Broadcasters say rules are already robust

Producers of Britain’s hidden camera shows say they won’t be making any changes to their programmes in the wake of the nurse who took her life following a prank call.

The suicide of Jacintha Saldanha on Friday, three days after taking a phone call from Australian DJs posing as the Queen and Prince Charles, has raised questions about the about the use of real people in comedy stunts.

However UK broadcasters – who between them have a raft of prank shows in the pipleline – said ‘robust’ measures already in place regarding hidden filming, and would not have to be tightened following Mrs Saldanha’s death.

Objective, who are making the forthcoming Channel 4 show Do The Right Thing – which records how members of the public react to witnessing unacceptable situations, such as explicit racism –  said they would be making no changes, as they already abide by broadcasting guidelines.

Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code says: ‘Material gained by surreptitious filming and recording should only be broadcast when it is warranted. Surreptitious filming or recording, doorstepping or recorded ‘wind-up’ calls to obtain material for entertainment purposes may be warranted if it is intrinsic to the entertainment and does not amount to a significant infringement of privacy such as to cause significant annoyance, distress or embarrassment. The resulting material should not be broadcast without the consent of those involved.’

The BBC, which is currently airing Impractical Jokers on BBC Three, will launch another hidden camera show, Richard Hammond's Secret Service, over Christmas, said they already had strong rules in place, too.

‘The BBC has very robust guidelines in place for shows of this nature,’ said a spokesman. ‘Where hidden camera shows feature members of the public, written permission is sought from the individual before the item is broadcast.’

A spokesman for Endemol, which is making the Richard Hammond Show confirmed: 'Written permission is sought from the individuals featured in the series before the item is broadcast.'

Yalli Productions, which is behind Impractical Jokers, did not responded to a request for comment.

Doyen of the hidden camera show, Dom Joly, yesterday said that TV shows were a different beast from prank phone calls – with the key difference being that he would not air anything without having signed consent

‘We wouldn’t be allowed to show anything we hadn’t got consent for,’ the Trigger Happy TV creator said on Radio 4‘s Today programme yesterday.

He added: ‘ When I do stuff a) I have to get consent afterwards and b) I can see them and make some sort of judgment. With phone calls obviously you’ve no idea who’s on the other end.

‘When I go up to someone, if there’s something odd about them, or something that just doesn’t feel right, I walk away. It only works when you’ve got someone on an equal footing... If someone doesn’t want to be on telly or take the joke, that’s absolutely fine.’

And he added that the rest of the media, not just Australian radio station 2Day FM, had its part to play in the tragedy, too, adding: ‘I think the problem was this phone call was played over and over again on every media outlet and because we couldn’t listen to the nurse that gave the actual details, what we did hear was poor Mrs Saldanha.

‘I imagine if I was her and I was listening to that being played over and over again on every media outlet and presumably people trying to get hold of her - that, in the end, is what would have stressed her the most.’

He added that the incident should not affect the future of hidden-camera shows. ‘This sort of humour’s gone one for ages,’ he said. ‘I certainly don’t think this was a cruel joke... it was just a freak thing and no one could have predicted it was going to happen.’

He said his views on which stunts should be broadcast depending on how funny they were – a point of view echoed by broadcaster Mark Lawson today.

In a Guardian column, the Front Row presenter said: ‘The crucial judgment, though, must surely be whether... the stunt is funny or clever enough to justify the discomfort caused. To a surprising degree, most comedians canvassed for their attitude to the [Jonathan] Ross / [Russell] Brand stunt agreed that it was unforgivable because the gag – informing a blameless and respected character actor that a comedian had had sex with his granddaughter – neither makes an interesting point nor triggers a big laugh.

‘In contrast, the tiny theoretical risk that a passerby may suffer physical or psychological trauma when a hand reaches out of a post-box to take a letter – a Dom Joly favourite – can be justified by the classy farce of the idea.’

However, radio wind-up merchant Steve Penk has said: ‘This will kill it, stop the art of winding people up.’

Meanwhile, the Australian media is urging the authorities here not to overreact to Mrs Saldanha’s suicide.

‘The tragedy should not be used by the regulators in our midst to introduce even more controls over the media,’ Sydney Morning Herald columnist Gerard Henderson wrote.

Published: 11 Dec 2012