BBC to broadcast cult Springer opera despite complaints

by Staff,, Brand Republic 06-Jan-05, 08:30

LONDON - The BBC is to go ahead with its plan to show the cult 'Jerry Springer: The Opera', despite more than 15,000 complaints about the intended broadcast, which features thousands of swear words.

The hit musical 'Jerry Springer: The Opera', which stars former 'Starsky & Hutch' star David Soul as Jerry Springer, features more than 3,000 uses of the word "fuck" and almost 300 uses of the word "c**t".

Campaigners have called on the corporation to drop the broadcast, but the BBC is refusing to back down arguing that the award-winning musical was a serious work.

A spokeswoman for the BBC said: "It is a serious work. People who can't get to London to see it at the theatre can now see it in their own home. It will transmit well after the 9pm watershed and carry appropriate warnings."

She added that the BBC had so far received more than 15,000 emails, calls and letters, but said these appeared to be part of an organised lobby.

The lobby to halt the broadcast has been led by viewers rights group Mediawatch UK, which labelled the show debauched and said that it will alienate a large number of viewers.

"Licence payers do not expect the BBC to be pushing back boundaries of taste and decency in this way," Mediawatch UK said.

The broadcast will air on Saturday at 10pm on BBC Two in an uncut airing, which the BBC is describing as a "boundary-breaking show [that] will appeal to all -- except the faint-hearted".

There will be warnings about the language contained in the show prior to broadcast.

'Jerry Springer: The Opera' was written by composer Richard Thomas and comedian Stewart Lee, and is based on Springer's famed American talk show.

The show centres on the worst day of Springer's life, when he has to face nappy wearers, a troupe of tap-dancing Ku Klux Klansmen, not to mention Jesus and the devil in a foul-mouthed tirade against each other.

Pic: BBC/Avalon PR/Dan Goldsmith

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