Pope DVD could stir trouble

[emad]

Pope DVD could stir trouble
10/08/2005 12:06 - (SA)

London - A cartoon, which was banned from the BBC for its depiction of the pope as an immature brat, is set to cause new controversy after it was confirmed it would be released on DVD in Britain.

Popetown, which features the voices of comedienne Ruby Wax as the pontiff and model Jerry Hall as a fame-hungry nun, was commissioned for digital TV channel BBC Three, but deemed too offensive for broadcast last year.

The 10-part animation, commissioned in 2002 before the death of Pope John Paul II, also features corrupt cardinals, plotlines about bestiality and an elderly pope bouncing around the Vatican on a pogo stick.

Roman Catholic groups campaigned against the two million pound show, which also stars Mckenzie Crook of the cult series The Office and Matt Lucas from Little Britain.

http://www.news24.com/News24/Entertainment/Abroad/0,,2-1225-1243_1751778,00.html

[emad]

1. Guardian story:

BBC's banned satire on Vatican released

Stephen Bates, religious affairs correspondent
Tuesday August 9, 2005
The Guardian

Popetown, the cartoon satire about the Vatican that proved too hot - or too unfunny - for the BBC to handle last year, was last night said to be being released as a DVD by a private company.

The 10-part programme, originally commissioned in 2002, which features an infantile, pogostick-wielding pontiff voiced by the comedienne Ruby Wax, provoked the wrath of many British Catholics, including the church's hierarchy, in an orchestrated campaign to secure its cancellation.


Bishop Joseph Devine of Motherwell declared the series, which he had not seen, as "an irreverent, gratuitous and publicly funded attack on faith."

The complainants were particularly outraged that the show had been commissioned at a cost of about £2m. Some took it as a sign of the BBC's alleged anti-Catholic bias, even though the director general, Mark Thompson, is a Catholic.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1545246,00.html

[LizMoonstar]

2. I wonder if they've tried to stop BattlePope comics. n/t

[Ian David]

3. Popetown

Popetown, the official site
Popetown, the new cartoon show produced by ChannelX and Moi j'aime la télévision censored by the BBC.
http://www.popetown.com


Popetown - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popetown