Wire star angers BBC

THE BRITISH star of the hit US cop show The Wire has criticised the BBC for screening too many costume dramas.

Actor Dominic West claimed schedules were overly reliant on costume drama and claimed that BBC producers secretly "hate" working on the likes of Cranford, the award-winning period adaptation starring Dame Judi Dench.

His comments are a major embarrassment for the BBC who last night screened the hit US show for the first time on terrestrial TV in the UK.

The actor, 39, who became a major industry player in the States after playing Baltimore police detective Jimmy McNulty, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that there is a lack of “high end contemporary drama”.

He said: "If you turn on American TV, there's a huge choice of nothing you want to see and, unfortunately, I think that's the case here now as well.

"We seem to lack the high end of drama. We do costume drama brilliantly, and I love costume drama.

“No-one does it like the BBC – no-one has the money to do it, first of all, and, secondly, Americans don't have the history to do it.”

He added: “But if you talk to any BBC producers, they abhor the fact... they are dying to do The Wire and hate doing Cranford.I thought Cranford was incredible but we don't seem to be able to do contemporary stuff."

Jeremy Clarkson trapped in loo - video

A VIDEO of Jeremy Clarkson trapped in a toilet is the latest viral web hit.

A group of pranksters have put a video on YouTube of the Top Gear star struggling to free himself from a portable loo as a gaggle of laughing men pile tyres against the door.

The film was shot at a classic car rally on the Spanish island of Mallorca earlier this week.

Eventually the 48-year-old managed to topple the stack of tyres by kicking the door from the inside, and seemed to take the joke in good spirits, smiling and throwing up his hands as a crowd of onlookers cheered and laughed.

The video was filmed on Saturday but posted on Tuesday and has already been viewed more than 13,000 times.

Last month Clarkson was forced to apologise after he was caught on camera calling Prime Minister Gordon Brown a "one-eyed Scottish idiot".

Explicit pics of Danielle Lloyd 'stolen off phone'

DANIELLE LLoyd is suing Carphone Warehouse after a worker allegedly downloaded explicit pictures off her phone.

Model and former Miss England Danielle gave the phone in to her local branch of the store where one of the staff looked through the images and made copies, according to a High Court writ.

Miss Lloyd, who appeared with Jade Goody in the controversial series of Celebrity Big Brother, is suing Carphone Warehouse and employee Deepak Jagpal.

Mr Jagpal is accused of taking copies of the pictures, including intimate surgery shots, when the model bought a new mobile.

She was told to leave her old phone so all the data could be transferred, and collect it later the same day.

The incident took place last September and the company says it apologised as soon as it was made aware of the matter.

Mr Jagpal no longer works for Carphone Warehouse.

A spokesman for the company said: "The download of customer content is entirely unacceptable and we can confirm that this content was not published.

"When the matter was brought to our attention we immediately conducted an investigation and the employee is no longer working within the business.

"Their actions are not indicative of our usual standard of service and we absolutely apologise to Ms Lloyd."

Ms Lloyd's writ makes a claim of up to £50,000 for breach of contract and invasion of privacy.

First Apprentice reject isn't 'sour'

ANITA Shah said she was "gutted" to be the first candidate to be sacked from this year's series of The Apprentice.

The business strategist, who is also a qualified lawyer, also lambasted her own facial expressions on the show and her "really, really awful frown that could turn milk sour ...

"It's really not me. I cackle much more like a hyena in real life ...

"I'm a very smiley person. I think what I have learnt is when there is a rogue camera around do your Cheshire cat thing.

"You can hear me through ceilings apparently when I laugh at work."

The 35-year-old added: "I had my serious face on."

Shah said: "I'm gutted to be out of the show, of course I am. But life goes on."

Last night's episode on BBC1, in which Sir Alan revealed someone had "bottled it" before the cameras had started rolling, saw the hard work start immediately.

The candidates were told to make as much money as possible by starting up a cleaning company.

The women gave themselves the team name Ignite, and were led by former Tanzanian beauty queen Mona Lewis.

The boys chose Empire, and were led by Howard Ebison, an area manager to 10 pubs.

As the men headed out to win new business, the women dragged their feet in getting started, deliberating over the cleaning equipment.

They were still selecting products as the men got going with their first deal after estate agent Phillip Taylor set up a meeting with a mini cab company.

Having finally completed their inventory selection, Shah calculated the team's expenditure - and congratulated them for not exceeding the £200 limit.

She said during the programme: "Well done, we've come in just within budget but I think we've used our budget wisely."

Ignite took £357 and spent £196.45, making a profit of £160.55.

Empire took less money - £347 but only spent £107.39 - giving them a winning profit of £239.61.

Senior sales consultant Debra Barr showed fighting talk when she said it would be a "waste of a good suit" if Lewis did not take her back into the board room as well.

In the end, Lewis decided to bring Barr and Shah back in.

