Ofcom rejects Catherine Tate Christmas show complaints
Monday, 14 Apr 2008 16:44
TV watchdog Ofcom rejected the complaints
TV regulator Ofcom has rejected complaints regarding the Christmas special of the Catherine Tate show.
The controversial episode was broadcast on BBC1on Christmas Day last year and featured Tate's Nan character meeting with an Irish family and exchanging gifts of "terrorist paraphernalia", including knuckle-dusters and balaclavas.
After it was aired, Ofcom received over 100 complaints about the show.
However, the watchdog today announced that it would not be considering the viewers complaints, claiming such controversial sketches were to be expected from The Catherine Tate show.
"Overall this episode was typical of The Catherine Tate Show and would not have gone beyond the expectations of its usual audience," today's ruling said.
"In Ofcom's view it would have been clear to the audience that, in a comedy show such as this, exchanging Christmas gifts of terrorist paraphernalia was absurd in the extreme."
The BBC said that most of Tate's sketches featured "well-established characters behaving in their usual fashion" and that the characters themselves were "extreme" and there was "no suggestion that they were representative".
Tate is currently staring as Donna Noble in Doctor Who alongside David Tennant and is not believed to be planning any future Christmas specials of her show.