Given the lack of input we have into an organisation we own, I think a lot of the complaints here come from a desire to exercise control, over anything, within the BBC. With no other outlet, such a 'scandal' becomes a proxy referendum about overpay within the corporation.
― dowd, Wednesday, 29 October 2008 17:32 (fifteen years ago) link
ftse up 316 points!
― Autobot Lover (jel --), Wednesday, 29 October 2008 17:38 (fifteen years ago) link
― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 29 October 2008 17:40 (fifteen years ago) link
Brand's resigned from Radio 2.
― William Bloody Swygart, Wednesday, 29 October 2008 17:45 (fifteen years ago) link
Andrew Sachs - Voice of Reason
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7696714.stm
― A country only rich people know (Ned Trifle II), Wednesday, 29 October 2008 17:45 (fifteen years ago) link
I love this video...http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7697768.stmThere's one woman grinning madly at the front who surely isn't a journo and is just getting some nice close up action on her video.
― A country only rich people know (Ned Trifle II), Wednesday, 29 October 2008 17:47 (fifteen years ago) link
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3280/2984816228_6ce343cc49_o.jpg
― A country only rich people know (Ned Trifle II), Wednesday, 29 October 2008 17:50 (fifteen years ago) link
yep, resigned
― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 29 October 2008 17:58 (fifteen years ago) link
I suspect that Brand's fallen on his sword to save Wossy here.
― Sick Mouthy (Scik Mouthy), Wednesday, 29 October 2008 18:46 (fifteen years ago) link
How do you think George Lamb and Jeremy Clarkson can be persuaded to make a prank call to Richard Attenborough?
― Neil S, Wednesday, 29 October 2008 18:57 (fifteen years ago) link
This magical £18m figure that gets quoted as often as Ross's salary - what exactly is that?
Is it, as I suspect, in fact what the BBC pays his production company to put together his telly show, his radio show and the film programme, as well as all those BBC4 documentaries about Japan?
Or does he literally take home £18m during the length of his contract? After tax, of course.
― James Mitchell, Wednesday, 29 October 2008 19:17 (fifteen years ago) link
I think it's paid to the production company to produce his shows, and he walks away with a £6m salary of that.
― Sick Mouthy (Scik Mouthy), Wednesday, 29 October 2008 19:19 (fifteen years ago) link
I thought it was £18m over three years, hence the £6m/yr figure?
― snoball, Wednesday, 29 October 2008 19:25 (fifteen years ago) link
Ah, perhaps. But is it to him as salary, or company as production fee?
― Sick Mouthy (Scik Mouthy), Wednesday, 29 October 2008 19:26 (fifteen years ago) link
It has to be the latter.
I'd imagine once you take staff salaries out of it as well as other costs, it's not so impressive.
And Russell Brand wouldn't be a BBC 'employee' as such, would he? He merely works there. I always thought he was a Channel 4 star, anyway.
― James Mitchell, Wednesday, 29 October 2008 19:31 (fifteen years ago) link
I imagine that Ross' money is routed through his production company. Generally speaking, this practice is also useful for *cough* tax purposes.
― snoball, Wednesday, 29 October 2008 20:13 (fifteen years ago) link
And in place of "Friday Night With Schoolboy Pranks", it's the movie "Speed".
― snoball, Wednesday, 29 October 2008 21:08 (fifteen years ago) link
ITV News leading with this and loving it
― Cittaslow Mazza (blueski), Wednesday, 29 October 2008 22:08 (fifteen years ago) link
No-one watches ITV News for actual news though.
― snoball, Wednesday, 29 October 2008 22:11 (fifteen years ago) link
Thursday's Sun headline: BRAND YELLED "QUE?" IN BED
― Cittaslow Mazza (blueski), Thursday, 30 October 2008 00:27 (fifteen years ago) link
Has anyone done the "Eeez not love rat, eeez hamster" headline yet?
― Carrie Bradshaw Layfield (The stickman from the hilarious 'xkcd' comics), Wednesday, 29 October 2008
arf!
