This is ridiculous. Who are these 18,000 people who have complained to the BBC, and even the police, about the Brand and Ross debacle? I suspect that more than 75% of the complainers haven't even heard it, and it is the newspapers (particularly the ever-reliable Daily Mail) who have been excitedly whipping up a storm. "A chance to take the overpaid Jonathan Ross down a peg or two? Yes please!"
Jonathan Ross is indeed overpaid, but please don't hide behind the classic 'this isn't what I pay my licence fee for...' excuse. The BBC's output is massive. VAST. If you don't want to listen to Ross and Brand pushing boundries and, to be honest, taking it a bit too far, then there are literally hundreds of hours of alternative programming that you can seek solace in.
The whole thing was rather misjudged. Andrew Sachs is from a different era and would undoubtedly have found the answerphone messages upsetting. The main fault I think lies with the BBC editor who green-lighted the show for broadcast. He should have anticipated these problems, so discipline him/her, publicly slap Brand and Ross on the wrist, apologise to Sachs, and let's all move on.
In the spirit of people being unpleasant to other people, there's been an astonishing backlash to Peaches Geldof's latest foray into journalism for Nylon magazine. It does seem slightly odd that a privileged (not really her fault) 19 year old with no life experience should be made a columnist. It's a bit like these young 'celebrities' who rush out autobiographies when they clearly don't yet have much of a life to talk about (Chantelle from Big Brother, anyone?). Take a little look at Peaches' Column. Go on, you know you want to. Can someone tell me what it's actually about?