Firing Shah, Sir Alan said: "My gut instinct is telling me something; Anita, you put yourself forward as one of Britain's best business prospects.

"You showed no initiative in spotting that you were going for a disaster and on that basis ... Anita. You're fired!"

In the black cab home, Shah said that Sir Alan "doesn't particularly like lawyers. Let's see in 10 years if he doesn't sit and think: maybe I made the wrong decision".

Looking back at her disappointment at being kicked out in the first show, Shah said: "I don't think any of us particularly performed brilliantly in that task at all.

"There is so much more to me in terms of my creativity and my ability to innovate and my ability to inspire and lead."

David Jason 'sorry' for Pakistani joke

SIR David Jason has apologised for the "Pakistani joke" he made during a radio show.

Appearing on the Christian O'Connell Show on Absolute Radio, the Only Fools And Horses star said: "What do you call a Pakistani cloakroom attendant?"

After a pause, he delivered the "punchline": "Me hat, me coat."

No apology was made at the time, but O'Connell responded to the comment by saying: "No more jokes like that."

The incident was edited out of the show before it was put on the Absolute website as a podcast.

A spokeswoman for the 69-year-old actor said: "He is very sorry if he has offended anyone.

"He was horrified when he found he had given offence.

"He hadn't thought it was a racist joke, but if people took it that way he's very sorry about it."

Fern Britton quits This Morning

FERN Britton is to leave This Morning.

The presenter has spent 10 years on the show, but will leave at the end of the current series, a statement on the ITV website said.

The 51-year-old said she would miss the This Morning team, but was looking forward to new projects and spending time with her family.

Britton said: "After 10 years with This Morning, I have decided to leave the show at the end of the current series. I will present my last show on July 17th - my birthday, which seems somehow appropriate.

"The This Morning team are simply the best and I will miss them all very much but I am looking forward to the freedom of exploring other things I want to do, and also spend more time with my wonderful family.

"So many thank-yous to all our viewers who have shown me so much kindness and loyalty."

Apprentices under no illusions as show gets underway

THE women drag their feet as the men get stuck in - this is the first task of starting up a cleaning company in the new series of The Apprentice.

In their first boardroom meeting, Sir Alan Sugar leaves the fresh-faced 15 candidates under no illusions about how tough the next 12 weeks will be.

They are immediately unsettled as he announces that one candidate has already buckled under the pressure and "bottled it", walking out on the eve of the first boardroom briefing.

Asking them if they are tough enough to take on the challenges ahead, he tells them: "I know the words to Candle In The Wind - don't make me Elton John... you lot are as easy to play as bongo drums."

The hard work starts immediately as the candidates are told to make as much money as possible by starting up a cleaning company.

Before they start they must chose a team name and select a project manager.

Watchdog bans ad for Ben Stiller film Tropic Thunder

A TV ADVERT for the film Tropic Thunder has breached industry rules after showing offensive swearing mid-afternoon.

The advertising watchdog has cracked down after a viewer complained about the language and graphic scenes of violence after seeing the ad during a weekend football match shown at her local Conservative club.

The advert, shown at 3pm, 5.15pm and 6.15pm on the Setanta pub channel, included characters saying "This motherf*****'s dead" and "You're the dumbest motherf***** that ever lived".

It also showed one character from the 2008 comedy film - which stars Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Steve Coogan - holding a severed head dripping blood and another hitting his own hand with a mallet.

Wossy up for TV Bafta

JONATHAN Ross today put his prank call fiasco firmly behind him - with a Bafta TV nomination for best entertainment performance.

The 48-year-old, who was suspended by the BBC for three months after his 'Sachs-gate' radio stunt, is up for the gong for his hosting of Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.

He will now have to battle it out with fellow heavyweights Ant and Dec, Harry Hill and Stephen Fry.

Meanwhile veteran EastEnders actress June Brown, 82, has won her first ever Bafta best actress nomination - 50 years after she first launched her TV career and 24 years after she pitched up in Albert Square as chain-smoking Dot Cotton.

She is also the first soap star in 20 years to be nominated in the prestigious best actress category, since Jean Alexander was shortlisted for her role as Coronation Street battleaxe Hilda Ogden.

Tomlinson: 'I lose remote control battles'

AN ACTOR who plays a telly-loving slob in the BAFTA award-winning television series Royle Family says in real life his wife takes charge of the TV remote control.

Ricky Tomlinson, who plays Jim Royle - an overweight, unemployed father of the working-class Manchester family - admitted his wife Rita takes over the controls in the evenings.

He said: "I'm a TV man myself. A bit of a news freak. I like a couple of the soaps - mainly Coronation Street - but then I have to watch them because my wife Rita forces me to."

Tomlinson said that his wife was a stronger character than Jim's wife Barbara.

He said: "She's a bit stronger than Barbara in the Royle Family. So about half past seven that's when Rita takes over the remote. It's like giving away a pint of blood.

"That's when Jim sulks and that's when I sulk."