Bird & Fortune escape censure

Sixty-three viewers contacted broadcasting watchdogs Ofcom over a line in a John Bird and John Fortune sketch broadcast in October last year.

The two Johns were in a pub discussing the tactics Gordon Brown might use to win a snap election, when one said: I wouldn’t be surprised if the night before the election he went on television and said ‘look what I found…’ and held up little Maddie McCann.’

However Ofcom today decided not to uphold the complaints

Its ruling said: ‘The main point of the sketch was to ridicule politicians and the sometimes cynical approach they are perceived to have when it comes to seeking re-election. The idea that politicians might be insensitive enough to attempt to exploit the tragedy surrounding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann to their advantage wasconsistent with the general purpose of the sketch.

‘There was no suggestion that the target of the humour was Madeleine McCann, her family, or those people deeply affected by the disappearance.

‘On balance, therefore, whilst perhaps painful for some viewers to have been reminded of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance, we concluded that the suggestion that politicians might consider cynically using such an event to their advantage justified the inclusion of such a reference in this satirical sketch.’

Here is the sketch:

Published: 28 Jan 2008