Marcus Brigstocke on the Ross/Brand/BBC Fine

[DafyddCymraeg]

Totally in agreement with Brigstocke.

[davidgbarron]

It is very strange that The Daily Mail/The Mail on Sunday would defend Andrew Sachs as a seventy-eight years old, but wouldn't have defended him as a eight year old. Marcus Brigstocke is so right regarding this.

[theomega616]

I hate the morons like this, jumping on the rage train 'cos they read the news papers. They told a bad taste joke and people are treating them like they pissed on the xmas pressies on xmas morning.

I actually hate Ross and Brand 'cos there massive twats, both arrogant and unfunny but come on...

I think people just like being called to arms to have a good old bitch about something, like those dolts who write into TV places complaining about nothing.

[shadowsenzor]

This guy has the balls i wish i did lol

[UnitedEuropa]

Marcus always gets it right!

[drfoxcourt]

Complain about the quality of the joke. "It's not funny and if they can't be funny, don't put them on any more." makes sense.

Playing the "I'm outraged" is to be used for murderings, robberies, rapes, and pure anti-social behaviors, not for someone trying to be funny and failing.

If your shocked, get over it. Ross and Brand are being accused of thought crime that they voiced, not actual crime that they performed.

[imfpredicts]

Thanks for posting. I would never watch this crap and so would have missed out on the only sane contribution to the debate.

[rorrt]

I would have snapped at that woman, and just asked "Did you listen to the show live?"...I would very, very much doubt she did. She would have listened to it, as all the other thousands did in response, to the response of a few...

Its ridiculous, on the Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller podcast "Timeghost" they make a really great argument, and thats where i heard that great quotation "the bbc is a bus, not a taxi".

[Reincarnhate925]

im proud of marcus, one for sticking up for sanity, but also for not punching that woman in the face.

i would have.

[kinganarkzie]

I thought It was well funny, I was in tears.

[MarkJiSung]

that woman is funkingly annoying

[darkshad109]

After reading and hearing about this whole ordeal last year i was like ok... let me hear what was so bad. Popped on youtube and listened to what they said. First reaction was amazement, how much everybody was over reacting to it. It was harmless. Everyone was going on like Ross and Brand said they were going to rape his daughter or something. When really it was just stupid joking. Everyone i asked about it all spat fury about the two guys, i asked if they actually heard what was said... "No".

[01mhall]

that oldbag talks shit

[SighNapse1]

"You get paid by the BBC so you can't have a go at them". Of course, so industrial disputes and strikes never existed!



[Maidenrugby]

I completely agree with Marcus here. The way I've always seen it since it happened is it's a matter between Ross, Brand and Sachs and his family. It was a joke that was in bad taste, but so what? The only people who have the right to be offended about this are Andrew Sachs and his family. I also agree with Marcus when he says if you aren't grown up enough to realise that you won't like everything on TV or radio, don't own one. This man speaks a lot of sense.

[leapoffaith20]

The speccy four eyed frump really needs a slap round the side of the head

I totally agree with Marcus on this one, it was a joke, (not a particularly funny one) and it should be treated as such.

[bobokk]

That woman needs a slap round the head.

[pfalky2k]

MB is bang on. those other bleating cretins on the panel need to STFU. "how dare MB think for himself & not be whipped into a frenzy like the rest of the hysterical hideless sheeple in the UK by der daily national-socialist mail & other lying libelous tabloid rags". some folk just need to grow an epidermus. & arse-wipes like wright, that mancunian whining pr*ck & whoever the pig-ugly nagging crone is need to take a long hard look at what TRULY matters in the world.

[flankspeed]

"Why, it's ALMOST as if they're an interested party in another media group..."

Hahahahaha!

[PhoenixMaster00]

Marcus Brigstocke is a legend and is totally right. 2 people complained! Out of all the viewers. But of course once the news papers get involved the so called 'standard bearers for correctness', people condemned it because they thought everyone else was. Yes it was a bad joke but I have heard worse before on comedy shows on tv

[SmileyFace6796]

YAY for Marcus ... finaly someone with a brain and a rational view point!

