Frank Skinner: show went "beyond the limits of the code"

Its ruling said: "Boy George seemed to be determined to disconcert Skinner through a series of 'outrageous' suggestions.

"The ITC did feel that the unrelenting sexual nature of the whole Boy George interview, and one or two of the references in particular, had gone beyond the limits of the code."

The programme-maker LWT said viewers should by now be well aware of the type of content to be found on this late-night show, and said there had been a warning announcement.

But the ITC said the warning had been insufficient to alert viewers to the inteview's content.

The commission turned down 17 complaints about a comedy routine in the same programme, which featured jokes about Afghanistan and the Taleban.

The ITC said these remarks had been "justifiable satire" against a "brutal and repressive regime".