Angry tabloids fail to drive Frankie Boyle off TV

Despite his unerring ability to upset viewers and drive the paragons of the Daily Mail and Daily Mirror to distraction, it seems broadcasters just can't get enough of the high-risk Scottish comedian Frankie Boyle.

Boyle's Channel 4 show Tramadol Nights is currently the subject of an Ofcom investigation following complains about racist jokes and one particularly over-the-top gag where he suggested that Katie Price's severely disabled son, Harvey, might want to have sex with his mother.

Yet in spite of the inquiry, BBC2 invited him to guest host their late-night music show Never Mind The Buzzcocks on Monday.

And later this month, according to online gossip, Channel 4 is likely to give him a slot as a presenter on its British Comedy Awards show when - wait for it - the event will be broadcast live, without a time delay.

Needless to say, Monday's Buzzcocks did not pass without controversy.

According to the Mirror - whose reports have to be taken with a pinch of salt since the paper joined the Mail in demanding his sacking by C4 - Boyle made jokes about cancer, AIDS and sex.

At one point, Boyle joked about the band Muse contracting AIDS. "Muse had their equipment wrecked by a hurricane, coincidentally minutes before the Hurricane Festival in Germany," he said. "We can only wish them all the best at next year's World Aids Day gig."

Boyle also accused one of the anonymous men in the show's regular "identity parade" round as having "rubbing his cock up against a school bus window".

Michelle Williams, the Destiny's Child singer who was one of the guest panelists on Monday, said: "I thought this was a family show", to which Boyle replied: "I think most weeks it is, but I come along once a series and ruin it."

Viewers took to Twitter to register their outrage, with one viewer
commenting: "If only we could build a time machine and send Frankie Boyle back two years, before he started confusing vile with funny."

As for the British Comedy Awards - the annual event at which Julian Clary once famously joked about "fisting" Norman Lamont - Channel 4 confirmed to The First Post today that the January 22 show would be broadcast without a time delay.

However, the spokesman said the line-up of presenters had not yet been decided and he could not therefore confirm whether Boyle would be there.

If he is, we have been warned - by Boyle himself. During Buzzcocks, he commented: "I'm not a very nice man. I'm glad I could clear that up for you." ·