[littleliuboy]

3 people read the daily mail :/

[flyingtoilet1]

it did cross a line BUT i agree with Marcus's point because if 1mill or so people listened to the accual program and JUST 2 COMPLAINED and the Mail wipped everyone up and it ended up with millions of people.

[Liorte1973]

can't believe Terry Christian was speaking against bad taste when he used to present The Word

[pfalky2k]

@Liorte1973 exactly. pot-kettle?" & he's still THE most irritating wee prissy whining nyaff in the world. somebody needs to give him a good hard kick in the groin & try to shake whatever bollocks "he" may or may not have loose. how does he open his mouth in public & not get head-butted in the face? i'd have said such was a crime against humanity, god & nature.

[thomasimon]

Like Jimmy Carr says in the interview next to the comments, people have to understand that they won't like everything they're gonna see. Quote: "I've never written to say that I don't like Last of the Summer Wine"

[bigglego]

just because you don't like the bbc you can't have a tv!! The bbc is not a bus because people choose to get on a bus but by law you have to pay the bbc. The bbc is a poll tax plain and simple. The bbc did not invent the tv. Imagin if you had to pay persil money to own a washing machine. Its BS

[bladeulv]

It stupid, like he said on the night it was broadcast less than 5 people phoned into complain, and once the media got their claws into it, suddenly thousands of people were in uproar. The fact that most of the papers blew it out of proportion didn't help matters either, I was listening to the broadcast when they did it and I just found it funny, it was no where near as bad as some stuff that comedians like Frankie Boyle come out with on mock the week etc people just need to grow the fuck up.

[sharkey4123]

Get the old woman off. She's fucking clueless.

[bigglego]

bbc licence is £145 pounds a year!! 

[farshnuke]

I am an easy target for jibes, I spent 10 yesra with everybody i knew taking the piss or beating me up, unnecessary piss taking gets to me. I recently gave my friends a massive glare of hatred for jokes performed on people I didn't even know. I am in short the sort of person who should be outraged at that joke but there's no point, no big deal! For fuck sake this joke should never have reached such a large audience, it's insignificant.

[GilliamHimself]

Marcus is right. That old lady is... Um... Old, really. She's still stuck in her own traditional ways.

[pfalky2k]

no the public were NOT outraged. we ARE outraged by these pc "voice of the public" tv so-called personalities telling us what to think & how to think. i worry whether or not my wages will see me to the end of this month. will i eat well & have enough to pay all my bills. i couldn't give a flying f**k if some hyper-sensitive twat can't hack sticks & stones. grow skin, then grow up!

[euanross89]

does anyone else think she needs to shut up?

[StupidNutter]

That's what I like about marcus, he's so down to earth!

[tekqist28]

Marcus is my hero

[Szaam]

I never met one person who thought it was a terrible thing.

No one give a shit. Just really, really uptight nobodies. They musn't watch much comedy if they thought THAT was out of order.

[Slashfan90210]

42 complaints when the show first aired

30,000 complaints when the Daily Mail got in on it

Bunch of self righteous pricks who complained after the show had never even heard it before.

[LOTRandSG1fan]

Completely agree with Marcus Brigstocke.

[camisadokiller666]

Ok, I hate Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand with a passion, but it was quite funny. Not so funny that we had to listen to the media complaining about it for weeks after, but they were probably telling the truth anyway.

I agree with Marcus 100%. There are much worst things aired on tv than two twats 'pranking' an old man, and MUCH worse things being printed in the Daily Mail.

Grow up, and get over it.

[FreedomValentine]

I wish they would shut up and let him speak his part first instead of constantly interrupting him.

[makcheekan]

I hate Russel Brand and Jonathan Ross, but Marcus is 100% right.

[guildwarsSNOW]

was this really a joke? I thought Brand really had sex with his granddaughter. Wasn't he just telling the guy the truth?

Besides the granddad is a bloody hypocrit considering he is famous for playing racial stereo-types in the name of comedy.

Still - the biggest problem with this affair is the Daily Mail. If this was so tasteless then why did they print it to expand the audience of the ''joke''? Surely the DM should be fined for repeating the ''joke''

[TheNicomacheanEthics]

Brigstocke killed it. What a guy.

