BBC viewers are outraged after the broadcaster altered and removed episodes of one of their most-loved TV series. The sketch comedy series Horrible Histories has been changed to comply with its guidelines for children's programming, and the broadcaster has also entirely removed an episode featuring slavery, Victorian child labour and chimney sweeps from streaming on BBC iPlayer.
Changes to the show
Horrible Histories is adapted from the bestselling book series by Terry Deary and successfully sparked a generation of children's interest in history. The show, produced for CBBC, first aired in 2009 and has 11 series.
At least seven sketches or scenes have been excised from the programme, including one that depicted Madame Tussaud creating wax masks from decapitated heads, as reported by The Times. Another sketch, now unavailable on BBC iPlayer, showed white actors using darker makeup to portray ancient Egyptians or Incas.
Reaction and criticism
This move follows closely on the heels of the BBC facing criticism for removing sketches from That Mitchell and Webb Look because they no longer "work today." Actor Mathew Baynton, who portrayed characters such as William Shakespeare and Guy Fawkes on the show, previously suggested that the programme could be accused of doing "blackface" in its portrayal of Egyptians, reports the Express.
Speaking to The Telegraph in 2022, he said: "We didn't do blackface, for example, but you could argue that we did because I played Egyptians, you know, for example, where you'd get a spray tan, essentially, and stand in your pants."
The pulled episode allegedly contained a segment educating youngsters about slavery in ancient Rome by portraying a Roman galley as a commercial flight, with enslaved oarsmen shackled to their positions and informed they wouldn't be permitted to flee if the vessel sank. A separate segment showed how Victorian youngsters were forced into dangerous and cramped chimneys with a small lad pushed into a flue and warned: "Try not to die."
Public backlash
Audiences responded with fury to the alterations, and one person posted on X: "History in Horrible Histories is apparently too horrible, therefore it must be deleted. Now THAT is a horrible history of the Orwellian direction our country is going."
Historian and writer Guy Walters declared: "This is an insane decision and it obviously follows hot on the heels of sanitising Mitchell and Webb sketches."
A BBC spokesperson commented: "The edits to Horrible Histories were made seven years ago, in consultation with the programme makers, to ensure the series meets our editorial guidelines for children's programmes."
