Gervais's fury over advert edits

Ricky Gervais slammed censors who demanded changes to his new radio advert for a prostate cancer charity as 'pathetic'.

In the sketch, Gerbais plays a doctor who sticks his finger up the backside of a patient, his radio sidekick Karl Pilkinson.

But the Radio Advertising Clearance Centre, which vets commercials before they air, has demanded edits and said it must only be transmitted after the 9pm watershed.

Gervais said: 'One of the reasons that people die of cancer is that they don't get themselves checked. One of the reasons they don't get checked is embarrassment over the issue. The radio authority has actually enhanced this as a taboo and put the cause back.'

The RACC has demanded that the Prostate Cancer Charity advert's 'squish' noise must be removed because it was 'too graphic'. It has now been replaced by a momentary silence.

Will Stubbs, a clearance executive at the RACC told Media Guardian, 'We have to protect radio listeners and radio stations from complaints. Radio generally is quite a conservative medium.'

'With something like this or any sex or drugs campaign you usually ask for scheduling. And comedy aside, this is still quite graphic.'

The charity's chief executive, John Neate, described the RACC's decision as 'draconian, unnecessary and completely unacceptable', adding 'they have made a serious misjudgment in this case.'

Radio stations must follow the RACC's decisions, otherwise they can infringe the terms of their licences.

Click here to hear the advert - complete with 'squish' noise.

Published: 1 Oct 2005