BBC accused of making ‘woke cuts’ to classic comedies

The broadcaster has admitted to making the changes, after they were discovered by an anonymous Radio 4 Extra listener, The Times reported.

Labelling them “woke cuts”, the listener identified edits that had been made over several years to old episodes of shows including Dad’s Army, Steptoe and Son and I’m Sorry, I’ll Read That Again, as well as Lines From My Grandfather’s Forehead and Much Binding in the Marsh.

I’m Sorry, I’ll Read That Again, a sketch show starring John Cleese, had references to disgraced stars Jimmy Savile and Rolf Harris removed, while one skit had a joke about scantily clad women in Top of the Pops cut.

In the original broadcast, Cleese, impersonating a BBC spokesman, said, “We have noticed that it is possible to see right up to the girls’ knickers, owing to the shortness of their miniskirts, so we’ve asked the girls to drop them.”

The use of the n-word was removed from a 1972 episode of Lines From My Grandfather’s Forehead, a sketch show by Ronnie Barker, while a line containing racial stereotyping was removed from a 1974 Dad’s Army episode, according to the report.

Meanwhile, a 1971 episode of Steptoe and Son was edited to remove the line, “You’re carrying on like some poofy Victorian poet.”

In a statement, a BBC spokesman said, “Listeners enjoy a huge number of old comedies from the archives on 4 Extra and on occasion we edit some episodes so they’re suitable for broadcast today, including removing racially offensive language and stereotypes from decades ago, as the vast majority of our audience would expect.”

The BBC has also been removing or editing episodes of old TV shows deemed controversial by modern standards.

Scottish comedy series Chewin’ The Fat, which aired from 1999 to 2002, has been re-edited for repeat broadcasts, one of the show’s stars Karen Dunbar revealed on the Cultural Coven podcast.

“The BBC review every repeat that goes out and will take out the bits that aren’t acceptable today,” she said.

Last year, the broadcaster removed episodes of Little Britain and Fawlty Towers from its streaming services over racism fears.

Fawlty Towers iconic “don’t mention the war” episode was subsequently reinstated after an outcry from fans and the show’s star Cleese, who said he was “furious” about the decision.

Other streaming services including Netflix and Disney have either removed from their catalogues, or added warning labels to classic content over the past few years.

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Originally published as BBC accused of quietly making ‘woke cuts’ to classic comedies