Dr Gore’s TV rap

The media watchdog concluded the ITV show breached broadcasting guidelines by showing Dr Gore's act, which included an illusion of him cutting his hand off, when children would be watching TV.

The magician - known to his friends as Viking - of Daubeney Road, impressed celebrity judges Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden to reach the semi-finals of the show.

Programme presenters Ant and Dec introduced the act by saying: "He has the power to make audiences feel sick in seconds." This was followed by a heavily edited clip of his audition.

Channel TV, which compiled the programme for ITV, said there were no graphic, prolonged or close- up shots and that an element of comedy was introduced by the inclusion of a rubber chicken among the materials removed from the 'live autopsy'.

However Ofcom noted that Dr Gore's audition clip featured shots of blood spraying from his female assistant's face. Then during the act he appeared to saw off his hand at the wrist with a large knife shouting 'do you want to see some gore?'

He then appeared to use a rotary saw to remove pieces of flesh and what looked like organs from the body of a young man, before the three judges pressed their buzzers to stop the act.

A statement from Ofcom said: "The semi-final of Britain's Got Talent was broadcast in peak family viewing time on a Saturday night and the series had featured many child performers in all its nightly heats.

"It therefore would have been the audience's expectation, particularly on a Saturday night when younger children are generally allowed to stay up later, that the programme's content before the watershed would be suitable for them to view."

Viking told this newspaper at the time of the show: "I love horror films where you see people ripped apart. It's something that appeals to my warped taste. I take it to the realms of magic."

Due to contractual obligations with ITV, however, he was unable to comment on the Ofcom statement.