MR PENDLE: Pat on the back for Clarke Carlisle and his ‘Question Time’ performance

The so-called funny man (Mr Pendle cannot possibly comment as he has never seen or heard him perform) made some below-the-belt comments about some of his fellow celebrities such as Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie and Charlie Sheen - and some people were apparently not amused.

But what is all the fuss about?

Isn’t that precisely the sort of speech that is normally made at ceremonies like the Globes?

Aren’t people sick and tired of listening to the pathetic stomach-churning tributes that are trotted out - the ones that go along the lines of “X deserves this award sooooooooh much” and “I think Y is sooooooooh great” - by celebrities who, if the truth be told, think exactly the opposite?

And why did the debate about what he said rumble on for the rest of the week?

Let us remember this was a night for stars to bask in the glow of the spotlights and the flash of the camera lens.

It was just another excuse for them to be seen in their suits and posh frocks.

Gervais’s comments were an insignificant moment at a ceremony which meant little or nothing to 99.9% of the population of the USA, never mind this country.

The only thing Mr Pendle is grateful for is that he did not have to watch the whole grubby charade for himself.

THE appearance of Burnley footballer Clarke Carlisle on Question Time on Thursday night was a refreshing change.

And it was interesting - from Mr Pendle’s point of view at least - to see that the best answers to the questions asked came from the articulate Clarets defender.

Not for him any of the sniping that went on - and was repeated on Radio 5 Live on Friday morning - between his fellow panellists George Galloway and Alistair Campbell about who did what and who knew what about the Iraq war and the Chilcott inquiry.

Carlisle simply told things as he saw them - and judging by the audience’s response (the applause to his answers was louder and longer than that for any of the politicians on the panel) - it seems those present appreciated that.

But maybe Carlisle could be so honest because he did not have a political agenda to stick to.

Galloway (left-wing), Campbell (New Labour), Simon Hughes (Lib Dem) and Caroline Spelman (Conservative) all answered very much as one might have expected them to - and that is perhaps why Mr Pendle retired to his bed 10 minutes before the final whistle.