Wright Stuff gets most Ofcom complaints of 2011
An edition of The Wright Stuff in which host Matthew Wright made light of a teenager's murder in Scotland attracted the most complaints to Ofcom of 2011.
His use of a mock Scottish accent and a catchphrase from detective show Taggart when discussing the murder of Liam Aitchison, 16, drew 2,220 complaints. Wright has apologised for his comments about Liam's death, the first murder on the Western Isles in 43 years. Complaints made directly to TV channel 5 were not included in Ofcom's figure. The number of complaints made to the media watchdog about The Wright Stuff dwarfed the 784 prompted by an edition of ITV1's Dancing on Ice, in which judge Jason Gardiner argued with coach Karen Barber. An edition of The One Show in which Jeremy Clarkson joked that public sector strikers should be shot came third in Ofcom's rundown of ignominy, having prompted 763 complainants to get in touch. In that instance, more people chose to complain directly to the BBC, which received more than 30,000 complaints about the 30 November programme. The BBC news website asked Channel 5's representatives how many complaints it had received due to The Wright Stuff programme but has yet to receive a response.