Viewers' fury at Charlotte's 'sewer rat' mouth

Channel 4 chiefs have been bombarded with complaints about singer Charlotte Church's foul-mouthed new chat show.

Angry viewers condemned the programme as 'coarse, crude and filthy', 'immature and puerile', and 'a load of utter bilge'.

One even added: 'This woman may have had the voice of an angel in the past but now she has the foul mouth of a sewer rat.'

Channel 4's confidential complaints log, seen by this newspaper, shows that the bulk of the protests have been about 20-year-old Miss Church's language.

The show, which begins at 10pm, features the Cardiff-born singer interviewing celebrities and taking part in comic sketches and musical performances.

By the time the third show in the series had been broadcast on September 15, Channel 4 had received 174 complaints almost 15 times as many as the show it replaced, The Friday Night Project, typically generated.

Some 400,000 viewers also deserted the show between the first and second episodes, cutting its audience to 1.7million.

Some of the complaints came in a letter signed by 35 people before the first programme was even transmitted after it was revealed that the pilot show included a sketch portraying the Pope as a Nazi.

The sketch was dropped from the first show when it was broadcast but that did not stop scores more complaints rolling in. One viewer told the network: 'This is killing her talent and she is coming across as a nasty, unpleasant girl.'

The complaints continued this weekend with more viewers attacking Friday's show, the fourth in the series, which featured Miss Church strapped to a giant cross.

Channel 4 said last night: 'The show is irreverent and our Friday night audience knows to expect strong language. It has proven to be a big hit.'