13 JUNE 1958, Page 19

APOLOGY FOR COMEDIANS

SIR,—John Braine's quotation (from memory) from an interview I gave was inaccurate. May I quote from Illustrated : 'Should any producer want to become internationally famous overnight at the' risk of getting the sack in the morning, all he has to do is to be the first producer to show a lovely naked woman on the TV screen. It has not been done yet. But one day, whether by accident or design, it will be.'

Mr. Braine concludes from this flippant observa- tion that I provide 'a straw in the wind,' and suggests that I wish to usher in a new era whereby light entertainment on TV is to be degraded by the nudity which has killed the music hall. This is not so.

Mr. Braine and I are on the same side in that we are for talent and hard work and against' the spurious sensation. In the world of show business as it is today it is important that those who take it seriously should stand side by side and not take potshots at each other.

I appreciate that it was faulty memory and not malice that bid Mr. Braine to give this false im- pression to your readerS.—Yours faithfully,

4 Darnley Terrace, W 11

JOHN IRWIN