Answerphonemessagegate

Seems the torch-wielding masses are out on the streets, ready to lynch Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand at the first opportunity.

Clearly, the whole thing has been blown out of all proportion. When the show was broadcast it received two complaints. It wasn't until the Mail picked up on the story that the hordes started complaining about something they hadn't even listened to in the first place. It's hard not to conclude that people who dislike Ross (no doubt driven by the usual bitterness over how much he is paid), Brand and, more broadly, the BBC are jumping on this latest bandwagon and using it as a platform to throw rocks at them.

Now we also have politicians wading in, sensing an opportunity to exploit the situation and pollute the airwaves with their own particularly unctious brand of mock self-righteous indignation.

So let's get back to the nuts and bolts of what happened. There are two distinct issues involved. The actual phonecalls to Andrew Sachs and the broadcasting of them.

There's no doubt that the phonecalls to Sachs were wrong. It's not like they were calling, say, Ricky Gervais or Gordon Ramsey, who they know would no doubt play along with the joke. Sachs isn't a regular guest for either of these two and they were wrong to assume that he could be treated in the same way.

The second issue is that of how the whole thing came to be broadcast. It's quite obvious that there was an editorial failure that allowed this to happen. The picture that seems to be emerging is that the show was being overseen by a junior producer who perhaps didn't feel they could go against Brand and Ross and remove the sequence. I wouldn't blame Brand and Ross for this though. They are big personalities who routinely push the boundaries of what's acceptable and to an extent, that's where much of their popularity lies.

But with such personalities it is also necessary to have another equally strong influence in the studio to reign them in when required, such as an experienced producer or, as is usually the case with Brand's show, a switched-on co-presenter. In the absence of either of these, the dominant personalities of the stars will assert themselves, becoming both broadcaster and de facto producer.

Had the calls not been broadcast, apologies from all concerned to Sachs and his granddaughter, Georgina Bailey, would have sufficed and everyone would have got on with their lives. That's where the culpability of Brand and Ross ends. What happened beyond that is the responsibility of the weak producer and whichever executive put them in place.