BBC comics face restrictions on 'derogatory remarks'

BBC stars will not be allowed to make "unduly humiliating or derogatory remarks" to entertain audiences under new guidelines.

The reforms, published following a review commissioned by the BBC Trust, come after the furore provoked by the Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand scandal, when the pair left tasteless messages on the answering machine of Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs during Brand's Radio 2 show.

The changes are aimed at protecting people – not fictional or historical – from "unduly intimidatory, humiliating, intrusive, aggressive or derogatory remarks for the purposes of entertainment".

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The guidelines state: "This does not mean preventing comedy or jokes about people in the public eye, but simply that such comments and their tone are proportionate to their target."

Under the new guidelines, the BBC will also have to "take account of the cumulative effect of repeated mentions of brands or products, such as films or bands".

It follows complaints about the BBC's promotion of a U2 album last year, when critics said the corporation had given the band "the sort of publicity money can't buy".

The changes also come after a Harry Potter Day on Radio 1 was criticised for giving undue prominence to the movie Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince.

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The guidelines were published as it emerged the deputy director general of the BBC would be axed from his post with a golden goodbye of more than 500,000.

Mark Byford, from Castleford, who earned 475,000 last year, will be made redundant as the role as part of corporation cost cuts. Further cuts are expected to be announced later this week.

Director general Mark Thompson confirmed Mr Byford's departure in a letter to staff yesterday morning

Mr Byford is entitled to a redundancy package of more than 500,000 but "significantly less" than 1m, corporation sources said. He steps down from the executive board at the end of March and will leave the BBC in early summer.

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Although he will not be replaced, Helen Boaden, director of BBC News, will join the board to represent BBC journalism.

Mr Byford, who joined the BBC in 1979 at BBC Leeds, told staff: "Obviously I will be very sad to leave this brilliant organisation that has been such a dominant part of my life for so long.

"But I know this decision is the right way forward.

"From a summer holiday job to head of all the BBC's journalism – I have been fortunate and blessed to have had such a wonderful career."

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