“I’m not saying my wife’s a bad cook but she uses a smoke alarm as a timer.” Unbelievably it was that kind of gag by Bob Monkhouse that led to an episode of BBC’s The Repair Shop being pulled after a TV production employee took offence to an alleged “ sexist” joke. The hardback archives of Monkhouse’s handwritten joke books, dating back to 1960s, were bought in for repair by the comic’s adopted daughter and his old writing partner. In a tribute to the comic, who died in 2003, footage of the restoration was due to be aired this year. But the BBC axed the segment after a member of the production company Ricochet complained about one of the gags. I would like to know the identity of that employee. He or she has robbed many of us of a decent bit of television. Rare enough on the BBC I couldn’t give a toss if they were upset about the gag. Monkhouse will have bought a damned sight more pleasures to the world than this employee ever will.
