ITC Acknowledges Comedy’s Right To Satirise

The Independent Television Commission has defended comedy’s right to satirise political and public figures, by rejecting complaints from viewers about ITV programmes 2DTV and The Frank Skinner Show that lampooned the current political situation in Afghanistan.

A total of 16 viewers complained about a broadcast of 2DTV, an animated satirical series, saying that it made light of the serious situation in Afghanistan and lampooned people such as President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair, suggesting, for example, that the latter was not always knowledgeable about the world situation.

A further 17 viewers complained about a Frank Skinner’s material on the same subject, including a sketch called You’ve Bin Laden. This showed the comedian dressed as Osama Bin Laden in a comedy camcorder clip show spoof.

The ITC decided that 2DTV was continuing in the tradition of Spitting Image and that Frank Skinner’s jokes “were not aimed at making light of a serious situation”, describing it as an “absurdist approach to tyrants and regimes [which] has been a common source of satire down the years.”

In both cases the commission decided that the programmes were in the satirical tradition and not in breach of the Taste and Decency code. In reference to the 2DTV complaints, it commented: “There is a long-established and valued tradition of parodying public figures which illustrates the principle of freedom of speech, itself a key issue in the present conflict”.

ITC: 020 7306 7743 www.itc.org.uk

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