'Profane' Springer musical to go global

Viewers around the world are set to see the most controversial production to be broadcast on British television as the makers of Jerry Springer: The Opera prepare to sell it to dozens of stations.

Avalon, the production company behind the show, will announce tomorrow that it is making the bold move of taking the satirical programme to the world's largest television marketplace, MipTV in Cannes.

A campaign of opposition from the Christian right meant a UK tour of the stage show, due to take place in the autumn, has been postponed until the new year because some theatres were worried about protests. And a Broadway run pencilled in for this year has been put on ice because a financial backer withdrew after seeing the UK reaction.

But interest in acquiring the show has been expressed from a number of English-speaking countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US. According to insiders, some of the leading European opera nations - Germany, Austria and Italy - may also be keen. BBC2's broadcast achieved the channel's highest audience for a musical with 2.6 million tuning in.

Springer ran for nearly two years at the National Theatre and then London's West End with rave reviews and barely a murmur of discontent. But when the BBC agreed to show a performance, it united clean-up campaigners and Christians in condemnation with a salvo of complaints.

They were upset at the volume of expletives used in the show and the depiction of a Jesus figure in a nappy admitting he was "a bit gay". The Virgin Mary is described as being "raped by an angel, raped by God".

Last month BBC governors rejected the 63,000 complaints about the broadcast - many of which came from overseas - and ruled the corporation was right to show the production because it was a work of "outstanding artistic significance". Broadcasters from around the world will be at MipTV. Avalon has tended to have huge successes with past visits to the programme market, including sales of The Sketch Show to 31 territories.

Jon Thoday, managing director of Avalon, said: "It's a way of perpetuating the show and generating a bit of revenue for the tour when it happens."