Frankie Boyle will cast his caustic eye over the Scottish independence referendum on a BBC online show to be filmed by the “yes” vote supporter hours after the result of the 18 September poll is revealed.
The no holds-barred comic, who has said he is “all for” an independent Scotland but predicted “it won’t happen”, will front a mixture of stand-up comedy with discussion about the result and its repercussions in front of a live studio audience in Glasgow.
But Boyle, who has proved has proved hugely controversial in the past with his programmes for the BBC, Channel 4 and comments on Twitter, will not be seen on any of the corporation’s TV channels. His programme, called Frankie Boyle’s Referendum Autopsy, will be available only on the BBC iPlayer on demand service.
The BBC said the programme, which will also feature other comics, would “analyse the campaign, scrutinise the celebrity endorsements, dissect the part that social media played in the lead up to the vote and take a satirical look at how the news at home and abroad covered the event”.
Boyle criticised the BBC for being biased in its coverage of the referendum, claiming the corporation had a vested interest in a “no” vote because Scottish licence payers contributed “probably a £200m a year subsidy to the BBC”.
The BBC has studiously sought to avoid any controversy around its coverage, although that has not stopped protests about its alleged bias, and complaints that it was not devoting enough airtime to the issue.
Victoria Jaye, head of TV content, BBC iPlayer, said: “The Scottish Referendum is one of the most significant political events of our time and we want [the] BBC iPlayer to draw on the power of comedy to reflect on its outcome in a special, one-off event.
“Frankie is uniquely placed to create this for us, as one of the leading voices in modern satire.”
Boyle was a regular face on BBC2 show Mock The Week but left the show in 2009, shortly before the BBC Trust ruled the programme broke editorial guidelines over a joke which he made about the appearance of the swimmer Rebecca Adlington.
Boyle caused further upset with his Channel 4 series Tramadol Nights in which he made comments about Katie Price’s disabled son and which Ofcom said breached the broadcasting code. He has since parted company with the broadcaster but returned to the BBC for a short comedy film with Bob Mortimer, also on the iPlayer, which was launched in June.
Speaking at the Guardian Edinburgh International TV Festival last month, Boyle said he was “working on an iPlayer pilot for the referendum which is a bit like Charlie Brooker’s Weekly Wipe or something like that, but we’ve not quite got into it yet”.
Boyle said he was told “the compliance is exactly the same” for a BBC online show as it was for one on the BBC’s TV channels.
Ruth Phillips, the executive producer for production company Zeppotron which will be make the referendum show, said: “We’ll see Frankie both venting at his brilliant best and also challenged on his views, all to great comic effect.”
Zeppotron is part of Endemol UK and also made Brooker’s Screenwipe and Weekly Wipe.
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