C4 hands Frankie Boyle pre-Christmas double bill

After weeks of offending Middle England with his provocative brand of humour, Frankie Boyle was handed a double bill on Tuesday night by Channel 4, who showed back-to-back episodes of the Scottish comedian's controversial show, Tramadol Nights, after bumping fellow comedian Morgana Robinson from the schedules.
 
The station put the switch down to a last-minute change to the Christmas programming, but by happy coincidence the second of the two shows featured a characteristically close-to-the-bone reference to the main news story of the day - the jailing of Stephen Griffiths, the so-called 'crossbow cannibal'.
 
"It was a great summer for mental cunts murdering people. Pretty much a classic, wasn't it?" Boyle observed, before citing Griffiths, who had been jailed for life earlier in the day.
 
Channel 4 said that the fact the show had been brought forward by a week and contained a reference to Griffiths was purely coincidental. A spokeswoman explained that the Morgana Show would be given a double bill of its own next week - which falls between Christmas and the New Year.
 
Tramadol Nights has attracted significantly more viewers than the Morgana Show during its run, and Channel 4 may have decided to try and cash in before the Christmas break. Boyle's brand of humour might be even less well received over the holiday season than it is usually.

The show is uncomfortable enough viewing as it is – without having to watch it with the in-laws over a plate of left-over turkey. ·