Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
Shutterstock/Fer Gregory
Controversial
Quiz: Do you remember the details of these controversial TV moments?
Won’t somebody please think of the children?
NORMAL PEOPLE HAS continued to irk some viewers since first airing on 28 April, with RTÉ revealing it has received 51 informal complaints over sexual content depicted in the 12-part series.
While censorship is largely a thing of the past in Ireland and most other western countries, governments in parts of Asia and Russia continue to maintain strict censorship rules around what can and cannot be aired on television.
It got us thinking about some of the more memorable, and sometimes humorous, moments in recent television history which sparked controversy, debates, and even legislative changes.
Gardaí received a formal complaint of blasphemy over Stephen Fry's depiction of God in an interview with Gay Byrne. What exactly did he say?
Youtube
"How dare you create a world in which people are dying from horrible diseases every day, and then expect us to have faith. It's utterly disgusting."
"How dare you create a world in which there is such misery that is not our fault. It's not right. It's utterly, utterly evil."
"How dare you create a world where there is such inequality of wealth, inequality in healthcare, inequality of the sexes, of races. It's utterly disgusting."
"I would say 'listen man, I know I'm no saint but if you let me through those pearly gates we can talk about it over an utterly great cuppa.'"
In 2014, Channel 4 apologised for airing an episode of The Simpsons in which Krusty the Clown is heard using an expletive. The show aired at 6pm, well before the 9pm watershed. What did Krusty say?
Youtube
B*****d
F*%k
B*#!h
B****x
In 2016, This Morning presenters Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby showed up to work after the National Television Awards in clothes from the night before and still, it appeared, a bit tipsy. Who's afterparty had they come from?
ITV
Simon Cowell's
Gino DiCampo's
Ant and Dec's
Amanda Holden's
Which popular UK soap sparked an OfCom investigation and later apologised for a joke made by one of its characters which compared her own hair to that of a civil rights character in the novel Roots?
PA Images
Coronation Street
Eastenders
Emmerdale
Hollyoaks
Acclaimed Irish director Lenny Abrahamson directed the hit Normal People adaptation of Sally Rooney's novel. During a Liveline debate about the sexual content of the show, how did one listener describe him?
RTÉ
The "Irish king of pornography"
"A promoter of fornication"
"A salacious filmmaker"
"Reckless and inappropriate"
In 1994, Madonna appeared on The David Letterman Show where he introduced her as someone who "slept with some of the biggest names in the industry". When she appeared on camera, what did she hand him?
Youtube
A signed headshot
A Playboy magazine
Her underwear
A dead animal
An episode of children's cartoon Peppa Pig was branded "dangerous" and consequently banned by Australian authorities, but what was their claim?
Youtube
It encouraged children to act like farmyard animals
It was too far-fetched
It humanised farmyard animals
It encouraged children to play with spiders
Which of these shows has not been banned in China?
The Big Bang Theory
Doctor Who
Winnie The Pooh
Baywatch
In the past three years, which TV show has the BAI received the most complaints about?
Shutterstock
The Tonight Show on Virgin Media
The Late Late Show on RTÉ
Primetime on RTÉ
The Elaine show on Virgin Media
Tommy Tiernan has his own chat show on RTÉ now but back in 2016 the BAI threw out a blasphemy complaint made after TV3 aired footage of him describing the Eucharist. How did he describe it?
Rollingnews.ie
"That F**king thing"
"That piece of s**t"
"They'll be charging for it next"
"It's a slice of f**king poison"
You scored out of !
Top dog
You nailed it!
You scored out of !
Clever Cat
Almost purrrfect!
You scored out of !
What are ewe doing?
Baaaaad!
You scored out of !
Turtly awful
A shell of a bad effort!
have your say