Blighty terrestrial pubcaster Channel 4, still feeling the heat from the "Celebrity Big Brother" racism spat, has decided to pull its upcoming "Wank Week" season.
The season of shows dedicated to the pursuit of masturbation, including coverage of a so-called "Masturbatathon," is being shelved.
This is because the C4 board does not want to risk further embarrassment following the "Celebrity Big Brother" spat.
But the three programs dealing with this sensitive topic will now be aired separately at times still to be decided.
"Compulsive Masturbators" and "Masturbation for Girls" were earmarked as titles for two of the "Wank Week" shows, but a C4 spokesman said these were only working titles.
" 'Wank Week' is the tongue-in-cheek term the channel has used when referring to three programs on the subject of masturbation," added the spokesman.
However, when the season was announced last year a C4 topper said that "Wank Week" was "exactly the type of provocative and mischievous programming that Channel 4 should be covering in the 11 p.m. slot."
There are reports that a show entitled "Virgin School" in which a vicar is taught sexual techniques in Amsterdam and filmed losing his virginity has also been abandoned.
However, C4 said the show would be broadcast although it does not feature a vicar but merely a shy young man.
C4's one-time CEO Michael Grade was once dubbed "Britain's pornographer-in-chief" by Blighty's bestselling mid-market paper, the Daily Mail, because of his station's apparent fixation with sexually edgy material.
Present CEO Andy Duncan and chairman Luke Johnson, heavily criticized for their handling of the "Celebrity Big Brother" row, clearly want to avoid being similarly feted by the British press.
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