide whether they wished to view the programme.

• that, taking into account the information provided online about any challenging content, and the scheduling of the series, the Committee did not consider that a link between the Doctor Who and Torchwood websites was of sufficient concern in encouraging children to watch this post-watershed drama.

The complaint was not upheld

Weekend Wogan
Radio 2, 22 January 2011

A listener complained that humorous references to the sinking of the Costa Concordia by Sir Terry Wogan were offensive and insensitive to those affected by the disaster, and called for a broadcast apology.

BBC Complaints Adjudication: Resolved

The remarks in question (which were made immediately after Rock the Boat had been played as the programme's opening track, and, later, after a news bulletin which included a report related to the disaster) were inappropriate. However, the programme-makers, in response to the complaint, had acknowledged that the remarks, taken together with the selection of the opening track, represented a major failure, had apologised and had discussed how such mistakes could best be avoided in the future. In the view of the Editorial Complaints Unit, this sufficed to resolve the matter.

A listener complained that Chris Evans expressed a one-sided attitude to the protestors outside St Paul's Cathedral.

Outcome: Complaint upheld

Chris Evans made critical comments about the protestors on a number of occasions during the programme. The producer reminded him of the requirements of due impartiality while the programme was on air, and he agreed to express no further opinions on the subject. Nevertheless, in the absence of balancing comments, what had already been broadcast was not duly impartial.

The Compliance Editor of Radio 2 is conducting a series of briefings with the main presenters and their programme teams which cover issues of impartiality, and the Controller of Radio 2 has been asked to raise impartiality issues in his routine meetings with presenters and their representatives.

THE BBC has said religious exclamations are part of everyday language and refused to apologise to a vicar who complained about comments made by Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson.

Clarkson was filmed shouting Jesus wept while driving a KTM X-bow open top sports car and said: God Almighty while driving a Bentley powered by a Spitfire engine.

Graeme Anderson, the vicar of St Mary's church in Radcliffe-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire accused the BBC of double standards where religion was concerned. He whinged:

I found his comments very, very offensive and I think many Christians would also. Related.

They belittled, trivialised and cheapened Jesus Christ and Christianity. I was really quite surprised as he is a BBC presenter and it is blasphemous.

In a statement, the BBC said:

We're aware that blasphemous language, including the casual or derogatory use of holy names or religious words, can be a source of particular offence to some members of the audience, but judgements about its use are difficult because they depend on tone and context.

There is no consensus about words that are acceptable, when, and by whom, as different words cause different degrees of offence to different people. Some of the words and phrases that can cause offence have, whether we like it or not, become part of everyday language and it would be unrealistic for broadcasters to suggest they are not widely used in a range of contexts.

BBC director-general Mark Thompson has claimed Christianity is treated with far less sensitivity than other religions because it is pretty broad shouldered.

He suggested other faiths have a very close identity with ethnic minorities, and were therefore covered in a far more careful way by broadcasters.

But he also revealed that producers had to consider the possibilities of violent threats instead of polite complaints if they pushed ahead with certain types of satire.

...Read the full article

The BBC has admitted it was overcautious in editing the word Palestine from an artist's performance on Radio 1Xtra and has said it is looking to learn from the way it handled the situation.

However the BBC Trust said the final content that was broadcast on the  music programme Charlie Sloth Hip Hop M1X, was not biased and therefore did not breach its editorial guidelines.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) has spent eight months trying to find out why the decision was made to censor the lyrics of a freestyle performance by the rapper, Mic Righteous. Appearing on the Charlie Sloth show in February 2011, he sang: I can scream Free Palestine for my beliefs.

BBC producers replaced the word Palestine with the sound of breaking glass, and the censored performance was repeated in April on the same show.

Amena Saleem, of PSC, said: In its correspondence with us, the BBC said the word Palestine isn't offensive, but 'implying that it is not free is the contentious issue, and this is why the edit was made.

Yesterday the Daily Mail ran one of their nonsense outrage stores saying:

Families settling down to watch the Corporation's latest Sir Arthur Conan Doyle adaptation, Sherlock, were shocked to see actress Lara Pulver, playing the great detective's romantic interest Irene Adler, strolling around with no clothes on a full 25 minutes before 9pm.

And of course to back up their claims of 'shocked' families they could no better than find a few random tweets on the subject.

Now the Guardian reports that the BBC have received 100 complaints about the nude scenes. The BBC also adds that it will not edit out nude scenes from the new series of Sherlock when the hit drama is repeated from 7pm this weekend on digital channel BBC3.

The Guardian also points out that perhaps the scenes weren't quite so nude as we were led to believe:

In the New Year's Day episode, A Scandal in Belgravia, Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock Holmes meets his match in the form of Adler, who is naked when they first meet. However, thanks to the camera angles and Pulver's carefully placed arms and hands, viewers do not see her completely naked.

The footage of actress Lara Pulver, who plays dominatrix Irene Adler, led to criticism from the Daily Mail for showing the scenes before the 9pm watershed. Sherlock was broadcast on BBC1 over 90 minutes from 8.10pm on Sunday.

The Guardian also asks whether the complaints were in response to the actual TV showing or perhaps more to do with the Daily Mail story:

A spokesman for the BBC said that due to the bank holiday it could not tell when the complaints had been made, or how many came before and after the Daily Mail story.

Update: BBC Response

15th January 2012. See article from bbc.co.uk

Complaint

We've received complaints from some viewers who felt certain scenes in Sherlock, which was broadcast on 1st January 2012, were unsuitable before the watershed.

Our response

We were very careful to make sure the portrayal of any nudity was discussed during the early stages of planning for this episode of Sherlock, in order to ensure it was appropriate for a pre-watershed audience.

The sequence where Irene Adler meets Sherlock for the first time was filmed in such a way as to offer a suggestion of her nudity. Each scene was carefully framed and the actors positioned so any explicit nudity was avoided, the aim being a slightly flirtatious and humorous encounter between the characters.

With regards to any suggestive language and innuendo which featured in the episode, this was also carefully considered and we believed was sufficiently mild enough and wouldn't exceed the expectations of a pre-watershed audience.

It certainly wasn't our intention to cause offence and in large we've received very positive feedback from viewers.