Online watchdog clears Tramadol Nights

Frankie Boyle’s Tramadol Nights has been cleared of corrupting children… at least by the standards of the internet.

The watchdog responsible for online video has admitted that ‘many viewers may regard the material as highly offensive, including to people with disabilities,’ but today ruled that the Channel 4 show did not fall foul of its guidelines.

It launched an investigation after one viewer complained that an edition of the programme, broadcast in December and made available on the 4oD on-demand service, was ‘atrocious, demeaning and degrading… [and] entirely reprehensible’.

The person who complained said that some Boyle’s material highly offensive to disabled people, citing in particular jokes about Katie Price's disabled son Harvey, Susan Boyle, and a sketch about a man with quadriplegia working as a stuntman.

Unlike the strict rules enforced by broadcast regulator Ofcom for TV shows, the Authority for Television On-Demand can only determine whether the material ‘might seriously impair the physical, mental or moral development of persons under the age of 18’.

And it ruled: ‘The attitudes expressed, and the manner in which they are expressed, while objectionable to some viewers, are not intended to be taken seriously and are unlikely to have a significant impact on the beliefs, attitudes, well being or behaviour of under 18s.’

The watchdog also noted that Channel 4 had gone out of its way to highlight the strong language and ‘uncompromising adult content’ of Boyle’s show, beyond what the online rules required.

Channel 4’s billboards for Tramadol Nights were last week cleared of promoting violence and drug abuse by the Advertising Standards Authority, but Ofcom is still conducting its own investigation into complaints, including one from Katie Price.

Published: 21 Mar 2011