BBC upholds complaint from narcolepsy sufferers

BBC chiefs ruled Wednesday that a comedy show called "TV's Greatest Moments" should not have shown a clip of narcolepsy sufferers falling asleep at a help-group meeting.

The footage, which had originally formed part of a serious documentary into sleep disorder problems, was greeted with uproarious laughter by the audience when it appeared on the prime-time "2002 Greatest TV Moments" show.

The Narcolepsy Association UK (UKAN), which represents people who are prone to sleep disorder attacks, said the clip lampooned the condition, and encouraged the public to ridicule and humiliate sufferers.

The clip had initially been considered acceptable by the BBC's head of program complaints but a committee of five BBC governors later supported UKAN and ruled it was inappropriate to show the footage out of context.

"The audience of 2002 Greatest TV Moments knew nothing about the condition or the effect it had on sufferers' lives. Because the clip had been presented out of its original context, the audience had reacted to it with laughter," the committee said.

However it rejected UKAN's complaints about two other BBC programs on the subject, "Living Nightmare" and "Nap Attack" which had included the offending clip, saying they had been factual and informative.