Watchdogs rap Sketch Show

The Sketch Show has been officially criticised because a gag set in a public urinal was screened at tea time.

Watchdogs agreed the sketch was 'inappropriate' after just one viewer complained.

The skit, screened in November, showed three men in a public toilet, evidently holding each other's penises.

However, broadcasters said this was "a highly unlikely and ludicrous situation of three men performing a purely functional act and helping each other because of the predicament in which they found themselves".

They added that the sketch, which featured Lee Mack, Jim Tavare and Tim Vine, was "typical of the light hearted and non-threatening humour expressed throughout the series, and contained no graphic scenes or lewd dialogue".

However the Broadcasting Standards Commission said the sketch was inappropriate for transmission at 6.30pm , when a large number of children were likely to be in the audience.

Published: 25 Apr 2002