Ofcom to investigate Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand's prank calls

Published on Tuesday 28 October 2008 11:45

OFCOM said today it would investigate the offensive phone calls made by Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand to veteran actor Andrew Sachs.

The calls, made for a BBC radio show, involved a claim that Brand had slept with the Fawlty Towers actor's granddaughter Georgina Baillie, 23.

The presenters also joked that the actor might kill himself as a result.

Ross, 47, has since issued a personal apology, with Brand, 33, following suit.

A spokeswoman for the media watchdog, which has received complaints about the incident, confirmed Ofcom has decided to investigate.

Sources also said today that a senior editorial figure signed off the pre-recorded Radio 2 programme.

Pressure has been mounting for the BBC to take further action over the incident, which the corporation has apologised for.

The Daily Mail reported that that a young producer named Nic Philps had been given the responsibility of calling Sachs to check if he would be happy for the messages to go out.

But a source also said that an un-named senior figure gave the broadcast the go-ahead.

The BBC received more than 1,500 complaints, including phone calls and emails, and there have been calls for the pair to taken off air or sacked.

A spokesman for the BBC Trust said it had asked for a report from BBC management on its investigations.

He said: "The Trust has noted BBC management's decision to issue an apology and to carry out a review.

"The Trust's editorial standards committee has requested a report from the management on its review at its meeting next week.

"In light of that update, the committee will decide what matters should be covered by management in a formal report to the full Trust at its meeting on 20 November.

"The Trust will await this report before commenting further and without prejudice to any complaints on appeal it might receive in due course."

The BBC later said that the tally of complaints about Brand's Radio 2 show now stood at more than 4,700.

Ofcom assessed the complaints it received about the programme against the Broadcasting Code, which sets standards including fairness and privacy.

Section two of the code covers broadcast material that may cause harm and offence and section eight covers privacy of individuals.

Conservative leader David Cameron said the BBC must be "transparent" about how the programme came to be broadcast.

Mr Cameron said: "I think the BBC have got some very straightforward questions to answer.

"The main question is why did they allow this programme to be broadcast, given that it was pre-recorded?

"So we need to know who made the decision to broadcast it? How high up the editorial chain did it go? Who examined it? Why did they conclude that it should be broadcast?

"The BBC needs to be transparent about how it takes decisions and explain its decision-taking process so that everyone can see what more needs to be done."