[Nexius8]

This is like the ABC (australia) and Chasers war on everything. It is the comedians job to push the boundries and the legal team to make sure they don't breach the guidelines. The comedians never have the final say and lets face it most famous comedians are a bit strange anyway and shouldn't have the final say.

[PurpleFunnyChocolate]

He is absolutely right. As he said, it only offended two people on the night and millions were listening. All they needed to do was say an apology to Andrew Sachs because I agree that it's a tasteless joke. However, I found it funny, every body I know found it funny. It's a joke. People need to stop being offended by anything that isn't generic and boring. Look at the success of Frankie Boyle on Mock The Week. Nearly everything he says is snapped up by the media but he's one of the favourites!

[thembrown]

Love it how only her famous grandad pipes up the rest of her family wasn't bothered presumably. I couldn't care less if Ross and Brand paid a fine, did this or that, if she or her grandad got upset. Just a couple of people far away in an argument that I read about - didn't even hear.

[dex636]

what was the joke?

[mikeymike1792]

Who is she? She's irritating and doesn't listen.

[tenirpaslager]

i really couldnt give a fuck about the joke who cares

[Pippiok]

Matthew Wright, is a right wing cunt.

[guildwarsSNOW]

couldn't agree more. Did you see the one about the 'gollywog'? He has a panel that remains the same for an entire week. Thatcher's daughter spouts off a load of racism that gets leaked to the press and loses her job - Wright decides to defend Thatcher by changing the panel for a single session to include a black guy who thinks it is ok to call someone a 'gollywog' - Wright is a rightwing racist twat.

[punkmanjon]

@guildwarsSNOW I think you need to watch a bit more of him mate. I dont always agree but he is definately not right wing or racist. Watch fox news if you want that sort of thing. Dont chuck around insults just because you disagree with someone.

[guildwarsSNOW]

@punkmanjon just because something else is more racist does not excuse an act of 'light' racism - racism is racism no matter how insultive it is. The changing of the panel and the defence of his friend over the 'gollywog' saga was an act of racism. It may not be in your face racism but it was saying 'see we found a black person who is not offended by the word gollywog, therefore it is ok to call black people gollywogs...' Sorry, no matter how you put that episode of the Wright stuff it's racism

[punkmanjon]

@guildwarsSNOW You are wrong but im not going to argue with you because you cannot speak English properly and therefore display your lack of intelligence. 'Insultive' is not a real word Im afraid and Im not going to debate with someone with such a poor grasp of semantics and basic language!

[guildwarsSNOW]

@punkmanjon lol what a feeble excuse. However, you may want to read again your reply to my first post... 'Dont chuck around insults just because you disagree with someone.'

Maybe you should take your own advice. Incidently, it is 'Don't' not 'Dont' if you want to talk about 'correct' English and grammar.

[punkmanjon]

@guildwarsSNOW Im insulting you because you decided to make up words. And plus the point you made didnt make any sense and was clearly the product of someone of very limited intelligence. I dont think leaving out an apostrophe is really on the same level as making up an entirely new word. Wright isnt a racist in anyway so run along, learn to speak English and grow up.

[guildwarsSNOW]

@punkmanjon just because the word 'insultive' is not in the dictionary does not mean the word does not exist. If you do a google search you will see that the word is in common usage. Who has the power and right to decide which words are acceptable and which are considered made up? Who has the right to decide which words are in the dictionary? It all sounds a bit like Orwell's 1984 to me, which is not surprising coming from someone defending racism.

[punkmanjon]

@guildwarsSNOW Ok A) The oxford English dicitonary decides, if its not in, it isnt real. Its not Orwellian its just how you keep consistency in a written language. If anybody could make up words whenever they liked communication would break down. B) Im not defending Racism Im simply saying Mathew Wright isnt a racist. C) I Am of Indian descent and would therefore be higly unlikely to be defending racism anyway. D) Screaming racism is just as unhelpful to progress as being racist.

