Accidents
There had been concern that the show's stunts were too dangerous; indeed, the BBC was twice threatened with legal action by the Health and Safety Executive to stop planned stunts such as plucking a member of the public from an exploding chimney by helicopter. The BBC themselves described the stunts as "some of the most daring feats ever seen on British TV".
On 10 September 1983, stunt driver Richard Smith fractured his pelvis and injured his head, neck and back after crashing at 140 mph (225 km/h) during one such live stunt – an attempt to leap more than 230 feet in a car. Also in 1983, Barbara Sleeman broke her shoulder after being fired from a cannon; she would later say "The BBC don't give a damn. They just want the viewers."
Read more about this topic: The Late, Late Breakfast Show
Famous quotes containing the word accidents:
“I can forgive even that wrong of wrongs,
Those undreamt accidents that have made me
Seeing that Fame has perished this long while,
Being but a part of ancient ceremony
Notorious, till all my priceless things
Are but a post the passing dogs defile.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)