Le'Moog said:
I smell thy lord and master Al Murray here ^_^ he's funny
Now I think a lot of people don't get The Pub Landlord, in the same way they don't get Jeremy Clarkson. Yes, he's playing a total out and out chauvinist: original meaning; but he has the ability to combine it with the sheer idiocy of what he's saying, the true belief in the spirit and achievements we have made; and an understanding of the other cultures involved. Few Anglocentric characters have a full understanding of how French/German people actually talk; but he manages to poke fun without actually being nasty to them.
I know a lot of people won't see him because he's racist, but it's an English characteristic that we understand and ridicule our own prejudices. I've yet to see a Parisian or Berlin character take on both the racists and their own internal racism as well as the 'Goodness Gracious Me' team, Dara O'Brien(Irish), Chris Rock(American), Richard Pryor(American), Omid Djalili(Iranian) or Al Murray.
And in the words of Avenue Q, "Everyone's a little bit racist."
There's a whole world of difference between calling a Jewish guy "Big Nose" and actual antisemitism though. Jim Davidson/Bernand Manning fell right into the latter category.