Summary
- The BBC removed a
Doctor Who
episode featuring a news anchor who pleaded guilty to possession of indecent images of children. - The BBC says Huw Edwards’ appearance will be removed from the episode, although it is still available in the U.S. on Max.
- There are calls for Edwards’ appearance in the James Bond movie
Skyfall
to be removed as well.
The BBC has removed an episode of Doctor Who from their iPlayer streaming service, after a news anchor featured in the episode pleaded guilty to possession of indecent images of young children. The anchor, Huw Edwards, is a legendary news broadcaster in Great Britain, and was the host of The BBC News at Ten, the network’s popular evening news program, for 20 years. The Doctor Who episode will remain unavailable from streaming until producers can remove Edwards’s presence in it. However, the episode remains available in the United States on the Max streaming service.
According to a report by The Hollywood Reporter, Edwards was suspended from the BBC news desk last year after a report by The Sun (UK) revealed he had solicited sexually explicit images from a teenager.
No charges were filed in the incident, over a lack of evidence, but Edwards was not clear of trouble. He was arrested by authorities last November and charged last month with receiving indecent images of young children (some under the age of 10)from a convicted pedophile through WhatsApp. On Wednesday, he pleaded guilty to the charges and awaits sentencing.
Shortly thereafter, the BBC removed the Doctor Who episode in which his voice is heard during a television broadcast, but he is not seen. The episode (Season 2, Episode 11) aired in 2006 and is titled “Fear Her.” David Tennant stars as the Doctor and Billie Piper stars as his companion Rose as they travel to the 2012 Olympics in London to confront an unusual threat. Edwards’ voice is heard during a television telecast, and the BBC confirmed to THR that his voice will be removed and replaced.
BBC iPlayer is only available in Britain, and in the United States, BBC programming is available through various streaming services and networks, including BBC America. The Doctor Who episode remains available to viewers in the United States via the Max app, which owns the streaming rights to multiple seasons of the series. It is unknown if the episode will eventually be taken down, as it was in the UK, or if it will simply be replaced by the new edited version.
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Huw Edwards’ Problematic Appearance in the James Bond Franchise
The removal of Edwards’ voice from the Doctor Who episode presents a challenge to MGM, who also featured the newsman in Skyfall, the 2012 James Bond film starring Daniel Craig. In this instance, however, Edwards actually appears on-screen, playing a newscaster reporting on an attack on MI:6 headquarters. There are now calls for the studio to remove Edwards from the film, although no official response from MGM was forthcoming.
Other than his work for BBC News, Edwards has made other brief appearances in television, including episodes of the British series Casualty, Psychoville, and Absolute Power. The status of his appearances in those shows is not known. The BBC, however, faces a bigger problem: his presence covering historical events.
As the lead newscaster for the BBC’s evening news, Edwards was called on to cover major events, including the Olympics and the death of Queen Elizabeth. How the network will handle his presence in archival news coverage remains to be seen.
Seasons of
Doctor Who
are available on Tubi, BritBox, Max, and Disney+.