The BBC has chickened out of broadcasting an animated series named Popetown, on the grounds that "the comic impact... does not outweigh the potential offence it will cause". The BBC received a number of complaints from Catholic groups after excerpts from the show appeared on the internet. The series is set in a fictional version of the Vatican, and one scene depicts the Pope on a pogo stick.
That's 2 million quid of licence payers' money pissed away by the BBC - and why? - just to avoid upsetting Catholic viewers. Surely the Catholic church can cope with a bit of piss-taking - Father Ted ran for three series, and the world hasn't ended, as far as I can tell.
The Catholic church is big enough to look after itself, and if it can't handle having a bit of fun poked at it, then I'd suggest it's in a pretty bad way.
And as for the BBC, if it has the nerve to broadcast drivel like House Invaders, Garden Invaders, Bargain Hunt and all the other wall-to-wall lifestyle shows, surely they could steel themselves to air Popetown.
On the other hand, Popetown features Ruby Wax. So maybe we shouldn't bother after all.
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