― piscesx, Thursday, 30 October 2008 03:10 (fifteen years ago) link
I didn't think anybody was actually offended by this (other than by the fact it wasn't funny)
isn't it just a mixture of schadenfreude, ross-hate, 4chan-style ambient celebanthropy, and internet co-ordinated b&s/rick astley system gaming? I mean, I know I complained (as did my little bro)
― coznebb (cozwn), Thursday, 30 October 2008 03:28 (fifteen years ago) link
You ACTUALLY complained? I assumed you were joking.
― Sick Mouthy (Scik Mouthy), Thursday, 30 October 2008 06:47 (fifteen years ago) link
I didn't think anybody was actually offended by this
Older viewers give their thoughts
It's like the Pistols on Grundy all over again - but with pictures!
― A country only rich people know (Ned Trifle II), Thursday, 30 October 2008 08:15 (fifteen years ago) link
sure
― Fake Tuomas (ken c), Thursday, 30 October 2008 08:27 (fifteen years ago) link
Depressing. Thoroughly depressing.
A daft little prank on a minority listenership late night radio show which would have bothered no one had the tabloids not blown it up into a Good Story becomes the straw which breaks the BBC's back.
And now the degrading spectacle of the coward Director-General asking Paul Dacre how brown he'd like his tongue, sir.
If we're going to censure or dismiss people for indulging in certain brands (ahem) of humour that some might not like then we might as well rename this country Iraq and have done with it.
― Doreen, Dorset (Marcello Carlin), Thursday, 30 October 2008 08:36 (fifteen years ago) link
INGSOC
― TOMBOT, Thursday, 30 October 2008 08:37 (fifteen years ago) link
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7698988.stm
More famouser people says what they think: Eamon Holmes gets it closer than most. Andrew castle manages to say almost nothing. Lois Walsh doesn't like JRoss much, it seems.
― Mark G, Thursday, 30 October 2008 08:40 (fifteen years ago) link
i think we should drop bombs on the bbc for this gross breach of freedom and their weapon of ross destruction
― Fake Tuomas (ken c), Thursday, 30 October 2008 08:42 (fifteen years ago) link
The general "oh he's had this coming for a LONG time" cackling is extremely distasteful.
No denunication of the Mail on Sunday or the Sun, of course.
A Director-General with a spine would have laughed off thugs like Dacre and Wade, seen things in a proper perspective and left well alone.
27,000 complaints now, no doubt all from the type of people who sit in front of the TV or radio and wait to be offended.
― Doreen, Dorset (Marcello Carlin), Thursday, 30 October 2008 08:48 (fifteen years ago) link
And Ms Baillie has a nice new career.
Isn't Britain wonderful?
― Doreen, Dorset (Marcello Carlin), Thursday, 30 October 2008 08:49 (fifteen years ago) link
sit in front of the newspaper, more like.
― Mark G, Thursday, 30 October 2008 08:50 (fifteen years ago) link
I'm presuming that this evening's edition of Never Mind The Buzzcocks, featuring R Brand as guest captain, will be "postponed."
― Doreen, Dorset (Marcello Carlin), Thursday, 30 October 2008 08:55 (fifteen years ago) link
Bet it's not.
― Mark G, Thursday, 30 October 2008 08:57 (fifteen years ago) link
Loving how all the papers are all united in publishing "BBC FILTH MUST END NOW" headlines.
― India's second-favourite Australian popstar (King Boy Pato), Thursday, 30 October 2008 09:03 (fifteen years ago) link
It's been replaced by one with James Corden as guest captain. I can only assume nothing offensive will be said about anyone on that, or on the Graham Norton show afterwards. xpost
Will be interesting-ish to see what Hislop makes of it all on HIGNFY tomorrow.
― ailsa, Thursday, 30 October 2008 09:03 (fifteen years ago) link
Actually, with guest host Tom Baker, I can't see it being anything other than excruciatingly horrible.
