Catherine tops TV complaints list - Jan 5 2008
Television watchdog Ofcom could launch an inquiry into Catherine Tate’s Christmas special after it became the festive period’s most complained about programme.

The 39-year-old comedienne scored a hit with her award-winning BBC2 sketch show and characters such as foul-mouthed Nan Taylor and Lauren, the schoolgirl who always asks "Am I bovvered?".

But her Christmas special, which included an appearance by singer George Michael, racked up 28 complaints, the highest number for any show over late December and the New Year.

On Friday Ofcom said it was assessing them before it decides whether an inquiry into the programme is necessary.

It would not disclose the nature of the complaints, but one of the complainants, Conservative Mid-Bedfordshire MP Nadine Dorries, described the show as a "production of profuse expletives".

She said: "I love comedy programmes as much as anyone. I have lost count of how many episodes of The Vicar of Dibley, Father Ted, Red Dwarf and Friends my children made me sit through over the holidays, and I particularly like Ricky Gervais.

"His Christmas special was a mixture of pathos and wit, brilliantly knitted into a hilarious comedy.

"Catherine Tate by comparison chose to try and make us laugh with profuse foul language, on Christmas day, at a time when almost all children would still be up on what is for almost everyone, religious or not, a very special day of the year."

An Ofcom spokeswoman said the regulator was at an early stage of its assessment of the complaints.

Lauren killed off in canoe accident? - Dec 10 2007
Catherine Tate’s much-loved comedy character Lauren Cooper apparently bites the dust in a canoeing accident.

The mouthy teenager plunges to her death while shrieking "Am I bovvered", reports The Sun.

The schoolgirl is on a trip with her class and ignores warnings by a local as she paddles off on her own.

"Are you a yokel? Are you married to your sister, is your cousin your mum?" she apparently shouts at the onlooker.

"You are a very rude, ignorant young woman," he replies.

Lauren is said to wander off and eventually plummets down a massive waterfall, screaming her catchphrase.

The Christmas special sketch then shows her school friends standing by her grave, as P Diddy’s track Missing You plays in the background. The headstone is apparently engraved with the words, "I Still Ain’t Bovvered".

Earlier this year, Lauren appeared in a sketch with Tony Blair at Downing Street for Comic Relief.-

Filming break makes Tate fan’s day - Dec 3 2007
Comedienne Catherine Tate made a schoolboy’s day when she decided to take a break from filming and knocked on his grandmother’s door.

Tate, famed for her catchphrase "Am I bovvered?" in her BBC sketch show, was shooting the new series of Doctor Who in Cardiff when she dropped in on the Lewis’s.

Producers called at Wendy Lewis’ house, in Heol Gabriel, in the Whitchurch area of the city, and asked if Tate could take a short break inside because it was cold.

Mrs Lewis said she immediately telephoned her 15-year-old grandson Ross who rushed home from school with two classmates, Victoria Spernaes and Yasmin Akbari.

Ross, a big fan of Tate’s comedy show, said she joined them for tea and Welshcakes, and made herself comfortable by putting her feet on the sofa.

He told the South Wales Echo: "Yasmin was so surprised she said, ’Oh my God!’ and then Catherine repeated it straight away in the voice of Lauren (one of her sketch show characters)."