A bidirectional controlled quantum teleportation (BCQT) scheme was proposed by Yan Chen [Int. J. Theor. Phys. 53, 1454 (2014)] with a genuine five-qubit entangled state as quantum channel. In the scheme two remote participants have to perform some two-qubit joint operations to accomplish the BCQT task. Such joint operations are nonlocal and usually regarded as serious faults in some sense. To overcome them, in this paper we put forward an optimized version. Our scheme has the distinct advantages of degrading the necessary-operation complexity (i.e., both intensity and difficulty) and consuming fewer classical resources as well as owing higher intrinsic efficiency in contrast to Chen’s. Besides, it is feasible in experiment and applicable in the intending quantum network.