Just watched JERRY SPRINGER THE OPERA on BBC2. Big chuffin' deal. If this was blasphemous, then so was PARADISE LOST, PILGRIM'S PROGRESS, DOCTOR FAUSTUS, BEHOLD THE MAN, or even friggin' BRUCE ALMIGHTY...
The only difference being, all of those had more laughs.
So, reading between the lines, the recent controversy goes like this: Rupert Murdoch's rottweiller, THE SUN, whips up some negative publicity about the screening as part of his ongoing agenda against the BBC (Though I fear the old bugger also has some masterplan to make the UK public as unquestioning as the US public, and promoting religious conservatism is part of that plan).The BBC itself milks the scandal, because it loves the attention (see also: the David Kelly affair), and even more, loves talking about itself. Cue BBC current affair shows and documentaries, with BBC presenters and BBC bigwigs, discussing whether the BBC was in the right or wrong. That isn't blasphemy, it's onanism.