THE BBC has defended a new comedy show that aims to see the funny side of life in an army bomb disposal unit stationed in the Middle East.
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Called IED – short for Improvised Explosive Device – the sitcom is part of the new schedule for BBC3 announced today.
“It’s a show about something the public easily forget: soldiers really enjoy being soldiers,” said a spokesperson for the national broadcaster.
“This sitcom shows us why, as it takes the audience from moments of intense action to the fractious camaraderie as the unit waits around for their next tasking.”
But plenty of people/keyboard warriors suspect the BBC has an underhand motive and have taken the chance to get outraged about IED, without troubling themselves to see it.
“Only the hypocritical BBC could neglect to see the insensitivity and political incorrectness of making a comedy programme of this kind,” said Martin White of Chalfont St Peter in the Daily Mail.
Perhaps more worrying is that IED is to be written by the people behind Miranda.
Other controversial programmes lined up for BBC3 are Eggbox, set on a teenage cancer ward; Life Story, set on the murderers’ wing of a prison, and Up For Hire Live, a job-hunting show that looks like it uses the unemployed as TV fodder.
As BBC3 Controller Zai Bennett said: “Making our audience laugh is one of our key aims at BBC3.”
