Radio silence at the BBC

The mystery of which senior BBC executive approved for broadcast the now infamous edition of The Russell Brand Show, containing the harassing obscene phone call to the actor Andrew Sachs, deepened yesterday.

Asked a series of questions by The Independent on Sunday, based on information supplied by a BBC source, a corporation spokesman refused to comment on a claim that it was custom for editorial changes to be made to the Brand show only if authorised by the Radio 2 controller, Lesley Douglas. He also declined to confirm or deny that the compliance form detailing any potentially offensive content was sent direct to Ms Douglas, and also refused to say to whom the form was sent or what alarms it had raised.

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BBC guidelines stipulate that senior staff, between the producer and the station controller, should manage all broadcasts. Yet the identity of the individual who would have been expected to approve Brand's broadcast is unknown and remains the subject of intense speculation. Some reports have suggested it was Dave Barber, head of specialist music and compliance, who then passed it direct to Ms Douglas. But the IoS source, asked which executive between the show's producer, Nic Philps, and Ms Douglas actually rubber-stamped the form, said: "I would be very surprised if there was such a person." But the BBC spokesman said: "We're not going to say anything ... the recent events are subject of an investigation and it would be inappropriate to comment while this is ongoing." Neither Ms Douglas nor Mr Philps could be contacted yesterday.

The BBC's stonewalling, a full week after the story of the calls to Sachs broke, follows claims made by a Radio 2 source to the IoS that Brand had become a law unto himself. This situation, it was alleged, led not only to the infamous obscene phone call to Sachs, but also to the comedian getting away with urinating into a cup while in the studio, and going missing within the building while his show was on air, sources said.

On Friday, the Radio 2 presenter Paul Gambaccini said that Brand had become the "pet" of Ms Douglas, who resigned on Thursday. Gambaccini said: "Lesley had a commitment to Russell, which was almost obsessive ... She stood by him through thick and thin, even while he was alienating almost everybody else in the building." In an interview with Nicky Campbell on Radio 5 Live, Gambaccini was asked: "I hear he had five or six producers and whenever one said no to him, he went and got him or her sacked." To which Gambaccini replied: "You heard accurately." Sources say that, if challenged by a producer, Brand was likely to declare "controller's decision", thereby suggesting he could go over everyone's head directly to Ms Douglas.

The producer of the 17 October broadcast of The Russell Brand Show was the 25-year-old Mr Philps, who, it is believed, was made producer for the Brand show only after the latest staff changes a couple of weeks before. When asked about Mr Philps's experience, Brand's management, who make his radio show for Radio 2, told the IoS: "He has been helping out for the last 18 months, on and off, in various capacities." Had he been producer for just two shows? "No comment."

BBC bosses have come under attack from the broadcasting trade union Bectu for fostering a culture that puts junior staff at the mercy of celebrity names. Helen Ryan, the union's BBC supervisory official, said: "They're not going to stand up to them [celebrities] because in reality those stars will say we don't want to work with that person again. There is a culture where junior members of staff are put under a lot of pressure to make decisions they're not qualified to make. There are tighter budgets, but also the culture of the preciousness of the celebrities."

Sir Michael Parkinson told Radio 5 Live yesterday that the phone calls made by Brand and Ross were "silly, unfunny, and indefensible". He said of Ross: "He's very good at his job, but he's given to fits of madness now and again... As for the other guy, I don't have an opinion." He added that Brand has been "generously called a comedian". Parkinson expressed some sympathy for Ms Douglas, but added: "She was the one who invited him in."