But the commission felt its scheduling at 4pm and the phrase I once had my penis bitten were unacceptable

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But the commission felt its scheduling at 4pm and the phrase "I once had my penis bitten" were unacceptable.Alan Partridge, a character created by the comedian Steve Coogan, was accused of offending disabled viewers. to the audience with a valid discussion over the merits, attractions and disadvantages of working in the entertainment area". Elisabeth Murdoch, director of programmes at BSkyB, recently argued that British television is over- regulated and that in a multi-channel world people can simply choose to watch something else if they object to what is on their screens.The Living channel felt that its "light-hearted fun look at the world of male stripping" offered "a balanced viewpoint ... Alan Partridge should be appointed to sit on it."Although many television bosses were not prepared to be named for fear of victimisation by the commission, most were critical of its decisions and some called for an examination into its existence.One industry figure said: "Regulatory bodies are vying to be more censorious than each other, with the BSC, the Independent Television Commission and the BBC trying to impress the Government that they are the most careful custodians of television morals."There is agreement that regulation is necessary for issues such as racism or gross indecency, but the latest decisions will fuel the argument that taste and decency regulation should be reduced. The 11 members of the commission are appointed by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and are paid pounds 14,000 a year to work a two-day week.Peter Bazalgette, who devised Changing Rooms and other popular programmes, said the judgements against Alan Partridge "prove that the commission itself is a sit-com ... The commission's comments are made in its latest bulletin, issued yesterday. But Michael Jackson, the head of Channel 4, said the Omen decision was "typical of how the commission fails to get things in proportion" and confirmed that he would defy the watchdog and schedule the film in the same way again.Others criticised a system whereby a few members of the great and the good "sit around in committees deciding what will offend the nation's sensibilities". Television executives criticised the rulings as "overly- censorious", "eccentric" and "ludicrous", and suggested the commission's judgements on taste and decency on television have been fatally discredited.

ALAN PARTRIDGE is repeatedly too offensive for television, The Omen should not have been broadcast on Christmas Day and a discussion about male strippers should not have been aired at 4pm, the Broadcasting Standards Commission said yesterday. Either that or, as several genuinely angry Labour backbenchers clearly suspected, they are beginning to fear that the Government might yet emerge from the war unwounded.. He is more than happy to use the phrase "class sizes" when talking about primary school education because he can truthfully claim they have gone down, but when he moves on to secondary school children he will only talk about the "adult-pupil ratio" - a measurement which will take in caretakers, dinner-ladies, passing drug-dealers and even, one assumes, Labour ministers and MPs doing classroom photo-opportunities.After George Robertson's statement on Kosovo, John Maples took the opportunity to reinforce the Tories' sceptical line about war strategy, jeering at one point against the notion of the Rapid Reaction force.This seemed unwise, since the Tories themselves looked oddly sluggish yesterday, as though they were not yet aware that things had been looking up for Nato over the past few days. A slim possibility most weeks but the Tories got through yesterday with some sharply aimed questions on class sizes, which left Mr Blair scrabbling in the tramlines. Then another Tory rises and the possibility of genuine point-scoring returns. Suddenly all the pep goes out of the game and the audience slumps down, grumbling with boredom as Mr Blair plays Millbank pat-a-cake for a few minutes.

After all, one moment he's having to cope with genuinely forceful volleys from the Tories and the next he's facing Labour backbenchers, who serve under-arm and use soft foam balls emblazoned with Labour election slogans. If they're denying it so vehemently they must have something to hide.It can't be easy for Mr Blair to get his eye in, though. Mr Blair denied these measures existed at all, which, rather like a US Air Force insistence that there are no alien spacecraft stored in Area 51, only confirmed the dark suspicions of the Eurosceptics. He ended by calling for the Prime Minister to publish a list of the 200 "hidden measures" of tax harmonisation currently being discussed in some federalist coven.