Norton 'may struggle with early evening slot'

Graham Norton’s new Saturday night show for the BBC may be a flop – according to his former boss at Channel 4.

Norton defected from Channel 4 to sign a reported £3.5m (€5.2m) deal with the BBC.

But Channel 4 boss Kevin Lygo said the comic may not fare well on BBC1, where his trademark risque style will have to be toned down for a Saturday night family audience.

“It will be difficult for him doing an early evening show for the BBC,” Lygo said.

“It will be tough for Graham because he’s quite rude. It will be interesting to see what he does.”

Norton recently caused a headache for the BBC when he announced he wanted to stay in the US, where he has just launched a show, rather than return to Britain.

The Irish chat show host later insisted he would be coming back.

Lygo made his comments as he launched Channel 4’s autumn season at the Edinburgh Television Festival.

The channel’s big drama is The Hamburg Cell, the story of the al Qaida terrorists who carried out the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre.

Comedy highlights include Max And Paddy’s Road To Nowhere, Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights spin-off, which begins in November.

Sir Bob Geldof will present a two-part documentary, Dads And Divorce, in which he argues that British family law is biased against fathers.

And former BBC director general Greg Dyke will settle a few scores over the Hutton Inquiry in a one-off documentary.

Channel 4 has landed The Simpsons, which begins in November, and is likely to go out in a Friday night teatime slot.

And E4 has poached cult hit Curb Your Enthusiasm from the BBC.

:: Mozart may have suffered from Tourette’s Syndrome, a new documentary will claim.

The Channel 4 show, What Made Mozart Tic?, claims to have “compelling evidence” that the composer had the condition.

Tourette’s may explain why Mozart performed so obsessively during his childhood, according to presenter and fellow sufferer James McConnel.

The documentary will uncover “clues” to the illness in the composer’s later work.