Doctor Who star exposes himself on air
Days after the BBC promised to clean up its act following the Andrew Sachs debacle, it has been forced into a fresh apology over lewd behaviour.
Doctor Who actor John Barrowman exposed himself during a live broadcast at 8.15pm on Sunday.
Although the programme was on Radio 1, pictures were also relayed to online listeners via a webcam.
And while Barrowman's genitalia were not actually shown, the crude comments which accompanied the incident made it clear what had happened.
The 41-year-old actor, who plays Captain Jack Harkness in Doctor Who and its spin-off Torchwood, was appearing on The Switch, presented by Nick Grimshaw and Annie Mac.
He was wearing a helmet after being pushed around the studio in a wheelbarrow.
Grimshaw said: 'You're famous, we're told, for getting your willy out in interviews. Is this going to happen today? Should Annie be careful?'
Barrowman asked: 'Is the webcam on?' When told it was, he declared: 'All right, I'll get it out for you then, no problem.' The webcam had been swiftly covered up but listeners heard Annie Mac screaming: 'Oh my God!' as the other two were heard laughing.
Barrowman was heard seconds later saying: 'I didn't take the whole thing out, but I got my fruit and nuts out.' He also exclaimed: 'I can't believe I've just done that.'
A BBC spokesman yesterday admitted that the show had 'overstepped the mark', adding: 'We acknowledge this and apologised at the end of the live programme.' Barrowman issued his own apology for any offence his behaviour had caused.
The Scottish-American actor, whose early TV career was as a children's presenter on Live And Kicking, said the 'light-hearted' banter went too far - and promised it would never happen again.
Radio 4 has also received complaints after a joke about bestiality on the 4 Stands Up comedy programme, aired at 6.30pm.
Rhod Gilbert made the joke about his mother, the dog and the questionable parentage of his brother. While no foul language was used in the incident, aired over a week ago, there was widespread anger about this type of content being aired so early.
The BBC's head of comedy Mark Freeland, however, defended the material saying that bestiality was an acceptable subject of comedy at the corporation.
Following the Andrew Sachs episode, during which Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross left obscene messages on the 78-year-old actor's answering machine, the BBC said it was 'determined to act on the lessons learned from this incident'.
Brand resigned, as did Radio 2 controller Lesley Douglas and her colleague David Barber. Ross was suspended for three months.
Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe said: 'Is the BBC ever going to learn from anything following the Ross and Brand incident? There is such an anything goes attitude about the place, that people no longer know where the lines of decency are actually drawn.'
A serial exhibitionistJohn Barrowman is also a singer and has acted as a judge on the BBC talent shows I'd Do Anything, Any Dream Will Do and How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?
He is openly gay and in 2006 'married' long-term partner Scott Gill in a civil ceremony. Since then he has appeared determined to seek notoriety.
In June 2007 he gave an interview saying his boyfriend became 'turned on' by the thought of Barrowman being with a woman.
By early this year, he was boasting that he regularly flashes his bottom, often at his own family 'as they drive off in the car'.
His Torchwood co-star Freema Agyeman then revealed that the actor commonly walked around the set with his 'chap hanging out'.
And Barrowman added that he had once soiled himself on stage and kicked faeces into the audience.
:eek:
