BBC Four Samuel Johnson Prize For Non-Fiction (Photo : Getty Images)
The BBC has silenced on Wednesday David Baddiel after it axed his talk show “Don’t Make Me Laugh” on Radio 4 for making jokes about the sex life of Queen Elizabeth. The axing of the show was in response to over 120 listeners who complained of Baddiel’s jokes.
According to The Guardian, in one pre-recorded episode, which was broadcast at 6:30 pm on the monarch’s 90th birthday in April, Baddiel and his guest panelists – such as comic Russell Kane - joked about the sex life of the Queen and Prince Philip. In shutting down the show, BBC Trust found the jokes – including a suggestion that the Queen must have sex at least four times – personal, intrusive and demeaning.
Baddiel, who later said sorry for the offensive jokes, clarifies that he actually intended to air the pre-recorded episode a week after the Queen’s birthday.
BBC initially changed “Don’t Make Me Laugh’s” time slot to 11 pm from 6:30 pm, but the network eventually decided to axe the talk show. But it is not closing the doors to Baddiel returning to the airwaves in the future because it always brings a mix of returning shows to its audiences, while finding space for new shows in BBC’s packed schedule, a BBC spokeswoman says.
When BBC Trust investigated the incident, it discovered the talk show failed to comply with some of its editorial standards, although it says the section about the royal did not raise an issue in terms of BBC’s editorial standards, BBC said on Wednesday.
However, on June 30, after an investigation, BBC Trust then said, “Trustees found it hard to imagine circumstances in which this broadcast at any time or on any day would not have given rise to significant unjustified offence.” At that time, the trustees considered the jokes a serious breach of BBC’s editorial guidelines for harm and offence.
