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Navigation Primary Navigation Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Secondary Navigation Top Stories Full Coverage Most Popular Photos Search Search: BBC chief quits, star presenter suspended over offensive prank AFP - Friday, October 31 LONDON (AFP) - - The boss of the BBC's most popular radio station quit over offensive on-air comments by two top presenters which have unleashed a political storm in Britain. Radio Two controller Lesley Douglas resigned a day after the BBC suspended Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand over a phone prank played on veteran actor Andrew Sachs, who starred in the 1970s comedy "Fawlty Towers." Ross, the publicly-funded BBC's highest-paid presenter ever, was also suspended for 12 weeks without wages, BBC Director-General Mark Thompson said, as the number of public complaints topped 30,000. "Jonathan Ross's contribution to this edition of the Russell Brand show was utterly unacceptable and cannot be allowed to go uncensored or without sanction," Thompson said. "Nothing like this must never happen again." Brand resigned from his Radio Two show on Wednesday following his suspension. In her resignation letter released by the BBC, Douglas apologised to Sachs, his family and listeners, adding: "It is a matter of the greatest possible sadness to me that a programme on my network has been the cause of such a controversy." The furore was sparked by messages left by Ross and Brand on the answerphone of Sachs, 78, famed for his role as bumbling Spanish waiter Manuel in "Fawlty Towers." In the original pre-recorded broadcast on October 18, listeners heard a series of explicit exchanges including a claim by Ross that Brand had sex with Sachs's granddaughter Georgina Baillie, 23, a burlesque performer who is a member of a group called the Satanic Sluts. The pair then discussed how Sachs might hang himself as a result, and how they could break into his house and perform a sex act on him by way of apology. Baillie has since discussed intimate details of her encounter with Brand with Britain's biggest-selling tabloid newspaper. Prime Minister Gordon Brown called the pair's behaviour "inappropriate and unacceptable" and backed an investigation. The main opposition Conservatives have also hit out at the entertainers' comments and want a parliamentary debate on how the BBC handled the incident. The story has temporarily pushed the world financial crisis off the front pages of many newspapers -- the mass-market Daily Mail said Friday that Ross's suspension showed the BBC had "faced up to its responsibilities." "The BBC wakes up to decency" read its front page headline. Most other papers also led on the controversy. It comes at a sensitive time for the broadcaster amid a rumbling debate over whether its business model of charging an annual licence fee of 139.50 pounds (177 euros, 230 dollars) to viewers for public service television is still relevant in the digital age. Some lawmakers want the licence fee scrapped altogether -- Conservative Christopher Chope said Thursday it was "outdated and regressive." This is not the first time the BBC has faced embarrassment recently -- in July it was fined 400,000 pounds (500,000 euros, 660,000 dollars) after a string of shows faked winners of their competitions. And last year, it apologised after showing footage that wrongly implied Queen Elizabeth II had stormed out of a sitting with top US photographer Annie Leibovitz. Ross, 47, has a three-year, 18-million-pound (29-million-dollar, 22.5-million-euro) contract which also sees him host a Friday late-night television talk show. Brand, 33, who started out in stand-up comedy, earned a reported 400,000 pounds a year for his radio programme. He starred as an oversexed rock star in the Hollywood romantic comedy "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" earlier this year. Email Story IM Story Printable View Blog This Recommend this article Average (0 votes) Sign in to recommend this article » Most Recommended Stories » Most Popular – Top Stories Viewed When men see red, they see hot: study Asian stocks soar on US Fed rate cut McCain in defiance as Obama boosted by economic data World's fattest man weds friend's widow Desperate pleas end in despair as starlet's nephew found dead View Complete List » Search: Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology

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