The Independent Television Commission has rejected viewers’ complaints about a Channel 4 programme which showed a post mortem conducted by Professor Gunther von Hagens.
The programme broadcast at 11.45pm last November showed a post mortem on a 72-year-old man in front of a paying audience. The programme resulted in 34 “taste and decency” complaints.
But the ITC found the programme had put the subject in proper context with expert commentators. “The programme presented an opportunity to dispel some of the confusion and misapprehension which people feel when they learn that a loved one has been or will be subject to a post-mortem examination,” said the commission spokesman.
The ITC considered that “inclusion in the programme of debate surrounding the serious issues raised by the autopsy provided sufficient balance to counter claims of sensationalism and showmanship made against the programme.”
The regulator concluded that “although the subject matter and content of the programme approached the limits of what is allowed by the Programme Code, those limits were not exceeded.”
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