'Viewers would know what to expect'

Complaints that a joke about the sinking of the Belgrano went too far have been rejected by the BBC’s standards unit.

Two viewers complained of an ‘inappropriate Falklands war reference’ after a drag queen dressed as Margaret Thatcher joked about ‘going down’ like the warship.

A Navy submarine sunk the General Belgrano at the height of the conflict in  May 1982, killing 323 Argentine sailors.

The complaint was sparked after contestant Leo Loren, who performs as Baga Chipz, was asked to suggest a Spice Girl name for judge Michelle Visage.’

‘Belgrano Spice,’ she said. ‘Like the ship, she likes to go down.’

The BBC’s executive complaints unit investigated the complaints, but rejected them.

A spokesman told The Times that the BBC Three programme has a ‘long tradition of tackling adult thees’ and that the audience ‘would have understood that the comment was not intended to be taken seriously’.

A version of the same joke was previously used in Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere in 2004, which featured two girls known as  the Belgrano sisters ‘because so many sailors have gone down on them', and most likely predates that.

Published: 22 Apr 2020