[guildwarsSNOW]

@punkmanjon all words were made up at sometime - people make up words to communicate ideas, concepts, and descriptions when no word currently exists that does the job. The OED just tries to document language by capturing the language used at a set point in time. It does not dictate what is language. When you start stifling the ever changing nature of language you kill it. Hence languages with strict grammars & lexicons such as Sanskrit and Latin died because they were no longer able to adapt.

[punkmanjon]

@guildwarsSNOW Yes that why the OED brings out new editions every few years with new vernaular in them you fucking retard! Ive rarely come accross this level of stupidity on youtube.

[guildwarsSNOW]

@punkmanjon see you are back with the insults again. Can't come up with a proper argument? What does that suggest to you about intelligence?

If you read what I wrote, my point was that the word 'insultive' is in common usage. Just because it is not in the current form of the OED does not mean the word does not exist. Are you by chance suggesting that before the OED was first written that there were no words in the English language? Your scrabble education is failing to see the bigger picture.

[punkmanjon]

@guildwarsSNOW Insultive is NOT in common usage its just highlighting the fact you are an idiot. Now run along and do something useful like get an education. Our argument was about racism not language. But no matter as you were wrong about both.

[guildwarsSNOW]

@punkmanjon 'get an education' - lol - you make me laugh. You need to educate yourself first. I have a PhD and teach at a top university in the UK. However, if you insist on insults rather than intellectual debate, consider this my last reply. As Ranciere suggests, the power of the speaker can be defied by refusing to listen any further.

[punkmanjon]

@guildwarsSNOW I dont believe you for a single moment (maybe because I actually DO have a PHD).But Ranciere may have a point...bye.

[daveevans1000]

Brigstoke may have a point, but given that the BBC got rid of Carol Thatcher for something that could be construed as a joke - would Brigstoke demand her reinstatement?

The BBC have dealt with issues like this abysmally (partly down to the BBC1 controller Jay Hunt) - they took ages to act on Ross/Brand, then took immediate (and more severe) action with Carol Thatcher for something arguably no worse, then cut out Andrew Neil's "hobnob" comment. Would Brigstoke challenge that?

[WallpaperViolence]

Now I would argue that Thatcher's comment being racially motivated and unnecissary makes it different. You see yes Brand and Ross where tasteless but everything they said was well...true...unplesant but true and though I do not agree with prank calling him if it was'nt for the occasionally tasteless humour of python we wouldn't have had fawlty towers and no one would give a damn about the dear Mr Sachs. The problem with sachsgate was the fact it was cretins jumping on a bandwagon of complaining

[TheWaronreligion]

I completely agree, marcus pointed out that only 2 people complained that night and there was 1 million listeners listeng to the station. then the papers got hold of it and fuckin hell was let loose 30,000 complaints were made 2 weeks after it had happend was broadcast and they complained within the 2-3days of the papers publishing it, It was a tasteless joke on the stripper that deserved it. though i dont think her grandad should have been involved it was a joke none-theless. right on marcus

[Kristoffee]

Carol Thatcher said something openly racist, whether she realised it is irrelevent, it's not acceptable. If you listen to the Sachsgate podcast, it's clear that not only is Ross entirely to blame, but that most of the second half of the show is spent attempting to apologise to Sachs (in an admittedly childish way).

As for Thatchers apology, it was hardly heartfelt. Ross and Brand apologised publicly and unreservedly, she didn't really admit she had done anything wrong.

[Kristoffee]

Oh yeah, and as for Andrew Neil's hobnob thing, I don't see what anyones problem is. He said something that could possibly be construed as racist (maybe), more importantly, immediately after Nick Griffin was on QT. So the Beeb cut it out on iplayer, just in case. It's their call, I don't really see that it's anyones business or why anyone even cares.

[AlxSnowxMatchsxRule]

what is the joke these bitches are whining about?

[Vinny0151]

russel brand and johnathan ross phoned up the bloke who played manwell in fawlty towers and started winding him up talking about how brand had slept with his daughter.

[AlxSnowxMatchsxRule]

thanks for explaining.

sounds hilarious.

[peoplesfrontofjudea]

...which, to be fair, he had...

[BillyBobsEel]

grand daughter

[nitroglysarine]

russel brand and johnathan ross rang the guy who used to play manuel on fawlty towers and left an answer phone message saying that he'd shagged his granddaughter.

Which he actually had. So he told the truth to a man, it wasn't incorrect in information, complaints thought it was distasteful.

[KonsharPaHuvet]

Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross prank-called this guy (who's name i can't remember) who played Manuel in Faulty Towers and is therefor quite famous within the UK. Amongst other things Brand talked about having had sex with what's-his-face's granddaughter, which he had. The prank-call was aired on national british radio.

Personally i feel that the whole thing is blown quite out of proportion.

[BobTKaye]

If they just left one message on the answering machine that was a tasteless joke I would agree with Brigstocke, but they then followed up the tasteless joke again and again. That's when it went beyond a joke.

[AsylumArchives]

At last. Someone with his head on his sholders. Marcus Brigstocke is a legend

[danvinesexgod]

Why do none of the others listen to Brigstocke the man is talking the most sense anyone has on this?

Of course it was The Mail stiring up a fuss that did it. I didn't hear the show, but through the news I'd heard it several times by the end of the week and had been told why I should hate it many times.

Everything else he says is also true. But as I'm making myself annoyed by something thats now very old news, I'll stop here.

[Jammy140188]

Marcus is the only one who hits the nail on the head. It was a joke, few people complained originally. Yes it wasn't a good joke, it was a bit tasteless, but it was nothing until the Mail got in on the act. Newspapers are increasingly irrelevant as a media format and so they indulge in so called 'campaigns' wherein they misrepresent events and then make overblown claims to speak for the majority of the general public.

[JJGMTS]

@Jammy140188 - Damn right. You should check out Charlie Brooker; he has a very similar opinion on this issue.

[Bryanrobsonsliver]

I like the pathetic way that easily led sheep like to pretend to speak with the authority of the majority. Do you realise that the Brand and Ross storm drew less than a handful of complaints until the Daily Mail started tub thumping? The same Daily Mail group that own ITN, ITV and Channel 4s Teletext as well as a number of commercial radio stations? I wonder if making stupid people outraged and against them would help their profits? Fucking prick.

[dezfaz]

You are the easily led one ,you are the prick watching this sort of shit, all programmes ,all channels, all presenters and producers are a fucking waste of money .you fucking prick !! you are defending what used to be called court jesters/entertainers.. they will lose their jobs anyway soon fucking prick

BAN THE BBC LICENSE FEE

[DnKprincess]

thank you marcus

some one finally seeing sense

[redwingtrekie24]

HE hasn't LOST cause HE TELLS THE PURE TRUTH!!! *knocks on wood*

[Oricalkos123]

Every argument Marcus has been in, I've never seen him lose.

[Randiriel01]

Finally, someone talking sense. Go Marcus.

[FlyingMango94]

I doubt that any more than 1% of the people complaining even listened to the show. Stupid Daily Mail readers, believing everything the tabloids tell them. Intelligent people should stand above that. The only rubbish thing is that the Russel Brand radio show no longer exists. I miss its silliness.

[Unicornetto14]

Andrew sachs said he was okay with it as long as it wasnt aired. He wasnt even sure what they were on about. The BBC agreed not to air it and they did.

The people who now have to pay for the fine are the ones that complained. Shouldnt have complained then should you. Millions watched the show that night and 2 people complained for SWEAR WORDS. It's only a week later when the daily mail wrote about it that people complained cos they didnt listen to the show, they read the daily mail.

[Carfer22]

What is ridiculous is that she assumes this hasn't happened before. The real problem was that the producers aired the silliness. The old woman is dense and naive!

[pinkiebrown26]

oh this is awesome - i love Marcus!

[moloney1989]

Marcus Brigstocke is bang on! i agreed with every word he said

[lib1984]

they shouldnt pay the fine! its a complete joke... if you were offended by this 'joke' in any way then you are a moron.

[lib1984]

it is a witch hunt! it was a joke ffs! Russell brand and J.Ross are great! people need to shut up.

[Carfer22]

Lets start an anti-Daily Mail movement! Bring it to its knees!!!!