Posted by BBC on May 12, 2009 at 12:32:06:
Ramsay censured over TV swearing
Ramsay attempts to save ailing restaurants in Great British Nightmares
Gordon Ramsay's Great British Nightmare breached rules by using "the most offensive" language 115 times in the first 40 minutes, Ofcom has ruled.
The most "aggressive" scene, broadcast at 2100 in January, showed a chef berate his boss and use such language 30 times in less than two minutes.
The Channel 4 programme received 51 complaints, with the language described as "gratuitous and unreal".
Channel 4 said it accepted "we got it wrong" in its scheduling of the show.
"We respect that, given the strength of language in the first part of this two-hour special, the programme should have been scheduled later than 9pm," said a Channel 4 spokesman.
"Very careful attention is paid to balancing the editorial needs of our programming with the risk of causing offence to viewers.
"We accept that, in the instance of scheduling this two-hour special, we got it wrong, and that some viewers were offended by the strong language in the first part of the programme."
Ramsay has also issued a personal apology over the episode.
'Vicious' fight
"Great British Nightmare followed Gordon trying to save two restaurants in the most difficult predicaments," said his spokesman.
"These extreme challenges gave rise to many heated exchanges in the double-length programme.
"But Gordon had no intention of causing offence and is sorry if Channel 4's scheduling of the programme upset some viewers."
Ofcom has also ruled against an episode of ITV soap Emmerdale in which a "sustained and vicious" fight broke out between brothers Carl and Matthew, after which Matthew crashed a van into a wall and died.
ITV1 said viewers were warned of the violent nature before broadcast.
But Ofcom ruled it breached the part of the Broadcasting Code, which says that violence must be "appropriately limited" before the watershed.
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