BBC investigates after concern imaginary character was victim of sexism

The BBC has investigated after concern the imaginary character of “the lovely Samantha” on Radio 4’s I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue is the victim of harmful sexist objectification, it has been disclosed.

The BBC has privately looked into whether to "update" the smutty jokes aimed at “Samantha”, despite publicly signalling the familiar innuendo will remain part of the long-running show.

A “number of senior figures” at the corporation are said to share the concerns of a complainant, who argued the non-speaking character was referred to only as a sexual object and perpetuated “schoolboy, sexist, so-called humour”.

As a result, talks have been held to determine how the show can adapt to the modern day, with more female panellists booked to appear on the show and more frequent mentions of Samantha’s male equivalent, Sven.

It will also endeavour to make sure the audience understands Samantha, a fictional scorekeeper who is never heard on the panel show, is a “willing, even enthusiastic participant in the liaisons” joked about on air.

The details of the meetings have been published by the BBC Trust as part a regular bulletin from its Editorial Standards Committee, the final arbiter of appeals if listeners and viewers are unhappy with the way their initial complaints have been dealt with by BBC management.

On this occasion, it found, the complainant’s appeal "did not qualify to proceed for consideration" because it did not have a reasonable prospect of success.

An appeal, it said, would be likely to conclude “that the portrayal of Samantha and the delivery of lines met generally accepted standards because of the context, the fact that the portrayal did not exceed audience expectations, and the editorial justification”.

In drawing its conclusions, the report detailed the many steps already taken since the first complaint was received by Radio 4’s Feedback in July 2013.

At the time, a listener had complained that references to the imaginary assistant Samantha were “highly sexist, offensive and harmful”.

Then, a response from the programme’s producer assured her the innuendo was “part of the programme’s tradition of wordplay and punning”, with the “vast majority” of listeners “welcoming her inclusion”.

The complainant, dissatisfied with the response, appealed to the BBC Trust, quoting a UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women who had previously referred to a “boys’ club sexist culture” in the UK, and arguing the BBC had “failed to keep abreast of changing social attitudes”.

A Senior Editorial Complaints Advisor appointed to look into the appeal noted there was no sexually explicit language, saying she believed most listeners would regard it as a “mild form of banter without any aggressive or malicious intent towards women”.

Earlier this year, a news story about Clue’s innuendo prompted the BBC to issue a statement saying there were “regular discussions with production teams and contributors of all long–running Radio 4 programmes on how we can best keep the much–loved shows clever, relevant and fresh to listeners.”

The true extent of behind-the-scenes discussions has now been revealed, with the complainant claiming the public statement contradicted the actual correspondence she had with the BBC.

A letter from a member of the Editorial Complaints Unit had instead told her there had been “lengthy and detailed discussion between senior managers” with a “number of senior figures share, at least in part, your concerns about the manner in which Samantha in portrayed”.

The head of radio comedy and the show’s producer had been in talks about how to update the character, it added.

The report published by the BBC Trust states: “The complainant explained that she had also had further correspondence with the show’s producer who acknowledged that a “high-level meeting” had taken place and outlined the changes that were planned for the show including booking female panellists, featuring Sven (the male equivalent of Samantha) more frequently and making sure the audience understood Samantha was a “willing even enthusiastic participant in the liaisons” and stress that she was often the initiator in these relationships to avoid the suggestion that she was being taken advantage of.”

It would make clear, it added, that “Samantha, like Sven, has a prodigious sexual appetite”.

A committee examining the complaint concluded an appeal should not proceed, noting the Radio 4 audience had a “nuanced” relationship with the show and understood part of the comedy lay in “the pastiche of sexist culture” and the fact Samatha is “imaginary and fictional”.

The show, first broadcast in 1972, is presented by Jack Dee. It is currently one of Radio 4’s most popular programmes, and has more female listeners than male.