BBC Northern Ireland

Yes, yeah.

Brian Rowan, former BBC Northern Ireland

security correspondent.

I think in the end, I think all sides.

The BBC had previously said they were actively considering whether to broadcast Angeloni's new show, Rewarding, due to the mounting concerns around the joke.

The Independent reports that it is still scheduled to be broadcast next month on BBC Northern Ireland.

However, a BBC spokesperson said the broadcaster is, quote, discussing the issues raised with the independent production company involved.

The comments made by Vittoria Angeloni are unacceptable and wrong.

Well, one farmer who joined at the suggestion of his sister after bovine TB led to the loss of his entire dairy herd, Mervyn Kelso, says the choir became important for him as he struggled with the sudden emptiness of the farm.

BBC Northern Ireland's Louise Cullen reports.

The sound of music that helped fill Mervyn Kelso's farmyard when it fell silent.

We lost 120 cows at that stage.

But he was on a podcast called Have a Word.

And last year this happened where he made a comment directed at a content creator saying, named Rebecca Goodwin and basically it was a rape joke and it's surfacing now because he's about to have a show his debut show is going to be due to be aired on BBC Northern Ireland they've said they're going to be reconsidering things now after this so someone Listen to the podcast, dug it out, brought it out just ahead of it.

But the reason why he's my sinner is I think that we cannot and we've done a lot of conversations in general, all of us about the sanitizing of comedy and, you know, where can we go now? And things have changed so much and all of that, like SNL in the 80s compared to now and all that kind of stuff, the left.

I do think that there are a few things that are just there.

He's good.

So a lot of his stuff.

Is he BBC Northern Ireland funny? He's funnier than that.

Thank goodness.

Morning, good morning.

And Don Anderson, former head of radio for BBC Northern Ireland, is with us this morning.

Good morning to you, Don.

Good morning.

So it's just the chickens coming home to roost now.

But it's about what should it cut? What should it not? There are many, many discussions then about, you know, for example, there's so many discussions you could talk all day and all night about it.

But for example, Steve, in terms of the BBC's place in any local community, how much of a BBC budget should be given away? So that the likes of BBC Northern Ireland is making local programmes for local people.

And one argument is it shouldn't give us stuff.

I'm Kevin Doyle, and today's episode of the IndoDaily was produced and researched by Gareth Mulhall, recorded by Gavin Hennessy, with sound by Rory Bowens.

Archived clips were from RTE News, BBC Northern Ireland and the Irish Independent.

And we want to earn your trust and our members of the Trust Project.

So you can see our ethics policies at independent.ie forward slash rjournalism.

But the cuts mean there will be no more local comedy on our screens.

BBC Northern Ireland is now in a situation where the question is going to be asked if London is making all the decisions about what's happening my fluker programme is effectively gone and London is now deciding what's funny what's not funny what they like what they don't like what is the point of BBC Northern Ireland

I'm joined by Tim McGarry Damon Quinn and Michael McDowell The comedy programmes Give My Head Peace and The Blame Game have been axed by the BBC.

The move comes amid major cuts across the corporation.

What has happened is there's been a money grab from London.

London has basically stolen the region's money.

So, I mean, BBC Northern Ireland is now in a situation where the question is going to be asked, if London is making all the decisions about what's happening, if local programming is effectively gone and London is now deciding what's funny, what's not funny, what they like, what they don't like, what is the point of BBC Northern Ireland? I mean, why do I have it? There's

going to be no homegrown comedy, so it's...

Phenomenal.

Uh, his first major TV acting role in Rewarding, a brand-new six-part comedy series for BBC Northern Ireland and Prime Video by, via WonderProject.

Here we go.

The premise: set in social care, Angeloni stars as Francis, an experienced, pragmatic, and world we- weary support worker, paired with an overly idealistic newcomer, Sinead, played by Hannah McLean.

So there was that kind of insanity.

But in terms of, in terms of the real life stuff, yeah, the more you went on, the more you'd end up like, you know, the way Ireland's very small.

Yeah.

you'd meet everybody you wanted to meet and you'd end up having people saying so-and-so would like to talk to you.

It's mad now when you look back and you see what like these people have gone on to achieve, do you know what I mean? Like even the likes of Barry, Tom went on to work with Marvel then as well.

Yeah.

And like I suppose what Aidan kind of always was up in the the high class with what he was working on wasn't he but like it's it is actually it's crazy and again we don't want to get hung up on it because we know we've done a lot more than it just but again the impact it's had on Ireland like people want like I know we weren't the only ones sitting around every Sunday and watching it and like the viewing figures reflect that you know what I mean no matter where you no matter what age you are or what part of the country you're from you've watched love hey

yeah 100% 100% couldn't agree more Stuart what can I get off love hey you happy about that