Geordie Shore

The Daily Star obliges with suitable 'outrage':

Shock reality show Geordie Shore has sparked a Geordie war after being branded the most outrageous show on TV.

The X-rated series promised to reveal what the finest young lads and lasses of Newcastle get up to.

But viewers complained to Ofcom after the opening episode featured boob-fondling, drunken girls vomiting and naked hot tub frolics.

And many Geordies said they hate the show, claiming it makes the local girls look like slappers and the boys like poncey Muscle Marys.

Geordie Shore was launched on Tuesday night on MTV, billed as a UK version of the US hit Jersey Shore.

It features eight people living in a luxury house in the Jesmond area. Cameras follow them partying hard in city hotspots and working as nightclub promoters. However, episode one shocked viewers who saw Holly whipping out her FF breasts in a hot tub while the lads poured booze all over them.

One viewer, called ToonTime, Tweeted: This is the most outrageous show ever screened on British telly. I can't believe they've got away with it.

Tourism bosses reckon the show could wreck their bid to boost the region's economy. NewcastleGateshead Initiative boss Sarah Stewart said: Initial reaction to the depiction of the area and the behaviour of the people featured in Geordie Shore has been negative.

Yesterday broadcasting watchdogs Ofcom confirmed they had received complaints that the show gave Geordies and Newcastle a bad name. However it is unlikely that officials will do anything, since no broadcasting code has been breached.

The next episode airs on Tuesday on MTV at 10pm.

Parliamentary questions will be asked about the use of alcohol by reality show contestants after an MP was 'outraged' by the drunken antics on Geordie Shore.

A parliamentary committee will debate whether shows like Big Brothera break Ofcom's rules over informed consent.

Newcastle MP Chi Onwurah has also asked for a debate about the guidance offered to broadcasters about giving booze to contestants. Onwurah's questions to the Culture, Media and Sport committee will be tabled after the summer recess.

Colin Shevills of alcohol charity Balance said: Programmes like Geordie Shore trivialise alcohol misuse, suggesting that drinking to the point of getting in a fight or becoming physically ill is amusing.

The MTV reality show Geordie Shore returns on Tuesday. Its first series caused a nutter outcry for having fun with flesh-baring, booze-fuelled debauchery

Newcastle Central MP Chi Onwurah has resumed her long running whinge against the programme for portraying Newcastle as the binge drinking capital of Britain. She spouted:

Geordie Shore is not representative of Newcastle or Geordies.

If people feel that the show does not represent Newcastle they should complain to Ofcom.

However it does seem that drinking is in fact going on in Newcastle and that the city has more female drinkers than most. The local paper, the Chronicle, reported a few days ago that more people in the North East are dying from drink-related illnesses than ever before. Figures from the Office of National Statistics showed a drinker dies every 18 hours, and the number of women dying from alcohol is the second highest in the country.

Colin Shevills, director of Balance, the North East Alcohol Office, said:

Geordie Shore is a perfect example of how drinking at dangerous levels is portrayed as normal. If last year's series is anything to go by, we will see a hand-picked cast of easily influenced young North Easterners who have been sold the lie that it is perfectly normal and acceptable to drink too much, too often.

Whether it is aware of what it is doing or not, the production and broadcast companies responsible for Geordie Shore are saying to our young people, you can't have fun, be successful or be popular with the opposite sex unless you drink to excess.

The Very Reverend Chris Dalliston, Dean of Newcastle, also branded the show a backward step for the city:

Going out and getting drunk is now the least attractive aspect of where we live and TV programmes like this do us a huge disservice.