Andrew Sachs Newsletter
Sign-up to receive daily news on Andrew Sachs by email.
Andrew Sachs Filmography
Source:
Theiapolis
Andrew Sachs Resources
Table of Content
-
Andrew Sachs fan mail >>
Table of Content
Latest Film News
Latest news on Andrew Sachs
News}'No justification' for Brand show
Lewd calls to actor Andrew Sachs were a "deplorable intrusion with no editorial justification", the BBC Trust says.
Published: Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:44:19 GMT - Source: News.Bbc.Co.Uk - Read the articleEuropeBBC Trust criticises Jonathan Ross over lewd comment to Gwyneth Paltrow
The BBC Trust today criticised a further incident of bad language involving Jonathan Ross, but said his three month suspension without pay was adequate punishment for the "Sachsgate" scandal.In its final report on the row that engulfed the BBC last month, and which led to the resignation of two Radio 2 executives and comedian Russell Brand, the trust also said that BBC management should investigate another incident involving Brand on Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles' show.The trust said bad language in an episode of Ross's pre-recorded BBC1 chatshow, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, in which the presenter told Hollywood actor Gwyneth Paltrow he "would fuck her" was "gratuitous and unnecessarily offensive". BBC management had originally reviewed the show, broadcast in May this year, and cleared it for broadcast.However, the trust today said it disagreed with that judgment, adding that the comment was made in an "overly sexual way" and that it had upheld a number of complaints made about the edition of Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.The trust also asked BBC management to investigate comments that Brand made on Moyles's show about dancer Georgina Baillie, who became embroiled in the Sachsgate affair after Ross and Brand left lewd messages about her on her grandfather Andrew Sachs' answerphone.Moyles and Brand had a conversation live on Radio 1 at 8.23am on October 21, three days after the offensive messages were broadcast on Radio 2 - but before the Sachsgate affair had blown up into a major crisis for the BBC.Brand told Moyles he had met Baillie and said he had "met her brains out".BBC trustee Richard Tait said today that the trust had taken the view that the comment was referring to Baillie's private life.The trust said it was down to BBC management to decide if any further sanctions were necessary over this incident.In its report on the Sachsgate row, the trust said the calls made to Sachs were "grossly offensive" and that there was no justification for broadcasting them.The trust added that the material broadcast on Brand's Radio 2 show on Saturday October 18 was a "deplorable intrusion" into the private lives of Sachs and Baillie. There was no "editorial justification" and no "informed consent obtained" for airing the messages, the trust added.Tait said there had been three failures by BBC management over the decision to broadcast the pre-recorded messages - failure to exercise editorial control, to follow established compliance systems and a failure of judgment in taking editorial decisions. But he added the trust considered the BBC's response to the controversy to be appropriate. The BBC Trust chairman, Sir Michael Lyons, said the corporation's regulatory and governance body would not be taking any further action against Ross."We have underlined very clearly that it is not the job of the trust to make decisions about the terms and conditions of performers or the sanctions that are applied to them when they are found to be wanting," Lyons added."We are very clear that the director general has taken the right action with respect to Jonathan Ross," he said."The common issue is not who the performers are. The common issue is editorial failings ... the failings here are in the role of the BBC as the publisher of the material."Lyons said that the offending material transmitted on Brand's Radio 2 show should not have been recorded in the first instance and in the BBC Trust's view should then have been edited out before the broadcast. "The failings we have discussed this morning are serious but they are being addressed," he added.Lyons said that the BBC "needs to learn some lessons" but it usually got it right. He described it as a "disappointing and dismal episode", but said the director general, Mark Thompson, and his team had responded constructively.Lyons also said it was "not rocket science" to have predicted that putting Ross in the same studio as Brand could lead to trouble. "You could have predicted a risky situation," he added.· To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 7239 9857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 7278 2332.· If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".Russell BrandJonathan RossBBCTelevisionGwyneth PaltrowRadioguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Published: Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:17:42 GMT - Source: Guardian.Co.Uk - Read the articleEuropeBBC: Jonathan Ross to escape punishment over Andrew Sachs telephone calls
Jonathan Ross is expected to escape further punishment today when the BBC Trust releases its report on the lewd phone calls he and Russell Brand made to the Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs.
Published: Thu, 20 Nov 2008 23:18:42 GMT - Source: Telegraph.Co.Uk - Read the article
Sign-up to receive daily news on Andrew Sachs by email. 
