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Text Santa Raises
£4m
ITV1's Text Santa charity shows raised more than £4 million
for good causes, it has been announced.
The pre-Christmas programmes - hosted by Phillip Schofield and Christine
Bleakley - allowed viewers to make donations by sending a text message.
The shows raised a total of £4.12 million for charities such as Samaritans
and Crisis, and children's hospitals including Great Ormond Street.
Schofield said: "I think that's a fantastic result. First time and over four
million quid so it's just brilliant."
ITV's director of television Peter Fincham said: "To have raised over £4
million for charity in the first year of a brand new event is fantastic and
I'd like to thank all those involved in Text Santa, but most importantly our
viewers who have contributed generously to help a range of important
causes."
January
17
2012 - waveguide.co.uk
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Top Gear
Top Gear producers today rejected claims that the show’s
India special was insulting – and said it was instead a “warts and all”
portrayal of the country.
The Christmas edition led to Indian diplomats making a complaint to the BBC
about what they regarded as a “disgusting” episode.
But programme makers have now responded for the first time to say the show
did not display a “hostile or superior attitude”. And they said jokes were
at the expense of presenters Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond
rather than the Indian people.
The 90-minute India special showed Clarkson talking to locals while dressed
in his boxer shorts, using a trouser press. It included a car fitted with a
toilet in the boot which Clarkson said was “perfect for India because
everyone who comes here gets the trots”.
The presenters also placed banners on trains declaring “British IT is good
for your company” and “Eat English muffins” which were later torn to reveal
rude messages.
The tone of the programme led to viewer complaints and prompted the Indian
High Commission in London to write to the BBC to protest.
Raja Sekhar from the Commission said the letter was sent to show “strong
disappointment” after he claimed the show “ran down the whole society,
culture and people”.
But responding to the controversy for the first time Top Gear bosses said
the road trip across India was “filled with incidents but none of them were
an insult to the Indian people or the culture of the country”.
In a statement on the BBC’s complaints website, they said: “Our film showed
the charm, the beauty, the wealth, the poverty and the idiosyncrasies of
India but there’s a vast difference between showing a country, warts and
all, and insulting it.
“It’s simply not the case that we displayed a hostile or superior attitude
to our hosts and that’s very clear from the way the presenters can be seen
to interact with them along the way.
They added: “We genuinely loved our time in India and if there were any
jokes to be had they were, as ever, reflected back on the presenters rather
than the Indian people.”
Last year the show ran into trouble over comments about Mexicans. The BBC
ended up apologising to the Mexican ambassador.
January
17
2012 - waveguide.co.uk
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