Two decades after he was ditched by ITV, Benny Hill has been axed from the BBC's US TV channel as it seeks to update its image. Stateside viewers who base their perceptions of Blighty on BBC America's existing output - Are You Being Served?, The Avengers and old men getting in scrapes with scantily clad women - are in for a culture shock.
Other old shows such as As Time Goes By and Keeping Up Appearances are also being culled by the broadcaster's new management.
In comes the "best" of the BBC's contemporary programming, including Torchwood, Hotel Babylon and Lead Balloon. And if that wasn't cutting edge enough, Stateside viewers will also be able to watch Hollyoaks, imported from Channel 4, for the first time. Woo-hoo!
"Our new-look schedule is packed with quality, original programming and big name stars that reflect everything that's exciting about modern Britain today," says BBC Worldwide Americas president Garth Ancier.
Has he seen Hotel Babylon?
"And now they are presented in demographically targeted programming blocks, designed to attract audiences and advertisers."
Ah, democratically targeted programming blocks. This is what they want!
But do they? BBC America viewers are notoriously touchy about their schedule, almost enough to make Radio 4 listeners look easy-going.
When the channel axed EastEnders five years ago, it provoked a furious response from BBC America viewers, a channel boycott and a short-lived U-turn by Mr Ancier's predecessors.
News of the latest programming change appears not to have filtered through yet to the BBC America messageboards, where viewers are still getting over Cash in the Attic being shifted from its primetime slot.
Whether they will also miss Benny Hill, we will have to wait and see. BBC America won't, if the puff about the programme on its website is anything to go by, describing him as a "dodgy old man".
If the channel's latest change is about boosting ratings, then it also appears to be about discarding a distinctly un-PC past that the BBC would rather forget about.
