Sir Michael Parkinson has slammed presenters Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand for their "silly, obscene, tasteless and unfunny" phone calls.

The veteran chat show host said the calls to Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs were "indefensible".

He said he had no sympathy for 33-year-old Brand who was "generously called a comedian".

But he said Ross, 47, was "very good at his job" and would bounce back.

Sir Michael told Eamonn Holmes on Radio 5 Live: "Jonathan should have more oil in his lamp frankly, more sense. Jonathan has been through a lot of television.

"He's very good at his job but he's given to fits of madness now and again and I think he had one on this occasion. As for the other guy, I don't have an opinion on the other guy."

He said when Brand arrived at the BBC there was a feeling that "sooner or later it would put them in a very embarrassing situation".

Sir Michael expressed some sympathy for Radio 2 controller Lesley Douglas, who resigned over the affair, but added that "she was the one who invited him in".

He questioned the judgment of hiring someone who was sacked from MTV for coming to work dressed as Osama bin Laden after the 9/11 attacks.

"The facts are he did something that was silly, obscene, tasteless and unfunny," said Sir Michael. "He's generously called a comedian. I can't feel much sympathy for him."