Branded a fool.

Just as we digest news that bankers running amok have managed to break the world's economy, it seems that another arena of life has come undone because of a lack of effective regulation. Broadcasters Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross badly overstepped the mark when they made a series of phone calls to Andrew Sachs in which they teased him with the possibility that Brand had had sex with the actor's granddaughter.

Amazingly, this horseplay did not take place during a live broadcast... it was recorded. It is not enough to say that Ross and Brand got carried away (although they unquestionably did)... their shenanigans were signed off by someone senior within the BBC's hierarchy.

You'd think from the media's coverage of this episode that the official who authorised the broadcast was guilty of failing to notice something that was entirely out of character for Ross and Brand... that the rest of the programme was a real-life facsimile of Smashey and Nicey - the fictional DJs created by Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse. In fact, both the salaciousness and the nastiness were typical of Ross's and Brand's broadcasting output.

It's also interesting to note how inoffensive this content was to those who listen to their programmes. Only two people took the trouble to complain when this show was first broadcast and it was only when Andrew Sachs brought the matter to public attention through a statement issued by his agent that anyone paid any attention.

The real story here is that no-one noticed anything out of the ordinary until the victim of the prank complained. Andrew Sachs deserves better treatment... as does every victim of practical jokes of this nature since they are, in essence, exercises in public humiliation.

The real shame is that both Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross are genuinely witty... but both are submerging their talents in a continuous bid to show that they are unafraid to pay attention to taboos and are unwilling to show deference even when it is very obviously required.

Ross and Brand have both apologised to Andrew Sachs and rightly so... but if we allow ourselves to believe that this incident was atypical then we will miss the opportunity to recognise that there is an endemic tawdriness within broadcasts aimed at a younger audience which constantly suggests that showing respect is passée.