Lily Allen is being touted as the saving grace of BBS Three, which producers are hoping she’ll appeal to the internet generation and attract a new audience to the much criticized channel.

Lily Allen’s late night chat show Lily Allen and Friends might not be the huge hit corporation chiefs are praying for.

During recording of the all-important first program, more than a third of the studio audience walked out, saying they were bored and complaining it was “horrible” and “limp”.

One of the fans who walked out said: “Everyone really, really wanted it to work for Lily. She is such a lovely person but all the jokes fell flat and she seemed very nervous. It just did not work.

“I do think she’s got a nice voice but she didn’t sing at all. I think everyone was expecting she would.”

As well as her inexperience, Miss Allen had to fight technical glitches including a jammed teleprompter, which left her reliant on handwritten cue cards.

One guest said: “We were all standing about, getting quite tired.

“She was halfway through her interview with David Mitchell when she seemed to forget the questions and launched into an attack on all the horrible things people had written about her on online chat forums.

“It was terrible. Even David Mitchell had to remind her not to criticize the very people who would be watching the show.”

Another guest said: “We were all told when to clap and laugh but a lot of people, including me, were very uncomfortable. Much of the humor was very limp.”

WENN