British actress Joely Richardson, one of the stars of Nip/Tuck

A slogan for the programme on Sky One - "sometimes a boob job is the best cure for depression" - was considered to be demeaning by 20 of the complainants.

But the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) rejected them, while objections to two other posters for the series are still being considered.

The drama has depicted graphic scenes, including a man's face being cut off.

'Black humour'

The advertising watchdog decided to reject the 20 complaints with the reference to depression on the grounds that the slogan was "black humour".

People who complained also felt that depression had been belittled by the poster campaign.

The other two posters which have come under fire carry the phrases "ugliness demeans us all" and "beautify your face and you will be nicer and happier".

British actress Joely Richardson is the star of Nip/Tuck, which is made by the Fox network in the US and centres around a plastic surgery practice in Florida.

Boycott urged

The show has already been blasted across the Atlantic where TV decency watchdog the Parent's Television Council urged advertisers to boycott it.

The first episode was aired in the UK on 13 January and showed Botox being injected into a woman's face, bile spurting from a patient's stomach and scenes of torture.

Other controversial scenes have included characters snorting cocaine, a gerbil being flushed down the toilet and a doctor dumping a patient's corpse into a swamp.