London: A sadistic sex attack scene in the BBC drama Silent Witness which triggered hundreds of complaints led to an apology from the corporation yesterday.At the time it was broadcast last April, viewers branded the prolonged sexual assault by a prison guard on a male inmate as ‘graphic and nasty’ and said it ‘went too far’.
According to the Daily Mail report, more than 600 complaints were made about the episode of the forensic pathology crime series, which was shown after the 9pm watershed, with one condemning the ‘seriously disturbing scenes of extreme violence with sexual overtones’.
A prolonged sexual assault by a murderous prison guard in a toilet cubicle, apparently with a baton, were part of 632 complaints about the two-part drama.
To make matters worse, the channel was running late, meaning many who switched on BBC1 to watch the Ten O’Clock News were greeted with the gruesome images.
The corporation had originally defended the programme, which averages about six million viewers, but the BBC Trust yesterday said it had breached guidelines and the ‘wrong editorial judgment’ had been made.
It deemed that the violent content was ‘too explicit’ and not suitable to be shown in the first hour after the 9pm watershed.
In its report, the Trust said: ‘It was noted that the full extent of the attack was shielded from viewers but... viewers were left in no doubt that an act of sexual violence was being carried out.’
It added: ‘The final scenes were in breach of the guidelines on harm and offence as they depicted a sadistic method of inflicting pain, injury and death.’
The drama, which stars Emilia Fox and Tom Ward, featured the body of one character seen in a pool of blood in a toilet cubicle. The character, a drug dealer had had been attacked by prison officer Daniel Kessler, played by Leo Gregory.
The Trust added: ‘The committee concluded that the final scenes in the toilet block were in breach of the guidelines on harm and offence as they exceeded audience expectations for this series as they depicted a sadistic method of inflicting pain, injury and death.’
And the Trust committee said the violent content was ‘too explicit for this series, on this channel in the first hour after the watershed’.
The report also said sorry to viewers, stating: ‘The committee wished to apologise to those viewers who had complained about the content of the episode. In particular, the committee wished to apologise to those viewers who had tuned in for BBC News At Ten and been taken unawares by the final scenes.’
An episode of singing talent show The Voice had overran, despite being pre-recorded, causing the Silent Witness episode to run late.
And the committee said it was ‘surprised that stronger action had not been taken to keep The Voice within its scheduled time’.
It claimed the wrong decision had been taken to screen such scenes at that time ‘taking into account audience expectations’.
