UK TV and Radio News

Watership Down has a place in censorship history as one of the most complained about classification decision. It is U rated, but only just. The bunny rabbits are distinctly more violent than perhaps you would expect fictional bunny rabbits to be.

Channel 5 decided to air the 1978 animated film on Easter Sunday afternoon, when lots of chocolate-filled kids were watching.

And inevitably a few whingers took to twitter to complain, eg:

Who the hell thought it a good idea to put Watership Down on Easter Sunday? 'Hey kids let's watch dead Easter bunnies!'

Watership Down: traumatising children since 1978 #Channel5 #EasterSundayProblems

Based on Richard Adams' novel, Watership Down follows a group of rabbits as they escape the brutal destruction of their warren and attempt to begin a new life. The story has been described as an allegory of the struggle between the individual and society, tyranny and liberation and reason and emotion.

Not everyone had an angry reaction to its Easter broadcast, with many praising Channel 5 for showing the film and criticising parents for being too protective of their children, eg:

Watership Down is one of the finest of children's books & a good film. Far better for developing kids than chocolate bunnies.

The new BBC blockbuster Versailles is described by the Corporation as a delicious treat for viewers, but MPs and morality campaigners are 'outraged' by its nudity and sex scenes, and have described it as porn dressed up in a cravat and tights .

The Daily Mail gushes:

The lavish French-made series, which depicts the decadent and debauched life of France's Sun King, Louis XIV, is set to be the most sexually graphic costume drama ever shown on British TV.

The drama produced by Canal Plus has been shown in France and caused immediate controversy about it being filmed in English.

In the Conservative MP and sound bite provider Andrew Bridgen whinged:

There are channels where, if you wish to view this sort of material, you would have to pay for it. BBC viewers don't have a choice. They have to pay for it whether they approve or not.

Is this an example of the BBC dumbing down and seeking more sensationalised programming? That's an arms race to the bottom -- quite literally in this case.

Norman Wells, director of the morality campaign group Family Education Trust whinged:

Public service broadcasting is meant to be for the public benefit, but it is very difficult to see whose benefit is being served by showing such highly graphic and explicit scenes on TV.

Sam Burnett, of Mediawatch UK, whinged:

Dressing up pornography and violence in a cravat and tights doesn't make it cultural.

The BBC is yet to confirm a broadcast time for the ten-part series, which is expected to be screened in May. Asked if the BBC would be running the drama in full, a spokesman said: Why wouldn't we be? Sue Deeks, BBC head of programme acquisition, added: Versailles will be a delicious treat for BBC2 viewers.

Claude Knight, of the campaign group Kidscape has been kindly pointing out some of the most interesting highlights of BBC3.

Shows broadcast online since the move last month include Meet the Devotees which showed a disabled woman wearing just her underwear and a coat in her wheelchair to satisfy fetishists as well as amputees making porn for able-bodied people.

Another graphic programme available is People Pay Me For My Underwear , which shows a young student selling her knickers online to pay for her degree.

Other programmes include The Virtual Reality Virgin, which shows a debate about whether having virtual sex with a robot is cheating, and a short programme about sex work called Everybody Cries Their First Time , where a young sex worker Posie discusses her traumatic first time .

Knight whinged :

We have to ask why the public's licence fee is being spent on channels which offer such a tawdry view of life. It is giving a very disturbing view of the world. Why would the BBC be promoting or supporting this?

A spokesman for BBC3 said:

BBC3 informs, educates and entertains a young audience and doesn't shy away from covering issues that affect them. We're proud of the role it plays in helping young people understand issues and make sense of the world.

Horror Channel presents a Laugh Or Die Season this March, with a collection of extremely bloody and funny films spearheaded by the UK TV premiere of Jon Wright's Grabbers , a Father Ted Vs Aliens monster romp from Ireland and the network premiere of Jake West's gore-ridden, exuberant zom-com Doghouse , starring Danny Dyer, Noel Clarke and Horror Channel's Emily Booth.

The season also includes the network premiere of Idle Hands - Rodman Flender's stoner comedy horror starring Jessica Alba and the network premiere of Jay Lee's Zombie Strippers starring Robert Englund and Jenna Jameson.

The Daily Star has received some of puerile whinges made to Ofcom about this year's live TV broadcast of the Brit Awards:

• One viewer took the trouble to write in claiming they were personally offended legendary singer Annie Lennox was invited to the event at all.
• Another kicked off because the cameras homed in on a vodka bottle on one of the party tables.
• One viewer even protested that hosts Ant and Dec should not have called one of the guest presenters sexy .
• Another blasted the TV duo's dangerous behaviour for joking about turning off a smoke alarm at the venue.
• And a parent grumbled that one of the women on stage was too thin and a bad role model to her kids.
• Another viewer raged about someone in the audience making rude gestures on camera behind Ant and Dec. And one person even moaned that people had to complain to Ofcom!

TV censor Ofcom received 88 complaints about the show.

A show source commented:

These complaints are a joke. Do people have nothing better to do than moan to Ofcom because Annie Lennox and a vodka bottle are on the box after 9pm?

The Daily Star interestingly noted that nobody complained about Adele using the word 'fuck'. There were far more trivial things to whinge about.

Update: Complaints dismissed

23rd March 2016. See  article from stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk

Inevitably Ofcom dismissed all the complaints without the need for investigation.