Parky blasts 'pointless' Brand

Michael Parkinson has blasted Russell Brand as “pointless”.

The veteran TV presenter launched a scathing attack on the comic and insisted he isn’t funny or creative.

Michael, 75, told BBC radio 5 Live: “I don’t see the point of him, frankly. He doesn’t make me laugh, I don’t think his style of talking is particularly beautiful, funny or creative. Not at all.”

Michael said his dislike of Russell, 35, was first sparked by the outrage he caused alongside fellow presenter Jonathan Ross in 2008 when they were co-presenting a show on BBC Radio 2 where they made lewd phone calls to 80-year-old actor Andrew Sachs, causing public outrage.

The results of a BBC Trust review into the phone calls were published yesterday, resulting in new guidelines issued to presenters, designed to protect living people from "intrusive, aggressive or derogatory remarks for the purposes of entertainment".

However, the guidelines insist this does not mean comedy at the expense of those in the public eye is completely banned.

It clarifies: "This does not mean preventing comedy or jokes about people in the public eye, but that comments and tone are proportionate to their target."

Both Russell and Jonathan have left the BBC since the scandal.