- Keith Lard
Keith Winston Lard, is a fictional fire safety officer from
Bolton , played byPeter Kay . Lard has appeared in two of Peter Kay's television comedies onChannel 4 , "That Peter Kay Thing " (in the episode "Eyes Down") and in the first series of "Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights ".The character
Keith Lard is portrayed as an over zealous
jobsworth , who takes immense pride in his work raising awareness for fire safety through training seminars and safety inspection. He despises people's apathy and seemingly ignorant attitude towards fire safety, frequently scaring his bored audience with anair horn .Private life
Lard's private life is the subject of speculation and ridicule regarding his unhealthy relationship with dogs (even with claims of bestiality). In his first appearance in "Eyes Down", Lard is seemingly oblivious to the snide comments made to him by the bingo staff attending his seminar. However at the end of the episode he is seen being led away by police. When he appears in "Phoenix Nights", it is made apparent by
Brian Potter that he was charged with bestiality by the police, but not convicted due to lack of evidence.Controversy
A real life fire safety officer, Mr. Keith Laird, complained to Channel 4 about the character of Keith Lard, claiming the character damaged his reputation and personal integrity (in particular Keith Lard's interest in bestiality).
Mr. Laird possessed some similarities to the character of Keith Lard, working for Bolton Council as a fire safety officer, and even resembling the character in appearance.
Channel 4 and Peter Kay were forced to apologise to Mr. Laird for the embarrassment caused, with a reported payment of £10,000 being split amongst Mr. Laird and various fire safety organisations. In addition, Channel 4 broadcast a statement at the end of the third episode of the first series stressing that the character of Keith Lard was fictional and not based on Mr. Keith Laird:
This was followed by message inviting viewers to write to Channel 4 for a fire safety leaflet prepared with the cooperation of Laird:
External links
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1145897.stm BBC News article on the Keith Lard controversy]
* [http://www.channel4.com/firesafety Channel 4 link about fire safety]
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