So says Rory Bremner

Rory Bremner has claimed Mock the Week is too aggressive and too disrespectful to some of the comedians who appear on it .

Although he was a regular for the first two series of the show, the impressionist said he felt ‘uncomfortable’ with the competitive environment on the show.

He said he quit because: ‘I felt that there was a new and highly competitive and quite aggressive tendency there and felt uncomfortable. But I’ve since found out that very few people have felt comfortable doing Mock the Week,’ he told The Times.

He said that Linda Smith, especially, was not treated with enough respect when she appeared shortly before he death in 2006.

‘Se was extraordinary. She was such a brilliant comedian and, in a strange sort of way, the show didn’t particularly respect her reputation or her intelligence,’ he said.

Other comedians have also criticised the competitive edge on Mock the Week, notably Jo Brand who said in 2009 that she had stopped appearing as it was too hard toget her voice heard among the other comedians.

• The Daily Mail, which fought so hard against any rules curbing press misbehaviour, today featured calls for a ‘clean-up’ of television after Channel 4’s Big Fast Quiz Of The Year attracted five complaints to Ofcom, which regulates broadcasters. The paper helpfully reprinted all the ‘offensive, crude and vulgar’ jokes for all its readers who might have missed the chance to be offended when they appeared on TV.

Published: 1 Jan 2013