How did you spend Christmas, Shane McGowan?

You have to feel a pang of sympathy for Shane McGowan. Having reached his 50th birthday - against, it should be noted, enormous odds - on Christmas Day, he might have expected some praise. A reassessment of his career. Perhaps a South Bank Show special.

Instead, he ended up doing this. On his 50th Birthday. On TV:



And we know it's possibly being a little over-sensitive, but is it really all that funny to replace a woman who died in the sea with a person dressed up as a beluga whale?

UPDATE: This has returned to YouTube: