BBC rapped over derogatory comments

The BBC has been rapped for being derogatory about disabilities in two comedy programmes.

Broadcasting watchdogs have upheld complaints about the use of the word 'spassy' in Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, and of a panelist imitating a deaf person on They Think It's All Over.

American comedian Kevin Flynn, pictured, landed the sports quiz in trouble after mocking presenter Nick Hancock for getting his name wrong.

The comic then spelled out names as if using sign language, which one viewer complained portrayed the deaf as mentally challenged.

Even during the show, another panellist said: "You don't make fun of the deaf on this show. I won't have that."

But Flynn continued in the same vein.

The Broadcasting Standards Commission upheld the complaint, and said that even considering the "laddish and irreverent" nature of the programme, Flynn's "derogatory imitation of a deaf person had exceeded the boundaries of acceptability."

In the second ruling, two viewers took issue with offensive language on Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps after one character was described as 'spassy'

The BBC admitted the term was used ' disparagingly' but said: "The term was used in a very mild sense with the meaning of someone who was inept in his relations with women."

However, the commission partly upheld the complaint, saying its panel "was concerned by the casual use of an offensive term widely associated with cerebral palsy."

Published: 5 Sep 2002