Bremner offends with Maddie joke

C4 hit by complaints

Rory Bremner's Channel 4 show has attracted complaints for featuring a joke about Madeleine McCann.

On Sunday, Bremner, Bird and Fortune show featured a joke suggestion Gordon Brown was so desperate for popularity that he would discover the missing girl on the eve of an election to win votes.

Media watchdog Ofcom has so far received 32 complaints, while Channel 4 have received several more.

Viewer David Cairnie told MediaGuardian he found the sketch was in ‘despicable taste’.

A Channel 4 spokesman said: ‘We can assure you the sketch was not aimed at the McCann family, but was clearly directed at politicians and their opportunistic publicity stunts. It was certainly never Channel 4's intention to offend or cause distress to the family or to our viewers.’

Published: 16 Oct 2007

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