A lot of common, decent people would have looked at this programme and been thoroughly disgusted

John Milton-Whatmore

Mediawatch-UK was formerly the National Viewers and Listeners Association, the broadcast monitoring group set up by the late Mary Whitehouse.

Mr Milton-Whatmore said viewers' complaints were not being heeded by broadcasters.

"What do we have to do, in phone calls and letters, to give them the impression that it wasn't light, it was perverted?" he said.

One of the show's writers, David Quantick, also speaking on the Today programme, said the programme was "groundbreaking stuff", and the complaints had been inevitable.

Brass Eye is fronted by Chris Morris

"It should get lots of awards - all of them, really," he said.

But Mr Milton-Whatmore insisted: "A lot of people were offended by this.

"A lot of common, decent people would have looked at this programme and been thoroughly disgusted."

More than 1,500 complaints were made about the programme by members of the public after it was broadcast last July.

'Duped'

In January, the Brass Eye Special won a Broadcast magazine comedy award, seeing off competition from The Royle Family at Christmas on BBC One, Coupling on BBC Two, My Family on BBC One, and Channel 4's Phoenix Nights.

In the same month, the Broadcasting Standards Commission refused to uphold complaints made by two Labour MPs against the programme.

Syd Rapson and Barbara Follett had claimed they were duped into appearing on the programme.