Saunders: 'BBC is dumbing down'

Jennifer Saunders has apparently claimed that the BBC has become obsessed with populist comedy.

She said the corporation's dumbing down of the genre, coupled with budget reductions, led to her decision to leave along with her comic partner Dawn French.

Saunders, 50, told The Daily Mail: "They are not making the kind of comedy we used to do. What they want now is populist programmes because there isn't the budget to try the more ambitious things we were doing.

"We've been stopped from doing lots of sketches we wanted to do. The budgets for that kind of more ambitious stuff just aren't there now. Really, that's the reason we've decided to stop."

The pair, who met at drama school in 1977, unveiled their last six-part sketch show on the BBC, A Bucket O’ French & Saunders, last November. They are currently appearing in the West End on the last leg of their tour 'Still Alive'.