Rude

'Rude' is the first episode of Series R and was first broadcast on 28th May 2020. It featured John Barrowman, Aisling Bea and Phill Jupitus as guests.

Introductions & Buzzers
"The Breathtakingly Rude" John: [Male voice] Oi you!

"The Unbelievably Rude" Aisling: [Male voice] Shove it up your a***!

"The Fantastically Rude" Phill: [Male voice] Go to hell!

"The Rudest 4 Letter Word I Can Think Of" Alan: [Female voice] You flipping scoundrel!

Questions & Tangents
Italic text means a tangent or diversion from the question or topic.

Name a word so rude you can't say it on a BBC comedy show
Phill buzzes in and presumably begins saying 'non-BBC' words but all we hear is censor beeps. The show cuts to a test card saying "please standby" for a few seconds before returning to Sandi who rephrases the question.

Name a word that you can say on a BBC comedy show now, that you couldn't in the 1950's
Phill says it's past the 9pm watershed and that they're allowed to say 'f***'. However, John states that you must write to the BBC for permission to use it, which Sandi confirms is true. Phill adds that he'll start writing the letter now.

Alan explains that in radio they were given a list of "about 8 words" they couldn't say, but they only really got into trouble for blasphemy.

Sandi goes on to say that in the 1940's, the company introduced the "BBC Variety Programmes Policy Guide for Writers and Producers" or the "Green Book" as it became known and it listed what was acceptable for broadcasting. The book made a ban on jokes involving "lavatories, effeminacy in men, immorality of any kind, and suggestive references to honeymoon couples, chambermaids and fig leaves." There was also a ban on jokes towards a specific Irish family called the "MacGillycuddys of the Reeks", who had been subject to many jokes over the years, to which they took offence.

''Max Miller once told a story on the BBC in 1944 about meeting a girl on a mountain pass. He said he "didn't know whether to block her passage or toss himself off" and ended up being banned from the BBC for five years.''

''In 1993, the BBC banned a song for the first time. It was called "My Little Ukulele in my Hand" by George Formby.''

''John talks about how when he was BBC-trained he was told "if it's in a medical book, you can say it". This leads to Phill mocking Formby and singing "Oh, I'm absolutely riddled with Chlamydia."''

''Another song that was targeted by the BBC was "She Sits Among the Cabbages and Peas" by Marie Lloyd. The BBC told her to change it so she changed it to "She Sits Among the Cabbages and Leeks"''