Summer on Radio 1

[E*F*4L]

The BBC has apologised to actor Andrew Sachs for the "unacceptable and offensive" content of calls made to him by Russell Brand during a radio show.

The Fawlty Towers star was called four times during a prank on Brand's BBC Radio 2 show on 18 October.

The actor's agent said Sachs was "very upset" after Brand and guest Jonathan Ross left lewd messages about the actor's granddaughter on his voicemail.

Brand himself apologised for the offence on his latest show.

He said "you musn't swear on someone's answer phone", but added it was "funny".

A BBC Radio 2 spokeswoman said: "We have received a letter of a complaint from Mr Sachs' agent and would like to sincerely apologise to Mr Sachs for the offence caused.

"We recognise that some of the content broadcast was unacceptable and offensive.

She added: "We are reviewing how this came about and are responding to Mr Sachs personally. We also apologise to listeners for any offence caused."

Sachs, who played Manuel in Fawlty Towers, was expected to be a guest on the programme, but was unable to appear due to unforeseen circumstances.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7692911.stm

"A BBC spokeswoman said the programme received two complaints unrelated to the phone calls, but they have had further complaints since the details of the stunt were publicised. "

Ohhhhhhh lets all jump on the bandwagon & complain

Mr Sachs didn't even complain until the daily mail contacted him about it,

Also :

"Sachs' granddaughter Georgina, a member of the group 'The Satanic Sluts'. Mr Sachs and his daughter Kate were said to be left deeply upset by the incident"

What about Georgina she doesn't seem bothered about it

Mr Sachs would have been made aware of Russel's humor before he said he would go on the show & Dennis Norden was also on the show & he was fine with their interview.

i may be being a bit harsh but its his own fault for not answering his mobile phone when he knew the show would be phoning him for the interview.

[Jono]

i may be being a bit harsh but its his own fault for not answering his mobile phone when he knew the show would be phoning him for the interview.

You do have a childish idea of morality considering you're supposed to be almost twice the age of me.

I'd like to think my dentist is going to ring me up one day and do the same thing if I miss an appointment, so I don't see how that is right because it's Russell.

You could argue Mr Sachs was foolish to book an appointment on Brand's show and then get upset about his sense of humour when he hadn't turned up. He must have had an idea what he was like.

But this is national radio, you can't just do things like that. And it is the sort of thing naturally people will get offended by.

[Mike]

I remember hearing this in the car on the way back from Worcester, first time i had listened to Brands show. I did think it was a bit risky, but then again it was 11pm at night...

[Rik]

They definitely crossed the line with the messages but the public are now only making the situation worse. The BBC initially only received 2 complaints from listeners but as soon as it was in the Sunday press yesterday, 50 more complaints have come in. I bet some of those people didn't even listen to the show initially but they thought it would be fun to jump on the bandwagon. How moronic.

[E*F*4L]

im not saying what Russel or Jonathan was right or wrong, but in the context of Russel's show what was said is nothing out of the ordinary.

& i don't get the comment you have just added

You do have a childish idea of morality considering you're supposed to be almost twice the age of me.

Mr Sachs was to be on the show to promote a TV show & he didn't answer his phone when he knew that he was going to do a interview & you could say that Russel & Jonathan were just filling time, Moyles does things like this when people are late for his show & i accept that Moyles wouldn't go as far Russel & Jonathan did, but in the context of their show it was just the norm.

they are both risqué people & that is why some people like & others hate them, i listened to the show when it was on at 11pm & i have just listened to the podcast which has the phone call's on, & i wasn't offended by the comments, but i like Russel & Jonathan but if you don't like them you will just jump on-board & complain

Mr Sachs has now said that he will accept the apologies.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7691938.stm

[Jono]

BBC Radio 2 News has reported that Jonathan Ross has sent a personal apology to Andrew Sachs.

Let's not forget you can be fined or imprisoned for making abusive calls like that, and any other broadcaster would have been fined by Ofcom and even sacked for such offense.

I'm not saying I took offence, but it cannot be one rule for one, and another rule for another.

[kitty]

I have to say when I heard these messages on the Russell Brand podcast last week I thought they were pretty funny, especially the song they sang, but I thought they were fake! I wouldn't fancy actually receiving messages on my voicemail from someone claiming to have slept with my granddaughter.

That said, the show went out over a week ago- why is the fuss just coming up now?

[Rik]

I have to say when I heard these messages on the Russell Brand podcast last week I thought they were pretty funny, especially the song they sang, but I thought they were fake! I wouldn't fancy actually receiving messages on my voicemail from someone claiming to have slept with my granddaughter.

That said, the show went out over a week ago- why is the fuss just coming up now?

Because the BBC have been slow to release any statement about the incident. Im sure there would have been a lot go on at BBC Hq over the past week though

[kitty]

Because the BBC have been slow to release any statement about the incident. Im sure there would have been a lot go on at BBC Hq over the past week though

If this is the case I'm surprised that they didn't pull the podcast in damage limitation- I downloaded it on Thursday night. I know in the past they have not put controversial shows up on the iPlayer.

[E*F*4L]

I have to say when I heard these messages on the Russell Brand podcast last week I thought they were pretty funny, especially the song they sang, but I thought they were fake! I wouldn't fancy actually receiving messages on my voicemail from someone claiming to have slept with my granddaughter.

