Woke BBC chiefs slap trigger warning on a Michael Palin iconic travel documentary
WOKE BBC chiefs have slapped a trigger warning on one of Michael Palin’s much-loved travel documentaries.
An episode of the comedy great’s Around the World in 80 Days was whacked with a guidance alert over scenes where a snake is cooked up for dinner.
In the 1989 series’ fifth episode, the Monty Python star, now 81, sees the beast beheaded and skinned by a chef while in Guangzhou, southern China.
After finishing the dish — considered a local delicacy — Sir Michael says: “That’s great. It’s lovely.”
But a note has now been added on BBC iPlayer, explaining that the show “contains upsetting scenes”.
Warning labels are usually applied to shows with strong language, violence or nudity, and now also appear on web listings for some classic comedies.
Last night, Tory frontbencher Sir Alec Shelbrooke blasted execs for “taking the hiss”.
He said: “These things happen around the world, yet the BBC says ‘you better not watch that, it might upset you’. This decision has been made by snowflakes in office with no experience of the world.”
Toby Young, head of the Free Speech Union, added: “Surely viewers of Around the World in 80 Days tune in precisely so they can see weird and wonderful things from the other side of the world.
“What’s next? Will I’m A Celebrity be given a trigger warning? ‘Contains scenes of D-list glamour models eating kangaroo testicles that some viewers may find upsetting’.”
A BBC spokesman insisted: “Like other broadcasters and streaming services, we add guidance labels to some programmes on BBC iPlayer depending on the content.”
Earlier this month we told how ITV’s crime staple Midsomer Murders had been slapped with similar warnings for “several references to witchcraft”.
And a Bake Off Halloween special has been flagged as potentially spooky — with Channel 4 ruling that it “isn’t suitable for younger viewers”.