D'oh! - Beckham fails international Simpsons test

DAVID Beckham may have a Buddhist temple dedicated to him in Thailand, but he wasn’t deemed internationally famous enough to appear in an episode of The Simpsons.

A celebrity guest spot on the satirical cartoon show is now the recognised badge of global fame, with rock stars, Hollywood actors and even politicians jostling for the chance to appear on the show.

This weekend, JK Rowling makes an appearance, alongside Tony Blair and the actor Sir Ian McKellen.

The episode, The Regina Monologues, will first be seen on Fox in the United States this Sunday and will air on British television sometime in the new year.

For the Prime Minister, the guest spot on the popular television series will enhance his image with the satire-loving British public, and possibly even with his own children.

As the actor Pierce Brosnan commented after his own guest slot: "My kids don’t give a damn about me being 007. But they’ll think I’m really hip if I appear on The Simpsons."

Almost 300 guest stars have previously lent their voices to the series, including the cream of Hollywood stars and rock royalty. The veteran crooner, Tony Bennett, was the first star to appear on the show, which was originally screened as a short section of the Tracey Ullman Show.

Other guest stars have included Paul McCartney, Britney Spears, Mel Gibson, Bette Midler and Dame Elizabeth Taylor, who featured as the voice of baby Maggie.

Three years ago, the voice actors from The Simpsons staged a one-off live reading of an episode in what became the hottest ticket of the Edinburgh 2000 Fringe. An all-star audience, which included a Who’s Who of British stand-ups, awarded the voices of the cartoon family a thundering ovation.

Rowling, who has sold 250 million copies of the Harry Potter books worldwide and is now richer than the Queen, is a huge Simpsons fan and jumped at the chance to appear on the show.

She said: "I love The Simpsons because of the detail - there are so many layers and it works for kids and for adults.

"When I lived in Portugal, a group of us used to sprint to a cafe after work so we could watch The Simpsons.

"It was the highlight of our TV week - if only I had known one day that they’d be spoofing me"

The episode due to be screened this Sunday is set in London. In it, Lisa Simpson is revealed to be a huge Harry Potter fan and enjoys a tremulous starstruck meeting with the famous author.

In the course of their UK visit, the family is invited to tea at Downing Street with Mr Blair and cause a huge problem for McKellen by uttering the name of "the Scottish play" out loud.

Every time Bart calls out ‘Macbeth’, McKellen is met by an accident, including being hit by falling scaffolding and struck by lightning.

Matt Groening, the creator of the show, was delighted when Rowling agreed to take part in the show herself rather than allowing an actor to imitate her voice.

He said: "I was really honoured when I found out JK was a big fan of the show - my kids have devoured all of the books."

However, Mr Blair’s decision to appear in the show is unlikely to be followed by his US counterpart, George Bush, whose father, George senior, famously sighed: "Why can’t America be less like the Simpsons - and more like the Waltons?"