That said, the show went out over a week ago- why is the fuss just coming up now?

i thought they were well funny also :giggle:

at least im not the only one, Russel rules

the beeb have now received over 4000 complaints now by 3998 losers !

[Jono]

the beeb have now received over 4000 complaints now by 3998 losers !

Who were the other two?

[Viv]

lol lol lol

[E*F*4L]

Who were the other two?

the original two were the people that complained about the swearing, everyone else that has complained have probably never listened to the show before.

there are lots of things i could complain about if i wanted to by jumping on board with everyone else & saying Oooo thats not nice im going to write to them & complain, if you don't listen to the Russel Brand show should the complaints really be accepted by OFCOM, most people who have complained have only done so because they don't like Brand or Ross & the main issue is that these people think that THEY own the BBC & it should only cater for their needs !

it is more far reaching than the comments made quite a lot of people don't like the BBC & will use any means to undermine it :x it seems very strange that they would rather have free (commercial tv) that contains nothing but crap shows, yet these are the very same people who also complain about the BBC dumbing down, dumbing down to what ? ITV's level ?

Russel was spot on, on his comments about the Mail newspaper

[kitty]

In relation to Russell, the BBC new what to expect when they took him on, this is a man who called George Bush a "retard" at an awards show and dressed up as Osama Bin Laden on MTV the day after 9/11.

Jonathan Ross, however, gets paid a rumoured £6m a year as one of the flagship BBC presenters, and should have known better than to use the langage he did. On the other hand, the show was a pre-record and some of the onus has to lie with the producers who chose to air these segments of the show.

[Robbie Keane]

I liked it. Immature, sure. Irresponsible? At a push. But British radio has no life to it and it's nice to see people trying to actually draw some fun out of it by doing things considered outrageous.

Next up, they should go the Howard Stern route and try to invade whatever public appearance Andrew is doing that night.

[rainbow_brite]

Call me immature but I couldn't help but find the whole thing funny, here's the incident in two parts on Youtube for anyone that wants a listen (WARNING, there is swearing in this):

Part 1 - http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=U7IHJ66wj9g

Part 2 - http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=uAxPkcnlyNM

I'm not excusing their behaviour at all, if an ordinary member of the public did it they would be arrested for harrassment but surely the idea of Russell Brand pulling a stunt like that shouldn't be a massive shock? In fact he got the sack for the MTV 9/11 thing Kitty mentioned, it's just typical of this country who literally sit around waiting to get "offended" by something just so they can complain about it. I didn't find it particularly offensive myself but obviously it must be for the people on the recieving end of this.

[dstrkzn]

Gordon Brown has called the calls 'inappropriate and unacceptable'.

Clearly it was a stupid Prank but why is he gettin involved? any excuse to take the focus off him.

[Lucinda]

Gordon Brown has called the calls 'inappropriate and unacceptable'.

Clearly it was a stupid Prank but why is he gettin involved? any excuse to take the focus off him.

I did wonder why he's decided to wade in and get involved. Trying to distract people from the serious issues like the economy. I'm not blaming him for our entire economic situation, but he should be facing up to it, not trying to hide it behind criticism of the BBC.

[E*F*4L]

I hope they don't get the sack

One of them could, but it was Ross that actually made the comment about Brand having sexy time.

[hannah]

is it just me or is the whole thing getting properly rediculous now?

10,000 people have complained! and the prime minister getting involved? surely everyone has bigger problems than russell brand? Russell and Jonathan should apologise and maybe get told off but then get over it. I wasn't even that shocked when i heard it, thought it was pretty standard for that show to be honest.

[Guest]

So far I've found this whole incident rather tiresome and Gordon Brown shuffling in to scold the accused for their misdeed because things are not going his way is simply too pathetic.

As far as I'm concerned the matter should be left with the BBC to investigate and resolve on its own, following the proper procedures and in direct accordance with the guidelines specific to such matters.

[Mike]

So far I've found this whole incident rather tiresome and Gordon Brown shuffling in to scold the accused for their misdeed because things are not going his way is simply too pathetic.

As far as I'm concerned the matter should be left with the BBC to investigate and resolve on its own, following the proper procedures and in direct accordance with the guidelines specific to such matters.

Amen to that.

[sebdevlin]

They are clearly more evil than Hitler, Pol Pot, Stalin and Igor from count duckula. I think the only only way to sort this mess out is for them to be burnt on national television and JRs first born sacrificed on the steps of the Daily "hate" Mail :rolleyes:

Is there really so little going on in the world right now that what Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross said to an actor over the phone on a radio show is not just the day's top story, but the top political story of the day as well? To suggest that this phony, invented scandal, just as invented as the Sun's attempts to smear Katy Perry because she dared to pose three years ago in the company of a knife has been spectacularly blown out of all proportion is an incredible understatement.

Two people complained mostly about the swearing then 10 days later the DM incites mad old pensioners & beeb haters who probably have never heard of Russell Brand never mind were listening at the time.

[kitty]

Apparently the BBC have just announced they are suspending both Russell and Johnathan-a bit of an overreaction?

[rainbow_brite]

Apparently the BBC have just announced they are suspending both Russell and Johnathan-a bit of an overreaction?

You can say that again! This is getting beyond ridiculous now, if this wasn't for the Daily Heil none of us wouldn't even known about it!