Editor's note: Roger Bolton on this week's Feedback, including an interview with Richard Clarke, Editor of the BBC Radio Newsroom. Download the weekly Feedback podcast.
Roger Bolton, presenter of Feedback
Unalloyed joy. That's what I experienced this week. Not in the Feedback studio of course, but in the stalls of a London Theatre. I was watching a revival of Peter Nichols' "Privates on Parade", with the wonderful Simon Russell Beale as the outrageously camp Captain Terri Dennis. The playwright did his national service in the far east with Kenneth Williams and Stanley Baxter- and it shows.
I had seen the original production by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1978, when the leading role was played by the wonderful Denis Quilley. Then the musical seemed not just funny but also ground breaking in its use of extremely earthy language. And, to be honest, listening to this revivaI, I was, initially, a little shocked by its bluntness.
Sergeant Len Bonny, (originally played by Joe Melia, and in this production by John Marquez), comes from Smethwick and uses the f and c words in every sentence. Even now, in our more verbally relaxed days, it is very, very, funny, partly because it is in total contrast to the elegant word play elsewhere, and because the sergeant obviously can't help it, try as he does.
I was not taken unawares of course, the play's programme contained a warning, and I don't expect the theatre to be as conservative about the use of 'strong' language as broadcasting.
One word I did not hear in the theatre was the n word, so offensive to older black people.
However you could have heard that word in a BBC news bulletin relating to the resignation of the black executive of the professional Footballers Association, Paul Elliott.
Why was it used, why was there no warning? Were listeners offended?
Those were some of the issues we wanted to explore in this week's Feedback.
Here is our feature which includes that word in full, and an interview with the Editor of the BBC Newsroom, Richard Clarke.
Roger Bolton talks to Richard Clarke about the use of the n word (includes n word in full)
By the way this week two listeners joined me this week to listen to a recording of a new Radio 4 comedy, "The Guns of Adam Riches".
On Wednesday, Fiona Sturges, the radio critic of the Independent newspaper wrote an article headed "Radio is the place where comedy goes to die".
If you go the iPlayer, and listen to our programme in full, you can judge whether we attended a burial, or the birth of a new radio star.
Roger Bolton
Roger Bolton presents Feedback on Radio 4.
•Listen to this week's Feedback
•Get in touch with the programme, find out how to join the listener panel or subscribe to the podcast on the Feedback website
•Read all of Roger's Feedback blog posts
