The career of Michael Barrymore still hangs in the balance although he has not been convicted of any crime. But the TV-watching public doesn't often turn against those they have built up.

The jury that is the Great British Public is still out on Michael Barrymore. His TV career hangs in the balance as producers evaluate whether he'll be a ratings winner or loser if they put him back on our screens.

The public doesn't often turn against those they've helped build up into national favourites. When they do give the thumbs down, like the crowd watching a gladiators fight, the results can spell the end for the celebrity involved.

Never mind that Barrymore hasn't actually been convicted of any crime. The public feels betrayed by a performer who made his name through his ability to connect with his audience at street level. Now, his lifestyle and apparent refusal to own up to his failings can't be forgiven. Like in an old western, the lynch mob is out to get him.

This isn't usually the case. Normally, the public likes nothing better than reading the juicy details of a scandal starring someone they've seen on the telly. Their foolish behaviour demonstrates that fame and fortune doesn't stop them falling flat on their face and making a fool of themselves.

For a while, the celeb becomes the butt of endless jokes. Mostly, the embarrassment is considered punishment enough. Most times they haven't done anything illegal, only guilty of behaving stupidly. Getting caught is considered the ultimate humiliation.

Angus Deayton weathered the storm, whipped up when a newspaper published sex-and-drugs stories involving the presenter of Have I Got News For You.

His partner stood by him and the BBC saw no need to sack him. After "trial by TV" on his own show, in which he was teased mercilessly about the incident, he was able to get on with his life.

Another presenter, Jamie Theakston, adopted a suitably admonished demeanour after a Sunday newspaper published stories about his visit to a vice club. He was said to have indulged in "sleazy sex games" with three girls in a bondage dungeon in London's Mayfair. The public forgave him after he'd apologised to close friends and family.

Some aren't so lucky. Blue Peter presenter Richard Bacon had to leave the children's TV programme following newspaper allegations that he'd taken drugs. This was not considered proper behaviour for someone supposed to set an example to young viewers.

The first presenter of Blue Peter was ousted on moral grounds after behaving badly too. Christopher Trace left in 1967 after his wife divorced him, citing a teenage Norwegian girl he'd met while filming.

Just how silly celebrities can be never ceases to amaze. As people recognisable to the person in the street, they must know that anything they do and anywhere they go is likely to be reported. You might consider Nationwide anchor man and BBC sports presenter Frank Bough deserved all he got after being caught not once, but twice, in places he shouldn't have been.

First, he was spotted at sex and drug parties. Four years later he was photographed visiting a sado-masochistic vice den. "I am feeling exceedingly stupid. I have been exceedingly stupid and I accept that," he said in an interview following the second expose.

But Bough didn't take it lying down, so to speak. He counterattacked, criticising newspaper editors for turning his problems into "some kind of spectator sport for the entertainment of the whole nation".

Rob Lowe is one of the stars of the award-winning US political series The West Wing, a role confirming a spectacular rehabilitation after a teen sex scandal. The leading member of Hollywood's early 80s Brat Pack videotaped himself having sex with an underage girl during a Democratic Convention in 1988. "It was just one of those quirky, sort of naughty, sort of wild, sort of you know, drunken things that people will do from time to time," he explained.

British soap stars are particularly susceptible to going off the rails. After working long hours, many like to party hard. Photographs of cast members falling out of nightclubs in the early hours of the morning or hanging on to unsuitable companions are not uncommon.

If producers think an actor has overstepped the mark, they punish them. Sid Owen, who has recently returned as EastEnders' Ricky Butcher, was suspended in 1991 after incidents which included stealing the show's milk float.

Tales of sex, drugs and crashing his Porsche were par for the course. Who wouldn't agree with his comment that "I've been a complete tosser at times."

Defending your reputation can backfire, serving to highlight the original incident. This happened when another EastEnders star, Gillian Taylforth, sued a newspaper for libel over reports of an alleged sex act she performed on her lover in a parked car. She not only lost the case but had to suffer endless jibes in the media. Getting banned from driving after crashing her car while drunk didn't help her cause. Happily for her, her career hasn't suffered as a result and she's one of TV's busiest actresses.

Some performers capitalise on their misfortunes. Comedian Ken Dodd wasn't tickled to be taken to court by the tax man. He was cleared, after paying the price of having his private life exposed in the full glare of a public court. Now he includes tax jokes in his stage act.

Old crimes, committed before they were famous, can return to haunt them. Leslie Grantham was behind the bar of the Queen Vic as Dirty Den in EastEnders when it was discovered that he'd spent 11 years in prison for a murder committed while a soldier in Germany.

Ironically, that's how he got into show business. He took up acting while in prison and went into the business on his release. The public was initially intrigued by this aspect of his past, but felt he could be forgiven.

The same applied to former Big Breakfast presenter Johnny Vaughan. He must have known as he became a TV face that the story would emerge that, at 24, he'd been jailed for possession of cocaine.

Perhaps the changing attitude to celebrities allegedly behaving badly is best illustrated by the treatment of presenter Richard Madeley, who was accused - and later cleared - of shoplifting in 1990. Granada Television allowed him to continue presenting This Morning, with wife Judy Finnegan, while he was on police bail.

A decade earlier, Lady Isobel Barnett, famous as a panellist on the BBC's What's My Line?, faced a similar charge and was found guilty. A week later she committed suicide, unable to face what she thought would be an unforgiving public.

Published: 21/09/2002