No offence..

Lee rejects Springer critics

Warning: This story contains language some may find offensive

Stewart Lee has hit back at critics complaining about the bad language in the BBC broadcast of Jerry Springer – The Opera before it has even aired.

The West End show starring David Soul is to be aired on BBC2 on Saturday in its entirety, to the dismay of clean-up TV campaigners.

Newspaper reports have claimed the two-hour musical contains more than 8,000 obscenities – which would work out at more than one every second – including 3,168 F-words.

John Beyer, of Mediawatch, the lobby group set up by Mary Whitehouse, said: 'The BBC is supposed to be cleaning up its act as it prepare for its Royal Charter to be renewed in 2006. Does this programme represent that?'

And campaigners urging people to protest to the BBC sent around an email saying the show 'depicts the characters of Jesus, Mary and God as self-centred sexual deviants who give and receive extreme verbal abuse and a horrific series of blasphemies all in the name of comedy.. the show's artistic director admits that it is a deliberate attack on good taste.'

Now Lee, who co-wrote and directed the show, has hit back – saying he’s thankful that he’ll be busy working on his next project, an opera about the London comedy circuit sung in German and premiering in Hanover, when the programme airs, so he won't have to defend it.

He told Chortle: ‘I am going to be in Germany when Jerry Springer The Opera is on BBC2, as is the show's composer and creator Richard Thomas, and I am glad.

‘These Daily Mail-type stories have no relation to the content of the show, so I am pleased I won't be around to have talk to people who haven't seen it but are nonetheless furious about it.

‘Apparently it includes 3,168 F-words. Who has had the time to count this? Have you any idea how long it would take to sing 3,168 F-words? There obviously aren't 3,168 F-words in it, there couldn’t be that many in two hours even if that was the only word which was sung. (Maybe it would be good if the show was just that – it would have a kind of Morton Feldman/John Cage quality)

‘I also read that there are 297 uses of the word “cunt”. There are in fact only seven - three as a noun, and four as an adjective.

‘Neither Mary, God, not Jesus are represented as “self-centred sexual deviants” - unless being 'a bit gay', which Jesus says he is, counts a sexual deviance, which we hardly feel it does. Both God and Mary are represented with the utmost respect, as is their holy due.’

Lee, right, is also disappointed at the way the BBC have emphasised the controversial nature of the show.

When it was unveiled at the launch of the BBC2 winter schedule earlier this month,station controller Roly Keating said the opera would "push back the boundaries of taste and decency".

Lee said: ‘No one involved in the creative team of the stage production has ever said ‘that it is a deliberate attack on good taste’. We think the show is in very good taste and has a positive agenda. If the BBC have said it "pushes back the boundaries of taste and decency" then they did so without our knowledge and have obviously misunderstood the show, and backed themselves into a very difficult, ill-considered position when it comes to defending their decision to broadcast it.

‘This is why you should never work in television. We've spent years trying to defend the show against charges of sensationalism and now it has fallen into the hands of people who obviously see that as a selling point.

‘Of course, the 21st Century irony is that you can't be certain this hasn't been made up by PR types.

‘I think Peter Orton did a brilliant job of filming the show and the edit looked great. I hope it can just be enjoyed for what it is.’