London, Feb 28: The BBC Trust has ruled that old-fashioned double entendres such as "jugs" and "melons" are acceptable before the watershed, but references to threesomes, tantric sex and "Slutty Sundays" are more "questionable".

An investigation by the Trust into a BBC comedy show found cheeky "seaside postcard" humour was acceptable in keeping with the finest British comedy traditions, the Telegraph reported.

The innuendo, which they noted was "embodied, perhaps, by the Carry On films" was still suitable to be broadcast before the watershed, even with an audience of children, it found.

But, they ruled, a Playboy Bunnies sketch including references to "Tantric Tuesday", "Whipped Cream Wednesday" and "Threesome Thursday" were a little more "questionable", with wordplay on the name Jenny Talfrenzy "debatable".

Their ruling follows a complaint about BBC Two comedy show Watson and Oliver, broadcast at 7.30pm in Spring 2012.

A concerned viewer, who had watched the programme with his five-year-old child, feared it contained inappropriate "sexually explicit language and innuendo" which was "too sexually suggestive" for small ears.

One sketch, entitled "Absolutely No Sense and Sensibility" featured two Georgian ladies attempting to seduce an eligible gentleman by offering him a picnic including "juicy apple dumplings", "sweet macaroons", "jugs", "melons" and, eventually, "tits on a plate".

Another scene showed the two female comedians pretending to be "bunnies" of the Playboy mansion, discussing their repertoire of entertaining from "Missionary Monday" to "Viagra Valentine's Day".

A third featured a fictional Bond girl named "Jenny Talfrenzy".

The series, starring comedians Lorna Watson and Ingrid Oliver, was watched by around 26,000 children aged four to 15, according to industry estimates, with 9,800 of them being aged six to nine.

Responding to a viewer complaint, the director of the Editorial Complaints Unit initially found that while "some" of the material was "towards the edge of what might be expected in a pre-watershed slot", it was comedy of a "smutty, seaside postcard variety".

Young children, he ruled, would find it "a bit mystifying and not at all funny".

"On the more general point," a BBC statement added, "This sort of cheeky innuendo...is a legitimate and established strand of British humour embodied, perhaps, by the Carry On films, which have been broadcast pre-watershed for decades".

The corporation also cited Ofcom research from 2010 as it found the words "tits" and "jugs" were "considered acceptable" pre-watershed, and "thought to be harmless, casual ways of referring to specific body parts". (ANI)