ITC Condemns Violence But Allows Evans In A Loin Cloth
The Independent Television Commission (ITC) has come down hard on ITV drama while declaring that Chris Evans in a loin cloth and female orgasm creams on ITV’s This Morning make suitable daytime viewing.
An episode of Coronation Street , which featured Toya Battersby lying injured after being violently assaulted and raped, received complaints from viewers, who felt that the episode should not have been shown during family viewing time without a warning being issued prior to transmission.
Granada said that they had taken great care to: “Achieve a proper balance between minimising or overly sanitising Toyah’s injuries and showing them in graphic detail,” and added: “Nothing of the rape had been shown, but it was necessary to show that Toyah had been the victim of a violent assault.”
The ITC acknowledged Granada’s sensitive handling of the issue but said that it did not expect such scenes to be a frequent feature of a drama appealing to a family audience. They advised Granada that: “An announcement before the programme would have helped prepare viewers for the emotionally distressing storyline” and felt that given the traumatic nature of the assault a helpline staffed by trained counsellors or a telephone recorded information service should have been available.
A trailer for The Bill , which showed “thugs on the rampage, smashing police cars and threatening policemen,” also received complaints from viewers concerned about its violent content. The trailer was shown at a time when children were watching television and the ITC considered that its “violent content and aggressive tone was not suitable at a time when a large number of children would be watching family films”.
Hospital drama A & E was also criticised for the amount of bad language it featured during family viewing time. A specially edited version of the first episode of the drama, usually shown at 9pm, went out at 8pm and was considered to contain “too high a concentration of bad language and crude expression.” The ITC concluded that these, “while not individually unacceptable in accumulation exceeded the expectations of a pre-watershed audience.”
The ITC was more lenient, however, with ITV’s This Morning , which received complaints after Chris Evans appeared on set to wish presenter Judy Finnigan a Happy Birthday in nothing but a loin cloth with three balloons attached to it. Judy was asked to pop two of the balloons with a knife and put the third in her mouth before putting her hand in the loin cloth which concealed “a small sausage.”
Viewers complained that this behaviour was not suitable for daytime TV, but the ITC felt that “Chris Evans’s smutty but light-hearted birthday surprise echoed the bawdy humour of the Carry-On films.” They concluded that whilst the sexual innuendo was clear it remained within the bounds of suitability for daytime broadcast.
The trial of female orgasm creams on This Morning also received complaints, but the ITC concluded that the issue, while not being to all viewer’s taste: “Was handled in an intelligent and serious manner and in the presence of a qualified health professional.” They added: “During term-time This Morning’s content is primarily aimed at adults and will often contain discussion of adult-related subjects”.
ITC: 020 7306 7743 www.itc.org.uk
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