Somebody's cross...
Cyderdelic rapped for blasphemy
Comedy group Cyderdelic have been censured by BBC governors following complaints their show was blasphemous.
Their BBC3 series was deemed to have broken producer guidelines after a viewer took offence at a scene he felt mockedthe Crucifixion.
In the contentious scene, spoof ecowarrior Su opens an art exhibition entitled England Is Shit.
One viewer complained that the comedy was "both blasphemous and gratuitous".
He said: "The cross, one of the most central symbols of the Christian faith and representative of the Crucifixion was shown covered in ‘shit’ as the show put it.”
“Later in the same scene one of the central characters stated repeatedly that ‘Jesus Christ is a bell end.’”
His complaints were not originally upheld, because it was felt that the scenes mocked the “ludicrous pretensions of this pompous and self-regarding character” as well as the British modern art scene.
But the viewer then appealed to the BBC's Governors' Programme Complaints Committee, which upheld the original complaint.
They concluded: "Members agreed with the complainant that the references about which he had complained were clearly in breach of the BBC Producers’ Guidelines"Published: 28 Oct 2004
