Abusive calls give BBC chiefs a Jerry Springer moment

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Guards were last night protecting the homes of two senior BBC executives as complaints from Christian groups at Saturday's showing of Jerry Springer - The Opera escalated into threats of violence.

The corporation employed a private security firm, Rubicon International, to safeguard the homes of the BBC2 controller, Roly Keating, and the director of television, Jana Bennett.

The pair were deluged with "threatening" and "abusive" phone calls; about 50,000 prior complaints about screening the musical were received by the corporation.

The recently appointed controller of BBC2 and Ms Bennett received a number of abusive calls after their numbers were printed on the website of a prayer group, Christian Voice, one of a number that have organised campaigns against the show. Threatening calls were also made to several BBC governors.

Before the broadcast the BBC had received a record number of complaints, mainly protesting that the show was blasphemous and obscene. The controversy helped the show to above-average ratings of 1.8m at 10pm on Saturday night. "We are pleased that a wider audience has been able to see this important piece of contemporary musical theatre," said the BBC.

The important piece of contemporary musical theatre features adult babies with poo fixations, chicks with dicks, crack whores, rednecks, evangelists, pole dancers and tap dancing Klu Klux Klansmen. The second act featured an epic struggle between heaven and hell Jerry Springer style with a redneck Adam and a Dolly Parton Eve, Sammy Davis-style Satan, obese egoist God and a Jesus who just needs to "get over it and put some clothes on". With lyrics such as "talk to the Stigmata" and an almost record number of obscenities many have claimed that the BBC may be mistaken in their highbrow response.

John Beyer, director of Mediawatch UK - the broadcasting standards pressure group that also waged its own campaign - said that the volume of protests indicated a wide dissatisfaction. "The fact is that the public have engaged in this debate about standards ... people are very concerned about standards on television," he said.

The media regulator Ofcom has also received more than 7,000 complaints. The previous record was about Martin Scorsese's film The Last Temptation of Christ, which attracted 1,554 complaints to broadcasting watchdogs when it was shown in 1995.

Critics had claimed it featured 8,000 swear words. The show's co-writer, Stewart Lee, has said that in fact it contains fewer than 300 - the higher figure is obtained by multiplying the offending words by the number of singers on stage.

The musical currently stars David Soul as the chat show host, and in its second half features Jesus in a sparkling nappy admitting to being "a bit gay" and a chorus line of dancing Ku Klux Klan members.

Christian Voice, which orchestrated its campaign from its website, organised a number of peaceful vigils outside BBC offices on Saturday night. Stephen Green, the national director of the group, yesterday admitted it had been "naive" to publish Mr Keating's home number.

Meanwhile, the company behind the stage show is aiming to cash in on the latest controversy surrounding the award-winning musical. It said anyone who brought a Bible to the box office of the Cambridge Theatre, in central London, while purchasing their ticket would pay a mere £10.