― ailsa, Thursday, 30 October 2008 09:04 (fifteen years ago) link
why is there only a system for taking complaints and no system for taking supporting arguments? is paying your licence the only kind of support, until you decide to complain about it? oh you have a teevee, you must be in favor of our radio programs, until you write in and say you're not, in which case, thank you for continuing to pay for socialized teevee, hopefully the person who you don't like quits in shame.
― TOMBOT, Thursday, 30 October 2008 09:07 (fifteen years ago) link
this is almost worse than when congress holds hearings about fucking baseball
― TOMBOT, Thursday, 30 October 2008 09:08 (fifteen years ago) link
Yes, welcome to the lovely, blanded out BBC where no one ever does or says anything that offends anyone else for fear of some saddo in a bedsit who's run out of Kleenex ringing in to "complain."
― Doreen, Dorset (Marcello Carlin), Thursday, 30 October 2008 09:18 (fifteen years ago) link
Just like in the olden days.
― A country only rich people know (Ned Trifle II), Thursday, 30 October 2008 09:22 (fifteen years ago) link
The Mail to-day...
Lest we forget: Or what the BBC won't let you hear....
We apologise to readers who may be offended by the explicit and disturbing language used. But we think it is important to know exactly the sort of material these presenters thought so funny.
Followed by yet another airing of the full transcript.
― A country only rich people know (Ned Trifle II), Thursday, 30 October 2008 09:26 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah, but think about it:
Pre the so-called 'liberalisation', any slight reference to a rude word would result in hundreds of complaints, and 'action' taken. It wasn't that long ago (was it? reassure me) that Shaun Ryder was banned specifically by ch4 charter from ever appearing live again. (and that was after the 'Patrick Cox shoes' incident - did the 'pretty vacant' come later?)
Now, it's perfectly alright to swear as long as you are a TV chef.
Sex, swearing, all fine now, nobody (well, relatively few) bother complaining.
That's why it's taken so long to generate a head of steam about this issue: the people who'd not bother (and in actuallity, aren't that bothered) about complaining suddenly feel enfranchised (that a word?) to take up their phones and/or commentboxes and join in.
Personally, I have more of an issue about TV 'detective'/'police' dramas that always seem to involve rapes and/or grisly murders as if it's all in a days life. That's more responsible for knife crime than people actually carrying knives, I reckons.
I get to the point of saying "we done with this subject/thread now?" but still the outside media carry it on further, so I guess we're not.
When's the Pope issuing a statement?
― Mark G, Thursday, 30 October 2008 09:27 (fifteen years ago) link
Or what the BBC won't let you hear....
They taken it off 'iplayer'?
― Mark G, Thursday, 30 October 2008 09:28 (fifteen years ago) link
I didn't notice but the Mail has the bits that WERE NOT EVEN broadcast.
― A country only rich people know (Ned Trifle II), Thursday, 30 October 2008 09:30 (fifteen years ago) link
I read the transcript: It's a bit funny, in a sort of tragic inevitability way. It's not massively oppressive. About how far through were the pair in that sort of "bollox, we're fucked now" mind?
― Mark G, Thursday, 30 October 2008 09:30 (fifteen years ago) link
It would only have been on iPlayer for a week after broadcast
xxpost
― ailsa, Thursday, 30 October 2008 09:31 (fifteen years ago) link
did anyone kick their PC in?
― Mark G, Thursday, 30 October 2008 09:32 (fifteen years ago) link
It is true that the right-wing anti-BBC campaigners who want to privatize everything are bad and hypocritical and dangerous to Britain and the world.
But it is also true that Ross and Brand are scum and should not be allowed on the BBC.
― the pinefox, Thursday, 30 October 2008 09:33 (fifteen years ago) link
Where are the 27,000 complaints to the Press Complaints Commission about the Daily Mail publishing knowingly offensive material? Why has Paul Dacre not been suspended or dismissed from his post as editor of the Daily Mail for peddling filth?
Oh yes, I forgot - It's A Good Story.
― Doreen, Dorset (Marcello Carlin), Thursday, 30 October 2008 09:33 (fifteen years ago) link